Two Sports Minds

Quick Hits

2009-09-15T20:21:00.003-05:00

Let's get right into some College Football and NFL quick hits:

NCAA

- Florida is going to be very tough to beat this season, if they get by LSU in Death Valley, they will go undefeated, win another National Championship and Tim Tebow will be only the second 2-time Heisman Trophy winner.

- Matt Barkley led USC over Ohio St for a huge victory last weekend; look for USC to have a let down this weekend and Washington goes on their first 2 game win streak in two years (if I'm Pete Carroll, I play Aaron Corp this weekend)

- Texas gets there shot this weekend in Austin for revenge against Texas Tech and I think they will get it in a big way (UNFORTUNATELY!)

- The Mountain West has 3 legit BCS contenders in Utah, TCU and BYU; look for the Horned Frogs to be BCS'ing in January.

- A few former superpowers are gaining strength and looking to challenge and possibly win their conferences this season: Da U (Miami), the Michigan Wolverines and the corn-fed boys from Nebraska

- A current superpower had their last chance to impress me and probably the rest of the nation last week. Close counts in the game of horseshoes, but close doesn't count IN the Horseshoe, sorry Ohio St. but i'm removing you from my mind of being an elite program.

- Oklahoma may be in big trouble this season. Everyone talks about the loss of Bradford, but they have also lost their starting TE (Gresham), starting WR's (NFL) and 4 offensive lineman. A loss to BYU with road games at Miami, in Dallas vs Texas and in Lubbock vs Texas Tech will all go down as L's for Boomer Sooner this season. Hello Alamo Bowl??

- Oklahoma St is the exact same team as the BJ Symons led Texas Tech Red Raiders from 2003. Sure they can score 40 a game, but their defense won't stop any good opposing offense from putting 41 on the board.

NFL

- Sorry LT, but AD is the best back in the league, you aren't even the best RB on your own team (Sproles)

- Jake Delhomme is doing his best to get John Fox fired in Carolina with his 11 turnovers in his last two home games performances (that has to be a record right?)

- I don't know if Tom Brady is back or the Bills are just being the Bills. Great comeback for the Pats, but I think one of the last times the Bills were on MNF they blew a huge lead against the Cowboys and lost in the end.

- Cowboy fans please be quiet. You beat up on a Tampa Bay team that had 2 blown coverages and gave up another big play b/c of a terrible Safety.

- Pittsburgh is back up to their old tricks with great defense, a terrible offense and winning low scoring games. A win is a win, but man it is hard to watch them play.

- The Cardinals had a terrific run to the Super Bowl last year, but they will be watching the playoffs from home this season. Seattle is back and could be playing for homefield playoff position later in the season.

- On November 1st, Lambough Field may host a football game that gets more hype and has more anticipation than some Super Bowls. Brett Favre returns to face the fans and the franchise that treated him so well for 16 years in a game that could go a long way towards home field advantage in the NFC.

Stay tuned in the coming days/weeks for more sports talk!

We're Back!!

2009-09-15T15:32:00.002-05:00

TwoSportsMinds are back and will be delivering some pretty riveting blog entries in the days to come.

Hallelujah NCAA Football, NFL, NHL!!

Pittsburgh Penguins are Stanley Cup Champs!

2009-06-14T10:29:00.003-05:00

On Friday night, Sidney Crosby became the youngest Captain to ever hoist the Stanley Cup trophy at the age of 21. The Pens went into Detroit and got a great performance out of Marc-Andre Fluery and Max Talbot stepped up with two goals.

The city of Pittsburgh now has the Super Bowl Champ Steelers and the Stanley Cup Champ Penguins in the same season. Is it in the cards for the Pirates to win the World Series? I don't think so.

I thank the Pens for making the entire hockey season fun for me and hopefully next season we can see the Stars back in the playoffs and have both teams playing as late into the season as possible.

Week Wrap Up - 6/8 - 6/12

2009-06-12T14:23:00.005-05:00

Let me first start by sending my apologies for the lack of updates and new posts this week. Crazy busy week at work and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was hop on a computer and post. Next week I will renew my NCAA Football Realignment with the Big 12, Pac-10, Mountain West and WAC.

This was a pretty busy week in the world of sports. There are two championship series going on and I want to touch on the Magic vs Lakers to start. If you keep up with the blog you would know I went with my gut instead of my heart and took the Magic. It will be the last time I make a gut decision. The Lakers, behind Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, are just too good. They have had some others step up and knock down shots and are up 3 games to 1. The Magic are a blown layup at the buzzer and a complete collapse in last nights game away from having the 3 to 1 advantage, but utlimately didn't make the plays down the stretch to pull those games out. Van Gundy killed his team by playing Jameer Nelson over Rafer Alston which broke team chemistry and rhythm they had after playing the last several months with Alston starting at the PG spot with Nelson sitting on the pine after shoulder surgery. Nelson was to blame last night for both of Fisher's big 3's. He seemed to be defending a drive in the final seconds giving up a wide open 3 to send the game to OT. In OT he went to double Kobe whose back was to the rim and was about to throw up a wild fade away 20 footer and left Fisher open again. SWISH!! Game! Lakers win in 5.

The Penguins and Red Wings will do battle this evening for hockey supremacy. I wish I had more confidence in the Pens, but so far they have lost their games in Detroit 3-1, 3-1, and 5-0. Fluery is a whole different goaltender at home vs on the road, so considering this game is in "The Joe", the Pens have little to no chance. It will take a "i'm the best player in the world" effort from Crosby (2 goals and an assist) for the Pens to have a chance. The only positive the Pens have going for them is that they played a game 7 in Washington to advance and if you ask me most the pressure is on Detroit after blowing a 2 game advantage in the series. First team to 4 goals wins tonights game. Go Pens!

Alabama football will be on probation for 3 years and will be forced to vacate something like 21 victories between 2005-2007. Rumor has it several players were receiving additional free textbooks that were then given to friends or were turned around and sold back for cash. What is the point of taking victories away from a team? Do you think the 2006 Florida International team that got beat 38-3 by 'Bama is celebrating today? Give me a break. So, 3 years of probation, that will show them! They have now been on probation 3 seperate times in the same decade!!! At what point and time do you start taking scholarships or taking away the opportunity for bowl games? I think in this case, they need to take the qty of players that were found to be guilty of doing "Textbook-gate" and over that same 3-year probation period, they lose that many scholarships. Does that make sense to anyone? Sure it makes sense to you and I, but considering we live in a time when a computer ranking which factors in the amount of mustaches are on a coaching staff is telling us who plays for a National Title, I know my concept would be too much.

Gillette is loving Tiger and Roger Federer right now. The "shaving brothers" from other mothers are at the top of their sports. Federer won his 14th Grand Slam Title tying him for Pete Sampras for all time Grand Slams when he won his 1st French Open and Tiger won the Memorial and is revving up for the US Open. Both players make two sports that are otherwise not too TV friendly enjoyable to watch and make you actually get into the sport. It is fun to watch the two people that are the greatest at their kraft serving aces and dropping 30 foot birdies. I thank both of them for keeping both of those sports relevant and congratulate them for their achievements.

The College World Series in Omaha kicks off tomorrow. 8 teams, 11 days and enough PINGS! to make your ears ring for a few days. As you know, my money is on LSU beating Arizona St for the Series Title. Once again, a great site to keep up with all the action is http://www.d1baseball.com/.

In NFL news the only real news that is getting attention is the saga I have dubbed "As the Grey Beard Turns". First the Vikings set a deadline, then they didn't, then they say they would suspend talk about him, then Viking coach Brad Childress is talking about him at the OTA's. In the meantime, Gunslinger Grey Beard (Indian Name) is considering shoulder surgery, then he all of a sudden had surgery a month ago, then he is throwing footballs to high school kids leading them into puddles, the next minute he hasn't thrown a ball in weeks and has been busy handweaving Wranglers jeans. WTF! Does anyone care? This should prove to you how boring Major League Baseball is. It is the heart of their season and this crap is getting headline news over anything they can possibly do.

The talk in baseball should be the Minnesota Twins and Joe Mauer. First off, if you are gambling person, bet on the Twins to do whatever they did the night before (win or lose). They seem to NEVER win, lose, win. Everything they do is in streaks. W, W, W, L, L, L, L, W, W, W. For instance, they lost 3, then beat the A's twice, then lost yesterday. Start fresh and wait for a victory and then ride it out with a follow up win, then wait til a loss. Follow that loss up with another loss. You can't lose! Aside from that tendancy, there is nothing else I understand about the Twins season so far. They have 3 guys who are hitting above .325 and are bombs away knocking the ball out of the park (Mauer, Morneau and Kubel) along with some pitchers that seem to have great performances, but are still 3 games below .500! How are they so terrible on the road but great at home? I brought up Joe Mauer and I can't believe this guy is not getting more publicity. He is hitting above .400 (in games from May to June, not over a 10 game streak) and has already posted a career high in homeruns. Pitchers cannot get him out. Anytime a guy who in a month beats his career best homers for a season there is speculation of steroids, but in Mauers case that simply ISN'T THE CASE. If anyone has watched the Twins over the last few years, they know that he always hits the ball hard. This year he is getting a little bit more trajectory and it is carrying out of the yard. Hit homers are always the ugly linedrive homers that take 2 seconds to leave the ballpark, never the towering upperdeck shots. Did I mention he is 6'5, 230?? It was a matter of time before he became more than a great hitter and turned into a power hitter.

That is all I have for this week. Stay tuned for the NCAA Football realignment to come to fruition next week. Good Day and Good Weekend!

Stars fire Tippett!!

2009-06-10T20:57:00.004-05:00

Stars fired Dave Tippett today and i'm completely shocked. Tippett was in town for 6 seasons and led the team to the playoffs 5 of the 6 seasons he was at the helm. The season they didn't make it was last season. He had a 271-162-59 record in six seasons.

A year after losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Finals, the Stars had injury after injury this season and contended for the final playoff spot up until the 3rd to last game this season. Captain Brendan Morrow only played 18 games, leading defenseman Sergie Zubov missed all but 7 games and leading point scorer Brad Richards missed the final 2 months of the season with a broken wrist/hand. Did I mention it was Brett Hull who brought in Sean Avery who basically tore apart the team until they got rid of his sorry ass? That wasn't on Tippett.

Hockey is a sport where it seems GM's jump to conclusions way to quick and fire coaches. The Stars just hired Joe Nieuwendyk and it seems he decided a change was needed. I think this is a mistake. The coaching job he did minus his 3 best players for virtually the entire season last year was good enough to get him another year in my opinion. It doesn't help that he had to keep Mike Modano on the ice, who is over the hill, reluctant to hit and turned the puck over time and time again in crucial situations. Tippett had no choice b/c Modano is a god in in the Stars franchise and they would never sit him if he was able to play.

Hopefully Nieuwendyk knows what he is doing and can bring in a quality coach. Regardless of who he brings in, if the Stars are healthy next season they will make the postseason and Nieuwendyk will get what he wants, the praise for bringing in a head coach "that got them back in the playoffs". I just wish Tippett had another season to lead a team that was healthy that also had young players who logged major minutes this season and gained valuable experience. He would have brought them back into the playoffs and helped them make a run if you ask me. I wish him luck in finding a new job. Thanks for the past 6 seasons Dave.

NCAA Football Realignment Cont'd....

2009-06-10T09:47:00.005-05:00

Today I bring to you the fun football from Conference USA. Perhaps with the changes I have made this conference will be upgraded and gain some attention. I give to you the newly realigned Conference USA.
Teams that will stay in the Conference: Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Central Florida and UTEP
-
Teams departing the Conference: East Carolina (ACC), Southern Miss (SEC) and UAB (SEC)
-
New teams to the Conference: Baylor (Big 12), Vanderbilt (SEC) and Troy (Sun Belt)
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ECU, Southern Miss and UAB were all moved to other conferences to join their instate rivals. I think the swap of those three for the newbies will greatly upgrade the conference talent wise and help the conference gain a little more national recognition.
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The problem with Baylor and Vandy was that they were in power conferences and despite getting better each season, they were still the doormat of their division. I think by putting them into this conference they can instantly compete for a conference championship and they will bring some better D-1 talent to the conference than it has seen in the past. Baylor will now also be matched up with it's other Texas private schools and this will help build a great rivalry between the three schools (SMU and Rice). Vanderbilt year in and year out seemed to beat or really push a big time SEC school in a game. In this conference I think they may be that power in year 1. Like Baylor they are a private school and this conference will turn into a mini Ivy league of the South when you throw in Tulane to the mix. Troy will make the jump from a smaller conference to see if they can consistently beat better competition. Every year they seem to give bigger D-1 teams fits in games outside of conference and then coast through their conference schedule. It is time they are moved up a notch and play better competition week in and week out to see if they are that good or the Sun Belt was that bad.
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The divisions will be split like so and are in my projected order of finish:
-
West:
Baylor
Tulsa
Houston
Rice
UTEP
SMU

East:
Vanderbilt
Troy
UCF
Memphis
Marshall
Tulane
-
Neither Baylor or Vanderbilt are use to this setting, but they will do battle for the crown. I think there is a big difference between the Big 12/SEC and this conference and it shows when two of the last place teams in those conferences will win their divisions in this one. I give the edge to the Baylor Bears b/c of future Heisman candidate Robert Griffin.

College World Series

2009-06-09T08:47:00.003-05:00

Texas beat TCU last night to round out the 8 teams going to the College World Series. Congrats to the Longhorns.

Here is a list of games and times if you are interested in watching:

Saturday, June 13 Game 1: Arkansas vs. (2) Cal St. Fullerton, 1 p.m. on ESPN Game 2: Virginia vs. (3) LSU, 6 p.m. on ESPN

Sunday, June 14 Game 3: (5) Arizona St. vs. (4) North Carolina, 1 p.m. on ESPN Game 4: Southern Miss vs. (1) Texas, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Monday, June 15 Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m. on ESPN2 Game 6: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Tuesday, June 16 Game 7: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m. on ESPN2 Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Wednesday, June 17 Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Thursday, June 18 Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Friday, June 19 Game 11: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 1 p.m. on ESPN2 Game 12: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Saturday, June 20 Game 13: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser (if nec.), 1 p.m. on ESPNOnly if needed. If one game is played, it will be the 6 p.m. game.Game 14: Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser (if nec.), 6 p.m. on ESPNOnly if needed. If one game is played, it will be the 6 p.m. game.

CWS - Road to Omaha

2009-06-08T08:18:00.004-05:00

Several tickets have been punched to Omaha and those teams as of today include: LSU, Virginia, Cal St. Fullerton, Arkansas, North Carolina, Arizona St and Southern Miss. The last invite will go to the Texas vs TCU winner this evening.

In case you weren't keeping track, I predicted LSU, Cal St. Fullerton, Arkansas, North Carolina and Arizona St to all advance to the series. I also had Texas, who with a win tonight will give me 6 of the 8 teams that are there.

The next round of the series will be played like the first round. There will be 2 double elimination tournaments that consists of 4 teams each.

Tournament 1:
LSU
Virginia
Cal St. Fullerton
Arkansas

Tournament 2:
North Carolina
Southern Miss.
Arizona St.
Texas/TCU

Winners of those 2 brackets will face off in a best of 3 game series for the World Series Champion Title. My prediction coming in was Arizona St vs LSU. Can't wait to see what happens!

Funny Photo

2009-06-08T08:11:00.002-05:00

"What, you don't like this blog?"

The Votes are in.....

2009-06-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

and with a 41% tie, the vote was almost split with choosing tickets to go to the Super Bowl and the Final Four championship. A BCS National Championship game also got a few votes.

I honestly don't think you can wrong with either of these 3 choices. I personally would probably choose a BCS National Title football game just b/c after a month of hype I typically don't care who is playing (assuming either Texas Tech or LSU aren't in it) but I'm super psyched to watch the game and generally will find a team that I definately don't want to win (Ohio St or Oklahoma generally). It is also a game that is still about the students and people who are there for the game are excited for the game and get into it. That is my problem with the Super Bowl, it seems Corporate America is all that goes to that game along with other NFL players, legends, celebrities, etc. Another reason is that i'm usually pissed the Vikings failed yet again to make it to the Super Bowl so i'm usually not all that interested in the game.

The Final Four would be fun, but it seems there is a good game only once every couple years. I wouldn't want to waste my free tickets on a UNC vs Michigan St laugher. Everyone loves the Cinderella, but they don't seem to fare that well when they are playing for all the marbles. Most the time not even competitive.

NCAA Football Realignment Cont'd

2009-06-07T19:40:00.007-05:00

If you have missed the previous posts covering the Big East, ACC and SEC please see the label on the right side of the page titled "NCAA Football Realignment" and check them out. Today I'm going to cover the Big 10 or should I say 11?

The conference name is already bogus considering there are 11 schools in a conference called the Big 10. Maybe they just don't count Indiana? Anyways, in my conference realignment the Hoosiers will stay and there will only be one addition to the conference.

All Big 10 teams will stay: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan St., Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio St., Penn St, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Teams leaving the conference: NONE

New additions to the conference: Iowa St. (Big 12)

When I think of the Big 10 aside from thinking of just bad, ugly, slow football I think of cold weather and tough conditions that mother nature brings on in the later months of the year. With that said, how is Iowa St not already a part of this conference? The other logical reasoning for choosing Iowa St to move into this conference is once again b/c of the state rivalry between them and Iowa.

I don't really have much to write considering there is only one change and it seemed pretty obvious. The lone other change I would have would be to split the conference into 2 divisions with the winners playing each other for the Big 10 Championship. Here are my division alignments and how I would predict them to finish next season:

North

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Michigan

Michigan St.

Iowa St.

Northwestern

South:

Ohio St.

Illinois

Penn St.

Purdue

Iowa

Indiana

The Buckeyes will once again walk away with the conference title when they dismantle the Badgers in the Big 10 (Bad 12) Championship game. This will set them up for another bowl loss in whatever game they play in. Overall another very boring year of football in the Big 10!

Congrats Randy Johnson

2009-06-05T09:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Randy Johnson became the 24th Major League pitcher to win 300 games.

While impressive, its not the greatest moment of his 21 year career.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtlLX3DUrik

NCAA Football Realignment Cont'd....

2009-06-05T08:29:00.010-05:00

You have seen what I would do with the Big East and ACC the last two days and today I will hit you with the SEC.

The SEC is already the strongest conference in America and with my realignment the conference got stronger. For people on the outside that is a good thing, everyone loves parity b/c that leads to the potential of 2 losses or more from the SEC pwerhouses, so other conferences could potentially benefit come bowl selection. Coaches and fans of SEC schools may be a little upset with the new mix (if they fear competition). I personally am a fan of LSU so while this conference would scare me I would also know that playing in such a strong conference pretty much buys you 2 losses and you can still make the National Title game (assuming you win the SEC Championship). So, here goes:

Teams that will stay in the SEC: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi St., and Tennessee

Teams that will move on to another conference: Kentucky (Big East) , South Carolina (ACC) and Arkansas and Vanderbilt

Teams new to the conference: Florida St. (ACC), Georgia Tech (ACC), Southern Mississippi (Conference USA) and UAB (Conference USA)

Kentucky was a team that could compete, but just never got over the hump. They year in and year out were in the bottom two of their division. They will be much better off in the Big East where they can compete to win divisions and won't have to travel so far South for games. South Carolina was always competitive and should be near the top of the ACC and will allow them to play in conference each season against their two biggest rivals: Clemson and North Carolina. The loss of Arkansas may hurt the conference but will be better for them overall. Vanderbilt will get a chance to compete in their new conference and possibly win a conference championship.

FSU, GT, Southern Miss and UAB were all brought in for geographical reasons as well as rivalries. You will see that was the basis for most of my changes along with giving teams the best opportunity to compete for titles and make the conferences as competitive from top to bottom as possible. Florida St was the school furthest from the coast between them and Miami, so the ACC had to lose one of them. Sure, they will be leaving their rivalry with Miami, but now they get to battle the Gators each season with more on the line, a chance to win their division and play for the SEC Championship. This game over the years has seemed to lose its appeal, but this will take the rivalry to a new level. Georgia Tech is going to move from the ACC and like FSU will be playing their biggest rival now in conference. The Yellow Jackets and Georgia Bulldogs will grow to be Bama/Auburn. I also think that the Georgia Tech offense could give some SEC teams nightmares. Any defense that is not willing to stay in their gaps and plays undisciplined will be torched by their option attack. I would love to see it go up against the most athleticially gifted defensive players in the nation (but do they have the mental approach needed) and that is what the SEC provides. Southern Mississippi and UAB are being brought in largely for the same reasons East Carolina was put into the ACC. To me it makes sense to have teams from the same state in the same conference. It may take Southern Miss and UAB a few years of recruiting to build a program that can compete with the best of the SEC, but I think it can be done and their fan base would love to say that their in-state rivals (Mississippi and Miss. St/ Alabama and Auburn) are now conference rivals. Playing in a better conference may be a step back short term but long term more players will go to these schools to play in the SEC vs Conference USA and they will be competitive and bring in more money.

The divisions are currently split East/West, but I'm making a chance to North/South. Here are my proposed divisions and how they would finish next season:

North:

Mississippi

Georgia Tech

Georgia

Tennessee

Mississippi St.

Southern Miss

-
South:

Florida

LSU

Florida St.

Alabama

Auburn

UAB

The Rebels and Gators will square off for the SEC Championship and unlike last year when Ole Miss shocked the world (in Gainesville), the Gators are just too good and add another trophy to their case. Back to back years of SEC Championships for Florida.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! WINNER

2009-06-05T08:26:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Robert K. for guessing the correct number of 7.

The player I had in mind was Jon Koncak who was born in 1963. He attended SMU which was founded in 1911 and wore the number 45 with the Orlando Magic.

Robert will be receiving a $25 gift card.

Thanks for playing and stay tuned for more opportunities to win.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2009-06-04T13:38:00.001-05:00

Maybe not a chicken dinner, but a dinner of some sort. I'm offering a gift card to the person who can comment first with the correct answer to this question. For anyone who comments as "Anonymous" please leave your real name.

The answer that you will give will be a number. You will come to that number by taking the year of this players birth minus the year that his college was founded minus the jersey number he wore for his second NBA franchise.

Year of birth
- Year his college was founded
- Jersy number of 2nd NBA franchise
-------------------------------------------------
ANSWER

Hint: This mid 1980's Top Ten NBA Draft Pick Bust played for two franchises in his NBA career and in February of 2008 had his college basketball jersey retired.

NCAA Football Realignment Cont'd....

2009-06-04T10:37:00.007-05:00

After giving you the Big East yesterday, today i'm moving down the coast to the Atlantic Coast Conference, aka the ACC.

The following teams would stay in the ACC: Clemson, Duke, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina St., Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest

Teams that will move to another conference include: Boston College (Big East), Georgia Tech and Florida St

New additions to the conference will be: South Carolina (SEC), South Florida (Big East) and East Carolina (Conference USA)

Boston College will go back where they belong to the Big East. Georgia Tech and Florida St will defect in large part b/c of possible rivalries they could have in other conferences. I also felt that a school located in Atlanta was nowhere close to the coast of the Atlantic, so it just didn't make sense.

South Carolina will be coming over from the SEC and will immediately provide UNC with another natural rival within the conference. The two schools don't get along and why not have them play in the same conference where a win or loss can drastically affect the outcome of their season when it comes to winning conference championships. The addition of East Carolina also has to do with the Carolina schools, UNC, USC and NC St. Why not add a fourth "Carolina" school to the mix and keep them under one roof (conference)? With the economy the way it is, schools would love to cut travel expenses!! The Bulls from South Florida would also join the mix. They were the outkast of the Big East b/c of location, so I wanted to place them geographically in the conference that makes the most sense. I also feel this could bud a great rivalry between them and Da U in the Battle for South Florida.

I would also propose the ACC loses the "Coastal" and "Atlantic" division tags and just rename them North and South (everything should be N/S/E/W). The dividing line is pretty much Tobacco Road (where Wake, Duke and UNC are located). Here is a breakdown of the divisions and how I would project them to finish next season in this conference alignment.

North:
Virginia Tech
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Maryland
Virginia
Duke

South:
Miami
South Florida
South Carolina
East Carolina
NC State
Clemson

Miami and the Hokies of Virginia Tech will do battle for the ACC title. I'd have to give the edge to Da U!! Conference title game would take place in November and that is afterall Hurricane season!!

Nations #1 Recruit.....in 2012

2009-06-04T08:29:00.005-05:00

This soon to be Freshman in H.S will be the number 1 recruit in the nation in 4 years. He is already being heavily recruited by North Carolina, Kansas and Memphis. Standing 7'4 and weighing 621lbs, he is projected to be 18'7 and weight close to 4 tons. Many feel he could be better than surefire NBAHall of Famer George Muresan.

NCAA Football Realignment

2009-06-03T18:44:00.007-05:00

After being directed to the following article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/06/01/conference-expansion/1.html, I decided to think about how I would align D-1 College Football and I thought that I would share my thoughts. I'm going to go conference by conference (BCS, Conference USA, Mountain West and WAC) and update you on teams that would stay, teams that would go and the teams that I would add to fill any void. I'm going to start out East and work my way West.

The first conference I want to touch on will be the Big East. Currently the Big East has 8 teams: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse and West Virginia.

The following teams would stay in the Big East: Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia.

Teams that will move to another conference include: South Florida

New additions to the conference will be: Boston College (formerly in the Big East), Kentucky and Notre Dame.

How was South Florida put into this conference in the first place? Geographically it makes absolutely no sense. You have several teams from the Northeastern part of the county and a team from Southern parts of Florida. It is a traveling nightmare for every team in the conference and is a huge disadvantage to the Bulls when they play up North during the Fall/Winter months and vice versa for the other teams when they travel South and have to face the humidity and heat of Florida in a time when they are use to snow and cold weather.

Boston College should have never defected to the ACC in the first place years ago. Notre Dame needs a home and considering all other athletic programs for them play in the Big East this is the logical fit. Kentucky will move from the SEC, where I viewed them as being too North to be in a Southern conference. Kentucky would also be able to compete in this conference vs being a bottomdweller year after year in the SEC.

When you look at the conference I have proposed I think any team could legitimately walk away with the conference championship next season, well maybe not the 'Cuse. I would also like to split this conference up into East/West. The teams in the East would be: Boston College, Rutgers, UConn, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. The West teams would be: Cincinnati, Louisville, West Virginia, Kentucky and Notre Dame. The winners of each division would play each other in a Big East Championship game and would potentially set up 3 games that are great rivalries. The Backyard Brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virgina has gotten bigger and bigger each season and it would renew the rivalry between Pitt and Notre Dame. Boston College and Notre Dame also have a pretty fience rivalry from back in the day.

If this conference started up next season, my guess is the standings at the end of the season would look like this:

East

Boston College

Pitt

Connecticut

Rutgers

Syracuse

West

Notre Dame

Cincinnati
West Virginia

Kentucky
Louisville

Give me Notre Dame over BC for the Big East crown in the inaugural first season of the new Big East Conference. Two teams new to the conference will make a mark on it from the start.

College World Series Update

2009-06-03T18:28:00.003-05:00

The following teams advanced from the Regional to the Super-Regional round of the College World Series this past weekend and will do battle this weekend. The second team will be the host in each series.

TCU @ Texas
Rice @ LSU
East Carolina @ North Carolina
Louisville @ Cal St. Fullerton
Southern Miss. @ Florida
Virginia @ Mississippi
Arkansas @ Florida St.
Clemson @ Arizona St.

It will be a lot of fun to watch the Florida St. vs Arkansas matchup. Both team scored a ton of runs in the opening round, including a 37-run outburst by Florida St in the game it clinched a Super Regional Berth.

Team that I predicted to move along that are still alive: Texas, LSU, Rice, North Carolina, Louisville, Cal St. Fullerton, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida St and Arizona St.

11 of 16 isn't too bad and I still have 6 teams out of 8 that will make the College World Series (I lost out on Georgia Tech and UC Irvine)

Games start again on Friday and a great site to go for all scores and gametracker updates is:
http://www.d1baseball.com/

Enjoy the games, update coming Monday with who advanced.

A shout out goes to......

2009-06-03T08:04:00.004-05:00

We here in Texas have Texas A&M to thank!! Thank you Aggies. Keep waiting til football season for your team to score a TD in the 3rd game so you can make out with that aforementioned slug.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-06-02T09:58:00.002-05:00

Since 1967 every senior who has played on the Basketball team of DeMatha High School, just outside Washington, DC has won a college athletic scholarship.

DeMatha Catholic High School is a four-year Catholic high school for young men located in Hyattsville, Maryland, USA. Known both for academic achievement and athletic prowess, DeMatha is a member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, and is as a Catholic, college-preparatory high school administered under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

Related??

2009-06-01T20:40:00.003-05:00

Lebron - a bad guy?

2009-06-01T16:31:00.003-05:00

LeBron James has taken a little heat for his quick departure from the court after their game 6 loss to the Magic the other day and his absence from the media session following the game. As always, I think the media has completely blown this up and looked into it far too much! Would you rather have a guy who is competitive and hates to lose and as a result doesn't shake a guys hand who just beat him (LeBron James) or the type of guy that loses and then takes his jersey off on the court and proceeds to laugh and smile with members of the opposing team that just whipped your a$$ (Delonte West)? He should not be taking any heat for not shaking hands after the game.

I do think LeBron made a mistake in not showing to the press conference after the game, but i'll chaulk that up to immaturity. While he has played 6 NBA seasons, keep in mind he is still just 24 years of age and this is as far as he has gone in his career. You learn from your mistakes and this was a small mistake that he will learn from and not repeat. Being the face of the franchise you are burdened with having this role on the team and you must show after games you have won and games you have lost. Up to this point in his career he has seemingly made all the right moves and said all the right things, so this one slip up doesn't take him down a notch or even half a notch in my book. I don't think it should in yours or the medias either, no matter how much they want to find some source of negativety to feed off of when it comes to a guy who has done no wrong.

Cleveland, you better get him some help next season and show that you are willing to win now or else your Golden Child may be having some postseason press conferences (whether it be win or loss) in another city while your Cavaliers are waiting to see where they fall in the NBA Draft Lottery!

Flight Simulator??

2009-06-01T08:30:00.001-05:00

"a little help here........please?"

Vikings Update

2009-05-31T10:36:00.006-05:00

Although it is the offseason in Winter Park (Viking HQ), there is a lot going on with the Vikings right now.

1. The Viking have reportedly already gotten tired of the media circus that is "as the grey beard turns" in Brett Favre. Rumor has it they have given him until Tuesday to make a decision on his shoulder and on his intentions of playing next season with the Vikes. I knew only time would tell before Brad Childress got tired of the Brett Favre bullsh*t and it seems to be at a boiling point. If he is already tired of all this, why is he still pursuing Favre? This is what he will have to deal with for the entire season. Former Viking legend and Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton has also spoke out about Favre:

“I think it’s despicable. What he put the Packers through last year was not good. Here’s an organization that was loyal to him for 17, 18 years, provided stability of organization, provided players. It just wasn’t about Brett Favre. In this day and time, we have glorified the Brett Favre’s of the world so much, they think it’s about them. He goes to New York and bombs. He’s 39 years old. How would you like Ray Nitschke in his last year (playing for) the Vikings, or I retire, and go play for the Packers. I kind of hope it happens, so he can fail.”

2. Part of the Williams Wall, Pat Williams has called out the work ethic of Tavaris Jackson. I think the team realizes Jackson has the physical tools, but Williams spoke up and said that Jackson isn't putting the time in to be a starting QB in this league. The part of the game Jackson struggles with most is not being able to read a defense and just know where to go with the ball. Many QB's struggle with this early in their career, but show signs of improvement as time goes on. The only way you get better is by watching film and recognizing defensive sets and being able to pick up blitzes. You should know really quickly based on the look of the D what you need to do with the football. If you think 4 hours of film study a day will do, you probably need to watch 8 hours according to Williams. The other frustrating thing with Jackson is that teams stack the box in an attempt to stop the running game, so basically his WR's are one on one. Jackson needs to know who has the better matchup and be able to get the ball to them. Jackson responded with "i've pretty much figured it out." I think Sage Rosenfels is good enough to start for this football team, but having a more mobile QB is something that most teams are without. I sure hope that Jackson does get it and will put in the time to make the correct reads, make the throws and use his legs while being the starting QB for the Vikings in '09.

3. Music to my ears/eyes as I have been reading that the Vikings are installing 15-20 formations specifically to use for Percy Harvin, a couple of those will be the "wildcat" formation. For years Viking fans have complained about the simplicity of their offense and how conservative the play-calling is at all times. With the drafting of Harvin the Vikes are putting another "gamebreaker" on the field and if you need to get creative with the play-calling to get him the ball you absolutely must do it. It is sad, but I honestly had no faith that the Vikings would do anything different with him. With the running game that the offensive line opens up for Peterson/Taylor and the deep ball threat of Bernard Berrian the addition of Harvin and some trick plays, wildcat formations or getting him the ball in some space to make plays may be the missing link to get them past the first round of the playoffs. While Bobby Wade is a reliable WR to make a few catches a game, he simply isn't a threat to take the ball, make a move and get in the endzone, Percy Harvin is just that! I'm looking forward to the new sets and to see how they utilize his abilities.

NBA Finals Matchup

2009-05-30T22:18:00.009-05:00

The NBA finals are set and while it isn't the dream matchup that everyone wanted (Cavs vs Lakers) I think it will be a great series. The Orlando Magic will face the Los Angeles Lakers and the series will feature two of the best players in the game in Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. While the world wanted to see Lebron vs Kobe, I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised with Lakers/Magic. The last time the Magic made a championship series they were led by "Shaq-Fu" aka "Shaq-Diesel" aka "Kazaam" aka Shaquille O'Neal and they had an up and coming guard name Anfernee Hardaway. Shaq moved on to LA, then to Miami (winning Championships at both) and now is in Phoenix. "Penny" Hardaway was a star in the making but the injury bug got him and he was forced into an all too premature retirement. The Lakers advanced to the championship last year losing to the Celtics and hadn't won a championship since Shaq.

If you know me you know that i'm a pretty big Kobe Bryant fan. I would like to see him win a championship without Shaq being the guy who basically gets all the glory from the victory. I think what Kobe has done in his career will rival what Michael Jordan accomplished and maybe surpass Michael if he can win a title without Shaq. Michael Jordan had the best supporting cast in basketball in his championship years in Chicago, including Scottie Pippen who was voted as one of the NBA's top 50 players of all-time. Kobe won championships with Shaq, but if he can do it with a scrub like Lamar Odom (a good game every 4th game) and a soft (and ugly) European in Pau Gasol he deserves more credit than anyone will ever give him. The team around him is AWFUL! This would be an amazing accomplishment in my mind and when you add up his other championships, big shots, 81-pt game and spectatcular highlights he may be getting some talk as the greatest to ever play the game.

This series will be Dwight Howards coming out party (if game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals wasn't already). I totally expect him to dominate Gasol or Bynum and put up 20 and 15 along with 5 blocks in every game. In my opinion the NBA has lacked a real superstar Center since Shaq. After these playoffs and this series in particular, the league will no longer lack a stud inside player (the game seems to be very perimeter or drive oriented). Not that there aren't great inside players, but there are none with the skill, athletic ability and likeable personality that Howard has. Aside from Howard, the Magic also have Rashard Lewis (native Texan) who is an excellent player and was a matchup nightmare for the Cavs. For every Batman there is a Robin and Lewis fits that Robin role.
My heart tells me you have to go with LA in this series, but my gut says the Magic. I think Howard dominates the paint limiting the LA big men from scoring/rebounding and defensively makes the lane his home. Bryant will get his points, but I think Lewis will score enough to kind of offset what Kobe is doing. The key to the series will be the perimeter shooting and the Magic have a huge advantage in my mind. This series will turn into Kobe vs the Magic and unfortunately for him, he won't be enough. The Orlando Magic will be crowned NBA champs and Dwight Howard will be a SUPERSTAR when it is all said and done.

Mattradamus picks the College World Series cont'd...

2009-05-30T19:22:00.004-05:00

Today i'm going to pick the winner of the College World Series. The first round in Omaha is played like the Regionals. 4 teams will play a double elimination tournament and my groupings I have are: Texas, Georgia Tech, Arizona St. and North Carolina and then LSU, Cal St Fullerton, UC Irvine and Arkansas.

In the first group I just don't think Texas and GT have the offense to continue on so it will come down to North Carolina and Arizona St. Give me the Sun Devils over the Tarheels to advance to the best 2 or 3 series vs the winner of the other bracket.

Arkansas's ride will end as will Cal St Fullerton's prior to the Anteaters and the Tigers doing battle to advance. UC Irvine was the number 1 team in the country coming into the tournament with LSU the number 2. This is a partially biased pick, but i'm rolling the dice with LSU! They have about 7 guys hitting .300+ and have power all over their lineup. On top of that they have some very good pitching that can hold teams to the the mid single digits for runs (4-7 runs) which will win them most all games. Tigers advance.

The Arizona St. Sun Devils and LSU Tigers will play for the NCAA College Baseball Championship in a best of 3 game series. If the Sun Devils had two strong left handed pitchers they could throw against the Tigers I would give them the nod. As is they have one great righty and one great lefty. LSU lost 3 games this season to right handed pitching compared to 13 vs left handed pitching. ASU's Josh Spence will get a victory in game 1, but then the Tigers will beat up on the right handed pitching and prevail in the final two games!!

The LSU Tigers will win the College World Series

.

Mattradamus picks the College World Series cont'd...

2009-05-29T17:54:00.008-05:00

Yesterday I went through the regional games and today i'm moving on to Super-Regionals. I already gave away one of my choices and that was the Texas Longhorns will spank the Aggies of A&M and advance to the college World Series. Here are my other predictions.

Georgia Tech will play host to Miami in an ACC clash. These teams know one another well and GT just beat Miami a week ago in the ACC tournament. Homefield plus confidence = a World Series berth! The boys from Atlanta can book their flights to Omaha.

Arizona St will host Alabama out in Tempe and I think the Sun Devils will be too much. They are a national 5 seed for a reason and will March on.

UNC will host South Carolina in a battle of the Carolinas. This is a pretty big rivalry and should be a good series. In the end, North is on top of South just like the Tar Heels will be on the Gamecocks.

Out in California the Titans of Cal St Fullerton titanically destroy the Cardinals of Louisville. Another seeded team advances to Omaha.

Arkansas will travel to Tallahassee to play the 'Noles from FSU who edged out Georgia. Arkansas at this point in the season has seen and played the best. They will go down to Florida with confidence and will prevail!

UC Irvine will play host to Ole Miss. UC Irvine has been the top team in American (even though their Nationally seeding doesn't show it) for over 7 weeks now. At home I have to give the edge to the national #1 ranked team.

LSU will play host to the Owls from Rice down in Baton Rouge in the last Super Regional. LSU just has too many bats and doesn't lose at home. They move on! They eye of the Tiger travels to Nebraska.

Would you call this a headbutt?

2009-05-29T10:16:00.004-05:00

"Sweep the leg Johnny......and then see what laundry detergent he uses!"

Mattradamus picks the College World Series

2009-05-28T22:05:00.005-05:00

I posted earlier this week about the College World Series and i'm going to follow that up with my predictions. Let me just start off by saying that me picking a college world series bracket is probably equivalent to your little sister picking the NCAA March Madness bracket. I do follow a few teams, but I don't necessarily have great knowledge of probably more than 5 teams in the tournament. With that said, i'm going to have some fun with this and here we go:

Austin Regional:
Can you bet against the National #1 seed, I don't think so. The Texas Longhorns use the longball and cruise this regional without a loss and advance to host a Super Regional.

Ft. Worth Regional:
TCU is the top seed, but their lack of true competition playing in a smaller conference will hurt them. There is a reason the voters put Texas A&M in this bracket. They hoped they would advance to face the Longhorns in the second round. They will get their wish. The Aggies advance. Bonus prediction!!! Texas smokes TAMU so the dream is over Aggies. Double Bonus Prediction!! Texas Tech once again steamrolls you in football this coming season.

Atlanta Regional:
Georgia Tech is the host and they battled their way through a tough ACC this season. I like the fact that they had to play some great teams and still won more than 30 games while only losing 17. The Yellow Jackets sting the competition and advance.

Gainesville Regional:
The Gators are hosting and are the national 8 seed but when was the last time you remember Miami getting the boot in the Regional round (probably happened sooner than I thought) but it wouldn't be a College World Series without Da U getting past the first weekend. Maybe the Carolina Hurricanes will take in a few games in between their golf rounds after being swept out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tempe Regional:
Arizona St. is the national 5 seed and they don't lose this weekend. The Sun Devils are moving on despite the fact they would rather be spending time on the ASU campus checking out what Playboy has consistently rated the school with the best looking women.

Clemson Regional:
This will be a great region to watch. I think Clemson and Alabama will will play to see who moves on. Don't bet against the SEC in this one! The Crimson Tide play another weekend. Do those blonde twins attend all their baseball games or just the football games??

Greenville Regional:
East Carolina is the top seed and had a great season, but it come to an end as the SEC wins again. The Gamecocks from Columbia, SC advance.

Chapel Hill Regional:
The nationally 4 seeded Tar Heels play a pesky Coastal Carolina team in the finals and it comes down to one game. UNC wins that game and continues to have a chance of bringing home a baseball title to go along with their basketball title they won in April.

Fullerton Regional:
Cal St Fullerton is the #2 overall seed for a reason. Easy weekend for them. They move on. You won't have to just remember the Titans, you will see them again.

Louisville Regional:
The Cardinals win on their home field despite a great effort by the Middle Tennessee St. This is the region we all forgot was even playing.

Tallahassee Regional:
Another great final in this region between Florida St and Georgia. I have tended to lean to the SEC in these games, but not in this one. The tomahawk chop moves on (assuming they don't have all their players suspended b/c of cheating allegations like their football team)

Norman Regional:
Oklahoma is the national 7 seed, but they are going to have their hands full with the Razorbacks from Fayetteville. Arkansas played a very difficult schedule and won some big games and their losses were generally by a run or two. I think their experience in big games this season helps them move on. Big Game Bob Stoops loses another big game, ah wait, sorry, wrong sport. Woo Pig Souiee (however you spell it)

Irvine Regional:
UC Irvine always play deep into the tournament. Same goes this year. They breeze through this weekend. Do you think they would ever seed them against a team whose mascot was the Ants?

Oxford Regional:
Ole Miss were the Co-SEC Champs. They move on. Sales on red pinstriped short shorts, loafers and long sleeved button up polos will go out the roof. Lots of whiskey will be drank as well.

Houston Regional:
The college baseball giant that is the Duke of the Dirty South moves on. Hoot Hoot, go Rice. Is there a less intimidating mascot out there? Would they consider changing their mascot to the Creepy Owls?

Baton Rouge Regional:
The Bayou Bengals have their hands full with a couple of tough test in Minnesota and Baylor, but ultimately a gopher and a drugged up winnie the pooh bear have no shot against a tiger (neither did that handler in New Zealand).

Super Regional Predictions to come tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-28T08:51:00.004-05:00

With an Overtime victory last night vs the Blackhawks, the Detroit Red Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. The matchup will be the NHL's first Stanley Cup rematch since the Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders in 1984 after losing to them the previous year. If history repeats itself Sid the Kid will bring home another professional championship to the city of Pittsburgh this year.

Your Votes are in.....

2009-05-27T21:14:00.007-05:00

and you would have Tom Brady under Center if you needed a game winning drive with 2 minutes left to play in the fourth quarter.

Brady received 28% of the vote with John Elway, Joe Montana and Dan Marino each receiving 19% of the vote and Brett Favre receiving 14%.

Brady has led 28 4th Qtr comebacks in his day including 1 in a divisional round of playoffs and 2 drives that resulted in New England Super Bowl victories. You have to assume that Brady has several more years to play and will only increase these numbers of comeback victories and show more of a flair for heroics.

When considering who I would have chose, I initially thought John Elway before doing some research. After my research I was really up in the air between Elway, Brady and Joe Montana. In making a decision I had to decide if I wanted quantity or quality. John Elway holds the NFL record for 4th qtr comebacks with 47 (i'm too lazy to do the research of how many were under 2:00, but I assume a fair share). John Elway also was the mastermind behind "The Drive", which is the most memorable drive of all-time in a playoff game that catapulted the Broncos over the Browns (a big time quality win). Joe Montana didn't have the quantity that Brady or Elway did, but he had several playoff game comebacks including the possession that ended with a TD toss to John Taylor leading the Niners over the Bengals for the Super Bowl. He also orchestrated a drive that resulted in "The Catch" which will go down in NFL history. I spoke of Brady's credentials earlier.

I look at it like this:

Elway - Quantity + "The Drive"

Montana - Quality with two of the most well known highlights in history

Brady - Quality against all odds

with that said.......Sorry America, but i'm going against your decision and my choice to lead my team down the field would be............John Elway. I want the guy who did it the most and he is the NFL record holder. The numbers don't lie!! Brady would have gotten the nod had the Pats needed TD's and he led them on TD drives, but it was Adam Viniteri who deserves the credit for those Super Bowl victories by kicking 40+ yard fg's.

Top Ten Texas Tech Sports Moments (basketball and football)

2009-05-27T13:10:00.013-05:00

Prior to going to Texas Tech in the Fall of 1999, I could have cared less about Texas Tech sports. Up until that point in my life, I was focused on professional sports and really just casually kept an eye on the college scene. Since stepping foot on a college campus, I have seen a huge shift as to my allegience from Pro Sports to College Athletics. Over the past 10 years I have attended or watched on TV every big game Texas Tech Football or Basketball has taken part in. Below is a run down of my Top 10 Texas Tech Sports Moments in the past 10 years. It may have not just been one particular moment, but instead a full game and I take into account where I was and with whom I was with.

#10

Fall 1999 - United Spirt Arena - Opening Night
The first game in the new arena brought Bob Knight to Lubbock while he was coaching Indiana. The game didn't end the way the Red Raiders wanted it to, but the crowd was electric and it was one of the best atmospheres I have seen a college basketball game in. Bob Knight had recently shot a hunting partner so the Red Raider faithul were decked out in camo and ripped him unmercifully.

2007 in Pittsburgh, PA at a bar
Texas Tech has a historic comeback over the Golden Gophers of Minnesota in the Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix, AZ.

2003 at Jakes Sportsbar in Lubbock, TX
Tech was playing at Ole Miss against Eli Manning and the Rebels. The game wasn't televised, but was on an internet feed (as low quality as it gets). Jakes had several TV's showing the internet feed but all the feeds had different timing. The room beside ours was seeing everything about 10 seconds sooner that we were. On the game winning TD pass from BJ Symmons we heard and saw a crowd through the windows in the other room going nuts. We sat back and waited for the good news. We saw it and carried out our own celebrating.

2007 New Years Day in Chicago, IL in a hotel room
Bob Knight becomes the winningest coach in men's college basketball history. Bob Knight not only helped out the basketball program while in Lubbock, but the entire school.

2001 at Eric Dean's house and then my house and then The Spoon in Lubbock, TX
The game between Tech and A&M down in College Station wasn't aired and we had to listen to it on the radio. The game got out of hand and it appeared to be over. Down a couple of TD's I decided to to head to the house to rest up and get ready for the evening and would just keep the game on in the background. On the drive home we scored, then I got home and we scored again. All of a sudden the comeback was on. Tech came back and won the game. I met everyone out and we drank the night away. The play in the game we will most remember was Wes Welkers punt return. We'll remember the audio call and the highlights, too this gamed wasn't aired. Shame on you ABC!

2005 at The Village Apartments in Dallas, TX

Cody Hodges hooks up with Joel Filani on a 4th down desperation toss into the endzone to beat Nebraska with seconds to play. Just four plays before that Hodges had thrown an interception but a hustling Danny Amendola ripped the ball from the defender and Tech had another sign of life. A roller coaster of emotion.

#4B

2007 in Seattle,WA at a bar
#3 Oklahoma came into town with a chance to play for the National Title with a victory. Texas Tech dominated the first half and hung on in the second to prevail! Cory and I celebrated in the Great Northwest. We left a great impression on our bartender as she cut out about $60 of our tab.

#4A

2002 at Jones SBC and Bleachers Cafe in Lubbock, TX

#4 Texas led by Chris Simms came into the Hub City and unfortunately my buddies and I tailgated a little long and by the time we got into the stadium had to split up. We decided at half to hit up a bar so we could all be together and continue drinking. The game was sealed when Ryan Aycock picked off the Simms in the 4th qtr and the Longhorns kissed goodbye their shot at a possible National Title Berth. I still regret not staying at the stadium!

2005 - My apartment, Lewisville, TX
The undefeated Kansas basketball team came into Lubbock and noone thought Tech had much of a chance. A Darryl Dora 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in Double Overtime, gave the Red Raiders a victory over the basketball giant Jayhawks. It was the best moment in recent Tech basketball history.

1999 - Jones SBC in Lubbock, TX
My first taste of the Tech vs A&M rivalry and what got me hooked on College Athletics. Tech defeated the #5 Aggies 21-19. After the game my friend Brian and I rushed the field. I took some time to speak with a Texas Tech backup QB while on the field (more like congratulating and celebrating with him). Little did I know that QB would lead the Air Raider attack the following three seasons. Kliff Kingsbury couldn't have weighed 190lbs then and looked like a string bean out there but boy did he turn into one helluva QB. A true pioneer of the Texas Tech offense that we see today.

2008 at Canal Side Lofts with 15 of the rowdiest Red Raider fans imaginable
#1 Texas at Texas Tech: Graham Harrell hooks up with Michael Crabtree with seconds to play to beat Texas and give Tech its first win over a #1 ranked team

Do the Chinese torture?

2009-05-27T08:20:00.003-05:00

When this kid saw that he was going to be working with professional athletes he didn't even bother to read the rest of the job description. Entry level positions at Right Guard will definately teach you the difference between deodorant and antiperspirant deodorant!

Must not be Hurricane Season!

2009-05-26T21:01:00.002-05:00

The Penguins just swept the 'Canes 4 games to none. Bring on the Red Wings! A rematch of last years Stanley Cup Finals with a different result (hopefully).

The Road to Omaha

2009-05-26T19:20:00.004-05:00

On Monday 64 teams were selected to play in the college baseball world series, a tournament that crowns NCAA baseball its National Champion. While it isn't as publicized or as popular as the 64 team field that makes up NCAA Basketballs March Madness, this tournament truely is a diamond in the rough.

The tournament names "national seeds", aka, the top 8 teams in the tournament. These teams along with another 8 selected become regional hosts the first weekend of the tournament. Overall record, strength of schedule, stadium and how good of a draw attendance wise are the determining factors. There are 16 regional sites that host a double elimination tournament that has 4 teams. The second round of the tournament is called the Super-Regionals and that is where that National Seeding comes into play. If you are one of the eight National Seeds and advance through the first round, you will host a series against another regional champion at your ballpark to advance to the College World Series. The winner of the best of 3 game series advances.

8 teams advance to the College World Series which is played in Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. Over the years some of the all-time baseball greats have played in Omaha in the World Series, including Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens and Cal Ripken Jr. Once again double elimination decides who plays for the championship and then a best of 3 game series crowns the champ.

This tournament has everything you would want to see. It is the only baseball tournament in the world where a 7-run lead going into the 8th or 9th inning isn't safe at all. It showcases hard hits, long flies and 14-12 ball games that are never over until the third out of the ninth inning. You get to see true raw emotion from student athletes and responsible, respectful fans who appreciate seeing their "kids" play but don't get down on them or taunt the other team. It is the ultimate act of sportsmanship and showmanship.

This years overall number 1 seed is the Texas Longhorns with the 2-8 seeds being Cal St. Fullerton, LSU, North Carolina, Arizona St., UC Irvine, Oklahoma and Florida. Last year the unseeded, Fresno St. Bulldogs won the championship. It was a helluva tournament just as this one is sure to be as well. I'm slightly biased, but my money has to be on the Bayou Bengals from LSU.

You can catch a few of the opening round games on ESPNU and then most of the Super Regionals and World Series on ESPN and ESPN 2. Tune in!!

PING!!!

2009-05-26T17:04:00.002-05:00

The NCAA has released their Division 1 Baseball bracket.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/bracket?id=4203475

64 teams will compete for a chance to advance to Omaha, Nebraska for one of the great lesser known sporting events in our country - The College World Series.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-26T08:26:00.003-05:00

The Syracuse Orange won their 11th NCAA D-1 National Championship in Men's Lacrosse yesterday with a thrilling OT victory over Cornell. With their back to back championships in 2008 and 2009, they have now won 2 more titles than the team with the second most, Johns Hopkins.

The votes are in....

2009-05-25T20:49:00.004-05:00

and you the readers have voted Pete Carroll has your head coach if you were the hiring Athletic Director. Carroll narrowly edged out Urban Meyer with 41% of the vote vs 35%. Bob Stoops and Mack Brown also recieved votes, yet 2x National Champion Les Miles got skunked.

Carroll is 88-15 in his college coaching career which began in 2000 with USC. Over that time he has won 1 BCS National Title, 1 AP National Title and is 6-1 in BCS games with his only loss coming on a fourth down QB scramble by Vince Young in the closing minute of the USC vs UT thriller. Aside from that game USC has basically wiped the floor with their opponent in every big game they have played under Carroll. They have however, slipped against a few of the mediocre Pac -10 teams in the past few years, which could be blamed on coaching, but I firmly believe those games are lost by the players. Carroll is best known for his ability to recruit and his high energy, competitive practices that bring out the best in his players. Since joining the Trojans, Carroll has seen 53 of his players selected in the NFL draft.

Urban Meyer has similar credentials with a 83-17 overall record, 2 National Titles and is 3-0 in BCS games. Meyer is known as one of the pioneers of the Spread Offense that has caught on like wildfire throughout college football. Meyer has also proved himself in the mighty SEC, which is week in and week out a dogfight.

When looking at the list of coaches, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. I definately agree that Carroll and Meyer would be my finalists. I think they both bring great coaching to the table but to me what seperates them is the recruiting. Meyer is no slouch recruiting, but Carroll is the best. When you recruit the best players in the nation year in and year out you are more likely to be successful and those same players market the program when they move on to the next level. How many times do you hear USC mentioned leading up to the NFL draft each year? It almost seems like a feeder school for the NFL. The more people you get talking about your program the more money your program brings in and that is truely the bottom line of college athletics. I want the guy who is personable, brings in the best talent, but more importantly brings in the money.

Once again America, I agree with your vote. Job well done!

2009-05-22T08:23:00.001-05:00

"Strike? I guarantee you that is a ball!"

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-22T08:10:00.003-05:00

Yesterday my Minnesota Twins handed the Chicago White Sox their largest defeat in franchise history, 20-1. While this was a pounding, there have been worse!

Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 30-3 in 2007 season.

In the 1897 season, the Chicago Colts (now the Cubs) defeated the Louisville Colonels 36-7.

Forgive and Forget?

2009-05-21T16:45:00.006-05:00

Incase you have been under a rock the past few days, Michael Vick was released from his studio jail cell in Kansas and is back at his home in Virginia (which he can no longer afford). I'm sure he will miss his neighbors and all the fun times he enjoyed while vacationing. To me it seems time flew by and that it was just a few months ago when we were hearing of the cruel and inhumane things he was doing while bankrolling a dogfighting ring.

Rumor has it Vick has lined up a gig doing construction but the talk of the town is whether he will be reinstated back into the NFL and who will pick him up. Vick will know sooner or later whether the NFL has forgiven him for the heinous crime he committed and whether or not he will be allowed to play professional football again.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell has quite the decision on his hands. He has publically stated that he will need to see signs of remorse from Vick regarding his actions in dogfighting and the killing of underpeforming canines or dogs that were unwilling to engage in battle. Goddell feels that he has paid his debt to society for his actions, but unless he truely believes that he is sorry he won't sniff a football field again.

If I'm Roger Goddell, I have every right to make his suspension a life-sentence from the game, and this is the course of action I would take even if I felt there was remorse and a guilty feeling coming from Michael Vick. For anything else, I would do it to protect any franchise that would have taken a chance on bringing Vick to their roster.

For every Zigy Wilf (Vikings Owner) or Arthur Blank (Falcons owner) who would never let a figure like Vick play on his team after what the world knows, there is an owner like Jerry Jones (Cowboys) or Al Davis (Raiders) who will do anything to win. They would pay him millions to come join the roster and try to make them a better team.

They would be getting a few things for their money. First of all they would be getting a guy who wasn't a good QB when he was playing full-time 3 years ago and was too fragile to play any other position on the field. Did I mention he fumbled all the time as well? Vick is now 2 full years away from anything having to do with football. His strength and conditioning will be a joke and being away from the game doesn't make you any smarter. Aside from him potentially losing his skill, the biggest thing they would get with him would be the media circus that would follow game to game. Their teams would be under constant scrutiny and everyone would just be waiting for Vick to screw up. I also feel the team would lose fans and attendance would suffer. PETA would be all over every stadium Vick walked into and the opposing teams fans (on the road) would rip him and the team that signed him apart weekly. If Terrell Owens complaining every fourth week was enough to get him kicked off the last 3 teams he has been on, I can't imagine what comes with Michael Vick would be much better for team chemistry. I think the owner that signed him would quickly regret the decision and that is why Goddell has to step in and not let it happen.

I assume 100% of people who are over the age of 3 know what a dog is. You have to figure 80% of those people like dogs. What Michael Vick did was something that touched the heart of many. We seem to be the type that can forgive and forget a man who hits or cheats on his wife, but will people be so forgiving and forgetful when it comes to a guy who so savagely killed or had to do with the killing of so many defenseless dogs? I know I won't. It makes me sick to think about what he did.

Another question came to me as I was writing this. Does Vick deserve to make millions again and go back to his former job? If I were to go out and commit a felony and spend two years of my life in prison there is no way I would get my same job back and would never make the money I was making again. No, Vick does not deserve to go back to making millions of dollars. There cannot be a double standard for athletes, but unfortunately we seem to see signs of it daily with all these guys getting off the hook for things the average Joe would be spending time/more time or paying stiffer fines for committing.

Mike and Mike in the Morning.

2009-05-21T16:10:00.002-05:00

They should change the name of this show to "Commercials and Commercials in the Morning".

I normally tune in to Mike and Mike because its the only sports related show on at 530 am when I'm running. The one thing I've always noticed is how often they break for commercials, sportscenters, or ESPN interstitials. I decided to gauge just how much these two actually work over an hour's time (+/-)

Here's the break down by minutes on the treadmills timer

53 mins - Mike and Mike return from commercial and give me 6 minutes of show.

47 mins - I'm "forced" to watch 7 minutes of commercials/sportscenter. The sportscenter is about 2 minutes and its one of ESPN's 2nd tier actors, I mean broadcasters, giving me scores and highlights I've already seen on the 11 pm sportscenter from the night before. I wait for him to remind me that backboards are sqaure and rims are round but he sticks to more obvious sports info.

41 mins - Mike and Mike are back on the air. They stay on for ten minutes this time which means they have alot of time to talk about sports. They talk about the Yankees back-to-back-to-back homers and Greeny's experience with his kids while watching that. Ok here we go, some sports talk....wait, what, now they are talking about who won American Idol? They even go as far as to show a graphic that breaks down the past champions and they discuss which ones were upsets. This is not my ESPN.

31 mins - I get to sit through 8 more minutes of non Mike and Mike stuff. About 5 of that is commercials, 2 of it is aNBA Fastbreak segment where I have to listen to Stuart Scott try and out-urban everyone on the set, and there is a 1 minute long "Best of" (used lightly) reel where they show clips from past Mike and Mike shows - none of which are funny. My guess is they position this in the middle of their breaks so it seems like you are getting more of the show without them having to actually create content - lazy bastards.

23 mins - 6 minutes of show. I dont care what they are talking about at this point. Im pissed they are causing me to keep looking down at the timer which is causing time to drag on.

17 mins - 5 more minutes of commercials. I get another sportscenter update - if I wanted sportscenter updates I would hit the little down arrow on my remote one time and watch sportscenter.

12 mins - 4 minutes of on air time before breaking to ANOTHER sportscenter. 4 F'n minutes!!! Ricky Hatton lasted longer than 4 minutes and we had to pay 59.99 to see that in HD. Damn you Mike and Mike!

8 mins - the above mentioned sportscenter comes on and takes up another 2 minutes of my life telling me about games I watched the night before. Does ESPN have a huge following of people who dont actually watch sports? Are these early AM recaps for the sports fan who is over 80 years old and in bed by 7 pm and up by 4 am thus not witnessing it live?

6 mins - upset that ESPN has turned into the male demographic version of MTV with all their soap opera programming and lack of information that would coincide with the channels name I begin flipping to find something else. This is not the ESPN I grew up loving - must find something that takes me back to my happy childhood!

**To this point Mike and Mike were on the air for 26 minutes and off the air for 22 minutes**

3 mins - infomercial, infomercial, infomercial - my god this Vince guy is selling the shit out of everything - shamwow, some chopper thing - why arent Mike and Mike talking about this guy?

2 mins - JAKCPOT - Saved By The Bell is on. And its the good ones, the old school joints with Ms. Bliss! I'm in a happy place, the workout concludes, and I can go about my day.

In conclusion - Saved By The Bell > Mike and Mike. While I do like the old ones I have to admit Kelly Kapowski would motivate me to run alot harder than Nikki Coleman does!

BIG Blue and White is Back!!

2009-05-21T11:55:00.004-05:00

Ashley Judd will have a lot to smile about next season as she cheers on her Kentucky Wildcats basketball team.

Kentucky, once hailed as the mecca for college basketball has been irrelevant on the national scene since they cut down the nets in 1998. All of that has changed with the firing of Billy Gillespie and the hiring of John Calipari this Spring. The school spent a lot to bring him to town. Will it pay off?

Calipari's credibility comes after great success at UMass (have you heard of them doing anything since he left?) and Memphis. His last four years at Memphis he won 33+ games each season, reached a National Title game and dominated Conference USA, winning league title after league title. He made Memphis a hotbed for some of the best recruits in the nation to come and spend anywhere between 1 and 4 years. Some may claim it was the great BarBQ that brought the talent into town or maybe the fact that the Memphis Tigers are a bigger draw than the Memphis Grizzlies (NBA Franchise) but I think we all know that is a lie.

Calipari is a players coach. He runs an offensive that the greatest players in the high school ranks want to be involved in that allows them to showcase their skills which in turn will help them get to the next level. His offense is all about spacing and allows players to drive and dish or drive and finish. The spacing makes defensive blocking out for rebounds a nightmare. Memphis was one of the best offensive rebounding teams in America year after year. If you like going after the ball, this is a dream offense for you, there is so much freedom. Don't think if you are going to play for Calipari it is all about offense. If you don't play tough defense you won't see the floor. That is the difference between Calipari and most major college coaches. Most programs don't mind if their stars take a night off on the defensive end. Calipari won't allow it and as a result it betters the player himself and the program is rewarded with successful season after successful season.

Kentucky will remain irrelevant no longer. If Jodie Meeks decides to stay at school and pull his name from the NBA draft hat, they will return all players from last years squad including inside power Patrick Patterson. You sprinkle in 5-star recruits PG John Wall, C DeMarcus Cousins and C Daniel Orton along with 4-star players such as SF Jon Hood and PG Eric Bledsoe and the 2009/2010 Wildcats may go from getting bounced early in the NIT last year to the best team in America this season. This transformation basically happened overnight. With no Calipari, Meeks and Patterson would most likely have left and Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe would be wearing something other than blue and white next season.

Not that any passion was lost in Lexington over the past years, but the excitement of the team and program will be at a fever pitch this upcoming season. Kentucky will be back on the national scene. Every penny (and there are a lot of them) they spent/are spending on John Calipari will be well worth it.

The invite we all dream of getting!

2009-05-21T09:31:00.005-05:00

Pittsburgh Steelers reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year has raised some eyebrows recently with his refusal to visit the White House and meet President Obama. According to Harrison, "if the Cardinals had won, they would have been invited" and also from his mouth "'Oh my James Harrison must be a devil worshipper!, he ain't going to the White House!".

I really don't know what to think of this story. In a way, yes the guy has a choice as to whether or not to attend, but let's be honest, who passes up an opportunity to meet the leader of the Free World. Maybe he is confused and thinks it was an invite to meet the Leaders of the Free World that tormented B.Rabbit along 8 Mile? If that is the case, he must not be a free-style battler and fears ridicule and humility?

The White House is probably the most well known "house" in the entire world and the man that he could be meeting with is one of the most influential people on the ENTIRE PLANET. It isn't like he is turning down an invite to Martha's Vineyard and missing on an opportunity to learn how to bake the meanest batch of chocolate chip cookies imaginable. Did I mention that this isn't just President of the US, but instead is the first African American President in the history of our nation. Why would you pass on this opportunity? If you are trying to prove how "blue-collar" you are do it the real blue-collar way, make your statement and then shut your mouth and quit popping off with ridiculous statement after statement.

When your playing career is over Mr. Harrison you will look back at this and feel a great sense of regret for passing on this opportunity.

Also, saying something like "if the Cardinals had won, they would have been invited" is kind of like saying if Larry Fitzgerald had tackled you before you got in the end zone you wouldn't have scored, or the team that scores the most points, is going to win the game. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-21T08:14:00.006-05:00

Los Angeles Lakers

Originally based in Minneapolis, Minn., the name was based on the state motto "The Land of 10,000 Lakes." Despite the lack of lakes in Los Angeles, the team kept the name when it relocated in 1960.

Orlando Magic

The Orlando organization and Orlando Sentinel held a community-wide competition to select the expansion teams nickname, much the same way it was done in Charlotte for the Bobcats. The final two nicknames for the Orlando team were the Magic and Juice. Juice referred to the immense Florida orange juice industry. Magic was in reference to the Orlando-based Disney World, a world-famous amusement park which opened in 1971. Disney World's first theme park was called Magic Kingdom . Now it all comes together.

Denver Nuggets
Before the Modern team there was an original NBA team called the Nuggets. Both teams take their name from the Colorado Gold rush of 1859

Cleveland Cavaliers

The team Cavalier refers to someone who supported the royalist during the English civil war. The most likely derivitive for the name of the team may be a corruption of the word Chivalier, which is a French Cavalryman. One very famous Cavalryman was a George A Custer, leader of the massicred 7th cavalry at the little bighorn. Custer was born in Ohio.

Our Dream Matchup!

2009-05-20T13:27:00.003-05:00

2 of the 3 hockey teams we follow are still alive and well in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and my Pens hold a 1-game lead in the best of 7 series vs Justin's Carolina Hurricanes.

Game 1 was all that an Eastern Conference Finals game should be and i'm sure the rest of the series will be the same way. I expect that 3 goals will win most of the games, so it will come down to goaltending to see which team will advance. Pittsburgh should definately put the heat on Cam Ward all series long.

My gut feeling has the Penguins winning in 6 games with wins in the first two games, the 4th in Raleigh and the 6th in Raleigh to close out the series.

In case you were wondering where Justin and I will be catching the games here are the locations (we did a bit of a home-ice determines destination)

Game 1: Las Colinas
Game 2: Addison (only b/c i'm out of town games 3 and 4)
Game 5: Las Colinas
Game 6: Addison
Game 7: Las Colinas

In Defense of LAX

2009-05-20T10:02:00.002-05:00

I was watching college lacrosse this weekend, and the more I watched, the more I found myself wondering why this sport isn’t more popular.

There are plenty of sports out there that could be popular, but ultimately, they all have their fatal flaws. In fact, an earlier entry on this blog generously offered that hockey had elements of baseball, football, basketball and soccer, so why wasn’t it more popular?

Well…there are plenty of reasons. For one thing, the puck is damn near impossible to see. And a bad TV sport is always going to have a hard time winning fans. Also, it’s the only sport (aside from curling, I guess) that’s played on ice. Sure it makes the game faster and (theoretically) more violent, but that potential for speed is never really exploited because the field (er…rink?) is relatively small – compared to a football or soccer field – and also, it’s kinda hard to get a speed burst on a pair of skates. And while there are plenty of violent hits (and fights!), you can’t tell me it’s more violent than football. Because it isn’t. Those guys reach full speed before they ram into each other.

However. If you said to someone who wasn’t a hockey fan, “what if we took hockey and combined it with college football. Hear me out. There would be more scoring than your average hockey game, and in this scenario, you’d get the atmosphere of a college football game played outside. And as an added bonus, the season ends with a ‘March Madness’ style tournament, and who doesn’t love that?! Is that something you might be interested in?” Who would say no to this?!

Passion

College football and basketball players are always admired for “playing for the love of the game.” There aren’t any bloated contracts, they live off whatever the university can give them without violating NCAA rules, they live in dorms… but that’s only half-true, because after they serve their time playing “for the love of the game,” they can sign bloated contracts and buy sixteen Escalades and wear cashmere underwear.

Lacrosse is unique in that there is no next level. If you want to find a group of athletes who truly play for the love of the game, take a look at lacrosse. And don’t try to tell me Major League Lacrosse counts. When I worked for NBC, my girlfriend (at the time) traveled to the Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game as a production assistant. Turns out even the MVP of the league has a full-time job. Let me clarify, he has a full-time job that isn’t lacrosse. I guess my point is that, even at the professional level, they’re playing for the love of the game.

Hell, even the women’s version of the sport – field hockey – has Olympic competition. Same thing with swimming, rowing, track and all the other niche sports. Those guys have the potential to earn huge endorsement contracts by winning a gold medal or two.

Lacrosse has been an Olympic sport before…in 1904 and 1908. That’s it.

Roadblocks

So what’s the problem? Well, let’s get down to basics. For a sport to become a significant part of someone’s life, they have to have been groomed early on. And how do you groom fans early on? You enable them to play the sport as kids. I liked baseball when I was a kid because we would grab a tennis ball and a bat and play in the street til the streetlights came on. Even playing a bastardized version of a sport (side note: MLB should definitely allow “ghost runners”) creates a fan for life, because it allows a kid to fantasize about hitting the game winning homerun in game seven of the World Series, or nailing a game-winning three at the buzzer or throwing a Super Bowl-winning Hail Mary with time running out.

But accessibility is crucial too. If a sport requires too much equipment, that’s going to discourage neighborhood kids from getting a game together. Every street has a basketball hoop. All you need for a game of football is a ball and some trees to serve as endzones. Every kid has a baseball glove because every kid plays Little League. (side note: this is where soccer has shot itself in the foot. How can a sport that is played by every single child in America be so unpopular here? What’s the problem? Is it because soccer is the first organized sport we play as kids and our lasting memories are ones of confusion and terror and boredom? Is it because we’re made to play a sport we’d never heard of and our parents didn’t even like?) Anyway, no kid I know has a lacrosse stick. Which leads to my next point…

Lacrosse is certainly not without its faults. For one thing – and this is a big one – it’s only played in one part of the country. This is exclusively an east coast sport. And if you really want to split hairs, a northeastern sport.

Another problem with the sport – and this is just what I’ve observed casually watching over the years – is that there are really only four teams with a legitimate chance to win the NCAA championship every year: Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, Virginia and Princeton. I’m sure there are other teams each year that make things interesting, and for all I know, they could be major lacrosse powers and I just haven’t noticed: Duke, Maryland, Cornell and North Carolina, among others. But you get the point. The field is limited.

Opportunity

But the whole point of this rant, is that I think lacrosse has a real opportunity to expand. For one thing, people love team sports. And even more than that, they love college team sports. There’s just something inherently exciting about watching Florida play Oklahoma, no matter what sport it is. The sport has some amazing, natural rivalries that they could promote – Duke vs. North Carolina (hello!), Johns Hopkins vs. Maryland, Princeton vs. Cornell. And like I said, the game itself has promise. The team aspect alone automatically makes it more interesting than, say, swimming.

What are your thoughts on this? Is lacrosse viable? Can it make a dent?

The game I was watching when I started to type this ended with Syracuse cruising into the semifinals, beating Maryland 11 to 6. This means, of course, that Syracuse is in the Final Four! If only they bothered calling it the Final Four.

Guest Column (Blog Post) by Robert Knox

Thanks Robert

Make sure and vote!

2009-05-20T08:13:00.002-05:00

Please make sure and vote on our polls! When voting is done we will post on the results and let you know if we agree/disagree and throw out some statistics that may confirm or alter your decision!

Also, be prepared to see an addition of May Madness coming soon. A 64-man 1 on 1 NBA tournament that puts the top 64 scorers in the league in a March Madness style tournament. I promise you will enjoy it!

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-20T08:00:00.004-05:00

The Los Angeles Clippers won the NBA draft lottery last night and presumably the rights to OU's manchild, Blake Griffin. They had a 17% chance of landing the pick and beat out the team with the best odds of landing the pick, the Sacramento Kings (25%). Only 4 times since the NBA Draft lottery began in 1984 has the team with the best odds (worst record in the league) actually won the lottery.

1988- LA Clippers - Danny Manning - Kansas
1998 - LA Clippers - Michael Olowokandi - Pacific
2003 - Cleveland Cavaliers - Lebron James - High School
2004 - Dwight Howard - High School

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-19T08:45:00.007-05:00

The SEC is undefeated in BCS National Championship games going 5-0 on the final College Football Game played each season.

Tennessee - 1999

LSU - 2003 and 2007

Florida - 2006 and 2008

The Votes are in.....

2009-05-18T22:17:00.004-05:00

and you have voted LeBron James as the NBA player you would most like to start an NBA franchise with. A small turnout for voting standards, but it was nearly unanimous. LeBron received 11 of the 12 votes, with Kobe Bryant getting the other lone vote. If you missed our interesting fact of the day, scroll down and check it out, it is about both of these players.

King James was a first time MVP of the league this season and is currently leading his Cavs to dominating performance after dominating performance in the NBA finals. They will play the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals. At just 24 years of age Lebron has already done the following:

3× Ohio Mr. Basketball (2001–2003)
2003 Naismith Prep Player of the Year
2004 NBA Rookie of the Year
2004 Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award
2004 NBA All-Rookie Team
3× All-NBA First Team (2006, 2008, 2009)
2× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2007)
5× NBA All-Star (2005–2009)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008)
1× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009)
2008 NBA Scoring Champion
2009 NBA Most Valuable Player Award

You have spoke and I have listened. I too would choose him to start my NBA franchise. Well done America.

Mattradamus's 15-Year Football Team Cont'd

2009-05-18T18:49:00.009-05:00

All that is left of my team is the QB and the Safety positions. I will waste no time and get right into it.

I'm going to start with my quarterbacks on defense. When I think of safeties, I want a duo that can stop the run and the pass. Being afforded the luxury of being able to choose my two safeties, I'm going to choose a run stopper and a ballhawk to roam my secondary. My runstopper isn't the greatest safety to defend the pass but was known for his vicious hits over the middle and as a result put fear into any WR who dare go in his territory. My run-stopping/intimidator is Texas Tech alum, Dwayne Slay. While he doesn't have great accolades, he did bring bone crunching and brain jarring hits each and every Saturday in his one season as a starter. He is the only safety that I have seen affect a game to the extent that he did. Would you want to run over the middle against this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pPb1lD2dL8 or how about here? Make sure and watch the whole video as his highlight is the second one shown. keep your eye on the WR that he takes down and watch him get up and stagger back to the TEXAS TECH SIDELINE!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwl8yafutHY

To round out the defensive backfield, I need a ball hawk and my choice was obvious, Da U's Ed Reed! The 2x All American holds Miami's career interception record (21) and took 5 of those to the house, was the Football News Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for both the Jim Thorpe and Bronko Nagurski award.

I think i'm set with a secondary (corners included) that will shut down any passing game. Other finalist included LeRon Landry and the late Sean Taylor.

Now to the position that will lead my team in battle. The QB position has seen some greats in the past 15 years. Some that were under consideration were Peyton Manning, Brady Quinn, Jason White, Carson Palmer, Eric Crouch, Phillip Rivers, Colt Brennan, Kliff Kingsbury (pioneered the Spread Offense), Drew Brees, Vince Young and Joey Harrington.

Below is a list of the accolades of my starting QB:
2× Archie Griffin Award Winner (2003, 2004)
Heisman Trophy Winner (2004)
Manning Award Winner (2004)
Johnny Unitas Award Winner (2004)
2× NCAA QB of the Year (2004, 2005)
BCS national champion (2004)
Walter Camp Award Winner (2005)
2x All-American

USC has turned out some great QB's in the last 15 years, but to me, Matt Leinart takes the cake. Looking at the team I assembled around, he is the perfect choice. A QB from a pro style offense that can hand the ball off, use the play-action, show great accuracy on his short routes to let his playmaking WR's "do work" and a decent enough deep ball to keep defensive secondaries on their toes.
Leinart rounds out my all-time, I mean 15-year team. Here again, was my starting lineup if you have missed it:

Offense:
QB - Matt Leinart - USC
RB - Adrian Peterson - OU RB - Ricky Williams - UT
WR - Peter Warrick - FSU WR - Larry Fitzgerald - Pitt
TE - Jeremy Shockey - Miami
OL - Tony Boselli - USC OL - Orlando Pace - OSU C - Rod Payne - Michigan OL - Joe Thomas - Wisconsin OL - Jake Long

Defense:
DE - Simeon Rice - Illinois DT - Glenn Dorsey - LSU DT - Warren Sapp - Miami DE - Tyrell Suggs - Arizona St.
LB - Andy Katzenmoyer - OSU LB - Paul Posluszny LB - Tedy Lehman - OU
CB - Charles Woodson - Michigan SS - Dwayne Slay - Texas Tech FS - Ed Reed - Miami CB - Champ Bailey - Georgia

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-18T08:08:00.005-05:00

After the Lakers narrowly escaped their 7 game series vs the Rockets to advance to the Western Conference Finals, NBA Commissioner, David Stern continues to have wet dreams on a nightly basis. Here is a still shot scene from each of his dreams:

Game 1 of NBA Finals

Game 2 of NBA Finals

Game 3 of NBA Finals

Game 4 NBA Finals

Game 5 of NBA Finals

Game 6 of NBA Finals

Game 7 of NBA Finals

Mattradamus's 15-Year Football Team Cont'd

2009-05-16T10:29:00.008-05:00

In the first part of this written thrillogy, I gave you my offensive and defensive lines. Last episode I blasted you with my RB's, TE and LB's. Today i'm going to select my high flying WR and lightning quick cornerbacks. I'll start on the offensive side of the ball with the WR choices.

Being that i'm selecting a conventional football team, i'm only allowed 2 wide recievers b/c I have already chosen a TE (Jeremy Shockey). So many players came to mind and it took some research to make my final decision. My finalist for the position included: Michael Crabtree, Calvin Johnson, Braylon Edwards, Larry Fitgerald, Keyshawn Johnson, Randy Moss and Peter Warrick. This was about as difficult as a decison to make as I had to make in the selection of this team.

If there was a no-brainer (by the slimmest of margins of course) it was Pittsburgh's Larry Fitzgerald. Larry holds the NCAA record for consecutive games with a TD (18) and was an All-American who won the Fred Biletnikoff (top WR) and Walter Camp (Player of the Year) award. If those stats weren't enough, I also enjoyed his 6'4 frame and the speed that came with it. I would say that Fitzgerald has the best hands I have seen in a college wide receiver. My second choice may be a bit of a surprise but when you are voted the school's all -time favorite player and you are a threat to score everytime you touch the ball, it is very hard for me to pass up. Some of his biggest games came under the bright lights of back to back National Championship games and he was also a huge threat in the Punt return game. Florida State's Peter Warrick will be opposite Fitzgerald for this football team. Warrick, nicknamed "the great one" by his college teammates was a 2-time consensus All-American and helped lead his '99 Seminoles to the distinction of becoming the first team to be #1 in the polls from the start of the season to the finish. I think that my QB (who will be chosen tomorrow) will be very excited to hear that he will be throwing the pigskin to these two studs.

The best way to neutralize a great wide receiver is with a great cornerback. If you have a good shutdown CB in college, you can basically cut off 1-side of the football field. When thinking about my corners, I actually thought in large part about my WR. Who would I want lined up across from them trying to shut them down man on man?

The first person I thought of was the only primarily defensive player to ever win the Heisman Trophy award, Charles Woodson, a 2x All-American at the University of Michigan. Look at this resume:

Heisman Trophy (1997)
Chuck Bednarik Award (1997)
Jim Thorpe Award (1997)
Bronko Nagurski Trophy (1997)
Walter Camp Award (1997)
Jack Tatum Trophy (1997)
Sporting News Player of the Year (1997)

Woodson had the size and speed to lineup against every WR in college, but I specifically had him being the guy I would want to stick on an island vs Larry Fitzgerald. So that leaves me with who I would want to cover a guy like Peter Warrick. My answer is Georgia All American Champ Bailey. On top of being an All-American Champ also won the Nagurski Trophy as the nations best defensive player. He was that reliable source to shut down half of the field by taking out the opposing teams best WR.

Woodson and Bailey were the clear cut favorites in my opinion with all others coming in a distant 3rd and beyond.

Tomorrow you will learn who I want as my QB and as my defensive QB's, the safeties. Will your favorite team finally get that representative? Check it out tomorrow and see.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-15T08:31:00.004-05:00

On this day in 1973, Nolan Ryan threw his first no-hitter of his career vs the Kansas City Royals. It was the 1st of 7 total in his career.

Mattradamus's 15-Year Football Team Cont'd

2009-05-14T17:32:00.008-05:00

Yesterday I posted my selections for the Offensive and Defensive Lines and today i'm going to move on to Running Backs, Tight End and Linebackers.

I'll get it started today with selecting two guys who I can rely on for both the short yardage situations, but also display big play abilities out of the backfield. To me this decision was a no brainer and my only fear is that they wouldn't be able to put aside their respective schools hatred toward one another to team up and go down as the greatest backfield in the history of the game. The University of Texas has had some great RB's in recent memory, but Ricky Williams takes the cake. Looks at these credentials:

2× Doak Walker Award (1997, 1998)
2× Jim Brown Trophy (1997, 1998)
Walter Camp Award (1998)
Maxwell Award (1998)
Heisman Trophy (1998)
AP College Player of the Year (1998)

This Longhorn will be splitting carries with his Red River Rivalry counterpart, Adrian Peterson. This Boomer Sooner was a guy I hated in college, but now have grown to love (playing for the Vikings of course). While he doesn't have the trophies that Ricky Williams has, his accolades are impressive and was an unstoppable force in his 3 years at OU.

Hall Trophy (2003)
First-team AP All-Freshman (2004)
First-team consensus All-American (2004)
Doak Walker Award finalist (2004)
Heisman Trophy finalist (2004)
Jim Brown Trophy winner (2004)

You will notice that I haven't mentioned any finalist and the reason behind that is b/c there were no other candidates in my eyes. These two were clear cut decisions in my mind.

Moving on to the TE position I had to think about whether or not I leaned towards a guy who was more of a pass catching TE, blocking TE or both. I had two guys in mind and it came down to Dallas Clark from Iowa and Jeremy Shockey from Da U, Miami. Here were the credentials:

Dallas Clark - All American and recepient of the John Mackey award for the nations best TE

Jeremy Shockey - All American and National Champion

I decided to go with the guy that has a bit of a mean streak and chose Jeremy Shockey. He can run, catch and you gotta love a TE who seeks out dishing punishment.

I'm going to jump to the defensive side of the ball now and talk about the Linebackers. I chose the three best LB's regardless of Middle or Outside 'backers. I had to go with the first three guys that stuck out in my mind. The first of which is a fellow Sooner of Adrian Peterson. Teddy Lehman was an All-American defensive force for two years at OU and also won the Dick Butkus and Chuck Bednarik awards (top LB and best defensive player in the country). Back to Big 10 country I go to round out my linebacking corp. Paul Posluszny was a 2-time All-American at Penn St and also was a recipient of the Dick Butkus and Chuck Bednarik Awards. He is actually only the second player to win the Bednarik award more than once (2x winner). He may go down as the best LB in Penn St. history and it has been called Linebacker U by many if that tells you of his talents. To round out the three, I chose Andy Katzenmoyer from THE Ohio St. He won the same awards as Lehman and Posluszny and brought the pain to the Big 10 for 3 years.

Other finalist for this dubious distinction were: A.J Hawk, Peter Boulware, Derrick Johnson and LaVar Arrington.

Tune in tomorrow to get the skinny on my Wide Receivers and Cornerbacks!

1970's Cleveland Cavaliers

2009-05-14T16:25:00.001-05:00

Miami Hurricanes - 2009 Season

2009-05-14T15:59:00.003-05:00

The following is brought to you by our resident "Da U" advisor, Matt Leininger.

After completing their 2nd season under the guidance of Randy Shannon the U looks to continue their growth back to national prominence. 2 moves this offseason that I think will help out this team. #1 - Telling Robert Marve to leave - the kid was a baby and wanted things handed to him ala Larry Coker's way. #2 - Not pursuing the rolling drama that became Bryce Brown. The kid is talented but you don't win football games by yourself. This year's team will be led by Miami grown talents in key posistions.

Jacory Harris takes over at QB - and many believed that he was the better of the two QB's last year. Our strength will again be in the backfield as Graig Cooper and Javarris "Baby J" James will get the bulk of the careers. Keep an eye on 2 newbies this year in Mike James and Lamar Miller. Our receivers are still young but since they all played a lot as Freshmen they should only improve. O Line is the most veteran group they have had in the past 5 years and played well most of last season. New offensive coordinator Mark Whipple will add some excitement to this side that Patrick Nix just couldn't.

Defensively - they should be real solid. Marcus Forston will anchor the D Line with rush ends Marcus Robinson and Adewale Ojomo being possibly the quickest D Ends in football. Our LB's will be lead by Colin McCarthy & Sean Spence (who will be the best LB to play at Miami when he's done)- but keep an eye on Arthur Brown to sneak in and get some action this year. He was reserved last year to special teams despite being a 5 star recruit out of Kansas but impressed in the spring. We will start a veteran safety in Randy Phillips and a Sean Taylor clone in Vaughn Telemaque (lets just hope he can be as good as Taylor)!!!! Our CB position is the most hotly contested right now. We started 4 guys last year in multiple games and all 4 are back with the addition of 2 4star recruits. So as the saying goes, "a little competition never hurt anyone"

Realistic season 8-3 and in the Peach Bowl
Real solid season - 9-2 and in a BCS Bowl
Real Real good season 12-0 and National Champs.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-14T07:16:00.006-05:00

The Stanley Cup originally was only seven and a half inches tall. Today it is 35.5 inches tall and weighs over 15lbs. Each season all the members of the winning team of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are engraved into the trophy and it is easily one of the most recognizable trophies in sports.

Mattradamus's 15-Year NCAA Football Team

2009-05-13T12:49:00.024-05:00

I wanted to speak on what I know and that is why I didn't date this to ALL TIME. I have been watching college football for roughly 15 years (religiously) so I feel that I have some good insight and definate opinions on the matter. Through the years we have seen several different types of offenses and defenses produce dynamic players at all positions. Tommy Frazier/Eric Crouch led an option monster back in the 1990's for the Cornhuskers, Graham Harrell a Spread Passing attack that made the greatest of defenses look silly in his three years at the helm of the Red Raiders and Vince Young led a Spread Option attack that won a National Title for UT over USC in what I feel is one of the greatest college football games of all time. My point being that when you consider who you want to use at each position you have to take into account several different factors. Of course a Spread Passing attack is going to put up huge passing numbers and an I-Formation RB is going to get more carries but that doesn't mean they are the guy i'm picking to go in my backfield. Below is my College Football 15-Year Team along with others that were considered. Enjoy!

I'll start with the big uglies, the offensive lineman. I'm going to assume that the following guys all have the talent to play either RT, RG, LG or LT. My finalist were Tony Boselli, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, Walter Jones, Chris Samuels, Leonard Davis, Mike Williams Robert Gallery, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Joe Thomas and Jake Long.

When looking at lineman I wanted guys that were in more of a Pro-Style offense b/c I appreciated a guy who could run and pass block and was more well rounded than being labeled strictly a great run blocker and an average pass blocker or vice versa. The no-brainer of this team was a 4-year starter, the only 2-time winner of the Lombardi award and didn't give up a sack in his Junior or Senior seasons. Often regarded as one of the best college players of all time, Ohio St lineman, Orlando Pace is the first to join the roster. Playing in a big conference and being a 3x All-American didn't hurt my next linemans chances. He eventually became the top pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in their inaugural season, USC lineman Tony Boselli gets the second spot on my team. The last two pieces of the lineman puzzle are both more recent players. Once again playing in a power conference and playing in Pro-Style offenses along with the accolades is what got Wisconson's Joe Thomas and Michigan's Jake Long starting spots on the roster. While I truely hate watching Big 10 football, they manage to turn out some great lineman. Jake Long was a 3x All-American and Joe Thomas was a 2-time All American that both pathed the paths for a fierce running game, but also kept their QB's off their backs. When choosing my center, I wanted to choose a guy who was tough, smart and once again played in a conference against some of the nations best. Once again, I was led to the Big 10, and Michigan's Rod Payne gets my vote. A three year starter at Michigan earned All American honors in 1996 and actually played an entire season with a broken wrist. He played one armed and actually snapped the ball with his left hand b/c his right hand simply did not work. A tough cookie no doubt.

LT: Tony Boselli, LG: Orlando Pace; C: Rod Payne; RG: Joe Thomas; Jake Long

Games are won in the trenches, so i'm going to follow up my o-line choices with the defensive line selections. I believe that your defensive tackles need to be guys to disrupt the running game and your defensive ends needs to be speed rushers and guys that will always be on the mind of the QB when the play comes in and he knows he is taking that 5-step drop. I'll start on the outsides. Like I mentioned earlier, I want guys with speed. My first selection is the all time leader in sacks at the collegiate level, representing the desert and Arizona St. University, Terrell Suggs is a welcomed addition to the team. 44 career sacks and 67 tackles for loss says all I need to know to know he can get after the QB on my team. His sidekick on the other side of the line will be Illinois' Simeon Rice. A 2-time All American selection, much like Suggs rushed from a three-point stance as well as standing. He dominated the Big 10 and holds the Illini season record for 16 sacks in a season. Knowing I will have constant pressure on the QB from the outside, I wanted to choose two guys who could blow up the center and take on double teams in the middle. My first choice is LSU's Glenn Dorsey. Dorsey has as good of a resume as a defensive player could have including 2x All-American, winner of the Lombardi Trophy and Outland Awards and was the SEC Defensive player of the year. Did I mention he led a defense that helped LSU win a National Title? Beside Dorsey is almost an identical clone. Despite the failed drug tests while in college, i'm going to roll the dice with "Da U's", Warren Sapp. The All-American Lombardi winner was the defensive player of the year and was one of the most imposing forces in NCAA history.

DE: Terrell Suggs; DT: Glenn Dorsey; DT: Warren Sapp; DE: Simeon Rice

Finalist included Darrell Russell, Courtney Brown, Gerald Warren, Julius Peppers, Mario Williams, Tommie Harris, Dwayne Robertson, Gaines Adams and Chris Long.

Stay tuned for Linebackers, Running Backs and Tight End selections that will post Thursday evening, May 14th! Will your college favorites make the cut? Check out the blog and find out more tomorrow.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-13T08:23:00.002-05:00

Pittsburgh is the only city in America that has at least three major sports teams all wearing the same colors -- black and gold

Anyone else tired of Brett Favre?

2009-05-12T18:29:00.006-05:00

Good lord this guy won't go away! I'm beginning to think he is simply just a publicity whore. Worst part of all of this is that he may be joining my Minnesota Vikings! I understand we don't have the best QB play in the world, but we went 10-6 last season and won the NFC North. This year we have upgraded from Gus Frerotte to Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson came on strong last season going 3-1 in the final regular season games, throwing for 7 TD's.

Jackson had 62% completions, 635 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT, 81 rush yds, 2 fumbles lost.
Favre had 54.5% completion, 627 yards, 2 TDs, 7 INTs, 27 rush yds, 0 fumbles lost.

I'm perfectly content with letting Tjack and Sage go into camp knowing they are in a competition for starting QB duties.

Would you want Brett Favre QB'ing your franchise the season he is going on 40 years young? Did I mention he has a bad shoulder? Did I mention he is a bad teammate? Did I mention to go along with all the good records he holds in the NFL record books he also holds the record for most interceptions in a career? How about the fact that is is notorious for sucking it up in the Metrodome (home of the Vikings)?

I just can't see one good about signing this guy. He retires b/c he wants attention. He un-retires b/c he wants attention. He refuses to comment about certain things b/c he wants attention. He makes certain comments b/c he wants attention. Minnesota is a conservative state and the people won't want the frenzy (not to mention the bad passes and terrible grey beard) that comes with Brett Favre joining the team.

Brett, please do us all a favor. Stay in Mississippi popping pain pills and leading your group of Wrangler wearing friends into muddy puddles.

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-12T08:09:00.002-05:00

The average life span of a major league baseball is 7 pitches.

Never too early for college football!

2009-05-11T11:59:00.008-05:00

Well, all annual Spring games are behind us and into the summer we go. Over the next few weeks we will be sending out some updates on the Spring games/practices of our favorite teams as well as predictions about the following year after taking into account what we saw in the spring.
Texas Tech Red Raiders

Preseason Ranking: 20-25

The 120 play Red/Black game has come and gone and we can take away some positives and negatives. The offense was able to move the ball, but they weren't very good finishing drives with points. I think that is a given when you are breaking in a new QB, a couple Big Nasties (o-linemen) and needing new WR to step up after you lose your go to guy to the NFL Draft. The defense broke in some new faces that made some plays, but still gave up a good bit of yardage against an offense that hadn't played together long and had opportunities to score. I never look too much into Spring games. Generally the defense stands out and the offenses look shaky at best. In Tech's case, I wish that one of these Springs the defense would completely dominate just to show us some promise going into the season b/c I know the offense will come around and almost always put 35+ on the board.

Taylor Potts will take the snaps for the Red Raiders this season and he has some big shoes to fill. I think the Red Raider fans will be very impressed with his play. In my opinion he mixes a bit of all the great characteristics of the QB's that have gone under center, or should I say, sat in the gun under Mike Leach in his time at Texas Tech. He has the size that Sonny Cumbie had, the arm that BJ Symmons displayed, the accuracy on the short throws that Kingsbury mastered, the "it" factor that Cody Hodges used to get us to the Cotton Bowl along with the all around talent that Graham Harrell displayed to go along with the high accolades coming out of high school. He will be the first QB from Tech under Leach that the NFL won't use the "system" QB tag on. I think we are in good hands for the next 2 years. He looked sharp in the Spring game passing for over 200 yards on 20 of 27 with a TD.

Tech fans are going to once again be very pleased with their RB's. Baron Batch is back after making a great impression last year and will be splitting carries with Harrison Jeffers, who makes his highly anticipated debut after redshirting last season. The key with being a RB in the spread offense is picking up blocks and making catches out of the backfield. Both of these guys can do that and I wouldn't be surprised to see more of a true running game with the QB under center every now and than. They both played very well in the spring game and accounted for the most yards between the Red Raider offensive players.

The loss of Michael Crabtree will hurt the Red Raiders in the redzone as he was almost a sure thing inside the 10 to seperate and get open, but the rest of the guys return that were more often than not the guys getting the ball down the field to start with. Edward Britton, Detron Lewis and Tremaine Swindell should all still put up great numbers and the only question will be whether or not one of them wants to be the go to guy close to the goalline. I personally feel that Britton will fill the role of the deep ball WR, Lewis will be a guy who can move the chains and Swindell will be the guy that Potts really looks for when in the redzone. None are the complete package that Crabtree was, but together they really can do all that you would ask of an above average WR corp. Look for Jacoby Franks to get on the field as the 4th WR for the Raiders. Detron Lewis and Tremaine Swindell both got in the endzone during the Spring game.

The offensive line is never of a concern to me at Tech. With the wide splits, it really forces teams to go too wide to get to the QB in the short amount of time our QB's hold onto the football. Over the years we have started to get more highly recruited lineman, so I can only assume, they can step in and take care of business. If they don't mesh as a group and cant keep our QB off his butt, we could be in for a long season. I wouldn't worry about that though. Mankind, Brandon Carter returns and will be a Pre-Season All-American.

Last season Tech's defense for the first time in years was able to get big stops and either get off the field or force turnovers at key times (the exceptions being OU and Ole Miss). A large part of that was b/c of the success of the defensive line that made the rest of the team look better than they might have actually been.

Tech’s D will all hinge on the DL and the changes that have taken place with the loss of Brandon Williams to the draft and possible loss of Dixon and Sesay to off the field issues. Rajon Henley has moved to DE and will likely see time at both DT and DE. Colby Whitlock and Richard Jones will see plenty of time at DT. DE is unsettled due to the previously mentioned issues. I would expect to see a rotation of Henley, Brandon Sharpe, and Daniel Howard. If Sesay and Dixon settle their off the field issues, expect them to see heavy playing time at DE, although it doesn’t sound like there is much of a possibility they both return to the team in the fall.

All of the LBs return. Duncan is the anchor of the LB core and is a very solid Big XII LB. Marlon Williams and Bront Bird are suspect at best but with a year under their belt and another offseason of strength and conditioning they should show some improvement. They were pushed in the spring by Tyrone Sonier and Sam Fehoko, who could possibly be a starter at MLB, which would push Duncan to SLB. Although Duncan is an ideal MLB, if the idea is to get the best 11 defensive players on the field, Fehoko and Duncan will be on the field at the same time at MLB and SLB respectively.

The secondary returns Jamar Wall at CB who can play like an All Big XII player at times. The other CB is not yet settled and will most likely be a battle between LaRon Moore and Taylor Charbonnet. Tech lost both safeties to graduation and must fill the positions with players who have almost no experience. Cody Davis had a great spring and is a lock to be a starter come the fall. Franklin Mitchem is penciled in at the spot opposite Davis at this point. Due to the lack of depth Andre McCorkle, a walk-on, was moved from RB to S. He has the size and speed to compete for playing time if he can learn the position. Tech signed a handful of blue-chip safeties this winter that may get on the field being that there isn't anything in concrete.

In my opinion Tech fans can look forward to an 8-4 season at best. They should make it through their pre-conference games unscathed, but the lack of experience in the defensive secondary will prove costly come conference time in the pass happy Big 12 South. OU, UT and OSU will most likely cruise past the Red Raiders in their matchups, but Tech should be able to score enough to compete in all other games. If you like San Antonio, you will probably be able to make a road trip in late December to see the Red Raiders play a Big 10 school in the Alamo Bowl.

Thanks to Wes Shaw for his input.

The Mutt of Sports

2009-05-11T10:15:00.004-05:00

What do you get when you mix baseball, football, basketball and soccer? You get what i'm going to call for the time being, the mutt of sports, hockey! For those of you who haven't taken the time to really sit down and watch hockey, I really really recommend that you do so. It is a fascinating sport and there is not a better time than right now to catch a game as the Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing with great matchups going at each other nightly.

Baseball - baseball for the most part in my book is all about hand/eye coordination. Hockey uses tons of hand/eye coordination while catching the puck, passing the puck or shooting the puck. The major difference between hockey and baseball when it comes to this is that in hockey you are being slashed by an opposing teams stick or dealing with somebody throwing their body weight into you. Did I mention that you are on ice while you are trying to do this?

Football - the inner barbarian in us all comes out in a game of football. We want to see big hits and some of the best athletes on the planet go toe to toe in an effort to get the ball from one end of the field to the next and cross the goal line. You watch each play and hope for a game changing play to occur (from your team) whether it be creating a turnover, connecting on a 50 yard pass or running between the tackles, getting through the linebackers and then winning that footrace against the opposing secondary. You never know when one play will change a game. Hockey brings 60 minutes of guys putting the opposing team into the boards with hits that make you cringe and every now and then you will get to see a good ole fashioned fist-a-cuff. Does it get more barbaric than a sport that allows (with a 5 minute penalty of course) two guys to just throw haymakers at one another until one of them hits the ice? It is part of the game, that I hate to say, I love. I will say this though, while fighting in hockey can be just for the sake of disliking the player you are "dancing" with, but it is also very strategic and is also many times done to protect your teams "golden boys" In game 6 of the opening playoff series between the Penguins and Flyers, you saw the strategic fight take place http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAkIC8DDaAk. Down 3 - 0 the Penguins needed a spark and needed to shut the Philly fans up. The Flyers had all the momentum, had 18,000 rowdie Vince Papale's in attendance and the Penguins were about to get laughed out of the building. Pittsburgh Center, Max Talbot, decided he had to do something and that something was pick a fight with the biggest and baddest dude for the Flyers that was on the ice at the time. He knew this would provide a spark for his team but also just break up the rhythem of the game and boy did it ever. Max didn't win the fight (actually lost it hands down) but the Penguins bench began banging their sticks on the boards in appreciation of his efforts and showed a sign of life they hadn't shown through the first period of play. 30 seconds later they put one past the goalie. This was the first of 5 Pens goals in a row that resulted in a 5-3 Penguins victory to clinch the series. America loves physical sports. Football and hockey are the two at the top of the totum pole in that respect.

Basketball - in basketball you have to put the ball through the basket to score. Easier said than done considering you have 10 guys in a confined space ranging from 6' to 7' playing in your face defense and doing all they can to stop you from doing so. They hand check, they bump, they go for steals, they block shots, nothing comes easy. Hockey is no different. There is a little more spacing but the net you are trying to put he puck into is protected by a goalie with 35lbs of padding making his 5'10, 200lb frame an intimidating 6'3, 235 lb Jason Voorhies look alike. Did I mention the other team slashing your stick with theirs or laying their bodies on the ice to block passes that are to set up scoring chances or even blocking shots (with their faces!). While the spacing is a little better, it still takes absolute precise shots to get through the traffic and through the goalie.

Soccer - while Soccer isn't the top sport in the US, it is worldwide the most played and watched sport. Fans pack stadiums to sometimes, live and die (literally), for their teams. These people are nuts. most soccer matches to the average person here in the US are too low scoring and not enough action, but to the diehards in England that is the beauty of the sports. Constant motion combined with that 1-goal in the 80th minute can send a crowd into a frenzy and all of a sudden those first 79 scoreless minutes are forgotten and the celebration has begun. Hockey like basketball but more so soccer is a sport played with continuous moment for large amounts of time. Baseball has a break between each pitch, football between each play. Hockey players put the brakes on for the occasional offside penalty or a puck that has deflected into the crowd. Scoring is limited, so you never know when that goal is going to take place that puts you in your happy place http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCpoG5oaFyU&feature=PlayList&p=873C79D235168D8C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3 or the one that sends you home disgruntled and ready to jump off a bridge.

If you are a fan of any of the sports above, chances are you a fan of more than 1 of them. If you haven't given hockey a chance, please tune to Versus and just sit and watch a game. You will be amazed by how quick and graceful these guys are on the ice despite how rough the sport is. You will quickly appreciate the amount of skill that goes into playing the sport and when you hear that home crowd go nuts after a goal, you will feel the hair on the back of your neck will stand on end, hell you may get some goose bumps. The sport is lead by some very young (early 20's) superstars that are really helping put hockey back on the map. Sydney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are the future and this is why:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8QisFSAXgE

Interesting Sports Fact

2009-05-11T07:50:00.002-05:00

The Pittsburgh Pirates got their name as a result of bad publicity. In 1880 the Pittsburgh team allegedly "Pirated" an important player away from Philadelphia and did nothing to smooth over ruffled feelings. Local newspapers angrily called Pittsburg "a bunch of Pirates." The epithet stuck, and eventually became the team's official name.

Mavs Apologists

2009-05-10T12:06:00.005-05:00

Jet missed a free throw with two minutes to go, J-Ho missed a free throw with a minute and a half to go, and dirk shot two fadeaway jumpers - both misses - with less than a minute to go.

Yes the refs missed the call, but even if they blew the whistle, I'm not convinced the Mavs' Roger Dorn defense (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X8552DxqOk) would've prevented the Nuggest from scoring anyways.

Rick Carlisle should give back his paycheck for this month. Coming out of a timeout, the best shot you can draw up is ANOTHER Dirk fadeaway (from thirty feet)?!?! My god...

-JMV

Saturday Musings...

2009-05-09T10:04:00.004-05:00

One of the things I truly enjoy is spending time reading the sports page on the weekend. The Dallas Morning News has some great writers and the "old soul" in me likes sitting down with a cup of tea (I'm English - but the tough English, not the Ricky Hatton English) and reading through the paper. It wont be long until most major papers are no longer in print in lieu of the internet which wont be the same!

Random thoughts from the sports world...

RIP Chuck Daly. Basketball loses a hall of fame coach. The ring leader for the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons teams of the 80's and early 90's. Prayers and thoughts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues. Ironic that this year the NBA playoffs have taken a much "tougher" persona than what I remember in the past couple of seasons. Suspensions, flagrant fouls, and trash talking seem to be higher and it's made the playoffs much more interesting. If only the Mavs could start participating...

Leon Lett graduates from UNLV today. The man who committed two of the dumbest plays in NFL history (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2kcpTmheM4) will walk the stage. Congratulations to him.

A-Rod homers on the first pitch he sees, in his first game back from hip surgery.

Sam Keller is suing EA Sports for using his likeness in the NCAA Football game. Dude, that character wasnt you. The guy in the video game was actually a good QB, not an overhyped primadonna who didnt come close to living up to his own hype. Sam will never play in the NFL so he wont have to worry about Madden using his "likeness".

Good news - Pens, Canes, Marlins, and Twins all won last night.
Bad news - There's still rumors of Favre going to Minnesota and Julius Peppers still hasnt signed his tender.

Tarheels open the NCAA Lacrosse tournament today at 230 (eastern) on ESPNU. If the Heels played tiddly winks and it was televised I'd watch it. Tarheel born, Tarheel bred...

I dont know (or care) much of the details of the Dirk Nowitzki drama. But how the hell is one of the top 20 NBA players dating a woman who looks like this (http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/uploads/cristal_taylor.jpg). Not only is he a candy ass softy on the floor but hes got no respect for himself or the broke men of the world who are forced to have sex with ugly women because we cant be too choosy.

- JMV

Who is Mattradamus?

2009-05-08T08:41:00.000-05:00

I am a sports bird that migrated South from the great state of Minnesota, through the mean corn fields of Iowa, a state that didn't show me a whole lot,Missouri and have found a home, not to mention a pair of cowboy boots and a nice Stetson in Texas. I briefly touched down in Pennsylvania, but wasn't there too long before I had to get back to the Republic of Texas, ah, I mean state of Texas (poking fun of the Texas radicals). I think as a boy you get into one of four things: Science, Music, Entertaining or Sports. At the time science was for nerds, I had no music ability and i'm not one for attention so the whole entertaining wasn't up my sleeve. I chose sports (you can thank me later dad).

Here are some of my sports credentials:
I have played the following competitively.... baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, lacrosse
I was once.... an all district basketball player, an intramural legend (I thought the movie, I Am Legend was about me, I was irritated to find out it wasn't)
I am now.... an arm chair quarterback (with a great arm), company softball power hitter (does it matter its co-ed?), a boxer in training (not to actually fight, but to get a good workout, you still think i'm super tough though, right?)
I have won.... 2 fantasy football leagues in the last two years (2007 FFCL and 2008 Yahoo) a checker tournament in the 3rd grade (I have some brains with all this braun!) and numerous NCAA basketball tournament pools

Now that you know a little bit about me and my background, sit back and enjoy the sports debauchery that will follow.