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Posada asking out of lineup?

2011-05-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Bill Madden's book on the late George Steinbrenner and Buster Olney's book about the Yankees title failures after the 2001 season so my views may be a little influenced by those books. But I can't believe that ANY hitter would ask out of a game against an arch-rival. Seems to me that the most-likely explanation is that one of the Steinbrenner's made the change for the manager and directed that the story be that Posada asked out of the lineup. Interestingly, Posada, Girardi, and Cashman all have different stories on this on GAME NIGHT. (Not much difference than Carney, Obama, and Biden on the Bin Laden strike by the way) Serves the Yankees right that they lost 6-0.

Sacramento Kings to Anaheim

2011-04-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

I don't see how the Maloof's will succeed with their plan to move to Anaheim. The Sports equivalent would be for the Tennessee Titans to try to move to Fort Worth and butt in on the Cowboys. The Lakers are the signature franchise of the modern NBA, they surely will be able to to convince the league not to allow the Kings to move to Anaheim.

Coach Tressel

2011-03-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

I guess he had a point trying for a 2-game suspension while his players' suspensions were being appealed. As the leader of the program he should set the example. For not doing the right thing as the person in charge - he should sit at least an extra game, interestingly enough, Nebraska is game #6.

TCU to the Big East?

2010-12-25T03:53:00.000-08:00

I think it would have made a lot more sense to have the Mountain West football Champion play the Big East football Champion instead. Is the basketball tourney going to include all 17 teams? Or its own Les Robinson game, but worse since instead of an 8-9 it will be a 16-17? Or will 1 team stay home? Or will this be the final domino that splits the conference along football and non-football lines?

Bowl Month?

2010-12-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

I remember Bowl Week not that long ago. The expansion of bowls and games has to be bordering on unsustainable. Saw the New Mexico Bowl last weekend... and there are games daily through New Year's.... then the BCS overflows into the first week of January... and the bowl season closes out January 9th before Auburn and Oregon play on the 10th... will Cam Newton still be eligible then? I'm not sure the demand is there for B.C.-Nevada on the 9th or Pitt-Kentucky on the 8th. Did the NCAA hire someone from the NBA to ensure the longest postseason mathematically possible?

The Vikings Debacle

2010-11-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

Head Coach Brad Childress was Monday’s casualty. It is logical based on the track that he led the team down. It was understandable that bringing back Brett Favre to play QB was Plan A. But Favre needed to be in training camp with the rest of the team. Childress even should have had some leverage to get Favre into training camp. Since the Eagles traded Donovan McNabb before the draft, the Vikings would have been a trade target for the Eagles since Favre’s return was uncertain at that point. Not unlikely, but also not certain. Childress could have pushed Favre into declaring his intent to return in 2010 in April by selling to Favre that if he couldn’t commit, Childress owed it to the rest of the team to acquire McNabb once that opportunity arose. Side effects of Favre not reporting until mid-August: RB Adrian Peterson skipped some off-season activities, WR Percy Harvin hasn’t practiced much more than Favre has. Add in WR Sidney Rice’s late training camp injury requiring surgery and it isn’t difficult to see the Vikings less efficient on offense in 2010 than 2009.
The turnovers are the killer. They have committed multiple turnovers in all but 2 games. They have AVERAGED -2 in net turnovers per game, near the bottom of the league. Favre is responsible for the bulk of the turnovers between interceptions and fumbles. One can’t help but wonder how many turnovers are a result of insufficient preparation? A couple of weeks of additional practice or series in preseason games might have Favre and his receivers in sync. Peterson has not been a turnover problem this year – unfortunately he had a poor game against the Saints last January.
The net -2 means that the defense isn’t causing the turnovers. And that can be explained by the difference in line play. The Vikings’ line has had difficulty forming a pocket for Favre (he should understand that taking a sack is better than throwing an interception) while its defensive line has not collapsed the pocket on many quarterbacks. While the Vikings have been behind in many games, only the Green Bay game was a wide-enough spread that the Packers wouldn’t need to run a balanced run-pass offense.
Childress has made some questionable tactical decisions this season. He has chosen to go for a number of 4th down and short plays with an inefficient offense instead of attempting FGs. With a team that is not scoring many points, FG’s are a good choice. Even more so when the offense continually fails to convert the 4th downs into 1st downs (or TDs when from the 1 yard line).
The Randy Moss escapade was another questionable decision. Why trade a valuable 3rd round pick in next year’s draft for a player you may only have for 13 games? The Patriots traded a 6th round pick to Oakland to acquire Moss and the Patriots were interested in trading him for the same reason Oakland was in 2007. Childress’ offer should have been for a 7th round pick in the 2011 draft. Childress probably needed to cut Moss loose after the New England game combined with other events that occurred that week, but making that cut resulted in the rope around his neck getting very tight.

College Football Realignment

2010-08-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

Nebraska to the Big Ten makes sense; the Cornhuskers definitely lost a lot when the Big 8 became the Big 12. They lost their Thanksgiving weekend game with Oklahoma when the two rivals were placed in separate divisions (Texas-Oklahoma became the marquee regular season conference game). The Big 12 chose not to preserve or establish cross-divisional rivalries the way that the SEC has (Florida/LSU, Auburn/Georgia, Alabama/Tennessee, etc.). A consideration may have been the conference championship game the first weekend in December – a rematch wouldn’t be best for the conference. That coupled with the conference center of gravity moving from Kansas City to Dallas over the past 15 years, it makes sense for the Huskers to move to the Big Ten. I had to laugh at the idea that Rutgers would receive a Big 10 invite. Only non-sports fan MBA’s would think the Rutgers athletic program would deliver the New York City media market to the Big 10 (and its network). Notre Dame and Penn State are the college programs that NYC fans follow. For basketball, St John’s, Syracuse, and Connecticut fans have been buying the bulk of the Big East tournament tickets at Madison Square Garden for 30 years. Rutgers might make sense geographically, but not practically. I don’t think that the Big 10 will go to 16 teams unless Notre Dame is part of the equation.
Colorado and Utah to the Pac-X enable that conference to hold a championship game but I’m not sure how much this addition will help the Pac-10. Colorado football hasn’t been bowling much recently, and while Utah was strong in the Mountain West, they will find the size and speed much more challenging over the course of a full season compared to 1 or 2 inter-conference games that are more important to them than their Pac-10 opponents. The attempt at luring Texas and Oklahoma was a good strategic first strike towards the 16-team Super Conference, but I don’t know that it can be successfully employed. The Big East has 16 teams for basketball and hasn’t found a good regular season or post-season tournament format yet. The college seasons don’t have enough games to facilitate a thorough conference schedule for 16 teams. The 12-team format with 2 6-team divisions allows for a good schedule, but the best remains an 8-team conference. That enables home-and home for basketball and a full slate for football. Would a 16 team format with minimal cross-divisional regular season competition be successful?
The unanswered question about Texas and Oklahoma is which universities eventually move with them if the 16 team Super Conferences form? Texas Tech may very well turn into Iowa State in 5 years. Bob Knight has left, his son has also left; will the basketball program improve, or will it fall back to its historical performance? And with Mike Leach’s ouster as Football coach, will they be able to continue their offensive excellence that has led them to recent success? Texas A&M didn’t want to partner with the Pac-10, but was interested in the SEC. The SEC only would need 4 programs to get to 16 – would the 4th school be Oklahoma State or basketball-rich Kansas? Or do they bring 5 and point South Carolina back to the ACC? First on the map for the Big 12 is getting back to 12 members so they can hold those recently booked Championship games at JerryWorld. Do two of the snubbed SWC members (Rice, SMU, TCU, Houston) receive invites? Or does the conference look to expand geographically and invite Memphis and Louisville? While those programs would be in the SEC’s area, I don’t think that the SEC would be particularly interested in them.

The Decision

2010-08-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

LeBron James should have done his show at the interview table following the Game 6 loss to the Celtics. The Cavs gave up on their home court down 9 points with a minute to play against a team that Lakers Coach Phil Jackson described as the best NBA team at blowing leads late. In that 4th quarter against the Cavs, the Celtics missed 6 free throws. It may have been the first time in NBA playoff history that it actually took one minute to play the last minute of the game!
I didn’t watch the show, but whoever enabled him to think that stabbing his home city in the back on national TV is a moron. And LeBron can’t be far from moron status himself to go along with the idea. While LeBron apparantely talked about his legacy, this charade will not be recorded as a positive note. I don’t have a problem with him choosing his team or his teammates, but the other historically elite players (Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe) in the Free Agent era have carried themselves much better than he has this summer. He simply should have made his visits, chose his team, and simply signed his contract.
His comment about not having to be “The Man” are reminiscent of what Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina said when signing with the Yankees. Pavano’s comments were directed at the intensity of the Boston fan base while he was being targeted by both the Red Sox and the Yankees in 2003 – I think Pavano won more games for the Twins after the All-Star break last season than he did in 3 years in New York. While Mussina enjoyed success in New York, the Yankees didn’t win any championships and had more first round playoff exits (5) than World Series appearances (2) during his 8 years in pinstripes.

Isiah Thomas working for the Knicks ??????

2010-08-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

I did a double take when I saw the story. Would the Lions rehire Matt Millen? Like the Sham-Wow, this gets better! Not only did Isiah lead the Knicks out of the NBA playoffs, there was the sexual harrasment charge. And how exactly is it kosher for him to be an NCAA Coach and work for an NBA team at the same time? I don't think that USC would try to get away with that!

When Mr. Obama has lost MSNBC, he's lost everything!

2010-06-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

I was shocked to see these lines on RealClearPolitics from MSNBC's coverage tonight. Mr. Obama seems more interested in making BP pay monetary damages than physically cleaning up the oil. His only idea for oil cleanup is to not drill at all. A perfect solution in academia where most of Mr. Obama's experience is, but plainly Impractical in the real world. His term cannot end soon enough.

From Real Clear Politics

Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Howard Fineman react to President Obama's Oval Office Address on the oil spill. Here are the highlights of what the trio said:

Olbermann: "It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days."

Matthews compared Obama to Carter.

Olbermann: "Nothing specific at all was said."

Matthews: "No direction."

Howard Fineman: "He wasn't specific enough."

Olbermann: "I don't think he aimed low, I don't think he aimed at all. It's startling."

Howard Fineman: Obama should be acting like a "commander-in-chief."

Matthews: Ludicrous that he keeps saying [Secretary of Energy] Chu has a Nobel prize. "I'll barf if he does it one more time."

Matthews: "A lot of meritocracy, a lot of blue ribbon talk."

Matthews: "I don't sense executive command."

What's Next for the Big 12?

2010-06-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

So Texas decided not to flee to the Pac-X and Oklahoma (and Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech) will stay in the Big 12 with them. The conference does need to invite 2 new members to keep the Conference Championship Games scheduled for JerryWorld on track. I'm curious if the ditched members of the old SWC (Houston, Rice, TCU, SMU) will have a chance for an invite. They might consider rejecting an invite on principle but I'm sure there is a revenue target they'd accept for.

Football is driving the bus, so these ideas are based solely on that, not about academic reputation, student body size/composition, etc. I don't know that the non-BCS I-A schools in Arkansas or Louisiana would benefit the Big 12(10). How about Louisville and Memphis? Losing Louisville would hurt the Big East, but that conference's days as a BCS Conference are numbered.

When did YES take over ESPN?

2010-05-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

So the Yankees-Tigers games air on Monday AND Wednesday this week on ESPN? There are numerous 2-game series this week, but 2 out of 3 games from Detroit? Rays-Angels should be a decent ratings alternative for Wednesday.

Revise Miranda?

2010-05-10T21:09:00.001-07:00

So AG Holder wants to change the Miranda protections because of difficulties with prosecuting terrorists... that is EXACTLY WHY they should be treated as ENEMY COMBATANTS! And the Pakistani car-bomb suspect should be tried for TREASON since he is a naturalized citizen.

Times Square NYC

2010-05-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

Love how Mayor Bloomberg thought the act was carried out by an opponent of ObamaCare. And Katie Couric was all too happy to nod her head in agreement. Bloomberg has obviously been Mayor for too long. Oh, that's right. He cajoled to have the rules changed so that he could run for a 3rd term. And how did someone on the No Fly list actually BOARD a plane? I guess the accused won't be sent to GITMO since he is a citizen, but he should be tried for TREASON.

End of 24?

2010-03-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Saw a note on DRUDGE that this is the final season of 24. I must admit that I haven't started watching it yet; it's taking up a bit of space on the DVR. I do have a story idea for them... Congress attempting to pass the Health Care Reform Act. At 2700 pages full of deals and agreements, there would be plenty of material for 24 hours of TV (at roughly 42 minutes of material per hour)

Calling Jack Bauer

2010-03-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't started watching this season's 24... so it's fitting that in the last scene I've seen he is in a hospital bed... he needs to get out of that bed and "speak" with some of the moronic Democrats who are planning on voting for the Health Care Bill that contains Gatorade (not the energy drink), the Louisana Purchase (no land this time), and the Cornhusker Kickback (no corn), and oh, by the way, 15,000 new IRS agents! If this is health care reform, why are us taxpayers funding IRS AGENTS, and not medical care providers??????????? THERE IS NO GOOD ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION!!!!!!!!

With the "undecided" Democrats folding like paper suits in a light rainstorm, we need Jack Bauer to save our nation from its Congress.

Saints - Vikings

2010-02-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

The painful end of regulation for the Vikings.

1st & 10, 1:06 to play. Ran into a 9-man front out of 2WR, 2TE, 1RB set. Should have been audible to a pass.

2nd & 10, :25 to play at snap. Ran into a 7-man front out of 1WR, 2TE, 2 RB set. Should have had a decent chance of gaining yards but didn't.

3rd & 15, :19 to go after the penalty. The play has gotten OK reviews, but WR Sidney Rice was the only guy who could have been considered open on the play. And on his 40-year old legs, I don't know that Favre would have gained even the 5 yards back that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman thought. None of the 3 receivers on the roll side of the field were open. I don't fault Favre for throwing to Rice, you have to give the K the best chance you can (but he can't allow an INT to occur unless the WR tips the ball).

Bottom Line - If you only get to the 33 due to time and have to kick from there, that's one thing. But you don't pull the plug on the offense there (especially when (a) you are on the road, and (b) the other team has just burned its last time out). When you get inside the 15, you can focus on the kick. But not until then.

I expect that Favre will play in 2009 - though I don't expect any decision one way or the other until training camp opens. He should report when the rest of the veterans do, but I wouldn't consider him done until he isn't in camp for the 2nd preseason game. Either way they should look at a QB in the draft. Neither Tavaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels is a guy that a team will have 100% confidence.

Spending Freeze

2010-01-27T22:04:00.001-08:00

So Mr. Obama proposes to freeze discretionary spending... after RAISING that spending by 25% since taking office just last year! How about restoring spending to 2002 or 2004 levels? That would be meaningful.

Flight 253

2009-12-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

This incident reinforces the concrete assessment that Democrats do not understand National Security.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's initial position that the system worked because the attack wasn't successful due to unsuccessful execution is laughable. How did she pass the 3rd grade? In the spring her department warned civilian security to watch out for military veterans returning from combat overseas... and in the last 6 months 2 attacks have been carried out on our soil by Muslims with Middle Eastern Ties. Take the blinders off and use your brain!

President Obama didn't bring a tie to Hawaii? His staff couldn't find a menswear store with one anywhere on the island? The tie is trivial, but it shows his attitude towards this event. He doesn't think that this is a big deal. I'm astounded comparing his reaction to this incident to his reaction to the Cambridge Police Department's response to the report of a break-in at his friend Skip Gates' place.

The person who made the attempt to bring the plane down should be classified as a War Criminal and sent straight to GITMO. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Civilian court is not the arena to prosecute this enemy. Unless we want to lose more innocent civilian lives.

Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

2009-12-07T20:46:00.000-08:00

Perfect timing for this. All the elites JET to Copenhagen to discuss the doom of global warming. Here's some snowfall in SACRAMENTO, CA. And HOUSTON, TX enjoyed some snowfall last Friday. They might need to update their agenda to be for GLOBAL COOLING!

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT?

2009-11-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

So I see this headline on the Fox News Website:

Obama: Terror Networks Are Biggest Threat to U.S.

Are you kidding me? This is 3 days after the announcement that KSM will be prosecuted in civil court in NYC blocks from the World Trade Center. Why is the administration treating the terrorists like civil criminals and not war criminals? Why didn't they just invite KSM to the Yankees' ticker tape parade? Why didn't they invite him to the Commissioning of the USS NEW YORK, which has 7.5 tons of steel from the WTC that KSM planned to bring down? Is Mr. Obama's memory so short that he doesn't remember how success prosecuting the terrorists who tried to bring down the WTC in 1993 in the civilian courts worked?

Patriots-Colts

2009-11-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

I'd argue against the criticism Belichick is taking. All 11 Colt defenders were at the line of scrimmage at the snap once Kevin Faulk moved out of the backfield. Why didn't Randy Moss run a Go route? The Indy CB was up in press coverage, and he's six inches shorter. Moss would win a jump ball, get a pass interference call, or defensive holding call. Instead Moss didn't run a real route trying to clear space for Faulk.

World Series

2009-11-03T21:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure that Joe Girardi had a better option than cycling all of his starters through on 3 days rest. Joba Chamberlain was one of the 4 regular starters during the regular season but he was moved to the bullpen for the postseason when he struggled with high pitch counts late in the season. Chad Gaudin? He made 6 starts for them. I don't know that I could send him to the mound to start a WS Game. You can't "throw" a game away and that might have happened if he started Game 5. They would have had Burnett and Pettite on normal rest for 6 (7 if necessary) with Sabathia available (why I understood the move to start him in Game 4). The extra risk that I see is when pitchers go on short rest they also tend to make shorter starts. That's not a good sign for the Yankees who only trust 1 reliever right now, Mariano Rivera (though they trust 1 more reliever than the Phillies do).

Thinking about Rivera, in Game 2, the Phillies didn't send their runners on a 3-2 pitch in the 8th inning. Chase Utley grounded into a DP and the rally was done. The Phillies played for power but that usually doesn't work against Rivera. The Red Sox have had the most success against him; rarely do they beat him with HRs. They foul off lots of pitches, draw walks, run aggressively, and score on bloop hits. That is all Rivera gives up.

$250 Senior Stimulus

2009-10-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure that I follow this one. Social Security receipients won't receive a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increase in 2010. Mr. Obama commented that their buying power would be diminished without a COLA increase in 2010 when announcing the plan to issue $250 stimulus checks to SS receipients. The ONLY reason there won't be a COLA in 2010 is because prices WENT DOWN last year. If SS income is constant and prices of goods purchase decrease, then buying power actually INCREASED! How many SS couples will head to their local Best Buy and purchase a new 32" HDTV, courtesy of the SSA?

ALCS Game 5

2009-10-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

Once Nick Swisher worked the count full, I thought for sure Rivera would take at least an 8-7 lead to the bottom of the 9th inning. But Fuentes only needed to throw one 3-ball pitch and it was enough of a strike for Swisher to loft a fly ball to shallow left.

Where's Al Gore?

2009-10-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

We've had some early frost and snow here out west. And the Patriots played the Titans on a snow-covered field today.. October 18th - 4 weeks into autumn, not winter! Global Warming? I think it has more to do with Mr. Gore's business interests.

Phillies help NYC Football Fans

2009-10-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Since the Phillies could host a World Series game on the evening of Nov. 1st, the NFL rescheduled the Giants @ Eagles from 4:15 to 1:00 and moved the Vikings @ Packers into the 4:15 doubleheader slot. Currently the Jets and Giants are scheduled to play during the 1:00 window... don't remember the last time that happened there (or the SF Bay Area, or DC-Bal, other 2-team markets). It's the first weekend of the flex game for NBC so if the league doesn't move the Jets to 4:05, NBC could move Jets-Dolphins to prime time. Denver-Baltimore and San Francisco-Indy could also be of interest to the flex schedulers.

Colts-Dolphins

2009-09-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's the most astounding aspect about this game.

1. The Dolphins ran 82 offensive plays from scrimmage in a regulation game without using a no-huddle (including their 2-minute drill).
2. The Dolphins were 15 for 21 on 3rd down & made the 1 4th down they attempted.
3. The Colts scored on 5 offensive possessions - starting from their 19, 20, 20, 26, and 27. Total Time of Possession for the game, including their 3 non-scoring possessions - 14:53.
4. In the 2nd half, the Colts had the ball for 5:19 but outscored the Dolphins 14-10 by virtue of a missed Miami 49-yard FG and having a 4-point lead in the closing seconds.
5. The Colts had that 4 point lead because Manning only needed 41 seconds (and 1 of his 2 Timeouts) to move the Colts 44 yards for a Viniateri FG at the close of the 1st half.

Manny and Ortiz

2009-07-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

Curious when we'll learn the other 95 names on MLB's 2003 steroid list. Someone over there needs to the rest of the names instead of the 1 or 2 every now and then. This is making Mr. Obama's handling of the Cambridge Police story look smooth. The Beer Summit? What a lame staged photo op.

Pelosi v. CIA

2009-05-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

or perhaps Pelosi v. USA. This is just the latest example why the Democrats can't be trusted on National Security. The enemy chops people's heads off and uses people as weapons. Meanwhile the Democrats are motivated to classify waterboarding, sleep deprivation, temperature variations, etc., as torture and prosecute those who worked to keep the country safe. Is Speaker Pelosi's memory so bad that she doesn't remember 9/11? Was that on her notes she was reading from today?

$17 Billion is REAL money?

2009-05-07T22:36:00.001-07:00

Not when compared to $3.4 TRILLION, or $3400 Billion. If we were to take a $100 slice of government spending, it would amount to 50 CENTS. We're saving a can of Sam's Club Soda at a Walmart vending machine for every $100 of spending.

To make matters worse, half of these cuts come from the Defense Department even though it only accounts for 20% of the spending. Two things boggle my mind.

1. Why is defense spending ONLY 20% of the federal budget?
2. Why is defense taking the brunt of the cutting during a time when we are fighting 2 wars?

Am I living in a Bizarro world?

Over/Under on Brett Favre

2009-05-06T22:31:00.001-07:00

# of Starts for Minnesota this year: 0. It's not 0.5 in Vegas, it's 0.0, and you'd have gotten better Money Line Odds on the Lakers to win Game 2 vs. Houston tonight.

The trouble is that he likely didn't have the surgery that was supposedly necessary after last season's flameout with the Jets. While his record in the Metrodome was horrible in the 90's, he won regularly there once Mike Tice took the reigns. Could he win with the purple jerseys instead of against them? They do have a great running game, so maybe.

Turncoat Specter

2009-04-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

From Sen. Snowe's Op-Ed in the NYT today:

It is for this reason that we should heed the words of President Ronald Reagan, who urged, “We should emphasize the things that unite us and make these the only ‘litmus test’ of what constitutes a Republican: our belief in restraining government spending, pro-growth policies, tax reduction, sound national defense, and maximum individual liberty.” He continued, “As to the other issues that draw on the deep springs of morality and emotion, let us decide that we can disagree among ourselves as Republicans and tolerate the disagreement.”

Who wrote this for her? Did she READ it before submitting it? She was one of the 3 GOP defectors to vote FOR the $787 BILLION dollar Porkulus bill WITHOUT reading it!

Did conservatives win the battle but lose the war with this development? I hope not.

NFL Thanksgiving Schedule

2009-04-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

I was reading through the stories chronicling all of the Cowboys' national TV games and had to do a double take when I read that their Thanksgiving opponent is going to be the Oakland Raiders. The franchise that has lost 72 games in the last 6 seasons, never fewer than 11? Their recent national TV appearances have been centralized on the 2nd half of ESPN's opening night doubleheader. It works well since recent Raider teams fall behind so quickly that the outcome is known before the local 11:00 news starts on the east coast. But this game will be on CBS late afternoon... here's an idea. Send the Raiders to Detroit (on the NFL Network, that game shouldn't be shown over the public airwaves) and Green Bay to Dallas. We'd be able to enjoy some good football on Thanksgiving that way!

Recall Jerry Brown

2008-12-20T09:26:00.000-08:00

The citizens of Taxifornia should recall their AG. He is already on record as unwilling to use certain tools (e.g. death penalty). Now he is joining the fight to overturn the citizens decision on Gay Marriage. Hopefully there are enough smart non-liberals left in Taxifornia to do it.

(Link to LA Times article from Post Title)

Change?

2008-11-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

Sen. Clinton as Secretary of State (or Sen. Kerry or Gov Richardson)? Madeline Albright on the transition team? I thought things were going to be different under Obama. These people are all AARP members of the DC Establishment. At least that's what Team Obama promised when they were canvassing the neighborhood. A week after the election and change is changing!

Closing Gitmo?

2008-11-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

I saw a link that the Obama team is developing a plan to close the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So where are these non-Geneva Conventions prisoners going to go? Prosecuted in the civilian courts? That worked well for us in the 90s after the first WTC bombing. The courts are not the battlefield we should seek for this enemy.

Election Night

2008-11-04T22:17:00.001-08:00

They don't show FOX News Channel in Canada - so I was stuck alternating between CNN, CBS, ABC, and NBC. I could only take each of those in small snippets. Luckily I also had to make time for dinner which meant no sound. I checked something out on NBC's online data to pass the time. There were only 4 cities that have professional sports teams of the NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL teams that voted for McCain: Phoenix (home state excuse), Cincinnati, Jacksonville (Military Presence), and Oklahoma City (1st full season as a real home city). Too many times when I hovered over the county of the city with a pro sports team I saw drastic spreads - 70 to 30 or greater in favor Obama. That scares me as a conservative thinker - it takes a ton of non-urban counties to overcome that handicap. Additionally, with Chris Shays losing, there are ZERO Republican reps from the 6 New England States in the House. There are more Socialist Party Members representing New England States (Bernie Sanders - VT) than Republicans. Ouch. Only 3 from New York - out of 28! Conservatives are toast until they can figure out a way to be competitive in urban areas. Hopefully the pending tax increase that will start below the promised $250K income threshold will provide an opening.

Election Day

2008-11-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'll be heading from the eye of the hurricane (Chicago) to where Sen. Obama wants to take us (Canada), not good from the omen perspective. If McCain isn't able to be saved by Joe the Plumber, he'll have plenty of things to reflect on. Why did we learn more about Joe the Plumber's tax problems than unrepentent domestic terrorist William Ayers? Why not emphasize the scale of Obama's tax increases? - 20% additional spending on top of our current record levels? Remind everyone that President Clinton needed all of 26 days in office to cancel the middle-class tax cut and replace it with a middle-class tax hike.

Can McCain win 270 electoral votes? I think he'll need to win Pennsylvania to do it, maybe Congressman Murtha will be the final spark that McCain needed. This area (referring to his congressional district) was REALLY REDNECK 10 or 15 years ago! In a media atmosphere so focused on race, how is Murtha not being run from Congress before the election? Oh, that's right. He has a D in his title.

My BCS Rankings

2008-11-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

What a catch and surge by Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree to score the go-ahead TD with :01 left. The Big 12 and SEC are the strongest conferences this season and hopefully tomorrow's BCS standings will reflect that.

1. Alabama - they still have LSU next weekend and Florida in the SEC title game.
2. Texas Tech - they'll earn this spot if they stay perfect after facing Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.
3. Penn State - sorry, but the non-conference homestand of Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, and Temple will leave them at #3 if 3 unbeatens are still standing December 13th.
4. Florida - the only blemish is a 1-point loss on a missed XP.
5. Texas - finally fell victim to the Big 12 South schedule after defeating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
6. Oklahoma - if only the Texas game was 30 minutes long.
7. USC - if only the Oregon State game started at halftime.

Bailout Bill

2008-09-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

Barney Frank (D-MA) wanted to have a conversation with 12 GOP Representatives who didn't vote for the bailout... why not beat down the doors of 12 of the 90+ Democrats who didn't vote for the thing? The GOP might have been 2-1 against, but the Dems were only 3-2 for. I guess it didn't have enough earmarks in there for passage.... the only good thing that McCain accomplished at the debate. He needed to score some points early on the economy but didn't do that in my opinion. Some Red states are turning Blue on the Real Clear Politics page, and I fear they won't be turning back to Red. McCain may have peaked at his post-convention bounce.

I'm not sure I could support this bill. $700 Billion is 25% of our initial 2008 budget, and we've already added $425 Billion (Stimulus, Housing Rescue) to the original $3 Trillion budget. New oversight? Price-to-Income ratio was out of whack 4 years ago. The markets have been a roller coaster to watch recently; I'm glad I'm not a day trader.

Olympic Observations

2008-08-16T00:40:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of watching the LIVE bug on the NBC feed on the west coast.. it flashes the time 10:35 ET... I look at my watch... it reads 10:35 PT. If the corporate yahoos at NBC Universal think we're stupid enough to think we think the telecasts are live, I'd be happy to let them know that I ONLY watch network sports on DVR now since there is almost as much advertising time as sports time. Tune the DVR to the desired channel when the coverage starts, hit pause, and 89 minutes later, start watching. Miss no live ation; skip all the commercials. How long until the ad revenue falls off? Pull the friggin' LIVE bug so that Joe Six Pack on the West Coast can be clued in that his time isn't as important as Jane Six Pack on the East Coast, maybe give the West coast feed ONLY 2/3 of the commercials.

Swimming - I wish Rowdy Gaines would give us more info on the start of the short races - that was something that he FOCUSED on in preparation for his event ar the 1984 games in LA. I've noticed that the medal winners get off the blocks well and establish an early lead - and I can't do a flip turn OR float. When I watched the 100-Fly tonight, I had to pause the DVR and watch frame-by-frame to see if Phelps earned his 7th Gold. If the race was 100 yards (pre- 1896), he would have been 2nd. If it was 99.5 meters, he still would have been 2nd. But 100m, first. I thought both both Spitz and Phelps were great during the extended interview w/ Costas.

Manny Being Manny... in LA

2008-07-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still digesting this one; didn't think that the Red Sox would actually pull the trigger on this one. Jason Bay could prove to be a good fit in the Sox' lineup, though I am not sure who rolls into Manny's #4 spot in the order. Ramirez did quit in 2006 in August when the Sox were a few games back and DH David Ortiz was diagnosed with a heart condition. Concern about that may have been what drove the Sox to trade Ramirez before he had a chance to really screw things up for them in August. Trading SS Nomar Garciaparra sparked them to the World Series Title in 2004, that may have given them the confidence to trade Ramirez here and not have it blow up in their face.

Mark Texeria to the Angels - that should help them in the postseason, they have only won 4 of 16 playoff games since their World Series Championship in 2002.

Ken Griffey Jr. - sadly, the only year the Reds had a winning season during his tenure was 2000. The bad news: despite winning 85 games in Griffey's first season, it represented an 11-win decline from 1999.

Pudge Rodriguez - why did the Tigers trade him to the Yankees? For Kyle Farnsworth? That's addition by subtraction and addition by addition for the Yankees.

Rich Harden and Joe Blanton - Billy Beane surely is trying to line his talent for the future opening of a new stadium with Cisco wi-fi enabled. With wi-fi, will the fans even care about the outcome of the game?

Housing "Rescue" Bill

2008-07-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

This bill is horrendous. Another example of donors, lobbyists, etc. getting preferential treatment over the regular folks. If the Govt wants to spend $1 toward this, why not fund a law enforcement agency to prosecute the lenders, realtors, purchasers, and appraisers for FRAUD? They might actually be able to reduce the deficit by a few pennies that way.

Hank Steinbrenner

2008-05-02T16:54:00.001-07:00

It didn’t take too long for George’s heir to exhibit some of George’s tendencies. Hank’s ready to move P Joba Chamberlain into the rotation right now – things could get interesting in the final season at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx bombers just might sign Barry Bonds to DH for them in the second half of the season. I had to chuckle when I heard one of the top dogs in Yankees Management say on CNBC during a story on the new Yankee Stadium that a family of four could entertain themselves with season tickets at the new arena for about $10K per year. How many families of 4 have $10K wads of cash lying around to spend on baseball? According to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Americans can’t afford their health insurance. Here’s one potential reason why: They’re spending $10K per year on Yankee Baseball. $10K would cover several years’ worth of vacations for me (and many others).

Clemens (AGAIN!!!!!!)

2008-05-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Roger Clemens’ Trials & Tribulations

The Rokcet’s retirement is a humungous soap opera. He had a 10-year+ platonic relationship w/ an attractive teenage/young adult musician? She received FedEx envelopes filled with cash from him. He was more capable in the gym at 40 than 25? He confused Mike Piazza’s broken bat for a ball AND a World Series game for a whiffle ball game? It looks like he should have not unretired and pitched for the Astros. Then his news might be buried in the middle of the newspaper, or not reported at all. This is making P Greg Maddux look better each and every day.

Sen. Clinton on O’Reilly Factor (1st half)

2008-05-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

She should have made that appearance during her February 11-state losing streak (Both she and Obama have avoided the Fox News Channel like Superman avoids Kryptonite. Which makes no sense sine FNC draws more viewers than MSNBC and CNN combined. Why the Democrats haven’t figured that out in the 5+ years Matt Drudge has been posting the ratings on his website, I have no idea. Maybe they only read the Drudge Retort!). Some plusses for Bill:
· Got her to indicate that Payroll Taxes (i.e. FICA, Social Security) would likely increase to maintain the current benefits.
· Beat her up about energy – her “NO” votes on increasing fossil fuel production are a significant factor in our rapidly rising energy costs. We haven’t developed alternative sources yet -
· Questions that had depth – about Rev. Wright – he didn’t let her get by with “Let the voters decide or her standard “Look it up on my website”
· Universal Health Care – she is still clinging to “Barack’s plan won’t cover everyone” – he focused on the exorbitant cost and the fact that 2 of the BLUEST states, CA & NY, couldn’t figure out how to finance UHC.
· Rebutting her claim that America needs a “fighter” in the White House. We don’t need a fighter – we need a LEADER. It’s difficult to gauge that now because candidates are expected to have detailed plans on so many different things (that the government shouldn’t be involved in) that the candidate’s words become those of the “handlers”. Bill expressed his opinion (correct assessment to me) that she was losing in this portion of the race (and ultimately this would be a deciding portion).

Some counter-punches & topics that I would like to have seen:
· She talked about how great the economy was during the 90’s (that Bill O. did well while the Clintons were in charge) – he could have pointed out that they’ve done pretty well while Bush has been in charge; it also would have been good to point out that things weren’t as rosy as she paints them. The Tyco, Worldcom, and Enron accounting debacles all occurred then (forcing passage of SOX in 2002). And the NASDAQ is still not back to its 2000 high. That tech bubble was a pretty big one. If she is going to point to the housing bubble as a housing crisis, then I’m going to point back to the tech bubble.
· She mentioned that American families aren’t well off. Well, what percentage of them have amenities like Cable or Satellite TV service, High Speed Internet Service, HD Game Consoles, boats, RVs, ATVs, Jet skis, etc. now vs. 2001?
· What will Mr. Clinton’s role be? After all, he’s raking in TENS of MILLIONS of DOLLARS, mostly from companies based in OPEC nations. They raised a TON of money for his 1996 re-election in China – now she’s complaining that too many American jobs are going there? What the heck did she expect?

NBA Musings

2008-05-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

NBA Trade Rules

How can it be acceptable for the Mavericks to sign Keith Van Horn out of retirement solely so that they can trade him to New Jersey as part of the Jason Kidd trade? How long does he have to go to New Jersey for? Can he wait until after the first day of spring to report? Can he wait until the new arena opens in Brooklyn? Once he reports, how long does he have to stay? Who pays his contract, the Mavericks or the Nets? I suppose this is better than the Nets and Mavericks having an “understanding” that the Nets would release Jerry Stackhouse after 30 days so that Stackhouse could choose to go back to the Mavs in time for the playoffs. Maybe the Nets should have negotiated for a couple of Mavericks home games in the NYC area.

Suns vs. Spurs

The Spurs were a little better (and luckier) than the Suns in the tight late-game situations. From Duncan’s 3 to force the 2nd OT in Game 1 to Parker getting into the lane to hit layups, runners, and jumpers throughout the series, the Spurs cruised to a 4-1 victory. That being said, they were the beneficiaries of two or three loose ball calls late in Game 5 that gave them extra possessions. And I do think the Hack-a-Shaq rule needs to be updated. I think Shaq (or Ben Wallace) needs to be moving for a foul to be called. If Jacque Vaughn hugs Shaq but Shaq isn’t moving, is it really a foul? I think that the foulee should have some control over the situation – maybe D’Antoni should have had O’Neal inbound the ball as a counter-tactic. Shaq could have stayed OB after inbounding the ball – then would a hack-a-Shaq hug been a T?

No More Over the Back?

I haven’t watched any NBA since last season’s playoffs – one observation that I don’t like is the tendency to award the ball out of bounds to a team victimized by an over-the-back violation. I’d rather see the foul called on a sloppy play like that.

NBA Coaches

Isiah Thomas - I wonder what his next job will be. Since Knicks owner James Dolan loves Thomas so much, maybe he could reassign Isiah to MSG TV. Then we can see if Thomas can run non- basketball organizations into the ground.

Larry Brown – He still has a chance to coach all of the NBA Franchises in his lifetime. Cross Charlotte off the list.

Pat Riley – What’s the over-under on his return to the bench? The Heat have 2 All-Star players in G Dwayne Wade and F Shawn Marion. If they can add a third (who is a PF or C), then I fully expect Riley’s new coach to express the desire to spend more time with his family.

Mike D’Antoni – Chicago would be a good fit for him. The Bulls have offensive talent and he can build a winner a lot quicker in the East. He’ll have to prioritize finding a defender to guard F LeBron James if he wants to taste the finals.

Avery Johnson – he had to leave Dallas. The Mavericks’ leadership should listen to any and ALL offers for everyone but F Dirk Nowitski. Three straight post-season flaemouts starting with the 2006 Finals and they have an old roster. They might not like what they are offered talent-wise for F Jerry Stackhouse and G’s Jason Terry and Jason Kidd, but they should be willing to move all 3 of them. Letting Steve Nash leave for Phoenix is turning out to be a big mistake.

George Karl – the Nuggets are fun to watch at times but until F Carmelo Anthony figures out how to play team offense consistently and play defense more than once or twice a game, they won’t have postseason success. IF F Kenyon Martin’s contract is up soon, he might be good to let go – I don’t see him being a good influence for Anthony.

Sniper Fire in Bosnia

2008-03-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

So Mrs. Clinton landed in Bosnia amidst sniper fire in 1996. Her tall tale grew over the past 3 months until earlier this week the military pilot and CBS News gave their versions of the trip - which were much more accurate (there's a surprise).

Some questions for the Senator and her campaign staff members that came up with this great idea:

1. Why would any responsbile secret security or military servicemember direct passengers to sit on flak jackets? It might save your butt, but it's not designed for that. It's designed to protect vital organs in the torso.

2. Did she or her campaign think to run it past one of the military generals or admirals that are in their camp? They should have advised against the tall tale - knowing that our professional military wouldn't conduct an opposed landing of Mrs. Clinton's party. And why haven't those professionals spoken up against Mrs. Clinton throwing the military under the bus? How can she claim she's ready to be Commander-in-Chief on Day 1?

3. What was next - was she going to tell how she was Jack Bauer before there was a Jack Bauer character - taking out snipers while debarking the plane?

Democratic Nomination Thoughts

2008-03-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Dr. Howard Dean's performance as DNC Chair (specifically the MI & FL primary situation) is a great example of why it's a great thing that he IS NOT POTUS. Penalize the states their entire delegation, then when the process doesn't play out as expected, say those delegates "DESERVE" to be seated? And suggest that there be additional primaries at taxpayer expense? Please. Get some backbone, Dr. Those states were notified last year that their early primary came with a cost and they chose the publicity at the expense of the cost.

Clinton's 3am ad - I've got a response for that - Bill, Matt Drudge has it on his website that you did it again!

It looked like there was an awful lot of 5 on 7 basketball last weekend. UCLA received gifts from the officials in the waning seconds of both of their victories. UNC's Tyler Hansborough didn't shoot a FT the whole game - he played most of it and Duke's defenders made a fair amount of contact with him in the paint.

Some unposted thoughts

2008-02-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

I wrote this in December but didn't post it. Thoughts on Ohio State and HRC.

Ohio State’s Opponents

I found this while scrolling through the HD sports listings online. Saturday 12/15/07 @ 12:00ET Presbyterian College Blue Hose vs Ohio State Buckeyes on the Big Ten Network. What, there wasn’t an on campus intramural opponent available? I didn’t realize that FB Coach Jim Tressel was tasked to setup the basketball schedule as well!

“I’ve got Editorial Support!”

That was Sen. Clinton on the Today show on 12/17/07, referencing the Des Moines Register editorial endorsement (I’m curious, what percentage of the voting public reads newspapers like that these days?), while hoping viewers weren’t paying attention to Sen. Lieberman (2000 Dem. VP nominee) endorsing Sen. McCain for the Presidency. Mrs. Clinton is so confident, she even appeared on the Fox News Channel! (I can’t hide my sarcasm) She is still sinking in the quicksand aftermath from her all-Kerry circular answer/non-answer to the driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants question at a Democratic Debate in Philadelphia a LONG TIME ago. And now she’s counting her Senate service like dog years – we need one heck of a Senate Pension lock box if 7 years in the Senate equals 35 years of service.
Then her husband is on the CNN Website (don’t worry, I reached it from Matt Drudge’s page) claiming that the first President Bush will tour the world with him to undue the damage that the current President Bush is doing to the country in the international community. Has WJC completely lost it? Not too long ago, he revised his Iraq position. Remember, he was for regime change and launched missile strikes against Iraq in 1998. In 2003, he supported President Bush’s actions against Iraq (quoted in Time Magazine). Does his understanding of the word IS not enable him to understand that the Fox News Channel IS the leading cable news network and they WILL and DO report on his inconsistencies. They weren’t on the air in 1992, and were just launching in 1996, so it is an organization that he didn’t have to be concerned about while he was a candidate. CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS won’t be able to ignore Mr. Clinton’s inconsistencies this time around.

Super Tuesday & CPAC Reflections

2008-02-12T20:34:00.000-08:00

I’m referencing CPAC since that’s where Mitt Romney bowed out and John McCain attempted to reach out to conservatives. McCain has been choice #1 for me for about a month; I arrived at him after performing deductive analysis rather than inherently being in agreement with him (I caucused for Obama as part of the ABC (Anyone BUT Clinton) Alliance. After Super Tuesday, I didn’t see a path for Romney to achieve the nomination, though the lack of a path is significantly influenced by the outcomes from three large-delegate winner take all states that McCain (or any Republican) has next to no chance of winning in November (NY, NJ, CA). Of all the Republicans referencing Reagan, I think Romney had the best chance of succeeding in Reagan’s footprints, but his conversion to conservatism was abrupt. (He might have earned my #1 choice if he had a longer track record of being guided by conservative principles) Reagan’s conversion took some time (as in decades). Romney would be wise to emulate Reagan’s activity between his tenure as Governor (CA) and Party Nominee.

McCain – we’ll be able to observe the effectiveness of reaching out to the other side. Immigration, Campaign Finance Reform, No Child Left Behind, Gang of 14 are a few of the issues where McCain has compromised on conservative principles. I do think those are examples of leadership, but I also have concerns about the direction of such leadership. And what are the chances that media outlets like the New York Times will endorse him in the General Election? That entity would endorse convicted drug-dealer former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry over Sen. McCain for President.

So Mrs. Clinton had to “loan” her campaign $5 MILLION dollars? Where did that money come from? As Senator, she’s in the 100K-200K range. Her husband was in the 200-300K range while President. Even if your investments pay off like Whitewater and Cattle Futures, those salaries don’t turn into having chunks of $5 MILLION dollars lying around. Especially when they had all of those legal bills to pay and those 2 houses to buy after leaving the White House in 2001 (and they didn’t have any home equity to cash in, having lived in Arkansas-provided housing prior to moving to D.C.). Did this money come from the likes of Norman Hsu, the Daly City, CA postal workers, or some Saudi Oil royalty? IF it has Saudi Oil roots, then how can HRC be all upset w/ Big Oil? Big Oil might just be the force keeping her afloat in the campaign. And now she wants to debate Obama every week? If I’m Obama, I don’t take that unless I can guarantee a question that will cause her to outcircle Sen. Kerry like the driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants did last October. At least Mrs. Clinton finally exhibited some honesty about HillaryCare when she said she’d approve of garnishing wages to fund her health care plan. That is code word for ADDITIONAL FEDERAL INCOME TAX. I think the people who want universal health care should move to Canada and try it out for awhile. Then they can come back to the USA and share what they learned. I can see a benfit to disconnecting health care from employer benefits, but am not sure how painful that would be to implement. But I would be in support of improving the process in that manner. Just look at the cost of Lasik eye surgery. It has significantly dropped in price and seems to be of high-quality, and IT IS NOT PART OF MOST EMPLOYER COVERAGE. When will a conservative candidate recognize this and use it?

No Crying or Coughing in Politics

2008-02-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

What the heck is going on out there? Mrs. Clinton's hopes dimmed before the New Hampshire, so she teared up. It worked, and when Obama's surge continued into Super Tuesday, she did it again. Someone finally got the message to her to stop cackling when asked a tough question. We should send all of those tapes to the CIA. They won't have a need to waterboard any prisoner - just loop Mrs. Clinton's cackling! Just be sure to issue the CIA agent some hearing protection so that our national asset doesn't go insane. So today she started coughing when KTVU asked her what Mr. Clinton's role would be if she became president. She came down w/ a persistent cough to refrain from answering! (2 days after doing this on Stephanopoulos' show). Is she going to do that when Ahmadinejad or Putin surprises her? The American people need to know what Mr. Clinton's role will be. I'm sure he'll spend MANY more nights at the White House than he has spent the past 8 YEARS in her, er, their Georgetown home. And how many Foreign Donors to the Clinton Presidential Library will visit the Lincoln Bedroom on his behalf? Didn't we learn our lesson allowing the satellite technology to the Chinese in the 1990's?

Super Bowl Reflections

2008-02-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

I was bored by the first 3 quarters - disappointed that the Patriots couldn't figure out how to protect Tom Brady or run the football. The Giants' pass rush was outstanding, but Brady and the Patriots didn't go to hot reads or max protect blocking. They did throw a bunch of hitches and WR screens, but couldn't sustain drives with those plays. The multi-TE set that was successful running the football against San Diego didn't work against the Giants. They did have a solid drive in the 4th to take the lead - the problem was that they geared their strategy all season to score, score, and score some more. Their defense is old by NFL standards - it broke on the Giant's final drive (similar to last year vs. Indy). Harrison and Samuel dropped interceptable passes. The DL couldn't wrap up QB Eli Manning on the huge play to David Tyree - what a CATCH! WR Steve Smith got out of bounds converting a 3rd and 11 for a first down the play before the TD to Burress. The Giants were in a hurry-up mode, but never had to truly rush things. Something that neither FOX's Joe Buck or Troy Aikman noticed on the Patriots' last ditch effort: the 3rd down pass to Moss traveled 65 yards in the air ACROSS the field. Unfortunately for the Pats, the Giants secondary stayed home and didn't roll right w/ Brady. That was the only play that the Pats moved Brady the WHOLE game - surprising since his pocket was non-existent the whole game. I was disappointed that Belichick left before the Giants took the kneeldown to end the game. He should have shown the respect to allow the game to properly end.

Some things that didn't make any sense to me:
1. Why was HC Bill Belichick wearing a red hoodie? He'd worn some shade of gray the rest of the season, er seasons, including past Super Bowls.
2. Why the Pats passed up on a 49 yard FG on 4th and 13 in the 3rd quarter? 4th and 4 or 5 with Welker and Moss, ok. But not 4th and 13 the way they played in the first half.

Super Bowl 42

2008-02-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

It's almost kickoff time so I should get this posted before wages close.

New England 38 (-12) N Y Giants 20. I think we're more likely to see the dominant Patriots passing attack return. The Giants' secondary is relatively weak, though their strong postseason play might be keyed by DB Corey Webster playing better after replacing Sam Madison (from Louisville). When was the last time that Brady & Co. played in 70 degree weather? Nov 4th vs. the Colts - though they only had 24 in that one. But that Colts team (w/ Freeney) was statistically the league's best defense. The other games in that time frame were the 49-28 and 52-7 type. Sports fans were being reminded that a major league baseball franchise exists in Denver.

Props: I like Moss over 95.5 yards receiving, Brady over 295.5 yards passing, and Welker over 7.5 catches - though I haven't placed any dollars or chips on those. Yesterday's Spygate revelations signaled to me to not touch this game w/ a 10-foot pole. The Pats should use that as a positive motivational tool, but it reminds me too much of the Falcons inexplicaply attempting a 2-point conversion instead of kicking an extra point late in a 34-19 loss to Denver after the '98 season. Chris Chandler rolled left (he's an immoble righty) and threw the ball into the front row of the stands. Why was that significant? The over-under in that game was 53 and the bulk of the money that year was on a Denver repeat.

Nevada Caucus

2008-01-20T22:21:00.000-08:00

I participated in the Democratic Caucus yesterday - I didn't ask where Sen. Lieberman's section (as I had planned) was since there was a long registration line that was delaying the start. Like me, most of the attendees wanted to get in and get out. We were happy to be patient - just hopeful anytime there was an indication that we could turn in our ballot cards. The 11:30 am start time - not as good of a choice as the Republican's 8:00 am start time. There was some confusion with the process (NV has traditionally been a primary state) but we were done before 1 pm. At the site that I went to, Obama had the majority of the turnout. The number of Edwards supporters was barely larger than Kucinich's. So I can't see him remaining in the race much longer, despite his insistence on participating in the primary/caucus of all 50 states.

The Colts

2008-01-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

Did Tony Dungy (and the rest of the Colts) look how the Patriots approached the December meaningless games (once home-field advantage was clinched)? Did they remember what happened in 2005 when they backed off? (Lost 21-18 at home to Pittsburgh in first playoff game) Did they remember what happened last year when they had to play hard through ALL 16 games of the regular season to get the #3 seed so they could host the AFC Championship Game if New England was the opponent? (um, defeated NE at home, won Super Bowl).

Apparently not. The Colts lost to a Charger team the struggled to beat 1-dimensional Tennessee at home the week before. The Chargers best 3 offensive players were hobbled. TE Antonio Gates played the whole game with a broken toe. RB LaDanian Tomlinson missed the last 2+ quarters. QB Philip Rivers missed the 4th quarter (though he was still competing against the fans in the 4th).

Peyton Manning led the Colts quickly into the Red Zone after the Chargers took the lead in the 4th quarter. On the 3rd down play, he threw to the wrong guy though. He tried to hit Joseph Addai at the 7 - but Addai was covered. TE Dallas Clark was uncovered at the goal line on the left side - would have bean an easy TD. (A great feature of HD DVR is being able to watch live action a second time and focus on what you want to, not being limited to what the announcers focus on - they never showed Clark uncovered near the goal line). I think the Colts saw it - Clark ran the same pattern on 4th down and was open again - but Charger DL Shawne Merriman was in the backfield so quickly that Manning's only option was to his right - where Clark AND WR Reggie Wayne weren't.

I don't think Dungy's coming back - otherwise the Colts wouldn't have named his successor publicly. I've read sections of his book - he truly seems to be a great man, but if he stays, for the Colts' sake, I hope he watches how Bill Belichick and the Patriots responded to losing the 21-3 lead to the Colts last year. That is the #1 reason why the Patriots attempted to score TDs on EVERY possession. The worst the Patriots could achieve with that result - Overtime. The Colts were Out-Colted by the Patriots this season even though they didn't face them in the playoffs. Look how much like Manning Brady looks now, compared to 2003 & 2004.

BCS Reflections

2008-01-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

It's a little late, but here are my thoughts:

Illinois-USC Rose Bowl - Why was 3-loss Illinois in this game? Why was Erin Andrews working for the RADIO team and not the TV team? USC didn't deserve serious consideration for the poll championship - you can't hide that 24-23 home loss to Stanford no matter how hard you try?

Hawaii-Georgia Sugar Bowl - We saw that Hawaii didn't belong in the chatter for poll championship. Being completely overwhelmed by Georgia might have been the final straw for HC June Jones - though I'm not sure he (or anyone else) can rebuild SMU (though he will have more money) since it's not in a BCS conference (it was in the SWC in the old days, now it's in mid-major C-USA). Georgia - if they had defeated Tennessee, they would have had their chance against LSU in the SEC Championship Game. The format for reaching the BCS Championship is clear - win them all or you need help. Georgia lost a couple of times and needed too much help.

Kansas-Virginia Tech Orange Bowl - Kansas rebounded well from their loss to Missouri to show they could compete (they didn't play Texas or Oklahoma in the Big 12 regular season or any good non-conference teams) against a quality opponent.

Oklahoma-West Virginia Fiesta Bowl - the next time that Oklahoma makes the BCS, they should be forced to play the Big 10 Champion. When was the last time that this team played well in a BCS Game? I think the answer is 2000.

LSU-Ohio St. Championship - the Tigers had a home field, speed, and talent advantage and decisively beat the Buckeyes. Ohio St. should start a BCS series w/ Oklahoma in the bowl that historically averages the lowest ratings. Ohio St. was fortunate enough to face Charlie Weis' Notre Dame squad a couple of years back, or else its recent BCS performance would be level with Oklahoma's. LSU - congrats to them for surviving the season the best and winning the championship.

Mr. Clinton in Iowa

2007-12-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

I was happy to see the drive-by media have to point out that Slick Willie was at it again last week saying he was against Iraq from the beginning even though he was for the action in Iraq from the beginning (in Time Magazine). With the Internet and Fox News around this time, he won't be able to tell a new story every 15 minutes when the wind changes directions and not have it noticed.

As for Hillary, the best she can do is pick on Obama's elementary school writings? Obama has Oprah out stomping for him, Hillary has Streisand?

BCS Thoughts

2007-12-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

I think LSU v. Ohio State is the right choice for the “Championship” Game. I’d use elimination-type logic for the other Power Conference Champions and Hawaii.
Oklahoma (11-2) – 1 of their losses came with their backup QB in the lineup. I just don’t know how their defense could contain Missouri’s spread, but not Texas Tech’s. Their loss to Texas Tech was a worse loss in my mind than LSU’s loss to Arkansas.
Georgia (10-2) – They needed to be in the SEC Title game. Tennessee only had 1 more loss during the regular season (to Cal), so Tennessee was the right choice to face LSU (based on 35-14 victory over Georgia, H2H tiebreaker).
Missouri (11-2) – they lost twice to Oklahoma, but should have been in the BCS over Kansas (who played a non-conference schedule that would have made longtime K-State HC Bill Snyder jealous) since they beat them H2H 2 weeks ago.
USC (10-2) – they lost to Stanford at home. It’s all on HC Pete Caroll on this one. He passed up a FG in the red zone in the first half and didn’t get points because the clock ran out. His defense allowed two length of the field drives in the second half to a QB making his first start. He left QB John David Booty in the game w/ a broken hand, 4 interceptions were the result. A missed extra-point was the difference in the 24-23 loss.
Virginia Tech (11-2) – They lost to LSU 48-7.
Hawaii (12-0) – Too many final-possession victories against inferior competition. For a WAC or MWC team to make it, they have to DOMINATE their conference and get lucky and play a Power Conference team that turns out to be 10-2 or better (they didn’t even have one on their schedule this year).
West Virginia (10-2) – They had 0 points on the board (25 minutes into the game) when QB Pat White was injured against Pitt. They never brought an 8th man into the box against a one-dimensional Pitt offense and didn’t win the line of scrimmage in the second half. And how does RB Steve Slaton only get 9 carries in a game that the outcome is in doubt?

LSU’s (11-2) losses both came in triple overtime, and their win over Tennessee last weekend came with their backup QB (due to injury). Their blemishes aren’t as bad as the other options, so they’re in the big game. I’m not that impressed with Ohio State (11-1), but they are the ONLY Power Conference team with just 1 loss, so they are in the Championship Game. It’s the only way they could get there, since their non-conference schedule included 3 Ohio schools and Washington (which hasn’t been to a bowl game (i.e. .500) in 5 seasons since the Rick Neuheisel NCAA March Madness Pool Controversy.

NFL Week 9

2007-11-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

4:15 ET CBS New England 38 (-5.5) Indianapolis 27. The Patriots have bulldozed through the first half of the season, outscoring their opponents 331-127. Tom Brady already has a CAREER best 30 touchdown passes. The Patriots have lost 3 straight to the Colts, including last year's AFC Championship game. The teams have switched roles in the media, with the Patriots exorbiant winning margins generating the attention that the Colts' offense previously has. The Colts have suffered more personnel losses than the Patriots (LT Tarik Glenn, LB Cato June, both starting corners) and might also be without WR Marvin Harrison (knee). The Colts have become more physical on offense since Peyton Manning's record year of 2004. They'll need to dominate the Patriots the way that they did in the 2nd half of last year's AFC Championship Game. The Pats defense couldn't get off the field in the 2nd half (except one punt) and the 21-6 halftime lead vanished. LB Junior Seau is in the lineup to alternate w/ Tedy Brushci unlike last year's playoff game. DL Richard Seymour is making his first appearance of the season this week. New England began preparing for this game the day the schedule came out. The Patriots have been putting up the huge numbers specifically for this game; they won't attempt to cruise towards a win, and they grab the inside track to the home field advantage for the AFC Playoffs.

Navy-Notre Dame

2007-11-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

I had reserve duty today so I had to watch it on tape delay before dinner. I must admit that I was angry that Notre Dame HC Charlie Weis kept going for 4th downs. When Belichick is doing it against the Colts, its because his team hasn't been as skilled offensively as the Colts'. Weis' team is very weak by Notre Dame standards, but it still has a significant talent advantage on both sides of the football compared to Navy. Maybe Weis felt that was reason enough to keep going for it on 4th down. He expressed concern about the strength of the Navy option offense, but the best weapon against an option offense is a LEAD. The Navy option offense is very efficient and time hogging, but its not without weakness. In fact, the Mids only converted 3 of their 6 drives outside of the end-of-half 2-minute drill (when the option is EXTREMELY LIMITED) into TDs. So, when Weis kept passing up FG's, I was in shock. A fake FG on 4th and 15 up 7-0 in the 1st quarter? Not attempting a 41-yard FG in the final minute to win in regulation? Their kicker hasn't had much work this season (4 for 7 on FGs, 7 for 8 on XPs), but he should have tried A FG today. Weis' arrogance probably cost his team its second win.

The best stat I heard to put Kansas' win against Nebraska in perspective: The Jayhawks scored 67 points in 10 meetings in the 1980's... and 76 in its 2007 win. I hope that Nebraska HC Bill Callahan is polishing his resume. I don't think that he'll be much longer for Nebraska with Tom Osborne back onboard.

Hillary and Illegals

2007-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

She wants NY to give them driver's licenses.. would she have said that if she ACTUALLY was from NY and felt some attachment to the state? Does she know that several of the September 11th hijackers HAD DRIVERS LICENSES? Amazingly, she is proving that a candidate can be more circular than Sen. John Kerry, and we haven't even reached the first primary. SERENITY NOW!

Patriots Running Up the Score?

2007-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Not in my opinion. No, this is HC Bill Belichick preparing his team for this week’s game against the Colts. Remember that the Patriots had a 21-3 lead in last season’s AFC Championship game. I don’t think that the Patriots relaxed, but I think the Patriots are approaching every drive as if the score were 7-7. Belichick believes it will take a full 60-minute effort to break the 3-game losing streak his Patriots have against the Colts. He also intends on playing Spurrier style – no kicks on 4th down. As QB Tom Brady said last week, when you punt the ball to the Colts, it usually results in 7 points for them. The Patriots have gone for an awful lot of 4th downs (even in FG range) against the Colts in recent years. Belichick is not planning on punting unless it is 4th and 10 or more, and even then he might call a deep route for WR Randy Moss and see what happens.

The Patriots have been more impressive so far, and they have needed to be. Half of their division should be playing football on Saturday (the Bills are playing respectable football). The Bills, Jets, and Dolphins have combined for 4 victories between them. And they have played 3 games amongst themselves!

More on A-Rod

2007-10-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

I just don’t get it. No player has eclipsed the average annual salary of $25.2 million he received from Texas after the 2000 season. Rangers Owner Tom Hicks increased the highest average salary by 25% to get A-Rod. In contrast, the Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez that winter for an average annual salary of $20 million. The Red Sox have tried to find a taker for that contract for years without success, even going so far as to place Ramirez on waivers (winter 2003), so that the team getting Ramirez wouldn’t have to trade ANY players to have him on their roster. And even the Yankees didn’t go for it!

He’s not sure who the manager, closer, catcher are going to be. Well, I’ll go out on a limb. The Yankees won’t turn into the Pirates, Marlins, or Nationals (from a talent or payroll perspective) during the length of A-Rod’s new contract, check that, CAREER. And I doubt that he’ll excitedly join Joe Torre with the Dodgers. Torre batted A-Rod 8th in game 4 against the Tigers last season. That’s a real vote of confidence.

So how is A-Rod going to get a raise? The 2 highest bidders (Yankees and Red Sox) won’t be involved. I don’t think that he will. I think that the Giants and Angels will battle it out, but the Giants are already on the hook to Barry Zito for over $100 million and the Angels have Bartolo Colon eating $10 million worth of food each season for a couple more seasons (I think). I can’t see either of them going to $25 million annually, let alone past it. Each team has experienced post-season success and understands how that success is achieved (expertise that wasn’t present in the Rangers organization) and won’t commit too many resources to a single player that would significantly reduce the chances for postseason success.

A-Rod Opts Out

2007-10-28T23:12:00.000-07:00

It was pretty lame that A-Rod & Scott Boras announced in during Game 4 of the World Series. But then, A-Rod wouldn't know about Game 4 of the World Series, let alone Games 5, 6, or 7. I'm hoping that the Yankees stand up to their position of not negotiating with him since he has opted out of his contract (the remaining 3 years would have been subsidized $21 million by Texas). I don't think that the Red Sox organization would pursue A-Rod, they seemed to start their run past the Yankees when C Jason Varitek picked a fight w/ A-Rod in late July of 2004. And when the Sox almost acquired A-Rod, part of the deal was that A-Rod was going to give back part of his salary, which the MLBPA squashed; and let to A-Rod's landing in New York. I think that A-Rod needs to get back to the West Coast where there isn't the rabid fan base on a day-in, day-out basis.

The Colts and Patriots meet next Sunday, and both are undefeated. It's CBS' 4:15 doubleheader game, but I'll have to wait for the replay on the NFL network since the Raiders have been scheduled for a home game in that time slot (and I'm not going to shell out $240 for the full season Sunday Ticket). I would buy a single-week ticket to see this game live in HD if it was available. Too bad they won't move that game up (against the Texans) to the 10:00 (PT) slot. It's not like the Raider game will sell out, even if the left the A's tarps on the upper deck!

ESPN Thursday Night Football

2007-10-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

It is Game 2 of the World Series tomorrow night (8:XX ET FOX HD), but #2 Boston College travels to #8 Virginia Tech in a key BCS/ACC game (7:45 ET ESPN HD). While the Rockies won 21 of 22 to reach the World Series, it must be remembered that ALL of those games came against National League opponents. Their DH was batting 9TH last night! Too bad they still don't have Mike Hampton. It's too bad that the ALCS lasted 7 games and the NLCS only 4. I'm rooting for the fewest # of games for Joe Buck's voice to reach my ears. Can FOX try to get Jon Miller away from ESPN Radio? Please. For the fans!!!!

All that I remember from last year's Thursday Game in Chestnut Hill was ESPN's Erin Andrews gushing over a walk-on kicker for BC. He made 2 XPs and 2 FGs in a 22-3 BC win. The Eagles haven't played a tough team yet, and the Hokies wish they hadn't (a 48-7 loss to LSU). Virginia Tech 23 (-3) Boston College 16. Blacksburg is a tough place to get a road win, and BC isn't used to its lofty ranking and the pressure that comes with it.

2007-10-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

The Yanks offered Manager Joe Torre a contract that he had to decline. It was for significantly less dollars, and at only 1 year in length, it wouldn’t give Torre the authority that he should have as the leader of the team. SI’s Tom Verducci and Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel have great pieces on it. Paying someone not to perform (i.e. if they chose to fire Torre at a later date) for the organization has never been something that’s gotten in George Steinbrenner’s way before. And Mike and the Mad Dog have a good interview with Torre, but you have listen to about 60 seconds of sponsorhips before they start chatting.

Additionally, what does this hold for A-Rod? The Yanks wanted 25% of Torre’s pay to come from postseason performance, and looking at A-Rod’s numbers, he’d be leaving a lot of money on the table if he had to play under the same arrangement. While A-Rod’s agent, Scott Boras, thinks he’s worth $30 Million annually, right now the Yanks are only on the hook for about $18 Million annually for the next 3 seasons (Texas pays the balance of A-Rod’s salary). Why would the Yanks pay 40% MORE for a player hitting .159 with 1 HR and 1 RBI the last 3 seasons in the playoffs (team record 4-9)? Especially when the Yankees haven’t been winning postseason series with Rotisserie Baseball Players (i.e. Sheffield, Giambi) in their lineup. They were much more successful when their lineups featured FUNDAMENTAL baseball players like 1B Tino Martinez, 3B Scott Brosius, and OF’s Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams.

Then let’s look at stability. Torre managed 12 seasons. In the 12 seasons prior to Torre (1984-1995), the Yankees had a bunch of managers:
92-95: Buck Showalter
90-91: Stump Merrill
89-90: Bucky Dent
89: Dallas Green
88 Billy Martin
86-88: Lou Pinella
85: Billy Martin
84-85: Yogi Berra
And while the Yankees weren’t making the playoffs and winning any World Series titles in that period, they were more stable managerially than they were in the 70’s and early 80’s when they were.

The Yankees

2007-10-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

Why is Joe Torre on the hot seat? Did he choose SP Carl Pavano? He's 5-6, 4.77 ERA in 19 starts in 3 YEARS! No postseason appearances. Or SP Jaret Wright? He was 16-12 in 2 seasons, but had a 4.99 ERA. Playoffs, he lasted less than 3 innings and took the loss in his only start. Or RP Kyle Farnsworth? He's 5-7, 6 saves w/ a 4.57 ERA in his two seasons in pinstripes. At least Farnsworth has contributed 3 scoreless innings in the last 2 postseasons. THOSE 3 acquisitions since the collapse against the Red Sox in 2004 are a big reason why the Yankees haven't played an ALCS game since then.

Sandy Berger back with the Clintons

2007-10-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

Why is this criminal working for a campaign? This disgust me to no end. The man should be in JAIL for stealing CLASSIFIED documents from the National Archives during his PREPARATIONS for testimony for the 9/11 COMMISSION. He doesn't go to jail, but Scooter Libby does? And now he gets a job with Hillary's campaign? If they feel the need to keep him on the payroll, maybe they could have him work at the Presidential Library in Arkansas and screen potential partners for Mr Clinton.

Berger

There She Goes Again

2007-10-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

First it was Iraq. How it’s retirement plans. Senator Clinton is making Senator Kerry look like a politician with a consistent stance on issues.

I thought Senator Clinton wasn’t for privatizing Social Security. But now she wants the Federal Government to “match” some worker’s 401k savings, up to $1,000 a year (Income levels 60K and less get the full tax CREDIT, it phases out at 100K). But wait, wasn’t the Democrat’s PRIMARY reasoning for NOT privatizing A PORTION of Social Security the premise that these lower-income investors weren’t intelligent enough to manage their own money? Why is she NOW in favor of letting all of these morons (myself included) manage our own retirement finances?

And then I read in the Washington Post that she doesn't think Social Security is in trouble.... um, there used to be a payer/payee ratio of 16:1, it's now less than 3:1 and it's getting smaller. Oh yeah, that's right. We can get those 12 million illegals on the books and let al-Qeada, Hamas, etc. right through our porous borders and do who knows what harm to our nation. SERENITY NOW!

WSJ 401k

Wash Post

Marion Jones and BALCO

2007-10-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

So Marion Jones came clean over her use of the CLEAR, how about Mr. Barry Bonds? She'll be doing some jail time, losing her gold medals, etc. Does a similar fate await Bonds? I doubt it, he is a little older, wiser, and substantially richer. I may have to hope it comes only in the form of no contract offers for 2008. He can still produce for a fantasy team, but his salary takes up too much of the payroll (for all of the teams outside of NY and BOS) for a team to make the playoffs. I didn't see too many Giants games on TV after he passed Aaron's mark, but I wonder how many sold seats were empty seats in August and September. I hope that the management teams considering Bonds for their squads next season recognize that he was ALL OUT once the Giants communicated that they weren't going to bring him back for 2008. Very professional, Mr. Bonds. How long is Greg Anderson going to sit in the jailhouse for you?

MLB Division Series

2007-10-06T12:00:00.001-07:00

I wasn't too sure that I would like TBS covering the baseball playoffs. But they had the courage to have the Yankees play their first Division Series Game at a time other than 8 PM ET when they slotted the Yankees for the 4:30 start time yesterday and placed the Red Sox and Angels in the 8 PM ET slot. The Yanks had always been in the prime time slot, even when they were facing the Twins, a team with revenues so low that MLB wanted it to cease operations a few years ago.

What I like - Dan Orsillo and Ted Robinson as play-by-play guys. What I don't, Dick Stockton. Has he announced a baseball game since Carlton Fisk's Foul Pole Homerun? He certainly hasn't been involved in any national productions in over 20 years and didn't seem to know the rosters of the Cubs and Diamondbacks during the Arizona games. I understand the logic in not having Braves announcers do the playoff games, but then why would Orsillo (Red Sox) and Robinson (Mets) be ok? And the Braves won't be on TBS anymore, so there isn't a conflict of interest.

Being on the west coast, I also like the 3-6-10 start times for the games. 10 is too late for the east coast fan to follow; it works in basketball because the playoffs are separated by geographic region when the 10 ET slot is used. Whether it works long term in baseball, I'm not sure (I remember the uproar in BOS a few years back when the Sox had 10 pm starts against the A's, so this isn't completely new). I haven't had time to digest the additional off-days, but generally speaking, I'm not for them. They de-value the importance of the 162-game regular season by shrinking the size of a pitching staff that a playoff team has to use.

Nevada!

2007-10-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

I've moved to Nevada to pursue a new work opportunity, loving the lack of STATE INCOME TAX and the sight of Heavenly Ski Area from the workplace. Being 15 minutes from the slopes should make it easier to maximize quality skiing this winter. Speaking of winter, we had some snow stick on the mountains above 6500 feet. The previous accumulations haven't stayed on the ground, but it's a good start to the winter season from a skier's perspective.

If time permits after getting a house picked out and moving in, I hope to be able to resume analysis of the football season and generate some supplemental income.

Hillary's Campaign - Why We are Screwed

2007-08-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

She proposed a 1 BILLION dollar bailout of a 1 TRILLION dollar problem in the mortgage industry. Does she or anyone on her staff understand that a BILLION is a THOUSANDTH of a TRILLION????? So her plan will delay an inevitable foreclosure for 1/1000 homeowners, er, flippers in trouble. Maybe that can be the next Reality TV craze. But what got more analysis in the mainstream press, her attire or her bad financial idea? Her attire! Two days were spent on the cleavage issue, yet no one had the nerve to question her in detail on her poor bailout idea.

Bonds' 756

2007-08-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to see that Sports Illustrated ran a poll on their website asking what readers wanted to see on the cover, Bonds or the NCAA Football preview. It was overwhelming in favor of football, and even in the SF Bay Area football ran on the cover. To new Stanford HC Jim Harbaugh's chagrin, it was the USC Football team. Bonds had a small spot on the cover, but I'm glad that SI didn't run a local cover special for its Bay Area readers.

Selig and Bonds

2007-07-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

I understand why Bud's now on the side of public opinion and critical consensus and against Barry. But Bud's about the money and there's no doubt that Bonds and the other ALLEGED juicers helped generate cold, hard cash for the business after the 94 strike. Commish, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Since you looked the other way when the records were being set and the sports media fawned over these guys, you need to continue to do so or admit that your business FRAUDED its consumers for the better part of a decade. There's got to be a lawyer somewhere that can file and win a class-action lawsuit for steriod/HGH-based fraud against baseball consumers in our country.

Bonds - Flaxseed oil, yeah right. That comes in a tablet and my eye doctor recommended it to me since I wear contact lenses. Game of Shadows doesn't leave much doubt in my mind whether he's clean or not. What bothers me the most is the position that "Baseball didn't have a policy against it, so it was OK". The crap was f#%^#@$#@ ILLEGAL. Baseball shouldn't have to have a separate policy against ILLEGAL substances! And that is why Congress was OK to get involved. Since baseball's disregard for the law was putting its employees at risk to break the law to maintain employment.

All Star Reflections

2007-07-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

MLB's exhibit at the Moscone Center in SF was something I would have loved when I was growing up. This is the first year that I lived in a MLB city hosting an All-Star Game since they started doing that. So I can see where the host city and fans get excited over an exhibition game. (Positive)

Home Run Derby - Shorten it. ESPN listed for 2 hours, but it ran 2:40 w/ one (I think)Overtime Session in the middle round. I don't know why they have 10 outs. Baseball doesn't have 10 of anything... check that, the AL plays 10 men w/ the DH. Make it 9 outs to correspond w/ innings, and shorten it from 3 rounds to 2.

All Star Game - the thing didn't start until almost 9 PM ET! How many little leaguers watched it on DVR instead of live? Either start the pagentry at 7:30 ET or streamline it to have a first pitch by 8:25. And if FOX needs to run that many commercials, it's time for 20 second spots. If we can have 7 second abs, we certainly can have 20 second ads!

LaRussa not hitting his BEST hitter at ALL, saving him for extra innings? He must have listened to Joe Buck do a few football games last fall, suggesting that the Chargers shouldn't hand the ball to LaDamian Tomlinson until the game gets into OVERTIME! (Just to clarify, Buck only does that w/ QB's, somehow thinking that they are like starting pitchers. The similiarities end with throwing the ball. There is no equivalent to Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman in the annals of backup QB's. Those guys become STARTING QB'S).

An Idea for the Border

2007-07-05T22:44:00.001-07:00

LAND MINE IT!

Put signs in Spanish facing Mexico, French facing Quebec, English to the rest of Canada and back towards the U.S. Award teh contract to the Democratic/Liberal equivalent of Haliburton, on 2nd thought, we wouldn't be able to trust that operation. Pay the Minutemen to do it. Include sensors to provide notification when the field needs to be replenished.

It will slow the flow of illegals, drugs, and terrorists into our country and show that we are serious about our borders and soveriengty. I don't care about the Geneva Conventions, if the people crossing the border did, they wouldn't be crossing it in the first place.

We also won't spend money on a costly fence, costly people to patrol it that won't get the support that they need.

Is this war on terror really a BUMPER STICKER?

2007-07-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Earth to John Edwards - you might want to open your eyes and fly commercially to Scotland. At least until you get the jetway installed at your compound in NC.

Now if the guys in charge had smarts, they would send the war criminals from the Jeep with some burn cream down to Guantanamo Bay to put an end to the left's catch and release idea.

Hillary's Soprano's Ad

2007-06-21T23:16:00.001-07:00

It was just like her political campaign and career: NO MATERIAL! Fade to black before communicating anything of substance. Did she spend more time w/ Bill during the taping then in say, 6 months?

Now she's on the record stating that we need to leave Iraq now. She was on the record 5 years ago with HER OWN independent research that we needed to remove Sadaam, starting during her time as FLOTUS, before GWB had an interest in anything other than booze, oil, and baseball. Do a search on YouTube for Hillary talking to the Code Pink group to check it out. It's a good thing that SHE or today's Congress wasn't around in 1949 (four years after WW II ended) to pull the plug on the BERLIN AIR LIFT! Europe might be speaking Russian now instead of a half-dozen different languages!

What will it take for our newsmedia to not follow her around like a bunch of rock star groupies? Oh wait, check out this MSNBC article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113485/

Gotta love FULL DISCLOSURE! Now, if only the UNBIASED, OBJECTIVE news media will do their JOURNALISTIC DUTY that they claim they follow after leaving J-school ;)

Will the Big Stein have to trade Clemens?

2007-05-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Yankees might be too far from the Wild Card by the time that Rocket Man Roger Clemens gets to NY next week. He'll arrive after the Boston series which will disappoint FOX and ESPN since they were going to transmit those games nationally. Maybe he'll start the Monday Night game... ESPN will show that game to a national audience. Will the Yanks be 15 out of the Wild Card by the time Clemens takes the mound? Maybe he can get into Carl Pavano's head and get him on the mound in less than 642 days! Now, that would be something.

The Big Stein Strikes!

2007-05-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

He didn't take out Manager Joe Torre or SP Carl Pavano but instead canned new trainer Marty Miller with all of the starting rotation on the disabled list. Miller apparently was affiliated with 24 Hour Fitness which the Yankees are involved with in a business partnership. Perhaps Roger Clemens can be the head trainer until he's ready to take the mound!

Iraq Funding

2007-05-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

I'm glad that the President vetoed the bill. Was their pork in any of the defense bills while the GOP controlled Congress? If so, then he should not have referenced that AND ONLY referenced the withdrawl timetable provision. If the Dems can enact a law requiring military deployments right before a Presidential election, then how come the GOP can't choose new federal attorneys? Riddle me that one, Batman!

Imus

2007-04-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

He finally got canned for an outrageous comment.

Where's AlGore?

2007-04-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

Was he in Cleveland last weekend when the Indians were snowed out 4 days in a row AND moved a 3-game series to Milwaukee (which has a retractable-roof stadium) to avoid falling too far behind its schedule?

MLB Extra Innings

2007-04-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

So glad that Mass. Senator John F. Kerry threatened to review MLB's exclusive contract with Directv wrt MLB's antitrust exemption status. If MLB felt it would generate more revenue from Directv only, it should have been free to do so. I wouldn't need to switch since there still are a good number of Braves games available on TBS. Sen. Kerry should have spent his time attending Senate Intelligence Commitee Meetings, or at least enough time watching the Red Sox to know that Manny Ortez isn't on the roster; that the #3 and #4 hitters are David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (at least for now).

Timetables

2007-03-27T22:02:00.001-07:00

For leaving Iraq is within the next 12 months... guess we are about 58 years late leaving Germany and Japan!

Sweet Sixteen

2007-03-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday was an exciting day with numerous overtime games and buzzer beater attempts. Sunday didn't have that drama, though the National Game of Tennessee-Virginia feaured a last-second attmept to force overtime to hook the viewers for the remaining 7 games in the second and third timeslots.

I was impressed that Texas A&M effectively won a road game against Louisville in Lexington while Acie Law IV wasn't dominating the last 4 minutes of regulation like he normally does. UCLA-Indiana: glad that I didn't get tickets to that abomniation in Sacramento. That offensive display made the 1990's Big East look smooth.

No double-digit seeds still alive: all of the top seeds understood the risks associated with a single-game elimination tournament and were ready to meet the challenge of the underdog... it's a good thing that I spent my time on the ski slopes on Thursday and Friday instead of at the Lake Tahoe sportsbooks. Spring conditions were fun, sunny all day with high temps in the 60's on the mountain.

CBS has ditched the sideline girl from their coverage... will NBC and FOX follow? I don't think that ESPN(ABC) will since Bonnie Bernstein went there from CBS and landed the Sunday Night Baseball spot and they have both Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya on the sidelines for Monday Night football.

Super Bowl 41

2007-02-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Indianapolis 31 (-7.5) Chicago 20. The Bears shouldn't be viewed as large underdogs, QB Rex Grossman isn't a bad quarterback, he's an inexperienced QB. They should try to hammer the Colts with their power running game. RBs Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson will take aim at the weak Colts run defense... speaking of which, the Colts did add 2 better players (LB Rob Morris and S Bob Sanders) to their starting lineup for the playoffs, which can explain how a defense that allowed more than 100 yards rushing in every game during the regular season can hold 3 straight playoff opponents under 100 yards rushing. The Colts' offense has been more ball-control than pass-happy... perhaps that's why they're playing in their first Super Bowl in 36 years! The Colts will continue the AFC run in the Super Bowl.

Wow

2007-01-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

What a game in the AFC Championship tonight. The Colts exorcised their demon tonight. I was driving home from reserve duty and tuned in time to listen to Asante Samuel's INT for a TD to give the Patriots a 21-3 lead over the Colts. The Colts had won their last 2 meetings against the Pats, but accomplished that by taking an early lead and dictating the flow and pace of the game. When the Colts scored before halftime to make it 21-6, they were still on the edge. The Pats didn't go down easy, re-taking the lead 3 times after the Colts tied the game up. Unfortunately for them, the last 2 times, they only added field goals, leaving the Colts an opportunity to pass them. On the Colts' third attempt, they scored the TD that they needed to take the lead.

Marty-ball struck the Patriots... WR Reche Caldwell had a couple of drops, he was picked up by a teammate on the drop in the end zone, but the other one the Pats weren't able to overcome. Then, Colts DB Marvin Jackson simply went down after intercepting Brady in the final minute, not allowing Troy Brown the opportunity to take the ball away.

I was able to see part of the 1st quarter of the Bears-Saints game during lunch. The Saints had 3 turnovers, but only dug themselves a 6-0 hole. They fell further behind, but got a TD before half, and then early in the 3rd, Reggie Bush scored from 88 yards out to cut the deficit to 2. But with only 56 yards rushing, they weren't able to win the line of scrimmage, and the Bears scored 3 TDs in the 4th to pull away.

Divisional Playoffs

2007-01-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

The Colts and the Patriots will meet for the 3rd time in 4 seasons Sunday night. It will be the first meeting in the RCA Dome though. Unlike previous postseasons, this time the Colts are playing their best defensively. Peyton Manning hasn't produced great numbers (1 TD, 5 INT), but has led the Colts to 2 wins. The long drive for K Adam Viniateri's 5th FG last Saturday was a drive that previous Colts teams didn't get the chance to execute since they played from behind in their losses to New England.

No doubt LT was incensed at the end of the NE-SD game... 4 turnovers, numerous personal fouls, dropped passes, etc., etc., etc. by his teammates. NE QB Tom Brady made the lion's share of the Patriots' mistakes, but without a running game, he was the center of their offense. Brady kept returning to the line to make the next play without thinking about getting chippy with the opponent.

Neither the Colts or Patriots are as formidable as they were in 2003 or 2004... some of the names that won't be on the backs of jerseys... IND: RB Edjerrin James, WR Brandon Stokeley, NE: DE/LB Willie McGinnest, S Rodney Harrison, and CB Ty Law. Neither team had a bye, an advantage that the Patriots had before the 2003 and 2004 playoff meetings. I'm looking forward to the late game on Sunday, the Colts had better show up ready to play; in the 2004 game they looked defeated at halftime despite only trailing 6-3.

Swamped!

2007-01-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

I hope that Ohio St QB Troy Smith made a beeline for his Heisman Trophy and handed it to WR Ted Ginn Jr. when the Buckeyes' plane landed in Columbus. If Smith was auditioning for the Raiders' QB position for next season, well he didn't show them anything they didn't already have on their roster!

Florida was outstanding in all phases of the game after the opening kickoff. They spread the field horizontally on offense, didn't do it veritcally because they didn't need to take that risk. It was such a dominating performance, I thought Florida must have had 12 men on the field the WHOLE GAME! Were they playing Canadian Rules?

I would have liked to have seen USC's speedier defense against UF's offense. I don't think that the Trojans would have fared too much better against the Gator defense though. USC couldn't run the ball against an above-average defense, forget about an outstanding one.

BCS Championship Game

2007-01-07T21:58:00.001-08:00

It's finally going to be played tomorrow night... I'll need to read the previews in SI and TSN before kickoff to remember the names of anyone besides Ohio State QB Troy Smith, WR Ted Ginn Jr., and Florida QB's Chris Leak and Tim Tebow. Oh, and New England WR Reche Caldwell's brother since CBS's Jim Nantz dropped that bit in during today's AFC Playoff Game.

My pick: Ohio State 33 (-8) Florida 20. The Buckeyes have been aggressive on offense this season in contrast to their 2001-2 Championship team. They've played against Northwestern's version of the spread offense and held Vince Young's Longhorns to 22 points in an early season game last year, so I think that they're more likely to contain Florida's offense than vice versa.

NFL Wildcards:
I figured that the Colts would win, but 0 first downs allowed in the first 40 minutes? Peyton had better get back on track with Marvin Harrison; they won't survive 3 INT's in Baltimore next week.

The Cowboys... John Madden tried to call for Romo to hit Witten in the back of the end zone, similar to Stabler hitting Dave Casper in OT against the Colts back in the 77.... his reminder that there's no such thing as a sure thing in the kicking game. Thus, the Seachickens were able to earn their first victory against a team with a winning record this season! Next up are the Bears, who have been showing Rex Grossman film of their 37-6 pounding of Seattle to try to restore his skills.

The Patriots pulled away from the Jets late, they will need similar balance and more big plays next week in San Diego. I'll definitely be watching that game on the wall.

The Eagles ran an awful lot, and ran effectively. It's been a few years since the Saints were in the playoffs, so I'm not sure how well they will perform. Their offense has a lot of options and creative play calling to take advantage of their skills.

Did Notre Dame deserve their BCS Berth?

2007-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

ND lost decisively to 2 BCS teams, Michigan and USC. Thus, the 27-point margin of victory by LSU in its home state in the Sugar Bowl's return to New Orleans shouldn't be a surprise.

In terms of not deserving to being the BCS, lets look at facts.

1. Money drives the BCS.

A. ND is the "home" college football team for the Northeast Megalopolis from Washington to Boston. (Penn St. probably has a majority in Philly, but that is it.) How many Rutgers fans were there before this season? Growing up in NYC, the Scarlet Knights DIDN'T have highlights shown from their games, just the scores. BC has had its moments and is building a successful program, but is a "safety" school for ND applicants. Our nation's money is concentrated in the NE, so ND offers the ability to generate the money for the BCS bowls ($15 million PER bowl).

B. With the Plus-1 game and a limit of 2 teams per BCS Conference, there is a pretty good chance that a low-revenue team or two will earn a BCS berth. How many fans did Wake and its 4,500 student body bring to the Orange Bowl? Or Boise State to the Fiesta Bowl? ND could fill a bowl game in each time zone if it were to play that type of schedule during the length of the Bowl Season. A guaranteed revenue generator is needed to offset the likes of Louisville, Wake Forest, and Boise State.

C. How many regular season Division I-A college football games has NBC televised in the last 25 years that weren't at Notre Dame Stadium? ZERO. That number WOULDN'T be higher if CBS, FOX, or ABC had negotiated for the contract.

D. Of the teams in BCS Conferences that didn't make the BCS, which ones earned a spot? Texas lost twice in a row to close the season to Kansas St and AM. There was no guarantee that their BE was going to be back for the bowl game. ND beat Georgia Tech. Rutgers or West Virginia - you can't lose to the likes of Cincinnati or South Florida in November and lay claim to a BCS berth. Cal - Tennessee is still scoring Tads against them.

E. Matchups - The bowls pick the matchups. 1 v 2 in the Title Game. Big 10-Pac 10 in the Rose Bowl. ACC in Orange, SEC in Sugar, Big 12 in Fiesta. The Sugar picked first for the open slot (since it was played closest to the Title game) and picked the best money generator from Boise St, Notre Dame, Louisville, and the rest (LSU beat out the other 108 I-A teams to be their opponent as a substitution for Florida).

2. I don't like ND's "automatic" qualification for the BCS, do the Yankees get a playoff berth if they win 85 games regardless of what place they finish? That being said, ND players don't charge the field and windmill their helmets into the opposition like some players team captains do!

The answer: Yes.

From Zap2It Ratings for Tuesday Night's Louisville-Wake Forest Game:

TV viewers were more into "SVU" than the BCS Tuesday, allowing NBC to score a ratings win opposite FOX's college football.

NBC averaged an 8.6 rating/13 share for the night, scoring a fairly sizable victory over FOX, 6.4/10. CBS was a close third at 6.2/10. ABC came in fourth with a 3.9/6, and The CW trailed at 1.3/2.

In the adults 18-49 demographic, NBC's 4.1 rating was tops, beating out FOX's 3.4. CBS averaged 2.5, followed by ABC, 2.0, and The CW, 0.8.

Wednesday Night's Ratings post:

FOX won the night with a 9.0 rating/14 share among households. CBS finished second at 6.9/11, a point ahead of NBC's 5.9/9. ABC drew a 4.1/6, and The CW came in fifth with a 3.0/5.

College football also led FOX to the top among adults 18-49, where it scored a 4.9 rating. CBS finished second in the demographic with a 3.2. NBC was third at 3.0, followed by ABC, 2.5, and The CW, 2.2.

The Sugar Bowl, featuring LSU and Notre Dame, delivered an 8.4/13 for FOX at 8 p.m. "The King of Queens" and a "Two and a Half Men" repeat were second for CBS. "According to Jim" premiered on ABC with two episodes, averaging 4.6/7. NBC's "Friday Night Lights" drew a 4.3/7 in its Wednesday debut, on par with its average on Tuesdays. The season premiere of "Beauty and the Geek" on The CW earned a 2.8/4.

FOX's Sugar Bowl coverage jumped to a 9.3/14 at 9 p.m., holding off CBS' "Criminal Minds" rerun, 7.9/12. NBC moved up to third with "Deal or No Deal," 7.1/11. ABC dropped one spot with the premieres of "The Knights of Prosperity," 4.4/7, and "In Case of Emergency," 3.9/6. "Beauty and the Geek" improved a little on The CW.

The Sugar Bowl held steady for FOX at 10 p.m., posting a 9.3/15. A "CSI: NY" rerun on CBS was second at 7.1/12. "Medium," 6.3/10, put NBC in third, ahead of ABC's "Primetime."

NFC 6 Seed, Anyone? Anyone?

2006-12-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

Can the NFL just cancel the NFC's #6 playoff seed this season? 5 teams are 7-8 heading into the final weekend; amazingly, none of them play one another. That means there could be a 7-9 playoff team for the first time in league history. And the late Lamar Hunt wanted to add two more playoff teams! It's the NFL, not the NHL!

The pretenders:

NY Giants - they have won once since November 5th, over a Carolina team that hadn't learned the best way to win with Chris Weinke at QB was to take him OFF the field on 3rd downs and run the single wing offense with an extra TE to block. The Giants are without a bunch of top players, they haven't been playing to the level of their opponent, the Redskins, the past 2 months. Outcome: LOSS.

St Louis - they face the Vikings, who amassed 3 first downs and about 100 yards last week in Green Bay. The Rams got close to that in OVERTIME last week against the Redskins. This game will be in a dome; outcome: WIN.

Carolina - last week they learned how to win with Chris Weinke at QB... bench him on 3rd downs to prevent the possibility of interceptions. He did throw a 1 TD pass for the winning margin in a 10-3 win over the Falcons. The bad news: they will need more than 1 TD to defeat the high-scoring Saints. Outcome: LOSS.

Atlanta - they couldn't extend Weinke's losing streak to 18 games because they were as bad offensively. The Eagles are due for a letdown after sweeping all 3 NFC East rivals on the road, but the division title is in sight for them and I don't see the Falcons showing up ready to play in this one. Outcome: LOSS.

Green Bay - they'll know their fate when they take the field in the PrimeTime Game on NBC. The Bears didn't play last season's "meaningless" finale to win, will they do the same this year? Outcome: WIN.

SEATTLE - they are 8-7 and clinched their division title the Mike Tice way - by losing! They dropped games to powerhouses Arizona and San Francisco before coming from ahead to lose to San Diego last week. Aizona's victory over SF clinched the division title for Seattle, will they show up to play in Tampa, on the East Coast? Outcome: LOSS. The result: an 8-8 division champion to host a 9-7 or 10-6 wild card team (PHI or DAL)!

Justin Timberlake?

2006-12-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

What is CBS thinking having him perform next week during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show? Don't they remember what happened the last time that he appeared on national TV with a woman not wearing much clothing, maybe even some Victoria's Secret clothing? Carolina v. New England in the Super Bowl... a Super Bowl that aired on CBS!

Baseball HOF Voting

2006-11-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

Mark McGwire - no way. He hit a very significant portion (42%) of his career home runs between 1996 and 1999 while he was on the juice. He had to be on the juice, the only logical conclusion one could draw following his Congressional Testimony before the 2005 season "I'm not here to talk about the past." His career numbers from 1987 to 1995 weren't above average for the league. He had some nice home run totals, but didn't hit for a respectable average from 1989-91 (.235 OR LESS). He missed most of 1993 and 1994 due to injuries. When the steriod wing of the Hall of Fame opens in Tijuana (late Padres 3B Ken Caminiti's source), McGwire can be inducted in the innaugural class. Similarly, hit leader Pete Rose can go in with Joe Jackson to the Vegas wing.

Thanksgiving Football

2006-11-21T21:40:00.000-08:00

There is a third game in the 8ET timeslot. It's Denver at Kansas City, of note is an AFC team hosting a game. It will air on the NFL Network (available in HD depending on satellite/cable service provider) instead of broadcast or ESPN (though I think the DEN and KC network affiliates will have the opportunity to air the game locally. I wonder if it will draw a higher rating than the lame Lions in the 12ET time slot.

12:30 PM ET - Miami 23 Detroit 10. I'm wondering if the NFL is going to cancel the Lions' hosting Thanksgiving football if GM Matt Millen isn't gone before the next schedule is made. Maybe they can threaten Detroit with Flex Scheduling for THEIR Thanksgiving game. I'm not too disappointed that I'll be in the car for the start of this game!

4:15 PM ET - Dallas 27 Tampa Bay 13. Tampa will have to come up with a Herculean effort to defeat the surging Cowboys. I fear having to listen to Joe Buck announce this game.

I'm not surprised by Cowboy PK Mike Vanderjagt's struggles, search for his name (CTRL-F) in my post following the Steelers-Colts game last season:

http://webjavaworld.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_webjavaworld_archive.html

2005 Playoffs - Steelers 20, Colts 17. MV missed way wide right at end of regulation (46 yds)
2004 Opener - Patriots 30, Colts 27. MV missed way wide right at end of regulation (44 yds)
2000 Playoffs - MV missed way wide right in overtime (42 yds).

Once, an isolated incident. Twice, a trend. Three times, ... Houston, we have a problem.

8:00 ET Denver 23 Kansas City 17. Al Davis can't be happy that the AFC West rivalry being showcased in this one doesn't involve his Raiders, but I can't remember the last time they won an AFC West game. OK, it was in the snow against the Broncos in 2004 (the snow is the only reason I remember that). The Broncos were ambushed by LaDanian Tomlinson and the Chargers in the second half last week, the East Coast newspaper audience had to think that the writers just changed some names and numebrs from the Cincinnati game the week before! QB Jake Plummer hasn't played well this season and needs to rediscover his 2005 form.

BCS - Michigan played well enough in my mind that they could end up behind USC, Florida, Arkansas, or maybe West Virginia should those teams win out. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, college football polling isn't like a golf competition where a low score can be posted early and hold up on its own merit. USC, Florida, and Arkansas all have games left against good (UCLA, Florida State) and excellent (Notre Dame, LSU, Ark-Fla: each other) teams on their schedule that offer the opportunity to leave a strong impression with the voters. The challengers to #2 ranked according to the probability they can pass Michigan:

USC - Still has to win two more games, and this team has been winning ugly. They called on a backup kicker to kick a 49-yard field goal to tie up Cal at 9-9 in the 3rd quarter. Their last TD came on a 4th and 2 downfield pass (I was happy to see a formation with WR's in it, unlike last year's alignment agianst Texas).

Fla - They cleaned up on Western Carolina last week. I-AA opponent? This week's game against FSU shouldn't be a difficult victory, even if it's a rivalry game.

WV - Their one loss was on the road to Louisville, stud RB Steve Slaton was injured in the second half, they fell behind while he was out. If they beat Rutgers at home they might (unlikely based on current BCS rankings) challenge the Wolverines.

Ark - They lost 50-14 to USC, and their SEC road wasn't as challenging as Florida's.

ND - They won't be able to overcome their 47-21 loss to Michigan; the Wolverines are in the BCS clubhouse ahead of the Irish.

BCS Analysis and Forecast

2006-11-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

#1 Ohio State v. #2 Michigan - The winner is in the title game, the loser goes to the Rose Bowl unless every other Division 1 team has at least 2 losses. The loser might be #2, but I don't think that it has distinguished itself so much from the other 115 Div I-A teams to get two shots at the #1 team before the other 1-loss teams get a 1st (save for ND v. Michigan rematch. If Ohio State is competitive w/ the Wolverines and ND is 10-1, then I would consider a rematch since ND was trounced by Michigan).

#3 USC - I think that they are correctly ranked here. I am a fan, but believe that their non-conference schedule of likely SEC West Champ Arkansas, likely Big 12 North Champ Nebraska, and Notre Dame (see #5) more than overcomes the difference between the Pac-10 and the SEC, Big 10, etc. That being said, I don't see this team winning its reamining 3 games in LA. Cal, Notre Dame, and UCLA are all much better than the triumverate of Arizona State, Washington State, and Washington, all of whom were within a TD of USC in the 4th quarter and had possession of the football.

#4 Florida - They have stumbled since their loss to Auburn but have avoided a second loss. Non-conference schedule: Florida State (which hasn't lost LESS than 4 games since 2000), Southern Miss (ok), Central Florida (?), and Western Carolina (??). No non-conference games against a quality BCS conference team? Did Bill Snyder of Kansas State make this schedule?

#5 Notre Dame - Beat Georgia Tech, tops in ACC. 3-1 against the Big 11, but was mauled by Michigan 47-21, so I don't like the idea of putting them in a rematch. 2-0 against the Pac 10 w/ USC remaining. 2-0 against the Service Academies w/ Army remaining. They might want to look into playing SEC teams more frequently to take away some the SEC fodder "it's the best conference"... they don't (need to play) Army and Air Force every year.

#6 Rutgers - This probably is where they should be until we see them play West Virginia. Before any of their supporters point out that they defeated Illinois by 33 while Ohio State won by 7, they only beat a horrific North Carolina team by 5. The Big East is easliy the weakest of all the BCS conferences and Rutgers' non-conference schedule isn't that tough (Hey Florida, at least it has some BCS conference teams!): North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, Howard, and Navy. Navy is the only team heading to a bowl, but they don't earn many of the required 6 wins against BCS conference teams.

#7 Arkansas - They were taken behind the woodshed by USC in their opener 50-14. The rest of the non-conference slate: Utah St. (?), SE Mo St.(??), Lousiana Monroe (???). They are probably even with Notre Dame in my mind.

#8 West Virginia - I think that they will defeat Rutgers at home. Many BCS suits will be pulling for them as well to prevent the playoff talk that will erupt if an undefeated Rutgers team is displaced in the title game by a 1-loss USC, Florida, or Notre Dame team.

This season is a great example to me of why a playoff isn't in college football's best interest. USC had 1 too many turnovers against Oregon State and had no shot at the championship game until FOUR 1-loss teams lost last Saturday. Florida's lackluster non-conference schedule has it behind a similar 1-loss USC team. Rutgers is undefeated, but there might be more than 3 undefeated Div I-A teams if they played the Scarlet Knights' schedule. I'd be intrigued by a 12-0 Rutgers team, I need to see that first.

Forecast:
#1 Ohio State over Michigan (Jim Tressel owns the Wolverines the way they owned John Cooper).
#3 USC loses at least once to Cal, ND, or UCLA.
#4 Florida wins out over Western Carloina, Florida State, and Arkansas.
#5 Notre Dame wins out.. If the over/under for USC is in the 50s, go under. The two offenses will try to limit the amount of time their defenses are on the field.
#6 Rutgers - loses to West Virginia.
#7 Arkansas - loses to LSU and Florida.

Title Game - Ohio State v. Florida (****FOX, PLEASE SPARE US FROM JOE BUCK. JUST ONCE!****)