Today's Names to Know: South Florida,
South Florida loses at Rutgers: There will be many doubters and haters who are giddy today at No. 2 USF (No. 1 in the BCS computer polls) losing at
The Bulls were THE story of college football: The representation of everything that was wacky and out-of-balance about the season. USF was this year's Cinderella; they were, by far, the most compelling remaining unbeaten team.
Now, USF has virtually no shot at the national title game. Even if they end up 11-1, there will be so many other 1-loss teams that the Bulls will be squeezed out.
Of far more consequence to the rest of the country, one of the two coveted BCS slots is now open -- there for the taking. Presumably, No. 3 Boston College (playing vaunted "Idle," which would finish in the top half of the ACC this season) will back their way into the position, in the biggest "win" of the week. Yes, there's nothing like "earning it."
It's also a warning shot to BC,
(Losing at Rutgers, a very tough team, particularly at home and particularly playing their own Game of the Year, is hardly a shame, like losing at home to an unranked team; any of the five unbeatens above would have lost at Rutgers on a Thursday night at this point in the season. And, yet, USF still had their chances to win.)
On a navel-gazing note, it's nice to get off the schneid for my fall predictions track record, which had been previously miserable before picking RU over USF. I will now resume my pick-sucking.
MLB: Red Sox crush Indians in Game 5, bring series back to
Not only did he dominate the Indians (8 IP, 11 K, 1 BB, 5 H, 1 R) in a must-win game for
Meanwhile, we now have a situation unique to the 7-game format: One team is down 3-2, facing elimination in either of the next two games, but coming home to play those two games (having already lost 1 of 2 games played with that home-field "advantage").
And, yet, all momentum, confidence and presumption of victory resides with that team. Forget previous expectations: The upset now would be if
Joe Torre turns down Yankees' offer: I can understand Torre not wanting to take the pay cut, but he still would have been the highest-paid manager in baseball -- if he reached his incentives, which weren't particularly draconian, given his inability to win any championships since 2000. I thought that based on Torre's recent performance, the deal was fair. If he didn't want to take it, that's on him, not the team management.
Torre Era is over: What next for the Yankees? They've got to find Torre's replacement, hardly an easy seat to fill. Will they go with the presumptive in-house heir (Mattingly)? Will they go for a more experienced manager who can take this veteran team back to the World Series? Another day, more drama.
What next for Torre? I'm betting a nice deal with ESPN. But if Fox was smart, they would sign him up to provide World Series analysis. (And if Torre was smart, he'd do it.)
College Football Preview and Picks
After the last three weeks (Massive upsets in the Top 10, USC loses to 41-point underdog, teams ranked 1-2 both lose), I cannot possibly see how things could get any crazier. Then again, I've said that in each of the last two weeks.
The wildest outcome, of course, would be that
All eyes on the five remaining unbeatens: I think that, of the five, No. 13 Kansas is in the most tenuous position, playing at
The Game of the Day is
The Picks:
1
4 LSU over 17
5
6
15
9
10
12
14 USC over at Notre Dame
24
Maryland
21
22
23
25
NFL Preview and Picks
Five Storylines Of Interest:
(1) Pats 19-0 Watch: vs. nemesis Dolphins
(2) Colts at Jags on MNF: Game of the Week
(3) Matt Schaub: Make Texans fans forget VY?
(4) Adrian Peterson: NFL's most "must-see"
(5) This Week's Testaverde: Byron Leftwich
At Lions over Bucs
Pats over at Dolphins
At Saints over Falcons
At Giants over 49ers
At Redskins over Cards
At Texans over Titans
At Bengals over Jets
Chiefs over at Raiders
At Cowboys over Vikings
Bears over at Eagles
At Seahawks over Rams
Steelers over at Broncos (SNF)
At Jaguars over Colts (MNF)
Javon Walker out indefinitely: More bad news for a Broncos team that is full of it this season.
Priest Holmes returning this Sunday? It's possible. No, I wouldn't drop an active player from your fantasy roster to pick him up... yet.
Bills want to play home game(s) in
Bill Callahan doesn't like Tom Osborne: At least that's what a student sports reporter says in a new book (self-published), in which he reports Callahan calls the
Pats are evil geniuses, Part Nth: In a move far more insidious than spying on the football field, the Pats will get the names of their season-ticket-holding fans who (re-)sold their tickets on StubHub (presumably to punish them for not letting the team re-sell them).
I'm no fan of price-gouging (or the ticket brokers who mostly engage in it), but I'm even less of a fan of a team's invasions of privacy against its fan base.
(The best system is where leagues, fans and a company like StubHub collaborate to let fans re-sell their unused tickets; I recognize this works a lot better in a sport like baseball, where there are 81 regular-season games and a season-ticket holder who can't attend might just want to make back their original ticket cost. Or more, when the game is meaningful.)
Still, the main point is that this is an iffy issue, but alienating your fans by threatening them generally isn't a good policy – even if you are in total control because there are only 8 home games and the wait-list for tickets is decades long.
Now, I'm not saying the Pats fans who scalped on StubHub don't have their own issues: If you're a season-ticket holder in it to make a lot of money off your tickets through the secondary market, you shouldn't get them -- there are plenty of fans out there who would kill to pay for (and attend) all 8 home games.
To summarize:
Privacy-infringing team: Bad
Price-gouging ticket-holders: Bad
Dan Patrick teaming up with SI: SI.com could use the relevance. DP could use the audience.
-- D.S.
90 comments:
The comment from Callahan about Tom Osborne is such a non-story. The guy that wrote the book is just bitter from getting fired. The timing of this is very suspicious, don't you think?
Ooooh, zing.
Well I know now that KU will win this weekend.
I completely understand both sides of the Torre - Yankees discussions. I do side with Torre more though. An incentive laden contract like they offered is an insult. Yes, he may not have had success in the past couple of years but he has won a WS on average every three years. This is the type of contract you give to a new coach that has proven nothing!
Actually it is five teams ranked in the SEC east, but I like most of America think they are a bunch of average teams, not a bunch of elite teams. I guess that will all be sorted out in the bowls.
It really isn't invasion of privacy when you give all the information to a company to get their product and when the product returns to the company with someone else you check.
And it's patently ridiculous to make the assertion that OSU would have lost at Rutgers.
USF was a lie, propagated by poor competition for the most part and poor preparation on Auburn's part. Hawaii certainly will lose the first tough game they play, and I fully believe BC will do the same in 8 days.
john:
Dan likes to make ridiculously moronic statements
At this point, its tough to argue against Beckett being the best post season pitcher ever. Smoltz pops up in my head, but I'm a Braves Fan.
As much as I dislike UF, their schedule is awful again this year. Auburn, LSU, bye, UK, UGA. All ranked. But with 5 of the 6 east teams ranked that's going to happen.
"The best system is where leagues, fans and a company like StubHub collaborate to let fans re-sell their unused tickets at face value;"
Really, Where do you find these face value tickets since I have never seen a ticket sell for face value on Stub hub.
wow. "The upset now would be if Boston lost the series." way to completely change your position once again. If you haven't noticed, Beckett can't pitch every game. I hope Schill and Dice-K can pull it out but I woulnd't say that boston is now the favorite to win 2 in a row.
And about the Patriots, a court ordered Stub Hub to do it. It wasn't just the bullying patriots, it was a court (two actually since stubhub lost the appeal)
Michigan State may very well knock another unbeaten off this week.
No, it isn't an upset of Boston loses one of the next two games. Gimme a break Dan. Isn't Dice-K pitching Game 7??
Why does everyone forget Carmona dominating the Yanks and only remember the Game 2 from this series? (and forgetting that Schilling struggled as well?)
Indians close it out in 6.
"The best system is where leagues, fans and a company like StubHub collaborate to let fans re-sell their unused tickets at face value..."
Kind of like the ALCS Game 5 seats that were going for $3000 a piece a couple days ago?
No way Michigan State knocks off Ohio State. Ohio State may very well lose this year, they may even lose 2 or 3 down the stretch, but it won't be this week. Two years in a row now they've heard all about unranked MSU coming into Columbus and beating #1 Ohio State in 1998...they'll be focused on this game.
1998, Ohio State vs. Michigan State still haunts my dreams. I remember crying after OSU lost that game and my dad telling me to stop being a baby. But then I could see that he was more pissed than I was. Awkward drive home.
Dan is a nasty Ohio State basher and a known Big 10 basher. Yet he went to Northwestern!
Go Michigan State!
As a Hokie, nothing would make me happier than watching #1 Boston College come into Blacksburg and lose next Thursday.
Big difference in that '98 Buckeye team and this one. Jim Tressel is the coach. I know he got outcoached by Meyer in last year's title game but for the most part in the games that OSU is supposed to win under Tressel they usually do.
based on sheer experience and having pitched in games of this magnitude before you have to say the game #6 advantage goes to the Red Sox. As for game #7(if there is one) that will be a total crapshoot unless we get a couple of days of rain in boston and Beckett can make the start
I'm glad the Pats are going after StubHub. I'd rather the Krafts get my $75 than some scalper gouge me for $200 and up. The prices on that site are ridiculous!
Beckett brought the nasty stuff but it made me nervous how many Sox got stranded on base. I hate to say it, but I think the Sox lineup has too many automatic outs/double play hitters to win two more games from the Tribe.
Anyone know what Beckett said to Lofton?
If trying to figure our how StubHub and season ticketholders have the "privacy" to violate state laws on scalping? Something tells me that little logical twist didn't enter Dan's mind.
Having grown up in western NY, I think it's pretty fair to have the Bills play a game in Toronto. I don't think people realize how close those cities are. There are only about 100 miles between them, an easy drive for a die-hard fan. Hell, Ralph Wilson Stadium is over 10 miles away from downtown Buffalo as it is!
Grabbing a piece of Toronto to help shore up one of the smallest markets in the NFL is good business.
rafael~ That was my original bet, and I'm stickin' with it: Indians in 6. Carmona is going to look like a little Beckett tomorrow.
rev~ OOOH, the agony of that '98 game. We were at a fun weekend at my husband's sister's house and when the Buckeyes lost, my husband didn't speak for about an hour. It was like he had been told someone close to him had died. Then he and his brother-in-law went to a bar.
Careful to not bash Joe's accomplishments too much. Remember, the Yankees have usually had the largest payroll in baseball. What Joe accomplished for the Yankees in his 12 years was pretty impressive, given the Yankees history the previous 12 years. He was a stabilizing figure and a steady leader. He knew how to steer the (expensive) horses the right way. The playoffs are a crapshoot, as many baseball people have always said.
======================
1984-1995 (12 years)
8 managers (Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Dallas Green, Bucky Dent, Stump Merrill, Buck Showalter)
973 - 901 (.519)
1 playoff appearance
0 division titles
0 league pennants
0 world series
1996-2007 (12 years)
1 manager (Joe Torre)
1173 - 767 (.606)
12 playoff appearances
10 division titles
6 league pennants
4 world series
At this point, its tough to argue against Beckett being the best post season pitcher ever. Smoltz pops up in my head, but I'm a Braves Fan.
Ugh. Gibson, Ford, et al. would disagree.
They did play baseball prior to ESPN.
I'm also confused as to how the Patriots are violating the "privacy" of their fans when their fans are really violating the law.
@ cmfost
CMFost said...
It is all over, the Red Sox will not even get this series back to Boston. It is disappointing but Cleveland is the better team. Go Luck in the World Series.
Eat it.
@jen
I will argue to the death that the 1998 Ohio State team was not only the best team that year, but the best team of the last 15 years. That's how big of an upset that MSU game was. One of my best friends in college grew up in Tennessee and said that if OSU played them that year, OSU would win by at least 21 points. That team was SICK. Too bad David Boston is a douche now. Talk about a waste of talent.
DAILY QUICKIE FANTASY BASKETBALL
Mike and Eileen, come on down. What are your email adresses so I can tell you how to get in.
DANIELLE
Remember when you said you were in but then didn't actually join the league? I do.
revscott, marcomarco, jen, pv845, matt t, flvy-
Would any of you like to join the fantasy basketball league?
I'm on it!!
GO SOX!!!
I know almost nothing about basketball (not a fan, really), but I'm up for any fantasy game, sure. Maybe this will get me into the sport.
I won my first ever fantasy golf league this year!
Where do i sign up?
As a huge Yankee fan since I was a small child and also a big Joe Torre fan, I don't think the offer by the Yanks was a slap in the face. I fully respect Joe's decision to say no. However at $5M per year and being the highest paid manager in baseball with a $3M incentive if they make the World Series (actually a pay raise) that is pretty damn good. I would say that there isn't a single other manager in MLB right now that wouldn't take that offer with a 3 second decision to decide.
I am always for incentive laden contracts. Why shouldn't people be compensated for performance. How often does a player suck for the first 4 out of 5 years after signing the big contract and have a big "contract" year. Just the fact that we have a term "contract year" indicates there should be incentives.
Oh sure, guy, invite me to play BASKETBALL but not football! HAHA
What do I need to do?
GO TRIBE!!!
@guyinthecorner
I'm interested if you still have a slot.
@tbender. I'm way too young to remember those guys.
If you think about it, USF lost by 3 and Rutgers turned one punt and one FG attempt into TDs. That is all part of the game but USF came damn close. I keep thinking that USF was overrated at #2 but then again, which team has a that invincible national champion type resume this year. I think no team does. We need a top 8 team playoff - period.
Mike and MIke made a good point this morning. You can't have a Cinderella story in the NCAA IA football championship. Maybe that is a good thing but we all like to think that the underdog has a chance. What a great story the Rockies are. We can argue that they don't deserve to get in just by getting hot in the last month but I don't agree.
I say you already have the BCS in place so just take the top 8 teams, seed them 1-8. 3 or 4 of the current BCS bowl games become the first round. Then you just delay 1 or 2 of the BCS games by a week which become the 2nd round and either promote another existing bowl game or create a new one.
Then you have the true national championship game.
Guy I appreciate the invite, but no thanks! I am horrible at FBB. Actually I am pretty bad at all fantasy sports, but that is another issue. Good luck to all that are playing.
Rugby World Cup
OK, only a few more posts for you to endure regarding rugby. The finals is this weekend between South Africa and England. England are the defending champs but looked weak in qualifying play and even in round robin play. South Africa actually destroyed England 36-0 in the round robin stage but England eked out victories to finish 2nd in the bracket and advance. Now after two upset wins, they are ready to defend.
Of course based upon their first meeting common sense says it will be a one sided affair. However it seems England has regained some of their mojo from 4 years ago.
Also interesting is that the semi-final losers play in a consolation game for 3rd place. Host country France against Cinderella Argentina. For France it is a chance to end with a victory in front of home fans. For Argentina, it is a way to establish themselves as an international power in the game.
I think the problem with rugby here is that it is a very difficult game to watch and understand. They should have a 30-60 minute show just explaining the game that they can keep repeating on Versus before the games take place. I think people would be sort of interested and it can't cost too much to make a show like that.
matt t, jen, marcomarco-
I need your email adresses to send the info.
eileen-
your's is coming...
Marco I will happily eat my words.
Cleveland, Hold on to your Hankies
Sabathia denied cheeseburgers
*chuckle*
On the 'price-gouging ticket holders'. Is it really any different than the price-gouging owners? What hypocrites.
There are spam bots that troll the chats and comment sections for emails. Type username "AT" domain.com or something like that so the bots don't put your name on a spam list. I learned this the hard way once when answering someone's question using my work email address.
Also you should have at least two email addresses. There is one just for your friends to use and for legitimate companies. The other is for everything else. Whenever you fill out any product registration, online survey or anything like that. I get about 100-200 junk emails per day on my junk account but my real email address stays clean. The only reason I get junk at all is a moron friend decided to send me a cute little greeting card and typed my email address into a website. NEVER type anyone else's address into a website for any reason.
Good advice. I have several emails, that's my 'miscellaneous' one.
On that note, Guy, once I recieve the league invite, i'm going to delete my comment.
i have your address. You can delete.
guy~ jpohto at hotmail dot com
marco~ hardy, har har ;)
I'm just waiting on jen and mike.
I deleted mine. Thanks.
@ jen
That site is part of my morning surf. They dish up satire like that about everyone, especially the Sox.
He started that site shortly after the 2003 Boone moment and has never been short on material.
I have too many favorites to link to, so here's the whole site:
Call of the Green Monster
I'd second Smoltz as this generation's best postseason pitcher.
And I'd suggest Devin Hester as the NFL's must-see player.
As soon as all the new people sign up, them and the vets (me, big d, cmfost, rafael, danielle, patriots64) will discuss the draft time on the board in the basketball league.
@guyinthecorner.
thanks for the invite, but i do not play fantasy leagues. never have, never will. i have too many battles with my conscience. for instance:
Head: "Pick Kobe."
Heart: "With the #1 pick, I select Wally Sczerbiak. Miami of Ohio what what! Chaaaampionship baby!"
However, if I did play, I would wear this shirt.
Guy-I just sent an email.
Aw, crap... as a CU Buff, I'm horribly disappointed to see Dan pick them to win. Should I still even go to the game, now that it's a guaranteed L?
In regards to scalping season tickets: Too bad. If you really wanted them you'd get in on the ground floor or wait. That's what I did witht he Colts and no I am in for as long as I want them sicne I got in before there was a waiting list, so neener, neener. I can do what I want with them, and I do enjoy making a bit of profit off of them.
Wow, a little hostility towards BC, huh? I guess Florida didn't have a bye week this year? You may think BC is overrated, but they did "earn" their positon by not losing. They were unranked at the start of the season and have worked their way up by beating teams. It may not (and probably will not) last all year but you can't say they haven't done their job.
And har-har, that was hilarous about "idle" being in the middle of the ACC. Almost like Maryland, which thoroughly beat the Rutgers team you are lauding. College football is a crapshoot. Just sit back and enjoy rooting for your alma mater. Oh wait . . .
I don't see what the big deal is about season ticket holders selling tickets. Hey, when you have to fork out big $$ for just the RIGHT to buy the seats, more power to you! With these internet venues, you can sell them ahead of time and don't have to stand outside the stadium the day of the game.
I'm sure the percentage of people selling solely for profit is pretty small. Most people just try to get rid of games they can't attend, etc. When it comes to big markets, it's probably a different story.
For the record I had Indians in six. So we'll see if that comes true.
I see Cleveland winning game six, simply because Fausto Carmona is so much better a pitcher than the 40-year old Schilling. I know Schilling might paint his sock red or might pitch the game of his life since he has a contract and his ego riding on it, but the fact is that Carmona is unequivocally better at this point, and unlike Sabathia, who I think is gassed right now, I think Carmona just had a bad outing last time out and will have one tomorrow similar to the Yankees outing (minus the bugs).
I think the Torre thing was just a PR move by little Steinbrenner and meaty Steinbrenner (credit Neyer for that gem) to show some fans they "tried" to get Torre back, all the while knowing Torre would never accept a pay cut AND a one year deal. Honestly, what non first-year manager would ever be dumb enough to take a one year deal in this instant history blogosphere world? No one, and the Steinbrenners knew this, but could also save face.
As for BC, I think it has less to do with Dan disliking BC than just being whiny and complainy about Florida. I think he's just bitter that Florida ain't that great this year, and therefore is justifying/excusing it in his head by just thinking that with all of the world centers around the SEC talk that their proponents always champion. Dan, you hate it when people think the world revolves around the AL East; you're doing the exact same thing with your SEC is the best and no one else matters talk as well.
I'm not sure about 4 in the same division because the Pac-10 doesn't have divisions, but they do have 4 in the top 14 of the BCS standings. 40% of the conference has a legitimate shot at making the title game. I think that's more impressive.
jen, eileen-
I haven't seen you join yet. Did you get my email? Were the directions clear?
@dougolis
40%?!
4/14= 28.6%
I suppose you choose top 14 since 15 is florida and that's 4 in the top 15 for the SEC as well giving them as much a shot at the title as the pac-10
oh and as far as 4 in the division, that'll change quickly seeing that they're all about to play eachother
guy~ That's my home e-mail which I can't access here at work. Do you want to send it to my work addy instead?
Doesn't the Pac-10 have 4 teams in the top 13 (AP)? How about the Harris Poll (yea, I'm reaching) with 7 of 10 Pac schools at least receiving votes?
I am making a prediction on a future DS.com post.
The reason that there are so many multiple loss teams in the SEC is because they are all so tough and have SEC speed.
Anyone else predict this post in the future?
I'm not sure I agree with your invasion of provacy argument. The fan selling tickets is selling it in public (stub hub) he has no right to privacy. The pats are merely taking puclic information, and checking against its season ticket holder DB to check for people abusing their season tickets. If the fan has privacy concerns, he shouldnt sell in public.
What about Jack Morris? I'm sure Braves fans would agree he'd rank as one of the best postseason pitchers.
@ cycledan
Problem with BCS Playoff: 2 schools would be required to play 3 more games instead of 1 and that would increase the burden of their "student" athletes.
"HAR HAR HAR! Couldn't do that with a straight face!"
- Peter Griffin
Great Stat I just created...
Roger Clemens made 17.4 million dollars this season. During the season and postseason he threw 1646 pitches that comes out to $10,571.08 per pitch.
C.C. Sabathia leads all pitchers this season in pitches with 3892. If he was paid as much as Clemens per pitch he would be paid $41,142,648.85 this season. Keep in mind that he could accumulate more money if the Indians make it to the world series.
The interesting thing is that Sabathia is better than Clemens. The best way we know of to evauluate pitchers is ERA+ or adjusted ERA. Clemens had an ERA+ of 107 while Sabathia's was 143.
So if we pro-rate by ERA+ and salary Sabathia should have made $54,985,035.38 this season. His actual salary was $8.75 million.
jen-
Yeah, post the work one and then i'll tell you when to delete.
@ chipp
1) you can use any of the polls to make any argument about quality vs. quantity you want, but as a fan of the SEC there are only going to be 2 or 3 teams from the east ranked at the end of the regular season
2) you forgot to mention the BCS schools who have to play an extra championship game that's even more of a burden for these "students"
I think it's really hard to historically compare post-season records because the number of games keeps expanding. If you look at career post-season wins, the list is dominated by current pitchers. In years past a guy would get 2-3 starts in a post-season, tops. Now a team can play 19 games. Not sure what it all means, but it just makes it that much more impressive that Whitey Ford won 10 post season games. Those were all WS games. Same for Sandy koufax and his 0.95 ERA.
Also, just looking around baseball-reference.com and noticed this anomoly. All-time leader for post-season ERA: John Rocker. 0.00 over 20 innings piched
GuyITC- I did get your email but fantasy sites are blocked at work. I'll sign up from home later on.
I think the Indians are giving the Red Sox a little bulletin Board Material.
Jumping the gun
Hey Cleveland ask the Red Sox how it worked out in 2003 when they started painting the World Series Logo on the field.
Gtc shoot me an email at mike.d0303@gmail.com thanks
Go asu
i knew i would all get you thinking about that MSU vs OSU game. its gonna happen baby. The rest of the country is about to see who the best running back in the Big Ten is, Javon Ringer. GO SPARTANS!
G'night, y'all.
WE STILL HAVE 1 SPOT OPEN IN THE DAILY QUICKIE BASKETBALL FANTASY LEAGUE
If you are interested post here.
GITC~ did you get my e-mail address?
"DAILY QUICKIE FANTASY BASKETBALL"
sign me up.
BIGSTAIN@gmail.com
@bkelly126: I'm pretty sure that there's 10 schools in the Pac-10. And uhh, I know it's simple math and all, so it might be hard for you southerners to grasp, but 4/10=40% champ. I said 14 because that's where the #4 is (USC). And you could say that the SEC does indeed have 4 in the top 15, but they also have several more schools so the percentage is lower. Also, Florida doesn't really have a legitimate chance of making the finals with 2 losses.
make that Championship not finals
jen-
Just sign up when you get home. Eileen is doing the same.
bkelly-
You got it. Sending you an e-mail.
@dougolis:
you're logic is flawed. 2 teams from the same conference are never going to compete for the national championship. so out of the top 14 teams, someone from the Pac-10 has a 28.6% chance of winning the title
thanks guy, I'm in
I never said both teams were going to be in the championship. And I wouldn't say 2 teams in the championship will never compete for the championship; the Big 10 came awfully close last year. Anyway, I said 4 of the teams from the Pac10 conference are in contention of making the championship, and not 4 of the teams within the top BCS rankings are from the Pac10 conference. Big difference. What you're saying as 4 out of 14 doesn't make sense anyway because all the teams don't have equal chances of making it among the 14.
I guess I do see your point, but at least 2 or 3 of those 4 teams are going to be knocked out of contention in the next month or so. you're never going to have more than 2 teams in each conference duking it out for a spot in the championship game.
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