Vikings Update

Although it is the offseason in Winter Park (Viking HQ), there is a lot going on with the Vikings right now.

1. The Viking have reportedly already gotten tired of the media circus that is "as the grey beard turns" in Brett Favre. Rumor has it they have given him until Tuesday to make a decision on his shoulder and on his intentions of playing next season with the Vikes. I knew only time would tell before Brad Childress got tired of the Brett Favre bullsh*t and it seems to be at a boiling point. If he is already tired of all this, why is he still pursuing Favre? This is what he will have to deal with for the entire season. Former Viking legend and Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton has also spoke out about Favre:

“I think it’s despicable. What he put the Packers through last year was not good. Here’s an organization that was loyal to him for 17, 18 years, provided stability of organization, provided players. It just wasn’t about Brett Favre. In this day and time, we have glorified the Brett Favre’s of the world so much, they think it’s about them. He goes to New York and bombs. He’s 39 years old. How would you like Ray Nitschke in his last year (playing for) the Vikings, or I retire, and go play for the Packers. I kind of hope it happens, so he can fail.”

2. Part of the Williams Wall, Pat Williams has called out the work ethic of Tavaris Jackson. I think the team realizes Jackson has the physical tools, but Williams spoke up and said that Jackson isn't putting the time in to be a starting QB in this league. The part of the game Jackson struggles with most is not being able to read a defense and just know where to go with the ball. Many QB's struggle with this early in their career, but show signs of improvement as time goes on. The only way you get better is by watching film and recognizing defensive sets and being able to pick up blitzes. You should know really quickly based on the look of the D what you need to do with the football. If you think 4 hours of film study a day will do, you probably need to watch 8 hours according to Williams. The other frustrating thing with Jackson is that teams stack the box in an attempt to stop the running game, so basically his WR's are one on one. Jackson needs to know who has the better matchup and be able to get the ball to them. Jackson responded with "i've pretty much figured it out." I think Sage Rosenfels is good enough to start for this football team, but having a more mobile QB is something that most teams are without. I sure hope that Jackson does get it and will put in the time to make the correct reads, make the throws and use his legs while being the starting QB for the Vikings in '09.

3. Music to my ears/eyes as I have been reading that the Vikings are installing 15-20 formations specifically to use for Percy Harvin, a couple of those will be the "wildcat" formation. For years Viking fans have complained about the simplicity of their offense and how conservative the play-calling is at all times. With the drafting of Harvin the Vikes are putting another "gamebreaker" on the field and if you need to get creative with the play-calling to get him the ball you absolutely must do it. It is sad, but I honestly had no faith that the Vikings would do anything different with him. With the running game that the offensive line opens up for Peterson/Taylor and the deep ball threat of Bernard Berrian the addition of Harvin and some trick plays, wildcat formations or getting him the ball in some space to make plays may be the missing link to get them past the first round of the playoffs. While Bobby Wade is a reliable WR to make a few catches a game, he simply isn't a threat to take the ball, make a move and get in the endzone, Percy Harvin is just that! I'm looking forward to the new sets and to see how they utilize his abilities.

NBA Finals Matchup

The NBA finals are set and while it isn't the dream matchup that everyone wanted (Cavs vs Lakers) I think it will be a great series. The Orlando Magic will face the Los Angeles Lakers and the series will feature two of the best players in the game in Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. While the world wanted to see Lebron vs Kobe, I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised with Lakers/Magic. The last time the Magic made a championship series they were led by "Shaq-Fu" aka "Shaq-Diesel" aka "Kazaam" aka Shaquille O'Neal and they had an up and coming guard name Anfernee Hardaway. Shaq moved on to LA, then to Miami (winning Championships at both) and now is in Phoenix. "Penny" Hardaway was a star in the making but the injury bug got him and he was forced into an all too premature retirement. The Lakers advanced to the championship last year losing to the Celtics and hadn't won a championship since Shaq.




















If you know me you know that i'm a pretty big Kobe Bryant fan. I would like to see him win a championship without Shaq being the guy who basically gets all the glory from the victory. I think what Kobe has done in his career will rival what Michael Jordan accomplished and maybe surpass Michael if he can win a title without Shaq. Michael Jordan had the best supporting cast in basketball in his championship years in Chicago, including Scottie Pippen who was voted as one of the NBA's top 50 players of all-time. Kobe won championships with Shaq, but if he can do it with a scrub like Lamar Odom (a good game every 4th game) and a soft (and ugly) European in Pau Gasol he deserves more credit than anyone will ever give him. The team around him is AWFUL! This would be an amazing accomplishment in my mind and when you add up his other championships, big shots, 81-pt game and spectatcular highlights he may be getting some talk as the greatest to ever play the game.


This series will be Dwight Howards coming out party (if game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals wasn't already). I totally expect him to dominate Gasol or Bynum and put up 20 and 15 along with 5 blocks in every game. In my opinion the NBA has lacked a real superstar Center since Shaq. After these playoffs and this series in particular, the league will no longer lack a stud inside player (the game seems to be very perimeter or drive oriented). Not that there aren't great inside players, but there are none with the skill, athletic ability and likeable personality that Howard has. Aside from Howard, the Magic also have Rashard Lewis (native Texan) who is an excellent player and was a matchup nightmare for the Cavs. For every Batman there is a Robin and Lewis fits that Robin role.
My heart tells me you have to go with LA in this series, but my gut says the Magic. I think Howard dominates the paint limiting the LA big men from scoring/rebounding and defensively makes the lane his home. Bryant will get his points, but I think Lewis will score enough to kind of offset what Kobe is doing. The key to the series will be the perimeter shooting and the Magic have a huge advantage in my mind. This series will turn into Kobe vs the Magic and unfortunately for him, he won't be enough. The Orlando Magic will be crowned NBA champs and Dwight Howard will be a SUPERSTAR when it is all said and done.

Mattradamus picks the College World Series cont'd...

Today i'm going to pick the winner of the College World Series. The first round in Omaha is played like the Regionals. 4 teams will play a double elimination tournament and my groupings I have are: Texas, Georgia Tech, Arizona St. and North Carolina and then LSU, Cal St Fullerton, UC Irvine and Arkansas.



In the first group I just don't think Texas and GT have the offense to continue on so it will come down to North Carolina and Arizona St. Give me the Sun Devils over the Tarheels to advance to the best 2 or 3 series vs the winner of the other bracket.



Arkansas's ride will end as will Cal St Fullerton's prior to the Anteaters and the Tigers doing battle to advance. UC Irvine was the number 1 team in the country coming into the tournament with LSU the number 2. This is a partially biased pick, but i'm rolling the dice with LSU! They have about 7 guys hitting .300+ and have power all over their lineup. On top of that they have some very good pitching that can hold teams to the the mid single digits for runs (4-7 runs) which will win them most all games. Tigers advance.



The Arizona St. Sun Devils and LSU Tigers will play for the NCAA College Baseball Championship in a best of 3 game series. If the Sun Devils had two strong left handed pitchers they could throw against the Tigers I would give them the nod. As is they have one great righty and one great lefty. LSU lost 3 games this season to right handed pitching compared to 13 vs left handed pitching. ASU's Josh Spence will get a victory in game 1, but then the Tigers will beat up on the right handed pitching and prevail in the final two games!!



The LSU Tigers will win the College World Series

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Mattradamus picks the College World Series cont'd...

Yesterday I went through the regional games and today i'm moving on to Super-Regionals. I already gave away one of my choices and that was the Texas Longhorns will spank the Aggies of A&M and advance to the college World Series. Here are my other predictions.

Georgia Tech will play host to Miami in an ACC clash. These teams know one another well and GT just beat Miami a week ago in the ACC tournament. Homefield plus confidence = a World Series berth! The boys from Atlanta can book their flights to Omaha.

Arizona St will host Alabama out in Tempe and I think the Sun Devils will be too much. They are a national 5 seed for a reason and will March on.

UNC will host South Carolina in a battle of the Carolinas. This is a pretty big rivalry and should be a good series. In the end, North is on top of South just like the Tar Heels will be on the Gamecocks.

Out in California the Titans of Cal St Fullerton titanically destroy the Cardinals of Louisville. Another seeded team advances to Omaha.

Arkansas will travel to Tallahassee to play the 'Noles from FSU who edged out Georgia. Arkansas at this point in the season has seen and played the best. They will go down to Florida with confidence and will prevail!

UC Irvine will play host to Ole Miss. UC Irvine has been the top team in American (even though their Nationally seeding doesn't show it) for over 7 weeks now. At home I have to give the edge to the national #1 ranked team.

LSU will play host to the Owls from Rice down in Baton Rouge in the last Super Regional. LSU just has too many bats and doesn't lose at home. They move on! They eye of the Tiger travels to Nebraska.

Would you call this a headbutt?

"Sweep the leg Johnny......and then see what laundry detergent he uses!"

Mattradamus picks the College World Series

I posted earlier this week about the College World Series and i'm going to follow that up with my predictions. Let me just start off by saying that me picking a college world series bracket is probably equivalent to your little sister picking the NCAA March Madness bracket. I do follow a few teams, but I don't necessarily have great knowledge of probably more than 5 teams in the tournament. With that said, i'm going to have some fun with this and here we go:

Austin Regional:
Can you bet against the National #1 seed, I don't think so. The Texas Longhorns use the longball and cruise this regional without a loss and advance to host a Super Regional.

Ft. Worth Regional:
TCU is the top seed, but their lack of true competition playing in a smaller conference will hurt them. There is a reason the voters put Texas A&M in this bracket. They hoped they would advance to face the Longhorns in the second round. They will get their wish. The Aggies advance. Bonus prediction!!! Texas smokes TAMU so the dream is over Aggies. Double Bonus Prediction!! Texas Tech once again steamrolls you in football this coming season.

Atlanta Regional:
Georgia Tech is the host and they battled their way through a tough ACC this season. I like the fact that they had to play some great teams and still won more than 30 games while only losing 17. The Yellow Jackets sting the competition and advance.

Gainesville Regional:
The Gators are hosting and are the national 8 seed but when was the last time you remember Miami getting the boot in the Regional round (probably happened sooner than I thought) but it wouldn't be a College World Series without Da U getting past the first weekend. Maybe the Carolina Hurricanes will take in a few games in between their golf rounds after being swept out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tempe Regional:
Arizona St. is the national 5 seed and they don't lose this weekend. The Sun Devils are moving on despite the fact they would rather be spending time on the ASU campus checking out what Playboy has consistently rated the school with the best looking women.

Clemson Regional:
This will be a great region to watch. I think Clemson and Alabama will will play to see who moves on. Don't bet against the SEC in this one! The Crimson Tide play another weekend. Do those blonde twins attend all their baseball games or just the football games??

Greenville Regional:
East Carolina is the top seed and had a great season, but it come to an end as the SEC wins again. The Gamecocks from Columbia, SC advance.

Chapel Hill Regional:
The nationally 4 seeded Tar Heels play a pesky Coastal Carolina team in the finals and it comes down to one game. UNC wins that game and continues to have a chance of bringing home a baseball title to go along with their basketball title they won in April.

Fullerton Regional:
Cal St Fullerton is the #2 overall seed for a reason. Easy weekend for them. They move on. You won't have to just remember the Titans, you will see them again.

Louisville Regional:
The Cardinals win on their home field despite a great effort by the Middle Tennessee St. This is the region we all forgot was even playing.

Tallahassee Regional:
Another great final in this region between Florida St and Georgia. I have tended to lean to the SEC in these games, but not in this one. The tomahawk chop moves on (assuming they don't have all their players suspended b/c of cheating allegations like their football team)

Norman Regional:
Oklahoma is the national 7 seed, but they are going to have their hands full with the Razorbacks from Fayetteville. Arkansas played a very difficult schedule and won some big games and their losses were generally by a run or two. I think their experience in big games this season helps them move on. Big Game Bob Stoops loses another big game, ah wait, sorry, wrong sport. Woo Pig Souiee (however you spell it)

Irvine Regional:
UC Irvine always play deep into the tournament. Same goes this year. They breeze through this weekend. Do you think they would ever seed them against a team whose mascot was the Ants?

Oxford Regional:
Ole Miss were the Co-SEC Champs. They move on. Sales on red pinstriped short shorts, loafers and long sleeved button up polos will go out the roof. Lots of whiskey will be drank as well.

Houston Regional:
The college baseball giant that is the Duke of the Dirty South moves on. Hoot Hoot, go Rice. Is there a less intimidating mascot out there? Would they consider changing their mascot to the Creepy Owls?

Baton Rouge Regional:
The Bayou Bengals have their hands full with a couple of tough test in Minnesota and Baylor, but ultimately a gopher and a drugged up winnie the pooh bear have no shot against a tiger (neither did that handler in New Zealand).

Super Regional Predictions to come tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Interesting Sports Fact

With an Overtime victory last night vs the Blackhawks, the Detroit Red Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. The matchup will be the NHL's first Stanley Cup rematch since the Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders in 1984 after losing to them the previous year. If history repeats itself Sid the Kid will bring home another professional championship to the city of Pittsburgh this year.

Your Votes are in.....

and you would have Tom Brady under Center if you needed a game winning drive with 2 minutes left to play in the fourth quarter.

Brady received 28% of the vote with John Elway, Joe Montana and Dan Marino each receiving 19% of the vote and Brett Favre receiving 14%.

Brady has led 28 4th Qtr comebacks in his day including 1 in a divisional round of playoffs and 2 drives that resulted in New England Super Bowl victories. You have to assume that Brady has several more years to play and will only increase these numbers of comeback victories and show more of a flair for heroics.

When considering who I would have chose, I initially thought John Elway before doing some research. After my research I was really up in the air between Elway, Brady and Joe Montana. In making a decision I had to decide if I wanted quantity or quality. John Elway holds the NFL record for 4th qtr comebacks with 47 (i'm too lazy to do the research of how many were under 2:00, but I assume a fair share). John Elway also was the mastermind behind "The Drive", which is the most memorable drive of all-time in a playoff game that catapulted the Broncos over the Browns (a big time quality win). Joe Montana didn't have the quantity that Brady or Elway did, but he had several playoff game comebacks including the possession that ended with a TD toss to John Taylor leading the Niners over the Bengals for the Super Bowl. He also orchestrated a drive that resulted in "The Catch" which will go down in NFL history. I spoke of Brady's credentials earlier.

I look at it like this:

Elway - Quantity + "The Drive"

Montana - Quality with two of the most well known highlights in history

Brady - Quality against all odds

with that said.......Sorry America, but i'm going against your decision and my choice to lead my team down the field would be............John Elway. I want the guy who did it the most and he is the NFL record holder. The numbers don't lie!! Brady would have gotten the nod had the Pats needed TD's and he led them on TD drives, but it was Adam Viniteri who deserves the credit for those Super Bowl victories by kicking 40+ yard fg's.

Top Ten Texas Tech Sports Moments (basketball and football)

Prior to going to Texas Tech in the Fall of 1999, I could have cared less about Texas Tech sports. Up until that point in my life, I was focused on professional sports and really just casually kept an eye on the college scene. Since stepping foot on a college campus, I have seen a huge shift as to my allegience from Pro Sports to College Athletics. Over the past 10 years I have attended or watched on TV every big game Texas Tech Football or Basketball has taken part in. Below is a run down of my Top 10 Texas Tech Sports Moments in the past 10 years. It may have not just been one particular moment, but instead a full game and I take into account where I was and with whom I was with.

#10

Fall 1999 - United Spirt Arena - Opening Night
The first game in the new arena brought Bob Knight to Lubbock while he was coaching Indiana. The game didn't end the way the Red Raiders wanted it to, but the crowd was electric and it was one of the best atmospheres I have seen a college basketball game in. Bob Knight had recently shot a hunting partner so the Red Raider faithul were decked out in camo and ripped him unmercifully.

#9

2007 in Pittsburgh, PA at a bar
Texas Tech has a historic comeback over the Golden Gophers of Minnesota in the Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix, AZ.

#8

2003 at Jakes Sportsbar in Lubbock, TX
Tech was playing at Ole Miss against Eli Manning and the Rebels. The game wasn't televised, but was on an internet feed (as low quality as it gets). Jakes had several TV's showing the internet feed but all the feeds had different timing. The room beside ours was seeing everything about 10 seconds sooner that we were. On the game winning TD pass from BJ Symmons we heard and saw a crowd through the windows in the other room going nuts. We sat back and waited for the good news. We saw it and carried out our own celebrating.

#7

2007 New Years Day in Chicago, IL in a hotel room
Bob Knight becomes the winningest coach in men's college basketball history. Bob Knight not only helped out the basketball program while in Lubbock, but the entire school.

#6

2001 at Eric Dean's house and then my house and then The Spoon in Lubbock, TX
The game between Tech and A&M down in College Station wasn't aired and we had to listen to it on the radio. The game got out of hand and it appeared to be over. Down a couple of TD's I decided to to head to the house to rest up and get ready for the evening and would just keep the game on in the background. On the drive home we scored, then I got home and we scored again. All of a sudden the comeback was on. Tech came back and won the game. I met everyone out and we drank the night away. The play in the game we will most remember was Wes Welkers punt return. We'll remember the audio call and the highlights, too this gamed wasn't aired. Shame on you ABC!

#5

2005 at The Village Apartments in Dallas, TX

Cody Hodges hooks up with Joel Filani on a 4th down desperation toss into the endzone to beat Nebraska with seconds to play. Just four plays before that Hodges had thrown an interception but a hustling Danny Amendola ripped the ball from the defender and Tech had another sign of life. A roller coaster of emotion.

#4B

2007 in Seattle,WA at a bar
#3 Oklahoma came into town with a chance to play for the National Title with a victory. Texas Tech dominated the first half and hung on in the second to prevail! Cory and I celebrated in the Great Northwest. We left a great impression on our bartender as she cut out about $60 of our tab.

#4A

2002 at Jones SBC and Bleachers Cafe in Lubbock, TX

#4 Texas led by Chris Simms came into the Hub City and unfortunately my buddies and I tailgated a little long and by the time we got into the stadium had to split up. We decided at half to hit up a bar so we could all be together and continue drinking. The game was sealed when Ryan Aycock picked off the Simms in the 4th qtr and the Longhorns kissed goodbye their shot at a possible National Title Berth. I still regret not staying at the stadium!

#3

2005 - My apartment, Lewisville, TX
The undefeated Kansas basketball team came into Lubbock and noone thought Tech had much of a chance. A Darryl Dora 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in Double Overtime, gave the Red Raiders a victory over the basketball giant Jayhawks. It was the best moment in recent Tech basketball history.

#2

1999 - Jones SBC in Lubbock, TX
My first taste of the Tech vs A&M rivalry and what got me hooked on College Athletics. Tech defeated the #5 Aggies 21-19. After the game my friend Brian and I rushed the field. I took some time to speak with a Texas Tech backup QB while on the field (more like congratulating and celebrating with him). Little did I know that QB would lead the Air Raider attack the following three seasons. Kliff Kingsbury couldn't have weighed 190lbs then and looked like a string bean out there but boy did he turn into one helluva QB. A true pioneer of the Texas Tech offense that we see today.

#1

2008 at Canal Side Lofts with 15 of the rowdiest Red Raider fans imaginable
#1 Texas at Texas Tech: Graham Harrell hooks up with Michael Crabtree with seconds to play to beat Texas and give Tech its first win over a #1 ranked team

Do the Chinese torture?

When this kid saw that he was going to be working with professional athletes he didn't even bother to read the rest of the job description. Entry level positions at Right Guard will definately teach you the difference between deodorant and antiperspirant deodorant!

Must not be Hurricane Season!

The Penguins just swept the 'Canes 4 games to none. Bring on the Red Wings! A rematch of last years Stanley Cup Finals with a different result (hopefully).

The Road to Omaha

On Monday 64 teams were selected to play in the college baseball world series, a tournament that crowns NCAA baseball its National Champion. While it isn't as publicized or as popular as the 64 team field that makes up NCAA Basketballs March Madness, this tournament truely is a diamond in the rough.


The tournament names "national seeds", aka, the top 8 teams in the tournament. These teams along with another 8 selected become regional hosts the first weekend of the tournament. Overall record, strength of schedule, stadium and how good of a draw attendance wise are the determining factors. There are 16 regional sites that host a double elimination tournament that has 4 teams. The second round of the tournament is called the Super-Regionals and that is where that National Seeding comes into play. If you are one of the eight National Seeds and advance through the first round, you will host a series against another regional champion at your ballpark to advance to the College World Series. The winner of the best of 3 game series advances.


8 teams advance to the College World Series which is played in Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. Over the years some of the all-time baseball greats have played in Omaha in the World Series, including Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens and Cal Ripken Jr. Once again double elimination decides who plays for the championship and then a best of 3 game series crowns the champ.


This tournament has everything you would want to see. It is the only baseball tournament in the world where a 7-run lead going into the 8th or 9th inning isn't safe at all. It showcases hard hits, long flies and 14-12 ball games that are never over until the third out of the ninth inning. You get to see true raw emotion from student athletes and responsible, respectful fans who appreciate seeing their "kids" play but don't get down on them or taunt the other team. It is the ultimate act of sportsmanship and showmanship.


This years overall number 1 seed is the Texas Longhorns with the 2-8 seeds being Cal St. Fullerton, LSU, North Carolina, Arizona St., UC Irvine, Oklahoma and Florida. Last year the unseeded, Fresno St. Bulldogs won the championship. It was a helluva tournament just as this one is sure to be as well. I'm slightly biased, but my money has to be on the Bayou Bengals from LSU.

You can catch a few of the opening round games on ESPNU and then most of the Super Regionals and World Series on ESPN and ESPN 2. Tune in!!

PING!!!

The NCAA has released their Division 1 Baseball bracket.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/bracket?id=4203475

64 teams will compete for a chance to advance to Omaha, Nebraska for one of the great lesser known sporting events in our country - The College World Series.

Interesting Sports Fact

The Syracuse Orange won their 11th NCAA D-1 National Championship in Men's Lacrosse yesterday with a thrilling OT victory over Cornell. With their back to back championships in 2008 and 2009, they have now won 2 more titles than the team with the second most, Johns Hopkins.

The votes are in....

and you the readers have voted Pete Carroll has your head coach if you were the hiring Athletic Director. Carroll narrowly edged out Urban Meyer with 41% of the vote vs 35%. Bob Stoops and Mack Brown also recieved votes, yet 2x National Champion Les Miles got skunked.

Carroll is 88-15 in his college coaching career which began in 2000 with USC. Over that time he has won 1 BCS National Title, 1 AP National Title and is 6-1 in BCS games with his only loss coming on a fourth down QB scramble by Vince Young in the closing minute of the USC vs UT thriller. Aside from that game USC has basically wiped the floor with their opponent in every big game they have played under Carroll. They have however, slipped against a few of the mediocre Pac -10 teams in the past few years, which could be blamed on coaching, but I firmly believe those games are lost by the players. Carroll is best known for his ability to recruit and his high energy, competitive practices that bring out the best in his players. Since joining the Trojans, Carroll has seen 53 of his players selected in the NFL draft.

Urban Meyer has similar credentials with a 83-17 overall record, 2 National Titles and is 3-0 in BCS games. Meyer is known as one of the pioneers of the Spread Offense that has caught on like wildfire throughout college football. Meyer has also proved himself in the mighty SEC, which is week in and week out a dogfight.

When looking at the list of coaches, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. I definately agree that Carroll and Meyer would be my finalists. I think they both bring great coaching to the table but to me what seperates them is the recruiting. Meyer is no slouch recruiting, but Carroll is the best. When you recruit the best players in the nation year in and year out you are more likely to be successful and those same players market the program when they move on to the next level. How many times do you hear USC mentioned leading up to the NFL draft each year? It almost seems like a feeder school for the NFL. The more people you get talking about your program the more money your program brings in and that is truely the bottom line of college athletics. I want the guy who is personable, brings in the best talent, but more importantly brings in the money.

Once again America, I agree with your vote. Job well done!

"Strike? I guarantee you that is a ball!"

Interesting Sports Fact

Yesterday my Minnesota Twins handed the Chicago White Sox their largest defeat in franchise history, 20-1. While this was a pounding, there have been worse!

Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 30-3 in 2007 season.

In the 1897 season, the Chicago Colts (now the Cubs) defeated the Louisville Colonels 36-7.

Forgive and Forget?

Incase you have been under a rock the past few days, Michael Vick was released from his studio jail cell in Kansas and is back at his home in Virginia (which he can no longer afford). I'm sure he will miss his neighbors and all the fun times he enjoyed while vacationing. To me it seems time flew by and that it was just a few months ago when we were hearing of the cruel and inhumane things he was doing while bankrolling a dogfighting ring.

Rumor has it Vick has lined up a gig doing construction but the talk of the town is whether he will be reinstated back into the NFL and who will pick him up. Vick will know sooner or later whether the NFL has forgiven him for the heinous crime he committed and whether or not he will be allowed to play professional football again.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell has quite the decision on his hands. He has publically stated that he will need to see signs of remorse from Vick regarding his actions in dogfighting and the killing of underpeforming canines or dogs that were unwilling to engage in battle. Goddell feels that he has paid his debt to society for his actions, but unless he truely believes that he is sorry he won't sniff a football field again.

If I'm Roger Goddell, I have every right to make his suspension a life-sentence from the game, and this is the course of action I would take even if I felt there was remorse and a guilty feeling coming from Michael Vick. For anything else, I would do it to protect any franchise that would have taken a chance on bringing Vick to their roster.

For every Zigy Wilf (Vikings Owner) or Arthur Blank (Falcons owner) who would never let a figure like Vick play on his team after what the world knows, there is an owner like Jerry Jones (Cowboys) or Al Davis (Raiders) who will do anything to win. They would pay him millions to come join the roster and try to make them a better team.

They would be getting a few things for their money. First of all they would be getting a guy who wasn't a good QB when he was playing full-time 3 years ago and was too fragile to play any other position on the field. Did I mention he fumbled all the time as well? Vick is now 2 full years away from anything having to do with football. His strength and conditioning will be a joke and being away from the game doesn't make you any smarter. Aside from him potentially losing his skill, the biggest thing they would get with him would be the media circus that would follow game to game. Their teams would be under constant scrutiny and everyone would just be waiting for Vick to screw up. I also feel the team would lose fans and attendance would suffer. PETA would be all over every stadium Vick walked into and the opposing teams fans (on the road) would rip him and the team that signed him apart weekly. If Terrell Owens complaining every fourth week was enough to get him kicked off the last 3 teams he has been on, I can't imagine what comes with Michael Vick would be much better for team chemistry. I think the owner that signed him would quickly regret the decision and that is why Goddell has to step in and not let it happen.

I assume 100% of people who are over the age of 3 know what a dog is. You have to figure 80% of those people like dogs. What Michael Vick did was something that touched the heart of many. We seem to be the type that can forgive and forget a man who hits or cheats on his wife, but will people be so forgiving and forgetful when it comes to a guy who so savagely killed or had to do with the killing of so many defenseless dogs? I know I won't. It makes me sick to think about what he did.

Another question came to me as I was writing this. Does Vick deserve to make millions again and go back to his former job? If I were to go out and commit a felony and spend two years of my life in prison there is no way I would get my same job back and would never make the money I was making again. No, Vick does not deserve to go back to making millions of dollars. There cannot be a double standard for athletes, but unfortunately we seem to see signs of it daily with all these guys getting off the hook for things the average Joe would be spending time/more time or paying stiffer fines for committing.

Mike and Mike in the Morning.

They should change the name of this show to "Commercials and Commercials in the Morning".

I normally tune in to Mike and Mike because its the only sports related show on at 530 am when I'm running. The one thing I've always noticed is how often they break for commercials, sportscenters, or ESPN interstitials. I decided to gauge just how much these two actually work over an hour's time (+/-)

Here's the break down by minutes on the treadmills timer

53 mins - Mike and Mike return from commercial and give me 6 minutes of show.

47 mins - I'm "forced" to watch 7 minutes of commercials/sportscenter. The sportscenter is about 2 minutes and its one of ESPN's 2nd tier actors, I mean broadcasters, giving me scores and highlights I've already seen on the 11 pm sportscenter from the night before. I wait for him to remind me that backboards are sqaure and rims are round but he sticks to more obvious sports info.

41 mins - Mike and Mike are back on the air. They stay on for ten minutes this time which means they have alot of time to talk about sports. They talk about the Yankees back-to-back-to-back homers and Greeny's experience with his kids while watching that. Ok here we go, some sports talk....wait, what, now they are talking about who won American Idol? They even go as far as to show a graphic that breaks down the past champions and they discuss which ones were upsets. This is not my ESPN.

31 mins - I get to sit through 8 more minutes of non Mike and Mike stuff. About 5 of that is commercials, 2 of it is aNBA Fastbreak segment where I have to listen to Stuart Scott try and out-urban everyone on the set, and there is a 1 minute long "Best of" (used lightly) reel where they show clips from past Mike and Mike shows - none of which are funny. My guess is they position this in the middle of their breaks so it seems like you are getting more of the show without them having to actually create content - lazy bastards.

23 mins - 6 minutes of show. I dont care what they are talking about at this point. Im pissed they are causing me to keep looking down at the timer which is causing time to drag on.

17 mins - 5 more minutes of commercials. I get another sportscenter update - if I wanted sportscenter updates I would hit the little down arrow on my remote one time and watch sportscenter.

12 mins - 4 minutes of on air time before breaking to ANOTHER sportscenter. 4 F'n minutes!!! Ricky Hatton lasted longer than 4 minutes and we had to pay 59.99 to see that in HD. Damn you Mike and Mike!

8 mins - the above mentioned sportscenter comes on and takes up another 2 minutes of my life telling me about games I watched the night before. Does ESPN have a huge following of people who dont actually watch sports? Are these early AM recaps for the sports fan who is over 80 years old and in bed by 7 pm and up by 4 am thus not witnessing it live?

6 mins - upset that ESPN has turned into the male demographic version of MTV with all their soap opera programming and lack of information that would coincide with the channels name I begin flipping to find something else. This is not the ESPN I grew up loving - must find something that takes me back to my happy childhood!

**To this point Mike and Mike were on the air for 26 minutes and off the air for 22 minutes**

3 mins - infomercial, infomercial, infomercial - my god this Vince guy is selling the shit out of everything - shamwow, some chopper thing - why arent Mike and Mike talking about this guy?

2 mins - JAKCPOT - Saved By The Bell is on. And its the good ones, the old school joints with Ms. Bliss! I'm in a happy place, the workout concludes, and I can go about my day.

In conclusion - Saved By The Bell > Mike and Mike. While I do like the old ones I have to admit Kelly Kapowski would motivate me to run alot harder than Nikki Coleman does!

BIG Blue and White is Back!!

Ashley Judd will have a lot to smile about next season as she cheers on her Kentucky Wildcats basketball team.

Kentucky, once hailed as the mecca for college basketball has been irrelevant on the national scene since they cut down the nets in 1998. All of that has changed with the firing of Billy Gillespie and the hiring of John Calipari this Spring. The school spent a lot to bring him to town. Will it pay off?

Calipari's credibility comes after great success at UMass (have you heard of them doing anything since he left?) and Memphis. His last four years at Memphis he won 33+ games each season, reached a National Title game and dominated Conference USA, winning league title after league title. He made Memphis a hotbed for some of the best recruits in the nation to come and spend anywhere between 1 and 4 years. Some may claim it was the great BarBQ that brought the talent into town or maybe the fact that the Memphis Tigers are a bigger draw than the Memphis Grizzlies (NBA Franchise) but I think we all know that is a lie.

Calipari is a players coach. He runs an offensive that the greatest players in the high school ranks want to be involved in that allows them to showcase their skills which in turn will help them get to the next level. His offense is all about spacing and allows players to drive and dish or drive and finish. The spacing makes defensive blocking out for rebounds a nightmare. Memphis was one of the best offensive rebounding teams in America year after year. If you like going after the ball, this is a dream offense for you, there is so much freedom. Don't think if you are going to play for Calipari it is all about offense. If you don't play tough defense you won't see the floor. That is the difference between Calipari and most major college coaches. Most programs don't mind if their stars take a night off on the defensive end. Calipari won't allow it and as a result it betters the player himself and the program is rewarded with successful season after successful season.

Kentucky will remain irrelevant no longer. If Jodie Meeks decides to stay at school and pull his name from the NBA draft hat, they will return all players from last years squad including inside power Patrick Patterson. You sprinkle in 5-star recruits PG John Wall, C DeMarcus Cousins and C Daniel Orton along with 4-star players such as SF Jon Hood and PG Eric Bledsoe and the 2009/2010 Wildcats may go from getting bounced early in the NIT last year to the best team in America this season. This transformation basically happened overnight. With no Calipari, Meeks and Patterson would most likely have left and Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe would be wearing something other than blue and white next season.

Not that any passion was lost in Lexington over the past years, but the excitement of the team and program will be at a fever pitch this upcoming season. Kentucky will be back on the national scene. Every penny (and there are a lot of them) they spent/are spending on John Calipari will be well worth it.

The invite we all dream of getting!

Pittsburgh Steelers reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year has raised some eyebrows recently with his refusal to visit the White House and meet President Obama. According to Harrison, "if the Cardinals had won, they would have been invited" and also from his mouth "'Oh my James Harrison must be a devil worshipper!, he ain't going to the White House!".

I really don't know what to think of this story. In a way, yes the guy has a choice as to whether or not to attend, but let's be honest, who passes up an opportunity to meet the leader of the Free World. Maybe he is confused and thinks it was an invite to meet the Leaders of the Free World that tormented B.Rabbit along 8 Mile? If that is the case, he must not be a free-style battler and fears ridicule and humility?

The White House is probably the most well known "house" in the entire world and the man that he could be meeting with is one of the most influential people on the ENTIRE PLANET. It isn't like he is turning down an invite to Martha's Vineyard and missing on an opportunity to learn how to bake the meanest batch of chocolate chip cookies imaginable. Did I mention that this isn't just President of the US, but instead is the first African American President in the history of our nation. Why would you pass on this opportunity? If you are trying to prove how "blue-collar" you are do it the real blue-collar way, make your statement and then shut your mouth and quit popping off with ridiculous statement after statement.

When your playing career is over Mr. Harrison you will look back at this and feel a great sense of regret for passing on this opportunity.

Also, saying something like "if the Cardinals had won, they would have been invited" is kind of like saying if Larry Fitzgerald had tackled you before you got in the end zone you wouldn't have scored, or the team that scores the most points, is going to win the game. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

Interesting Sports Fact

Los Angeles Lakers

Originally based in Minneapolis, Minn., the name was based on the state motto "The Land of 10,000 Lakes." Despite the lack of lakes in Los Angeles, the team kept the name when it relocated in 1960.

Orlando Magic

The Orlando organization and Orlando Sentinel held a community-wide competition to select the expansion teams nickname, much the same way it was done in Charlotte for the Bobcats. The final two nicknames for the Orlando team were the Magic and Juice. Juice referred to the immense Florida orange juice industry. Magic was in reference to the Orlando-based Disney World, a world-famous amusement park which opened in 1971. Disney World's first theme park was called Magic Kingdom . Now it all comes together.

Denver Nuggets
Before the Modern team there was an original NBA team called the Nuggets. Both teams take their name from the Colorado Gold rush of 1859

Cleveland Cavaliers

The team Cavalier refers to someone who supported the royalist during the English civil war. The most likely derivitive for the name of the team may be a corruption of the word Chivalier, which is a French Cavalryman. One very famous Cavalryman was a George A Custer, leader of the massicred 7th cavalry at the little bighorn. Custer was born in Ohio.

Our Dream Matchup!

2 of the 3 hockey teams we follow are still alive and well in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and my Pens hold a 1-game lead in the best of 7 series vs Justin's Carolina Hurricanes.

Game 1 was all that an Eastern Conference Finals game should be and i'm sure the rest of the series will be the same way. I expect that 3 goals will win most of the games, so it will come down to goaltending to see which team will advance. Pittsburgh should definately put the heat on Cam Ward all series long.

My gut feeling has the Penguins winning in 6 games with wins in the first two games, the 4th in Raleigh and the 6th in Raleigh to close out the series.

In case you were wondering where Justin and I will be catching the games here are the locations (we did a bit of a home-ice determines destination)

Game 1: Las Colinas
Game 2: Addison (only b/c i'm out of town games 3 and 4)
Game 5: Las Colinas
Game 6: Addison
Game 7: Las Colinas

In Defense of LAX

I was watching college lacrosse this weekend, and the more I watched, the more I found myself wondering why this sport isn’t more popular.

There are plenty of sports out there that could be popular, but ultimately, they all have their fatal flaws. In fact, an earlier entry on this blog generously offered that hockey had elements of baseball, football, basketball and soccer, so why wasn’t it more popular?

Well…there are plenty of reasons. For one thing, the puck is damn near impossible to see. And a bad TV sport is always going to have a hard time winning fans. Also, it’s the only sport (aside from curling, I guess) that’s played on ice. Sure it makes the game faster and (theoretically) more violent, but that potential for speed is never really exploited because the field (er…rink?) is relatively small – compared to a football or soccer field – and also, it’s kinda hard to get a speed burst on a pair of skates. And while there are plenty of violent hits (and fights!), you can’t tell me it’s more violent than football. Because it isn’t. Those guys reach full speed before they ram into each other.

However. If you said to someone who wasn’t a hockey fan, “what if we took hockey and combined it with college football. Hear me out. There would be more scoring than your average hockey game, and in this scenario, you’d get the atmosphere of a college football game played outside. And as an added bonus, the season ends with a ‘March Madness’ style tournament, and who doesn’t love that?! Is that something you might be interested in?” Who would say no to this?!

Passion

College football and basketball players are always admired for “playing for the love of the game.” There aren’t any bloated contracts, they live off whatever the university can give them without violating NCAA rules, they live in dorms… but that’s only half-true, because after they serve their time playing “for the love of the game,” they can sign bloated contracts and buy sixteen Escalades and wear cashmere underwear.

Lacrosse is unique in that there is no next level. If you want to find a group of athletes who truly play for the love of the game, take a look at lacrosse. And don’t try to tell me Major League Lacrosse counts. When I worked for NBC, my girlfriend (at the time) traveled to the Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game as a production assistant. Turns out even the MVP of the league has a full-time job. Let me clarify, he has a full-time job that isn’t lacrosse. I guess my point is that, even at the professional level, they’re playing for the love of the game.

Hell, even the women’s version of the sport – field hockey – has Olympic competition. Same thing with swimming, rowing, track and all the other niche sports. Those guys have the potential to earn huge endorsement contracts by winning a gold medal or two.

Lacrosse has been an Olympic sport before…in 1904 and 1908. That’s it.

Roadblocks

So what’s the problem? Well, let’s get down to basics. For a sport to become a significant part of someone’s life, they have to have been groomed early on. And how do you groom fans early on? You enable them to play the sport as kids. I liked baseball when I was a kid because we would grab a tennis ball and a bat and play in the street til the streetlights came on. Even playing a bastardized version of a sport (side note: MLB should definitely allow “ghost runners”) creates a fan for life, because it allows a kid to fantasize about hitting the game winning homerun in game seven of the World Series, or nailing a game-winning three at the buzzer or throwing a Super Bowl-winning Hail Mary with time running out.

But accessibility is crucial too. If a sport requires too much equipment, that’s going to discourage neighborhood kids from getting a game together. Every street has a basketball hoop. All you need for a game of football is a ball and some trees to serve as endzones. Every kid has a baseball glove because every kid plays Little League. (side note: this is where soccer has shot itself in the foot. How can a sport that is played by every single child in America be so unpopular here? What’s the problem? Is it because soccer is the first organized sport we play as kids and our lasting memories are ones of confusion and terror and boredom? Is it because we’re made to play a sport we’d never heard of and our parents didn’t even like?) Anyway, no kid I know has a lacrosse stick. Which leads to my next point…

Lacrosse is certainly not without its faults. For one thing – and this is a big one – it’s only played in one part of the country. This is exclusively an east coast sport. And if you really want to split hairs, a northeastern sport.

Another problem with the sport – and this is just what I’ve observed casually watching over the years – is that there are really only four teams with a legitimate chance to win the NCAA championship every year: Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, Virginia and Princeton. I’m sure there are other teams each year that make things interesting, and for all I know, they could be major lacrosse powers and I just haven’t noticed: Duke, Maryland, Cornell and North Carolina, among others. But you get the point. The field is limited.

Opportunity

But the whole point of this rant, is that I think lacrosse has a real opportunity to expand. For one thing, people love team sports. And even more than that, they love college team sports. There’s just something inherently exciting about watching Florida play Oklahoma, no matter what sport it is. The sport has some amazing, natural rivalries that they could promote – Duke vs. North Carolina (hello!), Johns Hopkins vs. Maryland, Princeton vs. Cornell. And like I said, the game itself has promise. The team aspect alone automatically makes it more interesting than, say, swimming.

What are your thoughts on this? Is lacrosse viable? Can it make a dent?

The game I was watching when I started to type this ended with Syracuse cruising into the semifinals, beating Maryland 11 to 6. This means, of course, that Syracuse is in the Final Four! If only they bothered calling it the Final Four.

Guest Column (Blog Post) by Robert Knox

Thanks Robert

Make sure and vote!

Please make sure and vote on our polls! When voting is done we will post on the results and let you know if we agree/disagree and throw out some statistics that may confirm or alter your decision!

Also, be prepared to see an addition of May Madness coming soon. A 64-man 1 on 1 NBA tournament that puts the top 64 scorers in the league in a March Madness style tournament. I promise you will enjoy it!

Interesting Sports Fact

The Los Angeles Clippers won the NBA draft lottery last night and presumably the rights to OU's manchild, Blake Griffin. They had a 17% chance of landing the pick and beat out the team with the best odds of landing the pick, the Sacramento Kings (25%). Only 4 times since the NBA Draft lottery began in 1984 has the team with the best odds (worst record in the league) actually won the lottery.


1988- LA Clippers - Danny Manning - Kansas
1998 - LA Clippers - Michael Olowokandi - Pacific
2003 - Cleveland Cavaliers - Lebron James - High School
2004 - Dwight Howard - High School

Interesting Sports Fact

The SEC is undefeated in BCS National Championship games going 5-0 on the final College Football Game played each season.


Tennessee - 1999

LSU - 2003 and 2007

Florida - 2006 and 2008