The NFL season got off to a great start last week. There were some surprisingly close games as some teams looked better than we thought and some teams looked worse than we thought. The injury bug also bit particularly hard in week 1. Bears LB Brian Urlacher was lost for the season, Steelers S Troy Polamalu will be out 3-6 weeks with an MCL sprain, and Patriots LB Jerod Mayo will be out 6-8 weeks with the same injury. Will other star players go down to injury and will some of the trends we saw in week 1 continue into week 2? Let’s take a preview of all the NFL action and see:
Ravens (1-0) vs. Chargers (1-0) – This game has the potential to be extremely good and it will be a tough test for both teams. The Ravens looked pretty good in their opening week win over the Chiefs, but it was not a perfect performance. The Ravens did allow 24 points on defense to a 2nd string quarterback, but 14 of those points did come off of a punt block and a very short drive after a long interception return. I think it was a better performance than the scoreboard indicated, but there is room for improvement. QB Joe Flacco looked tremendous on Sunday as he had his first ever 300-yard passing game and 3 TD performance. Without question, Flacco looked more mature and in much greater control of the offense. Baltimore has now shown the ability to score through the air, not just on the ground.
To be successful against San Diego though, they will need good balance. The Chargers’ defense is very solid and the Ravens will have to mix it up. RB Ray Rice will need to have a good game and Flacco will have to continue to make good decisions and get all of his receivers involved. This becomes critical considering that the Ravens are on the road and making a cross country trip. For the Chargers, they will need to have a better performance than they did against Oakland. The Chargers are lucky to have escaped with a win and they were not playing their best. They allowed the Raiders to dominate the line of scrimmage and Oakland was able to move the ball on the ground. The Ravens will try to do the same with Rice in this game and he needs to be effective. The Chargers are dealing with injuries along the offensive line after week 1 and RB LaDainian Tomlinson is also fighting an ankle injury that could limit him in this game.
This should be a great game and based on the week 1 performances, I think I give the edge to the Ravens. The game against the Chiefs was closer than it should have been, but Baltimore looked in control for the most part. In the Chargers’ case, Oakland seemed to have more control of the game. The injuries on the offensive line could allow the Ravens to have a better chance at stopping LT and RB Darren Sproles and also allow them to get more pressure on QB Philip Rivers. If the Ravens can bring a similar offensive performance from last week to San Diego, I think they should be able to sneak out with a close win. I might have a little bit of a “homer” bias in this one, but what the hell.
*Note: Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson has officially been scratched for the game with a sprained ankle. While I do not think that this will devastate San Diego, it obviously does not help them and it gives another small edge to the Ravens.
Prediction: Ravens
Falcons (1-0) vs. Panthers (0-1) – This will be a huge matchup this week for both teams and the Falcons have a chance to get a quick 2 game lead over Carolina right off the bat. It would seem Atlanta is on pace to do that after the horrible start to the season for QB Jake Delhomme. Including last year’s playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Delhomme has turned the ball over 11 times in his past 2 games. He looks extremely shaky and lacking in confidence. Coach John Fox has said that Delhomme’s role with the team is “unchanged” and he will remain the starter. The only way Carolina stands a chance is if Delhomme brings better play to the field on Sunday. The Carolina defense was shredded by the Eagles and it will not get much easier as they go on the road to Atlanta. The Falcons will have the advantage in the dome and QB Matt Ryan continues to improve. He already looks like he has great chemistry with TE Tony Gonzalez and is in better control of the offense in his 2nd year, just like Joe Flacco with the Ravens. RB Michael Turner had a subpar game against Miami, so he will be looking to bounce back in this one. Atlanta played a good defensive game against the Dolphins at home last week, and if they bring a similar effort this week, I don’t see how they lose. The turmoil in Carolina just does not lead me to think an upset will happen in this game. I’m taking the Falcons at home.
Prediction: Falcons
Vikings (1-0) vs. Lions (0-1) – I’m not sure that much analysis is needed on this one. Detroit lost their 18th straight game last week and it looks like it will move to 19 after this one. The Vikings are coming off of a solid week 1 performance, beating the Browns in Cleveland 34-20. Minnesota followed a winning formula that will most likely take them far this year. QB Brett Favre effectively managed the game and did not turn the ball over and he just let RB Adrian Peterson run wild. Peterson ran for 180 yards and 3 TDs in the win. The Vikings’ defense also did its job and pretty much shut down the Browns. If Minnesota continues to do this, they will rack up a lot of wins. The Lions had their moments last week, but once again they were soundly beaten. Saints QB Drew Brees lit up the Detroit defense for 6 TD passes in the Saints’ 45-27 win. Things will not get much easier for the Lions with Favre and Peterson coming to town. Lions QB Matthew Stafford did not look that good as he completed less than 50% of his passes and threw 3 interceptions. As I have been saying all along, I believe QB Daunte Culpepper gives the Lions a better chance to get a win in the first half of the season. Detroit will continue to suffer through Stafford’s growing pains and even at home, I see another loss for the Lions.
Prediction: Vikings
Packers (1-0) vs. Bengals (0-1) – This game should not be that much of a contest based on the performances we saw on Sunday. The Bengals looked horrible against the Broncos, even though it took a last-minute freak play for Cincy to lose. With QB Carson Palmer coming back healthy from injury, the Bengals were only able to find the end zone one time and it took them the entire game to get there. The Broncos’ defense is not as good as it used to be, so it is safe to say that the Bengals just flat out struggled. Their defense played well, but you have to consider that Broncos QB Kyle Orton was fighting a dislocated finger and could not throw the ball that effectively. The talk of Cincinnati possibly making a run at the playoffs seems very premature. The Packers on the other hand had a pretty impressive performance against the Bears on Sunday night. It wasn’t pretty, but NFC North rivalry games really aren’t supposed to be. QB Aaron Rodgers did what he had to do and looked good in leading the Packers to a game winning TD drive. The Packers’ defense was very good and they shut down Jay Cutler and forced him into 4 interceptions. The Pack always have a great home field advantage at Lambeau Field and I see nothing that tells me the Bengals will come close to pulling off an upset.
Prediction: Packers
Titans (0-1) vs. Texans (0-1) – Both of these teams are coming off of disappointing opening games, but for different reasons. The Texans were flat out embarrassed at home in losing to the New York Jets and rookie QB Mark Sanchez. Once again, the defense was not that strong and Sanchez did not come close to looking like a rookie last week, which is not a good thing if you are Houston. The Texans’ offense also did not show up on Sunday as they were dominated by the Jets and they had trouble even crossing midfield. The offense is supposed to be explosive and help carry Houston this season, but that was not the case in week 1. Now Houston has to travel to Tennessee to play an even better defensive unit. The Titans came close, but disappointingly lost at Pittsburgh in overtime. They did put in a strong effort, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and they deserved to win the game. They have had extra time to rest and prepare for this game, and I would expect them to win handily. Houston did beat Tennessee 13-12 late last year in Houston, but the Titans spanked them 31-12 last year in Tennessee. The Titans just look so much better and I would expect a score closer to what happened in Tennessee last season.
Prediction: Titans
Chiefs (0-1) vs. Raiders (0-1) – Before last Sunday, you would have thought this game would be a total stinker. But after the surprisingly strong efforts from both Kansas City and Oakland, this game could actually not be so bad. The Chiefs hung tough against the Ravens and amazingly had a chance to win the game. Their defense was not great though as the Ravens and QB Joe Flacco ripped them up pretty good. Backup QB Brodie Croyle was able to find some success against Baltimore’s defense, but it was not that good of a performance. The Raiders gave the Chargers all they could handle and actually outplayed San Diego for much of the game. They could not seal the deal however as QB Philip Rivers drove the Chargers to a game-winning TD late in the game. The Raiders did show an ability to run the ball and the offensive line looked good. QB JaMarcus Russell is still slowly developing, but is not at an elite level yet. This game has the look of a back and forth contest that will go down to the wire. Overall, I thought that the Raiders looked a little better than the Chiefs. Richard Seymour came in and had an immediate impact on defense for the Raiders and they look like they could have greater success in shutting down the Chiefs. If QB Matt Cassel is able to play though, that could swing things in Kansas City’s favor. Oakland did actually win at Kansas City last year, so they know what it takes. I will give the slight edge to Oakland in this game even on the road. They looked better in week 1 and Cassel could be a little rusty even if he plays.
Prediction: Raiders
Patriots (1-0) vs. Jets (1-0) – The AFC East schedule gets underway with a very intriguing game between the Patriots and Jets. You would think that the Patriots would have an easy advantage in this one, but New England’s less than impressive performance on Monday night has thrown some doubt into this game. The Patriots’ defense showed some holes against the Bills and suddenly it looked like the Richard Seymour trade might not have been the smartest move. The Patriots also lost LB Jerod Mayo to injury, so the task of rookie QB Mark Sanchez to put up points might not be as hard as it seems. I would have to think though that Bill Belichick would be able to come up with some schemes to make things hard on Sanchez. QB Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense looked sluggish on Monday night, but they eventually got things going late in the 4th quarter when it mattered. Rex Ryan will give New England hell on defense, but I would think that Brady, Moss and company will be motivated to put in a better performance this week. I think they will also be driven by all the trash talking New York has been trying to do this week. Jets free safety Kerry Rhodes claims they want to “embarrass” the Patriots this week. That is easier said than done my friend. With the Patriots being on the road, this could be a very close game and I do think the Jets have a shot at an upset. But I do not feel inclined to take a gamble on a rookie quarterback in this one and I think the Patriots find a way to win again.
Prediction: Patriots
Eagles (1-0) vs. Saints (1-0) – Due to the murky situation with QB Donovan McNabb and his injured ribs, this game could turn out to be the most intriguing of the entire week. McNabb did not practice on Wednesday, but coach Andy Reid said that he was “progressing” and has also said that McNabb will do everything that he can to play. But if McNabb does play, how effective will he be? If he makes one or two bad throws because of his ribs, it could be the difference between a win and a loss. Having McNabb in the lineup certainly gives Philadelphia a better shot at winning. Backup QB Kevin Kolb has not looked that great in limited action and he has shown an inability to get the ball to the Eagles’ playmakers. If Kolb is the starter on Sunday, then the advantage will swing to the Saints. New Orleans will lean on the hot arm of QB Drew Brees, who threw 6 TDs last week in a blowout victory over the Lions. The Eagles’ defense will have to step up and play huge to contain Brees or this game will turn into a shootout and that will not favor Philadelphia with an injured McNabb or ineffective Kolb in the lineup. This game truly hinges on if McNabb plays and how good he looks if he does. If McNabb is out, I would have to go with the Saints to win, even on the road. If Donovan is actually able to come in and effectively run the offense, then the Eagles can pull out a close win at home. This one should be good and should be a true toss up.
*Note: On Friday afternoon, the Eagles officially listed McNabb as doubtful. So it looks like he will not play and that strengthens my thought that you have to favor the Saints.
Prediction: Saints
Redskins (0-1) vs. Rams (0-1) – The Redskins will get a chance to get back on track as the lowly St. Louis Rams come to town. Washington will be looking for revenge in this game after the Rams beat them 19-17 last season. I don’t expect a similar result this time around. St. Louis continues to struggle mightily on both sides of the ball. The Rams were shutout last week by the Seahawks and they might flirt with that again against a tough Washington D. I expect Albert Haynesworth to get after QB Marc Bulger in this one. The Redskins did not look that bad against the Giants last Sunday, but they certainly did not look that good in defeat. They will have to get RB Clinton Portis going and QB Jason Campbell will need to make smart decisions and get WR Santana Moss involved in the passing game. If they do that, they should be able to put up points against a bad Rams defense. There is talk that the Redskins could make a playoff run since they get games like this against St. Louis and also against the lesser teams in the AFC West. They can not afford to lose this game at home against St. Louis and I suspect they won’t.
Prediction: Redskins
Cardinals (0-1) vs. Jaguars (0-1) – The Cardinals got off to a bad start in defense of their NFC Championship by losing to the 49ers 20-16 at home. Things do not get that much easier because they have to travel east to Jacksonville. Historically, the Cardinals have performed very badly when they make east coast trips. It does not help that the offense continues to look out of sync and WR Anquan Boldin continues to battle injuries. The Cardinals will probably be desperate to try and get a win against a Jaguars team that does not look that much better. Jacksonville did go to Indianapolis and put in a hard fought effort in a 14-12 loss to the Colts. The Jaguars do not have an explosive offense by any means and if they hope to win this game, they will need RB Maurice Jones-Drew to be dominant on the ground and control the game. The Jaguars’ defense did hold Peyton Manning in check, so they stand a chance to pull this one out. I see this game as a total toss up. Arizona did get the east coast monkey of their back last year when they went to Carolina and dominated the Panthers. But even though this seems like a new Cardinals team, old habits could reform. I just think that Jacksonville will use the home field advantage and they will have just enough defense to win an ugly game.
Prediction: Jaguars
Seahawks (1-0) vs. 49ers (1-0) – Surprisingly, this game will determine who will grab the early 1st place lead in the NFC West. The 49ers are coming off a big upset win at Arizona to start the year. Their defense looked very good in shutting down QB Kurt Warner and the rest of Arizona’s potent attack. QB Shaun Hill will not really impress you with his stats, but he does enough to manage the offense and he gives San Francisco a chance to win games. To win this game though, the 49ers will need some help from RB Frank Gore on the ground. It remains to be seen how good Seattle will be this year. They turned the ball over on 3 of their first 4 possessions last week, but since it was against the Rams, it did not hurt them. QB Matt Hasselbeck calmed down and guided the Seahawks to a 28-0 win. Seattle has won their past 2 trips to San Francisco and both victories were lopsided contests. But the 49ers are improving under coach Mike Singletary and they are starting to believe that they can have success. Seattle is fighting some injuries and that could make the difference. This should be a very close game and I will give the edge to the home team and take the 49ers.
Prediction: 49ers
Bills (0-1) vs. Buccaneers (0-1) – Buffalo almost shocked the NFL on Monday night by upsetting the Patriots. However, defensive breakdowns and a costly fumble allowed New England to come back and steal a victory. The Bills did show signs of life though and their offense played better than it did in the preseason. QB Trent Edwards still needs to get on the same page with WR Terrell Owens and they need to come up with some more big plays down the field. They will have their chance against a Tampa Bay team that gave up three long touchdown passes to the Cowboys last week. The Buccaneers’ defense is a shell of its former self and they are no longer a dominant unit. That does not bode well for their prospects of winning because the offense is not getting the job done either. QB Byron Leftwich is just not an explosive passer and Tampa Bay has to hope that RB Cadillac Williams can get going for them to have any shot to win. Considering that Buffalo’s defense looked surprisingly good against New England and the fact that the Bills are at home, the definite edge goes to Buffalo.
Prediction: Bills
Steelers (1-0) vs. Bears (0-1) – Pittsburgh opened up defense of their Super Bowl title with a less than impressive victory over the Titans. They did what good teams do though. They found a way to win even when they weren’t playing their best. The Titans are no pushover, so it was a good win. The Steelers lost Troy Polamalu to a sprained knee for 3-6 weeks, but the Bears unfortunately did that one better by losing LB Brian Urlacher for the season with a dislocated wrist. This game figures to be a defensive slugfest, but the loss of Urlacher should have a bigger effect on the Bears. QB Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the offense have had extra time to prepare for this game and I would expect a better effort. I am not sure how the Bears will be able to put up points against Pittsburgh’s defense, even without Polamalu. Chicago was horrible on offense against the Packers and QB Jay Cutler looked particularly bad as he threw 4 interceptions. Cutler has vowed that he will be better, but I don’t think it happens this week. It should be another ugly game, but the experience and championship quality of the Steelers will be enough for them to go to Chicago and pull out a victory.
Prediction: Steelers
Broncos (1-0) vs. Browns (0-1) – This is another game that could turn out to be downright ugly. Both the Broncos and the Browns looked pretty bad in their opening games and Denver pulled off a miracle play to pull out a victory. QB Kyle Orton’s dislocated finger really hampered his ability to throw the ball effectively and the Broncos did next to nothing on offense. If they hope to pull out a win this week, they will need more from rookie RB Knowshon Moreno and the running game. The Broncos actually have a good shot at going to 2-0 because the Browns were just as bad last week. They allowed Vikings RB Adrian Peterson to run all over them and I am sure Denver will be trying to do the same. QB Brady Quinn really struggled and if the Browns have any hope of winning, he is going to have to get some things going with WR Braylon Edwards. This game could be another toss up, but I think the home field advantage will tip the scales in Denver’s favor. Cleveland could easily rise up, play better, and steal a win, but I think the Broncos will do enough on both offense and defense to amazingly get to 2-0.
Prediction: Broncos
Cowboys (1-0) vs. Giants (1-0) – The Cowboys officially open up Cowboys Stadium in the regular season on Sunday night. This looks to be another really tough game to call. You would think that Dallas would have the advantage with all the emotion of the 1st regular season game in their new stadium and having 100,000+ people there rooting them on. However, I can remember back to last year when everyone thought they would win their final game in the old Cowboys Stadium. The Ravens went in there and beat the Cowboys, so it is not a given that Dallas will ride the emotion to a win. The Cowboys did look good in their win against Tampa Bay. QB Tony Romo looked like he had very good chemistry with his wide receivers and he had a career day in terms of passing the ball. He will have to duplicate that performance and get good protection from his offensive line against a good pass rush of the Giants. Some help from Marion Barber would be welcomed as well. The Giants will need to bring the good defensive effort that they had against Washington to Dallas in order to win. QB Eli Manning made some plays in the passing game last week, but he is still lacking a big play threat. RB Brandon Jacobs and RB Ahmad Bradshaw will have to try and control things on the ground for New York. This game is very tough to call, but I think I will have to give the edge to the Cowboys. Jerry Jones and the whole organization have been looking forward to this game and I think Dallas will rise to the occasion to get the job done.
Prediction: Cowboys
Monday Night: Colts (1-0) vs. Dolphins (0-1) – The Monday night game features the Colts traveling down to Miami to play the Dolphins. The Colts were not that impressive in week 1 as they barely beat the Jaguars 14-12 at home. QB Peyton Manning did his part with a 300-yard passing game, but the team lost WR Anthony Gonzalez to a knee injury and they did not run the ball well. RB Joseph Addai will have to give Manning some more support against a tough Dolphins defense that plays well at home. Miami’s problems continue to be on the offensive side of the ball though. They were horrible against the Falcons last week and only put up 7 points. QB Chad Pennington’s dink and dunk throws does not get the job done and Miami can not get into a shootout with Peyton Manning. Both teams seem to be not as good as last year and again, this is a tough one to call. Even on the road though, I will have to stick with the brilliance of Manning and go with him to find a way to lead his team to a victory.
Prediction: Colts
The Game’s Quick Hits
Friday Night Smackdown: I have to say that Smackdown was a fairly uninspiring show this week. The action just felt pretty flat and nothing of real excitement happened. I find it funny that this happens with the reappearance of Batista on Friday nights. The Animal opened the show and claimed that he was excited because his contract with Raw was up and he finally got to make his own choice about his career and he decided to go to Smackdown. Thankfully, Chris Jericho interrupted and delivered his usual solid promo, telling Batista that he is pathetic for pandering to the fans and that he better recognize that Chris Jericho is the face of Smackdown. Batista told him that he has heard “to be the man, you have to beat the man”. He gave Jericho a spinebuster and this set up a main event match between the two. Unfortunately, they gave the main event about 5 minutes and as you would expect, Batista got the victory. At the end of the show, the Big Show was asked for his thoughts backstage and he challenged Batista to a match next week…wonderful. I really hope the WWE is not going to do something stupid like having Batista win the Unified Tag Team Championship by himself. I am already irritated at seeing Jericho being jobbed out in such a short match to Batista and I would be insulted if “creative” pulled a stunt like that.
The other main thing I wanted to see tonight was how they would explain the screwjob that CM Punk and Teddy Long pulled on the Undertaker that occurred at Breaking Point. Sadly, there were no answers to this and it looks like we will get a drawn out drama. The referee in the match, Scott Armstrong, was interviewed and all he said was that he answers to people higher than himself and even though it made him sick, he did what he was told for his family and to keep his job. Teddy Long then came out to the ring and he admitted it was a conspiracy. But again, all he said was that he did what he did because he did not want to end up on the unemployment line. So it looks like we will have a rehash of the “higher power” angle. It soon got absurd as Long went to his limo and we got a cheesy sequence where the Undertaker was the driver and he locked Teddy in the limo. We even got lightning and smoke in the backseat of the limo…yeah, exciting. CM Punk did come out to address the crowd and he cut another great heel promo about how he is better than all of us, but he offered no explanation for what happened at Breaking Point.
The other action that occurred was nothing of note. John Morrison beat Mike Knox in a decent match which featured Dolph Ziggler on commentary. Ziggler put himself over and was then called “Mr. Ziggles” again after the match by Morrison. The Hart Dynasty got a win over Cryme Tyme, so I can only hope that they will start to get a better push and will be allowed to shine. Melina got a non-title win over Michelle McCool, who continued to act like she had an injured knee. And Drew McIntyre apparently took out R Truth backstage again and that prevented him from making his match against Charlie Haas. McIntyre delivered his under hook DDT to Haas to make his point. McIntyre has a decent look and I am interested in seeing him in an extended match.
#10 Boise State 51, Fresno State 34: If Boise State wants a shot to be a BCS buster, they need to run the table in the WAC. The Broncos got a severe test as they visited Fresno State. This game looked like it would be a blowout early. Boise got an interception return by Winston Venable and a 60-yard TD run by D.J. Harper to help them build a 24-3 lead. They were dominating on the defensive side of the ball early and Fresno State looked totally overmatched. However, Fresno State RB Ryan Mathews exploded in the latter stages of the 2nd quarter. He scored on runs of 69 and 60 yards to pull Fresno State back into the game and make the score 24-17 at halftime. The huge runs from Mathews seemed to totally energize Fresno State as the game turned into a slugfest in the 3rd quarter. Both teams went up and down the field and moved the ball on each other. The teams traded field goals and touchdowns as the game went into the 4th quarter with Boise State barely hanging onto a 34-27 lead. The Broncos were on the move to start the 4th though and punched in another TD for a 41-27 lead, but then Ryan Mathews stuck again. He went 68 yards to the house once again and brought it back to a 7 point game. But once again, Boise State punched back with a 67-yard TD pass from QB Kellen Moore to RB Jeremy Avery. The back and forth action and big plays were just unbelievable. Finally though, the Boise State defense rose up and forced a turnover on downs deep in their own territory. Jeremy Avery then struck again with another 60+ yard play as he rushed it deep into Fresno State territory and the Broncos kicked a field goal to seal the game away and Boise held on for a 51-34 victory. This was an absolutely crazy game and Boise did show some cracks on defense. But many people said that Fresno could give them a challenge and annually, the Bulldogs usually do give Boise State a game. This win is just another hurdle that Boise has now cleared as they will try to march forward to a BCS Bowl game. They showed a great deal of heart and determination to continue to punch back and pull out this win on the road.
- The Boston Bruins traded winger Phil Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs for two first-round draft picks and a second-round draft pick and Kessel subsequently signed a 5-year, $27 million contract with the Leafs. This trade has been rumored for a while now as it was clear Kessel did not see eye-to-eye with Bruins coach Claude Julien and he had already rejected a new contract from Boston. I think losing a 21-year old player who has great upside is not a great thing for Boston. Toronto continues to try and rebuild their team and Kessel will now be a centerpiece. I think Toronto could challenge for a playoff spot this season and Kessel should be leading the charge. The Bruins will survive this trade just fine and will still be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. It is certainly not a trade that will shift any major power in the East, but it will make waves.
- The Philadelphia Eagles officially listed QB Donovan McNabb as doubtful for this Sunday, so it appears he will not be able to play. This means that QB Kevin Kolb will get the start against the Saints. This obviously will hurt the Eagles and now I believe the Saints have to be favored for the game. Kolb has not shown us much of anything and until he does, you would have to bet against him. Unless the Eagles’ defense has a huge game and can totally shut down Saints QB Drew Brees, I don’t think Philly will be able to put up enough points to win.
- Sources indicate that USC will go with QB Aaron Corp as their starter today against Washington after QB Matt Barkley has been unable to practice all week. Barkley is still battling a shoulder bruise and has not been able to throw. The reports say that Barkley will resume the starting role when he is back to being healthy. This probably will not hurt the Trojans that much. Corp was supposed to be the starter and had the job in the spring, but then he got hurt and Barkley was extremely impressive and grabbed the role away from him. The only concern for USC will be if Corp tries to press and do too much against Washington. He might want to try and impress the coaches in an attempt to get more playing time and that could lead to mistakes. The Trojans will have to be careful and work hard in this game against the Huskies, but they should still have too much for Washington to deal with and USC will pull out a victory.
- Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West was arrested Thursday after an officer pulled him over for speeding on a motorcycle while carrying two loaded handguns and a loaded shotgun in a guitar case. West was riding a Can-Am Spyder motorcycle and he cut off an officer who then pulled him over and found the loaded weapons on him. Well this is just another boneheaded move by another athlete. West’s first mistake was speeding and cutting off a police officer. Why he ever decided to do that is beyond me. I have no idea why he was packing that much heat and it seems pretty foolish. If you are going to take risks like that, at least take the proper precautions. I am not sure if West will be disciplined or not, but this is the type of thing that can distract a good team like the Cavaliers and take the focus off the goal of winning a championship. These actions from West are just one step away from him pulling a “Plaxico Burress”, so I hope he will use better judgment in the future.
Showing posts with label USC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USC. Show all posts
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Ovie and the Olympics
Training camps for the NHL are now open and like usual, it seems that the Washington Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin is making waves for something. This time, he has stirred a bit of controversy over NHL participation in the Olympic Games. During the summer, players from around the league attended Olympic camps and the process is underway to finalize national squads for the 2010 Winter Olympics taking place in Vancouver in February. However, there has been no commitment from the NHL about players taking part in the 2014 Winter Games. Why is this such a big problem for Ovechkin? The 2014 Olympics are taking place in his home country of Russia. Ovechkin has told ESPN that he will play in those games regardless of if the NHL sanctions his participation or not. So the big question becomes, what should happen in this situation?
"Nobody can say to me, 'You can't play for your country in the Olympic Games,'" Ovechkin said. Obviously, he should have every right to make this decision and I fully support his stance on the matter. When you consider that people can go off to war and die when they are 18-years old, surely an athlete should be able to go represent his county in the Olympics. Ovechkin told ESPN that he will risk suspension from the league and the Capitals to go to Russia and play if needs be. He also indicated that other Russian superstars like the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin and the Atlanta Thrashers’ Ilya Kovalchuk have pledged to play in the Games whether the NHL is formally attending or not. If this were to happen, it would put pressure on other Russian players to do the same and it could be a domino effect where other nations would want their top players participating as well. And if you talk to the NHL Players’ Association, it is clear that the players want to support International hockey and want to play in the Olympics. So what is the problem then? As always, the root seems to be money.
Olympic Games participation has apparently gotten mixed reviews from the owners around the NHL. It seems many do not want to shut down the league for two to three weeks, especially for games that will likely not be televised in prime time. Well, there you go. It’s all about the money. The greedy owners do not want to risk losing any revenue and they can’t stand to not make any money from home games for 2-3 weeks. This really makes no sense to me. First of all, during Olympic years, the NHL still plays a full 82-game schedule, so there would be no revenue loss from decreased ticket sales due to fewer games. And I thought that the Olympics are designed to showcase the sport. You know…having people watch the best athletes in a sport compete at the highest level. I don’t see how that could possibly decrease interest in the sport. Frankly, I don’t see how the NHL or the owners would be losing any money at all. The only risk, of course, is the potential that a star player gets injured. I can understand this concern. The Washington Capitals would surely be pissed off if Alex Ovechkin suffered an injury at the Olympics. If he would be out for an extended period, the Caps would risk losing many more games and potentially missing the playoffs, and that would then start to hit the owners’ pockets. However, any All-star competition is like that and you just can’t predict when and where an injury will occur.
But with every risk, there is a reward. The Olympics are a great showcase for the game of hockey and it will give the NHL tons of added exposure. I personally love watching Olympic hockey. The rink is bigger, so that gives an advantage to the more highly skilled players. The action is faster and the stars are allowed to shine. The talent level is amazing when you put the best players together on one team and the games are very exciting. Throw in all the drama of tournament play, the craziness of the fans, and the sheer desire of each and every player wanting to do well for their country, and you have the makings of an event you want to watch. In my opinion, the benefits of allowing NHL participation every 4 years in the Olympics outweigh the negatives. The owners need to recognize that the Olympics are for the good of the game and their greedy pockets will not be lightened by them.
Ovechkin is calling for a meeting of the NHL players to discuss participation in the 2014 Games. He also claims that the players, not the owners, are the ones losing money. He apparently is talking about “escrow”, the money taken out of the players' paychecks to ensure that the NHLPA-NHL split of league revenues is as mandated in the collective bargaining agreement. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true and that is just one more reason why I hope the NHLPA and all the players stick to their guns and demand Olympic participation.
When it comes to a player of Ovechkin’s caliber, I think the league would be in a tough spot anyway. If Ovechkin did bolt for Russia to play in 2014, what would the league do? The NHL and the Capitals would be within their rights to suspend him, but would you really do that to one of the NHL’s brightest lights and the face of the Washington franchise? It might be possible to give special exemptions out to allow players to go and participate, but then that would toy with the competitive balance of NHL games that would still be happening those 2-3 weeks. I believe the NHL would be in a tough spot and they have no choice but to continue participating in the Olympics.
The bottom line here is that hockey is a great game and the Olympic Games are a great platform for it. People want to see the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level. When you bring it all together, there exists the chance that some magic will occur. All that will do is help the game of hockey, not hurt it. Unfortunately, the NHL still lags behind the other 3 major sports for exposure and fans. I really do not see how pulling out of the Olympics would ever help. I hope Ovechkin is able to lead the charge so that the NHL will fully participate in 2014. I know I will be watching if it happens.
The Game’s Quick Hits
ECW Recap: I was interested to see what would go down on last night’s ECW since William Regal lost to Christian in the ECW Championship match at Breaking Point. Right away it looked like we would get some answers as ECW GM Tiffany came out to the ring, but she was quickly interrupted by Regal, Ezekiel Jackson, and Vladimir Kozlov. Regal was in classic heel form as he complemented Tiffany on her looks and on the “great job” she is doing as GM. Of course this led right into Regal asking why his boys were banned from ringside at Breaking Point and he followed that up by asking for another shot at Christian’s title. Tiffany responded that she was only ensuring a 1 on 1 match at the PPV and that it is important to have different challengers for the championship, so Regal would not be getting another opportunity. Well I will certainly give credit for that. Unfortunately, Regal did look like a chump in losing 2 title matches to Christian, so I don’t really see why he should get another shot. Instead, Tiffany announced a #1 contender’s battle royal as the main event to see who would be next in line for a title match. Before she left though, Tiffany booked Regal, who was in a dapper suit mind you, in a match against the Hurricane. Regal and Hurricane had a short match which ended with Regal cracking his knee against Hurricane’s skull and picking up the win. Hurricane was then attacked after the match by Paul Burchill, who vowed to not stop until he showed everyone how much of a fraud Gregory Helms is. So it looks like that feud will continue.
Before the main event battle royal, Yoshi Tatsu was getting English lessons from Goldust. Yeah, I know. Anyway, Zack Ryder woo woo wooed his way into the locker room and Yoshi let him know that Goldust taught him how to say loser in English…which oddly translates to Zack Ryder according to Yoshi. So, the two proceeded to have a pretty good match. I am not sure how far up the ladder either one of these two can elevate, but they are solid hands in the ring and can put on a good performance. Yoshi was able to hit a kick to the back of Ryder’s head to pick up the win.
It was then time for the #1 contender’s battle royal, featuring 10 ECW superstars. I won’t give a long winded recap of it, but going into the match, I pretty much thought it was going to come down to Jackson, Kozlov, and Tommy Dreamer as the final 3. For some odd reason, the crowd was behind Goldust and wanted him to win. Sheamus was eliminated during the course of the match and then was able to hit a shot on Shelton Benjamin which caused his elimination. The two brawled on the outside of the ring, so it does indeed look like those two will have some matches in the near future. Surprisingly, Jackson did not even make the final 4 of the match. Goldust had a nice exchange with Ryder and Zack was able to outsmart Goldust and eliminate him. The final 3 were Ryder, Kozlov, and Dreamer. I thought for sure Kozlov was going to take it, but I was surprised again as Dreamer low-bridged Kozlov to eliminate him and then was promptly dumped over the top by Ryder. So folks, your new #1 contender for the ECW Championship is Zack Ryder. I give the WWE credit for giving someone new a shot and Ryder certainly has the ability to produce some good matches. It will be interesting to see how he does against Christian in the coming weeks. Woo woo woo indeed…
- The Philadelphia Eagles activated QB Michael Vick from the exempt list and he is now officially on their 53-man roster and is eligible to practice with the team, even though he is suspended for this week’s game against the Saints. The injury to QB Donovan McNabb seemingly forced the Eagles into doing this. To make room for Vick, the Eagles released WR Hank Baskett. The team had been trying to trade Baskett to get some value for him, but there were no takers. Philadelphia carried 7 wide receivers into the season on their roster, so it is not really a surprise that Baskett was let go. Vick will now practice Wednesday and be in the rotation with QB Kevin Kolb and newly signed QB Jeff Garcia. So it looks like the Eagles are hedging their bets that McNabb might not be able to play this week or even next week and want to get Vick some extra time. I still don’t think Vick is anywhere near ready to play at quarterback full time, but the practice reps will help him regardless of how he is used. It should be a great game this Sunday against the Saints and if it turns into a shootout and McNabb is not playing, things could be mighty interesting.
- In other Eagles’ news, sources are reporting that RB Brian Westbrook will now become a free agent after next season. So how is this possible when Westbrook signed a 5-year, $32 million extension last August? Apparently, there was a revision to the contract and buried in the 60 pages of legal junk and contract terms, the team had a clause to trigger the extension of the deal from 2011 to 2013. This clause is a $7 million option bonus due in 2010 and the Eagles did not exercise this clause. Therefore, there is no extension and Westbrook’s contract ends next year. To borrow a phrase from Dave Chappelle as Rick James, that is cooooold blooooded! Really, that is a savvy and calculating move to get out of the deal. With Westbrook’s history of injuries and the fact that he turned 30 on September 2, I can see why the Eagles are going to let him go. As everyone knows, running backs usually hit a wall at age 30 and almost become untouchable as far as some teams are concerned. It is extremely tough for an “older” running back to get a premier starting role and it looks like Westbrook will be hung out to dry. The Eagles did the same thing to Brian Dawkins this year and they might cut bait with Donovan McNabb as well. Philly fans will have to hope that the team can reload it seems.
- Kansas City Chiefs Coach Todd Haley said on Tuesday that QB Matt Cassel is still questionable and he is not sure whether he will be able to play this Sunday. If he still can’t go, QB Brodie Croyle will get the start once again. The Chiefs also have signed WR Bobby Wade after he was recently cut by the Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs actually impressed me a little bit in their loss to the Ravens and I think they could steal a few wins this season if Cassel comes back healthy and gives them steady play. Wade will help their offense, but the defense is going to have to step it up because the Ravens and QB Joe Flacco ripped them to shreds.
- Oklahoma Sooners Coach Bob Stoops is not talking about QB Sam Bradford’s injury or giving any sort of indication as to how he is progressing. When asked about whether Bradford would be able to return this week or had resumed throwing, Stoops said he's "not even going to go there." Well it seems as though Stoops is borrowing a page out of Eric Mangini’s “secret” playbook. I can understand his decision though. In Oklahoma, any speculation about Bradford would likely dominate the news and Stoops wants to keep the focus on the field and on this weekend’s game against Tulsa. I highly doubt that Bradford would be ready to play this week, but when the October 3rd game against Miami rolls around, it might be a different story.
- USC QB Matt Barkley was unable to throw for the second straight day in practice, raising the possibility that he will not be able to play this Saturday against Washington. Backup QB Aaron Corp has been taking the reps with the 1st team offense and looks healthy and ready to play if needed. The injury to Barkley is only a bone bruise and not that serious, so it might be best to rest him if he is not 100% to avoid further injury. Washington is certainly a long ways away from being a powerhouse like in the past, so USC should be able to win with either Barkley or Corp behind center.
- The October 1st NHL opener between the Capitals and Boston Bruins is fast approaching and both teams are already dealing with the loss of a forward for the game. Capitals forward Tomas Fleischmann will miss the start of the regular season with a blood clot in his leg. The team thinks the clot might have formed during Fleischmann's long flight home to the Czech Republic at the end of last season and he will not return to practice until early October. That certainly is a little bit of a freak injury and not a good way to start for Fleischmann. He is an important role player for the Caps and he continues to slowly improve. He is still only 25-years old and he had a career high 19 goals last year. Every team needs secondary scoring, so Fleischmann’s absence doesn’t help at the start the season. For the Bruins, it looks like center David Krejci will not be ready to start the season after undergoing offseason hip surgery. There was hope he could beat the projections of returning in early November, but that now seems unlikely. Krejci was Boston’s second-leading scorer last year with 73 points even though he played in pain all year. He now wants to be 100%, so there is only a slight chance he makes the opener. Krejci is more important to the Bruins than Fleischmann is to the Caps, so I hope Krejci takes it easy and skips the opener.
- Boston Red Sox P Daisuke Matsuzaka returned from a 3 month stint on the disabled list and pitched 6 shutout innings to help Boston beat the Angels last night 4-1. DH David Ortiz also hit his record-breaking 270th HR as a designated hitter in the game. Matsuzaka is hoping to prove that he will be able to help the Red Sox in the playoffs and he is looking to get the #4 spot in the rotation locked down. It appears likely that Boston and Los Angeles are heading toward a 1st round matchup in the playoffs, so tonight might have been a preview of what the Angels can expect. Clearly, the Yankees are the favorite in the AL, but I would not count out Boston. The Red Sox have beaten the Angels the past 2 years in the 1st round of the playoffs, so if history holds, they could get a shot at the Yankees and a healthy and productive “Dice-K” will only help their chances if that happens.
- A group of seven Native Americans are trying to go to the Supreme Court because they find the Washington Redskins name offensive. The group claims that the name defames Native Americans and has been working since 1992 to have the Redskins’ trademarks declared invalid. Apparently, a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office panel ruled in their favor in 1999, but since then, other judges have ruled against them and have stated the group waited too long to bring their suit in the first place. Are you kidding me here? I really can’t stand stuff like this. The Redskins name does not defame anyone. The Washington organization is not trying to take advantage of Native Americans nor are they trying to make fun of them or insinuate that there is anything wrong with the group. It a freakin’ team mascot basically…proud Indian warriors going into battle and trying to strive for excellence and victory. Come on man, give me a break! These guys have spent 17 years doing this and I am sure they have dropped a great deal of money too. Don’t they have something better to do? I have always hated the Redskins football team, but I say that this is downright stupid and the organization is not trying to take advantage of Native Americans or put them down in any shape or fashion. I’m sorry, but this is not something THAT offensive. Get over yourselves.
"Nobody can say to me, 'You can't play for your country in the Olympic Games,'" Ovechkin said. Obviously, he should have every right to make this decision and I fully support his stance on the matter. When you consider that people can go off to war and die when they are 18-years old, surely an athlete should be able to go represent his county in the Olympics. Ovechkin told ESPN that he will risk suspension from the league and the Capitals to go to Russia and play if needs be. He also indicated that other Russian superstars like the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin and the Atlanta Thrashers’ Ilya Kovalchuk have pledged to play in the Games whether the NHL is formally attending or not. If this were to happen, it would put pressure on other Russian players to do the same and it could be a domino effect where other nations would want their top players participating as well. And if you talk to the NHL Players’ Association, it is clear that the players want to support International hockey and want to play in the Olympics. So what is the problem then? As always, the root seems to be money.
Olympic Games participation has apparently gotten mixed reviews from the owners around the NHL. It seems many do not want to shut down the league for two to three weeks, especially for games that will likely not be televised in prime time. Well, there you go. It’s all about the money. The greedy owners do not want to risk losing any revenue and they can’t stand to not make any money from home games for 2-3 weeks. This really makes no sense to me. First of all, during Olympic years, the NHL still plays a full 82-game schedule, so there would be no revenue loss from decreased ticket sales due to fewer games. And I thought that the Olympics are designed to showcase the sport. You know…having people watch the best athletes in a sport compete at the highest level. I don’t see how that could possibly decrease interest in the sport. Frankly, I don’t see how the NHL or the owners would be losing any money at all. The only risk, of course, is the potential that a star player gets injured. I can understand this concern. The Washington Capitals would surely be pissed off if Alex Ovechkin suffered an injury at the Olympics. If he would be out for an extended period, the Caps would risk losing many more games and potentially missing the playoffs, and that would then start to hit the owners’ pockets. However, any All-star competition is like that and you just can’t predict when and where an injury will occur.
But with every risk, there is a reward. The Olympics are a great showcase for the game of hockey and it will give the NHL tons of added exposure. I personally love watching Olympic hockey. The rink is bigger, so that gives an advantage to the more highly skilled players. The action is faster and the stars are allowed to shine. The talent level is amazing when you put the best players together on one team and the games are very exciting. Throw in all the drama of tournament play, the craziness of the fans, and the sheer desire of each and every player wanting to do well for their country, and you have the makings of an event you want to watch. In my opinion, the benefits of allowing NHL participation every 4 years in the Olympics outweigh the negatives. The owners need to recognize that the Olympics are for the good of the game and their greedy pockets will not be lightened by them.
Ovechkin is calling for a meeting of the NHL players to discuss participation in the 2014 Games. He also claims that the players, not the owners, are the ones losing money. He apparently is talking about “escrow”, the money taken out of the players' paychecks to ensure that the NHLPA-NHL split of league revenues is as mandated in the collective bargaining agreement. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true and that is just one more reason why I hope the NHLPA and all the players stick to their guns and demand Olympic participation.
When it comes to a player of Ovechkin’s caliber, I think the league would be in a tough spot anyway. If Ovechkin did bolt for Russia to play in 2014, what would the league do? The NHL and the Capitals would be within their rights to suspend him, but would you really do that to one of the NHL’s brightest lights and the face of the Washington franchise? It might be possible to give special exemptions out to allow players to go and participate, but then that would toy with the competitive balance of NHL games that would still be happening those 2-3 weeks. I believe the NHL would be in a tough spot and they have no choice but to continue participating in the Olympics.
The bottom line here is that hockey is a great game and the Olympic Games are a great platform for it. People want to see the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level. When you bring it all together, there exists the chance that some magic will occur. All that will do is help the game of hockey, not hurt it. Unfortunately, the NHL still lags behind the other 3 major sports for exposure and fans. I really do not see how pulling out of the Olympics would ever help. I hope Ovechkin is able to lead the charge so that the NHL will fully participate in 2014. I know I will be watching if it happens.
The Game’s Quick Hits
ECW Recap: I was interested to see what would go down on last night’s ECW since William Regal lost to Christian in the ECW Championship match at Breaking Point. Right away it looked like we would get some answers as ECW GM Tiffany came out to the ring, but she was quickly interrupted by Regal, Ezekiel Jackson, and Vladimir Kozlov. Regal was in classic heel form as he complemented Tiffany on her looks and on the “great job” she is doing as GM. Of course this led right into Regal asking why his boys were banned from ringside at Breaking Point and he followed that up by asking for another shot at Christian’s title. Tiffany responded that she was only ensuring a 1 on 1 match at the PPV and that it is important to have different challengers for the championship, so Regal would not be getting another opportunity. Well I will certainly give credit for that. Unfortunately, Regal did look like a chump in losing 2 title matches to Christian, so I don’t really see why he should get another shot. Instead, Tiffany announced a #1 contender’s battle royal as the main event to see who would be next in line for a title match. Before she left though, Tiffany booked Regal, who was in a dapper suit mind you, in a match against the Hurricane. Regal and Hurricane had a short match which ended with Regal cracking his knee against Hurricane’s skull and picking up the win. Hurricane was then attacked after the match by Paul Burchill, who vowed to not stop until he showed everyone how much of a fraud Gregory Helms is. So it looks like that feud will continue.
Before the main event battle royal, Yoshi Tatsu was getting English lessons from Goldust. Yeah, I know. Anyway, Zack Ryder woo woo wooed his way into the locker room and Yoshi let him know that Goldust taught him how to say loser in English…which oddly translates to Zack Ryder according to Yoshi. So, the two proceeded to have a pretty good match. I am not sure how far up the ladder either one of these two can elevate, but they are solid hands in the ring and can put on a good performance. Yoshi was able to hit a kick to the back of Ryder’s head to pick up the win.
It was then time for the #1 contender’s battle royal, featuring 10 ECW superstars. I won’t give a long winded recap of it, but going into the match, I pretty much thought it was going to come down to Jackson, Kozlov, and Tommy Dreamer as the final 3. For some odd reason, the crowd was behind Goldust and wanted him to win. Sheamus was eliminated during the course of the match and then was able to hit a shot on Shelton Benjamin which caused his elimination. The two brawled on the outside of the ring, so it does indeed look like those two will have some matches in the near future. Surprisingly, Jackson did not even make the final 4 of the match. Goldust had a nice exchange with Ryder and Zack was able to outsmart Goldust and eliminate him. The final 3 were Ryder, Kozlov, and Dreamer. I thought for sure Kozlov was going to take it, but I was surprised again as Dreamer low-bridged Kozlov to eliminate him and then was promptly dumped over the top by Ryder. So folks, your new #1 contender for the ECW Championship is Zack Ryder. I give the WWE credit for giving someone new a shot and Ryder certainly has the ability to produce some good matches. It will be interesting to see how he does against Christian in the coming weeks. Woo woo woo indeed…
- The Philadelphia Eagles activated QB Michael Vick from the exempt list and he is now officially on their 53-man roster and is eligible to practice with the team, even though he is suspended for this week’s game against the Saints. The injury to QB Donovan McNabb seemingly forced the Eagles into doing this. To make room for Vick, the Eagles released WR Hank Baskett. The team had been trying to trade Baskett to get some value for him, but there were no takers. Philadelphia carried 7 wide receivers into the season on their roster, so it is not really a surprise that Baskett was let go. Vick will now practice Wednesday and be in the rotation with QB Kevin Kolb and newly signed QB Jeff Garcia. So it looks like the Eagles are hedging their bets that McNabb might not be able to play this week or even next week and want to get Vick some extra time. I still don’t think Vick is anywhere near ready to play at quarterback full time, but the practice reps will help him regardless of how he is used. It should be a great game this Sunday against the Saints and if it turns into a shootout and McNabb is not playing, things could be mighty interesting.
- In other Eagles’ news, sources are reporting that RB Brian Westbrook will now become a free agent after next season. So how is this possible when Westbrook signed a 5-year, $32 million extension last August? Apparently, there was a revision to the contract and buried in the 60 pages of legal junk and contract terms, the team had a clause to trigger the extension of the deal from 2011 to 2013. This clause is a $7 million option bonus due in 2010 and the Eagles did not exercise this clause. Therefore, there is no extension and Westbrook’s contract ends next year. To borrow a phrase from Dave Chappelle as Rick James, that is cooooold blooooded! Really, that is a savvy and calculating move to get out of the deal. With Westbrook’s history of injuries and the fact that he turned 30 on September 2, I can see why the Eagles are going to let him go. As everyone knows, running backs usually hit a wall at age 30 and almost become untouchable as far as some teams are concerned. It is extremely tough for an “older” running back to get a premier starting role and it looks like Westbrook will be hung out to dry. The Eagles did the same thing to Brian Dawkins this year and they might cut bait with Donovan McNabb as well. Philly fans will have to hope that the team can reload it seems.
- Kansas City Chiefs Coach Todd Haley said on Tuesday that QB Matt Cassel is still questionable and he is not sure whether he will be able to play this Sunday. If he still can’t go, QB Brodie Croyle will get the start once again. The Chiefs also have signed WR Bobby Wade after he was recently cut by the Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs actually impressed me a little bit in their loss to the Ravens and I think they could steal a few wins this season if Cassel comes back healthy and gives them steady play. Wade will help their offense, but the defense is going to have to step it up because the Ravens and QB Joe Flacco ripped them to shreds.
- Oklahoma Sooners Coach Bob Stoops is not talking about QB Sam Bradford’s injury or giving any sort of indication as to how he is progressing. When asked about whether Bradford would be able to return this week or had resumed throwing, Stoops said he's "not even going to go there." Well it seems as though Stoops is borrowing a page out of Eric Mangini’s “secret” playbook. I can understand his decision though. In Oklahoma, any speculation about Bradford would likely dominate the news and Stoops wants to keep the focus on the field and on this weekend’s game against Tulsa. I highly doubt that Bradford would be ready to play this week, but when the October 3rd game against Miami rolls around, it might be a different story.
- USC QB Matt Barkley was unable to throw for the second straight day in practice, raising the possibility that he will not be able to play this Saturday against Washington. Backup QB Aaron Corp has been taking the reps with the 1st team offense and looks healthy and ready to play if needed. The injury to Barkley is only a bone bruise and not that serious, so it might be best to rest him if he is not 100% to avoid further injury. Washington is certainly a long ways away from being a powerhouse like in the past, so USC should be able to win with either Barkley or Corp behind center.
- The October 1st NHL opener between the Capitals and Boston Bruins is fast approaching and both teams are already dealing with the loss of a forward for the game. Capitals forward Tomas Fleischmann will miss the start of the regular season with a blood clot in his leg. The team thinks the clot might have formed during Fleischmann's long flight home to the Czech Republic at the end of last season and he will not return to practice until early October. That certainly is a little bit of a freak injury and not a good way to start for Fleischmann. He is an important role player for the Caps and he continues to slowly improve. He is still only 25-years old and he had a career high 19 goals last year. Every team needs secondary scoring, so Fleischmann’s absence doesn’t help at the start the season. For the Bruins, it looks like center David Krejci will not be ready to start the season after undergoing offseason hip surgery. There was hope he could beat the projections of returning in early November, but that now seems unlikely. Krejci was Boston’s second-leading scorer last year with 73 points even though he played in pain all year. He now wants to be 100%, so there is only a slight chance he makes the opener. Krejci is more important to the Bruins than Fleischmann is to the Caps, so I hope Krejci takes it easy and skips the opener.
- Boston Red Sox P Daisuke Matsuzaka returned from a 3 month stint on the disabled list and pitched 6 shutout innings to help Boston beat the Angels last night 4-1. DH David Ortiz also hit his record-breaking 270th HR as a designated hitter in the game. Matsuzaka is hoping to prove that he will be able to help the Red Sox in the playoffs and he is looking to get the #4 spot in the rotation locked down. It appears likely that Boston and Los Angeles are heading toward a 1st round matchup in the playoffs, so tonight might have been a preview of what the Angels can expect. Clearly, the Yankees are the favorite in the AL, but I would not count out Boston. The Red Sox have beaten the Angels the past 2 years in the 1st round of the playoffs, so if history holds, they could get a shot at the Yankees and a healthy and productive “Dice-K” will only help their chances if that happens.
- A group of seven Native Americans are trying to go to the Supreme Court because they find the Washington Redskins name offensive. The group claims that the name defames Native Americans and has been working since 1992 to have the Redskins’ trademarks declared invalid. Apparently, a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office panel ruled in their favor in 1999, but since then, other judges have ruled against them and have stated the group waited too long to bring their suit in the first place. Are you kidding me here? I really can’t stand stuff like this. The Redskins name does not defame anyone. The Washington organization is not trying to take advantage of Native Americans nor are they trying to make fun of them or insinuate that there is anything wrong with the group. It a freakin’ team mascot basically…proud Indian warriors going into battle and trying to strive for excellence and victory. Come on man, give me a break! These guys have spent 17 years doing this and I am sure they have dropped a great deal of money too. Don’t they have something better to do? I have always hated the Redskins football team, but I say that this is downright stupid and the organization is not trying to take advantage of Native Americans or put them down in any shape or fashion. I’m sorry, but this is not something THAT offensive. Get over yourselves.
Monday, September 14, 2009
AP Top 25 Poll - Week 2 (9/14/09)
Amid the excitement of NFL opening Sunday, the new AP Top 25 poll was released yesterday afternoon. Let’s take a look at how things shake out for this week:
1 Florida (56) 2-0, 1491 pts, PR: 1
2 Texas (1) 2-0, 1404 pts, PR: 2
3 USC (1) 2-0, 1396 pts, PR: 3
4 Alabama (2) 2-0, 1328 pts, PR: 4
5 Mississippi 1-0, 1145 pts, PR: 6
5 Penn State 2-0, 1145 pts, PR: 7
7 Brigham Young 2-0, 1122 pts, PR: 9
8 California 2-0, 1058 pts, PR: 10
9 LSU 2-0, 951 pts, PR: 11
10 Boise State 2-0, 945 pts, PR: 12
11 Ohio State 1-1, 840 pts, PR: 8
12 Oklahoma 1-1, 835 pts PR: 13
13 Virginia Tech 1-1, 749 pts, PR: 14
14 Georgia Tech 2-0, 683 pts, PR: 15
15 TCU 1-0, 609 pts, PR: 16
16 Oklahoma State 1-1, 445 pts, PR: 5
17 Cincinnati 2-0, 407 pts, PR: 23
18 Utah 2-0, 405 pts, PR: 17
19 Nebraska 2-0, 365 pts, PR: 22
20 Miami (FL) 1-0, 364 pts, PR: 20
21 Houston 2-0, 341 pts, PR: NR
22 Kansas 2-0, 271 pts, PR: 24
23 Georgia 1-1, 260 pts, PR: 21
24 North Carolina 2-0, 250 pts, PR: 19
25 Michigan 2-0, 169 pts, PR: NR
Dropped from rankings:
Notre Dame 18
Missouri 25
There was not a great deal of movement in the top 10 this week and most of the teams held steady. Florida continues to be the overwhelming #1 in the country, again receiving 56 out of 60 1st place votes. USC’s win over Ohio State was good enough to siphon 1 first place vote away from Texas. The top 4 remained the same and the biggest fall of the week was suffered by Oklahoma State. Their loss at home to Houston cost them 11 spots as they tumbled all the way down to #16. The loss also exposed Oklahoma State’s defense and they are not as strong as they appeared last week. This will be a big problem against the high powered offenses in the Big 12 and I suspect that the Cowboys will be suffering at least 1 or 2 more losses this year. They will seriously need to regroup if they hope to still score a major Bowl game invite at the end of the year. The defense needs to find some answers or QB Zac Robinson and WR Dez Bryant need to kick it into another gear.
Speaking of Houston, the huge win for the Cougars leaped them into the Top 25 at #21. It has been 18 long years since Houston has been in the Top 25. Back then, QB David Klingler led the Cougars and they were ranked as high as #10. However, blowout losses to Miami (FL) and Illinois dropped them out of the Top 25 and they haven’t been a player on the national scene since. Houston will hope for a better and longer stay this time around. I was highly impressed with the Cougars’ offense and they can light up the scoreboard with the athletic talent they have. In a small bit of irony, I think Houston could be this year’s Oklahoma State. They will rely on the offense to try and outscore their opposition and hope the defense can do enough to protect the win. This was the formula Oklahoma State used last year and now Houston will have to do the same. If they keep scoring like they did Saturday, they could have a really good season.
Also joining the Top 25 party this week are the Michigan Wolverines. As I expected, their huge win at home against Notre Dame was good enough to sneak Michigan into the poll at #25. This is the 1st time Michigan has been ranked since the end of the 2007 season. It appears that the Wolverines are for real and will be a player this season. They are entering a soft spot on their schedule, so if they can avoid a letdown, they will stay in the poll. I now expect Michigan to obviously overachieve this year, but I still don’t think they are up to Ohio State and Penn State’s level yet. The loss by Notre Dame dropped them out of the Top 25 completely and they were joined by Missouri. The shaky win against Bowling Green was not enough to keep the Tigers in the poll.
Ohio State’s loss to USC only cost them three positions in the poll as they dropped from #8 to #11. I will be interested to see how the Buckeyes rebound. The loss is not a season killer, but now they will have to win their huge game against Penn State later this year to have a shot at a BCS Bowl game. Confidence could be an issue as Ohio State continues to fall short in big games.
The “BCS busters” all had a good week 2 and they continued to inch up the rankings. BYU jumped 2 spots from #9 to #7, Boise State also jumped 2 spots from #12 to #10, and TCU slid up one spot to #15. All of these teams will control their own destiny if they continue to win.
The biggest jump inside the Top 25 this week belonged to Cincinnati. I guess that a 70-3 massacre of Southeast Missouri State is worth something after all. Cincinnati jumped up 6 spots from #23 to #17. After not being ranked at all to start the season, Cincinnati could now become a major player if they keep winning. The Big East is a part of the BCS, so the Bearcats are now the long and away frontrunners to score a major Bowl game bid for the 2nd consecutive season.
Finally, the less than impressive wins by Georgia and North Carolina put them perilously close to falling from the rankings. Georgia’s defense did not show up against South Carolina and the Bulldogs were lucky to outscore them and produce a goal line stand at the end of the game to steal a 41-37 win. Georgia fell from #21 to #23. The Tar Heels needed a holding penalty in the end zone which gave them a safety to defeat Connecticut on Saturday, 12-10. The close call dropped UNC 5 spots from #19 to #24.
1 Florida (56) 2-0, 1491 pts, PR: 1
2 Texas (1) 2-0, 1404 pts, PR: 2
3 USC (1) 2-0, 1396 pts, PR: 3
4 Alabama (2) 2-0, 1328 pts, PR: 4
5 Mississippi 1-0, 1145 pts, PR: 6
5 Penn State 2-0, 1145 pts, PR: 7
7 Brigham Young 2-0, 1122 pts, PR: 9
8 California 2-0, 1058 pts, PR: 10
9 LSU 2-0, 951 pts, PR: 11
10 Boise State 2-0, 945 pts, PR: 12
11 Ohio State 1-1, 840 pts, PR: 8
12 Oklahoma 1-1, 835 pts PR: 13
13 Virginia Tech 1-1, 749 pts, PR: 14
14 Georgia Tech 2-0, 683 pts, PR: 15
15 TCU 1-0, 609 pts, PR: 16
16 Oklahoma State 1-1, 445 pts, PR: 5
17 Cincinnati 2-0, 407 pts, PR: 23
18 Utah 2-0, 405 pts, PR: 17
19 Nebraska 2-0, 365 pts, PR: 22
20 Miami (FL) 1-0, 364 pts, PR: 20
21 Houston 2-0, 341 pts, PR: NR
22 Kansas 2-0, 271 pts, PR: 24
23 Georgia 1-1, 260 pts, PR: 21
24 North Carolina 2-0, 250 pts, PR: 19
25 Michigan 2-0, 169 pts, PR: NR
Dropped from rankings:
Notre Dame 18
Missouri 25
There was not a great deal of movement in the top 10 this week and most of the teams held steady. Florida continues to be the overwhelming #1 in the country, again receiving 56 out of 60 1st place votes. USC’s win over Ohio State was good enough to siphon 1 first place vote away from Texas. The top 4 remained the same and the biggest fall of the week was suffered by Oklahoma State. Their loss at home to Houston cost them 11 spots as they tumbled all the way down to #16. The loss also exposed Oklahoma State’s defense and they are not as strong as they appeared last week. This will be a big problem against the high powered offenses in the Big 12 and I suspect that the Cowboys will be suffering at least 1 or 2 more losses this year. They will seriously need to regroup if they hope to still score a major Bowl game invite at the end of the year. The defense needs to find some answers or QB Zac Robinson and WR Dez Bryant need to kick it into another gear.
Speaking of Houston, the huge win for the Cougars leaped them into the Top 25 at #21. It has been 18 long years since Houston has been in the Top 25. Back then, QB David Klingler led the Cougars and they were ranked as high as #10. However, blowout losses to Miami (FL) and Illinois dropped them out of the Top 25 and they haven’t been a player on the national scene since. Houston will hope for a better and longer stay this time around. I was highly impressed with the Cougars’ offense and they can light up the scoreboard with the athletic talent they have. In a small bit of irony, I think Houston could be this year’s Oklahoma State. They will rely on the offense to try and outscore their opposition and hope the defense can do enough to protect the win. This was the formula Oklahoma State used last year and now Houston will have to do the same. If they keep scoring like they did Saturday, they could have a really good season.
Also joining the Top 25 party this week are the Michigan Wolverines. As I expected, their huge win at home against Notre Dame was good enough to sneak Michigan into the poll at #25. This is the 1st time Michigan has been ranked since the end of the 2007 season. It appears that the Wolverines are for real and will be a player this season. They are entering a soft spot on their schedule, so if they can avoid a letdown, they will stay in the poll. I now expect Michigan to obviously overachieve this year, but I still don’t think they are up to Ohio State and Penn State’s level yet. The loss by Notre Dame dropped them out of the Top 25 completely and they were joined by Missouri. The shaky win against Bowling Green was not enough to keep the Tigers in the poll.
Ohio State’s loss to USC only cost them three positions in the poll as they dropped from #8 to #11. I will be interested to see how the Buckeyes rebound. The loss is not a season killer, but now they will have to win their huge game against Penn State later this year to have a shot at a BCS Bowl game. Confidence could be an issue as Ohio State continues to fall short in big games.
The “BCS busters” all had a good week 2 and they continued to inch up the rankings. BYU jumped 2 spots from #9 to #7, Boise State also jumped 2 spots from #12 to #10, and TCU slid up one spot to #15. All of these teams will control their own destiny if they continue to win.
The biggest jump inside the Top 25 this week belonged to Cincinnati. I guess that a 70-3 massacre of Southeast Missouri State is worth something after all. Cincinnati jumped up 6 spots from #23 to #17. After not being ranked at all to start the season, Cincinnati could now become a major player if they keep winning. The Big East is a part of the BCS, so the Bearcats are now the long and away frontrunners to score a major Bowl game bid for the 2nd consecutive season.
Finally, the less than impressive wins by Georgia and North Carolina put them perilously close to falling from the rankings. Georgia’s defense did not show up against South Carolina and the Bulldogs were lucky to outscore them and produce a goal line stand at the end of the game to steal a 41-37 win. Georgia fell from #21 to #23. The Tar Heels needed a holding penalty in the end zone which gave them a safety to defeat Connecticut on Saturday, 12-10. The close call dropped UNC 5 spots from #19 to #24.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
College Football Week 2 Review
On paper it looked as though this was going to be a pretty uneventful and unexciting weekend of college football action (outside of the huge USC-Ohio State game of course). But there was some great drama to be found after all, so let’s take a review of the important results:
#3 USC 18, #8 Ohio State 15 – It looked as though Ohio State was finally going to get the monkey off their back and get a huge win on a national TV stage, but they once again fell short. This was a very hard fought game and it heavily favored Ohio State’s style of play. It was a defensive battle that focused more on special teams and field position instead of sheer offensive firepower. For the most part, USC’s offense did not look that good. Freshman QB Matt Barkley looked like a freshman and the whole team did not do much until the final drive of the game. Barkley was finally able to step up and drove the Trojans 96 yards for the game winning touchdown. Ohio State looked a little better than USC on offense, but QB Terrelle Pryor did not have as much of an opportunity to create with his legs as he should have had. I will give credit to USC’s defense for keeping them in the game and giving the offense a chance to win it. At this point, I may have to concede that USC could be a real threat for the National Championship. However, I still think that Barkley’s inexperience will catch up to him one week and the Trojans will lose a game this year. Ohio State should not be ashamed of their performance, but this is not any sort of confidence booster and now they will have to try and fight back into BCS position. At this point, they will face a must win against Penn State to have a chance.
Michigan 38, #18 Notre Dame 34 – Once again, Notre Dame came up short in a big game that could have provided Coach Charlie Weis some breathing room from his critics and could have propelled Notre Dame towards a potential BCS Bowl game. This was a great college football game and will probably go down as one of the best in the storied Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry. Both teams traded shots at each other back and forth and neither defense played particularly well. Notre Dame’s defense certainly did not play the type of game that they did last week against Nevada. The star of the game turned out to be Michigan freshman QB Tate Forcier. He was cool and calm all day and made the big plays that Michigan needed. QB Jimmy Clausen and the Irish were just as good, but they made a mistake at the end of the game by throwing the ball and not trying to force Michigan to use their timeouts when they had a 3 point lead. That allowed Forcier to drive Michigan down the field and he won the game by throwing a 5-yard TD pass to WR Greg Matthews with 11 seconds left. This win now proves that Michigan is for real this season and I would expect them now to easily make a bowl game and they will most likely make the Top 25. I don’t think they will turn into a dominant team by any means, but they are going to overachieve this year. Notre Dame’s dream of a major BCS run is probably shot and they will settle down into a solid, but not spectacular year. Hopefully Lou Holtz is ready to eat some crow.
Houston 45, #5 Oklahoma State 35 – The biggest upset of the day came courtesy of the Houston Cougars, who went into Oklahoma State and came out with a 10 point victory. I did speculate in my preview that this would be a great test for Oklahoma State’s defense and it could be closer than some people thought. Chalk up a great prediction from me and mark it down as a miserable failure for Oklahoma State’s defense. They looked terrible out there and nothing like the team that shut down Georgia last week. The Cowboys let Houston totally dictate the pace of the game and it turned it into a shootout. Normally, the Cowboys are happy to play that type of game, but they were not as efficient as Houston on offense and they could not keep up. Houston QB Case Keenum looked great and he sliced up Oklahoma State’s defense. I have to say that the Cougars are definitely impressive and they have a ton of weapons on offense. They should be able to make a Bowl game this year and they could surprise more people along the way. Oklahoma State now needs to seriously regroup because I think they can kiss any BCS Bowl game dreams goodbye. You can not win on a consistent basis by winning shootouts. I thought their defense might be up to the challenge based on last week’s game, but it seems like it is not. It seems like the logical conclusion is that Georgia’s offense just came out flat and out of sync and that made the Cowboys look good.
#17 Utah 24, San Jose State 14 – Utah was able to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games, but it was not without a major fight. The game was tied 7-7 heading into the 4th quarter and Utah was finally able to shake San Jose State late in the game. Since USC killed San Jose State last week, this obviously proves that Utah might not be on a level with the likes of the Trojans. But a win is a win and Utah will try to march up the polls and see if they can be a BCS buster.
#19 North Carolina 12, Connecticut 10 – North Carolina needed a holding call in the end zone that resulted in a safety to narrowly avoid being upset by Connecticut. I also stated in my weekly preview that this could be a pretty good football game and was worth paying attention to. Obviously, it was pretty ugly and a defensive struggle, but it did almost produce an upset. Both defenses showed up in this game and neither team could do a damn thing on offense. I thought if North Carolina’s D showed up like it did last week, they would have little trouble winning. The only problem is their offense, especially the running game, stayed home. It seems like Connecticut will give every team they play a tough game and they could end up being a spoiler in the Big East. North Carolina could also be a factor in the ACC if their defense stays this strong, but will need more offense in those games to contend for a conference championship.
#21 Georgia 41, South Carolina 37 – Wow, was this a crazy game…so much for that old stat about these teams not being able to score more than 18 points against each other. This game was a back and forth slugfest that featured a kickoff return TD, an interception return TD, a safety, a blocked PAT, and tons of penalties. It came right down to the wire as well. South Carolina drove the ball all the way down to Georgia’s 7-yard line with 22 seconds left in the game, but QB Stephen Garcia’s 4th down pass was broken up on the goal line. You can never count out a Steve Spurrier coached team, so expect South Carolina to pull an upset at some point during the season. I don’t know exactly what to make of Georgia. They got the offense cranked up this week, but the defense fell apart after putting in a solid effort last week against Oklahoma State. It spells out inconsistency to me, and I believe Georgia will most likely not challenge LSU or Mississippi for the SEC West division title.
#25 Missouri 27, Bowling Green 20 – Missouri played an extremely bad first half and had to rally from 13-0 and 20-6 to beat Bowling Green. As good as Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert looked last week, he looked equally bad in the first half this week. He did recover to throw 2 TD passes in the second half to get a win for the Tigers. Missouri is still a young team and I do not really expect them to hang around the Top 25 all season. They seem likely to lose at least a game or two, but they should easily be able to make a Bowl game.
#1 Florida 56, Troy 6
#2 Texas 41, Wyoming 10
#4 Alabama 40, Florida International 14
#7 Penn State 28, Syracuse 7
#9 BYU 54, Tulane 3
#10 California 59, Eastern Washington 7
#11 LSU 23, Vanderbilt 9
#12 Boise State 48, Miami (OH) 0
#13 Oklahoma 64, Idaho State 0
#14 Virginia Tech 52, Marshall 10
#16 TCU 30, Virginia 14
#22 Nebraska 38, Arkansas State 9
#23 Cincinnati 70, Southeast Missouri State 3
#24 Kansas 34, UTEP 7
The above results are what you call taking care of business. As expected, there were a great deal of cupcake games out there and about half of the Top 25 feasted on them. Florida, Texas, and Alabama all got off to slow starts on Saturday. But by the time the 4th quarter rolled around, they had it in cruise control and were on the easy road to victory.
Penn State did look choppy again in their win over Syracuse, but they were never in danger and they had control of the game the entire time. Penn State will need to get better though because Ohio State, even with their loss to USC, looks strong and will really give the Nittany Lions a game.
Even though rain played havoc on them, LSU still looked shaky for the second week in a row and they let another underdog hang around. Vanderbilt was only down by one touchdown midway through the 4th quarter until LSU scored late to put the game away. It seems like LSU, Georgia, and Mississippi all look a little questionable to start the year and who knows what team will win the SEC West and get a shot at Florida in the SEC Championship game. But at this point, I am not sure any one of the three will be able to give Florida any sort of challenge.
Oklahoma, their defense, and QB Landry Jones tried to make a statement that they will keep fighting. They destroyed Idaho State and gave up only 6 first downs. TCU got off to a great start as well, as their defense only gave up 7 first downs the entire game.
The Game’s Quick Hits
- The Dany Heatley trade speculation is finally over as the Ottawa Senators traded Heatley and a fifth-round draft pick to the San Jose Sharks for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second-round draft pick. So it turns out that the rumored 3 team trade that I mentioned yesterday was indeed just a bad rumor. However, the Sharks were still involved in this deal. San Jose needed to do something to shake up their team after continued failures in the playoffs. Heatley is a dangerous scorer when he is focused and playing well, but it will remain to be seen whether he delivers in crunch time during the postseason. He should be able to help San Jose remain a top level team, but as it always is with the Sharks, things change in the playoffs. The Senators got some good value back in return, but I am not sure if it matches the value of a motivated Dany Heatley. Michalek is only 24-years old and had 23 goals and 24 assists last season. He is a good player with the potential to get better, but I doubt he will become a consistent 40-50 goal scorer. Cheechoo had a brilliant 2005-06 season when he scored 56 goals, but he has dropped off ever since. He had only 12 goals and 17 assists last year. Unless a change of scenery really sparks his career, he seems destined to just become a role player. So in my estimation, the Sharks got a good deal in this. But, we will have to wait until playoff time to see just how good of a deal it is.
- In other NHL news, the Calgary Flames have invited former All-star and Stanley Cup winner Theo Fleury to training camp for a tryout. The 41-year old Fleury has been away from the game for 6 years as he battled to get himself sober after alcohol addiction. Fleury had 455 goals and 633 assists in more than 1,000 career games with Calgary, the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks between 1988 and 2003. Although I am not sure how much Fleury has left, this could be a really good story and I hope that he makes the team and gets to play in a game. I always appreciate a good comeback story and it is a big thing to overcome a substance abuse problem. Addiction can destroy your life, so I hope Fleury is able to stay on a good path and I wish him luck on his comeback attempt.
- Well it looks like the Richard Seymour saga is finally over. Late on Friday it was reported that Seymour was planning a trip out to California and would in fact report to the Oakland Raiders and be ready to play in Monday night’s game against the Chargers. It looks like the “5 day letter” did its job because Seymour did not get a new contract and did not get a promise that the Raiders would not slap the franchise tag on him next year. He will not lose any money this year, which he was in danger of doing by not reporting to Oakland. So now the story starts to come out. Seymour probably had a sense of what New England might have done with his contract status before the trade and he wanted the same from Oakland. Looks like it did not work at this point. The NFL is a business and it sucks for Seymour that he got shipped to the Raiders, but he is under contract so he has no right to start making demands. Again, I would think a player that has grown up in the Patriots organization would be a professional. Seymour was pushing it and I am glad to see that he blinked. His goal should be to have the best season that he can and then the money will take care of itself. It does him no good to bitch and moan and sandbag this season. He finally did break his silence on Saturday and says that the trade “blindsided” him and he claims he made no demands. He had personal issues to take care of and is excited to join the Raiders. Well that is nice to hear, but I am willing to bet there was some sort of talk about money and his contract.
- Brett Favre has been named a captain for the Minnesota Vikings this season after being with the team for only less than a month. So I guess this blows up the whole “schism” story right? There is no question that Favre is a tremendous leader and has a burning desire to play the game and to win. While he might not have gone about joining the Vikings in the “right” way, he is going to go in there and do the best he can. I still believe that Favre will be able to steady the offense for the Vikings, manage the game, make some big plays, and most importantly, lead them to victories. I still believe that the Vikings are the slight favorites to win the NFC North due to Favre’s presence.
- The Memphis basketball program got some bad news as it was revealed that sophomore forward Angel Garcia had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will miss the 2009-10 season. This is a big blow considering that Garcia, who is 6-foot-11 and missed last season due to NCAA eligibility issues, was expected to step up and help a team that is now down to 8 scholarship players. The loss of Coach John Calipari is going to hit Memphis hard I believe. I can see them slowly slipping away from being a national powerhouse. Calipari was the draw to the school and frankly, I have never even heard of their current coach, Josh Pastner. My prediction is that Memphis will go downhill until they hire another big name coach who has a proven track record of success.
- Major League Baseball will not take any actions against New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez for past performance-enhancing drug use. MLB was investigating Rodriguez to determine if he lied about the exact period of time he admitted to using PEDs. Apparently, the investigation did not turn up anything new and he will not be punished. I’m at least pleased to hear that they didn’t find out about any past use from Rodriguez. Even though he was using steroids for a few seasons, I still contend that Rodriguez is one of the best players in Major League history. The guy had his greatest year in 2007 when he was clean and even with a bad hip this season, he is still hitting home runs and being productive. Take away his “steroid years” and Rodriguez would still be a Hall of Famer. And in other Yankees’ news, SS Derek Jeter had 2 hits Friday night to pass Lou Gehrig on the Yankees’ all-time hit list with 2723. That is an amazing accomplishment to have, but unless Jeter goes on a tear and wins multiple World Series titles again, he will not be able to reach the great pantheon of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.
- BMW Championship: Tiger Woods entered the weekend and the 3rd round of the BMW tied for lead and had a chance to take control of the tournament. Mission accomplished. Tiger was on absolute fire as he shot a course record 9-under par 62 to finish at 16-under par for the tournament. This gave him a 7 shot lead over Brandt Snedeker and Marc Leishman. I said yesterday that I expected Tiger to take care of business this weekend and win, but I didn’t expect this good of a performance today. When Woods plays like this, he is impossible to beat and everyone is fighting for second. Not much else to say on this. Tiger will cruise home to victory tomorrow and grab the FedEx Cup points lead heading into the Tour Championship, the final event of the Playoffs. It seems like it will be a tall task for anyone to beat him.
- U.S. Open Update: Rain held off enough to allow for play to continue at the U.S. Open and #3 seed Rafael Nadal wasted no time finishing up his quarterfinal match against #11 seed Fernando Gonzalez. Nadal dusted him off quickly, winning 7-6, 7-6, 6-0, and he will now face #6 seed Juan Martin del Potro tomorrow in one semifinal. The women had their semifinals next after another lengthy rain delay and the match between unseeded Kim Clijsters and #2 seed Serena Williams ended in bizarre fashion. Williams was down 1 set and 5-6, 15-30 when she faulted on her first serve and then was called for a foot fault on her second serve. Serena then proceeded to yell at the lines official who made the call and told her “I will stuff this ball down your f**king throat”, among other things. Williams had already received a code violation earlier in the match for slamming her racquet, so this second offense cost her a point at 15-40 and the match was over. This was totally crazy and certainly something that I have never witnessed before. Clijsters had dominated the action and obviously, Williams was frustrated. The foot fault call by the official was a bad judgment call at that point in the match, but the way Williams lost her cool and what she said was uncalled for and she paid the price. Clijsters now moves onto the final to face #9 seed Caroline Wozniacki, who beat unseeded Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets.
#3 USC 18, #8 Ohio State 15 – It looked as though Ohio State was finally going to get the monkey off their back and get a huge win on a national TV stage, but they once again fell short. This was a very hard fought game and it heavily favored Ohio State’s style of play. It was a defensive battle that focused more on special teams and field position instead of sheer offensive firepower. For the most part, USC’s offense did not look that good. Freshman QB Matt Barkley looked like a freshman and the whole team did not do much until the final drive of the game. Barkley was finally able to step up and drove the Trojans 96 yards for the game winning touchdown. Ohio State looked a little better than USC on offense, but QB Terrelle Pryor did not have as much of an opportunity to create with his legs as he should have had. I will give credit to USC’s defense for keeping them in the game and giving the offense a chance to win it. At this point, I may have to concede that USC could be a real threat for the National Championship. However, I still think that Barkley’s inexperience will catch up to him one week and the Trojans will lose a game this year. Ohio State should not be ashamed of their performance, but this is not any sort of confidence booster and now they will have to try and fight back into BCS position. At this point, they will face a must win against Penn State to have a chance.
Michigan 38, #18 Notre Dame 34 – Once again, Notre Dame came up short in a big game that could have provided Coach Charlie Weis some breathing room from his critics and could have propelled Notre Dame towards a potential BCS Bowl game. This was a great college football game and will probably go down as one of the best in the storied Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry. Both teams traded shots at each other back and forth and neither defense played particularly well. Notre Dame’s defense certainly did not play the type of game that they did last week against Nevada. The star of the game turned out to be Michigan freshman QB Tate Forcier. He was cool and calm all day and made the big plays that Michigan needed. QB Jimmy Clausen and the Irish were just as good, but they made a mistake at the end of the game by throwing the ball and not trying to force Michigan to use their timeouts when they had a 3 point lead. That allowed Forcier to drive Michigan down the field and he won the game by throwing a 5-yard TD pass to WR Greg Matthews with 11 seconds left. This win now proves that Michigan is for real this season and I would expect them now to easily make a bowl game and they will most likely make the Top 25. I don’t think they will turn into a dominant team by any means, but they are going to overachieve this year. Notre Dame’s dream of a major BCS run is probably shot and they will settle down into a solid, but not spectacular year. Hopefully Lou Holtz is ready to eat some crow.
Houston 45, #5 Oklahoma State 35 – The biggest upset of the day came courtesy of the Houston Cougars, who went into Oklahoma State and came out with a 10 point victory. I did speculate in my preview that this would be a great test for Oklahoma State’s defense and it could be closer than some people thought. Chalk up a great prediction from me and mark it down as a miserable failure for Oklahoma State’s defense. They looked terrible out there and nothing like the team that shut down Georgia last week. The Cowboys let Houston totally dictate the pace of the game and it turned it into a shootout. Normally, the Cowboys are happy to play that type of game, but they were not as efficient as Houston on offense and they could not keep up. Houston QB Case Keenum looked great and he sliced up Oklahoma State’s defense. I have to say that the Cougars are definitely impressive and they have a ton of weapons on offense. They should be able to make a Bowl game this year and they could surprise more people along the way. Oklahoma State now needs to seriously regroup because I think they can kiss any BCS Bowl game dreams goodbye. You can not win on a consistent basis by winning shootouts. I thought their defense might be up to the challenge based on last week’s game, but it seems like it is not. It seems like the logical conclusion is that Georgia’s offense just came out flat and out of sync and that made the Cowboys look good.
#17 Utah 24, San Jose State 14 – Utah was able to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games, but it was not without a major fight. The game was tied 7-7 heading into the 4th quarter and Utah was finally able to shake San Jose State late in the game. Since USC killed San Jose State last week, this obviously proves that Utah might not be on a level with the likes of the Trojans. But a win is a win and Utah will try to march up the polls and see if they can be a BCS buster.
#19 North Carolina 12, Connecticut 10 – North Carolina needed a holding call in the end zone that resulted in a safety to narrowly avoid being upset by Connecticut. I also stated in my weekly preview that this could be a pretty good football game and was worth paying attention to. Obviously, it was pretty ugly and a defensive struggle, but it did almost produce an upset. Both defenses showed up in this game and neither team could do a damn thing on offense. I thought if North Carolina’s D showed up like it did last week, they would have little trouble winning. The only problem is their offense, especially the running game, stayed home. It seems like Connecticut will give every team they play a tough game and they could end up being a spoiler in the Big East. North Carolina could also be a factor in the ACC if their defense stays this strong, but will need more offense in those games to contend for a conference championship.
#21 Georgia 41, South Carolina 37 – Wow, was this a crazy game…so much for that old stat about these teams not being able to score more than 18 points against each other. This game was a back and forth slugfest that featured a kickoff return TD, an interception return TD, a safety, a blocked PAT, and tons of penalties. It came right down to the wire as well. South Carolina drove the ball all the way down to Georgia’s 7-yard line with 22 seconds left in the game, but QB Stephen Garcia’s 4th down pass was broken up on the goal line. You can never count out a Steve Spurrier coached team, so expect South Carolina to pull an upset at some point during the season. I don’t know exactly what to make of Georgia. They got the offense cranked up this week, but the defense fell apart after putting in a solid effort last week against Oklahoma State. It spells out inconsistency to me, and I believe Georgia will most likely not challenge LSU or Mississippi for the SEC West division title.
#25 Missouri 27, Bowling Green 20 – Missouri played an extremely bad first half and had to rally from 13-0 and 20-6 to beat Bowling Green. As good as Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert looked last week, he looked equally bad in the first half this week. He did recover to throw 2 TD passes in the second half to get a win for the Tigers. Missouri is still a young team and I do not really expect them to hang around the Top 25 all season. They seem likely to lose at least a game or two, but they should easily be able to make a Bowl game.
#1 Florida 56, Troy 6
#2 Texas 41, Wyoming 10
#4 Alabama 40, Florida International 14
#7 Penn State 28, Syracuse 7
#9 BYU 54, Tulane 3
#10 California 59, Eastern Washington 7
#11 LSU 23, Vanderbilt 9
#12 Boise State 48, Miami (OH) 0
#13 Oklahoma 64, Idaho State 0
#14 Virginia Tech 52, Marshall 10
#16 TCU 30, Virginia 14
#22 Nebraska 38, Arkansas State 9
#23 Cincinnati 70, Southeast Missouri State 3
#24 Kansas 34, UTEP 7
The above results are what you call taking care of business. As expected, there were a great deal of cupcake games out there and about half of the Top 25 feasted on them. Florida, Texas, and Alabama all got off to slow starts on Saturday. But by the time the 4th quarter rolled around, they had it in cruise control and were on the easy road to victory.
Penn State did look choppy again in their win over Syracuse, but they were never in danger and they had control of the game the entire time. Penn State will need to get better though because Ohio State, even with their loss to USC, looks strong and will really give the Nittany Lions a game.
Even though rain played havoc on them, LSU still looked shaky for the second week in a row and they let another underdog hang around. Vanderbilt was only down by one touchdown midway through the 4th quarter until LSU scored late to put the game away. It seems like LSU, Georgia, and Mississippi all look a little questionable to start the year and who knows what team will win the SEC West and get a shot at Florida in the SEC Championship game. But at this point, I am not sure any one of the three will be able to give Florida any sort of challenge.
Oklahoma, their defense, and QB Landry Jones tried to make a statement that they will keep fighting. They destroyed Idaho State and gave up only 6 first downs. TCU got off to a great start as well, as their defense only gave up 7 first downs the entire game.
The Game’s Quick Hits
- The Dany Heatley trade speculation is finally over as the Ottawa Senators traded Heatley and a fifth-round draft pick to the San Jose Sharks for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second-round draft pick. So it turns out that the rumored 3 team trade that I mentioned yesterday was indeed just a bad rumor. However, the Sharks were still involved in this deal. San Jose needed to do something to shake up their team after continued failures in the playoffs. Heatley is a dangerous scorer when he is focused and playing well, but it will remain to be seen whether he delivers in crunch time during the postseason. He should be able to help San Jose remain a top level team, but as it always is with the Sharks, things change in the playoffs. The Senators got some good value back in return, but I am not sure if it matches the value of a motivated Dany Heatley. Michalek is only 24-years old and had 23 goals and 24 assists last season. He is a good player with the potential to get better, but I doubt he will become a consistent 40-50 goal scorer. Cheechoo had a brilliant 2005-06 season when he scored 56 goals, but he has dropped off ever since. He had only 12 goals and 17 assists last year. Unless a change of scenery really sparks his career, he seems destined to just become a role player. So in my estimation, the Sharks got a good deal in this. But, we will have to wait until playoff time to see just how good of a deal it is.
- In other NHL news, the Calgary Flames have invited former All-star and Stanley Cup winner Theo Fleury to training camp for a tryout. The 41-year old Fleury has been away from the game for 6 years as he battled to get himself sober after alcohol addiction. Fleury had 455 goals and 633 assists in more than 1,000 career games with Calgary, the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks between 1988 and 2003. Although I am not sure how much Fleury has left, this could be a really good story and I hope that he makes the team and gets to play in a game. I always appreciate a good comeback story and it is a big thing to overcome a substance abuse problem. Addiction can destroy your life, so I hope Fleury is able to stay on a good path and I wish him luck on his comeback attempt.
- Well it looks like the Richard Seymour saga is finally over. Late on Friday it was reported that Seymour was planning a trip out to California and would in fact report to the Oakland Raiders and be ready to play in Monday night’s game against the Chargers. It looks like the “5 day letter” did its job because Seymour did not get a new contract and did not get a promise that the Raiders would not slap the franchise tag on him next year. He will not lose any money this year, which he was in danger of doing by not reporting to Oakland. So now the story starts to come out. Seymour probably had a sense of what New England might have done with his contract status before the trade and he wanted the same from Oakland. Looks like it did not work at this point. The NFL is a business and it sucks for Seymour that he got shipped to the Raiders, but he is under contract so he has no right to start making demands. Again, I would think a player that has grown up in the Patriots organization would be a professional. Seymour was pushing it and I am glad to see that he blinked. His goal should be to have the best season that he can and then the money will take care of itself. It does him no good to bitch and moan and sandbag this season. He finally did break his silence on Saturday and says that the trade “blindsided” him and he claims he made no demands. He had personal issues to take care of and is excited to join the Raiders. Well that is nice to hear, but I am willing to bet there was some sort of talk about money and his contract.
- Brett Favre has been named a captain for the Minnesota Vikings this season after being with the team for only less than a month. So I guess this blows up the whole “schism” story right? There is no question that Favre is a tremendous leader and has a burning desire to play the game and to win. While he might not have gone about joining the Vikings in the “right” way, he is going to go in there and do the best he can. I still believe that Favre will be able to steady the offense for the Vikings, manage the game, make some big plays, and most importantly, lead them to victories. I still believe that the Vikings are the slight favorites to win the NFC North due to Favre’s presence.
- The Memphis basketball program got some bad news as it was revealed that sophomore forward Angel Garcia had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will miss the 2009-10 season. This is a big blow considering that Garcia, who is 6-foot-11 and missed last season due to NCAA eligibility issues, was expected to step up and help a team that is now down to 8 scholarship players. The loss of Coach John Calipari is going to hit Memphis hard I believe. I can see them slowly slipping away from being a national powerhouse. Calipari was the draw to the school and frankly, I have never even heard of their current coach, Josh Pastner. My prediction is that Memphis will go downhill until they hire another big name coach who has a proven track record of success.
- Major League Baseball will not take any actions against New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez for past performance-enhancing drug use. MLB was investigating Rodriguez to determine if he lied about the exact period of time he admitted to using PEDs. Apparently, the investigation did not turn up anything new and he will not be punished. I’m at least pleased to hear that they didn’t find out about any past use from Rodriguez. Even though he was using steroids for a few seasons, I still contend that Rodriguez is one of the best players in Major League history. The guy had his greatest year in 2007 when he was clean and even with a bad hip this season, he is still hitting home runs and being productive. Take away his “steroid years” and Rodriguez would still be a Hall of Famer. And in other Yankees’ news, SS Derek Jeter had 2 hits Friday night to pass Lou Gehrig on the Yankees’ all-time hit list with 2723. That is an amazing accomplishment to have, but unless Jeter goes on a tear and wins multiple World Series titles again, he will not be able to reach the great pantheon of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.
- BMW Championship: Tiger Woods entered the weekend and the 3rd round of the BMW tied for lead and had a chance to take control of the tournament. Mission accomplished. Tiger was on absolute fire as he shot a course record 9-under par 62 to finish at 16-under par for the tournament. This gave him a 7 shot lead over Brandt Snedeker and Marc Leishman. I said yesterday that I expected Tiger to take care of business this weekend and win, but I didn’t expect this good of a performance today. When Woods plays like this, he is impossible to beat and everyone is fighting for second. Not much else to say on this. Tiger will cruise home to victory tomorrow and grab the FedEx Cup points lead heading into the Tour Championship, the final event of the Playoffs. It seems like it will be a tall task for anyone to beat him.
- U.S. Open Update: Rain held off enough to allow for play to continue at the U.S. Open and #3 seed Rafael Nadal wasted no time finishing up his quarterfinal match against #11 seed Fernando Gonzalez. Nadal dusted him off quickly, winning 7-6, 7-6, 6-0, and he will now face #6 seed Juan Martin del Potro tomorrow in one semifinal. The women had their semifinals next after another lengthy rain delay and the match between unseeded Kim Clijsters and #2 seed Serena Williams ended in bizarre fashion. Williams was down 1 set and 5-6, 15-30 when she faulted on her first serve and then was called for a foot fault on her second serve. Serena then proceeded to yell at the lines official who made the call and told her “I will stuff this ball down your f**king throat”, among other things. Williams had already received a code violation earlier in the match for slamming her racquet, so this second offense cost her a point at 15-40 and the match was over. This was totally crazy and certainly something that I have never witnessed before. Clijsters had dominated the action and obviously, Williams was frustrated. The foot fault call by the official was a bad judgment call at that point in the match, but the way Williams lost her cool and what she said was uncalled for and she paid the price. Clijsters now moves onto the final to face #9 seed Caroline Wozniacki, who beat unseeded Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Sore Sooner Shoulder downs Oklahoma
I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the great action today on college football’s opening Saturday, although one thing did irritate me. I have no idea who decided that people in Baltimore should get the Michigan vs. Western Michigan game over #9 Oklahoma State vs. #13 Georgia. I was highly pissed off seeing this because I was looking forward to watching a great game between two top 15 teams. When you have regional coverage and you have two teams from Michigan, shouldn’t that game only go to the surrounding areas around Michigan? Total bullcrap! Anyway, let’s take a look at some of the important results from yesterday’s games:
#20 BYU 14, #3 Oklahoma 13 – Without question, the biggest story from yesterday’s action was the injury to Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford. Bradford took a hard hit late in the 2nd quarter and his throwing shoulder was driven into the ground. He ended up being diagnosed with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. This type of injury usually will keep a player out 2-4 weeks depending on the grade of the sprain and how much pain the player can deal with. With Bradford out in the 2nd half, the game became a real defensive struggle. Both Oklahoma and BYU came to play on the defensive side of the ball. Oklahoma backup QB Landry Jones could not get anything going and BYU was able to hold Oklahoma’s run game in check. A late surge and huge drive was orchestrated by BYU QB Max Hall, who won the game for BYU by throwing a 7-yard TD pass with 3:03 left in the game. Obviously, this win is huge for BYU and it now gives them a huge boost and will allow them to try and become the latest BCS buster. For Oklahoma, the hopes of a National Championship season may now be over. They will have to rely on their defense and running game until Bradford can return. Bradford may now be hard pressed to make a run at winning the Heisman trophy for a second straight season. Pollsters do take injuries into account, but Oklahoma will have to make a major statement when Bradford returns and hope their offensive line gels because they were the source of Oklahoma’s problems last night.
#4 USC 56, San Jose State 3 – For the first quarter of this game, USC looked extremely sluggish and it seemed as if talk of contending for a National Championship, let alone a Pac 10 title, might be a little wishful thinking. Oh how suddenly things can change. USC quickly kicked it into gear in the 2nd quarter and ending up cruising and blowing out San Jose State. Freshman QB Matt Barkley started slow, but he settled into the game going 15-for-19 for 233 yards and 1 TD and let the Trojans’ powerful running game and stingy defense take over. Barkley and the Trojans will get a much tougher test when they travel to Ohio State next week. Before this week, many assumed that Ohio State would go into that game as the favorite, but that might change this week…
#6 Ohio State 31, Navy 27 – And the reason why it might change is because Ohio State received a huge scare at the hands of Navy. Ohio State did not have many problems moving the ball and scoring, but the problem was that they struggled getting a handle on Navy’s triple option offense. The Buckeyes also made a crucial mistake by going for a 4th and 2 instead of kicking a field goal that would have given them a 32-14 lead. Instead, they were stuffed and the momentum changed for Navy. They were able to eat up huge chunks of yards on the ground and kept making big plays until they got to within 29-27. The dream of a monumental upset died though when Navy threw an interception on the 2-point conversion and Ohio State returned it for 2 points of their own to win the game 31-27. Navy is certainly no slouch and they come to play every week, but now many are wondering how good Ohio State will be this year. We will find out next week and USC might be favored to win even on the road. It will most likely come down to how USC freshman QB Matt Barkley handles the pressure of his first huge college game.
#5 Alabama 34, #7 Virginia Tech 24 – The score of this game was certainly closer than it should have been. I really enjoyed watching this one as it was a hard fought contest and pretty fascinating. Alabama was not very sharp early on in this game and they allowed Virginia Tech to hang in it by giving up a kickoff return touchdown, coughing up two bad turnovers, and committing a few silly penalties. While this was happening, Alabama was absolutely punishing Virginia Tech when it came to ball control and the ground game and ended up outgaining Virginia Tech 498-155 in yards. The talent gap between the two teams finally showed up in the 4th quarter as Alabama was able to pull away and win the game. The Crimson Tide defense looks like a beast and if the offense can continue to improve, Alabama might have a shot to give Florida a run if the two meet in the SEC Championship game. Virginia Tech has a great deal of work to do, but it seems like they still might be able to have success in an obviously weaker ACC.
#9 Oklahoma State 24, #13 Georgia 10 – As I mentioned earlier, I was very mad I did not get a chance to watch this game on TV. Georgia got off to a very quick start, driving right down the field and taking a 7-0 lead. It seemed as if this might be a mismatch, but the Oklahoma State defense surprisingly stepped up huge and held Georgia in check until the Cowboys’ offense was able to shake out of a sluggish start. QB Zac Robinson hooked up with his star receiver Dez Bryant for 2 TDs and Oklahoma State was able to cruise home to victory. The performance of the defense is a great sign for Oklahoma State. Many assumed that they would need to try and win shootouts and outscore their opponents every week, but that might not be the case. The Cowboys could end up being real players in the Big 12 now, especially with the early struggles of Oklahoma. Georgia will obviously need to find some answers on offense or they will not be able to make a serious challenge in the SEC. It looks like replacing Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno might be a tough task.
#11 LSU 31, Washington 23 – Washington was able to put in an inspired effort to hang with LSU, but it was not enough for them to pull off a victory. I was surprised that Washington was able to hang with LSU for so long, but I guess the 2500 mile road trip actually can take a toll. LSU was able to put together some good drives in the 2nd half to take over the game and they looked pretty solid. It should be a great race in the SEC West this year, but Alabama would have the inside track in my opinion.
#12 California 52, Maryland 13 – Well my home state Terps put in a thoroughly embarrassing performance last night. I thought they might be able to hang close with Cal, but it is obvious that they are nowhere close to Cal’s level this year. Costly turnovers and numerous mistakes killed Maryland and Cal RB Jahvid Best just ran wild over them. I’m sure Cal was looking for revenge in this game after last year’s loss at Maryland, but it was worse than that. I am getting a bad feeling that the Terrapins are just not that good this year and they might struggle to make a bowl game. However, the entire ACC had a hard time this weekend, so maybe Maryland can have enough success in the conference to get to .500 and be bowl eligible.
#22 Iowa 17, Northern Iowa 16 – This game almost turned into the biggest upset of the weekend. It was a mighty struggle for Iowa. They were able to develop no sort of rhythm on offense and they blew many opportunities that would have allowed them to put the game away. I did remark in my preview that Northern Iowa is one of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) and they could hang around in this one. That prediction was absolutely true as Northern Iowa looked like the more together team out there and they almost were able to use that to overcome the talent gap. Iowa had to block two 40-yard field goals in the final seconds to avoid the upset. Iowa will need to make some serious improvements or it could be a very mediocre season for them.
#23 Notre Dame 35, Nevada 0 – Maybe all the talk about Notre Dame being a serious contender is actually true. The Fighting Irish turned in an extremely impressive performance as they beat up on Nevada in every facet of the game. QB Jimmy Clausen looked more mature and he seemed like he was in mid-season form as he threw for 315 yards and 4 TDs. Notre Dame had huge plays on offense and their defense was able to keep Nevada’s running game and QB Colin Kaepernick in check and off balance. It seems as though Notre Dame may hang around all year and they could surprise everyone.
#1 Florida 62, Charleston Southern 3
#2 Texas 59, Louisiana-Monroe 20
#9 Penn State 31, Akron 7
#15 Georgia Tech 37, Jacksonville State 17
#19 Utah 35, Utah State 17
#21 North Carolina 40, The Citadel 6
#24 Nebraska 49, Florida Atlantic 3
#25 Kansas 49, Northern Colorado 3
As you can see, 1/3 of the Top 25 was able to take care of business and cruise in their “cupcake” games to start the year. Florida and Texas looked pretty sharp and they could be on a collision course for the BCS Title game in January.
And on two final notes…it seems as though Michigan was able to rally around Coach Rich Rodriguez and they beat Western Michigan with no trouble at all. And in Tennessee, the Lane Kiffin era began with a 63-7 stomping of Western Kentucky. I hope Lane enjoys this one because it might be a different story when Tennessee plays Florida.
The Game’s Quick Hits
NFL Cut Down Day: One of the most surprising cuts happened early in the morning Saturday as it was reported the New York Giants cut WR David Tyree. Tyree was one of the heroes of Super Bowl XLII, making a tremendous against his helmet catch to prolong the winning drive for the Giants. Obviously, Tyree did not develop into enough of a big play receiver for the Giants to keep him. If anything holds the Giants back this season, it will most likely be the lack of a threat at WR.
Even though QB Colt Brennan is on IR and out for the season now, the Redskins cut former Missouri QB Chase Daniel. This comes as a bit of a surprise since I though Daniel had some potential and was a solid QB at Missouri. Of course when we are talking QBs and the Redskins, Daniel Snyder will not be satisfied until he gets a superstar at the position. The Redskins will now only carry QBs Jason Campbell and Todd Collins on the 53 man roster.
Another big surprise was The Raiders cutting QB Jeff Garcia. I have no idea why in the hell Oakland would cut him, but I guess that is why the franchise continues to lose year after year. The Raiders lured Garcia to Oakland with hopes that he would have a fair shot to beat out JaMarcus Russell for the starting job, but it is obvious now that Al Davis was not going to give up on Russell and demote him. I believe though that Garcia would be a team player and accept the role and the Raiders are fools for not keeping him because it is always a good thing to have a solid backup QB in the NFL. Hopefully Garcia can find another job out there because I believe he still has some juice left and he can help a team.
The Bills ended up cutting RB Dominic Rhodes after signing him in the offseason. With RB Marshawn Lynch being suspended for three games, it seems puzzling that the Bills did not stick with a solid veteran back like Rhodes. And with the performance of their offense in the preseason, the Bills need all the help they can get.
- Sean O’Hair was able to fire a 7-under par 64 to catch the steady Jim Furyk at 12-under par and share the lead after the 2nd round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. The pristine conditions in the morning allowed a slew of players to shoot low rounds and set the pace between 8 and 12-under par after two rounds. Tiger Woods played later in the day and again was not able to put everything together. He did manage to sink some putts on the back 9 however, and ended up shooting a 4-under par 67 to put him 7 shots back at 5-under par heading into the final two rounds. I still maintain the opinion that Tiger is too far off of his best game to have a chance to win this tournament. He is fighting his putter too much and at a tie for 28th place, I think too many people are between him and the top of the leaderboard. He almost made me eat my words last week, but I don’t think he gets that close this time. Unless he goes out and shoots a 63 or 64 tomorrow…
- MLB News and Notes: Yankees closer Mariano Rivera had a bullpen session on Saturday and reported no pain in his sore left groin and might be able to return to the mound on Sunday. Obviously, the Yankees need a healthy Rivera to have a shot at winning the World Series. A big hitting lineup will only take you so far and it is going to take solid pitching and someone who can close down games to get the job done. Rivera is still in fine form this season, leading the majors with 38 saves…A federal judge has dismissed Roger Clemens' defamation suit against his former trainer, Brian McNamee and Clemens can not file the suit again, only appeal it. This was a pleasing bit of news to see. I have no love for Roger Clemens and have always though he was an arrogant jackass to be quite honest. It seems pretty obvious that he was using performance enhancing drugs, yet he continues to deny it in hopes of saving his chances to make the Hall of Fame and chooses to try and sue his trainer, who I believe is telling the truth. Of course this could end up being a money grab attempt by McNamee, but when the guy is only a trainer, I don’t think he was lying to Congress. I hope something comes out later to bust Clemens further because I can not stand the guy and his attitude.
- The United States soccer team rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat El Salvador 2-1 in a World Cup qualifying match last night. Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore scored for the U.S., who is now in prime position to qualify for their 6th straight trip to the World Cup. Congratulations to the U.S. team on a nice win. Although soccer will never become a huge phenomenon in this country and the U.S. stands no chance in hell of winning a World Cup any time soon, it is still nice to see them get to compete with the best in world every four years. I am not trying to hate on soccer, but it is just a fact that the best athletes in this country choose to play football, baseball, and basketball over soccer. Soccer is the only sport out there in most of the rest of the world, so I can not foresee a time when U.S. soccer will be on top of the world.
- Reports are saying that Indy Car racer Danica Patrick will start to race in some NASCAR events next year and may begin a transition to the NASCAR circuit. Sources are saying that she will not give up Indy Car racing entirely and would only compete in select Nationwide and Truck Series events next year. She will not take a full plunge into NASCAR until she is sure she could do well and is looking to take a path similar to the one Tony Stewart took. I will give some credit to Patrick for actually proving over time that she has the skills to compete. She has steadily improved in the Indy Car standings every year and has shown potential. I used to think that she was just a hype machine and would fizzle out, but she does have talent. I would still like to see her actually win some races, but maybe that is still to come on the horizon.
- U.S. Open Update: Things are starting to get interesting as we hit the first weekend of the U.S. Open. Andy Roddick, who came in as the #5 seed and brimming with confidence after his epic Wimbledon final with Roger Federer, was taken out in the 3rd round by 55th-ranked John Isner in five sets. Men’s #1 seed Roger Federer, who got tested by #31 seed Leyton Hewitt, and #4 seed Novak Djokovic both needed four sets to survive and advance. Federer got off to a slow start by losing the first set, but he showed his championship will to win by playing through it and reeling off 3 straight sets to win. On the women’s side, the surprise of the tournament continues to be 17-year old American Melanie Oudin, who beat #29 seed Maria Sharapova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
#20 BYU 14, #3 Oklahoma 13 – Without question, the biggest story from yesterday’s action was the injury to Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford. Bradford took a hard hit late in the 2nd quarter and his throwing shoulder was driven into the ground. He ended up being diagnosed with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. This type of injury usually will keep a player out 2-4 weeks depending on the grade of the sprain and how much pain the player can deal with. With Bradford out in the 2nd half, the game became a real defensive struggle. Both Oklahoma and BYU came to play on the defensive side of the ball. Oklahoma backup QB Landry Jones could not get anything going and BYU was able to hold Oklahoma’s run game in check. A late surge and huge drive was orchestrated by BYU QB Max Hall, who won the game for BYU by throwing a 7-yard TD pass with 3:03 left in the game. Obviously, this win is huge for BYU and it now gives them a huge boost and will allow them to try and become the latest BCS buster. For Oklahoma, the hopes of a National Championship season may now be over. They will have to rely on their defense and running game until Bradford can return. Bradford may now be hard pressed to make a run at winning the Heisman trophy for a second straight season. Pollsters do take injuries into account, but Oklahoma will have to make a major statement when Bradford returns and hope their offensive line gels because they were the source of Oklahoma’s problems last night.
#4 USC 56, San Jose State 3 – For the first quarter of this game, USC looked extremely sluggish and it seemed as if talk of contending for a National Championship, let alone a Pac 10 title, might be a little wishful thinking. Oh how suddenly things can change. USC quickly kicked it into gear in the 2nd quarter and ending up cruising and blowing out San Jose State. Freshman QB Matt Barkley started slow, but he settled into the game going 15-for-19 for 233 yards and 1 TD and let the Trojans’ powerful running game and stingy defense take over. Barkley and the Trojans will get a much tougher test when they travel to Ohio State next week. Before this week, many assumed that Ohio State would go into that game as the favorite, but that might change this week…
#6 Ohio State 31, Navy 27 – And the reason why it might change is because Ohio State received a huge scare at the hands of Navy. Ohio State did not have many problems moving the ball and scoring, but the problem was that they struggled getting a handle on Navy’s triple option offense. The Buckeyes also made a crucial mistake by going for a 4th and 2 instead of kicking a field goal that would have given them a 32-14 lead. Instead, they were stuffed and the momentum changed for Navy. They were able to eat up huge chunks of yards on the ground and kept making big plays until they got to within 29-27. The dream of a monumental upset died though when Navy threw an interception on the 2-point conversion and Ohio State returned it for 2 points of their own to win the game 31-27. Navy is certainly no slouch and they come to play every week, but now many are wondering how good Ohio State will be this year. We will find out next week and USC might be favored to win even on the road. It will most likely come down to how USC freshman QB Matt Barkley handles the pressure of his first huge college game.
#5 Alabama 34, #7 Virginia Tech 24 – The score of this game was certainly closer than it should have been. I really enjoyed watching this one as it was a hard fought contest and pretty fascinating. Alabama was not very sharp early on in this game and they allowed Virginia Tech to hang in it by giving up a kickoff return touchdown, coughing up two bad turnovers, and committing a few silly penalties. While this was happening, Alabama was absolutely punishing Virginia Tech when it came to ball control and the ground game and ended up outgaining Virginia Tech 498-155 in yards. The talent gap between the two teams finally showed up in the 4th quarter as Alabama was able to pull away and win the game. The Crimson Tide defense looks like a beast and if the offense can continue to improve, Alabama might have a shot to give Florida a run if the two meet in the SEC Championship game. Virginia Tech has a great deal of work to do, but it seems like they still might be able to have success in an obviously weaker ACC.
#9 Oklahoma State 24, #13 Georgia 10 – As I mentioned earlier, I was very mad I did not get a chance to watch this game on TV. Georgia got off to a very quick start, driving right down the field and taking a 7-0 lead. It seemed as if this might be a mismatch, but the Oklahoma State defense surprisingly stepped up huge and held Georgia in check until the Cowboys’ offense was able to shake out of a sluggish start. QB Zac Robinson hooked up with his star receiver Dez Bryant for 2 TDs and Oklahoma State was able to cruise home to victory. The performance of the defense is a great sign for Oklahoma State. Many assumed that they would need to try and win shootouts and outscore their opponents every week, but that might not be the case. The Cowboys could end up being real players in the Big 12 now, especially with the early struggles of Oklahoma. Georgia will obviously need to find some answers on offense or they will not be able to make a serious challenge in the SEC. It looks like replacing Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno might be a tough task.
#11 LSU 31, Washington 23 – Washington was able to put in an inspired effort to hang with LSU, but it was not enough for them to pull off a victory. I was surprised that Washington was able to hang with LSU for so long, but I guess the 2500 mile road trip actually can take a toll. LSU was able to put together some good drives in the 2nd half to take over the game and they looked pretty solid. It should be a great race in the SEC West this year, but Alabama would have the inside track in my opinion.
#12 California 52, Maryland 13 – Well my home state Terps put in a thoroughly embarrassing performance last night. I thought they might be able to hang close with Cal, but it is obvious that they are nowhere close to Cal’s level this year. Costly turnovers and numerous mistakes killed Maryland and Cal RB Jahvid Best just ran wild over them. I’m sure Cal was looking for revenge in this game after last year’s loss at Maryland, but it was worse than that. I am getting a bad feeling that the Terrapins are just not that good this year and they might struggle to make a bowl game. However, the entire ACC had a hard time this weekend, so maybe Maryland can have enough success in the conference to get to .500 and be bowl eligible.
#22 Iowa 17, Northern Iowa 16 – This game almost turned into the biggest upset of the weekend. It was a mighty struggle for Iowa. They were able to develop no sort of rhythm on offense and they blew many opportunities that would have allowed them to put the game away. I did remark in my preview that Northern Iowa is one of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) and they could hang around in this one. That prediction was absolutely true as Northern Iowa looked like the more together team out there and they almost were able to use that to overcome the talent gap. Iowa had to block two 40-yard field goals in the final seconds to avoid the upset. Iowa will need to make some serious improvements or it could be a very mediocre season for them.
#23 Notre Dame 35, Nevada 0 – Maybe all the talk about Notre Dame being a serious contender is actually true. The Fighting Irish turned in an extremely impressive performance as they beat up on Nevada in every facet of the game. QB Jimmy Clausen looked more mature and he seemed like he was in mid-season form as he threw for 315 yards and 4 TDs. Notre Dame had huge plays on offense and their defense was able to keep Nevada’s running game and QB Colin Kaepernick in check and off balance. It seems as though Notre Dame may hang around all year and they could surprise everyone.
#1 Florida 62, Charleston Southern 3
#2 Texas 59, Louisiana-Monroe 20
#9 Penn State 31, Akron 7
#15 Georgia Tech 37, Jacksonville State 17
#19 Utah 35, Utah State 17
#21 North Carolina 40, The Citadel 6
#24 Nebraska 49, Florida Atlantic 3
#25 Kansas 49, Northern Colorado 3
As you can see, 1/3 of the Top 25 was able to take care of business and cruise in their “cupcake” games to start the year. Florida and Texas looked pretty sharp and they could be on a collision course for the BCS Title game in January.
And on two final notes…it seems as though Michigan was able to rally around Coach Rich Rodriguez and they beat Western Michigan with no trouble at all. And in Tennessee, the Lane Kiffin era began with a 63-7 stomping of Western Kentucky. I hope Lane enjoys this one because it might be a different story when Tennessee plays Florida.
The Game’s Quick Hits
NFL Cut Down Day: One of the most surprising cuts happened early in the morning Saturday as it was reported the New York Giants cut WR David Tyree. Tyree was one of the heroes of Super Bowl XLII, making a tremendous against his helmet catch to prolong the winning drive for the Giants. Obviously, Tyree did not develop into enough of a big play receiver for the Giants to keep him. If anything holds the Giants back this season, it will most likely be the lack of a threat at WR.
Even though QB Colt Brennan is on IR and out for the season now, the Redskins cut former Missouri QB Chase Daniel. This comes as a bit of a surprise since I though Daniel had some potential and was a solid QB at Missouri. Of course when we are talking QBs and the Redskins, Daniel Snyder will not be satisfied until he gets a superstar at the position. The Redskins will now only carry QBs Jason Campbell and Todd Collins on the 53 man roster.
Another big surprise was The Raiders cutting QB Jeff Garcia. I have no idea why in the hell Oakland would cut him, but I guess that is why the franchise continues to lose year after year. The Raiders lured Garcia to Oakland with hopes that he would have a fair shot to beat out JaMarcus Russell for the starting job, but it is obvious now that Al Davis was not going to give up on Russell and demote him. I believe though that Garcia would be a team player and accept the role and the Raiders are fools for not keeping him because it is always a good thing to have a solid backup QB in the NFL. Hopefully Garcia can find another job out there because I believe he still has some juice left and he can help a team.
The Bills ended up cutting RB Dominic Rhodes after signing him in the offseason. With RB Marshawn Lynch being suspended for three games, it seems puzzling that the Bills did not stick with a solid veteran back like Rhodes. And with the performance of their offense in the preseason, the Bills need all the help they can get.
- Sean O’Hair was able to fire a 7-under par 64 to catch the steady Jim Furyk at 12-under par and share the lead after the 2nd round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. The pristine conditions in the morning allowed a slew of players to shoot low rounds and set the pace between 8 and 12-under par after two rounds. Tiger Woods played later in the day and again was not able to put everything together. He did manage to sink some putts on the back 9 however, and ended up shooting a 4-under par 67 to put him 7 shots back at 5-under par heading into the final two rounds. I still maintain the opinion that Tiger is too far off of his best game to have a chance to win this tournament. He is fighting his putter too much and at a tie for 28th place, I think too many people are between him and the top of the leaderboard. He almost made me eat my words last week, but I don’t think he gets that close this time. Unless he goes out and shoots a 63 or 64 tomorrow…
- MLB News and Notes: Yankees closer Mariano Rivera had a bullpen session on Saturday and reported no pain in his sore left groin and might be able to return to the mound on Sunday. Obviously, the Yankees need a healthy Rivera to have a shot at winning the World Series. A big hitting lineup will only take you so far and it is going to take solid pitching and someone who can close down games to get the job done. Rivera is still in fine form this season, leading the majors with 38 saves…A federal judge has dismissed Roger Clemens' defamation suit against his former trainer, Brian McNamee and Clemens can not file the suit again, only appeal it. This was a pleasing bit of news to see. I have no love for Roger Clemens and have always though he was an arrogant jackass to be quite honest. It seems pretty obvious that he was using performance enhancing drugs, yet he continues to deny it in hopes of saving his chances to make the Hall of Fame and chooses to try and sue his trainer, who I believe is telling the truth. Of course this could end up being a money grab attempt by McNamee, but when the guy is only a trainer, I don’t think he was lying to Congress. I hope something comes out later to bust Clemens further because I can not stand the guy and his attitude.
- The United States soccer team rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat El Salvador 2-1 in a World Cup qualifying match last night. Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore scored for the U.S., who is now in prime position to qualify for their 6th straight trip to the World Cup. Congratulations to the U.S. team on a nice win. Although soccer will never become a huge phenomenon in this country and the U.S. stands no chance in hell of winning a World Cup any time soon, it is still nice to see them get to compete with the best in world every four years. I am not trying to hate on soccer, but it is just a fact that the best athletes in this country choose to play football, baseball, and basketball over soccer. Soccer is the only sport out there in most of the rest of the world, so I can not foresee a time when U.S. soccer will be on top of the world.
- Reports are saying that Indy Car racer Danica Patrick will start to race in some NASCAR events next year and may begin a transition to the NASCAR circuit. Sources are saying that she will not give up Indy Car racing entirely and would only compete in select Nationwide and Truck Series events next year. She will not take a full plunge into NASCAR until she is sure she could do well and is looking to take a path similar to the one Tony Stewart took. I will give some credit to Patrick for actually proving over time that she has the skills to compete. She has steadily improved in the Indy Car standings every year and has shown potential. I used to think that she was just a hype machine and would fizzle out, but she does have talent. I would still like to see her actually win some races, but maybe that is still to come on the horizon.
- U.S. Open Update: Things are starting to get interesting as we hit the first weekend of the U.S. Open. Andy Roddick, who came in as the #5 seed and brimming with confidence after his epic Wimbledon final with Roger Federer, was taken out in the 3rd round by 55th-ranked John Isner in five sets. Men’s #1 seed Roger Federer, who got tested by #31 seed Leyton Hewitt, and #4 seed Novak Djokovic both needed four sets to survive and advance. Federer got off to a slow start by losing the first set, but he showed his championship will to win by playing through it and reeling off 3 straight sets to win. On the women’s side, the surprise of the tournament continues to be 17-year old American Melanie Oudin, who beat #29 seed Maria Sharapova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
College Football Season Preview
The college football season begins in earnest tonight with a huge game at 10:15 pm ET on ESPN featuring #14 Oregon at #16 Boise State. Since the season is now upon us, I just wanted to offer up a few thoughts about the college football scene this year. I believe that the 2009 college football season has the potential to be an epic one. All you have to do is start at the top. I can’t recall a time when 3 excellent players and Heisman Trophy contenders from arguably the top 3 schools in the nation all returned to school and put the NFL off for a year. Florida QB Tim Tebow, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, and Texas QB Colt McCoy should make things very exciting for college football fans in ‘09. And without question, these three will be instrumental in guiding their teams toward a national championship.
While I expect a great season of football and some awesome games, I think there are only a handful of contenders for the title and I do not anticipate a dark horse making a run. Florida is clearly the favorite to repeat as National Champion. They are returning all 11 starters on defense and the return of Tebow will keep their high powered offense rolling. I have stated before that I do not like Tim Tebow, mostly because of how the media tends to portray the guy as perfect. I respect his will to win and compete, but I feel that he will just turn out to be one of those college phenoms who eventually fall flat when they get to the NFL. With that said though, the guy is a beast on the college level and I don’t think he will let the team get lazy. I see Florida cruising to win the SEC East and then most likely matching up with Alabama, LSU, or Mississippi for the SEC Championship which they should also win. Due to the SEC being the toughest conference, Florida should be able to withstand one loss as long as it is not in the SEC Championship game. Someone could surprise them, which does seem to happen every year, but they will be favored to win every single game and make it to the BCS Title game.
Florida’s likely opponent in that game could be decided on October 17th when Texas takes on Oklahoma. Last year, Texas won the game 45-35, but due to a crazy rule in the Big 12 that uses BCS standings as one of the tiebreakers to determine a division champion, Oklahoma beat out Texas for the Big 12 South Division Title and were then able to parlay that into a Big 12 Championship win and a shot at the National Title. I don’t expect such shenanigans this year and the winner of this game will likely win the Big 12 South and be able to get to the BCS Title game. The game should be one hell of a shootout between Bradford and McCoy. McCoy is the trendy pick this year for the Heisman Trophy and many people are taking Texas to make it to the BCS Title game. I tend to agree and have to jump on the bandwagon. I believe Texas will find enough motivation from last year’s disappointment to win the game and the Big 12 and get their shot this year. If that happens, McCoy will most likely have the inside track on the Heisman and it will be a spread the wealth situation: voters could be hesitant to give out a 2nd Trophy to Bradford or Tebow and all three could end up with one by December. If Oklahoma is able to beat Texas in this game though, expect Oklahoma to take on Florida in a BCS Championship rematch from last year.
I honestly believe that the only other team outside of the “big 3” this year to have a shot at the National Championship is USC. The Trojans always have a wealth of talent and Pete Carroll is a master at recruiting, so USC will always have a good team. Over the past few seasons though, they have fallen short and I expect the same this year. USC has handed the QB job to freshman Matt Barkley. Now Barkley was the most sought after recruit last year and by all estimates, the kid is very talented. But he is still a true freshman and I believe that USC will suffer one Pac 10 loss in the middle of season and that will kill their title chances. I think Barkley will end up having one game where he makes too many mistakes and it will cost USC. I expect Cal and Oregon to try and make a run at the Trojans for the Pac 10 title, but USC should be able to hold them off and win the Pac 10.
Outside of those four teams, the football will still be great and so will some of the teams. I just think that no one else will have a shot at the National Title. The Big 10 conference should come down to a great battle between Ohio State and Penn State. The two teams will meet at Penn State on November 7th and the game could decide who wins the Big 10 Title. Penn State was able to go to Ohio State last year and win for the 1st time since joining the conference. So you can expect Ohio State to be looking for payback this year. I think Ohio State has the better team by a slight margin, but playing away from Columbus could make this dead even. I have no idea who will win this game, but no matter what happens, I believe that both of these teams will not be able to do enough to get into the BCS Title game.
The ACC should have a pretty balanced conference this year, but no BCS Title contenders to speak of. Virginia Tech is the favorite in the Coastal Division, but the loss of star RB Darren Evans to a torn ACL is a big blow. Georgia Tech seems like they will be able to offer a challenge to Virginia Tech in the division and the game at Georgia Tech on October 17th could be the decider. Florida State seems to be on the upswing and should be able to win the ACC Atlantic Division and play either VA or GA Tech for the ACC Championship. I think Florida State might be able to pull the “upset” on Virginia Tech this year if that becomes the matchup. Obviously when it comes to the ACC, I am a Maryland Terrapins fan, but it seems like it will be a down year for them. I have heard no talk about them contending in the ACC so it seems like 7 or 8 wins is probably the ceiling, but hopefully they can still make a bowl game this year.
Outside of those big conferences, I don’t think there will be any legitimate contenders or huge surprises. I don’t see the Big East being particularly strong this year. There is a lot of talk about Rutgers taking a step forward and knocking off Cincinnati for the Big East Conference Title, but no team from the conference will be a player for the national title. I have heard a TON of talk about Notre Dame being a real dark horse this year, but I don’t envision that happening at all. The Fighting Irish are returning most of their team which did show flashes of brilliance last year, but I can not picture them going undefeated and making the National Championship game like Lou Holtz is trying to push on ESPN. QB Jimmy Clausen and the offense should be good and I think 9 or 10 wins is a strong possibility and maybe they might sniff a BCS game, but they will lose at least once and that will kill any national title hopes.
And finally, there is always talk of the smaller schools making a run at the BCS and it seems like BYU and Boise State are once again in the running and being talked about as trying to make it happen this year. That makes tonight’s opener against Oregon an extremely crucial game for Boise State. Boise State almost went undefeated last year and if they are able to beat Oregon tonight, then they will have a great chance of not being beaten in 2009. Considering they are starting the year ranked #16, they could make a serious claim for getting to the title game if they win out. The strength of schedule will obviously hurt them, but a BCS game would be all but guaranteed if they finish off a perfect season. Oregon will be looking for revenge after losing to Boise 37-32 in 2008, so it should be one great game tonight.
So the bottom line is that the college football season should be a great one this year and I am really looking forward to all the great games. In the final analysis, I have to put the best odds on a Florida vs. Texas matchup in the BCS Title game. Oklahoma and USC have a chance to play spoiler in my opinion, but clearly Florida has the advantage in trying to repeat as National Champions this year.
The Game’s Quick Hits
- The Vancouver Canucks and G Roberto Luongo agreed to a 12-year contract extension worth $64 million over the life of the deal and costing an average yearly salary cap hit of $5.35 million. Luongo was entering the final year of his previous contract, so this staves off him entering free agency next year. Even though this is a huge deal and one of those funky front-loaded deals that the NHL has said they will monitor, I have to say it is definitely a smart move for the Canucks. Luongo is arguably the best goalie in the NHL and elite goaltenders are hard to come by. If Vancouver let him walk next year, they would likely spend years and years trying to replace Luongo. If you watched his performance against the Blues in the first round of the playoffs last year, you will see how good this guy is. He is a game changer and can literally steal numerous games for the Canucks over the course of the season and the playoffs. I believe that he is good enough to carry a team on his back to a Stanley Cup and if Vancouver is able to keep the team together and add another piece or two, they will be dangerous and serious contenders to win the Cup for years to come.
- Well, this Ricky Rubio story continues to try and cling to the news wires. Rubio stated Wednesday that he is still committed to the NBA, but he wants to keep playing in Spain right now because a move to the Timberwolves would be “too risky and complicate his life.” Wow, ok. So you have a team in the best league in the world wanting to bring you over and pay you millions of dollars to play basketball and that would just mess up your life? Am I hearing that right? I guess this guy really is still an 18 year old kid. Maybe I am being too hard on the guy and he just wants to stay close to home. But on the other hand, he is already making big money and he made the decision to enter the NBA draft and says the NBA is his goal, so this is just looking like a joke now. The Timberwolves are looking like fools in all this and should have traded Rubio’s rights to another team who could afford to wait or find another way to get the buyout done. Instead, a team that is hurting for talent just wasted a top 5 draft pick this year…brilliant!
- The fun just keeps rolling on for Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez. Days after allegations surfaced that Michigan violates NCAA rules which limit the amount of time players can practice, it is now being reported that Rodriguez was business partners with a banned Clemson booster in a failed real-estate venture that led to a $3.9 million lawsuit. The details of this are pretty boring, so I won’t get into them, but this seems to be just another distraction for Michigan and it makes you wonder if anything else will be dug up now that people are looking at Rodriguez intensely. Some financial adviser is claiming that Rodriguez is a victim of a fraudulent real estate Ponzi scheme in all this and he has done nothing wrong. We’ll see, but if Clemson banned this guy as a booster, then who knows what underhanded dealings might have been done in the past. And as a semi-related note, players from Michigan’s bitter rival Ohio State, as well as Coach Jim Tressel, came out in support of Michigan and said they believe that Michigan is following the rules and the players who want to be better are going above and beyond the 20 hour per week limit in order to become better. The more I am hearing about this, the more I believe that Michigan might not be guilty of anything. Every top college program is going to have players who are workaholics and are going to push themselves and I don’t think the coaches are necessarily making it mandatory. In anything, you have to put in the work to get better.
- The Denver Broncos are said to be “carefully monitoring” any public comments the New York Jets make that might indicate the team is trying to tamper with suspended WR Brandon Marshall. There is talk that the Jets might try to make a play for Marshall, but there has been no contact between the two teams about a trade and the Broncos want it known to Marshall that the only outcome to his behavior improving is playing for the Broncos. However, later in the day it was reported that if the Broncos were to do a trade with the Jets, they would want LB David Harris to be a part of deal because they would want a player back who could immediately contribute. So I guess there are no “talks” until there are talks huh? Hell, if I were the Broncos I might welcome the tampering! Marshall seems like he just wants to be a headache for them and he could become a poison to the team. The guy is very talented though and they can not give him away for nothing to another team, so this just seems like it will continue to be a bad situation.
- Other NFL News and Notes: Sources are saying that people within the Philadelphia Eagles organization believe that Commissioner Roger Goodell will make a decision on Saturday about Michael Vick’s possible full re-instatement to the NFL. These sources are also saying that the Eagles believe Vick will be suspended for the first 2 games of the season. This is pretty much exactly what I expected would happen, so it will be interesting to hear what news comes out over the weekend…Miami Dolphins RB Ricky Williams negotiated his own 1-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2010. Williams has had his share of problems in the past, but I will give him credit for turning things around and still being a productive RB at 32. His coaches and teammates have praised his work ethic and leadership, so I will just say good luck to him on a good season…Bengals QB Carson Palmer, who is recovering from a sprained ankle he suffered on August 14th, will not play in the team’s final preseason game, but will be ready for week 1. Sources indicate he has finally made significant strides and is doing everything now in practice. Well the Bengals needed some good news. They stand no chance of being any good without Palmer, but the fact remains that even with him, I say that Cincinnati will have a mediocre year again, especially with the Ravens and Steelers in the division…And it seems now that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL will not be signing Adam “Pacman” Jones after all. Real great reporting yesterday then by whoever said it was a done deal…
- U.S. Open Update: Women’s #17 seed and two-time Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo was the latest notable upset victim at the U.S. Open, getting crushed 6-4, 6-0 by Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in the second round. The women’s side of the draw also saw the #14, #15, and #20 seeds go down in a tough day on the courts for some of the ladies. The men’s side of the draw saw no notable upsets on day 3 and included Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal advancing.
While I expect a great season of football and some awesome games, I think there are only a handful of contenders for the title and I do not anticipate a dark horse making a run. Florida is clearly the favorite to repeat as National Champion. They are returning all 11 starters on defense and the return of Tebow will keep their high powered offense rolling. I have stated before that I do not like Tim Tebow, mostly because of how the media tends to portray the guy as perfect. I respect his will to win and compete, but I feel that he will just turn out to be one of those college phenoms who eventually fall flat when they get to the NFL. With that said though, the guy is a beast on the college level and I don’t think he will let the team get lazy. I see Florida cruising to win the SEC East and then most likely matching up with Alabama, LSU, or Mississippi for the SEC Championship which they should also win. Due to the SEC being the toughest conference, Florida should be able to withstand one loss as long as it is not in the SEC Championship game. Someone could surprise them, which does seem to happen every year, but they will be favored to win every single game and make it to the BCS Title game.
Florida’s likely opponent in that game could be decided on October 17th when Texas takes on Oklahoma. Last year, Texas won the game 45-35, but due to a crazy rule in the Big 12 that uses BCS standings as one of the tiebreakers to determine a division champion, Oklahoma beat out Texas for the Big 12 South Division Title and were then able to parlay that into a Big 12 Championship win and a shot at the National Title. I don’t expect such shenanigans this year and the winner of this game will likely win the Big 12 South and be able to get to the BCS Title game. The game should be one hell of a shootout between Bradford and McCoy. McCoy is the trendy pick this year for the Heisman Trophy and many people are taking Texas to make it to the BCS Title game. I tend to agree and have to jump on the bandwagon. I believe Texas will find enough motivation from last year’s disappointment to win the game and the Big 12 and get their shot this year. If that happens, McCoy will most likely have the inside track on the Heisman and it will be a spread the wealth situation: voters could be hesitant to give out a 2nd Trophy to Bradford or Tebow and all three could end up with one by December. If Oklahoma is able to beat Texas in this game though, expect Oklahoma to take on Florida in a BCS Championship rematch from last year.
I honestly believe that the only other team outside of the “big 3” this year to have a shot at the National Championship is USC. The Trojans always have a wealth of talent and Pete Carroll is a master at recruiting, so USC will always have a good team. Over the past few seasons though, they have fallen short and I expect the same this year. USC has handed the QB job to freshman Matt Barkley. Now Barkley was the most sought after recruit last year and by all estimates, the kid is very talented. But he is still a true freshman and I believe that USC will suffer one Pac 10 loss in the middle of season and that will kill their title chances. I think Barkley will end up having one game where he makes too many mistakes and it will cost USC. I expect Cal and Oregon to try and make a run at the Trojans for the Pac 10 title, but USC should be able to hold them off and win the Pac 10.
Outside of those four teams, the football will still be great and so will some of the teams. I just think that no one else will have a shot at the National Title. The Big 10 conference should come down to a great battle between Ohio State and Penn State. The two teams will meet at Penn State on November 7th and the game could decide who wins the Big 10 Title. Penn State was able to go to Ohio State last year and win for the 1st time since joining the conference. So you can expect Ohio State to be looking for payback this year. I think Ohio State has the better team by a slight margin, but playing away from Columbus could make this dead even. I have no idea who will win this game, but no matter what happens, I believe that both of these teams will not be able to do enough to get into the BCS Title game.
The ACC should have a pretty balanced conference this year, but no BCS Title contenders to speak of. Virginia Tech is the favorite in the Coastal Division, but the loss of star RB Darren Evans to a torn ACL is a big blow. Georgia Tech seems like they will be able to offer a challenge to Virginia Tech in the division and the game at Georgia Tech on October 17th could be the decider. Florida State seems to be on the upswing and should be able to win the ACC Atlantic Division and play either VA or GA Tech for the ACC Championship. I think Florida State might be able to pull the “upset” on Virginia Tech this year if that becomes the matchup. Obviously when it comes to the ACC, I am a Maryland Terrapins fan, but it seems like it will be a down year for them. I have heard no talk about them contending in the ACC so it seems like 7 or 8 wins is probably the ceiling, but hopefully they can still make a bowl game this year.
Outside of those big conferences, I don’t think there will be any legitimate contenders or huge surprises. I don’t see the Big East being particularly strong this year. There is a lot of talk about Rutgers taking a step forward and knocking off Cincinnati for the Big East Conference Title, but no team from the conference will be a player for the national title. I have heard a TON of talk about Notre Dame being a real dark horse this year, but I don’t envision that happening at all. The Fighting Irish are returning most of their team which did show flashes of brilliance last year, but I can not picture them going undefeated and making the National Championship game like Lou Holtz is trying to push on ESPN. QB Jimmy Clausen and the offense should be good and I think 9 or 10 wins is a strong possibility and maybe they might sniff a BCS game, but they will lose at least once and that will kill any national title hopes.
And finally, there is always talk of the smaller schools making a run at the BCS and it seems like BYU and Boise State are once again in the running and being talked about as trying to make it happen this year. That makes tonight’s opener against Oregon an extremely crucial game for Boise State. Boise State almost went undefeated last year and if they are able to beat Oregon tonight, then they will have a great chance of not being beaten in 2009. Considering they are starting the year ranked #16, they could make a serious claim for getting to the title game if they win out. The strength of schedule will obviously hurt them, but a BCS game would be all but guaranteed if they finish off a perfect season. Oregon will be looking for revenge after losing to Boise 37-32 in 2008, so it should be one great game tonight.
So the bottom line is that the college football season should be a great one this year and I am really looking forward to all the great games. In the final analysis, I have to put the best odds on a Florida vs. Texas matchup in the BCS Title game. Oklahoma and USC have a chance to play spoiler in my opinion, but clearly Florida has the advantage in trying to repeat as National Champions this year.
The Game’s Quick Hits
- The Vancouver Canucks and G Roberto Luongo agreed to a 12-year contract extension worth $64 million over the life of the deal and costing an average yearly salary cap hit of $5.35 million. Luongo was entering the final year of his previous contract, so this staves off him entering free agency next year. Even though this is a huge deal and one of those funky front-loaded deals that the NHL has said they will monitor, I have to say it is definitely a smart move for the Canucks. Luongo is arguably the best goalie in the NHL and elite goaltenders are hard to come by. If Vancouver let him walk next year, they would likely spend years and years trying to replace Luongo. If you watched his performance against the Blues in the first round of the playoffs last year, you will see how good this guy is. He is a game changer and can literally steal numerous games for the Canucks over the course of the season and the playoffs. I believe that he is good enough to carry a team on his back to a Stanley Cup and if Vancouver is able to keep the team together and add another piece or two, they will be dangerous and serious contenders to win the Cup for years to come.
- Well, this Ricky Rubio story continues to try and cling to the news wires. Rubio stated Wednesday that he is still committed to the NBA, but he wants to keep playing in Spain right now because a move to the Timberwolves would be “too risky and complicate his life.” Wow, ok. So you have a team in the best league in the world wanting to bring you over and pay you millions of dollars to play basketball and that would just mess up your life? Am I hearing that right? I guess this guy really is still an 18 year old kid. Maybe I am being too hard on the guy and he just wants to stay close to home. But on the other hand, he is already making big money and he made the decision to enter the NBA draft and says the NBA is his goal, so this is just looking like a joke now. The Timberwolves are looking like fools in all this and should have traded Rubio’s rights to another team who could afford to wait or find another way to get the buyout done. Instead, a team that is hurting for talent just wasted a top 5 draft pick this year…brilliant!
- The fun just keeps rolling on for Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez. Days after allegations surfaced that Michigan violates NCAA rules which limit the amount of time players can practice, it is now being reported that Rodriguez was business partners with a banned Clemson booster in a failed real-estate venture that led to a $3.9 million lawsuit. The details of this are pretty boring, so I won’t get into them, but this seems to be just another distraction for Michigan and it makes you wonder if anything else will be dug up now that people are looking at Rodriguez intensely. Some financial adviser is claiming that Rodriguez is a victim of a fraudulent real estate Ponzi scheme in all this and he has done nothing wrong. We’ll see, but if Clemson banned this guy as a booster, then who knows what underhanded dealings might have been done in the past. And as a semi-related note, players from Michigan’s bitter rival Ohio State, as well as Coach Jim Tressel, came out in support of Michigan and said they believe that Michigan is following the rules and the players who want to be better are going above and beyond the 20 hour per week limit in order to become better. The more I am hearing about this, the more I believe that Michigan might not be guilty of anything. Every top college program is going to have players who are workaholics and are going to push themselves and I don’t think the coaches are necessarily making it mandatory. In anything, you have to put in the work to get better.
- The Denver Broncos are said to be “carefully monitoring” any public comments the New York Jets make that might indicate the team is trying to tamper with suspended WR Brandon Marshall. There is talk that the Jets might try to make a play for Marshall, but there has been no contact between the two teams about a trade and the Broncos want it known to Marshall that the only outcome to his behavior improving is playing for the Broncos. However, later in the day it was reported that if the Broncos were to do a trade with the Jets, they would want LB David Harris to be a part of deal because they would want a player back who could immediately contribute. So I guess there are no “talks” until there are talks huh? Hell, if I were the Broncos I might welcome the tampering! Marshall seems like he just wants to be a headache for them and he could become a poison to the team. The guy is very talented though and they can not give him away for nothing to another team, so this just seems like it will continue to be a bad situation.
- Other NFL News and Notes: Sources are saying that people within the Philadelphia Eagles organization believe that Commissioner Roger Goodell will make a decision on Saturday about Michael Vick’s possible full re-instatement to the NFL. These sources are also saying that the Eagles believe Vick will be suspended for the first 2 games of the season. This is pretty much exactly what I expected would happen, so it will be interesting to hear what news comes out over the weekend…Miami Dolphins RB Ricky Williams negotiated his own 1-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2010. Williams has had his share of problems in the past, but I will give him credit for turning things around and still being a productive RB at 32. His coaches and teammates have praised his work ethic and leadership, so I will just say good luck to him on a good season…Bengals QB Carson Palmer, who is recovering from a sprained ankle he suffered on August 14th, will not play in the team’s final preseason game, but will be ready for week 1. Sources indicate he has finally made significant strides and is doing everything now in practice. Well the Bengals needed some good news. They stand no chance of being any good without Palmer, but the fact remains that even with him, I say that Cincinnati will have a mediocre year again, especially with the Ravens and Steelers in the division…And it seems now that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL will not be signing Adam “Pacman” Jones after all. Real great reporting yesterday then by whoever said it was a done deal…
- U.S. Open Update: Women’s #17 seed and two-time Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo was the latest notable upset victim at the U.S. Open, getting crushed 6-4, 6-0 by Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in the second round. The women’s side of the draw also saw the #14, #15, and #20 seeds go down in a tough day on the courts for some of the ladies. The men’s side of the draw saw no notable upsets on day 3 and included Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal advancing.
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