College Football Weekend November 13th and 14th

Well I’m guilty of a bit of sloth lately, and I apologize. I’m a terrible human being and I deserve nothing but disapproval and shame. But enough about me, let’s talk about what’s going on in college football. Essentially there are three teams that control their destiny, with several others hoping for those three teams to fall. Florida, Texas, and Alabama all control their destiny, and either Florida or Alabama will knock the other one off in the SEC championship game. At this point I don’t think anyone is going to beat those three teams in the regular season, and if one of them do lose it would be a major upset.

On the outside looking in are Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State, all of which need some help to get in the championship game. But at this time last year there were a number of undefeated teams that needed help and instead of getting help they all failed to take care of their own business. The most likely situation is that Texas is going to play the winner of Alabama/Florida, and then these other teams play in other BCS games. Luckily the ACC, Big-10 and Pac-10 have taken themselves out of the conversation for the National Championship.

As for the Heisman? I have no clue who is going to win at this point, I think there are lots of deserving players on about 7 or 8 teams. Some people are saying crazy things like a defensive player winning. Well those people are insane, and they should be doing insane things like petting pretend porcupines, and licking unicorns. But happy Veteran’s day to all those Veterans out there, and on to the one and only comment:

“Hey remember that guy who used to write a college football column? That was fun. I don't care about your "personal life" or that "things are busy at work." I want to know your take on the Utah-TCU game!” – Dan

I hate you.

Games:

Friday November 12^th:

#25 West Virginia at #5 Cincinnati 8PM EST:

The Cincinnati Bearcats have been weathering the storm for a bit while their starting QB Tony Pike has been hurt for the last 3 weeks and luckily Zach Collaros has filled in adequately, just like that guy who filled in for Radar on MASH (I don’t even know if that reference is correct). The Bearcats are interesting, because they’ve snuck up on the national scene, and they’ve done it with a little bit of style. The Bearcats have won every game pretty convincingly with the exception of last game which got a little out of hand at the end.

The West Virginia Mountaineers have a couple marks against them, both from teams that were able to slow down the spread option attack. They rely on the blazing speed of RB Noel Devine and the fast but not quite as fast speed of QB Jarrett Brown. The key to West Virginia as always is getting your defense to play smart by sticking to their assignments, so that is the big test for the Bearcats.

If you get a chance to watch this game, prepare to see some offense, because both these teams are very offensively inclined, I’m thinking somewhere in the range of 1000 yards of offense or more. What concerns me about Cincinnati is that they apparently have plans to bring Tony Pike in off the bench in this game, in the past I’ve rarely seen that kind of thing work, and if they do it too much in the game it can break the offensive rhythm, which is like stepping on your dance partner’s toes. I think Cincinnati will win a high scoring affair at home.

Saturday November 14^th

#10 Iowa at #11 Ohio State 3:30PM EST

First let’s talk stakes here, the winner of this game goes on to the Rose Bowl in Southern California the beginning of January, which if you are coming from Iowa City or Columbus, is pretty nice. Heck it’s nice no matter where you are coming from (not trying to rub it in, just saying). The loser will not be playing in a BCS game, and they probably will be playing a bowl game somewhere considerably colder then Los Angeles. I’ll get my prediction out of the way early and tell you that if I was an Iowa fan, I wouldn’t book tickets to Socal to see my brother and this bowl game, not only because I don’t think Iowa isn’t going to win, but also because you never call >:(

The Hawkeyes have been getting by all year by the skin of their teeth, and that skin finally got scraped last weekend when they dropped a game to Northwestern. Their starting QB Ricky Stanzi got hurt in what looked like a very nasty sack in the endzone (his own). Ohio State got beaten at home by USC early in the year and then got clipped by Purdue a couple weeks ago. This year is a bit of a rebuilding year for the Buckeyes as they’ve been trying to get QB Terrelle Pryor to live up to the hype he had coming out of high school. At one time Pryor was the most highly coveted quarterback in all the country, and he ended up spurring about 10 schools to go to Ohio State. He’s a great dual threat quarterback, and although he hasn’t been a superstar this year, he’s improved and I suspect he’ll have a breakout year next year.

Iowa has really been fortunate that they didn’t lose before last weekend. Iowa doesn’t have the defense to win this game, and their inconsistent offense only trouble me more. But they did go into Happy Valley and beat Penn State back in September, which is an eternity ago in college football, but who knows, maybe they can capture a bit of their early season magic. I believe that it’s Ohio State’s dominant defense that is going to punch their first ticket to the Rose Bowl since 1996, and Iowa will have to continue their 19 year drought from Pasadena.

#16 Utah at #4 TCU 7:30PM EST

This is maybe the best and most important game of the week in the land when it comes to the BCS. The TCU Horned Frogs are 1-5 all time against the Utah Utes, who suffered their only loss of the season against Oregon back in September. These two teams have played some really exciting close games in the last 4 years, and while Utah has won all but one game, an overtime loss in 2005, none of the games have been blowouts. Expect a very hard fought, nose to the grindstone type of game. A defensive battle is almost certainly going to break out.

The last time I talked about TCU, I spoke poorly of them and they burned me by lighting BYU up badly. I was all set to talk about how this game really was going to come down to which Utah team showed up the one that crushed or the one that went to overtime with the Air Force Academy? But then I realized two things; first, actually doesn’t exist, because Utah hasn’t really beat anyone impressive this season. And second, although Utah beat Air Force in overtime, TCU only beat them by 3 points. So I nearly slighted Air Force and game them no credit.

In the end I think you are going to see a defensive battle, even though TCU has a much better offense, Utah probably has a slightly better defense. But Utah always seems to come up big in most big games, and with their potent running game and tough defense they have a very good fighting chance at TCU. TCU should win, and I think they will, but you can never count out a game Utah team. They are like Hulk Hogan, they never tap and just when you think they are beat and the ref is about to drop their arm for the third time to signal they are unconscious…they Hulk up and get out and body press their opponent and deliver the leg drop, cover for the three count, and then cue the theme music Hulkamaniacs! “I am a real American…fight for the rights of every man….”

Everyone have a great weekend, and be sure to thank any Veterans in your life.

College Football Weekend October 24th

This week in college football is rather bland, only two top 25 teams playing each other, but there are all kinds of other fun games. As a warning to the three people who read this, there are numerous kitten jokes in this week’s column. Onto the comments:

“Another epic column. You are the James Joyce of our generation sir” – Dan

I wonder what you are going to be saying about me once I badmouth West Virginia....farther down the page.

“Can we get a Marty Jenkins response to the loss the Dawgs suffered to LSU as a result of a completely BS excessive celebration? There's a lot of commentary coming out of that on whether or not it's a reasonable penalty to enforce. I just gotta say, from a legal standpoint, it's unreasonable because it's too rarely enforced and that leads to arbitrariness, which is something that should be avoided in order to keep up respect for the law (rules in this case) and those who enforce them.” –Alex

I don’t know about a legal standpoint, but from my understanding that particular referee crew has been suspended after the jobs they did in both that game and the Arkansas/Florida game. But there are two things that really stand out to me about the incident. First, I don’t think excessive celebration should be called in college unless it involves taunting the other team or the other team’s fans. Second, the call didn’t lose the game for Georgia, missed tackles did that, but the call didn’t help. On to the games.

Saturday 24 October

#13 Georgia Tech at Virginia 12PM EST

I’m writing about this one not because I think it will be a good game, I actually think that one wat or the other this game will be terrible to watch. The Virginia Cavaliers are one of the most inconsistent teams in the country. First they drop a game to a division 1-AA team, and they don’t just drop it in a close score, they basically threw that game off a tall building into an open sewer cover that led right down into an access hatch in a super-villain’s lair that emptied into a hole that was actually the entrance to a secret hive-colony of mole men that reside deep within the earth’s core. Virginia then lost two more games against better opponents and they actually played pretty well and then went on a three game winning streak that included beating three decent teams all in lopsided scores. This team is either as confused as a kitten trying to do brain surgery, or something really happened to them after the first three games of the season.

The Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech have one of the best running games in the country. In their upset of Virginia Tech last weekend they completed 1 (one) pass all game. This game goes down one of two ways. Either Tech uses their triple option attack and blows away the Cavaliers or that kitten learns how to do brain surgery and Virginia once again confuses the heck out of everyone in the country. I like Tech here and I would count on them winning, but all I’m saying is that kittens are very precocious.

The Big East Games 12 PM EST

South Florida at #20 Pittsburgh

Connecticut at #23 West Virginia

Let me go ahead and be brutally honest here, I haven’t watched one Big East game this year other then a few minutes of some Cincinnati games and also I have never lied to my parents. My outstanding record of honesty aside these are two important games featuring 4 teams that should all get some consideration for being in the top 25. The leader of the pack in the Big East is the #5 ranked Bearcats of Cincinnati, but they have only played South Florida so they’ve still got the meat of their schedule to go. It’s not out of the question that the Bulls of South Florida, the Pittsburgh Panthers, the West Virginia Mountaineers and Couch Burning Association, and the Connecticut Huskies could all be contenders for the Big East title and a BCS berth. So keep an eye on all these games, they have big bowl game implications. I’ll take South Florida’s defense over the balanced attack of Pittsburgh, and I’ll take West Virginia at home because they tend to throw batteries.

#13 Penn State vs Michigan 3:30PM EST

Penn State hasn’t beaten Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1000 years according to my detailed records. The Nittany Lions, led by senior QB Daryll Clark, who is putting together a nice little Heisman campaign backed by Penn State’s propaganda machine, if you discount the loss to Iowa he’d be a very viable candidate. Michigan is hard to peg, they’ve lost two games this year to Big 10 opponents, but the Wolverines are also within a couple plays/seconds of being either 7-0 or 2-5. Neither of these teams are elite, but if Penn State wants any chance at being the Big 10 champs, they need to win this pivotal rivalry game.

Penn State is the superior team both talent wise and on paper. And that and a kitten with a ball of string will get you a happy kitten in Ann Arbor, where 100 thousand plus fans will remind Penn State that they haven’t won in Ann Arbor in 13 years (not 1000 as previously stated). I haven’t been able to figure out who is playing QB for the Wolverines, but if QB Tate Forcier dresses and is healthy, the chances of victory increase greatly, because he is elusive and can give that vaunted Penn State defense trouble. More trouble then a kitten caught in a tree…I’ll take Penn State to break that streak

#8 TCU at #16 Brigham Young 7:30PM

This is the best game of the week, and the only game between ranked teams, and yet you will probably hear very little on any major sports network or site. In fact this game won’t be broadcast on any major television network as far as I can tell. That’s a shame because it’s going to be a doozy. Last year the TCU Horned Frogs dealt the BYU Cougars their first loss and dashed their BCS buster hopes as if they were a mean person taking away a toy from a kitten! BYU is hoping to return the favor by taking away the Horned Toads uhhh…lily pads? (yes I’m aware horned toads probably don’t use lily pads).

TCU is going to try and make their case for discussion in the National Title contention, they won’t make it just by going undefeated, they need some help from the teams above them, specifically Texas, Florida and Alabama. If TCU and Boise State both go undefeated my understanding is that TCU would likely pull ahead of Boise in the BCS standings. They would also probably vault USC with an undefeated season and maybe Iowa and Cincinnati.

But all that is discussion for another day because the TCU defense has to bottle up BYU’s great offense. BYU QB Max Hall will most likely be playing in the NFL, he’s got a good arm and understanding of a pro style offense, but the key to BYU winning this game could very well be the ability of the BYU tight ends to get open for dumpoff passes against the blitz. TCU is going to rush the heck out of Max Hall because they can’t let him throw without pressure, they don’t have the offense to keep up in a shootout with BYU. The battle all game is going to be the BYU offensive line slowing down the TCU pass rush enough to give Hall time to throw, they won’t stop the pass rush, they can just hope to slow it down, possibly by holding it’s tail. I’ll take BYU at home, in a close game, BYU has been outstanding in close games.

College Football Weekend 15 October

Ok so after a two week hiatus I’m back, and late, and ugly…so I’ve got a lot of things going for me. But on pain of death and disownment I’m back. My very own mother, threatened terrible things if I didn’t send it out. So here it is. Straight into the games, and this is one of my favorite weekends of the college football year, with both the Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma, and the always fun to watch USC/Notre Dame both of which figure to be entertaining.

Saturday October 15^th

#20 Oklahoma vs. #3 Texas 12PM EST

Much of the glamour of this game was lost when Oklahoma lost for the second time against Miami a couple weeks ago. The Sooners have had injury problems this year, both with starting Quarterback and Heisman winner Sam Bradford, and all over their offensive line. But this is a rivalry game, and just like any rivalry no matter how down in the dumps your foe might be, and no matter how beat up they might be you still want to kick their teeth in and take their mom out for a nice seafood dinner and never call her again. And that’s exactly what the Texas Longhorns are hoping to do, led by QB Colt McCoy. Colt McCoy will look to take apart his arch-enemies much like I take apart my arch-enemy Yale Roeder in any and every competition.

Both teams read a wide open spread offense, and although Oklahoma’s offense is a shell of what people expected it to be at the beginning of this year maybe like a turtle there is some kind of treasure left inside. Many analysts are wondering if this Texas defense is even better than last years, with DE/OLB Sergio Kindle it could be. According to Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp they are better this year, certainly faster. Some people think that the Oklahoma Sooner offense has been sandbagging it all year in an effort to fool Texas. Well if you ask me they did a pretty spectacular job sandbagging their way to two losses and putting them selves out of National title contention. They sure had me fooled. This game may be close but I would be highly surprised if the Texas defense doesn’t dominate Oklahoma’s offensive line, and Texas socres just enough to put them over the top.

#6 USC at # 25 Notre Dame 3:30PM EST

You know how there’s that pretty girl (or boy) who you always dream of catching and beating in a football game? But you can never do it for one reason or another no matter how high you grow the grass in your stadium or what uniform you wear for good luck? Well USC is just like that for Notre Dame, they can just never seem to have the confidence or charm to win her over. The Irish haven’t beaten USC in 7 years and they’ve tried everything they can. But the Trojans always seem to find a way to win, either by pushing the quarterback in the back for a surprise late touchdown, or by scoring 38 points and giving all the Irish players wedgies.

But this year is different if you believe the faithful Fighting Irish fans! They’ve done the math and they know, USC lost to Washington, Notre Dame beat Washington, and therefore transitive football math says that Notre Dame is going to win! Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work that way. I’ll be brutally honest here, I’ve seen enough of the Irish this year to say with confidence that they aren’t a great team. Their coach has argued that they are a fluke play away from being undefeated this season, which is great if you are a glass have full guy. But if you are like me, and you are a middle of the glass is empty kinda person, you could argue that the Irish are several plays or seconds away from being 1-4. There is legitimate talent on for Notre Dame, and a large part of it is Jimmy Clausen, the quarterback who has averaged over 300 yards passing a game. But he will have to overcome quite a bit to beat the USC defense which is ranked 6^th in the country.

But all is not lost, unlike the random socks I lose on the regular, victory for the Irish has a chance at being found. And that chance lies in the fact that USC’s offense isn’t the juggernaut it has been in past years. It is filled with young players who have only experienced once or twice the kind of atmosphere they are going to see in South Bend. And rest assured that grass will be as high as possible, and the crowd will be full of tradition and pomp with a side of circumstance. But in the end I suspect Touchdown Jesus will be frowning when the men of Troy come to town.

#4 Virginia Tech at #19 Georgia Tech 6PM EST

It’s been 19 years since the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets beat the Virginia Tech Hokies at home in Georgia. Take a moment to think about all the advances that have been made since then…my favorite is butter spray. Georgia Tech has played better on the road this season then they have at home, and they’ll need to reverse that trend and get their triple option running attack going early if they want to overcome the Hokies defense. The Hokies have played some big out of conference games, and faired well in all of them, even the loss to Alabama, the only mark against the Hokies is their inconsistency, which is not something that happens with butter spray, it goes on smooth every time.

This game is hard to predict, Virginia Tech’s defense could just dominate the game, and I think that’s probably the most likely scenario. But both teams are so flaky, one week Tech stomped Miami badly, the next week they nearly lost to Duke. Georgia Tech could barely muster any offense against Miami but they came out and put 49 points on Florida State. The most likely scenario is that Tech just shuts down Tech and Tech goes on to be 6-1.

#22 South Carolina at #2 Alabama 7:45PM EST

I think Alabama will stumble at some point in the year before the SEC championship game, but I don’t think this is the week. The Crimson Tide’s defense is bruising and nasty, like an old peach that hasn’t been blessed with a squirt of butter spray. Inside linebacker Rolando McClain is the best junior linebacker in the country and he would be even more standout if it weren’t for all the other great players playing with him at Alabama.

South Carolina is trying to win its fifth straight game, and second against a top 5 team this year. But they are outgunned at ever single position group except the defensive line. I think that the defensive line for South Carolina will keep the game closer then it otherwise would be, but I think Alabama is going to be too much team for the Gamecocks.

That’s all for this week, as always I promise better next week! And as always Yale I'll be looking for new and inventive ways to dominate you at all things we do.

College Football Weekend September 26th

Thankfully last week Virginia Tech saved my bacon in the last minute of the game or I would have been completely wrong about every game. As a reward I am pushing Virginia Tech under the bus and picking Miami this week. That’s what you get for helping me, my thanks and then I sell you out.

Most people have some conviction about the Thursday night game this week, feeling that perhaps South Carolina is a trap game for Mississippi. My question is, how is Ole Miss ranked 4^th? Was I asleep at the wheel or something? How does a team that went 9-4 last year with losses to wake Forrest and Vanderbilt get ranked in the top 10 to start the next year? Well I won’t stand for it, and I won’t write about the game, because South Carolina is going to win.

Sadly this is my last column….in the month of September (I bet for the briefest moment a dozen people got really excited there). September is my favorite month of football, it contains all measure of surprises and excitement, it paints a picture for the rest of the year and tells me that fall is coming. On to comments:

“Umm how about Georgia v. Arkansas? Dawgs had a solid game against USC last week.” – Alex

Arkansas sucks and that game was bust, and I’m writing about Georgia this week.

“Such a sad sad weekend for college football. Here I am in Chicago and I don't even care that I have no chance of being around Louisville for the Louisville-Kentucky game. A game that used to be at least a tiny bit interesting based on having that sunday on labor day weekend time slot and one of the teams not being half bad now has absolutely no reason to attract viewers. While Steve Kragthorpe continues to throw dirt on the now cold carcass of what used to be Louisville football, Kentucky is coming off a banner run of three bowl games and is projected to finish the season...second to last in the SEC. Last year's contest was barely watchable. I think it's the only time I have ever attended a football game in person and been more entertained by the commercial breaks. Prediction!!

Kentucky 35
Louisville 13

Louisville plays 3 quarterbacks, at least once attempting to use 2 at the same time, and being effective enough to muster 0 TD and 3 ints. Victor Anderson runs well enough that the announcers in the booth are caught talking about how he should find 10 other guys and join an actual team when espnu comes back from commercial early. Kentucky runs...and runs...and runs...and runs, controlling the game clock and easily putting up 5 TD, never coming close to relinquishing the 21-3 halftime lead. During the 4th quarter John Calipari makes an appearance for a live on-air interview and briefly chastises Pitino for knocking up his wife before taking credit for the victory by saying he helped "bring kentucky back". In the post game interview Kragthorpe talks about the smiles on the faces of the children in the stands when we play. When informed that this was a road game, he asks for a copy of the final score to be faxed to his office and heads off for his afternoon nap. Brooks mumbles about fishing and tomato gardens for 10 minutes. A disheveled Mrs. Kragthorpe stumbles into the press conference late, followed 5 minutes later by a grinning Rick Pitino in a silver suit...with perfect hair.

Let it be known that all these predictions were emailed prior to kickoff.” – Paul

Least optimistic e-mail ever? Also possibly the greatest ever, all I’ll say is that this game was closer then I thought. On to games.

Saturday 26 September

Fresno State at #14 Cincinnati 12PM EST

Fresno is a tough team, and if you watched the game last Friday, when they wouldn’t stop trading long touchdowns with Boise, you know that the Bulldogs aren’t afraid to explode on offense, either through the air or on the ground. The Bearcats of Cincinnati (which I can never spell correctly) have a stud of a quarterback in Senior Tony Pike, who is completing over 70% of his passes. He’ll need to slow down the fleet footed Junior Running Back for the Bulldogs, Ryan Mathews, who is averaging 9.1 yards a carry for his 49 carries this year (can you do the math)?

Both teams are top 10 in the nation in offense, so I expect a high scoring fast pace game. Fresno has a really tough out of conference schedule this year, and sorry to say but it looks like they are going to go winless against their third big team, Cincinnati has had a surprisingly hot start, look for them to continue that into the month of October. Fresno will be back though, they look to return an entire team of seniors next year, so look out.

South Florida at #14 Florida State 12 PM EST

The Florida State Seminoles bullied BYU last weekend in an unexpected rout of the previously unbeaten BCS hopeful Cougars. Florida’s defense played fast and hit hard and some have said that it’s the “fastest defense in FSU history”. QB Christian Ponder was quite literally on fire against BYU last week, completing over 80% of his passes and running for 77 yards and one touchdown. The South Florida Bulls lost four year starter, and sometimes miracle worker QB Matt Grothe last weekend to a knee injury, and left to pick up the pieces is redshirt freshman BJ Daniels.

On paper, Florida State is better at every position except for maybe defensive back. Florida State is also playing at home and they just got done winning a road game against the highly touted BCS buster BYU. Also on paper there’s no way that the South Florida defense should be able to stop the running game of Florida State and the Bulls quarterback has no experience. Lucky for us they don’t play the games on paper, and I think that Florida State might be a little too full of themselves and the team is going to have a hard time playing at such a high level for a second week in a row. This is the team that only beat Jacksonville State 19-9. I predict the South Florida pulls the upset, I thik their defense is athletic enough to hang with the Seminoles and keep it close in time for a late game upset.

#22 North Carolina at Georgia Tech 12PM EST

Georgia Tech got embarrassed on national television last Thursday night against Miami. The Yellow Jackets vaunted triple option attack gained a paltry 95 yards on the ground and only one receiver caught any passes, needless to say they weren’t too thrilled to get blown out at home. The North Carolina Tarheels has the number 7 rush defense in the nation, so a major point of contention between these two teams is going to be whether or not Georgia Tech can run the ball. The formula is pretty simple, like the Pythagorean theorem! If Georgia Tech can run the ball, they can win, if they can’t then they can’t, also c squared! I’ll pick the home team.

#6 California at Oregon 3:30PM EST

The Ducks of Oregon pulled off the big upset against Utah last weekend at home. There are similarities between last weeks game and this game. The Cal Golden Bears are more skilled at virtually every position, just like Utah. Cal has a great running game and a solid defense, which is what Utah’s winning streak was built on. The difference here is the quality of the running back, Cal Junior running back Jahvid Best, who is a legitimate Heisman hopeful at this point in the season. Oregon’s biggest problem is the offensive line, who to put it nicely, has played inconsistently, and to put it not nicely, should be mopping up bathrooms at the stadium after the game to earn their keep.

Cal has done a great job of protecting the football thus far this year, if that continues they will win. If Oregon buys QB Jeremiah Masoli time to set his feet, then they will increase their chance of winning drastically. If Masoli is jumping around like he’s on hot coals all game, then fire up the mop and bucket. Expect Cal to come in run all over the Ducks.

#9 Miami at #11 Virginia Tech 3:30PM EST

For the second week in a row the Virginia Tech Hokies are playing in the game of the week. Last week they were able to pull off a last minute victory against a team that was overrated. Miami might be overrated as well but they have a history of coming into Lane Stadium and beating Tech at home. For some reason I can’t get over the fact that this is the first time since 2005 that both teams have been ranked for this meeting…That seems unnatural, this game used to be circled every year on everyone’s calendar, and now it’s like my birthday, worth noting, but you don’t circle the calendar.

Tech will need smart play from QB Tyrod Taylor, who will need to protect the ball and help out running back Ryan Williams, who will likely have problems finding holes against the swarming Miami defense. Miami is pumping Sophomore QB Jacory Harris as a Heisman guy, and so far he’s been great, he carved up Georgia Tech like a turkey, but I think the Hokies are less carve able but still quite turkey like. Miami has beaten two good teams, but I question whether they are really good or they have been beating up on ACC foes who have been down the last couple years. Hokies win at home, Miami hasn’t seen a defense this good yet this year. Have a good weekend!

College Football Weekend September 17-19

It will be a very short write-up this week as I have been feeling a little ill the last couple days. Also the best games of the week are on Thursday and Friday this week. Comments below:

“I'm from Cincy Ohio but I will tell you this the Buckeyes are going to embarrass themselves again - getting trampled by the Trojans! Pryor is starting to get cocky and I bet he will be a flop all year. He'll be another what's that former RB who claims his $7K worth of belonging were stolen from his Gremlin?? Maurice Clarett, yup Pryor will end up like Maurice did. Hmmm...maybe another Ryan Leaf dud??? BTW, Buckeyes should not have won that Navy game!!!!!” – Jim
You were right about the Buckeyes, although it was a little closer then I thought, also you should be excited for the Bearcats this weekend who are playing Oregon.

“If it's not #1 on your radar (or your heart), it should be - the Elon Phoenix are an impressive 2-0 so far this season after 56-0 and 42-7 dismantlings of Davidson and Presbyterian, respectively. This week they travel to play the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest in a showdown of bucolic NC schools. I don't know what else I can say besides the obvious - this game is huge.” - Ryan
Elon is always number one on my radar, and good luck to them as they play a Wake Forest team that has been pretty good in the last couple years.

Thursday 17 September
#14 Georgia Tech at #20 Miami 7:30PM EST
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are one of my favorite teams to watch in the entire country due the spread option offense that was brought to Tech by ex-Navy coach Paul Johnson. The spread option typically involves the quarterback and one ore more running backs running the ball on every play, and whomever carries the ball ultimately is decided in the middle of the play by how the defense reacts, it is my favorite college offense to watch, it’s like Dexter (on showtime) but for football.

The Miami Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon has vowed that if Georgia Tech is going to beat them then it won’t be by running the ball. Well as much as Randy means well, lots of people tried to stop the Georgia Tech running game last year, and it didn’t work out so hot for them, just like me when I go on dates. My guess is that it will be a hard fought game and the question will be whether Miami has improved enough this year to play disciplined defense. I’m really thinking Miami will win at home because of the tough game Tech had last week, but I like the option so much that I’ll go with Tech.

Friday 18 September
#10 Boise State at Fresno State 9PM EST
The Fresno State Bulldogs gave Wisconsin everything they could handle last weekend, eventually losing in overtime. Fresno hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2004 when they defeated the now very humble Virginia cavaliers. But Fresno is always tough at home and Boise may be due for a letdown. The Boise State Broncos will need to rely on the efficient passing of QB Kellen Moore, who is currently completing about 65% of his passes.

I got this gem this afternoon, “Boise's run defense is legit this year and that is all Fresno has. I watched them play Wisconsin and their QB is a big time soft tosser who doesn't get the ball out on time on a regular basis. I am down big on Fresno this year as I hate that type of QB.”

Historically I almost always pick against Boise and I’m always wrong. My reasoning is usually along the lines of “They are due to break this winning streak.” or “I think it’s time for this team who are the second best of the decade to lose a game against a WAC opponent”. And it never works out for me. But this week I think I’m due, someone in the WAC will finally topple Boise because they are due to break that winning streak. It’s like betting against the Harlem Globetrotters.

Saturday 19 September
#19 Nebraska at #13 Virginia Tech 3:30PM
The Cornhuskers of Nebraska roll in to play the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Hokies in Blacksburg, where fun goes to die. The major difference between these two teams thusfar is that Virginia tech has actually played a decent team and done well whereas Nebraska has been playing the Weak Sisters of the Poor University, and Slow Skinny Kid Tech, although to be fair the middle linebacker for the Sisters is a nun our of Texas who weighs 250 and runs a 4.3 second 40 yard dash. The main stat here is that Virginia Tech hasn’t lost a nonconference home game in the last 31 tries.

Trying to break that streak for the Cornhuskers is QB Zac Lee who has completed 74% of his passes thusfar. But he hasn’t seen a defense as tough as Tech’s who plays a fast swarming physical style of defense. Historically both teams pride themselves on defense, and much like my annual performance reviews, that’s exactly what this game could devolve into, a defensive struggle. I’m picking Tech for the exact opposite reason I’m picking against Boise, which is to say I’m inconsistent at all times. You could say that the only thing consistent about my thought process is the inconsistencies.

Other games I wish I had the energy to write about this weekend:
Texas Tech at #2 Texas – This was a great game last year and as much as it could be the same this year it’s more likely that Tech has just lost too much to graduation or the NFL to be competitive.

#18 Utah at Oregon – Little revenge game for Oregon who lost earlier in the year at Boise State, Utah will play a solid defensive game and pull a win out at Oregon.

Cincinnati at Oregon State – This game is an interesting match-up between two conferences that rarely clash in the Big East vs. the Pac-10. For those who are constantly arguing about strength of conferences, take a look at this one as both teams are in the upper tier of their respective conference.

College Football Weekend 12 September

First things first, I need to apologize for getting this out so late this week, I’ll endeavor to get it done by Wednesday evening or Thursday early morning (west coast time, not your sissy east coast time). This was a short week because I was busy being tired Monday so I got nothing done other then going to the movies and watching some aliens get abused. But on to the football side of things, I had a rusty first week, I basically flipped a coin and went with Oregon, and if it was an MMA fight I would have been right, if we were scoring some kind of football game I was wrong. Also nobody can possibly hold that BYU/Oklahoma game against me, even the most diehard BYU fans didn’t call that one. I had someone try and tell me that they bet on BYU to win, it turns out that person had bet on BYU to beat the spread, and later on I ended up cleaning that person’s puke out of a sink…those two things are not at all related.

BYU’s defense was just much better then I think anyone predicted. Even before Sam Bradford got hurt they didn’t look sharp. In the end BYU’s defense just looked greatly improved from years past (more on that later). Shock I believe was the main feeling everyone had about that game.

This week holds one giant matchup, as well as some smaller games between schools that will look to put themselves on the map this year, normally I would have written about the game between Georgia Tech and Clemson but I just got done watching that game so I can’t retroactively predict who will win, oh well. I’m only going to touch on three games this week, which is kinda cheap of me but don’t be surprised if you a number of upsets this weekend, maybe South Carolina over Georgia, or Vanderbilt over LSU (who was not sharp against Washington last weekend). On to the comments:

“No mention of Bucknell at Duquesne? Pennsylvania is disappointed” – Dan
Oh I mentioned it, to myself, as a game that NOBODY was interested in, not even the state of Pennsylvania. We all know the battle for Pennsylvania happens this weekend when mighty Lehigh takes on Villanova. Also, I want everyone out there to know that Dan is bad at fantasy football and I don’t respect his ability to draft a team.

“I'm very excited that you decided to start these up again. However, you are already 0-1 and you also gained weight? Eat more salads! Lastly, no mention of Notre Dame? And you call yourself a fan...

PS I still think you're neat.” -Cali
I actually lied about the gaining weight thing L sorry. But in my defense I assumed that nobody would care. If it makes you feel any better the boxing trainer at the gym put me through one of the top 5 workouts of my life last night and today I can’t flex my stomach at all. Also Notre Dame is going to get mentioned this week. They looked sharp last week shutting down a team that had one of the better offenses in the country last year. Also I think you’re neat too /wink.

This next comment is about BYU from a huge BYU fan:
“I was totally stunned. I am still totally stunned. Usually my voice is gone by the end of the game. But I was so stunned, no sounds were exiting my mouth, just drool. I was catatonic. It was so awesome though - I could not believe my eyes.

I mean, we gave up 31 points/game over the last 7 games last year, routinely giving up over 350+ yards of offense. We got no big recruits on D. Basically the same personnel. And yet, we held Bradford & Co to 10 points on 96 yards passing for a full half. How????

Well, I've had two days to mull it over - 1) We made a clear philosophy change, and decided to go back to blitzing almost every down. Last year, we gave up the underneath routes and dropped 7 as our basic. I believe it allowed other offenses to get in a rhythm, and demoralized our defense over time. 2) Coach Mendenhall gave up defensive play calling to our D coordinator for the first time. Perhaps that had something to do with it also.

Man, it is serious euphoria in cougar land - lots of milk and cookies parties :-) There were so many hits on the main message board site cougarboard.com, that the site crashed. It was pretty funny.” – Brian
Couldn’t have said it better, let’s see if your boys can stay strong all year.

“I'm so happy. This is the sole source of information on college football for me, but at least it provides me with sufficient situational awareness that I understand the college football conversation around me! Thanks!” – Anonymous
Who the heck is anonymous! On to the games!


Saturday 12 September
#18 Notre Dame at Michigan 3:30PM EST
A week ago I wouldn’t have written about this game, but that was before the Notre Dame fighting Irish shut down Nevada with a great offensive and defensive performance. Don’t be fooled, the Irish should have won that game, but there’s no way that they should have dominated like they did by shutting out Nevada. It’s like me eating healthy on the weekend, there’s no way I’m going to make it a full Saturday without having something bad. The Irish were led by QB Jimmy Clausen who had more touchdowns than incompletions, and he has a heck of a tandem of receivers to throw to in Michael Floyd and Golden Tate.

The Michigan Wolverines in the meantime took on a bowl team from last year in Western Michigan and convincingly stomped them 31-7. Michigan runs the spread offense brought over by coach Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia so you will see a number of guys running all over the place on Saturday (they had four guys attempt more than one pass last weekend) although freshman Tate Forcier (from San Diego) has been named the starter.

Notre Dame’s defense isn’t likely to have another amazing performance when they go play in front of 100,000 people in the Big House at Michigan. That being said it’s going to be as tough as my mom’s Christmas fruitcake for Michigan to stop the vertical passing attack of the Irish, unless it rains. The Irish have a much better offense and defensive secondary, especially with some Michigan starters hurt. Notre Dame should eek out a close one on the road unless it rains in which case it will be more interesting than watching a dog try to pick up a ball that’s too big for them. Also in the interest of full disclosure, and before I stop receiving calls from her, I should mention that my mother has never to my knowledge baked a fruitcake. But you can be rest assured that if she did it would be appropriately tough.

Lehigh at Villanova 7PM EST
Well well, if it isn’t the real battle for Pennsylvania. Look for the courageous Mountain Hawks (Engineers) to try and rebound from their heartbreaking loss last week at the hands of…oh come on…Central Connecticut State???? (What the heck? How do I spin that? You guys only managed 184 yards of total offense…) Well anyway look for the pass happy Hawks led by Junior J.B. Clark to put the ball in the air early and often. The Villanova Wildcats, renowned cheaters and tax evaders, were able to squeeze a win against Temple last weekend with the leadership of junior QB Chris Whitney. I would never pick Lehigh to lose publically so I won’t finish this section. Instead I’ll stop it in the middle of a sentan

#3 USC at #8 Ohio State 8PM EST
I remember watching this game last year at an Ohio State bar with my friend Cara (who is from Ohio and is a huge OSU fan) and her husband Brian. The fans there were insane, cheering for every yard the Buckeyes were able to muster. And although they were not able to celebrate victory on that day, Cara and Brian should have something a little more important to celebrate this year, as they welcomed their first child (a boy who I’m sure ahs been properly attired in Ohio State gear by this point) a couple weeks ago. I write this because I forgot to send Cara a note a couple weeks ago congratulating her on the momentous occasion and wishing her all the best.

As much as I want for Cara and company to be happy again this weekend, standing in the way is the University of Southern California Trojans, who ran for 342 yards last weekend led by Junior Running Back Joe McKnight. In addition to a fearsome running game the Trojans have for the first time in their storied history opted to start a true freshman Quarterback Matt Barkley, who seems to be destined to follow in the recent line of USC quarterback success stories. Both of whom will be protected by the mauling offensive line of USC that according to some analysts has 5 out of 5 future draft picks in the NFL.

The Ohio State University Buckeyes had a less then impressive victory over Navy last weekend, needing to intercept a two-point conversion by the Midshipmen at the end of the game to seal the win. The gave up a surprising amount of rushing yards to the much smaller Navy team, much of it coming because the defensive line was pushed around by Navy. If they are to win this game OSU will need to rely on dual threat QB Terrelle Pryor, who will need to create some plays behind OSU’s physically underwhelming offensive line.

Last week I thought USC would just push OSU around and that would be the end of it. I still think that’s the case but since the game is at Ohio State and 100,000 plus fans perhaps the Trojans and their young quarterback will fold. Look for USC to run the ball again and again over the OSU defense. Also look for me to be barbequing a bunch of food during the first couple quarters of this game, stop on by if you are hungry.

As always comments can be e-mailed to me or posted on www.fatkidmusings.blogspot.com
Let me know if you know anyone else who would like to receive this column, or if you yourself have had enough of my nonsense.

College Football Weekend 9/3/09-9/7/09

It feels like 1000 years since last football season. An entire generation of children has grown up and raised their own children since the last time I wrote this, and I’ve grown a year more cynical and jaded, but not wiser. In fact I promise 50% less insight and wittiness this year! And I know what you are saying, “Marty you were never that insightful or witty to begin with.” Well I’ve also gained weight, so there…In college football, as in life, things change albeit slowly sometimes. No longer is it the case where at the beginning of the year there are 10 or less teams that will contend for the title. Now you potentially have 25-30 teams in the nation that have a realistic chance at a national title.

Since we’re talking about change, it should also be mentioned that change is slow. Case in point: Utah. Utah was the only team in the country to go undefeated last year, yet they were not allowed to play for the national title. This isn’t the 70’s or 80’s or even 90’s anymore. Games are broadcast on networks all throughout the country. ESPN covers every game in Division 1 and it takes 15 minutes to glance over and see who a team has played. And yet the mindset still remains that only teams from big conferences can win the national title. So despite a larger number of teams having a realistic chance, still it remains unlikely that a team from a “less prestigious” conference will win a title. To date only the 1984 BYU team has won a national title in the modern era.

But enough fluff, on to this weekend itself. This is actually a fantastic weekend for college football. It’s the first weekend of the year and there are a handful of great games. Besides the games between ranked schools there’s always a couple games between high profile schools and smaller creampuff schools that end up being exciting or even ending in upsets (Michigan vs. Appalachian State) because the big teams haven’t quite found their polish and rhythm yet.

Thursday: September 3rd
# 16 Oregon at #14 Boise State 10PM EST
Sear your eyes watching the bright blue field on HD. Make it so that the rest of your football watching season is slightly blue. The Bronco’s of Boise State haven’t lost a home game since 2001, since then they have won 49 straight games at home and they have posted records of 12-1, 13-1, 11-1, 9-4, 13-0, 10-3, and 12-1 in the seven seasons since 2001. The Oregon Ducks are perennially disappointments to the high expectations they face, and were upset at home last year by Boise. Kellen Moore was the Broncos outstanding freshman quarterback last year who will look to continue running the innovative and high powered Boise offense. Oregon will look to start off their season with a win, which would be great because they have arguably the hardest schedule in the country, they have absolutely zero weak teams.

Expect this game to be exciting, not only because it’s the first big game of the year, but also because both teams have really fun offenses. I’ll pick Oregon to win, despite Boise’s long streak.

Saturday September 5th
Appalachian State at East Carolina 12PM EST
Appalachian State is one of the best Division 1-AA teams in the country, and their QB Armanti Edwards is a dual threat quarterback for the Mountaineers. However he hurt his foot mowing the lawn last month, so it’s unlikely we’ll see him. Despite that the Mountaineers always have a strong team, and typically start off strong, beating Michigan two years ago in the opener. The East Carolina Pirates were the darling giant slayers last year until they themselves fell victim to NC State, prior to that they had huge upset wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia. QB Patrick Pinkney is a strong armed gunslinger who is hard to bring down.

With Armanti Edwards App. State probably has a real chance at the upset here, but without him the East Carolina Pirates are probably the stronger team, and they should win a close one.

#13 Georgia at #9 Oklahoma State 3:30PM EST
The Oklahoma State Cowboys were one of the best offenses in the country last year, just like every team in the big 12. Their spread offense led by QB Zac Robinson scored 20 points or more every single game. The Georgia Bulldogs lost their two best offensive weapons in QB Mathew Stafford, and RB Knowshon Moreno, both of whom are now playing in the NFL and making way more money then I will in my lifetime. What is left behind is a Georgia defense that is stacked against stopping the run, which will force Robinson to pass.

The key here is the OSU offense vs. the Georgia Defense, but the wrinkle is that OSU has two of the best punt/kick returners in the country. Normally I would favor the better defensive team, but not when playing on the road in the first game of the year. The Cowboys will do just enough to get by.

#20 Brigham Young vs. #3 Oklahoma 7PM EST
This game is an early test for two programs who would love to be in contention for a National Title. The BYU Cougars are year in and year out one of my favorite programs to watch because they run a pro style offense and generally keep their noses pretty clean. The Oklahoma Sooners have a very strong team both offensively and defensively and should be fun to watch. Both teams boast especially strong Quarterbacks in Max Hall for BYU and Sam Bradford for Oklahoma, both of which were two of the most prolific passers in the nation last year and Bradford won the Heisman trophy.

BYU is a great team, but they may have tried to bite off more then they can chew much like this monstrous apple I’ve been trying to eat all day (seriously it seems like I’ve been eating this apple for 45 minutes and it’s like half done and my jaw is tired). Oklahoma outguns and out-mans BYU in almost every category possible. They also have to travel the shorter distance to the game, which is apparently a very accurate decider for games played at neutral sites.

#5 Alabama vs #7 Virginia Tech 8PM EST
The Hokies of Virgina Polytechnic Institute and State University hold an all time record of 1-10 against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Leading the Hokies is the often shaky QB Tyrod Taylor, who has been at times a hot commodity and riding the pine (sitting on the bench) at others. QB Greg McElroy is the first year starter for the Crimson Tide, a team which lost both it’s starting running back and quarterback to the NFL. Historically both of these teams are fantastic defensively, and this could be all about defense, much like my performance reviews (ouch). Earlier in the week it was unclear if Alabama would have two of its star players available due to possible NCAA suspensions, however both have been cleared to play, but that may still serve as a distraction.

Based on the rule I set above for team being closer to neutral site winning, I’m going to have to pick Alabama, who is slightly closer to Atlanta than Virgina Tech.

Monday September 7th
Miami at #17 Florida State
It’s technically illegal to write a college football column and not mention these two teams playing each other. So I’m mentioning it.


As always I will post all the articles at http://www.fatkidmusings.blogspot.com/
If you would like to have a friend added to the e-mail list just shoot me their e-mail and I’ll make it happen. If you are tired of my sillyness and think poorly of me just let me know and I’ll remove you from the mailing list. Have a fun and safe labor day weekend!

Please God don't let it happen...

Now that T.O. has been released from the Cowboys it is only natural for a Redskins fan to fear the ignorance that is Danny Snyder. I can already see the headline this afternoon that the Skins have signed Owens to a 5 year $65 million contract. Somewhere in Louden County Jason Campbell is crying...

<= A man with good intentions and shit for brains.

This is some bullshit.

This makes me physically ill.

St. Dawkins Takes His Leave

When you have a living Saint playing on your team, like the Eagles have for the last 13 seasons, it's probably in your best interests to resign him. Considering that 1) He was the NFL defensive player of the league in December last year and 2) He has more active starts then any other player in franchise history. What the heck Eagles? How can you not resign Dawkins?

OFFSEASON CHAMPS!...sigh

God have I not seen this act 4 times before? My beloved Redskins have just spent 160 million dollars on 2 players in league with a salary cap. WHAT THE SHIT! I know they signed 2 good players, including the best defensive lineman in the league but come on, there were so many other holes to fill. That little fucking dwarf owner is killing a once proud franchise and has a mental midget as his GM just because he constantly kisses his ass. I might be auctioning off my fandom in the coming months so if you are interested let me know.

MLB 2009 Preview Part 1…

Over the next few days I am going to be breaking down the 6 divisions and giving my preseason predictions for the upcoming baseball season. Feel free to disagree with everything I say and leave your feedback in the comments section. Now without further ado…

NL East:
Phillies
Mets*
Braves
Nationals
Marlins
(*Wild Card)

Best Player: Hanley Ramirez
Best Pitcher: Cole Hamels
Impact Newcomer: JJ Putz

Overview:

As Ric Flair once said, to be the man you have to beat the man, WOOOOOO!, and for that reason the Phillies remain on top. I know that the Mets revamped their bull pen and the Braves got Derek Lowe but neither of those moves scare me. While I do not like the Raul Ibanez signing for the Phils because Burrell gave them a nice right handed balance they still have too strong of a line up. Add to that the fact that K-Rod now lost 6 mph on his fastball and struggles to find the plate at times and I can’t think of a worse lineup for him to face then the Phillies. This leads me to my selection of JJ Putz as the impact newcomer. Over the course of the year I think his dominance in the 8th inning, his ability to go 2 innings and his reliability will be of more value to the Amazin’s then K-Rod.

When I look at the Mets offensively they have some really nice pieces in Wright, Reyes, Beltran, etc. but they are old at several others. Reyes is too lackidasical and Wright tries way too hard down the stretch every year. Add in the huge offensive holes in RF, LF, C and 2B and you have problems.

The Braves made some nice additions to their staff but don’t have enough fire power in that lineup. Garrett Anderson was a decent pick up but he is an every other day player right now.

The Nationals are the youngest team in the league and I think they might surprise a few people. (Yes I am a Nats fan) By surprise I mean they won’t lose 102 games again. If their young pitchers develop they could inch their way back towards .500.

Marlins, who the hell knows. They get rid of all their players every few years and always seem to reload. With Hanley Ramirez and Uggla they at least have some boppers in the line up.

AL East:
Tampa Bay Rays
Boston Red Sox*
New York Yankees
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
(*Wild Card)

Best Player: BJ Upton
Best Pitcher: CC Sabathia
Impact Newcomer: David Price

Overview:

So the Yankees spent a billion dollars and the Red Sox signed some nice older pitchers and all of a sudden everyone forgets about the Rays? Sorry I guess to me a bunch of studs in their early 20’s and a ridiculously deep starting staff is better then overpriced old dudes. The Rays have Upton, Longoria, Crawford, Pena, Navarro all with another year of maturation under their belts and playoff experience. You think that beating the Sox in 7 games won’t carry over? I disagree. Now add David Price to the staff that already includes Shields, Kazmir, Garza and Sonnanstine and you could be looking at a dominant staff for the next 8 years. The additions of Matt Joyce and Pat Burrell also make them way more intimidating. Now I know you are wondering, how is BJ Upton the best player in the division? I see him as a 30/30 guy with a good average, crazy range in CF and a huge arm. Just like a carpenter I love tools and the kid is 24 and won’t hit his prime for 3 to 4 more years and already loves the big stage…scary.

Red Sox, great pitching but where do the runs come from? Youk won’t match last year, and who knows how healthy Papi and Lowell are this year. Add in JD Drews bad back and Elsbury playing without Crisps security net this year and you have some problems. Doen’t help that your catcher and captain can’t hit over .200.

Yankees, well they look good on paper right? Something tells me that AROD won’t be able to focus like Bonds did during this traveling circus in pin stripes. Jeter is a legend who shouldn’t be playing short anymore and should move to CF but apparently doing what is right for the team is blasphemous. Burnett isn’t in a contract year, Pettite is old, which Robi Cano shows up? Why is Joba starting? Will Jorge’s arm stay attached? Just way way too many questions here.

Orioles, man they have a chance to be really good in a few years. I love what McPhail has done with their outfield in Pie, Jones and Markaikis. Weiters is an absolute stud and should be the everyday catcher by late May. They have some good young pitchers coming up but could use a young corner guy in the infield.

Jays, the need to rebuild. Look for them to trade Halladay before the deadline for a huge ransom to a playoff contender. I wouldn’t expect him to throw as many complete games this year because if they were smart they would save his arm and make him even more attractive. I can see them getting 3 or 4 big time prospects for Doc.

So that’s my take, next up the Central Divisions.

Mixed Martial Arts Amateur Events

This weekend I attended a amateur promotion in Las Vegas called Tuff 'n Uff and before I get into a rant about amateur MMA let me first talk about the event. It was amazing for a small promotion, they had good music, the ring was set up well, the fights were for the most part interesting and exciting, and they cycled through the fights as fast as possible. In all they went through 16-17 fights in the space of about 3 and a half hours. 6 of those fights were women's fights and they were all exciting good fights. I was impressed with the way things were run, the atmosphere and the way things ran as smoothly as possible. I was also impressed at how knowledgeable the standing room only crowd was in terms of the standup and cheering for takedowns. As is fairly typical of a US MMA crowd they weren't very patient or knowledgeable about the ground game but that's a staple of US crowds. All in all I was very pleased to be there and I can't wait to sponsor one of these events later!

The problem I have, and maybe it's just me, is that I don't really consider MMA a amateur sport. Wrestling, boxing, ju-jitsu, and all the other martial arts that feed into MMA have great amateur events and I like them all for what they are. But MMA is a fairly brutal amalgamation of all these amateur sports and from what I saw it doesn't incorporate headgear or anything to lessen the impact of strikes. I think with some changes it could be an amateur sport but it is going to need to set some stricter guidelines about what will qualify these fights as amateur.

The first step toward amateurization is that the refs have to be better, one of the refs was just awful, and he made mistake after mistake including raising the losers hand on more then one occasion. Second, they need to call knockouts much much faster. It's amateur, you want to protect the athletes as much as possible and prevent any possible injury or concussion. There was one fight where a girl took about 10 straight punches to the face and there was no call. She later got TKO'd but it was a round later and I just don't think an amateur should be taking too many consecutive strikes to the face. Lastly I'd really like to know what separates amateur status from professional. It seemed like the majority of the folks fighting had sponsors and logos all over their body and gear.

All in all I can't wait for the next event. I want to sponsor one. And I need to get over my hangups when it comes to calling something amateur or not.

The Feast of St. Dawkins Continues

With their win at the Meadowlands the Eagles, led by Saint Brian Dawkins, have made it to the NFC championship. Thus we enter the 4th week of the feast of St. Dawkins in celebration. Hopefully the feast will continue for another two weeks after next sunday against the Cardinals.