So, Thursday night football comes and goes again and Buffalo gets a second big win in a row. Plus a lot more in this edition.
A couple of quick things on Thursday's game:
1. This game to me was defined by New York Jets miscues and missed opportunities. They had four turnovers, and in the waning moments of the game, they actually had an opportunity to take the lead after being down 22-3. They had the ball at the Bills' five yard line, in fact, but as happened so many times, execution doomed them in this game.
2. LeSean McCoy, after a very slow first half of the season, is finally developing into the running back the Bills need him to be. He hadn't gone over 100 yards in any game this year until the last two weeks but has gone over 100 each of the last two and Thursday he was great in the late stages, helping the Bills get key yards and big plays when they needed them especially in the fourth quarter.
3. The Bills have a very favorable schedule over the next few weeks which made this game so important. They get the Patriots next week and likely will not win that one, but look at their games after that; five beatable teams in a row before a season ending showdown with the Jets (@ Kansas City, Texans at home, @ Philadelphia, @ Washington and Dallas at home). Not saying they will win all those games, but the opportunity is there for a good streak.
Other NFL bits:
Last summer on this very blog I questioned the validity of giving Cam Newton an enormous contract for a guy who had a mediocre few years after a spectacular rookie campaign.
With the Panthers 8-0 and Cam being a major part of that success, no one is laughing now. There is even serious talk about him being the league MVP at this point. That, I don't know about, but I do know there are very few players who are more valuable to their team than Cam Newton is to the Carolina Panthers.
Green Bay plays Detroit this week and Minnesota is out in Oakland (a very intriguing matchup actually) but please get me to week 11 because Week 11 (next week) is Green Bay at Minnesota, the marquee late game, in Minneapolis. A great rivalry game, in a marquee spot with a top tier team and a Minnesota team that has surpassed a lot of expectations. Packers are in a tough part of their schedule, huh? They're playing the Broncos, Panthers and Vikings in the span of four weeks and all those games are on the road. Yikes.
The Raiders lost in Pittsburgh last week but Derek Carr is on a roll. The last three weeks, this guy is averaging over 300 yards passing with an insane 11 touchdowns and just one interception. And he's got Detroit and Tennessee before the month is over; two more opportunities to net some huge numbers.
The Colts might be 4-5 with Andrew Luck hurt, but considering they just beat Denver, that Matt Hasselbeck is quarterbacking their team (not a bad option) and that the rest of the division is the Texans, the Jaguars and the Titans, they may not be hurt all that much.
Couple of college football things:
From LSU/Alabama last Saturday: Year after year, the problem with LSU continues to be the quarterback. And heaven knows, they've had some mediocre to bad ones, from Anthony Jennings to Jordan Jefferson and everyone in between. It's amazing to me that LSU could have such talented players and still have such a simple offense that is so easy to defend. With the latest piece of LSU QB mediocrity, Brandon Harris, stinking it up Saturday at QB it was easy for Alabama to put as many hats as they could on Fournette. Miles still doesn't get it; football is a QB driven sport and until he gets an elite one in recruiting, they won't win another national championship.
Elsewhere, the Nebraska season of tales from the bizarre continues. If I had to describe the Nebraska football season in a song, it would be "Crazy Train" by famous heavy metalist Ozzy Osbourne. And Saturday night, we Husker fans really went for a ride on the crazy train. Ironically, the man involved in the controversial play which won the game for the Huskers (and in all likelihood destroyed Michigan State's national title hopes), Brandon Reilly, is a guy from Lincoln Southwest who wasn't highly regarded out of high school and chose to walk on at Nebraska during the previous regime.
I see where Michigan State players and announcers have not been able to put the game behind them. Shilique Calhoun of MSU was talking about dirty play by Nebraska, and Michigan State announcers left a little note about the officials in their announcers booth. At least their coach D'Antonio took the high road. My advice to Michigan State players and announcers, sincerely?
Kiss my butt.
NU fans have had more than enough things go against them this year to last three seasons but we choose to focus on our own issues instead of blaming others. Maybe Sparty players should remember they had a 12 point lead with four minutes to go and didn't finish.
Speaking of bizarre, that Arkansas/Ole Miss overtime game was the definition of crazy. This play that I've linked up is a 4th and 25 play which ends up being a lateral between two Arkansas players and went for a first down: Arkansas lateral
A few plays later Arkansas scored and then following an Ole Miss penalty, the Hogs won the game on a two point conversion
Couple of basketball notes:
Good heavens, the Golden State Warriors are a freight train. 10-0 to start the season, and they look to be even better than the team that won it all last year. The other thing is it's not like they're trucking scrubs; they've beat the Grizzlies twice already, the Pelicans once, the Rockets once and the Clippers once. The only team that can stop them from winning it all might be themselves...and that team in San Antonio. It really is too bad that the Spurs and Warriors won't play until after the new year because I'd like to see those two go at it right now.
Really disappointed with the Rockets start to the season; 4-4 wouldn't be that bad except that two of the losses came to the Nuggets and the Nets, both at home. It's obvious that the focus isn't there right now and when you play in the always-tough Western Conference, you have to win those types of games. The Nets hadn't won a game all year and then they beat the Rockets.
A few Astros related notes now:
The big baseball item out of Houston is that Colby Rasmus decided to accept the Astros qualifying offer of $15.8 mil for one year and remain with the team. That is huge for the Astros because with him back, the outfield is really in good hands and for another year at least, the Astros get that clubhouse presence that Rasmus brings; he's a popular player with the team with his long, greasy haircut and so having him is a huge bonus for the team.
It's a good thing the Astros are in the process of keeping the core of their team together and/or improving the ballclub because the Angels made a huge move on Thursday, getting two time Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons from Atlanta for a veteran shortstop, two prospects, and cash. The addition of Simmons just adds to what was already an extremely talented roster. On paper, they'll probably be the favorite to win the West as one of the game's big spenders, but in baseball games aren't played on paper.
What the Astros really need is a closer, and one of the closers on the market that is expected to be picked up by somebody (if you listen to widely known baseball guy Peter Gammons) by the end of the weekend is Reds fastballing closer Aroldis Chapman. That guy is one of the best closers in the game and if the Astros could get him (not saying they will) that would be an enormous get.
One final thing: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the World Series at least briefly and its aftermath. The Kansas City Royals are the World Champs for the first time in 30 years, and while I'd like that to have been the Astros, the Royals beat them fair and square and proved to be a formidable team throughout this whole season.
And their parade...oh my God their parade. Two days after the Royals won the title, 800,000 people showed up to their parade...to put that in perspective, the metro Kansas City area consists of 2.3 million people. And the amazing thing? No riots. Not one. That's how you class it up after a win.
Until next time....
Friday, November 13, 2015
Thursday, October 29, 2015
10/29: The World Series, Football and NBA Tipoff
The World Series is two games in, football is obviously in full swing and...the Association is back in action as they had their opening night last night. That said, time for another blog entry.
On the World Series: We're two games in, and there is a long way to go and certainly the Mets have the players to get back in this series when it shifts to Citi Field, but there are a lot of things working against them right now.
A big factor against them right now is that, for all of the Mets young pitching talent (and they have it in bunches), the Royals approach is working against them. Mainly what's happening is that those swings and misses that Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom are used to aren't happening so far.
To wit: in the National League playoffs Jacob deGrom's swing and miss ratio was 36.5%. Last night, just 6 percent of his pitches were swung and missed at and the Royals didn't strike out swinging once. Matt Harvey, the game 1 starter, had a swing and miss ratio of 37.5% in the NL playoffs, but Tuesday night it was just 17%.
Another factor working against the Mets is that Yoenis Cespedes is struggling...badly. He hit .286 the first two rounds of the playoffs and was a huge reason the Mets won the NL East this year, but he is just 1 for 10 in this series. If he isn't doing what they need him to do, they're in trouble because then they're basically what they were before they traded for him in July...an average team with an impotent offense.
Maybe the biggest thing though is experience; KC learned a lot from their first run in the postseason last year and the Mets act like a team that hasn't been here. They could get it going at Citi Field, but they almost certainly have to win all three games to have a chance to come back.
On the National Football League, this particular thing I'm about to speak of just burns me up. DeAngelo Williams of the Steelers lost his mother to breast cancer a year ago. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the NFL. So, for putting "we will find a cure" and the breast cancer ribbon put on his eye black...get this...Williams was fined over $5,000 Wednesday. I still can't believe it just thinking about it. That to me is totally absurd.
Meanwhile, the NBA and the sport of basketball lost a great coach last weekend, Flip Saunders, who passed away at 60 due to lymphoma. The NBA agreed to let the Minnesota Timberwolves, who Saunders spent two tenures with, to wear a commemorative patch to honor the late coach. On this one, the NBA beat the pants off the NFL...and I'm a football guy.
Speaking of Minnesota and coaches with health issues, from college football, Jerry Kill has stepped away as the head coach of the Golden Gophers football team due to health issues. Health issues aren't a novelty for Kill, who has dealt with kidney cancer, seizures, and dehydration spells. I'm glad he is deciding to step away because his health has been a hindrance for him at doing his job at times in the past, and I would hate to see something like that again in the future. He was and is a very respectable coach.
The NBA had its real opening night last night (yeah there were three games Tuesday but IMHO Wednesday with just about everyone playing is the real opening night); long season but a few takeaways...
1. Southwest Division had themselves a bad night except for the Mavericks who won at Phoenix, but New Orleans dropped its second in a row to begin the year at Portland, the Spurs were beaten by OKC, the Memphis Grizzlies lost by 30 at home to Cleveland and maybe the most embarrassing one of all, the Rockets lost by 20 at home to Denver on their opening night.
2. That Rockets game was so bad that Rockets GM Daryl Morey was on the Jim Rome show today and he was not happy. Very easy for someone to say, it's just one game, but that's not what he said. He was legitimately concerned and after that effort, I share his opinion. They need to play MUCH better than that.
3. The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off a playoff season, got embarrassed at home by 25 points by the Knicks on opening night, WOW.
4. Very early, but the Chicago Bulls look stout to open the season. Beat the Cavs at home, then went on the road to the Barclays Center and won by 15 over the Nets. I still wonder if Hoiberg should have stayed at Iowa State, but if the Bulls win I'm sure any regrets will disappear.
5. Lakers got beat on opening night by the Timberwolves, but the big talk after that game is that Kobe Bryant didn't get the last shot. It makes me laugh. He can still produce but people have to remember he's well above 35 years old and can't do what he used to do anymore.
Until next time....
On the World Series: We're two games in, and there is a long way to go and certainly the Mets have the players to get back in this series when it shifts to Citi Field, but there are a lot of things working against them right now.
A big factor against them right now is that, for all of the Mets young pitching talent (and they have it in bunches), the Royals approach is working against them. Mainly what's happening is that those swings and misses that Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom are used to aren't happening so far.
To wit: in the National League playoffs Jacob deGrom's swing and miss ratio was 36.5%. Last night, just 6 percent of his pitches were swung and missed at and the Royals didn't strike out swinging once. Matt Harvey, the game 1 starter, had a swing and miss ratio of 37.5% in the NL playoffs, but Tuesday night it was just 17%.
Another factor working against the Mets is that Yoenis Cespedes is struggling...badly. He hit .286 the first two rounds of the playoffs and was a huge reason the Mets won the NL East this year, but he is just 1 for 10 in this series. If he isn't doing what they need him to do, they're in trouble because then they're basically what they were before they traded for him in July...an average team with an impotent offense.
Maybe the biggest thing though is experience; KC learned a lot from their first run in the postseason last year and the Mets act like a team that hasn't been here. They could get it going at Citi Field, but they almost certainly have to win all three games to have a chance to come back.
On the National Football League, this particular thing I'm about to speak of just burns me up. DeAngelo Williams of the Steelers lost his mother to breast cancer a year ago. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the NFL. So, for putting "we will find a cure" and the breast cancer ribbon put on his eye black...get this...Williams was fined over $5,000 Wednesday. I still can't believe it just thinking about it. That to me is totally absurd.
Meanwhile, the NBA and the sport of basketball lost a great coach last weekend, Flip Saunders, who passed away at 60 due to lymphoma. The NBA agreed to let the Minnesota Timberwolves, who Saunders spent two tenures with, to wear a commemorative patch to honor the late coach. On this one, the NBA beat the pants off the NFL...and I'm a football guy.
Speaking of Minnesota and coaches with health issues, from college football, Jerry Kill has stepped away as the head coach of the Golden Gophers football team due to health issues. Health issues aren't a novelty for Kill, who has dealt with kidney cancer, seizures, and dehydration spells. I'm glad he is deciding to step away because his health has been a hindrance for him at doing his job at times in the past, and I would hate to see something like that again in the future. He was and is a very respectable coach.
The NBA had its real opening night last night (yeah there were three games Tuesday but IMHO Wednesday with just about everyone playing is the real opening night); long season but a few takeaways...
1. Southwest Division had themselves a bad night except for the Mavericks who won at Phoenix, but New Orleans dropped its second in a row to begin the year at Portland, the Spurs were beaten by OKC, the Memphis Grizzlies lost by 30 at home to Cleveland and maybe the most embarrassing one of all, the Rockets lost by 20 at home to Denver on their opening night.
2. That Rockets game was so bad that Rockets GM Daryl Morey was on the Jim Rome show today and he was not happy. Very easy for someone to say, it's just one game, but that's not what he said. He was legitimately concerned and after that effort, I share his opinion. They need to play MUCH better than that.
3. The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off a playoff season, got embarrassed at home by 25 points by the Knicks on opening night, WOW.
4. Very early, but the Chicago Bulls look stout to open the season. Beat the Cavs at home, then went on the road to the Barclays Center and won by 15 over the Nets. I still wonder if Hoiberg should have stayed at Iowa State, but if the Bulls win I'm sure any regrets will disappear.
5. Lakers got beat on opening night by the Timberwolves, but the big talk after that game is that Kobe Bryant didn't get the last shot. It makes me laugh. He can still produce but people have to remember he's well above 35 years old and can't do what he used to do anymore.
Until next time....
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
10/21/15: Football and the MLB Playoffs
Busy sports time of the year, with football in full swing, Major League Baseball down to its final four and the NBA season preparing to start. As I've said before, this is a football blog so that's where I'll keep the focus, with a few thoughts on the League Championship baseball series as well.
We have to start with the question on everybody's mind who watched that trick play that was attempted by the Colts Sunday night: What in the world were they thinking running that play?
In case you missed it, here is the play; the Colts were down 27-21 at the time, with fourth and three on their own 37 Colts fake punt fail
I'm like I think a lot of people out there; that was absolutely the worst fake punt call I think I've ever seen. I didn't think anything could replace Bill Callahan trying a fake punt on fourth and short inside his own 30 yardline in the Cotton Bowl several years ago, but this one did it I think. There was absolutely no reason for the Colts to go for that play, mainly for two reasons: 1. the ball was on their 37 yard line and 2. there was a little less than a half of football to be played.
In any event, the Patriots left Indianapolis undefeated. But beware the Jets...that's a very physical team on both sides of the ball and that's how they'll attempt to beat New England, by manhandling them physically. I don't trust Fitzpatrick and that is well known, but their team is good and I am surprised New England is favored by nine points or whatever they are favored by.
Other NFL notes:
- Is it possible for the Chiefs to try someone OTHER than Alex Smith? Jamaal Charles is out, so that puts the onus on the quarterback even more and Alex Smith just is never going to do it, even with weapons like Maclin. Maybe it's time for KC to put Chase Daniel in and see what he can do, or maybe even go with Aaron Murray. In any event, KC's Alex Smith experiment isn't working.
- Detroit gets its first win of the year, with a tough OT win against the Bears. I'm happy for the Lions; I saw 0-16 once in 2008, and I don't need to see the sequel.
- Texans messed around for three quarters before deciding to finally wake up and win against Jacksonville. Amazing to think that Houston is 2-4 and is still just one full game out of first place. That's how awful the AFC South is.
- Seattle is now 2-4 after losing a double digit lead for the second week in a row against an undefeated team, this time against Cam Newton and Carolina. Jon Gruden was on the Mike and Mike show Wednesday morning and I agree with two things he pointed out; first, Seattle's back four isn't quite the same, they lost a couple of players and their secondary leader Kam Chancellor held out in training camp which disrupted things from the start. Also, if their pass rush was what we've seen the last few years they wouldn't be blowing double digits leads in the fourth quarter two straight weeks.
- The Eagles ended up beating the Giants Monday night but that game was awful (so many turnovers and bad plays) and that division is atrocious; I don't know what to expect there anymore. Philly obviously is tied for first but can't be trusted, the Giants have the talent to get on a winning streak but haven't found near the consistency necessary yet, the Cowboys are very much short-handed and the Redskins are the Redskins.
Moving on to the college game now; the only thing to say about that finish in the Michigan State-Michigan game is...wow. For those who haven't seen the play, you can see the situation and the unbelievable finish that ensues, complete with the MSU radio call of the play: MSU-UM wild finish
- The thing is, all the punter needed to do was fall on the football. He didn't even have to get the punt off; just fall on the ball and Michigan probably still wins the football game. That said, whether MSU won that game or not, they proved just in that game that they are not going anywhere any time soon and Mark D'Antonio will continue to be able to hold his own against the likes of Michigan and Ohio State. You could see the improvement in Michigan under Harbaugh though; it will be interesting to see what happens when he gets his players.
- If we were having a poll on who is the best team in the country right now, I'm saying it's LSU. For a lot of years with the exception of the year and a half they had Mettenberger, LSU's weakness has been QB. This year, they have the QB in Brandon Harris that can complement Les Miles' defense and running game. Still a lot of season left, but LSU looks very, very good. Ohio State may well be the best team in the country eventually but they have basically been playing and will be playing preseason games until the Michigan State and Michigan showdowns in November.
- Very nice bounce back win for the Huskers against Minnesota. I think for many Husker fans, it's obvious that Pierson-El is an enormous difference maker offensively. Tommy Armstrong will never be the world's greatest quarterback, but he looks a lot better when he's actually got guys who can make plays on the outside.
I don't like to give Bitter Beer Face Bo Pelini much credit but he pulled a gem in Pierson-El. With that win, the Huskers should be able to reach a bowl game if they take care of business against Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers. Iowa and Michigan State will be much tougher games although I think they'll have a better shot against Iowa.
Finally, on the baseball playoffs, the Mets are on their way to the World Series as they sweep away the Cubs. Joe Maddon did one heck of a job with the Cubs' youth movement this year, but the Mets have played about .650 baseball since the end of July, arguably the best team in baseball since that point. We'll have to see what they do against KC (or Toronto for that matter) but they are deep in pitching and since the pickup of Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline, they have acquired the offense to complement that pitching. They would have to like their chances against whomever they play.
In the AL, the Royals might have the series lead 3-2, but I think I'd be really nervous if I'm a Royals fan right now. It goes back to KC for Game 6 and KC's got two shots to win a game, but the Blue Jays have David Price on full rest (granted, he has been less than stellar in playoff competition but Toronto got him for just that sort of game).
And if it goes to 7, the Royals will send the ever-unpredictable Johnny Cueto to the hill while the Blue Jays will have Marcus Stroman, who is a solid option for a decisive game. Cueto got the job done in game 5 against Houston, but it remains to be seen if he will do the same in game 7 if that series gets that far. And the Royals best hope it not get that far. They had better jump all over David Price Friday night and end it there.
Until next time....
We have to start with the question on everybody's mind who watched that trick play that was attempted by the Colts Sunday night: What in the world were they thinking running that play?
In case you missed it, here is the play; the Colts were down 27-21 at the time, with fourth and three on their own 37 Colts fake punt fail
I'm like I think a lot of people out there; that was absolutely the worst fake punt call I think I've ever seen. I didn't think anything could replace Bill Callahan trying a fake punt on fourth and short inside his own 30 yardline in the Cotton Bowl several years ago, but this one did it I think. There was absolutely no reason for the Colts to go for that play, mainly for two reasons: 1. the ball was on their 37 yard line and 2. there was a little less than a half of football to be played.
In any event, the Patriots left Indianapolis undefeated. But beware the Jets...that's a very physical team on both sides of the ball and that's how they'll attempt to beat New England, by manhandling them physically. I don't trust Fitzpatrick and that is well known, but their team is good and I am surprised New England is favored by nine points or whatever they are favored by.
Other NFL notes:
- Is it possible for the Chiefs to try someone OTHER than Alex Smith? Jamaal Charles is out, so that puts the onus on the quarterback even more and Alex Smith just is never going to do it, even with weapons like Maclin. Maybe it's time for KC to put Chase Daniel in and see what he can do, or maybe even go with Aaron Murray. In any event, KC's Alex Smith experiment isn't working.
- Detroit gets its first win of the year, with a tough OT win against the Bears. I'm happy for the Lions; I saw 0-16 once in 2008, and I don't need to see the sequel.
- Texans messed around for three quarters before deciding to finally wake up and win against Jacksonville. Amazing to think that Houston is 2-4 and is still just one full game out of first place. That's how awful the AFC South is.
- Seattle is now 2-4 after losing a double digit lead for the second week in a row against an undefeated team, this time against Cam Newton and Carolina. Jon Gruden was on the Mike and Mike show Wednesday morning and I agree with two things he pointed out; first, Seattle's back four isn't quite the same, they lost a couple of players and their secondary leader Kam Chancellor held out in training camp which disrupted things from the start. Also, if their pass rush was what we've seen the last few years they wouldn't be blowing double digits leads in the fourth quarter two straight weeks.
- The Eagles ended up beating the Giants Monday night but that game was awful (so many turnovers and bad plays) and that division is atrocious; I don't know what to expect there anymore. Philly obviously is tied for first but can't be trusted, the Giants have the talent to get on a winning streak but haven't found near the consistency necessary yet, the Cowboys are very much short-handed and the Redskins are the Redskins.
Moving on to the college game now; the only thing to say about that finish in the Michigan State-Michigan game is...wow. For those who haven't seen the play, you can see the situation and the unbelievable finish that ensues, complete with the MSU radio call of the play: MSU-UM wild finish
- The thing is, all the punter needed to do was fall on the football. He didn't even have to get the punt off; just fall on the ball and Michigan probably still wins the football game. That said, whether MSU won that game or not, they proved just in that game that they are not going anywhere any time soon and Mark D'Antonio will continue to be able to hold his own against the likes of Michigan and Ohio State. You could see the improvement in Michigan under Harbaugh though; it will be interesting to see what happens when he gets his players.
- If we were having a poll on who is the best team in the country right now, I'm saying it's LSU. For a lot of years with the exception of the year and a half they had Mettenberger, LSU's weakness has been QB. This year, they have the QB in Brandon Harris that can complement Les Miles' defense and running game. Still a lot of season left, but LSU looks very, very good. Ohio State may well be the best team in the country eventually but they have basically been playing and will be playing preseason games until the Michigan State and Michigan showdowns in November.
- Very nice bounce back win for the Huskers against Minnesota. I think for many Husker fans, it's obvious that Pierson-El is an enormous difference maker offensively. Tommy Armstrong will never be the world's greatest quarterback, but he looks a lot better when he's actually got guys who can make plays on the outside.
I don't like to give Bitter Beer Face Bo Pelini much credit but he pulled a gem in Pierson-El. With that win, the Huskers should be able to reach a bowl game if they take care of business against Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers. Iowa and Michigan State will be much tougher games although I think they'll have a better shot against Iowa.
Finally, on the baseball playoffs, the Mets are on their way to the World Series as they sweep away the Cubs. Joe Maddon did one heck of a job with the Cubs' youth movement this year, but the Mets have played about .650 baseball since the end of July, arguably the best team in baseball since that point. We'll have to see what they do against KC (or Toronto for that matter) but they are deep in pitching and since the pickup of Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline, they have acquired the offense to complement that pitching. They would have to like their chances against whomever they play.
In the AL, the Royals might have the series lead 3-2, but I think I'd be really nervous if I'm a Royals fan right now. It goes back to KC for Game 6 and KC's got two shots to win a game, but the Blue Jays have David Price on full rest (granted, he has been less than stellar in playoff competition but Toronto got him for just that sort of game).
And if it goes to 7, the Royals will send the ever-unpredictable Johnny Cueto to the hill while the Blue Jays will have Marcus Stroman, who is a solid option for a decisive game. Cueto got the job done in game 5 against Houston, but it remains to be seen if he will do the same in game 7 if that series gets that far. And the Royals best hope it not get that far. They had better jump all over David Price Friday night and end it there.
Until next time....
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
9/29/15: NFL, College Football, Pennant Races and the Pope
We're almost to the end of September and though it's impossible to know what will happen over the next three or four months of the football season, it's clear that identities are starting to be forged.
From the National Football League...
- The Arizona Cardinals MAY be the NFC's best team. 3-0 and the three wins are by an average of 25 points in a league where close games are the norm, not the exception. I say they MAY be the NFL's best team because there's no way you're going to get rid of the Seahawks and Packers that easily. As expected, the Hawks smacked around the hapless Bears Sunday and will likely smack around Detroit next Monday night at the Clink (that's Century Link Field). But for now, the Cardinals look lethal.
- As for the Packers/Chiefs game last night, the Packers do still look tough without Jordy Nelson (still personally my Super Bowl pick even without Jordy), but is it possible for the Chiefs to find a quarterback that's better than Alex Smith? Granted, he's better than some of the other black holes for quarterbacks in the league (Ryan Fitzpatrick and Johnny Manziel for example) but the Chiefs are never going to win anything with him. Suddenly with a trip to the Cincinnati Jungle upcoming, the Chiefs are staring a 1-3 start right in the face.
- Texans got their first win of the year and are still alive in the AFC South but there are still a lot of ugly units on this team, first and foremost the offensive line. Was it really not that long ago that the Texans had the best offensive line in football? Was it really not that long ago that Arian Foster had an enormous season and the Texans made the playoffs for the first time? My, how things change. Now, Foster's struggling with injury and the offensive line is a complete mess. Good thing the AFC South is a complete mess as well. Too bad the Texans might get blown out in Atlanta next week...the Falcons are flying high. Pun intended.
- Not sure which division is worse, the AFC South or NFC East. The AFC South as stated earlier has all teams below .500 and the only team in the NFC East above .500 is the Cowboys without Romo and Dez Bryant. Very real possibility that both of those division winners could be 8-8 or 9-7.
- They may not hold up all season and both their wins came against winless teams, but there is something to be said for the Raiders being 2-1. I think Jack Del Rio is a good fit for them as a coach; he emphasizes tough, physical football which is Raider football at its best. He's also a Bay Area native so he knows the culture there.
A few college notes now:
- How about Auburn, being #6 in the country preseason, being already out of the SEC West race before September even ends? I'm really not sure how people bought that hype train but those who did it are eating a whole lot of crow. I like Malzahn as their coach and always have, but who they have at QB right now isn't taking them anywhere.
- Many of my readers are Husker fans, so let me just say this: 126th nationally in pass defense. I suppose I can deal with being terrible against the pass better than being terrible against the run especially in the Big 10, but this is not a good sign moving forward. What really bothers me right now is that not only did NU nearly lose to Southern Miss Saturday they gave up 300 yards passing in one half (when you should be getting better from the first to the second half, not worse), and they had 12 penalties. That is not the sign of a good football team.
They also appear to be regressing as the season goes which isn't a good sign. I'd like to say there's at least four more guaranteed wins on this schedule but that team Saturday might not win more than one or two more games. I would say Purdue is probably a gimme win, and MAYBE Illinois Saturday but other than that...I don't know. That said, unlike Callahan Riley beat Southern Miss in his first year so there's that.
- The more things change, the more they stay exactly the same. Texas A&M beats Arkansas in OT, again, after Arkansas allows an A&M receiver to get behind them and help tie the game, again. Arkansas fans must be seeing deja vu flashbacks this week. Third straight loss for Arkansas also and with Bama, Ole Miss and LSU still on the schedule (and all on the road) they are staring at a long football season.
- Texas is 1-3 as well after another special teams miscue (second consecutive week) and they are staring at a rocky road also with TCU and Oklahoma on deck. Of those two they'll probably stand a better shot against Oklahoma because of the rivalry factor. The State Fair game in Dallas has been a crazy, unpredictable rivalry for years; a winless John Blake-led OU team beat a very talented Texas team in 1996 so anything is possible.
- Texas Tech gave it all they had against TCU, but still that's a heck of a way to lose a football game, on a tipped pass in the end zone. Nebraska caught a similar break many years ago on the way to a national title. Speaking of the Huskers, the TCU player who caught the game winner; former Husker Aaron Green, who played high school ball at San Antonio Madison.
Now for some baseball:
- As if the Washington Nationals season wasn't tough enough, Sunday you had reliever Jonathan Papelbon and star Bryce Harper fighting in the Nationals dugout. You can read more about it here if you don't know already: Harper and Papelbon fight
According to various outlets that I've seen this whole thing started when Harper didn't run hard out of the box on a pop fly. I don't care what, or who started it, but I can say this: It's the kind of thing that happens when a team who was supposed to win 95 to 100 games has one of the most disappointing years in recent memory. The Nationals have a lot of talented players and when things don't go your way, egos make their way to the surface. It's not a good mix.
- The Astros kept their season alive for now by winning two of three from the other team up I-45 (Rangers) and won last night in Seattle too. They cannot afford to rest easy though; the Angels trail for the last wild card spot by just a half game and they've seemingly rediscovered the winning touch they had during the first half of the summer. Minnesota's hot on Houston's tail too and has a beatable Cleveland team and a Royals team that's leaking oil down the stretch.
- Even should the Astros get in though, Toronto will likely be the heavy favorite to win the American League especially if they end up with home field throughout. David Price changed the entire complexion of their team and they know this is their one shot because Price is a free agent this offseason. Those guys can swing some big sticks as well...their runs scored/runs allowed differential is well over a whopping +200.
- I'm not sure who's going to win the NL at this point, that is much more of a mystery. I know one team that won't though; the Dodgers even with Greinke and Kershaw. Got swept in Colorado this past weekend and lost in 12 to the Giants last night. Believe it or not, they have not won the NL West yet. They most likely will, but they are playing poorly at the wrong time of year while their potential Division Series opponent the New York Mets are steamrolling towards the playoffs.
Finally, though I'm not a guy to beat my religious views over everyone's head, this is a sports blog after all (I personally have been Catholic for a VERY long time), I have to address Pope Francis' visit here to the USA this past weekend. No matter your religious views or whether you believe in God or not, I am glad to see the coverage this got all weekend long. My view on Pope Francis is this: I support anyone who sits on that chair in the Vatican personally and Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI did wonderful things, but this Pope is a totally different breed and has done many amazing things since being named Pope two years ago.
I could beat you over the head with article after article about his visit, but I won't do that. Instead, I'm going to leave you with a stirring rendition of what we like to call The Lord's Prayer, done Saturday in Philadelphia. No matter your religious views, I think this is the best version of The Lord's Prayer that has ever been done Lord's Prayer in Philadelphia. Additionally, if you would like to read any of Pope Francis' remarks while he was here in the USA this week, this is a good link to go to Pope's remarks
Until next time...
From the National Football League...
- The Arizona Cardinals MAY be the NFC's best team. 3-0 and the three wins are by an average of 25 points in a league where close games are the norm, not the exception. I say they MAY be the NFL's best team because there's no way you're going to get rid of the Seahawks and Packers that easily. As expected, the Hawks smacked around the hapless Bears Sunday and will likely smack around Detroit next Monday night at the Clink (that's Century Link Field). But for now, the Cardinals look lethal.
- As for the Packers/Chiefs game last night, the Packers do still look tough without Jordy Nelson (still personally my Super Bowl pick even without Jordy), but is it possible for the Chiefs to find a quarterback that's better than Alex Smith? Granted, he's better than some of the other black holes for quarterbacks in the league (Ryan Fitzpatrick and Johnny Manziel for example) but the Chiefs are never going to win anything with him. Suddenly with a trip to the Cincinnati Jungle upcoming, the Chiefs are staring a 1-3 start right in the face.
- Texans got their first win of the year and are still alive in the AFC South but there are still a lot of ugly units on this team, first and foremost the offensive line. Was it really not that long ago that the Texans had the best offensive line in football? Was it really not that long ago that Arian Foster had an enormous season and the Texans made the playoffs for the first time? My, how things change. Now, Foster's struggling with injury and the offensive line is a complete mess. Good thing the AFC South is a complete mess as well. Too bad the Texans might get blown out in Atlanta next week...the Falcons are flying high. Pun intended.
- Not sure which division is worse, the AFC South or NFC East. The AFC South as stated earlier has all teams below .500 and the only team in the NFC East above .500 is the Cowboys without Romo and Dez Bryant. Very real possibility that both of those division winners could be 8-8 or 9-7.
- They may not hold up all season and both their wins came against winless teams, but there is something to be said for the Raiders being 2-1. I think Jack Del Rio is a good fit for them as a coach; he emphasizes tough, physical football which is Raider football at its best. He's also a Bay Area native so he knows the culture there.
A few college notes now:
- How about Auburn, being #6 in the country preseason, being already out of the SEC West race before September even ends? I'm really not sure how people bought that hype train but those who did it are eating a whole lot of crow. I like Malzahn as their coach and always have, but who they have at QB right now isn't taking them anywhere.
- Many of my readers are Husker fans, so let me just say this: 126th nationally in pass defense. I suppose I can deal with being terrible against the pass better than being terrible against the run especially in the Big 10, but this is not a good sign moving forward. What really bothers me right now is that not only did NU nearly lose to Southern Miss Saturday they gave up 300 yards passing in one half (when you should be getting better from the first to the second half, not worse), and they had 12 penalties. That is not the sign of a good football team.
They also appear to be regressing as the season goes which isn't a good sign. I'd like to say there's at least four more guaranteed wins on this schedule but that team Saturday might not win more than one or two more games. I would say Purdue is probably a gimme win, and MAYBE Illinois Saturday but other than that...I don't know. That said, unlike Callahan Riley beat Southern Miss in his first year so there's that.
- The more things change, the more they stay exactly the same. Texas A&M beats Arkansas in OT, again, after Arkansas allows an A&M receiver to get behind them and help tie the game, again. Arkansas fans must be seeing deja vu flashbacks this week. Third straight loss for Arkansas also and with Bama, Ole Miss and LSU still on the schedule (and all on the road) they are staring at a long football season.
- Texas is 1-3 as well after another special teams miscue (second consecutive week) and they are staring at a rocky road also with TCU and Oklahoma on deck. Of those two they'll probably stand a better shot against Oklahoma because of the rivalry factor. The State Fair game in Dallas has been a crazy, unpredictable rivalry for years; a winless John Blake-led OU team beat a very talented Texas team in 1996 so anything is possible.
- Texas Tech gave it all they had against TCU, but still that's a heck of a way to lose a football game, on a tipped pass in the end zone. Nebraska caught a similar break many years ago on the way to a national title. Speaking of the Huskers, the TCU player who caught the game winner; former Husker Aaron Green, who played high school ball at San Antonio Madison.
Now for some baseball:
- As if the Washington Nationals season wasn't tough enough, Sunday you had reliever Jonathan Papelbon and star Bryce Harper fighting in the Nationals dugout. You can read more about it here if you don't know already: Harper and Papelbon fight
According to various outlets that I've seen this whole thing started when Harper didn't run hard out of the box on a pop fly. I don't care what, or who started it, but I can say this: It's the kind of thing that happens when a team who was supposed to win 95 to 100 games has one of the most disappointing years in recent memory. The Nationals have a lot of talented players and when things don't go your way, egos make their way to the surface. It's not a good mix.
- The Astros kept their season alive for now by winning two of three from the other team up I-45 (Rangers) and won last night in Seattle too. They cannot afford to rest easy though; the Angels trail for the last wild card spot by just a half game and they've seemingly rediscovered the winning touch they had during the first half of the summer. Minnesota's hot on Houston's tail too and has a beatable Cleveland team and a Royals team that's leaking oil down the stretch.
- Even should the Astros get in though, Toronto will likely be the heavy favorite to win the American League especially if they end up with home field throughout. David Price changed the entire complexion of their team and they know this is their one shot because Price is a free agent this offseason. Those guys can swing some big sticks as well...their runs scored/runs allowed differential is well over a whopping +200.
- I'm not sure who's going to win the NL at this point, that is much more of a mystery. I know one team that won't though; the Dodgers even with Greinke and Kershaw. Got swept in Colorado this past weekend and lost in 12 to the Giants last night. Believe it or not, they have not won the NL West yet. They most likely will, but they are playing poorly at the wrong time of year while their potential Division Series opponent the New York Mets are steamrolling towards the playoffs.
Finally, though I'm not a guy to beat my religious views over everyone's head, this is a sports blog after all (I personally have been Catholic for a VERY long time), I have to address Pope Francis' visit here to the USA this past weekend. No matter your religious views or whether you believe in God or not, I am glad to see the coverage this got all weekend long. My view on Pope Francis is this: I support anyone who sits on that chair in the Vatican personally and Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI did wonderful things, but this Pope is a totally different breed and has done many amazing things since being named Pope two years ago.
I could beat you over the head with article after article about his visit, but I won't do that. Instead, I'm going to leave you with a stirring rendition of what we like to call The Lord's Prayer, done Saturday in Philadelphia. No matter your religious views, I think this is the best version of The Lord's Prayer that has ever been done Lord's Prayer in Philadelphia. Additionally, if you would like to read any of Pope Francis' remarks while he was here in the USA this week, this is a good link to go to Pope's remarks
Until next time...
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
College Football, Patriots and MLB 9/9/2015
It's been quite a bit of time since the last blog post, hasn't it? The last time I did a blog we were in the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. But now, the summer is starting to fade away, college football is now in full swing, pennant races are starting to heat up and the National Football League is breathing down our necks. That said, good opportunity for the first blog post of the football season and some other items.
On the first week of the college football season, the biggest thing that struck me were the number of injuries that were suffered to key players. Among the players who sustained serious injuries over the weekend included were Pittsburgh running back James Conner, Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston, TCU linebacker Sammy Douglas, Stanford defensive lineman and BYU quarterback Taysom Hill.
The thing that comes to mind immediately for me is that this will continue to be the biggest argument for NFL owners to keep preseason games (besides the fact that they make money in those glorified exhibitions from fans who eat it up). If you don't have preseason games at all like they do in college football, then when you get into games that count with a lot of intensity, there is greater chance in those games for serious injury like we saw this weekend.
I'm particularly heartbroken for BYU quarterback Taysom Hill and not just because the Huskers played him Saturday. I'm particularly heartbroken for him because he is a great player who just can't catch a break. This will be the third major injury in the last four seasons for Hill; he had season-ending knee surgery in 2012 and missed the back half of last season as well with a left leg fracture.
Aside from the injuries, these things stand out to me:
1. Alabama is still Alabama. Had to silently laugh at people who thought this past offseason that Bama's demise was coming. Make no mistake, there's no one who wants to see Alabama fall off the face of the Earth more than I do, but that is not happening. If we're telling the truth, then they were a close loss to Ohio State last year away from another national title because that was the only team that could have beat them. They are still loaded for bear and still have Saban at the helm. They aren't going anywhere.
Saturday, they made a loud statement against a Wisconsin team that is fully capable of bouncing back and getting back to Indianapolis for the Big 10 title game. The only teams that are capable of beating them are in the SEC West because no one in the East is doing it. I gave Tennessee a look in the offseason after the way their 2014 season ended, but they gave up 30 points to Bowling Green to open the season and may very well lose to Oklahoma this week.
I think Ole Miss and Texas A&M in particular have better than average chances to upset Bama; both run the spread offense that Saban hates, both have defenses that can get it done on any given day (A&M now has John "The Chief" Chavis running its defense and Ole Miss is consistently solid defensively with its Landsharks) and if Allen and/or Kelly can get it done, either team has a chance to upset Alabama.
2. When Ohio State hits the jets and goes to that next level, ALMOST no one can beat them. Key word, almost. What basically happened in that Monday night game with Virginia Tech was that they got up 14-0, fell asleep at the wheel then awoke from their slumber and ran Virginia Tech off its own field.
So that begs the question: Who COULD beat them when they go to that next level? Bama obviously could, TCU might as well although them losing Sammy Douglas is a big blow, maybe not in the Big 12 but against the better teams outside the conference. Baylor has no shot against any of the big boys because they can't play defense as evidenced against SMU Friday night. Michigan State is probably the only team in the Big 10 who COULD go toe to toe with OSU for four quarters.
3. I wasn't shocked that Texas got beat handily by Notre Dame; Notre Dame is a solid football team and whoever Texas QB was going to be wasn't going to get it done in that environment. But I didn't expect them to be beat 38-3 and for their offense to look utterly lost like what happened many times through the course of their 2014 season. This is Strong's second year at Texas, not his first so he's had some time to get his house in order and at the very least not look as bad as he and the rest of the Horns did last Saturday night. I like Charlie Strong but this may be a round peg square hole type deal where the way he coaches football might not mesh with how UT does things.
4. I've been pretty silent on social media since the Hail Mary at the end of the Nebraska game, but yes I have some thoughts on that game as I always do each and every Nebraska game. To me, the game was a mixed bag. The most encouraging thing that I saw was that when it looked really bad at halftime and BYU looked like it might run and hide, Riley and Co. made the necessary adjustments to put the Huskers back in the game and give them a chance to win. This was something that didn't happen very often in the Pelini or Callahan eras.
Tommy Armstrong also looked very much improved...poised in the pocket and showed drastic improvement. He struggled through the middle part of the game when the offense became a bit too predictable but once NU turned the momentum he settled in once again.
Offensive line needs work though...major work. Part of it is experience, BYU's offensive line had more experience (as in combined career starts) over Nebraska's by a wide margin. Nebraska's offensive line is also very small comapred to most great offensive lines...average of 290 lbs isn't very big.
The way NU played that final Hail Mary needless to say was atrocious...should probably have rushed 4 or 5 instead of just three. Bottom line is, that Hail Mary completion cannot happen, but it did. DC Mark Banker said he goofed on that one in postgame though so hopefully he learned from it. The defense needs major improvement as well, though the returns of Jonathan Rose and Michael Rose-Ivey will hopefully help. I would be ready for a 7-5 season or something like that if I'm a Husker fan this year.
5. Much like Riley's debut, Jim Harbaugh's debut at Michigan was a mixed bag. I think Michigan's probably further along than Nebraska though just because they showed well defensively on the road against a pretty solid Utah squad. Rudock isn't a good quarterback though.
In the NFL meanwhile, it seems as though the NFL's lightning rod the New England Patriots can't stop being in the news. Even though the Deflate Gate saga appears to be behind us, the Spygate investigation from 2007 appears to have resurfaced. According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines" which focuses mainly on the 2007 Spygate investigation (and Outside the Lines unlike most ESPN shows is not a show to sneeze at, that's a show which for the most part has actual good, hard journalism), some of the allegations include:
1. The Patriots videotaped opposing signals for seven years and at least 40 games
2. Patriots staffers would sneak into the opposing team's locker room and steal the opposing team's script for the first 20 some-odd plays
3. Said staffers would pillage opposing teams' hotel rooms looking for materials related to game plans
As you might guess, there is more. You can read the story here: Patriots Outside the Lines story. The only other thing I'll say about this is now you see why Goodell isn't going to lose his job even though Brady got his suspension revoked. The owners are definitely still pissed about Spygate and are most certainly pleased with how Goodell handled Deflategate.
Lastly, a few thoughts regarding the baseball pennant races which are heating up:
1. Re: the Astros, I don't think there is a team in the AL the Astros can't beat, but I think realistically this team is probably a year or so away. The lead is down to 1 game over a surging Rangers team and the teams are tied in the loss column plus the Astros are in the midst of a long road trip. There is a very good chance that the Astros will be playing in a wild card game in early October and a better than decent chance they might not be in the playoffs at all. If they were to play in a wild-card game against the Yanks I'd like their chances though.
2. A Blue Jays/Royals ALCS is very likely right now, although I'm not particularly crazy about the way the Royals are playing at this point. Alex Gordon is back for the Royals, but they have a key reliever out as a result of their chicken pox problems and the White Sox rolled through them three straight last weekend, granted the White Sox aren't playing terrible baseball right now. A Jays/Royals ALCS would be a solid ratings-getter though, there is some pretty bad blood between these teams.
3. The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last five games at home against the Pirates and Cubs. I've said it all along; they're in trouble come October because Wainwright is a guy they have to have to be able to win a championship. Their other pitchers are capable but Wainwright is the one true ace on that staff. That Matt Holliday is iffy at best to come back doesn't help their cause either. Whoever wins that wild card game between the Cubs and Pirates has a very good chance to eliminate the Cardinals.
4. Right when I thought the Dodgers might be in trouble after getting swept in Houston, just like that they've won 13 of their last 15 and have a playoff spot all but locked up. There could be a lot of quick games in a Mets/Dodgers Division Series, which looks very likely right now.
5. You can pretty much say good night to the Washington Nationals because the New York Mets are flat ripping the Nationals' hearts out.
Down 7-1 after six innings and appearing dead and buried Tuesday night, in a game the Nationals had to have, the Mets rose out of the grave and smacked the Nationals right in the face with that shovel and came back to win...and in the process, might have sped up the Nationals own demise in what has to be one of the most disappointing seasons by any team in recent memory. Going into the season, I couldn't see any way that the Nationals wouldn't win 100 games with the talent they have.
It's not technically over but Washington is down six games now, with just four games left against the Mets and three of them are in New York. If Dandy Don Meredith were still with us, I think you know what he'd say....
Until next time....
On the first week of the college football season, the biggest thing that struck me were the number of injuries that were suffered to key players. Among the players who sustained serious injuries over the weekend included were Pittsburgh running back James Conner, Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston, TCU linebacker Sammy Douglas, Stanford defensive lineman and BYU quarterback Taysom Hill.
The thing that comes to mind immediately for me is that this will continue to be the biggest argument for NFL owners to keep preseason games (besides the fact that they make money in those glorified exhibitions from fans who eat it up). If you don't have preseason games at all like they do in college football, then when you get into games that count with a lot of intensity, there is greater chance in those games for serious injury like we saw this weekend.
I'm particularly heartbroken for BYU quarterback Taysom Hill and not just because the Huskers played him Saturday. I'm particularly heartbroken for him because he is a great player who just can't catch a break. This will be the third major injury in the last four seasons for Hill; he had season-ending knee surgery in 2012 and missed the back half of last season as well with a left leg fracture.
Aside from the injuries, these things stand out to me:
1. Alabama is still Alabama. Had to silently laugh at people who thought this past offseason that Bama's demise was coming. Make no mistake, there's no one who wants to see Alabama fall off the face of the Earth more than I do, but that is not happening. If we're telling the truth, then they were a close loss to Ohio State last year away from another national title because that was the only team that could have beat them. They are still loaded for bear and still have Saban at the helm. They aren't going anywhere.
Saturday, they made a loud statement against a Wisconsin team that is fully capable of bouncing back and getting back to Indianapolis for the Big 10 title game. The only teams that are capable of beating them are in the SEC West because no one in the East is doing it. I gave Tennessee a look in the offseason after the way their 2014 season ended, but they gave up 30 points to Bowling Green to open the season and may very well lose to Oklahoma this week.
I think Ole Miss and Texas A&M in particular have better than average chances to upset Bama; both run the spread offense that Saban hates, both have defenses that can get it done on any given day (A&M now has John "The Chief" Chavis running its defense and Ole Miss is consistently solid defensively with its Landsharks) and if Allen and/or Kelly can get it done, either team has a chance to upset Alabama.
2. When Ohio State hits the jets and goes to that next level, ALMOST no one can beat them. Key word, almost. What basically happened in that Monday night game with Virginia Tech was that they got up 14-0, fell asleep at the wheel then awoke from their slumber and ran Virginia Tech off its own field.
So that begs the question: Who COULD beat them when they go to that next level? Bama obviously could, TCU might as well although them losing Sammy Douglas is a big blow, maybe not in the Big 12 but against the better teams outside the conference. Baylor has no shot against any of the big boys because they can't play defense as evidenced against SMU Friday night. Michigan State is probably the only team in the Big 10 who COULD go toe to toe with OSU for four quarters.
3. I wasn't shocked that Texas got beat handily by Notre Dame; Notre Dame is a solid football team and whoever Texas QB was going to be wasn't going to get it done in that environment. But I didn't expect them to be beat 38-3 and for their offense to look utterly lost like what happened many times through the course of their 2014 season. This is Strong's second year at Texas, not his first so he's had some time to get his house in order and at the very least not look as bad as he and the rest of the Horns did last Saturday night. I like Charlie Strong but this may be a round peg square hole type deal where the way he coaches football might not mesh with how UT does things.
4. I've been pretty silent on social media since the Hail Mary at the end of the Nebraska game, but yes I have some thoughts on that game as I always do each and every Nebraska game. To me, the game was a mixed bag. The most encouraging thing that I saw was that when it looked really bad at halftime and BYU looked like it might run and hide, Riley and Co. made the necessary adjustments to put the Huskers back in the game and give them a chance to win. This was something that didn't happen very often in the Pelini or Callahan eras.
Tommy Armstrong also looked very much improved...poised in the pocket and showed drastic improvement. He struggled through the middle part of the game when the offense became a bit too predictable but once NU turned the momentum he settled in once again.
Offensive line needs work though...major work. Part of it is experience, BYU's offensive line had more experience (as in combined career starts) over Nebraska's by a wide margin. Nebraska's offensive line is also very small comapred to most great offensive lines...average of 290 lbs isn't very big.
The way NU played that final Hail Mary needless to say was atrocious...should probably have rushed 4 or 5 instead of just three. Bottom line is, that Hail Mary completion cannot happen, but it did. DC Mark Banker said he goofed on that one in postgame though so hopefully he learned from it. The defense needs major improvement as well, though the returns of Jonathan Rose and Michael Rose-Ivey will hopefully help. I would be ready for a 7-5 season or something like that if I'm a Husker fan this year.
5. Much like Riley's debut, Jim Harbaugh's debut at Michigan was a mixed bag. I think Michigan's probably further along than Nebraska though just because they showed well defensively on the road against a pretty solid Utah squad. Rudock isn't a good quarterback though.
In the NFL meanwhile, it seems as though the NFL's lightning rod the New England Patriots can't stop being in the news. Even though the Deflate Gate saga appears to be behind us, the Spygate investigation from 2007 appears to have resurfaced. According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines" which focuses mainly on the 2007 Spygate investigation (and Outside the Lines unlike most ESPN shows is not a show to sneeze at, that's a show which for the most part has actual good, hard journalism), some of the allegations include:
1. The Patriots videotaped opposing signals for seven years and at least 40 games
2. Patriots staffers would sneak into the opposing team's locker room and steal the opposing team's script for the first 20 some-odd plays
3. Said staffers would pillage opposing teams' hotel rooms looking for materials related to game plans
As you might guess, there is more. You can read the story here: Patriots Outside the Lines story. The only other thing I'll say about this is now you see why Goodell isn't going to lose his job even though Brady got his suspension revoked. The owners are definitely still pissed about Spygate and are most certainly pleased with how Goodell handled Deflategate.
Lastly, a few thoughts regarding the baseball pennant races which are heating up:
1. Re: the Astros, I don't think there is a team in the AL the Astros can't beat, but I think realistically this team is probably a year or so away. The lead is down to 1 game over a surging Rangers team and the teams are tied in the loss column plus the Astros are in the midst of a long road trip. There is a very good chance that the Astros will be playing in a wild card game in early October and a better than decent chance they might not be in the playoffs at all. If they were to play in a wild-card game against the Yanks I'd like their chances though.
2. A Blue Jays/Royals ALCS is very likely right now, although I'm not particularly crazy about the way the Royals are playing at this point. Alex Gordon is back for the Royals, but they have a key reliever out as a result of their chicken pox problems and the White Sox rolled through them three straight last weekend, granted the White Sox aren't playing terrible baseball right now. A Jays/Royals ALCS would be a solid ratings-getter though, there is some pretty bad blood between these teams.
3. The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last five games at home against the Pirates and Cubs. I've said it all along; they're in trouble come October because Wainwright is a guy they have to have to be able to win a championship. Their other pitchers are capable but Wainwright is the one true ace on that staff. That Matt Holliday is iffy at best to come back doesn't help their cause either. Whoever wins that wild card game between the Cubs and Pirates has a very good chance to eliminate the Cardinals.
4. Right when I thought the Dodgers might be in trouble after getting swept in Houston, just like that they've won 13 of their last 15 and have a playoff spot all but locked up. There could be a lot of quick games in a Mets/Dodgers Division Series, which looks very likely right now.
5. You can pretty much say good night to the Washington Nationals because the New York Mets are flat ripping the Nationals' hearts out.
Down 7-1 after six innings and appearing dead and buried Tuesday night, in a game the Nationals had to have, the Mets rose out of the grave and smacked the Nationals right in the face with that shovel and came back to win...and in the process, might have sped up the Nationals own demise in what has to be one of the most disappointing seasons by any team in recent memory. Going into the season, I couldn't see any way that the Nationals wouldn't win 100 games with the talent they have.
It's not technically over but Washington is down six games now, with just four games left against the Mets and three of them are in New York. If Dandy Don Meredith were still with us, I think you know what he'd say....
Until next time....
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
6/17: NBA Finals, Hack Gate, Football and Much More
First thing's first: I have links on this blog post, and this time they go to the websites I intend to have them go to. I found that problem last time and fixed it up on the last blog post.
Anyways, now with the hockey and basketball postseason done and the College World Series over halfway done, now begins the long march through the summer towards football. The PGA's U.S. Open is this weekend, and I'll get to that a bit later. Now, normally this is a football based blog as I have said many times before. But there are other big stories this week, and I think I'll start with the NBA Finals, then the mess involving the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Golden State Warriors are the NBA champions for the first time in 40 years; first time since the Rick Barry days that the Warriors have been to the top of the mountain. They are more than worthy to hold the crown. They were the best team in the Association all season, 67 wins, and they lost just three games while going through a tough Western Conference.
Granted, they didn't have to play either of last year's Western Conference finalists (Oklahoma City missed the playoffs due to injuries and the Spurs lost in that epic seven game slugfest with the Clippers), but that's not their fault; they can only play who is in front of them. And they had to survive two tough series against a really physical Memphis team and then against the game's best player.
Two things about the Warriors: One is that the team's future is really bright. This is going to be a team right back in contention next year and for many years to come. High-caliber forward Draymond Green is a free-agent-to-be, but I'd really be surprised if he leaves this group. Everyone else is locked in, except for assistant Alvin Gentry who will be off to New Orleans to coach the Pelicans.
Two is that they made a really bold decision to fire Mark Jackson, who won over 50 games last year, but they wanted to get to the top of the mountain. And by hiring Steve Kerr, that's exactly what they did. Kerr is a championship caliber coach who played under Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, and has spent time in color-commentary watching games. He was arguably last offseason's most sought-after coach and Kerr was able to take the Warriors to that elusive next level which they so badly wanted to get to.
That's not to say that Cleveland didn't show well though. They were without two of their three best players and still had Golden State nervous through the first three games of this series until Kerr made the necessary adjustments. Kevin Love will probably leave to go to the Lakers (he's an LA native and played at UCLA), but if they can get another good player to go with Kyrie Irving and Lebron they will be right back in the hunt next season.
At present, they're probably the only team in the East that could hang with any of the West heavyweights. The top four teams preseason next year will likely be the Spurs, Thunder, Warriors and Cavs, not necessarily in that order. The rest of the pecking order will likely be decided by free agency.
Now, on to baseball and the Cardinals situation. For those living under a rock, the St. Louis Cardinals are in a little bit of hot water with none other than the F.B.I. and it involves actions taken against the Astros, of all teams. You can read more about the details here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sports/baseball/st-louis-cardinals-hack-astros-fbi.html?smid%3D=tw-nytsports&_r=0
I've already seen comparisons between the Cardinals' actions and those of the Patriots; for those comparing the actions of the Cardinals to what the Patriots did by allegedly deflating footballs last year in the playoffs, that's really not a fair comparison. No matter what you think about the Patriots, they never got in trouble with the feds for deflated footballs. Also, if the NYT report is true that the hacking was done by vengeful Cardinals employees looking to get back at Jeff Luhnow for leaving the Cardinals to go to Houston, then it looks really bad for the Cardinals.
It looks really bad especially considering that they have the best record in the sport right now at 21 or 22 games over .500, whatever it is and that the Astros, until now, have been trying to get their team back to a respectable level. The Cards have also been to the league championship series each of the last four years and have been to a World Series once since he left, so why would any Cardinals employee or fan be angry with Luhnow? If anything they should be thankful for Luhnow helping to build the core of that team to what it is now.
And in case you're wondering, they've already said that "the alleged conduct has no place in our game." Pretty much what I'd expect them to say under the circumstances. If this investigation is proven to be true, it will be interesting to see if they actually take action against the employees who pulled this off.
In the wake of the Chicago Blackhawks' recently NHL Stanley Cup title which they won on Monday, a Korean newspaper made a huge mistake in a headline. As someone who has done copy editing/proofreading in the past, I find this worth a look. Right city, wrong team, editors. You can see it here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2498698-korean-newspaper-runs-headline-proclaiming-chicago-bears-stanley-cup-champs?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national
Time for some football news now. So apparently, TheScore, a sports news app centered towards mobile devices such as the iPhone, did an NFL likability list based on each team's front office. Unsurprisingly (in my view) the Washington Redskins came in dead last and it's mainly because of owner Daniel Snyder, who just can't seem to get out of his own way in the Redskins' front office.
If you want a general picture of how deep the agony in D.C. goes, take a listen to this epic rant by D.C. sports radio host Chad Dukes following a 59-28 beatdown by the Eagles several years back on Monday Night Football; this was when Shanahan was the coach there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXwzlXEipc
The names have generally changed with the Redskins, but the frustration remains and the team cannot get out of the gutter and I sense they won't get out of the gutter until Snyder leaves. By the way, if you're wondering who is the No. 1 most likable team based on the front office, it's the Green Bay Packers which to me is not that surprising.
Besides the Cavs losing in the Finals, the other big piece of news today in Cleveland is that Johnny Football's going to put away the money sign that he has taken to doing since his last year at A&M. It appears, at least through words so far, that Johnny's stay in rehab in the offseason has done him some good as he also conceded today that he was a distraction to the team with his off-field behavior.
Granted, those are just words and actions always speak louder than words. But the first step to fixing the problem is admitting you have one, and by going to rehab and addressing the media, Johnny appears to be willing to try to fix that problem.
From college football, the big news today from a meeting of the Collegiate Commissioners Association is that a proposal to create an early signing period for recruits has been tabled for one year. This proposal, if passed, would allow high school players to make commitments binding to schools in mid-December. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that if it's passed, to be honest.
Here in Texas, the big college football news is that the U of Texas athletic director Steve Patterson approved alcohol sales beginning this fall at UT home games. My response to that is this; like college football needs alcohol to be sold in stadiums. I don't think it enhances the fan experience, the last thing we need is fans actually drinking during a game. At Nebraska, alcohol is expressly prohibited inside Memorial Stadium, which I think is the correct stance.
Speaking of the Huskers, QB commit Patrick O'Brien from California got some very high marks at the Elite 11 quarterback camp last week, where he made the finals of that camp. In addition, in 247 Sports recruiting database he was upgraded to a four star because of his performance at that camp.
While we're on the topic of four stars, score one for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's program today. Offensive line Ben Bredesma from Wisconsin, who was rated No. 31 overall by 247 Sports, committed to Michigan's 2016 class today; this thus far is the biggest catch that Harbaugh has been able to land since taking the Michigan job a little less than six months ago.
And this is a really highly touted lineman: he had offers from many of the SEC's heavyweights such as Alabama, Auburn and LSU as well as Michigan's blood rivals Ohio State and Michigan State. Nebraska also offered him too, so score one for them. I believed when he was hired and I still believe now that Harbaugh is going to give Urban Meyer heartburn in the years to come.
I also like Harbaugh's stance on the satellite camp issue, which I touched on in a previous blog. He said, "In my America, you're allowed to cross state borders. That's the America I know."
Harbaugh's busy week though hasn't been without some jabs at his program, namely from their neighbors in East Lansing. Michigan State recently received their Cotton Bowl title rings for their win over Baylor. Take a look at the bottom right photo in this picture collection and notice the apparent jab at Michigan. It's a little hard to read, but it's there: https://twitter.com/RBOkerstrom/status/609852939121758208
A little piece of advice, Sparty: It's best not to poke a bear with a large stick, because that bear's eventually going to wake up.
Finally, as far as the U.S. Open golf tournament which starts tomorrow, Mickelson is my pick. He played his best golf maybe ever at Augusta, it's on the West Coast, he won't get many more shots at the career slam, and he finished very strong at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. I do think this tournament will be won by a big name, whether it be Rory, Phil, Spieth, or someone like that. I don't think you're going to see some middling golfer rise up and win this tournament. If you're looking for sleepers though, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Kevin Kisner might be worth looking at.
Until next time....
Anyways, now with the hockey and basketball postseason done and the College World Series over halfway done, now begins the long march through the summer towards football. The PGA's U.S. Open is this weekend, and I'll get to that a bit later. Now, normally this is a football based blog as I have said many times before. But there are other big stories this week, and I think I'll start with the NBA Finals, then the mess involving the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Golden State Warriors are the NBA champions for the first time in 40 years; first time since the Rick Barry days that the Warriors have been to the top of the mountain. They are more than worthy to hold the crown. They were the best team in the Association all season, 67 wins, and they lost just three games while going through a tough Western Conference.
Granted, they didn't have to play either of last year's Western Conference finalists (Oklahoma City missed the playoffs due to injuries and the Spurs lost in that epic seven game slugfest with the Clippers), but that's not their fault; they can only play who is in front of them. And they had to survive two tough series against a really physical Memphis team and then against the game's best player.
Two things about the Warriors: One is that the team's future is really bright. This is going to be a team right back in contention next year and for many years to come. High-caliber forward Draymond Green is a free-agent-to-be, but I'd really be surprised if he leaves this group. Everyone else is locked in, except for assistant Alvin Gentry who will be off to New Orleans to coach the Pelicans.
Two is that they made a really bold decision to fire Mark Jackson, who won over 50 games last year, but they wanted to get to the top of the mountain. And by hiring Steve Kerr, that's exactly what they did. Kerr is a championship caliber coach who played under Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, and has spent time in color-commentary watching games. He was arguably last offseason's most sought-after coach and Kerr was able to take the Warriors to that elusive next level which they so badly wanted to get to.
That's not to say that Cleveland didn't show well though. They were without two of their three best players and still had Golden State nervous through the first three games of this series until Kerr made the necessary adjustments. Kevin Love will probably leave to go to the Lakers (he's an LA native and played at UCLA), but if they can get another good player to go with Kyrie Irving and Lebron they will be right back in the hunt next season.
At present, they're probably the only team in the East that could hang with any of the West heavyweights. The top four teams preseason next year will likely be the Spurs, Thunder, Warriors and Cavs, not necessarily in that order. The rest of the pecking order will likely be decided by free agency.
Now, on to baseball and the Cardinals situation. For those living under a rock, the St. Louis Cardinals are in a little bit of hot water with none other than the F.B.I. and it involves actions taken against the Astros, of all teams. You can read more about the details here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sports/baseball/st-louis-cardinals-hack-astros-fbi.html?smid%3D=tw-nytsports&_r=0
I've already seen comparisons between the Cardinals' actions and those of the Patriots; for those comparing the actions of the Cardinals to what the Patriots did by allegedly deflating footballs last year in the playoffs, that's really not a fair comparison. No matter what you think about the Patriots, they never got in trouble with the feds for deflated footballs. Also, if the NYT report is true that the hacking was done by vengeful Cardinals employees looking to get back at Jeff Luhnow for leaving the Cardinals to go to Houston, then it looks really bad for the Cardinals.
It looks really bad especially considering that they have the best record in the sport right now at 21 or 22 games over .500, whatever it is and that the Astros, until now, have been trying to get their team back to a respectable level. The Cards have also been to the league championship series each of the last four years and have been to a World Series once since he left, so why would any Cardinals employee or fan be angry with Luhnow? If anything they should be thankful for Luhnow helping to build the core of that team to what it is now.
And in case you're wondering, they've already said that "the alleged conduct has no place in our game." Pretty much what I'd expect them to say under the circumstances. If this investigation is proven to be true, it will be interesting to see if they actually take action against the employees who pulled this off.
In the wake of the Chicago Blackhawks' recently NHL Stanley Cup title which they won on Monday, a Korean newspaper made a huge mistake in a headline. As someone who has done copy editing/proofreading in the past, I find this worth a look. Right city, wrong team, editors. You can see it here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2498698-korean-newspaper-runs-headline-proclaiming-chicago-bears-stanley-cup-champs?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national
Time for some football news now. So apparently, TheScore, a sports news app centered towards mobile devices such as the iPhone, did an NFL likability list based on each team's front office. Unsurprisingly (in my view) the Washington Redskins came in dead last and it's mainly because of owner Daniel Snyder, who just can't seem to get out of his own way in the Redskins' front office.
If you want a general picture of how deep the agony in D.C. goes, take a listen to this epic rant by D.C. sports radio host Chad Dukes following a 59-28 beatdown by the Eagles several years back on Monday Night Football; this was when Shanahan was the coach there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXwzlXEipc
The names have generally changed with the Redskins, but the frustration remains and the team cannot get out of the gutter and I sense they won't get out of the gutter until Snyder leaves. By the way, if you're wondering who is the No. 1 most likable team based on the front office, it's the Green Bay Packers which to me is not that surprising.
Besides the Cavs losing in the Finals, the other big piece of news today in Cleveland is that Johnny Football's going to put away the money sign that he has taken to doing since his last year at A&M. It appears, at least through words so far, that Johnny's stay in rehab in the offseason has done him some good as he also conceded today that he was a distraction to the team with his off-field behavior.
Granted, those are just words and actions always speak louder than words. But the first step to fixing the problem is admitting you have one, and by going to rehab and addressing the media, Johnny appears to be willing to try to fix that problem.
From college football, the big news today from a meeting of the Collegiate Commissioners Association is that a proposal to create an early signing period for recruits has been tabled for one year. This proposal, if passed, would allow high school players to make commitments binding to schools in mid-December. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that if it's passed, to be honest.
Here in Texas, the big college football news is that the U of Texas athletic director Steve Patterson approved alcohol sales beginning this fall at UT home games. My response to that is this; like college football needs alcohol to be sold in stadiums. I don't think it enhances the fan experience, the last thing we need is fans actually drinking during a game. At Nebraska, alcohol is expressly prohibited inside Memorial Stadium, which I think is the correct stance.
Speaking of the Huskers, QB commit Patrick O'Brien from California got some very high marks at the Elite 11 quarterback camp last week, where he made the finals of that camp. In addition, in 247 Sports recruiting database he was upgraded to a four star because of his performance at that camp.
While we're on the topic of four stars, score one for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's program today. Offensive line Ben Bredesma from Wisconsin, who was rated No. 31 overall by 247 Sports, committed to Michigan's 2016 class today; this thus far is the biggest catch that Harbaugh has been able to land since taking the Michigan job a little less than six months ago.
And this is a really highly touted lineman: he had offers from many of the SEC's heavyweights such as Alabama, Auburn and LSU as well as Michigan's blood rivals Ohio State and Michigan State. Nebraska also offered him too, so score one for them. I believed when he was hired and I still believe now that Harbaugh is going to give Urban Meyer heartburn in the years to come.
I also like Harbaugh's stance on the satellite camp issue, which I touched on in a previous blog. He said, "In my America, you're allowed to cross state borders. That's the America I know."
Harbaugh's busy week though hasn't been without some jabs at his program, namely from their neighbors in East Lansing. Michigan State recently received their Cotton Bowl title rings for their win over Baylor. Take a look at the bottom right photo in this picture collection and notice the apparent jab at Michigan. It's a little hard to read, but it's there: https://twitter.com/RBOkerstrom/status/609852939121758208
A little piece of advice, Sparty: It's best not to poke a bear with a large stick, because that bear's eventually going to wake up.
Finally, as far as the U.S. Open golf tournament which starts tomorrow, Mickelson is my pick. He played his best golf maybe ever at Augusta, it's on the West Coast, he won't get many more shots at the career slam, and he finished very strong at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. I do think this tournament will be won by a big name, whether it be Rory, Phil, Spieth, or someone like that. I don't think you're going to see some middling golfer rise up and win this tournament. If you're looking for sleepers though, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Kevin Kisner might be worth looking at.
Until next time....
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
6/3: All sorts of sports + visiting fans
Back with another blog. Arguably the best time of the sports year: College World Series breathing down our necks, NBA and NHL Finals on the way, MLB baseball heating up. Plus, Cam Newton got a nice, big, fat contract. As a matter of fact, that's where I'm going to start. This is a football blog, after all.
So let's talk about Cam Newton: Yes, he won a Heisman Trophy and a national championship at Auburn. He came from 24 points down against Alabama in their building in 2010 and brought the title back to Auburn. And in the NFL he had a stellar rookie campaign.
But let's look at the facts, too: He has a single season above .500, has a TD/INT ratio of just 1.5 and ranked 27th in the NFL last year in that statistic. Even E.J. Manuel, who got his behind benched in Buffalo for Kyle Orton, had a better ratio than him. He's also been progressively worse the last four years, and had his worst season in the NFL in 2014.
Yet, he got paid. Oh, he got paid all right. To the tune of a $103.8 mil contract extension. This includes $67.6 mil over the first three guaranteed years. Sure, this guy is a talented quarterback. But THAT much money for a guy who's gotten progressively worse each year in the league? Yeah, I don't know about that one.
On baseball: Wonder how many people saw Joey Gallo's debut for the Rangers last night. He has been a AA prospect in their system but a very highly prized one. Yes, AA, not AAA. Yet, because of Adrian Beltre's injury over the weekend (which sadly caused me to put Beltre on the DL in my fantasy baseball league), they called him up this week and he made his debut last night. And in his debut against Jeff Samardzjia and the White Sox he did not disappoint; he had three hits, and came within a triple of the cycle.
Makes you wonder, with the Astros injury situation at shortstop (their normal starting shortstop Jed Lowrie is currently on the DL), should the Astros bring up Carlos Correa right now. Correa, like Gallo, is a very highly prized prospect, and is probably the most talked about of the Astros young players in the minors (he is at AAA Fresno right now). His talent is definitely off the charts, but his #s aren't great in AAA. Personally, I don't think they necessarily need to bring him up right now, but with the AL West starting to heat up a bit, I'd keep my finger near that trigger. He could be the difference between the Astros making the playoffs and sitting at home.
While we're on baseball, let's go to the college game now and I'll start by saying this: even though the Huskers had a terrible year on the baseball diamond, the Big 10 having two teams (Illinois and Maryland) with a legit shot to make it to Omaha is a very healthy thing for the sport. In baseball, it's natural that a team from the south would have the advantages over the northern schools because of weather and days you can get outside to play baseball. Here in Texas, you can play ball all year round and the high school baseball season usually starts around late February and early March.
In fact, the Big 10 got more teams into the Super Regionals (two) than the Big 12 got (one, and the Big 12 wouldn't have any if North Carolina State hadn't gagged massively in their regional final Monday against TCU). No doubt, as much as I hate to say it, the SEC is the best baseball conference (they got five teams into the Supers and will likely put multiple teams in Omaha) but it is good to see the Big 10 with a pulse. In particular, Maryland, a team who kind of struggled at times this season, beating top overall seed UCLA (and a team that won it all two years ago) was huge for the Big 10.
And as far as NC State: How is it possible to give up SEVEN, yes, SEVEN unearned runs in the space of two innings? TCU was done like dinner and then NC State just...lost it. That's a loss they will never live down.
On the NBA Finals, which start tomorrow: The Warriors have the better team, but do not underestimate Lebron. That man is as close to superhuman as the NBA has right now. I think it goes 7 but the Warriors prevail.
One Rockets note: apparently James Harden was recently seen with Denver point guard Ty Lawson. Could the Rockets somehow snag Lawson in free agency? That would be terrific because a Rockets area of need is a point guard and Lawson would fill that void quite nicely.
Time to briefly touch on FIFA (soccer) now and their ongoing corruption scandal. The last anyone heard of this corruption scandal, seven men were being hauled out of a hotel in Switzerland a week ago today in connection to an investigation by the FBI into wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
Think about this: FIFA decided to give Qatar the World Cup in 2022, pretty much the highest level of that sport on a national scale. Now think about this: in Qatar it's hotter than blue blazes in the summer so they'd have to play it in the winter when the best players in the world are all playing in their respective worldwide leagues, and they don't have the stadiums to hold this huge event.
In addition, according to an article from the Washington Post, the workers who were hired to build these stadiums are dying at an alarming rate. From everything I have read, the worker conditions in Qatar aren't good.
So yeah, I think it's possible there was some dirty money underneath the table for Qatar to get this event. In all honesty though, this thing goes pretty deep: this investigation isn't just about the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. I'm not going to go into all the details, but this whole problem FIFA's got goes a lot deeper than that.
The good news for FIFA is that Sepp Blatter, the head of FIFA, resigned yesterday. Hopefully for them that is a step in the right direction.
And finally, a first, and very possibly last, for this blog: something related to hockey. That sport played on ice with a puck. Actually, I'm not even sure it's hockey; it's more of a fans thing and the asinine decisions sometimes made by professional sports organizations and college athletic departments in response to a lot of visiting fans in their stadiums. I wasn't going to talk about this, honestly, until I saw the link below on my Yahoo feed yesterday. Thus, this little soapbox.
Something's happened relating to the Stanley Cup Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, which begin tonight, that touches a bit too close to home as a lifetime fan of Nebraska and in particular football. You see, the Tampa Bay Lightning have this asinine dress code for visiting fans that, because they are playing in a final series, is getting a little national attention. They aren't going to throw Blackhawks fans out of the building, but it's asinine enough. You can read more about it here: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/pass-or-fail--tampa-bay-lightning-s-anti-visiting-fan-dress-code-140431070.html
See, this hits a bit too close to home as a lifetime fan of the Huskers because these are the kind of tactics Husker fans were used to from schools like Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, etc. who would see Nebraska fans fill their stadium for big games every Saturday during the fall and they would try various things to keep Nebraska fans out of the stadium (that is, before the Huskers went to the Big 10).
For example, CU used to drive up ticket prices for just the Nebraska game alone. Nebraska would get anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 fans at places like Folsom Field and CU players and fans hated it. I don't like Notre Dame's football program at all (though Catholic, I still don't like them), but at least when the Huskers went there in 2000, Notre Dame didn't try any stupid tactics to keep Husker fans out.
Similarly, TCU will face A&M in college baseball's super regionals this weekend and with the powerful Aggie base of fans in this state there will be a lot of them in TCU's ballpark. A&M's school is about four or five times the size of TCU and they have a very powerful network. I hope TCU makes a concentrated effort to get their fans in the stadium while still allowing Aggies to watch their team.
Bottom line: bush league move by the Lightning, similar to what Colorado, K-State, and others used to do when the Huskers came to town on Saturdays during football. Get more of your fans in, and don't be bush league to other fans who want to see their team.
Until next time....
So let's talk about Cam Newton: Yes, he won a Heisman Trophy and a national championship at Auburn. He came from 24 points down against Alabama in their building in 2010 and brought the title back to Auburn. And in the NFL he had a stellar rookie campaign.
But let's look at the facts, too: He has a single season above .500, has a TD/INT ratio of just 1.5 and ranked 27th in the NFL last year in that statistic. Even E.J. Manuel, who got his behind benched in Buffalo for Kyle Orton, had a better ratio than him. He's also been progressively worse the last four years, and had his worst season in the NFL in 2014.
Yet, he got paid. Oh, he got paid all right. To the tune of a $103.8 mil contract extension. This includes $67.6 mil over the first three guaranteed years. Sure, this guy is a talented quarterback. But THAT much money for a guy who's gotten progressively worse each year in the league? Yeah, I don't know about that one.
On baseball: Wonder how many people saw Joey Gallo's debut for the Rangers last night. He has been a AA prospect in their system but a very highly prized one. Yes, AA, not AAA. Yet, because of Adrian Beltre's injury over the weekend (which sadly caused me to put Beltre on the DL in my fantasy baseball league), they called him up this week and he made his debut last night. And in his debut against Jeff Samardzjia and the White Sox he did not disappoint; he had three hits, and came within a triple of the cycle.
Makes you wonder, with the Astros injury situation at shortstop (their normal starting shortstop Jed Lowrie is currently on the DL), should the Astros bring up Carlos Correa right now. Correa, like Gallo, is a very highly prized prospect, and is probably the most talked about of the Astros young players in the minors (he is at AAA Fresno right now). His talent is definitely off the charts, but his #s aren't great in AAA. Personally, I don't think they necessarily need to bring him up right now, but with the AL West starting to heat up a bit, I'd keep my finger near that trigger. He could be the difference between the Astros making the playoffs and sitting at home.
While we're on baseball, let's go to the college game now and I'll start by saying this: even though the Huskers had a terrible year on the baseball diamond, the Big 10 having two teams (Illinois and Maryland) with a legit shot to make it to Omaha is a very healthy thing for the sport. In baseball, it's natural that a team from the south would have the advantages over the northern schools because of weather and days you can get outside to play baseball. Here in Texas, you can play ball all year round and the high school baseball season usually starts around late February and early March.
In fact, the Big 10 got more teams into the Super Regionals (two) than the Big 12 got (one, and the Big 12 wouldn't have any if North Carolina State hadn't gagged massively in their regional final Monday against TCU). No doubt, as much as I hate to say it, the SEC is the best baseball conference (they got five teams into the Supers and will likely put multiple teams in Omaha) but it is good to see the Big 10 with a pulse. In particular, Maryland, a team who kind of struggled at times this season, beating top overall seed UCLA (and a team that won it all two years ago) was huge for the Big 10.
And as far as NC State: How is it possible to give up SEVEN, yes, SEVEN unearned runs in the space of two innings? TCU was done like dinner and then NC State just...lost it. That's a loss they will never live down.
On the NBA Finals, which start tomorrow: The Warriors have the better team, but do not underestimate Lebron. That man is as close to superhuman as the NBA has right now. I think it goes 7 but the Warriors prevail.
One Rockets note: apparently James Harden was recently seen with Denver point guard Ty Lawson. Could the Rockets somehow snag Lawson in free agency? That would be terrific because a Rockets area of need is a point guard and Lawson would fill that void quite nicely.
Time to briefly touch on FIFA (soccer) now and their ongoing corruption scandal. The last anyone heard of this corruption scandal, seven men were being hauled out of a hotel in Switzerland a week ago today in connection to an investigation by the FBI into wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
Think about this: FIFA decided to give Qatar the World Cup in 2022, pretty much the highest level of that sport on a national scale. Now think about this: in Qatar it's hotter than blue blazes in the summer so they'd have to play it in the winter when the best players in the world are all playing in their respective worldwide leagues, and they don't have the stadiums to hold this huge event.
In addition, according to an article from the Washington Post, the workers who were hired to build these stadiums are dying at an alarming rate. From everything I have read, the worker conditions in Qatar aren't good.
So yeah, I think it's possible there was some dirty money underneath the table for Qatar to get this event. In all honesty though, this thing goes pretty deep: this investigation isn't just about the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. I'm not going to go into all the details, but this whole problem FIFA's got goes a lot deeper than that.
The good news for FIFA is that Sepp Blatter, the head of FIFA, resigned yesterday. Hopefully for them that is a step in the right direction.
And finally, a first, and very possibly last, for this blog: something related to hockey. That sport played on ice with a puck. Actually, I'm not even sure it's hockey; it's more of a fans thing and the asinine decisions sometimes made by professional sports organizations and college athletic departments in response to a lot of visiting fans in their stadiums. I wasn't going to talk about this, honestly, until I saw the link below on my Yahoo feed yesterday. Thus, this little soapbox.
Something's happened relating to the Stanley Cup Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, which begin tonight, that touches a bit too close to home as a lifetime fan of Nebraska and in particular football. You see, the Tampa Bay Lightning have this asinine dress code for visiting fans that, because they are playing in a final series, is getting a little national attention. They aren't going to throw Blackhawks fans out of the building, but it's asinine enough. You can read more about it here: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/pass-or-fail--tampa-bay-lightning-s-anti-visiting-fan-dress-code-140431070.html
See, this hits a bit too close to home as a lifetime fan of the Huskers because these are the kind of tactics Husker fans were used to from schools like Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, etc. who would see Nebraska fans fill their stadium for big games every Saturday during the fall and they would try various things to keep Nebraska fans out of the stadium (that is, before the Huskers went to the Big 10).
For example, CU used to drive up ticket prices for just the Nebraska game alone. Nebraska would get anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 fans at places like Folsom Field and CU players and fans hated it. I don't like Notre Dame's football program at all (though Catholic, I still don't like them), but at least when the Huskers went there in 2000, Notre Dame didn't try any stupid tactics to keep Husker fans out.
Similarly, TCU will face A&M in college baseball's super regionals this weekend and with the powerful Aggie base of fans in this state there will be a lot of them in TCU's ballpark. A&M's school is about four or five times the size of TCU and they have a very powerful network. I hope TCU makes a concentrated effort to get their fans in the stadium while still allowing Aggies to watch their team.
Bottom line: bush league move by the Lightning, similar to what Colorado, K-State, and others used to do when the Huskers came to town on Saturdays during football. Get more of your fans in, and don't be bush league to other fans who want to see their team.
Until next time....
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