MD

Yes, go Terps. Kurt Dahlstrand is a donkey and he went to Villanova so by association you're playing a bunch of donkeys. Not worth losing to.

Good Luck Erik and other notes heading to the weekend

- Erik, good luck this season. Should be a fun way to keep occupied on Friday afternoons.

- I'm ready for the Jacoby Ellsbury era to heat up and the JD Drew era to simmer down.

- I'm ready for the Eric Hinske era to end.

- I'd like to point out, that in a game that featured the NY Giants starters (for a short while) vs. the New England Patriots 2s and 3s, the Patriots won the game.

- I think Rivers was at 2 of the nuttiest games in baseball this season, and neither were in DC.

- I sincerely hope Maryland beats Nova. There is no line on this game, but I am thinking it'll be one of those real typical 16-13 Maryland wins.

College Football Week 1 - Erik's Picks

I mostly like the favorites this week.... and a strong Eastern bias.

Missouri (-4) over Illinois

WVU (-23) over Western Michigan

Auburn (-13) over Kansas State

Tennessee (+6) over Cal

Virginia (-3) over Wyoming

0-0-0 Year to Date

College Football Week 1 - Scott's Picks

Erik and I are having a season long college football challenge. We each pick 5 games against the spread, and the winner at the end of the season gets (prize to be named later).

My 5 plays:

Va Tech -28 - Too much emotion in Blacksburg. This is my LOCK OF THE WEEK
Cuse +4 - Washington travelling across the country. ESPN nationally
televised game, crowd stoked, Cuse wins outright.
Wake +6 - Defending ACC champs getting a full touchdown?
USC -46 - I'd take USC if they were favored by 63.5 against Idaho
Texas -39 - Dont they always win the first game by 60 or so?

0-0-0 Year to Date. 0-0-0 Locks of the Week YTD

Eh

Had my draft. Not bad. Not crazy about my depth but like the starters. Also not crazy about the Madden Cover jinx.

RB LaDanian Tomlinson
RB Willis McGahee
RB Clinton Portis
RB Julius Jones
RB Michael Turner

QB Vince Young
QB Jay Cutler
QB Trent Green

WR Steve Smith
WR Larry Fitzgerald
WR Santonio Holmes
WR Eddie Kennison

TE Vernon Davis

K Matt Stover

DEF Jacksonville Jaguars

Erik's College Watchlist, Sept 1

Game To Watch on TV:
Tennessee at Cal, 8:00 EST

Tennessee is a legitimate threat to Florida and the SEC Title. Cal is a legitimate threat to USC and the Pac-10 title. As of 8/28, both have an outside shot at the BCS Title Game. By midnight on Saturday, one of them is donesky.

Unusual Game of the Week:
Northeastern at Northwestern, 12:00 EST

I like the name correlation. Is it east vs west or man against man? Can any nation stand alone? But there is more than what you see on the surface. Last year Northwestern lost at home to a different CAA/A-10/Yankee Conference team, UNH. It can be done. On the flipside, Northeastern went in to Lane Stadium to face the Hokies and 66,000 crazy screaming fans in last season’s opener. Good night, Irene. Stay classy San Diego. I don’t think Northwestern’s home field is gonna have the same effect on the Huskies. And since Northeastern probably plays in 1-AA stadiums that are bigger than what’s happening up in Evanston, the intimidation factor might be gone. Maybe its just two teams playing football. Keep an eye on it.

The Eagles:
Wake Forest at BC, 3:30 EST

BC is Wake Forest’s red-headed step child. Have been playing since the Big East days. The only time we beat them was a ridiculous comeback when they finally put Matt Ryan in the game because the game was officially a lost cause. Some writer asked, was WFU a thorn in Tom O’Brien’s side…. Or Frank Spaziani? I truly feel BC should have beaten them in all three of the losses. I hope they don’t play like a bunch of turkeys again this year. No more awful Quinton Porter type fumbles or Larry Lester fumbles please. I make no predictions.

The Terps:
Villanova @ Maryland, 6:00 EST

RB Curtis Sumpter
QB Tim Thomas
TE Jason Fraser
WR Randy Foye
DE Eddie Pinckney

OK I’ll stop now. For the good of all ACC schools’ reputations – just get the W please.

I Hate Notre Dame
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, 3:30

Let me guess. ND squeezes out a victory, giving their delusional fans the impression they are good and Georgia Tech doesn’t help the league reputation. RT.

Red Sox Fan 101

This is what it is like to be a Sox fan, I guess. These are the emails you get.

This is from an unnamed friend, who's nickname rhymes with Manny, except it starts with a B:

Unnamed Friend that Rhymes with Manny: The Sox have all the momentum, and the Yanks don't. I hope it stays that way. Just avoid sweep.
Me: why, because then it would still be a 5 game lead. lol. this
division is OVER if they get swept or not.
Him: How about if the Sox get swept at Fenway? Then it's 2 games...
Me: how about you stop worrying? seriously. the yankees are terrible.
It's OVER. start focusing on the Pats, I say.

The power of a jacktini

Brender. Menschel. Izzy.

Memories......

Weatherfording the Storm

The Noles are going with Weatherford again, ahead of Xavier Lee. Probably the right decision. However.... they both stink. How have they not brought anyone else in the past two years? Didn't FSU used to get 2 All-American QBs in every recruiting class? Years 1 & 2 of Drew were collosal failures, and they're back for more. I guess that doesn't mean he'll necessarily take the snaps on Nov 3 though.

Did You Know?

So, I thought I'd analyze some stats, and throw some of them out to our 4 readers. Hopefully, they will make you say, "Huh, I did not realize that. I'm really happy I went to The BBBQ to find this out."

First stat that I found interesting:
As of this posting, there are 43 pitchers in the majors with an ERA under 4.00. That seemed like a lot to me. So, let's compare that to last season, when only 28 pitchers had an ERA under 4.00

Did you know, that in 2001, Hideo Nomo of the Boston Red Sox led the American League in strikeouts? The top 5 that season in the majors were Randy Johnson, Schilling (yikes, same team), Nomo, Chan Ho Park, Kerry Wood.

Clearly, American hitters had no idea what the Asians were throwing them. They caught on fast, though.

In 2000, Pedro Martinez had a 1.74 ERA over 217 innings. The next closest American League pitcher was Roger Clemens at 3.70.

I'll say it again. Pedro Martinez had an ERA almost 2 full runs ahead of the next closest guy in his league.

The top 10 OPS guys in the majors, this season:
Bonds, A-Rod, Magglio, Chipper, M. Cabrera, Papi, Utley, Prince, Mark Texeira.

I've got to say, I'm surprised to see Utley's name on that list.

Here's a weird one. While looking up random rookie stats, I see that Chris B. Young has 26 homers. Pretty impressive. Somehow he only has 47 RBI, though. I guess that's typical of the National League, but 26 homers and 47 RBI is off the wall strange.

Maybe Rivers can enlighten us on what is the most homers with the fewest RBIs.

Final random stat: Christian Guzman led the majors in triples in 2000, 2001, and 2003.

I've got him on my list of "guys who probably did steroids."

Update from the Draft!!!

Former Boston College Eagle, and fellow balding white male, Matt Hasselbeck, will be the starting QB for team Taylor Made. He was selected in the 5th round. We are happy to have him aboard.

The Olympic Garden Federation Fantasy Draft - First 3 Rounds!

Okay, here's how it all went down tonight, top 3 rounds only. I'm the #9 pick:

First round:
1. LT - obviously
2. Steven Jackson - mostly obvious
3. Larry Johnson - obvious
4. Frank Gore - Interesting...but this guy always makes "interesting" picks
5. Addai - Yup, the new Edge
6. Westbrook - I like him, but he's so injury prone
7. Shaun Alexander - Tons of TDs if he stays healthy
8. Peyton - Dave Lee loves him
9. Maroney - SWEAT ME!!!!
10. Fast Willie Parker - Good pick
11. Rudi Johnson - Safe
12. McGahee - I hate anyone for fantasy who plays on Baltimore
Second round:
13. T. Henry
14. Ronnie Brown
15. Reggie Bush
16. Steve Smith - Me, Team Taylor.
17. Ced. Benson
18. Mo Jones Drew
19. Portis
20. Edge
21. Thomas Jones
22. Ocho Cinco
23. Deuce
24. Marv Harry
Third Round:
25. Cadillac
26. T.O.
27. Larry Fitzy
28. God (Tom Brady)
29. Torry Holt
30. Carson Palmer
31. TJ Hoos Your Momma
32. Andre Johnson
33. Marshawn Lynch - Me. Was debating between him and Big Brandon Jacobs here. We'll see how he pans out, but he should be the man in Buffalo.
34. Antonio Gates
35. Wayne Reggie
36. Drew Brees

Basketball Tilts

BC @ Maryland December 9 7:30
Maryland @ BC February 6 7:00

Brady Baby

Tom had a boy. Congrats. This kid will have as many advantages in life as the British princes. Superstar QB Dad, hot Mom, hot step-Mom, mad loot. Nice gig if you can get it.

Maybe Its the Newspapers

Maybe the papers are misleading, but I am very worried about the BC offense, and even the Patriots offense. I should have faith, and not pay attention to scrimmage numbers.

How can BC's offense, with 4 returning running backs, a respected line, a QB who is the ACC Pre-season POY, and a solid WR struggle you ask? I dunno. New coaching schemes. Offensive line zone blocking blowing up in their face. Five brutal road games.

How can the Pats offense, with Mr Best Human Ever Tom Brady and his deepest WR corps ever struggle? I dunno. Continuous coverage every day saying Maroney in a red non-contact jersey scares me. He finally shed that, but who's to say he won't get hurt again tomorrow. I think I'd feel better if we still had Corey Dillon and not be pinning our hopes on Heath Evans.

What am I talking about? The Patriots will be fine. Brady can always just spread out 5 guys, dink and dunk to replace the running game.

BC? Who knows. The Boston papers make the defense sound like the '85 Bears and the offense sound like the '98 Temple Owls.

Git er done, Big Fella!!

Wily Mo Pena has hit his second bomb in two days for my number 2 team, the GREAT Washington Reds....er....Nationals. You wouldn't know, seeing that they have about 37 ex-Reds on the team, but that's not the point of this blog. I'm here tonight to give a big fat "I TOLD YOU SO" to anyone who would listen to me. This guy just needs at bats. He's Pedro Cerrano. He can't hit a curveball, but with enough at bats and enough repetitions, Wily Mo has proven he can deliver. The less at bats, the less success he has (and the strikeouts increase at an alarming rate). It's right there in the stats.

Well, good luck Wily. Some of us will continue to root you on.

Scott's New Friend

BBBQ Blogger "Scott" made a new friend this weekend.

JD with a rare triple

JD hit a triple today. Amazing. In fact, this is an extremely rare occurance.

Statistical proof that you have a better chance of seeing Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster than JD Drew coming through in the clutch.


Note: MLB statistics are accurate. Big Foot & Loch Ness account for reported sightings only and can't account for additional unreported instances.

JD vs Rick Ankiel

Telling statistic


published by ESPN.com

Go SOONERS

I'm a big OU fan..... now. Their stud freshman running back.

DeMarco Murray

If you lived in MD in the 80s, you remember this

Key OOC games for the ACC

Here are the Top 15 Out of Conference Games for the ACC this season. The league reputation has plummeted since the decline of Miami and FSU. Winning at least 60% of these listed will be necessary to get more ACC teams in the Top 25 polls than last year.

* - The Top 5 for league visibility (for good or bad). These games will have the biggest effect on public opinion.

Nebraska at Wake Forest
* Miami (FL) at Oklahoma
* Virginia Tech at LSU
West Virginia at Maryland
Florida State at Colorado
Texas A&M at Miami (FL)
* Alabama at Florida State
Louisville at North Carolina State
Maryland at Rutgers
Pittsburgh at Virginia
South Carolina at North Carolina
*Boston College at Notre Dame
Clemson at South Carolina
* Florida State at Florida
Georgia at Georgia Tech

NE -5.5

Tennessee +5.5 at New England

I'd take the points.

Uncle Nutty Offerman

Salisbury

Congratulations to the Maryland (Salisbury West) Little Leaguers for earning their trip to Williamsport. Solid 6th inning. Not sure if they'll get to face Walpole, Mass or not, but that could make for a big time degenerate gambling bet between Debo & Callanan Ripken.

This Guy.

Coming up on a 5 Year Anniversary

From Christopher X. Rivers (9/26/2002):


your comment about vodka and gin reminds of something. i had a funny
conversation with caroline in west virginia. We went to this bar to watch
the BC/Miami game and get some dinner. So, it was your typical bar. stuff
on the wall, tall tables in the bar area, long wooden bar etc. So we were
saddled up on the stools, drinking a Blue Ridge amber, and i said 'I think
I like drinking about as much as any non-alocholic person possibly can' and I
think I like being in a bar about as much as you can. I love being in a
bar." And then i was thinking about it on the drive home. Drinking is so
much fun. You are around friends. Everyones always laughing. You either
drinking beers and relaxing and having a good time. Or drinking liqour with
your boys and getting sh1tfaced and doing the dumbest possible things, that
will be so funny the next day. Or you're out in the sun barbecuing or
tailgaiting or just "stooping it up" and having a cold sud. Or getting your
pre-drink on and analyzing about where the night is going to take you. And
then in a separate sort of theme, how fun is it to be at a bar. I love the
look of a bar, with all the liquor bottles lined up etc. Love bellying up
to the bar, leaning on the bar and sipping suds, watching a game or shooting
the sh1t. And being in the bar pretty much makes me like whatever music is
on. They were playing country and stuff in this bar, but it was perfect for
the setting (west va, stuffed fox above the bar, etc), and I don't even
like country but it was sut. Or if you're at a city bar, and they playing some
dance stuff you don't normally like, but it gets you hyped up when you are
at the bar. and i hate cigarette smoke, but it never bothers me at bar?
why, i dunno, i guess because it supposed to be there. I dunno, i think i
started rambling here, but basically, drinking is the best thing ever, almost
better than HD (which is in its own separate category).

O's

Congratulations to the Baltimore Orioles on a well played series against Boston. And a fine job by Kevin Millar today. Now do me a favor, O's.... don't go lay an egg against the Yankees. That would be RT.

Maroon & Gold vs Garnet & Gold. OH MAMMA!!!!

Coming to a kick-arse season near you..... Boston College vs University of Southern California. 2013. 2014. Football. Good times. Good times....... Ain't we lucky we got 'em.

ps BC-USC. Lots of letters.

pps I think we still owe them from when Scalabrine & Co beat BC in the NCAAs. Of course, Kenny Harley decides to drive for a layup down 3 points with no time left.

Barry and 756 - What to make of it all...

So, what we've been hearing about for the last 4 years finally happened last night. Right when I was about to go to bed, Barry went yard and promptly had his 5 minutes of glory. It wasn't a shock that he hit it in front of his fans, in front of the only people that would actually fully appreciate what the moment should have meant to the rest of the country.

I mean, it's 756. 7-5-6. That's a big freakin' deal. Yet, as I watched it last night, the only reaction I could muster was a shrug of the shoulders. Maybe if Barry Bonds wasn't the sporting world's biggest Grade-A A-Hole. I think that's just as big an issue as the steroid thing. He was an A-Hole before he was juicing, and he was an even bigger, more defiant one during and after his steroid use. Bonds is the most unlikable superstar of my lifetime. This, to me, is what makes it harder to be happy for the achievement then the steroid abuse.

Bonds is the central figure of the Steroid Era. He's the central figure because he's the home run king. It would have been McGwire, had McGwire been a couple years younger and played a few more years while we (the naive fans) discovered the truth of what was going on.

One of my issues with the Steroid Era is that the media and many of the fans hate Bonds because of the cheating. You should hate Bonds because he's a dick, and he's treated the fans like crap for 20 years. You should hate Bud Selig for allowing the steroid abuse on his watch, and allowing it to happen, AND then hypocritically pointing fingers once congress got involved. Where was he when McGwire and Sosa were swatting homers all over the place? He didn't know they were on steroids? He seriously didn't know this? You and I both know that everyone in baseball knew what was going on.

My last thought on 756 is what typifies Barry Bonds's and pretty much his whole career. They lost the game. He's the hero, but once again, his team lost.

Now it's over. We can get past the steroid abuse, and now we can focus on what's actually happening in baseball. There are 6 legitimate pennant races going on right now. Now, That's something worth getting excited about.

Just a Reminder

Son of Ivan

I loved playing CYO with Marc Menschel. But I always expected a little more production out of him.... especially since his Dad was a Boston Celtics legend.



Ivan Menschel

Stop Stealing My Thunder

Sincerely, GW

This is about as RT as it gets

Randy Moss – He went from hot to not in a split second. After drawing huge ovations from the lively crowd while making several nice catches, Moss appeared to tweak his left hamstring while attempting to haul in a bomb. His day was over at that point.

Hot Recruiting News

Gary Williams extended a scholarship offer to yet another post player for the class of 2008, 6'10" Center Jamaal Burke of Miami/Carol City HS. Burke has offers from LaSalle, Florida Atlantic, and Maryland. He is listing his interest level of Maryland as 'Low'. Photo below.



Terrapin Recruit, Jamaal Burke

I just did this dance upon hearing the Terrence Jennings news

Terrence Jennings

Terrence Jennings, the #12 player in the class of 2008, committed to the Terpies tonight. Phrase most often used to describe him? "Amare clone"

I'd say he aces the "look test." Huge pickup because 6'10", 230lb post players dont exactly fall out of trees.

Yes please. Do want.