I Got Balls

2007-11-06T04:49:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a fantastic weekend of football it was. It was like I had a fairy godmother, going around and sprinkling every match-up I watched with some sort of magic dust to make it exciting. Only the last two games of the weekend - the Dallas/Philly and Baltimore/Pittsburgh pro games were blow-outs, and by then I was mostly concerned about my fantasy team (and I had a great weekend on that front, as well).

Saturday I woke up in time to catch the start of the Navy/Notre Dame contest. Notre Dame drove right down the field and scored, and Navy fumbled their first posession, and I thought that it could get carried away early. But Navy held, and soon they and UND were off to the races in one of the most exciting games I can remember. Both coaches were channeling Les Miles and going for it on 4th down early and often - I think I only saw two punts all game. By the time regulation ended, each team had put 28 points on the board, and we were headed to overtime.

Notre Dame won the toss, and so Navy started posession one on offense. They drove and scored a TD, and converted the PAT. UND followed suit, so onto posession two it went, with first Notre Dame and then Navy being stopped and forced to convert field goals, both of which did so successfully. On the third posession, Navy uncharastically threw the ball down the field for a 25 yard touchdown completion on the first play, and then passed again to convert the mandatory (in the 3rd OT and beyond) 2-point conversion attempt. UND scored a TD of their own, but then Navy stopped them twice on 2-point attempts (the first time they were hit with a very dubious pass interference call). Just like that, 43 years of frustration were released.

The LSU/Alabama game also was extremely entertaining, as was the Florida State/Boston College game.

After last weekend's completion, my power 10 stand thusly:

National Championship - 1 LSU vs. 2 Oregon - Sorry, Ohio State, but how am I supposed to take you seriously enough to put in this game?

Fiesta Bowl - 3 Oklahoma vs. 10 Hawaii - I would give my left kidney to see Oklahoma get beat in this game by a WAC opponent again.

Rose Bowl - 4 Ohio State vs. 9 Arizona State - A nice traditional match-up for the Big Ten/Pac 10 match-up, but unfortunately the only way I see a Big 10 school in this game is if Michigan beats OSU in the season finale.

Orange Bowl - 5 West Virginia vs. 8 Boston College - There should be at least 8 conferences screaming about how the BCS is unfair and we need a playoff: the 5 mid-major conferences, the ACC, the Big East, and the SEC. The season that these two schools are having, and the amount of play they are getting as potential national championship game participants, definately should lead their conferences to believe that a playoff is the only way they are going to be competing - unless their names are Florida State or Miami, of course.

Sugar Bowl - 6 Georgia against 7 Missouri - I see Kansas going to this game, unfortuantely, as Missouri will pick up their second loss in the Big 12 title game and Kansas will jump them even after losing to them in the season finale, but Missouri should go to this game.

The NFL was great, as well. The Redskins game was very dramatic - they came back and won after moping their way to a 17-3 defecit - and of course the Colts/Pats was another classic. I wanted the Colts to win, of course, but all that really matters now is that there is a challenger for New England. I didn't want this whole season to be the Patriots Show and now it isn't going to be - there is actually a team that wants to and has the players to compete with them.

The NFL Power Rankings:
1. Patriots (AFC East) - Last unbeaten standing, and without another contest left on their schedule except for the AFC Championship Game.
2. Colts (AFC South) - Never mind that they didn't have Harrison - injuries are part of football and the Pats won that game fair and square (well, presumably); the important thing is, the Colts will get a rematch with much higher stakes.
3. Cowboys (NFC East) - Does it even matter from this point on?
4. Packers (NFC North) - How does the rest of the NFL let a team with no running game get this high?
5. Steelers (AFC North) - Sure, they looked impressive last night. But they've also lost to Arizona and Denver.
6. Giants (NFC WC) - Not missing Tiki a bit.
7. Jaguars (AFC Wild Card 1) - This is assuming Garrard makes a complete recovery this season.
8. Titans (AFC Wild Card 2) - Vince Young isn't quite the man, yet, but the defense is doing a great job holding the fort until he is.
9. Redskins (NFC Wild Card 2) - Play the way they played after getting down 17-3 to the Jets on Sunday, and they'll shoot up this list. Consistency has been the Skins biggest problem, however.
10. Saints (NFC South) - Finally, the team we knew and loved last fall.
11. Seahawks (NFC West) - Wow, the two western divisions have really fallen off the map, huh?
12. Chargers (AFC West) - I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt - for now - over Kansas City because of the talent levels of the two squads - especially if Larry Johnson has to miss significant time - but Norv Turner is turning a predictably awful performance in San Diego, and the Chargers better figure out that he is not the answer, and that right soon.

2007-11-02T02:22:00.001-04:00

It's time for the Redskins to flex their villian muscles.

So, the Patriots like running up the score, do they?

I think it's time someone responded in kind, and the Washington Redskins are just the team to do it.

Of course, I'm not talking about on the football field. We saw what happened when the Redskins took the Patriots on on the gridiron. I'm talking about attacking the Patriots from your point of strength.

It seems to me that it is completely impossible for the NFL to level the playing field for all 32 franchises. It seems to me like an uber-high revenue franchise like the Redskins - actually, not "like the Redskins", more like just "the Redskins" - has to be able to wield it's financial weight in some way.

Which is why the Redskins need to go after Scott Pioli.

Do you see what I mean by flexing their villian muscles?

Now, Scott Pioli has been offered jobs before, by teams like the Seahawks and Giants, but he has turned them down. The Patriots might not expect Pioli to entertain such an overture from us, and so permission may be more easily come by than I anticipate, but this probably won't be the case. So, the Redskins are going to have to do some underhanded shit (more underhanded than videotaping someone else's coaching signals? No.). They need to make the fact that they are seeking Pioli to be made known before the fact that they are going after a GM, so they can use the press conference announcing this fact - which will have come out once news breaks that the Skins are after Pioli - to pull some sly negotiations. Sports press corps are so easy to predict the responses to the questions could be perfectly scripted.

Snyder: The Washington Redskins are going to be taking a new direction with our front office soon. We will be looking for a General Manager to run the team soon. Questions?
Press: Is it true you sought permission from the Patriots to speak to Scott Pioli?
S: Yes. We were denied permission, however.
P: Did you really believe that, even if Pioli had been granted permission, he would have entertained an offer to leave New England?
S: We believe that we could have made Pioli an offer it would be in his best interest to sign.
P: What does that mean? (or something like that)
S: I can't get into specifics, of course, but let's just say that whoever gets the job will sign a contract unlike any other ever signed by an NFL GM (he'll probably get fined - a lot - for that; but it will be worth it).
P: Is there any timetable for a decision?
S: We will search until we have our guy, however long that takes, even if that is more than one offseason.

That should keep Pioli, or any other GM for that matter, from signing any long-term extensions.

Of course, there always is the possibility that the Pats would grant permission for Scott to talk, thinking there is no way we can lure away Pioli, with his iron-clad loalty.

Loyal like a dog.

Yeah, dogs are loyal.

To whoever gives them the biggest piece of sausage.

And the Redskins have the biggest sausages of all.

"Ok, Scott, here is the deal. We here at the Redskins believe that you are the man in that organzation who makes everything else go right. When we look at the amazing job you have done identifying and procuring talent for that organization, it is crystal clear to us that you are the most important piece of the puzzle. And think about it this way - if you come to Washington and do the same thing, it won't just be us that know it - it'll be the whole world. You'll go in the Hall of Fame, for sure, probably generally recognized as the best executive in League history.

But I'm not going to blow any more smoke up your ass. Let's get down to brass tacks. The New England Patriots are valued right at around one billion dollars. That's pretty good. Of course, when you've won 3/4 (depending on how many he has when we're talking to him) Super Bowl Championships in a decade, the team value is going to shoot up like that.

Now, the Washington Redskins, on the other hand, are worth one-point-four billion dollars. Consider this, in the last decade, the Redskins have won virtually nothing. 2 playoff appearances, with 2 post-season wins. That's it. And yet the team still outvalues the Patriots by 33%. Can you imagine the worth of the Redskins if you could build another Super Bowl team here? Two billion? Three for a dynasty?

And you beginning to see what kind of money you would be worth to me? I'm talking a five million dollar base salary. If the value of the team tops two billion while you are emplyed by me, that salary will double. It'll double again if it gets to three.

And that's the base. Look, I am comitted to winning championships, and it is performance that I am most willing to reward. If we win a divisional championship under your stewardship, I'll give you another 2 million at the end of the season. I'll give you another five if we win the NFC, and another 10 if we win the whole thing. So, a Super Bowl winning season after our franchise value hits two billion dollars would net you 27 million dollars.

That sound like a job you'd be interested in?"

Of course, once the Redskins did that, there would be no turning back from the black hats. The Redskins would be the team that everyone hated - especially if this worked (and I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't).

But at least being a Redskins fan would be fun again.

2007-09-19T16:47:00.000-04:00

Something has recently occured that made me reevaluate my list of the top QBs of all-time (http://kevinssportsblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/51507-two-quick-notes-before-i-get-to.html). As you probably have heard, Donovan McNabb sparked a controversy with his recent remarks about how African-American QBs are scruitinized in an interview on HBO.

In light of this, I decided to look into his career numbers. I found that I had completely overlooked one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the League when I made my list last May - even though he played right in my favorite team's division. Looking back, it should have been obvious. I knew McNabb was a great QB whose supporting cast never allowed him to look as good as he really was. I also knew that, in spite of his supporting cast, he managed to win the NFC East year after year. I even remember telling one of my friends one time, a few years back, that if any QB in the League was better than Manning, it was McNabb.

Well, McNabb isn't better than Manning, but he's pretty damn good.

McNabb's completion percentage is a very high, albeit just short of elite, 58.1. His YPC is lower than most of the tip-top QBs at 6.7, but that is still high enough to be among the best of the rest. But where McNabb really stands out is his TD:INT ratio - 2.10, higher than any other QB in NFL history save one - Steve Young, who topped my list. With a total score of 3.59, he falls right between Tom Brady and Dan Marino on my list, which now looks like this:

1. Steve Young
2. Peyton Manning
3. Joe Montana
4. Tom Brady
5. Donovan McNabb
6. Dan Marino
7. Otto Graham
8. Brett Favre
9. Jim Kelly
10. Roger Staubach
11. Sonny Jurgensen
12. Len Dawson
13. Warren Moon
14. Fran Tarkenton
15. Troy Aikman
16. John Elway
17. Bart Starr
18. Dan Fouts
19. Johnny Unitas
20. Bob Griese
21. Norm Van Brocklin
22. Y.A. Tittle
23. Terry Bradshaw
24. Joe Namath
25. Bobby Layne
26. Bob Waterfield
27. George Blanda

By the way, the fact that McNabb is not usually mentioned among the all-time elite QBs the way Manning and Brady are, in light of his stats, adds to the credibility of his arguement.

2007-09-18T08:27:00.000-04:00

NFL Power Rankings, Post-week 2

Quite a few changes in the power rankings this week, starting with a change at the top and including a swapping out of half of the power 12 from last week. That said, it's early in the year, so this kind of thing should be expected. If I'm still going through 50% turnover later on in the season on a weekly basis, then you know something is terribly wrong. But for now, here is what I've got:

1. Patriots (AFC East, last week: 2) - Putting a stomping on the Jets is one thing. Doing the same to the San Diego Chargers, who figure to be in the Super Bowl picture this season, is something else. Week 3: vs. Bills.
2. Colts (AFC South, 1) - The Colts made the mistake of going into cruise control while Vince Young was playing on the other team. Fortunately for them, they held onto the win and all their blunder cost them was a spot in my power rankings. Week 3: @ Texans.
3. Steelers (AFC North, 5) - So, the competition hasn't exactly been stellar. Still, when you outscore your first two opponents 60-10, you must be doing something right. Week 3: vs. 49ers.
4. Chargers (AFC West, 3) - The Patriots have made a lot of really good teams look bad in Foxboro. But you have to be concerned with the level of Phillip Rivers' play so far. I know I am; he's killing my fantasy team. Week 3: @ Packers.
5. Ravens (AFC WC, 7) - When you can throw Kyle Boller out on the field and still get a realtively easy win, you have to feel good about yourself. Week 3: vs. Cardinals.
6. Redskins (NFC East, unranked) - It was either the Redskins or the Cowboys for this spot; tell me you honestly expected me to go the other way. Week 3: vs. Giants.
7. Cowboys (NFC WC, unranked) - That said, the Boys had to make an appearance on this list as well after two convincing wins. Week 3: @ Bears (SNF).
8. Packers (NFC North, unranked) - The more I see Rex Grossman play, the more I like someone new to win this division. Green Bay looks like the best candidate right now. Week 3: vs. Chargers.
9. Titans (AFC WC, unranked) - Ok, so they lost the same as the team they are replacing: the Bengals. The difference is, the Titans didn't give up 51 points to the freakin' Browns. Week 3: @ Saints (MNF).
10. 49ers (NFC West, unranked) - It hasn't been pretty, but the 9ers are finding ways to win early on. Week 3: @ Steelers.
11. Seahawks (NFC WC, 4) - Right after I go and tell you how good the Seahawks are, they go and lose to Arizona. Oh, well... Week 3: vs. Bengals.
12. Buccaneers (NFC South, unranked) - If the presence of the Buccs on this list doesn't tell you all you need to know about the sorry state of the NFC South right now, I don't know what I can do for you. Week 3: vs. Rams.

On to college, where there isn't nearly so much disruption.

BCS Championship - Louisiana State (SEC, #1, previous: 1) vs. Southern Cal (Pac 10, #2, 2) - USC looked outstanding in putting away Nebraska in a non-competitive game in front of the Big Red faithful. This week: LSU vs. South Carolina, USC vs. Washington State.

Sugar - Florida (at-large, #3, 4) - vs. Texas (at-large, #6, 6) - When that Florida offense goes up against LSU's defense later on this season (10/6), it will truly be a clash of the titans. This week: UF @ Ole Miss, Texas vs. Rice.

Fiesta - Oklahoma (Big 12, #4, 3) vs. Hawaii (at-large, #10, 10) - Hawaii sent a message by handling UNLV a lot easier than Wisconsin did. This week: OU - bye, Hawaii vs. Charleston Southern.

Rose - California (at-large, #5, 5) vs. Ohio State (Big 10, #8, 8) - Excellent job by the Buckeyes defeating a decent Washington squad soundly on their home turf. This week: Cal vs. Arizona, tOSU vs. Northwestern.

Orange - West Virginia (Big East, #7, 7) vs. Boston College (ACC, #9, unranked) - I could have put Clemson in the ACC slot, as well, but I decided to go with the team that knocked Tech off. Unfortuantely, the match-up between the two isn't until the 17th of November. This week: WVU vs. East Carolina, BC vs. Army.

2007-09-12T04:27:00.000-04:00

NFL Power 12, post-week 1

This year I'm gonna change up my NFL power rankings. I'm gonna rate 12 teams - the best team in each division, and two "wild cards" for each conference. In other words, it'll be how the playoff picture would look now, if the playoffs started now and were based on what my opinion of the team's pecking order was. Here we go...

1. Colts (AFC South) - They're not here because the offense lit up the Saints' leaky D - we knew that was going to happen. What we didn't know was that the Colts defense would hold that offense to just 3 points (the Saints' 1 TD was a fumble recovery return). Add on the fact that Manning is finally playing with the monkey off his back, and well, this is still clearly the team to beat.
2. Patriots (AFC East) - However, they do have one apparent challenger. The Pats made the Jersey Jets look ridiculous - although, the Jersey Jets made themselves look ridiculous quite a bit as well. How do you rush three people when you know that Randy Moss is running around in your secondary? If Moss gets any time, he will get open, end of story. He may need a little more time than he used to, but it will happen, if you let it.
3. Chargers (AFC West) - I understand that the Bears have a great defense, but Indianapolis was much more in charge when they played the Bears last February. And that was in the rain, not sunny San Diego on a warm late summer afternoon. The gap between the Patriots and the Chargers is significantly larger than the gap between the Patriots and the Colts.
4. Seahawks (NFC West) - Am I serious, you ask? As long as Shaun Alexander stays healthy, yes I am.
5. Steelers (AFC North) - Ben Roethlisberger is playing like a great young quarterback who didn't get his face smashed in by a windshield last offseason.
6. Bears (NFC North) - I understand they lost while the rest of their division won, but look me square in the eyes and tell me you think this season's Vikings, Lions, or Packers teams would have gone to the Super Bowl last season.
7. Ravens (AFC Wild Card #1) - 5 legitimate turnovers in one game? Steve McNair is either a turnover machine or he is hurt, in which case QB will be manned by another turnover machine - Kyle Boller. Or, as they lovingly refer to him in Baltimore, "Boooooooooooo!"
8. Bengals (AFC Wild Card #2) - The scoreboard says they won, but my bullshit call detector tells me that we were robbed of an overtime finish on Monday Night.
9. Panthers (NFC South) - St. Louis on the road is a really good benchmark game for telling whether you are a contender in the NFC. A benchmark the Panthers passed easily.
10. Saints (NFC Wild Card #1) - Opening night jitters? They had better show a lot this weekend to make up for that.
11. Vikings (NFC Wild Card #2) - Ok, so I might be putting them on this list because I'm hoping that the Falcons aren't really that bad, but I happen to think that Tavaris Jackson can, can... Oh God, the Falcons really are that bad...
12. Eagles (NFC East) - We all knew that Brett Favre would look old in this game. But I don't think we were quite ready to see Donovan McNabb looking that way, too. The Eagles are the best team in the NFC East right now, but that will not be the case at the end of the season.

College Power 10, post-week 2

For College, I'll just do the 10 teams that would be going to the BCS Bowls - the best in each of the power conferences and 4 at large's.

BCS Championship - LSU (#1, SEC) vs. USC (#2, Pac 10) - Right now, the two best looking schools, with only Oklahoma really making a case to be there as well. LSU looked absolutely dominant against Virginia Tech on both defense, which the pundits widely forecasted, and on offense, which they did not. Easy for me to say now, of course, but I did not doubt for one second the ability of LSU to beat up on Va Tech. LSU has the fastest college team I have ever seen. Their speed is unbelievable. And, of course, USC looks plenty good themselves coming off their Rose Bowl domination of a Michigan team that, obviously, has yet to recover. Does anyone think it is a coincidence that Michigan and Notre Dame have both collapsed completely since being humiliated by these two schools last January? Me neither...

Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma (#3, Big 12) vs. Hawaii (#10, At Large) - How much do you think Oklahoma would want to avoid another Fiesta Bowl against a WAC Mighty Mouse?

Sugar Bowl - Florida (#4, At Large) vs. Texas (#6, At Large) - The last two National Champions, but no Vince Young or Chris Leak in sight. Still, the two young QBs they have filling those shows look like a couple of blue-chippers.

Rose Bowl - California (#5, At Large) vs. Ohio State (#8, Big 10) - I've got Cal in this game because I think they have a real solid squad that is going to give USC a real run for their money this year. I've got Ohio State in this game because the Big 10 will look like a real big bunch of assholes if Michigan represents this conference in the Rose Bowl. Needless to say, I'm cheering for Michigan this year.

Orange Bowl - West Virginia (#7, Big East) vs. Georgia Tech (#9, ACC) - WVU has not one, but two candidates for the Heisman. The last team to feature that in their backfield played in the National Championship game, as some of you may recall. As for Georgia Tech - two games against easy opponents, two blow-out wins. You'd like to see them against tougher competition, but so far they've done what they were supposed to do. Unlike, say, everyone else in their confrence.

2007-09-08T06:31:00.000-04:00

9/8/07

This weekend is a huge weekend for me, football-wise, and I am jacked. To borrow a joke from Conan O'Brien, I haven't been this excited since I ate that Viagra burrito.

College ball season started last week, and as usual the first week was full of games that appeared to be mismatches, as the big powerhouses use the first week or so to warm up for their big games later. Of course, one of those warm-up schools didn't get the memo and Michigan was handed possibly the most embarassing loss in school history (although last year's Rose Bowl was no slouch in that department, either) to 1-AA Appalachian State. But that game was only on "the Big Ten Network", whatever that is, so nobody got to actually watch the game, not even the final minutes. The only game which looked entertaining heading into last week was California vs. Tennessee, although that game did deliver the goods.

Speaking of that game, a lot of people want to know why, if the SEC is so great, did Cal win that game?

Let me make one thing clear: the SEC is not such a great league because all of the schools in the conference are another level higher than all of the schools in any other conference. The reason the SEC is so great is because of how deep the pool of quality teams goes. Tennessee, due to some significant losses to graduation, is probably the 5th best team in the league, behind LSU, Florida, Georgia, and Auburn. Cal is definately number 2 in the Pac 10. How do you think Cal would do against LSU or Florida, hmmmm?

I mean, Tennessee with their slow wide-outs put up 35 points on Cal's defense. What would LSU be held to? 56? And do you think Cal or anybody else is hanging 57 or more on LSU's defense? No way.

But enough about last week. Tomorrow afternoon the slate has quite a few tasty tidbits, before the big game in Primetime. Some of the best looking match-ups include:

- Miami/Oklahoma, 12:00 - Oklahoma is up at 5 after a dominating win last week. Miami looked real good against Marshall in week 1, but this will be new Canes coach Shannon's first real test. I'll be really interested in the outcome of this one.

- Nebraska/Wake Forest, 12:00 - In the past, this match-up would have been a joke. Buit Nebraska hasn't been able to restore its former glory for quite a few years and Wake Forest took the ACC crown last season. But Wake lost some key parts this offseason, and that was on full display as BC handled Wake last week. So this game has more to tell us about the Huskers, who won a cupcake in a rout last week, than it will about the Deacons.

- Boise State/Washington, 3:30 - We all remember what Boise State did last year in the Fiesta Bowl, and they could be on their way back to a BCS Bowl this season. This week's game against Washington will be their stiffest challenge on the schedule until they visit Hawaii on November 23.

- South Carolina/Georgia, 5:45 - Whenever Georgia and Steve Spurrier get together, a lot of pride is on the line. So far the big three in the SEC East have held off the Ol' Ball Coach since his return to the conference, but every year brings with it the danger that this might be the season S.O.S. has the mix he needs to run up scores all over the SEC again. Will this be the year?

- Texas Christian/Texas, 7:00 - TCU is one of the top mid-major programs in the country, along with Boise State and (this year) Hawaii. Texas is, however, the big dog in the Lone Star State, so you have to assume they'll probably have the best athletes on the field. However, smart football, along with a chip on their shoulders, could carry the Horned Frogs to an upset - especially if the Longhorns play like they did against Arkansas State.

- Virginia Tech/LSU, 9:15 - This is, of course, the game of the week in college, as two top 10 teams are matched up - a rarity in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Virginia Tech is, of course, coming off the worst off-season in school history, with first the sniper and then the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal piling on top of that. This kind of thing can either rally a team, or distract them. They looked distracted against an ECU team they should have demolished last week. If they show up looking like that against LSU, they'll be flattened. Of course, with the kind of talent LSU showed last Thursday in burying Mississippi State, it might not matter how the Hokies show up in Baton Rogue.

And, of course, on Sunday the NFL season kicks off in earnest. Of most importance to me, of course, is the Redskins game against Miami at 1:00 at FedEx. This season, like most, looks completely unclear right now. I wouldn't be suprised at any season the team could put together this year, from Super Bowl to 3-13. We'll get the first idea after this game.

My fantasy team is battling Mike Pieroint's this week. The line-ups:

Me
QB - Phillip Rivers
RB - Joseph Addai
RB - Clinton Portis
WR - Santana Moss
WR - Jerry Porter
WR - Braylon Edwards
W/R - Thomas Jones
TE - Chris Cooley
K - Josh Brown
D - Redskins

Him
QB - Donovan McNabb
RB - Frank Gore
RB - Mercedes Jones-Drew
WR - Santonia Holmes
WR - Calvin Johnson
WR - Darrell Jackson
W/R - Deuce McAllister
TE - Alge Crumpler
K - Matt Stover
D - Patriots

Each of us had one player in the Colts/Saints game last Thursday. Addai netted me 20.3 points, wile Deuce got Mike 4.5, so I have a good looking lead early.

2007-08-08T05:14:00.000-04:00

8/8/07

Note: I had originally planned to do a post in the political blog this morning, as I wrote I would yesterday. However, Barry Bonds' breaking the home run record is not something that could be ignored. Anything else I tried to write about, Bonds would be the white elephant in the room. So, I'll give you my thoughts on this issue today instead.

Ok, so Barry Bonds is the new Home Run King Of All-Time. Congratulations are in order. Thank you, Barry, for saving the sport of baseball from itself.

Think of this as the Ultimate Sacrifice Bunt. We're sacrificing the two most cherised records in baseball - the single-season home run record and the career home run record - to keep the players from all bulking up until they were practically bursting and all start dying at 37 from brain tumors.

In short, to keep it from becoming wrestling.

You want the next generation's Cal Ripken to suddenly snap one day, kill his whole family, and then hang himself?

I didn't think so.

So, once again, thank you Barry Bonds.

Barry was the only one who could have killed the whole steroids era the way he did. Because Barry Bonds is perhaps the biggest (or at least the most overt) asshole in all of baseball. And this is in a sport where one guy beat up a cameraman for taking his picture!

But Barry reigns supreme. The fans hate him so much, that they are finally going to call baseball out on the steroids issue. As if we didn't know before.

As if all of a sudden, we just "figured out" that everyone was juicing at precisely the same moment when the one guy in the whole world we would least want taking all of baseball's most important records was in the process of doing just that. How convenient that when it was "nice guys" like Mark McGwire or Smilin' Sammy Sosa were out chasing the records, we failed to notice all of the signs that the players were practically sweating testosterone. The signs were there, we just chose to ignore them because we were aught up in all of the fun.

And if it weren't for Bonds, we'd still be ignoring them. We would all be celebrating every home run milestone with the kind of reception such a feat would normally deserve. Rafael Palmeiro would be a hero, on his way to the 3,000 hit/600 home run club. Think he'd be sweating the Hall of Fame, then?

And then, about a decade from now, the players would start dropping like flies. Do you know anybody who was seriously suprised - outside of wrestling fans - when they heard what Chris Benoit had done? Nobody. Because wrestlers have been dying suspicious early deaths at a rate of about 1 a year. This would be baseball in the 21st century, had Barry Bonds not broken the home run record.

Instead, Bud Selig has to clean up the game now; or, at least, he has to look like he's trying. Of course you can't clean up baseball, everyone knows this. As long as there is no test for HGH, it's time to go to town on that. But at least, now the effort is being made. Maybe some of the players will choose not to risk it now that baseball (and Congress) are snooping around.

But how do I feel about the records falling? Well, obviously it is something that is hard to swallow. Hank Aaron has been the home run king for my entire life. 755 has been the number. Now we won't even know what the number is until Bonds retires. It's the end of an era - the Hank Aaron Era.

But, you know what? We attach too much emotional baggage to numbers, as baseball fans. We hold up these records on a pedastal as if they mean anything. Baseball fans, ask yourselves this: Are you upset because Hank Aaron is the greatest power hitter of all-time, and now, because he has the record, Barry Bonds will be?

No, right? I mean, Hank Aaron has never really been considered the best power hitter of all-time; that honor usually goes to either Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, or Josh Gibson. The Babe didn't have as many home runs as Aaron because he spent the first chunk of his career pitching. God knows how many home runs he would have hit if he was in the line-up every night. Ted Williams, well, he definately would have broken Ruth's record and, in all probability, by more than Aaron did, were it not for the fact that he fought in two wars during the prime of his career. And Josh Gibson, well, he doesn't have a single stastic from any game he ever played, because he never played in Major League Baseball.

So, then, isn't Aaron's record tainted? You see what I mean? Every record is set in its own era, amidst its own circumstances. We're all going to know, when it's all said and done, and we're looking at whatever number Bonds ends up with, that he wasn't that kind of home run hitter until his body mysteriously doubled in size, and so then he probably can't be considered the greatest home run hitter of all-time. Just as, for the most part, we all used to accept that Aaron held the home run record, even though we didn't really think he was the best.

And perhaps most importantly of all, this whole episode gives Bud Selig another black eye, and as much as that motherfucker as done to ruin what used to be my favorite league to watch (baseball is still my favorite sport to watch, but I find I enjoy minor-league and college ball much more), that alone is worth it to me. I hope the whole time Selig was going through this, he was thinking to himself, "this is all my fault, I'm such a stupid asshole." I know he's not, because he's probably so stupid he thinks he's always right (Selig for President?), but at least now maybe everyone else will realize what an asshole he is and how he has to go. He can't appoint himself commisioner for life and barricade himself in his office if everyone else connected to the sport wants him to go, can he?

I hope you enjoy this mess you made, asshole. Ain't karma a bitch?

2007-08-02T05:14:00.000-04:00

So, I'm browsing through the Washington Post Sports Section, looking for anything interesting about the Redskins or Maryland football, when I come across this article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/31/AR2007073100719.html

Take a moment to read it, because my entire post today is going to be about it.

All right, first of all, anybody who does not know that Joe Theisman, Paul Maguire, and Mike Patrick were the absolute pits as far as NFL announcing teams go - and that is saying something, given the quality of the average NFL announcing pairs - should stop writing about sports immediately. The 2006 Pro Football Prospectus had a hilarious mock transcript of a game called by them. It'll be tough to find last year's now, but if you can see a copy of it, look for it and read it - you'll be howling.

But I digress.

This is the most preposterous column I have read in some time (keep in mind, I do not read right-wing political commentary columns...I'm sure Ann Coulter has written things that make this pale in insignificance as far as sheer idiocy goes, but I wouldn't know because Ms. Coulter does not interest me in the slightest). It starts off with:

"Joe Theismann had no idea how his life was about to change that March 23 day he showed up in Manhattan to meet with ESPN executives Norby Williamson and John Skipper."

I mean, what the hell is this, a sports column or a detective novel? Why not just start the column, "It was a dark and stormy night..."?

We go on to learn that Joe Theisman "was 'stunned' (emphasis mine) by the news" that he was getting the big, ugly, axe, but seriously, was anybody else, except apparently this guy? Look, I'm a Redskins fan, but I'm not old enough to remember the Joe Theisman Era - the only Super Bowl Championship I watched was XXVI, and that was Mark Rypien, not Theisman, at the helm. And my father did not drill Redskins lore into me from the time I was 7 years old; my father is from New Orleans, where, historically, they like to pretend that their professional football team doesn't exist (although they have a dynamite squad right now). So I don't have the emotional attachment to the guy as most Redskins' people do. So I can say this...

Theisman is an idiot. That is why he was "stunned". Hell, that's why he was fired. The guy may have had some very serious quarterbacking skills, and obviously has whatever mental acquity it takes to make reads of coverage schemes and know where your recievers are going to be if they think a blitz is coming, but when he tries to communicate the results are simply painful. The only thing they could have possibly done to make him look good was to do just what they did: put him in a booth where the other two motherfuckers were even stupider than he was. And, I have to say, it worked. Compared to tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumbass, Joe looked like a goddam Mensa applicant. It worked so fuckin' well Joe's bosses were fooled by their own ploy when they deemed him the only one of the three to stay on the team. It turned out that, as most of us independant observers forecasted when the old new line-up was announced: that in fact, none of those dimwits should have been brought back.

On the other hand, Ron Jaworski is a thinker. This guy knows football, inside and out. And, unlike Joey T, When Jaworski talks you actually learn stuff if you pay attention. Anybody who has ever watched a single episode of ESPN's NFL Match-up with Jaworski and Merrill Hodge knows that that was/is easily the best football show on television. and the reason is because of Jaws' unique insights and fantastic communicative skills. Hodge isn't bad - there could have been worse choices to pair Jaws up with (Sean Salisbury...shudder...), but Jaws is the star. I hope he still has time for that show. But if he doesn't the price of losing that show will well be worth the tremendous talent upgrade in the booth.

Of course, if ESPN really wants Monday Night Football to go back to its near-dominance of television on Monday nights, it should get rid of all of the extra crap - the celebrity guests, for instance - and try and be just a football broadcast. People who don't like football won't watch a football game just for an 8-minute interview with Matthew McConoughey where he'll probably mostly be talking about what a big football fan he is. Or Christian Slater, making a total ass of himself. The people who watch football on Monday nights, even though the two teams playing might not even be in their teams' conference, are hardcore football fans who want to watch a hardcore football broadcast. Nobody else is watching, so stop trying to cater to them. Try and get those old viewers back, the ones who used to watch the game simply because they love watching the game of football, but sopped because you have buried the game under a mountain of comercialism and crap.

But that being said, I am very optimistic about this new line-up. I can't wait for the season to start. I'm gonna go hunt for some more Terps and Skins articles...

2007-06-22T05:11:00.000-04:00

6/22/07

6/10 - USA Military All-Stars vs. Cape Cod League Select Team @ Eldredge Park in Orleans, MA

The Cape Cod League season started a little early this season, with a team of players from around the League kicking things off against a squad of the best baseball players from around the US Armed Forces, who go around barnstorming amateur teams around the world and who are, apparently, very good - they had a gaudy record of something like 14-0 coming into the two-game set on the Cape.

The first game was played Saturday night (6/9) in Chatham, but I wasn't able to go because I was in Lowell that night. The Cape League team won the game 3-1.

The second game, the one I did attend, was held at Eldredge Park, home to the Cape Cod League's Orleans Cardinals.

Of all the Cape Cod League's parks, Eldredge Park may very well be the most distinguishable, unless you count Wareham with its pitch black infield. Eldredge Park has four very unique characteristics.

First is the giant hill just out of play on the first base/right field line. This is where the majority of the fans who attend games in Orleans sit, in leiu of bleachers. They usually bring beach chairs (a Cape League standard at almost every park), but sometimes they sit out on a blanket. If you want to have a picnic and watch baseball, Eldredge Park is the place to do it. In addition to having your picnic on the grass on a blanket, there are also some picnic tables out beyone the outfield fence. But the hill is definately the place to be, if you arrive early enough to get a choice spot.

The second feature is Route 28, one of the Cape's two major highways (Interstate 6 is the other) that run from one end of the Cape to the other. 28 also runs right down the third base/left field line, a fact that your reminded of everytime a passing motorist decides to blare his horn when he sees the crowd gathered (this is just as annoying as it reads), or whenever a fould ball is hit over the road, and the PA announcer reminds the spectators that it isn't worth it to try and cross the highway to get yourself a $4-5 ball (in a Darwinian sense, perhaps this is better left unsaid, but I guess the League has some legal obligations there).

The third feature is the giant bandstand right beyond the right-centerfield wall. It's a good 10 feet behind the barrier, which makes the home run that new Oriole #1 pick Matt Weiters hit off of it last summer a fairly impressive shot. If you can't get a spot on the hill, the bandstand isn't a bad place to set up your beach chair, either. You aren't quite as close to the action, but sitting a good 15 feet up looking out over the outfield fence gives you a more than decent view. Especially if you bring the binos.

The fourth distinguishing feature is the field itself, or rather, the shape of the field. Eldredge Park is part of a larger recreational facility that hosts all matter of sporting events, including, apparently, youth soccer games, which take place in right field when the Cardinals aren't using it. In order to make enough room for the soccer field, but to keep the outfield walls within reasonable distance of home plate, the outfield walls run in a straight line from the left and right foul poles to meet in what can only be described as the centerfield corner. The result of this odd shape is that the left and right field corners are very shallow - 300 and 304' feet, respectively - the power alleys are of moderate depth - 358' and 360' - and the centerfield corner is a preposterous 434' from the plate.

The game itself wasn't much to write home about. The US military team kept trying to give the game away early, making 4 errors in the first 3 innings, but the Cape team wasn't having any of it. A ridiculous rally that included an infield hit, a walk, a hit batter, and a bloop single that had no business falling in put the Cape team up 2-1 in the fifth, after the military had jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Dad and I were starting to get a little chilly around the 7th inning, and the game didn't exactly have us riveted, so we took off, apparently just missing the fireworks. Indeed, the 8th inning was a big one for the Cape League, who put 6 runs on the board in that frame, while we were busy having dinner at a delicious clam bar in Orleans called Land Ho!. That was all the scoring, as the Cape team won the game 8-1 to sweep the two-game series.

----

I wanted to write a little bit about the Orioles. Recently, the Orioles finally gave the boot to Sam Perlozzo, a month after Mother's Day, but better late than never. More importantly, perhaps, though, was the appointment of Andy MacPhail to the position of "Chief Operations Officer" of the team. This title puts him in charge of the club's baseball operations, and means that in all probability the Flannaquette experiment is over. It also hopefully means that Angelos is willing to loosen his death grip on the franchise and let some basbell people do their jobs. Time will tell, and sooner rather than later. With the trading deadline just over a month away, we should start to see some Orioles on the move in short order, and who is deciding just who goes and where should give us an indication of who is pulling the strings on a larger level.

Much more publicized in the national media, though, was the team's apparently fruitless pursuit of 2006 NL Manager of the Year and current Yankee broadcaster Joe Girardi. The two flirted for some time before Girardi finally withdrew, citing issues of timing.

The narrative that has developed is that the Orioles are such a horrible team, no respectable managerial candidate would dare consider the post.

Except that Girardi did consider it. But it made no sense for him to accept the job at this time, regardless of his level of interest. Even if he was/is interested in the job, it makes much more sense for him to wait until the offseason, when the Orioles job will still be up for grabs, in all probability, and he'd have other options to consider as well, as opposed to right now, when the O's are the only team in the manager market.

As for the Orioles, going after Girardi was the right thing to do - just because it didn't make sense for Girardi to sign now doesn't mean you don't try and see if you can get him to, and from all accounts they almost did. Now the thing to do is wait. There is no hurry to go and get any of the other candidates on their list - they are all going to be around for a while. Watch Trombley, see how he does, let him worry about managing the team through the latter half of this season, when some of the better players on the roster (Tejada? Hernandez? Trachsel?) will be gone. And, hell, maybe this offseason Girardi might be more ready to accept the job. If not, Davey Johnson should be just as available then as he is now. No reason to rush, anymore. Priority #1 for the O's at this moment needs to be getting Weiters signed, and getting him to Frederick or Bowie.

I'm going to be in Maryland this weekend, which means my next post on any blog would be, at the earliest, this blog on Tuesday. I'm hoping to have a recap of the Frederick Keys vs. the Wilmington Blue Rocks, but we'll see...till then...

2007-06-05T04:58:00.001-04:00

6/5/07

Today, I'm going to do my formal write-ups of my first two baseball games of the summer.

5/11 - Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles @ Fenway Park in Boston, MA

Since baseball in New England begins and ends with Fenway Park, it is only fitting that my first game of the summer up here takes place at that venerated field. Fenway Park opened in 1912, making 2007 its 96th season as home of the Red Sox. The field is very short down each line, 310' to the left field corner and 302' down the right field line. However, the left field fence, known as the Green Monster, measures 37' feet high, and while the right field fence is very low, it curves out very quickly, making it difficult for a left-handed hitter to pull the ball out of the park unless he hits it right down the line.

The ballpark definately shows its age. The seats are mostly wooden and rather uncomfortable, especially since they were constructed for someone about 1 foot shorter and at least 100 punds lighter than I. In many parts of the park, the seats are at an awkward angle, but this was not an issue behind the plate, where I was sitting.

The game itself was a gem. It was a beautiful night, with game time temperatures around 70 degrees. The Orioles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but the Red Sox tied the score in the bottom of the second. Orioles starter Brian Burress kept getting into trouble, but then getting himself back out of it, leaving the bases loaded in the 2nd and 3rd innings. The Red Sox would also leave the bases loaded in the 7th. The Orioles scored 3 runs in the top of the 5th to get a 5-2 lead. The Red Sox scored one in the bottom of the 7th, but Kevin Millar hit a sac fly in the very next inning to get the run back and provide the final run in the O's 6-3 victory.

5/22 - Lowell High vs. Dracut High @ LeLacheur Field in Lowell, MA

LeLacheur Field is the home to the Single-A Lowell Spinners of the New York/Penn League, as well as the annual Lowell Spinners High School World Series, of which this was the Championship Game. Lowell had defeated Chelmsford the day before, and Dracut had beat Billerica.

The field is typical for a minor league park. The seats only extend from foul line to foul line - there are no seats beyond the outfield walls in fair territory. The outfield dimensions would be the same on both sides, except that Aiken street, which runs around the park, forces the right field fence to angle dramatically toward the foul line, resulting in a mere 301' foot distance down the right field line. 337' is the distance to the left field pole, and the power alleys are a matching 368', 400' to dead center.

Unfortunately, the game was not entertaining at all. Dracut stormed out to a 1-0 lead in the first, but they were done scoring from that point on. Lowell tied the game in the bottom of the first, and then in the second inning the wheels came off for Dracut. Lowell scored no fewer than 11 times in the second frame, and Dracut never recovered. When Kait and I left the park, after the 4th of 7 innings, the score had risen to 16-1, and Lowell would score 4 more times after we left to finish at a 20-1 margin. Dracut made 6 or 7 errors.

Ok, hopefully my next two games will come this weekend in Connecticut. I still haven't heard from Kerry yet, but as the tickets don't appear to be hard to come by for those two teams, this isn't a crisis. Politics tomorrow, till then...

2007-06-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

6/1/07

For some time now I have been referencing my plans to go to a number of Lowell Spinners games in my personal blog. What I haven't really gone into in detail is that the Spinners are just a part of my larger plan to see a multitude of baseball games all over New England. In fact, in total, right now I have plans to see no fewer than 40 games total this spring. Those games will span every professional park in New England as well as every park in the Cape Cod League. My experiences are going to be documented here, usually on Tuesdays, but with the occasional Friday post, as well. This is my planned itenerary.

5/11 - Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles (MLB)
5/22 - Dracut Midshipmen vs. Lowell Red Raiders (HS)
6/9 - New Britain Rock Cats vs. Bowie Baysox (AA)
6/10 - Connecticut Defenders vs. Binghamton Mets (AA)
6/16 - Wareham Gatemen vs. Harwich Mariners (Cape)
6/17 - Orleans Cardinals vs. Chatham Athletics (Cape)
6/18 - Bourne Braves vs. Orleans Cardinals (Cape)
6/23 - Cotuit Kettlers vs. Wareham Gatemen (Cape)
6/24 - Chatham Athletics vs. Orleans Cardinals (Cape)
6/25 - Hyannis Mets vs. Falmouth Commodores (Cape)
6/28 - New Hampshire Fisher Cats vs. New Britain Rock Cats (AA)
6/30 - Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox vs. Orleans Cardinals (Cape)
7/1 - Harwich Mariners vs. Wareham Gatemen (Cape)
7/3 - Lowell Spinners vs. Tri-City Valley Cats (A)
7/7 - Falmouth Commodores vs. Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (Cape)
7/8 - Brewster Whitecaps vs. Orleans Cardinals (Cape)
7/9 - Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox vs. Harwich Mariners (Cape)
7/13 - Lowell Spinners vs. Batavia Muckdogs (A)
7/14 - Cotuit Kettlers vs. Hyannis Mets (Cape)
7/15 - Brewster Whitecaps vs. Falmouth Commodores (Cape)
7/15 - Chatham Athletics vs. Orleans Cardinals (Cape)
7/16 - Bourne Braves vs. Cotuit Kettlers (Cape)
7/20 - Lowell Spinners vs. Williamsport Crosscutters (A)
7/21 - Pawtucket Red Sox vs. Louisville Bats (AAA)
7/22 - Orleans Cardinals vs. Wareham Gatemen (Cape)
7/23 - Bourne Braves vs. Cotuit Kettlers (Cape)
8/1 - Lowell Spinners vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (A)
8/4 - Hyannis Mets vs. Cotuit Kettlers (Cape)
8/5 - Harwich Mariners vs. Orleans Cardinals (Cape)
8/6 - Bourne Braves vs. Falmouth Commodores (Cape)
8/10 - Lowell Spinners vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (A)
8/16 - Lowell Spinners vs. Vermont Lake Monsters (A)
8/18 - Portland Sea Dogs vs. New Britain Rock Cats (AA)
8/19 - Portland Sea Dogs vs. New Britain Rock Cats (AA)
8/22 - Lowell Spinners vs. Aberdeen Iron Birds (A)
8/23 - Lowell Spinners vs. Aberdeen Iron Birds (A)
8/24 - Lowell Spinners vs. Aberdeen Iron Birds (A)
8/25 - Vermont Lake Monsters vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (A)
8/26 - Vermont Lake Monsters vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (A)
8/31 - Lowell Spinners vs. Tri-City Valley Cats (A)

Those are the 40 games, as they stand in my mind. I may or may not go to all of them, I may or may not go to some that are not listed here. For example, I could very well go to some of the Cape League post-season games on the weekend of 8/11, and if the Spinners make the NY Penn League Playoffs, I will certainly try to get tickets for at least some of those games. Some of the games I already have tickets for, two of them, of course, I've already been to (I'll do my formal write-up of those two games on Tuesday).

You'll notice that half of the games are Cape League. This is for one very simple reason: Cape League games are free (they take donations at the gate, but they're optional and they'll be happy if you give them a couple bucks). 3/4 of the games are either Cape League or Spinners games, and the reason for this is that my apartment is in Lowell and my parents have a house on the Cape, so those are the games that are most convenient for me. But, as I said earlier, I do plan on visiting each and every professional ballpark in New England for at least one game.

Well, we'll see how it goes. Politics sometime this weekend, if I get around to it. Till then...

2007-05-15T04:33:00.000-04:00

5/15/07

Two quick notes before I get to the meat of this post:

- After Sunday's Oriole game, it's going to be a while before I am up to writing anything more about baseball, save this: the Orioles need to fire Sam Perlozzo, now. They need to do it for two reasons: first, to send a message through the organization that people will be held accountable for their mistakes, especially mistakes as stupid and colossal as that one; second, to show their fans that at least something positive came out of that debacle. If Sam Perlozzo is fired, then losing one regular season game is a small price to pay. After all, the Red Sox had to learn that Grady Little was too stupid to manage a team when he cost them Game 7 of the ALCS, not just a regular season game in May.

- Congratulations to the UMBC men's lacrosse team, who defeated Maryland 13-9 in the first round of the NCAA tournament Sunday. This is the biggest win for UMBC in any team sport in school history, and the second biggest win in any sport behind Cleopatra Borel's 2002 women's shotput National Championship (unless, of course, you count chess as a sport - UMBC is a national chess powerhouse and multi-time National Champion). They play Delaware, who had a similar-sized upset over Virginia, next week, with the winner going to the Final Four.

Ok, now to the main part of this post.

A few days ago, I decided to figure out, once and for all, who was the greatest quarterback in NFL history. This is a topic that always brings out strong emotions, as everyone seems to have their favorite. A lot of the time, that favorite depends largely on where you are from or for which team you cheer. For instance, people from my neck of the woods are partial to Johnny Unitas, whereas the folks who live up here where I am now will tell you Tom Brady at least belongs in the discussion (spoiler alert: he does). Also, people have different measuring sticks as to how to determine which QB is best. People who think stats tell the whole story tend to like Dan Marino or Peyton Manning, whereas some folks say "count the rings" and point to Joe Montana or Terry Bradshaw.

Me, I'm a stats guy, and I believe that rings are a by-product of a QB doing things to help his team win. But it's silly to believe that a QB can, all by himself, overcome his team's faults, if they are great enough, and carry his team to championships if he doesn't have the horses around him. On the other hand, though, I don't like compilation stats. I mean, Dan Marino had to be a hell of a quarterback to set NFL records in categories like career passing yards and touchdown passes, but does that mean he was the best, or just the guy who threw the most often? No, the stats I went looking for were ratios.

I used four ratio stats in my hunt. Completion percentage, TD/INT ratio, yards per attempt, and passer efficiency rating (aka QB rating - a number computed using raw data that makes up the other three ratios). I recorded the statistics for the 23 "modern era" QBs in the Hall of Fame as well as 3 QBs who are currently playing whose enshrinement I think is a certainty. I then took the highest score from among the 26 QBs in each statistical category and made that the standard against which all of the other scores were judged. I then converted all of the scores into a percentage of the standard. For example, Otto Graham had the highest YPA of 8.98, so 8.98 became the standard for YPA. Otto's percentage score for YPA was 1.000, and he set the standard in that category. Warren Moon had a YPA of 7.23. As 7.23 is 80.5% of 8.98 (yes, I had to use a calculator to figure these out), Moon's score for YPA became .805.

All of the percentages were added up for each QB, and the totals were used to rank the 26. Here they are, in reverse order:

26. George Blanda - Blanda is in the Hall primarily for his longevity - he was a player for 26 seasons, the most in pro football history. His numbers were quite pedestrian, even for his era - of the 26 QBs, he was dead last in three of the four categories (in TD/INT ratio he was 23rd). My hat is off to the guy for playing until he was 48, but otherwise, his career was unspectacular.

25. Bob Waterfield - Waterfield appears to have been carried into the Hall on the shoulders of his teammates. In his short career, he was on two NFL Championship teams despite his very pedestrian statistics. The best part of his game, in fact, appears to have been punting, where he netted a career 42.4 yard average. Had he punted last season for that average, he would have finished 7th in the NFL, which is pretty impressive when you consider that he was doing this 60 years ago and he was not a full-time punter, which today's punters obviously are.

24. Bobby Layne - My system seems to be discriminating against players who started their careers in the 1940s, but I have no problem with that. The QB position has eveolved over the years, and I have no trouble believing that today's QBs are better, by some margin, than those of earlier eras. A 49% completion percentage and .81 TD/INT ratio today would leave you out of a job. In the 1950s, it made you a multi-time NFL champion and a Hall of Famer.

23. Joe Namath - Ah, Broadway Joe, the one game wonder. If you're going to win any game, however, it probably should be the most important one in NFL history - Super Bowl III, which demonstrated how high the level of play in the AFL was and led directly to the merger and the creation of the NFL as we know it today. But other than that win, Namath was a pedestrian QB, and most of his peers on this list outperformed him considerably.

22. Terry Bradshaw - Bradshaw is the fatal flaw in the arguement that the true measure of a QB's greatness is the number of championships that he won. The Pittsburgh Steelers who dominated the 1970s were about defense and a strong running game, which were great enough to win 4 Super Bowl titles in spite of the average QB play they were getting from Bradshaw. He seems like a great guy, but professionally he was the Ringo Starr of quarterbacks.

21. Y.A. Tittle - If Tittle had spent his entire career posting the kind of numbers he posted in the years at the end of his career with the Giants, he would be much further up this list. In fact, Tittle's career can be seen as a kind of microchasm for the evolution of the QB position. As the 1950s came to an end and the 1960s began, QBs began to pay a lot more attention to taking care of the football, and the result can be seen in the fact that the TD/INT ratios began to climb, which you can certainly see in Tittle's numbers.

20. Norm Van Brocklin - With one exception, Van Brocklin is the last QB who started playing before 1950 on this list. His numbers are very similar to Tittle's, with one noticable difference - his gaudy 8.18 YPA, good for second on the list and the only person to come within under a yard of Otto Graham's preposterous 8.98 average. More on Graham later.

19. Bob Griese - Now we're getting into the names that you don't have to be an NFL historian to recognize. Griese is best known for leading the 1972 Dolphins to a 17-0 season. None of Griese's statistics are particularly spectacular, but with a 56.2% completion rate, he is one of the more accurate passers on the list.

18. Johnny Unitas - A lot of folks might be suprised to see Unitas' name this far down (I sure was), but you have to remember that Johnny U stayed on six seasons too long, and that dragged down his career numbers. Perhaps in the future I'll do something like this where I look at the 5 seasons that make up a QBs peak, but until then the Golden Arm stays right here.

17. Dan Fouts - The leader of the original "Air Coryell" attack that is the basis for many offensive systems run in the NFL today, including the one by the Redskins under Joe Gibbs, who was Fouts' OC in San Diego, Fouts boasts an impressive 58.8% completion rate and a not-too-shabby 7.68 YPA, which are unfortunately somewhat offset by a 1.05 TD/INT ratio.

16. Bart Starr - Starr and Unitas both started playing pro ball in 1956, and had very similar careers. Starr called it quits in 1971, whereas Unitas hung on until 1973, and that is a large part of the reason why Starr is 16 and Unitas is 18. Another part is that Starr was a much more accurate QB than Unitas (57.4% completion rate versus 54.3%).

15. John Elway - A lot of people think Elway should be rated higher - some even think he should be #1. But the numbers simply don't add up for Elway. Oh, he's a Hall of Fame quarterback, to be sure. He just isn't among the elites of the elite, in spite of his immense physical talents.

14. Troy Aikman - When he was playing, the one thing everyone kept harping on about Aikman was his accuracy, and with good reason. Troy's gaudy 61.5% completion rate is the main reason he is so high on this list. Mediocre TD/INT and YPA numbers are why he isn't higher.

13. Fran Tarkenton - When he retired, Tarkenton owned every significant compilation stat record and he also had the distinction of being 0-3 in Super Bowls. However, in later years Dan Marino would surpass Tarkenton in passing records, and Jim Kelly would surpass him in Super Bowl futility. They both surpassed him on this list, as well.

12. Warren Moon - There was some questioning of Moon's credentials when he was elected to the Hall recently, but close inspection of his record reveals that those questions are unwarranted (pun not intended). His 58.4% completion rate, 1.25 TD/INT and a 80.9 efficiency rating are all very Hall worthy numbers. Especially that completion percentage.

11. Len Dawson - He isn't quite as well known as peers Unitas, Starr, or Namath, but if Joe Namath's Jets hadn't won Super Bowl III the year before Dawson's Chiefs defeated the NFL Champion Vikings in Super Bowl IV, Dawson would probably be more famous than all of them. As it is, he'll have to settle for being higher than them on this list, for whatever that's worth.

10. Sonny Jurgensen - The leader of the Redskins during the George Allen years, Sonny's numbers are very solid across the board. As Jurgenseon aged, he moved into a part-time role, and unlike Unitas, he continued to post excellent numbers until his retirement.

9. Roger Staubach - Staubach and Jurgensen were practically the same quarterback. In fact, Staubach, Jurgensen, Dawson, Moon, Tarkenton, and Elway all posted numbers that are very similar to one another's. Staubach's just happened to be slightly better than all the rest's.

8. Jim Kelly - Jim Kelly also posted numbers that would have him in that group, except for one thing - his completion rate (60.1%) was significantly higher than all of them.

7. Brett Favre - The first of the three active QBs to appear on the list, Favre also has a very high completion rate - 61.1%. Like Johnny Unitas, though, Favre might take a tumble if he continues to struggle late in his career.

6. Otto Graham - Unquestionably ahead of his time, Graham finds himself way up on the list in comparison to his peers due to his much higher completion percentage and TD/INT ratio, and the twice aforementioned absolutely stunning 8.98 YPA. If your definition best all-time QB is, who was the best compared to others of his era, Graham wins hands down.

5. Dan Marino - The sport's ultimate compiler, for now, Marino wasn't just setting records because he threw a lot. A 59.4% completion rate and 1.67 TD/INT ratio are both spectacular numbers.

4. Tom Brady - A lot of people look at Brady like they look at Terry Bradshaw - a guy who went along for the ride as his team won Super Bowl after Super Bowl. Let me put that to rest right here. Brady's 61.9% completion rate, 1.88 TD/INT ratio, and 88.4 efficiency rating are all the highest of anyone's we've seen on this list thusfar. Amazingly enough, though, none of those numbers will hold up even after we move up a single spot.

3. Joe Montana - As great as Brady's numbers are though, the top three QBs are on even another level. Montana boasts a 63.2% completion rate, a 1.96 TD/INT ratio, and a 92.3 efficiency rating, and while Brady has a pedestrian 7.04 YPA, Montana's is a much higher 7.52. Once again, though, all of those numbers will be topped by the next guy.

2. Peyton Manning - Manning's career numbers - 64.0 completion %, 1.98 TD/INT, 94.4 efficiency rating - are all very nice, but let's look again at his ridiculous 2005 campaign, by far the greatest season of all time. Manning completed a ludicrous 67.6% of his passes, he had a preposterous 4.90 TD/INT ratio, posted an ungodly 9.17 YPA, all for a passer efficiency rating of 121.1, which is so high, I don't even have an adjective for it.

1. Steve Young - Honestly, this suprised me. But Young may be the most underappreciated quarterback of all-time. He replaced a legend in Montana, and that is always tough to do. But if you are yourself a legend, I guess it can be done. Young set the standard in completion rate (64.3%), TD/INT ratio (2.17), and efficiency rating (96.8), and his YPA (7.98) is considerably higher than each of the other top 5 QBs.

So, for right now, Young is the greatest QB of all-time. However, there is a chance Manning could catch him, if he continues to throw well for seasons to come. Well have to check back after next season to see how things are progressing.

Ok, kids, politics tomorrow. Till then...

2007-05-01T05:04:00.000-04:00

5/1/07

It's May, which means training camp is right around the corner. The NFL Draft was this past weekend, so let's talk some football.

The first round this year was excrutiatingly long - 6 hours, 2 minutes, to be exact. And it wasn't that long because of all the excitement, either; no trades took place until pick 14. This seemed to be a draft where everyone wanted to move down, but no one could find a partner. Here are my 10 observations from the draft:

1. Family ties was the theme of the weekend for the Washington Redskins. Their first round pick, LaRon Landry, is the brother of Ravens' safety Dawan Landry. In addition, their 6th round picks were HB Blades, son of former NFLer Bennie Blades, and Jordan Palmer, younger brother of Cincinnati QB Carson.

2. Three or perhaps four players who are ready to step in and make an immediate big-time impact were available in the first round. Those players were Calvin Johnson, who went to Detroit, Landry, Adrian Peterson, who went to Minnesota, and the questionable one is Greg Olsen, who went to Chicago. Everyone else should struggle for a season, given their positions and skill levels.

3. I don't know at what point New England looked at Washington and decided to make them the model for their franchise, but it's a strategy they ought to forget as soon as possible. Adding career second bananas Donte Stallworth (on his third team in three seasons) and Adalius "I've played my entire career next to Ray Lewis" Thomas, as well as a 30-year-old Randy Moss who hasn't been an impact player for years and has now been booted from two teams because he throws his hands in the air, and waves them like he just don't care, are moves that are absolutely Redskinesque, and I mean that in the worst possible way. Meanwhile the Redskins, who have quietly made a few strategic moves to bolster their defensive personnel but avoided the temptation of another major roster overhaul, have looked like the Patriots. It's almost like the best and worst front offices in the League had a brain switch. I'm in favor.

4. How does Dallas not draft Brady Quinn? Are they really that sold on Toni Romo? I mean, really? I can't believe they traded his rights to Cleveland after his absurd free-fall - absolutely mind-boggling.

5. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, seems to be in love with the Brows draft. If I'm a Browns fan, that fact scares the shit out of me.

6. Draft "grades" are so ridiculous at this point. First of all, most everyone uses the wrong criteria - the draft isn't supposed to help you this coming season. As I said before, only a handful of drafted players will be making any kind of impact for their teams, the rest will play like rookies. Secondly, we have no idea how this is going to pan out. How many experts thought the Chargers did a fabulous job the year they took Ryan Leaf? Who knew the Patriots got the steal of the century when they took Tom Brady in the 6th round (I'll give you a clue - not even the Patriots)? Talk to me in three to five years, then we can grade each draft class.

7. How much money did Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith lose when his team crapped the bed at the BCS title game? He was being talked about as a day one player back when his Buckeyes were trouncing everyone in sight. One Florida steamrolling later, though, and he's going with the very last pick in the fifth round. Not that that game helped his opponent Chris Leak out any - he didn't get drafted at all.

8. Here's my list of teams that will be very sorry they passed on Brady Quinn: the Buccaneers, the Vikings, the Dolphins (big time!), the Texans (will they ever learn?), the Bills, the Panthers, the Packers, and the Cowboys.

9. Just because the Panthers should have taken Brady Quinn with the 14th pick, doesn't mean that Keyshawn Johnson should be on ESPN's draft coverage saying that the Panthers should have taken Brady Quinn with the 14th pick.

10. First round picks most likely to bust: Gaines Adams, TB (one-dimnsional); Adrian Peterson, MIN (fragile); Ted Ginn, MIA (are you kidding me?); Marshawn Lynch, BUF (Pac-10 RB); Justin Harrell, GB (fragile); Brandon Meriwether, NE (crazy); Anthony Spencer, DAL (not that good).

I think, for the hell of it, I'll grade 2003's NFL draft with my next post in this blog.

2007-04-27T05:38:00.000-04:00

4/27/07

The NFL Draft is coming up this weekend, which means we get to turn our attention back to the NFL for a few hours. The NFL Draft has spiked through the roof in popularity the last few years, for several reasons.

First, the NFL is the best run professional sports league in the world, bar none. The sport has the entire country by the short and curlys, and so anything NFL related will draw attention.

Second, the Draft is where college and pro ball come together for a weekend, so for fans of both (like myself) we get to see where these college greats will start out their professional careers.

Third, the Draft is where we get to see how months of evaluation, deception, and back room dealing comes to fruition. We've been hearing about this damn thing for several months now, and now we get to see how it will all fall out.

Fourth, every team gets their moment in the sun, and the worse the team, the brighter the spotlight is on them. Raiders fans had to sit through a miserable year last season, and their reward is, the get to be the ones making the first pick and setting the rest of the draft in motion. All eyes are on Oakland right now, with Detroit right behind them. Indianapolis, who just won the Super Bowl, is way off of everyone's radar.

My team, the Redskins, is slated to pick 6th. Of course, with teams on the move all the time on Draft Day, there is no guarantee that that is where they will actually end up picking. And it seems the Redskins are desperate to move out. They have reportedly offered trades to the Bears, Patriots, and Panthers to swap the 6th with their pick in exchange for a veteran player. They have also had their eyes on everyone, including LSU QB JaMarcus Russell, according to reports. However, I'm not sure that all this noise necessarily means anything. Two years ago, the Redskins made a covert attempt to move into position to get Auburn QB Jason Campbell. The cover was blown, however, and although they did end up getting their man, team officials were unhappy that their plans were put out in the open like that. The lesson here was that the Redskins, being the 800 lb gorilla of NFL teams, can't really sneak around. So, instead, the team appears to have taken on the tactic of making as much noise as possible and hoping their real plans are camaflouged by all the rouses. One thing is for sure, this year, no one will be sure exactly what the Redskins are planning on doing until they do it.

My prediction? The Skins stay at 6 and draft Louisville DT Amobi Okoye.

Check back with you to recap this thing on this blog Tuesday. Politics tomorrow; I'll be racapping the Dem debate from last night on MSNBC.

2007-04-24T05:38:00.000-04:00

5/24/07

So much going on in the world of sports, it's dificult to keep up sometimes.

I'll start out with the NHL playoffs. Round 1 finally ended last night, with the Vancouver Canucks taking down the Dallas Stars in game 7 of the last remaining series. Round 2 of the NHL and NBA playoffs is right around the time when I start paying serious attention to those two leagues - which means I'll probably start blogging about the NBA playoffs this time next week. Unfortunately, because I'm not paying attention to the leagues before then, I'm really not too sure who is any good, especially with the NHL, which gets short thrift in media coverage even during the playoffs. But I do know which teams I like, and which teams I cheer for. It breaks down like this:

If the Capitals are in (they aren't), they're always the number 1 team.

Once the Capitals are eliminated, I cheer for whichever Canadian teams are left standing.

After that, I cheer for the Northern teams from smaller markets (Pittsburgh, Buffalo, etc.) along with the Blackhawks (who are always terrible) and the Bruins (who, along with the Celtics, are the only Boston teams I don't mind).

Then it's the California teams - the Sharks, Ducks, and Kings, in that order, followed by the New York Islanders (yes, it's New York, but they're not the city's glamour team).

Then you have a mess of teams I don't care about one way or the other.

Finally, the teams I don't want to win the Cup, from the ones that bother me the least to the most offensive...

Avalanche, Devils, Red Wings, Rangers, Stars

And of course, at the very bottom, is Philadelphia.

So, the final 8 NHL teams are, from the team I want to win the most to the team I want to win the least, are:

1. Canucks
2. Senators
3. Sabres
4. Sharks
5. Ducks
6. Devils
7. Red Wings
8. Rangers

Ok, onto baseball.

As you all know, I have serious problems with the way baseball is run. However, the game itself remains my favorite, and so every year I'm drawn to it. This year has started off rather promisingly for my Baltimore Orioles, who have gone 11-5 after an 0-3 start. The bullpen, which received the bulk of the attention in the offseason, has turned into one of the strongest in baseball, and the Orioles seem to have developed a startegy of taking opposing SPs deep into pitch counts and working thier way into a battle of the pens, which has them coming up in the win column more often than not. If the team wants to be in the playoff picture, however, they need to find a way to add one big time bat to drop in the middle of their line-up. As it is, they have 9 players who are very tough outs (at least, they will once Ramon Hernandez comes back), but no batter who puts fear into opposing pitchers, and you need at least one of those to be a post-season team, especially coming out of the AL East.

As for the bigger picture, as the Cardinals proved last season, once you get to the playoffs, anything is possible, so trying to picka World Series winner is foolish. I will, however, make a guess as to the 8 playoff teams. In the AL, I like the Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, and A's. In the NL, the Dodgers, Mets, Braves, and Cardinals.

Ok, that's all for now. More on both MLB and the NHL on Friday. Politics tomorrow. Tata...

2007-03-24T06:32:00.000-04:00

3/24/07

Well, we've widdled 64 down to 8, and this has been an upset-lovers worst nightmare. The only top, 2 seed not in the tournament is Wisconsin, despite the fact that we are in the regional finals. Three match-ups are 1 vs. 2, and the third is 1 vs. 3.

The games have been very competitive, however, especially this last round. Georgetown, Memphis, and Ohio State each won their last game by one point, Kansas won by 3, and Oregon won by 4. North Carolina was the only team to win by double-digits (10), and even they faced a 9 point defecit at the half. In fact, except for Oregon and UCLA, each winner faced a defecit at some point in the second half. In the Texas A&M/Memphis game, the largest lead for both teams was 5. So, if the pattern holds, then we'll have four 1 seeds in the Final Four for the first time ever - one year after having zero 1 seeds in the Final Four for the first time ever - but we could have 4 OT times to get to that point. Anyway, here's a preview of this weeken'd regional finals:

Today:

4:40 - Memphis vs. Ohio State - After knocking me out of my bracket pool, John Calipari's Memphis Tigers set their sights on the top seeded Ohio State Buckeyes. All tournament long, I have held that OSU is the top seed most likely to get KO'd, and I stand by that assesment. Greg Oden and company have had above and beyond their fare share of close call wins, and this is by far the best team they will have faced so far. Memphis is putting the strength of their conference (or, should I say, lack thereof) behind them, and proving that you have to look at the team, not the competition they have played. I like the Tigers to make the Final Four.

7:05 - UCLA vs. Kansas - For the third time this tournament, a higher seed has to play a lower seed in the lower seed's home state. The selection comittee has taken a good deal of heat for this, but in the first tow instances, both involving Texas A&M, the higher seed (the Aggies vs. Louisville, and Memphis vs. A&M) overcame the partisan crowd and prevailed. Kansas will try to make it 3-3. UCLA was #1 in the country earlier this year, and probably would have been a 1 seed if they hadn't been knocked out early in the Pac 10 Tourney. I think Kansas is too fast for the Bruins, and will cut down the nets in the West.

Tomorrow:

2:40 - Oregon vs. Florida - The Gators are trying to make history. Already the first school to hold the basketball and football national championships at the same time, now they try to be the first team to win both championships in the same school year, as well as become the first school in quite a while to win back to back NCAA tournaments. They have been sleepwalking through the first few rounds, however, although they have ended up winning by (mostly) convincing scores. Oregon is a team that is red-hot, having won the Pac 10 tournament and now the first 3 games of the NCAAs. But I think Florida will get by the Ducks and move on into the Final Four for the second consecutive year.

5:05 - Georgetown vs. North Carolina - The Hoyas and the Tar Heels were both the regular season and tournament champions of the best two conferences in college basketball, so this could very well be the best match-up of the entire tournament, including the games to come. You guys know my ACC bias, and so you know I'm taking UNC here. But I wouldn't be amazed to see Georgetown come through, either.

Ok, this week, starting Monday, I'll resume my normal schedule through Wednesday, but I'll be doing this blog on Thursday and Saturday again next week as we get through the Championship rounds. Until then...

2007-03-22T07:08:00.000-04:00

3/22/07

I'm still unhappy about the way Maryland's season ended, but you can't let it get to you. That's the way it is in college hoops sometimes - you follow a team for five months, and suddenly, they're eliminated because some jackass referee doesn't know that when a defender throws himself in front of a player in the air, the foul is on the defender, not the guy getting blocked.

Anyway, now we're down to the Sweet 16, with 8 games coming over today and tomorrow. A quick preview of each one, starting with tonight's games:

7:10 - Southern Illinois vs. Kansas - The Salukis are the big underdog heading into this match-up, obviously. Kansas has SIU outmanned, and outsized at pretty much every spot on the court. But SIU didn't get this far by accident - they are a really good college team, and in a one-and-done format, they can get by anybody. Kansas should win, but I don't see any blowouts at this stage.

7:27 - Texas A&M vs. Memphis - This 2/3 game is taking place in San Antonio, which should mean a heavily partisan crowd in favor of the Aggies, even though they are the 3 seed. It's kind of fair for them though, seeing as the just had to beat Louisville in Kentucky to get here. It will be an interesting test for Memphis, a team which has dominated all season, but against a weak schedule, and is now trying to show that their gaudy record is for real. I like Texas A&M here, partly because I think they are the best team, partly because they have the best player (Acie Law IV), partly because they have a pseudo-home court, but mostly because I need them to win desperately in order for my bracket to stay competitive in my pool.

9:40 - Pittsburgh vs. UCLA - Pitt and UCLA meet in the so-called Ben Howland Bowl, as coach Howland of UCLA used to be coach Howland of Pittsburgh. The Panthers have to be fired up to play against the coach who recruited and them abandoned them. But UCLA will be ready, and, since the game is in California, will have the majority of the crowd on their side, just like the Aggies in the earlier game. I like the Bruins in this one, but not by much at all.

9:57 - Tennessee vs. Ohio State - These two teams met earleir in the season, with OSU needing a shot at the last second to put away the Vols in Columbus. Now they meet in a neutral court, with both teams having done a lot of growing up in the weeks in between the two match-ups. Greg Oden has turned into the games premeire defensive player, but has yet to emerge as the offensive force he should be, perhaps because of an injured wrist that may not yet have fully healed. I'm taking Tennessee here in my upset special for the round.

Tomorrow's games:

7:10 - Butler vs. Florida - The Gators didn't look too impressive against Purdue last round, but they got it done. That's kind of been Florida's calling card for a while now - never looking too impressive, but when you look at their body of work, they won the SEC regular season, they won the SEC tournament, and they have won both of their first two games of the tourney. Can they keep doing just enough all the way to another national championship? Maybe not, but I do have them beating a Butler team that is just glad to be here (and as well they should be).

7:27 - Vanderbilt vs. Georgetown - Two of the country's more elite private schools meet up in this match-up. Both teams have a good deal of momentum heading into this one, but GTown moreso because they won their conferences tournament. I like to Hoyas to keep rolling - for now.

9:40 - UNLV vs. Oregon - Perhaps the most intriguing match-up of the night, because neither of these teams was supposed to be playing still. Oregon won the Pac10 Tournament, so it's been a while since they've lost any game. UNLV is the lowest seeded team still remaining. I like the Ducks here, but it wouldn't suprise me at all if the Rebels kept their magical run going.

9:57 - USC vs. North Carolina - The Trojans did a number on national sensation Kevin Durant to get to the round of 16, but they have their work cut out for them now. UNC has been on an absolute tear ever since Gerald Henderson broke Tyler Hansbrough's nose with a flying elbow. I don't see the Heels losing here - in fact, I don't see them losing again, period.

Well, that's what we've got on tap. I'll post again Saturday morning, with a recap of this round and a look ahead to the regional finals. Politics tomorrow. Till then...

2007-03-13T05:55:00.000-04:00

3/13/07

Well, it's that time of year once again. The NCAA basketball tournament bracket came out on Sunday, and there are brackets being filled up all over the country in anticipation of tip-off.

The first official game of the tournament is tonight at 7:30, when Niagara plays Florida A&M. There is some controversy over this game, specifically Niagara's participation in it. Many think that Niagara had too good of a season to be placed in the play-in game, and that the only reason FAMU isn't playing Jackson State is because the NCAA doesn't want the play-in game between the representatives of the two conferences that are comprised of HBCs. Honestly, I think Niagara should view this game as an opportunity - no 16 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed in the NCAAs so this is really an opportunity for them to get a win when they otherwise would not have a realistic one. But I can understand the other point of view.

But the tournament starts in earnest Thursday at noon. My beloved Terps are actually actually playing in the first game of the First Round (the play-in game is officially known as the "Opening Round", but the First Round keeps its name, even though it comes after the play-in) against Davidson at 12:20, but I'll only be able to see a few minutes of that game up here, as Boston College unfortunately tips off just 5 minutes later.

Much of the talk so far has, as it always does in the immediate aftermath of the brackets being released, centered around the "snubs" - the teams some people feel should have gotten in, but did not. To me, the biggest snub was Florida State, who finished 7-9 in ACC play but got a win in the Conference Tourney and were playing without their best player for a long stretch of the conference season. Others were upset about Drexel, a midmajor with an outstanding non-conference profile but a lowly fourth place finish in conference. The snubs don't mean very much to me. I don't think any of those teams was going to make too much noise in the NCAAs, anyway. Even the last two seasons, when Maryland was among the last teams out, I wasn't too sad to see them not make it.

For the remainder of the tournament, I'm going to switch the weekend sports blog post with the politics blog post, meaning I'l be posting on this blog on Saturday mornings and the politics blog on Fridays, because that better fits the schedule of the tournament, which plays two rounds every weekend, one on Thursdays and Fridays, and another on Saturdays and Sundays, and this way I'll be able to post in between the rounds.

In the Opening and First Rounds, there are 33 games. That's too many to preview here, but I will talk about a handful which I find most interesting.

Thursday, 12:20 - Davidson (13, 29-4) vs. Maryland (4, 24-8) - The opening match-up for my Terps is an intriguing one. They should come out ready to wreak some havoc after their embarassing loss to Miami in the ACC's First Round. But Davidson isn't the type of team to come out and roll over. Historically, the Terrapins have had some trouble with their first-round opponents, and Davidson is one of those upper-tier mid-major programs that give big conference schools looking to roll over their first round opposition trouble. Unfortunately, I'll be stuck watching a crappy Boston College team play an even crappier Texas Tech team while this game is going on.

2:40 - Old Dominion (12, 24-8) vs. Butler (5, 27-6) - Every year for a while at least one 5 seed has gone down in the first round, and if that trend continues, Butler looks like the favorite to get knocked off. They are one of those teams like Gonzaga used to be, without a household name but with the ability to come up big int he underdog role. Recently, the Zags have had a lot of trouble when they have been given a higher seed and made the favorites. Will Butler follow suit?

3:00 - Pennsylvania (14, 22-8) vs. Texas A&M (3, 25-6) - The Aggies are many people's darkhorse Final Four pick, but the Ivy League has produced its fair share of First Round upsets over the years. You know one thing, Penn may be out manned, but they will play smart.

5:00 - George Washington (11, 23-8) vs. Vanderbilt (6, 20-11) - Vandy made big waves beating Florida in the waning days of the regular season. GW is a powerhouse in a strong mid-major conference. This could be a very intriguing match-up. I'm intrigued.

7:10 - Virginia Commonwealth (11, 27-6) vs. Duke (6, 22-10) - VCU should give the Blue Devils, who struggled down the stretch, a run for their money. But Coach K is still Coach K, and the Devils won't go down without a fight.

9:30 - Xavier (9, 24-8) vs. Brigham Young (8, 25-8) - When people talk abot teams that were snubbed, they have to pick a corresponding team that made it that they say their team should replace. Xavier has been a popular whipping boy for this purpose, although not as popular as Arkansas or Illinois. I think that teams tend to play very well after they have been bashed all week. We'll see how Xavier reacts.

9:45 - Gonzaga (10, 23-10) vs. Indiana (7, 20-10) - Both of these schools have had down seasons (well, for them), but these are still two of the bigger names in college hoops, and when you get a match-up like this in the first round, you tend to take notice.

Friday, 12:25 - Georgia Tech (10, 20-11) vs. UNLV (7, 28-6) - This will be an interesting measure of the strength of the ACC. Tech is the lowest seeded ACC team, and they are going against a Running Rebels team that has had a pretty impressive season. If they can beat them, then it could be a big year for the Atlantic Coast Conference in this tournament.

2:35 - Winthrop (11, 28-4) vs. Notre Dame (6, 24-7) - The Irish got a tough draw here. The Big East's 2nd best team is going to have to go against a Winthrop team that put together a very impressive season. This should be very competitive.

Well, that's really it. I'll be back Saturday morning with a recap of round one and a preview of round 2.

2007-03-09T05:42:00.000-05:00

3/9/07

It was a wild, wild day all across college basketball in general and in the ACC in particular. Let's review the ACC games...

Florida State 67, Clemson 66 - I'll put aside the question of whether Al Thornton actually was fouled at the end of the game. This was a huge win for the Seminoles, and an equally huge loss for Clemson. Clemson is now done, as far as the NCAA tournament goes - they are NT bound, no question. FSU's fate is still up in the air. A win today over UNC and they are in. A loss, and it will be an interesting Selection Sunday in Tallahassee. As weak as this year's bubble is, I think they would have a fairly good shot.

Miami 67, Maryland 62 - The Terps came into this one obviously thinking that they could just show up and run Miami right out of the gym, but quite the opposite happened. The Hurricanes controlled the tempo pretty much the entire way and walked Maryland out of the gym, at least in the first half. In the last part of the game, Maryland finally got some measure of control, but it was too late for the Terps, who will go into the NCAAs with their pride stung by a second loss to the ACC's worst team. Maryland came into this game sitting at about a 4 seed. If they performed well in this tournament, they could have moved their seeding up to 3 or even 2. With the loss, however, they will be lucky if they don't fall to 5 or 6.

North Carolina State 85, Duke 80 - The only good news for Maryland is that when they lose it is news, but when Duke loses to NC State the same day, everyone forgets about Maryland's loss and starts yammering about the Blue Devils. This is obviously the weakest team Duke has fielded in recent memory, and now they have an agregate 8-9 ACC record.They're still in the tournament, but are probably looking at a 9 or maybe even a 10 seed.

Wake Forest 114, Georgia Tech 112 (2 OT) - Wow. Georgia Tech came into this game with an NCAA berth *probably* wrapped up, and needing only a win over lowly Wake Forest to seal the deal, but look what happened. Does Tech still get into the tournament? Probably. Will they be unnecessarily sweating it out on Selection Sunday? Yeah.

Ok, when I made my last post, 9 teams had locked up their conference's automatic NCA berths. They were: Pennsylvania, Winthrop, Eastern Kentucky, Davidson, Belmont, Creighton, Virginia Commonwealth, Niagara, and Gonzaga.

Since then, 5 other schools have punched their tickets:

Wright State defeated Butler in the Horizon League final on Tuesday.
North Texas defeated Arkansas State on Tuesday to win the Sun Belt Championship.
Central Connecticut State won the Northeast Conference Championship by defeating Sacred Heart on Wednesday.
Weber State topped Northern Arizona on Wednesday to win the Big Sky Conference Championship.
Oral Roberts won the Mid-Continent Conference final over Oakland on Tuesday.

That leaves 17 conference tournaments still going, all to be decided between tonight and Sunday:

The Patriot League final is tonight between Holy Cross and Bucknell.
The America East Conference final is tomorrow between Vermont and Albany.
The MEAC Tournament is down to Florida A&M, North Carolina A&T, Morgan State, and Delaware State. The semis are today, the final is tomorrow.
The Mountain West Conference Tournament is down to Brigham Young, Wyoming, Nevada Las Vegas, and Colorado State. The semis are today, the final is tomorrow.
The WAC Tournament is down to Nevada, Utah State, Boise State, and New Mexico State. The semis are tonight, the final is tomorrow.
The Atlantic 10 Tournament is down to Xavier, Rhode Island, Saint Louis, and George Washington. The semis are tonight, the final is tomorrow.
The Big East Tournament is down to Georgetown, Notre Dame, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. The semis are tonight, the final is tomorrow.
The Big West Tournament is down to California Irvine, Long Beach State, California State Fullerton, and California Polytechnic. The semis are today, the final is tomorrow.
The Conference USA Tournament is down to Rice, Houston, Memphis, and Tulane. The semis are tonight, the final is tomorrow.
The MAC Tournament is down to Toledo, Miami, Akron, and Kent State (yes, that Kent State). The semis are today, the final is tomorrow.
The Pac 10 Tournament is down to California, Oregon, Washington State, and Southern California. The semis are today, the final is tomorrow.
The SWAC Tournament is down to Mississippi Valley State, Texas Southern, Jackson State, and Arkansas Pine Bluff. The semis are today, the final is tomorrow.
The ACC Tournament is down to North Carolina, Florida State, Boston College, Miami, Virginia, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. The quarterfinals are today, the semifinals are tomorrow, and the final is on Sunday.
The Big 12 Tournament is down to Kansas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Baylor. The quarterfinals are today, the semifinals are tomorrow, and the final is on Sunday.
The Big Ten Tournament is down to Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana, and Illinois. The quarterfinals are today, the semifinals are tomorrow, and the final is on Sunday.
The SEC Tournament is down to Mississippi State, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana State. The quarterfinals are today, the semifinals are tomorrow, and the final is on Sunday.
The Southland Tournament is down to Lamar, Northwestern State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and McNeese State. The semifinals are today, and the final is on Sunday.

Next time I post here, the brackets will be all filled out.

Till then...

2007-03-06T05:14:00.000-05:00

3/6/07

March Madness is just now starting to pick up some momentum. We'll get to that, but first we'll recap the last regular season games in the ACC.

Florida State 98, Miami 90 (OT) - Well, like Clemson, FSU really wanted to win this game in a more convincing fashion than it did. That being said, a win here sure beat a loss, which would have put the Seminoles out without any chance for redress. Going into the ACC tourney with a 7-9 record puts them into a position to get into the dance, although they will need to win probably two games in the tournament to do that.

Wake Forest 78, Virginia 72 - This is a nice win for Wake, but obviously it doesn't do too much for them. The loss does have implications for UVA, however, which slips to the 2 seed in the ACC tourney. A strong showing in that tournament, however, could make the Selection comittee forget about this loss when it comes to seeding the Cavaliers.

Maryland 79, North Carolina State 59 - The Terps just keep rolling right along. Their 7 game winnning stretch has brought them from 3-6 in conference to 10-6 and the 5 seed in the tournament. They fell just short of a bye in round one, but have to be confident all the same with the way they are playing.

Clemson 75, Virginia Tech 74 - Well, Clemson made the statement they were looking to make, and avoided dropping to 6-10 in conference and out of the NCAA picture entirely. They now enter the ACC tournament with a chance to play their way into the NCAAs, provided they do some damage first - they probably need to win two games. As for the Hokies, this was another in a long line of puzzlers this season. Right now, the Selection comittee has to believe VaTech is too inconsistent to deserve a higher seed. They'll need to do some damage in the ACC tourney themselves, if they are to prove that not to be the case.

Georgia Tech 74, Boston College 60 - The Yellow Jackets have all but played their way into the tournament now, although they would probably need to win their ACC tourney opener to feel completely secure. BC has been in for a while, but their stock has been plummeting recently. Where they are seeded will depend very much on their performance in the ACC tourney.

North Carolina 86, Duke 72 - Undoubtedly everyone has seen what happened to Tyler Hansbrough by now, so there isn't too much reason to go into it, other than that I have no doubt that Gerald Henderson wanted to hit Hansbrough, and hit him hard. Did he mean to break his nose with a WWE-style flying elbow? Maybe, maybe not. But the intent was certainly there to hurt him, if not injure him. Anyway, besides that, UNC reaffirmed in this game - after a couple of tough road losses - that they are the team to beat in the ACC and, indeed, snagged the 1 seed with the victory. If they manage to win the ACC tourney, they can probably still get a 1 seed in the NCAAs. Duke, on the other hand, fell all the way to 7th, and will need a strong showing just to get a 6 seed or so.

The ACC Tournament starts on Thursday - here are the opening round games:

12:00 - Clemson (21-9, 7-9) vs. Florida State (19-11, 7-9) - This is pretty much a knockout game for these two teams. Each comes into this match-up with a 7-9 conference record and probably in need of a couple of wins in the tourney to play themselves into the NCAAs. That being the case, the loser here is almost definately out, while the winner would probably still have to upset 1 seed UNC in round 2. Clemson won both regular season match-ups.

2:00 - Maryland (24-7, 10-6) vs. Miami (4-12, 11-19) - The Terrapins are the hottest team in the conference right now, which is bad news for 12th seeded Miami. Maryland has already played their way into the NCAAs, but the sky seems to be the limit for the Terps, who could earn a 3 or even a 2 seed if they play well enough in this tournament. This is also a revenge opportunity for Maryland, who fell at Miami in the teams' lone regular season match-up. The winner of this game plays 4 seed Boston College in the quarterfinals.

7:00 - Duke (22-9, 8-8) vs. North Carolina State (15-14, 5-11) - The Blue Devils come into this one reeling and suffering from an image problem thanks to the UNC debacle. Having lost 2 in a row and 6 of their last 10, the Devils need a strong showing in the ACC tournament if they want to get a higher seed in the NCAAs. Duke rolled at NC State in the two teams' only meeting during the season. The winner of this game plays 2nd seeded Virginia in the quarters.

9:00 - Georgia Tech (20-10, 8-8) vs. Wake Forest (14-15, 5-11) - The Yellow Jackets might not need this game to get into the NCAAs, but there isn't much sense leaving it up to chance - a win here would certainly secure them an at-large bid. Wake could play themselves into qualifying for the NIT with a couple wins, but the odds against that are long - although with the way the Virginia Tech Hokies, who await the winner of this match-up in round 2, have been playing, it is far from impossible. The teams split their two regular season match-ups, with each holding home court against the other.

Ok, like I said earlier, March Madness is picking up steam now that the regular season has ended for everyone (except for the Ivy League, which has no tournament but has already crowned a champion). 15 of the 30 conference tournaments have already kicked off, with the rest starting sometime this week. 9 teams have already won automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. They are:

Pennsylvania, which secured the Ivy League Championship with a win over Yale last Friday.
Winthrop, who won the Big South Conference Championship over VMI on Saturday.
Eastern Kentucky, who beat Austin Peay for the Ohio Valley Conference Championship on Saturday.
Davidson, who won the Southern Conference Championship by knocking off College of Charleston on Saturday.
Belmont, winners of the Atlantic Sun Championship over East Tennessee State on Saturday.
Creighton, who upset Southern Illinois to win the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Sunday.
Virginia Commonwealth, Champions of the Colonial Athletic Association by way of their win over last year's suprise Final Four team, George Mason, on Monday.
Niagara, who topped Sienna on Monday to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship.
Gonzaga, who won their 8th West Coast Conference Championship in the last 9 years by knocking off Santa Clara Monday night.

7 other conferences have already started their tournaments:

The Horizon League Final is tonight, between Butler and Wright State.
The Patriot League Final, between Holy Cross and Bucknell, will take place on Friday.
The Sun Belt Championship will be decided tonight between North Texas and Arkansas State.
The Northeast Conference Final is tomorrow night between Central Connecticut State and Sacred Heart.
The America East Final will take place next on March 10th between Vermont and Albany.
The Big Sky is down to Montana, Northern Arizona, Portland State, and Weber State; the Semifinals are tonight, while the Final is tomorrow night.
The Mid-Continent Final is tonight between Oral Roberts and Oakland.

Finally, the other 15 conference tournaments will start between now and Thursday:

The Mountain West Conference Tournament and the Western Athletic Conference Tournament start tonight, take tomorrow off, then resume on Thursday and run through the 10th.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament starts tonight and runs uninterrupted through the 10th.
The Atlantic 10, Big East, Big West, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Pacific 10, and SWAC Tournaments start tomorrow and run through the 10th.
The Southland Conference Tournament rounds 1 and 2 are on Thursday and Friday, and the Final takes place on the 11th.
The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC Tournaments start Thursday and run uninterrupted through the 11th.

Updates on all of these tournaments Friday. Politics tomorrow. Till then...

2007-03-02T05:47:00.000-05:00

3/2/07

Wow, what a week it was in the ACC. Let's dive right in...

Clemson 74, Miami 70 (OT) - Well, at least Clemson won. They really needed this game, but they also needed to make a Statement. By beating the conference's worst team by only 4 points in overtime at home, the only Statement Clemson made was, "we're headed to the NIT, and we know it."

Maryland 85, Duke 77 - Now, this was a statement. Maryland led most of the way, including all of the second half, and look like one of the ACC's elite. With a trip to UNC upcoming, Duke is in danger of finishing the ACC regular season at 8-8. That'll still be good enough for an NCAA berth, but it looks like they'll be seeded no higher than 8th, unless they do some serious damage against UNC and then in the ACC tourney.

Virginia 69, Virginia Tech 56 - Another statement, this time by the Cavaliers, who have quietly won 11 of 13 and grabbed the top spot in the conference. They are looking like a 3 or 4 seed, maybe better, depending on their ACC tourney performance. The Hokies continue their up and down performance. In their last 8 games, they have lost to NC State, been blown out by BC, trounced Virginia, edged out a win at Chapel Hill, then got pantsed by NC State, then blew out BC, spanked Miami, and finally, got trounced by Virginia. Some of those wins are very impressive, but the Hokies are obviously way too inconsistent to grab a protected seed.

Georgia Tech 84, North Carolina 77 - Wow, now this was a statement! By taking care of the Heels, the Jackets have kept hope alive for an 8-8 finish in ACC play and a definite NCAA berth. They have one more tough game remaining, but this was the Big One that they needed. As for the Heels, they appear to be in somewhat of a funk all of a sudden, that could potentially cost them a 1 seed. They'll need to be impressive against Duke and probably have to win the ACC tourney if they want to be a top seed in the Big Dance.

This weekend marks the final game of ACC regular season play. The games...

3/3, 12:00 - Florida State (18-11, 6-9) @ Miami (11-18, 4-11) - For the second straight game, Miami is playing against a team sitting on the bubble with 9 conference losses that needs to beat them, and beat them badly, to make a statement to the NCAA selection comittee. This time, their opponent is Florida State. The Seminoles need to win this game, win big, and then do some serious damage in the ACC tourney. The Selection Comittee do not like taking a team with a below .500 conference record, and even though this is a weak bubble year, FSU needs to make their case emphatically.

1:00 - Virginia (20-8, 11-4) @ Wake Forest (13-15, 4-11) - UVA can clinch the ACC regular season title with a win over Wake. That and a good showing in the ACC tournament - making the finals, for instance - might be a strong enough combination to get them as high as a 2 seed in the NCAAs. They'll need to avoid this potnetial trap game however. Georgia Tech and Clemson can both attest to what Wake Forest can do at home to the unwary opponent.

3:30 - North Carolina State (15-13, 5-10) @ Maryland (23-7, 9-6) - The Terrapins continue to keep right on rolling. Winners of 6 games in a row now, Maryland has probably played its way into a protected seed. But they can still play their way right back out of it if they aren't careful. And losing to NC State would be a really good way to get the Selection Comittee to rethink a top 4 seed for the Terps.

3/4, 1:00 - Clemson (20-9, 6-9) @ Virginia Tech - Clemson gets another opportunity to make a statement, but this one won't be nearly as easy. The Tigers absolutely need to win this game - a 6-10 conference record simply will not get it done. And even with a win here, Clemson would probably need 2 or maybe even 3 wins in the ACC tourney to crash the NCAAs. As for the Hokies, their roller coaster ride has to be as frustrating for them as it will be on the Comittee when they try to evaluate the team that swept North Carolina but got swept by NC State. They would do very well to win this game and at least do something to answer a lot of people's questions about this squad.

3:00 - Boston College (19-9, 10-5) @ Georgia Tech (19-10, 7-8) - This is the most important game of the weekend. The Yellow Jackets shocked the world Thursday with their huge win over the Tar Heels, but the work isn't done yet for Tech; they need one more win to get to the critical 8-8 conference mark. As for BC, despite their win over Clemson last weekend, they have lost 3 of 4 and are in danger of some serious slippage in their NCAA seed. A win on the road against a Desperate Georgia Tech team that just punked the perceived class of the conference under the same circumstances would do a lot to convince everyone that their problem stretch is behind them. A loss here, and they would probably need a strong ACC tourney showing to keep their seed at around 5-6, where it probably is now.

4:00 - Duke (22-8, 8-7) @ North Carolina (24-6, 10-5) - The Greatest Rivalry In Sports renews Sunday afternoon. UNC is trying to hold on to a top four seed and the bye that comes with it, not to mention a #1 seed in the NCAAs, while Duke is trying to avoid an 8-8 conference finish and a corresponding 7 or 8 seed - or worse. That, and all of the baggage that always goes with this rivalry, and you've got another can't miss between the ACC's two royalty programs.

Of course, it isn't just ACC action going on this weekend. Quite a few NCAA tickets are going to be punched between now and my next entry in this blog.

Atlantic Sun - Down to East Tennessee State, Lipscomb, Campbell, and Belmont. Semifinals are this evening, and the finals are tomorrow.

Big South - The final between Winthrop and The Virginia Military Institute is Saturday.

Colonial Athletic - The CAA tournament starts today and will wrap up on Monday.

Ivy - The Ivy League has no tournament. Pennsylvania can wrap up the League title, and the League's automatic NCAA berth, with a win over Yale tonight.

Metro Atlantic Athletic - Same as the CAA - tourney starts today and runs through Monday.

Missouri Valley - Perhaps the country's premiere mid-major, the MVC is down to 8 teams: Southern Illinois, Drake, Bradley, Northern Iowa, Creighton, Indiana State (Larry Bird's alma matter), Missouri State, and Wichita State. The quarterfinals are today, the semifinals are tomorrow, and the final will be on Sunday.

Ohio Valley - Down to Austin Peay, Samford, Eastern Kentucky, and Tennessee Tech. The semifinals are today, with the final coming tomorrow.

Southern - Down to Davidson, Furman, Appalachian State, and College of Charleston. The semifinals are today, the final is tomorrow.

West Coast - Like the CAA and MAAC, the WCC tourney starts today and runs through Monday.

Besides the CAA, MAAC, and WCC, three other conferences are starting tournament play this weekend.

The America East tourney starts today and runs through the 4th, and then goes on break before the final on the 10th (go Retrievers!).

The Big Sky tourney has first round games tomorrow, and the semifinals and finals take place on the 6th and 7th.

The Mid-Continent tournament starts tomorrow and runs through the 6th.

I'll be back here Tuesday with a recap of all this action. This weekend sometime I'll post in the politics blog.

Till we meet again...

2007-02-27T04:29:00.000-05:00

2/27/07

Well, as bubble teams across the country fought for their tournament lives last weekend, we were all "treated" to a match-up of "number 1 vs. number 2". Of course, the "Big" "Ten" gave us a similar "1 vs. 2" match-up last November in football, and we all know how that turned out - neither team deserved to be called number 1 or number 2. Or numbers 3, 4, or 5. But anyway, the final score was Ohio State 49, Wisconsin 48, and if that score doesn't say "top two teams in the country" to you - well, don't worry, it doesn't say that to anyone else either.

Meanwhile, in the actual best conference in basketball, things were much more entertaining. The games...

Virginia Tech 73, Miami 57 - The Hokies finally got their 10th conference win, and in dominating fashion. It's all about seeding now for the Hokies, who certainly won't have to sweat out a NCAA bid with 10 wins in the best conference in the land.

Florida State 78, North Carolina State 52 - Well, if the Seminoles wanted to make a statement that they deserved consideration despite a best possible ACC record of 7-9 before the tourney, a 26 point win will do it. But they have one more regular season win to go and then they probably will have to do some damage in the conference tourney.

Boston College 59, Clemson 54 - It seemed like BC just couldn't get over the 9 win hump, but they finally managed it. This win will put their recent struggles behind them and bump them into the tourney. How high they can go remains to be seen - they still are in the midst of a prolonged funk, with not much opportunity to prove to the Selection comittee that they should be a higher seeded team. As for Clemson, they appear to be just about finished, unless they can conjure up a mirculous finish. The fact that 3 of their last 4 losses have come by a combined 12 points does not change the fact that they have lost 4 in a row, 7 of their last 8, and 9 of their last 11. The comitte wants to see a team playing well down the stretch, and Clemson is doing just the opposite. A loss in either of their final 2 regular season games, which includes a road date with the Hokies, would shut the dorr completely on the Tigers.

Virginia 75, Georgia Tech 69 - The Cavaliers, like the Eagles and Hokies, finally got their 10th conference win and sealed their spot in the NCAA tourney. The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, have real reason for concern. They stand at 6-8 in conference, and while their last two games are at home, they are coming against North Carolina and Boston College - sweeping those two will be a chore. They can still play their way into the tournament, but they sure have their work cut out for them. That loss at Wake Forest earlier this season has to be keeping the Tech players and coaches up at night.

Maryland 89, North Carolina 87 - I told you that this would be the weekend's most entertaining game (ok, so I actually said that it "could" be the "most intriguing", but let's not let facts get in the way of a little self-horn-tooting), and it damn sure was. I feel sorry for anyone who sat through the Big Ten boreathon when this thing was playing, but not on national television. Maryland took a great leap forward, and rather than waiting for the season finale against NC State to get their 8th ACC win and do a little sweating on Selection Sunday, the Terps aggressively grabbed the 8th win, as well as the NCAA tourney bid, by beating the conference's best squad at home. UNC took a small misstep, but anyone who has been paying any attention to how well the Terps have been playing the last couple of weeks knows that this was not a bad loss (Skip Bayless, you are an idiot, as always). They should still win the conference, probably win the conference tourney, and get their #1 seed.

Ok, so what does the conference have in store for this week?

2/28, 7:30 - Miami (11-17, 4-10) @ Clemson (19-9, 5-9) - The Tigers' tourney hopes, if not completely dashed, are hanging by the slimmest of threads. A home game against Miami is just what a team in Clemson's position needs right now, but the pressure will be on them to win, and win big. This is the only scheduled match-up between these two teams.

9:00 (ESPN) - Maryland (22-7, 8-6) @ Duke (22-7, 8-6) - These are the ACC's two hottest teams, with win streaks of 5 and 4 games, respectively. In fact, neither team has lost since the Terrapins beat the Blue Devils 72-60 at College Park. Now they come in sporting identical records, both in conference play and overall. While neither one is fighting to get into the tournament - they have both punched their tickets already - this game is all about seeding in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Also, there is a lot of bad blood between these two teams, and both squads want this one very badly.

3/1, 7:00 (ESPN) - Virginia Tech (20-8, 10-4) @ Virginia (19-8, 10-4) - The battle for the Commonwealth continues as the Cavaliers host the Hokies. Anytime two schools from the same state cmoe together, it is a big deal, and when they are both in the upper echelons of their league - and esecially when that league is the premeir league in the country - it becomes monumental. Like the Duke/Maryland game, neither of these teams will be sweating out Selection Sunday, but seeding for both the NCAA and ACC tournaments is at stake, and, also like Maryland/Duke, the rivalry is what really makes this game intriguing. The Hokies stomped the Cavaliers in Balcksburg, 84-57 (ouch...I had to double-check that...).

9:00 (ESPN) - North Carolina (24-5, 10-4) @ Georgia Tech (18-10, 6-8) - By far the team with the most at stake this week is the Yellow Jackets, who still have the opportunity to finish up their ACC season at an even 8-8 and pretty much guarantee themselves a spot in the NCAAs. But in order to do so, they have to first beat the University of North Carolina, always a tough proposition, but even more so considering the Tar Heels had their pride stung after blowing 13 (1st half) and 12 (2nd half) point leads at College Park on Sunday and losing the game in the final minutes. They'll be looking to make a Statement by winning this game Big. Not only do the Yellow Jackets have to avoid getting blown out of their own building, but they have to find a way to do what the Terrapins did and come out victorious. The Tar Heels won the first match-up in Chapel Hill, 77-61.

Florida State (18-11, 6-9) and Boston College (19-9, 10-5) have off until the weekend. NC State (14-13, 4-10) hosts Wake Forest (13-14, 4-10) Wednesday night in a game mostly about trying to stay out of the ACC basement and eligible for the NIT.

Finally, I want to note that today we officially kick off March Madness, as the first of conference tournaments begin this week. Those conferences getting the early start are:

Atlantic Sun - Tournament runs Thursday through Saturday.
Big South - First round play starts today, next round on Thursday, final on Saturday.
Horizon - First round today, then games on Friday and Saturday, final on March 6.
Missouri Valley - Tournament runs Thursday through Sunday.
Northeast - Quarterfinals on Thursday, semifinals on Sunday, final on March 7.
Ohio Valley - First round today, then semifinals and final on Friday and Saturday.
Patriot - First round tomorrow, semifinals on Sunday, final on March 7.
Southern - Tournament runs tomorrow through Saturday.
Sun Belt - First round tomorrow, tournament resumes Sunday and runs through March 6.

Several other tournments start play this weekend, I'll get to those on Friday's post. Tomorrow, it's politics. Till then...

2007-02-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

2/23/07

Well, the week's early ACC action gave us some pretty intriguing results. Let's jump right in:

Georgia Tech 75, Wake Forest 61 - The second time around, the Yellow Jackets trounced the Demon Deacons to keep their NCAA hopes alive. This game was crucial for Tech, and they played like it. The problem is, the reason this one was so important is because the next three are going to be very difficult. But for now, Tech is still hanging on.

Virginia Tech 79, Boston College 62 - Three games ago BC was 9-2 and in first place in the ACC. Now, it seems like they are doing everything they can to play themselves out of the tournament. Fortunately for them, it seems like they'll get in no matter what, but this isn't helping their seeding at all. Tech should also have the deal sealed, especially after this win. The losses to NC State aren't pretty, but they are forgivable when the Hokies' performances against higher tier competition is considered.

Miami 68, Virginia 60 - Whoa, this wasn't supposed to happen. The Cavaliers have to be smarting from this one. Once again, we're talking about a team that has probably already secured their spot in the tournament, but they'll want to make everyone forget about this loss as soon as possible.

Maryland 73, Florida State 55 - The Terps have picked the right time to go on a roll, although, since they have two freshman point guards, this probably isn't coincidence. At various points in the ACC season, Maryland has been 0-2, 1-4, 2-5, and 3-6, but a 4 game winning streak has put them over .500 for the first time all season. They need one more win to secure a .500 season, but at this point you pretty much have to consider the Terps, if not a lock for the tournament, certainly as close as they can be. FSU, on the other hand, is in big trouble. A 5 game losing streak is not something you want to suffer this late in the season. However, if they can pull out the last two against NC State and Miami - two of the wekest teams in the conference this year - and score a first round voctory in the ACC tournament, they would be right at 20 wins, which is the unofficial Magic Number when you're talking about ACC teams. The selectors, however, might be hesitant to put a team that went 7-9 in the ACC regular season in the brackets, however, unless they did serious damage in the conference tourney - that is, 2 or 3 wins, as opposed to just one. One thing is certain, though - they need to start winning now.

North Carolina 83, North Carolina State 64 - The Tar Heels made up for the earlier loss to the Wolfpack in a big way. UNC continues to be on track for an NCAA one seed, as two of the teams ranked ahead of them - Ohio State and Wisconsin - still have at least one and possibly 2 match-ups between them left. If they continue to play like this, they'll get that 1 seed, no problem.

Duke 71, Clemson 66 - Duke's 8th conference win locks up a spot in the NCAAs for the Blue Devils. The only question left for them is what seed can they take. With games against Maryland and Carolina upcoming, and then the ACC tournament, there is plenty of opportunity for them to make some upward movement.

Ok, this weekend there will be 5 intraconference ACC games (Duke will be playing St. John's out of conference and Wake Forest will have the weekend off). Starting on Saturday...

2/24, Noon - Miami (11-16, 4-9) @ Virginia Tech (19-8, 9-4) - The Hokies probably locked up a spot in the tournament with their win over BC, if they didn't have the spot locked up already. But the Hokies have been wildly inconsistent this season, beating teams like Carolina (twice!), but losing to teams like NC State (twice!). The last thing they want to do is put any doubts back into people's heads by losing to the Hurricanes. The Hokies won in Miami earlier this season, 92-85.

1:00 - North Carolina State (14-12, 4-9) @ Florida State (17-11, 5-9) - The Seminoles may have sealed their fate by losing to the Terps Wednesday night, but it's not quite throw-in-the-towel time in Talahassee. The Noles could benefit from a very weak bubble and a very strong RPI rating for the ACC and sneak in despite a regular season conference record that can be no better than 7-9. But any chance - ANY chance - they might have at an NCAA bid absolutely hinges on their being able to close out the regular season with victories over the Wolfpack and the Hurricanes. If they lose this game, they can start planning their NIT strategy. This is the only meeting between these two teams in the regular season.

Clemson (19-8, 5-8) @ Boston College (18-9, 9-5) - Like FSU, Clemson finds itself in a very precarious position heading into this weekend. Unlike the Seminoles, the Tigers should control their own destiny - if they win out, they'll have a 22-8, 8-8 record heading into the conference tournament that should be good enough to secure a berth. BC is already guaranteed a conference record of 9-7, but they seem to be stumbling at the wrong time. I would be shocked if they finished over .500 in ACC play and didn't make the tournament, but the smart thing to do would be to win here and remove all doubts. This is probably the game that has the most at stake for both teams involved. Clemson pounded BC at Littlejohn, 74-54.

3:30 - Georgia Tech (18-9, 6-7) @ Virginia (18-8, 9-4) - If the previous game isn't the one with the most at stake for both teams, then this one is. The Yellow Jackets find themselves still alive for a tourney bid, but all three of their final remaining games are doozies, and the need to win two fo them to get to 8-8 on the season. UVA, on the other hand, is coming off an embarassing loss at Miami, and needs to get that taste out of everyone's mouth in a hurry. These two games should be a heck of a lot of fun. This is the only scheduled match-up between these teams.

2/25, 5:30 - North Carolina (24-4, 10-3) @ Maryland (21-7, 7-6) - This might be the most intriguing match-up of the weekend. UNC is, with little doubt, the class of the ACC this year, but Maryland is arguably playing the best ball in the conference right now. During the 4 game winning streak, Maryland has outscored their opponents by 12, 15, 16, and 18 points. So, not only are they winning by a lot, but they are winning by increasingly large margins. But UNC is coming off an 19-point win of their own. Are the Terps, with their young guards, ready for prime time, and ready to lock up their NCAA bid? Is Carolina ready to move closer to locking up that #1 seed? We'll find out Sunday.

2007-02-20T04:05:00.000-05:00

2/20/07

Before I get into this past weekend's ACC hoops action, I wanted to say something quick about San Diego's new coach, Norv Turner. The rest of the NFL should be breathing a deep sigh of relief now that the league's most talented team has thrown away its Super Bowl chances by hiring the new worst head coach in the NFL. The thought process here baffles me. I mean, I understand that this guy knows the offense, and I see that he has experience as an NFL head coach - but it's dreadful, shitty experience. In 9 years at the helm he has only been to the postseason one time. At least Marty could GET to the playoffs. The Chargers are a team that is ready to win now, and they picked the guy out there least likely to take them to the promised land.

But whatever - football season is a long way away, and right now we should be focused on a more current sport. The one I'm most into at the moment - until Antawn Jamison comes back, anyway - is ACC hoops. This past weekend was a big one in the nation's premiere conference. Let's take a look back...

Virginia 73, Florida State 70 - The Seminoles made a valiant effort on the road against a very good opponent (following the win, Virginia is now ranked in both polls), but ultimately the selection comittee remembers wins, not good losses. FSU have their backs against the wall now with a 5-8 conference record and a trip to College Park coming up. As for Virginia, they move to 9-3 in conference play and have almost certainly locked themselves up a spot in the tournament barring a complete collapse to end the season.

North Carolina 77, Boston College 72 - Well, BC had their chance to put the final piece on their tournament resume and take control of the ACC regular season title, but they failed to do either by losing at home, albeit in a close game. However, their 9-4 ACC record is almost certainly good enough, again, barring a complete collapse to close out the season, to secure them a tourney berth. UNC is in, even if they don't win another game between now and Selection Sunday. The only question about the Heels is whether they can play their way back into the top 4 and get themselves a 1 seed. Wrapping up the ACC regular season title and winning the tournament would caertainly accomplish that goal.

Duke 71, Georgia Tech 62 - Duke's win gives them the magic number - 20 - which usually gets ACC teams into the tournament. The 7-6 conference record leaves something to be desired, but they will almost certainly win at least one of their final 3 regular season games, which would guarantee them an 8-8 finish which, again, is usually good enough to secure a berth. Tech is now in trouble. Their conference record slides to 5-7, and while their next game should be a win over Wake Forest at home, their final three opponents are Virginia, North Carolina, and BC. It looks like the Yellow Jackets are headed for the NIT, unless they play some miraculous ball down the stretch.

North Carolina State 81, Virginia Tech 56 - Anyone care to explain what the hell is going on with the Hokies, who swept the Tar Heels but got swept by the Wolfpack (I mistakenly wrote, on the other post, that VaTech won the previous encounter between the two teams, when in fact they were on the losing end of that contest)? Virginia Tech should have all but sealed up an NCAA berth, but instead they have everyone scratching their heads, again. However, they have an 8-4 conference record, and if they can put away two of BC, Miami, Virginia, Clemson, and their first round opponent in the ACC tourney, they'll get to 20 wins on the year, so things still look good for them. They can't keep playing like they played on Sunday, though. As for the Wolfpack, well, they sealed their fate long ago, although sweeping Virginia Tech will probably get them a decent seed in the NIT.

Maryland 82, Clemson 66 - In the game that probably meant the most to both teams playing, Maryland got an impressive road win. It wasn't as lopsided as the final score indicated, but Maryland had the lead through the entire second half. The win gave the Terps 20 on the season, but finishing at 8-8 in conference will be a tough task. Will they get into the tournament based on what they have accomplished thusfar? Probably. Would they do well to look impressive from here on out to be safe? Damn right. As for Clemson, they are now in a bind. Although they have 19 wins, the 19-7 record doesn't look so hot when you realize that at one point they were 17-0. How you play down the stretch matters a lot to the selection comittee, and Clemson has been awful. They need to impress big time against the heavyweights left on their schedule, and a loss to Miami on the 28th would seal their fate.

Ok, now that we've looked behind, let's look ahead to this week's action. All 12 teams will be in action again, 5 games on Wednesday and one on Thursday, and every game features at least one team either trying to play their way into the tournament or trying to improve their seeding. Starting on Wednesday, we have...

2/21, 7:00 - Wake Forest (13-13, 4-9) @ Georgia Tech (17-9, 5-7) - The Yellow Jackets have got to win this game to have any chance of making the NCAA tournament, plain and simple (barring a miracle run in the ACC tourney, of course). Not only is Wake Forest a team that tournament-caliber teams should be beating, especially at home, but the remainder of their schedule is brutal. Not to mention, Wake won the initial match-up at Wake, 85-75, and Tech doesn't want "got swept by the 11th place team in the conference" on its resume.

Boston College (18-8, 9-4) @ Virginia Tech (18-8, 8-4) - These two teams have probably already played themselves into the tournament, but a win here would make it all but official for either team. Neither team is exactly facing murderer's row to finish out the season, either, so a loss here isn't going to be too big of an obstacle for whichever team isn't fortunate enough to come out with a victory. That said, however, the Hokies would do well to do everything in their power to try and make everyone forget about their troubles with the NC State Wolfpack. BC trounced the Hokies in Boston, 80-59.

7:30 - Virginia (18-7, 9-3) @ Miami (10-16, 4-9) - The Cavaliers have pretty much secured their spot in the tournament, unless they collapse at the end of the season. However, a loss to a team like Miami could trigger just that sort of catastrophe. The Hoos should win here, but if they don't, people will take notice. The Cavs win in Virginia, 81-70.

9:00 - Florida State (17-10, 5-8) @ Maryland (20-7, 6-6) - Once again, the Terps are involved in the game which probably has the most at stake for both teams involved. The Seminoles need to win this game if they want to even their conference record by the tournament - which is a definite possibility if they do, as NC State and Miami are the other tow teams on their schedule. 19 wins and a 7-9 conference record has been just good enough to keep Maryland out of the NCAAs the last two seasons, so the Seminoles have to believe that this is a must-win for them. For Maryland, too, the game is very important. Two of their remaining three opponents after this game are North Carolina (home) and Duke (away), so they'll want to get the games they should be winning in order to make finishing at .500 easier. The Seminoles won in Tallahassee, 96-79.

North Carolina State (14-11, 4-8) @ North Carolina (23-4, 9-3) - This game is a big one for the Tar Heels, who need to win this game not only for in-state pride, which can only be partially restored after the Wolfpack won the initial meeting in Raleigh, 83-79, but also because the Tar Heels find themselves ranked #5 in both polls, and they need to win out to secure themselves a #1 seed in the tournament. Now, the Wolfpack are not technically out of the NCAA picture, but they are hanging by a thread. IF they managed to win out, they would finish the season with an 8-8 conference record, and Carolina is certainly the toughest opponent left on their schedule, although trips to Florida State and Maryland won't be picnics, either. If they're going to make a mircale run, though, it needs to go through Chapel Hill. Good luck with that.

2/22, 9:00 - Duke (20-7, 7-6) @ Clemson (19-7, 5-7) - The Tigers find themselves spiraling out of control, and are now 2-7 after starting the season off 17-0. It's not too late for them, however, and they have an excellent opportunity to turn their season around again with the Blue Devils coming into town. Speaking of turning their season around, it wasn't too long ago that the Blue Devils had lost 4 in a row and people were starting to whisper "NIT". Well, it may not have been too long ago, but it seems that way, as back-to-back impressive wins against BC and Georgia Tech have put them back on the map. They can't afford to get too comfortable, though, as their last two opponents of the season are Maryland and UNC, two teams which have beaten them already this season. Duke would so well to win here to secure at least an 8-8 conference record. The Blue Devils won the first match-up between these teams in Durham, 68-66.

Tomorrow, I'll be on my politics blog. Till then...

2007-02-16T05:04:00.000-05:00

2/16/07

The 2006-07 academic year is looking like a banner one for the top conferences in the two big money sports. In football, the SEC had a dominant season, capped off by huge wins for LSU in the Sugar Bowl and Florida in the BCS title game. In basketball, the power conference is the ACC, and with March Madness fast approaching, the ACC looks like it will dominate the 65 team NCAA tournament field.

In my last post, I wrote that Maryland's 12 point win over Duke would probably lead to a very good stretch for Maryland, who always seem to carry over their performances against the Blue Devils through their next stretch of games. And indeed, it looked that way as the Terps cruised to a 15 point win at NC State Wednesday night. Duke also looked good Wednesday night, dominating Boston College in Boston and playing themselves right back into the tourney (as if the selection committee would ever skip over an even somewhat deserving Duke team, come on...). The ACC now has 9 teams knocking at the door of a 20-win season. UNC already has 22, Duke, Clemson, and Maryland all have 19, BC and Virginia Tech have 18, and Virginia, Gerogia Tech, and Florida State have 17 apiece. How many wins guarantees a spot in the field of 65 is uncertain, but they'll have a hard time passing on any 20-win squad coming out of this conference, even if that means 8 or even 9 berths.

This weekend all 12 ACC teams will be involved in intraconference action, with 5 of the 6 match-ups having possible NCAA ramifications. On Saturday afternoon, Florida State (17-9, 5-7) will head to Virginia (17-7, 8-3) in a game full of implications for both teams, especially the Noles, who would do well to even that conference record up by the time the tourney starts. Later that night, the weekend's marquee match-up will feature Boston College (18-7, 9-3) hosting North Carolina (22-4, 8-3); both of these two teams are tourney locks at this point, but they are fighting for high position in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. It will be very difficult for the loser of this game to secure the ACC season title. Sunday afternoon will kickoff at 1:00 with Georgia Tech (17-8, 5-6) traveling to Cameron Indoor to take on the Duke Blue Devils (19-7, 6-6) and their notorious crowd; this is the second match-up between these two teams - the Yellow Jackets won the game in Atlanta 74-63. At 4:00, the remaining two games will tip off. Maryland (19-7, 5-6) will travel to Clemson (19-6, 5-6) for a game each team would like to have to move closer to securing their tournament berth. Maryland won the first match-up at College Park, defeating the then undefeated Tigers 92-87. Also, Virginia Tech (18-7, 8-3) will be traveling to NC State (13-11, 3-8). The Hokies are still in the running for the ACC season title, and a road win would be huge for them; the Wolfpack are playing for an NIT berth rather than a NCAA berth, but don't underestimate them - they beat UNC in Raleigh on February 3rd. The Hokies won the first match-up at Blacksburg, 70-59 (the other ACC game - the one without tournament implications - has Miami (10-15, 3-8) going to Wake Forest (12-13, 3-9) at 1:00 on Saturday).

So, this should be a big weekend for ACC basketball. I suggest you grab a couch.

Current events blog tomorrow. See ya.

2007-02-13T06:11:00.000-05:00

2/13/07

Well, I wasn't sure what I was going to post about today, but I come back from work to find out that the Chargers have fired Marty Schottenheimer. The move will be universally ripped, but I think it is the right one. The Chargers are ready to win NOW, and it was obvious after their season-ending loss to New England that Schottenheimer did not give them the best chance to win. They played dumber than any high school team I have ever seen. It was obvious which team was begin coached by Schottenheimer, and which was being coached by Bellichick. But they have to make the right hire. Word round the campfire is they are thinking Pete Carroll. But I don't like Carroll, whi has a bad track record in the NFL and seems to be made for college. On the other hand, Carroll's old assistant Norm Chow is still available, and I've maintained that he has been the best candidate on the market the whole time.

Also, the Giants released LaVar Arrington. LaVar's career has really spun out of control lately, being released by two teams in the last two years. I hope he can get his career back together. I think the best thing for him to do would be to escape the NFC East.

Maryland beat Duke on Sunday, which knocked the Devils out of the coaches' poll. Winning against Duke has been a very good sign for Maryland, when it happens. It usually signals the beginning of a good stretch of basketball. Hopefully it can jettison this team to the school's first tourney berth in 3 seasons.

Finally, the Pro Bowl was Saturday evening. Now, even the slightest semblance of football season is behind us. Oh, sure, we have the draft and free agency to look forward to, but no games until August, and no real games until September. Oh well.

The biggest NBA game anybody would want to watch between now and Firday would be the Spurs and Pistons Wednesday night, a potential NBA Finals preview, but that game isn't going to be on a network anybody has (it will be on "NBA TV", whatever that is), and the second biggest, LeBron vs. Kobe on Thursday, will be on TNT, but it won't start until 10:30. Bummer.

Well, that's all I got for this morning. Tomorrow I'll be in the politics/current events blog. Till then...

2007-02-09T22:36:00.000-05:00

2/9/07

The Cowboys have decided on a new coach - old San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. Wade is the second Chargers assistant to leave for a head coaching vacancy this offseason, the redundantly named offensive coordinator Cam Cameron went to Miami to take over for Nick Saban. This is a great hire for Dallas - if you are a Redskins fan. While Phillips is not quite as incompetent as Norv Turner, his previous head coaching stints - and he's had a few - have resulted in plenty of mediocrity and not much winning. Why NFL teams continue to hire failed retreads when there are great young assistants - like Norm Chow - out there to be hired escapes me. But, as long as it's Dallas, I'm happy. If Chow is still around when coach Gibbs decides to hang 'em up, I'd be happy as hell if the Redskins got him.

In other news, the Wizards took quite the hit recently when they lost Antawn Jamison for 3-6 weeks with a sprained knee. In fact, they have lost 3 of 4 since then. Hopefully, thy'll still be in contention for home court throughout when he is able to come back.

Ok, this weekend we have the Pro Bowl, which is famous for its complete irrelevance. The NBA match-ups are rather pedestrian, although the Kobe/LeBron showdown on Sunday afternoon could be somewhat watchable. All in all, a good weekend for going outside - if it weren't so goddam miserable out. Take in a movie, kids.

2007-02-06T05:34:00.000-05:00

Manning's Redemption

Well, I hope this finally puts an end to all of the stupid "who is the best quarterback in football" discussion. Of course, it won't up here, because everyone here will defend Brady's superiority to the death, but the fact of the matter is Peyton Manning proved to everyone how great a quarterback he was this postseason.

Already, I can hear the protests. "But his numbers weren't good this postseason". This from the very same people who used to say we should ignore Manning's statistics and focus on the RESULTS - i.e., who won the Super Bowl. I say, on what standard are you basing Manning's supposed sub-par performance?

In the first game, Manning went 30-38 for 268 yards and a score. He also threw three picks, which brought down his passer efficiency rating, but two of those three appeared to be the result of miscommunications. Oh, yeah, and his team won the game 23-8.

On the second game, Manning was only 15-30 for 170 yards with two picks - his only really bad game as a passer. But the Ravens' defense was the best in the League, and he led his team on several extended scoring drives (albeit all field goals).

In the third game, Manning was magical. 27-47 for 349 yards, one pick and one TD. But the real story of the game was when he took over with 2 minutes and change remaining and down by 3, and lead the Colts all the way down the field for the winning score. It was exactly the kind of drive Manning supposedly couldn't lead - especially not against that team.

In the Super Bowl, Manning was 25-38 for 247 yards, a TD and a pick. Unspectacular numbers once again, but it was the confidence with which he drove his team down the field time and time again, controlling the clock for 38 minutes, that made the difference.

It must be remembered that Manning is more than just the QB - he is the de facto offensive coordinator, calling the plays based on what he sees. His vision and knowledge of the game is what is responsible for ANY success the Colts offense has, passing or rushing. In this postseason, opposing defenses wanted the Colts running game to beat them. Manning oblidged by handing the ball off again and again - the Colts rushed more often than they threw in three of their four postseason games, with the large comeback against New England being the only exception. In all four games, they outrushed their opponents.

Manning is not only the greatest QB in the League, he is the greatest player in the League, and by the time he is finished, he will be the greatest in League history.

2007-01-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's post was a recap of the two Conference title games. Today, I'll be giving a brief recap of the AFC half of the postseason tournament up to the CCG.

The first match-up of the 2006 postseason pitted the Indianapolis Colts against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Colts had been the toast of the NFL after racing out to a 9-0 start to become, again, the NFL's last remining unbeaten squad, but stumbled down the stretch, losing 4 of their last 7. Their run defense, long the chink in their armor, had become more like a festering wound, lowlighted by an awful performance in which they gave up an incredible 375 rushing yards to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a 44-17 loss. Kansas City had snuck into the playoffs after losses by Denver and Cincinnati, and many thought they would give the Colts a good game, since their offense was pretty much all about the running game, and star back Larry Johnson, who rushed for 1789 yards on an NFL record 416 carries on the season. But, using 8 and 9 man fronts, the Colts shut down the Kansas City rushing attack and the Chiefs never responded with an aerial assualt. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning had an on-and-off game, throwing 3 INTs but completing 30 of 38 passes. The Colts got the win, 23-8.

The next day the New England Patriots took on the New York Jets. The AFC East rivals split their two game series, with each team winning on the road. The Patriots hosted the rubber match, and for three quarters the game was entertaining, but the Patriots capatilized on a couple of costly turnovers late in the game to put it out of reach. The lopsided 37-16 final did not reflect the nature of most of the game.

The Colts were once again playing the Saturday game in week 2 of the postseason, as they traveled to Baltimore to take on the 13-3 Ravens. The Ravens were, as always, led by their defense, which was the stingiest in the League in terms of yards per game and points per game (not even the fabled 2000 defense did that - Tennessee was first in YPG that year) and was seond in the league in takeaways, and their offense, behind power running back Jamal Lewis, was doing just enough to win, which had many around the country thinking that this might be a repeat of the 2000 season. But once again the Colts defense rose to the task of stopping their opponents ground game, and once again, the opposing quarterback failed to make their safeites pay for sneaking up in the box. The Ravens were absolutely immobile on offense. As for the Colts offense, they didn't exactly light it up - neither team got the ball into the end zone in this game - but 5 scoring drives, four of which covered more than 45 yards, were enough to catapault the Colts into the AFC Championship Game with a 15-6 victory.

The next day, the Patriots took on the Chargers in San Diego, in what was certainly the ugliest game of the postseason. The Patriots got out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Chargers responded with two TDs before Tom Brady worked a nice and neat two minute drill for a score right before the half to make it 14-10 going into the break. Then the Chargers got a wicked case of the stoopids. Eric Parker, who had been plagued by drops all game, muffed a punt which dropped at his feet, but then he inexplicably tried to scoop it up instead of just falling on it, and the Patriots ended up with the recovery. Later, the Chargers stopped the Patriots on 3rd and long, but Drayton Florence couldn't help himself and headbutted Daniel Graham, giving the Patriots a fresh set of downs and eventually giving kicker Stephen Gostkowski an easy figgie to pull the score to 14-13. The Chargers scored one more time on a run by MVP LaDanian Tomlinson (but once again, the stoopids took over, and they ended up with a 15 yard Unecessary Roughness penalty ON THE EXTRA POINT), and with under 7 minutes remaing, the defense had the Patriots facing 4th and 5 at midfield. Tom Brady threw a pass that defensive back Marlon McCree stepped in front of. But rather than knocking the pass down, which would have all but sealed the voctory, McCree intercepted the pass and attempted to run with the ball. This monumentally stoopid decision gave WR Troy Brown the oportunity to strip the ball away from Jackass McCree, and the Patriots' day was saved. Armed with a fresh set of downs, Brady drove his team in for the game tying score. One more Gostkowski field goal later, and the Patriots were on their way to face the Colts in a football game of epic proportions.

Tommorow, the NFC playoffs...

2007-01-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

14 days, 14 posts

That's what I have in store for the next two weeks before the Super Bowl. The first week I'll be focusing on this past season, starting with the most recent events, and working my way backwards. Then next week, the posts will be more geared towards the upcoming game. Should be a lot of fun.

Anyway, I have to start with yesterday's games.

Bears 39, Saints 14 - This was actually a very entertaining game for 3 quarters, then the wheels finally fell off for the Saints. They took the city on a magical ride, though, and the future is definately bright - see the ridiculous 88-yard TD reception by Reggie Bush. As for the Bears, Rex Grossman played a very solid, if unspectacular, game at QB. With that defense and running game he really needs to play the Trent Dilfer role - the question is can he be disciplined enough to do it. The answer yesterday was yes. We'll see what the answer is in two weeks. And can you say enough about the Bears defense? Ya, they gave up a bushel of yards, but they turned the Saints over 4 times. And if it weren't for the aforementioned 88-yard reception by Bush, they would have given up only 287 yards and 7 points to the NFL's best offense. The elements were on their side, but they took full advantage, never allowing the Saints to get their passing or running game in stride.

Colts 38, Patriots 34 - This is the game everyone wants to talk about, and with good reason. Only three weeks ago I was saying that the Boise State/Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl was the greatest football game I have ever seen at any level. Now, that has been replaced. The game started as a replay of the teams' previous post-season meetings, with the Patriots running the Colts off the field and leaping out to a gaudy 21-3 lead. But then, something switched on in Peyton Manning's head - maybe it was the abscence of pressure, with the game having been apparently lost - and he started moving his team down the field like he has done his entire career in the regular season. Before you knew it, the game was tied at 21 and he was thinking "Hey, this isn't so hard after all." Next thing you know, the two best quarterbacks in the NFL were having a heavyweight slugfest, and at the end of it all they both found themselves with a possession at the end of the game with a chance to score a touchdown for the win. Manning lead his team to a touchdown, Brady failed. Game over.

Tomorrow I'll be recapping the AFC side of the tournament. Till then...

2007-01-19T22:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, time for my two predictions, and explanations.

First, the early game, Saints @ Bears.

All the focus coming into this match-up has been on Rex Grossman - will he be the "good" Rex or the "bad" Rex? Personally, I don't like his chances. The Saints defense is stout up front and should be able to put the clamps on the Bears' running game and get good pressure on the young QB. Now, the Saints have been vulnerable to the big play, especially through the air, so look for some big completions down the field for Chicago. However, he won't be able to hit those passes every time, especially if all of the pressure is on him to win the game, as it should be. On the other side of the ball, the Saints offense is the best remaining, and perhaps the best in the League overall. Reggie Bush's ascension over the last few weeks has come just in time, and Deuce McAllister is running like a bull. The Bears' defense, rock solid through the majority of the season, has come apart with injuries and suspensions, and is suddenly very vulnerable to the running game. The Bears are going to have to cheat their safeties up to keep the Saints from eating up the clock, and that will make them very susceptible to the Saints high-potency air game. Of course, the Bears have the X-factor with Hester returning kicks, but I don't see that as being enough of an advantage to counteract the fact that the Saints match-up very well with them in other facets. The Saints will win, and it won't come down to the final drive.

As for the AFC Championship...

I don't know if you've heard, but the Colts are playing the Patriots, and everyone is wondering if Manning and Dungy can finally get past Brady and Bellichick (never mind the fact that the Colts have won the last two meetings - apparently the regular season is the new preseason). Well, maybe, maybe not. But if you can look past those four guys, something becomes abundantly clear - except for the two B's, the Patriots are badly outmanned in this match-up. The Colts have more explosive playmakers on both sides of the ball, a result of the talent purge that has been going on in New England ever since Bellichick started believing his own press and thinking that he could win with anybody. Well, it takes players to win in this league, and I think Bellichick is going to rue the days he underestimated the importance of Deion Branch, David Givens, Adam Vinitieri, Willie McGinest, Ty Law, etc., etc., etc. That being said, the Colts suddenly inpenetrable run defense will be tested now that they are playing an opponent that should be able to throw the ball around a little, and so don't be suprised if the Colts find themselves suddenly giving up some points again. But I have faith in that Indy offense to put up more than enough points themselves. This will be a high scoring one, and in the end I see the Colts headed to Miami.

2007-01-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

Well, first of all I want to congratulate the Florida Gators for winning the 2007 BCS Championship. In fact, I want to congratulate all 22 of the 32 bowl winning teams I picked in my last post.

But college season is over, now, and it's time to look at the Professional playoffs. We're down to four teams, now, 2 per conference. And once again I'm going to make some predictions that are going to startle many (well, "many" relative to the number of people who read this), but if anyone doubt my predictive prowess, look again at my outstanding bowl record. Bitches.

But that is for tomorrow - it's only Thursday, after all. Today, we'll look back at the playoff games that have taken place so far, and try to glean whatever information we can out of them. In chronological order:

Wild Card Round:

Colts 23, Chiefs 8 - I'm sorry, but everyone should have seen this coming. The pundits spent so much time worrying about how the Colts were going to stop Larry Johnson that nobody realized that LJ was pretty much the entirety of the Chiefs' offense, and a team of monkeys can stop the run if they line up 8 and 9 in the box all of the time. This would foreshadow Indy's performance in their next postseason game. Meanwhile, Manning had, contrary to popular belief, a pretty decent game. Everybody focused on the three picks, but he went 30-38 for 268 yards. And two of those picks appeared to be the result of miscommunications.

Seahawks 21, Cowboys 20 - Aaaaahahahahahahhaaaahahahaahahaaahahahhaaaaaahahaaa!!!

Patriots 37, Jets 16 - The Jets managed to keep close the entire game, but in the end desparation caught up with them and they allowed the Patriots to make the plays which closed the door on their season. We didn't learn much here except that the Jets weren't ready for prime time. But there is one other thing. Everyone makes a big deal of how the NFC sent an 8-8 team to the playoffs and none of the 4,5, or 6 seeds had better than 9 wins on the season. But my question is how good can the AFC be if the clearly undermanned Jets can put up a 10 win season?

Eagles 23, Giants 20 - Tiki's last stand. In fact, both teams went ground heavy, which is how you win in the postseason.

Divisional Round:

Colts 15, Ravens 6 - An eerily similar result to the first Indy game, with the difference being that the Ravens have a better defense than the Chiefs and were able to hold the Colts to field goals. Otherwise, it was almost the same game. Manning threw a couple picks, but he made the plays he needed to make to set up scoring drives. The Ravens planned on running the Colts defense over but Jamal couldn't break through 8 and 9 man fronts, and the Ravens' passing game was unable to punish the Colts for cheating with their safeties.

Saints 27, Eagles 24 - The story of this ball game, to me, is Reggie Bush. Overall, McAllister had the better game, but he has been a reliable quantity all season. Bush is showing that he is finally ready to make the leap. Some of his runs made me think of his college days, especially the TD run where he got stopped going up the middle, and then reversed course and outran everyone to the corner of the end zone. If Bush can continue his ascension, the Saints will have the best running game of the remaining four teams, and should be looking at the best running attack next season, as well.

Bears 27, Seahawks 24 - You have to like what Rex Grossman did by setting up the winning score. However, the state of the Bears defense continues to be substandard - especially considering the standard they had set.

Patriots 24, Chargers 21 - The worst palyed playoff game I have ever seen. Between the drops, the fumbles, the boneheaded penalties, and the just general stupidity of the Chargers, it's a wonder the Patriots didn't win by 30. Although, it's not really a wonder when you consider that this simply isn't the same Patriots team that won consecutive Super Bowls 2 and 3 years ago. They're lucky to still be playing.

Predictions tomorrow.

2006-12-04T02:07:00.000-05:00

Let's talk college football, and we'll start with the results from an incredible weekend...

Central Michigan 31, Ohio 10 - Central Michigan wins the MAC championship.

Houston 34, Southern Mississippi 20 - The Cougars win the Conference USA championship.

Louisville 48, Connecticut 17 - With the win, Louisville put themselves in position to win the Big East and the accompanying BCS berth with a WVU win later on in the day.

Wake Forest 9, Georgia Tech 6 - Wake wins the ACC and a BCS berth.

Navy 26, Army 14 - The Naval Academy seniors became the only class in the history of all three service academies to finish their football careers 8-0 against the other two academies.

California 26, Stanford 17 - The Golden Bears secure Bay Area bragging rights for another season.

California Los Angeles 13, Southern California 9 - UCLA wins LA bragging rights for a year while ending USC's BCS Title dreams.

Troy 26, Florida International 13 - Troy wins the Sun Belt Conference Championship.

Florida 38, Arkansas 28 - The Gators win the SEC Title and keep their BCS Title hopes alive.

West Virginia 41, Rutgers 39 - And Louisville celebrates as WVUs win clinches them the Big East Championship.

Oklahoma 21, Nebraska 7 - Oklahoma wins the Big 12, BCS berth.

Oregon State 35, Hawaii 32 - Oregon State finishes their regular season with a win; Hawaii QB Colt Brennan is within one TD of the NCAA record with the bowl game to go.

And speaking of the Bowl games - the line-up was completed Sunday:

12/19, 8:00, ESPN2 - Poinsetta Bowl - Texas Christian (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5) - Two of the more well-known mid-majors. Northern Illinois was the team that ran off a string of upsets a few seasons ago, beating Maryland and Alabama, for two. TCU is, among other things, the alma matter of LaDanian Tomlinson. But both teams were somewhat down this year - TCU finished two games behind MWC Champion Brigham Young, and NIU finished 3rd in their division. I predict a solid win for the TCU Horned Frogs.

12/21, 8:00, ESPN - Las Vegas Bowl - Brigham Young (10-2) vs. Oregon (7-5) - The Stormin' Mormons put together a hell of a season to run away with the Mountain West Championship, and find themselves with an opportunity to prove themselves against a Pac 10 opponent. Oregon has had a lackluster season, finishing tied for 5th in the PAC 10 with a 4-5 conference record. I look for BYU to win big.

12/22, 8:00, ESPN2 - New Orleans Bowl - Rice (7-5) vs. Troy (7-5) - Rice is a bseball power that, until this season, whad a terrible football program. Troy is a former 1-AA school that just landed a conference championship. Conference USA may be a mid-major, but it is definately a cut above the Sun Belt Conference, so I have Rice over Troy comfortably.

12/23, 1:00 PM, ESPN2 - Pizza Bowl (Ok, not it's real name, but I refuse to call any bowl game by its corporate name - and since this bowl game only has a corporate name, I decided to make a name up for it) - South Florida (8-4) vs. East Carolina (7-5) - Believe it or not, South Florida is actually a Big East team. In fact, they had a very emotional upset win over West Virginia in Morgantown that had their coach reduced to near-tears (my guess is he was crying in the locker-room post game). ECU, like Rice, is a horrid program that somehow put together a good season. Unlike Rice, however, I don't see the magic continuing through the bowl game. USF in a blow-out.

4:30, ESPN2 - New Mexico Bowl - New Mexico (6-6) vs. San Jose State (8-4) - Until recently, the Mountain West was a definite cut above the WAC, but the latter has had a resurgence of late, resulting in several quality teams this season, the alternatively attired Spartans being one of them. New Mexico has a virtual home game here, but I think SJSU will win this one with points to spare.

8:00, ESPN - Armed Forces Bowl - Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5) - Utah misses Urban Meyer, and since he has Florida playing for the BCS Title in his second year coaching, it's easy to see why. At 7-5, they are still a bowl team, but they aren't the powerhouse they were, and I don't expect them to win over Tulsa. They'll keep it respectable, though.

12/24, 8:00, ESPN - Hawaii Bowl - Arizona State (7-5) vs. Hawaii (10-3) - Hawaii just lost a home game to Oregon State, but that was a close game (35-32) and Oregon State finished 3rd in the Pac-10 whereas Arizona State, like Oregon, finished tied for 5th at 4-5 in conference. In summation, I expect Hawaii to win this game and Colt Brennan to break the NCAA single-season TD passes record.

12/26, 7:30, ESPN - Motor City Bowl - Middle Tennessee State (7-5) vs. Central Michigan (9-4) - MTSU lost the Sun Belt Conference due to a tiebraker, so they had to hold their noses and hope for an at-large berth somewhere. They got it, and somehow ended up in a higher-profile bowl berth than they would have gotten had they beaten Troy and won their Conference. However, with the higher-profile bowl comes a better opponent, and I expect MAC Champion CMU to stomp MTSU pretty badly.

12/27 8:00, ESPN - Emerald Bowl - Florida State (6-6) vs. California Los Angeles (7-5) - UCLA is coming off the biggest upset win in school history. FSU is just plain upset after posting a disasterous (for them) 6-6 record and finishing 5th in their 6 team division. Still, I'm going to pick my first upset here and go with the Seminoles, who don't want the legacy of being the first FSU team in forever to finish a season with more Ls than Ws.

12/28, 4:30, ESPN - Independance Bowl - Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6) - Disappointing 6-6 records for both of these two schools, and Alabama is playing having recently lost their coach. But teams in this situation tend to do suprisingly well, and I think the Tide will win one last game for Coach Shula.

8:00, ESPN - Holiday Bowl - California (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (9-3) - The first high-profile match-up of the bowl season pits two 9-3 teams against each other. California was ranked all season long, although they lost their biggest two games of the season (vs. USC and vs. Tennessee). The Aggies won thier biggest match-up of the season (vs. Texas), but only finished 3rd in their division. I like Cal to win this game.

NFL Network - Texas Bowl - Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5) - What is a 10-2 Rutgers team doing playing in a bowl against a crappy opponent on a network that nobody gets? Good question, and the Scarlet Knights have to be asking themselves that, as well. Unfortunately for Rutgers, teams in this position have a terrible time getting up for this kind of game. I see a big upset for K-State here.

12/29, 1:00, ESPN - Music City Bowl - Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5) - Intrasectional match-ups which rarely happen in the regular season, like this one, are always interesting. Clemson and Kentucky have one common opponent this season: South Carolina. The GameCocks beat Clemson by 3 and Kentucky by 7, so the Transitional Property of Football Scores says Clemson wins this game by 4.

2:00, CBS - Sun Bowl - Oregon State (9-4) vs. Missouri (8-4) - By the records, you'd think this game would be close. But further investigation reveals that Missouri started out 6-0 and finished 2-4, whereas Oregon State started out 2-3 and finished up 7-1. The anarchist in me wants to pick Missouri because the Beavers are so obvious, but I can't help my bias against the Big 12, so I'm going with Oregon State here.

4:30, ESPN - Liberty Bowl - Houston (10-3) vs. South Carolina (7-5) - Oooh, this is an interesting one. Houston did very well in what is probably the country's top mid-major conference. But I can't see Steve Spurrier losing to a team called "Houston", can you? South Carolina in one of the Ol' Ball Coach's run-up-the-score specials.

7:30, NFL Network - Insight Bowl - Texas Tech (7-5) vs. Minnesota (6-6) - Another game nobody is going to be able to see. TTU's 4-4 Conference record isn't exactly inspiring, but it is better than Minnesota's 3-5 record in a terrrrrrrrible Big 10. I like the Red Raiders to score, score, and score some more in a rout over the Golden Gophers.

8:00 - ESPN - Sports Bowl - Purdue (8-5) vs. Maryland (8-4) - Both teams went 5-3 in conference play. The difference is Maryland's conference only kind of sucks, whereas Purdue's is godawful. I like Maryland here, but not by much.

12/30, 1:00, ESPN - Car Bowl - Navy (9-3) vs. Boston College (9-3) - Navy is the kind of feel good team you really want to hitch your wagon to. Unfortunately, whenever they play against the big boys, the contrast in the talent level sticks out. BC will win this one, and the final score will be ugly.

4:30, ESPN - Alamo Bowl - Texas (9-3) vs. Iowa (6-6) - Texas may be on a two-game losing streak, but they sure as hell are capable of stomping the living shit out of an Iowa team that went an utterly pathetic 2-6 in the Little Ten. This game is not going to be entertaining at all, unless you really hate the Hawkeyes for some reason and you get sadistic pleasure when they are blasted off the field.

8:00, ESPN - Peach Bowl - Georgia (8-4) vs. Virginia Tech (10-2) - We're starting to get into the better match-ups now. UGA beat the same Georgia Tech team that took down the Hokies earlier this season, but VaTech is playing much better now than they were then. Georgia's defense will keep the Hokies offense in check, but a lack of offense will ultimately cost the Bulldogs in a squeaker.

12/31, 7:30, ESPN - Computer Bowl - Miami (FL) (6-6) vs. Nevada (8-4) - Conventional wisdom says Nevada will be far more motivated for this game then Miami, but I think the Hurricanes will have both the motivation of wanting to not be the team that finishes under .500 for the first time in forever, as well as wanting to win one for the departing Coach Coker. Hurricanes in an emotional rout.

1/1 11:00 AM, ESPN - Outback Bowl - Tennessee (9-3) vs. Penn State (8-4) - Penn State sucks. The Big 10 sucks. Vols in a rout.

11:30 AM, FOX - Cotton Bowl - Auburn (10-2) vs. Nebraska (9-4) - The SEC is going to make the New Year their stomping ground. This will be another stomping. Auburn by a lot. War Eagle!

1:00, CBS - Gator Bowl - West Virginia (10-2) vs. Georgia Tech (9-4) - This is an interesting match-up. However, I feel that the top of the Big East is better than the top of the ACC, and will prove it in this game as well as in the Orange Bowl. Slaton runs all over the place, and the Mountaineers win comfortably.

ABC - Citrus Bowl - Arkansas (10-3) vs. Wisconsin (11-1) - Wisconsin can take that phoney 11-1 record and shove it up their ass. Razorbacks win big. Pig Sooey!

5:00, ABC - Rose Bowl - Southern California (10-2) vs. Michigan (11-1) - In case you're looking for a theme this bowl season, it is "The Big Ten Gets Exposed". USC wins and it won't come down to the wire.

8:00, FOX - Fiesta Bowl - Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (11-2) - My heart says, "pick Boise State" but my head says, "no fucking way; boomer Sooner!"

1/2, 8:00, FOX - Orange Bowl - Louisville (11-1) vs. Wake Forest (11-2) - I've already given away my pick for this one, but here it is again - Louisville wins, and it could get ugly.

1/3, 8:00, FOX - Sugar Bowl - Notre Dame (10-2) vs. Louisiana State (10-2) - Let me get this straight: Notre Dame runs up the score against the service academies, but gets crushed every time they play a decent team, and they're going to go into the SuperDome to play LSU in the first Sugar Bowl in New Orleans since Katrina? If LSU doesn't win this game by 30 points or more, I'll be shocked. SHOCKED.

1/6, 12:00, ESPN2 - International Bowl - Cincinnati (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (8-4) - Ummm, couldn't they have played this one in December? Cincy wins comfortably.

1/7, 8:00, ESPN - GMAC Bowl - Ohio (9-4) vs. Southern Miss (8-5) - Once again, this one shouldn't be being played a week into January. I like Frank Solich's Ohio squad here, but that might just be because I want to see Solich shove it in Nebraska's ass.

1/8, 8:00, FOX - BCS Championship - Ohio State (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1) - If you've been reading carefully, you know where I'm going. Close win for the Gators, and a fine finish to Chris Leak's career.

2006-12-01T05:48:00.000-05:00

At long last, we have reached the final week of the college football regular season. Here are the games being played this week with the most on the line...

Yesterday - Central Michigan 31, Ohio 10 - Both of these two schools had seasons far above and beyond what they were supposed to have, and Central Michigan capped their dream season off nicely with a blowout of Ohio in the Championship Game. Now, they prepare for the Motor City Bowl.

Today - 8:00 - Southern Mississippi vs. Houston - This game is the Conference USA Championship. The winner gets a bid in the Liberty Bowl to play an SEC opponent to be named. Souther Miss beat Houston earlier in the season, 31-27.

Saturday, 12:00 - Connecticut @ Louisville - The Cardinals are in excellent position to win the Big East, but they do need help. In addition to needing to win this game, they need WVU to beat Rutgers later on in the day.

1:00 - Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech - The ACC Championship Game. The winner goes to the Orange Bowl and will likely face the Big East Champion. These two teams have not met this season.

2:30 - Army vs. Navy - Obviously, a LOT of pride at stake here. Navy already has the Commander-in-Chiefs trophy locked up, and their post-season plans (a trip to the Car Care Bowl, where they could possibly meet Maryland in an in-state rivalry game, albeit out of state) are set in stone. But that doesn't mean this isn't a BIG game, even if pride is the only thing at stake.

3:00 - Stanford vs. California - Like Army/Navy, this is a big-time rivalry game that is all about pride at this point, with Cal having already made their post-season plans (Holiday Bowl vs. Texas A&M) and Stanford having none. But this is a big time battle for Bay Area supremacy, so it should be hard-fought, if little else.

4:30 - Southern California @ California Los Angeles - USC is coming off of a huge win over the Golden Domers, and looks to romp their intra-city rival in the season finale and lock up a trip to the BCS Title game. But UCLA would love nothing more than to spoil their biggest rival's season.

6:00 - Arkansas vs. Florida - SEC Championship Game. A trip to the BCS Title Game is still in reach for Florida, who would need to win this game in a rout and would need UCLA to beat USC and they would need a lot of help from the voters. More likely, the winner of this game is headed for the Sugar Bowl, and the loser to the Citrus to play Wisconsin. These two teams did not play each other in the regular season.

7:00 - Troy @ Florida International - Fresh off their win over Middle Tennessee State, Troy now finds themselves a mere one win away from the Sun Belt Conference Championship - not bad for a team that was D1-AA only a few seasons ago. And even better news, the only team remaining on their schedule is 0-11 Florida International. Should FIU play the ultimate spoiler, Middle Tennessee would win the Sun Belt, and go to the New Orleans Bowl to play Rice in Troy's stead.

7:45 - Rutgers @ West Virginia - The Big East title would belong to Rutgers if they can pull out this win over WVU. Should the Mountaineers win and Louisville win earlier, then Louisville would be the Big East Champion. If WVU and UConn won, then Rutgers, WVU, and Louisville would all be tied atop the standings each with 1-1 head to head records, and I don't know the tie-braking procedure in that instance.

8:00 - Nebraska vs. Oklahoma - The Big 12 Championship. The winner heads to the Fiesta Bowl. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.

Saturday/Sunday - Sometime after midnight - Oregon State @ Hawaii - The only reason I mention this game is because Hawaii QB Colt Brennan is 4 TD passes shy of breaking the NCAA single-season record in that category. And since he has 51 through 11 games, I would say that is extremely possible.

2006-11-28T16:48:00.000-05:00

Didn't get to this one yesterday, which means that today's will be a monster.

I'll start with the college football results.

Miami (FL) 17, Boston College 14 - Miami's win was enough to earn them bowl eligibility, but not enough to save Larry Coker's job. I suspect his replacement will be Schiano out of Rutgers. BC's loss took them out of ACC Atlantic Championship contention and meant that the division title would go to the winner of Saturday evening's Maryland/Wake Forest game.

Texas A&M 12, Texas 7 - The Aggies' stunning upset over the Horns opened up the door for Oklahoma to win the Big 12 South with a win over Oklahoma State in Saturday.

Louisiana State 31, Arkansas 26 - LSU stepped into this game and showed that they were probably the SEC West's best team, but with the worst schedule. It sets them up for a BCS Bowl appearance (Rose?), and gives them momentum heading into next season, where the stars appear aligned for a BCS Championship run.

Oregon State 30, Oregon 28 - Well, with wins over the Pac 10 Champion and likely BCS title game participant USC AND their in-state arch-rivals, the Beavers have to feel pretty good about the season they had.

Western Michigan 17, Akron 0 - No bowling this season for the Zips. Too bad.

Florida 21, Florida State 14 - It was an important game for Florida to win, but they still needed some help from USC's remaining opponents to storm the BCS title game.

North Carolina 45, Duke 44 - Duke's 0-12 season ends fittingly with a botched PAT against their arch-rival.

South Carolina 31, Clemson 28 - Spurrier's GameCocks continue to march. And the SEC continues to look good in their big three matches with the ACC this weekend.

Virginia Tech 17, Virginia 0 - Tech locks up a spot in the Gator Bowl, and locks their in-state rivals out of the postseason.

Rutgers 38, Syracuse 7 - Don't count Rutgers out of the race to the BCS just yet - they still control their own destiny and they still look like a damn fine team.

South Florida 24, West Virginia 19 - Watching USF's coach fight back tears while he praised his team after their spectacular upset over the Mountaineers reminded me why I love watching sports. As for the Mountaineers, this loss pretty much ends their Big East title (and BCS appearance) hopes.

Mississippi 20, Mississippi State 17 - Not a classic, but it meant everything in the world to these two teams.

New Mexico 41, San Diego State 14 - New Mexico is bowl eligible.

Oklahoma 27, Oklahoma State 21 - And with the victory, the Sooners get into the Big 12 Title game though the back door. Oklahoma has not played their opponent, Nebraska, this season.

Georgia 15, Georgia Tech 12 - The SEC makes it a 3-0 sweep over the ACC, and Georgia puts a happy ending on an otherwise lackluster ragular season.

Louisville 48, Pittsburgh 24 - Who would have thought, coming into this season, that Louisville would need West Virginia to WIN their upcoming game with Rutgers in order to grab the Big East title? Well, it's come true.

Brigham Young 33, Utah 31 - BYU narrowly escapes an upset over their in-state rival.

Troy 21, Middle Tennessee State 20 - And by a single point, Troy heads into the season finale knowing a win would wrap-up a Sun Belt Conference Title.

Boise State 38, Nevada 7 - BSU sent an undeniable message that they are deserving of the BCS Bowl bid they will now receive.

Arizona State 28, Arizona 14 - The Sun Devils can continue to claim the best football program in the state for at least one more season.

Southern Mississippi 42, Marshall 7 - The Golden Eagles emphatically lay claim to the C-USA East division, and the Thundering Herd lose their bid to become bowl eligible. The Golden Eagles beat their C-USA Championship Game opponent, Houston, 31-27 earlier this season.

Wake Forest 38, Maryland 24 - The Demon Deacons are your ACC Atlantic Champions, and they will face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the title game. The two teams have not met this season.

Southern California 44, Notre Dame 24 - An emphatic victory over the Golden Domers has USC on the verge of the BCS Title Game.

Memphis 38, Texas El Paso 19 - I would have thought UTEP would play with some modicum of pride with a possible bowl berth on the line. Instead, they looked like the team with nothing to play for.

NFL Power Rankings:

1. Colts (2) - Joseph Addai finally proved that he is more than capable as the replacement for Edgerrin James.
2. Bears (1) - How do you force 5 turnovers and still lose? Giving up 4 yourself is a good start.
3. Chargers (3) - You want to be beating Oakland a little more emphatically than that.
4. Cowboys (4) - Tony Romo has the Cowboys playing the most impressive ball in the NFC over the last few weeks. I think cutting Vanderjagt was short-sighted, though.
5. Ravens (7) - If Jamal Lewis keeps running like he has been recently and the defense keeps this up, the Ravens will be a tough team for ANYBODY to beat - the 4 teams listed above included.
6. Broncos (4) - Will the Jay Cutler Era rally the team for a late run, or will it send the once-promising season spiraling out of control? We'll find out, but something had to be done.
7. Patriots (8) - That game was so ugly, it had to tie a steak around it's chest to get the dog to play with it.
8. Bengals (11) - Carson Palmer's revival is coming just in time to save my fantasy team's (and the Bengals') season. Now he has to do keep it up against a Baltimore defense that looks like they could stop anybody.
9. Jaguars (6) - The fact that a team that has lost to the Bills and Redskins once and the Texans twice is still in the top 10 says a lot about the current state of affairs in the NFL.
10. Seahawks (13) - Well, with Hasselback and Alexander back in the line-up, Seattle is still a force to be reckoned with in the NFC.
11. Chiefs (14) - Kansas City scored a big win on Thanksgiving, and they get a prep match-up against Cleveland before the big showdown against the Ravens in two weeks.
12. Panthers (9) - Steve Smith's dissapearing act against a Redskins team that has given up big play after big play this season was one of Sunday's hidden storylines.
13. Giants (10) - Just a few short weeks ago, it looked like the Giants might challenge Chicago for the top spot in the NFC. Now, they look like a team that will struggle to make the postseason....
14. Eagles (12) - ...It could be worse for the Giants, however.
15. Dolphins (16) - Joey Harrington walking into Detroit, getting mocked by the PA announcer and booed by the crowd, then trouncing the Lions on Thanksgiving is a textbook definition of Poetic Justice. Seriously, I haven't felt so happy for somebody I have never met since Juan Dixon cut down the net after the Terps National Title in '02.
16. Steelers (15) - Well, that was about as badly as a team can preform. These guys are the reigning Super Bowl Champions?
17. Saints (17) - Just when you thought they were dead and buried, the Saints find themselves alone in first place again.
18. Jets (19) - 6-5, and 4 of their next 5 games are VERY winnable. This could very well be a playoff team.
19. Redskins (23) - The offense is still not ready for primetime, but the defense - and in particular, the secondary - took a giant step forward on Sunday.
20. Rams (20) - At 5-6, they are not out of the playoff hunt - not with the schedule they have left.
21. Bills (21) - That was a nice win over Jacksonville, but I wonder if I should even notice when a bad team beats the Jags anymore.
22. Vikings (21) - Minnesota is in do-or-die mode, and the very bad news for them is this week they are headed to Chicago.
23. Falcons (18) - Apparently Michael Vick thought that he was the one paying hundreds of dollars to sit in the stadium and he had to watch the fans as they fucked everything up, instead of the other way around.
24. 49ers (24) - I want to believe in the 49ers, I really do. But when you follow up an impressive 3 game win streak with a loss to St. Louis - that damages your credibility.
25. Titans (27) - Vince Young has everyone in Tennessee believing - not necessarily n the present, but certainly in the future.
26. Buccaneers (22) - Well, that was just plain embarassing. You'd think eventually they would cover Marion Barber. Or, well, anybody.
27. Browns (26) - The Bengals are still waiting for the Browns to show up.
28. Packers (28) - Well, they played well for a half, then the Seahawks decided to show up, and that was the end of that.
29. Cardinals (30) - It's frustrating to watch them lose, but Cardinals fans have to be encouraged by the play of Matt Leinart.
30. Texans (29) - Wali Lundy led the team with 11 yards rushing on Sunday. Do you need to know anything else?
31. Raiders (31) - Aaron Brooks passed for 187 yards and 2 picks. I'm surprised he did that well.
32. Lions (32) - Things could be worse, Lions fans. I'm just not sure how.

2006-11-22T17:25:00.000-05:00

I won't be posting tomorrow, in all probability, so I'll do the college primer this evening. 24 games this week in the primer - it'll be the last massive primer as this is the last full slate of games on the college schedule. So, here we go...

Tomorrow, 7:30 - Boston College @ Miami (FL) - Plenty of storylines heading into this game, which takes place on the 22nd anniversary of Flutie's Hary Mary to beat Miami in the Orange Bowl. Heading into this game, BC is the favorite, and Miami, unbelievably, is fighting just for bowl eligibility (and, undoubtedly, for their coach's job, assuming he hasn't lost it already). BC is still in the running for the ACC Atlantic Division, which they would win if they win this game and Maryland beats Wake Forest on Saturday.

Friday, 12:00 - Texas A&M @ Texas - The Longhorns lost their BCS Championship hopes when Kansas State beat them two weeks ago, but they are still in the driver's seat when it comes to the Big 12 South. A win over the Aggies would clinch the division (they could also win the division even if they lost if Oklahoma State could upset Oklahoma, but they really oughtn't count on that), and set up a Big 12 Championship game with Nebraska.

2:30 - Louisiana State @ Arkansas - LSU has had a murderous road schedule this season - at Auburn, at Florida, at Tennessee, and now at Arkansas, the suprise winner of the SEC West. Arkansas, on the other hand, has had about the best SEC schedule they could ask for - their lone tough road game was at Auburn, while their other SEC road opponents were South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State. LSU should believe that they are the most talented team in the division, and will seek to prove it on the field. This game could have implications for Florida, which will have to play Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game and thus would like to see them come into that game with only 1-loss so a win over them would be that much more impressive to the human pollsters, but since they played LSU also this season it won't matter any which way in the computer rankings.

3:30 - Oregon @ Oregon State - "The Civil War", as it's known in Oregon. Both teams are already bowl eligible, but which bowls will they go to? The winner of this game will get the nicer post-season bid, not to mention in-state bragging rights for 12 long months. Always a fun game.

Western Michigan @ Akron - Akron is fighting for bowl eligibility. It'll be tough going against a Western Michigan team that was in the fight for the MAC West title all season.

Saturday, 12:00 - Florida @ Florida State - True, this game has lost some luster in recent seasons, and especially this season, with FSU going right down the toilet. But there is still an awful lot of pride on the line, and FSU should be counted on to give their best effort here. The Gators, meanwhile, come in with BCS Title hopes that can only be realized if they win out (btw, it is my opinion that Florida is most deserving of the other BCS Title Game spot, but more on that in another post).

North Carolina @ Duke - Ok, so both of these teams are terrible, but they are still big rivals, which means it'll be a hard-fought game on both sides, even if the teams are limited.

South Carolina @ Clemson - Steve Spurrier is new to this rivalry, but he has been a part of one a lot like it with Florida/Florida State, although the stakes here aren't quite so high. But don't tell that to these two teams, who hate each other (remember the brawl in this game a couple seasons ago?) and will do anything to win this game. This is the most evenly matched these two teams have been in a long time, and it might be the most evenly matched in-state rivalry game of the week.

Virginia @ Virginia Tech - Al Groh's Cavaliers have had a rough go of it this season, but they find themselves playing for bowl eligiblity against their hated rivals. The Hokies can't let themselves be too sore about not winning the Coastal Division (and if last week's rout of Wake Forest is any indication, they are not) with their own post-season future to worry about.

Syracuse @ Rutgers - The Scarlet Knights really put themselves in a tough position by losing at Cincy last week, but they still control their own destiny. Now they have to win out to take the Big East title and the BCS Bowl bid that goes with it. And that means beating Syracuse this week and West Virginia next week.

South Florida @ West Virginia - As for WVU, they still have Big East Championship hopes, but they need to win out and get some help. And at 7-4, South Florida isn't the type of team to roll over for them, either.

2:00 - Mississippi @ Mississippi State - The Egg Bowl. Like Duke/UNC (although the teams here aren't quite THAT bad), this is more about a great rivalry than about great football. But whenever statewide bragging rights are on the line, the teams come to battle.

2:30 - San Diego State @ New Mexico - New Mexico is fighting to become bowl eligible, and they should prevail over 2-8 SDSU.

Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State - Oklahoma State has given Oklahoma fits in recent years, but the coach who did most of that damage - Les Miles - is currently in Baton Rogue. Nowadays the Cowboys have lost some of their bite, but Oklahoma would be foolish to take this game for granted. If the Aggies somehow upset Texas on Friday, this game could allow the Sooners to sneak in the back door to the Big 12 Title Game.

3:30 - Georgia Tech @ Georgia - Another great in-state ACC/SEC rivalry, the Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs always seem to put on a show. This time the Jackets come in the favored team, having won the ACC Coastal Division, but the Bulldogs could salvage an otherwise mediocre season by winning this game, and that makes them very dangerous.

Louisville @ Pittsburgh - Louisville comes into the final two weeks in excellent position to grab the Big East Championship, but they need to win out. Pittsburgh isn't a bad team, either - they gave WVU all they could handle for the first half of last week's game. That being said, the Cardinals should win here.

Brigham Young @ Utah - The Stormin' Mormons have already won the Mountain West Conference, but the game that really matters for both teams is this one. Once again, the in-state rivalry should make for 4 quarters of intense football.

Troy @ Middle Tennessee State - In all likelihood, the winner of this game will win the Sun Belt Conference. In fact, if MTSU wins, they'll clinch the title this week. Troy would still have to win their last game against Florida International.

4:00 - Boise State @ Nevada - Boise State is the strongest non-BCS conference team on a yearly basis, and they find themselves undefeated again heading into their final match-up. A win here, and they go to a BCS Bowl, simple as that.

6:00 - Arizona State @ Arizona - ASU had this match-up dominated until recently, but an up-year for the Wildcats and a down year for the Sun Devils has the two teams playing right about even this season, with Zona maybe even a little better. This could be really entertaining.

7:30 - Marshall @ Southern Mississippi - Southern Mississippi has found themselves in position to go through the backdoor and into the Conference USA Championship Game, but they have to beat Marshall, which is always a tough task but should be especially so this week, as the Thundering Herd are playing for bowl eligibility.

7:45 - Wake Forest @ Maryland - If Wake Forest wins this game, Wake wins the ACC Atlantic and goes to the ACC Championship Game. If Maryland wins here and Boston College beat Miami on Friday, then BC goes to the ACC Championship Game. If Maryland wins and Miami managed to win Friday, then it will be the Terps playing Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game.

8:00 - Notre Dame @ Southern California - Both teams come into this game with one-loss and National Title hopes (although Notre Dame will have trouble getting past a Michigan team that slaughtered them in South Bend earlier this season). This factors in to an already intense rivalry to make this what should be the most entertaining game of the week.

9:00 - Memphis @ Texas El-Paso - UTEP comes into this game needing a win to become bowl-eligible. Good thing their opponent is 1-10 this season, with their only win coming against 1-AA Tennessee Chattanooga.

2006-11-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

This one is going to be a monster, since I have to wrap up all of this weekend's gridiron action, college and pro. We'll start with Saturday.

Ohio 17, Akron 7 - With the win, Frank Solich's Ohio squad wins the MAC East and will take on Central Michigan in the conference Championship game on the 30th. The two schools have not met this season.

West Virginia 45, Pittsburgh 27 - The Mountaineers kept their Big East Championship hopes alive with a big win in the Backyard Brawl, but they need Louisville to lose one more time between now and the end of the season. Pittsburgh lost their slim Big East title hopes with the loss.

Boston College 38, Maryland 16 - 3 defensive scores helped BC rout the Terps, but both schools remain alive in the running for the ACC Atlantic Division title. Neither controls their own destiny, however.

Oklahoma 36, Baylor 10 - The Sooners forced the Longhorns to clinch the division themselves this coming Friday afternoon. If the Longhorns fail to beat the Aggies, the door opens up for Oklahoma.

Arkansas 28, Mississippi State 14 - The Razorbacks have clinched the SEC West, and will meet the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship Game. The two schools have not played this season.

Boise State 49, Utah State 10 - With the win, Boise State has clinched the WAC Championship to become the first (but not the weekend's only) outright conference winner.

Rice 18, East Carolina 17 - By losing to Rice, East Carolina has left the door wide open for Southern Mississippi.

Ohio State 42, Michigan 39 - The Buckeyes clinched both the Big Ten Championship and a spot in the BCS Title game. Michigan is pretty much guaranteed another spot in a BCS Bowl, and the National Championship could still be a rematch of this contest. In case you are wondering, I am completely against this scenario, unless Florida and USC lose between now and then.

Brigham Young 42, New Mexico 17 - The Stormin' Mormons are your 2006 Mountain West Conference Champions, and they are headed to the Las Vegas Bowl.

Virginia Tech 27, Wake Forest 6 - While the Demon Deacons didn't WANT to get blown out by the Hokies on Saturday, they do remain the only team in the ACC Atlantic which controls its own destiny. What this game does do is ensure no three-way tie at the top of the Atlantic divsion standings, so the tie-braking procedure will be relatively simple.

Arkansas State 33, Troy 26 - Troy, like Wake Forest, remains in control of its own destiny in their conference despite the loss to Arkansas State.

Louisville 31, South Florida 8 - With the win, Louisville is still right in the middle of the Big East title picture, and the Rutgers/Cincinnati result below means they are in excellent position. South Florida's slim conference championship dreams were extinguished by this loss.

Cincinnati 30, Rutgers 11 - The Scarlet Knights have to say goodbye to dreams of an undefeated season and a shot at the BCS title, but they still control their own destiny in the Big East. Cincinnati, along with UCONN, lost their Big East Championship hopes when WVU beat Pitt Friday night.

Southern California 23, California 9 - USC clinched their 5th straight Pac 10 Title and earned at least a spot in the Rose Bowl. Their BCS title hopes are still alive, though, and so California still could be headed for Pasadena, after all.

Southern Mississippi 25, Alabama Birmingham 20 - With the win coupled with ECU's loss, the Golden Eagles suddenly find themselves in control of their own destiny in Conference USA's Eastern Division.

Several games I previewed last week were made irrelevant by one (or more) of the results above. The results of tose games are as follows: Miami (OH) defeated Bowling Green in a muddy mess of a game Wednesday night, 9-7; Kent State secured bowl eligibility by beating Eastern Michigan, 14-6; Syracuse got their first Big East Conference win, 20-14 over Connecticut; Auburn beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl for the 5th straight time, 22-15; Utah won a thriller over Air Force, 17-14, on a last-second figgie; Louisiana State squeaked by a surprisingly game Mississippi squad, 23-20 in overtime, to complete the first 8-0 home season in school history; Nevada trounced Louisiana Tech, 42-0; and Hawaii pantsed San Jose State, 54-17.

Ok, onto the NFL Power Rankings...

1. Bears (2) - The Bears return to the top spot with a shut-out win over the Jets.
2. Colts (1) - The Colts are still the AFC's top team - for now - but they are no longer "unbeatable"...
3. Chargers (3) - ...and the Chargers are right there with them.
4. Broncos (4) - It's back to the drawing board for Denver after a crushing divisional loss at home.
5. Cowboys (5) - I told you the Cowboys deserved this ranking!
6. Jaguars (8) - This has to be the wierdest team in the NFL; 2-1 against teams with winning records, and 2-3 against teams with losing records (they are, fittingly, 1-1 against .500 teams).
7. Ravens (9) - Don't look now, but if the playoffs started today, Baltimore would have a first-round bye.
8. Patriots (10) - The Pats seemed to put whatever it was that was going on against the Jets behind them.
9. Panthers (12) - It's (almost) never too late to turn the season around, especially in the NFC.
10. Giants (6) - This team might just be too beaten up, when all is said and done.
11. Bengals (13) - Somebody has re-introduced Chad Johnson to Carson Palmer, which is capital-T Trouble for the teams left on the Bengals' schedule.
12. Eagles (7) - Oh, boy, here we go again.
13. Seahawks (11) - Their loss to San Francisco was probably the upset of the week, when you factor Donovan mcNabb's knee injury to the Philly loss, but the Seahawks didn't have their QB, either, and Shaun Alexander hadn't played in a while; that said, you want to beat the 49ers.
14. Chiefs (14) - A four-point win over any Aaron Brooks-led team is not exactly inspiring, but it beats a loss.
15. Steelers (15) - Survived the Hail Mary, and their slim playoff hopes will carry over another week.
16. Dolphins (19) - The Dolphins are also still in the playoff hunt, believe it or not.
17. Saints (16) - They're still tied for first in the NFC North, but you have the feeling midnight is coming for this Cinderella.
18. Falcons (17) - It's worth noting that the Panthers team the Falcons are chasing went into Baltimore and won soundly earlier this season.
19. Jets (18) - A lot of bad teams have been beaten a lot worse by Chicago this season, but at 5-5 the Jets don't consider themselves a bad team.
20. Rams (20) - Now at 4-6, the Rams would need a miracle run to wind up in the post-season.
21. Vikings (21) - A hot start has fizzled out quickly in the cold Minnesota autumn.
22. Buccaneers (22) - The Bucs don't have much time to savor their rare win - they have a Thanksgiving date at Dallas.
23. Redskins (23) - Considering he was making his first career start without Santana Moss or Clinton Portis, and the offensive line was back to their "ole" style of pass blocking, Jason Campbell looked pretty damn decent despite the loss.
24. 49ers (26) - Whoa, wait a minute - the 49ers are at .500????
25. Bills (25) - If the Bills had won their near-upsets this season, they'd be in the hunt for a playoff spot.
26. Browns (24) - Much like the Bills, the Browns have been plagued by missed opportunities this season, this latest loss being a fine example.
27. Titans (28) - A rookie QB with Vince Young's talent makes for a roller-coaster season, and Sunday was a fine peak for Tennessee.
28. Packers (27) - That was Ugly with a capital U.
29. Texans (29) - It appears as if sweeping the Jags will be the lone highlight of Houston's season.
30. Cardinals (32) - Matt Leinart finally gets his first NFL victory.
31. Raiders (30) - Unbelievably, Aaron Brooks has a job again.
32. Lions (31) - If you're behind Aaron Brooks' team, then you are in bg trouble.

2006-11-15T05:28:00.000-05:00

I'm going to do the college primer this morning, although I'm not sure how much of it I will get finished. I'm only giving myself 10 minutes.

Anyway, as I noted last week we are in the part of the season where the Divisional and Conference Championship races are coming to an end. This week is rivalry week, and that marks the end of the season for life in the Big Ten and the beginning of the end for all of the other conferences. Last week Georgia Tech (ACC Atlantic), Nebraska (Big 12 North), Houston (C-USA West), and Central Michigan (MAC West), clinched their respective divisions, joining Florida (SEC East), who clinched two weeks ago. 23 games are on tap this week that involve at least one team from one of these races, and there are several possible clinchers, as well as two de facto conference championship games in major conferences. Without further ado...

Tonight, 7:30 - Miami (OH) @ Bowling Green - Bowling Green is already hanging by its fingertips to being mathametically "in the race" for the MAC East. Every game is a must-win, and they have to hope Ohio loses from here on out. Miami (OH) is already out of the race, and they'd love nothing more than to end Bowling Green's season one night early.

Tomorrow (Thursday), 7:30 - Akron @ Ohio - And it probably would only be one night early, because the odds are Ohio wins tomorrow night and renders tonight's game meaningless. Akron is another team that is "mathematically" still alive, and obviously needs to win here to remain so. If Ohio wins, in fact, they clinch the MAC East.

West Virginia @ Pittsburgh - Perhaps the most nationally undercelebrated rivalry is the Backyard Brawl. Coming into this one, West Virginia sees that they can still grab the BCS Bowl bid that comes with a conference title thanks to Rutgers beating Louisville, and with one loss could finish the year where they started - in the top 5, which would be huge for their recruiting. But Pittsburgh doesn't want to see that, and they'll do whatever they can to take their rivals down.

Friday, 6:00 - Eastern Michigan @ Kent State - Like the Bowling Green game tonight, this game only matters if Ohio doesn't clinch the MAC East Thursday with a win over Akron, which they probably will. If they don't, then Kent State could pull into a tie (although Ohio would have the tiebraker with one game to go, thanks to their earlier defeat of Kent State) for first with a win here.

Saturday, 12:00 - Maryland @ Boston College - The ACC Atlantic division is down to three teams, the two in this game and Wake Forest. If Maryland wins here, then it's down to two teams. If BC wins, they stay alive in the hunt for another week.

Connecticut @ Syracuse - Connecticut is only scarecely mathametically alive in the Big East. They need to win this week and they need Rutgers to lose later on to stay that way.

12:10 - Oklahoma @ Baylor - Oklahoma should win this game easily, but should Baylor pull off the upset, the Texas Longhorns would clinch the Big 12 South on their week off.

2:30 - Arkansas @ Mississippi State - The Razorbacks need only win this game and they are SEC West Champions. If they lose, the door stays open for LSU and Auburn, who would be too happy to take advantage of the opportunity.

3:00 - Utah State @ Boise State - If Boise State wins, and they should, they would clinch the WAC title. Even if they lost, they would still be in the driver's seat. However, Boise State's real goal - a BCS Bowl bid, would be pretty much out the window if they lost now.

East Carolina @ Rice - ECU has been a doormat in recent seasons, but this year they find themselves in position to clinch the C-USA East division with a win over Rice. Sould Rice pull off the upset, then Southern Mississippi would suddenly find the door to the Conference title game wide open.

3:30 - Michigan @ Ohio State - College ball's most celebrated rivalry. 1 vs. 2. De facto Big Ten title game. The winner of this game will be #1 going into the BCS Title game. If all that doesn't interest you, then I don't know what I can do for you.

Auburn @ Alabama - Unfortunately, the Iron Bowl finds itself on at the same Bat Time as the Game Of The Year. Also unfortunately, with Arkansas needing only a win over Mississippi State to clinch the SEC West, this game will probably be meaningless, in the grand scheme of things. But, the Iron Bowl is never meaningless to the players involved, and should make for good TV when Michigan vs. Ohio State is in commercial break.

4:00 - New Mexico @ Brigham Young - If BYU wins, they clinch the Mountain West Conference. If New Mexico can upset them, then Utah suddenly has a chance to sneak in and nab the conference title.

7:00 - Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest - Trust Florida State on this - Wake Forest is very for real. The Hokies come in having to play spoiler, with their division already clinched by Georgia Tech. Wake can afford a loss this game, since they play Maryland to close out the season, but why settle for being 9-2 when you could be 10-1?

Arkansas State @ Troy - Troy will play Middle Tennessee State in what will likely be the de facto Sun Belt Championship game next week, so this game isn't crucial for them. If they do win, though, then it would mean that next week's winner would clinch the conference.

7:30 - South Florida @ Louisville - Their BCS title dreams shot, Louisville comes into this game needing a win to stay near the top of the Big East. South Florida also has an outside shot at the Big East Championship, but even that could be mathematically eliminated if they lose.

Utah @ Air Force - This game is only important if New Mexico can upset BYU. If that does happen, then Utah, with a win here, would set up a de facto Mountain West Conference championship game with BYU next week. An Air Force win here would clinch the conference for BYU, assuming they hadn't clinched it already by beating New Mexico.

7:45 - Rutgers @ Cincinnati - The Scarlet Knights are now in the driver's seat to win the Big East, and they are all the rage in the media, but all they need is a slip-up against Cincinnati and they will be yesterday's news. If Rutgers, Louisville, and West Virginia all win, then that would officially make the Big East what it has been unofficially for weeks: a three-team race.

8:00 - California @ Southern California - This is the de facto Pac 10 Championship game, and for Southern California, a win here could have them playing for the BCS title for the third year in a row, and it would be the 4th year in a row that they played for a share of the "National Championship".

Mississippi @ Louisiana State - LSU needs Southern Mississippi to upset Arkansas to hold on to their SEC Championship dreams, and then they need to win this game. If Arkansas can put away the Bulldogs, though, LSU still has their bowl picture to consider. Not to mention that potentially running off 7 straight wins to end the season would be a good way to build momentum for a BCS Championship campaign next year.

Nevada @ Louisiana Tech - Nevada is one of three teams clinging to mathematical relevance in the WAC. By the time this game kicks off, they probably won't be, with Boise State having a very good opportunity to clinch the WAC by beating Utah State earlier in the day. But if Utah State could do the unimaginable and knock off Boise State, then Nevada could keep the dream alive one more week by winning here.

Alabama Birmingham @ Southern Mississippi - Remember how I told you that Southern Miss could sneak in the backdoor and win the C-USA East if ECU faltered? Well, they'd need a win here to take advantage of that opportunity, should it present itself, then they would need a win next week against Marshall.

11:05 - San Jose State @ Hawaii - The other two teams clinging to mathematical relevance in the WAC are conveniently playing each other in the last game of the night. Hawaii has the slightly better chance of winning the conference of the three coming into this week's action, but even their chances are extremely slim with Boise State having to drop both of their last two games to give anyone else a chance.

2006-11-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

I'm going to change my Power Rankings formula up a bit next season, but for now I'll stick with what I have been doing. Anyway, here is this week's version:

1. Colts (1) - I can understand them having a angover game after that big win over New England, but they won't be able to get away with playing like that next week at Dallas.
2. Bears (2) - That was quite a bounceback. Suddenly, the Bears reestablish themselves as the team to beat in the NFC.
3. Chargers (4) - We all know that Marty Schottenheimer's teams struggle in the postseason. However, we also thought we knew that Schotty's teams couldn't erase a 28-7 halftime defecit.
4. Broncos (3) - Who can wait for the Broncos/Chargers game Sunday night?
5. Cowboys (8) - Umm, perhaps you see why my system needs tweaking. However, the Cowboys can prove they deserve this rating with a win over Indianapolis Sunday.
6. Giants (5) - The Bears looked by far the superior team on Sunday, and if that weren't enough, suddenly the Giants find themselves merely a game ahead of the Cowboys and Eagles in the standings.
7. Eagles (13) - Suddenly, the NFC East appears as though it may be, in fact, all it was cracked up to be.
8. Jaguars (6) - Ok, so maybe all of us owe Leftwich an apology.
9. Ravens (10) - With the Ravens fantastic comeback coupled with the Bengals fantastic collapse, suddenly Baltimore finds itself in position to run away with the division.
10. Patriots (7) - I expected a hangover game from the Colts, but I thought the Patriots were going to come out fired up about their loss to Indy. Instead, they came out and felt sorry for themselves. The result is the Pats are now only one game ahead of the Jets.
11. Seahawks (9) - Well, they didn't exactly dominate the Rams this season, but they did enough to earn the sweep and virtually assure themselves the NFC West.
12. Panthers (14) - A big win over Tampa Bay was a good start, now Carolina hosts St. Louis in a game that is colossal for both teams.
13. Bengals (12) - If the Bengals have truley fixed their offense, they may still be a playoff team. They should be able to beat most teams in a shoot-out, just not the very good ones. You know, like the ones they would play in the postseason.
14. Chiefs (11) - Does that Miami game say more about Kansas City or more about Miami? We'll see, I guess.
15. Steelers (18) - That was a very nice win over the Saints, but at 3-6 and with the schedule they have coming up, the Steelers are pretty much out of the playoff picture right now.
16. Saints (15) - That Copper guy may be taking the heat for Sunday's loss, but he didn't give up 38 points.
17. Falcons (16) - The Falcons should lose to Baltimore on Sunday, but then again, the Falcons haven't done anything they should have done all season.
18. Jets (22) - At what point do we have to stop saying the Jets success isn't a fluke? I don't think we're quite there, yet. But we are approaching it.
19. Dolphins (23) - All of us definately owe Joey Harrington an apology.
20. Rams (20) - The Rams can pretty much forget about winning the West, but at 4-5 and with a big game against Carolina upcoming, a playoff spot is still within reach.
21. Vikings (17) - The Vikings travel to Miami in a match-up of two teams heading in opposite directions.
22. Buccaneers (21) - The difference between the old Bucs defense and the OLD Bucs defense, if you get my drift, is the difference between two solid quarters of football and four.
23. Redskins (19) - They finally made the move to Campbell, but with Portis out 3 weeks, things are going to get worse before they get better.
24. Browns (25) - They get to host the Steelers, who are 0-4 on the road, but the Browns aren't much better (1-3) at home.
25. Bills (24) - Another game they could have won - it's becoming a theme this season in Buffalo.
26. 49ers (26) - You know, at 4-5 the 49ers level of success has actually been a little startling. They could startle everyone with a win over Seattle this week.
27. Packers (27) - The Packers are 3-1 in their last four games, and the Pats are on a two-game losing streak, with both losses coming at home. If their was ever a time for Brett Favre to make his Statement, this is it. And the opportunity comes against the team he beat in the Super Bowl, no less.
28. Titans (28) - They had the opportunity to win, and good teams cash in on that opportunity.
29. Texans (30) - Do the Texans merely have the Jaguars number, or are they ready to make a run at .500?
30. Raiders (32) - Rumors abound that Art Shell may make the move back to Aaron Brooks. If that happens, then this ranking is way too high.
31. Lions (29) - And back down towards the basement they go.
32. Cardinals (31) - If you love bad football, the #31 Lions are traveling to play #32 Arizona in the pillowfight of the season!

2006-11-09T05:02:00.000-05:00

Well, folks, it's that time of the college ball season again. And by, "that time" I mean, the end. If I had but one complaint about college ball (and believe me, that is not the case), it would be that the season is too short. September, October, and November, that's all we get. Then Bowl games for a month, but each bowl game you're seeing the team for the last time. 3 months and one game. Fourteen games, max.

Anyway, now that we're nearing the end, the races are going to be wrapping up in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, there are still too many games (41) with some sort of implication for one of the races, so we won't be doing TOTAL COVERAGE just yet. But every preview will include what the game could do for it's race. So, with all of that out of the way...

Tonight, 7:30 - Louisville @ Rutgers - Well, the Scarlet Knights have been media darlings ever since their undefeated streak hit, oh, I don't know, three games. The perennia Big East doormats have turned into a minor powerhouse this season. The crzy thing is, though, the Big East is already in the extremely rare position of having two top ten teams presently. If Rutgers could catapualt them both, they could be in National Title Contention. Louisville is already in National Title contention. But playing the schedules they do, 1 loss will do them in. As far as the Big East goes, both of these teams are 3-0 in conference. Whoever wins this week will be in solid position to win the Conference Title and go on to A BCS game, if not The Big One. Louisville would have it virtually sewn up, by virtue of their win over West Virginia (Rutgers has not played the Mountaineers yet).

8:00 - Wyoming @ Brigham Young - The Mountain West Conference game of the week has the Stormin' Mormons of BYU (ok, so they're actually called the Cougars; ya, right, like I'm ever going to call them that!) host the Wyoming Cowboys, and the ugliest uniform this side of the Oregon Ducks' Banana Man Alternate Uniform. The Stormin' Mormons are undefeated and already lead the rest of the Conferrence by two games in the loss column. It would take a collapse of Biblical Proportions to bring them down at this point, and if they win this week, I'm not even sure a collapse of WhateverbookitisthatMormonsreadical Proportions could do it. If Wyoming wins, they climb back into the race to the top but they still need help. Remember, BYU has to lose twice before anyone else can catch them.

Friday, 7:00 - Western Michigan @ Central Michigan - No, this isn't a Wolverines intrasquad scrimmage. Western and Central Michigan are two of the three "directional" Michigan Universities that play in the MAC (guess what the other one is called...). Unlike the third school, though, CMU and WMU are having great seasons on the gridiron, and find themselves in a battle for first place in the MAC West. Whoever wins this game, coupled with Northern Illinois' loss Wednesday Night, will pretty much have the division locked up. In fact, if Central Michigan wins, they will have the division locked up.

Saturday, 12:00 - Georgia Tech @ North Carolina - I expect this game to be a blowout, I mention it for one reason and one reason only. Should Georgia tech win (and they fucking should), they clinch the ACC Coastal Division. Should that happen, the ACC would be on its way to a Championship Game featuring two old-school ACC teams (Tech vs. Wake Forest, Maryland, or Clemson, with BC the only school that could get in the way of that).

12:30 - Georgia vs. Auburn - Ok, Georgia sucks this year. But the Bulldogs play with pride, and they'll give Auburn a game this week. I hope.

1:00 - Marshall @ East Carolina - There is a logjam of three two-loss teams atop the C-USA East. After this game, there will be but two. EU has the tiebraker on the other 2-loss team (Southern Mississippi, who play Tulane this week), so if they win they will be in very good shape. If Marshall wins, they'll be looking good, too, but they'd have to get by the Eagles, as well.

3:00 - Rice @ Tulsa - The C-USA West has an interesting race, as well, with two-one loss teams in front (Tulsa and Houston; Houston has beaten Tulsa, giving it the edge in that very important tiebraker), and two two-loss teams (Rice and Southern Methodist - both of which have been terrible programs recently but are putting together solid seasons this year) waiting to get back into the mix should the top two fall again. Rice has the opportunity here to knock one of those two back into the mix with it and SMU (?), but even if they win, they need Houston to lose. In fact, that is the same case with Tulsa, even if they win, somone has to knock off Houston in order for them to get the prize.

Houston vs. Southern Methodist - That's right kids, same bat time, different bat channel. Houston vs. SMU is the other half of the C-USA West race. There are four possible outcomes after these games have ended. Either 1) both 1-loss teams will win, making it a 2-horse race, 2) Houston will win and Tulsa will lose, which will give Houston the division, 3) Tulsa will win and Houston will lose, which will put Tulsa in very good position but not rock-solid just yet, or 4) both 1-loss teams will lose, and that would create an orgy of 2-loss team vying for the prize.

3:30 - South Carolina @ Florida - Yes, the Gators already have the SEC East. But did you honestly think I wouldn't put Spurrier's return to the Swamp on my list?

Miami (FL) @ Maryland - Well, Jesus. God only knows how this game will turn out. Will the Terps get an energized, enthusiastic Miami playing for their fallen comrade, or a lethargic, disinterested Miami, mourning a horrible end to a horrible season. And will it matter, either way? If Maryland does win, they stay atop the ACC COastal with one-loss, perhaps tied with Wake. If they lose, they still have the opportunity to make it up, with remaining games against BC and Wake, and a game in hand over Clemson.

Nebraska @ Texas A&M - Two teams that have been trying to get things back together this season - but I can't see either one of these competing with the Big 12's Big 2 anytime soon. Well, Nebraska should literally be competing with one of them sometime soon - they are likely headed to the Big 12 Championship Game, win or lose; in fact, if they win, they lock it up this week. As for Texas A&M - well, this game is more about bowl position than their position relative to catching the Longhorns.

California @ Arizona - Cal should win handily, and if they do, and Oregon beats USC later on, then California is your 2006 Pac-10 football champion.

4:00 - Troy @ Florida Atlantic - The Sun Belt Conference has two unbeatens - Troy and Middle Tennessee State - in conference play. Arkansas State has one-loss, and Florida Atlantic and Louisiana-Lafayette have 2....

5:00 - Middle Tennessee State @ Arkansas State - ...So, we one-again have four possible outcomes. 1) MTSU and Troy remain undefeated, putting themselves 2-up in the loss column over anyone else and setting up a virtual Big Sun Conference Title Game when the two play later on. 2) MTSU wins but Troy loses, meaning MTSU sits atop the Conference, but hardly in sturdy poisiton as they have to play Troy, who would be the sole 1-loss team in the aforementioned later meeting between the two, which I guess would still be a virtual title game, assuming neither loses again before that. 3) Troy and Arkansas State win, which would put Troy in first but in an even more tenuous position, because they would have to play the TWO remaining 1-loss teams (MTSU and Arkansas State, in this case), as opposed to just having to play one. 4) MTSU and Troy both lose, and now you have 3 1-loss teams, and at least 1 two-loss team waiting in the wings.

6:00 - Boise State @ San Jose State - Boise State is one of the remaining National unbeatens (not in conference play, but overall) and they enjoy a 1-game lead in the WAC over Hawaii (they also have the tiebraker vs. the Warriors) and San Jose State, who could erase that defecit Saturday. If Boise State wins, then they have all but sealed up the conference title. If SJSU wins, then the WAC will go into a bit of chaos at the top (SJSU and Hawaii have yet to meet each other).

7:00 - Tennessee @ Arkansas - Tennessee is a two-loss team, but they're already out of the race in their division. Arkansas has been the suprise team of the year in the SEC, leaping out to a divisional lead. But pulling off the underdog routine in the SEC is very hard, and Arkansas still has a lot to prove before they find themselves marching into the Georgia Dome in December.

7:45 - Alabama @ Louisiana State - The Bayou Bengals still have SEC Title aspirations, despite their two losses. This may be the most athletically gifted team in the country, and they are playing better every week. Alabama is relling after losing to Sylvester Croom's Mississippi State Bulldogs, but don't expect Alabama to Roll, Tide, Roll over with this much pride at stake.

8:00 - Wake Forest @ Florida State - Every week, it seems, Wake has to prove themselves all over again. Now, they face a huge psychological hurdle - traveling to Doak Walker. At least Maryland got to play the Noles - and the Canes, for that matter - at home. If they win, they stay at the top. If they lose, they fall back and maybe the doubt begins to creep in...

Texas @ Kansas State - The only reason I mention his should-be laugher is because when - excuse me, I mean if - Texas wins, they clinch the Big 12 North officially.

10:15 - Oregon @ Southern California - The good football goes on into the night with this key Pac 10 contest. If USC wins, then Oregon drops out of the race and the USC/Cal match-up would serve as the de facto title game. If Oregon wins, then California could clinch the conference title with the win they should have gotten over Arizona by now. I guess Oregon is pretty much cooked either way. Unless Zona has a miracle inside of them.

Damn, I got 20 games on this list. And I'm going to be missing nearly all of them because of weddings. This is why you don't schedule weddings in November, folks! That, and it's too fucking cold.

2006-11-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

I've been doing some thinking on the way the NFL makes its schedule.

The process for assigning teams opponents is fantastic. As you may or may not know, ever since the League expanded to 32 teams, there has been a rotation system in place that has every NFL team playing every other NFL team at least once every four years and playing in every other NFL Stadium at least once every 8. In fact, right now I know 14 of the 16 opponents the Redskins will be facing next season: the Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles twice, and the Bears, Packers, Lions, Vikings, Patriots, Jets, Bills, and Dolphins. The other two opponents will be whoever finishes in the same place as the Redskins in the NFC South and the NFC West - if the season ended today, that would be the Cardinals and Buccaneers.

What isn't known until the schedule is released in April, though, is what order the Redskins will play them in, when their bye is, and how many opponents they are playing coming off a bye.

As you probably remember, the Redskins stood at 5-6 after 11 games last season before sweeping their way through the final 5 weeks to finish at 10-6 and clinch the last playoff spot. What you probably do not remember if you are not a Redskins fan but definately DO remember if you are one, is that the final 3 games that season were against the Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles, in that order. That the Redskins had to finish the season by sweeping their divisional rivals to get into the playoffs made the berth all the sweeter, and is one reason that that season will go down in Redskins' lore even though it ended in the Divisional Round of the post-season.

The point is, there is no reason there couldn't be similar stories every season. Why not make it universal that the last three weeks of the NFL season be against divisional opponents? Baseball does this as much as it can - take a look at who your team has played in the last few serieses of the recent seasons past. I think you'll find, more often than not, they play teams that are in their own division - the very teams they are trying to beat out for a playoff spot. And if you'll remember, in the 2005 season, the Chicago White Sox had to beat the Cleveland Indians to hold off the Tribe and clinch the division. How much less satisfying an ending would that have been if the White Sox won the division by beating, say, the Devil Rays in a three-game set, while the Indians could only scoreboard watch during their session with, say, the A's?

And that's not all. The Redskins last season had their bye week in week 3. By the time the playoffs rolled around, the Redskins had been playing for 14 straight weeks. This season, the Cowboys had their bye week in week 3. What of they have to play Philadelphia or Carolina in the playoffs, two teams who had their bye weeks last week? It's an unfair advantage, and it's due entirely to the scheduling process.

And speaking of unfair advantages, the Redskins have played two games against teams coming off a bye this season, with a third game against one (the aforementioned Eagles) coming this week. That's three teams who have had an extra week to prepare for the game plan the Redskins will offer. Since there can only be an average of one such game per team, that means at least two teams won't have ANY such games this season - quite a disadvantage in a League where playoff spots often come down to tiebrakers.

My idea is a complete compartmentilization of the schedule. Stay with me, as I run you through my idea:

The first two weeks of the season should be against the "unknowns" - those teams who finish in their division where you finished in yours. Because these are the only two games where the schedules for each team in a division differ, after the first two weeks all 4 teams in every division will have differing versions of the exact same schedule ahead of them.

The next 4 weeks should be the interconference games. In other words, this is where the Redskins would play the Pats, Jets, Bills, and Phins next season. This way, by the time the Super Bowl rolled around, it will have been almost 4 months since an AFC team played an NFC team, putting more drama into the game. Baseball does this, as well - all the interleague games take place before the All-Star Break, save for rescheduled rainouts - and even then they try their damndest to get them in before the Midsummer Classic.

The next 4 weeks are the weeks where every team gets their bye week - in 4 8-team chunks, two divisions at a time. It would also be the time where each division goes through its first round of intradivisional games. That way, all the bye weeks are taking place in a short span, and no team in any division is playing more teams coming off of bye weeks than their divisional opponents.

Weeks 11-14 would be the weeks where each team plays the 4 teams in the slated division within their conference. That leaves weeks 15-17 as the 3 weeks where you would play the second round of divisional games.

That's my entry for today. Tomorrow look for this week's college ball primer - it'll be flippin' sweet!

2006-11-07T05:48:00.000-05:00

What a crazy week it was in the NFL. Some teams made statements, other teams crapped the bed, and still a wide host of others fell somewhere in between. But no one, it seemed, did exactly what you'd expect them to.

1. Colts (2) - And just like that, the Colts find themselves perhaps where they have belonged all season. There is no longer any team that Indianapolis must fear - only those they must respect. And if that weren't enough, the only team with a winning record on their remaining schedule is Jacksonville...everyone else is 4-4 or lower at his point. Now, that may change, but right now they look like a candidate to run the table....
2. Bears (1) - ...That being said, however, so did the Bears.
3. Broncos (3) - As the Colts take away the top spot in everyone's Power Rankings, the Broncos take over the top spot in "Fewest Points Allowed" with 98. Time will tell which is more important...
4. Chargers (4) - The Chargers are a team, obviously, that could be a potential trouble date for the Colts in the playoffs. However, the Chargers have a problem, and his name is Marty Schottenheimer.
5. Giants (6) - The Giants Super Bowl chances now look really good, with the Bears being proven beatable. The only problem is, this is also the year they seem to be losing defensive players left and right, and, if that weren't enough, Tiki Barber may just be gone after this season. In other words, the timing couldn't be any worse.
6. Jaguars (8) - I'm starting to believe I may have been wrong about Byron Leftwich all this time. I wonder if the problem is that he always seems to be battling some nagging injury or another.
7. Patriots (5) - True, Tom Brady threw 4 picks, but at least two of those were crazy deflections. The fact is, Brady played well. But the other fact is, Manning played better. Which is what the better quarterback usually does.
8. Cowboys (9) - Yeah, that was a flukey loss, but when you are playing a struggling team missing it's superstar WR, you want to win those games. Oh, and the games where you are lined up for the game-winning 35-yard field goal with 6 seconds to go...yeah, you want to win those, too.
9. Seahawks (12) - Man, that is the way you want to take care of a struggling team. Critics may point to the modest 16 point total for the Hawks, but remember they were playing without their Pro-Bowl QB OR their MVP running back.
10. Ravens (13) - Ok, ok - the Ravens are really good (in contrast with the rest of the NFL, anyway). But they are not Super Bowl caliber, not with that offense. There are two teams with superior defenses AND, by far, superior offenses (Denver and Chicago).
11. Chiefs (15) - As long as I'm admitting things, Herman Edwards is doing a fantastic job in Kansas City.
12. Bengals (7) - And I'll keep going - no way this is a Super Bowl team. Not unless Carson Palmer can figure something very important out in a hurry (and no, I don't even know what it is).
13. Eagles (10) - If Philly wants to hang with the Giants, they have to do what Dallas failed to do Sunday - beat Washington - who will be coming sporting a brand new attitude.
14. Panthers (11) - A dissapointing season but they are still right in the thick of things. They can start the turnaround Monday Night in plenty of time to secure a playoff berth or even more. But they have to start winning again.
15. Saints (18) - Hold off on that, "the miracle season is over" for a little while, the Saints said to me on Sunday. Message noted.
16. Falcons (14) - And while I'm at it, I won't be comparing Michael Vick to Steve Young again any time soon.
17. Vikings (16) - Suddenly the Vikes are in free fall. Fortunately for them, the next three opponents (Green Bay, Arizona, and Miami) provide them with plenty of time to get healthy before the Bears come to town. Unfortunately, they also have plenty of opportunity to prove definitively that they don't deserve to be conisdered a threat for the postseason.
18. Steelers (17) - When is the last time a defending Super Bowl Champion looked this bad 8 games into the defending season?
19. Redskins (21) - It was a lucky win, but the offensive line finally looked like it was making progress and the team managed to pull off the win without their most explosive playmaker even in the line-up to serve as a decoy.
20. Rams (19) - What's that sound? Why, it's the Rams' chances of passing the Seahawks this season sputtering away, even as the Hawks are missing the two biggest pieces on their offense.
21. Buccaneers (20) - The worst part is, you can see their window of opportunity slamming shut as their defenders age. Don't feel too sorry for them - they did just win a Super Bowl.
22. Jets (22) - Ummmm, how would you like to play the Patriots at Gillette the week after they lost there to Manning and the Colts? Hey, at least they're coming off a bye! (I'd lay the points, however many there are.)
23. Dolphins (24) - From the, You'd Know There Are Football Gods Department: The Dolphins have a chance to suck all season, knock off the second to last undefeated team, then stink for the rest of the season, and knock off the last undefeated team in the season finale. I'm not sure whether or not I'm rooting for this to happen.
24. Bills (25) - Although if the Jets think they have it tough, the Bills - who get to travel to face the team that beat Brady's Patriots - would be glad to swap places with them.
25. Browns (23) - Cleveland's next three opponents are Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. What would you say at the beginning of the season if I had told you that, by this point, Atlanta would look like the hardest opponent in that stretch?
26. 49ers (28) - The Vikings wish they got the same 49ers the Bears got the previous week.
27. Packers (25) - So much for the kings of the garbage heap.
28. Titans (26) - Whoa...hold off on the "Vince Young is ready to contribute" talk, asshole! Ok, you got me.
29. Lions (32) - They busted out of the basement in a big way.
30. Texans (30) - Maybe they should get mroe credit for almost beating the Giants, but at the end of the day, almost don't buy you nothin'.
31. Cardinals (31) - Will the Cowboys be in complete disarray when they show up in Arizona, or will they just be angry? The Cardinals are praying for the former. And if they aren't, they fucking should be.
32. Raiders (29) - And just like that, the Raiders find themselves where they have belonged all season.

2006-11-06T02:12:00.000-05:00

Another weekend in the books. There is still one game left on the professional slate, so I turn the attention to Saturday's action...

Louisville 44, West Virginia 34 - Well, well, well...looks like the dream season for WVU has hit the skids after all. But look at what this has done for Louisville - #3 in the AP and in the BCS, Louisville appears to control its own destiny in the National Championship Race. Could a 1-loss team jump over the Cardinals and snatch the other spot? Maybe, maybe not. Let's not forget, though, that we can't all just assume Louisville will run the table. That was the widely-held assumption about West Virginia, and look what happened to them. A date with quitely-undefeated Rutgers still looms on Louisville's schedule.

Air Force 43, Army 7 - Well, the score pretty much says it all. The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy will remain with Navy (who have already beaten Air Force), again.

Nebraska 34, Missouri 20 - The Cornhuskers take control of the Big 12 North with the win. It would take a monumental collapse for them to not make the Big 12 Championship Game, now - where they will likely get another shot at the Longhorns.

Maryland 13, Clemson 12 - Suddenly the Terps are the latest team that nobody is talking about, but could have a BCS game in their future. Clemson is now completely done in the race for the Atlantic Division, whereas the Terrapins find themselves tied for first.

Wisconsin 13, Penn State 3 - Wisconsin has now locked up third place. They might as well just go ahead and accept the invitation to the Citrus Bowl now.

Texas Tech 55, Baylor 21 - So much for Baylor's Bowl bid. Try again next year, guys!

Florida 25, Vanderbilt 19 - Once again, Vandy hangs around but can't put the game away. With Tennesse's loss later on in the evening, Florida locked up the SEC East.

Louisiana State 28, Tennessee 24 - I told you this was the Game of the Week. LSU wins on a last second TD pass - amazing football game. Tennessee is out of the running in the SEC East now. LSU is still mathematically in the race for the SEC West, but this was about getting to a decent bowl game and building for next year - JaMarcus Russell's senior season, when the Tigers get Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas at home.

Wake Forest 21, Boston College 14 - Earlier this season, I wrote that Florida State, Boston College, and Clemson were the three powerhouses of the Atlantic Division. With but a few weeks remaining in the season, the two teams tied for first place in the division are: Wake Forest and Maryland. Don't believe everything that you read, kids.

Texas 36, Oklahoma State 10 - In his freshman season, QB Colt McCoy has broken the Texas single season TD passing record. Not the freshman record, mind you, but the single-season record. And this isn't Southwest Alabama Tech - this is freakin' Texas. And he still has two more regular season games, plus the Big 12 Championship and his bowl game. We might have the second coming of Dan Marino, here, kids.

Arkansas 26, South Carolina 20 - When he is able to recruit a higher class of athletes, Spurrier will start to win these games. Might be a few years down the road, but building a winner at South Carolina seems to be a matter of time. If he does that, is he the greatest college coach ever? Meanwhile, Arkansas remains firmly in control in the SEC West, but two tough tests remain. Fortunately for the Razorbacks, both of those games (vs. Tennessee and vs. LSU) are at home.

Oklahoma 17, Texas A&M 16 - Another good one. This game virtually assured Texas the Big 12 South - now they would have to lose to Kansas State as well as to the Aggies to not appear in the Big 12 title game.

Virginia Tech 17, Miami (FL) 10 - And a nightmare season gets worse for the Hurricanes.

2006-11-02T15:36:00.000-05:00

The Louisville/West Virginia game is tonight, and I am excited. With that in mind, here is this week's college ball primer...

Tonight, 7:30 - West Virginia @ Louisville - High in the running for game of the week is this Big East match-up which, unless Rutgers turns out to be even better than we all think they are even now, should determine the Big East Championship and a spot in the BCS. In fact, it could be for a spot in the National Title Game, depending on how things break out. Either way it is going to be a great match-up between two great teams, and when two undefeateds are playing this late in the schedule, you ought to make it a point to tune in.

Tomorrow, 8:00 - Air Force @ Army - The teams might not be that great, but whenever two of the acadamies get together, a lot of pride is always on the line, making for some great TV.

Saturday, 12:00 - Missouri @ Nebraska - This is probably going to determine the Big 12 North Champion, and crazy things can happen in those conference championship games. Just ask the '03 Sooners.

Maryland @ Clemson - Fresh off their victory over Florida State, the Terrapins look like a legitimate force in the ACC's Atlantic Division. If they win, they'll find themselves tied atop the standings with the BC/Wake Forest winner (More on that game later). Meanwhile, for Clemson to get back into the race, they HAVE to win here.

Penn State @ Wisconsin - Wisconsin looks to be clearly the third best team in the Big 10, and they're also in nice position to coast to a 1-loss season and a really nice Bowl bid, probably the Citrus (I refuse to call it the Capital One Bowl; in fact, that is the last time you'll see that phrase on this blog). Paterno's Nittany Lions shouldn't be a walk-over, though.

Baylor @ Texas Tech - At 4-5 and 3-2 in conference, Baylor is making a rare run at a Bowl game. They'll need to beat out the Red Raiders and the Cowboys of Oklahoma State to get there, and they probably won't be able to pull off either, but they have already done some improbable things this season, so we'll have to see what they've got in them.

12:30 - Florida @ Vanderbilt - The Gators have all but wrapped up the SEC East, and look ready to vulture a spot in the BCS Title Game should the Big East fail to provide an undefeated champion, but Vandy has been a frisky team all season. Should be an easy win for Florida, but keep your eyes on the scoreboard.

3:30 - Louisiana State @ Tennessee - My pick for Game of the Week. LSU has had to go on a murderous schedule this year, including trips to Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and, later, at Arkansas. They've lost their first two, so they're looking for a different result as they try to build momentum for what should be a national championship run next season. As for the Vols, they need two things to happen - they need to win out (this is probably their toughest remaining game, although they have a trip to Arkansas next week), and they need Florida to lose between now and the end of the SEC season - and Florida has all games left that they should win handily, like the one I just wrote about.

7:00 - Boston College @ Wake Forest - Wake Forest has put together a hell of a season, but now things are going to get dicey. The end of their schedule features games against BC, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Maryland - so if they're going to get to the ACC Title game, they'll have earned it. The winner of this game will either stand alone in first place in the division, or be tied with Maryland, depending on how the Maryland/Clemson game goes (see above).

Oklahoma State @ Texas - The Longhorns shouldn't lose this one, but the Cowboys are a frisky team, so you never know.

7:45 - Arkansas @ South Carolina - Almost as quietly as Wake Forest and Rutgers, Arkansas is putting together a monster season. Of course, they got blown out in week 1 against USC (again), but they haven't lost cince, not even to then #2 Auburn. Now they travel to play Spurrier's GameCocks, who are always a threat to throw a wrench into somebody's magical season.

8:00 - Oklahoma @ Texas A&M - The Aggies are another team you might be suprised to learn have but a single defeat. And, of course, College Station is one of college ball's toughest environs. But the Sooners are a high-quality team, who should be a 1-loss team, themselves. Little known fact: because the Aggies play Texas in the last game of the season, at this point they still control their own destiny in the Big 12 South.

Virginia Tech @ Miami - When the schedule came out, everyone looked for this game as the probable ACC Coastal Division Championship Game, but Georgia Tech has run roughsod over the division and turned this into a curiosity game. But it's still a huge rivalry, and so the game will make for great TV, even if the outcome only determines for which minor bowls these two teams are headed.

Should be a great weekend. Grab a couch and enjoy!

2006-11-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

Well, the NBA season kicked off last night, with the defending champion Miami Heat getting crushed by the Bulls 106-66. They'll be freaking out over that game all day today, even though it means less than nothing. The first game of the season is never indicative of the way the year will play out, in any sport. Coming into this season, for instance, my Redskins had a 4 year winning streak on kickoff weekend, the longest such streak in the NFL. Their records over that span? 5-11, 5-11, 6-10, 10-6. The Orioles also have a ridiculous opening day winning streak, to match their 9-year losing streak. The year the Patriots won their second Super Bowl, following a 14-2 season, they lost the opener in Buffalo 41-0. That was when Tom Jackson famously said the Patriots players "hate their coach."

But anyway, the NBA isn't really a good spectator sport, IMO. Most offenses have basically adopted the isolation play as the base of their offense, so if you like to watch a lot of one-on-one, the League is all about you. There are a lot of really cool athletic plays, but you don't know when they are going to come, and they almost never happen during crunch time. Why not? Because crunch time is about 99% free throw shooting, which is about as exciting as watching somebody play Duck Hunt. There are way too many timeouts in basketball. They should adopt the football rule of 3 per half, but it seems like every other play the coach is calling timeout. Especially when the game is getting exciting and the last thing you want is something breaking up the momentum.

So, I don't watch much NBA. I can see the cool dunks and stuff on SportsCenter, so watching the game doesn't really mean much to me. However, I think the League could be trending in the right direction with the recent success of two teams running a run-and-shoot offense - Phoenix and Dallas - having a lot of success in the playoffs last year. But there still is a ways to go for me before the sport is totally watchable. A couple of rule changes to keep the game flowing at the end, and you might have a decent sport.

In another NBA-related note, Red Auerbach died recently. I'm not going to say too much about it, since his death has basically has dominated ESPN since it happened. I will say this, though, Auerbach was the difference between the Celtics and every other NBA franchise. The Celtics were the Yankees of the NBA because of Red Auerbach, and even after he ceeded control of the team and they started to founder, you could still see him in the stands and know that the Celtics were the gold standard of basketball franchises at one point, and in a way they still were. Now, the Celtics are just like any other team. See the Sports Guy's column on his death for a better obit than I could ever give him.

2006-10-31T14:48:00.000-05:00

It was a wild week in the NFL. Let's sort through the rubble...

1. Bears (1) - Another week, another dominant victory for Da Bears.
2. Colts (2) - The Colts may have actually benefitted from losing Edge and going to more of a split carry backfield.
3. Broncos (3) - It's certainly not Jake Plummer's fault the Broncos lost to the Colts.
4. Chargers (5) - Phillip Rivers has been able to step in and lead the offense just as well as Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger did in their first years.
5. Patriots (6) - Speaking of Tom Brady, he and his Pats are ready to host the Colts (again) in what could be the game of the season.
6. Giants (7) - It looks like the only team capable of keeping the Bears from going to the Super Bowl is the Giants.
7. Bengals (4) - Note to the Bengals: you must protect that house!
8. Jaguars (11) - Could the Jaguars be better off with Gerrard in the line-up? I still don't think so, but I've been driving the Leftwich bandwagon ever since his days at Marshall, so maybe someone else should decide.
9. Cowboys (12) - That QB switch sure smelled like desparation, but you can't argue with the results (so far).
10. Eagles (8) - Like the Bengals, the Iggs appear to be having problems at home. Might be all the booing. Or perhaps my causality is reversed.
11. Panthers (9) - Defense took the third quarter off.
12. Seahawks (10) - Not bad for a team missing the League MVP and their starting QB.
13. Ravens (17) - Made the Cinderella Story of the season look absolutely mediocre.
14. Falcons (18) - Is Michael Vick really making the Leap? The beginning of Steve Young's career was very similar to the beginning of Vick's...
15. Chiefs (16) - I continue to be really impressed by the way Damon Huard has stepped in in place of Trent Green.
16. Vikings (14) - You can't crap the bed at home like that - you got paying customers to worry about.
17. Steelers (13) - Ben Roethlisberger has thrown two more TD passes to Raiders players than Aaron Brooks has.
18. Saints (15) - Emotion can only carry you so far - have the Saints hit that wall?
19. Rams (19) - Host the Chiefs this week in the Battle for Missouri Bragging Rights.
20. Buccaneers (20) - After two magical weeks, the Bucs came crashing back down to Earth - hard.
21. Redskins (22) - It's now or never for the Skins as they play host to the greatest rivalry in professional sports.
22. Jets (21) - Just when you thought they might make a backdoor playoff run, they go and lose in Cleveland.
23. Browns (24) - The Browns showed why they were a trendy darkhorse pick, but the rest of the season shows they still have a season or two to go before they can contend.
24. Dolphins (23) - Even a week off can't stop the Dolphins' descent.
25. Packers (27) - Ok, so their 3 wins haven't exactly come against the cream of the crop, but this season is proving to be quite a bit less miserable than the last one.
26. Titans (29) - Vince Young appears to be ready to contribute already.
27. Bills (25) - Host the Packers, who have become the sharks of the bottom of the barrel.
28. 49ers (26) - The Bears got the roll-over version of the 49ers.
29. Raiders (31) - Screw Steve Smith; the Raiders are 1-0 since the return of Jerry Porter to the line-up.
30. Texans (28) - Now Texans fans can hate the front office for skipping Vince Young as much as they hate them for skipping Reggie Bush.
31. Cardinals (30) - The Matt Leinart Era hasn't exactly got off to a glowing start, but you can't pin that on him.
32. Lions (32) - The Matt Millen Era has been a total disaster, and you can completely pin that on him.

2006-10-30T01:14:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, I got the chance to watch most of the college games I listed last week, and here are my observations...

(Thursday) Virginia Tech 24, Clemson 7 - Whoa! Don't write off the Beamer's squad just yet, apparently. Now that the Tigers trail BC by a game and since the Eagles have the tie-braker in hand due to their OT win vs. Clemson earlier this season, this loss just about spells the death blow to Clemson's season. Their only real hope is that they can beat Maryland, then Maryland can turn around and beat BC, setting up a three-way tie atop the division. As for VaTech, they still trail Georgia Tech by a game and the tie-braker, and the only ACC opponents the Yellow Jackets have remaining are NC State (who suck this year), Duke (who suck always), and UNC (ditto), so it looks like too little too late for the Hokies to take the division, but they still have only two losses, so a decent bowl game could still be in their future.

Oklahoma 26, Missouri 10 - I didn't catch this one, as it wasn't on in my area, but Oklahoma seems to have made a statement. That statement being that they and Texas are still the class of the conference, better by far than anything the North division has to throw at them. Unfortunately for the Sooners, they've already lost to Texas, and the Longhorns look like they are going to put together an undefeated Big 12 season, so the opportunity for them to win seems to be behind them, barring a miracle (half of which almost happened in Texas' near-loss to Texas Tech). As for Missouri, the loss was dissapointing, but they are still tied for the lead in the Bog 12 North with Nebraska, a tie which will be broken this week when the two of them meet.

Notre Dame 38, Navy 14 - 43 wins in a row for Notre Dame. I think it's high time they took this game off the schedule.

Penn State 12, Purdue 0 - I napped on and off during this game, but I didn't miss anything.

Florida 21, Georgia 14 - the World's Largest Cocktail Party went to the Gators in a game as entertaining as that match-up usually is (especially in the post-Spurrier era). Florida kept their National Title hopes alive, and they seemingly have the SEC East locked up.

Georgia Tech 30, Miami (FL) 23 - A huge win for Georgia Tech, who, as mentioned above, now have the ACC Coastal division in hand, even with Virginia Tech's win over Clemson. For Miami, this is another in a string of dissapointing seasons, and Larry Coker's fate is just about sealed.

Maryland 27, Florida State 24 - This win was really big for the Maryland football program, which looked to be falling off the face of the Earth after back-to-back 10 win seasons not too long ago. The Terps are tied atop the leaderboard with BC; both schools have one conference loss apiece. But things don't get any easier - the last 4 dates on their schedule are against Clemson, Miami, Boston College and Wake Forest. As for the Noles - they are now 2-4 in conference (read that again...) and 4-4 overall. The boosters think Bobby Bowden has lost it and he needs to step down for the good of the program, but I remember this exact same discussion taking place about an iconic figure in Western Pennsylvania a few short seasons ago.

Tennessee 31, South Carolina 24 - Tennessee got the win, but you didn't think Steve Spurrier was going to let Phil Fullmer off the hook easily, did you?

UPSET OF THE WEEK: Oregon State 33, Southern California 31 - wow, I did not see this coming. Well, actually, I kinda did...USC hadn't been playing dominant ball and I figured sooner or later it would catch up with them, but I thought it would come against Oregon, California, or Notre Dame - not the against Beavers.

RUNNER UP UPSET OF THE WEEK: Oklahoma State 41, Nebraska 29 - Just more proof that the Big 12 North still sucks. Hey Big Red, you still feeling that firing of Frank Solich?

2006-10-27T14:44:00.000-04:00

Obviously, this season has been going badly for the Redskins. It vexed me to no end, because the hopes were high going into this season that the Skins had made all the right azquisitions and were poised to build on a teriffic finish to their last campaign. But the fact of the matter is, out expectations for this team were way too high for this season.

In 2004, Coach Gibbs came back running the offense he used to run in his first term - an offense that was about 11 years past its time. That first year, it worked miserably. No one had any idea what they were doing, and they couldn't score any points; it was embarassing, frankly, whenever they took the field. The second year, partly because of its novelty, partly because of good personnel acquisitions (read: Santana Moss), and partly because the rest of the offense now knew what they were doing, the unit ran decently well and allowed the defense to take the Skins into the playoffs.

But that offense was maxed out - the Skins were only 11th in the League in offense that year, and they ran that scheme about as well as you can run it. And when they got into the playoffs, the really good defensive teams that don't get thrown by novelty just ate the offensive unit for lunch in the playoffs. For two forgetable games (even though one was a win!), the Skins offense looked like 2004 again. A change had to be made.

So, keep in mind that I completely support the hiring of Al Saunders, even though I am about to blame it for this season being such a mess, because in order for the Redskins to go deep into the postseason, they needed to be running a modern offense - and the Al Saunders offense is the best one there is.

But the system takes time. And working in Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El, and a completely new offense takes time. Lots of time. Like, maybe a whole season. Just like in 2004.

And then next year, next year, when the system is in place and people know their assignments, that's when we'll see the payoff.

We were right - all the pieces were in place. And they still are. But you can't just have the pieces to the puzzle and call it done. You have to put it together. Right now, they're putting the pieces of this offense together. Expecting that process to take a few minicamps and 4 preseason games was foolhardy.

So, Skins fans, be patient. This year isn't our year. We should be focused on next season, and making sure everyone stays around so they can run it right. And, no, throwing Jason Campbell to the wolves right now is not the right idea. The last thing an offense needs at this point is to be led by a kid with no NFL starts. Let's let the rest of the players get their acts together before we try throwing in another combustible element into the mix.

There is no magic pill. This offense isn't just going to get better by changing one element. It has to get better slowly, as the players adjust to their new, well, everything.

And if the defense is going to show it's weaknesses, well, this is the season for it. Expose needy areas so the team can address them. For instance, it's obvious now that we need another really good CB really badly. Would you rather learn that fact now, as the offense is struggling with its issues, or next season, when the offense is in playoff form?

So, what I'm saying is, we need write this season off - chalk it up as one big, long learning experience that in the end will benefit the team more than we know; understand this was the year when the learning curve was traveled, so that 2007 could the year of ascension. And forget about winnning the division or even going to the playoffs. Just watch for improvement. And the improvement will be there, by the end of the season. Remember in 2004, when the Skins upset the Vikings the last week of the season and Randy Moss stormed off the field he was so upset? Well, Saturday on week 17 we're hosting the Giants, and I'll say right now the Giants had better hope they don't need that game like Minnesota thought they needed the game in '04.

2006-10-26T15:37:00.000-04:00

College Ball week 9 starts this evening, and so with that in mind, I bring you the primer.

Tonight, 7:30 - Clemson vs. Virginia Tech - I believe this is interdivisional, but both of these two teams are right now in airtight races for their respective division's crown and a spot in the ACC Title Game, so it is dreadfully important nonetheless. And with one loss and ranked 10th, Clemson still has (a very, very outside) shot at a National Title, but they absolutely can not afford a second loss if they want to keep that alive. Great match-up.

Saturday

12:00 - Oklahoma vs. Missouri - In recent years, this wouldn't be much of a game, but Missouri still has but a single defeat and Oklahoma isn't quite as strong as they have been in the past, although they are still good enough to be favorites here. Like Clemson/VaTech, this is interdivisional, so a loss isn't crucial to either team, but it'll give us a great idea of where exactly these two programs stand.

Notre Dame vs. Navy - Notre Dame has won this match 42 years in a row, and this is probably not the season for Navy to end that streak, but they are a good team so an upset is possible.

Penn State vs. Purdue - Both of these two programs have seen better seasons, but this is a classic Big 10 match-up between two of the more storied programs who are each somewhat decent this season, so it's worth the viewing.

3:30 - Georgia vs. Florida - ah, the World's Largest Outdoor Cockatil Party. Whenever two of Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee get together, it is going to be a very important game, and it is usually a very competitive, and highly enterteining one as well. Florida is currently the better of the two teams, and they have developed a knack for beating Georgia in this game, but never count out any team when two of the three SEC East powerhouses are involved in the same contest.

Miami (FL) vs. Georgia Tech - Larry Coker is as lame s a duck can be without having his firing be officially announced yet. But the Hurricanes can still make something out of the season - their ACC record is 2-1. Georgia Tech has been playing outstanding football lately, and they would like nothing better than to take advatage of an unusual simultaneous down year by the Canes and the Hokies and grab the division, but they need to win this game in order to do that.

7:00 - Florida State vs. Maryland - Amazingly enough, this game means more to the Terrapins, who are still 2-1 in conference, than it does for the Noles, who have lost 3 - 3! - ACC contests already this year. The Terps haven't looked like worldbeaters by any stretch, but they have played some nice games and still have contests against BC and Clemson upcoming, so a divisional title is still a possibility. They can't lose against a weakened FSU team and expect to go anywhere, though.

7:45 - Tennessee vs. South Carolina - South Carolina, of course, faces a talent gap when going up against any of the SEC powerhouses, but they have Steve Spurrier, so you always have to watch out. Tennessee absolutely, positively, can not afford a loss here.

2006-10-25T14:39:00.000-04:00

On the NBA Draft...

A couple years ago, the NBA decided to follow the NFL's lead and impose an age restriction on young players wanting to enter the NBA Draft. Specifically, they decided to require that a player be at least one full year out of high school - essentially forcing them to go to college for at least one season. The idea has been attacked as racist, unAmerican, and from every other concievable angle. But the fact of the matter is this - it is a good idea, and the people who argue that the kids are being treated unfairly need to reexamine how much this is protecting the kids who would be mislead by agents who have their own agenda.

Think about the life of a star basketball player on his high school team. Everyone is kissing his ass 24/7. He's banging any chick he waves his erection at, and he's being told by everyone how great he is. All he needs is some jackass local agent breathing in his ear, telling him how he's a sure-fire first round pick, trying to score a big deal on his contract, and he'll be perfectly willing to throw away his NCAA eligibility and his opportunity to prove to NBA teams that he can preform at a higher level.

The last year high school seniors were allowed to enter the draft, many of them were taken in the second round, which in the NBA means you're probably not making the team. Others weren't drafted at all. Not even close to the guaranteed millions that they thought they were in store for, these players now face years in the NBADL, or playing in Europe, or giving up on basketball altogether. And worse, they don't even have the option of going to college and improving their draft stock.

A big arguement against the NBA age minimum is that no one makes a stink about it when baseball players get drafted out of high school and never go to college (Cal Ripken is one example among thousands). But baseball players can be drafted without losing their college eligibility. If a player doesn't like the round he was drafted in, he can go to college and try to improve his standing. Not so with a basketball player, who must first sign with an agent and then declare himself eligible for the draft, thus ending his NCAA eligibility.

Of course, there is also the level of play. The NBA and college ball have both seen a decrease in the overall skill level of their players, because the best players are skipping college ball altogether and that hurts their development. College ball is very important to all players, regardless of skill level, because that is usually the first time for these kids that they are not, by far, the best players on the court. It makes them less selfish, and eases the transition to the NBA. LeBron James is probably the only player who hasn't noticeably been adversly affected by skipping out on college. Note that Kevin Garnett is considered the best NBA player to not have a championship ring, and the most common criticism leveled at KG is that he doesn't make his teammates better, and that Kobe Bryant was so unhappy sharing the spotlight that he forced the Lakers to trade Shaq and he is currently on a team where he can put up enough shots to score 80odd points, but can't win a title.

But in the end, it's the players we have to be concerned about, and the current arrangement gives the players the best protection, no matter how counter-intuitive that may seem.

2006-10-24T04:50:00.000-04:00

I'll get to the NFL Rankings in a second, but first I wanted to share this beautiful article I found on ESPN.com today. Basically it says that the World Series received a record low rating on Saturday. It was so shitty, in fact, that baseball and Fox have decided to start the World Series on Tuesday Nights beginning next season. Reread that last sentence, only this time keep in mind that it actually says that Fox decided the World Series needed to start on Tuesday, and Bud Selig said, "Yessir, Mr. Murdoch, I am your bitch!"

I wish that Paul Tagliabue would challenge baseball to have the World Series start on Monday Night, so game 1 could go up head to head against Monday Night Football. He could even promise that they would pick the worst possible match-up out of the schedule for that week (think Arizona vs. Oakland). Baseball would never do it, though, because they know that even a regular season match-up featuring two teams with one win total would beat the pants off the World Series. But still, it would be funny to see Goodell make Selig back down from that challenge.

Anyway, enough of that, onto the rankings!

1. Bears (1) - Still the one, that makes me shout, still the one I dream about, we're still having fun, and you're still the one.
2. Colts (2) - Moved closer by finally putting together another dominant performance.
3. Broncos (3) - The best defense no one is talking about, and maybe the best defense, period.
4. Bengals (6) - It's been quite a roller coaster for the Bengals already - can they emotionally keep up with this bumpy of a ride?
5. Chargers (4) - Playing in Kansas City is tough, and the Chargers showed true grit coming back from a huge defecit, but still, you want to be winning when your divisional opponent has Damon Huard in in place of their starting QB.
6. Patriots (11) - No wide receivers? No problem!
7. Giants (12) - The team least talked about in the NFC East during the offseason, New York currently finds itself where it ended up last season - in first place.
8. Eagles (8) - You can't figure on the other team nailing a 62 yarder as time expires, but you can't find yourself on the wrong end of a decision against a 1-4 team, no matter the venue or the circumstances, if you're trying to be a Super Bowl Championship caliber team.
9. Panthers (10) - Sure, great teams don't look for moral victories, but Carolina's performance - losing by but a figgie in the home stadium of a likely playoff team and possible Super Bowl participant - showed a lot.
10. Seahawks (5) - Suddenly it appears as though the Super Bowl Losers' Curse might be alive and kicking, after all.
11. Jaguars (7) - Ummmm, what the hell was that?
12. Cowboys (9) - And the Cowboys become the second team this season to start the Quarterback Carousel (Miami was the first - Kansas City and Oakland are playing their back-ups due to injury).
13. Steelers (13) - Ok, we're still not sure what kind of a team Atlanta has, so we'll give the Steelers a break on that one.
14. Vikings (17) - Ok, everybody who looked at the schedule before the season and said, "when Minnesota comes to town, Seattle's home winning streak is over" raise your hands. Put your fucking hands down, you liars!
15. Saints (14) - Keep your eyes glued to the television when the Ravens go to New Orleans - methinks that one of these two teams is going to be exposed.
16. Chiefs (19) - I was worried about how their offense would look with Herminator at the helm; it's been up and down, but considering Damon Huard has been under center, you have to be impressed with an outburst like Sunday's.
17. Ravens (15) - Let's see how the new offense looks in the new Toughest Venue To Win At In All Of Sports.
18. Falcons (18) - The most difficult team to figure out in the NFL, or the easiest - I'm not sure which, yet.
19. Rams (16) - I still maintain the Rams are living on borrowed time and that will be proven when they travel to San Diego this week.
20. Buccaneers (20) - The Buccaneers would like to announce that their season isn't quite over yet (but they are still 2-4).
21. Jets (22) - Everyone who had wagered on the Jets being among the top 2 teams to start the Quarterback Carousel, hang your heads in shame.
22. Redskins (21) - Dan Snyder is paying those WRs a lot of money for Mark Brunell to be ignoring them like that.
23. Dolphins (23) - I didn't think the Dolphins would be great, but I didn't think they would be a trainwreck, either.
24. Browns (24) - And who started the offseason rumor that this team was going to be respectable this season?
25. Bills (25) - Proved that the week one almost win was definately a fluke.
26. 49ers (27) - Boy, I sure hope the 49ers cooked up something real good over the bye week, because they're headed to Chicago.
27. Packers (29) - It's nothing to write home about yet, but that Packer defense is going to be quite adaquate in the coming seasons.
28. Texans (31) - Not quite sure where they came up with that, but the real important question is, "do they have anymore?"
29. Titans (28) - Host the Texans in the Stinkbomb of the Week.
30. Cardinals (26) - Losing to Oakland earns the Cards a trip to 30.
31. Raiders (32) - In celebration of their glorious victory, I'll let them out of the dungeon for a week.
32. Lions (30) - Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Detroit Lions into the race for Brady Quinn!

2006-10-23T12:48:00.000-04:00

The World Series kicked off this weekend, with the Cardinals taking game one on Saturday and the Tigers winning game two on Sunday. While it is refreshing to see two teams not from New York in the Series, I find myself apathetic. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I've watched plenty of Super Bowls feeling apathy (Tampa Bay vs. Oakland is the most egregious recent example), but I still watch them, because I follow professional football every week and I want to see how the story ends. But that isn't the case with baseball, where my team - the Orioles - is usually out of it by late July and I find myself wanting to watch or think about anything OTHER THAN baseball. The system is so fucked that by the time the World Series rolls around, I'm not only apathetic, I'm disinterested.

Speaking of which, tragically, baseball just came to a new labor agreement. No salary cap, of course; just an extension of the worthless "luxury tax" system which has been so effective in curtailing the spending of big market clubs that George Steinbrenner only rolled out a team with a $200 million + payroll this season, about 14 times the payroll of the Florida Marlins (and by the way, I find it just as obscene that the Marlins owner is allowed to spend what he spends as I find Steinbrenner's spending). Bud Selig preposterously claimed that baseball had, and I'm quoting here - "more parity than any other sport." Selig is one of the few people that, if I met him in the street, I would punch him in the face. Seriously, what a worthless piece of shit he is.

Anyway, Tigers in 6.

2006-10-19T22:04:00.000-04:00

The last couple Saturdays have been really busy for me, so I haven't had the opportunity to sit down and watch some college ball for some time, although I have kept an interested eye on the scoreboard, so I still have a pretty good idea of what is going on.

The SEC is canabalizing itself once again - since it is the best conference in all the land that paradoxically makes it damn near impossible for it to produce a national champion because of how difficult it is for these teams to be facing each other week in and week out. It's one more reason college ball absolutely needs a damn playoff and until it gets one, there is no sense in talking seriously about any "National Champion". As far as I am concerned, the best team in the country is whoever comes out of that conference.

Anyway, the games I'm looking forward to on Saturday include:

12:00 - Texas vs. Nebraska - True, these are two overrated and overhyped schools in the country's most overrated and overhyped conference, but it is an important game in the context of that conference, as these two teams are the best (or least horrible) teams in their respective divisions and this could be a preview of the Big 12 Title Game. Also, there ain't shit else on at noon on Saturday (this week's slate of games is, unfortunately, very week), so I'll be watching.

3:00 - South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt - Ok, so Vanderbilt's win over Georgia was probably the fluke by which all other flukes should be judged, but just in case I got this one on my list.

3:30 - Boston College vs. Florida State - Like the SEC, the ACC has purged itself of all potential National Championship contenders (although unlike the SEC, the ACC really had no schools worthy of such consideration), making the conference a wide open one. BC beat Clemson, and Clemson beat FSU, so this is a must win game for the Seminoles to get the three powerhouses back to all square. If the Eagles win, they can seemingly coast to the title game.

Iowa vs. Michigan - The Wolverines should win easily, but Iowa is a good team so an upset is possible.

Alabama vs. Tennessee - As far as interdivisional rivalries in the SEC go, this is probaly tops, because the two schools are not far apart at all. So even though they only play each other every other year, there is bad blood here. It's always entertaining when they get together, and Saturday should be no exception; my game of the week.

5:45 - Rutgers vs. Pittsburgh - The little team that could keeps right on chuggin', but this may be their hardest date yet. Pitt was undefeated until a couple weeks ago, and if the Scarlet Knights are still undefeated after this week, they just might deserve that top 20 ranking.

7:45 - Georgia Tech vs. Clemson - I think this match-up is interdivisional, but the ACC's divisional structure is so whacked that I'm not sure. Either way, both teams are fighting for a spot in the ACC title game, and neither can afford losses. Like Texas/Nebraska, this is a potential Conference Title Game preview.

2006-10-17T13:16:00.000-04:00

NFL Power Rankings: Week 7

1. Bears (1) - So far ahead of everyone right now that even had they lost they'd still be number 1.
2. Colts (2) - Washington comes into Indy this week as the third consecutive opponent the Colts should dominate; will they finally make a statement?
3. Broncos (4) - Those calls for Jay Cutler are awful quiet right now.
4. Chargers (6) - All of his fantasy owners should be excited that Tomlinson is up to his old tricks.
5. Seahawks (5) - Josh Brown's leg is quite a good weapon to have up your sleeve.
6. Bengals (3) - Even I'm having a hard time believing in Cincinnati right now.
7. Jaguars (7) - This week the Jags have Houston, next week they travel to Philly; could the Jags be caught looking ahead?
8. Eagles (8) - Ya, they lost, but the SuperDome might be the toughest place to play a road game this season.
9. Cowboys (10) - Everybody who thinks that the problems in Dallas for TO are over raise your hands; ya, me neither.
10. Panthers (12) - I think the question of who is the best WR in the NFL has been answered for a while.
11. Patriots (9) - A win over Buffalo this week should seal the division; not just because they'll be 2 games up with a 4-0 division record - I'm not sure anyone else in the division is going to win 5 games.
12. Giants (11) - In a division where every game is critical, this week's Monday Nighter in Dallas looms like a colossus on the schedule of both teams.
13. Steelers (16) - The Super Bowl Champions finally make their first appearance.
14. Saints (20) - It's time for even the hardest headed of us to admit it; the Saints are a good team.
15. Ravens (15) - Brian Billick has fired OC Jim Fassel - ya, because things were going so well offensively before he showed up.
16. Rams (18) - The Rams won't be any better than "decent" until they find a way to win games like that one (as the Saints did).
17. Vikings (17) - At 3-2 and coming off their bye week, this upcoming trip to Seattle will say a lot about whether the Vikings are capable of making a postseason run.
18. Falcons (14) - They got roughed up pretty badly...
19. Chiefs (13) - ...but not nearly as badly as that.
20. Buccaneers (21) - Well, it took a while, but that was a hell of a way to get your first win; things don't get much easier, though.
21. Redskins (19) - The Bengals and Bills also lost to previously winless teams, but at least they had the decency not to do so in front of their own fans.
22. Jets (23) - 3-3 doesn't exactly make them world beaters, but the Jets are exceeding expectations at this point.
23. Dolphins (22) - Do you think the Rams might be interested in trading Frerotte for a 1st rounder? Or are the Dolphins planning on using that first rounder on Brady Quinn?
24. Browns (24) - I hope the Browns used their bye week wisely; the Broncos are coming to town.
25. Bills (26) - Get a second opportunity to make that statement they blew in week 1.
26. Cardinals (27) - Leinart looked good again, but you have to find a way to win that game.
27. 49ers (25) - Interesting team; they can win against opponents who are close to their level, but when they play good teams they don't bother showing up.
28. Titans (30) - The Vince Young/Matt Leinart battle has already begun. And both are off to solid starts.
29. Packers (29) - The Pack can take solace in the fact that their upcoming trip to Miami is only the runner-up for Stinkbomb of the Week (behind Arizona at Oakland).
30. Lions (31) - With this week's game against the Jets, the Lions have the opportunity to put together a little winning streak heading into their bye.
31. Texans (28) - They should call themselves "the doctors", because this is who teams play when they need to get well.
32. Raiders (32) - At what point should Charles Goodell intervene and start running the Raiders himself?

2006-10-16T10:47:00.000-04:00

Hockey season is under way, and I wanted to get a few words down on what is quickly becoming my second-favorite sport.

As many of you know, the NHL hit rock bottom in what was supposed to be the season of 04-05 when the owners and the players union failed to come to terms on a CBA and the season was ultimately canceled. However, sometimes you need to hit rock bottom before you can begin the slow crawl back up, and I think that that is exactly what we saw here in this instance. The NHL needed a salary cap, the owners knew it, and they would not start play again without one. The players resisted, but in fact the outcome will prove to benefit all in the end. If you look at what the cap has done for the NFL, it is clear to any thinking person (read: anybody except apparently David Stern, Bud Selig, and the swarms of sports columnists who are constantly sucking up to big market teams and going on about how sports leagues "need" franchises in New York, Boston, LA, etc., to be successful), that the correct way to run a league, if you want to capture a nationwide audience, is to create an environment where any team can win. People will go and see a winner; that is why baseball is so popular in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Houston, St. Louis, Chicago, and virtually nowhere else. Those are the markets where the teams are capable, playing under the current economic format, to compete. In the same vein, the NHL was hugely popular in Detroit, where the team won a regular basis, and pretty much no where else. That WILL change with the salary cap. The Red Wings will retain their huge fan base, just as the Cowboys, Redskins, and other huge market, historically successful NFL franchises retained their fanbases in the cap-era, while the other teams will become popular because the fans will know that their team is either a contender right away, or is in the process of becoming one. Will the NHL ever be as popular as the NFL? Certainly not in our lifetime, but the NHL could reestablish itself as the 4th major sport and might even pass basketball (which is a horrible sport to watch). Add in the rule changes, which make the game more exciting and better to watch, and the advent of HDTV, which does more for watching hockey than any other sport, and the future of the NHL looks bright.

Anyway, as for this season, my main concern, being a Capitals fan, is the continued development of Alexander Ovechkin, who is already one of the League's elite players, and the slow development of a set of complimentary pieces around him. League-wide, I understand that the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are chief among the Cup favorites this season, although that means almost nothing in the NHL.

Anyway, that's what I got this morning. Tomorrow I'll have the new NFL power rankings.

2006-10-10T12:17:00.000-04:00

NFL Week 6 Power Rankings:

Ya, this blog has turned into just NFL Power Rankings, but the cable guy is coming tomorrow to install my internet so soon I'll be able to post more regularly. Anyway, here's how the NFL looks to me right now:

1. Bears (1) - How can anyone argue?
2. Colts (2) - They appear to be pulling the same routine that USC was doing last season, and we all know how that turned out for the Trojans.
3. Bengals (3) - Took the week off and now they get to play Tampa Bay; I'm not sure which is tougher.
4. Broncos (6) - That week 1 loss to St. Louis seems a long way away now.
5. Seahawks (4) - I hope they got their shit together in the bye week after the stinker in Chicago.
6. Chargers (5) - There is no truth to the rumor that Schottenheimer tried killing the clock up 17-13 in the third quarter...is there?
7. Jaguars (7) - The defense has to be feeling a lot better after that performance.
8 Eagles (8) - They have to feel good after that win.
9. Patriots (11) - 3-0 in their division, but all three games were closer than they should have been; on the other hand, thier win over Cincy was a blowout, so go figure.
10. Cowboys (9) - I'm not going to say anything about T.O. here. Oh, dammit...
11. Giants (15) - Looks like the bye week did wonders for their defense.
12. Panthers (14) - 3-0 since the return of Steve Smith.
13. Chiefs (16) - Huard is doing a good job keeping Trent Green's seat warm.
14. Falcons (17) - Can a one-dimensional offense succeed in today's NFL? We'll soon find out.
15. Ravens (12) - Ya, the game was closer than the final score indicated and ya, Denver is a tough place to play, especially in prime time in the snow, but when your QB has as many interceptions (3) as your team has points (three), something needs to be reevaluated.
16. Steelers (10) - I'm starting to think Jerome Bettis may have meant a lot more to this football team than we thought.
17. Vikings (18) - Not sure what they were doing losing 17-3 to the Lions after 3 quarters, but they sure rectified that situation.
18. Rams (20) - Low for a 4-1 team, maybe, but I'm still looking for a win that really proves something.
19. Redskins (13) - 3 weeks ago the buzz in DC was "Mark Brunell is too old to get it gone"; now, it's "Mark Brunell is too old to get it done consistently."
20. Saints (19) - See the Rams.
21. Buccaneers (21) - This team is in deep shit.
22. Dolphins (23) - The Dante Culpepper/Joey Harrington Era is making Miami fans pine for Gus Frerotte.
23. Jets (22) - What is it about 41-0 this season?
24. Browns (25) - A boring team to match their boring name and boring uniforms.
25. 49ers (27) - Well, at least they're the best team in the Bay Area.
26. Bills (24) - That one is gonna sting a little.
27. Cardinals (26) - Is Matt Leinart the real deal, or was that just the Chiefs defense being the Chiefs defense?
28. Texans (30) - A week off is a good week for the Texans.
29. Packers (28) - The trip icy tundra of Lambeau Field has become an easy date on the opposing team's schedule.
30. Titans (31) - Played the Colts tough, but so did the Jets two weeks ago and we all saw what happened to them.
31. Lions (29) - I don't know what is more amazing, that the Lions managed to turn a 17-3 4th quarter lead into a 26-17 defeat, or that the Lions actually HAD a 17-3 lead.
32. Raiders (32) - 0-16 is looking less like a possibility and more like a probability.

2006-10-03T12:32:00.000-04:00

NFL Week 5 Power Rankings

Slight change in the formula this week, but I do mean slight...

1. Bears (3) - Can you honestly name a team that looks better right now?
2. Colts (2) - Good teams find a way to win close games, but that shouldn't have been a close game.
3. Bengals (1) - Goodness, that was ugly...
4. Seahawks (4) - ...but not as ugly as that.
5. Chargers (5) - Marty showed Sunday why he has such a hell of a time winning in the postseason.
6. Broncos (7) - All rested up for the big Monday Night match-up with suddenly impressive Baltimore.
7. Jaguars (6) - The offense answered a lot of questions, but what happened to the defense?
8. Eagles (10) - I don't know what Andy Reid said at halftime, but he'll want to bottle that speech up.
9. Cowboys (9) - Which was the more brutal stomping, the one Dallas center Gourde endured at the hands (well, feet) of Tennessee linebacker Haynesworth, or the one Gourde's teammates put on the Titans?
10. Steelers (8) - We'll see if the Steelers fixed their problems over the bye week - with a game at San Diego looming, they better have.
11. Patriots (11) - Talk about a bounceback - where exactly was that offense against Denver?
12. Ravens (14) - If they win at Denver we officially have to take them seriously.
13. Redskins (19) - If the return of Shawn Springs can do for the defense what the return of Clinton Portis has done for the offense, this might be the Super Bowl Contender everyone in Washington was talking about.
14. Panthers (15) - Does any receiver mean as much to his team as Steve Smith?
15. Giants (12) - With the schedule they're playing, the Giants could probably use a couple more bye weeks.
16. Chiefs (18) - Well, at least Damon Huard can score against the San Francisco's of the world.
17. Falcons (16) - 17 seems low, but the Falcons are a lot closer to the Redskins at 13 than they are to the Vikings at 18.
18. Vikings (13) - Are injuries to Steve Smith and Clinton Portis the reason the Vikes are 2-2 as opposed to 0-4?
19. Saints (20) - Ironically, their loss to Carolina may have been a better indicator that the Saints could be for real than their wins at Cleveland and Green Bay, and the emotionally driven victory over Atlanta.
20. Rams (22) - The Rams looked like the Greatest Show on Turf again for a day, but the Lions can have that effect on teams.
21. Buccaneers (20) - If the Bucs are gonna turn things around, they have to start this week at New Orleans, because after that things get REALLY difficult.
22. Jets (23) - Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
23. Dolphins (17) - We expected the Jets and the Bills to be down here, but how have the Dolphins fallen so far?
24. Bills (25) - They get a second shot at making that major statement they let slip through their fingers in week 1 when they go to Chicago this week.
25. Browns (27) - Well, the Raiders are fairly godawful, but a win on the road is a win on the road.
26. Cardinals (24) - Denny Green called the Cardinals offense "ludicrous" - it was ludicrous to expect anything else after the Cardinals ignored the albatross that is their offensive line in the offseason.
27. 49ers (25) - It's quite an accomplishment to get shut-out by the Chiefs.
28. Packers (28) - The Packers next Monday Night game is week 12 at Seattle - apparently the League wants to embarass Brett Favre into retirement.
29. Lions (29) - I'm not quite sure what happened to the team that held the Seahawks to 9 points, but they haven't shown up since.
30. Texans (32) - With the very real possibility that the Titans or Raiders will go 0-16, the Texans may have cost themselves the number 1 pick; of course, they would have just fucked it up anyway.
31. Titans (31) - Let the Vince Young Era begin!
32. Raiders (32) - Let the Brady Quinn Era begin!

2006-09-27T16:34:00.000-04:00

NFL Week 4 Power Rankings:

1. Bengals (1) - I had the Steelers #1 at the start of the season in deference to their status as Super Bowl Champions, but the fact of the matter is I've always thought the Bengals were the team to beat, and I've seen nothing to make me change that opinion.
2. Colts (2) - Showed that they are still the team to beat in the AFC South.
3. Bears (3) - Didn't show the kind of offense they flashed against Detroit and Green Bay, but it;s tough to start a season better than 3-0 in your own division.
4. Seahawks (4) - The Madden Curse strikes again; now, can the Seahawks cope?
5. Chargers (6) - Will the early bye hurt them down the stretch?
6. Jaguars (7) - Played the Colts tough again - but ultimately, not tough enough.
7. Broncos (8) - I'm not ready to completely forgive that week 1 loss to the Rams just yet.
8. Steelers (5) - They don't look like world beaters so far, but it's way too early to panic.
9. Cowboys (11) - The Cowboys are the top NFC East team almost by default.
10. Eagles (12) - They can beat up on garbage opposition, but that loss to the Giants still smarts.
11. Patriots (9) - Methinks Bill Bellachick finally bit off more than he can chew by ditching all of his wideouts.
12. Giants (10) - Ummm, what the hell was that?
13. Vikings (14) - Had the opportunity to make a statement, and let it slip through their fingers.
14. Ravens (15) - Baltimore was one interception in the end zone away from being the People's Exhibit A in the case of Why You Don't Overreact To 2 Games. As it is, they are somewhere around Exhibit H.
15. Panthers (17) - Nice to have a kicker you can depend on to make the big figgies.
16. Falcons (13) - Part of me wants to give the Falcons a mulligan for that loss - no team could have played with the Saints in the first half of that game; the other part of me wants to know why the Falcons offense couldn't turn anything around in the second half, after the initial rush wore off.
17. Dolphins (16) - Well, a win is a win, I guess.
18. Chiefs (18) - Can Larry Johnson keep the Damon Huard Era from being a complete disaster?
19. Redskins (19) - Nothing cures an offense's woes quite like the return of a 1,500 yard back - although a date with the Texans doesn't hurt, either.
20. Saints (22) - If nothing else, the Saints sure learned what they can be Monday Night.
21. Buccaneers (20) - Losing on a last second field goal to a team many have chalked as a Super Bowl contender isn't a bad loss, but it is still a loss.
22. Rams (21) - Tried to give the game away against the Cardinals, but the Cardinals tried harder.
23. Jets (24) - The Jets made a statement Sunday; "we're better than the Bills".
24. Cardinals (23) - ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports than Dennis Green wants Josh McCown back.
25. Bills (25) - The fact that the Bills looked so good the first two weeks might say more about the Patriots and Dolphins than it does about the Bills.
26. 49ers (26) - If #98 is able to run 98 yards with the ball against you, then your team wasn't trying, which is inexcusable, especially at home.
27. Browns (27) - Good teams find a way to win winnable games.
28. Packers (31) - Well, at least they might not finish last.
29. Lions (28) - That question about whether the Bears offense was good or if the Packers and Lions defenses were that bad - well, it got answered, and the answer is bad news for the Bears.
30. Raiders (29) - The bye week might be the best they look all season.
31. Titans (30) - Coach Fisher needs to do the fans a favor and put Vince Young out there.
32. Texans (32) - Think Reggie Bush is still dissapointed he wasn't taken #1 overall? Me neither.

2006-09-21T16:24:00.000-04:00

NFL Power Rankings, week 3

Heading into the third week of the season, this is how the teams measure up, as I see it...

1. Bengals (2) - Carson Palmer most certainly is 100 % healthy.
2. Colts (3) - Addai isn't quite Edge yet, but Manning can keep the team running until he is.
3. Bears (4) - Do the Bears really have an offense or are the Lions just that bad? But the Lions did a good job of shutting down Seattle.
4. Seahawks (5) - Reminded Arizona who the class of the NFC West still is.
5. Steelers (1) - A loss on the road to a tough Jaguars team is understandable, but a shutout?
6. Chargers (7) - Imagine what this team will look like once Rivers gets comfortable.
7. Jaguars (8) - Fred Taylor looks great through two weeks, but that has never been his problem.
8. Broncos (6) - It's always impressive to hold the opposition to 6 points, but shutting down Damon Huard isn't going to earn you the Nobel Prize for Defense.
9. Patriots (10) - Week one the comeback from a 10-point defecit, week 2 they almost blow a 17-point lead; I'll say this about the Patriots - the game is never over.
10. Giants (11) - Great come from behind win on the road in the division, but the secondary looked terrible.
11. Cowboys (12) - They managed to hold onto the lead this time.
12. Eagles (9) - On one key sequence the Eagles threw consecutive incomplete passes on 2nd and 1, 3rd and 1, and 4th and 1; you can't win anything of substance in the NFL if you refuse to run the football.
13. Falcons (18) - The people who trash Michael Vick forget one very important thing - the Falcons win when he is playing, and they lose when he is not.
14. Vikings (19) - The Redskins and Panthers came into this season talking Super Bowl, and the Vikings have beaten both of them.
15. Ravens (20) - I thought their offensive line wouldn't be able to block anyone; through two weeks, they've done more than enough.
16. Dolphins (13) - Suddenly the Culpepper trade doesn't seem to be as much of a steal.
17. Panthers (16) - ESPN.com said the Panthers were the NFL's deepest team, but one injury seems to have crippled them.
18. Chiefs (17) - They had better hope Green will be suiting up again, and soon.
19. Redskins (14) - I told you depth was an issue - injuries to Shawn Sprins and Clinton Portis have the Redskins looking terrible.
20. Buccaneers (15) - At least the Panthers, Chiefs, and Redskins can point to injuries as the cause of their troubles; I don't know what Tampa Bay's excuse is.
21. Rams (21) - Follow up beating one of the NFL's elite by losing to one of the NFL's barrel bottom dwellers.
22. Saints (24) - The 2-0 record may be against chump competition, but: A) both wins came on the road, which is always impressive; and B) the Saints were supposed to themselves be chump competition.
23. Cardinals (22) - You weren't one of those chumps who got suckered into riding on the Cardinals bandwagon again, were you?
24. Jets (25) - If there is such a thing as looking impressive while getting beat by a touchdown at home, the Jets managed it.
25. Bills (27) - Well, well, well, the week one performance may have been legitimate after all.
26. 49ers (28) - This might not be the year, but if I'm a 9ers fan I'm encouraged for the future.
27. Browns (23) - All offseason we heard about how Cleveland was going in the right direction, but we haven't seen anything to indicate that yet.
28. Lions (26) - You have to wonder how much of Mike Martz's reputation is owed directly to Marshall Faulk.
29. Raiders (29) - All four of these teams...
30. Titans (30) - supposedly have their "QB of the future"...
31. Packers (31) - so the rights to Brady Quinn...
32. Texans (32) - will likely be up for sale.

2006-09-17T12:37:00.000-04:00

Week 3 College Wrap

Before I get to the 12 games I listed, I should mention the 37-9 demolition job the Midshipmen did to the Stanford Cardinal late Saturday Night. The Middies have built a very successful program of late, perennially winning the Commander-in-Chief Trophy and regularly making Bowl game appearances. Could this be the year they finally topple Notre Dame?

Onto the games I listed Thursday...

Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 13 - Don't look now, but the Demon Deacons are 3-0. Wake Forest may not be a powerhouse, but they aren't the perennial push-over they were a few seasons ago. As for UConn, there was a time not too long ago when the Huskies were being billed as annual challengers for the Big East title. It certainly has not worked out that way; Connecticut doesn't have a bad team, but they aren't championship-caliber, either.

Iowa 27, Iowa State 17 - It looked like more of the same as the Cyclones jumped out to a 14-3 lead, but Iowa dominated the second half and ended up winning by 10. The Hawkeyes can now look forward to a Big 10 schedule that could vault them into National Championship consideration. The Cyclones can look forward to trying to squeek out 6 wins and a bowl appearance.

Texas Christian 12, Texas Tech 3 - The Big 12 looks miserable this season, which should mean a school like Texas Tech could sneak out a few upsets and maybe establish themselves in the conference. No way even that will happen if they lose games like this. As for TCU, this is a big win for them, but they will never be an elite program in that conference.

West Virginia 45, Maryland 24 - The Mountaineers looked like a legit top 5 team Thursday Night (the game wasn't even as close as the score indicated). As for Maryland, it's looking more and more like Ralph Friedgen's early success had mostly to do with the recruiting prowess of Ron Venderlinen.

Southern California 28, Nebraska 10 - Remember when Nebraska fired Frank Solich after his Huskers "only" went 9-2? I think they'd kill to have him back right now. USC continues to keep right on rolling. They could easily find themselves in the BCS title game again.

Michigan State 38, Pittsburgh 23 - The Big 10 is looking pretty good right about now. With Michigan State, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio State undefeated and looking tough, the appears to be the second-best conference in college football. Pittsburgh does not appear to be a team capable of competing with WVU and Louisville.

Oregon 34, Oklahoma 33 - Maybe the ball hadn't quite gone 10 yards, but Oklahoma, blowing a 13 point lead with less than 4 minutes on the clock, had more to do with them losing this game than the officials did. That being said, Oklahoma looks like they have a better chance to challenge Texas than Oregon appears to have at challenging Southern Cal.

Louisville 31, Miami (FL) 7 - Louisville owned the Canes, but they're losing important players at a pretty high clip. They have an easy run over the next few weeks, but they need Brohm to be healthy for WVU on 11/2. The Hurricanes appear to be in free fall; Coker will be lucky to last the season.

Clemson 27, Florida State 20 - The Hurricanes aren't the only ACC Florida school in serious trouble. Clemson's win opened up the door that looked closed after they got beat by BC. But whoever wins this division is going to get killed by Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game.

Michigan 47, Notre Dame 21 - The statement of the week was made by Michigan, who crushed the Golden Domers at their own place. Were the Irish that overrated or are the Wolverines a National Title contender? With the game that lopsided, the answer could be both.

Florida 21, Tennessee 20 - The Two SEC tilts were classics. By going into Rocky Top and beating a tough Volunteer team, the Gators showed the heart to win the SEC East. But do they have the talent to win at the Cocktail Party?

Auburn 7, Louisiana State 3 - Both these defenses proved a lot this game. Auburn is now the team to beat in the SEC, but LSU looks capable of running the rest of their schedule, too.

2006-09-14T16:48:00.000-04:00

Tonight week 3 of the college ball season kicks off, so this is the perfect time for my weekly college primer. 12 games intrigue me this week, and they are, coutning down from 12:

12 - Wake Forest @ Connecticut (Sat 12:00) - These are hardly top-tier programs, but each has built themselves up to rexpectability over the course of the last few seasons. Each is looking to take the next step, and one will get a nice boost here.

11 - Iowa State @ Iowa (Sat 12:00) - Iowa has the much better program, but the Cyclones give the Hawkeyes fits. If Iowa wants to contend for a national title, they have to learn to leave their in-state rivals in the dust.

10 - Texas Tech @ Texas Christian (Sat 5:30) - Two schools fighting to escape from the shadows of Texas A&M and, of course, Texas. If either one wants to be able to recruit with those two, they'll have to prove capable of regularly beating teams like, well, each other.

9 - Maryland @ West Virginia (Thurs 7:30) - A lot of the preseason hype surrounding West Virginia treated this game like a cakewalk for the Mountaineers. But the Terps always play well against them, and will come into this game with a major chip on their shoulders.

8 - Nebraska @ Southern California (Sat 8:00) - With all the hype surrounding Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, and West Virginia this preseason, USC felt legitimately disrespected. They could make a statement here, but then again, so could the Huskers, who are trying to reestablish themselves as the dominant force in the Big 12 North and also as a National Championship-caliber program.

7 - Michigan State @ Pittsburgh (Sat 12:00) - Both of these two teams have looked impressive in early action but are still flying well under the radar of most pundits. Here's saying the winner of this game makes a lot of noise in their respective conference, and the loser may very well, too.

6 - Oklahoma @ Oregon (Sat 3:30) - A fantastically interesting contest between the two teams looking to challenge last year's Rose Bowl participants in their respective conferences. The fact that this game isn't in the top 5 is a very good indication of what a strong weekend of college ball awaits us.

5 - Miami (FL) @ Louisville (Sat 3:30) - The Hurricanes may not be the dominant force they were a few seasons ago, but they are still an imposing top-tier program. This is a huge opportunity for Louisville, and indeed for the entire Big East, to prove that they belong in the discussion with the big boys.

4 - Clemson @ Florida State (Sat 7:45) - The Bowden Bowl is the most-hyped match-up involving teams from the 3-way rivalry at the top of the ACC Atlantic Division. I'm not sure who does the scheduling in the ACC, but there is no way Clemson should be playing their two most important games of the season in weeks 2 and 3.

3 - Michigan @ Notre Dame (Sat 3:30) - A classic rivalry that goes back almost as long as there has been college football. A Michigan win would be a stunning upset, but stunning upsets litter the century-old battlefield that is the history of this great contest.

2 - Florida @ Tennessee (Sat 8:00) - The battle that for years defined the SEC East. Georgia has recently established themselves as the team to beat in this division, but they are by no means head and shoulders above their two biggest rivals. Whenever two of these three teams get together, get the couch ready, because you don't want to miss a snap.

1 - Louisiana State @ Auburn (Sat 3:30) - Last week's Ohio State/Texas match-up was billed as 1 vs. 2, but I feel that the two best teams in the country could very well be playing in this game right here. The winner of this game should be the SEC West Champion, will probably be the SEC Champion, and damn well could be the National Champion.

2006-09-13T12:29:00.000-04:00

A quick word on baseball...

My fantasy team was eliminated from the playoffs last week, and thus ends my interest in Major League Baseball this season. I can't even bring myself to care enough to hope the Yankees lose. The sport of baseball has become such a joke, such a mockery, that's it is difficult to believe that anyone does care anymore. And you know what? They aren't caring, in increasing numbers.

Why is this? Well, quick, guess what two teams have the best record in baseball as I write this. I'll give you a clue. One of them plays in New York, and the other one plays in New York. We're pretty much at the point now where the size of the market determines how well the team will do. If that sounds like a fun sport to follow to you, then you suffer from some kind of brain damage. Where is the drama if you know where your team will finish every year? Even if your team is good, if it's good every year, simply because they have the most money to throw around, where is the intrigue? What fun is that?

The American League East this year will finish in the following order: Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, Devil Rays. Consider this, that division has finished that way 8 of the last 9 seasons. In the other season, the only difference was that the Orioles finished third and the Blue Jays fourth. 9 years in a row the standings have been essentially the same. Why would I follow a story for 6 months if I already know exactly how it is going to end? That's not why I watch sports.

So here's hoping for a Yankees/Mets World Series this year, and every year. Here is hoping the NFL continues to kick MLB's ass year in and year out because they deliver a product where every team has a chance to win. And here is hoping that someday MLB pulls their heads out of their asses and finally fixes my ex-favorite sport.

2006-09-12T11:06:00.000-04:00

NFL Power Rankings, after week 1 Last week's ranking in paranthesis):

1. Steelers (1) - A solid win over Miami which wouldn't have been as impressive had they had their starting quarterback.
2. Bengals (2) - How do you make a statement in this league? By going on the road and trouncing a team with playoff aspirations, that's how.
3. Colts (4) - Pulled out a gritty win in a tough environment, but they looked like they missed Edgerrin James.
4. Bears (6) - Can they really score points now, or are the Packers just that bad?
5. Seahawks (3) - Sure, a win is a win, especially on the road, but beating the Lions on a last minute field goal has to be troubling; they'll take it, though.
6. Broncos (5) - Their 13-3 record last year earns them a mulligan, but one more performance like that and they'll take a tumble.
7. Chargers (9) - That's a hell of a way to kick off the Phillip Rivers Era.
8. Jaguars (10) - Lord Byron showed his stuff, but, more importantly, Fred Taylor looked like he still has something left.
9. Eagles (14) - Terrell who? They'll face tougher opponents, though...
10. Patriots (7) - How do you get docked 3 slots after a win? By beating the Bills by a safety at home, that's how.
11. Giants (11) - Losing to the Colts is understandable, but a team looking to be a Super Bowl contender has to protect their own turf from even the toughest of opponents.
12. Cowboys (15) - Yes, the Cowboys and the Dolphins moved up 3 spots after a loss, but that has more to do with how bad the 3 teams they passed looked than how impressive they looked in defeat.
13. Dolphins (16) - See the Cowboys.
14. Redskins (8) - If losing at home to the Colts means the Giants aren't ready, then the Skins must be much further away than I thought.
15. Buccaneers (12) - Getting your ass kicked at home is an inauspicious way to start the season.
16. Panthers (13) - See the Buccaneers.
17. Chiefs (17) - See the Panthers.
18. Falcons (18) - Ok, it's obvious I have a system in place, one that has, apparently, unfairly kept the next four teams from moving up after impressive wins....
19. Vikings (19) - If they can follow them up with a second quality victory, though, they'll be on their way up....
20. Ravens (21) - The purpose of the system is to keep from overreacting to one game....
21. Rams (22) - One game which, by the way, should not outweigh an entire season of mediocrity.
22. Cardinals (20) - What is the difference between a good team and a bad team? A good team trounces the 49ers at home, a bad one scrapes by.
23. Browns (23) - The really bad ones lose to the Saints at home.
24. Saints (28) - That Reggie Bush fellow looks like he might be alright, after all.
25. Jets (31) - If the Chad Pennington of old is truely back, the Jets might be much better than expected.
26. Lions (26) - Not a bad loss, but "not a bad loss" isn't exactly a win, is it?
27. Bills (27) - See the Lions.
28. 49ers (30) - They move up 2 spots by virtue of not getting their asses handed to them at home.
29. Raiders (24) - Ouch...
30. Titans (25) - These...
31. Packers (29) - Teams...
32. Texans (32) - Suck.

2006-09-11T13:36:00.000-04:00

Well kids, this is my sports blog. This is, as some of you know, my nth attempt at keeping a blog, and I'll do my best to keep it somewhat regularly updated. If I'm successful, maybe in a couple months I'll add some other blogs in different topics, but for now, this is it.

This blog is gonna be all about sports; mostly football, because football is currently the only sport run competently enough to be worth following, although ice hockey, oddly enough, seems to finally be catching on. But I'll have plenty to say about baseball and basketball too, with the occasional tennis, golf, or maybe even (once in a blue moon) autosports comments thrown in, for variety.

But right now I want to turn my attention to the NFL, which finally kicked off the season Thursday night, and started in earnest yesterday. My beloved Skins don't play until tonight, but for 28 of the NFL teams, the season has begun. I'm going to give my preseason power rankings, with each team rated 1-32, along with a comment. Keep in mind that these rankings do not take into account yesterday's games. I'll put my post week 1 rankings up tomorrow, and then update them every Tuesday afterwards. Without further ado...

NFL Preseason Power Rankings

1. Steelers - they won the Super Bowl, so they get top billing.
2. Bengals - having a team full of criminals didn't hurt those early-90s Cowboy teams.
3. Seahawks - got jobbed in the big game, and now have to avoid the Super Bowl hangover.
4. Colts - it's only a matter of time before Peyton gets his ring. See Cowher, Bill.
5. Broncos - which Jake Plummer shows up for '06?
6. Bears - no offense, but 13 wins is 13 wins.
7. Patriots - New England is never out of the championship picture.
8. Redskins - got the holes patched up, but depth is an issue.
9. Chargers - will go as far as Phillip Rivers can take them.
10. Jaguars - coming off a 12 win season, but Jimmy Smith is gone and Fred Taylor is running on fumes.
11. Giants - Tiki Barber's health is a ticking time bomb; can he squeeze one more productive season out?
12. Buccaneers - Chris Simms and Caddillac Williams showed potential last season; they need to take the next step, now.
13. Panthers - a lot of hype for Carolina, but is 32-year old Keyshawn Johnson enough to get them over the top?
14. Eagles - no T.O. means fewer headaches, but it also leaves the Eagles short a go-to receiver.
15. Cowboys - Whether he behaves or not, Owens can't help the o-line.
16. Dolphins - the Phins are coming off a big winning streak to end '05, but many questions remain.
17. Chiefs - replacing Al Saunders with the Herminator is like replacing a brand new Mustang GT with a used Volvo station wagon.
18. Falcons - Michael Vick could be Steve Young times 10, if he wants that badly enough.
19. Vikings - great o-line, but no skill personnel whatsoever; the anti-Cardinals.
20. Cardinals - great skill personnel, but no o-line whatsoever; the anti-Vikings.
21. Ravens - the Cardinals of the AFC.
22. Rams - rebuilding around Steven Jackson, which appears to be a good idea.
23. Browns - things appear to be turning around in Cleveland, but that will take time.
24. Raiders - Art Shell could be exactly what this team needs - or he could be a complete disaster; time will tell...
25. Titans - well, with Vince Young around, at least the future looks bright...
26. Lions - Mike Martz might not be the best head coach, but he can turn around an offense.
27. Bills - for better or worse, the J.P. Losman Era has begun.
28. Saints - New Orleans is abuzz with excitement for the coming of Reggie Bush, as well they fucking should be...
29. Packers - a good plan is in place, but the team is two years away.
30. 49ers - Vernon Davis, Frank Gore and Alex Smith are some young, esxciting parts for Norv Turner to work with.
31. Jets - count me among those who believe Mangini was a good hire; also, count me among those who believe drafting a tackle over Matt Leinart was a big mistake.
32. Texans - horrible, just horrible.