Coming Soon... The Greatest Shirt Sponsor Ever

If you follow us on Twitter, you may have seen us banging on about the Greatest Sponsor Ever tournament we've got lined up. Well, now we've finally decided on the classic sponsors that have made the cut. It's going to run as a knockout tournament, pitting classic sponsor against classic sponsor over several rounds. Think of it as the FA Cup, only ironically about sponsors, not ruined by one... ;-) To make the numbers even, we had to whittle down our initial list of over 120 classic sponsors to 96 on top of which we've seeded some so they won't have to scrap out the First Round.

So it'll go like this:

Round 1
32 sponsors v 32 sponsors (all 64 being 'non-seeds')

Round 2
32 sponsors v 32 sponsors (64 participants made up of the 32 seeded sponsors and the 32 non-seeded winners from Round 1)

Round 3
16 sponsors v 16 sponsors (all 32 being the winners from Round 2)

Round 4
8 sponsors v 8 sponsors (all 16 being the winners from Round 3)

Quarter Finals
4 sponsors v 4 sponsors (all 8 being the winners from Round 4)

Semi Finals
2 sponsors v 2 sponsors (all 4 being the winners from Quarter Finals)

Final
1 sponsor v 1 sponsor (both finalists being the winners from the Semi Finals)

The draw for the First Round will be taking place very soon and will be done live on Twitter... more details on that soon, and I can now reveal the sponsors that have made the cut. Those seeded to the Second Round are highlighted.

You'll note that McEwans has two entries and that also we've grouped the Celtic and Rangers variants (as we have done with CR Smith). This is because we felt that, as Celtic and Rangers always share a sponsor, we can't really separate the two, whereas we've left Blackburn's on its own as it has no ties to the Auld Firm's deal at all... and of course may have some specific meaning to Blackburn fans in the mid-90's for some reason ;-)

And of course, remember people, this is just a bit of fun and is all above board...if Granada Bingo happens to win, then that's just fate ;-)

So...

The Contenders (ordered by sponsor name)

(BT) Cellnet / Middlesbrough
Auto Trader / Reading
Auto Windscreens / Birmingham
Autoglass / Chelsea
Avco (Trust) / West Ham
Bass / Derby
Bedford (Trucks) / Luton
Britannia / Stoke
British Caledonian / Brighton
Brother / Man City
Bukta / Hibernian
Candy / Liverpool
Capital One / Nottm Forest
Carling / Celtic & Rangers
Carlsberg / Liverpool
Carlsberg / Wimbledon
Chang / Everton
Commodore / Chelsea
Coors / Chelsea
Courage / Reading
CR Smith / Celtic & Rangers
Crown Paints / Liverpool
Dagenham Motors / West Ham
Dr Martens / West Ham
Draper (Tools) / Southampton
Elonex / Wimbledon
Ericsson / QPR
Fads / Charlton
Finlux / Sheff Wed
Fisons / Ipswich
Fly Emirates / Arsenal
Fly Virgin / Crystal Palace
GMB / Fulham
Good Year / Wolves
Granada Bingo / Coventry
Greenalls / Newcastle
Greene King / Ipswich
Guinness / QPR
Hafnia / Everton
Hewlett Packard / Tottenham
Hitachi / Liverpool
Holsten / Tottenham
Ian Skelly / Motherwell
ICI Perspex / Blackburn
Ind Coope / Leicester
Iveco / Watford
JCT600 / Bradford
JD Sports / Oldham
JJB / Wigan
JVC / Aberdeen
JVC / Arsenal
Laver / Sheff Utd
Lewisham / Millwall
Maxwell / Derby
McEwans Lager / Blackburn
McEwans Lager / Celtic & Rangers
Mita / Aston Villa
Motorola / Motherwell
Muller / Aston Villa
NEC / Everton
Newcastle Brown Ale (star) / Newcastle
No Smoking / WBA
NOBO / Brighton
NTL / Celtic & Rangers
O2 / Arsenal
Oki / Portsmouth
Ora / Barnsley
Panasonic / Nottm Forest
Peugeot / Coventry
Philips / Man City
Pioneer / Ipswich
Poll Withey / Norwich
Rank Xerox / Southampton
Reebok / Bolton
Reg Vardy / Sunderland
Ricoh / Stoke
Saab / Man City
Samsung / Chelsea
Sanderson / Sheff Wed & Southampton
Sharp / Man United
Shipstones / Nottm Forest
Skol / Nottm Forest
Solvite / Watford
Subaru / Coventry
T-Mobile / WBA
TDK / Crystal Palace
The Woolwich / Charlton
Top Man / Leeds
Truman / Wimbledon
Unipart / Oxford Utd
Vaux / Sunderland
VG / Dundee United
Vodafone / Man United
Walkers / Leicester
Wang (Computers) / Oxford Utd
Wrangler / Notts County

Throwback Thursday: Temple 23, Army 20

In the grand scheme of Temple wins, Temple's 23-20 win over Army in 1994 certainly didn't mean much.
But it was important in the sense that it was Temple's first-ever win over Army ever and was the start of a series of wins that gives Temple the all-time lead against one of college football's legendary programs.
By then, though, Army was far from legendary, even though the Cadets hammered the Owls (and everyone else) during the WWII years.
That's one reason why it was important for Temple.
Another was that it gave a then-downtrodden program its first winning season since the Bruce Arians Era.
I was listening to the game in the Philadelphia suburbs while covering an Abington High School game.
Don Henderson, the Owls' play-by-play man at the time, called the touchdown pass from Henry Burris to Sid Morse with 1:14 left that won it, pronouncing Morse name "Morris" as he always did. A key play in that game was a fake punt by Temple that set up the touchdown.
The Owls last defeat at West Point came in 2007 when Derek "Bonecrusher" Dennis tackled Adam DiMichele in the open field.
"He'll never live that down," Dennis' dad laughed when I told him about that last year.
Dennis, by the way, signed a contract this week to play in the Arena Football League. He improved enough to be a member of one of the two best offensive lines I ever saw at Temple (2011 and 1979).
I never thought I'd write this coaching comparison, but Steve Addazio might want to rip out a play from the Ron Dickerson playbook and use the fake punt this weekend at Army.
The last time Daz used the fake punt, Ahkeem Smith took the short snap and showed his Bethlehem Liberty all-state running ability in the open field and scored a touchdown.
The Owls beat Buffalo that day, 34-0.
I'd like to win 34-0 again, but I'll settle for 23-20.

Great Tracksuits of Our Time: No.4 - John Bond special

Towards the end of September 2012, John Bond, a man who possessed great talent as a player and a manager, died aged 79. Though he spent 16 years playing for West Ham United, he will perhaps be best remembered for a long managerial career that took in Manchester City and Norwich City among many other clubs.

As a tribute to John Bond, we present four pictures of the man during his seven-year stint at Carrow Road. As you can see, he wasn't afraid to don a tracksuit before taking to the training field, and for that reason we dedicate the latest installment of this series to him.

Football Remains

That's what we were going to call this blog site. In the weeks leading up to 14 November 2011, Rich J and myself toyed with lots of different names, but eventually The Football Attic ran out the winner.

Though we remain satisfied that we made the right choice, there's no denying that Football Remains also had something going for it. It worked on different levels, making reference to the fact that 'remains' is a way of describing something that's left behind, like the memorabilia washed up on the shore from football's constant tides. It also conjures up images of a decapitated body after a particularly gruesome murder, and that's ostensibly why we didn't ultimately choose that title.


It does, however, reinforce the fact that with every passing day, month, year or decade, football continues to offer up all manner of different ways to be nostalgic. It's that very notion that inspired Rich and myself to create this blog site, and though it was based on a personal passion we shared for the sport, we weren't quite sure how many others would share it with us.

To be quite truthful with you, we probably didn't give the matter enough thought before the project got underway. For instance, how often can you write about Panini sticker books without sending your audience into an outright torpor?  At what point would the mention of Subbuteo prompt a regular visitor to engage in an irresponsible act of violent behaviour?  These things matter, you know.

As it is, we must have had an underlying belief that there was an appetite for the sort of articles we wanted to write, not least because of the growing disaffection among football fans for the modern game. Much talk has been heard from supporters over the last year or more about the various crises and controversies that abound in football these days. Whether it's racist slurs between players or greed and bankruptcy affecting clubs, it's no wonder fans are looking for something that reminds them of all that's best in The Beautiful Game.

And that's why we continue to do what we do. Though some people might think of football nostalgia as lightweight and clichéd, we believe it has more to offer than that. By looking in detail at the plentiful bounty that football has given us over the years, we can all remember why we fell in love with this glorious sport of ours in the first place.

Thanks to your support and contributions to this website over the last year, we can say without doubt that football remains and finds itself in excellent shape to entertain us for many more years to come.

In this case, Aloha means goodbye

This time, the goodbye is for good.

Aloha is one of those words that could mean either hello or goobye.
For the better part of the last month, it meant both for Temple University's football team.
First, it meant hello.
Then it mean goodbye.
Then it meant hello again.
Now it means goodbye again.
This time, the parting seems to be final.
This was the release Temple University handed out today:

Hmm.
As late as Saturday, people "in the know" were optimistic a deal would be announced on Monday.
When Monday came and went, I had my doubts.
The "unforseen circumstances" had everything to do with the Benjamins. Unlike the Temple deal with the Eagles, $15 million for the 15-year contract, Hawaii has to pay Aloha Stadium $100K for every time the stadium opens up. Still, there is plenty of talk about Temple being able to make a bowl game as a 5-7 team due to the very real possibility there won't be enough 6-6 teams to fill the number of available bowl slots but I don't think that's even worth discussing at this point.
Unforseen circumstances on the Hawaii end seemed to be ironed out when the Warriors got permission from the NCAA to play the game on Dec. 7 in order to avoid a Dec. 8 conflict with Aloha Stadium but they spent the better part of two weeks crunching numbers that did not add up.
Speaking of numbers, I think it is a net minus for Temple football.
I would have liked to seen the Owls go out to Hawaii with a 5-6 record, finish at 6-6 for the regular season and a chance for a fourth-straight winning season.
That's not happening this year.
I would have also liked to have seen Temple with the extra few weeks of practice so that a "young team" can develop.
Really, the only positive that can come of this is that this gives three-time "National Recruiter of the Year" Steve Addazio a chance to work his magic in the two months between Nov. 23 and Feb. 4, national signing day.
That was one of the big reasons the university made a significant financial commitment to Daz along with a $10 million addition to an already relatively new $7 million facility.
If the Owls are able to beat out a lot of Kent States and UMass for their recruits, it won't mean much. If, on the other hand, the Owls are able to get guys with offers from Penn State, Michigan State and those type schools, it could be the significant talent injection this program needs.
Right now, though, the most important thing is to beat Army and, considering the results on the field over the last four weeks, that's far from a given.
To do that, the Owls need to say Aloha to the 75.9 percent run-on-first-down approach and Aloha to a few well-timed play-action passes on those same early downs.
No need for the definition of  those two Alohas now.

Disconnect between vision and reality

Daz promises this will get fixed, but he doesn't promise  it will get fixed by Saturday.

Bottom four teams in passing in FBS football.
Would more play-action passes on first down lift the Owls
out of that morass? Couldn't hurt.

Watch Steve Addazio's post-game press conferences the last four weeks and there appears to be, at least in my mind, a disconnect between vision and reality.
The reality is that Temple is a non-competitive football team right now as judged by the most objective meter: The scoreboard.
Addazio wasn't positively giddy in the post-game, but his positive vision based on these abominably bad outcomes is kind of an odd take.
This team hasn't been a good football team since after the UConn game and I think it's gotten a lot worse.
So much worse that I'm very worried about it being able to beat an Army team that got blown out by Stony Brook.
That's right. Stony Freaking Brook.
Army has gotten much better since Stony Brook, beating Boston College and blowing out a decent Air Force team.
Temple, on the other hand, looks lost out there and has nowhere near the swag it had against UConn and USF.

Temple fans have not had to endure a stretch like this since 2006.

Meanwhile, all over the country, teams with similar or worse talent than Temple are doing impressive things. Louisiana-Lafayette lost at Florida, 27-20, on a blocked punt with 36 seconds left. Ball State won at Toledo and also owns wins over Big East and Big 10 teams. Toledo beat the same Cincy team the Owls got blown out by on Saturday. Kent State beat Rutgers. Ohio beat Penn State.
If those teams can do great things, why can't Temple even stay in a game anymore?
After four straight weeks of devastating losses, I don't know if the Owls can get their swag back.
Young teams should be getting better, not worse, as the season rolls along but that hasn't happened here.
I know Temple's problems run much deeper than play-calling, but it appears to me that the Owls' coaches have been their own worst enemies in the play-calling department. Better play-calling, at least in my view, would have put momentum-changing early points on the scoreboard Saturday and a lot of other Saturdays. That problem dwarfs any other one the Owls might have.
Here are the Owls' first three plays against Cincy:

Run, Run, Run.
Yeah, I know it's a broken record. It's also a terribly unbalanced offense. No other BCS, FBS or FCS team operates an offense this way.
Even though I don't think Chris Coyer was tackled by Munchie Legaux (he's the Cincy backup quarterback), I've been writing all year until I'm blue in the face that this team is not equipped for that style of ball. I've been blue in the face and everywhere else for the last four weeks.

Here were my suggested first three plays against Cincy, published in a post last Monday:


TU25-Chris Coyer uses a play-action fake to Montel Harris to freeze the defense and rolls out and hits Ryan Alderman for a 6-yard gain near the sideline.
TU31-Coyer drops back to pass, then shovels it forward to Harris for an 8-yard gain.
TU39-Coyer runs right on a read option with Harris trailing. When the pitch guy goes for Harris, Coyer takes it upfield for +14, running out of bounds for ball security purposes.


First down has got to, at least SOMETIMES, be a play-action fake to Harris to freeze the defense and get a big gain in the passing game downfield. Then go back to the run. Instead,  Temple starts the game in this familiar pattern and it's no surprise that it failed.

Here are Temple's next three plays when it got the ball back:

Run, run, pass.
Incredible.
Talk about a buzzkill.
When you don't throw the ball on first and second down, you get forced to throw it on third and then everybody in the stadium (and especially the defense) knows what you are going  to do. Is it any wonder Temple quarterbacks don't get time to throw the ball?
Here were my suggested second three plays against Cincy:


TU25-Coyer drops back and hands off to Harris on the wraparound draw, good for +15
TU40-Coyer rolls out and finds Harris over the middle of the field, +10.
50-Coyer rolls out and DBs come up on run support so he floats the ball over DBs head to Fitzpatrick, who gains 20.

Run, Run, Run.Yeah, I know it's a broken record. It's also a terribly unbalanced offense. No other BCS, FBS or FCS team operates an offense this way

I think this package is a little more imaginative and a little harder to defend than Daz's or Ryan Day's (whoever was responsible). These are easy, confidence-building throws made away from a rush designed to get the QB in a rhythm.
But, as John Belushi might say, noooooooo, Temple's got to stay in a stuck pattern of run, run, run or run, run, pass.
Geez.
Meanwhile, after the game Addazio said he's confident this thing will turn around.
The quickest way to do that is not to appeal to the players' pride, but to be more creative in the offensive approach.
This team can only succeed if it spreads the ball around and makes teams defend the entire field.
That disconnect between vision and reality is almost as disturbing as the blowout losses have been but not nearly as hard to take as the unbelievably ill-conceived and stubborn play-calling week after week.

Fast Forward Friday: Two home games left

We called Matt Brown's opening kickoff return for six last week
 so now we're calling for Vaughn Carraway's first INT return 
for six since the Villanova game.

Weather should be great for penultimate home game.

As I sat in Rentschler Stadium on a beautiful October afternoon, I was drawn to a promotion on the scoreboard.
"Next home game: UConn vs. Pitt, Nov. 9."
"November 9 is the next home game here?" I said to the person sitting next to me. "That's a long way away."
In just another testimonial to how fleeting time is, Nov. 9 is here.
In another, that's the last time Temple got to enjoy a win.
In a third, there are only two home games left in Temple's football season.
I plan to make the most out of the experience.
I hope you do, too.
Owl fans are blessed to be in the Big East and are blessed to have had great weather days for home games this season.
I remember sitting in 32-degree weather in a November home 55-52 win over Eastern Michigan, so the 60-degree and sunny forecast for tomorrow is a blessing indeed. Hell is not supposed to be that cold but, believe me, Temple playing a directional Michigan school before an empty LFF on the day after Thanksgiving was pure Hell.

Both Brown taking the opening kickoff and it standing turned out to be true.

Those days are over, Thank God.
Most of all, I hope the team makes the most of their chance to redeem this season.
What to expect?
I have no idea, but I mused on another website before last week's game that it would be nice for Matt Brown to return the opening kickoff for six. He did, so I'm musing that it would be nice for Vaughn Carraway to make the most out of Munchie Legaux's penchant for interceptions by returning one for six this week.
Going into the season, I thought Temple had a chance to go 8-3 and I did not think the Owls would do worse than six wins.
What happened?
Some injuries and a couple of big suspensions and an under-performing defensive line and secondary and drops and turnovers.
Basically, everything.
To get to six wins now, though, they will have to sweep the remaining November games or win two  Nov. games and the proposed Dec. 7 not-so-sneak attack on Honolulu.
That's a long way away in more ways than one.
If the Owls traverse that time and distance, what awaits is the greatest bowl game in Temple history. A six-win Big East team always goes to a bowl that trumps any 10-win MAC team so Temple fans at least have that hope to hang onto.
And the great weather.
Only two home games left.
Here's hoping the fans and the team make the most of it.

Picks last week: Only a half point stopped me from going 3-1 against the spread last week. Buffalo won by 3, instead of 3 1/2.
Last week: 3-1 overall, 2-2 ATS.
Overall: 14-7, ATS 11-10.
This week:  (All from spreads in USA Today) Although my overall record probably will take a hit this week, I like a lot of high-value underdogs to pump up the ATS record. ARMY getting 18 at Rutgers; MIAMI (FLA.) getting 1 at Virginia; VANDY getting 3 at Mississippi; GEORGIA TECH getting 9 at North Carolina; BUFFALO getting 2 1/2 at home vs. Western Michigan. Only like one favorite: TULSA giving 2 at Houston.
Reasoning: Trends over the last 3 games show all of the underdogs playing their best ball of the season and Tulsa has been a solid play all year, thanks largely to the nation's leading sack attack.

Tomorrow: No story, but complete analysis of the game on Sunday