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Hate Mail Today: VY Style.

It's been a while since the last installment of Hate Mail. But there's been a lot over the past year.

So, let's get right to it, then. The airing of grievances!

Most recently, Bill Plaxton sent this gem, I suppose in response to this amazingly prescient post, made prior to the end of the 2005 college football regular season, which declared Vince Young more worthy for the Heisman than Reggie "Illegal Benefits" Bush.

Here's Bill Plaxton's email:

from rj102990@yahoo.com
to willisms@gmail.com
date Dec 12, 2006 2:17 PM
subject Bush vs Young
signed-by yahoo.com
mailed-by yahoo.com

No offense, but that was the most idiotic drivel that I have ever laid eyes on. You cant even compare the two first off, because one is a RB while the other is a QB. Second, you state that Young had more yards and touchdowns than Bush. Well no shit! A quarterback SHOULD have more yards and touchdowns than a running back. A quarterback has many more oppertunities to score or gain yards. It helps if you can run the ball too. I am not saying this because I am a USC fan, because I am a Buckeye fan. I am saying this because Bush deserved the Heisman. He was the best player and most electrifying player in 2005.

No offense, Bill, but your email is one the dumbest things I have ever read in my entire life. Your email contains internal inconsistencies, and you fatally contradict yourself. The only explanation for such embarrassing idiocy is that you must have actually written it one year ago, December 12, 2005, at the height of the ESPN + Reggie = love affair and before the Rose Bowl, but somehow you forgot to press "send" until today.

No offense, Bill, but countless Heisman voters watched this game ...

... and recanted their erroneous votes for Reggie Bush. They had realized the error of their ways.

Unfortunately, it took an otherworldly performance in the most hyped college football game of all time to open people's eyes, when, really, the evidence was there all along.

It wasn't a flash-in-the-pan one time sort of performance, either. Vince, in the Rose Bowl, just did what Vince does:

Not only did Vince Young have the greatest year any college football player has ever had in 2005, statistically-speaking, he also owned Reggie Bush head-to-head when it mattered most.

Just a final recap of the statistics:

Why even compare stats this way? Well, because back in November/December 2005, when ESPN was in the middle of its full court press lobbying job for Reggie Bush, there were all sorts of comments about Reggie Bush's amazing "all purpose yards" (fewer total yards than Vince, that's for sure) and how great he was at returning kickoffs and punts (final national rankings of 38th and 77th, respectively), how awesome he was at receiving (not even ranked, nationally), how he could score every time he touched the ball (actually, and this one directly rebuts the Bill Plaxton's assertion that Vince Young did more because he had more touches: a TD every 14.4 times Reggie touched the ball, versus a TD every 12.6 times Vince touched the ball) from anywhere on the field (a weak 1.46 TD per game for Reggie), and so on and so forth. The numbers simply never supported any of the ESPN talking/lobbying points.

In terms of intangibles (leadership, making teammates better, meaning the most to your team, etc.) not measured by statistics, Vince Young beat Reggie Bush there, too. In terms of showing some consistency over more than a single year, Vince owned Reggie. In terms of this "most electrifying player" mumbo-jumbo, I've seen plenty of running backs, receivers, and kick returners all do much more amazing things on the field than Reggie Bush did last year. But for a QB to not only rank in the top 3 nationally in pass rating AND get over a thousand yards rushing on the season-- that was and still is unprecedented. Vince Young did things no quarterback has ever done, and not just statistically. His highlight reel contained just as many jaw-dropping moments as Reggie Bush's.

I had thought this matter had been put to bed on January 4, 2006, but because there apparently are some stragglers holding out in caves fighting for Emperor Tojo who still believe Reggie Bush was a better college football player than Vince Young, this post apparently was still needed in the world.

Even if you still think Reggie Bush was marginally better than Vince Young (because he is a shiftier runner, and therefore more "exciting," perhaps?), you have to admit that it was completely absurd for Reggie Bush to win in such a landslide, with a record* margin of victory (*also reported by ESPN, so take it with a grain of salt), over the greatest college football player in history.

For the sportsularly-challenged readers of this blog, think of the media bias in politics this year. It was far more slanted last year leading up to the Heisman vote, in favor of Reggie Bush. Far more.

Just for reference, before we stray too far from the topic of statistics, this year's Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith, who, like Reggie Bush, also took illegal benefits to play college football (anyone else noticing a trend, here) has 233 yards rushing, 1 rushing TD, 2507 yards passing, and 30 passing TDs this year.

He'll need 7 TDs (rushing and/or passing), 529 yards passing, and 817 yards rushing against Florida to reach Vince Young levels.

So, Bill Plaxton, no offense, but next time, if you are going to call someone out for writing "idiotic drivel," you might want to make sure that that person is not rubber and you're not glue, because your email bounced right off of me and is now sticking to you.

No offense, of course.

-----------------------------------------------------

Much more juicy hate mail to come, including one from an almost-in-law (oh, does that hook you in?), in the next few days.

Posted by Will Franklin · 12 December 2006 06:08 PM

Comments

Posted by: zsa zsa at December 12, 2006 07:11 PM

Posted by: Ken McCracken at December 12, 2006 08:54 PM

Posted by: zsa zsa at December 13, 2006 09:08 AM