Somewhat Short One

The big news in the sports world today and yesterday is the news of the passing of Redskins safety Sean Taylor. Taylor was shot in his house yesterday and died early this morning. He was 24 years old. This is a tragedy. Taylor wasn't the classiest guy in the NFL and I'm not going to put him on a pedestal but he was a gifted athlete and you never want to hear about deaths of athletes who are so young. Joe Kennedy is another example of an athlete recently passing away (he was 28).

Ricky Williams returned to the NFL and played yesterday for the Dolphins against the Steelers. He had a rough debut, 6 carries for 15 yards and one fumble lost. He hadn't practiced with contact leading up to the game and he hurt his shoulder when he fumbled. He's no superstar anymore but he has the ability to help the Dolphins the remainder of the season if he can stay healthy.

I'm not a big fan of Tony Kornheiser as a Monday night commentator. His points seemed forced, irrelevant, and over the top at times last night. I'd prefer for him to stick to PTI.

Kerry Wood re-signed with the Cubs yesterday. I'm happy to see that. He's barely a shell of what he used to be, but he can help the team in the bullpen next season. I thought he exceeded expectations this past season. The Cubs didn't use him in too many late game situations when the game was on the line however, and that's what the Cubs need badly. It shown in the playoffs. Marmol was lights out during the season (arguably the team's MVP) and then he tanked in the sweep.

Houston Nutt resigned from Arkansas and took the Ole Miss job today. Ole Miss should be happy. Nutt has a good track record and did a good job at Arkansas. It sounds like things weren't all lovey-dovey in Arkansas, leading to his resignation. It's good timing for Ole Miss as well. Nutt is apparently already tracking down Ole Miss's recruits for next season and making sure they'll still be coming.

Can't wait for Mizzou - Oklahoma on Saturday night. Mizzou (the BCS #1) is the underdog, how bout dem apples?

My Rebuttal to yesterday's comments

I predicted Kansas over Missouri in a close game. I was wrong. Here's why: Chase Daniel was flawless. 40-49 passing. The Kansas defense missed a lot of tackles but Missouri essentially gained yardage on every play. Plus he threw to nine different receivers. Reesing looked lost in the first half. Missouri's defense has done an 180 degree turn since their lone loss to Oklahoma. Kansas came back and made a game of it but they ran out of time. I was very impressed with Missouri.

Hawaii beat Boise State, they should play in a BCS game. I thought LSU was going to beat Arkansas. I was wrong. Here's why: LSU is banged up (Dorsey, Steltz, Holliday, Taylor), Flynn sucked in the first half (he looked like Brady Leaf out there), and holy shit can Arkansas run the ball. McFadden (despite 4 Arkansas losses) is the runner-up in the Heisman, behind Tim Tebow (5 TDs today). Pat White third, Chase Daniel fourth, and Matt Ryan fifth. McFadden and the Arkansas offense was amazing to watch. LSU and Flynn, give them credit for never giving up and coming from behind. 50-48 in 3OT, and then to have Tennessee beat Kentucky 52-50 in 4OT, whoa nelly what's up with the SEC and bonus football.

Hey I was right about something! Oregon lost to UCLA today (16-0 ouch). USC is in the driver's seat for the Pac-10 title. How about USC - Ohio State in Pasadena? I'd pay to see that.

Missouri - West Virginia championship game? Both teams have to win next week (vs. Oklahoma and vs. Pitt). If either loses that opens the door to Ohio State wouldn't that be something.

I hate end-of-game timeouts to ice the kicker or ice the two-point conversion. It happened in the LSU game yesterday, that's what stands out. Having timeouts called at the last split second from the bench away from the action causes these plays to still be run and then to have to be called back. Solution is to not let coaches call timeouts in those circumstances and to instead force the players on the field to call timeout.

How about a new football overtime format of bringing out both teams' kickers and have them alternate kicking field goals starting at 25 yards and progressively get longer? Just something to think about, pattern it like penalty kicks in soccer. Apparently the precursor to penalty kicks in soccer was whichever team took more corner kicks won the game.

Gary Danielson is one of my favorite commentators. His background as a QB really helps him (Purdue grad booyah). Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musberger did a good job for Kansas - Mizzou too.

"Kansas Football: A Tradition Since September"

First Message

I basically created this blog so i could post some of my opinions, mostly about sports, someplace convenient.

I need to watch more SportsCenter. The tandem of Neil Everett and John Anderson is good, they're similar to how i would be as a SportsCenter anchor. I'd toss in random phrases here and there to be funny. They have the same attitudes too, they don't care if their audience finds them funny or not because they know deep down in their loins that they're funny. They quoted Bubba Sparxx last night cuz of John David Booty. "Booty Booty Booty Booty throwing yeah", and then with Avalanche GK Petr Budaj, "Budaj Budaj Budaj Budaj yeah!" Good stuff.

I heard on the radio about a study showing racism in major league baseball. Major league umpires are more likely to call strikes for a pitcher of their same skin color (aka a white umpire helping a white pitcher versus a black or caribbean player). I find this extremely outrageous.

I read in SI about a psych study dealing with people's names and their tendencies. Dave (K)ingman struck out a ton in his career. Players with last names starting with K strike out 18.8% of the time compared to 17.2% of everyone else. (B)arry (B)onds (base on balls) is another, and apparently people with first names starting with A and B do better in school than those with C or D. Interesting.

Last, SI also had a blurb about Soulja Boy's - Crank That and how it's lyrics aren't suitable for sports arenas yet franchises are indifferent. I personally like the song and the superman dance and just because it's referring to a sexual act doesn't affect anything in my opinion. I'm sure people will start to complain and it will stop being played and i will be disappointed.

Kansas - Missouri is tomorrow (the border war) in college football. Hey, it actually means something this year! It's nice to see two mediocre teams really step it up this year and get in the running to the BCS championship game. Mark May thinks Missouri will win because of its strong TE play. I can't get out of my head how much Kansas thrashed Nebraska last month. The Jayhawks win in a close game, sorry Chase Daniel.

Hawaii to a BCS game? We all saw how Boise St. did last year in their BCS win over Oklahoma. If Hawaii beats Boise St. (won't be easy) and finishes undefeated then i say give them a BCS game. Everyone involved will not be disappointed.

LSU getting upset by Arkansas? Alabama almost pulled it off but fell short at the end. Arkansas will need to play flawless football. LSU has some amazing athletes (Glen Dorsey is a monster). LSU has caught a lot of breaks this season to get where they are but that's what championship teams do, they win, at whatever cost. Les Miles and his verbal diarrhea aside, LSU will beat Arkansas and it won't even be close. Arkansas is 3-4 in the SEC for crying out loud, McFadden blew his chance at the Heisman.

Speaking of the Heisman, Tim Tebow of Florida has to be the Frontrunner as he's scored over 20 touchdowns both passing and rushing. Unheard of. The knock is they've lost 3 times. Dennis Dixon was the frontrunner but his injury ended his hopes. Sorry Dennis, nice uniforms tho.

How about the Pac-10 race. Three teams tied with 2 losses (ASU, USC, Oregon) thanks to USC's pulling away victory over ASU yesterday (44-24). Oregon is in the driver's seat with games against UCLA and Oregon State left. With Brady Leaf at QB (yes, same Leaf) my stomach is queasy. Oregon loses one of their last two and USC beats UCLA in two weeks to win the Pac-10 and advance to the Rose Bowl to play Ohio State.