Weekend Hangover: Love/Hate

LOVE

- Has there ever been a more ridiculous ending to a college football game than the LSU-Tennessee game this weekend? LSU got down to the 3 yard line with under 30 seconds left and was completely confused and out of sorts trying to call a final play. With the clock about to run out, the center snapped the ball past the quarterback who fell on the ball to seemingly give the Vols the win. Only during the confusion of LSU substituting players and not knowing what play to call, the Vols were flagged for having 13 guys on the field. LSU got another chance and punched it in for the game winning touchdown with no time on the clock. A finish that was more unbelievable than Cristina Del Basso of Big Brother in Italy. Rumor has it that she is another of Tiger’s birdies. Wow.

- I love all the overdone hype surrounding the picture of Gisele at some European event and possibly kissing a dude that isn’t Tom Brady. There are so many possibilities and explanations that don’t involve a scandal or anything illicit. I mean, Gisele is Brazilian and they are all about kisses on the cheek for greetings and departures. Is it really a stretch to think that the guy just pulled a middle-school trick and turned his face at the last minute so she planted one on his lips? My brother asked me the most pertinent question that can be applied to this situation or the Dez Bryant dropping 55k on dinner: Wouldn’t you? If you were that guy and got that close to Gisele or if you were Dez Bryant and could afford to take an entire football team out to a steak dinner, wouldn’t you?

- That sound you heard on Sunday was the Vick hype train jumping the rails and going down in flames faster than Mel Gibson’s career. I haven’t seen how long Vick will be out, but the Eagles definitely need him. Kevin Kolb looked scared and weak-armed as he took over the Eagles and couldn’t lead them back against McNabb and the Redskins. The other lesson learned from this game: The NFC East is wide open because all of the teams suck. The Eagles were feeling good because they beat the Lions and the Jaguars. This week showed their defense is awful. The Redskins have two wins within the division, but have lost their two games outside the division.

- I love the slobber-fest that continues over Denard Robinson. Yes, he put up more video-game-like stats this week and just looking at the stats, he has to be the Heisman front-runner. Yet if you watch the game, he is not a very good passer and Michigan struggled to put away a poor Indiana team. Read the post game summaries and they talk about how he “heaved a high-arching pass to Hemmingway” for 42 yards which set up the game-winning touchdown. The reality is that he threw a terrible jump ball and Junior Hemmingway made a spectacular play to outjump and come down with the pass. At the end of the day, all that matters is that the Wolverines remained unbeaten after a win on the road, but at some point Michigan is going to play some competent defensive teams and when they do, it will be interesting to see how Robinson plays.

HATE

- Dear Ted Thompson, congratulations on building a championship contender in Green Bay. You have a top 5 quarterback, top 5 tight end, top 5 wide receiver, top 5 cornerback, top 5 linebacker, and adequate offensive and defensive lines. However you have a glaring hole at running back that needs to be addressed if this team is going to win a championship. I know you love draft picks more than I love Kelly Brook in a low-cut shirt, but this should be an easy decision. Give a call to Buffalo and see what draft pick they want for Marshawn Lynch. A 5^th rounder? Sure. A 4^th rounder? Sure. The lack of running game leaves the defense on the field for too much time, which tires out our talented veterans like Charles Woodson and Cullen Jenkins. Swallow your pride and fix the problem you created by not having more than Brandon Jackson behind Ryan Grant at the beginning of the year. This isn’t hard, Ted. You messed up when you didn’t get Randy Moss, so don’t be an ass-hat on this one. Make the call and make the deal. Sincerely, Trent

- Another big game for a Bielema-coached Wisconsin team, and another disappointment. Coach Alvarez used to excel at getting his teams up for the biggest games and they would come out with focus and energy in all of their toughest road games and difficult opponents. Coach Bielema just doesn’t seem to get the best out of his teams. He has an unbelievable amount of talent with studs like James White, Lance Kendricks, JJ Watt and he can’t seem to put it all together to get the most out of his teams. On Saturday, Michigan State beat the Badgers by doing exactly what the Badgers used to do with teams: pound them with the run game which opens things up for the passing game.

- I’m going to miss Mike Singletary’s post games quotes. Wait, he hasn’t been fired yet? Give it time, as there is no way he makes it through the rest of this season. He tried to deflect the shots by firing Jimmy Raye before this week, but now the scopes are set on the legendary linebacker. His press conferences are awesomely intense and his quotes are memorable, but unfortunately it has not translated to any on-field success.

- It sure seems like the Oregon Ducks should be considered for a spot in the national championship game if they continue to play the way they’re playing currently. At least I think so, but it’s hard to tell because I couldn’t watch the Oregon-Stanford game even if I wanted to because of the ridiculous television programming decisions made by Time Warner and ABC. Instead of watching a match up of two top-ten teams in prime time in one of the loudest stadiums in the country, ABC decided that the northeast would rather watch an awful Notre Dame team against an even-worse Boston College team. Are you friggin’ kidding me? Do you want to know why there is an east coast bias by voters? They can’t actually see the best teams because of the morons at ABC who still can’t get it through their heads that Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant in 15 years and NO ONE CARES about them. I don’t need to see another Notre Dame game for the next 5 years and I guarantee I won’t miss anything of importance.

The Greatest Speech of All-Time & Thursday Thoughts

A couple rambling thoughts……none are really related to anything…..before getting to video of the greatest speech ever given. Better than JFK, Lou Gehrig, or anything from “Cash for (fill in the blank)” Obama.
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For the first time in its 11 year history, the Big Ten wins the Big Ten – ACC Challenge in college basketball. It was capped off by Wisconsin’s thrilling win over Duke, with the students rushing the court after knocking off the #5 Blue Devils. Trevon Hughes was a monster offensively for the Badgers, hitting a ton of clutch and difficult shots, and Bo Ryan was able to slow Kyle Singler in the second half (he still ended up with 28 points) guarding him with a freshman, Ryan Evans. I also love that Bo Ryan kind of resembles Bucky Badger when he’s angry. It’s a huge win for the Badgers, now 5-1 with victories over Duke and Maryland of the vaunted ACC.

Also key to the Big Ten victory was the 23-point second half comeback on the road by Illinois to beat #19 Clemson. It was an epic comeback by the Illini and an epic collapse by the Tigers. With Ohio State handling Florida State, Purdue beating Wake Forest, Penn State tipping Virginia and Northwestern toppling North Carolina State, the Big Ten took 6 of the 11 games. (UNC beat Michigan State, Maryland beat Indiana, VaTech took down Iowa, BC beat Michigan, and Miami beat Minnesota)
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Have you seen those commercials for Tax Masters and those other services that will work with you to lower your tax debts to the IRS? I have a couple questions about them. And now I know why they have to keep raising our taxes. A couple owes $120,000 in back taxes and somehow this bearded tool box is allowed to settle their debt for $4,600. What? Really? First, how the hell do you rack up a debt to the IRS of $120,000 from a trailer park? Have you not paid taxes for the past 5-6 years? And who are these guys and what kind of power do they have over the IRS? Are they taking advantage of loopholes? Close them!! Why the hell are you and I paying our taxes on time when we’d be better off not bothering for 5-6 years, then getting this guy to settle it for a 96% discount?
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Ron Artest says he used to drink Hennessey at halftime of games when he was playing in Chicago. Are we surprised by anything Ron-Ron does any more? I mean, this is a guy that had enough time to get “Jimmy Kimmel Live” shaved in his head, but didn’t have time to put his pants on before coming on the show. He’s doing anything he can to get a reaction from the media and make the long NBA season more interesting.
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Thursday Night NFL Pick:

Jets (-3) over BILLS (in Toronto)
The Bills are playing better under their interim coach, and just finished beating another average AFC East foe in the Dolphins. However Darrell Revis will be able to slow down the rediscovery of Terrell Owens, and the Jets linebackers will be better able to contain Fred Jackson. The game is taking place in Toronto as a test run to see if Ralph Wilson should move half of the Bills games there in the future. Even by Canadian standards, these are not very interesting teams. And I don’t think there’s any truth to the rumor that since Rex’s “Red Light-Green Light” game plan worked so well, Sanchez has asked to play “Head’s Up-Seven Up” during film sessions.
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Also going on tonight is the annual Civil War college football game between Oregon and Oregon State. And this year might be the biggest game they’ve ever played, with the winner going to the Rose Bowl against Ohio State. Oregon hasn’t been to the Rose Bowl since 1995 and Oregon State hasn’t gone since 1965. While ESPN, Sports Illustrated and CBS focus on the USC-UCLA-Stanford trio, Oregon and Oregon State have quietly put themselves at the top of the Pac-10 Conference this year. It should be an entertaining game, as both teams have offensive firepower led by short, dynamic running backs: sophomore Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State and freshman LaMichael James of Oregon. Without knowing too much about either team, I think you have to like Oregon State catching 10 points, even on the road.
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The seeded teams were announced for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa, and the results left many fearful that the US may face an extremely difficult draw in pool play. They were not among the 8 seeded teams, meaning they could get in the same group as Spain, France and Cameroon. The final pairings will come out on Friday, and while I doubt you’re here to get soccer updates, I’ll admit that this story was really just a result of stumbling past the Italian Job on television last night and wanting an excuse to post a picture of one of the most talented imports from South Africa, Charlize Theron.

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It is Jimmy V week on ESPN for their college basketball. It’s a great cause for the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, and it’s in memory of Jimmy Valvano, the former NC State basketball coach who died after a battle with cancer. This speech was at the ESPY awards show in 1993, and if you haven’t seen it, take the time and watch it. It’s long, but time very well spent. It’s a great message about life and provides multiple great lessons, and not just the tagline “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” I’ve seen this speech too many times to count, and it’s incredible and moving every time.

Tuesday Ramblings - Why Notre Dame Can't Win

So I missed in my Monday Hangover mentioning Notre Dame losing to Navy in South Bend on Saturday. It was another black eye for Charlie Weiss and the once proud program. The seat is once again getting very warm under the rather large posterior of the coach, who is becoming more prickly with each loss. But the question is whether Weiss is really at fault for the continued decline of the once proud and dominant program. Or is it possible that Weiss is facing headwinds that will keep the program from ever being able to push above that of a mid-tier Big Ten program?

I - Academics

It is a known fact that Notre Dame actually makes its student-athletes adhere to strict academic standards. Not only do they have stringent requirements to get accepted to the school, they make you attend class and get a degree. That obviously has a huge impact on recruiting and the ability to get the best athletes to don the golden dome helmet. Notre Dame has a graduation success rate of 95%, while Florida (68), Texas (50), USC (54) or LSU (54) were at or below the overall D-1 football average of 67%. What schools that are on par with Notre Dame? Stanford (93), Northwestern (92), Boston College (92) and Duke (92).

How can you honestly expect the Fighting Irish to be able to compete with schools that cater to kids that will leave school early, or would never qualify to attend strong academic schools? They can’t. So if Notre Dame insists on maintaining their academic integrity, they will not be able to attract these great athletes that have less intelligence than Megan Fox. The Notre Dame football players are not angels, but you don’t hear about guys like LeGarrette Blount (punching a Boise St player) or Brandon Spikes (eye gouging) or even JaMarcus Russell (lazy) at Notre Dame.

II – Recruiting Disadvantages

Notre Dame used to be the premiere football program in the entire country. Recruiting used to be as simple as, (a) Do you want to play for a national championship? (b) Do you want to be on national television every week? and (c) Have you seen Rudy and Touchdown Jesus? As long as you had the credentials, everyone wanted to play for Notre Dame. Things have changed tremendously, a big part of that is the continued explosion of 24 hour sports networks, and large television contracts with every major conference. That NBC contract used to be a primary recruiting tool to show high school kids that you’ll be seen on television which would increase your draft prospects. That is no longer the case as the Big Ten has its own network and a contract with ESPN, the SEC has a large contract with ESPN and CBS, and so on and so on. All of the games are on television and players will be found and will be covered if they have the talent to play in the pros. In addition, the increased draft coverage from the sports networks and the talking heads all over television and radio make sure that players from any school will be discovered.

The other large recruiting disadvantage that Notre Dame faces is the oldest adage in real estate: location, location, location. Notre Dame is in South Bend, Indiana. There is nothing in South Bend, Indiana other than Notre Dame. Now Gainesville, Florida is not a bustling metropolis but it definitely has a few things that Notre Dame cannot offer: sunshine, beaches, and talented co-eds. (not that there aren’t pretty girls at ND – I have friends with beautiful wives that went there, but let’s be serious overall). Charlie Weiss brings in a recruit during the off-season and reminds him to bring his boots and coat, while they trek through the snow to show him the campus. That same 18 year old kid then flies to Gainesville, and Coach Meyer reminds him to bring his flip flops and sunglasses while they walk among palm trees and talented girls to get to the swamp. He then flies to LA, and meets with Pete Carroll, also under palm trees, also with talented co-eds, and Pete tells the kid to make sure he gets to Hollywood Blvd or Malibu before he heads out of town. Do you really think that kid is going to choose Notre Dame over those options?

III – Surreal Expectations

Every preseason, the pundits talk about how Notre Dame is improved, and will be battling for a BCS bowl berth. Every recruiting class for Notre Dame is ranked high because it’s full of highly recruited high school players. But it’s a circular argument in that the kids are ranked high because Notre Dame is recruiting them, and Notre Dame’s recruiting class is ranked high because the kids are highly ranked. It’s a flaw with the entire ranking of recruiting classes everywhere. In any event, Notre Dame is expected to battle for a national championship and a BCS bowl every single year, which puts a tremendous amount of pressure on a team that does not have the same talent level as the top teams in the country.

In the past 10 years, Notre Dame has had 10 players drafted in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. Compare that to Wisconsin (11), Michigan State (7), Iowa (9) and Washington (7). Now look at the number of 1st or 2nd round draft picks in the past ten years at USC (32), Ohio State (25), Florida (20) and Texas (19). The talent disparity is obvious, yet Notre Dame is perennially expected to compete despite an uneven talent level.

The alumni and the media continue to push Notre Dame expectations way above where they realistically should be based on their talent. Notre Dame will never have a season that is a surprise on the upside; it will only have surprises to the downside. That is an impossible situation for any coach to face. And at Notre Dame, it happens every single season.

Overall, Notre Dame is a strong academic school that produces solid football teams and solid student-athletes. Yet that does not appease the alumni that demand a return to the excellence of the past. Unfortunately, the team is facing a very steep uphill battle in order to consistently battle for national championships again.

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Did you see the dive/fall/landing of Javid Best of California getting to the house against Oregon State? It was a nasty, nasty fall after going up over the top, and getting crushed while up there. Thankfully it sounds like he was released from the hospital and will be able to resume playing in a few weeks after the concussion.
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Oregon reinstated their RB, LeGarrette Blount that punched a Boise State player after their season opening loss. I think it makes sense, as the kid has missed more than half of his senior season, and if the coach, athletic director and conference believe that he has learned his lesson, then let him play. And if the team was only reinstating him because the team had a shot at the Rose Bowl, they would have brought him back for the USC game or before losing to Stanford.
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The Chiefs cut Larry Johnson yesterday to complete a dramatic fall from grace for the former NFL stud. Johnson and Shaun Alexander are the primary examples to prove the curse of 300+ carries in one season. However, Michael Turner appears to be busting through that this season and has been getting better as this season has went on.
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Oh, and are we surprised that the Allen Iverson experiment in Memphis didn’t work out? Now it looks like he’s going to retire because he can’t handle coming off the bench. After 3 games, he’s had enough. Just another example of what a selfish d-bag this guy has always been, despite how dynamic he could be on the court.

Week 8 Hangover - Love/Hate

LOVE

- Tip of the cap to Brett Favre. He played great, and is focused, controlled and not turning the ball over. The Vikings have a ton of weapons (memo to GB’s special teams coach: pack up your office. You’re fired. You couldn’t figure out how to keep the ball out of Percy Harvin’s hands?), and thoroughly dominated the game. And watching the game with Sal, I did correctly predict that there would be some waterworks from Brett in the post game interview on the field. Has to keep up that country bumpkin persona off the field.

- What a performance by Johnny Damon in the 9th inning last night. First the great at bat, fighting off pitches before slapping a single to left. Then a very risky move to steal second, and the intelligence to know he could outrun Pedro Feliz to 3rd base (Feliz was covering 2nd on a defensive shift). The runner on 3rd didn’t allow Brad Lidge to throw his best pitch – his slider – for fear of a wild pitch which would have scored Damon. Instead he has to go fastball, and A-Rod laces it to left. Say good night Phillies. Especially since your potential game 7 starter told reporters after he got shelled in game 3 that he couldn’t wait for the season to be over. Not exactly the eye of the tiger from Cole Hamels. And since no one wants to see a picture of Johnny Damon, here’s a picture of his wife.

- In addition to the Wildcat offense, maybe the Dolphins should find a way for Chad Henne to kick the ball to Ted Ginn when he’s lined up as a WR. He can catch a kick off, but he can’t catch a pass. And he can definitely run – 2 kickoff returns for TDs, 100 and 101 yards. Is it really vindication for getting benched for dropping passes to return kicks successfully? No one ever questioned his return ability. He still can’t catch a pass.

- Are we going to rev up the Vince Young hype machine now that the Texans finally won a game? He was able to move around in the pocket and keep plays alive, but he only had 125 yards on 15 completions. And Chris Johnson ran for 1,000 yards against the Jags. But they won the game, so I guess that’s what matters.

- The clubhouse leader for NBA rookie of the year after two games is Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks. Given, it’s only 2 games, so there is a ton of time for him to come back to reality. But the dude looks like a legit stud. Dropping 20.5 ppg, 6 assists and 5 boards to start the season, and he almost put up a triple double in his first game. He’s a high-energy guy, and looks like he’s having fun. I’ve got the DVR set up to record the Bucks-Bulls game on Tuesday night

HATE

- Winners of the Paper Tiger Awards: Giants and Jets. The Giants look bad, and it’s possible that Eli Manning’s foot is worse than anyone knows and is the reason he’s sailing the ball long and turning it over like he’s back in his rookie year. The Jets lost because they couldn’t stop Ted Ginn on kick off returns, and the Dolphins defense returned a fumble for a TD. So Jets, after losing for the second time to the ‘Phins, time to give them some credit, right? Not for Calvin Pace, who continues to talk trash while playing for a 4-4 team that is 1-4 in their last five games. Time to shut up and win some games, fellas.

- Anyone notice Oregon is strangely making their way to the Rose Bowl? After eating USC’s lunch on Saturday night, they’re one of the most dangerous 1-loss teams in the country. And all anyone knows about them is they got embarrassed in the season opener by Boise State, their RB punched a dude after the game and their coach send a disgruntled fan a personal check refunding him for the tickets he bought to see them play bad. Oh, and they have the most ridiculous uniforms ever. Yet they slapped around mighty USC, and will be the Pac-10 rep in the Rose Bowl.

- Can we please stop talking about Iowa being in the hunt for the national championship? They are undefeated, but they stink. Had they been playing anyone other than a putrid Indiana team, they would have lost this week. Ricky Stanzi, quite possibly the best QB in the Big Ten by default, threw 5 interceptions in the game – 4 of them in the 3rd quarter alone – and they still managed to win by double digits. They are threatening to really mess with the BCS is they end up unbeaten.

- Well I figured one of the QBs in the Cardinals-Panthers game was going to be a turnover machine. I just didn’t figure it would be Kurt Warner, not Jake Delhomme. Warner had 4 INTs and a fumble, allowing the Panthers to keep themselves on the skirts of the playoff hunt.

- Brandon Spikes of Florida should be suspended for the rest of the season. He is a classless ass-clown. An obvious eye-gouging of the Georgia RB from a guy that is supposed to be the best linebacker in college? Did he think that he was suddenly a pro wrestler? And they were comfortably handling Georgia and the RB was a nobody, so what was he possibly thinking?


- I’m not one for Sci-Fi movies or television shows to begin with, but what is Bailey from Party of Five doing on that overhyped “V” show on ABC?