HEISMAN WATCH 2010: Showdown Of Top Candidates Set For Today

The eyes of the College Football award-giving world will be set on Pullman this afternoon (so long as they live in Oregon or Clark County, Washington).  Two of the game's most dynamic players will square off in a matchup that will certainly have an impact on Heisman voters.

Of course, if those voters are swayed by this one day rather than looking at the season as a whole, then they are complete and total morons and should have their voting privileges revoked.  Not just for the Heisman, but voting privileges across all walks of life.  Want to vote in the November midterm election! NEVER.  Want to text in for your favorite American Idol contestant?  Get the F#@$ out of here.  Want to casually weigh in on that poll at the bottom corner of your web browser? Blocked.  I KNOW WHO YOU ARE HEISMAN VOTERS AND WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

I reviewed earlier in the season why Reid Forrest is so much better than all other running backs, including LaMichael James of Oregon.  Even with LaMichael's torrid start, he still cannot match the effectiveness of Mr. Forrest.  So regardless of what he does today, he will simply be not enough to the match the awesome that Reid has already compiled.

So, while this clash may be hyped by those keeping a close eye on the Heisman race, just remember that Reid already finished the race while all the other candidates were still in the starting blocks.  This Heisman "battle" will have about as much impact on the award as the Battle of New Orleans had on the outcome of the War of 1812.

Now, I'll switch gears for a moment to something that has become something of a regular occurrence during the campaign: Debunking falsities perpetuated in the mass media.

Today's article comes from none other than everyone's favorite beat writer, Vince Grippi. (click the jump)

Earlier this week, he wrote a piece lauding the work of punters in the Pac-10 entitled "Pac-10's super punters give conference leg up."

When I first read that title, I thought it was a misprint. Clearly he meant to make punter singular there. I'm not one to throw throw around superlatives like "super" for just anyone, and seeing as I hold great respect for the work of Mr. Grippi, I figured he would not either.  I assumed this article was just another in a stream of Reid Forrest tributes that will culminate at the Heisman Trophy award ceremony.

Turns out I was wrong.  The story goes on to talk about all sorts of other Pac-10 punters, none of whom can match the impact Reid has on a game.  From the third paragraph:

Four of the top 14 punters in the NCAA statistics kick in the conference. Arizona State’s Trevor Hankins, who is averaging a hard-to-believe 50.74 yards for each of his 19 punts, is more than 2 yards ahead of anyone else in the nation.

50.74 yards a punt? So what? What else does he bring to the table?  What do his Awesomeness and REID stats look like? Not good, I'll tell you that much.  I know that you generally don't use advanced stats in your writing Vince, but I have to say you're really shooting yourself in the foot here by quoting these meaningless "yards per punt" numbers."  Not only did your story suffer, but the Reid Forrest for Heisman campaign suffers as well.  Get on board, Grippi!

I continued to scour the article for any sort of mention of our candidate, and it took until almost the end before I found this nugget:

Washington State senior Reid Forrest is having his best season, averaging 44.9 yards per punt, with 10 covering more than 50 yards, second only to Hankins (12) in the conference. But Forrest’s career-best average is only good enough for fifth in the conference stats.

Sure Vince, I guess you are correct.  It is only good for fifth in the conference "stats."  If you want to stick with these archaic "stats" he is only good enough for fifth. 

Completely ridiculous.  Reid Forrest is fifth to nobody in anything relevant.  You're just making my job harder, Vince.  I would expect this from some other writer who does not get to watch Reid on a daily basis in practice, but from you?  Just disappointing.

Luckily, this is nothing but a minor speed bump on the road to glory for Reid.  His performance will continue to impress and voters will be left with no choice by the end of the season.  No amount of misguided journalism can change that.

REID FORREST FOR HEISMAN