The first Eagles game I ever went to was against the Giants when I was like 8 or 10. The Eagles had just lost to the Giants. My father and I were walking out of the 700 level and there was this guy in a Giants jacket who was on the ground next to a broken beer bottle in a pool of his own blood/spilled beer. People were walking by spitting on him and such. I asked my father if we should stop to help him and he just continued to usher me out of the stadium. A part of me died that day and I believe that part was my ability to be positive about the Eagles no matter how well they are doing. Winning by 56 points? Should have scored more. Win a game by 21 points? They were a couple lucky plays away from loosing. McNabb went 32/33 for 700 yards and 16 TDs? Why didn't he run for more, where's the goddamn running game.
My first Phillies game at the Vet I saw someone get arrested in the 3rd inning for throwing beer and fighting someone. Two innings later someone dumped beer on me and he got arrested. I did get to see Ozzie Smith do a backflip and worthless Mitch Williams got a save, I think Lennie Dyksrta hit a home run. Then they lost the world series and my cat died. Fucking Phillies.
I've never been to a home Flyers or Sixers game but I did see the Flyers play Washington twice in the first round in DC last year.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
The best there is
Matt Bowen is the best NFL writer in the world right now, his insights are so darn good it makes me surprised we don't see more ex-players. He must be an unusually smart guy.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/author/matt-bowen/
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/author/matt-bowen/
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Throws discussion
Fun discussion about throws on the internet:
Mobn:
"Greco frankly offers a lot more control to the wrestler in terms of where they land out of the takedown. GSP's style more often than not lands him in guard and requires him to pass. I think we can all agree that Silva's guard has proven dangerous."
Me:
Incorrect given that all of the takedowns in Greco are throws and not leg attacks. It's actually quite difficult to control an opponent you've thrown using just your upper body as leverage. It just so happens that in Greco style competition they don't scramble out of a takedown, they lie on their stomachs so that they don't give up more points. Whereas with a freestyle double leg takedown you have control of your opponents legs at least for a moment and a good takedown will involve resetting your hips so that you can either get behind the person, or into some kind of mount of half guard. Your legs are more powerful then your arms by far, greco takedowns leave the legs open to do as they please while the throw is taking place. Most great wrestlers while they are getting thrown (well to be fair a great wrestler doesn't usually get thrown) are adjusting their body to be in a better position before they land, and since their legs are free there is plenty to do. Whereas when you are getting taken down with a double you can't really do much till you land, scoot your hips out and headlock or try to get in guard, or if it's actual wrestling give up your back. Now Judo throws on the other hand...
Mobn:
"But a Greco throw gives you much better control over where you land in relation to their upper body, as you can control it the whole way down, resulting in landing in side control against a less competent wrestler. I still say that Hendo's style is more likely than GSP's to land in a dominant position, especially considering Anderson's ability to quickly grab guard back from an unwary opponent. "
Me:
Ok I guess, but a greco takedown is also much more likely to not result in a takedown period. A great double leg you can control exactly where you are but you are less likely to land in full mount or side mount.
Elmo Oxygen (on responding to "Now Judo throws on the other hand... ":
"Keep going, this is a pearl of interesting reading in a slop trough full of MMA thread. "
Me:
Judo throws are typically the most controlled throws. You use legs, you use arms, you use weight transfer. Think about the Judo guys you see in MMA, Karo would be the one that comes to my mind first. When he usually executes a throw, it looks big and he uses both his upper body and legs for leverage to get momentum going. He also locks up parts of the opponents body during the throw so that they can be controlled when you hit the ground. You can also execute them pretty much from any standing position. There are so many different Judo throws it's ungodly, there were apparently 40 originally developed but goodness knows how many there really are, and you really have to be good at scrambling if you get thrown because when you land more often then not you are exactly where the Judo guy wanted you to be. In MMA Judo throws typically allow the thrower to control everything that is about to happen because unless you have a strong Judo or wrestling with throw background the tendancy is to just go with the flow, get the wind knocked out of you, or be outright confused. If you've never been thrown by a Judo guy just try to imagine, "All of a sudden you aren't on your feet, and you are flying, and oh look there's the ground how the hell did I get here? Oh gosh that hurt, what is going on?" If you aren't used to defending it you cna get very disoriented.Wrestling (in the US) at lower levels of competition doesn't have alot of throws, but some coaches teach a simple head and arm throw as the first or second move because it can easily win a match and take an inexperienced guy out of their gameplan in an instant. All the fastest pins I ever got were by going straight for a head and arm and pinning someone second later. Judo is lots and lots of throws, here's a small list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo_techniques
Mobn:
"Greco frankly offers a lot more control to the wrestler in terms of where they land out of the takedown. GSP's style more often than not lands him in guard and requires him to pass. I think we can all agree that Silva's guard has proven dangerous."
Me:
Incorrect given that all of the takedowns in Greco are throws and not leg attacks. It's actually quite difficult to control an opponent you've thrown using just your upper body as leverage. It just so happens that in Greco style competition they don't scramble out of a takedown, they lie on their stomachs so that they don't give up more points. Whereas with a freestyle double leg takedown you have control of your opponents legs at least for a moment and a good takedown will involve resetting your hips so that you can either get behind the person, or into some kind of mount of half guard. Your legs are more powerful then your arms by far, greco takedowns leave the legs open to do as they please while the throw is taking place. Most great wrestlers while they are getting thrown (well to be fair a great wrestler doesn't usually get thrown) are adjusting their body to be in a better position before they land, and since their legs are free there is plenty to do. Whereas when you are getting taken down with a double you can't really do much till you land, scoot your hips out and headlock or try to get in guard, or if it's actual wrestling give up your back. Now Judo throws on the other hand...
Mobn:
"But a Greco throw gives you much better control over where you land in relation to their upper body, as you can control it the whole way down, resulting in landing in side control against a less competent wrestler. I still say that Hendo's style is more likely than GSP's to land in a dominant position, especially considering Anderson's ability to quickly grab guard back from an unwary opponent. "
Me:
Ok I guess, but a greco takedown is also much more likely to not result in a takedown period. A great double leg you can control exactly where you are but you are less likely to land in full mount or side mount.
Elmo Oxygen (on responding to "Now Judo throws on the other hand... ":
"Keep going, this is a pearl of interesting reading in a slop trough full of MMA thread. "
Me:
Judo throws are typically the most controlled throws. You use legs, you use arms, you use weight transfer. Think about the Judo guys you see in MMA, Karo would be the one that comes to my mind first. When he usually executes a throw, it looks big and he uses both his upper body and legs for leverage to get momentum going. He also locks up parts of the opponents body during the throw so that they can be controlled when you hit the ground. You can also execute them pretty much from any standing position. There are so many different Judo throws it's ungodly, there were apparently 40 originally developed but goodness knows how many there really are, and you really have to be good at scrambling if you get thrown because when you land more often then not you are exactly where the Judo guy wanted you to be. In MMA Judo throws typically allow the thrower to control everything that is about to happen because unless you have a strong Judo or wrestling with throw background the tendancy is to just go with the flow, get the wind knocked out of you, or be outright confused. If you've never been thrown by a Judo guy just try to imagine, "All of a sudden you aren't on your feet, and you are flying, and oh look there's the ground how the hell did I get here? Oh gosh that hurt, what is going on?" If you aren't used to defending it you cna get very disoriented.Wrestling (in the US) at lower levels of competition doesn't have alot of throws, but some coaches teach a simple head and arm throw as the first or second move because it can easily win a match and take an inexperienced guy out of their gameplan in an instant. All the fastest pins I ever got were by going straight for a head and arm and pinning someone second later. Judo is lots and lots of throws, here's a small list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo_techniques
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
College Football Weekend September 27, 2008
A blue moon is a rare occurrence, me actually being right is an even rarer event. So much to my surprise all my picks ended up correct last week, then I won the lotto and a shooting star landed in my back yard. But in all seriousness, I had better check myself before I wriggity wriggity wreck myself. Which is why you can take all my picks to the bank, the MONEY bank (note: I am literally terrible at college football betting,so don't look to me for advice). Anyhow this weekend has some really fun games, so I hope I rock the house again.
Comments:
"Okay, Son, you need to learn to use spellcheck - after all the tuition we paid, you should be able to properly spell Pennsylvania. I recognize that you are your father's son, but bad spelling really isn't hereditary... Mom"
There were no mispellings on the website, no clue what you are talking about (see if you can catch the joke in that sentence). You should go back and check your vision.
"Ok it's been a few weeks, how about a top 25 list?" - Justin
How about you find the cat? She's been missing for days, and I think someone is feeding her because otherwise she'd be back in her loving household...for food...then she would escape again. On the other hand I'm getting more rest since she's not whining outside my door at all hours of the night. But my top 25, how about my top 10?
1. USC - Very good chance to go undefeated, Probably the best bet to be in the National Championship. I'm not sure anyone will be able to really judge how good they are for the rest of the year till they get to a bowl game.
2. Missouri - Great offense, lots of ranked teams on the schedule, hard to say more about them till they play some more.
3. Georgia - Good running game, good defense, I think their quarterback will ultimately decide their season, So whether or not they play for the championship will rest in his hands during one of their conference games.
4. Oklahoma - Good offense, hard to say how good the defense is, we'll find out soon enough this weekend.
5. LSU - Bruising defense, young offense, hard schedule.
6. Florida - This team confuses me like the ending from "No Country for Old Men". They should have more offense, less ambiguity, and a real ending with resolution and a morale so you know you learned something.
7. Alabama - This team is more like "There Will be Blood", you watch them and can't figure out why they are so good, but darn it if they don't give great individual performances.
9. BYU - So good they take up two numbers on the top 10, two shut outs in a row, and two ranked teams left on the schedule, undefeated season will land them in the national title game hopefully.
10. Penn State - I really want to see them play a real team, or barring that, a bunch of attractive women. So I guess if you think that Illinois is a hot chick/good team then I'll get my wish this weekend. Now on to the games.
Games:
Virginia at Duke - This is my "academic game of the week". And you can't complain dad because your own daughter went to UVA and one of my favorite Marines in Iraq went to Duke. That being said, these two teams are pretty bad, but Duke did beat Navy... The Virginia Cavaliers allegedly have some other nickname that is insignificant just like their defense, and I have it on authority that "UVA's QB was dismissed... only making our impending ACC championship run all the more impressive!- Kent" Indeed. Well if they are to begin this run to ACC glory they'll need to beat the Duke Blue Devil's QB Thaddeus Lewis who is a great running threat as well as a decent passer. Well good luck to the UVA whatevers, they will have to stab their way to success, using a pen attached to a chain on a bank counter. In other words, Duke wins.
#24 TCU at #2 Oklahoma - This will hopefully be a good test for the Sooners of Oklahoma (again I'm offering a $5 reward for whomever can tell me what that means or is without looking it up). It's a classic battle of good versus evil...or defense versus offense...or tacos versus a salad (which will I have for dinner!!!!). The Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Toads have a great defense and a good running game with RBs Ryan Christian, Joseph Turner and Aaron Brown. Oklahoma has an amazing offense and QB Sam Bradford has completed a out worldly 79% of his passes thus far. Defense wins games, but TCU may not be able to keep up with Oklahoma's high powered offense, especially at Oklahoma. I'll take the home team, in a game that will be close at the half, but became unbalanced by the middle of the 4th.
#13 South Florida at North Carolina State - The NC State Wolfpack ruined ECU's fun last weekend, will they continue to be that sober den mother in a group of drunk chicks out on the town by ruining South Florida's night out with BCS hopes? Not sure, the Wolfpack may be tired of holding back her friend's hair, I think she's ready to have fun, Harrison Beck will be at QB for the Wolfpack since the starter was injured. The Bulls of South Florida will hope that apprentice magician/QB Matt Grothe can close the deal and lead the Big East's best hope onwards. NC State had their upset for the year, it's time for the South Florida defense to step up to the plate and buy them a drink of humility.
#22 Illinois at #12 Penn State - The Fighting Illini of Illinois put on a heck of a show against Missouri early in the year, QB Juice Williams reminds me of Donovon McNabb, he's got a great arm and can run when he gets nervous. The Penn State Nittany Lions have scored more points in their first for games this year then in the first four games of any year previous. But they've been playing scrubs, and since they just installed a spread offense it's unclear how well it has taken. Lions QB Daryll Clark has played very well so far but he's not dealt with a defensive secondary as good as Illinois. This game tears me apart, just like all the drama in the Playboy Mansion (Oh gosh will Holly stay or go? Is Kendra engaged to that Eagles player?), I though Illinois was really good, I think Penn State might be better but it's so tough to tell since they've played nobody. But when in doubt I do two things, pick the home team, and then consult my friend Dr. Coin, Dr. Coin agrees that Penn State will win. It could be a very very close game.
#8 Alabama at #3 Georgia - I'm not sure what it is about this game, but for some reason I want to see this game more then I wanted to see LSU v. Auburn last weekend. I want to see what the Alabama Crimson Tide are really made of, are they born again under coach Scumbag Mcgee (Nick Saban), or were they born yesterday? Both teams have mauling defenses, and feature running games as their major offensive weapon. This usually leads to low scoring games. The Georgia Bulldogs will pray that QB Matt Stafford will not lose it for them, he'll be handing the ball to Heisman hopeful RB Knowshon Moreno. RB Glenn Coffee who will hopefully awaken the Crimson Tide of Alabama. This game could come down to experience, Alabama has a great coach, and a very young team, but they play so many true freshman who haven't played in a huge SEC game yet. They may not be ready for the hitting, the atmosphere, the extreme national spotlight, the riotous Georgia crowd. The Bulldogs should win, but I don't expect to see more then 40 points scored, and you can bet on that.
Comments:
"Okay, Son, you need to learn to use spellcheck - after all the tuition we paid, you should be able to properly spell Pennsylvania. I recognize that you are your father's son, but bad spelling really isn't hereditary... Mom"
There were no mispellings on the website, no clue what you are talking about (see if you can catch the joke in that sentence). You should go back and check your vision.
"Ok it's been a few weeks, how about a top 25 list?" - Justin
How about you find the cat? She's been missing for days, and I think someone is feeding her because otherwise she'd be back in her loving household...for food...then she would escape again. On the other hand I'm getting more rest since she's not whining outside my door at all hours of the night. But my top 25, how about my top 10?
1. USC - Very good chance to go undefeated, Probably the best bet to be in the National Championship. I'm not sure anyone will be able to really judge how good they are for the rest of the year till they get to a bowl game.
2. Missouri - Great offense, lots of ranked teams on the schedule, hard to say more about them till they play some more.
3. Georgia - Good running game, good defense, I think their quarterback will ultimately decide their season, So whether or not they play for the championship will rest in his hands during one of their conference games.
4. Oklahoma - Good offense, hard to say how good the defense is, we'll find out soon enough this weekend.
5. LSU - Bruising defense, young offense, hard schedule.
6. Florida - This team confuses me like the ending from "No Country for Old Men". They should have more offense, less ambiguity, and a real ending with resolution and a morale so you know you learned something.
7. Alabama - This team is more like "There Will be Blood", you watch them and can't figure out why they are so good, but darn it if they don't give great individual performances.
9. BYU - So good they take up two numbers on the top 10, two shut outs in a row, and two ranked teams left on the schedule, undefeated season will land them in the national title game hopefully.
10. Penn State - I really want to see them play a real team, or barring that, a bunch of attractive women. So I guess if you think that Illinois is a hot chick/good team then I'll get my wish this weekend. Now on to the games.
Games:
Virginia at Duke - This is my "academic game of the week". And you can't complain dad because your own daughter went to UVA and one of my favorite Marines in Iraq went to Duke. That being said, these two teams are pretty bad, but Duke did beat Navy... The Virginia Cavaliers allegedly have some other nickname that is insignificant just like their defense, and I have it on authority that "UVA's QB was dismissed... only making our impending ACC championship run all the more impressive!- Kent" Indeed. Well if they are to begin this run to ACC glory they'll need to beat the Duke Blue Devil's QB Thaddeus Lewis who is a great running threat as well as a decent passer. Well good luck to the UVA whatevers, they will have to stab their way to success, using a pen attached to a chain on a bank counter. In other words, Duke wins.
#24 TCU at #2 Oklahoma - This will hopefully be a good test for the Sooners of Oklahoma (again I'm offering a $5 reward for whomever can tell me what that means or is without looking it up). It's a classic battle of good versus evil...or defense versus offense...or tacos versus a salad (which will I have for dinner!!!!). The Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Toads have a great defense and a good running game with RBs Ryan Christian, Joseph Turner and Aaron Brown. Oklahoma has an amazing offense and QB Sam Bradford has completed a out worldly 79% of his passes thus far. Defense wins games, but TCU may not be able to keep up with Oklahoma's high powered offense, especially at Oklahoma. I'll take the home team, in a game that will be close at the half, but became unbalanced by the middle of the 4th.
#13 South Florida at North Carolina State - The NC State Wolfpack ruined ECU's fun last weekend, will they continue to be that sober den mother in a group of drunk chicks out on the town by ruining South Florida's night out with BCS hopes? Not sure, the Wolfpack may be tired of holding back her friend's hair, I think she's ready to have fun, Harrison Beck will be at QB for the Wolfpack since the starter was injured. The Bulls of South Florida will hope that apprentice magician/QB Matt Grothe can close the deal and lead the Big East's best hope onwards. NC State had their upset for the year, it's time for the South Florida defense to step up to the plate and buy them a drink of humility.
#22 Illinois at #12 Penn State - The Fighting Illini of Illinois put on a heck of a show against Missouri early in the year, QB Juice Williams reminds me of Donovon McNabb, he's got a great arm and can run when he gets nervous. The Penn State Nittany Lions have scored more points in their first for games this year then in the first four games of any year previous. But they've been playing scrubs, and since they just installed a spread offense it's unclear how well it has taken. Lions QB Daryll Clark has played very well so far but he's not dealt with a defensive secondary as good as Illinois. This game tears me apart, just like all the drama in the Playboy Mansion (Oh gosh will Holly stay or go? Is Kendra engaged to that Eagles player?), I though Illinois was really good, I think Penn State might be better but it's so tough to tell since they've played nobody. But when in doubt I do two things, pick the home team, and then consult my friend Dr. Coin, Dr. Coin agrees that Penn State will win. It could be a very very close game.
#8 Alabama at #3 Georgia - I'm not sure what it is about this game, but for some reason I want to see this game more then I wanted to see LSU v. Auburn last weekend. I want to see what the Alabama Crimson Tide are really made of, are they born again under coach Scumbag Mcgee (Nick Saban), or were they born yesterday? Both teams have mauling defenses, and feature running games as their major offensive weapon. This usually leads to low scoring games. The Georgia Bulldogs will pray that QB Matt Stafford will not lose it for them, he'll be handing the ball to Heisman hopeful RB Knowshon Moreno. RB Glenn Coffee who will hopefully awaken the Crimson Tide of Alabama. This game could come down to experience, Alabama has a great coach, and a very young team, but they play so many true freshman who haven't played in a huge SEC game yet. They may not be ready for the hitting, the atmosphere, the extreme national spotlight, the riotous Georgia crowd. The Bulldogs should win, but I don't expect to see more then 40 points scored, and you can bet on that.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
College Football Weekend September 20th
There aren't a plethora of good games on this weekend, certainly not like the cornucopia of games we had last weekend. There are some top 25 matchups, but I don't see anything that makes me froth at the mouth, other then the sandwich I made before I started writing this. Usually this makes me think there will probably be a bunch of upsets, but it's any one's guess as to where those will occur, my educated guess of games I'm not going to write about; #21 West Virginia (1-1) at Colorado (2-0), #9 Alabama (3-0) at Arkansas (2-0). But it could also just be a good weekend to spend with your family…or in my case, at the bar/beach.
Comments:
"A couple of things. Kevin Craft... not a walk on, JC transfer, pretty highly recruited too.Is South Florida going to have any sort of offense this year, because I somehow doubt there defense will be as good as last year?How sad that the Temple OWLs are 1-A and not even in the discussion for best teams in Phily? When Army-Navy coming to town sees some of the best college football of the year for a town it is rather frightening.Do you really think Kansas has a legit shot at beating Missouri or Texas? Texas Tech might beat them as well and then assuming they work that out they would likely see Oklahoma too. Do not forget Kansas played a poor schedule last year so expecting them to make a play for a BCS bowl game this year seems farcical(is that a word, hmm if it isnt it should be if only for this situation).How long do you think it takes for Rich Rodriguez to effectively implement his system at Michigan, will it work and maybe as important will the Michigan faithful eat him alive before that takes place?What happens when Missouri plays a team with a good defense? I like Chase Daniel but giving up 42 points to a solid but not spectacular Illinois team is very worrisome. What happens when they play Texas at Austin and will Daniel be able to lead his team to the 60 points it would appear that they will need to win that game over a solid Texas defense. As much as I hate to say it USC looked better, and Georgia is probably better and even Florida looked like they may be stronger. I havent seen Oklahoma or Alabama play yet, but Alabama really gave it to Clemson and Oklahoma dominated Missouri last year.
Good luck
Tim"
Temple is terrible, South Florida may not need a great offense to go undefeated, as they proved in the Kansas game. I think the Big 12 is a toss up honestly, I would be surprised if anyone makes it out undefeated. I think it will take Rich Rodriguez two years and he should be ok after that, that running back they have is pretty darn good. As for Missouri I don't think that many people will be able to effectively slow them down if they are executing well. Something I will answer more in my next comment.
"Historically Texas would certainly be among the best teams in the SEC and probably the nation, but I have not seen enough from those other teams to warrant mentioning them with the upper-echelon SEC teams. I think the biggest difference between those teams and SEC teams is the ability to strap it up and compete with big, physical teams week in and week out. You take a Kansas or Missouri and have them line up SEC defenses every week, and I just don't think they would fair too well. Top to bottom, its just a different brand of football that those teams would not be able to handle (with the exception of Texas in most years) - Darius"
Extremely good point, but I'll also say this, the teams in the SEC don't see those kinds of offenses every week. I don't think anyone with the exception of Auburn runs the spread offense like that. In fact I'm struggling to think of an SEC team that beat a spread offense like Kansas or Missouri run. Physically I think the SEC is the most dominating by far.
"No mention of Connor Dixon's valient 6 touchdown comeback effort against Duquesne in the REAL battle of Pennsylvania football? Shame on you, you magnificent mountain of a man. - Anonymous"
Yes, the real battle of Pennsylvania football actually happens every year when Lehigh plays Lafayette.... Duquesne, Bucknell, Villanova, Lehigh, Penn, and Lafayette ought to have a tournament at the beginning of the year to figure out who rules Pennsylvania. Penn State doesn't get to come unless they have a 85%+ graduation rate for their foootball team in the prior year.
"how about that ACC? completely dominating your precious Pac-10 team (Maryland v Cal). I was at the game too and it was nowhere near as close as the final score, most of the game was 28-6. Maybe we shouldn't rush to judgement just yet, or maybe the Big East and Pac-10 are just as overrated as they have been the last 3 years. - Yale"
I was shocked at how badly the Pac-10 got crushed this last weekend, it makes me wonder if they should do away with automatic BCS bowl bids altogether.
Games:
#4 Florida at Tennessee - Couple weeks ago before the season started this would have been a headline game, probably the headline game. But in that time Tennessee was beaten by UCLA who in turn was disgraced by BYU to the tune of 59-0. The Tennessee volunteers just don't have enough fire power to keep up with Gators QB Tim Tebow and WR/RB Percy Harvin who is apparently healthy. The UCLA game makes me wonder if Tennessee will evey break .500 this year.
Boise State at #17 Oregon - An intriguing matchup, Boise State were the BCS busters who won a Cinderella game against Oklahoma 2 years ago (that game had everything, even the player who scored the winning 2 point conversion run over and propose to his girlfriend afterward). The Boise State Broncos are consistently competitive teams every year and this team still has National Television proposal running back Ian Johnson and a great defense. The ducks of Oregon on the other hand just got off beating Purdue in a game they should have lost, and they are also replacing their starting QB who is out with a knee injury. If this game were at Boise I think the Broncos would take it, but since it's at Oregon…I'm not so sure. Look for a close low scoring game that could go either way, Dr. Coin picks Boise State.
#6 LSU at #10 Auburn - Prior to last week I would have been really excited about this one. Two extremely hard hitting SEC teams getting ready to beat each other up. If my memory serves me correctly, and it almost never does, this is usually the most physically brutal game of the year for the past couple of years. So brutal in fact that neither team plays well the next week because they seem kinda drained or banged up. So you might ask yourself, why then are you not as excited Marty? Because the Auburn Tigers won a game by the score of 3-2 last weekend. Not a typo, Auburn kicked a field goal in the second quarter, and got pushed back into their own endzone for a safety in the 4th. Needless to say no matter how good their defense might be it's doubtful that their offense will put up many/any points against the LSU Tigers defense. This should be a great defensive game, but I don't see Auburn winning with their offense as terrible as it is. Tune in if you love hard hitting defensive games though.
#3 Georgia at Arizona State - I know this seems a little copy and pasteish (pasty?) but prior to last week I would have been really exciting game. But last week the Arizona State Sun Devils were beaten at home by UNLV. QB Rudy Carpenter will need to stay alive against a ferocious Georgia defense. Georgia hasn't been spectacular this year, but after having been dropped from the #1 ranking without losing I'll bet the Bulldogs are looking to make a statement. I suspect this game will be very similar to the Georgia-Hawaii bowl game last year. Georgia will just physically overpower Arizona State.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Notre Dame Fighting Dragons
Apparently Notre Dame has changed to the Rex Grossman "Fuck it I'm going deep" offensive strategy. Total disregard for the defense in the first quarter. Checkdowns are for "pussies" adn we're just going to throw the ball as hard down the field as possible.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
College Football Weekend September 12-13th
Ok, I'll admit I've been a little off thus far this season. I mean, who knew that ECU was going to be a top ten team this year? Name one person besides Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel who called that? That's right not even Alan Greenspan had that one (that's a poli sci joke for those who don't know). Anyhow this week is actually an amazing week for college football, besides the obvious Lehigh/Villanova game there's the meeting between top 5 Ohio State Buckeyes and University of Southern California Trojans. Now on to the comments:
Comments:
"Come on, Martin. You preview the Bucknell game but decide not to mention the Brown & White taking the field for the first time this season. You should be ashamed to forget about your alma mater." - Darius
If i had a quarter for every time I heard something like this last week I would have $1.37. Of course I didn't overlook that, but I can't write about the greatest school of all time every weekend. I mean I love Drake and all but the game was played in a monsoon, there was more swimming than running the ball. How about this, I'll make up for it this week when Lehigh plays someone respectable? Not good enough? Ok then I'll let you take the last of my milk after I go to bed like my roommate did this week. That way when I wake up excited for a bowl of cereal only to find out after the cereal is already in the bowl that my milk was pilfered whilst I was in the land of Nod, I'll feel really sad panda.
"Dear Martin,
For as much as you bashed VT and the ACC last week, it's only fitting that you prove yourself not to be a hypocrite and also admit WVU and the Big East suck as well. Also, how about a mention of the fortitude it took for Notre Dame to come back against San Diego St? You don't just pencil in a victory when you invite the Aztecs to your house. Even after getting completely #$&@ed out of two touchdowns by incompetent referees (bogus goal line fumble where knee was clearly down and blatant backwards pass by SDSU)." - Yale
First of all, the Big East has how many BCS wins in the last 5 years? 4 wins. How many does your precious ACC have? I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with hero...still can't get it? There's another word to describe the number, it rhymes with nun. As for Notre Dame, I work with several people from SDSU who have never been to a game, but I guarantee that since the refs had to rob them of that game, alot more people will be buying tickets this year and the next.
"Do you know which games you will be highlighting this week? Which way are you leaning on OSU vs USC? I think SC is going to murder them. I am sick of hearing that OSU has the best secondary in the country and a great Defense. People always say that until they play a quality team with speed. Hell they couldn't even beat Juice Williams last year and they expect to play with the Trojans or Georgia? No shot. This game will be a blowout and a death blow to the Big Ten just like the huge blows that the ACC has already received this year. New Power Ranking of Conferences based on overall strength:
SEC
Big 12
Pac 10
Big Ten
Big East
Conference USA
ACC
Thoughts?" - Forrest
Ohio State has a decent secondary but I just don't see their offense putting up any points. I'll write more later. Juice Williams is legit, so losing to him is not a huge deal, he's like a young D-McNasty (Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles), and I think Illinois and Missouri are both very good teams, also watch Penn State, I think they are very good this year. I'm not sure the Big Ten is just going to disappear unless Penn State Wisconsin and Ohio State all lose this week(haha watch it happen now). I think Fresno has a legit chance. I need a couple more weeks till I can tell how strong or weak the conferences are. I'll tell you this though. Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas might be better then the best 5 teams in the SEC...I'm not kidding about that but I need another couple weeks to see all the teams play to figure it out. I think Missouri is the best team I've seen this year thusfar. Ok on to the games.
Games of the Week:
Friday:
#13 Kansas at #19 South Florida - Game of the week. I'm serious as when your mom says, "Young man you get in here this instant." I think that this game will be highly competitive between two teams with legitimate BCS aspirations. Both the Kansas Jayhawks and the South Florida Bulls were a couple of plays away from not only playing in a BCS bowl game, but the National Championship. Think I'm kidding? South Florida was ranked number two in the country when they dropped three straight games by less than a touchdown. Kansas lost once last year, to Missouri, and they were two plays away from winning it in the fourth quarter of that game. So it's quite possible that this game will have as much to do with who plays in a BCS bowl game as the two top five teams playing on saturday, none. They are both out of conference opponents who could still get there by winning their respective conference. This game in my mind has absolutely as much to do with who plays in the National Championship as the other game as well. Trust me, if either Kansas or South Florida run the table they'll be in the big game. The Bulls will try to do it with Junior QB Matt Grothe, who is a wizard, hat and everything, and he will run and throw and turn you into a frog at the same time. The Jayhawks will rely on Junior QB Todd Reesing, who is currently completing almost 80% of his passes, to lead the way. Normally I would say whomever has the better defense would win but in this case I'm not sure, both teams had great seniors on defense last year who are gone now. I read/watched all about this match up and I still am having trouble deciding who will win. The coin of destiny says Kansas and that coin is always right 50% of the time. So I'll pick Kansas in a game that will go a long way to determine conference superiority if you are into that kind of thing. Do yourself a favor and watch this game.
Saturday:
UCLA at #18 Brigham Young - You look at a game like this and you think, new coach at UCLA against the team that's supposed to be this years BCS buster and who have had 3 successful seasons in a row no brainer. But this was the best bowl game of the year last year. The BYU cougars won on a last second field goal block (sound familiar to last week's BYU game?) and the UCLA Bruins went from euphoria to disappointment because of a tip of a finger. This UCLA team also just got done beating Tennessee two weeks ago and they have Offensive Mastermind Norm Chow designing a game plan (That Norm, he just looks like a good guy, he looks like a cuddler). Norm is a genious and he will coach walk on QB Kevin Craft and the army of walking dead that is the UCLA offense to a great second half. BYU on the other hand has QB Max Hall who is completing 78% of his passes and handing the ball off to 250 lbs running back Harvey Unga. BYU has the superior offense and UCLA has the better defense, and it's tough to call but BYU should shake off the slow start they had last week and win by a comfortable margin, and then go home to their wives (27 of them are married which is a really high %).
Michigan at Notre Dame - Comedy, tragedy, drama...which one of these describes this game/these teams? All of them. Both are at low points, both have been talking trash for months. Both are doubtful to have successful years. I'm including it in this writeup because the thought of these two traditional powerhouses clashing is humorous to me. Like clowns fighting each other with seltzer water or kittens wrestling. It's a battle of two offensive minded coaches with new coach Rich Rodriguez of former West Virginia fame, and of former New England Patriots fame, Charlie Weis for the Fighting Irish. All in all this game will receive much more national media attention than it deserves, just like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. And just like Paris and Lindsay, these teams are nothing more then trashy dressed up, famous failures. They should be more like Britany Spears and get their life back together. Also, to follow this pop culture nonsense, just like choosing between a Tom Cruise movie and a John Travolta movie, whomever I pick, I lose. The number of times I physically hurt myself writing this paragraph, 8.
#5 Ohio State at #1 USC - I have great anger when a team wins or comes from behind because of the refs, which is what happened last week when Ohio State finally took the lead against Ohio after a 3rd and 11 where there was the worst non-call on a holding penalty ever. I made my roommate rewind the game and watching it 3 times. So I'll come right out and say that I still have fresh vengence against an Ohio State team that performed very poorly last week. That being said, the game is in Southern California so both teams are winners for getting to spend an evening there. USC's QB Mark Sanchez and USC's 25 blue chip running backs torched UVA a couple weeks ago, which is what Ohio State should have done against Ohio. Instead QB Todd Boeckman barely got the offense on the board against the far inferior Ohio team. This game should be a showcase of the defenses, both teams have tremendous defenses with plenty of NFL talent and people keep talking about how darn fast the Buckeyes secondary is but frankly I think the Trojans secondary is better. USC seems to always blow away the competition in big games, expecially in the early season where they haven't lost a game in September since 2004. Trojans win, the game will hopefully be fun to watch, I'll be watching it with a bunch of Ohio State fans in an Ohio State bar in southern California outdoors a block from the beach.
#10 Wisconsin at #21 Fresno State - First off it would be a huge blow to the Big 10 if Wisconsin loses this. Which is why they are going to lose. The Wisconsin Badgers struggled with Marshall last week at home and although they have the edge in almost every way I can't shake the feeling that the Bulldogs of Fresno State just live for these kinds of games. The plan for Fresno QB Todd Brandstater is to hadn toe ball off to RB Ryan Matthews, so as long as he does that well the Bulldogs should be ok. Wisconsin has RB P.J. Hill who is great but won't be able to run all over the place against Fresno like he and the other Badger running backs did against Marshall. Fresno has a solid defense and will force Wisconsin to throw the ball when the run gets stuffed like a turkey (mmm turkey, I'm hungry!) and unlike last week they won't be able to dial up a pizz I mean passing game as easily as they did at home. Fresno just wins a very physical game close game in the dessert.
Lehigh at Villanova - Another chapter in what has become the best rivalry between the two best teams in the Philadelphia area. These two meet for the 4th time in 5 years with the Lehigh Engineers (or Mountain Hawks) looking to even up the recent series against the Villanova Wildcats. Hard to tell how good either team really is since the valiant Mountain Hawks played in a monsoon last week and the Wildcats got destroyed by West Virginia. One thing we can be certain of is that there won't be any grade inflation like you get at certain other Philadelphia area Universities who take a Quaker like approach to honesty (that doesn't make sense but just roll with it), these teams will be graded strictly on their merits. The Wildcats are led by Junior Antwon Young who just got beat up by WVU. The Brown and White's own sophomore J.B. Clark actually had a 232.20 QB rating in the rain last week. This unbiased writer can't help but think that the Mountain Hawks will win a tough battle die to their superior coaching and alumni donations, but it will be a tough game.
Comments:
"Come on, Martin. You preview the Bucknell game but decide not to mention the Brown & White taking the field for the first time this season. You should be ashamed to forget about your alma mater." - Darius
If i had a quarter for every time I heard something like this last week I would have $1.37. Of course I didn't overlook that, but I can't write about the greatest school of all time every weekend. I mean I love Drake and all but the game was played in a monsoon, there was more swimming than running the ball. How about this, I'll make up for it this week when Lehigh plays someone respectable? Not good enough? Ok then I'll let you take the last of my milk after I go to bed like my roommate did this week. That way when I wake up excited for a bowl of cereal only to find out after the cereal is already in the bowl that my milk was pilfered whilst I was in the land of Nod, I'll feel really sad panda.
"Dear Martin,
For as much as you bashed VT and the ACC last week, it's only fitting that you prove yourself not to be a hypocrite and also admit WVU and the Big East suck as well. Also, how about a mention of the fortitude it took for Notre Dame to come back against San Diego St? You don't just pencil in a victory when you invite the Aztecs to your house. Even after getting completely #$&@ed out of two touchdowns by incompetent referees (bogus goal line fumble where knee was clearly down and blatant backwards pass by SDSU)." - Yale
First of all, the Big East has how many BCS wins in the last 5 years? 4 wins. How many does your precious ACC have? I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with hero...still can't get it? There's another word to describe the number, it rhymes with nun. As for Notre Dame, I work with several people from SDSU who have never been to a game, but I guarantee that since the refs had to rob them of that game, alot more people will be buying tickets this year and the next.
"Do you know which games you will be highlighting this week? Which way are you leaning on OSU vs USC? I think SC is going to murder them. I am sick of hearing that OSU has the best secondary in the country and a great Defense. People always say that until they play a quality team with speed. Hell they couldn't even beat Juice Williams last year and they expect to play with the Trojans or Georgia? No shot. This game will be a blowout and a death blow to the Big Ten just like the huge blows that the ACC has already received this year. New Power Ranking of Conferences based on overall strength:
SEC
Big 12
Pac 10
Big Ten
Big East
Conference USA
ACC
Thoughts?" - Forrest
Ohio State has a decent secondary but I just don't see their offense putting up any points. I'll write more later. Juice Williams is legit, so losing to him is not a huge deal, he's like a young D-McNasty (Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles), and I think Illinois and Missouri are both very good teams, also watch Penn State, I think they are very good this year. I'm not sure the Big Ten is just going to disappear unless Penn State Wisconsin and Ohio State all lose this week(haha watch it happen now). I think Fresno has a legit chance. I need a couple more weeks till I can tell how strong or weak the conferences are. I'll tell you this though. Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas might be better then the best 5 teams in the SEC...I'm not kidding about that but I need another couple weeks to see all the teams play to figure it out. I think Missouri is the best team I've seen this year thusfar. Ok on to the games.
Games of the Week:
Friday:
#13 Kansas at #19 South Florida - Game of the week. I'm serious as when your mom says, "Young man you get in here this instant." I think that this game will be highly competitive between two teams with legitimate BCS aspirations. Both the Kansas Jayhawks and the South Florida Bulls were a couple of plays away from not only playing in a BCS bowl game, but the National Championship. Think I'm kidding? South Florida was ranked number two in the country when they dropped three straight games by less than a touchdown. Kansas lost once last year, to Missouri, and they were two plays away from winning it in the fourth quarter of that game. So it's quite possible that this game will have as much to do with who plays in a BCS bowl game as the two top five teams playing on saturday, none. They are both out of conference opponents who could still get there by winning their respective conference. This game in my mind has absolutely as much to do with who plays in the National Championship as the other game as well. Trust me, if either Kansas or South Florida run the table they'll be in the big game. The Bulls will try to do it with Junior QB Matt Grothe, who is a wizard, hat and everything, and he will run and throw and turn you into a frog at the same time. The Jayhawks will rely on Junior QB Todd Reesing, who is currently completing almost 80% of his passes, to lead the way. Normally I would say whomever has the better defense would win but in this case I'm not sure, both teams had great seniors on defense last year who are gone now. I read/watched all about this match up and I still am having trouble deciding who will win. The coin of destiny says Kansas and that coin is always right 50% of the time. So I'll pick Kansas in a game that will go a long way to determine conference superiority if you are into that kind of thing. Do yourself a favor and watch this game.
Saturday:
UCLA at #18 Brigham Young - You look at a game like this and you think, new coach at UCLA against the team that's supposed to be this years BCS buster and who have had 3 successful seasons in a row no brainer. But this was the best bowl game of the year last year. The BYU cougars won on a last second field goal block (sound familiar to last week's BYU game?) and the UCLA Bruins went from euphoria to disappointment because of a tip of a finger. This UCLA team also just got done beating Tennessee two weeks ago and they have Offensive Mastermind Norm Chow designing a game plan (That Norm, he just looks like a good guy, he looks like a cuddler). Norm is a genious and he will coach walk on QB Kevin Craft and the army of walking dead that is the UCLA offense to a great second half. BYU on the other hand has QB Max Hall who is completing 78% of his passes and handing the ball off to 250 lbs running back Harvey Unga. BYU has the superior offense and UCLA has the better defense, and it's tough to call but BYU should shake off the slow start they had last week and win by a comfortable margin, and then go home to their wives (27 of them are married which is a really high %).
Michigan at Notre Dame - Comedy, tragedy, drama...which one of these describes this game/these teams? All of them. Both are at low points, both have been talking trash for months. Both are doubtful to have successful years. I'm including it in this writeup because the thought of these two traditional powerhouses clashing is humorous to me. Like clowns fighting each other with seltzer water or kittens wrestling. It's a battle of two offensive minded coaches with new coach Rich Rodriguez of former West Virginia fame, and of former New England Patriots fame, Charlie Weis for the Fighting Irish. All in all this game will receive much more national media attention than it deserves, just like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. And just like Paris and Lindsay, these teams are nothing more then trashy dressed up, famous failures. They should be more like Britany Spears and get their life back together. Also, to follow this pop culture nonsense, just like choosing between a Tom Cruise movie and a John Travolta movie, whomever I pick, I lose. The number of times I physically hurt myself writing this paragraph, 8.
#5 Ohio State at #1 USC - I have great anger when a team wins or comes from behind because of the refs, which is what happened last week when Ohio State finally took the lead against Ohio after a 3rd and 11 where there was the worst non-call on a holding penalty ever. I made my roommate rewind the game and watching it 3 times. So I'll come right out and say that I still have fresh vengence against an Ohio State team that performed very poorly last week. That being said, the game is in Southern California so both teams are winners for getting to spend an evening there. USC's QB Mark Sanchez and USC's 25 blue chip running backs torched UVA a couple weeks ago, which is what Ohio State should have done against Ohio. Instead QB Todd Boeckman barely got the offense on the board against the far inferior Ohio team. This game should be a showcase of the defenses, both teams have tremendous defenses with plenty of NFL talent and people keep talking about how darn fast the Buckeyes secondary is but frankly I think the Trojans secondary is better. USC seems to always blow away the competition in big games, expecially in the early season where they haven't lost a game in September since 2004. Trojans win, the game will hopefully be fun to watch, I'll be watching it with a bunch of Ohio State fans in an Ohio State bar in southern California outdoors a block from the beach.
#10 Wisconsin at #21 Fresno State - First off it would be a huge blow to the Big 10 if Wisconsin loses this. Which is why they are going to lose. The Wisconsin Badgers struggled with Marshall last week at home and although they have the edge in almost every way I can't shake the feeling that the Bulldogs of Fresno State just live for these kinds of games. The plan for Fresno QB Todd Brandstater is to hadn toe ball off to RB Ryan Matthews, so as long as he does that well the Bulldogs should be ok. Wisconsin has RB P.J. Hill who is great but won't be able to run all over the place against Fresno like he and the other Badger running backs did against Marshall. Fresno has a solid defense and will force Wisconsin to throw the ball when the run gets stuffed like a turkey (mmm turkey, I'm hungry!) and unlike last week they won't be able to dial up a pizz I mean passing game as easily as they did at home. Fresno just wins a very physical game close game in the dessert.
Lehigh at Villanova - Another chapter in what has become the best rivalry between the two best teams in the Philadelphia area. These two meet for the 4th time in 5 years with the Lehigh Engineers (or Mountain Hawks) looking to even up the recent series against the Villanova Wildcats. Hard to tell how good either team really is since the valiant Mountain Hawks played in a monsoon last week and the Wildcats got destroyed by West Virginia. One thing we can be certain of is that there won't be any grade inflation like you get at certain other Philadelphia area Universities who take a Quaker like approach to honesty (that doesn't make sense but just roll with it), these teams will be graded strictly on their merits. The Wildcats are led by Junior Antwon Young who just got beat up by WVU. The Brown and White's own sophomore J.B. Clark actually had a 232.20 QB rating in the rain last week. This unbiased writer can't help but think that the Mountain Hawks will win a tough battle die to their superior coaching and alumni donations, but it will be a tough game.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
College Football Weekend September 4th-6th
So my predictions were slightly askew last week, but fear not, I shall endeavor to do better! One thing I would like to highlight from last week is how darn good both Missouri and Illinois looked.in that shoot out in St. Louis. They both looked like teams in mid-season form at times and barring major injuries I think they both will be top ten come the end of the year. Missouri especially looked crisp, during the game all I could think about was how good and clean their offense looked, I think that they may be underrated given their number 6 ranking. Seriously, it's very rare to see a team look that good in week one, much less against a team that went to a BCS Bowl last year. Much like a reunion tour for 'The Smiths' I would love to see a rematch between those two teams again later in the year. Anyway on to the comments and then the games of the week (which is pretty bleak, just like my prospects of becoming a swimsuit model).
Comments:
"Marty, I was surprised to see VT getting beat by eastern carolina." -Ken
More than one of the big college football writers in this country picked East Carolina to win, which was odd at the time but they were proven correct. I alas am nothing but a small time chump so I went with the traditional powerhouse and fell flat on my face. I didn't figure on VT having such an anemic offense. East Carolina has apparently been building quite a program over the last couple of years and allegedly has been trying to get picked up by a bigger football conference. Well beating Tech is one way to announce to the world that you are wonderful, let's see how they fare against the West Virginia Mountaineers this weekend. In the meantime although they are in prime ACC territory East Carolina should really shoot for the stars and join a real conference like the Big East.
"How about real college football? Students that actually graduate playing a game? Where's your Ivy League predictions? Too hard? You too lazy or just uninformed?" - Dear old Dad
How about no Ivy League teams played last week dingus and only one team from the Patriot league played so let's just say that I forgot to write about one of the other teams. Although it seems there's no pleasing you unless I write about Penn.
"That article made my eyes bleed it was so long, can you take me to the airport at some ungodly hour of the morning Saturday morning?" - Cara
Ugh, yes obviously on the airport thing since it already happened and had a short anecdote involved with it. On the other point, sorry about the length of the last one, it was because I was lazy and didn't do a preseason preview and rolled it all up into one big dealie (that's a scientific word, "Oh look Dr. Johnson, that dealie is homogenizing". So tough tiddilewinks, also happy birthday.
Games of the week:
No. 8 West Virginia at East Carolina - It was a reasonably large upset last week when the Pirates of East Carolina beat Virginia Tech last week. It would be a much bigger deal to beat West Virginia this week and if they are going to do it then QB Patrick Pinkney is going to have to have another lights out game. In the meantime the East Carolina defense will have to bottle up WVU QB Pat White who threw for 5 TD's last weeks game as well as running for 7.2 yards a carry. Next to White will be the smallest running back ever, Noel Devine, who once famously stole Deon Sanders car to take a flight home, I'm not making this up. The Pirates defense will probably be able to contain the passing or the running game of WVU, but not both. It may be a close game because it's a home game for East Carolina but other than that I think every advantage points to the mountaineers and they should win easy.
Cincinnati at No. 4 Oklahoma - Oklahoma seem to be the darlings of everyone this except for me of course, I'm not sold on them and so I get no date to the prom :( But they do have talent in Sophomore QB Sam Bradford and RB DeMarco Murray who is trying to fill the clown sized shoes of current NFL star Adrian Petersen. Oklahoma had a player stabbed at a night club incident after last weeks games and Bob Stoops the coach most likely pulled the reins in a bit on his players this week, could affect how they perform but probably not enough to make them lose. The Cincinnati Bearcats are coming off a season in which they won 10 games including 3 against top 20 teams. But they're starting quarterback from last year, Ben Mauk, had his request for a final year of eligibility denied by the NCAA so they will be starting senior Dustin Grutza. Cincinnati has been a program with lots of growth and progress in the last couple of years but they probably aren't quite to the level where they can go in to Norman, Oklahoma and pull out a victory. This should be a high scoring game but Oklahoma should have the edge.
Miami (FL) at No. 5 Florida - Once upon a time this would have been an early meeting of two top 5 teams. But as my good friend (ok maybe not good but I saw him in concert once) Bob Dylan said, "The times they are a changin". Miami is a shell of its former self and this year and probably the next two will be rebuilding years. The Florida Gators on the other hand are primed for success with Heisman winner QB Tim Tebow who is a threat to score running the ball or throwing the ball or stealing our hearts with his lovable smile. Tebow has quite a few weapons to work with in addition to that crazy smile, WR/RB Percy Harvin will be back and he'll work with speedsters Chris Rainey and Jeffery Demps who scored on a 62 yard touchdown run last week. Miami used to be the standard for defensive excellence however it is unlikely that they've restocked enough told hold back the Florida offense. The Hurricanes will also start QB Robert Marve, who broke many of Tim Tebow's high school records. But you need to have more than a one man show to beat a whole team, except Steven Segal, he could do it, but Miami won't.
Duquesne at Bucknell - Throwing it down for my homies from Duquesne (you know exactly who you are). This is a little down and dirty Pennsylvania blood fest between two great academic schools. The always crafty (read:Cheaters) Bucknell Bison will look to upend the Duquesne Dukes. For those of you who are unaware Bucknell is located along the Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg near the site of the little league hall of fame. They are well known by visiting teams for having obnoxious field turf that gets black rubber bits in your eyes and having a large country store with a fantastic buffet including some amazing raspberry cobbler. Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh. I can't really tell you about either of these teams since neither of them have played yet this year except to say that last year they played each other with the Bison winning. But the Dukes rebounded back and went 6-4 while Bucknell were 3-8. But I'll place my faith in the Bison and their superior Patriot League ability and academic prowess to say they'll win by a touchdown.
That's all for this week, it's kinda a dry week for college football, but tune in next week for a meeting of top 5 teams.
Comments:
"Marty, I was surprised to see VT getting beat by eastern carolina." -Ken
More than one of the big college football writers in this country picked East Carolina to win, which was odd at the time but they were proven correct. I alas am nothing but a small time chump so I went with the traditional powerhouse and fell flat on my face. I didn't figure on VT having such an anemic offense. East Carolina has apparently been building quite a program over the last couple of years and allegedly has been trying to get picked up by a bigger football conference. Well beating Tech is one way to announce to the world that you are wonderful, let's see how they fare against the West Virginia Mountaineers this weekend. In the meantime although they are in prime ACC territory East Carolina should really shoot for the stars and join a real conference like the Big East.
"How about real college football? Students that actually graduate playing a game? Where's your Ivy League predictions? Too hard? You too lazy or just uninformed?" - Dear old Dad
How about no Ivy League teams played last week dingus and only one team from the Patriot league played so let's just say that I forgot to write about one of the other teams. Although it seems there's no pleasing you unless I write about Penn.
"That article made my eyes bleed it was so long, can you take me to the airport at some ungodly hour of the morning Saturday morning?" - Cara
Ugh, yes obviously on the airport thing since it already happened and had a short anecdote involved with it. On the other point, sorry about the length of the last one, it was because I was lazy and didn't do a preseason preview and rolled it all up into one big dealie (that's a scientific word, "Oh look Dr. Johnson, that dealie is homogenizing". So tough tiddilewinks, also happy birthday.
Games of the week:
No. 8 West Virginia at East Carolina - It was a reasonably large upset last week when the Pirates of East Carolina beat Virginia Tech last week. It would be a much bigger deal to beat West Virginia this week and if they are going to do it then QB Patrick Pinkney is going to have to have another lights out game. In the meantime the East Carolina defense will have to bottle up WVU QB Pat White who threw for 5 TD's last weeks game as well as running for 7.2 yards a carry. Next to White will be the smallest running back ever, Noel Devine, who once famously stole Deon Sanders car to take a flight home, I'm not making this up. The Pirates defense will probably be able to contain the passing or the running game of WVU, but not both. It may be a close game because it's a home game for East Carolina but other than that I think every advantage points to the mountaineers and they should win easy.
Cincinnati at No. 4 Oklahoma - Oklahoma seem to be the darlings of everyone this except for me of course, I'm not sold on them and so I get no date to the prom :( But they do have talent in Sophomore QB Sam Bradford and RB DeMarco Murray who is trying to fill the clown sized shoes of current NFL star Adrian Petersen. Oklahoma had a player stabbed at a night club incident after last weeks games and Bob Stoops the coach most likely pulled the reins in a bit on his players this week, could affect how they perform but probably not enough to make them lose. The Cincinnati Bearcats are coming off a season in which they won 10 games including 3 against top 20 teams. But they're starting quarterback from last year, Ben Mauk, had his request for a final year of eligibility denied by the NCAA so they will be starting senior Dustin Grutza. Cincinnati has been a program with lots of growth and progress in the last couple of years but they probably aren't quite to the level where they can go in to Norman, Oklahoma and pull out a victory. This should be a high scoring game but Oklahoma should have the edge.
Miami (FL) at No. 5 Florida - Once upon a time this would have been an early meeting of two top 5 teams. But as my good friend (ok maybe not good but I saw him in concert once) Bob Dylan said, "The times they are a changin". Miami is a shell of its former self and this year and probably the next two will be rebuilding years. The Florida Gators on the other hand are primed for success with Heisman winner QB Tim Tebow who is a threat to score running the ball or throwing the ball or stealing our hearts with his lovable smile. Tebow has quite a few weapons to work with in addition to that crazy smile, WR/RB Percy Harvin will be back and he'll work with speedsters Chris Rainey and Jeffery Demps who scored on a 62 yard touchdown run last week. Miami used to be the standard for defensive excellence however it is unlikely that they've restocked enough told hold back the Florida offense. The Hurricanes will also start QB Robert Marve, who broke many of Tim Tebow's high school records. But you need to have more than a one man show to beat a whole team, except Steven Segal, he could do it, but Miami won't.
Duquesne at Bucknell - Throwing it down for my homies from Duquesne (you know exactly who you are). This is a little down and dirty Pennsylvania blood fest between two great academic schools. The always crafty (read:Cheaters) Bucknell Bison will look to upend the Duquesne Dukes. For those of you who are unaware Bucknell is located along the Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg near the site of the little league hall of fame. They are well known by visiting teams for having obnoxious field turf that gets black rubber bits in your eyes and having a large country store with a fantastic buffet including some amazing raspberry cobbler. Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh. I can't really tell you about either of these teams since neither of them have played yet this year except to say that last year they played each other with the Bison winning. But the Dukes rebounded back and went 6-4 while Bucknell were 3-8. But I'll place my faith in the Bison and their superior Patriot League ability and academic prowess to say they'll win by a touchdown.
That's all for this week, it's kinda a dry week for college football, but tune in next week for a meeting of top 5 teams.
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