Coming to my city?

Evaluating the potential for ESPN College Gameday to be at the Heights on Nov 1

Clemson is the favorite in the ACC.

Boston College is the defending Atlantic Champion

All games in the series have been close and exciting.

BC could be 7-0 or 6-1 realistically. Toughest game to date on the sched is Va Tech. 2^nd toughest is UNC.

Clemson could also be 7-0 or 6-1. Toughest game to date on the sched is Wake Forest. 2^nd toughest is Alabama.

A few of the national big boys don’t have anything too great going on:

Ohio St is off

USC has Washington

LSU has Tulane

WVU has Connecticut

Mizzou has Baylor

Auburn has Ole Miss

Looking at the other big games across the nation, our competition:

Florida – Georgia in JAX

Tennessee – South Carolina

Oklahoma – Nebraska

Texas – Texas Tech

Oregon - Cal

Weak Hoops situation in New England

Bob Ryan did a quick segment yesterday talking about who can make the NCAA from New England. Its looking bleak. Obviously anyone could win their league tournament, but assuming no one does.

UConn, but they are not New England in any way. H-Mo's is what they are.

URI probably. In 2nd place now in the A-10.

UMass probably has the next best chance. Too inconsistent. Probably won't make it unless they nearly win out. I like their team, though.

BC isn't gonna do it. Lost too many, inlcuding a bad loss to Robert Morris.

In the America East, Maine, Vermont, UNH, Hartford and BU aren't gonna make it At Large and none are in 1st place.

Holy Cross is down from their normal place in the Patriot League. Doubtful they win the tourney.

Brown, Yale, Dartmouth, Harvard - Brown is in 2nd, but Cornell is undefeated. Brown has a lot of road games left. None should make the dance.

Sacred Heart is in 1st in the NEC. So maybe them, but they'd HAVE to win the tournament. Central Connecticut and Quinnipiac are in the middle of the pack.

Did I leave anyone out?

MVP Prop Bets

Odds to win 2008 Super Bowl XLII - MVP
Ahmad Bradshaw (NYG)		15/1
Amani Toomer (NYG)		15/1
Antonio Pierce (NYG)		45/1
Brandon Jacobs (NYG)		10/1
Corey Webster (NYG)		45/1
Eli Manning (NYG)		7/2
Gibril Wilson (NYG)		40/1
Lawrence Tynes (NYG)		20/1
Michael Strahan (NYG)		30/1
Osi Umenyiora (NYG)		30/1
Plaxico Burress (NYG)		8/1
Sam Madison (NYG)		45/1
Steve Smith (NYG)		33/1
Adalius Thomas (NE)		45/1
Asante Samuel (NE)		15/1
Benjamin Watson (NE)		30/1
Donte' Stallworth (NE)		20/1
Jabar Gaffney (NE)		20/1
Junior Seau (NE)		25/1
Kevin Faulk (NE)		12/1
Laurence Maroney (NE)		5/1
Randy Moss (NE)		4/1
Rodney Harrison (NE)		18/1
Stephen Gostkowski (NE)		25/1
Tedy Bruschi (NE)		25/1
Tom Brady (NE)		1/2
Wes Welker (NE)		5/1
Field (Any Other Player)		11/2

Taken from DOC Sports. See other prop bets here:
http://www.docsports.com/prop-bets.html

If I were in Charge...

I'd like to make this a new game. We'll call it, "If I were in Charge." I'm not going to set a timeline as to how often I'll run with this gimmick, but let's just say, I have some ideas.

If I were in charge...

- ... of the National Hockey League, I would have made sure the players were playing in their team jerseys and not "East" or "West" uniforms in the All Star game. The main problem here is that Joe Fan needs a lot of help in figuring out who is who. If the East is wearing their home white "club" unis, and the West is wearing the road darks, it'll work just fine. If I see a fast guy scooting down the ice wearing a Capitals jersey, I'm going to know that's Alexander Ovechkin. When they're all wearing the same uniform colors, I'm going to have to actually pay attention to who is who, and that takes a little too much focus then I'm willing to give. The league needs to identify their players better. It was basically red vs. white last night, and the goalies wore mics. Super. This is the one point in the season when more than 10 people are watching the game. And it's an all star game - maybe it's a good idea to just have them play without helmets, since no one is checking and no one is taking slap shots. That's a good idea, too, since now we can put some names to these faces.

Just sayin...

They don't make tennis players like they used to...


Tonight's Australian Open:














vs.

Youtube request

Don't want to bump Scott out of the pole position, but additional college hoops thoughts can only help the BBBQ.

Agree about the frosh. But these guys are definitely stars, whether must see TV or not. Eric Gordon is a nice baller.

Kansas is ridiculous at all positions in all phases of the game.... including the 11 th & 12th scholarship guys who are, like, talented 7 footers.

Last night Tennessee's Chris Lofton set the career record for 3-pt FG's in the SEC. Previously held by..... Arkansas' Pat Bradley... Everett's Pat Bradley. Not the LPGA golfer, either. There was never a more unlikely SEC basketball star than Pat Bradley. Everyone was shocked when he went to a school like that, shocked a school like that wanted him, and he somehow fit in. It made me bizzaro happy for the next 10 minutes having seen that name pop up on the TV screen. Reminded me of my youth.

Anyway, is there tape of the Magruder/Higgins years? Can it be posted on Youtube?

College Hoops Thoughts...

What do we know about the college hoops season, so far:

- There are obviously some elite freshmen, however, other than Michael Beasley, none of them are in Kevin Durant's stratosphere, as far as "must watch TV" goes. Even Beasley has a ways to go before we're at "we're taping Lost, and watching Beasley" status. I'm not sure exactly why, because the kid is a beast, but I don't find myself fighting to find when the next Kansas State game is on. That said, I think the fact that it was the Longhorns, a MAJOR big time college, helped that cause to get on TV all the time. I've watched O.J. Mayo a few times, and he is definitely a star, but plays "young." Derrick Rose is similar. Great player, makes mistakes that most freshmen make. And unfortunately for Eric Gordon, he plays in the Big 10, and that's just tough to watch. So no fault to E-Gor there (hahahaha, E-Gor...sounds like Igor)

- Through July, it's Kansas and everyone else. Sorry Memphis, but you have to schedule something better than one game vs. Tennessee and Gonzaga coming to your building. Doesn't Magruder, in their hey day, win 8+ games in Conference USA?

- BC sucks. No wait. They're pretty good! Hey, they won again. No, wait, they suck again.

- Ditto, Maryland!

- If you can win on the road against average teams, then you're a top 10 team in my mind. Look at Tennessee last night. They are far superior to Kentucky, and winning at Rupp is nearly impossible.

- Duke is up to their normal annoyances. Greg Paulus ranks among the worst people I've ever had the pleasure of rooting against.

- When there are two games on at the same time. And one is in High Def, and the other in regular definition. Guess what? I'm not watching the regular def. game.

- Drake wins a real tough game on the road at Creighton last night, and as far as I know, their top player was sitting out. It's been a solid 10 months for Drake - they have a Masters Champion, a top 25 basketball team, people other than my wife realize they are in Iowa, and people across the land are mentioning them in hoops blogs.

As the football season winds down, it's clear that we need something to get us through the next few months, and I'm happy that the college season is picking up steam.

P.S. - Fear the Turtle

BCS SCHOOLS STILL LOOKING FOR 2008 GAMES

BCS SCHOOLS STILL LOOKING FOR 2008 GAMES
Georgia Tech
Illinois
Kentucky
LSU
Louisville
Rutgers
Syracuse
Texas Tech
Virginia Tech
Wisconsin

Thinking about ideal matchups.... obviuosly won't choose conference games here:
LSU @ Wisconsin (Camp Randall is a tough place to play)
Syracuse @ Georgia Tech (Dirty South vs Dirty Upstate)
Rutgers @ Texas Tech (Take the Over)
Louisville @ Illinois (Assuming both are BCS threats in '08)
Virginia Tech @ Kentucky (Hokies on the road vs SEC = fun)

I just hope they all get together and not settle for 1-AA opponents.

18 and 0h baby!

Got through the AFC playoffs. Only the big stage remains. The whole Patriots roster has contributed to wins at various points of the season. 2 weeks everything culminates and NE clicks on all cylinders. Can't wait.

How is Matt Light in the Pro Bowl?

Really, I'd like an answer. Anyone?

Dot the 'i' in Ohio

Didn't think it would come to this, but I'm cheering for tOSU tonight. Thats hard to swallow. But here's the reasoning:

- I have them to cover the +4.5 in my head-to-head picks with Scott.

- It doesn't seem fair its in New Orleans, but then again BC played Michigan in the 1998 hockey national championship at the Fleet Center, but I digress since the Eagles lost in OT.

- I'm not happy with Les Miles stringing along both Michigan and LSU in that rumor mill. You're either with the Tigers, or you're gonna jump elsewhere, but you and your family decide that long before these situations come up.

- LSU is good, but they underachieved all year and I just don't think they deserve. 2 losses. Other games which they struggled. The reason they are in this game is that their name is LSU and they wear LSU uniforms.

Don't get me wrong, LSU is probably the best team and most talented team in the land, but why is the national championship decided on signing day 3-4 years ago? They should earn their way to this game on the playing field, and I didn't see enough to justify their inclusion. No more than anyone else in the BCS games.

So when the favored Tigers win the game and hoist the trophy a short bus ride away from campus, I'm not gonna be satisfied with the NCAA football season.

If tOSU were to win, they'd have at least earned it. Not by losing to Illinois, not by playing Youngstown, Kent, Akron, Miami Oh, Toledo, Bowling Green, Cleveland State, or whomever they played.... not by backing in to the title game by simply having everyone else lose.... but they'd earn it in tonight's game by beating LSU & their talent & their fans right there in the State of Louisiana. I can feel a little better about that.

So don't save a stool for me at Barleycorns in Chicago to sit with the Buckeye fans, no thank you, but I'm putting differences aside and giving a big cheer for Mike Vrabel's boys.

ps All bets are off if I see Maurice Clarett on the sidelines wearing a skully cap or a fur coat.

First Night Ice Sculpture

This is one of the many ice sculptures done for First Night in Boston. I thought it looked cool so I took a photo w/my phone.

How Many 5 Year Olds Could You Take?

24

Looking for payday loan?

According to the scientific survey at www.howmanyfiveyouroldscouldyoutakeinafight.com , I could take 24. Seems low to me.

El Tigre

PGA tour starts today with the Mercedes. Though he's not playing, I'm going on record with my prediction of 8 wins and 3 majors for Tiger this year. Among the majors 3 are being played at semi-random courses. The US Open is at Torrey Pines while the PGA is at Oakland Hills. Torrey Pines has never hosted a US Open, and Oakland Hills has not hosted a PGA since 1979, though it hosted the Ryder Cup and several US Open's in the 80s and 90s. Royal Birkdale hosts The Open Championship for the 4th time in 25 years. I'm marking Tiger for wins at the Masters, Royal Birkdale, and the PGA. The Torrey Pines South Course is generally the longest course played regularly on the Tour, which should work to his advantage, and the Buick Inviational is usually held there, so he certainly knows its well. But he has had a bad habit of firing balls into the thick stuff the past few years. He has won "only" 2 US Opens, compared with 3 British Opens, 4 Masters, and 4 PGAs. I'm going out on a bit of a limb here considering he doesn't play that many events any more (15-16 per year), but I think he can come close to matching 2000 -- 9 wins, 3 majors.

My favorite kind of Diamond

Gimme a bottle of anything..... and a glazed donut...... TO GO!



For your enjoyment: