I Will Eat My Crow, But I’m Not Going To Like It

Posted: January 8, 2013 in NCAA
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eat

Ok so that was a complete beatdown last night by Alabama against Notre Dame. Simply put, Alabama is on a whole other level than the rest of the college football world. For those of you who believe that Notre Dame should not have been there in the first place…who else should have taken their spot and actually been able to compete with Alabama who had 40 days to prepare? Oregon? Oregon couldn’t beat Stanford at home, whom Notre Dame beat. Texas A&M? Yes they beat Alabama, but they couldn’t handle Florida or LSU at home. So please just stop with the nonsense and accept that Alabama is just better. I had to come to that conclusion last night, and it was a very bitter pill to swallow.

Now Alabama isn’t perfect..their secondary is suspect, and I’m not convinced McCarron is that great of a QB. I mean when you can read War and Peace in the pocket before having to throw the ball, anyone can look good. However, what made Alabama so great, is that offensive line. It made the front seven of Notre Dame look like a high school team…and it isn’t. The ND front seven has as much girth as any college team in the nation, and still looked small and slow.

So, that is another College Football Season in the books and the last of no playoffs. The four team playoff might not fix everything wrong with college football, but at least it is a start. I really wish we didn’t have to go another year with this terrible system. Hopefully, after a year or two, football will realize just how great a playoff system can be with 8 or 16 teams. Then, we can crown a true national champion. Now it is on to College Basketball and the second half of the NBA and the beginning of the NHL. Although Xavier is down, I have no dog in the fight in the NBA, and the NHL is just about to begin, this still may be one of my favorite parts of the sports calendar.

Can We Stop Talking about How Dominant the SEC is now?

Posted: January 3, 2013 in NCAA
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Because it just isn’t true. The hype machine that is the worldwide leader has fed the public this line for years now, based on the fact that they have a huge stake in the conference. The fact is that yes, the most dominant team in college football for the past six years has come from the SEC, that does not mean that the conference as a whole is the most dominant conference from top to bottom.

Alabama might make it seven in a row for the conference ( I am not of that opinion,) but it could happen. However, again that just means that the most dominant team came from the conference, nothing more nothing less. Also, unlike most teams in college football, if you are a member of the SEC you get the benefit of losing a game or two yet still have the chance at even competing in the title game, based on the perception that the conference is the best. What exactly has Alabama proven over a team like Oregon that they get the nod instead of the Ducks or the Wildcats from K State? They haven’t…it is just perceptionthat has been built up for more than a decade now from the sports media world.

Take this year’s bowl results so far….Florida’s offense was exposed against Louisville, Clemson beat LSU with arguably their best player out from the first play of the game, Northwestern beat Miss St. All the SEC teams have done so far is beat a mediocre Nebraska team that lost by thirty against a 7-5 Wisconsin team, beat a suspect 8-4 Michigan team, and an N.C State team who was 7-5. That’s dominant? Hmmm…maybe the sports media world and the American public need to realize there are good teams outside of the South.

teddy

BCS Stands for Big Conference Schools

Posted: October 22, 2012 in NCAA
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That is all that is ever invited to the “dance” in the current College Football Championship, and it will be the same when the four team “playoff” starts in two years.

For the sake of argument, and because I am pretty familiar with the team, let’s take a look at the University of Louisville Football team. Currently they are 7-0, in a mediocre conference, with no big wins of note. The only possible big time win they could have this year is at the end of the season when they go on the road to Rutgers. Both of these teams could be undefeated at that time, and both would be ranked somewhere between 8-15 in the country. Again for the sake of argument, let’s say that both teams are undefeated until their matchup and Louisville wins that matchup. Best case scenario they move up to about 6-7 in the country. They will be behind any other undefeated squads sans Ohio U, and probably behind a one loss Sec or Big 12 team or two. That is just the way it is in College Football, and it isn’t right.

Save Room at the Table

Now do I think that Louisville is better than an undefeated SEC or Big 12 team…or even a one loss team from either of these conferences? Eye test tells me no. It isn’t like Louisville is playing good competition, and they aren’t blowing out the teams that are on their schedule. However, why don’t they even get the chance to play the “big boys” at the end of the season? I doubt anyone thought that Butler would go to back to back National Championship Games in Basketball…but hey at least they got the chance to prove they could! The system is screwed up and why does anyone think that the four game “playoff” is going to be any better??

Louisville doesn’t have a freaking chance in either of these systems, neither does Ohio U from the MAC who may also go undefeated. Well why don’t they schedule tougher non-conference games you might say?? Well Louisville tries, but people won’t play them. Georgia backed out of a home and home just a few years ago. It could do more potential harm than good for a Big 12 or SEC team to play a good college football team outside of their conference. There is just no point….it isn’t like they are playing for seeding in a tournament and need that signature road win outside of their conference. There is zero initiative.

So, what is a team like Louisville to do? Well nothing except win the games that are on their schedule. Sadly, unless they change conferences, it isn’t going to matter when it comes to the Championship game. Louisville could go undefeated for the next three years and still won’t get to sit at the big boys table. It’s not fair, but that is just the way it is. Here is my question….why are the College Presidents, Conference Commissioners, and the Media trying to persuade us that everything is going to be great in two years when this new system is in place? All it is doing is inviting more big boys to the big boy table for big boy money….whoopdeefreakingdo!

Mizzou Tigers Mid-Season Report

Posted: October 16, 2012 in NCAA
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Coaching, Coaching and more Coaching. That is what I have realized it takes to win in College Football, well that and a relatively healthy offensive line. Of which, the Missouri Tigers have neither.

My SEC biased friends and foes will tell me that the reason the Tigers are having so much trouble, is because the SEC is just far above and away the best conference. However, what I am here to tell you is that the reason the Tigers are having so much trouble this year is because Ned Yost has the IQ of a four year old and he runs the Missouri offense. Also, the offensive line has seven offensive linemen who have been injured. Again, Sec Fans will say “well you have to have depth in this league.” Well, there is depth and then there is starting 3rd stringers against basically an NFL defense in Alabama.

Anyways, back to Mr. Peroxide Ned Yost. The guy is a complete moron. He believes that running sweeps, end arounds, qb draws with a hurt qb, and throwing the ball 40 times a game is a way to beat SEC defenses. First of all, with a hurt offensive line running end arounds, sweeps and throwing the ball is the exact opposite of what someone should do. Anyone with a grade school football mind will tell you that. The name of the game is to run straight at the opposing defense because 1.) the offensive line doesn’t have to hold up as long, and 2.) it is just easier to run block than it is to pass block.

However, the peroxide in Yost’s hair has seemed to affect the ability for Oxygen to get into hs brain because he refuses to see it. Now I am going to throw Alabama out because that team is jut ridiculous and there is nothing that could have been done to prevent that massacre. Mizzou just does not have the horses, nor does 99 percent of the college football teams out there. However, let’s take a look at some general stats of the other 3 SEC games.

Georgia— Pass 41 times!! 14 rushes with a running back for 84 yards…avg. 6 yards a carry

South Carolina–Pass 26 times! rush 16 times with a running back for 71 yards…avg of 4.4 per carry

Vanderbilt—Pass 40 times!! rush 26 times with a running back for 123 yards…4.7 per carry

Kendial Lawrence, Missouri’s leading rusher, in these three SEC games had 200 yards rushing on 40 attempts…for all you math geniuses out there that is 5 yards a carry.

Marcus Murphy, Lawrence’s backup, had 72 yards rushing on 8 attempts..that is 9 yards a carry.

Look at that cute little face Yost…give this man the damn ball!

 You would think that Yost would see these stats and think “hmm..maybe I should run the ball more with my running backs and not my wide receivers or quarterbacks.” However, I doubt it…this is the same Yost who refused to run against two D-linemen in the Navy Bowl Game a few years back, a game Missouri also lost. You would also think that Yost would take of Franklin’s shoulder that had surgery on it over the summer and not have him run QB draws and throw the ball 40 times. However, nope screw it…just like Sexy Rexy Grossman, Yost says throw it!

So now to make matters worse, Franklin is injured and a redshirt Freshman is QB…you would think ok now Yost will run the ball with the running backs…heck no! Throw it out there Berkstresser! Yost needs to go, and if Pinkel is going to keep defending him, he needs to go too.

 

Another Red October

Posted: October 15, 2012 in MLB
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As Pujols lays in his bed of millions, The Saint Louis Cardinals are once again in the NLCS. In fact, the last two World Champions are playing against each other in the NLCS.

It is amazing to me how many national sports writers and so called experts out there believed that the Cardinals were going to fall off the radar this year due to Pujols and Larussa being gone. In the same breath, they believed that the Angels were almost assuredly guaranteed a playoff spot. In a post at the beginning of the season, I reported the complete opposite. The Cardinals would go to the playoffs and the Angels would be testing their golf game early. Baseball, more than any sport is not just one man, nor one manager. This has been proven over and over and over again. When are the experts going to wise up to this simple fact?

The reason the Cardinals are so successful is because they are the best run organization in baseball top to bottom…period. The second best run organization isn”t even in the Cardinals rear view mirror. Call it arrogance, call it pompous, but it is the truth. Fans fill up the stadium, managers develop their players, and the front office doesn’t try to keep up with the Jones’ or the “Benjamins” like so many teams do.  The Cardinals have developed a culture of winning, a culture of respect, and a culture of ”I want to be better, so that my team is better.” I liken it to a well run company whose margins keep growing because the employees have a will to win, a will to beat out the competition.

The Cardinals are not just one bloated contract after another. They have a balance of young and old, well paid and minimal contracts, high strung and calm personalities, but most of all a will to win more than any other team. That will to win  has been on display a lot in the past year or so. Carpenter taking the mound in game five against Hallady of the Phillies last year, being down to their last strike twice in game 6 of the World Series last year, and again being down to their last strike in game 5 against the Nationals this year. This team is resilient and never says die. Now I am not guaranteeing another World Series victory this year. Anything can happen in the playoffs, and there are some good teams left. However, what I am saying is that this team will fight to the death more than any other team, and they will be fun to watch for as long as they are in it. Hopefully, they will once again raise the trophy, but if not, there is always next year. The Cardinals aren’t going away, so haters you better just accept it.

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