Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Quick Hits

Let's get right into some College Football and NFL quick hits:

NCAA

- Florida is going to be very tough to beat this season, if they get by LSU in Death Valley, they will go undefeated, win another National Championship and Tim Tebow will be only the second 2-time Heisman Trophy winner.

- Matt Barkley led USC over Ohio St for a huge victory last weekend; look for USC to have a let down this weekend and Washington goes on their first 2 game win streak in two years (if I'm Pete Carroll, I play Aaron Corp this weekend)

- Texas gets there shot this weekend in Austin for revenge against Texas Tech and I think they will get it in a big way (UNFORTUNATELY!)

- The Mountain West has 3 legit BCS contenders in Utah, TCU and BYU; look for the Horned Frogs to be BCS'ing in January.

- A few former superpowers are gaining strength and looking to challenge and possibly win their conferences this season: Da U (Miami), the Michigan Wolverines and the corn-fed boys from Nebraska

- A current superpower had their last chance to impress me and probably the rest of the nation last week. Close counts in the game of horseshoes, but close doesn't count IN the Horseshoe, sorry Ohio St. but i'm removing you from my mind of being an elite program.

- Oklahoma may be in big trouble this season. Everyone talks about the loss of Bradford, but they have also lost their starting TE (Gresham), starting WR's (NFL) and 4 offensive lineman. A loss to BYU with road games at Miami, in Dallas vs Texas and in Lubbock vs Texas Tech will all go down as L's for Boomer Sooner this season. Hello Alamo Bowl??

- Oklahoma St is the exact same team as the BJ Symons led Texas Tech Red Raiders from 2003. Sure they can score 40 a game, but their defense won't stop any good opposing offense from putting 41 on the board.

NFL

- Sorry LT, but AD is the best back in the league, you aren't even the best RB on your own team (Sproles)

- Jake Delhomme is doing his best to get John Fox fired in Carolina with his 11 turnovers in his last two home games performances (that has to be a record right?)

- I don't know if Tom Brady is back or the Bills are just being the Bills. Great comeback for the Pats, but I think one of the last times the Bills were on MNF they blew a huge lead against the Cowboys and lost in the end.

- Cowboy fans please be quiet. You beat up on a Tampa Bay team that had 2 blown coverages and gave up another big play b/c of a terrible Safety.

- Pittsburgh is back up to their old tricks with great defense, a terrible offense and winning low scoring games. A win is a win, but man it is hard to watch them play.

- The Cardinals had a terrific run to the Super Bowl last year, but they will be watching the playoffs from home this season. Seattle is back and could be playing for homefield playoff position later in the season.

- On November 1st, Lambough Field may host a football game that gets more hype and has more anticipation than some Super Bowls. Brett Favre returns to face the fans and the franchise that treated him so well for 16 years in a game that could go a long way towards home field advantage in the NFC.

Stay tuned in the coming days/weeks for more sports talk!

We're Back!!

TwoSportsMinds are back and will be delivering some pretty riveting blog entries in the days to come.

Hallelujah NCAA Football, NFL, NHL!!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Pittsburgh Penguins are Stanley Cup Champs!



On Friday night, Sidney Crosby became the youngest Captain to ever hoist the Stanley Cup trophy at the age of 21. The Pens went into Detroit and got a great performance out of Marc-Andre Fluery and Max Talbot stepped up with two goals.


The city of Pittsburgh now has the Super Bowl Champ Steelers and the Stanley Cup Champ Penguins in the same season. Is it in the cards for the Pirates to win the World Series? I don't think so.

I thank the Pens for making the entire hockey season fun for me and hopefully next season we can see the Stars back in the playoffs and have both teams playing as late into the season as possible.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Week Wrap Up - 6/8 - 6/12

Let me first start by sending my apologies for the lack of updates and new posts this week. Crazy busy week at work and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was hop on a computer and post. Next week I will renew my NCAA Football Realignment with the Big 12, Pac-10, Mountain West and WAC.

This was a pretty busy week in the world of sports. There are two championship series going on and I want to touch on the Magic vs Lakers to start. If you keep up with the blog you would know I went with my gut instead of my heart and took the Magic. It will be the last time I make a gut decision. The Lakers, behind Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, are just too good. They have had some others step up and knock down shots and are up 3 games to 1. The Magic are a blown layup at the buzzer and a complete collapse in last nights game away from having the 3 to 1 advantage, but utlimately didn't make the plays down the stretch to pull those games out. Van Gundy killed his team by playing Jameer Nelson over Rafer Alston which broke team chemistry and rhythm they had after playing the last several months with Alston starting at the PG spot with Nelson sitting on the pine after shoulder surgery. Nelson was to blame last night for both of Fisher's big 3's. He seemed to be defending a drive in the final seconds giving up a wide open 3 to send the game to OT. In OT he went to double Kobe whose back was to the rim and was about to throw up a wild fade away 20 footer and left Fisher open again. SWISH!! Game! Lakers win in 5.

The Penguins and Red Wings will do battle this evening for hockey supremacy. I wish I had more confidence in the Pens, but so far they have lost their games in Detroit 3-1, 3-1, and 5-0. Fluery is a whole different goaltender at home vs on the road, so considering this game is in "The Joe", the Pens have little to no chance. It will take a "i'm the best player in the world" effort from Crosby (2 goals and an assist) for the Pens to have a chance. The only positive the Pens have going for them is that they played a game 7 in Washington to advance and if you ask me most the pressure is on Detroit after blowing a 2 game advantage in the series. First team to 4 goals wins tonights game. Go Pens!

Alabama football will be on probation for 3 years and will be forced to vacate something like 21 victories between 2005-2007. Rumor has it several players were receiving additional free textbooks that were then given to friends or were turned around and sold back for cash. What is the point of taking victories away from a team? Do you think the 2006 Florida International team that got beat 38-3 by 'Bama is celebrating today? Give me a break. So, 3 years of probation, that will show them! They have now been on probation 3 seperate times in the same decade!!! At what point and time do you start taking scholarships or taking away the opportunity for bowl games? I think in this case, they need to take the qty of players that were found to be guilty of doing "Textbook-gate" and over that same 3-year probation period, they lose that many scholarships. Does that make sense to anyone? Sure it makes sense to you and I, but considering we live in a time when a computer ranking which factors in the amount of mustaches are on a coaching staff is telling us who plays for a National Title, I know my concept would be too much.

Gillette is loving Tiger and Roger Federer right now. The "shaving brothers" from other mothers are at the top of their sports. Federer won his 14th Grand Slam Title tying him for Pete Sampras for all time Grand Slams when he won his 1st French Open and Tiger won the Memorial and is revving up for the US Open. Both players make two sports that are otherwise not too TV friendly enjoyable to watch and make you actually get into the sport. It is fun to watch the two people that are the greatest at their kraft serving aces and dropping 30 foot birdies. I thank both of them for keeping both of those sports relevant and congratulate them for their achievements.

The College World Series in Omaha kicks off tomorrow. 8 teams, 11 days and enough PINGS! to make your ears ring for a few days. As you know, my money is on LSU beating Arizona St for the Series Title. Once again, a great site to keep up with all the action is http://www.d1baseball.com/.

In NFL news the only real news that is getting attention is the saga I have dubbed "As the Grey Beard Turns". First the Vikings set a deadline, then they didn't, then they say they would suspend talk about him, then Viking coach Brad Childress is talking about him at the OTA's. In the meantime, Gunslinger Grey Beard (Indian Name) is considering shoulder surgery, then he all of a sudden had surgery a month ago, then he is throwing footballs to high school kids leading them into puddles, the next minute he hasn't thrown a ball in weeks and has been busy handweaving Wranglers jeans. WTF! Does anyone care? This should prove to you how boring Major League Baseball is. It is the heart of their season and this crap is getting headline news over anything they can possibly do.

The talk in baseball should be the Minnesota Twins and Joe Mauer. First off, if you are gambling person, bet on the Twins to do whatever they did the night before (win or lose). They seem to NEVER win, lose, win. Everything they do is in streaks. W, W, W, L, L, L, L, W, W, W. For instance, they lost 3, then beat the A's twice, then lost yesterday. Start fresh and wait for a victory and then ride it out with a follow up win, then wait til a loss. Follow that loss up with another loss. You can't lose! Aside from that tendancy, there is nothing else I understand about the Twins season so far. They have 3 guys who are hitting above .325 and are bombs away knocking the ball out of the park (Mauer, Morneau and Kubel) along with some pitchers that seem to have great performances, but are still 3 games below .500! How are they so terrible on the road but great at home? I brought up Joe Mauer and I can't believe this guy is not getting more publicity. He is hitting above .400 (in games from May to June, not over a 10 game streak) and has already posted a career high in homeruns. Pitchers cannot get him out. Anytime a guy who in a month beats his career best homers for a season there is speculation of steroids, but in Mauers case that simply ISN'T THE CASE. If anyone has watched the Twins over the last few years, they know that he always hits the ball hard. This year he is getting a little bit more trajectory and it is carrying out of the yard. Hit homers are always the ugly linedrive homers that take 2 seconds to leave the ballpark, never the towering upperdeck shots. Did I mention he is 6'5, 230?? It was a matter of time before he became more than a great hitter and turned into a power hitter.

That is all I have for this week. Stay tuned for the NCAA Football realignment to come to fruition next week. Good Day and Good Weekend!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Stars fire Tippett!!


Stars fired Dave Tippett today and i'm completely shocked. Tippett was in town for 6 seasons and led the team to the playoffs 5 of the 6 seasons he was at the helm. The season they didn't make it was last season. He had a 271-162-59 record in six seasons.

A year after losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Finals, the Stars had injury after injury this season and contended for the final playoff spot up until the 3rd to last game this season. Captain Brendan Morrow only played 18 games, leading defenseman Sergie Zubov missed all but 7 games and leading point scorer Brad Richards missed the final 2 months of the season with a broken wrist/hand. Did I mention it was Brett Hull who brought in Sean Avery who basically tore apart the team until they got rid of his sorry ass? That wasn't on Tippett.

Hockey is a sport where it seems GM's jump to conclusions way to quick and fire coaches. The Stars just hired Joe Nieuwendyk and it seems he decided a change was needed. I think this is a mistake. The coaching job he did minus his 3 best players for virtually the entire season last year was good enough to get him another year in my opinion. It doesn't help that he had to keep Mike Modano on the ice, who is over the hill, reluctant to hit and turned the puck over time and time again in crucial situations. Tippett had no choice b/c Modano is a god in in the Stars franchise and they would never sit him if he was able to play.

Hopefully Nieuwendyk knows what he is doing and can bring in a quality coach. Regardless of who he brings in, if the Stars are healthy next season they will make the postseason and Nieuwendyk will get what he wants, the praise for bringing in a head coach "that got them back in the playoffs". I just wish Tippett had another season to lead a team that was healthy that also had young players who logged major minutes this season and gained valuable experience. He would have brought them back into the playoffs and helped them make a run if you ask me. I wish him luck in finding a new job. Thanks for the past 6 seasons Dave.

NCAA Football Realignment Cont'd....



Today I bring to you the fun football from Conference USA. Perhaps with the changes I have made this conference will be upgraded and gain some attention. I give to you the newly realigned Conference USA.
Teams that will stay in the Conference: Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Central Florida and UTEP
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Teams departing the Conference: East Carolina (ACC), Southern Miss (SEC) and UAB (SEC)
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New teams to the Conference: Baylor (Big 12), Vanderbilt (SEC) and Troy (Sun Belt)
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ECU, Southern Miss and UAB were all moved to other conferences to join their instate rivals. I think the swap of those three for the newbies will greatly upgrade the conference talent wise and help the conference gain a little more national recognition.
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The problem with Baylor and Vandy was that they were in power conferences and despite getting better each season, they were still the doormat of their division. I think by putting them into this conference they can instantly compete for a conference championship and they will bring some better D-1 talent to the conference than it has seen in the past. Baylor will now also be matched up with it's other Texas private schools and this will help build a great rivalry between the three schools (SMU and Rice). Vanderbilt year in and year out seemed to beat or really push a big time SEC school in a game. In this conference I think they may be that power in year 1. Like Baylor they are a private school and this conference will turn into a mini Ivy league of the South when you throw in Tulane to the mix. Troy will make the jump from a smaller conference to see if they can consistently beat better competition. Every year they seem to give bigger D-1 teams fits in games outside of conference and then coast through their conference schedule. It is time they are moved up a notch and play better competition week in and week out to see if they are that good or the Sun Belt was that bad.
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The divisions will be split like so and are in my projected order of finish:
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West:
Baylor
Tulsa
Houston
Rice
UTEP
SMU

East:
Vanderbilt
Troy
UCF
Memphis
Marshall
Tulane
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Neither Baylor or Vanderbilt are use to this setting, but they will do battle for the crown. I think there is a big difference between the Big 12/SEC and this conference and it shows when two of the last place teams in those conferences will win their divisions in this one. I give the edge to the Baylor Bears b/c of future Heisman candidate Robert Griffin.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

College World Series

Texas beat TCU last night to round out the 8 teams going to the College World Series. Congrats to the Longhorns.

Here is a list of games and times if you are interested in watching:

Saturday, June 13 Game 1: Arkansas vs. (2) Cal St. Fullerton, 1 p.m. on ESPN Game 2: Virginia vs. (3) LSU, 6 p.m. on ESPN

Sunday, June 14 Game 3: (5) Arizona St. vs. (4) North Carolina, 1 p.m. on ESPN Game 4: Southern Miss vs. (1) Texas, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Monday, June 15 Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m. on ESPN2 Game 6: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Tuesday, June 16 Game 7: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m. on ESPN2 Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Wednesday, June 17 Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Thursday, June 18 Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Friday, June 19 Game 11: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 1 p.m. on ESPN2 Game 12: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 6 p.m. on ESPN2

Saturday, June 20 Game 13: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser (if nec.), 1 p.m. on ESPNOnly if needed. If one game is played, it will be the 6 p.m. game.Game 14: Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser (if nec.), 6 p.m. on ESPNOnly if needed. If one game is played, it will be the 6 p.m. game.