By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Dec 10, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET As Jews around the county join with their families to celebrate the Festival of Lights, I wrote an essay for The Times of Israel celebrating the song that made Chanukah cool, and saved American Jewry (sort of…). Here’s an excerpt:
It was easy to understand why so many U.S. Jews – particularly our youngest – took refuge by fading into the multi-colored fabric of secularized Christianity that enveloped American culture. With Gentile discrimination so diffuse and subtle, the only remaining strident enemy in the 3,000-year battle for Jewish survival was, in fact, ourselves.
But then the 1990s brought forth a modern-day Judah Maccabee: Adam Sandler.
OK, I exaggerate just a little.
What the ’90s did bring was an army of modern Maccabees, in the form of prominent, familiar, likable Jews thrust into the pop media spotlight: Jews that were both clearly identifiable and proud of being both American and Jewish.
This helped produce a sea change in Christian Americans’ acceptance of their Jewish neighbors. In the vast center of the country where few Jews lived, ignorance previously had bred distrust and suspicion. Now, through the magic of television – and shows such as Northern Exposure,Beverly Hills 90210, Friends, and most prominently, Seinfeld – Jewish comedians, actors, and characters entered the living rooms of middle America. Rural citizens who’d never met a Jew before now “knew” dozens, and understood that “they were just like us” – maybe a bit wackier.
Just as significant was the impact on Jewish Americans. We could now hold our heads up a bit higher, feel a little more comfortable to publicly pronounce our faith. We were now the tellers of Jewish jokes, alternatively wry and self-deprecating, instead of divisive and mean-spirited.
It was a phenomenon that Jonathan Alter – in his famous 2000Newsweek cover piece heralding Joe Lieberman’s history-making Vice-Presidential candidacy – labeled the “Seinfeldizing of America.”
And at its epicenter in 1994 was a hastily produced, three-and-a-half minute musical segment on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.”
And enjoy the song that started it all…
By RP Staff, on Mon Dec 10, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET  The combatants: The RP, JYB3(w/Ali) & Josh) The RP vs. JYB3. Mano y mano.
Or should we say metrosexualia y metrosexualia?
Below, The RP and JYB3 share their personal fitness goals as part of this elite competition. And later this week, we will hear from their trainer — our web site’s own fitness expert, Josh Bowen.
Click here to watch a video with the official rules of the challenge. (SPOILER ALERT: Everyone’s a loser!)
And stay tuned for many exciting developments in the challenge — where you can join the combatants, and when you can win valuable prizes.
We encourage you to pick sides: We fully expect #TeamRP and #TeamJYB3 to trend on Twitter, blow up Facebook, and do whatever to Pinterest that Pinterest does.
Anyway, here are the big losers themselves:
===
JYB3 (#TeamJYB3)
 JYB3 BEFORE I am announcing it to friends and family and anyone else who will listen.
I’m serious this time.
It’s not a New Year’s resolution. Just a December 8th start date. I’m not sure when the end date is. But it won’t be until 2013. And here’s what I’m going to do.
LOSE 15 POUNDS.
(or at least 10 pounds)
Jonathan Miller has challenged me and I told him, in no uncertain words, “I like the idea conceptually, but the working out part concerned me and make me reluctant at first. But I’m in. I’m all in. I mean I’m in. I’ll do it. I guess.”
So “It’s on!” And today is the day. Or maybe it’s tomorrow. We weren’t really clear on that. But what is clear is that I am committed to losing 15 pounds. (Or at least 10).
====
I’ve been asked for a “Before” picture. To show beside my “after” picture once I’m through. That assumes two things: 1) I’ll actually finish this commitment and 2) that the “after” picture will actually be distinguishable for the “before” picture.
What I would like to do instead of a “before and after picture” is to reserve the option of
having two “after” pictures, assuming things go well. And a written “before” depiction for comparison purposes. (In addition to the “after” pictures, both of them, if it goes well), I will include a brief narrative description as well.
So, here, goes.
 Seth Rogen shirtless John Y Brown III (Before Description). Imagine Seth Rogan on a beach somewhere without a shirt and nearly knee length baggy shorts. But picture him about two inches shorter and with a slight Southern accent. Eating a Krispy Kreme donut. (I’d say imagine him 7 pounds lighter than he is in the movies….but because the camera adds about 10 pounds, instead imagine him about 3 pounds heavier than he is in real life and not on camera. Or if that’s too difficult because you are struggling to imagine Seth Rogen off camera and 10 pounds lighter, just go ahead and imagine him like in his movies buy 7 pounds lighter. (Just slightly less accurate that way because the added 10 pounds caused by the camera is inexact. But it’s close enough. If you’ve followed this description closely, you have a pretty good idea now of what my “before” picture looks like.
Or, for a simpler image. Just imagine Seth Rogan (movie not real life) shirtless and eating a Krispy Kreme donut. Minus 7.2 pounds (I’m factoring in the donut). And don’t imagine a Speedo. That’s not fair to anyone.
====
THE RP (#TeamRP)
 The RP BEFORE About a decade ago, I started training with the extraordinary Josh Bowen. He pushed, bullied and harangued me into shape. By the time we were done, I weighed 175 lbs and was — with no exaggeration — in the best shape of my life.
After a few years, I thought that I had learned all I could from my guru, my fitness sherpa. I continued hitting the gym, this time by myself, using all the advice Josh had given me. A few years later, I was roughly in the same shape.
Then I got greedy, and exercised too hard and did something (used the elliptical in wrong form? put too much weight on the leg press?) that led to a bulging disk in my lower back. My exercise routine shut down as I went to all sorts of places for treatment — doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors, acupuncture, drum circles, etc.
 The RP BEFORE BEFORE. Posing with Josh in 2005 Finally, I listened to my wife, found a Yoga instructor, whose stretching and strength routine helped ease the pain. Thank you to the marvelous David and Erin Smith of the Om Place in Winchester!
But without exercising regularly, I gained a bunch of weight. Then I lost it, worked out too hard, hurt myself and gained a bunch of weight again. I simply have never been able to figure out the right balance of working out hard enough to lose weight, but not too hard to hurt myself.
In the meantime, I aged. I developed both borderline high blood pressure and the same stomach acid problem that plagued my dad. I’m on acid blockers, but for both of my conditions, my doctor was insistent: I have to lose at least 10 pounds.
I’m at 190 now. I need to be at maximum 180. I’d love to get down to 175 — where I felt best — but losing those final 5 pounds by myself always led to other physical problems.
So, I’m back to the master for help.
I eat pretty well, but could always use some nutrition tips. But really, I am looking to Josh for a weight-losing exercise program that will not exacerbate my disk problem.
And I look forward to sharing with the RP Nation.
Read the rest of…
The RP vs. JYB3 — An EPIC Fitness Challenge
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Dec 7, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
 We’re truly standing on the precipice of the fiscal cliff. Our leaders have known about this problem since August 2011, and now, with less than a month left, they’re barely even in Washington. They’re flying in Tuesday morning, taking a train out Thursday night, and they only plan on staying in session four more days.
Join us in sending a message to our leaders in Washington: it’s time to park the planes, stop the trains and get the job done. We don’t have much time left — act now!
My colleagues Mark and Bill sent you our call for leadership on Tuesday. Now, it’s time for us to demand more from our leaders.
We’re facing a real crisis with the fiscal cliff — yet our elected officials are traveling around the country playing political games.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Dec 6, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET Must read book review by Ashley Fetters at Atlantic.com about what’s bound to be my next Kindle purchase: Alan Light’s The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah.” Here’s an excerpt:
Click here to review/purchase book
Pop standards don’t really get written anymore. Most of the best-known standards were composed before the arrival of rock and roll; perhaps something about the new brand of mass-marketed, Ed Sullivan-fueled stardom just didn’t quite jive with the generous old-world tradition of passing songs around the circuit, offering to share.
So when an obscure Leonard Cohen song from 1984 was resurrected in the ’90s, then repurposed and reinvented by other artists so many times it became a latter-day secular hymn—well, that was kind of like a pop-music unicorn sighting.
Alan Light’s new book The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” traces the bizarre cultural history of that very unicorn: “Hallelujah,” a song that lay dormant in Cohen’s vast repertoire for more than a decade before its popularity surged up again with a posthumous Jeff Buckley single. “Hallelujah” has metamorphosed over the years from a cheesy, reverb-heavy B-side oddity on an album Cohen’s label rejected to a mystical, soul-stirring pop canticle that’s played today at just as many weddings as funerals. Light reverentially details every stage in the evolution—and along the way, he reveals the compelling stories behind some of its most iconic interpretations.
Click here to read the full review.
So what’s your favorite version? The original Leonard Cohen? The Jeff Buckley masterpiece that made it famous? The mournful use of the song in Shrek 2 or the third season of The O.C.?
I will go first: As I reluctantly admitted in my column last year, Top 5 Pretty Boys I Begrudgingly Admire, I’m a closet J.T. fan, and his gritty collaboration with Matt Morris at the 2010 “Hope for Haiti Now” benefit concert is my second favorite performance in the Timberlake portfolio. (Behind, of course, his globally significantwork on The Barry Gibb Talk Show.)
Please share your favorite in the comments section. And to guide your selection, we’ve posted some videos below of the most popular renditions:
Read the rest of…
What’s Your Favorite “Hallelujah”? Listen & Vote Here
By RP Staff, on Wed Dec 5, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET As we near our fiscal cliff deadline, No Labels co-founders Mark Mckinnon and William Gallston are issuing a new list of principles the House speaker and the President should consider when discussing our nation’s most pressing problem. As they note, in a Daily Beast column entitled, “With the Fiscal Cliff Looming, It’s Time to Take Politics Off the Table,” Americans are ready for “a rebirth of leadership” in Washington, one that puts an end to the partisan bickering and includes a steadfast commitment to problem-solving.
Write McKinnon and Gallston: “Only once in the past four years have Democrats and Republicans made significant progress toward an agreement—when President Obama and House Speaker Boehner met behind closed doors, with everything on the table.” That’s a lot of talk for very little progress.
That’s why on January 14, 2013, at the Marriott Marquis in New York, NY, No Labels will host a meeting titled, “Meeting to Make America Work,” to discuss how we can move forward on problem solving in Washington. At the meeting, No Labels will unveil two national leaders – one Republican, one Democrat – who will help guide the movement in 2013 and the organization will introduce a group of congressional Members who have signed on as members of the “Problem Solvers Bloc” in Congress. To RSVP to the January meeting, please send an email to January14@NEWPARTNERS.COM. For more information about the meeting visit http://meetforamerica.com/.
No Labels supports a range of common-sense proposals designed to reinvigorate problem-solving in Washington. Among them include the set of principles highlighted in today’s Daily Beast column:
“Tell the people the full truth. It’s time to stop playing around with budget baselines and phantom budget cuts. Stop pretending that small changes can meet big challenges. Tell us how big the problem is (including unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and federal employee future retirement benefits not shown “on the books”) and how much different approaches can contribute to solving it. Use charts, graphs, and language that citizens can understand. And once and for all, agree on the facts, so that we can spend our time on the real issues.
“Govern for the future. What’s at stake in the budget debate is nothing less than growth, opportunity, and fairness for all citizens. If we want to preserve our tradition of innovation and upward mobility, we must remove the uncertainty that hovers over our economy. And if we want to retain our global leadership, which has done so much to build peace and prosperity, we must convince other nations that we have regained the capacity to overcome our differences and govern ourselves once more.
“Put the country first. The election of 2012 is over. It’s time to stop wrestling for partisan advantage. Yes, there are sincere differences about what we must do to promote the national interest. But deep down, most of our leaders know that no one has a monopoly on wisdom or virtue. It’s time for them all to negotiate with a measure of humility.
“Take responsibility. We can argue forever about who is responsible for our current plight, but that won’t help us end it. Our elected officials have been charged with a grave responsibility—to make the decisions that will shape our future. No one can do it for them—not pollsters, not blue-ribbon commissions, not even elections. Our officials cannot escape their responsibility, and they should not evade it. The point is not to blame the other side for failure; the point is to succeed.
“Finally: work together. While each party can thwart the other’s plans, neither can impose its will on the other. Relearning the art of working across party lines is the only way of doing the people’s business. During the past generation, the parties cooperated and compromised to save Social Security, reform the tax code, and balance the budget. Yes, it’s harder than it once was: partisan divisions are deeper, and trust has all but disappeared. But that doesn’t change the basic fact that there are only two options: bipartisan compromise and success, or partisan gridlock and failure. There is no third choice, and it’s time for our leaders—all of them—to stop pretending that there is.
“Officials in both parties must level with their most fervent supporters: no matter how deeply we believe that we are right, we can’t get everything we want. And the longer we try to, the worse it will be for the country.
“It’s time for real leadership. And that means it’s time for truth.”
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Tue Dec 4, 2012 at 2:24 PM ET The Politics of Laughter
This is just fantastic. The thought of being the original guy in the story makes me cringe. [Huffington Post]
Nostradamus on the phenomenon that is Psy [picture]
This is sort of incredible – Micki Minaj slowed down sounds almost exactly like Jay Z. I kind of like these a lot. [Soundcloud]
You had one job, little girl. [gif]
It’s perfect [comic]
Trolling your neighbors [picture]
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Dec 3, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET We’re proud to announce The RP’s latest gig — a semi-regular columnist for The Times of Israel. As the Jewish State finds itself in the headlines following the Gaza conflict and Palestinian maneuvers before the United Nations, The RP dispels the myth of Israel’s illegitimacy being pounded by the mostly-liberal Blame Israel First crowd.
Here’s an excerpt:
My column last week in The Huffington Post, “Why My Fellow Liberals Should Support Israel in Her Conflict with Hamas,” provoked the predictable hackles from the Blame Israel First crowd.
Within their excuses and rationalizations for the Hamas regime’s abhorrent actions — such as the targeting of Israeli civilians and the employment of Palestinian human shields — ran a familiar argument: That all means are justified, since the Jewish State is legally and morally illegitimate.
You may have heard their historical narrative: The Great Western powers, triumphantly basking in the aftermath of World War II, were paralyzed with guilt for their failure to prevent history’s most horrifying genocide. The Allies decided to resolve the “Jewish problem” by carving up the Arab-dominated Palestine to create a Jewish State because of the Chosen People’s mythical, Biblical ties to the land. Just as with the imperialist colonization of Africa and Asia; here, white-skinned, European, self-important and self-righteous conquerors patronizingly tried to “civilize” — and, if that failed, they’d violently displace — dark-skinned, indigenous peoples… all along ironically justifying their actions as a pursuit of justice and freedom and democracy.
 It’s a powerful story that tugs at the heartstrings and plays to the deepest biases of many American liberals. For most progressives, our foreign policy worldview was defined by Vietnam, during which the old liberal guard launched a misguided quest to further the cause of global freedom, resulting instead in the inexcusable loss of hundreds of thousands of lives — mostly innocent, native Southeast Asians. The mindset was reinforced more recently in Iraq, where a neo-con Bush/Cheney Administration played upon popular insecurities to wage an unnecessary and brutal war under the false pretenses of promoting democracy.
And hey, what liberal doesn’t love a good underdog story; whether it’s a minority group championing civil rights, or a tiny nation battling an imperial power?
It’s no wonder that this Bizarro-Bible myth of Israel as Goliath and Palestine as David plays smack dab into the liberal wheelhouse. And it confirms to some progressives that it’s the Israeli imperialists — greedily grasping onto their colonial territories — who are the key obstacle to peace in the Middle East.
The trouble with this narrative is that it’s entirely untrue.
Whether or not you believe that the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and/or the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) should be accepted as literally true — I don’t — it’s important to understand that for millennia, Jews and Christians have proclaimed Israel as their ancestral homeland. The city of Jerusalem and the land of Zion are mentioned more than 800 times in the Hebrew Bible, and in over 100 instances in the Christian Scriptures. Contrast that with the Koran; even though Jerusalem is spiritually significant for Muslims, the city is never mentioned in Islam’s holiest text.
But even those who reject any discussion of the holy books in this context must concede that the objective, independent historical and archaeological evidence is overwhelming: There has been a sustained and vibrant Jewish presence in the land of Israel for thousands of years.
Over the past few centuries, archaeologists have made a series of extraordinary discoveries that establish that a distinctive Jewish religion and culture was developed around 4,000 years ago in Israel, and that Biblical figures such as David, Solomon and Jesus were the focus of considerable attention by the Jews of antiquity within Jerusalem and throughout the holy land. Further, Martin Gilbert, a widely-respected historian, has demonstrated, through a dispassionate examination of the historical record, that for more than 1600 years, Jews formed the “main settled population” of what now is considered the modern state of Israel.
Click here to read the full article.
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Nov 30, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET The RP sent the following op-ed to hundreds of college newspapers on behalf of No Labels.
You may have more in common with your member of Congress than you think, especially around this time of year.
Students and lawmakers alike want to finish up the year and head home for the holidays.
But there’s a final exam standing between Congress and Christmas — and America’s citizens are ready to give the body an “F” if it doesn’t pass. That exam is coming in the form of the “fiscal cliff” — the combination of arbitrary, automatic, across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases coming at the end of the year that could cripple the economy.
It all started last year when Congress picked 12 of its members to try to find a deal to secure America’s long-term financial future. Consumer confidence had dropped dramatically and a credit ratings agency dropped our country’s rating. It seemed the only thing that could make members of both parties work across the aisle was an alternative so terrible that it would be untenable to both parties.
That alternative is coming closer and closer to reality — and unfortunately, it is your generation that will have to pay the highest price. The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that if we do not avoid the fiscal cliff, the $7 trillion combination of spending cuts and tax increases could send the economy hurtling back into recession for years to come. Unemployment, especially among young people, will rise even further. Education will suffer among the harshest spending cuts, losing about $4.8 billion in funding.
Our leaders have had more than three years to address these issues — imagine if you had that long to prepare for a test. Yet rather than hunkering down in the library, or in their case the Capitol Building, to solve this crisis, leaders of each side aren’t even meeting right now to talk about what’s going on. How is this going to solve anything? We need real solutions. These solutions begin with both parties understanding that they need to work together to stave off this crisis.
No Labels — a growing grassroots movement of more than 600,000 Republicans, Democrats and independents — is working to facilitate just this kind of cooperation. Since last year, we’ve been advocating for leaders in all negotiations to put everything on the table and ensure all interested parties are at the table. You can be a part of this movement and sign on at NoLabels.org These solutions can also help fix the underlying problem: the way Washington does business. We need to find real and permanent ways for our leaders to come together to govern for the future. Because our nation’s financial situation is not the only problem America faces. We need our leaders to come together and find solutions in immigration, energy and infrastructure policy.
As Washington’s current stalemate has shown, we can’t afford to wait for Congress to find bold, pragmatic across-the-aisle solutions. Changing Washington won’t happen quickly. But even you would have a hard time cramming three years worth of work into one night. What we can do now is commit ourselves, and hold our elected officials accountable, to the idea that progress is only made when our common national interest is the priority. And that is what No Labels is all about.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Nov 27, 2012 at 1:49 PM ET
A hearty Big Blue Nation welcome to the University of Kentucky’s new football coach, Mark Stoops!
So reports Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio:
From the Wikipedia tubes:
Mark Stoops (born July 9, 1967) is an Americanfootballcoach who is the defensive coordinator at Florida State University.
Stoops, one of six children born to Ron and Evelyn “Dee Dee” Stoops, attended Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio, where his father was an assistant coach and defensive coordinator.[1][2]
After high school Stoops played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1986-1988.[3]
Coaching career
He was a graduate assistant coach at Iowa from 1989–1991, and then became the athletic director and defensive backs coach at Nordonia High School in Macedonia, Ohio (1992–1995).[4][5]
In 1996, when Kansas State assistant Jim Leavitt was hired as the head coach for the South Florida Bulls, he hired Stoops as defensive backs coach.[4][6]
He served as the defensive backs coach for the University of WyomingCowboys from 1997-1999.[7]
At Wyoming he served under head coach Dana Dimel. When Dimel was hired at the University of Houston, he took Stoops with him to join the Cougars as co-defensive coordinator (along with Dick Bumpas) and safeties coach in 2000.[8]
In February 2001 he was named the defensive backs coach for the University of MiamiHurricanes, replacing Chuck Pagano, who left to go to the Cleveland Browns.[9]
Mark’s brother Mike was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats for the 2004 season. Mike then hired Mark as part of his staff.[10]
On December 11, 2009, Mark Stoops accepted the job to be defensive coordinator at The Florida State University.[11]
From Seminoles.com:
The Stoops File Birthdate: July 9, 1967 Hometown:Youngstown, OH High School: Cardinal Mooney College: Iowa Family: wife, Chantel; sons, Will and Zack
Coaching Background
• Mark Stoops is in his 23rd season of coaching and his third year as Florida State’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach. Hired by Jimbo Fisher in January of 2010 to replace the venerable Mickey Andrews, Stoops came to FSU from Arizona, where he spent six seasons serving the Wildcats in the same capacity under his brother head coach Mike Stoops. He is also the brother of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops.
• Stoops transformed Florida State’s defense into one of the nation’s best in 2011. FSU allowed its opponents to run for an average of just 2.35 yards per carry, which led the nation. The Seminoles ranked fourth nationally in total defense (275.0), second in rushing defense (82.69), fourth in scoring defense (15.1), eighth in tackles for loss (8.62) and tied for eighth in sacks (3.08 per game). His secondary ranked 20th in pass defense and 25th in pass efficiency defense. The Seminoles led the ACC in eight different defensive categories. Linebacker Nigel Bradham capped off his career leading the Seminoles in tackles for the third straight year – becoming the first Seminole since Marvin Jones to accomplish that feat. He ochestrated a defense that featured one of the deepest defensive line rotations highlighted by defensive ends Brandon Jenkins, Bjoern Werner and Cornellius Carradine who combined for 20.5 sacks, 31 tackles for loss, 14 quarterback hurries and nine pass breakups. The middle of the line featured stout tackles Everett Dawkins, Anthony McCloud and Freshman All-American Timmy Jernigan who combined for 14 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and a remarkable 80 tackles. With nine starters returning in 2012, the Seminole defense again figures to be among the nation’s best.
• Stoops is credited with overhauling the Seminoles’ defense in his first season as Florida State’s defensive coordinator in 2010. The `Noles yielded 19.6 points per game which was third best in the ACC and 20th in the nation. The Seminoles ranked 42nd nationally in total defense after ranking 108th in 2009 and ranked sixth in the ACC in 2010 after ranking last in the league in total defense in 2009. Florida State improved its overall defense by more than 80 total yards per game, mainly by limiting opponents to 75 less rushing yards per game. The Seminoles ranked third in the nation in quarterback sacks and 21st in tackles for loss led by second team All-American Brandon Jenkins who finished with 13.5 sacks (third-most in the ACC and sixth nationally) and 21.5 tackles for loss. FSU tied with Boise State for the national lead with 48 total sacks. In the secondary, he coached Xavier Rhodes to ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and National Defensive Freshman of the Year honors.
• Stoops was instrumental in turning Arizona into one of the finest defensive units in the Pac-10 during his six-year stint. Arizona ranked 25th nationally in total defense in 2009 and was ranked among the top three in the conference in five statistical categories as the Wildcats finished with a second consecutive 8-5 season.
• Stoops built an impressive resume by developing nationally elite units, especially in the secondary. Prior to his six-year run at Arizona, he spent three seasons at the University of Miami as the secondary coach. His 2002 and 2003 units led the nation in pass defense, while the 2001 Hurricanes – which won the national championship – led the nation in pass efficiency defense, scoring defense and turnover margin.
• He spent the 2000 season as co-defensive coordinator at Houston, following a three-year run at Wyoming as the secondary coach. His first full-time college job came in 1996 when he was hired by USF to help with the start-up of the program.
• A proponent of zone schemes, Stoops’ pass defenses have been especially proficient and extraordinary at takeaways. The 2001 Miami team established a single-season school record with 27 interceptions and 45 takeaways. Miami’s 2002 secondary tied an NCAA record by allowing just 9.5 yards per completion. The 2003 Hurricanes were second in total defense and fourth in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense. The 1997 Wyoming secondary contributed significantly to its school-record 24 interceptions.
• Stoops recruited and developed some of the finest defensive backs in the nation over the past decade, many of who have gone on to enjoy outstanding NFL careers. Among the notable are Arizona’s Antoine Cason and Michael Johnson, Miami’s Philip Buchanon, Kelly Jennings, Brandon Merriweather, Ed Reed, Antrel Rolle, Mike Rumph, Sean Taylor, and Wyoming’s Brian Lee.
• Like his brothers, Stoops played collegiately in the secondary at Iowa for Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry. Fry hired Stoops as a graduate assistant for the 1990 and 1991 seasons. The Hawkeyes won the 1990 Big Ten title and played in the Rose Bowl; duplicating feats Stoops also achieved as a player during a four-year career.
• As a player and a coach, he has taken part in 12 bowls, including his first season at Florida State and both of his final two seasons at Arizona.
• Before launching his collegiate coaching career, Stoops followed in his father’s footsteps as a high school football coach. He spent four years at Ohio’s Nordonia Hills as an assistant and the school’s athletic director.
• Raised in Youngstown, Ohio, Stoops played high school football at Cardinal Mooney.
Stoops’ Coaching Ledger
| Year |
School |
Position |
W-L |
Postseason |
| 1990 |
Iowa |
GA |
8-4 |
Rose |
| 1991 |
Iowa |
GA |
10-1-1 |
Holiday |
| 1992 |
Nordonia Hills |
DB |
| 1993 |
Nordonia Hills |
DB |
| 1994 |
Nordonia Hills |
DB |
| 1995 |
Nordonia Hills |
DB |
| 1996 |
USF |
DB |
0-0 |
| 1997 |
Wyoming |
DB |
7-6 |
| 1998 |
Wyoming |
DB |
8-3 |
| 1999 |
Wyoming |
DB |
7-4 |
| 2000 |
Houston |
CODC/DB |
3-8 |
| 2001 |
Miami (Fla.) |
DB |
12-0 |
Rose |
| 2002 |
Miami (Fla.) |
DB |
12-1 |
Fiesta |
| 2003 |
Miami (Fla.) |
DB |
11-2 |
Orange |
| 2004 |
Arizona |
DC/DB |
3-8 |
| 2005 |
Arizona |
DC/DB |
3-8 |
| 2006 |
Arizona |
DC/DB |
6-6 |
| 2007 |
Arizona |
DC/DB |
5-7 |
| 2008 |
Arizona |
DC/DB |
8-5 |
Las Vegas |
| 2009 |
Arizona |
DC/DB |
8-5 |
Holiday |
| 2010 |
Florida State |
DC |
10-4 |
Chick-fil-A |
| 2011 |
Florida State |
DC |
9-4 |
Champs Sports |
Read the rest of…
Meet Mark Stoops, New University of Kentucky Football Coach
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Tue Nov 27, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET Parity has been the name of the game in the 2012 Recovering Politician Bowl. Bandits are making their long-awaited push towards relevancy with 3 wins in a row. On the other hand former league powers Quaker Country and your hero, The Fighting Mongooses, are reeling from 3 losses in a row.
With one game left in the fantasy season and with the top 6 teams at the end of the regular season entering the winner’s playoff bracket it is anyone’s game. Remember that the bottom 6 teams will compete in a loser’s bracket so there will still be a consolation prize to win.
- * = clinched playoff spot
|
The Recovering Politician Bookstore
|
