I know I promised that I'd be back at the beginning of September and in all honesty I had every intention to, but I got a little lazy and then one day I woke up and it was January. In my defense I have been busy. I dominated the fall semester at school. Just annihilated it. You should of seen it. I was like a late eighties Tyson. My football team had it's best success in over ten years. It was unreal, for the first time in the three years I've been there we were like rock stars on campus. This is something every male needs to experience. Combine my ever growing status on campus and my academic conquests I had quite the swagger walking around on campus. Testosterone was dripping from every pore.
That's the good news. The bad news is that it's been a year since I started this thing and things are pretty much the same only I'm another year older. My youth is practically in my rear view mirror. I've even started to look at internships for the summer and it's January. Huge difference from when I used to lay around pretending to look for work in the summer until my dad finally lost it on me for playing video games all day. It's a scary feeling, I still don't have the slightest clue what I want to do for a living and will probably fall into an entry level office job somewhere. I'll be just like Jim on the office with no ambition. The only difference is I'm not funny and with my luck the secretary will be three hundred pounds. Another depressing thing is that I'm starting to grow more and more distant from my friends from high school. We talk less and less and when we do it's just not the same. It may be time to cut the cord which is the saddest thing I think I've ever had to do in my life. I can't believe after growing up together and all we've been through together that we'd ever be this different but that's life.
So I guess that's what's been up with me. Pretty much a lateral move. Anyways no promises on when I'll be back but I felt the need to write something down. Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year's there's a whole lot of college football games for me to watch today so I better rest up for the 12 hours of inactivity ahead.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Summertime
This is going to be my last column for a little while. How long? I'm not really sure. Probably at least two weeks, although with my work ethic it could be much longer. Monday morning I start training camp for football which lasts for two weeks. It's pretty much all day (13 hours or so) so it will leave me with little time and energy to do anything else. After that school starts and with that and football I get even busier if that's possible so I'm hoping I can bang out one small column a week but we'll see.
With that said today is pretty much my last day of summer and the last day I'll have off until thanksgiving. So I feel it's a good time for reflection. This summer probably has been the least memorable one for me in a long time. For one I was too old to play summer football which is something I've done since I was 11 years old (I'm twenty now). On top of that I was supposed to get a Co-op position this summer but that fell through so I got a typical retail job and worked more than was really necessary. My downtime was pretty much spent training for the upcoming season. Not very exciting at all which isn't that big of a deal. School is unbelievably awesome so I can deal with having a more workmanlike summer. The thing that worries me is that this is going to be what summer is like for the rest of my life. That scares me. Summer is without a doubt the best time of the year with the warm weather and the nice tanned skin, the barely there clothing on the ladies, the long days of sunlight it just goes on and on. If this is a preview of my working life than I think I better go for my masters just so I can extend school a little longer.
It didn't help that the sports scene was pretty depressing with all the scandals and the Bonds bashing. So with that said here's my advice for the rest of you feeling like me with a summer being wasted. Mine is over but you can do some things to salvage the rest of it.
1) Go to a baseball game. Minor or Major league, doesn't matter. There's nothing more summer than baseball.
2) Go to the batting cages and take a couple of swings. It's more fun than should be. If you're not having a good time I don't know what to tell you.
3) Go to a drive in movie. Preferably with a girl but if you can't swing a date that's alright. We've all been there.
4) Go for a late night drive into the country and watch the stars. Sounds lame but isn't. No really it isn't.
5) Spend as much time outside as possible. The cold weather is coming, enjoy the sun while it lasts.
That's pretty much it. Hope your summer was better than mine and if it wasn't than seize the day. Wish me luck at training camp. Only two more of these then my football career is over and I'll have a real breakdown.
With that said today is pretty much my last day of summer and the last day I'll have off until thanksgiving. So I feel it's a good time for reflection. This summer probably has been the least memorable one for me in a long time. For one I was too old to play summer football which is something I've done since I was 11 years old (I'm twenty now). On top of that I was supposed to get a Co-op position this summer but that fell through so I got a typical retail job and worked more than was really necessary. My downtime was pretty much spent training for the upcoming season. Not very exciting at all which isn't that big of a deal. School is unbelievably awesome so I can deal with having a more workmanlike summer. The thing that worries me is that this is going to be what summer is like for the rest of my life. That scares me. Summer is without a doubt the best time of the year with the warm weather and the nice tanned skin, the barely there clothing on the ladies, the long days of sunlight it just goes on and on. If this is a preview of my working life than I think I better go for my masters just so I can extend school a little longer.
It didn't help that the sports scene was pretty depressing with all the scandals and the Bonds bashing. So with that said here's my advice for the rest of you feeling like me with a summer being wasted. Mine is over but you can do some things to salvage the rest of it.
1) Go to a baseball game. Minor or Major league, doesn't matter. There's nothing more summer than baseball.
2) Go to the batting cages and take a couple of swings. It's more fun than should be. If you're not having a good time I don't know what to tell you.
3) Go to a drive in movie. Preferably with a girl but if you can't swing a date that's alright. We've all been there.
4) Go for a late night drive into the country and watch the stars. Sounds lame but isn't. No really it isn't.
5) Spend as much time outside as possible. The cold weather is coming, enjoy the sun while it lasts.
That's pretty much it. Hope your summer was better than mine and if it wasn't than seize the day. Wish me luck at training camp. Only two more of these then my football career is over and I'll have a real breakdown.
Monday, August 13, 2007
College Football VS NFL
The nothing but baseball abyss is almost over. College football is just around the corner. O.K. it's more like a couple of weeks away and as far as following a season from start to finish the college football season for me ranks just a notch above the NFL. Shocking? Well not quite if you break it down scientifically.
Better Atmosphere: Hands down it's college football. The passion of sometimes over 100,000 is absolutely electric and it translates to the televised product. I can only imagine what it's like at the stadium. The NFL fans by comparison are fairly reserved. It's tough to have passion for a professional team like you can for the school you went to or currently go to.
Big Edge: College Football
Better Athletes: Obviously the NFL has the best football players in the world although there is something to be said to watch a player dominate in college. It's a real treat to watch a once in a decade athlete absolutely destroy teams like Reggie Bush and Vince Young. You only get a very brief period (3 years) to enjoy it then it's over.
Edge: NFL
Better Games: A good college game trumps any regular season NFL game. When two teams are undefeated and highly ranked there's nothing like and same goes for rivalry games like Michigan Ohio State. The problem is these games are sandwiched between unwatchable beatdowns. Plus watching two mediocre teams isn't very exciting either. With the NFL everygame is watchable but you don't get the same excitement for the marquee games that college does.
Edge: Even
Better Playoffs: Considering College Football doesn't even have playoffs the NFL will obviously take this one. But if College Football ever adopted a playoff system it would be absolute mayhem.
Big Edge: NFL
Better Video Game: The NFL's got Madden, and College Football has NCAA football. I know Madden is universally considered the best football game ever. But NCAA football is better. (yeah I said it) Dynasty mode in college football were you recruit players, players jump to the pros early, skip class and get in trouble is even better than Madden's franchise mode. I'll fight you to the death over this point and I'm serious.
Slight Edge: College Football
Wildcard:
NFL: Fantasy football. Enough said
College Football: There's something cool about the players leaving every four years. Gives teams hope to recruit better players and it's nice to see kids grow up on the field and not have to witness them grow old and grey with diminished skills like in the NFL.
Edge: NFL
O.K. so when you break it down there's no logical reason why I like College football better than the NFL. But I guess that's the thing about sports it doesn't have to make perfect sense. There's just a youthful enthusiasm with College Football where they're (hopefully) playing for the love of the game and not the money. It's pure and exciting and to me takes the cake even over the NFL.
Better Atmosphere: Hands down it's college football. The passion of sometimes over 100,000 is absolutely electric and it translates to the televised product. I can only imagine what it's like at the stadium. The NFL fans by comparison are fairly reserved. It's tough to have passion for a professional team like you can for the school you went to or currently go to.
Big Edge: College Football
Better Athletes: Obviously the NFL has the best football players in the world although there is something to be said to watch a player dominate in college. It's a real treat to watch a once in a decade athlete absolutely destroy teams like Reggie Bush and Vince Young. You only get a very brief period (3 years) to enjoy it then it's over.
Edge: NFL
Better Games: A good college game trumps any regular season NFL game. When two teams are undefeated and highly ranked there's nothing like and same goes for rivalry games like Michigan Ohio State. The problem is these games are sandwiched between unwatchable beatdowns. Plus watching two mediocre teams isn't very exciting either. With the NFL everygame is watchable but you don't get the same excitement for the marquee games that college does.
Edge: Even
Better Playoffs: Considering College Football doesn't even have playoffs the NFL will obviously take this one. But if College Football ever adopted a playoff system it would be absolute mayhem.
Big Edge: NFL
Better Video Game: The NFL's got Madden, and College Football has NCAA football. I know Madden is universally considered the best football game ever. But NCAA football is better. (yeah I said it) Dynasty mode in college football were you recruit players, players jump to the pros early, skip class and get in trouble is even better than Madden's franchise mode. I'll fight you to the death over this point and I'm serious.
Slight Edge: College Football
Wildcard:
NFL: Fantasy football. Enough said
College Football: There's something cool about the players leaving every four years. Gives teams hope to recruit better players and it's nice to see kids grow up on the field and not have to witness them grow old and grey with diminished skills like in the NFL.
Edge: NFL
O.K. so when you break it down there's no logical reason why I like College football better than the NFL. But I guess that's the thing about sports it doesn't have to make perfect sense. There's just a youthful enthusiasm with College Football where they're (hopefully) playing for the love of the game and not the money. It's pure and exciting and to me takes the cake even over the NFL.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Hall of Fame
This past weekend was quite the milestone fest. Bonds hit number 755, A-Rod hit number 500 and Glavine won number 300. So with that in mind I think it's time to determine just who of the current baseball players will make the hall of fame if they all retired today. There might be some omissions because I'm not really sure if guys like Rickey Henderson are still technically not retired. Plus I'm bound to miss another handful or so players because I'm not very good at this sort of thing.
Anyways now that I've got your interest piqued here we go
Sure Fire Locks
1) Roger Clemens: Has the wins, K's, and the Cy Youngs.
2) Barry Bonds: Possibly the best player ever
3) Greg Maddux: Over three hundred wins, a handful of Cy Youngs and a World Series.
4) Ken Griffey Jr.: Got the home runs and the defence plus no steriod suspision
5) Tom Glavine: three hundred wins, a Cy Young and a World Series
6) Sammy Sosa: The mans hit six hundred home runs. Give him some credit.
7) Mariona Rivera: For his October dominance alone
8) Randy Johnson: Has the K's, the Cy Youngs and a ring.
Safe Bets
9) Craig Biggio: Has three thousand hits and is one of the best ever offensive second baseman
10) Alex Rodriguez: 500 home runs and 2 MVP's.
11)Frank Thomas: 500 home runs, an MVP and a world series ring
12) Mike Piazza: Best offensive catcher ever
13) John Smoltz: Has a world series ring, lots of wins and saves
Good Shot
14) Omar Vizquel: Longevity plus defence should be enough to get him in.
15) Kenny Lofton: Great longevity, lots of stolen bases, great on-base percentage
16) Trevor Hoffman: All time leader in saves doesn't get his due
17) Manny Ramirez: Nearly 500 home runs, world series MVP, good average.
18) Curt Shilling: Numbers aren't overwhelming but he has two rings and one bloody sock.
19) Ivan Rodriguez: Great defence and good offense, an MVP and a world series ring
20) Gary Sheffield: almost 500 home runs but steriod cloud might be enough to keep him out.
21) Jim Thome: A solid long career but no MVP's, no World Series, still he's going to get 500 homers
22) Derek Jeter: Just because of the rings, although his in season statistics are also pretty good.
Anyways now that I've got your interest piqued here we go
Sure Fire Locks
1) Roger Clemens: Has the wins, K's, and the Cy Youngs.
2) Barry Bonds: Possibly the best player ever
3) Greg Maddux: Over three hundred wins, a handful of Cy Youngs and a World Series.
4) Ken Griffey Jr.: Got the home runs and the defence plus no steriod suspision
5) Tom Glavine: three hundred wins, a Cy Young and a World Series
6) Sammy Sosa: The mans hit six hundred home runs. Give him some credit.
7) Mariona Rivera: For his October dominance alone
8) Randy Johnson: Has the K's, the Cy Youngs and a ring.
Safe Bets
9) Craig Biggio: Has three thousand hits and is one of the best ever offensive second baseman
10) Alex Rodriguez: 500 home runs and 2 MVP's.
11)Frank Thomas: 500 home runs, an MVP and a world series ring
12) Mike Piazza: Best offensive catcher ever
13) John Smoltz: Has a world series ring, lots of wins and saves
Good Shot
14) Omar Vizquel: Longevity plus defence should be enough to get him in.
15) Kenny Lofton: Great longevity, lots of stolen bases, great on-base percentage
16) Trevor Hoffman: All time leader in saves doesn't get his due
17) Manny Ramirez: Nearly 500 home runs, world series MVP, good average.
18) Curt Shilling: Numbers aren't overwhelming but he has two rings and one bloody sock.
19) Ivan Rodriguez: Great defence and good offense, an MVP and a world series ring
20) Gary Sheffield: almost 500 home runs but steriod cloud might be enough to keep him out.
21) Jim Thome: A solid long career but no MVP's, no World Series, still he's going to get 500 homers
22) Derek Jeter: Just because of the rings, although his in season statistics are also pretty good.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Fantasy Football
I think with August just a couple of days away it's finally time to dive headfirst into fantasy football. I've been doing some research, bought a magazine, listened to Simmons' podcast and feel it's time to throw my two cents into the action.
First of all fantasy football is almost too perfectly set up. The draft doesn't take too long, you only have to set your line-up once a week and you don't have to be a stathead to win. It's pretty easy to see why it is at least ten times bigger than fantasy baseball or basketball. With that said even though I much prefer watching football to baseball, fantasy baseball is the tops. If you're a die hard like me who doesn't mind checking my team everyday then fantasy baseball is the chess to fantasy football's checkers.
So here's a couple of wrinkles to try to make fantasy football a little more exciting.
1) Try an auction draft. Seriously who has had a bad time at an auction? This will allow the ability to get any player you want and not be at the mercy of your draft slot. Plus it guarantees to extend you draft by an hour and draft day is one of the best days of the year.
2) Have a two QB league. Everyone knows running backs dominate fantasy football largely because you have to start at least two of them. So to make it more like real football where the emphasis is on quarterbacks why not start two of them? That way someone is practically forced to start someone like J.P. Losman and can you really put an entertainment value on that?
3) Have at least a twelve team league. If you have any less than twelve teams than everyone's team is two good and kills most of the strategy of drafting.
Anyway here's a couple of strategies that I've come up with for this years draft.
1) There seems to be lots of solid RB so the normal strategy of two running backs in the first two rounds seems unnecessary. I'm seriously considering a RB, WR, QB for the first three rounds or something to that effect.
2) The number three and four draft slots scare me to death. If you're sitting at number three you've got to pray that Stephen Jackson is still there. Larry Johnson just has taken too much of a pounding and Shaun Alexander is getting any younger but I just can't see myself pulling the trigger on Gore, Addai or Manning at that point in the draft.
3) I think too many people try to wait on QB's. Seriously whens the last guy that won a league with Jake Delhomme? You'll put yourself in a much better chance to win with a top five guy not to mention save yourself multiple nervous breakdowns watching the Jeff Garcia's of the world have another terrible game.
With all that said here's some guys I'm targeting and guys I'm avoiding
Targets
QB: Carson Palmer or Marc Bulger
RB: Edgerrin James, Travis Henry
WR: Donald Driver, Chris Chambers, Braylon Edwards
TE: Kellen Winslow, Vernon Davis
Avoid
QB: Vince Young
RB: Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander, Rudi Johnson
WR: T. J. Houshmandzadeh, Donte Stallworth
TE: Tony Gonzalez
First of all fantasy football is almost too perfectly set up. The draft doesn't take too long, you only have to set your line-up once a week and you don't have to be a stathead to win. It's pretty easy to see why it is at least ten times bigger than fantasy baseball or basketball. With that said even though I much prefer watching football to baseball, fantasy baseball is the tops. If you're a die hard like me who doesn't mind checking my team everyday then fantasy baseball is the chess to fantasy football's checkers.
So here's a couple of wrinkles to try to make fantasy football a little more exciting.
1) Try an auction draft. Seriously who has had a bad time at an auction? This will allow the ability to get any player you want and not be at the mercy of your draft slot. Plus it guarantees to extend you draft by an hour and draft day is one of the best days of the year.
2) Have a two QB league. Everyone knows running backs dominate fantasy football largely because you have to start at least two of them. So to make it more like real football where the emphasis is on quarterbacks why not start two of them? That way someone is practically forced to start someone like J.P. Losman and can you really put an entertainment value on that?
3) Have at least a twelve team league. If you have any less than twelve teams than everyone's team is two good and kills most of the strategy of drafting.
Anyway here's a couple of strategies that I've come up with for this years draft.
1) There seems to be lots of solid RB so the normal strategy of two running backs in the first two rounds seems unnecessary. I'm seriously considering a RB, WR, QB for the first three rounds or something to that effect.
2) The number three and four draft slots scare me to death. If you're sitting at number three you've got to pray that Stephen Jackson is still there. Larry Johnson just has taken too much of a pounding and Shaun Alexander is getting any younger but I just can't see myself pulling the trigger on Gore, Addai or Manning at that point in the draft.
3) I think too many people try to wait on QB's. Seriously whens the last guy that won a league with Jake Delhomme? You'll put yourself in a much better chance to win with a top five guy not to mention save yourself multiple nervous breakdowns watching the Jeff Garcia's of the world have another terrible game.
With all that said here's some guys I'm targeting and guys I'm avoiding
Targets
QB: Carson Palmer or Marc Bulger
RB: Edgerrin James, Travis Henry
WR: Donald Driver, Chris Chambers, Braylon Edwards
TE: Kellen Winslow, Vernon Davis
Avoid
QB: Vince Young
RB: Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander, Rudi Johnson
WR: T. J. Houshmandzadeh, Donte Stallworth
TE: Tony Gonzalez
Monday, July 23, 2007
Why we need Bonds
This is a very depressing time in sports. Baseball rules the landscape with no other real challenger and what should be the most celebrated event in sports this year is being tarnished by a bunch of uptight sports writers who want to refuse to acknowledge Bonds accomplishments and a commissioner who might not even show up to watch it happen. Like he has more important things to do.
So instead of being caught up in the chase of the greatest record in sports being broken by arguably the best baseball player ever we instead got to bear witness to the following sports stories in the past month or so.
1) Chris Benoit's Murder Suicide which was just about the most shocking and deplorable thing I've heard. As a former wrestling fan he seemed like one of the good guys. This hurt me more than any event in sports ever did.
2) Mike Vick's Dog Fighting Ring which even if he didn't have knowledge of it is still bad. It happened on your property and something this brutal shouldn't be happening anywhere.
3) Tim Donaghy Betting Scandal which I'm still not sure how big of an effect on the game it will have once it's all said and done.
So those are three major story's from the past month and with football still more than a month away we are stuck with baseball to remind us why we watch sports. That's why we need Bonds. We need to get caught up in something, to marvel at the accomplishment and forget about the previous three events. So I'm begging everyone from Bud Selig to the nation's sportswriters just forget about your undeserved agenda against him and please let's just celebrate something this summer.
So instead of being caught up in the chase of the greatest record in sports being broken by arguably the best baseball player ever we instead got to bear witness to the following sports stories in the past month or so.
1) Chris Benoit's Murder Suicide which was just about the most shocking and deplorable thing I've heard. As a former wrestling fan he seemed like one of the good guys. This hurt me more than any event in sports ever did.
2) Mike Vick's Dog Fighting Ring which even if he didn't have knowledge of it is still bad. It happened on your property and something this brutal shouldn't be happening anywhere.
3) Tim Donaghy Betting Scandal which I'm still not sure how big of an effect on the game it will have once it's all said and done.
So those are three major story's from the past month and with football still more than a month away we are stuck with baseball to remind us why we watch sports. That's why we need Bonds. We need to get caught up in something, to marvel at the accomplishment and forget about the previous three events. So I'm begging everyone from Bud Selig to the nation's sportswriters just forget about your undeserved agenda against him and please let's just celebrate something this summer.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Best Year of Your Life
Things are pretty slow on the sports front. Baseball is back in full swing after the all-star break and it's still a little early to fully divulge into fantasy football. So with that being said it's time to break into the old bag of trick columns. It's time to decide what really is the best year of your life.
Here are the candidates:
1) Four years old
2) Senior year of high school
3) Freshman year of college
4) Second year of college
5) First year of retirement
Four years old is a good age because school hasn't started yet, you're young enough to have everyone do everything for you, your parents don't really get mad at you for doing anything. But you're a little too young to comprehend everything and life's just a little too simple to qualify as the best year of your life.
For you first year of retirement hopefully you're still young enough to do the things you enjoy. Obviously you don't have to work anymore and you should be financially secure enough to enjoy life. But as good as retirement seems I just can't see it comparing to your youth so that to is out for the best year of your life.
The first year of college is off the charts fun. You're away from home for the first time, there's more girls there then you have ever seen in your life but there the huge adjustment you have to make. You have to make new friends, learn new surroundings, handle a much bigger workload without flunking out. It's fun but it's also tough. So that too is not going to qualify as the best year of your life.
So that leaves two. Your senior year of high school and your second year of university.
Let's break it down
Senior Year of High School
Pros: You're young so you have no real responsibilities, School's free so there is no monetary pressure on you. You can now drive, everything is familiar to you and you run the school, your a big fish in a small pond and everyone knows and respects you. You get to chill with your friends who you've known for way too long and you guys all talk and think the same. Plus after you get accepted into college school becomes a joke. All you have to do is pass so there is basically no work being done. Plus if you played high school sports like I did you know there is nothing like it. You get to walk around school like a big wheel and play in front of the whole school, it's sheer fun the way sports should be, nothing beats high school sports. You also know all of the good looking girls in the school and you're comfortable talking to them. Plus the most underrated part of high school is when the weather turns warm around May and early June and the girls start to wear short skirts and everything just turns very chilled out and nostalgic because you know you probably won't see most of the people again.
Cons: You still live with your parents and your ready to bust out so there's tension there. At the start of the year there's big time pressure to get into college. Even though you are comfortable with all the girls at school you get a little too comfortable and could use some new blood. At school they don't give you much freedom. They call home if you skip class and you still have to get your parents to sign your report card.
Second Year of College
Pros: Your familiar with your surroundings and you've made new friends but are still fairly tight with some people from high school, You're away from home and have all the freedom you could imagine. There's girls everywhere plus you got first dibs on the incoming frosh because they like more mature guys like you. The real world is still a few years away so you don't feel that pressure. There's non stop parties and thousands of people just like you. You get some major holiday breaks like three weeks for Christmas and close to five months for summer. They don't make you do monotonous things for school work and you don't have to go if you don't want to. Playing on a varsity athletic team brings big time prestige.
Cons: You never get that feeling like your a big deal. Playing varsity sports takes up huge amounts of time and it's way tougher competition than high school. Lots of times when you see a good looking girl walking down the hall of a building you'll never see her again. School costs a lot of money so there's pressure to make money in the summer and perform in school. School's over before it gets really warm so you never get to experience the thrill of when the short skirts come out.
So there you have it when you break it down logically it comes down to personal preference. Do you prefer the freedom of college or the ability to be a big fish in a small pond in high school? I think college is more universally liked because being cool in college doesn't matter whereas in high school being unpopular can be miserable but my personal preference is the last year of high school to me nothing beats those care free days. Man I miss them.
Here are the candidates:
1) Four years old
2) Senior year of high school
3) Freshman year of college
4) Second year of college
5) First year of retirement
Four years old is a good age because school hasn't started yet, you're young enough to have everyone do everything for you, your parents don't really get mad at you for doing anything. But you're a little too young to comprehend everything and life's just a little too simple to qualify as the best year of your life.
For you first year of retirement hopefully you're still young enough to do the things you enjoy. Obviously you don't have to work anymore and you should be financially secure enough to enjoy life. But as good as retirement seems I just can't see it comparing to your youth so that to is out for the best year of your life.
The first year of college is off the charts fun. You're away from home for the first time, there's more girls there then you have ever seen in your life but there the huge adjustment you have to make. You have to make new friends, learn new surroundings, handle a much bigger workload without flunking out. It's fun but it's also tough. So that too is not going to qualify as the best year of your life.
So that leaves two. Your senior year of high school and your second year of university.
Let's break it down
Senior Year of High School
Pros: You're young so you have no real responsibilities, School's free so there is no monetary pressure on you. You can now drive, everything is familiar to you and you run the school, your a big fish in a small pond and everyone knows and respects you. You get to chill with your friends who you've known for way too long and you guys all talk and think the same. Plus after you get accepted into college school becomes a joke. All you have to do is pass so there is basically no work being done. Plus if you played high school sports like I did you know there is nothing like it. You get to walk around school like a big wheel and play in front of the whole school, it's sheer fun the way sports should be, nothing beats high school sports. You also know all of the good looking girls in the school and you're comfortable talking to them. Plus the most underrated part of high school is when the weather turns warm around May and early June and the girls start to wear short skirts and everything just turns very chilled out and nostalgic because you know you probably won't see most of the people again.
Cons: You still live with your parents and your ready to bust out so there's tension there. At the start of the year there's big time pressure to get into college. Even though you are comfortable with all the girls at school you get a little too comfortable and could use some new blood. At school they don't give you much freedom. They call home if you skip class and you still have to get your parents to sign your report card.
Second Year of College
Pros: Your familiar with your surroundings and you've made new friends but are still fairly tight with some people from high school, You're away from home and have all the freedom you could imagine. There's girls everywhere plus you got first dibs on the incoming frosh because they like more mature guys like you. The real world is still a few years away so you don't feel that pressure. There's non stop parties and thousands of people just like you. You get some major holiday breaks like three weeks for Christmas and close to five months for summer. They don't make you do monotonous things for school work and you don't have to go if you don't want to. Playing on a varsity athletic team brings big time prestige.
Cons: You never get that feeling like your a big deal. Playing varsity sports takes up huge amounts of time and it's way tougher competition than high school. Lots of times when you see a good looking girl walking down the hall of a building you'll never see her again. School costs a lot of money so there's pressure to make money in the summer and perform in school. School's over before it gets really warm so you never get to experience the thrill of when the short skirts come out.
So there you have it when you break it down logically it comes down to personal preference. Do you prefer the freedom of college or the ability to be a big fish in a small pond in high school? I think college is more universally liked because being cool in college doesn't matter whereas in high school being unpopular can be miserable but my personal preference is the last year of high school to me nothing beats those care free days. Man I miss them.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Midseason Awards
Alright baseball's at the unofficial midway part of the season and what better time than to hand out the much cliched midseason awards. Can you feel the excitement? No well anyway here goes. (oh yeah in my last column I mistakenly had John Maine in the American League instead of correctly putting him in the National League. Pretty much inexcusable but that's what you get when you don't do any research.)
American League
Rookie of the Year: Daisuke Matsuzaka
With all do respect to Hideki Okajima (non closer relievers don't win rookie of the year) and Reggie Willits (who has a good average and on base percentage but is lacking any power numbers. Daisuke has lived up to the hype. Ten wins and 123 strikeouts at the break are off the charts for a rookie.
Cy Young: Dan Haren
Although Johan Santana is closing the gap each and every start. Just look at there numbers
Wins: Haren 10, Santana 10
Strikeouts: Haren 101, Santana 125
ERA: Haren 2.30, Santana 2.75
WHIP: Haren 1.00, Santana 1.03
Losses: Haren 3, Santana 6
HR's Allowed: Haren 11, Santana 17
MVP: Alex Rodriguez
This is the only choice. He's almost single handily keeping the Yankees in the Wild Card hunt and leads the league in runs, RBI, and HRs. The only player who comes close to A-Rod is Magglio Ordonez but other than a higher batting average he pails in comparison. He has lower runs, RBI's, HR, SB, Slugging and OPS. Even though the Tigers are possibly the best team in baseball that has more to do with pitching than hitting plus they have another MVP candidate in Sheffield so don't give Magglio all the credit.
National League
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun
It's pretty much a toss up between him and Hunter Pence but I'd give the advantage to Braun who has a better average, on base percentage, and slugging.
Cy Young: Jake Peavy
Pretty easy choice. The only pitcher close is his teammate Chris Young but other than ERA where Young has a 0.19 edge, Peavy beats him in every category. Hands down Peavy is the best pitcher in baseball this year.
MVP: Hanley Ramirez
I know it's a little out there but here me out on this one. The other two top notch candidates are Prince Fielder and Matt Holliday so let's break down the candidates.
Runs: Ramirez 70, Fielder 62, Holliday 56
HR: Ramirez 14, Fielder 29, Holliday 15
RBI: Ramirez 35, Fielder 70, Holliday 69
Stolen Bases: Ramirez 27, Fielder 0, Holliday 4
AVG: Ramirez .331, Fielder .284, Holliday .341
On Base Percentage: Ramirez .388, Fielder .376, Holliday .392
if you look at the numbers it's pretty much a toss up. Ramirez is way behind in RBI but dominates in stolen ,leads in runs is right there with Holliday in HR, average and on base percentage. He's behind Fielder in Home runs but beats him in average and on base percentage. So of the three I'd say right now offensively it's a toss up but you also have to take into account defence. Ramirez plays shortstop, the most demanding defensive position except for catcher, while Holliday plays a much easier outfield position and Fielder plays the very easy first base. With everything taken into account I'd say Hanley Ramirez is the best player in the National League (Well except maybe for Barry Bonds but he probably won't have enough at bats to capture the voters minds)
American League
Rookie of the Year: Daisuke Matsuzaka
With all do respect to Hideki Okajima (non closer relievers don't win rookie of the year) and Reggie Willits (who has a good average and on base percentage but is lacking any power numbers. Daisuke has lived up to the hype. Ten wins and 123 strikeouts at the break are off the charts for a rookie.
Cy Young: Dan Haren
Although Johan Santana is closing the gap each and every start. Just look at there numbers
Wins: Haren 10, Santana 10
Strikeouts: Haren 101, Santana 125
ERA: Haren 2.30, Santana 2.75
WHIP: Haren 1.00, Santana 1.03
Losses: Haren 3, Santana 6
HR's Allowed: Haren 11, Santana 17
MVP: Alex Rodriguez
This is the only choice. He's almost single handily keeping the Yankees in the Wild Card hunt and leads the league in runs, RBI, and HRs. The only player who comes close to A-Rod is Magglio Ordonez but other than a higher batting average he pails in comparison. He has lower runs, RBI's, HR, SB, Slugging and OPS. Even though the Tigers are possibly the best team in baseball that has more to do with pitching than hitting plus they have another MVP candidate in Sheffield so don't give Magglio all the credit.
National League
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun
It's pretty much a toss up between him and Hunter Pence but I'd give the advantage to Braun who has a better average, on base percentage, and slugging.
Cy Young: Jake Peavy
Pretty easy choice. The only pitcher close is his teammate Chris Young but other than ERA where Young has a 0.19 edge, Peavy beats him in every category. Hands down Peavy is the best pitcher in baseball this year.
MVP: Hanley Ramirez
I know it's a little out there but here me out on this one. The other two top notch candidates are Prince Fielder and Matt Holliday so let's break down the candidates.
Runs: Ramirez 70, Fielder 62, Holliday 56
HR: Ramirez 14, Fielder 29, Holliday 15
RBI: Ramirez 35, Fielder 70, Holliday 69
Stolen Bases: Ramirez 27, Fielder 0, Holliday 4
AVG: Ramirez .331, Fielder .284, Holliday .341
On Base Percentage: Ramirez .388, Fielder .376, Holliday .392
if you look at the numbers it's pretty much a toss up. Ramirez is way behind in RBI but dominates in stolen ,leads in runs is right there with Holliday in HR, average and on base percentage. He's behind Fielder in Home runs but beats him in average and on base percentage. So of the three I'd say right now offensively it's a toss up but you also have to take into account defence. Ramirez plays shortstop, the most demanding defensive position except for catcher, while Holliday plays a much easier outfield position and Fielder plays the very easy first base. With everything taken into account I'd say Hanley Ramirez is the best player in the National League (Well except maybe for Barry Bonds but he probably won't have enough at bats to capture the voters minds)
Monday, July 2, 2007
All Star Game
First I'll clean up a couple of things about the NBA draft. Number one I got an impressive five of 14 lottery picks correct and it would have been way more if the Celtics decided to not be retarded and trade for an aging shooting guard whose had surgery on both of his ankles. But that was Danny Ainge and the NBA I guess I should have known. Also the suits didn't disappoint. From Noah's bow tie to Nick Young's all white the fashion show didn't disappoint.
Now on to the MLB allstar game. This is definitely the best allstar game of the bunch and the only one I actually watch. However with the MLB's insistence that it actually count for something (home field advantage in the World Series) I think we really need to evaluate things.
1. Should the fans decide the starting line-ups where you get players like Carlos Beltran starting or should it be the best players this season?
2. Do you need to have a representative form every team or is ensuring there is one player from the team that is hosting it enough?
My personal opinion is that since it counts we should take the starting line-ups out of the fans hand and give it to the managers or a benevolent dictator type who would pick the best players regardless of whether they are big stars or not. I would however keep the rule that every team should be represented which I know seems like a direct contradiction to my previous point but, if the benefit to winning the game is home field advantage for your respected league then I feel all teams in the league should be present to either win or lose that distinction.
Anyways with those restrictions in place here's how my allstar line-up would look like.
American League Starters
1B: Justin Morneau
2B: Brian Roberts
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Carlos Guillen
OF: Magglio Ordonez
OF: Gary Sheffield
OF: Vladimir Guerrero
C: Victor Martinez
SP: Dan Haren
American League Reserves
1B: David Ortiz
2B: Placido Planco
2B B.J. Upton
3B: Mike Lowell
SS: Orlando Cabrera
SS: Derek Jeter
OF: Ichiro Suzuki
OF: Grady Sizemore
OF: Torri Hunter
OF: Alex Rios
OF: Kenny Lofton
C: Jorge Posada
P: Johan Santana
P: C.C. Sabathia
P: Jeremy Guthrie
P: Josh Beckett
P: John Lackey
P: Justin Verlander
P: John Maine
P: J.J. Putz
P: Francisco Rodriguez
P: Bobby Jenks
P: Gil Meche
The only hitters with a legitimate beef is Youkilis from Boston and Peralta from Cleveland. But I had to make room for a Texas player hence the Kenny Lofton selection. Pitching wise the only player who doesn't belong is Meche but his numbers are actually pretty decent.
National League Starters
1B: Prince Fielder
2B: Chase Utley
3B: Miguel Cabrera
SS: Hanley Ramirez
OF: Matt Holliday
OF: Ken Griffey Jr.
OF: Barry Bonds
C: Russell Martin
SP: Jake Peavy
National League Reserves
1B: Albert Pujols
1B: Dmitri Young
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: David Wright
3B: Chipper Jones
SS: Jose Reyes
SS: Jimmy Rollins
OF: Eric Byrnes
OF: Carlos Lee
OF: Alfonso Soriano
OF: Carlos Beltran
C: Bengie Molina
P: Brad Penny
P: Chris Young
P: Ben Sheets
P: Ian Snell
P: Cole Hamels
P: John Smoltz
P: Brandon Webb
P: Derek Lowe
P: Francisco Cordero
P: Trevor Hoffman
P: Takshi Saito
The only undeserving player here is Dmitri Young and his numbers aren't that bad. Anyone who thinks Bonds doesn't deserve to start has lost there mind. He has the highest on base percentage and OPS in the league.
Now on to the MLB allstar game. This is definitely the best allstar game of the bunch and the only one I actually watch. However with the MLB's insistence that it actually count for something (home field advantage in the World Series) I think we really need to evaluate things.
1. Should the fans decide the starting line-ups where you get players like Carlos Beltran starting or should it be the best players this season?
2. Do you need to have a representative form every team or is ensuring there is one player from the team that is hosting it enough?
My personal opinion is that since it counts we should take the starting line-ups out of the fans hand and give it to the managers or a benevolent dictator type who would pick the best players regardless of whether they are big stars or not. I would however keep the rule that every team should be represented which I know seems like a direct contradiction to my previous point but, if the benefit to winning the game is home field advantage for your respected league then I feel all teams in the league should be present to either win or lose that distinction.
Anyways with those restrictions in place here's how my allstar line-up would look like.
American League Starters
1B: Justin Morneau
2B: Brian Roberts
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Carlos Guillen
OF: Magglio Ordonez
OF: Gary Sheffield
OF: Vladimir Guerrero
C: Victor Martinez
SP: Dan Haren
American League Reserves
1B: David Ortiz
2B: Placido Planco
2B B.J. Upton
3B: Mike Lowell
SS: Orlando Cabrera
SS: Derek Jeter
OF: Ichiro Suzuki
OF: Grady Sizemore
OF: Torri Hunter
OF: Alex Rios
OF: Kenny Lofton
C: Jorge Posada
P: Johan Santana
P: C.C. Sabathia
P: Jeremy Guthrie
P: Josh Beckett
P: John Lackey
P: Justin Verlander
P: John Maine
P: J.J. Putz
P: Francisco Rodriguez
P: Bobby Jenks
P: Gil Meche
The only hitters with a legitimate beef is Youkilis from Boston and Peralta from Cleveland. But I had to make room for a Texas player hence the Kenny Lofton selection. Pitching wise the only player who doesn't belong is Meche but his numbers are actually pretty decent.
National League Starters
1B: Prince Fielder
2B: Chase Utley
3B: Miguel Cabrera
SS: Hanley Ramirez
OF: Matt Holliday
OF: Ken Griffey Jr.
OF: Barry Bonds
C: Russell Martin
SP: Jake Peavy
National League Reserves
1B: Albert Pujols
1B: Dmitri Young
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: David Wright
3B: Chipper Jones
SS: Jose Reyes
SS: Jimmy Rollins
OF: Eric Byrnes
OF: Carlos Lee
OF: Alfonso Soriano
OF: Carlos Beltran
C: Bengie Molina
P: Brad Penny
P: Chris Young
P: Ben Sheets
P: Ian Snell
P: Cole Hamels
P: John Smoltz
P: Brandon Webb
P: Derek Lowe
P: Francisco Cordero
P: Trevor Hoffman
P: Takshi Saito
The only undeserving player here is Dmitri Young and his numbers aren't that bad. Anyone who thinks Bonds doesn't deserve to start has lost there mind. He has the highest on base percentage and OPS in the league.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Mock Draft
Another more enjoyable than it should be sporting event is about to take place this week. That's right I'm talking about the NBA draft. While I am only a casual NBA fan there are several things that I like about the NBA draft more than the NFL draft.
1) It goes by a lot quicker which is good for casual fans like myself. I don't mind the wait for the NFL draft because I could watch practically anything to do with the NFL. But the NBA has found the perfect pace for their draft.
2) Almost the entire first round shows up to the draft and by in large these are huge, African American young men who are now going to become richer than they ever imagined. This means great interviews and more importantly the best fashion show of all time. Who can forget Jalen Rose's red pinstripe suit or Karl Malone's blue blazer and white pants?
3) Whenever some team picks a foreign player over a college stud and then they interview Dick Vitale. That kills me every time. This year I can't wait until the Celtics take Yi Jianlian.
Anyway I don't know too much about the NBA but that hasn't stopped me before so without further delay here's my NBA mock draft (lottery selections only)
1) Blazers: Greg Oden
On another note don't you think Portland should drop the Trail from there name and just be the Blazers? I think so.
2) Sonics: Kevin Durant
I kind of hope he's not that good just for Comedy's sake because Bill Simmons has his huge man crush on him.
3) Hawks: Al Horford
As much as I like the Gators I just don't see him being anything more than a serviceable power forward. His offensive game needs major work. This naturally makes him a perfect selection for the Hawks.
4) Grizzlies: Mike Conley
They could use a point guard and he's the best on the board.
5) Celtics: Yi Jianlian
Take it to the bank
6) Bucks: Brandon Wright
Apparently he's very long which I hear is a good thing.
7) Timberwolves: Joakim Noah
Just what Kevin Garnett needs another project who's main asset is his energy.
8) Bobcats: Corey Brewer
He's the best guy on the board.
9) Bulls: Spencer Hawes
Bulls need a big man unfortunately Hawes isn't the answer.
10) Kings: Jeff Green
A big steal for a struggling team.
11) Hawks: Acie Law
Don't you think the Hawks should change their name to the Big Hawks?
12) Sixers: Al Thornton
Should be able to step in immediately.
13) Hornets: Nick Young
They desperately need a shooting guard.
14) Clippers: Julian Wright
Just too good to pass up at this point.
So there's the lottery. You can take these picks to the bank. You know assuming there's no trades which there almost always is.
1) It goes by a lot quicker which is good for casual fans like myself. I don't mind the wait for the NFL draft because I could watch practically anything to do with the NFL. But the NBA has found the perfect pace for their draft.
2) Almost the entire first round shows up to the draft and by in large these are huge, African American young men who are now going to become richer than they ever imagined. This means great interviews and more importantly the best fashion show of all time. Who can forget Jalen Rose's red pinstripe suit or Karl Malone's blue blazer and white pants?
3) Whenever some team picks a foreign player over a college stud and then they interview Dick Vitale. That kills me every time. This year I can't wait until the Celtics take Yi Jianlian.
Anyway I don't know too much about the NBA but that hasn't stopped me before so without further delay here's my NBA mock draft (lottery selections only)
1) Blazers: Greg Oden
On another note don't you think Portland should drop the Trail from there name and just be the Blazers? I think so.
2) Sonics: Kevin Durant
I kind of hope he's not that good just for Comedy's sake because Bill Simmons has his huge man crush on him.
3) Hawks: Al Horford
As much as I like the Gators I just don't see him being anything more than a serviceable power forward. His offensive game needs major work. This naturally makes him a perfect selection for the Hawks.
4) Grizzlies: Mike Conley
They could use a point guard and he's the best on the board.
5) Celtics: Yi Jianlian
Take it to the bank
6) Bucks: Brandon Wright
Apparently he's very long which I hear is a good thing.
7) Timberwolves: Joakim Noah
Just what Kevin Garnett needs another project who's main asset is his energy.
8) Bobcats: Corey Brewer
He's the best guy on the board.
9) Bulls: Spencer Hawes
Bulls need a big man unfortunately Hawes isn't the answer.
10) Kings: Jeff Green
A big steal for a struggling team.
11) Hawks: Acie Law
Don't you think the Hawks should change their name to the Big Hawks?
12) Sixers: Al Thornton
Should be able to step in immediately.
13) Hornets: Nick Young
They desperately need a shooting guard.
14) Clippers: Julian Wright
Just too good to pass up at this point.
So there's the lottery. You can take these picks to the bank. You know assuming there's no trades which there almost always is.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Dynasty?
So with the NBA finals all wrapped up somewhat prematurely there is only two questions still left to be answered before the draft. The first one is whether I should ever be allowed to make predictions or comment on basketball again? The answer to that one is difficult but my feeling is if I write enough columns about it eventually I'll write something intelligent. The second question which is the topic of this column is whether the Spurs are a dynasty. Let's take a look at the facts.
The Pros
The Pros
- They've now won four championships since 1999 (9 year span) which is more than any other team
- They've had the most dominant player of the past ten years in Tim Duncan who has been on all four championships.
- They're two best other players have been on three of the four championship teams (Parker, Ginobli)
The Cons
- They've never won back to back championships which is a staple of dynasties.
- They're current mark of four championships in nine years pales in comparison to the Celtics eleven in thirteen years or the Bulls six in the nineties.
- Other than Duncan their hasn't been much continuity between all four teams. Their have been players like Ginobli and Parker for the last three but three championships in seven years isn't a dynasty.
- Normal dynasties also don't allow other teams to win three championships in there run of dominance like the Lakers did. Also those Lakers teams were better than any Spurs teams that won.
So when you break down the Pros and Cons of a potential Spurs dynasty it looks like they just fall short. If one of the above Cons wasn't there I'd lean the other way. But with no back to back championships, no continuity between all four teams and another mini dynasty in between there so called dynasty I just can't label them a dynasty. The 1999 Championship just seems to distant from now to be included. If however they win next year or the year after I'll give them the respect they will then and only then deserve.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Commencement
There's been a couple of interesting subplots lately in the world of sports. We've got perhaps the greatest pitcher ever coming back to perhaps the greatest sports franchise ever to try and bring them back into pennant contention. We've got the first Philly winning a triple crown horse race in over one hundred years. And I not knowing much about horse racing initially thought "so what, a horse from Philadelphia won a triple crown race." Later I realized the that a Philly was a female horse so now I'm thinking "big deal a female horse won triple crown race. They're just as pumped with steroids as the Colts (males) are."
Anyway that's not what I'm going to write about today. Today with summer just getting under way and high school graduations taking place I'm going to give you what my commencement speech would be if I had been given the chance to speak to my high school class. See I wasn't popular enough or smart enough to be given this distinction so sadly this is the closest I'm going to come. Even though my high school graduation was two years ago I'm nevertheless going to give it my best shot. Anyway here goes.
"So I stand here before you after four years of our lives in this building. It's amazing how short of a time that seems. High school was an important four years, an educational four years, a sometimes difficult four years but above all else it was a fun four years. It Seems like yesterday I was just a boy starting freshman year, trying to fit in and not step on any one's toes and now I'm practically a grown man. My time here shaped me and who I'm going to become just like it shaped you and the men and women you'll become. I remember back in the summer before grade nine and I was a little nervous about starting high school and my parents told me not to worry and how this was going to be the best years of my life. It was comforting then but a little scary now to think like that. I mean don't get me wrong these were the best years of my life so far and I've had more fun and made more friends than I thought possible, but I'd like to think for most of us that the best years are still ahead of us. That we'll go on to bigger and better things, have more new and exciting experiences in front of us. So that's kind of what my message is here for you tonight. It's to celebrate our past accomplishments at this school which have laid the foundation for our accomplishments for the rest of our life. I know it's bittersweet. Statistics tell you that you won't talk to 90% of the people from high school which just seems unreal because I've known many of you since Kindergarten. I can't imagine my life without being able to see and talk to some of you. But that's life, we grow up, we change, we make new friends and have new challenges. Just like high school it won't always be easy but just like high school I'm sure in the end it will all be worth it. So here's to high school and all of the friendships and memories we'll always share and here's to the future. Let's make it the best years of our life."
Anyway that's not what I'm going to write about today. Today with summer just getting under way and high school graduations taking place I'm going to give you what my commencement speech would be if I had been given the chance to speak to my high school class. See I wasn't popular enough or smart enough to be given this distinction so sadly this is the closest I'm going to come. Even though my high school graduation was two years ago I'm nevertheless going to give it my best shot. Anyway here goes.
"So I stand here before you after four years of our lives in this building. It's amazing how short of a time that seems. High school was an important four years, an educational four years, a sometimes difficult four years but above all else it was a fun four years. It Seems like yesterday I was just a boy starting freshman year, trying to fit in and not step on any one's toes and now I'm practically a grown man. My time here shaped me and who I'm going to become just like it shaped you and the men and women you'll become. I remember back in the summer before grade nine and I was a little nervous about starting high school and my parents told me not to worry and how this was going to be the best years of my life. It was comforting then but a little scary now to think like that. I mean don't get me wrong these were the best years of my life so far and I've had more fun and made more friends than I thought possible, but I'd like to think for most of us that the best years are still ahead of us. That we'll go on to bigger and better things, have more new and exciting experiences in front of us. So that's kind of what my message is here for you tonight. It's to celebrate our past accomplishments at this school which have laid the foundation for our accomplishments for the rest of our life. I know it's bittersweet. Statistics tell you that you won't talk to 90% of the people from high school which just seems unreal because I've known many of you since Kindergarten. I can't imagine my life without being able to see and talk to some of you. But that's life, we grow up, we change, we make new friends and have new challenges. Just like high school it won't always be easy but just like high school I'm sure in the end it will all be worth it. So here's to high school and all of the friendships and memories we'll always share and here's to the future. Let's make it the best years of our life."
Monday, June 4, 2007
Finals
Before I get to my final pick for the NBA playoffs (although after chalking up an 0-2 in the last round maybe I should quit) this seems like a good time to discuss Billy Donovan's decision to leave Florida and then return, and why college coaches in general whether it be basketball or football feel the need to leave their successful college positions to go for the bright lights of the professional league.
First of all I was pretty shocked when I heard that Donovan wanted to renege on his commitment to Orlando. They had as good as a situation as one could dream. It was in central Florida where he coached the Gators so his family wouldn't have to move and the magic fans might give him some more leeway if he struggled out of the gate. They had one of the best young low post players in the game who hasn't even scratched the surface of his potential. They play in the inferior conference where despite a sub .500 record they made the playoffs. They have a mid range first round draft pick in a loaded draft class so they have the opportunity to get better. They have some cap space and this summer has the potential for a great free agent class. If that can't entice him enough to jump ship I don't think anything will.
So why did he leave in the first place? Why does Pete Carroll entertain the thought of leaving the best college football program in America (in the heart of Los Angeles no less) why did Spurrior, Pitino and many others decide to try the pro game? Well there's a couple of reasons.
1) Money. A man much wiser than me once said the answer to all your questions is money. (or something to that effect) In the case of Billy Donovan he was going to make a lot of money 27 million over five years. But leaving college for financial reasons is pretty low on the totem pole. Donovan is going to make a ton of money when he resigns his contract at Florida. It won't be the same amount as Orlando but my guess is it will be in the ball park. Also at Florida he has much better job security. So while money is a factor (If the money wasn't there no coach would leave college in my opinion) I just don't see it as being one of the deciding factors.
2) Notoriety. Again pretty low on the list of reasons. Most college coaches have all the fame and praise they could ever want but despite how big the college game is, the professional league is always bigger. That's just the nature of the beast.
3) Wanting to take on new challenges. This is the biggest reason why successful college coaches leave for the pros. In the case of Donovan he has already won two national championships and while sustaining excellence is a huge challenge it doesn't whet the appetite quite like achieving excellence in the pros. For Donovan and all college coaches that went on to coach in the pros, life is comfortable and the job is fun but like all human beings we seek new challenges. It's like when underclassmen declare for the draft (Oden and Durant for example) They both loved college but they both realized it's time to move on. To make themselves better they have to take on new challenges (In their case the money is also a much bigger issue.) I think Mike Vick put it perfectly when he declared for the NFL draft 6 years ago in 2001. He said he loved college and he wanted to stay but he had to leave. That's why I was shocked when Donovan decided to come back. I thought the allure of the new challenge would be too much to pass up. I guess he was unwilling to give up the comfort and security of Florida because once you leave and actually start coaching you can't ever go back to the way things were before. Pitino's now at Louisville, Spurrior's at South Carolina and so on.
Now on to my NBA finals pick. Even though the Spurs should thoroughly dominate I have to go with the Cavs because if LeBron makes the ultimate leap I want it in writing that I called it all along.
First of all I was pretty shocked when I heard that Donovan wanted to renege on his commitment to Orlando. They had as good as a situation as one could dream. It was in central Florida where he coached the Gators so his family wouldn't have to move and the magic fans might give him some more leeway if he struggled out of the gate. They had one of the best young low post players in the game who hasn't even scratched the surface of his potential. They play in the inferior conference where despite a sub .500 record they made the playoffs. They have a mid range first round draft pick in a loaded draft class so they have the opportunity to get better. They have some cap space and this summer has the potential for a great free agent class. If that can't entice him enough to jump ship I don't think anything will.
So why did he leave in the first place? Why does Pete Carroll entertain the thought of leaving the best college football program in America (in the heart of Los Angeles no less) why did Spurrior, Pitino and many others decide to try the pro game? Well there's a couple of reasons.
1) Money. A man much wiser than me once said the answer to all your questions is money. (or something to that effect) In the case of Billy Donovan he was going to make a lot of money 27 million over five years. But leaving college for financial reasons is pretty low on the totem pole. Donovan is going to make a ton of money when he resigns his contract at Florida. It won't be the same amount as Orlando but my guess is it will be in the ball park. Also at Florida he has much better job security. So while money is a factor (If the money wasn't there no coach would leave college in my opinion) I just don't see it as being one of the deciding factors.
2) Notoriety. Again pretty low on the list of reasons. Most college coaches have all the fame and praise they could ever want but despite how big the college game is, the professional league is always bigger. That's just the nature of the beast.
3) Wanting to take on new challenges. This is the biggest reason why successful college coaches leave for the pros. In the case of Donovan he has already won two national championships and while sustaining excellence is a huge challenge it doesn't whet the appetite quite like achieving excellence in the pros. For Donovan and all college coaches that went on to coach in the pros, life is comfortable and the job is fun but like all human beings we seek new challenges. It's like when underclassmen declare for the draft (Oden and Durant for example) They both loved college but they both realized it's time to move on. To make themselves better they have to take on new challenges (In their case the money is also a much bigger issue.) I think Mike Vick put it perfectly when he declared for the NFL draft 6 years ago in 2001. He said he loved college and he wanted to stay but he had to leave. That's why I was shocked when Donovan decided to come back. I thought the allure of the new challenge would be too much to pass up. I guess he was unwilling to give up the comfort and security of Florida because once you leave and actually start coaching you can't ever go back to the way things were before. Pitino's now at Louisville, Spurrior's at South Carolina and so on.
Now on to my NBA finals pick. Even though the Spurs should thoroughly dominate I have to go with the Cavs because if LeBron makes the ultimate leap I want it in writing that I called it all along.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Lottery
Wow it's been awhile. Too long really. I got a little distracted with the warm weather and last week I started a new job so I've been adjusting to my new schedule and the column just plain slipped my mind. Most likely because there hasn't been a heck of a lot of interesting things going on in sports. The NBA playoffs are trudging along and Baseball is still going strong but I can honestly say that the thing that got me the most excited was the NBA draft lottery. Depending on how good the draft class is this event can range from mildly intriguing to down right exciting. With this years absolutely loaded draft class it fell into the latter category. So that got me thinking. The NBA lottery stirs up a lot of excitement for its draft and it clearly has a positive effect on the NBA. But would it also work in other sports like baseball or football or is it just suited to the NBA?
There's a couple of reasons why it's ideal for the NBA.
1) There are so few players on a team that one legit superstar can mean the difference from being a contender to being the league's laughingstock.
2) The talent disparity between picks is dramatic. Often times there is one can't miss player and a bunch of question marks (Not always) Also the proportion of first round picks who become busts is large (due to the small roster sizes) therefore the higher your pick the greater the chance of an impact player which doubles in importance because of point number one.
So with those two previous points it's obvious why having a lottery adds to the excitement of the draft and hopefully will prevent tanking because just as the Celtics and Bucks found out last week increasing your odds of a top pick doesn't necessarily get you anywhere.
So will this work in Major League Baseball?
Probably not. The draft is already a non event for everyone except hardcore baseball fans so it wouldn't add any excitement level. Also baseball prospects don't' make an immediate impact and there is rarely a consensus top pick. So I can't really see the point for Baseball.
Well what about the NFL?
Even though there is a general consensus of the top overall player, seldom does that player get taken first overall unless he's a QB. Most teams end up picking for need so there doesn't seem to be a functional reason to do it. Also one player rarely turns around an entire franchise with a couple of notable exceptions (mostly QB's) However the NFL draft is huge. So I'm sure it would generate some buzz. But does the NFL really need it? After the Super Bowl there's Senior Bowl week which shortly leads into the combine, which leads into private workouts, which leads up to the draft. There's doesn't seem to be any time lag where they could use a jolt of attention.
So after careful analysis the draft lottery seems perfect for the NBA and only the NBA. I look forward to it ever year and maybe just one sport having it is enough.
(I'm perfectly aware the NHL uses it but come on that's not really a major sport)
There's a couple of reasons why it's ideal for the NBA.
1) There are so few players on a team that one legit superstar can mean the difference from being a contender to being the league's laughingstock.
2) The talent disparity between picks is dramatic. Often times there is one can't miss player and a bunch of question marks (Not always) Also the proportion of first round picks who become busts is large (due to the small roster sizes) therefore the higher your pick the greater the chance of an impact player which doubles in importance because of point number one.
So with those two previous points it's obvious why having a lottery adds to the excitement of the draft and hopefully will prevent tanking because just as the Celtics and Bucks found out last week increasing your odds of a top pick doesn't necessarily get you anywhere.
So will this work in Major League Baseball?
Probably not. The draft is already a non event for everyone except hardcore baseball fans so it wouldn't add any excitement level. Also baseball prospects don't' make an immediate impact and there is rarely a consensus top pick. So I can't really see the point for Baseball.
Well what about the NFL?
Even though there is a general consensus of the top overall player, seldom does that player get taken first overall unless he's a QB. Most teams end up picking for need so there doesn't seem to be a functional reason to do it. Also one player rarely turns around an entire franchise with a couple of notable exceptions (mostly QB's) However the NFL draft is huge. So I'm sure it would generate some buzz. But does the NFL really need it? After the Super Bowl there's Senior Bowl week which shortly leads into the combine, which leads into private workouts, which leads up to the draft. There's doesn't seem to be any time lag where they could use a jolt of attention.
So after careful analysis the draft lottery seems perfect for the NBA and only the NBA. I look forward to it ever year and maybe just one sport having it is enough.
(I'm perfectly aware the NHL uses it but come on that's not really a major sport)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Conference Finals
Well it's official, I like most casual NBA fans have now lost interest in the NBA playoffs. Of the four teams remaining two of them have no superstar players (Jazz, Pistons). One has the most boring superstar in all of sports for the past decade (Spurs) and one has a legitimately young and exciting superstar who just doesn't seem to care and mails in games. (Cavs) Add to the fact that the favorites to make the finals are both defensively minded teams and this could be an absolute disaster of a conclusion to an exciting start to the NBA playoffs. Anyways I couldn't bail now on my picks just because I lost interest so here goes.
Eastern Conference
Cavs VS Pistons
Winner: Pistons
My guess is that it goes seven games. Not so much because of great competitive basketball being played but because both teams like to mail in games so most likely one team will take the lead and then decide they've got the series wrapped up and relax then the other team will tie it up and think wow "we tied it up they're not that good I think we can take it easy the next game" Mercifully the series can't go longer than seven and Detroit should win because LeBron will realize all of the summer holidays he's missing.
Western Conference
Jazz VS Spurs
Winner: Jazz
In case you haven't noticed I really dislike the Spurs and eventually I got to believe that a younger and hungrier team will take them out. I hope the Jazz is that team. With Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer not to mention the resurgence of Kirilenko I like they're chances. They've flown under the radar all season and have been great in the playoffs. I know there's a big difference between Tim Duncan's Spurs and the Warriors but the Jazz are well rested and have a good coach. All the pieces are in place I just hope it happens this season and not next.
Eastern Conference
Cavs VS Pistons
Winner: Pistons
My guess is that it goes seven games. Not so much because of great competitive basketball being played but because both teams like to mail in games so most likely one team will take the lead and then decide they've got the series wrapped up and relax then the other team will tie it up and think wow "we tied it up they're not that good I think we can take it easy the next game" Mercifully the series can't go longer than seven and Detroit should win because LeBron will realize all of the summer holidays he's missing.
Western Conference
Jazz VS Spurs
Winner: Jazz
In case you haven't noticed I really dislike the Spurs and eventually I got to believe that a younger and hungrier team will take them out. I hope the Jazz is that team. With Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer not to mention the resurgence of Kirilenko I like they're chances. They've flown under the radar all season and have been great in the playoffs. I know there's a big difference between Tim Duncan's Spurs and the Warriors but the Jazz are well rested and have a good coach. All the pieces are in place I just hope it happens this season and not next.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Hardest Records to Break
With Barry Bonds' assault on the all time home run record taking place before our very eyes this seems like a good time to dust off an old favorite topic of mine and that's "what are the hardest records in sports to break"? I've seen this debated many times by sports writers and generally they get it all wrong. They say things like breaking the record for most consecutive no hitters is the toughest record in all of sports to break. To do this you would need to pitch three consecutive no hitters which seems impossible, but couldn't you see someone getting on a hot streak and doing it? I know it's not likely but come on, it's three games. Even a bad pitcher could get lucky and do it. So that brings me to my first point, all records that are going to be the toughest to break are all career related. Anyone can get on a hot streak but sustained excellence often for close to twenty years is much more difficult to duplicate. Secondly they should be significant records so for instance I don't really care who has the most penalty minutes in hockey and third they should be individual. Let's reward the player and not the team. Lastly I'm only going to include records from sports I know somewhat about. So sorry cricket fans none of your records are on the list.
Here's some notable exemptions. Jerry Rice's 22 895 receiving yards is most likely never going to be broken but with the ageless Marvin Harrison you just never know. There was too much doubt to put it on the list.
Cal Ripken's playing streak isn't on there because it's not that big of a deal. So he played a bunch of games in a row. He should have taken a rest because it hurt his team in September with his annual decline in production.
Here we go the official list of the five hardest records to break in sports.
5) Basketball's Highest Average Points per game for an entire season
Wilt Chamberlain 50.4 points 1961-1962.
O.K. it seems like I'm contradicting myself and frankly I am but come on can you really see someone ever averaging 50.4 points for an entire season ever again? Current scoring leaders would need to score about 20 more points per game just to get it. Other Chamberlain records that I considered were the most rebounds in a career 23,924 (15 per game for twenty years.) and rebounds per game in a season 22.9. I ultimately felt that with the advances in health care we could see someone play twenty five seasons and possibly break the total rebounds and I feel that the 50.4 points is harder to get to than 22.9 rebounds.
4) NHL Most points in a career
Wayne Gretzky 2857
Anyone who thinks that Sidney Crosby is breaking this record is dreaming. All he'll have to do is average 115 points a season for 25 years. Probably the most untouchable record that was recorded recently. There are plenty of other Gretzky records that I could have one this list as well like most points in a season 215, most assists, most goals, etc. This one however seems the most untouchable.
3) MLB Highest Batting Average
Ty Cobb .367
Baseball could have it's own list of top ten unbeatable records but I'll limit myself to two. One batting and one pitching. I can't really see anyone having a long career hitting .367 with the amount of relievers and specialists in today's game. Other records I considered were most stolen bases all time (Ricky Henderson 1406) But it's conceivable that stolen bases could become more of a trend and someone beats it. One I didn't consider was DiMaggio's hit streak. Everyone thinks it's untouchable but every couple years someone makes a legitimate run at it. It's just a matter of time before someone beats it.
2) Boxing Most Wins
Willie Pep 230
Most distinguished fighters top out at about 50 wins which is just over 20% of the necessary wins required to break the record. With the amount of time between fights now it's safe to say this record isn't going down.
1) MLB Most wins
Cy Young 511
This is without a doubt the most untouchable record in all of sports. No one is coming close and no one is ever going to surpass it. With the five man rotation that teams use now most people think it's very unlikely to see any young pitchers reach 300 wins. That doesn't even come close to the required 512 to break it. To put it in perspective last year no pitcher won twenty games but for you to break the record it would require 26 straight years of 20 wins. The other pitching stat that I considered was for the best era ever which Walsh owns at 1.82. It's very unlikely someones breaking that one but there is no way that anyone tops the most wins in MLB history.
Here's some notable exemptions. Jerry Rice's 22 895 receiving yards is most likely never going to be broken but with the ageless Marvin Harrison you just never know. There was too much doubt to put it on the list.
Cal Ripken's playing streak isn't on there because it's not that big of a deal. So he played a bunch of games in a row. He should have taken a rest because it hurt his team in September with his annual decline in production.
Here we go the official list of the five hardest records to break in sports.
5) Basketball's Highest Average Points per game for an entire season
Wilt Chamberlain 50.4 points 1961-1962.
O.K. it seems like I'm contradicting myself and frankly I am but come on can you really see someone ever averaging 50.4 points for an entire season ever again? Current scoring leaders would need to score about 20 more points per game just to get it. Other Chamberlain records that I considered were the most rebounds in a career 23,924 (15 per game for twenty years.) and rebounds per game in a season 22.9. I ultimately felt that with the advances in health care we could see someone play twenty five seasons and possibly break the total rebounds and I feel that the 50.4 points is harder to get to than 22.9 rebounds.
4) NHL Most points in a career
Wayne Gretzky 2857
Anyone who thinks that Sidney Crosby is breaking this record is dreaming. All he'll have to do is average 115 points a season for 25 years. Probably the most untouchable record that was recorded recently. There are plenty of other Gretzky records that I could have one this list as well like most points in a season 215, most assists, most goals, etc. This one however seems the most untouchable.
3) MLB Highest Batting Average
Ty Cobb .367
Baseball could have it's own list of top ten unbeatable records but I'll limit myself to two. One batting and one pitching. I can't really see anyone having a long career hitting .367 with the amount of relievers and specialists in today's game. Other records I considered were most stolen bases all time (Ricky Henderson 1406) But it's conceivable that stolen bases could become more of a trend and someone beats it. One I didn't consider was DiMaggio's hit streak. Everyone thinks it's untouchable but every couple years someone makes a legitimate run at it. It's just a matter of time before someone beats it.
2) Boxing Most Wins
Willie Pep 230
Most distinguished fighters top out at about 50 wins which is just over 20% of the necessary wins required to break the record. With the amount of time between fights now it's safe to say this record isn't going down.
1) MLB Most wins
Cy Young 511
This is without a doubt the most untouchable record in all of sports. No one is coming close and no one is ever going to surpass it. With the five man rotation that teams use now most people think it's very unlikely to see any young pitchers reach 300 wins. That doesn't even come close to the required 512 to break it. To put it in perspective last year no pitcher won twenty games but for you to break the record it would require 26 straight years of 20 wins. The other pitching stat that I considered was for the best era ever which Walsh owns at 1.82. It's very unlikely someones breaking that one but there is no way that anyone tops the most wins in MLB history.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Round 2
So before posting my second round playoff predictions I naturally wanted to wait until the first round was over. Well some idiot thought that the second round of the East should start before the first round of the West was finished. My guess is that this is the same guy who decided the first round should last two weeks and be a best of seven instead of a best of five because a best of five would be too exciting. With all that said maybe starting the second round early will be a good thing because after I only went 5-3 in the first round I could use a game in hand before making my predictions. So considering another game is being played as a type this I'll try to hammer this column out quickly
Eastern Conference
Pistons VS Bulls
Winner: Pistons
I'm no fool, after watching the Pistons destroy the Bulls in the first game I don't see how the Bulls win the necessary four games.
Cavs VS Nets
Winner: Nets
As good as LeBron is he can't carry a team forever.
Western Conference
Suns VS Spurs
Winner: Suns
Yes the Spurs have experience but their age is showing. Duncan has logged a lot of miles, Bowen is practically on a catheter and Ginobli's bold spot grows by the day.
Jazz VS Warriors
Winner: Jazz
Sloan's too good a coach to be fooled into going small. Plus Davis is banged up and I bet there is a huge letdown after the massive upset.
Eastern Conference
Pistons VS Bulls
Winner: Pistons
I'm no fool, after watching the Pistons destroy the Bulls in the first game I don't see how the Bulls win the necessary four games.
Cavs VS Nets
Winner: Nets
As good as LeBron is he can't carry a team forever.
Western Conference
Suns VS Spurs
Winner: Suns
Yes the Spurs have experience but their age is showing. Duncan has logged a lot of miles, Bowen is practically on a catheter and Ginobli's bold spot grows by the day.
Jazz VS Warriors
Winner: Jazz
Sloan's too good a coach to be fooled into going small. Plus Davis is banged up and I bet there is a huge letdown after the massive upset.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The View from Here
Alright so I won't be called a NFL Draft expert anytime soon. I only managed to get 5 picks correct although I did have Jacksonville taking Reggie Nelson I just didn't imagine them trading down to get him. I also had New England taking Brandon Meriweather only I had them picking him with there 28th pick not the 24th pick. With that being said I still didn't come close to my targeted goal of 12 right. I guess I'll have to study harder and try to do better next year.
Anyway here's my thoughts on the draft.
Anyway here's my thoughts on the draft.
- I had the option of watching the draft on the NFL network or on TSN which was carrying ESPN's coverage. The only caveat is that after three hours TSN is switching to hockey leaving me with only the NFL Network. So I decided to start with ESPN's coverage I don't even care that the NFL Network is more accurate and provides better insight. You can't put a price on the entertainment value of Chris Berman paired with Mel Kiper Jr.
- I must say that the best suit of the day belonged to Calvin Johnson who wore a gray 3 piece pinstriped suit. Not a big fan of JaMarcus Russell's all black. Would have been cooler if you had a silver tie or something considering you were going to the Raiders. (And for the record despite that previous paragraph I am in fact not gay)
- Back to Calvin Johnson, everyone thought the fans would be all over Matt Millen for taking another wide receiver but the fans loved the pick and it looks like he made the right decision. In fact only the Mike Williams pick was a bad selection. When they picked Charles Rogers they needed a weapon for the young Joey Harrington so that pick at the time made sense. Then the following year they picked Roy Williams who turned out to be a great pro so that's a good pick. Then they picked Mike Williams which was a head scratcher considering they had other glaring needs. Then this year they needed a wide out and got the undisputed best player in the draft. So all in all only one of the four was a bad pick.
- When Brady Quinn kept falling the only thing that I kept thinking of was his girlfriend. Did you see her? Frankly she was a little disappointing. She was alright but it looked like someone that I could have picked up. Maybe she's rich or has a great body or something but I'm telling you Quinn's going to look back on this and wish he didn't invite her.
- Must say that the Michael Smith guy for ESPN was practically nailing every pick. Count me in the group officially impressed.
- Alright when I switched over to the NFL Network it was better than I thought it would be. Rich Eisen was way more entertaining than I had originally thought and everyone knew there stuff which is more than you can say for Chris Berman and Tony "Why did they make me come to this" Kornheiser. The only downside was when Deion Sanders came into the booth and everyone had to pretend he was funny.
- One final note on Quinn, he sat through four hours of waiting only to be picked by the same team that he thought would take him at number three. So basically he has the downside of playing for a bad team and gets to make about 25 million less. Good times.
- Alright the last thought from the draft. My favorite pick had to be when the Colts picked Gonzalez because you may not know this but they are contractually obligated to have a white third receiver and with Brandon Stokely gone and Ricky Prohl being a senior citizen this pick made the most sense.
Friday, April 27, 2007
NFL Mock Draft
Well it's finally almost here. After months of hype and speculation the NFL Draft is less than 24 hours away and I can't wait. With that being said I can see how others despise all the hoopla over the draft. A lot of it is unnecessary but there wouldn't be that much coverage if there wasn't that much demand. So with that in mind here goes my version of the draft sans any potential trades. I know the actual draft will look nothing like this but if I can get 12 picks right than I'm just as good as all of the experts and from hence forth I will call myself a draft expert. So for your sake I hope I don't do well on this thing.
1) Raiders: JaMarcus Russell (I want to be on record saying he'll be a bust)
2) Lions: Calvin Johnson (I want to be on record saying he won't be a bust)
3) Browns: Brady Quinn
4) Bucs: Joe Thomas
5) Cardinals: Gaines Adams (I bet he sucks in Arizona then gets traded or cut and ends up being a star on another team)
6) Redskins: Amobi Akoye (He's younger than I am, so depressing)
7) Vikings: Adrian Peterson
8) Falcons: LaRon Landry
9) Dolphins: Levi Brown
10) Texans: Leon Hall
11) Niners: Jamaal Anderson
12) Bills: Patrick Willis
13) Rams: Adam Carricker
14) Panthers: Greg Olsen (Bet he wishes he wouldn't have transferred from Notre Dame)
15) Steelers: Darelle Revis
16) Packers: Marshawn Lynch
17) Jaguars: Reggie Nelson (Gators What?)
18) Bengals: Alan Branch
19) Titans: Ted Ginn (Desmond Howard number#2)
20) Giants: Lawrence Timmons
21) Broncos: Anothony Spencer
22) Cowboys: Dwayne Bowe
23) Kansas City: Joe Staley
24) Patriots: Jarvis Moss (I hate it when Gators go to the Pats)
25) Jets: Aaron Ross
26) Eagles: Michael Griffin
27) Saints: Chris Houston
28) Patriots: Brandon Meriweather
29) Ravens: Ben Grubbs
30) Chargers: Robert Meachem
31) Bears: Dwayne Jarrett
32) Colts: Jon Beason
1) Raiders: JaMarcus Russell (I want to be on record saying he'll be a bust)
2) Lions: Calvin Johnson (I want to be on record saying he won't be a bust)
3) Browns: Brady Quinn
4) Bucs: Joe Thomas
5) Cardinals: Gaines Adams (I bet he sucks in Arizona then gets traded or cut and ends up being a star on another team)
6) Redskins: Amobi Akoye (He's younger than I am, so depressing)
7) Vikings: Adrian Peterson
8) Falcons: LaRon Landry
9) Dolphins: Levi Brown
10) Texans: Leon Hall
11) Niners: Jamaal Anderson
12) Bills: Patrick Willis
13) Rams: Adam Carricker
14) Panthers: Greg Olsen (Bet he wishes he wouldn't have transferred from Notre Dame)
15) Steelers: Darelle Revis
16) Packers: Marshawn Lynch
17) Jaguars: Reggie Nelson (Gators What?)
18) Bengals: Alan Branch
19) Titans: Ted Ginn (Desmond Howard number#2)
20) Giants: Lawrence Timmons
21) Broncos: Anothony Spencer
22) Cowboys: Dwayne Bowe
23) Kansas City: Joe Staley
24) Patriots: Jarvis Moss (I hate it when Gators go to the Pats)
25) Jets: Aaron Ross
26) Eagles: Michael Griffin
27) Saints: Chris Houston
28) Patriots: Brandon Meriweather
29) Ravens: Ben Grubbs
30) Chargers: Robert Meachem
31) Bears: Dwayne Jarrett
32) Colts: Jon Beason
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Top Defensive Prospects
Alright before I get into the top defensive prospects from the past seven drafts I've got to mention something about the Raptors game first. The fans at the game in know way represent me or most Raptor fans. I like most decent people would not wear the color of the opposing teams jersey. I am publicly embarrassed and humiliated. First of all everybody wearing the same color shirt is so played, if you wanted to do something original you should have had everyone paint there face or something. Actually scratch that. If Seinfeld taught me anything it's that face painting isn't cool. So I can't think of anything but the marketing department should have been able to come up with something better than this. We haven't been in the playoffs in like five years and this is the best promotion you could come up with? We looked retarded out there and that's before the fact that we were wearing the Nets color. I hope someone got fired for this.
Anyway now to the column. Again same rules as the offensive side of the ball. You have to be the first pick in your draft year and their professional career has no bearing.
DE
1) Julius Peppers (2002): Had everything scouts looked for size, speed, strength and production. Definitely lived up to the hype.
2) Mario Williams (2006): Other than speed was the complete package just like Peppers. It's still early but doesn't look like he'll live up to the hype. Is more Courtney Brown than Julius Peppers.
3) Gaines Adams (2007): Is getting a surprisingly large amount of hype for someone who is an undersized end. He does possess lots of speed and a plethora of pass rush moves.
DT
Gerard Warren (2001): Had the size and the motor to be dominant but had a questionable work ethic. It's too bad, I always like to see the Gator players do well.
Dwayne Robertson (2003): Was a good college player but then had an off the charts workout which sent teams into a frenzy. Never lived up to the hype.
Tommie Harris (2004): Had a great college career and despite being undersized was a dominant pass rusher.
ILB
Dan Morgan (2001): Had the production, size and speed. Is a good pro when healthy.
Patrick Willis (2007): Good production in college and an unreal workout should be a top 15 pick.
Jon Vilma (2004): Other than being undersized he had it all. Is a great pro.
OLB
A.J. Hawk (2006): Elite size and speed. Had an uneventful rookie year but should be good in the league.
D.J. Williams (2004): Had all the measureables. Weird how Miami has most of the top linebacker prospects even this year they have Beason who will probably go first round.
Lawrence Timmons (2007): I'll assume he's the top outside backer chosen this year. He made plays all over the field last year.
S
Sean Taylor (2004): Was like out of a video game where you max out all the guys skills. Was big (220lbs) fast (4.40) and made plays. He delivered big hits and I think he had something like 9 picks his senior year returning a couple for touchdowns. I don't know how he doesn't absolutely dominate in the NFL.
Roy Williams (2002): Was a classic in the box safety who was an absolute stud in college. A good pro who's a little overrated in my opinion.
LaRon Landry (2007): Is the complete package of size and speed. I personally don't see him being dominant but everyone has him a top 8 player.
CB
Quentin Jammer (2002): Was the dominant man to man corner in college had the size and toughness to jam receivers at the line and just enough speed to cover them downfield. Is solid in the NFL but not as good as advertised.
Terence Newman (2003): Was a great cover corner and electrifying return man. Is decent in the pros but not what was expected.
DeAngelo Hall (2004): Has blazing speed and good size. Has lived up to the hype in the NFL
Top 3 defensive prospects
1) Julius Peppers (2002): Once in a generation package for a defensive end.
2) Sean Taylor (2004): Has better measurables than the prototypical safety.
3) Quentin Jammer (2002): Was supposed to be shutdown which is hard to find.
Anyway now to the column. Again same rules as the offensive side of the ball. You have to be the first pick in your draft year and their professional career has no bearing.
DE
1) Julius Peppers (2002): Had everything scouts looked for size, speed, strength and production. Definitely lived up to the hype.
2) Mario Williams (2006): Other than speed was the complete package just like Peppers. It's still early but doesn't look like he'll live up to the hype. Is more Courtney Brown than Julius Peppers.
3) Gaines Adams (2007): Is getting a surprisingly large amount of hype for someone who is an undersized end. He does possess lots of speed and a plethora of pass rush moves.
DT
Gerard Warren (2001): Had the size and the motor to be dominant but had a questionable work ethic. It's too bad, I always like to see the Gator players do well.
Dwayne Robertson (2003): Was a good college player but then had an off the charts workout which sent teams into a frenzy. Never lived up to the hype.
Tommie Harris (2004): Had a great college career and despite being undersized was a dominant pass rusher.
ILB
Dan Morgan (2001): Had the production, size and speed. Is a good pro when healthy.
Patrick Willis (2007): Good production in college and an unreal workout should be a top 15 pick.
Jon Vilma (2004): Other than being undersized he had it all. Is a great pro.
OLB
A.J. Hawk (2006): Elite size and speed. Had an uneventful rookie year but should be good in the league.
D.J. Williams (2004): Had all the measureables. Weird how Miami has most of the top linebacker prospects even this year they have Beason who will probably go first round.
Lawrence Timmons (2007): I'll assume he's the top outside backer chosen this year. He made plays all over the field last year.
S
Sean Taylor (2004): Was like out of a video game where you max out all the guys skills. Was big (220lbs) fast (4.40) and made plays. He delivered big hits and I think he had something like 9 picks his senior year returning a couple for touchdowns. I don't know how he doesn't absolutely dominate in the NFL.
Roy Williams (2002): Was a classic in the box safety who was an absolute stud in college. A good pro who's a little overrated in my opinion.
LaRon Landry (2007): Is the complete package of size and speed. I personally don't see him being dominant but everyone has him a top 8 player.
CB
Quentin Jammer (2002): Was the dominant man to man corner in college had the size and toughness to jam receivers at the line and just enough speed to cover them downfield. Is solid in the NFL but not as good as advertised.
Terence Newman (2003): Was a great cover corner and electrifying return man. Is decent in the pros but not what was expected.
DeAngelo Hall (2004): Has blazing speed and good size. Has lived up to the hype in the NFL
Top 3 defensive prospects
1) Julius Peppers (2002): Once in a generation package for a defensive end.
2) Sean Taylor (2004): Has better measurables than the prototypical safety.
3) Quentin Jammer (2002): Was supposed to be shutdown which is hard to find.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Hoops
After promising you the top defensive prospects of the past seven years in today's column I realized that the NBA playoffs were going to start on Saturday. It totally snuck up on me. I haven't been following the NBA as much as I should or would have liked to this winter which is a shame because even though this was one of the worst regular season in recent history the Raptors were actually good which happens once or twice in a decade. I more or less missed the rise from good player to franchise player for Chris Bosh, the emergence of Andrea Bargnani, and the great coaching of Sam Mitchell. Oh wait I forgot he didn't do a great job coaching and that along with the Raptors playoff inexperience will most likely be there downfall in the post season. Huh nevertheless I'm ecstatic about their opening round match up against the Nets and the overall first round of match ups in general.
So I've decided to pull a Peyton Manning and put the NFL column on the back burner (Tuesday or Wednesday) and make some playoff picks because as we all know there's nothing more insightful than when a guy who didn't watch many games the entire season decide he knows what he's talking about and tells faithful NBA viewers who's going to win.
On to the picks
Eastern Conference
Pistons VS Magic
Winner: Pistons
Other than Dwight Howard the Magic are worse at every position. It also turns out that Grant Hill is still starting? We're sure he's not injured? I swear he broke his ankle slipping on a bar of soap in the shower.
Cavs VS Wizards
Winner: Cavs
Wow with Arenas out how bad are these two teams. I'm pretty sure LeBron could win all by himself which is pretty much what is going to have to happen.
Raptors VS Nets
Winner: Raptors
Screw it. Even though they're in over their heads and will probably lose I'll go with the home town team. I'm interested to see how bad a reaction Carter gets. Even though he betrayed us there were some good times. I think he deserves a little more respect than he gets (I'll get to it in another column) just a little though. He did tank on us.
Heat VS Bulls
Winner: Heat
Tough one to call but I still think Shaq has something left in the tank. Oh and this just in, Ben Wallace sucks.
Western Conference
Mavs VS Warriors
Winner: Mavs
It will be exciting but come on no way Dirk loses.
Suns VS Lakers
Winner: Suns
How many times does Kobe think to himself "Maybe I shouldn't have run Shaq out of town." I say 17000.
Spurs VS Nuggets
Winner: Spurs
They've been really hot lately and I can't pick against Duncan. Another interesting point is that when I was looking up this series the latest injury for the Spurs was Brent Barry out with a tummy ache. I wish I made this up.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/series?series=densas (Scroll 3/4 down right hand side)
Rockets VS Jazz
Winner: Jazz
Not because of T-Mac. He's money in the playoffs just look at his playoff stats. Rafer Alston at the point really worries me though. This isn't Rucker Park.
So I've decided to pull a Peyton Manning and put the NFL column on the back burner (Tuesday or Wednesday) and make some playoff picks because as we all know there's nothing more insightful than when a guy who didn't watch many games the entire season decide he knows what he's talking about and tells faithful NBA viewers who's going to win.
On to the picks
Eastern Conference
Pistons VS Magic
Winner: Pistons
Other than Dwight Howard the Magic are worse at every position. It also turns out that Grant Hill is still starting? We're sure he's not injured? I swear he broke his ankle slipping on a bar of soap in the shower.
Cavs VS Wizards
Winner: Cavs
Wow with Arenas out how bad are these two teams. I'm pretty sure LeBron could win all by himself which is pretty much what is going to have to happen.
Raptors VS Nets
Winner: Raptors
Screw it. Even though they're in over their heads and will probably lose I'll go with the home town team. I'm interested to see how bad a reaction Carter gets. Even though he betrayed us there were some good times. I think he deserves a little more respect than he gets (I'll get to it in another column) just a little though. He did tank on us.
Heat VS Bulls
Winner: Heat
Tough one to call but I still think Shaq has something left in the tank. Oh and this just in, Ben Wallace sucks.
Western Conference
Mavs VS Warriors
Winner: Mavs
It will be exciting but come on no way Dirk loses.
Suns VS Lakers
Winner: Suns
How many times does Kobe think to himself "Maybe I shouldn't have run Shaq out of town." I say 17000.
Spurs VS Nuggets
Winner: Spurs
They've been really hot lately and I can't pick against Duncan. Another interesting point is that when I was looking up this series the latest injury for the Spurs was Brent Barry out with a tummy ache. I wish I made this up.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/series?series=densas (Scroll 3/4 down right hand side)
Rockets VS Jazz
Winner: Jazz
Not because of T-Mac. He's money in the playoffs just look at his playoff stats. Rafer Alston at the point really worries me though. This isn't Rucker Park.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Top Prospects
The NFL Draft is less than two weeks away and this year there seems to be less buzz than most. From what I've read from people in the know this is because there is so much uncertainty about teams moving picks and where players are slotted.
I must admit that I'm a draft junkie. It started around 1998 when I first go intrigued by the Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf debate. I was a Leaf supporter. (What? I was 11 years old cut me some slack) That started my fascination with the draft which culminated in me getting the Sporting News draft preview book in 2001 when everyone including myself was enamoured with Mike Vick. Needless to say every year since I've gotten the magazine and have followed attentively.
Overall my record for picking out players to be successes has been disastrous. After Ryan Leaf I thought for sure that Charles Rogers would be the dominant receiver in the NFL. He was the same age as Roy Williams who got drafted a year later to the same team and only he put up better numbers and was considered a better player. I thought Robert Gallery would be a stud left tackle. Methinks he spends too much time in the tattoo parlour and not enough time in the weight room. So you see I am a complete idiot and am in no way qualified to be GM. (I know tough to believe) but I wasn't alone. So here's the list of the top three prospects at each position heading into the draft from 2001-2007. This has nothing to do with performance in the NFL just how good the scouts thought they would be at draft time. Also to simplify things you had to be the first player drafted at your position to be considered. So even though I consider Bryant Mckinnie to be one of the three best left tackle prospects of the last seven years he doesn't get in because the Bills were stupid enough to draft Mike Williams ahead of him.
Two things before I get started
1) You'll see that 2004 was an unusually strong draft year (Eli Manning, Stephen Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Kellen Winslow, Tommie Harris, Jon Vilma, DJ Williams, DeAngelo Hall, Sean Taylor) While 2005 other than Merriman (who wasn't even the first outside linebacker taken) was very sub par (Alex Smith, Ronnie Brown, Jammal Brown, Erasmus James, Travis Johnson, Pacman Jones, Thomas Davis)
2) I'll start today with the offensive side of the ball and on Friday I'll do the defence.
QB
1) Mike Vick (2001) Unprecedented hype, he dominated college (20-1 as a starter) was one of the fastest players in the draft and had a rocket left arm. Only concerns was his height (6'0) and his lack of production as a passer.
2) Carson Palmer (2003): Had the prototype build, arm strength, intangibles, came a from a big time program and was the Heisman trophy winner. Turned out to be a great pick
3) Eli Manning (2004): Had the size and the pedigree. There were some detractors but most people thought and still think the kid is the real deal irregardless of what the statistics tell you.
RB
1) Reggie Bush (2006): The most elusive college back since Barry Sanders. Won the Heisman and 2 national championships. Only worry was whether he could carry the load. Which is still a concern today.
2) Ronnie Brown (2005): Didn't matter that Cadillac was the starting tailback in college and was more productive. Everyone fell in love with his size and speed. They're still waiting on it in the pros.
3) Adrian Peterson (2007): I'll assume he's the top back taken this year. Has all the skills, speed, and size. Only concern is durability.
TE
1) Kellen Winslow (2004): Partly because of his skills, partly because of his dad and partly because of his mouth. Winslow was to be the next great tight end. Too bad he's been injured because on the field he's a beast.
2) Vernon Davis (2006): Not that productive in college but an absolute specimen. His NFL combine workout is legendary.
3) Jeremy Shockey (2002): Great production and wild behaviour. He's the perfect fit for New York.
C
1) Nick Mangold (2006): Centers don't get much hype but Mangold was an athlete and a technician.
2) Jeff Faine (2003): Not the greatest athlete but is smart and scrappy.
3) Chris Spencer (2005): No real hype around him but he was a first round pick
G
1) Eric Steinbach (2003): A converted tight end had adequate size but elite speed and quickness.
2) Steve Hutchinson (2001): Four years of great production and plus size.
3) Vernon Carey (2004): Coming out of high school had huge expectations that he never really lived up to in college. Nevertheless those expectations carried over into the pros.
Now on to the toughest two positions to grade. There have been many highly regarded tackles and wide outs over the years and it's debatable who was the best prospect. Nevertheless here's the correct answer as to how to grade them.
OT
1) Robert Gallery (2004): He was huge, (6'7 320lbs) fast, and dominant in college. Everyone seemed to think he was the safest pick in the draft, a ten year starter with multiple pro bowls. I don't know really what went wrong.
2) Leonard Davis (2001): I know he ended up playing guard but he was a tackle coming out of college. Scary big (370lbs) and strong with quick feet. Is a decent pro but not the blue chipper everyone thought.
3) D'Brickashaw Ferguson (2006): Tall and athletic. He had a great college career and is poised for a good professional one.
WR
1) Larry Fitzgerald (2004): Was big and deceptively fast. Had great hands. Ran great routes. Was mature and productive in college. Sounds a lot like the next guy.
2) Calvin Johnson (2007): Everyone seems to think he has no real weaknesses. I can't wait to see him in the pros.
3) Charles Rogers (2003): Had all the tools. Blazing speed, good size, great hands, smooth routes. I guess it was the mental part that did him in. I still can't believe he's not a star.
Top 3 overall offensive prospects
1) Mike Vick (2001): Nothing matched his hype coming out of college. He was supposed to transform the game.
2) Reggie Bush (2006): A once in a decade athlete. Seems well on his way in the pros.
3) Carson Palmer (2003): When you draw up a QB prototype you draw up him.
I must admit that I'm a draft junkie. It started around 1998 when I first go intrigued by the Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf debate. I was a Leaf supporter. (What? I was 11 years old cut me some slack) That started my fascination with the draft which culminated in me getting the Sporting News draft preview book in 2001 when everyone including myself was enamoured with Mike Vick. Needless to say every year since I've gotten the magazine and have followed attentively.
Overall my record for picking out players to be successes has been disastrous. After Ryan Leaf I thought for sure that Charles Rogers would be the dominant receiver in the NFL. He was the same age as Roy Williams who got drafted a year later to the same team and only he put up better numbers and was considered a better player. I thought Robert Gallery would be a stud left tackle. Methinks he spends too much time in the tattoo parlour and not enough time in the weight room. So you see I am a complete idiot and am in no way qualified to be GM. (I know tough to believe) but I wasn't alone. So here's the list of the top three prospects at each position heading into the draft from 2001-2007. This has nothing to do with performance in the NFL just how good the scouts thought they would be at draft time. Also to simplify things you had to be the first player drafted at your position to be considered. So even though I consider Bryant Mckinnie to be one of the three best left tackle prospects of the last seven years he doesn't get in because the Bills were stupid enough to draft Mike Williams ahead of him.
Two things before I get started
1) You'll see that 2004 was an unusually strong draft year (Eli Manning, Stephen Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Kellen Winslow, Tommie Harris, Jon Vilma, DJ Williams, DeAngelo Hall, Sean Taylor) While 2005 other than Merriman (who wasn't even the first outside linebacker taken) was very sub par (Alex Smith, Ronnie Brown, Jammal Brown, Erasmus James, Travis Johnson, Pacman Jones, Thomas Davis)
2) I'll start today with the offensive side of the ball and on Friday I'll do the defence.
QB
1) Mike Vick (2001) Unprecedented hype, he dominated college (20-1 as a starter) was one of the fastest players in the draft and had a rocket left arm. Only concerns was his height (6'0) and his lack of production as a passer.
2) Carson Palmer (2003): Had the prototype build, arm strength, intangibles, came a from a big time program and was the Heisman trophy winner. Turned out to be a great pick
3) Eli Manning (2004): Had the size and the pedigree. There were some detractors but most people thought and still think the kid is the real deal irregardless of what the statistics tell you.
RB
1) Reggie Bush (2006): The most elusive college back since Barry Sanders. Won the Heisman and 2 national championships. Only worry was whether he could carry the load. Which is still a concern today.
2) Ronnie Brown (2005): Didn't matter that Cadillac was the starting tailback in college and was more productive. Everyone fell in love with his size and speed. They're still waiting on it in the pros.
3) Adrian Peterson (2007): I'll assume he's the top back taken this year. Has all the skills, speed, and size. Only concern is durability.
TE
1) Kellen Winslow (2004): Partly because of his skills, partly because of his dad and partly because of his mouth. Winslow was to be the next great tight end. Too bad he's been injured because on the field he's a beast.
2) Vernon Davis (2006): Not that productive in college but an absolute specimen. His NFL combine workout is legendary.
3) Jeremy Shockey (2002): Great production and wild behaviour. He's the perfect fit for New York.
C
1) Nick Mangold (2006): Centers don't get much hype but Mangold was an athlete and a technician.
2) Jeff Faine (2003): Not the greatest athlete but is smart and scrappy.
3) Chris Spencer (2005): No real hype around him but he was a first round pick
G
1) Eric Steinbach (2003): A converted tight end had adequate size but elite speed and quickness.
2) Steve Hutchinson (2001): Four years of great production and plus size.
3) Vernon Carey (2004): Coming out of high school had huge expectations that he never really lived up to in college. Nevertheless those expectations carried over into the pros.
Now on to the toughest two positions to grade. There have been many highly regarded tackles and wide outs over the years and it's debatable who was the best prospect. Nevertheless here's the correct answer as to how to grade them.
OT
1) Robert Gallery (2004): He was huge, (6'7 320lbs) fast, and dominant in college. Everyone seemed to think he was the safest pick in the draft, a ten year starter with multiple pro bowls. I don't know really what went wrong.
2) Leonard Davis (2001): I know he ended up playing guard but he was a tackle coming out of college. Scary big (370lbs) and strong with quick feet. Is a decent pro but not the blue chipper everyone thought.
3) D'Brickashaw Ferguson (2006): Tall and athletic. He had a great college career and is poised for a good professional one.
WR
1) Larry Fitzgerald (2004): Was big and deceptively fast. Had great hands. Ran great routes. Was mature and productive in college. Sounds a lot like the next guy.
2) Calvin Johnson (2007): Everyone seems to think he has no real weaknesses. I can't wait to see him in the pros.
3) Charles Rogers (2003): Had all the tools. Blazing speed, good size, great hands, smooth routes. I guess it was the mental part that did him in. I still can't believe he's not a star.
Top 3 overall offensive prospects
1) Mike Vick (2001): Nothing matched his hype coming out of college. He was supposed to transform the game.
2) Reggie Bush (2006): A once in a decade athlete. Seems well on his way in the pros.
3) Carson Palmer (2003): When you draw up a QB prototype you draw up him.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Baseball Bouillabaisse
Once again I'll have to apologize for the lack of columns recently but I'm currently in the two week process of writing exams and I have 5 of them, doesn't leave me with that much free time. I know I said in earlier columns that I had to get my priorities straight and that studying for midterms and the like shouldn't take precedent over this but Momma and Poppa are paying for school and the my marks will be released in a couple of weeks. With all that information I decided to call an audible and put the column on the back burner.
There's a couple of interesting developments in the sporting world but the one that has caught my attention the most is the start of the baseball season. Here's a list of the things I'm most looking forward to this season.
1) Fantasy Baseball: I know I've mentioned this in at least two other columns but I can't really explain the amount of inordinate joy that I get from this. It's right up there with my college football video game dynasties and easily outdistances fantasy football.
2) Following the Jays: Even though they need everyone to stay healthy, Burnett to be consistent and Chacin to transform himself into Sandy Koufax to contend, every time they get on a hot streak I can't help but jump on the bandwagon. In fact if I do well on the next final I just might have to stop by their Tuesday game with the Red Sox. It's a value game and second level outfield seats go for $2.
3) Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's record: I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on the planet who's last name isn't Bonds that wants to see this happen. My feeling is everyone needs to get off their high horse and give him his due. He's breaking the most prolific record in North American sports and he's never been caught cheating (even though he probably has and when I say probably I mean 90% sure) Also don't' forgot there's tonnes of other guys who cheat, Ruth never faced African American players and Aaron's era wasn't clean either.
4) Roger Clemens coming out of retirement: Just like death and taxes you can always count on Roger to come back. How many more years do you think he does this? I'm saying two more after this one.
5) The time when a guy has a breakout season and then everyone suspects he's on steroids or human growth hormone. My pick this year is Ty Wiggington who will take the award from last years winner Gary Matthews Jr. who took the award from Brian Roberts. Although Jimmy Rollins could also snatch the award.
6) A-Rod/NY saga: A-rod's going to put up about 50 HR's 130 RBI and hit 300 while Jeter will hit 15 HR 80 RBI and also hit 300 and everyone in New York will tell you to a man that Jeter's better.
7) Manny Ramirez: You can never have too much Manny in your life. (That came off a little more homosexual than I implied but I'll keep it anyway)
8) The fact that everyone gets worked up over games in April when they have about 150 left to go.
9) Sportscenter in the summer when there is wall to wall baseball highlights. This is way more appealing in Canada because if you're not a hockey fan just like I'm not then you loathe how Sportscenter has about 45 min of hockey highlights per show, 5 min of the announcers trying to be funny and another 10 for every other sport out there. Drives me up a wall.
There's a couple of interesting developments in the sporting world but the one that has caught my attention the most is the start of the baseball season. Here's a list of the things I'm most looking forward to this season.
1) Fantasy Baseball: I know I've mentioned this in at least two other columns but I can't really explain the amount of inordinate joy that I get from this. It's right up there with my college football video game dynasties and easily outdistances fantasy football.
2) Following the Jays: Even though they need everyone to stay healthy, Burnett to be consistent and Chacin to transform himself into Sandy Koufax to contend, every time they get on a hot streak I can't help but jump on the bandwagon. In fact if I do well on the next final I just might have to stop by their Tuesday game with the Red Sox. It's a value game and second level outfield seats go for $2.
3) Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's record: I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on the planet who's last name isn't Bonds that wants to see this happen. My feeling is everyone needs to get off their high horse and give him his due. He's breaking the most prolific record in North American sports and he's never been caught cheating (even though he probably has and when I say probably I mean 90% sure) Also don't' forgot there's tonnes of other guys who cheat, Ruth never faced African American players and Aaron's era wasn't clean either.
4) Roger Clemens coming out of retirement: Just like death and taxes you can always count on Roger to come back. How many more years do you think he does this? I'm saying two more after this one.
5) The time when a guy has a breakout season and then everyone suspects he's on steroids or human growth hormone. My pick this year is Ty Wiggington who will take the award from last years winner Gary Matthews Jr. who took the award from Brian Roberts. Although Jimmy Rollins could also snatch the award.
6) A-Rod/NY saga: A-rod's going to put up about 50 HR's 130 RBI and hit 300 while Jeter will hit 15 HR 80 RBI and also hit 300 and everyone in New York will tell you to a man that Jeter's better.
7) Manny Ramirez: You can never have too much Manny in your life. (That came off a little more homosexual than I implied but I'll keep it anyway)
8) The fact that everyone gets worked up over games in April when they have about 150 left to go.
9) Sportscenter in the summer when there is wall to wall baseball highlights. This is way more appealing in Canada because if you're not a hockey fan just like I'm not then you loathe how Sportscenter has about 45 min of hockey highlights per show, 5 min of the announcers trying to be funny and another 10 for every other sport out there. Drives me up a wall.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Three Peat?
It's been a few days since Florida won there second basketball title in a row in addition to there football title and I purposely waited a few days before writing anything. I wanted to let everything sink in and see how things played out before I wrote something. Here's what I've come to realize.
1) I will probably never be this fortunate as a sports fan again. The Gators are my favourite team period and that includes professional teams. I know it may seem weird to have a favorite be a school that you don't even go to, but I've always preferred college to professional sports and with me going to school in Canada I feel like I can justify having a another school as my favorite. It's not like I jumped on the bandwagon either. I've been a fan since I was 10 years old and have been through Doug Johnson led football teams to first round losses in the tournament. The only other win that would be more satisfying would be to win the Vanier Cup because obviously I would be playing in it.
With all that said it is very unlikely that any school will have this kind of success again. It's something to savor and remember.
2) I was little disappointed that Billy Donovan asked Noah, Horford, Brewer, Green if they wanted to stay another year and go for the third championship. Noah probably should have left last year and Horford and Brewer are never going to raise their draft stock any higher. They've accomplished everything there is to accomplish and it's time to move on. As a coach you asked them to buy into your system and place basketball at the top of their priorities and they did so. I think you owed it to them to have their best interest in heart and tell them to turn pro. If they would have stayed the pressure next year would have been unprecedented. It's very conceivable that they would have lost and that would have (unrightly) diminished what they accomplished the past two years.
3) On the flip side it's nice to see that Donovan stayed at Florida. I never understood how some jobs have such prestige and that if they come seeking your services you have to go. Florida has owned Kentucky of late and Donovan is the face of Florida basketball. Other than money I don't know why anyone would leave.
4) Like all things in life it's the end of one era and the start of the another. So it's a little sad that I'll never get to watch Brewer, Noah, Horford, Green, Humphrey, Richard, Leak, Moss, Everett, Nelson and many others ever again in Florida blue and orange but I'm excited to usher in the Hodge, Werner, Speights, Tebow and Harvin era.
1) I will probably never be this fortunate as a sports fan again. The Gators are my favourite team period and that includes professional teams. I know it may seem weird to have a favorite be a school that you don't even go to, but I've always preferred college to professional sports and with me going to school in Canada I feel like I can justify having a another school as my favorite. It's not like I jumped on the bandwagon either. I've been a fan since I was 10 years old and have been through Doug Johnson led football teams to first round losses in the tournament. The only other win that would be more satisfying would be to win the Vanier Cup because obviously I would be playing in it.
With all that said it is very unlikely that any school will have this kind of success again. It's something to savor and remember.
2) I was little disappointed that Billy Donovan asked Noah, Horford, Brewer, Green if they wanted to stay another year and go for the third championship. Noah probably should have left last year and Horford and Brewer are never going to raise their draft stock any higher. They've accomplished everything there is to accomplish and it's time to move on. As a coach you asked them to buy into your system and place basketball at the top of their priorities and they did so. I think you owed it to them to have their best interest in heart and tell them to turn pro. If they would have stayed the pressure next year would have been unprecedented. It's very conceivable that they would have lost and that would have (unrightly) diminished what they accomplished the past two years.
3) On the flip side it's nice to see that Donovan stayed at Florida. I never understood how some jobs have such prestige and that if they come seeking your services you have to go. Florida has owned Kentucky of late and Donovan is the face of Florida basketball. Other than money I don't know why anyone would leave.
4) Like all things in life it's the end of one era and the start of the another. So it's a little sad that I'll never get to watch Brewer, Noah, Horford, Green, Humphrey, Richard, Leak, Moss, Everett, Nelson and many others ever again in Florida blue and orange but I'm excited to usher in the Hodge, Werner, Speights, Tebow and Harvin era.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Hope Springs Eternal
Just a couple of points about the basketball games yesterday. I really thought Georgetown would handle Ohio State but I guess Jeff Green was busy Monday and didn't want to play another game. Also how did UCLA make it to the final four? They have streaky shooters and no low post presence. It's not like they went on some hot run either. They were ranked number one for a large potion of the year and were always in the top 5. Kevin Love can't come fat enough.
You know how I called out Lee Humphrey and he responded with his best game of the year. Well on Friday I was all ready to call out either Brewer (who was turning the ball over too much and not making his outside shots) or Chris Richard (who was giving us nothing in the post) Anyways I never got around to writing anything Friday and I don't even care that you don't believe me. The point is Noah I'm calling you out for the finals. With Horford on Oden they have no one who should handle you. It's time to make everyone remember why you could have been the top pick last year.
Alright today is the start of the baseball season and I participated in two fantasy baseball drafts. One of them was a 14 team league where everyone knew what they were doing. The other was an 8 team league that a couple of people took as a joke and I ended up with a ridiculously good team. Anyway here's my team and my preseason rankings that I posted in the message board.
My Team
1B: Ortiz
2B: Phillips
3B: Chipper
SS: Furcal (Cabrera)
OF: Soriano
OF: Crawford
OF: Dunn
UT: Hafner
Bench: Swisher
Bench: Giambi
SP: Oswalt
SP: Webb
RP: Ray
RP: F. Cordero
P: Isringhausen
P: Young
P: Haren
P: Bonderman
P: Capuano
P: Patterson
P: Vazquez
Alright as promised the official preseason rankings but before I get into them just a couple of thoughts about the draft.
1) Small league so everybody's team is loaded some more than others but still everybody has quality players everywhere.
2) With the small league that means that there are and will be very good players on the waiver wire. So teams that aren't sitting pretty right now can jump right back into the thing with some key pickups
3) Nice to see everybody hold off on closers (First one picked was round 8) they just don't throw enough innings to give you anything real substantial besides saves.
4) Just my opinion but it seems that the majority of guys have way too many hitters. This might be because not everyone was there at the draft but you've got to realize that hitters on your bench might get in the starting lineup one game every two weeks whereas you can work in your entire pitching bench every week because unlike everyday players starting pitchers pitch once every fifth game.
5) Only other point is to remember that we don't count average only on base percentage. So guys like Troy Glaus with a poor 252 batting average become much more valuable with a solid 355 on base percentage. People seemed to do a good job with this
Enough of that on to the rankings. Rather than rank them by number I've separated them into three groups based on their probability of winning. Snowball's chance, Puncher's chance, Legit contender.
Snowball's Chance
Team Mr. Pink: Nice to see you take the draft seriously. Even though you could have waited to round three if not later to grab Jeter why fool around. If this were a draft of guys you want to pick up chicks with then Jeter would be the no brainer choice and the draft would probably unfold like this:
1) Jeter
2) Sizemore
3) Beltran
4) Billy Beane
7,851,654) Randy Johnson
The G-Dot Stars: Another guy who did his homework. Maybe the veteran leadership behind the plate will payoff big in the postseason. If this were 1999 though we'd all be in big trouble.
Puncher's Chance
Cornbat Cowboys: Good balance and fire power on offence but just way too many hitters. Only three starting pitchers and two of them are over forty (Smoltz, Johnson) luckily every year there are lots of solid starters on the waiver wire.
Legit Contenders That's right 5 of the 8 teams are legit contenders
Danger The Bat: In your quest to field the same team as last year you seemed to forget that last year you finished second and that last years league had ten teams in it not eight. With that said still some solid players on offence and a deep pitching rotation. (Anyone who's first name is pronounced Dice K is alright in my books)
John Kruk: Solid team top to bottom and some stud pitchers. Only thing that concerns me is the lack of pitching depth but that can be addressed in the waiver wire.
Cox of Seagulls: Absolutely loaded offensive lineup. lots of quality pitchers. Here's a guy that knows what he's doing.
Zinger Tosses K's: Another loaded offensive lineup and some ace pitchers and closers to boot. Plus he's got the secret to my past winning teams which is be fortunate enough to have Pujols on your team. Only downside is a couple too many batters but that is easily correctable.
The Vanilla Thrilla: Obviously I like my team also. I kind of wish I would have taken A-rod over Soriano because he's more consistent and has better plate discipline but going back to the Jeter analogy that's like Jeter complaining about not banging Jessica Alba anymore even though he's banging Jessica Biel. Anyway this took a really long time to write, time I should have spent studying but if I fail my midterms tomorrow I can always take them again next semester. You need to remember what's really important in life things like fantasy baseball. Seeing as how this is a really long season and guys tend to drop out at some point during the season I'll try to write something up here at least once every two weeks or so. That way maybe it will entice them to stick around longer and if some guy with no training and no talent writing about a pretend league with no money on the line doesn't get you excited then there's no hope for you.
(Some of it doesn't make sense and I had to edit a couple of points)
You know how I called out Lee Humphrey and he responded with his best game of the year. Well on Friday I was all ready to call out either Brewer (who was turning the ball over too much and not making his outside shots) or Chris Richard (who was giving us nothing in the post) Anyways I never got around to writing anything Friday and I don't even care that you don't believe me. The point is Noah I'm calling you out for the finals. With Horford on Oden they have no one who should handle you. It's time to make everyone remember why you could have been the top pick last year.
Alright today is the start of the baseball season and I participated in two fantasy baseball drafts. One of them was a 14 team league where everyone knew what they were doing. The other was an 8 team league that a couple of people took as a joke and I ended up with a ridiculously good team. Anyway here's my team and my preseason rankings that I posted in the message board.
My Team
1B: Ortiz
2B: Phillips
3B: Chipper
SS: Furcal (Cabrera)
OF: Soriano
OF: Crawford
OF: Dunn
UT: Hafner
Bench: Swisher
Bench: Giambi
SP: Oswalt
SP: Webb
RP: Ray
RP: F. Cordero
P: Isringhausen
P: Young
P: Haren
P: Bonderman
P: Capuano
P: Patterson
P: Vazquez
Alright as promised the official preseason rankings but before I get into them just a couple of thoughts about the draft.
1) Small league so everybody's team is loaded some more than others but still everybody has quality players everywhere.
2) With the small league that means that there are and will be very good players on the waiver wire. So teams that aren't sitting pretty right now can jump right back into the thing with some key pickups
3) Nice to see everybody hold off on closers (First one picked was round 8) they just don't throw enough innings to give you anything real substantial besides saves.
4) Just my opinion but it seems that the majority of guys have way too many hitters. This might be because not everyone was there at the draft but you've got to realize that hitters on your bench might get in the starting lineup one game every two weeks whereas you can work in your entire pitching bench every week because unlike everyday players starting pitchers pitch once every fifth game.
5) Only other point is to remember that we don't count average only on base percentage. So guys like Troy Glaus with a poor 252 batting average become much more valuable with a solid 355 on base percentage. People seemed to do a good job with this
Enough of that on to the rankings. Rather than rank them by number I've separated them into three groups based on their probability of winning. Snowball's chance, Puncher's chance, Legit contender.
Snowball's Chance
Team Mr. Pink: Nice to see you take the draft seriously. Even though you could have waited to round three if not later to grab Jeter why fool around. If this were a draft of guys you want to pick up chicks with then Jeter would be the no brainer choice and the draft would probably unfold like this:
1) Jeter
2) Sizemore
3) Beltran
4) Billy Beane
7,851,654) Randy Johnson
The G-Dot Stars: Another guy who did his homework. Maybe the veteran leadership behind the plate will payoff big in the postseason. If this were 1999 though we'd all be in big trouble.
Puncher's Chance
Cornbat Cowboys: Good balance and fire power on offence but just way too many hitters. Only three starting pitchers and two of them are over forty (Smoltz, Johnson) luckily every year there are lots of solid starters on the waiver wire.
Legit Contenders That's right 5 of the 8 teams are legit contenders
Danger The Bat: In your quest to field the same team as last year you seemed to forget that last year you finished second and that last years league had ten teams in it not eight. With that said still some solid players on offence and a deep pitching rotation. (Anyone who's first name is pronounced Dice K is alright in my books)
John Kruk: Solid team top to bottom and some stud pitchers. Only thing that concerns me is the lack of pitching depth but that can be addressed in the waiver wire.
Cox of Seagulls: Absolutely loaded offensive lineup. lots of quality pitchers. Here's a guy that knows what he's doing.
Zinger Tosses K's: Another loaded offensive lineup and some ace pitchers and closers to boot. Plus he's got the secret to my past winning teams which is be fortunate enough to have Pujols on your team. Only downside is a couple too many batters but that is easily correctable.
The Vanilla Thrilla: Obviously I like my team also. I kind of wish I would have taken A-rod over Soriano because he's more consistent and has better plate discipline but going back to the Jeter analogy that's like Jeter complaining about not banging Jessica Alba anymore even though he's banging Jessica Biel. Anyway this took a really long time to write, time I should have spent studying but if I fail my midterms tomorrow I can always take them again next semester. You need to remember what's really important in life things like fantasy baseball. Seeing as how this is a really long season and guys tend to drop out at some point during the season I'll try to write something up here at least once every two weeks or so. That way maybe it will entice them to stick around longer and if some guy with no training and no talent writing about a pretend league with no money on the line doesn't get you excited then there's no hope for you.
(Some of it doesn't make sense and I had to edit a couple of points)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Wrestlemania
Before I get to today's column just a couple of points from the last round of the tournament.
1) How entertaining was the Georgetown, North Carolina game? And since I hate North Carolina and have Georgetown making the finals it was all the better. Single handily saved my bracket and gave me an outside shot of winning my pool.
2) See what happens when I call guys out. Lee Humphrey thank you for stepping up and not allowing a pesky Oregon team to knock us out. Thank you.
3) In Simmons column on Tuesday he said how ABC and ESPN talked his wife into writing a recap of the Bachelor for there website. This seems unlikely and I'm pretty sure it went down like this.
Sports Gal: Bill I'm bored I've got nothing to do around the house all day
Simmons: So what do you want me to do? Go do something.
Sports Gal: Bill remember when you made your football picks and I had my own little column that was fun.
Simmons: Yeah
Sports Gal: Well I was thinking maybe you could talk to your editors about giving me a column
Simmons: Well we write about sports. You'd have to write about sports.
Sports Gal: Well they're partners with ABC maybe you could talk to them about me writing something for them.
Simmons gets a pale look over his face as he stands there frozen.
Sports Gal: Bill will you just talk to your editor for me?
Simmons: Ughh
Sports Gal: After all the (expletive) I put up with from you you can't do this one thing for me.
See I'm pretty sure that's how it happened
Anyway so this weekend is Wrestlemania and it may surprise you to know that I was once a wrestling fan. When I say once I mean two years ago and when I say fan I mean huge fan, like order every pay-per-view and go see live shows type of fan. So what turned me off? Well for one thing I became ten times more busy with the start of university and to really get the full entertainment value of wrestling you have to be ensconced in it. There are certain things that you just come to accept when being a wrestling fan. The storylines make no sense, the acting is awful, and that these are muscular men fighting in their underwear. When you are really ensconced in it you forget these things and it is just pure entertainment, but when you only watch occasionally these things really jump out at you. I almost went back last year when I heard that Kevin Federline was on it because well that's just good television but every time I tried to watch all of the above mentioned flaws jumped out at me. Looks like wrestling will be a part of my now dying youth which is said because there's a lot of things that I still miss about it like the following.
1) The thrill of excitement from major pay-per-views like wrestlemania and summerslam. When you're into it the electricity is unbelievable.
2) The wrestling crowds: It's nice to go to a wrestling event with your friends and know you're the coolest guys there. I remember one live show I went to they were throwing out T-shirts and I out jumped a couple of three hundred pound guys, a ten year old and a couple dudes in sweat pants to hall it in. I then proceeded to celebrate like OJ Mayo only to bring the T-Shirt home and realize it was a XXX-L. I guess I should have given it to the guys that were three bills.
3) Back in ninth grade there was an extremely attractive classmate of mine and she overheard my friend and I talk about wrestling and turns out she was a huge fan. I nearly proposed right there. I wasn't that turned on until senior year when another gorgeous girl overheard me talking about a Boxing match and it turned out she loved boxing.
I wish I never stopped watching but now that I have I'm afraid I can't go back. Maybe I should give it one more try. If this Sunday I'm bored around 8:00pm I might just place the order. If you ever cared about wrestling maybe you should consider doing the same.
1) How entertaining was the Georgetown, North Carolina game? And since I hate North Carolina and have Georgetown making the finals it was all the better. Single handily saved my bracket and gave me an outside shot of winning my pool.
2) See what happens when I call guys out. Lee Humphrey thank you for stepping up and not allowing a pesky Oregon team to knock us out. Thank you.
3) In Simmons column on Tuesday he said how ABC and ESPN talked his wife into writing a recap of the Bachelor for there website. This seems unlikely and I'm pretty sure it went down like this.
Sports Gal: Bill I'm bored I've got nothing to do around the house all day
Simmons: So what do you want me to do? Go do something.
Sports Gal: Bill remember when you made your football picks and I had my own little column that was fun.
Simmons: Yeah
Sports Gal: Well I was thinking maybe you could talk to your editors about giving me a column
Simmons: Well we write about sports. You'd have to write about sports.
Sports Gal: Well they're partners with ABC maybe you could talk to them about me writing something for them.
Simmons gets a pale look over his face as he stands there frozen.
Sports Gal: Bill will you just talk to your editor for me?
Simmons: Ughh
Sports Gal: After all the (expletive) I put up with from you you can't do this one thing for me.
See I'm pretty sure that's how it happened
Anyway so this weekend is Wrestlemania and it may surprise you to know that I was once a wrestling fan. When I say once I mean two years ago and when I say fan I mean huge fan, like order every pay-per-view and go see live shows type of fan. So what turned me off? Well for one thing I became ten times more busy with the start of university and to really get the full entertainment value of wrestling you have to be ensconced in it. There are certain things that you just come to accept when being a wrestling fan. The storylines make no sense, the acting is awful, and that these are muscular men fighting in their underwear. When you are really ensconced in it you forget these things and it is just pure entertainment, but when you only watch occasionally these things really jump out at you. I almost went back last year when I heard that Kevin Federline was on it because well that's just good television but every time I tried to watch all of the above mentioned flaws jumped out at me. Looks like wrestling will be a part of my now dying youth which is said because there's a lot of things that I still miss about it like the following.
1) The thrill of excitement from major pay-per-views like wrestlemania and summerslam. When you're into it the electricity is unbelievable.
2) The wrestling crowds: It's nice to go to a wrestling event with your friends and know you're the coolest guys there. I remember one live show I went to they were throwing out T-shirts and I out jumped a couple of three hundred pound guys, a ten year old and a couple dudes in sweat pants to hall it in. I then proceeded to celebrate like OJ Mayo only to bring the T-Shirt home and realize it was a XXX-L. I guess I should have given it to the guys that were three bills.
3) Back in ninth grade there was an extremely attractive classmate of mine and she overheard my friend and I talk about wrestling and turns out she was a huge fan. I nearly proposed right there. I wasn't that turned on until senior year when another gorgeous girl overheard me talking about a Boxing match and it turned out she loved boxing.
I wish I never stopped watching but now that I have I'm afraid I can't go back. Maybe I should give it one more try. If this Sunday I'm bored around 8:00pm I might just place the order. If you ever cared about wrestling maybe you should consider doing the same.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Repeat?
With the final eight teams (six in a few hours) set we're finally able to see the finish line. No team has looked invincible but they have all shown the ability to win the entire thing. (Well maybe not Memphis or Oregon) With that being said I think it's finally time to consider if the Gators have enough talent and luck to be the first repeat champions since Duke did it about fifteen years ago.
The Pros:
They have the best starting five in the country. I don't care how good Georgetown's starting line-up is the Gators is better. Two possible top five picks and another possible lottery selection. Not to mention that their front courts height are 6-11, 6-10, 6-8.
They have a wealth of experience. Obviously winning the whole thing last year does something for you. Near the end of the Purdue game and the end of the Butler game when it was close the Gators just pulled away. Most of that was because they were just better athletes than their opponents but they still made the right decisions and made their free throws.
There's a Gator mystic that they can always come back and win the game. They won it last year, they blew out Ohio State this year, their football team won it all this year. There's just a certain moxy surrounding the Gators that is going to be hard to put away.
The Cons
They seem disinterested at times. It took them awhile to get going in all three games and two of them came down to the wire against far lesser competition. What happens if a team doesn't let them hang around and there down by 15 at half. Or what happens if it comes down to the wire like against Purdue and Butler only this time the team has similar talent to you? What happens when you feed it to Horford and his shot doesn't go down? What happens when the other team comes back and hits a three instead of missing it like Purdue and Butler did?
They aren't deep. They basically have a 7 man rotation with Richard and Hodge coming off the bench. If someone goes down or gets into foul trouble I'm not sure if Werner or Speights can handle the pressure. They haven't played many minutes and they're both freshman.
Humphrey seems to be in a permanent cold spell. If it were me I'd start Hodge and bring Humphrey of the bench. Against better competition Humphrey just seems too easy to guard. He's nothing but a pure shooter who can't seem to get open looks. Hodge is a better defender, better ball handler and makes better decisions with the ball. He's a good shooter and can create with the ball in his hands. Plus he always seems to know to feed it to the bigs inside. The only downside is that then you have no back-up point guard. In the crunch time though I'd definitely have Hodge in for Humphrey.
Bottom Line
All the teams have had their problems. Kansas couldn't seem to put away an over matched Southern Illinois team. UCLA has trouble scoring, Oregon just doesn't have the horses. Memphis hasn't played real close games since December, Ohio State should have lost twice, North Carolina fell behind by 16 to USC and Georgetown needed a bogus non travelling call to get by Vandy.
So much of this tournament depends on luck but considering the teams left I think they have the best team and the easiest road to the finals.
Can they get it done? Yes. Will they get it done? I don't know
So after all that I came to absolutely no conclusion. Writing at its finest.
The Pros:
They have the best starting five in the country. I don't care how good Georgetown's starting line-up is the Gators is better. Two possible top five picks and another possible lottery selection. Not to mention that their front courts height are 6-11, 6-10, 6-8.
They have a wealth of experience. Obviously winning the whole thing last year does something for you. Near the end of the Purdue game and the end of the Butler game when it was close the Gators just pulled away. Most of that was because they were just better athletes than their opponents but they still made the right decisions and made their free throws.
There's a Gator mystic that they can always come back and win the game. They won it last year, they blew out Ohio State this year, their football team won it all this year. There's just a certain moxy surrounding the Gators that is going to be hard to put away.
The Cons
They seem disinterested at times. It took them awhile to get going in all three games and two of them came down to the wire against far lesser competition. What happens if a team doesn't let them hang around and there down by 15 at half. Or what happens if it comes down to the wire like against Purdue and Butler only this time the team has similar talent to you? What happens when you feed it to Horford and his shot doesn't go down? What happens when the other team comes back and hits a three instead of missing it like Purdue and Butler did?
They aren't deep. They basically have a 7 man rotation with Richard and Hodge coming off the bench. If someone goes down or gets into foul trouble I'm not sure if Werner or Speights can handle the pressure. They haven't played many minutes and they're both freshman.
Humphrey seems to be in a permanent cold spell. If it were me I'd start Hodge and bring Humphrey of the bench. Against better competition Humphrey just seems too easy to guard. He's nothing but a pure shooter who can't seem to get open looks. Hodge is a better defender, better ball handler and makes better decisions with the ball. He's a good shooter and can create with the ball in his hands. Plus he always seems to know to feed it to the bigs inside. The only downside is that then you have no back-up point guard. In the crunch time though I'd definitely have Hodge in for Humphrey.
Bottom Line
All the teams have had their problems. Kansas couldn't seem to put away an over matched Southern Illinois team. UCLA has trouble scoring, Oregon just doesn't have the horses. Memphis hasn't played real close games since December, Ohio State should have lost twice, North Carolina fell behind by 16 to USC and Georgetown needed a bogus non travelling call to get by Vandy.
So much of this tournament depends on luck but considering the teams left I think they have the best team and the easiest road to the finals.
Can they get it done? Yes. Will they get it done? I don't know
So after all that I came to absolutely no conclusion. Writing at its finest.
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