As the year is winding down I hope you and yours are having a very happy holidays. Just some random thoughts for the evening. It's been a while since I've been on so it's time to do some catching up.
First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Newtown, Connecticut as are the prayers of millions of Americans from coast to coast. Every time I hear of a shooting at a school or any place else I have to wonder to myself, what is wrong with people?
Johnny Football deserves the Heisman. It could not have gone to anyone else. Of the other candidates, Klein took himself out of the running with his stinker vs Baylor and if Suh couldn't win it three years ago then Te'o should not have won either.
Josh Hamilton has probably thrown his last bit of goodwill in Texas away by signing with the Rangers archrival. I cannot WAIT till the first week of the season when these teams clash at Rangers Ballpark. The boos will be deafening.
So Roger Goodell has been contemplating eliminating kickoffs. What is this sport going to be in five years, flag football?
The Texans get shellacked in Foxboro against the Patriots then the Patriots get beat by the Niners six days later. It goes to show there is no momentum whatsoever in the National Football League.
I like Texas Tech hiring Kliff Kingsbury. The guy seems to have a swagger about him and can win some games in Lubbock. He is very inexperienced though.
Last Saturday was a tremendous college sports day. Butler and Indiana was a classic basketball game that had an NCAA tournament feel. Arizona and Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl was tremendous and Arizona also beat Florida in a great basketball game.
Dallas may have saved their season by beating the Steelers and has put Pittsburgh in peril. As for Dallas, they have to beat New Orleans and then have to beat Washington. New Orleans they should win, Washington on the other hand...
Final thought: Nebraska is not all that good but should play with a chip on its shoulder in the bowl game. Teams always want to play better after getting blown out.
Until next time....
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Big 10 Championship Post Mortem: Where Do We Go From Here?
Saturday night was supposed to be the night. That was supposed to be IT.
The night all the demons were erased, all the trials and tribulations of winning no conference title in 13 years for the Nebraska football program...all of it was supposed to go away Saturday night.
Talk about a fanbase that was lied to. We were served an enormous batch of fools gold, again.
First thing's first - I have to give Wisconsin credit. They came out well prepared and they executed well all game long.
That said, that was one of the most disheartening performances, from the star players all the way down to the water boy, that I've seen from a Nebraska football team in my lifetime.
The thing is, the reason we got Bo Pelini is because we hoped that the 60 and 70 point games that we suffered under the Bill Callahan regime would stop.
We were sold fools gold. Again.
Because here we are in year five and take a look. 63 points given up to Ohio State and 70 points given up to Wisconsin, when the lights were the brightest.
I'm not telling Nebraska fans anything they don't already know, but these are the kinds of losses that kill a program, that drive away fan interest. It's one thing to lose a close game and generally most of the time when Osborne would lose, those teams wouldn't get humiliated. They might lose, but they wouldn't be totally embarrassed.
The fact is, five of the seven losses Nebraska found a way to lose in embarrassing fashion. That cannot happen at any school, much less Nebraska.
So the question I pose again is: Where do we go from here?
My theory is this: Bo should not be fired. He found a way to win 10 games again, as miraculous as that sounds that is the truth. However, this program has glaring flaws everywhere. There need to be changes in the staff and they need to happen immediately.
The first thing Eichorst needs to do when he gets in that AD chair on Jan. 1, 2013 is he needs to tell Bo that there needs to be massive changes on his coaching staff. I think at least three or four coaches need their walking papers for one thing.
I do not envy Eichorst. He has a massive task ahead of him.
Until next time...
The night all the demons were erased, all the trials and tribulations of winning no conference title in 13 years for the Nebraska football program...all of it was supposed to go away Saturday night.
Talk about a fanbase that was lied to. We were served an enormous batch of fools gold, again.
First thing's first - I have to give Wisconsin credit. They came out well prepared and they executed well all game long.
That said, that was one of the most disheartening performances, from the star players all the way down to the water boy, that I've seen from a Nebraska football team in my lifetime.
The thing is, the reason we got Bo Pelini is because we hoped that the 60 and 70 point games that we suffered under the Bill Callahan regime would stop.
We were sold fools gold. Again.
Because here we are in year five and take a look. 63 points given up to Ohio State and 70 points given up to Wisconsin, when the lights were the brightest.
I'm not telling Nebraska fans anything they don't already know, but these are the kinds of losses that kill a program, that drive away fan interest. It's one thing to lose a close game and generally most of the time when Osborne would lose, those teams wouldn't get humiliated. They might lose, but they wouldn't be totally embarrassed.
The fact is, five of the seven losses Nebraska found a way to lose in embarrassing fashion. That cannot happen at any school, much less Nebraska.
So the question I pose again is: Where do we go from here?
My theory is this: Bo should not be fired. He found a way to win 10 games again, as miraculous as that sounds that is the truth. However, this program has glaring flaws everywhere. There need to be changes in the staff and they need to happen immediately.
The first thing Eichorst needs to do when he gets in that AD chair on Jan. 1, 2013 is he needs to tell Bo that there needs to be massive changes on his coaching staff. I think at least three or four coaches need their walking papers for one thing.
I do not envy Eichorst. He has a massive task ahead of him.
Until next time...
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Football and 8th Grade Basketball
Just a few thoughts on this Thursday before Thanksgiving:
As far as the Huskers go, it was nice for the team to finally have a blowout game as the team has played close games for two months straight. It was only Minnesota but it was nice to see that blowout nonetheless.
As far as this week goes, I am still concerned about Iowa somewhat, in the sense that Iowa could make Nebraska their bowl game. Iowa won't be going to a bowl game so this will be their bowl game and they are going to empty out their playbook
It's going to be awfully tough for me to watch the title game if it's Notre Dame vs. the Southeast Conference like what might happen. It will be just as tough to watch if it's another all SEC matchup.
Regarding some of Saturday's games, I don't think Klein of Kansas State has fully recovered from his concussion. Either he's got one of those or he's got another injury. Also, KSU looked like Nebraska against the 80s Miami Hurricanes...a step too slow.
Regarding Oregon they've got much less to be ashamed about - Stanford is a really good team. Oregon will be right back in the hunt if they win out and certain other things happen.
It took a while for my heart to stop pounding from the Texans game. The team definitely showed heart coming back from 14 down against a game Jacksonville team. I hope the team can maintain the intensity at Detroit.
I went to watch an 8th grade basketball game last night in Iowa where I am, which turned out to be much more fun to watch than the Monday Night Football game. Got to see a family member of mine play. Her girls 8th grade team is really fun to watch.
Until next time....
As far as the Huskers go, it was nice for the team to finally have a blowout game as the team has played close games for two months straight. It was only Minnesota but it was nice to see that blowout nonetheless.
As far as this week goes, I am still concerned about Iowa somewhat, in the sense that Iowa could make Nebraska their bowl game. Iowa won't be going to a bowl game so this will be their bowl game and they are going to empty out their playbook
It's going to be awfully tough for me to watch the title game if it's Notre Dame vs. the Southeast Conference like what might happen. It will be just as tough to watch if it's another all SEC matchup.
Regarding some of Saturday's games, I don't think Klein of Kansas State has fully recovered from his concussion. Either he's got one of those or he's got another injury. Also, KSU looked like Nebraska against the 80s Miami Hurricanes...a step too slow.
Regarding Oregon they've got much less to be ashamed about - Stanford is a really good team. Oregon will be right back in the hunt if they win out and certain other things happen.
It took a while for my heart to stop pounding from the Texans game. The team definitely showed heart coming back from 14 down against a game Jacksonville team. I hope the team can maintain the intensity at Detroit.
I went to watch an 8th grade basketball game last night in Iowa where I am, which turned out to be much more fun to watch than the Monday Night Football game. Got to see a family member of mine play. Her girls 8th grade team is really fun to watch.
Until next time....
Monday, November 12, 2012
Texas A&M's upset of Alabama
Just want to say a couple of things from the college football weekend. It's mainly regarding Texas A&M's upset win at Alabama, which I consider to be Texas A&M's greatest football victory in the modern era of college football. They beat Kansas State in the 1998 Big 12 conference championship game but really didn't do anything with that win. That said, here are a couple of things that come to mind.
First off, the SEC is not equipped to defend guys who can pass and run. We've seen that to be true the last several years. Think about Cam Newton, who won the national title with Auburn two years ago and look at where Auburn is now (it also didn't help Auburn that their current defensive coordinator is at Penn State now). Think about Tim Tebow who won a national title with Florida back in 2008. Even Chris Leak won a national title with Florida. And Texas had Alabama on the run a few years back in the national title game, but when Colt McCoy got hurt that was the end of it.
Texas A&M with the way they are built now is going to force SEC teams to adjust their game plans. It's no secret the SEC has trouble with high octane, up tempo offenses that some of these teams run. Teams are going to either have to adjust and get players in quicker or they are going to have to recruit better offensive players.
That said, Manziel is unreal. He can probably book his trip to New York now for the Heisman ceremony.
With regards to other college football action, the Huskers better stop giving me heart attacks or I won't live till I'm 50 years old. In all my life I've never seen the Nebraska football team come from behind this much.
Kansas State had its flattest offensive performance of the year while Oregon rolled over Cal. At this point, it is my hope that these two teams will play for the national title.
Until next time....
First off, the SEC is not equipped to defend guys who can pass and run. We've seen that to be true the last several years. Think about Cam Newton, who won the national title with Auburn two years ago and look at where Auburn is now (it also didn't help Auburn that their current defensive coordinator is at Penn State now). Think about Tim Tebow who won a national title with Florida back in 2008. Even Chris Leak won a national title with Florida. And Texas had Alabama on the run a few years back in the national title game, but when Colt McCoy got hurt that was the end of it.
Texas A&M with the way they are built now is going to force SEC teams to adjust their game plans. It's no secret the SEC has trouble with high octane, up tempo offenses that some of these teams run. Teams are going to either have to adjust and get players in quicker or they are going to have to recruit better offensive players.
That said, Manziel is unreal. He can probably book his trip to New York now for the Heisman ceremony.
With regards to other college football action, the Huskers better stop giving me heart attacks or I won't live till I'm 50 years old. In all my life I've never seen the Nebraska football team come from behind this much.
Kansas State had its flattest offensive performance of the year while Oregon rolled over Cal. At this point, it is my hope that these two teams will play for the national title.
Until next time....
Thursday, November 8, 2012
College Football, The NFL, Giants World Champs
I haven't been on since the World Series began, really, so here's just a few things to touch on.
Humblest congrats to the San Francisco Giants, who are baseball's World Series Champions for the second time in three seasons. When you really think about the fact that they don't have a payroll like the Yankees or Phillies, that makes this accomplishment even more amazing.
I'm also very happy for Bruce Bochy, who is still well liked in Houston and won the title with the Giants two years ago as well. Bochy is a guy who out-managed Jim Leyland in that World Series and I think deserves more respect than he gets.
Big matchup in the NFL Sunday night - Houston Texans at Chicago Bears. My personal pick is Houston by three, but I think the teams are very evenly matched. This is a game that is likely to come down to field position and who takes care of the ball better. Oh and whether the Bears can protect Cutler will determine in large part who wins the game.
As the Nebraska matchup with Penn State approaches Saturday, I can't help but think back to last year when all the allegations came out as well as the aftermath. It was so surreal seeing the pregame scene before the game at Penn State last year
As for the game Saturday, my hope is simply that the Huskers can play a good, clean football game, a lot of which the team has not done in recent weeks. They won at Michigan State but were lucky to win that game.
I am beginning to think Oregon could beat Alabama. A week ago Monday, Vegas listed Oregon as a six point underdog on a neutral field against the Crimson Tide, now the line is closer to three. I don't know how well their defense matches up against the Crimson Tide offense but Oregon's offense might be the best offense I've seen in college ball since the 1995 Huskers. I don't know if they would win but I'd love to see the matchup.
Until next time....
Humblest congrats to the San Francisco Giants, who are baseball's World Series Champions for the second time in three seasons. When you really think about the fact that they don't have a payroll like the Yankees or Phillies, that makes this accomplishment even more amazing.
I'm also very happy for Bruce Bochy, who is still well liked in Houston and won the title with the Giants two years ago as well. Bochy is a guy who out-managed Jim Leyland in that World Series and I think deserves more respect than he gets.
Big matchup in the NFL Sunday night - Houston Texans at Chicago Bears. My personal pick is Houston by three, but I think the teams are very evenly matched. This is a game that is likely to come down to field position and who takes care of the ball better. Oh and whether the Bears can protect Cutler will determine in large part who wins the game.
As the Nebraska matchup with Penn State approaches Saturday, I can't help but think back to last year when all the allegations came out as well as the aftermath. It was so surreal seeing the pregame scene before the game at Penn State last year
As for the game Saturday, my hope is simply that the Huskers can play a good, clean football game, a lot of which the team has not done in recent weeks. They won at Michigan State but were lucky to win that game.
I am beginning to think Oregon could beat Alabama. A week ago Monday, Vegas listed Oregon as a six point underdog on a neutral field against the Crimson Tide, now the line is closer to three. I don't know how well their defense matches up against the Crimson Tide offense but Oregon's offense might be the best offense I've seen in college ball since the 1995 Huskers. I don't know if they would win but I'd love to see the matchup.
Until next time....
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The World Series, College Football and the NFL
It's been a couple of weeks so I figure it's time to catch up.
As a Husker alum, have to start with the Northwestern game from last week. It's Wednesday but I want to go back to Saturday and probably one of the few times I've ever really felt dirty after a win.
It's not so much that they played terrible - they didn't. Overall, they played a very good game. But it's the same mistakes, being made over and over again that drive me crazy. Those self-inflicted errors are hanging like a demon over this program. The team has lost in the turnover margin in the last few games, and yet they won two of the three.
As far as the rest of the season goes, I know Husker fans want Bo Pelini fired, but the fact of the matter is that is extremely unlikely to happen. Even if they lose to Michigan but win the rest of the games, that is 9-3 with losses to all decent to good teams. If they go 9-3 they will have only lost to UCLA, Ohio State and Michigan, none of whom are slouch teams. There were years in the 1970s where Nebraska had losses to worse teams than the UCLA loss this year. They lost to Iowa State twice in 1976 and 1977.
As far as who is No. 2 behind Alabama, I am voting for Florida. The reason being, because of the schedule. Oregon is a good team but has yet to play the tougher teams on their schedule. Florida has already played at Texas A&M, at Tennessee, at home against LSU and they destroyed South Carolina. I like the Ducks but they have yet to play Stanford, USC or even Oregon State.
Memo to those who were spewing vile accusations at Aaron Rodgers about how he wasn't the same quarterback he was: Don't Poke the Bear.
As a Texans fan I can vouch for this first hand after he shredded the Texans defense a week ago. The Texans rebounded to clobber Baltimore but I still have visions of an angry Aaron Rodgers picking Houston apart. You can only poke a bear with a stick so many times before he snaps and eats you alive.
I thought it was hilarious that players on the New York Giants defense, in the wake of facing Robert Griffin III for the first time, are now calling him Sir Robert Griffin. One, in particular, is Osi Umenyiora. This was the same guy who was calling him Bob Griffin prior to the season.
The Giants pulled out a late victory but RGIII made a lasting impression. Fact is, no one in that division has had to worry about who is playing quarterback in D.C. for 20 years. Can you imagine what's going to happen when they get better playmakers on that offense?
As far as the World Series goes, Pablo Sandoval already has three home runs as I type this. The San Francisco Giants...you can't kill them. The Cincinnati Reds didn't and the St. Louis Cardinals didn't...and as some people I'm close to know, I don't think the Detroit Tigers can kill them either. My prediction, before tonight's game was and still is Giants in six.
Until next time....
As a Husker alum, have to start with the Northwestern game from last week. It's Wednesday but I want to go back to Saturday and probably one of the few times I've ever really felt dirty after a win.
It's not so much that they played terrible - they didn't. Overall, they played a very good game. But it's the same mistakes, being made over and over again that drive me crazy. Those self-inflicted errors are hanging like a demon over this program. The team has lost in the turnover margin in the last few games, and yet they won two of the three.
As far as the rest of the season goes, I know Husker fans want Bo Pelini fired, but the fact of the matter is that is extremely unlikely to happen. Even if they lose to Michigan but win the rest of the games, that is 9-3 with losses to all decent to good teams. If they go 9-3 they will have only lost to UCLA, Ohio State and Michigan, none of whom are slouch teams. There were years in the 1970s where Nebraska had losses to worse teams than the UCLA loss this year. They lost to Iowa State twice in 1976 and 1977.
As far as who is No. 2 behind Alabama, I am voting for Florida. The reason being, because of the schedule. Oregon is a good team but has yet to play the tougher teams on their schedule. Florida has already played at Texas A&M, at Tennessee, at home against LSU and they destroyed South Carolina. I like the Ducks but they have yet to play Stanford, USC or even Oregon State.
Memo to those who were spewing vile accusations at Aaron Rodgers about how he wasn't the same quarterback he was: Don't Poke the Bear.
As a Texans fan I can vouch for this first hand after he shredded the Texans defense a week ago. The Texans rebounded to clobber Baltimore but I still have visions of an angry Aaron Rodgers picking Houston apart. You can only poke a bear with a stick so many times before he snaps and eats you alive.
I thought it was hilarious that players on the New York Giants defense, in the wake of facing Robert Griffin III for the first time, are now calling him Sir Robert Griffin. One, in particular, is Osi Umenyiora. This was the same guy who was calling him Bob Griffin prior to the season.
The Giants pulled out a late victory but RGIII made a lasting impression. Fact is, no one in that division has had to worry about who is playing quarterback in D.C. for 20 years. Can you imagine what's going to happen when they get better playmakers on that offense?
As far as the World Series goes, Pablo Sandoval already has three home runs as I type this. The San Francisco Giants...you can't kill them. The Cincinnati Reds didn't and the St. Louis Cardinals didn't...and as some people I'm close to know, I don't think the Detroit Tigers can kill them either. My prediction, before tonight's game was and still is Giants in six.
Until next time....
Saturday, October 6, 2012
College Football Day and Correction on Previous Blog
Just a couple of quick things. First of all, I got it wrong on the whole thing about the election. The votes will still count in all 50 states, just that the Associated Press will only focus on surveys in 31 states. My apologies.
Couple of college football thoughts: How bad does a conference have to be when a school coming off one of the worst scandals in NCAA history will likely win at least 6 games and probably more?
LSU lost their undefeated season, and depending on what happens next week might lose a lot more in the coming weeks. Next week's game with South Carolina will be a huge swing game in their season. If they lose that one, they may not even make it to Alabama with a chance to do anything.
Oklahoma came up big in Lubbock today. Depending on what happens tonight in Austin, who knows if Texas will be the one with momentum going into next week's Red River Rivalry game.
That is all for now. Until next time....
Couple of college football thoughts: How bad does a conference have to be when a school coming off one of the worst scandals in NCAA history will likely win at least 6 games and probably more?
LSU lost their undefeated season, and depending on what happens next week might lose a lot more in the coming weeks. Next week's game with South Carolina will be a huge swing game in their season. If they lose that one, they may not even make it to Alabama with a chance to do anything.
Oklahoma came up big in Lubbock today. Depending on what happens tonight in Austin, who knows if Texas will be the one with momentum going into next week's Red River Rivalry game.
That is all for now. Until next time....
Friday, October 5, 2012
College Football Weekend, Excluding Votes and Josh Hamilton
Just a few thoughts as the first Saturday of October dawns.
It isn't in the title but I want to point out that I said in my last blog - how long would it take for the officials to make a mistake in a big game and how long would fans defend them? Well I think we got our answer in the Green Bay-New Orleans game. The real officials got another call wrong against the Packers which almost allowed them to lose that game. Fortunately for them they won, but it was a close call to say the least.
Among other regrettable things that Ohio State players have said this week, Buckeye defensive end Nathan Williams claims that Nebraska cannot run on Ohio State. My advice to Mr. Williams: Keep your words soft and sweet lest you have to eat them Saturday night.
So Texas, Nebraska and 17 other states are going to be excluded from the voting that may decide who wins the Presidency? Has this ever happened before?
Texas Rangers fans who booed Josh Hamilton should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. That man did so much for that franchise, and the way they treated him like crap at the end of the year is beyond me. How would they like it if Josh goes to New York and sticks it to the Rangers every time he plays them?
Great games in college football this weekend. Unlike last weekend where there weren't a lot of great games, there are about five or six games I'm interested in watching this weekend. October is where the pecking order starts to be decided.
Until next time....
It isn't in the title but I want to point out that I said in my last blog - how long would it take for the officials to make a mistake in a big game and how long would fans defend them? Well I think we got our answer in the Green Bay-New Orleans game. The real officials got another call wrong against the Packers which almost allowed them to lose that game. Fortunately for them they won, but it was a close call to say the least.
Among other regrettable things that Ohio State players have said this week, Buckeye defensive end Nathan Williams claims that Nebraska cannot run on Ohio State. My advice to Mr. Williams: Keep your words soft and sweet lest you have to eat them Saturday night.
So Texas, Nebraska and 17 other states are going to be excluded from the voting that may decide who wins the Presidency? Has this ever happened before?
Texas Rangers fans who booed Josh Hamilton should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. That man did so much for that franchise, and the way they treated him like crap at the end of the year is beyond me. How would they like it if Josh goes to New York and sticks it to the Rangers every time he plays them?
Great games in college football this weekend. Unlike last weekend where there weren't a lot of great games, there are about five or six games I'm interested in watching this weekend. October is where the pecking order starts to be decided.
Until next time....
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
College Football, Pro Football, Replacement Referees
OK so I just have to say something regarding these replacement referees. It's obviously a hot button topic and Twitter was all about the replacement NFL referees last night.
Keep in mind, while these replacement referees have been largely incompetent, I just want to say something: What makes anyone think that the real guys will be so much better if/when they come back? I wonder what will happen the first time a real referee makes a huge mistake in a critical game and the fans will apologize for the referee saying that it's just rust. You know it will happen too.
When is the college football uniform madness going to stop? I thought it was bad that Nebraska was going to have terrible uniforms Saturday night against Wisconsin, but this takes the cake. The Oklahoma State fans and alumni who have been fans for many years have to be shaking their heads today. More on that below, and no I am not making this up.
http://www.cowboysrideforfree.com/2012/9/25/3408282/Oklahoma-State-Cowboys-football-new-uniforms-texas-longhorns
As a Texans fan, they are getting a lot of props for their 3-0 start, their first in franchise history. The pessimist side of me, though, is still waiting to see how they do against Green Bay and Baltimore before I make any predictions on the rest of the season.
One last college football note: the polls made the correct call jumping Oregon over LSU for the No. 2 spot in both polls. I'm a big SEC guy but LSU played terrible Saturday night. I could make an argument for Florida State at No. 3 but left LSU there instead.
Until next time....
Keep in mind, while these replacement referees have been largely incompetent, I just want to say something: What makes anyone think that the real guys will be so much better if/when they come back? I wonder what will happen the first time a real referee makes a huge mistake in a critical game and the fans will apologize for the referee saying that it's just rust. You know it will happen too.
When is the college football uniform madness going to stop? I thought it was bad that Nebraska was going to have terrible uniforms Saturday night against Wisconsin, but this takes the cake. The Oklahoma State fans and alumni who have been fans for many years have to be shaking their heads today. More on that below, and no I am not making this up.
http://www.cowboysrideforfree.com/2012/9/25/3408282/Oklahoma-State-Cowboys-football-new-uniforms-texas-longhorns
As a Texans fan, they are getting a lot of props for their 3-0 start, their first in franchise history. The pessimist side of me, though, is still waiting to see how they do against Green Bay and Baltimore before I make any predictions on the rest of the season.
One last college football note: the polls made the correct call jumping Oregon over LSU for the No. 2 spot in both polls. I'm a big SEC guy but LSU played terrible Saturday night. I could make an argument for Florida State at No. 3 but left LSU there instead.
Until next time....
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday night football, baseball and phones
Just a few quick takes on this Friday morning:
Obviously the Green Bay Packers looked a lot different than they did against a very good 49ers team in the first week of the season. Jay Cutler has weapons to throw the ball to finally (and I have two of their players on my fantasy football team) but if he's got pressure in his face then he's not going to be able to get the ball to those weapons, now is he?
Also, that was a very ugly game. There were a lot of penalties in that game, and lots of turnovers. But that went for all the Thursday night games.
This win should also allow the Packers to build some momentum. Two of their next three games are against Seattle and Indianapolis which should be easy victories (then again victories rarely come easy in the National Football League).
The schedule would dictate that the Packers should at least be 3-2 when they head to Houston in mid-October for that enormous Sunday night football game, with a 50/50 game against the Saints to become 4-1.
Coming down the stretch of the baseball season, it's nice to see some underdogs battling for some big-time spots. Baltimore Orioles fans haven't had anything to cheer about since 1997 and yet here they are, battling with New York for the top spot in the American League East. You have Oakland battling for the AL West title as well. It would be very funny to see New York have to face Oakland for a wild card spot if it happens.
As far as the iPhone, the new iPhone goes, I don't have one. I have a BlackBerry and am satisfied with that, but one thing I don't like about the BlackBerry is a lot of the applications you can get on the iPhone, you can't get on the BlackBerry. Words with Friends is an example.
Until next time...
Obviously the Green Bay Packers looked a lot different than they did against a very good 49ers team in the first week of the season. Jay Cutler has weapons to throw the ball to finally (and I have two of their players on my fantasy football team) but if he's got pressure in his face then he's not going to be able to get the ball to those weapons, now is he?
Also, that was a very ugly game. There were a lot of penalties in that game, and lots of turnovers. But that went for all the Thursday night games.
This win should also allow the Packers to build some momentum. Two of their next three games are against Seattle and Indianapolis which should be easy victories (then again victories rarely come easy in the National Football League).
The schedule would dictate that the Packers should at least be 3-2 when they head to Houston in mid-October for that enormous Sunday night football game, with a 50/50 game against the Saints to become 4-1.
Coming down the stretch of the baseball season, it's nice to see some underdogs battling for some big-time spots. Baltimore Orioles fans haven't had anything to cheer about since 1997 and yet here they are, battling with New York for the top spot in the American League East. You have Oakland battling for the AL West title as well. It would be very funny to see New York have to face Oakland for a wild card spot if it happens.
As far as the iPhone, the new iPhone goes, I don't have one. I have a BlackBerry and am satisfied with that, but one thing I don't like about the BlackBerry is a lot of the applications you can get on the iPhone, you can't get on the BlackBerry. Words with Friends is an example.
Until next time...
Monday, September 10, 2012
NFL and College Football - Sept. 10
Just a few thoughts from the past weekend of football - and for the record, it's been a glorious six days of football which will cap tonight.
Husker football fans are freaking out with the Fire Bo Pelini Facebook pages, etc, etc. As far as that goes, I'm on the record as saying it's not time to go to that level yet. However, the assistant coaching staff is generally terrible (especially on defense) and they are horrible at tackling. That's the coach's responsibility. I personally think 8-4 is still a realistic prediction, but that Wisconsin game is a must win.
That Devon Walker helmet to helmet hit in that Tulsa/Tulane game was rather scary. His life is changed forever now...a cracked spine. It's a dangerous game.
Robert Griffin III - what a special talent. In a hostile environment, he did exactly what Washington fans hoped he would do. They've been looking for a savior in DC for the last 10 years at quarterback and now they might finally have one.
And Peyton Manning - how impressive was he. That looked like the old, vintage Indianapolis offense last night. Denver is easily the best team in the West, it's just a matter of what their record will be because their schedule is very, very difficult.
San Francisco - statement win over Green Bay. 30-22 was the final but that game was not as close as the score indicated.
Houston scored 21 points in 1:46 against Miami - I've heard of quick strike teams but I'll have to see how many teams have scored 21 points in less than two minutes.
Until next time....
Husker football fans are freaking out with the Fire Bo Pelini Facebook pages, etc, etc. As far as that goes, I'm on the record as saying it's not time to go to that level yet. However, the assistant coaching staff is generally terrible (especially on defense) and they are horrible at tackling. That's the coach's responsibility. I personally think 8-4 is still a realistic prediction, but that Wisconsin game is a must win.
That Devon Walker helmet to helmet hit in that Tulsa/Tulane game was rather scary. His life is changed forever now...a cracked spine. It's a dangerous game.
Robert Griffin III - what a special talent. In a hostile environment, he did exactly what Washington fans hoped he would do. They've been looking for a savior in DC for the last 10 years at quarterback and now they might finally have one.
And Peyton Manning - how impressive was he. That looked like the old, vintage Indianapolis offense last night. Denver is easily the best team in the West, it's just a matter of what their record will be because their schedule is very, very difficult.
San Francisco - statement win over Green Bay. 30-22 was the final but that game was not as close as the score indicated.
Houston scored 21 points in 1:46 against Miami - I've heard of quick strike teams but I'll have to see how many teams have scored 21 points in less than two minutes.
Until next time....
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Few more thoughts on College Football Week 1
Just a few things to point out:
Hey Georgia Tech quarterback - and I don't even know the guy's name - in overtime, when you have the first possession, EAT THE BALL and let your team KICK THE FIELD GOAL. In overtime points become a must have and you basically handed Virginia Tech the game.
I was just told that Oklahoma State just scored again.
The Huskers play in the Big 10, but that conference looked horrible over the weekend. Only Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue looked like they belonged. Everyone else lost or barely won.
Sure, Alabama looked like an NFL team week one, but let's see what they do over the course of the season.
Big 12 actually had a perfect weekend despite a few scares (KU actually trailed South Dakota State at one point and K-State only led Missouri State 16-9 in the fourth).
With those thoughts aside, I'm ready for six days of football in a row starting Wednesday.
Hey Georgia Tech quarterback - and I don't even know the guy's name - in overtime, when you have the first possession, EAT THE BALL and let your team KICK THE FIELD GOAL. In overtime points become a must have and you basically handed Virginia Tech the game.
I was just told that Oklahoma State just scored again.
The Huskers play in the Big 10, but that conference looked horrible over the weekend. Only Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue looked like they belonged. Everyone else lost or barely won.
Sure, Alabama looked like an NFL team week one, but let's see what they do over the course of the season.
Big 12 actually had a perfect weekend despite a few scares (KU actually trailed South Dakota State at one point and K-State only led Missouri State 16-9 in the fourth).
With those thoughts aside, I'm ready for six days of football in a row starting Wednesday.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
MLB and Husker Football Thoughts
I gave some thoughts on the Hall of Fame and who is on and who is not, but wanted to get another thought in as well as a Husker football thought.
As an Astros fan (yes we do still exist) I am hoping beyond hope that Craig Biggio gets inducted with Jeff Bagwell more than anything. The two, together, were the keys to the Houston Astros franchise for about 15 years and brought class and dignity to the franchise.
However, the likelihood that they both go in together...I will have to say, it's going to be a long shot. You have to get 75 percent of the votes. Then you have the issue of will some voters put Bagwell in because of the performance enhancing drugs deal.
Also a quick Husker football thought: Taylor Martinez actually looked a lot better in the first game Saturday. I thought they'd win but I didn't think Martinez would have a quarterback rating of 212.5. My sources also tell me Rex Burkhead will be just fine.
So now it's off to UCLA for the Huskers, and we should know more about the team after next weekend. UCLA will no doubt come ready to play and they have the talent to get it done.
Until next time....
Monday, August 27, 2012
Quick Blog - Major League Baseball Hall of Fame
I'll be back with more details tomorrow, but I will say this. The Houston Chronicle did a brief piece on Roger Clemens and some of the notables who will be on the MLB Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, as well as notables who will be back. Just a few thoughts:
It always amazes me that Jack Morris doesn't get as much respect as he deserves. He's been on the ballot 12 times but has never gotten into the Hall of Fame. This is a guy who won three world titles with three different teams, and pitched the World Series of his life in 1991. To this day, that 1991 World Series remains the greatest of all time in my view and Jack Morris was a large part of it. Chances are he might still get in as he got 66 percent of the vote last time but he's running out of time.
Even more amazing is Don Mattingly, one of the sweetest swingers of all time and the current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The first year he was eligible for the ballot all the way back in 2001 he received a fair amount of votes but that has steadily declined. Sure he didn't win a world title in his career as a player, but I'm surprised at the lack of respect he has got.
As far as some of the newcomers on the ballot:
Barry Bonds - If this guy gets in at all it's going to make me puke and for those who follow the sport I think you know why. In my view Henry Aaron is still the all time home run king.
Curt Schilling - He'll get in for sure I think - who knows how long it will take. That 2004 ALCS and playing with a bloody sock, not to mention three world titles alone gets him in.
Craig Biggio - Also his first time on the ballot. Ideally as an Astros fan he'll go in with Bagwell but that remains to be seen.
Roger Clemens - Here's a guy I thought I loved watching pitch. But man, now I have mixed feelings because of the drug issues and because he wants back in the spotlight at near 50 years old.
More details coming tomorrow.
It always amazes me that Jack Morris doesn't get as much respect as he deserves. He's been on the ballot 12 times but has never gotten into the Hall of Fame. This is a guy who won three world titles with three different teams, and pitched the World Series of his life in 1991. To this day, that 1991 World Series remains the greatest of all time in my view and Jack Morris was a large part of it. Chances are he might still get in as he got 66 percent of the vote last time but he's running out of time.
Even more amazing is Don Mattingly, one of the sweetest swingers of all time and the current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The first year he was eligible for the ballot all the way back in 2001 he received a fair amount of votes but that has steadily declined. Sure he didn't win a world title in his career as a player, but I'm surprised at the lack of respect he has got.
As far as some of the newcomers on the ballot:
Barry Bonds - If this guy gets in at all it's going to make me puke and for those who follow the sport I think you know why. In my view Henry Aaron is still the all time home run king.
Curt Schilling - He'll get in for sure I think - who knows how long it will take. That 2004 ALCS and playing with a bloody sock, not to mention three world titles alone gets him in.
Craig Biggio - Also his first time on the ballot. Ideally as an Astros fan he'll go in with Bagwell but that remains to be seen.
Roger Clemens - Here's a guy I thought I loved watching pitch. But man, now I have mixed feelings because of the drug issues and because he wants back in the spotlight at near 50 years old.
More details coming tomorrow.
Friday, August 10, 2012
The Olympics, The NBA and preseason football
With the Olympics nearly drawing to a close and football starting up, just a few thoughts to chew on.
First of all, Nebraska's uniforms. As a University of Nebraska alumnus, this would probably take an entire blog to go over. Suffice to say, they are awful and not what the Nebraska uniforms should be. We are not Texas Tech so let's not stoop to that level.
On a brighter note, have to love Jordan Larson representing the Huskers well at the Olympics on the United States women's volleyball team. I'm not a Longhorn fan but have to give credit to Destinee Hooker as well, she is a tremendous athlete. It's so weird to see some of these girls on the same team together considering a lot competed for national titles against each other just a few short years ago.
Also, thank heavens that the USA has taken over the medal lead from China seemingly for good. The track and field competition has made a big difference as well as the gold medals in women's soccer and women's water polo.
As far as the NBA is concerned...wow, how much do you think David Stern rigged that Dwight Howard deal that sent him to the Lakers? The Lakers were able to keep him and only had to unload one of Andrew Bynum or Pao Gasol...not both. Pretty obvious to me Stern BADLY wants a Lakers/Heat NBA Finals...the league is now the Big 2 and Little 28.
It's also good to see preseason football on my TV, but I have to say Jon Gruden continues to be terrible in the broadcast booth...and the thought of Chris Berman broadcasting a game on opening weekend makes me want to throw up in my mouth. On the good side, we'll get to see more of Ed Hochuli showing off his guns and giving dissertations of penalties which is a good thing.
Next time I'm sure I'll get into the Nebraska uniforms more.
First of all, Nebraska's uniforms. As a University of Nebraska alumnus, this would probably take an entire blog to go over. Suffice to say, they are awful and not what the Nebraska uniforms should be. We are not Texas Tech so let's not stoop to that level.
On a brighter note, have to love Jordan Larson representing the Huskers well at the Olympics on the United States women's volleyball team. I'm not a Longhorn fan but have to give credit to Destinee Hooker as well, she is a tremendous athlete. It's so weird to see some of these girls on the same team together considering a lot competed for national titles against each other just a few short years ago.
Also, thank heavens that the USA has taken over the medal lead from China seemingly for good. The track and field competition has made a big difference as well as the gold medals in women's soccer and women's water polo.
As far as the NBA is concerned...wow, how much do you think David Stern rigged that Dwight Howard deal that sent him to the Lakers? The Lakers were able to keep him and only had to unload one of Andrew Bynum or Pao Gasol...not both. Pretty obvious to me Stern BADLY wants a Lakers/Heat NBA Finals...the league is now the Big 2 and Little 28.
It's also good to see preseason football on my TV, but I have to say Jon Gruden continues to be terrible in the broadcast booth...and the thought of Chris Berman broadcasting a game on opening weekend makes me want to throw up in my mouth. On the good side, we'll get to see more of Ed Hochuli showing off his guns and giving dissertations of penalties which is a good thing.
Next time I'm sure I'll get into the Nebraska uniforms more.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Eating Out - It's Like a Box of Chocolates
It's always been true of eating out.
Sometimes you just don't know what you're going to get from night to night. One would think that when you eat out at specific places that have a good reputation that you would be getting a good product.
For example, Texas Roadhouse.
I personally had only been there once prior to last week and didn't find it so great, but the old man of the house had been there twice before and had a good night out. It's so funny how that works.
Well, we get to Roadhouse last week, and it was OK but it certainly was nothing to write home about.
The biggest problem we all had was that, number one, a lot of our steaks were very thin or skinny, not what you would expect from a steak. The other thing was, in particular, for me I ordered my steak medium and it came out dry.
It's just so funny how some people, like Dad, can catch a restaurant on a good night but I can catch it on two bad nights.
Then, there was Cracker Barrel here in town which I and my brother went to Sunday morning. Not that I was expecting much, as they had some issues when they first opened up, but it was nothing to write home about either. My food was OK, but my brother wasn't exactly a fan of it.
Then, after Mom got back from a vacation, we went to Pappadeaux's on Monday night. Wow, all I can say is everything was top notch. I ordered their major platter which consisted of stuffed shrimp, crab cake, crawfish, catfish and shrimp. It was a meal so big that I had to have it in two to-go boxes. But it was all good and I enjoyed the experience.
A couple of sports notes:
1. Finally, the Astros have really completed their transformation and are building for the future now. Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez and all the other scrubs - gone. Their hope now resides in the minor leagues as their major league team might not even beat a AA farm team. I say they should go for the worst major league baseball team in history. That's something they can strive for.
2. I feel bad for Adam Scott after the Open Championship. He had it in the bag and then let it get away completely with four bogeys in the last four holes. Granted, Ernie Els is a consummate pro and one of my favorite guys on the Tour but this was supposed to be Scott's hour.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Houston's Cheesecake Factory - Always a Good Time
So, I'll start off this blog post by saying that our family has many traditions. If there's one thing that we like to do, it's uphold family traditions.
Once per year, I go in to get my eyes checked on (at Dr. Richard Ebling, who is terrific might I add). For the most part, in every year since about 2000 we go over to the Cheesecake Factory over at the Houston Galleria after the appointment. Wednesday was no different.
As usual it is always a wonderful time and my meal - oh my goodness, talk about to die for.
I am however saddened that Mother's lunch didn't turn out so great. She had their lunch special, a Hawaiian lunch size pizza and from my understanding it didn't sound like it came out too great. It's always sad to me when any sort of pizza doesn't turn out great as I've had pizza at all different kinds of places.
However, my lunch was nothing short of amazing. Of course when you're at the Cheesecake Factory, you have cheesecake and theirs is always amazing. When in Rome, you do as the Romans do.
But the main course - Fettucine with sun dried tomatoes and a sun dried tomato/cream sauce, oh my God, what a lunch. I'd get that again any day. What really tripped me out about lunch is that all the flavors went very well together. As people well know, a lot of times you get meals where the flavors don't exactly match up and the lunch doesn't turn out so great. That was not the case on Wednesday.
As far as the cheesecake is concerned, usually I get the white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake which is my favorite. But this time, when I saw a cheesecake based off Reese's peanut butter cups, I had to get that and oh Lord, was it ever good. I'd love to get that one again as well the next time I go.
A couple of sports matters before I close out this blog:
1. Thank God Carlos Lee is no longer a Houston Astro. The fact that former general manager Tim Purpura backed up a dump truck of money to his house back in 2007 was one of the many mistakes Mr. Purpura made. Thank God they are no longer involved with the organization.
2. Kobe Bryant, please stop talking about how the 2012 US Olympic Team could beat the 1992 Dream Team. Please win the gold medal this year first.
3. It seems that the Rockets have not given up on Dwight Howard, as a matter of fact on Twitter they are following a number of major stars now - guys like Howard, Jason Richardson and Glen "Big Baby" Davis are all accounts the Rockets Twitter account is following. It should be interesting to see where this story line leads.
Once per year, I go in to get my eyes checked on (at Dr. Richard Ebling, who is terrific might I add). For the most part, in every year since about 2000 we go over to the Cheesecake Factory over at the Houston Galleria after the appointment. Wednesday was no different.
As usual it is always a wonderful time and my meal - oh my goodness, talk about to die for.
I am however saddened that Mother's lunch didn't turn out so great. She had their lunch special, a Hawaiian lunch size pizza and from my understanding it didn't sound like it came out too great. It's always sad to me when any sort of pizza doesn't turn out great as I've had pizza at all different kinds of places.
However, my lunch was nothing short of amazing. Of course when you're at the Cheesecake Factory, you have cheesecake and theirs is always amazing. When in Rome, you do as the Romans do.
But the main course - Fettucine with sun dried tomatoes and a sun dried tomato/cream sauce, oh my God, what a lunch. I'd get that again any day. What really tripped me out about lunch is that all the flavors went very well together. As people well know, a lot of times you get meals where the flavors don't exactly match up and the lunch doesn't turn out so great. That was not the case on Wednesday.
As far as the cheesecake is concerned, usually I get the white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake which is my favorite. But this time, when I saw a cheesecake based off Reese's peanut butter cups, I had to get that and oh Lord, was it ever good. I'd love to get that one again as well the next time I go.
A couple of sports matters before I close out this blog:
1. Thank God Carlos Lee is no longer a Houston Astro. The fact that former general manager Tim Purpura backed up a dump truck of money to his house back in 2007 was one of the many mistakes Mr. Purpura made. Thank God they are no longer involved with the organization.
2. Kobe Bryant, please stop talking about how the 2012 US Olympic Team could beat the 1992 Dream Team. Please win the gold medal this year first.
3. It seems that the Rockets have not given up on Dwight Howard, as a matter of fact on Twitter they are following a number of major stars now - guys like Howard, Jason Richardson and Glen "Big Baby" Davis are all accounts the Rockets Twitter account is following. It should be interesting to see where this story line leads.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Debate about BBQ and I Love Patriotic Cake
It's the age old debate...a debate that might never really be truly resolved.
It's a debate about which kind of barbecue is really the best. Really, honestly, there is no right or wrong answer to this question - it just depends on your preference.
I was starkly reminded of that this past Independence Day when I had my second foray into the world of North Carolina barbecue. You know, the pulled pork that has that vinegar taste to it - and I've had my share of it all this week.
Much like all the different types of barbecue there are advantages and there are some not so great advantages to this type of barbecue.
One thing I've found out in my two adventures into eating North Carolina BBQ is that for as good as it can be, it's very hard to make in just one day. It seems to me that this kind of BBQ has to be done starting the night before. Thing was, it didn't quite get up to the temperature it needed to be (about 195 degrees) and Dad cooked the pork all day Wednesday.
Thing is though, if you can get it just right, it's awfully good. I actually had it while I was still in school several months before I got my masters and it was awfully good then.
One advantage to me for this sort of BBQ is that it can be a nice alternative to having St. Louis style ribs (which are my personal favorite) if you don't want to get your hands dirty.
I can say this though...I absolutely love patriotic cake which we have had all week as well. I absolutely love fruits of most kinds, so that cake is like heaven for me. You've got the goodness of a nice, well made cake with all those great strawberries and blueberries in there and it is absolutely wonderful.
Man, some good eating around my parts this week. But then again, it is around the Fourth of July so that is to be expected.
It's a debate about which kind of barbecue is really the best. Really, honestly, there is no right or wrong answer to this question - it just depends on your preference.
I was starkly reminded of that this past Independence Day when I had my second foray into the world of North Carolina barbecue. You know, the pulled pork that has that vinegar taste to it - and I've had my share of it all this week.
Much like all the different types of barbecue there are advantages and there are some not so great advantages to this type of barbecue.
One thing I've found out in my two adventures into eating North Carolina BBQ is that for as good as it can be, it's very hard to make in just one day. It seems to me that this kind of BBQ has to be done starting the night before. Thing was, it didn't quite get up to the temperature it needed to be (about 195 degrees) and Dad cooked the pork all day Wednesday.
Thing is though, if you can get it just right, it's awfully good. I actually had it while I was still in school several months before I got my masters and it was awfully good then.
One advantage to me for this sort of BBQ is that it can be a nice alternative to having St. Louis style ribs (which are my personal favorite) if you don't want to get your hands dirty.
I can say this though...I absolutely love patriotic cake which we have had all week as well. I absolutely love fruits of most kinds, so that cake is like heaven for me. You've got the goodness of a nice, well made cake with all those great strawberries and blueberries in there and it is absolutely wonderful.
Man, some good eating around my parts this week. But then again, it is around the Fourth of July so that is to be expected.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Mixed reaction on meals from Monday
I've said before that I am a big food fan. I love sports but one of the things I secretly love that's sort of in the dark is food. Whether it's at home in the kitchen or out to eat, I also can be an enormous food critic - and I feel I am qualified to do so since I live in a family of food critics.
That being said, two of the meals I had Monday had mixed reactions from me. I always like to end with good news, so I'll start with the not so good - Kingwood Bagel, locally where I live.
To say that this place was much better years ago than it is now would be a gross understatement. It may be breakfast centric but to me Deerwood Country Club blows this place away and it isn't even close. First of all, did that place have any air conditioning inside of it. When I went in there after church Monday morning it felt like a sauna in there. It's a good thing we weren't there very long.
Secondly, the service was very, very slow. When it came time to order at the counter, the person at the counter waited a minute or two to even pay us the time of day which, in my view, is not how it should be done. The only excuse I can think of was that she was busy at the time, whoever this person was which could be a valid excuse but there was no one in front of us.
And finally, the food - wow, talk about hit or miss. My egg on a bagel sandwich was OK, but Mom's didn't turn out so well. My question is, how can you be so hit or miss as far as making an egg on a bagel sandwich?
Now for the good stuff - which is what I like to deliver last, to close with a positive message. Dinner Monday night - and last night for that matter, yum yum.
Monday night was a sloppy joe casserole which was good enough - not a lot better than a sloppy joe casserole. But what made it was the seeded bun that was mixed in that made it just delicious. I will say I think it might have been even more interesting to have some mozzarella cheese put on the casserole.
And then last night - oh wow, salmon with some great potatoes mixed in. I will say this - I should remember not to put too much lemon on my salmon. I got enough lemon on it that I might have made the fish a little bit tart.
One thing I want to reiterate from earlier in this piece - the best place in my opinion for breakfast in this town is Deerwood Country Club. We did that for Father's Day and I was very impressed. They mainly do breakfast but it's good to see places who know what they are good at.
That being said, two of the meals I had Monday had mixed reactions from me. I always like to end with good news, so I'll start with the not so good - Kingwood Bagel, locally where I live.
To say that this place was much better years ago than it is now would be a gross understatement. It may be breakfast centric but to me Deerwood Country Club blows this place away and it isn't even close. First of all, did that place have any air conditioning inside of it. When I went in there after church Monday morning it felt like a sauna in there. It's a good thing we weren't there very long.
Secondly, the service was very, very slow. When it came time to order at the counter, the person at the counter waited a minute or two to even pay us the time of day which, in my view, is not how it should be done. The only excuse I can think of was that she was busy at the time, whoever this person was which could be a valid excuse but there was no one in front of us.
And finally, the food - wow, talk about hit or miss. My egg on a bagel sandwich was OK, but Mom's didn't turn out so well. My question is, how can you be so hit or miss as far as making an egg on a bagel sandwich?
Now for the good stuff - which is what I like to deliver last, to close with a positive message. Dinner Monday night - and last night for that matter, yum yum.
Monday night was a sloppy joe casserole which was good enough - not a lot better than a sloppy joe casserole. But what made it was the seeded bun that was mixed in that made it just delicious. I will say I think it might have been even more interesting to have some mozzarella cheese put on the casserole.
And then last night - oh wow, salmon with some great potatoes mixed in. I will say this - I should remember not to put too much lemon on my salmon. I got enough lemon on it that I might have made the fish a little bit tart.
One thing I want to reiterate from earlier in this piece - the best place in my opinion for breakfast in this town is Deerwood Country Club. We did that for Father's Day and I was very impressed. They mainly do breakfast but it's good to see places who know what they are good at.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The NBA Finals Game 5 and what it's like to be without air conditioning
Back with another brief blog, as there have been a couple of things which have happened this week which require my attention.
The first thing is the major story which has been going around this household the last few days. That story has been the air conditioning issue. You see, the old AC for the upstairs part of the house was 20 years old, and you know how things get when they get old - they just can't do it anymore.
So it died last Friday upstairs and all of a sudden it gets quite warm. We get the lowdown and we decide to get a new AC. In the meantime, I spent a lot of the weekend watching US Open golf, and doing things that you would normally do on Father's Day.
As it turned out though, it wasn't quite as warm as I originally anticipated. In fact, once the temperatures got cooler late at night and early in the morning, it was rather pleasant to sleep upstairs.
What's funny is, my brother Pat has been through hurricanes down here which have taken away power and AC for several days on end and what we had the last few days was nothing compared to that, at least he said so. I was still in school in Lincoln at the time so I can't comment on that. We now have a new AC unit upstairs which has been rather good so far.
As far as Game 5 of the NBA Finals tonight, I'm looking for a Thunder win, mainly because I think the Thunder are too good of a team to lose four games in a row in any playoff series, and because I think they will get the bulk of the calls tonight. Miami should win the series and Lebron should win his first title but I think it will come in six games, not five.
One other thing: apparently there were some pretty bad storms last night in Nebraska. I hope the folks back there are OK.
The first thing is the major story which has been going around this household the last few days. That story has been the air conditioning issue. You see, the old AC for the upstairs part of the house was 20 years old, and you know how things get when they get old - they just can't do it anymore.
So it died last Friday upstairs and all of a sudden it gets quite warm. We get the lowdown and we decide to get a new AC. In the meantime, I spent a lot of the weekend watching US Open golf, and doing things that you would normally do on Father's Day.
As it turned out though, it wasn't quite as warm as I originally anticipated. In fact, once the temperatures got cooler late at night and early in the morning, it was rather pleasant to sleep upstairs.
What's funny is, my brother Pat has been through hurricanes down here which have taken away power and AC for several days on end and what we had the last few days was nothing compared to that, at least he said so. I was still in school in Lincoln at the time so I can't comment on that. We now have a new AC unit upstairs which has been rather good so far.
As far as Game 5 of the NBA Finals tonight, I'm looking for a Thunder win, mainly because I think the Thunder are too good of a team to lose four games in a row in any playoff series, and because I think they will get the bulk of the calls tonight. Miami should win the series and Lebron should win his first title but I think it will come in six games, not five.
One other thing: apparently there were some pretty bad storms last night in Nebraska. I hope the folks back there are OK.
Monday, June 18, 2012
NBA Finals, US Open and Father's Day
As another Monday drags along, hope everyone is having a good Father's Day +1.
Speaking of which, I'm an enormous food guy and I've been meaning to comment on this for a while. Yesterday, myself and the family went out for a very nice Father's Day breakfast (the best breakfast I've had away from the house in a long time) which is a stark reminder of how much the father means to the family. My hope is that everyone remembered to say Happy Father's Day to your father at least once.
Regarding the US Open golf tournament, man that golf course ate players alive. The experts were not kidding when they said this was one of the toughest golf courses in the world. In the end, Webb Simpson won the tournament and it's nice to see an unknown win the tournament. During parts of Friday when Tiger was playing well, I thought if he was tied or ahead going into Sunday he would win. He's almost indomitable with a lead on day four of a major but he melted down on Saturday which helped open everything up.
Regarding the NBA Finals and conspiracy theories by Oklahoma City fans, let's just put it like this...Every team in history has had bad calls against them at some point. Just because the Heat won doesn't mean the Thunder haven't gotten calls before. It wasn't that long ago that San Antonio Spurs fans were complaining about referees in their series with the Thunder a few weeks ago. The worst thing about it is that the older referees in the NBA are supposed to be the go-to men for the league, but they come off as incompetent and some people would say, stooges for what NBA commissioner David Stern really wants.
In the end, the Thunder are down 1-2 and must win three of the next four (if necessary) to win the title. It's not going to be an easy road and they must win game 4.
Speaking of which, I'm an enormous food guy and I've been meaning to comment on this for a while. Yesterday, myself and the family went out for a very nice Father's Day breakfast (the best breakfast I've had away from the house in a long time) which is a stark reminder of how much the father means to the family. My hope is that everyone remembered to say Happy Father's Day to your father at least once.
Regarding the US Open golf tournament, man that golf course ate players alive. The experts were not kidding when they said this was one of the toughest golf courses in the world. In the end, Webb Simpson won the tournament and it's nice to see an unknown win the tournament. During parts of Friday when Tiger was playing well, I thought if he was tied or ahead going into Sunday he would win. He's almost indomitable with a lead on day four of a major but he melted down on Saturday which helped open everything up.
Regarding the NBA Finals and conspiracy theories by Oklahoma City fans, let's just put it like this...Every team in history has had bad calls against them at some point. Just because the Heat won doesn't mean the Thunder haven't gotten calls before. It wasn't that long ago that San Antonio Spurs fans were complaining about referees in their series with the Thunder a few weeks ago. The worst thing about it is that the older referees in the NBA are supposed to be the go-to men for the league, but they come off as incompetent and some people would say, stooges for what NBA commissioner David Stern really wants.
In the end, the Thunder are down 1-2 and must win three of the next four (if necessary) to win the title. It's not going to be an easy road and they must win game 4.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The NBA Playoffs and Baseball: Varying Takes
With the NBA playoffs in its second round, just thought it was time to drop in and give a few varying takes on some of the series going on in the current NBA playoff season.
With that effort today by LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, how long is it going to take the two of them to claim they can still win eight championships or more in Miami? Never mind that they are still having trouble with Indiana, they're going to need at least seven games to get out of this series. What's going to happen when they run into Oklahoma City or San Antonio...that is, assuming they get by Indiana AND Boston?
Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are stone cold killers. Say what you want about the San Antonio Spurs 17 game winning streak, and it is impressive, but the fact that OKC might well be getting ready to go 8-1 against both the defending champion Dallas and then the Lakers is awfully impressive in itself.
And Kevin Durant...my goodness, word of warning to everyone else: Do NOT let the game be close late. There are certain guys who take the last shot, three, two one and you think that ball isn't going in. With Kevin Durant, it's becoming commonplace to think...that ball is going in. That's something we used to say about guys like Michael Jordan.
And what's going on with the Celtics? This team is so off and on it's unreal...dominate game 3 in Philadelphia, then they take a big lead in game 4 only to let their foot off the gas and lose.
Sad day for baseball on Friday with Kerry Wood retiring. I remember him all the way back to 1998 when he was a talented young pitcher and struck out 20 Houston Astros in a game...if only Dusty Baker hadn't come along and ruined his arm.
Justin Verlander didn't come up with a no-hitter on Friday against Pittsburgh, but in coming two outs short he gave Detroit fans their money's worth, especially for a game against Pittsburgh.
One final note as far as college football goes...I think it's safe to say that the landscape of college football has drastically changed in the wake of last week's announcement. In case you have been living under a rock or don't follow college football, the Southeastern and Big 12 conferences agreed to a matchup where, assuming one of their champions doesn't end up in an impending college football playoff, they would play each other in a champions' bowl game.
Because of this announcement, there is a clear divide between the haves and have-nots in the current landscape of NCAA major college football. The Big 10 (12), Big 12 (10, plus maybe more), Southeastern and Pac-12 conferences appear to be the haves while the Atlantic Coast and Big East conferences appear to be on the outside looking in. Are we about to see the formation of superconferences as we know them?
With that effort today by LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, how long is it going to take the two of them to claim they can still win eight championships or more in Miami? Never mind that they are still having trouble with Indiana, they're going to need at least seven games to get out of this series. What's going to happen when they run into Oklahoma City or San Antonio...that is, assuming they get by Indiana AND Boston?
Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are stone cold killers. Say what you want about the San Antonio Spurs 17 game winning streak, and it is impressive, but the fact that OKC might well be getting ready to go 8-1 against both the defending champion Dallas and then the Lakers is awfully impressive in itself.
And Kevin Durant...my goodness, word of warning to everyone else: Do NOT let the game be close late. There are certain guys who take the last shot, three, two one and you think that ball isn't going in. With Kevin Durant, it's becoming commonplace to think...that ball is going in. That's something we used to say about guys like Michael Jordan.
And what's going on with the Celtics? This team is so off and on it's unreal...dominate game 3 in Philadelphia, then they take a big lead in game 4 only to let their foot off the gas and lose.
Sad day for baseball on Friday with Kerry Wood retiring. I remember him all the way back to 1998 when he was a talented young pitcher and struck out 20 Houston Astros in a game...if only Dusty Baker hadn't come along and ruined his arm.
Justin Verlander didn't come up with a no-hitter on Friday against Pittsburgh, but in coming two outs short he gave Detroit fans their money's worth, especially for a game against Pittsburgh.
One final note as far as college football goes...I think it's safe to say that the landscape of college football has drastically changed in the wake of last week's announcement. In case you have been living under a rock or don't follow college football, the Southeastern and Big 12 conferences agreed to a matchup where, assuming one of their champions doesn't end up in an impending college football playoff, they would play each other in a champions' bowl game.
Because of this announcement, there is a clear divide between the haves and have-nots in the current landscape of NCAA major college football. The Big 10 (12), Big 12 (10, plus maybe more), Southeastern and Pac-12 conferences appear to be the haves while the Atlantic Coast and Big East conferences appear to be on the outside looking in. Are we about to see the formation of superconferences as we know them?
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The NFL Draft and Questionable Decisions
The National Football League's annual draft began Thursday night and ended Saturday, and it ended up being one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. The draft was such a deep draft that a guy by the name of Kellen Moore, a standout quarterback for Boise State who helped keep the Broncos on the map, ended up not getting drafted before he was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Detroit Lions. He almost certainly won't beat out Matthew Stafford but if he puts in the time he might have a shot to make the roster.
As with most NFL drafts, this draft came with some questionable decision making, from a lot of teams. Let's start with the Washington Redskins, who made the choice everyone expected them to make by taking Baylor's Robert Griffin III with the second pick in the draft.
It was an obvious move and a move that one would have expected the Washington Redskins to make as they have been looking for a franchise quarterback for many years. They also went very heavy on the offensive line, as one expected they might. In the draft, the Redskins selected three offensive linemen - two offensive guards and one offensive tackle.
But the curious decision, to me, is why did they take ANOTHER competent quarterback in the third round. Kirk Cousins is not a guy who is going to ride the bench very easily - he is going to give RG-III some competition. If they are giving up all those draft picks for RG-III, then why are they taking a guy like Cousins in the third round?
Another question: Why do teams even bother trading picks with the New England Patriots? That is almost money to guys like Bill Belichick. Take the 25th pick in the draft...New England got it in a trade with Denver. This pick became Dont'a Hightower, the spectacular linebacker from Alabama. And it's not like Denver had a great draft either, although they got a couple of good picks.
Now to the matter of Ryan Tannehill and wondering why in the world would the Miami Dolphins select this guy to be their franchise quarterback, let alone take him with a top 10 pick. Did they not see this guy cough up game after game after game in his senior year in college? The guy missed key throws and had big turnovers in the second halves of several games this last season which caused a lot of losses for a talented Texas A&M squad.
I even have questions about the hometown Houston Texans, who took Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey with a third round draft pick. He's got talent as he had a big year two years ago but he didn't run many pro style routes in college. Also, wide receivers take a very long time to develop. As a Texans homer, I would have liked to see Joe Adams or Jarius Wright from Arkansas in Texans colors. I thought Carolina did a good job picking up Adams, and Minnesota got the other two big playmaker receivers from Arkansas.
And the questions I have are not just limited to the NFL draft. Most notably, in the Dallas/Oklahoma City playoff series, there were questionable decisions in game 2 of that series which helped dictate how that game went. Oklahoma City won 102-99 going up 2-0 in that series. A lot of me wishes these referees would just stay out of these games as these games are good enough to where referees do not need to be that involved.
That is all for my thoughts, questionable decisions and all. Until next time...
As with most NFL drafts, this draft came with some questionable decision making, from a lot of teams. Let's start with the Washington Redskins, who made the choice everyone expected them to make by taking Baylor's Robert Griffin III with the second pick in the draft.
It was an obvious move and a move that one would have expected the Washington Redskins to make as they have been looking for a franchise quarterback for many years. They also went very heavy on the offensive line, as one expected they might. In the draft, the Redskins selected three offensive linemen - two offensive guards and one offensive tackle.
But the curious decision, to me, is why did they take ANOTHER competent quarterback in the third round. Kirk Cousins is not a guy who is going to ride the bench very easily - he is going to give RG-III some competition. If they are giving up all those draft picks for RG-III, then why are they taking a guy like Cousins in the third round?
Another question: Why do teams even bother trading picks with the New England Patriots? That is almost money to guys like Bill Belichick. Take the 25th pick in the draft...New England got it in a trade with Denver. This pick became Dont'a Hightower, the spectacular linebacker from Alabama. And it's not like Denver had a great draft either, although they got a couple of good picks.
Now to the matter of Ryan Tannehill and wondering why in the world would the Miami Dolphins select this guy to be their franchise quarterback, let alone take him with a top 10 pick. Did they not see this guy cough up game after game after game in his senior year in college? The guy missed key throws and had big turnovers in the second halves of several games this last season which caused a lot of losses for a talented Texas A&M squad.
I even have questions about the hometown Houston Texans, who took Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey with a third round draft pick. He's got talent as he had a big year two years ago but he didn't run many pro style routes in college. Also, wide receivers take a very long time to develop. As a Texans homer, I would have liked to see Joe Adams or Jarius Wright from Arkansas in Texans colors. I thought Carolina did a good job picking up Adams, and Minnesota got the other two big playmaker receivers from Arkansas.
And the questions I have are not just limited to the NFL draft. Most notably, in the Dallas/Oklahoma City playoff series, there were questionable decisions in game 2 of that series which helped dictate how that game went. Oklahoma City won 102-99 going up 2-0 in that series. A lot of me wishes these referees would just stay out of these games as these games are good enough to where referees do not need to be that involved.
That is all for my thoughts, questionable decisions and all. Until next time...
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Punches, Texas Rangers and Espionage
A lot of things have happened in the world of sports in the last couple of weeks so I think an update is in order.
First of all, let's talk about assault to other people. What in the wide world of sports is going on all of a sudden with punching people in the face? We have Metta World Peace (the artist formerly known as Ron Artest of the Lakers) elbowing James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game last Sunday. That's obviously the biggest case of disrespect these days. And how is that suspension not more than seven games...oh wait, I know why it's not. David Stern was NEVER going to rip a key member from one of the NBA's big franchises for two whole rounds. That would have been too good to be true. World Peace should be glad that David Stern is the commissioner of this league.
Next, we have Alfonzo Dennard from my alma mater, Nebraska, punching a police officer. What disgusts me more than anything about this is Nebraska has become the early 2010s version of the Miami Hurricanes, except this group of underachievers has no significant titles to show for it. And Dennard should feel lucky if that punch doesn't cost him in the upcoming NFL Draft.
And so much for that World Series hangover...the Texas Rangers are picking right back up where they left off last year. What's stunning so far is how well their pitching has done after a few changes. The move of Neftali Feliz to the starting rotation as well as the addition of Yu Darvish has paid huge dividends so far. We all know they can swing the sticks, so it's going to be how far their pitching can take them. It's anybody's guess if the current pitching staff wins them the World Series this year but so far they are off to a good start.
And this New Orleans Saints thing is out of control. Now we have New England Patriots-like espionage stories going on? All I can say is when it rains, it pours, and it's pouring on the New Orleans Saints right now.
First of all, let's talk about assault to other people. What in the wide world of sports is going on all of a sudden with punching people in the face? We have Metta World Peace (the artist formerly known as Ron Artest of the Lakers) elbowing James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game last Sunday. That's obviously the biggest case of disrespect these days. And how is that suspension not more than seven games...oh wait, I know why it's not. David Stern was NEVER going to rip a key member from one of the NBA's big franchises for two whole rounds. That would have been too good to be true. World Peace should be glad that David Stern is the commissioner of this league.
Next, we have Alfonzo Dennard from my alma mater, Nebraska, punching a police officer. What disgusts me more than anything about this is Nebraska has become the early 2010s version of the Miami Hurricanes, except this group of underachievers has no significant titles to show for it. And Dennard should feel lucky if that punch doesn't cost him in the upcoming NFL Draft.
And so much for that World Series hangover...the Texas Rangers are picking right back up where they left off last year. What's stunning so far is how well their pitching has done after a few changes. The move of Neftali Feliz to the starting rotation as well as the addition of Yu Darvish has paid huge dividends so far. We all know they can swing the sticks, so it's going to be how far their pitching can take them. It's anybody's guess if the current pitching staff wins them the World Series this year but so far they are off to a good start.
And this New Orleans Saints thing is out of control. Now we have New England Patriots-like espionage stories going on? All I can say is when it rains, it pours, and it's pouring on the New Orleans Saints right now.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Tidbits from around the world of sports
In the last week of sports, we've had a lot going on. We've had the NCAA Men's and Women's Final Four, bounties appealed (and appeals rejected), college football coaches cheating on their wives and local phenomenons winning golf majors. So here's just a few tidbits for tonight.
First of all, full marks to Kentucky for winning the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. You'll probably see most of those players in the NBA and that was one heck of a collection of talent. I did find it interesting that there were rumors in the days after the game that Kentucky coach John Calipari is looking to go to the NBA himself. I wonder if he knows the NCAA is going to come snooping around his program...
Speaking of SEC coaches, how about Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino getting in a bicycle wreck...and doing it with a girl he works with in the Razorback athletic department...while he's married? Let me tell you something, that guy has a morals clause in his contract and if Arkansas decides they want to implement that morals clause, Petrino's in hot water...
So the New Orleans Saints hierarchy tried to get their suspensions appealed, and to no one's surprise those appeals were promptly rebuked. Let me tell you this, these guys were lucky those suspensions weren't doubled after the audio that came out over the weekend of Gregg Williams giving a speech to his team before the NFC Divisional Playoffs...a speech which implored his team to target injured 49ers players. I almost think Goodell should have doubled those suspensions.
Full respect to Bubba Watson for winning the Masters this past weekend, on an incredible shot at that. I'm not so quick to crown him the next big thing in golf, but that was a great win. That tournament had a decisively local feel to it as former Georgia Tech standout Matt Kuchar was in the tournament until the end as well.
First of all, full marks to Kentucky for winning the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. You'll probably see most of those players in the NBA and that was one heck of a collection of talent. I did find it interesting that there were rumors in the days after the game that Kentucky coach John Calipari is looking to go to the NBA himself. I wonder if he knows the NCAA is going to come snooping around his program...
Speaking of SEC coaches, how about Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino getting in a bicycle wreck...and doing it with a girl he works with in the Razorback athletic department...while he's married? Let me tell you something, that guy has a morals clause in his contract and if Arkansas decides they want to implement that morals clause, Petrino's in hot water...
So the New Orleans Saints hierarchy tried to get their suspensions appealed, and to no one's surprise those appeals were promptly rebuked. Let me tell you this, these guys were lucky those suspensions weren't doubled after the audio that came out over the weekend of Gregg Williams giving a speech to his team before the NFC Divisional Playoffs...a speech which implored his team to target injured 49ers players. I almost think Goodell should have doubled those suspensions.
Full respect to Bubba Watson for winning the Masters this past weekend, on an incredible shot at that. I'm not so quick to crown him the next big thing in golf, but that was a great win. That tournament had a decisively local feel to it as former Georgia Tech standout Matt Kuchar was in the tournament until the end as well.
Monday, March 26, 2012
A New Orleans themed blog post: Bounties and Final Fours
So, after a weekend of good basketball, the Final Four - in New Orleans - is now set. Obviously, the big story about the Final Four is the Bluegrass battle, Kentucky vs. Louisville, which will be one of the national semifinals on Saturday. I'll get to that in a moment but first...is my thoughts on the Saints bounty situation.
As everyone who follows the NFL probably knows by now, the big office came down hard on the New Orleans Saints. Sean Payton was suspended from coaching for a whole year (rumors over the weekend had him landing at FOX for studio work during games), Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight games, a top Saints assistant coach was suspended for six games and to top it all off, the creator of the bounty system, Gregg Williams (now with the Rams) was suspended indefinitely. Also, the Saints lost second round draft picks in future drafts.
This is clearly a case where the cover-up is worse than the crime itself. The thing about this is, the NFL found out the Saints were doing this bounty thing beforehand and told them to stop it and the Saints said they would - and they kept right on doing it.
It's one thing to deliberately try to hurt players, much less some of the game's elite quarterbacks (reportedly, star QBs like Cam Newton, Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers were targeted at one time or another), but it's another thing to out and out lie to the league office. The league office made that clear when handing down suspensions.
There is no death penalty in the NFL like there is in college, but this is as close to the death penalty as you are ever going to see in professional football - this is staggering. Losing a head coach, a general manager, a top assistant coach AND high draft picks in future drafts is almost like losing everything. If I were the Saints, I would grt down on my knees and beg Drew Brees to stay - because really, does he even want to be stuck in that mess now?
Moving on to the Final Four, also to be hold in New Orleans. I'll get to Kentucky and Louisville in just a second, but first want to acknowledge the job Bill Self has done at Kansas this year - which I think is getting highly underrated coming into this Final Four.
I don't think even Kansas fans expected the Jayhawks to be in the Final Four this year and this surprise run must gnaw at Missouri fans immensely. Missouri thought they got over when they won their last ever Big 12 tournament - and then they go into the NCAA tournament and lose to a 15 seed, while Kansas wins three hard fought games and goes right to the Final Four. Sure, Kansas had a favorable draw, but beating North Carolina - again - to get to the Final Four is still a major accomplishment.
Now, about this Louisville vs. Kentucky game. You want to talk about a pressure cooker, and, well Kentucky is in it right now. They are the prohibitive favorite to win this tournament in most parts of the country that watch college basketball, and if they come up short Monday night, that's going to br bad.
Now imagine if they don't even get to Monday, and Louisville beats them and plays for the title themselves. That is going to be ten times worse - to be beaten by a coach and school that a lot of Kentucky fans look their noses down on, and by a Louisville team that isn't expected to be there.
I expect Kentucky to win the game, but if Louisville finds a way to pull the upset, there's no telling how Kentucky fans will react. And there's one little other intangible: Kentucky and Louisville fans, together, on Bourbon Street. That is a combustbile environment.
Either way, it's got to be one of the biggest Louisville/Kentucky games ever.
As everyone who follows the NFL probably knows by now, the big office came down hard on the New Orleans Saints. Sean Payton was suspended from coaching for a whole year (rumors over the weekend had him landing at FOX for studio work during games), Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight games, a top Saints assistant coach was suspended for six games and to top it all off, the creator of the bounty system, Gregg Williams (now with the Rams) was suspended indefinitely. Also, the Saints lost second round draft picks in future drafts.
This is clearly a case where the cover-up is worse than the crime itself. The thing about this is, the NFL found out the Saints were doing this bounty thing beforehand and told them to stop it and the Saints said they would - and they kept right on doing it.
It's one thing to deliberately try to hurt players, much less some of the game's elite quarterbacks (reportedly, star QBs like Cam Newton, Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers were targeted at one time or another), but it's another thing to out and out lie to the league office. The league office made that clear when handing down suspensions.
There is no death penalty in the NFL like there is in college, but this is as close to the death penalty as you are ever going to see in professional football - this is staggering. Losing a head coach, a general manager, a top assistant coach AND high draft picks in future drafts is almost like losing everything. If I were the Saints, I would grt down on my knees and beg Drew Brees to stay - because really, does he even want to be stuck in that mess now?
Moving on to the Final Four, also to be hold in New Orleans. I'll get to Kentucky and Louisville in just a second, but first want to acknowledge the job Bill Self has done at Kansas this year - which I think is getting highly underrated coming into this Final Four.
I don't think even Kansas fans expected the Jayhawks to be in the Final Four this year and this surprise run must gnaw at Missouri fans immensely. Missouri thought they got over when they won their last ever Big 12 tournament - and then they go into the NCAA tournament and lose to a 15 seed, while Kansas wins three hard fought games and goes right to the Final Four. Sure, Kansas had a favorable draw, but beating North Carolina - again - to get to the Final Four is still a major accomplishment.
Now, about this Louisville vs. Kentucky game. You want to talk about a pressure cooker, and, well Kentucky is in it right now. They are the prohibitive favorite to win this tournament in most parts of the country that watch college basketball, and if they come up short Monday night, that's going to br bad.
Now imagine if they don't even get to Monday, and Louisville beats them and plays for the title themselves. That is going to be ten times worse - to be beaten by a coach and school that a lot of Kentucky fans look their noses down on, and by a Louisville team that isn't expected to be there.
I expect Kentucky to win the game, but if Louisville finds a way to pull the upset, there's no telling how Kentucky fans will react. And there's one little other intangible: Kentucky and Louisville fans, together, on Bourbon Street. That is a combustbile environment.
Either way, it's got to be one of the biggest Louisville/Kentucky games ever.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
NFL Free Agency and College Hoops
Sorry I haven't been on recently but I will make much more of an effort to do so. But with the NCAA Men's Division I basketball tournament going on as well as NFL free agency, I think it's time to do some house cleaning.
First of all, hearty congrats to the New York Giants on winning the Super Bowl. As I may or may not have said on this blog, Gronkowski makes such a huge difference for the Patriots and they did a good job hanging in there without him but in the end, the best team did win. It's tough to repeat though, and it's even tougher to get back when you lose so we'll see what becomes of the Patriots especially.
As far as NFL free agency goes, man how about the set of stones on John Elway? For the record, I am a Tebow fan but I think most Tebow fans would even have to admit that Peyton Manning gives the Denver Broncos a much better chance to win it all than a healthy Tebow does. Reports are obviously that Denver is trying to trade Tebow to New York but the deal has hit a snag so we'll see what happens.
As a Houston Texans fan, I find it curious that so many defections are going on with the team. Mario Williams, DeMeco Ryans, Mike Brisiel, Eric Winston and others will be with new teams next year. All of a sudden, this team has many needs to fill this year in the draft. At least Peyton Manning didn't end up on the Titans - won't have to see that twice per year.
Next item of business is Taylor Martinez opening his mouth and talking about how he'll be disappointed if the Nebraska football team doesn't make the national title game this coming college football season. To me, it's simply another example of him opening his mouth and writing another check that he cannot cash.
With regards to all the craziness this year in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, it's insane that there are four Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16 this year and it's even crazier that seven teams from the Ohio River valley region are in the Sweet 16. And the really insane part is that they all really don't like each other. Don't believe me? Look up Dan Wetzel's archive on Yahoo! Sports as there is a really good article on that.
As far as who will win the tournament? Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina look like hte frontrunners right now but it's double elimination and my pick, Missouri, crashed and burned in the first round so anything can happen.
Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on the New Orleans Saints situation.
First of all, hearty congrats to the New York Giants on winning the Super Bowl. As I may or may not have said on this blog, Gronkowski makes such a huge difference for the Patriots and they did a good job hanging in there without him but in the end, the best team did win. It's tough to repeat though, and it's even tougher to get back when you lose so we'll see what becomes of the Patriots especially.
As far as NFL free agency goes, man how about the set of stones on John Elway? For the record, I am a Tebow fan but I think most Tebow fans would even have to admit that Peyton Manning gives the Denver Broncos a much better chance to win it all than a healthy Tebow does. Reports are obviously that Denver is trying to trade Tebow to New York but the deal has hit a snag so we'll see what happens.
As a Houston Texans fan, I find it curious that so many defections are going on with the team. Mario Williams, DeMeco Ryans, Mike Brisiel, Eric Winston and others will be with new teams next year. All of a sudden, this team has many needs to fill this year in the draft. At least Peyton Manning didn't end up on the Titans - won't have to see that twice per year.
Next item of business is Taylor Martinez opening his mouth and talking about how he'll be disappointed if the Nebraska football team doesn't make the national title game this coming college football season. To me, it's simply another example of him opening his mouth and writing another check that he cannot cash.
With regards to all the craziness this year in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, it's insane that there are four Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16 this year and it's even crazier that seven teams from the Ohio River valley region are in the Sweet 16. And the really insane part is that they all really don't like each other. Don't believe me? Look up Dan Wetzel's archive on Yahoo! Sports as there is a really good article on that.
As far as who will win the tournament? Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina look like hte frontrunners right now but it's double elimination and my pick, Missouri, crashed and burned in the first round so anything can happen.
Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on the New Orleans Saints situation.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
It's Been a Month and My Blood is Still Boiling
I am sorry that I have been away, first of all. Hope I can be more of a regular.
Again, a disclaimer: I am a University of Nebraska graduate and a lifelong Husker fan. I was born into it and will take it to my grave.
However, what I saw a few weeks ago in the Capitol One Bowl between Nebraska and South Carolina was, needless to say, disturbing.
It's not just the losses either. I'm OK with losing as long as the team plays the right way. Nebraska football has always been about heart, grit, physical play and toughness combined with the talent necessary to win football games which is different from just about any program in the country.
It's the fact that the team went 9-4 and plays like a bunch of thugs. Until now, I'm proud that Nebraska has never been like Miami, where their motto is, if you don't like to see us celebrate then don't let us get in the end zone. I don't mind the motto but I wouldn't want it applied to my school.
What bothers me the most is the team under Bo Pelini has always been undisciplined, commits way too many personal foul penalties and every time they are faced with adversity, they fold faster than a cheap tent.
And here's another thing: That entire coaching staff they hired during the offseason last year...not good enough in my view. Pelini should be hiring the top assistants in the country, but instead, from afar, it looks like he's hiring guys that only he likes. Tim Beck has absolutely no business being a college football offensive coordinator, and Barney Cotton has absolutely no business being an offensive line coach in college football.
Other random thoughts:
Full congrats to Chef Zakarian for winning the Next Iron Chef competition. I am a Chiarello guy, my folks went to his restaurant in Napa Valley some time ago, but if he couldn't win it then Zakarian is a fine, fine champion himself.
I guess that thing about LSU's defense didn't turn out so great huh? While I'm not necessarily a fan of Alabama being in the game, they still did a hell of a job containing what offense LSU had...and it wasn't much. I have no idea why LSU didn't go with Lee at some point.
Even though they only made it past the second round, I am still so proud of my Houston Texans. They made it further than anyone thought they might and proved a lot of the doubters who said they couldn't beat the Ravens wrong. That game was a tossup right to the end.
Speaking of the Ravens, I sure hope Billy Cundiff's career doesn't take a dive after that missed field goal.
My condolences also go out to the Paterno family, no matter what people say about the scandal at Penn State. It's never good to see anyone die.
Last thing...as for a Super Bowl prediction? Patriots 28, Giants 24.
Again, a disclaimer: I am a University of Nebraska graduate and a lifelong Husker fan. I was born into it and will take it to my grave.
However, what I saw a few weeks ago in the Capitol One Bowl between Nebraska and South Carolina was, needless to say, disturbing.
It's not just the losses either. I'm OK with losing as long as the team plays the right way. Nebraska football has always been about heart, grit, physical play and toughness combined with the talent necessary to win football games which is different from just about any program in the country.
It's the fact that the team went 9-4 and plays like a bunch of thugs. Until now, I'm proud that Nebraska has never been like Miami, where their motto is, if you don't like to see us celebrate then don't let us get in the end zone. I don't mind the motto but I wouldn't want it applied to my school.
What bothers me the most is the team under Bo Pelini has always been undisciplined, commits way too many personal foul penalties and every time they are faced with adversity, they fold faster than a cheap tent.
And here's another thing: That entire coaching staff they hired during the offseason last year...not good enough in my view. Pelini should be hiring the top assistants in the country, but instead, from afar, it looks like he's hiring guys that only he likes. Tim Beck has absolutely no business being a college football offensive coordinator, and Barney Cotton has absolutely no business being an offensive line coach in college football.
Other random thoughts:
Full congrats to Chef Zakarian for winning the Next Iron Chef competition. I am a Chiarello guy, my folks went to his restaurant in Napa Valley some time ago, but if he couldn't win it then Zakarian is a fine, fine champion himself.
I guess that thing about LSU's defense didn't turn out so great huh? While I'm not necessarily a fan of Alabama being in the game, they still did a hell of a job containing what offense LSU had...and it wasn't much. I have no idea why LSU didn't go with Lee at some point.
Even though they only made it past the second round, I am still so proud of my Houston Texans. They made it further than anyone thought they might and proved a lot of the doubters who said they couldn't beat the Ravens wrong. That game was a tossup right to the end.
Speaking of the Ravens, I sure hope Billy Cundiff's career doesn't take a dive after that missed field goal.
My condolences also go out to the Paterno family, no matter what people say about the scandal at Penn State. It's never good to see anyone die.
Last thing...as for a Super Bowl prediction? Patriots 28, Giants 24.
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