The K-Zone Sports Blog

The NFL and Food Network Present: Home Cooking; featuring the Arizona Cardinals

2010-01-11T15:45:00.007-05:00

Leave it to the NFL to have one of the greatest playoff games in it's history partially ruined because of wonky rules and awful officiating. Baseball maybe; but not in the NFL, land of a thousand rules and infinite number of reviewable plays. Had this been a Week 17 game between the Rams and Redskins it would have been a little less egregious, but for a PLAYOFF game to end the way it did is completely unacceptable. Obviously my fan boy is showing, but I can't help but feel that this game will forever be stained because of a clear miss (misses?) on an official's part directly led to the end of a game.

Can't blame it all on the referees, in fact they'd be about 11th on my list of reasons the Packers lost, with Dom Capers being reasons 1 through 10. Throughout the game I was having periodic flashbacks to both games against the Vikings watching Green Bay drop 7 in zone coverage and bring 4 on the pass rush. Logic would seem to point to a 4 man rush against a 6 man line will favor the offense 100 out of 100 times. Kurt Warner is not the devil spawn of Michael Vick and Warren Moon so he's not going to burn you with his legs if you can get pressure and collapse the pocket. He can however laugh at you're soft zone coverage while he systematically dissects you if there is no one in his face.

Need proof? Think back to the 49ers game. Anyone think that San Fransisco's front 4 or defensive secondary is anywhere near as talented as the Packers'? No, didn't think so. The difference in why the Niners were so successful as opposed to the dismal Green Bay performance was pressure. San Fransisco brought heat throughout the game and forced Warner to rush throws, throw in to coverage, or simply throw the ball away. Pressure makes Warner turn the ball over, it's a proven fact throughout his career. No pressure on him equals him throwing more TD's than incompletions. But I digress, back to the scrubs wearing the stripes.

Home cooking happens, it's undeniable. Take this article from Yahoo! Sports for example; it's a different sport but the results are there. That's not to say there is some giant conspiracy to keep the Packers from winning the Super Bowl, but to see the number of calls that should have gone against the home team that were either completely overlooked or just wrong, it makes you wonder what is going on down on the field. Of course, there is no good argument without facts and/or substantial evidence. With that in mind I'm going to open up the NFL rule book for you and let you decide if I'm completely off base with my home cooking ideas.

Exhibit A: Larry Fitzgerald's touchdown catch in the 3rd quarter

There was a lot going on during this play, but for the sake of my argument let's look at how Mr. Fitzgerald got so wide open.

Under section labeled: Pass Interference

"Actions that constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to:

(a) Blocking downfield by an offensive player prior to the ball being touched.

(b) Initiating contact with a defender by shoving or pushing off thus creating a separation in an attempt to catch a pass.

(c) Driving through a defender who has established a position on the field."

Now, with that in mind, take a look at the touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald.

I don't know about you but I saw 2, if not all 3, of those criteria filled on that play. A couple of points on this play; 1) This was the second time in the game that Fitzgerald completely trucked Charles Woodson, and of course they both immediately lead to him scoring touchdowns. 2) If you watch the clip a second time, you can't see it but there is a flag thrown for roughing the passer on Cullen Jenkins. When Troy Aikman thinks the call is bogus, it's pretty safe to say that the call was nonsense. Keep that roughing call in mind as we move on to the plays everyone is talking about.

Exhibit B: The 2nd and 3rd down plays in overtime.

To really appreciate how awful the no calls on this drive were you should probably pause the video right after 2nd down/before 3rd down. In the interest of brevity, I'll take all of the garbage out at once. Again, here are the exact quotes from the NFL rule book concerning protecting the QB and how hands can be used.

Under section labeled: Protection of Passer:

- "No defensive player may run into a passer of a legal forward pass after the ball has left his hand (15 yards). The Referee must determine whether opponent had a reasonable chance to stop his momentum during an attempt to block the pass or tackle the passer while he still had the ball."

Under section labeled: Use of Hands, Arms, and Body:

- "Hands cannot be thrust forward above the frame to contact an opponent on the neck, face or head."

Under section labeled: Fouls on Last Play of Half or Game:

- "Fair catch interference, foul following change of possession, illegal touching. No score by offense counts."

Under the parameters of what constitutes at 15 yard penalty:

- "Twisting, turning, or pulling an opponent by the facemask."

And the best part...Under section: Officials' Jurisdiction, Positions, and Duties

- "Referee—General oversight and control of game. Gives signals for all fouls and is final authority for rule interpretations. Takes a position in backfield 10 to 12 yards behind line of scrimmage, favors right side (if quarterback is right-handed passer). Determines legality of snap, observes deep back(s) for legal motion...On pass plays, drops back as quarterback begins to fade back, picks up legality of blocks by near linemen. Changes to complete concentration on quarterback as defenders approach. Primarily responsible to rule on possible roughing action on passer and if ball becomes loose, rules whether ball is free on a fumble or dead on an incomplete pass."

And here we go...

Wow, just wow. Where to start...how about the series on 2nd down. Darren Colledge was flagged for a hold, and rightfully so, there's no disputing that. What is inexplicable is the referee, who according to the rule book is charged with observing the legality of blocks AND once the ball has been released to make sure the QB is not labeled, completely overlooks Bertrand Berry smashing Aaron Rodgers, A) in the helmet while leading with his own, and B) well after the ball had been released. Now call me crazy, but from the replays I saw the ref, as well as the near side linesman, had a clear line of sight to the QB's head snapping back. There was no one obstructing the referee's view to the Rodgers so either he wasn't doing his job, you know, watching the QB like he's supposed to, or he deemed the play to be legal (which it clearly wasn't). As it stood, the Packers were moved back inside their 10 yard line to replay 2nd down. What should have happened was offsetting penalities and a replay of the down from the 21.

3rd down gets a bit trickier. Let's get this out of the way quickly; the "tuck rule" has nothing to do with my officiating gripe here. Rodgers kicked the ball so it was never a question of incomplete, therefore the "tuck rule" is out the window. Michael Adams got to Aaron Rodgers and forced the ball loose to be recovered and run in for a touchdown by Karlos Dansby. However, without even watching a replay it was abundantly clear that Rodgers was hauled down by his face mask, a clear 15 yard penalty. The problem; the referee only did half of his job. It sounds like a broken record but his job is to watch for possession of the football AND watch for roughing calls. He was clearly too busy fumbling around for his stupid loose ball bean bag to pay attention to the QB (his charged assignment). Funny how that can be overlooked while Cullen Jenkins gets blocked in to Kurt Warner and the flag can't come out quick enough. As the possession had already changed when the (non) foul occured, Arizona would have kept the ball but as the NFL rule book states, the touchdown would not have counted and a 15 yard penalty would have been assessed. That's not to say the Cardinals would or wouldn't have scored on the drive; that's not the point. Green Bay was not given an equal shake from the officials on a huge stage. Sure, if Rodgers hadn't overthrown a wide open Greg Jennings on the first play of overtime this wouldn't be an issue. But that doesn't make it right for officials to clear blow multiple calls in favor of the home team.

Anything you'd like to add as a closing argument, Coach Lombardi?

Good question.

Alabama wins the National Title. Let my insufferable gloating begin!

2010-01-08T00:57:00.002-05:00

I'll just leave these here...

From 10/5/2009

2) Alabama should be #2, or possibly #1, in the country: Ah, the unpopular practice of moving an unbeaten team down in rankings. Always an exercise that brings about an enormous amount of hate and conference favoritism accusations from hateful, conference elitists. Well, too bad, it needs to be done to properly recognize the Crimson Tide's success this season. And just so I'm not going to be accused of playing favorites towards the SEC and hating on the Big 12, I am all for putting 'Bama above both Florida and Texas at this point.

The reason for the change at the top: Why not? Realistically, the top 3 teams in the country are totally interchangeable at this point and an argument could be made for each team to be at the top of the polls. However, I don't know how you like your elite tier football programs, but I like to see them go outside of conference and play somebody of value. So far, Alabama is the only one to fulfill this criteria by taking on top 10 Virginia Tech, and as their season opener no less. Yes, they followed that game up with North Texas and FIU, but that one game against a opponent of worth puts the Tide one game ahead of both the Gators and the 'Horns. A definitive win over Ole Miss this weekend and anything less than a #2 ranking would be grounds for an NCAA investigation into their pollsters.

Just a heads up, I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Alabama got more first place votes (5) in the AP poll this week than Texas (1), so send the hate mail elsewhere.

From 10/14/2009

- Alabama will play Florida for the SEC title and straight up dominate.

7) Finally, justice for the Crimson Tide: Sure, they only moved up to #2 in the polls, but it's progress. Obviously they weren't going to leapfrog Florida after they beat LSU, but at least the voters finally realized that Alabama beating a decent, yet highly overrated, Ole Miss team is far more important than Texas destroying Colorado and their nepotism driven offense. If Texas beat Oklahoma this weekend, more than likely they'll retake the number 2 spot, but they probably shouldn't. That would be their first "good" win of the season, and it's really not all that impressive now that the Sooners have 2 losses.

In reality, the polls will mean absolutely nothing until the SEC title game happens. If Florida and Alabama meet up in that game, it's not really going to matter who is #1 at that point. The winner of that game will be the number 1 team, the loser will drop to around 4th or 5th, and Texas will be number 2, barring a loss at some point. So Longhorns fans, relax about being dropped in the polls. It's really not that big a deal right now, especially with Oklahoma and their conquering hero Sam Bradford coming to town this week.

From 10/19/2009

1) The NCAA hates Nick Saban: I can't think of any other reason for the continued disrespect of this incredible team. Florida is gift wrapped a win thanks to homer calls from incompetent SEC referees (to be discussed later), Texas looks flat and uninspired against a deflated Oklahoma team, USC takes a page out of the Minnesota Vikings playbook and gives up in the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech loses to a team without an passing game, and Miami looks less than impressive against a terrible UCF team. Meanwhile, in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide absolutely dismantle a South Carolina team that is better than most people think, and it is largely glossed over.

Why? You've got me.

Need proof that the BCS is either horribly flawed, or a total joke; Florida has beaten one ranked team and is nearly .040 percentage points ahead of Alabama, a team with 3 ranked wins in 7 games. The only thing keeping me from jumping into the "total joke" camp is the fact that there is no other team within .060 percentage points of either of these teams. Clearly Florida and Alabama are the best two teams in the country, but the problem is they're no longer interchangeable as most people believe. At this point in the season, Alabama is without question the number one team in the nation. Get that "their the champs until someone beats them" argument out of here. This isn't boxing, it's college football. New year, new teams, new number 1. The Tide have better wins and have looked better in their wins, simple as that.

Watching Alabama play, I keep having this thought that they are a Big 10 team trapped in the SEC. Not a bad thing, just a stylistic observation. Looking at the SEC, the top teams usually step on the field with a high octane offense and an athletic defense that can fly around the field an threaten a pick-six on every throw. Alabama is a different kind of monster in the SEC. Yes, they can punish you for making a bad throw, but it's usually the result of their front seven being dominant to a point where the offense has to try and force passes down field. No one will ever accuse the Tide's offense of being explosive, but make no mistake, they have playmakers everywhere and can put up some serious points.

The problem with Top 25 pollsters is that often times they get blown away by statistics and don't really take into consideration how games play out. Alabama beat South Carolina 20-6, and that's about the extent of knowledge a pollster needs when making up their Top 25. Sure, I have absolutely no proof of this, but it's the only logical conclusion I can make when the polls continue to have the Gators at #1. The score of the game was 20-6, but really that game was nowhere near as close as the score indicates. Alabama totally dominated the Gamecocks on both sides of the ball, but apparently that has little or no bearing on their ranking. Florida gets soundly outplayed by a brutal Arkansas team, but holds on to their top spot because "a win is a win".

Final score doesn't mean everything. When voters figure that out, I can stop wasting time complaining about the best team in a conference sitting behind the second best team in the national polls.

2) OK, one more point on Alabama...: Mark Ingram is a freak. The big questions going into this season were if Alabama would be able to replace John Parker Wilson at QB, and if losing Glen Coffee would allow defenses to key in on the new play caller. Well, so far they've answered with a "kinda" and "not at all". Nothing helps a new QB get his bearings than having the option to hand the ball off to a stud running back and piggy-back a passing attack off him. That is exactly what Ingram was brought to Alabama this season. Not only has he opened up the passing game for the Tide by forcing teams to stack the box to stop him, he has the ability to beat an 8 man front and break away if he gets the edge. 245 yards against a Steve Spurrier defense should be a red flag for every team that they need to know where Ingram is at all times. With most of the top Heisman candidates floundering, this sophomore might just sneak up and steal it away if he keeps playing like he has.

Lucky for everyone I started redesigning the site almost immediately after Alabama made the National Title game (after straight up dominating Florida!) so my gloating was kept to a minimum. Texas played great after losing their heart and soul on the first drive, but the Tide showed why I was so high on them all season. Punishing run game led by Heisman winner Mark Ingram, stifling defense at all levels, and they refused to give the Longhorns' backup QB any room to breathe or get comfortable (until the 2nd half). For as bad as Nick Saban tried to conservative the game away, Alabama had their way with Texas whenever they actually had their foot on the gas.

A few words of warning though; the amount of hype Alabama is going to get for a repeat National Championship this off-season is going to challenge this year's Florida Gators for the most insufferable of all time. It's not exactly without merit, it's just going to be completely unbearable.

Construction Zone: Disaster in Progress

2010-01-07T18:24:00.006-05:00

(Ok, you get the idea)

Apologies for the absence. I've been attempting a redesign for the page and so far DreamWeaver has owned my soul, thus the lack of content. I should be back sometime after the National Championship game, hopefully to gloat and repost all my "Alabama is the best team" posts. In the meantime, please accept the musical mastery of Skratch Bastid.

The problem with the Heisman Trophy

2009-12-14T14:46:00.005-05:00

First off, congratulations to Mark Ingram on his Heisman victory. The award was well earned and despite my personal feeling about who should have won, I can't bring myself to be too upset about him winning. Ingram proved to be an absolute monster for the best team in the country all season (as I said all year) and his speech showed just how important and special taking home the Heisman was to him. However, the voting for this year's award proved that there are some serious problems with both the actual voting process, and how voters fail to acknowledge the actual spirit of the award.

According to the Heisman Trust mission statement, "The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity". It's not the full quote for brevity's sake, but nowhere in the statement is there a mention of the award winning player must play for a top ranked or dominant team. When I fail to find that concept anywhere in mission statement it makes me wonder where that ridiculous concept came from and why voters have that idea in their heads. "Outstanding college football player" means exactly that, outstanding player; not the best player on the best team. A head to head comparison of the two invited running backs shows that Toby Gerhart's numbers absolutely dwarfed Ingram's. Even the inexplicably uninvited C.J. Spiller had more TD's than Ingram. Unfortunately, it's abundantly clear that voters are focused more on a combination of team wins and total stats, as opposed to only individual stats as is stated in the mission statement. What else can explain Tim Tebow being invited over a Spiller, Case Keenum, Kellen Moore, or Jimmy Clausen? Each of these players had better, more consistent seasons as individuals but were punished because of the less than stellar performance of their complimentary parts. (Clausen-porous defense, Keenum-"gimmick" offense, Spiller-everyone else around him was mediocre, Moore-...I dunno, people hate Boise State?) I know why Tebow was invited, and it's another serious problem with the Heisman voting; career achievements considered for a single season award.

Read the mission statement for yourself, here's the link. I defy you to find a line anywhere in the statement that says that a player's career accomplishments are to be factored in when voting for the present season's Heisman Trophy. Don't strain yourself looking too hard for that part, because it's not there. It's unquestionably a factor in voters' minds, but that doesn't make it right. Tim Tebow was a complete ghost in several games this season, but because of a few stat padding games early and his image as the Second Coming, he got a ticket to New York. Concussion or not, Tebow's stats took a serious nosedive from previous seasons. Add in the fact that he wasn't even the most outstanding "player" on his team (the defense was the best "player") and you've got a head-scratcher. Obviously the voters realized as much since Tebow only received 390 total votes (43 1st place votes is a complete joke though). It would also explain why Ndamukong Suh finished over 300 votes behind Colt McCoy, even after Suh made the Texas QB his personal tackling dummy in the last game of the season. I'm not hating on McCoy by any means; in fact, he was my preseason pick to win the Heisman. What I am saying is that Suh made McCoy and Texas look as bad as every other team he has faced this season, while Colt only showed up in 1 of 3 big games this season (non-existent against Oklahoma and Nebraska). But how can Ndamukong Suh ragdoll McCoy and still end up significantly behind him in the voting? Easy, it's because he plays defense.

I probably should have said just to leave the Heisman website open, because I'm going to reference it again. We've reached a point where this award is given to either the best quarterback or running back in college football without fail. That's it, no exceptions. Despite being an absolute defensive freak, capable of shutting down even one of the best offensive players and his team, (you know, that McCoy guy that finished ahead of him in the voting) Ndamukong Suh had no chance to win the Heisman. Yes, he was invited to the ceremony in New York, but we all know his presence there was simply posturing by the Heisman trust to keep the state of Nebraska from seceding from the U.S. Heaven forbid a player who can keep a Heisman favorite from doing anything by shedding double teams and tossing him around have a equal chance to win as an offensive player who is surrounded by other superstars to pad his stats. Whoever said "defense wins championships" clearly doesn't vote for the Heisman Trophy.

Huh, guess I was wrong in saying I couldn't get too upset by Ingram winning.

The resemblance is uncanny....

2009-12-13T02:38:00.001-05:00

-Miguel Cotto post-Antonio Margarito beating

-Diego Sanchez post-B.J. Penn's first attempt at neurosurgery

Probably not a coincidence that both fights were lopsided beatings either.

TUF 10 Finale Recap: Kimbo has arrived!....sort of.....actually, not really

2009-12-07T23:04:00.006-05:00

(Somehow, this 4 minutes makes me feel slightly better about losing 15 minutes of my life watching this fight live)

Is it the new year yet, because my prediction percentage has been in a tailspin as the end of the year gets closer and closer. Thanks to Houston "Kalib Starnes" Alexander and legitimate disqualification of Jon Jones because of a ridiculous rule, I suffered yet another losing card (4-6, 2-3 main card).

Where I was right

- Hey, I may be riding a failboat like I'm trying to qualify for the America's Cup, but when I nail a fight prediction, I absolutely nail it. Roy Nelson is quickly becoming one of my favorite fighters, not only because he has some serious game that no one seems to want to acknowledge because of his appearance, but also because I know how much it upsets Dana White that he has a UFC contract now. It wasn't exactly how I thought it would happen but "Big Country" planted Brendan Schaub with a right hand late in the 1st round. While Rogan and Goldberg were jumping out of their skin to praise "The Hybrid" (hmmm, I wonder if he got the nickname because he has a minotaur painting in his house like A-Rod) for scoring with jabs and a few sloppy hooks against the cage, Nelson was able to overcome Schaub's scramble out of his early takedown and land a perfect shot behind the ear to end the night. Sure, I called a TKO, but I'm giving myself the benefit of the doubt because I added the trademark belly rub. If only I could have been somewhere near Dana White when he saw that display on top of the cage. No doubt some obscenities were flying when that happened.

- Despite looking like they were in two different weight classes, Frankie Edgar pretty much dominated Matt Veach until he secured a rear naked choke in the second round. Veach earned a few style points with some flashy slams, but he was unable to keep Edgar down once the fight hit the floor. When the fight was on the feet it was very clear Veach wanted absolutely nothing to do with his adversary's striking. I would have been interested in seeing the judges' scorecards for round 1 because while the slams were very impressive, Edgar picked apart on the feet to a point where I think there was no way you could make a case for Veach winning the round. The second round left no doubts who the superior fighter was as Edgar worked his stand up early, scored a takedown against the cage, quickly moved to mount, and finished when Veach rolled and gave up his neck. For a man who needed an impressive victory to get his name in the conversation for a lightweight title shot, Edgar did exactly what had to make a case. 1 or 2 more wins against good opponents and "The Answer" should be given a chance at the title.

- Mark Bocek won, but that's not surprising considering he was a monster favorite to win. What was surprising (apparently, because I haven't seen the fight) though was John Howard's final seconds hail-Mary knockout of Dennis Hallman. After losing the first 2 rounds (according to most Internet play-by-play sites), "Doomsday" labeled a gassed out Hallman on the feet and followed up on the floor to earn the win.

Where I was wrong

- If I would have said before this event that Kimbo-Houston Alexander would be the worst fight on the card, I might have slapped myself for being stupid. However, that's exactly what this fight was. Houston Alexander spent the 1st round circling the cage and landing leg kicks on Kimbo, that's it. In the second he was slammed to canvas, had his back taken, and was nearly choked out. In all seriousness, if that had been anyone other than Kimbo Slice attempting that rear naked choke, the fight was over. I've literally rolled less than 10 times in my life and even I know how to properly apply that choke. However, just knowledge of how to apply the choke isn't enough; you have to be able to feel when it is available. Clearly, Kimbo is not at that point yet. The third round of the fight was just tragic as both fighters, visibly gassed, struggled to gather the energy to even attempt a meaningful strike. Funny thing is, as bad as Houston looked with his running around and leg kick heavy gameplan, I still scored the fight for him! Sorry Kimbo, the onus isn't just on the other fighter to bring the fight. Seeing as Houston was circling exclusively to his right in the 1st round, if he would have stepped to his left to cut the ring off and threw a left hook, the fight probably would have been over quickly.

Honestly, I saw no way Kimbo could have won that fight, especially not 30-27 like one judge had it. Even if you scored the second round 10-8 (which is completely ridiculous because it wasn't 5 minutes of domination) the fight should have been scored a 28-28 draw. Kimbo did literally nothing in the first round while Alexander landed meaningful strikes (yes, leg kicks are meaningful strikes Cecil Peoples). 10-9 Alexander. No need to analyze the second because it was clearly Kimbo's, just not to a 10-8 level. The third was close but Kimbo got dropped with a leg kick and got the worst of every pathetic exchange from that point forward. 10-9 Alexander. Much to my own detriment (because I look stupid when I make claims to my friends that there is no way Kimbo wins before and after the fight) I have way too much faith in judges to score fights properly. I can't get too fired up about this blown decision because both fighters looked absolutely terrible and will have no tangible effect on either the heavyweight or light-heavyweight divisions. Even though it's very clear that Kimbo will be can-fed in the immediate future, he will never come close to being a contender, or even a decent gatekeeper. Yeah he tossed Houston around, but he is also a weight class below Kimbo. He has absolutely no chance to do that to a Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Brock Lesnar (unless he really has lost 50 pounds, and even then it doesn't happen), or pretty much any other fighter that isn't a complete jobber. What's disturbing is we're not too far away from having Kimbo on the main card of a PPV event. Think about that, paying to watch Kimbo Slice while the likes of Joe Lauzon, Martin Kampmann, Sean Sherk are placed on the undercard. *Shudders at the thought*

- Matt Hamill "earned" a "win" over Jon Jones because of a disqualification due to illegal 12 to 6 elbows thrown from the mount. The words earned and win are in quotes because Hamill won the fight despite getting completely mauled and having his face torn off the entire fight. Anyone who watched that fight knows who won, and it wasn't even close. Jon Jones lost that fight like Fedor Emelianenko lost his first fight with Tsuyoshi Kosaka, he lost by a complete fluke. Yes, the 12 to 6 elbows are an illegal blow, but the rule is beyond stupid. Not exaggerating one bit, if he would have slightly arched the strikes so that they weren't directly ceiling to floor, the elbows would have been legal. Apparently a 1 degree off vertical elbow is infinitely less devastating than a 12-6 elbow. Jones is appealing the decision with the NSAC but there is little to no chance the DQ gets overturned to a no contest. If ever there was a moral victory in the sport of MMA, Jon Jones earned one against Matt Hamill. This guy is legit and at 22, he's only going to improve.

- Matt Mitrione knocked out Marcus Jones early in the second round. The term "glass jaw" gets used far too frequently when discussing MMA, but in Jones' case, he has a glass jaw. Mitrione was clearly gassed and he was able to turn out the lights with what basically amounted to a back peddling jab. It never ceases to amaze me how fighters can completely forget what they're best at, do the exact opposite of whatever that skill might be, and lose because of that decision (Jorge Gurgel immediately springs to mind).

- I still suck at picking undercard fights. In other news, the sun will rise tomorrow morning.

TUF 10 Finale: Breakdown and Picks

2009-12-04T22:04:00.000-05:00

Main Card Bouts

Roy Nelson (-250) vs. Brendan Schaub (+190)

Breakdown: After a long and brutal season (on the eyes of the viewers mostly), it's down to two fighters to decide who will win the Ultimate Fighter contract. The former heavyweight champion of the IFL (no, not Ben Rothwell, Rogan and Goldberg) takes on former NFL player and current member of Greg Jackson's camp, Brendan Schaub. If you go just by the performances on the show, this match up would appear to be extremely close. However, a closer inspection of both fighters widens the gap, and significantly. While Schaub had to press somewhat hard to make the finals, Nelson appeared to try and coast to finals in the most Dana White infuriating way possible. Kick and scream as much as you want about how Nelson wasn't impressive Mr. White, but there's a reason he may not have blown you away; he didn't try to. Nelson was so much better than every other member of the cast this season, that he was able to make it through his fights taking minimal damage while still flexing a serious ground game. Make no mistake, Nelson has a stand up game; just ask Brad Imes. But what provides a better opportunity to make through 3 fights in 8 weeks: standing and banging with your opponent, or use your superior ground game to make people look helpless when getting put in a crucifix and TKO'd? If Marcus Jones and his fledgling ground game was able to score a takedown and work his way to mount on Schaub, Nelson will more than likely hustle him on the ground even worse.

Pick: If the analysis was completely one sided, it's because it was, just like how I see this match playing out. Schaub has some things going for him (decent hands, good cardio)and could be dangerous in time. But pardon me for not having much faith in a guy who waxed a few scrubs in regional promotions and on TUF against a guy who has faced some of the best heavyweights on the planet. Don't let Nelson's appearance fool you, the man has some serious game, and he will prove it on Saturday. "Big Country" will win, the only debatable part is how he wins. Just out of desire to see the look on Dana White's face, I'll go the route of he locks up the crucifix and pounds Schaub out early. Roy Nelson by TKO and belly rub - Round 1

Matt Hamill (+250) vs. Jon Jones (-325)

Breakdown: Light-heavyweights take the stage when another former TUF contestant, Matt Hamill, takes on rising, 21 year old prospect training out of Cortland, New York. Hamill is coming off back-to-back stoppage victories including a vicious head kick knockout of Mark Munoz at UFC 96, while "Bones" Jones is undefeated at 9-and-0. Despite being only 21, Jon Jones brings some of the most unusual and electrifying striking to table, along with his impressive Greco-Roman wrestling background. What will likely be the deciding factor in this fight will be Hamill's ability to get inside, clinch up, and attempt to get Jones to the ground. "The Hammer" earned some stoppages with strikes, but his stand up is still very elementary. Plus, his bread and butter is working top control using his wrestling base. Not that Hamill is a complete bum in the stand up, he's just completely over matched by a bigger, longer, and more talented striker. When I say Jones is a big LHW, I mean he's a BIG LHW, standing a lanky 6'4. Against Stephan Bonnar, who is big LHW in his own right, he looked small against "Bones". Oh, and he got completely ragdolled with suplexes and spinning elbows for 15 minutes in a lopsided decision. If Jones can use his length, speed, bizarre strikes, and wrestling in reverse, he could make this one look like sparring practice.

Pick: Don't let the line on this one fool you, it's a lot closer than the 3 to 1 odds suggest. We've only seen one fighter in the UFC shoot a takedown on Jon Jones, and he dove right in to a fight ending guillotine choke. Hamill's a strong guy and I expect him to plant Jones on his back a couple times over the course of the fight. The interesting thing will be if Jones' cardio holds up and if he can do enough damage on the feet to still win rounds despite being taken down. If Hamill can get inside, this fight has a chance to be close. If not, it will be a "Bones" Jones blowout. Look for something in the middle of those two scenarios, with Jones improving to 10-and-0. Jon Jones by unanimous decision

Frankie Edgar (-650) vs. Matt Veach (+450)

Breakdown: A late replacement for the injured Kurt Pellegrino, Veach takes on the man charge with providing New Jersey with something to be proud of after MTV's "Jersey Shore" set the entire state back 5-10 years. Veach is 11-and-0, but he probably in over his head against "The Answer" in this fight. Edgar has amassed 5 wins in the UFC, including victories over top lightweights Tyson Griffin, Sean Sherk, Hermes Franca, and Spencer Fisher. His only loss came at the hands of the unbeaten Gray Maynard, who is widely considered to be the next challenger for the lightweight title after Diego Sanchez. As we saw in the Sherk fight, Edgar's striking has become very polished, which compliments his wrestling ability nicely. Veach has stopped 10 of his 11 fights (4 (T)KO, 6 subs), but it's hard to imagine him being able to stop "The Answer" where Franca, Griffin, and others have failed.

Pick: Considering how close Frankie Edgar is to a title shot, or at least should be, don't expect a letdown from the Jersey native. "The Answer" will use his superior striking to keep Veach at a distance and stave off the takedown attempts. Don't look for Veach to take his first loss without putting up a fight, but when the final horn sounds, he will have a crooked number in his loss column. Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision

Houston Alexander (-340) vs. Kimbo Slice (+260)

Breakdown: You've got to give it to the UFC front office, when they know they have something that can make them money, they know how to milk it to it's fullest. Such is the case of the man who was knocked out with a backpedaling jab by Seth Petruzelli and crucified on TUF by Roy Nelson, the YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice. So, Kimbo gets schooled on the mat on TUF, how can they possibly get any use out of a guy who is a fish out of water when his opponent won't stand in front of him and brawl. I know, let's stick him against a guy with an equal non-existent ground game who will stand in front of him and brawl. What's Houston Alexander doing?

There's not many certainties in life, but one thing is for certain in this fight; it's not going to the ground unless one fighter is in a lessened state of consciousness. Kimbo sucks on the ground, and so does Houston. Kimbo has serviceable stand up (it's not good from a technical standpoint) and Houston actually has good muay thai skills, until he gasses out of course. What separates these two, besides the presence of quality MMA wins, is punching power. For some reason, because Kimbo brutalized some people in backyards and boat yards, made Bo CANtrell (see what I did there) tap to strikes, KO'd 40+ brawler Tank Abbott, and got a BS standing KO of James Thompson, he has dynamite in his gloves. Sorry folks, I'm going to play Mythbuster on this one. If it takes a godawful referee stoppage for you to "KO" James Thompson, you either A) have overrated power, B) lack the technique to throw a proper power shot, or both. The correct answer is "both". Kimbo does not use his legs or hips when he throws punches; his punches are almost exclusively arm punches. Unless you have explosive power, which Kimbo really doesn't, arm punches aren't going to cut it against strikers who have proper technique and possess real power (Alexander).

Pick: I love a good freak show, and this one will be good while it lasts. Houston's chin isn't exactly granite, so if he gets sloppy, he may get clipped and put to sleep. However, considering the leg issues that Kimbo was shown to have on TUF and Houston's affinity for throwing leg kicks (Sherman Pedergarst - TKO (leg kicks and punches)), K-Ferg might be in for a short night. A few good leg kicks cause Kimbo to drop his hands just long enough for "The Assassin" to land the kill shot very early. Hey, you can't say the UFC didn't try to find Kimbo a good match up. Houston Alexander by KO - Round 1

Marcus Jones (-340) vs. Matt Mitrione (+260)

Breakdown: Here's what I see:

Marcus Jones subbed a UFC veteran and KO'd a unbeaten prospect on TUF.
Matt Mitrione gassed in 2 minutes against a UFC vet and won the trainwreck fight before diving into a guillotine against a 3-4 fighter with no ground game.

Who do you think wins?

Pick: If Marcus keeps his chin tucked for 2-3 minutes in the first round, I'd say he's safe in this one. "Big Baby" scores a takedown then proceeds to hustle Mitrione until he snatches up whichever arm is available. Marcus Jones by submission (armbar) - Round 1

Undercard Bouts

Justin Wren vs. Jon Madsen - Justin Wren by unanimous decision
Darrill Schoonover vs. James McSweeney - Darrill Schoonover by submission (RNC) - Round 2
John Howard vs. Dennis Hallman - John Howard by TKO - Round 3
Brian Stann vs. Rodney Wallace - Rodney Wallace by superior nickname (Sho Nuff the Master) and TKO - Round 2
Mark Bocek vs. Joe Brammer - Mark Bocek by unanimous decision

Jesper Parnevik is a tool

2009-12-03T18:12:00.007-05:00

(Ed. note: I usually try to avoid bold-face hate posts because they usually show a complete lack of knowledge, objectivity, and basic use of tact. However, when something as idiotic as Parnevik's comments presents itself, I'm willing to bend a bit.)

Define "tool".

Tool: (adjective) A person, typically male, who says or does things that cause you to give them a 'what-are-you-even-doing-here' look. The 'what-are-you-even-doing-here' look is classified by a glare in the tool's direction and is usually accompanied by muttering of how big of a tool they are. The tool is usually someone who is unwelcome but no one has the balls to tell them to get lost. The tool is always making comments that are out-of-place, out-of-line or just plain stupid. The tool is always trying too hard to fit in, and because of this, never will.

(courtesy of Urban Dictionary)

Yeah, I think that's pretty fitting for Mr. Parnevik.

I'm sure by now you've all heard the comments the irrelevant golfer had about Tiger Woods' indiscretions in his personal life. Apparently, because he introduced Woods' to Elin and he once employed her as his child's nanny, he has the moral authority to make obnoxious comments about the situation. Obviously the comments were solicited by a reporter, but for him to operate without any type of verbal filter is just plain stupid.

Since the moment police came out and announced there wouldn't be any charges in the Tiger Woods case other than a traffic ticket, I've been done with this story. Nothing that happens from that point forward could affect his golf game, at least nothing that could be proven, and therefore should not be reported on by sports outlets. However, ESPN and other sports reporting sites have gone from specializing in sports, to gossip outlets reminiscent of the E! Network. What separates this story from something like the Kobe Bryant situation a few years back is possibility of the situation actually affecting his game. Bryant's legal situation could have sidelined him from the sport, making it a story worth reporting for the sports media. Is Tiger going to be kept out of golf because he cheated on his wife? No, so all the family troubles have nothing to do with sports. Therefore, keep that trash off ESPN.

Anyway, back to Parnevik. Okay, so because Tiger cheated on his former nanny, he thinks it's right to talk about things he has actually has no clue about and make a "funny" comment about Elin hitting him with a "driver, instead of a 3-iron"? Guess what, it's not, and he comes off as a huge tool because of it. Despite all the information that has come out about this situation, we still don't, and probably never will, know the whole story. What truly happened in that relationship is between Tiger, Elin, the alleged other women, and God. Unless Parnevik has delusions that he is God, he should shut up. Just because he introduced the two to each other doesn't give him free range to make comments about things he donesn't know all the facts about. As for the domestic violence "joke", pardon me if I don't laugh at that. Hey I know, one the things I think I know about what happened was that she hit him...how about I make a joke about it. Yeah, that will make a great sound byte. Hilarious Jesper, especially because she did it to him, and not the other way around. Wife on husband or husband on wife, it doesn't matter; domestic violence isn't funny and shouldn't be treated as such in any situation. Would he have been laughing and making jokes if it was reported that Tiger hit Elin and not the other way around? You get one guess.

I've avoided writing about this whole situation simply because I don't believe it has any place in the sports media anymore. But when someone make stupid comments like Parnevik, it warrants a bit of a reprimand. What Tiger did was wrong, but what Jesper said about the situation wasn't any better. Anthony Kim had the right idea when he more or less said that the situation was between Tiger and his wife, and should be left as such.

But then again, Anthony Kim isn't a tool.

B-Hop wins a decision in Philly; David Carradine's twin brother confuses everyone

2009-12-02T22:27:00.003-05:00

Well, I guess the boxing gods figured one upset was good enough for today. After Danny Green plugged Roy Jones Jr. in the 1st round down in Australia, back stateside Bernard Hopkins took a well earned unanimous decision over Enrique Ornelas. Nothing really spectacular to speak of in this fight, probably because even at the age of 44, Hopkins was just on a different level than his much younger adversary. The opening rounds were typical Hopkins rounds as he started a bit slow, but around the 4th, he began to time Ornelas started dominating. There were flashes from Ornelas, but for every big shot he landed, Hopkins was landing 5 or 6 of his own. By the time the 12th round started, Ornelas was in desperation mode which nearly got him finished himself. Had there been another 10 to 15 seconds in fight, the ref very well may have stopped it.

However, as entertaining as the fight was, the best part of the broadcast happened before Hopkins even entered the ring. While Hopkins stood in the entrance tunnel, minus his trademark executioner mask (potentially to erase doubts about his knowledge of gay culture), the in-ring announcer proceeded to indulge in one of the most bizarre fighter introductions ever. Until a video surfaces (which will be swiftly posted here), I'll do my best to paint the ridiculous scene. After an unusual statement of "we can all take a page out his book (???)", the announcer, who looked suspiciously like the late Kung Fu star David Carradine, proceeded to give a Cliff Notes version of Hopkins' boxing career story. The kicker of the whole thing was the idiotic statement "if Frank Sinatra were standing here, he'd be singing My Way" in reference (I think) to Hopkins doing things his way his entire career. Wish I could confirm that, but it was so far beyond stupid I really have no idea what to make of it. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate for the Kill Bill stunt double to say "If Frank Sinatra WAS ALIVE and standing here, he'd be singing I'll Be Around because Hopkins will be boxing until we have to wheel him to the ring" or some other nonsensical diatribe. Realistically, what I just wrote makes a lot more sense than what was actually said.

Anyway, I digress back to actual boxing talk. With only half of the Hopkins-RJJ rematch participants fulfilling their obligations, now the future for both boxers is up in the air. Roy Jones Jr. commented that he may retire after being stopped by Danny Green, and that might be the best option if the Hopkins fight is out of the picture now. If for some reason HBO decides to proceed with the rematch, all power to RJJ if he wants to go for it. It's not like he was systematically destroyed for 36 minutes because his mechanics and reflexes don't allow him to keep up with anyone now. He got cocky (shocking), let his left hand hang too low, and got caught with a punch behind the ear which he never recovered from. There is something to be said for how he seemed resigned to hang on the ropes and wait out a stoppage, but Hopkins isn't the type of fighter who will come out and just put it on Roy Jones Jr.

As for Hopkins, there's a bunch of good match ups for him other than RJJ. For some reason, Hopkins has floated the idea of moving way up in weight to fight the newly crowned WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. The obvious question would be "why", followed closely by "how". At this point in his career, would Hopkins even have the physical capabilities to simply make cruiserweight, let alone heavyweight, and not get absolutely launched in to orbit by the 29 year old Haye? This is probably a pipe dream from Hopkins; a more likely opponent would be "Bad" Chad Dawson sometime in the first quarter of 2010. Dawson is coming off a lopsided unanimous decision win over Glen Johnson to claim the vacant WBO light-heavyweight title. This wouldn't be the ratings monster RJJ-Hopkins would be, but it would be the better fight if Hopkins still wants to keep defying father time by challenging younger fighters.

GAME ON: Pacquiao-Mayweather nearly final UPDATED

2009-12-02T17:57:00.002-05:00

K-Zone Sports Scoreboard: Optimism-1, Skepticism-0

Just one day after I wrote about the two best boxers in the world preparing to sign on for tune up fights and how I hold fast in my belief that Pacquiao-Mayweather won't happen now, or ever, my skepticism was deemed unfounded. Yahoo! Sports boxing/MMA writer Kevin Iole broke the news that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is on a flight to Manila, Philippines in an effort to finalize bout agreements with Manny Pacquiao. Floyd Mayweather has already agree to terms on the bout so the only thing standing in the way of the top 2 pound-for-pound boxers meeting on March 13th is Pacquiao.

A couple things...

- Wow, who would have guessed that Mayweather's side would be the first to sign the bout agreement? Notoriously stubborn in bout negotiations, Mayweather may genuinely be concerned with proving his all-time greatness over lining his pockets. If that's the case, we should look forward to the best "Pretty Boy" we've ever seen, which is scary to think about.

- It sucks that I have to go skeptical again and bring this up, but everyone should temper their excitement just a bit. Although the bout is nearly final, as of right now it's just that, nearly final. There is no guarantee Pacquiao will sign the bout agreement for March, largely because of his decision to run for Congress in the Philippines. If he is serious about running for office, it may be better for Pacquiao, Mayweather, and the fans, for the fight is postponed until later in 2010. Why would I say this? It's actually pretty simple; if "Pacman" is running for Congress, would anyone really expect that he would be able to run a successful campaign AND participate in a proper training camp for Floyd Mayweather? Unless he plans on assembling the greatest political team ever, it's unlikely he could balance the two. The allure of the fight is the two best boxers today giving it the best effort of their respective careers to prove who is truly #1. Anything less than total focus on the fight from either fighter isn't fair to all parties involved.

- This is it for boxing. This is the brass ring for the foreseeable future. Now that the carrot has been dangled in front of the fans, anything less than making this fight happen will be the final nail in the coffin for boxing as a major draw in America. Sure, there will always be fans ready to dish out money for good fights simply because they love the sport, but if there is any hope of pulling in the 18 to 35 demographic that has begun migrating to MMA, Pacquiao-Mayweather is the only fight that has enough mainstream appeal to draw in casual fans. If this fight falls through, it may be impossible to stop people from permenantly moving on to a sport that consistently gives fans the fights they are clamoring for.

Updates as more details emerge. Fingers crossed......

***UPDATE***: I didn't want to be the "I told you so" guy when I said that everyone should relax about this fight but...I told you so. Bad Left Hook has a link to a website in the Philippines that is reporting Manny Pacquiao does not want to fight on March 13th, or the fall back date of May 1st, preferring to have his next fight in September. This is a major bummer, but like I wrote above, it could be for the best. A fully focused Pacquiao in September will be far more prepared than a politically distracted one in March or May. This should make for some fun rhetoric from Mayweather's camp. *Anxiously awaits flood of "Pacquiao is scared/ducking" claims from "Pretty Boy" fans/trainers*

***UPDATE #2***: Unleash the "Pacquiao is ducking" hordes! According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, trainer Freddie Roach believes that his fighter deserves a 60-40 split of the fight purse because he is "the bigger draw". Awesome, just when you thought the fight negotiations were good to well for it to be true, they were. This will be a major sticking point if Roach and Team Pacquiao are unwilling to come off their demands. If anyone thinks that Floyd Mayweather is going to accept 40% of the fight purse, they're out of their mind. It almost unfathomable that Pacquiao would more difficult to negotiate with than Mayweather, but up to this point, that's exactly what has happened.

Wednesday Live Chat

2009-12-02T14:36:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Live Chat

Keith Ballard - Most Confused Man in Sports

2009-12-01T17:02:00.004-05:00

The Florida Panthers are finally relevant in the sports world, but it's for all the wrong reasons. Dubbed by ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose as one of the dumbest things he's ever seen in the game of hockey, Keith Ballard's physical expression of frustration after allowing a goal took it's toll on his goaltender, Tomas Vokoun. After Atlanta Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk potted a breakaway goal to give his team a 2-0 lead, Ballard attempted to do what we've seen countless players do in the past by smashing his stick on the crossbar. Problem is, he failed horribly and ended up injuring his goalie. The video shows Ballard giving a Prince Fielder effort with his swing which totally missed the post and drilled Vokoun in the head, sending him to the hospital.

Why do I say he's confused? Easy; he clearly forgot who he plays for and who he was for a moment and became a poor man's Marty McSorely. Ballard, who is hero to myself and numerous other hockey fans for putting a well deserved beatdown on resident NHL crybaby Sidney Crosby, will now forever live as the man who samurai chopped his own goaltender. He doesn't have a reputation as a dirty player and is one of the better two way defensemen in the NHL, so to see him do this is rather troubling. What is possibly even more troubling is how many unnecessarily dirty plays and devastating injuries have occurred this season.

While Ballard was leveling his teammate, Alex Ovechkin was adding to his ejection total by laying a knee-on-knee hit on Carolina's Tim Gleason. Those two incidents are coming on the heels of George Laraque kneeing Nikalas Kronwall to injured reserve for 8 weeks, Ovechkin earning an ejection for boarding Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta (which really wasn't in my mind, but my view doesn't hold water against the NHL's), and Kaleta getting ejected in kind for boarding Jared Ross in Philadelphia. For all the talk of eliminating fighting from the game for fear of injury, it would appear that the NHL would be better served to pay attention to the rash of easily preventable injuries by severely punishing players who are involved in incidents like the above plays. That includes Ovechkin; stars should get no preferential treatment (even though they obviously do. see - Evgeni Malkin's instigator penalty in the Stanley Cup last season)

Give Keith Ballard credit for one thing though, he doesn't leave things half done. Instead of checking on his fallen goalie, he finished what he started by eventually destroying his stick on the goal post. Priorities; some people have them, some people don't.

Pac is Back! Manny Pacquiao's next fight is against........Yuri Foreman?

2009-11-30T15:26:00.006-05:00

(Yuri looks about as excited as the rest of the world about this potential fight)

Yes boxing fans, the fight everyone has been waiting for may be upon us! The pound-for-pound #1 fighter in the world, Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KO), will look to solidify his status as an all time great in March against Floyd Maywe.....wait, what? He's not fighting Mayweather? He's fighting Yuri Foreman?

What?

According to Pacquiao's highly vocal trainer Freddy Roach in an interview with BoxingScene.com, negotiations with Floyd Mayweather have not been going smoothly (shocking, I know) and he's tossing around the idea of his fighter moving up in weight again to challenge for the 154-pound title. Standing between the "Pacman" and his record setting 8th title in different weight classes would be newly crowned WBA junior middleweight champ, Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO). Foreman won the title on the undercard of the Pacquiao-Cotto card by defeating Daniel Santos by decision. Excited yet? No, neither are the guys at Bad Left Hook:

"Pacquiao likely beats Foreman, even giving up a lot of size. He's too fast, Foreman doesn't hit hard, and Manny's just a much, much better fighter. And Pacquiao-Foreman is really a bit of a sham. It's an admitted stab at faux "history" being made. They know Foreman is the exact right matchup.

After all, the fight would be contested for a 154-pound title. How low do you think they'll try to get a catchweight? Foreman has dipped as low as 149 pounds in his career, but by the time this fight rolled around, that will have been almost eight years in the past. In the last three years he hasn't gone below 153 1/2 pounds on the scales.

If they allow it at the full 154-pound weight, they're essentially saying clearly, "This guy can't beat us, and we know it." Cotto had to get down to 145. Manny has never weighed in over 144 for any fight, and by all accounts he walks around at about 150-155 pounds."

That pretty much sums it up. Not to say that Foreman isn't a good fighter, but this fight is basically the definition of "tune up fight". This is pretty much a ploy to get Pacquiao another title and use his new record for division titles to build even more hype for a fight against Mayweather. If what Roach says is true, which isn't a guarantee, and Floyd is stalling until September for the fight against his fighter, there are more interesting fights for Pacquiao other than gift wrapping a history making fight. The idea has been tossed out that if Pacquiao does end up fighting Foreman, barring Andre Berto pulling the upset against Shane Mosley, Mayweather would take on Mosley as his "tune up" for Pacquiao. Again, not to pile on Foreman, but Mosley is a much bigger threat to Mayweather than he is to Pacquiao. With only 8 career knockouts, it's a pretty safe bet that he will bring nothing to the table that should be able to stifle "Pacman".

Let no one say I didn't see this coming. I posted in my live chat last week that the more people talk about Pacquiao-Mayweather as an inevitability, the more I think this fight isn't going to happen this year, if ever. If the Pacquiao-Foreman fight goes forward, there is going to be a lot of talk about Pacquiao trying to pad his win-loss record, Mayweather ducking the fight, and the overall illegitimacy of titles in boxing. I can't say I would blame the pundits if they called out boxing on legitimacy of their titles, because it's clear that getting Pacquiao another belt for his trophy case is the only reason this fight is discussed. More details if they emerge......

p.s. Roy Jones Jr.-Danny Green and Bernard Hopkins-Enrique Ornelas will be broadcast on Versus this Wednesday. If both RJJ and Hopkins win, expect a rematch to be made that will involve a massive amount of hilarious trash talk, leading up to a horribly lackluster fight.

***UPDATE*** Bad Left Hook has posted a rumor that Bob Arum may attempt to get Floyd Mayweather a fight in the UK against Matthew Hatton, Ricky's brother. So much for Mayweather taking a more challenging tune up fight than Pacquiao. Matthew Hatton's a decent fighter, but not even in the same universe as Mayweather. The legality of that fight should be questioned, because it would be borderline assault.

Wednesday Live Chat

2009-11-24T17:29:00.001-05:00

Wednesday boredom kicking in? Peep the live chat at 4 P.M. It's more fun than sucker punching a Notre Dame quarterback.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=b42803483a" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Wednesday Live Chat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Knee-jerk Reactions: And now for something completely different...

2009-11-23T15:15:00.007-05:00

(The infamous "Fail Whale" can't even compete with everyone's favorite ESPN figure)

One of the great joys in my life, however pathetic it may be, is reading and listening to comments from ESPN hosts and other sporting outlets simply to laugh at their ignorance, and blatant jock riding/apologizing. My favorite (least favorite?) is the fool on the right side of ESPN's "First Take" program, Mr. Skip Bayless. Obviously it's his job to make bold claims to get fans riled up, make them angry, and bring them back for more nonsense the next day. In that way, Skip succeeds with flying colors. Where he fails horribly is his lack of consistency when making his arguments, letting his imaginary vendetta's against certain players and unreasonable love of others cloud his judgment. Don't get me wrong, what he says doesn't upset me, make me want to throw a chair through the TV and make a b-line to my computer to fire off 30 e-mails to his ESPN address. Not at all; in fact, the only thing he does for me is give me some good laughs to start the day. That said, I'm breaking from the usual format of my weekend recap to some of his more humorous, and foolish, statements made on his Twitter account (@RealSkipBayless, if you want to share in my joy).

1) "Yesterday, Michigan had to be glad that Les Miles was not its coach. Are that you can pin a loss directly on head coach, but Miles lost it." - First off, what? The second sentence is barely coherent even by 140-character Twitter standards. Despite it looking like he fell asleep and bashed his head on the keyboard, I think the basic idea is pretty clear. Because Les Miles made one mistake by mismanaging the clock against Ole Miss, Michigan should be thanking it's lucky stars that a National Championship winning coach isn't wandering their sidelines.

Again, what?

The same Michigan team that might be in the market for a new head coach just two years after breaking the bank to get Rich Rodriguez should be grateful Les Miles isn't their coach? This one is pretty easy to rip on just for the shear lack of insight and thoughtfulness. LSU and Michigan are both huge programs with incredible histories of success which means they almost recruit themselves. With that said, Miles manages to recruit much better players than Rich Rod does at Michigan, and he's competing against Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Mark Richt, Houston Nutt, and now Lane Kiffin. Who has Rich Rod ever had to really recruit against? Jim Tressell, Kirk Ferentz, and Greg Schiano from his West Virginia days? The two aren't even comparable to be completely honest. I don't even really have to get in to this next part too much, but who faces tougher competition on a week to week basis, and who ends up with a better record at the end of the season?

It's a bit embarrassing that people who call themselves sports writers start declaring coaches to be completely inept after one brutal mistake. Everyone wanted Belichick's head for going for the 4th and 2 against the Colts, conveniently forgetting the 3 Super Bowls he won for the Pats. One bad mistake by Les Miles, who will have his LSU team in the top 25 with a winning record and season's end, should make Wolverines fans across America feel better about their second straight losing season in a pretty lame Big Ten? Whatever you say, Skip.

2) "If Rashean Mathis hadn't been out for Jags, no way TOld puts up any #s. Beat backup and held up index finger last 20 yds. Pathetic. Buff 3-7" - See what I mean when I say he holds grudges and can't give credit when it's due. There is absoultely no way Terrell Owens can win with this man. Skip's constant undeserved bashing of T.O. is actually pushing me to root for him, which I never thought would be possible. Because Owens put up monster numbers (9 rec., 198 yards and a TD) against a backup, he's pathetic. Anyone care to guess what would have been said about him if Rashean Mathis' replacement had shut him down yesterday? If you thought to yourself something along the lines of, He's all washed up. TOld has lost more than one step, and proved it by getting shut down by a backup corner. The Bills are 3-7 and T.O. should take all the blame, you deserve a gold star for the day.

Is T.O. completely blameless in the Bills' struggles this season? Not at all. Is he the reason they lose the majority of their games? That depends, does he play QB, any offensive line position, outside linebacker, or any secondary position not occupied by Jairus Byrd? If he doesn't, you might want to look at those areas before you even get to T.O. on the "Why the Bills are awful" list. It is fairly easy to see that Trent Edwards trying to get the ball to Owens just isn't going to work, and the fact is the problem rests with Edwards in this case. It's no coincidence that Owens' numbers have gone up since Ryan Fitzpatrick has gotten the snaps with the first team. Fitzpatrick is leaps and bounds ahead of Edwards in terms of reading defenses, maintaining pocket composure, and working through his progressions downfield. Trent Edwards' progression goes #1 receiver, then straight to his check down target who is usually his running back. When Edwards does try to throw it down the field, his decision making is lacking to the point where he tries to force a ball to Owens in triple coverage. But of course, that's on T.O. to beat that triple coverage, elevate 4 feet, and come down with the ball.

Anyone who watched the Bills game against Jacksonville yesterday knows that T.O. was out of his mind intense trying to motivate his team. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't match his intensity and stop the Jags from taking the lead late. Considering how predictable it is that T.O. is going to get smashed by Skip Bayless regardless of how well he performs in a losing effort, I'm seriously coming around on T.O. If at all possible, it appears that he has been humbled a bit by this experience in Buffalo, but that's beyond the realm of understanding for those who just refuse to put aside their old images of someone and trust what their eyes are telling them.

3) "I am sick and tired of people bashing JCutler. Yes, immature gunslinger. Yes, takes too many chances. But he's stuck in terrible offense!" - Hurry, call the whaaaambulance that Chris Crocker is driving! LEAVE JAY CUTLER ALONE! I'm declaring that I have free range to shred Jay Cutler anytime I want because it was very obvious to me the minute the Broncos traded him that the Bears' offense was terrible, and Cutler wasn't going to make it any better. Skip Bayless on the other hand is never allowed to use the "Bears have no receivers" excuse because he claimed that Cutler is an elite QB and would be a star for Chicago.

It's a fact, Jay Cutler has been an unparalleled disaster for the Bears this season. Everyone knew he would throw some interceptions simply because of the way he likes to play. But for him to lead the league in picks (18) on a team with a depleted defense is unacceptable for an "elite" QB. It's true, he doesn't have a true #1 receiver to throw to, but don't elite QB's elevate the level of play around them? Who were Tom Brady's best receivers during the Patriots' Super Bowl seasons? David Patten, Deion Branch, J.R. Redmond, and Troy Brown? Not exactly the greatest receiving core, but Brady made them better and won 3 championships with them. If Cutler is as good as Skip and every other sports writer thinks he is, he should have no problem getting good results out of Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, and Greg Olsen.

The problem with Jay Cutler isn't so much his receivers and offensive line as it is his mechanics and mentality. Cutler is one of the worst perpetrators of throwing off his back foot instead of setting his feet and then throwing the ball. He also gets antsy in the pocket when he feels the rush and tries to force passes in to coverage because of his powerful arm, the arm he uses to overthrow wide open receivers on multiple occasions every game. But maybe the biggest thing he does wrong is when he gets behind, he starts pressing too much. If the Bears are behind, which they usually are, he tries to bring them back with big plays down the field and makes bad throws in to coverage. Part of it has to do with their lack of a running game, but the biggest factor is his ego telling him he has to singlehandedly win the game with his arm. The criticism is justified Skip, and only an apologist for a fellow Vanderbilt alum wouldn't be able to see that.

3) (Half Tweet) "NE still little better than Indy and Minn. clearly better than N.O..." - I don't even know where to begin with this one. A team in New England, with losses to the Jets, Broncos, and COLTS, is better than Indianapolis? Yes, the Patriots out gained the Colts, but who ended up with the win? Belichick made a bad decision against Indy, but guess what, coaching is part of what makes a team better than another. On that night, Jim Caldwell out coached Belichick and the Colts BEAT the Patriots. 10-0>>>7-3, end of discussion.

Minnesota is CLEARLY better than the Saints? Is that why the Saints are undefeated and have only struggled in 2 or 3 games all season? The Vikings are very good and a CLEARLY one of the best teams in the NFC, but they still suffer from taking full quarters, and sometimes halves, off in every game. Minnesota has beaten equally horrific teams as New Orleans, but they also have the glarring "1" in the loss column. Until the Saints grace their loss column with a crooked number, it's just foolish to say a 1-loss team is CLEARLY better than an unbeaten one. Only college football voters are allowed to be that stupid (USC above Oregon 1 week after Oregon blew them out).

4) (Second half tweet) Right now, Favre MVP. 21 TDs, 3 INT?! Not even debatable - Hmm, not debatable? *Throws the red challenge flag*. I beg to differ on this one. Favre has been incredible, as much as it pains me to say that. He has completely changed the way he plays the game because he finally has a running back to take the pressure off him. His numbers this season have him in the conversation for MVP, that is not even debatable. Where I see a problem is that there are two other QB's out there with undefeated squads that are being neglected for some reason. Drew Brees and Peyton Manning have both led their teams to 10-and-0 starts, largely on their passing prowess. Their interception numbers may be higher, but it clearly hasn't taken their team out of a game and cause their respective team to lose. That's the deal breaker right now for Brett Favre. Cry, whine and moan all you want about what happened in Pittsburgh, but Favre lost that game for them. Two turnovers inside the Steelers 25 yard line, both returned for touchdowns. But...but, Chester Taylor should've caught it. Boo hoo; the pass was high and woobly and it got picked off for a TD, end of story. Can he still win it? Sure, why not. No one expects the Saints and Colts to go undefeated, so if he can stave off the typical Brett Favre end of the season collapse and start lobbing 2-3 picks a game, he could win it. But to say he is a slam dunk right now just isnt' right.

p.s., I've got it 1) Manning 2) Brees 3) Favre. Manning to Wayne against the Pats = Favre to Greg Lewis vs. the 49ers. Stop the worship, look at the facts

5) "From what I keep seeing of NSuh's Nebraska defense, Texas is in for a long, hard B12 title game. Suh easy No. 1 overall pick." - TRUTH. Smartest thing I've seen/heard from this man maybe ever. Every weekend I legitimately lament the fact that I don't get to see Ndamukong Suh play. Whenever I do get to watch him, I can't even pay attention to the offense because I'm just blown away by what he can do. He looks like Reggie White with his disruptive abilities, but from the defensive tackle position, which is even more impressive because it causes more havoc for the offensive line. Think Shaun Rogers, but exponentially faster. He's going to need a wheelbarrow to carry all the awards he's going to win at season's end. On the number 1 pick thing though, he's not necessarily a lock to go number 1. Right now the 3 worst teams in the NFL are the Rams, Browns, and Bucs, in that order. The Browns wouldn't take Suh unless they moved Shaun Rogers in a trade before the draft. Cleveland plays the 3-4 and as good as Suh is, he wouldn't play over Rogers. If either the Rams or Bucs get the first pick, he would almost assuredly go #1 as their defensive line situations are pretty abysmal. St. Louis starts a defensive end at left defensive tackle, and the Bucs start Chris Hovan on their line. Personally, I would love to see him end up with the Rams, especially if they considered moving to a 3-4 base defense. A defensive front of Leonard Little, Ndamukong Suh, and Chris Long would be pretty intimidating for opposing offenses.

It's a shame Suh suffers a bit from the "big fish, small pond" situation because if he played at Florida, USC, Texas, etc, he would be in serious consideration for the Heisman. If the Heisman voters actually followed what's going on and didn't just give the trophy to Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow as a legacy award, he probably would be a near landslide winner because he is best player in college football this season.

Boredom Alert: UFC 106 Live Blog/Chat

2009-11-21T16:56:00.002-05:00

Now that I know how to use Cover It Live, might as well put it to good use (translation: I'm dying to use it again because it's easier than constantly updating posts). Starts around 10 PM; give it a look for in-fight analysis, smart-ass comments about Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg's commentary, and massive amounts of discussion about Marc Laimon's "Star Wars" inspired ECKO hoodies.

UFC 106 Live Blog

UFC 106 Picks

2009-11-21T15:41:00.004-05:00

Another week, another MMA card that demands picks. Despite the shear number of cards and potential for disaster (aka UFC 105), the record is still slightly above .500 during a busy month with 15 W, 12 L; one big "w" coming from the phenomenal new WEC champ, Jose (pronounce the "J" please Versus announce team) Aldo. With the number of injuries and bizarre withdrawals from this card, my personal excitement for this card has reached the exact opposite of a fever pitch. Therefore, the fight breakdowns remain only in my head and the final predictions will be here...

Main Card Bouts

Tito Ortiz (-115) vs. Forrest Griffin (-115) - Forrest Griffin by unanimous decision
Josh Koscheck (+105) vs. Anthony Johnson (-135) - Josh Koscheck by TKO - Round 3
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (-140) vs. Luis Cane (+110, and it's pronounced Cah-ney, Rogan and Goldberg) - Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by split decision
Amir Sadollah (-250) vs. Phil Baroni (+190) - Amir Sadollah by submission (armbar) - Round 2
Paulo Thiago (-175) vs. Jacob Volkmann (+145) - Jacob Volkmann by unanimous decision

Undercard Bouts

Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders - Marcus Davis by TKO - Round 2
Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt - Jake Rosholt by unanimous decision
Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster - Brock Larson by TKO - Round 1
Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes - Fabricio Camoes by unanimous decision
George Sotiropoulos vs. Jason Dent - George Sotiropoulos by submission (RNC) - Round 2

Official Picks: Recommended single plays on Koscheck, Rosholt, and Davis. Josh Koscheck is an absolute steal if you can get him in "+" numbers. Really no reason the #5 welterweight in the world should be the underdog to a man with 10 pro fights.

Official Parlay: Volkmann+Koscheck+Sotiropoulos+Larson

High Risk/Reward Parlay: Camoes+Saunders+Baroni+Cane - All 4 fighters are underdogs with major potential to win their fights. If all the fighters remain in "+" numbers, the 4-fight parlay payoff would be pretty substantial, even with a small wager.

Looking for an "Answer": Who could use A.I.

2009-11-20T14:44:00.003-05:00

The New York Knicks informed their fans today to save their money on buying tickets, because Allen Iverson is not coming to town. While the Knicks compete with the Nets for the title of worst basketball franchise in the New York metropolitan area, the man formerly known as "The Answer" is now trying to latch with any team that will take him (and start him, unlike Memphis). So who's it going to be? Well, there's a few teams out there that could probably use the help...

Charlotte Bobcats: There's a little bit of reservation with this destination because of the recent acquisition of Stephen Jackson. A.I. is probably has a personality for Charlotte to handle by himself; with Jackson's ego included, it could be an absolute disaster. That said, the only person who has ever been able to get Iverson under control and really bring out the best in him was Larry Brown, the Bobcats current head coach. It's possible he could run the point and start over Raymond Felton, but it might be a challenge for him to get the number of shots he would want due to the sheer number of good scorers they already possess. An unlikely scenario, but it would be interesting to see A.I. try and use Gerald Wallace, Tyson Chandler, or Stephen Jackson to rack up assists and open up scoring opportunities for himself.

Toronto Raptors: A less than ideal destination, but a decent situation for both parties involved. The Raptors have some very talented pieces (Bosh, Turkoglu) but are a bit lacking in the SG department. Rookie DeMar DeRozan is starting at shooting guard, and is backed up by 3rd year player Marco Belinelli; not exactly world beaters. In fact, Belinelli is averaging more points (9.8) than the DeRozan (5.8) so far this season. Even if he has lost a step, Iverson can still average well over 10 points per game. With the shooting threat of Turkoglu and the monster in the paint that is Chris Bosh, A.I. would get some decent looks and persumably could use Bosh to clear the lane for him to drive. Again, this will probably never happen, but it might be the best option available.

Los Angeles Lakers: Why? The better question is "why not"? If people were actually discussing LeBron James joining the Lakers, why not a guy who would show up for about 1/15th the asking price? He would more than likely be earning less than Derek Fisher (which is where he would play because their SG is pretty much entrenched there) and could easily put up bigger numbers than the suddenly offensively challenged Fisher. This is completely unrealistic, but if Ron Artest can behave playing along side Kobe, why not throw Iverson in the mix? Plus, it would probably lead to a really good book about managing giant egos by Phil Jackson.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Michael Wilbon endorsed this move right around the time A.I. took his leave from Memphis, and I tend to agree with him that the Cavs would be a great place for him. It has already become abundantly clear that the Shaquille O'Neal move was mostly a lateral move in terms of a post presence, and if the Cavs are going anywhere it's going to be because of LeBron. Anthony Parker and his 9 ppg isn't a exactly a great complementary piece, and Delonte West is always going to be a question mark. This would a huge pick your poison situation for opposing teams. Do you put all eyes on LeBron and take your chances with A.I., or do you try to watch them both at the same time and risk getting highlight reeled by a LeBron alley-oop? Probably won't be too much driving for A.I. as Shaq's statuesque presence (not in a good way) in the lane pretty much limits that, but he's always a threat from the outside. Missing piece of the puzzle for the Cavs? Maybe, but every other time we think that, it ends with LeBron leaving the court without shaking hands with the other team.

How does this live chat thing work?

2009-11-18T16:02:00.003-05:00

I see everyone else getting in on the live chat thing on their blogs, so I decided to give it a shot. Very low expectations for people to actually be involved with it but I'm just going to throw some comments out there. College b-ball, MLB awards, MMA judging nonsense, my Cleveland Browns obsession, whatever comes to mind...

(Rollover to read/contribute)

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=de3b8a5ae2" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;K-Zone Sports Live Chat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Weekend Recap; Where the wheels come flying off

2009-11-16T16:41:00.007-05:00

- Thank God it was a busy weekend in sports because now I can semi-gloss over my John Blutarsky level prediction percentage from the weekend in fights. There should be a reflecting pool and eternal flame associated with my tragic 4-8 (33.3%, woot, woot!) record with picks. So, what did we learn...

1) Pacquiao is incredible, but he probably still loses to Floyd Mayweather: The beginning of my weekend lunacy came when I declared that Miguel Cotto would beat the wrecking machine that is Manny Pacquiao. My pick looked great up until the third round when Cotto got floored and the bout took a total nose dive for the former WBO champ. Cotto had his chances make this a closer fight, specifically when he had the "Pacman" backed up on the ropes and simply stood there instead of unloading to the body. It's no guarantee it would have swung the fight in his favor, but it may have slowed Pacquiao down a bit in the later rounds where his speed simply overwhelmed Cotto. Huge respect to both men; Cotto for hanging in there as long as he did and Pacquiao for being an absolute terror, and possible all time great.

But why do I think he would struggle with Mayweather? It's fairly simple (to me at least), styles make fights, and Floyd's style is a nightmare for Pacquiao. As technical as "Money" is, he is also extremely unusual in how he fights. He leans back to keep his head away from his opponent at all times, but he is somehow able to deliver quick punches despite appearing off balance. As we've seen from Pacquiao in the past, most notably against Juan Manuel Marquez, boxers with superior hand speed who understand his tendencies and can time his punches have success counter punching. As we saw in the Mayweather-Marquez fight, Floyd is a far superior counter puncher than JMM, and even with the misconception that he doesn't have power, he can plant you on the canvas if he times it right.

I love people like Skip Bayless who clearly cannot see past the persona of Floyd Mayweather, or simply know absolutely nothing about boxing, and realize that he would be a heavy favorite against Pacquiao. Well, uh, Pacquiao walked right through Cotto's big shots so Manny has an iron chin and Mayweather can't hurt him. He will duck the fight and he should be shaking in his roller skates (respect the 24/7 reference). Well Skip, seeing as you've clearly never seen a Mayweather fight other than his last one (maybe), allow me to educate you. If you'll allow a horrid Chuck Norris joke; Floyd is like Chuck Norris, he doesn't sleep, he waits. Mayweather isn't going to do what Cotto did (stand directly in front of Pacquiao, try to land hooks to the head, and get popped with no answer), he will do what he always does; hang back, make "Pacman" come to him, dodge his overly telegraphed left straight, circle away, and look to use his length to counter.

Don't get me wrong, I can't stand Mayweather and I'm actually a supporter of Pacquiao's. However, personality doesn't win fights (in most cases) and Mayweather is a superior boxer. I would love to see Manny knock Floyd off his high horse, but if I had to make a bet, my money would be behind "Money".

2) The UFC 105 Debacle: So, yeah, I kinda went 4-7 with my picks. I'm going to go sit in the corner now. But before I do, I'll address one thing; Brandon Vera got screwed bad against Randy Couture. Know why? Because he was fighting Randy Couture, that's why. Here's a note to anyone looking to become a fighter and wants to know how to sway judges in your favor. 1) Be Randy Couture, 2) Clinch your opponent against the cage for extended periods (aka, hug them until the bell sounds) and don't try to land a single strike, 3) Get outstruck horribly and almost get finished multiple times. Oh, did I forget to add that the only way to win on the judges' cards doing numbers 2 and 3 is to be Randy Couture? I didn't? Sorry, that part is super important.

I scored the fight 30-28 with the 1st round a draw. Sorry "Captain America", I'm not scoring the 1st 10-9 for you when all you did was pin Vera against the fence and hold him there without doing anything. Rounds 2 and 3 go to Vera for almost finishing Couture (2nd and 3rd) and maintaining mount to end the fight. The sad thing is, as soon as the final bell rang I knew what was going to happen. That fight was in the bag for Couture as long as he didn't get finished and no one can tell me otherwise. This is the second time in about a month that PPV headlining fights have ended with controversial decisions, and both times the more marketable fighter came out on top. Coincidence? Probably, because conspiracy theories are for forum posters and people with tin foil hats. However, this is the type of nonsense that led people away from boxing.

I'm really not sure what to make of the rash of horrid decisions in MMA lately. Part of me believes that it does have something to do with the more popular, or marketable, fighter getting favor in the judges' eyes. The more optimistic side of me believes that it is more likely a result of the sport still being somewhat young in America. Usually, MMA fights judged by men or women who are usually boxing judges. With MMA being a far more layered sport than boxing, it's possible that there just aren't that many judges who fully understand MMA. Yeah, I think that and then I see Couture get dismantled with strikes and resort to hugging Vera to make the bad man stop en route to a decision. Maybe it's just one of those things I'm not supposed to understand, like how the hell Randy Couture can still even give himself a chance to win at his age.

3) No more BCS, we need a playoff NOW: It's getting to be a tired topic, but this year more than probably any other showcases the foolishness of not having a multi-team playoff. At this point it has become abundantly clear that the National Championship will go to either Texas or the SEC champ and all those other pathetic undefeated teams that clearly aren't as good as those two teams will just watch. By pathetic I mean extremely talented teams that all have huge wins over legit teams and won't get a chance to prove that they can hang with the big boys because of a shameless money grab by the NCAA while the higher ups hide behind the facade of the "student before athletes" concept, but I'm sure you already figured that out. There is a distinct possibility there will be 5 undefeated teams (UT, Cincy, TCU, BSU, and either UF or 'Bama) and the 1-loss SEC title game loser at the end of the season. What makes Texas or Florida more deserving of a chance to be called champs, because they're Florida and Texas? Boise State and Utah have already proved that smaller programs can beat the supposed "top teams" but yet they are basically second class citizens, so to speak. Yes, while Florida goes out and battles powerhouses Florida International and Christian Ponder-less Florida State to close the season and Texas trembles before the fighting Manginos of Kansas and bottom feeding Texas A+M, Cincy has to take on top 10 Pittsburgh in their final game. And while Florida struggles with South Carolina and Mississippi State, and Alabama needs a miracle from Terrence Cody to beat Lane Kiffin's G-Unit, TCU is embarrassing pretty much the same Utah team that stomped 'Bama last season.

It's fairly simple from where I stand; NCAA football is a sport and the BCS is a business. Football is a fun, enjoyable game, the BCS is shady business that favors names over competition. It's probably never going to change, but if ever there was going to be a year where the outcry against the BCS is too loud to ignore, it's this year.

4) 2-minute Drill: A bunch of random thoughts...

- Congrats to Ole Miss for finally realizing Dexter McCluster is absolute freak and maybe, just maybe, he's more apt to win you games than Jevan Snead.

- Iowa's luck is terrible. If Ricky Stanzi gets hurt 2 weeks before Ohio State, James Vandenberg is probably better prepared to play the Buckeyes.

- Any particular reason USC is still in the top 25? And for that matter, why does Vegas still think Oklahoma is a top 5 team? College football is wacky

- Ndamukong Suh should win the Heisman. No question, he is the best player in college football. But, because he plays for Nebraska and is a d-lineman, he doesn't have a shot.

- I'm 50-50 on the Belichick decision on 4th and 2. I don't necessarily agree with the move, but I can understand why he did it. And no, it wasn't an ego thing.

- LOL at Skip Bayless for calling Peyton Manning overrated. He's willing to praise Favre all day, but because Manning has mediocre playoff numbers, OVERRATED! Guess who else doesn't have killer playoff numbers? Brett Favre (14 TD's, 15 INT's since 2000).

- I laughed at fantasy owners when Brian Westbrook took a knee at the 1 instead of scoring the TD. I don't that's funny anymore. Thank you MoJo Drew for being smarter than most running backs, I demand an extra TD this week to make up for last week.

- The Bengals are a serious threat in the AFC, but I still think the Steelers would beat them in the playoffs.

- No team in the NFC with the exception of the Saints (maybe) would stand a chance against an AFC team in the Super Bowl. What a mediocre conference.

- T.O. is not the reason the Bills are horrible. If he played QB, o-line or any position other than Jairus Byrd's, then go for it. Can you really blame him for being upset when whichever QB the Bills throw out there heaves the ball 15 feet over his head into triple coverage?

- The Browns. Wow. That's all I can say.

Weekend Fight Predictions: UFC 105 and Pacquiao-Cotto

2009-11-13T13:08:00.004-05:00

Manny Pacquiao (-280) vs. Miguel Cotto (+220)

Prediction: At +220, I'm all over Cotto to win. He's faced guys with killer speed before and walked away with the "W" which has been the Pacman's huge advantage in his last few fights. The keys for Cotto will be working off his lead left hook and trying slow Pacquiao with a steady dose of quality body work. That said, I've got a horrible feeling there is going to be some controversy with this one. Never underestimate the possibility that the judges can be fooled by ineffective volume punching aimed at the head over precise, methodical, effective work to body. If I knew who the judges were I might have more faith in the judging being fair, but unfortunately the allure of a Mayweather-Pacquiao match may have already wrapped this one up for the Filipino. Miguel Cotto def. Manny Pacquiao, but Pacquiao wins a BS unanimous decision

UFC 105: (no breakdowns; I, much like the UFC, don't really care about this card)

Main Card Bouts

Randy Couture (-120) vs. Brandon Vera (-110) - Brandon Vera by split decision
Michael Bisping (EVEN) vs. Denis Kang (-130) - Denis Kang by unanimous decision
Mike Swick (-250) vs. Dan Hardy (+190) - Mike Swick by TKO - Round 3
Ross Pearson (+165) vs. Aaron Riley (-205) - Aaron Riley by unanimous decision
James Wilks (+125) vs. Matt Brown (-155) - Matt Brown by TKO - Round 1

Undercard Bouts

Paul Taylor vs. John Hathaway - Paul Taylor by split decision
Terry Etim vs. Shannon Gugerty - Terry Etim by TKO - Round 2
Paul Kelly vs. Denis Siver - Paul Kelly by unanimous decision
Andre Winner vs. Roli Delgado - Andre Winner by KO - Round 1
Matt Riddle vs. Nick Osipczak - Matt Riddle by unanimous decision
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jospeh Hamman - Alexander Gustafsson by TKO - Round 3

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers - Breakdown and Picks

2009-11-06T14:48:00.006-05:00

Main Card Bouts

Fedor Emelianenko (-625) vs. Brett Rogers (+425)

The undisputed (except for nerds on forums) #1 heavyweight in the world makes his Strikeforce debut against the 10-0 former Sam's Club "tire technician", Brett Rogers. Fedor is sports a 30-1 record for a reason; he hits hard, holds a combat sambo black-belt, is extremely slick with his ground game, and very well may not be human. His record reads as a who's who of MMA history with wins over UFC champs Mark Coleman (twice), Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, and two systematic beatdowns of former PRIDE champ "Minotauro" Nogueria. Rogers, while fairly green in the sport, sports an unbeaten record with 90% of his wins by way of (T)KO, including a 22 second TKO of Andrei Arlovski. While not the most technical fighter ever seen, "The Grim" possesses good knockout power and will have a distinct size and weight advantage over the Russian champion.

Breakdown: This fight just screams "squash match" to me, but that's not exactly hard hitting analysis so I'll elaborate. Rogers has 1 legit win under his belt, and it really wasn't all that impressive. Yes, he destroyed a former UFC champ in 22 seconds, but the fashion he went about it was a mess. He ate one leg kick before charging at Arlovski like a bull, flailing his arms and eventually tagging his retreating opponent. Somehow, the striking spasm he had against Arlovski is supposed to make him a huge threat to Fedor? "Fish memory" fans forget that Brett Rogers took 2 rounds to finish a member of BET's "Iron Ring" program, Abongo Humphrey. Fedor has faced far superior strikers than Rogers and managed to find openings to destroy them. The punches Fedor throws are looping, but they are that way intentionally. From his sambo background, his punches allow for multiple points of contact (whether it be the fist, forearm, or elbow) and establish range for takedowns. In the unlikely scenario he does get hit by Rogers, we've seen Fedor take Olympic judo medalists to the ground and finish so it's likely he could do the same to Rogers. We haven't seen "The Grim" on the mat yet so I'd have to assume that if it hits the ground, it's probably a wrap. Fedor's positioning, control, and quickness a serious problem for large heavyweights, especially if they are limited in their grappling ability.

Pick: It's really dorky to use the term "Fighter X by whatever he wants" when talking about a sport as erratic as MMA, but in this case, it's probably a safe bet. I see nothing Rogers brings to the table that Fedor hasn't seen done better by some opponent during his career. The home run right hand bomb is probably the only chance Rogers has, but against a fighter who has never been knocked out, it's unlikely. I expect Rogers to start out patiently and look for a chance to land a big punch, but he'll never get the chance. Fedor out-quicks Rogers and lands a flurry that stuns him before taking the fight to floor and finishing. "The Last Emperor" continues his reign with an impressive submission. Fedor Emelianenko by submission (armbar) - Round 1

Jake Shields (-340) vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller (+260)

Breakdown: MTV's favorite bully beater, Jason Miller, makes a rare appearance in a cage stateside against 2-time "Bully Beatdown" participant and Strikeforce middleweight champion, Jake Shields. Of the 4 match ups on the televised card, this bout is the most intriguing. Shields is coming off a impressive submission win over Robbie Lawler in his first foray into the middleweight division. The Cesar Gracie student holds claim to some of the best jiu-jitsu in MMA and will more than likely have an advantage if the fight hits the ground. Miller, though not at Shields' level as far as the grappling game, can more than hold his own. In a bout against jiu-jitsu world champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza under the DREAM banner, Miller was able to avoid the ground wizard's submission attempts in a losing effort. What could be the difference in the fight is Shields' relative deficiency in the striking department. Against Paul Daley it was very clear that Shields was a bit of a fish out of water in the stand up. He knows what makes his bank account swell, and he's very good at it. Miller, although the superior striker, is nothing fantastic on the feet, but he could pose some interesting problems for the champ. In order to work his stand up though, "Mayhem" will need to avoid Shields' takedowns, which is easier said than done considering Shields has good takedowns and Miller has less than stellar defense.

Pick: This is by far the toughest fight pick to make (for me at least) on the card. To win, Miller has to land some effective strikes on the feet and keep Shields from getting him down and holding him there. "Mayhem" says that he won't let Shields "dry hump" (actual quote) him for 25 minutes, and I'm going to take this bizarre, bizarre man at his word. I'd be amazed if there was a finish in this fight because I refuse to believe that Shields will succeed in submitting Miller where "Jacare" failed, and Miller isn't exactly the home run hitter to score the KO. It's going to be very close, but the "Mayhem Monkeys" will celebrate an upset win and we'll see a new middleweight champ. Jason "Mayhem" Miller by controversial split decision

Gegard Mousasi (-650) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (+450)

Breakdown: Remember when I said Fedor-Rogers screams "squash match" to me? Well, this fight has "squash match" beating me over the head with a sledgehammer, while being screamed at me until I admit that's what this fight is. Apologies to Sokoudjou, but Mousasi is just on a completely different level than he is. Soko's got judo and can Donkey Kong on the heads of Super Hulk's like Jan Nortje and Bob Sapp in Japan, but "the Dreamcatcher" (ugh, horrible nickname) is a different kind of monster. Mousasi trains at the Red Devil gym with Fedor and is similar to the Russian heavyweight in many ways. He has a very stoic demeanor in the cage and has the ability to finish fights on the feet, or on the ground, in devastating fashion. In his last fight, he won the Strikeforce light-heavyweight title by absolutely blasting Renato "Babalu" Sobral in just over a minute. I hate MMA math but...Mousasi KO'd "Babalu" who submitted Sokoudjou. Sorry, but this doesn't bode well for "the African Assassin".

Pick: I've already predicted this one before (from my DREAM.11 picks on 10/5 - "Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou by TKO - Round 1; earns a contract with Strikeforce and the right to be legally assaulted by Gegard Mousasi") and I'm not changing my mind now. This is a non-title match so it's only scheduled 3-5 minute rounds, but that's not going to be a factor. Quick for Mousasi, but in no way painless for Sokoudjou. Someone should call the cops, or the FCC, because CBS will be televising a crime against humanity in primetime. Gegard Mousasi by TKO - Round 1

Fabricio Werdum (-150) vs. Antonio Silva (+120)

Breakdown: I'm officially dubbing this fight the "Tryouts to be Fedor's next victim" as the winner is probably next in line the face Fedor (or Rogers if he scores the miracle KO). Admittedly, I don't know a ton about Antonio Silva other than he has a 13-1 record with no real impressive wins. The best win on his record is probably Ricco Rodriguez, and even that isn't all that great considering they fought during the fat suit/"Celebrity Rehab" phase of Ricco's life. Werdum on the other hand just recently won the heavyweight division of the ADCC grappling tournament and holds MMA wins over Gabriel Gonzaga (twice), Alistair Overeem, and Aleks Emelianenko (yes, Fedor's brother). Silva is pretty slow and plodding with his striking game, but Werdum's striking is almost non-existent outside of the clinch. Everyone seems to remember Werdum's last UFC fight against Junior Dos Santos when he got launched into orbit with an uppercut, and that's the signal he has a glass chin. Lest we forget he went the distance with a heavy handed Andrei Arlovski, and beat a brutal striker in Gonzaga twice. Much like Shields though, Werdum knows his bread and butter is his jiu-jistu game. If and when this fight reaches the mat, it's going to be a serious problem for Sliva.

Pick: I'm really disinterested in this fight, mostly because I would rather see the Marloes Coenen-Roxy Modaferri fight televised (with quick stoppages, there's hope). However, since I'm forcing myself to make a pick I'll try to reason it. Werdum scores a takedown at some point and it's a clinic from there until he secures whatever limb he chooses. Silva isn't anywhere close to the level of competition Werdum faced at Abu Dhabi so there is little reason for me to believe he can avoid a submission. Fabricio Werdum by submission (I dunno...let's say RNC) - Round 1

Undercard Bouts

Marloes Coenen vs. Roxanne Modaferri - Marloes Coenen by unanimous decision
Jeff Curran vs. Dustin Neace - Jeff Curran by submission (triangle choke) - Round 1

Knee-jerk Reactions: Oregon lays a smackdown on So-Cal

2009-11-02T14:27:00.009-05:00

1) This is going to be refreshing...: ...not having to hear from Mark May/Colin Cowherd/random assortment of Trojan apologists about USC getting screwed out of the National Title game for once. A USC team that is clearly nowhere near the level they have been in recent years finally got exposed in a 47-20 beating at "the Zoo". The funniest part about this game is that you could see this loss coming a mile away. For two weeks in a row USC's defense got torched by Notre Dame and Oregon State and it was only a matter of time before it cost them. Jeremiah Masoli (who was labeled as a terrible QB by Colin Cowherd about a month ago) completely abused USC's secondary with his vertical passing game, and kept the defensive backs from cheating on the pass by running his zone-read running game to perfection. This the only instance I can recall where Pete Carroll was soundly outcoached for an entire game. Chip Kelly went Urban Meyer on the Trojans; when he got the lead he refused to let up and continued to press the boot harder and harder on USC's throat. Great win for Oregon, but I keep getting this feeling that USC will still back in to the Pac-10 title and BCS bowl despite having 2 losses. If USC gets in to the BCS as an at-large team over an undefeated Boise State or TCU, a full investigation should be launched as it would be a criminal offense against more deserving teams.

2) Obligatory Referee Bash; Week 9 Edition: With the SEC and Pac-10 having so much fun messing up games, the Big 10 was getting lonely actually doing a decent job and decided to join in.
The scene of the crime: Kinnick Stadium.
The involved parties: Indiana Hoosiers and Iowa Hawkeyes.
The evidence: Exhibit A has to do with a brutally incorrect replay that pulled a touchdown off the board for the Hoosiers. When the viewer at home can tell it's a clear cut touchdown and the announcers can also tell, you screwed up. The exact point in the game escapes me at the moment, but the blown call came at a time where Indiana was looking to completely bury the Hawkeyes and their schizo QB Ricky Stanzi. With the TD call overturned, the Hoosiers were forced into a field goal try, which of course they missed. Seven point swing for the home team.

Exhibit B involves said schizo QB and a phantom unnecessary roughness call in the 4th quarter. As Stanzi was on his way out of bounds (key words - on his way out) he was hit relatively hard by a linebacker. Up went the flag for unnecessary roughness - leading with the helmet, and on went 15 yards to the play. Surprise, surprise, replay showed the defender clearly hit him with nothing but his shoulder while he was still well in bounds.

Let's see, that makes the score Iowa - 0, Indiana - 0, incompetent referees - 2. Not a bad score considering Iowa is competing for a BCS bid. Wonder if the fact they were playing a down and out Indiana team had anything to do with the preferential calls? Bring on the tin foil hats!

3) Welcome back, Florida Gators: Brandon Spikes' eye gouging nonsense aside, Florida's performance against Georgia was exactly the performance we've been waiting to see. Finally, the Gators actually did something to stake their claim as the #1 team in the country. Tim Tebow returned from his vacation in time to toss two first quarter TD's to his roommate, Riley Cooper, and they never looked back. Georgia was completely over matched in this game, and Florida finally laid a beat down that reflected this fact. I still think Alabama has a better resume for #1 at the moment, but a razor thin win or the Vols heading in to a bye week is just cause for the swap for now. If and when the Tide takes care of LSU I'll be right back to campaigning for their spot atop the college football polls.

4) Random thoughts:
- The BCS is going to be a mess this year and I couldn't be happier
- Iowa has Minnesota Vikings syndrome (win alot but never play a full game)
- TCU would truck Boise State and the polls should reflect that
- Texas still beats OK State with Dez Bryant, but it's a lot more competitive
- Golden Tate should be considered for the Heisman ahead of Jimmy Clausen
- Case Keenum is the next Colt Brennan/Timmy Chang/Graham Harrell. Pure system QB
- Remember Jevan Snead? No, neither does anyone else. The hype>>>the skill

5) Vikings-Packers Breakdown: Seeing as no football analysts can put their love of Brett Favre aside and breakdown a game logically, I suppose I'll do it. Here's how Minnesota won this game.

- Percy Harvin returns kicks for the Vikings. The Packers have Ahman Green. This gives Minnesota a short field on every drive. Green gives the Packers nothing. Green Bay usually ends up taking a holding penalty anyway, putting them at their own 10-15 yard line to start.

- Aaron Rodgers was sacked 6 times. Brett Favre was hit less than 6 times. All day to throw vs. get rid of it immediately or get run over by Jared Allen. Guess who wins that one?

- Threat of Adrian Peterson for the Vikings. Non-threat of Ryan Grant for Green Bay. If the Packers line can't pass block, what are the odds they can get a push and open up running lanes for Grant? Answer, zero chance.

- Because the Vikings can pass rush on the Packers, they can drop more players back in to coverage. Green Bay had to bring the house to even partially collapse the pocket around Favre, leaving only 3 or 4 defensive backs in zone coverage. With a QB who likes to throw slant passes as much as Favre, you really can't play zone and not expect to get burned.

It's a sad thing to watch because Aaron Rodgers is the most efficent QB in the NFL and he's playing for a team that seems content to watch him get killed. 30+ sacks in 7 games is entering expansion year Houston Texans levels of futility. Cris Carter said it best on "Mike and Mike in the Morning" when he said that if you took both QB's and switched teams, the Vikings still win but by a much wider margin. It's tough to argue that point when even with a slapped together offensive line, Rodgers still puts Green Bay on his back and makes games close. Look what happened to the Browns when they couldn't get to him: 15-20 for 246 yards and 3 TD's. If the Packers could do this against teams other than one that would struggle in the CFL, they might actually have stood a chance in that game.

6) Even with 1 win, the Browns are worse than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Yeah, they're that bad. The Browns got smacked by the Bears, a week after Chicago was flat out embarrassed by the Bengals. Mangini finally did something right by yanking Derek Anderson from the game after he launched 2 picks (one for a TD) and fumbled the ball away once. Problem is the game was already over when Brady Quinn hit the field for his one and only series, a swift 3 and out. Nothing this team does is good, decent, or anything north of awful. Porous defense, non-existent offense, and a heavy dependance on special teams makes this team a bigger disaster than the Bucs, Raiders, Rams, etc. My favorite fact to come out this weekend is this: The New Orleans Saints have more defensive TD's (6) than the Browns have offensive TD's (5). This situation in Cleveland has "fire sale" written all over it and it's likely going to start at the bottom and continue until the entire franchise collapses.

Plus, I really wanted to work this photo in here somehow

No caption necessary.

World Series Quick Hits: Those crazy umpires....

2009-10-30T15:10:00.005-04:00

- Here we go again...In the span of one full inning, the same umpire managed to butcher two calls at first base and effectively killed two rallies. Bud Selig must be breathing a sigh of relief that neither of those easily reversible calls cost either team the game. If either call had swung the game for the Yankees or Phillies, there wouldn't have been enough military, police, and private security to keep the wrathful fans from Philly and New York from seriously injuring him. At this point, when fans at home can tell in 15 seconds that the umpires blew a call, there are exactly zero reasons that MLB cannot replay close plays in the field. "It will slow the game down" How? The games take 4 and a half hours anyway, with pitchers taking forever between pitches and managers making 4-5 pitching changes an inning (*cough* Girardi *cough*); why not enforce the slow play rules during the game and use a replay umpire in the booth to get the calls right? "Think of the integrity of the game..." I am, that's why it makes me sick to see correctable mistakes being made night after night. How much integrity can baseball retain if the men in charge are constantly screwing up and changing the outcome of games? This isn't Pirates/Nationals in mid-June, the stakes are just a little bit higher now. Instant replay, catch the fever.

- Something from yesterday that I thought might need clarifying. After finishing the post yesterday, I realized my less than clever nickname for FOX announcer Tim McCarver might need some explaining. When I think of a "carver", I think finesse and skill used in combination to produce something great. A "butcher" on the other hand, I think of someone wielding a blunt instrument, or large knife, wildly hacking (emphasis on the word, hack) at something trying to make it usable for someone else, like a carver. Hence McButcher, the man who tries to takes big chunks of baseball and totally hacks them up with little or no finesse. It's bad enough we have the umps getting calls wrong on the field, but now we are subjected to McButcher bold faced lying to America by saying a pitch, shown to be well within the strike zone, dipped outside or that the umps made the right call on Ryan Howard's trap on Johnny Damon's liner.

Obviously, as a Yankees fan, it's a constant struggle to remain objective when watching/listening to the games. But you know who struggles worse? Yep, you got it; my buddies in the FOX booth. While AJ Burnett was mowing down Phillies and puting on the best performance of his career, Buck and McButcher took the opportunity to turn last night's game into a Pedro Martinez love fest. Even when Hideki Matsui took Pedro yard on a pitch that had no business being where it was setup to be, McButcher railed against the Yankees DH saying that it was, in not as many words, a garbage home run. And as they applauded the umpires for blowing the call against the Yankees that ended their chance to pad their lead, the booth was quick to cry foul when Chase Utley was clearly safe on an inning ending double play. I've come to the conclusion that it physically harms both of these clowns to award any kind of praise to the Yankees under any circumstance. Make no mistake, if Andy Pettitte went out and tossed a no-hitter on Saturday, we would hear about how Cliff Lee's performance in Game 1 was better or more important. If I want Philly-biased commentary, I'd move to Philadelphia and listen to the radio. When I don't have the option to watch the games on any other network, I expect a little more objectivity than I'm getting from FOX's card carrying Yankees haters.

- OK, I feel better now. On to actual game stuff. Why is everyone piling on A-Rod after two games in the World Series? Yes, he has six strikeouts in the eight at-bats so far, but he has faced 2 pitchers that have made all of the other players in the lineup look just as bad. You don't get the World Series with mediocre pitching, so it should come as no surprise that he's stuggled so far. Guess who else has six strikeouts to start the Series? Ryan Howard. Apparently two meaningless basehits somehow makes his contributions (a Golden Sombrero in Game 2) greater than A-Rod's. The truth is neither hitter has lived up to the expectations that were placed on them because of their production in the first two series. Scary thing is that if either hitter gets going and starts driving in runs, we could be looking at some blowout games and a short series.

- It's incredible to see two aging pitchers like Pedro Martinez and Mariano Rivera continue dominate in the playoffs. Having visibily lost a ton of zip on his fastball, Pedro has become more of a Greg Maddux type pitcher who's going to out think you at the plate than a blow you away with a 97 mph heater pitcher. You could see it last night; Challenge A-Rod inside, inside, inside with fastballs then freeze him with an outer corner curve. And Mariano, despite throwing a few more pitches than usual, showed that his cut fastball may be the most devestating pitch in baseball, even at age 39. Every batter who steps to the plate knows exactly what he going to do, and there's little or nothing they can do to stop it. Left handed batters order two shipments of new bats when they know the Yankees are coming to town, simply in preparation for Mo to saw them off at the hands 4 or 5 times in a series. It's no coincedence that the teams that have Pedro and Mariano on their roster are meeting in the World Series. Guys like these two are exactly what teams need to have a chance for a championship.

- You want to know why the Yankees are so beloved, or hated, by some many people? Jay-Z and Alicia Keys in center field before the start of Game 2 of the World Series. Who else does that? The MLB All-Star game doesn't have musical acts, but the Yankees demand excess in everything they do. Your move Philadelphia. Good luck topping this......

World Series Quick Hits: The Yanks play the quitting game

2009-10-29T14:23:00.003-04:00

- Yeah, that picture pretty much sums up Game 1 for the Yankees. I'd like to say that Cliff Lee was just better than the Yankees line up and that's the end of the story, but unfortunately I can't. More so than many other teams, the Yankees performance's at home are almost directly connected to the atmosphere created by fans at the stadium. After Chase Utley hit his 2nd home run of CC Sabathia, the air completely went out of the stadium, as did the effort of the Yankees. Down 2-0 with Lee on the mound, it was very obvious from the Yankees body language that they had more or less quit on the game (with Jeter and CC as the exceptions). Whether it was Johnny Damon's bogus non-committal wrist swing on a pitch in the dirt or Melky Cabrera's all-around terrible effort trying to hit off-speed pitches, the Yankees looked absolutely defeated after the 5th inning. I'm not saying the fans' silence was the reason the Yankees gave up, seeing as the players on the field gave them very little to get excited about, but as the fans go, so do the Yanks.

- Phil Hughes is unbelievably terrible. It's been a long time since I've seen a player dominate in the regular season like Hughes did, only to be totally overwhelmed by the moment in the playoffs. What we have seen from Hughes so far this postseason has been a complete overhaul of his pitching method with little rhyme of reason for doing so. Regular season Phil Hughes reared back and challenged batters "hit it if you can" with his fastball and put them away with devastating breaking pitches. Postseason Hughes is afraid to challenge hitters in the zone, tentative trying to work the corners, and if he falls behind in the count the threat of the off-speed pitch goes out the window. The "Baby Rocket" has gone from shutdown bridge man to certified torch man who has zero confidence at the moment. Unfortunately, the Yankees may be stuck with postseason mental midget of Chuck Knoblauch proportions.

- Cliff Lee's backyard wiffle ball style catch in Game 1, while not a big deal, will be remembered by the Yankees next time he comes to the mound. Nothing can motivate athletes more than being humiliated on a big stage, and trust me, that was humiliating.

- I said it before the World Series started and now it's looking like I was right; Chase Utley is the scariest hitter in the Phillies lineup. Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth have flashy power, but they also have constant strikeout ability if they are pitched to properly. Utley on the other hand probably accounted for about 15% of the pitches CC Sabathia threw in Game 1. He fouled off pitch after pitch until CC made a mistake, which was immediately deposited in the right field bleachers. Hitters like Rollins, Howard, Ibanez and Werth can be dummied with good inside-outside pitch variations, Utley can cover the entire plate, spoil good pitches, and hit the ball all over the field. If the Yankees are to win this series, they should focus more on how to get Utley out, and less on the power hitters who follow him.

- Joe Buck and Tim McCarver make me want to beat my head against the wall every time they open their mouths. While newspapers like the NY Daily News have been looking for a nickname for this year's World Series, the correct answer was thrown in their face last night. I'm proud to announce that the 2009 World Series will now be known as "Everyone Loves the Philadelphia Phillies". Well, at least that's what FOX's biased fools in the booth are turning it in to. Apparently they didn't get the memo that the Yankees are in the World Series too and it's not an FCC violation to talk about them without the Phillies involved as well. Though not a direct quote, I distinctly remember hearing something along the lines of "CC Sabathia looks sharp early, but Cliff Lee has clearly been sharper thus far. Had to throw the last part in their didn't you, Joe? The sad part: that comment is closest the booth comes to objectivity on any given night. If you were totally blind and could only listen to the game, you would have thought that Derek Jeter, or "Jerek Deter" as the bumbling Tim McCarver refered to him several times in Game 1, struck out every time at the plate. "Flatline" Joe Buck and McButcher harped on his first inning strikeout at every turn, conviently ignoring Jeter ripping off 3 straight hits after that.

Here's a fun drinking game to play watching the games from here on out: Every time Tim McCarver tries to prove that he knows more about baseball than you by calling out the next pitch, and is horribly wrong, take a drink. As a warning, don't play with hard liquor; you will be belligerently drunk/borderline dead by the 3rd inning if you do. If you get too drunk too early, you miss the best part of the telecast; when McButcher blatantly screws up the catcher's signal and goes totally silent for about 30 seconds. If you're still not completely hammered from the first part of the game, A) congrats, you have a superhuman level alcohol tolerance and B) add this to the rules of the game: anytime McButcher uses the term "close" to describe a obvious play in the field or a pitch they show on their k-zone to be a mile inside/outside, drink. Guaranteed alcohol poisoning by the seventh inning stretch.

Honestly, a booze induced coma serves as a viable alternative to listening to Buck and McCarver on most nights.

Knee-jerk Reactions: The Pac-10 joins the awful officiating party

2009-10-27T14:42:00.006-04:00

1) New week, same story: I know it's not just me when I say that officiating across college football, and the rest of the sports world for that matter, has been inexcusably bad this year. Case and point, Taylor Mays attempting to behead Oregon State receiver James Rogers and the subsequent lack of yellow fabric in the offending area. Luckily, the Pac-10 actually understands that this kind of nonsense cannot occur and has suspended the oblivious referee. Not to be outdone, the SEC upped the ante with a pair of blown calls that had a direct impact in how the games played out. Exhibit A: Tennessee vs. Alabama...

Did you miss the absolute mountain of a man (AKA, Terrence Cody) tearing his helmet off in celebration after blocking the kick and while the ball was still live, because the officials definitely did. For some reason, the SEC claimed that said penalty was not an enforceable one (?). If the SEC says that's not enforceable, there is a pile of tape that shows players taking their helmet off in the field of play and being flagged 15 yards that would beg to differ. Moving on, Exhibit B: Florida vs. Mississippi State...

Note to all teams playing against Florida; you're not going to get a fair shake from the officials. Not a conspiracy theory statement, it's just a fact. The officials reviewed the interception returned for a touchdown, and still managed to blow the call. It was very clear that during his premature celebration, the Florida defender fumbled the ball before crossing the goal line and the play should have been ruled a touchback. What, didn't anyone tell the other SEC teams that Florida is going to be in the National Title game? That was determined before the season began.

At this point, the general ineptitude of officials has grown to a level where there will be ZERO tolerance for missed/blown calls in the future. Usually, if something like the Alabama/Tennessee helmet toss happens, it can be dismissed as it didn't really matter or that it was a bad call, let's move on. However, the shear number of horrid calls this year only amplifies the outrage surrounding a missed penalty like the one we saw in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. It scary to see awful calls becoming less of abominations, and more of the norm in college football.

2) The BCS/AP Pollsters still don't get it: Here's how it works; beat a better than average Tennessee team, lose your spot atop the polls. Struggle against, and use a garbage TD call to beat an awful Mississippi State team, we're #1!we're #1! Get it?

No? Good, neither do I.

I referenced the "fish memory" condition last week in regards to MMA fans, but now it appears that college football pollsters suffer from the same condition. It is the only logical conclusion to draw when top ranked Alabama beats a mediocre team and #2 ranked Florida beats a less than mediocre team, and they somehow switch spots. Did they somehow forget that 'Bama has actually stepped up to play decent competition while the Gators creampuff and pillowfight their way back to the National Title game? The only halfway decent game left on Florida's schedule is #22 South Carolina, who Alabama already dispatched in dominating fashion. Maybe Florida knew what I beginning to suspect about Tim Tebow and made their schedule accordingly. Cover your eyes Gators fans and Tebow jockriders, because this is about to get real.

3) Tim Tebow is badly overrated: Yeah, I'm going there. And yes, I'm aware that just a few weeks ago I wrote about how much of a pleasure it is watch Tebow play football. Yes, it is great to watch him play the game and I'm going to be a little disappointed when his college career is finished. My point is simply this; Tebow is not as amazing as everyone is making, and has made, him out to be. If ever you needed proof of this claim, just look at what has happened this year.

First off, get the concussion talk out of here; it hasn't changed the way he has played one bit. Tebow's problem runs much deeper than being negatively affected by a nasty hit. His problem is that he no longer has the high quality playmakers to make him look super-human than he once did. In one season, Tebow lost his three biggest playmakers to the NFL Draft (Harvin, Murphy and Ingram). Without the deep threat that Harvin presented, the quality slot presence of Murphy, and the attention that Ingram demanded in the middle of the field, defenses have been able to cheat up a little bit and key in on Tebow more. Granted, he does burn defenses for their overcommitment to crowding the box from time to time, but he does it far less frequently than in previous seasons.

Possibly the most important factor that contributed to the humanizing of Tebow is that SEC defenses now have piles of tape, and have had alot of practice to defend his style. If the front 4 can collapse the pocket, especially on the edges, Tebow gets a little jumpy in the pocket and takes his eyes off his receivers downfield. When he takes off, now most defenses have assigned a linebacker, or two, as a spy to make sure he doesn't get too far away. And with no real threat of a rushing attack other than Tebow, linebackers are freed up to either help on the slot receivers, or keep their eyes in backfield on the QB.

Nothing against Tebow; he's still a great player and should be a decent player at the next level. All I'm saying is numbers don't lie, and they've gone down significantly since he lost his big weapons. The Tim Tebow legend is exactly that, a legend. A fundamentally true story with some major exaggerations thrown in for good measure. He's great, just not as great as everyone has made him out to be.

4) C.J. Spiller is the best player no one ever talks about: Well, everyone except Todd McShay that is. Spiller was my dark horse favorite for the Heisman before the season began, and he's consistently worked his way up to serious consideration. With the major candidates (McCoy, Tebow, Bradford, Bryant) under performing, Spiller's 9 total TD's for a less than incredible Clemson team speaks volumes about how outstanding this kid really is. For a relatively undersized running back, he has decent power rushing ability to accompany his breakaway speed game. Will he win the Heisman? Absolutely not. I fully expect the ceremony to include McCoy, Tebow, Mark Ingram, Jimmy Clausen, and maybe Case Keenum with the trophy being gifted to Colt McCoy in sympathy for last year. It would just be nice to see the committee actually recognize one of the most outstanding players in college football this season, not just hand out invites to people because of past success. Check out McShay's list of Heisman frontrunners; outside of Noel Divine being top 3, he's got the right idea.

5) Free Dez Bryant!: It's good to see the NCAA wielding it's banhammer for something important. While Rich Rod runs his team into the ground in practice, Lane Kiffin violates recruiting rules, and USC looks the other way on numerous infractions by star players, the NCAA decides that a meeting with Deion Sanders is more egregious than anything else and suspends the Oklahoma State receiver for an entire year. Huh, I wonder why kids don't want to stay in college for 4 years before jumping to the NFL? Wait, maybe it has something to do with an overly judgmental board of fools more concerned with lining their own pockets with ideas like the BCS than the integrity and spirit of the game. Bryant was wrong for lying about what happened, but an entire year? We're talking about this kid's ability to make money playing at the next level, was this really necessary?

Which brings up another question; why is no one talking about what Terrell Pryor did? The Ohio State QB is fielding calls from LeBron James, which is pretty much on the same level as Bryant's "offense", but no one is talking about this. All he told the media was that JeBron encouraged him; who knows if that's really true? For all we know there was healthy discussion of potential agents and other subjects the NCAA is supposed to look down upon. Consistency NCAA, it's a glorious thing. There's bigger things happening in college football than Dez Bryant's little white lie. Maybe less time should be spent penalizing something a small as this and worry about the garbage officials that are ruining the game.

UFC 104 Recap: Welcome to the Machida Error

2009-10-25T16:24:00.003-04:00

My Picks Results: 7-4 (5-0 main card*)

Where I was right

- I put the asterisk in my main card results because I kind of feel wrong about the perfect record. Realistically, I should have been 4-1 with the loss coming in the main event of the evening. As much as I love being right about Machida winning, I feel terrible for "Shogun" Rua because I believe he got a raw deal from the judges. The three ringside judges scored the bout 48-47 (3 times) for Machida, giving him the unanimous decision victory. However, the general consensus among MMA writers, fans and those in attendance is that Rua did enough to take the belt away from the champ. And I can't really blame them for being upset at the decision as I too had "Shogun" as the winner by a 48-47 score. MMA forums have exploded since the fight with accusations of a fix, judge's incompetence, and the horribly overused term of "robbery". Let's be clear; this fight was extremely close and although the decision may not have been what I, or a lot of others, thought it would be, a robbery this was not.

An argument can easily be made for either fighter to have won the fight, which immediately rules out a "robbery". Shogun, at least from where I was watching, clearly took the 4th and 5th rounds, which leaves the opening 3 frames as the deciding factor. Based on clean striking, I gave the first 2 rounds to Machida (although the 2nd round has very close) and the 3rd was all Shogun, with the exception of a largely ineffective flurry from the champ. All credit goes to Mauricio Rua and his camp who executed a perfect gameplan that made the elusive (or "allusive" as the UFC graphic artists would have you believe) Machida look hittable for the first time in his UFC tenure. "Shougn" peppered the legs and midsection of Machida to the point where his legs were visibly bruised and his ribs were bleeding from accumulated damage. I know that "visual damage" isn't supposed to be part of judging criteria, but during the official decision announcement one fighter looked like they had been on the receiving end of much more effective striking, and it wasn't Shogun.

- Cain Velasquez is for real. Despite the nonsense that was Steve Mazzagatti stopping the fight as Ben Rothwell was using the cage to get back to his feet, Velasquez used his incredible wrestling to dictate where the fight went and completely devastated his opponent with punches en route to a 10-8 (or worse) 1st round and a stoppage early in the 2nd. This kid has all the skills needed to dominate in the heavyweight division for a very long time (yes, Brock Lesnar included). He's still developing as a fighter and it is evident with his improved stand up defense he showed against Rothwell. Granted, he only stood with for about 25 seconds before taking him down, but it only took that long for him to be tagged repeatedly by Cheick Kongo in his previous fight. Despite what overzealous Lesnar fanboys might have you believe, Cain is a legitimate threat to his spot atop the UFC heavyweight ladder. As unstoppable as Lesnar's takedown have been so far in his career, it is not beyond comprehension that Velasquez could take him down as well. Delusional fanboys seem to forget that 46 year old Randy Couture came within a fence grab of bringing Lesnar to the mat. With that in mind, it's possible that Velasquez, who threw a 270 pound Ben Rothwell around like a rag doll, could either shoot a double leg or use his wrestling in "reverse" like Chuck Liddell did for years. Cain sent a message to the heavyweight division on Saturday, "watch out".

- Surprise! Josh Neer got dominated by a wrestler, lost a wide margin decision, and got pissed when he heard it announced. Who could have ever seen that one coming? (*raises hand while smirking arrogantly*) The really sad part about this fight was that Tibau was completely gassed by the time the 3rd round started and Neer still stopped only about 50% of the takedowns in the round. Even when he did stop the feeble attempts, he was reluctant to punish Tibau for it. By the end of the fight, Neer was basically giving up on defending the takedown and resigning himself to being on his back. I told you no one would accuse this of being fight of the year. Both fighters are in a curious spot in the UFC's lightweight division now. Neer doesn't have the wrestling defense to work his way up to the top in a division ripe with top notch wrestlers, and Tibau always gasses as a result of being a huge lightweight. He's too small for welterweight and hardly ever makes the 155 lightweight limit at weigh-ins. Honestly, I wouldn't be terribly upset if both of these fighters were relegated to the undercard of Fight Night cards for awhile, or at least until they can put together a complete game.

- "Rumble" Johnson devestated Yoshiyuki Yoshida in less than a minute, just like I thought he would. Don't really care though because he came in 6 pounds overweight and likely walked into the cage at 190 or more. This was a welterweight versus a middleweight/light-heavyweight and should do nothing to help Johnson towards a title shot. Although, I wouldn't mind seeing Georges St. Pierre truck Johnson and force him to go a his actual weight class. Nothing against "Rumble", I just look at coming in overweight for a contracted fight as horribly unprofessional, and extremely dangerous for both combatants. Johnson is only 27 and it would be a shame if his career was cut short because he destroys his body cutting 40-50 pounds to make 170. Props to Yoshida for accepting the fight even with the huge weight disadvantage. He could have declined the bout and I would have been totally fine with it. It just goes to show how brave these guys really are.

- Ryan Bader and Kyle Kingsbury won decisions. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............. Not really in the case of Bader who almost finished in the 1st, but he really needs more than a 5 minute gas tank if he want to compete in a deep 205 pound division.

Where I was wrong

-Just because it would be a huge cop out to say "the undercard" in the "where I was wrong" section, I'll do my best to breakdown individual fights even though I didn't see a couple of them...

- I missed the Okami-Sonnen fight and haven't been able to find a video online yet, but from the sounds of things, Sonnen absolutely dominated Okami for 15 minutes. For the UFC, this has to be music to their ears. For about a year, fans (AKA, internet fanboys) having been clamoring for Okami to get a shot at the middleweight title. Entering UFC 104 he was 7-1 with the promotion and his only loss was to former champ Rich Franklin. With his loss to Sonnen, Okami now goes directly to the back of the line (or not because he probably already there in the UFC's eyes). Although I haven't seen the fight yet, I can only assume that Sonnen took away Okami's biggest weapon, his wrestling. Okami relies heavily on his ability to take opponents down and work from the top, which Sonnen did not allow him to do. I wouldn't be surprised to see Okami leave the UFC now and sign with DREAM or Sengoku now, simply because he would probably get more exposure fighting in Japan, rather than on the undercard of UFC's for the forseeable future.

- Pat Barry crushed his former training partner Antoni Hardonk. Oops, should have listened to Jordan Breen when he said that Hardonk doesn't move his head and gets smashed in face, even by terrible strikers. I will say this, I only picked Hardonk because I didn't assume he would be stupid enough to trade strikes with Barry, who he obviously knows has powerful striking, when he had the advantage on the ground. They're both awful on the ground (and it showed for the small amount of the time the fight went there) but I was betting on Hardonk being able to control the much smaller Barry en route to a TKO stoppage. Instead, he stood complete stiff with his hands ridiculously far apart (that's his idea of blocking apparently) and got cracked at will by Barry's straight right. Pat Barry probably isn't going anywhere in the heavyweight division simply because he's too small (5'11, 230), but his striking prowess always make him an exciting attraction, even if it's on Spike TV every time.

- Rob Kimmons got wrecked by Jorge Rivera. Didn't see the and I don't really care to in all honesty. Kimmons should have been able to submit him, but instead got pounded out by the 37 year old journeyman. I'm glad for Rivera, who has had some personal tragedy recently, but I'm not going to lose sleep over picking this fight wrong.

- 6'11 Stefan Struve triangled Chase Gormley late in round 1. I blame this one on A) Struve being way better than I thought on the ground and B) Gormley showing up with a 45 second gas tank for his UFC debut. Happy trails bro, I'm pretty sure the UFC doesn't take too kindly to underwhelming debuts. If Struve can pack 20 pounds of muscle on to his frame (he's only 21, it's possible), he could be the second coming of Semmy Schilt in the MMA world.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun - Breakdown and Picks

2009-10-22T15:21:00.010-04:00

Main Card Bouts
(Fight odds according to Bodog Sportsbook)

Lyoto Machida (-375) vs. Mauricio Rua (+290)

In his first defense of his light-heavyweight title, Lyoto Machida gets the unevniable task of taking on the former PRIDE middleweight GP winner, Mauricio Rua. As is typical of a UFC title fight, this is being cast as a battle between two distinct styles. Machida, a karate master who relies on distance, timing, flawless defense, and lethal parrying, versus "Shogun", a muay thai striker who relies on unorthodox striking, and punishing clinch work. The big question coming in is whether Shogun will be able to solve Machida's elusive style and work his strengths on the inside.

Breakdown: Despite their respective prowess on the feet, the deciding factor could be Rua's ability to take Machida to the floor. Even with his impressive first round knockout of Chuck Liddell in April, it is very hard to believe that a wild striker, albeit an excellent one, like Shogun will be able to land the necessary shots to score the (T)KO. Machida is the least hit fighter in UFC history, and it's not hard to see why. The man is a technician in the purest sense of the word. He maintains a very wide stance which provides him with perfect balance to elude strikes, avoid takedowns, and step in to pounce on mistakes by his opponents. Refer to his last fight against Rashad Evans for proof of the last part. Evans, a skilled boxer, feigned a left and followed with a right cross which was immediately parried down and met with a cracking right from Machida that was basically the end of the fight. With a KO being more or less a minute possibility, that leaves the ground as Shogun best asset to score the victory.

If there is one (small) flaw in Machida's game it is that he has shown that he can be taken down. In consecutive UFC bouts against Kazuhiro Nakamura and Sokoudjou, he found himself on his back, although not for very long. It's a leap to say that Shogun can definitely land a takedown because those two did because both fighters are decorated judokas, but he is no slouch at get fights to the floor from the clinch. During his PRIDE GP run, he used clinch trips on numerous occasions to get Antonio Rogerio Nogueria to floor and land some strikes. Both fighters are BJJ black belts, but the edge may have to go to Shogun in that area simply because we've seen him utilize it more in MMA.

Pick: Getting this fight to the ground is Shogun's best chance to win this fight, but don't expect it to happen. Most of his takedowns are set up by leg strikes which will be exceedingly difficult to land on Machida. Oh, and there's that giant question mark about Shogun's gas tank, which was a problem even before his two ACL reconstructions. Simply trying to land on Machida might be enough to wear him out enough for the champ to put things away. We've seen what happens when a muay thai striker tries to wade in and throw bombs with his hands down at Machida, and it wasn't pretty. Expect the "Machida Era" to continue with the emphatic thud of Shogun hitting the canvas. Lyoto Machida by TKO - Round 3

Cain Velasquez (-350) vs. Ben Rothwell (+275)

Breakdown: Coming in to this fight, the majority of the attention has been on the supposed question of Velasquez's chin. In an all too growing trend among MMA fans and writers, the "fish memory" kicks in and a fighter's last bout is the ultimate barometer of their skills. Therefore, because Velasquez was rocked on several occassions by Cheick Kongo, a legitmate K-1 level striker, he has a glass jaw and has no stand up defense. Although there is a very limited sample size because he has only had 6 professional fights, these claims are clearly overreactions. In no way is Cain an elite striker a this point in his career, but he does have the skills necessary to get inside on Rothwell and take the fight to the ground. "Big" Ben is just that, big, but he isn't exactly the most adept fighter in the world at stuffing takedowns. In the IFL, current Ultimate Fighter cast member Roy Nelson was able to take him down throughout the fight. If Nelson is able to get the fight to the mat, what is going to stop a former All-American wrestler from doing the same? Rothwell does hit hard, but his stand up is nowhere near as crisp as Kongo's, relying more on wild hooks and pressure to inflict damage. If he takes this route he takes against Velasquez, expect the wrestler impulse to kick in very quickly.

Pick: Make no mistake, this is a showcase fight for one of the UFC's rising heavyweight prospects. Rothwell is not a can by any stretch, but I can't get over the feeling that this fight was hand picked to get Velasquez an impressive win. If "Big" Ben can connect with one his wild hooks everything could go south, but I'd expect an unstoppable emergency takedown if this happens. Velasquez will control him with his dominant top game and look to finish with ground and pound, but I question if he has the same problem Brock Lesnar had in his first fights of not knowing how to finish. Until I see otherwise against upper level competition, I can't predict a finish of a tough guy like Rothwell. Doesn't matter though, Velasquez takes the win even without a finish. Cain Velasquez by unanimous decision

Josh Neer (+105) vs. Gleison Tibau (-135)

Breakdown: We've seen this fight play out before under different names so I'll be brief. Josh Neer has trouble with guys who can take him down, hold him there and avoid his aggressive submission attempts from guard. The best thing working for Tibau is Neer's propensity to get agitated when he gets dominated by a wrestler and attempts to lure his opponent into a mess of a kickboxing fight. Tibau is smarter than that and knows what his strengths are. He's going to take Neer down, hold him there, and look for submissions from the top. No one is going to accuse this one of being fight of the year.

Pick: Unless Gleison Tibau gasses, gets sloppy, and dives into a guillotine during a takedown (ala the Joe Stevenson fight), he is pretty much the worst possible match up for Neer. It's not going to be a lot of fun to watch, but it should be a clear cut victory based on top control. No matter how it plays out, look for Neer to be surprised/pissed when the decision is announced, however lopsided the fight was. Gleison Tibau by unanimous decision

Anthony Johnson (-450) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (+300)

Breakdown: This fight has "KO of the Night" bonus written all over it. MMA news sites and forums alike are buzzing with the news that Johnson cuts 50 (!) pounds to make the welterweight limit of 170. This pretty much guarantees that he will have a decided size and strength advantage over Yoshida. As we've seen in his bout with Tommy Speer, and the second go around with Kevin Burns, "Rumble" has some beastly power in his strikes and can end a fight in the blink of an eye. Contrast that with Yoshida who was straight up starched by Josh Koscheck not too long ago, and it's pretty clear who has the advantage standing. The one thing "Zenko" has in his favor is a decided vantage in the clinch and on the floor. A black belt level judoka, Yoshida has a serious anaconda choke, and Johnson has been subbed by fighters with above average ground skills before. The problem will be getting past Johnson's strikes and throwing a man who will be well north of 180 pounds come fight time.

Pick: If Yoshida can somehow survive into the 3rd round, it's possible that Johnson's weight cut could cause him to gas and make it easier to score a takedown. That's assuming "Rumble" doesn't rearrange his face sometime in the 10 minutes before the 3rd round. We all know what happens when you assume, but I'm willing to take that chance. Johnson is a better striker than Koscheck and he may end this fight in a more violent fashion, if that's at all possible. Anthony Johnson by TKO - Round 1

Joe Stevenson (-270) vs. Spencer Fisher (+210)

Breakdown: For some reason, this fight is the toughest one to try and get a handle on. Although the lines are pretty steep, this fight feels a lot closer than Stevenson being a 3 to 1 favorite. What makes this fight difficult to get a grip on is the fact that you almost never know what kind of performance you will get from either fighter. Will you get the boxer Joe Stevenson who completely abandons his powerful takedowns, or will he actually utilize the ground advantage he has against Fisher? Will the Thiago Alves/Sam Stout II version of Fisher show up, or will the recent, underwhelming Caol Uno version be there on Saturday? The way I see it, if the intelligent, grappling whiz Joe Stevenson shows up, it could be a rough night for Fisher. Joe "Daddy" is a top notch grappler and Fisher's takedown defense, while serviceable, may not be enough to stop a someone as strong as Stevenson. If Fisher can stuff some takedowns and punish Stevenson for the attempts, he might be able to steal this one away.

Pick: It's tough to go against the odds and pick Spencer Fisher considering his track record in fights that can put him into the contender department. Joe "Daddy", now with Greg Jackson in his corner, will likely take away the advangtages that Fisher has in the stand up and turn this one into a grappling match. A stoppage is unlikely for Stevenson, but when the final bell rings it should be pretty clear who won the fight. Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision

Undercard Bouts
(favorite is italicized)

Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen - Yushin Okami by submission (kimura) - Round 2
Ryan Bader vs. Eric Shafer - Ryan Bader by unanimous decision
Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve - Chase Gormley by TKO - Round 1
Patrick Barry vs. Antoni Hardonk - Antoni Hardonk by TKO - Round 1
Jorge Rivera vs. Rob Kimmons - Rob Kimmons by submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1
Kyle Kingsbury vs. Razak Al-Hassan - Kyle Kingsbury by unanimous decision

For the Gambling types...

Confidence Picks: Plays on Machida, Bader and Okami
Official Parlay: Bader+Okami+Velasquez+Kimmons
High Risk/Reward Parlay: Yoshida+Rivera+Rothwell+Stevenson

The SEC takes out the garbage

2009-10-21T18:11:00.005-04:00

The good news: The SEC finally woke up and suspended the bums responsible for the Florida-Arkansas and LSU-Georgia debacles.

The bad news: They have immediately hired the ALCS umpire crew as their temporary replacements.

Chris Chelios: The Anti-Brett Favre

2009-10-21T14:52:00.002-04:00

See, there is a way to attempt a professional sports comeback without being a complete attention whore.

The 25-year veteran and sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer signed a contract with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL yesterday. Obviously, the hope is to get a call up to the big squad in Chicago, or get traded to a team that needs a serviceable blue liner. The painful reality, however, is that he will probably never get that call up and the end of his incredible career will come in the minors. For the better part of the last 3 season, Cheli has spent his time being listed on the injury report, being a healthy scratch and playing minimal time on the Red Wings 3rd defensive pairing. Sad to say, but the game has really passed him by. Even when he was healthy enough to play, it was clear that his legs simply weren't on the same level with his defensive IQ anymore. Despite the eroding skills, Chelios gets alot of credit for one thing; he's going about his comeback the right way.

For a player who is held in as high regard by everyone around the NHL as Chelios is, it would have been very easy for him to put an ultimatum in front of the Red Wings a few years ago. Trade me, release me, or play me; it's that simple. But did he? No, he took his healthy scratches like a man and used the opportunity to coach up the younger players. You think a young defenseman like Niklas Kronwall has benefited from his knowledge only 20+ years in the league can bring? And when the Red Wings parted ways with him at the end of last season, did he immediately seek out the Penguins or Blackhawks and ask them to sign him? Again, not even close. Yes, the Blackhawks are probably the Red Wings biggest rival, but they came calling for him, not the other way around.

My favorite part of this whole thing is Cheli's willingness to work his way back into the NHL rather than play the legend card in hopes of a deal. I have very little doubt that he could have caught on with a lower level team and started right away. But instead, he decided to go back home to Chicago and attempt to salvage his career where he A) is still beloved for his time with the 'Hawks in the 90's and B) will not be taking away a roster spot from an equally deserving player simply because he's Chris Chelios. A testament to just how right he is handling this situation: even with him being in a rival's organization, he remains the player's representative for the Red Wings. You think Detroit would agree to that if he pulled a Favre on them and held them hostage year after year?

From beginning to end, whenever it may be, Chelios has always done things the right way. Easiest way to figure that one out: Watch what happens if/when Chelios goes back to Detriot as a Blackhawk and compare it to how Favre is going to be received in Green Bay in 2 weeks. You tell me who knows how to handle things correctly.

Second Guess Machine: Joe Girardi's Big Binder of Micromanagement

2009-10-20T15:07:00.006-04:00

Joe Girardi would like to take this moment to completely ignore any or all of your favorite "don't out think the room" cliches. The Yankee manager's inexplicable decision to lift right handed reliever David Robertson in favor of right handed reliever Alfredo Aceves in the name of matching up (?) has attracted the criticism wagon train out to Anaheim. Generally, I'm not in to the whole blame the manager when something goes wrong game. However, the amount of head scratching done because of his decisions has bascially left me without a choice in the matter. With that said, far be it for me to be left behind on this wonderfully justified Girardi bash.

For all of those who don't follow the Yankees with the borderline unhealthy fervor that I do, this is nothing new for the skipper. His obsession with statistics and creating the perfect pitching match up has reached a level that he has become almost a caricature of Tony LaRussa. Very rarely do teams carry specialist pitchers that are used in anything other than a one-and-done fashion these days. Relievers are now more likely to be counted on for a full inning or more, regardless of who is batting or what their handedness is. Girardi carries 2 specialists on his playoff roster in Phil Coke and Damaso Marte. Not only do these pitcher's artificially lengthen a game by demanding constant pitching changes, the are more or less dead weight in a short series. With only a 25 man roster to work with in the playoffs, there is no room for a one-and-done player. If Girardi cannot trust a bullpen pitcher for more than 1/3 of an inning, they probably shouldn't be on the roster.

What was especially troubling about Girardi's final trip to the mound in Game 3 was that it was clear that he had made up his mind about what he was going to do, even after Robertson got two quick outs. Instead of trusting his eyes and watching his reliever retire two hitters who are far more adept than Howie Kendrick, Girardi went to his Grey's Anatomy size stats book and lifted his pitcher. Why you ask? Who knows. If ESPN has to look up Kendrick's percentage of hits against the fastball and the average number of fastballs Robertson and Aceves throw to hitters, you're probably over thinking the situation. For a manager who is obviously obsessed with knowing a pitcher's history against a batter and the variety of pitches they throw, Girardi must have a fairly selective memory. Lest he forget, Aceves was the pitcher who forced A-Rod into the hero role (again) in Game 2 with his futility in the 11th inning. As soon as he started down from the bullpen my first thought was "this moment is way too big for him to handle". Of course, because I went with my gut instinct, I was right. See Joe, it is that easy sometimes.

Lucky for Joe, he might get the mental break he needs in Game 4, when he sends one of the best stoppers in the majors, CC Sabathia, to mound tonight. But then again, if the wrong match up presents itself, maybe even CC will have to look over his shoulder for his manager.

In the Binder Girardi Trusts.

Knee-jerk Reactions: America, meet Mark Ingram

2009-10-19T14:24:00.006-04:00

1) The NCAA hates Nick Saban: I can't think of any other reason for the continued disrespect of this incredible team. Florida is gift wrapped a win thanks to homer calls from incompetent SEC referees (to be discussed later), Texas looks flat and uninspired against a deflated Oklahoma team, USC takes a page out of the Minnesota Vikings playbook and gives up in the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech loses to a team without an passing game, and Miami looks less than impressive against a terrible UCF team. Meanwhile, in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide absolutely dismantle a South Carolina team that is better than most people think, and it is largely glossed over.

Why? You've got me.

Need proof that the BCS is either horribly flawed, or a total joke; Florida has beaten one ranked team and is nearly .040 percentage points ahead of Alabama, a team with 3 ranked wins in 7 games. The only thing keeping me from jumping into the "total joke" camp is the fact that there is no other team within .060 percentage points of either of these teams. Clearly Florida and Alabama are the best two teams in the country, but the problem is they're no longer interchangeable as most people believe. At this point in the season, Alabama is without question the number one team in the nation. Get that "their the champs until someone beats them" argument out of here. This isn't boxing, it's college football. New year, new teams, new number 1. The Tide have better wins and have looked better in their wins, simple as that.

Watching Alabama play, I keep having this thought that they are a Big 10 team trapped in the SEC. Not a bad thing, just a stylistic observation. Looking at the SEC, the top teams usually step on the field with a high octane offense and an athletic defense that can fly around the field an threaten a pick-six on every throw. Alabama is a different kind of monster in the SEC. Yes, they can punish you for making a bad throw, but it's usually the result of their front seven being dominant to a point where the offense has to try and force passes down field. No one will ever accuse the Tide's offense of being explosive, but make no mistake, they have playmakers everywhere and can put up some serious points.

The problem with Top 25 pollsters is that often times they get blown away by statistics and don't really take into consideration how games play out. Alabama beat South Carolina 20-6, and that's about the extent of knowledge a pollster needs when making up their Top 25. Sure, I have absolutely no proof of this, but it's the only logical conclusion I can make when the polls continue to have the Gators at #1. The score of the game was 20-6, but really that game was nowhere near as close as the score indicates. Alabama totally dominated the Gamecocks on both sides of the ball, but apparently that has little or no bearing on their ranking. Florida gets soundly outplayed by a brutal Arkansas team, but holds on to their top spot because "a win is a win".

Final score doesn't mean everything. When voters figure that out, I can stop wasting time complaining about the best team in a conference sitting behind the second best team in the national polls.

2) OK, one more point on Alabama...: Mark Ingram is a freak. The big questions going into this season were if Alabama would be able to replace John Parker Wilson at QB, and if losing Glen Coffee would allow defenses to key in on the new play caller. Well, so far they've answered with a "kinda" and "not at all". Nothing helps a new QB get his bearings than having the option to hand the ball off to a stud running back and piggy-back a passing attack off him. That is exactly what Ingram was brought to Alabama this season. Not only has he opened up the passing game for the Tide by forcing teams to stack the box to stop him, he has the ability to beat an 8 man front and break away if he gets the edge. 245 yards against a Steve Spurrier defense should be a red flag for every team that they need to know where Ingram is at all times. With most of the top Heisman candidates floundering, this sophomore might just sneak up and steal it away if he keeps playing like he has.

3) "The Sweater Vest" may be in a bit of trouble in Columbus: Update on the "Who Wants to be the Next Bob Stoops" competition. After actually showing some heart and fight against USC, Charlie Weis slips to second in the standings. That leaves you Coach Tressel; congrats for being the leader at midway point of the season. No, Purdue isn't a big game, but you still lost to a team that was badly over matched, ala Bob Stoops. A great comment was made in the weekly live chat hosted by Rivals.com by one of their analysts. In regards to Terrelle Pryor and his 4 turnover implosion against the Boilermakers, a remark was made that Pryor is Troy Smith in Vince Young clothes. I thought about that line for a moment, then basically said yeah, that's accurate. The Buckeyes quarterback is built the Texas standout/Tennesee disaster, but has the Troy Smith problem of not knowing what kind of QB he is. Yes he can run the ball effectively, but his throwing mechanics are simply awful. Even on the TD pass he threw, the pass was off balance and off of his back foot. If Tressell can't figure out how to fix his QB and turn his program around, expect the calls for his head to only get louder.

4) The South Eastern Conference: Where referees decide the game, not the teams: Thank you SEC for providing more fuel to my fiery hatred of over involved referees. We have a new clubhouse leader for garbage ref crew of the year with the Arkansas-Florida crew topping the LSU-Georgia squad by wide margins. Oh wait, no we don't, because it was THE SAME CREW! If anyone can provide a logical explaination as to why these people are allowed to be in charge of these games, I'll give you a cookie. Rather than ramble on about how bad the judgment of these fine individuals was, I'll let the visuals do the talking for me. Huge ups to Michael David Smith from Fanhouse.com for compiling the evidence. Here's the multi-video link. Nice work, gentlemen.

5) The New Orleans Saints; the best team in football: And really, it's not even close. Drew Brees and company completely dominated the best statistical defense in the league, and Eli Manning was made to look middle of the road against an ever improving defense. Seven TD's by seven different players doesn't just scream "Drew Brees for MVP", it screams well balanced offensive attack. And if any team thinks they're going into the Superdome and winning a game against this team now, let alone the playoffs, they're in for a rude awakening. Other than maybe Jets fans at the Meadowlands, there is probably no other stadium that gives it's team a college football like home field advantage like the Superdome. If the Saints play the rest of the season the way they played the first 1/3, the Patriots of '07 may have some company in the record books.

6) I hate the Baltimore Ravens: Why? I think we all know why. Because of their lack of a experienced kicker, everyone in America will be treated to another week of Favre worship. Let's get a few things straight about this game; the missed FG was a bigger play than Favre's pass to Sidney Rice (who was covered all day by scrubs at defensive back), and 6-0 is incredibly deceptive.

Remember what I said earlier, stats aren't everything. Yes, the Vikings are 6-0, but they are the least impressive of the undefeated teams. My awful break-up with Brett Favre has absolutely nothing to do with this observation either. I say this because Minnesota pulled a "USC vs. Notre Dame" against the Ravens, and have done so in every other game as well. Define pull a USC: To have another team completely dominated and on the verge of defeat before taking a foot off the opponents throat and allowing them back in the game. Six games into the season, and Minnesota has still yet to play an entire four quarters of football. Baltimore was out of the game in the fourth quarter, and the Vikings played exactly like they were. 3 TD's later, they're behind and wondering what happened. If there was any justice in the world, they would have lost that game simply so the team could learn a lesson. You never kick a man when he's down, except in football where you dance on the downed man until the song is over.

A quick note: Before you simply want to hand Jared Allen the Defensive POTY, take a look at the left tackles that he has gone against this season. Call me crazy, but smoking Daryn Colledge, Micheal Oher, and Joe Thomas off the edge isn't all that impressive. Last I checked we don't award incredible praise to people for doing exactly what they're paid to do. Don't get it twisted; Michael Oher keeping Allen away from Flacco in the 4th quarter is a lot more impressive than Allen beating Oher in the three quarters before that. Blow by Max Starks this weekend in Pittsburgh, then we'll talk.

7) The Titans quit, plain and simple: Give props the the Patriots, who finally look like they're back to playing the way they're supposed to. But, to say anything other than the Titans quit in the first half of that game is overstating Tom Brady and company's performance. Even in the snow, Tennesee looked like they're were moving in slow motion. The conditions didn't seem to slow down New England, so that leaves only one logical conclusion; they quit. You would hope that a team that went 13-and-3 last season would have enough pride to at least lay some punishing, but legal, hits on the Pats when they were clearly running up the score. Nope, they packed it in and watched the scoreboard light up drive after drive. If this keeps up, not only Jeff Fisher be out of a job, every owner in the NFL will be bankrupt from the cost of having to change the score every 90 seconds. Think about it; the electric bills will be through the roof.

8) Update: Derek Anderson still sucks: In regards to my post last week, I have now been vindicated in my reasoning that JaMarcus Russell is better than Derek Anderson. Easy logic: Raiders beat Eagles, 2-4 overall. Browns lose to Steelers, 1-5 overall. Conclussion: Anderson is garbage. One more time this week everyone; final score isn't everything. The Browns kept the game against Pittsburgh "close", but really it wasn't. If the Steelers didn't decide to re-enact the dreadful first 5 minutes of the Syracuse-South Florida game in the third quarter, the game would have been a blowout. But alas, to properly recreate the wonderful pageantry of the Orange and Bulls, it takes two willing participants. That's where Mr. Anderson comes in to play.

First the good things he did. He threw a 1 yard TD.

............................................

OK, now that we have that out of the way, here's where he sucked. Anderson completed 38 percent of his passes (wow), passed for 122 yards (cool) and turned the ball over 3 times (incredible). It's called karma Coach Mangini; that's what you get for naming your kid after Brett Favre. For that idiotic decision, you will be forever haunted by inconsistent (non-existant, whatever) QB play wherever you go.

Just curious coach, does your son like waffles?

Come sail away: Sports figures in need of a long balloon ride

2009-10-15T16:27:00.006-04:00

OK, this probably in really bad taste, but the kid wasn't in the balloon, he's totally fine, and I wasted 90 minutes of my life watching the damn thing fly around so I'm entitled to rip on the situation a little bit. Here's a short list of athletes/sports figures that would be best served to float away in a homemade balloon...

Eric Mangini - I don't like Eric Mangini (as a coach at least; don't know him personally and honestly don't care to) and I've made that perfectly clear on multiple occasions. I never understood the praise he got as being an incredible coach. The truth is, he has a sub .500 record as a head coach and he obviously has a serious problem relating to, and managing his personnel. Besides playing Bill Belichick style games with his QB situation in the preseason, he has flat out lied to the media about his "good relationship" with Brady Quinn on multiple occasions. Maybe a long, isolated balloon trip would help bring him to the conclusion that this head coaching thing isn't really his best line of work.

Gus Johnson - Anyone who has ever heard Gus as a commentator for basketball, football or MMA knows extra what I'm talking about. When this man does sports, he makes anything he sees sound as if it's the Miracle on Ice, Kirk Gibson's home run game, and the Rumble in the Jungle all rolled into one. Suzyn Waldman thinks Gus Johnson overdoes it, and that's really saying something. Perhaps an extended period of time in a helium balloon would make his brand of commentating more bearable. It would sure make it a lot more interesting.

Manny Ramirez - No real reason he needs to be sent away in a balloon, (other than the steroids, Green Monster bathroom break, and general futility in the field) it just seems like something Manny would do without prompting anyway. Plus, when he wants to come back down, rescuers can just use his massive dreadlocks as the tethers to lock him down.

Al Davis - If for no other reason than he has driven the Raiders into the ground, Davis should be forcibly strapped into a balloon and sent on a trip around the world. Maybe with someone else in charge, the coaches will stop assaulting assistants, the QB would complete more than 40 percent of his passes, and other teams wouldn't be calling regular season games against the Raiders glorified "walkthroughs". Realistically, you probably wouldn't even need to provide a balloon to send him into the air. Just duct tape the cuffs on his windjacket and windpants and fill it up with helium. I guarantee it would work.

Steve Spagnuolo - I get the feeling a forced trip in a balloon would meet with very little resistance from Spagnuolo at this point. Having to stare a the gray walls of the balloon capsule would probably be a welcome change from being forced to watch the Rams from the sidelines every weekend.

Stephen Jackson - Despite this being absolutely necessary, I would be wary of actually allowing this one to happen. With Jackson, he might fall out and hurt himself because he would probably punch a hole in the balloon. Lucky for the youth of America, no one would try to recreate his flight because he doesn't want "young guys to try to follow me". Don't worry Stephen, no one would.

Sidney Crosby - He desperately needs to be put in a balloon and sent away for awhile, if only to spare the sanity of NHL referees. The problem is he would die from lack of air after fruitlessly campaigning for hours on end for a penalty against the balloon for excessively touching him.

Brett Favre - Besides the obvious over saturation of Favre in the sports media and his general obnoxiousness, I think it would be a miracle of science if a balloon could actually take off and maintain flight under the massive drag of Favre's enormous ego.

Why does Bernard Hopkins know what gay porno looks like?

2009-10-15T14:00:00.004-04:00

(Ain't nothin' homo 'bout my gimp mask, son)

Ignorance is bliss, just ask Bernard Hopkins. In all honesty, there is probably nothing funnier than when a boxer/boxing promoter starts bashing MMA. Whether it be Bob Arum's rant about MMA being "homosexual" and directed at "skinheads", or Floyd Mayweather's classic comment that the sport is for "beer drinkers", boxing people are always great for a hilarious sound byte. Not to be outdone, or completely forgotten at this point in his career, Bernard Hopkins decided to add his two cents to the boxing/MMA argument. In an interview with BoxingScene.com, the Executioner said

"Everybody is different. I don't want to watch two grown men wrestling with panties on. I'm from the hood, we don't play that. To me, I'm not buying a ticket to watch two grown men with panties on, sweating, nuts in their face. That's not me. To compare that to boxing is ludicrous. It's a porno. It's an entertainment porno. I'm not wrestling a guy with panties on and his nuts in my face, and they call that a sport.

"I'm not criticizing people for what kind of entertainment they like. I think most of those people have chains and masks in their closets. There is something out there for everybody. I can understand if 90% of women were going to those things but I can't understand a grown man sitting there with a couple of guys watching two grown men with panties on, sweating. That's just my opinion. It's not a good look."

LOL! Of course this is just the rantings of a man who is watching his sport erode and be overrun by a growing sport. Boxing has grown stagnant with endless forced title shots, countless organizations with their own titles, lack of quality match making, and an overall problem garnering and holding the interest of fans. While boxing might deliver a true marquee match up 3-4 times a year, the UFC alone puts on double that in any given year. This fails to add in the co-main events that are quite often better than the actual main event. But back to Mr. Hopkins...

Let me get this "straight" (see what I did there?), MMA fighters are gay because they sweat and hang on to each other during a fight? Hmm, you must have been one cool customer in all of your 12 round fights to never break a sweat. And the holding on to each other thing, that hasn't plagued boxing for years has it? I especially love the "panties" line; that is an instant classic quote. It's made even more hilarious considering boxers like Hopkins walk out to the ring in shiny, sequined robes that Hugh Hefner would find tacky and proceed to dance around (stick and move for the snobs) for 30-36 minutes in matching sequined trunks. A lopsided victory for hypocrisy!

Don't get it twisted, I love both boxing and MMA (70-30 MMA for now). I just can't stand it when professional boxers try to discredit professional mixed martial artists and talk down to those who support MMA as being fans of gay porn because they don't understand the appeal of ground work. Much in the same way that training a boxer's hands is a an art, learning the intricacies of the ground game, whether it be wrestling, judo or jiu-jitsu, is simply a different art. They both have their value, and neither should be diminished in their difficulty to learn or master. With his comments, Hopkins sounds like an insecure, homophobe who refuses to believe there is a difference between high level competitive grappling, and gay sex. Perhaps it's the unbridled homophobia, disparaging "we're better than you" comments, and incredible greed by promoters, and certain boxers, that is turning people away the sport. While the boxing world sits up on it's pedestal in it's fantasy land and judges everyone around it, MMA is down to earth, chipping away at it's base, slowly bringing boxing back to reality.

Perhaps what Joe Calzaghe did to Bernard Hopkins really scarred him for life. If that's the case, maybe I can let his comment go this one time. After all, being a participant in simulated gay sex might have made him sensative to the subject.

ed. note: this .gif never gets old. Comedy at it's finest.

Knee-jerk Reactions: A Completed Sale of the Denver Broncos

2009-10-14T15:49:00.005-04:00

1) OK, I give up; the Broncos are legit...: ...and I'm finally ready to say that with confidence. I've been skeptical of this team and their success early on this season, and for good reason. Until the Pats came to town on Sunday, the Broncos hadn't really been tested (the Cowboys included) and were one fluke play away from losing their first game. But, Josh McDaniels and his semi-slapped together crew of other team's castaways is for real. Kyle Orton is having an absolute renaissance under center in Denver, Brandon Marshall has ceased acting like a child and decided to play to his potential, Knowshon Moreno is looking like one of the smartest picks from this year's draft, Champ Bailey is playing like Champ Bailey again, and the diminutive Elvis Dumervil is a total freak coming off the edge. The Broncos are 1-0 to start their murderers row part of their schedule, if they can make it through the other 3 games unscathed, they may jump into the conversation as the best team in the NFL. Although I'm sold on this team as being how I think they are, don't hold your breath on that one.

2) Remember what I said about the Jaguars?: Yeah, they're still really bad. I may have to chalk the 41-0 beating they took up in Seattle up to Owen Schmidt make himself bleed his own blood in pregame. Maybe, but probably not. More than likely I'll chalk their loss up to the fact that they are just godawful all around (with the exception of MoJo).

3) Toss up: Who's worse? JaMarcus Russell, or Derek Anderson?: Sorry, the PTI voice in my head doesn't really translate well to type. Anyway...seriously, who is the worse QB of these two? Russell finally completed over 50 percent of his passes (8-13 for 100 yards. Hall of Fame, here he comes) but fumbled the ball away 3 times while being routed by the Giants. Anderson on the other hand, was the anti-star of the biggest pillow fight game of the week (season?) against the Bills, completing at an 11.8 percent clip (2-17 for 23 yards). Just for some perspective, Anderson's completion percentage is the second lowest in the history of the NFL.

I'm really having a hard time deciding which of these QB's is more terrible than the other. The inclination would be to go with Russell simply because he was the number 1 overall pick for the Raiders. But I think I'm going to go with Anderson as of right now. Sure, part of it has to do with my undying man-crush on Brady Quinn, but the other part has to do with the fact that he has been complete garbage this season. I've said it since Russell was playing at LSU; he's got a big arm, and that's about it. He's clearly too immature to play in the NFL (300 pounds at training camp? Really?) and the team around him was incredible during his college year. But Anderson, the man was a Pro Bowler not so long ago. Where did that guy go?

Since replacing Quinn two weeks ago, Anderson has racked up a staggering 1 passing TD, and 5 wonderful interceptions. So much for that shot in the arm the offense needed, right coach Mangini? I'm really starting to believe that Brady Quinn must have slept with Mangini's wife (look at the man and tell me it isn't possible). What other logical reason could he have for leaving him on the bench while watching Anderson excel in futility since being named starter? There is absolutely no possible way that Quinn could do worse than the disgrace to football we watched Sunday.

The really sad part; the Browns still won the game. Toronto's calling, Bills fans!

4) Someone better stop Iowa, and quickly: O-H...I-O! Get used to cheering that because the Buckeyes may be our only chance from having to witness Iowa get slaughtered in the National Title game. Before the lynch mobs show up at the door, let me explain this real quick. This statement is completely contingent on one, or all, of the major powers (Florida, Texas, Alabama) losing a game before the end of the season. If any two of these teams remain unbeaten, this becomes a total moot point. However, if any of these teams end up with a loss, can anyone make a case explaining why an unbeaten Big 10 team should be snubbed in favor of a 1-loss Texas, Florida, USC, Virginia Tech, etc?

Boise State? Stop, just stop. One win over a decent team does not a National Title team make. Cincinnati? The Big 10>>> the Big East, end of story. The fact of the matter is, if something happens to the elite of the elite in college football and the Hawkeyes go unbeaten, they will be playing for the BCS title. Wins over Michigan, Penn State (on the road), and possible wins over Ohio State (at the 'Shoe) and Wisconsin (on the road) make for a pretty impressive resume. If only because the bulk of their quality wins would be road wins, Kirk Ferentz's team deserves the nod over the 1-loss teams Big 10 bashing nerds will be clamoring for.

5) It will be a sad day for college football when Tim Tebow leaves: Please note that this has very little to do with Tebow's performance against LSU on Saturday. Sure, he had some flashes of brilliance and it's somewhat undeniable what he means to that Gators team, but this is more a comment on his overall body of work. Even in a sport that has seen an influx of running QB's in the last 10-15 years, Tebow truly revolutionized the position. While Michael Vick and others attempted to make people miss and move the pocket around, Tebow simply goes wild bull on opposing defenses and tries to run them over if they're in his way. Can anyone recall a time when he slid down instead of taking tacklers head on? And for a QB with a less than incredible passing game, he has made some of the most clutch and incredible throws I've ever seen. Whether it be the unorthodox jump pass that usually accompanies a National Title, or simply his bullet pass hitting his tight end on a quick slant, he seems to make any throw his team needs him to make.

Realistically, the intangibles don't even need to be discussed because we all know about them. He's a great leader and motivator for his team, and a coach's dream. Look no further than his speech after the Ole Miss loss engraved on the entrance to "The Swamp" for proof of how much he means to Florida. Tebow is a once in a generation player and it's an honor to watch him do what he does every weekend. Here's hoping he can continue his play on the next level. (anywhere but Jacksonville please!)

6) The K-Zone Curse lives! (or is born, whatever): Yeah, I just made that up and I know it's pretty weak, but apparently it's real. No less than a week after I proclaim that Auburn and Wisconsin need to be recognized in the Top 25 polls, they immediately go out and get shellacked by Arkansas and Ohio State respectively. This comes on the heels of Cal laying an egg against USC after I declare that it will Game of the Year and Jahvid Best becoming a non-factor for the Heisman after I throw my support behind him. Oops, sorry guys. This just makes me wonder, what is the extent to which I can take this? Let's find out...

- Everything I said about Iowa will come true.
- USC will completely truck Notre Dame this weekend. (wow, that one really hurt)
- Alabama will play Florida for the SEC title and straight up dominate.

Can't really think of any others that would be considered a "curse" if they actually happened. I was going to throw in "Greg Paulus will be benched for Ryan Nassib before the end of the season" but it looks like he's doing a good enough job cursing himself.

7) Finally, justice for the Crimson Tide: Sure, they only moved up to #2 in the polls, but it's progress. Obviously they weren't going to leapfrog Florida after they beat LSU, but at least the voters finally realized that Alabama beating a decent, yet highly overrated, Ole Miss team is far more important than Texas destroying Colorado and their nepotism driven offense. If Texas beat Oklahoma this weekend, more than likely they'll retake the number 2 spot, but they probably shouldn't. That would be their first "good" win of the season, and it's really not all that impressive now that the Sooners have 2 losses.

In reality, the polls will mean absolutely nothing until the SEC title game happens. If Florida and Alabama meet up in that game, it's not really going to matter who is #1 at that point. The winner of that game will be the number 1 team, the loser will drop to around 4th or 5th, and Texas will be number 2, barring a loss at some point. So Longhorns fans, relax about being dropped in the polls. It's really not that big a deal right now, especially with Oklahoma and their conquering hero Sam Bradford coming to town this week.

It's "Official"; Sports are in the hands of dangerous men

2009-10-13T14:14:00.010-04:00

It's intrinsic of professional sports that those who oversee a game, or fight, will have some effect on how that particular event turns out. The problem is, as we've seen recently in both college and pro football, the MLB playoffs, and combat events both domestic and abroad, officials are actively altering the outcomes of events through poor judgment and general over zealousness.

More so than probably any other athletic event, the visibility of officials and the scrutiny that can arise from their actions is most pronounced in combat sports. And for good reason; the referee is charged with literally protecting the lives of the fighters. However, the purpose of a boxing or MMA match is no only for two combatants to prove who is the better fighter, it is more than likely their cheif source of income. When a referee fails to their job properly through indecision in protecting a defenseless fighter, or a nervous, knee-jerk reaction to a temporarily stunned fighters, they are not only taking money away from a fighter at that moment, they could be threatening the future earning power for said fighter.

If you need an example of what exactly it is I'm talking about, look no further than last weekend's WEC card, DREAM.11 and the ShoBox card from October 2nd. Starting with the ShoBox card, in the Antwone Smith-Henry Crawford bout, in the 9th round Smith leveled Crawford with a right that should have stopped the bout. Unfortunately for Smith's brain, the referee and his clearly uncaring cornermen (who came to the ring without an enswell to bring down the swelling on their fighter's face) allowed the fighter to endure a legal assault for the remainder of the round, and part of the next. In a perfect, or even halfway decent, world, when the referee heard Crawford's cornermen yell "wake him up!" in between the 9th and 10th rounds, he would have waved the fight off. Realistically, the bout was over in the 6th round after Smith brutalized Crawford while he basically stood still with his hands down. But ,we live in an imperfect world where referees who will not wave off a bout unless a fighter is starring at the ceiling are extremely prevalent.

On the MMA side, the standard go-to scapegoat for fans' ire towards referee incompetence is aimed at Cecil Peoples or the fighter tackling Dan Miragliotta. But, as Sherdog's Jordan Breen points out in his most recent op-ed piece, the real enemy fans should know is boxing/MMA referee Jon Schorle. I'll be honest, I was only partially aware of Schorle's incompetence before seeing his antics at the weekend's WEC event. I had seen him allow Vitali Klitschko to destroy Corrie Sanders while Sanders offered nothing in the way of defense, but I never connected the man with his horrible decision making. Well now I've seen the light, and wow does it hurt. Dave Jansen versus Rich Crunkilton provides a shining example of why Schorle should not be allowed anywhere near an MMA event, or boxing for that matter. After a clear groin shot to Crunkilton, not only did he not call for a foul timeout right away, he allowed Jansen to slam him to the mat before intervening. As fans at home were left dumbfounded by his brilliant fighter condition check of "you okay dude?", Schorle added to his ridiculousness by giving Jansen about 10 seconds to work on the ground after a takedown (on multiple occasions mind you) before resuming the fight on the feet. Problem is, Jansen was getting tooled on the feet by Crunkilton, and his recourse to stop the beating was to take him down and control him on the ground.

This is precisely what I am talking about when I say officials are altering the outcome of sporting events. Jansen clearly understood that his easiest route to victory was to use his superior takedowns and top control to win the bout. But, Schorle actively attempted to force Jansen out his gameplan, for some unknown reason, by limiting his ability to work his grappling. When fans, who are notorious for booing when a fight hits the floor, are booing because the fight is stood up by an overzealous referee, there is clearly a problem. Jansen was correctly awarded a decision, but fighters train to enter the cage an take on one opponent, not two.

Recently, the umpires employed by the MLB have committed egregious and inexcusable mistakes on an far too frequent basis. Possibly even more horrifying about these occurrences than the obvious fact that they cost teams games or kill momentum, is that they are being committed by quality umpires. In the tragic case of Joe Mauer's double that wasn't against the Yankees, the man who blew the call was 10 year veteran Phil Cuzzi. Yes the call was absolutely brutal, but the backlash has been relatively minimal simply because the Twins had multiple chances to overcome that blown call. Flip over to the National League, where on consecutive nights, the Rockies were victimized by horrible "safe" calls at first base by a 10 year, and 16 year vets respectively. Had any of these 3 calls been bang-bang plays, you could give a bit of a pass to these otherwise excellent umpires. However, in no way were any of these plays disputable. Mauer's ball landed well inside the foul line and Todd Helton clearly kept his foot on the bag on both plays against the Phillies.

The obvious solution is for baseball is to institute an expanded replay system to correct blown calls. Here's the real solution; in the playoffs, there are 6 umpires on the field during the game. Is there any conceivable reason why these umpires can't huddle up and discuss the call? The common thread between the 3 plays is that in all cases, the call was made solely by the corresponding umpire. Especially during the playoffs, umpires are scrutinized for just about every call they make. If the home plate umpire makes a horrid strike call, fans are going to notice more than if the game was being played in May. I try (key word: try) to be objective watching games the involve my New York Yankees. That's why it pains me to watch the umpires possibly alter the outcome of games by either having an inconsistent strike zone, or give in to the pressure of the dreaded make-up call. Is there a more embarrassing occurrence in professional sports than an official intentionally throwing a call simply in the name of competitive balance? Consistency is the cure for bad umpiring, not inconsistency that results in a call being made despite it clearly being the wrong one to make.

I hate to keep piling on the Rockies because they just lost a tough Game 4 at home, but the clinching game had one of the most blatant and embarrassing examples of a make up call in recent memory. After catcher Yorvit Torrealba was punched out an a pitch that was clearly low and inside, the catcher proceeded to complain to the home plate umpire about the location of the pitch. Although it didn't change the call at the moment, as it never does, the guilt trip that was laid on the umpire clearly affected him. Later in the game, with Torrealba behind the plate, the Phillies fell victim to a make up strike call that was even worse than the one previous. As if he were celebrating the fact that the umpire intentionally jobbed the Phils in retribution, Torrealba nodded and looked back at the home plate ump. Classy. Usually when cheating occurs in professional sports, the players and officials have the good taste to at least attempt to cover it up.

Which brings us to the ever degrading state of the officiating crews in football. It is a strong possibility that football has the most flexible set of concrete rules ever put to paper. Just about every call that is made in the course of a football game is a judgment call, despite there being defined criteria for every penalty. But the problem isn't with the rules, it's with the referees who refuse to let the players decide the game in favor of allowing a piece of yellow fabric dictate a teams' ability to win. Georgia versus LSU would probably have to be the most blatant example of over reacting officials deciding a game so far this season in football. As A.J. Green celebrates, rather mildly mind you, a huge score against a hated rival, up goes the flag and away goes 15 yards of field position to LSU. Oh, but have no fear, after the Tigers immediately got the ball near midfield and scored a TD right back at Georgia, the officials threw a make up flag for LSU's celebration. Great, that 15 yards will really help with :20 seconds left, down by 4 with no timeouts. And let's not be delusional, LSU could have gone Barry Sanders with their celebration and simply handed the ball to the back judge, and they still would have been flagged for excessive celebration.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; roughing the passer penalties are complete nonsense and need to be adjusted to adhere to the criteria for any other unnecessary roughness or late hit penalty. Leave it to the NFL to hire an entire staff of referees that parade around in skirts and stilettos in their down time.

Colts-Titans: Peyton Manning is dragged down to the ground by a lineman who already had a hold of him and was bringing him to the ground as the ball was thrown. FLAG - roughing the passer. The Colts proceed score a TD on the next play.

Jets-Dolphins: Ben Hartsock goes across the middle, jumps 4 inches in the air trying to get to a ball over his head, gets leveled Gibril Wilson just as the ball passes over Hartsock's hands. FLAG - unnecessary roughness; defenseless receiver. (dumbest...penalty...ever. Receivers make themselves defenseless, deal with it)

Patriots-Broncos: 4th quarter, Broncos down by 7, Brandon Merriweather breaks up a pass to Eddie Royal. FLAG: Taunting, the flag was clearly thrown before Merriweather even got off the ground, which would signal that the ref was going to flag him for something else but decided to change him mind. The Broncos tied the game on the next play after moving half the distance to the goal.

Bengals-Ravens: 4th quarter, Bengals down by 4, 3rd down and long, Ed Reed breaks up a pass to Chad Ochocinco. FLAG - pass interference, Reed barely touches Ochocinco on the play. The Bengals score the winning TD on the next play.

Jets-Dolphins (again): 4th quarter, Jets down by 4, Sanchez goes up top to Braylon Edwards, he drops the TD pass (shocking!). FLAG - pass interference, Will Allen literally doesn't even touch Edwards on the play. Jets move 45 yards down the field and score at TD on the next play.

And these are all just examples from this week! I could throw in Ed Hoculi's brutal gaffe in the Broncos-Chargers game from last season, but let's keep things current shall we? Can I say without an iota of doubt that any of these games would have turned out any different without these calls? Of course not. My problem is that the players are becoming increasingly handcuffed with their ability to decide the game for themselves. The NFL, like most other sports, is exceedingly star driven to an almost nauseating level. What sets the NFL apart from other professional leagues, with the NBA being a glaring exception, is that the rules can be adjusted to coddle their money makers. Look no further than the unwritten "Tom Brady rule" for proof. Go back to the previously discussed Colts-Titans game. 3 plays before the penalty already listed, Kyle Vanden Bosch is blocked into the backfield and as he tries to get up, hits Manning in the knees. Guess what happened next? If you answered anything other than a roughing the passer flag, you either haven't been paying attention or are just unbelievably dense.

It's a sad state of affairs when one team can go into a game knowing that they will be limited in what they can do, simply because they're playing against Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, etc. Is it too much to ask that officials limit their star struck tendencies, call a game both ways, and occasionally swallow the whistle when Brady starts complaining if the defense looks at him funny? The saying goes "may the best man win", not "may the worst officials decide who wins".

DREAM.11 Recap: Fernandes takes Featherweight Grand Prix

2009-10-08T19:28:00.003-04:00

My Picks Results: 7-2

Where I was right

- It wasn't easy, or completely definitive, but Bibiano Fernandes won the featherweight grand prix by quickly dispatched of the tournament's Cinderella story, Joe Warren, before fighting to a close, split decision with Hiroyuki Takaya. Many thought that Takaya had won the fight based on his sustained offensive pressure, but the fight may have swayed the way of Fernandes because of a trio of knockdowns and taking Takaya's back twice. Although he earned the decision, Fernandes showed that he does still have some gaping holes in his striking game. He keeps his hands relatively low and doesn't have very good head movement, which allowed him to be tagged with numerous combos by the clearly exhausted Takaya. If he can develop a striking game to compliment his world class jiu-jitsu skill set, Fernandes could stand atop the featherweight ranks for a long time.

- In the rubber match between Joachim Hansen and Shinya Aoki, with just 4 seconds remaining in the fight, Aoki latched on an armbar and forced "Hellboy" to tap. Aoki is an extraordinary grappler and showcased his ground wizardry throughout the fight. No slight to Hansen, who is a high level lightweight fighter and gave him all he could handle, but Aoki has the tools on the ground to make just about anyone tap. On the feet...eh, not so much. After claiming the DREAM lightweight title, he called out UFC champ B.J. Penn, as he has done many times in the past. Here's hoping this fight actually materializes somewhere other than in fans' wildest dreams.

- The Japanese love their national fighters, and DREAM is more than happy to hand pick cans for their heroes to beat on. At DREAM.11, Kazushi Sakuraba was given an ex-boxer in his first professional MMA fight as his personal grappling dummy, and Tatsuya Kawajiri was hand delivered a fighter with a career record of 2-3. Nothing like setting up mismatches to give the people what they paid for.

- In Super Hulk news, Bob Sapp sucks and was destroyed by a legitimate MMA fighter. Imagine that.

Where I was wrong

- In other Super Hulk news, Hong Man Choi is 7'2 and has no ability on the ground. Only in Japan could a middleweight pro-wrestler be matched up with, and finish, a former K-1 champ with a heel hook. Me and Japanese MMA have a unusual love-hate relationship. Sure, it's cool to see a fighter outweighed by about 100 pounds finish his opponent, but then again, why in the world was this match necessary in the first place. Whatever, the minute Gegard Mousasi dropped out of the tournament Sokoudjou started clearing room on his shelf for what I assume will be a comically oversized title belt. This is the Super Hulk tournament, I demand a belt that is as ridiculous as the concept for this entire tournament.

- Got the featherweight grand prix reserve bout wrong. Do I care? No.

DREAM.11 Picks

2009-10-05T15:47:00.002-04:00

Cheers for free Japanese MMA on TV! If you have Time Warner, like I do, you're SOL for this event because it's on HD-Net. Thank you Time Warner for robbing me of my 7 A.M MMA fix. Now I'll have to dig around to see the incredible match up between Japanese pro-wrestling sensation and leg lock aficionado, Ikuhisa Minowa, and the Korean giant who destroyed future champion Jose Canseco, Hong Man Choi.

Damn.

Anyway, since no one really cares about this card or really knows any of the fighters, I'll just throw down some picks to pad my record for the year. If you live somewhere without Time Warner, definitely DVR this card and watch it after work, or whenever. If only for the production values and the incredible show the Japanese put on, DREAM cards are usually alot of fun. Plus most of the fights end with finishes, so that's always a plus. You've got to love lopsided match making.

Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki - Shinya Aoki by submission - Round 1

: Semi-finals
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joe Warren - Bibiano Fernandes by split decision
Hiryuki Takaya vs. Hideo Tokoro - Hiryuki Takaya by TKO - Round 1
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Daiki Hata (FWGP Reserve Bout) - Daiki Hata by unanimous decision

Dream Featherweight Grand Prix: Finals
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Hiryuki Takaya - Bibiano Fernandes by submission - Round 2

Dream Super Hulk Tournament (Ugh, why isn't MMA well respected again?)
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Hong Man Choi - Hong Man Choi by TKO - Round 1***
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Bob Sapp (lol) - Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou by TKO - Round 1
(*** Pick contingent on the bout clearly being a work, not that Japanese MMA has ever had that problem)

Dream Super Hulk Tournament
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Hong Man Choi - Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou by TKO - Round 1; earns a contract with Strikeforce and the right to be legally assaulted by Gegard Mousasi.

Other Bouts
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Rubin Williams - Kazushi Sakuraba by submission - Round 1
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Melchor Manibusan - Tatsuya Kawajiri by KO - Round 1

Knee-jerk Reactions: Mark May's Logic Fail

2009-10-05T14:44:00.005-04:00

As an avid fan of combat sports, if Kyle McCarthy doesn't get some consideration for knockout of year after his hit on D'Andre Goodwin, I'll be greatly disappointed. That said, time to rev up the Mark May hypocrisy machine for this week....

1) Shhh, can you hear that?: It's the sound of Mayday slowly choking on a mix of humble pie and irony. Obviously ESPN needs someone to balance out Lou Holtz's unadulterated love of Notre Dame (which goes too for sometimes, and that's coming from an Irish fan), but Mark May's comments on College Gameday Final just added to an ever growing portfolio of ND bashing. Despite claiming that he holds no hatred for Notre Dame (an obvious lie), Mr. May claimed that after Notre Dame's 37-30 overtime win over Washington, the Irish have no chance against his beloved USC Trojans because they haven't played anyone good yet. Fun with logic time!

- Notre defeated Washington 37-30
- Washington defeated USC 16-13

Therefore..."ND>Washington>USC", which means that ND>>USC and at least has a chance to beat Pete Carroll's team.

Now I know using facts to develop an argument other than "ND sucks, Jimmy Clausen is overrated, USC rocks and Matt Barkley is the second coming John Elway" is difficult for Mayday, but it's pretty simple math. The Irish get USC at home, where the grass will probably be up around Barkley's ears come game time, and they're playing with a ton of confidence right now. If Jon Tenuta can get it through his head that 10 yard back-off zone coverage hardly ever works sometime before next Saturday, is it beyond the realm of plausibility that an extremely talented defense can stop a young USC offense?

I'm a realist, I don't expect Mark May to ever give ND credit when credit is due. The only thing I'm looking for is just a little bit of a level playing field when comparing the Irish to other teams. As a quick example, Mayday was quick to crush Golden Tate for his ill-advised helicopter leap from well outside the goal line. The crux of his argument against the Irish wide out was that nothing good ever happens when you leave your feet. Fast forward to USC-Cal highlights (we'll get into that mess later) where we see Joe McKnight and Taylor Mays both take flight towards the endzone, and May couldn't stop raving about their body control and football sense for staying up before getting the ball across the plane. FYI, Taylor Mays clearly stepped out of bounds and the TD should have been called back, which was glossed over by the Hall of Famer. Flash back to ND-Washington, it basically took everything he had not to start screaming about the injustice done to Huskies with the non-review of Robert Hughes two point conversion, where his knee was down before the ball made it into the endzone. Isn't consistency fun?

I already missed his reaction to USC losing to Washington this season, if ND can somehow pull the upset of the Trojans in 2 weeks, I don't care if I have to move heaven and Earth, I will have my eyes firmly fixated on Mark May's tear ducts in the aftermath. OK, end rant (for now)

2) Alabama should be #2, or possibly #1, in the country: Ah, the unpopular practice of moving an unbeaten team down in rankings. Always an exercise that brings about an enormous amount of hate and conference favoritism accusations from hateful, conference elitists. Well, too bad, it needs to be done to properly recognize the Crimson Tide's success this season. And just so I'm not going to be accused of playing favorites towards the SEC and hating on the Big 12, I am all for putting 'Bama above both Florida and Texas at this point.

The reason for the change at the top: Why not? Realistically, the top 3 teams in the country are totally interchangeable at this point and an argument could be made for each team to be at the top of the polls. However, I don't know how you like your elite tier football programs, but I like to see them go outside of conference and play somebody of value. So far, Alabama is the only one to fulfill this criteria by taking on top 10 Virginia Tech, and as their season opener no less. Yes, they followed that game up with North Texas and FIU, but that one game against a opponent of worth puts the Tide one game ahead of both the Gators and the 'Horns. A definitive win over Ole Miss this weekend and anything less than a #2 ranking would be grounds for an NCAA investigation into their pollsters.

Just a heads up, I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Alabama got more first place votes (5) in the AP poll this week than Texas (1), so send the hate mail elsewhere.

3) Thanks for showing up Cal, now kindly fade away (again): Is it too late for me to declare USC vs. Cal "Game of the Year ...On Paper"?

It is? Damn.

Seriously, thanks go out to the Golden Bears for leaving their offense somewhere in Minnesota and scoring a grand total of 6 points in their last 8 quarters of football. If anyone can name a squad that is mentally weaker than Cal, please enlighten me. Almost every year we read that this is the year they get over the hump, wrestle the Pac-10 title away from USC and compete for a national title. Then they step on field and impress for a few weeks before laying a giant egg against the top, and sometimes mid-range, teams in conference. I wanted to believe in this team because Jahvid Best is easily a top 10 NFL prospect, and the team is loaded with upperclassmen on both sides of the ball. It's a shame they don't seem to preach mental toughness in Strawberry Canyon these days.

4) Can we get some Wisconsin/Auburn love in the Top 25?: We're 5 weeks in to the college football season, and for some reason, Wisconsin still gets no love from Top 25 voters, despite being 5-0. They play in the Big 10, the conference is awful, they haven't played anyone, they barely won in all of their games. Stop, just stop. The Badgers are 2-0 in conference, 5-0 overall, and deserve to be recognized for it, end of story. I defy anyone to give me a valid reason why Oklahoma, at 2-2, having lost both games they played against ranked opponents, is still in the Top 25 ahead of undefeated South Florida, Missouri, and Wisconsin.

Don't worry, I'll wait.

The Badgers aren't flashy; they play typical Big 10 football. They're going to bludgeon you with a power run game and wear you out in the trenches. Not super appealing any stretch of the imagination, but get over it and respect the results.

Also, will all the Gene Chizik haters please stand up. OK, everyone up? Good...now sit down and shut up. At what point will people, in all sports, realize that hiring a big name coach does not always translate to stellar results, and hiring a no-name is a sign of impending doom? It's true in every sport;

Wayne Gretzky - incredible player, huge name, disaster of a head coach
Chris Peterson - who? Oh yeah, the Boise State coach who beat OU in the Fiesta Bowl
Charlie Weis - decent results, atrocious in important games
Kyle Wittingham - Urban Meyer's successor at Utah, crushes Alabama in the Sugar Bowl

The list goes on and on. High profile doesn't always mean high win total.

It took 4 weeks, but Auburn finally got the recognition they deserved in the AP voting this week, and the Chizik naysayers have been silenced (at least for now). The Iron Bowl is going to be a fun one this season. A trip to the SEC and National Title game could be on the line.

5) Are the Steelers *gasp!*, mentally weak?: Answer: Sort of. Two weeks in a row Pittsburgh has had a double digit lead in a game, and two weeks in a row they let it slip away late in the game. Lucky for the Steelers, the Chargers are just as weak (ask their GM, he'll tell you) and failed to finish the comeback. However, this could be a monster problem for the defending champs going forward. What makes, and keeps, teams successful is the ability to keep their foot on the gas from opening kickoff until the final whistle, with limited braking sprinkled in. Much like the Vikings, (who will be making their only appearance in the blog right now. You can thank ESPN and Jon Gruden's 24-hour Favre-a-palooza Monday for the exclusion.) the Steelers have a serious problem with playing a complete game. Rashard Mendenhall was terrorizing the Chargers the entire first half, and the defense made Philip Rivers look pedestrian, en route to a big lead at the half.

Then the champs got lazy.

A Chargers TD, then a fumbled kick-off leads to another TD and suddenly San Diego is right back in it. Mendenhall bailed the Steelers out with a score right back at them, but this game was nothing to be pleased with if you're a Steelers fan. Mike Tomlin might to get his player's heads right or else a return to the Super Bowl is completely out of the question.

6) The Browns have quit on their season...already: With the trade of wide receiver/professional mason, Braylon Edwards, the Browns have raised the white flag only a quarter of the way through the season. Message to coach Mangini: Start updating your resume and calling up real estate agents, because you'll be out the door soon. Were we supposed to believe Mangini when he said that the team is deeper and is better set up for the future by trading Edwards now? I hate to be the one to have to break this down, but even with the dropped passes, Braylon Edwards>>>>>Chansi Stuckey all day. Understanding this, you're telling us that Derek Anderson (or Brady Quinn, it doesn't really matter) is going to be more successful throwing to Mohamed Massaquoi, Joshua Cribbs and Stuckey on a week to week basis? Before you answer coach, let me tell you that any answer other than "no" will result in uncontrolable laughter.

That makes two high level position players the Browns have traded for very little since the end of last season. If that's Cleveland's recipe for success, we may have a challenger to the 08-09 Lions crown as "Worst Team in NFL History".

7) New Orleans has a defense. Uh oh...: A follow up of sorts to last week's post. So...the Saints can carve you up with their passing game, beat you down with their run game, and now they can dominate you with defense? Could this finally be the year the Saints actually make a decent run in the playoffs? The game against the Giants this week should be an excellent barometer of their chance come January.

8) About those Broncos, maybe they aren't so bad: Nothing really important to say here, just that I'm still not sure about this team. Are they actually good or is Dallas the most brutally overrated team in the NFL? As of right now, I'm at about 60-40 for the Cowboys being over hyped, but the gap is narrowing quickly. Thank you Brandon Marshall for rewarding my faith in you by embarrassing 5 Dallas defenders and sending 11 points my way.

Too little, too late; Lidge records clinching out for Phillies

2009-10-01T16:34:00.003-04:00

Sorry Mr. Manuel, your closer showed up a bit too late to the Phillies party this season. I applaud the effort of bringing Brad Lidge in to get the last out in a 10-3 game that would win the NL East for your team, but there will be no saving your closer, at least this season.

It would difficult to find a player that took a such a monumental nose dive from one season to the next. Lidge went from the most dominant closer in both the regular season and postseason in 2008, to the man that single handedly gave Phillies fans everywhere heartburn when he came in the game in 2009. So far this season, Lidge has blown 11 saves; that's 11 more than he blew all of last season. 11 blown saves is a huge number in the first place, but add it to the fact that he was perfect in save opportunities last season, and the only question is "what happened"?

The easiest, most obvious, and probably the correct answer, is confidence. Even for a professional pitcher, it has to be next to impossible not to allow some doubt to seep into your mind when the sports media crushes you anytime you give up a hit. In Lidge's case, the talk has clearly gotten to him, and may have cost him his role for the Phillies come playoff time, and possibly beyond. As of right now, Philadelphia has turned to Ryan Madson to fulfill the closer responsibilities while they try to solve the Lidge mystery. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed for this season. It's a bit late in the game to get your go to closer mentally prepared to cap off a game now isn't it? The Phillies problem is now they head into the postseason with a giant question mark at the back end of the bullpen. Unless Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee can pitch a complete game every time out, the Phils are going to need someone to shut down opponents batters late in the game. As of right now, they don't have that guy.

The great tragedy with athletes is that once "it" is gone, it is gone. And the worst part; "it" can go in the blink of an eye. Has this happened to Lidge? Maybe, only time will tell. However, don't expect the Phillies to go very far in their quest to repeat as World Series champs if they trot the regular season version of Lidge out to the mound in a close game.

TUF 10 Shocker: Kimbo still sucks on the ground

2009-10-01T14:45:00.003-04:00

It was the biggest fight in "Ultimate Fighter" history. The one everyone would tune in to see. Kimbo Slice's coming out party against an elite level heavyweight. The culmination of months of furious promotion from Dana White and the UFC.

Then the fight happened.

What was billed as the the biggest fight in the show's 10 season history turned out to be a gigantic flop, or should I say, a belly flop. Roy Nelson did exactly what he said he was going to do, and what just about everyone expected him to do, by keeping it standing as long as he could before taking Kimbo down and dominating him. It's usually a nice touch when a fighter calls his shot in a fight (ala Frank Shamrock/Phil Baroni), but in the case of Nelson/Slice, it only served to highlight some massive problems.

The first, and most obvious, problem that was shown was the non-existent ground game of Kimbo Slice. As soon as Roy Nelson took him to the ground, I pretty much put away my scorecard because, barring an abomination of a stand up, the remainder of the round would be played out on the mat. There was a brief moment where Kimbo appeared to almost slip out from under his large gutted opponent, but that was quickly brought to a halt as he was reversed into mount, side control, and ultimately the dreaded "crucifix" position. With his arm trapped by the BJJ expert, Kimbo seemed resigned to ride out the round, taking forty-some unanswered punches before the bell. Round 2 was pretty much a fast-forward version of the first round. Kimbo tagged Nelson early with punches before attempting an ill-conceived flying knee, resulting in a takedown, Americana attempt, another crucifix and the fight ending TKO.

From what has been shown so far the season regarding Kimbo, its tough not to like the guy. He seems like a genuinely nice person with a desire to learn the game, despite his rough and tumble appearance and persona. However, he makes it next to impossible to get excited about him as fighter when you see a performance like the one against Nelson. Everyone in the world knows what he is trying to do in the cage, and can gameplan accordingly. For just about every fight in the foreseeable future, Kimbo will be dead in the water against just about any fighter will even the slightest ground game. If the UFC is going to milk the Kimbo Slice effectively, they are going to have to be very careful with who they match him up with when he does make a PPV card (don't kid yourself, this loss doesn't mean he won't be in the UFC). Off the top of my head, I can only think of 2 or 3 heavyweights that Kimbo could potentially have a fighting chance against (after checking the UFC roster, the number could drop to 1 or 2). Kimbo versus Houston Alexander on Spike TV anyone?

The second problem that was brought to my attention as a result of last night's fight was a problem with MMA in general. Since Herb Dean stepped in to stop the bout last night, MMA forums, blogs and news sites have exploded with hatred towards Dean for stopping the bout, and Roy Nelson for how he got the bout stopped. It appeared that while Kimbo was trapped in Nelson's crucifix, he wasn't taking any significant damage from the punches he was being hit with. However, the precedent in MMA is that if a fighter is not "intelligently defending" himself from punishment, the ref has to step in an stop the bout. Despite not actually being in the unified rules for MMA, it is generally accepted that this is the standard for how a stoppage should be judged. One could make the case that the fight should have been stopped in the first round based on the concept of "intelligent defense", because clearly Kimbo was unable to do so. What Herb Dean did correctly in the first round was determine that despite taking a multitude of shots, he was never in any danger. What changed in the second round, at least in my eyes, was the clock factor. With about 3 minutes remaining in the round, it was clear the Kimbo was not getting out from under Roy Nelson. His hips were flat on the mat and he was barely moving at all, leading Dean to stop the bout.

Was it a good stoppage? Under the circumstance, absolutely. Could the bout have continued? Again, absolutely. Should people be up in arms about it being a terrible stoppage because Nelson was simply pitter-pattering his way to victory? Well, yes and no. Fans should not be upset with what Nelson did, which was basically exploit an unwritten rule of the sport, or Herb Dean for stepping in on Kimbo's behalf. The real focal point should be the ambiguity of the rules justifying stoppages. This fight was strikingly similar to the second bout between Matt Hughes and BJ Penn in the way that it played out. The major difference is that it was very clear that Penn was unable to defend himself while trapped by Hughes, as well as taking heavy, and effective, unanswered shots to the face. If you need a model for how to handle a situation like Kimbo/Nelson, look no further than that fight.

Before calling a halt to a fight, the ref needs to judge not only if the man taking shots is defending himself, but exactly how much damage is being delivered by the fighter on offense. Obviously it can be difficult to judge just how much trouble a fighter is in, but experienced professional referees should be able to properly assess the situation and act accordingly. Otherwise, you will have a situation where a fighter can, as Nelson seemed to imply earlier in the episode, simply slap his opponent in the face fifty times in a row and the ref will have to stop the fight based on "intelligent defense".

My final problem is more of personal problem than anything else. I've always tried not to be that guy who simply bashes Dana White because it's the fun thing to do. The truth is, I've got great respect for the man and what he has done for the sport. The man found a niche on a small cable station and turned a fledgling sport, into a increasingly mainstream sport; mostly thanks to "The Ultimate Fighter". What bothers me, or bother me last night at least, was his reaction to Nelson's victory. During the very public mini-war between the UFC and promoter Gary Shaw's EliteXC company, Dana constantly berated Shaw for his promotion of Kimbo Slice and how he reacted like a child to his stunning loss to Seth Petruzelli. Now, with Kimbo dropping a bout under the UFC banner, how does Dana react? He belittles Nelson's performance in victory and props up what very little Kimbo showed in defeat. In his post fight comments, Dana told the cameras that the punches Nelson was hitting Kimbo with were what he "lets his daughters hit him with". No, Nelson wasn't overpowering with his showing, but he did display the ground skills that earned him his black belt and made him a champion in the IFL. With those comments, Dana sounds like a whiny fanboy who just watched his main draw for TUF 10 get dominated on the ground after flashing about :30 seconds of stand up ability. Hmm, where I have seen/heard something like that before....

Oh yeah, when Shaw's son (the guy next to Hulk Hogan) acted the same way when Kimbo got stopped in EliteXC.

I don't think Dana White has a problem with Roy Nelson per se, I just get the overwhelming feeling that he was fired up about the man he went out on a limb to bring in to the UFC laying a complete egg in his debut. Although, his venomous words towards chubby heavyweights has become a bit of a trademark for the UFC's president. Just search "Dana White" and "Fedor Emelianenko" at the same time, you'll see what I mean.

Mid-week Fight Breakdown: Kimbo vs. Roy Nelson

2009-09-30T18:32:00.002-04:00

The UFC's flagship program "The Ultimate Fighter" has been struggling in recent years to regain it's the popularity it initially had with TUF 1. Well, this week might just be the shot in the arm the show needs to get it's swagger back. Internet knockout artist, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, will be taking on the rotund former heavyweight champ of the IFL, Roy "Big Country" Nelson.

Breakdown: We all know the story with Kimbo; he's coming into this fight looking to land some big punches and knock Roy out. Simple as that. From what he showed in his stint in EliteXC, the ground game is basically non-existant to Mr. Slice. Obviously that could have changed in the year since the fall of EliteXC, especially if it is true that he is training at American Top Team in Florida, but expect Kimbo to stick to his bread and butter. The problem is, if Roy can withstand the fury of Kimbo and get the fight to the mat, it's pretty much over. Nelson is a decorated BJJ black belt who holds competition wins over UFC fighters Frank Mir, Brandon Vera, Diego Sanchez, and may have been one horrible stand-up away from an MMA submission win over Andrei Arlovski. The x-factors in the fight will be Nelson's stand up and his chin. Roy does have some good stand up skills, as evidenced by his victory over Brad Imes, but his best bet to win the fight would be to get Kimbo down and work his submission game. I wouldn't put it past Roy to engage in a stand up battle though, with Kimbo seeing as his chin is somewhat of a question mark.

Pick: If Nelson isn't stupid, this is his fight to lose. Theoretically, Roy is better and more experienced than Kimbo anywhere the fight goes. That said, if Kimbo connects, it could be all over the belly rubbing former champ. It's possible, but don't expect it to happen. No Seth Petruzelli type finish, but a pretty decisive victory for "Big Country". Roy Nelson by unanimous decision

The Browns have an Eric Mangini problem, not a Quinn/Anderson problem

2009-09-30T14:36:00.003-04:00

(Maybe it wasn't the best idea to mandate daily coach worship sessions in practice)

Eric Mangini announced in a press conference today that he has made one of the most difficult decisions he will ever make. He announced that the Cleveland Browns will attempt to go 0-and-16 with Derek Anderson under center, in favor of 0-and-16 with Brady Quinn.

Hey, it's progress I suppose. At least we found out today instead of 2 hours before game time. Fantasy owners rejoice! Now you can sleep in a couple extra hours and have to worry about picking Anderson off waivers right before kickoff. Although, it might be more beneficial to leave that roster spot empty than to risk negative points.

But fear not Browns fans, hope for this team may be just a pink slip with Eric Mangini's name on it away. Of course, constant change isn't always good for a team that is/was struggling, but in this case, change on the sidelines might just be the miracle cure.

I hated the move when the Browns announced the "Mangenius" as their new head coach. What did Eric Mangini ever do as a head coach that made it impossible for the Browns to resist hiring him? He was under .500 as the head coach of the Jets, and his big claim to fame was beating the Patriots in the regular season (before being absolutely steamrolled in the playoffs). Other than that one 10-and-6 season in New York, his stay with the team was a full fledged mess. Stories were rampant that the players disliked the "Bill Belichick without the results" attitude, and it has apparently followed him to Cleveland. Between fining players thousands of dollars for not paying for water at a hotel, the smoke and mirrors act surrounding his starting QB for this season, and the atrocious 0-and-3 start, perhaps the Browns made a huge mistake this offseason.

Are Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson completely free of blame for the offensive struggles? Of course not; they're being paid millions to lead a fairly talented offense and the fact is, they haven't gotten it done. The same goes for Braylon Edwards, Jamal Lewis, and the other players on offense. But for Mangini to make a change at QB after committing to Quinn before the regular season, he's just asking for even more dysfunction from his offense. Did he fall asleep during the second half of the game against Baltimore? He must have or else he would have seen Anderson lob 3 picks in the second half and fail to lead the team to a score, a far worse showing than Quinn in the first half. To pull a complete about face at QB just 3 weeks in shows a complete lack of faith in his personnel, and an absence of control over his team on the part of Mangini. The locker room may already be turning against him, and make a huge change to the offense so quickly may only serve to push the fence riding players into the anti-Mangini camp.

It goes back to that old saying; "if you have 2 quarterbacks, you have no quarterback". Perhaps it's time to coin a new phrase, "If Eric Mangini is your head coach, you have no head coach".

I want some of whatever Scott Burnside is on

2009-09-29T17:07:00.004-04:00

(Know your enemy hockey fans, know him well)

Two days away from the first NHL game (Habs vs. Leafs kids, you know you love it deep down) of the season, I finally got a chance to look at ESPN's preseason team rankings. Needless to say, a close inspection of the 1 through 30 list left me a bit...well...I don't know. I can't call it surprise because that's too light. Can't call it shock because it's something beyond that. Maybe a long string of profanities that starts with "are you" and ends with "insane" could sum up the effect of reading the rankings.

Where to start? How about this beauty...

- #3. Philadelphia Flyers - WHAT?!?! Let me get this straight. The team that got absolutely railroaded out of the playoffs in the first round last season brings in Chris Pronger and Ray Emery and suddenly they're the 2nd best team in the East? Ray Emery might be the biggest head case in hockey, but his mere presence between the pipes makes Philly a massive favorite in the Atlantic Division? Gotcha.

- #10. Tampa Bay Lightning - ..........................right. So the Lightning go from 3rd worst record in hockey last season to the top 1/3 of teams in one season? What exactly has this team showed that proves that they will compete for the playoffs this season? Tampa Bay is in the same division as Washington and Carolina, both playoff teams from last season. Do you really think this team can leap frog one, or both, of these teams Scotty?

- #14. Los Angeles Kings - OK, now my head is starting to hurt. The team that finished with the same amout of points as the Phoenix Coyotes last season is now better than 5 playoff teams from last season? Someone really loves them some Alex Frolov and Anze Kopitar, and I think I know who it is (see title picture).

- #24. New Jersey Devils - ......huh?....where am I?....did I fall asleep for a few seasons and wake up after Martin Brodeur retired? So in one off season, the Devils go from #3 in the Eastern Conference, to bottom third of the entire NHL. Brodeur was out most of last season and they still had over 100 points! Something is off in ESPN-land.

- #27. Toronto Maple Leafs - That's it, I'm done! I don't even like the Maple Leafs and I'll tell you they're alot better than one spot ahead of the New York Islanders. Brian Burke has that team loaded with physical players in a league, and conference, that is generally lacking for tough guys (save Milan Lucic in Boston). Come on Scott, you can't honestly believe Toronto's going to be the second worst team in the East...can you?

Angels win the AL West; provide moment of the year

2009-09-29T14:01:00.003-04:00

This is the type of moment that makes me fall in love with baseball all over again.

After wrapping up the AL West and effectively ending the Rangers minuscule playoff hopes, the Angels took to the clubhouse to kick off the celebration. There was just one thing missing; their fallen teammate. Nick Adenhart. Following a season that was largely clouded by the tragedy of losing the young pitcher in a hit and run accident, the Angels finally had something celebrate. And of course, Adenhart would not be left out of the victory party.

The #34 jersey that accompanied the team everywhere this season, and was hung in the dugout during home games, was on the receiving end of a beer bath that appeared to involve every player ever involved with the Angels franchise. And it didn't end there in the clubhouse. Adenhart wasn't just a teammate to the Angels, he was a part of the team for the entire fan base. In a gesture that was all too approriate, the team continued the celebration in full view of the crowd, right in front of the picture of Adenhart that graces the outfield wall. Chills, absolute chills.

The anchors on SportsCenter said it best; if watching this didn't make the hair on your neck stand up, you should probably see someone about that.

A horrible tragedy that turned into a rallying cry for a devestated team, and ultimately brought about a moment of unbridled joy. Angels fan or not, that is something that all sports fans should feel good about. Good luck finding a better moment than that this year. The only way this could be topped would be another Angels outfield celebration with a World Series trophy in hand.

Knee-jerk Reactions: My Bitter Break-up with Penn State

2009-09-28T15:16:00.002-04:00

(The feeling is mutual, coach)

Definitely a fun weekend across the football landscape. Made some good calls, had some monumentally bad ones blow up in my face, but overall, here's what I learned....

1) Never again Joe Pa, never again...: Well, the "Penn State for National Title wagon" was fun to ride while it lasted. First off, did I think had a chance to run the table and go undefeated? Yes. Did I think they would beat Iowa on Saturday? Yes. Would I have advised even my worst enemy to put money on Penn State? Absolutely not. For as supremely confident as I was about the Nittany Lions, my relationship with the team reached a breaking point Saturday night. Daryll Clark, I'm done waiting around for you to turn that corner from serviceable QB to elite dual threat. Since it doesn't appear as if it's ever going to happen, I'll be damned if I'm just going to hang around forever while you wallow in mediocrity. Outside of the pass that went for a touchdown, Clark looked absolutely awful against the Hawkeye defense. Sure, the weather was probably played a small role in Penn State's struggles, but Iowa seemed to have no problem catching Clark's quackers over the middle.

Kirk Ferentz is a total sadist by the way. Until about the 7 minute mark of the 4th quarter, his Iowa team was letting Penn State twist in the wind, giving them false hope they had any chance to win that game. Appreciate it Kirk; I could have gone without the roller coaster moment of Evan Royster breaking a big run, only to fumble the ball away. It's over for good between myself and this squad (at least until I come crawling back for more emotional abuse next year). Big loss for Joe Pa's squad, but it might be even worse for the much maligned Big 10. However, take heed all of you conference elitists...

2) The Big 10 is no worse, or more overrated, top to bottom than the Big 12: Yeah, I'm going to go there. Before I even start with this rant that will irk just about everyone I know, I'm going to backhand the next person that answers the question "what is the best football conference in college football?" with anything other than the SEC. They have the #1 team, Florida, the #3 team, Alabama (#2 in my personal top 25 just because Texas hasn't played anyone yet. Try not to schedule so many pillow fights outside of conference play next season Mack Brown) and to call the conference as a whole "stacked" really doesn't do it justice. Even the bottom of the conference (Kentucky, Arkansas) give the upper echelon of the conference fits. Anyway, onto the Big 10/Big 12 debate.

I will grant the Big 12 this, they've looked good this season on the whole. What I will not grant you is that the conference as a whole is on a different plane of existence than the Big 10 as an undeniable fact, because it's not. Here's a quick breakdown that supports my claim...

- The Big 12 has 5 teams ranked in the top 25. The Big 10 has 4
- The top 10 teams in the Big 12's combined record is 30-7. The top 10 in the Big 10's combined record is 27-7
- The Big 12 has three 4-0 teams (one 3-0 team in Texas A+M). So does the Big 10.
- Notable wins for the undefeated
Big 12
- Kansas - def. Southern Miss. 35-28. Their best win was UCF)
- Missouri - def. Furman(?) 52-12. Combined opponents W/L is 5-10
- Texas - def. Texas Tech 34-24. Tech previously defeated Rice and North Dakota)
Big 10
- Iowa - def. Penn State 21-10 on the road with Penn State ranked #5
- Michigan - def. Notre Dame 38-34
- Wisconsin - def. Fresno State 34-31 OT. Played close games with Boise State and Cincinnati

Did I miss something or do these facts seem to support my theory?

Can/will this all change before the end of the season? More than likely. But to make the wild claim that the Big 12 is somehow this all powerful conference and the Big 10 is a top heavy, big name version of the WAC this early in the season is irresponsible. Wait until conference play to start before you start jockeying for that 2nd (or 3rd depending on how the Pac-10 shakes out) best football conference title.

3) Cal's dismal showing against Oregon reinforces my "Game of the Year" theory: After the first week of games, I predicted that USC at California would be the best game of the year. Well, after watching the Ducks absolutely drub Cal by 39 points, (nice prediction Colin Cowherd, apparently Masoli can throw the ball) it seems all the more likely that it will be true. Unless you're the Tennessee Titans, desperation usually leads to a measured amount of on-field success. After losing to Oregon, if Cal has any aspirations to win the Pac-10 and be in the Rose Bowl, they absolutely must beat USC on Saturday. The Bears get the Trojans in their house with their backs against the wall. Jahvid Best and his teammates will come out swinging; will USC be able to weather the onslaught and finish Cal off yet again?

4) Kentucky may be the most important team in college football this season: The first time I saw the replay of Tim Tebow's injury against the Wildcats on Saturday, I wasn't watching the actual knockout hit. Unfortunately, I was totally mesmerized by Urban Meyer on the sidelines shouting "no, no, no" with the look of a man who is watching his National Title meal ticket about to get run over by an unblocked freight train. Kentucky hasn't been all that great since Andre Woodson left, and probably won't be in the foreseeable future. However, if "Superman" has any lingering effects after being drilled against Kentucky, they may have provided the most important moment of the year. Just about everyone has, or had, Florida penciled in to their National Title game before this season. If the Gators, or more importantly Tebow, don't play well and drop their next game against LSU, everyone is going to be thinking back to that moment when Tebow hit ground as the single most important moment of the college football season. A lot of one loss teams have new found hope for a National Title berth thanks to a middle of the road SEC team.

4) Calm down everyone, we've seen this Brett Favre story before: Did Favre make a good throw against the Niners? Yes. Was Greg Lewis catch better than the throw? In every way possible. Should the media be falling all over themselves with the "Brett Favre is back and taking the Vikings to the Super Bowl" talk? Not at all. We love moments, and tend to forget everything else that happens leading up to that moment, or immediately after that moment. Lost in the love fest after Greg Lewis' incredible play (I don't care how it's being labeled. Greg Lewis' toe tap catch>>>Brett Favre's throw) is the fact that Favre was 24-46 passing with a pick. Most people would call that a mediocre performance, maybe worse because of the caliber of QB we're talking about. But, since he made a good throw at the end of the game, no will remember all that other stuff. I know, the only thing that counts is the W, but let's not get ahead of ourselves with the Super Bowl talk. We've seen this show before, most recently with Favre and the Jets last season. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that season ended well for either party involved.

5) Who called the end to the Lions' woes? This guy!: What a fun weekend. First, I was told that if looked hard at the facts, I would see Greg Paulus is more important to Syracuse than Tim Tebow is to Florida. When I respectfully disagreed, i.e. walked away before I started laughing hysterically in the kids' face, I was told I knew nothing about college football. Next, I was labeled an "idiot" by an old man in Members Only jacket at a casino for claiming that the Detroit Lions over the Redskins was the easiest game to pick in the NFL that weekend. Granted, I got alot of dirty looks from people when I said this, but the old man was the only one to legitimately take offense to my pick. Guess he's a relative of Jim Zorn or something. Realistically, what did Washington bring to the table that screamed "STAY AWAY FROM THIS GAME" when the Lions were +6 1/2 at +210 at game time?

Were they going to beat them with offense? Absolutely not; Detroit is serviceable on defense and the Redskins are straight terrible on offense. I'm not sure if Jason Campbell will ever play well for Washington again after being dangled out as Jay Cutler bait. Was Washington going to stop the Lions' offense? No; why would anyone think that? Because they held the RAMS to 7 points? The fact is this; the game against Washington was put up on a tee for Detroit, and they nailed it for a ground rule double. Not exactly a home run because they tried their best to pull a Detroit Lions and give it away, but they did win the game. And even if they were going to lose, did I miss the memo where Washington is some unstoppable scoring machine that can cover a 6 1/2 point line with ease? This team was in the red zone all day against St. Louis the week before, and came away with 3 field goals.

The massive losing streak had to end at some point, I just knew it would be this week. How's that "personal betting pattern" (he really said this after calling in two bets on horses at Saratoga that were 3/2 and 5/2 favorites in their respective races. Way to go out on a limb, genius) now old man? Looks like pretty easy money from my perspective.

6) About those Steelers, maybe they really do need Troy Polamalu: All the talk coming out of the Week one game against Tennessee was that they Steelers were deep enough in the secondary to tread water while Troy Polamalu is out with an injury. Care to reconsider that position? I'm not innocent in this whole situation, seeing as I basically said that the Steelers would repeat with ease after they beat the Titans, but maybe we all misread how problematic the loss of Polamalu would be. Pittsburgh now sits at 1-2, having lost to a Chicago team that was reeling after horrific performance in Green Bay and a Bengals team they had down 20-3 at one. What has the common thread running through both of these losses? Massive letdowns in the defensive secondary. Jay Cutler carved up the Steelers corners and safeties on two consecutive drives that led to the tying and winning scores. Then, against Cincinnati, the Bengals converted on 2 consecutive 4th and long situations with under 2 minutes to play. You think Brian Leonard makes it to that 1st down marker or Andre Caldwell makes that TD catch if #43 is stalking the secondary? I vote no.

7) New Orleans found a running game. Uh oh...: If I told you that Reggie Bush was the third best running back on an NFL team, what would you say? I'm going to guess either "You're crazy" or "Wow, that team must have some really good running backs". Lucky for me, the latter is the more logical choice. Drew Brees went without a TD pass against the Bills...and they still won by 20 points! Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas are perfect examples of how scrap heap players that get inserted into the right situation can become Pro Bowl-ers almost immediately. With the threat of Brees burning your secondary, and laughing at your pitiful attempts to stop him, always a possibility, there's always going to some room for the running backs to gain some yardage. They've shown passing prowess, a solid defense, and now a multi-dimensional running game. The Saints are the kind of team defensive coordinators have nightmares about.

8) Has there ever been a worse 3-0 team than the Denver Broncos?: Seriously, I don't know. Has there? Because if there has, I must know of this team.

Friday Wrap-up

2009-09-25T16:32:00.004-04:00

(Due to international cliche laws, the phrase "I must break you" will not be used to caption this picture)

- Chris Arreola weighs in at 251 to be destroyed at the hands of Vitali Klitschko (252). (Bad Left Hook)

- Dana White's mouth finally costs him; "Rampage" Jackson calls it quits. (Sherdog)

- Steve Spurrier defends Jevan Snead...for real this time. (Yahoo! Sports)

- The Cleveland Browns show some fight for the first time this season, in the locker room. (ESPN)

- Why Gretzky and Coyotes were destined to fail from the start. (Puck Daddy)

- Red Sox fan teacher demands his student turn his Yankees shirt inside-out. Optimal smart ass response: I can't hear you from the top of the division. (Syracuse.com)

- Students arrested for after school "UFC" styled backyard brawls. Jimmy's "tennis bruises" finally begin to make sense to clueless parents. (Connecticut Post)

Must See Games of the Weekend

Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees (Friday, 7 PM) - Monster softball suggestion to start the weekend. Boston's more or less surrendered the AL East to the Yankees but it's still Sox/Yanks nonetheless. The only other option is going to bed early to be well rested for football on Saturday and Sunday.

Miami (FL) vs. Virginia Tech (Saturday, 3:30 PM ABC) - Is the "U" really back? Can the Hokies actually show up and stop someone on defense? Will Jacory Harris force his way into the Heisman conversation? You know it's a strange year when the ACC provides one of the best in-conference match ups we'll see all season.

Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots (Sunday, 1 P.M) - Theoretically, the Pats should be 0-2 coming in to a tough game against the rejuvenated Falcons. As it stands, they're 1-1 and are trying to figure out the mystery of their missing MVP quarterback. Never underestimate the power of desperation to bring about a stellar performance. Against the Falcons, nothing less than a stellar performance will probably cost New England in the "loss" column.

New Orleans Saints vs. Buffalo Bills (Sunday, 4:05 P.M. FOX) - The Drew Brees air show comes to Buffalo to test a defense that has shown a tendancy to give up big plays. Through 2 games, the Bills have almost given away a game late in the 4th, and actually given away a game in the 4th with less than tight defense. It may not be super competitive for very long, but it's always fun to watch Brees and Co. throw the rock around for 60 minutes.

Sorry Brett, no one believes what you say anymore

2009-09-24T18:43:00.003-04:00

(Every time Brett tells a lie, he touches his right shoulder. It's science, look it up)

The Vikings are winning games and Brett Favre isn't the focal point of the team. Uh oh, time to force yourself back into the spotlight, right Brett?

After the Jets were fined for not adding Favre to the injury list last season, Brett told reporters yesterday that he thinks it was wrong the league to fine them. "They did everything that I felt they were supposed to" he said after calling the fines "very unfair".

Hate to break it to you Brett, but if you thought that the Jets did what they were supposed to with you, you wouldn't have said anything in the first place. Unfortunately, based on everything that has happened over the past few years, you have to take every sound bite with a grain of salt. When he says that he holds no hard feelings toward the team and that he was simply explaining what happened with his throwing shoulder last season when he brought up the Jets' failure to report, it has now become almost impossible to believe him.

Again, if Favre hadn't said anything about the Jets and their injury report, nothing would have ever come of it. But as it stands, the Jets and former coach Mangini are now out a combined $125,000 because of his simple explanation. Is it wrong what the Jets did; absolutely. Did Brett really need to throw them under the bus like did; absolutely not. This is just the lastest chapter in the "Brett Favre is more important than the team" saga. Do you really think every team in the NFL doesn't do the same thing? Give me a break; Tom Brady could be walking around with his throwing shoulder dragging on the ground and Belichick wouldn't report it. But, because Favre feels personally offended or wronged by the situation, heads up for the wheels!

Consider this, how much of a role did Favre have in the Jets not placing him on the injury report? We all know that he has the mentality (or ego, which ever you prefer) that he can play through anything, and always has. So, is it beyond the realm of possibility that he told the Jets he wasn't really injured and that they didn't need to list him as injured? This is Brett Favre we're talking about here, it's been at least 3 years since you could take something he says at face value.

This is really troubling stuff coming from a player that was once universally respected by all football fans. Now we've reached a point where if Favre held a press conference and stated that the sky is blue, the sun rises in the morning and sets at night, and the grass is green, I'm going to have to take a look outside.

??? Alert: The Red Storm's Mascot

2009-09-24T17:15:00.004-04:00

Not really sure what to say about this one. St. John's introduced it's new mascot, the Red Storm Thunderbird, over the weekend during the women's soccer games and it's...well...strange. The athletics department's press release cites the "yet to be named avian character" was the winner of a vote by students and fans. Now students get a chance to name the mascot via e-mail, with voting ending tomorrow.

A couple of questions. 1) Did St. John's really need a mascot, and 2) THIS was the best they could do? It looks like the love child of The Flash and the Iowa Hawkeye had the same prom experience as Carrie White (obscure reference, but if you get it, you know it's true).

The Red Storm are one of those teams that really don't need a mascot. The school has a pretty good history in sports and a mascot is just a marketing ploy that could be called "tacky" at best. Don't believe me? Fine, maybe Steely McBeam can tell you how pointless mascots are.

The "Great" Escape; Gretzky leaves Coyotes

2009-09-24T15:04:00.004-04:00

(That's right Wayne, we don't want to watch the Coyotes either)

Hockey in the southwest? What could possibly go wrong?

If I may, is the correct answer "everything"?

If there has been a more tumultuous off-season for an NHL franchise that isn't lockout related, it's news to me. Coming off the wonderful PR news of a betting scandal involving the "Great One" and his assistant Rick Tocchet last season, the Coyotes attempted to battle attendance problems with hard liquor, have tied up bankruptcy court with an ongoing battle between ownership, the NHL, and prospective buyer Jim Balsillie, and have now produced the fastest coaching resignation and replacement ever. This morning, head coach Wayne Gretzky announced that he would be stepping down as coach and director of hockey operations. Only a few hours later, the team announced that Dave Tippett will be named the new head coach.

That makes sense, replace the only reason that people showed up to watch the Coyotes with the man who coached the ultra disappointing Dallas Stars last season and was ultimately fired. Don't kid yourself hockey fans, people weren't buying tickets to see Radim Vrbata and Shane Doan play; they were there to watch Wayne Gretzky stand behind the bench for a couple hours. Now that the one drawing point the Coyotes had is gone, Gary Bettman and the NHL should really reconsider Mr. Balsillie's offer to buy the team.

Up until now, Bettman has been adamantly opposed to even considering Balsillie as a new owner for the simple fact that he wants to relocate the team back to Canada.

So?

I could see the opposition if the team was flourishing in a new market, like Carolina, but the fact of the matter is they aren't. The Phoenix Coyotes have been basically a gimmick used by Commissioner Bettman as part of his plan to make hockey relevant with the major American sports. Of all of the teams that were brought in through expansion or relocation, its tough to say that the Coyotes have been anything other than the worst experiment in trying to develop a new market for the sport.

It's getting to be about the time for Bettman to admit that his master plan for American expansion has not been effective, and get back to promoting the sport where people care. The rumor is that Balsillie wants to relocate the Coyotes to Ontario in either Hamilton or give Toronto a second team. If the NHL brass actually cares about the sport and not just the bottom line, they should let him buy the team. This may not exactly be shocking news, but no one cares about hockey in Phoenix (or St. Petersberg and Tampa Bay, for that matter). Want to guess who cares about hockey; The people in Hamilton and Toronto!

The ball is in your court Mr. Bettman. Do you want continue to watch the Coyotes be the laughing stock/ongoing trainwreck of the NHL, or do you want to admit defeat in the southwest and allow someone else to pull this franchise out of the fire? I'll tell you one thing, it's probably a safe bet that people in Hamilton and Toronto are more concerned about the future of the Coyotes than the people in Phoenix. That's not a telling sign or anything.

Urban Meyer vs. Lane Kiffin: Scoring the war

2009-09-22T17:16:00.007-04:00

Using a complete arbitrary scoring system developed entirely by me, here is how the ongoing battle between Florida and Tennessee coaches has gone so far...

Lane Kiffin: Accuses Urban Meyer of recruiting violations and tells the world that Tennessee fans will be singing "Rocky Top all night long" after he beats Florida. - +50 for launching the first strike. (+10 bonus points added for calling out Mark Richt and Georgia as well)

Urban Meyer: Denies the allegations made by Kiffin...and he's right. - +75 for obvious reasons.

Lane Kiffin: Is demanded to make a public apology to the University of Florida for his remarks and does. - -40 for caving to the pressure. Be man, stand behind your idiocy!

Urban Meyer: Remains pretty silent about the Tennessee game in the lead up but says all the right things when pressed - -25 for the "we're just focused on the game, nothing else" cliche. Boring. Was looking at massive points if he said Tim Tebow will run one in and then dropkick the Vols mascot in celebration.

Urban Meyer vs. Lane Kiffin: Florida wins but doesn't even come close to covering the 30 point line. The coaches shake hands at midfield after the game. - Meyer +130 for winning the game, but it could have been much more if he actually covered. Kiffin +65 for making Tim Tebow look human in a losing effort.

Urban Meyer: While discussing his team's flu problem, claims that he thinks Kiffin's Vols were not playing to win the game - -43...if they weren't playing to win and you still couldn't get within a 1/3 of the predicted line, what does that say about your squad coach Meyer? I'm deducting 1/3 of your winning points as punishment for failing to cover the line.

Lane Kiffin: When asked to respond to Meyer's comments about the flu, he tells reporters that next time his team disappoints on the field he's going to use the sickness excuse too. - +75 for an epic burn off the top of his head. Possibly the best shot landed so far in the war just on originality alone.

So...as of right now the score stands...

Lane Kiffin - 150
Urban Meyer - 137

As a result of having the last word in the ongoing war, Kiffin takes a slight lead over the Gators coach. We can only hope that this back and forth keeps going for years to come, because this is too much to come to and end now.

There is a reason the Jags are getting blacked out by the NFL...

2009-09-22T17:08:00.002-04:00

...they're really bad.

That is all.

The Yankees may have ruined Joba Chamberlain

2009-09-22T15:08:00.002-04:00

Ah, the "Joba Rules", the brilliant long term plan of the New York Yankees management to protect their young fireballer. Not only was it a great plan to keep the 23 year old from overextending his arm, but it made some awesome t-shirts.

Oops, did I say "brilliant" and "great"? I meant "foolish" and "catastrophic".

Up until this season, there was some semblance of rhyme or reason to the Yankees' decision to limit his arm with an innings limit. When he was coming out of the bullpen, it is was understandable that it would be necessary to monitor his pitches to keep him from wearing out over 162 games. However, when Joba made the move to full time starter this season, the "rules" became more confused and complex than the infamous Obama-care flow chart.

Chamberlain came out after the All-Star break pitching like a man on fire, winning 4 straight games and looking like he had finally hit his stride as a starter. Then the clock struck midnight and the "Joba rules" limit kicked in after a loss to Seattle on August 16th. Joba didn't make his next start for 9 days; a decision that appears to have doomed the Yankees' prized prospect, at least for this season.

Since his 9 day hiatus from the mound at the end of August, the Chamberlain experiment has been an absolute train wreck. Joba has not been allowed to pitch anymore than 4 innings his last 6 starts and has looked downright terrible in every single one of them. In September alone, his ERA is north of 8 and he has an 0-2 record. Anyone who can't see that the long layoff and newly instituted innings limit clearly cannot understand the finicky nature of pitching.

Maybe more so than any other position in professional sports, starting pitchers are creatures of habit. On the mound every 5 days, throw around 100 pitches, get the hook from the manager, hit the whirlpool, repeat in that order for an entire season. When there is a wrinkle thrown in that routine, pitchers usually begin to struggle and it can be tough to get out of a funk. In the case of Chamberlian, the struggles have been more pronounced simply because the Yankees appear completely adverse to letting him work out of it. Take the game against the Rays on September 9th; Joba throws 55 pitches in 3.0 innings and gives up 2 runs (both in the 1st inning) on 3 hits. Then just as he begins to hit his stride by retiring 6 in a row after a difficult first, Girardi makes a switch. Why? Afraid he's going to throw his arm out? Joba a young man, he's not an aging pitcher who demands constant attention to his health.

Making the transition to starter forced Joba to alter his pitching style from the max effort he showed out of the bullpen, to rationing his pitches and depending more on control than overpowering stuff. The man was used to coming out every night and throwing everything he had into his pitches, so why is the Yankees brass so concerned with him wearing his arm out in the rotation? And if Girardi and Co. never let Joba work out the jams he gets himself into, how is he ever supposed to figure out how to get out of them? It's not like he was entrusted with holding the lead as bridge to Mariano Rivera for almost 2 seasons...oh wait...

Not only have the Yankees brought a giant mess upon themselves this season, they could be dealing with a bigger problem in the future. Yankee fans better hope that the "Joba rules" haven't done permanent damage to the man entrusted with the future of their rotation.

Weekend Wrap-up: Little bit of everything

2009-09-21T14:34:00.004-04:00

(This picture brought to you by the words "lopsided", "mismatch" and "beating")

1) Floyd Mayweather really needs to fight someone in his own weight class: Not trying to take anything away from "Money"'s performance against Marquez, because that was a technical boxing clinic if I've ever seen one. CompuBox stats had Mayweather landing a staggering 59% of his punches, while Marquez was made to look like an amateur with his 12% (!). Sad to say, but Max Kellerman put up a better fight trying to keep the microphone away from "Money" in the post-fight interview than Juan Manuel Marquez did in 12 rounds. There was absolutely no shock to the unanimous decision win for Floyd, but it does show that he really needs to take on a high level welterweight if he wants to be considered an all-time great. Yes he is undefeated, and yes he has some good wins, but the truth is he hasn't really fought someone qualified to be in with him since Carlos Baldomir in 2006. Oscar De La Hoya was at the end of his career at the time of the Mayweather bout, and Manny Pacquiao pretty much showed the world that Ricky Hatton cannot compete with the upper echelon of boxers.

The optimal solution: have Floyd fight the winner of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. The problem: that fight won't happen for another 9-12 months if it ever will. The interim solution: have Floyd fight Shane Mosley early next year. The problem: Mosley has turned down a fight with Mayweather before and HBO has already booked him against Andre Berto in January. What this mean for fans: Another year of Mayweather crowing about being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world while he waits for a big money fight with another blown up lightweight.

2) Quick UFC 103 Recap - Underdogs rule the day: I'm not really sure what it is about undercard fights that causes me to struggle with picks. Maybe it's a lack of broad knowledge about the fighters; maybe it's pure bad luck; maybe it's just total apathy towards the majority of the fights on the undercard (leaning toward this one). Whatever it is, undercard fights have been destroying my pick record as of late. On the main card at 103, I went a respectable 4-1 with proper methods of victory in 2 of the bouts (Old Vitor is back!). The undercard, which was more sizable than usual as a method of countering Mayweather-Marquez; a positively atrocious 3-4 with one method of victory. Why did that happen?; of the 4 losses, 3 came at the hands of underdogs.

As for the card, there's only a few things I can take away from this card. 1) With Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt waiting in line for a middleweight title shot, there's almost no question that Vitor Belfort will be next for Anderson Silva. 2a) Cro Cop is done and, 2b) Junior Dos Santos is very close to contender status. This kid is a seriously talented fighter. 3) I grossly overestimated Martin Kampmann striking abilities. Jake Shields laid the blueprint to beat Daley and Kampmann burned it. There goes his title shot. 4) Mike Goldberg needs to buy a copy of Grey's Anatomy (the book, not the painfully overrated mess of a television show). Apparently, "gonads" is not a medical term in Goldy-land. I think a small part of my brain caught fire from that gem.

3) To be a fly on the wall...: ...at ESPN and see Mark May's face when Washington knocked off his true love, USC. This section of the blog is slowly devolving into a weekly "Mark May makes my head hurt" article. Due to a golf tournament that required I miss most of the day in college football, I am deeply saddened that I was unable to see the aftermath of the fall of Troy. If anyone has knowledge of any waterworks that may or may not have occurred on the set of ESPN, for the sake of my sanity I must know about them. As for the game, don't say I didn't say that Steve Sarkisian would do good things for the Huskies. You could see it in the LSU game to open the season; there is a new attitude in Spokane this season. What is it about another coach being able to maximize the potential of Tyrone Willingham recruits? (see: Quinn, Brady; Locker, Jake)

4) If he isn't already, Jahvid Best should be the front runner for the Heisman: After a weekend that saw both of the favorites for the Heisman, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy, struggle mightily against opponents they should have handled easily, the Golden Bears' running back personally dispatched Minnesota. Best rushed 26 times for 131 yards (a 5.0 average) and 5 TD's to spoil the Gophers' opening of their new stadium. He's not exactly a household name (as evidenced by CBS's sports desk hosts' inability to even pronounce his name), but if you look at the numbers objectively, he almost has to be the favorite. So far this season, Best has accounted for 8 TD's on the ground and 1 receiving. His 9 total TD's is more than 1 more than Tim Tebow (air and ground), and 2 more than Colt McCoy (air and ground). Add this to the fact that he didn't get to pad his stats against teams that are barely considered FBS teams like Florida and Texas, and I think we've got a new leader. If the Heisman is truly given to the player who is the best in a single season, as opposed to an entire career, as of right now it's hard to argue against Jahvid Best.

5) Notre Dame's schedule doesn't look so weak anymore does it?: Am I allowed more than one Mark May barb in one week? Actually, I don't really care if I am or not, I'm sending out another one. Remember that awful schedule the Irish have that a high school varsity football team should be embarrassed to be playing? Take another look at it now; it almost seems that Boston College is the easiest game on the schedule now. Better than expected UConn and Stanford, a Navy team that took THE Ohio State to the wall, USC and the team that just knocked them off, Washington? Not loaded with a ton of cream puffs any more is it? It's a shame that the Irish had to lose Michael Floyd for the season now because their BCS hopes may have rested in his very capable hands.

6) Penn State...National Title game...mark it down: Another week, another Nittany Lions win. None of the other contenders to make it to the title game have really impressed me enough to back off my pick. The march to Pasadena rolls on...

7) I can't imagine why San Diego fans hate Norv Turner?: For some reason I just can't put my finger on it. Could it be the decision to kick a field goal on 3rd and goal with :10 seconds left? Maybe it was the decision to get Darren Sproles planted by Ray Lewis on 4th and 2 with the game on the line? Is it the ability to squander 400+ passing yards from Philip Rivers? Someone help, the lack of understanding is killing me.

8) If the Saints are going to make the playoffs, it isn't going to be easy: Is there a more fun team to watch in the NFL than the Saints? Drew Brees goes out and tosses the ball around like there is only 8 men on defense every week, even against good defenses, and the defense does just enough to win. However, the road to the playoffs may be a bit treacherous for Drew Brees and company. The Saints have the Jets, Giants, Falcons (twice), Dallas and New England standing between them and a postseason berth. The good thing about playing these teams; with the exception of one game versus Atlanta, all of these games will be played at the Superdome. It's a tough road ahead, but if New Orleans can perform well in these games, not only will they make the playoffs, they could be the favorites to win it all. Extra note: Darren Sharper's pick-six against the Eagles was the slowest interception returned for a touchdown I've ever seen. Not sure what was worse about it; Sharper's geriatric dash to the endzone or the Eagles being completely unable to actually catch and tackle him.

9) With the 1st pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...: ...the Cleveland Browns select ____. Wow is this team bad. The 0-19 streaking Detroit Lions think the Browns are awful. The Rams think Eric Mangini's offense is inept. Kansas City's defensive coordinator thinks their defense is too porous. Ok, I'm done, you should get the point by now. This team couldn't find the endzone if every o-lineman had a GPS installed on the back of their helmets. 6 points against Denver's defense? Not surprising when Brady Quinn is getting run over almost double digit times a game and Jamal Lewis is their #1 running back. Maybe this guy could have helped. Isn't hindsight fun?

10) Herschel Walker signs with Strikeforce MMA...: I demand Walker versus Ryan Leaf as the under card to Fedor vs. Brett Rogers on CBS! Winner fights for the "Former Pro Athlete Determined to Embarrass Themselves in a Sport They Have No Business In" world title against the reigning champion. There's a pretty good precedent for this sort of thing; guess how it ended?

Weekend Fight Breakdowns: UFC 103 and Mayweather-Marquez

2009-09-18T14:24:00.005-04:00

Let's get the big boy of the weekend out of the way now...

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (-350) vs. Juan Manuel Marquez (+275)

The flamboyant welterweight champion, Mayweather, is back, and his return gift is the #2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world in Marquez. Obviously, Golden Boy Promotions has gone all out trying to hype this match up, but the buzz surrounding the bout has been somewhat subdued outside of the boxing community. Rumors that event organizers have been struggling to sell tickets have been swirling and there is an expected to be a drop inPPV numbers as a result of the UFC's event the same night. Mayweather (39-0) returns to ring action after 2 years of inactivity, and Marquez (50-4-1) is coming off a 9th round stoppage of Juan Diaz in his last bout.

Breakdown: "Pretty Boy" Floyd is undefeated for a reason. His hand speed, counter punching ability to slip and evade punches is a wonder to watch in the ring. However, this fighting style has earned him the label of "boring" on occasion. Floyd makes no bones about it, he says it all the time in interviews; he is a boxer, plain and simple. You're not going to see him go into the ring and brawl just for the fans' enjoyment. He is there to win and collect his check, that's it.Mayweather does have some good knockout power, but it is more likely that you will see him stick and move for 90% of a fight before he lands the big punch.

Marquez is a counter puncher as well, but he has been known to get sucked into a brawl from time to time. In the Juan Diaz fight, he threw more punches in a 9 rounder than he had ever thrown in a fight before. Sure, he is one of the few men to ever put pound-for-pound king MannyPacquiao in danger, and arguably won the second meeting, but Marquez tends to be a slow starter. He tends to give away rounds early before making adjustments to his game in the later rounds. The problem is, againstMayweather , he's not going to be able to counter effectively, and the adjustment to that won't be of much help either. That's Floyd's game, and he's got the reach and speed advantage to keep it that way. If Marquez attempts to brawl his way inside on Floyd, he's going to get planted like RickyHatton did.

Do I think he's going to do that? No, Nacho Beristain is too good of a trainer to allow Marquez to do that. However, I am concerned that if he does start slow in the opening rounds against Floyd, it is going to be complete domination from the "Pretty Boy".

Pick: Marquez has never fought at welterweight before and he was already going to be at a speed disadvantage to Mayweather before the weight gain. I'm a bit nervous making my pick considering there are rumors out Floyd's camp that he is getting beat on in sparring and all of the distractions caused by his trainer, Roger Mayweather's assault charges. Problem is, Beristain has publicly claimed, as recently as last week, that Marquez's speed isn't where it needs to be. If that's true, it's going to be a long night for the Mexican superstar and a lopsided decision for Floyd's 40th win. Floyd Mayweather Jr. by unanimous decision

Undercard Bout: Chris John def. Rocky Juarez by KO before the 10th

UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort

Main Card Bouts

Rich Franklin (-140) vs. Vitor Belfort (+110)

Never say Dana White doesn't listen to the fans. As a result of the fans displeasure at a Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson rematch, the UFC scrapped the match and re-signed former champion Vitor Belfort to replace Henderson. Rich Franklin has been one of the most consistent fighters in UFC history, only losing to the upper echelon of fighters in all of MMA. In his career, Franklin has only been defeated by current middleweight champ Anderson Silva(x2), current light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, and number 1 middleweight contender and former PRIDE champion, Dan Henderson. Belfort, on the other hand, has had one of the more erratic careers in MMA history. Nicknamed "The Phenom, Belfort has absolutely obliterated fighters like Matt Lindland and Wanderlei Silva, but has also had serious letdowns against Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Alistair Overeem(x2). The major question surrounding this fight is if we will see the "old" Vitor Belfort back in the octagon.

Breakdown: Anyone who saw Belfort's last 2 fights in Affliction can attest to the brutal power and hand speed "The Phenom" possesses. His boxing is absolutely top notch, and he is a BJJ black belt if he is taken down. Franklin is slouch on the feet, but he does have the propencity to being being tagged with a big shot. Against a visibly gassed Wanderlei Silva in his last fight, Franklin was rocked by several shots that wouldn't exactly be considered technical. If Franklin can establish range and keep Vitor at bay with jabs and leg kicks, he's got a great chance. However, if Belfort can use his superior hand speed and technique on the inside, it could be lights out for "Ace".

Pick: Trepidation is the word of choice on this one. Franklin is not going to be faster or more technical than Belfort, which will be his downfall in this one. Belfort is not going to stand in the pocket and wing bombs like Wanderlei; his boxing is too evolved for that. Expect it to take a few minutes for Belfort to get his timing and distancing right before landing some quick, powerful shots and stating up the "Old Vitor is Back!" rants across the MMA world. Vitor Belfort by TKO - Round 2

Junior Dos Santos (-140) vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (+110)

Breakdown: The prized pupil of "Minotauro" Nogueria, Dos Santos, takes on the former PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix champion in a fight that will likely define the future of Cro Cop. Since entering the UFC, Cro Cop has been a massive disappointment, failing to live up to his legendary striker status. Much like Belfort, this fight may hinge on which Cro Cop shows up. The ability to throw a murderous head kick is always a possibly, but we haven't seen since his PRIDE days. The deadliest aspect of his hands we've seen recently was his fingers, which helped him eye poke his way to victory against Mustapha Al-Turk. As a stark contrast, Dos Santos has been a wrecking machine since debuting in the UFC last year. The "Mortal Kombat" uppercut he landed on Fabricio Werdum knocked him out of consciousness, a title shot and the UFC completely. Add to that his training with the Nogueria brothers and we could be looking at a future heavyweight champion.

Pick: Cro Cop's futility since entering the octagon makes it almost impossible to pick him in this fight. It will interesting to see what happens if Dos Santos eats of Mirko's kicks to the legs or head, but he has to throw and land one first. "Cigano" should be the faster and hungrier fighter coming in which should mean a short night for Croatian kickboxer. Junior Dos Santos by TKO - Round 1

Martin Kampmann (-500) vs. Paul Daley (+300)

Breakdown: A late replacement for the injured Mike Swick, Daley faces a huge obstacle in his UFC debut in Kampmann. The Brit, Daley, has great striking skills but has an almost non-existent ground game as evidenced by the Jake Shields fight. Kampmann enters this fight with a well rounded skill set knowing he is very close to getting a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. As good as Daley is on the feet, Kampmann has some serious striking that can tide him over until he ultimately gets this fight to the floor.

Pick: Nothing groundbreaking here. Kampmann: good takedowns and submission skills. Daley: exact opposite of Kampmann. There is a short exchange on the feet before a takedown is scored, Kampmann advances position to mount, Daley rolls and is finished shortly after by a choke. Martin Kampmann by submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1

Other Main Card Bouts

Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg - Josh Koscheck by KO - Round 1
Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca - Tyson Griffin by split decision

Undercard Bouts

Cole Miller vs. Efrain Escudero - Cole Miller by submission (triangle choke) - Round 2
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Igor Pokrajc - Vladimir Matyushenko by unanimous decision
Nik Lentz vs. Rafaello Oliveira - Rafaello Oliveira by TKO - Round 3
Ricky Story vs. Brian Foster - Brian Foster by unanimous decision
Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez - Jim Miller by unanimous decision
Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal - Drew McFedries by KO - Round 1
Eliot Marshall vs Jason Brilz - Jason Brilz by unanimous decision
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson - Rafael dos Anjos by submission - Round 3

UFN 19 Recap: Undercard fights ruin my night

2009-09-17T16:31:00.004-04:00

(Melvin learned the hard way that "rope-a-dope" only works when your opponent can't pull you to the ground and choke you out)

My Picks Results: 7-3 (4-0 main card)

Where I was right

- Thank you, Melvin Guillard, for doing exactly what I knew you would and making me look like a genius. He was doing much better than I figured he would by establishing good striking distance, avoid extended clinch work, and backing out of Diaz's guard after flooring him in the first. But, he got cocky and that's when everything fell into place for me. After taking a couple of shots from Diaz that not one person believed hurt Guillard, he feigned by falling back into the cage before shooting in for a takedown. Problem was his distancing was terrible, and by the time Melvin reached Diaz he had a guillotine choke waiting to greet him. I had a feeling his overconfidence in his hands would get him submitted, it just took a bit longer than expected.

- I'm not real sure what fight Chris Lee was watching ringside, but it clearly wasn't the same Maynard-Huerta fight I was watching. There's a pretty good chance that Mr. Lee was within earshot of the UFC commentary team because they spent the majority of the 3 rounds completely overlooking the quality strikes Maynard was landing to pump up the flashy strikes that the Huerta whiffed on most of the time. Other than a Huerta flurry that Goldberg and Kenny Florian harped on for a good 2 minutes in the first round, he had no real offense on Maynard. It was very difficult to listen to those two sing the praises of a fighter when just about every strike he threw was slipped and countered. Come on Kenny, you're a fighter, you should be able to tell when strikes are landing flush and when a fighter is damaged. A clear cut 30-27 decision for Maynard turned in a nail biting split decision for Maynard. When two other judges score the bout 30-27 for Maynard, there's a good chance Chris Lee was so hypnotized by Huerta's Forrest Griffin style haircut, he had to score the fight for him.

- Carlos Condit is a warrior, and performed as such against Jake Ellenberger. Rocked and almost finished early in the first, Condit survived and persevered en route to a split decision win. There is a reason Condit was a champion in the WEC. He is a tough kid with a ton of heart and skill to back him up. That said, Ellenberger surprised the hell out of me. He has some serious power in his hands and knows his way around on the ground. If he had a full training camp to prepare for this fight, the outcome may have been much different. It was clear that the extended grappling in the second round took its toll on Ellenberger, and allowed Condit to take over in the waning minutes of the fight. I can't wait to see both of these fighters back in action. Carlos Condit vs. Mike Swick needs to be booked for the New Year's Eve show, NOW!

Where I was wrong

- Nate Quarry won, like I said he would. Awesome, but if I've never felt physically ill watching a fight before tonight. Tim Credeur completely outclassed Quarry on the feet in the first, even dropping "Rock", before gassing out in the second and showing nothing in the third. It was like watching a fight from opening round of the "Ultimate Fighter" at 1/4 speed. The sloppy action in the cage was only intensified by Goldberg's insufferable clamoring that this was a slam dunk for the "Fight of the Night" bonus check. Carlos Condit and Jake Ellenberger would like to speak to you about that. This fight probably did more to help the career of Tim Credeur than Nate Quarry, which a sad statement to make about the winner of a fight.

- A couple cases of playing down to your opponent were on display in Oklahoma City last night with Steve Cantwell and Brock Larson. Cantwell, who was considered a top prospect even after losing a tough fight to top light-heavyweight contender Luis Cane, struggled in his trilogy fight with Brian Stann. I haven't gotten a chance to see the fight yet but from all indications, the fight could have gone either way. Several play-by-plays at the event claim that Stann spent the majority of time back peddling and avoiding prolonged engagements but did enough to earn a decision. I can't really make an educated statement about the fight until I see it, but as much as Cantwell has improved since his first loss to Stann, he really had no business letting this fight go to the judges. Same goes for Larson, who apparently was involved in a hug-fest that earned the ire of the fans in attendance. For a man who has only lost to Carlos Condit and Jon Fitch in his career, I would have liked to have thought that Larson was a lock against a man with only 10 professional fights. I thought wrong.

- Plain and simple, I don't like C.B. Dollaway. He should be 1-3 in the UFC, but is 2-2 courtesy of a phantom tap against Mike Massenzio. He's been one of Dana White's more hyped prospects ever since TUF 7, but has shown little to back that hype up. Plus, Jay Silva has some brutal knockout power and was making his debut in the UFC. Fighters like that are always dangerous, but C.B. must have done enough to win the unanimous decision. From the sounds of things though, Silva may put on a Tim Credeur performance and showed more than Dollaway in his loss.

If the Raiders aren't already trying to be on "Hard Knocks", they probably should be

2009-09-17T15:04:00.002-04:00

( Ladies and gentleman, the newest member of Vinny Chase's entourage. Lane Kiffin's face is absolutely priceless)

Yeah, I know I'm a couple weeks removed from the "Hard Knocks" season finale, but my lack of HBO until 3 days ago is probably mostly responsible for me being out of the loop. Needless to say, the current season forced me to block off 5 consecutive hours to properly view the Cincinnati Bengals training camp documentary in all it's glory. Besides the pure enjoyment of the quality of the show and the crippling depression that followed the last episode knowing there wouldn't be another until sometime next year, I was left thinking a couple things; 1) it is a distinct possibility that HBO has better sports programming than ESPN and 2) "Hard Knocks" and the Oakland Raiders are a match made in heaven.

I'm not going to lie, I got a small case of the chills just from the thought of Al Davis' team being followed around by cameras 24/7. (another great HBO sports show you probably should be watching) If ever there was a team that needs to have their dysfunction, depth chart battles and obligatory training camp fights (both players and coaches apparently), it's the Raiders. Imagine for a moment the prospect of seeing JaMarcus Russell try to get under 300 pounds before game action. How about the chance to see the beginning of the inevitable epic fail that will be their first round pick that season. Better yet, who's going to be the player that intentionally sandbags it to earn his release, only to resurrect his career somewhere else? Maybe we can see security catch John Madden trying to erase any record of his involvement with the Raiders. Or, what I would exclusively tune in for every week, listen to Al Davis incoherently ramble about the neighborhood kids ruining his lawn before being told he's at the practice field.

I'll clear some space on the shelf for the Emmy now.

At the end of the day, conflict, especially non-scripted conflict, is almost guaranteed television gold. The one thing that was missing from the Bengals' season of "Hard Knocks" was the presence of any real conflict between the players. Even between players fighting for roster space, it was a complete love fest. The closest we got was Roy Williams busting Chad Ochocinco's chops for dropping a few passes in practice. *Yawn*, let's see some hands being thrown! We know (*Jim Rome voice* allegedly) there's at least one person on the Raiders good for that, right coach Cable?

Chad Ochocinco has a death wish

2009-09-16T16:29:00.004-04:00

( The greens of Paul Brown Stadium were never the same after the Bengals replaced Carl Spackler with Chad Ochocinco)

Chad, I know things are bad in Cincinnati and you're probably taking last week's loss to Denver pretty hard, but please, DON'T JUMP!

In a conference call Wednesday, Carson Palmer's favorite house guest said that he intends to perform the famed Lambeau Leap if he scores this Sunday. Funny thing is, that's not even the most ridiculous thing he said during the call. He also claimed that he will be embraced by Packer fans when he enters their ranks.

Um, OK? Because Packers fans have such a long history of welcoming opposing players into the stands to celebrate.

Now Chad, before you start telling Al Harris or Charles Woodson to "kiss the baby", you want to remember last time you were going to light up the Packers' secondary. You know, your list that you had in your locker a few years ago. Don't remember? Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong guy. Maybe it was Chad Johnson who had that list. Maybe it was someone else you got absolutely stonewalled by the Packers after that claim. If your Bengals couldn't get it into the endzone against Denver, it might be a challenge to do so against a team that just ripped Jay Culter 4 times. Carson Palmer doesn't look like the same player and there really isn't anyone else in your wide receiver corps that should cause Green Bay distress so you're probably looking at blanket double coverage all game.

Sorry Chad, as much as I'd love the points for my struggling fantasy team, you might take a few more "Hard Knocks" in this game. And if you do score, don't be surprised if the Packers endzone crowd sends you right back out with a resounding "child please".

UFC Fight Night 19 - Breakdown and Picks

2009-09-16T14:21:00.007-04:00

Main Card Bouts
(Fight odds according to Bodog Sportsbook)

Nate Diaz (-230) vs. Melvin Guillard (+190)

A main event in name and placement only, Diaz/Guillard is the ultimate match up of underachieving lightweights. Guillard is coming in on a 3 fight win streak, despite the fact that he is widely believed to have been gifted a decision against Glesion Tibau in his last fight. Diaz on the other hand is riding a 2 fight losing streak and is danger of being shown the door by the UFC brass. I get the overwhelming feeling that the UFC was banking on alot more hype behind this one just based on each fighter's history as a brash, smack talking hot-heads. If that is what they were hoping for, they must be horribly disappointed. The reception for this match up has been lukewarm at best and the hype associated with the bout is mostly questions about how it got top billing over top lightweight contender, Gray Maynard, and fan favorite, Roger Huerta. I hate to admit it, but I'm with the crowd on this one. There is very little interest in this fight because there is nothing really at stake for either fighter. Diaz may be cut if he loses, but it is unlikely because he is a former "Ultimate Fighter" season winner and the UFC is pretty faithful to those fighters. As for Guillard, a win is a win, but it does very little for his title hopes because Diaz is nowhere near being considered top competition at this moment.

Breakdown: The UFC indulged Diaz's request to put him against someone who will stand and trade with him, but don't expect the kind of fireworks that Diaz wants. Melvin hits hard for a lightweight, maybe the hardest in the UFC's lightweight division. Diaz has good hands as well, but much like his older brother Nick Diaz, he is a volume puncher and tends to use his length to frustrate opponents without ever really hurting them. The problem for each of these fighters is an aspect of the ground game. Guillard has a powerful takedown game for when he gets in trouble, but has close to non-existent submission defense. The opposite is true for Diaz; he is a brown belt in BJJ under Cesar Gracie, but gets taken down at will and a fighter with heavy top control and good sub defense can negate anything Diaz will throw at him. Taking these factors into account, the question becomes can Guillard put Diaz out before it hits the mat or will Diaz be able to weather an early storm and trap Melvin in a sub before the lights go out?

Pick: This is pretty straight forward in my mind. Guillard is a home run hitter but he is also extremely reckless when things don't go his way immediately. Diaz is the perfect fighter to take Guillard out of his game quickly and force him to make a fatal error. Nate jabs alot to get Melvin upset, Guillard shoots in very awkwardly, leaves his neck exposed for Diaz to slip his arm in for the quick choke forcing the tap shortly after. Nate Diaz by submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1

Gray Maynard (-365) vs. Roger Huerta (+285)

Breakdown: As a warning to fighters who plan to bail on their UFC contract to pursue outside interests; don't, because the UFC will punish you in the worst way possible. Such is the fate of "El Matador" Roger Huerta against Gray Maynard. Shunning the company that wanted to make him their poster boy for expansion into Mexico, Huerta receives the non-enviable gift of the undefeated contender Maynard as his UFC swan song. Make no bones about it, the UFC knew exactly what they were doing when they put this fight together. Huerta has a serious problem with staying on his feet when his opponent has no intention in engaging in a brawl like he wants. Case and point, the Clay Guida and Kenny Florian fights. So who better to give their soon to be ex-employee than the one of the most powerful wrestlers in the division. Nice right? When Maynard gets you down to the floor, you stay there until either he or the referee wants you to stand back up. If Huerta can't find his range or land anything early, he gets extremely frustrated and starts chasing and winging wild strikes, both of which will make it even easier for Maynard to take him down.

Pick: Don't expect too much from this fight. This is a match up that is more or less a fight to showcase Maynard against a big name fighter, regardless of status in the division. The UFC doesn't want to Huerta to simply go out with an "L", they want him to be embarassed in the process. Dana White should get his wish and Maynard could be looking at the next shot at the lightweight title after this is over. Gray Maynard by (lopsided) unanimous decision

Carlos Condit (-500) vs. Jake Ellenberger (+300)

Breakdown: The former WEC welterweight champion, Condit, gets a second chance to show that he wasn't just a big fish in a small pond in this fight. "The Natural Born Killer" lost a very close decision to possible #1 contender Martin Kampmann in his last bout, an instant Fight of the Year candidate. It's no accident that Condit is a top 10 welterweight; he's is extremely talented in all aspects of the game and has the killer instinct of a champion. If there is one flaw in his game it is that he is susceptable to being taken down. The problem is, if you don't have good submission defense or top control, he can sweep and end up in dominant position to look for a finish. I'll be the first to admit I know very little about Ellenberger, but a quick glance at his Fight Finder shows that he can struggle against higher level competition like Jay Hieron and UFC greenhorn, Rick Story. The oddsmakers must notice the same thing, which would explain why he is a 3-1 dog in the fight.

Pick: Condit needs this win badly if he wants to stay anywhere near title contention in a stacked welterweight division. I'd expect him to fight as such and deliver a performance that would make Woody Harrelson and Oliver Stone a fan of the "Natural Born Killer". Carlos Condit by TKO - Round 2

Nate Quarry (-260) vs. Tim Credeur (+200)

Breakdown: The requisite match up of "Ultimate Fighter" veterans for a UFN card brings an interesting match up of middleweights. It's been a (pardon the pun) rocky road for Nate "Rock" Quarry since being knocked stiff in his title fight against Rich Franklin. He won one of the more bizzare fights in recent memory against Kalib Starnes at UFC 83 before being added to Demian Maia's submission reel at UFC 91. Injuries have plagued Quarry recently and really prevented him for getting any momentum to regain contender status. Since his stint on the "Ultimate Fighter" season 7, Tim Credeur has shown a surprisingly well rounded game. His problem seems to be that he has what could be informally called the "Jorge Gurgel complex". The symptoms of this complex are generally a refusal to utilize the skills associated with a BJJ black belt in favor of a stand up brawl and can result in Fight of the Night bonuses and walking papers from the UFC. Credeur has to decide if he wants a lump sum payment for a great fight and a possible loss, or the financial security of a contract by doing what he needs to do to win. On the feet, Quarry probably wins; on the ground, Credeur probably wins. It really depends on which path Credeur decides to take.

Pick: Quarry claims he was injured in his fight with Maia, which probably had nothing to do with him getting choked out in 90 seconds, but could explain his up and down performances of late. When he is healthy, "Rock" can deliver some devastating power, no matter how awful his form may be. If Credeur decides to engage in a stand up fight, I'd favor Nate based on him being a more experienced striker. Unfortunately for Credeur, he's probably going to do just that and Quarry is going to punish him en route to a early finish. Nate Quarry by TKO - Round 1

Undercard Bouts

Steve Cantwell vs. Brian Stann - Steve Cantwell by submission (armbar) - Round 1
Mike Pyle vs. Chris Wilson - Mike Pyle by split decision
Brock Larson vs. Mike Pierce - Brock Larson by submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2
C.B. Dollaway vs. Jay Silva - Jay Silva by KO - Round 1
Sam Stout vs. Phillipe Nover - Sam Stout by split decision
(edit: as per Dana White's Twitter, Nover had a seizure in locker room and will not fight tonight. That sucks, this was probably going to be Fight of the Night.)
Jeremy Stephens vs. Justin Bucholz - Jeremy Stephens by TKO - Round 3
Ryan Jensen vs. Steve Steinbeiss - Ryan Jensen by unanimous decision

Knee-jerk Reactions: A Full Slate of Football

2009-09-15T15:13:00.006-04:00

A monster week of both pro and college football has led me to the following conclusions...

1) I've got some explaining to do for last week's thoughts: This week's roundup is a little late just based on the fact that I've been far too busy eating crow for my previous proclamations. OK, so USC didn't dominate Ohio State, but don't you think the Buckeyes and their fans would take a absolute drubbing as opposed to the way they actually lost? And with Lane Kiffin backing up his talk, if it were possible, both teams deserved a loss for how that game played out. If Tennessee is anything less than a 4 touchdown dog heading into The Swamp this weekend, I'll be shocked and appalled. (edit: BetUS.com has the Vols as a +29.5 underdog. Good work, boys) One more thing; Mark May, you trying to claim that Jimmy Clausen had anything to do with Notre Dame's loss to Michigan is embarrassing and should be investigated as slander. We get it Mark, you hate Notre Dame and love the warm feeling you get from Pete Carroll's underoos, but that comment makes as much sense as a ESPN analyst who starred at Pittsburgh relentlessly singing the praises of USC. Send this team to Texas or Florida where a team knows how to close a game out so we can hear the excuses flow like the inevitable river of tears that would precede them.

2) Did the Bills seriously let Tom Brady run the 2 minute drill?: Thank you to the Buffalo Bills for making my loss in fantasy football this week even more brutal by handing Tom Brady extra points. I've got no problem with taking an absolute beating in a weekly match up, especially when the draft was out of my control. (Autopick drafts = fail, takes every bit of fun out of it) But to force me to monitor how many tackles Eric Weddle records because Brady tacks on about 17 fantasy points in 2 minutes and give me false hope is downright unforgivable. Was there any doubt that when they got their early Christmas present from Leodis McKelvin that the Pats were taking that ball into the endzone? I don't care if Brady is throwing with his left arm, he's getting that team the lead no matter what. Props to the Bills for shutting the Pats down for the most part, but I'm having trouble figuring out which loss was more brutal to watch, the Bills or the Buckeyes. A game like that is just the kind of spark the T.O. bomb needs to start it's irreversible ticking.

3) "Roughing the passer" penalties have got to go: Let me get this straight, Brian Urlacher lowering his shoulder into Aaron Rodgers with the ball 10 yards down field - OK, Vince Wilfork performing a textbook perfect form tackle just as the ball is leaving Trent Edwards' hand - instant flag. Message to the NFL's contracted officials: football is a contact sport. The quarterback is a football player and is therefore subject to contact. Granted, you can't blatantly bury the QB well after the play, but when it comes to bang-bang plays in backfield, swallow the whistle please. If the QB is not allowed to be touched at any point during a play (as the rule more or less stands right now) then here is my suggestion; make QB runs a penalty. It's not as ridiculous an idea as it may sound. If the NFL is hellbent on protecting their precious QB's, then having the QB make a dash for the first down and actively seeking contact should be a flag. It's only fair; if the quarterback can't be hit in the backfield, they can't leave the backfield. At this rate, we're only one Tom Brady-esque injury away from seeing red jerseys under center in live game action.

4) Denver and Cincinnati both deserve a loss for their performances: It takes alot to disturb me, but when I read some of the comments that Broncos fans were posting following their 12-7 win on Sunday I felt physically ill. How can you possibly celebrate a game like the one they played? Kyle Orton threw one of the worst passes of the weekend, into triple coverage, and karma paid him back for being thrown away by the Bears by sending Brandon Stokley to run the tipped pass into the endzone. Sure it was a miraculous play, but that game was embarrassingly bad for both teams. The Broncos and Bengals are still awful on both sides of the ball and there seems to be little standing between these teams and the bottom of their respective divisions. Celebrate if you must Denver fans, but that was a hollow victory if I ever saw one.

5) It's going to be very tough to stop the Steelers from repeating: Does any team in football do low scoring, defensive football better than the Pittsburgh Steelers? The Titans aren't exactly dynamic on offense, but the Steelers are the epitome of "bend not break" defense. They will give up yards to you (sometimes) but if you want to get into the endzone, you're in for a fight. And on offense, Big Ben is as clutch as any player in the league when it's crunch time. Realistically, Roethlisberger led his team on a game winning drive twice against Tennessee but a Hines Ward fumble kept them from ending it in regulation. The Steelers are not flashy in any sense of the word, but you'd be hard pressed to find a team that is more efficient. Note to all struggling franchises in any sport: you want to turn things around, start following Pittsburgh's model.

6) Again, Penn State will play for the National Title: I might repeat this one every week of the season until someone can prove to me otherwise. After watching Florida beat on Troy and Texas dismantle Wyoming, my prediction is only reinforced in my mind. If for some odd reason either of these teams were to lose a game before the end of the season, that's it, they're out of the picture. You can't play teams like Troy and Charleston Southern (Florida) and Louisiana-Monroe and Wyoming (Texas) and have any leeway to lose even a single game. At least when Penn State schedules a cupcake, like Syracuse last weekend, they find one in a major conference. Plus they get Ohio State at home; if the Buckeyes can't close at home, good luck doing it at Beaver Stadium during a "white out".

7) Dan Hawkins will be out of a job in less than a month: Colorado is bad. Painfully bad. The kind of bad that comes from redshirting the presumed starting QB in favor of the coach's son. Hawkins' Buffaloes are dead last in the Big 12 North and the conference overall and their doesn't appear to be any relief on the horizon. Sure, they get Wyoming next week but as we saw in Colorado's opener, they are capable of losing to a team they should be able to handle. Then come the good times; at West Virginia, at Texas, and home for Kansas. Well, there's 0-3. With the accusations of nepotism swirling around him and an possible 0-6 record, Hawkins might want to start updating his resume and looking for a new house. I hear there might be some property opening in South Bend pretty soon.

A belated farewell to Novak Djokovic: my new favorite tennis player

2009-09-14T19:00:00.002-04:00

Largely lost in the hype surrounding Roger Federer's imperial march towards another Grand Slam title, Rafael Nadal's return to major action, and line judge abuse was the wild ride of Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic. The world's number 4 ranked player had a little bit of image rehab to perform entering the U.S. Open after some comments about American Andy Roddick which were less than endearing to the fans. So what did Djokovic do? He decided that he was going to make this year's tournament his penance.

In the defining moment of the tournament, after finishing up his match with Radek Stepanek, Djokovic launched into a perfect impersonation of former tennis pro/ESPN analyst/bane of tennis officials worldwide John McEnroe. What followed went a long way to repairing his image with the U.S. fans. The young Serb called out McEnroe to leave his cushy perch above the court and play a little rally with him. Sure, the old man beat the young gun in a couple points (it's not like McEnroe has completely stopped playing the game), but Djokovic made sure that everyone would remember his name for future tournaments

An encore you say? Why not. Against the Nike sponsored juggernaut Roger Federer? I'm in.

From the beginning, it just seemed like a matter of time before Federer disposed of Novak, but he made it entertaining until the very end. During a rally at the net (which he was clearly not going to sneak a shot by Federer) he simply relented, turned around with his racket between his legs and presented the world's number 1 with new target. Even when Federer pulled a winner between his legs from the same place that Djokovic gave him as a target, he took it in stride with a big smile on his face and "what can I do?" demenor. He lost in straight sets, but gained a new found respect from myself, and the fans in New York.

He's never going to be a household name in all likelyhood, but his performance at the U.S. Open these past few weeks should earn Djokovic a whole new stable of fans. It's always refreshing to see a player who plays to not only win, but to have fun while they're doing it.

A player who plays for more than just the win? You cannot be serious.

Missing Person's Report

2009-09-14T15:29:00.005-04:00

We need your help! The following athletes have gone missing recently and are in danger of never being heard from again. Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of any of these players should contact me immediately!

Roy Halladay

Was Last Seen: On J.P. Ricciardi's trade block

It was only about 2 months ago that Roy Halladay was the hottest commodity at the trade deadline and was being touted as the best pitcher in baseball. Since the time of the unbelievably foolish move to dangle Halladay and then not move him, the 'Doc's "best pitcher in baseball" moniker has taken a bit of a hit. Halladay went 2-4 in August with an ERA over 4.50. Anyone who says that having the prospect of competing for a World Series put in front of you only to be thrown back into the mediocre end of the pool doesn't mess with a player's head needs only to look at Doc for proof. Safe bet to say that Ricciardi is regretting not moving his ace now that his value has taken a serious hit.

Jake Delhomme

Was Last Seen: Leading the Panthers to the Super Bowl/losing said game

Is "nose dive" too strong a term for the descent that has befallen Carolina's shot caller? The disappearance of the Panther's QB has been made more well known after his atrocious showings in his last 2 games (1 TD, 9 INT's) but to be honest, this is nothing terribly new about his performance. Outside of his Super Bowl season, Delhomme's stats are nothing eye catching, unless you have an affinity for mediocrity. Steve Smith can only make so many plays to bail him out. Eventually (like now) teams will figure it out and the bench becomes a frightening reality for a player who was almost a Super Bowl champion.

The entire St. Louis Rams team

Was Last Seen: On a highlight reel involving the Patriots

Train wreck, plain and simple. Since the time of the "greatest show on turf" years it's been a struggle for the Rams to maintain visual contact with .500, let alone a return trip to the Super Bowl. Marc Bulger has completely lost whatever game he had and Steven Jackson just cannot make anything happen for this team. Poor Steve Spagnuolo. Guess you never know what you had until it's gone.

Charlie Weis

Was Last Seen: Taking first place in the "Who Wants to be the Next Bob Stoops?" competition

Remember when Coach Weis was the brilliant mind behind the wonder child of the NFL, Tom Brady? I'll give you some time think about it, because it took me awhile too. What's the rule of thumb when your team is leading late in the game (let's say 2:30 minutes for arguments sake)? Correct answer: run the ball to burn the clock/make the other team use their timeouts. Charlie Weis answer: Throw the deep on 2nd and 3rd down and run a grand total of about 20 seconds off the clock. That's what we call a "hero or goat" scenario. Which one do you think he came out as against Michigan? (please, no jokes about what other barnyard animals he may or may not resemble) Jimmy Clausen is not Tom Brady, and the play calling late in the game should be devised as such.

Carson Palmer

Was Last Seen: Leaving his knee/career in the arms of Kimo Von Oelhoffen

He's the only one on this list I kind of feel bad for. Palmer single handedly made the Bengals a playoff team (let that soak in for a minute), only to go down with a knee injury in the first series of their first game. That's got to hurt, in more ways than one. Now, the former USC standout has struggled to not only make an appearance on the field for any significant stretch of time, but perform at the high level he once did. Even against the absolutely brutal (in a bad way) Denver defense in Week 1, Palmer failed to record a touchdown and tossed 2 picks. Maybe he should have let Ochocinco stay with him over the summer. There would be no trouble finding him that mouth in tow.

Ohio State's ability to win big games

Was Last Seen: In the vicinity of a notorious robbery

And 2nd place in the "Who wants to be the Next Bob Stoops" competition goes to......Jim Tressel and his Buckeyes! For those who may not get the running joke, Stoops' Oklahoma squads are notorious (true or not) for being next to non-existent in big games. Ohio State really wants that crown, and have been playing as such in recent years. Title game against Florida - blowout loss. Title game against LSU the next season - beating. Early season game against USC last season - blowout loss. Early season game against USC this season - straight up choke job. Say what you will about how the Buckeyes played against the Trojans, they gave that game away in spectacular fashion. The 1992 Houston Oilers think that they choked. You've got USC's true freshman QB backed up inside his own 20, on third down and long, AT HOME and you let them drive down the field for over 6 minutes to win the game? Call a spade a spade, and a choke a choke.

Countdown: Best Nicknames in Sports

2009-09-09T15:15:00.003-04:00

Let's get one person out the way really quickly. LeBron James will NOT be making an appearance an this list. Why you ask? Well, the thing with nicknames is that they should be earned, not simply handed out as a result of a monstrous amount of hype. When he wins a title, I'll be fine with the label "King James". Until then, long live "Prince James", heir to the throne of "King Kobe".

With that said, let's get this going...

#10. Gilbert "Agent Zero" Arenas

Maybe "Secret Agent Zero" should be Gilbert's actual nickname after leaving whatever undercover mission he is on to play in a total of 15 games over the last 2 seasons. When he's not devastated by injuries, Arenas puts up monster numbers and makes the mediocre players around him in Washington more effective mediocre players. Plus, anytime you get a non-racially charged shout-out from Kramer, you've got a great nickname.

#9. Alexander "the Great" Ovechkin

Simple, but absolutely perfect for the NHL's one man highlight reel. Ovie's mere presence on the ice restored a floundering Capitals franchise and has built them into a team that will compete for the Stanley Cup every year. Considering he's only 23, we'll have the priveledge of watching Ovechkin fill up Top 10 lists for many seasons to come.

#8. Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval

If the "Panda" can keep putting up numbers like he has in his first 1-1/2 seasons, he's going to shoot right to the top of this list just on how fitting the nickname is. At 5-11, 246 lbs. (how he's listed, believe what you want), Sandoval is built like a tank and has about the same level of firepower, putting up 21 home runs and a .326 average this season. Here's to hoping that he and Prince Fielder end up on the same team at some point so I can make my millions selling reinforced astroturf to whatever franchise they end up on.

#7. Calvin "Megatron" Johnson

If you're like me, you simultaneously shook your head and laughed when the Detroit Lions announced Calvin Johnson as their #1 pick in 2007, their 4th wide receiver selected with their first round pick in 5 years. Maybe they knew what they were doing after all. Johnson has emerged as a undeniable force catching the ball, demanding double, or even triple, coverage. If the Lions can transform into something other than the NFL's running joke, it's more than likely going to be on the more than capable shoulders of "Megatron".

#6. Allen "The Answer" Iverson

In the late 90's/early 2000's, Allen Iverson was the most electrifying player in the NBA. During his peak years there wasn't a question that he wasn't "the Answer" to, including "who can cross Michael Jordan"? The new question is will A.I. be the answer to problems that have plauged the Memphis Grizzlies franchise recently. Just don't ask him about practice, I hear he is none too fond of it.

#5 (tie) "Superman" Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard

Don't tell Shaq, but he's going to have to share the "Superman" nickname with Howard. For years, the "Diesel" has held the title with no challengers to the throne. Dwight's performance at the All-Star game in 2008 has launched the Magic's center to the top of the heap as the "Superman" torch bearer. With both playing in the Eastern Conference this coming season, we may just get to see Howard usurp the crown that has sat upon Shaq's head for so long.

#4. Anderson "The Spider" Silva

"The Black Widow" might be more appropriate, but it doesn't flow quite as well "The Spider" for the UFC's middleweight champion/executioner. Since coming over to the UFC in 2006, Silva racked up 10 straight wins and 6 consecutive defenses of his middleweight title. His level of striking and ability to make his opponents look foolish conjures up images of Pernell Whitaker and Ali from the boxing world. He's lankey, he's precise and he's deadly if he gets his hands on you. One only needs to see his performance against Forrest Griffin to see why "the Spider" fits Silva almost as well as that middleweight belt.

#3. "All Day" Adrian Peterson

Freak. Monster. Terror. All could be attributed to the premire running back in the NFL today. But do any two words describe A.P better than "All Day"? Give this man the ball and watch him work his magic. Up the gut, outside the tackles, out of the backfield, in the open field; Peterson can burn you for 6 anytime he touches the ball. If he can keep this up for future seasons we may be giving "All Day" a new tag like "All-Pro" or "All-Time great".

#2. (double shot) "Pretty Boy" Floyd/"Money" Mayweather

The controversial figure and undisputed pound-for-pound #1 boxer in the world (before his short lived retirement) will be the first to tell you that he is one of the all-time greats of the sport. Having never tasted defeat up to this point in his career, the "Pretty Boy" has kept his looks intact with a deadly combination of blinding speed, knockout power and slick defense. As for the "Money" part, I suppose anyone who makes it rain at WrestleMania can call himself whatever he wants. Making $25 million a fight might be a good reason to call yourself "Money" too I guess.

#1. "Tiger" Woods

Quick, without using Google, what is Tiger's real name? Give up?; well I'll put it at the end here. It's hard not to put Mr. Woods at the top of this list considering what he has done in his PGA career. 70 wins on tour including 14 major titles has Tiger in position to be considered the greatest ever to hit the links. What better nickname could you give a man who ruthlessly pursues his prey before overtaking it and letting out a victorious roar when he has reached the top? His impact on the game of golf will continue long after he has Stevey put down the bag and hangs up his cleats. Tiger has bestowed a new energy to a sport that has long been considered to only be for the old and elite. The top of this list is Tiger's as long as he wants it.

P.S., his real name is Eldrick

What Happened to Alex Gordon?

2009-09-08T12:58:00.001-04:00

Just ask Zack Grienke; Kansas City might not be the best place to play baseball if you want national recognition. But, in the case of former number one overall draft pick Alex Gordon, it's probably a good thing he has basically fallen off the map.

The former two-time Gatorade Nebraska Player of the Year, college superstar, #1 rated prospect in baseball, and 2006 Minor League Player of the Year has gone from heralded prospect to relative obscurity in just three professional seasons. An almost consensus favorite to win the MLB Rookie of the Year award in 2007, Gordon was extremely disappointing, batting only .247 with 15 home runs in 151 games. Match that against his 2005 year at Nebraska of a .372 average and 19 home runs in only 72 and there's clearly a bit of trouble adjusting to the majors.

Ok, adjustment period is over, 2008 was going to be the year he broke out. Wrong. Gordon continued to struggle to the tune of a .260 average and hit only one more home run than the previous season. He did put up some startling numbers during the '07 season though, 120 strikeouts and a .955 fielding percentage with 16 errors, both of which were lowest among AL third baseman. And just to pile on the kid, a torn right quadricep placed him on the Royals' 15-day disabled list.

Which brings us to the current season. The injury bug struck early, and hard, for Gordon in the form of a muscle tear in his right hip just 2 weeks into the season. He returned from the DL in mid-July, but only remained with the team for about a month before being optioned to back to Triple-A Omaha until rosters expanded in September. A fairly forgetable 2009 campaign has him hitting only .198 with 11 RBI in 29 games as off today.

So what has happened to this seemingly "can't miss" prospect that was destined to be one of the great third baseman? Is it too early to tell if he will live up to the hype, or was the hype simply that? Maybe he just needs a change of scenery; it seems to have done wonders for Josh Hamilton.

The struggles of Alex Gordon in adjusting to major league ball should serve a giant warning flag to anyone who is ready annoit players like Bryce Harper as the next sure fire future Hall of Famer. Wait until they get between the lines on the big stage before making any rash judgments. That's problem with hype, it can envelop players and bury them from the sight of baseball fans.

The K-Zone Sports Blog

The NFL and Food Network Present: Home Cooking; featuring the Arizona Cardinals

Alabama wins the National Title. Let my insufferable gloating begin!

Construction Zone: Disaster in Progress

The problem with the Heisman Trophy

The resemblance is uncanny....

TUF 10 Finale Recap: Kimbo has arrived!....sort of.....actually, not really

TUF 10 Finale: Breakdown and Picks

Jesper Parnevik is a tool

B-Hop wins a decision in Philly; David Carradine's twin brother confuses everyone

GAME ON: Pacquiao-Mayweather nearly final **UPDATED**

Wednesday Live Chat

Keith Ballard - Most Confused Man in Sports

Pac is Back! Manny Pacquiao's next fight is against........Yuri Foreman?

Wednesday Live Chat

Knee-jerk Reactions: And now for something completely different...

Boredom Alert: UFC 106 Live Blog/Chat

UFC 106 Picks

Looking for an "Answer": Who could use A.I.

How does this live chat thing work?

Weekend Recap; Where the wheels come flying off

Weekend Fight Predictions: UFC 105 and Pacquiao-Cotto

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers - Breakdown and Picks

Knee-jerk Reactions: Oregon lays a smackdown on So-Cal

World Series Quick Hits: Those crazy umpires....

World Series Quick Hits: The Yanks play the quitting game

Knee-jerk Reactions: The Pac-10 joins the awful officiating party

UFC 104 Recap: Welcome to the Machida Error

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun - Breakdown and Picks

The SEC takes out the garbage

Chris Chelios: The Anti-Brett Favre

Second Guess Machine: Joe Girardi's Big Binder of Micromanagement

Knee-jerk Reactions: America, meet Mark Ingram

Come sail away: Sports figures in need of a long balloon ride

Why does Bernard Hopkins know what gay porno looks like?

Knee-jerk Reactions: A Completed Sale of the Denver Broncos

It's "Official"; Sports are in the hands of dangerous men

DREAM.11 Recap: Fernandes takes Featherweight Grand Prix

DREAM.11 Picks

Knee-jerk Reactions: Mark May's Logic Fail

Too little, too late; Lidge records clinching out for Phillies

TUF 10 Shocker: Kimbo still sucks on the ground

Mid-week Fight Breakdown: Kimbo vs. Roy Nelson

The Browns have an Eric Mangini problem, not a Quinn/Anderson problem

I want some of whatever Scott Burnside is on

Angels win the AL West; provide moment of the year

Knee-jerk Reactions: My Bitter Break-up with Penn State

Friday Wrap-up

Sorry Brett, no one believes what you say anymore

??? Alert: The Red Storm's Mascot

The "Great" Escape; Gretzky leaves Coyotes

Urban Meyer vs. Lane Kiffin: Scoring the war

There is a reason the Jags are getting blacked out by the NFL...

The Yankees may have ruined Joba Chamberlain

Weekend Wrap-up: Little bit of everything

Weekend Fight Breakdowns: UFC 103 and Mayweather-Marquez

UFN 19 Recap: Undercard fights ruin my night

If the Raiders aren't already trying to be on "Hard Knocks", they probably should be

Chad Ochocinco has a death wish

UFC Fight Night 19 - Breakdown and Picks

Knee-jerk Reactions: A Full Slate of Football

A belated farewell to Novak Djokovic: my new favorite tennis player

Missing Person's Report

Countdown: Best Nicknames in Sports

What Happened to Alex Gordon?

GAME ON: Pacquiao-Mayweather nearly final UPDATED