Tightwad Hill

ANATOMY OF A HEISMAN CAMPAIGN

Cal's never done too well in the Heisman voting (of course, we haven't had many candidates):

* Chuck Muncie - second in 1975 (Heisman winner: Archie Griffin, Ohio State)
* Jackie Jensen - fourth in 1948 (Doak Walker, SMU)
* Joe Kapp - fifth in 1958 (Pete Dawkins, Army)
* Paul Larson - fifth in 1955 (Howard Cassady, Ohio State)
* Vic Bottari - fifth in 1938 (Davey O'Brien, TCU)
* Craig Morton - seventh in 1964 (John Huarte, Notre Dame)
* Joe Roth - ninth in 1976 (Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh)
* Steve Bartkowski - tenth in 1974 (Archie Griffin, Ohio State)

Other than Muncie, who got absolutely screwed by the usual media laziness and regional bias, none of these candidates was particularly close to winning (or should have been). Heisman Pundit has a terrific writeup of the injustice of the 1975 Heisman race here.

Cal won't win it this year, either - Ohio State's Troy Smith looks to have the Heisman in his back pocket unless he a) gets arrested or b) throws seven picks against Michigan. But the question is, can Cal junior RB Marshawn Lynch get an invitation to Nueva York for the big Heisman shindig? HP sees him finishing sixth if the vote were taken today, and only the top 5 get airfare and lodging.

Heisman campaigns are about glitz, SID-generated swag and websites nowadays. Cal has put up a Lynch for Heisman site (http://marshawn10.com) which is pretty underwhelming considering the comp sci chops at a school like Cal. It's downright embarrassing when Rutgers puts together a much flashier and more informative site for a guy who isn't even a candidate. At least Auburn's site for Kenny Irons is appropriately primitive and full of fluff (did you know he won the off-season conditioning award in 2005?!?). Ohio State couldn't even bother putting a dedicated site together for Smith, since he's already been anointed the favorite.

posted by Tightwad @ 10:28 AM