It's March, which means it's time for madness, which kicks off with smaller conference tournaments beginning later tonight with the Atlantic Sun, Horizon, and Patriot. I didn't do it last year, but every other year (so many years) I've written this blog I've done little conference tournament previews because I think conference tournaments are almost as good as the NCAA Tournament. Ok, they're not, but they're a great little warm-up with wall-to-wall action for two weeks including day games, and everyone knows day games are the best things to gamble on. I figured now that I'm participating in The Jerome this year (a thing where a whole bunch of college basketball nerds try to pick the winner of every conference tournament), I might as well bring them back. So here is the return of the Award Winning DWG Conference Tournament previews, starting with the tourneys kicking off tonight. (FYI - collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com has nice breakdowns of these as well).
ATLANTIC SUN:
The Atlantic Sun is on a nice little streak of success. Mercer beat Duke last year in the tournament, which ruled, and Florida Gulf Coast, #DunkCity, made that nifty little sweet sixteen two seasons ago. Whoever comes out of this bracket could surprise again as the conference netted wins over Purdue, UMASS, and Georgia Tech this year.
FAVORITE: North Florida. The Ospreys own that win over Purdue, and they stomped through the league to a 12-2 mark. They're also the only team in the conference with a Top 100 efficiency mark on either end of the floor according to kenpom.com (#69 offensive eff.). The only other team to hit double digit wins in the A-Sun, Florida Gulf Coast at 11-3, lost twice to North Florida, both times by double digits.
SLEEPER: USC Upstate. Just 8-6 in the conference, the Spartans weren't all that impressive this year except for the fact that they swept North Florida and were the only A-Sun team to beat the Ospreys. They also have the conference's leading scorer in Ty Greene (20.1ppg) who absolutely went off on North Florida this year (32ppg in the two contests). They're on the other side of the bracket and will have to survive a tough matchup against FGCU to get there, but no way does UNF want to see these guys again.
THE PICK: North Florida. It's so tempting to take Gulf Coast. It would be a great story since they have still have two players, now seniors, from that Sweet 16 team who would love to make a run again. Unfortunately the Eagle offense just hasn't been that good this year, and the A-Sun setup, where the higher seed gets home court, swings this one North Florida's way. Add in the season sweep by the Ospreys and I just can't do it.
HORIZON LEAGUE:
This used to be one of the premier mid-majors conferences in the land, but Butler's jump to the Big East along with down trends and once dangerous schools like Valpo, Cleveland State, Oakland, and Wright State have taken off some of the shine. The only real good win the entire conference had in non-conference play was Green Bay's over Miami (could include Valpo over Murray State, too).
FAVORITE: Valparaiso. The Crusaders won the top seed with a 13-3 record, and as such have home court throughout the tournament (as long as they're alive) and a bye directly into the semifinals (so did second seeded Green Bay).
SLEEPER: Oakland. The Grizzlies had a pretty terrible non-conference run going 5-10 including some really bad losses, but they also packed in plenty of tough games which gave them the #12 toughest non-conference schedule in the country. They turned it around in conference play going 11-5, including 10-3 to close out the season. With two of the league's first team all-conference players on board they're dangerous.
THE PICK: Green Bay. The bye into the semis is so valuable that this pick basically comes down to Valpo or Green Bay, and I'm going Phoenix based on their defense (#32 in the country) and 2-point offense (52.4%, 30th in the country). The can't win a shootout since they can't and don't shoot 3s (7th lowest % of points from 3s in the country), but that defense should keep them close enough to play their game no matter who they play.
PATRIOT LEAGUE:
I think I pimped this book, The Last Amateurs, every time I've written about the Patriot League but it's really good even if it's not really all that relevant anymore (I think they have athletic scholarships now). It's still a good book. Anyway, Bucknell won the conference number 1 seed which seems like a pretty common occurrence without looking it up, but they weren't dominant with 5 conference losses and the Patriot is pretty wide open.
FAVORITE: Bucknell. Like I said, they took down the regular season conference title and that gives them the #1 seed and home court throughout, a place they only lost once in conference play. They lost by just seven against Villanova and eight against Penn State this year, so when things are going well they're a good team. When they're not, however, they're capable of losing to Siena and Mount St. Mary's. Weird team in a weird conference.
SLEEPER: Lehigh. They have kenpom's conference player of the year in Tim Kempton who averaged 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game this year, and they could be blossoming at the right time. Their last 3 conference games were a blowout of league winner Bucknell and two close losses to the 2nd place and 4th place teams in the league.
THE PICK: Colgate. Eighth in the country in effective field goal percentage, which will happen when you shoot 40% from three and 53% from two, both top 20 marks in the nation. The defense is really shaky, but the Raiders went 7-1 against the four other top-5 teams in Patriot League play so as long as they can avoid laying an egg against Army or Navy, two bad teams that beat them in the regular season, in round 2 I like their chances. Three of their top four scorers are guards, which is always a good thing in March.
Tomorrow the American East, Big South, Northeast, and Ohio Valley get going. Stop back for more!
Showing posts with label Green Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Bay. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Monday, March 4, 2013
Conference Tournament Previews (Tuesday Editiion)
It's March, which means I'll do what I do every year at this time. Well, actually what I do every year at this time is obsess over the Bubble and try to figure out exactly how many games the Gophers need to win to get a bid or if they're already out unless they win the B10 Tournament. Since I don't have to worry about that this year (they're in, nerds) I'll concentrate more on the other thing I do every year at the beginning of March - celebrate the smaller conference tournaments and rejoice in day action. So here's we go.
These tournaments kick-off the action, beginning on Tuesday:
[ED. NOTE: I stepped all over TRE's Gopher hockey post, so make sure to check it out.]
BIG SOUTH
Wow. What a way to kick things off. The Big South has traditionally been pretty bad, but usually one of the teams is at least a threat. In recent years Winthrop, UNC-Asheville, and Gardner Webb have at least been a threat to win a first round game (with Winthrop pretty much being a mid-major darling) but those days are gone. This is a bad conference (ranks #29 out of #31 NCAA eligible conferences.
FAVORITE: Charleston Southern. Both the Buccaneers and High Point finished the conference schedule at 12-4, but the Bucs get the #1 seed thanks to beating the Panthers in their only meeting this season. Although these two teams are the best of the Big South by a wide margin they still aren't very good, combining to beat just three teams ranked better than #200 in kenpom's ratings (and none better than #189) and they have a combined five wins over non D-I teams between them.
SLEEPER: Virginia Military Academy. I believe in all the years I've been doing this I've picked VMI as the sleeper in the Big South regardless of their record (8-8 this year) because they play such an interesting style - run, run, run, score, no defense. It hasn't really worked this year, outside of a 4-0 start to conference play, but despite that pace the Keydets rarely turn the ball over so they get off tons of shots. They just need to get hot and they can make a run, although that hasn't happened much this season.
W's PICK: High Point. This is rough. Every one of these teams has some pretty glaring flaws, even compared to their peers. I'll go with the Panthers who have the league's #1 most efficient offense top defensive squad vs. three-pointers, but really anybody could come out of here to get crushed later.
HORIZON LEAGUE
It's a definite change to not just write Butler in here, but these are the winds of change and so go the days of our lives or something. And now Butler might be joining that new basketball only conference with the Catholic 7 from the Big East? Or formerly Big East or new Big East? I can't keep up. I enjoyed the first few rounds of conference realignment as much as the next guy, but seriously can we take our foot of the gas so I can figure out who goes where for a year or two?
FAVORITE: Valparaiso. Despite the loss of the star power of Butler, there are still a couple of stacked teams in the Horizon in Valpo and Detroit, who both made my preseason list of Top 68 teams (at #36 and #46, respectively). Although neither is in the at-large conversation anymore, both have enough ability to pull off a first round upset in the NCAA Tournament.
SLEEPER: UW-Green Bay. The Phoenix (lol) have non-conference wins over NDSU and Marquette, two of just four wins this conference managed against Kenpom Top 100 teams this year (none of which came from Valpo or Detroit, it's worth noting). They probably aren't a major threat this year but UWGB is a really young team with only one senior, so expect the Phoenix to rise to the top of the standings in the next year or two. You like that? Expect the Phoenix to rise? God I'm Rick Reilly.
W's PICK: Valparaiso. It actually pains me a little to pick against Detroit and Ray McCallum who will be in the NBA someday and is super awesome, but Valpo is stacked. Their trio of Bobby Capobianco (formerly of Indiana), Ryan Broekhoff, and Kevin van Wijk give them a combination of size, ability, and experience that few mid-majors can match. Assuming they can get somebody - anybody - to give them capable guard play and this is a dangerous March team.
Last night in college basketball nothing really interesting happened. Louisville crushed Cincinnati, which was supposed to happen, and Kansas super-crushed Texas Tech, which was definitely supposed to happen. This helps Kansas creep closer to a one seed as well as putting more pressure on Cincy who was looking like a definite NCAA team earlier this year but has sputtered lately. As long as they don't blow their last game against South Florida they should still be ok, but they've lost four of their last five and six of their last eight, so there's definitely some pressure involved in that last game.
The biggest bubble news of the night was Baylor's loss at Texas, which pretty much ends the Bears hope for an at-large. Has anybody ever done less with more than Scott Drew? Well I guess that's a little rough considering he has two Elite Eights since 2010, but those teams seemed to succeed in spite of Drew, not because of him. Right?
As far as bubble action tonight Arkansas is probably in the biggest must win situation here (@ Missouri) with a too high RPI and this being a big chance to get a signature win to help bring that down, although Boise State could really, really use a win at UNLV. Notre Dame is probably already in but it would behoove them to not lose at home to St. John's. Illinois probably puts themselves solidly in if they win at Iowa, while a loss isn't a killer, while Memphis faces a similar game at UTEP but a loss would hurt the Tigers quite a bit more. Lastly, we have a true elimination game with Alabama @ Ole Miss. It's very possible neither team gets in, but the winner definitely won't (barring an SEC Tournament title). Fun time of year, especially when I'm not worried about the Gophers every single day. Neat.
These tournaments kick-off the action, beginning on Tuesday:
[ED. NOTE: I stepped all over TRE's Gopher hockey post, so make sure to check it out.]
BIG SOUTH
Wow. What a way to kick things off. The Big South has traditionally been pretty bad, but usually one of the teams is at least a threat. In recent years Winthrop, UNC-Asheville, and Gardner Webb have at least been a threat to win a first round game (with Winthrop pretty much being a mid-major darling) but those days are gone. This is a bad conference (ranks #29 out of #31 NCAA eligible conferences.
FAVORITE: Charleston Southern. Both the Buccaneers and High Point finished the conference schedule at 12-4, but the Bucs get the #1 seed thanks to beating the Panthers in their only meeting this season. Although these two teams are the best of the Big South by a wide margin they still aren't very good, combining to beat just three teams ranked better than #200 in kenpom's ratings (and none better than #189) and they have a combined five wins over non D-I teams between them.
SLEEPER: Virginia Military Academy. I believe in all the years I've been doing this I've picked VMI as the sleeper in the Big South regardless of their record (8-8 this year) because they play such an interesting style - run, run, run, score, no defense. It hasn't really worked this year, outside of a 4-0 start to conference play, but despite that pace the Keydets rarely turn the ball over so they get off tons of shots. They just need to get hot and they can make a run, although that hasn't happened much this season.
W's PICK: High Point. This is rough. Every one of these teams has some pretty glaring flaws, even compared to their peers. I'll go with the Panthers who have the league's #1 most efficient offense top defensive squad vs. three-pointers, but really anybody could come out of here to get crushed later.
HORIZON LEAGUE
It's a definite change to not just write Butler in here, but these are the winds of change and so go the days of our lives or something. And now Butler might be joining that new basketball only conference with the Catholic 7 from the Big East? Or formerly Big East or new Big East? I can't keep up. I enjoyed the first few rounds of conference realignment as much as the next guy, but seriously can we take our foot of the gas so I can figure out who goes where for a year or two?
FAVORITE: Valparaiso. Despite the loss of the star power of Butler, there are still a couple of stacked teams in the Horizon in Valpo and Detroit, who both made my preseason list of Top 68 teams (at #36 and #46, respectively). Although neither is in the at-large conversation anymore, both have enough ability to pull off a first round upset in the NCAA Tournament.
SLEEPER: UW-Green Bay. The Phoenix (lol) have non-conference wins over NDSU and Marquette, two of just four wins this conference managed against Kenpom Top 100 teams this year (none of which came from Valpo or Detroit, it's worth noting). They probably aren't a major threat this year but UWGB is a really young team with only one senior, so expect the Phoenix to rise to the top of the standings in the next year or two. You like that? Expect the Phoenix to rise? God I'm Rick Reilly.
W's PICK: Valparaiso. It actually pains me a little to pick against Detroit and Ray McCallum who will be in the NBA someday and is super awesome, but Valpo is stacked. Their trio of Bobby Capobianco (formerly of Indiana), Ryan Broekhoff, and Kevin van Wijk give them a combination of size, ability, and experience that few mid-majors can match. Assuming they can get somebody - anybody - to give them capable guard play and this is a dangerous March team.
Last night in college basketball nothing really interesting happened. Louisville crushed Cincinnati, which was supposed to happen, and Kansas super-crushed Texas Tech, which was definitely supposed to happen. This helps Kansas creep closer to a one seed as well as putting more pressure on Cincy who was looking like a definite NCAA team earlier this year but has sputtered lately. As long as they don't blow their last game against South Florida they should still be ok, but they've lost four of their last five and six of their last eight, so there's definitely some pressure involved in that last game.
The biggest bubble news of the night was Baylor's loss at Texas, which pretty much ends the Bears hope for an at-large. Has anybody ever done less with more than Scott Drew? Well I guess that's a little rough considering he has two Elite Eights since 2010, but those teams seemed to succeed in spite of Drew, not because of him. Right?
As far as bubble action tonight Arkansas is probably in the biggest must win situation here (@ Missouri) with a too high RPI and this being a big chance to get a signature win to help bring that down, although Boise State could really, really use a win at UNLV. Notre Dame is probably already in but it would behoove them to not lose at home to St. John's. Illinois probably puts themselves solidly in if they win at Iowa, while a loss isn't a killer, while Memphis faces a similar game at UTEP but a loss would hurt the Tigers quite a bit more. Lastly, we have a true elimination game with Alabama @ Ole Miss. It's very possible neither team gets in, but the winner definitely won't (barring an SEC Tournament title). Fun time of year, especially when I'm not worried about the Gophers every single day. Neat.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Monday Musings
So dumb. I actually had a Week in Review about 90% done and all typed up. I saved it before bed last night with the intent of finishing it off this morning, except when I went there it was gone. Completely gone. So I'm just going to do this thing instead where I type stuff that you end up reading for some reason.
- Good win for the Gophers Sunday winning in Penn State. It's not so much a great win because Penn State is any good (spoiler: they aren't), but more because losing at PSU right after rescuing their season would be exactly the kind of thing the Gophers would do. Also I should say that when I say the Gophers "rescued" their season after beating Indiana all I mean by that is they shifted the season from a epic flameout to what will probably end up being a disappointing season, but they still have a chance to do something at least. So yeah, I'm not exactly throwing a party just yet but at least they managed to beat Penn State. God I was so convinced they were going to lose. Thank god I'm stupid.
Now the Gophers are 2-4 in Big 10 play, and at an absolute minimum they're going to need to get to 9 wins to even get within sniffing distance of an NCAA bid, especially because Virginia Tech - their one hope for a quality out of conference win - keeps sucking. With 12 games to go that means they need to win at least seven more. Here are the easy wins left on the schedule: Nebraska at home. That's it. Everything else is going to at least be a little tough; HOME: Northwestern, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, and Nebraska. AWAY: Michigan State, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. Yikes. They're gonna be favored in what, 3 games? Maybe four? It's long ass road to those 9 wins, and I'm not even sure 9 would get there. Looking like another long year. I need a vacation.
- Elsewhere in a rare move the Twins made that I actually like they signed reliever Joel Zumaya to a one year deal for $800k (with incentives that can double that), but it's a non-guaranteed deal so if his elbow (which you may remember exploded in a game against the Twins) isn't all the way back they can just cut him easy peasy lemon squeezy. Good deal.
He's been hurt a lot since bursting on the scene in his rookie year of 2006 - he hasn't thrown more than 39 innings in a season since then - but if he can somehow stay healthy he could end up being a real bargain. Zumaya has always been a flamethrower (his average fastball for his career has been 98.5 mph, topping at an average of 99 his last two years and he's struck out a batter an inning for his career) and like many of that ilk he's struggled with his control. 2010, however, was different. Although he was still throwing hard and still striking people out he also had gotten the wildness under control, slicing his walk rate basically in half and was developing into a dominant reliever pre-injury. Big fan of the signing.
- Sticking with baseball, why the hell would you trade a 23-year old pitcher who already has one of the best fastballs in the league and has already proven himself to be a #2 type pitcher and if he ever fully developed a second pitch he could end up a full on ace. I know Jesus Montero is thought to be one of the best hitting prospects in baseball and he definitely hit well when he was up with the Yankees last season but it was just 69 plate appearances and how is that all the Mariners got for Michael Pineda?
If Seattle was dead set on trading Pineda and his 171 high quality innings Montero would have been a nice centerpiece to the deal, but there should have been at least a couple more prospects thrown in. Now Seattle has a nice middle of the order future with Dustin Ackley, Montero, and Justin Smoak but they're pitching is suddenly pretty thin again behind Felix. And the Yankee rotation just went from crazy shaky to Sabathia, Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda (who they signed like, 3 minutes after making this trade), Ivan Nova (who finished ahead of Pineda in the ROY voting last year), and their choice of Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia, or A.J. Burnett. You know the worst part? And of those three pitchers the Yankees get to choose from as their #5 would be the Twins' ace. I'm going to go lick a car battery now.
- No matter how disappointing the Gophers' hoops season might be to you at least it's not as bad as what's going on with Pitt. The Panthers have been dominant in their own way over the last several seasons and were expecting more of the same this year, starting the year ranked #11, but things haven't exactly gone according to plan. An 0-3 week with a 20 point home loss to Rutgers leaves Pitt in dead last in the Big East at 0-6 and currently riding a 7-game losing streak that started with a home loss to Wagner. Wagner! There's no doubt the Gophers' season has been a bit of a disappointment but it's nothing like what Pitt fans are going through. This year Pitt is hands down the most disappointing team in the NCAA and it isn't remotely close. They're just like The Phantom Menace.
- What's more sweeter than a Packer season ending early? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Suck it, Packers.
- Good win for the Gophers Sunday winning in Penn State. It's not so much a great win because Penn State is any good (spoiler: they aren't), but more because losing at PSU right after rescuing their season would be exactly the kind of thing the Gophers would do. Also I should say that when I say the Gophers "rescued" their season after beating Indiana all I mean by that is they shifted the season from a epic flameout to what will probably end up being a disappointing season, but they still have a chance to do something at least. So yeah, I'm not exactly throwing a party just yet but at least they managed to beat Penn State. God I was so convinced they were going to lose. Thank god I'm stupid.
Now the Gophers are 2-4 in Big 10 play, and at an absolute minimum they're going to need to get to 9 wins to even get within sniffing distance of an NCAA bid, especially because Virginia Tech - their one hope for a quality out of conference win - keeps sucking. With 12 games to go that means they need to win at least seven more. Here are the easy wins left on the schedule: Nebraska at home. That's it. Everything else is going to at least be a little tough; HOME: Northwestern, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, and Nebraska. AWAY: Michigan State, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. Yikes. They're gonna be favored in what, 3 games? Maybe four? It's long ass road to those 9 wins, and I'm not even sure 9 would get there. Looking like another long year. I need a vacation.
- Elsewhere in a rare move the Twins made that I actually like they signed reliever Joel Zumaya to a one year deal for $800k (with incentives that can double that), but it's a non-guaranteed deal so if his elbow (which you may remember exploded in a game against the Twins) isn't all the way back they can just cut him easy peasy lemon squeezy. Good deal.
He's been hurt a lot since bursting on the scene in his rookie year of 2006 - he hasn't thrown more than 39 innings in a season since then - but if he can somehow stay healthy he could end up being a real bargain. Zumaya has always been a flamethrower (his average fastball for his career has been 98.5 mph, topping at an average of 99 his last two years and he's struck out a batter an inning for his career) and like many of that ilk he's struggled with his control. 2010, however, was different. Although he was still throwing hard and still striking people out he also had gotten the wildness under control, slicing his walk rate basically in half and was developing into a dominant reliever pre-injury. Big fan of the signing.
- Sticking with baseball, why the hell would you trade a 23-year old pitcher who already has one of the best fastballs in the league and has already proven himself to be a #2 type pitcher and if he ever fully developed a second pitch he could end up a full on ace. I know Jesus Montero is thought to be one of the best hitting prospects in baseball and he definitely hit well when he was up with the Yankees last season but it was just 69 plate appearances and how is that all the Mariners got for Michael Pineda?
If Seattle was dead set on trading Pineda and his 171 high quality innings Montero would have been a nice centerpiece to the deal, but there should have been at least a couple more prospects thrown in. Now Seattle has a nice middle of the order future with Dustin Ackley, Montero, and Justin Smoak but they're pitching is suddenly pretty thin again behind Felix. And the Yankee rotation just went from crazy shaky to Sabathia, Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda (who they signed like, 3 minutes after making this trade), Ivan Nova (who finished ahead of Pineda in the ROY voting last year), and their choice of Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia, or A.J. Burnett. You know the worst part? And of those three pitchers the Yankees get to choose from as their #5 would be the Twins' ace. I'm going to go lick a car battery now.
- No matter how disappointing the Gophers' hoops season might be to you at least it's not as bad as what's going on with Pitt. The Panthers have been dominant in their own way over the last several seasons and were expecting more of the same this year, starting the year ranked #11, but things haven't exactly gone according to plan. An 0-3 week with a 20 point home loss to Rutgers leaves Pitt in dead last in the Big East at 0-6 and currently riding a 7-game losing streak that started with a home loss to Wagner. Wagner! There's no doubt the Gophers' season has been a bit of a disappointment but it's nothing like what Pitt fans are going through. This year Pitt is hands down the most disappointing team in the NCAA and it isn't remotely close. They're just like The Phantom Menace.
- What's more sweeter than a Packer season ending early? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Suck it, Packers.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday Musings (and good-bye, my love)
You know what's crazy? I am super excited for the NBA to be back. Actually I guess that's not all that crazy because I get excited for the NBA every single year. I get all jacked up and decide that I'm going to really dedicate myself to following the NBA all season long rather than just jumping in for the playoffs, and it's finally time to really become an NBA fan. Then, at some point in the second quarter, I watch a defender not fight through a screen, the picker not roll, the wide open jump shooter clang it off the rim and the team with the ball getting a put back basket because nobody boxed out and the only one who jumped for teh rebound was the 2nd year power forward who still tried on every play. And now they're playing back-to-back-to-backs and 66 games in like, 3 months or something like that.
Yet, here I am, getting all excited to watch the NBA on Christmas Day. God I'm so dumb. Here's some other quick stuff, in lieu of a Week in Review post which I was too lazy to write.
- I guess the most obvious thing is the sad news that Jason Kubel will no longer be a Twin after signing for 2 years, $15 million with the D-Backs. I've been pissed off at signings before (when Mussina left the O's for the Yankees I swore off baseball - for some reason I grew up a rabid Oriole fan), and others moves have left me stunned (when Brunansky was traded for Herr I distinctly remember calling my dad a liar, which he wasn't pleased about), but this is the first time I've been broken hearted, or at least as broken hearted as a reasonably rational adult male can be about sports.
I can't even be mad. That 2 year, $15 million dollar deal is probably more than Kubel is worth considering he's a poor fielder, struggles against lefties, and has trouble staying healthy so I can't be mad at him for taking it or mad at the Twins for not matching/beating it (although I am a bit perturbed that they seemingly wrote him off and never seemed to care about trying to retain him). So that's why I'm just sad, not angry at anybody.
I don't even know why I love Kubel so much, but I know his is one of only two articles of clothing I own with another man's name on the back (I also have a Denard Span shirt for some reason). He is also the first player who I ever broke down and bought a shirt/jersey off with my own money (at other points I had owned a LaDainian Tomlinson jersey and a Randy Moss jersey - both gifts). He's not particularly fast, or athletic, or anything. His best skill is hitting the baseball, but he'll never be confused with Albert Pujols. He doesn't even have the small, scrappy gamer thing going for him (although that would have made me hate him). I think the reason Kubel is so loved, by me and many others, is because he seems like an every man. Just a cool, laid back dude who would love to play softball and then pounds some beers. Except in his case instead of softball he crushes pitches from the best baseball throwers in the world and gets millions to do it.
Obviously I won't be able to follow his career as closely when he ships on over to the land where games start at 10:30pm, but god knows I'll try. I'm not sure anybody will ever surpass him as my favorite Twin. And yet we're stuck with Joe fucking Mauer and his enema of a contract and Justin Morneau who may or may not know what year it is. This blows.
- On to other, less soul crushing things, you know all that talk about how great Cody Zeller was going to be right off the bat and was the kind of player who could turn Indiana's program right around? Well I think for once the hype was right because I had a chance to actually watch this dude against Notre Dame (a game the Hoosiers won by 11) and he's absolutely the real deal. There was one play where he blocked a lay-up attempt some some poor bastard on the Irish, then beat the defense down the court for an easy score. He's really athletic for his size, very polished for a freshman, and can pass like a guard, and is like whoa. I now feel very dirty for liking a Hoosier this much. I'm going to go take like, six showers and then burn myself with matches.
- As long as I'm talkin' Big Ten players who brokeout or whatever I guess we should talk DeShaun Thomas after his 30 point outburst against South Carolina (on 13-16 shooting!!) which followed his 23-point game (on 10-15 shooting). Not surprising, since if you watched Thomas last year you could see he had the potential to be a big time scorer and I'm pretty sure he led the nation in points per minute last year (and shots per minute). When he's hot and hitting he's going to put up major points since he's basically always taking a heat check, and he's been on fire lately which is good timing since Sullinger has a constant hangnail or something. Of course, it's going to also be fun when he goes 1-14 in a game and shoots the Buckeyes into a loss. Hopefully against the Gophers. Ok I laughed when I typed that.
- Sticking with the Big 10, just when you think everything is hunky dory along comes to Purdue to mess everything up by losing to Butler (Illinois lost a home game to UNLV as well, but that's at least understandable). Now, in case you haven't been paying attention this year Butler isn't the same Butler they've been for the last several seasons - they straight up suck. They were 4-6 going into the Purdue game, and that includes losses to Ball State, Valpo, and Evansville, with their wins coming against three truly dreadful teams and a D-II opponent. And yet Purdue managed to lose on a tip-in at the buzzer on a neutral court. Ouch. It's probably the worst loss by a Big Ten team other than Nebraska, Penn State, or Iowa. Nice work, dingleberries.
- Sigh. I hate this, but it's time to admit that Washington, although the most fun team to watch ever, are pretty clearly not an NCAA caliber team. A completely embarrassing loss to South Dakota State - at home by 19 - slams that home pretty clearly and drops Washington to 5-5 on the season. I suppose none of the other losses are that bad by themselves (@ St. Louis, @ Nevada in OT, and versus Marquette and Duke in Madison Square Garden) but good god, a 20 pt loss to SDSU? Maybe I'm overreacting but I'm just disgusted. South Dakota State opened up a 35-14 lead early and never looked back, riding 55% shooting (10-16 from 3), and 26-32 free throw shooting to an easy, and shocking, win. I suppose whenever a Pac-10 team loses it shouldn't be a surprise (Arizona also got blown out by Gonzaga), but damn, this is just sad. I miss Captain Circus Ball.
- Ha-ha, stupid Packers. Go around all cockin' off about how you were gonna go for the perfect season and guess what happens? You get punched in the mouth by a crappy crap team with a 40 year old running back, a QB nobody wants, very little talent, and a completely dopey head coach. On one hand, it's possible this loss refocuses them and they get better, but on the other hand a perfect Packer season is more than I could possibly take and either end up killing myself or somebody would end up dead after I raged out. It was so fun watching the last two minutes of the game where the Packers needed a stop badly but their little sissy soft defense full of nancy boy hippy girls couldn't stop the Chiefs running game even when they knew damn well a running play was coming. Seemed like all the talk about the Packer D being statistically poor only because they always had the lead might have just been wishful thinking, because these guys are freaking terrible. In conclusion, go to hell Green Bay.
Seriously though. I feel like Mel Gibson in that movie where he's all like "Give me back my Kubel!" You know what I'm talking about. The only thing cheering me up at all is I just saw the Christmas card we got from $nake and guess what? His youngest son is wearing a Yankee cap in the picture they used. A Yankee cap. The Yankees. The New York Yankees. Jesus, what an asshole.
Yet, here I am, getting all excited to watch the NBA on Christmas Day. God I'm so dumb. Here's some other quick stuff, in lieu of a Week in Review post which I was too lazy to write.
- I guess the most obvious thing is the sad news that Jason Kubel will no longer be a Twin after signing for 2 years, $15 million with the D-Backs. I've been pissed off at signings before (when Mussina left the O's for the Yankees I swore off baseball - for some reason I grew up a rabid Oriole fan), and others moves have left me stunned (when Brunansky was traded for Herr I distinctly remember calling my dad a liar, which he wasn't pleased about), but this is the first time I've been broken hearted, or at least as broken hearted as a reasonably rational adult male can be about sports.
I can't even be mad. That 2 year, $15 million dollar deal is probably more than Kubel is worth considering he's a poor fielder, struggles against lefties, and has trouble staying healthy so I can't be mad at him for taking it or mad at the Twins for not matching/beating it (although I am a bit perturbed that they seemingly wrote him off and never seemed to care about trying to retain him). So that's why I'm just sad, not angry at anybody.
I don't even know why I love Kubel so much, but I know his is one of only two articles of clothing I own with another man's name on the back (I also have a Denard Span shirt for some reason). He is also the first player who I ever broke down and bought a shirt/jersey off with my own money (at other points I had owned a LaDainian Tomlinson jersey and a Randy Moss jersey - both gifts). He's not particularly fast, or athletic, or anything. His best skill is hitting the baseball, but he'll never be confused with Albert Pujols. He doesn't even have the small, scrappy gamer thing going for him (although that would have made me hate him). I think the reason Kubel is so loved, by me and many others, is because he seems like an every man. Just a cool, laid back dude who would love to play softball and then pounds some beers. Except in his case instead of softball he crushes pitches from the best baseball throwers in the world and gets millions to do it.
Obviously I won't be able to follow his career as closely when he ships on over to the land where games start at 10:30pm, but god knows I'll try. I'm not sure anybody will ever surpass him as my favorite Twin. And yet we're stuck with Joe fucking Mauer and his enema of a contract and Justin Morneau who may or may not know what year it is. This blows.
 |
| Tell me this guy wouldn't love to destroy you at Beer Pong. |
- On to other, less soul crushing things, you know all that talk about how great Cody Zeller was going to be right off the bat and was the kind of player who could turn Indiana's program right around? Well I think for once the hype was right because I had a chance to actually watch this dude against Notre Dame (a game the Hoosiers won by 11) and he's absolutely the real deal. There was one play where he blocked a lay-up attempt some some poor bastard on the Irish, then beat the defense down the court for an easy score. He's really athletic for his size, very polished for a freshman, and can pass like a guard, and is like whoa. I now feel very dirty for liking a Hoosier this much. I'm going to go take like, six showers and then burn myself with matches.
- As long as I'm talkin' Big Ten players who brokeout or whatever I guess we should talk DeShaun Thomas after his 30 point outburst against South Carolina (on 13-16 shooting!!) which followed his 23-point game (on 10-15 shooting). Not surprising, since if you watched Thomas last year you could see he had the potential to be a big time scorer and I'm pretty sure he led the nation in points per minute last year (and shots per minute). When he's hot and hitting he's going to put up major points since he's basically always taking a heat check, and he's been on fire lately which is good timing since Sullinger has a constant hangnail or something. Of course, it's going to also be fun when he goes 1-14 in a game and shoots the Buckeyes into a loss. Hopefully against the Gophers. Ok I laughed when I typed that.
- Sticking with the Big 10, just when you think everything is hunky dory along comes to Purdue to mess everything up by losing to Butler (Illinois lost a home game to UNLV as well, but that's at least understandable). Now, in case you haven't been paying attention this year Butler isn't the same Butler they've been for the last several seasons - they straight up suck. They were 4-6 going into the Purdue game, and that includes losses to Ball State, Valpo, and Evansville, with their wins coming against three truly dreadful teams and a D-II opponent. And yet Purdue managed to lose on a tip-in at the buzzer on a neutral court. Ouch. It's probably the worst loss by a Big Ten team other than Nebraska, Penn State, or Iowa. Nice work, dingleberries.
- Sigh. I hate this, but it's time to admit that Washington, although the most fun team to watch ever, are pretty clearly not an NCAA caliber team. A completely embarrassing loss to South Dakota State - at home by 19 - slams that home pretty clearly and drops Washington to 5-5 on the season. I suppose none of the other losses are that bad by themselves (@ St. Louis, @ Nevada in OT, and versus Marquette and Duke in Madison Square Garden) but good god, a 20 pt loss to SDSU? Maybe I'm overreacting but I'm just disgusted. South Dakota State opened up a 35-14 lead early and never looked back, riding 55% shooting (10-16 from 3), and 26-32 free throw shooting to an easy, and shocking, win. I suppose whenever a Pac-10 team loses it shouldn't be a surprise (Arizona also got blown out by Gonzaga), but damn, this is just sad. I miss Captain Circus Ball.
- Ha-ha, stupid Packers. Go around all cockin' off about how you were gonna go for the perfect season and guess what happens? You get punched in the mouth by a crappy crap team with a 40 year old running back, a QB nobody wants, very little talent, and a completely dopey head coach. On one hand, it's possible this loss refocuses them and they get better, but on the other hand a perfect Packer season is more than I could possibly take and either end up killing myself or somebody would end up dead after I raged out. It was so fun watching the last two minutes of the game where the Packers needed a stop badly but their little sissy soft defense full of nancy boy hippy girls couldn't stop the Chiefs running game even when they knew damn well a running play was coming. Seemed like all the talk about the Packer D being statistically poor only because they always had the lead might have just been wishful thinking, because these guys are freaking terrible. In conclusion, go to hell Green Bay.
Seriously though. I feel like Mel Gibson in that movie where he's all like "Give me back my Kubel!" You know what I'm talking about. The only thing cheering me up at all is I just saw the Christmas card we got from $nake and guess what? His youngest son is wearing a Yankee cap in the picture they used. A Yankee cap. The Yankees. The New York Yankees. Jesus, what an asshole.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Week in Review - 11/7/2011
Missouri to the SEC? West Virginia to the Big 12? I think I'm officially old or maybe just completely sick of all the moving because what was once kind of exciting and neato is now annoying and I just want it to go away, not unlike my kids. Whatever. I am just confused as to why the hell the SEC would want Missouri. Makes little sense to me. I get the WVU and Big 12 merger - the B12 needs to grab whoever they can (academics be damned, apparently) and WVU is a good program stuck in a suddenly dying conference after the Cuse and Pitt defections and needs to find more stable ground. Makes sense for everyone. But Missouri to the SEC? I'm not even sure I get it for Missouri. You're going to sell midwest kids by telling them they their parents can come see them play if they fly all the way to the SE USA? I don't know. But I know I don't know and I'm dumb about this stuff so whatever let's move on.
WHO WAS AWESOME:
1. MarQueis Gray. By some kind of weird accident I ended up watching most of the Gopher football game, and I have to say Gray impressed the crap out of me and looked like a whole new player (NOTE: we're throwing out the 4th quarter which was mostly just bad decisions and passes that made it 85% of the way to their target all wrapped up with a final pass that was 25 yards from any Gopher). I saw him look to a second read instead of just tucking and running, and I even saw him go to a third read at one point. And some of those throws my god who was that? His third TD to McKnight (the one in the 3rd quarter) was an absolutely beautiful throw, and he had one on the final drive where the threaded the needle quite nicely as well. I don't know, I've been convinced Gray had no real future as a QB, but suddenly I'm not so sure. Of course I don't mean a real QB here, obviously, I mean a college QB. Also I think you're racist.
2. Michigan Wolverines. Not the football team (although we'll get there), but the basketball team, specifically recruiting-wise, because they just secured a commitment from 2012 power forward Mitch McGary, who is basically worshiped by anybody and everybody who follows high school hoops (side bar: can you believe worshiped only has one 'p'? Weird.). McGary is listed as either a power forward or a center depending on who you ask, but, since John Beilein was after him you know damn well he has perimeter skills, but unlike a guy like Pittsnoggle or those white nerds on Michigan right now, McGary has the inside game to go with it. Really, I mean the guy is #2 overall in the class according to both ESPN and Scout and is #3 according to Rivals - this is a really really huge deal for the Wolverines and actually the Big 10 overall. I mean, Michigan's top competition for McGary was Duke, and the other competition was Kentucky, Florida, and North Carolina. Just a ridiculous get. Take notes, Tubby. Beilein has Michigan on their way (also has commits from the #34 and #79 recruits in that same class) and they're positioned to be a national contender soon. Started in the same year as Tubby. Just sayin'
3. Trent Richardson. Ok so this one might seem kind of weird because his stat line isn't all that good and he pretty much did nothing in the second half vs. LSU, but I thought this guy was kind of slow and probably going to be a flop in the NFL. After watching the game saturday night I am fully revising that prediction to future stud. Yeah, he's big and strong, which probably meant he'd be at least a decent NFL rusher, but he caught a couple of passes in the flat against LSU where he made a whole mess of people miss him with a little juke here and a little juke there - and LSU is an excellent defensive team. It wasn't pretty or shifty like Barry Sanders or LeSean McCoy, but it was certainly quick enough to be effective. Combine that with his power and he's going to be a major contributor at some point for some NFL team. I don't know, maybe like a faster Brandon Jacobs who can catch. Something like that but better.
4. DeMarco Murray. I like that Murray comes right after Richardson because I can never remember who played/plays for Alabama and who played/plays for Oklahoma. But anyway I think it's pretty clear at this point that Murray is the goods. After his debut as a starter, where he ran for 253 yards, you could probably talk yourself into thinking that was some kind of fluke. Then last week he rushed for 74 yards, but did it on only 8 carries because of how the game was going. This week he once again impressed, going for 139 rushing and another 47 receiving and just generally looking like a stud. He's fast (enough), strong (enough), and very shifty, not to mention being a great receiver - at least according to his scouting report coming out of college. I haven't been this impressed with a young back since LeSean McCoy. Of course, I now have McCoy, Murray, and Ray Rice on my keeper team and we only start two RBs, so I should probably figure out something to do with all that.
5. Green Bay Packers. God damn it. These fuckers are going to go undefeated, aren't they? And I'm going to have to sit here and choke on it. After beating San Diego, which should have been a completely losable game, they are now 8-0. Looking at the schedule there are three games they can't possibly lose (vs. Oakland, vs. Minnesota, vs. Chicago) and another one that is essentially unlosable but because it's on the road I can't quite call it that (@ Kansas City). So that's a guaranteed 12 wins. Two of the other four games they'll be a pretty good sized favorite, maybe around a TD or so (vs. Detroit, vs. Tampa), and one other (@ New York Giants) they'll be probably around a 3 point favorite. The only game where they might be an underdog is @ Detroit on Thanksgiving, and god help us all if Stafford can't pull that one out because I'm pretty sure I can't survive in a world where the Packers go undefeated and win another Super Bowl. Seriously my hatred for Green Bay makes my hatred for the Badgers look like my hatred for chicken wings which is weird because I don't care about the NFL all that much. I think if the Packers were a college I'd probably go all Charles Whitman on it.
WHO SUCKED
1. Alabama Kickers. What the mother hell was that? Four missed field goals in the biggest game of the year and probably your career? Just brutal. Although I guess asking college kickers to make field goals of 40-50 yards is pretty ridiculous, so it's not like the Tide was exactly putting their dudes in positions to succeed. I don't know, the whole thing was just ugly and ridiculous and kind of funny. I was actually looking forward to them trotting out the kicker each time they went for a field goal. And seriously, bringing that dude out for a 52 yarder in OT when he'd already missed two on the night? Nobody, and I mean nobody, thought that one was going to go through. Kickers, lol. Probably should just amend the rule book to get rid of field goals in college, Chip Lohmiller be damned.
2. Denard Robinson. And this is why, no matter how successful your run first QB is in college (and Robinson has already been benched this year so there's that) you can never feel comfortable with a dude who can't really throw. Michigan, down by 8, ball on the 3, first down, 30 seconds or something left. First play - some kind of mini-up-and-out on the outside - receiver marginally open - Robinson throws it completely out of bounds. Second down - floater in the middle of nowhere, throw without really even looking at the defense - still almost caught but receiver was out-of-bounds. Much like the pizza at Donatelli's. Third down - little scramble play - throw comes up short - actually probably should have been caught. But I've typed too much to turn back. Fourth Down - hike and throw timing play with no options which is actually really stupid because if you have a dude like Denard you want there to be a lot of options and this play has zero. This should probably be ripping on whoever the Michigan coach is. But 1. I don't know who that is and 2. I'm drunk on Saturday night whilst typing this and I don't feel like doing whatever.
3. Philip Rivers. He always puts up monster numbers, like his 385 yards and 4 TDs against Green Bay on Sunday, but he's just a train wreck of inconsistency, as his 3 picks with two brought back for Packer touchdowns attests too. He's not like Romo, who will always choke in a big game, but he's just all over the place and will always make just as many terrible throws/decisions as he does good ones. Seriously, he throws interceptions in the playoffs/big games like that's his actual job, he just masks it by also throwing for a couple TDs and 350+ yards so nobody really notices. Seriously, if you had to pick a "good" QB to start a game that he had to win or you would die Rivers would be the second worst guy you could pick, behind Romo of course. Because he's a big time choker. Like that dude from Kung Fu or Albert DeSalvo (supposedly).
4. West Virginia. The Mountaineers lost their exhibition game versus d-2 Northern Kentucky on Saturday, which doesn't necessarily mean disaster for the season but it's kind of hard to think of this as a good sign. No, they weren't the only team to lose to a D-2 team this week - Butler lost to Northern State and Arizona lost to Seattle Pacific - but everyone else had mitigating circumstances that could at least explain it. Butler lost their top 2 players from last year and have to deal with that while Arizona is trying to break in a freshman point guard and lost their do everything player, but WVU shouldn't have those issues. I mean yeah, they lost last year's leading scorer in Casey Mitchell, but with do everything Kevin Jones and point guard Truck Bryant back there's no reason for them to lose this game. Most troubling is they allowed Northern Kentucky to shoot 52% from the floor for the game. I don't know if this is a fluke or a terrible sign and harbinger of doom, but it ain't good.
5. Jim Thome. Tell me this isn't completely bizarre. I mean the contract makes total sense - 1 year for $1.25 million with AB incentives that can push it to $1.5. Perfect for everybdoy. And I even get how Thome likes Philly from when he played there before and Philly likes Thome because if you don't like Thome you're probably evil in your black heart. Again, makes sense. But let's think about this, and realize that Philadelphia is in the national league and unless something changed they don't have a designated hitter in that league. Thome proved with the Twins that he can't field - at all- which is why Mike Cuddyer, Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe, Joe Mauer, Matt Tolbert, Brendan Harris, and Jose Morales have all played 1st in the last two years. So he's signing on to the Phils to get a max of 162 plate appearances next year. I mean sure, he'll probably get all 162 since it's the NL, but I can't see any way he gets more than that unless there's a rule change allowing double pinch-hits. I mean maybe that's what Thome is looking for now, it's a pretty sweet life making seven figures to eat some seeds or chew some Redman before taking a couple hacks late in the game, but I always got the impression he wanted to start once in a while. Also this probably doesn't belong in the "who sucks" thing but I didn't really want to make another post about it so fuck it.
Three Final Things:
1 . The greatest sport in the world starts tonight with college hoops kicking off with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Three games tonight (Valpo @ Arizona, William & Mary @ St. Johns, and Eastern Kentucky @ Mississippi State) and then three more Wednesday (Duquesne @ Arizona, Liberty @ Texas A&M, and Lehigh @ St. John's) get us all kicked off leading to the big day on Friday when there are 126 games. I'm stoked, and if you're looking for a wager tonight the only game I have a feel for is Miss State -17 vs. EKU, so just do it. Also, here is my fantasy college basketball roster:
G - Dee Bost, Miss State
G - Allen Crabbe, Cal
G - Abdul Gaddy, Washington
G - Andre Young, Clemson
G - Glen Rice, Georgia Tech
G - Faisal Aden, Wash State
G - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
G - BJ Young, Arkansas
G - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
G/F - Drew Crawford, Northwestern
F - Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota
F - Drew Gordon, New Mexico
F - Chris Johnson, Dayton
F - Brandon Davies, BYU
F - Malik Cooke, South Carolina
F - Dwight Powell, Stanford
C - Josh Smith, UCLA
C - Andrew Smith, Butler
C - Meyers Leonard, Illinois
C - Krys Faber, DePaul
I smell championship.
2. Since I'm feeling generous here is a kick-ass soup recipe, which you can make as either beef or chicken:
1 lb. chicken breast or stew meat cut into cubes (depending on if you want chicken or beef soup, obvs)
2 potatoes, cubed
2 small carrots, diced
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 1/2 c. frozen corn kernels
2 T horseradish mustard (dijon works too)
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. vegetable juice like v-8
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or beef if making beef soup)
Combine and cook in a crockpot for 7-9 hours. Hell yes.
3. I got distracted and I can't remember what #3 was now. Ok then bye.
WHO WAS AWESOME:
1. MarQueis Gray. By some kind of weird accident I ended up watching most of the Gopher football game, and I have to say Gray impressed the crap out of me and looked like a whole new player (NOTE: we're throwing out the 4th quarter which was mostly just bad decisions and passes that made it 85% of the way to their target all wrapped up with a final pass that was 25 yards from any Gopher). I saw him look to a second read instead of just tucking and running, and I even saw him go to a third read at one point. And some of those throws my god who was that? His third TD to McKnight (the one in the 3rd quarter) was an absolutely beautiful throw, and he had one on the final drive where the threaded the needle quite nicely as well. I don't know, I've been convinced Gray had no real future as a QB, but suddenly I'm not so sure. Of course I don't mean a real QB here, obviously, I mean a college QB. Also I think you're racist.
2. Michigan Wolverines. Not the football team (although we'll get there), but the basketball team, specifically recruiting-wise, because they just secured a commitment from 2012 power forward Mitch McGary, who is basically worshiped by anybody and everybody who follows high school hoops (side bar: can you believe worshiped only has one 'p'? Weird.). McGary is listed as either a power forward or a center depending on who you ask, but, since John Beilein was after him you know damn well he has perimeter skills, but unlike a guy like Pittsnoggle or those white nerds on Michigan right now, McGary has the inside game to go with it. Really, I mean the guy is #2 overall in the class according to both ESPN and Scout and is #3 according to Rivals - this is a really really huge deal for the Wolverines and actually the Big 10 overall. I mean, Michigan's top competition for McGary was Duke, and the other competition was Kentucky, Florida, and North Carolina. Just a ridiculous get. Take notes, Tubby. Beilein has Michigan on their way (also has commits from the #34 and #79 recruits in that same class) and they're positioned to be a national contender soon. Started in the same year as Tubby. Just sayin'
3. Trent Richardson. Ok so this one might seem kind of weird because his stat line isn't all that good and he pretty much did nothing in the second half vs. LSU, but I thought this guy was kind of slow and probably going to be a flop in the NFL. After watching the game saturday night I am fully revising that prediction to future stud. Yeah, he's big and strong, which probably meant he'd be at least a decent NFL rusher, but he caught a couple of passes in the flat against LSU where he made a whole mess of people miss him with a little juke here and a little juke there - and LSU is an excellent defensive team. It wasn't pretty or shifty like Barry Sanders or LeSean McCoy, but it was certainly quick enough to be effective. Combine that with his power and he's going to be a major contributor at some point for some NFL team. I don't know, maybe like a faster Brandon Jacobs who can catch. Something like that but better.
4. DeMarco Murray. I like that Murray comes right after Richardson because I can never remember who played/plays for Alabama and who played/plays for Oklahoma. But anyway I think it's pretty clear at this point that Murray is the goods. After his debut as a starter, where he ran for 253 yards, you could probably talk yourself into thinking that was some kind of fluke. Then last week he rushed for 74 yards, but did it on only 8 carries because of how the game was going. This week he once again impressed, going for 139 rushing and another 47 receiving and just generally looking like a stud. He's fast (enough), strong (enough), and very shifty, not to mention being a great receiver - at least according to his scouting report coming out of college. I haven't been this impressed with a young back since LeSean McCoy. Of course, I now have McCoy, Murray, and Ray Rice on my keeper team and we only start two RBs, so I should probably figure out something to do with all that.
5. Green Bay Packers. God damn it. These fuckers are going to go undefeated, aren't they? And I'm going to have to sit here and choke on it. After beating San Diego, which should have been a completely losable game, they are now 8-0. Looking at the schedule there are three games they can't possibly lose (vs. Oakland, vs. Minnesota, vs. Chicago) and another one that is essentially unlosable but because it's on the road I can't quite call it that (@ Kansas City). So that's a guaranteed 12 wins. Two of the other four games they'll be a pretty good sized favorite, maybe around a TD or so (vs. Detroit, vs. Tampa), and one other (@ New York Giants) they'll be probably around a 3 point favorite. The only game where they might be an underdog is @ Detroit on Thanksgiving, and god help us all if Stafford can't pull that one out because I'm pretty sure I can't survive in a world where the Packers go undefeated and win another Super Bowl. Seriously my hatred for Green Bay makes my hatred for the Badgers look like my hatred for chicken wings which is weird because I don't care about the NFL all that much. I think if the Packers were a college I'd probably go all Charles Whitman on it.
WHO SUCKED
1. Alabama Kickers. What the mother hell was that? Four missed field goals in the biggest game of the year and probably your career? Just brutal. Although I guess asking college kickers to make field goals of 40-50 yards is pretty ridiculous, so it's not like the Tide was exactly putting their dudes in positions to succeed. I don't know, the whole thing was just ugly and ridiculous and kind of funny. I was actually looking forward to them trotting out the kicker each time they went for a field goal. And seriously, bringing that dude out for a 52 yarder in OT when he'd already missed two on the night? Nobody, and I mean nobody, thought that one was going to go through. Kickers, lol. Probably should just amend the rule book to get rid of field goals in college, Chip Lohmiller be damned.
2. Denard Robinson. And this is why, no matter how successful your run first QB is in college (and Robinson has already been benched this year so there's that) you can never feel comfortable with a dude who can't really throw. Michigan, down by 8, ball on the 3, first down, 30 seconds or something left. First play - some kind of mini-up-and-out on the outside - receiver marginally open - Robinson throws it completely out of bounds. Second down - floater in the middle of nowhere, throw without really even looking at the defense - still almost caught but receiver was out-of-bounds. Much like the pizza at Donatelli's. Third down - little scramble play - throw comes up short - actually probably should have been caught. But I've typed too much to turn back. Fourth Down - hike and throw timing play with no options which is actually really stupid because if you have a dude like Denard you want there to be a lot of options and this play has zero. This should probably be ripping on whoever the Michigan coach is. But 1. I don't know who that is and 2. I'm drunk on Saturday night whilst typing this and I don't feel like doing whatever.
3. Philip Rivers. He always puts up monster numbers, like his 385 yards and 4 TDs against Green Bay on Sunday, but he's just a train wreck of inconsistency, as his 3 picks with two brought back for Packer touchdowns attests too. He's not like Romo, who will always choke in a big game, but he's just all over the place and will always make just as many terrible throws/decisions as he does good ones. Seriously, he throws interceptions in the playoffs/big games like that's his actual job, he just masks it by also throwing for a couple TDs and 350+ yards so nobody really notices. Seriously, if you had to pick a "good" QB to start a game that he had to win or you would die Rivers would be the second worst guy you could pick, behind Romo of course. Because he's a big time choker. Like that dude from Kung Fu or Albert DeSalvo (supposedly).
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| I have nothing to add. I just like this picture. |
5. Jim Thome. Tell me this isn't completely bizarre. I mean the contract makes total sense - 1 year for $1.25 million with AB incentives that can push it to $1.5. Perfect for everybdoy. And I even get how Thome likes Philly from when he played there before and Philly likes Thome because if you don't like Thome you're probably evil in your black heart. Again, makes sense. But let's think about this, and realize that Philadelphia is in the national league and unless something changed they don't have a designated hitter in that league. Thome proved with the Twins that he can't field - at all- which is why Mike Cuddyer, Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe, Joe Mauer, Matt Tolbert, Brendan Harris, and Jose Morales have all played 1st in the last two years. So he's signing on to the Phils to get a max of 162 plate appearances next year. I mean sure, he'll probably get all 162 since it's the NL, but I can't see any way he gets more than that unless there's a rule change allowing double pinch-hits. I mean maybe that's what Thome is looking for now, it's a pretty sweet life making seven figures to eat some seeds or chew some Redman before taking a couple hacks late in the game, but I always got the impression he wanted to start once in a while. Also this probably doesn't belong in the "who sucks" thing but I didn't really want to make another post about it so fuck it.
Three Final Things:
1 . The greatest sport in the world starts tonight with college hoops kicking off with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Three games tonight (Valpo @ Arizona, William & Mary @ St. Johns, and Eastern Kentucky @ Mississippi State) and then three more Wednesday (Duquesne @ Arizona, Liberty @ Texas A&M, and Lehigh @ St. John's) get us all kicked off leading to the big day on Friday when there are 126 games. I'm stoked, and if you're looking for a wager tonight the only game I have a feel for is Miss State -17 vs. EKU, so just do it. Also, here is my fantasy college basketball roster:
G - Dee Bost, Miss State
G - Allen Crabbe, Cal
G - Abdul Gaddy, Washington
G - Andre Young, Clemson
G - Glen Rice, Georgia Tech
G - Faisal Aden, Wash State
G - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
G - BJ Young, Arkansas
G - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
G/F - Drew Crawford, Northwestern
F - Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota
F - Drew Gordon, New Mexico
F - Chris Johnson, Dayton
F - Brandon Davies, BYU
F - Malik Cooke, South Carolina
F - Dwight Powell, Stanford
C - Josh Smith, UCLA
C - Andrew Smith, Butler
C - Meyers Leonard, Illinois
C - Krys Faber, DePaul
I smell championship.
2. Since I'm feeling generous here is a kick-ass soup recipe, which you can make as either beef or chicken:
1 lb. chicken breast or stew meat cut into cubes (depending on if you want chicken or beef soup, obvs)
2 potatoes, cubed
2 small carrots, diced
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 1/2 c. frozen corn kernels
2 T horseradish mustard (dijon works too)
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. vegetable juice like v-8
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or beef if making beef soup)
Combine and cook in a crockpot for 7-9 hours. Hell yes.
3. I got distracted and I can't remember what #3 was now. Ok then bye.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Weekend Review - 9/21/2009
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Jahvid Best. Best running back in college football? I haven't watched enough to say for certain, but the guy looked damn good. It's been a long time since I've watched a college running back live with that kind of speed, that kind of shiftiness, and that kind of vision. He ended up going for 132 yards and a school record five TDs, and honestly it probably could have been worse. For some reason the Cal coach kept taking him out on third down, even though he showed early that he has excellent hands. Whatever.
Overall you have to be pretty pleased with the Gophers. They hung right with a top 10 team until the last ten minutes or so, and if not for a false start penalty on Cal that nullified a drive ending sack, who knows what could have been? After the last two games, I'm very impressed with the Gopher defense. Obviously Cal's 417 total yards don't look good, but in the second half the team really tightened up and played well enough for the Gophers to pull off the upset - they just fell a bit short.
What's going to help more in the long run, this loss or a fifty-point win over LA-Monroe? Yep, this was an excellent loss, if there is such a thing. And Eric Decker is a full-grown stud. Great game by the Gophers, and if they play this way throughout the Big Ten season they can pull off a top 3 or 4 finish.
2. Mike Cuddyer. Ok, so he only had two hits in the Detroit series, and losing the third game kind of kills the vibe just a bit, but the Twins did what they had to - win at least two over Detroit - and Cuddyer was a big reason in both games. His home run in the first game gave the Twins the lead, and his homer in the second game took it from a close nail-biter to a big Twins win. Going into the weekend, Cuddy had gone 8-16 with two homers and 8 rbi since Morneau went down, and played the slugger this weekend as well. He's not Mauer, Morneau, or Kubel, but if he can keep hitting like this he gives the Twins another big bat that they sorely need, especially with Morrneau on the shelf. Yes, his mastery of the strikezone rivals Delmoney's and he strikes out like Adam Dunn without all the walks, but the Twins need him and he has so far risen to the occassion. Keep it up friendo, keep it up.
3. Landry Jones. Sam Bradford who? Sure, it's Tulsa, but nevertheless it's a school record 6 TD passes for Jones, to go along with the 336 yards he tossed for in the Sooners' 45-0 victory. In total, the Sooners have beaten their last two opponents 109-0 with Landry at the helm, tossing 9 TDs against just 1 pick. It will be more than a little illuminating when Oklahoma takes on Miami next week, since they are a bit better than Idaho State and Tulsa. Is Landry like, really freaking good, or is he just able to destroy shitty teams? We should learn a bit next week. Also, nice name.
4. Frank Gore. Gore, a superstud like I told you, went off for over 200 in just over a half of football yesterday against the Seahawks, helped by both a 79 yard TD run and an 80 yard TD run. He inexplicably didn't get much after that, finishing with just 207 yards for the game, but he didn't need to. The 49ers coasted to a 23-10 win, with Seneca Wallace even coming in for an injured Hasselbeck, as they continued their march to the NFC West Division Title - as I predicted. Gore also led the team with 5 catches and 39 receiving yards, but that's mostly because Shaun Hill has an Adam Weber-like Noodle arm and didn't complete anything longer than 17 yards (that one went to the "next great TE" Vernon Davis - how's that one working out?)
5. Andre Johnson. I've talked him up here before (not solely because he's on my keeper fantasy team), but he had another monster week, catching 10 balls for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including a hell of a catch that involved tipping the ball to himself and a tightrope act on the sideline. He's basically the AP of receivers, fast enough to run by you, strong enough to overpower you, and with maybe the best hands in the league. You can go ahead and have your Larry Fitz or your Randy Moss, I'd take Johnson in a heartbeat. Chris Johnson was also big in that game for the losing Titans and could be here for his almost 300 total yards and 3 scores, but I don't really care about him.
WHO SUCKED
1. USC. When you are the juggernaut of the west coast, I think it would be prudent to recruit a quarterback or two. Instead, the Trojans - loaded everywhere else - have had to rely on freshman Eric Barkley, who has been outstanding. But he was hurt this weekend and couldn't play, and USC was kind of screwed. They turned to sophomore Aaron Corp, who made his first career start and did, well, nothing. He ended up 13-22 for just 110 yards and a pick, and couldn't lead the Trojans to anything other than a field goal after the first quarter. I've read some reviews of Corp's play, and it seems he was the Jake Delhomme of college QBs. Washington chipped away at the 10-0 a little at a time, and finally ended up winning on a 22-yard field goal with 3 seconds left. Which is awesome, because USC is just a bunch of homos.
2. Michigan QBs. You probably think it's a bit weird to put anything Michigan related here since they beat the feared Eastern Michigan Somethings (Eagles? Maybe. I don't know.) And maybe it is, since the Wolverines rushed for 380 total yards whilst stomping the crap out of the maybe-Eagles, but - and I didn't exactly watch the game - I'd be pretty nervous about this kind of QB performance. Michigan goes with a two-headed QB approach, Tate Forcier the white passer, Denard Robinson the black runner, but it seems neither one of them can pass for shit. Forcier was just 7-13 for just 68 yards, while Robinson was 0-4 with 2 picks (and 60 yards rushing.) Look, they won 45-17, so there's really not much to complain about, but I'm going to go ahead and do it for them. I'm good at that kind of thing.
3. Green Bay Packers. I have no idea why I picked these jerks this week for our Survivor pool. I mean, I know why, I just really wish I hadn't. There were three pretty obvious picks this week: Green Bay at home against Cincy, Washington at home against the Rams, and the Vikes on the road against Detroit. I won't pick a road team, especially against a division foe, so the Vikings were out. And how could I possibly pick a team led by Jason Campbell, even against a crappy St. Louis team? Green Bay was the obvious pick, even though I had said before the season started that the Bengals would be pretty good this year. I thought the Packers were supposed to be super good and all that? No? I'm such an idiot. Out of survivor in the second week. Ugh.
4. Milton Bradley. Suspended for the season by the Cubs after telling a reporter "It's easy to see why they haven't won here in 100 years" and that the Cubs and Chicago were not a "positive environment." This shouldn't really be shocking, the guy is insane. The Cubs took a chance by giving a known head-case a 3 year, $30 million contract this off-season, but it now looks like they are going to have to find somebody willing to take him off their hands after a season full of meltdowns, including being sent home during a game after going after manager Lou Piniella. Of course, this is the same guy who tried to be like Ron Artest and go after a fan in the stands when he was a Dodger. It's too bad, the guy is an excellent lead-off hitter when he's not hurt or suspended, and even this year when he can't hit much he's still sporting a .378 OBP (and led the league last year at .436). Nice job basketcase. I think he should retire and join up with Carl Everett to have their own talk show. I'd watch.
5. Texas Rangers. This is mostly just rumors at this point, but the Rangers should probably get a spot here just for suddenly being 8 games back of the Wild Card when they were right in the thick of it most of the year. Kevin Millwood has a $12 million option for next year, that automatically kicks in if he gets to 180 innings pitched. He would probably only get about $5-$6 a year as a free agent, so obviously this would be big for him and crappy for the Rangers. He is sitting at 175.2 ips this year right now, and pitches tonight - or does he?
The Rangers are broke. They had to borrow $15 million from MLB this year just to cover expenses. According to fan accounts, they have stopped watering the field because they can't afford the water bills. They also don't have any more Ranger mini-helmets for those ice cream sundaes. They have Astros, Brewers, and other teams, but they ran out of Ranger helmets and won't order more. Nolan Ryan is drawing a paycheck month by month, and has said he expects not to be paid after October. I'm sure there are more stories like this if you look around. The rumor now is that the Rangers may sit Millwood the rest of the year in order to avoid paying him the option, which would surely cause the player's union to file a greivance (I think his agent is Scott Boras, of all people) and cause some serious issues. Even worse, rumors are that since their financial situation is so dire, MLB and Bud Selig may be the ones ordering Millwood shut down, and I can't imagine what kind of shit storm that is going to set off, especially with the Labor Agreement needing to be renewed soon (I can't remember exactly when).
The team executives and manager all say that they aren't going to shut Millwood down, and I would say it's pretty unlikely that they do, but this financial mess is going to cause major issues at some point.
1. Jahvid Best. Best running back in college football? I haven't watched enough to say for certain, but the guy looked damn good. It's been a long time since I've watched a college running back live with that kind of speed, that kind of shiftiness, and that kind of vision. He ended up going for 132 yards and a school record five TDs, and honestly it probably could have been worse. For some reason the Cal coach kept taking him out on third down, even though he showed early that he has excellent hands. Whatever.
Overall you have to be pretty pleased with the Gophers. They hung right with a top 10 team until the last ten minutes or so, and if not for a false start penalty on Cal that nullified a drive ending sack, who knows what could have been? After the last two games, I'm very impressed with the Gopher defense. Obviously Cal's 417 total yards don't look good, but in the second half the team really tightened up and played well enough for the Gophers to pull off the upset - they just fell a bit short.
What's going to help more in the long run, this loss or a fifty-point win over LA-Monroe? Yep, this was an excellent loss, if there is such a thing. And Eric Decker is a full-grown stud. Great game by the Gophers, and if they play this way throughout the Big Ten season they can pull off a top 3 or 4 finish.
2. Mike Cuddyer. Ok, so he only had two hits in the Detroit series, and losing the third game kind of kills the vibe just a bit, but the Twins did what they had to - win at least two over Detroit - and Cuddyer was a big reason in both games. His home run in the first game gave the Twins the lead, and his homer in the second game took it from a close nail-biter to a big Twins win. Going into the weekend, Cuddy had gone 8-16 with two homers and 8 rbi since Morneau went down, and played the slugger this weekend as well. He's not Mauer, Morneau, or Kubel, but if he can keep hitting like this he gives the Twins another big bat that they sorely need, especially with Morrneau on the shelf. Yes, his mastery of the strikezone rivals Delmoney's and he strikes out like Adam Dunn without all the walks, but the Twins need him and he has so far risen to the occassion. Keep it up friendo, keep it up.
3. Landry Jones. Sam Bradford who? Sure, it's Tulsa, but nevertheless it's a school record 6 TD passes for Jones, to go along with the 336 yards he tossed for in the Sooners' 45-0 victory. In total, the Sooners have beaten their last two opponents 109-0 with Landry at the helm, tossing 9 TDs against just 1 pick. It will be more than a little illuminating when Oklahoma takes on Miami next week, since they are a bit better than Idaho State and Tulsa. Is Landry like, really freaking good, or is he just able to destroy shitty teams? We should learn a bit next week. Also, nice name.
4. Frank Gore. Gore, a superstud like I told you, went off for over 200 in just over a half of football yesterday against the Seahawks, helped by both a 79 yard TD run and an 80 yard TD run. He inexplicably didn't get much after that, finishing with just 207 yards for the game, but he didn't need to. The 49ers coasted to a 23-10 win, with Seneca Wallace even coming in for an injured Hasselbeck, as they continued their march to the NFC West Division Title - as I predicted. Gore also led the team with 5 catches and 39 receiving yards, but that's mostly because Shaun Hill has an Adam Weber-like Noodle arm and didn't complete anything longer than 17 yards (that one went to the "next great TE" Vernon Davis - how's that one working out?)
5. Andre Johnson. I've talked him up here before (not solely because he's on my keeper fantasy team), but he had another monster week, catching 10 balls for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including a hell of a catch that involved tipping the ball to himself and a tightrope act on the sideline. He's basically the AP of receivers, fast enough to run by you, strong enough to overpower you, and with maybe the best hands in the league. You can go ahead and have your Larry Fitz or your Randy Moss, I'd take Johnson in a heartbeat. Chris Johnson was also big in that game for the losing Titans and could be here for his almost 300 total yards and 3 scores, but I don't really care about him.
WHO SUCKED
1. USC. When you are the juggernaut of the west coast, I think it would be prudent to recruit a quarterback or two. Instead, the Trojans - loaded everywhere else - have had to rely on freshman Eric Barkley, who has been outstanding. But he was hurt this weekend and couldn't play, and USC was kind of screwed. They turned to sophomore Aaron Corp, who made his first career start and did, well, nothing. He ended up 13-22 for just 110 yards and a pick, and couldn't lead the Trojans to anything other than a field goal after the first quarter. I've read some reviews of Corp's play, and it seems he was the Jake Delhomme of college QBs. Washington chipped away at the 10-0 a little at a time, and finally ended up winning on a 22-yard field goal with 3 seconds left. Which is awesome, because USC is just a bunch of homos.
2. Michigan QBs. You probably think it's a bit weird to put anything Michigan related here since they beat the feared Eastern Michigan Somethings (Eagles? Maybe. I don't know.) And maybe it is, since the Wolverines rushed for 380 total yards whilst stomping the crap out of the maybe-Eagles, but - and I didn't exactly watch the game - I'd be pretty nervous about this kind of QB performance. Michigan goes with a two-headed QB approach, Tate Forcier the white passer, Denard Robinson the black runner, but it seems neither one of them can pass for shit. Forcier was just 7-13 for just 68 yards, while Robinson was 0-4 with 2 picks (and 60 yards rushing.) Look, they won 45-17, so there's really not much to complain about, but I'm going to go ahead and do it for them. I'm good at that kind of thing.
3. Green Bay Packers. I have no idea why I picked these jerks this week for our Survivor pool. I mean, I know why, I just really wish I hadn't. There were three pretty obvious picks this week: Green Bay at home against Cincy, Washington at home against the Rams, and the Vikes on the road against Detroit. I won't pick a road team, especially against a division foe, so the Vikings were out. And how could I possibly pick a team led by Jason Campbell, even against a crappy St. Louis team? Green Bay was the obvious pick, even though I had said before the season started that the Bengals would be pretty good this year. I thought the Packers were supposed to be super good and all that? No? I'm such an idiot. Out of survivor in the second week. Ugh.
4. Milton Bradley. Suspended for the season by the Cubs after telling a reporter "It's easy to see why they haven't won here in 100 years" and that the Cubs and Chicago were not a "positive environment." This shouldn't really be shocking, the guy is insane. The Cubs took a chance by giving a known head-case a 3 year, $30 million contract this off-season, but it now looks like they are going to have to find somebody willing to take him off their hands after a season full of meltdowns, including being sent home during a game after going after manager Lou Piniella. Of course, this is the same guy who tried to be like Ron Artest and go after a fan in the stands when he was a Dodger. It's too bad, the guy is an excellent lead-off hitter when he's not hurt or suspended, and even this year when he can't hit much he's still sporting a .378 OBP (and led the league last year at .436). Nice job basketcase. I think he should retire and join up with Carl Everett to have their own talk show. I'd watch.
5. Texas Rangers. This is mostly just rumors at this point, but the Rangers should probably get a spot here just for suddenly being 8 games back of the Wild Card when they were right in the thick of it most of the year. Kevin Millwood has a $12 million option for next year, that automatically kicks in if he gets to 180 innings pitched. He would probably only get about $5-$6 a year as a free agent, so obviously this would be big for him and crappy for the Rangers. He is sitting at 175.2 ips this year right now, and pitches tonight - or does he?
The Rangers are broke. They had to borrow $15 million from MLB this year just to cover expenses. According to fan accounts, they have stopped watering the field because they can't afford the water bills. They also don't have any more Ranger mini-helmets for those ice cream sundaes. They have Astros, Brewers, and other teams, but they ran out of Ranger helmets and won't order more. Nolan Ryan is drawing a paycheck month by month, and has said he expects not to be paid after October. I'm sure there are more stories like this if you look around. The rumor now is that the Rangers may sit Millwood the rest of the year in order to avoid paying him the option, which would surely cause the player's union to file a greivance (I think his agent is Scott Boras, of all people) and cause some serious issues. Even worse, rumors are that since their financial situation is so dire, MLB and Bud Selig may be the ones ordering Millwood shut down, and I can't imagine what kind of shit storm that is going to set off, especially with the Labor Agreement needing to be renewed soon (I can't remember exactly when).
The team executives and manager all say that they aren't going to shut Millwood down, and I would say it's pretty unlikely that they do, but this financial mess is going to cause major issues at some point.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Weekend Review
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WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Big 10 Basketball. What? Did you think you’d be talking about the Big 10 as one of the better conferences in the land this season? It’s looking that way right now. The teams went 5-6 in the ACC/Big 10 challenge, as well as they have ever done. Other than Indiana, almost every time has had some good success this season. Illinois almost beat Clemson and followed it up by beating Georgia by almost 30. Iowa has a win over K State and almost beat BC at BC. Northwestern has wins over Florida State and DePaul, and even lowly Penn State has a win at Georgia Tech. The top three teams heading into the season are the ones who are struggling to win marquee games, with a Badger win over Virginia Tech, a Purdue victory vs. BC, and a Spartan win over Oklahoma State their only good wins, with big whiffs in other major matchups. The two teams who are really helping to elevate the national profile for the conference are Ohio State and Michigan. The Wolverines beat #4 Duke 81-73 on Saturday, making the Blue Devils the second #4 ranked team they’ve knocked off this year after beating UCLA earlier in the season. They managed to hold Duke to 7-33 shooting from three, and this shows the UCLA win was no fluke. Michigan has put themselves in great shape to get to the tournament, with just four cupcakes remaining on the non-conference schedule before Big Ten play begins (they will also play UCONN in Feb), if they can manage to go 9-9, they’ll be in. That leaves…..
2. Ohio State Hoops. The Buckeyes had a HUGE week, beating two ranked teams on the road. They won at Miami in the Big 10/ACC Challenge 73-68, and followed it up by beating the #7 ranked Irish of Notre Dame in South Bend 67-62 on Saturday. Swingman Evan Turner is turning into the sort of all-around player they need, averaging 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 3 steals and a block per game while shooting 56% from the floor, 50% from three, and 90% from the line. Wow. These are numbers I always expected from Lighty, not Turner, but I’m sure the Buckeyes will take it either way. The scary thing is that they aren’t getting a major contribution from either of their stud freshmen, BJ Mullens or William Buford. If either fo those two really get it going this season, they’re going to be quite dangerous.
3. Baylor Hoops. Remember last week how I said Baylor was looking quite good this year, but I was interested to see how they played against Washington State and their size since the Bears are so guard oriented? Well, the answered the question – their guards are good enough so that it doesn’t matter. The Bears waltzed into Pullman, WA and walked out with a 58-52 victory, showing they can handle a slow pace as well as their quicker one. The Cougars bigger guys (Klay Thompson, Aron Baynes, Daven Harmeling) all played well and also held the two big guys for Baylor, Kevin Rogers and Quincy Acy to 2 total points, but the Baylor guards were good enough to pull out the win, and the team outrebounded Washington State. Good win, especially on the road. I’m mentioned it before, but I’m officially announcing Baylor as a sleeper final four candidate.
4. Gopher Hoops. They played awfully sloppy at times in both games this week, but wins against Virginia by ten and Cornell by seventeen makes for an excellent week, no matter how you slice it. My thoughts on the Virginia game are elsewhere, so I won’t spend a lot of time on that, but the Cornell game was certainly interesting. A very sloppy first half that led to a 40-28 Big Red lead mainly behind Ryan Wittman was erased in a hurry in the second half, where the Gophers end up outscoring Cornell 43-14. What really helped Minnesota was the Big Reds complete contentment with hoisting threes all second half, and completely ignoring both anyone posting up and dribble penetration in general. The ended up shooting just 6-28 for the game, and that, along with a massive rebounding advantage (35-24) helped lead the Gophers to a big win. Such a big win, Ralph Sampson actually showed some emotion after dunking on some big white doofus’s head. Next up is a mostly useless tune-up at Williams against waste of time South Dakota State (2 of their 4 wins are against non D-I teams) before heading to Arizona to end their unbeaten streak and get stomped by Louisville. I also want to mention that the student section did an outstanding job with their chants with Wittman on the line, particularly “Fire Wittman” and “Where’s your daddy” when Randy had already left. Excellent work.
5. Miami Dolphins. Miami's 16-3 win at Buffalo, the second straight game the Bills could only muster 3 points, brings them to 8-5 and in a three way tie for the division lead with the Jets and Patriots. A huge change from last season, when they finished 1-15, and somehow someway just managed to luck into an OT against the Ravens to avoid going 0-16. Now they may have the inside track to the division crown. With their three remaining games against crappy San Francisco and on the road at crappy Kansas City before closing out against the Jets, they have the easiest schedule of the three contenders. It's hard to believe that noodle-armed Chad Pennington is the one leading them to this success, but he's getting it done. He's not throwing for a ton of yards, but is fifth in both completion percentage and QB rating, and has a 2-1 TD/INT ratio. Give Parcells credit, the man builds winners wherever he goes.
WHO SUCKED
1. Ball State football. After going undefeated throughout the regular season, the Cardinals dropped the ball in the MAC title game, falling to Buffalo 42-24 and dropping their record to 12-1. They weren’t headed to a BCS game, since their schedule was pretty ridiculously easy with no ranked teams in sight, but this kills quite a few interesting things. They no longer are on of only three undefeated teams in college football, so that cute little story is killed. There were two possibilities for their bowl destination, either the Motor City, and having an undefeated team involved would have made that an interesting bowl for the first time ever, or a slim possibility that they could make it to the Humanitarian Bowl to play Boise State – another undefeated team that won’t be in the BCS. Whether or not they could figure a way to swing that matchup or not is now irrelevant thanks to the Cardinals five turnovers, including two fumbles that Bulls’ defenders returned for TDs.
2. Missouri football. What the hell happened here exactly? When I saw Mizzou was +18.5 to Oklahoma I had to take it. Too bad I turned out to be better on the ghost of a memory of history, as the Tigers got trounced by the Sooners 62-21 in the Big 12 Championship, ending what had to be a very disappointing season for fans at 9-4. Sure, they’ll end up playing in the Alamo Bowl and probably dismantling Northwestern, but this is a team that had National Championship aspirations and fell way, way short. Remember this team was 11-1 last year with a shot at the BCS championship game before losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship, and had its stud, Chase Daniel, back for another year. The started this season ranked 6th and had a handful of first place votes, climbing all the way to #3 before starting their free fall. Now Daniel is graduating, and Missouri will likely plummet back into the depths of mediocrity from whence it came.
3. Kentucky Hoops. Wow, talk about a program completely falling apart, the Wildcats are really struggling and the same group of fans who essentially ran Tubby “The Black Jesus” Smith out-of-town would probably commit several violations to get him back at this point. Even Rivals.com writers are calling out Gillespie for the way the team is falling apart after losing once again at home, this time to the U of Miami 73-67 on Saturday. It wasn’t so much that they lost - Miami is at least ranked - it’s that they fell behind by 21 points right out of the shoot. This gives the Cats their second home loss this year, joining their loss to VMI in the season opener. Couple those with the home loss to Gardner-Webb last year, and things are shaky in Lexington. A few decent wins in a Vegas tourney over West Virginia and Kansas State made it look like they might have gotten things straightened out, but now more questions abound. Is Kentucky just “another program” and no longer should be considered one of the national powers? Has this already happened?
4. Green Bay Packers. Oh uh, faggy Packer fans, looks like your squad is pretty much dead and buried after losing, at home no less, to the Texans 24-21. This drops the team to 5-8, three games behind the suddenly better than mediocre Vikings - although it remains to be seen what happens with the QB and DT positions - and effectively kills any playoff dreams, other than those that come in an alcoholic stupor. The Pack would need to win out and have the Vikes lose out just to tie, not even going into what they would need from the Bears. Would they have been better off with Favre this year? No, no they wouldn't. Favre had a better completion percentage and that's about it, Rodgers outperformed him in every other measure. This, of course, is where morons come in and say, "No he didn't, Favre outperformed in the wins column and that's all that matters. Also Bert Blyleven should never make the Hall because he didn't win three hundred games and Bartolo Colon completely deserved the 2005 AL Cy Young award for winning 20 games even though Johan Santana's WHIP was under 1 and his ERA was almost a full run better." I love you guys, keep up the good work.
5. Fouling up by three. Disturbing trend alert. You know how some people believe that if you are up by 3 with less than 10 seconds left and the other team has the ball you should foul to put them on the line instead of giving them a chance to shoot a game tying three pointer? And even though it may actually be the right choice (it's certainly debatable) it's incredibly, soul crushingly boring as a viewer and removes the excitement of the last second shot? Well, I've now watched two games (Florida/FSU and one I can't remember) where this situation arose, and they both fouled, and they both ended up winning. In a copy cat world, this frightens and confuses me. Last season, if you'd care to recall, NFL coaches all started calling timeouts right before last second field goal attempts, effectively making the kicker do it twice. One coach did it (shananahan?) and then everyone started doing it. If this "fouling" thing actually catches on, I'm afraid we're in for a lot of boring endings to games that could be much more fun. Not to mention that it kind of seems like a cheap way to win. Legal and all, but kind of girly. I don't like it one bit.
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