Admit it, you clicked on the "DDD" button because you thought there might some naughty pictures here.  This is just the page where Don gets to throw out his thoughts for the day on what's happening the sports world.  Sometimes he might wander a bit, but he'll try to keep it to sports.

May 4, 2010

The NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing, Tiger didn't make the cut last week at Quail Hollow and Philly fans are getting tasered for running onto the field. NBA - The Cavs got blown out last night by the Celtics in game 2 of the Eastern Conference semi-final 104-86.  LeBron looked like he had a mixture of concrete and molasses in his movable limbs for 3 quarters.  The Cavs have been flirting with disaster all season letting teams build up leads going into the 4th quarter and depending the strong finish to save them.  Hey Cleveland, you don't have to wait until the end of the game to start playing.  Points count the same in the first three quarters as they do in the 4th.  Mike Brown has decided to not give the team the day off on Monday opting instead for them to watch game film and discuss adjustments.  Just to catch you up - Dallas and Denver have both been eliminated from the playoffs, eliminated by the Spurs and Jazz respectively, while the Lakers had struggled in the first round against a young Oklahoma City team.  LA was expected to walk over the Thunder, but managed to win the series 4-2 and only having one of the victory margins in double digits.  The Lakers seem to have settled down with a game 1 win over Utah in the conference semi-finals on Sunday, but if they don't take the Jazz seriously, they could be looking at an early exit as well. NFL - Darren Sharper just re-signed with the Saints to the relief of thousands of New Orleans fans.  He was a leader on a defense last season whose absence would've been painful to endure. The Dolphins general manager, Jeff Ireland, offended Dez Bryant's mother and Bryant himself when he was asked in a pre-draft interview if she was a prostitute.  Turns out she's not a prostitute, just has some issues with drugs.    She was busted in 1997 for selling crack cocaine.  So Dolphins - do your research a little better next time.

December 26, 2009

Good day and Happy Holidays.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas or Hannukah or Kwanzaa or just a relaxing few days off.  NBA - LeBron and the Cavs went into the Staples Center in L.A. and took it to Kobe and the Lakers.  They out played the defending champs on their home court walking away with a 102-87 win.  Kobe and the Lakers were shut down by the Cavs defense.  L.A. only shot slightly over 36% from the floor.  The Knicks wore ugly green and red in honor of Christmas, but Santa didn't bring them a present as the Heat broke New York's three game winning streak with a win in the Garden, 93-87.  In other action, the Celts beat the Magic 86-77, the Suns beat the Clippers 124-93 and Portland beat Denver 107-96. The Orlando Magic coach, Stan Van Gundy wants to stop playing games on Christmas.  "I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game," Van Gundy said.  Oh!  I see, you feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas but watch basketball, but you want to take that away from them.  Nice. NFL - The Chargers beat the tar out of the Titans 42-17 securing themselves a bye in the first round of the playoffs and possibly costing the Titans a wild-card spot.  It's looking more and more like the Titan's winning 7 of their last 8 prior to last night, was more a product of their schedule than Vince Young taking over the offense.  When you look at the who they played after Young's return, it's pretty apparent they aren't as good as they appeared to be: Date Opponent Result Opponent's Current Record 1-Nov Jacksonville W 30-13 7-7 8-Nov at San Francisco W 34-27 6-8 15-Nov Buffalo W 41-17 5-9 23-Nov at Houston W 20-17 7-7 29-Nov Arizona W 20-17 9-5 6-Dec at Indianapolis L 17-27 14-0 13-Dec St. Louis W 47-7 1-13 20-Dec Miami W 27-24 OT 7-7 25-Dec San Diego L 17-42 12-3 Not having success against teams with a winning records (aside from beating 9-5 Arizona at home by 3) doesn't bode well for them even if they do manage to somehow make the playoffs. College Football - SMU got their first bowl win in 25 years by winning the Hawaii Bowl in the Mustangs first post season appearance since before the program received a three year death penalty back in the 80's for numerous NCAA violations.  SMU routed Nevada 45-10 which isn't all that surprising since the Mustang's coach, June Jones, was coaching at Hawaii just two seasons ago and led them to the BCS at large bid.  He knows the Nevada as they were an in-conference rival when he was coaching Hawaii in the WAC. The Mountain West has already made a couple of solid statements in this bowl season with BYU thumping Oregon State 44-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl, aka: the "Holy Crap it's windy out here" Bowl) and Utah handling Cal 37-27 in the Poinsettia bowl.  Got some good matchups today with the Pitt taking on North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.  It will depend on which Tarheel team shows up as to just how good this one will be.  If the quality powder blue shows up that plays tough defense and solid offense, it will be a brawl.  If not, Pitt will walk over UNC by 20+.  The Tarheels finding consistency has been an issue more than a few times this season.  Three weeks ago when I saw that USC was playing in the Emerald Bowl (their first non-BCS bowl since 2001), I thought, this is a no-brainer, SC wins this one.  No problem.  But now they've got three starters that were declared academically ineligible and their leading rusher, Joe McKnight, has been dealing with issues involving an SUV that may or may not have been his or his girlfriend's or a booster's car.  McKnight has finally joined the team in San Francisco, but it's unclear as to whether he will be allowed to play.  This one just got a lot more intriguing. McKnight is USC's first 1,000 yard rusher since 2005.  Also note that the last time the Trojan's didn't play in a BCS bowl, they lost to Utah 10-6.  This could be a low scoring affair, but the Trojans should still come out on top, with or without McKnight. Boxing - What could be the fight of the decade in March might be in jeopardy as the Floyd Mayweather camp has been accusing Manny Pacquiao of taking performance enhancing drugs.  They point to his rising winning titles in seven different weight divisions all with no apparent loss of speed or power.  Manny isn't taking to kindly to these accusations and is threatening to call off the fight and possibly sue Mayweather and his crew for defamation.  My response to him:  Go to a high profile facility that isn't tied to boxing and have them test you.  Put it all to rest, unless you've got something to hide. . .

December 5, 2009

December 5, 2009   Notre Dame looks to be calling it a year and won’t go bowling.  The dismissal Charlie Weis following a 6-6 season makes the GMAC bowl the best option for the Irish at the moment and the money from that game won’t cover their traveling expenses.  Not to worry, Notre Dame still gets a $1.3 million payday from the BCS just for . . .well . . . being Notre Dame.   Part of the BCS contract says that if Notre Dame makes it to a BCS bowl, they only get $4.5 million vs. the $15M that BCS conference schools take home to split with the rest of the teams in their various conferences.  If Notre Dame doesn’t get into a BCS bowl, they get a payoff of $1.3 million.  How’s that for a team that has only won a single bowl game since the Lou Holtz era (the Hawaii Bowl last year).   Speaking of the coaching vacuum in South Bend, everyone seems to be 45 kinds of excited trying to figure out who will take up the reigns of the favorite sons of Touchdown Jesus.  Some of the names that have been thrown out there are Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Gary Patterson (TCU) and Brian Kelly (Cincinnati).  With the exception of Brian Kelly, who is tied up with concerns over playing Pitt for the Big East championship this weekend, the other three have flatly denied any interest in coaching at Notre Dame.  I’ve even read one article that suggested Joe Montana should be or could be a candidate.  Whoever takes over the role of head honcho in South Bend is going to have his hands full with a program that hasn’t really lived up to the expectations of it’s fan base in quite some time.   Dan wrote down some thoughts on the Notre Dame coaching situation as well  (Dan’s thoughts).   Conference Championship weekend:   Thursday PAC 10 (defacto championship): Oregon 37 - Oregon State 33 It all started Thursda night when Oregon hosted Oregon State in Eugene in the “Civil War”  and the rivalry has never seen the matchup have so much riding on it.  To the winner?  The conference championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl to take on the Big 10 Champion, Ohio State Buckeyes.  It was a very back and forth game with the Beavers actually building a 9 point lead shortly after half-time.  The Ducks were not to be denied, however when they took a 1 point lead with 1:20 remaining in the 3rd quarter and tacked on a field goal at the 10:13 mark of the 4th then held on to win 37-33.  I can’t wait to see what kind of crazy uniform combination Nike comes out with for Oregon to wear to their first Rose Bowl since 1995 where they lost to Penn State 38-20.   Friday MAC Championship: Central Michigan 20 - Ohio 10 Dan LeFevour set and NCAA record when he passed for two last night to bring his total career touchdowns to 148 and led CMU to their third MAC title in four years.  Good for him.   Saturday CUSA Championship: East Carolina vs. Houston This game will feature the defending CUSA champion East Carolina Pirates against the Houston Cougars, led by one of the guys who should be invited to New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation, but will likely get ignored, quarterback Case Keenum.  Keenum has passed for 4922 yards, 38 TD's, 6 INT's with a completion percentage over 70%.  Apparently having 1600 more passing yards, 11 more TD's and more than double the passing yards and TD's of Tim Tebow doesn't put you in the same class as the supposed "leading quarterbacks" in the country, but I digress.  Like last season, the Pirates have made it to the conference championship based on the strength of their defense.  They'll need all of that today to slow down the Cougar offense and stay in this game.  If they can keep it close, they can win back to back championships.   ACC Championship: Clemson vs. Georgia Tech This is a hard one to pick.  Georgia Tech comes in with the #2 rushing offense in the country.  Not all that surprising when you consider they run an option offense that more resembles the old school wishbone vs. the more modern spread option offense.  Clemson has a solid defense and they'll need every bit of it if they want to win the conference title.  These two teams met in the second week of the season and the Jackets racked up 301 of their 418 yards on the ground.  Tech came away with that win, not because they were able to eat up the clock at the end of the game so much as they were able to execute some well timed, unexpected passing plays.  They'll need to do that again today if they want to win their first ACC title since 1998.  If Clemson wins, it will be there first conference title since 1991.   Big East (defacto championship): Cincinnati  vs. Pitt The Bearcats are looking to finish the season undefeated and win back to back Big East titles.  Look for them to win this one in a defensive battle.  The only thing that keeps this game close is the fact that it's in Pittsburgh.     Big XII Championship: In my mind and a lot of people’s minds, this one is a no-brainer.  Texas is undefeated.  Nebraska has issues scoring despite have a solid defense.  Colt McCoy is a Heisman candidate (don’t get me started on that).  But wait, let’s go back to 1996, Nebraska was poised for a run at their third consecutive national championship.  All they had to do was beat an 8-4 Texas team that didn’t stand a chance against the Big Red.  The Huskers were handed a loss and denied that shot at a 3rd straight title when they were upset by the upstart Longhorns 37-27.  If this isn’t being touted in Lincoln as payback time, somebody should get a good smack.   SEC Championship: Alabama vs. Florida So the hype machine has been in full tilt all week.  "It's the big one!"  "#1 vs. #2!"  Alabama has had another great season, but despite the pure numbers, they haven't showed enough consitency in the passing game to convince me they can be balanced enough to keep the Gator defense off-balance.  The Bama defense could keep them in this one, but they'll have to be careful to avoid the personal fouls - DO NOT pull Timmy Tebow down by his halo . . .at least not when the refs are looking.

October 7, 2009

So Braylon Edwards learns what happens when you mess with Lebron James . . .or at least his friend:  You get traded to the Jets!  Look for other Browns players to start picking fights with Lebron, his momma, sister and anyone else who might be related to him or know him. Looks like somebody finally got through to Michael Crabtree as he's signed a deal with the 49er's.  I think he finally was getting it that his stock was dropping with every San Francisco win without him on the roster.  Mike Singeltary has things humming in the bay area where the Niners would be undefeated if not for one crazy last second play by Brett Favre. Bobby Bowden is all but done at Florida State.  Whatever hopes he has of catching and/or passing JoePa for all time wins as a coach are waning with each passing day.  University officials have said that Bowden's job is safe for now and the head coaching position will be re-evaluated at the end to the season.  Jimbo Fisher is apparently the "head coach in waiting" as FSU is working on a contract deal to make it so.  It's a shame that one of the better coaches in the last 25 years and a straight up character is pretty much on the rocks right now as a head coach. Donovan McNabb will be back in the line-up this weekend for the Eagles when they take on Tampa Bay, so maybe the Eagles will not be quite as bad as they've been recently.  Oh wait, they haven't been that bad.  They're 2-1 and their loss came to undefeated New Orleans. Jonathon Roy, son of NHL great Patrick Roy, pleaded guilty to assault basically because he won a fight with the opposing goalie in March of 2008.  Well, "won a fight" is a bit stingy.  Apparently he gave the guy a total beat-down and it started a nationwide debate between Canadians . . . .over violence in hockey . . .seriously . . .this is not a joke.  Apparently Canadians have suddenly forgot what kind of history this game has or they just feel sorry for a girly man who couldn't hold his own on the ice.

October 6, 2009

40 year old quarterbacks rule!!!  At least 40 year old quarterbacks named Brett Favre when playing against the Packers . . .in the Metrodome . . .AT NIGHT!  Brett unlocked the X-Box achievement on Madden 10 called "LEAGE BUSTER - 25 POINTS"  by beating every single team in the NFL.  The Packers were the only team he hadn't beaten as he'd never played against them.  Braylon Edwards may be in trouble with the league as he was involved in an altercation with some friend of Lebron James outside a night club.  Even if he is suspended, I'm not sure the Browns will notice his absence as he's been terrible all season. Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow may or may not play this weekend.  If Sam doesn't make it back, the Sooners will still likely win as they are playing Baylor without their starting quarterback who is also injured.  If Tebow doesn't make it back, look for a low scoring brawl in Baton Rouge where the Gators take on LSU.

October 2, 2009

Rio will be hosting the Olympics in 2016.  Chicagoans are pretty upset . . .well, about 16% of them are if the opinion polls are to be believed.  Meanwhile, get ready for lots of sun, fun and crazy people in green and yellow in 2016.  It's probably for the best that it's in Rio instead of Chicago.  Now you don't have to worry about 7 years of construction in Chitown and when the games do roll around, you will be able to watch everything live without having to stay up until 3AM.    LaGarette Blount may be reinstated for play at Oregon after he decked a Boise State player in the post game handshake gone overboard after the season opener.  Oregon Coach, Chip Kelly, originally suspended Blount for the duration of the season, but is now entertaining the notion of bringing him back.  Gotta wonder if Oregon’s recent success on the field is making him think that they might actually have a shot at winning the PAC 10 and a berth in the Rose Bowl.  Either way, it's obvious at this point that it's not being considered because they are getting desperate as the Ducks have been lighting it up since the Boise game.  I also think that while it was good that Oregon reacted quickly, it was probably a bit too quickly and they jumped a little to far.  He's a college kid and he messed up.  It happens with tons of college kids.  He seems to be making amends so a second chance for him is in order. This weekend Drew Brees and the Saints will take on the New York Jets.  This is a chance for them to get some respect and they are going to have to show up hard on defense to do it.  They've got a better team in my opinion, despite the improved defense on the Jets' side.  The Saints defense is much better this season than last and they will put some serious pressure on Mark Sanchez and force him to make some bad decisions. Here's my fantasy pick for the week - pull into your lineup anyone who is playing against Cleveland.  The Browns are in turmoil under new coach Mark Mangini and it doesn't look like things are getting any better in the next few weeks.

October 1, 2009

Well, we're now in the fifth week of college football season, the fourth week of pro football, hockey is getting geared up with pre-season, basketball is on the way and pro-baseball is about to start the playoffs (and for the 12 soccer fans in the country, the English Premiereship and UEFA is in full swing).  This is one of the best times of the year for sports fans.  No more having to watch some game from 1988 on ESPN Classic to get a fix.  You can flip through the channels on the sports tier of your cable/satellite package and get just about anything you want in the way of sports right now.  Here's my average-take on what's going on out there. Baseball - The Yankees, Reds and Halos are in the playoffs and Detroit has a 3 game lead with 4 games to go on the Twins for the last AL spot in the post season.  The Phillies clinched their third consecutive NL East title last night to put them in playoff company with the Cards and Dodgers.  The Rockies round out the NL playoff picture after winning tonight and clinching the playoff berth. The Indians fired manager Eric Wedge yesterday and he was pretty diplomatic in the press conference.  Where's the truth and anger when this happens?  "Yeah, they fired me.  Because we weren't winning.  Of course, Shapiro admits that the team has been banged up with injuries all season and that's obviously my fault.  And they are how much under the salary cap again?  How many Cy Young winners have they traded away from under me because they didn't want to pay a big contract for them??"  When are Cleveland fans going to get it?  The sports ownership in that town doesn't care about winning a championship.  All they care about is getting butts in the seats and as long as that's happening with the blind hopes of the faithful fans, why spend any more money than necessary to actually improve the personnel?  The Browns and the Indians ownership don't seem to care one way or the other about the success other than the bottom line in their ledgers.  Football - Ben Rothlisberger is still fighting the lawsuit brought by his Vegas weekend girl.  Not sure one way or the other how to take this one.  But on the surface it sounds like a scorned woman who was expecting there to be more than just a one night stand when she hooked up with the Stiller-boy. Michael Vick just signed a new endorsement deal with Nike.  So let me get this straight, if I go to prison for two years then get minimal playing time with little to show for that time on the field, I can get an endorsement deal with Nike?  Sign me up!! Brett Favre says that revenge is not his aim this weekend when he takes on his old team, the Green Bay Packers, but he doesn have something to prove . . .hmmm . . .yeah, Brett, just go and beat them already. Basketball - Allen Iverson is whining again.  He says that this past season was the worst of his career and that he was lied to about his role with the Pistons.  According to him, they told him he wouldn't have to come off the bench.  Well, maybe if he'd showed up at PRACTICE . . .we talkin' about PRACTICE . . . oh nevermind.  Just suck it up and accept the fact that the NBA is not the one-on-one game you want it to be. Olympics - I was driving home from Chicago this past weekend and one of the radio shows was saying that 84% of the citizens of Chicago are against hosting the 2016 Olympic Games.  So it's gotta really be irritating them that the President, First Lady, Oprah and a whole contingent of Chicago personalities is off lobbying for just that.  Not ready for the property taxes to go through the roof yet again, eh Windy City?

July 13, 2009

Baseball Sitting and watching the 2009 All-Star game tonight - of course, being the first day of the all-star break, it's time for the Home-Run Derby.  You don't get the creativity of the NBA slam-dunk competition, but every once in awhile you get to see someone (Prince Fielder tonight) just go to town and hit some serious power shots.  Things MLB has established now that the All-Star break is here: The Indians stink on ice thought not quite as badly as the Nationals who just replaced their manager. Boston and New York (the Yankees aka: the hated ones) are both likely to make the playoffs . . .yet again . . .sigh Detroit is starting to slowly take control of the American League Central. In the west it's likely to be the Angels at the end, but Texas is hanging in there. In the National League - the Dodgers and the Phillies are starting to take control of the west and east respectively, while the Cards and Brewers are duking it out in the central (Da Cubs have begun their annual slide) and the Giants are leading the wild-card race. Tour de France Lance Armstrong is taking the day off along with the rest of the competitors in the Tour de France.  He is currently in 3rd place just 8 seconds behind the leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy - the first Italian in nine years to wear the yellow jersey that marks the race leader.  The mountains are getting ready to get serious and we'll see just how well Lance has retained his form as the race hits the mountains and what has been the point in the race where Lance has separated himself from the field in the past. Football NFL  Derrick Mason (Baltimore Raves wide receiver) has announced his retirement after 12 years in the league though he hasn't officially notified the NFL.  Maybe taking the non-committal Brett Favre road?  Speaking of which, Brett threw for the Vikings assistant coaches - if they were to get any kind of consistency at QB this fall, it could be a long season for the NFC central. Brian Griese was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who have been the "sons of great QB's" team the past few seasons with both Griese and Chris Sims (whoa!  He just threw me an interception out of nowhere!!!) son of Giant great Phil Sims. Steve McNair was shot and killed on July 4th by his girlfriend who then turned the gun on herself.  It's a terrible tragedy and our hearts and prayers go out to the families of both. NCAA Joe Paterno said that the docking of up to 14 wins from Bobby Bowden's record due to a academic fraud scandal at Florida State would not be fair.  "I've known Bobby for 40 years," Paterno told the newspaper. "Sue and I have gone on a lot of trips with Bobby and his wife, Ann. I think Bobby is not filled up with himself. He's my kind of guy. He doesn't go around blowing his horn."  Sorry JoePa, but this one was a bit too extensive to just ignore.  Vacating wins is in order. Another college football player died during summer workouts - this time at Western Carolina.  It was a voluntary workout, but when is someone going to figure out that practicing football in 100+ degree weather might be a bit dangerous? Congress is still investigating the BCS regarding possible antitrust violations - led by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah - figures - Utah dude complaining).  What they don't seem to get is that this isn't a monopoly situation.  What stuns me is Senator Hatch is a republican and the current BCS system is capitalism at it's finest - if college football fans were truly outraged at how the BCS national champion is determined, they would stop buying tickets to BCS bowl games and would stop watching those bowl games on TV.  By the way, the Utah Utes took home the same amount of money for their game that Oklahoma and Florida each took home, so it's not like they are missing out financially.  The more I see Senator Hatch rail on this one, the more he just looks like a disgruntled Ute fan which is even weirder since he went to BYU - the Utes #1 rival. Of course, the conspiracy theory guy that resides deep in my heart says there is some twisting of the numbers going on - 3 of the last 4 BCS championship games has had a defacto home team playing - 2008 BCS champ game in Miami (Florida Gators), 2007 BCS Champ game in New Orleans (LSU Tigers), 2005 BCS Champ game in Pasadena (Southern Cal Trojans).  Also note for LSU and USC - Aside from 2004 when SC beat the tar out of Oklahoma in Miami - neither has played a BCS game more then 90 minutes from their home campus in quite awhile.

January 9, 2009

BCS National Championship Florida 24 Oklahoma 14 The game couldn't have started out more opposite of what most expected if the stadium had collapsed.  With both teams averaging well over 40 points per game it was thought by many, me included, that this would be a shootout from beginning to end.  The score at the end of the 1st quarter was . . .0-0.  At halftime . . .7-7.  Florida has a great defense, but Oklahoma was controlling the pace and the tone of the game for the bulk of the first half. . . .except when they got inside the twenty.  That's when Kevin Smith (OU's offensive coordinator) went into a shell.  Two times the Sooners got inside the 5 yard line and two times they came away with ZERO points.  I don't question going for it on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line.  I do wonder why they tried to run a repeat of the previous two plays (running right up the middle) and not using the play action when the two runs prior had netted zero yards.  It's been the bread and butter for Bradford and the Sooner offense all season to pound right at the defense down at the goal line, but it wasn't working.  Something different might have been called for in that case.  Just before the half Bradford threw an interception, albeit a pinball action one that bounced around off Manny Johnson's hands and three Gator defenders before they came up with the turnover.  Sam did try to force the ball into triple coverage - thus the problem arose.  So instead of OU being up 14-7 or 17-7 at the half - it was tied which brings up the next point:  WOW!  The defense exceeded all expectations last night.  To hear every "expert" out there, OU was in no way going to be able to slow down Tebow and the Florida offense.  They played montrously well coming up with two interceptions (equalling the total ints Tebow had thrown for the entire season up to last night) and kept Oklahoma in it despite the miscues and bad play calling on offense all night.  In the 4th quarter, OU tied up the game at 14 with 12:13 left and from that point on, the Gator dominated the game on both sides of the ball scoring 10 points and pretty much shut down OU's offense.  One thing you'll hear a lot about in the next week is how Tebow willed the Gators to another win - YES - he's a great leader.  YES - he had a good game.  But the difference in this one for Florida was Percy Harvin.  His ankle wasn't as much of a factor as many thought.  He played a great game and his big playability was a huge factor in the outcome of this game. One thing that the Sooners might be able to look forward to because of this game:  Sam Bradford is likely to return for at least one more season.  I think last night demonstrated that while he is a great QB, he needs at least one more season before he's ready for the NFL.  Sam's performance on the biggest stage of the season was his worst this year.  Throwing for only 257 yards, 2 TD's and 2 INT's.  Granted, part of that was the play calling in the second half which was heavy on the run, but the two interceptions and 15 incompletions against by far the best defense the Sooners have face is indicative of his need for more development. What's the impact on the polls? Utah had a great season as the only undefeated team in division 1A, but sorry Utes, with as screwed up as this system is, you will have to settle for being ranked 2nd for the season.  As for USC and Texas - shut up.  You both lost teams who finished lower then you in the rankings, so it's not going to happen for you.  If you want to win the national championship, I suggest not losing to Oregon State or Texas Tech.  OU dropped to #5 in the AP. So another season of college football has come to a close and again there is controversy over who should be the national champion . . .at least as far as Utah, USC and Texas are concerned anyway.  A couple of notes for FOX on their coverage of the BCS bowls: STOP!  You don't know crap about covering college football.  They had announcers who knew football, but not a lot about the college game or the teams playing.  It seemed they were given cue cards with four or five talking points on the offense and defense for each team and just kept reading off that during lulls in the action on the field.  And BOY were they quick to jump to commercials at every opportunity.  There were more commercials per minute of this broadcast than they have for the CLIO awards.  Brett Favre won't make a decision for 9 more weeks At least that's what the reports are - Brett, I love you man - you are one of the greatest QB's of all time, but it's time to step aside and retire.  The age factor has really come into play and showed down the stretch this season. Mangini takes over as heach coach for the Browns We'll see if Mangini can re-invent himself and the Browns next year . . .good luck.

December 29, 2008

My thoughts on: End of the NFL Regular Season: The Falcons, Vikings, Dolphins and Cardinals are all in the playoffs - great moment for all of them, especially considering last season, they had a combined record of 21-43.  This is what makes the NFL great - sure there are those teams that always seem to be in the post season mix, but there are always upstarts who came back from poor seasons to be contenders.  Of the four teams in question, any one could make a run and win the whole shebang.  Will any of them win the whole thing?  Maybe - maybe not, but at least they get to settle it on the field. As for the Patriots doing their best impression of Texas Longhorn fans and complaining about having an 11-5 record and not making the playoffs, while 8-8 San Diego gets in by virtue of winning their division:  Hey, if you'd beaten San Diego, you'd have a 12-4 record and won your division and would be playing during the coming weekend.  Who says regular season games in the NFL don't matter? The Colts are playing on-fire right now.  I wouldn't want to be the team having to play them.  They roll into San Diego this weekend having already won their once this season right in the middle of the nine game winning streak they had to close out the season.  San Diego is likely to be spending the rest of the post season after this weekend watching the games on TV.  The road to the Super Bowl goes through Tennessee out of the AFC, so strap it up and get ready to take on the team that has surprised everyone this season.  In the NFC, the defending Super Bowl Champ, New York Giants, have the homefield throughout and don't let Minnesota's last second win fool you, they are for real again and it's going to be tough to get past them to the big game.  Though not quite as tough as last year with Burress out of the line-up. As a side note:  Cowboys?  What's with the season end meltdown, dudes?  I know you had some injuries, but sheesh this is NOT a good example of how to "Cowboy-the-F***-up" and play some ball. The College Football Bowl Season: It's been a good one so far.  Of the thirteen games played up to this point, only six have been decided by more than a touchdown. The play of the bowl season so far has to be the 11 yard catch  by Hakeem Nicks in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.  UNC lost, but it was a pretty amazing catch at any rate.  Biggest games are still on their way and a lot of "experts" out there seem to think it's not a matter of IF Florida will win the BCS Championship game, but rather by how much they will win.  I really don't know for sure who will win the game, but I think it's going to be a great one that could turn into a shoot-out. Alabama just got a little weaker on the O-line for the Sugar Bowl with the suspension of offensive tackle and Outland Trophy winner Andre Smith.  Apparently it's something to do with improper contact with an agent.  It won't hurt his draft status, but it could mean that Bama only wins by 20 instead of 30. The Pro-Bowl will be played the week before the Super Bowl next year: Huh?  Just read about this.  The NFL hasn't officially announced anything on this yet, but sources are saying that the game will be played the week before the Super Bowl in Miami (where the Super Bowl will be).  So no trip to Hawaii.  No Super Bowl players in the game.  It's just a revenue generator and a lame attempt to generate some interest in what has been a watered down version of the NFL with the soft rules and all.  I wonder how many players are going to miss the free trip to Hawaii. That's all for my first entry.  We'll chat more tomorrow.