Week 9 - "My Alphabits are saying Oooooo"

After last weeks stellar performance of 5-1, my FM pick record now sits at 27-17. I was sad to see Tennessee get jobbed on that call which would have pushed me to 6-0, but hey...you can't win 'em all.

As for the Man points wager Biron and I have going...well, it wasn't that good for either of us. I'm still sitting on the positive side of the fence after dropping 17 points to leave me with 115. Biron really took it badly hemmorrhaging 20 points down to 78. Now Biron will bitch about the man points because he's getting his ass kicked, but just so all of you know, as bad as he is with numbers, he's better at picking games. He had a slightly better record picking the teams, he just couldn't align his points. I went 6-10-1 ATS, and Biron went 7-9-1, where the 1 is for push. So after two weeks, I have a record of 16-17-1 ats, and Biron is 15-18-1.

But for the purposes of my own personal pleasure mixed with a little Schadenfreude towards Biron I plan on reporting the man points. It should be noted that this weeks games have some screwed up lines (Texas Tech by -10.5?!?!?!) but I plan on exerting my gambling dominance regardless.

Week 9 picks
Texas 42 vs Oklahoma State 13
It's sad that a team gets WORSE after Les Miles leaves.

Georgia 21 vs Florida 20
The great cocktail party. I've been there. It's really just the great Tail party. There is more ass there than the Tomato Festival in Rio. Good God does the south have some hot ass women....um...right! The game! well, I don't like Georgia, and I think Urban Meyer is a big baby. Shockley is hurt, but Chris Leak is a square peg in Urbans round hole. *snicker*

Northwestern 54 vs Michigan 48
Tyrell Sutton is from Ohio and knows how important it is to beat Michigan. Brett Basenez is the most effecient qb in the Big Ten. Michigan's Mario Manningham is from Ohio and is a giant traitor. Rot in Hell Michigan!

Ohio State 35 vs Minnesota 21
Best rushing offense versus best rushing defense. Won't matter. Brian Cupito is hurting and Malcolm Jenkins will make 2 INTs in this game.

South Carolina 21 vs Tennessee 17
Spurrier: "You can't spell Citrus without UT." Riggs is hurt, their best QB is on the bench, and they have one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Purdue 27 vs Penn State 24
My upset pick of the week. Tiller lights a fire under his team and pulls the upset. Michael Robinson has gotten much better, but I am just feeling Purdue has the big W in them.

USC 49 vs Wazzu 39
Wazzu has the "best" running back (by yards only) and a dominating receiver. Yawn. Doesn't matter against USC.

Few EA Announcements

Vote for Madden for the "Walk of Game"

Voting is now open for the entire month of October of the Walk of Game, and if you’re a fan of Madden NFL and would like to see it receive one of the gaming world’s most unique honors, head to the Walk of Game website and vote now! The Walk of Game honors the icons and pioneers of the video game industry, from game titles to programmers to actual characters, and the Madden NFL franchise is among the nominees this year. Previous inductees include Halo, Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog – and now it’s time for Madden NFL to join these famous icons thanks to its status as the best-selling football video game of all-time. You’ll be able to help send Madden NFL into the pantheon of historical video games by voting for it during the month of October. Voting for the Walk of Game ends October 31, so if you haven’t voted yet, go now and cast your ballot! You can also learn more about the Walk of Game and view past inductees.

Also (in case you haven't remembered), the Pontiac High Performance Leaderboard is giving people the opportunity once again to accumulate statistics on their special leaderboard by playing the weekly matchup, and in this case it's probably the best one at that - with both the B+ rated Florida Gators & Georgia Bulldogs. Get in on the action on the NCAA 06 site at EA Sports.

NCAA Dynasty: Season #1

For the first time since the 2004 online addiction to NCAA Football, I decided to start up an Ohio State dynasty and attempt to have a good time exploring the game in more detail than the previous 2 seasons...or, you could say I've been getting my ass kicked online lately and needed the suberfuge that dynasty games grant. I'm 6-1 with my Buckeyes in DaONE, 2-1 with my Virginia squad in the League of Dedication (where I was coincidentally told last night that I couldn't pinch my line together while running the 3-4), and I'm a brutal 1-4 in my own league at MM. The bad thing: the 1-4 record, the 1 loss with Virginia and the 1 loss with OSU are virtually all from the last 3 weeks, where I've just been inept at this goddamn game and can't win to save my ass.

Enough of my troubles.

As with any dynasty, one of the most important features is the set of sliders you're playing the game on. I've always traditionally played All-American difficulty mode while winning all the rivalry trophies and running practice mode over the past 2 years, but with the jump to Heisman by most leagues this season I'm now doing so as well. Now Heisman's a tricky beast - there's always been the hack to kill the speed cheat by plugging in another controller and putting that player on the other team, allowing him to also play AI QB and have Corso call their plays, but it's somewhat involving and well, I'm lazy. So - as an online guy first and foremost, I always attempt to create sliders so that I'm playing with about the same amount of attributes as I am online, I just don't want to be able to do something offline that I can't do on.

Offense: XkqztBUO
Defense: WuCxiQL2

Anyway, in the season I finish 9-3 (6-2) and good enough to win the Big 10, losing to Texas 35-14, Michigan State 9-6 in OT and Michigan 38-7. As much as losing to both Michigans chaps my ass, my #12 ranked Buckeyes managed to win the Fiesta Bowl anyway against #3 Georgia - so I think my sliders were pretty alright. I really got woodshedded a couple of times, but I managed to have my way with plenty of other schools. QB Reggie McNeal of Texas A&M won the Heisman Trophy, despite Matt Leinart winning the Maxwell, Best QB Award and was named First Team All-American, all while setting the NCAA Dynasty record by tossing 57 touchdown passes during the season. McNeal did make the Second Team, so I guess not all is lost. DonTrell Moore won the Best HB award despite Mr. President Reggie Bush being selected First Team AA, Steve Smith won the Best WR over Jovon Bouknight of Wyoming - nothing else really significant. Texas A&M defeated the unbeaten #2 Texas team to send Florida to a National Championship blowout against USC, and I think like 3 mid-majors finished higher than I did at the #7 slot.

At any rate, I compiled a short spreadsheet of my draft class for your consumption - cause I know you're dieing to see, but also because I like looking back throughout the dynasty and seeing how different guys turn out and comparing prospects to one another. I'm very curious as to whether or not the discipline and potential ratings are right - if in fact high potential prospects end up being great players or vice versa, say a kid has all the physical talent in the world but never develops into a great player. And oh: the recruiting class

#1 class: (5) 5 stars, (17) 4 stars, (1) 3 star, (1) 2 star

I know, I know...

...but just roll with me here. Anyway, I made the same mistake that I believe I made back in '04, I left AI assistance on while I recruited. This was no more than noticable until after week #5 when I had already received all the recruits I wanted, and then I was stacked with 8 additional recruits I had either scouted, at one time offered a scholarship to or maybe even glanced at them while they were interested. I had to cut several players to make room for the youth movement including 1 recruit (HB Drew Britton if you're interested), but yo - don't make the same mistake I did, these guys just came rolling in.

Also, a user at Maddenmania, Faaip De Oiad, puts out a recruiting tool every year for people to use to evaluate prospects while recruiting. You can input all the scouting reports into a generator to see what their prospective rating will be, and it's typically pretty accurate as well. you can get the evaluator here, and you can view the thread at MM here. If you're getting an error message when trying to run it, you need to have .NET framework 1.1 for this file to work, which is found on either microsoft.com or downloaded via Windows update.

Some of the things I'm curious on - I score the #1 HB in the nation (Victor Yancey) who runs a 4.31, and it turns out some 4 star athlete recruit (John Bell) that the coaches signed in the final week who ran a 4.41 is faster. Granted I didn't scout him, but seriously - a 4.41 down below a 4.31? Furthermore, this athlete - who stands at 6'2, 202 lbs - is an 85 OVR DE as opposed to a 78 OVR HB - it's like...serious? Here I think I'm landing the next Reggie Bush with his A+ hands and blazing speed, and turns out some 4-star dude out of NY is good enough to earn Yancey a redshirt. Coupled with the fact that my current back, Erik Haw, is a redshirt sophomore this upcoming season - I think I'm destined to have about 18 transfers here in the next year at least. There's just not enough balls on the field.

Have you seen a better secondary class like - ever in your life? For season #2, I have Donte Whitner as an impact CB and a 97 OVR, Ashton Youboty opposite of him as a 96 OVR, and my next 4 are all from this draft class, each rated 82 OVR (one is a junior transfer). Oh...and all have 99 speed. Wtf? Ya, 6'2 hell-spawned demons flying around the field running 4.16's...I'd advise running against OSU for about the next 4 years. The sad thing about this is that I pulled in the #2, 3, 4 and 15 ranked recruits at the position - scarey to think what lies out there this year and what it may become in a few more after that. To think, I felt that Brandon Greenway signing during the season would be my cornerstone player on defense over the next few years, impact player and everything...and then I go and get 3 guys just as good to give him a red shirt season.

HB Antonio Pittman left and went to Maryland due to his only 300+ yards and 5 TD's, so as a result the coaching staff apparently decided that no less than 8 replacements would be necessary. Seriously, I have so many freakin' backs now I have no idea what to do with them.

I was stoked about my C recruit Maurice Keyes to replace Nick Mangold during the season, but after just halfway pursuing Joe Bostic in the offseason and landing him, it turns out Bostic is about 12 points higher than Keyes as far as rating goes. Keyes is bigger, slightly slower and lacks 40 pounds on his squat compared to Bostic, but the difference as far as first year starters goes is way too vast to consider giving Keyes playing time. Guess that shows the importance of In-Season Recruiting this year.

Had to gloat...

But I beat Minesweeper on Expert level for the first time ever ~

I've tried this game off and on forever, always getting too frustrated to continue. Well - tonight...

"I am amused by the simplicity of this game! I am king of the Minesweeper! Let their be an abundant feast for the peasants dwelling throughout the land. Bring me your finest meats and cheeses!"

At any rate, thanks for having the electricity needed to read this.

Week 8 - My record isn't THAT bad

Some of you have been claiming that I suck at making picks. While I'm no Bruce Feldman, I do alright. I have my traditional Franchise Mode pick section that you read every week, and Biron and I recently started a side wager on the lines listed at College Football News.

Thus far on my FM picks, I'm 22-16. This isn't terrible, but my insisting on picking against Georgia every week and picking for Vandy has cost me a ton of games. Throw out Ohio State, Georgia, and Vandy, and I'm sitting at 31-7. Now these aren't cheesy picks becuase most games featured in my weekly picks are the biggest games of the week. So for those who claim I suck (cajunirl), you can kiss my ass.

As for Biron and my side wagering, the rules were as follows. Each person must choose a team to cover the spread in every game listed on the above website. 100 "man points" are allotted to both Biron and I to disperse on each game, thus weighting games to create more pressure for the rankings. No more than 10 points could be wagered for any one game. After one week, the results were as follows.



As you can cleary see, I was 10-7 against the spread and finished with 132 "man points." Biron, when not talking trash about how much I suck at picking games, went 8-9 against the spread, and finished down 2 with 98 "man points." So this week, we carry over our man points and try to see who can cut it. Frankly, I think if I pull off another big week, he'll never recover. Oh, and for those of you who have never taken finance, I have an annual percentage rate of 11,680% on my return of investment. Try to get that from your 401k!

Week 8 picks
Texas 49 vs Texas Tech 21
Hard to pass all over the field with Rodrique Wright in your face.

LSU 28 vs Auburn 17
Who have the Tigers played?

USC 52 vs Washington 3
Statement game. They have to win BIG with Texas playing Tech.

Ohio State 31 vs Indiana 24
James Hardy is best WR in Big Ten. Including Holmes and Ginn.

Tennessee 9 vs Alabama 4
Where are the SEC offenses? Up north in Big Ten country!

Northwestern 63 vs MSU 61 (OT)
Anyone wanna play D? Anyone? Sutton's gonna kill OSU...

So this is it; huh folks...

...A billion years of evolution and this is the best we can do? Ladies and Gentlemen, please direct your attention to the man on your right. His name is Victor Conte and he was just sentenced to jail time for distributing steroids without a medical license. For those of you who don't know, steroids are considered a banned substance by pretty much every organization in the world. Thus, Victor Conte and his cohorts are drug dealers. In July, Victor pled guilty to distribution of a banned substance, money laundering, and 12 other charges.

Now, the United States Government felt that Conte was such a criminal mastermind that it sent the DEA and the FBI to investigate his Balco laboratory. While there they discovered mounds of evidence, paperwork, and banned substances galore! THG (the clear) was discovered along with Andro, and HGH (the cream). Andro was made famous by Mark McGwire after it was found in his locker room next to homerun ball #70. The concern, according to Congress, was that because famous Athletes were using these horrible drugs - that *gasp* make you stronger, faster, healthier - the youth of America were following their footsteps and putting themselves into grave danger.

Not since the Columbian cocaine and Pakistani meth cartels has so much federal attention been paid to drug distribution. It became so bad that Congress intervened to subpoena the big players in the case; those who've made millions from the drugs. Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Raffy Palmeiro, et al were all deposed before Congress for their roles in the steroid affliction that is ravaging America. Each was brutalized under oath, with bright lights shoved in their faces, urging a confession. None of these hard cases would be cracked with these little Gestapo tactics. No, performing at their best meant more to these "athletes" than the ever tenuous fear of endangering the health of our youth.

So you may wonder, how bad is the steroid problem in America if it required teams of federal agents and congressional intervention?

• Each year approximately 396,000 people die per year from cigarette smoke, first or second-hand and complications from these.
• Each year approximately 100,000 people die per year from alcohol and alcohol related incidents.
• Each year approximately 7,600 people die per year from over-the counter drugs and steroids. (Includes ibuprofen and aspirin.)

Interesting statistics. What's worse, neither the Federal Drug Administration nor the American Medical Association have EVER done a full research study on the dangers of steroid use. So there's no concrete evidence for why the US Government would make such an ordeal.

But since Congress thinks steroid use is such a problem, I'm sure they laid the wood to these criminals, right? After all, the average prison term for drug distribution is 42.9 months. I'm sure Conte and his Balco palls got a lengthy jail sentence, right?

Wrong! Victor Conte was sentenced to 4 whole months in a federal prison and 4 months house arrest. The main trainer for Balco, Greg Anderson, got a whopping 3 months in prison. The owner of Balco, James Valente? Probation.

But wait! If Congress isn't putting these bastards away for life, then what's the message? Why the fear of steroid use? What is the huge 600 lb gorilla that no one is talking about?

Simple. The argument against steroids is three-fold and all bogus.

1. Steroids put people in harms way. I think we've established that alcohol and cigarettes are way worse. They kill hundreds of thousands more per year than steroids. Not only that, steroids are used by physicians to HEAL people. It's well known that they make you stronger, faster, and heal quicker. So you're trying to vilify people for making their bodies healthier? When's the last time a doctor prescribed you to smoke cigarettes? Never. And Congress isn't chasing these industries because they provide tons of tax money to Uncle Sam and his coffers.
2. Steroid use by athletes gives children the idea that it's ok to use them. Interesting, yet no one cares that Budweiser ads are everywhere. Sure they removed cartoon camels, but that Coors' love train sure attempts to make people think, "When it's hot out, I want a beer." What's even worse, is that it's statistically proven that a child's primary role model is their parents and friends. Children model their behavior on these people. I wonder how many of these role models drink or smoke versus how many of them do steroids? This Bud's for you, kid!
3. Steroids destroy the integrity of sport. This is total horseshit. People have been cheating at sports since sports began and they always will. Besides, steroid use is no more cheating than voluntary Tommy John surgery or Creatine. Creatine enhances performance just like steroids. But the powers that be won't ban it because it's found in food (i.e. in nature). Thus steroids are bad because they're not natural. So I present Tommy John surgery and ACL replacement. When is putting a foreign tendon into a joint to strengthen it considered natural? Because it came from a living thing? Guess what, so do steroids! We all have them in our body all the time. So how is throwing a tendon from a cadaver into my arm or knee to heal faster and ultimately increase my throwing speed or running speed not enhancing performance using a foreign object? I believe we call this a "double standard."

Well if there's no concrete reasoning for all of this concern, my two questions for you, the public, are,

Why is Congress grandstanding over steroid use but not backing it up with statistics, valid arguments, or worthy jail sentences?

Would you rather your child idolize someone who takes steroids, does everything humanly possible to make themself a physical specimen, makes $10 million dollars, then dies at 40, OR someone who drinks heavily, rarely works out, makes middle class wages, then dies at 40?

Fantasy Baseball Results

Before I go too far into this, Boz, you may want to skim right on past this post and re-read my thoughts on NCAA.

Ok, now that we have that taken care of - time to go back to fantasy.

Ok - so I just wanted to post that pic...but I'm talking about fantasy baseball. This year was a particularly good one for me in the rotisserie leagues, as I proceeded to win 4 of the 5 I participated in - so, if you want to win some money next season and become an internet billionaire with a website/blog that generates as many as 160 hits a week like me - then listen up.

Over the years I've found that by instead of trying to find the best available player at each position of the draft, it's actually better to draft players based on their availability in order to achieve a certain level of statistics that would put you in better position to win the league. Everyone during these drafts are looking for marquee players and rightfully so, but instead of going in without an idea of what you're bidding on, shoot for a few numbers. Using the typical lineup of C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, Util in your standard 5x5 league - assume these numbers as for what you're shooting for:

I went into this past season with my trusty Sporting News fantasy guide, which listed every major league player and what their projected season would amount to. I like TSN as my favorite guide, feel free to substitute your personal mag into this slot if you see fit. Now major league ballplayers have tendencies to perform well within their yearly averages, so 'X' out the players you're thinking will bust - circle the ones you feel are going to break out and play the rest as they come. As you select a ballplayer, subtract the numerical values from the above listing. Select your positional starters as closely as you can, and then fill in with utility men and backup players to play when your starters can't.

Obviously you're going to want to get as many 5-Tool players as possible, guys that can score, hit for average and power, and then run a little bit. Guys like Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols & Vladimir Guerrero are all going to be top picks because of the level they perform at and numbers they put up, but after those players you need to address all needs - as stolen bases are worth just as many points as HR's are in rotisserie leagues. Now that can be a misleading statistic in a way, because as you'll notice in leagues that power hitters score just as much as the quick guys, and usually power hitters will account for more points (R/AVG/HR/RBI) than the stolen base guys (R/SB) a lot of times - just another reason to seek out the 5-tooled stars.

Few Examples -
Gary Sheffield: 104 R, 34 HR, 123 RBI, 10 SB, .291 AVG
Jason Bay: 110 R, 32 HR, 101 RBI, 21 SB, .306 AVG
Derrick Lee: 120 R, 46 HR, 107 RBI, 15 SB, .335 AVG
David Wright: 99 R, 27 HR, 102 RBI, 17 SB, .306 AVG
Chase Utley: 93 R, 28 HR, 105 RBI, 16 SB, .291 AVG

Whereas, a lot of people tend to lean towards more define numbers related to statistics:

Andruw Jones: 95 R, 51 HR, 128, 5 SB, .263 AVG
Chone Figgins: 113 R, 8 HR, 57 RBI, 62 SB, .290 AVG
Richie Sexton: 99 R, 39 HR, 121 RBI, 1 SB, .263 AVG
Ichiro Suzuki: 111 R, 15 HR, 68 RBI, 33 SB, .303 AVG
Adam Dunn: 107 R, 40 HR, 101 RBI, 4 SB, .247 AVG

There's not a lot of difference in that list of players all taken from the top 50 rated players this past season, but when forming your team I hope that you can see the difference in what the first 5 do for your team as opposed to the second set. If you pull out averages of those statistics and what each player would need to do to help you reach your goal set of numbers shown a little ways up, you'll see that the first set of guys all score well within that range of numbers in all 5 categories, and even stolen bases. If you can leave them in the lineup day-to-day knowing they're going to hit above your destination average of .285, score 100 runs, hit 25 HR's and drive in close to 100 RBI's...all while stealing 10 bases, you really don't have to do much to your team all year except fill in holes on off days.

And I'm not saying Adam Dunn isn't a great fantasy player - he still brings in vital stats to 3 of the 5 categories, but for every Adam Dunn you have to compensate with a Chone Figgins. I've played the compensation game before, and it's a year-long struggle where you try to outdo yourself when one guy starts going into a funk.

Back to how great I am - the following picture is of my yearly statistics in the 4 leagues that I won this year. The results vary from league to league, but for the most part I achieved or got really close to my projected number necessary to win the league. The league respresented by the "1" was a 9 player league which included FM's own staff and friends, the remaining three are represented by 12 members which are winners of mine amongst the Yahoo fantasy baseball circuit.

As you can see, I came out right about where I wanted to in every league, and where I may have faltered a bit I appeared to pick it up elsewhere. It's obvious that I was lacking R's and RBI's in League #2, but an oustanding pitching staff really helped me out in terms of ERA and WHIP to make up for it. In League #3 I damn near swept the offensive categories with the exception of stolen bases, but really had some incredibly average marks in the pitching department - but again, the compensation is very minimal; I'm not exactly doing remotely horrible either.

I could use this time to throw in some pics of the league standings, strategies on switching players midstream and trading to address your needs, but I think for now a post detailing some of the numbers to shoot for in the next season will suffice. Come March when leagues open up again, I'll get back into making up a pre-ranking list and talk strategies as the season progresses. I do realize my long period of time here without a pic to break the seemingly endless amount of text, so at this point I'll just revert back to the "fantasy" part in "fantasy baseball."

Random NCAA Thoughts...at 5:30 am

If VaTech plays USC for the title, VaTech wins. Naturally that assumes they win out against a tough ACC (including a showdown with Miami), but the quick and physical Hokies defense can hold Leinart & Co. just enough to allow the punishing running game of Mike Imoh and Cedric Humes to control the clock, and oh ya, they kinda have a Heisman notable of their own in Marcus Vick that's playing on a Leinart-esque level in the pocket.

If Texas plays for the national title, I don't think QB Vince Young will win the game like he did against Michigan in the Rose Bowl last year and against Ohio State earlier this year. He'll have a great game, but Mack Brown - the John Cooper of Texas - will find a way to lose his best national title chance to date.

Speaking of John Cooper, I can't remember the Buckeyes blocking 2 kicks in a game since he used to send the house Beamer-like and actually utilize his talent in a gamebreaking manner. It's not often I praise Coop, but at least he made use of OSU's ability to recruit the best athletes in nation and use them in a manner that can change the tide of games. Granted our big play today against Michigan State came on a blown blocking assignment (by assignment I mean no one blocking the entire left side), but it was comforting to see us make a play of that caliber.

Can Purdue fucking suck anymore? Talk about being handed the toughest conference in the nation (oh ya, I went there).

It's not often I pull for that state up north (forgive for refusing the utter the name), but Joe Pa pissed me off when he put up 63 on us with Kerry Collins, Bobby Engram and Kijana Carter back in 1994. For that, I may be pulling for the Wolverines again before I ever think of pulling for Penn State.

I sat and argued with Swade on Friday about Virginia upsetting FSU, WVU upsetting Louisville and Wazzou upsetting UCLA. While only the first 2 occurred, Wazzou came within 3 against the #12 ranked Bruins. Then, to add insult to injury, Swade and I started a "man points pick 'em" where we each wager 100 man points per week against the spread on Swade-selected games, and I picked FSU and Louisville to both cover. I did cash in on the Wazzou game, but my wagers on the first 2 nullify any points I gained off the Cougars.

Brian Brohm is the real deal at Louisville. Holy shit this guy can play.

Back on Texas for a second, I hope they put up 80 on Texas Tech. Seriously, bombing the ball in the 4th quarter with your first stringers up 40 points is bullshit. They have an excellent back in Taurean Henderson, if you want to run your first stringers late in the game then line up behind center and run it behind the line. This shotgun spread shit late in the game has to stop, and I'm looking for the Longhorns to deliver the money shot. In fact, I just saw the TT/KSU highlight, and the Hodges to Henderson shovel pass came with 6:32 remaining in the 4th quarter...up by 32 points. I hate wishing personal injury on someone, but maybe a season-ender may teach them some fuckin' class.

Les Miles is doing the right thing in LSU by sticking with JaMarcus Russell. Last year's coach Nick Saban had Russell looking over his shoulder constantly and fucked that guy up something fierce. By sticking with Russell in the clutch today against Florida, Miles showed him a level of trust that he hasn't experienced since taking over the job after Matt Mauck left. This guy has all the talent in the world, throws one of the prettiest balls in college football, and coached right could be a potential high round draft pick.

Charlie Weis, if not influenced to rejoin the NFL as a head coach, will have a statue of himself outside the stadium at South Bend. With inherited talent he's proven to be amongst the best game planners college football, and with a predicted top 5 recruiting class in just his first year...hey, how 'bout 'dem Golden Domers. As much as Swade loathes Notre Dame, it pains me almost equally to see them returning to the top of college football again.

Florida's offensive woes is no one's fault but Urban Meyers. He may be an offensive genius, but when you have a pocket passer the caliber of Chris Leak, you don't force your system onto him in it's entirity. If you want to compete at the SEC level, scrap some of that shit until you recruit a kid to come in and run it the way you want. Chris Leak and Alex Smith are 2 different college quarterbacks, you can't plug one into the other's shoes and expect the same results.

On that note, imagine Leak playing for Spurrier in the 90's...bet the Gators would own more than 1 national championship under him.

On the Spurrier tip, I expect the Gamecocks to be playing in Omaha for a national title before Spurrier's playing in a BCS bowl. I don't expect SC to win in their first year with the old ball coach, but I also see nothing that'd lead me to believe they'll emerge out of mediocrity either.

Glen Mason at Minnesota is the NCAA's answer to Mike Shanahan in terms of a running game, but Laurence Maroney is quite possibly the best runner I've seen in the Big 10 in a long time. If Ron Dayne and Eddie George has his speed while maintaining that power that won them Heisman trophies, both would still be elite backs in the NFL. Maroney's a complete package - he catches the ball well out of the backfield, he has great vision and once he hits holes - my god this guy is fast. I really kind of compare him more to Kevin Jones as a runner in terms of the power and elusiveness, but Maroney won't show up and run a 4.6 at the combine - dude can flat out blaze.

Week 6 - Oden's Raven! What the hell is going on?

Baseball
Sadly the Yanks didn't pull it out, but hey, at least the ChiSox are in. As for the phantom out/no-tag/safe/error call during the 2000 Gene Autry Way/92806/Los Angeles/Anaheim/Orange County/California/Mexico/New Spain Angels game. If you can't tell, their naming convention really pisses me off. The only thing more pretentious than a woman hyphenating her last name is a sports team doing the same. So until the Angels organization settles on a name, I hope they lose every game. If they're going to act like this, why not sell the naming rights. Then they could be the Disney Angels, or the Microsoft Angels.

In the NLCS I'm not really rooting for either team. I don't like the Cards and I don't like the Astros. If Chicago loses the ALCS, I consider baseball done for the year....I'll have no more reason to check box scores. (I don't actually watch baseball on TV, it's more boring than tennis. Who has 3 hours to waste on 70 batters. That's 2 minutes 31 seconds on average per batter to waste watching a game...that's 4-5 plays in football and an entire power play in hockey...baseball is lame!)

Basketball
Bron is hurt....I think I jinxed him.

Hockey
Ouch are my Blue Jackets hurting. What's worse, our hated rival, the Nashville Predators (nothing like being named after a sexual deviant) are off to a 4-0 start. I can't blame the Jackets though, when three of your best players are hurt it kind of puts a damper on things. Rick Nash has a sprained ankle, Rusty Klesla has a fractured knee, and Gilbert Brule (that's pronounced zhil-burr broo-lay for you non-french speaking fucks) has a fractured sternum. The good news is that we've only given up 12 goals in 4 games. The bad news is we've only scored 7. Some prognosticators at the beginning of the year thought we might make the playoffs (me). At this point I'm hoping we average 2 goals per game!

College Football
Michigan State at Ohio State UPSET SPECIAL
Ohio State has some real problems on offense. They start with Ted Ginn. The kid's head is wayyyy up his ass. I've never seen a Heisman candidate (who wasn't a quarterback) slide so much. It's like he's afraid of contact. In the Penn State game he ran every punt and kick-off return directly to his right at a half-pace, then fell down or ran out of bounds so he wouldn't get hit. Maybe he's been laid out too many times by Hawk and Carpenter in practice. Who knows?! But until Teddy Ginn get's his shit together, Ohio State is going to have trouble beating strong teams. Secondly, what is wrong with Troy Smith? Here's an NFL scout's impressions of Smith, "He stares at one reciever from huddle to whistle and if the guy is covered, he throws it harder." Now I love the Bucks, and I know I've never picked against them before, but until everyone starts playing and coaching like Hawk, Holmes, and Carpenter, I have no desire to pick these pussies to win a game.
Michigan State 19 – Ohio State 4

Texas vs Colorado WOODSHED GAME OF THE WEEK
How does Gary Barnett still have a job? I know Colorado just blew out the Aggies, but who hasn't this year? Just like the Oklahoma game, this game isn't going to be close either. What's even more sad, is that this is Texas' toughest challenge until their Bowl game. Seriously, how weak is the Big 12? It's worse than the Pac-10 the last two years. There isn't another team in the entire conference that could hang in the Big 10, the ACC, the SEC, or the Pac-10. The Big XII is quickly becoming the "Other Big East". As for the prediction, Vince Young and the Horns are going to light up the Buffs like a candle on Sabbath.
Texas 49 - Any Big XII team 10

Penn State vs Michigan
I now officially hate Penn State. Their students are ass-clowns and their administration are dipshits. I know there is always a handful of fans who say horrible things to the opposition, but PSU fans take it to a whole new level. Texas fans can concurr on me with this one, OSU chants are about OSU. Last week, PSU chants were about...OSU. Nothing like a resounding "Fuck the Bucks" from 40,000 students to show your high level of education. Had Penn State fans shown even the slightest bit of class, maybe I'd pick them. As it stands, I think, and hope, that Michigan is going to light up Paul Posluszny and the Nittany Lions.
Michigan 35 – Penn State 13

Wisconsin vs Minnesota
This is a battle of the two best running backs in the Big Ten. Brian Calhoun is clearly the most diverse after a 100+ yard rushing and receiving effort. Maroney is probably the better runner though, at least that's what the scouts think. Both have beat Michigan, which means both are cool with me. I really like both teams' offense, and I really dislike both teams defense. What it comes down to for me, is Gary Russell. He's Laurence Maroney's backup and he's from Columbus, OH. Gotta give the shout out to anyone from the O-H.
Minnesota 44 – Wisconsin 42

LSU vs Florida
Yes, I continue to choose against LSU, the team of destiny. It's not so much that I don't like LSU, it's just that I'm sick and tired of everyone coddling the Gulf area teams like they have to overcome so much. Hey, guess what people, these players get free college, free food, and free living. It's the other people in the area who are struggling, root for them. Oh, and for those of you who missed the news recently, 30,000 people died in a series of earthquakes in Asia. 1,500 Gulf-coasters isn't even scratching that number. You think those people are going to get $100 billion to rebuild? Don't think so. Enough feeling sorry for the Americans.
Florida 21 – LSU 20

USC vs Notre Dame GAME OF THE WEEK
Pete Carroll and Charlie Weis are not geniuses. They're football coaches. Last time I checked, neither was in MENSA. They don't have PhDs, they haven't cured a disease, and they don't have an IQ above 140. They're coaches. Good coaches, but coaches. People need to stop throwing this term around so lightly, it cheapens it. It's not like Weis finished scripting Notre Dame's first 20 plays then went to his particle acceleretor for some late night theoretical physics. Carroll probably can't even solve a first order differential equation. So stop, I repeat, STOP CALLING THEM GENIUSES. Whew! now that I've got that out of the way, let's get down to the nuts and bolts of this equation.
USC + "genius" Bob Stoops = blowout!
USC + "genius" Lloyd Carr = blowout!
USC + "defensive mastermind" Mike Stoops = 720 yards of offense.
What does it all add up to?
USC + "genius" Charlie Weis = blowout!
USC 63 – Notre Dame 27

Unbelievable

I told Swade and Boz not to drop the "F-Bomb" in blog titles, so...

"Fucking Unbelievable"
posted by bironm at 11:52 AM 0 comments

Before I get started, I do realize there's 20-30,000 dead in Pakistan as a result of a monster earthquake, and I'm also aware that the Red Sox and Yankees are both out of the playoffs (there is a God!), and I could also use this time to talk about the finer points of globalization and how cultural distinction is shaping future generations. But what I'm going to get into is much more severe...my fantasy football team is in ruins.

...and for all you sensitive assholes, yes, that's a heavy dose of sarcasm.

I went into the season with the expectations of Willis McGahee becoming a god of the gridiron, and I didn't really even push for him. I had the 3rd pick in our local CBS Sportsline league, but knowing I could get McGahee at 6 I switched with another guy in order to get a better 2nd pick in the snake draft. As a result, I landed Deuce McAllister with the 14th pick - a guy I actually had higher than McGahee on my pre-ranking list, and apparently higher than anyone else because I couldn't believe he fell that far. Last year he had an injury problem and still went over 1,000 yards, but because of lesser number of games I'm assuming everyone just sort of forgot about him.

Oh, if you haven't read ESPN yet, the thing I'm pissed off about is the fact that Deuce tore his ACL yesterday down *I think* 37 points in the 3rd quarter.

Not only that, but my 4th round pick was a big one too. By this round, I already had a stable of backs with McGahee and McAllister, and with the 3rd round pick I got fantasy stud Marc Bulger - I mean, gotta love a guy playing on a team that forces him to pass for 350 yards every game to stay in it. Anyway, 4th round pick is Javon Walker, which...as you may know...tore his ACL in week #1.

I mean, I could sit and whine a bit (and I prolly will - if not here then in person) about like, Derrick Blaylock being gone for the year as one of my backups, but I took him on account of him being a blown out knee away (Curtis Martin) from being a starter anyway. I could rant on Bubba Franks being unhealthy all year, Aaron Brooks & Donte Stallworth being the 2 most inconsistent motherfuckers in the NFL, Jerry Porter being hurt thru the preseason...and then not doing shit when he isn't hurt, Cedric Benson holding out of camp long enough to insure he won't do shit this season, the Eagles defense taking a crap in Dallas yesterday - I dunno, I just need some fuckin love in a major way.

As it sits right now, I'm 3-2 and in 2nd place in my division. I lead the league in fantasy points with 1070 (it's a high scoring league), but I'm about honestly ready to just conceed my $130 entry fee and come to the realization that the jackpot isn't mine this year. I considered my preseason team the best in the league, but now I'm going to scrape by with:

QB Marc Bulger, STL/Aaron Brooks, NO
RB Willis McGahee, BUF
RB Cedric Benson, CHI/Michael Pittman, TB
WR Tory Holt, STL
WR Jerry Porter, OAK
WR Justin McCareins, NYJ/Donte Stallworth, NO
TE Jeremy Shockey, NYG/Bubba Franks, GB
K Jason Elam, DEN
DEF Philadelphia Eagles/Minnesota Vikings

It may not look like a lot, but a preseason WR core of Holt, Porter & Walker was about as good as you could get after selecting WR's in the 4th round. Walker being Favre's #1 target, Porter being a #1 WR on nearly any team not employing Randy Moss, and well - Tory Holt - it's tough to argue that core of receivers.

So, on both fantasy leagues I care about being this one and my Yahoo league I run every year, I've lost Deuce and Walker by week #5 and things are rapidly going to shit. But! On the league I give absolutely no shit about and is worth 0 clout for winning I'm 4-1, and replacing Deuce is just a matter of plugging in Fred Taylor in his place, while replacing Walker was just a matter of plugging in Andre Johnson (who admittingly blows this year, but who saw that shit coming?).

Anyway, that's my rant for the day, and really probably for the month cause I don't remember having ranted in couple weeks. I could talk about losing 2 football games this weekend by virtue of game-ending fumbles in Ohio State/Penn State and Bengals/Jaguars, but that'd be way too much cursing involved - and no one wants to read my variations of "Jesus (insert adjective) Christ" phrases, so ya...till next time.

Week 5 musings...Hockey's Back!

Wow, sorry for the delay folks, but I spent the last two days watching all the hockey I could handle. Well, that's not exactly true...I watched all the hockey my girlfriend could handle. Before we get into college football, some observations from around the sports world.

Baseball
Man do I hate the Red Sox. Go Pale Hose! Also, I'm gonna go with the Yanks though... just because they'll always be the New York Yankees, unlike the Trent/Sue-Swingers exchange that is the Angels nomenclature. (Editor's note: If you've never seen Swingers, stop reading...you don't have permission to breathe anymore.)

Sue: "Hey man, you're not from here, alright. You don't know how it is. I grew up in L.A."
Trent: "Anaheim."
Sue: "Whatever, man. It's different out here. It's not like New York, Mikey."

How is it possible that I am rooting for the Braves? Probably because they have 27,241 rookies playing for them and somehow still find a way to win. They're the anti-Yankees; instead of buying big-name players to finish their illustrious careers, they plug in minor leaguers and still play well. Sick.

Question of the day: We all know Bobby Cox is going into the Hall...but what about Leo Mazzone? Has there ever been an assistant coach inducted? (Teebs, fill me in!)

San Diego....thanks for playing. On that note, why do we still have divisions in sports? It's not like the players ride trains for days to play a series. Logistics has made inter-regional divisions irrelevant. Each team should play everyone the same amount of times and then have the top 8 teams go to the playoffs. This crap where better teams stay at home because they're a 2 hour flight from San Francisco as opposed to a 1.5 hour flight is a load of crap.

Basketball
We get it... Dwayne Wade is a nicer guy than Kobe. However, if one more person says he's better than LeBron I'm gonna have to get out my gat fool. LeBron has Ilgauskushowthehelldoyouspellit on his team. D-Wade has Shaq. Put LeBron on the Heat with Shaq and they beat Detroit last year. They beat San Antonio too (cause Bron Bron matches up better on Manu). D-Wade on the Cavs? Last place. Stop kissing his ass because he's a nice fella. Everyone seems like a saint compared to AI and Kobe. LeBron is younger, faster, stronger, and sees the court better than D-wade. Wade is good, all-star good, but he's not better than LeBron. LET IT GO!

Hockey
People, enough with Sid the Kid. We know Crosby will eventually be good, but for Christ's sake give him some room to be a kid! He's not going to score 100 points this year. He's not going to win the Hart. Hell, he's not even going to be the Rookie of the Year. Alexander Ovechkin will. (How come none of the NHL teams have sweet threads like the Russkies?) I've been watching hockey all my life and haven't seen a package like Ovechkin since Messier was a youth in Edmonton. He skates like Federov, has a release like Kovulchuk, balance like Forsberg, and he has Messier's fire. The kid was pure lightning. I'd expect him to score at least 40 goals this year. If you get a chance to watch a Capital's game this year, do it.

Also, love the new rule changes. The games thusfar have looked like pick-up hockey with actual skill. Free flowing and back and forth rushes. Skill is finally at a premium. Seriously, check out the score sheets. All of the big guns are putting up numbers. Jagr, Naslund, Forsberg, and Roenick all had multi-point games. Sadly, not everyone enjoys it. Chelios was hating life after making at least 5 trips to the sin-bin last night against the Blues. By the way, hockey in High-Def is 1000 times better than regular hockey.

College Football
Northwestern vs Wisconsin UPSET SPECIAL
Wisconsin is without Matt Bernstein. He makes Brian Calhoun the playmaker he is. Without Bernstein Wisco is going to be in a lot of second and long formations unless they open the game with three or four play action bombs. Wisco will also be hard pressed to move the ball on third and long in spite of Stocco's huge day passing last week. I'm really taking NW on this just because Tyrell Sutton is an Ohio kid and I know he's going to have a huge day. Calhoun will do everything he possibly can to keep the Barry Alvarez Farewell Tour chugging along, but it's just not going to happen. He's a little to thin to handle the load they keep throwing at him. On the defensive side, Wisco hasn't seen a real running back this year, so expect Sutton to add some more big numbers to his Big Ten Freshman of the Year campaign.
Northwestern 24 – Wisconsin 20

Texas vs Oklahoma WOODSHED GAME OF THE WEEK
Bob Stoops can eat my ass. He's not that great of a coach. Just like Ditka's Bears didn't have that swagger after Buddy Ryan left, so limp the Sooners since Mike Stoops went to Arizona. Adrian Peterson is an amazing talent, but he can't keep this close by himself. I have a feeling that Mack Brown, Vince Young, and the Horns are going to smack the Sooners in the mouth over and over again...and then do it again just for good keeping. I'd give $50 to see Mack pull a Woody and go for two late in the game just to spite his rival. (For those of you who don't know, in 1968 Woody Hayes went for two after a touchdown against Michigan late in a 50-17 Buckeye rout. When asked why, Woody replied, "Cause I couldn't go for three!")
Texas 52 - Oklahoma 10

Michigan vs Minnesota
Every year this game comes down to the wire. One team usually jumps out to a huge lead then hangs on for dear life until the outcome is ultimately decided in overtime. This year will be no different, except that Michigan is going to come out smoking following their big win at Michigan State last weekend. Unfortunately, I have to keep reminding everyone that Michigan just can't tackle. I think they forgot to practice tackling for going on three years now and it's starting to show. I expect Laurence Maroney to have a huge game with Glen Mason emphasizing the run after their debacle last week against Penn State.
Minnesota 55 – Michigan 53 (4-OTs)

Cal vs UCLA
This is going to be a VERY tight game. While both teams have some explosive playmakers, neither is going to really open up their playbooks enough to use them. UCLA brings Maurice Drew, Spencer Havner, and Marcedes Lewis, while Cal brings Joseph Ayoob and Marshawn Lynch. The reason I don't think either coach will open up their playbooks is because coming in second in the Pac-10 is like coming in second in the National League West. No one cares unless you knock off the big dog. USC is the big dog, and both UCLA and UCB (that's really what they are, the University of California at Berkeley) will be saving all their big plays for the chance to upset USC. Played straight up, I think UCLA has enough to beat UCB.
UCLA 14 – Cal 10

LSU vs Vanderbilt
Moses Osemwegie will have his hands full this game. If Vanderbilt can successfully keep the LSU line from reaching the second level, they'll give Moses a chance to keep the Tiger running game in check. The key to controlling teams with tough running games and running quarterbacks is to control the movement of the offensive line. I think Vandy will be able to successfully do this enough to give Jay Cutler a chance to win the game. LSU is giving up almost 300 yards per game in the air, and Cutler is dynamic enough to move Vandy when it counts. Throw in the fact that LSU will be looking forward to a big game with Florida, and we have the makings of an upset. However, if LSU's o-line handles the Commodore d-line, then we have the makings of a blow-out.
Vanderbilt 31 – LSU 30

Tennessee vs Georgia
DJ Shockley versus Tennessee's defensive line. That's the nuts and bolts of this entire game. Every coach in America thinks they know how to beat a running QB. Problem is, only the Patriots, Eagles, Ohio State, Alabama, and Texas really know how to do it. Some think you have to pressure the QB from the sides and try to contain him in the pocket...WRONG. Some think you have to leave a spy to watch him...WRONG. The key is this. Don't blitz. Don't pressure. Don't spy. A straight-up 4-3 base where the d-line plays gap control will keep a running QB in check. Under no circumstances can the line be allowed to get to the second level. Tennessee has a defensive line that can do this. Ohio State made this adjustment after the first quarter in the Texas game and held Vince to 23 yards on his last 17 carries. Freeze the o-line and prevent movement and you'll win.
Tennessee 24 – Georgia 13

Penn State vs Ohio State GAME OF THE WEEK
All week I've had to hear about how Derrick Williams and Justin King have brought speed back to the Nittany Lions. I've got news for you folks, Ashton Youboty ran the same 40 time that Williams did this year. Penn State is 5-0 for the first time in years and it couldn't have come at a better time for people in Pennsylvania (How's the Wannstedt feller doing?). Bad news though folks, Ohio State has speed to burn and is much more physical than anyone this Penn State offense has faced. Ohio State has always had a problem with Penn State though, right? Well...no. The Bucks have always had a problem with Zack Mills. If Mills was still running the Lions' offense I'd be worried to death about this game, but Michael Robinson is the human-turnover machine. If you are the kind of person who wants to see a team fold in the pressure, and knows that it ain't gonna be Texas doing it on Saturday, then flip to this game. Penn State just doesn't have the moxie to take a few smacks in the mouth and keep coming back like they did against Northwestern.
Ohio State 28 – Penn State 9

Williams hasn't faced anyone like Youboty

"Next GeN" Screens...

If you view this site on dial-up, pony up some goddamn money and join the 21st century.

EA released a few new amazing screenshots of Madden, NBA Live & FIFA on the next generation platforms - thought I'd share. Note they're all cutscreens and not of actual gameplay, but you know - that's pretty much the EA way!

And as always, click the pics for the full sizes.

Facially I don't think it looks like him, but ... nitpicking ~

Pretty good representation, but where 'da tats?

Is that not freakin' beautiful?

I assume Foxboro, wonder if the "tuck rule" is in...

"hey CJ, how 'bout a little cooooffee?" - shit, wrong game

you know he jumps higher irl

kudos to KG pushing Ben out of bounds

and here, hell I couldn't tell you if this was a cut screen or actual