By: Ben Malley
Michigan (-2.5) v Wisconsin 9.00am ESPN
Michigan won't be faulted for looking ahead to next weekend going into the game at Camp Randall. A loss won't hurt their Rose Bowl hopes at all, they simply need to beat Ohio State. This game will be all about getting Mike Hart back into game shape for OSU. Hart only carried the ball 15 times at East Lansing, but still managed to rush for 110 yards. He hasn't rushed for less than 100 yards all season, unless you count the two times he didn't play.
Illinois v Ohio St (-15) 12.30 ESPN
Larry Salomon is taking Ohio St. the -15 here. And one thing I've learned at San Francisco State University is you don't bet against Larry Salomon. Other than the 17 unanswered points against Michigan State Ohio State was only briefly challenged by a horrible Washington team, where they trailed 7-3 at the half.
As much as we all want Ohio State to slip up, they won't. The Big 10 championship game is next weekend.
Arizona St (-7) v UCLA 12.30 ABC
Expect UCLA to win this game. Seriously, you know what I'm talking about. If they beat you, then that means you don't suck. (I guess that doesn't work for the Stanford game though) They only lose to crap teams. Wazzu, Arizona, Utah and in what may be the answer to a trivia question one day... In their 1-11 season, which team did Notre Dame beat? On the road no less! (At least we have Kevin Love, see below.)
Osaar Rasshan. He used to be a quarterback, then they turned him into a receiver. Now he is a quarterback again. I will henceforth refer to him as Athlete #156. He's starting this weekend because everyone else is terrible or hurt or in Ben Olsen's case, both.
Why is this game even on TV again? So I can get pissed off a lot and throw shit. That's why.
Auburn v Georgia (-1) 12.30 CBS
If Georgia and Tennessee win out, the Vols get to lose in the SEC Championship game. But Georgia would be ranked in the top 10 with 2 losses, and probably get a BCS at-large bid. If Tennessee does slip up and hands Georgia the SEC East, when they lose to LSU do they lose that BCS at-large bid along with it?
S. Carolina v Florida (-6.5) 4.45 ESPN
Spurrier vs. his old school. Who cares. I know, a lot of rednecks.
I kid. I'll be watching when Cal is on commercials. Florida is still in the hunt for that SEC East. Georgia could very easily slip up to Kentucky and Auburn, while one Tennessee loss between Arkansas and Kentucky is not out of the realm of possibility. Queue Tebow v. LSU: The White Knight's Quest for Revenge.
USC (-4) v Cal 5.00 ABC
One minute and twenty four seconds into the second half against Tennessee, Nate Longshore caught the Vols defense napping and snapped off a quick two yard throw to Lavelle Hawkins to extend the lead to 17 points. "There may be a better offense out there," said Brent Musburger, "but they're gonna have to show me."
"Can you imagine," Herbstreit chimes in. "When USC comes in here in a couple of months, this offense against that team. I'll make you a bet. Both of those teams come in here undefeated, with all the chips on the table, national title hopes at stake."
Congratulations Brent, you win the bet.
To give you an idea of how far this game has fallen in esteem: Tickets have dropped in value by about 66 percent. Only the western half of the country will see the game. Musburger and Herbstreit aren't even going to be at the game. They'll be in Stillwater, hanging out with the Cowboys' 40-year-old coach and one of my favorite professors from my days at Ottawa's Carleton University, Mark Wolfogram.
On that fateful day at the beginning of September, Forsett looked good. Nobody was prepared for Jahvid Best who ran up 66 yards on his first three carries. The receiving corps was all over the field, and of course DeSean Jackson ensured nobody would ever punt to him again. Longshore managed the offense well enough and didn't make any huge screw-ups, except that drive where he fumbled the snap, twice. I even got to give future NFL center Alex Mack a big pat on the back as we walked off the field.
Okay, that's enough of that. What have you done for me lately? If your name is Nate Longshore, the answer is nothing.
Meanwhile USC seemed to get back on their horse with Booty in the QB spot. Sure, they weren't playing so well when he was the starter, but it seems to have gotten kind of lost in the shuffle that Booty was hurt for both of USC's losses.
Longshore has probably one more chance to prove himself in a big game. His performance in this game should go a long way in determining whether or not he gets the starting job next year. We know he couldn't throw the deep ball with any accuracy last week. If he still can't, long night.
11/9/07
TV: Your College Football Saturday Week #11
Bay Area Sports State of the Union Address
By Mike Walsh
Good evening members of the blog, members of our readership, my fellow Bay Area Sports Fans.
I stand before you tonight and say that the State of our Sports Nation is …dire. I would like to site two recent examples of the current Bay Area Sports climate that I ran across before I tackle each issue head on and explain how we can get our Nation headed in the right direction.
#1) I hail from the little community of Chico, CA. A quick glance around a sports bar Sunday morning here revealed this: 30% dejected Niner fans, 20% Raider fans looking like they got declined for parole, 10% Bandwagon Cowboys fans (no southern drawl and the cowboys jersey looks very new), 10% bandwagon Packer fans (they weren’t morbidly obese) and 30% random fans cheering their teams on. Why should some schmuck in a Tony Gonzalez jersey seem happier than me after 67 year old Brett Favre just stuck a dagger in the Chiefs hearts? Because he doesn’t root for Bay Area Sports teams. There were no expectations for the Chiefs this season, expect maybe the expectation that Larry Johnson might face the first 11-men in the box scheme for an entire game.
#2) After fending off the barrage of Sacramento Kings bandwagon fans over the last eights years, the sports bars are back to being diverse as only the true Kings fans are left to lament the current state of mediocrity that Reggie Theus will not be able to change. At least, not with that roster. So, like every other Warriors fan in Chico, I headed down to a sports bar with satellite to watch the Warriors (since the Maloof’s took over Chico became “Kings Country”, so every Warriors game not on TNT or ESPN is blacked out, no matter what. I hope the Kings move to Vegas, soon). Our table of five is easily the loudest and, unfortunately the most knowledgeable. At one point in the third quarter a guy (who had been rooting for the Warriors, no less) leans in on our table and asks, “Who is #15?” Without skipping a beat I answer, “Matt Harpring. Why are you asking? He hasn’t even played yet.” Then he brings the thunder with, “no, who’s #15 on the Warriors?” I grumble that it’s Biedrins, finish my beer and quickly order another one. As the game wore on all of the Warriors fans carried the look like they knew the Warriors weren’t going to win. It was like last year never happened. Is this what its come to already? Bandwagon fans and the real fans looking catatonic every third quarter when the W’s come out of the locker room flat?
If it’s like this 180 miles from San Francisco, what’s it like there? I will be in the bay next weekend to find out. I will unleash my Marco Belinelli Italian League jersey and my pasty white arms on an unsuspecting sports bar in the San Francisco/Oakland area. Until then, here are my thoughts on the Bay Area’s issues (read: teams) and how they might be fixed (in some cases, there are no feasible solutions, save for riding out the storm) to get our Nation headed in the right direction.
Raiders- With vulgarity laden t-shirts admonishing the tuck rule still in circulation it’s clear that Raider fans are still traumatized by their playoff push that culminated in Chucky treating the Raiders like a hung up ex-girlfriend, leaving and then coming back just to have his way with them. The Super Bowl against the Bucs seems like a long time ago in Oakland.
It seems the NFL has a surplus of teams with good defenses and terrible offenses. The Raiders did what needed to be done by getting rid of Randy Moss, who refused to try in Oakland. Then they shot themselves in the foot by trying to play hardball with JaMarcus Russell and his No. 1 pick contract, thus culminating in the panicked Daunte Culpepper signing. I actually thought Daunte would be a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately Daunte doesn’t look hungry to compete and prove all his doubters wrong. He just looks hungry. It doesn’t help that Jerry Porter is the #1 wide out in Oakland still. The only thing Porter has over-achieved at is under-achieving. That and the fact that the Raiders have former No. 1 draft picks on their roster that include: a drug-addict kicker and a bust on the offensive line reminiscent of Kwame Harris across the bay all adds up to a bad Raiders team that decided to start Josh McCown instead of their 60 million dollar No. 1 pick on Sunday.
Lane Kiffin needs to play Russell now to take stock and figure out where to go from here. Lamont Jordan is serviceable and Fargas offers a nice ‘Thunder & Lightning” option. Unfortunately the line still needs work and with little threat of a passing attack Jordan and Fargas will not be successful against any good defenses. Until Russell plays the Raiders have no direction.
49ers- Joe Montana is not walking through that door! Jerry Rice is not walking through that door! Steve Young is not walking through that door!
For fans my age and up, this was the most spoiled fan base in the NFL. Then, Young got concussed (because Lawrence Phillips didn’t pick up the blitz), Kurt Warner sold his soul to Satan for a few years in the spot light and then the front office hired Dennis Erickson. The current coach admitted in a public interview that he doesn’t know what is wrong and is open to suggestions.
Yikes. I remember trying to argue that the Niners would finish 10-6 this season with Matt. He said they would finish 8-8 or 7-9. Now? 7-9 would be nothing short of a miracle. I would hope for them to lose out, but all that would mean is that the Patriots would get a better pick. And I don’t need anymore more Boston bandwagon fans to brag about “their team.” In year three of the Alex Smith era we know three things: he is tough, he is well respected by the Niners organization and he is woefully inaccurate. Apparently running the crazy wing-T Urban Meyer offense doesn’t translate to NFL success (buyer beware: Tim Tebow). Now is a good time to mention that they could have had Aaron Rodgers, a fellow Chicoan and Cal alum, for one-third the price. For anyone who watched Cal, Aaron ran Tedford’s pro style offense very well, he has a cannon and he is very, VERY accurate (see: USC game, 23 straight completions). The O-line isn’t doing what it did last year. Gore hates the play calling. Darrell Jackson and Ashley Lelie are terrible route runners with alligator arms. The Niners are another team with a solid defense that gets no support from the offense.
So what can they do? For this season they need to apply the “why not?” attitude. They should let Smith air it out, preferably to Vernon Davis (why not?). They should blitz more and move Willis all over the field to see how many different ways he can wreak havoc (why not?). They should also offer Willis an extension right now and give him as much money as he wants. They need to really see who they can count on when the chips are down. Then ship Jackson and Lelie away as fast as possible when the season is over. You think Washington needs more insane, disgruntled wide receivers?
Warriors- My memories of the Warriors in the playoffs pre-2006 include the Sonics beating the Warriors senseless with a young, pre-paternity suit, pre-buffet king Shawn Kemp and a young Gary Payton leading the way. That’s it. Run TMC never got to hit its stride because Richmond was exiled to Sacramento for Billy Owens, who was supposed to be the post threat we were looking for. 16 years later the Warriors are still looking for a post threat.
It doesn’t matter which combination of Bay Area baseball, football and college teams you back, by the time October came around you weren’t excited about the World Series, you weren’t talking about the NFL playoffs much and by Halloween you weren’t talking about any BCS hopes either. You were talking about one thing: the Warriors. After an amazing run that took the Warriors to the second round of the playoffs after vanquishing the evil German Giant, what did we find out about the Warriors? They can’t rebound, they take bad shots and they don’t play a lot of defense. Mullin’s answer? Sign Troy Hudson, a bad defender who takes horrible shots and Austin Croshere. Yes, the same slow, pasty-white, balding Croshere that was a spark plug for Indiana in 2000. The Warriors opened the season against the filthy, cheating Jazz. So what happened? They got shoved around, out rebounded and out executed. Then they went to LA and let Chris Kaman go for 26 and 18 on them. Then…THEN…they go to Utah and get hammered again. Tuesday night? They lose to the Fighting Lebrons at home. So far this season has been a traveshammockery after starting 0-5 with a loss to the Mavs on Thursday night.
Cal- With no history of success and no tradition to fall back on, rooting for the Bears has been a strange life experience. The basketball team used to at least be able to attract some talent such as: Jason Kidd, Abdur-Rahim, Ed Gray and Lamont Murray. These days I can’t name their starters and Matt is having nightmares because of the add campaign on BART. As recently as four years ago Chico State went down and played Cal. They hung around, Cal eventually pulling away for a 20 point victory. Shouldn’t a PAC-10 school beat a crappy division II school by 40 to 50 points? I mean I could have played for Chico State and I’m not even good. The sad part is, that isn’t hyperbole. I could have played for Chico State, which means I could have played against Cal. Once again, I’m not that good at basketball.
The football team has been slowly rising to prominence. Finally this year they had earned national respect, they beat Oregon in Eugene. It was looking like this was their year. Then, after an LSU loss, all they had to do was beat Oregon St. at home to slide into the National Poll Position. Of course, they lost. Then, they lost the next week. Then, they lost the following week. There’s always the Axe game, I guess.
Stanford- The football team beat USC. Too bad Stanford fans don’t exist anymore. 3-5 overall, 2-4 in conference. When was the last time people were excited about this football team? When they had Troy Walters? The basketball team shows flashes from time to time, but is not consistent. Aside a predilection for recruiting smart, 7 foot tall twins, the hoops team hasn’t been good since the Mad Dog was on campus acting like Tyler Hansbrough 1.0 (that may be a slap in the face to Hansbrough, given that his offensive game is more polished. The point is that Madsen and Hansbrough are/were good college players with none chance of being good in the NBA). Bad times for smart kids.
Giants- Where do I even begin? 1989-Giants get swept by the Bash (read: steroid) Brothers. 1993-Giants win 103 games and do not make the playoffs because the Braves are aligned in the National League “West” and win 104. 2002-Up 3 games to 2 the Giants, lead by Russ Ortiz take a 5-0 lead into the 7th inning…*deep breathe*…only to blow the leads thanks to Scott f-ing Spiezio. 2003-JT Snow thrown out at home to end the playoff series against the Marlins. 2004-present. No lead is safe as the Giants pitching staff comes up with new ways to blow games at every turn. With no World Series championship ever for San Francisco and none for the franchise sine the New York Giants swept the Indians in 1954, Giants fans are spiraling towards Cubs fan status. And that’s not good for anyone, except Dodger fans. Shut up, Matt.
As a diehard Giants fan it pains me to say that the Giants were the worst team in baseball last year, but well, they were. The asinine signing of Barry Zito (which I tried to defend until month 3 of the Barry Zito era) looms as the biggest road block to any chance of recovery in the near future. All Sabean can hope for is a Yankee team in the hunt in 2008 or 2009 that is desperate for pitching and trades for him (author’s note: if there is a God, this will happen). The team needs to sign one or two big bats and play all of their young kids and keep their young pitchers. For the love of Pete, keep the young arms.
Knowing that I could do a better job as GM makes me mad. I’m not bragging, I’m saying that GMs are that incompetent.
A’s- For a while, if you were an A’s fan, you knew your team would make a second half surge and make the playoffs. Billy Bean orchestrated a great run and evaluated talent very well for a team that couldn’t afford to throw money at big names. Of course, they haven’t made it to the World Series during this run. heir pitching is still their strength. Some guy name Lenny DiNardo is good even though Matt’s boy Thompson can throw as hard as DiNardo. Their lineup is made up of players that aren’t even real. So that’s not helping matters. What can be done? The window of opportunity is short for a team that can’t lock up its best players long-term. They have to rely on the perfect storm of good young pitching, some call-ups who produce and a crop of players who are making the leap at the same time while still affordable to the A’s (Giambi, Tejada, Chavez, Hudson, Mulder and Zito all at the same time!). Without profit sharing and a hard salary cap (which will never happen in baseball) the A’s chances of winning a title are pretty terrible. Maybe their mojo will improve in Fremont. Although if the Marlins can do it…
Sharks- After starting out as the cool expansion team and new sport in Northern California recent high expectations have left fans disappointed. They have fizzled out in the playoffs for a number of years now amid high expectations and they are floundering their way to a second place tie in the sub-par Pacific Division this year.
My fellow Bay Area sports fans…the situation looks seems grim. We can’t look to the future with any certainty of prosperity. We must come together as a collective unit and remain in support of those who give their blood, sweat and tears for us night in and night out. Sports, like the economy, is cyclical. We know that if we stick by our values as loyal fans that eventually our teams will rise to prominence. It is during that time that our dreams are realized or crushed. So stay the course, hope for smart decisions from the front office, hope for 100% effort and dedication from the players, but most important of all is for us to keep going out and supporting our teams in their times of crisis.
11/6/07
Adrian Peterson is pretty good at football
By Matt Smith
At the beginning of September I sat down around the square table at the Pizza Palace in preparation for my fantasy football draft. This league is no joke. It costs $150 per team, and is a keeper league where you can keep four players from year to year (five by paying an extra 10 bucks and forfeiting your first round pick).
One of the first players taken was a rookie running back for the Minnesota Vikings by the name of Adrian Peterson and I thought the guy that took him was on crazy pills. For one, the Vikings had a good running back in Chester Taylor, for two rookie RB’s rarely come into the league and dominate and lastly the guy is injury prone.
Many rounds later, with Taylor still available, I said “I’ll take Chester Taylor, the starting running back for the Minnesota Vikings.” Turns out I am an idiot.
Peterson is phenomenal.
Vikings coach Brad Childress has been trying to keep the reins on this kid since the season started, but he isn’t going to be able to much longer. Twice this year he has been given just 12 carries in Childress’ run first scheme, but it wouldn’t be smart to not give him the ball.
I know they don’t want to wear him out or get him hurt, but Peterson is treating NFL defenses like I do when I am playing Madden.
He is fresh off a 296-yard game, breaking Jamal Lewis’ record of 295 yards set in 2003. Peterson is the only running back with over 1,000 yards so far (1,036) and he leads the NFL in rushing with more than 250 yards than the second leading rusher (Willie Parker, 768 yards).
What’s amazing is that he has been held under 100 yards three times and still has video game like numbers. He is gone over 200 yards twice, rushing for 224 against Chicago in week 6 and has scored three touchdowns in a game two times.
Not only is he nearly as big as a linebacker, he’s faster than just about anyone else on the field. He is a mix of size and speed that we have not seen since Eric Dickerson.
Dickerson is a couple inches taller and had three pounds on Peterson, but they both have these gallant, long strides and it’s no wonder this amazing rookie is being compared to the former NFL great.
Speaking of the former Ram and Colt, his records are under siege. Peterson is through eight games which means he is on pace to rush for 2,072 yards which would put him just 33 yards behind Dickerson's NFL mark as he had 2,105 in 1984. That record is certainly reachable, but the one you can count on falling (if he stays healthy) is Dickerson’s rookie rushing mark of 1,808 yards sent in 1983.
Peterson could also reach Dickerson’s rookie record of 2,212 yards from scrimmage as he has 1,242 putting him on pace for 2,484. This would also break Marshall Faulk’s all-time record of 2,429.
Peterson also became the 16th running back with a pair of 200 yard games in a season and could join O.J. Simpson and Tiki Barber as the third back to have three such games. Two more of these big rushing performances would place him with Earl Campbell as the only runners with four in a season.
The young man certainly has a long way to go and still has to prove he can do it over the course of the season, but he is definitely off to a good start.
"I set my bar high, because I know anything is possible when you continue to work hard," Peterson told the AP after his record-setting performance against San Diego.
LaDanian Tomlinson is likely to break Emmitt Smith’s career marks for yards and touchdowns, but those records might not last long if Peterson’s career follows the path it is on now. You can’t set the bar much higher than that.
11/5/07
Preseason NCAA Basketball Rankings
By: Ben Malley
1. UCLA – Final four team + practically everyone returning + Kevin Love + my own personal biases = number one ranking. I’m looking forward to their game in Anaheim against solid mid-major Davidson in the Wooden Classic.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
8.
9.
10. Gonzaga – Mark Few decided to let Josh Heytvelt back onto the team provided he regularly provides shrooms to the players and coaching staff. The Bulldogs always have a strong backcourt and losing Raivio will not be a huge issue. Jeremy Pargo will take his place and Pendergraft, Micah Downs and Matt Bouldin will chip in. A bunch of great OOC games for the Zags this season including the rejuvenated rivalry with
11.
12. Duke – Another young Blue Devils team this year with DeMarcus Nelson being the only senior. Their core is a year older and of course another top recruiting class. Number one rated SF Kyle Singler was stolen out from under
13. USC – I hope they aren’t this good, but they will be. It’s more than O.J. Mayo. Five-star Davon Jefferson has arrived and another Dunleavy!
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
22.
23.
24. Southern