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Title: My 2 Cents Archives November 16-30, 2009
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Blog Entry: NOVEMBER 30, 2009 NFL THOUGHTS Washington looks like the 3 and 8 that they are. Campbell is late with a lot of his throws, the ball should be out much quicker. He is waiting for the receivers to get open instead of throwing the ball as they make their cut. LaRon Landry is just lost as a free safety, he has absolutely no instincts out there, Sean Taylor was truly one of a kind. How bad is Philadelphia? They needed everything they had to beat a 3 and 7 team at home. The NFC East is so overrated, a bunch of mediocre teams. Usually you are as good as your record but is Dallas really 8-3 good, NO WAY. Minnesota had 319 yds at the half. Chicago is just sad, Cutler is …, you can fill in the blank. Maybe he’ll be better next year. I understand he has no wide receiver but he has a good TE and a good RB and still there is not production, nothing but a year to forget. Cutler thought he was so magnificent, he was so offended over trade rumors in Denver. And yet he has played like a back up journeyman. Brett Favre‘s poor play ended Mangini‘s tenure with the Jets. Cutler‘s poor play may end Lovie Smith‘s in Chicago. What can you say about Indianapolis, down by 13 on the road they find a way not only to win but to win by 8. Houston has had two tough loses in a row, both at home. They’re going nowhere. This was suppose to be the year for the Texans but as of this Sunday they are 5-6 and still can’t beat the Colts. It would seem that they have talent in Houston but for some reason it does not translate on the field. Cincinnati needs to crank up that offense, I know Cedric Benson is out. But Larry Johnson is capable, as long as he keeps his mouth shut they will be okay. They need to have more offense though especially in the playoffs with the likes of Indianapolis, there is enough talent there to score more. NOVEMBER 29, 2009 THE RIVALRY RECAP Alabama, the overrated Tide do what championship teams do on the road, they win. After giving up a huge TD play in the third and going down 7 they put 3 scoring drives together in the fourth to win the game. Auburn’s defense was useless in the last quarter. Although the Tigers did shut down Ingram, Julio Jones caught everything thrown his way it was all underneath but it moved the chains and the bend don‘t break approach failed. Pitt. had a good run this year but they just came up short. Stull the QB was average and was only able to put one big drive together, which was not enough. West Virginia returns the favor. Pitt ended the Mountaineers perfect season in 2007 and their chance to play in the National Championship this time it was W. Virginia that ended Pitt‘s hopes of a perfect season and a BCS bid. Pitt should lose to Cincinnati next week and with 2 loses may not be in a BCS bowl. Clemson looked awful they were blown up by the Gamecocks. How can you allow 34 pts to S. Carolina, they’re terrible. It will be some ACC Championship game next week both teams have weak defenses and are coming off loses. Oklahoma State could do nothing on offense all day which put the defense at a disadvantage. The Cowboy defense was on the field way too long to be effective. To be ranked #12 in the country and score ZERO points is ridiculous. Robinson threw for 44 yds. WHAT! I have nothing more to write about this team. No, one more thing, they‘re AWFUL. Georgia Tech like Clemson did not show up to their own party. You’re at home, you’ve won 8 in a row and you can’t stop basic run plays. So you wind up losing to an unranked team that lost to Kentucky last week. Everyone is talking about the SEC, and how great a conference that is, well just take a look there are 4 ranked teams Florida, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss. But Ole Miss lost to Mississippi State by 14. So really only 3 legitimate contenders out of 12 teams, to me that doesn’t seem like such a great conference. Notre Dame couldn’t stop the run all season and couldn’t stop Toby “26 TDs” Gerhart. But for the 2 pass interference calls they would not have been close enough to make it interesting. Clausen made some terrific plays and has done all he could all season to keep the Irish in it but the defense has let them down. Harbaugh has done an excellent job and has recruited a great young QB in Luck, but his corners need to play better. The Cardinals will be very competitive next year as well, Notre Dame, however, will not. NOVEMBER 27-28, 2009 WATCH THIS! Alabama @ Auburn A rivalry game before the SEC championship means the Tide has to be focused and they will be. Alabama is better. I know a former O-Lineman from Auburn and he isn’t holding out for much hope of a victory. But what better way to end your season than with a national championship dream killing win over your worst rival in the Iron Bowl. If only the Tigers can force some interceptions by McElroy, because he is certainly capable of those, he’s as accurate as Stevie Wonder with his passing. That’s about the only chance Auburn has, because they are not stopping Ingram, no one has. Alabama by 10. Pittsburgh @ West Virginia The big game before the biggest game. Pitt should not take the Mountaineers lightly. W. Virginia had 390 total yards against Cincinnati and lost a very close game on a controversial TD call, 24-21. They did give up 437 yards to the Bearcats but Pitt is not as good offensively. They were just a little better than Notre Dame, but Pitt runs the ball very well with Dion Lewis and W. Virginia has trouble stopping the run. So where does that leave us, an upset in this one. West Virginia by 3. Georgia @ Georgia Tech Georgia Tech has run over pretty much everyone they played, they just keep coming and eventually wear you down. I imagine the same thing will happen to the Bulldogs. This Tech team is much improved from last year and should win the ACC this year. Last year the game was close but that was with Moreno and Stafford playing for Georgia. This year the game will not be so close. Georgia Tech by 10. Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma Zac Robinson is back and will lead State against this depleted Sooner team. The Cowboys are not great and this game will be close in Norman, but they are a whole lot better with Robinson throwing than any one else. Last week against Colorado they looked terrible with Robinson out of the lineup, this week he’s back. The Sooners just collapsed last week against Texas Tech, 41-13, WOW. Oklahoma State will try to do the same thing to OU, that is to say throw the ball. OU could not stop the pass last week and they will have the same trouble this week. Oklahoma State by 6. UCLA vs. USC It’s hard to figure this game but I think it means a whole lot more to UCLA than it does to USC. The Trojans don’t dream of beating the Bruins, they’ve been 5 games better every year for the past 7 years. So I think UCLA really gets up for this one. As a side note the ride to the LA Coliseum where USC plays is shorter than UCLA’s ride to their “home” stadium, the Rose Bowl. UCLA plays at the Rose Bowl for every home game maybe that’s why they haven’t won the PAC 10 all these years, I mean what do you win, another trip to the Rose Bowl. USC by 9. Clemson @ South Carolina Clemson has won the Atlantic and this game doesn’t mean a whole lot but it does to South Carolina. They call these games “Pride” games. The Tigers have C.J. Spiller and the Gamecocks want to stop him. But as we wrote here in our HeisMEN Spin article Spiller really shows up in a big way in big games and he said this is a big game. Thus it shall be Clemson by 14. Florida State @ Florida Christian Ponder is not playing, and that matters. Florida Sates’ problems are on defense and Florida’s problems are on offense. This is the game Florida can lose if they are looking ahead to Bama but I doubt that will happen in Gainesville. Florida State without Ponder now has problems on offense as well and that‘s too many problems. Florida has the best defense in the country and they will not let the Gators lose. Florida by 14. Notre Dame @ Stanford Charlie Weis is gone. Is there a chance his player give him a victorious send off, NO. Some irate and probably drunk Irish fan sucker punched Clausen outside a restaurant and that’s how the season has gone for the Irish, insult to injury. I have to write that it was disappointing to see the Stanford big brains lose last week to Cal but I don’t think the Cardinals lose twice in a row. Notre Dame can’t stop the run, I don’t think they will this week either with Gerhart rushing. That Toby is pretty good. Stanford by 7. NOVEMBER 25-26, 2009 LET’S GET IT ON! It’s been a long enough wait but Pacquiao vs. Mayweather Jr. may be coming soon to a PPV channel near you. One has to be frustrated with boxing. It is the only sport where it’s everyman for himself. There is no overseeing body to compel championship bouts. If a boxer does not want to have the fight then he won’t, whatever the reason, whether it is a low pay day or the venue is not to his liking. But without a doubt, the biggest reason as it always is, is the all mighty dollar (even though it’s being devalued by our current fiscal policy). College football is similar in this regard. The big bowls can choose from a pool of schools which can play in their bowl games. But at least college football has the NCAA to fill the pool. Boxing has nothing. What ever the two contenders say, that is what boxing will do. That aside I wonder why it has taken this long for the negotiations to start. There could be two maybe even three fights to come out of this. Has either of these two fighters heard of the word REMATCH. Revenue for the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight grossed $70 mill. domestic, this fight should top $100M. And if the fight was close or controversial the REMATCH would have even a bigger draw. If cash is king then this should happen very soon with the rematch most likely already part of the deal. So as the great Marvin Gaye once sang, "Let's get it on." NOVEMBER 24, 2009 THE GALACTICALLY STUPID A Horse Collar penalty was called on the Texans in the 4th qtr. of the Monday Night Game. I thought it was a good call, the game’s announcers, Jaworski and Gruden thought it was a bad call on the penalty. According to the literal reading of the rule Jaworski and Gruden are correct. I’m sorry but I have to question the NFL here. How is it possible that the NFL has limited this rule to just include the collar of the shoulder pads or the collar of the jersey? In the game a Houston player grabbed the back of the jersey and pulled the offensive player down from behind just as he would if he grabbed the collar. The same exact injury could have occurred, as in the Horse Collar tackle, which is the only reason for the rule, to prevent injury. But you are telling me that because the actual collar was not grabbed it should not be a penalty. WHAT! The NFL is absolutely wrong in the way they have worded this rule. The rule absolutely MUST include any portion of the TOP of the jersey and the key is to emphasize the PULLING OF THE PLAYER FROM BEHIND BY GRABBING THE TOP PORTION OF THE PLAYER‘S EQUIPMENT. which is the action that causes injury, it is NOT the grabbing of the collar per se that causes the injury BUT the PULLING FROM BEHIND BY GRABBING THE TOP PORTION OF THE PLAYER‘S EQUIPMENT. Grabbing the collar simply makes it easier to pull. The fact that you caused injury by grabbing and pulling the back of the top of the jersey instead of the collar is irrelevant and should not matter when exactly the same injury can result. The TOP of the jersey is also a crucial element to this penalty. Pulling the player from behind by grabbing the BOTTOM of the jersey probably will not cause the same type of injury as the Horse Collar (grabbing of the top portion of the jersey) would cause. It is absolutely astounding that in 2009 the NFL is this careless with players’ safety, and has so negligently written a rule that would protect the players. A word about Vince Young. IMPRESSIVE. NOVEMBER 23, 2009 NFL THOUGHTS How about those Kansas City Chiefs! You see what happens when you waive a few bad apples, you get a more cohesive unit. I wrote before the season began that the Steelers could not become complaisant and that is exactly what they’ve become. For a team that won the NFL Championship last year to lose to a team that is playing for the first pick in the draft. I mean what can you say, embarrassing. That is what winning a championship does, it turns you into a LOSER Washington scored 2 FGs in 4 quarters, and they still could have won the game. The Redskins really need to think about their future and not try to win any of these games. But we don’t have to worry about that, with this thing they call an offense, they might not get another first down the rest of the year. Atlanta & Baltimore have second year QBs who are playing like they should have as rookies. Although Matt Ryan had a good day, 26/46, 268 yds and 2 tds something is not right in Atlanta, the defense is not as good as last year. Joe Flacco threw a terrible interception on key drive in the 4th qtr, threw it into triple coverage and gave the ball to Payton Manning, bad idea. Chicago brought in Cutler because he was a franchise QB, a savvy veteran with an arm. But all they got so far is a guy who is terribly inaccurate. I watched this guy throw early, late, short, long, anything but right. Make the throw Jay, you’re a professional for crying out loud. Take extra reps at practice, “have a sandwich, drink a glass of milk do some f#$&ing thing.” Dennis Farina Midnight Run, but be more accurate. San Diego takes the lead in the division. The Chargers should win the West, Denver has run out of gas, if you watched the low lights you saw Marshall get into a confrontation with Knowshon Moreno after Moreno fumbled on the goal line. Finger pointing is a sign of a team moving in the wrong direction. Just when you think Cincinnati is going to create even more distance between themselves and the rest of the pack, just when you think they are finally playing like they should with all that talent they lose to the Raiders Detroit gave us the most entertaining game of the day. Mathew Stafford had 5 td. Detroit should have lost but on a desperation “Hail Marry” throw the Browns get called for pass interference, WHAT? Yes on a hail marry, Detroit gets the ball on the one and scores to win the game. You can’t make this stuff up. Cleveland Browns, enough written. NOVEMBER 22, 2009 THE RECAP The Wolverines played better than I thought they would, in the first quarter that is. But Forcier threw 4 interceptions and took any chance of winning away from his Wolverines. The third pick was in the red zone in the 4th qtr. then came the fourth pick on the next drive. Michigan was not going to win but it would have been nice to see them give themselves a chance. Finally Uconn wins a game. Actually the Huskies won the game in regulation but the TD was called back on a terrible holding call. Charlie Weis and the Irish will not beat Stanford next week and will end up 6-7 on the season. The school president at Notre Dame gave Weis a contract extension some years ago, not smart. If they fire Weis it will be difficult to get a proven winner, most proven winners have built their programs and would not want to leave, of course Notre Dame will offer a king’s ransom to coach there. We’ll just have to see if any of these successful coaches leave their programs for the cash. Michigan State was disappointing. They get blown out at home, by the terrible Clark. COME ON! The Spartans just can‘t get over the hump, they should be better but they‘re not and I have to eat their loss. Arizona gave it all they had but the resilient Ducks found a way to get it done in a double overtime game. How about LaMichael James and Jeremiah Masoli just ridiculous how good these two are. James has the record for most yards for a freshman RB in the PAC 10. He was absolutely tremendous, getting first downs when they were absolutely essential, getting big gains to put the team in scoring position. Masoli did the rest, so cool in the pocket, with seconds remaining in regulation Masoli guided the offense down the field to tie the game and take it into OT. And it was in OT where the dynamic duo shined. Masoli and James cool under fire, just ran their offense and converted when it mattered most. California drove down to Palo Alto and made me look bad. Just when I got done writing that the Cardinals were not going to fall asleep, they take a nap and underestimate the Golden Bears. Stanford unfortunately wasted a 4 tds effort by Gerhart at home. NOVEMBER 21, 2009 WATCH THIS! Oregon @ Arizona This is the first game for all the marbles in the PAC 10 for Oregon. Each team, Arizona and Oregon have the Rose Bowl to play for and Oregon has to go into hostile territory in Tucson and beat an angry Wildcat team that lost to Cal last week. It is a three team race in the PAC 10, Oregon State has a shot at this thing, but they have to win this week and beat Oregon next week in the Civil War game. They call the game the “Civil War” they’re not messing around. I like Oregon and I’ve liked them for a long time and I’m not betting against Masoli. Oregon by 7 Ohio State @ Michigan What once was a promising start to a season, beating Notre Dame has turned out to be one of the worst seasons in Wolverines history. And as much as I’d like to write that records don’t mean much because this is OSU vs. Michigan, they will in this game. The Buckeyes have the best defense in the BIG 10/11 and the Wolverines don’t have much of anything. Tate Forcier has not faced a defense this good or a rivalry this big. The Rose Bowl is no longer an issue but a loss to this Michigan team would be flat out embarrassing. Ohio State by14. Penn State @ Michigan State Penn State is 9-2 but they are just awful with Clark at QB. As bad as they are they can share the BIG 10/11 title if by some divine intervention Ohio State loses to Michigan. Maybe God is a Michigan fan, or maybe he likes winners. A team this awful to be in this position is absurd. When you have Clark as your QB the opponent always has chance to win. Michigan State by 6. Cal. @ Stanford Stanford’s 2 game upset streak will mean a little less if they go to sleep against the Golden Bears. I know those kids from Palo Alto are pretty smart, they run hedge funds after they’re done playing and start bio-tech companies, so they know they can’t lose to Cal. The Cardinal coach, Jim Harbaugh used the word “HUBRIS” in his interview. I told you those guys are smart, top to bottom. Oh and by the way they have Toby Gerhart a legitimate Heisman candidate. Stanford by 10. Oregon State @ Washington State Oregon State can’t fall asleep against the worst team in the PAC 10, for if they do, their dream of going to the Rose Bowl is over. The Beavers need to win this week and beat Oregon next week to win the PAC 10. Now I know they Cougars are 1-9 but they get scholarships to play just as Oregon state does and if you look past them they just might win their second game of the season. BUT, Oregon State will not look past Washington State. Oregon State by 17. Kansas State @ Nebraska Before the season we wrote that the Cornhuskers might be back and that they would have a shot at the BIG 12 North. Well here is there shot. Now this is nothing to brag about. If Nebraska wins and they should, it will be won during one of the ugliest seasons they’ve ever had. The last second loss to Virginia Tech, the 9 turnovers in the loss to Iowa State, and the HUGE win over Oklahoma. They’ve done it all this year and now they have a shot to win the North. Nebraska by 3. NOVEMBER 20, 2009 THE HIGH FLYERS HOTlanta Hawks are right now the best team in the NBA (10-2). My Celtics lost to the Hawks last week and I did not think much of it until I looked at their record and then at their roster and thought this team is for real. I know about Joe Johnson because he’s a former Celtic. The Celtics had no patience so they traded him. Well look at him now, he‘s only averaging 23 pts. Two years ago Johnson and the Hawks gave Boston all then could handle in a seven game series. It appears these Hawks have improved. Some of the notable members are Al Horford, Florida. Horford is averaging a double double and Mike Bibby, a damn good point guard. But this team has size averaging 6‘7“, Horford is 6’10” and Josh Smith is 6’9” Morris and Pachulia are both 6’11”. Jason Collins and Joe Smith provide some good depth. They will need that height to match up with the tall Celtic team that has Wallace, Garnett, and Perkins. Atlanta is also young with only 4 players 30 and older. The young can run and they may run to the Eastern Finals. The Celtics have experience but the youthful Hawks can trump that experience with energy, the kind of energy that only young legs can provide. Time will resolve this debate. NOVEMBER 19, 2009 THE JOKESTER During his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech Ralph Wilson told a great joke. He said many years ago he gave an emotional talk to his Bills before a big game hoping it would inspire a victory. The Bills proceeded to lose by 50+ points. After the game, the Bills’ coach at the time came up to Wilson and said “next time talk to the other team.” Looks like Wilson is still telling jokes. There are reports out of Buffalo that Wilson is interested in bringing in Mike Shanahan. I’m sorry but that would be a poor attempt at humor. If this is not a bad joke, then it’s a serious lapse in judgment. After winning his second Super Bowl in 1998 with one of the greatest QBs to play in the NFL Shanahan coached 10 more years, he had 6 winning season, two of which were 9-7 without a playoff appearance. In four of the six winning seasons the Bronco’s made the playoffs but only won 1 playoff game which was in the 2005-6 year, they lost to the Steelers in the AFC Championship game in Denver after going 13-3 in the regular season. If you do the math, that’s one playoff win in ten years. Much has been written about the development of RBs under Shanahan, that they could plug anyone into his system with Alex Gibbs coaching the offensive line and they would gain 1000 yds, that is true but is it impressive? 1000 yds over a 16 game season is not that difficult. A player needs to average 62.5 yards/game to gain a 1000. If I read the box score after a game and saw that a back had 63 yards I would think he had a bad day. Aside from this over hyped success with the RBs there is just that one playoff win to speak of. Thus with all due respect to Ralph Wilson, he would be making a mistake bringing Shanahan to Buffalo. I will concede one thing, Shanahan is a cold weather coach. NOVEMBER 18, 2009 OH SO CLOSE The un-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs gave Michigan State all they could handle. They simply did not have enough at the end. Gonzaga has great size and they led the Spartans most of the game but when State closed down the inside lanes and the ‘Zags couldn’t dump the ball in the paint they could not score. With no outside shot the Bulldogs could not find any points from beyond 18 ft., not consistently anyway. The two seven footers were ineffective in the closing minutes against the Spartans defense. Demetri Goodson, the point guard had 1 pt. The ’Zags do have a nice freshman, Elias Harris who had 17 pts., 9 rebs., and 3 steels. Good numbers, what do you expect Harris is German, the Germans are good with the numbers. I think Michigan State is overrated at #2 but Gonzaga is underrated being un-ranked. However, without outside shooting this team will not go beyond the sweet sixteen in the tournament. If the Bulldogs can improve their range you can see them in the Final 4. The 1 I tell you, Kansas looks good, but so does Memphis. The Jayhawks are #1 because there is no one really as complete as they are right now. They have the size inside with Aldrich and they posses the outside shooters to compliment that inside presence. The Memphis Tigers were built by Calipari which means it’s a team of guards and small forwards, so they have no real size. These cats were built to run and they almost ran away with the upset over Kansas. But when you live by the 3 you die by the 3 and when the would be game winning 3 missed, the Tigers lost. Good guard play will always carry you in March but Memphis will need to have more balance in their offense and scoring from their forwards to go deep into the tournament. NOVEMBER 17, 2009 HOOPIN’ IT College basketball is back and to get ready for the new year we have to start at the end. The end of last year, the championship game between UNC and Michigan State. This years’ Spartans are ranked #2 currently. That’s nice, except rankings don’t mean much in college basketball because they have a playoff. Yes PLAYOFFS, the greatest 4 weeks in American sports, a little tourney they play in March every year. Last year the Spartans beat the #1 seed, Louisville Cardinals to make it to the Final 4 and eventually to the championship game and it was there where we begin. It was in the championship game where they faltered. I watched the game carefully and 4 minutes into the game, it was over. Severely over matched State tried to make a game of it but it was not to be. Tom Izzo is a very good coach and they just might make it back to the final Saturday of the tournament. But what I’m not sure about is this #2 ranking. The team that was thoroughly defeated last year may have improved, but how much remains to be seen. High ranked teams rarely do well in the tournament, just look at how many #1s fall every year. Izzo’s teams usually play good defense and are good in the half court but they have trouble with more athletic teams. The point is, it’s way too early to get all excited, I remember last year all too well. NOVEMBER 16, 2009 NFL THOUGHTS What “PREVENT?“ The Bengals finally have a defense to go with a pretty good offense. Cedric Benson, Ochocinco, Palmer are winning games but the defense really outplayed the offense against the Steelers especially in the closing minutes of the game. Cincinnati blitzed Roethlisberger instead of dropping back into that dumb “prevent” which I don’t have to write here “prevents” you from winning. This was an impressive win and you have to tip your hat to the Bengals and Marvin Lewis. The Colts , WOW! What a game, after being totally dominated at home by the Patriots the Colts score 2 tds in the last 4+ minutes to win the game. Belichick decides to go for it on a 4th and 2 deep inside his own territory and they don’t make it giving the outplayed Colts the win. I understand that Bill wanted to run out the clock by making the first down and he did not want to give the ball to Manning but he was to close to his own end zone to try that, enough written. Hell of a game though. The Broncos keep playing with me. Earlier in the year when they were 4-0 I wrote they were LUCKY not LEGITIMATE. And what did they do after I wrote that, they went on to beat New England and the Chargers. So I eat my words and give them the credit they deserve, and what do they do since, go 0-3 losing to Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Washington. The Ravens and Steelers I understand but to the Redskins? What is that? I don’t like McDaniels one reason is because of his absurd celebration at home after beating his former team (Patriots). He‘s the Tom Cruise of the NFL. The Redskins for crying out loud. The Chargers have been down and out and now they have two big wins in the last 2 weeks over the Giants and this week over the Eagles. With Denver finally looking like a team that is rebuilding the Chargers can take the AFC West as they face the Broncos next week in Denver. Dallas lost to Green Bay after putting together impressive win in the last few weeks they lose to the same team that lost to Tampa Bay last week. 3 turnovers will do that to a team. The fact that Green Bay Packers who have NO offensive line can beat a good defensive team like the Cowboys, it’s just embarrassing. How ‘bout them Cowboys!