NFL
Panthers/Rams: Unfortunately, I missed this classic to go to a high school basketball game. The good news is, Lorain Catholic was able to hold off the larger Huron High School 44-42. Am I surprised with the outcome? Not overly. The Rams were on the decline for the second half of the season, and Mike Martz is definitely the Larry Coker of the NFL right now. With Stephen Davis likely out (or is that just a tactic?) can Jake Delhomme prove he's a Super Bowl QB? Or can he prove that his coach has a Super Bowl system?
Pats/Titans: Eskimo Up! The Pats did just enough to win, but that's all that matters. My buddy Matt quipped that maybe Drew Bennett deserved to have the Gatorade dumped on him (due to the 4 degree weather), but, on the same token, he did have two key catches to keep that drive alive. Once again, Steve McNair can only carry his team so far. And is there a more clutch guy out there than Adam Vinatieri? When the Pats had the ball late, I had no doubt they'd be getting a sure 3 from the drive. (and with that, watch for a key miss from him or Mike Vanderjagdt next week)
Colts/Chiefs: Kansas City was also a team on the decline (or did the media just stop covering them after the 9-0 start and after Dante Hall cooled off?). This game featured little defense, go figure, and that's how I figured that KC had a chance in this one. However, the Indianapolis offensive machine just kept marching, and they'll try to keep it going next week.
Packers/Eagles: The Packers, like the Rams, were a "good enough because there's nobody better" team to this point. But, Philadelphia silenced the critics once again, playing a full 60 minutes (and even more). I thought that the winner of this game would be able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Carolina would come in tired, but with two overtime teams going into the NFC championships, this could be interesting.
ND Alumni in the Playoffs Report
The comprehensive list.
Baltimore
Javin Hunter: DNP, injured
Gerome Sapp:
Tony Weaver: 1 Game, 3 Tackles
Denver
Bert Berry: 1 Game, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Steve Beuerlein: DNP, injured
Jarious Jackson: DNP
Indianapolis
Tom Lopienski: 2 Games, 1 Catch, 2 yrds Rec, 1 TD
Hunter Smith: 2 Games, 0 Punts, several nice holds
New England
David Givens: 1 Game, 4 Catches, 26 yrds Rec
Kansas City
Jordan Black: 1 Game?
Tennessee
Rocky Boiman: 2 Games, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Craig Hentrich: 10 Punts, 40.4 Average, 63 Long, 6 Inside 20
Carolina
no players
Dallas
Kurt Vollers: 1 Game
Green Bay
Brennan Curtin: 2 Games?
Tony Fisher: 2 Games, 2 Rushes, 9 yrds Rush, 4 Catches, 25 yrds Rec. Unfortunately, his hold cost Green Bay crucial field position late in the game.
Philadelphia
Jim Flanigan: ?
Paul Grasmanis: 1 Game
Tyreo Harrison: DNP?
Bobby Taylor: 1 Game, 3 Tackles
Seattle
no players
St Louis
Jeremy Akers: 1 Game?
Joey Goodspeed: 1 Game, 1 Catch, 9 yrds Rec
Shane Walton: DNP?
ND Men's Basketball
After a solid showing against Nova, the Irish came out strong against a flat Pitt team. However, things started to fall apart towards the end of the first half, as a 31-24 advantage became a 31-30 halftime lead. Then, the team started playing Breyball. I'm not criticizing Mike Brey as a whole, I'm just saying that Mormon Bachelor Party could out-rebound the team just because we know how to box out. OK, maybe not MBP, but at least UBUF. I'm just getting a little sick of us being "the only finesse team in the Big East." Our 3's almost got us back in it, but poor free throw shooting combined with Pitt remembering that they're a physical team spelled doom for the Irish. Thomas started well, and Quinn had a hot streak at the end, but where was Francis? Was it just Pitt's size? Tough loss. The men need to start winning these ones.
Random notes I scribbled into my new Palm Pilot during the 1st half:
Which team are we? Are we trying to blend in with the Pitt students?
Bill Rafferty on Tom Timmermans: "Good screener, capable rebounder." A good description. I especially liked the word choice of "capable." Nice booty screen in the second half, too.
When did Torrian Jones get good? Oh, 3 games ago. Play like this for 4 years, and you may find yourself at the end of the bench in a place like Atlanta or Golden State (speaking of Golden State, see below).
My favorite play of the night: Thomas races up the court, then pump fakes like he's about to airball another stupid three. Then, to everyone's amazement, he passes! Way to know your tendencies and use them to your advantage.
Taft - cocky freshman. Good good. He's a little on the skinny side, so hopefully the big bodies will knock him around in league play.
At least Zvackas is gone, but I guess that Demetris is his replacement.
That Brown guy was 35 years old last year! Is he in his 18th year of eligibilty now?
ND Women's Basketball
Trailing VPI (that's VaTech for the newcomers) 20-16 at the half, the Irish went on a 22-7 spurt and outmuscled the Hokies to a 53-40. Leading the way were Jackie Batteast and Theresa Borton, with help from Katy Flecky, Le'Tania Severe, and Megan Duffy. The Irish currently are leading the UConn Huskies 33-26 at the half, let's see if they can hold on.
NBA
Warriors: Remember Brian Cardinal, the balding 40something guy from Purdue? Well, apparently Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy weren't enough to make up for the loss of Bob Sura, so now Cardinal plays for the Warriors. Who knew?
cavs/Lakers: Shaq and Malone out + Kobe gets hurt + 11 point first quarter lead = 10 point loss. Dah. If Austin Carr (now one of the local color commentators) wants to start talking playoffs, the Cavs need to win games like this.
That's it for today. Join us tomorrow for the Transaction Wire - Rocket and Vlad and Raffy oh my! Later, we'll look at my book report on Leahy's Lads, and that NDNation thing I promised, which turned out to be not as big as I originally thought.
Don't forget to keep the HOF discussion alive, and if you have any ideas for 2003 year end awards, let me know.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Weekend in review tomorrow, but for today, start thinking about the first ever kankasports KankaNation Hall of Fame inductees. Inspired by the baseball HOF, each reader (that's you guys) gets to vote for up to ten (10) personalities that have been mentioned on this site, be they sports figures, celebrities, or even one of us. I'll tally up the votes, and anyone who gets higher than a 75% share gets inducted. Feel free to discuss this on the message board (it'll probably be easier to get 75% for someone that way), and email your votes to kanka@kankasports.zzn.com. I'll give you a week, so ballots are due by 5:30 pm eastern time on Monday, January 19th.
Be on the look out for the Best of 2003 awards, too, even if they're a little late.
Also, a few weeks ago, this site named Ced Hilliard ND DT of the year. In fact, Ced is often considered a Nose Guard. Therefore, Ced will now receive the NG of the year award, and the DT of the year award will be given to Darrell Campell. Congratulations to both. Kanka regrets this error.
Be on the look out for the Best of 2003 awards, too, even if they're a little late.
Also, a few weeks ago, this site named Ced Hilliard ND DT of the year. In fact, Ced is often considered a Nose Guard. Therefore, Ced will now receive the NG of the year award, and the DT of the year award will be given to Darrell Campell. Congratulations to both. Kanka regrets this error.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Transaction Wire
(warning: the above link contains names of a Gammons-esque nature)
Knicks get Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway from the Suns for 25 guys who were immediately cut. New York finally decides that one good PG and one good-when-healthy kinda-PG are better than 6 mediocre PGs. They didn't win the first night out, but the changes being made will make the Knicks a decent team. Tough luck for Charlie Ward - just when he thinks he's becoming a real journeyman (see my article a few weeks back), he's cut. As for the Suns, apparently they're planning on playing 5 PFs at all times, since they're only carrying 2 real guards as of right now. The best part about researching this trade: going to the Sun's website, and watching the rotating image on the left of the page, which cycles though (I kid you not) Jake Voskuhl, Tom Gugliotta, and the gorilla. High comedy.
Giants hire Tom Coughlin. Coughlin, an assistant under Bill Parcels while in New York, promises to return to smashmouth, mistake-free football. That remains to be seen. Smashmouth, mistake-free football may also mean doom for Tiki Barber (Ellen loves him), the small, fumble prone runnning back. We'll see how that plays out. I don't know what else to say. Head coaches are hard to come by these days, and except for Nick Saban (who they weren't getting) and maybe Dennis Green, Coughlin may be the best fit for this team.
Padres sign David Wells. You know, with Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko, Trevor Hoffman, et al., the Padres really shouldn't be a bad team if they stay healthy. As the past few years have shown, however, that's a huge if.
Yankees sign Javier Vazquez. For years, I've been trying to figure out if Vazquez is underrated by the media or just overrated by baseball uberintellectuals. Although his record may not show it (perhaps due to the team he played for in Montreal), he has good numbers. The way the Yankees are, though, expect the W-L numbers not to change much. At 28, he's very young compared to Mussina, Clemens, and Wells, but that could mean another Jeff Weaver-type disappointment.
Indians get Scott Stewart for Ryan Church and Macier Izturis. I grew up playing baseball with a kid named Scott Stewart, so I'm sure I'll run the "Did you hear Scott Stewart signed with the Indians?" joke into the ground around here. Stewart is a good pickup in the back of the bullpen, considering the loss of Danys Baez, the uncertainty of Bob Wicman's health, and the contract situation of David Riske. Church was buried deep in the Indians' rotation of minor league outfielders, and Izturis apparently isn't going anywhere, so this is a good deal for the Tribe.
Indians also sign Kevin Orie, Jeff D'Amico, and a few others. Orie, the former Cub, is AAA insurance at 3rd. Believe it or not, there are actually 2 starting pitchers named Jeff D'Amico. After the "bad" Jeff D'Amico toiled in the Cleveland minors for a while, the Indians must have realized they had the wrong guy, and finally signed the "good" Jeff D'Amico, who will be a good middle-of-the-rotation starter for this young staff.
Mets sign Brandon Looper. He's a solid young back-of-the-bullpen guy. He's another good-as-a-closer-but-great-as-a-setup-man pitcher.
Diamondbacks sign Robbie Alomar for $1mil. If Arizona contends, Robbie will love the change of scenery and the huge gaps of the BOB. If they don't, he may get sick of being in the middle of nowhere and continue his fall from grace.
Royals sign Juan Gonzalez. Hey, we're spending money now! He has some pop, which will help the team especially if he hits behind Mike Sweeney. But, with his health, this may be another case of "spending loads of money to show we want to contend" turning into "we're a small market club who screwed ourselves by not spending wisely."
The Baseball HOF
Who's in:
Paul Molitor, a great hitter (3300+ hits, .306 lifetime average) who found a way to keep playing (2nd to 1st to DH) and keep winning (Yount's Brewers to Kirby's Twins).
Dennis Eckersley. He tips his cap to a hitter that wins the battle (screaming "WOW" when Manny Ramirez crushes a game-winner off of him, being the "victim" of Kirk Gibson's "This is gonna be a home run!", coining the phrase "walk-off"). We remember him as a dominant closer from the A's mini-dynasty of the early 90s, but my dad remembers the day he didn't feel like walking from his Cleveland State dorm room to municipal stadium and ended up missing a young starter named Dennis pitch a no-hitter.
Who's not in:
Ryne Sandberg: solid ballplayer, nice guy, consummate professional. Unfortunately, first ballot inductions are more for guys like Molitor and Wade Boggs (next year), but Ryno should be there some day.
Bruce Sutter
Jim Rice
Andre Dawson
"Goose" Gossage
Lee Smith
Bert Blyleven
Jack Morris
Steve Garvey
Tommy John
Alan Trammell
Don Mattingly
Dave Concepcion
Dave Parker
Dale Murphy
Keith Hernandez
Joe Carter
Fernando Valenzuela
Dennis Martinez
Dave Stieb
Jim Eisenreich
Jimmy Key
Doug Drabek
Kevin Mitchell
Juan Samuel
Cecil Fielder
Randy Myers
Terry Pendleton
Danny Darwin
Bob Tewksbury
Many good names on this list. There will always be the Jim Rice argument. Dale Murphy is incredibly underrated, and Dennis Martinez got a surprisingly low total in my opinion. Other than that, there are some good names on this list, and a few will make it some day (Mattingly, Dawson, Carter), but this isn't the NFL. It's nice that the NFL lets everyone in, but in a way it's awe-inspiring at who doesn't get into Cooperstown. For instance, Fernando would be a shoe-in in the NFL for his personality, and Tommy John's legacy of the elbow surgery would also get him in the hall. But, just because these guys don't have plaques, that doesn't take away from great careers.
Joe Jackson: with all the Pete Rose talk, I once again wanted to get on the Shoeless Joe soapbox. He had a great career for the Indians and ChiSox. He was one of the greatest hitters of all time, and his glove was
"where triples go to die." He was accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, but, as Field of Dreams points out, how are you throwing the series when you hit .375 and commit no errors? Say what you want about Pete Rose, I'm still undecided on that one, but Shoeless Joe does deserve the respect of induction into the Hall.
Alright, that's enough time in front of the computer. Time to go enjoy this unusually balmy January day (wind chill is actually above 0!)
(warning: the above link contains names of a Gammons-esque nature)
Knicks get Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway from the Suns for 25 guys who were immediately cut. New York finally decides that one good PG and one good-when-healthy kinda-PG are better than 6 mediocre PGs. They didn't win the first night out, but the changes being made will make the Knicks a decent team. Tough luck for Charlie Ward - just when he thinks he's becoming a real journeyman (see my article a few weeks back), he's cut. As for the Suns, apparently they're planning on playing 5 PFs at all times, since they're only carrying 2 real guards as of right now. The best part about researching this trade: going to the Sun's website, and watching the rotating image on the left of the page, which cycles though (I kid you not) Jake Voskuhl, Tom Gugliotta, and the gorilla. High comedy.
Giants hire Tom Coughlin. Coughlin, an assistant under Bill Parcels while in New York, promises to return to smashmouth, mistake-free football. That remains to be seen. Smashmouth, mistake-free football may also mean doom for Tiki Barber (Ellen loves him), the small, fumble prone runnning back. We'll see how that plays out. I don't know what else to say. Head coaches are hard to come by these days, and except for Nick Saban (who they weren't getting) and maybe Dennis Green, Coughlin may be the best fit for this team.
Padres sign David Wells. You know, with Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko, Trevor Hoffman, et al., the Padres really shouldn't be a bad team if they stay healthy. As the past few years have shown, however, that's a huge if.
Yankees sign Javier Vazquez. For years, I've been trying to figure out if Vazquez is underrated by the media or just overrated by baseball uberintellectuals. Although his record may not show it (perhaps due to the team he played for in Montreal), he has good numbers. The way the Yankees are, though, expect the W-L numbers not to change much. At 28, he's very young compared to Mussina, Clemens, and Wells, but that could mean another Jeff Weaver-type disappointment.
Indians get Scott Stewart for Ryan Church and Macier Izturis. I grew up playing baseball with a kid named Scott Stewart, so I'm sure I'll run the "Did you hear Scott Stewart signed with the Indians?" joke into the ground around here. Stewart is a good pickup in the back of the bullpen, considering the loss of Danys Baez, the uncertainty of Bob Wicman's health, and the contract situation of David Riske. Church was buried deep in the Indians' rotation of minor league outfielders, and Izturis apparently isn't going anywhere, so this is a good deal for the Tribe.
Indians also sign Kevin Orie, Jeff D'Amico, and a few others. Orie, the former Cub, is AAA insurance at 3rd. Believe it or not, there are actually 2 starting pitchers named Jeff D'Amico. After the "bad" Jeff D'Amico toiled in the Cleveland minors for a while, the Indians must have realized they had the wrong guy, and finally signed the "good" Jeff D'Amico, who will be a good middle-of-the-rotation starter for this young staff.
Mets sign Brandon Looper. He's a solid young back-of-the-bullpen guy. He's another good-as-a-closer-but-great-as-a-setup-man pitcher.
Diamondbacks sign Robbie Alomar for $1mil. If Arizona contends, Robbie will love the change of scenery and the huge gaps of the BOB. If they don't, he may get sick of being in the middle of nowhere and continue his fall from grace.
Royals sign Juan Gonzalez. Hey, we're spending money now! He has some pop, which will help the team especially if he hits behind Mike Sweeney. But, with his health, this may be another case of "spending loads of money to show we want to contend" turning into "we're a small market club who screwed ourselves by not spending wisely."
The Baseball HOF
Who's in:
Paul Molitor, a great hitter (3300+ hits, .306 lifetime average) who found a way to keep playing (2nd to 1st to DH) and keep winning (Yount's Brewers to Kirby's Twins).
Dennis Eckersley. He tips his cap to a hitter that wins the battle (screaming "WOW" when Manny Ramirez crushes a game-winner off of him, being the "victim" of Kirk Gibson's "This is gonna be a home run!", coining the phrase "walk-off"). We remember him as a dominant closer from the A's mini-dynasty of the early 90s, but my dad remembers the day he didn't feel like walking from his Cleveland State dorm room to municipal stadium and ended up missing a young starter named Dennis pitch a no-hitter.
Who's not in:
Ryne Sandberg: solid ballplayer, nice guy, consummate professional. Unfortunately, first ballot inductions are more for guys like Molitor and Wade Boggs (next year), but Ryno should be there some day.
Bruce Sutter
Jim Rice
Andre Dawson
"Goose" Gossage
Lee Smith
Bert Blyleven
Jack Morris
Steve Garvey
Tommy John
Alan Trammell
Don Mattingly
Dave Concepcion
Dave Parker
Dale Murphy
Keith Hernandez
Joe Carter
Fernando Valenzuela
Dennis Martinez
Dave Stieb
Jim Eisenreich
Jimmy Key
Doug Drabek
Kevin Mitchell
Juan Samuel
Cecil Fielder
Randy Myers
Terry Pendleton
Danny Darwin
Bob Tewksbury
Many good names on this list. There will always be the Jim Rice argument. Dale Murphy is incredibly underrated, and Dennis Martinez got a surprisingly low total in my opinion. Other than that, there are some good names on this list, and a few will make it some day (Mattingly, Dawson, Carter), but this isn't the NFL. It's nice that the NFL lets everyone in, but in a way it's awe-inspiring at who doesn't get into Cooperstown. For instance, Fernando would be a shoe-in in the NFL for his personality, and Tommy John's legacy of the elbow surgery would also get him in the hall. But, just because these guys don't have plaques, that doesn't take away from great careers.
Joe Jackson: with all the Pete Rose talk, I once again wanted to get on the Shoeless Joe soapbox. He had a great career for the Indians and ChiSox. He was one of the greatest hitters of all time, and his glove was
"where triples go to die." He was accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, but, as Field of Dreams points out, how are you throwing the series when you hit .375 and commit no errors? Say what you want about Pete Rose, I'm still undecided on that one, but Shoeless Joe does deserve the respect of induction into the Hall.
Alright, that's enough time in front of the computer. Time to go enjoy this unusually balmy January day (wind chill is actually above 0!)
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
We'll break it up this week: games of the weekend today, issues tomorrow/Thursday, and the NDNation thing at the end of the week. Let's go bowling... (now that's original)
NCAA Football
Florida/Iowa: You know what I absolutely loved about this game? Listening to Bob Davie point out every single decent player on the field, then proceed to say, "You know, I tried to recruit him." Great. Just great.
scUMSouth/Free Shoes: This was just not a good football game. The lack of discipline, stupidity, and mistakes, just made this unbearable, I'm sorry.
USuCk/scUM: Michigan needs to establish the run or they're in trouble. USC has a run defense that's unusually good for the PAC 10, and combine that with decent talent at WR, and there you have something. Mike Williams: "You see this hat, this says 'Champions' and that's what we are." Mike, you're an idiot. More on this tomorrow.
tOSU/KState: Wow, did Oklahoma not show up for the Big XII championship. KState had a lot going on, but they just didn't play well. Should El have sat for breaking curfew? Yes. Would Tressel have benched his best player for this game? Heck no, not even if he pulled a Ray Lewis. tOSU lucks out again against the perenially overrated Wildcats.
Oklahoma/LSU: Bob Stoops was outcoached (there I said it, it had to be said). His team committed too many stupid penalties, and they played scared. Oklahoma may have been the better team, but I think one too many cakewalks hurt them. The Heisman curse continued, this time for Jason White. Was Mauck better than White, though? Not really. He got the job done when he needed to, but he also had the help of a great running game - something White didn't have due to LSU's stifling D. LSU's the champion, no questions here.
NFL
Titans/Ravens: McNair can't carry this team all the way, but he's still better than the Lewis twins. Note to Ray Lewis: did you notice that the Titans didn't dance after stopping Jamaal for a 1 yard loss, even though you had to celebrate stopping Eddie George after a 6 yard gain?
Panthers/Cowboys: The bad thing about this is Bill Parcels will now be hissed for a mediocre ending to the season. What people will forget is that he took over a team that was striving hard to be mediocre, and he made them a solid team. They'll still need some talent if they want to go anywhere, though. Carolina, on the other hand, may be a receiver or two away from a great team (then again, with all this parity, they may end up at 4-12 next year).
Packers/Seahawks: I knew the 'Hawks were falling apart as the year went by, and they may be another victim to parity next year, even with a solid team. The Packers are once again one of those teams that may not seem incredibly great, but then you turn around and see the competition's not much better.
Broncos/Colts: You know, I almost felt bad for all of the one Broncos fan that I actually associate with, then I realized, wait a minute... (and no, I didn't realize this after flipping to ESPNClassic and watching it for more than 15 seconds) I don't know whose idea it was to let Peyton Manning's 12 year old cousin (Brandon Stokley) play receiver, but it sure payed off.
NCAA Men's Basketball
Texas/Providence: Turned this one on just as overtime was starting. As soon as I saw who the refs were (our favorite "I'm too old" crew - too old/drunk to get anything right), I knew something bad was going to happen. Sure enough, Texas puts up a buzzer-beater, and the crew, with persuasion from Texas's head coach, decides that, even though the clock read 0.0 before the shot was taken, the red light/horn hadn't gone off yet. The shot counts and Providence is screwed much like the Heart Break Kid in his title fight against HHH just over a week ago (HBK's shoulders were down during his pin of HHH, so Eric Bischoff rules that the tie allows HHH to keep the belt. Just when I thought we'd have a legitimate ending to a good match...)
NCAA Womens' Basketball
ND/Purdue: ND cemented their status as a "good middle-of-the-road" team with a 13 point loss to the 7th ranked Boilermakers. This game was actually on TV locally, but I had no idea. Well, I'd better watch what I say, since the 5 year rule is still in effect.
Duke/UConn: Heartbreaker at the buzzer - how happy was I to see that? And it was Taurasi that hit UConn's last shot to put them up with a few ticks left! It was a great moment for me being able to see Ray Lewis, Diana Taurasi, and Shannon Sharpe all experiencing the agony of defeat on national television less than 48 hours apart.
Well, sorry to cut this short, but like I said I'm on the installment plan this week. Tomorrow we'll look at the Transaction Wire, Pete Rose, Tom Coughlin, USC whiners and LSU winners, and why computer nerds may be better than agenda-minded coaches and media.
NCAA Football
Florida/Iowa: You know what I absolutely loved about this game? Listening to Bob Davie point out every single decent player on the field, then proceed to say, "You know, I tried to recruit him." Great. Just great.
scUMSouth/Free Shoes: This was just not a good football game. The lack of discipline, stupidity, and mistakes, just made this unbearable, I'm sorry.
USuCk/scUM: Michigan needs to establish the run or they're in trouble. USC has a run defense that's unusually good for the PAC 10, and combine that with decent talent at WR, and there you have something. Mike Williams: "You see this hat, this says 'Champions' and that's what we are." Mike, you're an idiot. More on this tomorrow.
tOSU/KState: Wow, did Oklahoma not show up for the Big XII championship. KState had a lot going on, but they just didn't play well. Should El have sat for breaking curfew? Yes. Would Tressel have benched his best player for this game? Heck no, not even if he pulled a Ray Lewis. tOSU lucks out again against the perenially overrated Wildcats.
Oklahoma/LSU: Bob Stoops was outcoached (there I said it, it had to be said). His team committed too many stupid penalties, and they played scared. Oklahoma may have been the better team, but I think one too many cakewalks hurt them. The Heisman curse continued, this time for Jason White. Was Mauck better than White, though? Not really. He got the job done when he needed to, but he also had the help of a great running game - something White didn't have due to LSU's stifling D. LSU's the champion, no questions here.
NFL
Titans/Ravens: McNair can't carry this team all the way, but he's still better than the Lewis twins. Note to Ray Lewis: did you notice that the Titans didn't dance after stopping Jamaal for a 1 yard loss, even though you had to celebrate stopping Eddie George after a 6 yard gain?
Panthers/Cowboys: The bad thing about this is Bill Parcels will now be hissed for a mediocre ending to the season. What people will forget is that he took over a team that was striving hard to be mediocre, and he made them a solid team. They'll still need some talent if they want to go anywhere, though. Carolina, on the other hand, may be a receiver or two away from a great team (then again, with all this parity, they may end up at 4-12 next year).
Packers/Seahawks: I knew the 'Hawks were falling apart as the year went by, and they may be another victim to parity next year, even with a solid team. The Packers are once again one of those teams that may not seem incredibly great, but then you turn around and see the competition's not much better.
Broncos/Colts: You know, I almost felt bad for all of the one Broncos fan that I actually associate with, then I realized, wait a minute... (and no, I didn't realize this after flipping to ESPNClassic and watching it for more than 15 seconds) I don't know whose idea it was to let Peyton Manning's 12 year old cousin (Brandon Stokley) play receiver, but it sure payed off.
NCAA Men's Basketball
Texas/Providence: Turned this one on just as overtime was starting. As soon as I saw who the refs were (our favorite "I'm too old" crew - too old/drunk to get anything right), I knew something bad was going to happen. Sure enough, Texas puts up a buzzer-beater, and the crew, with persuasion from Texas's head coach, decides that, even though the clock read 0.0 before the shot was taken, the red light/horn hadn't gone off yet. The shot counts and Providence is screwed much like the Heart Break Kid in his title fight against HHH just over a week ago (HBK's shoulders were down during his pin of HHH, so Eric Bischoff rules that the tie allows HHH to keep the belt. Just when I thought we'd have a legitimate ending to a good match...)
NCAA Womens' Basketball
ND/Purdue: ND cemented their status as a "good middle-of-the-road" team with a 13 point loss to the 7th ranked Boilermakers. This game was actually on TV locally, but I had no idea. Well, I'd better watch what I say, since the 5 year rule is still in effect.
Duke/UConn: Heartbreaker at the buzzer - how happy was I to see that? And it was Taurasi that hit UConn's last shot to put them up with a few ticks left! It was a great moment for me being able to see Ray Lewis, Diana Taurasi, and Shannon Sharpe all experiencing the agony of defeat on national television less than 48 hours apart.
Well, sorry to cut this short, but like I said I'm on the installment plan this week. Tomorrow we'll look at the Transaction Wire, Pete Rose, Tom Coughlin, USC whiners and LSU winners, and why computer nerds may be better than agenda-minded coaches and media.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
The Weekend in Review
NFL
Browns/Bengals: The family was visiting my uncle out in Parma (yes, as in "Moon Over Parma"), so I listened to this one on the radio. Well, I'll tell you what, that Lee Suggs kid is pretty good. The D played solid, and I'm hopeful for next year - as long as the right moves are made.
Green Bay/Denver: The Cleveland market was lucky enough to see this game the same time as
Minnesota/Arizona: ..and what a finish! I couldn't believe it myself. The Anquan Boldin 1st down was questionable, but I'll take it. I only have one question: if you give your kid a stupid first name that isn't really a name, is FSU required to give the kid a football scholarship. Anyways, that was the finish of the year. I like Mike Tice, but if he isn't careful, he'll slip into Matt Daugherty "great motivator, solid players' man, mediocre coach" territory.
Steve Spurrier: He can't change his system to fit in the NFL, so what does he do? Change it? No, he gives up. I personally don't think he's a good fit for ND. The Oline is still young, and Spurrier makes no effort to protect his QB. For the sake of Brady Quinn, let's not hire Spurrier. Maybe he can go to Nebraska so we don't have to hear statements like "Jamaal Lord passed for a career high 160 yards in the win."
College Bowls
MiamiU/Louisville: Ben Roethlisberger practically pulls a Chris Thomas and declares for the NFL draft during a TV timeout, and the Redhawks roll. Ben didn't get a chance to play in Sun Devil Stadium this year (maybe they deserved a shot?), but he may get to in the near future...
TCU/Boise St: OK, I don't remember too much from this game, but I was definitely dissapointed that for all the shots of the band, I still wasn't able to see Cronk's Sister.
Texas Tech/USNA: Leading 31-14, Tech passes for a TD with 4 minutes left, then does that "the ball's a bomb and we all fall down" thing... against the NAVAL ACADEMY! Classy.
Oh yeah, USuCk still doesn't deserve the national championship, so shut up everyone. That is all.
ND Basketball
Since we last joined the men at the end of their 3 game losing streak, they've rattled off 4 straight victories, including a solid showing against DePaul. Big East play starts on the 7th - let's see what these boys have.
Since the womens' loss to Washington, they've beat Dayton and USC handily, as they should, and topped Colorado State in a close contest. The CSU game is one the team probably would have lost last year, so let's hope this is a sign of good things to come. Congrats go to Jackie Batteast for her Big East POW honors.
OK, that was incredibly short, but I'll see if I can figure out a way to make up for it the rest of the week. Feel free to post your memories of 2003 on the message board, including the top moments, top performers, and even moments you may wish to forget.
NFL
Browns/Bengals: The family was visiting my uncle out in Parma (yes, as in "Moon Over Parma"), so I listened to this one on the radio. Well, I'll tell you what, that Lee Suggs kid is pretty good. The D played solid, and I'm hopeful for next year - as long as the right moves are made.
Green Bay/Denver: The Cleveland market was lucky enough to see this game the same time as
Minnesota/Arizona: ..and what a finish! I couldn't believe it myself. The Anquan Boldin 1st down was questionable, but I'll take it. I only have one question: if you give your kid a stupid first name that isn't really a name, is FSU required to give the kid a football scholarship. Anyways, that was the finish of the year. I like Mike Tice, but if he isn't careful, he'll slip into Matt Daugherty "great motivator, solid players' man, mediocre coach" territory.
Steve Spurrier: He can't change his system to fit in the NFL, so what does he do? Change it? No, he gives up. I personally don't think he's a good fit for ND. The Oline is still young, and Spurrier makes no effort to protect his QB. For the sake of Brady Quinn, let's not hire Spurrier. Maybe he can go to Nebraska so we don't have to hear statements like "Jamaal Lord passed for a career high 160 yards in the win."
College Bowls
MiamiU/Louisville: Ben Roethlisberger practically pulls a Chris Thomas and declares for the NFL draft during a TV timeout, and the Redhawks roll. Ben didn't get a chance to play in Sun Devil Stadium this year (maybe they deserved a shot?), but he may get to in the near future...
TCU/Boise St: OK, I don't remember too much from this game, but I was definitely dissapointed that for all the shots of the band, I still wasn't able to see Cronk's Sister.
Texas Tech/USNA: Leading 31-14, Tech passes for a TD with 4 minutes left, then does that "the ball's a bomb and we all fall down" thing... against the NAVAL ACADEMY! Classy.
Oh yeah, USuCk still doesn't deserve the national championship, so shut up everyone. That is all.
ND Basketball
Since we last joined the men at the end of their 3 game losing streak, they've rattled off 4 straight victories, including a solid showing against DePaul. Big East play starts on the 7th - let's see what these boys have.
Since the womens' loss to Washington, they've beat Dayton and USC handily, as they should, and topped Colorado State in a close contest. The CSU game is one the team probably would have lost last year, so let's hope this is a sign of good things to come. Congrats go to Jackie Batteast for her Big East POW honors.
OK, that was incredibly short, but I'll see if I can figure out a way to make up for it the rest of the week. Feel free to post your memories of 2003 on the message board, including the top moments, top performers, and even moments you may wish to forget.
Monday, December 29, 2003
Yeah, so I have this blog here, so I might as well try the whole "writing stuff for it" thing. Let's ease ourselves into it.
The Cavs
Why should we trade Ricky Davis?! Oh. Yes, Davis was finally trying to do more than just "get buckets," but Paul Silas proved that veteran leadership was an important piece of the puzzle ("veteran," in the NBA, of course means "someone born in the 70s"). Eric Williams has been solid, and Tony Battie provides a body at center when defense is needed late in the game. Kedrick Brown was also a nice throw in. Silas is showing a no-nonsense attitude with his players, first with the Davis deal, then by sitting Zydrunas Ilgauskas for large spells, especially at the end of games. Silas wants Big Z playing big D, and until he gets it, Big Z sits on his big... well.... Sure, it will (and has already) cost the Cavs a few tight losses, but on a team that isn't exactly playoff bound, learning what to do is better than a few cheap wins the wrong way. I hope.
Transaction Wire
A-Rod not for Manny: So Rodriguez wanted to restructure his contract, but his side said no? Good good. I stick up for the massive amount of money players make by saying the owners make even more for doing even less, then the Players Union has to do something like this. C'mon, let's leave baseball to the baseball players, please?
Nomah not for Magglio Ordonez: It's a great trade. Jose Valentin can't play shortstop forever on the South Side, and Mags is a solid player that fits into the Theo Epstein/Bill James mold. Plus he'll stay healthy and play solid D. Every team would have won (except the Rangers, who would have traded a disgruntled overpaid star for someone on the verge of becoming a clubhouse cancer), but alas, it's not to be.
Omar Vizquel not for Carlos Guillen: This deal was foiled by Omar's failed physical. Seattle would have won with this deal, if Omar stays healthy the whole year. The Tribe would have done alright, too, offensively getting a younger version of Omar (I haven't seen him too much defensively to comment, but I'm guessing he's no Omar) that would have filled a gap in the middle infield nicely until Brandon Phillips and Jhonny "That's not a typo" Peralta are everyday players.
Red Sox sign Kieth Foulke: When the ChiSox traded him straight up for Billy Koch last season, they probably figured they were getting the better end of the deal. However, Billy Bean (or is that Billy Beane?) knew better, and now Theo Epstein helps solidify the back end of his bullpen with a solid closer.
Mets sign Mike Cameron: A solid ballplayer who will do well in Shea's big outfield, although that may hurt his offensive numbers. He'll be a solid 6 hitter, and hey, at least he's not Roger Cedeno. Also sign John Franco. Very nice.
Devil Rays sign Jose Cruz Jr.: Not a huge deal, except that it shows Lou Pinella is actually willing to win a few games. I just thought it was funny that Cruz's Gold Glove brought about a Heisman-like curse that caused Cruz to misjudge fly balls on consecutive days, leading to 2 Marlin wins in the first round of the playoffs.
Cubs get Michael Barrett from the Expos via the A's: Mike, don't worry. This is a solid young NL catcher, and he'll do fine unless Dusty decides to go with a rotation of Joe Girardi, Jim Leyritz, and Pat Borders at catcher this year.
Yankees sign Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton. Hey, at least they didn't get Vlad Gurerro. The Yankmees finally will have two corner outfield spots solidified at the same time, but even playing Lofton and Bernie Williams at the same time in center won't get the job done.
Marlins sign Armando Benitez, and everyone worried about a repeat breathes a huge sigh of relief.
Orioles sign Javy Lopez and Miguel Tehada: hey, why don't we try winning this year?
Indians can't get Todd Walker, so they end up with Ron Belliard. If I had known that second base was this wide open, I would've gone to open tryouts. Geez.
Of course, many more Gammonsesque names at the link above. I'll try to have a Weekend in Review tomorrow, and maybe even play with a Year in Review as the week goes on. Plus, there's still that book report...
The Cavs
Why should we trade Ricky Davis?! Oh. Yes, Davis was finally trying to do more than just "get buckets," but Paul Silas proved that veteran leadership was an important piece of the puzzle ("veteran," in the NBA, of course means "someone born in the 70s"). Eric Williams has been solid, and Tony Battie provides a body at center when defense is needed late in the game. Kedrick Brown was also a nice throw in. Silas is showing a no-nonsense attitude with his players, first with the Davis deal, then by sitting Zydrunas Ilgauskas for large spells, especially at the end of games. Silas wants Big Z playing big D, and until he gets it, Big Z sits on his big... well.... Sure, it will (and has already) cost the Cavs a few tight losses, but on a team that isn't exactly playoff bound, learning what to do is better than a few cheap wins the wrong way. I hope.
Transaction Wire
A-Rod not for Manny: So Rodriguez wanted to restructure his contract, but his side said no? Good good. I stick up for the massive amount of money players make by saying the owners make even more for doing even less, then the Players Union has to do something like this. C'mon, let's leave baseball to the baseball players, please?
Nomah not for Magglio Ordonez: It's a great trade. Jose Valentin can't play shortstop forever on the South Side, and Mags is a solid player that fits into the Theo Epstein/Bill James mold. Plus he'll stay healthy and play solid D. Every team would have won (except the Rangers, who would have traded a disgruntled overpaid star for someone on the verge of becoming a clubhouse cancer), but alas, it's not to be.
Omar Vizquel not for Carlos Guillen: This deal was foiled by Omar's failed physical. Seattle would have won with this deal, if Omar stays healthy the whole year. The Tribe would have done alright, too, offensively getting a younger version of Omar (I haven't seen him too much defensively to comment, but I'm guessing he's no Omar) that would have filled a gap in the middle infield nicely until Brandon Phillips and Jhonny "That's not a typo" Peralta are everyday players.
Red Sox sign Kieth Foulke: When the ChiSox traded him straight up for Billy Koch last season, they probably figured they were getting the better end of the deal. However, Billy Bean (or is that Billy Beane?) knew better, and now Theo Epstein helps solidify the back end of his bullpen with a solid closer.
Mets sign Mike Cameron: A solid ballplayer who will do well in Shea's big outfield, although that may hurt his offensive numbers. He'll be a solid 6 hitter, and hey, at least he's not Roger Cedeno. Also sign John Franco. Very nice.
Devil Rays sign Jose Cruz Jr.: Not a huge deal, except that it shows Lou Pinella is actually willing to win a few games. I just thought it was funny that Cruz's Gold Glove brought about a Heisman-like curse that caused Cruz to misjudge fly balls on consecutive days, leading to 2 Marlin wins in the first round of the playoffs.
Cubs get Michael Barrett from the Expos via the A's: Mike, don't worry. This is a solid young NL catcher, and he'll do fine unless Dusty decides to go with a rotation of Joe Girardi, Jim Leyritz, and Pat Borders at catcher this year.
Yankees sign Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton. Hey, at least they didn't get Vlad Gurerro. The Yankmees finally will have two corner outfield spots solidified at the same time, but even playing Lofton and Bernie Williams at the same time in center won't get the job done.
Marlins sign Armando Benitez, and everyone worried about a repeat breathes a huge sigh of relief.
Orioles sign Javy Lopez and Miguel Tehada: hey, why don't we try winning this year?
Indians can't get Todd Walker, so they end up with Ron Belliard. If I had known that second base was this wide open, I would've gone to open tryouts. Geez.
Of course, many more Gammonsesque names at the link above. I'll try to have a Weekend in Review tomorrow, and maybe even play with a Year in Review as the week goes on. Plus, there's still that book report...
Monday, December 22, 2003
I apologize for my prolonged absence (both from here and from a few emails), but there is much going on in the Kanka family these days. I'm going to continue my sabbatical until after Christmas, but I should return next week. Also, I'll be hanging around the message board as much as possible until then.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season,
Kanka
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season,
Kanka
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
We're going to go on the installment plan again this week, for too many reasons to mention.
NFL
Browns/Broncos: Got to see The Drive twice that day. Good, because they forgot to include it in that MNF "Cleveland Sucks" montage last week. Well, at least the team's playing with some heart now. If they would've started the season playing like they are now, they might be somewhere.
Steelers/Jets: Nice. Always wanted to see a game like this in person. Reminds me of another game (see below).
Bengals/49ers: Dear NFL, Now that my cousin has been cut, I can now be the most annoying idiot in the family. - Chad Johnson
Giants/Saints: Well, the Giants obviously lost because Luke didn't play. About that whole cell phone thing (and I'm not just doing this because cell phones are evil): Amazingly, Kanka doesn't think that Joe Horn was even the biggest idiot in the whole Joe Horn cell phone Joe Horn thing. First, there's Jim Hasslett, who thought the league should have fined Joe Horn for Joe Horn's actions. Of course, it's not like Joe Horn's head coach could have done anything about the situation. Wait... penalize the guy as long as it doesn't hurt your chances of winning, coach? Way to go. Then, there's Joe Horn's agent, who compared the fine to a penalty for capital murder. Obviously, since we all know that people who really do commit capital murder get a fine that amounts to roughly a week's pay (Joe Horn's fine was 1.5% of his total salary). Shoot, I'll even spend a week's salary at one time, so it can't be that huge. One more thing about the Joe Horn situation: spectators who run out on the field during football games, or baseball games, or soccer games, are looking for a stupid and easy way to get publicity, right? And that's why the TV networks refuse to show them. Well, football players who create signs or pull out cell phones or dance like an idiot do it as a stupid and easy way to get publicity (I'm excluding celebrations that involve the fans, such as leaping into the stands, because that's good celebration - you're happy for the team, and so are the fans). So, why don't the TV networks stop showing these stupid celebrations over and over? Just a suggestion. I also like what Mike Tice did at a Minnesota practice: he let everyone - receivers, kickers, OLine, DLine - catch a TD at practice, then do their craziest TD celebration. Then, everyone made fun of it. By showing how stupid and funny these dances are, Tice is hopefully cutting down on these stupid displays during games.
OK, my rant is over. Major transactions tomorrow - Ricky Davis, Omar Vizquel, and of course many more Gammons-eque names. Plus, eventually, a Shake Down the Thunder review.
NFL
Browns/Broncos: Got to see The Drive twice that day. Good, because they forgot to include it in that MNF "Cleveland Sucks" montage last week. Well, at least the team's playing with some heart now. If they would've started the season playing like they are now, they might be somewhere.
Steelers/Jets: Nice. Always wanted to see a game like this in person. Reminds me of another game (see below).
Bengals/49ers: Dear NFL, Now that my cousin has been cut, I can now be the most annoying idiot in the family. - Chad Johnson
Giants/Saints: Well, the Giants obviously lost because Luke didn't play. About that whole cell phone thing (and I'm not just doing this because cell phones are evil): Amazingly, Kanka doesn't think that Joe Horn was even the biggest idiot in the whole Joe Horn cell phone Joe Horn thing. First, there's Jim Hasslett, who thought the league should have fined Joe Horn for Joe Horn's actions. Of course, it's not like Joe Horn's head coach could have done anything about the situation. Wait... penalize the guy as long as it doesn't hurt your chances of winning, coach? Way to go. Then, there's Joe Horn's agent, who compared the fine to a penalty for capital murder. Obviously, since we all know that people who really do commit capital murder get a fine that amounts to roughly a week's pay (Joe Horn's fine was 1.5% of his total salary). Shoot, I'll even spend a week's salary at one time, so it can't be that huge. One more thing about the Joe Horn situation: spectators who run out on the field during football games, or baseball games, or soccer games, are looking for a stupid and easy way to get publicity, right? And that's why the TV networks refuse to show them. Well, football players who create signs or pull out cell phones or dance like an idiot do it as a stupid and easy way to get publicity (I'm excluding celebrations that involve the fans, such as leaping into the stands, because that's good celebration - you're happy for the team, and so are the fans). So, why don't the TV networks stop showing these stupid celebrations over and over? Just a suggestion. I also like what Mike Tice did at a Minnesota practice: he let everyone - receivers, kickers, OLine, DLine - catch a TD at practice, then do their craziest TD celebration. Then, everyone made fun of it. By showing how stupid and funny these dances are, Tice is hopefully cutting down on these stupid displays during games.
OK, my rant is over. Major transactions tomorrow - Ricky Davis, Omar Vizquel, and of course many more Gammons-eque names. Plus, eventually, a Shake Down the Thunder review.
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
No post tonight (well, no Weekend in Review at least) due to the National Slovak Society meeting, but I'll have plenty of time tomorrow to discuss the NFL, Joe Horn, the Transaction Wire, Ricky Davis, and then some.
I do have one major announcement, though. I'm about to be published regularly in a national magazine! Well, ok, the national magazine is the aforementioned NSS's monthly newsletter, and the regular "column" will be a two paragraph report on Assembly 160 (Lorain, OH)'s upcoming activities, but hey. Today I was officially elected Activities Chairman of Assembly 160, after my Grandpa (from my dad's side, not the one you guys have met) decided to step down after 20+ years and strongly recommend me for the position. So yes, now I'm more or less the poor man's Pete McCall of the Lorain chapter of the NSS. Good time stuff.
(Please note now that the Message Board links are linked to the new message board and not a random porn site. Sorry if this disappoints anyone.)
I do have one major announcement, though. I'm about to be published regularly in a national magazine! Well, ok, the national magazine is the aforementioned NSS's monthly newsletter, and the regular "column" will be a two paragraph report on Assembly 160 (Lorain, OH)'s upcoming activities, but hey. Today I was officially elected Activities Chairman of Assembly 160, after my Grandpa (from my dad's side, not the one you guys have met) decided to step down after 20+ years and strongly recommend me for the position. So yes, now I'm more or less the poor man's Pete McCall of the Lorain chapter of the NSS. Good time stuff.
(Please note now that the Message Board links are linked to the new message board and not a random porn site. Sorry if this disappoints anyone.)
Saturday, December 13, 2003
Irish POYs. Shouldn't be too much controversy here, unless I fell asleep and put someone at the wrong position.
QB: Brady Quinn. He's the future, and he showed he can be calm under pressure. Finally the Irish have a reliable passing attack. Runner up: Carlyle Holiday. Took the demotion with class, and tried to help the team any way he could.
HB: Monogram Club MVP Julius Jones. Duh. With strength and speed, he finally lived up to his potential and made the OLine better by giving them confidence.
FB: Knute Rockne Scholar-Athlete Josh Schmidt. In true Rockne style, went from interhall to the varsity, and showed the greatest hands out of the backfield. Runner Up: Rashon Powers-Neal. Started making catches towards the end of the season. Now all he needs to do is convince the coaching staff to run him up the middle on 3rd and 2, instead of going to the shotgun.
OL: Had a tough time with this one, and I wanted to give 1 award per OLine position, but instead I'll just go with these three guys (and feel free to ream me out on this one; unfortunately OLine guys normally go unnoticed unless they screw up or they're Jeff Faine): Ryan Harris of MTV and frosh All-America fame, Bob Morton who stepped up and stole the center job from Zach Giles, and Jim Molinaro, who must have done something right to have been named a captain.
TE: Antony Fasano. Looks like this award was going to Jared Clark, but Fasano actually finished ahead of Clark in catches. Another piece of the puzzle for this offense's future.
WR: Rhema McKnight. He can break the big one or go over the middle for a 3rd down conversion. A nice weapon for Quinn to have. Runner up: Captain Omar Jenkins. I considered giving this to Jeff Samardzija, since he'll probably be Quinn's go-to guy someday, but then I looked at the numbers and realized that Jenkins once had another Omar Jenkins season, quiet but great.
DT: In the shocking upset of this column, the award goes to the Moose Krause Chapter of the National Football Foundation and the Hall of Fame Lineman of the Year Cedric Hilliard. He blocked Mike's first ever Bookstore shot, and he also improved his fitness greatly, staying in the game longer and being able to move more to get to the ball. Close Runner Up: Captain Darrell Campbell, because I know him, and he's very large. Had another solid season, and did have to fight double teams most of the time. I'm not worried at all about his future, and I'm sure he'll take the Nick Pietrosante award (see article linked above) over a Kanka POY award any day. Both of these guys will do just fine in the NFL. Can't wait til draft day so I can order my Darrell custom NFL jersey.
DE: Justin Tuck. Wait, what? I actually like the guy now? He had a great year. Third on the team in tackles, and first in TFL, he's finally lived up to all the praise everyone's been throwing at him over the years. Keep up the good work. Runner Up: Westwood One/State Farm Student-Athlete of the Year Kyle Budinscak. Had a solid season cut short my injury, but he'll be back.
ILB: Senator Courtney Watson. Had another great year, although has he lost a step (the Syracuse interception)? He'll catch on somewhere in the NFL, even if he is "undersized."
OLB: Brandon Hoyte. You might not recognize him as a dominating linebacker by meeting him without pads on, but this run-stopper finished second to only Watson in tackles this year. Runner Up: Paul Green's freshman roommate Derek Curry was 4th on the team in tackles, and had 2 picks and 2 forced fumbles.
CB: Captain Vontez Duff. An off year for Vontez, but he proved he can shut down some good receivers.
S: Glenn Earl. Even though he missed half a season, he was still the best guy the secondary had, and still finished second in tackles by a DB to Quentin Burrell. He'll do well in the NFL, as he'll probably start off at special teams, where he can once again block and return every single kick and punt that comes his way. Runners Up: Burrell and Garron Bible. Both struggled, but finally got it together by the end of the year. The story of the season for the whole team.
K: Well, I'll give you a hint - it's someone Ellen LOOOVES. And no, it's not Chad, Toby, or me. It's DJ Fitzpatrick. For a walk on, he did a great job in his double-duty role. Sure, he wasn't hitting 50 yard punts, but this guy is a walk on - Nick Setta wasn't supposed to get hurt. DJ did a fine job, considering at most schools a backup kicker would be 2/15 in FGs with a 25 yard punt average. Runner Up: Setta. We were spoiled by the Setta/Joey Hildbold years. Let's hope this freshman punter can do enough that we don't have to miss those two too much.
QB: Brady Quinn. He's the future, and he showed he can be calm under pressure. Finally the Irish have a reliable passing attack. Runner up: Carlyle Holiday. Took the demotion with class, and tried to help the team any way he could.
HB: Monogram Club MVP Julius Jones. Duh. With strength and speed, he finally lived up to his potential and made the OLine better by giving them confidence.
FB: Knute Rockne Scholar-Athlete Josh Schmidt. In true Rockne style, went from interhall to the varsity, and showed the greatest hands out of the backfield. Runner Up: Rashon Powers-Neal. Started making catches towards the end of the season. Now all he needs to do is convince the coaching staff to run him up the middle on 3rd and 2, instead of going to the shotgun.
OL: Had a tough time with this one, and I wanted to give 1 award per OLine position, but instead I'll just go with these three guys (and feel free to ream me out on this one; unfortunately OLine guys normally go unnoticed unless they screw up or they're Jeff Faine): Ryan Harris of MTV and frosh All-America fame, Bob Morton who stepped up and stole the center job from Zach Giles, and Jim Molinaro, who must have done something right to have been named a captain.
TE: Antony Fasano. Looks like this award was going to Jared Clark, but Fasano actually finished ahead of Clark in catches. Another piece of the puzzle for this offense's future.
WR: Rhema McKnight. He can break the big one or go over the middle for a 3rd down conversion. A nice weapon for Quinn to have. Runner up: Captain Omar Jenkins. I considered giving this to Jeff Samardzija, since he'll probably be Quinn's go-to guy someday, but then I looked at the numbers and realized that Jenkins once had another Omar Jenkins season, quiet but great.
DT: In the shocking upset of this column, the award goes to the Moose Krause Chapter of the National Football Foundation and the Hall of Fame Lineman of the Year Cedric Hilliard. He blocked Mike's first ever Bookstore shot, and he also improved his fitness greatly, staying in the game longer and being able to move more to get to the ball. Close Runner Up: Captain Darrell Campbell, because I know him, and he's very large. Had another solid season, and did have to fight double teams most of the time. I'm not worried at all about his future, and I'm sure he'll take the Nick Pietrosante award (see article linked above) over a Kanka POY award any day. Both of these guys will do just fine in the NFL. Can't wait til draft day so I can order my Darrell custom NFL jersey.
DE: Justin Tuck. Wait, what? I actually like the guy now? He had a great year. Third on the team in tackles, and first in TFL, he's finally lived up to all the praise everyone's been throwing at him over the years. Keep up the good work. Runner Up: Westwood One/State Farm Student-Athlete of the Year Kyle Budinscak. Had a solid season cut short my injury, but he'll be back.
ILB: Senator Courtney Watson. Had another great year, although has he lost a step (the Syracuse interception)? He'll catch on somewhere in the NFL, even if he is "undersized."
OLB: Brandon Hoyte. You might not recognize him as a dominating linebacker by meeting him without pads on, but this run-stopper finished second to only Watson in tackles this year. Runner Up: Paul Green's freshman roommate Derek Curry was 4th on the team in tackles, and had 2 picks and 2 forced fumbles.
CB: Captain Vontez Duff. An off year for Vontez, but he proved he can shut down some good receivers.
S: Glenn Earl. Even though he missed half a season, he was still the best guy the secondary had, and still finished second in tackles by a DB to Quentin Burrell. He'll do well in the NFL, as he'll probably start off at special teams, where he can once again block and return every single kick and punt that comes his way. Runners Up: Burrell and Garron Bible. Both struggled, but finally got it together by the end of the year. The story of the season for the whole team.
K: Well, I'll give you a hint - it's someone Ellen LOOOVES. And no, it's not Chad, Toby, or me. It's DJ Fitzpatrick. For a walk on, he did a great job in his double-duty role. Sure, he wasn't hitting 50 yard punts, but this guy is a walk on - Nick Setta wasn't supposed to get hurt. DJ did a fine job, considering at most schools a backup kicker would be 2/15 in FGs with a 25 yard punt average. Runner Up: Setta. We were spoiled by the Setta/Joey Hildbold years. Let's hope this freshman punter can do enough that we don't have to miss those two too much.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
MNF: I think this game summed up my entire life as a Cleveland sports fan. Watching the pregame and Kelly Ripa's little thing, I was starting to wonder if the Browns were even playing in this game, because they never mentioned them. I was very fired up about that couple getting married in the Dawg Pound, but as I was watching the kiss, I couldn't help but think, "are they allowed to show this on a network owned by Disney?" The game started off on the right foot. The D was shutting the Rams down, and the offense had momentum. I was getting really fired up. Then, things were starting to slip away. The D was playing bend but don't break, but the offense wasn't helping. Then, Aeneas Williams happened, and I went into the half wearing the Pete Carroll face. I was mad at Holcomb - my dad muttered something in disgust about the defense playing their hearts out - but after I saw Kelly was also wearing the Pete Carroll face, I knew he felt the same way I did. After cursing out the halftime segment where the Rams coach for yelling at their practice squad QB because Kelly Holcomb doesn't look off receivers, it was time for LeBron. He was dressed in a Jim Brown throwback, a white fur coat, and a brown and orange Nike hat. It's a good thing, too, because in a pregame interview, he mentioned that "they ain't given me nothin' yet." Now it's time for the 3rd quarter; this could get ugly. Now it's time for the "Cleveland hasn't had a championship since..." montage... again. The Fumble, Willie's catch, Tony Fernandez doing his Bill Buckner, and the Shot. Thank you. This is what prompted the trivia question. Mike, I owe you a beer. Heck, Dave, Ellen, I owe you a beer. Cronk, if you're reading this... I'm still not buying you a Mike's Hard, even if the Cranberry is pretty good. (yeah I said it. It had to be said.) But wait - Bulger still isn't doing squat, and Jamel White and Tim Couch are giving us a competent offense. The Brownies are in this game! Then, the Browns are down 6, and the Rams are lining up for a chip shot. While I'm starting to think about how everyone will be criticizing Butch for going for 2 early, the kicker misses the field goal! This can't be happening! The Browns have to punt on their next possession, but the D is huge again and forces the 3 and out! There's a good return on the punt, and no flags! This could be it! No, not today... This is Cleveland, though. Our teams play their hearts out, and win or lose, we're proud of them.
ND Basketball
Men: Two lackluster performances in the past couple games. Francis has been huge, and Thomas is putting up good numbers (except for FG%), but we just need one more scorer (we also need to play hard against the CMUs of the world). It doesn't have to be an outside shot, althought I think Falls can be that guy some day (in a good sense). Maybe another down low scorer to take some attention from Francis. As far as Quinn, he's never going to be a 5 3's per game sharpshooter, but he'll get good numbers and be solid with a few shots from behind the line. OK guys, you know you need to step up, let's do it.
Women: For some reason, whenever there's nothing better to show (not even Best Damn), Fox Sports Ohio likes to show random PAC 10 womens' sporting events (thank you, Jenny Finch). So, I got to see our womens' team take on Washington. Washinton was lead by Giuliana Mendiola (not to be confused with Gioconda Mendiola, who is hot but doesn't have as much talent) and a good game by freshman Cameo Hicks. Jackie Batteast played a solid game, but she just couldn't take it over. Our post players are getting there, but it's not there yet. This is still a relatively young team. The seniors are Severe, Joyce, and Hernandez, and Severe's the only one to see good PT over the past couple years. The triangle offense will work for this team, but they still may be a year away from once again becoming a great team.
Transaction Wire
Mets: Sign Kaz Matsui. Nice. And by "nice," I mean "thank God the Yankees didn't get him." Looks like he'll be a solid ballplayer, and he's unselfish enough that the Reyes situation will work itself out.
Angels: Signed Bart Colon. And they're going for Nomar? The championship the other year made them believe they can contend with this team, and if they can land Nomar (in exchange for Adam Kennedy, moving David Eckstein to his natural 2B) and another power bat, they'll contend in the ALWest.
Rangers: Sign 1B/DH Brad Fullmer.
Twins: Resign Shannon Stewart.
Good, good. Both these teams just added a guy to an already overstocked position. Maybe the Rangers can play 9 guys at first and the Twins 9 in right field.
Astros: Now that Andy Pettitte is off the Yankees, I can maybe finally admit that he's halfway decent. Too bad he looks like Diana Taurasi.
Yankees/Dodgers: Trade Jeff Weaver and prospects for Kevin Brown. I think the Dodgers win this one actually, if Weaver can get back on track. And, as Rick Ankiel proved, that's not as easy as it should be. Weaver is a good pitcher when he allows himself to be a wildman. Once he joined the Yankees, he tried to be calm and clean-cut, and that was the end of him. Dodger Stadium is a pitcher's park like Comerica, and if someone talks sense into him, he'll regain his mini-dominance. Plus, the Dodgers get prospects (the Yankees still have minor leaguers? I thought it was just Drew Henson and Luis Sojo playing catch in Columbus, with Jose Contreras occassionally joining so they can play pepper.) and the Yankees get a good if (big IF) he's healthy old man. Oh yeah, the Yankees suck.
As always, more Gammons-esque transactions at the link above - Vinny Castilla, Daryle Ward, Fernando Vina, Brent (no relation to Brett) Butler, Benito "even Kanka's dad thinks I'm old" Santiago, Everyday Eddie Guardado, Scott Sullivan, Lenny Harris, and about 40 former Indians and Devil Rays, including a Jason "why did Mike Hargrove keep putting me in when I sucked" Grimsley sighting.
Tomorrow: ND football POYs (yes, there were a few)
ND Basketball
Men: Two lackluster performances in the past couple games. Francis has been huge, and Thomas is putting up good numbers (except for FG%), but we just need one more scorer (we also need to play hard against the CMUs of the world). It doesn't have to be an outside shot, althought I think Falls can be that guy some day (in a good sense). Maybe another down low scorer to take some attention from Francis. As far as Quinn, he's never going to be a 5 3's per game sharpshooter, but he'll get good numbers and be solid with a few shots from behind the line. OK guys, you know you need to step up, let's do it.
Women: For some reason, whenever there's nothing better to show (not even Best Damn), Fox Sports Ohio likes to show random PAC 10 womens' sporting events (thank you, Jenny Finch). So, I got to see our womens' team take on Washington. Washinton was lead by Giuliana Mendiola (not to be confused with Gioconda Mendiola, who is hot but doesn't have as much talent) and a good game by freshman Cameo Hicks. Jackie Batteast played a solid game, but she just couldn't take it over. Our post players are getting there, but it's not there yet. This is still a relatively young team. The seniors are Severe, Joyce, and Hernandez, and Severe's the only one to see good PT over the past couple years. The triangle offense will work for this team, but they still may be a year away from once again becoming a great team.
Transaction Wire
Mets: Sign Kaz Matsui. Nice. And by "nice," I mean "thank God the Yankees didn't get him." Looks like he'll be a solid ballplayer, and he's unselfish enough that the Reyes situation will work itself out.
Angels: Signed Bart Colon. And they're going for Nomar? The championship the other year made them believe they can contend with this team, and if they can land Nomar (in exchange for Adam Kennedy, moving David Eckstein to his natural 2B) and another power bat, they'll contend in the ALWest.
Rangers: Sign 1B/DH Brad Fullmer.
Twins: Resign Shannon Stewart.
Good, good. Both these teams just added a guy to an already overstocked position. Maybe the Rangers can play 9 guys at first and the Twins 9 in right field.
Astros: Now that Andy Pettitte is off the Yankees, I can maybe finally admit that he's halfway decent. Too bad he looks like Diana Taurasi.
Yankees/Dodgers: Trade Jeff Weaver and prospects for Kevin Brown. I think the Dodgers win this one actually, if Weaver can get back on track. And, as Rick Ankiel proved, that's not as easy as it should be. Weaver is a good pitcher when he allows himself to be a wildman. Once he joined the Yankees, he tried to be calm and clean-cut, and that was the end of him. Dodger Stadium is a pitcher's park like Comerica, and if someone talks sense into him, he'll regain his mini-dominance. Plus, the Dodgers get prospects (the Yankees still have minor leaguers? I thought it was just Drew Henson and Luis Sojo playing catch in Columbus, with Jose Contreras occassionally joining so they can play pepper.) and the Yankees get a good if (big IF) he's healthy old man. Oh yeah, the Yankees suck.
As always, more Gammons-esque transactions at the link above - Vinny Castilla, Daryle Ward, Fernando Vina, Brent (no relation to Brett) Butler, Benito "even Kanka's dad thinks I'm old" Santiago, Everyday Eddie Guardado, Scott Sullivan, Lenny Harris, and about 40 former Indians and Devil Rays, including a Jason "why did Mike Hargrove keep putting me in when I sucked" Grimsley sighting.
Tomorrow: ND football POYs (yes, there were a few)
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Maryland/Florida are in overtime. Let's see if we can get the college football part out of the way.
ND/Syracuse: I guess I'm not too surprised that a good RB on turf ran all over a young, disorganized D. We have multiple weapons on offense now, why not use them when it's obvious they have Julius scouted? Oh well, it's over.
MiamiU/BGSU: Bowling Green is not a state, and it also didn't have an answer for Ben Rothelisberger. They're still a solid team, and this was a great game to watch with two solid QBs.
Central Florida: By George, things will be even more MAC-tastic next year (yes, CFU is in the MAC) when George O'Leary becomes the head coach. Yes, I am officially an Ohio-MAC school cheerleader. Live with it. Oh yeah, I still have that shirt, too.
OU/KState: Guess who forgot to show up. Way to go. As good as the Sooners are, I really don't think they deserve the title now, nor does anyone really. You have to show up week in, week out, and prove you want it. It also would be nice if you're the head coach and you show up for the BCS selection special. And I was just starting to like Bob Stoops.
LSU/Georgia: Well, if anyone deserves the title, I guess it's LSU. They're not a great team, but they play hard and don't take a game off. A note of trivia: Nick Saban, then a Browns coordinator, was tabbed to be a then-unliked Bill Belichick's replacement in Cleveland. But Saban darted for MSU and the rest is history.
USC/O....S....U....: Hey, killing the Beavers didn't do anything. If you show up against Cal, none of this is an issue, so stop whining. As it is, you'll still claim the AP title, whether you deserve to or not. You want comedy? Cheerleader Pete Carroll's "I'm so depressed I want to puke" face during the BCS selection special was priceless. Should we have a playoff? No, you idiots, because then we'd just be whining over which 8 (or 16 or whatever) teams deserve to be in, instead of which 2 make a title game. So stop your whining, everyone.
OK, that's it for today. Join us tomorrow for the NFL, college basketball, and the MLB transaction wire.
ND/Syracuse: I guess I'm not too surprised that a good RB on turf ran all over a young, disorganized D. We have multiple weapons on offense now, why not use them when it's obvious they have Julius scouted? Oh well, it's over.
MiamiU/BGSU: Bowling Green is not a state, and it also didn't have an answer for Ben Rothelisberger. They're still a solid team, and this was a great game to watch with two solid QBs.
Central Florida: By George, things will be even more MAC-tastic next year (yes, CFU is in the MAC) when George O'Leary becomes the head coach. Yes, I am officially an Ohio-MAC school cheerleader. Live with it. Oh yeah, I still have that shirt, too.
OU/KState: Guess who forgot to show up. Way to go. As good as the Sooners are, I really don't think they deserve the title now, nor does anyone really. You have to show up week in, week out, and prove you want it. It also would be nice if you're the head coach and you show up for the BCS selection special. And I was just starting to like Bob Stoops.
LSU/Georgia: Well, if anyone deserves the title, I guess it's LSU. They're not a great team, but they play hard and don't take a game off. A note of trivia: Nick Saban, then a Browns coordinator, was tabbed to be a then-unliked Bill Belichick's replacement in Cleveland. But Saban darted for MSU and the rest is history.
USC/O....S....U....: Hey, killing the Beavers didn't do anything. If you show up against Cal, none of this is an issue, so stop whining. As it is, you'll still claim the AP title, whether you deserve to or not. You want comedy? Cheerleader Pete Carroll's "I'm so depressed I want to puke" face during the BCS selection special was priceless. Should we have a playoff? No, you idiots, because then we'd just be whining over which 8 (or 16 or whatever) teams deserve to be in, instead of which 2 make a title game. So stop your whining, everyone.
OK, that's it for today. Join us tomorrow for the NFL, college basketball, and the MLB transaction wire.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Thursday, December 04, 2003
This is how it ends.
Syracuse comes in with a 5-6 record, and it looks like they've had an up and down year, too - losing to the good Big East teams and beating up on the crappy ones (with a few exceptions. Really, there's no consistency. They'll blow out a Toledo or a BC, hang in there against Miami, or get trampled by VPI or Rutgers. Nobody knows which Syracuse team will show up on Saturday.
Syracuse's offense relies on their rushing attack. The main man is Walter Reyes at 105 YPG, but QB RJ Anderson and a decent supporting cast bring the team total up to 184 YPG. Reyes will get his yards, but the key will be for Tuck, Watson, and Hoyte to keep him at bay, and to keep Anderson in the pocket.
Anderson has also made every pass attempt this year (but don't rule out a trick play in this game) and has a respectable 177 YPG. His leading receiver is Johnny "I'm not Alaskan, but I did have a nice TD catch against WVU" Morant with 63 YPG. Anderson spreads the ball out fairly well, I suppose. Reyes is second in YPG, so look for quite a few short passes and dumpoffs, especially on what will be a fast turf. Don't be surprised to see our secondary make a few mistakes speedwise on the turf, too. Syracuse is averaging just over 1 sack given up per game, and our Dline's knees might have problems with the turf, too. So, our DBs will have to step it up for this one.
When the Irish have the ball, power football should be key. Syracuse gives up 145 YPG on the ground. Julius's speed and power are perfect. He needs 223 yards to tie Vagas Ferguson's single-season mark of 1437, but I'd be happy if he only got 123 (hoo hoo!). Just keep pounding the football.
Syracuse gives up 224 YPG in the air, but they have played some decent passing teams. Still, I think Quinn has put it together, and he and his receivers should do alright.
Nothing out of the ordinary in the special teams department. Play heads up and everything will be fine.
Look for a big game from: the Seniors, BHoyte, Quentin Burrell, Matt Shelton, and Ty.
ND 30, Syracuse 20. Nothing wrong with a conservative bet.
Time to go play Leprechaun vs. OrangeMan in NCAA 2004.
Syracuse comes in with a 5-6 record, and it looks like they've had an up and down year, too - losing to the good Big East teams and beating up on the crappy ones (with a few exceptions. Really, there's no consistency. They'll blow out a Toledo or a BC, hang in there against Miami, or get trampled by VPI or Rutgers. Nobody knows which Syracuse team will show up on Saturday.
Syracuse's offense relies on their rushing attack. The main man is Walter Reyes at 105 YPG, but QB RJ Anderson and a decent supporting cast bring the team total up to 184 YPG. Reyes will get his yards, but the key will be for Tuck, Watson, and Hoyte to keep him at bay, and to keep Anderson in the pocket.
Anderson has also made every pass attempt this year (but don't rule out a trick play in this game) and has a respectable 177 YPG. His leading receiver is Johnny "I'm not Alaskan, but I did have a nice TD catch against WVU" Morant with 63 YPG. Anderson spreads the ball out fairly well, I suppose. Reyes is second in YPG, so look for quite a few short passes and dumpoffs, especially on what will be a fast turf. Don't be surprised to see our secondary make a few mistakes speedwise on the turf, too. Syracuse is averaging just over 1 sack given up per game, and our Dline's knees might have problems with the turf, too. So, our DBs will have to step it up for this one.
When the Irish have the ball, power football should be key. Syracuse gives up 145 YPG on the ground. Julius's speed and power are perfect. He needs 223 yards to tie Vagas Ferguson's single-season mark of 1437, but I'd be happy if he only got 123 (hoo hoo!). Just keep pounding the football.
Syracuse gives up 224 YPG in the air, but they have played some decent passing teams. Still, I think Quinn has put it together, and he and his receivers should do alright.
Nothing out of the ordinary in the special teams department. Play heads up and everything will be fine.
Look for a big game from: the Seniors, BHoyte, Quentin Burrell, Matt Shelton, and Ty.
ND 30, Syracuse 20. Nothing wrong with a conservative bet.
Time to go play Leprechaun vs. OrangeMan in NCAA 2004.
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
I apologize for the message board being down. Feel free to email at my normal account, or to my other account through the link above.
ND/Stanford: 57 points? I haven't seen that in a while. It was as if a bitter NDNation poster took out his frustrations on Monk's aspirational peerdom by setting NCAA 2004 to ubereasy. A solid game by all. Ryan Grant had the easy job by benefiting from all of Julius's hard work. The D was aggressive. Quinn continues to show flashes of brilliance, and the receivers are finally putting it together. What? We only have one game left this season? Dah. On a personal note, I was actually able to see this game, thanks to the now infamous Cleveland Dave and Buster's subscription to ESPN Game Plan. There also was a tribe of ND students watching the game there, but I must be getting old because I didn't recognize a single one.
FSU/Florida: Bobby Bowden again proves his idiocy, this time by letting his players stomp and dance on the Florida "F" after their win. If any Florida players are punished for trying to stop those idiots, I'll be greatly disappointed. Also, I can't wait to see what Bobby does to his players, as he plans on "review[ing] the situation... [to] see if any action needs to be taken." Good good.
BGSU/Toledo: In a game that had major implications for 10s and 10s of people I know from high school, Bowling Green (not a state) was lead by a Steve McNair-esque Josh Harris to a victory that puts them in the conference championship against Miami U this Thursday in Bowling Green.
Miami/Pitt: Got to watch this at the same time as the ND game and the Cavs double overtime choke (dah). Pittsburgh has no defense, Larry Fitzgerald once again emulates his idol Randy Moss, and Miami rolls.
NFL
Browns/Seahawks: Ugh. Next.
Lions/Packers: In a move that surely delighted the Hatton household, the Packers simply forgot to show up, and the Lions were able to hold on for an 8 point win. Still, I was just waiting for the Pack to run back an INT for the tying score as the annoucers were going on and on about their lack of enthousiasm. In case you were wondering, those were the Packer throwback uniforms. Their facemask color, sleeve stripe pattern, pants stripe pattern, and socks were different. Hey, I'm a Browns fan. That's more than what's changed on the Browns unforms since the dawn of time (except for the great orange pants of the Kardiac Kid days and the awful orange jerseys of the current Brownies).
Jets/Titans: The introductions were somewhat bland this week, and I missed most of the action due to the ND game (more later). My only question: did Ellen's dad introduce Dave to John Madden?
NCAA Men's Basketball:
ND/Marquette: Just like last year's team, the men started slow, came back, but didn't have enough. The shooting was off. Quinn had a bad night, but that will happen. Thomas needs to settle down. His shooting percentage has been terrible in each game this season. Cornette still has Ryan Humphrey Small Forward Syndrome. Marquette is still a good team. Novak (Steve, not Kelly) and Merritt once again put up big numbers against ND. This year's Irish Men will have their ups and downs, but it's still early.
CSU/UNC: Cleveland is not a state, but Cleveland State is the Alma Mater of Mr. Kanka. He wasn't at this near-upset, but I was, with Matt of BYU-weekend fame. In his homecoming, UNC's Jawad Williams was supposed to be the star. His whole family sat front row in powder blue #21 jerseys. Unfortunately, there were no "That's My Baby" signs, and none of the jerseys read "Jawad's Mom." There were, however, many locals posing as bandwagon UNC fans. Jordan left 20 years ago - you can put his jersey away. I'd like to interject here and say that "Jawad" and "Craphonso" have officially replaced "Dick" and "Gaylord" as the top "I want my kid beat up in school" names. Moving on. UNC got of to a quick lead behind swarming defense. But, as soon as they backed off, CSU came back. UNC wide body Shawn May was neutralized by CSU wider body (and fan favorite) Pete Ritzema. 7-2, 280? There had to have been at least one MAC O-Line coach knocking on his door. CSU doesn't have their own football program, but it might be time to start one. Once again, back to the game. CSU star Omari Westley and juco transfer Amadou Koundoul were everywhere, and CSU had the lead at the half. Whenever UNC threatened, Percell Coles answered with a 3. Over time, the bandwagoners who started the game by saying "I can't believe were watching North Carolina" and proceeded to refer to the Tarheels as "us" and "we," were soon pleading the crowd to "represent Cleveland." The game was reffed fairly. The calls went in spurts, but they evened themselves out. RoyBoy (Williams) wasn't able to intimidate the refs, as I had originally feared. Unfortunately, with 1:27 left and down 1, UNC misses the back half of a 1-and-1 (the bonus!), and the rebound gets kicked out to hometown Jawad, who hits the go ahead three right in front of his mom. UNC never looks back, and only then did the bandwagoners start cheering and chanting for their tarheels.
Some other game notes:
Since I'm sure you're concerned, Mike, the band was wearing green Hawaiian shirts with white floral print, and foam Viking hats (the Vikings are CSU's mascot; they used to use Hagar the Horrible's likeness, but now their mascot is a weird, green-headed guy in viking horns). Their song selection was not massive, but I was very fired up that they played the sackbut cheer after every player introduction and key play.
The student section was very small, only about 30 people, and it consisted mainly of a few overly-drunk frat kids and many of the basketball players' posse members.
Obscure College Scores
All obscure PA colleges we follow are done for the year. I'll let you know if local favorites Mount Union or John Carroll do anything special in the playoffs.
The Trading Block
Richie Sexson to Arizona for 6 players and a kitchen sink to be named later. Arizona gets rid of some guys who didn't work out, or who they were going to get rid of anyways. Milwaukee at least takes a stab at rebuilding. Not a bad trade, but this doesn't make Arizona an overnight contender, unless Brandon Webb et al. can prove me wrong.
Bruce Chen, who has been with almost every single NL Central team, has now signed with the Blue Jays. Baseball Primer (link above) says this is his 8th team, and he's still under the age of 27. Also by clicking on the link above, you can see other transactions involving many Gammons-esque names.
Other rumors:
The Schilling deal did go down, obviously.
Scanning NDNation's Back Room, I see Manny for A-Rod and Jeff Weaver for Kevin Brown.
The Manny trade would be bad for Texas. If you're going to have an overpriced player on a bad team, it might as well be the one that isn't a clubhouse cancer. John Hart once again proves that you can look smart without actually being smart. (Schilling! Pedro! We could have had them both! Dah!)
Visits
This site has begun to show up on web searches, and thanks to Blogger being owned by Google, this page often shows up high on the list. Things people have searched for that have lead to this page:
Sportscenter NFL Love Song (it helped that I mentioned "I Love the 70s" in the same paragraph here)
"Schilling Saga" (I called it the same exact thing last week)
"Never Scared" + "Football"
nd vs stanford 11/29/2003
"Kathleen Eich" (mentioned in the BYU weekend article; judging by the computer name, Kathleen was searching for herself)
Greg Bosl (ND basketball transfer, mentioned in the preview)
but the winner is... "Elizabeth Hasselbeck", generating at least 8 hits so far. I'll assume you've come looking for pictures, so here they are, running a Google Image Search on her maiden name, Elisabeth Filarski.
"What I'm Reading" Update
Shake Down the Thunder is a very long, very wordy book. I'll have a review as soon as I finish it, which should be before Christmas, hopefully.
Kanka Nation
The message board has been completely down the past couple days. I'll look at a few new ones tomorrow and hopefully have a new one up soon if this one doesn't come back.
Until then,
Go Irish, Eat Leftovers!
ND/Stanford: 57 points? I haven't seen that in a while. It was as if a bitter NDNation poster took out his frustrations on Monk's aspirational peerdom by setting NCAA 2004 to ubereasy. A solid game by all. Ryan Grant had the easy job by benefiting from all of Julius's hard work. The D was aggressive. Quinn continues to show flashes of brilliance, and the receivers are finally putting it together. What? We only have one game left this season? Dah. On a personal note, I was actually able to see this game, thanks to the now infamous Cleveland Dave and Buster's subscription to ESPN Game Plan. There also was a tribe of ND students watching the game there, but I must be getting old because I didn't recognize a single one.
FSU/Florida: Bobby Bowden again proves his idiocy, this time by letting his players stomp and dance on the Florida "F" after their win. If any Florida players are punished for trying to stop those idiots, I'll be greatly disappointed. Also, I can't wait to see what Bobby does to his players, as he plans on "review[ing] the situation... [to] see if any action needs to be taken." Good good.
BGSU/Toledo: In a game that had major implications for 10s and 10s of people I know from high school, Bowling Green (not a state) was lead by a Steve McNair-esque Josh Harris to a victory that puts them in the conference championship against Miami U this Thursday in Bowling Green.
Miami/Pitt: Got to watch this at the same time as the ND game and the Cavs double overtime choke (dah). Pittsburgh has no defense, Larry Fitzgerald once again emulates his idol Randy Moss, and Miami rolls.
NFL
Browns/Seahawks: Ugh. Next.
Lions/Packers: In a move that surely delighted the Hatton household, the Packers simply forgot to show up, and the Lions were able to hold on for an 8 point win. Still, I was just waiting for the Pack to run back an INT for the tying score as the annoucers were going on and on about their lack of enthousiasm. In case you were wondering, those were the Packer throwback uniforms. Their facemask color, sleeve stripe pattern, pants stripe pattern, and socks were different. Hey, I'm a Browns fan. That's more than what's changed on the Browns unforms since the dawn of time (except for the great orange pants of the Kardiac Kid days and the awful orange jerseys of the current Brownies).
Jets/Titans: The introductions were somewhat bland this week, and I missed most of the action due to the ND game (more later). My only question: did Ellen's dad introduce Dave to John Madden?
NCAA Men's Basketball:
ND/Marquette: Just like last year's team, the men started slow, came back, but didn't have enough. The shooting was off. Quinn had a bad night, but that will happen. Thomas needs to settle down. His shooting percentage has been terrible in each game this season. Cornette still has Ryan Humphrey Small Forward Syndrome. Marquette is still a good team. Novak (Steve, not Kelly) and Merritt once again put up big numbers against ND. This year's Irish Men will have their ups and downs, but it's still early.
CSU/UNC: Cleveland is not a state, but Cleveland State is the Alma Mater of Mr. Kanka. He wasn't at this near-upset, but I was, with Matt of BYU-weekend fame. In his homecoming, UNC's Jawad Williams was supposed to be the star. His whole family sat front row in powder blue #21 jerseys. Unfortunately, there were no "That's My Baby" signs, and none of the jerseys read "Jawad's Mom." There were, however, many locals posing as bandwagon UNC fans. Jordan left 20 years ago - you can put his jersey away. I'd like to interject here and say that "Jawad" and "Craphonso" have officially replaced "Dick" and "Gaylord" as the top "I want my kid beat up in school" names. Moving on. UNC got of to a quick lead behind swarming defense. But, as soon as they backed off, CSU came back. UNC wide body Shawn May was neutralized by CSU wider body (and fan favorite) Pete Ritzema. 7-2, 280? There had to have been at least one MAC O-Line coach knocking on his door. CSU doesn't have their own football program, but it might be time to start one. Once again, back to the game. CSU star Omari Westley and juco transfer Amadou Koundoul were everywhere, and CSU had the lead at the half. Whenever UNC threatened, Percell Coles answered with a 3. Over time, the bandwagoners who started the game by saying "I can't believe were watching North Carolina" and proceeded to refer to the Tarheels as "us" and "we," were soon pleading the crowd to "represent Cleveland." The game was reffed fairly. The calls went in spurts, but they evened themselves out. RoyBoy (Williams) wasn't able to intimidate the refs, as I had originally feared. Unfortunately, with 1:27 left and down 1, UNC misses the back half of a 1-and-1 (the bonus!), and the rebound gets kicked out to hometown Jawad, who hits the go ahead three right in front of his mom. UNC never looks back, and only then did the bandwagoners start cheering and chanting for their tarheels.
Some other game notes:
Since I'm sure you're concerned, Mike, the band was wearing green Hawaiian shirts with white floral print, and foam Viking hats (the Vikings are CSU's mascot; they used to use Hagar the Horrible's likeness, but now their mascot is a weird, green-headed guy in viking horns). Their song selection was not massive, but I was very fired up that they played the sackbut cheer after every player introduction and key play.
The student section was very small, only about 30 people, and it consisted mainly of a few overly-drunk frat kids and many of the basketball players' posse members.
Obscure College Scores
All obscure PA colleges we follow are done for the year. I'll let you know if local favorites Mount Union or John Carroll do anything special in the playoffs.
The Trading Block
Richie Sexson to Arizona for 6 players and a kitchen sink to be named later. Arizona gets rid of some guys who didn't work out, or who they were going to get rid of anyways. Milwaukee at least takes a stab at rebuilding. Not a bad trade, but this doesn't make Arizona an overnight contender, unless Brandon Webb et al. can prove me wrong.
Bruce Chen, who has been with almost every single NL Central team, has now signed with the Blue Jays. Baseball Primer (link above) says this is his 8th team, and he's still under the age of 27. Also by clicking on the link above, you can see other transactions involving many Gammons-esque names.
Other rumors:
The Schilling deal did go down, obviously.
Scanning NDNation's Back Room, I see Manny for A-Rod and Jeff Weaver for Kevin Brown.
The Manny trade would be bad for Texas. If you're going to have an overpriced player on a bad team, it might as well be the one that isn't a clubhouse cancer. John Hart once again proves that you can look smart without actually being smart. (Schilling! Pedro! We could have had them both! Dah!)
Visits
This site has begun to show up on web searches, and thanks to Blogger being owned by Google, this page often shows up high on the list. Things people have searched for that have lead to this page:
Sportscenter NFL Love Song (it helped that I mentioned "I Love the 70s" in the same paragraph here)
"Schilling Saga" (I called it the same exact thing last week)
"Never Scared" + "Football"
nd vs stanford 11/29/2003
"Kathleen Eich" (mentioned in the BYU weekend article; judging by the computer name, Kathleen was searching for herself)
Greg Bosl (ND basketball transfer, mentioned in the preview)
but the winner is... "Elizabeth Hasselbeck", generating at least 8 hits so far. I'll assume you've come looking for pictures, so here they are, running a Google Image Search on her maiden name, Elisabeth Filarski.
"What I'm Reading" Update
Shake Down the Thunder is a very long, very wordy book. I'll have a review as soon as I finish it, which should be before Christmas, hopefully.
Kanka Nation
The message board has been completely down the past couple days. I'll look at a few new ones tomorrow and hopefully have a new one up soon if this one doesn't come back.
Until then,
Go Irish, Eat Leftovers!
Friday, November 28, 2003
Insert your own "aspirational peer" joke here.
To start, I won't be watching this game tomorrow, or listening on the radio. Why? ABC will have Miami/Pitt for most of the country, while our local Westwood One affiliate also carries Cavs games. Looks like I'll be glued to my computer monitor.
This is a PAC 10 team, so let's start with their passing offense. 182 YPG isn't great for a team in that conference, and it looks like they have a little QB controversy on their hands (or it could have been an injury; I haven't really looked into it). Chris Lewis is the "better" of the 2 QBs, with an efficiency near 100, but with only 126 yards passing per game. Trent Edwards, the other guy, is a little worse with an efficiency of 80 and 93 YPG. Niether is anything to be worried about, but that's no reason to get caught napping in the secondary. There's no true #1 receiver here, with Luke Powell and Mark Bradford each averaging 45 or so YPG. Teyo Johnson is obviously missed. If the Stanford passing offense was a baseball team, they'd be known for their bloop singles and Baltimore chops (look it up). Their run game is also two-headed, once again with their top 2 guys each having about 45 YPG. Niether QB is a threat to run. The front 7 should be able to shut these boys down for most of the game, and pick up a few sacks in the process.
Stanford gives up almost 307 YPG in the air. Remember, this is mostly against top PAC 10 teams, so the coaches should ignore this stat and instead focus on the 119 YPG Stanford gives up on the ground. Julius, now the center of attention, should have a big game, and I'll tell you now that he'll have his 1,000 yards by the 3rd play from scrimmage (he's 4 yards shy). Quinn will continue to mature and show his poise, but he'll only pass when he needs to, and even then it won't be in impossible situations.
Stanford's kickoff team is nothing to be taken lightly. They'rre gaining a respectable 21 yards per on returns, while giving up only 13.8. Their punter has a good average of 43 per, and they've managed to shut down the punt return game. Of course, they also haven't done too much on punt returns.
Stanford doesn't look like a good team. Still, this is their senior day against their former coach. They'll be up for this one. But, the Irish will be up for it too.
Look for a big game from: Julius, Frosh All-American Ryan Harris, Quinn, DC (still have that picture from last year), Ced, Tuck, BHoyte, Senator Watson.
ND 24, Stanford 14. (Julius for 2, and Vontez finds the endzone somehow)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think it's time for an aspirational beer.
To start, I won't be watching this game tomorrow, or listening on the radio. Why? ABC will have Miami/Pitt for most of the country, while our local Westwood One affiliate also carries Cavs games. Looks like I'll be glued to my computer monitor.
This is a PAC 10 team, so let's start with their passing offense. 182 YPG isn't great for a team in that conference, and it looks like they have a little QB controversy on their hands (or it could have been an injury; I haven't really looked into it). Chris Lewis is the "better" of the 2 QBs, with an efficiency near 100, but with only 126 yards passing per game. Trent Edwards, the other guy, is a little worse with an efficiency of 80 and 93 YPG. Niether is anything to be worried about, but that's no reason to get caught napping in the secondary. There's no true #1 receiver here, with Luke Powell and Mark Bradford each averaging 45 or so YPG. Teyo Johnson is obviously missed. If the Stanford passing offense was a baseball team, they'd be known for their bloop singles and Baltimore chops (look it up). Their run game is also two-headed, once again with their top 2 guys each having about 45 YPG. Niether QB is a threat to run. The front 7 should be able to shut these boys down for most of the game, and pick up a few sacks in the process.
Stanford gives up almost 307 YPG in the air. Remember, this is mostly against top PAC 10 teams, so the coaches should ignore this stat and instead focus on the 119 YPG Stanford gives up on the ground. Julius, now the center of attention, should have a big game, and I'll tell you now that he'll have his 1,000 yards by the 3rd play from scrimmage (he's 4 yards shy). Quinn will continue to mature and show his poise, but he'll only pass when he needs to, and even then it won't be in impossible situations.
Stanford's kickoff team is nothing to be taken lightly. They'rre gaining a respectable 21 yards per on returns, while giving up only 13.8. Their punter has a good average of 43 per, and they've managed to shut down the punt return game. Of course, they also haven't done too much on punt returns.
Stanford doesn't look like a good team. Still, this is their senior day against their former coach. They'll be up for this one. But, the Irish will be up for it too.
Look for a big game from: Julius, Frosh All-American Ryan Harris, Quinn, DC (still have that picture from last year), Ced, Tuck, BHoyte, Senator Watson.
ND 24, Stanford 14. (Julius for 2, and Vontez finds the endzone somehow)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think it's time for an aspirational beer.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Looking for repeat business...
Cronk's Sister's University/Southern Miss: Almost. Almost. As stated before, the BCS is all about ratings. Cronk's Sister alone would have gotten her University the ratings to deserve a BCS bowl. Unfortunately, as stated by many, TCU simply does not have the football team to deserve a BCS bid.
tOSU/scUM: Hey, tOSU's offense finally showed up. Too bad scUM's O was too much for tOSU's defense. This was a weird one. It wasn't quite a traditional "natural disaster game" for me (where my response to "who do you want to win?" is "I hope a natural disaster comes and takes out both teams). I guess it was more of a "who do I want to lose game?", where my reply was, "tOSU shouldn't be in the title game." One point, thought. tOSU's SOS is decent, as they've knocked off many highly-rated Big 11 teams. Maybe their conference as a whole is overrated, causing tOSU's high BCS marks. Who knows.
BC/VPI: Hey, an upset! Oh wait... we can officially delete my "The Irish and the bowls" post now.
NFL
Browns/Steelers: I think I made most of my feelings known on the Bone Listserv. Good Lord. Reading TMQ today, their were two teams that went with 4 straight runs up the gut on goal-to-go situations; both succeeded. Good good. In other Browns news, Jeff Faine was forced to go on the IR for the rest of the season (I say forced because he didn't even want to leave the game) with a sprained ankle. A sprained ankle? Is Butch giving up on the season and preparing for the future? Those Florida school coaches, I'll tell ya... (then again, here's the teams the Brownies have left to play: Ravens, Bengals, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams. Ouch.)
Bears/Broncos: After the Browns debacle, I was seriously regretting even suggesting to Sarah that we place a bet on the upcoming Browns/Broncos game. Then, watching her Broncos play the Bears, I had newfound hope (no offense, Mike). I noticed it, and TMQ confirmed it: a cold coach is a winning coach. UnderArmor and a sweatshirt for Dick Jauron vs. polar gear for Mike Shanahan. How long have you been in Denver Shanahan? And it's only November!
Washington/Miami: I turned this game on, and I honestly thought the Patriots were wearing their throwbacks. That's how dark the orange jerseys looked on my TV. The only other comment I have on this game is that ESPN did not do its God-given duty of creating excuses to show Mrs. Tim Hasselbeck, Elizabeth from Survivor, at every moment possible.
Giants/Bucs: I'm a little disappointed that the player introductions at the beginning of the game didn't include "Luke Petitgout. Ellen loves me." Maybe next time. I won't comment too much on the outcome, but I would like to know who Tampa Bay's receivers coach is (oh, I could look it up, but I'm lazy). Every single receiver (except of course for Joe Jurevicius, from Lake Catholic HS in Mentor, OH) carries the ball like a loaf of bread! I couldn't believe it.
ND Men vs NIU
I've read that the women are experimenting with the trapezoidal key and deeper 3 point arc during preseason/beginning of the season tourneys. I've also noticed that many of the men's games played so far have had the same lines on the floor, so I'll assume they're using them too to some extent. Does anyone know if that was the case for this game? If so, Francis's 24 looks all the more impressive. 19 is also a very nice number in the rebound category. No, this game wasn't supposed to be a cakewalk; remember NIU made a run in the tourney a few years back. No, wait, maybe I'm thinking of Southern Illinois. Nevermind. Quinn shot the lights out, which makes up for Thomas's "I'm already in the NBA"-like 5-17 performance. I don't think either of them will do the same every night, but it is nice to see that Quinn really is a decent player. That, and Thomas's 7-2 assist-turnover ratio is very easy on the eyes. The only stat that concerns me is "Cornette 3 PT FG-FGA 2-6." Yes, you made your first one, but that isn't an excuse to shoot 5 more. Don't go Ryan Humprey on us (even if Ellen loves him). Other stats of note: Falls 0-4 FG, 0-3 3PT. Tough debut, but it's nice to see another face in the rotation. He'll be alright. Quinn 6 steals. Rick Cornett 3 rebounds in 4 minutes played.
Obscure College Scores
IUP 42, Bloomsburg 40. IUP finishes the season at 5-1 in the PSAC West, and 10-1 overall. However, as their football site bitterly states, "Despite the win and a 10-1 record, IUP has been denied a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs"
CUP, also in the PSAC West (2-4), finished their season 4-7 with a 35-0 loss to Shippensburg on Nov 15.
Edinboro of Pennsylvania 9, Saginaw Valley State (Saginaw Valley isn't a state) 33, in the first round of the DII playoffs. Edinboro, also in the (you're not going to believe this) PSAC West, finishes 5-1 in the conference and 9-3 overall.
TMQ's new dream job: athletic director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Why I didn't do my column last night
Went with the whole family to see The Cat in the Hat. Despite poor reviews, this was, as a certain Alaskan would put it, a "good show." I enjoyed it. Some highlights:
- much much funnier than I expected
- Paris Hilton has a cameo as a dancer in a night club/rave scene. Given the timing of the release of her "other" film, I found this to be incredibly funny.
- It's a running joke that the Cat keeps getting the children's names wrong. At one point, he calls the boy (Conrad) "Klondike," to which my whole family responds, "Klondike?! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Ah, the Alaskan...
Old Job/New Job
OK, so at my old job I sat around and read NDNation all day. At my new job... well... I'm helping to stop the funding of terrorists and other anti-US organizations. You decide which is the cooler job.
Trade Talk
A's picked up Bobby Kielty earlier, then picked up Mark Kotsay for Ramon Hernandez and Terrrence Long. OK, Long needed to get out of there. And I do like Kielty and Kotsay. But in many ways, those two arjust like Eric Byrnes (who they already have), so why the addition. Billy Beane (the straight GM, not the gay former outfielder) knows what he's doing, so I'm sure these interchangeable 3 position OFs will work for him. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Billy Beane is the current A's GM. Billy Bean (no E) was an OF for the A's in the 80s or 90s who is famous for coming out as a gay baseball player after his retirement.
Cubs: Derrek Lee is a great pickup. Wow, Dusty must really not like Hee Seop Choi, huh? One day, he's the future. Then Dusty comes along and carries 10 other 1B only guys on the roster. Then he just gets rid of him. There goes that.
The Schilling Saga: Theo Epstein (no relation to Petey) is showing that he really wants to win. But is he giving up too much for it? Casey Fossum is Theo's favorite pitcher of the future, and Brandon Lyons was Grady Little's... oh, right. Nevermind on that second part. Theo's starting to play into the "beat the Yankees now" philosophy, and hopefully that won't ruin him. Of course, this is all moot if Schilling enacts his no-trade clause.
Ricky Davis: Everybody's favorite Lorain youth basketball camp sponsor is rumored to be on the block. I don't like this move per se. He's starting to show maturity, playing basketball this year (passing and playing D) instead of just "getting buckets" like last year (in case you haven't heard, he wears/wore a wristband that reads "Get Buckets"). Unless he's a locker room cancer, the Cavs should keep him. He and LeBron are the two to build this team around. That, and taking away one of our few scorers makes a mediocre team even worse - and puts more pressure on LeBron, who's already working almost 41 minutes a night.
Well, I'm out of material. Join me Friday for a preview of the Stanford game. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
KankaNation-related things I'm thankful for:
-people who read what I have to think, and tell me what they have to think, and hang out at the Backer and Corby's with me
-Gin and Tonic, Bud Light, Coors Light, "Gin 'n' Juice", and Coors Light commercials
-people who LOOOVE me
-the pride of 4 years and a degree from Our Lady's University
-family and friends. I love you guys. (maybe that'll make up for the 1.2 billion "I hate you guys"es I've muttered over the last few years)
Cronk's Sister's University/Southern Miss: Almost. Almost. As stated before, the BCS is all about ratings. Cronk's Sister alone would have gotten her University the ratings to deserve a BCS bowl. Unfortunately, as stated by many, TCU simply does not have the football team to deserve a BCS bid.
tOSU/scUM: Hey, tOSU's offense finally showed up. Too bad scUM's O was too much for tOSU's defense. This was a weird one. It wasn't quite a traditional "natural disaster game" for me (where my response to "who do you want to win?" is "I hope a natural disaster comes and takes out both teams). I guess it was more of a "who do I want to lose game?", where my reply was, "tOSU shouldn't be in the title game." One point, thought. tOSU's SOS is decent, as they've knocked off many highly-rated Big 11 teams. Maybe their conference as a whole is overrated, causing tOSU's high BCS marks. Who knows.
BC/VPI: Hey, an upset! Oh wait... we can officially delete my "The Irish and the bowls" post now.
NFL
Browns/Steelers: I think I made most of my feelings known on the Bone Listserv. Good Lord. Reading TMQ today, their were two teams that went with 4 straight runs up the gut on goal-to-go situations; both succeeded. Good good. In other Browns news, Jeff Faine was forced to go on the IR for the rest of the season (I say forced because he didn't even want to leave the game) with a sprained ankle. A sprained ankle? Is Butch giving up on the season and preparing for the future? Those Florida school coaches, I'll tell ya... (then again, here's the teams the Brownies have left to play: Ravens, Bengals, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams. Ouch.)
Bears/Broncos: After the Browns debacle, I was seriously regretting even suggesting to Sarah that we place a bet on the upcoming Browns/Broncos game. Then, watching her Broncos play the Bears, I had newfound hope (no offense, Mike). I noticed it, and TMQ confirmed it: a cold coach is a winning coach. UnderArmor and a sweatshirt for Dick Jauron vs. polar gear for Mike Shanahan. How long have you been in Denver Shanahan? And it's only November!
Washington/Miami: I turned this game on, and I honestly thought the Patriots were wearing their throwbacks. That's how dark the orange jerseys looked on my TV. The only other comment I have on this game is that ESPN did not do its God-given duty of creating excuses to show Mrs. Tim Hasselbeck, Elizabeth from Survivor, at every moment possible.
Giants/Bucs: I'm a little disappointed that the player introductions at the beginning of the game didn't include "Luke Petitgout. Ellen loves me." Maybe next time. I won't comment too much on the outcome, but I would like to know who Tampa Bay's receivers coach is (oh, I could look it up, but I'm lazy). Every single receiver (except of course for Joe Jurevicius, from Lake Catholic HS in Mentor, OH) carries the ball like a loaf of bread! I couldn't believe it.
ND Men vs NIU
I've read that the women are experimenting with the trapezoidal key and deeper 3 point arc during preseason/beginning of the season tourneys. I've also noticed that many of the men's games played so far have had the same lines on the floor, so I'll assume they're using them too to some extent. Does anyone know if that was the case for this game? If so, Francis's 24 looks all the more impressive. 19 is also a very nice number in the rebound category. No, this game wasn't supposed to be a cakewalk; remember NIU made a run in the tourney a few years back. No, wait, maybe I'm thinking of Southern Illinois. Nevermind. Quinn shot the lights out, which makes up for Thomas's "I'm already in the NBA"-like 5-17 performance. I don't think either of them will do the same every night, but it is nice to see that Quinn really is a decent player. That, and Thomas's 7-2 assist-turnover ratio is very easy on the eyes. The only stat that concerns me is "Cornette 3 PT FG-FGA 2-6." Yes, you made your first one, but that isn't an excuse to shoot 5 more. Don't go Ryan Humprey on us (even if Ellen loves him). Other stats of note: Falls 0-4 FG, 0-3 3PT. Tough debut, but it's nice to see another face in the rotation. He'll be alright. Quinn 6 steals. Rick Cornett 3 rebounds in 4 minutes played.
Obscure College Scores
IUP 42, Bloomsburg 40. IUP finishes the season at 5-1 in the PSAC West, and 10-1 overall. However, as their football site bitterly states, "Despite the win and a 10-1 record, IUP has been denied a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs"
CUP, also in the PSAC West (2-4), finished their season 4-7 with a 35-0 loss to Shippensburg on Nov 15.
Edinboro of Pennsylvania 9, Saginaw Valley State (Saginaw Valley isn't a state) 33, in the first round of the DII playoffs. Edinboro, also in the (you're not going to believe this) PSAC West, finishes 5-1 in the conference and 9-3 overall.
TMQ's new dream job: athletic director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Why I didn't do my column last night
Went with the whole family to see The Cat in the Hat. Despite poor reviews, this was, as a certain Alaskan would put it, a "good show." I enjoyed it. Some highlights:
- much much funnier than I expected
- Paris Hilton has a cameo as a dancer in a night club/rave scene. Given the timing of the release of her "other" film, I found this to be incredibly funny.
- It's a running joke that the Cat keeps getting the children's names wrong. At one point, he calls the boy (Conrad) "Klondike," to which my whole family responds, "Klondike?! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Ah, the Alaskan...
Old Job/New Job
OK, so at my old job I sat around and read NDNation all day. At my new job... well... I'm helping to stop the funding of terrorists and other anti-US organizations. You decide which is the cooler job.
Trade Talk
A's picked up Bobby Kielty earlier, then picked up Mark Kotsay for Ramon Hernandez and Terrrence Long. OK, Long needed to get out of there. And I do like Kielty and Kotsay. But in many ways, those two arjust like Eric Byrnes (who they already have), so why the addition. Billy Beane (the straight GM, not the gay former outfielder) knows what he's doing, so I'm sure these interchangeable 3 position OFs will work for him. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Billy Beane is the current A's GM. Billy Bean (no E) was an OF for the A's in the 80s or 90s who is famous for coming out as a gay baseball player after his retirement.
Cubs: Derrek Lee is a great pickup. Wow, Dusty must really not like Hee Seop Choi, huh? One day, he's the future. Then Dusty comes along and carries 10 other 1B only guys on the roster. Then he just gets rid of him. There goes that.
The Schilling Saga: Theo Epstein (no relation to Petey) is showing that he really wants to win. But is he giving up too much for it? Casey Fossum is Theo's favorite pitcher of the future, and Brandon Lyons was Grady Little's... oh, right. Nevermind on that second part. Theo's starting to play into the "beat the Yankees now" philosophy, and hopefully that won't ruin him. Of course, this is all moot if Schilling enacts his no-trade clause.
Ricky Davis: Everybody's favorite Lorain youth basketball camp sponsor is rumored to be on the block. I don't like this move per se. He's starting to show maturity, playing basketball this year (passing and playing D) instead of just "getting buckets" like last year (in case you haven't heard, he wears/wore a wristband that reads "Get Buckets"). Unless he's a locker room cancer, the Cavs should keep him. He and LeBron are the two to build this team around. That, and taking away one of our few scorers makes a mediocre team even worse - and puts more pressure on LeBron, who's already working almost 41 minutes a night.
Well, I'm out of material. Join me Friday for a preview of the Stanford game. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
KankaNation-related things I'm thankful for:
-people who read what I have to think, and tell me what they have to think, and hang out at the Backer and Corby's with me
-Gin and Tonic, Bud Light, Coors Light, "Gin 'n' Juice", and Coors Light commercials
-people who LOOOVE me
-the pride of 4 years and a degree from Our Lady's University
-family and friends. I love you guys. (maybe that'll make up for the 1.2 billion "I hate you guys"es I've muttered over the last few years)
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Basketball Preview
ND Men
Gone: Matt Carroll (now with Portland, more later), Dan Miller, Dan "AAARRRDDD OOOOOOVE" Lustig, and Jere "Kanka is really getting sick of the whole 'new coach's boys' crap" Macura.
Returning: Seniors Torrian Jones and Tom Timmermans; Juniors Jordan Cornette and Chris Thomas; Sophomores Rick Cornett, Torin Francis, and Chris Quinn.
New Faces: Walk on junior guard Greg Bosl, Arizona junior transfer Dennis Latimore (forward), and freshmen Russell Carter (G), Colin Falls (G), and Omari Isreal (F).
The loss of Carroll and Miller changes the way the Irish will approach scoring this year. I have faith in the two-headed point guard system, but it will probably mean more minutes for both Thomas and Quinn. Torrian Jones adds an Erika Haney-esque slasher dimension to the starting lineup, but I think he's a much better finisher than Haney. His athleticism will also help out on defense. Torin Francis will make his name known nationally in the post this year. Timmy! will not only be a fan favorite, but he'll earn his starting stripes this season. On offense, we'll have to establish Francis down low, and allow Thomas and Jones to penetrate. Then, when needed, we can kick it out to Quinn or Thomas for a deep ball.
On defense, I'm not worried at all (except for boxing out, which I've never seen from a Brey team). Thomas is NBA-ready, and Quinn has nothing to worry about. The best guard Quinn will have to face this year is probably the one he sees in practice every day. Torrian's athleticism and hustle will also work out well on defense. Down low, I don't think we have to much to worry about (besides boxing out of course). Francis, Timmermans, and Cornette (Jordan) can hold their own in the paint, and in Cornett (Rick), Isreal, and Latimore, we have more than enough wide bodies coming of the bench.
Some notes on the new guys, not that I know much about them. Latimore saw little playing time at UofA, but he looks to be a decent shooter from the field (if not from the charity stripe), and at 6'8 253, there's no reason he shouldn't be a force down low. Omari Isreal is a little thinner and coming off an ACL injury (right knee). und.com says he might not play because of that injury, and I can't tell you if he has yet or not. Look for him to be a Jordan Cornette type when he comes back.
Russell Carter is an athletic guard who can flat out score - 30 ppg in high school. Colin Falls is expected to fill Matt Carroll's shoes, and I'm told he can shoot from range, ballhandle, and hold his own on D. Bosl is a great practice player with the court vision to be a great distributor. Maybe he's a case of "we need this guy's passing sense in Thomas's body," but that remains to be seen. Oh, he also went to St. Dominic HS.
ND Women
Gone: Alicia Ratay and Karen Swanson, giving Sax Section Leader Emeritus Nick Scarpino and Mothball little reason to attend this year.
Returning: Seniors Mo Hernandez (back from a 1 year absence), Jeneka Joyce (likewise), Le'Tania Severe, and former JuCo Anne Weese; Juniors Jackie Batteast, Terese Borton, and Katy Flecky; Sophomores Megan Duffy and Courtney LaVere.
New Faces: Forward Crystal Erwin and guards Breona Gray and Susie Powers.
Last year was tumultous for the Lady Irish, as many players left the team for personal reasons. Still, a late run landed a Sweet 16 trip. This team should do alright - they're a year older and wiser, and, as much as I hate to admit it, the Ratay loss isn't as huge as one might think, as she wasn't as effective as during the days when she was Ruth's kickout option. A year further into the triangle offense is also a major plus. Leadership will come from the seniors, and the return of Mo and Jeneka is huge, especially with Joyce's outside shooting ability and upbeat demeanor. The Women's team will also go with a two-headed point guard; Megan Duffy proved she can start, and she'll share the roll with Sever, who stepped it up as a scorer who can drive to the hole and draw a foul. Jackie Batteast's sheer talent and the deep PF/C position (even with Teresa Borton currently on the shelf) help round out this team.
Remember how I always said that Mandy Barksdale had great athletic ability and just had to learn the nuances of how to play basketball? Well, it looks like Crystal Erwin is that finished product. A 6'2 forward, she's athletic and looks to be rather polished as a basketball player. Breona Gray is an athletic guard who will see a lot of time as a defensive stopper, but supposedly also has a decent outside shot. Susie Powers has good size (5'11) for a guard, and is a great ballhandler with a solid scoring intuition.
Oh, and in case you're curious, my new favorite player is Megan Duffy. Why? She's small, but her hustle, determination, and desire, make her a great player.
Irish in the NBA
Matt Carroll: recently signed with Portland as an outside threat due to their injury bug. A major misfit when you consider that roster, but at least he finally gets to play with Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje.
Pat Garrity: The '98 grad is currently on Orlando's injured list.
Ryan Humphrey: Currently on Memphis's injured list. Ellen loves him.
Troy Murphy: A starter for Golden State (Golden isn't a state), he's currently on the injured list. I'm starting to notice a pattern here.
Monty Williams: The Whodat? award goes to this '94 grad, currently on the 76ers injured list.
NBA Preview
OK, this isn't going to be too good. I haven't followed the NBA too much recently. Up until a certain point last year, I just didn't care about the Cavs any more. It's not that I'm a bandwagon fan, but, if the players don't care, why should I? Let's look at a few select teams.
New Jersey: Should be just as good as last year. Zo isn't going to last very long, as always, but this is still one of the best teams in the East.
New York: I see some improvement in this team. Even with Dikembe's age, he's still better than what most teams have at "center." Plus, he's much more unintentionally funny. Add Sweetney and McDyess (I believe he was out all last year) down low, and they should be alright in the post. Plus, I've always belived VanHorn is a better player than everyone said he is, but that might just be from his NCAA Tourney days at Utah.
Pacers/Pistons: Along with the Nets, still the teams to beat in the East. Plus, the Pacers now have the Blue Nailed Samurai Scott Pollard in the front court.
Bulls: You've got to think that this whole "NCAA Tourney All-Stars" thing will pay off some day, especially with senior leadership from Scottie Pippen and Corie "Don't I Belong on Portland?" Bount.
Cavs: Yep, they're still the Cavs. This is not a bad team, they just need some hustle and unselfish play. Carlos Boozer is supplying the hustle, and LeBron is starting to spread the unselfish play. Plus, with a slightly deeper team, guys like Ricky Davis, Darius Miles, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are starting to do things other than just shoot bricks. It'll take time, but this team could be decent.
Dallas: OK, repeat after me: Dirk couldn't guard a small forward in the post, he's not the answer at center to Duncan and Shaq.
Houston/Minnesota: Do they have the pieces for a playoff run? Houston might, but Minnesota might be one mid-season trade away (think center again).
San Antonio: Tim Duncan is great, but losing 6 players won't get you a repeat.
Kings: Hey, weren't they the team in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? Dah.
Lakers: I still don't like 'em, for too many reasons to list.
In honor of Mark Price's mention in SI, I'm going outside to shoot free throws, just like I did 12 years ago. Weekend in review Tuesday night; Stanford preview Thursday.
ND Men
Gone: Matt Carroll (now with Portland, more later), Dan Miller, Dan "AAARRRDDD OOOOOOVE" Lustig, and Jere "Kanka is really getting sick of the whole 'new coach's boys' crap" Macura.
Returning: Seniors Torrian Jones and Tom Timmermans; Juniors Jordan Cornette and Chris Thomas; Sophomores Rick Cornett, Torin Francis, and Chris Quinn.
New Faces: Walk on junior guard Greg Bosl, Arizona junior transfer Dennis Latimore (forward), and freshmen Russell Carter (G), Colin Falls (G), and Omari Isreal (F).
The loss of Carroll and Miller changes the way the Irish will approach scoring this year. I have faith in the two-headed point guard system, but it will probably mean more minutes for both Thomas and Quinn. Torrian Jones adds an Erika Haney-esque slasher dimension to the starting lineup, but I think he's a much better finisher than Haney. His athleticism will also help out on defense. Torin Francis will make his name known nationally in the post this year. Timmy! will not only be a fan favorite, but he'll earn his starting stripes this season. On offense, we'll have to establish Francis down low, and allow Thomas and Jones to penetrate. Then, when needed, we can kick it out to Quinn or Thomas for a deep ball.
On defense, I'm not worried at all (except for boxing out, which I've never seen from a Brey team). Thomas is NBA-ready, and Quinn has nothing to worry about. The best guard Quinn will have to face this year is probably the one he sees in practice every day. Torrian's athleticism and hustle will also work out well on defense. Down low, I don't think we have to much to worry about (besides boxing out of course). Francis, Timmermans, and Cornette (Jordan) can hold their own in the paint, and in Cornett (Rick), Isreal, and Latimore, we have more than enough wide bodies coming of the bench.
Some notes on the new guys, not that I know much about them. Latimore saw little playing time at UofA, but he looks to be a decent shooter from the field (if not from the charity stripe), and at 6'8 253, there's no reason he shouldn't be a force down low. Omari Isreal is a little thinner and coming off an ACL injury (right knee). und.com says he might not play because of that injury, and I can't tell you if he has yet or not. Look for him to be a Jordan Cornette type when he comes back.
Russell Carter is an athletic guard who can flat out score - 30 ppg in high school. Colin Falls is expected to fill Matt Carroll's shoes, and I'm told he can shoot from range, ballhandle, and hold his own on D. Bosl is a great practice player with the court vision to be a great distributor. Maybe he's a case of "we need this guy's passing sense in Thomas's body," but that remains to be seen. Oh, he also went to St. Dominic HS.
ND Women
Gone: Alicia Ratay and Karen Swanson, giving Sax Section Leader Emeritus Nick Scarpino and Mothball little reason to attend this year.
Returning: Seniors Mo Hernandez (back from a 1 year absence), Jeneka Joyce (likewise), Le'Tania Severe, and former JuCo Anne Weese; Juniors Jackie Batteast, Terese Borton, and Katy Flecky; Sophomores Megan Duffy and Courtney LaVere.
New Faces: Forward Crystal Erwin and guards Breona Gray and Susie Powers.
Last year was tumultous for the Lady Irish, as many players left the team for personal reasons. Still, a late run landed a Sweet 16 trip. This team should do alright - they're a year older and wiser, and, as much as I hate to admit it, the Ratay loss isn't as huge as one might think, as she wasn't as effective as during the days when she was Ruth's kickout option. A year further into the triangle offense is also a major plus. Leadership will come from the seniors, and the return of Mo and Jeneka is huge, especially with Joyce's outside shooting ability and upbeat demeanor. The Women's team will also go with a two-headed point guard; Megan Duffy proved she can start, and she'll share the roll with Sever, who stepped it up as a scorer who can drive to the hole and draw a foul. Jackie Batteast's sheer talent and the deep PF/C position (even with Teresa Borton currently on the shelf) help round out this team.
Remember how I always said that Mandy Barksdale had great athletic ability and just had to learn the nuances of how to play basketball? Well, it looks like Crystal Erwin is that finished product. A 6'2 forward, she's athletic and looks to be rather polished as a basketball player. Breona Gray is an athletic guard who will see a lot of time as a defensive stopper, but supposedly also has a decent outside shot. Susie Powers has good size (5'11) for a guard, and is a great ballhandler with a solid scoring intuition.
Oh, and in case you're curious, my new favorite player is Megan Duffy. Why? She's small, but her hustle, determination, and desire, make her a great player.
Irish in the NBA
Matt Carroll: recently signed with Portland as an outside threat due to their injury bug. A major misfit when you consider that roster, but at least he finally gets to play with Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje.
Pat Garrity: The '98 grad is currently on Orlando's injured list.
Ryan Humphrey: Currently on Memphis's injured list. Ellen loves him.
Troy Murphy: A starter for Golden State (Golden isn't a state), he's currently on the injured list. I'm starting to notice a pattern here.
Monty Williams: The Whodat? award goes to this '94 grad, currently on the 76ers injured list.
NBA Preview
OK, this isn't going to be too good. I haven't followed the NBA too much recently. Up until a certain point last year, I just didn't care about the Cavs any more. It's not that I'm a bandwagon fan, but, if the players don't care, why should I? Let's look at a few select teams.
New Jersey: Should be just as good as last year. Zo isn't going to last very long, as always, but this is still one of the best teams in the East.
New York: I see some improvement in this team. Even with Dikembe's age, he's still better than what most teams have at "center." Plus, he's much more unintentionally funny. Add Sweetney and McDyess (I believe he was out all last year) down low, and they should be alright in the post. Plus, I've always belived VanHorn is a better player than everyone said he is, but that might just be from his NCAA Tourney days at Utah.
Pacers/Pistons: Along with the Nets, still the teams to beat in the East. Plus, the Pacers now have the Blue Nailed Samurai Scott Pollard in the front court.
Bulls: You've got to think that this whole "NCAA Tourney All-Stars" thing will pay off some day, especially with senior leadership from Scottie Pippen and Corie "Don't I Belong on Portland?" Bount.
Cavs: Yep, they're still the Cavs. This is not a bad team, they just need some hustle and unselfish play. Carlos Boozer is supplying the hustle, and LeBron is starting to spread the unselfish play. Plus, with a slightly deeper team, guys like Ricky Davis, Darius Miles, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are starting to do things other than just shoot bricks. It'll take time, but this team could be decent.
Dallas: OK, repeat after me: Dirk couldn't guard a small forward in the post, he's not the answer at center to Duncan and Shaq.
Houston/Minnesota: Do they have the pieces for a playoff run? Houston might, but Minnesota might be one mid-season trade away (think center again).
San Antonio: Tim Duncan is great, but losing 6 players won't get you a repeat.
Kings: Hey, weren't they the team in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? Dah.
Lakers: I still don't like 'em, for too many reasons to list.
In honor of Mark Price's mention in SI, I'm going outside to shoot free throws, just like I did 12 years ago. Weekend in review Tuesday night; Stanford preview Thursday.
Friday, November 21, 2003
The Irish and the Bowls
First of all, the Irish need to beat Stanford. Then they have to beat Syracuse. Let's take this one game at a time.
Let's assume they finish 6-6. Due to conference tie ins, a bid is a possibility. However, Notre Dame has traditionally turned down bids on off years (and by off years, I traditionally mean 8-4 or worse).
Let's look at the guys in charge. Kevin White hired George O'Leary because he wanted a guy who "got" Notre Dame. Unfortunately, I don't think Kevin White "gets" Notre Dame. Football in a conference? Supposed deemphisis of the program? Kevin, your tie is great, but it doesn't make up for your lack of a sense of Notre Dame's history and tradition.
Ty, I'm afraid, is in the same boat. He's used to a winning record meaning a successful season. Plus, I'm sure he believes his "young men" deserve it.
Do they deserve it? I'm going to say yes. They've been through a lot - one if not two bad coaches (three if you count O'Leary). This team does have talent. I know my opinion comes from knowing or having met most of the seniors. This season has already been forgettable, let's allow the boys to be the crap out of North Texas (or whoever) and end on a high note. Then, we can forget this season, and the acceptance of this bowl bid, ever happened.
I've been reading too much NDNation. I have to go.
First of all, the Irish need to beat Stanford. Then they have to beat Syracuse. Let's take this one game at a time.
Let's assume they finish 6-6. Due to conference tie ins, a bid is a possibility. However, Notre Dame has traditionally turned down bids on off years (and by off years, I traditionally mean 8-4 or worse).
Let's look at the guys in charge. Kevin White hired George O'Leary because he wanted a guy who "got" Notre Dame. Unfortunately, I don't think Kevin White "gets" Notre Dame. Football in a conference? Supposed deemphisis of the program? Kevin, your tie is great, but it doesn't make up for your lack of a sense of Notre Dame's history and tradition.
Ty, I'm afraid, is in the same boat. He's used to a winning record meaning a successful season. Plus, I'm sure he believes his "young men" deserve it.
Do they deserve it? I'm going to say yes. They've been through a lot - one if not two bad coaches (three if you count O'Leary). This team does have talent. I know my opinion comes from knowing or having met most of the seniors. This season has already been forgettable, let's allow the boys to be the crap out of North Texas (or whoever) and end on a high note. Then, we can forget this season, and the acceptance of this bowl bid, ever happened.
I've been reading too much NDNation. I have to go.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
The weekend in review
Our players:
Kanka
Mike - the infamous cousin
Todd - overly fired up subway alum
Matt - quiet Purdue alum with great one-liners
We'll start at the Elkhart Steak 'n' Shake (after a trip that involved my cousin rocking out to the band's version of "Love Shack"). After the obligatory hitting on the waitress (and offering to stick up for her after she got chewed out by her boss). Then it was off to Corby's [the bar from Rudy!] It was a solid Corby's trip. Fortunately, we convinced Todd not to bring a camera.
The next morning, we took off for the White Field, which is so far north of campus it might actually be in Michigan. We made the trek around campus that included Moreau Seminary [Rudy's dorm], but we couldn't find the bench Rudy cried on. There were stops to rub the rock in the Grotto and Rock's nose. Then it was Fisher [Regis's dorm from tv - apparently he'd even climbed up to the top bunk in the show), brats on south quad, and a stop inside O'Shag, complete with Todd getting a picture drinking water from D-Bob's fountain. Then, the dome, the crypt, the obligatory Touchdown Jesus picture, etc. We had a few more brats while waiting for the team to leave mass (they were a bit late). Darrell is the man, and according to Todd, Carlyle's guns are huge. Then it was concert on the steps, complete with Todd's brother listening over a cell phone. I heard drunk singing, and turned around to see an incredibly non-sober Antonio, Angelo, Goat, Animal, and Mothball. Good good. We walked along with marchout towards our seats.
After finding an old cardboard box to cover our seats, we sat down next to a early 30s subway alum and his neighbor, a man in his 60's he called Coach. Coach was so much like Dave it was scary (screaming when the students started the wave at the beginning of the 3rd quarter). Coach was very fired up about smashmouth football, and he wasn't afraid to tell you. It was great.
On to halftime: I've shown you the Mario Twins video, right? Well, after playing "Pinball Wizard", the band went into a Mario medley that copied closely that terrific piece of flash animation. There was Mario chasing a goomba, followed by fish for the underwater theme, stars and bouncing for the star theme, and a castle for the final theme. Then, the flag was raised on the castle and streamer "fireworks" went off. Rather gimmicky, but great. And no American flag. In Pete Godlewski's words, somewhere, Cronk weeps at missing this opportunity.
The game was great, especially since it was finally a relaxing win. At least 2 of the 3 TDs were on our end. After the game, we watched with the ushers as the seniors chanted "charge the field." But noone did. Finally, they made the announcement for everyone to leave the stadium, as the gates were being locked.
We had dinner at Sbarro's after the end of Purdue-tOSU DAH! (my cousin has left by then), then back to the bookstore for the 2nd of 3 trips (the one made before the game wasn't too successful).
After the game, we stopped by Lewis to pick up Sarah to celebrate her recent 21st. Kathleen Eich of all people is now AR of Lewis. She looks and me and says, "did you hear Antonio got arrested?! At inspection?!" You can't make this up.
The Backer was great, and a good time was had by all. Oddly enough, I saw no managers there. Fortunately, I think we've got Sarah hooked. They weren't playing very Backer-esque songs, but as we were about to leave, they made up for it with Badlands, Gin 'n' Juice, and Up in Here. I think Dave would have peed his pants had he heard these back to back.
Sunday morning was mass at the Basilica. We got there late, so we stood in back. No problem, as I was randomly chosen to be an usher at the last minute (for the collection). Of course, as I forsaw, this was the one 10am Basilica mass that my dad didn't watch on the Hallmark channel. Oh well. After one more trip to the bookstore (Todd now has a program, 2 media guides (now $5 - I picked one up myself), the Shirt, a new hat, and a souvenir cup. He couldn't find a sweatshirt he liked), we headed out. We stopped at Burger King, I rang up $3.37, and we listened to a great Browns win on the way home. That's my trip the end.
Obscure College of the Week
No score this week, but I would like to point out that my sister recently got an information pamplet from Edinborough of Pennsylvania. Add it to the list.
Today's Moral:
If you ever want to appreciate going to Notre Dame, visit it with three people who didn't.
No recaps, sorry, I missed most action due to the trip, but come Thursday, I will have a bye week special look at the bowl picture (maybe).
To finish, in the words of Matt:
"Well guys, like a fat girl in dodgeball, I'm out."
Our players:
Kanka
Mike - the infamous cousin
Todd - overly fired up subway alum
Matt - quiet Purdue alum with great one-liners
We'll start at the Elkhart Steak 'n' Shake (after a trip that involved my cousin rocking out to the band's version of "Love Shack"). After the obligatory hitting on the waitress (and offering to stick up for her after she got chewed out by her boss). Then it was off to Corby's [the bar from Rudy!] It was a solid Corby's trip. Fortunately, we convinced Todd not to bring a camera.
The next morning, we took off for the White Field, which is so far north of campus it might actually be in Michigan. We made the trek around campus that included Moreau Seminary [Rudy's dorm], but we couldn't find the bench Rudy cried on. There were stops to rub the rock in the Grotto and Rock's nose. Then it was Fisher [Regis's dorm from tv - apparently he'd even climbed up to the top bunk in the show), brats on south quad, and a stop inside O'Shag, complete with Todd getting a picture drinking water from D-Bob's fountain. Then, the dome, the crypt, the obligatory Touchdown Jesus picture, etc. We had a few more brats while waiting for the team to leave mass (they were a bit late). Darrell is the man, and according to Todd, Carlyle's guns are huge. Then it was concert on the steps, complete with Todd's brother listening over a cell phone. I heard drunk singing, and turned around to see an incredibly non-sober Antonio, Angelo, Goat, Animal, and Mothball. Good good. We walked along with marchout towards our seats.
After finding an old cardboard box to cover our seats, we sat down next to a early 30s subway alum and his neighbor, a man in his 60's he called Coach. Coach was so much like Dave it was scary (screaming when the students started the wave at the beginning of the 3rd quarter). Coach was very fired up about smashmouth football, and he wasn't afraid to tell you. It was great.
On to halftime: I've shown you the Mario Twins video, right? Well, after playing "Pinball Wizard", the band went into a Mario medley that copied closely that terrific piece of flash animation. There was Mario chasing a goomba, followed by fish for the underwater theme, stars and bouncing for the star theme, and a castle for the final theme. Then, the flag was raised on the castle and streamer "fireworks" went off. Rather gimmicky, but great. And no American flag. In Pete Godlewski's words, somewhere, Cronk weeps at missing this opportunity.
The game was great, especially since it was finally a relaxing win. At least 2 of the 3 TDs were on our end. After the game, we watched with the ushers as the seniors chanted "charge the field." But noone did. Finally, they made the announcement for everyone to leave the stadium, as the gates were being locked.
We had dinner at Sbarro's after the end of Purdue-tOSU DAH! (my cousin has left by then), then back to the bookstore for the 2nd of 3 trips (the one made before the game wasn't too successful).
After the game, we stopped by Lewis to pick up Sarah to celebrate her recent 21st. Kathleen Eich of all people is now AR of Lewis. She looks and me and says, "did you hear Antonio got arrested?! At inspection?!" You can't make this up.
The Backer was great, and a good time was had by all. Oddly enough, I saw no managers there. Fortunately, I think we've got Sarah hooked. They weren't playing very Backer-esque songs, but as we were about to leave, they made up for it with Badlands, Gin 'n' Juice, and Up in Here. I think Dave would have peed his pants had he heard these back to back.
Sunday morning was mass at the Basilica. We got there late, so we stood in back. No problem, as I was randomly chosen to be an usher at the last minute (for the collection). Of course, as I forsaw, this was the one 10am Basilica mass that my dad didn't watch on the Hallmark channel. Oh well. After one more trip to the bookstore (Todd now has a program, 2 media guides (now $5 - I picked one up myself), the Shirt, a new hat, and a souvenir cup. He couldn't find a sweatshirt he liked), we headed out. We stopped at Burger King, I rang up $3.37, and we listened to a great Browns win on the way home. That's my trip the end.
Obscure College of the Week
No score this week, but I would like to point out that my sister recently got an information pamplet from Edinborough of Pennsylvania. Add it to the list.
Today's Moral:
If you ever want to appreciate going to Notre Dame, visit it with three people who didn't.
No recaps, sorry, I missed most action due to the trip, but come Thursday, I will have a bye week special look at the bowl picture (maybe).
To finish, in the words of Matt:
"Well guys, like a fat girl in dodgeball, I'm out."
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Ismail! Detmer! It's the 1990 Heisman Trophy Race! Wait, no, no...
BYU's from the pass-wacky MWAC. Hey, their starting QB is injured! Great! Not really. QB Matt Berry is averaging 200 ypg, 100 ypg more than teammate John Beck. Both have been injured this year, but according to John Vannie of NDNation, Berry was the starter at the beginning of the year. Quarterback returning from an injury you say? It was a hand injury (I'm not sure which), but the line needs to put pressure on him to keep him from getting his rhythm back. BYU spreads the ball out fairly well, with 10 players having double digit receiving yards per game. The major threat is Toby Christensen, he of PS2 NCAA 2004 fame. He averages 49 ypg, but that's nothing "number 34" can't handle. Also look out for Chris Hale, a posession guy, and Daniel Coats the TE. The secondary gained some confidence last week, and with that, plus talent, they'll give up some yards but play well as a group.
On the other side of the ball, BYU gives up 180 ypg passing. Judging by Quinn's game last week, he should be just fine in this game. The WRs will out-athlete and the TEs will out-size BYU.
BYU is not a terrible rushing team. They gain 100 ypg on the ground, with former second-stringer Ray Brathwaite gaining 80 of those 100 yards. He's not to be taken lightly. BYU also gives up 126 ypg on the ground. Julius. Julius Julius. Julius. Then again, Grant would (or should) have a good game against this team.
On special teams, BYU appears to have a good return game, at least on kickoffs. Everyone they've put out there has a decent return average, which tells me that the blocking is good. Keep your heads in the game there, guys. On punt returns, they're not so good. No one that has multiple punt returns this year has higher than an 8 yrd average.
On special teams coverage, BYU has been not-so-good, at least according to their coach. He's using starters on coverage teams this week. Vontez and Matt Shelton and everyone else should take advantage of this. Yes, the starters are theoretically better, but they've only been practicing special teams for 2 weeks (they had a bye last week).
BYU is not a good team. Hopefully ND will play as well as they can, and not play just well enough to win.
Look for a big game from: Julius, Brady Quinn, Clark and/or Fasano, Rhema, Big Ced and Darrell throwing their weight around, last week's defensive MVP trio of Tuck BHoyte and Sapp, and Vontez the returner.
ND 34, BYU 20
I'll be "reporting live from the game," so if catch a BYU player or fan off the field, I'll be sure to interview them about Mormon Bachelor Parties.
BYU's from the pass-wacky MWAC. Hey, their starting QB is injured! Great! Not really. QB Matt Berry is averaging 200 ypg, 100 ypg more than teammate John Beck. Both have been injured this year, but according to John Vannie of NDNation, Berry was the starter at the beginning of the year. Quarterback returning from an injury you say? It was a hand injury (I'm not sure which), but the line needs to put pressure on him to keep him from getting his rhythm back. BYU spreads the ball out fairly well, with 10 players having double digit receiving yards per game. The major threat is Toby Christensen, he of PS2 NCAA 2004 fame. He averages 49 ypg, but that's nothing "number 34" can't handle. Also look out for Chris Hale, a posession guy, and Daniel Coats the TE. The secondary gained some confidence last week, and with that, plus talent, they'll give up some yards but play well as a group.
On the other side of the ball, BYU gives up 180 ypg passing. Judging by Quinn's game last week, he should be just fine in this game. The WRs will out-athlete and the TEs will out-size BYU.
BYU is not a terrible rushing team. They gain 100 ypg on the ground, with former second-stringer Ray Brathwaite gaining 80 of those 100 yards. He's not to be taken lightly. BYU also gives up 126 ypg on the ground. Julius. Julius Julius. Julius. Then again, Grant would (or should) have a good game against this team.
On special teams, BYU appears to have a good return game, at least on kickoffs. Everyone they've put out there has a decent return average, which tells me that the blocking is good. Keep your heads in the game there, guys. On punt returns, they're not so good. No one that has multiple punt returns this year has higher than an 8 yrd average.
On special teams coverage, BYU has been not-so-good, at least according to their coach. He's using starters on coverage teams this week. Vontez and Matt Shelton and everyone else should take advantage of this. Yes, the starters are theoretically better, but they've only been practicing special teams for 2 weeks (they had a bye last week).
BYU is not a good team. Hopefully ND will play as well as they can, and not play just well enough to win.
Look for a big game from: Julius, Brady Quinn, Clark and/or Fasano, Rhema, Big Ced and Darrell throwing their weight around, last week's defensive MVP trio of Tuck BHoyte and Sapp, and Vontez the returner.
ND 34, BYU 20
I'll be "reporting live from the game," so if catch a BYU player or fan off the field, I'll be sure to interview them about Mormon Bachelor Parties.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
If you come at me, I'll come right back at you...
ND/Navy: Julius is the man. Does someone want to tell this to the coaches? Hey, a win's a win. Navy's always played us tough, so I have no problem with this one going down to the wire. Ellen loves DJ, and I'm sure quite a few more people do too after that one. I had full faith in DJ, he's done a decent job as Setta's backup. Most of his FG misses (if not all) have been from 40+. He shanks a punt or so, but most are over 35 yards. That's not bad for a walk on, is it? Quinn finally got to play a soft team, and he proved that he'll be a fine QB in the future. Rhema proved that not only is he a playmaker, but he'll be a good replacement for Omar as a go-to-guy. Again proving that the future is bright, Tuck went wild with 14 tackles. Garron Bible also stepped it up. After blowing his assignment on the long TD run, he was "right place, right time" for several key stops. Our future is safe, but this year isn't over just yet.
Miami/Tennessee: I think I'm a little late to join the ragging on Winslow (although it wouldn't be the first time here), I did have this one thought I'd like to pass along: I'd pay money to watch Jessica Lynch kick Kellen Winslow squar in the nyuts. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see this game because it was on the same time as...
tOSU/MSU: Maurice Clarett is in trouble because he's failing African American Studies and Physical Education. Let's think about that... (on the other hand, I'm sure these classes are much tougher than Music Appreciation, AIDS Awareness, and Coaching Golf)
BGSU/MiamiU: 33-10. Wow, that MAC is WIDE open.
TCU/Louisville: No, TCU does not belong in a BCS bowl, their SOS is terrible and they'd get killed. Then again, the bowls are all about ratings, and Cronk's sister would definitely help...
Oklahoma/TAMU: I didn't see this one, so unlike the certain TV pundits, I won't draw conclusions on the final score.
FSU/Clemson: The best part of the game had to be seeing a very pro-FSU Mrs. Bowden very upset that "we" lost to her son's team.
Obscure College Scores:
IUP 27, Slippery Rock 14. IUP is now 5-1 in the PSAC West and 9-1 overall.
CUP 3, Edinboro 34. CUP drops to 2-3 in their conference and 4-6 overall.
NFL:
Browns/Chiefs: Stop Dante Hall? Check. Stop Priest Holmes? Check. Stop Trent Green? Dah. Cleveland is struggling this year, and those "Cleveland fans should be the ones whining about a championship" graphics are getting a little old. Solution? Cut Kevin Johnson, your most consistent receiver since the "new" Browns came about. He just couldn't get along with the new coaching staff. I was actually shocked that he responded to last week's benching by pulling out a stat sheet and reciting his numbers to the press. Not the best reaction, KJ. Between him and Willie Green, it's a good idea I don't buy jerseys. Well, maybe I'll see a "FAINE 50" some day, but the fans around here don't seem to notice his heart and hustle.
NYG/Atlanta: Um, maybe Ellen will let me skip this one this week...
San Diego/Minnesota: Doug Flutie. I'm convinced now (and I'm probably wrong again) that defenses over-prepare for an opposing QB. This game is an example, as is every game Kelly Holcomb has played in. As a backup, he's a savior, but as a starter, he just can't win.
Philadelphia/Green Bay: I went to bed around halftime, so I guess I missed about all of this one. I did think I heard one player (not the "French" Darren Sharperrrr) state his college as "You Already Know." It would've been better to go with, "Oh you didn't know?"
Cavs Update:
The first game I got to see was the home opener. Five minutes into the game, I said to myself, "yep, these are still the Cavs."
Flash forward to Friday night vs the Pacers. Cavs go up 2 with 26 seconds left; Pacers call a timeout. I turn to my buddy Matt and say, "watch either Darius Miles or Ricky Davis pick up the 'and 1' foul." Sure enough, Miles blows coverage as his man drives the lane, Davis fouls him trying to pick him up, and the Cavs lose 91-90.
LeBron has played better than I expected so far - 16.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 6.3 apg. I expected about 8 ppg with the other numbers close to where they are now. Keep it up; it looks like the team is starting to get it together for some wins.
One last thought: I was watching the Cavs/Knicks game last night. I won't go into the outcome for Dave and Ellen's sake, but I did have this one thought. Charlie Ward of FSU (2 National Titles! 2 Heisman Trophy Winners!) has been on the Knicks forever and has put up mediocre to ok numbers. Is it possible to be a journeyman if you've only played for one team your entire life?
I don't want to create an "Attack Jason Lloyd" segment (Lloyd being the tOSU kiss-up in the local paper), but today's article deserved a mention. Bitter about the possibility of tOSU being shut out of the title game and a chance to "defend their national championship," Lloyd proceeds to create a rather nice "why a playoff is necessary" argument. (to quote Jim Mora, "Playoffs?! You want to talk about the playoffs?!") He suggests an 8 team playoff, with the 5 major conference winners and 3 at larges, including at least one from a non-BCS conference. THe quarterfinals would be the Cotton, Citrus, and Gator (or other similar ones). The 4 BCS bowls would rotate, so one would be the title game, two would be the semis, and one would be a quarterfinal. He says that yes, the bowls would no longer be week-long events, but in the end it would be worth it. No. Bowls are bowls because they are week-long events. The communities and their people look forward to the parades, and the events, and the hospital visits (that is, teams visiting the sick, not meaning income from injured players). You can't take that away or the bowls would just be boring. That, and you can't put that much more pressure on the young players' bodies. There's also the "we deserved" argument. Look - if you're going to have arguments over which two teams make the title game, you're also going to have arguments over which 8 or 3 or however many teams make the playoffs. Playoffs don't address that problem. The BCS isn't perfect, but with SOS and other checks and balances, it is a good system.
We'll end with baseball. Angel Berroa picks up AL ROY honors, and also wins the Hines Ward Memorial "Sports Pundits Sound Smart by Talking About Me" award. Berroa had decent numbers, but there's no way he beats out the competition. Also, there are certain people grumbling about the two sportswriters who left Matsui off their ballots. Hey, if you don't want to vote for a guy, there's nothing against that. And if they disagree with his rookie status, so what? It's their choice. If you want to raise a stink, why not blast everyone for not voting for Jody Gerut? His stats were better than Berroa's too. My thoughts:
1. Gerut, Cleveland OF. The complete package. Meant more to his team than Matsui. He just didn't get any press.
2. Matsui. Yeah, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for his stats, but only to a certain extent. There is the argument that the award is named after Jackie Robinson, and he was in a similar situation to Matsui (playing in a league arguably as competitive as the majors first), but I still don't totally agree. As an aside, I also think that the Negro Leagues were as good as, if not better than, the majors, but I don't think the Japanese leagues are quite there. Once again, they can prove me wrong.
3. Mark Teixeira, Texas IF. He had the numbers, and the press. I'm surprised he came in 5th.
4. Rocco Baldelli, Tampa Bay OF. He had all the hype coming into this season, and put up good numbers. He'll be a solid player, and hopefully he, Aubrey Huff, and Lou can put a little life into the Rays.
5. Berroa, KC SS. He was alright, and the KC run early on helped his stock rise, but I don't think he's any better than the 4 guys ahead of him.
Alright, time to sign off. I have a 600 page book to read (see the right sidebar).
ND/Navy: Julius is the man. Does someone want to tell this to the coaches? Hey, a win's a win. Navy's always played us tough, so I have no problem with this one going down to the wire. Ellen loves DJ, and I'm sure quite a few more people do too after that one. I had full faith in DJ, he's done a decent job as Setta's backup. Most of his FG misses (if not all) have been from 40+. He shanks a punt or so, but most are over 35 yards. That's not bad for a walk on, is it? Quinn finally got to play a soft team, and he proved that he'll be a fine QB in the future. Rhema proved that not only is he a playmaker, but he'll be a good replacement for Omar as a go-to-guy. Again proving that the future is bright, Tuck went wild with 14 tackles. Garron Bible also stepped it up. After blowing his assignment on the long TD run, he was "right place, right time" for several key stops. Our future is safe, but this year isn't over just yet.
Miami/Tennessee: I think I'm a little late to join the ragging on Winslow (although it wouldn't be the first time here), I did have this one thought I'd like to pass along: I'd pay money to watch Jessica Lynch kick Kellen Winslow squar in the nyuts. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see this game because it was on the same time as...
tOSU/MSU: Maurice Clarett is in trouble because he's failing African American Studies and Physical Education. Let's think about that... (on the other hand, I'm sure these classes are much tougher than Music Appreciation, AIDS Awareness, and Coaching Golf)
BGSU/MiamiU: 33-10. Wow, that MAC is WIDE open.
TCU/Louisville: No, TCU does not belong in a BCS bowl, their SOS is terrible and they'd get killed. Then again, the bowls are all about ratings, and Cronk's sister would definitely help...
Oklahoma/TAMU: I didn't see this one, so unlike the certain TV pundits, I won't draw conclusions on the final score.
FSU/Clemson: The best part of the game had to be seeing a very pro-FSU Mrs. Bowden very upset that "we" lost to her son's team.
Obscure College Scores:
IUP 27, Slippery Rock 14. IUP is now 5-1 in the PSAC West and 9-1 overall.
CUP 3, Edinboro 34. CUP drops to 2-3 in their conference and 4-6 overall.
NFL:
Browns/Chiefs: Stop Dante Hall? Check. Stop Priest Holmes? Check. Stop Trent Green? Dah. Cleveland is struggling this year, and those "Cleveland fans should be the ones whining about a championship" graphics are getting a little old. Solution? Cut Kevin Johnson, your most consistent receiver since the "new" Browns came about. He just couldn't get along with the new coaching staff. I was actually shocked that he responded to last week's benching by pulling out a stat sheet and reciting his numbers to the press. Not the best reaction, KJ. Between him and Willie Green, it's a good idea I don't buy jerseys. Well, maybe I'll see a "FAINE 50" some day, but the fans around here don't seem to notice his heart and hustle.
NYG/Atlanta: Um, maybe Ellen will let me skip this one this week...
San Diego/Minnesota: Doug Flutie. I'm convinced now (and I'm probably wrong again) that defenses over-prepare for an opposing QB. This game is an example, as is every game Kelly Holcomb has played in. As a backup, he's a savior, but as a starter, he just can't win.
Philadelphia/Green Bay: I went to bed around halftime, so I guess I missed about all of this one. I did think I heard one player (not the "French" Darren Sharperrrr) state his college as "You Already Know." It would've been better to go with, "Oh you didn't know?"
Cavs Update:
The first game I got to see was the home opener. Five minutes into the game, I said to myself, "yep, these are still the Cavs."
Flash forward to Friday night vs the Pacers. Cavs go up 2 with 26 seconds left; Pacers call a timeout. I turn to my buddy Matt and say, "watch either Darius Miles or Ricky Davis pick up the 'and 1' foul." Sure enough, Miles blows coverage as his man drives the lane, Davis fouls him trying to pick him up, and the Cavs lose 91-90.
LeBron has played better than I expected so far - 16.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 6.3 apg. I expected about 8 ppg with the other numbers close to where they are now. Keep it up; it looks like the team is starting to get it together for some wins.
One last thought: I was watching the Cavs/Knicks game last night. I won't go into the outcome for Dave and Ellen's sake, but I did have this one thought. Charlie Ward of FSU (2 National Titles! 2 Heisman Trophy Winners!) has been on the Knicks forever and has put up mediocre to ok numbers. Is it possible to be a journeyman if you've only played for one team your entire life?
I don't want to create an "Attack Jason Lloyd" segment (Lloyd being the tOSU kiss-up in the local paper), but today's article deserved a mention. Bitter about the possibility of tOSU being shut out of the title game and a chance to "defend their national championship," Lloyd proceeds to create a rather nice "why a playoff is necessary" argument. (to quote Jim Mora, "Playoffs?! You want to talk about the playoffs?!") He suggests an 8 team playoff, with the 5 major conference winners and 3 at larges, including at least one from a non-BCS conference. THe quarterfinals would be the Cotton, Citrus, and Gator (or other similar ones). The 4 BCS bowls would rotate, so one would be the title game, two would be the semis, and one would be a quarterfinal. He says that yes, the bowls would no longer be week-long events, but in the end it would be worth it. No. Bowls are bowls because they are week-long events. The communities and their people look forward to the parades, and the events, and the hospital visits (that is, teams visiting the sick, not meaning income from injured players). You can't take that away or the bowls would just be boring. That, and you can't put that much more pressure on the young players' bodies. There's also the "we deserved" argument. Look - if you're going to have arguments over which two teams make the title game, you're also going to have arguments over which 8 or 3 or however many teams make the playoffs. Playoffs don't address that problem. The BCS isn't perfect, but with SOS and other checks and balances, it is a good system.
We'll end with baseball. Angel Berroa picks up AL ROY honors, and also wins the Hines Ward Memorial "Sports Pundits Sound Smart by Talking About Me" award. Berroa had decent numbers, but there's no way he beats out the competition. Also, there are certain people grumbling about the two sportswriters who left Matsui off their ballots. Hey, if you don't want to vote for a guy, there's nothing against that. And if they disagree with his rookie status, so what? It's their choice. If you want to raise a stink, why not blast everyone for not voting for Jody Gerut? His stats were better than Berroa's too. My thoughts:
1. Gerut, Cleveland OF. The complete package. Meant more to his team than Matsui. He just didn't get any press.
2. Matsui. Yeah, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for his stats, but only to a certain extent. There is the argument that the award is named after Jackie Robinson, and he was in a similar situation to Matsui (playing in a league arguably as competitive as the majors first), but I still don't totally agree. As an aside, I also think that the Negro Leagues were as good as, if not better than, the majors, but I don't think the Japanese leagues are quite there. Once again, they can prove me wrong.
3. Mark Teixeira, Texas IF. He had the numbers, and the press. I'm surprised he came in 5th.
4. Rocco Baldelli, Tampa Bay OF. He had all the hype coming into this season, and put up good numbers. He'll be a solid player, and hopefully he, Aubrey Huff, and Lou can put a little life into the Rays.
5. Berroa, KC SS. He was alright, and the KC run early on helped his stock rise, but I don't think he's any better than the 4 guys ahead of him.
Alright, time to sign off. I have a 600 page book to read (see the right sidebar).
Thursday, November 06, 2003
ND/Navy analysis from a guy who's been woken up to "Anchors Aweigh" every August morning for the past 22 years:
This is going to be a disciplined football team. Craig Candeto joins Jared Lorenzen as the only D-IA players with 9th year senior status. The leading rusher is fullback Kyle Eckel. I've heard that Navy has instituted a bit of a spread offense, so I'm assuming most of Eckel's carries come between tackles out of shotgun and flexbone sets. I'm confident Ced, Darrell, and the other tackles will have a decent game against him. They'll give up a few yards but overall get it done. The defensive ends need to get in the backfield to disrupt the option, even if it means just pushing your guy backwards. Kyle B will be missed. As witnessed in last year's Air Force game, the strong safety will have to be huge. Can Bolen do it? Will Bible, or even Freddie Parrish, be able to help? Derek Curry is often seen out in coverage, can he help? Candeto throws for about 100 yards a game, so the corners can't be caught napping. Navy likes to score early, outscoring opponents 81-16 in the first quarter, then playing fairly evenly the rest of the way. Against the option, all of last week's gang tackling (that this column lauded last week) might hurt this week. Know your man, cover your man, tackle your man.
On the other side of the ball, establish the run. If we don't get behind early, we can stay on the ground and bully the Midshipmen. Navy only gives up 150 yards passing a game, but they haven't faced a real threat yet. They do, however, have 12 picks. This game will be won on the ground with a few big "gamebreaker" passes. Our offense, in theory at least, is bigger, stronger, and faster. Now, act like it.
On special teams, Navy has neither gained or given up a high amount of return yards. Once again, discipline is key. They've employed two fairly accurate kickers, and have had 3 kicks blocked.
Look for a big game from: Darrell (a la Pittsburgh), Ced, Landry and/or Pauly, VA, Freddie Parrish, Vontez as a returner, the O-Line, Julius (the bruiser), Omar, and Quinn as a leader.
ND 31, Navy 21. These are never easy.
Now I'm signing off to look up the correct spelling of "discipline" in the dictionary.
This is going to be a disciplined football team. Craig Candeto joins Jared Lorenzen as the only D-IA players with 9th year senior status. The leading rusher is fullback Kyle Eckel. I've heard that Navy has instituted a bit of a spread offense, so I'm assuming most of Eckel's carries come between tackles out of shotgun and flexbone sets. I'm confident Ced, Darrell, and the other tackles will have a decent game against him. They'll give up a few yards but overall get it done. The defensive ends need to get in the backfield to disrupt the option, even if it means just pushing your guy backwards. Kyle B will be missed. As witnessed in last year's Air Force game, the strong safety will have to be huge. Can Bolen do it? Will Bible, or even Freddie Parrish, be able to help? Derek Curry is often seen out in coverage, can he help? Candeto throws for about 100 yards a game, so the corners can't be caught napping. Navy likes to score early, outscoring opponents 81-16 in the first quarter, then playing fairly evenly the rest of the way. Against the option, all of last week's gang tackling (that this column lauded last week) might hurt this week. Know your man, cover your man, tackle your man.
On the other side of the ball, establish the run. If we don't get behind early, we can stay on the ground and bully the Midshipmen. Navy only gives up 150 yards passing a game, but they haven't faced a real threat yet. They do, however, have 12 picks. This game will be won on the ground with a few big "gamebreaker" passes. Our offense, in theory at least, is bigger, stronger, and faster. Now, act like it.
On special teams, Navy has neither gained or given up a high amount of return yards. Once again, discipline is key. They've employed two fairly accurate kickers, and have had 3 kicks blocked.
Look for a big game from: Darrell (a la Pittsburgh), Ced, Landry and/or Pauly, VA, Freddie Parrish, Vontez as a returner, the O-Line, Julius (the bruiser), Omar, and Quinn as a leader.
ND 31, Navy 21. These are never easy.
Now I'm signing off to look up the correct spelling of "discipline" in the dictionary.
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Aw, there it went...
ND/FSU: Unfortunately for Ty, TMQ isn't around any more. A run on 2nd after an incompletion on 1st? Stuffed. Running backwards 5 yards on a 3rd and 1? "When it's 3rd down and so many yards..." Well, you know the rest. The turning point was obviously the 12 men on the field penalty. But, then again, don't blame the coaches too much, because it's not like Ty can suit up and play cornerback. I'm honestly surprised Bobby B didn't try to go deep every play. On a positive note, it looks like the D was practicing gang tackling during warmups, and it appeared to help. FSU's only attack was the deep pass in man coverage. Other than that, FSU wasn't too effective.
Halftime: This started to remind me of the USC halftime show - the crowd was fired up and it was time for a big comeback. But then - the flag. Dye, you were doing well! Now, you turned into Gerry Faust, pulling out the green jerseys at halftime with a 27-0 lead over USC.
Miami/VPI: I'm convinced that coaches at big talent laden schools really can't coach, especially when behind. Case in point, Bobby Bowden last year vs ND, or Larry Coker Saturday night. I thought Coker would be ok after the Florida game, but he panicked. You can't win on talent alone all the time.
Arkansas/Kentucky: Wow. These guys outscored at least 3 NBA teams. The overtime sequences were amazing, until Kentucky decided they were NCState in the tOSU game. I can't wait to see this on ESPNClassic... oh wait, it now costs more money for us to get ESPNClassic at home. Dah. This game reminded me of that 200 World Series extra inning game, where I said I'd join the St Clairesville hotel party "as soon as the game is over." Yeah, I never made that party...
'Bama: They have the #2 SOS after ND. No wonder this team's 3-6.
Speaking of SOS, there's this young (mid/late 20s) guy, Jason Lloyd, working as a sportswriter for the local paper. Basically, his job is to kiss up to tOSU. Well, his last article was basically paraphrasing the latest post on collegerpi.com. Gee, I could do that.
Obscure College Scores:
Indiana of Pennsylvania 18, Shippensburg 7. IUP is now 4-1 in the PSAC West and 8-1 overall.
California of Pennsylvania 13, Clarion 7. CUP is now 4-5 overall.
NFL:
Jets/Giants: Once again, a great game from the New York teams. Once again, not shown in the Cleveland market. "Oh, the Browns aren't playing this week, so we don't need to show any 1pm game at all!" Ellen, if you would like to become the special Giants reporter (since you demand Giants converage), go for it.
Washington/Dallas: Wait, we want Spurrier to be our coach?
TB/NO: Well, at least Ty's not the only 2nd year coach sucking - thanks John Gruden and Bill Callahan. On another note, Randy Moss has ruined the hook and lateral for the next couple years. Cheers to smart DBs who now stand there, let the receiver catch the ball, wait for the flip, then tackle that guy.
Atlanta/Philadelphia: Rapper Bonecrusher was accused of using profanity while performing "Never Scared" at halftime of this game. He has a version of this that he wrote for Madden 2004 (It's football time...)... that doesn't have profanity.... and it's about FOOTBALL! Why didn't he just use that version? (IT'S A HAIL MARY PASS IT'S FOOTBALL TIME!)
NE/Denver: If I ever were on MNF, my player intro would definitely be, "John Katricak, Our Lady's University." There were about 5 BC starters on the two teams, compared to 1 from ND (Bert Berry). I believe the expression the paranoid skeptics like to use is "talent gap." Hmm. The ending of this game reminded of last trip to Wrigley for a Cubs/Cards game. Every time TOny LaRussa would make a move or be mentioned, Dave (should I be calling you "my buddy Dave"?) would look at me and proclaim, "Tony LaRussa is a baseball genious!" Well, after this game, I think it's fair that all references to Bill Belichick should require "Bill Belichick is a football genious!"
Well, I ended this column last night by running off sick after someone said of Bob Davie, "well, that's why he's a great coach." I don't know how to end this one, except maybe "Go LeBron!"
ND/FSU: Unfortunately for Ty, TMQ isn't around any more. A run on 2nd after an incompletion on 1st? Stuffed. Running backwards 5 yards on a 3rd and 1? "When it's 3rd down and so many yards..." Well, you know the rest. The turning point was obviously the 12 men on the field penalty. But, then again, don't blame the coaches too much, because it's not like Ty can suit up and play cornerback. I'm honestly surprised Bobby B didn't try to go deep every play. On a positive note, it looks like the D was practicing gang tackling during warmups, and it appeared to help. FSU's only attack was the deep pass in man coverage. Other than that, FSU wasn't too effective.
Halftime: This started to remind me of the USC halftime show - the crowd was fired up and it was time for a big comeback. But then - the flag. Dye, you were doing well! Now, you turned into Gerry Faust, pulling out the green jerseys at halftime with a 27-0 lead over USC.
Miami/VPI: I'm convinced that coaches at big talent laden schools really can't coach, especially when behind. Case in point, Bobby Bowden last year vs ND, or Larry Coker Saturday night. I thought Coker would be ok after the Florida game, but he panicked. You can't win on talent alone all the time.
Arkansas/Kentucky: Wow. These guys outscored at least 3 NBA teams. The overtime sequences were amazing, until Kentucky decided they were NCState in the tOSU game. I can't wait to see this on ESPNClassic... oh wait, it now costs more money for us to get ESPNClassic at home. Dah. This game reminded me of that 200 World Series extra inning game, where I said I'd join the St Clairesville hotel party "as soon as the game is over." Yeah, I never made that party...
'Bama: They have the #2 SOS after ND. No wonder this team's 3-6.
Speaking of SOS, there's this young (mid/late 20s) guy, Jason Lloyd, working as a sportswriter for the local paper. Basically, his job is to kiss up to tOSU. Well, his last article was basically paraphrasing the latest post on collegerpi.com. Gee, I could do that.
Obscure College Scores:
Indiana of Pennsylvania 18, Shippensburg 7. IUP is now 4-1 in the PSAC West and 8-1 overall.
California of Pennsylvania 13, Clarion 7. CUP is now 4-5 overall.
NFL:
Jets/Giants: Once again, a great game from the New York teams. Once again, not shown in the Cleveland market. "Oh, the Browns aren't playing this week, so we don't need to show any 1pm game at all!" Ellen, if you would like to become the special Giants reporter (since you demand Giants converage), go for it.
Washington/Dallas: Wait, we want Spurrier to be our coach?
TB/NO: Well, at least Ty's not the only 2nd year coach sucking - thanks John Gruden and Bill Callahan. On another note, Randy Moss has ruined the hook and lateral for the next couple years. Cheers to smart DBs who now stand there, let the receiver catch the ball, wait for the flip, then tackle that guy.
Atlanta/Philadelphia: Rapper Bonecrusher was accused of using profanity while performing "Never Scared" at halftime of this game. He has a version of this that he wrote for Madden 2004 (It's football time...)... that doesn't have profanity.... and it's about FOOTBALL! Why didn't he just use that version? (IT'S A HAIL MARY PASS IT'S FOOTBALL TIME!)
NE/Denver: If I ever were on MNF, my player intro would definitely be, "John Katricak, Our Lady's University." There were about 5 BC starters on the two teams, compared to 1 from ND (Bert Berry). I believe the expression the paranoid skeptics like to use is "talent gap." Hmm. The ending of this game reminded of last trip to Wrigley for a Cubs/Cards game. Every time TOny LaRussa would make a move or be mentioned, Dave (should I be calling you "my buddy Dave"?) would look at me and proclaim, "Tony LaRussa is a baseball genious!" Well, after this game, I think it's fair that all references to Bill Belichick should require "Bill Belichick is a football genious!"
Well, I ended this column last night by running off sick after someone said of Bob Davie, "well, that's why he's a great coach." I don't know how to end this one, except maybe "Go LeBron!"
To keep you satisfied, here are my notes for this week. If I have time tonight, I'll make sense of them in column form.
> Ty not listening to TMQ (now gone) - run on 2nd after pass on
1st, running backwards 5 yards on 3rd & 1
> When it's 3rd down and so many yards...
> 12 men was turning point, but Ty can't play CB
> Miami/VPI: big coaches can't handle losing - panic and give up
> Ark/Kent: wow, outscored how many NBA teams. "we'll go
after it's done" - similar to me & 2001 WS in St Clairsville
> NYJ/NYG: ???
> NE/Denver: Bellichick football LaRussa. "Tony LaRussa is a
baseball genious!" (Dave - perhaps to many Wrigley bud lights)
> also, about 5 BC starters on these 2 teams ... talent gap!!!
> IN of PA:IUP 18, Shippensburg 7, Overall: 8-1, PSAC West: 4-1
> CA of PA:CUP 13, Clarion 7, Overall: 4-5
> Jason Lloyd & collegerpi.com
> Bama #2 SOS
> Wash/Dallas: good job, Spurrier
> me on MNF: "Our Lady's University"
> hook & ladder - after Moss, DBs just stand there, wait for flip
& tackle that guy
> TB/NO: 2nd year coaches sucking: Gruden, Callahan, Ty
> at least starting to practice gang tackling
ATL/PHI: Never Scared - why not Madden remix?
> Ty not listening to TMQ (now gone) - run on 2nd after pass on
1st, running backwards 5 yards on 3rd & 1
> When it's 3rd down and so many yards...
> 12 men was turning point, but Ty can't play CB
> Miami/VPI: big coaches can't handle losing - panic and give up
> Ark/Kent: wow, outscored how many NBA teams. "we'll go
after it's done" - similar to me & 2001 WS in St Clairsville
> NYJ/NYG: ???
> NE/Denver: Bellichick football LaRussa. "Tony LaRussa is a
baseball genious!" (Dave - perhaps to many Wrigley bud lights)
> also, about 5 BC starters on these 2 teams ... talent gap!!!
> IN of PA:IUP 18, Shippensburg 7, Overall: 8-1, PSAC West: 4-1
> CA of PA:CUP 13, Clarion 7, Overall: 4-5
> Jason Lloyd & collegerpi.com
> Bama #2 SOS
> Wash/Dallas: good job, Spurrier
> me on MNF: "Our Lady's University"
> hook & ladder - after Moss, DBs just stand there, wait for flip
& tackle that guy
> TB/NO: 2nd year coaches sucking: Gruden, Callahan, Ty
> at least starting to practice gang tackling
ATL/PHI: Never Scared - why not Madden remix?
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