tv show preview: eli stone

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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.
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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?

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

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

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