Herbie’s Picks and million dollar locks

If there’s any worth in Kirk Herbstreit’s 2010 picks, then the Pac 10 will be one of the most exciting conferences to watch this season. The ESPN college football analyst revealed his 10^th annual Herbie Awards, and three of the five players listed as “most exciting” hail from the Pac. Appearing in order, they are Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon’s LaMichael James, and Washington’s Jake Locker.

Herbie also listed USC’s Ronald Johnson as a player ready to take it to the next level, and Dillon Baxter as the top true freshman. On the downside, no Trojans appear on the “All Herbie Team”, and Southern California is the conference pick most likely to disappoint, while UCLA is penciled in as a sleeper.

The Beavers actually received a lot of love, and Mike Riley was slotted as the most underrated coach in the country. I agree with this in part, considering his program has far less funding than other conference powers, but he’s also notorious for slow starts. Unfortunately, Herbstreit also listing Houston Nutt as one of the most underrated coaches leads me to ignore and toss out the category completely.

How much are individual ratings worth? Despite an Oregon State presence in several of the categories, the Beavers will walk into the opener against TCU as a 13 point dog. I guess it’s fair to say that in Vegas Herbie’s aren’t worth the paper it’s written on, considering the Horned Frogs have poor representation in Herbstreit’s groups.

I must also point out that he dropped the ball in listing his choices for “hardest hitters”. The one that got away, Manti Te’o, is among the five. But absent from the list is the other one that got away, Vontaze Burfict. The verbally committed Trojan that suddenly turned Sun Devil is one of the hardest hitting players in the game.

Nest Egg

Best hair wasn’t one of Herbie’s categories, but be it college or pro, Troy Polamalu’s bird’s nest has the best coverage. The Pro Bowl safety is working his way back from a knee that sidelined him a year ago, but it’s a $1 million insurance policy on his locks of hair that’s making headlines.

The Proctor and Gamble investment is now protected, and if for some reason Polamalu experiences 66 percent hair loss over the next seven months, he can collect a cool million. I suppose you’re wondering how he could lose that much hair during the period, excluding voluntary methods such as haircuts. If you may recall, Michael Jackson was once told he needed only to step on stage and sing into the mic while Pepsi’s pyrotechnics were triggered in the background. A mic, explosives, a cry for Tito, and —voila!—sudden and involuntary hair loss!

Not that Troy will be taking the stage to sing Labor Day Karaoke before a Red Devil audience, but I’m just pointing out one example of how it could happen, even if there is a 99.99 percent chance that it won’t.

The former Trojan had to have his scalp examined before the Lloyd’s of London policy could be approved. The results showed his scalp to be 100 percent healthy, and why wouldn’t it be? Aren’t his follicles “Head and Shoulders” above the rest?

Notes, of course:

One of the biggest football stories of the weekend was USC’s indefinite suspension of Patrick Hall. The St. Bonaventure product was one of the top recruits of the ’09 class, but ligament damage would have shelved him for the upcoming season. Each gavel pounding reminds us of the change in command and the project of reshaping the Trojans’ distorted image. Typical of all reports similar to this one, there were no specifics given for Hall’s dismissal.

I find it interesting that a convict is attempting to topple another college football Power. First it was Lloyd Lake and the upending of USC. Now you have former Miami booster and current jailbird, Nevin Shapiro, attempting to bring down the “U”. There is a reason I find this interesting, because what are the odds that a player would flee one program because of sanctions just to end up at another receiving the same. Such would be the case for Seantrel Henderson, if the pages of Nevino’s book can hold the interest of the NCAA.