Blonde Devils

TheCollegeFootballGirl.com has launched...

2011-02-27T14:04:00.003-05:00

You can now find my college football thoughts and analysis at TheCollegeFootballGirl.com

The Cheerleading Debate Continues...

2010-07-22T13:11:00.005-04:00

For those of you who witnessed (i.e., were subjected to) the Great Debate of senior year at Revere High School between Rob Walter and myself over whether or not cheerleading was a sport and are interested in the status of that debate, Rob has informed me that our argument has finally had it's day in court! The article is below and while the Judge ruled that cheerleading is NOT a college varsity sport, I must point out that the limiting word "college" in this decision means that my argument is weakened, but not completely defeated! I do admit that this is a setback for cheerleaders out there and the "sport" I ardently defended. But, as I'm sure none of you are surprised to hear, this debate is (still) not over yet!

CHEERLEADING NOT A COLLEGE VARSITY SPORT, JUDGE RULES

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Competitive cheerleading is too "underdeveloped" to qualify as a full-fledged sport for women under federal gender equality rules, and the university which proposed it discriminated against women, a federal judge in Connecticut ruled.

In the 95-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill said Quinnipiac University, located in Connecticut, had discriminated against women when it sought to eliminate the school's varsity volleyball team and create a competitive cheerleading squad in its stead.

Universities are mandated under a federal statute called Title IX modified in 1975 to provide equal opportunity for men and women in athletics programs.

"Quinnipiac discriminated on the basis of sex... by failing to provide equal athletic participation opportunities for women," Underhill said.

Plaintiffs' attorney Jonathan Orleans praised the ruling, saying in a statement "This is a victory not only for the student athletes and their coach, but for women's collegiate sports generally."

Connecticut ACLU executive director Andrew Schneider said the decision "gives force to the law that has opened doors for women over the last 30 years."

"The University's competitive cheerleading team does not qualify as a varsity sport for the purposes of Title IX and, therefore, its members may not be counted as athletic participants under the statute," the judge ruled.

While cheerleading may be recognized in the future, the judge said, "the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students."

It’s Not Bad to Be Prince…Unless You’ve Been King

2010-07-16T15:29:00.001-04:00

If anyone bothered to watch the presentation of the Miami Heat’s “new look,” besides witnessing something that looked eerily like the opening of a Jonas Brothers’ concert, you might have noticed Lebron James standing in a new position. For a man who has been the “center” of attention his entire career, he was now standing off to the side, specifically to Dwayne Wade’s right. Numerous examples, such as Destiny’s Child, the Three Tenors, the Chipmunks and the Supremes, demonstrate that that the one in the middle is the leader (Beyonce, Pavarotti, Alvin and Diana Ross) and the ones on the sides are in support roles. Welcome to Wade County Lebron, where you are no longer King. You are now just a helper there to acquire another championship for Miami, which will be quite an accomplishment since they haven’t done it in four entire years. I suppose 2006 was a really long time ago for some people, but if you’re in Cleveland you’ve been waiting for an NBA Championship since, um, 1970 when they first became a franchise. That’s 40 years--- a little more impressive than 4 for whoever can accomplish it. We know that person is NOT Lebron James. I’m not sure who will be able to do it, but since Lebron failed, can Cleveland really blame him for giving up?

Well, yes, they can. And I won’t even address the playoff series against the Boston Celtics this year where the fans concluded that the only possible explanation for the way Lebron played was that Delonte West must have been sleeping with his mom. But to return to my point, it was not so much for quitting, but for how he did it. Like Lebron, I grew up in Akron, Ohio. My parents’ house is in the neighborhood across the main street off of which Lebron lives. (I thought about toilet-papering his house but apparently there are too many cops outside). And like Lebron, I chose to leave. I love visiting Akron and think the people there are the best I’ve ever met, but it’s not the place for me to live. So I can’t blame him for wanting to experience a new city. However, James owed the town that made him King some respect. He could have politely and professionally sat down with Dan Gilbert and informed him of his decision. After everything that Gilbert has done for James over the years, I think that’s the least he could have done. Instead he made the type of presentation that hasn’t been seen since 2006 when high school quarterback Jimmy Clausen arrived at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend in a stretch hummer limousine to announce that he would be attending Notre Dame. Clausen paid for that one dearly with the media and to this day will still be remembered for that embarrassing spectacle he made of himself at age 18. As if Lebron James needed more attention in his life. But even if we give him leniency on account of his being a complete narcissist, I would still think that a 25 year-old “professional” athlete would behave more appropriately.

And just so you know Lebron, the people are the ones who made you King… and they can turn on you… and they can take it back. As far as Cleveland is concerned, you’ve lost your crown. You now live in a Kingdom ruled by King Wade and at best, you are his Prince.

225: Much More Than a Number

2010-01-29T19:07:00.005-05:00

A Collaborative piece by R. McManis and S. T.

On February 7, 2010, a rookie named Austin Collie will take the field in Super Bowl XLIV. While he didn’t gain a significant amount of attention during the season, his 7 catches for 123 yards in the AFC Championship game helped propel the Colts over the Jets in the best game of his young career. Looking back on how a rookie like Collie ended up here, we decided to review his scouting report from last year. Mel Kiper Jr. described him as a good fourth receiving option for most teams given his knowledge of the game, smarts, and productivity. As the127th player taken in last April’s draft, he’s the only rookie wide receiver playing in the Super Bowl this year. But the true reason why we’re focusing on Collie isn’t his Super Bowl appearance, rather that his scouting report is almost identical to another player who is not playing in the NFL right now. We’ve listed their reports below:

Height-Weight Speed Ratio

Austin Collie: 3 - Falls within prototypical ranges for height and weight but lacks good top-end speed.

Player X: 3 - Below average for height and weight but has excellent top-end speed.

Durability

Austin Collie: 3 - Reported to 2008 fall camp with stress fracture below right knee and slowed by an ankle injury in 2007.

Player X: 2 - No injuries to date other than a minor procedure in April 2008.

Character

Austin Collie: 2 - Character doesn’t appear to be a concern. Solid worker. No off-the-field issues that we’re aware of at this point.

Player X: 2 - Excellent character. Significantly involved with the American Cancer Society. Solid worker. No off-the-field issues that we’re aware of at this point.

Separation Skills

Austin Collie: 2 - Footwork and savvy are excellent. Sinks hips, gears down quickly and does a nice job of getting shoulders turned around on comeback routes. Shows adequate burst off the line and coming out of cuts but lacks elite explosiveness and should have a harder time separating from man coverage at the NFL level.

Player X: 2 - Footwork and savvy are excellent. Sinks hips, gears down quickly and does a nice job of getting shoulders turned around on comeback routes. Shows adequate burst off the line and coming out of cuts. But will have a harder time separating from man coverage at the NFL level.

Ball Skills

Austin Collie: 3 - Shows above-average body control when the ball is in the air and can adjust to passes thrown to back shoulder. Inconsistent hands. Flashes ability to snatch ball out of air play but drops some passes that should catch and may have small hands. Let’s ball get to frame too much.

Player X: 3 - Shows above-average body control when the ball is in the air and can adjust to passes thrown to back shoulder. Legs are better than hands. Flashes ability to snatch ball out of air play but drops some passes that should catch and may have small hands. Let’s ball get to frame too much.

Vertical Speed

Austin Collie: 4 - Doesn’t show a second gear when tracking the ball downfield and isn’t going to run by many NFL corners.

Player X: 4 - Doesn’t show a second gear when tracking the ball downfield and isn’t going to run by many NFL corners.

Run After Catch

Austin Collie: 3 - Doesn’t pick up many yards after contact and appears to lack ideal lower body strength. Can make the first defender miss but lacks elite elusiveness and breakaway speed.

Player X: 3 - Doesn’t pick up many yards after contact (try none) and appears to lack ideal lower body strength. Can make the first defender miss but lacks elite elusiveness and breakaway speed.

Competitiveness and Toughness

Austin Collie: 3 - Isn’t afraid to go over the middle. Flashes ability to deliver violent initial punch and sustain blocks but effort as a blocker is inconsistent. Takes too long to slip press coverage and can get pushed around by bigger corners.

Player X: 3 - Isn’t afraid to go over the middle. Takes too long to slip press coverage and can get pushed around by bigger corners.

Draft Status

Austin Collie isn’t going to be much of a big-play threat at the NFL level and he needs to get stronger so he can hold his own working against bigger corners. In addition, he doesn’t catch the ball as well as his stats suggest. However, he’s a crisp route runner who is quick and big enough to develop into a productive sub-package receiver in time. As a result, Collie projects a mid-to-late round pick.

Player X Isn’t going to be much of a big-play threat at the NFL level and needs to get stronger to hold own working against bigger corners. However, a crisp route runner who is quick and under the right circumstances could develop into a productive sub-package receiver in time.

With scouting reports being so critical to evaluating NFL talent, how do we distinguish on paper between a player suited for the NFL and one who is not? This is where 225 comes into play. The 225 lb. bench press rep test is the only key element not touched upon in the above reports. And the difference between Collie and Player X’s results are astounding. While Collie had 17 reps, Player X couldn’t record a single rep. This simple bench press test is what tells us that Collie is an NFL player and Player X is actually Sarah Wells (aka “Kirsch”), a 35-year-old working mother more likely to catch chicken pox than a touchdown pass. And while Kirsch is a great athlete, played Division I Soccer and still plays and coaches the game, she is more importantly a woman who has to carry around a bag of rocks to keep herself firmly on the ground when it’s windy outside. This is why all of the elements of the NFL combine and the scouting reports are crucial. The 40 times may get all of the media attention, but we know that the real test is the bench press. We hope this sheds some light on the bench press rep test, especially for those of you who have questioned “why 225 lbs...isn’t that arbitrary?” Furthermore, on behalf of Kirsch’s family and friends, we just want to thank the 225 bench press rep test for keeping Kirsch safely out of the NFL.

One More Month of the Decade from Hell...and change is already in the air...

2009-12-01T13:05:00.007-05:00

Last night was so good that it almost made me forget the Browns, the Irish, the Blonde Devils (lost by one point to Jailbait) and my Pick 'Em team at ESPN (bragging rights took a huge hit this weekend). And watching the Saints absolutely abuse the Patriots on Monday Night Football was perhaps a signal that change is coming. It couldn't have come sooner. This decade, this terrible decade, has seemingly belonged to Boston and I'm just happy it's over for more than one reason. Boston is the least of my problems.

And then there's what happened after the game. In my bed innocently watching the post-game press conference and all of the sudden I'm struck by a startling and horrific image on my pink television. Tom Brady looks bad. Awful. This opinion is confirmed moments later when I received a text message from Jailbait (who watched the game no doubt to ensure that Marques Colston scored enough points for her to beat me by the aforementioned one point): "Totally bewildered by Tom Brady's hair." While we women do not discuss uniforms as we're often accused of, we will absolutely discuss hotness. And hair, as I learned last night, can play a big part in that measurement. What happened to him? Jailbait's theories included: 1) a retro-70's look, 2) covering up a receding hairline and 3) going granola. I believe, however, that this has everything to do with marrying Giselle. She clearly is taking her work home with her. That is, she's spent too many hours in the fashion world surrounded by gay men and now is confused as to what straight men should look like. This hairstyle must have come directly from a runway somewhere. And as a responsible football writer, I'm going to spend the remainder of the afternoon researching Prada, Gucci, Armani, etc. to determine WHERE exactly this hairstyle came from!

Rivalry Week--for my fantasy gals

2009-11-29T20:02:00.004-05:00

Rivalry Week. It kicked off on 11/21 with Ohio State vs Michigan and continued through Saturday with the Iron Bowl (Alabama vs Auburn), The Egg Bowl (Ole Miss vs Mississippi State), Bedlam (Oklahoma State vs Oklahoma), the Backyard Brawl (Pittsburgh vs West Virginia), etc. and is capped off on Sunday with Cats vs Dogs, the Sibling Rivalry, the Ex-Roommate challenge, Domer vs Domer and the Rookie Showdown. Yes, I'm talking fantasy football and thanks solely to the scheduling gods, i.e., the computer generated schedule from Sportsline, our big rival games all coincidentally occurred during the same week and on the same weekend as college football's rivalry games. It's actually almost frightening how that worked out. And the games aren't over. Jailbait and I (the Notre Dame rivalry game) are actually in a barn burner and it will come down to how Marques Colston plays tomorrow night. Incidentally, Jailbait and I have been battling it out all season to avoid last place. While Sharon has the worst record, I have the last ranked scoring offense in the league. Meanwhile Purple Haze has a .75 lead over her former roommate Golden Rules, but she'll need Robert Meachem to basically not play to hold onto that lead and her number one ranking. The sibling rivalry game is very much up in the air right now despite Strawberry Shortcake's almost 40-point lead, given the fact that Black Widows still has Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas AND Randy Moss playing tomorrow night. The Red Dogs fittingly have dominated the Big Cats and there's no chance for redemption there. Finally, the rookie showdown between the Fighting Turtles and the H-Town Cagedancers is decidedly favoring the Turtles. And while neither of these teams are rookies this year, as the two newest members of the league (in their 2nd year) they will hold the rookie title until circumstances dictate otherwise. Stay tuned for the results...

2009-11-16T14:00:00.002-05:00

http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/70113032.html#

There's Always Someone to Blame...

2009-10-26T23:51:00.006-04:00

Tonight my fantasy league is having a huge debate trying to determine why team Jailbait, who otherwise is substantially knowledgeable in fantasy football, would start the season a meager 1-6 with no hope in sight. There are several theories. The first has to do with balance. This week Notre Dame broke its 6 week losing streak to Boston College and therefore it would only be fair if the Notre Dame grad, Jailbait, lost to the BC grad, Golden Rules. That explains Week 7, but what about the first 6 weeks? The overwhelming conclusion can be summed up in one word: MICHIGAN. The owner in question has been canoodling with a certain Michigan grad ever since the football season began and the implications have been severe. The football gods have spoken and Jailbait must be punished, with Week 7 being particularly painful for her. Not only did she have Leon Washington score zero points and end up on IR, but she also had Brian Westbrook score zero points and leave the game and Chris Cooley score just 4.25 points before he left the game. The following debate took place and while it may seem to have gotten off-track, it left us with a simple conclusion:

Golden Rules: Oh, I didn't know that Sharon was a Notre Dame grad. That explains everything! God let Notre Dame win on Saturday, so He let me win today.
Jailbait: ha. unbelievable. but why do i always have to lose??!!
Blonde Devils: ...I have one word for you: Michigan. Yes, everyone, that's right, Sharon is dating a Michigan grad!
Jailbait: but i taunt him...........a lot!!!
Black Widows: Eve may have taunted the devil, but it still got her naked in a field.
Blonde Devils: Is that a bad thing?
Black Widows: ...Adam and Eve disobeyed God = bad thing! Sharon, stop "taunting" the devil. Jailbait: f*ck me.......i met him at the end of August.......ohhhhhhh what have i done????!!!!!!!
Blonde Devils: ...but you said she ended up naked in a field, presumably with a hot guy (Adam) so I'm just wondering if that's such a bad thing?
Black Widows: Who said Adam was hot and yes it is a bad thing! I know you are aware of the story, but perhaps you don't understand it?! God mad at you= bad thing. And on Alexandra's behalf...ew.
Jailbait: oh lord, and i didn't know Golden Rules went to BC. Jesus. i'm taking an ambien and hoping it will make me forget this whole weekend.........
Black Widows: Going to bed. Sharon, say 21 Hail Marys and then go to bed.
Jailbait: I'm going to say at least 50 Hail Mary's, otherwise I'm afraid a bolt of lightning will strike the building across the street, bounce off, come in my window, and round the corner and hit me in bed. and it's not even storming out....
Conclusion: Michigan fans cannot be trusted...

The Boycott Persists (aka Ode to a Salary Cap)

2009-10-15T22:34:00.005-04:00

One of my favorite things to do during the summer when I was growing up was to lie on the sofa with the patio door open, listening to the radio broadcast of the Cleveland Indians games with my dad. To this day, listening to baseball on the radio is still one of my favorite things to do. It's just become slightly more complicated with the suspect radio reception in my apartment and a sliding door that opens to a balcony overlooking Broadway rather than a backyard. But once the playoffs begin, I begin my boycott. Why? I simply want a salary cap.

The 90's had some of the best baseball I've seen and the Indians were one of the hottest teams around. And they did it the right way--they grew their players through the farm system and developed them into major league ballplayers. Lofton, Ramirez, Thome, Vizquel, Alomar, Baerga, Mesa, Hersheiser, etc. all for the bargain price of $35 Million a year in 1995. The highest payroll that year was just a bit under $50 Million and the lowest just over $12 Million. That disparity is a far cry from what we've witnessed in baseball over the past 10 years. In 2001 team payrolls hit $100 Million for the first time and never looked back.

What's startling is how those teams with the top 10 highest payrolls differ from the rest of the league in terms of their ability to play in the post-season. While everyone acknowledges the elementary argument that the highest payroll does not guarantee a championship and that teams with small payrolls still make the playoffs, payroll has an impact nonetheless.

In order to understand this, let's take a look at this decade. If one considers all 30 teams and the likelihood of a team making one of the eight playoff spots in a given year, there is a 26.7% chance. However, if one takes into account payroll, the chances change dramatically depending on where your team falls in the hierarchy. In the past decade, if you were one of the fortunate fans who's team fell in the top 10 highest payrolls, then there was a 43% chance your team would make it to the post-season. Even better if your team had the highest payroll, in which case there was a 90% chance your team would make the playoffs. Too bad for the other 20 teams...just an 18.5% chance of making the playoffs for teams not in payroll's top 10.

So I boycott the postseason. It's unfair, uncompetitive, unsatisfying and un-fun...and will be until baseball gets a salary cap.

USC's First "Touchdown" Against the Buckeyes on Saturday Night

2009-09-16T18:17:00.003-04:00

Please note the left knee visibly touching the ground at the 1 yard line along with the ball in the same location, OUT of the endzone...

MNF 9.14.09

2009-09-14T22:18:00.004-04:00

The oddest moment of tonight's MNF game between Buffalo and New England was at the very end when Suzy Kolber stood next to Tom Brady attempting to interview him. He glanced to his left and distinctly decided NOT to speak to her. Then when he started walking away, she grabbed his arm and the following conversation ensued:

Suzy: After all the time...
Tom: I'm going in.
Suzy: After all the time...
Tom: I'm going in (he starts to jog)
Suzy: (jogging with him) What was it like to lead a dramatic comeback?
Tom: What did you say?
Suzy: After all the time away, what was it like to lead such a dramatic comeback?
Tom: I can't hear a word you're saying...it's that loud in here (he added to save face)...
Suzy: After all the time away what was it like to lead such a dramatic come-back?
Tom: (after realizing he can't shake her he finally stops jogging) well it's not how we drew it up, but I'll take the win. You know, we did a lot of things poorly but I'm glad we got the win.
Suzy: Congratulations...(she walks away, pushes her hair back and doesn't look pleased).

It was pretty amusing to watch. In other news, the best moment of the night was when the Patriots almost lost...and anytime Jon Gruden spoke...

NFL Week 1 Recap (to the extent I care)

2009-09-13T23:38:00.004-04:00

Chicago@Green Bay. Jay Cutler had 4 interceptions (a career high) and at one point almost threw three picks in less than 10 seconds. I'm not sure who's fault it is, Cutler's or his receivers or me for jinxing him by drafting him in my fantasy league. But I expect next week to be much better.

New York Jets@Houston. Mark Sanchez looked decent against a team that went 8-8 last year and finished in the bottom third in the league in 8 of the main defensive categories. My point: Don't get too excited Jets fans as he still has a lot to prove. As for Houston, Slaton needs to go sage himself and figure out where his energy is being thrown off...I wonder who he's dating as that could have something to do with it.

Minnesota@Cleveland. Adrian Peterson looked like a beast, Cleveland scored an offensive touchdown (at the point in the game when it didn't actually matter anymore) and someone please explain to me who was behind the wildcat goal line thing that failed miserably? Btw, Brett Favre had his 270th career start. I find that completely unacceptable for someone who has retired twice. If you are going to "retire" you need to at least miss one game so that we believe you are actually genuine and not just doing this for attention.

As for how A Girl's Fantasy feels about the Shawn Merriman incident in light of the fact that there's a $10 fine for domestic violence in our league: 1) He has simply been accused and is innocent until proven guilty; 2) We believe Merriman over Tila Tequila (yeah, that's right, the girl we all used to be friends with on MySpace back when that was almost cool); 3) the only crime we consider him guilty of is bad judgment in dating choices. As a result, we have instituted a new rule that comes long overdue, a $5 fine for dating reality stars.

Week 1 College Football Recap

2009-09-08T00:19:00.010-04:00

1. ACC. Best game without a doubt was Miami v. Florida State. Both quarterbacks had career nights and offense was a plenty as neither defense looked quite as "fast" as predicted. Miami's Jacory Harris had 386 passing yards, approximately double the yards he's had in any game to-date. And FSU's QB Christian Ponder looked nothing like he did in 2008, luckily. Although they lost the game, a bright spot for the Seminoles is true freshman Greg Reid who forced the pick-6 of Harris with less than 12 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter and in the final drive of the game gave Florida State field position in Miami territory with his kick return. Luckily an ACC win was guaranteed in this game because it was a rough start for the conference. In non-conference match-ups they went 4-6, including two losses to FCS schools thanks to Duke (v. Richmond) and Viginia (v. William and Mary). Btw, the fact that Duke was upset by Richmond shouldn't be that surprising considering they did the exact same thing to the Blue Devils in 2006. Something to keep an eye on for next week is Clemson's C.J. Spiller. The holder of 10 school records was injured on a punt return in the second quarter last week against Middle Tennessee State and didn't return. Spiller claims his foot/hamstring (conflicting reports) injury is "fine" and it better be as the Tigers play Georgia Tech next week and will need to put up some decent numbers on the ground to compete with a team that had 335 rushing yards last week (albeit against Jacksonville State, but still...)

2. The Big Ten. They escaped with some extremely close wins over formidable opponents such as Navy, Syracuse and Iowa State (obviously joking) and once again primed the media for discussions regarding how over-rated and slow they are. As I always do, I will reiterate how this first week generally means nothing as long as you win. The only team that shocked me was Illinois and how terrible they were again Missouri. The latter lost Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin and still put up 37 points against a team that finished in the top-20 in total defense last year. And speaking of 2008, in this contest last year, Illinois passed for 451 yards and 5 touchdowns and scored 52 points compared to 179 yards and zero touchdowns through the air and just 9 points this year. Perhaps injuries may have been a small excuse for the Illini though... Arrelious Benn and Jason Ford left early with ankle sprains while Daniel Dufrene sat out with...you can guess...an ankle injury. And at least for week 1, Shonn Greene's absense was noteable. As a team Iowa had a total of 87 yards rushing, while Greene had at least 100 yards on the ground in every single game in 2008. He was second in the nation only to UConn's Donald Brown and somehow I have both of them on my fantasy team this year (I'll explain later but having two rookies isn't exactly a good thing and that's not even the half of it).

3. The Pac-10. There was nothing to learn about this conference this week other than the fact that Oregon has some issues. We'll see how SC handles losing 11 players to the NFL Draft next week when they visit the Horseshoe. Cal's 52-13 win over Maryland was somewhat unexpected but I suppose the Terrapins couldn't handle losing 4 of their top 5 tacklers and having one of the most inexperienced O-lines in the nation. Cal went 9-4 in 2008 and one would expect them to improve upon that in 2009 given the talent returning, the emergence of Jahvid Best, hopefully not having to deal with the injury problems from last year and the fact that the dizzying alternation between Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley at quarterback is a moot concern. But even with a certain starter in Riley, given that Jeff Tedford seems to hit 9 or 10 wins only every other year, I wouldn't be surprised if this team somehow ends up stepping down a notch.

4. The Big 12. The offense we saw from Oklahoma this weekend had practically nothing in common with the record-setting one of 2008. With Jermaine Gresham out due to injury and Sam Bradford going down with a shoulder sprain, the only familiar faces out there were at tailback and left tackle. And having 9 guys back from a defense that ranked 99th last year against the pass didn't help, especially going against Max Hall.

5. The Big East. Let's go UC. I tried to pick Cincinnati against the spread in the pool I'm in but the guys running it forgot to tell me that the rules require me to pick a team playing on Saturday only. Bummer.

6. The SEC. I really look forward to watching Alabama this year...and can't wait to find out which regular season game Florida loses : )

According to my Nonna...

2009-08-22T20:29:00.002-04:00

Derek Anderson, or D.A. as the local Cleveland announcers apparently are calling him...still looks quite hesitant. And Cleveland still can't throw a touchdown in the redzone, but beggers can't be choosers and if the Browns are winning, I won't complain (too much).

Brett Favre: A Study in Narcissism

2009-08-18T23:25:00.004-04:00

And just when we thought we were going to finally have a season free from the incessant and vapid Brett Favre discussions, Favre did it to us again and un-retired to play with Minnesota.

While Gene Wojciechowski writes in the column linked to above that Green Bay didn't want Favre, I don't believe that's entirely accurate. They just didn't want it to be ALL about Favre. But Favre is a narcissist and he doesn't love football nearly as much as he loves hearing and talking about himself.

Then there's the matter of Wojciecowski's comparison of Favre to Fredo Corleone:

...the nanosecond he signed that two-year, $25 million contract with the Vikings was the nanosecond he burned the last few remaining wooden bridges between him and Packers fans. He became Fredo Corleone in "The Godfather: Part II" -- the one who betrays the family. Packers fans became Michael Corleone, who tells his older brother, "Fredo, you're nothing to me now."
Fredo got popped on a fishing boat in the middle of Lake Tahoe. Favre could get his on national television in the middle of the Metrodome. Or he could lead the team with the league's best running back and one of the league's best defensive lines to Super Bowl XLIV.

But that's not exactly an accurate or fair comparison for Favre. Fredo was always an idiot--never the chosen son--so for him to end up dead in a lake at the end of it all wasn't just somewhat expected, it was also a relief. Favre may have betrayed his team, but he's with another family now that will at least attempt to protect him. Fredo never left his family (on his own accord at least). But the Favre situation is nothing like the mafia. It's more like a guy stringing his girlfriend along at the end of the relationship. The guy, let's call him Brett, can't decide whether or not he wants to be in a relationship and finally the girl, who we'll call Cheesy, has had enough. She moves on and starts dating Aaron, despite the fact that she still loves Brett and would want to be with him. However, that's when Brett decides he can actually be in a relationship and ends up dating someone else seriously for a year. They break up and instead of taking time to be by himself and do the spiritual and emotional healing he so desperately needs, he jumps into bed with Cheesy's sister and they start dating! And if women ran the mafia, he would have ended up dead in a lake at the end also.

Speaking of women, the ladies of A Girl's Fantasy feel that the showdown at the Metrodome isn't necessarily going to happen. They're sensing a season-ending-injury on the horizon.

MNF Reborn

2009-08-17T22:44:00.002-04:00

I don't know if anyone else had a chance to watch the Carolina Panthers @ NY Giants pre-season game tonight, but if you didn't, you missed out on Jon Gruden's refreshing debut in the booth. The more he speaks the happier I am. He even keeps the discussions on point by not talking about non-football topics, which I don't want to hear from the guys in the booth (including non-football topics disguised as football-related topics). He may not be the hottest head football coach anymore, but he's definitely the hottest broadcaster. This is the best thing that's happened to me all summer (and no don't take that personally because I'm not including that).

The Rick Pitino Saga: Blonde Devils takes a break from tanning to comment

2009-08-14T16:17:00.002-04:00

Sex: the act of sexual intercourse (...between two people who know each other really well?)

According to ESPN's article on the Rick Pitino saga by Jemele Hill, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino should resign. She wonders:

How can parents trust Pitino to guide their son correctly after reading he had sex with a woman he barely knew?

What?!?

So, I'm just confused a teeny bit on the subject (seriously, ESPN, seriously). Is having sex with someone you barely know now considered immoral and unethical? Don't get me wrong, I agree that in Pitino's case it constituted cheating, but that's a direct quote above--she's not even talking about cheating. I'm also curious as to how in the name of all that is holy that recruiting trips fall under the category or moral and ethical? Jemele further suggests that paying for an abortion and calling it "health insurance" is somehow reprehensible.

Pitino should resign. Spare his university further embarrassment. Spare his family continued humiliation. Save himself from being questioned by unsure parents who, when sizing up Pitino, will wonder whether they really want to entrust the care of their son to a man who, according to some reports, forked over $3,000 to Sypher for an abortion. Oops, I mean "health insurance."

First, I like that he isn't confirming whether or not this woman had an abortion because it's not his business to share. And second, that's absolutely what their sons should be learning to do! Could you imagine how wonderful it would be if these boys actually were taught to take responsibility and pay for their mistakes? That should be the first thing they learn at college: if you get a girl pregnant because you're too stupid to wear a condom, you better pay for it. Which brings me to my final point, and the real issue which ESPN completely misses here. The concern shouldn't be that Pitino stepped up and potentially paid for to fix a problem he caused, but why oh why was he not wearing a condom? I would expect most Kentucky restaurants come equipped with condom machines in their bathrooms (sorry for the joke, Kentucky, but I couldn't resist), which would have been very convenient given Pitino's preferences. It is one thing to have sex with someone you barely know (again, according to Jemele most of us are going to hell), but doing it in a restaurant bathroom (yuck) without a condom is just completely irresponsible. (I realize that if you're a guy you're probably a little confused by my previous sentence, so please just ignore the logic as you usually do and proceed to the next paragraph.)

Jemele does make an excellent point though when she observes that if Pitino "were a .500 coach with no titles or just another University employee, he'd be gone already." She's right. But the question is, do these schools and communities really care about the morality of their coaches or is it just business? Perhaps these morality clauses are just a "Get Out of Contract Free Card" for schools. Does anyone really care if Rick Pitino cheats on his wife? The problem lies not in the school or the person, but in society.

The idea many people have is that if you have the opportunity you take it. But they should keep in mind that the opportunists will do the same (see example, Ben Roethlisberger). And perhaps it's not a morality issue at all, but an intelligence one. Maybe we need smarter sports/public figures? And maybe these men/people should just stop getting married and committing themselves in relationships if they don't want to commit themselves in relationships. I know, rocket science...

And finally, I would like to point out that the most sympathetic character in this entire saga, Rick Pitino's wife, is only going to suffer if her husband loses his job. The reason for sticking it out through these ordeals is to reap the benefits of the IFU gift (i.e., I f-ed up and I still love you and more importantly, this costs an entire year's salary so I'm hoping you'll forgive me). Yes, I know that's not the only reason, but my point is that she and her children all suffer if the main income-earner in the household is out of a job.

In the end, not only is this entire saga ridiculous, but what Pitino did was stupid and mean to his family and the fact that we're even discussing this (whether you're Louisville, Karen Cunagin Sypher or Rick Pitino) is all about money. Because there are so many more important issues in the world than where Rick Pitino likes to ejaculate.

Pre-NBA Draft Events

2009-06-24T21:17:00.010-04:00

On Wednesday (6/24), Panini held an event at the NBA Store to announce their signing exclusive trading card deals with Blake Griffin, Tyler Hansbrough, Hasheem Thabeet, Jordan Hill and Brandon Jennings (I use that order because that is the order they consistently used when discussing the five players). Despite the fact that Griffin is widely known to be the first overall pick in the draft today, Thabeet walked in like he owned the place. Not to mention, he was clearly the best dressed and the most personable. He had a huge grin and a huge presence (and I'm not just making the clear observation that he's 7'3). Hansbrough had his usual uncomfortable expression and at times looked visibly irritated. Perhaps that's because at Griffin's EA Sports event on Tuesday night that he must have been forced to go to (apparently he and Griffin share the same agent) I explained to him that I went to Duke and that Gerald Henderson was my favorite player. I went on to explain to him that he became my favorite player after the 2007 Duke@Carolina game. Okay so I'm lying about everything I said after "I went to Duke" but I'm not lying that Henderson really did become my favorite player that night.

The event was shown live on NBA TV and was actually one of the more interesting events I've attended. They gave quick bios and only asked each player one or two questions (short and sweet). There were only two mics and the guys had this seamless routine of passing the mics to each other so there wasn't a break in the conversation flow. It was impressive and definitely had the markings of a basketball drill, which I would know nothing about from first-hand experience. Finally, each of them were asked to come up to the camera, look right into it and give their best trading card pose. Hansbrough actually looked alive at that point and as uncomfortable as I thought it was going to be, it ended up being pretty hilarious. It's tough to descirbe though without pictures and the only one I have is this little one from my mobile and it's of them sitting down, not posing.

If I had to pick someone I would most likely want to hang out with it would have to be Jordan Hill. When talking to him after the show, he actually said he was a little bit overwhelmed and wished he were a little bit taller. Uhm...he's 6'10 and by the way, definitely taller than Griffin (who also claims to be 6'10). Brandon Jennings seemed cool too and at 6'2 you wouldn't really know if he were there as a player or an agent. Especially later that night at Thabeet's party, I could not identify him in the crowd to save my life.

And, yes, my final stop on this NBA Event tour, ironically for a sport I really don't care much about unless Lebron is playing, was the 2009 NBA Draft Event for Hasheem Thabeet. Tanzania had a great showing for the event and Hill and Jennings were right there as well. I didn't see Griffin or Hansbrough, but I really didn't last that long. By midnight I was out of there. It was really, really, really crowded with people all dying to see these players in person. They're all quite sweet I suppose, but seriously? These oddly-obsessed creatures should have come to the event at the NBA Store today. That was much better lit and the great thing was that if you got bored you could just go shopping. But, back to my point, this party was held at Pranna and despite the fact that they like to hold events for athletes there, I think it's way too small of a space. Plus the VIP area is up the stairs and it just seemed dangerous. One good thing about the night was that I did further investigate my theory (purely from observing girls in the crowd much shorter than I am) that Thabeet's crotch hits around where a woman's head does and it turns out I was completely and utterly wrong...by more than a foot.

The Best Quarterback Who Ever Lived...

2009-05-15T17:16:00.003-04:00

It's not even close to college football season yet and the analysts are already gushing over how wonderful Tim Tebow is. I'm embarrassed for them. Sam Bradford is a better quarterback, he just didn't have the better coach when it mattered in the national championship game. But neither of them will be playing in that game next year in my opinion. Early picks are Alabama and Texas.

Notre Dame, President Obama and the Anti-Choice Debacle

2009-05-14T16:27:00.005-04:00

Notre Dame….the school that gave us Knute Rockne, the Four Horseman, “Win one for the Gipper”, one of the greatest sports movies of all time in Rudy, Touchdown Jesus, “Onward to Victory” and Play Like a Champion Today. That is what people should think of when they talk about Notre Dame, not the limited group of people who wish to push their small-minded opinions on the rest of the Notre Dame community. As an alumna I am personally offended by what ND Response is doing and want to make it clear that their opinion does not reflect that of Notre Dame or its alumni. This group has been brainwashed by the anti-choice movement and perhaps the church, not Notre Dame. That type of brainwashing is what puts women in burkas and beats them when they leave home without a male relative. They are all arbitrary rules used to control people and suppress women.

Although raised Catholic, I do not agree with the Catholic Church. And yet I attended Notre Dame and had the most amazing four years of my life. Religion on campus was based on spirituality rather than a corporate driven monster pretending to be God. As someone who personally had been boycotting church since 8^th grade, I actually found that attending the dorm masses every so often was actually a cool way to hang out, sing and bond with my friends. Religion at Notre Dame never held the same meaning for me as religion in the church, the one that makes a living selling superstitions to those looking for some sense of control in a confusing and sometimes seemingly arbitrary world. But what I am witnessing in this anti-choice disgrace makes me embarrassed. As a school that opened up so many doors for me and gave me so many choices on what I could do with my career and my life, I’m shocked to see the way a small group of people there want to remove choice. Pro-choice…this is your problem with the world? This is what is wrong with society? Open your eyes, leave campus and travel around South Bend, look at the injustices in society and look at the wrong doings in the world. Your ignorance astounds me. Why don’t you protest something that actually hurts people rather than choice, which allows people to healthily and productively live their lives? Furthermore, shall we assume that every single one of you as well as every single person who has given a commencement speech does not swear, has never lied, has never had premarital sex, has never used contraception and most importantly has never judged thy neighbor?

I didn’t vote for President Obama as I think he’s a socialist. However, I join most of the Notre Dame community in being honored to have him give the commencement speech. Regardless of my political beliefs I respect what he’s accomplished and what he symbolizes. And I'm impressed by Notre Dame's decision to recognize him and expand the Notre Dame community.

NFL Draft Grades (Teams A-K)

2009-05-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

Arizona. (A) With their first two picks, the Cardinals addressed their two biggest needs. First, they chose running back Beanie Wells in hopes that he can help improve the worst rushing game in the entire NFL. When healthy, Wells is an absolute game changer. Next order of business was outside linebacker and they selected Cody Brown, who played defensive end at Connecticut but has the skills to play OLB in the 3-4. I like the OG out of Cincinnati, Trevor Canfield. While he blocked for a Bearcats’ offense that might have taken a step back in 2008, their 2007 numbers were pretty impressive. I also think Arizona found excellent value in Herman Johnson. But the best value of all was selecting Safety Rashad Johnson at the end of the third round. Alabama’s defense looked solid almost all year (see eg., Utah game) and the first-team All-American had a lot to do with that.

Baltimore. (C+). With 34 wide receivers selected, I’m surprised that Baltimore wasn’t a recipient of a single one of them with Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton as their only real options. But this draft seemed to be more about value than need for the Ravens. I do agree with the Michael Oher selection as he’s one of my favorite players in the draft. When interviewed about waiting to be drafted until 23^rd he explained that he didn’t care if he was drafted in the 7^th round—he’s just happy to be a part of the NFL. I also think Cedric Peerman was a good value. He was leading Virginia in rushing before he went down with an injury in 2007, although that didn’t seem to impact the teams standing in terms of rushing. There are other running backs I would have liked here, including Marlon Lucky.

Buffalo. (B+). Buffalo’s number one area of concern was at DE/OLB and they put their faith in yet another Nittany Lion to fill that role. For a team that got to the quarterback just 24 times last year, Maybin’s 12 sacks had to be appealing. With Jason Peters out of the line-up this year and a questionable quarterback, I liked the choice of Center Eric Wood out of Louisville as a solid pass-protection investment. With their 3^rd Day one selection Buffalo took CB Jairus Byrd out of Oregon. Turnover differential was an area of concern for Buffalo in 2007 and a good place to start is becoming more opportunistic. Byrd’s 5 INTs, 14 deflections, 1 forced fumble and 83 total tackles at Oregon last year are a testament to his ability to find the ball. They may have jumped a bit for Andy Levitre but he was the top rated Guard in the draft and again, addressing the offensive line was a smart move by the Bills since that unit was definitely on the decline in 2008.

Carolina. (B). This draft was all about value. DE Everette Brown was a great value with the 43^rd overall pick. The Panthers have a decent defense, but it would be nice if they had a pass rusher other than Julius Peppers. And RB Mike Goodson was also a good value. I just found it surprising that a team whos’ rushing game was impressive in 2007 (3^rd in rushing, 1^st in rushing TDs) and who’s biggest offensive weakness was it’s passing game would chose to focus on the running game with their 4^th round picks in Goodson and FB Tony Fiammetta. Again, Fiammetta was a great value at that pick. And I think Goodson is going to be a great NFL player. His stock dropped substantially in 2008 due to the debacle that’s called Mike Shearman. I would’ve liked to see the Panthers pick up a back-up QB in there, but I can’t fault them when they executed a strategy well just because I don’t agree with it.

Chicago. (B+/A-). The Bears did their heavy duty work in the off-season with the acquisition of Jay Cutler. And when it came to the draft they shifted focus to wide receiver and defense. With the 99^th pick they took receiver Juaquin Iglesias from Oklahoma—a choice I happen to love and with the 140^th pick they selected Johnny Know. Other than that they picked up 5 defensive players including Henry Melton, Jarron Gilbert and DJ Moore.

Cincinnati. (B). Supposedly Andre Smith and Rey Maualuga could have gone even higher based on their skill levels, but it just turns out some teams aren’t in love with their personalities. That is exactly what makes them a great fit on the Bengals. All they have to do is not be arrested down in Cincy to be considered a success. With that said, I do believe the Bengals got several amazing players. In addition to the first two, they were also lucky to get DE Michael Johnson (Georgia Tech) and TE Chase Coffman (Missouri) in the third round. Coffman was very productive in the spread offense and showed that he has tremendous value as a receiver (he better be in a receiver role as his blocking leaves a lot to be desired). And C Jonathan Luigs was part of an Arkansas offensive line that paved the way for running backs like Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Michael Smith over the years. (Just don’t pay attention to where the Razorbacks ranked last year in rushing though).

Cleveland. (A/B). Cleveland also must be given credit for sticking to their plan. It seems like the Browns have been battling issues with their skill players for years now between William Green and his drug problems (not to mention getting stabbed by his girlfriend), Kellen Winslow and his undisclosed illness leading to one of my favorite rumors of all time (what do you expect from a player who only cares about “this U”) and Braylon Edwards and his ball-dropping-get-me-out-of-Cleveland Diva-tude. So this year the focus was on solid, reliable, non-issue guys. And despite the level of skill the issue-guys bring to the table (see eg. above, Cincinnati), I must admit, I love a few of these picks, including Brian Robiskie, Mohamed Massaquoi and James Davis. Now for those out there who don’t actually watch the games, much like the voters who decide our champions year after year, if you were to simply look at Robiskie’s numbers you might not be impressed. However, this guy is clutch and came up with amazing catches for Terrelle Pryor, especially in the Fiesta Bowl against Texas. As for Massaquoi, despite the fact that he is blamed for having the same issue as Edwards (ball dropping), I personally think his issue was more of Matt Stafford trying to do too much. He also is an excellent tackler when circumstances have required such skills and coming to an offense that ranked 29^th in interceptions last year, he’ll unfortunately have the opportunity to show it. I like Davis because he is a great runner with more than a handful of excuses as to why Clemson wasn’t successful in 2008. Finally, supposedly the Browns are really high on Alex Mack and I’m taking their word for it.

Dallas. (C-). I think this draft was all about quantity not quality. No one really stands out. Furthermore, three of Dallas’s biggest needs entering the draft were receiver, safety and corner back and I hardly feel that those needs were adequately addressed.

Denver. (D). This team added three running backs in free agency and then proceeded to draft Knowshon Moreno with their first pick. Make up your mind. And then after losing Jay Cutler, they waited until the 174^th pick to take a quarterback--Tom Brandstater. I can’t figure out what this team is focused on. They didn’t adequately address possibly their two biggest concerns (NT, OLB) and I don’t think they got value in DE Robert Ayers (Tennessee) or DB Alphonso Smith (Wake Forest). They are both good players, but they went exactly where they should have gone, if not higher.

Detroit. (C-). They waited until the 7^th round to draft an offensive lineman?? Matthew Stafford, may you rest in peace.

Green Bay Packers. (B). I would have raised the grade higher if they would have chosen at least one skill player I believed in, but they chose just one and it was RB Quinn Johnson out of LSU. I think B.J. Raji at 9 and Clay Matthews at 26 are both solid picks that will substantially impact their defense. And that’s good, because their defense was pretty awful in 2008. They need improvement in just about every category. As for their offense, their line had issues staying healthy and together in 2008 so the Packers took OT’s T.J. Lang and Jamon Meredith just in case that happens again.

Houston. (B-). With the 15^th pick it was smart to pick up Brian Cushing, the next best OLB in a draft where OLB was one of the biggest primary needs going into the selection process. Plus their projected OLB’s for 2009 are Zac Diles and Xavier Adibi who combined for one sack, one interception and one forced fumble in 2008. Their second pick, Connor Barwin, is a versatile defensive end out of Cincinnati. Houston also drafted two players at tight end, a position I wasn’t aware they were is such dire need to fill.

Indianapolis. (B-). The Colts had the second worst rushing offense in the league last year. This year they lost essentially half of their 2008 production on the ground with Dominic Rhodes’ move to Buffalo. So the decision to take RB Donald Brown with the 27^th pick was definitely a wise one. Despite the lack of a passing offense to detract his attackers, Brown impressively led the nation in rushing and helped UConn to an 8-5 finish. And even though Indianapolis didn’t focus on receiver after the loss of Marvin Harrison, it’s not exactly a pressing need considering Harrison was just 4^th on the team in receiving yards in 2008. Instead they waited until the 4^th round and took the 19^th wide receiver selected in the draft. What surprised me, however, was that they didn’t take a single LB. This unit failed to register a single sack or interception in 2008. They added Adam Seward from the Panthers in the off-season, but I guess the new regime doesn’t agree with the middle round LB theory of the old one.

Jacksonvlle. (C-). Whether it was their biggest need or not, Jacksonville acquired two top five offensive tackles. They eventually addressed their receiver issue (you have to have sympathy for a team whose leading receiver was Matt Jones last year) in the fourth and fifth rounds and right now have 6 rookie wide out on their roster so it’s not like they didn’t realize it was a problem. The Jaquars biggest defensive issue last year was the passing game, yet they chose a defensive tackle who probably won’t ever be a great pass rusher. I like the players they selected; I just don’t necessarily like them for this team.

Kansas City. (B+). They bought into the hype and took Tyson Jackson with the 3^rd overall pick. A slight jump there, but with the way Jackson’s stock continued to rise during the weeks preceding the draft, I’m not surprised. I think DT Alex Magee out of Purdue is a great athlete and a great pick. CB Donald Washington out of Ohio State has some weaknesses which is why he went in the 4^th round, but it’s nothing that can’t be improved (i.e., footwork, lack of physicality and baggage).

NFL Draft 2009

2009-04-25T01:55:00.003-04:00

So I finally had a chance to sit down and do my top 10 draft pics and I only have 3 minutes to get it in so I barely even have time to type right now...but here are my initial thoughts.

1. Matt Stafford
2. Jason Smith
3. BJ Raji
4. Aaron Curry
5. Cleveland--trade
6. Eugene Monroe
7. Andre Smith
8. Michael Crabtree
9. Tyson Jackson
10. Michael Oher

...standing by (to the left of the stage at the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall), Stephanie Taylor...

At least the MVP was a Buckeye

2009-02-01T22:12:00.007-05:00

There are not many positive adjectives I can use to describe the finish to tonight's Super Bowl in light of the fact that the Browns' mortal enemy has now made NFL history with six Championships. Okay so it was one hell of a game...and the one thing I can take from this game is that the game-winning catch was made by an Ohio State guy, Santonio Holmes. Holmes is why the Steelers won the game and at least those with an official opinion agreed with me and named him the MVP as a result. But, I believe that the key to this game was at the end of the first half when Kurt Warner made a huge mental error, leading to James Harrison's record-setting-longest-play in Super Bowl History and a turnaround of 10 to 14 points in favor of Pittsburgh. Other factors included penalties, Arizona's inability to use Larry Fitzgerald and Ben Roethlisberger's knack for avoiding sacks. One note on Fitzgerald is that throughout the playoffs, Todd Haley (Arizona's offensive coordinator) had been targeting Fitzgerald regardless of whether or not he was double-teamed (ranked 2nd overall in the league in targets in each week of the playoffs) and yet today he (or they or Warner) let the Steelers' defense intimidate them from throwing to their best weapon until the very end when they had no choice. In the end, Arizona ran out of time or just scored way too quickly at the end and now the really annoying thing is that despite the fact that Roethlisberger's best skill is not passing the ball, but running away from defenders, I'm now going to have to hear from those wearing terrible towels that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame one day. Ugh.

One more small positive: at least for those betting (which is who I'm obviously writing this for), at least you won if you took the Cardinals.

Finally, for those of you, like Snoop Dog, who like to point out that this is the second victory to a black head coach (he was on ESPN's pre-game show and I was really bored earlier today), you are definitely missing the point of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech...but perhaps you actually don't care.

SBXLIII: Arizona vs. (or should I say at) Pittsburgh...

2009-02-01T18:03:00.006-05:00

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and it's almost like Christmas for me. I've heard from everyone--my dad, mom, grandmother, old friends, new friends, people that generally harass me (you know who you are) and finally some of my best friends who I wish I were with right now in Tampa. So you all want to know who I'm picking...I like the Cardinals.

Betting on this game is almost ridiculous because it's not predictable. It just depends on who woke up ready to play today. I've liked Arizona since the playoffs began, with the exception of a strange vision I had at the gym of #7 when I was trying to think about who would win. After all, it is a home game for the Steelers. But, I do have one question? What happened to Brenda Warner-- Kurt's wife? That is not what she looked like the last time her husband played in a super bowl. Anyway, one more interesting tidbit...the last time the Steelers were in the Super Bowl and the game was on ABC, the same person who produced the game then is also producing the game tonight on NBC.

And sorry Mel, Ben, Ira, etc., but go Cardinals!

A Middle Name More Shocking Than Mine...

2009-01-20T13:03:00.001-05:00

Today is an important part of history and as many have put it, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream was realized as Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president. But as my uncle points out, MLK's dream was that "they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the contact of their character" and today's emphasis was most definitely on color. And I would like to point out that after listening to a 7th grade African American boy say that NOW he can be president, I was happy for him, but sad to realize that I still cannot be president because I am a woman. Of course, if you know me, you will understand the sarcasm of that sentence given the fact that we have never had a woman president and that would never stop me from thinking I could do it. But apparently that restriction applies to others?

What I did not like from the commentary today was that one of the election commentators suggested that by having Obama as president, African American children might forget how much their ancestors struggled in recent history for equality. While history is important to remember so that we do not repeat our past mistakes, with the emphasis on the inequality and injustices of our past, in a way it gives our children reason to believe that all people are not created equal. If we go back throughout history we will find all different races and genders abhorrently oppressed at some point in time. A Hebrew law once stated that if a woman was married or engaged and was subsequently raped, she MUST be put to death. I have about 5000 years worth of material regarding the unfair treatment of women if inequality and lack of opportunity are really the topics. But, there's truly no point in living in the past without a current threat to our way of life, so I suggest let's live in the present.

And the present is that today is a monumental and historical day. It is sometimes shocking to believe that when my mother was in high school and went down to visit a friend in Tennessee, she personally experienced that African Americans (although not called that or even blacks at the time) could not walk on the same side of the street, sit in the same part of the bus or drink from the same fountain as her. That was certainly not a long time ago and that should be recognized and valued today for what it means to us. In the future, today's events will lose some of that significance, but that will be a special day because that will be when we have realized MLK's dream. And I hope that for the women out there watching the Inauguration today, that even though "we" have either been forgotten or simply disregarded, that somehow, even without a woman ever having been president, that it is not outside the realm of possibilities for a girl to think she one day can be president. Because the world has come a long way in the last few thousand years and we don't to see a woman as president to believe in ourselves.

And now back to football...

Ravens v. Steelers...I can't decide which I hate more?

2009-01-18T20:18:00.011-05:00

This game is painful for me to watch given the fact I dislike both teams immensely and now for the third time this year I've now been forced to root for the Browns' mortal enemy, the Terrible Towels.

Luckily, I didn't find either team too impressive today, at least on offense (which is to be expected with these teams). The exception to that and also the only player I don't hate on the Ravens (due to reparations owed on behalf of the state of Ohio for the Buckeyes' taking him out on Jan 3, 2003), is Willis McGahee. On Baltimore's first touchdown drive, McGahee literally saved Flacco from being sacked with a HUGE block (although the broadcasters weren't initially watching the game, luckily their producer must have shown them a replay so they figured out that Flacco didn't just shake off the blitz), which allowed a pass to be thrown and pass-interference to be called and on the next play, a touchdown to be scored (I'm grossly over-using the passive voice and I don't care).

Next is my favorite quote of the first half. Phil Simms: "The Ravens got this game exactly where they want it." Really, Phill? They're down by six. EXACTLY where they want it? This is an irritation I have inherited from watching football with my father.

My next point of irritation was on Matt Stover's extra point following McGahee's second touchdown. Jim Nance felt compelled to point out that he scored the last point ever for the "old Cleveland Browns," which reminded me again of why I don't like the Ravens.

Back to McGahee...now that the Steelers have taken him out, they are the ones that need to make amends. But for now, I guess they'll be focusing on the Super Bowl. I can't believe they're going AGAIN.

And as much as I hate to give this honor to anyone associated with the Ravens, John Harbaugh is in contention for the hottest NFL coach award.

And then there were 10...(new head coaches)...

2009-01-17T15:24:00.006-05:00

The same way men may enjoy ranking cheerleaders, fans, majorettes, etc., the ladies out there enjoy their own evaluation game. And after years of an easy deliberation on the subject, our "Hottest NFL Coach" position has just become a huge question mark once again. It is with sadness that I write today's post regarding the firing of Jon Gruden, not just because I'll miss his crazed, Chucky expressions, visor and workout pants, but because who is going to replace him? Ken Whisenhunt? Mike Tomlin? Josh McDaniels? Ugh. Back to the drawing board. I'll have a discussion with the women from A Girl's Fantasy and get back with an answer--- because I really don't want any male opinions when it comes to this one (those of you out there who constantly share their opinions with me on this sort of subject know who you are).

Some of My Favorite Moments from the BCS National Championship

2009-01-10T13:34:00.014-05:00

To be completely honest, if my stereo hadn't broken, I would have happily been able to listen to Brent Musburger's call of the game on ESPN Radio via my Sirius Satellite Radio (now I just need my imaginary agent to get me some money for this blatant product placement) playing through a docking station hooked up to my speakers while watching the television broadcast on mute. But, my stereo did break and since I've implemented a new shopping rule called "at least 60% off," I'm not permitted to buy myself a new one unless it's (obviously) at least 60% off. No one should be paying full price for anything in this economy. But I digress. My point is that the broadcasters drank a little too much Tebow juice (ewww) before the game and we, the audience, suffered as a result.

Things got really bad after Tebow ran for a first down with 6 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter with the game tied at 7 all:
"Wow. Desire. Power."
"What did we say at the top of the show, Tom? He runs it, he throws it, he wills his team on. And that was desire and will on that run..."

Now of course, after Florida went up 14-7, Oklahoma came back and tied it on a touchdown from Jermaine Gresham, who lost his shoe in the process and still walked the ball into the end zone. So I'm just curious, did he will it in? Was it his desire and power and large, bulging biceps? Or did he just frigging score? Well, if it were Tebow, it would have been a lot more uncomfortable to hear the adjectives attributed to him following the score than it was given the fact it was only the Sooners' 6'6 tight end.

As I watched Florida's next scoring drive carried completely on the back of Percy Harvin lead to a field goal, followed by Ahmad Black's interception of Sam Bradford on Oklahoma's next possession give Florida the ball back with momentum on their side, I was thinking about how impressed I was by Harvin and Florida's defense. But instead I hear from the broadcast:

"And Superman strikes again...Tim Tebow--the young man unwavering in his faith and how it sustains him. His remarkable achievements off the field define him far more than those on the field. His travel to Croatia, Thailand, three times to the Phillipines with his family. On mission trips, he's fed needy children, lived in an orphanage as well as a leper colony. He is just an extraordinary young man."

"I just don't think you really can talk enough. (please note: yes, yes you can) And you and I, Charles, had a chance to be around this young man. Having never had the opportunity to meet him. You have, I haven't. All the things you hear about him from so many people and none of them do him justice until you meet him in person. He's an amazing kid. 21 years old. To think what most of us were doing at 21, the places he's been, the things he's done. Extraordinary."

I understand why someone wouldn't want to listen to a broadcast by a woman gushing over how hot the players are, how big their arms are and how great their... but my point is that who wants to listen to two men do it? I don't think I even have it in me to verbally stroke Tebow's ego to the extent the national championship broadcasters did the other night. It's creepy. And at some point I forgot that we were talking about football and was certain that it was something else. Like our national championship broadcasters, I too have been in a room with Tebow. And for quite an extended period of time as I was with ESPN Radio for the Heisman Trophy, stationed in the green room where Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and yes, Tim Tebow hung out for two hours before the broadcast. As a woman who can appreciate a guy with great arms and a nice smile, I find it odd that I wasn't attracted to Tebow nearly as much as the male broadcasters out there. I like the guy. But even when I've met some of my greatest lifetime crushes like Dan Marino and Bo Duke (i.e., John Schneider), my momentary ecstasy could not compare to what those broadcasters described to me on January 8th. They love him. I mean, they really love him. They were in a room with him for 10 minutes and it changed their lives. I was in a room with him for two hours and found out that I think the guy is quite enjoyable. Perhaps it would be safer if we had teenage girls doing the broadcast because they could concentrate more on the game and less on the "hunky" players.

And the Playoffs Solve...Nothing?

2009-01-04T21:39:00.005-05:00

As the broadcasters continue to irritate my father, the next point of contention concerns the playoffs. The grand debate of college football, which sealed my decision NOT to vote for Obama, is of course, whether or not there should be a playoff. Anyone who truly loves college football, who watches it every week, regardless of what teams are playing, does not want a playoff. But there are those out there, some of them Texas fans, some of them Auburn fans (2004), some of them USC fans (one question for you: who did you beat?) who want a playoff, who say we can't have a true championship without a playoff. To that my father has one question: how do we have a real championship in the NFL this year without the Patriots involved? And I agree with him (please note, to be certain we do NOT like the Patriots). They went 11-5, tied for the third best record in the AFC. An 8-8 San Diego team is in the playoffs, but not the Patriots? They finished tied with Miami at the top of the AFC East, but they're not in the playoffs? What kind of arbitrary system is this? If we are really going to get the best teams in the NFL, then should we let these random conferences and divisions determine who has the opportunity to play in the post-season? Should we have a random tie-breaker dictate whether or not New England makes it rather than their on-field play? The fact is that leaving the Patriots out of the playoffs is just as insufficient and unfair as leaving Texas out of the national championship game. What's that? Oh, you thought having a playoff solved ALL of the issues. I guess you were wrong.

If you don't have anything smart to say, then please don't talk!

2008-12-27T17:33:00.003-05:00

My wish for Christmas is for the sports broadcasters to get brains. They simply regurgitate the same meaningless information propagated by their mother ship, which in almost all cases is ESPN. Typically at thee networks, the same game notes go to the entire network staff about all of the games, allowing them to perpetuate whatever beliefs, or myths, the author of such notes believes his or herself.

I am personally dealing with the repercussions of their idiocy at this very moment watching the Champs Sports Bowl, featuring Wisconsin and Florida State. Unfortunately, these brainiacs have been talking about FSU's speed all day long. It's like a two-year old who learns a new word and chooses to use that word, even when it's completely inappropriate. In this case, Wisconsin attempted a screen pass, which became a lateral, which became a fumble, which was then recovered by FSU linebacker Derek Nicholson for a touchdown. Truthfully, it had nothing to do with speed. And I wouldn't be that irritated with the broadcasters' observation of Florida State's speed on that play if it hadn't been for how much it irritated my father. He has been yelling at "those idiots" ever since and I can no longer watch the game in peace.

An Ode to Graham Harrell

2008-12-11T15:40:00.005-05:00

Mike Leach is right when it comes to the politics of the greatest honor in college football: the Heisman Trophy. It is a shame that Graham Harrell won't be in New York on Saturday to share in the presentation of the award for which he deserved to be recognized as a finalist. So here is what I have to say...

4747: An Ode to Graham Harrell

So you didn't hit the numbers you had last year
five seven zero five and forty-eight to be clear
but you did lead your team to a top ten spot
and you were one game shy of playing for the pot

forty-one passes that went for six
while just seven of your passes went for picks
harrell to crabtree, such a beautiful sight
406 passes completed leads the country alright

but mccoy completed over 77% of what he threw
and he doesn't just throw, he can run the ball too
and sam bradford has earned a spot in the title game
with 186.3-- his Q-B rating is insane

as for tim tebow, his numbers really don't impress
he leads his team well but he's not better than the rest
with percy harvin and that defense, there's talent galore
but the media is a great customer and florida's a whore

so the question is, graham harrell, where does that leave you?
In the record books for one and a bowl game for two
but more importantly if you show up at the combine to impress
In a football uniform on Sundays, you just might be dressed.

Plaxico Burress: A Story of Inspiration

2008-12-10T17:04:00.000-05:00

As odd as it seems, Plaxico Burress has inspired my fantasy football league. We already have a Moral Enforcer to punish those teams that own players who commit crimes. But now we have instated a new division of enforcement thanks in large part to the man who shot himself in his leg with his own gun. Let me introduce you all to our new Moron Enforcer, Christina. A prosecutor by day. Christina will be imposing fines against those who act like complete idiots. In this case, Plaxico's owner would be under double penalties. First, if convicted, he will be fined by our Moral Enforcer, Malia, for the act of carrying a concealed weapon. In addition, regardless of the outcome of the legal proceedings, he will also be fined by our Moron Enforcer for the act of shooting himself. Over the years, many football players have given us plenty of sources for creating new fantasy football rules. But this one is truly a gift.

Issues Governed by the Moron Enforcer:
1. Acts performed on oneself, that while not illegal, if done by said individual to another person would be considered a criminal act. Penalty $5.
2. Having unprotected sex which results in requests for child support payments when the paternity of the child is either uncertain or seriously in doubt. Penalty $1.
3. Getting hurt during a game due to an act of celebration. Penalty $1.
4. Missing one game or more due to an injury incurred outside of football that could be considered foolish. Please note that riding a motorcycle is a per se violation of this section four. Penalty $3.
5. Getting stabbed or shot by your girlfriend, aka "The William Green Rule." Penalty $7.
6. Ending up on Page Six of the New York Post. Penalty $1.
7. Beginning a touchdown celebration before scoring the touchdown and not scoring the touchdown as a result of such celebration, aka "The DeSean Jackson Rule." Penalty $2.

It's Not Fair!!!

2008-12-04T21:02:00.003-05:00

"Whhaaaahhh...it's not fair." If I have to hear that statement from grown men one more time, I might just jump off my 27th floor balcony for fear that there aren't any real men out there anymore. So it's not fair that Notre Dame didn't fire Charlie Weiss because they fired Tyrone Willingham? Seriously? Seriously, this is your argument? Boys, please grow up and realize that life is not fair. In a sport where coaches can get fired just a year after signing an extension, where the average tenure of an FBS coach in 2008 was 4.7 years and where guys like Nick Saban are outraged at the lack of loyalty to college football coaches, I'm not certain what is supposed to be fair. To set the record straight on Willingham (who is an amazing scout of quarterback talent and perhaps should take his skills to the NFL), he was not Notre Dame's guy, but hired because the idiots on the hiring committee failed to check George O'Leary's resume. Anyone who has applied for a job in the last few years understands how ridiculous this incident was because the rest of us are screened with an assumption that we are lying, on drugs and may have committed a dangerous crime in order to submit a simple job application. Regardless, Ty saved the day for the Irish and made them look good after that embarrassing debacle. As we move on to Ty's firing, I repeat, he was not Notre Dame's guy. And when those same idiots on the hiring committee decided they wanted Urban Meyer, they had no choice but to fire Willingham and open the door for Meyer to spit in their faces. That arrogance that made them believe they could have any coach is what made them prematurely fire Willingham--it wasn't simply about his record. After the Meyer incident, enter Charlie Weiss as the latest savior. He wasn't Notre Dame's guy either, but those in power wanted to believe that this time they got lucky. They didn't. They are idiots. Yes, it really is as simple as that for all of you conspiracy theorists out there. But, if there's one smart move they made this year it was NOT to fire Charlie Weiss. The reason? Who the heck are they going to hire instead? There are approximately 17 (I repeat, SEVENTEEN) head football coaching positions available at FBS schools at this moment. The competition for the best coaches is fierce. And why should a beaten down Irish organization that has only won 9 games the last two seasons try to compete with Auburn, Clemson, Tennessee, Washington, Mississippi State, Kansas State, etc. right now? It isn't even certain what current coaches can be lured away at the moment. The fact is that they have no business entering the competition to find a head coach under these circumstances unless they want to pick from amongst the fired/failed/resigned crew. If Notre Dame were to fire Weiss, they would find themselves in just as bad of a position as they have been in the last two times they went searching for a coach. They made the right decision in sticking in out with Weiss. But this isn't about what's fair to Willingham. He has already found and lost another head coaching job. And as much as I like the guy, this is just NOT about him. It's about what's right for Notre Dame. SO, if you cry-babies out there could just put down your pacifiers for a moment and listen, you might understand that fairness is a meaningless word in a non-socialist society. Please Obama don't make me eat these words.

Tony K. on the Big 12 Championship:

2008-12-01T21:08:00.000-05:00

In what is possibly his most brilliant Monday Night Football moment, Tony Kornheiser so eloquently stated "I can't believe that the Big 12 would allow voters from New York and California and Pennsylvania and Illinois to decide who they send to their championship game. Make the decision yourself, it's your conference."

BCS Takes the Blame Once Again

2008-12-01T16:22:00.004-05:00

It's this time of year when one has to love all those bloggers out there who feel the need to cry and whine about wanting a college football playoff and by love, I mean, dislike completely. None of them seem to grasp the concept that the BCS did not make the decision to determine the fate of the Big 12 Championship, but that the Big 12 decided to use the BCS for that purpose. That's their decision and their's alone. And for those of you who want a playoff, who do you think should play? Maybe have Alabama play Florida? Check. Oklahoma play Texas Tech? Check. Texas play Texas Tech? Check. The fact is that the SEC and the Big 12 have been greuling it out all year and a team from each of those conferences deserves to be playing in the national championship. And that is exactly what is going to happen (unless of course by some ugly twist of fate, Oklahoma chokes in the Big 12 Championship, as it has done before and USC moves up after a rather easy-going year to play for a title they didn't have to fight for). As for how you determine who represents each conference, that is up to the conferences themselves. The SEC got it right this year. As for the Big 12, I personally believe that Oklahoma is the best team in the country. With that said, Texas may have the better chance of winning the national title.

The SEC got lucky in that the two best teams are in different divisions. But perhaps what could be done instead of moving Texas or Oklahoma to the Big 12 North, is just having the top two teams play each other regardless of division. In some cases you would have a useless replay of a recent game. But in this case, you would have Oklahoma and Texas face off again and see if anything has changed since October 11th. Regardless, I have seen week after week of playoff atmosphere football and there is no need to change it now. Perhaps just tweak the BCS once again and make the conferences take responsibility for their own messes.

And for those of us who truly love college football, things are fine the way they are. It's those out there who have no interest in watching 15 straight weeks of college football that want to see a playoff.

The Actress vs. the College Football Researchers

2008-12-01T12:02:00.004-05:00

Here are the results of our game picks from last Saturday. There were a total of 26 games we picked straight up, without considering the spread.

Angelique: 18
Dave: 19
Steph: 19
Jr.: 21

Now, Dave and I have been working in sports for years, Jr. was a golfer in college and was an intern with ABC/ESPN before joining full time and Angelique is an actress who despises watching football. Funny how she was within one game of tying Dave and me and I don't think she has watched a college football game since her ex-boyfriend dragged her to a Kentucky v. Louisville game years ago against her will. That would be the weekend an unsuspecting crowd learned the phrase..."Oh yeah...and that's how we do in New York." One can only imagine what this was in response to and what happened next, but let's just say I think there are a few people in Kentucky still licking their wounds.

But I digress. My point is that there is nothing impressive about picking games or being right about games or anything that has to do with gambling. It's simply fun for those of you who don't love the sport and need something to garner your interest. So for all of you ladies who might be intimidated by how much the guys "know" about football, it's actually not as difficult as you think to be on their level. In fact, Angelique was already on the basic level with many of the guys out watching the games simply on the basis of her making picks. And if you want to be considered an expert, here is a quick tutorial on what you need to do:

1) Watch the pre-game show while you're getting ready to go to the bar to meet up with the guys;
2) Memorize who played in and who won each Super Bowl (there have only been 42 so it's really not that hard); and
3) Look up all of the football games being played that day and then just randomly pick who you think should win based on whatever you want, whether it be team colors, names, states, cities, etc. and then as the games unfold make sure you tell everyone in the bar which ones you got right. You will be considered hard-core at this point.

Remember it's not about what you know, it's about what you pretend to know. If you can do that, not only will every guy out there think that you are a football genius, you will have equalled, if not surpassed the majority of the guys you meet at the bar in terms football knowledge. Now if you don't want to expose these guys for who they really are, just sit back, relax, watch the game and let them relish in their glory. Just the way they let us...actually I'm not sure they ever let us do that without calling us out...but, you know what I mean...

And, yes, Jr., you won both straight up and against the spread...we'll be sure to rub that in Dave's face on Saturday...

“If a man speaks in a forest and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?”

2008-11-26T14:23:00.002-05:00

As I’ve mentioned before, I find that watching a football game with the guys has turned into a twisted contest in which each tries to prove how “right” he is. Perhaps that’s because in society we are always telling men they are wrong and this is a way for them to redeem themselves. The end result is that they almost seem to believe that their worth is determined by their ability to predict games. Have you ever seen a man hours after he has predicted a Ball State upset this year (as we all know they finished the regular season 12-0)? Depressed, despondent, lonely, that is, until the 8 o’clock games roll around and he can find redemption. It is all so meaningless and the fact is that the “skill” they are truly using in predicting games is instinct. Ironically, “women’s intuition” is one of their most valuable resource when it comes to football. (And, yes, it is in quotes because it’s not just for women, we just admit to using our intuition). And even more valuable than that is luck. Yet somehow these guys expect to earn credit and credibility for their “achievements” by guessing a game correctly. Guys--you can continue to pick games, but don’t think that you’re earning any intelligence points. Your logic and reasoning that lead you to those choices is what matters even more than your result.

That is actually the big problem I have with sports television these days. I don’t want to know their answer—I want to know the facts and the logic behind it. The broadcasters have fallen into a trap of simply picking a team with the most basic, obvious facts to support them. If I want to listen to a man argue just for the sake of it, I’ll call up my friend Eric. But I don’t want to waste my valuable television time doing that. I would rather spend the time reading what the beat writers have to say about the subject. Do I care what random sportscaster went 0-6 for the week? It doesn’t affect my opinion of her/him the same way that going 6-6 is meaningless as well.

And to prove this, I realize I get just as much valuable information from my friend Angelique as I do these guys. She is an actress who does not like football and does not watch football…ever. See below for her picks (in bold) for the college football games this Saturday and her reasoning, which I consider just as substantial if not more so than the “experts” because she is truly in tune with her sixth sense.

Auburn @ Alabama. My friend Mary was talking about Alabama.
Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State. I like the musical Oklahoma!
Florida @ Florida State. Just because.
Notre Dame @ USC. I like that school (boooo)
Baylor @ Texas Tech. I think the name is cool.
Georgia Tech @ Georgia. Just because.
Kansas @ Missouri. I like cows.
Syracuse @ Cincinnati. I hate that place (Syracuse)!
Oregon @ Oregon State. Just because.
Maryland @ Boston College. I like Maryland.
South Carolina @ Clemson. I don’t even know what Clemson is.
Virginia @ Virginia Tech. The name sounds official.
Miami @ NC State. Warm...
UAB @ UCF. I like the letters.
Arkansas St. @ North Texas. I like the state of Arkansas.
Nevada @ Louisiana Tech. I like the name—it sounds official.
Southern Miss @ SMU. It sounds better than Smoo.
New Mexico St. @ Utah St. I don’t like Utah St. because I’m afraid of Mormons.
North Carolina @ Duke. Because Tucker Max went to Duke (hey Ang, I went there too!)
Tulsa@ Marshall. It reminds me of a type of dance (Ang is a professional ballroom dancer also).
Houston@Rice. I like the City and the restaurant (Houston’s Steak House).
Tulane@Memphis. It makes me think of “Walking in Memphis” and I like that song.
Florida Int’l @ Florida Atlantic. I don’t like to travel internationally.
Kentucky @ Tennessee. It’s a cool shaped state.
Vanderbilt @ Wake Forest. I would like to wake up in the forest.
Washington St. @ Hawaii. I want to live there.

Watching football with the guys...otherwise known as "Why me?"

2008-11-16T11:53:00.004-05:00

I watch football because I enjoy watching football. But, sometimes I question why guys watch football. If they didn't have money on the game or their pride on the line, would they still watch and care? It's amazing to me how many of them don't even gamble, but live and die by what they said about the game. Sometimes I feel like I'm trapped in a video game with rules I don't understand. Do you get points each time you say you like a team and they win? Are there magic jellybean rewards that give you extra power or lives if you can pick a team against the spread? Perhaps gambling is so popular because it turns the video game into reality. One does get additional strength (i.e., buying strength) every time he makes a correct pick. But, keep in mind that eventually he dies (i.e., runs out of money). I wonder what would happen if men weren't allowed to talk on game days? If they were forced to gather in silence and just watch the game, what would happen? For one, the following rendition of my latest Saturday morning wouldn't have happened and the ensuing headache I endured may have been prevented.

As I have mentioned before, I work on the set of ABC's College Football Studio Show. This Saturday, we went on-air at 3:00pm, but had to get to the set at 11:00 am for a production meeting and then to watch the games and prepare for the Countdown Show. This is how my day went before live television...

Keep in mind that the majority of this conversation revolves around a college football pick 'em pool at ESPN. No one involved had any actual money on these games. None.

11:59 am. BK: Check it out. Edwards is falling from grace. I'm only 4 points behind.

12:00 pm. BK: Now that I'm sniffin the title it's really gonna bother me.

12:09 pm. JF: Did we solidify anything? I'll take BYU. I just need some games to get my day going.

12:12 pm. BK: God I'm in trouble. Iowa's just carving them up. (Note that this is literally three minutes into the Purdue v. Iowa game on Iowa's first possession).

12: 13 pm. Jr: That's the second week in a row your picks are struggling early. (Struggling early?? The game just started. It's twelve-friggin-thirteen!)

12: 14 pm. BK: OHHH!!! Iowa missed the point after. That's huge! (Note that this is now 6 minutes and 9 seconds into a game that showcases two teams that no one in the room has any affiliation with).

12: 14 pm. BK: I'm getting 18 with Purdue. I like Kansas, but everyone in the world picked Texas.

12:16 pm. BK: Ohio State scored.

12:16 pm. Me (out loud this time): Wow, thanks for the information (as I'm watching the game directly on the television in front of me and saw the entire thing unfold thirty seconds prior to that announcement). Do you even know how they scored?

12:16pm. BK: No.

12:24 pm. Jr: You know, this is the second week in a row your "pick of the week" isn't coming through. (Jr is finally catching on-- BK's "pick of the week" has an 80% failure rate, yet it doesn't stop him from pointing to the outfield and calling his shot every single frigging week).

12:27 pm. BK: Turnovers are key.

12:27 pm. JF: I think Illinois might beat Ohio State

12:28 pm. BK: Really? Sniffin that? Sniffin that?

12:33 pm. BK: Look--off the glass...(he says as the cap he's trying to throw in the trash falls on the ground nowhere close to making it into the can).

12:39 pm. BK: What the hell are you doing?? Going for it again on 4th and 1?? Good job Tiller. (He relaxes as Purdue converts on 4th down for the second time this possession).

12:39 pm. JF: Do you have money on Purdue?

12:39 pm. BK No! I'm in this pool and look all of the sudden where I am. I'm only 4 points behind.

Quick break as I leave our research desk for a few minutes to go look at a media guide.

12:48 pm. BK: Brutal call.

12:48 pm. JS: You got money on the game?

12:48 pm. BK: No! I don't bet anymore. I'm in a pool.

12:48 pm. JS: Tell that to Rick Neuheisal.

12:48 pm. BK: Darn. No upsets today. (as he ignores the gambling accusations and gets back to work talking at the television. I, however, am saved by another fortunate task that I must accomplish AWAY from the research desk).

1:07 pm. BK: (shrieking) That's how we pull an upset!!

1:07 pm. BK: (to Jr) You taking notes on the mental tidbits I'm throwing out here for you?

1:07 pm. BK: We should put Georgia as the most disappointing team.

1:07 pm. BK: I might have to re-evaluate the fold-out chair. One of the worse decisions I've made. (As he continues his stream-of-conscious rant, he finally acknowledges what a bad idea it was to choose to sit in a fold out chair for 12 hours as opposed to the office chairs the rest of us chose to bring down to the set.)

1:08 pm. BK: These weather conditions. That's a great equalizer my friend. Write that down.

1:08 pm. BK: (screaming at the television) Oh throw the flag!!

1:08 pm. BK: (to FK who just entered the room) What you got?...Check it out (as he shows yet another victim the infamous college football pick 'em pool score sheet)

1:09 pm. FK: Are you in second place (although he's trying to be encouraging, his tone fails to hide his disbelief)??

1:09 pm. BK: (matter-of-factly) Right there. Breathing down his neck.

1:10 pm. FK: But your record isn't that good?

1:10 pm. BK: I make accurate picks. It's all about confidence.

1:12 pm. Me: Oh dear god.

1:12 pm. BK: (high pitched shrieking again). Run it!!!!!!!! Ohhhh...chicken shit.

1:12 pm. Jr: You need 7 here.

1:13 pm. BK: I know I need 7. It's just bad play calling. (Again--we are talking about Purdue v. Iowa)

Someone scores. BK's Celebration ensues with a Kirk Gibson fist pumping.

1:16 pm. BK: Once you get the 6 home you're okay.

1:16 pm. Me: huh?

1:16 pm. BK: I blew DB away--12 points in front of him.

1:16 pm. Jr: You got four weeks left?

1:16 pm. BK: What the hell was that!? Just went for two!?

1:17 pm. BK: He's thinking about the picks because he's feeling the heat. (Back to discussing the current leader of the pool).

1:17 pm. BK: He took Utah at San Diego State. Oh--go Aztecs... He loves Florida State.

1:17 pm. Jr: This is pretty impressive though.

1:18 pm. BK: I don't care. It's all about point totals my friend. In my humble opinion, the wild card is the most impressive because they don't force you to pick it. I can go through college football and pick 6 games and do a lot better than that record if I choose which games.

I go back to watching the nine games we have on directly in front of us. Meanwhile, BK is showing JR the Pick 'em sheet...again.

1:22 pm. BK: You got two games at pro stadium's right now. You don't see that too often. There are only 6 teams that play in pro stadiums.

1:22 pm. Me: So is that 6 or 7? Wait...who cares?????

1:23 pm BK: I think I'm good here. Oh you're getting 36. That would take a meltdown.

1:23 pm BK: That's Stephanie's graphic (pointing to a graphic that just came up on our preview screen about the reversals of fortune in college football this year).

1:24 Me: Thanks for the credit. By the way, in the meeting this morning when you tried to give someone else credit, were you sabotaging me or are you just an idiot and forgot that just 12 hours ago I came up with that title?

1:25 pm. Jr: You should probably go with the second option.

1:30 pm. BK: See Kansas was moving the ball again and now they don't have it. Not good. Not good.

1:31 pm. Me: Yeah, they went for it on 4th and 2 and were stopped. Then they went on it on 4th and 1...

1:34 They stopped it again! Oh they're faking a punt. Oh-- they're not! But you have to worry.

Who should worry? Does anyone in the room have a personal interest in Kansas or Texas? Again, that would be a negative.

1:35 pm. BK: It should either just snow or rain. That in-between stuff is nasty. Oh Charlie Weiss is losing weight. Must be under some stress. Oh and that guy almost stepped out on that run. Notre Dame field goal.

1:36 pm. Me: I know. I'm sitting next to you watching the game directly in front of me.

1:37 pm. BK: Oh did you see that?! Oh--how great is that?!!

Somewhat startled, I eagerly glance at the television directly in front of BK to see what I missed, hoping for a replay of what just transpired.

1:37 pm. BK: That's is a really nice jacket. I like that jacket a lot (referring to the Big Ten Network Reporter).

I have no response to that. I just shake my head and continue watching football. Strange how as the only woman on the set I'm probably the only one qualified to give fashion advice, yet these guys talk about the hats, coats and ties they see on television like they’re batting averages.

1:38 pm. BK: Kirk Ferentz. He reminds me of someone. Maybe a teacher of mine. He's got that look. Some dude from my past.

1:38 pm. Jr: Maybe from Buffalo? Hey, what's their mascot?

1:38 pm. BK: The Bulls. The bulls man, B-U-L-L-S.

1:39 pm. BK: Why do I have a faulty headset?

1:39 pm. Jr: That's a lack of respect man, a faulty headset.

1:40 pm. BK: First down Jayhawks! He DID NOT fumble that ball! They might replay that. They might review that. Mack wants a RE-view. Oh no. It's out. Run a play Kansas. Oh, didn't run a play in time. What kind of shitty kickoff was that? It was like a pop up? Oh Tiller is drunk. The good thing is that they brought in Curtis Painter. Man this is just a shitty kick. That's a hold. What is that? (He says this as he's pointing to the television, which simultaneously blocks my view of it). They're going to give that ball to Texas on the review. Weather and turnovers. Those are two great equalizers.

1:41 pm. Me: Aren't turnovers evidence of a good defense?

1:41 pm. Jr: (sarcastically) Weather, turnovers, coaching, bad recruiting. Great equalizers.

1:42 pm. BK: Watch the replay. Iowa quarterback threw right to the Purdue guy. Right there. Right there. You gotta catch that. Ahhh man.

1:43 pm. BK: He caught that!!!! How the heck did he catch that?! I'll tell you Big Ten camera angels stink. Yeah I knew that was going to be a fumble. They should have run the play sooner. I think the best name in college football is Knowshon Moreno. That's my opinion. In my humble opinion.

1:44 pm. BK: Miss it!!

1:45 pm. BK: Pick!! Tell you what--Kansas has a little something. Kansas has a little MO JO today. Tell you what's the great equalizers: Weather and turnovers.

1:46 pm. BK: I don't know man. It might have gone over that yellow pipe. It's getting cold down here on the set.

1:50 pm. BK: Oh man--Texas defense swarming!

1:51 pm. BK: Oh go boilermaker! Go boilermaker! Keep going! Keep running! Only problem is that I don't know if the Boilermaker mascot makes road trips because he is great. He gets out there like a weeble.

No response because no one knows what the hell that means.

1:52 pm. BK: Oh man--they went back to the other quarterback. What are you doing Tiller? Look at this guy-he stinks. Siller. Siller is silly. Silly bad!

1:52 pm. Jr: Hey can I go on the record and call a gamecock upset?

1:53 pm. BK: It's not gonna happen but you can make it. DB will feel that all the way in Hawaii. See that's the thing you can't account for when you gamble. Coaching and officiating. This hurdling thing is getting out of control. Look at that man, great kick-off return and we have to punt.

1:54 pm. Me: "We?" So now you went to Purdue?

1:55 pm. I give up. My headphones are on. I see fist pumping and pointing. And fingers covering up the televisions. But I don't care because I have peace. There will be more fist pumps and pointing, but I have 15 minutes to just sit back and watch football with no one talking to me, or at least no one I can hear.

And then the headphones come off...

2:10 pm. BK: Oh Fumble. Nice. Turnovers. What do we know about that?

211 pm. BK: Now get that Siller guy out of there and put Painter in.

2:11 pm. Me: (sarcastically) So do you think it's that Tiller doesn't know that Painter is a good quarterback.

2:11 pm. BK: He's looking to the future.

2:12 pm. Me: Yeah, I bet that's what he's thinking. He has a quarterback looking forward to the NFL draft who needs to try to impress the scouts, who's been hurt. But, you think he's putting Siller in because he's looking to the future--to a team he probably won't even be coaching?

no response and onto the next random topic...

2:13 pm. BK: "Vanderbilt is once again..."

2:13 pm. Me: Wait--what are you doing?

2:13 pm. BK: I'm talking to Jr.

2:13 pm. Me: You're reading the entire news story from the AP wires...OUT LOUD. We all, including Jr., have it sitting in front of us on our computers.

2:14 pm. BK: "Vanderbilt is once..."

2:14 pm. Me: Wait! Wait! Wait!!! (As I secure my headphones to block out all sound). Now go.

I block out the Vanderbilt news story and watch the games for ten beautiful uninterrupted minutes. But nothing lasts for ever.

2:25 pm. BK: Penn State!

2:25 pm. BK: Didn't Stephanie tell you it was going to be like the Wisconsin game?

2:26 pm. BK: That's the kiss of death right there.

2:26 pm. Jr: The kiss of death was asking you what you thought of it and you agreeing with me.

2:45 pm. BK: Do you like that tie? Does that even go with that outfit?

2:48 pm. BK: Not a fan of Johnny Gilmore's tie (says this on the intercom system to someone out there who must care).

2:49 pm. BK: Uh oh!! Got a loose lion.

2:50 pm: BK: Hey I'm gonna grab some Starbucks before we go on-air. What do you want?

2:50 pm. Jr: A chocolate-banana smoothie.

2:50 pm. BK: I can't order you that! I'll lose four man points just for saying it.

2:50 pm. Me: No comment.

Ahhh at last it's time to get ready for our show which starts in 10 minutes. Peace at last. Peace at last.

What we learned from Week 12 of College Football...or, rather, what I keep saying about Florida

2008-11-15T20:32:00.003-05:00

#25 South Carolina 6 at #4 Florida 56.
Urban Meyer handed Steve Spurrier the worst loss of his career at the school he took to a national championship. What I find so interesting about this game is that while Tebow is called Super Man, this game was decided early on by Florida's defense and special teams. To get things started, Florida's Brandon Spikes had a pick six. Next possession, Florida defense came up with another interception and on Florida's immediately following possession, the rushing game came through with the touchdown. Percy Harvin ran it in 26 yards on his way to a 167 yard, two touchdown day. It's shocking that he can do that much damage on just 8 carries. Meanwhile, Tebow ran for just 50 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. And before the Gamecocks even had the ball on the next possession, they fumbled on the kick off and Florida's special teams recovered. With just five yards to go, Tebow rushed the ball three times in a row for the eventual score. And just like that, Florida was up by 21 points with all of the momentum, thanks to a quarterback, but not Tim Tebow. It was South Carolina's Chris Smelley that helped out Florida the most in the crucial first quarter. It's easy for Tebow to look good on a day like this. Let's face it, last year when Florida's defense was picked apart by the NFL draft and left for dead with the least experienced unit in the country, Florida went 9-4. Tebow had the year of his life and won the Heisman, but Florida as a team did not have such luck. This year, this team looks like they might just be one of the strongest in the country. The difference? Tebow's statistics are down and the defense's statistics are up. So is it really a result of this guy you like to call Super Man? Or is it just easier to make him the face of the Florida team rather than the guys that are out there knocking the opposition to the ground play after play?

College Football Week 12....why sometimes passing doesn't matter.

2008-11-10T22:55:00.000-05:00

Juice Williams is quietly becoming a great passing quarterback as he's ranked 13th nationally in passing yards per game. Last year he didn't crack the top 100. This year he leads the best passing offense in the Big Ten. Last year it was the worst. But this year Illinois is 5-5, last year they finished 9-3 in the regular season and represented the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. Another difference is that last year Illinois ran the ball much more effectively behind Rashard Mendenhall. It's good to see that Williams can pass, but Illinois fans must be somewhat frustrated given the fact that Illinois' success relies heavily on its ground game. This year they only have two games where they have rushed for over 200 yards as a team. Last year they did it in all nine of their wins (and none of their losses). But it's a different game plan as Illinois has taken about 7 of their running plays per game from 2007 and turned them into passing plays in 2008. Good for Williams' pro career, but bad for Ron Zook's.

Jimmy Clausen has taken his passing offense from 110th (where Notre Dame finished in 2007) to 21st thanks in large part to an improved schedule, a year of experience and the fact that he cut his hair. All joking aside, the Irish are looking much better than they did a year ago, but they are still 5-4. As someone who predicted them to finish 6-6, I can't say I'm surprised. I don't care if Clausen is ranked 16th in the nation in passing, I still don't like this offense.

Speaking of quarterbacks I don't like, Matthew Stafford is right behind Clausen up there in the top 20. And it's not that I don't like him, it's just that I think Stafford is over-rated. Georgia has a great team when they're playing official disaster-areas like Tennesse and Arizona State. Many thought Stafford was the messiah who was going to prematurely lead his team to the promised land. But they got the wrong guy. This guy may have a great arm and at times can scramble and make stunning plays, but for the most part he makes bad decisions. Please note, the lone exception to this was last Saturday when Stafford apparently had the game of his life against Kentucky.

Btw, what happened to the "IT" Quarterbacks of 2007, i.e., the guys who finished in the top 15 nationally in passing yards per game? Most graduated. Max Hall and Chase Hollbrook remained. And the Big 12 guys tripled in size. In 2007 they had just two quarterbacks in this group, but this year they have six (and sometimes seven, depending on the week). But fallen are (and injuries the last two weeks to Bacher and Painter are not to blame):
Willie Tuitama 9th
C.J. Bacher 10th
Curtis Painter 12th
Rusty Smith 15th

NFL... and some thoughts from Tyra

2008-11-10T09:58:00.005-05:00

Why do I watch football? Because it is a nice break to have the men treated as cattle as opposed to women. Right now The Tyra Banks Show, hosted by a self-proclaimed 34DD with a booty, is showing a segment entitled "Big vs. small breasts and butts." Seriously, those are our issues? Figuring out how our breasts and butts play a roll in society. At least in football their muscles, butts and other physical attributes have a purpose. Stronger butts and legs of course give you more power and help you run, escape tackles, etc.

The episode gets better-- one woman on the panel, sporting 40 DD's, let a man in a bar touch her breasts for everything in his wallet ($600 at the time). Tyra asked the question we all wondered: is that a soft form of prostitution? But I like football because, for the most part, breasts are not involved, other than the gratuitous flashing of the swimsuit models on the sidelines at football games (I know they're supposed to be cheerleaders, but as a former cheerleader myself I fail to see the connection between cheerleading and NFL "cheerleaders").

I guess my real issue isn't that breasts are part of society, it's that we talk about everything incessantly these days and some things are just not worth discussing. Your breasts are small...how do you feel about that?

I think a better question is why is Tyler Thigpen still a free agent in most fantasy leagues? He's been a solid fantasy quarterback in his last three starts. His only other start was in Week 3 when Kansas City still had options at quarterback. Starters one and two, Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, respectively, were since placed on injured reserve. I looked at several fantasy leagues that all score completely differently and Thigpen's average fantasy quarterback rank was 4.5. Clearly starting material and next week he faces the struggling Saints defense. And there are teams starting quarterbacks like Sage Rosenfels, Shaun Hill, Aaron Rodgers and Jake Delhomme so there's really no excuse for Thigpen to be on the bench at this point. At least in the girls only fantasy league only had team had to start one of those guys.

What we learned from Week 11 of College Football...not much, but a few observations...

2008-11-08T12:58:00.007-05:00

Terrelle Pryor was the number one recruit in the country for a reason. As my college football co-researcher Brett pointed out, Pryor glides across the filed while other guys just run. Watching him against Northwestern today, I was impressed by the way he was able to pass down-field and find an open man in situations where many quarterbacks would have thrown the ball away. Beanie Wells looked strong and contributed another 140 yards and two touchdowns. You can tell he's not 100% since the injury he suffered against Youngstown State, but yet he has had 100 yards (or almost 100 yards) in every game this year that he has played in except against Penn State. The Nittany Lions, of course, have the best rushing defense in the Big Ten.

Why do I watch football (this question is slowly becoming my theme)? Because at least they pretend to be real men out there. These guys may not be the Spartans, but the things you see them do in "battle" at least spark up more excitement than what you see on shows like "Two and a Half Men" or "King of Queens." These shows depict men as idiots. My favorite part of the former is that most of the witty lines appear to come from the half-man. Now these observations come exclusively from previews because I can't bring myself to watch the show so if someone else feels differently let me know. But, in general, sitcom Television is saturated with sarcastic, rude statements on society (note, I did not say conversations because they are monologging, not conversing). And while I can appreciate the idea of these shows, my view of society is not as horrid and most men I know are not just complete assholes. Please note, that if you are someone I know and are reading this, do not assume that you fit into the "most men I know" category.

The only show that I can watch that fits this mold is Family Guy. However, what I like about Family Guy is that it is mocking these shows, their characters and their original sources of inspiration and takes the man of the house's idiocies to an extreme to prove that point.

As far as idiocies are concerned, surprisingly Matthew Stafford did not supply any this weekend. Stafford, better known for his interceptions, poor decision making and generally unimpressive performances (at least in my eyes), actually had a pretty great game on Saturday against Kentucky. By far the best game of his career with 376 yards passing, 3 TDs and don't faint, but no interceptions. While Kentucky's defense doesn't shine in the SEC, they don't look too bad overall.

What we learned from Week 10 of College Football...Florida 49 vs. Georgia 10

2008-11-01T21:56:00.006-04:00

With all of the talk about Tim Tebow one would think he put up 400 yards of offense, but in reality he passed for just 154 yards and ran for 39. His five touchdowns are what made him the star of all the highlight reels, but that's because they're easy to package and tell a simpler story than the real story that took place this weekend. Florida's defense looked impressive. And Matthew Stafford looked exactly like the quarterback that he is--making poor decisions in not getting rid of the ball and making weak throws that resulted in costly interceptions. He would have had four interceptions had it not been for a Florida penalty that erased his mistake. And Muhammad Massequoi was quite impressive...on defense, stopping more than one of Stafford's mistakes from becoming scores. But in the end, Georgia's four turnovers resulted in 21 Florida points. On the score that put the Gators up 21-3, Tebow got all the glory, but Joe Haden did all of the work with the interception that he returned 88 yards to set his quarterback up for the score.

College Football Preview Week 10 Texas@Texas Tech

2008-10-30T20:17:00.002-04:00

The Texas Longhorns must be exhausted after playing #1 Oklahoma, #11 Missouri, #6 Oklahoma State back-to back, but this week doesn’t get any easier for them when they face #7 Texas Tech. Texas and Texas Tech match up pretty evenly on paper. Great passing and scoring offenses, horrible pass defenses and great run defenses (thanks to the lack of running in the Big 12). They are both great teams on achieving first downs and on 3rd down conversions yet both struggle somewhat with penalties. And while neither team compares to the Big Ten in scoring defense (yes, the Big Ten, not the SEC, is the only conference in the nation with three top ten teams in scoring defense), Texas and Texas Tech have the top two scoring defenses in the Big 12, respectively. So why should Texas be worried? 1) Interceptions. Tech may have the 98th worst passing defense in the country but they are an opportunistic unit. They have 14 interceptions on the year (4 more than their total from 2007) and are ranked 3rd in the nation. Luckily for the Longhorns, they don't typically succumb to turnovers and have given up just four interceptions. This is the toughest team on INTs that Colt McCoy will face in the regular season and if he gets through this game unscathed it could mean the Heisman. 2) Passing Offense. For a unit that is ranked 2nd in the country in sacks, Texas expects to get pressure on the quarterback. But Graham Harrell's line has only allowed him to succumb to three sacks this season. They are the best passing offense in the nation and one must wonder how does the Longhorn's 110th passing defense stop them? Not to mention that Tech has an explosive offense that can change the momentum of the game, quickly erase any good your offense may have done and make completions when least expected. But the fact is that even a team like Oklahoma that seemed to have everything going for them still fell to Texas. And Texas has two things going for it that Oklahoma doesn’t: the top scoring defense and the top total defense in the Big 12. Finally, Texas is good at the small but important things such as their performance in the red zone (both offensively and defensively) and their lack of mistakes.

Colt McCoy may not have Harrell's numbers, he is 2nd in the country in passing efficiency with a tremendous 82% completion percentage. Tech is getting 4 points in this match-up but I'm going with Texas. Come on Mack, you did it for me twice before--how about another win?

College Football Preview Week 9: Penn State@Ohio State

2008-10-23T14:36:00.002-04:00

The statistics clearly favor Penn State in their game at Ohio State this weekend. Penn State has the best passing defense in the Big Ten, while Ohio State has the worst passing offense and their total offense, scoring offense and passing efficiency don't match up well either. But, then again, the Buckeyes don't typically win because of their offense. In 2002 when they won the national championship, they ranked 92nd nationally is passing offense and 70th in total offense. They also had one of the worst passing defenses in the country that year. Statistics can back up a point, but they can't be the entire point. And, honestly, the more I look at the stats, the more I dislike Ohio State. They're horrible in the redzone and that includes offense AND defense. Penn State scores touchdowns over 72% of the time while Ohio State takes less than 50% in for six. But, despite my better judgment, I'm choosing Ohio State. I think it's probably obvious to mention turnovers as that's the only category the Buckeyes are doing real well in and that just might determine the outcome of this game. Because if you're looking at sacks, tackles for a loss, tackles for a loss allowed, 3rd down conversions, opponent 3rd down conversion--or basically any stat except for turnovers and time of possession, Penn State easily leads the way. I think this can be the year Ohio State makes it back to the Rose Bowl and let Saturday be the beginning. Beanie Wells just better stay healthy for this one.

NFL Injury Update (LADIES Edition)

2008-10-22T16:34:00.033-04:00

rodney harrison

It's already a shame that Rodney Harrison is out for the season, but if this is the end of his career, I consider that a huge loss for the NFL. For those of you who aren't familiar with Harrison, he is a safety for the Patriots (New England) and absolutely adorable. My favorite Harrison moment took place during a press conference when his cell phone rang and he looked down at his phone and said "oh, it's my mom." A guy who talks to his mom after work and talks about his day--so sweet. Anyway, he is going to be 36 on December 15, which is getting up there in football years. And now he has re-injured his right thigh and apparently tore the muscle. What the Patriots will miss about him will not be his stats (they haven't been spectacular since he missed almost the entire 2005 season with an injury) as much as his presence... and we will miss his smile. Or, maybe he will turn NFL commentator?!

tom brady

Yes, this makes football a little less entertaining for some of us now that Harrison is lost in addition to his teammate Tom Brady. What is it with good looking guys going down in 2008? Arguably the two hottest quarterbacks in the NFL are out for the season with Brady and Kyle Boller. And while Boller isn't worth having an a fantasy team, even as a back-up, he's still worth watching for other reasons.

kyle boller

To add to the list of hot guys on the sideline, now Reggie Bush looks to be out at least a game. I blame that more on the curse of dating distracting women though (see Kim Kardashian), which is an entirely separate issue. While not the best NFL rusher, Bush adds to his numbers with his receptions and special teams stats. This means that if you are in an individual defensive player (IDP) league then whoever owns Bush gets the benefits of his punt return numbers. But if you just use an entire team for the Defense/Special Team (DST), then whoever owns New Orleans reaps the rewards of his special teams stats. Be sure to distinguish this when having a fantasy conversation. In the league I run as the commissioner it's IDP, but in the all-guys league it's DST and while I have benefited from huge DST points at times, it has failed me at others. On the night in question I was playing against "Browning's $300 Rescue Package" (renamed after the debacle that took place a few posts ago), who I wanted to beat more than you can imagine. The team is owned by E and sometimes I think his main purpose in life is to find ways to torture me. Anyway, it came down to the Minnesota@New Orleans game and specifically, Reggie Bush. I witnessed him kill his own fantasy numbers not once, but twice when he ran back two punts for touchdowns. Not only did I miss out on the touchdown points, but I didn't get a single yardage point for either of those possessions. It was a painful loss to E and it was caused single-handedly by the own person who was supposed to help me.

Another victim of the distractoressa (i.e., high maintenance girlfriend): Tony Romo. I won't include him in the list of hot injured guys, because he's injured, but not hot. That's right, Jessica Simpson, I don't think your boyfriend is hot. You would think someone with your boobs could do so much better. I know he's the all-American Dallas Cowboys quarterback and that he's a generally likeable guy, but I am not on the bandwagon. I appreciate his fantasy stats, but there's something just a little too enthusiastic and "happy to be here" about him that I can't take. And for those of you who don't believe that low-key wives/girlfriends are a factor, just think if you even know what Ashley Manning (Peyton's wife) looks like. People like Romo think it's fun to be a celebrity and therefore date them. People like Peyton Manning think it's fun to be in the Hall of Fame.

tony romo (not hot)

In addition to the hot guys that are out for the season, we also have a fair share of hot guys that are on the bench for the season, namely Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart. Quinn partly brought this upon himself. He wasn't even in contention for the quarterback position in 2007 because he held out for most of training camp and missed the first preseason game. That year Charlie Frye was traded after the first half of the very first game of the year and had Quinn been around to learn the offense and adjust to the NFL that summer he might have had a chance to play. Now, he's just on the bench (look for #10) waiting for Derek Anderson to screw up. As much as Anderson does not seem like a dynamic enough player to lead this team back to the playoffs, he has been impressive at times and is in...for now. As for Leinart, he had his chance and lost it to a 75 year-old quarterback. Kurt Warner is starting in his place because he has a high completion percentage (about 10% better than Leinart) and a much better TD-INT ratio.

brady quinn

matt leinart

At least Trent Edwards is back. No idea who he is? That's okay because he's been injured most of his career, played college ball at Stanford and is in the Gus Frerotte, Matt Cassel, David Garrard range of quarterbacks at the moment. But, he is actually really good looking as my friend, Rachel, and I discovered unexpectedly while watching games a few weeks ago.

trent edwards

And remember, ladies, these guys are just eye candy. Don't get any fancy ideas--leave that work to the reality show stars and Giselle (and, yes, just let the guys continue to think what they want to about the "super model" and we'll just keep our thoughts to ourselves on this one as you know you've had that discussion).

College Football Week 8 What Happened to Michigan?

2008-10-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

As bad as the score looked at 46-17. the Michigan @ Penn State game was actually pretty decent. And thinking that Michigan could cover less than four scores seemed like a pretty decent idea into the second half. However, Michigan self destructed thanks in part to an offense that completely fell apart near the end of the 3rd quarter. A safety, followed by good field position, followed by a semi-blocked punt, followed by a sack and fumble, all in a span of 7 minutes led to 19 points and a complete demoralization of the Wolverines. As much as I hate Michigan, this is just disgusting to watch and it makes me wonder what Rich Rodriguez said at half time to make his team hate him so much.

Week 8 College Football Preview Michigan at Penn State

2008-10-18T12:01:00.003-04:00

Considering how bad Michigan is this year and how dominant Penn State's offense has been, it's not hard to imagine why there would be a 24 point spread. Last week Penn State demoralized and embarrassed Wisconsin, while Michigan was busy losing to Toledo. Overall Wisconsin ranks ahead of Michigan in Total defense, Scoring defense, Passing defense and Passing Efficiency and they lost by 41 points last week to the Nittany Lions, so what chance do the Wolverines have? By the way, Michigan is also one of the worst teams in turnover margin in the nation. But, they came into the year with 7 starters on defense who faced a prolific offense in Florida last year in the Capital One Bowl. Plus Rich Rodriguez may have a more qualified response to Penn State's creative offense than Wisconsin did. The fact is that Wisconsin allowed turnovers and special teams to kill their chances of even being in the game and I think Michigan will at the very least lose by less than four scores to Penn State.

"Six Years and No Issuess...you see what happens when a chick comes into the league!"

2008-10-16T15:25:00.008-04:00

The conversation regarding my fantasy football team getting kicked out of the guys' league and the unpaid debt of my co-owner (http://blondedevils.blogspot.com/2008/10/boys-will-be-boys.html) took an interesting turn today as the entire league became involved. First, I must admit that as frustrated as I was, I laughed my ass off the entire day reading the emails, including the insults hurled at me by Ass, which were quite funny at times. But, after approximately 50 emails back and forth, we received the following email from Pete Stasiewicz, which brings to light how the upcoming election could potentially impact our life and fantasy teams as we know them:

Although it is obvious from the statement above, please note that the following was written by Pete...

This is getting out of hand so I called McCain and BO for their input.

McCain had this to say:

Well, let -- let me say, Pete, thank you. And thanks to CBS Sportsline. And, by the way, our beloved Pacman is on suspension tonight, so our thoughts and prayers are going with you.
Fantasy football owners are hurting right now, and they're angry. They're hurting, and they're angry. They're innocent victims of greed and excess in the baseball league and as well as the football league. And they're angry, and they have every reason to be angry.

And they want this league to go in a new direction.

But we also have to have a short-term fix, in my view, and long- term fixes. Let me just talk to you about one of the short-term fixes.

The catalyst for this fantasy crisis was the baseball league that caused subprime dues-collection situation that now caused the confidence in this league to collapse.

I am convinced that, until we reverse this continued decline in dues payment and put....

...a floor under it, and so that people have not only the hope and belief they can stay in their leagues and realize the American dream of sneaking into the playoffs through the total-points slot, but that they also manage to win against teams selected by robots.

Now, we have allocated $3,220. Let's take $300 of that $3,220 and go in and buy Browning's debt and negotiate with Browning so he can pay that loan, stay in their league.

Now, I know the criticism of this.

'Well, what about the owner that stayed in their league? That paid their dues payments?' It doesn't help that person in their league if the next door neighbor's team is abandoned. And so we've got to reverse this. We ought to put the teamowners first. And I am disappointed that Secretary Mauro and others have not made that their first priority.
******************************

Obama responded:

Well, first of all, I think it's important for the league membership to understand that the $300 rescue package, if it's structured properly, and, as president, I will make sure it's structured properly, means that ultimately team owners get their money back, and that's important to understand.
But there is no doubt that we've been living beyond our means and we're going to have to make some adjustments.
And some of the cuts, just to give you an example, we spend $300 a year on subsidies to Browning. It doesn't help Holzer fill his gaping bye week hole. It's not improving the Detroit Lions offense. It's just a giveaway.
So, look, nobody likes dues. I would prefer that none of us had to pay dues, including myself. But ultimately, we've got to pay for the core investments that make this league strong and somebody's got to do it.

I hope everyone understands why your vote is so important. Our next president might just impact the way we, as a nation, view fantasy football disagreements.

Legal Issues in Fantasy Sports

2008-10-15T22:15:00.003-04:00

In my previous entry, I recounted the story of where I was wrongfully kicked out of a fantasy league for something unrelated to me, but as a punishment to my partner for a prior debt that had nothing to do with fantasy football. It makes me wonder, what is the recourse for fantasy football or any fantasy sports if the commissioner does something immoral, unfair or illegitimate? I suppose small claims court would work, but the fee for filing a claim can be prohibitive depending on the amount of the league’s fees. Obviously, paying 100% of the fee in court costs would not make financial sense. The next issue is venue. With leagues that span across the country, would it be valid to sue a commissioner who lives in Illinois for $230 in a New York small claims court? Even if one had standing to bring a case and won the case, it seems that it would be an impossible judgment to enforce. I’m also not sure to what extent you can enforce small claims court judgments and whether or not they extend out of state.

And what rights does a commissioner have to recoup unpaid league fees? As shown in my previous example, apparently not much, or the big firm litigator would have had another option rather than trying to make ME pay for someone else’s fantasy baseball debt.

With the amount of fantasy leagues around the country and the amount of money that is put into the games, I think we need to establish a Fantasy Arbitration Counsel to settle such potential disputes. After all, companies like ESPN.com, CBSSportsline.com and Yahoo.com make enough money from fantasy sports that perhaps they can help prevent potential crimes from the same.

Boys Will Be Boys...

2008-10-15T21:35:00.010-04:00

This year I joined an all-guys fantasy football league so I could experience what it was like to compete with all men instead of all women, as I have done for the past seven years as the commissioner of an all-ladies league. What I discovered is that even if you are almost 40 and a partner at a large law firm, you still can act very much like a child. This league I joined was by far the most restrictive league in terms of rules that I’ve ever witnessed. Who doesn’t allow any free agent pick-ups? If you don’t put in a bid by Wednesday night, you’re out of luck, even if there’s a last minute injury. But, I was fine dealing with their stupid rules, dumb team names (other than “I Impregnated Bristol Palin”) and unimaginative team logos…until today.

I originally was invited to join the league because they were looking to have 14 teams and apparently a few people had dropped out from last year, including my friend Browning (keep in mind for later relevance). At some point the commissioner of the league started harassing Browning, questioning how he could turn his back on seven years of fantasy football with the league. Browning emailed me about it and wished me luck with their 15 page constitution, 14-teams, a draft that takes almost 4 hours and the impending nightmare of finding a running back. Feeling bad that he might miss out on so much joy, I asked him whether or not he was considering playing. He responded that it would only be as a hands-off adviser/consultant. I thought it might be fun to have someone to discuss moves and players with, so I decided to take him on as a partner. It, of course, was still my team and I paid the entire $230 league fee with my own personal pink check.

Unbeknownst to me, Browning had an outstanding debt for the fantasy baseball league he played in with some of these guys last spring. It was due in March/April and Ass (he’s the commissioner of both leagues and that’s the abbreviation for his team name and no, I’m not making this up) failed to collect it from him for over seven months. But today, October 15, Ass decided that he absolutely had to have the $300 owed to him and his league. For the record, Ass is a partner at a major law firm in Chicago so that $300 is the equivalent to about 30 minutes of his time. But apparently to Ass, $300 is a lot of money because he complained about it to me on the phone for an hour and 16 minutes. And, no, I won’t bother pointing out the obvious irony.

Ass was horrified to learn that my fantasy partner and I didn’t discuss intimate details of our lives and previous dealings such that I wouldn’t know about the baseball debt. I’m now starting to wonder if I should have told Browning about the outstanding amount owed on my Saks charge. Nonetheless, Ass said that as partners we were tied together and that I was liable for him. I explained to the great litigator, who apparently doesn’t understand corporate law, that partners are liable for each other to the extent it concerns the partnership—not for things outside the partnership. And fantasy baseball, my dear, is outside of the fantasy football partnership. Again, if this holds true and Browning will pay my Capital One bill this month or even my rent, I would be really happy to front the $300 for the baseball league in exchange!

Despite logic and the fact that Ass is the one that technically failed to collect the money from Browning and that there are several different solutions to recoup the $300 so that the burden didn’t fall on one single person, he thought that the right thing to do was to make the girl who had nothing to do with the fantasy baseball league pay for it. Ass’s solution was to kick my team out of the league and keep my $230. By the way, I’m currently in 3rd place out of 14 teams and my team is looking even better now that Braylon Edwards is back up to par.

Ass then decided an even better way to make money would be to auction off my team because it’s actually that good that someone might pay well above the $230 entrance fee for it and that way he could recoup some of the baseball money. To that I thought “That’s right, my team, picked by a girl, is so good that someone might want to pay $400 after 6 weeks of football for it.” But I responded, “Seriously? You are a partner at a large law firm and you are upset over $300 that you might have to divide with the guy who won $1800 this year and the other weekly winners, which puts it at about $20 per person? Seriously?”

Well, apparently Ass was serious. Boys will be boys, but when did rich men become cheap babies? How does this end? Well, I find it completely disrespectful and I don’t care if Browning pays his debt or not. I quit this league.

As for my pretty pink $230 check, too bad you didn’t cash it yet because my bank canceled it…for free… as a courtesy to me.

Nebraska@Texas Tech Week 7 Preview

2008-10-09T21:56:00.003-04:00

If you think that Nebraska’s defense is bad now at 82nd and just entering the heart of the Big 12 schedule, just know that the Black Shirts finished 112th last year. Bo Pelini has a lot of work to do and so far has improved his team by 30 spots. But that could all change this week against Texas Tech. Missouri beat Nebraska in embarrassing fashion 52-17 last week. And perhaps because Pelini came from the SEC, Nebraska’s passing defense has declined somewhat due to the fact that he isn’t used to facing quarterbacks who can actually throw the ball.

A 7th ranked Texas Tech team is favored to win by just 20.5 over Nebraska. The reason why it is “just” over 20 points is because most people don’t respect Tech and perhaps it’s because of the extremely easy schedule thus far. But opponents are scoring just 18.5 points per game while the offense is averaging over 48 points. You never know what is going to happen with Nebraska and as likely that it is that they could get completely blown out in this game the way they did last week, I like Nebraska, especially if you can do a first half bet.

Arkansas@Auburn Week 7 Preview

2008-10-09T20:59:00.005-04:00

I'm curious why the 103rd ranked scoring offense in the nation began as a 19 point favorite this week in the match-up against Arkansas? Furthermore, their pass offense is 104th, which is why offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin, was fired less than 10 months after he was hired to implement the spread offense at Auburn and improve a unit that finished 103rd last year. That's right, they actually got worse.

Arkansas may have lost the last three games to Alabama, Texas and Florida by huge margins (an average of 36 points), but those are three very good teams. Plus, 21 of Alabama's 35 point win came as a result of four turnovers. With that said, I suppose if you do the math, Auburn beat La. Monroe 34-0 and Arkansas beat them 28-27, then Auburn should win by 33 points. But this Auburn team was given all of its credit this year based on what it was thought Tony Franklin could do with its offense--and as that has now officially backfired, I am picking Arkansas to cover in this game.

Fantasy Football Thoughts for Week 6

2008-10-06T15:47:00.005-04:00

Fantasy Thoughts for Women Week 6 (note: if you are man, please scroll down to the bottom)

Chances are that the last month has not been a great one for any of you out there (unless you’re one of those people who typically has bad luck, then, of course, please know that this is just a façade). Mercury is in Retrograde once again and reeking havoc on everything from communicating, thinking, processing information and making decisions to the internet, cell phones and television to traveling, finances and learning. Basically, changes, frustration, blockages and aggravation. The good news is that if your life appears to be a mess and you can’t make a decision to save it, Mercury will start moving in the right direction in about a week and completely back to normal after Halloween. The bad is that every year the beginning of football season is plagued by Mercury Retrograde, thus affecting our line-ups and perhaps even our drafts. This is where your intuition really has to come into play because all of the information we are getting from the Internet, radio and television is severely tampered with during this time. While Mercury didn’t appear to start moving backwards until September 24^th, we have been impacted by the slowing down, stopping and reversal of the planet since September 4^th. With that in mind, I would suggest not making any impulsive fantasy football decisions during this time and try to really look at this year’s events as rationally as possible.

First, do not freak out about LaDainian Tomlinson. Sure Darren Sproles had more fantasy points than he did this week, but that’s thanks to special teams. LT was held by Miami to just 35 yards this week. But keep in mind, Miami has the 7^th best rushing defense. And while I would normally attribute a turnaround from the last ranked rush defense in the league in 2007 to the top 10 after just 4 weeks of play in 2008, I’m giving credit here to the arrival of Bill Parcels and his 3-4 scheme. This is what he does. With that said, I might say that Miami beating New England and San Diego back-to-back has something to do with the planetary influence.

Regardless, I know that none of you LT owners would even consider trading him so the worst that can happen is that you bench him in favor of Sproles or someone similar against New England this weekend. Logic might tell you that he isn’t the best start this week—but Mercury Retrograde should tell you that this is the week to start him.

Speaking of New England, if Kevin Faulk is available you can pick him up on waivers or as a free agent, but don’t let his two touchdowns against Kansas City’s 31^st ranked rush defense persuade you to thinking you could ever use him in your line-up in a situation that’s anything less than desperate. Bill Bellichick messes with our heads and this committee situation has effectively eliminated Patriot running backs as fantasy starters.

As for Michael Turner, this may turn out to be an illusion as well. Turner has been anointed as a fantasy stud and while I love that he’s found success in Atlanta, I recommend keeping an eye on his opponent from week to week:

Opponent	Opp Rush Def Rank	Turner’s yds	Opp Rush TD Def Rank	TurnerTDs
Week 1 v. Detroit	30^th horrible	220 yds	27^th horrible	2 TDs
Week 2 @ Tampa Bay	14^thaverage	42 yds	1^st excellent	0 TDs
Week 3 v. Kansas City	31^sthorrible	104 yds	31^st horrible	3 TDs
Week 4 @ Carolina	13^th average	56 yds	3^rd excellent	0 TDs
Week 5 @ Green Bay	27^thhorrible	121 yds	17^th average	1 TD
Week 6 v. Chicago	4^th great	X	12^th above average	Y

My guess for the values of X and Y are:

X = around 50 yards

Y = 0 touchdowns

Fantasy Thoughts for Men Week 6:

If you don’t own LaDainian Tomlinson, try to trade for him now. You can get him for a bargain—be sure to mention his injury and how San Diego has fallen from grace. This is the time to make a move with the loss to Miami still fresh. Also add that Darren Sproles had more fantasy points last week.

Pick up Kevin Faulk if you can get him cheap or for free—and trade him to someone else. He doesn’t have a huge upside in New England’s back-by-committee system. And someone will be desperate enough to take a chance on him, especially in a 14 team league.

Keep enjoying Michael Turner’s success if you have him, but keep in mind that he might start to fade in Week 8. Other than Denver in Week 11 and perhaps New Orleans, he is going to face some pretty decent rush defenses. Gone are the days of facing the 27th, 30th and 31st ranked rushing defenses. If you have any specific needs, you may be able to get a pretty valuable package in exchange for Turner.

Ohio State@Wisconsion Preview Week 6

2008-10-04T19:19:00.003-04:00

Ohio State@Wisconsin. Other than the fact that Bret Bielema has never lost at Camp Randall as head coach (16-0), Ohio State also needs to worry about some other things, namely PJ Hill. Hill is 14th in the nation in rushing and this is the first time the Buckeyes will face him. Last year Wisconsin was forced to bring its third string quarterback to Columbus as a result of injury and suspension and were held to just 12 net yards rushing. I expect this year to be much different. The Buckeyes ended that game with 28 unanswered points to win 38-17. But then again, who can Wisconsin blame for their meltdown to Michigan last weekend after being ahead 19-0?

The key in this game will be Ohio State's offense: if/how they can move the ball against a strong Wisconsin defense and help out the defense, unlike they did in the USC game where the Buckeye defense was repeatedly defending short fields for the Trojans. This is Terrelle Pryor's first real test and I trust in his ability to get into the endzone more than I do anyone on that team.

My pick+Ohio State.

All About Alabama...Week 6 of CFB

2008-10-01T11:04:00.002-04:00

Last week when Alabama beat Georgia, it wasn’t so much about showing us how great the Crimson Tide are as it was exposing Georgia for the team that they really are. Their quarterback may have the best arm in the country according to some, but he isn’t the best at his position. So can we put the “Matthew Stafford is the greatest” rumor to rest now? Stafford had 274 yards in the game, but in the first half (you know, the one that set the tone of the game and made Alabama’s victory a foregone conclusion) he had just around 60 yards and ended four of their five drives with two incompletions, an intentional grounding penalty and an interception. The majority of his yards came in the second half with Bama leading 31-0. John Parker Wilson, on the other hand, had just 205 yards, but he averaged 12.8 yards, completed over 80% of his passes and didn’t have any turnovers. Something about this Alabama team reminds me eerily of Ohio State last year (albeit JPW is considerably more experienced than Todd Boeckman was)—a quarterback who is relied upon to manage the game and not make mistakes, but not expected to win the game as that’s left to the running game and the defense.

And with that said, my warning to Alabama is to watch its back. The #2 ranked spot was a bad omen for seven teams last year (and it all began this exact week last year). And while I don’t believe that we are going to see a repeat of 2007, this last week of September was surprisingly similar to last year’s final week of September when three of the top five teams were defeated.

This week Alabama plays Kentucky at home. Kentucky is 4-0 (although against four weak opponents), they’ve allowed just one sack all year and are averaging over 200 yards rushing per game in their last three games. The quarterback situation is working its way out with Mike Hartline, who has only officially been the starting quarterback since Curtis Pulley was kicked off the team in early August. And while they may not be the fourth least penalized team in the country like Alabama, they’re 22nd, which is a far cry from Georgia who had 10 penalties for 81 yards on Saturday.

And, yes, I realize Bama has the 3rd best rushing defense in the country and held Georgia to a team total of 50 yards on the ground last week. But, the Bulldogs only ran the ball a total of 16 times since they were playing from behind the entire game. So while Hartline will be relied upon immensely to move the ball through the air, I’m not convinced that Kentucky won’t be able to run the ball at all. As we saw last week, Oregon State entered the game against USC with the 83rd ranked rushing offense facing the nation’s 6th best rushing defense and Jacquizz Rodgers proceeded to rush for 186 yards and two touchdowns.

It would be hard to imagine that Nick Saban doesn’t have his team mentally prepared for this game and especially with Kentucky’s #1 ranked scoring defense in the country he has something to help motivate them. But I don’t think the Tide is as good as they showed us in the first half last week. Georgia really fell apart. Sometimes teams that aren’t used to losing just aren’t good when it comes to facing adversity. This was a Georgia team that had won 11 games straight (it had been the second longest active streak among FBS schools next to BYU). Alabama is favored by 16.5 points--I think that’s a lot and I would take a chance on Kentucky to cover here.

NFL Rookie Report (after almost 4 weeks)

2008-09-29T20:42:00.004-04:00

St. Louis’ Donnie Avery was targeted 7 times yesterday—but had just 3 catches for 22 yards. What impressed me most was his one and only carry of the game that went for 37 yards for a touchdown. He looked really fast and his score provided the Rams with their first 1^st quarter points of the season—as well as their first lead this year. It didn’t last though. Although Steven Jackson had a big day going over 100 yards and a scoring a touchdown himself, perhaps utilizing Avery more would help—the Rams are ranked at the bottom of the league in rushing offense (29^th) and not too far ahead in passing offense (25^th). Trent Green cannot be the answer and clearly Scott Linehan wasn’t either. It should be interesting to see what happens as Jim Haslett takes over the team for the interim. And Avery is someone to keep watching. He was the first receiver taken in the 2008 NFL draft so someone thought he was worth it.

DeSean Jackson had some big plays for Philadelphia last night and some really bad plays. Good passes by McNabb at times contributed to that—and poor passes by McNabb at times hurt him. He had the first touchdown of his NFL career (as we all know, it would have been his second, but he dropped the first one in premature celebration against Dallas). Sure Jackson made some mistakes (like fumbling a punt on his own 24 yard line)—but these guys need to be humbled every now and then. After that, he looked somewhat hesitant on punt returns and let the next one bounce past him to give the Eagles poor field position on the 4-yard line. Ironically, this guy was a great punt returner in college as he holds the Pac-10 record for the most punt returns for touchdowns (6). However, most of his brilliance came in 2006—four of his returns went for touchdowns that year. In his first two years at Cal he had almost a 20% rate of returns for touchdowns. But last year he didn’t have a single return for a touchdown after the first game of the year. Perhaps it was due to teams kicking away from him—or partially because of Cal’s monumental collapse, losing six of their last seven games. But the Eagles got to see both sides of Desean Jackson last night—the confident, cocky player—and the uncertain one who makes mistakes and fails to make plays. Luckily for them, having watched this guy play for three years in college and the first few games this year—I think he’s the former.

Another rookie in that Bears v. Eagles game was Matt Forte. While his numbers weren’t good this week—in fact, his worst numbers yet—his plays were great. Especially at the end of the game, he was able to get crucial movement and first downs for Chicago. He also has established himself as a receiver. After Reggie Bush and Steven Jackson, he’s next on the list in terms of backs who are looked to for the passing game. Of course, Kyle Orton is going to need to stop overthrowing the ball so much if those numbers are going to improve.

For Houston, rookie running back Steve Slaton was targeted 8 times and had 8 receptions. So in a week like this where Houston struggled to run the ball against a pretty decent Jaguar rush defense (of course, when you’re Houston weeks like this happen all of the time. They’re just 22^nd in rushing offense and have the second least number of rushing touchdowns in the league). With that said, Slaton is getting most of the carries so I expect that number to improve as the Texans find some balance and get their passing game going. They did that this week and lost by just three points—their smallest margin of defeat all year. Andre Johnson hasn’t helped matters by being completely unreliable the last two weeks-- catching just around 25% of balls thrown his way. Either he will help out the offense or perhaps Slaton will become even more involved. Not sure if next week is the week for the passing game to flourish though when the Colts come to town with the 2^nd best passing defense in the league. However, Slaton may be the key as Indianapolis also happens to hold the 2^nd worst rushing defense in the league.

Perhaps somewhat expected, Tennessee’s Chris Johnson had his least productive game moving the ball against Minnesota’s 4^th best rushing defense in the league. He had just 61 yards. However, he did earn his first two rushing touchdowns of the year and his NFL career (not his first touchdown though as that was a reception in Week 1). Again—somewhat expected since when it comes to rushing touchdowns, the Vikings defense is one of the worst. According to Fantasy stats so far this year, Johnson is bordering on being a number one back. Of course—a lot can change over the next few months. I might wait to start him next week against Baltimore until I see how the rookie Rashard Mendenhall handles the Ravens Defense tonight.

Denver’s Eddie Royal—who happened to be just the 3^rd best receiver at Virginia Tech last year in receiving yards per game—has led the Broncos in receiving yards in two of their four games this year. This week he had his second 100+ yard game. He has two touchdowns already and I like his chances to score next week against Tampa Bay.

Jonathan Stewart may not get a lot of carries for the Carolina Panthers with DeAngelo Williams there (he’s averaging just 11 per game). The good news is that it looks like he’s at least splitting carries with Williams and he already has four touchdowns on the year. That’s the second most in the league—and tied with LT.

If Dallas wasn’t sure how to lose a game (other than allowing Tony Romo to be distracted by Jessica Simpson), they learned last night—just don’t run the ball...at all. Rookie Felix Jones didn’t have a single carry in the game. While Jones is simply there to complement Marion Barber—he can’t do much if Barber himself is only getting eight carries, as he did on Sunday against Washington. From a fantasy perspective, Jones will be helpful as long as he continues to score and make the most of the few carries that he does see.

As for the guy who ran ahead of Jones at Arkansas, Darren McFadden was impressive in the first two weeks. But a toe injury has decreased his production the past two weeks and his yards per carry have declined. With Justin Fargas out that leaves Michael Bush, who technically isn’t a rookie, but was recovering all of last year on the PUP list from the broken tibia injury that sidelined him for his entire senior season at Louisville (other than the first game) and ended his college career. But it looks like McFadden and Fargas are expected to return after next week’s bye so it will be important to keep an eye on how and when Bush is used.

Finally, on Monday Night Football, we have Rashard Mendenhall for the Steelers against a Raven’s 3^rd ranked rushing defense that hasn’t allowed a touchdown in two games. And Joe Flacco faces the 6^th best passing defense that has only given up two passing touchdowns this year. At least we’ll find out what these rookies are made of tonight. By the way, I hate the Steelers and the Ravens so other than scouting fantasy players, there's not much for me to enjoy tonight.

Week 5 College Football: The Fall to the Unranked

2008-09-27T21:02:00.003-04:00

#1USC@Oregon State (21-27). USC had no answer for the Rodgers brothers and were consistently beat at the line—both lines. Maybe they did lose something last year when seven of their players were chosen in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft? They only returned 4 starters on offense and 7 starters on defense. Mark Sanchez was pressured all night and he struggled all night. But most importantly, Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns behind a strong offensive line and slippery moves that evaded the USC defenders. Yes, this was the same Oregon State team that was demolished by Penn State just one week ago 45-14.

And now that Duke beat UVA 31-3, it puts USC’s win over UVA in Week 1 into perspective. Perhaps if people had realized earlier this year that Virginia’s team had been completely depleted, they wouldn’t have put so much value on USC’s 52-7 victory over them and wouldn’t have moved them to the number one spot and then the number one team in the nation wouldn’t have been defeated by an unranked opponent this week. This is why pre-season rankings and early season rankings are so meaningless.

Maryland@#20Clemson (20-17). Last year in their three losses, Clemson was held to a net of 30 yards rushing per game. And in their loss to Alabama this year, they had a net of 0 rushing yards. It seemed that the key to winning was making sure James Davis and CJ Spiller could run. Unfortunately, that was not the answer as today Spiller and Davis each had over 100 yards rushing in their 20-17 loss to Maryland. Part of the problem was Clemson’s three turnovers. And Cullen Harper passed for just 151 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. On the year he has just three touchdowns to five interceptions. For Maryland, this was their 4^th straight win over an AP ranked opponent.

Ole Miss@#4 Florida (31-30). Last year 13 top 5 teams fell to unranked opponents. This week so far we have #1 USC and now #4 Florida thanks to a missed extra point, three turnovers (for 10 points) and a huge stop on 4^th and 1. Then again, Florida has done this 6 of the past 7 years—in six of the last seven years they were ranked yet fell to unranked opponents (including twice to Ole Miss):

2007 lost to Auburn

2005 lost to South Carolina

2004 lost to Mississippi St.

2003 lost to Ole Miss

2002 lost to Ole Miss

#9 Wisconsin@Michigan (25-27). Wisconsin was beating Michigan 19-0 but allowed the Wolverines to come back—their biggest comeback in the Big House ever. Michigan won 27-25 thanks to a failed two-point conversion by Wisconsin. Initially it was successful but called back due to an illegal man downfield.

Navy@#16Wake Forest (24-17). Wake Forest entered this game #1 in the nation in turnover margin. They had six turnovers in this game, good for 17 Navy points.

Houston@# 23East Carolina (42-21). After beating two ranked opponents in weeks one and two and starting off the season 3-0, ECU has now lost two in a row.

College Football Week 5 Preview of Alabama@Georgia

2008-09-26T19:04:00.015-04:00

Alabama@Georgia (-6.5). Is it possible that USC and Georgia could go down in the same week? Yes, although it's not probable, it is possible. The fact is that these teams have a lot of similarities. Despite all the talking we do about Knowshon Moreno, Alabama is the team leading the SEC in rushing offense thanks to Glenn Coffee and Mark Ingram. When it comes to scoring and rushing defense, these teams are at the top of the game, yet neither of them can brag about their passing defense. They're about equal in the turnover game as well. And most importantly, I happen to dislike both of their quarterbacks even in light of the fact that John Parker Wilson will leave Alabama will all sorts of records and Matthew Stafford will be an over-inflated first round pick in the NFL Draft. But don't get me wrong, if I had to pick one, it's obviously Stafford. His passing efficiency is much improved so far this year. And at least Stafford has an arm on him: 20 passes over 15 yards and 11 passes over 25 yards. He's strongest in the 2nd and 4th quarters, but not on third down (just hitting 50% of his passes). And he leads the top total offense in the SEC. But how is Georgia's young and ever-changing O-line going to hold up against Alabama's defense? They've already allowed 6 sacks this year after giving up a total of just 15 all of last year. And from what we saw in the USC-Oregon State game--it was all about blocking on the line. On a positive note for the Bulldogs, Alabama doesn't have a fantastic passing defense--nowhere near South Carolina's number one ranked unit that held Stafford to just 146 yards and no scores. But, what about true freshman kicker Blair Walsh--he's at 71.4% so far this year in successful field goals so that could be a factor (his predecessor Brandon Coutu was successful on 79% of his career field goals and 100% of his extra points). Could special team make a differnce?

Oddly enough while John Parker Wilson's biggest struggle last year was on 3rd down, completing just 43.9% of those passes, this year he is at his best in that situation (61.8% and 3 TDs this year). Last year Alabama had one of the worst red-zone defenses in the country--this year they've only given up 2 touchdowns in 7 tries. I point this out because while Georgia's passing game has "appeared" to improve--Alabama has also improved in a lot of categories as well. They only lost last year to Georgia by 3 points in overtime so these things could make the difference. Plus, who the hell is going to block Mount Cody for Georgia? Finally, Georgia is the most penalized team in the country and Alabama is one of the least.

My big question for this game is which team is going to be able to run the ball most successfully today? As Alabama has improved under Saban, they may lose, but not by much (largest losing margin in 2007 was 7). So taking Alabama +6.5 isn't a bad idea.

Some other thoughts:
* Georgia has won the last three in the series and is currently holding an 11-game winning streak.
* For Georgia, Knowshon Moreno is averaging 6.6 yards per rush and even more importantly, he already has 9 touchdowns this year. For Alabama, Glenn Coffee has averaged 8.6 yards per rush, but only has 2 touchdowns. But neither have faced worthy opponents on the defensive side of the ball.
* Alabama may have beaten the top ranked rushing defense in Conference USA, but that's a far cry from the top ranked rushing defense in the SEC.

A Girl's Fantasy Week 4

2008-09-23T21:28:00.013-04:00

Despite his five rushing touchdowns this weekend, there is a very good reason not to like Ronnie Brown and that’s if you were playing against him or, like Red Dogs owner, Sarah, you benched him against the Patriots. But was it really that unreasonable not to start him against a rushing defense that hadn’t given up a single touchdown in the last nine games? Miss Shortcake owner Alexandra, who played Sarah this week (and beat Sarah this week thanks to that “unfortunate” decision) doesn’t think so. And for those of you out there like me, who can sympathize with Sarah, this weekend brought up some painful memories. Sadly enough, it took me back to September 26, 2004 when Javon Walker had 200 yards receiving and three touchdowns…out of nowhere…and on my bench. He hadn’t had a single touchdown all year and two weeks before that had put up just 37 yards. As a warning to Brown owners, don’t get your hopes up because Walker had just 37 yards and one touchdown the week following his break out performance. And I was never able to redeem myself in that fantasy season---failing to make the playoffs or reap the benefit of Walker’s potential. Walker didn’t put up anywhere close to 200 yards again that season nor did he have three touchdowns again in a single game. And he hasn’t done it since. But, I will never forget it.

Brown has a bye this week so Sarah has an extra week to think about what happened. But for this week, she has to find a flex player out of either Brandon LLoyd or Lee Evans. Evans may not have found the end zone yet in 2008, but he is facing the Rams, currently boasting the worst scoring defense in the league. And while Lloyd has only improved each week, he does face a nice looking Philadelphia defense in week 4. If they sacked Ben Roethlisber ger eight times last week, what the hell is Kyle Orton going to do? Then again, it’s not like the Steelers excel when it comes to pass protection. And while Chicago hasn't fared much better, they are improving somewhat now that they finally got rid of that terrible Florida quarterback. The fact is that both Evans and Lloyd have seen about the same number of passes this year, so this one should really come down to which defense she prefers to face and I think it’s an obvious choice.

Strawberry Shortcake (and, yes, our league has divisions called "hot" and "pink" as well as teams named after dolls...and serial killers...and several teams named after people's pets) has already put LaDainian Tomlinson back in her line-up after benching him for Darren Sproles last week. She was scared off by the “not-100%” rumors, but the fact is that LT at 40% is still a beast.

Claudia finally redeemed the Fighting Turtles this week by beating the always-solid Golden Rules. The Turtles have been beyond pathetic this year so my advice to her: 1) drop your defensive back-ups. In leagues where you use independent defensive players there’s no reason to hoard them on your bench because they don’t score enough points alone; 2) Take Maurice Jones-Drew off of Injured Reserve before the Moral Commissioner fines you and replace DeAngelo Williams with him in your line up and 3) As long as you have Donte' Stallworth on IR you should pick up someone to replace him because our league allows that.

Golden Rules owner Melanie will be replacing Peyton Manning with Aaron Rodgers this week and starting the 4th best quarterback in A Girls’ Fantasy points instead of the 13th isn’t too bad of an option. Rodgers is a decent start against Tampa Bay who’s pass defense is struggling and the Buccaneers haven’t given up a single rushing touchdown all year so it’s a lot more likely the Packers will score through the air. Although, please see the Ronnie Brown disclaimer above as I’m only talking about trends not certainties.

Fellow-blogger Leila (see Not Jennifer Aniston) has six players on bye this week so her line-up decisions for Big Cats have already been made by the NFL-scheduling gods. Plus she has Michael Turner who helped her kick my ass last week. Unfortunately for the Black Widows and my own team, the Blonde Devils, life isn’t as simple. We are both in running back hell and should probably be fighting the free agent wires for some players. Christina is looking to start either Jamal Lewis or Rashard Mendenhall this week and I need to decide whether to stick with Ryan Grant and Earnest Graham, who’s teams face each other this week or replace them with rookies Steve Slaton or Johathan Stewart. I like Stewart’s match-up against Atlanta (they’ve allowed a 100+yard rusher in the last two games) but Slaton faces a slightly tougher rush defense in Jacksonville. For Christina, the fact that Mendenhall will be getting the start in place of an injured Willie Parker is negated by the unfortunate match-up against the Ravens. Lewis, on the otherhand, is in the opposite situation. The Bengals are pretty easy to run against and if the Browns actually go through on replacing Derek Anderson with Brady Quinn, they’re going to need to rely on Lewis a little bit more—someone give this guy 20 carries please! And if that happens Purple Haze will have to decide on a replacement for Derek Anderson between Matt Ryan and Trent Edwards. The rookie is still only a "play if the match up is right"guy so she should stick with Edwards against the Rams 30th ranked pass defense.

Speaking of free agent pick-ups, Dientes Locos’ reserve players absolutely suck! Sharon needs to join Christina and me in fighting for some free agents. Maybe we’ll all mud wrestle for them. (Just kidding ladies—was only adding a gratuitous girls fantasy reference for the guys).

Simy Says (Amy--what does that mean, anyway?) will be replacing her bye-week starters with Antwaan Randle-El and Warrick Dunn. The Redskins will need to get creative to beat Dallas and utilizing Randle-El for his many different skills, including quarterback, just might be part of their game plan. In addition, he has the second most receptions for Washington behind Santana Moss. As for Dunn, he sees more receptions than Earnest Graham and is getting around the same number of carries (which isn’t saying much), except for last week when he had less than half the carries, but more yards. And Green Bay has struggled against the run this year so there’s even more potential this week.

H-Town Cagedancers (again—what does that mean?) has to deal with a few byes all at once so unfortunately she is going to have to play Hines Ward against Baltimore this week. She also will have to use Selvin Young at running back against Kansas City, but she should be doing that anyway. The Chiefs along with the Lions are the only two teams in the league currently giving up over 200 yards per game on the ground.

And finally, Frog Legs will be starting one of her two Arizona running backs this week against the Jets, which may be pretty tough for a bottom third rushing team. But she doesn’t really have a choice. And if you’re wondering about the origin of Sarah L’s team name, just know that I bestowed this name upon her as punishment for not giving her team a name before the beginning of the season…completely unaware of the fact that she harbors an intense fear of frogs.

Good luck in Week 4 ; )

College Football Week 4...looking at the SEC (and OSU)...

2008-09-22T12:50:00.015-04:00

LSU@Auburn (26-21). For what it’s worth, the winner of this game has gone on to win the SEC West and play in the SEC Championship game in six of the past eight years. Of course, if that’s going to be LSU they’re going to have to find a way to move the ball into the red zone—just ten attempts in three games so far. And while Auburn’s issue typically isn’t getter there, it’s scoring there, this past Saturday they took a page from LSU’s book and their offense only even traveled into LSU territory four times. While Chris Todd looked okay, Ben Tate couldn’t get anything going on the ground. LSU had the opposite problem—Charles Scott was solid and set up their offense with 132 yards rushing. He didn’t average the 11.4 yards per carry had had coming into this game, but he was enough of a threat to detract from the inexperienced LSU quarterbacks (thanks to Ryan Perrilloux).

Perhaps the fact that none of the LSU quarterbacks have ever played a true college road game is why both Andrew Hatch and Jarrett Lee had such a rough welcome to the hostile environment called an SEC Road game, and in particular, Jordan-Hare Statidum. Hatch started the game but flip flopped with Lee and was eventually replaced by him. Lee was 0-5 in the first half, with his fifth attempt going for an interception. But the second half was a different story as he found rhythm (at times) and threw for two touchdowns. Worth noting: he didn’t have a single rushing attempt in the game.

Georgia@Arizona State (27-10). Arizona State looked pretty good at the beginning of this game—the very beggining. They came out playing fast and hard. They entered with the top passing offense in the Pac-10 against the 2^nd worst pass defense in the SEC (against mediocre teams). Of course the idea was to try to pass the ball, which they did. But if you seriously can’t run at all, you can’t possibly beat a top-ranked team (PLEASE NOTE: under no circumstances do I believe Georgia is the top team in the country or the SEC and exactly where I see them ranked will not be discussed until October, when it’s no longer just pure speculation). What can one of the worst rushing offenses in the nation do against one of the best rushing defenses? Nothing. The Sun Devils had a net 4 yards and averaged .2 yards per carry. But, then again, this team lost to UNLV last week. Maybe they actually need Keegan Herring the way Ohio State needs Beanie Wells?

As for Georgia, for those who feel so badly for Matthew Stafford and his “terrible” offensive line, you should note that he was sacked just once in this game, as opposed to Rudy Carpenter who had four. Also note that Stafford had negative yards rushing and just one touchdown pass. But, I will acknowledge, as I have in the past, that this guy can really make some great plays when pressured and while I don’t love the way he manages a game, he does have a good panic button when under pressure.

Troy@Ohio State (10-28). Ohio State entered this game at the bottom of the Big Ten in passing offense, sacks allowed, scoring offense and total offense. Enter Terrelle Pryor.

Yes, they were playing Troy, but this was the first true freshman to start at Ohio State in 30 years. Pryor looked good with 4 touchdowns and his only INT was a hail mary to end the first half. His passes looked effortless. So for a team that only had two passes go for over 15 yards in last two weeks, the Todd Boeckman issue has now been solved. Again, it was against Troy, but it was nice to finally see the Buckeyes hit some touchdowns in the red zone (first three games they had three touchdowns in ten trips—in this game they were 2-2). They were working with a short field on several occasions, which would explain why Pryor had just 139 yards passing yet four touchdowns. He also added 66 yards rushing.

The defense looked shabby at first and in addition to some poor tackling, the Buckeyes allowed Troy to have 150 yards passing in the first half. That changed in the second half though when Ohio State went to four defensive ends to stop the spread and held Troy to just 70 yards passing.

So we know now that Ohio State is not as good as we once thought they were, but that’s also in part due to the fact that they aren’t as experienced as we once thought. For the first time in Buckeye history, a true freshman snapped the ball to a true freshman. And a red-shirt freshman running the ball and this offense is still using training wheels. Their goal, as always, is to win the Big Ten...and they have some big challenges ahead with Wisconsin and Penn State.

It’s not the quantity of yards—it’s the quality.

Now for the sloppy...

Alabama@Arkansas (49-14)

Florida@Tennessee ( 30-6)

Alabama and Florida both looked great on Saturday, but that was thanks in large part to the mistakes of their opponents. One might expect the road team in SEC games to struggle somewhat, but it was the opposite at Razorback and Neyland Stadiums this week. Arkansas outgained Alabama in the first half of the game even though the Tide led 36-7 going into halftime. Quarterback Casey Dick may have passed for 190 yards, but he threw three interceptions—two which were taken directly in for scores. Their four team interceptions led to 21 Crimson Tide points. What was impressive about Alabama? Not John Parker Wilson. He was just 6-14, 74 yards and a touchdown (although that touchdown was his 42^nd did set a new school record as it was his 42^nd career touchdown pass). But their running game, led by Glenn Coffee accumulated 328 yards. Coffee averaged 16.2 yards. Alabama is now 4-0 going into next week’s game against Georgia.

As for that other game, Urban Meyer is now 4-0 against Tennessee. Tennessee looked horrible. Tim Tebow didn’t even have to do much (just 8-15, 96 yards, 2 TDs). Both of the touchdown drives started in Volunteer territory. Tennessee fumbled at their own 30, had a pick go for a touchdown and gave up a punt return for a touchdown.

A Girl's Fantasy vs. A Guy's...fantasy?

2008-09-17T15:53:00.004-04:00

I have the pleasure of playing in two completely different fantasy football leagues this fall, one all women, the other, all men (with the exception of me, of course). So far the differences have been vast. In the women's league, our draft took 1 hour and 50 minutes, and that was only because we paused it several times for computer crashes so as not to have technology interfere with the competitive edge of the league. In the guys' league, our draft took 3 hours and 12 minutes. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. In the girls' league, our names are a little too innocent. But, the guys league more than makes up for it. My favorite "I impregnated Bristol Palin." In the girls' league, I trust everyone to pay up so I don't collect the money until after the season is over. In the guys' league, if your dues aren't paid by week 2, your line-up is frozen until payment is made in full. In the women's league, the draft was all business. In the guys' league, it was all talk...discussing what they wouldn't turn down, amongst other things which I won't include here. (Ironic that these guys describe it like that when, from what I hear, the number of women they wouldn't turn down is infinite.) Best comment of the draft is when they were all crying about how long in took and I chimed in...afterward, the comment was "Even the girl thinks it's too long!" Somehow entering a guy's fantasy football league is liking stumbling and falling back into the 1950's. They don't realize that we play this game (we, being women) and we do it just as well, if not better. They can't fathom that a woman could watch football and analyze the stats better than they can. Well, to all of those doubters, consider this: many of us women are actually far superior to you when it comes to math. And, afterall, that's what this game is all about...numbers (and instinct, which is supposed to be our domain anyway).

Week 3: a Big Blow to the Big TEN...but not a bad day

2008-09-15T11:33:00.008-04:00

Despite what some may think, the Big Ten actually had a very good day last Saturday (9/13/08). More than we can say about the Pac-10, which lost 70% of it’s games, including four shockers: Washington State to Baylor, California to Maryland, Arizona State to UNLV and UCLA to BYU (okay, so they weren’t expected to win, but they lost by 59 points!) Every team in the Big Ten did exactly what they were supposed to do. Purdue even had a 17-point lead over a far superior Oregon team in the first half. They may have lost that game, but it took the Ducks going to over-time to do it. Michigan State's Javon Ringer put up 282 yards rushing. Wisconsin beat a Fresno State team whom many expected them to lose to and moved up to the Top 10 in the AP Rankings. And the fact is that Michigan v. Notre Dame was a toss up (the spread was an indicator of confusion as to who should win as opposed to what the score the be). Now, as to what happened to Ohio State? Nothing. They just aren’t as good of a team as we expected them to be after last year. While the entire team is to blame for this loss, it is worthwhile to mention that Todd Boeckman most certainly did not do his job, unless of course he was working for USC and then a meager 84 yards coupled with no scores and three turnovers would most certainly have qualified. Number seven was supposed to be the leader of the offense—a guy who you rely on to make good decisions—the man charged with spreading out the USC defense to diffuse their speed and set up the run. Not so much. Okay, so he hasn’t always been the best quarterback, but last weekend’s game he had the second worse passer rating of his career. And for those of you SEC fans who think his lowest must have been against LSU, just know that he had a rating of almost 135 in that game. It was last year’s Michigan game where he really stumbled. And as uninteresting as Ohio State’s defense has looked in 2008, I don’t even blame them for this loss. They were constantly forced to deal with short field positions (including two drives starting within their own 40 yard line). USC only had 350 total yards in this game.

But I’m not convinced that USC is the best football team in the country just yet. I liked their defense and if you look at their last two games against Big Ten opponents (Illinois 1/01/08 and last week’s miserable game), it’s pretty obvious that a team without a strong passing game has no chance to set up the run against them. I think we were all guilty of giving Ohio State too much credit. Last year was a down year for the Big Ten and being the best of the worst doesn’t really say much. (Please note, I am in no way supporting the SEC bandwagon that they are far superior and the Big Ten is weak, I am just stating the obvious, that they had a down year. Nothing more to read into that.). Sanchez looked good against a tired OSU defense but didn’t really bear the burden of moving the ball for 60 minutes. And this is a sloppy Trojan team in their first two games with the high amount of penalties and penalty yards they’ve incurred.

And yet, I stand by my initial belief that the winner of this game plays for the National Title against Oklahoma.

And to my friend Eric, who likes to argue with me for no apparent reason, I’ve dedicated this “Ode to the Gambler” to you. You need to understand that these "odds" don't reflect how good a team is supposed to be, especially in the opening weeks of college football when we essentially know nothing. And I’m sure you already know this, but just wanted to give me a hard time about the Big Ten even though they won the majority of their games, which is more than can be said about the Pac-10. But let me remind you, that the odds simply reflect what "you" think of the teams and how they are going to do. Luckily “you” the gambler will get smarter as the year goes on, just as we all will. Afterall, the information out there right now is pure speculation. Seriously, can pre-season rankings be more of a joke? They're only published because it’s good television and it makes money. It just doesn't make sense to have rankings this early in the year and that's why my rankings, will not be out until October.

By the way, Terrelle Pryor completed almost 80% of his passes.

What We Learned from Week 2 of College Football

2008-09-10T10:39:00.014-04:00

While no two ranked opponents faced off in Week 2, there were still some interesting things to learn. But for those of you who think you learned anything watching Ohio State sleepwalk against Ohio University, you need to re-evaluate for college football watching skills. And please keep in mind that this Ohio State team can be very ugly at times. Please see eg., Ohio State v. Akron U., 9/08/2007 and Ohio State@ Washington, 9/15/2007. The Buckeyes rebounded in the 3rd quarter of those games, as opposed to the 4th quarter last week, but still only had three points in the first halves of both of those games.

Miami @ Florida was actually a pleasant surprise with Florida up by just 6 points with 13:25 left in the 4th quarter. On the next play Percy Harvin zoomed around and into the end zone for a two yard touchdown behind the effort of some pretty amazing and absolutely crucial blocks. Game over after that. And even though Tim Tebow was not the main factor in that play, which was possibly the most critical play of the game, he did obviously have a significant role in the game with over 300 all-purpose yards and 2 touchdowns. But, seriously, Musburger, did you really have to call Florida "the Tebows?"

West Virginia @ East Carolina. Was anyone really shocked about this one? Yes, it's a great win. It's just that it wasn't completely inconceivable. I think 2007 may have numbed many of us to the idea of unranked teams defeating ranked opponents. And for those of you calling ECU this year's Hawaii, that's such a meaningless term and really the equivalent of calling them this year's BCS-Impostor (i.e., a team that could go undefeated, yet un-proven and end up in a BCS Bowl game where they will be exposed for the non-BCS team that they truly are). Let's review the 2007 Hawaii team for a moment. Hawaii beat not three, not two, but just one ranked team. That would be Boise State. And just how good was that 19th-ranked-Boise State team (that would eventually end the season unranked)? Well, they didn't beat a single ranked opponent all year and they only entered the top-25 in November after waiting around for all of the ranked teams to kill each other off. And for what it's worth, Boise State finished the year with a loss to East Carolina in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Game (I won't even comment on that ridiculous name for now). But if you're going to give credit to Hawaii for beating Boise, then I suppose credit must also be given to ECU since the Broncos were actually ranked 24th at the time. ECU has now beaten two more ranked opponents back-to-back (#17 Virginia Tech and #8 West Virginia) and is reminding me of their 1999 squad, but better. Can't we just call them this year's BCS-Wildcard? I find that much less insulting.

What we learned the first week of College Football

2008-09-01T13:44:00.023-04:00

1. Georgia v. Georgia Southern (45-21). First and most importantly, this is the first game for Georgia without UGA VI and it is important to recognize his contribution to the team. Under his reign as mascot, Georgia won two SEC championships (2002 and 2005), two Sugar Bowl victories (2003 and 2008) and more victories over ranked opponents than any other Uga. May he rest in peace.

What did we learn about Matthew Stafford? He played a great game...had a career high 275 yards against a I-AA school...and still has yet to throw for 300 yards in a game. In conclusion, no insight gained here. The offensive line looked good paving the way for 6.6 yards per carry. Even against an unranked, 1-AA opponent, that's an impressive number. Then again, I have always considered their O-line to be fine. Let's briefly review last year. The O-line gave up a total of 15 sacks. If you don't think that's significant, just ask Rudy Carpenter or Jimmy Clausen for their opinions. Also, a freshman running back (i.e., Knowshon Moreno) managed to average 5.38 yards per carry, which is around the top 30 of all players if you just consider those with 150+ carries. Georgia's overall average was somewhat lower (4.53 ypc), but having a QB who rushed for negative yards on the season doesn't help that stat. As for Moreno, in this first game of 2008 he carried the ball just eight times, but three of those were for touchdowns.

2. Ohio State v. Youngstown State (43-0). Ryan Pretorius tied a school record for field goals with 5 against Youngstown State. Certainly they were playing it conservative to prevent injury (ironically, Beanie Wells left the game with an injury, came back with a boot but ultimately the results were negative). So while the offense didn't wow me, all three quarterbacks looked good and the defense is perfect in the only category that really counts, scoring.

3. USC @ Virginia (52-7). This game really couldn't show us much as they were basically playing a high school team in Virginia, who only returned ten starters and 30 lettermen from last year. Mark Sanchez looked great despite favoring his knee somewhat during warm-ups. Impressive= seven different Trojans scored touchdowns. Otherwise, nothing to conclude here.

4. Oklahoma v. Chattanooga (57-2). Nothing really to learn...they played Chattanooga.

5. Florida v. Hawaii (56-10). I was impressed by the fact that Tim Tebow didn't score a rushing touchdown. Going into Saturday's game against Hawaii, he had 14 straight games with at least one rushing and one passing touchdown. If Florida wants to win another title, it can't be the Tim Tebow show. Tebow can either lead this team to another national championship or himself to another Heisman trophy, but not both. 11 different players had at lest one rush in this game and true freshman Jeffrey Demps led with 76 yards (okay, so 62 of those yards were on one touchdown play). Florida's defense showed up with two interceptions returned for touchdowns. In 13 games last season they did that just once. On a negative note, 13 penalties for 90 yards...sloppy.

6. Missouri v. Illinois (52-42). Saying that Missouri is only going to be as good as it's defense allows it to be is getting to be a little old.

So let's talk about Illinois for a moment. In last year's Rose bowl the reason Illinois struggled was because USC stopped their run game. In the first half of that game, they had multiple running plays for negative yards and just under 40 yards net rushing. In the second half they had to play catch-up and pass the ball more. They did that successfully, but without the ground game and down by three scores at the half, they were already demoralized. Something to recognize from 2007 is that Illinois averaged over 300 rushing yards per game in their 9 wins but just 134 rushing yards per game in their 4 losses. What happened on Saturday against Missouri? They had a net of negative rushing yards in the first half and had to play catch-up and pass the ball more. They did that successfully, but without a Rashard Mendenhall to power the ground game and down by three scores at the half, it made it tough to surmount the deficit despite a solid second half effort. If it sounds like I'm writing the same thing from above, I am. Illinois must run the ball successfully to win.

7. LSU v. Appalachian State (41-13). Charles Scott looked good with 144 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half. Again, nothing new here. Les Miles is 15-0 in non-conference games and has outscored those opponents 540-123.

8. West Virginia v. Villanova (48-21). Pat White passed Marc Bulger for the most total yards in school history and became the 4th West Virginia quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a single game. He completed 25-33 passes and added another 63 yards rushing. Why I'm not convinced about his success just yet? His 6.3 yards per completion and the fact that this was against Villanova. But what I learned about Pat White this week came more from Michigan v. Utah (23-25). Rich Rodriguez may have "stepped up" to Michigan but he must be really missing White right now.

Speaking of Michigan, I was pretty surprised that their defense looked so poor despite returning 7 starters. They allowed 253 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. This unit struggled against the spread last year, but I was surprised to see that was still the case with spread-guru-Rodriguez in place. On offense, Jake Long and Mike Hart were clearly missed as Michigan had a total of 36 rushing yards. It makes a big difference when you don't have a 100-yard-per-game rusher to rely on. On a positive note, Steven Threet looked good, despite the fact that Nick Sheridan actually had better numbers. And the defense looked much better in the second half, allowing just 50 passing yards and coming up with an interception. Utah only had a total of 36 rushing yards themselves so this defensive unit did something right. In conclusion, I don't think this loss says anything about Rodriguez or Michigan. We knew their offense was decimated and we knew this affect their defense by keeping them on the field longer (almost 36 minutes). Michigan is rebuilding and maybe this loss knocked some of the arrogance out of Rich-Rod.

9. Clemson v. Alabama (10-34). No one can say that they are surprised that Alabama won this game. That was a thought in the back of everyone's mind going into it. It's just how badly they lost. But, this is the challenge for Tommy Bowden's team. The can't snap themselves out of it when things don't go their way. This game is an example and hopefully this season won't be. If they can pull a Memento here and forget this game just happened, Clemson should still be fine to win the ACC.

10. Auburn v. Louisiana-Monroe (34-0). Inconclusive. Chris Todd completed 50% of his passes for 70 yards. Hopefully he's just warming up. The rushing attack was the focus for the Tigers with 6 different players rushing for 321 yards. But the lack of offensive scoring was a bit scary. They had their only rushing touchdown while up 17-0 and their only passing touchdown while up 24-0.

Finally, the Tennesse @ UCLA (24-27 OT) game was the best game I watched all week. Despite Jonathan Crompton's numbers (19-41, 189 yards, INT), he made good decisions at times and placed the ball downfield well...at times. But where was his offensive line? Remember, the guys who gave up just 4 sacks all of last year? Crompton was under duress for a good portion of the night and had to throw the ball away on numerous occasions. Montario Hardesty looked strong. Arian Foster also looked good despite the inopportune fumble. And at first the Volunteers secondary looked great, but they completely gave in to Norm Chow in the 4th quarter. Bruins quarterback Kevin Craft started out the game 7-18, 66 yards and 4 INTs in the first half. But his second half was a different story. He made sharp, accurate throws and completed about 75% of his passes (18-25, 193 yards, TD). This game was sloppy with many mistakes, but I think both of these teams have great potential and I was impressed overall with what I saw.

And so it begins...again...

2008-08-28T10:25:00.008-04:00

College football begins tonight and with that comes the end of my open-schedule Saturdays until December. From today forward, I will awake at 8am on each and every Saturday, in order to listen to the pre-game discussions and prepare my space, where I will sit for the next 12-14 hours while drinking, eating and staring at the 12 games in front of me. I won't be wearing a Notre Dame jersey or Ohio State one or anything team affiliated though. Instead, I'll be in a pair of high heels and likely one of my 350 black dresses. (While many may disagree, I believe that the dress is one of the most comfortable outfits one can wear, especially when sitting in a folding chair all day). And I won't be drinking a beer or a bloody mary or any of my other favorite drinks with vodka. Instead, I will be drinking water and a tall, non-fat, sugar-free-vanilla latte from time to time when I can convince Brett to run across the street and grab one for me from Starbucks. That's because I won't be waking up and watching College Game Day before heading over to a sports bar to watch the games, but instead I'll be attending the pre-game meeting before taking my place on the set of ABC's College Football Studio Show, as I always do. And I actually get paid to do this.

Wow...there are two ladies in the same fantasy league...

2008-08-26T17:14:00.007-04:00

In all of the years of randomly drawing names to determine the order in which we choose our draft order, it finally worked to someone's advantage. Melanie has Adrian Peterson as a keeper in the first round and elected to go last...meaning that she gets All Day as the 12th pick of the 1st round.

Meanwhile, I had the guys on the set of ABC's College Football Studio show pick the names from a hat while we were at rehearsal on Saturday and the official name-drawer, Dave Bearman, was pretty impressed when he picked the second name. He responded with a surprised observation that the first two names were Steph and Amy, two female names, meaning that two girls are in the league. He noted that he wasn't sure if he knew two girls that played fantasy football, let alone in the same league. I laughed to myself and told him to just wait. Next name, Leila...then Claudia...then Sharon, Sarah, Jacquie, Sarah, Christina, Melanie, Malia and Alexandra. Yes, all ladies. And despite how much of a little girl my friend Eric from law school acts like, I'm not letting him in our all-female-fantasy league.

Fantasy Keeper Options 2008

2008-08-12T12:38:00.001-04:00

(my fantasy league is apparently still on vacation)
It's fantasy football pre-season and in usual fashion, no one from my fantasy league has bothered to read my emails or the extensive document I attached to one of them, explaining in grand detail exactly how the fantasy keeper selections work. Therefore, in an attempt to save myself time and aggravation, I am choosing the keepers for them.

Christina actually already told me who she's keeping for the Black Widows this year, but I was imitating her general practice of tuning me out and happened to miss what she said. I think she should probably keep Santonio Holmes in the 9th round as that's a pretty good value for him. Not bad for a guy who had 8 touchdowns and almost 1,000 yards last year.

Purple Haze has the least number of options as Malia added and dropped (which automatically disqualifies a player from being kept) a multitude of players in order to get her team on track for a championship last year. It worked, she won the league title and now her only true keeper option is Ben Roethlisberger in the 6th round or nothing at all. While he had a lot of TDs, Roethlisberger's passing yards were on the low end in 2007. I expect the Steelers' offense to improve this year, but this is a very inconsistent QB#1. With that said, he finished last year as our 4th best fantasy QB and he's a good deal in the 6th round so I'm keeping big Ben for Malia. By the way, while it's hard to convey my lack of enthusiasm for Purple Haze to the fullest extent here without being able to use voice inflection, please note that I harbor intense resentment towards her team, which unwittingly pays tribute to Jimmy Hendrix, as I lost to her in the Finals. (Fact: Malia loves purple but when she came up with her team's name she had no clue as to its origin).

Both Malia and Sarah are new moms in 2008 so congrats to them--hopefully their babies will create enough of a distraction to prevent them from picking up the good free agents...hehehe...

Red Dogs owner Sarah will be keeping Braylon Edwards in the 5th round. His 16 TDs and almost 1300 yards last year make this one a no-brainer, assuming he can keep his shoes on and keep people from stepping on the back of his feet. I'll mention Sarah's other options just because it wouldn't be football if I didn't mention Brett Favre. And I don't mean that in a complimentary way. She could keep Favre in the 8th round, which is what his true value is thanks to his projected decreased passing yards, increased interceptions and downgrade in offense. No thanks. The next option is to keep his new teammate, Jerricho Cotchery, in the 7th round. Cotchery somehow caught 82 passes for 1130 yards in 2007, but had just 2 TDs. Theoretically those numbers should improve with a hall-of-fame-qb throwing to him this year. But, I wouldn't count on it.

Jacquie is new to the league this year and while she was on vacation in New Orleans, she won the keeper rights to Plaxico Burress in the 5th round or Eli Manning in the 7th round. Manning was a great fantasy quarterback in weeks 1 and 17 last year (not to be confused with weeks 1 through 17). Clearly the Super Bowl MVP was not a fantasy MVP throughout the regular season. Just goes to show how meaningless fantasy really is. Burress has an ankle injury keeping him out of the pre-season, which actually could benefit him if you happen to be one of those people (such as myself) who thinks the pre-season is all risk and no reward for veteran players. Burress has only caught one touchdown in 2008 so far and that was the one that won Super Bowl XLII. That plus the fact that he's Eli's favorite target makes him worthy of a 5th round pick.

Alexandra won the rights to Julius Jones in the 5th round or Isaac Bruce in the 14th round. Since she just got back from spending the summer abroad in Oxford, England (tough life), she may or may not know that both of these players moved around during the off-season. Bruce signed with the 49ers, after being released by the Rams, and although I can't be too excited for a guy who's almost as old as Brett Favre and catching passes from Alex Smith, I do like his upside. Not as much as Julius Jones' potential though! I love the move to Seattle from Dallas where he had to share his carries with Marion Barber. This former Irish tailback had over 1,000 yards two years ago and there's no reason why he can't surpass that with the Seahawks. But what remains to be seen (yuck-awful use of passive voice) is what he can do as far as scoring goes...

And for our third and final new fantasy member, Brooke, who has been busy working on her 15th career while flying across country to the ESPYs and getting back surgery and whatever other trouble she can possibly get herself into , the players at decent keeper value are Brandon Marshall in the 13th or Lendale White in the 5th. Apparently Marshall went to Iraq in the off-season with the amount and types of injuries he had-- perhaps warfare is what they mean when they say "off-field incidents." If he plays he definitely going to be worth more than a 13th round pick, whereas White could easily be a 5th round value depending on how our draft goes. White should be the starter in Tennessee, but with the pick of Chris Johnson in the first round of this year's NFL Draft , who knows? I'm giving Brooke Mr. Marshall.

Golden Rules without a doubt should keep Adrian Peterson in Round one and then choose to go 10th in the draft order. Unlike most of the "guys" out there who leave their draft order to random chance, this league takes control and uses the random drawing of names from a hat merely to provide guidance as to the order in which we choose our draft order. Therefore, Melanie can easily end up with All-Day as the 10th pick in the first round. Last time I spoke to Melanie she explained to me that she had fallen from the uneven bars and then went biking on a nice path-- or actually the drugs explained that to me. Therefore I'm going to just go ahead and confirm this decision for her.

Big Cats owner Leila will be taking a 10-day excursion to Peru right in the middle of draft week and although I wanted to kill her at first, we have finally come to a resolution as to when our draft date is, so all is forgiven. Miss Peru has two decent wide receiver keeper options as she can keep Randy Moss in Round 2 or Greg Jennings in Round 12. Moss is definitely a second round pick and Jennings is more like a 6th or 7th round pick. Obviously the value lies in the latter, but I'll let her decide if she wants to secure Moss in that second round spot.

Dientes Locos, also known as Bubble Girl, Wine Sipping MBAs and Beer Guzzling Machines has some pretty nasty keeper options and I don't mean nasty as in Malia's favorite song. Go with Leon Washington in the 9th round or nothing at all. 9th is probably a little high for a back-up who's only going to touch the ball in single-digit numbers per game without an injury to Thomas Jones.

As for me, I may have to pass on a keeper this year. My options are Tedd Ginn Jr. in the 9th, Joey Galloway in the 6th, Chris Cooley in th 5th or DeAngelo Williams in the 3rd. Any thoughts?

SEC West Auburn vs. LSU

2008-08-07T11:03:00.001-04:00

Everyone can pretty much agree that the West will come down to LSU and Auburn at this point. Auburn's schedule is very do-able with games against LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia all at home. But, LSU is the defending champ with more than enough talent in the 2-deep on both lines. The problem with LSU is that they lost both of their mediocre quarterbacks from last fall, their top rusher in Jacob Hester and their top receiver when he was healthy in Early Doucet, not to mention top 5 draft pickGlenn Dorsey and 2 of their defensive backs. This team is loaded, but it's a team that only got where it was last year because of the disaster that took place in college football. From week to week we didn't know which #2 ranked team would fall or which ranked opponent would lose to an unranked. You had about 50 ranked teams falling to unranked, a 2-loss national championship team and a goofy sophomore as the heisman trophy winner. I'm just glad 2007 is over.

Auburn is dealing with change at quarterback and more importantly, their entire offensive system. But, the spread offense might just be the key to put this team over the edge and into a national championship contention. Last year with the most unexperienced offensive line ever to play under Tuberville here, the team stepped out and fell flat on it's face in consecutive home games against USF and Mississippi State. This year the line returns 4 starters. Which will be good for the quarterback, whoever he is. Kodi Burns and Chris Todd competing for the job. Burns ran Franklin's offense well in the bowl game against Clemson. And Todd has experience in this offense having played for Tony Franklin in high school. The running backs are more experienced this year and perhaps Brad Lester will decide to stay academically eligible for the entire season this year.

In sum, why I like Auburn over LSU:
* Auburn's new offense--they're addressing their biggest weakness from last year--passing game. They finished 103rd in passign offense and 97th in total offense.
* Plus, losing Brandon Cox is an opportunity for them-- you can't throw for 100 yards and 4 INTs against Georgia and expect to win.
* Auburn also has an improved offensive line, which was the most unexperienced line Tubberville had ever coached at auburn last year
* LSU's loss of key players and especially the question at quarterback is not something they had anticipated. The losses are Early Doucet, Jacob Hester and three DB's is also significant. They lose the leading rusher--both passers, the two interception leaders--and top 5 draft pick Glenn Dorsey.
* LSU did well in a strange year for college football and beat an OSU team that wasn't anywhere near ready to be playing for the title again after losing basically their entire defense after 2006.

Tennessee 2008 Football Preview

2008-08-06T13:57:00.002-04:00

Tennessee.

Phillip Fulmer did the unthinkable and finally went outside of the "family" for his coaches this off-season. I wasn't a big fan of David Cutcliffe even though this offense managed to have the 2nd best passing yards in the SEC behind Erik Ainge. And I wasn't a big fan of Ainge even though he managed to have the third best passing efficiency in the SEC. He had -32 rushing yards on the year and the win over Georgia had nothing to do with his meager 165 yards and no scores. Take out the Arkansas St. and Kentucky games and there goes 11 of his TDs. Thus, I'm looking forward to seeing what new Offensive Coordinator and QB coach Dave Clawson can do with fourth-year junior quarterback Jonathan Crompton.

Good news for the Vols-- since the spring and the decision to curfew themselves, the team has not had any reported off-field incidents. Also good-- Arian Foster and Lucas Taylor at tailback and receiver, respectively. This offensive line gave up a total of 4 sacks last year. And even though this unit may be one of the best in the SEC if not the country, their position coach is not satisfied with their performance so far and I consider that the right attitude.

On defense, they were one of the worst teams in the SEC last year in several categories, especially when it came to passing yards and passing efficiency defense. Their rushing defense was down considerably too, with the exception of the fairy-tale game against Georgia. The linebackers and defensive backs look strong this year. So the question remains--how will this line be?

Texas Football Preview 2008

2008-08-06T12:19:00.002-04:00

Last year re-discovering the zone read gave this team a much-needed spark—especially for Jamaal Charles. He finished 10^th in the country in rushing. In fact, in the three games Texas lost in 2007, Charles had less than 100 yards in each of them (he also had lower numbers against Rice, Iowa State and Baylor, but those were all blowouts). Colt McCoy had somewhat of a slump—his TDs were down and his INTs were up. This year defense should work on keeping opponents out of the end zone in goal-to-go situations (going into the bowl game they had allowed touchdowns almost 90% of the time in that situation). McCoy is injury prone. Did Mack improve their pass defense last year? Just 99^th in 2006 allowing 236 ypg. No! It got worse in 2007. They were 109^th in 2007 and allowed 277 ypg. Good rushing defenses the past two years though(2006 61.15 ypg (3^rd in nation) and 2007 93.38 ypg(6th in the nation). But they have just 4 defensive starters back. You don't have to worry about that as much on a Mack Brown team as you would another team. But it still could have an impact.

Texas A&M Football Preview 2008

2008-08-06T12:19:00.001-04:00

The running game was the one good thing the Aggies had going for them since Jorvorskie Lane arrived on campus. They went from being in the bottom half of the Big 12 in rushing in 2004 to 2^nd each of the past three seasons and in the top 15 nationally. With that said, it is important to point out that tailback Mike Goodson had about the same number of rushing yards as Lane did last year. If you take out the Miami game in which Lane only had 2 carries, in the other 12 games, Goodson surpassed Lane in 75% of the games. While Goodson carries the ball down the field, Lane is the one that puts it in the endzone and there's no reason why he can't continue do that (16 touchdowns to Lane's 4). Questions for this team? Will Stephen McGee get the new West Coast Offense? Will Lane lose weight, be aggressive as a blocker, successfully be utilized as a receiver (Goodson had three times as many receptions, receiving yards and receiving tds as Lane did last year) and realize his potential to play in the NFL as a fullback?

Kansas Football Preview 2008

2008-08-06T12:17:00.001-04:00

Kansas could have some problems this year with just 6 starters on offense. The interior of the line remains intact, but hey lose both tackles. And while Dexton Fields may have had the most receptions in each of the previous two seasons, they lose their top producer in Marcus Henry, who had 1,104 yds and 10 tds on 54 receptions last year (18.78 yards per catch-- pretty impressive). They get 9 starters back on a defense that led this team last year. But the 8th best rush defense in the country last year loses right defensive tackle James McClinton--who had 39 tackles and 11 tackles for a loss. All three Linebackers return. Gone in the secondary is Aquib Talib--but for a unit that finished fourth in the country in interceptions with 23--Talib only accounted for 5 of them. Justin Thornton started the last four games and has 5 INTs himself.

Todd Reesing had 213 straight passes without an INT (school record). Through week 5 they had outscored 4 mediocre opponents 214-24—but week 6 was their first big 12 opponent. What worries me about Kansas? Who did they beat last year?

Missouri Football Preview 2008

2008-08-06T12:15:00.001-04:00

The thought last year was that they'd be as good as their defense allowed them to be. Yet going into Week 6 they were allowing over 275 passing yards per game. They ended allowing around 256 yards per game—96^th in the nation. I guess that’s okay when your offense is putting up almost 500 yards per game (5^th in nation, 2^nd in Big 12 to TT ,of course). This year once again, this team will be as good as their defense allows. 10 starters on defense returning. But they lack depth. They don't play Oklahoma this year-- which is good since that was their only loss last year—twice. Rush defense was 25^th in 2007. But for this team, stopping the running game doesn't seem to benefit them significantly. They held two teams under 100 yards rushing last year and ironically, those were their worst games. The Illinois game was the only one they didn't win by double digits and they lost the two games against Oklahoma. As for their own running game, they lose Tony Temple, but Derrick Washington has tons of potential.

Nebraska Football Preview 2008

2008-08-06T12:14:00.003-04:00

This team is all about potential this year. You've got to love the hiring of Bo Pelini. He comes from a team that was 3rd in the nation in total defense to a team that was last in the Big 12 in total yards allowed, points allowed, sacks and rushing yards allowed. The schedule is tough--they play Virginia Tech in week 5--but defensive mind Pelini had no problem with the Hokies last year when LSU held them to just 150 yards of offense and one meager touchdown. It may not be LSU, but this is still Nebraska with about 1200 pounds of man returning on the front four. Their main losses come at linebacker and defensive back. But with Pelini's reputation with developing the secondary, I'm not concerned.

Offensively, they now they have a quarterback they can trust in Joe Ganz. He set three of the schools top five passing records in just five starts. Marlon Lucky says he's excited to play for Pelini and he should be. They were in the bottom half of the Big 12 in rushing last year and that stat should drastically improve this year. The line slimmed down over the winter and their conditioning changed to focus on speed and stamina. They have four players back with substantial starting experience.

Texas Tech Football Preview 2008

2008-08-06T12:14:00.001-04:00

I thought Mike Leach was actually brilliant for leaving Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree behind on Big 12 media day. His reasoning is that they get a lot of attention already, and the team is more than those two players. Furthermore, those two players do not determine the success of their season, they have done their job. But rather, it will come down to whether the other guys play up to their potential. And when he says other he's referring to the worst running game in the nation last year and defense. They finished 3rd in total defense last year and Leach is even more excited about it this year. This unit actually finished first in the Big 12 in passing defense, but it's rushing and scoring defense that really could use some improvement. In their four losses last year, they gave up an average of 45 points. It's Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill's first full season on the job and I expect there to be significant improvement from last year's fill-in position.

Oklahoma Football Preview 2008

2008-08-06T12:12:00.001-04:00

This team was unbelievably blessed in 2007 with two redshirt freshman that may be the key to their next national championship title. Sam Bradford and Demarco Murray. The offensive line couldn't look any better. Five senior starters return to a line that gave up just 14 sacks in 2007 (5th in the nation). While their offense ranked 17th nationally, they were only 7th in the Big 12. This conference is all about offense, especially passing, so the Sooners are going to have to step it up in 2008. With Bradford and Murray having more experience combined with the team's leading pass catcher from '07 in Juaquin Iglesias (led team with 68 catches) and tight end Jermaine's Gresham's 11 TDs from last year, the only thing this offense needs to worry about is staying healthy...and turnovers (according to Stoops). Stoops claimed that turnovers and penalties were a "major hit" on them last year and that both need to be reduced for them to be successful this year. The turnovers may have come at inopportune times, but they most certainly were not a significant problem. OU tied for 23rd in the nation for turnovers lost...it's not really that bad. But, Stoops is right when it comes to penalties-- they were at the bottom half when it came to getting in trouble and being punished for it. And maybe Stoops should also pay attention to what this team does on 4th down. Not only do they not stop teams on the desperation down, they don't push themselves to do anything about the impending loss of possession. It doesn't matter what you do on the first 3 downs if you don't finish it-- and speaking to that--in the inexplicable loss to Colorado, the defense gave up the last 20 points of the game to Colorado and knocked Oklahoma out of the top 5.

As for the defense-- another solid line. The rush defense was excellent all year, even against A&M and Texas, until they faced West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. In that debacle of a game for the Sooners, their rush defense went from allowing 92 yards per game to 110 to finish the year. That's a difference between finishing 6th in the country (1st in the Big 12) and being 17th in the country (3rd in the Big 12). Not only did they end on a bad note, but this unit loses 5 starters, including their 4 leading tacklers (three from the secondary and what was their best linebacker in Curtis Lofton). They gave up some big passing games last year and the Texas Tech game killed them (420 yards passing).

Perhaps the no-huddle offense will catch the Sooners up to the Big 12 offense statistically speaking. But even if they don't, they seem to find ways to score just fine without moving the ball too much. (5th in nation and 2nd in Big 12 behind Kansas in Scoring offense).

Last year what happened to this team?

This team is by no means perfect and those who believe in a sophomore slump best stay away. I, however, believe they can win a national championship this year. And it might just be fitting for Ohio State and OU to play each other for that $30,000 crystal football given that these two teams combined have played in and lost four of the last five national title games. Unfortunately, that wouldn't break the streak for one of the coaches as that game would hand either Jim Tressel or Stoops their third loss in three tries.