Atlanta Braves
The Bravos roller-coaster season ended with a meaningless thud as the Astros swept the weekend games. Worse, Chipper Jones failed to win the batting title with a 0-3 finale. I will take a look at the Braves past season and future later in the week.
UTC Mocs
Another weekend thud. The Mocs actually had a little bit of a buzz in Chattanooga after winning at Georgia Southern last weekend (though you would not have known it from the attendance on Saturday evening), but the same old sorry Mocs showed up to get spanked by The Citadel. Coach Rodney Allison took the blame for the loss, and Times-Free Press columnist Mark Wiedmer did not disagree, basically calling for Allison's firing. It is hard to argue that Allison deserves another season after a 15-34 tenure thus far, a home loss this season to D-II Carson-Newman and last Saturday's debacle.
Next game - at Arkansas (Appy State, anyone...oh, nevermind) 7:00 p.m.
Atlanta Falcons
Head Coach Bobby Petrino got his first NFL victory Sunday with a 26-16 win over the Houston Texans. The Texans were missing both starting wide receivers and starting RB Ahman Green, but you are not going to get any sympathy from the Falcons this year about missing players.
Next game - at Tennessee 1 p.m.
Tennessee Vols
Basketball Vol Duke Crews got caught with marijuana in his apartment, thus explaining his suspension from the basketball team. Apparently Crews was hanging out with Ricky Williams, Michael Vick, Major Wingate and Snoop Dogg, made so much noise that the campus police were called and then had his apartment searched with a warrant because of the odor of marijuana. Nice. Hey, Duke - the Vols have a chance to be a Final Four team this year!!! What are you doing?
Baseball breakdown later in the day.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Weekend Scenic City Sports Update
High School Scores from last night (thanks to The Chattanoogan):
Final Scores:
Thursday
Meigs Co. 29 Tellico Plains 0
Friday
Austin-East 21 Brainerd 14
Bradley Central 17 Walker Valley 14
Cleveland 25 Cookeville 20
David Brainerd 41 St. Andrew's-Sewanee 6
East Ridge 28 Sequoyah 7
Ensworth 35 McCallie 14
Howard 32 Grundy 6
Knox Catholic 34 Baylor 16
Lookout Valley 42 Taft 0
Marion Co. 28 Whitwell 14
McMinn Co. 28 Rhea Co. 21 OT
McMinn Central 28 Notre Dame 21
Midway 38 Sequatchie Co. 3
Ooltewah 20 Maplewood 14
Red Bank 23 Boyd-Buchanan 0
S. Pittsburg 25 Tyner 21
Silverdale 35 Tn Temple 6
Soddy-Daisy 37 Hixson 7
Sweetwater 32 Polk Co. 29
White Co. 14 Cumberland Co. 0
College Football
It is 8:45 pm as I type and it has been a wild weekend so far. Down goes West Virginia. Down goes Oklahoma. Down goes Clemson. Down goes Texas. Down goes Rutgers.
Down goes Florida? Auburn leads 7-0 early (and they are driving again). I looked at this week's football schedule and could not get excited about the games. Who would have thought it would be such a dramatic weekend?
In less dramatic news, UTC is getting blown out by The Citadel. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
No update tomorrow - I'm Racing For the Cure. I haven't decided about how to do these weekend updates yet. In fact, I would love any feedback on the daily updates for local sports news. So far, all the ideas I have gotten from readers have been great ones, including the suggestion that I get a life. He's got a point.
Final Scores:
Thursday
Meigs Co. 29 Tellico Plains 0
Friday
Austin-East 21 Brainerd 14
Bradley Central 17 Walker Valley 14
Cleveland 25 Cookeville 20
David Brainerd 41 St. Andrew's-Sewanee 6
East Ridge 28 Sequoyah 7
Ensworth 35 McCallie 14
Howard 32 Grundy 6
Knox Catholic 34 Baylor 16
Lookout Valley 42 Taft 0
Marion Co. 28 Whitwell 14
McMinn Co. 28 Rhea Co. 21 OT
McMinn Central 28 Notre Dame 21
Midway 38 Sequatchie Co. 3
Ooltewah 20 Maplewood 14
Red Bank 23 Boyd-Buchanan 0
S. Pittsburg 25 Tyner 21
Silverdale 35 Tn Temple 6
Soddy-Daisy 37 Hixson 7
Sweetwater 32 Polk Co. 29
White Co. 14 Cumberland Co. 0
College Football
It is 8:45 pm as I type and it has been a wild weekend so far. Down goes West Virginia. Down goes Oklahoma. Down goes Clemson. Down goes Texas. Down goes Rutgers.
Down goes Florida? Auburn leads 7-0 early (and they are driving again). I looked at this week's football schedule and could not get excited about the games. Who would have thought it would be such a dramatic weekend?
In less dramatic news, UTC is getting blown out by The Citadel. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
No update tomorrow - I'm Racing For the Cure. I haven't decided about how to do these weekend updates yet. In fact, I would love any feedback on the daily updates for local sports news. So far, all the ideas I have gotten from readers have been great ones, including the suggestion that I get a life. He's got a point.
Friday, September 28, 2007
The High School Football Devolution
Let me take you back to the good ol' days of 1996. I was a senior in high school who spent his Friday nights like most seniors in high school - watching high school football. Chattanooga had a great football scene with bitter rivalries and bragging rights on the line each and every Friday.
My high school was The McCallie School. We played Red Bank, East Ridge, Ooltewah, Brainerd and, of course, Baylor. Nobody cared who was public or private in our world - we just didn't want to hear about losing from their students for the next twelve months.
Fast forward to Chattanooga high school football today. It isn't the same. The local rivalries have been replaced by cross-state trips to play schools in Knoxville, Nashville or Memphis. Some schools are traveling beyond the Tennessee borders for games.
Look at McCallie's schedule so far - a game in Kentucky, hosting a school from South Carolina, two trips to Nashville and another game in Chattanooga against a Nashville opponent. It is the same thing for many of the cities teams. Ooltewah played in Maryville last weekend. Baylor and Brainerd are in Knoxville this weekend.
It all seems sad to me. Who really cares if McCallie wins or loses tonight at Ensworth? Do the McCallie kids know any Ensworth students? Are there bragging rights in this game? Is there a single Ooltewah Owl that has ever been to William Blount? Did the Red Bank guys get fired up about playing a team from Canada?
There are plenty of teams and players in Chattanooga to have the kind of thriving local scene that existed here 10 years ago. Sadly, it is gone. Because of allegations of recruiting, bad feelings between public and private schools and complaints about the size of the schools competing, we now have weekly schedules with few games people are excited about seeing.
I don't have plans tonight, so I thought I might check out a local game. There are only two games with teams I know - Red Bank vs. Boyd Buchanan and Soddy-Daisy vs. Hixson. Half the other schools are out of town or hosting schools from somewhere outside of the Scenic City. The student body must make a road trip of their weekend just to support their classmates. What a shame.
Looking back when I was at Ooltewah and then McCallie, we never cared about public vs. private or school size. We wanted to play the kids we knew from little league or church. I wanted to beat East Ridge to have bragging rights in my youth group. I still remember beating the Pioneers on their field my senior year - I was in the stands cheering and yelling the whole game. It took me 20 minutes to get there, and we had a blast. How many McCallie students are making the 2.5 hour trip to Nashville to cheer against Ensworth?
Coaches, parents and administrators ruined local high school football by carving it up by size and public/private classification. It seems the adults forgot that the game is really supposed to be about the kids.
My high school was The McCallie School. We played Red Bank, East Ridge, Ooltewah, Brainerd and, of course, Baylor. Nobody cared who was public or private in our world - we just didn't want to hear about losing from their students for the next twelve months.
Fast forward to Chattanooga high school football today. It isn't the same. The local rivalries have been replaced by cross-state trips to play schools in Knoxville, Nashville or Memphis. Some schools are traveling beyond the Tennessee borders for games.
Look at McCallie's schedule so far - a game in Kentucky, hosting a school from South Carolina, two trips to Nashville and another game in Chattanooga against a Nashville opponent. It is the same thing for many of the cities teams. Ooltewah played in Maryville last weekend. Baylor and Brainerd are in Knoxville this weekend.
It all seems sad to me. Who really cares if McCallie wins or loses tonight at Ensworth? Do the McCallie kids know any Ensworth students? Are there bragging rights in this game? Is there a single Ooltewah Owl that has ever been to William Blount? Did the Red Bank guys get fired up about playing a team from Canada?
There are plenty of teams and players in Chattanooga to have the kind of thriving local scene that existed here 10 years ago. Sadly, it is gone. Because of allegations of recruiting, bad feelings between public and private schools and complaints about the size of the schools competing, we now have weekly schedules with few games people are excited about seeing.
I don't have plans tonight, so I thought I might check out a local game. There are only two games with teams I know - Red Bank vs. Boyd Buchanan and Soddy-Daisy vs. Hixson. Half the other schools are out of town or hosting schools from somewhere outside of the Scenic City. The student body must make a road trip of their weekend just to support their classmates. What a shame.
Looking back when I was at Ooltewah and then McCallie, we never cared about public vs. private or school size. We wanted to play the kids we knew from little league or church. I wanted to beat East Ridge to have bragging rights in my youth group. I still remember beating the Pioneers on their field my senior year - I was in the stands cheering and yelling the whole game. It took me 20 minutes to get there, and we had a blast. How many McCallie students are making the 2.5 hour trip to Nashville to cheer against Ensworth?
Coaches, parents and administrators ruined local high school football by carving it up by size and public/private classification. It seems the adults forgot that the game is really supposed to be about the kids.
Friday Scenic City Sports Update
High School Football
I'm going to rant about Chattanooga high school football later in the afternoon. The game on tonight's schedule that is most intriguing is Red Bank at Boyd Buchanan. It would be shocking to see the Bucs win here, but many seem to think they will give the Lions trouble. It will also be interesting to see if Ooltewah can recover from the beating it took at William Blount last Friday. The fight at Ridgeland may haunt this team for the rest of the year. I might venture over to Hixson to see the Soddy-Daisy game just because it is so close to my home. Many of the other areas teams (McCallie, Baylor, Brainerd) are playing out of town tonight.
Tennessee Vols
The JV Vols played a game in Neyland Stadium last night, defeating Hargrave Military Academy 37-20 in front of 500 rabid fans. How empty must Neyland Stadium feel with only 500 people in it? Honestly, I did not know Tennessee had a JV team. Honestly, I don't know why Tennessee has a JV team.
In more relevant news, Montario Hardesty looks like he will be ready for the Georgia game next Saturday, calling himself "90%" at this point. Sounds good to me - beating UGA will really lift the spirits of what has been a disappointing season to date.
Pat Summitt fired back at UConn coach Geno Auriemma after his comments about why she cancelled the UT/UConn series, saying she told him privately the reasons as soon as the decision was made. Both coaches are hurting themselves and their girls with this feud. Summitt looks wimpy for avoiding UConn and Auriemma looks like a grand stander for calling her out. These games are the highlights of the women's college basketball season, so not playing them over a coaching feud is disappointing.
Atlanta Braves
What might have been. The Braves lost two of the three in Philadelphia and have been eliminated from the playoffs. The NY Mets have done everything in their power to let the Braves take the N.L. East, but Atlanta couldn't get a win with Tim Hudson and John Smoltz pitching back-to-back days.
Next game - doesn't matter.
I'm going to rant about Chattanooga high school football later in the afternoon. The game on tonight's schedule that is most intriguing is Red Bank at Boyd Buchanan. It would be shocking to see the Bucs win here, but many seem to think they will give the Lions trouble. It will also be interesting to see if Ooltewah can recover from the beating it took at William Blount last Friday. The fight at Ridgeland may haunt this team for the rest of the year. I might venture over to Hixson to see the Soddy-Daisy game just because it is so close to my home. Many of the other areas teams (McCallie, Baylor, Brainerd) are playing out of town tonight.
Tennessee Vols
The JV Vols played a game in Neyland Stadium last night, defeating Hargrave Military Academy 37-20 in front of 500 rabid fans. How empty must Neyland Stadium feel with only 500 people in it? Honestly, I did not know Tennessee had a JV team. Honestly, I don't know why Tennessee has a JV team.
In more relevant news, Montario Hardesty looks like he will be ready for the Georgia game next Saturday, calling himself "90%" at this point. Sounds good to me - beating UGA will really lift the spirits of what has been a disappointing season to date.
Pat Summitt fired back at UConn coach Geno Auriemma after his comments about why she cancelled the UT/UConn series, saying she told him privately the reasons as soon as the decision was made. Both coaches are hurting themselves and their girls with this feud. Summitt looks wimpy for avoiding UConn and Auriemma looks like a grand stander for calling her out. These games are the highlights of the women's college basketball season, so not playing them over a coaching feud is disappointing.
Atlanta Braves
What might have been. The Braves lost two of the three in Philadelphia and have been eliminated from the playoffs. The NY Mets have done everything in their power to let the Braves take the N.L. East, but Atlanta couldn't get a win with Tim Hudson and John Smoltz pitching back-to-back days.
Next game - doesn't matter.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday Scenic City Sports Update
Your daily look around Chattanooga's sports scene:
Atlanta Braves
The Braves suffered a devastating loss last night to the Phillies. Tim Hudson was sharp, but Chipper Jones' throwing error opened the door for a big Philadelphia inning that cost the Braves. Atlanta's playoff chances took a huge hit with the loss.
Next game - vs. Phillies tonight at 7:05; John Smoltz (14-7) vs. Kyle Kendrick (9-4)
Atlanta Falcons
DeAngelo Hall will not start on Sunday against the Texans after his childish actions cost the Falcons last week against the Carolina Panthers. Hall was penalized over 60 yards when he went Derrick Thomas on Steve Smith and the Panthers. Hall remains one of the most over-rated players in the league who does as much harm as good for the Falcons.
In other happy Falcon news, Michael Vick tested positive for marijuana. It isn't like I can't understand why he might have wanted to get high & forget all his problems, but didn't he know he would be tested? Didn't he realize that now was the time to be squeaky clean? Is he a complete moron?
Next game - Sunday vs. Houston Texans (1:00 pm at Georgia Dome)
Tennessee Vols
Football gets bumped aside as Duke Crews has been suspended by Bruce Pearl. If this is Crews' last warning, I really hope he gets the message. I think the Vols have a legitimate Final Four chance this year with Crews anchoring the post. If I am Chris Lofton, Mr. Crews and I are having a long talk about what he is doing to the team.
Tennessee Titans
Not much news as the Titans approach their bye week. What team needs a bye three weeks into the season?
Next game - Sunday, October 7 vs. Falcons
UTC Mocs
The Mocs hope to use the momuntum from their 45-38 overtime win over Georgia Southern as The Citadel comes to Finley Stadium. Don't look now, but the Mocs are in 1st place in the Southern Conference (1-0), a full .5 game ahead of Michigan-conquering Appalachian State. Quarterback Antonio Miller is getting healthy and is the key to the Mocs attack. I actually got to watch some of the Georgia Southern game and was impressed with the Mocs' resolve after losing a big lead down the stretch. I might even head out to Finley Stadium this Saturday.
Next game - Saturday vs. The Citadel (6:00 at Finley Stadium)
High School
Tennessee Temple's head coach Chip Kell is stepping down in the middle of the Crusaders' season. Temple has been in the headlines all year for recruiting and other violations. Several players have been ruled ineligible, forcing the Crusaders to play under-manned all year. Kell wanted to cancel the entire season (!), but learned it would cost the school $1,500/game to do so. Athletics Director and head basketball coach Caleb Marcum is taking over the team and has already recruited 10 basketball players to suit up for football. Where were those guys a few days ago? What is going on over at Temple?
Atlanta Braves
The Braves suffered a devastating loss last night to the Phillies. Tim Hudson was sharp, but Chipper Jones' throwing error opened the door for a big Philadelphia inning that cost the Braves. Atlanta's playoff chances took a huge hit with the loss.
Next game - vs. Phillies tonight at 7:05; John Smoltz (14-7) vs. Kyle Kendrick (9-4)
Atlanta Falcons
DeAngelo Hall will not start on Sunday against the Texans after his childish actions cost the Falcons last week against the Carolina Panthers. Hall was penalized over 60 yards when he went Derrick Thomas on Steve Smith and the Panthers. Hall remains one of the most over-rated players in the league who does as much harm as good for the Falcons.
In other happy Falcon news, Michael Vick tested positive for marijuana. It isn't like I can't understand why he might have wanted to get high & forget all his problems, but didn't he know he would be tested? Didn't he realize that now was the time to be squeaky clean? Is he a complete moron?
Next game - Sunday vs. Houston Texans (1:00 pm at Georgia Dome)
Tennessee Vols
Football gets bumped aside as Duke Crews has been suspended by Bruce Pearl. If this is Crews' last warning, I really hope he gets the message. I think the Vols have a legitimate Final Four chance this year with Crews anchoring the post. If I am Chris Lofton, Mr. Crews and I are having a long talk about what he is doing to the team.
Tennessee Titans
Not much news as the Titans approach their bye week. What team needs a bye three weeks into the season?
Next game - Sunday, October 7 vs. Falcons
UTC Mocs
The Mocs hope to use the momuntum from their 45-38 overtime win over Georgia Southern as The Citadel comes to Finley Stadium. Don't look now, but the Mocs are in 1st place in the Southern Conference (1-0), a full .5 game ahead of Michigan-conquering Appalachian State. Quarterback Antonio Miller is getting healthy and is the key to the Mocs attack. I actually got to watch some of the Georgia Southern game and was impressed with the Mocs' resolve after losing a big lead down the stretch. I might even head out to Finley Stadium this Saturday.
Next game - Saturday vs. The Citadel (6:00 at Finley Stadium)
High School
Tennessee Temple's head coach Chip Kell is stepping down in the middle of the Crusaders' season. Temple has been in the headlines all year for recruiting and other violations. Several players have been ruled ineligible, forcing the Crusaders to play under-manned all year. Kell wanted to cancel the entire season (!), but learned it would cost the school $1,500/game to do so. Athletics Director and head basketball coach Caleb Marcum is taking over the team and has already recruited 10 basketball players to suit up for football. Where were those guys a few days ago? What is going on over at Temple?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Time For Touchbacks
Every once in a long while, it is time to think about a major rule change in football for the safety and good of the game. You don't see clothesline tackles anymore. You don't see shots to the head. You don't see horse-collar tackles. Call me crazy or radical or an alarmist, but here is my suggested rule change:
Eliminate the kickoff.
I had this idea as I watched the Texans/Colts game on Sunday. The Texans kicked off and raced down field at top speed to cover the kick. The "wedge-buster" on the team was Cedric Killings. He did his job and then lay motionless on the field in a scene eerily similar to the one in Buffalo involving Kevin Everett, who now looks like he will walk again after initial reports suggested he might not.
There is no part of the game as violent as the kickoff. Defensive players build up 50+ yards of full-sprinting speed in order to crash into either a runner or blocker coming the other way. The collisions are fierce and forceful. There is a reason teams do not put their best defensive players on the kickoff coverage teams - it is dangerous work.
And it is time to get rid of it. The risk/reward for kickoffs does not justify its part in the game. As fans, we take kickoffs for granted and expect the ball to end up somewhere between the 20-30 yard line. For the players, there are furious collisions on both sides to get the ball to this point. There are a few teams who are able to change the game by gaining field position or even touchdowns on these plays, but for the most part teams do not put their best ball-carriers in the position of taking these violent hits. As far as the game itself, the kickoff usually offers little excitement and its implications can outweigh the main component (offense vs. defense) of the game. Let's face it - nobody goes to the games to watch special teams. No kid grows up hoping to be a wedge-buster. It is a tiny part of the game with too big of an impact.
The impact isn't just on the outcome of the game. Each year we learn about more concussions and injuries that come from the game's tremendous speed and violence. Just like the NFL has taken measures to protect quarterbacks, it ought to take measures to protect all its players by eliminating this play. Kevin Everett's paralysis is an isolated case, but there is a reason it happened on a kickoff. It is the most violent play in the game.
Would the game suffer if teams took the ball on the 20 yard line after scores? I do not see how. We want the game to be decided by the offenses and defenses, not by quirky situations with players we don't know like on most kickoffs.
What about punts, you ask? Punting is much safer with fair catches and no player charging the opposite direction other than the man with the ball. There are far fewer violent collisions in the punting game. Overall, punting is also a necessary part of the game as it is a down. Kickoffs are isolated as not really being anyone's ball - there are no fake kickoffs or chance of using the kickoff to try to get a first down.
What about on-side kicks, you ask? The kicking team ought to have the option of choosing to do so. Nothing would change - teams aren't going to risk field position in the middle of the game. It would only be at the end of the game when one team is behind. Yes, those are violent plays too, but they are rare and the build-up of momentum and speed is only 10 yards, not 50.
It is a radical idea, but one that makes sense. There are going to be more Cedric Killings and Kevin Everetts being carted away on stretchers so long as the most violent moment of the game continues to be played out.
Eliminate the kickoff.
I had this idea as I watched the Texans/Colts game on Sunday. The Texans kicked off and raced down field at top speed to cover the kick. The "wedge-buster" on the team was Cedric Killings. He did his job and then lay motionless on the field in a scene eerily similar to the one in Buffalo involving Kevin Everett, who now looks like he will walk again after initial reports suggested he might not.
There is no part of the game as violent as the kickoff. Defensive players build up 50+ yards of full-sprinting speed in order to crash into either a runner or blocker coming the other way. The collisions are fierce and forceful. There is a reason teams do not put their best defensive players on the kickoff coverage teams - it is dangerous work.
And it is time to get rid of it. The risk/reward for kickoffs does not justify its part in the game. As fans, we take kickoffs for granted and expect the ball to end up somewhere between the 20-30 yard line. For the players, there are furious collisions on both sides to get the ball to this point. There are a few teams who are able to change the game by gaining field position or even touchdowns on these plays, but for the most part teams do not put their best ball-carriers in the position of taking these violent hits. As far as the game itself, the kickoff usually offers little excitement and its implications can outweigh the main component (offense vs. defense) of the game. Let's face it - nobody goes to the games to watch special teams. No kid grows up hoping to be a wedge-buster. It is a tiny part of the game with too big of an impact.
The impact isn't just on the outcome of the game. Each year we learn about more concussions and injuries that come from the game's tremendous speed and violence. Just like the NFL has taken measures to protect quarterbacks, it ought to take measures to protect all its players by eliminating this play. Kevin Everett's paralysis is an isolated case, but there is a reason it happened on a kickoff. It is the most violent play in the game.
Would the game suffer if teams took the ball on the 20 yard line after scores? I do not see how. We want the game to be decided by the offenses and defenses, not by quirky situations with players we don't know like on most kickoffs.
What about punts, you ask? Punting is much safer with fair catches and no player charging the opposite direction other than the man with the ball. There are far fewer violent collisions in the punting game. Overall, punting is also a necessary part of the game as it is a down. Kickoffs are isolated as not really being anyone's ball - there are no fake kickoffs or chance of using the kickoff to try to get a first down.
What about on-side kicks, you ask? The kicking team ought to have the option of choosing to do so. Nothing would change - teams aren't going to risk field position in the middle of the game. It would only be at the end of the game when one team is behind. Yes, those are violent plays too, but they are rare and the build-up of momentum and speed is only 10 yards, not 50.
It is a radical idea, but one that makes sense. There are going to be more Cedric Killings and Kevin Everetts being carted away on stretchers so long as the most violent moment of the game continues to be played out.
Don't Look Now, But...
Here come the Atlanta Braves!
Last night, the Braves went into a playoff atmosphere in Philadelphia and spanked the Fightin' Phils 10-6. The Braves are now 2.5 out of the Wild Card, but probably have a better chance of winning the East if they can sweep the Phillies and the Mets continue their freefall.
Where did this late charge come from? The Braves team playing right now is the one we thought we were getting with the Mark Teixeira trade. For whatever reason, it didn't happen. The Braves pitching has been abysmal, the hitting untimely and the wins hard to come by. Now, in September, the Braves look the cream of the National League.
If the Braves can pull off a miracle and make the playoffs, they will be the team to beat in National League playoffs. With Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, the Braves have a duo that rivals the Schilling/Johnson pairing that got the Diamondbacks their World Series championship. Hudson is quietly having a Cy Young caliber year and John Smoltz continues to beef up his Hall of Fame credentials with each dominant start.
The line-up is clicking as well. Chipper Jones is going to win the batting title, Edgar Renteria is back and hitting just under Chipper's .340 average and Teixeira continues to be a beast at the plate.
Is the hole too big at this point? Probably, but not surely. The Braves must win the Phillies series and probably need a sweep. They then go to Houston, the worst team in the National League this year. The Mets can't hang with the Nationals and can't seem to right their ship. As far as the wildcard race, the Padres are without Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron was also banged up over the weekend. San Diego got a great comeback win last night, but they might be vulnerable. The Colorado Rockies are the scariest team in the wildcard race, winning nine straight. I can't name 4 Colorado Rockies, but they have hung around all year and are now in position to get into the playoffs.
(Speaking of Colorado, the Phillies' new park is the New Mile High. The ball FLIES out of there.)
Playoff baseball has begun in the National League. The Braves send Hudson and Smoltz to the mound over the next two nights with their season in the balance. Somehow, someway, they are right in the thick of things once again.
Last night, the Braves went into a playoff atmosphere in Philadelphia and spanked the Fightin' Phils 10-6. The Braves are now 2.5 out of the Wild Card, but probably have a better chance of winning the East if they can sweep the Phillies and the Mets continue their freefall.
Where did this late charge come from? The Braves team playing right now is the one we thought we were getting with the Mark Teixeira trade. For whatever reason, it didn't happen. The Braves pitching has been abysmal, the hitting untimely and the wins hard to come by. Now, in September, the Braves look the cream of the National League.
If the Braves can pull off a miracle and make the playoffs, they will be the team to beat in National League playoffs. With Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, the Braves have a duo that rivals the Schilling/Johnson pairing that got the Diamondbacks their World Series championship. Hudson is quietly having a Cy Young caliber year and John Smoltz continues to beef up his Hall of Fame credentials with each dominant start.
The line-up is clicking as well. Chipper Jones is going to win the batting title, Edgar Renteria is back and hitting just under Chipper's .340 average and Teixeira continues to be a beast at the plate.
Is the hole too big at this point? Probably, but not surely. The Braves must win the Phillies series and probably need a sweep. They then go to Houston, the worst team in the National League this year. The Mets can't hang with the Nationals and can't seem to right their ship. As far as the wildcard race, the Padres are without Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron was also banged up over the weekend. San Diego got a great comeback win last night, but they might be vulnerable. The Colorado Rockies are the scariest team in the wildcard race, winning nine straight. I can't name 4 Colorado Rockies, but they have hung around all year and are now in position to get into the playoffs.
(Speaking of Colorado, the Phillies' new park is the New Mile High. The ball FLIES out of there.)
Playoff baseball has begun in the National League. The Braves send Hudson and Smoltz to the mound over the next two nights with their season in the balance. Somehow, someway, they are right in the thick of things once again.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
An Explanation
So what on earth could keep the greatest blogger in Hixson, TN from updating for this long? Well, in case you haven't heard, I've been recovering from the tongue-lashing Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy gave me over my Chris Benoit article.
Speaking of college football coaching fashion, am I the only one who absolutely hates the Nike shirts being worn by every single college football coach this year? Is this Nazi Germany? Why do they all have to look exactly alike? And what is up with that shoulder design? It looks especially bad from the high camera angle that catches the coach a good 10 times a game. Are there shoulder pads under there? Is it some type of Opus Dei symbol I don't understand? Seriously, between the Vols and these shirts, the college football season has basically been ruined for me.
The real story of my non-blogging is that things have gone a little nutty in the Carpenter world over the past few days. It all started Wednesday night when I came home from the driving range to find an inch of water in our downstairs bathroom. My wife was showering upstairs and, for some reason, it was causing a flood down below. We called a plumber to check things out, figuring there might be a problem with our sewer connection.
It turns out there was not a problem with our sewer connection because we do not have a sewer connection. Our lease says we have one. The seller told us we have one. The plumber, however, could not find one. He only found connection to a septic tank, the very septic tank that we drained and filled with gravel one month ago. That's right - we filled the septic tank we were using with gravel.
So it is Thursday afternoon and we cannot use our water at all. Problem #1. Problem #2 is all mine - Martha is leaving for the weekend to coach swimming at a meet in Tallahassee. I'm on solo Abby duty with no water. Sounds tough, right? I was ready to step up my parental game and come through in the clutch, but then Problem #3 arose - my Friday baby-sitter cancelled. Abby is now coming to school with me, so not only am I SuperDad, but also SuperTeacher. Unfortunately, I also needed to be SuperDoctor because Abby came down with a fever of 103 (Problem #4).
To make a short story even longer, I stayed home with Abby on Friday, then moved our stuff into my dad's apartment for the weekend so we could, you know, actually flush a toilet. Nothing makes a sick baby feel better than not having her mom and being in a strange new place. Problem #5 was that my dad's apartment isn't wireless, so there was no way to get my blog on as I watched football and occasionally checked on my ailing child. We'll skip Problems #6 & #7 (too personal), but Problems #8-10 all have to do with how far behind I have gotten at school with tests coming this week and Parents' Day on Friday.
Rest assured, my priorities are back in order (1. God 2. Family 3. Blogging) and I will not leave you this long ever again. Our house should be hooked up to sewer by the end of the day (paid for by the previous owner), Abby's fever is down, Martha is back in town and I've decided to turn history class into a study hall for the foreseeable future.
Thanks for everyone's concern. In the words of George Costanza, I'm back, baby!
Speaking of college football coaching fashion, am I the only one who absolutely hates the Nike shirts being worn by every single college football coach this year? Is this Nazi Germany? Why do they all have to look exactly alike? And what is up with that shoulder design? It looks especially bad from the high camera angle that catches the coach a good 10 times a game. Are there shoulder pads under there? Is it some type of Opus Dei symbol I don't understand? Seriously, between the Vols and these shirts, the college football season has basically been ruined for me.
The real story of my non-blogging is that things have gone a little nutty in the Carpenter world over the past few days. It all started Wednesday night when I came home from the driving range to find an inch of water in our downstairs bathroom. My wife was showering upstairs and, for some reason, it was causing a flood down below. We called a plumber to check things out, figuring there might be a problem with our sewer connection.
It turns out there was not a problem with our sewer connection because we do not have a sewer connection. Our lease says we have one. The seller told us we have one. The plumber, however, could not find one. He only found connection to a septic tank, the very septic tank that we drained and filled with gravel one month ago. That's right - we filled the septic tank we were using with gravel.
So it is Thursday afternoon and we cannot use our water at all. Problem #1. Problem #2 is all mine - Martha is leaving for the weekend to coach swimming at a meet in Tallahassee. I'm on solo Abby duty with no water. Sounds tough, right? I was ready to step up my parental game and come through in the clutch, but then Problem #3 arose - my Friday baby-sitter cancelled. Abby is now coming to school with me, so not only am I SuperDad, but also SuperTeacher. Unfortunately, I also needed to be SuperDoctor because Abby came down with a fever of 103 (Problem #4).
To make a short story even longer, I stayed home with Abby on Friday, then moved our stuff into my dad's apartment for the weekend so we could, you know, actually flush a toilet. Nothing makes a sick baby feel better than not having her mom and being in a strange new place. Problem #5 was that my dad's apartment isn't wireless, so there was no way to get my blog on as I watched football and occasionally checked on my ailing child. We'll skip Problems #6 & #7 (too personal), but Problems #8-10 all have to do with how far behind I have gotten at school with tests coming this week and Parents' Day on Friday.
Rest assured, my priorities are back in order (1. God 2. Family 3. Blogging) and I will not leave you this long ever again. Our house should be hooked up to sewer by the end of the day (paid for by the previous owner), Abby's fever is down, Martha is back in town and I've decided to turn history class into a study hall for the foreseeable future.
Thanks for everyone's concern. In the words of George Costanza, I'm back, baby!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Much Ado About Nothing
That ought to be the headlines in Boston right now about the Red Sox potential collapse in the A.L. East. The New York Yankees are hot and are loaded. The Red Sox are loaded, but their arms look tired and they haven't gotten the clutch hitting in the past few weeks we're accumstomed to seeing. And don't forget that Manny Rameriz has missed action with a nagging oblique injury through this stretch.
Here is what makes the Red Sox collapse particularly insignificant - they are still going to the playoffs. The Tigers and Mariners have faded from the wildcard race, so the loser of the Yankee/Red Sox race isn't much of a loser.
But what about home field advantage, you ask? In baseball, it doesn't seem to matter. Around 54% of home teams win in the baseball playoffs, which is especially surprising because baseball gives the home team a strategic advantage - the last at-bat. For whatever reason, it doesn't matter in baseball. If the Red Sox end up traveling to Anaheim or Cleveland, it doesn't hurt their chances much at all.
What about momentum? Look at the 2006 Cardinals and then tell me whether late season momentum matters.
The collapse that ought to be getting more attention involves another New York team - the Mets. The Phillies have overcome injuries and a miserable pitching staff to come within 1.5 games of the Mets. What makes the Mets' fall so much for fascinating than the Red Sox is that the Mets will likely be out of the playoffs if they cannot right their ship. The Padres and Diamondbacks are battling in the N.L. West and each team has a better record than the Mets. If the Mets end up blowing a lead that was 7 games just a couple of weeks ago, they will be sitting beside the Pirates, Royals and Devil Rays - outside the playoffs.
I realize the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry trumps all others in baseball and that the American League is far superior right now to the National League, but there is really little reason to care about whether the Yankees catch the Sox. The Mets/Phillies storyline is the best one in these dog days of September as it is truly win or go home. For these two teams, the playoffs have already begun.
Here is what makes the Red Sox collapse particularly insignificant - they are still going to the playoffs. The Tigers and Mariners have faded from the wildcard race, so the loser of the Yankee/Red Sox race isn't much of a loser.
But what about home field advantage, you ask? In baseball, it doesn't seem to matter. Around 54% of home teams win in the baseball playoffs, which is especially surprising because baseball gives the home team a strategic advantage - the last at-bat. For whatever reason, it doesn't matter in baseball. If the Red Sox end up traveling to Anaheim or Cleveland, it doesn't hurt their chances much at all.
What about momentum? Look at the 2006 Cardinals and then tell me whether late season momentum matters.
The collapse that ought to be getting more attention involves another New York team - the Mets. The Phillies have overcome injuries and a miserable pitching staff to come within 1.5 games of the Mets. What makes the Mets' fall so much for fascinating than the Red Sox is that the Mets will likely be out of the playoffs if they cannot right their ship. The Padres and Diamondbacks are battling in the N.L. West and each team has a better record than the Mets. If the Mets end up blowing a lead that was 7 games just a couple of weeks ago, they will be sitting beside the Pirates, Royals and Devil Rays - outside the playoffs.
I realize the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry trumps all others in baseball and that the American League is far superior right now to the National League, but there is really little reason to care about whether the Yankees catch the Sox. The Mets/Phillies storyline is the best one in these dog days of September as it is truly win or go home. For these two teams, the playoffs have already begun.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
This Kiss, This Kiss
The lasting image of Saturday's debacle in Gainesville is not Arian Foster scrambling to recover the fumble that turned the tide of the game or the Brandon James punt return. No, the lasting image is something totally different and totally strange.
Tim Tebow & Tony Joiner.
It was the "Kiss Heard Round the College Football World." It was so strange that entire newspaper stories revolved around it rather than the actual game. It made Verne Lundquist so uncomfortable he seemed to be teetering toward Don Imus territory before finally deciding to just shut up. To be honest, it was about the only redeeming thing about the afternoon for Vols fans. We got our butts kicked, but at least we weren't making out on the sidelines. That moment is going to follow Tebow whereever he goes. It could cost him the Heisman.
The football Gators aren't the first athletes to add kissing to their respective sport. Of course, we have seen trophies kissed after winning championships and we have seen wives kissed by victorious golfers after sinking the final putt. Kissing is part of the sports vernacular - Bill Rafferty's "The Kiss" after a bank shot being my favorite example among others (kiss that one goodbye, a "kiss shot" in billiards are others). Even the band KISS played at the Salt Lake City Olympics closing ceremony.
Some other interesting/notable/disturbing/memorable moments in sports kissing:
Magic Johnson & Isiah Thomas engaged in several pre-game kisses during the 1988 NBA finals. Isiah was the best player on the Pistons' "Bad Boys" teams, but you can bet Bill Laimbeer or Rick Mahorn never kissed anybody before a game. Isiah later tried to get a kiss from a female Knicks executive and is currently being sued for sexual harassment.
The "Baddest Man on the Planet" wasn't above some man-love. Here Mike Tyson seems to be planting a kiss on Al Franken after another knockout victory. Tyson used to get wet ones from trainer Kevin Rooney after wins. Many boxer experts point to the dismissal of Rooney and his expertise as the beginning of the decline in Tyson's career, but could it have been the lack of Rooney sugar?
Staying in the ring, this pre-fight smooch got one of the these mixed martial arts fighters knocked out and the other disqualified. I like MMA as much as the next 18-35 white male, but the homoerotic undertones are hard to miss, and it was just a matter of time before someone acted upon them. I think he could have waited for a prettier opponent, but maybe the guy has a nice personality.
Another poorly received kiss, this time from soccer as the referee gave a yellow card to the player whose protest included a peck on the cheek. It looks as if the kisser is genuinely saddened that his advances earned him a yellow. To me, the ref is just playing hard to get - he could have given him a red card if he really meant it.
To the world of tennis as the Russians celebrate their victory over Andy Roddick and the Americans with a little Davis Cup kissing. This is why they lost the Cold War.
Here is a kiss that doesn't end in violence or awkwardness: Dwight Howard's "Kiss the Rim" dunk might have won him last year's Slam Dunk Contest, though he got hosed when his sticker dunk wasn't appreciated by the judges. If Magic & Isiah were judging, I am sure D-12 would have pulled this one out.
And finally...Joe Namath trying to get a kiss from Suzy Kolber during the Jets game. This is the gold standard for sports and kissing in my book, made all the better by Kolber's smooth handling of the awkwardness. I'm guessing Tony Joiner might try the "I was drunk" defense at some point for kissing Tebow. Tony's just a "happy guy."
And with that, you can kiss this article goodbye.
Tim Tebow & Tony Joiner.
It was the "Kiss Heard Round the College Football World." It was so strange that entire newspaper stories revolved around it rather than the actual game. It made Verne Lundquist so uncomfortable he seemed to be teetering toward Don Imus territory before finally deciding to just shut up. To be honest, it was about the only redeeming thing about the afternoon for Vols fans. We got our butts kicked, but at least we weren't making out on the sidelines. That moment is going to follow Tebow whereever he goes. It could cost him the Heisman.
The football Gators aren't the first athletes to add kissing to their respective sport. Of course, we have seen trophies kissed after winning championships and we have seen wives kissed by victorious golfers after sinking the final putt. Kissing is part of the sports vernacular - Bill Rafferty's "The Kiss" after a bank shot being my favorite example among others (kiss that one goodbye, a "kiss shot" in billiards are others). Even the band KISS played at the Salt Lake City Olympics closing ceremony.
Some other interesting/notable/disturbing/memorable moments in sports kissing:
Magic Johnson & Isiah Thomas engaged in several pre-game kisses during the 1988 NBA finals. Isiah was the best player on the Pistons' "Bad Boys" teams, but you can bet Bill Laimbeer or Rick Mahorn never kissed anybody before a game. Isiah later tried to get a kiss from a female Knicks executive and is currently being sued for sexual harassment.
The "Baddest Man on the Planet" wasn't above some man-love. Here Mike Tyson seems to be planting a kiss on Al Franken after another knockout victory. Tyson used to get wet ones from trainer Kevin Rooney after wins. Many boxer experts point to the dismissal of Rooney and his expertise as the beginning of the decline in Tyson's career, but could it have been the lack of Rooney sugar?
Staying in the ring, this pre-fight smooch got one of the these mixed martial arts fighters knocked out and the other disqualified. I like MMA as much as the next 18-35 white male, but the homoerotic undertones are hard to miss, and it was just a matter of time before someone acted upon them. I think he could have waited for a prettier opponent, but maybe the guy has a nice personality.
Another poorly received kiss, this time from soccer as the referee gave a yellow card to the player whose protest included a peck on the cheek. It looks as if the kisser is genuinely saddened that his advances earned him a yellow. To me, the ref is just playing hard to get - he could have given him a red card if he really meant it.
To the world of tennis as the Russians celebrate their victory over Andy Roddick and the Americans with a little Davis Cup kissing. This is why they lost the Cold War.
Here is a kiss that doesn't end in violence or awkwardness: Dwight Howard's "Kiss the Rim" dunk might have won him last year's Slam Dunk Contest, though he got hosed when his sticker dunk wasn't appreciated by the judges. If Magic & Isiah were judging, I am sure D-12 would have pulled this one out.
And finally...Joe Namath trying to get a kiss from Suzy Kolber during the Jets game. This is the gold standard for sports and kissing in my book, made all the better by Kolber's smooth handling of the awkwardness. I'm guessing Tony Joiner might try the "I was drunk" defense at some point for kissing Tebow. Tony's just a "happy guy."
And with that, you can kiss this article goodbye.
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Recruiting Class of 2005
Remember it? Tennessee - ranked #1. The class that would make us all forget about the 5-6 season. The class that showed Fulmer could still recruit with the best of them. The class that would return the Vols to the top of the SEC and NCAA.
Where are they now?
After seeing Tennessee look slow and skilless in its first two losses, I decided to do some checking on the recruiting classes of the past to see if what I felt was true: that the Vols weren't getting the big time athletes anymore. According to Scout.com, here is where Tennessee ranking in recruiting over the past 5 years:
2003 - 7th
2004 - 9th
2005 - 1st
2006 - 24th
2007 - 4th
The class that jumped out at me for dubious reasons was the 2005 one. These guys ought to be helping now; they are red-shirt sophomores and true juniors. Where were they against Cal? Florida?
Let's take a look at the #1 ranked class in the country, the Class of 2005. For the purposes of the article, we will concentrate on the players Scout.com rated as 4 and 5 star recruits. There are three 3 star recruits currently making up the Volunteer receiving core (Lucas Taylor, Austin Rogers and Josh Briscoe), but the reason Tennessee was touted as recruiting the best crop of players in 2005 was because of the depth of its top players.
(An aside - my own personal experience with high school athletes and these recruiting services has not been positive. I found the reporting and research on these sites to be lazy at best and purposefully negligent at worst.)
There were three 5 star recruits in the class. Only one, LaMarcus Coker, played a role in Saturday's loss in Gainesville. Coker has had a miserable sophomore season thus far, beginning with a suspension for the California game and his inability to produce anything from the Vol backfield. Of the entire class, Coker remains the brightest prospect if he can get his act together off the field.
Demetrice Morley could not. Another 5 star recruit, Morley was dismissed from the team after last year's bowl loss for not making grades. If you wonder why a true freshman is trying to cover Florida's receivers, here is the answer.
The final 5 star recruit in 2005 was Jonathan Crompton. Crompton's career in Knoxville has been relegated mostly to clipboard duties behind Erik Ainge thus far. His chances last season when Ainge went down with an injury showed promise, but he does not look anything like a quarterback that will return Tennessee to past glories. In fact, many Tennessee fans wonder aloud if B.J. Coleman is not the heir apparent to Ainge as the Vol QB.
Three 5 star recruits - one is returning kicks after a suspension, one is waiting in the wings for a shot at being a starter and the other is no longer a Vol. Sound bad? Let's get to the 4 star recruits for the real trouble with the 2005 class.
Tennessee signed thirteen 4 star recruits in 2005. The experts predicted depth and play-making ability out of the group. Tennessee got neither.
The highlight of the group has been Demonte Bolden, who was recruited in 2004 but had to spend a year in prep school to become eligible. Bolden starts on the defensive line and appears to be one of the leaders of the team.
More good news - Rico McCoy is currently starting at linebacker for the Vols and led the team in tackles against Florida. Along with McCoy, center Josh McNeil was named to the SEC all-freshman team last year. McNeil and fellow 2005 recruit Chris Scott are both starting on a suspect Volunteer offensive line.
Montario Hardesty is another 4 star recruit from this class who is contributing to the Vols. Jeff Cotham has seen some time at tight end, though he is not a receiving threat. Wes Brown, Vladimir Richard and Andre Mathis are on the Tennessee bench, offering nothing but depth and practice squad bodies to the team at this time.
Now, the bad. Of the thirteen 4 star recruits, four of them never became or are no longer Vols. Gerald Williams and Aaron Cox never got to Knoxville, though the last information I have read indicates Williams still hopes to be a Vols at some point. Defensive lineman Raymond Henderson was dismissed from the team by Fulmer for making inappropriate remarks to a female minor. Slick Shelley, the best wide receiver recruited in the Class, transferred to Tulsa.
Add 5 star recruit Demetrice Morley to the list of the departed and you are down to eleven of the original sixteen top recruits. Of those eleven, four are currently starting on an unranked team. Coker can still resurrect his season (remember, he was picked 2nd team All-SEC to start the season!) after the off-the-field troubles, but it is hard to excited about a player who seems destined to be dismissed before his time in Knoxville is through. Crompton might emerge as the next great Vol quarterback, though Fulmer has always been reluctant to play running QBs and B.J. Coleman fits the more traditional QB mold. The rest of the class are either servicable (Hardesty, Cottam) or question marks (the bench dwellers).
Which leads us back to the current state of Tennessee football and lots of questions. Is it Fulmer's fault that the best recruiting class of 2005 isn't producing? Are the Volunteer coaches doing a poor job of using/developing talent? Were these guys simply over-rated in the first place? Can Fulmer be held accountable for the actions of teenagers inside and outside the classroom that get them dismissed from the team?
There is plenty of blame to go around for Tennessee's current state of mediocrity. The quick answer is to find better players, but how do you find better players than the best available? How has this class gone so wrong?
Where are they now?
After seeing Tennessee look slow and skilless in its first two losses, I decided to do some checking on the recruiting classes of the past to see if what I felt was true: that the Vols weren't getting the big time athletes anymore. According to Scout.com, here is where Tennessee ranking in recruiting over the past 5 years:
2003 - 7th
2004 - 9th
2005 - 1st
2006 - 24th
2007 - 4th
The class that jumped out at me for dubious reasons was the 2005 one. These guys ought to be helping now; they are red-shirt sophomores and true juniors. Where were they against Cal? Florida?
Let's take a look at the #1 ranked class in the country, the Class of 2005. For the purposes of the article, we will concentrate on the players Scout.com rated as 4 and 5 star recruits. There are three 3 star recruits currently making up the Volunteer receiving core (Lucas Taylor, Austin Rogers and Josh Briscoe), but the reason Tennessee was touted as recruiting the best crop of players in 2005 was because of the depth of its top players.
(An aside - my own personal experience with high school athletes and these recruiting services has not been positive. I found the reporting and research on these sites to be lazy at best and purposefully negligent at worst.)
There were three 5 star recruits in the class. Only one, LaMarcus Coker, played a role in Saturday's loss in Gainesville. Coker has had a miserable sophomore season thus far, beginning with a suspension for the California game and his inability to produce anything from the Vol backfield. Of the entire class, Coker remains the brightest prospect if he can get his act together off the field.
Demetrice Morley could not. Another 5 star recruit, Morley was dismissed from the team after last year's bowl loss for not making grades. If you wonder why a true freshman is trying to cover Florida's receivers, here is the answer.
The final 5 star recruit in 2005 was Jonathan Crompton. Crompton's career in Knoxville has been relegated mostly to clipboard duties behind Erik Ainge thus far. His chances last season when Ainge went down with an injury showed promise, but he does not look anything like a quarterback that will return Tennessee to past glories. In fact, many Tennessee fans wonder aloud if B.J. Coleman is not the heir apparent to Ainge as the Vol QB.
Three 5 star recruits - one is returning kicks after a suspension, one is waiting in the wings for a shot at being a starter and the other is no longer a Vol. Sound bad? Let's get to the 4 star recruits for the real trouble with the 2005 class.
Tennessee signed thirteen 4 star recruits in 2005. The experts predicted depth and play-making ability out of the group. Tennessee got neither.
The highlight of the group has been Demonte Bolden, who was recruited in 2004 but had to spend a year in prep school to become eligible. Bolden starts on the defensive line and appears to be one of the leaders of the team.
More good news - Rico McCoy is currently starting at linebacker for the Vols and led the team in tackles against Florida. Along with McCoy, center Josh McNeil was named to the SEC all-freshman team last year. McNeil and fellow 2005 recruit Chris Scott are both starting on a suspect Volunteer offensive line.
Montario Hardesty is another 4 star recruit from this class who is contributing to the Vols. Jeff Cotham has seen some time at tight end, though he is not a receiving threat. Wes Brown, Vladimir Richard and Andre Mathis are on the Tennessee bench, offering nothing but depth and practice squad bodies to the team at this time.
Now, the bad. Of the thirteen 4 star recruits, four of them never became or are no longer Vols. Gerald Williams and Aaron Cox never got to Knoxville, though the last information I have read indicates Williams still hopes to be a Vols at some point. Defensive lineman Raymond Henderson was dismissed from the team by Fulmer for making inappropriate remarks to a female minor. Slick Shelley, the best wide receiver recruited in the Class, transferred to Tulsa.
Add 5 star recruit Demetrice Morley to the list of the departed and you are down to eleven of the original sixteen top recruits. Of those eleven, four are currently starting on an unranked team. Coker can still resurrect his season (remember, he was picked 2nd team All-SEC to start the season!) after the off-the-field troubles, but it is hard to excited about a player who seems destined to be dismissed before his time in Knoxville is through. Crompton might emerge as the next great Vol quarterback, though Fulmer has always been reluctant to play running QBs and B.J. Coleman fits the more traditional QB mold. The rest of the class are either servicable (Hardesty, Cottam) or question marks (the bench dwellers).
Which leads us back to the current state of Tennessee football and lots of questions. Is it Fulmer's fault that the best recruiting class of 2005 isn't producing? Are the Volunteer coaches doing a poor job of using/developing talent? Were these guys simply over-rated in the first place? Can Fulmer be held accountable for the actions of teenagers inside and outside the classroom that get them dismissed from the team?
There is plenty of blame to go around for Tennessee's current state of mediocrity. The quick answer is to find better players, but how do you find better players than the best available? How has this class gone so wrong?
The People vs. Phil Fulmer
If I was a lawyer (I'm not) who was bringing forth a case to fire Phil Fulmer (which I'm not ready to do yet), here is what it would look like:
*Tennessee is unranked at 1-2, giving up an average of 41 points/game.
*Tennessee is 14-12 in its last 26 games.
*Tennessee has not been to a BCS bowl game since 1999.
*Fulmer is making $2 million/year to deliver wins and championships, not finish 3rd in the SEC East.
*Despite mounting evidence (44.5 yards/return on punts, two punts returned for touchdowns, kickoff coverage that continually gives up a short field) that one is needed, Fulmer continues to resist hiring/assigning a special teams coach.
*Precedent - Winning coaches do get fired. Ask Ron Zook or David Cutcliffe. Ask Jim Donnan or Mike Shula. Ask Johnny Majors...
Do I think Fulmer is on the hot seat? Not really. Barring another 5-6 debacle, I cannot fathom a scenario in which Fulmer is canned. I do, however, think the Vols fan base is getting restless.
Fulmer may have gotten a little too comfortable in the driver's seat since the 1998 National Championship. It was easy to take for granted victories over South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Split the Florida and Georgia games, keep beating Alabama and get the team into a New Year's bowl game was a simple recipe for complacency.
No longer. Steve Spurrier is at USC. Rich Brooks has Kentucky moving in the right direction. Same thing with Bobby Johnson at Vandy. Nick Saban is leading Alabama. Suddenly, Fulmer seems like a good coach in a league of great ones (Spurrier, Saban, Tuberville and Richt) who can't compete at the highest level.
The question today is this: can Phil Fulmer bring Tennessee back to national prominence? Scratch that. Can Phil Fulmer bring Tennessee back to SEC prominence?
Right now, I really don't know.
*Tennessee is unranked at 1-2, giving up an average of 41 points/game.
*Tennessee is 14-12 in its last 26 games.
*Tennessee has not been to a BCS bowl game since 1999.
*Fulmer is making $2 million/year to deliver wins and championships, not finish 3rd in the SEC East.
*Despite mounting evidence (44.5 yards/return on punts, two punts returned for touchdowns, kickoff coverage that continually gives up a short field) that one is needed, Fulmer continues to resist hiring/assigning a special teams coach.
*Precedent - Winning coaches do get fired. Ask Ron Zook or David Cutcliffe. Ask Jim Donnan or Mike Shula. Ask Johnny Majors...
Do I think Fulmer is on the hot seat? Not really. Barring another 5-6 debacle, I cannot fathom a scenario in which Fulmer is canned. I do, however, think the Vols fan base is getting restless.
Fulmer may have gotten a little too comfortable in the driver's seat since the 1998 National Championship. It was easy to take for granted victories over South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Split the Florida and Georgia games, keep beating Alabama and get the team into a New Year's bowl game was a simple recipe for complacency.
No longer. Steve Spurrier is at USC. Rich Brooks has Kentucky moving in the right direction. Same thing with Bobby Johnson at Vandy. Nick Saban is leading Alabama. Suddenly, Fulmer seems like a good coach in a league of great ones (Spurrier, Saban, Tuberville and Richt) who can't compete at the highest level.
The question today is this: can Phil Fulmer bring Tennessee back to national prominence? Scratch that. Can Phil Fulmer bring Tennessee back to SEC prominence?
Right now, I really don't know.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Complete Embarrassment
There is a large amount of anger and alcohol running through this post, so please excuse spelling and grammatical errors. I have been a Tennessee fan since I could walk, been through some wonderful highs and depressing lows, but I don't remember feeling this upset about the state of Tennessee football.
Have we ever looked so over-matched and out-coached in a single afternoon?
I wrote an infamous email a few years back in which I wished for a disastrous season to rid the Tennessee program of Randy Sanders and his clueless offensive scheme. To my amazement, it actually happened. The Vols went 5-6, Sanders resigned and it seemed like Tennessee might return to past glories.
Two years later, we look worse than I can ever remember.
Here is a question that best describes the current state of Tennessee football - how many players on either side of the ball are going to be professional football players?
Hefney? Berry someday? Coker?
There are NO surefire professionals playing for the Vols right now. Today, it showed. The Vols defense gave up chunks of yards on every snap and the offense hoped to pick up three or four at a time.
I'm sure there are bloggers and callers venting about our offensive and defensive coordinators right now. Not me. I'm venting about our personnel. Where are these 5 star recruits right now? Where are the athletes?
What is Cutcliffe supposed to do with an offensive line that gets whipped on every running play, wide receivers that are all possession receivers and running backs that can't shake anyone?
What is Chavis supposed to do with a line that can't provide any rush, linebackers who are as athletic as I am, and corners who get into perfect position and then choke when the ball comes their way?
Seriously. What part of the Tennessee program is solid right now? And how did we get to this point? How are we this far behind the college football world? Cal and Florida are in another athletic stratosphere from the Vols.
Not only that, but where was the fight from the Vols? Tebow's last score, the Gators' second string...that was absolutely embarrassing. I don't want the Vols to become a dirty team, but it would have been nice to see somebody get nasty down the stretch about Meyer running up the score on us. I can't remember seeing any fire out of anyone today.
I've always been a Fulmer supporter. The guy took us to a National Championship. He wins more than he loses in the toughest conference in college football. He runs a clean program. All that leads me to this - either he has to improve this program or he has to go. I cannot envision Fulmer ever beating Urban Meyer after today. I can't envision us beating South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas or Alabama this year. We need to become more athletic and get some true depth on the roster in the next couple of years or there will no longer be any excuse for keeping Fulmer around.
I wish I could joke about the whole Tebow/black guy love affair or rail about Meyer's blatant running up of the score at the end (1st down with 1:30 left and you don't take a knee?), but I can't. I feel nothing but anger about this afternoon. I cannot fathom how Tennessee has fallen to the point that it gets dominated by a sophomore quarterback and a defense with no pass rush.
When does basketball season start?
Have we ever looked so over-matched and out-coached in a single afternoon?
I wrote an infamous email a few years back in which I wished for a disastrous season to rid the Tennessee program of Randy Sanders and his clueless offensive scheme. To my amazement, it actually happened. The Vols went 5-6, Sanders resigned and it seemed like Tennessee might return to past glories.
Two years later, we look worse than I can ever remember.
Here is a question that best describes the current state of Tennessee football - how many players on either side of the ball are going to be professional football players?
Hefney? Berry someday? Coker?
There are NO surefire professionals playing for the Vols right now. Today, it showed. The Vols defense gave up chunks of yards on every snap and the offense hoped to pick up three or four at a time.
I'm sure there are bloggers and callers venting about our offensive and defensive coordinators right now. Not me. I'm venting about our personnel. Where are these 5 star recruits right now? Where are the athletes?
What is Cutcliffe supposed to do with an offensive line that gets whipped on every running play, wide receivers that are all possession receivers and running backs that can't shake anyone?
What is Chavis supposed to do with a line that can't provide any rush, linebackers who are as athletic as I am, and corners who get into perfect position and then choke when the ball comes their way?
Seriously. What part of the Tennessee program is solid right now? And how did we get to this point? How are we this far behind the college football world? Cal and Florida are in another athletic stratosphere from the Vols.
Not only that, but where was the fight from the Vols? Tebow's last score, the Gators' second string...that was absolutely embarrassing. I don't want the Vols to become a dirty team, but it would have been nice to see somebody get nasty down the stretch about Meyer running up the score on us. I can't remember seeing any fire out of anyone today.
I've always been a Fulmer supporter. The guy took us to a National Championship. He wins more than he loses in the toughest conference in college football. He runs a clean program. All that leads me to this - either he has to improve this program or he has to go. I cannot envision Fulmer ever beating Urban Meyer after today. I can't envision us beating South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas or Alabama this year. We need to become more athletic and get some true depth on the roster in the next couple of years or there will no longer be any excuse for keeping Fulmer around.
I wish I could joke about the whole Tebow/black guy love affair or rail about Meyer's blatant running up of the score at the end (1st down with 1:30 left and you don't take a knee?), but I can't. I feel nothing but anger about this afternoon. I cannot fathom how Tennessee has fallen to the point that it gets dominated by a sophomore quarterback and a defense with no pass rush.
When does basketball season start?
Friday, September 14, 2007
Oden Out For the Year
Greg Oden had micro fracture surgery yesterday and will miss the entire 2007-2008 NBA season. The rest of the sports-writing world beat me to the "Sam Bowie" punch, but this truly is a sad and shocking development. Like most basketball fans, I was excited to watch the Oden/Durant rookie pairing this year, but now we are left with only Durant.
I really hope this is not a sign of things to come with Oden. He is the most likable young basketball player to emerge in a long time. Despite being saddled with LeBron-like hype during his high school years, he comes across as down-to-earth and vastly different from the typical AAU basketball prospect of today. Oden seemed to really enjoy his one year in college at Ohio State, not using it as a farm system but actually getting something out of his classes and the entire experience. There have been reports of Oden shunning his new "friends" who are looking for a piece of Oden's pie. He continued to drive his mom's Ford Taurus after getting his big rookie deal. In interviews, he is charming and funny. He openly admits to wanting to be a dentist someday - what athlete admits to wanting anything outside of the sports world?
Last year, Oden had wrist troubles and now the knee surgery. Who knows how he will recover from this operation? Amare Stoudemire seems to be right back to being his dominant self after micro fracture surgery, but guys like Jamal Mashburn and Antonio McDyess never fully recovered from it.
Here is hoping Oden comes out as his former dominant self. There has been much sadness expressed toward the Portland Trail Blazers over this injury, but the young man is the one with whom we should be most concerned.
I really hope this is not a sign of things to come with Oden. He is the most likable young basketball player to emerge in a long time. Despite being saddled with LeBron-like hype during his high school years, he comes across as down-to-earth and vastly different from the typical AAU basketball prospect of today. Oden seemed to really enjoy his one year in college at Ohio State, not using it as a farm system but actually getting something out of his classes and the entire experience. There have been reports of Oden shunning his new "friends" who are looking for a piece of Oden's pie. He continued to drive his mom's Ford Taurus after getting his big rookie deal. In interviews, he is charming and funny. He openly admits to wanting to be a dentist someday - what athlete admits to wanting anything outside of the sports world?
Last year, Oden had wrist troubles and now the knee surgery. Who knows how he will recover from this operation? Amare Stoudemire seems to be right back to being his dominant self after micro fracture surgery, but guys like Jamal Mashburn and Antonio McDyess never fully recovered from it.
Here is hoping Oden comes out as his former dominant self. There has been much sadness expressed toward the Portland Trail Blazers over this injury, but the young man is the one with whom we should be most concerned.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tennessee vs. Florida - A Retrospective
When Tennessee won the 1998 National Championship, it came after years of frustration against Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators. Every year, the Vols thought they were contenders, only to find out in September they were still the second best team in their own division.
1998 was the year Tennessee finally solved the Gators, propelling the Vols to a Fiesta Bowl victory over Florida State and a National Championship. This past year, Urban Meyer's Gators used a come-from-behind victory at Tennessee to jump start their National Championship season.
As this year's clash approaches (this Saturday at 3:30 pm on CBS), a quick retrospective of the battles between the teams from Tennessee's championship to Florida's championship shows why this is one of the most highly anticipated games on the college football calendar each year.
2006 Florida 21 Tennessee 20 - This game is perhaps best remembered for a premature celebration and one of the gutsiest performances in Tennessee football history. Urban Meyer made his first trip to Knoxville and got his second win in a row over Phil Fulmer. The win was especially sweet for Chris Leak, who spurned Tennessee after the perceived mistreatment of his brother C.J. and remained bitter towards Fulmer about it during his tenure at UF. Justin Harrell played his final game as a Vol after suffering a season-ending injury the previous week against Air Force. He put off surgery to play the game, but wasn't especially effective with one arm. The most memorable moment of the game occurred when Vols QB Erik Ainge did the Gator chomp toward the Tennessee fans after a score put the Vols up in the 3rd quarter. It was way too early for taunts and celebration as the Tennessee defense could not figure out how to cover Dallas Baker or stop Tim Tebow's QB sneaks. Florida went on to win a National Championship.
2005 Florida 16 Tennessee 7 - This game featured several special teams breakdowns that cost the Vols, including a botched fake punt by a confused freshman (Britton Colquitt) and a blocked field goal. This was the first meeting between Urban Meyer and Phil Fulmer after Ron Zook's firing in the off-season. Meyer's tricky offense was on display when the Gators took a 7-0 lead on a reverse off the option to Andre Caldwell. The 2005 season was a terrible one for the Vols as the team fell to 5-6 behind Randy Sanders's clueless offensive scheme and the internal team war over whether Erik Ainge or Rick Clausen should be leading the team.
2004 Tennessee 30 Florida 28 - A classic game in the rivalry as Tennessee's James Wilhoit nailed a 50 yard field goal with 6 seconds left to give the Vols the lead. Wilhoit had missed an extra point earlier in the game, so hitting the game-winner was extra sweet. Many Florida fans remember a controversial call late in the game as Dallas Baker slapped Jonathan Wade (who had just slapped him) and got a 15 yard penalty that (incorrectly) stopped the clock. This was not the first time there was controversy in Knoxville between these teams. Vols fans thought they might have found the next Peyton Manning in Erik Ainge, but were also excited about starter Brent Schaeffer. It turned out they were wrong on both accounts.
2003 Tennessee 24 Florida 10 - Casey Clausen's senior season was mostly a disappointment, but this impressive win in the Swamp was a highlight. The most memorable play of the game was just before the half when Clausen found James Banks on a Hail Mary play that gave the Vols the lead. Florida tried to run the ball all game, basically out-Fulmering Fulmer, and it didn't work.
2002 Florida 30 Tennessee 13 - The score was embarrassingly lop-sided and so was the game. In fact, Phil Fulmer apologized afterwards for the performance. The Vols had 8 fumbles throughout the rain-soaked game, losing 3 of them, and could not contain Rex Grossman throughout. To me, this game was a sign of the sinking Vol ship. Casey Clausen was a junior, but looked no better than when he was a freshman. The special teams were terrible. The discipline was non-existent. It was becoming frustrating to watch the under-achieving Vols.
2001 Tennessee 34 Florida 32 - This game is remembered for several reasons: 1) it was moved back into December because of the 9/11 tragedy 2)#2 Florida was playing #5 Tennessee for the right to go to the SEC Championship game 3) Travis Stephens carried the Vols on his back with 226 yards and 2 touchdowns 4) it was an instant college football classic. It was a game of back and forth football, finally put into the hands Heisman-hopeful Rex Grossman for a two-point conversion play that was no good. Tennessee went on to lay an egg against LSU in the SEC Championship game, losing a chance to play for the National Championship in the Rose Bowl.
2000 Florida 27 Tennessee 23 - Controversy in Knoxville. The Volunteers ran the ball down the throats of the Gators, but were desperately holding on to a 23-20 lead when Rex Grossman threw a quick pass to Jabar Gaffney that he caught for .00001 seconds before it hit the ground. Touchdown? According to the referees, yes. According to 108,000 Vols fans, no.
1999 Florida 23 Tennessee 21 - The Alex Brown game. Tennessee's hopes of defending their National Championship fell apart in the Swamp as the Vols looked lackadaisical and slow compared to the Gators. Alex Brown had 5 sacks of Tee Martin. Tennessee fans remember a couple of mistakes down the stretch, most notably Deon Grant's decision to run out-of-bounds with a late game interception instead of turning it upfield and for the odd 4th & 3 sweep call with Jamal Lewis who turned it inside when the outside looked open. Would the Vols ever win in the Swamp? It would take a California kid to pull off the feat in 2001 in an instant classic.
1998 Tennessee 20 Florida 17 - FINALLY! After Peyton Manning failed to beat Spurrier's Gators for four years, Tee Martin got the job done in overtime. To be fair, the outcome had much more to do with Al Wilson and the Tennessee defense than it did Tee Martin, but he made one big pass to Peerless Price (while his arm was hit) and did not make the multiple mistakes the Gators made. Spurrier was revolving QBs throughout the game, but could not find an answer to the swarming John Chavis defense. I stormed the field with my friends and walked away with a Gatorade bottle from the Tennessee bench.
There aren't too many good memories for Vols fans prior to this game, including a 35-0 first-half onslaught in Knoxville, the "Emory & Henry" formation, the Joey Kent decapitation in the Swamp, the "you can't spell Citrus without UT" joke, and the 31-0 Todd Helton whipping in Neyland Stadium. Will this year be more heartache for the Vols? Can Fulmer finally beat Urban Meyer? Will Florida's National Championship defense meet the same fate as Tennessee's in '99?
Just three days to find out.
1998 was the year Tennessee finally solved the Gators, propelling the Vols to a Fiesta Bowl victory over Florida State and a National Championship. This past year, Urban Meyer's Gators used a come-from-behind victory at Tennessee to jump start their National Championship season.
As this year's clash approaches (this Saturday at 3:30 pm on CBS), a quick retrospective of the battles between the teams from Tennessee's championship to Florida's championship shows why this is one of the most highly anticipated games on the college football calendar each year.
2006 Florida 21 Tennessee 20 - This game is perhaps best remembered for a premature celebration and one of the gutsiest performances in Tennessee football history. Urban Meyer made his first trip to Knoxville and got his second win in a row over Phil Fulmer. The win was especially sweet for Chris Leak, who spurned Tennessee after the perceived mistreatment of his brother C.J. and remained bitter towards Fulmer about it during his tenure at UF. Justin Harrell played his final game as a Vol after suffering a season-ending injury the previous week against Air Force. He put off surgery to play the game, but wasn't especially effective with one arm. The most memorable moment of the game occurred when Vols QB Erik Ainge did the Gator chomp toward the Tennessee fans after a score put the Vols up in the 3rd quarter. It was way too early for taunts and celebration as the Tennessee defense could not figure out how to cover Dallas Baker or stop Tim Tebow's QB sneaks. Florida went on to win a National Championship.
2005 Florida 16 Tennessee 7 - This game featured several special teams breakdowns that cost the Vols, including a botched fake punt by a confused freshman (Britton Colquitt) and a blocked field goal. This was the first meeting between Urban Meyer and Phil Fulmer after Ron Zook's firing in the off-season. Meyer's tricky offense was on display when the Gators took a 7-0 lead on a reverse off the option to Andre Caldwell. The 2005 season was a terrible one for the Vols as the team fell to 5-6 behind Randy Sanders's clueless offensive scheme and the internal team war over whether Erik Ainge or Rick Clausen should be leading the team.
2004 Tennessee 30 Florida 28 - A classic game in the rivalry as Tennessee's James Wilhoit nailed a 50 yard field goal with 6 seconds left to give the Vols the lead. Wilhoit had missed an extra point earlier in the game, so hitting the game-winner was extra sweet. Many Florida fans remember a controversial call late in the game as Dallas Baker slapped Jonathan Wade (who had just slapped him) and got a 15 yard penalty that (incorrectly) stopped the clock. This was not the first time there was controversy in Knoxville between these teams. Vols fans thought they might have found the next Peyton Manning in Erik Ainge, but were also excited about starter Brent Schaeffer. It turned out they were wrong on both accounts.
2003 Tennessee 24 Florida 10 - Casey Clausen's senior season was mostly a disappointment, but this impressive win in the Swamp was a highlight. The most memorable play of the game was just before the half when Clausen found James Banks on a Hail Mary play that gave the Vols the lead. Florida tried to run the ball all game, basically out-Fulmering Fulmer, and it didn't work.
2002 Florida 30 Tennessee 13 - The score was embarrassingly lop-sided and so was the game. In fact, Phil Fulmer apologized afterwards for the performance. The Vols had 8 fumbles throughout the rain-soaked game, losing 3 of them, and could not contain Rex Grossman throughout. To me, this game was a sign of the sinking Vol ship. Casey Clausen was a junior, but looked no better than when he was a freshman. The special teams were terrible. The discipline was non-existent. It was becoming frustrating to watch the under-achieving Vols.
2001 Tennessee 34 Florida 32 - This game is remembered for several reasons: 1) it was moved back into December because of the 9/11 tragedy 2)#2 Florida was playing #5 Tennessee for the right to go to the SEC Championship game 3) Travis Stephens carried the Vols on his back with 226 yards and 2 touchdowns 4) it was an instant college football classic. It was a game of back and forth football, finally put into the hands Heisman-hopeful Rex Grossman for a two-point conversion play that was no good. Tennessee went on to lay an egg against LSU in the SEC Championship game, losing a chance to play for the National Championship in the Rose Bowl.
2000 Florida 27 Tennessee 23 - Controversy in Knoxville. The Volunteers ran the ball down the throats of the Gators, but were desperately holding on to a 23-20 lead when Rex Grossman threw a quick pass to Jabar Gaffney that he caught for .00001 seconds before it hit the ground. Touchdown? According to the referees, yes. According to 108,000 Vols fans, no.
1999 Florida 23 Tennessee 21 - The Alex Brown game. Tennessee's hopes of defending their National Championship fell apart in the Swamp as the Vols looked lackadaisical and slow compared to the Gators. Alex Brown had 5 sacks of Tee Martin. Tennessee fans remember a couple of mistakes down the stretch, most notably Deon Grant's decision to run out-of-bounds with a late game interception instead of turning it upfield and for the odd 4th & 3 sweep call with Jamal Lewis who turned it inside when the outside looked open. Would the Vols ever win in the Swamp? It would take a California kid to pull off the feat in 2001 in an instant classic.
1998 Tennessee 20 Florida 17 - FINALLY! After Peyton Manning failed to beat Spurrier's Gators for four years, Tee Martin got the job done in overtime. To be fair, the outcome had much more to do with Al Wilson and the Tennessee defense than it did Tee Martin, but he made one big pass to Peerless Price (while his arm was hit) and did not make the multiple mistakes the Gators made. Spurrier was revolving QBs throughout the game, but could not find an answer to the swarming John Chavis defense. I stormed the field with my friends and walked away with a Gatorade bottle from the Tennessee bench.
There aren't too many good memories for Vols fans prior to this game, including a 35-0 first-half onslaught in Knoxville, the "Emory & Henry" formation, the Joey Kent decapitation in the Swamp, the "you can't spell Citrus without UT" joke, and the 31-0 Todd Helton whipping in Neyland Stadium. Will this year be more heartache for the Vols? Can Fulmer finally beat Urban Meyer? Will Florida's National Championship defense meet the same fate as Tennessee's in '99?
Just three days to find out.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Bringing Sexy Back
I did lots of research before my fantasy football draft and all the experts agreed on one thing - running backs are the key.
Oh, really?
After Week 1 of the NFL season, the talk is not about the league's running backs, but about the wide receivers. With the exception of L.T., the marquee backs failed to live up to the hype (Steven Jackson, Larry Johnson, Reggie Bush) while the marquee wideouts had big weeks. Look at the numbers:
Randy Moss - 9 receptions, 183 yards, 1 TD
Terrell Owens - 3 receptions, 87 yards, 2 TDs
Chad Johnson - 5 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TD
Marvin Harrison - 4 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
Steve Smith - 7 receptions, 118 yards, 1 TD
Torry Holt - 8 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
Throw in the next tier guys like Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Plaxico Burress and Javon Walker and you have the biggest and brightest from Week 1.
Who led the league in rushing last week? Recently cut and re-signed Titan Chris Brown.
Chad Johnson promised to bring sexy back this year, whatever that means exactly, but it doesn't look like he is going to do it alone. Moss and T.O. looked rejuvenated last weekend. Those three guys are sitting beside Manning and Brady when it comes to charismatic superstars of the league.
Meanwhile, the running back position is becoming more and more bland. Many teams are opting for a two-tiered backfield, so a potential superstar like Reggie Bush is sharing carries with the steady Deuce McAllister. Not counting the always exciting LaDanian Tomlinson, the rest of the league's big-name backs lack the imagination and moves of guys like Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Terrell Davis.
The quarterback position, outside of the previously mentioned Manning and Brady, lacks charisma as well. Carson Palmer? Marc Bulger, anyone? Michael Vick is going to jail. Brett Favre & Donovan McNabb are on the downsides of their careers and Vince Young and Matt Leinart are too green in the pocket to be anything more than "someday" stars.
The league's true stars are lining out wide. The question is, do we care? The NFL is not usually thought of as a superstar league. The NBA always has been, but NFL players are hidden under helmets, only on the field for half the game and it is rare when one player can single-handedly steal the show. Wide receivers are bad candidates also because they need a quarterback who can get them the ball in order to be a star. That also requires a good offensive line that can protect that quarterback so he can get them the ball. Look at Randy Moss in Oakland - hardly a superstar with Aaron Brooks trying to get him some catches while dodging blitzing defenders.
The league does, however, need some star power. Parity is well and good, but I'm not going to watch the 49ers/Cardinals game just because it will be close in the 4th quarter. It just makes me want to flip the game on at the end, the same complaint of NBA critics. But to watch Randy Moss...or Chad Johnson...or Terrell Owens - that is worth my time, even in the second quarter of an otherwise dull game.
Sure, they are prima-donnas. Yes, they are attention hogs. Okay, they might take plays off now and then.
But they are sexy.
Oh, really?
After Week 1 of the NFL season, the talk is not about the league's running backs, but about the wide receivers. With the exception of L.T., the marquee backs failed to live up to the hype (Steven Jackson, Larry Johnson, Reggie Bush) while the marquee wideouts had big weeks. Look at the numbers:
Randy Moss - 9 receptions, 183 yards, 1 TD
Terrell Owens - 3 receptions, 87 yards, 2 TDs
Chad Johnson - 5 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TD
Marvin Harrison - 4 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
Steve Smith - 7 receptions, 118 yards, 1 TD
Torry Holt - 8 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
Throw in the next tier guys like Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Plaxico Burress and Javon Walker and you have the biggest and brightest from Week 1.
Who led the league in rushing last week? Recently cut and re-signed Titan Chris Brown.
Chad Johnson promised to bring sexy back this year, whatever that means exactly, but it doesn't look like he is going to do it alone. Moss and T.O. looked rejuvenated last weekend. Those three guys are sitting beside Manning and Brady when it comes to charismatic superstars of the league.
Meanwhile, the running back position is becoming more and more bland. Many teams are opting for a two-tiered backfield, so a potential superstar like Reggie Bush is sharing carries with the steady Deuce McAllister. Not counting the always exciting LaDanian Tomlinson, the rest of the league's big-name backs lack the imagination and moves of guys like Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Terrell Davis.
The quarterback position, outside of the previously mentioned Manning and Brady, lacks charisma as well. Carson Palmer? Marc Bulger, anyone? Michael Vick is going to jail. Brett Favre & Donovan McNabb are on the downsides of their careers and Vince Young and Matt Leinart are too green in the pocket to be anything more than "someday" stars.
The league's true stars are lining out wide. The question is, do we care? The NFL is not usually thought of as a superstar league. The NBA always has been, but NFL players are hidden under helmets, only on the field for half the game and it is rare when one player can single-handedly steal the show. Wide receivers are bad candidates also because they need a quarterback who can get them the ball in order to be a star. That also requires a good offensive line that can protect that quarterback so he can get them the ball. Look at Randy Moss in Oakland - hardly a superstar with Aaron Brooks trying to get him some catches while dodging blitzing defenders.
The league does, however, need some star power. Parity is well and good, but I'm not going to watch the 49ers/Cardinals game just because it will be close in the 4th quarter. It just makes me want to flip the game on at the end, the same complaint of NBA critics. But to watch Randy Moss...or Chad Johnson...or Terrell Owens - that is worth my time, even in the second quarter of an otherwise dull game.
Sure, they are prima-donnas. Yes, they are attention hogs. Okay, they might take plays off now and then.
But they are sexy.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Under the Radar
Stuff you might have missed amongst the NFL and Michigan debacles this weekend:
Tiger Woods looks poised to add the first FedEx Cup to his trophy mantle. It is a shame we couldn't see Phil vs. Tiger down the stretch of this somewhat forced championship, but the longer the golf season goes into the fall, the better by me.
South Florida football shocked Auburn in overtime at Auburn, but still isn't in the Top 25. Great article here about their 11-year old program. Are they the second best team in Florida right now?
Roger Federer dominated another tennis major not held in Paris, finishing off Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Not as impressive as his domination of a game Andy Roddick, but still other-worldly. He is the Tiger Woods of Tennis, but I really wish he would quit forcing the fall after he wins.
Curtis Granderson became the third player in the history of baseball to put up 20 home runs, triples, doubles and stolen bases in a single season. Shouldn't this guy get some MVP consideration? I know A-Rod has it locked up in the American League, but Granderson's season is one for the ages.
Boise State's winning streak, the longest in the country, is over thanks to the best looking freshmen quarterback in the country (it ain't Jimmy Clausen), Washington's Jake Locker. Okay, he is a redshirt and Clausen is a true freshmen, but Locker has looked like a 5th-year senior in his first two games. Clausen looked like a boy among men against Penn State. Ian Johnson's Heisman hopes took a big hit in Seattle.
Pacman Jones is half of the TNA Tag Team Champions of the World, pinning the legendary Sting last night. We knew he could cover people.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to make the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup. The most popular driver in the world is starting to remind me of Danica Patrick - good looking, over-exposed and never wins.
And finally, Britney Spears's career may be as dead as the Braves playoff hopes after last night's comeback performance at the MTV VMAs.
Tiger Woods looks poised to add the first FedEx Cup to his trophy mantle. It is a shame we couldn't see Phil vs. Tiger down the stretch of this somewhat forced championship, but the longer the golf season goes into the fall, the better by me.
South Florida football shocked Auburn in overtime at Auburn, but still isn't in the Top 25. Great article here about their 11-year old program. Are they the second best team in Florida right now?
Roger Federer dominated another tennis major not held in Paris, finishing off Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Not as impressive as his domination of a game Andy Roddick, but still other-worldly. He is the Tiger Woods of Tennis, but I really wish he would quit forcing the fall after he wins.
Curtis Granderson became the third player in the history of baseball to put up 20 home runs, triples, doubles and stolen bases in a single season. Shouldn't this guy get some MVP consideration? I know A-Rod has it locked up in the American League, but Granderson's season is one for the ages.
Boise State's winning streak, the longest in the country, is over thanks to the best looking freshmen quarterback in the country (it ain't Jimmy Clausen), Washington's Jake Locker. Okay, he is a redshirt and Clausen is a true freshmen, but Locker has looked like a 5th-year senior in his first two games. Clausen looked like a boy among men against Penn State. Ian Johnson's Heisman hopes took a big hit in Seattle.
Pacman Jones is half of the TNA Tag Team Champions of the World, pinning the legendary Sting last night. We knew he could cover people.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to make the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup. The most popular driver in the world is starting to remind me of Danica Patrick - good looking, over-exposed and never wins.
And finally, Britney Spears's career may be as dead as the Braves playoff hopes after last night's comeback performance at the MTV VMAs.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
LIVE posting today throughout the first week of the NFL Season
8:53 pm - I am going to shut down the live blogging for the day. Not my most productive venture, I know. I'm not sure there were any big surprises today - Randy Moss looks like a steal for the Pats, the Steelers look to be back...the Titans might have been the biggest surprise, though I'm not sold on the Jaguars. Biggest disappointment? It is either my fantasy team (27 points so far with only one player left on Monday) or that the John Cougar Mellancamp Chevy commercials are back. It is easily the latter.
Good night - see you in the morning.
8:40 pm - Three hours between posts - pretty weak, huh? The yard is now mowed, my dog went for a jog and dinner has been consumed. What did I miss? Still not much scoring throughout the day. After a day of watching college football, where the various offenses and athletes seem nearly impossible to stop, the pound-the-ball NFL mentality is, frankly, a little dull.
My Cowboys gave up a long TD to start the game, but the offense looked good coming back down for a FG. Is there a more over-rated player in the NFL than Roy Williams? He hits hard, but he kills the Cowboys in the secondary.
5:33 pm - Quick look at scores - boy, do the Patriots and Colts look like they are on a collision course for the AFC championship after Week 1? Lots of last-second wins today - Packers, Broncos, Redskins. Not much scoring, but exciting finishes.
5:28 pm - A much-needed haircut later (at Sports Clips - the football doesn't stop) and I'm back. Not much offense in the Chargers/Bears game so far. I was driving home, listening on the radio as the announcers relayed a story about Grossman thanking Lovie Smith and Ron Turner for believing in him. Next play? Grossman interception.
4:20 pm - Yes - we have the Chargers/Bears game here. The paper today listed this or the Bucs/Seahawks games as possibilities. I might have been on the phone with Directv the very second I was exposed to that yawner instead of the best match-up of the season.
4:18 pm - Bonehead play for the Eagles & the Packers win at Lambeau. I know fielding the punt saves field position, but the punt was short & the Eagles were going to have good field position. On a Fantasy side note, ESPN is not giving me credit for a Packers defensive touchdown despite the Green Bay special teams scoring on an Eagles fumble. I don't understand why that isn't a touchdown. Regardless, I'm getting killed in my league by my dad.
4:08 pm - Did I just hear a cover of The Jam's "Pretty Green" over highlights of the Eagles/Packers? That is...awesome.
3:51 pm - Titans are kneeling & this one is over. Big road win for the Titans behind Chris Brown and the maligned defense. What was I saying about the Gerrard era?
3:40 pm - Fantasy Update You Don't Care About: My team is getting killed. My two RBs, which were my first two picks, are both 2nd stringers (Bush & Jones-Drew). Laverneus Coles is killing me and, for some reason, ESPN hasn't given me credit for Green Bay's defensive touchdown yet. Houshmanzadeh (did I spell that right?) is my ace-in-the-hole Monday night, but I may already be drawing dead at that point.
3:35 pm - Steve Beuerlein is a moron. At least Don Crique called him out on it. Why would the Titans be trying to run clock on 2nd and long, up 3 with 5:00 to go in the game? Beuerlein - you were a great back-up quarterback for my Pokes, but you ought to be a back-up color man as well. I guess that is the reason you are doing the Titans/Jags game instead of the Pats/Jets.
3:24 pm - I remember hearing from several "experts" about how bad the Titans defense was going to be this year. They sure look good so far, especially up front. On the offensive side of the ball, the line is moving Stroud & Henderson around for big gains on the ground. Chris Brown looks like the back the Titans thought they were getting a few years back. I'm awfully impressed with Tennessee today.
2:48 pm - Checking to see what I missed...are the Texans up 17 points on the Chiefs? As soon I leave Houston, the Texans become competitive? Or are the Chiefs just that bad?
2:41 pm - Whoa...I flipped it over to the Falcons/Vikings game and fell asleep. If any town in the world is designed for NFL Sunday Ticket, it is Chattanooga. You are stuck with the Titans on one channel and the Falcons on the other, no matter how awful either team might be. I know Martha and I decided this was money well spent on other things, but cancelling Sunday Ticket may be the greatest mistake in the history of my life.
1:48 pm - Jeff Fisher didn't read my Take the Points entry. I just told Martha I hated this call and look what happened. Steve Beurlein is now questioning the call - WHY DIDN'T YOU QUESTION IT WHEN THEY WERE LINING UP? That is what you are paid to do, not second-guess after it fails. Idiot.
1:44 pm - 17-0 Steelers. I can hear the boos in Ohio from here.
1:39 pm - 10-0 Steelers over Browns. O Romeo, Romeo wherefore wilt thou be working next year? Hopefully he'll have a good view of Bill Cowher coaching his Browns.
1:35 pm - Haynesworth got flagged for tackling Jones-Drew too hard. That is ridiculous - a reputation call. And now...touchdown. So far, so good for the Gerrard era in Jax.
1:26 pm - Lunch & football - wonderful combo. Titans drive looked good, but only 3 points. Nice start to the Joey Harrington era - pick 6 for the Vikings.
1:05 pm - Titans/Jags is my early game. Nice kickoff return...fumble...Titans still have it. Is that a good or bad omen to start the season?
1:00 pm - The first Sunday of NFL games. I'm excited, but not obnoxiously excited like some of the people I've watched on TV this morning. I'm sorry, but you look like a dork with a giddy smile on your face about some football games. I don't mean to be a downer, but I find some of the excitement to be nauseating.
Quick side note - we cancelled NFL Sunday Ticket this year after having it the last two seasons. It is expensive and makes you feel trapped in the house on Sunday, but I'm already missing it.
Good night - see you in the morning.
8:40 pm - Three hours between posts - pretty weak, huh? The yard is now mowed, my dog went for a jog and dinner has been consumed. What did I miss? Still not much scoring throughout the day. After a day of watching college football, where the various offenses and athletes seem nearly impossible to stop, the pound-the-ball NFL mentality is, frankly, a little dull.
My Cowboys gave up a long TD to start the game, but the offense looked good coming back down for a FG. Is there a more over-rated player in the NFL than Roy Williams? He hits hard, but he kills the Cowboys in the secondary.
5:33 pm - Quick look at scores - boy, do the Patriots and Colts look like they are on a collision course for the AFC championship after Week 1? Lots of last-second wins today - Packers, Broncos, Redskins. Not much scoring, but exciting finishes.
5:28 pm - A much-needed haircut later (at Sports Clips - the football doesn't stop) and I'm back. Not much offense in the Chargers/Bears game so far. I was driving home, listening on the radio as the announcers relayed a story about Grossman thanking Lovie Smith and Ron Turner for believing in him. Next play? Grossman interception.
4:20 pm - Yes - we have the Chargers/Bears game here. The paper today listed this or the Bucs/Seahawks games as possibilities. I might have been on the phone with Directv the very second I was exposed to that yawner instead of the best match-up of the season.
4:18 pm - Bonehead play for the Eagles & the Packers win at Lambeau. I know fielding the punt saves field position, but the punt was short & the Eagles were going to have good field position. On a Fantasy side note, ESPN is not giving me credit for a Packers defensive touchdown despite the Green Bay special teams scoring on an Eagles fumble. I don't understand why that isn't a touchdown. Regardless, I'm getting killed in my league by my dad.
4:08 pm - Did I just hear a cover of The Jam's "Pretty Green" over highlights of the Eagles/Packers? That is...awesome.
3:51 pm - Titans are kneeling & this one is over. Big road win for the Titans behind Chris Brown and the maligned defense. What was I saying about the Gerrard era?
3:40 pm - Fantasy Update You Don't Care About: My team is getting killed. My two RBs, which were my first two picks, are both 2nd stringers (Bush & Jones-Drew). Laverneus Coles is killing me and, for some reason, ESPN hasn't given me credit for Green Bay's defensive touchdown yet. Houshmanzadeh (did I spell that right?) is my ace-in-the-hole Monday night, but I may already be drawing dead at that point.
3:35 pm - Steve Beuerlein is a moron. At least Don Crique called him out on it. Why would the Titans be trying to run clock on 2nd and long, up 3 with 5:00 to go in the game? Beuerlein - you were a great back-up quarterback for my Pokes, but you ought to be a back-up color man as well. I guess that is the reason you are doing the Titans/Jags game instead of the Pats/Jets.
3:24 pm - I remember hearing from several "experts" about how bad the Titans defense was going to be this year. They sure look good so far, especially up front. On the offensive side of the ball, the line is moving Stroud & Henderson around for big gains on the ground. Chris Brown looks like the back the Titans thought they were getting a few years back. I'm awfully impressed with Tennessee today.
2:48 pm - Checking to see what I missed...are the Texans up 17 points on the Chiefs? As soon I leave Houston, the Texans become competitive? Or are the Chiefs just that bad?
2:41 pm - Whoa...I flipped it over to the Falcons/Vikings game and fell asleep. If any town in the world is designed for NFL Sunday Ticket, it is Chattanooga. You are stuck with the Titans on one channel and the Falcons on the other, no matter how awful either team might be. I know Martha and I decided this was money well spent on other things, but cancelling Sunday Ticket may be the greatest mistake in the history of my life.
1:48 pm - Jeff Fisher didn't read my Take the Points entry. I just told Martha I hated this call and look what happened. Steve Beurlein is now questioning the call - WHY DIDN'T YOU QUESTION IT WHEN THEY WERE LINING UP? That is what you are paid to do, not second-guess after it fails. Idiot.
1:44 pm - 17-0 Steelers. I can hear the boos in Ohio from here.
1:39 pm - 10-0 Steelers over Browns. O Romeo, Romeo wherefore wilt thou be working next year? Hopefully he'll have a good view of Bill Cowher coaching his Browns.
1:35 pm - Haynesworth got flagged for tackling Jones-Drew too hard. That is ridiculous - a reputation call. And now...touchdown. So far, so good for the Gerrard era in Jax.
1:26 pm - Lunch & football - wonderful combo. Titans drive looked good, but only 3 points. Nice start to the Joey Harrington era - pick 6 for the Vikings.
1:05 pm - Titans/Jags is my early game. Nice kickoff return...fumble...Titans still have it. Is that a good or bad omen to start the season?
1:00 pm - The first Sunday of NFL games. I'm excited, but not obnoxiously excited like some of the people I've watched on TV this morning. I'm sorry, but you look like a dork with a giddy smile on your face about some football games. I don't mean to be a downer, but I find some of the excitement to be nauseating.
Quick side note - we cancelled NFL Sunday Ticket this year after having it the last two seasons. It is expensive and makes you feel trapped in the house on Sunday, but I'm already missing it.
Trap Game Avoided - Now the Gators
I didn't want to acknowledge my fears about yesterday's Southern Miss game, but after the Air Force game last year (a two-point conversion away from disaster at home) I was terrified of the Golden Eagles. After the disappointing loss at Cal and Floriday a week away, yesterday had all the makings of trouble.
Trouble averted.
The Vols were dominant in the second half and look poised to challenge the defending National Champs in the Swamp next weekend.
My concerns after the Cal loss and how I feel about them today after the Southern Miss victory:
1) Defense - it didn't look great in the first half, but the second half was promising. They don't have dominant athletes on the defensive side of the ball like in the past (Al Wilson, Deon Grant, John Henderson, etc.) and that concerns me. The secondary will have to play big next week and there has to be some pass rush from the front four. If Chavis has to call blitzes all game to get to Tebow, we are going to give up some big plays.
2) Special Teams - specifically, kickoffs. The defense has had a short field too often this year after kickoffs - that shouldn't happen. After Fulmer switched kickers in the first half, things settled down and the field got longer for Southern Miss. I'm not sold this is fixed, but it looked better.
3) 3rd & short - still trouble. The offensive line has to win the battle here. It may be time to think big on these plays as defenses seem to be aggressively attacking the inside run/quick pass tendancies. I'm no football coach, but it feels like we're getting out-smarted and just plain whipped on these plays. I would love to see us look to Chris Brown over the middle here sometimes.
4) LaMarcus Coker - wow, he wasn't ready to play yesterday. First he went the wrong way on a 2nd & short, then dropped a 3rd down pass. If this guy isn't in Fulmer's doghouse right now, he is surely in mine. Awfully selfish behavior this off-season that is affecting a bunch of teammates on the field. Thank goodness for Arian Foster's dedication and heart right now.
5) Wide receivers - with just a few exceptions, I am feeling good about them. Austin Rogers is becoming my favorite Vol this year and, despite lacking the big play potential of last year's group, this year's wideouts seem to be getting open and catching the ball more often. It is more methodical, but with this year's defense, that might be a good thing.
The Vols have certainly been more tested these first two weeks than the Gators, though that trend has held true for the last fifteen years and rarely mattered. If Southern Miss is as good as I think they are going to be (Bowl team for sure, possibly C-USA champs), the second half of yesterday's game might be the springboard of confidence and swagger the Vols need to beat Tebow and Co. on Saturday.
For now, I'm going to enjoy yesterday's win and wait to worry about Florida until...who am I kidding? Six days away...
Trouble averted.
The Vols were dominant in the second half and look poised to challenge the defending National Champs in the Swamp next weekend.
My concerns after the Cal loss and how I feel about them today after the Southern Miss victory:
1) Defense - it didn't look great in the first half, but the second half was promising. They don't have dominant athletes on the defensive side of the ball like in the past (Al Wilson, Deon Grant, John Henderson, etc.) and that concerns me. The secondary will have to play big next week and there has to be some pass rush from the front four. If Chavis has to call blitzes all game to get to Tebow, we are going to give up some big plays.
2) Special Teams - specifically, kickoffs. The defense has had a short field too often this year after kickoffs - that shouldn't happen. After Fulmer switched kickers in the first half, things settled down and the field got longer for Southern Miss. I'm not sold this is fixed, but it looked better.
3) 3rd & short - still trouble. The offensive line has to win the battle here. It may be time to think big on these plays as defenses seem to be aggressively attacking the inside run/quick pass tendancies. I'm no football coach, but it feels like we're getting out-smarted and just plain whipped on these plays. I would love to see us look to Chris Brown over the middle here sometimes.
4) LaMarcus Coker - wow, he wasn't ready to play yesterday. First he went the wrong way on a 2nd & short, then dropped a 3rd down pass. If this guy isn't in Fulmer's doghouse right now, he is surely in mine. Awfully selfish behavior this off-season that is affecting a bunch of teammates on the field. Thank goodness for Arian Foster's dedication and heart right now.
5) Wide receivers - with just a few exceptions, I am feeling good about them. Austin Rogers is becoming my favorite Vol this year and, despite lacking the big play potential of last year's group, this year's wideouts seem to be getting open and catching the ball more often. It is more methodical, but with this year's defense, that might be a good thing.
The Vols have certainly been more tested these first two weeks than the Gators, though that trend has held true for the last fifteen years and rarely mattered. If Southern Miss is as good as I think they are going to be (Bowl team for sure, possibly C-USA champs), the second half of yesterday's game might be the springboard of confidence and swagger the Vols need to beat Tebow and Co. on Saturday.
For now, I'm going to enjoy yesterday's win and wait to worry about Florida until...who am I kidding? Six days away...
Friday, September 7, 2007
Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud - The 2007 St. Louis Cardinals
Phil Jackson used to tell his Bulls and Lakers teams that "The crown is heaviest on the head that wears it." That statement has never been more true than with the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Here is a brief summary of the Cardinals season:
1) Spring Training - skipper Tony LaRussa is arrested for drunk-driving.
2) Starting ace Cris Carpenter gets injured in his first outing of the year and has not pitched again this season.
3) Fellow ace Mark Mulder has missed the majority of the season with injuries as well.
4) The Cardinals begin their title defense with a depleted roster and untimely slumps from their key hitters, especially Albert Pujols and the ailing Scott Rolen.
5) Outfielder Preston Wilson goes to the D.L. in May - he is still there.
6) Outfielder Juan Encarnacion is beaned in the face by a foul ball while standnig in the on-deck circle and is likely finished as a major leager. He will be lucky to regain full vision in his eye.
7) Third baseman Scott Rolen is finally placed on the D.L. as well, done for the year.
8) Pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel sparks a playoff push for the Redbirds, but is now being linked to HGH.
Have we ever seen a team, let alone a defending champion, go through this much turmoil in a single season? And here is the kicker:
They might still make the post-season!
If the Cardinals can win the N.L. Central this year, it will be one of the most remarkable accomplishments in baseball history. Despite playing in the nobody-wants-to-win-it Central Division, to even be in the picture at this point is flabbergasting.
Can they do it?
The Cardinals schedule over the next three weeks is brutal. They have no days off until the end of the year. Even though they have series against the Cubs and Brewers coming up, they also play the Diamondbacks, Mets and Phillies. They do, however, have a long homestand coming up and finish the year against the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. This is the most fascinating, least noticed story of a wonderful baseball season, but based on the season so far, I can't help but think it isn't going to end well.
Here is a brief summary of the Cardinals season:
1) Spring Training - skipper Tony LaRussa is arrested for drunk-driving.
2) Starting ace Cris Carpenter gets injured in his first outing of the year and has not pitched again this season.
3) Fellow ace Mark Mulder has missed the majority of the season with injuries as well.
4) The Cardinals begin their title defense with a depleted roster and untimely slumps from their key hitters, especially Albert Pujols and the ailing Scott Rolen.
5) Outfielder Preston Wilson goes to the D.L. in May - he is still there.
6) Outfielder Juan Encarnacion is beaned in the face by a foul ball while standnig in the on-deck circle and is likely finished as a major leager. He will be lucky to regain full vision in his eye.
7) Third baseman Scott Rolen is finally placed on the D.L. as well, done for the year.
8) Pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel sparks a playoff push for the Redbirds, but is now being linked to HGH.
Have we ever seen a team, let alone a defending champion, go through this much turmoil in a single season? And here is the kicker:
They might still make the post-season!
If the Cardinals can win the N.L. Central this year, it will be one of the most remarkable accomplishments in baseball history. Despite playing in the nobody-wants-to-win-it Central Division, to even be in the picture at this point is flabbergasting.
Can they do it?
The Cardinals schedule over the next three weeks is brutal. They have no days off until the end of the year. Even though they have series against the Cubs and Brewers coming up, they also play the Diamondbacks, Mets and Phillies. They do, however, have a long homestand coming up and finish the year against the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. This is the most fascinating, least noticed story of a wonderful baseball season, but based on the season so far, I can't help but think it isn't going to end well.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Uneducated, Unresearched Picks for the Football Season
Let's start with college football (which is slightly researched after watching one week of games, but still mostly uneducated):
BCS Bowls:
National Championship Game - USC vs. West Virginia
Rose Bowl - Cal vs. Wisconsin
Sugar Bowl - LSU vs. Louisville
Orange Bowl - Clemson vs. Florida
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs. TCU
National Champion - USC (daring pick, huh?)
Heisman Trophy - Steve Slaton (West Virginia)
Season in Nutshell: The USC Trojans will coast to another National Championship with only California putting up any real competition (the UCLA game will be a blowout). West Virginia knocks off Louisville to reach the title game behind the Heisman Trophy-winning season of Steve Slaton. Florida defeats LSU in the regular season only to lose to the Bayou Bengals in the SEC title game, so neither team goes undefeated.
Who does? Wisconsin. They get left out of the BCS title game due to a lackluster out-of-conference schedule and because they dominate a weak Big 10. Hawaii, everyone's pre-season darling, is a bust, but TCU loses just once (to Texas) and gets a rematch at the end of the year in the Fiesta Bowl.
Biggest surprises - Vanderbilt & North Carolina go bowling, Georgia does not, Bobby Bowden finally steps down after another disappointing season and Bob Stoopes resigns from Oklahoma after more off-the-field problems cloud the season.
NFL Predictions:
AFC
North - Pittsburgh
South - Indianapolis
East - New England
West - San Diego
Wildcards - Denver & Baltimore
NFC
North - Green Bay
South - New Orleans
East - Dallas
West - San Francisco
Wildcards - Chicago & Arizona
AFC Championship - San Diego vs. Indianapolis
NFC Championship - New Orleans vs. Dallas
Super Bowl - San Diego vs. New Orleans
Champion - San Diego Chargers
MVP - L.T. (again)
Season in a Nutshell: The San Diego Chargers lose in Week 1 to Chicago, but rally together to win the AFC despite the suspect coaching of Norv Turner. Rivers explodes in his second year as a starter, but Tomlinson is still the force that makes them go and Shawn Merriman dominates on the defensive side of the ball. The Indianapolis Colts surprise many by earning home field advantage with the best regular season record. The AFC busts - Cincinnati, Jacksonville and the NY Jets. Marvin Lewis is fired at the end of the year. Houston is a pleasant surprise, nearly making the playoffs. The Titans struggle - Vince Young is booed at home.
In the NFC, the surprise team is the Arizona Cardinals, who finally find a way into the playoffs under Ken Whisenhunt. The Dallas Cowboys also thrive out from under Bill Parcells' icy glare & Terrell Owens re-emerges as the best wide receiver in the game. New Orleans follows up last year's success with more of the same as Reggie Bush becomes an MVP candidate. The NFC busts - Philadelphia and Seattle. Jon Gruden, Andy Reid and Tom Coughlin are all fired at the end of the year. Atlanta wins 8 games without Vick.
My fantasy team fails to make the playoffs. It happens when you have the 12th pick of the draft.
BCS Bowls:
National Championship Game - USC vs. West Virginia
Rose Bowl - Cal vs. Wisconsin
Sugar Bowl - LSU vs. Louisville
Orange Bowl - Clemson vs. Florida
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs. TCU
National Champion - USC (daring pick, huh?)
Heisman Trophy - Steve Slaton (West Virginia)
Season in Nutshell: The USC Trojans will coast to another National Championship with only California putting up any real competition (the UCLA game will be a blowout). West Virginia knocks off Louisville to reach the title game behind the Heisman Trophy-winning season of Steve Slaton. Florida defeats LSU in the regular season only to lose to the Bayou Bengals in the SEC title game, so neither team goes undefeated.
Who does? Wisconsin. They get left out of the BCS title game due to a lackluster out-of-conference schedule and because they dominate a weak Big 10. Hawaii, everyone's pre-season darling, is a bust, but TCU loses just once (to Texas) and gets a rematch at the end of the year in the Fiesta Bowl.
Biggest surprises - Vanderbilt & North Carolina go bowling, Georgia does not, Bobby Bowden finally steps down after another disappointing season and Bob Stoopes resigns from Oklahoma after more off-the-field problems cloud the season.
NFL Predictions:
AFC
North - Pittsburgh
South - Indianapolis
East - New England
West - San Diego
Wildcards - Denver & Baltimore
NFC
North - Green Bay
South - New Orleans
East - Dallas
West - San Francisco
Wildcards - Chicago & Arizona
AFC Championship - San Diego vs. Indianapolis
NFC Championship - New Orleans vs. Dallas
Super Bowl - San Diego vs. New Orleans
Champion - San Diego Chargers
MVP - L.T. (again)
Season in a Nutshell: The San Diego Chargers lose in Week 1 to Chicago, but rally together to win the AFC despite the suspect coaching of Norv Turner. Rivers explodes in his second year as a starter, but Tomlinson is still the force that makes them go and Shawn Merriman dominates on the defensive side of the ball. The Indianapolis Colts surprise many by earning home field advantage with the best regular season record. The AFC busts - Cincinnati, Jacksonville and the NY Jets. Marvin Lewis is fired at the end of the year. Houston is a pleasant surprise, nearly making the playoffs. The Titans struggle - Vince Young is booed at home.
In the NFC, the surprise team is the Arizona Cardinals, who finally find a way into the playoffs under Ken Whisenhunt. The Dallas Cowboys also thrive out from under Bill Parcells' icy glare & Terrell Owens re-emerges as the best wide receiver in the game. New Orleans follows up last year's success with more of the same as Reggie Bush becomes an MVP candidate. The NFC busts - Philadelphia and Seattle. Jon Gruden, Andy Reid and Tom Coughlin are all fired at the end of the year. Atlanta wins 8 games without Vick.
My fantasy team fails to make the playoffs. It happens when you have the 12th pick of the draft.
The Crippled Crippler
Yesterday, we learned that Chris Benoit's brain had been damaged by concussions suffered in the ring as a professional wrestler. We don't know if this is what led to him killing his wife and child, but it helps explain how this tragic event could have happened.
I grew up watching professional wrestling as a kid, even spending most Saturday nights of my high school years in North Georgia watching local guys like The Black Terminator, "Natural Boy" Paul Lee, The Fly Guy and Chattanooga's own, the late Terry Gordy wrestle in front of 30-40 people as part of the American Wrestling Federation. Suffice it to say, I did not have many girlfriends in high school.
Today, it is impossible to watch professional wrestling without some guilt and sadness. It is supposed to entertain me, but it just bothers me now. These guys take a variety of pills and injections to become super-human, then perform moves and manuevers that could leave them crippled in an instant or slowly over time, and then do the whole thing again the very next night in a different town.
The results are staggering. So many of the wrestlers I watched as a kid are now dead - Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude, The British Bulldog, Miss Elizabeth, Eddie Guerrero, The Big Bossman, Chris Beniot and more. Over 60 former WWF/WWE wrestlers have died in the last few years, all under 50 years old.
The immediate blame has been steriods, and new stories of current WWE stars like Edge and Randy Orton getting caught with illegal prescriptions is only fanning the flames of those who want to pin the problems of pro wrestling on drugs. But the newest revelations about Benoit place the blame less on actions outside the ring than inside it.
The wrestling boom of the 1990s was due in part to the changing culture of the sport. The cartoon-ish characters of the 1980s who often looked like they were doing their best not to mess up each other's make-up when they were supposed to be pounding each other were replaced by guys who actually looked and felt dangerous. Just as the subject matter and language of the shows began to push the limits of appropriate, the in-ring work became more intense as well. Chair shots were no longer taken on the back, but now to the head. Repeatedly. High-flying moves were no longer special, but expected. Each week, the bar was raised and each week someone, somewhere, was devising a new way to spin off the top rope or fall off a cage.
As fans, we all looked the other way as these wrestlers took chair shots to the skull or dove head-first onto the concrete. Wrestling is fake, remember? It doesn't really hurt when they get hit.
Now, we are finally seeing the results of this "fake" sport. Chris Benoit's brain was damaged by repeated concussions suffered as he jumped off ladders and cages, usually to deliver his patented "flying headbutt"; a move that no doubt led to some of the trauma that may have driven him to depression, murder and suicide. The moves that made Benoit my very favorite wrestler of his era eventually killed him.
Maybe that is why I feel some guilt about Benoit's death. Like most wrestling fans, I got caught up by the smashed tables, the dives onto the concrete floor, the drops onto the back of necks, the chair shots and the bloody faces. It was why I watched. Now, it is why wrestlers are dying at such an alarming rate. I'm not saying it is all my fault, but...
I grew up watching professional wrestling as a kid, even spending most Saturday nights of my high school years in North Georgia watching local guys like The Black Terminator, "Natural Boy" Paul Lee, The Fly Guy and Chattanooga's own, the late Terry Gordy wrestle in front of 30-40 people as part of the American Wrestling Federation. Suffice it to say, I did not have many girlfriends in high school.
Today, it is impossible to watch professional wrestling without some guilt and sadness. It is supposed to entertain me, but it just bothers me now. These guys take a variety of pills and injections to become super-human, then perform moves and manuevers that could leave them crippled in an instant or slowly over time, and then do the whole thing again the very next night in a different town.
The results are staggering. So many of the wrestlers I watched as a kid are now dead - Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude, The British Bulldog, Miss Elizabeth, Eddie Guerrero, The Big Bossman, Chris Beniot and more. Over 60 former WWF/WWE wrestlers have died in the last few years, all under 50 years old.
The immediate blame has been steriods, and new stories of current WWE stars like Edge and Randy Orton getting caught with illegal prescriptions is only fanning the flames of those who want to pin the problems of pro wrestling on drugs. But the newest revelations about Benoit place the blame less on actions outside the ring than inside it.
The wrestling boom of the 1990s was due in part to the changing culture of the sport. The cartoon-ish characters of the 1980s who often looked like they were doing their best not to mess up each other's make-up when they were supposed to be pounding each other were replaced by guys who actually looked and felt dangerous. Just as the subject matter and language of the shows began to push the limits of appropriate, the in-ring work became more intense as well. Chair shots were no longer taken on the back, but now to the head. Repeatedly. High-flying moves were no longer special, but expected. Each week, the bar was raised and each week someone, somewhere, was devising a new way to spin off the top rope or fall off a cage.
As fans, we all looked the other way as these wrestlers took chair shots to the skull or dove head-first onto the concrete. Wrestling is fake, remember? It doesn't really hurt when they get hit.
Now, we are finally seeing the results of this "fake" sport. Chris Benoit's brain was damaged by repeated concussions suffered as he jumped off ladders and cages, usually to deliver his patented "flying headbutt"; a move that no doubt led to some of the trauma that may have driven him to depression, murder and suicide. The moves that made Benoit my very favorite wrestler of his era eventually killed him.
Maybe that is why I feel some guilt about Benoit's death. Like most wrestling fans, I got caught up by the smashed tables, the dives onto the concrete floor, the drops onto the back of necks, the chair shots and the bloody faces. It was why I watched. Now, it is why wrestlers are dying at such an alarming rate. I'm not saying it is all my fault, but...
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Take the Points!
Two football coaches, with National Championship rings on their fingers, have been under increased pressure after recent years of unrealized expectations and losses to key opponents. Those two coaches both lost on Saturday & both made coaching errors that were short-sighted & cost their respective teams.
Lloyd Carr & Philip Fulmer - TAKE THE POINTS!!!
Michigan and Tennessee both lost Saturday, though the Wolverines' loss at home to Appalachian State (btw - why no more I-AA? No one knows how to describe them anymore.) was clearly more upsetting to its fan base than the Vols' two TD defeat at soon-to-be-without-scenic-trees-outside-its-stadium Cal. The connection, besides the warming chairs under each head coach, between the games revolves around decisions made in the course of each team's comeback attempts.
First Fulmer - Tennessee was down 17 and drove deep into Golden Bear territory, thanks to a brilliant Arian Foster run. Three tries inside the 10 - no touchdown. What to do?
Down three scores - you kick the field goal, right? You keep chipping away. You have to score three times no matter if you get three or six here, so take the three. Right? RIGHT?
Nope. Fulmer goes for the touchdown, the play gets stuffed and the momentum of the drive is gone. The move did not cost Tennessee the victory, but it was a poor decision nonetheless that looked far worse once Tennessee got within seven points.
Fulmer - TAKE THE POINTS!
Lloyd Carr made even bigger errors during the course of the Appy State game. Down 31-20 late in the 3rd quarter, Michigan scored a touchdown & decided to go for two. They failed to convert, which meant they were down five instead of four (assuming the extra point). Michigan scores again - now has to go for two (when it should have already been up three...), fails again. Now Michigan is only up one point when it should have been up three. Appy's field goal for the win gave them 34 points - the same amount Michigan would have scored had it kicked twice instead of going for two.
Carr - TAKE THE POINTS!
One of my biggest beefs is the continual under-estimation of points by football coaches. In football, when you can score, you need to score. Take the field goal. Take the extra point. Just score.
Take the 2006 Vols - they averaged 28 points over the 13 games they played last season. That is FOUR scores. If they failed to convert two of those touchdowns and only got field goals, that is 20 points - enough to win most of the time. The key is to SCORE. Even if it is 1 point - SCORE.
Fulmer and Carr made a classic coaching mistake - thinking short-term. Fulmer wanted to be down 10 instead of 14. Carr wanted to be down 3 instead of 4. Both instances were in the 3rd quarter with plenty of time left for a million things to happen, especially in a game as wild as the ones they were playing. Thinking short-term cost both teams in the long run.
Both decisions were costly, but even if the result of the decisions had been different, the decision itself was still wrong. For example, Les Miles decided to go for a touchdown on 4th & goal late in the 2nd quarter against Mississippi State on Thursday night. LSU got the score, but the decision was still wrong. If you are Les Miles, why risk getting nothing there? MSU wasn't going to score much against LSU's defense (they were shutout, 45-0), so why risk getting nothing out of the drive?
Chan Gailey understood this on Saturday as his Georgia Tech team crushed Notre Dame. Early in the game, the Yellow Jackets continually drove into Irish territory and continually settled for field goals. Why? Why didn't Gailey panic and go for it on 4th down? Because Gailey understood that a) the game is 4 quarters long b) if I'm down here now, I should be able to get back again c) Notre Dame isn't going to score much against my defense, so every point I can get is great.
No panic. Conservative. Take the points. Blow them out.
(As a Cowboy fan, it pains me to praise Chan Gailey who was a mediocre and devisive coach for the Pokes back in the 1990s, but he deserves praise and credit for his coaching Saturday).
I think both Fulmer and Carr made their decisions thinking short-term and because of the pressure they are feeling from their respective fan bases. Both are often chided for being too conservative. Well, these were examples of when being conservative was also being correct. Both coaches won National Championships being conservative - why change? Because some idiot bloggers will question your decision?
Wait, am I an idiot blogger questioning...nevermind.
Here are my three football coaching rules that will lead to more wins & cooler seats for coaches:
1) Always get points when you can, even if it is a field goal.
2) Never go for two unless it is the 4th quarter. NEVER. Don't consult the "chart." 3) Don't ever put up your index finger after a touchdown because you are always kicking the extra point. This isn't as important as the first two rules, but it irritates me so let's stop this.
Seem simple, don't they? The key to remember: TAKE THE POINTS!
Lloyd Carr & Philip Fulmer - TAKE THE POINTS!!!
Michigan and Tennessee both lost Saturday, though the Wolverines' loss at home to Appalachian State (btw - why no more I-AA? No one knows how to describe them anymore.) was clearly more upsetting to its fan base than the Vols' two TD defeat at soon-to-be-without-scenic-trees-outside-its-stadium Cal. The connection, besides the warming chairs under each head coach, between the games revolves around decisions made in the course of each team's comeback attempts.
First Fulmer - Tennessee was down 17 and drove deep into Golden Bear territory, thanks to a brilliant Arian Foster run. Three tries inside the 10 - no touchdown. What to do?
Down three scores - you kick the field goal, right? You keep chipping away. You have to score three times no matter if you get three or six here, so take the three. Right? RIGHT?
Nope. Fulmer goes for the touchdown, the play gets stuffed and the momentum of the drive is gone. The move did not cost Tennessee the victory, but it was a poor decision nonetheless that looked far worse once Tennessee got within seven points.
Fulmer - TAKE THE POINTS!
Lloyd Carr made even bigger errors during the course of the Appy State game. Down 31-20 late in the 3rd quarter, Michigan scored a touchdown & decided to go for two. They failed to convert, which meant they were down five instead of four (assuming the extra point). Michigan scores again - now has to go for two (when it should have already been up three...), fails again. Now Michigan is only up one point when it should have been up three. Appy's field goal for the win gave them 34 points - the same amount Michigan would have scored had it kicked twice instead of going for two.
Carr - TAKE THE POINTS!
One of my biggest beefs is the continual under-estimation of points by football coaches. In football, when you can score, you need to score. Take the field goal. Take the extra point. Just score.
Take the 2006 Vols - they averaged 28 points over the 13 games they played last season. That is FOUR scores. If they failed to convert two of those touchdowns and only got field goals, that is 20 points - enough to win most of the time. The key is to SCORE. Even if it is 1 point - SCORE.
Fulmer and Carr made a classic coaching mistake - thinking short-term. Fulmer wanted to be down 10 instead of 14. Carr wanted to be down 3 instead of 4. Both instances were in the 3rd quarter with plenty of time left for a million things to happen, especially in a game as wild as the ones they were playing. Thinking short-term cost both teams in the long run.
Both decisions were costly, but even if the result of the decisions had been different, the decision itself was still wrong. For example, Les Miles decided to go for a touchdown on 4th & goal late in the 2nd quarter against Mississippi State on Thursday night. LSU got the score, but the decision was still wrong. If you are Les Miles, why risk getting nothing there? MSU wasn't going to score much against LSU's defense (they were shutout, 45-0), so why risk getting nothing out of the drive?
Chan Gailey understood this on Saturday as his Georgia Tech team crushed Notre Dame. Early in the game, the Yellow Jackets continually drove into Irish territory and continually settled for field goals. Why? Why didn't Gailey panic and go for it on 4th down? Because Gailey understood that a) the game is 4 quarters long b) if I'm down here now, I should be able to get back again c) Notre Dame isn't going to score much against my defense, so every point I can get is great.
No panic. Conservative. Take the points. Blow them out.
(As a Cowboy fan, it pains me to praise Chan Gailey who was a mediocre and devisive coach for the Pokes back in the 1990s, but he deserves praise and credit for his coaching Saturday).
I think both Fulmer and Carr made their decisions thinking short-term and because of the pressure they are feeling from their respective fan bases. Both are often chided for being too conservative. Well, these were examples of when being conservative was also being correct. Both coaches won National Championships being conservative - why change? Because some idiot bloggers will question your decision?
Wait, am I an idiot blogger questioning...nevermind.
Here are my three football coaching rules that will lead to more wins & cooler seats for coaches:
1) Always get points when you can, even if it is a field goal.
2) Never go for two unless it is the 4th quarter. NEVER. Don't consult the "chart." 3) Don't ever put up your index finger after a touchdown because you are always kicking the extra point. This isn't as important as the first two rules, but it irritates me so let's stop this.
Seem simple, don't they? The key to remember: TAKE THE POINTS!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Live posting tonight during UT/Cal game
11:57 pm - Oh well. I had visions of Oregon/Oklahoma for a minute (TD/on-side/TD), but no luck. On to Southern Miss.
11:54 pm - Something awful, then something good. The Mitchell injury sure looked scary. It was great to see him move his hand. Sure reminded me of Icky (Inky) Johnson. There are few things that make me happier than seeing cutesy football backfire. Great call on the quick sneak, Tedford.
11:40 pm - We're getting physically whipped now. Unless something good happens soon, I'm done here. I'm pleased with the effort & hopeful for the SEC. My hope coming into the season was to split the Berkeley/Gainesville games. Let's hope we show up in the Swamp.
11:35 pm - 3 & out.
11:29 pm - So much for the momentum...that was an impressive Cal drive. I had a feeling we weren't going to keep them from scoring again for the rest of the game, so I'm still hopeful. Down 14 - not much time left. This is a make-or-break drive coming up.
11:08 pm - Nice kick, freshman. What does it take to get interference over the middle?
11:02 pm - 4th quarter, down 10, but we have the momentum. I still don't feel good, but I'm still pretty happy with the game so far. Ainge looks great. I think we are giving him enough time to send the receivers deeper down field, but why mess with what's working?
10:57 pm - 3 & out - we're getting the ball back with lots of time and only down 10. I really wish Fulmer had decided to take the 3 points earlier. If Cal wants to keep letting us have 5-8 yards every play like Herbstreit said, we'll win this game.
10:35 pm - Not Cutcliffe's finest call there...
10:33 pm - Foster needed to finish that run. I think Fulmer may decide to kick the field goal after this timeout. No replay on that TD catch in the endzone? I don't know if we get it, but it was worth a look.
10:26 pm - So that wasn't actually a play, just Longshore noticing our DBs having a discussion instead of covering the slot. You still haven't impressed me Tedford. You do have some fun weapons to play with on that offensive though.
10:22 pm - I'm eating my words on Tedford after that TD play. I've never seen that before. And Herbstreit just compared our defense to a JV squad. This isn't looking good...
10:18 pm - Are we really going back into the trees? No, these are just cheapskates watching the game, smoking something that Musberger is all giggly about. Pac-10 football - gotta love it.
10:14 pm - Now we have to kickoff to Best? We ought to on-side it the rest of the game. It was fun watching Clay Buchholz get a no-no during halftime. That guy has a nasty curveball.
9:48 pm - Looks like we're going to the half down 10. It feels like we deserve better, but I think we're the second best team on the field right now. I'm not too upset. Be back for the 3rd quarter.
9:42 pm - Punt it through the up-rights, Colquitt. Or out-of-bounds.
9:39 pm - My man Maximum Jack just made a great point - those are some nice looking trees outside the stadium.
9:36 pm - I thought we just had to worry about Jackson, but this Best kid is awesome. This is a heavyweight slugfest right now. I'm really excited about how good our receivers look right now. We need to hog the ball right now. I'm going to quit typing "right now" right now. Damn, a WR just dropped it. I'm still not sold on the no-huddle against this team, but I trust Cutcliffe.
9:24 pm - Cutcliffe, Cutcliffe, Cutcliffe!!! Brilliant call on second down. Tedford, the offensive guru, hasn't done anything that has caught Chavis off-guard yet, but Cutcliffe is on top of his game right now. I am feeling so much better about the season right now.
9:14 pm - Ainge has looked sharp until that last pass. We had better not kick it anywhere near Jackson again tonight. I should have written this earlier, but what was going on with Musberger's anti-hippie rant earlier? It went on forever. Oh no, we are back to the tree-people. WHO CARES???
9:04 pm - I'm still not convinced that Cal can stop our offense, even without Coker, even with Ainge's broken pinky, even with our new wide receivers...and now they just stopped us. Foster needed to go to the sideline. Let's see about punting it to Jackson...oh no.
8:50 pm - The difference between David Cutcliffe and Randy Sanders - when UT used to do the whole-offense-looks-over-to-get-an-adjustment thing under Sanders, it never worked. Cutcliffe can actually see what will work and calls it. I tell you what - I love the personality of this team already.
8:49 pm - Foster came to play tonight!
8:47 pm - I thought we had the sneak stuffed...we are going to be playing with a short field all night if we avoid kicking it to Jackson. Quick complaint - why do coaches hold up the index finger for an extra point in the first quarter when there is clearly no way anyone would consider going for two?
8:40 pm - We are not kicking it to DeSean tonight. Right as I type that, he grabs a first down catch. My only problem with the no huddle is that we aren't keeping him on the sideline. We'll see how that plays out.
8:29 pm - There we go - that is how you recover. That was one impressive drive. Can they stop us?
8:26 pm - Let's see how we recover from that. Herbstreit finally pointed out that it was a backwards lateral regardless of whether his arm was going forward.
8:19 pm - Uh oh.
8:17 pm - No huddle?
8:14 pm - Here we go...man, those Cal jerseys are ugly. Fulmer wants the ball first on the road...he has more faith in the offense than me. That is a good sign.
8:05 pm - Was that just 50 Cent and Perry Ferrell singing, "I Just Want To Celebrate?" To what weird demographic is that supposed to be appeal?
7:56 pm - Getting close to game time. For the record, I have a terrible feeling about this game. I'm expecting the worst, so hopefully I'll get a nice surprise. I also thought Georgia was going to struggle against Oklahoma State, but so far I've been wrong there. Hopefully I'll be wrong about the Vols as well.
11:54 pm - Something awful, then something good. The Mitchell injury sure looked scary. It was great to see him move his hand. Sure reminded me of Icky (Inky) Johnson. There are few things that make me happier than seeing cutesy football backfire. Great call on the quick sneak, Tedford.
11:40 pm - We're getting physically whipped now. Unless something good happens soon, I'm done here. I'm pleased with the effort & hopeful for the SEC. My hope coming into the season was to split the Berkeley/Gainesville games. Let's hope we show up in the Swamp.
11:35 pm - 3 & out.
11:29 pm - So much for the momentum...that was an impressive Cal drive. I had a feeling we weren't going to keep them from scoring again for the rest of the game, so I'm still hopeful. Down 14 - not much time left. This is a make-or-break drive coming up.
11:08 pm - Nice kick, freshman. What does it take to get interference over the middle?
11:02 pm - 4th quarter, down 10, but we have the momentum. I still don't feel good, but I'm still pretty happy with the game so far. Ainge looks great. I think we are giving him enough time to send the receivers deeper down field, but why mess with what's working?
10:57 pm - 3 & out - we're getting the ball back with lots of time and only down 10. I really wish Fulmer had decided to take the 3 points earlier. If Cal wants to keep letting us have 5-8 yards every play like Herbstreit said, we'll win this game.
10:35 pm - Not Cutcliffe's finest call there...
10:33 pm - Foster needed to finish that run. I think Fulmer may decide to kick the field goal after this timeout. No replay on that TD catch in the endzone? I don't know if we get it, but it was worth a look.
10:26 pm - So that wasn't actually a play, just Longshore noticing our DBs having a discussion instead of covering the slot. You still haven't impressed me Tedford. You do have some fun weapons to play with on that offensive though.
10:22 pm - I'm eating my words on Tedford after that TD play. I've never seen that before. And Herbstreit just compared our defense to a JV squad. This isn't looking good...
10:18 pm - Are we really going back into the trees? No, these are just cheapskates watching the game, smoking something that Musberger is all giggly about. Pac-10 football - gotta love it.
10:14 pm - Now we have to kickoff to Best? We ought to on-side it the rest of the game. It was fun watching Clay Buchholz get a no-no during halftime. That guy has a nasty curveball.
9:48 pm - Looks like we're going to the half down 10. It feels like we deserve better, but I think we're the second best team on the field right now. I'm not too upset. Be back for the 3rd quarter.
9:42 pm - Punt it through the up-rights, Colquitt. Or out-of-bounds.
9:39 pm - My man Maximum Jack just made a great point - those are some nice looking trees outside the stadium.
9:36 pm - I thought we just had to worry about Jackson, but this Best kid is awesome. This is a heavyweight slugfest right now. I'm really excited about how good our receivers look right now. We need to hog the ball right now. I'm going to quit typing "right now" right now. Damn, a WR just dropped it. I'm still not sold on the no-huddle against this team, but I trust Cutcliffe.
9:24 pm - Cutcliffe, Cutcliffe, Cutcliffe!!! Brilliant call on second down. Tedford, the offensive guru, hasn't done anything that has caught Chavis off-guard yet, but Cutcliffe is on top of his game right now. I am feeling so much better about the season right now.
9:14 pm - Ainge has looked sharp until that last pass. We had better not kick it anywhere near Jackson again tonight. I should have written this earlier, but what was going on with Musberger's anti-hippie rant earlier? It went on forever. Oh no, we are back to the tree-people. WHO CARES???
9:04 pm - I'm still not convinced that Cal can stop our offense, even without Coker, even with Ainge's broken pinky, even with our new wide receivers...and now they just stopped us. Foster needed to go to the sideline. Let's see about punting it to Jackson...oh no.
8:50 pm - The difference between David Cutcliffe and Randy Sanders - when UT used to do the whole-offense-looks-over-to-get-an-adjustment thing under Sanders, it never worked. Cutcliffe can actually see what will work and calls it. I tell you what - I love the personality of this team already.
8:49 pm - Foster came to play tonight!
8:47 pm - I thought we had the sneak stuffed...we are going to be playing with a short field all night if we avoid kicking it to Jackson. Quick complaint - why do coaches hold up the index finger for an extra point in the first quarter when there is clearly no way anyone would consider going for two?
8:40 pm - We are not kicking it to DeSean tonight. Right as I type that, he grabs a first down catch. My only problem with the no huddle is that we aren't keeping him on the sideline. We'll see how that plays out.
8:29 pm - There we go - that is how you recover. That was one impressive drive. Can they stop us?
8:26 pm - Let's see how we recover from that. Herbstreit finally pointed out that it was a backwards lateral regardless of whether his arm was going forward.
8:19 pm - Uh oh.
8:17 pm - No huddle?
8:14 pm - Here we go...man, those Cal jerseys are ugly. Fulmer wants the ball first on the road...he has more faith in the offense than me. That is a good sign.
8:05 pm - Was that just 50 Cent and Perry Ferrell singing, "I Just Want To Celebrate?" To what weird demographic is that supposed to be appeal?
7:56 pm - Getting close to game time. For the record, I have a terrible feeling about this game. I'm expecting the worst, so hopefully I'll get a nice surprise. I also thought Georgia was going to struggle against Oklahoma State, but so far I've been wrong there. Hopefully I'll be wrong about the Vols as well.
UMMMMM!!!!!
Is Appy State about to beat Michigan in the Big House?
BLOCKED! - Appy Wins. Unbelievable.
BLOCKED! - Appy Wins. Unbelievable.
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