31.10.03
College Football: Didn't watch Boise St.'s thrashing of BYU yesterday. Although I do take solace in the fact that it's getting cooler somewhere; as I type, it's in the mid 70s°F here in Blacksburg (mid 20s°C, for those who have moved away from the English system of measurement). It was, apparently, snowing in Provo.
What a weekend for college football! Of course, it would have been bigger for us Hokies had Tech beaten West Virginia, but West Virginia just outplayed Tech, and otherwise beat the crap out of them. In any case, still a big weekend. Chris Fowler says that there are no less than eight huge games this weekend. He even talks about hockey, my favourite professional sport, even if I don't talk about it too much this early in the season (more on why I haven't said much, later). Weekends like this one are why I'm a college football fan. The competition, the pageantry, the passion. And, when they turn the lights out in Lane Stadium on Saturday night, the landscape
- Oklahoma St. has won this game two straight years. I am not the only one who thinks that Bob Stoops of Oklahoma is the best big-game coach in the country, but this hasn't apparently qualified as a big game (the fact that it's a rivalry notwithstanding) in a couple of years. This despite the fact that Okie State has had a decent record over the last couple of years. Les Miles of Okie State has been running his mouth, saying that his team won't back down. I heard someone say that these comments doomed Okie State, because it would become an issue and Stoops would use them to psych up his team. Maybe, but I don't think so. Okie State beats Oklahoma; they've had their number over the last couple of years, and Stoops' big games are, in order, Bowl Game, Conference Championship, and Texas. Will the list include Okie St this year? I don't think so, but if it does it's liable to get ugly.
- I just heard Peter Brown say that Virginia Tech has no chance, that they're not particularly good and, for good measure, tossed in something about how Lane Stadium isn't a particularly big home field advantage. So he conjectured that Miami would run all over Va Tech. Garbage. All garbage. Brock Berlin hasn't been particularly good, West Virginia ran on Miami all night (just like they did on Tech), Lane is a particularly acute home field advantage, especially at night, and Tech's not only better than he apparently thinks, but they're itching to prove it, and prove that the West Va game was a fluke. Personally I think that Virginia Tech hammers Miami, putting themselves back into the top six and giving themselves an (outside) shot at the national title, and the inside track to the conference title.
- Looking at the BCS Rankings, USC has the 35th toughest schedule, whereas Wazzu has the 71st toughest. I would have thought it the other way, because the best team that USC has beaten is probably Auburn, which proved that they're not that good in a loss to LSU. The best team that Wazzu has beaten is probably Oregon St. (I guess...I do stand corrected about how tough I thought Wazzu's schedule). Their two common opponents have seen Wazzu go 1-1, posting a cumulative score of 50-43, and USC go 2-0 with a cumulative score of 89-35. Given the fact that this is at SC, and SC is looking for revenge for last year, I'll shelve my reservations and say that Southern Cal beats Washington State.
- Both teams won close, high-scoring games at Minnesota. Each team lost to its best non-conference opponent. Probably the biggest difference is that Michigan lost at Iowa, but Michigan St. beat Iowa at home. Michigan just isn't that good away from home (if the Gophers had been able to hold any sort of lead, they would be winless away from Michigan Stadium), and so I'll pick Michigan State to beat the Wolverines.
- If there are Oklahoma or Texas partisans who want to try to sell me a load of goods about how the OU-UT game in the Cotton Bowl is the best neutral-site regular season game, I weep for you. While I won't say that the Cocktail Party is the greatest neutral-site game, it is certainly light years better than OU-UT. For one, it's named the World's Biggest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Now, that's a name for a ballgame. Second, it's in Jacksonville which is a very nice place. Dallas isn't bad, but I prefer Jax, because of its proximity to the ocean, its lack of smog, etc). Further, Georgia-Florida is always a fun game to watch; any game involving Spurrier is fun to watch (even though this game no longer is), and any game involving Zook (for different reasons) is fun to watch. And Ron Zook is, maybe, making some progress at UF (despite the diehards against him). I'll drink one as I'm watching the game. And Florida will win. They dashed Georgia's chances at a title last year; I see them doing it again, and UF is one of the most improved teams.
- Nebraska hasn't been that impressive away from home, losing to Mizzou earlier this season. Texas may lose another big game (and, to be honest, Nebraska has more to play for - a division championship - than does Texas), but Nebraska hasn't played particularly well. Having given that brief (and contradictory) analysis, I'll pick Nebraska.
- Two games mentioned, probably more for tradition's sake than anything else (plus the revenge factor): Notre Dame went into Tallahassee and spanked Florida State last year. Ohio State hasn't won in Happy Valley since 1995. Now, both Notre Dame and Penn State have had awful seasons. But, with each playing at home, they'll both keep it close. But neither will win. I'll pick Ohio State to beat Penn St. and Fla St to beat Notre Dame.
Hockey: Suffice it to say that I haven't talked too extensively about hockey because, frankly, my Capitals just suck. The Caps have, after thrashing the Islanders on opening night, gone 0-7-1. They are ranked last in both the CBS Sportsline Power Poll, and in the SI Power Poll. They're a relatively high 25th in ESPN's Power Poll. Ugh. In other news, the Avalanche traded for the Caps' captain, Steve Konowalchuk. I always thought he was a good 3rd line forward, and a good (though not great) leader. The Caps got Bates Battaglia and a prospect, thus shaving salary. Were they to get a defenceman for their (at the least young, and not helped by Yonkman's injury) defence, they might do a wee bit better. One hopes that, were they to trade Jaromir Jagr (unlikely, given his contract and the state of the collective bargaining agreement), they would pick up a d-man or 2. But I digress. It's a thoroughly awful team to watch. I'll get back into the hockey spirit when the competition heats up in January or so. Oh: Patrick Roy was honoured in Colorado. Much deserved. He holds the record for all time wins by a goalie. Against whom did he break the record? If you guessed the Caps (a couple of years ago, in Washington) then you guessed right.
Zuletzt: I mentioned that I didn't think that OU-UT was the best neutral-site regular season game. I also mentioned that I couldn't say that UF-UGa was the best neutral-site game, either. Personally, I think that that honour goes to Army-Navy. The rivalry is pure, because the players are amateur athletes, not pros-in-training; the players have a healthy respect for one another (even if they want to kill each other for 60 minutes), and the associated festivities, such as the March-On by the Brigade of Midshipmen and Corps of Cadets make the game, bar none, the best regular season game, and easily the best neutral-site game. John Feinstein does a better job telling it in A Civil War, written about each team's 1995 season, climaxing in the Army-Navy game. I highly recommend it.
Later. Happy Halloween, All Saints' Day (1 Nov) and All Souls Day (2 Nov) if I don't blog until then. - Ryan
28.10.03
Politics: Firstly, I think that this speaks for itself. To add one germane comment, though, I will quote John Adams, writing in a letter to a fellow revolutionary, ca. 1772 (quote courtesy of Wisdomquotes.com):
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.
Of course, he was trying to bequeath to future generations peace, justice and freedom (inextricably linked, methinks), just as those who prosecute today's war on terror are. He was also warning future generations to be wary of such a threat, in that those disciplines he mentions are foundations for politics and war, and can be used to discipline the mind toward critical thought, necessary in any endeavour. For, of course, in history there has always been someone whose lust for power overpowered his respect for the rights of others; how else can one explain war? This is what causes men to take up arms and fight; they feel that their rights are violated and that they have no redress through non-violent channels, so they seek redress through force. Unfortunate though it may be, Plato (or the original source) was right when he said "Only the dead have seen the end of war".
Ryan
26.10.03
Pro Football: Thoughts about the early games:
- And then there was one. According to Scott Wetzel, the last team to lose a regular season game has gone on to the playoffs 11 of the last 12 years. The exception was the '93 Saints. Now we'll find if that trend holds with the Chiefs, as the Vikings lost. As a side note, what a bad couple of minutes between the interception of Culpepper and the touchdown by Hilliard.
- Cleveland - New England: Yawn. I'm glad I didn't catch this one.
- I didn't see it, but at least Carolina won. It wasn't particularly impressive, but a win is a win, and is much better than a loss. To be honest, I expected a blowout.
- I don't care what anyone says, Tampa beat the everliving crap out of Dallas. It was the first shutout of the Cowboys since Christmas Day 2000, and it didn't seem as close as 16 points (but shutouts will do that, I guess).
- Jacksonville kept it closer than I thought they would, but it was in Jax, and two touchdowns isn't as close as they would have liked, I'm guessing.
- Baltimore may as well have shut Denver out. They held them to 6 points, and, althought not forcing a turnover before the 4th quarter, forced 3 (2 picks and a fumble). Jamal Lewis also rushed for more than 100 for the sixth straight game.
- As Mitch Albom said last week, even Marty Mohrninweg can go 1-6 with the Lions.
- If Seattle can't win in Cincinnati, what happens when they travel to San Francisco and St. Louis?
- A good St. Louis team beat a mediocre Pittsburgh team. Big shock. As a side note, the AFC North is, perhaps, the worst division in the league, having exactly one team (Baltimore) which doesn't have a losing record.
More (ill-informed) commentary on the late games later.
College Football: Thoughts:
- Oklahoma took care of business, even if it wasn't the blowout everyone expected.
- How does Wisconsin lose to Northwestern? I understand that Sorgi is injured, but how in the world does Wisconsin lose that game? The last time Northwestern coach Randy Walker beat a ranked team? Apparently it was in 1997, when he coached for Miami of Ohio. He came into Blacksburg on homecoming and, after spotting Tech the first quarter, proceeded to pound them in the second, third and fourth quarters. I was so sure that Tech would blow them out that I bet my father (both of my parents are Miami alumni) $5: $1 for the game score, and $1 for the score each quarter. He had recently remarried a Tech alumna (and fine woman), and he had a Miami ballcap perched in the corner of his windshield. He humoured me and let me hold his bet. When all was said and done, I owed him $8, which he graciously refused to accept.
- I heard, before the game Saturday, that Purdue hadn't won at Michigan Stadium since 1966. They still haven't.
- Georgia struggles for the second straight week, beating UAB by 3 at Georgia's homecoming. I'm tempted to lay a heavy bet that Florida will lead by more than a touchdown after 3 quarters. In the 4th, though, all bets are off.
- Navy lost to Delaware. Delaware is still undefeated, but they're also a I-AA team. Navy took a 2 touchdown lead then, on the ensuing Delaware drive, forced Delaware to punt. Delaware faked the punt and Navy was never really in the game again.
- Florida State doubled up Wake Forest though, to be fair, after FSU's touchdown late in the first half (matching a Wake TD moments earlier), Wake never had a chance.
- Tennessee beat Alabama after 5 overtimes; to get to overtime in the first place they had to drive 85 yards in a span of about 90 seconds. Good thing that UT doesn't have a particularly taxing opponent next Saturday - or even a conference opponent (they have Duke, for homecoming in Neyland).
- Tech slipped to 10th in the writers' poll, 11th in the coaches' poll. Every expert I've seen suggested that Tech doesn't have a shot of getting to N'Awlins, but that the best that they can hope for is to grab the league crown. Maybe. But, ever the optimist, I see several opportunities for Tech to move up (provided they win out), starting with Saturday:
- Michigan @ Michigan St.
- Georgia vs. Florida
- Oklahoma St. @ Oklahoma
- Nebraska @ Texas
- Washington St. @ Southern Cal
Now, were all the favourites to be upset, and were Tech to win big (and, let's be honest, Tech needs to win big against not only Miami - to prove that they're better than they were on Wednesday - but they need to win big at Pittsburgh, to prove that they can win on the road), then they could move, conceiveably into about 5th or 6th. All speculation about poll slot is predicated on one unstated thing: that Tech wins. That, more than anything, needs to happen in order for this to become reality.
On 8 Nov, Michigan St. travels to Ohio St. One of those will fall below Tech. On 15 Nov, Kansas State travels to Nebraska, which may be the game in the regular season in which Nebraska is most vulnerable to a loss. Michigan St. also travels to Wisconsin on that date, which may be a trap, much like it was for Ohio St.
On 22 Nov, three games of interest take place:- Ohio St at Michigan
- LSU travels to Ole Miss: Ole Miss is, at this point, the only team undefeated in conference play in the SEC
- Oklahoma at Texas Tech: can B.J. Symons throw on Oklahoma? The answer may determine Tech's bowl placement
On 29 Nov, three games of interest take place:- Florida St travels to Florida: which UF team will show? The one which beat Miami through 3 quarters, or the one which lost to Mississippi at home?
- Arkansas @ LSU: Question is whether Arkansas can run without much in the way of a passing game.
- Miami @ Pittsburgh: This could serve to knock Miami out of the race, if losing to Tech doesn't knock them behind the Hokies.
Plus, the conference championship games on 6 Dec in the Big 12 for (potentially) Nebraska and Oklahoma, and in the SEC for (again, potentially) Georgia and LSU.
But we'll see how things turn out.
More on the pie-in-the-sky "superconference" scheme I talked about in this space a couple of days ago: A quick note on any postseason. Right now there are 25 postseason bowl games. Now, I would schedule a 16 team single elimination playoff, with the first round at the higher seed, and the subsequent rounds at bowl sites (I would suggest the 4 BCS bowls, the Cotton, Citrus and either Holiday or Gator or, if you wish to run a consolation, I would suggest that the Cotton, Citrus, Holiday and Gator run the second round, and the third and fourth rounds rotate between the BCS bowls). Now, note that I'm not precluding other bowls from playing meaningless games. They can play to their heart's content. Now, if we preclude a playoff team from playing in a bowl, then 8 teams play no more games than before. 4 teams, then, play one more game than they would otherwise (the quarterfinal). If there is no consolation game, 2 teams play 2 more games than they would right now, and 2 play 3 more. If there is a consolation game, then all 4 teams play 3 more games than they would under the current system. I would constitute the playoff from the 10 conference champions and from 6 at-large teams, picked (much like in basketball) by a panel of athletic directors.
More later - R.
24.10.03
Friday Five: No new questions this week. Just means that I have last week's questions to answer.
- Name five things in your refrigerator.
- milk
- lettuce
- chicken
- corned beef
- eggs
- Name five things in your freezer.
- chicken
- ice trays
- frozen dinners
- sausage
- ice cream
- Name five things under your kitchen sink.
- comet
- bleach
- simple green (yet another cleaner)
- windex
- resolve
- Name five things around your computer.
- DVD remote (my 'puter functions as my TV, and, as such, my DVD/VCR is hooked up thereto)
- mug o' pens
- playing cards
- desk calendar
- small screwdrivers
- Name five things in your medicine cabinet.
- aspirin
- toothpaste
- toothbrush
- deodorant
- razor
More later on. Busy now listening to the Wings and Stars. Ryan
23.10.03
College Football: Today, I was buoyed. I heard people, such as Tim Brando, say that Tech will do well, and probably win, the Miami game, because it is a classic bounceback game, and that they aren't as bad as they showed last night. Now, I don't know if they were looking ahead. Whether they were or not, their heads were not in the game. West Virginia, as I noted, controlled both lines of scrimmage (West Va had more than 200 yards more on the ground than did the Hokies). Virginia Tech committed 12 penalties for 113 yards. Now, it may have been the fact (much like Ohio State a couple of weeks ago) that Va Tech hasn't faced a hostile crowd this year (no, Rutgers doesn't count), or it may have been the fact that Va Tech started to believe the press releases: that is, that they thought they could just walk in and win, or it could have been that Tech was looking ahead to 1 November. Doesn't matter. Now, I think that Virginia Tech will do better the rest of the year than they did against West Virginia. More to the point, if they can win out, they get into the BCS (they will, more than likely, have a higher rank than Miami if they beat them, and they'll have head-to-head on anyone except, assuming they win out, West Va), but not the Sugar Bowl. I'll amend that. If Va Tech wins out, and get a lot of help such as from the 6 or 7 teams in front of them (they need to lose) and the teams on their schedule (they need to win), then they have an outside shot of getting to N'Awlins. But, more likely, they'll go to the Orange Bowl to face the ACC champion (assuming that Florida State is left out of the Sugar Bowl). Someone posted, as a reply to a Sportsline article about BYU, that Virginia Tech will lose three more. Personally, if they're not careful, they can lose 4 more, plus whichever bowl game they get. Having said that, their sternest tests will be against Miami and at Pittsburgh. Miami themselves were very nearly beaten by West Virginia (which is a much better team than their 3-4 record, I think), and Pittsburgh has lost at Toledo and at home to Notre Dame. So the schedule, while perhaps daunting, isn't impossible. Personally, I think they'll lose one of the next two, but win the remaining games, and get into the Gator Bowl (most likely).
I've been meaning to post this for a while, but it kept slipping my mind. If I were serious, I would probably lament the costume, saying that it promotes the stereotypes and perhaps the disdain of women and the lifestyle. But, that's so much garbage. The costume probably isn't something that I'd wear (for a couple of years about a decade ago, I put on a suit, grabbed a briefcase, and went out as a businessman...not sure whether that speaks to my lack of creativity or my lack of faith in my creativity, but that's another discussion for another day), but it's hilarious, and if someone shows up at my door next week, I'd give a pimp extra "candy".
Bill Simmons, not satisfied with his rambling column written immediately after the game, posted this, and some letters. All very entertaining. But, since he's concerned about the fact that his column has been, so he says, "far too Boston-centric lately", one presumes that he'll make it far too NBA-centric. Ugh. Nothing kills a column like it being on the NBA. Oh well. Guess I have to deal.
Gregg Easterbrook, writer for the New Republic, and, to many, better known as Tuesday Morning Quarterback, was fired from ESPN.com for comments which were construed as insensitive toward Jews. He apologised (RyanNote: his apology contains the paragraph in which he makes the comments, and includes a link to the entire piece in which the offending paragraph originally appeared). I have thought about boycotting ESPN (which, considering that I haven't had cable in more than a year consists solely of boycotting their internet presence), because of their timidity as regards controversy. First they fire Rush Limbaugh for stating an opinion with which I agree: that Donovan McNabb is overrated, because the media wish to see a black quarterback succeed, and because the NFL has fostered this environment of "social concern". A writer from Philadelphia, writing in Slate Magazine, writes that Rush was right, comparing McNabb (unfavourably) to Brad Johnson, never known as a world beater (even if he did scalp the 'Skins 2 weeks ago). In any case, my point is that ESPN - or possibly its parent ABC, or ABC's parent Disney - is run by a bunch of scared weenies. They retreated from defending Limbaugh, and fired him quickly following his blog entry. Considering that I haven't supported ESPN's advertisers (with the occasional exceptions of Gatorade and Budweiser), I'll just use up their bandwidth (and, thus, eat up their dollars) by reading their stories. Some of their analysis is self-promoting, self-aggrandizing crap, but some is fairly cogent and penetrating.
Zuletzt: I left, perhaps, the most important item for last: The soldiers, sailors and Marines who died twenty years ago today were remembered in a ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. A sobering reminder that Bill Clinton was, in ignoring acts of terror (or acts of war) carried out by Islamofascists, merely following the precedent set by his predecessors - Ryan
22.10.03
28-7. That was the final score. If you had told me that that was the final score and offered me the chance to wager on which team won, I would have taken Virginia Tech in a matter of picoseconds. I figured that their offensive line would push West Virginia's 3-3-5 defensive alignment (always known to me as a nickel), that KJ would run wild, and that Tech's defence would have put on a show against West Virginia's inexperienced offensive line. I would have figured that West Virginia's touchdown would be a fluke, and that Tech's pressure would force West Virginia's quarterback into several mistakes.
Turns out that I had the teams reversed.
Not only did West Virginia control both lines of scrimmage, they forced Bryan Randall into throwing three! interceptions. I thought that Randall had matured, that he had become a smarter player. Was I wrong?
Maybe.
But then, the whole team - not just Randall - played like its crania were inserted in its rectal cavities, rather than in the game.
Stupid penalties, a lack of focus, and being easily frustrated will prove that, I guess.
I haven't looked at the final stats, but I hate to think what the final rushing totals are for both teams, and what the final penalty total was for the Hokies.
I would hate to face Miami with the effort that the Hokies put on the field tonight. For that matter, I would hate to face Temple with the effort the Hokies showed tonight.
This is one of the worst losses I can remember in recent memory. The only one that comes to me which may - may - be worse is the loss at Pittsburgh two years ago.
I am tempted to predict the remainder of the season, but I probably ought to cool down; this is more of a rant than an intelligent, rational, well reasoned post.
More tomorrow (if I've cooled down) - Ryan.
College Football: Three hours and change until tonight's game. I already dealt with this yesterday, so I won't do so again.
In the wake of all of this conference jumping, I have given a wee bit of thought as to what I would do regarding conference alignment were I king. Right now there are 117 teams in Division I-A, with Florida A&M scheduled to play in I-A next year. I would probably create 12-team, 2-division conferences - and assuming 2 more teams made the jump to I-A, this would set the number of teams at an even 120. I have, therefore, realigned the teams in Division I-A into ten conferences. In this example I assume Georgia Southern and Montana make the jump. I chose these because of their geographic diversity; if, indeed, they are not the next two, it becomes easier to realign, because there is a greater likelihood that one of the two teams is (relatively) close to whichever teams jump. Inasmuch as college football is a regional game, I strive to institute geographic sanity. I also completely ignore any non-football issue, such as the fact that the Big East and Conference USA are hybrid conferences, and I ignore the academic concerns of leagues like the Big Ten. Having given you that caveat, here is my alignment.
| ACC | Big East | Big Ten | Big XII | Conference USA | Mid-American | Mountain West | Pacific 10 | Southeastern | Southwestern |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | Connecticut | Notre Dame | Colorado | Troy State | Miami | Nevada | Washington | Florida | Tulsa |
| North Carolina | Boston College | Ohio State | Colorado St | UAB | Ohio | UNLV | Wash St | Georgia | Rice |
| Wake Forest | Buffalo | Michigan | Kansas | Memphis | Kent | Arizona | Oregon | Tennessee | Houston |
| NC St | Syracuse | Michigan St | Kansas State | Tulane | Akron | Arizona State | Oregon St | Vanderbilt | UL-Lafayette |
| Clemson | Temple | Indiana | Nebraska | East Carolina | Cincinnati | Air Force | California | Kentucky | UL-Monroe |
| South Carolina | Rutgers | Purdue | Missouri | Southern Miss | Central Michigan | BYU | Stanford | Louisville | La Tech |
| Maryland | West Virginia | Illinois | Oklahoma | Middle Tennessee | Eastern Michigan | Boise State | Southern Cal | Alabama | SMU |
| Georgia Tech | Marshall | Northwestern | Oklahoma St | Arkansas St. | Western Michigan | Idaho | UCLA | Auburn | TCU |
| Virginia | Pittsburgh | Wisconsin | Texas | Central Florida | Bowling Green | Utah | Fresno St | Ole Miss | North Texas |
| Va Tech | Penn State | Minnesota | Texas A&M | South Florida | Toledo | Utah State | San Diego St | Miss St | UTEP |
| Miami | Army | Iowa | Texas Tech | Florida A&M | Ball State | Wyoming | San Jose St | Arkansas | New Mexico |
| Florida State | Navy | Iowa State | Baylor | Georgia Southern | Northern Illinois | Montana | Hawaii | LSU | NM St |
Some thoughts:
- Align the divisions in each conference as you like. In many conferences, I toyed with the idea of pairing teams off, putting one of each pair in each division, and having the paired teams play each other every season (sort of a rivalry game). I know that one interdivisional rival is designated for each team in the real-life SEC and in the ACC.
- I would schedule 8 intraconference games: 5 intradivisional games, and 3 interdivisional games.
- I ignored BC in the ACC simply for geographic sanity, and for the fact that, for the first 16 years of the conference, South Carolina was a member.
- I tried to preserve conference integrity, to some extent. Probably the teams I least wanted to remove from their conference were Arizona and Ariz. St. If I were to keep them in the Pac 10, I would simply swap them for San Jose St. and Fresno.
- You could easily swap Baylor out of the Big XII for any number of teams in the Southwestern Conf.
- You can easily swap Vanderbilt out of the SEC, doing so for Tulane most likely.
- I pulled Penn State out of the Big Ten because, let's face facts, Penn State is an eastern school, not a midwestern one, and this resumes rivalries with BC, Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia.
More later. Off to eat, then watch the Hokies. - Ryan
21.10.03
College Football: I'm unaccustomed to having to pick this early; of course, I wouldn't have to do so if there weren't midweek games. Tech travels to Morgantown to take on the Mountaineers of West Virginia. WVU isn't particularly good this year, but, that said, it's a dangerous game. Dangerous from the gameplay standpoint of Tech looking ahead ten days to the showdown in Blacksburg. Dangerous, also, because of the psycho out-of-control trash in Morgantown who call themselves fans. Even when they have no special reason, they'll throw anything not nailed down - such as batteries, trash, trash cans, whisky bottles to name but four - at the visitors, their band, their fans, whoever. They also riot. Last year, fans burned `"every couch they could get close enough to light a match to," according to a local reporter', so says Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline. Now, I won't make the typical stereotypes about West Virginia; indeed, one might wonder, considering that Blacksburg, too, is in Appalachia. But I will say that we fans here in Blacksburg have never rioted (the Saturday night "riot" before the LSU game last year consisted, I'm told, primarily of LSU fans and Tech fans screaming at each other on Main Street; regardless, the police weren't amused). The only things thrown are in celebration; fans (okay, students) have been known to throw empty plastic cups when Tech scores a touchdown in celebration. I have never seen one make it to the sideline. Tech fans have also thrown sugar packets (I spoke of this in an earlier column). Having said that, Tech fans have always (so far as I've seen) treated the visitors with respect and class. Unlike that trash we play tomorrow night. Enough on this.
The initial BCS rankings came out. The three major conference undefeateds led the way; Tech was third behind Oklahoma and Miami. Considering the writers' and coaches' polls have placed the three teams in the same order for much of the year, I'm unsurprised. Dodd also wrote a column on Sunday. This was more of a catch-all, but the thing I found most interesting was his little blurb about "If the polls debut today". The fact that there's a difference between that top 10 and the top 10 of his Top 25 at the beginning of the column implies one thing: that he is influenced by previous polls. Why is it that he can't vote solely on the merits of the teams? What validity do his polls have if he's voting on previous polls, rather than solely on teams' merits? Inquiring minds want to know.
My college picks: Almost seems like mini-rivalry week.
- Va Tech beats West Va. Tech's just too strong. Their run defence has improved from last year. Moreover, the defensive unit is at full strength. The biggest problem, as I chronicled above, will be the fans. The fact that Tech's leaving for the ACC after this season won't help matters.
- LSU beats Auburn. I know that Auburn is doing well, but night games at Death Valley are crazy, and LSU is just too good to lose a home game at night.
- Purdue beats Michigan. It may be close. But the fact of the matter is that John Navarre just isn't that great, and Chris Perry's early season dominance was the result of running against some horrible teams (Central Michigan, Houston).
- Northern Illinois wins at Bowling Green. If Urban Meyer were still in northwestern Ohio, the Falcons would almost certainly win this game. But BG is going against Michael "The Burner" Turner and MAC coach-of-the-year shoo-in Joe Novak. Not to mention that NIU was 10 in the first BCS ranking this season. If NIU can win at Ala-damn-bama, they can win at Bowling Green.
- Tennessee beats Alabama. Here we see how far Tennessee has come since they were routed at home by Georgia a week and a half ago. They had last week off, and presumably used it to recover. It also gave UT an extra week to plan for Alabama. That doesn't bode well for the Tide. And if the Tide can only beat Southern Miss by two touchdowns (USM has been atrocious this year; a down year for them, to give in to understatement) then that, too, may pose problems agasint the Vols.
- Kansas State beats Kansas. It's been a very good year for KU to this point, but now they travel to a Kansas State team which thrashed Colorado last week, ending a three game losing streak. KU has made a lot of progress, and one presumes that they'll progress further in the next couple of years, but they haven't come far enough to win at K-State.
- Boston College beats Notre Dame. Tom O'Brien was a player for George Welsh at Navy, where he learned discipline. He was an assistant coach for Welsh at Virginia. At this point I'll bet you, the reader, are saying "What the hell is this guy talking about?" Only this: BC got thrashed at Syracuse last week, and O'Brien almost certainly made life miserable for his players. It's a rivalry game, but one that's more important to BC, so BC will be doubly motivated to win.
Zuletzt: As an afterthought (on the last play of the entry, so to speak), Kansas City squeaked out another road win. Call me shocked.
Ryan.
18.10.03
Pro Football: I never posted my pro picks for this week. Here they are:
- Minnesota beats Denver. I figure that Minnesota hasn't given me a reason to pick against them, and they're at home, so Denver doesn't get help from the thin air.
- St. Louis and Green Bay are two teams who have done well the last couple of weeks. I figure that if this game were at Lambeau, in the cold, on natural grass, that Green Bay would have a good shot. But since it's in St. Louis, on turf, in the climate controlled Edward Jones Dome or whatever they're calling it nowadays, you have to figure that St. Louis, with their team speed, has an advantage.
- The Giants and Eagles are two teams who haven't fared nearly as well this season. Both are 2 games out of the division lead, and neither has really impressed me at any point with their play. I'm picking the Giants solely because the game is in New Jersey.
- Washington gets picked simply because they're the team I root for. More substantive reasons may be the utter lack of an offence in Buffalo, or the fact that they got shellacked by the pathetic Jets last week.
- Carolina, especially its defence, is too good for Tennessee. Sure, Tennessee has Steve McNair, but Carolina shut Peyton Manning down last week. Until they actually lose a game, I'll probably end up picking the Panthers. It doesn't hurt that the game is in Charlotte rather than Nashville.
- Baltimore beats its former defensive coordinator. After all, Marvin Lewis does coach the Bengals.
- Cleveland wins. San Diego sucks.
- Dallas beats Detroit. It makes my skin crawl merely to type those words, but there it is. Am I supposed to pick a team which has beaten only Arizona, and which lost arguably its best receiver in practice this week? Against one which has beaten two divisional opponents, and one which hired Bill Parcells as head coach? Think again.
- Miami wins on the strength of playing at home. Playing on the road is always tough in the AFC East. And New England just isn't good enough to win many road games.
- Atlanta wins. Don't tell me you think that New Orleans will win two in a row. I don't think that anyone believes that particular fiction.
- Tampa Bay wins at San Francisco. San Fran hasn't played particularly good football, whereas Tampa beat the crap out of Washington last week, handing the 'Skins their first loss of more than 3 points.
- Seattle wins. Don't tell me you think that Chicago can beat them.
- Will the Jets win two in a row? Since Pennington's not playing, no. Expect Houston to win at home.
- I know that Monday Night's game is a divisional rivalry, but don't tell me that you think that Oakland will keep it close (even at home) against Kansas City.
College Football: I am watching an ESPN.com Gamecast of Texas Tech at Oklahoma St. About 2 minutes left, neither team has timeouts, and Texas Tech is driving, needing only a field goal to cap off a monster comeback. When I saw this score earlier, it was 48-21 at halftime, so I figured that (1) Ok St was doing what NC State did to them, and (2) B.J. Symons, while putting up good numbers, may (or may not) be able to lead a team. Texas Tech has made a huge comeback, though, coming within 2 points as I type this (51-49). Whoops. Ok St just intercepted the pass with about 70 seconds to go. Guess that's over. Other thoughts:
- I watched the Florida-Arkansas game. Some quick thoughts:
- Florida ran the ball well early, before they went entirely predictable with the run.
- Arkansas, according to the broadcasters at CBS, is winless when Matt Jones attempts more than 20 passes.
- Chris Leak looked good, and if he develops, would be a quarterback I'd hate to face in 2 or 3 years.
- As soon as Arkansas scored to make it 33-14, I thought of the UF-Miami game, where UF blew a huge lead. It didn't escape me that UF had 33 points in that game, too.
- A major difference of Spurrier and Zook (or Zaunbrecher): Spurrier wouldn't care if he ran it up. Zaunbrecher, when he got a big lead, started playing entirely too conservative offensively. Rushing the ball twice for 2 yards a pop and passing incomplete only burns about a minute.
- Late, when Arkansas was driving toward what would be their final touchdown, Florida only rushed 3 against Matt Jones. But a receiver (actually the tight end, I think) found a huge hole in the zone about 15 yards up, on the right side. If you're dropping 8 into coverage, everyone should be covered, one would think.
- That roughing the passer call at the end of the game was right. I'm not so sure that it was out of bounds, but the hit was high; the defender left his feet. But Leak made a huge mistake on that play, not throwing the ball away or (perhaps even better, considering that it would burn clock) just running with it, even if it does cost him a couple of yards.
- I had a thought before Arkansas scored 21 straight: if Florida can win at Arkansas by the same margin by which Georgia beats Vanderbilt, then it's liable to get ugly in Jacksonville in two weeks. I just had another thought: if Florida builds a big lead, will conservative playcalling allow the Dawgs to come back, like conservative playcalling did Miami and (almost) Arkansas?
- I caught the Notre Dame game in progress, early in the second quarter. I didn't watch too much of it, but enough to learn that neither team had been stopped to that point (they had combined for 5 drives, all resulting in touchdowns). I saw SC pick up their 4th td (putting them up by 2 tds), and heard Pete Carroll say at halftime that they needed to pick the defence up or they wouldn't win. Huh? They led by two touchdowns. But they apparently did pick the defence up, because Notre Dame didn't score again, and SC routed Notre Dame.
- I listened to the Wake Forest game. Carl Franks had something to build on: his team out-everythinged Maryland, leading in many statistical categories for that game, last week. Turns out that Wake also had something to play for: they got beat by Ga Tech last week, and didn't want it to happen again. Wake absolutely whalloped Duke at Duke's homecoming.
- If Va Tech wins on Wednesday at Morgantown, then the Miami-Tech game will be the last regular season contest of the year featuring undefeateds (it could happen in a bowl). I caught the last few minutes of the Temple-UM game. I saw some runner (I forget the guy's name) running through Temple's defence like a knife through hot butter. Okay. He didn't look that bad, but Tech's JV team could probably beat Temple.
- Texas A&M got shellacked at Nebraska. And I thought that was an impressive win for Va Tech when they beat them. It's looking less impressive. I made the comparison of that game to the '99 game against Clemson, when Tech was threatened in the 4th quarter, but pulled away late. Perhaps the more valid comparison would be to the '98 game, when Clemson finished 3-8 (and sent Tommy West packing).
- Syracuse fans, apparently, derisively chanted "A-C-C" at Boston College. Uh, okay. Apparently Syracuse didn't take fan input into account when they were in the original plan to leave for the ACC.
- FSU is up early on Virginia. I picked UVa to win the game, because I figured that UVa is good enough to win the game, the game is in Craphole (Charlottesville, Ryan, Charlottesville) and I figured that FSU would still be focused on last week's loss. Perhaps I forgot about the fact that UVa would still be focused on their loss against Clemson (or, as a friend of mine from that part of the world calls it, Climp-son). There's plenty of ballgame left to be played. Suffice it to say that there will be many Seminole War Chants done around Blacksburg, and even a few Tomahawk Chops. Mine will be among them.
- Navy picks up its 5th win. They need 2 more (I think) to be bowl eligible. They'll probably have to get 3 or 4 more to get to a bowl.
- Army lost. Sucks to be them. Air Force lost too, but on Thursday.
- I'm 3-1 on my picks (I won with Purdue, Mich St, and Ohio St; lost with Texas Tech). I'm losing the FSU game (but there's plenty of game left to be played), and Mizzou rolls into Oklahoma for OU's homecoming. Even without the World Series, it should be an interesting night.
Zuletzt: Here it is. Not that funny. It sucks to see the Yankees win. Th-u-u-u-u-u-h Yankees Win! It really sucks.
16.10.03
Baseball: The Cubs should have won the series; they needed only to win one of two home games, with their two aces pitching in these games. Having said that, some thoughts:
- Florida won three more games in the regular season than did the Cubbies. And, yet, everyone thought that the Cubs were the favourite. I, admittedly, was part of that "everyone".
- Florida, from the beginning of May, have won more games than any other team in the majors.
- Since I follow (as much as I follow anything in MLB) the Reds, I must ask Bowden and Lindner one question: What the hell were you thinking dumping Jack McKeon?
- Florida sure is resilient. When Kerry Wood hammered that ball into the left field bleachers, I thought game 7 was over, even though Wood's homer tied the game. Evidently the Marlins didn't.
- The fan who "interfered" with Moises Alou's attempt to catch a foul ball in the 8th inning of game 6 isn't at fault. The ball was in the stands, not in the field (which voids any comparisons with that little shithead Jeffrey Maier and nitwit umpire Rich Garcia...this was back when I was still rooting hard for Baltimore, before I came to the conclusion that I really can't root for Maryland's team; I need a team from Washington or Northern Va. for which to root...in other words, I'm still bitter). Moreover, I probably would have done the same thing. What's more, most folks would have done the same thing. There was a poll on ESPN.com yesterday. I'll sum it up. When I first voted (it was around 2000 votes), something like 65 percent of people said the guy was a moron, where 35 percent said that they felt badly for him (after about 65,000 votes, 51% feel badly, 49% think he's an idiot). On the next question, when I first voted, 55 percent said that they'd have done the same thing (reach for the ball), and 45 percent said they'd have backed up and got out of the way (now it's about 70/30 would have done the same thing/would have backed up). By my math, at least 20 percent of respondents have to have picked both the "he's and idiot" and "I'd have done the same thing". Now, I'll admit that I'm one of the proud (at least) 20 percent. Whether those 20 percent make up the core of the 23 percent who said that the loss was primarily the kid's fault (I personally think it was Dusty's fault for leaving Prior in there too long), I don't know. Many of them may be. After all, they admitted their idiocy. And of course, in responding the way I did, I implied that I'm an idiot. Having said all that, I'm starting to feel bad for the guy, considering that they needed an armed guard to escort him out of the stadium, and his brother read a statement in front of his home, while his place was under armed guard because of fans who take it too personally.
In any case, he's not at fault. He's not the one who left Mark Prior in the game far too long. He's not the one who committed an error on what should have been a routine inning-ending double play. - The best pitcher in the series wasn't Pryor, Wood or even Dontrelle Willis. It was Josh Beckett. He pitched a complete game shutout in game 5, and then 3 days later, pitches 4 innings in relief, allowing one run (a solo homer) and retiring 12 of 13 batters. My God, what a stud.
- Kevin Wheeler said recently (I heard this on a bumper for his show, because I've gotten a decent sleep schedule back, and am no longer awake between 2 and 6 am) that Al Leiter has a future in broadcasting if he wants it, because he says things that are relevant and interesting. All true. What impressed me most is that he thanked Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons for allowing him into the booth. Class act. I'm sure that Bret Boone will act as classy when Joe Buck and Tim McCarver reach the end of the run at the end of the World Series (or maybe they'll put Leiter in the booth with Buck and McCarver, and Boone will be out), but I think the only time that I've heard Bret Boone is when his brother Aaron is batting. And I don't think that I've heard him string more than about three words together at one time. That isn't to say that he'd be horrible, because he may be nervous and inexperienced, but certainly if they're looking for a player to be the third man in the booth, Leiter would be a far better choice than Boone.
- I was wrong in my prediction in the NLCS, when I picked the Cubs. Whoops.
Some (uninformed and, perhaps, intemperate) thoughts on tonight's game 7:
- Being a (recovering) Orioles fan, I hate the Yankees. Part of it is my animosity toward New York City; I visited once when I was in high school, took a bus trip up that way, and wasn't especially impressed. I wouldn't mind going back and taking a few days to see the sights, all the architectural and cultural attractions, but my first impression wasn't particularly positive. It wasn't particularly negative, but it just struck me as "blah". Part of it is the animosity toward a division rival (which is also true of the BoSox, but I hate the BoSox a little bit less). The hell of it (and I've thought this for years) is that most of them are good enough guys that if they wore different uniforms, I'd probably cheer for them.
- I'm not sure which would inspire the more entertaining column from the Sports Guy: A Boston win, or a Boston loss. Pros and cons of each as related to his columns.
Sox win:- Get another week of TSG columns about the roller coaster of emotions that he's going through.
- As a related theme, have another week (or so) to deal with the angst of not having won the series in 85 years.
- As a con, he seems funnier when he's angry, or disappointed, or otherwise not happy.
- We'd get to see an emotional collapse...although if they win and then lose to Florida, that collapse would be greater (and thus funnier).
- Probably would see something about Clemens (aka "Antichrist", according to TSG) and how he made a deal with the devil, or summoned the powers of hell or somesuch.
- If they lose, I'd have to deal with columns on the Nitwit Bouncyball Assn, which I just don't want to do (although I never do...to me that league isn't fannnnn-tastic).
- Pedro versus Rocket. Two hotheaded fireballers. Sounds fun. Of course, this matchup is what caused the fracas in game 3. Like I said, fun.
College Football: No Va Tech game this weekend. They next play on Wednesday, up in Morgantown. Like I've said before, midweek college football games are an abomination. It's nice (I guess) in the sense that they get 11 days to prepare for WVU, and 10 to prepare for Miami afterward, but it's garbage. It's disruptive to the university (all arguments I've made before). Though, I must say, no more disruptive than, say, a riot after a big win, such as has happened in College Park or (more to the point, considering that I'm talking about this particular rivalry) Morgantown. I once heard (about 8 or 9 years ago) an ESPN announcer mention that Pitt-WVU was the "Backyard Brawl" and calling the Tech-WVU rivalry the "Backwoods Brawl". Appropriate, considering that the biggest city between Morgantown and Blacksburg is, if I guess right, Beckley, West Va. In any case, I'll still watch this weekend. And I'll be glued to the TV next Wednesday. Anyway, on to my thoughts and picks.
- Four schools in the Big East have filed another lawsuit against officers of the ACC and BC. Okay. Doesn't change the fact that:
- BC will still end up in the ACC,
- the Big East is doing (and has done in the past) the exact same thing,
- and the judge threw out the first lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds.
One of the charges of the lawsuit is that BC breached its contract with the Big East. How, exactly, I'm not sure; from what I've seen, they've observed all of their contractual obligations to date, such as notifying the conference. If BC were to try to stiff the conference of its exit fee, then, maybe, they have a case. This seems more political, because, from what little I've seen, it doesn't have much (if any) legal merit. - Everyone has been pushing Jason White for Heisman. If OU wins out, and he keeps playing as well as he has in the first half of the season, I can't argue...too much. I still say that B.J. Symons deserves the award. The numbers he's put up are otherworldly. The only problem is that he doesn't play on a team with a particularly great defence.
- Beano Cook says that the loser of the Miami-VT game will get an at-large spot in the BCS, and that the winner will probably face Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. God, I'm glad that game is in Blacksburg. Hopefully it's colder than the ninth circle of Dante's hell on 1 November in the 'burg.
- If Kevin Jones runs on Miami and Pittsburgh like he ran on Texas A&M (180 yds), I'd be sorely disappointed if he didn't win the Heisman.
- I'm probably putting too much emphasis on an individual award. Football is, after all, a team sport.
- Louisiana-Lafayette has taken a 3-0 lead on New Mexico St. as I type this. I'm rooting for ULL because former VT offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle is the head coach at ULL.
- In the last 2 years, Ohio St. has played one non-conference game outside the state of Ohio. That would be the Fiesta Bowl. Their sole non-conference away game was at Cincinnati. I wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that they went undefeated last year. Their last non-conference road game was in September 2001, a 13-6 loss at UCLA. Between 2004 and 2006 they play at NC State, at Texas and they have one non-conference game yet to be determined. Were I a betting man (and informing myself by looking at past schedules), I'd guess that they'll schedule a game in Columbus against one of the 3,000 schools in Ohio which are in the MAC. Just a guess.
- ESPN has put out midseason ratings. Their experts also gave out awards. To answer those questions myself:
- Biggest surprise: Northern Illinois. They're still undefeated, and they have beaten three teams in BCS leagues to get there. Were Michael Turner at a school in a major conference, he'd probably be a top 5 Heisman candidate.
- Biggest disappointment: Notre Dame. How they scored 20 on Pitt I do not know, because their offence is abysmal. Their loss to Michigan seemed to have set the tone for the year, and how they come out against USC at home will tell a lot about this Notre Dame team in the second half of the season.
- Midseason MVP: B.J. Symons, Texas Tech. He's thrown for over 400 yards against everyone he's faced, save SMU. He has led his team to a 2-0 record in the Big 12 (as a side note, give the "XII" up...we're not in Rome), and a 5-1 overall record, the only loss being to a good (though disappointing) NC State team. If both teams go into their 22 Nov. showdown undefeated in conference, the Heisman may well be determined by who does better against the other's defence: Jason White of Oklahoma, or Symons. Another side note: I am intrigued by Herbstreit's pick for MVP, and he makes a good case (perhaps I just want to believe).
- Midseason Coach of the (half-) Year: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma. He hasn't failed to get his team up yet, and his team has shown itself to be (in my opinion) the best prepared game-day team in the country. This year, that includes offence as well as defence.
- Sugar Bowl-bound: Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. I think that Va Tech will win the game on 1 Nov, and I think that they will be motivated by two straight losses to Pitt (and by Pitt's intent to injure Michael Vick three years ago) that they'll win in Pittsburgh. Until Oklahoma loses, they will (and should) be number 1.
My picks for the week:
- Purdue beats Wisconsin. Wisconsin will still be focused on last week's big win over Ohio State, and Wisconsin, since 2000, is 4-9 in home conference games.
- Michigan St beats Minnesota. Minnesota will still be focused on last week's big loss against Michigan, and will play more tightly than they would had they won. Of course, I may be completely off and Minnesota may come out looking to prove that last week was a fluke. I think that this game is really beyond Michigan State's control in that the mood of the Minnesota team will dictate the way that this game goes.
- Ohio State beats Iowa. Iowa is looking to prove that it would have beaten Ohio St. last year, but (a) Brad Banks is no longer at Iowa, and (b) the game is in Columbus. I would expect a close game, but Ohio State pulls it out in front of the home fans.
- Texas Tech beats Oklahoma State. If I weren't so lazy, I'd look and see what the over/under line is on this game, and what the over/under line is on the number of yards that B.J. Symons will throw for. Whatever those lines are, I'd take the over on both of them. And Texas Tech can get into a shootout with most teams in the country.
- Virginia beats Florida State. The game is in Charlottesville. Florida State is coming off a bad loss (don't tell me the margin was only 8 points, it was a bad loss). The fact of the matter is that Matt Schaub is miles better than Chris Rix, even if Rix has better receivers. If Wali Lundy can give the Cavaliers some balance, this may get ugly. And Virginia seems to do better when it drops out of the polls.
- Oklahoma beats Mizzou. Both teams are coming off big wins, but Oklahoma has two things going for it: it's homecoming, which will cause Oklahoma not to have as much of an emotional letdown, and Oklahoma has the best gameday coach in the country on the sideline in Bob Stoops, who won't let his team have as much of an emotional letdown. It won't be as ugly as the OU-Texas game, but it's not going to be particularly pretty.
More later - Ryan
14.10.03
College Football: Quick note about the above Zuerst. Another Mea culpa: I was wrong to refer to the former Army coach (and current Jets linebackers coach) Bob Sutton as "Don". I'm embarrassed that I confused the very good ex-coach of Army with the Hall of Fame pitcher, and current mulleted colour man for the Braves. *sigh*. On a related note, Army has a very good chance to pick up its first win of the year: they host East Carolina, which has played as badly as or worse than Army.
Baseball: I haven't been a fan of major league baseball since the strike in the mid '90s. I have followed the Tigers for years: the first game I saw when I got back from Japan in the summer of 1986 was the Tigers beating up on the Twins 12-2, with (I think) Kirk Gibson hitting a grand slam. I saw this in Tiger Stadium, and fell in love with the place, even if men peed in troughs (this is a problem in several old stadia, and some newer ones; Lane Stadium, which will turn 40 in a couple of years, suffers from this problem) and support pillars blocked sight lines. While I was glad to see the Lions move into Detroit from Pontiac, some 20 miles north, I was dismayed that the Tigers moved out of venerable Tiger Stadium. And I am angry as hell that Mike Ilitch hasn't shown anything resembling the commitment that he shows to the Red Wings (for whom I root when they aren't playing the Caps). I am also a fan of the Reds; much of my father's extended family is in Ohio, and, wherever they are (with maybe the exception of my aunt Ann), they are all Reds fans.
Why am I bringing this up, you say? I have recently been drawn in by playoff baseball. I will watch most playoffs; the intensity and desperation that playoff competition brings is enough to keep me watching, because great teams elevate their game. It's enough, even, to get me to watch the (very) occasional NBA game. Add to playoffs the spectre of a rivalry series, and you have some great competition. And, occasionally (and this is especially true of hockey) playoff confrontations breed rivalries and hatred; this is how the Detroit-Colorado blood feud got its start.
At this point I'm conversationally meandering. What I mean to say is this: right now it looks like a Yanks-Cubs series, with both of those teams needing one win in two home games. And I'm watching it.
Pro Football: My picks are up. But I'm not sure that you can see them, because they don't display on my browsers unless I'm signed in. I guess Pigskin doesn't display entries until they're locked at noon on gameday. I'll tell you who I picked when I do my blurb on Friday.
If I hadn't made a dumb error yesterday, my Zuerst would have read something like this:
Warren Sapp: racist, idiot, both, or neither?
Couple of things: On the James Brown Show, Warren Sapp said, in the wake of the Rush Limbaugh scandal, that there are "way more scrubs in this game that are Anglos that are being pumped up than there are blacks, trust me, it's not even close". This after saying that ESPN shouldn't have accepted Limbaugh's resignation, that they should have fired the man. I wonder if he caught the irony of those statements. Later, when LaVar Arrington called him out and told him not to run through the Redskins' pregame formation, Sapp complained about Arrington "snitching to the slave masters", perhaps implying that either (a) Arrington or, more likely, (b) the NFL office thought that slavery was a good thing. And, considering that he's making several million dollars a year, I wonder if he sees the irony of that comment.
So do these comments make Sapp a racist? Deep down, I don't think so. His comments are, undoubtedly, as (or more) racist than Limbaugh's comments. But I think that these comments are indicative of his personality, much like the running through the other teams' warmup formations are indicative: they point to a self-centredness glory seeker. I think that he said them to get attention (even negative), and get the focus back on that fatass #99. My verdict is that, while his comment was, perhaps, racist, he's not a racist deep down. He's just a selfish idiot.
Zuletzt: My Zuerst makes two references: the first, to my error yesterday. I have already dealt with that. You may have caught the other if you lived in Virginia (as I did, and indeed, still do) in 1996. That year, the race for one of our two U.S. Senate seats was between the Republican incumbent (who won the race) John W. Warner, and the Democratic challenger (who lost the race, but won the governorship in 2001) Mark R. Warner. Mark's campaign had some bumper stickers printed up (some of which you can still see in Virginia's more liberal enclaves) that said "Marknotjohn". Just a bit of political (recent) history.
More later - R.
13.10.03
College Football: Firstly, rereading my blurb on the fact that FSU is overrated, I realised that what I wrote was, at best, incoherent. Perhaps I should have said that FSU was overrated; people had overrated them on the basis of big wins over Maryland (which is respectable, and easily their best win to date), Colorado (which has since allowed nearly as many points to Baylor as they allowed at FSU), and Duke (which is, to say the least, a basketball school; the last time they had a team which approached decent, Fred Goldsmith was the coach back in the mid-'90s). And what I can't figure out with B.J. Symons is that he failed to throw for 300 yards against SMU, while throwing for more than 400 in each of the other games. Perhaps he was pulled early, a conjecture which seems to be supported by the fact that he threw
Six teams that were previously undefeated lost:
- Minnesota: I think I dissected this yesterday, but Minnesota had this game won! They just allowed Michigan to put up a 31-spot in the 4th quarter to win the game by 3. They'll need to bounce back if they're going to avoid the Music City Bowl.
- Florida State: I devoted time to them earlier. They're overrated, having beaten such powerhouses as Carolina and Duke, Maryland and ekeing out a win against Ga Tech, and beating a bad Colorado team. Then Bowden blames the weather for his loss against Miami. Um...okay. I guess the sun was shining on the Miami sideline, eh?
- Arkansas: All I'll say to this is that if Auburn had played like this at the beginning of the season, there may well be 4 undefeated teams in major conferences. Will the Auburn-LSU game decide the Western division's representative in the SEC Championship?
- LSU: I don't know why LSU lost this game. Like I wrote yesterday, Ron Zook, whatever else he may be, is a master motivator and salesman. And he sold the Gators on playing a good game. Perhaps, too, there was an element of LSU overlooking this. After all, if LSU can beat big, bad Jawja, then surely they could beat a young UF team down on its luck.
- Nebraska: I'm sure that Mizzou will agree that the Blackshirts are back. Especially after putting 41 up on NU, and pulling away in the 4th quarter.
- Ohio State: I devoted more time to Robert Reynolds' antics than the game; Ohio State isn't a great team, and it seemed, during the length of the streak, that they played to the level of the competition. During the streak, they squeaked out wins against teams as varied as Cincinnati, Purdue and Miami, Bowling Green and NC State. Not to mention that, to this point, they're winless on the road this season.
Leaving 5 undefeateds in I-A, three in BCS conferences:
- Texas Christian: They ended the second-longest home winning streak in I-A when they beat South Florida in Tampa 13-10. Although they'd probably lose to one of the three undefeated teams from major conferences, I wouldn't bet heavily against them.
- Northern Illinois: They beat Maryland, and they won at Alabama. If they go undefeated, I would be offended (but not surprised) if they didn't get a BCS bid.
- Virginia Tech: Syracuse was the first of 4 games, over the next 4 weeks, against opponents that Tech hasn't played well against in the last 2 years, going 1-7 (0-4 last year). If they can win the next 3, then I really like their chances to get to the Sugar Bowl. As a side note, it's heartening that Tech stopped Walter Reyes; last year, in the 4 games it lost Tech allowed damn near 1000 yards rushing.
- Miami: Perhaps the biggest regular season game remaining in college football this season is 1 Nov, when Miami travels to Blacksburg. Someone made the point that "you have to have a heart 4 sizes too small not to root for Jarrett Payton". Maybe. And I might root for him. But not on 1 November. In any case, Miami proved that they were looking ahead of West Va. That 3 touchdown lead they had in the 2nd half against FSU showed me something.
- Oklahoma: The best team in the country. Or, at the very least, the best big game team in the country. When they get motivated, they're very difficult to beat. And they hung half a hundred on Texas as easily as they did against Iowa State. Right now I would have to say they're the clear favourite to get to the Sugar Bowl.
Right now, I'd have to say that the Sugar Bowl will be Oklahoma - Va Tech.
Pro Football: Right now the Seahawks look strong, even if they beat the Niners and Rams each by a single point in Seattle. Of course we'll learn more at the end of the season (two of their last three games are at San Francisco and at Saint Louis), but, right now I would have to make them the favourite to win the NFC West. I think I covered everything else yesterday.
Zuletzt: In my blurb about the Jets yesterday, I mentioned that I didn't realise that Vinny Testaverde was starting. Of course, I realised (about 18 hours after I posted the blasted thing) that Vinny has started since the beginning of the season, and that I was confusing him with real injured starter Chad Pennington (side note: Pennington is, apparently, 50-50 to go against Philly). What I failed to account for was the fact that Vinny hasn't had a performance this good in 2 years. Add to that the fact that Buffalo, since their loss to Miami, has really stunk out loud, especially offensively. Mea culpa. And, yes, I'm an idiot. I should have caught that.
More later - R.
12.10.03
College Football: Only my improvident, homer pick of Tennessee (and, truth be told, it was a homer pick; I have some small allegiance to them) prevented me from going 6-0. As it stands, I went 5-1. Some quick thoughts:
- B.J. Symons has thrown for over 400 yards in his last 5 games. The only game in which he didn't throw for 400 yards was against SMU. No, I can't figure it out either. As much as I'd like Kevin Jones to win, how Symons isn't the Heisman frontrunner is a bona fide mystery to me.
- Tech won on homecoming, and by the end of the game, Roth and Burnop (the radio play-by-play and color guys for Tech) had made several comparisons to the 1999 game. The only major differences (other than game time; Syracuse was the homecoming opponent in 1999, too, but this year's game was at noon, compared to a nighttime game in '99) that I saw were
- KJ's fumble around Tech's 20 to start the 2nd half, setting up Syracuse's touchdown and
- Tech didn't score a defense touchdown and a special teams touchdown in the 4th q this year, like they did in '99.
- Nice to know that Michigan can make a comeback. This was something that I already knew (they damn near pulled one off against Oregon), but the magnitude of it was surprising to say the least. At this point I wonder if Minnesota is destined ever to regain the Litle Brown Jug.
- The end of the first half of the Tennessee game set the tone for the second half. If UT scores, the second half is completely different, and I think it ends up being a nailbiter. Having said that, I must refer to the old saying If ifs and buts were candy and nuts... And Georgia recovered the fumble and scored.
- Florida beats LSU in Baton Rouge. Huh? I know that Zook is a master motivator (his best - by far - quality as UF coach is his salesmanship), but I thought that LSU was much better than Florida, and I thought that if Georgia lost to LSU in Baton Rouge, then Florida would have been clobbered in Baton Rouge. Shows what I know, evidently.
- Florida State was overrated, based on what? Wins against Maryland, Colorado and Duke? Makes sense to me, I guess. Miami just has the better team. And, as a Tech fan, you have no idea how glad I am that Tech has the home field advantage on 01Nov.
- That Miami-FSU game may have been the last of the season between undefeated teams. Probably not, but it's possible. If Miami loses to Temple on Saturday or Tech loses to West Virginia next Thursday, then that UM-FSU game will have been the last meeting of undefeateds. However, Miami-Va Tech looms. And, as a Tech fan, you have no idea how glad I am that Tech has the home field advantage.
- Mizzou pulled away in the 4th quarter against Nebraska. Maybe Mizzou's better than I thought in that Kansas game, and, most likely, they were just looking ahead. So are the Blackshirts back? They gave up 41 to Mizzou.
- For a while, I thought that Auburn reminded me of the '99 Arizona Wildcats. The 'Cats were ranked in the preseason top 5 in 1999, but got blown out by another top 5 team (Penn State) which set the tone for their season. If memory serves (and I'm too lazy to look), Arizona ended up being bowl-ineligible, finishing either 5-7 or 6-6. Having said that, with Auburn beating UT and Arkansas the last couple of weeks shows me that, while Auburn may not be a top 5 team, they certainly belong in the rankings, and are much better than their losses to USC and Ga Tech would indicate.
- So here's my question: will Oklahoma look past Ok St, like they have the last couple of years?
- Speaking of Oklahoma, I'm surprised by the margin of victory, but I expected them to win by double digits. Even though Texas has been horrible in big games under Mack Brown, they are talented, and should lose to no one by 52.
- Wyoming and Utah State played. Who gives a shit?
And, finally, my top ten.
- Oklahoma
- Miami
- Va Tech
- Georgia
- Washington St
- USC
- Ohio St
- Northern Illinois
- TCU
- FSU
Pro Football: Thoughts:
- Tennessee proved that their lack of preparedness for last week's New England game was a fluke.
- New England, however, proved that last week's game, for them, wasn't.
- God, I doubt I could live with the fact that that goddamn Parcells led those goddamn Cowboys to a goddamn division title in his first year. Aughhhhhhhhhh!
- A Tale of Two Halves: Washington played excellent ball in the first half. In the second half, though, they just got their asses beat. Bad.
- Kansas City and Carolina both proved that they belong, keeping their undefeated records intact, and both doing so on the road. And Carolina beat an excellent (and heretofore undefeated) Indianapolis team in the process.
- I didn't realise that Vinny Testaverde was coming back. I know, it's a cheap excuse (and by no means an acquittal; I failed to do my research, which is all the more stinging since I checked to see when Michael Vick is coming back). Which leaves one winless team in the whole league. You know what's coming next: San Diego Sucks!
- At the moment, I'm not listening to the Frisco-Seattle game. For some reason, KJR isn't carrying it, and was instead carrying ESPN Gamenight or something. At first I thought that it had something to do with the baseball playoffs (I figured they were carrying Gamenight instead of the game, since it was rained out), but, now that I think about it, I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fact that CBS Radio may black the radio broadcast out (or whatever the radio equivalent of blackout is) to Seattle, since there is a local radio broadcasting team in place which is broadcasting the game. In any case, I'm not listening to it, instead listening at the moment to some electronic/instrumental music.
Zuletzt: Robert Reynolds is both classless and an idiot. Reynolds is the Ohio State linebacker who, in yesterday's game against Wisconsin, appeared to choke Wisconsin QB Jim Sorgi. Now, I've heard apologists say that this goes on all the time: punching, jabbing, etc., under the piles. That it's going on is bad enough. However, when you jab your hand into someone else's throat - thus choking them - that's another thing altogether. Add to that the fact that he was dumb enough to get caught. Robert Reynolds is both classless and an idiot. And, that the refs gave Wisconsin a personal foul on the play - the center had to tackle Reynolds to get him off Sorgi - is patently ridiculous. Reynolds should have been ejected, and, if Tressel has any sense, suspended for the balance of the season.
More later; will comment on Frisco-Seattle (17-10 to the home team as I type) - Ryan.
10.10.03
Zuerst: Shirin Ebadi has won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. One hopes that other Muslims will learn from her contention that basic human rights of women are compatible with sharia, and that the problem is not the aforementioned Islamic law, but rather misogynism and chauvinism of varied Islamic leaders. To be honest, I'm disappointed that John Paul II didn't win it, but I think that the award was appropriately given. One hopes that this is the start of a trend; the fact that Yassir Arafat won it removes most credibility held by the Nobel committee. One hopes that they can regain it by moving away from politically motivated awards, such as the aforementioned Arafat (who received it for lying - again - to the Israelis during another negotiation), or such as Jimmy Carter (who received the award primarily as a conduit through which the commitee could say "fuck you" to the administration of Bush the Younger).
Politics: Governor-elect Ahhh-nold outpolled Governor Davis. That's what you get when (a) you devote your energy to fundraising rather than leadership, (b) your ally publishes a journalistically shaky story on the Thursday before the election, leading to a backlash against you, and (c) you increase the budget by 40% during your administration, thus plunging your state into an economic crisis. Having said that...
I think that George Will is right. One of California's problems is that they have been forced to spend money on various programs, as decided by the initiative process, and the state government has no recourse against spending this. California also (infinitely more wisely, in my view) decided, by initiative (Prop 13), to put a cap on property taxes. In other words, over a period of years and over several initiatives, the citizens of California decreed that they want something for nothing. However, direct democracy is little more than rule by mob, and the founders put into place many institutions designed to insulate this republic from direct democracy. The Electoral College is one example. The Senate is another; until 1913, senators were elected not by the people of their various states, but were appointed by the governors and approved (elected) by legislatures. The amendment which provides for direct election of senators (the 17th) grew out of the progressive political movement, much like the amendments to the California constitution which provide for the initiative process and for recall of elected officials. Congratulations, progressives. This is your legacy: rule by mob.
College Football: I should have posted my picks yesterday, but I didn't. Oh well. I'll post them here:
Pro Football: Thoughts about my picks:
Hockey: Opening day for the Caps was a wild success, resulting in a 6-1 win. A quick preview: Washington, more than likely, will sneak into the playoffs as the 6 or 7 seed in the East. I think that Olaf Kolzig will keep them in most games, even if the defence is paper-thin, starting 3 teenagers (ay caramba!). Coach Cassidy, one hopes (though one isn't sure), has learned a lot from his first year. But the offense should be good, with Peter Bondra and Jaromir Jagr anchoring the top 2 lines, and Sergei Gonchar on the blueline. The power play should be good too, for the same reasons. They'll probably finish around 90 points and, like I said, sneak into the playoffs. Leaguewide, I like Ottawa to beat Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals. Ottawa is a superb team, and its loss to New Jersey last year should teach them much.
Friday Five:
More later - R.
Politics: Governor-elect Ahhh-nold outpolled Governor Davis. That's what you get when (a) you devote your energy to fundraising rather than leadership, (b) your ally publishes a journalistically shaky story on the Thursday before the election, leading to a backlash against you, and (c) you increase the budget by 40% during your administration, thus plunging your state into an economic crisis. Having said that...
I think that George Will is right. One of California's problems is that they have been forced to spend money on various programs, as decided by the initiative process, and the state government has no recourse against spending this. California also (infinitely more wisely, in my view) decided, by initiative (Prop 13), to put a cap on property taxes. In other words, over a period of years and over several initiatives, the citizens of California decreed that they want something for nothing. However, direct democracy is little more than rule by mob, and the founders put into place many institutions designed to insulate this republic from direct democracy. The Electoral College is one example. The Senate is another; until 1913, senators were elected not by the people of their various states, but were appointed by the governors and approved (elected) by legislatures. The amendment which provides for direct election of senators (the 17th) grew out of the progressive political movement, much like the amendments to the California constitution which provide for the initiative process and for recall of elected officials. Congratulations, progressives. This is your legacy: rule by mob.
College Football: I should have posted my picks yesterday, but I didn't. Oh well. I'll post them here:
- Virginia Tech beats Syracuse. It took Syracuse three overtimes to beat Tech last year, up in Syracuse. Syracuse has also beaten Tech two straight years, something that Beamer won't let the team forget. Add to that the last time that Tech scheduled Syracuse on homecoming, the result was the worst shutout of a team in the AP top 25 in the history of that poll; Tech beat Syracuse 62-0. I don't expect that, but I do expect a relatively easy Tech victory.
- Michigan beats Minnesota. You know who John Navarre is? He's the Chris Rix of the upper midwest. He's overrated, doesn't make particularly good decisions, and was hailed as a saviour by the faithful because of experience - and the fact that there's no one else to whom each team can turn. Is Chris Perry overrated? Maybe. He padded his stats early against Central Michigan, Houston and a bad Notre Dame team. Having said that, Lloyd Carr has historically done well getting his team up for big games, and this game is a must win for Michigan. Michigan can't lose a third game in the course of 4 weeks, or a second Big Ten game before the Ohio State game. Carr will have his people ready, and Minnesota still hasn't played a good team.
- Miami beats Florida State. FSU ran like crazy on Miami last year, but Miami still won. Chris Rix is overrated, and he has padded his stats against awful teams such as Colorado and Duke. Those 47 points that FSU put up against CU don't look nearly as good since CU allowed 42 to Baylor! Chris Rix may have improved from last year - when he lost his job to Adrian McPherson - but he hasn't improved to the point that FSU will beat a very good Miami secondary.
- Oklahoma beats Texas. This is the first game in the Stoops era in which OU is favoured. It's about time that the bookmakers figured it out. Mack Brown has never won a really big game (such as this one), and Stoops is the best big-game coach in the country.
- Tennessee beats Georgia. Yeah, Casey Clausen is another overrated QB, and, yeah, he popped off at the mouth, but the truth is that he's probably right; UT probably would have beaten UGA by 2 touchdowns. If Phil Fulmer is intelligent, he'll actually try to establish the run this weekend; whatever else Tennessee is, Tennessee is a running team. True, Cedric Houston and Jabari Davis have struggled against SEC opponents, but they need to run the ball, because Clausen is, more than likely, not going to win the game for UT against Georgia.
- Wisconsin beats Ohio State. The last time Ohio State faced a team close to the calibre of Wisconsin, it took them three overtimes to beat them - at home. The crowd won't be on OSU's side this time, and Wisconsin is nearly as good offensively - and much better defensively - than is NC State.
Pro Football: Thoughts about my picks:
- Gotta pick someone to win the Chicago-New Orleans game. Chicago comes off a close win, and one hopes that - though one is by no means sure of - New Orleans will be motivated to win the game, and not to get embarrassed like they did against Indy.
- Houston has overacheived, but Tennessee will also come out motivated to prove that New England was a fluke.
- Dallas has played nobody, and lost at home to a hideous Atlanta team sans-Vick. Philadelphia isn't great, but they're better than Dallas, and their defence is good enough that Quincy Carter will be exposed as a mediocre-to-bad quarterback.
- Okay, so the game is in Lambeau, but Green Bay is coming off a big win and may just focus on that. Kansas City has, with the exception of previously-unbeaten rival Denver, beaten everyone's ass. I can't see that changing.
- Carolina is very good, and I would pick them right now against most teams in the league. Indianapolis may well be the best team in the league, and they showed me something big in coming back the way they did Monday night on the road.
- Miami is good. Not great but good. Jacksonville, last week's win aside, sucks.
- New England proved that they are a good team last week, and they're at home. Were this game in Jersey, I would probably pick the Giants, but neither team is good enough to overcome the home-field advantage of the other.
- This is the pick that probably makes you think that (a) I'm a homer and/or (b) I'm out of my mind. Maybe. Part of the pick is me being homer, rooting for the 'Skins. But it's not as crazy as, say, picking Jacksonville to beat Miami. Yes, Washington is worst in the league in sacks allowed (15). Having said that, Patrick Ramsey is a very good quarterback (though by no means great). Washington has kept every game close (no margin greater than 3). And Tampa, though it will view this as a must win game after their collapse, showed me something by blowing a 3 touchdown lead in 4 minutes. Tampa has lost Mike Alstott, and Keyshawn Johnson (who, in my view, is overrated) may or may not miss the game. Washington's defence is rated 9th in the league. And I like Lavar Arrington's attitude regarding Warren Sapp.
- I'm picking Cleveland solely because the game is in Cleveland. I don't really like either team. Cleveland is inconsistent, beating San Francisco but losing to Cincinnati. Oakland is just too old.
- There is no doubt in my mind that Arizona's win against Green Bay was a fluke, and that they suck, as they have since they moved from Chicago via St. Louis. Baltimore is a good, though not great, team. And Baltimore (with a .500 record) leads the AFC North.
- Denver has a huge home-field advantage (being up in thin air and all). They also have something to prove, having lost to Kansas City last week by 1 point. They'll prove it against a mediocre Pittsburgh team.
- The Jets lose again. Side note: what's the money line on who gets fired first: Marty Schottenheimer or Herm Edwards? Given the New York media, I would have to say Edwards (-160). That doesn't change the fact that San Diego sucks. (yes, I think that's my Pro Football motto)
- San Francisco lost to Cleveland a couple of weeks ago, and beat Detroit by less than a touchdown. Seattle has something to prove at home. Seattle wins big, I think.
- Since the Falcons are still sans Michael Vick, I don't see them putting up any sort of fight against St. Louis.
Hockey: Opening day for the Caps was a wild success, resulting in a 6-1 win. A quick preview: Washington, more than likely, will sneak into the playoffs as the 6 or 7 seed in the East. I think that Olaf Kolzig will keep them in most games, even if the defence is paper-thin, starting 3 teenagers (ay caramba!). Coach Cassidy, one hopes (though one isn't sure), has learned a lot from his first year. But the offense should be good, with Peter Bondra and Jaromir Jagr anchoring the top 2 lines, and Sergei Gonchar on the blueline. The power play should be good too, for the same reasons. They'll probably finish around 90 points and, like I said, sneak into the playoffs. Leaguewide, I like Ottawa to beat Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals. Ottawa is a superb team, and its loss to New Jersey last year should teach them much.
Friday Five:
- Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?
- Football (both pro and college), hockey, college and minor league baseball. I also watch a bit of college basketball.
- What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?
- I'm a Washingtonian, so my teams are, for the most part, in Washington. I am a big Virginia Tech fan, a Washington Capitals fan, and a big Washington Redskins fan.
- Are there any sports you hate?
- I'm not a big fan of professional basketball, and watching soccer is like watching the grass grow.
- Have you ever been to a sports event?
- Yes, I've been to several. My family has season tickets to the Capitals, I have attended several Virginia Tech games - football, basketball, and baseball - and I've even attended a couple of Redskins games (the hardest ticket in Washington).
- Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?
- Nope. In high school, I participated in It's Academic which has since become sanctioned by the Virginia High School League, but it's not a sport in the strict sense of the word. It's like Jeopardy. In college, I participated in the analog of It's Ac.
More later - R.
