College Football Saturday! Alabama at Arkansas is the afternoon headliner (pick: Bama, big), with Oregon State at Boise the night-side headliner (pick: Boise, close).
Keep your eye on:
*Can Texas get its offense on track vs. UCLA?
*South Carolina or Auburn: Who's for real?
*Let-down game for Arizona (vs. Cal)?
*Andrew Luck torching Notre Dame
*Temple giving Penn State a game.
*BC becoming ranking-worthy by beating VA Tech.
*The Denard Robinson Show (as always)
Carmelo to the Nets? I am obviously -- not to mention regionally -- biased, but I don't understand why Carmelo wouldn't want to play in Brooklyn.
OK, some caveats:
The Nets aren't actually IN Brooklyn yet. The plan is for them to be there 2 years from now -- but who knows? And Carmelo wants to play with Amare. (Is Brook Lopez such a schmoe?)
If Melo really wants to play for the Knicks, he can simply refuse to sign a contract extension with the Nets, then sign a deal next summer with the Knicks as a free agent. Simple.
But then he rolls the dice on the new CBA, that it wouldn't cut him off from millions he could make by signing an extension now.
However, I think that presuming the team gets to Brooklyn on schedule -- a big presumption, to be sure -- folks are sleeping on how much cachet the team in Brooklyn will have.
Melo could be king of New York City -- without playing for the Knicks.
NL West: Giants win, but Padres keep pace. (Any flickering hope the Rockies had of climbing back into it ended when they lost to the Giants.)
Enjoy your Saturday.
-- D.S.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
09/24 Quickie: Ichiro, Bama, Boise
Today's Names to Know: Ichiro, Felix, Jose Bautista, David Price, Albert Pujols, Alabama, Oregon State, Andrew Luck, The U, Mike Vick, Dallas Cowboys, Jahvid Best, Keith Smart and More.
I feel about Ichiro the same way I felt about Iverson: He is one of the most remarkable players of his generation, and he should be on any fan's "must-see-in-person" list. 10 straight 200-hit seasons is incredible -- and there is no reason to think he won't separate from Pete Rose with an 11th in 2011. What a shame his team sucks. Speaking of which...
Yesterday's start by Felix Hernandez should put his entire Cy Young candidacy into focus: King Felix pitched a 2-hitter over 8 innings, giving up only a HR to MLB HR leader Jose Bautista (who cracked the 50 barrier). And yet he lost, because the offense he plays with stinks. In short: Not his fault. Not his fault he got the loss. Not his fault he has "only" 12 wins. He is the best pitcher in the AL this season, and I hope enough AL Cy voters recognize that to give him the award.
UPDATE: Just read an awesome stat via Buster Olney. In Felix's 12 losses this season, the Mariners have scored 14 runs. (Just looked it up: In Sabathia's 7 losses, the Yankees have scored 12 runs.)
The presumptive favorite, CC Sabathia, got rocked by the Rays, who are now only .5 GB with 10 to play -- including series with Seattle, Baltimore and KC. The division title -- and home-field advantage -- is there for the taking. But watch out for the Twins!
Also on my "must-see-in-person" list: Albert Pujols, who is winding down his 10th MLB season with his 6th year with 40+ HR (he hit 40, 41 yesterday). No player -- certainly no player of this generation -- has had a better 10-year start to his career. If you want to watch one of the Top 10 baseball players of all time, in real-time, you need to catch Pujols when he hits your town next.
CFB Weekend Preview: It is arguable that this week -- at Arkansas -- will be Alabama's toughest test of the season. So what happens when the Tide wins by 20? (I'll tell you what: We start looking ahead to next week's game vs. Florida, which should be another pummeling.)
Meanwhile, the real Game of the Weekend -- and one of the best games of the year -- is Oregon State at Boise State. First: Credit OSU for scheduling both TCU and Boise State. I think it will help the Beavers tremendously to have played TCU in the season-opener; the Horned Frogs are every bit as good as Boise -- a better defense, not as good of an offense. This should be a shootout. Pick: Boise, qualified. I have been ranking Oregon State a lot higher than most ever since they lost to TCU. They are fearless.
Otherwise, I expect all ranked teams to win -- that includes Andrew Luck and Stanford slicing up Notre Dame in South Bend. In games between ranked teams, I'll give teams playing at home the edge: Auburn over South Carolina and LSU over West Virginia.
(By the way, even playing on the road, Miami will earn very little credit for walloping a limp Pitt team.)
My Top 5 favorite storylines for NFL Week 3:
*Must-see: Vick.
*Must-win: Cowboys
*Must-track: Jahvid Best
*Must-wha? 2-0 Steelers at 2-0...Bucs?
*Must-stay-up: Jets at Fins
Don Nelson out in Golden State: What a necessary part of the transformation of the franchise, now with a new coach (Keith Smart), new owner, new franchise star (Stephen Curry), new free agent stud (David Lee) and new uniforms. Always like head coaches not from the re-tread bin.
A couple of NBA teams start their training camps this weekend, but most start Monday. It's going to be hard to find any oxygen outside of South Beach, but with the Heat as the centerpiece of the league and Kevin Durant its new super-elite star, the league could be looking at its biggest season in years. I had thought that nothing could top Lakers-Celtics in the Finals, but I just didn't have the imagination to consider Kobe and the 2-time defending champs playing LeBron, Wade and Bosh in the Finals.
I'm sort of fascinated by NBA's new crackdown on player griping, which has become an epidemic. If they really enforce the rules, we will see a dozen (or more!) T's per game; I suspect the league doesn't want to draw that much attention to it -- I mean, you could give LeBron a half-dozen Ts a game, by himself. Presumably, they will not follow the new rules to the letter, but rather T up the most egregious whining. (My favorite detail: Refs are supposed to T up players who pantomime a smack on their arm to gripe.) It is fascinating that the impetus of the rule appears to be how bad the constant whining looks on TV.
"(Very) Quickie" posting over the weekend -- as always -- with some big stuff coming next week.
-- D.S.
I feel about Ichiro the same way I felt about Iverson: He is one of the most remarkable players of his generation, and he should be on any fan's "must-see-in-person" list. 10 straight 200-hit seasons is incredible -- and there is no reason to think he won't separate from Pete Rose with an 11th in 2011. What a shame his team sucks. Speaking of which...
Yesterday's start by Felix Hernandez should put his entire Cy Young candidacy into focus: King Felix pitched a 2-hitter over 8 innings, giving up only a HR to MLB HR leader Jose Bautista (who cracked the 50 barrier). And yet he lost, because the offense he plays with stinks. In short: Not his fault. Not his fault he got the loss. Not his fault he has "only" 12 wins. He is the best pitcher in the AL this season, and I hope enough AL Cy voters recognize that to give him the award.
UPDATE: Just read an awesome stat via Buster Olney. In Felix's 12 losses this season, the Mariners have scored 14 runs. (Just looked it up: In Sabathia's 7 losses, the Yankees have scored 12 runs.)
The presumptive favorite, CC Sabathia, got rocked by the Rays, who are now only .5 GB with 10 to play -- including series with Seattle, Baltimore and KC. The division title -- and home-field advantage -- is there for the taking. But watch out for the Twins!
Also on my "must-see-in-person" list: Albert Pujols, who is winding down his 10th MLB season with his 6th year with 40+ HR (he hit 40, 41 yesterday). No player -- certainly no player of this generation -- has had a better 10-year start to his career. If you want to watch one of the Top 10 baseball players of all time, in real-time, you need to catch Pujols when he hits your town next.
CFB Weekend Preview: It is arguable that this week -- at Arkansas -- will be Alabama's toughest test of the season. So what happens when the Tide wins by 20? (I'll tell you what: We start looking ahead to next week's game vs. Florida, which should be another pummeling.)
Meanwhile, the real Game of the Weekend -- and one of the best games of the year -- is Oregon State at Boise State. First: Credit OSU for scheduling both TCU and Boise State. I think it will help the Beavers tremendously to have played TCU in the season-opener; the Horned Frogs are every bit as good as Boise -- a better defense, not as good of an offense. This should be a shootout. Pick: Boise, qualified. I have been ranking Oregon State a lot higher than most ever since they lost to TCU. They are fearless.
Otherwise, I expect all ranked teams to win -- that includes Andrew Luck and Stanford slicing up Notre Dame in South Bend. In games between ranked teams, I'll give teams playing at home the edge: Auburn over South Carolina and LSU over West Virginia.
(By the way, even playing on the road, Miami will earn very little credit for walloping a limp Pitt team.)
My Top 5 favorite storylines for NFL Week 3:
*Must-see: Vick.
*Must-win: Cowboys
*Must-track: Jahvid Best
*Must-wha? 2-0 Steelers at 2-0...Bucs?
*Must-stay-up: Jets at Fins
Don Nelson out in Golden State: What a necessary part of the transformation of the franchise, now with a new coach (Keith Smart), new owner, new franchise star (Stephen Curry), new free agent stud (David Lee) and new uniforms. Always like head coaches not from the re-tread bin.
A couple of NBA teams start their training camps this weekend, but most start Monday. It's going to be hard to find any oxygen outside of South Beach, but with the Heat as the centerpiece of the league and Kevin Durant its new super-elite star, the league could be looking at its biggest season in years. I had thought that nothing could top Lakers-Celtics in the Finals, but I just didn't have the imagination to consider Kobe and the 2-time defending champs playing LeBron, Wade and Bosh in the Finals.
I'm sort of fascinated by NBA's new crackdown on player griping, which has become an epidemic. If they really enforce the rules, we will see a dozen (or more!) T's per game; I suspect the league doesn't want to draw that much attention to it -- I mean, you could give LeBron a half-dozen Ts a game, by himself. Presumably, they will not follow the new rules to the letter, but rather T up the most egregious whining. (My favorite detail: Refs are supposed to T up players who pantomime a smack on their arm to gripe.) It is fascinating that the impetus of the rule appears to be how bad the constant whining looks on TV.
"(Very) Quickie" posting over the weekend -- as always -- with some big stuff coming next week.
-- D.S.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
09/23 Quickie: Yanks-Rays, V-Jax, Kolb
Today's Names to Know: David Price, CC Sabathia, Roy Oswalt, Vincent Jackson, Kevin Kolb, Darrelle Revis, Jacory Harris, Pac-10 goes to Vegas, Gary Williams, Joakim Noah, Steven Tyler, Phil Dunphy and More.
I remain kind of shocked by the divided response to Andy Reid benching Kevin Kolb in favor of Mike Vick. I thought it was kind of obvious. Maybe I'm not thinking it through enough.
Rays bop Yanks, now 1.5 GB heading into their series finale today at Yankee Stadium -- CC Sabathia vs. David Price.
If the Rays win tonight, give them the edge to win the division (and home-field advantage), given their remaining 10 games (Seattle, Baltimore, at Kansas City). The Yankees finish with 6 versus Boston (half at Fenway) and 3 on the road at Toronto.
I should hope that the Red Sox -- out of the playoffs this year -- would consider it "playoff-ish" to keep the Yankees from winning the division.
Because Roy Oswalt gives me the fodder (1-hit shutout over 7 IP with 8 Ks), for the 3rd straight day, I'm going to hammer home that Halladay-Hamels-Oswalt is an amazing playoff pitching rotation. (Oh, and the Phillies are rolling: 10 straight Ws, up 6 in the division and zeroing in on home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.)
NL West Watch: The Padres edge back in front of the Giants. The Rockies are choking away their chances. (The Giants are .5 GB the Braves for the WC; the Rockies are 3 GB.)
Fantasy Stud: Seattle's Jose Lopez, who -- at least symbolically -- showed more offensive pop in one game (3 HRs) than the entire Mariners team has all year.
Chargers don't trade Vincent Jackson: His agent wins the day for labeling San Diego GM AJ Smith "The Lord of No Rings." I'm not sure why Minnesota's offer of a 2nd-rounder plus a conditional extra pick wasn't enough. What more are the Chargers going to get for him?
Revis Island closed for Week 3: Rex Ryan said he won't play. It'll be just like the preseason.
Kevin Kolb may not be starting, but that doesn't mean he isn't startable: A bunch of teams called the Eagles about trading for him. On the one hand, Philly is in the position to hold on to him, in the event Mike Vick stumbles -- then again, there's no guarantee that Kolb's brief, unremarkable Week 1 appearance wasn't foreshadowing. If they trade Kolb, they had better be sure Mike Vick was locked up for the next two years (and it would leave the Eagles with Vick's backup as rookie Mike Kafka). I don't think they will get rid of Kolb -- at least until the offseason.
CFB Tonight: Miami at Pitt. After the loss at Ohio State, The U could use a nationally televised win to regain some of its momentum. This is precisely the kind of game Pitt bafflingly wins. (Pick: Miami)
Pac-10 title game in Las Vegas? This is a brilliant idea, although then they would have to take the game off the boards at sports books. (That's not a big deal.) I suspect that fans of the two participating teams will travel no matter where it is, but there's no question that Vegas has more to offer than, say, Glendale, Arizona.
Gary Williams thinks that revenue-generating college athletes should be paid: He suggests $200 a month as a stipend, which -- for the stars -- seems laughable.
Carmelo Watch: If you were Chicago, would you trade Joakim Noah for Carmelo? Carmelo is the bigger star and -- if you really need scoring -- better offensively. But I don't think the Bulls are hurting for offense; I think Noah anchors the post, plays better D, will only get better on offense and -- to the extent this matters -- is already a pretty big fan favorite. (Related: If I was the Nuggets and had to pick between trading for Noah or Derrick Favors, I'd take Favors, even though Noah is the more proven NBA talent. Favors has a higher ceiling.)
NASCAR: Clint Bowyer docked 150 points. I don't usually write about NASCAR, but can we all agree that the euphemism "didn't meet specifications" means "cheating." I'm not making a value judgment -- presumably, part of racing's allure is that the crews attempt to maximize their advantages, in many cases seeing how much they can get away with. I'm just saying let's not sugar-coat.
Pop Culture: I am a pretty big Idol fan -- but I am also Idol's big problem. The new judging line-up of Randy, J-Lo and Steven Tyler does nothing for me. Even worse, it actually makes me NOT want to watch. It makes me realize how entirely essential Simon was to that show. I am intrigued by Jimmy Iovine as permanent "mentor," but only if he is brutally honest.
(Meanwhile, did anyone else watch the "Modern Family" season premiere last night? Phil Dunphy is my favorite character on TV -- Cameron is Top 5, too.)
In case you missed it yesterday, basically every post produced by the Fire Joe Morgan crew over at Deadspin was brilliant.
-- D.S.
I remain kind of shocked by the divided response to Andy Reid benching Kevin Kolb in favor of Mike Vick. I thought it was kind of obvious. Maybe I'm not thinking it through enough.
Rays bop Yanks, now 1.5 GB heading into their series finale today at Yankee Stadium -- CC Sabathia vs. David Price.
If the Rays win tonight, give them the edge to win the division (and home-field advantage), given their remaining 10 games (Seattle, Baltimore, at Kansas City). The Yankees finish with 6 versus Boston (half at Fenway) and 3 on the road at Toronto.
I should hope that the Red Sox -- out of the playoffs this year -- would consider it "playoff-ish" to keep the Yankees from winning the division.
Because Roy Oswalt gives me the fodder (1-hit shutout over 7 IP with 8 Ks), for the 3rd straight day, I'm going to hammer home that Halladay-Hamels-Oswalt is an amazing playoff pitching rotation. (Oh, and the Phillies are rolling: 10 straight Ws, up 6 in the division and zeroing in on home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.)
NL West Watch: The Padres edge back in front of the Giants. The Rockies are choking away their chances. (The Giants are .5 GB the Braves for the WC; the Rockies are 3 GB.)
Fantasy Stud: Seattle's Jose Lopez, who -- at least symbolically -- showed more offensive pop in one game (3 HRs) than the entire Mariners team has all year.
Chargers don't trade Vincent Jackson: His agent wins the day for labeling San Diego GM AJ Smith "The Lord of No Rings." I'm not sure why Minnesota's offer of a 2nd-rounder plus a conditional extra pick wasn't enough. What more are the Chargers going to get for him?
Revis Island closed for Week 3: Rex Ryan said he won't play. It'll be just like the preseason.
Kevin Kolb may not be starting, but that doesn't mean he isn't startable: A bunch of teams called the Eagles about trading for him. On the one hand, Philly is in the position to hold on to him, in the event Mike Vick stumbles -- then again, there's no guarantee that Kolb's brief, unremarkable Week 1 appearance wasn't foreshadowing. If they trade Kolb, they had better be sure Mike Vick was locked up for the next two years (and it would leave the Eagles with Vick's backup as rookie Mike Kafka). I don't think they will get rid of Kolb -- at least until the offseason.
CFB Tonight: Miami at Pitt. After the loss at Ohio State, The U could use a nationally televised win to regain some of its momentum. This is precisely the kind of game Pitt bafflingly wins. (Pick: Miami)
Pac-10 title game in Las Vegas? This is a brilliant idea, although then they would have to take the game off the boards at sports books. (That's not a big deal.) I suspect that fans of the two participating teams will travel no matter where it is, but there's no question that Vegas has more to offer than, say, Glendale, Arizona.
Gary Williams thinks that revenue-generating college athletes should be paid: He suggests $200 a month as a stipend, which -- for the stars -- seems laughable.
Carmelo Watch: If you were Chicago, would you trade Joakim Noah for Carmelo? Carmelo is the bigger star and -- if you really need scoring -- better offensively. But I don't think the Bulls are hurting for offense; I think Noah anchors the post, plays better D, will only get better on offense and -- to the extent this matters -- is already a pretty big fan favorite. (Related: If I was the Nuggets and had to pick between trading for Noah or Derrick Favors, I'd take Favors, even though Noah is the more proven NBA talent. Favors has a higher ceiling.)
NASCAR: Clint Bowyer docked 150 points. I don't usually write about NASCAR, but can we all agree that the euphemism "didn't meet specifications" means "cheating." I'm not making a value judgment -- presumably, part of racing's allure is that the crews attempt to maximize their advantages, in many cases seeing how much they can get away with. I'm just saying let's not sugar-coat.
Pop Culture: I am a pretty big Idol fan -- but I am also Idol's big problem. The new judging line-up of Randy, J-Lo and Steven Tyler does nothing for me. Even worse, it actually makes me NOT want to watch. It makes me realize how entirely essential Simon was to that show. I am intrigued by Jimmy Iovine as permanent "mentor," but only if he is brutally honest.
(Meanwhile, did anyone else watch the "Modern Family" season premiere last night? Phil Dunphy is my favorite character on TV -- Cameron is Top 5, too.)
In case you missed it yesterday, basically every post produced by the Fire Joe Morgan crew over at Deadspin was brilliant.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sponsored Post: Week 2 and Bad Beats
Your weekly update on my travails in the Blogger Football League, sponsored by Procter & Gamble. For background, see this intro post.
Week 2 in the BFL for me was one of those classic bad beats. After I led the league in scoring in Week 1, I was playing Matt Sebek's team -- things seemed promising on Sunday morning.
Then: BOOM. Chris Johnson earns 3 points, total. I lost by a tick more than 2 points.
Let's put it this way: If I had started 49ers Nth-string RB Anthony Dixon AHEAD OF CHRIS JOHNSON, I would have won the week.
Slightly less distressing, starting WR Pierre Garcon accounted for a single point. (If I had benched him for Michael "3 stinking points" Crabtree, I would have won.)
All of this came to a head late Monday night.
With 2 minutes to go, the 49ers -- down 8 -- marched 82 yards in less than a minute, scored a TD then won a replay reversal to get the 2-point conversion.
Instead of the Saints draining the remaining clock with a series of running plays, Drew Brees (Sebek's star player) threw 56 yards worth of passes...worth precisely the 2.04 points necessary to win.
Sebek: 98.96. Shanoff: 96.92.
I don't care that the Saints won the game with a dramatic, last-second field goal. I care that the situation leading up to that field goal cost me the week's win.
Life in fantasy football is full of bad beats -- you hope you only get one excruciating one (and I'd say this one qualifies) per season, and I hope my team has gotten theirs out of their system.
Otherwise, on to Week 3. A team with a name like "99-Rated Swagger" only knows how to shake it off and forge ahead.
Here is this week's full-league recap (from Diana Klochkova of National Football Post) and P&G's Take It To The House page on Facebook.
The P&G Blogger Fantasy League (BFL) is a group of 12 online sports folks competing on the NFL.com fantasy platform for the chance to win a donation for a local charity, furnished by P&G. The NFL Entities have not offered or sponsored the sweepstakes in anyway.
Week 2 in the BFL for me was one of those classic bad beats. After I led the league in scoring in Week 1, I was playing Matt Sebek's team -- things seemed promising on Sunday morning.
Then: BOOM. Chris Johnson earns 3 points, total. I lost by a tick more than 2 points.
Let's put it this way: If I had started 49ers Nth-string RB Anthony Dixon AHEAD OF CHRIS JOHNSON, I would have won the week.
Slightly less distressing, starting WR Pierre Garcon accounted for a single point. (If I had benched him for Michael "3 stinking points" Crabtree, I would have won.)
All of this came to a head late Monday night.
With 2 minutes to go, the 49ers -- down 8 -- marched 82 yards in less than a minute, scored a TD then won a replay reversal to get the 2-point conversion.
Instead of the Saints draining the remaining clock with a series of running plays, Drew Brees (Sebek's star player) threw 56 yards worth of passes...worth precisely the 2.04 points necessary to win.
Sebek: 98.96. Shanoff: 96.92.
I don't care that the Saints won the game with a dramatic, last-second field goal. I care that the situation leading up to that field goal cost me the week's win.
Life in fantasy football is full of bad beats -- you hope you only get one excruciating one (and I'd say this one qualifies) per season, and I hope my team has gotten theirs out of their system.
Otherwise, on to Week 3. A team with a name like "99-Rated Swagger" only knows how to shake it off and forge ahead.
Here is this week's full-league recap (from Diana Klochkova of National Football Post) and P&G's Take It To The House page on Facebook.
The P&G Blogger Fantasy League (BFL) is a group of 12 online sports folks competing on the NFL.com fantasy platform for the chance to win a donation for a local charity, furnished by P&G. The NFL Entities have not offered or sponsored the sweepstakes in anyway.
09/22 Quickie: Vick, Twins, FJM
Today's Names to Know: Mike Vick, Joe Torre, Braylon Edwards, Ron Gardenhire, Roy Halladay, Yankees, D'backs, Colorado, Carmelo, Fire Joe Morgan and More.
Mike Vick to start Sunday: The resuscitation of Mike Vick's career is arguably THE biggest storyline of the 2-week-old NFL season. Vick being named Week 3 starter -- after initially being benched after his terrific Week 2 performance, merely because Kevin Kolb was healthy enough to do the job -- is the biggest development yet.
I saw it as a no-brainer -- how about you? I hope this obliterates the old conventional wisdom that a starting QB can't lose his job because of an injury.
Joe Torre doesn't want to manage the Mets: Can you blame him?
Twins win: This is hardly a surprise, but the Twins win the AL Central. Ron Gardenhire for AL Manager of the Year? I'd still go with Joe Maddon (or Buck Showalter).
How good is Roy Halladay in Philly? He is the Phillies' first 20-game winner since Steve Carlton in 1982. Said this yesterday: Halladay-Oswalt-Hamels is a killer playoff rotation.
Was last night the decisive win for the Yankees over the Rays for the AL East title? It put NY up 2.5 with 11 to play (12 for the Rays). Even Mr. Instant History says not to pop champagne yet. If the Rays win tonight (Davis vs. Burnett), they're only back 1.5 -- and if they beat CC on Thursday (pitching David Price, in an ALCS Game 1 preview?), they're only .5 GB.
Even if they split the last two games to leave NYC down 2.5, remember: After this trip to New York, Tampa ends the season at home vs. Seattle and Baltimore, then on the road for four at Kansas City.
(Meanwhile, aside from home-field advantage, winning the division is entirely overrated. It's not like either team is missing the playoffs. So why did I just spend so much time working through that scenario?)
NL West: Giants win, Padres win (.5 GB), Rockies lose (2.5 GB).
Milestones: The D'backs set the all-time single-season record for strikeouts by a team (1,403 -- topping the free-swinging 2001 Brewers). Amazingly, they earned the record with 12 games to go. They might set an unbreakable standard, the "56" of lack of plate discipline.
Carmelo Watch: Apparently, he still wants to go to the Knicks or Bulls, even if Denver's best deal is with the Nets.
If Carmelo wants New York or Chicago, he can have New York or Chicago -- all he has to do is let everyone know he won't sign an extension with any team except those two; what team in their right mind would trade anything of value for a one-year rental?
(Apparently, according to Chad Ford, Carmelo would accept a deal with the Nets -- and potentially sign an extension -- but it's not his first choice. I renew my theory from "The Decision" that if the Nets were already in Brooklyn, they would be OK with Melo.)
Braylon Edwards is really dumb. How hard is it to grab a cab or car service? As punishment, he won't start Sunday, but he will be in uniform, and I presume Rex Ryan will use him whenever he wants to after that first series.
$7 million: That is what it will cost Colorado to leave the Big 12 early, after the current academic year, for the Pac-10. If the Pac-10 can do its TV deal, CU can make that back in a year.
How do you feel about letting sub-.500 teams be bowl-eligible? I actually think that it doesn't bother me -- like 6-6 is so great? The key for me is whether the fans of a 5-7 team would care:
Would they travel to the bowl? Would they bother? I know that while I was at Northwestern (pre-Rose Bowl year), I would have loved to get to go to a bowl, any bowl. Then again, I would have loved to go 5-7 (then 5-6, actually).
My biggest problem with bowl-eligibility is that bowl-eligible teams get a critical extra month of practice (which has a lot less to do with prepping for a bowl than it does prepping for the following season), while bowl-ineligible teams do not.
So excited for Fire Joe Morgan to reunite today to run Deadspin.
-- D.S.
Mike Vick to start Sunday: The resuscitation of Mike Vick's career is arguably THE biggest storyline of the 2-week-old NFL season. Vick being named Week 3 starter -- after initially being benched after his terrific Week 2 performance, merely because Kevin Kolb was healthy enough to do the job -- is the biggest development yet.
I saw it as a no-brainer -- how about you? I hope this obliterates the old conventional wisdom that a starting QB can't lose his job because of an injury.
Joe Torre doesn't want to manage the Mets: Can you blame him?
Twins win: This is hardly a surprise, but the Twins win the AL Central. Ron Gardenhire for AL Manager of the Year? I'd still go with Joe Maddon (or Buck Showalter).
How good is Roy Halladay in Philly? He is the Phillies' first 20-game winner since Steve Carlton in 1982. Said this yesterday: Halladay-Oswalt-Hamels is a killer playoff rotation.
Was last night the decisive win for the Yankees over the Rays for the AL East title? It put NY up 2.5 with 11 to play (12 for the Rays). Even Mr. Instant History says not to pop champagne yet. If the Rays win tonight (Davis vs. Burnett), they're only back 1.5 -- and if they beat CC on Thursday (pitching David Price, in an ALCS Game 1 preview?), they're only .5 GB.
Even if they split the last two games to leave NYC down 2.5, remember: After this trip to New York, Tampa ends the season at home vs. Seattle and Baltimore, then on the road for four at Kansas City.
(Meanwhile, aside from home-field advantage, winning the division is entirely overrated. It's not like either team is missing the playoffs. So why did I just spend so much time working through that scenario?)
NL West: Giants win, Padres win (.5 GB), Rockies lose (2.5 GB).
Milestones: The D'backs set the all-time single-season record for strikeouts by a team (1,403 -- topping the free-swinging 2001 Brewers). Amazingly, they earned the record with 12 games to go. They might set an unbreakable standard, the "56" of lack of plate discipline.
Carmelo Watch: Apparently, he still wants to go to the Knicks or Bulls, even if Denver's best deal is with the Nets.
If Carmelo wants New York or Chicago, he can have New York or Chicago -- all he has to do is let everyone know he won't sign an extension with any team except those two; what team in their right mind would trade anything of value for a one-year rental?
(Apparently, according to Chad Ford, Carmelo would accept a deal with the Nets -- and potentially sign an extension -- but it's not his first choice. I renew my theory from "The Decision" that if the Nets were already in Brooklyn, they would be OK with Melo.)
Braylon Edwards is really dumb. How hard is it to grab a cab or car service? As punishment, he won't start Sunday, but he will be in uniform, and I presume Rex Ryan will use him whenever he wants to after that first series.
$7 million: That is what it will cost Colorado to leave the Big 12 early, after the current academic year, for the Pac-10. If the Pac-10 can do its TV deal, CU can make that back in a year.
How do you feel about letting sub-.500 teams be bowl-eligible? I actually think that it doesn't bother me -- like 6-6 is so great? The key for me is whether the fans of a 5-7 team would care:
Would they travel to the bowl? Would they bother? I know that while I was at Northwestern (pre-Rose Bowl year), I would have loved to get to go to a bowl, any bowl. Then again, I would have loved to go 5-7 (then 5-6, actually).
My biggest problem with bowl-eligibility is that bowl-eligible teams get a critical extra month of practice (which has a lot less to do with prepping for a bowl than it does prepping for the following season), while bowl-ineligible teams do not.
So excited for Fire Joe Morgan to reunite today to run Deadspin.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
09/21 Quickie: Saints, Hamels, Yanks
The Saints are 2-0 and the 49ers are 0-2, but San Francisco coulda-woulda-shoulda won that game last night. Then again, that's the difference between champs and also-rans.
The biggest question coming out of last night: How bad is Reggie Bush's injury? (A lower-leg break? Oh, that's not good at all. The word is that he'll miss 6 weeks.)
This Kenny McKinley story is awful, as is any death -- any suicide. Condolences to his family, friends and fans -- and to the Broncos family.
NFL Week 3: Of all the QB benchings, Mike Vick's seems most awkward -- he has clearly played well enough to be the starter, both on his own merits and because Kolb looked so iffy in his limited action in Week 1 (not to mention how he'll play post-concussion).
And now Andy Reid is in the position that as soon as Kolb throws an incompletion, people will be calling for Vick. Beyond the fact that Kolb could probably use every extra week to clear the cobwebs, why not ride the hot hand of Vick until he stumbles?
Phillies beat Braves behind Hamels: I am enjoying the NL West race as much as anyone, but I look at the Phillies playoff pitching of Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels and wonder how they could lose before winning the NL pennant.
Yankees top Rays in "Steinbrenner Monument" game, pushing AL East lead to 1.5 with three more to play head-to-head against the Rays this week.
Carmelo headed to Nets? I'd like to think that I was early on the "Derrick Favors for Carmelo is a great deal the Nuggets should jump at" bandwagon. Throw in some expiring contracts and a future (likely Lottery) Nets 1st-round pick and this is a no-brainer for the Nuggets, presuming that Melo is willing to sign a long-term extension with the Nets.
I like Arkansas' optimism for Alabama, but it will make the inevitable beat-down all the more painful. (By the way, I should say that I would like nothing more than for the Hogs to have their greatest win in decades by beating the Tide and sending the BCS into early implosion -- although this was the weekend two years ago that Florida lost to Ole Miss, in Gainesville, and you remember that turned out OK for the losing team.)
So about the Ohio Bobcat tackling Brutus the Buckeye? The guy wearing the Bobcat costume -- Brandon Hanning -- intended to tackle Brutus not just all along, but since he tried out to be the Bobcat. That is some kind of dedication. And he is entirely unrepentant, despite the fact that Ohio U. has banned him from all athletic activities and he has, in like two days, transferred.
Fun stuff, Part 1: I am involved in a Blogs With Balls-sponsored SXSW panel about sports media that was selected for the 2011 conference agenda. See you in Austin next March.
Fun stuff, Part 2: While taking in the Sports Marketing Symposium here in NYC, I will be doing a bit of guest-blogging for Darren Rovell over at his CNBC blog. (Have NO idea what I'm going to write about yet. Waiting for inspiration.)
Surprisingly light news day for the end of September -- the rhythm is a lot more predictable than the offseason.
-- D.S.
The biggest question coming out of last night: How bad is Reggie Bush's injury? (A lower-leg break? Oh, that's not good at all. The word is that he'll miss 6 weeks.)
This Kenny McKinley story is awful, as is any death -- any suicide. Condolences to his family, friends and fans -- and to the Broncos family.
NFL Week 3: Of all the QB benchings, Mike Vick's seems most awkward -- he has clearly played well enough to be the starter, both on his own merits and because Kolb looked so iffy in his limited action in Week 1 (not to mention how he'll play post-concussion).
And now Andy Reid is in the position that as soon as Kolb throws an incompletion, people will be calling for Vick. Beyond the fact that Kolb could probably use every extra week to clear the cobwebs, why not ride the hot hand of Vick until he stumbles?
Phillies beat Braves behind Hamels: I am enjoying the NL West race as much as anyone, but I look at the Phillies playoff pitching of Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels and wonder how they could lose before winning the NL pennant.
Yankees top Rays in "Steinbrenner Monument" game, pushing AL East lead to 1.5 with three more to play head-to-head against the Rays this week.
Carmelo headed to Nets? I'd like to think that I was early on the "Derrick Favors for Carmelo is a great deal the Nuggets should jump at" bandwagon. Throw in some expiring contracts and a future (likely Lottery) Nets 1st-round pick and this is a no-brainer for the Nuggets, presuming that Melo is willing to sign a long-term extension with the Nets.
I like Arkansas' optimism for Alabama, but it will make the inevitable beat-down all the more painful. (By the way, I should say that I would like nothing more than for the Hogs to have their greatest win in decades by beating the Tide and sending the BCS into early implosion -- although this was the weekend two years ago that Florida lost to Ole Miss, in Gainesville, and you remember that turned out OK for the losing team.)
So about the Ohio Bobcat tackling Brutus the Buckeye? The guy wearing the Bobcat costume -- Brandon Hanning -- intended to tackle Brutus not just all along, but since he tried out to be the Bobcat. That is some kind of dedication. And he is entirely unrepentant, despite the fact that Ohio U. has banned him from all athletic activities and he has, in like two days, transferred.
Fun stuff, Part 1: I am involved in a Blogs With Balls-sponsored SXSW panel about sports media that was selected for the 2011 conference agenda. See you in Austin next March.
Fun stuff, Part 2: While taking in the Sports Marketing Symposium here in NYC, I will be doing a bit of guest-blogging for Darren Rovell over at his CNBC blog. (Have NO idea what I'm going to write about yet. Waiting for inspiration.)
Surprisingly light news day for the end of September -- the rhythm is a lot more predictable than the offseason.
-- D.S.
Monday, September 20, 2010
09/20 Quickie: Vick, Jets, NFL Week 2
Today's Names to Know: Mike Vick, Brett Favre, Cooper Manning (apparently), Wade Phillips, Mark Sanchez, Brandon Jacobs (helmet), Bruce Gradkowski, Kyle Orton, Mike Tolbert, Tyler Colvin, Mark Dantonio, Troy Tulowitzki, CC Sabathia and More.
Week 2 in the NFL is so great, because so much is so hyped after Week 1, then you get the "just when you think you understand the NFL this season..." counter:
*Mike Vick is the new uber-star of the league, to the point where the biggest storyline of this week is whether Andy Reid actually benches his winning QB for the concussed, ineffective one.
*Favre: Ouch. We had the Dolphins-Vikings game on locally in NYC, and so I got the chance to watch Brett Favre's latest implosion up close. And the schadenfreude was no less narcotic than ever.
*Cowboys 0-2, too: Wade Phillips hasn't been fired... yet. But it is an inevitability.
*All those doubts about the Jets after the opening-week loss to the Ravens? They shut up the haters with that decisive win over the Pats. Sanchez and Brady went "Freaky Friday" on us.
(Darrelle Revis injured hamstring: Everyone kind of had to see this coming, right? Consider for a second that the Jets really started to roll AFTER Revis went out.)
*Manning Bowl II a rout: The most interesting Manning-related thing about the game -- otherwise a rout -- was that Cooper Manning and Ashley Manning suddenly dominated Google.
(Otherwise, the only interesting non-Manning related thing about the game was when Brandon Jacobs tossed his helmet into the stands -- inadvertently, he claims. Suspension?)
*What a shootout in DC: You're loving life if you had Matt Schaub in your fantasy league. Gotta feel for Skins K Graham Gano -- he had that OT game-winner NAILED, 'til Kubiak iced him.
*Wait: Suddenly the Bengals' D is stout?
*Wha...? The Bucs are 2-0. The Bears are 2-0. The Chiefs are 2-0. The Steelers are 2-0 with a 4th-string QB. Bruce Gradkowski is a hero. And Kyle Orton was awesome.
*This week's Rookie of the Year? Jahvid Best.
*Ultimate Fantasy Stud That Likely Was On Your League's FA Wire Throughout the Day: Mike Tolbert. (All you Ryan Matthews fans better have hit the waiver wire already.)
(Other fantasy studs: Darren McFadden -- yes, really/finally; LeSean McCoy; Matt Schaub.)
More:
*MLB Injury of the Year: Tyler Colvin, impaled by a piece of broken bat. That's one of those scenarios you always knew could happen -- it's pretty scary to watch. After scoring, Colvin was taken to the hospital, and his season appears to be over. Here's to a full recovery.
*Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio had a heart attack after MSU's thrilling "walk-off" OT win over Notre Dame? I don't blame him. (Although he DID call the thrilling play.)
*More CFB: Alabama is clearly the best team in the country.
*I'm sticking with TCU at No. 2, after they mauled a pretty good Baylor team.
*Oklahoma and Nebraska both did a lot to prove their elite status (of course, both have make-or-break games against Texas coming up soon that define their seasons).
*Biggest "status-raising" win of the CFB weekend? Arizona over Iowa.
*Next week's Game of the Week: Alabama at Arkansas, followed closely by Oregon State at Boise State.
(See my BlogPoll ballot here.)
*Troy Tulowitzki. (Despite the Rockies' loss -- that I was disappointed he didn't put up a multi-homer game yesterday shows what kind of month he is having.)
*Aaand, the Giants are back in 1st in the NL West.
*Said this yesterday, in case you missed it: I'm a "King Felix for Cy" person, but I suspect that CC's 20th win sealed up his AL Cy bid. Most voters like that kind of win-total milestone.
*I don't have big expectations for Don Mattingly in LA. (But I will for Joe Torre with the Mets.)
*Blog Font Survey: Enough people disliked the Arial font switch -- roughly the same number that really liked it -- that I am probably going to switch things back. However, almost every redesign in the history of the internet has been met with "Hate it! Switch it back!" from a fair number of people. Let's live with it for a week and re-vote on Thursday. Hopefully, some/many of the "hate it" folks will slide over to "ambivalent, at worst."
-- D.S.
Week 2 in the NFL is so great, because so much is so hyped after Week 1, then you get the "just when you think you understand the NFL this season..." counter:
*Mike Vick is the new uber-star of the league, to the point where the biggest storyline of this week is whether Andy Reid actually benches his winning QB for the concussed, ineffective one.
*Favre: Ouch. We had the Dolphins-Vikings game on locally in NYC, and so I got the chance to watch Brett Favre's latest implosion up close. And the schadenfreude was no less narcotic than ever.
*Cowboys 0-2, too: Wade Phillips hasn't been fired... yet. But it is an inevitability.
*All those doubts about the Jets after the opening-week loss to the Ravens? They shut up the haters with that decisive win over the Pats. Sanchez and Brady went "Freaky Friday" on us.
(Darrelle Revis injured hamstring: Everyone kind of had to see this coming, right? Consider for a second that the Jets really started to roll AFTER Revis went out.)
*Manning Bowl II a rout: The most interesting Manning-related thing about the game -- otherwise a rout -- was that Cooper Manning and Ashley Manning suddenly dominated Google.
(Otherwise, the only interesting non-Manning related thing about the game was when Brandon Jacobs tossed his helmet into the stands -- inadvertently, he claims. Suspension?)
*What a shootout in DC: You're loving life if you had Matt Schaub in your fantasy league. Gotta feel for Skins K Graham Gano -- he had that OT game-winner NAILED, 'til Kubiak iced him.
*Wait: Suddenly the Bengals' D is stout?
*Wha...? The Bucs are 2-0. The Bears are 2-0. The Chiefs are 2-0. The Steelers are 2-0 with a 4th-string QB. Bruce Gradkowski is a hero. And Kyle Orton was awesome.
*This week's Rookie of the Year? Jahvid Best.
*Ultimate Fantasy Stud That Likely Was On Your League's FA Wire Throughout the Day: Mike Tolbert. (All you Ryan Matthews fans better have hit the waiver wire already.)
(Other fantasy studs: Darren McFadden -- yes, really/finally; LeSean McCoy; Matt Schaub.)
More:
*MLB Injury of the Year: Tyler Colvin, impaled by a piece of broken bat. That's one of those scenarios you always knew could happen -- it's pretty scary to watch. After scoring, Colvin was taken to the hospital, and his season appears to be over. Here's to a full recovery.
*Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio had a heart attack after MSU's thrilling "walk-off" OT win over Notre Dame? I don't blame him. (Although he DID call the thrilling play.)
*More CFB: Alabama is clearly the best team in the country.
*I'm sticking with TCU at No. 2, after they mauled a pretty good Baylor team.
*Oklahoma and Nebraska both did a lot to prove their elite status (of course, both have make-or-break games against Texas coming up soon that define their seasons).
*Biggest "status-raising" win of the CFB weekend? Arizona over Iowa.
*Next week's Game of the Week: Alabama at Arkansas, followed closely by Oregon State at Boise State.
(See my BlogPoll ballot here.)
*Troy Tulowitzki. (Despite the Rockies' loss -- that I was disappointed he didn't put up a multi-homer game yesterday shows what kind of month he is having.)
*Aaand, the Giants are back in 1st in the NL West.
*Said this yesterday, in case you missed it: I'm a "King Felix for Cy" person, but I suspect that CC's 20th win sealed up his AL Cy bid. Most voters like that kind of win-total milestone.
*I don't have big expectations for Don Mattingly in LA. (But I will for Joe Torre with the Mets.)
*Blog Font Survey: Enough people disliked the Arial font switch -- roughly the same number that really liked it -- that I am probably going to switch things back. However, almost every redesign in the history of the internet has been met with "Hate it! Switch it back!" from a fair number of people. Let's live with it for a week and re-vote on Thursday. Hopefully, some/many of the "hate it" folks will slide over to "ambivalent, at worst."
-- D.S.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
BlogPoll Top 25 Draft Ballot
A few tweaks near the top (if not AT the top), based on the respect I have for Air Force and that Nebraska and Texas both won on the road. And I'm more impressed by Arkansas winning on the road at Georgia than I am by Boise and Oregon running it up.
By the way, check out the odd blocks of SEC (low teens) then Pac-10 (mid-teens) then Big 10 (high-teens/20s); it's a testament to the relative strength of the leagues, but also to not having enough evidence yet to distinguish among them.
1. Alabama
2. TCU
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas
5. Ohio State
6. Nebraska
7. Boise State
8. Oregon
9. Utah
10. Arkansas
11. Auburn
12. South Carolina
13. Florida
14. Arizona
15. Stanford
16. Oregon State
17. LSU
18. Miami
19. Iowa
20. Michigan
21. Penn State
22. Michigan State
23. Wisconsin
24. Nevada
25. Fresno State
Looking ahead to next week: Alabama at Arkansas is the national headliner, and Stanford-Notre Dame should give the country (at least those not glued to Bama-Arkansas) a look at Andrew Luck, the best QB in the country. The night set gets a little bit more awesome: Oregon State at Boise State (playing both TCU and Boise State? you go, Oregon State!) and South Carolina at Auburn.
As always, would love your feedback on the ballot. Anything really out of whack?
-- D.S.
By the way, check out the odd blocks of SEC (low teens) then Pac-10 (mid-teens) then Big 10 (high-teens/20s); it's a testament to the relative strength of the leagues, but also to not having enough evidence yet to distinguish among them.
1. Alabama
2. TCU
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas
5. Ohio State
6. Nebraska
7. Boise State
8. Oregon
9. Utah
10. Arkansas
11. Auburn
12. South Carolina
13. Florida
14. Arizona
15. Stanford
16. Oregon State
17. LSU
18. Miami
19. Iowa
20. Michigan
21. Penn State
22. Michigan State
23. Wisconsin
24. Nevada
25. Fresno State
Looking ahead to next week: Alabama at Arkansas is the national headliner, and Stanford-Notre Dame should give the country (at least those not glued to Bama-Arkansas) a look at Andrew Luck, the best QB in the country. The night set gets a little bit more awesome: Oregon State at Boise State (playing both TCU and Boise State? you go, Oregon State!) and South Carolina at Auburn.
As always, would love your feedback on the ballot. Anything really out of whack?
-- D.S.
Sunday (CFB Hangover) Quickie
I had been eyeing this weekend as a "Prove-It" moment early in the season. Let's see who proved what:
Proved they are entirely legit:
*Arizona
*TCU
*Oklahoma
*Nebraska
*Arkansas
Arizona, TCU and Oklahoma beat good (even very good) teams. The Huskers and Hogs won on the road.
Proved little, if anything, despite winning:
*Auburn
*Texas
*Florida
*Wisconsin
*Michigan
Proved me very, very wrong:
*Houston
And then there is Alabama, which just rolls along. And when they beat Arkansas by 30 next week, it will be even more obvious.
Finally, let's give a shout-out to Michigan State for giving us the best ending of the college football season so far -- the fake FG in OT that turned into a "walk-off" game-winning TD. If you're a Michigan State fan, to have this kind of ending -- against Notre Dame, on national TV, playing in front of a frenzied home crowd and win-or-bust awesome -- had to be one of the most satisfying wins in years. (The play clock had expired? Oh well! In all seriousness, the refs should have reviewed that -- but it is virtually impossible in a "walk-off" setting.)
Expect the Spartans to enter my BlogPoll Top 25.
More:
*Troy Tulowitzki: Good gosh-a-mighty.
*Does cracking the 20-win barrier seal the AL Cy for CC?
*Back in front of the NL West? The Padres (via Ludwick)
*NFL Game of the Day: Pats-Jets. Set your rosters!
-- D.S.
Proved they are entirely legit:
*Arizona
*TCU
*Oklahoma
*Nebraska
*Arkansas
Arizona, TCU and Oklahoma beat good (even very good) teams. The Huskers and Hogs won on the road.
Proved little, if anything, despite winning:
*Auburn
*Texas
*Florida
*Wisconsin
*Michigan
Proved me very, very wrong:
*Houston
And then there is Alabama, which just rolls along. And when they beat Arkansas by 30 next week, it will be even more obvious.
Finally, let's give a shout-out to Michigan State for giving us the best ending of the college football season so far -- the fake FG in OT that turned into a "walk-off" game-winning TD. If you're a Michigan State fan, to have this kind of ending -- against Notre Dame, on national TV, playing in front of a frenzied home crowd and win-or-bust awesome -- had to be one of the most satisfying wins in years. (The play clock had expired? Oh well! In all seriousness, the refs should have reviewed that -- but it is virtually impossible in a "walk-off" setting.)
Expect the Spartans to enter my BlogPoll Top 25.
More:
*Troy Tulowitzki: Good gosh-a-mighty.
*Does cracking the 20-win barrier seal the AL Cy for CC?
*Back in front of the NL West? The Padres (via Ludwick)
*NFL Game of the Day: Pats-Jets. Set your rosters!
-- D.S.
Friday, September 17, 2010
09/17 Quickie: Jets-Pats, AZ-IA, Giants
Today's Names to Know: Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan, Michael Vick, Iowa-Arizona, Urban Meyer, Denard Robinson, Texas Tech fans, SF Giants, Reggie Bush, Derek Jeter, Black Eyed Peas, Ike Davis, Sue Bird and More.
After a week of "Ines-anity," I'm really looking forward to the weekend, when we can get back to arguing with each other about game results.
The NFL weekend is headlined by Jets-Pats (I'll predict a Pats romp); a likely Michael Vick start for the Eagles; and an awesome Sunday night match-up between the Giants and Colts.
The CFB weekend has a ton of intriguing "prove-it" games -- Iowa-Arizona is probably my favorite (I'm taking Arizona), but throw in Baylor-TCU, Texas-Texashhh Tech, Air Force-Oklahoma, Arkansas-Georgia, Florida at Tennessee and even ND-Mich St (in primetime).
CFB Picks: I'll take the ranked team in all of the Top 25 matchups (except AZ>IA), but if you are looking for an unranked-over-ranked Upset Special, I'm intrigued by Baylor over TCU and the end of the BCS-crashing-the-national-title-game meme.
Oh, and Denard Robinson going crazy on UMass. He turns an otherwise lame game into must-track.
Florida, Urban Meyer under scrutiny: I'm impossibly biased here. It is odd to try to argue that Meyer runs a disciplined program when so many of his players get arrested -- it is also hard to argue when he is so willing to give them second chances. I think he's right to be offended that people want to label the program "dirty" and that there is nothing to indicate -- aside from individual issues -- that he is doing anything but running the program as a whole the right way.
In theory, the Texas Tech student government idea to have the crowd be totally silent when Texas takes the field is kind of intriguing. In practice, it makes no sense and is doomed to sputter.
MLB Pennant Races: The Giants are now in 1st place in the NL West. Is that it for the Padres? Hardly, but you have to believe they feel that tickle in their throat.
In the AL, it is easy to keep a focus on the battle at the top of the AL East between the Yankees and Rays, but please note -- as reader Will M did to me -- that the Twins are rolling.
Oh, SURE, Reggie Bush: Returning the Heisman doesn't make you look guilty at all. The good news is that we all have been assuming he took the cash for years.
Jeter Cheater, Cont'd: Loved Rob Neyer's take on this. Reprising my take: It wasn't gritty gamesmanship; it was unfair deception -- lying -- that has no place in the game.
Entertainment: Black Eyed Peas for Super Bowl halftime? Really? The NFL was actually on kind of a roll with decent halftime acts. This is playing it as safe as it gets.
Site design tweak update: No favors with your voting -- nearly as many hated the switch to Ariel font from Georgia as liked it, with most of you not really caring one way or the other.
(I actually had gone into the vote saying to myself that if 20 percent of you hated the new font, I'd leave the old one. Can we live with it for the weekend and make a final determination on Monday?)
Enjoy your weekend. Easy fast, to my folks observing Yom Kippur.
(On a related note, for someone who pays attention to Jewish athletes, how did I not know that Ike Davis is Jewish? His mom is Jewish and while he isn't observant, he considers himself "culturally Jewish," and is actually letting his mom decide for him whether he should play tomorrow night during the holiday.)
Speaking of all-tie great Jewish athletes, congrats to Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm on winning the WNBA title.
Big week next week. Rest up.
-- D.S.
After a week of "Ines-anity," I'm really looking forward to the weekend, when we can get back to arguing with each other about game results.
The NFL weekend is headlined by Jets-Pats (I'll predict a Pats romp); a likely Michael Vick start for the Eagles; and an awesome Sunday night match-up between the Giants and Colts.
The CFB weekend has a ton of intriguing "prove-it" games -- Iowa-Arizona is probably my favorite (I'm taking Arizona), but throw in Baylor-TCU, Texas-Texashhh Tech, Air Force-Oklahoma, Arkansas-Georgia, Florida at Tennessee and even ND-Mich St (in primetime).
CFB Picks: I'll take the ranked team in all of the Top 25 matchups (except AZ>IA), but if you are looking for an unranked-over-ranked Upset Special, I'm intrigued by Baylor over TCU and the end of the BCS-crashing-the-national-title-game meme.
Oh, and Denard Robinson going crazy on UMass. He turns an otherwise lame game into must-track.
Florida, Urban Meyer under scrutiny: I'm impossibly biased here. It is odd to try to argue that Meyer runs a disciplined program when so many of his players get arrested -- it is also hard to argue when he is so willing to give them second chances. I think he's right to be offended that people want to label the program "dirty" and that there is nothing to indicate -- aside from individual issues -- that he is doing anything but running the program as a whole the right way.
In theory, the Texas Tech student government idea to have the crowd be totally silent when Texas takes the field is kind of intriguing. In practice, it makes no sense and is doomed to sputter.
MLB Pennant Races: The Giants are now in 1st place in the NL West. Is that it for the Padres? Hardly, but you have to believe they feel that tickle in their throat.
In the AL, it is easy to keep a focus on the battle at the top of the AL East between the Yankees and Rays, but please note -- as reader Will M did to me -- that the Twins are rolling.
Oh, SURE, Reggie Bush: Returning the Heisman doesn't make you look guilty at all. The good news is that we all have been assuming he took the cash for years.
Jeter Cheater, Cont'd: Loved Rob Neyer's take on this. Reprising my take: It wasn't gritty gamesmanship; it was unfair deception -- lying -- that has no place in the game.
Entertainment: Black Eyed Peas for Super Bowl halftime? Really? The NFL was actually on kind of a roll with decent halftime acts. This is playing it as safe as it gets.
Site design tweak update: No favors with your voting -- nearly as many hated the switch to Ariel font from Georgia as liked it, with most of you not really caring one way or the other.
(I actually had gone into the vote saying to myself that if 20 percent of you hated the new font, I'd leave the old one. Can we live with it for the weekend and make a final determination on Monday?)
Enjoy your weekend. Easy fast, to my folks observing Yom Kippur.
(On a related note, for someone who pays attention to Jewish athletes, how did I not know that Ike Davis is Jewish? His mom is Jewish and while he isn't observant, he considers himself "culturally Jewish," and is actually letting his mom decide for him whether he should play tomorrow night during the holiday.)
Speaking of all-tie great Jewish athletes, congrats to Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm on winning the WNBA title.
Big week next week. Rest up.
-- D.S.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
09/16 Quickie: Jeter, Tulo, VY, Ariel
As you've surely noticed, I am experimenting with changing the blog's font from Georgia -- which it has been since the blog launched 4 years ago -- to Ariel, which is a little more in line with current design trends toward sans-serif fonts. What do you think? Take 2 seconds and fill out the poll on the right: Like/Dislike/Ambivalent.
In one interpretation, Derek Jeter is a "gamer" for pretending that the ball hit his hand when, in reality, it hit the bottom of his bat. In another interpretation, he showcased poor sportsmanship hardly worthy of The Captain.
In the end, it all comes down to whether you are a Yankee fan/Jeter slurper, in which case you see this as the former; if you aren't, you think it was a minor form of cheating. Check out the video here.
(That the Yankees took a 7th-inning lead on the Rays -- with whom they are battling for not just a division title but home-field advantage in the playoffs -- after Granderson hit a HR immediately after Jeter took his base seemed cruel, right up until the bottom half of the inning, when the Rays came up with a 2-run HR of their own -- Dan Johnson's second HR of the game -- to seal the W. With the win, the Rays took back 1st place in the AL East -- and a new layer was added to this nouveau rivalry.)
MLB Stud: Troy Tulowitzki, who had 2 HR and 7 RBI in the Rockies damn-near-must-win over the Padres, to finally take one in that series. Time to bust out my Tulo T-shirt jersey.
Milestones: Jose Bautista tied the Blue Jays franchise record for HRs in a season -- 47, tying George Bell in 1987... wow, I remember him in that season. I was 14. Cripes, I'm old.
The Heisman Trust is lame for not awarding the now-vacated 2005 Heisman to the runner-up, Vince Young. Cripes, it's just an award; it is the Miss America title of college football.
(VY says "Why would I want it?" Well, among other reasons, because you earned it and -- like it or not -- "Heisman winner" IS a big deal, even for a college football immortal like Young.)
The latest BlogPoll Top 25 is out, and of the 30 folks who gave Boise State a No. 1 ranking last week (including me), all 30 abandoned the Broncos. They plummeted to 5th.
College Football Tonight: Cincy at NC State. We're pretty far from my preseason prediction that Cincy was a Top 20 team. But NC State can edge close to the Top 25 with a win.
Mark Ingram will play for Alabama on Saturday versus Duke, at which point it will be even more obvious that Trent Richardson is the superior running back for the Tide.
Is Vincent Jackson headed to the Vikings? Apparently, it comes down to whether he has to sit out only 3 games for his "banned substance" suspension -- or 6 games, if an arbitrator says he owes the Chargers another 3 games sitting out because he is "roster exempt." (The theory is that if the arbitrator says V-Jax only has to sit out 3 games if he is traded, the Chargers will find a willing taker for him -- which everyone assumes is the Vikings. I don't understand why the Bolts still wouldn't find a willing taker even if Jackson gets a 6-game ban.)
LeBron is not popular, and -- in fact -- is the 6th-most disliked player in sports. This should come as no surprise to anyone.
I love Mark Cuban's superlative reaction, saying that LeBron's "Decision" was "the largest public humiliation in sports history," costing LeBron a hundreds of millions in market value.
Everyone assumes Erick Dampier will sign with the Heat, but it sounds like the Rockets are going to be aggressive about trying to claim him for themselves.
Steve Martin is on Twitter. Yes.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sponsored Post: BFL Week 1 Dominance
Your weekly update on my travails in the Blogger Football League, sponsored by Procter & Gamble. For background, see this intro post.
It seems fitting that my team ("99 Percent Swagger") is tied to the Old Spice brand just when Old Spice introduces a psychedelic new ad campaign featuring Ray Lewis flying on a life-sized Raven.
It also seems fitting that after more than a decade of fantasy football mediocrity, I had -- in this league, in Week 1 -- perhaps my finest fantasy week of all time.
Let's review my starting roster, and you will understand why: Chris Johnson (selected with the No. 1 overall pick of the draft)... Tom Brady (selected with the final pick of the 2nd round)... and... well, with those two, it doesn't really matter, does it?
As it happens, I also started LaDainian -- really? -- and at WR: Garcon (dud), Floyd (dud) and Austin (stud), along with Antonio Gates (stud), Mason Crosby (stud) and the Bengals D (dud).
With that lineup, I led the league in scoring, nearly doubling up my opponent (managed by Fanhouse/CBSSports's Will Brinson, who in a bit of tough timing was tasked with creating the league write-up this week.)
This puts me in a rare position -- is my team actually kind of awesome? If Johnson and Brady and Miles and Gates (and even Crosby) healthy all year, can I win the league with 5 studs?
Looking ahead to Week 2, I play Matt Sebek's "Sweaty Ditkas," who won Week 1 with 80 points and features Brees, Best, Ronnie Brown and both Cards WRs (Breaston and Fitz).
The key match-up for me is Tom Brady vs. the Jets D. On the one hand, the Jets D is awesome; on the other hand, you know Brady and Belichick want to light them up. Motivation!
Anyway, I'm off to a start that is good enough to make me ask when things will inevitably go off the rails. I'm guessing Week 8 or so.
Click here to check out P&G's "Take It To The House" page on Facebook, which will keep you updated on all the happenings in the league.
The P&G Blogger Fantasy League (BFL) is a group of 12 online sports folks competing on the NFL.com fantasy platform for the chance to win a donation for a local charity, furnished by P&G. The NFL Entities have not offered or sponsored the sweepstakes in anyway.
It seems fitting that my team ("99 Percent Swagger") is tied to the Old Spice brand just when Old Spice introduces a psychedelic new ad campaign featuring Ray Lewis flying on a life-sized Raven.
It also seems fitting that after more than a decade of fantasy football mediocrity, I had -- in this league, in Week 1 -- perhaps my finest fantasy week of all time.
Let's review my starting roster, and you will understand why: Chris Johnson (selected with the No. 1 overall pick of the draft)... Tom Brady (selected with the final pick of the 2nd round)... and... well, with those two, it doesn't really matter, does it?
As it happens, I also started LaDainian -- really? -- and at WR: Garcon (dud), Floyd (dud) and Austin (stud), along with Antonio Gates (stud), Mason Crosby (stud) and the Bengals D (dud).
With that lineup, I led the league in scoring, nearly doubling up my opponent (managed by Fanhouse/CBSSports's Will Brinson, who in a bit of tough timing was tasked with creating the league write-up this week.)
This puts me in a rare position -- is my team actually kind of awesome? If Johnson and Brady and Miles and Gates (and even Crosby) healthy all year, can I win the league with 5 studs?
Looking ahead to Week 2, I play Matt Sebek's "Sweaty Ditkas," who won Week 1 with 80 points and features Brees, Best, Ronnie Brown and both Cards WRs (Breaston and Fitz).
The key match-up for me is Tom Brady vs. the Jets D. On the one hand, the Jets D is awesome; on the other hand, you know Brady and Belichick want to light them up. Motivation!
Anyway, I'm off to a start that is good enough to make me ask when things will inevitably go off the rails. I'm guessing Week 8 or so.
Click here to check out P&G's "Take It To The House" page on Facebook, which will keep you updated on all the happenings in the league.
The P&G Blogger Fantasy League (BFL) is a group of 12 online sports folks competing on the NFL.com fantasy platform for the chance to win a donation for a local charity, furnished by P&G. The NFL Entities have not offered or sponsored the sweepstakes in anyway.
09/15 Quickie: Sainz, Bush, MLB Races
Today's Names to Know: Ines Sainz, Clinton Portis, Reggie Bush, Kris Jenkins, Ryan Grant, Michael Vick, Jorge Posada, Jon Garland, Cole Hamels, David Ortiz, Denard Robinson, Chris Rainey and More.
Ines Sainz scandal: This is -- or at least should be -- very very simple. No reporter -- M/F, beat/guest -- should be treated with any level of sexual harassment. I appreciate the handful of thoughful, nuanced opinions, but largely my message is: Get over that, misogynists.
Clinton Portis apologizes for creepy, leery quotes about Sainz: With so much scrutiny on the issue, this was not unlike throwing up "finger guns" in a pre-game huddle in the wake of a gun investigation. (Not nearly as bad, but certainly a level of clueless that boggles the mind.) I'd be willing to bet that Portis is sorry for the commotion, but not for the underlying sentiment.
Reggie Bush forfeits 2005 Heisman: OK, seriously, what has to happen to give the Trophy to Vince Young, who so clearly deserved it? (And I'll credit Bush for a nifty bit of p.r. jujitsu, neutering the sentiment against him and avoiding the ignominy of having the award stripped from him.)
Broncos trade for Laurence Maroney: Creating the unstoppable Moreno-Maroney backfield. Cue your "Oh yeah!" (Maroney famously has a Kool-Aid Man fetish.)
Packers RB Ryan Grant done for the year, Jets DT Kris Jenkins done for the year: Both are painful losses. My question is: Which one hurts his team more? The Jets' D is solid without Jenkins -- see 2009; the Packers' offense is among the best in football, but Grant was a big reason for that... and replacement Brandon Jackson is no Grant. Verdict: Packers hurt more.
Mike Vick to start at QB in Week 2? Love this. Obviously, it is tough for Kevin Kolb -- it'll be tougher for him (and Andy Reid, too), when Vick plays awesome next week. (Meanwhile, I can't believe how surprisingly excited I am to see Vick playing and playing well.)
Padres-Rockies, Round 2: Who are these Padres of mid-September? Because they sure don't look like the bunglers of August and earlier this month.
Yankees-Rays, Round 2: And back the AL East lead goes to the Yankees (courtesy of a Posada HR in the 10th) This is going to go down to the final weekend.
13 Ks for Cole Hamels in a Phillies W: A sizzling Hamels would help make the Phillies the team to beat in the NL playoffs.
Remember David Ortiz's struggles earlier this season? He now has 30 HR.
2011 MLB schedule starts/ends earlier: Happy to have one of the earliest starts in MLB history (March 31) if it means the regular season wraps up before September is over and the playoffs are contained in October.
Denard Robinson for Heisman, Cont'd: The Michigan QB has taken the lead in the HeismanPundit straw poll.
Florida playmaker Chris Rainey arrested for stalking: What a moron. But I don't think his Florida career is over. Urban Meyer almost always gives his players a second chance, if they behave themselves. Then again, one of Meyer's big things is treating women with respect. I say Rainey is back on the field by LSU in the middle of next month.
Miss my bonus (media-navel-gazey!) post yesterday not-so-wildly speculating on Bill Simmons' big new project for ESPN? Check it out here.
-- D.S.
Ines Sainz scandal: This is -- or at least should be -- very very simple. No reporter -- M/F, beat/guest -- should be treated with any level of sexual harassment. I appreciate the handful of thoughful, nuanced opinions, but largely my message is: Get over that, misogynists.
Clinton Portis apologizes for creepy, leery quotes about Sainz: With so much scrutiny on the issue, this was not unlike throwing up "finger guns" in a pre-game huddle in the wake of a gun investigation. (Not nearly as bad, but certainly a level of clueless that boggles the mind.) I'd be willing to bet that Portis is sorry for the commotion, but not for the underlying sentiment.
Reggie Bush forfeits 2005 Heisman: OK, seriously, what has to happen to give the Trophy to Vince Young, who so clearly deserved it? (And I'll credit Bush for a nifty bit of p.r. jujitsu, neutering the sentiment against him and avoiding the ignominy of having the award stripped from him.)
Broncos trade for Laurence Maroney: Creating the unstoppable Moreno-Maroney backfield. Cue your "Oh yeah!" (Maroney famously has a Kool-Aid Man fetish.)
Packers RB Ryan Grant done for the year, Jets DT Kris Jenkins done for the year: Both are painful losses. My question is: Which one hurts his team more? The Jets' D is solid without Jenkins -- see 2009; the Packers' offense is among the best in football, but Grant was a big reason for that... and replacement Brandon Jackson is no Grant. Verdict: Packers hurt more.
Mike Vick to start at QB in Week 2? Love this. Obviously, it is tough for Kevin Kolb -- it'll be tougher for him (and Andy Reid, too), when Vick plays awesome next week. (Meanwhile, I can't believe how surprisingly excited I am to see Vick playing and playing well.)
Padres-Rockies, Round 2: Who are these Padres of mid-September? Because they sure don't look like the bunglers of August and earlier this month.
Yankees-Rays, Round 2: And back the AL East lead goes to the Yankees (courtesy of a Posada HR in the 10th) This is going to go down to the final weekend.
13 Ks for Cole Hamels in a Phillies W: A sizzling Hamels would help make the Phillies the team to beat in the NL playoffs.
Remember David Ortiz's struggles earlier this season? He now has 30 HR.
2011 MLB schedule starts/ends earlier: Happy to have one of the earliest starts in MLB history (March 31) if it means the regular season wraps up before September is over and the playoffs are contained in October.
Denard Robinson for Heisman, Cont'd: The Michigan QB has taken the lead in the HeismanPundit straw poll.
Florida playmaker Chris Rainey arrested for stalking: What a moron. But I don't think his Florida career is over. Urban Meyer almost always gives his players a second chance, if they behave themselves. Then again, one of Meyer's big things is treating women with respect. I say Rainey is back on the field by LSU in the middle of next month.
Miss my bonus (media-navel-gazey!) post yesterday not-so-wildly speculating on Bill Simmons' big new project for ESPN? Check it out here.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
What Would Bill Simmons Do, Cont'd
Now that Deadspin has publicly broken the story about Bill Simmons' emerging new venture within ESPN, I feel comfortable writing about it, because he is a big enough figure in sports media to make it really interesting to think about what it might be. Let's call this a follow-up post to the one I did a year ago, when Bill first started talking publicly about his ambitions beyond creating content himself.
I would classify the analysis in two categories: There's a clever, short answer and there's a grinding long answer. Let's start with the short answer:
(1) It doesn't matter what Bill does -- simply that he is doing something. Let me spin away from sports for a second, because I can think of a pretty good template:
"Peter Jackson presents [director you've never heard of]'s 'District 9.'"
The headline was Peter Jackson's association. That you'd never heard of the director didn't matter. That Jackson lent his credibility to the film was all that mattered. (That it turned out to be a great movie -- not insignificantly, made on a lean budget -- directly reflects Jackson's eye that made him so popular in the first place, of course.)
Whenever ESPN launches Bill's new initiative, the headline -- in effect -- is "Bill Simmons Presents..." It will give the project credibility. It will bring in an audience. And it will be successful.
This is the optimal scenario for Bill that I laid out last year, back when he was talking about starting his own thing: Given Bill's strengths, he is much better off letting ESPN manage the back-end and let him manage the creative part -- finding talent, shaping stories, lending his cred.
ESPN gets some credit for being entrepreneurially oriented, but not nearly as much as it should: From "PTI" and "SportsNation" and "30-for-30" on TV to aggressive entry into mobile and local to... well, whatever Bill launches in the next few weeks or months.
Part of that means giving smart people the freedom to flex -- obviously, that has become increasingly important to Bill and ESPN was wise to give him the budget and the room to do... well, again: Basically, whatever he wants.
(2) What specific forms does that take? Bill offered some foreshadowing in those interviews with the Huffington Post and Mediaite and NY Mag last fall -- he wants to encourage and develop and promote quality writing. ESPN uses a bunch of good writers already -- and obviously E-Ticket has had great success.
But Bill would presumably have the freedom to go out and find the best undervalued talent -- sports A&R, so to speak -- then use his brand and ESPN's platform to showcase their work and build their presence in the sports media ecosystem. So I think of it as a more nimble E-Ticket, a more honed version of the ESPN "Commentary" section. Bill used the analogy of "The National" -- recognizing that Deford had an abysmal sense for business.
Let's update the "National" analogy for today's media landscape. If I had to place a bet, I would say that Bill's project will be closer to a sports version of The Awl -- the reigning gold standard for quality writing by a range of talented contributors.
(I prefer "a sports Awl" to a construction of "like Page 2 used to be" -- among other reasons because Page 2's "golden era" was the product of a specific moment and specific strategy in pre-blog/pre-Facebook/pre-Twitter media history and it is folly to try to recreate it, rather than create something for today's reader and today's context.)
I suspect the "Awl" model because it is largely platform agnostic -- Bill doesn't seem to have an interest in creating the next great technology as much as he does leveraging technologies (podcasts, Twitter, web, TV) to distribute great content. The Awl model is about the writing first; ESPN, with its massive portal and platforms and reach and sales team, can handle the rest.
I have followed Bill's career for a long time -- back to the earliest posts at Digital Cities -- and I have never seen him more satisfied with something he has worked on (with justification!) than "30/30." He didn't create the content himself, but he set out a vision and helped others deliver on it. The logical next step is for him to to be a lead "show runner" -- to run his own product.
Let me echo something I said last year: I can count on one hand the number of people who could build a big, stand-alone sports-media product off their name brand -- Huffington-style (although she had the key help of some very savvy online content folks) or like Howard Stern.
Bill makes that short list. And, sure, it would have been intellectually interesting to see him strike out on his own -- how much funding could he have gotten for his own company, and how quickly? And how would he respond to the challenges of a pure start-up? But, frankly, why assume that risk when his goal is to build great products -- and ESPN will back him on it?
Ultimately, his best move was to leverage ESPN's resources to create his products (and it was in ESPN's best interests to give him that freedom and support).
Whatever Bill does next will scratch this latest entrepreneurial itch -- and will be the most interesting thing he has done so far. I suspect he is enjoying the process, and it will only inspire him to do more. That's a good thing for him personally, for the folks he is going to be working with (including ESPN) and for fans.
Looking back at my idle speculation on Bill's future from last fall, what I was really struck by was his fearlessness as it relates to failing -- not that he doesn't think he will fail, but that he doesn't mind if he fails... as long as he is taking a big swing.
Regardless of what he does, that mindset will be his greatest asset.
-- D.S.
I would classify the analysis in two categories: There's a clever, short answer and there's a grinding long answer. Let's start with the short answer:
(1) It doesn't matter what Bill does -- simply that he is doing something. Let me spin away from sports for a second, because I can think of a pretty good template:
"Peter Jackson presents [director you've never heard of]'s 'District 9.'"
The headline was Peter Jackson's association. That you'd never heard of the director didn't matter. That Jackson lent his credibility to the film was all that mattered. (That it turned out to be a great movie -- not insignificantly, made on a lean budget -- directly reflects Jackson's eye that made him so popular in the first place, of course.)
Whenever ESPN launches Bill's new initiative, the headline -- in effect -- is "Bill Simmons Presents..." It will give the project credibility. It will bring in an audience. And it will be successful.
This is the optimal scenario for Bill that I laid out last year, back when he was talking about starting his own thing: Given Bill's strengths, he is much better off letting ESPN manage the back-end and let him manage the creative part -- finding talent, shaping stories, lending his cred.
ESPN gets some credit for being entrepreneurially oriented, but not nearly as much as it should: From "PTI" and "SportsNation" and "30-for-30" on TV to aggressive entry into mobile and local to... well, whatever Bill launches in the next few weeks or months.
Part of that means giving smart people the freedom to flex -- obviously, that has become increasingly important to Bill and ESPN was wise to give him the budget and the room to do... well, again: Basically, whatever he wants.
(2) What specific forms does that take? Bill offered some foreshadowing in those interviews with the Huffington Post and Mediaite and NY Mag last fall -- he wants to encourage and develop and promote quality writing. ESPN uses a bunch of good writers already -- and obviously E-Ticket has had great success.
But Bill would presumably have the freedom to go out and find the best undervalued talent -- sports A&R, so to speak -- then use his brand and ESPN's platform to showcase their work and build their presence in the sports media ecosystem. So I think of it as a more nimble E-Ticket, a more honed version of the ESPN "Commentary" section. Bill used the analogy of "The National" -- recognizing that Deford had an abysmal sense for business.
Let's update the "National" analogy for today's media landscape. If I had to place a bet, I would say that Bill's project will be closer to a sports version of The Awl -- the reigning gold standard for quality writing by a range of talented contributors.
(I prefer "a sports Awl" to a construction of "like Page 2 used to be" -- among other reasons because Page 2's "golden era" was the product of a specific moment and specific strategy in pre-blog/pre-Facebook/pre-Twitter media history and it is folly to try to recreate it, rather than create something for today's reader and today's context.)
I suspect the "Awl" model because it is largely platform agnostic -- Bill doesn't seem to have an interest in creating the next great technology as much as he does leveraging technologies (podcasts, Twitter, web, TV) to distribute great content. The Awl model is about the writing first; ESPN, with its massive portal and platforms and reach and sales team, can handle the rest.
I have followed Bill's career for a long time -- back to the earliest posts at Digital Cities -- and I have never seen him more satisfied with something he has worked on (with justification!) than "30/30." He didn't create the content himself, but he set out a vision and helped others deliver on it. The logical next step is for him to to be a lead "show runner" -- to run his own product.
Let me echo something I said last year: I can count on one hand the number of people who could build a big, stand-alone sports-media product off their name brand -- Huffington-style (although she had the key help of some very savvy online content folks) or like Howard Stern.
Bill makes that short list. And, sure, it would have been intellectually interesting to see him strike out on his own -- how much funding could he have gotten for his own company, and how quickly? And how would he respond to the challenges of a pure start-up? But, frankly, why assume that risk when his goal is to build great products -- and ESPN will back him on it?
Ultimately, his best move was to leverage ESPN's resources to create his products (and it was in ESPN's best interests to give him that freedom and support).
Whatever Bill does next will scratch this latest entrepreneurial itch -- and will be the most interesting thing he has done so far. I suspect he is enjoying the process, and it will only inspire him to do more. That's a good thing for him personally, for the folks he is going to be working with (including ESPN) and for fans.
Looking back at my idle speculation on Bill's future from last fall, what I was really struck by was his fearlessness as it relates to failing -- not that he doesn't think he will fail, but that he doesn't mind if he fails... as long as he is taking a big swing.
Regardless of what he does, that mindset will be his greatest asset.
-- D.S.
09/14 Quickie: Jets, McCluster, Bragnac
Today's Names to Know: Dexter McCluster, Anquan Boldin, Legedu Naanee, Dexter McCluster, Reid Bragnac, CC Sabathia, Rafa Nadal, Denard Robinson, Vince Young, Oprah and More.
In case you missed it, that was Dexter McCluster flying by, en route to folk hero status in Kansas City and the No. 1 trending search ranking on Google. His sick even-better-than-Dante-Hall-ever-did punt return that proved to be the decisive score for the Chiefs in their unexpected upset over the Chargers.
That the Jets' offense was the albatross in a loss was not a surprise -- between the endemic mediocrity and the pressure from the terrific Ravens D, 6 first downs and 9 points seems about right.
Still: The Jets will go nowhere this season if the offense can't figure it out. (Remember when they made all those offseason moves to make a great D even better and folks were saying "Well, all they'll have to do is score 10 points and the D will take care of the rest." There you go.
I think it is not too early to see this as a huge problem that needs to be addressed now. The season is too short and the playoff field is too competitive not to panic as early as... today.
(The Ravens, meanwhile, seem to have solved a huge problem from last year with the introduction of Anquan Boldin into their offense.)
Meanwhile, anyone see Chiefs-over-Chargers coming? Speaking of D, it was a late-game four-down goal-line stand by the KC D that gave them what could be a season-defining win. I'm not saying the Chiefs are headed to the playoffs, but beating the division favorites on national TV in front of a frenzied home crowd is big. Besides, the Chiefs are easy for fans across the country to root for, especially because there isn't a ton of love for Phil Rivers and the Chargers.
(BTW: Legedu Naanee is a revelation, although fantasy GMs knew that someone was going to have to catch all those Rivers passes in the absence of Vincent Jackson.)
The Rays are in 1st place in the AL East. You can thank Yankee-killer Reid Brignac, who personifies "I wasn't even supposed to be here today." (It will be interesting how many Cy voters point to Sabathia's gem of a no-decision: A 2-hit shutout over 8 innings with 9 Ks.)
NL West Watch: The Padres held off the Rockies in Colorado to maintain their tenuous grasp on 1st place. I would call it a "must-win" for San Diego, but at this point EVERY game is a must-win for them. The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Rox.
30-year-old baseball journeyman pitcher Bobby Cramer winning his first-ever MLB game is as good of a feel-good story as you'll see in baseball this year, especially if you are in your 30s (or older). Great must-read from King Kaufman about it.
Rafa Nadal won the US Open (finally) and completed his career Grand Slam. We are now in the Nadal Era.
Is Denard Robinson at the top of Heisman straw polls yet? If not, why not?
Good for Vince Young for publicly saying he would absolutely accept the 2005 Heisman Trophy if it was stripped from Reggie Bush. The Heisman Trust should take him up on it. It's not like he isn't worthy.
Unlike Oprah, I will not be giving away a free trip to Australia to all of you. Apologies!
-- D.S.
In case you missed it, that was Dexter McCluster flying by, en route to folk hero status in Kansas City and the No. 1 trending search ranking on Google. His sick even-better-than-Dante-Hall-ever-did punt return that proved to be the decisive score for the Chiefs in their unexpected upset over the Chargers.
That the Jets' offense was the albatross in a loss was not a surprise -- between the endemic mediocrity and the pressure from the terrific Ravens D, 6 first downs and 9 points seems about right.
Still: The Jets will go nowhere this season if the offense can't figure it out. (Remember when they made all those offseason moves to make a great D even better and folks were saying "Well, all they'll have to do is score 10 points and the D will take care of the rest." There you go.
I think it is not too early to see this as a huge problem that needs to be addressed now. The season is too short and the playoff field is too competitive not to panic as early as... today.
(The Ravens, meanwhile, seem to have solved a huge problem from last year with the introduction of Anquan Boldin into their offense.)
Meanwhile, anyone see Chiefs-over-Chargers coming? Speaking of D, it was a late-game four-down goal-line stand by the KC D that gave them what could be a season-defining win. I'm not saying the Chiefs are headed to the playoffs, but beating the division favorites on national TV in front of a frenzied home crowd is big. Besides, the Chiefs are easy for fans across the country to root for, especially because there isn't a ton of love for Phil Rivers and the Chargers.
(BTW: Legedu Naanee is a revelation, although fantasy GMs knew that someone was going to have to catch all those Rivers passes in the absence of Vincent Jackson.)
The Rays are in 1st place in the AL East. You can thank Yankee-killer Reid Brignac, who personifies "I wasn't even supposed to be here today." (It will be interesting how many Cy voters point to Sabathia's gem of a no-decision: A 2-hit shutout over 8 innings with 9 Ks.)
NL West Watch: The Padres held off the Rockies in Colorado to maintain their tenuous grasp on 1st place. I would call it a "must-win" for San Diego, but at this point EVERY game is a must-win for them. The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Rox.
30-year-old baseball journeyman pitcher Bobby Cramer winning his first-ever MLB game is as good of a feel-good story as you'll see in baseball this year, especially if you are in your 30s (or older). Great must-read from King Kaufman about it.
Rafa Nadal won the US Open (finally) and completed his career Grand Slam. We are now in the Nadal Era.
Is Denard Robinson at the top of Heisman straw polls yet? If not, why not?
Good for Vince Young for publicly saying he would absolutely accept the 2005 Heisman Trophy if it was stripped from Reggie Bush. The Heisman Trust should take him up on it. It's not like he isn't worthy.
Unlike Oprah, I will not be giving away a free trip to Australia to all of you. Apologies!
-- D.S.
Monday, September 13, 2010
BlogPoll Monday: 1 Bama, 2 TCU
If one substantial point of the college football poll is to figure out the top 2 teams in the country for the purpose of pairing them to play for the national title, then I'd qualify this week's poll as a huge shake-up: After loving Boise for 2 weeks -- preseason and Week 1 -- I bumped them from the No. 1 spot on my ballot... after a bye week. They didn't even play.
But Virginia Tech did, and lost to 1-AA James Madison -- a fine team, but more importantly, proving VT isn't nearly as good as we gave Boise credit for a week ago. I'm fine with the whiplash; the point of every subsequent week of the season is to introduce more evidence into the poll. For example: Alabama made Penn State -- a solid if not elite team -- look like a Division II team.
This week's poll, pending your comments:
1. Alabama
2. TCU
3. Ohio State
4. Boise St
5. Oregon
6. Utah
7. Oklahoma
8. Iowa
9. Auburn
10. Texas
11. Florida
12. Houston
13. Nebraska
14. South Carolina
15. Air Force
16. Stanford
17. Miami
18. Arkansas
19. Oregon St
20. Arizona
21. LSU
22. Denard Robinson
23. Fresno St
24. Wisconsin
25. Baylor
Next week's big games: Baylor at TCU, Air Force at Oklahoma, Iowa at Arizona, Florida at Tennessee, Arkansas at Georgia, Wake Forest at Stanford, Houston at UCLA.
But Virginia Tech did, and lost to 1-AA James Madison -- a fine team, but more importantly, proving VT isn't nearly as good as we gave Boise credit for a week ago. I'm fine with the whiplash; the point of every subsequent week of the season is to introduce more evidence into the poll. For example: Alabama made Penn State -- a solid if not elite team -- look like a Division II team.
This week's poll, pending your comments:
1. Alabama
2. TCU
3. Ohio State
4. Boise St
5. Oregon
6. Utah
7. Oklahoma
8. Iowa
9. Auburn
10. Texas
11. Florida
12. Houston
13. Nebraska
14. South Carolina
15. Air Force
16. Stanford
17. Miami
18. Arkansas
19. Oregon St
20. Arizona
21. LSU
22. Denard Robinson
23. Fresno St
24. Wisconsin
25. Baylor
Next week's big games: Baylor at TCU, Air Force at Oklahoma, Iowa at Arizona, Florida at Tennessee, Arkansas at Georgia, Wake Forest at Stanford, Houston at UCLA.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
09/13 Quickie: Lions, 'Boys, Vick, Arian
Today's Names to Know: Calvin Johnson, Alex Barron,Mike Vick, Arian Foster, Chris Johnson, Rashard Mendenhall, Stewart Bradley, Mike Martz, Wes Welker, Ravens-Jets, Kevin Durant, Alabama, SF Giants, Colorado Rockies, Cliff Lee, Tiger Woods, Sue Bird and More.
What a wild start to the NFL season -- and a crazy weekend in general.
What a wild start to the NFL season -- and a crazy weekend in general.
*Calvin Johnson's non-TD: If that doesn't turn out to be the greatest catch of the 2010 season, it sure as hell has "greatest incomplete pass of the 2010 season" locked up.
(Sure seemed like a catch to me.)
*Dallas Cowboys' non-TD: On the other hand, zero sympathy for Dallas for losing out on a game-ending TD when offensive lineman Alex Barron -- currently a Top 10 Google Trend (and, notably, the only non-VMA trend among the Top 10) -- was flagged for an obvious holding penalty against Brian Orakpo, sealing the largely unexpected win for the Redskins in McNabb's debut.
*Mike Vick steps up: Given how ineffective Kevin Kolb was before he left with that seeming concussion, I have to believe Eagles fans would be happy to leave Vick in there, even if Kolb is healthy enough to start next week. In fact, I'm sure many Eagles fans are wondering if they win the game, outright, if Vick plays the entire game and not just when Kolb's injury forced him in.
Naturally, Andy Reid insists that Kolb will return to the starting job if he is healthy enough for it. Let's hear it, Eagles fans (because the rest of us are with you): Boo!
(Worth noting, Vick's post-game tweet: "Thanks for all the support, but let's keep in mind we lost the game. No reason to celebrate and our leader k kolb went down." Rehabilitation.)
(Sure seemed like a catch to me.)
*Dallas Cowboys' non-TD: On the other hand, zero sympathy for Dallas for losing out on a game-ending TD when offensive lineman Alex Barron -- currently a Top 10 Google Trend (and, notably, the only non-VMA trend among the Top 10) -- was flagged for an obvious holding penalty against Brian Orakpo, sealing the largely unexpected win for the Redskins in McNabb's debut.
*Mike Vick steps up: Given how ineffective Kevin Kolb was before he left with that seeming concussion, I have to believe Eagles fans would be happy to leave Vick in there, even if Kolb is healthy enough to start next week. In fact, I'm sure many Eagles fans are wondering if they win the game, outright, if Vick plays the entire game and not just when Kolb's injury forced him in.
Naturally, Andy Reid insists that Kolb will return to the starting job if he is healthy enough for it. Let's hear it, Eagles fans (because the rest of us are with you): Boo!
*Arian Foster breaks through: The player this week who had thousands of fantasy football GMs saying "He was available for plenty of rounds -- why didn't I take him?!"
It wouldn't have meant as much if the effort didn't complement a Texans win over the Colts -- rare enough as it is, regardless of who is starring. Is this the "Finally?!" year for Houston?
(If not for Foster, everyone would be focusing on Peyton Manning's monster fantasy game -- or Chris Johnson's awesome start, putting him well on the pace -- at least after one game -- for his goal of 2,500 yards.)
One other RB Name to Know: Rashard Mendenhall. Now THAT was a way to finish a game -- and a hell of a gift for fantasy owners: A TD and an extra 50 yards rushing.
It wouldn't have meant as much if the effort didn't complement a Texans win over the Colts -- rare enough as it is, regardless of who is starring. Is this the "Finally?!" year for Houston?
(If not for Foster, everyone would be focusing on Peyton Manning's monster fantasy game -- or Chris Johnson's awesome start, putting him well on the pace -- at least after one game -- for his goal of 2,500 yards.)
One other RB Name to Know: Rashard Mendenhall. Now THAT was a way to finish a game -- and a hell of a gift for fantasy owners: A TD and an extra 50 yards rushing.
*Stewart Bradley concussion: Speaking of Eagles concussions, Andy Reid should expect to get scrutinized for his ill-advised decision to put Bradley back into the game after his seeming concussion. (So much for the NFL's concussion-awareness program. That lasted... zero weeks.)
*Flying back from Jacksonville to NYC yesterday afternoon, I had the Pats-Bengals game on my in-flight TV, and damn if the Pats didn't look awesome on offense (Welkah!) and way better on D than anyone expected them to.
*Tebow Watch: 2 touches (including the 3rd play of the game), 2 carries, 2 yards and a Broncos loss after David Garrard has one of his best games ever as a pro -- almost like he was trying to make a statement that any thought the Jags might have had about drafting Tebow to be QB of this Jaguars team was entirely unnecessary.
*Debuts: Hell of a winning one for Pete Carroll (and a hell of a loss for the 49ers). And the mere fact that Sam Bradford didn't snap in two makes his debut a success (despite the 3 picks and losing the game. 55 passing attempts?)
And say this for Mike Martz: The Bears may not win many games, but they will be wildly entertaining. (And as long as you're not making the playoffs anyway, isn't it better to be entertaining? Just ask the Browns fans.)
*And NFL Week 1 hasn't even had its best game yet -- that would be Ravens at Jets in tonight's MNF season-opener (not sure how many folks will stick around for Chargers-Chiefs).
More:
*USA Hoops wins gold at the World Championships: The problem with expectations is that the team was in a "gold-or-bust" situation, so winning gold brings "As you should have!" rather than "Way to go!" That said: This was a breakthrough month for Kevin Durant. It is going to be fascinating to see how things work in London in 2012, if the superstars return to the team for the Olympic tournament.
*Alabama-Ohio State are 1-2 in the polls, same as last week. The biggest difference is that while Boise is still No. 3, their support with No. 1-votes eroded; my Saturday feelings about it -- as a Boise-is-No.-1 voter in the preseason and last week -- were foreshadowing.
*MLB Pennant Races: As expected, the Giants finished the weekend tied for 1st with the Padres in the NL West. And they could nudge ahead as early as tonight, when the Padres head to Denver to play the Rockies (who are themselves only 1.5 GB the division leaders after having won 10 straight games).
Oh and the Phillies pulled ahead of the Braves for sole possession of 1st in the NL East. (Over in the AL, the only question is whether the Rays will catch the Yankees for the AL division title. Cliff Lee!)
*Tiger Woods being bounced from the FedEx Cup feels like an entirely appropriate finish to this worst-year-of-his-career. The bigger question: How far does it extend into next year?
*WNBA Finals: Sue Bird, greatest Jewish basketball player?
*Flying back from Jacksonville to NYC yesterday afternoon, I had the Pats-Bengals game on my in-flight TV, and damn if the Pats didn't look awesome on offense (Welkah!) and way better on D than anyone expected them to.
*Tebow Watch: 2 touches (including the 3rd play of the game), 2 carries, 2 yards and a Broncos loss after David Garrard has one of his best games ever as a pro -- almost like he was trying to make a statement that any thought the Jags might have had about drafting Tebow to be QB of this Jaguars team was entirely unnecessary.
*Debuts: Hell of a winning one for Pete Carroll (and a hell of a loss for the 49ers). And the mere fact that Sam Bradford didn't snap in two makes his debut a success (despite the 3 picks and losing the game. 55 passing attempts?)
And say this for Mike Martz: The Bears may not win many games, but they will be wildly entertaining. (And as long as you're not making the playoffs anyway, isn't it better to be entertaining? Just ask the Browns fans.)
*And NFL Week 1 hasn't even had its best game yet -- that would be Ravens at Jets in tonight's MNF season-opener (not sure how many folks will stick around for Chargers-Chiefs).
More:
*USA Hoops wins gold at the World Championships: The problem with expectations is that the team was in a "gold-or-bust" situation, so winning gold brings "As you should have!" rather than "Way to go!" That said: This was a breakthrough month for Kevin Durant. It is going to be fascinating to see how things work in London in 2012, if the superstars return to the team for the Olympic tournament.
*Alabama-Ohio State are 1-2 in the polls, same as last week. The biggest difference is that while Boise is still No. 3, their support with No. 1-votes eroded; my Saturday feelings about it -- as a Boise-is-No.-1 voter in the preseason and last week -- were foreshadowing.
*MLB Pennant Races: As expected, the Giants finished the weekend tied for 1st with the Padres in the NL West. And they could nudge ahead as early as tonight, when the Padres head to Denver to play the Rockies (who are themselves only 1.5 GB the division leaders after having won 10 straight games).
Oh and the Phillies pulled ahead of the Braves for sole possession of 1st in the NL East. (Over in the AL, the only question is whether the Rays will catch the Yankees for the AL division title. Cliff Lee!)
*Tiger Woods being bounced from the FedEx Cup feels like an entirely appropriate finish to this worst-year-of-his-career. The bigger question: How far does it extend into next year?
*WNBA Finals: Sue Bird, greatest Jewish basketball player?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
CFB Hangover: Uh, So About Boise...
It is fairly remarkable that Boise State didn't even play today, and yet their season of hopes for a shot at playing in the BCS championship game imploded when Virginia Tech lost to James Madison.
I have had Boise State ranked No. 1 since January, in the preseason and in Week 1. The latest ranking was partly a function of the offseason, but mainly a function of the credit I gave them for beating a seemingly great team.
And now, under the weight of further evidence -- fodder for any "resume-based" ranking -- I will take that No. 1 designation away. Virginia Tech won't even be ranked.
I reject the "But Virginia Tech was ranked No. 6 at the time" -- every win should be re-interpreted in light of new evidence. In this case, the new evidence is damning: Boise State's win -- its close win -- over Virginia Tech isn't nearly as impressive as it was a few days ago.
More notes from the weekend:
*Would you like to see a No. 1 team in action? Hopefully, you watched Alabama dismantle a Penn State team that will likely end the season inside the Top 20. The Tide made Penn State look like a 1-AA team. So much for that questionable Alabama D.
*Last point about Alabama: If it wasn't obvious before, Trent Richardson is better than reigning Heisman winner Mark Ingram. And it doesn't appear to be close.
*OK: While I'm not sure if Ohio State would have won as big if they were playing away from the Horseshoe, I have to give them credit for beating a solid -- if not great -- Miami team.
*Two words: Denard. Robinson. There isn't a more exciting player in college football, and he has catapulted himself to the top of the Heisman race.
*Apologies to Oklahoma fans, for doubting you.
*Apologies to all fans, for foisting Georgia Tech on you as a Top 10 team.
*My doomsday prophesy for Florida against South Florida looked pretty good for about a quarter and a half, in one of the hottest game conditions I have ever personally experienced. Despite the eventual rout, Florida did little to prove they are anything close to elite.
*Who would have guessed that Steve Spurrier's salvation at South Carolina would come in the form of a running back? But freshman Marcus Lattimore is that good.
Preliminary BlogPoll Top 10:
1. Alabama
2. TCU
3. Ohio St
4. Boise St
5. Texas
6. Utah
7. Iowa
8. Auburn
9. Oklahoma
10. Oregon
3. Ohio St
4. Boise St
5. Texas
6. Utah
7. Iowa
8. Auburn
9. Oklahoma
10. Oregon
Complete poll coming tomorrow evening. Roughly looking at 11-25 like this: Houston, Nebraska, South Carolina, Air Force, Miami, Florida, Oregon St, Arkansas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Stanford, LSU, Michigan, Fresno St,
More:
*Kim Clijsters: Go Moms!
*Federer KO'ed: Did anyone NOT want to see Fed-Nadal?
*USA Hoops: Game of the Decade today vs. Turkey (at Turkey). Kevin Durant will have to have the game of his life, frankly.
*Is Vernon Davis worth more money than any tight end in NFL history? Frankly, it doesn't really matter what any of us think -- he's being paid like it.
*Latest hero in the NL West see-saw: Tim Stauffer.
*While I was recovering from the Gator game and relaxing while watching late-afternoon college football, Penn State women's volleyball was a couple miles away on the UF campus in Gainesville having their 109-match streak snapped by Stanford.
*Um, yeah: So it's only the first Sunday of the NFL regular season. Setting aside Thursday night's opening game, Week 1 is here. Settle in!
-- D.S.
Saturday (Panicked) Quickie
This is strange. This is my 10th season as a Florida football fan -- 6th of the Meyer Era -- I have never felt as uncertain about a Florida game outcome as I am about today, when the Gators play South Florida at the Swamp.
Not last year at LSU in the "Tebow post-concussion" game. Not any of the "win-or-else" games in 2006 or 2008. Not even last year's SEC title game against Alabama.
But a combination of factors have me freaked about Florida losing to USF:
(1) The way Florida played last week. In a word: Dreary, particularly the offense. (And now comes word Florida may be without its kicker.)
(2) USF QB BJ Daniels. I polled folks yesterday trying to figure out if Florida had ever played as talented of a dual-threat QB in the Meyer Era. No one could think of any.
(3) For USF, this is their national-championship game. I would argue they care more about winning this game than winning the Big East title. Florida simply can't care as much.
Again, I have never been as uncertain about a Florida game's outcome as I am today. I really do think there is a serious chance they are going to lose. Winning would be a relief, not a thrill.
(Perhaps, with expectations like those, it should be the other way around: When you least expect it, shouldn't the win be particularly thrilling? Hmm: Have to consider that.)
So there's my agita for the day. I can only imagine how fans of national contenders are feeling whose teams are in even tougher match-ups: Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma, FSU, Penn State... I suspect that Alabama fans feel pretty comfortable about where things are.
What a great day in college football: From the Swamp at noon to the couch at 3:30 for OSU-Miami and Oklahoma-FSU to the 7 p.m. kickoff of Alabama-Penn State.
More this morning, briefly:
*What a brutal result for Marshall fans. I watched most of that game and the Herd had that thing won... right up until they started playing not to lose.
(Houston did nothing in routing UTEP last night to change my mind that they are a Top 20 team that is being too easily dismissed by the pollsters. Keenum didn't even throw a TD.)
*Did I say "Monday" about the Padres officially losing their lead in the NL West? I meant Friday.
*Roy Halladay for NL Cy? I can get behind that. (I am absolutely behind the "King Felix for AL Cy" movement. Would be an even bigger moment for voters than picking Greinke in '09. Felix pitches today, and I suspect all the voters will be paying attention.)
*Fantasy Stud: Nelson Cruz, a star on my fantasy team -- which, naturally, earned a bye-week in the consolation bracket. Can use those HRs next week, Nelson!
*Injury Watch: Johan Santana's shoulder. Let's keep an eye on that in 2011. A brutal Mets season gets even worse. Hey, at least their single-A team in Brooklyn is playing for a league championship.
*Schadenfreude alert: Bruce Pearl.
*Villanova football into the Big East? It's not a bad idea: Nova is a 1-AA power, and 1-A status with Pennsylvania and New Jersey's recruiting base could yield a pretty good team. (Also, the league wouldn't have to expand the hoops league to bring in a new football team.)
*USA Hoops: World Basketball Championship semifinal vs. Lithuania, no easy game. Again: Team US is a failure if they don't win gold. So winning today is obviously a must.
*Although I was in Gainesville, I did not see Penn State women's volleyball extend its record winning streak to 109 matches last night against the Gators.
*Good gosh, Tiger really does suck right now.
Happy birthday to my father-in-law! Happy to be able to be in Gainesville with him to celebrate. Um, let's hope it doesn't include a Florida loss.
-- D.S.
Friday, September 10, 2010
College Football Preview/Picks
Another week, another game I'll watch in person at The Swamp -- the final chance I'll have to watch Florida first-hand this season.
Unlike last week, I have very low expectations. Unlike last week, I'm ditching my Tebow jersey as gameday shirt of choice. Oh, and BJ Daniels scares the hell out of me. (Not quite as much as nutjobs threatening to burn the Quran, but still.) For USF, this is a national-championship-level game; can't say that I think UF feels the same way about it. Very very nervous.
There are a ton of marquee games -- a Florida loss at home to South Florida would trump all of them. Let's take a pass through the schedule. Enjoy the weekend!
1 Alabama over 18 Penn State -- And it won't be close.
2 Ohio State over 12 Miami -- GOTW. Very very close.
4 TCU over Tennessee Tech
5 Texas over Wyoming
6 Nebraska over Idaho -- NU still overrated.
7 Oregon over (at) Tennesse -- Let's see 70+ here.
8 Florida over South Florida -- Umm...Upset Special?!
9 Iowa over Iowa St
17 Florida State over (at) 10 Oklahoma -- Upset Special
11 Wisconsin over San Jose St
13 VA Tech over James Madison
14 Arkansas over LA-Monroe
15 Georgia Tech over (at) Kansas
16 USC over Virginia
19 LSU over at Vanderbilt
20 Utah over UNLV
21 Auburn over Mississippi State -- Thursday night.
22 Georgia over (at) 24 South Carolina
23 West Virginia over Marshall
25 Stanford over (at) UCLA
More games of note:
Notre Dame over Michigan
Houston (DS-ranked!) over UTEP
Washington over Syracuse
Cal over Colorado
Air Force over BYU
Northwestern over Illinois St
-- D.S.
Unlike last week, I have very low expectations. Unlike last week, I'm ditching my Tebow jersey as gameday shirt of choice. Oh, and BJ Daniels scares the hell out of me. (Not quite as much as nutjobs threatening to burn the Quran, but still.) For USF, this is a national-championship-level game; can't say that I think UF feels the same way about it. Very very nervous.
There are a ton of marquee games -- a Florida loss at home to South Florida would trump all of them. Let's take a pass through the schedule. Enjoy the weekend!
1 Alabama over 18 Penn State -- And it won't be close.
2 Ohio State over 12 Miami -- GOTW. Very very close.
4 TCU over Tennessee Tech
5 Texas over Wyoming
6 Nebraska over Idaho -- NU still overrated.
7 Oregon over (at) Tennesse -- Let's see 70+ here.
8 Florida over South Florida -- Umm...Upset Special?!
9 Iowa over Iowa St
17 Florida State over (at) 10 Oklahoma -- Upset Special
11 Wisconsin over San Jose St
13 VA Tech over James Madison
14 Arkansas over LA-Monroe
15 Georgia Tech over (at) Kansas
16 USC over Virginia
19 LSU over at Vanderbilt
20 Utah over UNLV
21 Auburn over Mississippi State -- Thursday night.
22 Georgia over (at) 24 South Carolina
23 West Virginia over Marshall
25 Stanford over (at) UCLA
More games of note:
Notre Dame over Michigan
Houston (DS-ranked!) over UTEP
Washington over Syracuse
Cal over Colorado
Air Force over BYU
Northwestern over Illinois St
-- D.S.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
