Oral Roberts shocks No. 3
No, in fact, I'm going to say: I told you so... seven months later.
Quickie regulars might remember my boldest/craziest call of 2006: That 16-seed Oral Roberts would beat 1-seed
Well, ORU didn't win that game, but – if you think about it – if
If you are willing to stretch your imagination, you could say that I had this called. I just had ORU beating the wrong Top 4 team at the wrong moment of the wrong season. But I'm claiming it as a moral victory.
Wait for it...: Or is that an ORAL victory?
(What did I say the other day? Why was I avoiding picking
Between this and UNC's iffy quasi-home win over
More of today's big storylines:
Emmitt Smith wins Dancing With the Stars: This is an even bigger upset than Oral Roberts winning at
MLB Awards: Manager. In the most predictable outcome of the year, Leyland and Girardi won Managers of the Year. Girardi's bonus? Pink slip.
MLB Awards: AL Cy. This is another no-brainer. It's Johan Santana and everyone else. My only question is if any voters will be stupid enough to NOT give Johan their No. 1 vote.
OJ Mayo commits to USC: I'm not sure a one-hit wonder can qualify as a "program-changer." I suppose Mayo gives USC credibility on the national recruiting scene. But he's no Carmelo. Not even close. (Of course, I've argued that Carmelo had the most impact of any college player ever. That's a high bar for Mayo to hurdle.)
NBA Notes:
(1) OK, Morrison is good. I may have underestimated Adam Morrison, who put in 27 leading the Bobs to a win over the Spurs in
(2) LeBron: 32/7/7. With LeBron's awesome new shoes coming out today, he sure knows how to put on a performance to show them off.
(3) Kenyon Martin: Out for season. The Nets look smarter and smarter for letting him go.
(4) Kevin Martin Watch: He hits his average on the mark (24 pts), and the Kings won their 4th straight.
(5)
(6) Michael Jordan wants to invest in new slot-machine parlors in Philly. He must need a place to go when the Bobcats play the Sixers.
MLB Hot Stove: My 2006 AL MVP, Frank Thomas, is on the cusp of signing a deal with the Blue Jays. I love the Jays' second consecutive offseason of aggressive dealing. (Wonder if they're going to trade Vernon Wells, who becomes a free agent after next season?)
Plus: A-Rod staying? After news of an opt-out after the '07 season came out yesterday, A-Rod reiterated that he wants to stay with the Yankees for the remainder of his three-year deal. Whatever.
Instant Replay in MLB? The GMs want it, but it won't be in place until after 2007, at the earliest. They are talking about using it for foul balls and home runs, but I'd suggest they use it for plays at the plate, too (perhaps in a limited NFL-style where managers can use one play-at-the-plate challenge per game). My argument for replay in baseball is very simple: The most important thing for the integrity of the game is to get the calls right.
NFL Notes: Trent Green will start for the Chiefs (at least, until he gets his bell rung one more time). Clinton Portis is out for the season, fulfilling the foreshadowing of his preseason injury.
College Bowls: The Birmingham Bowl is now the PapaJohn's.com Bowl, which might set a new bar for ridiculous bowl names. Is the apostrophe really supposed to be in there?
Ohio St-Michigan Countdown: Current players may not be willing to make predictions, but ex-Wolverine Chris Perry is happy to talk smack about a
Meanwhile, Bo Schembechler says that Troy Smith is the best player that
-- D.S.
Posts
47 comments:
Re: Lenny
I concur. My first complaint about the show is that after Smash's abysmal performance and plea to the recruiter, it was pretty obvious what he was going to do. Isn't this kid only a sophomore? I like the character turns this week of Smash and Riggins.
That KU game was just hard to watch. UGLY. But while flicking back and forth between the KU game and the UNC game I noticed a big difference between the teams. They both got talent, but UNC has a go-to guy in Hansbrough. KU is missing that. Rush is supposed to be the man but he was nowhere to be seen last night. To make a run in march, a team needs a go-to guy who can take over a game when need be. Unless KU finds one, no final four for them.
nikkij27...
are you fucking kidding me? you michigan fans are embarrassing. ohio state has a top 5 offense AND top 5 defense. hmm...let's look at the numbers!
UM's defense: 12.1 ppg
OSU's denense: 7.8 ppg
UM's offense: 29.36 ppg
OSU's offense: 35.82 ppg
get a fucking clue
Re: Girardi as NL MOY:
I wonder if Girardi had an incentive clause in his contract giving him a salary bump for winning MOY? If he did, does he still get to collect the cash, even though he's been canned?
And how the hell did Leyland not win AL MOY unanimously?
Unless Mike Hart is able to get tough yards early, OSU runs away with this game. There's no way Michigan moves the ball otherwise.
As for OSU v. MU's D, the DBacks are susceptible. OSU can go 4 wide and just pick that defense apart down the field.
(Speaking of news, somewhat interesting news coming tomorrow relating to the future of this blog.)
I can't believe I'm actually waiting for this, but ok I'm hooked in.
Where's this news?
Mich-Ohio St should be a classic. I am not a fan of either team but as a college football fan, I am looking forward to it. I would be surprised if OSU romps.
In the first half yesterday UNC looked like a bunch of freshman who were outplayed by a veteran team. They won in the second half due to Winthrop missing open layups and being dominated by larger more physical players. UNC was not good yesterday but they will be scary by March.
I am a big Syracuse fan but I am really getting disgusted by the team's failure to show some balls and play anyone of interest out of conference.
Is it a given that Girardi is the 2008 manager of the Yanks?
(Speaking of news, somewhat interesting news coming tomorrow relating to the future of this blog.)
Funny how I stopped logging in to ESPN page 2 and log into this blog now for my morning sports news.
We should spread rumors about what that news is until Dan Shanoff comes out with the news himself.
I say Dan will come out of the closet and start using this blog to promote the Man Boy Love Association of North America instead of sports.
startvinceyoung...somewhat wrong.
ND's offense is Quinn, Carlson, Sarmadja, McKnight. There is no running game. IF (big one) ND had a running game, the Michigan game would have been a lot more interesting. Not saying ND would have won, but it would have been a lot closer. The weak ND offensive line is what cost them that game. Michigan was able to get pressure with only 4 men, leaving 7 in coverage. With no threat to run, ND had to pass and when you pressure any quarterback they aren't as good. That's what happened in the ND-Mich game.
ndyanks -
on fire so far today.
Shanoff - the Oral Roberts thing was funny, but you made it maybe 2 paragraphs too long. Making the jocular claim to begin with, I'm ok with; explaining it as though you actually believe it and want us to believe it... silly?
Everyone -
judging OSU's scoring offense vs. Michigan's (we like to call it UM, by the way, not "MU.") scoring offense is the stupidest game predictor ever, aside from, maybe, constantly harping on Troy Smith's past success against Michigan. The team is different this year. Get over it.
Anyway - sure, OSU scores hundreds of points per game. So could UM, if Lloyd Carr coached that way. I would suggest that Notre Dame is probably tougher to hang points on than, say, Indiana. But, Michigan scored 47 vs. the Irish. Michigan only scored 34 vs. Indiana. Does that mean that Michigan got like 60 times worse? Or maybe it has something to do with the backup quarterback taking snaps in the fourth quarter.
Chad could throw 8 TDs a game, but there's no point. The point is to win. Same goes for the D. Don't pretend any D is better than Michigan's when it matters. Idiots.
Oh, and did anyone know that Indiana's dual-threat QB Kellen Lewis has about 110 more rushing yards this year than dual-threater Troy Smith?
I guess it indicated Troy was in good shape when Lewis ripped through Michigan for 100 yards on the ground. Oh, wait.
This game isn't decided either way, and the arguments that hand it right to OSU are all outdated, stupid, and worthless.
Dan's big announcement is that the QUICKIE is back on page 2 of ESPN OCHO.
This game is already more hyped than last season's Rose Bowl, and that's saying something.
I really hope it lives up to all the hype. I'd hate to be sitting in my recliner watching a 38-3 blowout in the third quarter.
Unless, of course, it's 38-3 Michigan. :)
With all due respect to John C. McGinley, so-ah-ah-hoooo glad NBC committed to a full season for Friday Night Lights, an actual quality show that does its movie big brother justice and then some (thank you Peter Berg).
As for Smash, I could be wrong, but I think I remember hearing him say that he's a junior. Either way, still disappointing that he took the "easy" way out, especially after Riggins finally got his head out of his ass.
OK, I'm gonna go have my skirt hemmed and comment on Desperate Housewives over at the male soap opera website now.
he had to accomplish this entirely on his own.
A good Slate article that makes that statement of years a little... wrong.
statement of yours, rather.
Looking back on the old quickie, does anyone else find Larry Johnson's choice of artwork somewhat a reinforcement of racial stereotypes?
Some comments:
Emmitt Smith wins Dancing With the Stars: This is an even bigger upset than Oral Roberts winning at Kansas. I'd argue that this is more impressive than any of Emmitt's Super Bowl titles; his Cowboys teams were loaded -- he had to accomplish this entirely on his own.
. . . wiiiith the help of a zillion TV-viewer voters, who ignored the fact that Mario Lopez danced the pants off of Emmitt. (Yes, I confess, I saw it. My roommate had it on. And he's the straight one!)
Kobe is getting sued by a fan in Memphis who says Kobe elbowed him while going for a loose ball. Caveat emptor for fans in the arena.
Technically, what you're talking about is volenti non fit iniuria, legal Latin that roughly translates as "volunteers suffer no wrong." As in, "it was your own stupid idea to sit in the front row so you could be close to the action, so what do you expect?" Of course, I can't say for sure that this principle actually applies--the classic case is amateur boxing tournaments, and you could say that being in the front row at an NBA game is shading a little far from that ideal case. But I don't have the facts, so I have no idea really.
Caveat emptor, "buyer beware," is different--it's the long-dead idea that the seller has no liability on anything you buy, unless there's an express warranty. Like I said, this principle is long gone from law.
Sorry, I'm prone to law geekery.
--M.
Before you talk about racial stereotypes and Larry Johnson you do know that he is black and and former reverend.
Wasn't Emmitt's partner the same girl that won last year with Drew Lachey? Considering "it takes two to tango", Emmitt's DWTS team was stacked as much as those Cowboys were. The professional dance partner is essentially the QB of your two-person team. Having the defending champ on your side is a big advantage.
It seems to me Emmitt's partner (Cheryl?) is the Tom Brady of DWTS, no matter who she's dancing with, she gets the job done and wins titles.
ok lets sum it up
Dan, good of you to admit how wrong you were about Morrison, as he looks like he will be the scorer that people thought. I heard rumors that he played great D last night. Can anyone confirm?
I did't see DWTS but I have to say that I would watch if they brought Emmit back and then they said he was going to have a secret challenger for his title. And the moment comes and a figure walks out on to the stage and you see the shock on Emmit's face cause he knows he's about to get whooped. That man: Barry Sanders
I will third the motion for recaps of Friday Night Lights (FNL). Smash is a Junior by the way. I think he ends up making the list and I'm not sure Riggins quitting drinking is good fir the show. I didn't like how they left us hanging with Saracen and coach's daughter. That wasn't cool. I did love that line a few episodes ago where the coach sees Saracen talkin to his daughter and he looks at his wife and says "Dammit. I thought I told that kid to get her in the backseat of his car."
You said that OJ Mayo is no Carmelo. Living outside DC, I saw 'Melo play in HS. He was rifrickindiculous. That being said, OJ MAYO is the real deal. You also referred to him as a "one hit wonder" what is this one hit??? He will be a 3-time Mr. Basketball. He's the second guy to win Mr. Basketball in Sophmore year in Ohio, the other: LEBRON JAMES.
I am also curious: WHERES THIS ANOUNCEMENT ALREADY???
mark-
I can't believe you got away with saying "Mario Lopez danced the pants off of Emmitt" and no one said anything. (shaking head in disgust)
My view on OSU/MICH is let's wait till saturday and see. Why argue all week when we will know in a few days. Waste. Of. Time.
Even though nobody will care, it's good to see you admit you were wrong about Morrison. Not only did he have 27 last night, he had 27 being guarded by Bruce Bowen.
As far as morrison's D goes, it's my understanding that when they beat cleveland, he pretty much took LeBron out of the game. Lebron shot 3-13 that night, morrison just needs to get consistent on both ends of the floor and he'll be a good player.
Neither Tressel or Carr are coaches likely to be blown out.
The Game will be a good one. I do think that it will be:
Ohio State 24
Michigan 18
As for the virtues of Brady Quinn..the problem with Quinn, and I'm not picking on him, is that he has a bit of the Peyton Manning syndrome. Great QB...but hit him and he rattles too easily and too much. Troy Smith, from what I have seen, just doesn't seem to get rattled. That's why my edge would go to Smith.
I JUST HAD A FLASH OF BRILLIANCE
How's this for an idea? The Seibu Lions say that they want to use the 51.1 million dollars or (whoever asked the question about why 51.1) 6 BILLION yen to maybe redo their stadium and obviously they will have more money to replace Matsuzaka on their pitching staff.
Let's say that the negotiations between Theo and Boras aren't going to well. If they don't come to an agreement they have to give back the 6 billion yen and they get him back but everyone says he will be disgraced to go back.
So what if they say "Listen, we understand the negotiations aren't going well but we would rather have the 6 billion yen than a disgraced version of you back next year." And Matsuzaka says "Well they are only giving me 3 years, 20 million." Then the Lions say "Well how bout we throw you some of that 6 billion yen. How's 10 million? We were only planning on getting 40 million anyway and we were happy with that."
It could also go the opposite way. Matsuzaka saying "gimme some of that cash or i'm comin back and you don't get to keep it"
How about that?
Carmelo got a lot of the hype in his one year of college and rightfully so. But he was NOT the reason Syracuse won the title. (Really it was KU shooting 11-30 from the free throw line) Syracuse wouldn't have gone anywhere McNamara and Warrick. Those two carried the team down the stretch, not Melo. No one person can do anything without talent around him.
Saying that Ohio State put up big numbers against the Longhorns means nothing. Texas' pass defense is crap compared to it was last year. Just watch their games against Texas Tech, Baylor, and Kansas State. Same thing goes with saying Michigan put up big numbers against ND.
Hey guy in the corner, that would mean Matsuzaka would get paid by Seibu, so that subsidy wouldn't count towards the luxury tax.
There's no way the MLBPA would allow that, they'd probably void whatever deal *did* get done.
But it's a good thought. Why doesn't Donald Trump offer free agents extra money to play for the Yankees? It wouldn't count as baseball salary, but helps the team's chances of signing every conceivable free agent.
i think their might be rules against the trump thing
but as far as the lions paying him to play for the sox, i'm not sure the mlb would have the ability to stop it from happening
theres no rule written about it, just like people say that the red sox could trade the rights to negotiate with matsuzaka and the mlb probobly doesnt want that to happen but they don't have a rule about it so they can't do anything
they will add the rule next year to stop the trading of negotiation rights for japaneese players
if the lions and matsuzaka use my idea the mlb would probobly outlaw that also by next year but it could work this one time
OJ Mayo is the best player I've ever seen in High School...that includes Lebron
Apparently the pressure has officially aused Manninghamheisman to snap...
"I can't believe I'm actually waiting for this, but ok I'm hooked in.
Where's this news?"
The news is that Dan's wife kicked his unemployed ass out of the house. So now if we want to read his crappy blog posts everyday we have to put some money up for a new house and internet for him.
Maybe 'GO BLUE EVERYONE' is a plug for the Blue Man Group?
or, manning has a poor command of english and really means 'Go Blow Everyone'
marco, I recently saw the blue man group, they were freaking awesome.
Can't Dan ban manninghamheisman from posting every again?
Everything I have ever read him say is stupid.
We know you're a Michigan fan. We know. You can stop now.
I second Bob the Monkey's request.
Also awaiting this "news" (hired by aol?)
Melo was good, I'm not denying that. But correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think it was him that lead the comeback when they were down 20 to Oklahoma State in that tournament game. Since it was brought up that McNamara made those threes because Melo was being doubled... it was still McNamara making the threes. He misses those then what?
Again, not saying Melo wasn't great, but it takes more than just one player to cut down the nets. Without the talent around him, there is no "Melo lead Syracuse to the National Title as a freshman" conversation. OJ Mayo will not lead USC to the national title unless he has talent around him. Not even LeBron could do it.
Uhh...Dan:
Why was I avoiding picking Kansas to the Final Four: Because of their history of "SELF-implosion" when it mattered. I'd say losing at home last night qualifies.
My definition of "when it mattered" would be the NCAA tournament, not a virtually meaningless game against a mid-major to open the season. But hey, I guess you and I see things differently.
Anyone see Olney's blog today, about the Mets possibly trading for Manny (or, as Bill Simmons calls him, "Man-Ram")?
Imagine the Mets' batting order:
Reyes
LoDuca
Beltran
Manny
Delgado
Wright
Green
Valentin
(insert 40-year-old pitcher here)
David Wright batting sixth? With a lineup like that, who needs pitching?
Kevin, yep I imagine good pitching would still eliminate that team in the NLCS.
Hold on. Melo is great as a scorer, but McNamara and Warrick were the perfect role players. There's no way to know what would have happened, but that SU 3-some was as good as any group in college basketball in the last 5 years.
Don't forget, Heinrich was outplayed by McNamara, and he's a top NBA point guard. Remember McNamara's stunning trio to long 3's to start the game off with a bang? And Collison was no stiff in college, he had 21 rebounds in that game. He was still beat.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/gamecenter/recap/NCAAB_20030407_SYR@KS
Cut my link off:
http://cbs.sportsline.com/
collegebasketball/gamecenter
/recap/NCAAB_20030407_SYR@KS
I really wish ND would grow a set and join the big10. Yes that BCS money going to them and only them is a great thing for such a financially strapped university, and must be the reason they stay independ.
Ok, it's after 4 PM EST...where is the big announcement!!!?
GO BUCKEYES!!!
Reasons ND won't join the Big-10 (no matter how much sense it makes on the big "good for college football" scale):
1. BCS money
2. NBC money - Notredame Broadcasting Corporation
3. The Big-10 won't let Navy and Army in too - 2 fewer guaranteed wins on the schedule.
Michigan - Ohio State is the biggest rivalry in College Football.
I say this because I get tired, every year, of hearing about Army-Navy and Auburn-Alabama. Yes, I know...men who will be in the armed forces play in the game, the pageantry..fine. But the teams usually suck and outside the media, few actually care.
Auburn-Bama? Maisel said that because it's in-state, it's the best. Actually..because it's only in Alabama, noone else cares. One thing that makes UM/OSU great is the fact they have ridiculous numbers of fans everywhere. I've never met an Auburn grad.
Just my opinion, of course.
Serious sports commentary: Dancing with the stars. Dan, how do you justify saying Emmit had to get this win all on his own--he had a professional dancer as a partner, who taught him all the steps. The partner who won the show last year as well, no less. Maybe a little credit is due to her?
Just as long as Notre Dame and Penn State maintain the rivalry that kickstarted again this year, I could care less that they join the Big 10/11. Regardless of the whuppin' they put on the Nittany Lions in September.
Post a Comment