The Rogue League

Brain Crushing Stupidity

2012-01-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

Much has been written in the vein of "the BCS needs to go away." Let me add one more voice to this fray.

This has simply gone too far. LSU-Alabama part II should never have even happened. In NCAA Football 12, a sign is featured that reads "Every Saturday Proves who's Number 1," yet another sign saying what ESPN stands for. Except that the BCS, and ESPN by extension as their television partner, clearly don't stand for this.

During the 2011 season, LSU proved every Saturday that they were the best team. They proved they were better than Alabama on November 5th. Yes, Alabama had turnovers and missed field goals and mistakes in that game. It's football. Those things happen. LSU still won.

One of the biggest (only real?) arguments I've heard in favor of the BCS is that it makes the regular season games so much more meaningful. ("How could we have a playoff system and let an 8-4 USC team win a national championship? Harrumph!") Except this year, regular season games meant NOTHING. LSU beats Alabama, but hey, why not let them have another chance, right? It doesn't matter that they didn't win their division or conference, aren't they the second best team, and so therefore, by BCS fiat, they MUST play the best team, LSU?

The problem is that the BCS presents us with the false choice, namely, that there must be a #1 vs. #2 game at the end of the season. The second, and in this case, much bigger, problem, is that the BCS did not provide any caveat in the rules to exclude teams that haven't won their conference. Such caveats exist to make it to a BCS game in the first place, particularly for the non-AQ conferences. But for only the most important game of the season? Hell no, throw that rule out!

And so what we are left with is the utter ridiculousness we witnessed tonight. If AP voters had any guts they'd vote LSU #1 anyway. But I don't have much faith that will happen.

Disclaimer: I'm not an LSU fan.

College Football Rankings: Week 4

2011-09-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Dropped Out: Ohio St. (terrible) (13), Tennessee (18), Auburn (19), Mississippi St. (20), Michigan St. (23), Arizona (24)

I feel confident with those first six teams, but after that, it's very difficult to place 7 through about 15.

Sorry Clemson, but no, you don't get a ranking yet. But you will if you beat Florida State this weekend. Speaking of the Seminoles, I'm not as sold on Oklahoma's defense as I am on the fact that Florida State doesn't have much of an offense (and specifically, an offensive line). I think that as the season progresses, this win will not look as good for Oklahoma as it does now.

BYU: 7 turnovers? I have no words. I haven't been this disappointed in my alma mater in a long time. Brandon Doman, you need to get this offense going. We have a huge OL, use it to our advantage. We better not look that crappy against UCF this Friday.

College Football Rankings: Week 3

2011-09-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Dropped Out: Utah (20), BYU (21), No. Illinois (24), Nevada (25)

The only notable change in the top 15: Ohio State drops four spots for shamefully staying close with Toledo at home.

The old adage of "if a head coach listens to the fans too much, he'll one day end up among them" didn't seem to apply in Texas. Midway through the second quarter with BYU already winning 13-0, Texas fans were calling for the benching of QB/Armpunter Garrett Gilbert. Mack Brown listened, and Texas came back to win 17-16. Does anyone even doubt had Gilbert stayed in that game that BYU wouldn't have won? I wish Texas hadn't figured this out until next week, but I'm proud of BYU keeping this game close in a hostile environment. Through the first two weeks, BYU has looked better than Utah on both sides of the ball, and I expect them to win against their rivals this weekend in the Holy War.

Even though the game kept going back and fourth, I never really had much faith that Georgia could beat South Carolina. In my recently completed first dynasty season in NCAA Football 2012, South Cackalacky went 13-0 and lost to Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game, for whatever that's worth.

I'm happy that Vegas lost TWICE in the Utah-USC game.

Notre Dame LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL 0-2

College Football Rankings - Week 2

2011-09-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

Rk Team Rec Pvs

1 LSU 1-0 1
2 Boise St. 1-0 3
3 Oklahoma 1-0 7
4 Alabama 1-0 4
5 Stanford 1-0 2
6 Wisconsin 1-0 9
7 Florida St. 1-0 6
8 VA Tech 1-0 13
9 Ohio St. 1-0 11
10 Arkansas 1-0 10
11 Oklahoma St. 1-0 12
12 Nebraska 1-0 14
13 Florida 1-0 15
14 Oregon 0-1 8
15 Miss. St. 1-0 17
16 Texas A&M 1-0 20
17 Arizona 1-0 19
18 W. Virginia 1-0 21
19 S. Carolina 1-0 18
20 Utah 1-0 16
21 BYU 1-0 22
22 Baylor 1-0 --
23 TCU 0-1 5
24 No. Illinois 1-0 25
25 Nevada 0-0 24

I watched quite a few of the games this weekend. Here are a few thoughts:

BYU deserved to win that game and fortunately Mississippi's lack of discipline and coaching came through in the end. The Cougars' red zone problems worry me, especially against such a crappy team as Ole Miss. An upset over Texas this weekend would be surprising. It doesn't really matter how bad Gilbert or whoever their quarterback is, BYU has a lot of problems on offense to work through. Texas is currently a 7 point favorite and that feels about right.

Baylor and RG3 are probably better than I'm giving them credit for, but TCU's defense was shockingly bad. I will not be surprised at all if Air Force beats them this weekend. Vegas apparently thinks the same thing as they are only 2 point favorites (TCU) as of this post.

Undoubtedly the worst uniforms this weekend were worn by Georgia, and they played as if looking like Power Rangers had deflated their egos. That said, Boise State is legit. Only a road game at San Diego State stands in the way as a possible upset. Otherwise, I think they get through their schedule undefeated. Whether the voters reward them with a BCSCG appearance is another matter.

The Blog is kind of back: 2011 College Football Preseason Top 25

2011-07-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

After nearly three years, during which I met someone, got married, bought a house, and had a child, I have finally sufficiently caught up with life that I can sort of maintain a blog again. Undoubtedly the updates will not be as frequent as they were in the past, which is to say, erratic. But from time to time I enjoy writing about certain things, on which I have commented on this blog before, namely:

Baseball
Football
New Taco Bell Menu Items

So with this new update, I present my preseason top 25 for this year's college football season. Normally I don't like preseason rankings but I am as Antonio Banderas would say Desperado for football to start, so desperado in fact that I was recently caught watching SEC Media Days on ESPNU. And it wasn't even live. So with no further Adu, I present my Top 25 as of today, with previous year's record.

1. LSU 11-2
2. Stanford 12-1
3. Boise St. 12-1
4. Alabama 10-3
5. TCU 13-0
6. Florida St. 10-4
7. Oklahoma 12-2
8. Oregon 12-1
9. Wisconsin 11-2
10. Arkansas 10-3
11. Ohio St. 12-1
12. Oklahoma St. 11-2
13. Virginia Tech 11-3
14. Nebraska 10-4
15. Florida 8-5
16. Utah 10-3
17. Mississippi St. 9-4
18. South Carolina 9-5
19. Arizona 7-6
20. Texas A&M 9-4
21. West Virginia 9-4
22. BYU 7-6
23. Missouri 10-3
24. Nevada 13-1
25. Northern Illinois 11-3
Surprise picks: I think most would call Florida State at #6 a surprise, perhaps crazy. I think they have the talent, and they are adjusting well to new coach Jimbo Fisher. This is still Florida State, they still get great recruiting classes every year. I'm not predicting a National Title, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen.

Notable absences: Auburn (14-0, will struggle without college football's best athlete on the ~~payroll~~ field); Michigan State (11-2, proven to be fully a tiger of the paper variety after this debacle); Central Florida (10-3, coached by a waste of flesh rivaled only by a criminal).

week 3 college football preview: ohio state livin' on a pray-uh

2008-09-12T19:32:00.001-07:00

Coach creasy bear is resurrecting the weekly preview, at least for this week. Let's take a look at this weekend's most intriguing matchups:

#2 Georgia at South Carolina - The Gamecocks came out limp last week versus lowly Vanderbilt, quickly losing the top 25 ranking they earned after shutting down North Carolina State the previous week. On offense, they are rather inconsistent. The Ol' Ball Coach clearly hasn't been able to recruit the same level of talent in Columbia as he could when at Florida. Still, they have a stingy defense, especially against the pass. And somehow, for some reason, they always seem to show up when they play Georgia. The Bulldogs Knowshon Moreno (edit: not pronounced like the last name of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective star Dan Marino) will probably get his 100+ yards. But I predict QB Matt Stafford will struggle, as he has the past two times he's faced SCAR. Bulldogs win, but it will stay close until a late touchdown. Georgia 27-13

UCLA at #18 BYU - UCLA was able to beat Tennessee two weeks ago despite throwing four interceptions in the first half alone. But they had two things working for them in that game that they won't have this Saturday: homefield advantage, and the opposing defensive coordinator being incompetent. I think QB Max Hall will have a good game through the air, and the Cougars will get it done on the ground too. BYU is very tough to beat in Provo. I like the direction the Bruins are headed, but I'm not ready to concede this victory. BYU 30-24
(Update: My original score prediction was 46-30. Obviously, I should've kept that one.)

Unranked Michigan at Unranked Notre Dame - Given my distaste for both of these teams, I like to explicitly point out that neither is ranked. As for the game, on the one hand, the Irish have homefield advantage. But how much will that really mean, given that they had that last week too versus a terrible San Diego State team and barely beat them thanks in part to a controversial fumble call that kept the Aztecs out of the end zone. On the other hand, you have a Michigan team, which improved last week after having lost to Utah, but still didn't look that great. I look at the coaches: Charlie Weis is getting top 10 and 15 recruiting classes, and has done nothing with it. Rich Rodriguez, while a good offensive-minded coach, doesn't yet have personnel that fits his system. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a fairly ugly game, with each side turning the ball over their fair share, and it will be decided by an either dumb play or great play, depending on who you're rooting for. Since I'll be rooting for neither, no matter who loses, I win. Notre Dame 20-19

#10 Wisconsin at #21 Fresno State - "Anyone, anytime, anywhere." That's Fresno Coach Pat Hill's motto. After beating down Rutgers in their first game, I immediately took notice of the Bulldogs. After North Carolina went into NJ and beat the Scarlet Knights even worse than Fresno did, suddenly I wasn't quite as impressed, with either Fresno or Rutgers (especially Rutgers...that might be my worst conference champion pick ever). Fresno does have quality players on both sides of the ball. Their fans will be fired up for a game versus a Top 10 opponent, even though they have no apparent real rivalry with the Big 11. However, Wisconsin is very strong and disciplined. Head Coach Bret Bielema has done a superb job replacing a legend in Barry Alvarez. He will have his team ready and focused. I can't see them giving this game away, which, in my opinion, is the only way they could lose it. Wisconsin 31-14

#5 Ohio State at #1 USC - As I think about this, the ABC Primetime, game on Saturday night, one question continually goes through my mind: How is Ohio State not going to get killed? Here are some key facts:

- Chris "Beanie" Wells will not play, according to the HC Sweater Vest
- Rey Maualuga is a freak
- Todd Boeckman is.....not that good

How Ohio State can win: USC is not really going to have to respect Buckeyes' running game with Wells out. Boeckman is obviously going to have to play an outstanding game. He can't turn the ball over. In fact, nobody on the Buckeyes can turn the ball over. They will have to rely heavily on their defense and special teams, like a vintage Virginia Tech Beamer-ball team. Also, USC is going to have to beat itself somewhat, which frankly, they have shown an ability to do sometimes (how else do you explain them losing at home to a 6-touchdown underdog last season?). QB Jonathan Sanchez does, at times, appear to have mental lapses. The Buckeyes are going to need him to throw picks, and for the Trojan running backs to be careless with the football. They'll also need them to miss field goals, kick punts short, and not cover their kicks well.

Any of these things doesn't seem particularly improbable. But for them all to happen seems virtually impossible. And I'm not sure Ohio State can win otherwise. Yes, they're ranked in the Top 5, but does anyone actually believe that? I think all people are thinking about is how bad they've looked the last two times they've played an elite team on a national stage. To what extent are Buckeye players themselves thinking this? To me, that is the biggest question of all. USC 35-17

the big long college football preview

2008-08-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the post that ~~all~~ six of you have been waiting for. It's time for the Rogue League's 2008 college football preview. Conferences and teams are listed in order of strength as I perceive it. As suggested by the title, you may wish to grab a sandwich for this post. It's big, long, and satisfying.

SEC

The SEC will have a bit of a down year, I think. But still, this is top to bottom the strongest and deepest league in the nation. Georgia is the media's early favorite to win not only the conference but also the national title. They're good, but I'm not buying the national title hype. Four straight games away from Athens, versus LSU, Florida, Kentucky, and Auburn, make it virtually impossible they'll finish the season unbeaten. Their O-Line is young and not very deep. But as long as they avoid laying down like dogs in any game, like they did versus Tennessee last year, they've got enough talent to win the East. I'd prefer to see Florida win the division but I think that, despite a Tebow run at a second Heisman trophy, they'll still have some problems on defense, which will likely let them down in a couple of games. They should still play on New Year's Day, and it actually wouldn't surprise me if they did win the division. Tennessee should continue to be strong on defense but lost six of their front seven defensively. Expect a 9-3 regular season and their 56th appearance in the Capital One Bowl. South Carolina... is it me, or does it seem like the college game has passed Spurrier by? He's handed over play-calling to the OC this year but we'll see how long that will last. That said, their schedule is as favorable as one in the SEC East can be. This is a good darkhorse pick to win the division. Kentucky will struggle with their top QB Andre' Woodson now gone. And Vanderbilt will struggle because they are Vanderbilt. In the West, LSU is again the favorite. It seems a lot of people are overlooking them because they lost their quarterback. But these people seem to forget that Matt Flynn was kind of not awesome, so I don't think it will be that big a deal. Their losses on defense will be more significant. Still, I can't see any team other than Auburn possibly making a run. Speaking of those Tigers, they're supposedly instituting a no-huddle spread offense this year. I'll be curious to see if they actually have the QB play and overall speed necessary to pull that off, especially versus the tougher teams they'll face like LSU, Tennessee, and Georgia. Still they are very good defensively, and that will help them finish in the upper half of this division. Mississippi State returns from their first 8 win season in 200 years. They return a lot of starters on both sides of the ball, but their offense is still abysmal. I could see 6 wins and sneaking into a bowl. (Also, the parallel successes of Sylvester Croom and Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel last year is really kind of weird to me for some reason.) Alabama I could see finishing anywhere from 1st to 6th, so for this post I'll put them right here in the meaty middle of the pack. Nick Saban is unquestionably a great coach, but I wonder how good of recruits he's really able to attract to Tuscaloosa. The schedule is somewhat daunting this year, with an opening game in Atlanta versus a strong Clemson team, and later road games at Georgia, Tennessee, and LSU. If the Tide can simply avoid losing to Auburn for the 80th consecutive time, they should call it a successful season. Arkansas will be kinda bad, but watch for Petrino to get the Razorbacks competitive again within a year or two. Ole Miss is still Ole Miss.
The pick: Georgia over LSU in the SEC Championship game

Pac 10

The Pac 10 remains, and will until some NFL owner offers Pete Carroll $100M, the playground of USC. I think they might be five deep at every position, including long-snapper and punter. They'll be solid on both sides of the ball, and their schedule is rather favorable. Only QB play could possibly derail this team's chance at a national title. Mark Sanchez is good but prone to mental errors at times. I still like them as a national title contender. After USC, I think there's a sizable drop to the rest of the league. Arizona State appears to be at the top of that crop. Dennis Erickson has once again turned around a team in very little time. Their defense still really needs to improve, and they'll get a tough early-season test against Georgia. Seven conference wins gets them to another Holiday Bowl or better. How soon will UCLA rise again to glory? I think this year is too much to ask, but they'll give plenty of teams problems. Their defense was already pretty good except for that embarrassment against Utah. Their offense will greatly improve under Neuheisel and Chow. Oregon seems to be strong every year. I've always kind of wondered how they get kids to go up there instead of USC or UCLA. The Ducks need to find a good QB, and if they do, they'll improve on their Sun Bowl berth from last season. California has unusual uncertainty on offense but their defense should be solid. Another bowl for Jeff Tedford. Oregon State somehow keeps winning games despite having tons of guys nobody's ever heard of. They may sneak into a bowl, possibly. Will this be the year Mike Stoops leads Arizona to greatness? In a word, no. Their offense should be decent, but their defense will be lacking. Too many tough conference games leave them home for the bowl season. Washington features "Tebow of the East" Jake Locker, only a sophomore this season. But inconsistent RB and defensive play will be their downfall. A fun game will emerge among the fans: Where will Ty Willingham coach next? My guess: Toronto Argonauts. Jim Harbaugh's Stanford defense should be tough. Their offense will struggle a little. This team could surprise though. A bowl could be in the cards for the cardinal this season or next. Washington State continues to reel from the departure of Mike Price (remember him?).
The pick: The Trojans

Big 12

The Big 12 has improved greatly over the past two seasons, but are just edged out by the Pac 10 for place as the second strongest conference. Beginning in the South division, Oklahoma appears to be at the head of the class. Their O and D lines are solid. Sam Bradford, who I'll admit I'm not very high on, seems more than capable of running Bob Stoops' system in the tradition of Jason White and Josh Heupel. I like them as a national title contender. Only a somewhat porous secondary could sink them, but depending on the matchup, that might not even matter. Texas will be strong again despite the loss of Jamaal Charles. I predict yet another 10-win season is in the cards for Mack Brown. Look for them to improve on their Holiday Bowl berth last year. Texas Tech will once again win 8 or 9 games. They get Texas at home this year, so if there's a season where they might finally beat them, this is it. I could see them in a New Year's Day bowl. Oklahoma State would be a great darkhorse pick if they could just find a defense. Their schedule is a bit rough, though (Missouri, Texas, Texas Tech all on the road). But they are men, and their coach is 40. They will squeak into the Independence Bowl (which should really be sponsored by Depend's one of these year's. Depends' Independence Bowl... just rolls off the tongue). Baylor made a smart hire in getting Art Briles, who resurrected Houston's program. He'll need some time but will turn the Bears into a bowl-eligible team within 4 years. Texas A&M was sort of run into the ground by Dennis Franchione. New coach Mike Sherman has his work ahead of him. In the North---

We interrupt this preview to comment on things recently said on tonight's College Football Live season preview on ESPN:

Jesse Palmer said he "buys into the Kool-Aid" of Georgia. Did he mean "drink" the Kool-Aid? Or is he going to buy stock in Kool-Aid? I'm pretty confused.

Craig James followed that up by calling Auburn's football team "eye candy." Uh...what? Did he mean the cheerleaders? Because yeah, I'd buy into that Kool-Aid. But the actual football team? Dude, that's just gay.

Back to the preview: In the North, Chase Daniel returned to Missouri in an attempt to win a national title. And to graduate, I would guess. The Tigers are easy to root for, having been bad for so long and also having a mascot that, despite being a tiger, is somehow more comical than scary. So I'll be rooting for this, but I don't think it's going to happen. Their defense will let them down somewhere, or they'll run into bad luck somewhere. I say this because they seemed to have such good fortune last year, and I think these things just have a way of evening out. That said, I think they'll win the North, because they're still that much better than the rest of the teams. Nebraska will improve immediately under new coach Bo Pelini. He should've been the hire instead of Bill Callahan. The Huskguys got it right and he'll right that ship. Kansas looks to improve on their success of last year, but suddenly face a very difficult schedule, including Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. Three or four losses seems almost certain. Colorado, who plays Divison 1 football, will continue their 15-year rebuilding program by improving to 7-6 this year, after being 6-7 last year. Kansas State should be ok this year. A traditionally soft non-conference schedule gives them a great chance at making a bowl. Iowa State is still awaiting the return of Troy Davis.
The pick: Oklahoma over Mizzouri in the Big XII title game presented by Dr. Pepper

Big East

Rutgers lost star RB Ray Rice to the NFL, but HC Greg Schiano has been getting good recruits up there and knows how to get the most out of them. They'll be good enough on offense and defense, and the schedule is favorable, which is to say, it's a Big East schedule (hey-ohhhhhhh!). I think this is the year Rutgers makes their first ever New Year's Day bowl game. Read that over and over maybe 50 times so you're less shocked when it actually happens. South Florida, who I foolishly ranked #1 in my Top 25 at one point last season, is nevertheless a good team, and seems to have vultched a few quality recruits from Florida State and Miami. I wouldn't be surprised to see them improve on their success from last season. Groethe is a good QB also, and only a sophomore. Despite the loss of Coach Dickrod, West Virginia still has really good talent. I do wonder though how well interim-turned-permanent coach Bill Stuart will be able to maximize his players' abilities. And when I say I wonder about it, I mean that I think he won't, at least not completely. That said, they're still too good to not make a bowl this season. But within 2 or 3 years, I think this program will be back to the state of mediocrity that you'd expect from that infertile recruiting area of the country (nothing personal Mountaineer State, just stating fact). I just found out today that Pittsburgh is ranked in the preseason top 25. And naturally, the first question that comes to my mind is, why? They suck. Some dude I sort of know once told me that Dave Wannstache is a good coach and that Pitt is good because they always get top 25 recruiting classes. To which I respond, no, he's not, and who cares how well you recruit if you keep going 4-7 every year? All of this said, the Big East is seriously down this year, and they aren't even a strong conference to begin with. If this Pitt team can't at least go 6-6 and make a bowl, Wannstache MUST be fired. How he's even still there is a subject worthy of this program's greatest hits. The rest of the Big East teams, I'll be honest: I have no desire to talk about them. Cincinnati... I still don't know what a bearcat is. Decent shot at getting to a bowl. Connecticut... whatever. Co-champion of the conference and made a bowl last year. Great. You're still, really, not that good. Louisville... they should improve on their disappointing season last year, because really they have more talent than they usually showed. Syracuse... you're just awful. Where have you gone, Kirby Dar Dar?
The pick: SUNJ

ACC
I'm looking forward to see how Georgia Tech will fare with the triple option under new coach Paul Johnson. The ACC has gotten weak enough that the option just might work. They won't face very much pressure in the Coastal division. Virginia Tech ~~needs to~~ update: will remove the redshirt from QB Tyrod Taylor. That may or may not be enough to win. Despite their making the Orange Bowl last year, I don't see a repeat conference championship. Miami coach Randy Shannon is doing a good job getting south Florida recruits again. They will improve on their disappointing showing last season. North Carolina is a team getting some preseason buzz. Common thought is that head coach Butch Davis can win this weak division. I could see this, or I could see a more modest finish. But a 6-win season and a bowl is certainly within reach. Virginia is not very impressive, despite technically making a New Year's Day bowl last season. Duke is...well...Duke. I think this story tells us all we need to know. In the equally arbitrarily-named Atlantic division, there's equal mediocrity. The top 3 teams are pretty decent, while the lower 3 are fairly awful. Wake Forest is probably the favorite, even over bigger name programs like Clemson and Florida State. They are actually getting pretty good recruits up in Winston-Salem, and I like QB Riley Skinner and the rest of the Deacons to win the division. Clemson, as per usual, is long on talent and short on coaching. Tommy Bowden is basically the ACC's version of Ron Zook. The Tigers will probably make a New Year's Day bowl game, but talks of national title contention are misguided. Florida State still gets a lot of talent and still plays in the ACC, which is to say, they have an easy schedule. They'll also go bowling, and could even edge out Clemson to take 2nd place. It's hard to separate the next three teams. Boston College probably has the most talent, but will certainly take their lumps with an inexperienced freshman QB. Maryland is not very good but does have a very good head coach in Ralph Freidgen, so even a bowl appearance from them shouldn't really be a surprise. It would be a surprise, though, for North Carolina State. This wolfpack has been tamed.
The pick: Wake Forest

Carson Palmer is my new favorite quarterback

2008-07-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Just the other day I was musing with the happy ninja about how weak the Big Ten is. And now Carson Palmer gives us this nugget (from a recent radio interview on 570 KLAC in Los Angeles):

I don’t watch what I say. I cannot stand the Buckeyes and having to live in Ohio and hear those people talk about their team, it drives me absolutely nuts. We got Keith Rivers out there and we got Frostee Rucker, we finally got a couple other ‘SC guys. It’s amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and Tressel and all the crap I got to put up with being back there. I just can’t wait for two years from now when ‘SC comes to the ‘Shoe and I get to, hopefully have a home game that weekend and I can go out there and watch us pound on them on their own turf and kind of put all the talk to rest, because I’m really getting sick of it. I just can’t wait for this game to get here so they can come to the Coliseum and experience L.A. and get an old fashioned, Pac 10 butt-whooping and go back to the Big Ten.

I'm waiting for an NFL star to come from Appalachian State so we can get a quote like this for Michigan. But for now this will do fine, just fine.

the last time the N.L. won the All-Star game, this look was still considered fashionable

2008-07-15T16:39:00.001-07:00

Let's get this done, National League. Tonight. The last time we won was 1996. Think about this for a second. The starting lineup included Matt Williams, Barry Larkin, and Dante Bichette. Ozzie Smith was also on the team. OZZIE SMITH!!! The Prodigy were still a popular band. THE PRODIGY!!!!!!! This is just ~~insane~~ ridiculous. This was like two lifetimes ago. WE MUST WIN!!!!! HAHM-DI-NAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday America

2008-07-04T00:32:00.000-07:00

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

- United States Declaration of Independence, July 4 1776

Kobe responds to Shaq's freestyle rap with freestyle scat

2008-06-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

Reigning NBA MVP Kobe Bryant has responded to criticism from former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. As first reported by TMZ.com, Shaq was recently seen rapping in a New York city nightclub. His rap included, among other lyrics, "Kobe, you can't do without me." Last night in a swanky New Jersey bar, Bryant responded with some freestyle of his own:

Wellllllll, be bop be doo dop
bim bam bold
Shaquilllllle..... why you so
cold cold cold?
Rizz razzzz-a-ma-tazz
shim shammy shine...
that MVP trophy,
well it is mine.
Bim bam, the flim flam
diddly-bop-m-bop,
Well, next yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....
I'm gonna beeeee onnnnn TOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!

According to several witnesses, Kobe brought the house down with his interesting style. "Like a young Al Jolson, I tell ya," said one patron. "I heard the great Louis Armstrong," said one old-timer, "and this young Kobe has the gift." Shaq was also secretly in the audience, and was later overheard to say, "it's the dopest rhyme I ever heard."

Separated at Birth: Dari Nowkhah and Shia Labeouf

2008-06-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

On a recent episode of the "Budweiser Hot Seat," SportsCenter anchor Dari Nowkhah interviewed actor Shia Labeouf to promote his upcoming film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Dari, who was not familiar with his interviewee, was given a card with three questions to ask Shia, after which he was to put on a brown cowboy hat and tell the audience at home to go see the new movie. What follows below is a transcript from this as-yet-unaired episode of the "Hot Seat."

Dari: We welcome now into the studio, a very talented actor, Shia Labeouf, of the Transformers and most recently the new Indiana Jones movie. Shia, you are now on... The Budweiser Hot Seat. Are you ready?

Shia: Uh, yes, I'm ready.

Dari: (Turns to face Shia) Ok, now Shia... Hey, what the? A mirror match??? IS THIS WHAT WE GOT????

Shia: I'm sorry, I don't understand. Mirror--

Dari: HAHM-DI-NAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Shia: I.. I just... I was told you'd ask me about the Red Sox or something.

Dari: RAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! OOOOooooOOOoooOOOOO!!!!!! (Bites head off nearby chicken)

Shia: Oh no...

At this point, ESPN turned off the cameras, while Dari ripped off his shirt and began running around the set like a madman. He was shot with a horse tranquilizer gun and later woke up mumbling Linda Cohn's name. The moral of the story: Do not confuse Dari Nowkhah.

Please hit the mute button. Now.

2008-06-15T22:11:00.001-07:00

ESPN begins their "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" battle of the bands this week. Nine bands, including REO Speedwagon, will be ~~butchering~~ performing an American classic much to ~~no one's~~ possibly six people's delight.

One question that I just have to ask: How much variation on this theme can you possibly do? The song is, at most, a minute long. As a baseball fan, I don't really want to see this anyway, but instead would prefer ESPN simply let this song be what it is. While I'm not sure if there is any actual prize money involved in this, probably just a few more minutes in the limelight and/or ham sandwiches is all the motivation some of these guys need.

Why is ESPN doing this? The better question is why do they do anything that they do? Like Titletown, or 50 states in 50 days, or the ESPY's, or Who's Now? This is just another in a long list of ridiculous things that are barely sports-related enough that ESPN can still try to justify doing it. I'm sure this probably appeals more to the 12-17 year-old boy crowd, as well as possibly the female audience. I'm still hoping for the day that a rival sports network gets its poo together and makes a serious run at these clowns.

Extra YouTube clip, just because I think it's funny:

Movie Preview: The Happening

2008-06-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

The writer-director of The Sixth Sense and Signs brings you his first R-rated film.

That's the tagline for the new "thriller" The Happening. And really, that's all you need to know.

M. Night Shayamalan is trying once again to fool the public into thinking he actually makes good movies. And to be honest, he once did. I really liked both Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense. But after those, his movies have slowly gone from intriguing to boring to just plain dumb. Signs was o.k. I guess, but I wouldn't see it again. The Village was an outright joke. If you've not seen it, I won't spoil the "twist," but just be prepared to be extremely disappointed when you see it. To be fair, I've not seen Lady In The Water, but I don't know a single person that has seen it that liked it.

The public has slowly grown to groan at the mention of an M. Night Shamalamadingdong movie. Undoubtedly, Mr. Shipoopi was aware of this, and needed some kind of gimmick to get people to watch his movies again. "Wait, what if I put in more gore, and a few F-bombs? That's sure to get those 14-to-18 year-olds that, 1) will watch anything, and 2) aren't yet completely soured on my utter lack of ingenuity." And there you go, his new flick is rated R, and, I have no doubt, will suck royally.

Prediction: 3/10

NBA Finals Preview: Lakers-Celtics XI

2008-06-03T16:18:00.001-07:00

Thus begin the endless references to all the classic Celtics/Lakers Finals matchups in history, particularly in the 80's. I know the media has to do this. I mean, they can't easily ignore it. Nor do I expect them to. So I understand that. But frankly, some of it is a little silly. Yes, it's the Lakers and Celtics. And yes, it's the game of basketball. And that's where the similarities end. So please, media, no more comparisons of the Boston Three Party to the true Big Three. And let's not compare Kobe to Magic or anything of the sort. Let this matchup be what it is. Also, I've heard some say this matchup is "saving the league." This is fully absurd. Saving the league? From what? The NBA is financially very healthy. So healthy, in fact, that it continues to subsidize the hemorrhaging, untenable farce known as the WNBA. Television revenues are at all time highs, and attendance levels remain high. I agree that this Finals matchup will probably get ratings as good as any of the Bulls Finals series. But it's not "saving the league," so no more saying this.

As for the matchup itself, this is pretty tough to call. Celtics won both regular season matchups, but that was before the Lakers got Pau Gasol, so as far as I'm concerned, those games have no bearing. This will be the Lakers first real test of the post-season. No team has yet been able to play the level of defense necessary to beat them four out of seven. I do think the Celtics have that defense, but they've been inconsistent this postseason, particularly on the road. When I look at these two teams, I see that the Lakers have the best starting five, the best bench, the best individual player, and the best coach. I guess this is easier than I thought.

Prediction: Lakers in 5

separated at birth

2008-06-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

Few people know that the late actor Alan Hale and sports broadcaster Jon Miller were good friends growing up. The younger Jon aspired to become a Hollywood star one day. He hoped to land a leading role in some sort of situational comedy about seven people that, after a transportation mishap, became stranded on an island (when you think about those circumstances, it makes you wonder how that was ever pitched as a comedy). The older Alan dreamt in his boyhood of one day becoming a famous baseball announcer alongside one of the greatest second-basemen to ever play the game. As it turned out, these friends ended up living out each other's dreams, though it worked well for each. Said Alan one day in 1989, "Jonny told me that he and Joe Morgan are going to start a new weekly baseball thing next year on Sunday nights. I told him good luck with it and to check out this blog so he knows exactly what to expect from the little buddy." Miller responded, "I'm privileged with the chance ESPN has given me. I hope to carry on Alan's legacy by getting Peter Gammons hopelessly stranded in Yankee Stadium one day."

Let's (Re)fool America!

2008-05-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

Recently, Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep introduced their plan to protect humanity from evil gas prices, also known as their "Let's Refuel America" program:

Program participants use a special card linked to their MasterCard or Visa credit card account. The card may be used to purchase enough fuel at $2.99 per gallon to travel up to12,000 miles per year in each of the next 3 years. So no matter what the price at the pump says, you'll never have to pay more than $2.99 per gallon for qualifying fuel.

In the face of high gas prices, such a program could be an enticing option for those in the market for a new car. But here are some facts which should be kept in mind:

1) While gas is a real cost of car ownership, it's not the most significant cost. The actual purchase price, and the cost of maintenance, are generally both more expensive than the cost of fuel.

2) Speaking of the actual purchase price, do you think that Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep is not somehow making back what they're losing on this gas deal? An old axiom remains true here, "there's no such thing as a free lunch." Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep has undoubtedly raised either their prices or interest rates to compensate for this program. Not to mention this next fact.

3) "To qualify, you must purchase or lease an eligible Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicle from May 7 through July 7, 2008 and have a valid MasterCard or Visa credit card." What are these "eligible vehicles?" Are they certain models that generally don't sell well? If so, there's probably a reason they don't, and that reason probably has something to do with...

4) These are Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles we're talking about here. This is perhaps the most important fact of all. Jeeps are some of the least-reliable, most gas-guzzling cars on planet Earth. Chrylsers and Dodges are only marginally better.

So basically what I'm saying is there's a lot more to buying a car than the price of gas. I'll hand it to Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep for shrewd marketing. They're doing a good job attempting to capitalize on people's general annoyance with rising gas prices. But if you're willing to drive a ~~piece of junk~~ unreliable, inefficient car to save a few dollars per fill-up, you might want to re-think your buying process.

The All-Laboring Runners Team

2008-05-20T20:02:00.001-07:00

This is a tribute to those baseball players whose lumbering (though not necessarily slow) efforts on the basepaths make childbirth look graceful by comparison. Remember to breathe, fellas.

Current team:

C Bengie Molina
1B Mark Teixeira
2B Jeff Kent
3B Ty Wigginton
SS J.J. Hardy
LF Jack Cust
CF Hunter Pence
RF Jeff Francoeur
P C.C. Sabathia
DH Frank Thomas

All-time team:

C Mike LaValliere
1B Sid Bream
2B Jeff Kent
3B Bob Horner
SS Cal Ripken, Jr.
LF Kirk Gibson
CF Kirby Puckett
RF Babe Ruth
P David Wells
DH Frank Thomas

What the Giants could do

2008-05-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Giants' pitcher Barry Zito currently boasts an 0-8 record, with a 6.25 ERA, 1.90 WHIP, and .337 BAA (batting average against). His fastball is currently in the mid-80's. He was demoted to the bullpen a few weeks ago, though recently reinstated to the rotation. To put it nicely, the Giants are not getting their money's worth on his 7-year $126M contract.

But have the Giants considered trying to truly get all they can out of Zito? They're paying this guy so much money, why don't they just make him throw a complete game every start? People may say that this increases his risk of injury, but in fact, Zito has been one of the most durable pitchers in recent history. He has started at least 33 games and pitched at least 196 innings in every year since 2001, the year after his rookie season. He has never spent a day on the disabled list.

People may also say "well, he isn't very good, don't overuse him and that will give the Giants have a better chance at winning." But let's not kid ourselves, the Giants are simply not a good team. I mean, look at them. If they lose every 5th game by a score of 14-2 instead of 7-2, honestly, what's the difference? Despite Brian Sabean's wild delusions, they're not competing in 2008. Therefore, get your money's worth, Sabean. Unless you can somehow get Hank Steinbrenner to eat his contract, in which case, I suggest that.

john lackey, rogue league return tonight

2008-05-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

As a John Lackey owner in my fantasy baseball league, I have some nervous excitement about his return for the Angels tonight. He has had four minor league/extended spring training starts to rehab a strained tricep in his pitching arm. There are a lot of unknowns when a pitcher returns from injury. Here are the possible scenarios for John Lackey as I see them, in order from most to least likely:

Scenario A - Lackey is Chris Carpenter. They've been rehabbing him in single A ball to hide the fact that he's still got an injury and now sucks. Whatever he does tonight, he'll need Tommy John surgery very soon. His career is basically over in everyone's mind except Tony LaRussa's.

Scenario B - Lackey is Jeremy Bonderman. He's not hurt anymore, but his velocity is diminished, and since he's a power pitcher, he's basically now a shell of his former self. Effectiveness will be sporatic. Surgery is possible down the road.

Scenario C - Lackey is Jason Schmidt. His velocity is diminshed and he's still hurt. He'll spend a lot of time on the DL, will never have a major surgery, and when he does pitch, he'll be mostly ineffective.

Scenario D - Lackey is Deion Sanders. Diminished ability in baseball leads him to turn to football, where he excels and helps a Mormon QB win a Super Bowl. He begins to wear hammer pants for no apparent reason.

Scenario E - Lackey is an alien from another planet. He assumes the form of a furry, snouted creature, and lives with a suburban middle-class family. He survives by feeding off humanoid food and, occasionally, cats.

Scenario F - Lackey returns to his 2007 form.

Lackey trains for new career as Foot Locker employee

chocolate chex sucks

2008-04-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

just in case you see it at the store one day and you're like "oh that looks kinda cool, maybe i'll buy it and it'll be awesome," don't, because it's awful.

apparently tony kornheiser reads the rogue league

2008-04-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

from today's episode of pardon the interruption. we couldn't agree more.

2008 mlb season preview: a.l. east

2008-03-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

predicted order of finish:

boston red sox 100-62
tampa bay rays 82-80
new york yankees 81-81
toronto blue jays 80-82
baltimore orioles 61-101

it's kind of weird how the red sox went from the beloved "idiots" everyone in america was rooting for in 2004 to a team that's now mostly loathed by anyone outside of their "nation." i think their hitting and pitching will be far superior to anyone else in this division and they'll win it again for the second year in a row. hopefully some other team will beat them in the playoffs or else we'll have to deal with even more insufferable red sox fans. the tampa bay rays have been predicted by baseball prospectus to win 88 games this year, an improvement of 22 wins over last season. to put this in some perspective, the rays have not won more than 70 games in any year of their existence. i'll be honest here: i'd really like to see this. i want to see the rays succeed. but i do have a hard time believing this. their hitting will be really good, but what about their pitching (especially their bullpen)? however, i do think they're better than both the yankees and blue jays, and i do think joe maddon is a good manager. hopefully my prediction doesn't look ridiculous in september. the yankees have too much talent to not win at least 80 games, and new manager joe girardi doesn't seem like a guy that's going to get in the way of things. it will be the same formula as the past six years, good hitting, average pitching, mariano rivera at the end of games. however, i have them missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993. the blue jays have enough pitching and hitting talent, but manager john gibbons seems to rub some of his guys the wrong way. i could see him being anything from manager of the year to fired by july 1st. my money is on the latter. what can i say about the baltimore orioles? this is a really young team, which is usually viewed as a good thing, but they're going to struggle a lot this year. they don't have much in the way of hitting, and their starting pitching will be pretty lousy, too. i'll give new GM andy macphail some credit-- he's trying to rebuild the farm system, depleted after years of ill-advised moves under the peter angelos regime. but this team is at least two years away from even being respectable again, let alone competitive.

2008 mlb season preview: n.l. east

2008-03-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

coach is running out of steam here... five straight days with a post = brutal. i do not have the stamina of fiscal musings.

predicted order of finish:

new york mets 95-67
atlanta braves 92-70
philadelphia phillies 85-77
florida marlins 74-88
washington nationals 71-91

the mets should've won this division last year but picked the exact wrong time to go super cold. now with the addition of johan santana, they will rectify the situation this year (although i'm of the opinion that his most dominant days are behind him). i think the braves are going to be good this year but it kind of worries me that they're becoming a trendy pick to contend in the media. i'd almost rather nobody pay attention to them, but i suppose that's hard to do. their pitching will be improved and their hitting will be slightly worse (read: mark kotsay is the CF. not good.) the phillies got lucky at the right time last year, won the division, then ran into a buzzsaw in the rockies. i predict they'll regress a little-- that is to say, they'll be the phillies. the marlins and nationals will both struggle, but at least the nats will have a nice new park, which i will be fortunate enough to visit over memorial day weekend.

2008 mlb season preview: a.l. west

2008-03-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

predicted order of finish:

angels 91-71
mariners 88-74
athletics 74-88
rangers 72-90

while i'm not really high on any team in this division, i think the angels have the best chance. despite the early season injuries to lackey and escobar, they still have good pitching depth, both in the rotation and bullpen, and their hitting is adequate. they've also got a good manager in mike scioscia. the mariners have improved their pitching (sort of) with bedard, and their hitting will be decent, better than the a's at least. this is a team that won 88 games last year, yet, somehow, still doesn't seem like a contender. the athletics will have a lot of new players, most of them very young. their pitching will be good but their hitting will be fairly weak. they'll take their lumps this year but should be contending again within a year or two. in the offseason, the rangers once again traded away pitching to get hitting. i'm not really sure when the rangers will figure out that they need to stop relying on kevin millwood and actually start developing (and keeping) young arms. until they do this, they will continue to bring up the rear in the west.

2008 mlb season preview: n.l. west

2008-03-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

predicted order of finish:

arizona diamondbacks 92-70
los angeles dodgers 89-73
colorado rockies 84-78
san diego padres 81-81
san francisco giants 65-97

the diamondbacks are the defending division champs. they got outscored last year but still somehow went 90-72. while i think some of that good luck will start to even out this year, the d-backs also acquired dan haren, who, with brandon webb, forms probably the best 1-2 starting pitching combo in the national league. their offense will be largely the same, so i'll predict 92 wins, which given the depth of this division, should be good enough to win it. the dodgers biggest offseason acquisition was not andruw jones but rather new manager joe torre. granted, this team will not be as talented as his late 90's/early 00's yankee squads, but torre is an intelligent, well-respected manager who occasionally falls asleep in the dugout and will get the best out of these players. the dodgers pitching remains strong while their offense remains fairly weak, but it will be good enough to compete. the rockies made the playoffs last year through an incredible hot streak at the right time and rode that streak all the way to the world series. maybe i'm just biased because of the rockies history of non-success, but i don't see this happening again this year. i think the rockies are a good enough team, and will stay close into september. but their pitching is mostly inexperienced or mediocre, and that won't be good enough in this division. the padres once again will have exceptional pitching and break their own record for 1-0 games. they'll be close in september but find a way to come up short, mostly due to their bad hitting. (note: if they make a trade deadline deal for a big hitter, i think they would both win this division and probably the world series. but i don't expect this to happen.) the depths of futility in which the giants will languish this season can be best illustrated by examining the probable middle of their batting order: rich aurilia, aaron rowand, bengie molina. that's quite possibly the saddest 3-4-5 in the history of baseball, and that includes any 3-4-5 that had the misfortune of having willie mays hayes in it. on a positive note, they have some pretty good starting pitchers.

2008 mlb season preview: a.l. central

2008-03-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

continuing on with our baseball season previews in no particular order, today we preview the american league's central division. click the "mlb season previews" label on the left menu to see other exciting previews.

predicted order of finish:

detroit tigers 95-67
cleveland indians 94-68
chicago white sox 79-83
minnesota twins 75-87
kansas city royals 73-89

the tigers are loaded on offense with new additions miguel cabrera and edgar renteria. i'll be surprised if they don't score over 900 runs this season. their pitching, especially their starters, will struggle somewhat. ordinarily this would cause me to pick against a team but i'll go with my guts here and predict the tigers to barely hold off cleveland to win the division. the indians return basically all of their key players from their 96-win division-winning team last season. if travis hafner returns to his previous form, cleveland's offense will be even stronger. their bullpen is always a slight concern when joe borowski is the closer, and sabathia logged a ton of innings last year and thus may not be as effective this year. i don't have them winning this division but i think the indians will win the wildcard. the twins pitching will struggle this year with the departure of johan santana and because their management is treating francisco liriano's left arm like it's a paper napkin. the twins hitting will struggle because they are forced to rely on guys like lew ford and mike lamb. white sox manager ozzie guillen said he's going to go back to being himself this year and that this will cause the white sox to win a lot, or something like that. while i'm not sure exactly what that statement means, i'm also not sure how they didn't win more last year, as they seem to have adequate pitching and hitting both. however, i think they'll still have the same level of quit in them as last year, leading to a similarly mediocre performance. the royals are still hapless, but GM dayton moore is slowly getting this franchise moving in the right direction. most importantly they have some decent young arms, and with the jose guillen signing in the offseason they're at least trying to attract people to kansas city, as difficult as that no doubt is.

2008 mlb season preview: n.l. central

2008-03-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

predicted order of finish:

chicago cubs 90-72
milwaukee brewers 84-78
houston astros 80-82
st. louis cardinals 77-85
cincinnati reds 74-88
pittsburgh pirates 68-94

like most people, i'm picking the cubs. this is partly due to their strength, but mostly due to the weakness of this division. though fukudome won't be as big a pickup as people think, their offense will be good, and their pitching will be good enough. i think the brewers' pitching is still not strong enough, and their defense is below average. at the plate, however, they have one of the deepest lineups in baseball. the astros have made lots of moves this offseason in an effort to win now. miguel tejada improves the offense and jose valverde strengthens the bullpen. but their starting pitching is too patchwork after roy oswalt. much to limeade's chagrin, the cardinals will have problems on offense this year. albert pujols is wandering into vlad guerrero territory in terms of limited lineup protection. but fortunately their new GM believes in trading away dinosaurs for younger players, so it won't be long before they're competitive again. the reds are a trendy sleeper pick to make the playoffs. one announcer on espn went so far as to say that, because the reds now have an elite closer, they're now contenders. to demonstrate how ridiculous a position that is, simply ask yourself if francisco cordero has ever turned a team into a contender. the pirates will continue to be the pirates. they'll match the 1933-48 phillies record of 16 consecutive losing seasons. at least they have one of the nicest stadiums in baseball which offers a great view of both baseball and ducks.

when visiting PNC park, be sure to look for the ducks, else some random dude
talk your ear off for 20 minutes. but don't eat the pierogies. they are garbage.

tournament time

2008-03-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

it's the second-most wonderful time of the year. a time for spring training baseball. a time for march madness. a time for some idiots somewhere to claim that worker productivity will go down by $1.7 billion because of the NCAA tournament. look dorks, people aren't robots, ok? that's all i'm going to say about that.

anyway, if you click on the image below you will see that, not unlike happy ninja's, my bracket is fairly gutless. however, i do actually believe all four number 1 seeds will make the final four. despite the fact that this has never happened in the past, there's a first time for everything. but, as per usual, i will be rooting for low seeds to beat high seeds, and for big ten teams to get humiliated. i'm an SEC homer like that.

be sure to take this bracket to your local kfc for a delicious toasted twister combo.

the best a man can get?

2008-03-08T00:55:00.000-08:00

much has been made of roger federer's struggles in recent tennis matches. his first round loss in the dubai tennis championships in february was his first since the cincinnati masters in 2004. in january of this year at the austrailian open, his streak of 10 consecutive majors finals was broken. some have speculated that this is the beginning of the end of his brilliant career.

many are curious as to the cause of federer's sudden misfortune. what many people may not know is that roger federer is laboring under a curse. it's a new kind of curse, one that is not restricted to only one sport, such as the curse of the billy goat or the curse of the bambino. it is the curse of the gillette fusion power phenom. since endorsing gillette's new five-bladed razor, roger federer's game has significantly declined. as long as these commercials remain on television, his struggles will continue. i expect we will soon see tiger woods and thierry henry, who also endorse the product, begin slumping as well. the gillette fusion power phenom knows no mercy.

while it is possible to break free of a curse, it is very difficult. the exact methods are not always known, nor do they always make sense. only after the red sox signed mark bellhorn before the 2004 season was the curse of the bambino finally broken and boston won the world series. for the curse of the gillette fusion power phenom, more drastic measures are necessary. i suggest roger federer begin endorsing the DOVO Solingen line of straight razors. it's clear the facial hair demons are not pleased with the ridiculous number of blades that are packed into today's razors. they are taking out their anger on those that are profiting off these devices. however, if federer endorses the DOVO straight razors, i believe he will be released from the curse. he will once again regain his dominant form, much to everyone's delight.

happy birthday joe carter

2008-03-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to former major league outfielder and 5-time All-Star Joe Carter. Joe was drafted with the 2nd overall pick by the Chicago Cubs in 1981 and made his major league debut in 1983. He played for the Indians and Padres in the late 80's before his best-known years in Toronto. It was there that he eventually became the Blue Jays all-time sacrifice flies leader with 65. Joe is also one of only 6 major league players to have hit 3 home runs in a game on at least 5 different occasions. But Carter is likely best remembered for having had a grown man attempt to crawl into his butt shortly after the Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series. Coincidentally, Carter also hit a game-winning 3-run homer off Mitch Williams that same day. From everyone here at the rogue league, happy 48th birthday Joe.

arctic monkey's favourite worst nightmare

2008-02-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

arctic monkey's album favourite worst nightmare has been out for nearly a year now, so i can't really call it new anymore. but i myself only recently purchased it about 3 months ago. after many listens of all the songs, here is my track-by-track review:

brainstorm - this is a really good beginning track. it's pretty fast-paced and loud, which is an appropriate prelude to what will follow throughout the album.

teddy picker - this song has a bit more of a funky beat but the band still maintains their signature sound. while this subject matter seems an unusual choice, it's still a really good song.

d is for dangerous - this is one of my top 2 or 3 songs on this album. i think it's funny that the word after the phrase "d is for..." is never actually the word "dangerous."

balaclava - thanks to wikipedia, i now know that a balaclava is a ski mask. so the lyric "who's the crooks in this crime?" now makes much more sense to me. this is a good song, another one with a semi-funk beat.

flourescent adolescent - slower than the previous 4 tracks, i think this is one of the singles here in the US. as i typically do with albums i own, i like the single less than many other songs. however, this is still an above average song.

only ones who know - slowest song on the album. i suppose this and the previous track are meant as the change of pace leading to the second half of the album. i'm not sure if 2 change of pace songs were needed back-to-back like this. i'd have preferred this be track 10 or something. still, it's better than average, and i usually don't skip it.

do me a favour - the cd starts to pick back up with this song, which itself takes a little while to pick up. the bass line for this song is really catchy. this is probably my second favorite song on the album.

this house is a circus - i think this could be the theme music to a live action scooby doo play, if such a play exists. the phrase "like a search for murder clues" always gets me thinking about this or about the board game clue. however, after hearing the lyrics a few times, i think this song is actually about a crack house.

if you were there, beware - i think this song was the inspiration for the album art. it's better to listen to this track with the previous one as opposed to listening to them individually. they're like peanut butter and chocolate in that way.

do the bad thing - i like the music for this one, but the lyrics are so stupid that it makes me generally dislike the song. i should mention here that i don't usually make a very big deal out of lyrics, so for me to dislike it just for that reason is saying something.

old yellow bricks - good song. not very distinguishable from the other ones.

505 - probably the best song on the cd, though it's hard to pick just one. this is really the type of album where you could ask 10 people what their favorite song is and get 10 different answers. the songs are that good and it's that difficult to choose. it's a great ending to the album.

you'll notice that a lot of my "reviews" consist of me saying things that are not terribly descriptive, which probably aren't particularly helpful for people that haven't heard the songs. basically, a lot of their songs sound very similar, which is all generally a post-punk british garage rock sound. in my opinion, there isn't much middle ground with this sound-- you either like it or you don't.

if you heard arctic monkeys first album and liked it, go to where music is sold and buy this album now. if you haven't heard anything by these guys, give them a listen. if you start to like it, you'll soon be hooked.

overall: 9 out of 10

movie forecast: vantage point

2008-02-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

vantage point centers on one major event, which is told from the perspective of 8 different characters. the audience is then left to determine which perspectives are the most believable and try to find the truth. in the case of this movie, the major event is an attempted assassination of the president. what we the audience are to figure out is who did the killing, if in fact the killing occurred.

i might be in the minority on this one, but this film just strikes me as one huge, crappy gimmick. not that i necessarily demand artistic excellence to like a film, nor would i necessarily even recognize it. but to subject the audience to an endless puzzle of questions which can't be solved definitively until the end of the movie seems kind of tiresome. absent just making a lucky guess, is there any way you can figure this movie out before it's over? even if you can, why would i want to go to the theater just to have to be encyclopedia brown for 2 hours? i'm not against mystery in a movie, i just think it should only be one element, of an actual plot, not the entire substance of a movie. furthermore, given the nature of this film, it will be extremely low on the rewatchability scale.

prediction: 4/10

separated at birth

2008-02-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

many people may not realize that pittsburgh penguins center sidney crosby and actor tom welling are actually long lost brothers. welling, likely best known for his role as nick castle in the fog, has recently given crosby advice on how to quickly recover from his recent ankle injury: "imagine a healthy hockey player, what he would feel like, what he would move like, what he would act like. and then, you be that player. study the role densely and you can be it." sidney expressed confusion at this advice but continues his rehab. he also said that he wouldn't feel like a good brother if he didn't offer his own piece of advice for tom: "smallville sucks."

breaking news: hawks get mike bibby

2008-02-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

you can read more about this trade here. as a hawks fan, i approve of this deal. basically anyone on this team is tradeable except for joe johnson, al horford, and josh smith. so the fact that they gave up none of those guys and still got a fairly young guy (29 years old), who is someone that will easily be their best point guard since mookie blaylock, is automatically a good move. hopefully, perhaps, hawks management is turning a corner.

hot stove part deux

2008-02-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

with spring training now officially underway, the rogue league examines a few more notable transactions from this offseason.

mets acquire johan santana from twins for carlos gomez and 3 prospects, then sign him to an enormous extension

the twins tried to get both the red sox and yankees to offer more for santana, and after they didn't bite, the mets reaped the benefits. this is obviously a good deal for the mets, and i'm o.k. with it from the twins side too. they couldn't afford to keep santana but at least now they get some good young arms which will hopefully pan out. santana's subsequent contract extension for 7 years $151M makes him the highest paid pitcher in history, and the fourth ever to get a $100M contract. the other three were mike hampton, kevin brown, and barry zito... not exactly in the same class, as santana is clearly better than any of those guys ever were or will be. however, he is still human, and i believe that at some point his newfound wealth will affect him to some degree. not that he's going to become awful or anything, but i could see santana getting a little lazier, maybe partying too much in new york with jose reyes, and then not being quite as good. fortunately for mets fans, though, he'll still be an ace, and i don't think this contract will reach albatrossian status for 5 years.

astros get miguel tejada from orioles for luke scott and four prospects; sign kaz matsui to 3-year $16.5M contract; acquire jose valverde from diamondbacks for chris burke, chad qualls, and juan gutierrez

those are a lot of players the astros have dealt this winter. i don't know how deep their farm system is, but i'll give them credit-- they're clearly trying to win now. it does seem a little strange to commit 3 years to matsui given that he's shown no ability to stay healthy, and who will likely put up numbers similar to chris burke anyway. the tejada deal i really like for their offense. their 2-3-4-5 could be something like pence, tejada, berkman, lee. that's very formidable. tejada can actually opt out after 2008, though, so if houston doesn't resign him, that was a steep price for one year (unless they win the world series, of course). valverde should help bolster the bullpen, meaning fans will no longer have to see roy oswalt silently weeping in the dugout after yet another blown save.

mariners get erik bedard for adam jones, george sherrill, and three prospects

once the mariners didn't get johan they had to look for the next best thing. they feel they have a chance to win now, and they also apparently don't have room for adam jones in their outfield. i like bedard but i would've like to have seen a deal like this for someone slightly more proven. i also wonder how bedard will fare now that leo mazzone will not be his pitching coach. overall this is a deal the mariners probably felt they had to make, but that's a lot of players to give up. for the orioles, between this and the tejada deal, they've acquired seven prospects, and they and cal-state fullerton have to be considered the favorites in omaha this june.

giants sign aaron rowand to 5 year $60M contract

i'll start with the positive: i like aaron rowand as a player. i think he hussles a lot, his defense is pretty good, his offense will be slightly above average, and i've heard he's a really good clubhouse presence. however, this is too many years for him. he's coming off career-high offensive numbers that, probably if you ask anyone in the world they'll agree with this, he will never again match. his at-times reckless play makes him an injury concern as well. i know the giants had to sign someone, and they certainly had some extra cash with barroid now off the payroll. i'm just not sure rowand is that marquee name that will resonate with fans.

blue jays acquire scott rolen from cardinals for troy glaus

this is your proverbial one man's trash is another man's treasure deal. except they're both trash. i like glaus' numbers for the last 3 seasons over rolen's, so i think st. louis got the better end of this deal. actually, i'm not really sure what would prompt the blue jays to take this deal. i think scott rolen has pictures of toronto general manager j.p. riccardi wearing women's underwear.

padres get jim edmonds from cardinals for prospect david freese

i can understand san diego trading away a third-base prospect when they already have an everyday third-baseman and another prospect in waiting. what i cannot understand is trading for edmonds. what's his batting line at petco going to be? .265 avg 8 hr 50 rbi? that's gross, and that's probably being generous. why wouldn't you just take another year or two of mike cameron (for about the same price, too)? it just seems weird. from the cardinals perspective though, i like this. new general manager john mozeliak sweeps away another overpaid under-performing has-been to open up room for younger talent.

separated at birth?

2008-02-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

saint joseph's head basketball coach phil martelli has actually been mistaken for a bald eagle several times in his life. the most recent occurrence was at a national zoo exhibit in washington, d.c., where he was visiting with his family. while standing outside a giant cage admiring a majestic eagle perched atop a pole, martelli was startled by some other visitors that were trying to get a picture with him. "look at this, one of them's out of his cage. honey quick get a picture with me and him," said one visitor. martelli stood by confused but obliged the happy visitors with various photos. "he even understands english. this is amazing," the visitor added. when martelli was later informed that he had, once again, been mistaken for our national bird, he only shook his head, then devoured a raw fish.

super bowl xlii preview

2008-02-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

to be honest, i am not very pumped up for this matchup. hopefully i am wrong, but i have a sinking feeling that the patriots are just going to rout the giants in this game. had the game been played last weekend, i might have picked the giants. but since they have to have a long layoff, much like the rockies before the world series, i think they will be more rusty than resty. plus, now that we learned the patriots taped the rams walkthrough before super bowl 36, maybe they did the same thing yesterday, making it that much tougher for the giants to win. seriously, these patriots spies are as easy to spot as sylvester stallone in the specialist. i mean what was that one scene about where he's staring at eric roberts in the limo? he's looking right at him. he didn't try to hide. throughout the whole movie he keeps getting seen. wasn't he supposed to be more covert? what is he a specialist at anyway? being conspicuous? ok anyway yeah this game is going to suck. i also have my doubts for the halftime show being any good. i actually like tom petty more than the average person in my demographic, but i'm not sure that free ballin' is really going to cut it. hopefully the commercials will be good though. prediction: patriots 48-21.

tv show preview: eli stone

2008-01-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

so many questions come to mind when i think of abc's new show eli stone...i mean, ELI STONE, which premieres tonight. for starters, what is george michael's role in this? does he play a godlike figure? or an angel perhaps? is abc actually expecting that the audience will be able to move past the fact that it's george michael and accept his character as a holy figure? i'm assuming the main character guy is a prophet, called to do something to help people in some way. how are these callings made, exactly? through george michael's music? i mean, do the musical stylings of WHAM really bring out the best in a man? i'm pretty sure the last time i was stuck listening to "Faith" i wanted to shoot somebody. also, how many times will there be a scene where prophet-guy is singing along to a george michael that nobody else can see? is this intended to be some comic relief? because i've seen it probably 30 times in commercials already and it's never been funny. nor is it funny when the prophet-guy faints or has a giant plane fly over his head.

while i was wondering who exactly will be drawn to watch this show, i remembered that abc is placing it right after their hit show Lost. this obviously makes some sense as they can probably draw in tons of viewers that otherwise wouldn't give two craps about this. however, there's also quite a bit of risk in making such a move. what percentage of abc's audience will make a lasting judgment of eli stone after that first show? and also, what percentage of that audience will be watching for no other reason than because it was on after Lost? if both of those percentages are high, and if the pilot sucks, then eli stone will walk the wide road unto death, and the initial 13 episodes is all we'll see. if the pilot is above average, then this might even last 3 seasons. my prediction lies somewhere in between: 24 episodes

a pitcher worth 18,000 words

2008-01-29T17:46:00.000-08:00

has there ever been a time in your life when you thought someone did something, but you weren't sure? but then, there was an alleged eye-witness, who gave sworn testimony to confirm your suspicion? when the person accused came up with more and more stories and facts to explain himself, did you find yourself believing him more, or less?

the more roger clemens tries to convince me and all of us that he never used steroids, the more i find myself not believing him. in clemens' agent's recent 18,000-word statistical report published monday, many facts are presented, with the supposed intention being to "prove" roger never used steroids. but it's flawed logic to believe this based solely on this report. consider first the claim that clemens' peak performance was from near the end of the 1996 season to the beginning of the 1999 season. if this is true, doesn't that actually support brian mcnamee's assertions more, considering that he said he began injecting roger in the butt back in 1998? it's also said within the report that clemens' career was extended due to a change in pitching styles and (later) through contractually-shorter seasons with limited travel. of course, this is all true, but the fact that it's true still does not mean anything in relation to whether or not he used steroids. he still could have juiced in conjunction with doing these other actions. then the report has a bunch of charts and numbers that compare clemens to other hall-of-fame caliber pitchers who pitched into their 40's who haven't been accused of cheating. the leap of logic here is "these guys were great without steroids, so roger was too." obviously, this is ludicrous to assume that because others have pitched into their 40's without steroids, therefore clemens must also have pitched into his 40's without steroids. and besides, given that roger was actually much more effective in his 40's than most of those other guys, isn't that just one more piece of damning, not exonorating, evidence?

clemens' crusade of innocence now intrigues me far more than whether or not he even used steroids. he keeps drawing me back in with his repeated denials, each with a few more bits of inconsistency and confusion. to me, the 18,000-word report seems nothing more than argumentum verbosium. while i certainly can't blame clemens for trying to defend himself against what he believes to be false accusations, i think there are better and more convincing ways to go about it. roger, come up with one story and stick with it. like your accuser did.

foo fighters concert in nashville

2008-01-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

i recently attended the foo fighters concert in nashville last saturday. for those of you out there who are wondering what the set list might be for when they visit your town, i'll list the one from the nashville show below. i'm also including a few notes from the show (i.e. spoilers follow, so don't read past the set list if you don't want to know anything else).

foo fighters nashville tennessee saturday january 26 2008

let it die
the pretender
times like these
breakout
learn to fly
cheer up boys (your makeup is running)
this is a call *
stacked actors **
skin and bones
marigold
my hero ***
cold day in the sun
but, honestly
everlong ****
monkey wrench
keep the car running (arcade fire cover)
all my life

* they made great use of stop-start dynamics in this version, including about a 2 1/2 minute guitar battle between dave grohl and another guitarist that was really cool.

** this featured about a 5 minute drum solo. that guy had to be tired. also, after this song, a miniature circular stage descended from the ceiling closer to the back of the auditorium and FF performed the next 6 songs from there with accompaniment from another 4 people.

*** after this song dave (yes, we're on a first name basis) introduced the other guys that were playing with them. he had the triangle player (drew hester) do a solo for us. i would not be surprised if that was the loudest a crowd has ever gotten for a triangle solo.

**** at first i was disappointed that it was an acoustic version of everlong. but as it went along i really liked it. usually i'm not a huge fan of crowds singing along in a concert but in this case it was actually really cool. the transition from acoustic to electric was also great. watch the whole thing here.

the set list was actually cut short by about 4 songs as dave was having trouble with his voice (which was later confirmed by him on the foo's website as a bout with the flu). as this was my first foo fighters concert, i had only heard stories of dave grohl's showmanship. and now i can confirm that, indeed, he puts on a first rate performance. i encourage anyone to go see them.

site update

2008-01-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

you've probably noticed another facelift for the rogue league. that's two in our young 7 months of existence. (who knew we were so ugly?) the main thing i was going for were links and crap on the left side of the page, but apparently it also no longer looks like "a colorblind mess," or whatever happy ninja called us before. anyway hopefully you like the changes. as always, reader suggestions are welcome, both for formatting and for topics you'd like me to write about.

also, though this is primarily a sports blog, you will probably start to notice a few more non-sports-related posts over the next several weeks. that's because we are about to enter the lamest period in the sporting year, the time between the super bowl and march madness. and
because this is a leap year, there's even an extra day in the awfulness this year (thanks a lot, rotation of the earth). anyway i will be talking more about movies or music or tv or whatever else i can to take my mind off it all. happy reading everyone!

hot hot heat's happiness ltd.

2008-01-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

here now is a song-by-song review i wrote back in october of hot hot heat's Happiness Ltd.

1) happiness ltd. - i think the title track of an album should be strong, and this does not disappoint. it's not the best song on the album but it's above average. it's got a good little intro, which i feel every opening track to any album should have. the multi-vocal chorus entry about 3/4th's through is good and, fortunately, not an overdone element throughout the whole cd.

2) let me in - jakob dylan wrote this song for lead singer steve bays to sing the lyrics to. actually i don't know if that's true but i would not be surprised, as this sounds a fair amount like something the wallflowers would do, except for the christmas bells part (which i think are a good addition). this is probably the most complete song on the album, if not the best. i wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the singles. but not that i would actually ever know, because the only canadian band that radio stations around here play is poo.

3) 5 times out of 100 - the line "tell me what my chances romance is" reminds me of the line from dumb and dumber... so you're saying there's a chance. uhh.. this song is just weird. it probably best fits a tim burton movie about halloween romance, if such a movie were ever to be created.

4) harmonicas and tambourines - this is probably the catchiest song, and arguably the best overall. the beginning sounds eerily similar to the theme music to the woodman stage in mega man 2. this is obviously a good thing. but this song also has *easily* the stupidest lyrics. so, y'know, it's like, when you hear it in your car, you want to sing along, then you hear the words, and you're like "these words are too stupid to sing with." perhaps my view will change though, as i felt this way at first about the killers' "bones." and while i actually still feel that way, i sing at least one word, which is the word "bones," except that i change it to "boner," because i'm 12.

5) outta heart - i'm not going to lie, i'm not a very big fan of this song. this just reeks of their producer telling them "hey, you need a sort of easy song with a dumb chorus that you sing 100 times with an overly-formulaic sound. see what you can come up with." and then this song was the offspring of that request. this is very similar to the bravery's equally uninspired single "time won't let me go."

6) my best fiend - this is another candidate for my favorite song, along with tracks 2 and 4. i think this song best captures the new sound they seem to be going for (in at least some songs) while simultaneously doing a decent job at keeping their already established sound (like the piano). if you're so inclined, it's pretty easy to dance to. in fact, if you didn't at least have your foot tapping when you first heard it, you probably do not have a pulse. it's also got a good intro, which like i said, i'm a fan of. i know some people are like "come on, get on with the song already," but if the intro is good, i think it only adds to the song, not detract.

7) conversation - easy to skip but also not terrible. there's nothing really complicated in this song. i think the lyrics were written by a guy in high school to his girlfriend one night when he had only one thing on his mind and she "just wanted to talk."

8) give up - within the first couple of seconds, i thought maybe i was listening to Toto. after that nonsense is over, this song picks up quite a bit and turns into one of the better ones. a good use of synth and indeed all instrumets (except for the woodblocks in the beginning).

9) good day to die - the lyrics are interesting. the music itself is not particularly memorable. and i'm done with this one.

10) so so cold - this song is kind of catchy but also kind of weird. the lyrics are pretty dumb. the vocal semi-solo (accompanied only by tamborine and bass) is just slightly tolerable.

11) waiting for nothing - this final song sounds like a quasi-ballad. it's progresses more slowly than just about all the other songs. i didn't like it too much the first couple of times i heard it but it's grown on me more now. i also like how this song obviously seems like the final song of an album. i always like it when you can listen to a CD all the way through and both the songs and the album itself had a recognizable beginning and end.

overall this has got a bit more of a dance/eletronica feel than previous efforts. i think the first half is considerably stronger than the second, much like this review. there are similarities to the bravery, somewhat to the killers, and to a lesser extent (only on some songs), the wallflowers. i don't think they're really attempting to be any of those bands, but after this album, i can't help but draw some comparisons. overall rating: 6.5 out of 10

philip rivers probably has balls made of iron or something

2008-01-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

due to espn's nonstop coverage of tom brady in his boot, you may not have noticed that philip rivers just played in the afc championship game with a torn ACL. that's right, a ligament in a major joint in the body of a human, torn beyond the point of use. except he still used it with the help of a brace. while i have thought some of rivers' on-field and off-field antics have been somewhat bush league, he's a talented QB, and i definitely have a new respect for him now.

by the way, espn, i really wouldn't mind if you stopped trying to be TMZ and just went back to reporting scores and showing highlights and stuff. k? thanks.

nfl conference championship previews

2008-01-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

san diego at new england (-14)

even though the chargers probably won't have phillip rivers and antonio gates (both listed as doubtful) for this game, i don't think it would make very much of a difference. the patriots will have a talent advantage irregardless of the injury status of san diego players. i would also say that they'll have a coaching advantage too, except that norv turner has done surprisingly well in the playoffs (3-1 all-time). it's true that he does not make the playoffs very often (only twice), but when he does, he seems to do well. perhaps he is the 90's mark messier of the NFL. anyway, the chargers charmed run will end somewhere in the 2nd quarter of this game, when randy moss does something amazing and then does something disgusting, America. which is what this game will be--disgusting. patriots 42-10

ny giants (+7.5) at green bay

i was reading the words of a wise blogger this week who said that the super bowl everyone wants is rarely the super bowl everyone gets. i think there's a lot of truth to this. obviously, the super bowl that seemingly everyone wants is packers versus patriots. after all, this will be the last chance that a team will have to knock off the patriots, and it would be a team that hasn't already been beaten by them (which the giants have been). it would also of course be a great opportunity for us (read: everyone on espn) to debate whether or not brett favre will re-re-re-retire already. despite the very high price of two straight weeks of complete nonsensical bloviation from trey wingo, sean salisbury, and the rest of goof troop, i too would like to see a green bay vs new england super bowl, because i think the packers would have a better chance of winning than the giants. basically i just don't want to see the patriots go 19-0, probably like everyone else in the world outside of the greater bastin area. but as far as this game is concerned, i think the giants road warriordom will continue. they'll be superior both on the ground and through the air, despite eli manning's well-noted difficulties in the cold, and their defense will be just good enough. giants 24-20

nfl divisional playoff preview

2008-01-11T19:29:00.001-08:00

i should probably be more excited about this weekend's games given that the top seeds are now in action, but instead i find myself dealing with a tough bout of blogger's block. i think it may have something to do with a sinking feeling i have that all four home teams will win this weekend, which would kind of stink. indeed, all the top seeds are favored by at least 7.5 points, which just seems really high for playoff games. irregardless, onto the matchups:

seattle at green bay (-7.5)

by now we've all seen the al harris Pick Six clip at least a dozen times. sadly for packers fans, this has no bearing on saturday afternoon's game. still, seattle morphs into a different team when not in the presence of the 12th man. this is compounded by the fact that lambeau field has traditionally been a notoriously tough place for road teams to win in the playoffs. my guess is that hasselbeck has been sick of hearing about that "we want the ball and we're gonna score" thing all week and will be inspired to play a good game. mike holmgren is a good coach and he'll have a smart game plan, but ultimately, seattle's awfulness on the road will get the best of them. packers 28-17

jacksonville at new england (-13.5)

fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, none of the experts are giving the jaguars a chance. sometimes when everyone is picking one team and not giving the other team a chance, the other team wins. however, in this case, the team being (almost) unanimously picked is the 16-0 patriots. add to this that various jaguars have been running their mouths all week, and there is no chance that jacksonville can come in under the radar. as for the game itself, i believe in the jaguars' ability to both run and to stop the run. they also strike me as the more physical team. my concern lies in their secondary and their (in)ability to stop brady and his wide receivers corps. also, at some point, david garrard's run of non-crappy games has to come to an end. this seems as good a time as any to predict that. though i'll be pulling for jacksonville, i predict 32-20 patriots.

san diego (+9) at indianapolis

admittedly, i am somewhat of a peyton manning fan these days, and this recent talk by tony dungy of him not knowing whether he'll return next season has me worried. basically this is because i think it has the potential to be a distraction. also, let's not forget that peyton once had developed, and i feel it was earned, a reputation for playing poorly in the playoffs. unfortunately, i think this is going to happen again on sunday, which will consequently lead to struggles in their running game. on the other side of the ball, i think l.t. will help san diego control the ball, and, somewhat shockingly, phillip rivers will go two consecutive weeks without crapping himself. despite all their fake noise, the colts are about to lose at home to norv turner. verily, the end is nigh. chargers 28-13

new york giants at dallas (-7.5)

how is the tony romo/jessica simpson thing a story at all? has espn just completely turned into mtv plus skip bayless? i've heard a lot of comments this week that it's hard to beat a team three times in a season. that giants/eli manning bandwagon is getting pretty crowded these days, and i think there's going to be some people hopping off after this sunday. t.o. is set to play in this game and the giants will also be without two of their cornerbacks. cowboys 27-20

separated at birth

2008-01-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

when recently informed of their separated at birth status, both new york knicks forward zack randolph and actor djimon hounsou said they were surprised. i actually don't know how this could even be possible after looking at photos of them side-by-side. but anyway, each sent an e-mail to the rogue league responding to this story:

"i would like to thank the academy for this honor. for years, my work went largely unrecognized, and i wondered if ever i would get my big break. i now know my supporters are many." - d.h.

after i informed djimon that he had not in fact won an oscar, but instead had simply been linked biologically to zack randolph, he expressed disappointment.

"i figured that if i never left portland for a bigger market, i would toil in anonymity, and would ultimately become a great player forgotten. and now being in new york has helped me to win this, my first Most Valuable Player award. thank you everyone." - Z

i'm not sure how my message was once again confused, but again i was forced to be the bearer of bad news, to which zack responded that he wanted to be traded.

nfl wildcard weekend preview and review

2008-01-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

with the playoff season finally here, and with my awful fantasy football season in the past, i can now watch football without concern for jay cutler's skiddishness or lawrence maroney's lack of carries (thanks, belicheck. jerk.) so i shall now take to writing previews and reviews of each weekend's hot playoff action. first up are the wildcard games. check back here after the games for reviews. like a chia pet, this post will grow.

washington at seattle

preview: the seahawks are both a better team than the redskins and are at home. these will be too big of obstacles for washington to overcome. mike holmgren ditched the run for a while and the passing game got in sync, and now lately shaun alexander has resumed a respectable running game. their offensive weapons will be too much for washington's average defense. prediction: 24-7 c-hawks

review: after looking positively catatonic for 3 quarters, the redskins suddenly got off the mat for about 5 minutes and took a brief 14-13 lead. then the missed field goal probably took away some momentum, and then todd collins really took away the momentum. and i'm done talking about this one. 35-14 seahawks

jacksonville at pittsburgh

preview: jacksonville won what many (myself included) believe was a landmark game for their franchise 3 weeks ago in pittsburgh. they proved they could win a tough road game they "weren't supposed to win" and shook off that pesky label of being "mentally weak." they also proved, yet again, that mother nature does not put on a uniform for the home team (i can hear happy ninja rolling in his grave right now). of course, the jaguars were rewarded for that victory by...having to play in pittsburgh again. since their previous matchup, the jaguars have done nothing to make me believe in them less, and the steelers have done nothing to make me believe in them more. plus now pittsburgh's really in deep doodoo without willie parker. i expect the jaguars to have lots of confidence going into this game and for them to intercept roethlisberger at least 3 times, from which i will derive much more enjoyment than i probably should. prediction: 26-14 jags

review: after completely dominating for about 3 quarters, the jaguars found ways to let the steelers back in the game, nearly losing in the process. this propensity to blow leads doesn't give me much confidence in their upcoming matchup versus the patriots. anyway, the play of the game obviously was david garrard's run on 4th and 2, which was a great call by jack del rio. 31-29 jaguars

ny giants at tampa bay

preview: last week's effort versus the patriots had to be inspiring for giants fans. i think they gave new england a much better fight than the buccaneers would have. indeed, the giants are my sleeper pick to make the super bowl from the nfc. in this game, their main difficulty is just the fact that it's on the road. but the giants were 7-1 on the road this year, and they are the better team here. they've also played a tougher schedule in a stronger division, so i think they're more prepared in that way. while i'm aware of jeff garcia's success against the giants in the postseason, i'll take new york in a close one. prediction: 24-17 giants

review: eli manning wins his first playoff game which sets up a re-rematch with the cowboys. the giants front four was able to consistently get pressure on jeff garcia and hurry him into some bad throws. the general lack of an offense on the bucaneers part was exposed, while eli manning played very well versus a tough bucs pass defense. actually if i had to take either manning or phillip rivers right now, i'd say eli is the better quarterback. 24-14 giants

titans at chargers

preview: since this game is in san diego, and given the chargers great home record recently, they are the safe bet to win this game. but there are a few things that make me think the titans can pull the upset: 1) vince young might not play. as happy ninja once accurately stated, no team hides its quarterback more effectively than tennessee. strange as it sounds, kerry collins gives them a better chance to win. 2) the titans should've won their regular season matchup but gave the game away late. 3) norv turner is the chargers coach. this shouldn't need any further explanation. 4) steroidface's lights out dance looks stupid and his doing it will cause all his teammates to be sad and play worse. despite these facts, i'll still pick the chargers. prediction: 28-10 san diego

review: somehow norv turner both won this game and managed to keep his pants on. for the entire first half, i was certain the titans would pull off the upset. then, as the game went on, i remembered just how horrible their offense is, and just how good ladainian tomlinson is. this puts a damper on my previous prediction that the chargers would hire pete carroll in the offseason. 17-6 chargers

bowls previews and reviews

2007-12-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

here are my previews of some of the bowl games, with reviews written after the game. all picks were made before the games themselves. check back often as games go final to get the reviews.

poinsettia bowl - utah vs. navy

preview: my first instinct is to say that utah lost to air force, and navy beat air force, so it stands to reason that navy can probably beat utah. so i'll pick navy based on this simple, yet often-times flawed, logic.

final score: 35-32 utah

review: utah had a good game plan. navy looked slightly lost with paul johnson no longer at coach.

new orleans bowl - florida atlantic vs. memphis

preview: howard schnellenberger has done a pretty good job at a school that did not even have a football program 7 years ago. who would've thought the school at which he once coached, miami, would be absent in bowl season, but a team nicknamed the owls would be in? i think FAU is better coached and will be better prepared thanks to having played a tougher schedule. i pick the owls.

final score: 44-27 fau

review: memphis was simply overmatched.

papajohns.com bowl - (20) cincinnati vs. southern miss

preview: cincinnati has made a habit of beating inferior opponents all season. this game will be no different.

final score: 31-21 bearcats

review: this was the type of tough-fought game that southern miss typically has. and also typically, they lost.

las vegas bowl - ucla vs. (19) byu

preview: byu is the better team. they were when they played ucla in september, and they still are now. only bad coaching and/or turnovers will cause their loss. i don't see too much of either of these happening, so i'll take the cougars.

final score: 17-16 byu

review: byu needed a hand of Moroni field goal block to retain victory. i hope the voters will forget about this by january 8th and put byu in the top 15, thus increasing our chances at high preseason placement next season.

hawaii bowl - (24) boise state vs. east carolina

preview: though i will pick the broncos, i will in no way be surprised if east carolina wins this game.

final score: 41-38 pirates

review: i am in no way surprised by this.

holiday bowl - (12) arizona state vs. (17) texas

preview: arizona state is a little overrated heading into this game, and texas is probably getting a little overlooked after laying an egg versus rivals texas a&m. after seeing what usc did to the sun devils, i'll take texas to deliver a similar, though slightly more gentle, beatdown.

final score: 52-34 longhorns

review: there were zero definitive angles that showed that kid on the texas sideline touching the ball. so how was that determined "conclusively" by video review? i may never know the answer to this question.

champs sports bowl - (14) boston college vs. michigan state

preview: this looks like a classic team just happy to be playing in december versus team that's annoyed to be stuck in something called the champs sports bowl. in many of these cases, it's wise to take the underdog, which is what i'll do here. go spartans.

final score: 24-21 eagles

review: michigan state had a chance to win this but boston college's superior talent ultimately won out. i forgot how easy it is to beat a mediocre big 10 team.

liberty bowl - central florida vs. mississippi state

preview: my only question entering this game is how did mississippi state win 7 games this year? seriously, i could spend an entire year thinking about this and still not come up with a good answer. while i honestly do believe sylvester croom is doing an admirable job in starkville, for him to be voted SEC coach of the year over the potential national champion coach les miles of LSU is somewhat ridiculous. still, i will pick the bulldogs here, only because i just know croom will make me rue the day i pick against him (again).

final score: 10-3 mississippi state

review: i think i'm glad i only watched the one highlight of this game.

meineke car care bowl - connecticut vs. wake forest

preview: this is by far the worst name for a bowl. incidentally, i will be attending this game, which is being played in charlotte. i'll pick wake forest in what will be basically a home game for them.

final score: 24-10 wake forest

review: the uconn husky is a humorously plain mascot.

independence bowl - alabama vs. colorado

preview: two 6-6 teams. only one will finish with a winning record. i'm picking saban just because i'm sure his players will play more scared than dan hawkins' players will.

final score: 30-24 alabama

review: john parker wilson somehow played a decent game, while colorado took a good quarter and a half to realize they were not, in fact, playing intramurals.

music city bowl - kentucky vs. florida state

preview: the seminoles will be without like a million players and will basically be fielding the chess team plus local denny's employees. still, they'll play inspired football and keep it close, but lose.

final score: 35-28 kentucky

review: maybe it's just me but bobby bowden just doesn't seem that upset with losing anymore. he's still a legend, and he's certainly earned the privilege of leaving FSU on his own terms, but shouldn't he be a little more passionate?

insight bowl - indiana vs. oklahoma state

preview: oklahoma state head coach mike gundy is both a man and 40 years old. do not bet against him.

final score: 49-33 cowboys

review: i expected indiana to make this more of a game.

chick-fil-a bowl - (15) clemson vs. (23) auburn

preview: this is one of my favorite bowls of this season simply because i can call it a tiger fight. i predict the clemson tigers shall be mighter than the tigers of auburn

final score: 23-20 auburn (o.t.)

review: for this being a game between two teams nicknamed tigers, and for them both having orange in their school colors, i was disappointed with the lack of orange jersey and/or pant in this game. in other news, c.j. spiller is really good.

outback bowl - (16) tennessee vs. (18) wisconsin

preview: though i live in orange country, i am not a volunteer fan. still, i acknowlege they've had a good season, and their tough schedule will prepare them well to beat wisconsin.

final score: 21-17 vols

review: it just wouldn't feel like new year's if tennessee wasn't playing at 11:00 a.m. they improve to 54-47 all time in outback bowls.

cotton bowl - (7) missouri vs. (25) arkansas

preview: i fully expect darren mcfadden to run through the mizzou secondary like a knife through hot butter and for jeremy maclin to have a sub-par day. missouri will still be disappointed to have been snubbed by the bcs. my pick is the hogs.

final score: 38-7 missouri

review: really, i could not have been more wrong in this prediction. arkansas looked very lazy and missouri looked very sharp. i hope bobby petrino goes 0-12 next year.

capital one bowl - michigan vs. (9) florida

preview: florida's spread option attack should overpower and bewilder lloyd carr's bunch.

final score: 41-35 michigan

review: there are many things i could say here for excuses, such as the well-documented post-heisman-winning jinx. but really the michigan players played hard for lloyd carr in his last game. and florida's inexperience on the defensive front really showed. sadly, the michigan seniors did not go 0-4 in their bowl games.

rose bowl - (13) illinois vs. (6) usc

preview: only the most deluded of college football fans really believe illinois is either 13th best in the country or that they'll give usc problems. the trojans have already played and nearly beat oregon. they will have no trouble with oregon jr.

final score: 49-17 usc

review: it looked like the illini had never seen such speed on defense. indeed, it's unlikely they had; as the happy ninja put it, "they don't make teams like this in the big 11."

sugar bowl - (10) hawaii vs. (4) georgia

preview: i look forward to the inevitable.

final score: 41-10 uga

review: "i don't care who you play, going undefeated is impressive."

fiesta bowl - (11) west virginia vs. (3) oklahoma

preview: an interesting conspiracy theory surrounding rich rodriguez has emerged, stating that he intentionally threw the game vs. pittsburgh so that the mountaineers wouldn't be playing in the national title game so that he could take the job at michigan. i'm not sure whether this is actually true, but i do know that oklahoma currently has a better coach and better athletes, so i expect them to win.

final score: 48-28 west virginia

review: "did i say ninja? i meant ninny. i am such a ninny." i should probably start believing more in west virginia. they looked very good and i was surprised how well they played given the uncertain coaching situation. the long runs by pat white and noel devine prompted me to say out loud that they looked like a video game. i'm sorry to say, but once again, bob stoops lays an egg in a bcs game.

orange bowl - (8) kansas vs. (5) virginia tech

preview: kansas has had a good season, and their fans should be happy with their 11-win campaign. they should also probably not watch this game, as the hokies will show no mercy.

final score: 24-21 jayyyyyhawwwwwwks

review: at least for me, this is one of the bigger surprises of the bowl season. va tech drops to 0-3 all time in BCS bowl games. k.u. coach mangino always seemed a step ahead of beamer and the hokies. it also helped that tech QB sean glennon kept throwing passes directly to the opposition.

bcs championship - (2) lsu vs. (1) ohio state

preview: would usc have made a better opponent for the tigers? will ohio state's record in bowl games versus the SEC fall to 0-9? and are there way too many commercials for astrive loans on television? the answer to all of these questions is yes.

final score: 38-24 lsu

review: thankfully, with this second consecutive beatdown of ohio state in a championship game, people are starting to realize that it has nothing to do with "a huge 50-day layoff" and has everything to do with the SEC simply being a stronger and better conference than the Big 11, and this is particularly true when ohio state is the team doing the representing (or lack of). gary crowton had a good offensive game plan to exploit ohio state's lesser speed on defense. on the other side of the ball, lsu was simply too fast and too physical on defense. their db's were able to play man coverage all night, freeing up 7 to 8 players to load the box and, with the exception of one long play by chris wells early, they contained the buckeyes running game. congratulations to the tigers for playing a great game and winning the national title.

coach weighs in on the mitchell report

2007-12-14T22:45:00.001-08:00

what can i say about the mitchell report that hasn't already been said? my guess is probably nothing. so i'll just give my reactions.

1) none of these names surprise me. none. not barry bonds. not brian roberts, despite peter gammons going bananas over that. i'm certainly not surprised by roger clemens. i mean honestly, how do you explain a pitcher with a sub-2.00 era despite being over 40. dis is not right.

2) george mitchell is pretty much 100% right about everything. that's perhaps an over-statement but my point here is that his recommendations are proper, and everyone in baseball who's responsible for the proliferation of the steroids era, which is pretty near everyone, needs to work together to rid the game of PEDs. will they do this?

3) i think bud selig will finally get serious about this. he's likely retiring within the next three or four years. he's already going to remembered for certain things like expanded playoffs and interleague play. he's also going to be remembered, obviously, for the steroids era. he can't really do anything about that, but he can now work to help clean up the game, and be remembered for helping to solve a problem (even though he, through his negligence, helped to create it). however, this also leads me to ask another question.

4) how much does the average fan honestly care about this? i don't mean to diminish things, because i know there are some parents that care, because they see their children in high school using PEDs after seeing the professionals doing it. but MLB did just set attendance and revenue records last year. the NFL is also enjoying an era of unprecented popularity, and despite their relative clean skate through the media, they also aren't free of PED use. i really think the average fan knows that a lot of players do a lot of various things to enhance performance. at some level, we demand bigger, better, faster, more of the athletes in the leagues we actively follow. how much do we all, to one degree or another, turn our collective heads, or just accept certain things as coming with the territory? how much do we even think about it at all?

5) i think the media cares about this stuff a lot more than the average fan. it's fodder for their trade. it helps to sell papers and get website clicks. but if barry bonds wasn't such an enormous jerk, and if he hadn't been chasing the most hallowed record in sports, most americans probably wouldn't have cared nearly as much that he used steroids. in my opinion, this helped further media attention on baseball as a "dirty sport." but as i alluded to in my previous point, i wonder how much the average fan truly worries about this.

bobby petrino officially resigns 3 months after unofficially resigning

2007-12-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

do you want to know how to make the best of a bad situation? don't ask bobby petrino. he'll just quit on you and then inexplicably hate you. bobby, you'll be missed about as much as jeff george was, which was not at all.

go away

heisman prediction and vote

2007-12-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

if i had a vote for heisman, here's how i'd vote it. these are also the same as my predicted order of finish:

1. tim tebow, qb florida
2. darren mcfadden, rb arkansas
3. colt brennan, qb hawaii
4. chase daniel, qb missouri

i think tebow will win by only a handful of votes. more on this after dinner...

i am back. that was a good fajita. tebow won by more than i thought he would. and this is the end of this post.

hot stove part 1

2007-12-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

i have returned from my mini-sabbatical to talk about some of the recent trades and free agent signings in baseball. there have been many so i'll only talk about a few of them, (though i think some of the more under the radar ones will pay big dividends).

tigers get: 3B miguel cabrera and SP dontrelle willis
marlins get: SP andrew miller, OF cameron maybin, and 4 prospects

i like this deal for both clubs, but a little more for the tigers. after having perused the marlins most recent firesale-equse trades, i'm not convinced they always know what prospects to target. for every hanley ramirez there seemed to be more than one grant psomas. meanwhile, the tigers have basically established a modern-day murderer's row with cabrera, sheffield, and ordonez. i view willis for miller at best a tie for the tigers, but dontrelle won't be asked much in the 4th or 5th starter role, and who knows, he actually might improve because most a.l. teams have seen him little, if at all. the tigers go from on the verge to definite contenders. the marlins once again are building for the future. maybin will be a star, miller will probably round out into a good #3. the 4 other guys, it's anyone's guess.

OF andruw jones to dodgers for 2 years $36.2M

it's probably slightly disheartening to dodgers fans that apparently the royals were the only other team after him, for 2 years and $22M (thanks to mlbtraderumors.com for the tip). having watched andruw for a lot of years as a braves fan, it's a little tough to see him go. were these still the days of ted turner and big budgets, andruw would still be in a braves uniform. he's still definitely got the talent and physical ability, he just developed far too many bad habits at the plate. these can be fixed, and don mattingly is a good hitting coach. so i can see andruw improving at the plate, that is to say, to a level in the .260 avg 32 hr 105 rbi range. is that worth $18.1M a year? no, but it's better than anyone on the current dodger roster, so in that way it's not a horrible move. plus it is only 2 years, so no huge committment.

OF torii hunter to angels for 5 years $90M

i remember thinking last year that the angels had over-spent by giving $50M over 5 years to gary matthews jr., a guy who has a connection to h.g.h. and still can't hit 20 hr. now they've spent nearly twice that this year. i realize the angels needed a bat, and that there were multiple bidders for torii's services, so they had to spend a lot. but i just think they could've spent more wisely, as in, on another player, even at another position. in my opinion, torii hunter is one of the more consistently overrated players in the game. yes, his defense is really good. but he's also a .270 hitter that doesn't take walks. 5 years $90 million just seems way too high.

OF jose guillen to royals for 3 years $36M

if i were a royals fan, i'd have wanted my team to: a) not be so public about their desires to get guillen, and b) not have given him 3 years guaranteed. the royals had to give guillen more money to get him since they were so obviously going hard after him. anyway, how good this contract will ultimately look hinges on the if's: if guillen can stay healthy, and if guillen can shut his mouth. so far in his career, he's not consistently been able to do either. but if he can in kansas city, this deal will be a super-bargain. the royals could've spent their money in much worse ways.

tigers get: SS edgar renteria
braves get: RHP jair jurrjens and OF gorkys hernandez

another deal i like for both teams. the tigers lineup is simply loaded. as a braves fan, i'll speak more on what this deal means for them. jair jurrjens, i don't know a whole lot about him except that he neither walks nor strikes out many guys. i'd suspect the braves would like for him to make the team out of spring training and be their 5th starter. they will give him every opportunity to do this at least. gorkys hernandez is a great prospect with speed and power, but hasn't played above high A-ball, so it's likely at least mid-2009 before he's up with the big club. this deal also shows the braves are very confident in yunel escobar. escobar's career path projects very much like renteria, but $8M cheaper. so, given that, i can understand this move. i just hope escobar develops more quickly.

francisco cordero to reds for 4 years $44M

i don't even know where to begin. why did they sign this guy? the reds starters' ERA is the worst in the national league. how are they even going to get leads for this guy to save? why didn't they go after a starter? plus, wasn't cordero like on the rangers garbage pile just a year and a half ago? suddenly one good season for milwaukee = $11M a year for 4 years. no, no, no, this doesn't make any sense at all. this is the dumbest move of the offseason by far. it will only be surpassed if someone is actually foolish enough to give aaron rowand 6 years and $100M.

college football preview: week 14

2007-12-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

ACC championship - 1 p.m.
(6) virginia tech vs. (11) boston college

if the question is "sooooooo, how do you like the b.c." my answer is i don't really. boston college has gotten kind of lucky in a few games this year. or at least, they've seemed to need more luck than virginia tech, who lately have just been rolling over teams. the hokies deserved to win that first game against b.c. but allowed matt ryan to make some plays to win it. the question i have is will virginia tech feel a sense of redemption or intimidation? my vote is the former. i think their defense is certainly good enough to hold ryan sufficiently in check, and we already know the eagles can't really run the ball. on the other side of the ball, the hokies will run well enough to set up the play-action for QB sean glennon, who will play better than he did in the first meeting. va tech wins a close rematch and the ACC title, going to the orange bowl.
the pick: virginia tech

---
SEC championship - 4 p.m.
(14) tennessee vs. (5) lsu

the breaking news that head coach les miles is actually staying at lsu, if you believe it, is pretty big. perhaps it's a posture to get his players to play inspired football, or perhaps it's legitimate. i choose to believe it because i wouldn't be surprised if michigan tried to float him a low ball offer and then miles to simply tell them where to go. in any event, the result will be inspired play by the tigers. this has the potential to get ugly for the volunteers, who have actually been outscored in their 8 conference games despite winning the east division. that says to me that they've won a lot of close games. so i think they're due for a loss, and anyway, there's no question which team is more talented. tigers make the sugar bowl and prepare for the inevitable.
the pick: lsu (big)

---
battle for the victory bell - 4:30 p.m.
ucla at (8) usc

surely the pac-10 and the rose bowl committee both are rooting for usc in this matchup. they do not want the embarrassment of a 5-loss team representing the pac-10 in the rose bowl. usc has been playing well lately and will look to avenge last season's upset to the bruins. this will probably be one of those games where usc gets ahead early and then slowly lets ucla back into the game, only to step on their necks at the end.
the pick: trojans

---
the civil war - 4:30 p.m.
oregon state at (18) oregon

somehow the winner of this game will make the holiday bowl. i didn't know oregon state was even in a position to do that. this is a game of two teams going in opposite directions, with the beavers having won their last 2 and oregon losing its last 2 and reeling from the loss of dennis dixon. despite the fact that they will be the road team, i think oregon state will pull the upset, while ryan leaf's brother continues to play mediocre football.
the pick: oregon state

---
this is not a rivalry - 6:30 p.m.
(21) byu at san diego state

this game will have basically no meaning for byu if usc, tennessee, arizona state, and hawaii don't all lose. still, the cougars will continue to play inspired football because john beck is starting for the dolphins.
the pick: byu

---
backyard brawl - 7:45 p.m.
pittsburgh at (2) west virginia

why is this rivalry called the backyard brawl? were the first games in this series actually just kids on the intramural squad playing in someone else's backyard? i do not know the answers to these questions. what i do know is that this game could get very ugly, very quickly. lou holtz has said this could be a close game because the wannstache is the coach of pittsburgh. i'm not sure i understand even a portion of this supposed "logic", because pitt is the single most undeniably-awful team. trust me, i've done my research. i know every nooks and cranny. i know them so well, i know their whole...
the pick: mountaineers (huge)

---
territorial cup - 8:00 p.m.
arizona at (13) arizona st

i don't know why this rivalry is named after a nirvana song but whatever. arizona state needs only to win this home game to get a BCS bowl that would essentially be another home game. i think they'll beat their rivals in a close game and then likely play either oklahoma or kansas in the fiesta bowl.
the pick: sun devils

---
big xii championship - 8:00 p.m.
(9) oklahoma vs. (1) missouri

once again the game of the week involves missouri. will they have a letdown after their big win over kansas last week? i think there is risk of this, but it will be outweighed by the knowledge that one more win = chance at a national championship. chase daniel and the missouri offense are clicking on all cylinders right now. much has been made this week of how bob stoops has a ton of big game experience, while missouri has virtually none. what has not been said much is that bob stoops also has a lot of experience losing said big games. it's tough to beat a team twice in the same season. oklahoma will likely again have a partisan crowd but not quite to the extent as their first meeting vs. the tiggers in norman. another big question will be if missouri comes out and plays tight as the higher ranked team and oklahoma plays more loose as the team with less to lose. this was less analysis and more a collection of rambling thoughts. anyway my pick here is somewhat influenced by who i'd rather see win.
the pick: missouri

---
this is also not a rivalry - 11:30 p.m.
washington at (11) hawaii

is hawaii really the 11th best team in the country? i'm not sure anyone outside of polys and delusional rainbow fans actually believe this. still, i will be rooting for them tonight, in their quest of the inevitable.
the pick: warriors

separated at birth

2007-11-29T21:57:00.000-08:00

north carolina big man tyler hansbrough and actor michael cera both expressed no surprise when they were recently informed of their separated at birth status. the two are actually far more similar than you might think. the rogue league sat down with each for a short interview.

rogue league: michael, what sport do you enjoy most?
michael cera: probably basketball... like, i can use my size to my advantage, clear people out and get rebounds and stuff. i'm an ok shooter too.
RL: what was your least favorite moment on the court?
cera: there was this pick up game last year. it was late and we already had the game in hand. then during a missed free throw, some thug smashed my face with his elbow for no reason. there was a copious amount of blood on the floor. i felt fine later, but the thing that bothered me the most was there was some loudmouth in the park across the street that kept saying the hit wasn't intentional.
RL: have you ever thought of leaving early?
cera: yeah, like, i know that's where the money is. but at the same time, i can still really develop and have a lot to learn. but yeah, if i left early to direct, i think i would do well. i would probably be terrible at first with really bad stats but eventually i'd get the hang of it.
---
rogue league: what is your biggest pet peeve?
tyler hansbrough: probably when people meet my girlfriend. they're always saying "her?" and i'm like "yeah, her, what's your problem?" even my dad, he's probably met her like 20 times, and each time he's always like "oh, who's this?" then he gets her name wrong and calls her something like plant or hog. it's frustrating.
RL: that's a very interesting story. moving on, what is your favorite food?
hansbrough: without question, a hard-boiled egg with mayonnaise in the mouth. mmmmm....
RL: we just call it an egg.
hansbrough: ...
RL: i've heard your career here might only last three seasons. do you think that's too short?
hansbrough: yeah probably. we've got a really good thing going here. and yet, they just don't market us well enough. sometimes we're rescheduled and run up against monday night football or something. but who knows, maybe we'll make a movie.

could byu sneak into a bcs bowl?

2007-11-26T20:53:00.000-08:00

thanks to a not-often-quoted rule in the BCS, mountain west conference champion BYU has a slight chance at sneaking into a BCS bowl, which would probably the fiesta or sugar bowl. we're all familiar with the rule that if a non-BCS school finishes in the bcs top 12, they are automatically in a BCS bowl. but what about this tasty lick (from wikipedia):

the highest ranked champion of a non-BCS conference will receive an automatic berth if ranked in the top sixteen and higher than another BCS conference champion.

BYU needs to have many pieces fall in place for this to happen. UCLA must defeat USC this saturday. also, arizona needs to beat arizona state. this would give UCLA the pac-1o title and open the door for the cougars, since they would be a non-BCS conference champ that finished higher than a BCS conference champ. (UCLA is currently not ranked in the BCS top 40.) here's the current BCS standings from 13-19:

13. arizona st .5571
14. tennessee .4614
15. illinois .4198
16. clemson .3358
17. oregon .2706
18. wisconsin .2628
19. byu .2252

BYU would also need LSU to beat tennessee in the SEC title game, and for oregon state to beat oregon in the civil war. with teams 13, 14, and 17 ahead of them all losing, byu could climb ahead of them all and finish at 16. ~~incidentally, whether or not hawaii (currently ranked 12th in the BCS) wins is not relevant to byu's chances, since they could also make it in under the same scenario as champs of the WAC.~~ hawaii also needs to lose, and pretty bad at that so that they tumble, since the BCS rule references only the highest non-BCS conference champ, which BYU would not be if hawaii stays at #12. doh.

do i think BYU would get beat down like a rented goat in a BCS bowl? yes, i do. but the multiple million dollars would be nice for us and our mountain west colleagues.

space invaders

2007-11-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

what is nbc doing on the set of football night in america? why do cris collinsworth, jerome bettis, and tiki barber sit so close to each other in the players room? this is like some kind of weird geico commercial. but the desk was built too small. for one whole year sparks will fly! seriously, hasn't nbc heard of the concept of personal space? like, don't they know that it's not really comfortable for a guy when some dude is constantly 6 inches from you, and keeps touching your hand or something? then during the "green is universal" campaign, they turned off all the lights in the studio. so, of course, that was three men sitting within one foot of each other in a darkened room. if some red satin drapes get hung next week, with kenny g playing smooth saxophone in the background, i will start to get a little worried.

food review: taco bell chipotle burrito

2007-11-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

as i typically do when taco bell introduces a new menu item, i tried their new chipotle burrito this week. basically, this is not much different from any other burrito they have. i could barely taste the chipotle. i guess that's maybe at least partially what they're going for, based on their commercials making fun of overly-spicy foods. but honestly this seems to run counter to what makes taco bell good in general, that is, distinct taste. this is a bland, flavorless taste. if the test of food is if you'd go back to eat it again, with the chipotle burrito, i may or may not. therefore, meh.

rating: 5/10

college football preview, week 13

2007-11-22T19:32:00.000-08:00

(13) texas at texas a&m - friday, 3:30 pm
as correctly noted by fellow blogger limeade, this isn't as much of a rivalry for texas as their game with oklahoma is. but it's the only real rivalry for texas a&m, so i'll oblige them. texas has more physical talent on both sides of the ball. texas should be able to establish the ground game. while colt mccoy continues to make the occasional mistake, i think he'll be good in this game. meanwhile, texas a&m's players are probably counting the days until they no longer have to hear lame motivational speeches from franchione. EXCELSIOR!!!!!!!!
the pick: texas

(17) boise st at (14) hawaii - friday, 9:00 pm
boise state has been a better team than hawaii all year long, and tomorrow they're going to prove it on the field. hawaii's gotten lucky quite a few times versus inferior opponents like san jose state, while boise learned from an early loss and have improved greatly over the season. hopefully after this game we'll be able to stop hearing the inanity that is pro-BCS hawaii speech. then again, perhaps i should root for hawaii to win out and make the fiesta bowl so they can get a giant dump laid on their heads.
the pick: boise state

(8) va tech at (16) virginia - saturday, 12:00 pm
the battle for the commonwealth cup also decides one of the acc's two divisions (don't ask me which one, i don't care). so the winner will play boston college in the conference title game. virginia tech has been playing as well as anyone in the country right now, and as they say in vegas, don't bet against the streak. i think virginia will give them a tough game but beamerball wins out in the end, setting up what will be a much-anticipated rematch versus Mr. Overhyped.
the pick: va tech

(19) tennessee at kentucky - saturday, 1:30 pm
kentucky hasn't beaten tennessee in 23 years. so this is as important a game for the wildcats as their game against louisville was earlier in the season. with nothing else really to play for, i think kentucky will be very up for this game. however, i'm not sure how well they match up with tennessee, and also, they seem to be reeling the past few weeks. on the other hand, tennessee has a lot to play for, as a win will put them in the sec title game, to later receive 50 lashings from lsu.
the pick: tennessee

utah at (23) byu - saturday, 2:00 pm
byu wins the mountain west outright with a victory versus their rival in the battle for the beehive boot. the cougars will continue to play inspired football because john beck is the starter for the dolphins. one might think that since byu lost to ucla and ucla got beat down by utah, that utah will beat byu. no.
the pick: byu

oklahoma st. at (10) oklahoma - saturday, 3:30 pm
the big question will be how oklahoma bounces back after their humiliation versus texas tech. what was that anyway? i mean, oklahoma looked like they had never seen a forward pass before. anyway, oklahoma state has been one of those teams that has been close in games pretty much all year but finds ways to lose down the stretch. i don't expect them to reverse that trend versus their bedlam series brethren.
the pick: oklahoma

(6) georgia at georgia tech - saturday, 3:30 pm
georgia tech's chances of winning this game are significantly better now that reggie ball is no longer their quarterback. of course, chan gailey is still their head coach, so that evens things out. georgia is fully on a roll now, but will probably get shut out of the sec championship game, losing the east division to tennessee. this is actually a benefit to them though, as the loser of the title game always gets relegated to a lesser bowl, thus opening up the probability of a BCS bowl for georgia, much to UT's fans' sadness everywhere.
the pick: uga

florida st. at (12) florida - saturday, 5:00 pm
the once proud program of florida state has become something of a punchline lately. it's strange to say this, but the sooner bobby bowden retires, the sooner that program gets out of the dumper. the gators have better and faster athletes, and it helps their young team that they get this game at home. florida's pass defense has made less than adequate qb's look good, so drew weatherford could possibly have a decent game. this will be of no consequence.
the pick: florida

(3) missouri at (2) kansas - saturday, 8:00 pm
the game of the day features two of the most unlikely national championship contenders ever. the winner then has to get past the south division winner in the title game. ultimately, i think this will result in a knockout of both these teams from the national title race, opening the door for a west virginia team of questionable worthiness. i'll be pulling for kansas in this game, but i think chase daniel is the more complete quarterback, and missouri a slightly better team, and they'll get the win.
the pick: mizzou

alabama at (25) auburn - saturday, 8:00 pm
auburn has won five in a row in this suddenly lopsided series. this is largely what got mike shula fired. but what bama fans fail to realize is they simply don't get the same quality of recruits they used to get back in the days of bear bryant, or even gene stallings. this game is all alabama has left to salvage of a disappointing season. this season the crimson tide have actually stayed close in a lot of games versus superior opponents but can never seem to win them. saban will eventually get this program turned around, but right now, he just doesn't have the personnel.
the pick: auburn

top 12

2007-11-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

the list has been pared down once again. oklahoma has no place on this list after that bad performance in lubbock.

		record	prev
1	LSU	10-1	1
2	Kansas	11-0	3
3	Arizona St	9-1	6
4	Missouri	10-1	5
5	Va Tech	9-2	7
6	W. Virginia	9-1	8
7	Ohio St	11-1	9
8	Georgia	9-2	11
9	Oregon	8-2	2
10	USC	8-2	10
11	Florida	8-3	12
12	Boise St	10-1	15

college football preview, week 12

2007-11-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

---
7 ohio st @ 23 michigan - 12 pm
the rumors are swirling that lloyd carr will announce his resignation (read: quitting before he gets fired so he can save face) after this game. so that makes it all the more difficult to predict. the wolverine seniors have never beaten ohio state, and they are also very loyal to carr. so they'll be inspired for two reasons. on the other side of the ball, jim tressel has only lost once to michigan in 5 games. the key will be whether or not the buckeyes suffer a hangover after their embarrassing loss to illinois last week. i expect michigan to fall behind early and then for mike hart to take the game into his hands and will his team to victory. then michigan goes to the rose bowl and loses. again.
the pick: x-mens

---
22 kentucky @ 8 georgia - 12:30
i've never seen a team benefit more from a butt-beating than georgia has this season. they have morphed into a completely different team since that debacle in knoxville a month and a half ago. this is probably as confident a team as mark richt has ever had. i expect them to keep the pressure on tennesse this week and avenge their loss to kentucky a year ago. running back knowshon moreno will continue to tear through opposing defenses like indian food through a white man's intestines.
the pick: dawgs

---
6 missouri @ kansas st - 12:30
i'm guessing that the kansas state defensive unit is not the most confident group right now after giving up 70+ points to a backup-qb led nebraska team. their only chance in this game is if they catch missouri looking ahead to next week's game vs. kansas, which will decide the big 12 north. i think mizzou avoids the "trap" and wins by at least 2 touchdowns.
the pick: tiggers

---
byu @ wyoming - 2:00
somewhat quietly, byu can clinch at least a tie of the mountain west this week with a win over the hapless cowboys. byu will be inspired by the news that john beck will start this week for the dolphins and they'll beat down a wyoming team whose season is on the brink.
the pick: cougars

---
vanderbilt @ 19 tennessee - 2:00
the last time tennessee played vanderbilt at home, jay cutler led a 4th quarter comeback for the commodores for their first win in knoxville in like 20 years. but now cutler is too busy stinking it up for the broncos and hurting certain people's fantasy teams. advantage: tennessee.
the pick: vols

---
mississippi st. @ arkansas - 2:00
sylvester croom has won two conference road games for the first time in his life. somewhat amazingly, he's got his team playing some decent football, at least on the defensive side of the ball. the bulldog's 3-3 conference record is somewhat deceiving, though, as all of their conference wins came after their opponent had lost a very tough game the previous week. fortunately for them, arkansas has been on a constant letdown all season.
the pick: bulldogs

---
duke @ notre dame - 2:30
this is already the worst season in the history of notre dame football. and yet, it can get even worse this week. i can't really overstate how bad both of these teams are right now. two questions i've been wondering are will notre dame fans even get loud for this game? and what does your program even gain by scheduling duke? jimmy clausen did show some improvement last week vs. undersized slow white men. take that for what it's worth. to martin scorcese's dismay, the irish barely escape a beating.
the pick: notre dame (i will be rooting for duke)

dang. i was in a mood to beat some irish

---
miami @ 10 va tech - 3:30
there was a time when, every year, this game was a battle of top 10 teams and would decide the big east champ. now it's a shell of its former self, though va tech is actually playing really good football right now. they will not lose to a team that just allowed 40+ points to virginia in a sport other than basketball.
the pick: gobblers

---
1 lsu @ ole miss - 3:30
perhaps you are thinking that, given the rumors of lloyd carr's departure from michigan, that les miles will be distracted this week, and that lsu might get upset. if you think this, then clearly, you do not understand the futility that is ole piss football.
the pick: tigers

---
iowa st @ 4 kansas - 3:30
iowa state is awful. if kansas blows this game, they should drop out of the top 25 entirely.
the pick: jayhawks

---
5 w. virginia @ 21 cincinnati - 7:45
as far as i'm concerned, this is the game of the day. west virginia played way too close with louisville last week. cincinnati thoroughly thumped connecticut without looking ahead to this week's clearly bigger game. as i mentioned before, the bearcats have clubbed inferior opponents all year. west virginia, of course, is not inferior, and in fact will be the most talented and fastest team cincinnati has faced this season. assuming west virginia can handle connecticut next week, this game is essentially for the big east crown. i'll be rooting for the upset, but i think the west virginia on turf will just be too fast for cincinnati.
the pick: mountaineers

---
17 boston coll @ 15 clemson - 7:45
at home, at night, with a division title on the line. this is *exactly* the kind of game where a tommy bowden coached team kicks the crap out of their opponent.
the pick: clemson

Update: Regrettably, I picked Michigan simply because I wanted them to win. Not because I think they are well coached, because they're not. Nor because they have a good quarterback, because they clearly don't. I just wanted to see the big 10 champ be a team that had been defeated by a 1-AA team. That just seems appropriate. And also, I wanted to see USC take a giant dump on their heads in the Rose Bowl.

new top 15

2007-11-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

		record

1	LSU	9-1
2	Oregon	8-1
3	Kansas	10-0
4	Oklahoma	9-1
5	Missouri	9-1
6	Arizona St	9-1
7	Va Tech	8-2
8	W. Virginia	8-1
9	Ohio St	10-1
10	USC	8-2
11	Georgia	8-2
12	Florida	7-3
13	Texas	9-2
14	Clemson	8-2
15	Boise St	9-1

if i had a vote, part 2

2007-11-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

for part 1, click this

AL Rookie of the Year:

1. Dustin Pedroia, .317 avg .380 obp .442 slg 8 hr 50 rbi 86 r 7 sb
2. Delmon Young, .288 avg .316 obp .408 slg 13 hr 93 rbi 65 r 10 sb
3. Jeremy Guthrie 7-5 175.1 ip 123 k 3.70 era 1.21 whip .249 baa

i won't make any predictions as the award was actually already given today. these were the top 2 and brian bannister was #3. pedroia was a pretty obvious choice. this award was his to lose starting in about early september. i think delmon young was hurt to an extent by his own hype. and probably by this too. i think guthrie has a decent career ahead of him.

AL Cy Young:

1. C.C. Sabathia 19-7 241.0 ip 209 k 3.21 era 1.14 whip .259 baa
2. Erik Bedard 13-5 182.0 ip 221 k 3.16 era 1.09 whip .212 baa
3. John Lackey 19-9 224.0 ip 179 k 3.01 era 1.21 whip .254 baa

sabathia is a horse, doesn't walk guys, and pitched great all year, leading his team into the playoffs. this award should be his, HOWEVA, i won't be shocked if beckett wins it. that's what i'm predicting will happen, because of the undying media love for boston, but hopefully i'll be wrong. bedard would've gotten my #1 vote if he had had more innings. lackey is a solid #3. you could make a case for beckett there as well, it's really close.

AL Most Valuable Player

1. Alex Rodriguez, .314 avg .422 obp .645 slg 54 hr 156 rbi 143 r 24 sb
2. Magglio Ordonez, .363 avg .434 obp .595 slg 28 hr 139 rbi 117 r 4 sb
3. David Ortiz, .332 avg .445 obp .621 slg 35 hr 117 rbi 116 r 3 sb

uh, this one is pretty obvious. if any writer doesn't vote a-rod #1, he should suffer the fate of norv turner. magglio won the batting title by a mile and had a great year for the tigers. ortiz once again is a bridesmaid...er, doesn't finish 1st. my prediction is a-rod 1, ortiz 2, ordonez 3.

Comeback Players of the Year

I forgot to do this for the NL in my first post so I'll vote both here:

NL - Josh Hamilton, .292 avg .368 obp .554 slg 19 hr 47 rbi 52 r 3 sb
AL - Carlos Pena, .282 avg .411 obp .627 slg 46 hr 121 rbi 99 r 1 sb

college football preview, week 11

2007-11-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

(13) michigan at wisconsin - 12:00 pm

ever since michigan's embarrassing first two home games, they've actually played a lot better while under the radar. of course, they still play in the big ten, so they're not exactly challenged on a weekly basis. this game should be no exception. michigan is on a mission to win out and make the rose bowl, thus cementing the truly mediocre nature of the big 11. wisconsin was exposed by illinois a few weeks ago and has not really been the same since. camp randall stadium is a tough place to play in, but less so at noon. as is often the case in college football, it will go down to who wants it more.

the pick: michigan

arkansas at (22) tennessee - 12:30 pm

i don't understand why darren mcfadden has been getting virtually no talk for the heisman lately. i mean, look at these stats. or this table. anyone that's watched him play even a little bit knows he's a lock top 3 pick in the nfl draft next year. once again this goes to show that being awarded the heisman has become increasingly more a matter of being popular and playing for a good team, and less to do with actually being the truly best player. this is perhaps the topic for another post, so i digress. tennessee has no run defense to speak of. arkansas has no defense at all to speak of. while i think mcfadden will get his yards, houston nutt will make his typically terrible calls at crucial points in the game.

the pick: tennessee (begrudgingly)

air force at notre dame - 2:30 pm

navy beat notre dame last week, and i think air force has an even better chance of beating the irish. and i will be rooting for this. i'm quite happy that notre dame has struggled so much this year. they made their bed with charlie weis and now they have to sleep in it. that 10-year contract will look like an albatross yet.

the pick: air force

illinois at (1) ohio state - 3:30 pm

this is an interesting game. illinois only lost by 7 to the buckeyes at home last year, and that was really before they had as good players as they do now. i was thinking of picking illinois for this, but then i heard mark may pick them on sportscenter. so now i'm a little less convinced. i am of the opinion, however, that this house of cards is soon going to crumble for the buckeyes, but that it will be next week vs. michigan.

the pick: tOSU

(16) connecticut at cincinnati - 3:30 pm

cincinnati has laid waste to many an inferior team this season. connecticut is one of those types of teams. yes, their rush defense is supposedly really good, but they've also played nobodies. i expect the bearcats to murder them with a trident.

the pick: cincinnati

(18) auburn at (10) georgia - 3:30 pm

most people outside the south probably don't know that this is a big rivalry game. last year, auburn was ranked in the top 5 and lost at home to an inferior georgia team. i would suspect auburn is out for some measure of revenge. also, tommy tuberville seems to have supplanted mark richt as the best road coach in the SEC. all three of auburn's losses were close games, so they're better than their record might indicate. and georgia was pummeled by tennessee, so they're certainly worse than their record.

the pick: auburn

baylor at (4) oklahoma - 6:30 pm

baylor stinks.

the pick: oklahoma

(17) florida at south carolina - 7:45 pm

the cocks are reeling, having lost 3 in a row. i have absolutely no proof of this, but i think that the rest of college football coaches in general have caught up to spurrier's genius. at the very least he no longer has that aura of invincibility. plus, it's really hard to recruit at south carolina. on the other side of the ball, florida had their get well game vs. an inferior vanderbilt team last week after having gone more than a month between home games. now they're back on the road again in a hostile environment at night. this will be a tough a test for a still mentally weak gator team.

the pick: florida

(5) kansas at oklahoma state - 8:00 pm

i think this is going to be a really good game. despite their 5-4 record, oklahoma state is a lot better team than you might think. they have some explosive players on offense. it's their semi-permeable defense that gets them in trouble, and kansas has had no trouble moving up and down the field this year. however, it's a night game, and stillwater, oklahoma is one place where you do not want to make a wrong turn down a dark alley. this will be kansas toughest test of the season, and they will just barely fail.

the pick: oklahoma state

Top 15

2007-11-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

This has become too grueling, so I'm changing it from Top 25 to Top 15. At this point, who really cares about teams 16 through 25 anyway? Am I right? Yes. Anyway, here it is.

		record

1	LSU	8-1
2	Ohio St	10-0
3	Oklahoma	8-1
4	Oregon	8-1
5	Missouri	8-1
6	Kansas	9-0
7	Arizona St	8-1
8	VA Tech	7-2
9	W. Virginia	7-1
10	USC	7-2
11	Auburn	7-3
12	Georgia	7-2
13	Florida	6-3
14	Boston Col	8-1
15	Clemson	7-2

i will keep posting these until harry wakes up. bring the painster.

if I had a vote, part 1

2007-11-06T18:06:00.000-08:00

now that it's almost time for the 2007 baseball season individual awards to be handed out, i will make my selections as if i have a vote. obviously i don't have one, but if i did, here's how it would go for each of these awards, along with my predictions for what will actually happen.

NL Cy Young

1. Jake Peavy, 19-6, 2.54 ERA, 1.o6 WHIP, 223.1 IP, 240 K
2. Brandon Webb, 18-10, 3.01 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 236.1 IP, 194 K
3. John Smoltz, 14-8, 3.11 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 205.2 IP, 197 K

it's pretty hard to not give this to Peavy. i tried and everything, but his numbers are just too much better than anyone else. i don't have much more to say about this race. my prediction for what will actually happen is the same, except that i predict cole hamels will be #3.

NL Most Valuable Player

1. Matt Holliday, .340 avg, .405 obp, .607 slg, 36 hr, 137 rbi, 120 r, 11 sb
2. Chase Utley, .332 avg, .410 obp, .566 slg, 22 hr, 103 rbi, 104 r, 9 sb
3. Albert Pujols, .327 avg, .429 obp, .568 slg, 32 hr, 103 rbi, 99 r, 2 sb

the race is not between holliday and rollins. jimmy rollins is not even the mvp of his own team, let alone the entire national league. anyone that watches baseball knows that chase utley is the better pure hitter, and had he not been out for a month, his numbers would've been much better. look no further than the phillies record when utley was out (15-13), and then how they quickly got better (22-11) when he came back. he's that influential; rollins isn't. pujols is just sort of a bail out pick. he's got good numbers, but i could've probably just as easily picked russell martin or prince fielder. my prediction is holliday #1, fielder #2, rollins #3.

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Ryan Braun, .324 avg, .370 obp, .634 slg, 34 hr, 97 rbi, 91 r, 15 sb
2. Troy Tulowitzki, .291 avg, .359 obp, .479 slg, 24 hr, 99 rbi, 104 r, 7 sb
3. Hunter Pence, .322 avg, .360 obp, .539 slg, 17 hr, 69 rbi, 57 r, 11 sb

i don't think the race between braun and tulowitzki should be as close as it will probably end up being. Braun's rookie numbers, in terms of OPS and HR/AB ratio, are up in the Mantle/Pujols territory. really, that alone should win it for him. though that's not to say that tulo isn't a good player, because he is, and his defense is certainly far better than braun's. but i think braun more than made up for it with his offensive prowess, while tulowitzki's .479 slugging percentage is fairly pedestrian. my prediction is this same top 3.

tomorrow: part 2, american league

this man is happy

2007-11-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

Before this weekend, Roger Staubach was the quarterback for Navy the last time they had beaten Notre Dame. That was 44 years ago. To put that in a little perspective, back in 1963:

- Color television was only 10 years old
- There was no such thing as the Super Bowl
- Segregation on the basis of race was still legal
- "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs was a #1 song
- Al Gore hadn't yet invented the Internet

Needless to say, the world is pretty different today. And Roger Staubach is not rolling in his grave anymore.

Here are some other thoughts I had on this weekend's college and pro action:

- Anyone watching the Colts/Patriots game noticed that, on the first play in the 4th quarter, the artificial crowd sound track got stuck for a couple of seconds. This confirms what many of us have suspected, that the Colts pump in fake crowd noise, which is both illegal per NFL rules and gay. I'd suspect they're not the only team that does it, but something about the Colts doing it bothers me more. I think it's because 1) Colts fans are, relative to other teams' fans, generally not all that loud on their own, and 2) they play in a dome, so the fake crowd noise is that much more enhanced. The good news is that, undoubtely, Roger Goodell noticed this, and if there's anyone in America that will do something about this, it's him.

- As for the game itself, I didn't have any particular rooting interest, despite what I have no doubt are thoughts to the contrary by happy ninja. I'll admit I'm no longer a Peyton Manning hater as I once was, but I'm also not an apologist. Also, I don't like how the Patriots have been running up the score like it's a video game, so I wasn't pulling for them either. I just wanted to see a good game, and I did. I expected the Patriots to score on that final drive and they did. I think they're still in the Colts' heads, despite the fact that they'd never admit it.

- I fully expected Florida State to give away the game to Boston College on Saturday, but I was pleasantly surprised, and now thankfully we can all go back to ignoring Boston College. They weren't the 2nd best team, everyone knew it, and everyone outside of the New England area is happy now that they lost. I'll still have LSU as my #1 with Ohio State at #2. I predict some in the media this week will start to talk about how LSU keeps playing "too many" close games, and so they're probably not all that good, but rather lucky. That's both dumb and untrue.

- I think every crowd in the world now is singing along with a series of "oh's" to this song, and it SOUNDS RE-TAR-DED. (Ed. note: To hear what this sounds like, click on almost any other "Kernkraft Zombie Nation" youtube video besides the one I linked. Then make sure no puppies are in the room, as you will likely feel a strong desire to punch one in the face.) It's a techno song. It is not made to be sung to. I can't possibly be the only person who thinks this. (Zincke, back me up on this.)

- Somehow, in only 8 professional games, Adrian Peterson is once again a man among boys, as he was in college. He will go #1 in some fantasy leagues next year. Yes, even ahead of LT.

- The Cleveland Browns have won 3 in a row for the first time in 6 years... I don't really even know how to respond to that.

- Bill Callahan, go ahead and clean out your desk.

UPDATE: The NFL has cleared the Colts of any suspected tomfoolery in yesterday's game. I say hogwash and balderdash. Anyone that's watched a lot of football can just hear it in the Colts crowd noise. In my estimation, it's simply too perfectly sustained. The disparity between how it sounds when the Colts are on offense and on defense is just astounding. Plus, I stand by my statement yesterday that Colts fans are just not that raucous a bunch naturally.

The Rogue League Presents: Sports Flashbacks

2007-10-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

friday, october 31st, 2003. cougar stadium. boise state at byu.

this was a nationally televised thursday night game on espn. boise entered the game on the fringe of the top 25. byu entered the game firmly within the butt 25. however, it was halloween night, and anything could happen. we smelled an upset.

the three things i remember most about this game:

1) it was balls cold. this is sort of unusual for the provo area, where it typically doesn't get that cold until around thanksgiving. there was no real need for a thermometer; your balls told you everything you needed to know. A slushy snow fell throughout the game, accompanied by a moderate wind.

2) our first two scores were safeties. at one point, the score was 28-4. after a 3rd quarter touchdown by us (more on this in a moment), the score became 28-12, at which point one clever fan yelled out "only 8 more safeties!" i'd like to point out here that 10 safeties in one game is really only possible in tecmo bowl. also, i think it's probably safe to assume that this was the only time in NCAA D-1A history that a score has ever been 28-4.

3) during the aforementioned 3rd quarter touchdown drive, we used all three of our timeouts in one series inside the boise state 10-yard line. let me repeat that: ALL THREE SECOND HALF TIMEOUTS!!!!! IN *ONE* SET OF DOWNS!!!!! one was on 2nd and goal, the second was on fourth and goal, and the last one was on the 2-point conversion. gary crowton's amazing preparation for that series of plays really cannot be overstated. to be fair, i suppose, it was a critical part of the game, and cut the lead to 28-12. and more importantly, our offense actually scoring was really important.

of course, boise state got the ball back and scored in like 3 plays or something. then a lot of people started leaving, probably because it was cold and we sucked. i had the faith though, that we would come back, and thus i stuck around to the bitter end.

final score = boise state 50, byu 12

good times...good times...

Flawless...Victory...

2007-10-28T20:58:00.001-07:00

in my opinion, and it's probably an opinion shared by many, the rockies just looked sluggish the whole series. the bats just never woke up. many will blame the huge 9-day layoff, and that probably was a major contributing factor. then again, their incredible run had to come to an end some time. it's just too difficult to keep playing at that high a level for so long.

congratulations to both teams for making it this far, and to the red sox for actually winning. good luck to the braves in 2008.

i finally have internet again

2007-10-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

new top 25 (through oct 21)

		record	prev

1	LSU	7-1	2
2	Ohio St	8-0	3
3	Oklahoma	7-1	4
4	Oregon	6-1	5
5	Arizona St	7-0	8
6	Boston Coll	7-0	10
7	S. Florida	6-1	1
8	W. Virginia	6-1	9
9	Missouri	6-1	13
10	Florida	5-2	12
11	Virginia Tech	6-1	14
12	Kentucky	6-2	7
13	USC	6-1	15
14	Kansas	7-0	17
15	Texas	6-2	16
16	S. Carolina	6-2	6
17	Auburn	5-3	18
18	Oklahoma St	5-3	22
19	Georgia	6-2	24
20	Virginia	7-1	--
21	Rutgers	5-2	--
22	California	5-2	11
23	Michigan	6-2	--
24	Penn St	6-2	--
25	Hawaii	7-0	25

Self Respect > $5 Million

2007-10-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

To add my two cents to this Joe Torre saga, I'm pretty sure this is all about him keeping some shred of dignity. Undoubtedly he had grown very weary of "The Boss" and his antics. I mean, who wouldn't after a dozen seasons? Ted Turner now probably looks like a Care Bear to him by comparison.

Five million dollars is a lot to give up. You have to figure it was actually probably at least $6M since that's what he would've gotten for just making the playoffs. Here are the next 3 closest managers in terms of salary (HT: mlbcontracts.blogspot.com):

Lou Piniella (CHC) - $3.5M
Bobby Cox (ATL) - $3.0M
Tony LaRussa (STL) - $2.8M

After the next few, the dropoff gets fairly considerable, with Manny Acta of the Nationals actually being paid in Spaghettios. So clearly, Torre was earning well above his peers, pay cut or not. Some argue, of course, that working under the pressure of the New York Yankees spotlight makes one more than earn their pay.

(Note: I do think it's kind of lame that, after winning the 4 World Series, he renegotiated a super-great deal, and that now that after he's gone a long time (relatively speaking, Cubs fans) without winning one, he won't allow the pendulum to swing the other way. I suppose this is, to some extent, human nature.)

Anyway, I feel that's where we can really see his true reasoning. He cannot reasonably expect that he'll get $5-6 million out on the open market, despite some teams' desire to spend money on unnecessary things. Even if a bidding war emerges, I think the most he can get is around 4, maybe 4.5 million per year. He's giving up around $1 million just to not have to work for this man anymore. Quite frankly, that says a lot.

boston college, thou convincest me not

2007-10-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

		record	prev

1	S. Florida	6-0	4
2	LSU	6-1	1
3	Ohio St	7-0	2
4	Oklahoma	6-1	5
5	Oregon	5-1	6
6	S. Carolina	6-1	7
7	Kentucky	6-1	10
8	Arizona St	7-0	14
9	W. Virginia	5-1	8
10	Boston Coll	7-0	12
11	California	5-1	3
12	Florida	4-2	13
13	Missouri	5-1	9
14	Virginia Tech	6-1	16
15	USC	5-1	15
16	Texas	5-2	18
17	Kansas	6-0	19
18	Auburn	5-2	21
19	Cincinnati	6-1	11
20	Tennessee	4-2	22
21	Kansas St	4-2	--
22	Oklahoma St	4-3	--
23	Texas Tech	6-1	--
24	Georgia	5-2	--
25	Hawaii	7-0	25

that herschel walker/tennessee clip will never get old. NEVER!

i am lazy so no more words. stay tuned for another "separated at birth" soon.

I understand the world a little less now

2007-10-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

your national league champions:

top 25 -- the return of captain comeback

2007-10-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

i have still not fully comprehended this one. how do you lose a game when you're favored by 41 points? i'm not really sure. i don't even know if pete carroll himself knows the answer. (that is, by the way, the biggest upset ever in the history of sports, in terms of point spread. incredibly, the second-biggest happened just a month ago when syracuse beat louisville. and if you're wondering, the appalachian state vs. michigan game officially had no point spread.) i'm a little disappointed that USC fell only to 10th in the AP poll. yes, i get the whole "they would beat Team X in a head-to-head matchup, so let's rank them ahead of them" argument. but when you get beaten by a conference bottom-feeder, on your home turf no less, you deserve punishment. and quite honestly, if you lose to Stanford, i don't know that you can at all say with any certainty who you could and couldn't beat. in terms of talent, they could probably beat anyone. but the poll is not just about talent, it's about execution as well. and frankly, the trojans have just seemed unmotivated and flat out-coached at times. my own personal theory, not that i have any insider knowledge of any kind, is that pete carroll has already half-way mentally checked out on this season, and it's showing on the field. i think he's become bored at the lack of challenge he faces now in the college ranks, and he longs to once again scratch the NFL itch. it also helps that there's more money in the pro game. if he returns to USC in 2008 i'll be really surprised.

here be this week's rankings:

		record	prev

1	LSU	6-0	1
2	Ohio St	6-0	5
3	California	5-0	3
4	S. Florida	5-0	4
5	Oklahoma	5-1	9
6	Oregon	4-1	6
7	S. Carolina	5-1	10
8	W. Virginia	5-1	11
9	Missouri	5-0	17
10	Kentucky	5-1	8
11	Cincinnati	6-0	12
12	Boston Coll	6-0	15
13	Florida	4-2	7
14	Arizona St	6-0	20
15	USC	4-1	2
16	Virginia Tech	5-1	22
17	Illinois	5-1	--
18	Texas	4-2	14
19	Kansas	5-0	--
20	Wisconsin	5-1	13
21	Auburn	4-2	--
22	Tennessee	3-2	--
23	Florida St	4-1	--
24	Colorado	4-2	25
25	Hawaii	6-0	21

they gone: clemson, georgia, kansas state, rutgers, nebrask

mlb postseason predictions, one day late

2007-10-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

nlds - rockies over phillies in 3
nlds - cubs over diamondbacks in 5

alds - red sox over angels in 4
alds - indians over yankees in 4

nlcs - cubs over rockies in 5
alcs - indians over red sox in 5

w.s. - cubs over indians in 7

new top 25 -- week 5

2007-10-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

here are my latest rankings. even before i knew the AP voters would move LSU to #1, i had already decided to do that myself. but as it's been all year long, the gap between those 2 teams is very small.

		record	prev

1	LSU	5-0	2
2	USC	4-0	1
3	California	5-0	9
4	S. Florida	4-0	17
5	Ohio St	5-0	7
6	Oregon	4-1	10
7	Florida	4-1	3
8	Kentucky	5-0	11
9	Oklahoma	4-1	4
10	S. Carolina	4-1	14
11	W. Virginia	4-1	5
12	Cincinnati	5-0	16
13	Wisconsin	5-0	15
14	Texas	4-1	6
15	Boston Coll.	5-0	12
16	Nebrask	4-1	18
17	Missouri	4-0	19
18	Georgia	4-1	20
19	Clemson	4-1	13
20	Arizona St	5-0	24
21	Hawaii	5-0	22
22	Virginia Tech	4-1	21
23	Rutgers	3-1	8
24	Kansas St	3-1	--
25	Colorado	3-2	--

dropped out: penn state (23), alabama (25)

-- wisconsin's porous defense versus the likes of The Citadel and other less-than-average opponents leaves me doubting. they're going to have to beat an actually good team before i move them much higher than 10.

-- ranking south florida at #4 is sort of like eating a burrito at 2 a.m. will i regret this decision?

-- i predict lsu will beat florida this weekend, and perhaps by as much as 20, this would not surprise me. when brandon cox of all people is marching down the field at will against you, that's not a good sign for your pass defense.

...and there's no way to know the future foe scenarios

2007-09-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

heading into baseball's final weekend, still nothing is determined in the NL playoff picture, where 7 teams fight for 4 spots. i know E!SPN has already mentioned this fact about 12 million times but still i find it pretty intriguing. this has never happened before in baseball history. the rockies(!) 11-game win streak put them in position to win the division, and they could even win homefield advantage(!!!!!) throughout the NL playoffs. or, of course, they could still miss them altogether. the exact same can be said for the mets, who were a lock only two weeks ago.

so, in true fiscal musings style, i ask a question to my readers (both of you)... is all of this a product of the National League's parity, or mediocrity?