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Congrats Phillies

You kicked their asses.

COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW: The Pac 10

Yep, another preview of another conference, and if you don't like it you can go straight to hell.

1. UCLA
Losing Westbrook, Love, and Mbah a Moute would cripple most teams, or at least get them to slow down, but UCLA just reloads with the #1 recruiting class in the nation and takes aim at a fourth consecutive Final Four. Darren Collison and Josh Shipp are back, so the back court is solid. If that's not enough, they'll add Jrue Holliday (#2 Rivals 150), Jerime Anderson (#37), and Malcolm Lee (#47) to give them one of the best groups of guards in the country. There are a few questions in the front court, where they have depth in James Keefe, Michael Roll, and Alfred Aboya, but it remains to be seen if any of them have star power. The most likely breakout player in the front court is yet another freshman, either center J'Mison Morgan (#25) or forward Drew Gordon (#45). Even if none of those guys are a major talent, this team is loaded.

2. USC
OJ Mayo is gone to the Wolves Grizzlies, along with Davon Jefferson and Angelo Johnson, who cried when coach Tim Floyd said he couldn't guarantee a starting spot, but they are being replaced by maybe the top freshman in the country in wing Demar DeRozan, who could be the second most athletic player in the country behind Rico Tucker. Daniel Hackett was at times the Trojans best player, and he's back along with force inside Taj Gibson, so they'll be loaded in all areas. Plus, they have little Romeo, so that's nice.

3. Washington
Yes, Washington. The Huskies were a very talented team last year (wins over UCLA and Arizona) but just couldn't quite seem to put forth the consistent effort needed to grab an NCAA berth. With just three point floppy haired jesus Ryan Appleby gone from last season, they're in a great position this year. Jon Brockman is back to own the paint, and guards Quincy Pondexter and Justin Dentmon are top talents just waiting to break out (of course, they've been waiting for two years). One of their biggest weaknesses was point guard play, but incoming freshman Isaiah Thomas (not that one) is a top 100 recruit and should help.

4. Arizona State
It feels weird to put the Sun Devils this high on the list, but they're here for a reason, mainly James Harden deciding to return for his sophomore season. Harden can score from outside or in, and shoots a very high percentage for a guard. One of the best players in the conference. Nearly the entire team is back from last year's bubble reject, highlighted by center Jeff Pendergraph and guard Ty Abbott. If Jerren Shipp can improve to near the level of his brothers, they'll be that much more dangerous.

5. Arizona
First Brandon Jennings heads to Europe, then Lute Olson retires followed by three high level recruits for 2009 dropping out their commitments. It's been a tough offseason for the Wildcats, but they still have enough this season to be in the NCAA conversation, led by Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill. Budinger is an elite scorer, but is a little soft, and Hill is an absolute beast in the paint. The keys this season will be the play of point guard Nic Wise, without Jerryd Bayless to help out, as well as freshman center Jeff Withey (#36 Rivals), the only real big man option beyond Hill.

6. Washington State
I'm only putting them this high because their style of play is maddeningly annoying and will certainly get them a handful of wins against teams that get frustrated, but the Cougars are in a bit of trouble this season after losing Robbie Cowgill, Derrick Low, and Kyle Weaver. Aron Baynes is big and almost as fat as that dude from Santa Clara, but he's effective. Taylor Rochestie is back as well, and will be asked to score more with all that firepower gone from last year. The recruiting class is deep, if not overly talented, with Mychal Thompson's son Clay the only real standout (#51).

7. Cal
How do you replace Ryan Anderson and Devon Hardin? You don't, you mostly just cry. Second leading scorer Patrick Christopher is back, but it will be interesting to see how he does being the #1 guy instead of being back in the back. Point guard Jerome Randle is also back, but his assist/turnover ratio of 1.2 shows he needs a lot of polish. The Golden Bears really need Duke transfer Jamal Boykin to live up to his potential. Freshman guard DJ Seeley (#58) is a scorer.

8. Stanford
The Lopez twins both bolted, even though if he stayed this would have absolutely become Robin's team, and that's pretty much all the Cardinal talent. Guards Anthony Goods and Mitch Johnson are adequate, but that's all they are. Forward Lawrence Hill is probably their best player, but his numbers dropped massively from his sophomore to junior year. He'll need to recapture his form of two years ago for Stanford to be at all relevant.

9. Oregon
Major talent leaving, with Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen, and Bryce Taylor all gone. A very solid recruiting class, highlighted by big man Michael Dunigan and wing Matthew Humphrey gives hope, but the scoring load will fall to little man Tajuan Porter. If you've seen him play, he's only 5-6 but makes up for it by chucking the ball from three every single time he touches it. Without those other scorers and their leadership, expect him to lead the nation in three point attempts and ill advised shots, and probably turnovers too (1.0 A/TO last year) making Scottie Reynolds look under control. Fat Gopher reject Josh Crittle is a freshman here too.

10. Oregon State
Isn't it about time to transfer Oregon State to the Big West or the the WCC or something? You could bring in Gonzaga, except they don't play football so that doesn't work. What about BYU or Boise State? Not coastal enough? I don't know then, but something needs to be done. The Beavers haven't been relevant since Corey Benjamin was there, and I'm not even sure they were relevant then, other than in the McDonald's All-American Dunk Contest, which Benjamin even lost to Lester Earl. This year's team? Um, well, they have two starters with the last name Tarver, Seth and Josh, so let's pretend they're Miles Tarver's brothers. Recruiting class? Ranked dead last in the Pac 10.

COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW: The SEC

Fear not, there is still time for me to do all the previews I had planned, and we continue today with the SEC, a conference, I'm sad to say, which looks like it will be down, down, down this season. Honestly, after Tennessee there really isn't a very good in the bunch, but I'll be brave and take a look anyway.

1. Tennessee
I was big on them last year, and still believe they are the clear class of the conference despite heavy loses including Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and Ramar Smith (kicked off the team due to "substance abuse.") Plenty remains, especially former Hawkeye Tyler Smith and 6-7 guard JP Prince. I love Prince's game, and think with most of the guard scoring gone he can kick up his game and really step forward this year. Freshman Scottie Hopson (#5 on Rivals Top 150) is supposed to be out of this world, though I'm hoping for a nice Dennis Hopson flat top. Their only weakness is in the front court, where just Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism are worth mentioning, and undersized. A handful of talented freshmen could help.

2. LSU
Three years ago in the final four, and then two years of crap, but the Tigers look to be on the rise again. The biggest reasons for optimism are returning guard and leading SEC scorer Marcus Thornton, who broke 35 points three times last season, and the return of injured forward Tasmin Mitchell, who missed all but three games last year with an injury. Add in solid guards Garrett Temple and Terry Martin and underrated center Chris Johnson, who looked very good in a game I saw last year but I don't remember who against, and LSU looks to be the best of the rest.

3. Florida
The Gators are a lot of people's picks to win the SEC, but I'm not quite buying it - although I think they'll be in the NCAA bid hunt. Nick Calathes is an excellent all around player (he reminds me a lot of Mike Miller), but there just isn't much else here that really impresses me. Jai Lucas and Walter Hodge are good guards, but Hodge is kind of blah and Lucas needs a lot of work. There isn't much in the paint, and even though they have two highly touted prospects coming in Eloy Vargas (#26) and Kenny Kadji (#27), it sounds like they both need more muscle and could get pushed around. Look for sleeper freshman forward Allan Chaney to make a big impact.

4. Mississippi
Remember how Ole Miss was on fire at the beginning of last season and looked like they were on their way to a huge year, but then tanked towards the end and finished up by missing the NCAA tournament? That probably sucked for them. They'll probably be a bubble team again this year, led by super sophomore point guard Chris Warren (not the old Seattle RB) and a pair of swingman types in Eniel Polynice (Olden's son?) and David Huertas. Warren is a stud and the other two guards can score, but there is essentially no front court presence whatsoever. 6-9 Freshman Terrence Henry (#65 Rivals) is going to have to contribute immediately for the Rebels to have success this year.

5. Kentucky
Patrick Patterson is an absolute beast, assuming he's all healed up from the ankle injury that kept him out at the end of last season, but Kentucky has a lot to replace. The loss of guards Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford not only takes away a lot of points (33.8 ppg between them) but also leaves the Cats without an established ball handler. Junior Michael Porter will get a chance, but he's more the back up type. It could fall on a couple of wing players, freshmen DeAndre Liggins (#28) and transfer Kevin Galloway to take on a more point foward type of roll. Maybe we can trade them Kevin Payton.

6. Alabama
At this point it's a crapshoot between a mess of teams, and Alabama comes first alphabetically so I guess the Crimson Tide is my pick for fifth. The have a decent returning player in small forward Alonzo Gee, although looking at his game log it's easy to see why magazines call him "mercurial" and "enigmatic." He scored 32 against Florida and 27 against Tennessee last season, but then 1 against Arkansas and 4 against Ole Miss with just 2 and 3 shot attempts. Wacko. If Ronald Steele is recovered from major knee surgeries and is back to his old form, and freshman Jamychal Green (#21) is as good as advertised they'll be decent. Otherwise they'll suck.

7. Vanderbilt
Still an awesome home floor, but the Commodores come crashing back to earth a bit this year following two very good seasons with the loss of three starters, including Shan Foster, SEC Player of the Year. There is hope for the future, however, as Vandy snagged four top 100 players this season, and have former PJS favorite Festus Ezeli coming off his redshirt season. Their ability to play right away, along with the continued development of center A.J. Ogilvy (think Aaron Gray from Pitt) will determine their success.

8. Mississippi State
I was a big fan of this team last year, and they didn't disappoint by getting to the Sweet 16, but there is a lot gone, and I mean a lot. Three double digits scorers (Ben Hansbrough - 10.5, Jamont Gordon - 17.2, Charles Gordon - 17.4) are going to be tough to replace, but at least they have defensive machine and triple double getter guy Jarvis Varnado back. Varnado led the nation in blocks with 4.6 per game, and recorded a triple double in points, rebounds, and blocks against Kentucky in a game I watched in a Dallas bar with 10/12/10, and came close on two other occasions (9/9/10 and 8/7/10). Watching a guy like that makes me long for the days of what I hoped Antoine Broxsie would be. There's not much else here, though I guess the boringly named Barry Stewart is ok.

9. South Carolina
Remember when Dave Odom was a hot coach at Wake Forest? He probably should have capitalized on that fame and gotten some big money, because after sucking for a bunch of years with no Tim Duncan, Randolph Childress, or Rusty LaRue he was canned and a new coach is installed at SC who I've never heard of. Much like most of his players. Ok, I know Devan Downey is a terror at point guard from his days at Cincinnati, and Zam Frederick can score form his days at Georgia Tech. I don't know any other Gamecocks because they have always been a boring team who sucked and it was hilarious when they're totally overrated ripoff of Lethal Weapon 3 lost to Coppin State that year they were a #2 seed.

10. Auburn
This program just can't seem to get going, and the little bit of optimism will probably be crushed by the first weekend of SEC play. They have a good core coming back, but this is the same group that hasn't as much as made the NIT in their time together. Returning guards Raheem Barrett, Quantez Robertson, and Dewayne Reed are a nice perimeter grouping, and help take the defensive focus off top player Korvotney Barber, the teams leading scorer who missed most of last season due to injury. He's just 6-7, and is the sole contributing big man in the lineup. Add to that the best two incoming players for the Tigers are guards, and you are looking at a huge ole mess, whose upside is probably the NIT bubble.

11. Georgia
Is this still the Jim Harrick effect? When are these guys going to be good again? Yes, they made the tournament last year, but that was because of their miracle run in the SEC tournament, not because of any sustained success (they were 4-12 in conference last year). Additionally, they have basically nobody back from that squad, and not a whole lot in the pipeline. Right now I'm wondering how I don't have these guys ranked dead last.

12. Arkansas
Oh yeah, this is why. The Razorbacks were the most disappointing team for me last season, falling well short of expectations due in part to a lackluster performance from potential superstar Patrick Beverly. Well, they won't have to worry about that this season, because Beverly was kicked off the team for undisclosed reasons and has chosen to play in Europe this season. And he's not the only subtraction, as Arkansas lost essentially the whole team to graduation. The Razorbacks return just 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game from last season, so the whole lineup is wide open. Good news for familiar name Courtney Fortson, the headliner of a not terrible class for Arkansas. Fortson is #50 on the Rivals Top 150, and is joined by three other incoming players on the list. Add in JuCo Montrell McDonald (#20 JuCo player) and redshirter Michael Sanchez (#111 last season) and there is hope for the future. But absolutely none for this season.

Rambling Sioux Fan Post + Additional Reader Content

Are you in the mood for a rambling, semi-incoherent post riddled with spelling mistakes? No, I'm not drunk again. It's time for an email from our favorite racist hockey female, Super Sioux Fan aka Momma Dawger. And if you manage to get through this whole thing, there's a video sent in by a DWG reader that is sure to annoy and horrify you. Anyway, here we go:

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This weekend was pretty uneventful. Mostly because the Sioux had a by.... Yeah that is the only reason it was uneventful.

The Epic Gophers (that is what some guy at work called gopher hockey today...Epic) haha What a douche bag.
Anyways they shared a victory (Tie) with Sconnie on Friday night, then destroyed them on Saturday night.
In funny news Bemidji aka the worst team in the WCHA swept SCSU. That victory last weekend just isnt as sweet now is it gopher fans.
So as of now UofM is #1 in the WCHA and my Sioux are rockin #6. I believe we fell of the top 20 list according to espn.com. Granted this is never a great way to start out the season it is pretty typical of us. We start out shitty and start playing hockey around christmas time. That is usually when the gophers start to win less games and barely make the playoffs.
So I guess it is just another rough start of the season for my Fighting Sioux.

The Sioux play Sconnie next weekend and I am predicting a split. I would say we will sweep them but I am realistic although it is by no means impossible. Maybe Ryan Duncan can get his head out of his ass and remember that he is a god damn Hoby Baker winner. But the chances of that are slim. Maybe Finley will start some sweet fights and kick some Sconnie ass.

Hopefully the Sioux sat at home and used this weekend off to think about they actions last weekend. It was the most embarrasing display of hockey ever played....well not counting the Gopher vs Holy Cross game of course :)

PS. No you guys will NEVER live that down.

Siouxfan OUT!

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So there you go. Once again, I didn't bother to read it since it's about hockey, but she assures me it's awesome.

On to my other email, this one included a video and was sent in by Ryan M., who seems like a pretty awesome dude. I tried to come up with something clever to say about it, but it speaks for itself. It's a video for getting flu shots, something that is good, and they used the world's most annoying mascot, Goldy, something that is pure evil, so it's kind of a mixed message. Unless your message is to be really irritating. Or to say that you should get massive amounts of heroin injected into your blood stream by an oversized rodent.



You peoople should email more often. We could do a mailbag type deal, like the sports buy does but less bostony. Anyone? No? That's cool. I'm busy anyway.

P.S. I think Cole Hamels might be jesus.

Weekend Review

WHO WAS AWESOME

1. Gopher football. I’m sure you spent most of your weekend trying to figure out where I would put them, in the awesome category or the suck category. Would I concentrate on the win on the road at Purdue, a tough place for the Gophers traditionally, and a road win in the Big Ten is never an easy task? Or would I concentrate on the ugliness of the game, and how Purdue is not only terrible, but the Gophers were facing a third string quarterback for a good chunk of the game, a guy I’m almost certain doesn’t belong anywhere near a D-I football field? Well, a 7-1 record, 3-1 in the Big Ten, and a #20 ranking nationally have me feeling pretty awesome. Please don’t F this up.

2. Penn State. Staying in the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions let everyone know they truly are the class of the Big Ten by the hated Buckeyes in Columbus 13-6 on Saturday, thanks in part to a late fumble by the right-handed Vince Young, QB Terrelle Pryor. I’m not exactly sure how high of praise “The Class of the Big Ten” really is, but look out, because they’ve picked up three #1 votes in the USA Today poll. The true good news here is that we won’t have to watch Ohio State get their asses kicked in the national championship game, we just might have to watch Penn State get their asses kicked instead. Also, I don’t know if this is true but I heard it somewhere that if Penn State goes to the championship game and the Gophers win out they go to the Rose Bowl. That would be pretty cool. I once won a chili cook-off and kicked a 40 yard field goal at the Rose Bowl.

3. Ryan Howard. Not the guy from The Office, things aren't so good for him right now, but the big fat slugging first baseman for the Phillies. After a very bad game one in which he looked mostly lost and confused and reminded me a lot of the Manatee, Craig Smith, he seems to have figured out Rays pitching, culminating in last night's 3-4 performance with 2 homers and 5 rbi, including an absolute laser of a homerun in the 8th. He has Philly on track for the win, as well as probably being the favorite for MVP at this point. Might as well toss Philly starting pitching in here as well, with Hamels (7ip/5h/2er), Myers (7ip/7h/3er), Moyer (6.1ip/5h/3er), and Blanton (6ip/4h/2er and a HR himself) pretty much dominating the Rays' bats. Congrats to the Phillies.

4. Texas Tech. You know, whenever there’s a gimmicky offensive team in college football it’s hard to take them too seriously. Whether it’s Houston or Hawaii and their super run-and-gun or Air Force with their wishbone/flexbone attack, I never really consider them a top team, no matter the record or the ranking, but it’s looking like this year’s version of the Red Raiders might be different. This weekend they beat a very good Kansas team in Kansas to the tune of 63-21, running their record to 8-0, 4-0 in the Big Twelve. The true test is still ahead, as their next four games are vs. #1 Texas, #7 Oklahoma State, and at #4 Oklahoma, and that’s where we’ll find out if their QB Graham Harrell (#1 in NCAA in Passing Yards and completions, 28 TDs vs. 5 INTs) is more Andre Ware or more Drew Brees.

5. Tyler Thigpen. If you happened to watch the Chiefs/Jets game, first of all you were probably really bored, but in contrast to Brett Favre (more on this below) you would have seen Tyler Thigpen look like an actual, competent NFL quarterback. He ended up 25-36 for 280 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions, and more so even that that was making good decisions and showed good accuracy and arm strength. He may very well have even led the Chiefs on a fourth quarter drive with under 2 minutes remaining for the win except for a non-call on a fourth down possible pass interference. Basically, he looked like the kind of guy who could be a QB of the future for a team. If only the Vikings had drafted him, like in the seventh round or something. What? Oh. Go T-Jax!


WHO SUCKED

1. Brad Johnson. Holy noodle arm, watching him try to play QB is just painful. I knew he was a cranky old man at this point and I expected the Cowboys to slow down, but not to stop completely. Owens is worthless now. So is Witten. Barber still gets a few yards, but with 13 in the box on every play because BJ can’t throw, the going is tough. On any third down longer than 8 yards, they either run a draw, a screen, or Johnson ends up dumping it to a check down guy 3 yards down field, who then runs to just short of the first down before being tackled. Sound familiar, Vikings fans.

2. Brett Favre. As long as we’re on the subject of bad, old quarterbacks, Favre was vintage Favre on Sunday. No, not the “fourth quarter comeback”, although that’s all I heard from the announcers all day, I’m talking about the poor decisions and interceptions thrown right into the defenders arms. Favre had three of those, and I can’t adequately describe how poor these throws were, including one that the Chiefs took back for a TD, as well as another one right in the linebackers arms that was dropped. Look, he threw three picks to a team that had three thus far in the season, he had an INT returned for a TD in the fourth, losing the lead, and on the TD to take the lead back he horribly underthrew Laveraneous Coles who made an incredible catch to win the game. But all you heard about was the fourth quarter comeback and what a great throw he made by intentionally underthrowing Coles, although I’m 99% sure he was actually supposed to lead him and he made a great play. The media love for Favre continues, any other QB would have been ripped to shreds for this performance. I also heard he’s hooked on pain pills and young Asian boys.

3. Northwestern. I think pretty much every knew Northwestern was pretty much a sham at 6-1, but Saturday’s loss to Crapdiana pretty much seals the deal for any believers out there. Pretty much tells you the state of the Big Ten right now when this team is in fifth.

4. Big 12 Defenses. I always thought of the Big 12 as kind of a smashmouthy type of conference, but clearly that is not the case this season. The lowest scoring game in the conference this weekend was 28-24. In terms of scoring offense, Oklahoma is #2, Texas Tech #3, Missouri #4, Texas #5, Okla State #6, and K State #13. In passing yards, Tex Tech is #1, Oklahoma #3, Missouri #4, Kansas #8, Texas #11, Nebraska #12, and K State #13. That’s a lot of ball slinging, and a whole hell of a lot of fun to watch. Will be interesting to see if it’s just good offense, or bad defense once bowl season rolls around.

5. Evan Longoria. He's still a stud, he's still handsome, and it's a very small sample size no doubt, but Longoria has looked completely befuddled at the plate and in the field in the series. He's currently running at 0-16 with 9 strikeouts, and a whole bunch of fielding plays that he should have made, even if they don't show up as errors. I'm not exactly ready to give up on him or anything, but it would do him well to get a couple of hits tonight at least, so this isn't hanging over his head all offseason.

COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW: THE BIG EAST

I know, you've been anxiously awaiting the next installment of the college hoops previews since you read the thrilling Big 12 one I put up last week. I also am pretty sure there will be a hockey post up here soon, or at least there is supposed to be, which will no doubt get much more attention than this, but it's my blog so too bad.

The silly Big East has sixteen teams, so I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on any individual team because I actually do have a job, but here we go.

1. Louisville
It's no secret I'm a big Louisville and Pitino fan, and it's possible I might have a chance to go to a game there this year, but this is not favoritism; the Cardinals are loaded - again. They will miss big guys David Padgett, Derrick Caracter, and Juan Palacios, but an excellent recruiting class combined with returning big time talent will put them in the National Title picture. Earl Clark and Terrence Williams are one of the top 1-2 punches in the nation, Jerry Smith is a deadeye shooter and Edgar Sosa is one of the quickest guards out there. Add in newcomers Samardo Samuels (one of Pitino's highest ranked recruits ever), Terrence Jennings, and transfer Reginald Delk and you have one of the most talented teams in the country.

2. UCONN
It took a while, but the Huskies are most definitely back after that little swoon a couple of years ago. AJ Price is an absolute stud when he's not stealing laptops, but he's coming off knee surgery so hopefully, for UCONN, he's all better and law abiding. Hasheem Thabeet is a more talented version of Roy Hibbert, and he has Jeff Adrien by his side downlow to do the dirty work. Jerome Dyson is a pure scorer, and super talented freshman Kemba Walker should be a star. One time Tubby target Scottie Haralson is here as well.

3. Marquette
Those three ultra talented guards are still around, and for that reason alone I still believe in the Golden Eagles. The frontcourt, for like the billionth year in a row, is a major concern, with only Lazar Hayward a major contributor. Their two top reserves are also guards, and with Trevor Mbakwe all gone and over top the Gophers, who knows what's going to happen, but as long as McNeal, Mathews, and James show up, they'll be a good team.

4. Syracuse
Devendorf and Rautins are back, and they are both very good for a couple of white guards. Devendorf the slasher, Rautins the shooter. Adding them in with Johnny Flynn and Paul Harris is going to make this team very fun to watch. The improvement of Arinze Onuaku last year makes them that much more dangerous. Sure, they lost their leading scorer from last season in Donte Green, but I don't think it will hurt them. Green spend most of his time chucking three pointers instead of venturing anywhere near the paint (a la Rick Rickert). Make no mistake, Paul Harris is an absolute monster.

5. Notre Dame
More like Notre Lame. They have their inside/outside punch back again in Harangody and McAlarney, but the loss of Rob Kurz will hurt. Plenty of other guys back, but the fact that their point guard, Tory Jackson, can't make a free throw is going to be a factor unless he like, learned how to shoot. As an aside, doesn't Harangody look like the dumbest guy you've ever seen?

6. Pitt
I've never liked Pitt, they just bother me for some reason so I always underrate them and I'm probably doing it again but so be it. Sam Young is absolute stud, and Dejuan Blair is pretty solid in the paint. Levance Fields is probably the key, even though he sucks and got hurt again in the offseason.

7. Georgetown
The tradition of studly centers going to the Hoyas continues (Hibbert excepted) as they picked up two great ones in Greg Monroe and Henry Sims, both top 50 freshmen this year with Monroe at #8 according to Rivals. Put them together with the returning players they have back (Jessie Sapp, Austin Freeman, and especially DaJuan Summers) and the Hoyas could easily finish much higher than 7th.

8. Villanova
I'm so tired of the Scottie Reynolds crap already. You know what he does? He shoots. That's it. And he doesn't care where he is or what the game situation is, he just shoots the ball. Over and over. Sometimes they go in and everybody loves him. He's basically a less awesome Chris Kingsbury. Corey Stokes is going to end up being twice the player Reynolds is.

9. Providence
I don't really know what to make of the Friars, mostly because I somehow managed to not watch them play even once last season. My handy magazine assures me that they have four double digit scorers back, so that's good. One of whom is Jeff Xavier, who I know is awesome from his days at Manhattan. Not Luis Flores awesome, but then again, who is? And they have a freshmen guard coming in named Trey, so that's probably a good omen.

10. West Virginia
Losing Joe Alexander and Darris Nichols would usually cause a team to go into rebuilding mode, but this is Bob Huggins here, so you know he's got something up his sleeve. Like, oh, hi Devin Ebanks, the number 11 overall player and #2 small forward. He had committed to Indiana, but when the mess fell apart there was good ole Bobby Huggins to swoop in, probably with a pile of illicit funds. The entire recruiting class was actually very good, no big shocker there. Don't you love how all the West Virginia people were pissy about how Rich Rodriguez jumped to coach at Michigan, when Huggins basically did the same thing to Kansas State?

11. Cincinnati
Deonta Vaughn is really, really good. He's not quite Lazelle Durden level, but he's close. He pretty much had to be a one man show last season, and not much is likely to change this year, although newcomer Yancy Gates is supposed to be pretty good (#22 Rivals), despite having a pretty gay name.

12. Seton Hall
No Shaheen Holloway, no Darius Lane, no Stanley Gaines and no Jamar Nutter. There are a couple of good players here but no standouts. Coach Bobby Gonzalez worked miracles at Manhattan, so give him time. The Pirates will come around.

13. St Johns
Whatever happened to these guys? They've basically completely fallen apart at this point. Anthony Mason Jr. is still here for like his tenth year of eligibility, but after that it's a steep drop off. There are a couple of promising recruits here, but if they don't develop quickly expect a few box and ones.

14. Rutgers
Remember when they had Quincy Douby and nobody was safe going into the RAC? Yeah, that's not really in play anymore. The good news is they aren't losing much, and the really good news is they have a McDonald's All-American coming into to play for them this season. For reals. Guard Mike Rosario is going to be a Scarlet Knight, and they picked up another top 50 player in center Gregory Echenique, so I suppose brighter days are on the horizon.

15. DePaul
Nice arena that's an hour drive from campus and looks like a garbage dumpster. Pretty fitting for this crappy collection of crapitude. They lost probably their two best players, but Will "Wheel" Walker returns with a couple other guys who might not suck too bad. The recruiting class is nothing special. Have fun Krys Faber.

16. South Florida
I went to a game there once and their girls are really pretty. Where's B.B. Walden gone?

Really?

Eric Bruntlett?

Game 1: I'm not Drinking. Well maybe a little.

I'm not drinking or anything, so you should probably stop reading right now, but since I love the World Series just so damn much I figured I might as well put down a thought or two.

- Seriously, I really love the World Series. I've been majorly looking forward to it all day, and not just because my boyfriend Cole Hamels is pitching. I think if the Twins ever get to another series in my lifetime (not bloody likely) I might not be able to take it. I could possibly, quite literally, explode.

- On the radio on the way home tonight, some doofus was talking about how this series is the talent of the Rays vs. the experience of the Phillies. What the hell does that even mean? The Phillies are just as talented as the Rays, and have just as much World Series experience. So I'd say it's the talent of the Phillies vs. the talent of the Rays. Kind of like every World Series/Playoff Series/regular season game.

- The Backstreet Boys? What year is it, 1983?

- Phillies to win tonight and to win the series, if you're curious.

- We have Utley here to not get a hit tonight, but I wouldn't mind a dinger donger right here.

- HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 2-0. That should be more than Hamels needs.

- First batter for the Rays, Ichiro-Lite, get's an infield hit because Ryan Howard is too fat to move. Guy is a perfect DH, too bad there's no DH in the NL. Wait, what's that you say? American League park tonight, thus there is a DH? Hmmm, perhaps whoever the Phillies manager is (is it Charlie Manuel, maybe?) is like Ron Gardenhire. Because you know damn well if he was in this situation no way Howard would DH. If he doesn't have the energy to move Redmond down in the order no way would he even begin to imagine something as radical as "move the fat guy to DH." Which reminds me, how is Matt Stairs in the NL at all? Where does he play? He has to be like a designated pinch hitter, right?

- Victorino was out there. Break for the Phils.

- Uh, nevermind. Why would you send him there on Upton? Upton has an absolute cannon, and that fly ball (nay, pop up) was barely beyond the infield, might have been shorter than the Griffey/Cuddyer play. I know Victorino is fast, I mean, they don't call him the Flyin' Hawaiian because he's high on crack cocaine like Jeff Dubay, but I don't even think Vince Coleman could have scored on that one.

- Garza backs up my assessment of Upton with the comment, "Don't test the Cannon! Don't test him!" Agreed.

- Hamels making people look silly, even my other boyfriend Evan Longoria who didn't even come close to making contact on that at bat. Watching Hamels pitch to Longoria is like watching my parents fight.

- God dammit, I really wish they'd stop pointing out the Rays/Twins trade. It makes my heart hurt.

- Upton v. Hamels with the bases loaded and one out. I don't feel too good.

- Double play hell to the yeah!! Hamels is like the white Johan Santana. (Ok, actually that ball was smashed and Pedro Feliz made an amazing play considering he's forty three years old).

- I just looked up Matt Stairs stats, and after coming to the NL in September he played in sixteen games and he had more than one at bat exactly once. And that time he had two. He started that game in RF, and it was the first game he was with the Phillies. I'm assuming they started him, and it took exactly four innings for them to realize he should be nowhere near the field of play unless he has a bat on his shoulder, and pinch hit Pat Burrell for him. Now that's funny.

- Back to back hits by Victorino (in serious danger of becoming Ecksteined by the media if the Phils win - except he's a lot better) and Feliz, and the Phillies have yet another scoring opportunity. They've been knocking Kazmir around in every inning, but except for the Utley homerun can't take advantage. I know Hamels is on the mound and what not, but it wouldn't hurt to grab a couple extra runs. You know, just in case.

- Well, they pick up one on a groundout, it's something at least. Phils making Kazmir throw a lot of pitches. Which Reusse would hate. I don't think I mentioned this anywhere, but the world's worst columnist wrote up an "article" which is pretty much nothing more than bitching about players who take walks. The title gives away the stupidity, "Games drag on in era that rewards the walk" and features bonus bitching about umpires by Tom Kelly. My favorite quote by Reusse: "Kelly played only briefly in the big leagues in the 1970s. He was around long enough to know that hitters were expected to swing the bat." Can't you just see him ranting and raving about how real men don't watch pitches go by. Real men swing at everything. If a real man had three balls and the next pitch was in the dirt, he'd swing just so he wouldn't embarrass himself by having to take a walk, which, as we all know, is worse than getting caught making sweet, sweet love to your third base coach. Homerun Carl Crawford. I should pay more attention. Also I just cracked a beer. Trader Joe's Oktoberfest.

- FYI: Darius Miles was cut by the Celtics, paving the way for Bill "Sky" Walker to dominate.

- Pena dropping Kazmir's girl-like throw at first here reminds me: Did you know that in adapted softball, if you hit someone in a wheelchair with the ball it's considered a caught ball? So all the adapted softball teams put a player in a wheelchair at first base, and the infielders just chuck the ball at them. True story.

- Man that Japanese guy is pesky. Foul ball, foul ball, foul ball, base hit - in this case a double to knock in Bartlett and make it 3-2. Let's see, he fouls pitches off and takes a lot of balls - Reusse must hate him. I know I hate him. And is there a scarier #2 hitter than BJ Upton? Yamma hamma, it's fright night.

- Upton fouls out to first as the fat guy I said should be a DH reaches into the stands to make the catch. That doesn't mean he can field, don't be foold. But let's not worry about that now, instead let's concentrate on how awesome Cole Hamels is. I wonder if there's any way the Twins could get him. He's still under salary control, as in he made only $500K this year (less than Nick Punto or 1/10th of what Livan Hernandez made) but I don't know how long that would last. Maybe they should offer Liriano, Delmon Young, and Scott Baker. And Joe Mauer. And whatever else the Phillies want. Throw in Adrian Peterson for the Eagles.

- Ryan "I'm a fat pig who can't play in the field but I can hit like a mofo" just played juggly ball with a grounder, and now Pena is on for Longoria with nobody down.

- Never mind, Pena picked off first. Why would you run there? With Longoria up? Don't think he can get an extra base hit? That makes no sense. Seriously people, the stolen base is an extremely overrated weapon. And that's a classic example of why. That's why Gardy loves it.

- Yet another wasted opportunity by the Phillies, leaving two on thanks to strikeouts of Howard and Victorecksteinino. That is an assload of runners left on base, and that usually doesn't work out particularly well for that team.

- If Toronto was in the World Series, would they still sing "God Bless America?"

- Hamels still dealing like Koufax, getting two week grounders and a strikeout, basically making most of the Rays look like fools - although definitely not the Japanese guy who is 3-3. Pretty much everybody else though. That should do it for him tonight, 7ip/5h/2bb/5k/2er. Pretty damn good. The Phillies should have him pitch 3 games in the series, even though that's so ten twenty years ago - like jean jackets and cocaine.

- I freakin' love the internet. Did I mention I'm watching the game on an internet feed? Go to www.justin.tv and click on sports, and there it is. Or any football game. Or any sporting event pretty much. Very cool stuff.

- With one out, following a Jayson Werth double, the Rays decide to walk Utley to pitch to Ryan Howard. Risky? Not really, he's looked absolutely lost up there. And now he's going to be facing a lefty in Trever Miller, who I could have sworn was a former Twin but it turns out he isn't.

- Well, it worked. Howard strikes out. AGAIN. On an absolute gem of a pitch. Howard has to act all like, "dude, ump, you screwed me, probably because I'm black you racist son of a bitch" because he's embarrassed at being such a shitty hitter to go along with being a terrible fielder. A dual threat, if you will.

- It works, and we go to the bottom of the ninth at 3-2 Phils. Hopefully Brad Lidge doesn't turn into that one version of Brad Lidge from a few years ago where he sucked. He's got Pena/Longoria/Crawford in a one run game, so it's gonna be a toughie.

- Lidge's slider is nasty. Almost as nasty as that gigantic mole on his face. I want to give him a quarter and have him go down to the docks and have a rat gnaw that thing off his face. MOLEY MOLEY MOLEY MOLEY MOLEY MOLEY MOLEY!!!!!!!!!

- That'll do it. And without a hit from Rollins or Howard.

Awesome

Weekend Review

WHO WAS AWESOME

1. Matt Garza. And David Price. And BJ Upton. And Evan Longoria. And Willy Aybar. And all the Rays. Awesome bounce back from that crushing loss in game five to come back and win in seven to head to the series to lose to the Phillies. How insanely good was Garza? And Price, shutting the door in the 8th and 9th, despite not even being a relief pitcher and not even being in the majors until September? This team is loaded, and this will most definitely not be their last playoff appearance. Delmon Young better get his shit together.

2. Gopher Football. Congrats to the Gophers on getting themselves ranked in the top 25 (#25 to be exact) and 24th in the BCS rankings. Certainly a great step up from last season, no doubt. With the schedule they have remaining they have a chance to end up going 11-1, it shouldn’t be expected, but it is within the realm of possibility. Would that be enough to get to a BCS bowl? A lot would have to happen with the teams above them, but I don’t think it’s out of the question. In any case, they should end up at a top tier bowl, probably against an SEC team where they’ll get crushed, but it wouldn’t be an embarrassment to anyone. This season has already exceeded most people’s wildest expectations for this team. I’d love to make a smartass comment here, but I just can’t. I’m pretty happy over here.

3. Tennessee Titans. Now 6-0 and basically making it look easy. Yes, I said they wouldn’t be very good this year, but that was with Vince Young at quarterback. Once you get Kerry Collins involved, all bets are off. He’s nothing special, but he does a pretty good job of taking care of the ball and keeping them in the game (exactly what Young doesn't do) so that top shelf defense and solid running game can beat down a team. Chris Johnson looks very AP-like so far and can break one at any time, and FatDale just keeps running into people and falling down until they get so tired and worn out from having 300 pounds bouncing into them over and over again they can barely stand. Note: his 80 yard TD run doesn’t mean he’s good, it just means Kansas City is really THAT bad.

4. Texas Longhorns. Damn dude, those are a couple of very impressive back-to-back wins by the Longhorns, following up last week’s win against Oklahoma with a 56-31 stomping of #11 Missouri in a game that wasn’t even that close. Texas QB Colt McCoy has jumped to the lead of the Heisman race, going 29-32 for 337 yards and 2 TDs (with 2 more rushing). Read that again. 29 for 32. Those are video game numbers. Texas still has a ways to go, with games against Texas Tech, Kansas, and Oklahoma State still to go, but they’ve certainly staked their claim as the best team in college football.

5. Mewelde Moore. I've written before that Mewelde is better than Reggie Bush, and once again I've been proven correct. The Steelers have finally given him the chance to be a feature back he deserves thanks to a few injuries and he's rewarded them big time. Yesterday he rushed 20 times for 120 yards and 2 TDs with another touchdown receiving. Reggie Bush? 9 carries for 55 yards and no touchdowns, and is so bad at scoring TDs that they gave the ball to some white guy named Mike Karney to score their one yard TD. "But what about receiving?" you say. "He's so valuable in the passing game" you say. Really? 1 catch for 5 yards. Mewelde had five catches. And a TD. The previous week, Mewelde went 17 carries for 99 yards, while bush was 14 carries for 27 yards. Case closed.


WHO SUCKED

1. BYU. Yes, this happened on Thursday but whatever, it still counts and it helps strengthen my belief in the DWG Jinx, since I highlighted BYU and their easy road to a BCS Bowl a couple of weeks ago. Of course, they went out on Thursday and got beat by TCU, and got beat badly at that, 32-7 ending their something like one hundred game winning streak. Cougars QB Max Hall threw two picks and was sacked seven times (sacked only once previously this season) as BYU rushed for a total of 23 yards while giving up 410 total yards to the Horned Frogs. Yeah, that’ll do it.

2. Football in the state of Michigan. Wow, where to begin? The Lions didn’t bother to show up until the second half, falling behind 21-0 to the Texans before making a game of it and losing in the end 28-21. They are on an almost inevitable course towards 0-16, and I see no possible way to break it – except maybe against the Vikings in week 14. The Spartans have a great opportunity to show they are a quality team going up against the Buckeyes, and lay a complete egg, getting rolled 45-7, taking their season from “potentially special” to “who the hell cares.” And the Wolverines, whose entire program is basically in the crapper right now, have a huge chance to score a quality upset win against Penn State after going up 17-7 in the second quarter. Then Penn State scored the next 39 POINTS to end up winning 46-17, not only getting a victory but covering a spread that looked completely safe with two minutes remaining in the second quarter. Good thing they at least have the Pistons. And Red Wings I guess. I think they’re good.

3. Minnesota Vikings. Good lord, what the hell was that? One of the worst offensive teams ever (outside of AP of course) manages to somehow miraculously score 41 points and they lose? I know their special teams is brutal, so it’s not surprising they gave away some free points, but what about the defense? I thought this year’s version of the Vikings’ defense was supposed to be a cross between the 86 Bears and the 2000 Ravens? It sure didn’t bother the Bears and Neck Beard, who threw for 286 and two TDs. To be honest, it felt like a whole lot more than that. There was never a point where the Vikings defense looked like they even had a prayer of stopping the Bears. At least they have a bye coming up next week to try to figure out what the hell is wrong.

4. Dustin Pedroia’s nickname. I recently learned that Boston fans call him “Destroyah.” Like, if you were unfortunately born in Boston and have that retarded ingrained inability to enunciate, and you tried to say Destroyer instead of saying it like a normal human person you would say it so it rhymed with Pedroia. Horrible. Worst nickname since Steve Esselink started going by “Sunshine.”

5. Indiana Jones. Yeah, we rented that new movie about the Crystal Skulls and all. I gotta tell ya, I can’t believe they waited twenty years and THIS is the script they came up with. Brutal. Not so much the script, but the idea was brutal. The really frustrating thing is that it felt like an Indiana Jones movie. The action, the archaeology, the music, everything was like Indiana never left, except for the god damn retarded faggy plot. I think what happened was Lucas and Spielberg got some guy and said, “You make this movie for us but here is your plot and you can’t deviate and here are some plot points that go with it that you have to hit.” And that guy took the crap they gave him and did a phenomenal job. But it’s still crap. Although that fictional guy who I made up just there deserves an oscar or emmy or whichever one goes for movies.

Ha Ha: A Photo Essay

I'm sad? No, you're sad!

Drinking at home. Go me.

- In case you missed it or didn't want to hunt around the internet, Devron Bostick won the dunk contest and Lawrence "LDUB $ SIKC 6" Westbrook won the three point contest at the Gophers' Before Midnight Madness hoo-ha. If you want more details, you can get plenty from the nerds over at The Gopher Hole. Lot's of good info, and I'm very excited about the reaction to Paul Carter, who I was expecting the least out of among the newcomers this year. Granted the Gopher Holies are generally pretty optimistic, but it sounds good to me.

- Speaking of nerds, From the Barn has a very nice rundown of Tubby's Tip-Off with more details than you could ever need. I don't particularly feel comfortable with his Kevin Love comparison, but pretty good stuff in general. Also be sure to check out his player-by-player preview of the 2008-2009 season. Not featured: praise for Kevin Payton. Except that he's tall.

- This is freaking unbelievable. TBS is showing the Steve Harvey show right now because they're "having technical difficulties" and aren't able to show the Sox/Rays game. Bull. F'ing. Crap. This is some kind of pro-Red Sox conspiracy, I know it.

- Remember Kenny George? The 7-7 behemoth from UNC-Asheville? The guy who's pro scouting sheet read:
PROS: Really tall. Has both feet.
CONS: Everything else
Remember him? Well, update your cheatsheets, because he just had part of his foot lopped off. Apparently he had some sort of bad ass infection or some such. He should probably wash his feet better, but I bet it's tough when you're so far away from them. Should probably use a stick.

- Bossman Junior Upton just hit a homerun that I can't watch. But on the bright side, Steve Harvey is funny.

- I'm kidding. No he's not. And if you just agreed with that what I said up there then you should probably stop watching TV.

- Hey whoever this announcer is, they do not call James Shields, "Big Game James." That's James Worthy. And now announcer #2 even brings up Worthy, and acknowledges and condones the stolen nickname, which is only ok if you're LaDainian Tomlinson. Homerun Youkilis. Nice pitch, Worthy.

- I'm a wee bit concerned about my boy Rico. Checking out the report on Pepperdine's Midnight Madness, there's nary a single mention of King Rico. He didn't participate in the dunk contest, despite winning it last year, and was also absent from the three point contest, despite being able to make it rain. There is a play-by-play of the intrasquad scrimmage available, and he doesn't show up there either. There is no mention of an injury anywhere on Pepperdine's site.

I was concerned, so I checked out his facebook page, and he seems to be in good spirits as he recently changed his status to read, "Rico Tucker is the New King of Everything." I can't say I disagree. I may have found a clue, however, in a mysterious message left on his page by Moe Hargrow. It reads,

"my niggga...wus hood? yea back on the book to keep in tune wit the rest of the world. As for me back across the water for another season"

Perhaps if I can decipher this cryptic message I will find the answers I seek.

- Did I ever tell you that Mrs. W is a Red Sox fan? So embarrassing.

- What's best: Cheez-Its, Cheese Nips, or Goldfish?

- I was going to write about how the Twins were lucky at this point to not have gotten Jacoby Ellsbury in a Santana trade, since he OPS+'d just 89 and was basically nothing more than a fast, excellent defensive center fielder with no real pop and lacking an understanding of the strike zone. Then I realized how familiar that sounded, except Gomez was even worse at the plate.

- Tonight's post is brought to you by Monica Keena:As seen in such films as Freddy vs. Jason and some other movies that don't matter.

- F v J was actually a pretty good movie by the way. Of course, I'm a huge Friday the 13th fan, but in my totally biased opinion it was one of the better ones in either series. Quite clever how they wrote it up to get those two together, and a very good ending. Unlike the new Indiana Jones movie. More on that Monday.

- Are you telling me we're all paused and what not here because of an Umpire's injury? What happened? Did he actually call a strike and it caused massive chest pains? We had flipped away so now I'm all confused. Much like the new Indiana Jones movie.

- Basically they're just freezing Shields at this point. Thank god he's Big Game James and this ain't no thing for him. I still don't know what the hell happened, but we're back.

- Is there a worse hitter right now than Jason Varitek? He's completely lost up there. It's like watching Snacks try to hit a lefty in town ball. He hit all of .220 this year, with an OPS+ of 74 and has gone 3-14 and 0-14 in the two playoff series so far. Note: That OPS+ of 74 is in the same basic region as Carlos Gomez this season. But according to Snacks he has 30 homerun potential, so look out world.

- Crawford steals second, which means Varitek can't hit nor can he throw runners out. Having trouble figuring out why he's even on the team at this point.

- You know, I've heard a whole assfaceload of times about how Cliff Floyd is just a winner, and he wins everywhere he goes. Well, what happened in 1995 (66-78)? 1998 (54-108)? 1999 (64-98)? 2003 (66-95)? And there's a bunch of other sub .500 seasons in there too. Plus, he just grounded out here in the fourth with the tying run on second, so it's clear he doesn't "win everywhere he goes" but he doesn't even know how to win and probably doesn't even want to win. What a dick.

- Nevermind about Varitek, he just threw out Navarro. Dioner Navarro. The opposing catcher. He has five career steals and his middle name is Favian, I sure as hell hope you can throw him out. Why the holy mother hell is he stealing in the first place? I hope that was a busted hit and run. I'd know, but Mrs. W got all antsy so we're watching the Office now. That Creed is a funny Mofo.

- As I typed that Jason "Sweet Cheeks" Bartlett goes deep to tie the game, and once again assures me that our Bartlett vs. Varitek Total Bases bet will be a win.

- WTF? Seriously?

- That was awesome how Bartlett couldn't make a throw to first there, leading to another Boston run. It's like watching the Tigers against the Cardinals two years ago, they're just giving it away.

- God, fine. Here's another Wonderbaby (TM) picture:
I don't know. Eating a fake pig. She's not a genius.

- Terrelle Pryor is the next Mike Vick.

- Holy god the Rays are pissing down their legs like Ohio State against an SEC team. Except they are actually more talented, not less. I bet I could have made a good comparison for this like an hour ago, but beer makes my brain not work so good. In any case, they're choking hard. Like your mom. There, that's a pretty good comparison.

- I'm calling it a game here. Pena just got an inside fastball from Masterson with a runner on that he should have absolutely crushed, but completely missed it and hit a horridly weak pop up. Rays suck. Go Phillies.

- I would be willing to bet $5,000 (approx. 1 week's pay) that Papelbon gets passed around the Red Sox clubhouse like Andy Dufresne in Shawshank.

- God dammit. I just, I just hate the Red Sox so much. And if they win tomorrow night all we're going here is a bunch of destiny bullshit. and just now as the game ended and the gay sox won Mrs. W started clapping and I've never wanted to toss her down a flight of stairs more than I do right now. Except right after she told me she was pregnant.

God Dammit

god dammit

Adjust Accordingly

FYI - PA on KFAN just said that if the Rays don't win tonight the Red Sox will win the series. Despite the fact that they would be going back to Tampa, where the Rays were 57-24 this season and 8-1 against the Redsox.

I guess they better win tonight.

He's Bringing Sexy and Golf Back...Too Corny...NAH!

That’s right golf is back, its been so long since I have written not only has this blog turned from sports forum to a "we love baby pictures" site (seriously some of you out there are either weird or you’re chicks; but if you are a dude asking to see baby pictures there may be something wrong with you…just sayin) but the PGA Tour is having an event hosted by Justin Timberlake, if you are quiet you can almost hear countless 13-22 year olds heading out to the nearest putting green now.

So let’s recap the last few weeks, Camilo won the Tour Championship in impressive fashion showing the golf world that the Fed Ex Cup playoff system is still f’d. I mean really he missed one cut and he had no chance. He arguably won better events than Vijay but I doubt Veej is handing him over the trophy or the cash anytime soon. Then something called Dustin Johnson managed to not puke on himself in route to a nice payday, 2 year exemption and trip to the Masters; not a bad week's work but seriously I have no clue this guy even existed, for all I know he could be the Dustin Johnson that was my childhood friend back in 5th grade, if that’s you Dustin way to go. Then bible thumper Zach Johnson got off his winless schneid with a solid performance in TX, Tim Herron managed to fat through another tournament where he could have won but didn’t, who cares he is well within the top 125 and will have nothing but fully exempt status and free buffet tickets all year in 2009. Now, the only reason anyone is still playing is to secure their spot for next year, hence the reason the fields consist of 1 player a week in the top 20. Top 125 on the money list gets you to be fully exempt next year; 126-150 is conditional which means your not guaranteed spots these people are just like the 2-25 money leaders on the Nationwide Tour and the top 25 coming from Q-school. If you haven’t won in the last two years, don’t have a major in the last five and are not in the top 125 you will not be fully exempt and those players may end up not getting into the prime events. Anyway there are like a million ways to get exceptions and playing status but let’s just focus on the top 125 thing, as that is the way most guys are going to try to secure their status for next year.

Ok so this week its wide open, the tourney is held in Vegas, Shriners is in the name; I predict that at some point we will see a drunk John Daly gambling while riding one of those tiny little cars and wearing the cone looking hats with the tassel so obviously he is out. Look for someone young like Ryan Moore who played his college golf in Vegas, maybe someone on that 125 bubble like Martin Laird who made a solid playoff run in the Fed Ex boosting his cash totals, maybe a grizzled vet like DL3 or Duval but my pick is for either Jeff Overton or Kevin Streelman to finally break through. Heard it here first.

I promise more next week.

NF

COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW: The Big 12

With practice starting around the nation on Friday (except at Illinois, who got to go early) I figured it's about time to start previewing a little college hoops action. I know it's not as controversial as college hockey or major league baseball, but it's still the main point of this retarded blog.

If you were around last year, you'll remember that I started to preview my top 50 teams, but got tired and bored after doing around 20 of them and quit. I've learned my lesson, I think, so I'm just going to hit on a few of the conferences here and there. I'll get around to the Big Ten eventually and do a bit bigger right up, but for now, I'm going to start with the Big Twelve, which should be a fairly deep and very good conference this season:

1. Baylor
A few short years ago the program was in total disarray, to the point that the non-conference season was canceled and people were dying. Then Aaron Bruce showed up and helped bring Baylor back into the national picture, even leading the team to the NCAA tournament last season. Now he's gone, but the team should be even better. The Bears are led on the perimeter by a quartet of awesome guards in Curtis Jerrells, LaceDarius Dunn, Henry Dugat, and Tweety Carter. Any of them can score, with Jerrells leading the way and also leading the team in assists. Dunn is an explosive scorer off the bench, and Dugat is a top flight defender. Baylor also has an outstanding inside presence in Kevin Rogers who has a shot at the Big 12 First Team this season after averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds last season. Help arrives in 6-9 freshman Anthony Jones, #44 on the Rivals Top 150. He can run, a must on this team, and can score inside and out. This team will score a lot of points. If you can still get them at 80-1 to win the National Championship, do it.

2. Texas
Every year, I'm like, "Texas is losing too much this year" and every year they prove me wrong. So, finally this year, I'm a believer in Barnes, his program, and his system. Even with DJ Augustin bolting for the NBA, the Longhorns are loaded and ready for another run. AJ Abrams is back, and is one of the best shooters in college hoops with a lightning quick release. An interesting wrinkle this season is that Abrams withdrew from the NBA draft after getting feedback that he will need to learn to play the point, so that will be the plan going into this year. All the other pieces are in place, with Justin Mason, Damion James, and Connor Atchley all back, with James an All-American candidate. The freshmen class will help with depth, but everything hinges on point guard play, whether it's Abrams sliding over or one of two freshmen getting up to speed quickly. Without that, they will struggle all year.

3. Oklahoma
Everyone loves Blake Griffin. I don't. And I like his gay brother Taylor even less. Seriously, way to go Griffin parents: Taylor and Blake? Anyway, even though I'm not a fan, he's good, even if incredibly boring. Like a Dusty Rychart with talent basically. Throw in a couple of good, experienced guards in Tony Crocker and Austin Johnson, and a top recruiting class, and they'll be in the Big 12 title hunt and in line for an early exit in March. Their class is highlighted by point guard Willie Warren, the #4 point guard for 2008 and the #10 overall prospect. Not only can he create and play the true PG role, but he can score too, and led all scorers in the McDonald's all star game. This team could be dangerous but probably won't be since their coach is an ex-Dookie.

4. Oklahoma State
It will be interesting to watch this team this season, with Travis Ford taking over for Sean Sutton and changing the team from halfcourt lockdown defense to a more up tempo type team. Almost as a symbol of the change, defensive stopper Marcus Dove is the only major contributor gone from last season's enigmatic squad. Good news for Ford is that the Cowboys strength lies in it's wing players, keys to an up tempo team. Wings James Anderson, Terrel Harris, and Obi Muonelo were three of the top four scorers for the Cowboys, and assuming Harris is let off his suspension they should be solid. The key for the team's success will be point guard Byron Eaton, who averaged over 20 points a game in a five game winning streak towards the end of last season. He's battled weight problems and inconsistency in his career, and hopes to put it all together for his senior season.

5. Kansas
National title, yes. Nobody coming back, also yes. Well, except Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich. Aldrich could end up being the star on this team, breaking Minnesotan hearts all across the land. He looked good against UNC in the final four, and with Danny Manning there to help teach him he could make a big leap this season. Collins is the only returnee who averaged more than 9 minutes per game this season, and it will be up to him to lead Aldrich and a whole mess of newcomers. Of note are freshmen twin forwards Marcus (Rivals #29) and Markieff (#49) Morris and guards Travis Releford (#70) and Tyshawn Taylor (#77), all of whom have a chance to start. The newcomer most likely to make a big impact is junior college transfer Mario Little, the #1 ranked JuCo player by Rivals. Although as I wrote previously, when it comes to JuCo's you never really know what you're gonna get.

6. Missouri
This is a weird team. I could totally seem them finishing anywhere between 2nd and 11th in the conference this year. They play the 40 minutes of hell style coach Mike Anderson inherited from Nolan Richardson, and it is as inconsistent as it is fun to watch. A group of trouble-makers are gone, and the team now belongs to senior forwards DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons, who can score in bunches. The biggest question is at point guard, with last year's primary ballhandlers Stefhon Hannah, Jason Horton, and Keon Lawrence all gone. Look for freshman Miguel Paul to end up the starting PG, and look for him to do well. Last name Paul? Point guard? Yep, he's Chris Paul's cousin, and if he's even half as good as Paul these guys could really fly. When Baylor and Missouri play, expect the scores to be in the eighties.

7. Texas A&M
I really don't know much about this team. They lost solid guard Dominique Kirk, fat Joseph Jones, and overrated and very tall DeAndre Jordan, and I'm not really sure where that leaves them. Josh Carter is one of the best shooters in the Big Twelve, but without Acie Law IV his accuracy took a huge hit last year. Donald Sloan is back, but he never really impressed me much. The biggest key here is forward Bryan Davis (not the crying dude from Duke back in the day). He's a decent player who is really the only returning big man. He'll need to be more than decent to make A&M at all relevant this year. The most notable frosh is PG Dashan Harris (rivals #93), a true PG on a team lacking one.

8. Texas Tech
The Red Raiders were a perimeter oriented (dominated) team last year, and look to be again this season, except without last year's top player Martin Zeno. Alan "Don't call me Jake" Voskuil and John Robertson are talented guards with excellent outside shots, but who knows where any offense will come from beyond those two. Last season's top inside guy was Trevor Cook who averaged all of 4.9 points per game. They did little to address this weakness, pinning their new guy hopes on 6-8 freshman Corbin Ray, and the nicest thing I can find anybody writing about him was "Plays like Christian Laettner." Hopefully for Tech it's the college version and not the pro version.

9. Nebraska
Do you know how excited Cornhusker fans were to make the NIT last year? Really excited. How that's how awful their program is there. The NIT is their NCAA tournament, and nothing much looks like it's going to change, with last year's top player Aleks Maric graduating and nothing much coming in to help out. They have four starters back, but really, who cares? There best player is Ryan Anderson, who has the same name as that awesome dude for Cal last year, so I guess that's something.

10. Iowa State
Ouch. Remember Fred Hoiberg? Marcus Fizer? Jamaal Tinsley? Hell, even Mike Taylor before he went all J.R. Rider? The Cyclones have fallen, and fallen hard with mass defections. They continued again this off season, as their top returning player, Wesley Johnson, decided to transfer to Syracuse. Still, there is a little bit of talent here with Craig Brackins, a pretty tough post player, and Diante Garrett, who could develop into a solid pass first point guard. A deep, if not immensely talented freshmen class will help. Look out for freshman Dominique Buckley to make an impact.

11. Kansas State
With Mike Beasley and Bill "Sky" Walker bolting to the NBA, the cupboard is pretty bare at K State. The season hopes rest in the backcourt, with sophomore Jake Pullen and transfer from Miami Denis Clemente. They are definitely fast, and they are definitely streaky. Pullen was electric at times last season, running the break and finding those two awesome forwards on the wings as well as getting his own shot and dropping 20 on Kansas. I love this little dude even though sometimes his decision-making skills rival those of Tavaris Jackson. As far as the front court, there's really nothing to talk about there. Empty and worthless.

12. Colorado
What kind of outlook to you have when you go 3-13 in conference last season, and then lose possibly the best player in your program's history in Richard Roby, along with two other starters? I don't know, maybe it's time to defect and head on over to the WAC. The Buffaloes biggest hope is that freshman transfer from Wake Forest Casey Crawford is better than advertised. He's more of a post type banger, not really a program changer type, but still will probably end up as one of Colorado's best players this season along with Cory Higgins (Rod's kid). With a decent recruiting class, highlighted by familiar Austin Dufault, things are looking slightly up at CU, where they can look forward to finishing as high as seventh in the next ten years. With a little luck.


P.S. Cole Hamels is sick good.

The Real DWG WCHA Preview

The above photo was taken of Joe Finley as he prepares for the upcoming WCHA season. Fag!!!

- Just for the record there was no delegation of a hockey preview to Moma Dawger. She felt sorry for how pathetic DWG has become and thought she could save the blog from dying. For some reason she also thought people would be interested in reading about the greatest choke job of a program in the last decade of NCAA hockey? Moma D, I could have summed up your Sioux preview in a lot less (and more organized) words. "UND will sucks until January, win a bunch of games to possibly get home ice in the WCHA tournament, Hakstol will get a case of the Albany’s and shit all down his leg in the NCAA tournament and the season ends again without hanging any banners. UND still has the nicest arena in the world though!

WWWWWW, One normally writes a preview the week that the season begins. That would be this week for the Gophers so settle your horses before I send Dawger out to the East side to slap the glasses off your face.

WCHA Preview

1) Colorado College- The majority of the Tigers roster returns this year. They did lose Jack Hillen to graduation but the Tigers have more than enough talent to find a point man to operate their power play. Bachman also returns for the Tigers and will once again be the 2nd best goalie in the WCHA. If he stays healthy Chad Rau will be the WCHA Player Of The Year. I also have a man crush on Bill Sweatt....he is my 2008-09 TJ Oshie.

2) Denver- Probably won’t win the WCHA, but might be the best built team for playoff hockey. They can score tons of goals and also play lock down Bear style hockey when needed. Tyler Bozak is the best player in the conference that never gets talked about. Frosh Joe Colborne is suppose to be the cat's ass. Goalie is their only question mark.

3) Wisconsin- The most boring team in all of sports. Probably has the most talented and deepest defense in the WCHA if they all can reach their potential. That would be a good thing since their angry little coach doesn’t allow the team to attack. Defenders McBain, McDonagh and Gardnier are all high NHL draft picks. The rest of team is like watching Jumpers, really boring but just enough action to keep people watching and from slashing their wrists.

4) St. Cloud- They should be a fun team to watch this year as long as you can block out all of their fans and just concentrate on what is happening on the ice. Ryan Lasch and Garrett Roe are the two main reasons why St. Cloud will score a ton of goals especially on the power play. Look for Soph. Aaron Marvin to be a bigger factor this season. Marvin is big, strong, skilled and can mix it up a bit. He should score 10-15 goals this season. The mouth breather Jase Weslosky returns in goal for SCSU. SCSU fans seem to think this is a good thing. I think he sucks and still can’t believe a kid that stupid can keep himself eligible to play, even if he is attending SCSU. Also Jordy Christian is one of my favorite Frosh players in the WCHA. He is a very fun player to watch.

5) Minnesota- More on Gophers below. They might start a bit slow because of all the frosh, but will be very tough to skate with the 2nd half of the season. The Gophers power play is going to be very fun to watch this year with all the offensive talent. Kangas is back for his Sophomore season and will once again be the best goalie in the WHCA "eat it Bachman". Teams 5-8 are going to be very tight. Kangas’s is our savior.....Jesus Who?

6) North Dakota- No, this isn’t me taking a piss on my most hated team in all of sports. The fact is they just aren’t going to be very talented this year. Gino Torretta (a.k.a. Ryan Duncan) and Chris VandeVelde are the biggest thing they have going for them and that isn’t saying a lot. Joe Finley also returns for his senior season which means Moma Dawger’s Grandma will get to watch him muff a lot of little guys in the face and then skate away when a bigger players skate up to confront him. Otherwise they are just going to have a bunch of blue collar players without a ton of upside. Even though S.S.S. thinks the Sioux have no goalie talent, Brad Eidness will step in right away and give them a very solid #1. They do have a nice frosh class, but other than Jason Gregoire and Brad Eidness none of them will be counted on to make huge impacts this year. This all adds up to a down year in the land of blonde hair and blue eyes.

7) Minnesota State Mankato- Everyone in the world is picking these chowders to finish in the top 3 or 4 teams in the conference. This spells doom for Mankato. The reason they where a bit above average last year is because most teams took them lightly and they could play all loosey goosey. Last year they where a cute little team that people rallied around when Wisco stole their NCAA spot. This year they will be exposed for a team with average talent and will get most teams "A" game because of their high expectations. I could see UMD finishing a head of them. I also hate them for playing that queer soccer song whenever they score a goal.

8) UMD Bulldawgers- They have a real nice goalie in Alex Stalock who can steal games for them. That is about it. Otherwise they are really balanced with no high end talent. This spells 7 or 8th place and Scott Sandelin finally getting fired. I take it back, UMD can't finish ahead of Mankato. At least they have a new rink opening in two years!

9) Michigan Tech- Suck like WWWWWW’s 2007 NFL predictions.

10) Alaska Anchorage- Suck like Baby Dawgers pink Sioux stick. You can see Russia from their campus though! That was a political joke for Bogart... uppity prick!

Gopher Preview

The 2008 Gophers will most likely start the season with up and down results because of the youth that will be in their lineup every Friday and Saturday night. The good news is the hockey SHOULD be entertaining to watch this year. The biggest difference in 2008 is the Gophers power play will be much improved. The return of Ryan Stoa and the addition of Jordan Schroeder and Aaron Ness to the power play unit should be huge. Their will also be enough talent left over to make the Gophers 2nd power play unit as potent as 2007's #1.

The Other key change for 2008 was a major coaching change. Mike Guentzel is now out (now at Colorado College) as the Gophers top assistant coach and has been replaced by Mike Hastings. I was a huge fan of Guentzel because he was kind of a hard ass type coach which was a good thing for some of the fancy boys the gophers recruited. That being said, I do agree with the change because I think the Gophers needed a new voice and some new ideas to freshen up the program. Hastings has a long record of developing high end talent and will be counted on to improve the defense.

Goalies- The Gophers return Alex Kangas and that is all you need to know. Kangas is the greatest Gopher player of all time. ALL TIME!

Defenders- This is the area that scares me the most entering the season. The Gophers top returning defender should be David Fisher, but the kid has shown us nothing other than a 2 month window to start last year. The other two returning players who will be counted on are RJ Anderson and Dawgers sexier and less follicly challenged clone, Cade Fairchild. Fairchild has a chance to be a very good NCAA player if he continues to develop. I wouldn’t pick RJ Anderson for my Phy Ed floor hockey team if I had the 2nd to last pick and had to chose between him and a special needs child. I am not kidding. It scares the hell out of me that Lucia continues to talk about riding RJ this year.

Aaron Ness is going to be a very fun player to watch in the open ice and on the power play, but I think he will struggle in 5 v 5 situations. I am guessing the coaches will need to reel him in a bit because he was in deeper than the forwards in last weeks exhibition game. It makes for fun hockey, but 2 v1's the other direction and RJ being the 1 equals trouble. Other guys who will chip in on D are Werhs, Sam Lofquist, Grant Scott and Schack. The Todd, the Schack mention was for you!

Forwards- The Gophers should score more goals than last year, but that isn’t going to take much. The top line of Stoa, Barriball and Schroeder should be very good if Barriball can find away to tap in those pesky open net goals when Schoeder threads the puck to the far post. For those who don’t know it yet, Jordan Schoeder is going to be sexiest Gopher to ever live. He will be the WCHA’s Paul Kariya.

I am guessing the 2nd line will be made up of Flynn, Lucia and WWWWWW’s guy Carman. I expect Carman to have a big year as long as he continues to attend class and stay eligible. Flynn and Lucia should be career 3rd line guys, but both work hard and create chances. The only problem is they usually Hakstol those chances down their legs. If Patrick White and Mike Hoeffel continue to improve I think they will find themselves moving up to the 2nd line. Granted it was an exhibition game, but both of them looked much improved, especially Hoeffel. My call of the year is Hoeffel will have 15-20 goals this year.

Other players who should see a lot of minutes and chip in this year are Nick Larson (will be a stud in years to come), Justin Bostrom, Taylor Mattson (will be a great penalty kill guy) and Jake Hanson. There are some other talented frosh, but the minutes won’t be there and either will the performance this year.

Overall it will be an up and down year for the Gophers, but a lot more enjoyable to watch than last year. If the Gophers can actually keep some players around, next year could be NCAA Championship #6. Its been a while so I will remind everyone UND sucks. Preview that W!