The state of Texas is sending seven teams to the NCAA Tournament, tying the record that was set by California in 2002.
At least one team from the Lone Star State is guaranteed to advance to the second round as Baylor will play Southland Conference champion Sam Houston St. But beside one of them, it is very possible that the rest of the Texas teams could be eliminated in time for the second round.
Fifth-seeded Texas A&M in the South Regional begins the tournament against Utah State. If there is one team that is capable of making a little run, it is the Aggies who should stroll into the Sweet 16 where they would have a home-court advantage in Houston’s Reliant Stadium. But a likely matchup with Duke could turn into trouble for the Aggies who have struggled from long distance this year.
Eighth-seeded Texas in the East Regional enters the tournament with a big question mark. The team has fallen off and become only the second team to be the top-ranked team earlier in the season and end up being an eight seed or lower. Damion James has to take over if the Longhorns have any chance of advancing in the tournament. Longhorn fans may prematurely looking ahead to Kentucky, but cannot forget that Wake Forest is no walk in the park.
12th-seeded UTEP in the West Regional begins the NCAA Tournament against another mid-major team in Butler. The Miners are coming off of a disappointing loss in the C-USA finals to the Houston, but have what it takes to be a bracket buster and pull off an upset or two. UTEP has good size and an aggressive nature that should worry future opponents. The Miners just need to make sure they don’t let leads slip away and commit stupid turnovers.
13th-seeded Houston is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992. The Cougars will face Maryland in the first round in the Midwest regional. Although Maryland has not been very consistant on the season, the Cougars have not either. They showed they can win without the nation’s leading scorer Aubrey Coleman who struggled in the C-USA championship on Saturday, but Maryland and Greivis Vasquez should make it a quick trip to Spokane for the Cougars.
The Mean Green of North Texas enters the tournament for the second consecutive year. This year they will have a chance to shock the world as a 15th seed against Kansas State in the West Regional. The Sun Belt Champions will be well rested for the Wildcats, but should not cause much of a probably for Frank Martin’s squad. The Mean Green have four players who average at least 10 points, but do not have the size and athleticism that the Wildcats bring into the tournament.
But then again, it is March and anything is possible.
The final week of the college basketball regular season begins this week and we are approaching arguable the best four days of the sports year.
The first and second rounds are approaching, and I feel that anyone is capable of winning it all. There is no clear-cut choice of who is No. 1. Expect one or possibly two top seeds to fall in the second round and for a five, six or seven seed to make the Final Four.
It is too hard to know now since we haven’t even seen a bracket, but here is who I think can make a run deep into March and possibly make it to Indianapolis. And since I mainly watch the Big 12, I am not going to try to analyze anything else and talk about things that I really have no clue about.
Obvious favorite:
Kansas: Sherron Collins is the most dangerous player in college basketball and is the player I would most want to have the ball in the waning seconds of a game (see 2007 Final Four). The Jayhawks are loaded with superstars and have been there before. They have what it takes to win it all.
Sleepers:
Texas A&M: Mark Turgeon has his Aggies playing energetic and exciting basketball. There are no superstars on this team, but they play smart basketball and use good teamwork and when on their game are capable of pulling off an upset.
Kansas State: They are not really a sleeper, because everyone already knows how good they are. But the Wildcats have lots of talent that plays well together. They will probably be a two or three seed and should cruise to the Sweet 16 and possibly the Elite Eight.
Baylor: All six of the Bears’ losses were close games that could have easily gone the other way. LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter are the most underrated pair of players on any team in college basketball and will show it in the tournament.
First-Round Exits:
Texas: Has any team fallen off worse than the Longhorns who less than two months ago were the top team in the nation? As much as it kills me to say, the Longhorns are the most underachieving team in the country and will not make it out of the first round of the tournament. With all of the talent they have, it is hard to imagine this, but Rick Barnes’ squad is not who we thought they were.
Oklahoma State: James Anderson is fun to watch, but he does not have enough support around him. The win against top-ranked Kansas was a rare game when the entire Cowboy squad was playing at its best and the Jayhawks took a night off.
I can’t wait to see how wrong I am about all of these!
The players don’t want to play. And the fans aren’t going to watch.
So what is the point of the Pro Bowl?
After six months of taking a beating in practice and games, the Pro Bowl is the worst all-star game in all of professional sports.
It is understandable why these men would not want to play. And to make matters even worse, it is no longer a week-long luxurious trip in Hawaii as the game was moved to the site of the Super Bowl beginning this year.
A “Sporting News” columnist wrote that they call it the Pro Bowl because you only need to be a professional to be able to play. I could not agree more. There are seven Pro Bowl quarterbacks. Originally named to the roster was Peyton Manning who is playing in the Super Bowl and Tom Brady and Philip Rivers who are “nursing injuries.” Even the first alternate Ben Roethlisberger dropped out.
So leading the offense on Sunday for the AFC will be the combination of Matt Schaub, Vince Young and David Garrard.
In a sport that requires hard hits and constant aggressiveness, the Pro Bowl allows neither. There are injuries in every football game every week during the regular season and even in the preseason.
There is no reason to have the best players out there making that same risk. The solution is simple (or at least it is in my eye). Let’s get rid of the Pro Bowl.
The NFL should name Pro Bowl rosters based on whatever crazy system they have. And then there should be no game. Let the real Pro Bowlers have their honor and then that’s it. Nothing else.
If people really want to see their favorite athletes one more time, how about letting them have a charity softball or basketball game?
The University of Texas has been atop of the elite college sports programs over the past 12 months. Don’t believe me? Check it out.
Football: Ranked second in both January 2009 and January 2010
Men’s Basketball: Currently ranked No. 1 for the first time in school history
Baseball: Preseason pick to win the College World Series and finished second in 2009
Volleyball: Finished second in the country to a Penn State team that hasn’t lost in more than 100 matches
Men’s Swimming and Diving: A team of past and future Olympic gold medalists are ranked No. 1 in the nation
Women’s Swimming and Diving: Another team with future Olympians and is currently ranked fourth
Men’s Tennis: Reached the Final Four for the second consecutive year in 2009 and is currently ranked eighth in preseason polls
Men’s golf: Ranked number eight in the latest polls
Women’s basketball is ranked and softball and women’s soccer have hovered around the top 25 over the past few months.
The Texas athletic department even earns more money than any other university in the nation (most of the universities lose money from athletics). It sells more apparel and paraphernalia than any other university. And it is only No. 2 to the University of Miami in partying (which isn’t fair because they have South Beach).
Has there ever been a time when one college athletic department was this dominant compared to the others?
All I can think of recently is Florida who looked as if it was getting tired of winning so many championships when Joakim Noah and company and Chris Leak and Tim Tebow carried the way. But that is only two sports.
Does it matter that the Longhorns have not WON national championships in any sport over the past 12 months?
I say NO, and it is not just because I am student at UT. It is a great enough accomplishment to finish a season second in the land and to be among the best – and even better to do it in three different sports.
And by the way: If Colt McCoy had not gotten hurt, the Longhorns would have destroyed Alabama and that is a fact. OK. Destroyed may have been an exaggeration, but the Horns would have won.
As I approached my seats at the Rose Bowl for the BCS Championship, one thing caught my eye and it was not the Longhorn band marching on the field playing “Texas Fight” or the greatest sight in all of college football.
It was a beautiful blond woman that was slowly making her way to her seat in the row in front of me. I never see females this attractive, but for some reason I knew that I had seen her before (and no, not from any type of magazine or Victoria’s Secret Catalog).
As she slowly made her way to her seat, she was being greeted by everyone on her row, so I figured she had to be a celebrity. I did not even blink and just starred and drooled as this thing of beauty kept on coming closer.
She was being accompanied to her seats by what looked like a small-town Texas family who seemed to know more people in the stadium than the entire population of their hometown.
Then it hit me: I was sitting right behind the McCoys, and this girl that I had seen so many times before was Colt McCoy’s girlfriend who ESPN loved to show throughout the season and for good reason.
As awesome as it was to be directly behind the family of the Texas starting quarterback, this was not the best game to be sitting behind the McCoys who had a look of concern on their faces the entire game once their son and future NFL quarterback Colt went out on the Longhorns’ first possession with an injury.
Almost immediately, Colt’s father, Brad, had disappeared and it was later announced that he went to the locker room.
Brothers Chance and Case were furiously texting trying to figure out information from, I’m assuming, their father or their friends who were watching it on television.
Colt’s mother, grandmother and girlfriend remained quiet the entire game, just trying to make sure that their loved one was all right (or maybe just concerned about the possible millions of dollars lost from the injury.)
We all know what happened in the game. True freshman Garrett Gilbert entered the game and nearly led the Longhorns back from an 18-point halftime deficit.
But what does Colt’s injury mean to the legacy of this game and the legitimacy of Alabama’s BCS Championship?
This is the reason students decide to go to the University of Texas. To have the opportunity to be a part of a national championship season.
Football rules supreme at UT, a school where the professors (or at least the good ones) decide to cancel class the day before Texas-OU weekend.
And for the third time in six years, Southern California will be painted burnt orange for the Longhorns matchup with Alabama on Thursday to decide a national champion.
However the two teams got there does not matter anymore. What happens in any other bowl game means nothing.
We have the two best teams in the championship and the only thing that matters is who has more points at the end of 60 minutes of football (and an hour long halftime).
Both teams have Heisman finalists. Both teams have great coaches. Both teams have over a century of traditions and fans that bleed burnt orange or crimson.
But only one team has a Cody Johnson.
The Longhorn running back is the key to beating the Crimson Tide. He is not getting any publicity and may not even be on the field for half the offensive snaps, but he will be the difference maker if Texas is able to win its second national championship in five years.
This season, Texas has had three different starting running backs. Mack Brown has switched it up every game between Tre Newton, Fozzy Whitaker and Johnson.
Johnson is the Longhorns’ power back who you will definitely see in goal line situations and on third and inches, but if it were up to me, he should be in for almost every first down.
A huge problem for the Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship was the inability of the offense to get decent yardage on first down. That put them in many difficult third-and-long situations, which are obviously harder to convert than a third and three.
Johnson, to an extent, is like Jerome Bettis. He is able to power through defenders. Just ask the Oklahoma defense who was dragged on the back of Johnson, which gave the Longhorns an important first down late in October’s Red River Rivalry.
Averaging four yards per carry and scoring 12 touchdowns, Johnson is capable of making second and third down much easier for a Longhorn offense that will not be able to rely 100 percent on the pass.
Texas must have long drives, which will happen if it can run the ball for three-five yards and set up easier third downs.
Long drives will not only tire the Alabama defense, but keep Mark Ingram off the field.
Newton, the freshman, has the speed and the agility to break a long run, but also can get stopped behind the line of scrimmage.
But Johnson complements him well adding the power. The duo of Newton and Johnson is to a lesser extent similar to USC’s Reggie Bush and LenDale White.
Texas has abandoned the running game at times this season and opposing defenses have taken advantage of it. See: Nebraska.
Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis cannot allow the Crimson Tide defense to know that Colt McCoy will be throwing the ball every down. They are going to have to mix it up. Nebraska made it seem like it knew what was going to happen every play. It was like the Huskers were in on the huddle. Alabama, who has the top defense, will be able to do the same thing.
Of course there are many other factors to this game, but I feel that the Longhorns' most underrated weapon is Johnson, who is capable of making a huge difference and winning Texas another championship.
Want to read more about the Longhorns?
I have wanted to do this all year. It may be obvious which quarterbacks I am comparing here, but some may not know. So without further ado …
Quarterback A:
CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT
298 478 3886 62.3 8.13 80 23 7 31 97.9
Quarterback B:
CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT
352 513 4181 68.6 8.15 72 25 13 23 98.9
By looking at the stats, which would you rather have?
It appears to be a tossup because of the interceptions. (Quarterback A has lost four fumbles compared to Quarterback B.)
One of these quarterbacks gets lots of national attention and is extremely overhyped. The other … not so much. One of these quarterbacks has a distinguished offensive line made up of perennial Pro Bowlers. While the other has a bunch of fifth, sixth and seventh-round picks that no one knows about.
One of these quarterbacks has the best wide receiver in the NFL and a few guys that no one else in the NFL wanted. The other has a Pro Bowl tight end and a wide receiving corps that at times can be outstanding including a breakout receiver who likely will join his tight end in the Pro Bowl.
These quarterbacks play in the same state. (The state that this blog is named for.)
If you were somehow unable to figure it out, this comparison is between the Dallas Cowboys Tony Romo and the Houston Texans Matt Schaub.
Romo=Quarterback A
Schaub=Quarterback B
So what do you think? Schaub has more touchdowns and more yards, but has more interceptions.
Romo has a running game, allowing his offense to be more than one dimensional.
I am not going to tell you what I think yet. I just wanted to remind everyone that Tony Romo is not the only quarterback in Texas. Matt Schaub is one of the more underrated players in the NFL. His accuracy is among the best in the league.
It will be interesting to see once the Pro Bowl rosters are announced and if either of the quarterbacks will make it.
Maybe Schaub just needs to start dating a celebrity?
If you were to take away a team’s two best players, it is likely that team would be struggling and not be four games above .500 and in position to make a run in the Western Conference playoffs. But the Houston Rockets have found a way to win with a group of late draft picks and undrafted free agents.
Yao Ming is out for the season and Tracy McGrady has yet to play a minute this season while he is recovering from an injury (or at least when I started writing this post McGrady had yet to play – he saw playing time Tuesday night against the Pistons).
Without those two, there are no All-Stars on this team (even though McGrady would start in the All-Star Game if voting were to end today).
Every night, the Rockets have a different player leading the way.
This is not your average team. General Manager Daryl Morey has only been in Houston for three years, but has already used his “Moneyball” type number crunching to get the most out of the least amount of money.
The tallest player in the rotation is 6-foot-9 Luis Scola. Houston’s starting center, Chuck Hayes, is only 6-foot-6, making him the shortest NBA center ever.
On the Rockets’ current active roster, they only have one player that was drafted within the first 23 picks – Shane Battier who was selected 6th overall in 2001 by the then Vancouver Grizzlies.
Outside of Battier, here is how this current team was compiled:
Aaron Brooks: Drafted 26th overall out of Oregon in 2007, Brooks has become one of the NBA’s best point guards. Of course he is not Chris Paul or Steve Nash, but Brooks, who is averaging 17 points and five assists, is hovering around that second tier of point guards. He has the speed and creativity to find a way to the basket and somehow make the layup. He is one of the best long-range shooters in the league at 37 percent from behind the arc. And the man, who stands at barely six feet, can jump.
Trevor Ariza: He got his name recognized in Los Angeles over the past few seasons and is not a household name in Houston. If McGrady ever returns to regular form, the combination of him and Ariza will be dangerous as they are well balanced athletes that can do anything on the court. Ariza, who was a second-round pick in 2004, is averaging 17 points and five rebounds.
Luis Scola: Morey somehow found a way to get the Argentina native to leave his gig as one of the premier players in Europe to join the Rockets. Scola was traded from the San Antonio Spurs three years ago for Billy Spanoulis in what was an attempt for the Spurs to clear up some salary cap. Since arriving in Houston, Scola (and his hair) has been the starter at the power forward spot. He has a solid mid-range jumper and even though sometimes it is ugly, he finds a way to get the ball in the basket. The 27th pick in the second round in 2002, Scola is averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds so far this season.
Chuck Hayes: Known for possibly the strangest free throw stroke in NBA history, Hayes is one of the league’s best defenders. Always undersized, Hayes finds a way to make it difficult for the opposition to first of all get the ball and then get a decent shot up. Hayes was signed to a ten-day contract as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and has been in Houston ever since. Hayes is one of the toughest players you will find in the NBA. He will not shoot the ball often and there is a good reason why, but he is capable of making some sneaky passes to his teammates. With Yao out, Hayes has started every game this season and is averaging five points and six rebounds.
Carl Landry: Two months into the season, this is the man who should win the Sixth Man of the Year award. Morey’s greatest find so far has been the Rockets’ most impressive player this season. Drafted three years ago out of Purdue, Landry is one of those guys who will not give up – even if he loses a tooth. In 2007, Landry prolonged the Rockets season in the playoffs against the Jazz despite getting a tooth knocked out late in the game. He returned to the court and made the game winning play. Landry does it all on the court. He finds a way to get the offensive rebound and then manages to put it back for two. He is physical down low on the block and can pop out to drain a mid range jumper. And this season, Landry has excelled at the free throw line, shooting 88 percent. In just 26 minutes per game, Landry is averaging 16 points and six rebounds. Landry has also been extremely clutch. He is second in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring this season, only trailing Dwayne Wade, and averages 30 points per 48 minutes played.
Chase Budinger: The rookie, whom the Rockets traded for on draft day after being selected in the second round, Budinger has exceeded all expectations. The former Arizona Wildcat filled the slot of a needed shooter with the absence of McGrady and Ron Artest, who was not re-signed over the offseason. Budinger is averaging eight points, proving that he is more than just a shooter as he is capable of driving to the basket as well.
Kyle Lowry: Lowry made his way to Houston in the Rafer Alston trade last season and has secured the backup point guard spot. Lowry was drafted 24th overall in 2006. Lowry brings quickness to the floor that keeps the Rockets uptempo offense to continue when Brooks needs a rest. His defense also gives the opposition plenty of trouble.
David Anderson: The rookie out of Australia is another one of those guys that Morey took a risk on and has not disappointed. Anderson had played in Europe his entire career and made the transition to the NBA. With the absence of Yao, Anderson has been able to pick up some of the missing minutes and contribute as a shooting big man.
When the NBA schedule was announced months ago, the networks did not want to show the Rockets without Yao, McGrady and Artest. Houston was not scheduled once on national television this year. It is a shame that not many people are able to watch this basketball team, whose style is a complete turnaround from what has become typical in the NBA. The Rockets will not win any championships and may not even make the playoffs, but they are playing beautiful basketball with a bunch of guys that no one really wanted.
If you go to a football game in person, you are watching it in 3-D. But that didn't stop the Dallas Cowboys from handing out 3-D glasses to those in attendance at Sunday's game against the Chargers to watch the third quarter on the 60-yard screen hovering above the field.
Am I the only one confused about this?
Jerryworld really is becoming an amusement park. What's next? Watching a game in 4-D?
Will they will start making the chairs shake when a tackle is made?
Simulate sweat dripping down your face?
How about being able to make it seem like you are in on a touchdown celebration with Tony Romo?
And the person sitting next to you would have the nasty flabby arms of Wade Phillips shaking in your face.
Or they can make it feel like you have just had another operation on your face to be like Jerry Jones.
Who cares if the Yankees "bought" their championship?
Every other major league team would die to be in their position. If there is no salary cap, then why not take advantage of it? There is not nearly as much risk with a team like the Yankees signing CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira than say a team like the Astros signing Russ Ortiz and Ivan Rodriguez.
Not every team has to go out and spend like they have no limit on their credit cards, but if a team needs one or two more players to go fill out a solid roster, why not go out and get them?
Once again, I am going to use the Astros as an example. By acquiring left-hander Randy Wolf before the 2008 trade deadline, the Astros finally had an experienced and proven pitcher instead of a rookie who once pitched a scoreless inning out of the bullpen. The Astros managed to let their playoff hopes last until the final weekend with the help of Wolf and of course others.
Following the season, Wolf wanted to be rewarded for his play with roughly $8 million. Drayton McLane, the Astros owner, decided rather to give Wolf a few extra bucks, he was going to sign Mike Hampton, who has been under the knife more the Jerry Jones' face, and Russ Ortiz, who hadn't pitched a major league game since Bill Clinton was president (that may be a bit of an exaggeration). Nevertheless, the Astros hired two washed-up guys who were hoping to make a great comeback, instead of Wolf who consistently throws six to seven inning without giving up more than four runs.
Maybe if McLane had brought in a couple of reliable players, he would not have had to start coming up with all the promotions to get people in the stands such as "Kids get in free all summer long!" That was later extended to "Kids get in free for the rest of the season!" Instead the Astros went out and signed a few players who will soon be receiving their AARP membership.
So how about going after some pitchers? Let's not have the Astros' fifth starter be someone like Felipe Paulino, a prospect who was known for throwing the ball 100 mph, but couldn't do much else. Paulino finished the year with a 3-11 record and 6.27 as Houston finished the season in fifth place in the Central Division - its worst finish of the decade.
If you spend it, they will come.
Bring in some fresh talent and spend a few pesos and you won't have to give away tickets to your games.
This whole post is out of frustration. Seeing everyone in Yankee Stadium so happy Wednesday night, made me jealous. And just to make things worse, the Rockets got lit up again by the Kobe Bryants to lose in overtime minutes before the Yankees won their 27th World Series. Maybe they will start donating trophies away to teams that have never won one. Then everyone else could be a little happier for a while.
Pudge, Hampton and Ortiz all did not finish the 2009 season on the Astros roster. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Randy Wolf went 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA while pitching more than 200 innings.
The Cotton Bowl is cut right down the middle. Half burnt orange, half crimson.
The smell of deep fried butter fills the air.
It is the biggest game of the year for both teams.
Bragging rights are on the line, a potential Big 12 South championship is on the line, and for one team national title hopes are on the line.
It is the University of Texas versus the University of Oklahoma, and there is nothing else like it.
After every play, half of the stadium goes wild, while the other half is stuck hearing the cheers and chants of the opposing fans.
The players come to these schools to play this game. The students come to these schools to be a part of the rivalry. This is the best rivalry in college sports and maybe all sports.
What makes this rivalry so great is that they play only once a year and it is at a neutral site nearly exactly the same distance between Norman and Austin.
The Yankees and Red Sox play roughly 18 times (with the chance of playing in the playoffs) a year with half at Fenway Park and the other half at Yankee Stadium.
Duke and North Carolina play basketball at least twice a season.
This is the only chance of the year. There is no, “we will get them later this season.” Texas vs. Oklahoma is the season. It is impossible for these teams to play in the Big 12 Championship and nearly impossible for them to meet in a national championship.
The rivalry is also great because of the hatred between Texas and Oklahoma.
In the first week of the season, while Texas was romping Louisiana-Monroe, the loudest that Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium got was when word broke out that Oklahoma lost to BYU.
If a tornado were to destroy a trailer park, those Oklahomans would still be happy if they found out Texas was suffering defeat.
Sooners can’t stand to hear “Texas Fight” while Longhorns would rather be sitting in a dentist’s chair with drills tearing apart their mouths than hearing “Boomer Sooner.”
When the insults start flying, they do not stop and they have no limit.
After the game at the Cotton Bowl, half of the stadium empties as quickly as possible and those fans tend to keep their heads down as they attempt to not let the others see their tears.
The winning side basks in the glory of victory and stays in the stadium and wanders the fair as long as possible.
The losers get out of Dallas immediately, while the winners wear their colors everywhere they go with a big smile on their face as they don’t want this moment to end.
The weekend does have to end as it did this year once again with the Longhorns coming up on top, but everyone in Austin and Norman and beyond has next year’s game circled on their calendars as the Sooners will try to get revenge while the Longhorns will attempt the go for four straight victories against their rivals.
Hope to see ya’ll back in Dallas on October 8, 2010.
It looks like Boise State is going to make up half of the BCS National Championship Game in January. The Broncos are already ranked fifth in the country and will likely be in the top two by Oct. 17. With the toughest game left on their schedule being the state champion high school team out of Idaho, the Broncos have already nearly clinched another undefeated season.
I have yet to decide if a championship game involving Boise State would have the greatest TV ratings for a BCS Championship or the worst. I am thinking it just depends on who they matchup against. But maybe not?
Would things be different if the Broncos faced a team like Houston or TCU rather than a Texas or Florida? For one thing, it is a guarantee that if they play another mid-major, the Rose Bowl will likely not be at full capacity and the cities of Los Angeles and Pasadena would lose quite a bit of money from the lack of people wandering Hollywood Boulevard. Cougar red or Horned Frog purple would not be invading In ‘N Out Burger and Mickey Mouse wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a Boise State jersey.
If a Texas or Florida or Alabama was playing, things would definitely be completely different. The stadium would be full like usual and the game would get the highest ratings ever. People want to see the huge underdog go against the greatest programs in college football history and maybe, just maybe see “the greatest upset ever.”
But maybe people would want to watch a game between two non-BCS schools. Maybe all of the people who associate themselves as a fan of the WAC, C-USA and Mountain West Conference will join in and get into it for what would be an interesting game.
I guess there is really no reason to worry about it since there is pretty much no chance of this happening.
My next wild idea: Let’s make college football a little more like the football played across the Atlantic Ocean. In this system, the major conferences all absorb a mid-major conference. But the non-BCS teams would still be in a lower conference. For example, there would be the Big 12 and the “Big 12 A” which includes 12 teams from the same region as the Big 12. Everything stays the same with conference schedules staying within their respected division.
The catch is that there is relegation. Like in soccer in the European leagues, the best teams from the lesser leagues have the opportunity to make its way up to the elite conference, while teams like Iowa State who have regularly been the laughing stock of the Big 12 would be demoted and have to earn its way back up to playing with the big boys.
This way we would get to see the Boise’s and Utah’s eventually play in the Pac-10 and the Marshall’s and Miami Ohio’s get to play in the Big 10 and so on.
This would make every game on every team’s schedule more important. The winner of Indiana-Purdue would get to remain in the Big 10 while the winner is stuck in the MAC for the next year.
It’s time to put Wade Phillips in a cheerleading outfit. The man is not a coach and should have never been an NFL coach in the first place. He is a coach for the same reason George W. was president - his daddy.
Phillips is a disgrace to the NFL. The only time a coach should be jumping up and down and pumping his fist when an opposing kicker misses a field goal is at the waning seconds of a Super Bowl. Not when it is the third quarter in week two of the season.
What’s going to happen next? Phillips cheering when an opposing player is carted off the field?
Something's not right about this.
His team is out there playing their hearts out and all he can do is have the same look of disgust on his face when the other team scores a touchdown. Stop throwing a fit every time something does not go right for you. And stop acting like you won a Super Bowl when your team gets a first down.
Big Wade will not be in Dallas much longer. Jason Garrett, the brains of this football team, will be the head coach before the season is done. Phillips will not make it through the end of the season.
But until that happens, Wade might as well be replaced with one of those cute girls on the sidelines with the poms poms because they can do everything that Phillips can.
In other Texas news in the NFL …
Chester Pitts, who has never missed a start for the Houston Texans since day one of the franchise in 2002, will finally miss his game next week after spraining his knee against the Titans in a 34-31 win for the Texans on Sunday.
Former Texas Longhorn Kasey Studdard is Pitts’ replacement.
Fun fact: Pitts who has spent his whole career with the Texans has “been in the Super Bowl” more times than Wade Phillips. Pitts was in a commercial for the NFL that was aired during Super Bowl XVIV.
I have been really busy the past week or two, but there is a lot on my mind that I need to get to before it becomes old news. So here we go …
America’s Next Tennis Star
Ten-year prediction: Melanie Oudin will have as many grand slams as Serena Williams. Oudin is the next face of American tennis. She will be the cover model for magazines and will have her own clothesline. She is only 17 and can barely reach the umpire to shake his hand after a match, but she can control a match and beat the best. Currently the 70th ranked player in the world, the Atlanta native has it all.
We have had a tennis beauty who was awful at tennis (Anna Kournikova), a tennis beauty who was unbelievable and is trying to come back from injury (Maria Sharapova), but now we have our AMERICAN tennis beauty in Oudin. Watching her upset Elena Dementieva, the world’s fourth ranked player and hearing the joyful shriek after Dementieva was unable to return her powerful serve on match point put goose bumps on my arms and a big smile on my face. In the final set of her second round match against Dementieva, Oudin’s injured hamstring started to flare up, and tears immediately started flowing down her face. But she was able to come right back and finish off her opponent in front of thousands of people in Arthur Ashe Stadium. How can anyone not like her?
“The Experts”
College football starts tonight and the NFL starts in a week. So it is time to hear what “the experts” have to say. First of all: who isn’t an expert? Everyone thinks they know exactly how the season will end, but in all reality, no one knows what is going to happen. In the NFL different teams and different players breakout of nowhere and become the best team. In college, there are so many teams, that no expert can know about all of them and really have any clue. I know that it’s fun to guess who is going to win it all before the season even begins, but what’s really the point. “The experts” will be wrong. All we know is what teams did last year and who is new and who is gone. That is not enough. And now, we have some guys who are “the experts” joke around with their predictions such as the almighty “Dr. Lou” Holtz who picked Notre Dame to make the national championship. Come on Lou, is all of the blonde hair coloring getting into your brain?
A couple things regarding the Little League World Series …
1. For years my favorite part of the LLWS is seeing the introductions of the team where the kids say their name and their favorite players. But this year it caught my eye (and my ear I guess) that many of the athletes still named their favorite players as Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. It seems that many of the future ball players stayed loyal to their favorite players despite all the controversies with illegal substances. I hope this doesn’t mean that these kids think it’s cool to do what the big guys have been doing. Maybe there is a reason why this year’s LLWS had the most home runs ever?
2. But to be honest, I am getting a little tired of the Little League World Series. It is just the same thing every year. So next year how about we have the Very Very Big League World Series. Each participant would have to be at least three hundred pounds and 30 years old. I think this would be pretty awesome. Oh wait, I think Fox just came out with a reality show about that.
There are three kinds of people that are in every fantasy football league and no matter which one you are, the other two piss you off terribly.
1. Those Guys ...
a. who in late June continuously reload the webpage on every sports site available waiting for the “Click Here to Join” link.
b. who after signing up for nearly a dozen drafts spent all their time doing research. This ranges from buying every fantasy preview ever made to following Plaxico Burress to the club and taking a bullet for the man to make sure he would be available every Sunday.
c. who end up watching reruns of every preseason game on the NFL Network to scout the first through third strings.
d. who spend the regular season glued to NFL Sunday Ticket to track stats and watch the most pointless and boring games just hoping that Brandon Jacobs is the one who gets the ball.
e. who after Week One have immediately picked up the backup quarterback to the superstar who had a season-ending injury or the one running back who surprised the world with a 200-yard, three-touchdown game.
f. who repeat the same process every week and usually end up toward the top of the league, but come playoff time, they usually fall to These Guys.
2. These guys ...
a. who casually sign up for one league and buy a magazine to prepare for their draft. They love the game and know all about it, but are not too obsessed. These guys will survive if they miss a week of games and will not have nightmares just if they lose one week’s matchup.
b. who always seem to end up on top.
c. who always seem to catch whatever good luck that is always part of fantasy football.
d. who once the regular season starts will watch a couple games every Sunday and occasionally check to see how their players are doing. If Eli Manning hands it off to Ahmad Bradshaw rather than Brandon Jacobs for the final touchdown, these guys will be able to shake it off.
e. who keep up with their teams and adjust them regularly and make moves when needed.
f. who always seem to come away with winning the league when Those Guys have a tough fantasy playoffs because all their stars decide to take a week off. But most of the times, These Guys only make the playoffs because of That Guy.
3. That Guy (and there are sometimes more than one in the league) ...
a. is the one that people just cannot stand.
b. signs up for way too many leagues, but ends up never checking any of them.
c. plays just to draft teams and hopes that maybe one of them will end up being in the top half of the league’s standings.
d. does not watch too much football and if he knows who Brandon Jacobs is, he has no clue when Jacobs is even playing.
e. has a roster full of injured players because he never checks his team. That Guy also goes risky with some of his drafts hoping that maybe Michael Vick will be a fantasy stud.
f. But overall, That Guy gets into the hype of fantasy football in August, but once November comes around, he is already starting to get ready for next year’s fantasy baseball season.
Conclusion:
Those Guys hate the other two because they feel that everyone should be as into it as possible and if they are not, then they should not be playing.
These Guys feel that Those Guys are obsessed and That Guy should not even be playing.
That Guy just hates the other two groups because he always finish below them in the standings.
