Ah, College Football has really settled and the picture is forming as most teams are a quarter of the way through the regular season. Teams have proven themselves, others leave us questioning why one would pick them to win the BCS Championship. The week after the week after Monster Saturday was entertaining, especially in the afternoon, but once again left me winless in upset alerts...sigh:
-The tide rises, and the tide...uh rolls: A shout out to my boy J.F. Ploehs with a remix of this line from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but I digress. Alabama gets another opportunity to wave that finger at people symbolizing "Not today!" as they beat maybe their toughest test this year going into Pig Country and downing Arkansas.
-Trouble the size of Texas: UCLA is now known for beating ranked teams from the state of Texas, beating #23 Houston easily last week and making quick work of the #7 Longhorns of Texas this weeks, in Austin nonetheless.
-Ohio State can win at home: The Bucks (my risky, gutsy, bold pick for NCAA greatness this year) are 4-0 at home....and they still have 4 left, thank God for American and unfair scheduling!
-The Big East is worse than the ACC which is worse than the Big-12 which is suddenly only looking reletively bad: The Big East went 3-4 with victories over powerhouses Colgate, Western Kentucky, and Buffalo....meanwhile, where the "power" rests in the Big East, two time defending champ Cincinnati at least looked good in a loss to Oklahoma (who is in the Big-12 may I remind you!). Pitt was blown away by a Miami team that was blown away by Ohio State (did I mention I picked them? Trying to get word out), West Virginia put up a fight in Death Valley losing 20-14 at LSU, and sleeper Rutgers lost 17-13 to limping North Carolina (ACC!). This will leave the Big East with zero ranked teams as the WAC and Mountain West each have 2...sigh Big East.
-North Carolina State is not the favorite to win the ACC: I would like to correct an ESPN announcer who said NC State is now the ACC favorite....I would still take teams ahead of the #23 Wolfpack..Miami Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech...NC State is deserving of recognition, but not favorite status...personally I disdain all the other teams so I hope they prove me wrong.
-Did I mention Notre Dame is not quite revived? Okay.
-A big win this week as West Chester tops E Stroudsburg...what is up?
-My sleeper in the WAC (Nevada) is no longer a sleeper, damn you ESPN!!! (see post #4 Boise State in August for proof)
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
College Football Week 3:
This was the week following Monster Saturday, but it featured some nice games in its own right. The Michigan State-Notre Dame ending was the most exciting so far this year, UMass was the latest threat from a FCS team, and the first top 10 loss of the year:
-Notre Dame is not quite there: Brian Kelly cannot bring instant revival to ND, but people are probably not too happy with a 1-2 start.
-Oregon is really good against FCS teams: They have outscored their FCS opponents 141-0 in two games.
-Ryan Mallet reestablished his Heisman Candidacy: against a tough Georgia team, Mallet threw for 380 yards and 3 TD's without a pick.
-Virginia Tech is able to win: They outplayed both of their first two opponents, including FCS James Madison, they pulled away from Ruffin McNeil and East Carolina.
-Fortune still favors the bold: MSU faked a game tying field goal to defeat the Irish, the best game this year. Earning Sparty a spot in the top 25.
-Boise State has some competition in the WAC: it isn't the PAC-10 (or even Mountain West for that matter), but the WAC has two other teams who Boise can lose to, Nevada and Fresno State.
-The SEC is still the class of College Football: #1 Bama, #9 Florida, #10 Arkansas, #12 South Carolina, #15 LSU, #17 Auburn...need I say more? Okay, all these teams are undefeated. Unfortunately they have to play each other, the SEC is going to be fun to watch, happy birthday to CBS, who once again will show a bulk of SEC conference games. (Iowa's loss and Wisconsin's escape dwindle the five-ranked-teams Big-10 chances to ever have the same dominance of the SEC)
In Conclusion: 1/5 of the way through the season, no team has predestination in the BCS or anywhere else, nor is anyone else eliminated, since conference play has yet to really stand up and walk.
-Notre Dame is not quite there: Brian Kelly cannot bring instant revival to ND, but people are probably not too happy with a 1-2 start.
-Oregon is really good against FCS teams: They have outscored their FCS opponents 141-0 in two games.
-Ryan Mallet reestablished his Heisman Candidacy: against a tough Georgia team, Mallet threw for 380 yards and 3 TD's without a pick.
-Virginia Tech is able to win: They outplayed both of their first two opponents, including FCS James Madison, they pulled away from Ruffin McNeil and East Carolina.
-Fortune still favors the bold: MSU faked a game tying field goal to defeat the Irish, the best game this year. Earning Sparty a spot in the top 25.
-Boise State has some competition in the WAC: it isn't the PAC-10 (or even Mountain West for that matter), but the WAC has two other teams who Boise can lose to, Nevada and Fresno State.
-The SEC is still the class of College Football: #1 Bama, #9 Florida, #10 Arkansas, #12 South Carolina, #15 LSU, #17 Auburn...need I say more? Okay, all these teams are undefeated. Unfortunately they have to play each other, the SEC is going to be fun to watch, happy birthday to CBS, who once again will show a bulk of SEC conference games. (Iowa's loss and Wisconsin's escape dwindle the five-ranked-teams Big-10 chances to ever have the same dominance of the SEC)
In Conclusion: 1/5 of the way through the season, no team has predestination in the BCS or anywhere else, nor is anyone else eliminated, since conference play has yet to really stand up and walk.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Heismans and Reds
One subject that has been taking over ESPN and other sporting networks (such as....uh) is that of Reggie Bush. Bush was charged with accepting gifts while at USC. Rumors flared that some of the benefits had actually been given to Bush by the University, but you know how rumors go (I LOVE RUMORS!). Anyway, Bush decided to forfeit his Heisman Trophy, probably hoping to silence everyone and get this all over with so he can focus on winning games for the New Orleans Saints. This is simply a prologue to get to the main bullet point of this article. This is the decision by the Heisman Trophy Trust to keep the 2005 version vacated. It always seemed odd in the first place, Bush winning the trophy, that is. The 2004-2005 USC Trojans were thought of as being the greatest College Football team...ever. They had Bush and Matt Leinart, the winner of the 2004 Heisman. The Heisman is equivalent to the MVP of the National Football League. In the context of MVP, the person must be the "Most Valuable Player". This was not Reggie Bush, nor Matt Leinart. Both Bush and Leinart were great college players, but the real 2005 Heisman was Vince Young. The voters made a mistake giving the 2005 Heisman to Bush, and after the Rose Bowl everyone knew it. God, however, showed favor on the unfortunate voters, and offering the opportunity to give Young the Heisman. The Trust, unfortunately, has decided they will vacate the title and leave it as such, but why? What is accomplished by simply vacating to the award? All that does is leave Bush's name forever connected to the award. When they could make it Young's title, instead it will always be Bush's title*. The ungodly asterisk rears its ugly head. People will forever attach Bush's name to winning the Heisman. Even those who wanted the award to be given to Young cannot say it "is Vince's award". It only exacerbates the problem. No accomplishment is made by vacating the 2005 Heisman. It is as if an Olympic Runner won the Silver and the Gold medal was vacated, but instead they said, "Yeah, we just aren't going to give it to anyone." In theory, theoretically, if Bush had not been there to win the Heisman, Vince Young would have won it, correct? So with Bush out of the running, it belongs ro Vince Young, probably in everyone's eyes but the Heisman Trophy Trust's....qui est de la merde.
Now, to more important business, the Cincinnati Reds. I have been getting email after email about how I need to write about my hometown boys, and so I will. Quite simply, the Reds are about to be the most shocking team of the 2010 playoffs. They are the equivalent of the 2008 Rays, making everyone wonder, "Wha?". MVP Joey Votto will lead the Reds into the playoffs, along with an astoundingly good rotation featuring Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto, Edison Volq-uez, Travis Wood (r), Homer "the Savior" Bailey, and a plethora of young arms. Here are some fun Reds facts:
-42 comeback wins...3rd in the majors.
-21 wins in their last at-bat...2nd
-53-23 versus losing teams, but a mere 29-39 against winning teams, lem'me change colors, here.
-The Reds lead the NL in hitting, runs, hitting with runners in scoring position and fielding percentage
-They have the least amount of errors in the NL
-The Reds are 42-25 in the divison
-Aroldis Chapman has made eight appearances for 7 and 2/3 innings, racking up a 0.00 era
-The Reds are 12th in the NL in attendance
-The Reds lead the Cardinals in the NL central by 7 1/2 games.
-The Reds have MVP Joey Votto: batting average-.320; HR-34; RBI-104;
-The Reds have Laynce Nix...forearms equivalent to a size 32 waist.
-The Reds are second in batters hit-by-pitch
-The Reds are 13th in the NL in groundballs hit and 2nd in fly balls hit.
Monday, September 13, 2010
College Football Week 2:
This was supposedly "Monster Saturday" for College Football. It was disappointing, due to the lack of anything really exciting happening. There were upsets (James Madison anyone?), but did anyone really care? The games people wanted to see (Bama-Penn State, OSU-Maimi Florida, Okla-Florida St.) were victories were the...uh, slim? favorite won by annihilating the opposition. Nonetheless, there are still things to learn from even a week where people where Mace was disappointed.
-It is still the "Feature Programs": People like Boise State (some people, ones who don't understand that to go undefeated in the WAC is like beating 8 Washington State-i every year, but I digress) and TCU because they interrupt the power programs....or do they? The traditional programs have won like the last 30 National Championships. The most recent one I recall is Auburn being co-champ in '04, and they were not technically the winners. More officially, thanks to the magic of the internet, I can confirm the most recent non-traditional team to win the National Championship Game was Washington in 1991. So while people hope to see Boise and TCU in the title game, it is unlikely they get there, much less win.
-You have to play every gam: Virginia Tech lost to James Madison
-Turnovers still hurt you a week later: Miami threw 4 picks against Ohio State and lost, by only 12. Without the lost opportunities which were handed to OSU, it could've been a different story.
-The ACC is worse than the Big-12, which is bad: The top of the ACC Hierarchy went 0-4 with UNC idle. Va-Tech, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Miami Florida all lost. Congrats, Big-12, you pulled yourself above two power conferences now.
-Denard Robinson is the Heisman favorite: If Michigan can keep winning (relatively unlikely, but their competitions has been nothing to sneeze at) than Robinson deserves some consideration. He has 885 total yards in two games and single-handily brought joy to Cincinnati fans everywhere by defeating Brian Kelley.
In Conclusion: "Monster Saturday" would've have been so disappointing had it not been the most hyped week of NCAA Football ever. By the way, I went 0-3 in upset alerts, holy crap.
-It is still the "Feature Programs": People like Boise State (some people, ones who don't understand that to go undefeated in the WAC is like beating 8 Washington State-i every year, but I digress) and TCU because they interrupt the power programs....or do they? The traditional programs have won like the last 30 National Championships. The most recent one I recall is Auburn being co-champ in '04, and they were not technically the winners. More officially, thanks to the magic of the internet, I can confirm the most recent non-traditional team to win the National Championship Game was Washington in 1991. So while people hope to see Boise and TCU in the title game, it is unlikely they get there, much less win.
-You have to play every gam: Virginia Tech lost to James Madison
-Turnovers still hurt you a week later: Miami threw 4 picks against Ohio State and lost, by only 12. Without the lost opportunities which were handed to OSU, it could've been a different story.
-The ACC is worse than the Big-12, which is bad: The top of the ACC Hierarchy went 0-4 with UNC idle. Va-Tech, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Miami Florida all lost. Congrats, Big-12, you pulled yourself above two power conferences now.
-Denard Robinson is the Heisman favorite: If Michigan can keep winning (relatively unlikely, but their competitions has been nothing to sneeze at) than Robinson deserves some consideration. He has 885 total yards in two games and single-handily brought joy to Cincinnati fans everywhere by defeating Brian Kelley.
In Conclusion: "Monster Saturday" would've have been so disappointing had it not been the most hyped week of NCAA Football ever. By the way, I went 0-3 in upset alerts, holy crap.
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