The Drug Dealing Sports Fan

Little Toads

2010-09-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I have done this blog and now I have something new and stimulating discuss while I am blabbing about sports. Running.

Mrs. DDSF and I have decided to start training for a marathon. We want to do this for an old coworker of hers who passed away from cancer at too young of an age. We have yet to decide on a marathon, but are shooting for the spring. March or April.

Now for a little history about me for those that don't know (even though I'm sure that 99% of the people who will read this know everything I am about to say). When I was in high school I was a runner. Started with Track and moved on to cross country by my junior year. While basketball is my true love, I am 5 foot nothing and a shade under 160. I was smaller then.

So I took up running. And loved it.

One of my favorite memories from high school was going to a running camp in Arkansas put on by the University of Arkansas and their athletes. There was a group of 7 or 8 of us guys that went down their spent a few days together running, playing and causing mischief. Lots of it. I was even the slowest of the group by far, but it was a ton of fun.

Riiiiiighhttttt. STriiiiiighhhhhhhhtttt.......

Anyway, I have started running again and realized how much I miss it. When you are able to find that zone, where you feel like you can just keep running and running and running, it is one of the most rewarding feelings in the world.

Tonight, I went for a run in Wisconsin because I am here for business and it brought about something else that I have missed.

Sweating.

I know its gross. There is something about sweating that is just cleansing. The feeling that you have worked so hard you are giving up a part of yourself. Gratifying.

When I was playing little league (I was on one of the worst teams in the league for years) I was always intrigued by pitching. I wanted to be a pitcher, thought I was pretty good, and never really got a chance for a multitude of reasons. We got to play in an awesome park with lights, and pretty good playing surface. For whatever reason, I will never forget one night when I got to go in the game and pitch.

I couldn't tell you the score. I think it was a close game.

I couldn't tell you how many batters I faced. I couldn't tell you how long the inning lasted. I couldn't even tell you what inning it was.

But there were a couple of beads of sweat that formed on my brow that I had to wipe away. It was like I was in the big leagues, the pressure was on, the lights were on and all I could do was give it everything I had.

...

I haven't really experienced that too much since I moved. It wasn't until I was bag in the muggy midwest that I really felt a good sweat. I guess I kind of missed it. Who knew?

But while I was running (and walking around the night before) I noticed lots and lots of tiny little toads on the sidewalk. Just hangin' out, being toads. It just made me wonder what that meant. Like a black cat means bad luck, a penny is good luck. What do a bunch of little toads mean?

DDSF

Sweet 16 (part 2) and the elite 8

2010-03-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sweet 16
Midwest:
Mich St. vs. Maryland:
Maryland is rated highly in many nerdy stats categoires.
The pick: Maryland (rematch of 2002 Final 4)

OSU vs. OSU:
Oklahoma and Ohio State. What the heck....
The Pick: Oklahoma State

West Regoin:
Syracuse vs. Gonzaga:
No one is high on the 'Cuse. Including yours truely. But they only lost 4 games all year.
The Pick: Syracuse

Xavier vs. Pitt:
Ick. This is going to be a close, slow, ugly game.
The Pick: Pitt

East Regional:
Temple vs. Wisconsin:
Jacksonville is where this game is played. No advantage there. Ummmm....
The Pick: Wisconsin

Mizzou vs. West Virginia:
I told you Huggy Bear was peeved about not getting a one seed. Mizzou just doesn't have any inside game.
The Pick: WVU

South Regional:
Duke vs. Cal:
Kyle Singler is a matchup nightmare, but Cal has big kids that can match up. In Jacksonville, it has to be Duke.
The Pick: Duke

Texas A&M vs. Purdue:
The Pick: A&M, too good to be true.

The Elite 8:
Midwest:
Kansas vs. Maryland:
ACC = not as good as Big XII
The Pick: Kansas

Okie State vs. Georgetown:
I might as well get really crazy. In St. Louis, Okie State will have a large contingency.
The Pick: Okie State

West:
Butler vs. Syracuse:
Butler hasn't gone this far before. Syracuse has.
The Pick: Syracuse

KState vs. Pitt:
Too many quick good guards.
The Pick: KState

East:
Kentucky vs. Wisconsin:
Nothing exciting from Wisconsin. Plenty on the other side of the ball.
The Pick: Kentucky

WVU vs. New Mexico:
I said earlier that the difference maker was Darrington Hobson for UNM. I think he destroys Huggy Bear's Zone and carries the Lobos on.
The Pick: New Mexico

South:
Duke vs. A&M:
I think that the effieciency of A&M will ruin Coach K's trip to Houston. Plus, the game is in Houston.
The Pick: A&M

Baylor vs. Villanova:
I have to pick Baylor. Again, in Houston and 'Nova is not that good.
The Pick: Baylor

The Finals coming soon!

DDSF

Friday Madness!

2010-03-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Friday's Games:
This will go quick, I have been trying to hard. Yikes!

Midwest:
Mich St vs. New Mexico State:
Too much talent and, for whatever reason, Tom Izzo always prepares his team for the tourney.
The Pick: Michigan State.

Maryland vs. Houston:
Maryland if from a weak ACC this year, Houston is from the really weak Conference USA.
The Pick: Maryland

Oklahoma State vs. Georgia Tech:
I have gotten to see Georgia Tech in that last few weeks, and I have to say that Derrick Favors is an impressive freshman, but Okie State will make too many 3's.
The Pick: Okie State

Ohio State vs. UC Santa Barbara:
UCSB's mascot is the Gauchos. Enough said.
The Pick: OSU

West Region:
Syracuse vs. Vermont:
The 1 vs. 16 seed that has the most potential for upset. And that potential is 0.001%.
The Pick: Syracuse

Gonzaga vs. Florida State:
I just love the players the 'Zags have. And FSU is in the ACC.
The Pick: Gonzaga

Xavier vs. Minnesota:
The line on this game is basically 0. I dont like either team. At all.
The Pick: Xavier (even though Golden Gophers are way cooler than Musketeers)

Pitt vs. Oakland:
The Summit Conference is terrible (Oakland). Look for a big Pitt win.
The Pick: Pitt

East Regional:
Temple vs. Cornell:
The trendy pick is Cornell. They have talent and played a lot of tough games. But Temple is better.
The Pick: Temple

Wisconsin vs. Wofford:
I'm not even sure I know where Wofford is, but I know their mascot is the Terriers. Ouch.
The Pick: Wisconsin

Clemson vs. Mizzou:
Again, don't like either team. The Big XII is better.
The Pick: Mizzou

West Virginia vs. Morgan State:
West Virginia is on a roll, and Huggy Bear is peeved they didn't get a 1 seed. Look out.
The Pick: WVU

South Regional:
Duke vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff:
The Pick: Duke (no explaination needed)

California vs. Louisville:
I want to pick the coach in Rick Pitino, but Cal is a really good team.
The Pick: Cal

Texas A&M vs. Utah State:
The Aggies will win.

What?!? Both teams are the Aggies?!?!?

Then let's go with A&M even though Utah State is like a 1000 miles closer to Spokane than College Station.
The Pick: A&M

Purdue vs. Siena:
Trendy pick: Siena. Purdue with out Robbie Hummel = not as good, but not that bad.
The Pick: Purdue

Round one = blogged. Today's games = Awesome

DDSF

Saturday Second Round

2010-03-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Picks to advance to the Sweet 16:

For my picks from the Thrusday First Round action, see here, here and here.

Kansas vs. Northern Iowa:

Northern Iowa vs. any other seed lower than a 1 would be a good game. Too bad they are playing Kansas in the second round. In Oklahoma City.

The Pick: Kansas

BYU vs. KState:

BYU has been very good this year. They have a legitimate star in Jimmer Fredette. They don't have much fear, and they have some crazy brazilian guy. KState, has some latin power and craziness with Frank "The Stare" Martin (My brother Mark's nickname), Denis Clemente and Luis "I throw ball at basket" Colon. And they have a consistent scorer in Jacob Pullen.

The Pick:KState

Notre Dame (Ooops) vs. Baylor:

You can believe me or not, but I picked Baylor. They are good. And I love the big XII.

The Pick: Baylor

Villanova vs. Richmond:

I still have Villanova. They have struggled late in the season, but I like the experience of the team and the star power from Scottie Reynolds. Richmond will make this a close game, but it won't be enough to want it more than the Wildcats.

The Pick: 'Nova

Vanderbilt vs. Butler:

I like Butler. Again, look for experience and want to. I think in the battle of stars, you will see Gordon Hayward take the cake over Ogilvy.

The Pick: Butler..... (Does this count as having a Mid Major in the Sweet Sixteen? Is this a surprise at all?)

Kentucky vs. Texas:

Kentucky. At this point it is a risk benefit issue. If I pick Texas, and they dont win and Kentucky goes far, Yikes!

The Pick: Kentucky

New Mexico vs. Washington:

Both teams have somewhat of a home court advantage being in San Jose. I still think the Pac 10 is weak and New Mexico is really good. Plus, they have an experienced coach in Steve Alford, and a star in Hobson.

The Pick: New Mexico

Georgetown vs. SDSU:

There is a thought process in the NFL that teams from the west coast that travel to the east coast for games, and vice versa, do extremely poorly. There are stats (they may be related to spreads more than actual records) that support this. SDSU will be in G'Town territory and just don't have the height to compete with Greg Monroe.

The Pick: G'Town

I will get to Friday's games soon.

DDSF

The Thursday Evening Madness

2010-03-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

First on Thursday Evening:
Northern Iowa vs. UNLV:
Again the Mid Major thing. Let's just say we were to take the two teams from this game and split them with the 8 vs. 9 game in the East which is Texas and Wake Forest. Wouldn't you rather watch a UNLV vs. Wake Forest and Northern Iowa vs. Texas? I know I would.

That said, UNLV is a pretty good team from the Mountain West Conference. But, they are good team at home. Northern Iowa finished in the Top 25 at the end of the conference season. They come from the always dangerous Missouri Valley Conference (see: Creighton, Bradley, Drake), and are a very experienced team. They will win this game and I would have them going further this year, except they got a terrible seed.
The Pick: Nothern Iowa

Kentucky vs. East Tennessee State:
If you don't pick all number 1 seeds in your bracket, you really have problems. Number 1 seeds have never lost (and they want to expand the field of 65...).
The Pick: Kentucky

Washington vs. Marquette:
The Big East is overrated. The Pac 10 is terrible. This game is a crap shoot. I'm taking Washington because they won the Pac 10 tourney, and they have Isaiah Thomas on their team.
The Pick: UDub

Georgetown vs. Ohio:
Ohio snuck into the tourney by winning the MAC tourney. The MAC doesn't really have a history of winning at all in the big dance, but Georgetown has been maddeningly (I think that's a word) inconsistent. Still, Greg Monroe, G'Town's center, may be the best player in the tourney.
The Pick: G'Town

Wake Forest vs. Texas:
The ACC was looking like they were only going to get 3 or 4 schools into the dance after non-conference play, and then conference play suddenly made these teams better? Texas was number 1 earlier this year and dropped out of the rankings. Damion James won't let Texas lose. He didn't skip going to the NBA so he could lose in the first round of the NCAA's.
The Pick: Texas

New Mexico vs. Montana:
Montana, from the Big Sky Conference, stands about as much chance of winning this game as I do of winning the Powerball. New Mexico's Darrington Hobson is a big guard that can do it all. The reason that the Lobos won at BYU and broke one of the longest home court winning streaks in the nation is because he blocked a layup straight on from one of BYU's big men. It was one of the better plays I have seen all year.
The Pick: New Mexico

Tennessee vs. San Diego State:
Tennessee beat #1 and #2 this year. And loss to multiple teams ranked in the 100's. SDSU got snubbed last year and probably should have been seeded higher. The 6 vs. 11 matchups are more intriguing this year to me than the 5 vs. 12. This is one reason why. I have no idea who is going to win this game. That said, why not pick the upset.
The Pick: SDSU

Kansas vs. Lehigh:
My pick to win it all. Kansas. They won't lose to this Patriot team league team and KState fans won't be making TShirts about Bucknell.
The Pick: Kansas

The Madness continues!

2010-03-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Set of games for block 2 on Thursday:

KState vs. North Texas:
If I pick anything other than KState, I might be beaten. And, the 'Cats are going to win anyway. There is not much else I can say about that.
The Pick: KState

Vanderbilt vs. Murray State:
Vandy is also from the overrated SEC, but they are actually a decent team. They will win. I don't really know that much else about either of these teams, other than the player to watch for Vandy, Jeff Ogilvy. He's really good.
The Pick: Vandy

Baylor vs. Sam Houston State:
Baylor is a very good team. They are 25-7 and 3 of those losses have been to teams from the amazing state of Kansas. Baylor has one of the best offenses in the nation and have a likely NBA lottery pick in Ekpe Udoh. He led the Big XII in blocks and has been the biggest reason for Baylor's lofty record. Sam Houston State is in the tournament. That's about all I can say.
The Pick: Baylor

St. Mary's College vs. Richmond:
Much has been said this year about Richmond. They took care of business (mostly) in a very deep Atlantic 10 conference. The Spiders had a short column in Sports Illustrated talking about their turnaround and their amazing attitude. St. Mary's, on the other hand, has had little publicity (as is the case with many west coast teams). They won the West Coast Conference tournament to get in the field of 65, beating a very talented Gonzaga team. This might be the game of the day. It also reminds me that the selection committee hates Mid major teams. Matching up two fine teams against each other is common and it adds no excitement to the dance. But probably makes money, which is all the committee cares about. I digress...
The Pick: Richmond, too much talent. SMC's roster is full of foreign players, which does not translate well to the American college game.

The extra Game:

UTEP vs. Butler:
The only late afternoon game on the schedule. This is again Mid Major vs. Mid Major. And it's one of the dangerous 5 vs. 12 matchups. I think that Butler, having been in the Top 25 for the last couple of years, has too much talent and (now) bid game experience to lose. UTEP is a very good team and should challenge the Bulldogs, but can't match up with a team that finished 11 in the AP Top 25 and 8 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. The player you should know (if you don't) is Gordon Hayward. 6'9" guard/forward, who learned how to be a guard and then had a huge growth spurt. He has great ball handling skills and is a matchup nightmare.
The Pick: Butler

Notes from the first half this morning.
- Villanova looks like crap. I having them winning in the next round, so you don't say I cheated. But they look awufl. Robert Morris is up by 6 at half?!?!?!?!?
- ODU is haning tough with Notre Dame, after falling behind by double digits early.
- Florida/BYU is a really good game. Both are shooting well, and they should make for a good game against KState.

DDSF

BASKETBALL!!! BASKETBALL!!!

2010-03-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Lets start with the morning games. I am a little behind this year on picks, so I will do it time slot by time slot. Thursday morning is where it begins!

First up:
Florida vs. BYU:
I got an opportunity to watch the BYU vs. New Mexico game late in conference play this year. When the game was over I had one thing to say. Both of those teams were really good. Florida squeaked into the tournament, played (averagely) in an average conference and won two games because of last second shots.
The Pick: BYU

Old Dominion vs. Notre Dame:
ND played its way into the tourney with a good run to end the season. I think they are overrated, by a lot. Old Dominion is one of my favorite teams to pick, and from the every dangerous Colonial Athletic Association. Notre Dame has Luke Harangody, who was a player of the year candidate before his team was awful in the middle of the season and he got hurt.

Every ounce of me wants to pick ODU, but I can't
The Pick: Notre Dame

Villanova vs. Robert Morris
'Nova somehow managed a 2 seed and gets a good draw against Robert Morris. I dont think there is any question is who is going to win this game. The only news is that the starting guards for Villanova are suspended from the start of the game. How will this affect the rest of the tourney for 'Nova?
The Pick: Villanova

More to come,
DDSF

Part 3

2010-03-13T08:26:00.000-08:00

Here it is. The third edition.

Kansas vs. Kansas State

In my head right, dramatic music is playing. A montage of players flexing their muscles, screaming, dunking, and flying through the air is playing on the jumbotron. It starts out slow, with the stars, Sherron Collins, Jacob Pullen, Cole Aldrich, Denis Clemente. Then speeds up catching all the starters and role players on both teams. It ends with a stare down, with whoever you want. Brady and Denis (let's hope Denis keeps his cool), a Morris and Samuels, Sherron and Pullen. (Now if I were a State fan, it would end with Frank "The Hitman" Martin giving everyone the stare of death, but I'm not, so it doesn't.)

What I want to hit on is what we should expect from both sides.

Kansas:
Lots of bench play.

The Wildcats play tough. They cause a lot of fouls, evidenced by the fact they lead the nation in free throws attempted per game. Both teams are playing the third game in three days. Can you say stamina?

Also, Kansas has relied heavily upon their starters in the first 2 games. They have gotten great contributions from Markieff Morris, and timely shooting from both Morningstar and Reed. Look for that to continue. I would also expect to see 5 minutes from either Thomas Robinson or Jeff Withey. Robinson made an appearance against A&M, and came away with a good defensive play, exactly the thing that Bill Self rewards with more playing time.

I would also expect to see the stars in full force. Marcus Morris had one of his worst games against A&M due to foul trouble. Aldrich did not play well against A&M either, after snagging 18 rebounds against Tech. Sherron has been the consistent force for the last 2 games. As long as he maintains control (and he has done a magnificent job so far), I think he will continue to produce. However, Collins seems to lose his legs frequently when he tries to do too much. If KU gets down and Collins tries to take over, he is going to miss a lot of shots, KU fans will lose faith, and defense will be at a premium.

Kansas State
The thing that you can always see from a Frank "Crazy Eyes" Martin coached team is hustle and intensity. But so far, we have yet to see if the team can sustain the desired intensity for 3 straight days. I think that KState will play with unabdoned desire, bordering on desperation. This is a Top 10 (legitimately too) team that could lose to the same opponent for a third time. Has that every happened?

Frank "still working on a solid nickname, suggetions welcome" Martin, has instilled a sense of pride in his team that they work to display every game. The way the team shows the pride most often is through rebounding. The 'Cats have outrebounded the 'Hawks in each of their previous two meetings depsite a slight size disadvantage. That will continue today, it just remains to be seen if the big men for KState can finish their second chance opportunities. Overall, I think KState's big men will have a pretty good day.

As far as the stars for KState, I think there is no stopping Jacob Pullen. He is a consistent force of offensive prowess that almost never has an off day. Denis Clemente, on the other hand, is somewhat inconsistent. KU will get into his head and make him have an off day. Also, don't expect the same output from Dominique Sutton. 14 points and 14 rebounds against a good Baylor team was quite impressive, but don't expect that against the number 1 overall seed in the NCAA tourney.

Prediction,
Kansas 81, Kansas State 73

Regardless of the outcome, this has become a rivalry. And I hope the fact that Frank "Mob Boss" Martin now has a contract extension, will keep the rivalry going for a long time.

Hoping for Part 4,
DDSF

Almost Famous

2010-02-25T18:38:00.001-08:00

First things first.

In response to one of my (potential) thousands of readers, KState did get a good win this week. I believe that I have said this before, but any road win in conference play is a good win. I will never argue that.

Adding on to that, the Big 12 standings could be shaping up to be quite historic. Kansas has all but locked up the number 1 seed in the conference. KState looks to be in very good shape to take the second seed. And after last night's events Missouri sits alone in 3rd place, one game ahead of Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M. Never in the history of the Big 12 (that's all the way back to 1996-1997) have the top 3 teams in the conference been from the same division, North or South.

However, Mizzou has 2 really tough games left. At Manhattan on this saturday and a week from saturday (in Columbia) against Kansas. They also have a date in Ames mixed in, but if that team is going to amount to anything, they must win in Iowa.

Now on to the exciting news.

Pat Forde is a columnist for espn.com. He frequently writes a column called Forde (pronounced Ford - E) minutes. It hits on 40 different names, places, schools, etc. dealing with college sports. He mentioned a Dandy dozen of the best remaining college basketball games this year. One of those games was Kansas vs. Missouri on March 6th. He went on to say, "Some good potential drama here, with the Jayhawks conceivably trying to ice a 16-0 Big 12 season on the home court of their bitter rivals."

Here is my email to him:
Pat,

Huge fan of yours, first time emailer. I would like to give you more potential for the epic battle that is Kansas @ Missouri on March 6th. If Kansas finds a way to win the next two games, they would not only be playing for an undefeated conference regular season, but they would also be playing for victory #2000 as a program. As a Jayhawk fan, I can think of no better place to get such a monumental victory. Thanks for the great columns!

Having emailed some national media before, I was not optimistic for a response. Low and behold, the day after I got an email reply:

DDSF*: Thanks for writing. I've had that pointed out by a few Kansas fans and I wish I had included that in the story. As you said, one more reason that should be a must-watch game. Enjoy the rest of the season.
Pat Forde

*He addressed it using my real name, but for the mystique of the post, I chose to change it.

Pretty sweet. He may be my new favorite.

Direct and personal contact with the national media. Just another reason for you to keep reading.
Almost famous,

DDSF

Big Monday

2010-02-22T18:39:00.000-08:00

I want to quickly talk about the NBA and specifically the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Huh?

Yes, I know. On a night that my Jayhawks are likely to grab the Big 12 title (or at least a share of it), I want to talk about the NBA. But if there is one player in the NBA I would want to see it is Kevin Durant.

I have seen Lebron, and he is amazing. But in my opinion, he is an amazing athlete. He does have some amazing basketball skill, but more than anything he is an athlete. Kevin Durant is a scorer, and possesses Hall of Fame type basketball skill.

KDur (a joke if you deal drugs) has scored 25 or more points in 28 straight games. Only one player in recent history has done more, and that's Michael Jordan. During those 28 games, the Thunder are 20-8. And Durant is only 21 years old. He has only been in the league for 3 years.

This may seem like some rambling, but I am really impressed by this. Even when Lebron was coming along, he didn't have this good of an offensive season that early in his career. Neither did Kobe. Iverson may have been close, but he was a college player and older at the same point in his career in the league.

He's currently shooting 48% from the field, 38% from 3, 88% from the line and throwning in 7.5 rebounds per game just for kicks. He is doing all of this, while playing the fourth most minutes of any player in the league and does so by averaging just over 2 fouls a game. And based off of his career averages, he is dishing out more assists, blocking more shots and snagging more steals.

.........

Ok, quick first reaction to KU's victory (I type this with KU up by 22 with 7:20 left in the game). X is playing out of his mind. And tonight, doing it early helped settle the team. Collins, Aldrich and McMorris were all just a touch off and needed someone else to score. X was there.

Also, I dont know that I've talked much about it here, but in order for KU to succeed (by succeed I mean make a run at the final four) Tyshawn Taylor has to be a factor. Tonight, he did not make a flashy impact like he did saturday against Colorado, but he has been solid. He made a big 3 early, played solid defense on a good freshman in Mason-Griffin and didn't make any boneheaded plays.

With Morningstar in the starting lineup, KU could win it all. With Morningstar, you know what you are going to get. Solid, smart basketball, with not a lot of flash and some pretty decent shooting.

With Taylor in the starting lineup, KU can do one of two things: win it all convincingly, or fall flat on their face. He is the Y factor (do you really think I'm going to use X?) for this team. He has the talent to take the ball to the rim and finish. He has the talent to hit big 3's. He has the talent to be a force on defense. But......

Does he have the head? This is the same palyer that broke his hand in a fight with the football team (the Jayhawk football team... ugh). This is the same player that was upset with his playing time, not understanding his role and thought of transferring (and posting some of that on his facebook page... ugh).

Watching him the last 2 games as a starter, I am optimistic for the future version of Tyshawn Taylor. But it is a cautious optimism.

To end the night.... I think that Bobbby Knight is a good color commentator. He is my favorite because he tells it like it is and points out the little things, the fundamentals. That said, he struggled tonight to just talk about nothing.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, six for KU!

DDSF

Sunday's Quick Hits

2010-02-21T17:49:00.000-08:00

NBA:
The NBA trade deadline passed on Thursday and without much fanfare. The big deals happened before Thursday (the Mavs getting Caron Butler and the Cavs getting Antwan Jamison) and many teams were busy clearing cap space for the this summer's free agent pool. My winners and losers:
Winners:
Cavs- the fact that Lebron has someone else who cal play at an all star level makes them a little scary.
Mavs- Caron Butler is underrated in my eyes. The Mavs need an impact player who can match Dirk's consistency. The question is whether or not he can play when it counts.
Knicks - They successfully cleared cap space and got a good marketing tool in Tracy McGrady. TMac could be good and if he does agree to stay for a discounted price, they could really draw some talented

Losers:
Clippers- There is no way they are going to be able to get great free agents, so clearing cap space is an exercise in futility. I will say dumping Marcus Camby for might have been a good move, but they needed to move a lot more than that.
Bulls - I have absolutely no idea what they were doing. They got rid of an underachieving athletic big man (Tyrus Thomas) and picked one up (Hakim Warrick). They basically traded role playing guards for role playing guards and made pretty much gave themselves a tougher chance to make the playoffs by making Milwaukee a little bit better.
Nuggets - They are too inconsistent to win with what they have now and basically made no moves. They will lose to the Lakers in the conference finals if they find a way to beat Dallas.

MLB:
Spring training is about to start up and its my goal to get more conversations going about both the Royals and the Rockies. I am excited for summertime to return.

College Basketball:
Kentucky finds a way to win. Its not pretty and they get the advantage of some brainlessness from the referees and opposing players, but they find a way to win. That said, there is no way they are going to win it all. I have seen them get down to the end and miss a ton of free throws. You can't do that if you want a national championship. Just ask Memphis.

Speaking of Memphis, the Jayhawks have all but locked up another Big 12 title. With a win over Oklahoma on Big Monday tomorrow, they will have assured atleast a tie for the title. The bigger news for the Jayhawks is the race to 2,000 wins. Kansas currently has 1996 wins as a program. If KU somehow finds a way to go undefeated in Big 12 play (I am not saying they will by any means) they will get win number 2,000 in Mizzou Arena. I understand that means beating another top 10 team (Kstate) at home, beating one of the hotter teams in the Big 12 on the road (Okie State) and finding a way to win a rivalry game on the road to close out a long conference season. But it would be Legen...... wait for it.... dary!

To top it all off, North Carolina is currently sitting at 1998 wins as a program. If KU can win out and Carolina only wins one more conference game, KU will beat Carolina to 2000. This is pretty amazing because to start the year, UNC had 14 more wins than KU. Excitement!

Olympics
Finally, something live! USA vs. Canada men's hockey. Pretty great stuff. Even Mrs. DDSF is getting excited! Go USA!

I think that's enough for today.

Give me thoughts on what you are excited about right now. Comments will appear just below the post, so feel free to start the discussion.

DDSF

New Layout, new year, new thoughts, same old awesomeness

2010-02-17T19:40:00.001-08:00

Starting today, DDSF will have a new layout and hopefully a more frequent update (ok, atleast some updates).

The question that I want to start with is this:

Why are the olympics not live at every second of the day?

Seriously. Can you tell me that (especially early in the olympics) there are not events that are happening at every second of the day? Please.

I watched the US women's hockey team the other day on USA. Not bad, something new to watch, I'm open for new things. Then I turned on the TV the next day to Universal HD, the USA channel in HD, and there was the exact same game in HD. Why is this a problem?

BECAUSE IT WAS NOT LIVE!!! WHY HAVE THE LO DEF VERSION OF SOMETHING YOU ARE GOING TO BROADCAST IN HI DEF A DAY LATER?!?!?

The biggest beef I have may be because of the time zone that I live in. Our local networks seem to be contractually obligated to show the "prime time" TV at the same time as central. So when the olympics start at 7pm Central time, they also start at 7pm Mountain time. Ick. Just irritating. If I want to know the results of something after the fact, I wouldn't watch it. Which is what is ending up happening. I love the olympics, but when I dont have any suspense (I know, if I wanted it I could just wait) I dont get into it as much.

Anyway, think it over, get back to me and let me know.

New question tomorrow,
DDSF

Running Diary for the KU game!

2009-11-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

Final:

KU 57-55.

That was a close game. KU played pretty poorly, and are not living up to the billing that I gave them. I think that in the post game interview, Bill was fairly eloquent for him, but his hair is probably dyed. Just a random thought.

Cole was an animal leading the 'Hawks with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks. He went 4-5 from the line and was a force down low. Collins with 12, Henry with 11 (off of 3-11 shooting, 5-6 from the line), Marcus Morris didn't start, but got 10 points and only 1 rebound, and Tyrel Reed got his best stat (1 rebound, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 0-2 shooting) on the last play.

Wild one that KU will build on. Young and immature, and it showed. The only saving grace is that KU has GREAT depth. That will be a huge factor later in the year. Along with the maturation of the freshman and the addition of Morningstar and Withey, KU will only get better.

Whew!

11:20pm

Setting the table:

16.7 seconds left. KU by one with the ball. 56-55. Memphis with a press and let's see if KU breaks it. Time out. Ewwwww. I'm not liking this. Last Time out by KU.

Now, no TO's.

KU gets it in, with Reed throwing in instead of Henry (shorter player, but smarter and more experienced). Collins to the line for 2.

Oh.... free throws. How I hate thee.....

Collins makes the second to make it a 2 point game.

The Three is Bricked and KU wins!!!!!

Way too close. Way too close.

11:15pm

Collins with a great floater, then goaltending. Easiest call of the night for the Refs who have been pretty good. I dont say that too often, but they really haven't sucked.

Until, there is some crazy stoppage of play with a subsequent 3 from Memphis. Way to set them up ref. (Ok, so I'm just bitter they made a 3, and it was ugly too).

11:13pm

Cole makes both. How many times can I say that he is earning himself a big payday come June.

Enormous 3 grom Memphis. They break the press and Billy calls a time out. Good idea. With all the young players on the floor (Morris is just a Sophmore), settle them down and have a plan.

11:10pm

What the heck? Traveling by Taylor. Dickie V said that he has not been himself and that has been the understatement of the night.

Aldrich with a clutch block. Again, it seems like he is the only one playing up to his potential.

Foul sends Memphis to the line. Result: 2 of 2. They can't miss them all.

Cole is fouled down low. Even though it was a great move, it was totally expected.

11:05pm

Memphis misses the first 2 of 3. Wow, I didn't think that demon would rear its head.

Breaking the press is Sherron and he gets it to Cole-nan. Amazing. He's hurt, but he knows what has to happen. Followed by Xavier with a board and gets fouled. Free throws will get him back on track. He makes them both.

11:03pm

Cole with a loose ball. Everywhere tonight.

Ick. Bad Offense. Bad Defense.

Bad foul.

11pm

Ok, strech time without Sherron. Who steps up? So far it has been Morris, but someone else needs to. I vote Henry.

OH! Here he comes to earn his money. SHERRON!

10:55pm

Marcus Morris with good position down low. Finally, he is showing us what he is made of. KU needs that especially with Sherron out.

Johnson gets deeked for a three, but Cole feeds Morris down low. The High has to be at least tried for the rest of the game. KU has that battle won. If Memphis keeps playing man to man, they will get destroyed down low from here on out. The 'Hawks are too deep and talented in the front court as I said to start the night.

Ku gives up a hoop down low, but Morris on the Oop from Taylor gets fouled. He is being very active now.

Of note, the drive Memphis just got was a GREAT play. Went right at Aldrich, a shot blocker. The only way that you do it. Two misses by Morris and a TO are not good.

10:50pm

Cole now with a double double. He is the best, but no one else is even coming close to playing. 6:23 left and KU up 44-37. Never would have guessed that the game would be that low scoring.

Questions for the rest of the game?
Will Sherron return and be effective?
Yes and probably. Just not scoring. He is smart when he has to be.

Will someone else besides Cole-nan step up?
Yes, I just dont know who yet. Either Morris, Tyshawn (probably on D) or Henry.

Will KU fans show themselves?
This should probably be 50-50 and KU is the better team, so KU should be louder in the stands. But they aren't and won't be. The fans are those with money now since Lew Perkins took over. More on this later.

10:45pm

Stupid rule in college basketball. The non-charge under the basket rule with the imaginary box. Why not just put the line up like the NBA. I don't get it.

Memphis is keeping it close cause of KU's ineptitude to capitalize. Aldrich with a block. Memphis just needs to try for 3. The inside game is not working. Collins out again. Hopefully this will be ok.

Does anyone else remember losing in Maui cause of cramping to some MAC school? That was a good team too.

Aldrich with a good fake and will go to the line. He is money.

The ref on the far side of the court calls a foul on the block. Why does it always work like that? I will never understand how someone so far away can justifiably make a call under the basket when there are 2 guys closer.

KU is struggling on offense until they get inside with Morris. Let's go KU.

10:40pm

Cole gets fouled and makes two, but only gets one cause of a lane violation. Stupid. Someone will be running suicides for that. Speaking of stupid, turnover and easy lay in for Memphis. Elijah Johnson, welcome to Division 1. So far tonight the freshman have looked like freshman, and that's about the best I can say. When Henry is open, he makes some shots, but that's about it.

Collins is back cause he will not let KU lose this game. Memphis press, again bad move. KU will eat it up.

10:35pm

What? Memphis missing free throws? I would never have guessed.

Two possessions later, great box out and rebound by Morris. KU needed that with Cole and Sherron out. The most interesting man in the world commercial is on and I love that. "He had an awkward moment once, just to see how it felt." Priceless.

10:32pm

Collins off his foot and Dickie V wants to see Carolina. Well, one of those was expected.

Now Collins limps off the court. I dont think I like that.

HUGE follow from the other Morris, but Memphis gets to the right away after that.

10:30pm

Just read some disturbing news about Mangino berrating a KU student who was a parking attendant person. Following the incident, Mangino did not get any more tickets. I dont think this is going to end well.

On a happier note, Henry with a beautiful move in transition. He can finish and has the body to be a player at the next level. At least 3 KU players will go pro next year. Collins (graduation) and Aldrich (lottery) and Henry (maybe lottery). That means more players to root for in the NBA. I'm stoked.

10:25pm

Memphis starts to press. Bad move.

Cole with a slam off a defensive breakdown and KU gets bailed out by a close Memphis miss. Cole is up to 12 points, 9 boards and 4 blocks. Quite a line.

10:22pm

Marcus Morris (announcer said his name) with a good move on the post. Cole follows with a great defensive play. It helps that he is bigger than everyone. And he airballs a long 2. TV timeout, KU 32-26.

10:20pm

Great block by Aldrich on D. Too bad they can't finish on the other end. Another turnover, but that is followed by a Memphis TO to get KU the ball.

Zone D by Memphis forces a 3 by Henry, Missed, and then Henry redeems himself with a steal. Sherron with a nice floater.

Henry gets beat on D, and sends Memphis to the line for a chance at the 3 point play. Good.

Come on KU, no turnovers.

10:15pm

Slow to start the half, and then a Memphis 3. 30 seconds of good defense is not good. KU needs 35.

KU forces the ball down low and Morris gets fouled. I am not differentiating between the two because neither has wowed me.

Aldrich on the Alley Oop!

Halftime:

Decent half from KU. They didn't look great, but are getting it done.

Rebounding has gone KU's way, but that is the way it should be. My story of the first half would have to be inexperience. Memphis's allowing KU to take control of the game, and KU's showing by them not finishing where they should. Billy Self said they were running too fast and being forced into it. I think that KU knows they have the running game, but they aren't finishing.

They also need to pound it inside (insert whatever joke you want here). They have the experience factor, as well as the number of talented bodies. Cole is in foul trouble, but KU should be dominating in the paint. Dominating. It's not happening yet, but I think that will change early in the half.

Stats:
Aldrich, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and should have a couple more. Three of his rebounds are offensive boards. He's an animal.
Collins, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists and 2 TO's. Bad with TO's, but not considering only Cole has less from the starters
Henry, 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 TO's. Right now a freshman.

KU leads rebounding 20-12. 5-6 from the charity stripe, but 11 turnovers, compared to Memphis's 7. That has to be changed and will be.

Only 2 points from KU's bench, but not much scoring all the way around. Let's get to the second half.

9:57pm

KU missed Aldrich on an offensive rebound by Memphis. He would have had that. Winding down the half, KU palys good ball control with Sherron. Tough shot that gets swatted.

Fortunate to end the half for KU as Taylor steals that ball and gets an assist to Collins who just got up from the floor. KU by 6 at half 26-20.

Observations from the half to come.

9:54pm

Almost a steal by Collins, and then a block by Aldrich. He gets called for the foul. Tough call. Could have gone either way, but it was massive and I know the KU fans liked it.

9:51pm

Morris travels out top. We can't have that. Not efficient. He had his brother down low on the block. Memphis with a slow down game on the offensive end. They get it down low, but good defense by KU.

My goodness, did you see how fast they got down the court! Amazing. This is going to be a fun team to watch. 2:05 left, KU 24 -17

9:48pm

Good offensive sequence for KU. Even though Reed missed another 3, it was an open look and one that Bill would like to see more of. Henry with the offensive rebound, then Morris who got fouled. I like that effort and KU will need that from those players. Especially with Cole out of the game.

9:45pm

Reed misses a three pretty badly. He can make an open look, but I dont think the team wants him taking guarded shots like that. Tyshawn with a foul on the defensive end. Not a bad foul cause he got beat, but that shouldn't happen.

Under 4 timeout. Still 20-17 KU leads.

9:40pm

Billy is pissed. This is the sloppiest this team has played for a while.

Henry should get a lot of rebounds and if he can, will make this team a lot better.

Aldrich with a block that is called a foul. He is an animal on the defensive end.

Nice feed inside for Aldrich and he makes the basket. However, he gets beat on the defensive end on a nice move.

Boo Yeah! Put back by Cole-nan. KU 20-17. Closer than it should be, but still a lead.

9:36pm
Sloppy play, including a poor shot from Tyshawn Taylor, but Aldrich and Reed combine for a couple blocks on the defensive end and a rebound to keep Memphis off the board.

On the run up the court (KU will have numbers for the rest of the game, they figured this Tiger team out already) Collins hits Henry on a drive to the bucket where he is fouled. Should have been an And One, but we will have to settle for the free throws.

9:33pm
3 for Memphis. The "backups" are in. I say that cause this is a first team that is coming off the bench for KU. They are just behind the first team in the nation.

Thomas Robison missed a short put back. He has to get that and he will later. Danny Manning is the coach. I dont think that is discussed enough. How much does it mean to have a former dominate college big man on the bench as well as someone who was a quality NBA player. I say priceless. Adds at least 2 wins a year.

9:30pm
Aldrich with a slam! Give that big man the ball!

Dickie V mentions that he is a treu center and post up player. So true. Too much of the European game has influenced american ball.

Aldrich with a turnaround. Danny Manning should get a raise for that move. Aldrich should give him part of his guaranteed money when he is a lottery pick in the next years draft.

15 - 9, 9:24 left

9:28pm
Aldrich getting a couple rebounds and more looks. Keep it up 'Hawks.

Henry with a travel. Freshman mistake. He needs to prove to Memphis fans that he is that good and they missed big time by not getting him. I know he has that ego.

Collins for 3! He is going offf tonight.

9:26pm

Forgot to mention that this is rematch of the Championship game from 2 years ago. Collins played a huge role in that game and no one else did. Aldrich a little. These are not the same teams though, so on the court it looks like a distant memory.

Aldrich gets fouled on the post out of the timeout. At least we are getting him the ball.

9:23Pm

Collins looks like he wants it, but the offense is doing nothin. We can't get it to Aldrich and too much standing around on the perimeter.

Nice bucket by Morris #1 and then taking a charge.

Not much better at the under 12 minute timeout. KU 8-7. So far, its been a slow game with poor execution from both teams. Billy has to be reeling with the poor play of everyone and will probably play with the lineup to get that right mix.

9:12PM

Collins drills the first bucket of the game. The way it should be. He is going off tonight.

Xavier mishandles a pass from Collins. Looks like he has some nerves. He just needs to get around the first few minutes and will settle down.

16:21 left

Henry with a nice drive and bucket. He's not backing down. That's for sure.

The offense needs to slow down. Too many turnovers. Not enough Cole.

First TV timeout. 4-0 lead. Memphis looks bad.

9:05pm Central time

Great game between Gonzaga and Michigan State. Keep an eye on the young bulldogs team. Should be a good one.

8:55pm Central time

Just come quick thoughts before the Game starts.

KU is loaded we know that. Now that KU is playing a decent team (at least better than Hofstra) we will see how loaded. If the freshman are freshman, they will struggle. If Xavier is an NBA ready player, he will dominate. Not only that, but CJ Henry is cleared to play and could be a huge boost later in the year as he develops.

Look for Memphis to try to play tough and not run with this KU team. They have a new coach, who will try to limit the posesssions because he knows he's not as deep as Bill Self's squad. He has to be a good coach with the number 1 recruiting class coming in for next year already.

When you look at KU's big guys, remember that there are more to come. Jeff Withey will be eligible after the first semester and will bolster a huge front court. At almost 7 feet, imagine him and Cole-nan the Barbarian playing side by side. Huge! He has some experience too, so that is great. If he can fit with the Morris twins and the frosh with the motor, look for awesomeness to ensue.

8:39pm Central time

Now some comments on KU's football situation. The team has been awful this year, just awful. And apparently there is more than meets the eye.

Earlier this week, Lew Perkins met with the entire KU football team about some concerns brought to him by KU senior linebacker Arist Wright. The concerns were about Mark Mangino. Lew and Mangino would not discuss what was talked about, but "an unbiased" source is looking into the situation.

Two trains of thought. It has been fairly well known that Mangino has not necessarily been the most liked coach in college football. So, it doesn't come as a surprise that he would rub players the wrong way. It was probably just a matter of time before players started to complain. On the other hand, Mrs. DDSF brought up a good point. The seniors are not going out the way they want and are looking for a reason/excuse to put their poor performance on. It was brought about by a senior player and many players are not getting the playing time they want.

My opinion. Something really fishy is going on with that program. The players (especially the upperclassman) are not giving the effort that was consistent with the good KU teams of the last couple of years. You just don't see that killer instinct or that all heart play from the juniors and seniors. I think there is more than some players looking for a way out. More to come.

8:19pm Central time

I am so stealing this idea from every sports blog person in the world, but it sounded great and fun and like I could do it since I am traveling for business and have nothing better to do. So here goes.

First some comments on one of the more sports worthy days in the history of Kansas City area sports.

The Great news of the day is the new AL Cy Young award winner Zac Greinkkkkkkke! As my brother Mark put it, "The Baseball Writers of America got it right." He was the best pitcher in baseball. He should have won 20 games, if he had any kind of offense and was a complete pitcher as shown by his place in just about every major pitching category. For fun, here is a link to Joe Posnanski's article about the win. He is probably one of Zac's biggest supporters.

Congratulations Zac. You deserved it.

Next, the Chiefs. Larry Johnson was signed by the Bengals after a mutual disagreement to part with the Chiefs. He needed to go. He didn't get along with Haley. He didn't fit the mold of a running back with Haley's offense. He didn't fit the mold of being on a rebuilding team. He played well with a chip on his shoulder and he lost that chip by being the incumbent starter in an offense that he didn't mesh with.

Mrs. DDSF was upset, because the Chiefs kept losing players she knew and were pretty good. But that was the only reason. It didn't matter that it was Larry Johnson, as much as it mattered that it was a familiar face. That should tell you something.

Then the news came today Dwayne Bowe was suspended four games by the NFL for violating the substance abuse policy. Supposedly it was for using a diuretic (water pill) for weight loss during training camp. And I do have an opinion on this because I am a drug expert.

YOU USED A DIURETIC FOR WEIGHT LOSS IN TRAINING CAMP!!! REALLY?!?!?!? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING????

While diuretics can be used for some weight loss, its predominately water weight. Which is what he would lose anyway from working out during two-a-days. Just ridiculous. RIDICULOUS!

Quick Hits from the NFL

2009-11-16T12:34:00.001-08:00

Just a couple of quick thoughts about the NFL from over the weekend.

The biggest news over the weekend was about the Marque Sunday night game between Tom Brady and the Patriots versus Peyton Manning and the Colts. It seems that every time these two teams meet there is something large at stake. This time it was a chance at home field advantage in the AFC playoffs. The Pats were 2 games behind the undefeated Colts and looking to gain ground and get back on top of the AFC rankings.

The Pats controlled the majority of the game, even amassing a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter. They were putting on quite a showing. And then the Pats got timid and got, what many people thought was careless and stupid.

Up 6 points with 2:08 remaining in the game, the Pats decided to go for 4th and 2 from their own 28 yard line. Now I'm going to play Good cop, Bad cop here just for some fun.

Good Cop:
Why would you not go for it? You have one of the best quarterbacks in the game. You have done this many times before. You are the freakin' New England Patriots. You don't want to give the ball back to Peyton Manning. I mean, it's Peyton Manning for crying out loud!! He has been nothing short of dominant this year. Did you see what he did to the Dolphins earlier this year. That was in prime time too. He had 1/4 the time of possession in that game and still won. Don't ever give Peyton the ball with a chance to win. Ever.

Bad Cop:
How do you go for it on 4th down and 2 from your own 28?!?!??! This isn't Pee Wee football! This is the NFL! HOW COULD YOU GO FOR IT ON 4TH AND 2 AT YOUR OWN 28 YARD LINE!!!! No one in their right mind does that. Hell, even in video games you don't do that. Its dumb. Make Peyton go 70 yards in 2 minutes, have faith in your GOOD defense and you will stop the Colts. Peyton even looked human tonight. The NFL average of drives going 70 yards in the final 2 minutes is less than 50%. Want to bet it's higher when the teams only have to go 30 yards? Idiot, hoodie wearing coach.

Ok, so what do I really think? I have been wavering on this all day. I originally said, "Eh, I would do everything I could to keep the ball out of Peyton's hands too." And then more recently I thought, "You have to make anyone, Peyton, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Keanu Reeves in The Replacements, go 70 yards. They are bound to screw up. They have to."

And in all honesty, the straw that broke the camels back was the video game argument. Seriously. I think there is a point in every 20 something male's life where he has made a tough decision based upon a video game. I would not go for a 4th and 2 from my own 28 in a video game only up 6. The majority of the time. There are certain circumstances that this would not hold true (say the computer or my opponent had lost all of their starting linebackers and they had drafted the QB that I had created to dominate the world on their team, then I would go for it), but the majority of the time there is no way I would go for it.

No on to other video game related NFL news. Maurice Jones-Drew just did a late in the game video game move, making it only the second that I can remember this year. With the Jags needing only a field goal to beat the Jets, and just over a minute left on the clock, the speedy bowling ball of a running back took a knee at the 1 yard line instead of scoring the go ahead touchdown. No one ever does that.

The Jags kicked a field goal that was even shorter than an extra point, got the W and kept their playoff hopes alive by getting to 5-4.

Earlier this year, the Broncos Brandon Stokley ran along the goal line on a game winning TD catch with about 20 seconds left, and essentially making it impossible for the Bengals to mount any kind of a comeback. Just like it always happens in video games. I don't think this gets played up enough.

Finally, the Chiefs got another point in the win column by beating a Raiders team that they should have dismantled for the second time this year. Jamaal Charles got over 100 yards rushing and the Chiefs defense didn't look too bad. But don't read too much into this. This was a terrible Raiders team, who can't stop the run, and can't gain yards on offense. The former number 1 pick, Jamarcus Russell, played so bad that the Raiders put in MAC product Bruce Gradkowski to try to get a comeback late in the game. The Raiders are awful and the Chiefs are just bad. Awful is worse than bad, and that was good for the Chiefs.

Finally, College Basketball starts tonight with 24 hours of straight live coverage from ESPN. With the first Top 25 matchup of the year with Gonzaga playing Michigan State. I can't wait.

Until later,

DDSF

And so it begins... or so I thought

2009-11-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Friday November 13th, 2009 was supposed to be the start of the college basketball season as we know it. I was out for the evening and recording the first KU regular season game against Hofstra. Or so I thought.

I set up the recording with no difficulty and left for the night to enjoy the Denver Nuggets thrash the Los Angeles Lakers. Quite an amazing thing considering how things went last year in the western conference playoffs.

And then I woke up this morning to enjoy the amazing KU game that I had seen the score of last night. Only I turned on the TV and there was an error showing about recording the game.

You see I had called this week to set up some HD service for the house. And while I was at it I ordered the Full Court package. Only, when they took my order, they decided that they did not need to activate it. So when I tried to record it didn't work because I actually did not have the package.

What does this all mean? It means that I will not be using Comcast after I move. No way at all. However, since I already purchased my package, I can't change now.

So what can I tell you about KU basketball? They are going to be incredible.

Imagine having not one, but two all americans (Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich) and add in the best freshman in the country to an amazing cast of role players and you have a team that may run the table in a time that features more parody than ever. With the inception of the mandatory one year post high school graduation rule to enter the NBA, there are more quality freshman entering the college ranks. With this, there are more and more high-quality college teams and less likely that teams will go undefeated.

Not only does this team have the best inside-outside combination in the country, but they have tremendous role players. I say role players with a slight hesitation. The likes of the Morris twins, Tyshawn Taylor or any one of the talented freshman on the Jayhawk squad would be a star on just about any other team. Just look at Taylor's run with the American Under 19 team over the summer. He was the leading scorer on a team packed full with talented underclassmen.

That said, I am more than ready for the basketball season. With the demise of the football team that used to be known as the Kansas Jayhawks, I have to turn my attention to the sport that is the reason for this blog. College basketball exhibits more heart, passion, suspense and athleticism than anything else on the planet.

With over 300 teams in division I basketball each day brings a new adventure and story line. Whether it be the combined talents of freshman and all americans on Kansas, the ever present over rating of the teams in the Great Lakes 11 (Big Ten), the potential impact of a Cinderella (Jai Lucas, formerly of George Mason fame) on a Top 5 team in Texas, the first preseason top 10 ranking for a team outside of a major conference (Butler) in recent history, the transfer of a highly talented (or at least touted) coach in the state of Kentucky, or the title defense of a historically good program that lost more talent than most teams get every 5 years, this season is expected to be one of the most newsworthy seasons in recent memory.

I plan on writing as much as I can about the college basketball season this year with access to the full court package and time at home to watch it (pending Mrs. DDSF's approval, wink wink). Now, I also plan on writing more about my observations about the KU Jayhawks, because that is where my passion lies. I know some of the readers (all 6 of you) may not get a kick out of this, but that is too bad. That said, I will also try to discuss more about KU's neighbors to the west, the Wildcats. Hopefully, this will lead to more discussion and more discussion will lead to more brilliance.

Tuesday, KU plays Memphis in St. Louis, MO. I expect to have plenty of observations from the game and plenty more in the future. Look for an update either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

And so it begins,

DDSF

Football Friday!

2009-09-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

WOOOOOOOO!!!!

FOOOOOOTTTTTTBBBBAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!

Ok, last week was bad. 2-5. Overall record: 7-7. Time for a rebound this week.

*Note: I lost last week, but it was by only one game. Both opponents went 3-4.

UNLV (-7.5) vs. Hawaii
Hawaii is not the same team that went to the Sugar Bowl 2 years ago. They don't play well on land. UNLV is not bad. I also kind of group UNLV and Fresno St (same colors and approximate location) in the same boat and Fresno totally covered last week against a pretty bad Wisconsin team.

BYU (-7.5) vs. Florida State
BYU has overacheived so far this year and FSU has underachieved. Its in Utah. And FSU is coming off a tough loss and won't have the mental fortitude (good word, eh!?!) to rebound against a TOP 15 team.

Nevada (-3) @ Colorado State
I don't really want to do this because of all the teams that are local to the Denver area, the Rams are my favorite. They play hard, which is something really really cool coming from a bad team (for the opposite see Colorado). Colorado State barely beat Weber State last week. I mean by the hair on their chiny chin chin. Ouch.

San Diego State (-3.5) @ Idaho
Idaho's mascot is the Vandals. What is that? How do you represent that? A guy with a cowboy hat and a bandana over his face? SDSU is the Aztecs and have voodoo ancient magic. And they have a decent coach.

(Yes, most of the argument was based off of mascots. I know you what you are thinking, "Weak". While I can not argue with you, when was the last time you heard anything about Idaho? The last thing I heard was how last week Idaho ended Washington's 10+ game losing streak. Not a good sign.

And their mascot still stinks)

Virginia Tech (-5) vs. Nebraska
Nebraska is getting tons of pub. Tons. It makes me sick. Preseason, they were picked to win the North, now they are getting BCS pub because they beat perenial powerhouses Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State. Virginia Tech actually played someone (although a Loss to Alabama) and is a little bit more seasoned. Va Tech plays better defense. They have better athletes and they have a coach that has been there more than 2 years.

Wyoming (+6.5) @ Colorado
I don't think I can tell you how bad Colorado is. They got smoked at home by the Rams, then they got smoked on the road by the Toledo Rockets. I think this will be a very close game (two days ago I had +7, and liked that better) and I actually hope that Wyoming wins.

The pick of the week courtesy of Mrs. DDSF!

Kansas (-23.5) vs. Duke
After a huge win on the road against UTEP (a road win is a road win, but 30 points is a good deal) Kansas is going to unload on a team with a quarterback controversy at home. Todd Reesing has yet to reach his potential this year (just ask him) and the receivers are improving. The 'Hawks can run the ball with the emergence of Toben Ophrum. They destroy Duke and will just have the backups come in with some desire to score points and show off their talent.

Finally a new addition to the post.

Football Friday Fantasy Football pickup of the week!

This week:

Chester Taylor

Guarnateed 13 points. He will play the entire 4th quarter against a sorry Detroit team and will get in the end zone at least once. BOOM!

Until next time,

DDSF

Football Friday

2009-09-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

So last week I went 5-2 against the spread and won the pool. This week, I'm feeling good.

I will try to get to some NFL stuff later, but it may not happen with visitors.

One of the wrinkles I am putting into my picks now is that my 7th and final pick will be from Mrs. DDSF. She and I have been doing college pick 'em on Yahoo for quite some time, so she gets the spread and enjoys betting on "her" teams when we take trips to Vegas.

This week's College picks:

Tennessee (-10) vs. UCLA
Time for Lane Kiffin to stop talking and start acting. I think UT makes a big statement led by their defense (and Lane's dad Monte, the leader of the great Tampa Bay Buccanneers defense) and get on the map.

Wake Forest (-3) vs. Stanford
The ACC was terrible last week, not just against the spread, but overall. Two teams lost to 1-AA schools (FCS schools). But, Wake at home against a not very good Stanford team (9-15 the last 2 years under Jim Harbaugh)... enticing! By the way, Stanford has a freshman quaterback.

Oklahoma St. (-14.5) vs. Houston
Okie State handed Georgia a taste of their own medicine in Stillwater last week winning 24-10. That was against an SEC powerhouse. You think they can't do better against Conference USA? Really?

Utah (-13.5) @ San Jose St.
The Utes beat their in-state rivals Utah St. 35-17 last week and will continue that domination this week against a weak team in the Spartans.

Nebraska (-21) vs. Arkansas St.
The Huskers love love love to run up the score and if you think they won't against a much weaker opponent, you are sadly mistaken. I think this team will continue to look a lot better than it is by blowing out weak teams at home.

Georgia (-7) vs. South Carolina
The Bulldogs are coming off a previously discussed tough loss to OK State and will take care of business at home. They have to. And they know it. An 0-2 start with a loss to South Carolina, would look awful bad for a team that was supposed to compete for the SEC crown.

Finally, what you have all been waiting for...

The pick of the week by Mrs. DDSF

Penn State (-28.5) vs. Syracuse
Don't question, just do it. I like the fact that the game is in Happy Valley and Joe Pa's Lions need to make a statement.

As far as the NFL this week:

I love that Pittsburgh won @ home in OT against a good Tennessee Titans team. I think this takes the matchup to a rivalry level, and as long as both teams stay good the next 5 years, I think epic matchups will come out of it.

The storylines that I will be following this weekend are:

- How will Tom Brady respond to regular season play? The Pats are at home against Buffalo, so it should go well, but will we see nerves, poise, another injury, or a mix? Check it out Monday night.

- How bad will Matthew Stafford for the Lions play? Number 1 overall pick, starting the first game of the year against a soft defense, but on the road in New Orleans. I say 2 INT's, 2 TD's (he still has Calvin Johnson to throw to) and a fumble.

- Brett Favre in Minnesota. He will do well because he is playing Cleveland. The Browns are bad by the way.

- Who will make themselves the favorite in the NFC North? Chicago and Jay Cutler travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers, who are my favorites in the NFC period.

- How many punts will hit the video board in Dallas? Over/Under = 1.5. I am taking the Over. The biggest blunder in sports right now. I hope Jerry Jones blames the punters again.

Have a great football filled weekend.

DDSF

Football Friday

2009-09-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Some real quick college football for you today.

I don't like the idea of ranking teams this early in the season because all too often there is at least one team in the Top 10 that falls out of the rankings all together by the 4th week.

I will talk more about the college football experience later, but today I am short on time. The reason for this post is because this year I am actively gambling. Kind of.

I have a pool with a couple other guys at work (at the request of the new overnight pharmacist) to pick 7 games (any 7 you want) against the spread and whoever can get the most right each week wins the pool. Its a good way for me to be a little extra interested in college football while also potentially making some money.

This week is the first week and I thought I would put my picks up for all to see and a short explaination.

Clemson (-18.5) vs. Middle Tenn St.
Clemson has a pretty good running game and has always had a decent defense. Three TD victory seems likely to me.

BYU (+21.5) vs. Oklahoma
BYU had a good year last year with a good defense. Oklahoma has: a new O Line, new wideouts, an injured Tight end, and they are playing on a neutral site.

Minnesota (-7) @ Syracuse
Greg Paulus at QB scares me. But Duke never made it past the sweet sixteen with him as their point guard. Plus, the 'Cuse has been awful upon awful for years.

Wake Forest (-2.5) vs. Baylor
Baylor has an awesome sophmore QB, but I dont think they can win on the road against another BCS conference team. Home field all the way for this one.

Notre Dame (-14.5) vs. Nevada
I don't really like ND as a team this year (at least not like Lou Holtz does, who thinks they will be playing for the national championship), but a team that lost by 60 to Mizzou last year will get beat in South Bend by quite a few.

Central Michigan (+13.5) @ Arizona
'Zona may not be a bad team, but the Chippewas have one of the nation's best dual threat QBs in Lefevre (or whatever his name is). I think it will be a pretty close battle.

Colorado St. (+10) vs. Colorado
Always a great battle between these two teams and I think that the Rams have enough to take on the QB controversy (even with one being older and the coaches' son) that is the Buffaloes. At least within 10 points that is.

Feel free to laugh, mock, make fun and call me names. I can take it.

Have a great labor day.

DDSF

As promised.... The Royals!

2009-09-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

This will be an ode to the Royals. Both good and bad.

I will say that this is the first full year I have been away from the KC area, so I have not followed the Royals as closely as I would have liked. I am by no means an expert. But I do have an educated opinion from being a fan for a long time (not as long as others) and there are plenty of the players that have stayed the same.

So let's begin.

An Ode to Zach Greinke...
Probably the best pitcher in baseball today. He is regarded by many experts (Buster Olney of ESPN being the most prominent at this time) as the leader for the AL Cy Young award. Despite the fact that he has only a 13-8 record.

The last 2 outings he has had include an 8 inning demolition of the Cleveland Indians in which he recorded a franchise record (a franchise that has had some decent pitchers including a former Cy Young winner David Cone) 15K's, as well as a complete game 1 hitter (and only 1 walk to boot) on the road in Seattle.

As of today, the Greink leads the AL (only using AL for comparison for the Cy Young purposes) in ERA, Walks and Hits per inning, Complete games (6), Shutouts (3), Home runs per 9 IP, and Adjusted ERA + (an overall stat for ERA compared to league averages, which Greinke leads Felix Hernandez of Seattle 189 - 157, or 32 points, which is the difference between 2 and 10th!). He is second in innings pitched, second in hits per 9 IP, second in Hits: Walks ratio and is on the worst team in baseball.

He has taken a loss in 3 games in which he has pitched 6 innings or more and given up 2 earned runs or less. He has got a no decision in 6 games in which he has had a quality start (6+ innings with 3 ER or less). If the G-man were to get W's in the games in which he gave up 1 ER or less, his record would be 16-6, because he has 2 losses while giving up only 1 ER.

As long as he stays with the Royals through the end of his current contract, I anticipate him being the best pitcher to wear a Royals uniform. He has the ability to win 2 Cy Youngs, and if he gets an offense, could win 20 games easily.

Moving on...

An Ode to John Bale...
Why an ode to John Bale? Because he is the worst relief pitcher in baseball in my estimation.

Last night he allowed 1 of 2 inherited runners to score. And that dropped his percentage of inherited runners scoring from 64% to 62%. What is worse is that he did not even record an out. The Royals maybe looked at this stat after it happened and decided they should remove the person who has allowed the most inherited runners to score (21) and has the worst percentage of runners to score of pitchers who have faced 30 inherited runners. Of pitchers facing 20 or more inherited runners, he only has the fourth worst percentage, narrowly edged out by former Royals reliever Ron Mahay.

He has done this with an ERA of 5.93. And just to emphasize how bad that is, he allows 1 run to score every 1.5 innings (rounding of course) he pitches. Of the batters he faces.

He has pitched 27.1 innings on the year and allowed 18 earned runs. He has faced situations with 34 inherited runners and allowed 21 of them to score. In the 27.1 innings that John Bale has pitched this year, there have been 39 runs scored! Every inning John Bale has pitched, there have been almost 1.5 runs scored for the other team!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Royals just released Ron Mahay, who would be the closest competition to John Bale in the futility department, but he only gave up 22 ER in 41 1/3 IP. Throw in the 18 inherited runners to score and his total is up to 40 runners scoring total. Only 1 more than Bale. Except he pitched half again as many innings as Bale! And he was released!

The Royals bullpen on the whole has been awful. It may not be fair to pick on Bale (yes it is) because of how awful the entire 'pen has been. As a whole they have allowed 46% of inherited runners to score. They have the top 3 in number of inherited runners scoring with Bale, Mahay (18) and Jamey Wright (19) in the entire major leagues. The next team to get 3 pitchers in the lead of such a stat is the San Fransisco Giants, who have 4 in the Top 30 (numbers 3 and 4 are right next to each other). One of those pitchers is former Royals "great" Jeremy Affeldt (DJ Carrasco also is in the Top 30).

The 46% as a team is the second worst in the decade (baseball-reference.com). The only team worse is the 2003 Royals who allowed 49% of runners to score, but they allowed 93 to score that year and this year's team has already allowed 102. The next closest team this year is Washington who have allowed 90 inherited runners to score (but only allow a league average of 33% to score).

Did I mention Bale has had 5 save chances and blown 4?

An Ode to Billy Butler...
The only fairly consistent offensive player in the Royals lineup. Butler leads the team in batting average (.295), on base percentage (.349 and by no means something to brag about), doubles (41), hits (146), RBI (67), Total bases (234), AB's (495), Games played (130) and is second on the team in walks (42 to Dejesus's 45), and slugging percentage (0.473 to Bryan Pena's 0.487). He was even named AL offensive player of the week once!

I will be the first to admit the Royals are terrible. And as bad as they have pitched, their offense has been even worse. But Billy has done all this at the age of 23. For the longest time, he was on pace to break the team record in doubles of 54 set by Hal "I will throw my phone at you in a violent rage" McRae. The fact that he continues to produce is a great sign for things to come. He has even been a better first baseman than Mike Jacobs. That's not saying much, but he was supposed to be AWFUL and the fact that he is better than someone speaks volumes.

An Ode to Management...
Dayton Moore just got a contract extension. He did have one year left on his contract (through the end of 2010), but got his contract extended by 4 years to 2014. When Dayton Moore was hired, the Royals thought they were saved. I remember the days of Allan Baird and the draft picks (other than Greinke) during his reign and the entire decade of the 90's (Jeff Granger, Dee Brown, and Kyle Snyder anyone?). I remember the acquisitions of Neifi Perez and Chuck "way passed his prime" Knoblach. Chili Davis. Emil Brown leading the team in RBI's two consecutive years! Jose Lima! (may have happened with Moore, but it was bad and I think its a good example so live with it). This was supposed to be different.

While I will say the draft has potentially been different (we have not been scared off by the asking price of prospects), the rest of the moves have yet to come to fruition. I know that we have expanded the scouting department and started scouting in other countries. I know they have beefed up coaching and development in the minor league system. But what have we gotten out of it?

The signing of Jose Guillen, Mike Jacobs, Kyle Farnsworth and Horacio Ramirez? The worst bullpen in the major leagues? The worst offense in the major leagues (the Nationals have multiple players hitting .300. Look it up!)? No real replacements ready to make the jump, even for September call ups (they activate Guillen off the DL with the opening of the 40 man roster, but can't bring up anyone else?)?

While I did not think that Moore needed to go just yet (one more year to see if ANYONE progressed to major league ready), I'm not sure they needed to extend his contract. Too many bad moves, too many holes in a team and a fan base that had high hopes.

I think that is enough of an ode for one day. Check back later for some college football, starting tomorrow!

DDSF

Draft Results and some more football ramblings

2009-08-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

First things first. How the draft went.

**If you want to read about the Chiefs and Royals, skip to the end. That way you miss the nonsensical ramblings about fantasy football.**

Well, let me give you some background first. 12 team league. 5 points for QB TD's, everything else is standard scoring. QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF/ST with 6 Bench spots. Yahoo service because I could just renew the league from last year (they offer free live scoring this year though), so we get randomized 30 minutes prior to the draft for position. I get 11th.

In discussions with Mark, my crazy accountant brother, he and I decided that in a 12 team league, the first 2 picks for everyone are about even. The first 25 picks of the draft are pretty even. Then there is some drop off. So I couldn't do too bad to start. What I didn't realize is that there is a pretty big drop off at about pick 30. All the running backs in the second tier that I liked were gone before I got a third pick. I will narrate more as the list continues.

Round 1: Steve Slaton
I was picking one of the Houston studs (Slaton or Andre Johnson) and I had to be sure to grab what I thought was an elite RB, so I took Slaton. I didn't wanted pick 12 or 13 to be him. I could settle for one of the 3 WR's still on the board (Moss, Johson and Calvin Johnson)

Round 2: Calvin Johnson
Moss and Andre went with 12 and 13. Made this pick pretty simple.

Round 3: Marques Colston
All the QB's I liked (top 7) went before I could pick here. Also, there were a ton of RB's off the board, so I knew that I could wait for my next set of picks to get my number 2.

Round 4: Tony Gonzalez
All the QB's are gone. I knew I could wait for a RB. I had 2 WR. So I took an impact TE. They would be gone by the next time I picked (the next 4 TE's went in round 4) and I knew I could wait on an RB. QB's I could have drafted here: Big Ben, Jay Cutler or Matt Schaub. I decided against it.

Round 5: Jonathon Stewart
How many RB's went between the second pick in Round 4 and 11th in Round 5. One. It was Kevin Smith. Good gamble by taking a TE.

Round 6: Darren McFadden
Good running back depth now for the team. DMac may start. I could still have taken Cutler, which may have been a mistake not to, but I like my RB trio.

Round 7: New York Jets
Not a sexy pick at all. I could have waited again for this, but there were 10 defenses off the board already and I decided this was the best one left and took it. It could have waited 3 picks cause the guy after me took the Vikings, but I knew I wanted this and took it.

Round 8: Matt Hasselbeck
Time for a QB. Good value pick I think, could be a very servicable QB in a relativley weak division. Now I have a full lineup (other than a Kicker, which is not what I really need until late) and can work on some depth.

Round 9: Kevin Walter
Like it a lot!

Round 10: Ahmad Bradshaw
Totally great here. If Brandon Jacobs gets hurt, this guy comes in and scores 15+ a week.

Round 11: Donald Brown
Drafting for upside here. Again the injury deal. If Joseph Addai gets hurt, Brown is the guy and does well in a Colts high powered offense.

Round 12: Joe Flacco
This was the mistake of the draft. I wanted a good backup QB for Hasselbeck, but I didnt realize they have the same bye week. I will definitely have to shop this pick. Ugh.

Round 13: Nate Kaeding
I know I know. A kicker before the last round. But I wanted Kaeding. So there.

Round 14: Nate Burleson
QB to WR hookup will be great on my #1 and #2 bye weeks. Burleson will get a lot of looks with TJ Housh on the other side drawing a lot of attention.

So my full lineup to start

QB: Matt Hasselbeck
RB: Steve Slaton
RB: Jonathon Stewart or Darren McFadden
WR: Calvin Johnson
WR: Marques Colston
TE: Tony G
K: Nate Kaeding
D/ST: NYJ

Bench: JS or D-Mac, Kevin Walter, Ahmad Bradshaw, Donald Brown, Joe Flacco, Nate Burleson.

Overall, I am happy with this. I have my doubts at QB, but am excited at the possibility. I have studs at WR and TE as well as a great RB in Slaton.

I dont really think there is a favorite in the league, because everyone has a question mark somewhere.

I do like Mrs. DDSF's team too:
Jay Cutler
Adrian Peterson (yes, she got the first pick)
Marion Barber III
Roddy White
Chad 85
Owen Daniels
Jason Elam
San Deigo

Now a couple other things before I close for the day.

Grienke just pitched a one hitter in Seattle, helping his case for the Cy Young. He now leads the majors with 6 complete games, 3 shutouts and is tops in the AL with a 2.32 ERA. He has 13 wins to go with 8 losses, but has atleast 3 no decisions when giving up 1 run or less. If there will be an injustice in postseason awards, it will be for the AL Cy Young. Grienke should win it, but because he has so few losses, he probably won't. He has dominated this year, even though he is on the worst team in the AL. This comes after a 15 strikeout performance earlier in the week against the Indians. That's a franchise record for you folks scoring at home.

More on the Royals later this week.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, have equaled the Royals in awfulnessocity. They just lost their "franchise" QB in Matt Cassel for 2-4 weeks with no defined backup. Todd Haley must be pulling his hair out trying to figure out this one because the offensive line is so terrible. Tyler Thigpen can move more than any QB, but Brodie Croyle is the better pocket passer (as brittle as he is) and would fit better for Haley's system. If Croyle will start (which I think he will), look for him to get hurt in 3 quarters or less.

On another offensive offensive note, the Chiefs have relieved Chan Gailey of his duties as offensive coordinator. I can't imagine why.

He has not lasted in the league with any team or coaching position for more than 2 years (Cowboys Head Coach in 98-99). He went to Georgia Tech from 2002-2007 where he coached Calvin Johnson to an incredible year, though never finished in the Top 25 or beat rival Georgia. And, he led one of the worst offenses in football last year to a pathetic 4-12 record. And he had a stud Wide out (he was a former wide reciever coach with the Steelers) and the games best Tight End.

He was hired under Herm Edwards, who is a run first, defense first coach, and didn't fit in. Why would his plan work under a pass first offense first coach? It wouldn't. I think after the awful preseason (and completey pathetic offensive line play, especially the first team), Haley realized he could not work with this guy. I like the move simply because the Chiefs really needed a fresh start from the old regime.

I just wish it would have come sooner. And we could have had some young hot shot take the reigns and be creative.

Until next time,

DDSF

Football part 2

2009-08-29T11:59:00.001-07:00

So now that you have insight into my head about running backs and wide recievers, let me introduce you to my QB, TE, Def and K rankings/sleepers.

QB's
This could potentially be the highest scoring player on your team. Two years ago Tom Brady racked up 378 points during his 50 TD season outscoring Tony Romo's second place effort of 283.

So, who do I think is going to be that consistent force destroying all of your opponents?

1 a. Drew Brees
1 b. Tom Brady
3. Aaron Rodgers
4. Peyton Manning
5. Tony Romo
6. Phillip Rivers
7. Kurt Warner
8. Donovan McNabb

I know... a cop out on the first pick. Do you want someone with the potential to throw 50 Td's (Brady) but could also be awful or hurt, or someone who has thrown for over 4400 yards the last 3 seasons with at least 26 TD's? Either one is perfect.

Moving down the list, Green Bay will be great and Rodgers will only improve on last year's (4038 yards and 28 TD tosses and 4 TD runs) numbers. Peyton down just a bit because of Rodgers, and Romo will have a bounce back year after breaking up with Jessica "Chicken of the Sea" Simpson.

Warner is ranked higher, but I think is too much of an injury risk and McNabb was originally higher on my list, but Michael Vick's presence will take some points away.

Sleepers (or just guys you can get later and still get good points from)
Matt Schaub
Ben Roethlisberger
Matt Hasselbeck
Joe Flacco
David Garrard

If you don't get one of those top guys on the list, try to get a couple sleepers. Schaub and Jay Cutler in the Top 10 on most preseason lists, so not really sleepers, but the reason Schaub is here is because he has Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter and (if healthy) the potential to be a Top 5 QB.
In 2007, Big Ben had 32 TD's.
Garrard was a Top 10 QB last year and has waaaaaay better recievers (meaning they are not doing drugs this year).
Hasselbeck is on a Seattle team that is going to be good (see 9-7 competing for the division).
Flacco threw for about 3000 yards and 14 td's on a run first team as a rookie.

TE
This will go quick. Get one of the Top 4, and you are already a favorite to make the playoffs in your fantasy league (unless you are a complete idiot).

1. Tony Gonzalez
2. Jason Witten
3. Antonio Gates
4. Dallas Clark (with less proven Wide Outs, he will play a bigger role in the passing game if healthy)

The other guys
5. Chris Cooley (lots of looks, catches and yards last year, but not many TD's)
6. Owen Daniels (again, if Schaub is healthy all year, he sky rockets)
7. John Carlson (awesome as a rookie and Apple Juice Seneca Wallace as his QB)
8. Greg Olsen (He is with Culter, who like Tony Scheffleer in Denver, but is better than Scheff)
9. Zach Miller (Jamarcus Russell's only target with reliable hands)
10. Visanthe Shiancoe (Remember when Bubba Franks was good with Favre? This guy is better than Bubba and Minnesota likes to throw it in the red zone)
11. Anthony Fasano (Had 7 TD's for the 'Fins last year. Who knew?)

If you want to reach, reach on these guys
Kellen Winslow (He is playing in TB, one of the worst teams this year)
Heath Miller (Only a year removed from 566 yards and 7 TD's)
Brandon Pettigrew - Rookie for Detroit (Culpepper and Stafford can't throw to Calvin Johnson on every play.... or can they?)

Kickers.

Here is the deal. I will rank these guys the way I want them, but if you draft a kicker before the last round you are an idiot. Period. The difference between first and 10th place (10th!) is 24 points over the last 2 years. That is 1.5 points per week in a 16 week season. You can find that much value at another position earlier.

That said, I am only going to put 10 names down and you will have to rank them. Because I don't care about kickers that much!

David Akers
Lawrence Tynes
Jason Elam
Stephen Gostkowski
Mason Crosby
Ryan Longwell
Rob Bironas
Nate Kaeding
Whoever is kicking for New Orleans that week (Garret Hartley got suspended 4 games)
Kris Brown
Neil Rackers
Nick Folk
Robbie Gould

And that is how much I care about kickers. I did more than 10 to confuse you!

IT

WILL

NOT

MATTER!!!!!

Defense/Special Teams

These guys are a little harder to predict, but they are a better bet than the kickers. It also depends upon your leagues scoring system. I am in a league where yardage matters, so it is even more important to get a stud D.

1. Pittsburgh
2. New York Giants
3. San Diego (They play the Chiefs, Broncos and Raiders a total of 6 times!)
4. Minnesota Vikings
5. New York Jets
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Chicago Bears
8. Tennessee Titans
9. Philadelphia Eagles
10. Washington Redskins

Some other teams that might be worth it.
Houston Texans (probably better as a matchup pick, but have some good young talent)
San Fransisco (Mike Singletary = Defense. Maybe they should move Vernon Davis to Linebacker)
Oakland Raiders (They have a great secondary and play in the AFC West)
Green Bay (Their corners take chances, which is bad for points against, but great when they score TD's)
Seattle Seahawks (a team on the rise)

Now that you have seen everything that I am thinking, give me feedback and comments. And I will give frequent (although completely unimportant updates) on the fantasy season all year long.

Peace and I will let you know how tomorrow's draft goes.

DDSF.

PS. Mark (my brother) would not let me put his sleeper WR on this blog, so I didn't. But I wanted to. So I will after the draft.

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

2009-08-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Before I fully get into the nitty gritty of my join for the start of football season (college, pro and fantasy) I have to preface this by saying I will still catch you up on the Royals. I have lately come in to possession of some crazy stats that I have to share with you. However, being as I have a draft for fantasy football this weekend, I thought I would do a quick rundown on some of my personal player rankings and also try to give you some sleepers.

So here goes.

I am going to do some rankings by position because not all leagues are built the same. With a QB getting 6 points I would take one of my Top 2 QB's, but in most other leagues I would lead off with a RB/WR depending upon location in the draft order. There are only a few WR's that I feel like you need and there is a TON of running back depth in this draft.

Hopefully, someone will learn something from this post.

Running Backs:
1. Adrian Peterson
2. Matt Forte
3. Michael Turner
4. DeAngelo Williams
5. LaDainian Tomlinson
6. Maurice Jones-Drew
7. Steve Slaton
8. Brandon Jacobs
9. Chris Johnson
10. Steven Jackson

Some notes before I move on. Basically, those Top 5 backs will all be freakin awesome. There is some question with MJD because he hasn't had that workload and the Jaguars may be terrible and have to pass the ball alot. All of these guys are going to produce this year. All of them. If you pick one, you will not go wrong.

11. Brian Westbrook
12. Clinton Portis
13. Pierre Thomas
14. Frank Gore
15. Ryan Grant
16. Marion Barber III
17. Thomas Jones
18. Kevin Smith
19. Marshawn Lynch
20. Jonathan Stewart

These are guys who start and are potentially awesome. Westbrook has had atleast 11 TD's in the last 3 years and is 11th. Portis had over 1500 total yards the last 2 seasons, including 1487 rushing last year. Thomas Jones has averaged 1094 yards and 8 TD's in the last 3 years and is 17th! Talk about depth.

Other people I like:
Felix Jones
Willie Parker
LenDale White (can you say Touchdowns?)
Ray Rice (he catches and runs)
Darren McFadden
Derrick Ward (just barely... I have no idea what he is going to produce on a terrible team)

Running Back Sleepers
-Leon Washington (he will be a good 3rd running back with about 900 total yards and 7 TD's)
-Ahmad Bradshaw (Derrick Ward had over 1000 yards last year as Brandon Jacobs backup and he is gone. Enter the Bradshaw)
-Cedric Benson (He starts and there is no one else. He could easily get to 1000 yards and 8 TD)
- Fred Jackson (He will start the first 3 weeks of the season for Buffalo with Lynch suspended and is good. And Lynch might get hurt.)
- Peyton Hillis (He was GREAT before he got hurt last year)
- Greg Jones (MJD's backup and would steal some goal line carries)

Wide Recievers
1. Larry Fitzgerald
2. Andre Johnson
3. Calvin Johnson
4. Randy Moss
5. Greg Jennings
6. Anquan Boldin
7. Marques Colston
8. Roddy White
9. Reggie Wayne
10. Steve Smith

That is my list of WR's that you MUST have in order to succeed in your league. Too many guys are so inconsistent, but these guys will produce (assuming good health). The order after 6 is just whatever to me. Take one, take another, no big deal.

Other guys I like:
- Wes Welker
- Dwayne Bowe (could reach new levels, but the Chiefs line is so bad that he won't be in the upper eschelon this year)
- TO will be ok. Just OK.
- Desean Jackson
- OchoCinco
- Steve Breaston
- Donald Driver
- Lance Moore (if any other NO reciever has a huge game, pick them up immediately and hope they keep producing)
- TJ Housh (new place, he's the #1, and the Seahawks could be great)
- Kevin Walter
- Josh Morgan (SF's only good option)

Sleepers (just a couple)
- Limas Sweed (Nate Washington's numbers from last year)
- James Jones (GB is good)
- Earl Bennett (Jay Cutler's favorite target from Vanderbilt, now on the same Pro team)

So.... I have to go to work now, but will definitly get the rest of my picks later. It may be Saturday, but I will get to them. Promise.

Enjoy.

DDSF

Royals sticking true to form

2009-07-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would give an update on some thoughts I had about the last 3 games.

Saturday was a great game. Ended a 10 game losing streak. Beating Texas (always good) and getting Soria some work.

Lukkkkkkkke Hochever pitched great. He did give up 3 runs in 7 innings, but struck out 13 (notice all the k's in his name!!) and didn't walk a single batter. Hoch left with a 6-3 lead too. I would say that is quality start (generally defined as 3 runs or fewer and atleast 6 innings of work).

To finish the game, the Royals went to the bullpen and got Soria to close with a 6 out save. Very very good in my eyes, because he seems to be the only person in the 'pen who can get people out. It was nice to see our bullpen (albeit the Mexicutioner, who I have come to expect great things from) pick up a good starting performance.

Sunday was not a good game.

The Royals got 6 shutout innings from Sidney Ponson.

Let me repeat that....

THE ROYALS GOT 6 SHUTOUT INNINGS FROM SIDNEY PONSON!!!!!!

Ok, so if the Royals don't win this game it means we blew a terrific start from a terrible starter (Ponson's ERA is 6.79 after those 6 scoreless innings). So naturally, the bullpen comes in a just blows it up.

Mahay comes in, gives up 2 hits to the first two batters he faces (on 3 pitches) and gets pulled. The Royals go on (due to an error I know) give up 3 runs in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th.

Monday, against the Orioles, the boys in blue came back and got a decent start from Bruce Chen (who has not won a game since October 2, 2005 - almost 4 years ago). Robinson Tejeda came in and threw 3 innings of shutout ball, while allowing the Royals to take the lead and handed the ball off to Soria for another save.

Just to emphasize what happened to the bullpen over the weekend:
- Soria is awesome
- Tejeda pitched great
- On Sunday Mahay, Wright and Cruz all gave up runs, and Roman Colon did not

So if you check out my last blog, you will see that the two guys with the lowest percentage of inherited runners scored (Tejeda and Colon) did better. Not science, but I'm just sayin.

On another note, Billy Butler has quietly done a pretty good job for the Royals. I have to give props when props are due. He is not the power hitter we had hoped he would be, but he has a ton of doubles (on pace for over 50 this year and an outside chance at the club record) and is hitting about .300 (only one guy is over and that is Callaspo) and leads the team in OPS (on base + slugging percentage). He has become a quality starter and one that looks like a decent draft pick (for once).

Now if we could only get Alex Gordon to do the same...

DDSF

To be a fan....

2009-07-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

Oh to be a Royals fan.

Sometimes it gets to be extremely difficult. Like now.

During a 9 game losing streak that has spanned before the all-star break, the Royals have had some of the worst relief pitching that I can remember. During the streak, the bullpen is 0-4 with an ERA of 10.05 and 4 blown saves. An ERA of 10.05!!! 10.05!!! That is more than 1 run per inning.

Which is pretty much awful. But expected at the same time.

Why is it expected?

Because of inherited runners.

Baseball-reference.com keeps an awesome list of MLB stats that includes relief pitching and many other mind blowing stats. The one that I was curious about was inherited runners. It seems like every time a relief pitcher comes in with men on base, those men score. I thought I would be wrong about this (or at least hoped I would be wrong) because up until recently our bullpen's ERA has not been terrible. Just bad. And they were supposed to be a strength to start the year.

So inherited runners... How do the Royals compare to the rest of the league and how many inherited runners score?

Answers: They are the worst in the league and as of today 46% of inherited runners score!

The league average is 33%. The leaders in the league are the St. Louis Cardinals, who only allow 22% of inherited runners to score. Half as many as the Royals.

Well, so percentages are ok, but what about hard numbers? Maybe the Royals just don't get that many inherited runners.

Wrong... The Royals have given up the highest number to score (73 and second place has 67) and have seen the 6th most inherited runners in MLB. On top of that, 3 teams who have seen more runners (Tampa Bay, STL and the Dodgers) have allowed less than 30% to score.

But it really can't be that bad can it? Maybe the Royals bullpen comes in with the bases juiced all the time with a 1 run lead in the 8th inning (high pressure). You can't quantify that can you?

Yes you can.

There is an average leverage index (aLi)which describes how much pressure a pitcher sees when they enter the game. Numbers greater than 1 mean high pressure and less than 1 is low pressure. The Royals score is 0.963. The league average is 1.017. They have the 4th easiest pressure when they take the mound.

Royals Relievers, their aLi, and the percentage of inherited runners scored:
Soria, 2.028, 67% (6 of 9, 3 of 3 in his last outing)
Bale, 1.414, 59% (10 of 17)
Mahay, 0.674, 57% (13 of 23)
Farnsworth, 0.514, 56% (5 of 9)
Cruz, 1.127, 54% (7 of 13)
Wright, 0.978, 52% (15 of 29)
Tejeda, 0.688 37% (7 of 19)
Colon, 0.765 27% (6 of 22)

So Soria comes in to the game in the highest pressure (8th highest in the majors) and gives up the most inherited runners. But the problem is the Royals keep sending out players (Mahay, Wright and Bale) who consistently give up runs with people on base, in easy situations.

Example: John Bale (not picking on anyone, just found a good example, even though every time Bale comes into a game with any lead I do think the Royals will lose the game) comes into the game Wednesday night against the Angels in the 7th inning with 2 out, man on first. Bannister has done a great job of keeping a lead and going relatively deep into a game (I say relatively because my memory of the Royals does not include a lot of 7+ inning starting pitchers other than Grienke and sometimes Meche). The Royals lead 6-3. Pretty comfortable, get one out, hand it off to the setup man and then the Mexicutioner to close it out.

So what does Bale do? First batter gets a single. Now 1st and 3rd. Next batter, single. Run scores. Then, he is able to get an out. In my book, if a reliever comes in with a man on 1st and more than a 1 run lead, he should get charged for that earned run. In this case Banny gets an earned run and the Royals are on their way to a loss.

Our starting pitchers have lost 11 wins becuase our bullpen has blown it (thank you baseball-reference.com). They also have 12 "tough losses" (losses in quality starts).

Now it is not all pitching seeing as how the Royals get the second least run support of any team in the majors, but today was about pitching.

That said, I am still going to watch the games on gamecast (I work evenings) and still mutter under my breath every time something goes wrong and get extremely excited when someone hits a home run or gets a timely hit. I know no other way.

Let me know your thoughts on being a fan.

Posting again soon,

DDSF

Royals make a comeback?

2009-06-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

So it took something great from the Boys in Blue to get a brand new post.

3 game sweep of the Cincinnati Red-in-the-faces. Due mostly to some hot bats, some poor opposition, some great starting pitching and a Giant Blue Surfboard, 3 in a row has put some life back in the team that was 18-11 in May with a 3 game lead in the division.

A quick breakdown of the stats from the last three games to give some encouragement to you the fans:

Friday:
Luke Hocheaver: 9 IP (complete game), 3 hits, 1 ER, 1BB, 1 K, 80 pitches. He got a complete game with only 80 pitches!!! Are you kidding me?!?!? That's less than 9 pitches an inning. Thats less than 3 pitches a batter if you only face the minimum 27 hitters! If you want some good perspective on it read this article by Joe Posnanski (probably my favorite all around sports writer, Bill Simmons is hilarious, but needs to broaden his repitoure to reach JoePa). Just a quick glance of the article:
"First, let’s talk about rarity: Only five pitchers this decade have thrown a complete game in 80 pitches or less. It hasn’t happened in the American League since 2005. Pitch-count numbers are sketchy and unreliable, but it does appear that the complete-game-in-80-pitches-or-less trick has been pulled only five times in the American league the last 20 years."

If this somehow catapults "Hoch" into the Grienke/Meche catagory, the Royals will definitely make a run at the Central. But its too early to tell that.

Hitting: It doesn't really matter with a gem like that, but 4 runs off 6 hits. 2 RBI from Callaspo and 2 HR in the game.

Saturday:
Kyle Davies: 5 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, 5BB, 1 K
This is important because he had lost a career high 5 in a row, despite a complete game which he gave up 4 against the Blue Jays in his last outing. He lost because the Royals couldn't hit anything against the Cy Young favorite (it really hurts to say that with Zac getting no support) Roy Halladay.
Roman Colon (I dont really know who he is either): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0 ER, and the most important stat for me Inherited runners 1, Inherited runners scored 0. The Royals pen has been terrible at allowing inherited runners. See John Bale's (I can't stand it when he comes in the game. After the Royals released H. Ramirez, he has taken the cake for the pitcher I never ever ever want to see enter the game) stat line from Thursday.

Grienke, pitches a gem, but has a high pitch count after 7 and 1/3. Bale comes in, gets a ground ball, to force a double play. Great, except he falls over at first base commits an error, allows 1 run to score (counts against Grienke) and extends the inning. So, 1/3 IP because he got an out amazingly, 1 Error (credited to TJ, but it was Bale I dont care who you are he fell down!!!!!!), Inherited runners 2, Inherited runners scored 1. Some how he got the Hold because the lead was not relinquished, only got to a tie. And we eventually lost the game. Bad story, but I am so infuriated at how poorly the situation was handled that I can hardly contain myself.

Hitting: 7 runs off 14 hits (quite an output). Every starter had a hit. Our 6-7-8-9 hitters scored 5 of the 7 runs, meaning the Royals are getting runs from everywhere in the lineup, like they should.

Sunday:
Brian Bannister: 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 KO's
Juan Cruz: 1IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1K (good because he has been off just like everyone else in Blue)

Hitting: 7 runs off 9 hits. This was accomplished without a leadoff hitter (Crisp), the best hitter power hitter on the team (Guillen) and Alex Gordon.

The Royals scored 1 in the first (with 2 out) 4 in the 3rd (3 with 2 out) and 2 in the 8th (with 1 out). The two responsible for the most damage were Miguel Olivo and Alberto Callaspo. They have been the life blood of a terrible hitting team.

Just another quip from Joe Posnanski's blog because it is too good. He wrote an article about how amazing a pitcher Kyle Farnsworth is.
- Just so you know my thoughts on Kyle Farnsworth. He has single handedly LOST 4 games for the Royals. I know they are not a great team, but he has not single handedly won any games for the Royals this year. In fact, the only game he has a W in this year is when the Royals scored 4 runs off Kerry Wood in the 9th!
Anyway, the highlight of the article is JoePa doing Chuck Norris type facts in reverse:
- Every dog has his day … except Kyle Farnsworth.
– When Kyle Farnsworth gets 21, it’s not blackjack.
– A rolling stone gathers no moss … it’s all on Kyle Farnsworth.
– A broken clock is right twice a day … which is more than Kyle Farnsworth.
– When Kyle Farnsworth lands on Free Parking in Monopoly, he has to pay.
– Two wrongs don’t make a right. They make a Kyle Farnsworth inning.
– There’s no crying in baseball, except when Kyle Farnsworth comes in.

What's next for the Royals is a series against the DiamondBacks @ home. Grienke is pitching, but it is at home so he can not hit a home run. Grienke used tape of himself hitting a home run to inspire Alex Gordon early in his career when he was in a slump. A very winnable series at home with some give away nights so there should be decent crowds.

Now on to some other Baseball thoughts (America's Pastime and the most newsworthy):
- The Rockies have now won 11 straight games to get out of the cellar in the NL West. And are still below .500. They are now 31-32, but are getting the city excited again under a new Manager. I think the way they are winning is great. They have a young nucleus of lovable players like Troy Tulowitzki, part of the 20 game streak that led the Rox to the World Series 2 years ago, and Dexter Fowler who is a rookie playing center field and has wheels (5 SB in a game in April).

- The Rox are winning without Brian Fuentes, the closer now for the Angels. He has 16 saves in 19 chances. Do you know the MLB leader?

Heath Bell.

He plays for San Diego. He has 18 saves in 19 chances, a 2-1 record and a 1.32 ERA out of the Pen for a fairly average team. Wild.

- Juan Pierre (Manny Ramirez's replacement) is batting .343 and is 5th in the Majors.

- Raul Ibanez is tied for the league lead in HR and is second to Jason Bay in RBI.

- Jason Bay is leading the league in RBI and the player the BoSox lost for him (Manny) is serving a 50 game suspension. Great move by the Sox.

Other sports thoughts:

The US is playing the in Confederations Cup in South Africa starting today and are playing Italy, Egypt and Brazil in group play. If they make it past group play they will have accomplished something. If not, they will be the same old US of A in Soccer.

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup, by winning Game 7 on the road in Hockey Town USA.

The Lakers won against an overmatched team in the Orlando Magic. The Finals were so un-exciting I highlighted baseball, soccer and hockey before it. Kobe is good, but how quickly we as the American people are to forgive a star athlete for crimes they have committed because of success.

Hope this gave y'all a fill for a few days. Peace.

DDSF

We are all witnesses

2009-05-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

As my faithful readers know, I don't regularly post on the weekend. Too busy, too much time I actually get to spend with the Mrs., too much fun stuff to do. But when something extraordinary happens, I believe it is necessary to let everyone know the impact and the sheer extraordinary-ness that has occurred.

Last night I got to see about 2 plays in the Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game. But I saw the only play so far in the series that matters. Let's see if I can set the stage for y'all:

Cleveland has the best home record just about ever in the regular season. They have steamrolled through the playoffs going 8-0 in the first 2 rounds and winning every game by double digits. Cleveland has the best player in the world in Lebron James (LBJ from now on... I'm stealing from the Sports Guy, but who cares) and is not sure how long the home grown product is going to stick in town. The summer of 2010 is when LBJ is a free agent along with a slew of other young superstars waiting to go on to bigger things. If they want any chance of keeping him, they need to win; they need to win a championship.

Game 1 against Orlando was the epitome of Cleveland sports. The hype, the belief, the excitement, subsequently followed up with the disappointment, the shame and feeling of hopelessness.

How could a team with the best player in the world, the best home court record ever, and the experience of being there before lose to a team without their starting point guard, a coach who looks like Ron Jeremy and only one superstar who is too nice and can't make a shot further from 5 feet from the basket? (I'm asking the question too. I don't get it.)

The Cavs talked like they were confident after game 1. They knew what they had to do and they were determined. Game 2 comes along and in the first half it looks like it is over. Cleveland with a 23 point lead. Welcome back Cleveland, the series is yours for the taking.

Not so fast.

With a barage of 3's and hustle, the Magic pull some magic and not only come back, but take a 2 point lead with 1 second left in the fourth quarter. The air is dead in Cleveland. The bars are full of people swearing, saying how they've seen it before and there is no hope for the city. Ever. Not even Lebron, the best player alive. He's gone in 2010.

Except they didn't count on seeing something they had never seen before. The Cavs tried to run an inbounds play that isolated Lebron on an alley oop because he is a freak of an athlete and can jump over buildings.

Good move.

Too bad the Magic knew it was coming (ok, everyone did but when your coach looks like a porn star, you can never be sure) and defended it well.

It looked as though Cleveland may not even get the ball in. Lebron was figured out and Mo Williams (the 2nd best scoring option) was throwing the ball in.

Then Lebron changed direction, going away from the basket. Mo saw him because LBJ was the only option. He wasn't looking anywhere else. Mo passed it in to a fading away LBJ. With one second left his only option was to shoot. He's not the best shooter in the world. He has missed before. Plenty. Except this time, the best player in the world did something he had yet to do.

He buried the shot.

Big deal. People hit game winners all the time.

LBJ has too.

But not like this.

If he missed that shot, all hope in the city would be lost. The Cavs would not have been able to recover. The series would be over and Lebron would be lost in 2010. Guaranteed. Lebron has been dominant, but he has not truely been clutch.

That shot was so monumental, it most likely changed the outcome of the series. That shot most likely won the series for Cleveland. That shot made it possible for LBJ to go for a title. That shot made it possible for LBJ to repeat next year. That shot made it possible for LBJ to go down in history as not only one of the greatest athletes of all time, but also the most clutch player of all time.

That shot could concievable change the landscape of the NBA for the next decade. I'm not kidding. If Lebron wins the series, then wins the NBA title, he might stay in Cleveland. He might make a dynasty that we have yet to see from one player. The NBA title repeats have been about multiple greats on one team.

Shaq and Kobe.

MJ and Scottie.

Olajuwan and Robert Horry (ok, bad example).

The Lakers and Celts of the 70's and 80's had a slew of stars.

But no one has been able to dominate solo.

Is it possible that a star player takes a pay cut to go to Cleveland to be guaranteed a title with LBJ?

Absolutley.

The ramifications of one shot by one player in one game will not be able to be judged for years. But it could be the biggest shot in the history of the NBA. It could change the future beyond anyone's imagination.

LBJ took a series with one shot.

What's next?

We are all witnesses. (yes, I know its cheesy to steal that slogan but it works so well.)

DDSF

Fridays are good

2009-05-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

The most amazing thing happened last night.

Carmelo Anthony played hard. And not just to score points. He grabbed a ton of rebounds and played tough defense on the games best offensive player (Kobe).

The NBA, despite the worst officiating of any professional sport, has suddenly resurrected itself with powerhouses (LA, and Boston was in the mix) and historically unsuccessful franchises with awesome fan bases and a ton of studs (Cleveland and Denver). I don't think that I have ever been this jacked about NBA basketball. Yeah, I know it helps that I live in the Denver area and have tickets with the Mrs. to Game 3 of the western conference finals on Saturday, but its awesome basketball right now.

**Side note**
Fellas,
Here is how you know you've got a keeper. When looking for tickets to an awesome playoff series, you get mad at yourself for not buying the tickets earlier. Then you check the prices of tickets on eBay and ask yourself if its worth it. When your little lady steps in and tells you that you have to go regardless and "I just want tickets" you know you have a keeper.

Ok, so back to the NBA. There are a ton of jump balls (hustle), good defense, amazing offense and a slew of starts lighting up the night (Melo, Chauncey - Mr. Big Shot -Billups, Kobe, Dwight Howard, and the greatest of the all Lebron).

Just so everyone knows, in Game 3 look for Chris Anderson to have a HUGE game. He has been relatively quiet so far in the series, but when he returns to the mountains he will find new life and will destroy the Lakers soft big men.

Baseball
I thought this might be a different Royals team. We came back from 3 down in the 9th to beat the Indians with Kerry Wood as their closer. The next night down 6-5 headed into the 9th, we had a chance and came up short. Last night, down 8-3 in the 9th... bases loaded... 1 out... just getting to the heart of the order with Callaspo up and batting about .340... ground into double play. I hate to say it, but as far as the bats are concerned it is still the same old Royals. The pitching is a different story.

The boys in blue have quality starters and a superstar who is currently 2nd in the rotation (Greinke). The problem so far has been the overpaid bullpen. Farnsworth alone has cost the team 3 games and Cruz, Mahay and Horacio Ramirez pitch well when it is not needed. I have yet to see the killer instinct on the mound from anyone other than Grienke (who I think takes it personally when someone scores on him, which is awesome to see from a kid who has been around for over 5 years and is still younger than me) and possibly Soria (who is on the DL).

How I long for you Raul Ibanez........

RBI (as he will now be called regardless of his middle name because it is too good) would have led the Royals in RBI's for the last 8 years if they had kept him. I think he was the worst non-resigning in recent history, especially with concerns to the outfield. Beltran wanted too much, Dye wasn't quite what the Royals needed and he got hurt, Damon throws like a girl.

The Royals were led in RBI's by Emil Brown two years in a row! Aaron Guiel was considered a good player (Steroids much)! Joey Gathright! Do I even need to go on?!?!? Shane Costa!?!?! Oh RBI.... I miss thee.

Real quick for your weekend, a bonus song of the day...

"The gift of paralysis" by Envy On The Coast

Awesome song. Great driving bass beat with sweet complex chords from both the guitar and vocals. Also, has one of the greatest lines I've heard in a while. "Throwing punches at ocean waves." We've all been there.

Sretan Petak!

(Happy Friday in Bosnian)

DDSF

Yep, I'm Back

2009-05-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

After the loss to Michigan State by my Jayhawks (yes, that long ago), I determined sports were dead to me.

Then baseball started and the Royals got off to a hot hot hot start. I thought about blogging, but got weighed down by work stuff.

Finally, I was checking in the the Kansas City Star blogs about the Royals come from behind victory over the hapless Indians (down 5-2 in the 9th and get a W, awesome!) and their blogging reminded me what I started this for. A forum to express my opinions as well as give insight into sports and hear from the boys back home.

First a quick catch up of the major events with as short of a summary as I can make:

NCAA Tourney: Boring (Ok, just upset still about the MSU game, but the championship sucked)

Chiefs Draft: D-Line = good, but not enough. Hooray for Tony G going to a contender.

Kansas Recruiting: Yep, 2010 champions

Royals Hot Start: Greinke

Manny on women's Fertility Drugs: Ha... reap what you sow

NBA Playoffs: Lebron will not be stopped and go Nuggets!

NHL playoffs: I actually care a little bit!

NBA Lottery: Finally, something the Clippers CAN'T screw up, and are the Kings destined to return home to KC?

On the topic of the Royals, I have to give some thoughts about the year so far.

- If Greinke had any run support, he would be 8-0. He is still amazing and I will try to do anything I can to get to see him this year. Through 8 games started, he has 65 strikeouts. If he starts as many games this year as he did last, that will put him on pace for 260 k's on the year. Last year Greinke was 15th in the majors (tied with the 55 million dollar man Gil Meche) with 183 K's. Only 9 pitchers had over 200 and only 2 had over 230 (AJ Burnett 231, and Tim Lincecum with 265). That would put him up there with the dominate pitchers in the game. Every hitter should fear him. And Greinke is only 25.

- So far I have loved the in season moves the Royals have made. Bringing up both Luke Hochevar and Brian Bannister to work the rotation was brilliant. Horacio Ramirez was not going to be a starter and that was evident after spring training. Sidney Ponson is too inconsistent and we needed to bring up Hoch if we wanted any chance of him becoming a quality starter.

- I think that Royals fans don't realize what they have in Coco Crisp yet. With all the hype surrounding Greinke, Crisp's solid play has gone relatively unnoticed. Crisp has been the leadoff hitter that the Royals have tried to make David Dejesus be for years. He is leading the team in AB's, Runs scored, Triples, Number of Pitches seen (by almost 100) Stolen Bases and Walks! He has also been very solid in center field and has been a great acquisition.

- On the same page is Alberto Callaspo. This is his first year being an everday player and he has responded well. Everyone knew he had the ability on defense, but his offense has always seemed weak. He leads the team in average (.338) hits (44) Doubles (15) Xtra Base Hits (18), has more walks than strike outs (amazing for any Royals hitter it seems) and is second on the team in total bases (1 behind leader Mike Jacobs). So far, this is a much better alternative than Teahan at second base.

That is enough for now. Just a taste.

You stay classy internet,

DDSF

Welcome to Tipoff

2009-03-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Today begins the culmination of all the excitement of the regular season. The NCAA tournament starts (ok has started, and I am late) today and starts a 3 week journey to one shining moment. I tried to keep the suspense high making the readers sweat it out to find out my expert (ha) picks. Since I am late, you don't have an opportunity to redraw your brackets and if I cost you thousands of dollars you could have won by getting all the picks right, you are ridiculous for listening to anything that I have to say.

Let's begin. Region by region with explanations about the upsets/non-upsets.

Midwest:

First round winners:

1 Louisville

8 Ohio State (Siena just is too small, but I am excited abou tthe game)

12 Arizona (The MWC is bad in the tourney, I dont have the numbers, but they are bad)

4 Wake Forest

6 West Virginia (If you picked Dayton, I'm sorry that you picked this game wrong)

3 Kansas (Really good game especially because it is more of a home game for NDSU, but KU knows what defeat smells like, and it smells like rotten chinese food)

7 Boston College (I dont like the Pac-10 this year and BC is a good team who has a win over UNC this year)

2 Michigan St.

Second Round winners:

1 Louisville

4 Wake (This is going to be a great matchup)

3 Kansas (I know, I am a homer, but KU will be ready for this)

7 Boston College (MSU is struggling to get scoring from one of their stars -Raymar Morgan - and the Eagles played in the tougher ACC and are primed for a big win)

Semi Winners:

1 Louisville (Wake is too inconsistent, but I already said I am psyched for the game)

3 Kansas (Bill Self is way too good when he has time to plan for an opponent)

Regional winner:

1 Louisville (Pitino is a good coach -with a hideous white suit- and they are the better more experienced team)

West Regional

First round winners

1 UConn

8 BYU ( I konw this game already started, but that is who I would have picked and I would change it now in a heartbeat)

5 Purdue (MVC is weak this year and UNI won't beat the Great Lakes 11 Champs)

13 Mississippi State (I love the center Varnado for MSU and don't like the inexperience of UW's point guard)

6 Marquette (Utah State doesn't have the experience and the golden eagles will be playing for Damion James)

3 Mizzou

10 Maryland (I had to do something interesting and make this entire sub region all teams with M's to start their name)

2 Memphis (They look bad right now against Cal State Northridge)

Second Round

1 UConn

5 Purdue (They have good leadership and are a very tough team)

3 Mizzou (Marquette can't handle their pressure without James)

2 Memphis (another fun thing with Tigers matched up in the Sweet Sixteen)

Regoinal Semis

1 UConn

2 Memphis

*This is the way it should be the fourth #1 seed versus the best #2 seed*

Regoinal Winner

2 Memphis - They are hungry from last year

East Regional

First Round Winners

1 Pitt

9Tennessee (I like this team and I think they are starting to play good once again)

5 Florida State (After the ACC tourney they are primed for good things)

4 Xavier (Good stats to be a contender this year)

11 VCU (UCLA looks lost other than the occasional huge game from either Shipp or Collison, but VCU has a good team and you always have to like the Colonial Athletic Association)

3 Villanova
7 Texas
2 Duke

Second Round winners
1 Pitt (I like Tenn but I like Pitt more)
4 Xavier (I think they will do good things this year)
3 'Nova (VCU only gets one win, they are not George Mason)
7 Texas (Yes, Texas. I like the way they have been getting play from Dexter Pittman, and I think that Abrams is due for a big game. Plus, their athletes can guard all the Dukies and do it well)

Regional Semis
1 Pitt
3 'Nova
*Setting up a Big East rematch that will be big news*

Regional Winner
1 Pitt
* I think they are the best team in the nation and will take care of business*

East Regional

First round winners
1 UNC
8 LSU
12 Western Kentucky (They beat Louisville on the road this year and Illinois is without their point guard)
4 Gonzaga
6 Arizona State
3 Syracuse
7 Clemson (I like the ACC)
2 Oklahoma

Second Round Winners
8 LSU (I know this hasn't happened in a long time, but without Ty Lawson, I like the Tigers to surprise the world)
4 Gonzaga (The hilltoppers don't get to beat a 13 seed this year to get to the Sweet Sixteen)
6 Arizona State (I like the Sun Devils chances against the 2-3 Zone run byt the 'Cuse and James Harden will be a star after this game)
2 Oklahoma (OU is good and Blake Griffin can take care of Clemson)

Regional Semis
4 Gonzaga (I like the Zags. They have experience, inside play and outside play and are primed to give Mark Few a big raise)
6 Arizona State (Again, James Harden.... remember that name)

Regional Winner
4 Gonzaga
*Crazy I know, but I like it and they have waited a long time to get to this point

Final Four
Memphis vs. Louisville
Pitt vs. Gonzaga

Champoinship Game
Louisville vs. Pitt
These are two of the best teams around and proved it all year. They play tough, have leaders at the guard position and experience.

Winner
Pitt

They have never made it past the Sweet Sixteen, until this year and what a sweet way to do it.

I could have gone a lot of different ways with the bracket and I am sure you won't agree with me, but I'm sticking to it. We will keep you posted as the tourney progresses.

DDSF

The Bracket

2009-03-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

I was so terribly wrong on all of my conference picks (save Tennessee who played pretty well) that I am ashamed. And even though the Mrs. doesn't like the Great Lakes 11 comments, I have to give her mad props for getting Purdue correct as the Tourney champs.

Quick other sports news before bracket talk:

- The Broncos made a mistake by even considering trading Jay Cutler. If he had a coach that would instill some discipline into him, he would be one of the Top 5 QB's in the game instead of just one of the top 5 fantasy picks.

- The World Baseball classic is a good thought, but it just doesn't work for me. I almost think it would do better in the fall after the World Series. Catch Phrase: The __(WS champs)___ are the best team in the world, but now find out which country is the best. The teams playing in the playoffs would have enough left in the tank to showcase some talent, you would have plenty of well rested players, and it would only matchup against NFL for ratings, which wouldn't be a problem if games were during the week. Now, everyone is concerned about college basketball and the change of tempo is too much to handle. Just my take.

- The Royals are doing very good this year. I am totally excited. They have at least 3 decent starters in the rotation (Meche, Grienke and Davies) and have an improved lineup and possibly just as good of a bullpen compared to last year.

- However, if the Yankees don't win this year it may be the biggest disappointment of all time.

- Went to a Nuggets game over the weekend and the NBA pace is not at all what I am accustomed to. It is a lot slower, but still enjoyable. I think what I was most amazed about was the fact that in warmups, ALL of the players were making every shot they put up. Despite the different game style and the potential for ruining the game (there is a rumor they may modify the traveling violation to allow for 2 steps.... this would be irreconcilable in my book. I know I am not much of a fan, but they would lose me if the league changed that rule), the NBA houses the best basketball players on the planet and it is a joy to watch the pure skill and athleticism that the athletes possess.

The Bracket!!!

So, I have yet to come out with a finished product as far as the bracket is concerned. I am doing more research as we speak, but I will tell you some thoughts if you are filling out a bracket early in the week.

- The 16 and 15 seeds may be some of the best that we have seen in a long time. Two of the 16 seeds have been given a 7% chance of winning. This is extraordinary due to the fact that no #16 seed has won in the Men's Tournament ever. Anything over 2% in my mind is consider quite good odds.

- All those experts that are picking three #1 teams and one #2 team for the final four are wrong. It won't be that easy this year. When you are picking, if you are a true risk taker and analyst, throw in a 3 seed or lower. If you are only filling out one bracket and don't trust me... fine. But when it comes time, I told you so.

- ESPN is featuring a simulator that is put on by Accuscore. It is totally awesome, as they break down each matchup based upon a whole bunch of numbers and ratings. I am totally using this to look for trends in picks to make my picks.

- The surest locks based upon this, other than a couple #1's moving on, is a Mizzou vs. Memphis sweet 16 matchup in the West. And then a Memphis win.

- Because I care, KU is not guaranteed a W in the first round. NDSU is a very good team (not to mention twice as close to the Metrodome as KU) and has a good outside shooting team. However, if KU takes care of business in round 1, look for them to advance to the Elite 8.

- Be careful when you pick your second round upsets. It is very important to look at location, location, location and how your underdog performed on the road this year. For instance, I have heard a lot about Clemson potentially upsetting Oklahoma in the second round. Oklahoma is playing in a familiar setting (Kansas City). Clemson did win road games against Illinois, Georgia Tech, BC, Va Tech, South Carolina and Miami from major conferences, but only 2 of those teams made the tourney (Illinois and BC) and neither is expected to go very far. Plus, they got bounced from the ACC tourney in the first round by Georgia Tech.

- The strangest championship game that I saw with my simulations was Illinois vs. Clemson. Yikes. Illinois is the favorite right now for a running no one wants to be in, the most likely 5 seed to be upset by a 12.

- VCU sure beats UCLA a lot.

- There are potentials for some interesting future matchups, mostly involving my Jayhawks. KU rematch with Mich State. Pitt vs. Nova in the regional final, Big East matchups all over the place (WVU vs. Louisville, UConn vs. Marquette, Louisville vs. UConn in the Final Four), KU vs. Marquette or Memphis in the Final Four where both teams have met before and KU vs. Mizzou in the Final Four. Do I actually think that these could happen??? Probably not.

Stay tuned and you will get my bracket soon!

Wishing Opening round Thursday and Friday became National Holidays,

DDSF

Tourney Picks

2009-03-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

My Conference Tourney Picks:

Big 12: Oklahoma. Two words: Blake Griffin.

Big East: Pitt. They just win.

SEC: Tennessee. I don't think anyone will argue with any team being picked in this conference tourney.

ACC: I like Wake to win this one. I think they will make it far in the NCAA's and look to get a quick start with the ACC title.

Pac-10: Arizona State. They need something to improve their seed in the NCAA's and have one of the most dynamic players in the country in James Harden.

Great Lakes 11: Illinois. They need to play well and I don't think Mich. State will have the energy to take it all.

The bracket comes out Sunday so get excited!

Gentleman, Start Your Engines!

2009-03-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Wow!

I totally called those conference championship games last night. Too bad no money was being put into my pocket.

Tonight features 3 more automatic bids being dolled out, but first a quick pop culture reference that you may not know about.

These are two references to McDonalds and are ways for you to get your money's worth (assuming your stomach can handle it) out of the dollar menu.

The first item up for bids is the Mcgangbang. Totally disgusting, but runs for $2 plus tax. A great deal.

The next is something I just found out today courtesy of SI.com's Hot Clicks. This is the Ghetto Big Mac. It is a video on You Tube and this burger is available for $1 plus half (if 2 people) or 1/3 (if 3) the cost of small fries ($1).

Half an Hour later.....

So I don't do a lot of YouTube and got sucked into a whirlwind of music that I have not heard before from John Mayer. If you like an artist, search for them on You Tube and I bet you will be amazed. I was. Totally awesome.

Speaking of music, it is Tuesday and time for a Song of the Day because Tuesday is Song of the Day Day.

Today's song comes from the thug life that I so frequently (ha, that's funny) live.

All The Above
By: Maino featuring T-Pain

The other reason for this song is that I went to High School with a guy who's last name was Maino and who went by Maino. The funny thing is that the Maino I knew was so far from a Hip Hop artist that if he wasn't smart, I dont think he could spell hip hop.

I digress....

Tonight's Championship games are in the Summit Conference, Horizon, and Sun Belt.

The Summit Conference is home to UMKC, the worst named team in college basketball (Kangaroos). However, that is not who is playing tonight. Tonight features North Dakota State versus Oakland. Why is this important to you? NDSU is in its first year of post season eligibility and features Ben Woodside, who took a redshirt year his freshman year to be able to play for a birth in the big Dance, the Bison's leading scorer. Woodside scored 60 points earlier this year in a 112-111 loss to Stephen F. Austin. All year he was held to less than double digit scoring twice averages 23 points per game, 6.4 assists, and shoots 43.4% from Fargo (downtown). When the Bison make the tourney tonight, you will be sure to hear a couple of human interest stories about him.
The Horizon features Butler versus Cleveland State. Every team on the bubble is rooting for Butler to win, as CSU doesn't have a chance at an at-large bid. Every team with the possible exception of K-State. The Wildcats don't have the resume right now to make the field, but with a couple of wins in the Big 12 Tourney and an increased RPI number for CSU (Top 50?) they might sneak in. Butler should win this one.
The Sun Belt features South Alabama versus Western Kentucky in a battle of teams that will surely be discussed as potential first round upset material next week. WKU beat Drake (in classic buzzer beater fashion) last year to advance to the second round and won the first ever 12 vs. 13 matchup by beating San Diego. They did lose in the Sweet 16 to UCLA, but definitely put themselves on the map. They are a good team, having beat Louisville (The Big East Champion) earlier this year. South Alabama is looking for its 3rd appearence in 4 years, and will do so as the underdog. They have won one NCAA tourney game. In 1989 over Alabama. They lost both matchups with WKU this year and will most likely lose a third.

Well, there is a pretty good wrapup of tonight's matchups.

The Major conferences are staring their tournaments today and tomorrow with the Big East having every team in the 16 team conference play this year with a double bye system and making the tournament last 5 days. If you ask me, that is a little over kill, but it makes more money for the conference.

Hope you enjoy your money saving MickeyD's trip and we will catch up soon.

DDSF

March and Monday

2009-03-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Picks from the weekend came with an astounding 7-1 record, the only loss coming with Marquette turning the ball over in the final minute of regulation with a 1 point lead surrendering the lead and eventually losing the game in overtime. I was wrong about Marquette, they are struggling and will have difficulty winning another game this year.

Final Regular Season Record: 33-18

One thing that bothered me while catching up with the weekend scores and analysis was that one SI.com writer actually thought the Kansas victory was an upset of sorts. The writer (who mostly covers MMA, so I don't have any idea why she was talking basketball) gave props to Seth Davis for correctly picking that game. How can a higher ranked team with only 2 conferences losses and home court advantage (not to mention a 41 game home winning streak) be an underdog to a team with 6 conference losses on the road and not even ranked in the top 25? I know there is a bunch of East Coast bias in the sports world, but that was just ridiculous. The post is here, and of course is way down the page from after the East Coast results.

So to continue. I promised some conference tourney picks today so here goes.

Tonight features one Top 25 team: Gonzaga.

They take on St. Mary's with the return of Patrick Mills, and Australian national player, and a good one at that. He had been hurt for quite a while, but is back and St. Mary's is winning again. I think that St. Mary's will be a low seed in the tourney that no one wants to play, but loses this game to a very good Gonzaga team.

The Colonial Athletic Association, Southern Conference and Metro Atlantic Athletic conference all have finals tonight. VCU will take the CAA over George Mason (even though I am rooting for GM). The Southern conference is having a Davidson-less final (who won't make the dance), but feature the home team in the final (Chattanooga) who takes the home court advantage, doubles down on 11 and rides it to the big dance. In the MAAC, there is a very good game featuring the last two representatives in the field of 65. Siena (a bubble team because of a tough schedule and a good RPI), the 2008 champ faces off against Niagra, the 2007 champ. A game that I would watch if I was home. I think that Siena has done enough this year to learn how to win big games like this.

How about that MVC over the weekend? Overtime thrillers, last second shots, complete elation with victory (for UNI) and utter sadness (Illinois State and Creighton, who I think is out).

Something that I have to comment on now is the Chiefs draft needs now. The original thought was that the they were in need of a quarterback and might draft one with the third pick in the draft. That is no longer the case with the acquisition of Cassel. I think the biggest need for this team is defense and the safest pick that I have heard about is Aaron Curry, a linebacker out of Wake Forest. I think that he is the surest pick (he finished his senoir season in a draft full of underclassmen) and the Chiefs can not afford to miss with this pick. The Chiefs do need a wide reciever, but I think they have a good one in Dwayne Bowe and need someone else who is a dynamic down field threat, not a possesion reciever like Michael Crabtree. Bowe is a better possesion type reciever and the Chiefs need a burner (i.e. the Steelers this year with Hines Ward and Nate Washington).

More tomorrow and hooray for basketball. Keep the comments coming.

DDSF!!!

Final Friday Picks

2009-03-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

This will (by default) be my final picks on Friday for the season.

With a record of 26-17, it would be really great to improve a lot this weekend. Since I like a lot of numbers (I know, I'm weird, but just deal with it) I will give you an 8 pack of picks today and try to get to a win pct of .666!

I think the time slot thing worked, so let's go with that again.

Sat.
12Et: UConn @ Pitt. Pitt won the last matchup in Connecticut's house. I think they will win this one too in a very physical game. Short and sweet.

2ET: Syracuse @ Marquette. Marquette has struggled (but atleast showed up) since they lost their leader in senior point guard Damion James. Syracuse has hung around the edge of the Top 25 rankings and not made a huge splash the whole year. The 'Cuse is a tournament team, Big East or NCAA, and looks to peak late in the year.
Despite that fact, I think Marquette has figured out like sans-James and gets a big win for their seeding in the NCAA tourney.

4ET: Texas @ Kansas. KU got beat down in Lubbock (Bill Self has yet to win their with the 'Hawks) by a 3 point attack that looked like a game of H-O-R-S-E according Coach because of a complete lack of defense and effort.
Side Note: When asked about the officiating in the game this columnist had no comment. However, all Big 12 games have been terribly officiated this year, so the same columnist was not surprised.
Texas looks to cement itself in the Big Dance with a W in Allen Fieldhouse.
The last meeting between to two teams in Lawrence ended with with KU celebrating an outright Big 12 championship with a 90-86 victory.
Matt Kleinmann, KU's redheaded walk-on and redshirt senoir from Overland Park, KS, got a ring for the thumb as KU won its fifth straight Big 12 title when Oklahoma lost on Wednesday. This year's championship will be an outright title as the Jayhawks finish an astounding 14-2 in conference play and beat the Longhorns with help from the Phog.

9ET: Louisville @ West Virginia: Teams that are known better for their coaches (Pitino and Huggy Bear, respectively) meet in ESPN's primetime matchup on Saturday. A regular in this post the Fighting Pitinos (I don't know why, they just show up for all the big games) take out the Mountaineers and leave Huggins longing for a hug as they steal the Big East title coupled with a UConn loss.

Sunday
Just as great as last Sunday's matchups, make sure you get your couch ready!

12 ET: Purdue @ Michigan State: State has already claimed the Great Lakes 11 title and look to add another game of seperation. The Boilermakers have been all over the place lately and the Spartans take advantage winning on Senior day.

2ET: Virginia Tech @ Florida State: Bubble teams in the ACC meet to figure out who gets locked and who needs a couple more W's. This late in the season, it is important to defend home court and Florida State has figured that out. Their only home losses have come at the hands of Duke, Pitt and UNC. Not a bad set of 3 to lose to. FSU wins. Va Tech needs to at least get to the ACC finals to make the Dance.

4ET: Duke @ UNC.

Is the Drama built up enough for ya?

No?

Ok. Enough. UNC wins @ home.

Duke isn't that good or big to compete with the Tar Heels. Right now, they are my pick for winning it all, as much as it hurts.

6ET: Clemson @ Wake Forest: I picked Clemson last week against all reason and lost. I will not make the same mistake twice. Wake is a very good team who will find a way to win and gain some momentum for the ACC Tourney.

Keep your eyes peeled this weekend for all of the conference tourney results (the MVC is my pick for good weekend drama). There will be a bunch of Automatic picks and it will get you more excited for the Major Conference Tourneys next week.

It's March!! Wooo Hoo!!

Something that I learned from my bro Mark, I will close with exclamation points after my name to add some drama. Monday brings a lot of fun and some picks for the conference tourneys.

DDSF!!!

(!!! = Excitement!!!)

PS. I tried 4 exclamation points and it so did not work. Just an FYI for all y'all following.

Let the Madness Begin

2009-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, the picks record was 4-3. Missing on Clemson (should have gone with the numbers not my gut), UCLA (Cal blew it) and Illinois (they blew it too).

Overall, my record is 26-17.

Not where I had hoped to be at this point in the season. However, the conference tournaments are just about to start and that means that there will be constant updates on automatic qualifiers. This is where the highlight shows will now start to focus on college basketball and ignore the NBA where defense does not happen.

Tonight the Horizon League, Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference begin their conference tournaments.

The Horizon features Butler, who should win, Big South features Radford and VMI while the Ohio Valley features Murray State, League Champ Tennessee Martin and Austin Peay.

I am struggling today to come up with insightful insights, so I'll just hit up another set of bullets.

- Kansas's victory (or should I say drubbing) of Mizzou all but assures them a Big 12 title. THey have a chance to go 15-1 in conference play by beating Tech on Wednesday and Texas in the Phog. That is 2 games better than last year's national championship team. I understand that the Big 12 is down this year, but I would have never expected those kind of results with a completely new team. Bill Self deserves all the pub he is getting for coach of the year.

- KState plays in Stillwater tonight in a must win for tourney consideration. They almost have to get to 10-6 in league play in order to make the field due to losses to Oregon (worst team in the Pac-10 by 3 games) and Iowa. They will need a strong performance from Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen to even begin to think about winning. I think they can do it, but not sure they will on the road.

- The Chiefs acquiring Matt Cassel over the weekend irritated me at first. Then I found out the trade was for a second round pick AND included veteran leader Mike Vrabel. I don't think Cassel is necessarily the answer in KC, but I think he is better than Thigpen or Croyle. Plus, if you think about the trade, you get two starters for a second round pick. Not a bad deal.

- The fantasy impact of TJ Housh for the Seattle Seahawks is huge. I look for that whole team to put up pretty good numbers this next year, especially John Carlson, the Tight end. He should be a Top 5 TE next year.

- I still don't get the NBA. Drew Gooden got traded to the Kings as part of a deal where he and Andres Nocioni went to the Kings and Brad Miller and John Salmons (the only two players I knew on the Kings roster) to the Bulls. Gooden subsequently has been bought out by the Kings, who, I guess, are hoping for the first pick in next years draft. Either that, or somebody really wants the Kings to move back to KC.

- Baseball is starting off and the Royals are getting decent pithcing from their top 3. Meche, Grienke and Kyle Davies (I'm excited now!) are all off to good spring starts. The biggest problem with the Royals is the Right side of the infield. They don't have a real second baseman yet, and have 613 first baseman all competing for time.

Song of the Day

I don't have a good one, so....

"That's what you get"
By Paramore

I dont know why I like chick rock bands, but I do. Paramore, Lucious Jackson just to name a couple. This song just gets me pumped every time I hear it. Hopefully you all can enjoy it too.

Until next time,

DDSF

Are you ready for March?

2009-02-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

February 27th. Only one day left in the month and there is plenty of madness left. Tomorrow brings a full slate of 17 games for Top 25 teams.

Than March comes in with a bang featuring 3 games of Top 25 matchups!

Today is picks day, so you'll get the best of the games this weekend and my picks for the winners.

Last week I went 4-3, picking the surprising Texas game, but losing on 3 accounts. Totally unacceptable and I will do better this week, even with a bunch of Top 25 matchups. My record so far this year is 22-14.

Three games on Sunday that are must picks, so Saturday is only down to 4 games. I'll pick those based on the times to play in case anybody has nothing better to do than sit around and watch college basketball.

12 ET - First up, the pickings for this time slot are slim. The game most likely to not be a blowout is Cleveland St. (who beat the 'Cuse earlier this year) are traveling to play #23 Butler. Cleveland State was on the short end of a 50-48 score in their other matchup this year. This is the last regular season game for both teams and Butler only holds a one game lead in the conference over Green Bay (who knew?!?). The Bulldogs pull it out on the road and take the #1 seed to their conference Tourney.

2ET - A must pick here as Clemson visits Florida State. Both teams are tied for third place in the ACC @ 8-5 and need a victory to keep themselves out of the dreaded bubble discussion. FSU won the previous matchup (on Clemson's home court), but both teams are coming off of losses. Florida State has yet to impress, with their only high profile victory being over this same Tigers team earlier in the month. Clemson at least has a win against Duke and a surprising Illinois team. However, the game is in Seminole country. Still, against most odds, I think Clemson gets a victory on the road and improves their tournament resume.

4ET - A pseudo Top 25 matchup as Ohio State (who lost already this week to Illinois) travels to West Lafayette to play Purdue. The Boilermakers just lost last night to Michigan in Ann Arbor. Purdue has virtually locked up a trip to the Big Dance, while OSU might have some work to do. The key to this game (as is the case with most Great Lakes 11 games) is home court. Purdue at home = Win. Plus, people from OSU call it "The Ohio State" and I hate that.

You think putting "The" in front of your university makes it better? Nope. It doesn't. And you're not that good at basketball anyway. So there. And your coach's name it Thad. Ha!

I totally won that argument. Eat that Buckeye Nation!

9ET - UCLA @ Cal - UCLA is not the same team they have been the last few years. They don't play as good of defense and they don't have as many key players. They won't make another Final Four or Elite Eight run, but that doesn't matter today. Both teams are 1.5 games behind Washington for the Pac 10 lead and need a victory. California is now led by former Super Stanford Head Coach and NBA failure Mike Montgomery. He has taken the program to a new level, and his team needs a W more than UCLA. Cal has only lost once at home in conference play (to Oregon State, go figure) and will lock down a Bruins team that has lost 3 of 5. Cal wins. Eat that UCLA!

Sunday make things for the entire weekend even more interesting. If you think you have an idea of who will win what league and their corresponding tourney (stay tuned, a likely future post) Sunday will blow your mind.

12 ET - Marquette @ Louisville. This one is easy. The Fighting Pitinos (Louisville) will handle 'Quette who is without 1/3 of their trio of amazing guards. Dominic James is out for the year, which is a shame because he was one of the more exciting players to watch. Louisville keeps pace with UConn in the Big East with 2 extremely winnable games to go (vs. Seton Hall and @ West Virginia).

2 ET - The game of the year in the Big 12. Mizzou @ Kansas. Mizzou has achieved a Top 10 ranking by winning against the majority of teams it should and just winning period. Kansas is coming off a big win on Monday in Norman against the Griffin-less Sooners. KU has a one game lead in the conference standings, and controls their own destiny.

In the last matchup the Tigers got a victory by forcing 27 turnovers and holding the Jayhawks to 13.3% from the 3. Mizzou also got more fouls on KU (22 vs. 15 for MU) and attempted more free throws (27 vs. 16). KU had only one player in double figures (Tyshawn Taylor with 11) and Mizzou was led by Leo Lyons (13) and DeMarre Carroll (22).

My pick for the game. Revenge is sweet.

KU gets a game out of Cole-nan and Mighty Mouse along with the home cooking (fouls and free throws). KU will not turn it over 27 times and will shoot better than 13.3% from downtown. KU gets the inside track to the Big 12 title. Fizzou (as my cousin on Facebook put it so elequently) might get a sniff of a W, but the mystique of the Fieldhouse and the complete and utter loathing for Mizzou eminating from the crowd will be too much.

TBD - Michigan State @ Illinois - Illinois wins. This one is short because I am tired of writing and I am sure you are tired of reading. The Great Lakes 11 just got interesting! By the way

Finally some quick thoughts before the weekend.

- Too many guys were injured @ the NFL combine for me to really care about it. I think the players individual pro days will mean more when they are fully healthy and performing in a familiar environment.

- Already the Washington Redskins assured themselves of not winning their division. They signed two big free agents (which never work out for the skin's, see Deion, Jeff George and Adam Archuleta... the book is still out on Jason Taylor) and have too much money in too few players.

- The Chiefs need to do Tony G and Brian Waters a favor and get them to a contender. They are in true rebuilding mode, and while I think those two would be perfect mentors for younger players, they deserve a chance at success. Larry Johnson can go to the Lions for all I care. He had not been a quality guy for the city and needs to part ways.

- The Royals started off spring training with Mark Teahan getting 2 errors @ second base and letting Horacio Ramirez start and give up 6 runs. So far, two bad decisions, but they pop that everyone is displaying at the plate (John Buck = Homer) is very encouraging. Gordon with 2 strikeouts is concerning though. Keep reading.

- The NBA trade deadline was awful. The Kings and Bulls pulled off the biggest trade and nobody of consequence went anywhere. Now the NBA is borrowing money to bail out its teams.

This is ridiculous because when you give players that are destined to ride the pine multi-million dollar contracts, you are just asking for failure. The NBA needs new GM's and needs them fast. There are too many dumb ones. Bill Simmons should be the GM of some NBA team, because at least people would care.

- Tiger's return ended poorly, but he's back. Good for golf and good for Tiger.

- It's March people! Get excited! The Mrs. and I are taking a nice vacay to Vegas (yeah alliteration) for the First round of the NCAA tourney. While Vegas doesn't quite smell like awesome (more like smoke) it's an awesome place to be for the Tourney. There will definitely be a post about my experiences there.

I'm over 7 bucks again on centsports.com after losing it all on some tennis bet (*note to self: don't bet everything on stupid tennis matches). When I get over 10 we will celebrate.

Have a great weekend and keep the comments coming. Suggestions for days of the week would be great too!

DDSF

Too Much Coffee

2009-02-24T11:24:00.000-08:00

Today is officially Tuesday of "Judgement week" and you can't but help think that it is going to be a good week for college basketball.
KU vs. OU already, with Duke @ Maryland, Florida @ the surprising LSU Tigers, UConn @ Marquette, K-State @ the somehow in the Top 10 Mizzou, then Mizzou @ Kansas, Mich. State @ Illinois, Marquette @ Louisville, (13) Clemson @ (25) Florida State, and Ohio State @ Purdue.

Crazyness.

So crazy, I spelled crazyness with a "y", not an "i". It's that crazy.

Which brings me to my reaction to last night. KU traveled to Norman, OK and got a W against a Blake Griffin-less Sooner squad. Full of runs (see 22-8, followed by 50-16!!) the game presented those who watched the whole thing, with a lot to look forward to come March.

Oklahoma definitely missed Blake Griffin, especially when Taylor Griffin went to the bench 5 minutes into the first half with 2 fouls. Cole-nan the Barbarian definitely took advantage with a Nick Collison inspired rebounding effort (20, a new career high). He also finished with a season average of 15 points.

KU had trouble stopping OU's guards early, as Willie Warren (the Big 12 frosh of the year) lit up Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed. It wasn't until Billy Self put Sherron Collins on Warren, that KU started to play like a ranked team.

The best player of the game was Tyshawn Taylor, a guy that KU needs in order to compete in the tourney. He put up 26 points with 3 assists and only 1 turnover. Quite a line for a freshman who has been the most erratic player on the team. He will be a star for KU, he's just taking a little bit of time to grow into that player. If Taylor plays like he did in Norman every game, KU has a decent shot in the tourney.

The biggest argument about the game last night was, was this win really that big for KU since OU was without Griffin (thanks allen for giving this perfect idea for the post)? The answer is yes. This was that big for KU.

A victory on the road in conference play with only 3 games left on the slate is huge. KU put themselves in the driver seat for at least a share of the Big 12 crown and the #1 seed in the conference tourney. It showed the team (especially the younger guys) that they can compete with anybody. Sure, no Griffin, but OU is made up of more than one player.

On the flip side, this was not that bad for OU other than losing the inside track to the Big 12 title. They will not be punished come tourney time by the selection committee, and will get Griffin back at full strength for March.

Who would win if OU was full strength??

Well, every ounce of my heart wants to say KU would win. KU would have a different game plan trying to deny Griffin (the Player of the year front runner) the ball and double teaming him when he caught it. They would make the other OU players beat them and try to force turnovers, potentially by switching to a zone defense to make them make outside shots.

I think after watching last night, there would be a slim chance for KU, but they would lose. OU did get a lot of breaks being at home, but they dominated the first 10 minutes and would have not let KU back in the game if they had Griffin.

No picks for today, as tonight's games don't excite me too much (save Florida @ LSU to see which team is for real).

Now, for the song of the day, being it is Tuesday and therefore song of the day day.

I have to switch it back to some hip hop and go with:
"My Life" by The Game featuring Lil' Wayne

Its not a song that you want your parents to listen to because they won't like it and tell you it is crap, but it totally made me think.

Dear lord, you done took so many of my people.
I'm just wondering why
you haven't taken my life.
What the hell am I doing right?

I know that it is referencing some gang rapper life, but I take it completely differently and apply it to my life.

*warning, philosophical questions that are unanswerable*

Why am I still here?
What purpose do I ultimately serve?
Am I here to relay my perspective on sports for the rest of the world's enjoyment (or like 8 people, like is happening now)?

I got to know my God in a completely different way than most people, and while I don't talk about it a whole lot, I know he is there. It is a life long question that I don't think everyone is able to answer until they know they are gone. Why am I here?

It is "Judgement week", so think about it.

DDSF

TGIF

2009-02-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for Fridays. Looking forward to the weekend always adds a little pep in your step and this weekend comes after a short 4 day week (off for Prez's Day).

This week was one to forget in college basketball because last week was so entertaining (rivalry week). This weekend continues the trend. There are only two matchups of Top 25 teams, Villanova @ Syracuse and Wake Forest @ Duke. There are some other intriguing matchups, but many of those are part of Bracketbuster weekend (as ESPN calls it) involving Midmajor teams, so the matchups of the BCS conferences are not that great.

On Wednesday, I made one of the worse picks I have made all year. Purdue trounced Michigan State in West Lafayette and made me look silly. My record for the year: 18-11

Let's crack open another Friday six pack of picks (Officially, Friday = six pack of picks day)

First off, the two games featuring Top 25 teams (I know there are differences in the polls, but I am using the ESPN polls because that's what I read the most). Both these games are on Sunday and both are mandatory selections for the six pack.

Villanova has been one of the hotter teams in the Big East, until last Friday when they lost by 21 points to an unranked West Virginia team. Syracuse has lost 6 of their last 9 only managing to beat Georgetown by 4 at home in overtime, West Virginia at home and Notre Dame at home. All teams that are unranked, and West Virginia is the only one of the three with a winning conference record (7-6 with only 2 wins coming against the top half of the conference).

Enough jibber jabber, get to the pick already!

Villanova takes this one in a big matchup and big letdown for the Orange.

Our other matchup features a game with more implications for conference rankings and NCAA seeding. Duke welcomes Wake to Cameron Indoor in a game that features 2 of the 4 teams in a log jam at second place in the ACC. Since attaining the number one ranking in the country, Wake has beaten ranked teams Duke and Florida State, but also lost to 3 of the bottom 4 teams in the conference (Georgia Tech, Miami and NC State).

Since Duke attained the number one ranking (just after Wake) they have lost 4 of 7, but have lost to good teams (BC, UNC, Wake, and Clemson). They have played themselves out of 1 seed discussions for the NCAA tournament, but are still a good team.

I look for Duke to get back on track against a good team, just because the game is at home.

My other five picks are:

(2) Oklahoma @ Texas: Leading off with my upset special. Texas takes the rematch (OU won in Norman 78-63) with a much needed win. This puts OU in striking distance of either KU or MU for the conference crown. This also make OU either ticked off or completely lost leading into their matchup Monday against the Jayhawks.

(22) Butler @ Davidson: The key to this game is Stephen Curry. He is questionable for the game, and if he doesn't play look for Butler to take care of business. Heck, Davidson just lost to the Citadel at home Wednesday without Curry. If he is healthy, I think Davidson plays its way back in to the at-large bid discussion, not just mandating a win in their conference tourney.

(23) Utah State @ St. Mary's: St. Mary's is still without Patrick Mills, their Australian national team member and starting point guard, and I look for them to struggle. Mills is a difference maker and Player of the Year candidate in the WCC and without him, the Gaels have not been the same. The Aggies win.

Nebraska @ (18) Kansas: What? Am I not allowed to pick my own team? KU wins against a scrappy Husker team. I just needed a short entry for your reading pleasure.

(16) Illinois @ Ohio State: Big Ten teams this year are not very good on the road. Combined they are 37-47. Ten of those wins have come from the top two teams (Michigan State and Purdue, the only teams with winning conference records on the road). Illinois is not one of those two teams and Ohio State is 5-1 @ home in conference. The Buckeyes get their sixth win against a Top 25 opponent this year, a highly misleading stat considering the only team still ranked of the previous five is Purdue and at the time the Boilermakers were without (insert buzzword) *Playmaker* Robbie Hummel.

I would talk about how disappointed I am in the NBA trade deadline, but I haven't had time to fully evaluate all the trades. Somethings I do know are that the biggest deals include Rafer Alston, the Sacramento Kings, Thabo Sefolosha (who has probably the coolest name in the NBA) and Calvin Booth.

The best trade of the deadline went to the Lakers, who traded Chris Mihm for....

Are you ready for this?

Thabo...

The former Longhorn Center averaging 2 points and 1.9 rebounds a game was traded for...

...Sefolosha!

Are you sure you're ready for this?

Thabo....

Mihm was traded, with cash (enough to pay his salary for the year) to the Memphis Grizzlies...

...Sefolosha!!!

I don't think you're ready for this.

Really.

It's too silly to write.....

Mihm was traded (with salary paid by the Lakers) for a conditional second round pick in 2013. 2013!!!! And it's a conditional pick!!! That means there is a chance the Lakers won't even get the pick! The NBA is just ridiculous.

That's all for today; now I just have to think of a way to convince my loving, caring, understanding wife who gave our dog the middle name of Jabbar, to give our first son the middle name Thabo!

Yep.

DDSF

It's Been a While

2009-02-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Hello again sports fans.

Apologies for my lack of posts and insightful looks into everything sports.

And on a completely un-sports related note, I have decided to dub Tuesday Song of the Day day. Other days of the week will soon be identified, suggestions are welcome.

Today's song:
Sometime Around Midnight
By: The Airborne Toxic Event

Dark, emotional song with complex beats and words that seemingly have no meaning. The band's name is something awesome as well. Totally a great listening experience and I will probably download the album. I will let you know how it goes.

Quick Hits on the last week of sports:
- Record for the year of picks: 18-10
I became a little disenchanted with the world after KU lost a heart breaker to the evil that resides in Columbia (you may know them as Mizzou). We will get back in the full swing of things quick after a healthy weekend of beating the other Jayhawk rival. (Note from that game: the best play came from Brady Morningstar who committed a blocking foul on Clemente and subsequently got KU a 5 point play. Clemente with a stupid elbow directly in front of the referee resulting in 2 technical free throws and the ball followed by 3 pointer from the corner from Tyrel Reed - who later got smacked in the head by Clemente, who needs to keep his cool and I swear was crying on the bench at the end of the game).

There is one game of interest tonight as #5 Michigan State travels to play #21 Purdue. Purdue has not been the same team as of late as their leader Robbie Hummel has been sidelined with a stress fracture in his back (that has to hurt a lot, I can't even imagine). Michigan State is the cream of the crop in the Great Lakes Eleven and will keep their stranglehold on the top stop. Michigan State will make it look easy.

- Good point from Colin on the MLS. Soccer is a sport that has yet to find the mainstream in the US, despite being played by more kids than any other sport. This is partly because parents just want their kids to run around and blow off some energy playing, but also because the world of competitive soccer in the US is kind of a joke. Paying a butt load of money to join a club team, then traveling all over to play and this is in a game that you can't compare statistics between players other than goals and saves. A little bit crazy if you ask me.

Anyway, The Beckhams in the USA reality show should be over. It didn't work, nobody cares, and the US needs to matter in the world cup. Everything Colin said. Thanks.

I did enjoy ESPN pumping the US vs. Mexico match last week during rivalry week, but it is so hard to get soccer highlights when there are only 2 goals scored in a 90+ minute match. That is one reason soccer is so hard to sell.

What can you sell if the game ends in a 0-0 tie and its just good defense? The NHL has modified its rules to me more "fan friendly" because no goals were boring fans to death. I'm not suggesting that soccer needs to change its rules, but unless something changes in the US for the sport, soccer will remain a dull sport in the public's eyes.

- Tiger Woods is close to returning to the PGA tour. Good for the sport, even though I really can't watch golf. I know how hard it is for the pros to play as well as they do, but I just can't watch it. I would rather be playing it seeing how hard I can hit the ball off the Tee and how badly I can injure my back doing so.

- The NBA All-Star extravaganza was this weekend and it included something new. A game of H-O-R-S-E was played between Kevin Durant, OJ Mayo and some guy from the Atlanta Hawks (Pretty sure it was Joe Johnson). Durant won, and I only saw highlights on PTI on Monday, which is disappointing. I want to see that competition! That is the game that anyone with a ball and a hoop can play as long as you have 2 people. You can't have a dunk contest with 2 people (who judges, the net?) and a game of 1 on 1 only stays cool for so long (either someone quits or gets punched). We need more H-O-R-S-E in the world and the NBA should start it, they owe us that for all the traveling that doesn't get called.

Also, the NBA trade deadline is coming up on Thursday, and there is never enough excitement in the NBA to capture my attention. For that reason, I am calling out the NBA and challenging them to draw my attention to the deadline in a formal letter.

NBA,

I challenge you to make the trade deadline mean something more than a second round pick to Boston in exchange for the expiring contract of the winner of best human impression of an alien fetus (Sam Cassell). If the Kings are involved in a trade with anyone other than the 4 best teams in the league, that does not count. If team that is more than 5 games out of the 8th spot in their league makes a move to "get better" for this season, that doesn't count. Please stop sucking before the trade deadline and let me dream about Chris Bosh being relevant in the US (Canada sucks), and think about how one of the contenders just got better and will be as much of an unstoppable force as Neo was in the Matrix trilogy. Thank you for your consideration, DDSF

- College football/the NFL is about to be relevant again as the NFL scouting combine starts this weekend. I'm totally excited to see who surprises everyone by running a 4.22 40-yard dash and which quarterback will run a 5.2 just like me. Plus, we get to see more of Mel Kiper's hair and Todd McShay being a total loser with his picks that mean absolutely nothing for about another month and a half.

- Finally, as baseball season is basically upon us (spring training) the steroids issue is even more prevalent. I'm sure there will be more news coming out about A-Rod as I am writing this (I can't bring myself to watch that press conference), but there are some things that I have an issue with.
Bud Selig does not want to be blamed for the whole issue and emergence of steroids in the game. I just have one question for the Commish:

Are you kidding me?????

After the strike of 1994, baseball needed something to jump start the League and bring it back to a favorite of the American public. Enter the home run chase of 1998.

If Bug Selig wants us to believe that while these guys were using performance enhancing drugs, he had no knowledge, then he is crazy. I'm sure he knew about it and that he just turned a blind eye. I can't blame him, because he a business to run (MLB), but the fact remains that he has most likely known that steroids have been a problem for 10 years. Heck, the biggest "juicer" in recent history (Jose Canseco) was most relevant playing for the A's and Rangers (1985-1994). He was the AL MVP in 1988 and the Comeback Player of the Year (ha ha, that's funny now because he probably came back with a little help from his friends - steroids) in 1994.

Bud, you will be blamed, and you deserve it. Stop complaining.

Also, the Commish is contemplating punishing A-Rod for using steroids in 2003. Why do I have a problem with this? Because there were 103 other players who tested positive at the same time. How can you punish one person for the wrongdoings of so many others? I don't expect A-Rod to be punished, but the discussion itself it ridiculous.

Still working on figuring out the principle of verticality,

DDSF

This is BIG Monday

2009-02-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

Recapping the weekend:

I went 5-2 on college basketball picks missing on Texas (more on this later) and Gonzaga who both looked completely lost and hardly Top 25 material.

My record for the year is now up to 17-9. Pretty decent for a first timer. If anyone has requests for games to pick leading up to a weekend, just send it in by Thursday night and hopefully your wish will be granted.

In other news, did anyone notice that the Pro Bowl happened?

No?

Me neither, that is until I read the KC Star and realized that Tony G now holds records for the most receptions and receiving yards in Pro Bowl history. He is also tied for the most TD catches in Pro Bowl history. Not that he really cares (just like Larry "Man Crush" Fitzgerald really cares about the MVP of the Pro Bowl after losing the Souper Dee Duper Bowl), but it is a nice resume builder for the Hall of Fame.

While we are on the topic of football, since my last lengthy post news came out from the NFL heads of officiating that they blew a critical call in the Souper Bowl! The touchdown celebration from Santonio Holmes on the game winning touchdown was completely illegal. It should have been a 15 yard penalty (duh!) and the reason the call was missed was because it was too far after the play was over.

Umm.... isn't the referees job to watch the whole game for any infraction?

I know what you're thinking, "Shocked and Appalled, Shocked and Appalled."

Except, not.

We knew the refs blew the call by at least Monday, and it took until Thursday for this news to come out from the NFL. Again, if this had been Pittsburgh getting robbed of 15 yards on the final drive of the game, the keywords from the media would have been chaos, riot and anarchy.

I also have to mention a couple baseball references. First, my Royals avoided arbitration with Mark Teahan and signed him to a one-year deal. Good move for one of the most versatile players on the team (and starting second baseman???!?!?!?); Let's just hope that he can find his stroke at the plate again.

Secondly, there is a boat load of new steroids allegations. These mostly involve A-Rod, which doesn't really surprise me. The problem I have with the allegations is that (don't think I am defending anyone because steroids have just ruined the game completely) they are from a report in 2003 of 750 players in which 104 of them tested positive to see if random screening was necessary.

My issues with this include:
-There are 103 players other than A-Rod who tested positive.
-MLB did a preliminary test to see if testing was necessary. If you need a test to see if you need to test (say that 10 times fast) you have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on! Seriously, this just confirms my belief that Bud Selig has had absolutely no idea what is going on in the sport that he is the commissioner of and there needs to be changes.
-This test isolates 750 players in MLB, but what if those that did not get tested had a higher percentage of positive tests? 104/750= 13.86%. Roughly 1 in 7. Probably the 1's in this equation made more money, got better stats, won more awards and put a ton of good solid players who didn't cheat in the minor leagues.
-104 players tested positive for steroids. OK, cool. But as a professional drug dealer, I have to think about how many other drugs there were circulating around baseball. What about amphetamine (Ritalin, Adderall) abuse in the league? Those who didn't have attention deficit disorders would use these to get more "zoned in" to the games and focus better. Drugs, Drugs, Drugs, Steroids, Steroids, Steroids.

Enough depressing talk (can I get a Prozac??!) and on to something a little more fun. College Basketball.

This weekend was filled with upsets (the rankings are about to get as wild as a drunken game of Hungry Hungry Hippos) and College Basketball is finally the center of national attention with the end of the NFL season.

The most intriguing thing so far is how conferences have been shaken up (Yahtzee!) since the start of conference play.

List #9:
Conference shakeups you should know about:
1. The Big East has 2 previously ranked teams (Georgetown and Notre Dame) with records of 4-7 and 3-7 in league play! South Florida has as many conference wins (3) as Notre Dame does.
2. There are 5 teams in division I basketball with undefeated conference records out of 31 leagues. Kansas (8-0) and Oklahoma (9-0) in the Big 12, Princeton (4-0) in the Ivy League, Gonazaga (8-0) in the West Coast, Utah State (11-0) in the WAC and Memphis (8-0) in Conference USA. Memphis has a 50 game conference winning streak.
3. The team with the best record in the SEC is not Tennessee or Florida. It's LSU with a 7-1 record. Last year the team only won 6 conference games and finished 13-17.
4. The ACC (in my opinion is the best conference in the nation) is so muddled, that a loss by Boston College this weekend dropped them from 3rd to 7th. Not only that, the last team to beat #1 in the polls (Georgia Tech) has only one conference win.
5. The Summit League is being led by North Dakota State (12-1 in conference) who is in their first year of eligibility for postseason play because they joined Division I so recently.
6. The Colonial Athletic Association, with NCAA Cinderellas George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion is being led by Northeastern (11-2).
7. The Big 12's top team is Oklahoma. The teams occupying spots 2-5 are all from the North division (KU, Mizzou, Kstate, and Nebraska)

More on the Big 12 because that's what I truly follow and most of my readers like to hear about. To put into perspective how monumental the standings of the league are let me break down the last 5 years of standings.

07-08
1.KU, Texas
3.KState
4.Oklahoma, Baylor
6.A&M

06-07
1.KU
2.Texas A&M
3.Texas
4.Kstate
5.Tech
6.Mizzou

05-06
1.KU, Texas
3.Oklahoma
4.A&M
5.Colorado
6.Nebraska

04-05
1.KU, Oklahoma
3.Okie State
4.Tech
5.Texas
6.Iowa State

03-04
1.Okie State
2.KU, Texas
4.Colorado
5.Tech, Mizzou

I did the top 6 each year because that represents the top half each year. I know you are looking at the standings thinking, "What are you getting at sports guru who also deals drugs to children for a living?"

The top 6 in the league each of the past 5 years has featured no more than 3 teams from the north. When reviewing all standings for the Big 12, there has never been more than 3 teams from the north finish in the top 6.

That is why the standings (as they stand now) are so shocking. Not only are there 4 north teams in the top 6, there are 4 north teams in the top 5!

That even includes the game tonight featuring Kansas (8-0) at Mizzou (7-2).

Big Monday = West Virginia @ Pitt and KU @ MU in a pair of rivalry games!

Pitt takes care of Huggy Bear and the Mountaineers with a win at home. I don't think too many of you will argue with that. Pitt already won in West Virginia by 12. I don't expect this game to be much different.

In the Big 12 matchup (If you didn't get it already Big Monday features matchups from the Big East and the Big 12; Catchy huh?) The Jayhawks take a lot of momentum into the showdown with Mizzou who has won 3 straight and 7 of 8. Both teams should be ranked (not available now) and are playing for bragging right in the Border War.

Now as a KU fan, I am completely obligated to pick KU regardless of anything else. And I will. KU wins this game. Sure, the game is in Columbia, Mizzou is a four point favorite and Paige Arena, er, Mizzou Arena rarely sells out. But picking MU is like picking your nose; Nothing good comes out of it.

Here's why KU will win.

Mizzou plays fast. Really fast. They lead the Big 12 in scoring.

KU plays fast too. KU has some of the quickest guards in the conference (Hello, Mighty Mouse) and they have big men that can run the floor as well as any in the country.

KU also has big guys that are huge (Cole-nan the Barbarian, coming off of an 18 rebound game) and have found a third scoring option in Mario Little to complement the other super heroes on the team. Little is shooting 62.8% and is not a big man. He takes a ton of mid range jumpers and will have plenty of opportunities to get shots in a fast paced game tonight.

KU has also found a way to make 3's when it counts. With defenses closing in on Collins at crunch time, they leave Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar open on the wings to put in 3's at 41% and 46% respectively. Plus, the two Kansas natives play defense.

8 hours to game time! Get Extreme!

DDSF

Hale(y) to the Chief!

2009-02-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

The Chiefs hired Todd Haley. I think this is a great move and it is really the sign that the Chiefs are in rebuilding mode. This should allow them to find a completely new identity and hopefully they will make splashes in the free agent market this year.

I think that if the Chiefs can get a good offensive and defensive lineman that can make an impact this next year, they will be much improved. I don't care if it is in the draft or free agency, but a good team starts with the line.

The QB situation is difficult to decide on. I say give Haley a year with Brodie or Thigpen and see what he can do. Again, it depends on the line. The Chiefs havent had one since Priest Holmes was a star and have struggled since.

12-7 record for basketball so far this year.

This weekend is chop full of good games and I am totally looking forward to it.

I have to get to work early (and save lives, you know how it is) so this will be short but informative.

I'll give you my version of a six pack of picks (Seven!)

Ranked teams playing this weekend: 24 (Marquette plays tonight)

Top 25 Matchups (and automatic picks for the weekend): 3 (Purdue @ Illinois, Syracuse @ Villanova, and Memphis @ Gonzaga)

Illinois is coming off a tough road loss to Wisconsin and Purdue is coming off a road loss at Ohio State. Both teams need a win to keep pace in The Great Lakes 11, but I like The Illini to take this one at home (they play Sunday, are the marquee game and they play good in big games).

Villanova beats Syracuse, who can't win on the road against good teams. The Wildcats are too quick for the 2-3 zone to work and the Orange can't play on the road.

Memphis is full of young talent and the Zags are one of the more experienced teams in the NCAA. In Washington, in primetime (college gamenight) I look for the Zags experience to shine. If it were in Memphis this would be a different story, but home court is home court and good teams find a way to win.

Other games to keep an eye on:

Notre Dame @ UCLA: Home Court rules, but ND needs it (too bad, chime up the price is right failure music)
Texas @ Nebraska: Texas lost two straight at home (to Kstate and Mizzou, U-G-L-Y), but look for them to rebound against a smaller Husker team
Minnesota @ Ohio State: OSU just beat Purdue, and they have found a win to win at home this year. I think Tubby Smith will have his Gophers playing well, but not Golden. OSU wins for my upset special.
Butler @ Wright St: Butler is 11-1 in conference play and has a tough road game (WSU is 8-4) but they have dominated the Horizon league for a while and will continue to do so.

Til next time,
DDSF

Catching Up

2009-02-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

Let's start off with my record now for college basketball picks. I got all 7 games right on Saturday. However, I totally whiffed on saying the rest of the ranked teams would have no problem winning. KState and Georgia Tech made me look dumb. And for that, I will take an extra loss.

Monday, I went 1-1 by missing entirely how good of a team UConn is when they have Thabeet playing like a lottery pick. He changed every aspect of Louisville's offense and that is why the Huskies won. At least I got a W from my Jayhawks.

On the subject of the KU basketball game, Fran Frashilla is probably the worst color commentator on the planet. He picks a catch phrase for the night and sticks with it the whole game whether or not it makes any sense (he used North/South last night). And he totally falls asleep when announcing important facts. Sherron Collins had made 33 consecutive free throws and then Fran lost count. He did get to 35, but Fran didn't notice and he still didn't notice when Collins missed. Terrible.

Ron Franklin (the play by play guy who is almost as bad by having diarrhea of the mouth and saying things before thinking about them - he was wrong on foul calls about 8 times) has resorted to introducing FF as "A former Division I college basketball coach". I can only presume this is because everyone thinks FF is a complete fool and knows absolutely nothing about the game of basketball.

My favorite quote from last night courtesy of FF:
"It looks like he just violated the principle of verticality there!"

Some key points about this quote:
-If there is a principle of verticality, FF made it up.
-If someone violated the principle, I have no idea how because, again, it is made up.

Reaction to the Suppppppppppper Bowl (Hooray for avoiding copyright infringement!)

My pick was wrong.

But at least it was close.

I thought (as did anyone who really thought about the game) that the Cards would make Rothy throw the ball to win the game. I was right. 256 yards and a game winning touchdown coming through the air is a pretty decent game. The Steelers had a total of 61 rushing yards and Gary Russel (who scored the only rushing TD of the game) ended the game with 2 rushes, -3 yards and 1 touchdown. Go figure.

Arizona threw the ball all over the field and ended with 3 passing TD's and 377 passing yards (all from Kurt "too bad my kids won't get a puppy now" Warner). This was against a defense that had only given up 300 TOTAL yards in game once during the regular season.

Random thoughts from the game:

-The first half was kind of boring. Until the 100 yard interception return, not much had happened.

-I never realized how much challenges slow down the game. It was painful to have Al Michaels and John Madden tell us about the result of the challenge for 5 minutes before hearing it from the referee.

-The Cardinals offense is terrible at defense. I know sounds dumb, but they let James Harrison run 100 yards for a touchdown. When a 242 pound linebacker outruns a 4 wide set with a running back, almost gets caught by an offensive lineman (which was totally weird, especially because it was around the 15 of the cardinals- 80 yards from the line of scrimmage) in the process and looks like he was going to need more oxygen during the halftime show than Bruce Springsteen, you know there is no way he should have scored.

-Any joke about TurDuckEn during a game broadcast by John Madden is hilarious. Congrats to Mary for making Dave stop saying the word for the entire second half and still making a joke about it for just as long. TurDuckEn. TurDucken. TurDuckEn. TurDuckEn.

-I can't but help feel gyped that:
1)The refs totally missed Santonio Holmes TD celebration using the football as a prop (automatic 15 yard penalty)
2)The refs didn't review the "fumble" with 5 seconds left in the biggest game of the year
3)We didn't get to see one last hail mary attempt to Larry Fitzgerald/Anquan Boldin/Steve Breatson.
I think the refs totally blew the game in important times and almost none of the national media cares. If the Steelers had the ball last, were down and Big Ben "fumbled" the streets of Pittsburgh would have been a riot zone and the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and all Rent-a-Cops within a 12 state area would have been called in to control the damage.

-I have decided that I want Haley (the Offensive Coordinator of the Cards) to be the next Chiefs coach. After the go-ahead TD for Arizona, I swear he was still coaching Larry Fitzgerald by telling him not to look up and watch the scoreboard, but to finish the run.

Let me say that again.

This guy was still coaching intensley with a lead and 2:30 left in the NFL championship game when his offense just took the lead for the worst run franchise in NFL history! That's discipline. I want that. I WANT THAT! WE CAN BUILD ON THAT!!

Final Notes on Tuesday:
- I am glad Derrick Thomas got into the Hall of Fame. He was what I remember of Defense when I was growing up. Neil Smith was a good compliment, but DT made the Chiefs Defense. Game in and Game out. When I watch highlights of him getting 7 sacks in one game (!!!!) on the Seahawks, I wonder if I really understood how good he was. He had 116.5 sacks in the 90's, the most in the NFL.

- Congrats to KState's Clemente. Dropping 44 on Texas in Austin is no easy feat. Nice work.

- Just saw the Rivals.com rankings of football recruiting classes of the Kanasas City area teams and Kansas has the highest of the 3 (KU, KSU and MU) at 31. Delicious.

- I took the over (47) for the NFL championship and came away victorious. I'm still over 6 bucks and reeling! Watch out Vegas!

Still trying to figure out the principle of verticality,
DDSF

Technical Difficulties

2009-02-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry about today. This post should be riddled with information and only lightly substantiated opinions about College Basketball and the NFL game on Sunday, but there were some computer issues (which have resolved) mandating this post be short (due to the fact that this is not my full time job).

My picks for the two college basketball games tonight.

UConn @ Louisville
UConn has ascended to the #1 ranking in the land. Meaning they will lose.

Louisville is turning into a great team (they beat West Virginia handily while commiting 26 turnovers) and are playing @ home. Like I said on Friday, good teams find ways to win at home when it counts. The Pitino Generic Mascots win and take over the top spot in the Big East.

Kansas @ Baylor
My Jayhawks are taking the long trip to Waco to face a recently down-trodden Bears team. The Bears are coming off a loss to Mizzou on Saturday and now have a sub .500 record in confercence play. Not good.

Kansas is coming off of a home win over Colorado to go to 6-0 in the conference. The Jayhawks managed to win despite allowing the Buffaloes to trim a 21 point lead to 2 in the second half. But the Jayhawks did crack the Top 25 rankings for the first time in 2009.

I look for Kansas to take care of business (Collins has a good day on national TV). It should be a good game though, as both teams like to play fast tempo (last year KU won 100-90) and both have plenty of weapons.

Just one thought today from my Sunday NFL watching experience.
The Misses and I traveled North to Westminster to watch the game with our friends (my old roommate and his wife) from college Dave and Mary. They have a nice house and an HD tv, so we had plenty of food and a good time.

During the game I was explaining to them my new found fun in centsports.com with the free betting. Dave seemed pretty intrigued by the idea and thought it would be fun to make small wagers (all bets = 50 cents) throughout the game on trite items.

Anyway, Dave and I had 2 bets going that lasted the entire game. One, I said the Cards would get less than 42 rushing yards for the day and Dave took the over. I did win.

The other, and the entire purpose of this story, was that Dave said Fitzgerald would have 2 touchdown catches in the game. I figured why not?

So you know that Fitz caught his second TD catch with less than 3 minutes left and gave the Cards the lead. He was ecstatic!

He was so ecstatic he ran up to my face (I dont think he realized the significance of the play for the whole game) and screamed mildly intoxicated and highly maniacal:

"YOU OWE ME BITCH!"

And started running around the room in jubilation.

...

...

Over 50 cents.

More tomorrow.

DDSF

The Picks

2009-01-30T11:47:00.000-08:00

What do you know?

I talk about needing to get over that .500 record for the season and my Thursday picks come through with a bang!

Illinois got destroyed by Ralph Sampson III and Gonzaga managed to injure St. Mary's best player without even touching him!

Enough gloating, season record: 6-5

There are 15 games of Top 25 teams on Saturday. There are 17 teams playing.

Sunday features 4 games, but all ranked teams should win.

The biggest games of the day are: Notre Dame @ Pitt, and Georgetown @ Marquette

Both games feature Top 25 matchups, but both also feature teams (ND and G'Town) who are reeling and desperately need a win to keep up the pace. Georgetown is not even in the top 10 teams in the Big East now and both teams have lost 4 in a row. Both teams will be out of the Top 25 rankings next week if they don't get a win.

That said, both Notre Dame and G'Town are on the road against Top 10 opponents. In any conference it is extremely important to hold home court. Good teams hold their home court and snag W's on the road. Both Pittsburgh and Marquette are good teams and will hold home court. It doesn't look good for Irish or Hoya fans.

Other games that could be interesting:
-West Virginia travels to #7 Louisville, but the Pitino generic mascots get a win.
-Oklahoma visits Ames, Iowa for a good matchup with Blake Griffin and Craig Brackens, but OU has no trouble dispatching the Cyclones.
-Providence (6-2 in League play) visits #2 UConn (8-1 in League play). When the Huskies win, they will be the new #1 team in the nation. Atleast for one week anyway.
- North Carolina travels to play the Wolfpack of NC State, but walks out with an easy win.
- And my upset special of the week is Washington traveling to #14 Arizona State and walking away with a big Pac10 win.

7 games. The rest of the games over the weekend should be pieces of cake for the ranked teams and I don't think too many upsets happen this weekend. But that's why they play the games right?

Now, what you have all been waiting for. My final analysis and picks for Sunday's NFL game.

I gave you a breakdown of the games that both teams shared in common, and here's a summary:

Arizona had offense, NO defense, won the games that mattered and gave up tons of passing yards and not much rushing in their wins.
Pittsburgh's defense was awesome, they had NO offense, turnover margin was critical and just seemed to win a lot.

So what does that all mean?

Trends, people! Trends!

My pick to win Sunday's NFL game is the Arizona Cardinals. No, I'm not just talking about covering the 7 point spread that has held up over the last two weeks, I'm talking about winning the whole darn thing.

Everything in my soul is telling me that picking the Cardinals is appaling and absurd. I mean, John McCain is a Cardinals fan and that alone should make me think that Arizona will just give up sometime in the second half, allowing Kurt Warner to give a speech conceding defeat! Plus, the Cardinals owner looks so lifeless (the guy on the right) you wonder how this guy owns an NFL franchise.

The reason I am picking the Cardinals is the trends.

Pittsburgh has had no offensein the playoffs. Against Baltimore they scored a touchdown off of Joe Flacco's third interception and a touchdown off a pass the Big Ben hucked in the air as a prayer. Against, San Diego Willie Parker had a huge day and the offense did something good.

Arizona has won their playoff games by having a good offense (and by good offense I mean Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner), winning the turnover battle with defense (+2 vs. Philly and Atlanta and +5 against Carolina) and holding all three good rushing teams to less than 100 yards rushing.

The trends that carried over from common opponents into the playoffs:
Pittsburgh had no offense and they just seemed to win.
Arizona had offense, won the games they needed to, and they didn't give up rushing yards.

The turnover battle will be key. Both teams had trends of winning the turnover battle in games they won.
I think that because Kurt Warner has been around long enough to realize that, he doesn't turn it over.
And because Roethlisberger has been banged up, Arizona will make him throw the ball (no running for fast Willie) and will get a turnover or two to capitalize on.

I will say 31-27 with the Steelers getting the ball back late and having a chance to drive for the win and not succeeding.

Before I finish this post I want everyone to know that if all of the things I just told you are actually correct, I will gloat for probably the rest of my entire life.

If not, there's still College basketball!

DDSF

College Basketball Smells Like Awesome

2009-01-29T09:52:00.000-08:00

First things first, yesterday's picks.

I did manage to get two picks right yesterday, but only finished with a .500 record for the day. Not good enough to get back to .500 for the year. Next picks will!

Wake beat Duke in an "instant classic". Duke fell asleep on defense on the last possesion allowing Wake to get an inbounds pass from under their own basket for an easy layup.

Kansas won a scary battle against Nebraska in which Cole Aldrich was completely ineffective (0 points and 0 rebounds in first half) AND completely effective (8 points, 8 rebounds in the second half).
The best part of the game was Doug Gottlieb being the color commentator, making references to video games (his partner in crime brought up Donkey Kong - totally random and did not fit at all) and also giving unbiased opinions about officiating calls that were pretty bad. He even admitted he was wrong on first judgment after seeing a replay! Unprecedented in the world of color announcing!

My losses for the day came at the hands of KState who got a good win over a pretty good Mizzou team. I can not tell you how relieved I am they won. I do not like Mizzou and will have to say that second to Kansas (duh) Kansas State is my favorite Big XII team. They won by getting a ton of points from Jamar Samuels and Fred Brown off the bench. Well done Kstate.

I did call a couple upsets and am darn proud of it. Georgetown looks just plain awful now and Syracuse is not the same team they were starting Big East play. Providence put up 100 on the 'Cuse.

Record to date: 4-5

Tonight: 8 of the Top 25 in action with 2 games featuring both teams ranked.

Illinois @ Minnesota

St. Mary's @ Gonzaga in a battle for West Coast Supremacy

I really really want to pick the Illini, but I just can't see them taking care of business in the Golden Gopher's house. Minnesota and Tubby Smith get the W.

Gonzaga has been too good for too long in conference play, especially at home. The 'Zags take it. I do like Micah Downs for the Gonzaga even if he was a punk leaving KU. He is a different style player and I am glad he found his calling in Spokane.

College Basketball. Check.

The biggest news of yesterday was the awesome post by Colin. Since I haven't written anything in so long, its time to cover everything.

The Chiefs coaching situation is better than it was. Herm Edwards is gone and that was a good move by Pioli. I don't know that I can really make a whole lot of opinions yet because the Chiefs do not have a coach.

I don't like Shanahan. I know he is a good coach, but just because he will forever be associated with the Broncos, I can not be a fan. I think that he might feel the same way about the Chiefs. I would love love love Cowher as a coach, but he is off the list. "Poop" (direct quote from Mark).

I totally agree that Gruden is a good coach, but I wonder about the recent stuff coming out about his personality. I don't really think that would work in the Chiefs organization.

Would he be a good coach? Yes.
Would the Hunt family like a man with this recent publicity? I don't think so.

The Hunt family kept Herm around for so long because he was loyal and respectful to the organiztaion. Those words just don't sound like Gruden.

The reason I think that Haley might not be a bad coach for the Chiefs is that I have read some articles giving him credit for pushing Larry Fitzgerald to an all-world reciever. Dwayne Bowe just needs someone to take him to the next level, because he is talented, but needs more incentive being on a terrible team like the Chiefs.

I would say the Chiefs need a defensive coach, but that didn't work with Gunther or Herm. Why not change it up? Plus, Haley did make the tough call to start Kurt Warner and uses intelligent guys (The double back pass in the NFC championship game was called at the right moment by third string quarterback Brian St. Pierre) to help him get the most of his team. And, any offense coordinator who can get to the Super Bowl without a running game is not too shabby.

The Royals signing Grienke was awesome.

He is a stud, and by getting paid should be able to hire a full time psychiatrist.

If Teahan can play second base (and his offensive production in the 6th or 7th spot of the lineup would be better than anyone else that could play) I say why not. He adjusted to outfield so well after playing third that I think the Royals should give it a shot before giving up. I am also skeptical about the change, but the organization doesn't have a good history of second baseman in their system (did someone say Carlos Febles?).

K-State did get fortunate with their AD stepping down. I wish Bob Krause (Kstate AD) would not have been put in that position. I think that the whole downfall with the athletics program started with Tim Weiser who I think is a weasel and should have been kicked out long ago when he couldn't get KState into the NCAA's a couple years before Huggy-Bear's reign. I also think that they buyouts they have put on contracts (Huggins' was too low allowing him to leave in a heartbeat and Weiser's was just freaking ridiculous so he could get paid to leave) really put a bind on the University. My opinion: It was Weiser's fault and KSU realized it a year too late.

Awesome Posts. Check.

NFL

Ok, so as promised yesterday a breakdown of the common opponents.

First, Arizona's results:
6 games (2 versus Philly)
2-4 Record
2-1 Home
0-3 Road

@ Washington - L 17-24
vs. Dallas - W 30-24
vs. NYG - L 37-29
@ Philadelphia (Regular Season) - L 48-20
@ New England - L 47-7
vs. Philadelphia (NFC championship) - W 32-25

129 (Arizona) - 211 (opponents) combined score

Pittsburgh's results:
5 games total
3-2 Record
1-1 Home
2-1 Road

@ Philadelphia - L 6-15
vs. NYG - L 14-21
@ Washington - W 23-6
@ New England - W 33-10
vs. Dallas - W 20-13

96 (Pittsburgh) - 65 (opponents) combined score

So, Pittsburgh outscored their opponents, while Arizona got destroyed. Pittsburgh won on the road and at home; Arizona, did not win on the road.

There were some trends on both teams when I dove into the stats.

List #8:
Trends for 'Zona and Pitt
1. Pittsburgh's offense was not good. They only gained over 250 total yards in 1 game. At New England. I guess what you can take from that is if Pittsburgh's offense takes off, Arizona loses by a ton.
2. Arizona really does not have a running game. As a team, they did not break 100 yards against any opponent. In 6 games. The Cards had 25 yards or less against two opponents. Yikes!
3. When the teams won the turnover battle, they usually won. In the Steelers 3 wins, they won the turnover battle 3 times. They lost were -4 and even in the two losses. The Cardinals only time they won the turnover battle was the playoff game against Philly. They were -2 in 3 games and -4 against Philly during the regular season.
4. Arizona gave up less than 100 yards rushing in their two wins and only once in their 4 losses. They gave up greater than 300 yards passing in their wins also. Cards fans are hoping Big Ben looks like Tom Brady on Sunday!
5. Pittsburgh lost Big Ben in two games and split those two games. A win at Washington (Leftwich looked great and it was in primetime) and a Loss at home versus Philadelphia.
6. In my opinion, Arizona won the "must wins". They beat Dallas at home to state that they were a team to reckon with, they got a "moral" victory hanging with the Giants until the end, and they won in the NFC championship game. Sure, they didn't show up in the other 3 losses, but they are in the Big Game, so who cares!?!??

NFL. Check.

Song of the Day:
Incubus "Love Hurts"
It's on their greatest hits album. Great song. And thanks to Lor for a great job on coming up with a song for the day.

Song of the day. Check.

I think that's it for the day. Check back tomorrow for my picks for the weekend Basketball and the NFL's biggest game of the year.

DDSF

Wednesday Smells Like Awesome

2009-01-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

I know my loyal followers have been lost without posts for 6 whole days. Don't worry, just in the nick of time, a new post.

The two greatest sports are at the top of the agenda: college basketball and the NFL

College Basketball is just starting to heat up and today is probably one of the most action packed week days that there have been so far this season. 11 of the Top 25 teams in the nation are playing tonight with two games featuring Top 25 match ups (Duke @ Wake Forest, and Pitt @ Villanova).

I've decided that since I don't know anyone who actually gambles consistently on any sporting event that I would just pick the winners of the games I predict. I will keep my same record from before (2-3) just to keep things fair even though I did pick 2 winners that just did not cover the spread.

**
Speaking of spreads, if you have not checked out centsports.com you should and be my friend. Free gambling for those who want to try it with real payouts (albeit you have to turn 10 cents into 20 dollars before you have a chance) is just fun. I'm already over 4 dollars and will keep you updated.

Not to brag or anything, but that 10 cents to 4 dollars thing is a 4000% profit. Too bad my gambling prowess does not actually apply to real life.
**

Back to the basketball.
Duke @ Wake
I don't know what I was thinking last time keeping The Dukies out of my Final Four, (wait, yes I do, Duke is all that is evil about college basketball, that's what I was thinking) but I was wrong. They have proved it over and over this season that they belong and just beat a decent opponent (Maryland) 85-44, and being up by 40 virtually the last 15 minutes of the game.

Wake is the home team,but their last game was a loss to Virginia Tech @ home. They have one of the best scorers in college basketball in Jeff Teague (21.5 Points per game) and have a good crop of young talent. Does young talent translate into wins though?

Tonight it will. I think the Demon Deacons will be rearing to go after a week off and will take care of the Blue Devils.

Pitt @ Villanova
Pitt is still the team to beat in the Big East in my opinion. They have a good inside out combo with Levance Fields and everyone down low. They play tough and play defense. I still like them over UConn in the Big East and look for them to still make a run in the Big Dance.

'Nova is one of those teams that you know is pretty good, but they just can't quite get over the hump. They are 15-4 with a 3-3 record in Big East Play and their losses have all come against teams in the Top 25 (UConn, Marquette, Louisville, and Texas). Their best win this year is either @ Seton hall in OT, Home vs. Temple, or @ Penn.

The Point = Villanova has not beaten anyone better than them.

The Pick = Pitt

Reason = Villanova has not beaten anyone better than them.

As I said there were 11 ranked teams in action tonight. Other include North Carolina, UConn, G'Town, Syracuse, Xavier, Memphis and Louisville.

The teams that should be on upset alert are:
Memphis (on the road against an average East Carolina team)
Syracuse (@ Providence who is 5-2 in Big East play and currently in 5th in league standings)
Georgetown (@ Cincinnati who has the same 3-4 record in Big East play)

Everyone else will win. Write it down.

KU and K-state both are playing tonight.
Kansas travels to Lincoln to take on an underrated Nebraska Cornhuskers' (Husk... immature teenage laugh) team. If they Jayhawks win, the will take a 6-0 league record to Waco on Monday to face a dangerous Baylor team. I think they do, they have just enough experience (as well as Mighty Mouse flying to the rescue) to put the Huskers in their place.

Look for Aldrich to either be extremely effective or not at all against a smaller Nebraska team. No middle ground here. If he is effective, he will have turned a corner for the year and just dominate. Mario Little is a stud and will also help add experience and points to a young lineup.

K-State plays Mizzou @ Manhappenin' and just came off a huge OT win in Boulder. It looked as though the game was locked up for the 'Cats in regulation, but it took an extra period to settle it, and that was dicey. Mizzou is a "Sleeper" team according to Si.com's Seth Davis due to the fact that they score a lot and win by a lot. K-State really needs this game to "save" their season and Mizzou just wants to stay in the hunt for the NCAA's and the conference crown. Unfortunatey, Mizzou will take this because they have a decent inside presence and K-State is not big enough.

NFL in Tampa

The Big Game is this Sunday for those of you living in caves with headphones playing angry chick music and knitting sweaters for kittens that you don't have.

Arizona (a 7 point underdog, kind of a lot) plays Pittsburgh in what should be a good game.

I don't have time for it today (Cliffhanger Alert!!!!) , but I'm going to dive into the common opponents between the two teams. During the course of the regular season and playoffs the Steelers and Cardinals played five common opponents. They are:
New England
Washington
Dallas
New York Giants
Philadelphia

Since this is absolutely the best way to evaluate teams (if you dont know I'm kidding you need to stop reading and smack yourself), I think it will help us predict the winner of Sunday's matchup.

Song of the Day

Remembering Sunday, by All Time Low

You all know I love my hip-hop, but I'm on a real Punk/Alternative kick. Partly in thanks to my beautiful wife (she's into the more Emo type stuff, but close) and Mark cause that's all he listens to, ever.

Complex song with a lot of emotion stuck to it and multiple people singing, which I like.

That's all for today, tune in tomorrow for a recap of my basketball picks (2-3 record needs to get back to atleast .500) and for the extremely scientific breakdown of Sunday's premeir NFL matchup.

DDSF

Upset Wednesday?

2009-01-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

Love college basketball.

Love it.

Especially when upsets occur and spin your entire perception of who is good and who is bad.

Last night there were numerous upsets. This will surely have a huge effect upon the rankings, but more importantly gave us insight into weaknesses of the top teams.

Virginia Tech 78, Wake Forest 71
Tech has beaten three number 1 seeds in the last three years. This was the first time it occurred on the road. This makes you think though, if Virginia Tech can consistently beat number 1 seeds (or come close, they lost on last second shots twice in the last two years also) why the hell can't they play against everybody else?
So far, 4 games into conference play Duke is the only undefeated team in the ACC. The ACC is good and with 4 of the top 10 teams in the nation, I think is better than the Big East.

Northwestern 70, Michigan State 63
Northwestern has now beaten two ranked teams in a row (after screwing my Streak on ESPN by beating Minnesota). Also by winning they ended Michigan State's 28-game home winning streak which was tied for third longest in the nation. So you would think they are a pretty decent team right?

Right?

Those two wins took their conference record to 2-4. They did barely lose to Purdue earlier this year, but need to put together a consistent performance against every team, not just the good ones.

The only team with a worse conference record in the Great Lakes 11 is Indiana. Which makes me think, "Yikes! What was Tom Crean thinking! He left the best trio of guards at Marquette to coach a poor team that was run into the ground by Kelvin "Cheaters Never Prosper" Sampson.

Florida 69, South Carolina 70
One of the coolest plays I have ever seen. I still dont get how bad Florida's defense was so bad. Just take a watch via ESPN, here.

Bryant University 51, New Jersey Institute of Technology 61
NJIT ended a 51 game winning streak in the process holding Bryant, 3-16, to 51 points. How ironic?

NJIT's mascot: The Highlanders.

I would make some wise crack about the TV show/Movie Highlander coming to kill someone or avoid death, but I really dont even know what to say. Suggestions are welcome.

In non-sports related news, I just caught the film Reign of Fire on AMC today. Its a movie from 2002 about how there are only a small amount of humans left on Earth because Dragons (who do spit fire) have taken over.

I remember the previews looked awful especially because the big star at the time was Matthew "Shirtless" McConaughey;I chose to watch it today because it also had Pre-Batman Christian Bale.

Bale was decent, but after seeing him in Batman, was no where near as cool. Shirtless on the other hand fit his character perfectly. Crazy army general who is a dragon slayer ready to jump at the first chance to kill something and has no regard for his own men's lives.

The reason I am telling about this movie (I know, get to the point already!) is that do you think McConaughey just runs around all day pretending to be a war general?

I bet you he goes to the gym and hides behind excercise equipment just to scare the crap out of some poor girl trying to get in shape because of a New Year's resolution she won't follow.

Seriously, can't you just imagine him running around some neighborhood sneaking in peoples bushes with a fake gun and war paint just to pop out and shoot water in their face! He's probably directing his dog to flank him on the attack and gets peeved when it just runs up and starts humping the yard gnome!

My idea for a movie:
"A day in the life of McConaughey:
How the dilusional live"

Or atleast a reality show...

Your takes are appreciated and I will preview the weekend tomorrow!

DDSF

Today is Tuessssdaaayyy

2009-01-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

Tuesday's in my mind are usually a great day. Full of new releases of CD's and Movies and it gets really exciting when you actually care the new releases.

Today, I don't care. Nothing good out right now.

College Basketball has been fair to me this year. On Centsports.com I have gotten over 2 dollars now and it is mostly because of college basketball. Indiana State beats Missouri State by 12 to cover the 11 point spread and Southern Illinois covering -4 against some MVC opponent at home means I get over 2 dollars after a couple smaller bets.

Season Record: 2-3

Pitt destroyed Syracuse in the second half last night because the Orange play about as well on the road as the Washington Generals do and Pitt is actually good.

Kansas did win. I must say I was excited to see that and A&M looked bad. KU got some good play from the Morris twins (Two 3-pointers from twin 1) as well as the emergence of Mario Little's scoring ability.

However, A&M did not come close to covering. KU was up by 14 points five minutes into the game and almost maintained that the rest of the game.

Some thoughts from the game brought to you by Ron Franklin (RF) and Fran Fraschilla (FF).

Just before halftime:
RF: "The shot is short and that is a shot clock violation."

**Yes, the shot was short. No, it was not a shot clock violation. Texas A&M caught the ball as clear as day and THEN the shot clock buzzer went off.

Dear Ron,
Please pay attention if you are calling a basketball game on national television. You look like a fool when you so wrong that EVERYONE WATCHING KNEW YOU WERE WRONG!
Thanks,
DDSF

KU steals the ball Mario Little goes up for a layup that is waaay off because there is 2 seconds left.

RF: Little puts the ball up for an alley oop and that is halftime.

Ok, I could maybe understand that you miss that early in the game because it was an awful shot. I will give you that. But.....

THERE ARE 2 SECONDS LEFT IN THE HALF!!!!

WHY WOULD HE PUT UP AN ALLEY OOP FOR SHERRON COLLINS (all 5'11" of him) WHEN THERE ARE 3 (not 1, not 2, but 3) AGGIE DEFENDERS - all taller than Sherron - CLOSER TO THE BASKET!?!??!?!??!

Did I mention there were only 2 seconds left in the half?

Dear Ron,
Please pay attention if you are calling a basketball game on national television. Please stop talking with Fran (you and I both know he is not good for anyone's career) about Brady Morningstar's Dad, about how he used to coach and how he thinks the Aggies are getting behind because they are not playing defense when they are down 18-4. Excellent.
Thanks,
DDSF

I think that these are bad (really?!?!?), but Fran took the cake in the second half. He was talking about how he could not tell the Morris twins apart and said:

FF: "One of them has a little bigger 'fro." *Commercial*

He just left us with that.

That's bad enough on its own, but have you seen the Morris twins? They do not have 'fros.

Not at all.

Not even close.

Afro (n): An afro, sometimes called a "natural" or shortened to "fro", is a hairstyle in which the hair extends out from the head like a halo, cloud or ball.

Here are pictures of the Morris Twins.

Markieff.

Marcus.

Not even close.

Fran,
Please stop talking about basketball on national television.
Thanks,
DDSF

After all of that, I just have the energy to do another song of the day.

"Lollipop" by Framing Hanley

Pretty hilarious stuff. This is a cover of the Lil' Wayne song lollipop, just darker and rock oriented instead of hip hop and rap.

***Robot power shutting down noises***

DDSF

Ponedjeljak Schmonedjeljak

2009-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

What words would you use to describe the past weekend?

Awesome?

Spectacular?

Crazy Good?

How about Scrumptious?

Scrumptious it is.

Full of mouth watering sporting events and a smorgasbord of turn of events, this weekend was pretty darn good. College Basketball is finally starting to get on the national map as conference play is starting to get good and the NFL season is coming to a close. The NBA is developing some new story lines (The Cavs are the best team in the league), and did I mention college basketball?

The biggest event over the weekend was obviously the AFC and NFC championships. I got a chance to watch most of the games, and have some thoughts about both of them.

NFC

- The Cardinals have done a great job on defense this postseason. They held Brian Westbrook to 45 yards rushing and 26 yards receiving. This was a big reason the Eagles lost.

- Edgerrin James was the leading rusher for the weekend (73 yards on 16 carries). He wants a ring and is doing everything he can to get one.

- If I told you before the game that Brent Celek would have 2 touchdowns and 10 catches, you would smack me, call me an idiot and not run in the other direction because I would know it too. Yet, that's what happened.

- The reason I love the Cardinals: Tim Hightower scored the winning touchdown with 2:53 left in the game. This has to be the highlight of his career so far. Taking a forelorn franchise and getting it as close to the Big Game as possible.

You know what he does for an encore?

He lines up just to the left of Neil Rackers on the ensuing Kickoff to help with coverage! How many starting running backs in the league would do that?

- Kurt Warner promised his kids that he would get them a puppy if the Cards won it all.

- I think I have a man crush on Larry Fitzgerald. Did you see him in post game interviews?

He is not only a badass Wide Receiver who now holds the record for most receiving yards in a single postseason (with one game to go, yikes!), but he speaks and sounds intelligent and dresses to a T.

I also loved how excited he was when the Cards scored their last TD. He was jumping up and down like he just found out that Wendy's now makes spicy chicken nuggets and couldn't wait to go get a 5 piece.

And Kurt Warner hugged him. And he likes puppies.

- Adrian Wilson cried.

Like a girl.

Like a little girl.

But it's ok because he could break me.

Really quickly.

With his bare hands.

AFC

- If you do not care very much about football, this game would have sucked. It was really boring except for a few plays, but showcased some awesome defense.

- The touchdown pass from Big Ben to Santonio Holmes was lucky. L-U-C-K-Y! Roethlisberger just threw it up and if the Ravens defensive back would have realized where the ball was sooner, it would have been a pick.

- Willis McGahee attracts catastrophe on the football field.

I got a text message last night from my buddy Allen:

"Did you see that hit! Oh my god, McGahee is dead."

Fortunately, McGahee is doing well and has movement in all his extremities. Still, the hit he took last night after catching the ball was absolutely brutal. You could tell before he hit the ground that he was going to require attention from atleast one team's training staff.

And this is not the first time he has been completely devastated in a primetime game.

One of the most gruesome hits that I have ever seen live on TV happened when he was in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. This picture is not for the faint of heart, so be warned. His knee got hit and went backwards!

- We all know that rookie QB's (Joe Flacco) don't historically do well and big games. This game was no exception. Flacco threw 3 Int's including one that Troy Polamalu took to the house.

But....

I dont think it was entirely all Flacco's fault. I think that Pittsburgh's defense did a great job in coverage and Baltimore does not have very good recievers. The leading Ravens reciever was third string running back Ray Rice.

Not good.

- Pittsburgh's punter not only made a touchdown saving tackle, but stripped the ball from the return man.

Sucks to be that guy.

College Basketball
I was able to attend the Kansas game this weekend in Boulder. They are not even close to the same team as last year, but it is still fun to see your team live. Especially when you get seats in the 6th row!

The Coors Event Center is no Allen Fieldhouse. They didn't come close to selling the place out, and there were atleast as many KU fans as there were Colorado fans. Then again, Allen is not what it used to be.

***
Warning: Rant occuring
***

What grinds my gears about Allen Fieldhouse is that when KU got a new Athletic Director (he has done a fairly good job so far) the focus changed from tradition to money. There are significantly less seats for students now (I think about 3,000). The student tickets are now on Student ID's so that they can not be passed from student to student (or graduate with an ID) as easily. This makes those tickets not used (bad) and doesn't get the fans who can't buy tickets into the game (also bad).

The Fieldhouse is an awesome place to watch a game. Don't get me wrong. But it ain't what it once was. The atmosphere is not even close to what it was.

The first game I went to was when I was in 7th grade. My mom, a Mizzou fan but still cool, bought us tickets to the game up in the rafters. I brought a poster and watched as KU won the Big 8 with a win over Oklahoma State and Bryant "Big Country Fried Steak" Reeves on Senoir night. The crowd was electric. There was not even any standing room. It was wild.

While I was a student, I remember KU playing Georgia Tech at home on New Year's Day. Huge matchup. Monumental. KU sent the game to overtime when Keith "Freeze" Langford drilled a three in the closing seconds. I remember the Fieldhouse shaking. Actually shaking because there was so much noise. Later, I watched highlights on ESPN and the camera was shaking like it was on a train that had just row over a series of cows. It was amazing.

Now, even at the biggest non-conference game of the year (vs. Tennessee) there are still empty seats at the top corners. Unacceptable if you ask me. If KU gets to the point where it is not expected to make the tourney, they will not sell out the Fieldhouse.

Rant over.

More College Basketball thoughts:

Wake is the Best team in the nation beating a good Clemson team on the road.

The ACC is the best conference (atleast at the top) with Duke, UNC, Wake and Clemson.

The Big East is good and will be brutal for conference play. I don't think there is one team in that league that is head and shoulders above everyone else. But, the bottom of the league is terrible. Just awful.

My Final Four right now: UNC, Pitt, Oklahoma, and Wake.

Others in the mix: Duke (too small right now), UConn (no killer instinct), and Michigan State (not there because they are in the Great Lakes 11).

Picks for the night:

Syracuse @ Pittsburgh (-8)

I told you at the start of the year that Pitt would be the best team in the Big East and I still believe that. Shoot, they are in my Final Four right now. I still believe that no one will care if they win it all. Pitt plays good defense and gets a home game after losing to a pretty good Louisville Generic Mascot team.

Syracuse comes off a big win at home against a pretty good Notre Dame team. But that was in Syracuse. They have yet to prove it on the road.

Pitt at home + 'Cuse on the road + Redemption for Pitt + Overrated Orange Guards =
Pitt Covers

Texas A&M @ Kansas (-10.5)
A&M has had one of the toughest conference schedules so far playing @ Oklahoma State, home against Baylor, home against Oklahoma and now @ Kansas. They do have a good experienced team with 4 Juniors and a Senoir in the starting lineup. Plus, they have a guy coming off the bench named Dash, so plus one for that.

Kansas is playing at home after traveling to Boulder and getting a W. Not very impressive, but they were able to adjust to a pretty good zone defense when they needed too. They don't have the experience, but they have home court. In conference play you have to hold home court if you want to win. Period.

Due to experience, the return of Coach Mark Turgeon to Kansas, and the fact that the last team to beat the Jayhawks in Allen was A&M, I give the spread to the Aggies. Kansas wins the game though.

Next time, basketball at both levels.

DDSF

Catching Up

2009-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the comments and emails. It's totally awesome and makes me think that I am doing something that other people enjoy.

So we are not off to a good start on the College Basketball. G'Town got the W, but covered the spread taking DDSF's (And yes, I just referred to myself in the third person) record to 1-2. We will do better in the future don't worry.

This is all because I have started getting the hang of things due to my new addiction centsports.com. Again, if you have not checked this site out, do it now here and become my friend giving me a piece of your winnings at the same time.

Recently, I parlayed a 3 way bet in to 61 cents! Not bad considering I started with 10. I am now up to 49 with a two game parlay on my picks for the spread of the NFL division championship games.

I know I missed on the College Basketball this weekend. I did pick Wake to beat Clemson in the last meeting of undefeated teams this year to continue my Streak on ESPN. I don't know that any one cares about that, but just thought I should let you know.

Big Monday is tomorrow (that's what she said!) and I will definitely give my picks for that tomorrow, so check back and feel free to make fun of me.

Couple quick things I forgot about.

Verne Lundquist referred to Kansas' Marcus Morris as "McMorris". The back of his Uni does say Mc__Morris, but come on! You call yourself a national play by play announcer! That is completely unacceptable! Did you even read the roster?? Seriously, Verne.

The Sonics-No-More have won some games. Who would have thought?!? Durant is still shooting 3's at a 42.6% clip and they are 5-5 in their last 10 games and actually favorites tonight over the Heat in OKC!

The NFL is down to its final four, and that is excitment for all. It's such a big deal, they moved the times of the games (not that it had anything to do with the early game being played on the west coast or anything) back 2 hours.

I would really like to just watch the games all day, and not do anything else at all. However, I still have other duties (mainly making sure my dogs don't eat the house) so will just get to watch most of them. The best way to watch games is in a bar with friends and the drinks on the house, but seeing as many of my closest friends dont live in the same town, I am no where near famous (and neither are my friends - sorry guys) that will not happen. There's always the lottery right?

Picks

Philly (-4) at Arizona
I know that a lot of the media is jumping all over the Philadelphia team that has played extremely well over the last few weeks after just sneaking into the playoffs. I, however, am not. I think that Arizona has some form of destiny that rests upon the arm of Kurt Warner, the legs of Edgerrin James and the hands of Larry Fitzgerald who has been nothing short of amazing in the playoffs.

I think that the Cardinals will find a way to shut down Brian Westbrook. That leaves the likes of Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson to beat the Cardinals on offense. Avant is a 3rd stringer at best, and Jackson is a rookie and will show it today.

No matter what the Eagles do today, they will not be able to shut down Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner. Fitzgerald is too good and Anquan Boldin is back this week to add to the awesome passing attack.

If the Eagles win, it will be the second year in a row that the 6th seed from the NFC has won the league. I just don't see it happening. I'm taking the Cardinals!

***Song of the Day: "Say Anything(Else)" by Cartel***

Good band that I just got into courtesy of Mark, my punk music specialist. This is a song that you can rock out to or just have in the background to chill to. I recommend it to anyone who likes any kind of rock, punk or alternative music.

Pick #2
Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh (-6)
Pittsburgh won both regular season matchups by a total of 7 points. Week 4, 23-20 in overtime and Week 15, 13 - 9 in a game that was decided by the slimmest of margins. Santonio Holmes caught a pass that was initially ruled short of the goalline only to be overturned on review and remains a highly controversial call.

Interesting fact from both games, Le'Ron McClain was the leading rusher in both games. The Ravens' fullback who is in his second year and had a total of 18 rushing yards as a rookie outrushed both teams' best backs (Willis and Fast Willie).

This game looks to be the definition of a defensive battle. A rookie quarterback in Joe Flacco is going against a quarterback who recently had a spinal contusion!

What do you think the over/under is on interceptions for this game? 4? 4.5? 5?

Let's go over. Heck, a former successful playoff QB (Jake Delhomme) threw 5 (Really, he's a starter?!?! Really?!) while Kurt Warner threw one himself (Atleast it wasn't 5!).

I think that Big Game Ben will take care of the ball enough (Flacco gets 3 picks and a fumble) and leads the team to their second AFC championship in 4 years.

Plus, Baltimore hasn't had a bye week since week 2. Pittsburgh has had two in that span. They have to be hurting.

Pittsburgh gets the W and covers. Write it down. It will happen.

Reactions tomorrow.

DDSF

Email and a GM to the rescue

2009-01-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

For those of you who do not know me for who I am, my real name is Matt. I have a twin brother who's name is Mark and he is a huge sports fan just like myself. Most of the conversations that we have on the phone anymore are centered around sports. Lots of sports. The Weather Girl (trying out a nickname for my wife, I'll let you know how it goes) always reminds me of things that I forgot to ask or tell Mark when we talk on the phone because we are too busy talking about sports, and when we run out of sports to talk about, well... we're done.

So why does any of this matter?

Mark sent me an email this morning that was his reaction to the Kansas City Chiefs hiring Scott Pioli as GM. He and I could not be happier about someone who actually cares about winning coming into Kansas City. Carl "all that was evil about the Chiefs" Peterson really only cared about filling the stadium.

And I quote (I edited the spacing for readability sake and ... pause ... dramatic effect):

Dude, I don't know what you wrote about (yet), but you did it a day or some too early.

Pioli, Matt.

Pioli.

After 20 years of Carl Peterson we now have Pioli. A GM who actually knows what the hell he is doing.

A GM who will win, not just sign the occasional big name who is past his prime but still good enough to win some games and put fans in the stands(Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, Elvis Grbac).

No more having a TERRIBLE crop of wide receivers for the last ump-teen years. Guys who audition for an NFL franchises second receiver.

See you later Jeff Webb.

Go home Devard Darling.

DEVARD DARLING!

Damn it, Matt!

Pioli!

The Chiefs are already a well respected franchise and now we can finally get over the hump! We might win a postseason game for the first time in 15 years!

DAMN IT, MATT!

This is the best thing to happen to the Chiefs since, since... before we were alive??? I don't even know, it's just so monumental.

And this is a GM.

Not a coach.

Not a star player.

A GM.

That's how much Kansas City hates Carl Peterson. Mediocrity is nice, Carl Peterson.

It's ok. But winning. Winning and smart football. I don't even know what that's like.

Oh how I'm so glad you're gone Carl Peterson.

DAMN IT MATT!!!

PIOLI!!!

SCOTT FREAKIN' PIOLI!!!

One last thought.

Pioli + Lots of Cap space + a crop of young players +
LOTS of Cap space + No more "We can build on this!!!" =

Turning the franchise around.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Love ya,
Mark

I love you too Mark.

More on this when the Chiefs make a decision on the head coaching position.

Keep it comin' y'all.

DDSF

This and That

2009-01-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

All of you Kansas City fans, do not worry I will comment on the Chiefs in just a bit. I do need to get everyone caught up first and discuss the KU vs. K-State game that happened last night.

Quotes from the game that I loved:
"He is close to beastness"
Reid Gettys
He was talking about how Cole Aldrich was dominating this season. I don't think any color commentator should be allowed to use the word beastness. Ever. Period.

"I can't believe this is something we are talking about"
Dave Anderson
Referring to the fact that Luis Colon fouled out with 12+ minutes remaining. Colon was actually a difference maker even though he has been a role player the whole year and has the worst shot in the history of college basketball.
Shotputting is not a style of shooting that is very effective. Ever. Period.

KU vs. KSU
After the first 5 minutes, I thought it was over. KU started out with an 18-0 run to open the game. They had just come off a tough loss to Michigan State in which they played their age (young, young and more young) and were playing at home in a rivalry game.

However, in the spirit of the Sunflower Showdown (we need a better name for the rivalry; Sunflower Showdown is not bad, but it has no zing to it. We need to come up with something before the next meeting) K-State made a comeback on free throws and some timely scoring from players that have no business scoring.

Dominique Sutton made a three, Luis Colon was a factor (not an afterthought), and K-State had more turnovers than my former middle school girls' team who managed to finish a game with one point (true story). It reminded me of when KSU came to Lawrence a few years ago only to have a power forward who's name was close to Diarrhea score double figures and Skylar Thomas (a walk on) drilled a three to help catapult the Wildcats to victory. It was scary.

KU managed to pull away after Colon fouled out on some timely shooting from role players (Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar) and star players performing (Mighty Mouse and Cole-nan the Barbarian). It was a pretty fun game to watch and I can't wait for the rematch.

Enough with the homer talk, what really matters is the betting lines and the outcomes.

Last post, I tried to predict the outcomes of major games. Texas - OU and Louisville - ND.

Record: 1-1

Louisville covered in OT (thank goodness) and Luke HaranUGLY didn't score in the extra frame.

Texas, on the other hand, was apparently not long enough to stop Oklahoma and Blake Griffin. Better luck next time right?

Tonight's schedule includes one big time game in the Big East: Syracuse - Georgetown (-6.5).

I do not like the 'Cuse as a team. I think they are overrated, they have a couple of good guards, but are way better at home than they are on the road. So what if they haven't lost on the road, they only beat South Florida (bad) by 5 and Memphis (not as bad) by 7. They did destroy Rutgers, but who doesn't.

G'Town is a team that has lost 3 games this year, 2 in conference play. The Hoyas lost to Notre Dame in South Bend (they have the longest home win streak in the nation) and at home to current #1 Pitt (who I told you would be the one Big East team to win it all this year, and still no one cares).

When it comes down to it though, both of these teams play pretty close against good competition. I think that Georgetown will win the game but my PICK is the 'Cuse to cover.

NFL news
Arizona is hosting the NFC Championship game.

Let me repeat that so it sinks in....

Arizona (yes, the Arizona Cardinals who had a quarterback controversy, that led to a former first round pick warming the bench, to start the year and who's leading rusher - Edgerrin James - only touched to ball 18 times between weeks 8 and 16) is hosting the NFC championship game.

Philly is the favorite on the road this week (betters beware) and look to be on course for another appearance in the big game.

Of note in this game, you have 2 quarterbacks with really good resumes. Kurt Warner, a former MVP, is matched against Donovan McNabb who has done more for a team with less talent (Freddie Mitchell, Greg Lewis, LJ Smith) at recievers than I think any other quarterback has.

In the AFC we have 2 power Defenses (Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore) and division rivals squaring off for the third time this year in what should be a great football game.

Again, the quarterback matchup is what I am intrigued about. You have Big Ben for the Steelers, arguable the best rookie quarterback in recent memory, against Joe Flacco (he's a Delaware Blue Hen!!!) who has been an amazing rookie quarterback this year. Whoever screws up more, either Ben with his spinal contusion or Flacco with a complete lack of NFL experience, will lose the game.

That's all for this post, but stay tuned for more exciting fun, and keep the comments coming!

DDSF

2008. Yeah, it was that good.

2009-01-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

I realize that I am extremely late with this post. I has been like 4 weeks since the last time I did anything and that is completely and absurdly unacceptable. In order to make up for the appalling length of time that I did not post, I will make this post the greatest of all time (or at least the greatest of this year).

Let's start by going over my review of the sports year that was 2008. 2008 was probably the greatest sports related year that I have experienced and why not make a list of it. Here we go:

List #7
2008, the sports events that mattered:

1. The Kansas Jayhawks win the College Basketball National Championship in one of the most memorable championship games in history. Mario Chamlers makes a 3 pointer to send the game to overtime with less than 3 seconds left after Memphis shoots free throws like a third grade girl. I would tell you more about how much this meant to me, but most of you would get bored.

2. The New York Giants win the Super dee dooper Bowl on probably the most amazing catch in the big game ever. David Tyree (who hardly played during the 2008-2009 season) pinned the ball against his helmet while being assaulted by Rodney Harrison of the Patriots and prevented New England from having a perfect 19-0 record.
To make matters worse for the Patriots, Tom Brady's knee became a hearty lunch for Bernard Pollard of the Chiefs (finishing 2-14 in 2008, prompting Carl Peterson to quit!). Then, under the leadership of a quarterback who hadn't started a game since high school, went 11-5 only to miss the playoffs because the Pennington (yes, Chad Pennington) led Dolphins got the tie breaker. Ouch!

3. Ohio State lost in the National Championship game to an SEC school. Ha.

4. Kansas won TWO bowl games. The first being the Orange Bowl in January over Virginia Tech, which was awesome just being in the game itself because Mizzou was not in a BCS bowl and KU was. The second being over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on New Year's Eve. I love beating the Great Lakes 11 conference.

5. The Olympics. Usain Bolt became the fastest man ever, and did it by jogging (for real, I still don't understand it) across the finish line of the 100meter dash. I still think if he wanted to he could run a 9.5. I hope this helps the sport of Track progress to another level. As a former Track athlete, I have the utmost respect for the sport and root for it every time it is on TV.

Michael Phelps also won 8 Gold Medals in a single games, breaking Mark Spitz's record of 7. Not only did he win 8 golds, but he did it in the most exciting fashion. As part of the Men's 4 X 100 meter freestyle team, Jason Lezak closed almost a body length in the last 25 meters, swimming the fastest 100 meter split ever against the previous world record holder, giving the American team a 0.08 second win. Commence goosebumps.

He won the 100meter Butterfly by 0.01 seconds in a photo finish that I'm not sure I will ever understand (Not that I'm complaining, but I swear the other guy is touching in the famous picture, but it looks like Phelps is touching the black part and Milorad Cavic is not. Someone who knows swimming please fill me in if that matters at all).

6. The world series went the Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays (Devil Rays be gone!). Now, the Royals just need to follow the model of the Rays with defense and speed and they might be able to get into at least contention for a playoff spot.

7. The Celtics Big Three (Ray Ray Allen, The Truth and KG) beat Kobe and the Lakers for the NBA championship. Good for Paul Pierce. This is the same guy who got stabbed multiple times in 2000 and only lived because he was wearing a heavy leather jacket. Fascinating.

8. Nascar had its first 3 peat champion.

9. The NHL happened. However, Sean Avery (who subsequently got released) made a comment about another player he got in a fight with about how the other player who was dating his ex-girlfriend was getting his sloppy seconds.

Note to self, by Sean Avery: References to my sloppy seconds on national TV do not end well.

****
Song of the Day: "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon
So, I had heard of the Kings of Leon through various different media (radio, TV, friends), but that is not the reason that they are honored with the song of the day. The reason is because of this article I found on ESPN. Its a breakdown of good music from 2008 courtesy of Iowa State's own Paul Shirley.

I know what you are thinking. "I thought Paul Shirley died and I went to his funeral in Ames and hung out with the basketball team and Steve Nash because he played with Paul when he was with the Suns for that one month." No, that did not actually happen.

That was part of your dream that you were a college basketball player in the Midwest/Big XII and you were so good everyone wanted to be your friend. Trust me, you are not good enough to be a college basketball player at any level, and Paul Shirley did not die. He is writing columns and a blog for ESPN about random stuff.

Check out the song and quit thinking that you could play college basketball, or professional basketball for that matter, just because Paul Shirley could do it.
****

Ok, 2008 was a great year, but 2009 is off to a heck of a start.

The biggest events so far circle around the fact that I found a free sports gambling website (be my friend and give me part of your winnings here!) The website, centsports.com, gives you a dime to bet with for free from their advertisers. The catch is that they don't pay out until you get to $10 or so. So far the most I have achieved is 44 cents. Not very good, but I will win more. I'll keep you posted.

*Special note to my wife and my parents: Do not worry, this will not turn into a problem. I am too cheap to actually gamble any significant portion of my own money on sports; maybe blackjack, but I have not quite developed a refined taste for that yet.*

Secondly, I have decided where I am going to go with this blog. I think that by focusing on College Basketball and possibly the betting lines of ranked teams over the weekends and rather big-time games during the week, I will make a niche for the site that can translate into a two-game parlay on the number one seeds to beat the number sixteen seeds on Friday of this year's NCAA tourney (i.e. Sure Money!)

So to start things off for the new year let's breakdown the 2 games that happen on the first Big Monday (Wooo Hooo Big Monday!) of 2009.

Notre Dame @ Louisville (-6.5)
So Notre Dame is led by the ugliest Player of the Year candidate in Luke Harangody, who is averaging 24.5 Points and 12.7 Rebounds a contest. He is quite a player and you have to love Notre Dame as a team who can jack up 3's with the best of them.

Louisville is a team that was ranked as high as #3 this year with a bunch of talent, a prima dona coach in Pitino and a decent home court advantage. Key here is being home court.

The Fightin' Irish have not played well on the road this year (losing to St. John's was not good), and Louisville always manages to get psyched at home. Plus, 3's don't fall as well on the road.
Pick: The Louisville Generic Mascots

Texas @ Oklahoma (-4.5)
Texas has one of the most athletic lineups in college basketball. They are led by AJ Abrams who can also jack 3's with the best of them, only he can make a bunch. Also, they have undersized power forward/not quite quick enough small forward Damion James to light up the stat sheet. Texas also has quite a tough schedule (including losing by 1 to Notre Dame in South Bend and by 4 to Michigan State, but also wins against UCLA, Oregon and Villanova).

Oklahoma has my pick for Player of the Year, Blake Griffin (22.5 Points, 14.1 Rebounds), Freshman sensation Willie Warren (15.8 Points), and a young coach on the rise in Jeff Capel. Plus home court.

The Red River Shootout Basketball Edition Part 1 will be a very close game. Norman is not an easy place to win, but Texas has too much of Jay Bilas's Buzzword ("I love their length; they are so long") and Oklahoma doesn't have as much big game experience this year.
Pick: Texas

I'll keep a tally of my record as the year goes along, so we can see how good/bad/average I am and determine if I know anything about sports or betting.

Later this week, I'll go over some other goings on in 2009 (The NFC championship is being played in Arizona???!!!??) and hopefully talk some more college basketball. Peace out and happy New Year.

DDSF

This and That

2008-12-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

Time to try out some new slants on stuff. On topic that I have yet to tackle is the Association (NBA for short). This is mainly due to the fact that I have little experience with the NBA being from the Kansas City area. With no team to root for in my short lifetime, its difficult to make good opinions on everything, but I am going to give it a shot.

The first thing that shocked me about the NBA this year is that 6 coaches have been fired. Those coaches are as follows:
PJ Carlesimo (Seattle-no-more SuperSonics-no-more, OKC)
Eddie Jordan (Washington Wizards)
Sam Mitchell (Toronto Raptors)
Randy Wittman (Minnesota T'wolves)
Maurice Cheeks (Philly 76'ers)
Reggie Theus (Sacramento Kings)

So 6 coaches have been fired from teams with a combined record of 38-112. That's bad. That's really bad. The leader of the group, the midwest's own OKC (I refuse to call them by their actual team name), is 2-24. They are doing so with Kevin Durant averaging 23.2 points per game and shooting 48.4% (last year he shot 28.8%) from 3-point land. Pretty astounding.

The point is that these teams are bad. But, there are only 30 teams in the NBA. Six of them have been fired. That's 20%, and it's not even halfway through the season.

Are these teams really going to be better off with an interim coach and finding some bottom of the barrel coach next year? Probably not. Maybe a couple of teams will improve cohesiveness this year and try to build upon it next year, but the majority will not improve by firing a coach in the first half of the season.

Philadelphia, the best of the bunch with a record of 11-14, is only one game out of the eigth spot in the Eastern Conference. Over the course of the season a couple of lucky bounces could put the team in the playoffs. It wouldn't matter because the East is so loaded at the top with Boston (3 superstars and Rajon Rondo quickly becoming an allstar), the Cleveland Lebrons and Orlando with the best big man in the game Dwight Howard.

Quick interjection. If someone told you 10 years ago that the best big man in the NBA would be named Dwight, what would you think? With the Association being a "Hip-Hop" league and the likes of Shaquille, Rasheed, Kevin (ok, normal name), and Yao dominating the league how can Dwight fit in? Have you seen The Office on NBC? Dwight is the dorkiest character in the world. Let that name roll off your tongue.... Dwight. Dwwwwiiiiightttttt. Six letters and only one vowel.

Don't even get me started on Dwayne.

Back to point. The East even has the Pistons, always dangerous in the playoffs, and the Heat with D-Wade and a cast of newbies who will only get better as the year goes on. These bad teams really don't have a chance this year with the talent they have on their rosters. Something big needs to happen like a large free agent signing. A new coach, especially the ones that would be available now, is not going to make the difference.

Now, I'm going to make some picks for y'all on the upcoming NFL games this weekend. I would do the college bowl games, but the games this weekend are not worth it (c'mon the New Mexico Bowl?!?!?). I'll do more later when the games start to get good.

Saturday:
at Dallas (-4.5) vs. Baltimore
I have Dallas because I think they need it and Baltimore is frustrated. This also opens the door for a second AFC East team to make the playoffs
Sunday:
Pit (-2) at Tenn
Pittsburgh is the hot team. They can stop the run and have a game changing QB in Big Ben. Collins is not the same QB Ben is.
Miami (-4) at KC
Kansas City has been so close recently, especially last week at home (22-21 lost to SD), I have them covering the spread. Tony G will have a big game in his last home game of the season.
Zona at NE (-7.5)
The Pats have been hot and are battling for a playoff spot. The game is outdoors in the cold and Anquan Boldin has not produced for Arizona (159 yards, 0 td's, 1 fumble lost in last 3 games), he was one of the reasons for their early season success.
Cincy at Cleveland (-3)
I'll take Cincy. They've played better lately and Ken Dorsey is starting for Cleveland. The Browns haven't had much time to get situated with him at QB.
Philly (-5) at Washington
The Eagles. The better team. The hot team. Washington lost to Cincy last week for crying out loud. Washington is the old busted NFC East team and Philly is the new hotness.
San Fran (-5.5) at STL
49'ers take this one by a score. They are playing for Mike Singletary and want him to stay head coach next year.
Atlanta at Minnesota (-3.5)
This is a tough call. Minnesota just lost half of the Williams monster on the D-Line, so I have to give the edge to Burner Turner and Matty Ice with the ATL. I think the loss will have a huge impact on the Vikings.
NO (-7) at Det
Detroit only has 2 more chances to win a game. I dont think they do it this week as Drew Brees lights them up for an absurd amount of yards. The Saints still have a shot at the playoffs.
Carolina at NYG (-3)
The G-Men need to rebound, but I don't think they do it against the hot, hot, hot Panthers. They take it with a mix of Steve Smith and their incredible running game.
NYJ(-4) at SEA
Brett Favre and the Jets have been 0-3 on the West Coast this year, but they take this one to setup a huge matchup with Miami for the AFC East title. Watch for Leon Washington to have a big day in the return game and sneak in a TD somewhere.
Hou (-7) at Oak
Wouldn't be a shame if Houston finishes 9-7, first time in franchise history above .500, and don't make the playoffs. They consistently find ways to finish strong, which is why they win this game, but can't win early in the year. If they hadn't blown a huge lead against Peyton and the Colts in Week 11 they'd be in the mix.
Buff at Den (-6.5)
Denver needs a win to lock up the AFC West and does so at home against a struggling Bills team. After starting 4-0 and then 5-1, their only victory has come against the hapless Chiefs 54-31. No other team has fallen from grace as quickly or as far as the Bills.
SD at TB (-3.5)
Jeff Garcia is expected to start this week for the Bucs, who have a perfect home record this year. Look for them to take the game and make SD irrelevant until next year. Of note, former Jayhawk Aqib Talib, is leading all rookies with 4 int's on the year. Rock Chalk baby.
GB at CHI (-4.5)
After the last meeting in week 11, the Packers looked like favorites for the division taming the Bears and getting their running game back (Ryan Grant 145 yards rushing). Since then the Pack has gone 0-4 and look like the Lions best chance for a victory in week 17. The Bears take this one, and the Pack looks to next year.

That's all for today. Have a great weekend and any feedback is awesome. Until next time...

DDSF

A Day Late, A Dollar Short

2008-12-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

So now its time for what at least one of you readers has been waiting for. My breakdown of the Royals off season moves so far.

The Royals have been one of the more active teams this off season, especially before the winter meetings that just happened. The moves that they have made so far are as follows:

- Royals trade for first baseman Mike Jacobs from the Florida Marlins for pitcher Leo Nunez
- Royals trade for centerfielder Coco Crisp from the Boston Red Sox for reliever Ramon Ramirez
- Royals took care of some house cleaning signing some minor leaguers and trading one bigger name prospect, Tyler Lumsden, to the Astros for cash or a player (ended up being an outfielder named Jordan Parraz)
- Royals signed Horacio Ramirez and Doug Waechter (both pitchers) to one year deals
- Royals signed Kyle Farnsworth to 2 year deal worth $9.25 million

So now that you know you that lets give a preview of the lineup
Catcher - Olivo or Buck (this needs to be fixed, we need to stick with one guy)
1B - Mike Jacobs
2B - ??, with the loss of Grudzy, I don't know who they will stick there. Maybe Aviles?
SS - Aviles, another acquisition or the Mendoza-esqe Tony Pena Jr.
3B - Gordon - you can't take him out of the lineup
LF - David Dejesus, or Jose Guillen if he plays the field
CF - Coco Crisp
RF - Either Dejesus or Mark Teahan, depending upon if Guillen plays the field. I expect he would, but you never know.
DH - Probably Butler, as Guillen I think they will play Guillen in the field, but also could be one of the extra outfielders (Teahan) or the backup Catcher (Olivo has a better bat, Buck better glove though not by much). Or, if they want, they can try Kila Ka'aihue.

The Rotation will not change much at the top and will hopefully look something like this:
1 - Gil Meche
2 - Zack Greinke
Gets a little fuzzier after that
3 - Brian Bannister
4 - Luke Hochevar
Really fuzzy
5 - Kyle Davies / Horacio Ramirez / John Bale/ A free agent?

The bullpen includes plenty of returnees as well as the new guys I mentioned:
- Farnsworth
- Dougie Dub (for w, of course)
- Duckworth
- Joakim Soria, of course
- Joel Peralta, who I wish they would get rid of because he just doesn't cut when we need him
- Robinson Tejeda, who they think will be a pretty good pickup
- Jimmy Gobble, who they should also get rid of
- Rob Mahay, who is making a cool $4 mill and a decent guy out of the pen
- Devon Lowery, I don't know who he is either, but he was a September call up last year

So, now time for the breakdown on the deals. I hope that the pickup of Mike Jacobs is a good one. The Royals have struggled to get any production from that position at the plate (see Ross Gload and Doug Mint-kay-vich) and Jacobs has produced over the last 3 years, the bulk of his major league experience. He's averaging about 23 home runs and 70+ RBI's a year. On the downside, he is striking out over 100 times a year. Doesn't have very much speed, but does have a good on-base percentage (career average over 300, which is good for the Royals). I think that if they have found someone who will produce from first base and play decent defense (career fielding percentage .990 which is good), they have a keeper. Plus, he's not quite 30 and he will be in the prime of his career with the other young talent the Royals have put together. The Royals did give up a solid pitcher in Leo Nunez, but they seem to be able to find guys in the pen that can produce on a consistent basis (Soria, Nunez, Andrew Sisco, Mike MacDougal when he was good). In my book a relief pitcher for a 20 and, optimistically, 80 guy at first base is a good deal.

The other big pickup is Coco Crisp. He has been on the Red Sox team for the last few years after having a stint with the Indians. Of note with the Red Sox, they won a lot of games. Bringing in the mentality of winning games I think is always important. This guys has been a part of a World Series and you can't argue with that.
The thing that I like most about Coco is that he fits that stereotypical leadoff hitter. Someone with a good OBP (.331 for his career) and can steal bases (Average of about 20 over the last 5 years). He gets a few home runs, but you don't expect that from the leadoff spot.
The Royals have experimented with Dejesus, Joey Gathright (who is with the Cubbies now) and some random infielders (German, Aviles) at the leadoff spot, but have not had any luck. This should give the team someone who gets on base for the likes of Guillen, Jacobs and Butler to drive in.
Also, Dejesus can move from center field and not have to run all over the place to get balls. This should help his production in the field and at the plate.
Kansas City gave up Ramirez, who had a sub 3 ERA last year, but did so with only one pitch, a fastball. I think that the same thing rings true with him as it did Nunez. He was a good bullpen guy. Something the Royals have actually been able to find in recent years. If Coco fits the mold of a leadoff hitter. He will be better than that decent middle reliever.

The bullpen moves don't really interest me that much at this time. It is a bunch of guys that I know very little about. Farnsworth is a decent pitcher, and Waechter had a good year last year for the Marlins (4-2, with a 3.69 ERA in 48 appearances). They should be good veteran additions to the pen.The Royals already have a closer and most of the starters (hopefully). If Soria is the same pitcher he was last year and the starters improve even a little bit, this team should be looking at right around a .500 record. If you couple the increase in pitching with the potential increase in offensive production, this could be a team that stays in the hunt for the division until August.

Hope this gets people excited for the season in Kansas City, I know that writing about all this stuff got me excited. Stay tuned and keep the comments coming!

DDSF

This just in...

2008-12-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

December 15th, 4:41pm MST

I just found out on ESPN.com that Carl Peterson resigned as the Chiefs GM.

Give me a minute.

Just another minute.

Wait.

...

...

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

YES! Since Peterson had taken over as GM, every team in the AFC West (including the Seahawks, who are now in the NFC) has made it to the Super Bowl except the Chiefs.

Ryan Sims, Greg Hill, Rashan Salaam, the resigning of Preist Holmes to a huge deal, the resiging of Trent Green, the acquisition of Bam Morris, Tamarick Vanover, Elvis Grbac, selecting Larry Johnson in the first round, not playing him, then running him into the ground with an NFL record number of carries, then resigning him to a big deal when he wasn't happy, making Jared Allen unhappy, having him leave only a very short time after he opened a cool restaurant very close to the Boulevard Brewery (ok, we did get some good out of that deal, he was going to leave anyway cause he wasn't happy, at least we got draft picks), Gunther Cunningham as a Head Coach, having Eddie Kennison as a number 1 reciever, that tight end/fullback/Hback who I can't remember right now who was supposed to be awesome and wasn't, signing Eddie Drummond as a kick returner, Dale Carter, letting John Tait go, and the list goes on an on.

Let's hope we don't have to worry about that stuff anymore.

Now, I am really rooting for the Chiefs to lose so they can get a better draft pick. I doubt they will screw it up as much now!

This is even better than when I found out Billy Packer was out at CBS!

DDSF

Someone's got a case of the Mondays

2008-12-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

Mondays: Usually bad, unless you don't have to work and get to just screw around all day.

That was the case for me today as I worked this last weekend and got Monday/Tuesday off in return. Not a bad deal; I just don't get to watch as many sports. I will try to keep this on the level since I did not get as good of an opportunity as I thought I would to watch sports.

Let's start it off with the usually college football rant. Saturday, Sam Bradford was awarded the heisman trophy. I must say congratulations, and I told you so. If you refer back here I told you that he would most likely win the heisman with the numbers he was putting up. Do I agree with it?

No.

Just like the rest of college football, I have a problem with the way the media hypes up everything and takes control of every outcome. In my opinion the heisman should have gone to Colt McCoy.

Before you go thinking I am a Texas fan I would like you to consider some numbers from the two teams and players(Oklahoma and Texas):

Bradford: 4464 yards passing, 68.3% completion rate, 48td's, 6int's, 186.3 rating
40 rushing attempts, 65 yards rushing and 5 rushing td's

McCoy: 3445 yards passing, 77.6% completion rate, 32 td's, 7 int's, 179.2 rating
128 attempts, 576 yards and 10 rushing td's

The reason I brought up these numbers is to show why they picked Bradford and I picked McCoy (only, more stats to come to help my point). Bradford had more yards, more td's and a higher qb rating for a higher scoring offense. McCoy had a higher completion rate (insanely high, the current record is 73.6% completion by Daunte Culpepper of Central Florida in 1998, difference of 4%!!!) more rushing attempts - more knocks in the head - more rushing yards and more rushing td's.

So, let me guess you are still not convinced. And you shouldn't be... yet.

Check out the leading rushers for both teams:
Oklahoma:
Chris Brown, 1110 yards, 20 td's
DeMarco Murray, 1002 yards, 14 td's
Mossis Madu, 463 yards, 6 td's
Sam Bradford, 65 yards, 5 td's
Team Total: 2672 yards, 45 td's

Texas:
Colt McCoy, 576 yards, 10 td's
Vondrell McGee, 376 yards, 4 td's
Cody Johnson, 336 yards, 12 td's
Chris Ogbonnaya, 331 yards, 4 td's
Team Total: 2123 yards, 32 td's

This means that McCoy had to do more for his team to be on top of the nation all year than McCoy did. Usually, when a team has a good running game that allows multiple backs to be successful, they have a great offensive line (see Oklahoma). McCoy had to make plays with his legs and arm due to the fact that Texas's offensive line was not what Oklahoma's was this year. You can tell me that Bradford was the "leader" of the best offense in the history of college football, but this year McCoy was not only the "leader" of a very prolific offense, but he did more and has the chance to SHATTER (I don't know how to make that any bigger, 4% in terms of completion percentage for an entire year is just mind boggling) - let me repeat that- SHATTER an individual college football record at a very tough position. That's why McCoy should have won the heisman.

I have to say that I did not get a great chance to go over the off season moves by the Royals, I will get back to you all tomorrow. I do know this though, they have acquired Coco Crisp, Mike Jacobs, Kyle Farnsworth, Horacio Ramirez, and another middle reliever who I can not remember right now. They did give up a couple of good middle relievers in Leo Nunez and Ramon Ramirez to get some of these guys. Also, there are rumors that they are trying to land Rafael Furcal (and the A's have offered him 4 years, 40 mill), meaning that they Royals are starting to spend some Dough. Will it work? Check back tomorrow.

Fantasy Football Rant:
So I made the playoffs in my big money league. I was #1 in the power rankings, but due to a slight decrease in points, ended up with the 2 seed and playing #3. So, I'm going over my lineup and I think, "Hey, Jay Cutler has been great all year, has no running back and is playing an ok Carolina team while needing a win to clinch the division." On my bench I have Tyler Thigpen. You know what happened. Thigpen got 20 points, Cutler got 10 and I am up by 4 going into tonight's game, in which my opponent has Desean Jackson (please fumble 5 times for negative 6 yards) and David Akers, who I can only hope pulls a hammy.

Also, I start Anquan Boldin, one of the better pickups this year and he ends up getting me 1 point. Will Franklin for the Chiefs had more than that! I had Mushin Muhammad on the bench who atleast got 7 points. Then to top it all off, I play Portis against the Bungles who gets 7 points and gets passed over for Mike Sellers for 2 goal line carries who subsequently fumbles the ball and the 'Skins lose by 7. Why didn't they give the ball to Portis?!?!?!? Why!!?!??!

Back to reality, reactions from the weekend:
Arizona beat Gonzaga with Free Throws. I love free throws and I don't really think there is going to be an elite team in College Basketball this year. When Gonzaga has moved up to #4 and loses to a mediocre Arizona team, you know there is a lot of parity.

Kansas played like the young team they are and Sherron (as much of a baller as I think he is) cost them the game. He took way to many ill advised shots, including the one at the end of the game, and did not pass the ball like a true leader should. I think he will get there and when another scorer comes around (Mario Little, who is now practicing and about 70% per Coach Self) he will be a better player.

Until that time comes, they need to run the offense through Cole-nan the Barbarian. He put up another double double with 12 and 13, but only got a handful of shots in the second half, when KU was trailing. I know that UMass made him the focal point of their defense, but he has to get more touches. Not only is he bigger than everyone else, he is more agile than most big men and can pass as well as any big man KU has had in my memory. He makes free throws and trusts everyone around him to make plays. Right now, he is the MVP on the team hands down.

NFL stuff:
NO lost to Chicago, but I still think the Bears are on the outside looking in for the playoffs.

Atlanta beat Tampa in a really boring game that went to OT because Turner can run the ball and Ryan doesn't try to lose games. Tampa doesn't have a great offense, and when their opponents keep composure and don't let the Tampa defense take over, the Bucs are in trouble.

Cincy beat Washington, who is out of the playoff race, and the Bengals (courtesy of a tie, yes a tie) have a better record than my beloved Chiefs.

Speaking of the Chiefs, that was despicable. They played relatively well for about 57 minutes and fell apart. The Chargers won to stay alive in the West and may just sneak in if Denver loses next week.

Denver, meanwhile, lost badly to the Carolina Panthers 30-10. Denver, without a good running back, went on the road against a decent defense and laid down. Carolina may have a chance to go far in the playoffs, but not of they go against a defense that can stop the run. Denver was not close to a team that could stop the run, but next week the Giants can be that team.

The Giants, however, lost to the Cowboys who are now in the 5th spot for the NFC playoffs. TO and Witten both got the ball after last week's whine and cheese fest in Dallas about who was getting the ball. Tashard Choice has picked up the running game for Marion Barber, who has been hurt and the defense is sacking everyone while getting healthy in the secondary. I didn't think it could happen, but the Cowboys will probably make the playoffs.

Speaking of the playoffs, Minnesota took one step closer to winning their division by trouncing the playoff bound NFC West champs Arizona. T Jackson looked like a quarterback. Pretty wild if you ask me. You cant count out Minnesota as long as they have Adrian Peterson running the ball. He is good, really good.

Seattle beat St. Louis. The score is not important. Neither team matters until next week when...

The Jets will travel to Seattle as they make a dash for the finish line in the AFC East. They managed to pull out a win in Buffalo, when they shouldn't have. Bad play calling by the Bills (it wasn't a missed field goal this time) cost them the game and let the Jets take control of their own destiny.

Miami and New England both won easily over San Fran and Oakland respectively. I think that the Jets - Miami week 17 match up will determine the East winner.

The Colts beat the Lions, now 0-14. They are really bad. I feel sorry for Calvin Johnson, who has quietly put up a pretty good year (1165 yards and 10td's). If I was playing the Lions I would double him at all times and let the rest of the Lions try to beat me.

Despite the win the Colts can't catch the Titans, who lost to the Texans in an AFC south matchup. I think Andre Johnson took it personally that I called Walter the best receiver on the team. He had 11 catches for 207 and a TD. Great day for a great receiver.

The other AFC south team, the Jax Jags beat a hapless Pakcers team making both teams 5-9. What happened to the Packers?? Really? I think their defense just stopped playing and their offense followed suit.

The only other game of the day was Pitt - Bal in which Big Ben threw a touchdown pass on 3rd down inside the 10 of Baltimore. It was a hotly contested call, but I think that the ball crossed the plane. If you looked closely, right when Holmes caught the ball, the ball was over the goal line. Then it came out. Really close play and Pittsburgh just finds ways to win. Its wild.

Ok, I'm sure you all are tired and I will get back to you tomorrow. Take it easy and keep up with the comments. Until next time....

DDSF

Keepin it real!

2008-12-09T08:24:00.000-08:00

So thanks for the comments. Got one on the blog and one via email. Good start.

When everyone knows exactly how insightful, inspiring and absolutely absurdly awesome this blog is, I expect that number to increase dramatically.

Unfortunately, this column has to be short due to the fact that i have to go to my real job of pushing pills and keeping the docs in check.

First of all, I have to respond to the comment about the Big XII and the Great Lakes Conference. The GLC will not have a dispute for the conference crown because they don't have a playoff system in place yet. They still have the unbalanced schedule, as does the Big XII, but because the conference does not have at least 12 teams, they do not have a championship game. I think that if they did there would eventually be turmoil. It is bound to happen. Ohio State gets more pub than any other team save for Notre Dame (see Who's Beeper) and would already have a leg up on the competition because of hype and therefore rankings. Even if they do have a freshman quaterback starting who is know more for running than for passing and their heisman trophy candidate at running back was hurt for a good portion of the year. How can that team be in the Top 10?

As far as the Big XII is concerned, I think that it is a joke. As "Allen" so astutely pointed out Texas is not allowed to play in the championship game for the conference and the team that beat them out for that right lost to them on a neutral field. Imagine if that game had been played in late November instead of early October. That would have changed things drastically.

Side Note:
This is something else that grinds my gears about college football.
Everyone seems to forget about the body of work when voting. I know that bowls want teams that are hot to represent them, but forgetting that Texas beat OU head to head on a neutral field is ridiculous.

I think that Florida this time in the Championship game is what should happen. They beat the Number 1 team in the nation and come from a pretty good conference in the SEC. I really can't argue now with the choice of Oklahoma in the BCS championship because they won the Big XII. Probably they best conference in America with three teams ranked in the Top 7. Its still a crime that Texas did not get a chance to play for the National Championship like Oklahoma.

And, why not put Texas against Alabama in a bowl game instead of against Ohio State. Bowl alliances be darned, that would have been a better game. Texas will take care of the buckeyes, you heard it here first. It's all about the dollars when it comes to the BCS, (the games are on Fox, which is number 3 of 4 on my list of national stations to watch sports on) and they is the reason we will not have a playoff anytime soon.

Again on the BCS, I think the best teams in the nation should be represented in the BCS. If that is the case, Texas Tech should definitely be in and OSU should be out. Simple rankings based on a body of work. Tech is ranked higher than OSU across the board.

Based on that here is a list of my BCS bowl games, ideally and accepting the championship game.
Championship: Flo'rida vs. The Boomer Sooners
Sugar Bowl: 'Bama vs. Texas
Orange Bowl: Va Tech vs. Cincy (because no one really cares about either team anyway)
Rose Bowl: The Joe Paternos vs. The Petey Carolls (I think this is a really good game, but am afraid that USC will blow Penn State out of the water on the West Coast)
Fiesta Bowl: Utah vs. Texas Tech

*** Warning: Completely off the subject ***
Song of the Day: Three Cheers for Five Years, By Mayday Parade (awesome band, no pub - until now atleast - holla')

One more quick rant. Oklahoma plays the song Boomer Sooner too much. Its mind numbing. I can't understand how the members of the marching band do not blow their brains out from playing that song so much. Let me take you through a typical OU possession.

Kickoff return for 29 yard to the 34 yard line.

Play Boomer Sooner.

Run on first down for 6 yards.

Play Boomer Sooner.

Play Action pass on second and 4 for a gain of 23 yards to the opponent 37 yard line.

Play Boomer Sooner twice because the refs have to move the chains.

Pause.

Play Boomer Sooner again because no one in the band knows any other song.

First down.

Play Boomer Sooner

Second down.

Play Boomer Sooner. (If this is a road game for OU one of the other team's fans are escorted after an attempt to assault one of the trombone players with their own instrument)

Third down resulting in a touchdown!!!!

Play Boomer Sooner twice.

Extra Point, good.

Play Boomer Sooner three more times because none of the marching band members were in the band in high school where they would have learned 16 different songs for fillers at football games.

My new conspiracy theory is that everyone on the OU sideline has a chip planted into their head so they do not hear Boomer Sooner. Then when the band plays it all game, they do not go insane and their opponents do. Leading to turnovers, penalties and overall terribleness.

The reason Texas was able to win was because they trained their marching band to drown out the OU band and also because I heard Colt Mccoy wears Chuck Norris Pajamas.

Thanks for continuing to read and stay tuned as I get to my other request, the KC Dayton Moore's (I mean Royals) offseason moves.
If you're lucky, you'll get a breakdown of the NFL to come as well!

Who's Beeper Keep Beepin' and Beepin'

2008-12-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

I would like to try something new to hopefully get some input from those of you following the blog. Let's try to make this the most interactive post yet. Today is rant day and rant day is where I sound off on items that, as Peter Griffin would put it, "really grinds my gears". Let me know what grinds your gears and if I'm grinding yours.

The BCS
Most of you already know where I stand on this topic. I think it's dumb and let me tell you why. First of all, rankings are determined in the pre-season regardless of any performance.
This year West Virginia, Auburn, LSU, and Clemson were all ranked in the Top 10.

Of those 4, only West Virginia received votes in the latest poll. They didn't even make the Top 25.

Why does this even matter. Especially early in the year many of the voters find it hard to move a team down in the rankings after a win. This allows teams like the four I mentioned to stay up in the rankings for a while. Then those teams lose to good or average teams who get the benefit of beating a "Top 25" team for later in the year. This improves the BCS standings of a team so they move up higher.

But that is a minor topic compared to the bigger issue of needing a playoff. This year there are atleast 5 teams (probably closer to 8) deserving to at least have a chance of reaching the national championship game. Oklahoma and Texas is the biggest issue. Texas, even though they beat Oklahoma on a neutral field and only lost to a top 10 team on the road, lost out on a chance to play in the Big XII championship because of the BCS standings.

Because of the limited number of games and large variations in the strength of conferences, there should be a playoff. If a team is more likely to go undefeated by playing cupcakes in before conference play, why shouldn't they.

I can't think of a college football fan that would not LOVE to see a playoff. Imagine having USC, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Penn State and a wild card like Utah in an 8 team playoff to determine national champion. You could still have the other bowl games mixed in during the weekdays around those rounds. That would be awesome.

If Texas and say Alabama play in a BCS game (assuming they are #3 and #4 behind OU and Florida) what would happen if Texas blows them away and Florida squeaks by Alabama in the SEC championship and OU in the National Championship? There could be a lot of arguing they should be #1. And it could happen, while the coaches have to vote with the BCS for #1, the AP poll does not. I almost hope that happens just so the folks at the BCS get put on the spot and has to come up with a lame excuse.

Notre Dame
They are on the TV all the time, even when they are bad. You don't see the any of the Big XII North teams getting lots of press for losing.
Notre Dame just finished 6-6 this year, kept their coach and still has a contract with NBC to show all of their games. I'm not blaming Notre Dame for this. Any school would take a contract from a major television partner. I just think the media pumps this school into our heads all the time a large portion of the public does not care.
I think at this point in time more people would like to hear stories about Ball State or Utah than Notre Dame. Utah will likely go to a BCS bowl game and both teams finished the regular season undefeated (as did Boise State). This just adds to my frustration with College football as a whole. Some one needs to step in and make it matter. (See: Playoff!)

***New Feature in this Post***
Song of the Day: just a way to let everyone know what I am listening to, or give a shout out to bands/artists that I think are great and need more pub. And, yes, I realize less than 10 people currently read this blog, but maybe, just maybe, one day this will be huge and everyone in America will read this. You can't blame me for trying.

Today's Song of the Day: "Live your Life" by T.I.

Former Athletes/Coaches who are Color Analysts on Broadcasts
This is one thing that drives me absolutely berserk. I understand that many players love the game so much that they pursue careers in broadcasting after their playing days are over. However, just because these guys played the game and may or may not have been a great player, does not mean they know how to pass on their insight into the game on to the general public.
Statements like, "To win the game you need to score more points than the other team" does not help. I think that 99.9% of the people tuning to watch the game realize that. If you had told me that same quote followed by something like, "and this team has struggled on offense this year" maybe I could actually think you were getting paid for something other than filling the air with nonsense, sitting in a luxury box and wearing a shirt that you think is a dress shirt that any normal sized man would think is a beach shirt. I will write down quotes from announcers (football announcers are the worst) that drive me up a wall as a fan. Stay tuned for that.

The Big 10 (I mean 11, I mean 10, but we have 11 teams)
What is that? Some body actually got paid to come up with a logo for the Big Ten conference that they magically squeezed the #11 into.
Change your name.
Start a new tradition.
This is the conference's chance to be creative.

List #6
Suggestions for new names for the Big Ten:
1. The Great Lakes Conference (courtesy of Mark, my twin brother, who unfortunately is a Kansas State fan)
2. The Boring Basketball Conference
3. Mid East Eleven Conference
4. MIMOMPINIP (Mich, Iowa, Minn, OSU, Mich St, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Illinois, Penn State) This one is multi functional in the fact that you can change out letters!

IMMONMIPPI
PIPINIMOMM

This is my personal favorite, you can throw a conference or something on the start or end too.

The MIMOMPINIP conference championship!

5. North Central United States Conference
6. The North Huron/Erie Windy League
7. The North Plains Championship Conference

I know I have more rants, but I have no more time. I will have to continue this discussion later. Comment Please. It adds to the humor and overall awesomeness of the column.

DDSF

PS. We need to come up with a cool name for the Mrs. I think that Mrs. DDSF is not cool enough. Sports Guy has the Sports Gal and Dr. Z had the flaming Redhead. Help with this one please!

Weekend Update

2008-12-01T10:51:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone out there had a good thanksgiving with lots of food, television and family (all things I am thankful for). Now back to the sports world.

There was a ton of stuff that happened over the holiday. NFL, college football and even college basketball had eye opening games.

The first thing I would like to talk about is the BCS and college football. I am shaking my head right now writing this because I can not believe that Oklahoma is going to the Big XII championship game over Texas. I am by no means a Texas fan, but the fact that Oklahoma managed to jump over a team that won 49-9 over a conference rival is beyond me.

The argument remains that the computers never lie and have no bias. I disagree. The computer programs are made by some nerdy guys who either have a degree in astrophysics or another form of mathematics, or have just been making their own, subjective ranking system for 20 some years and have didn't even go to college (seriously, I'm not making this up).

List #4
The facts about Texas and Oklahoma - The Battle for the South
1. Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field 45 - 35. Say what you will about Dallas, its still neutral.
2. Texas and Oklahoma both beat Oklahoma State. Texas won when OSU was #6 28-24 in Austin. Oklahoma won in Stillwater when OSU was # 12 61-41.
3. Texas lost to Texas Tech 39-33 in the last minute in Lubbock. Oklahoma beat Tech in Norman, 65-21.
4. Texas beat a Missouri team ranked #12 56-31. Oklahoma beat a #16 Kansas team (no longer ranked) in Norman 45-31.
5. Texas also beat Kansas 35-7 in Lawrence.
6. Oklahoma beat TCU 35-10 in Norman.

7. Texas beat Oklahoma ON A NEUTRAL FIELD.

It does not matter to me if you compare the schedules and outcomes of the other games when comparing the two teams. What matters is that one team lost to the other. Oklahoma lost to Texas. Texas should go to the Big XII championship. End of story.

While we are on the topic of Oklahoma, Sam Bradford (assuming he doesn't tank in Kansas City this weekend) should win the heisman. He is on a team that is most likely headed to the National Championship game and has put up huge numbers (46 td passes - almost 4 a game- and lead a team to average over 53 points a game).

Now what matters to me the most was the Border War in Kansas City this past weekend. Kansas vs. Missouri in a game that didn't mean as much as it did last year. Kansas won 37-40. The Jayhawks got an inspired effort from Todd Ressing and Kerry Meier again, but the player that impressed me the most was Darrell Stuckey.

Stuckey is a Junior Safety from the Kansas City area, who has been KU's best defensive player all year long. He came up with 2 interceptions off the former heisman candidate Chase Daniel and also stripped Daniel after a 50 plus yard run. What I liked about the way he played, was that you could tell he knew exactly what he was going to do in the biggest plays of the game.

On the run by Daniel, Stuckey was chasing him down the center of the field trying to get into position for a tackle. Daniel tried to protect the ball somewhat and Stuckey reacted by getting into the perfect spot to swat the ball out at the perfect time. Daniel had just started slowing down as the defense converged on him, apparently getting ready for a slide or big hit. Instead Stuckey read this and immediately hacked the ball from Daniel's grasp and pounced on the fumble. A great play and much needed against a team with a lot more firepower in Missouri. He really just wanted it more than the Tigers on Saturday.

Reesing, 37 fo 51 for 375 yards 4 td's and 2 int's, and Meier, 14 catches for 106 yards and 2 td's (both in the last 5 minutes of the game), were huge for Kansas as well. Reesing showed that he can sling it many different ways, from bullets to floaters and short passes as well as down the field. Meier played with a hurt hammy, looked like an old man running on the field, but found ways to get open when it counted and come through with hands as soft as the microfleece blankets many of the fans were wearing; translation: it was cold and he still caught the ball, a very hard thing to do because the pigskin has turned in to a rock and less circulation to the hands means less feeling.

Lost in the mix of these three studs of the game was Desmond Briscoe, who broke the record for most receiving yards in a season for a KU player. He came up with 9 catches for 115 yards and a td and made the play of the game, athletically anyway, by grabbing a ball out of the air on the sideline with one hand that he and everyone else on the field had no business catching. Not only was he a huge part of the passing attack, but he woke up the Kick return unit that was abysmal all year long. Kick returns were supposed to be one of the strong points of the team with all Big XII return man of the year Marcus Herford back. That never happened as KU consistently had one of the worst units in the nation. Briscoe had 7 returns for a 27.9 yard average, and set up the Jayhawks with great field position late in the game taking a return back to the 50.

Other observations about the team:
Rojas is not a good punter, I don't care if he got a couple balls inside the 20, I think Kerry Meier could have done just as good of a job with no rush.
Jake Sharp needs to get some better play calls to be effective. He was great too, gutting out that game with a flak jacket (usually only used by QB's due to decreased mobility, but increased padding around the mid section) to protect his bruised/broken ribs.
Marcus Herford picked a perfect time to come up with his first catch of the year. His 31 yard grab down the sideline with Briscoe out was a huge lift for the team because it could have easily been dropped and it put KU in the red zone.

Other college football news included Cincinnati (they have a football team) winning the Big East and clinching a BCS berth, Virginia Tech and Boston college locking up spots in the ACC title game (what happened to Miami and FSU?) and Oregon State choking in an attempt to lock up the Pac 10 title against Oregon (they lost 65-38, yikes).

The NFL
Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg accidentally in a night club with a gun that was not registered.

Really? You really did that to yourself? If it wasn't such a sad thing that he hurt himself and should go to jail, imagine his buddies laughing at him.
"You shot yourself??!?! Dude, you are an idiot! What is wrong with you? Don't you know that you should point the end with the whole away from you? HA!"

On top of all of that, the Giants are 11-1 and have found plenty of replacements for Burress. I doubt this will affect them, but Kevin Boss is hurt and he was a pretty big part of their run last year. The G-men already have more wins than they did last year as Super Bowl Champs, have almost as good of a defense (without Strahan and Osi U) and got a big road win by beating the Cardinals (imagine that happening in any of the last 10 years without laughing).

The NFC South is the best division in football, not the NFC East, with every team at least .500 and right now have two teams that are in the wild card spots for the playoffs.

Denver won the AFC West and San Diego is only 1 game ahead of the Raiders, who lost the Chiefs... at home... after beating Denver... in Denver... Go figure. Denver has the same division record as the 2-10 Chiefs.

Minnesota will win the NFC North.

The Colts won against the Browns, who lost their second quarterback for the year, and did not score an offensive touchdown.

Jacksonville and Houston play on Monday night to see who will give up thinking they can make the playoffs first.

College Basketball:
KU won over Coppin State
List #5
Observations from the game:
1. Morningstar made open shots. This could be huge later in the year when it really matters. I liked it.
2. Sherron and Cole are super heroes.
3. The second half defense was bad. I did not like this.
4. Taylor still shows a lot of promise and will be a great player for KU.

Other news from college basketball. A Top 5 Big East team got beat at home by a team who's mascot is a giant red blob.
That's right the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Red Blobs) beat Louisville who was ranked #3 in the country. The Big East will choke down the stretch this year.

Tennessee met Gonzaga in the finals of a nonconference tourney in a matchup of top 15 teams and the Zags won. Good start for them.

Thats all for. Stay Tuned for Rant Day tomorrow or Wednesday!

DDSF

David Letterman, the spawn of a golden nugget and a tale of youth inexperience and free throws

2008-11-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

First of all, I will most likely not give an update for the week after today, so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. You should get plenty of sleep with all the terrible football on Thursday.
Texas - A&M, Det - Tennessee, Seattle - Dallas, and Philly - Cardinals (which only a handful of people get to watch due to the fact that not many people want to go to a bar on Thanksgiving night and even fewer people have the surprisingly legal NFL network).

Congratulations are in order for David Letterman's Alma Mater, the Ball State Cardinals. They finished the regular season undefeated. Albeit in the MAC, it is still quite an achievement. It's too bad the likes of Utah and the Bright Blues at Boise state are undefeated too. It would have been fun to watch the Cardinals in a big Bowl game. 12-0, way to go.

Speaking of zeros on a stat sheet, did you hear about Stephen Curry? The offspring of former Denver Nugget sharpshooter, Dell, was held scoreless last night after coming into the game averaging 35 points per game. I was initially amazed when I saw the stat, then I saw highlights of the game. The other team, who ended up losing by 30, double teamed Mr. Curry without the ball! That means they were consistently playing 3 on 4. What a ballsy move and what a silly decision. We will continue to follow this story throughout the year.

The KU game last night. Syracuse 89- KU 81, OT.
The Hawks played great in the first half with Sherron, Tyshawn Taylor (a great surprise) and Cole-nan the Barbarian dominated the first half for the Jayhawks.
Even Brady Morningstar made the highlight reel with a huge swat and three clutch free throws just before half after inexplicably getting fouled on a 3 from the corner.

The second half started out about the same, then KU turned the ball over about 4 times in a row to have a lead of 10 cut to 2 in a split second. The teams traded baskets, KU missed free throws (not just a couple, they missed 9 of 13 over a stretch in the second half, all too familiar against this foe) and eventually The Orange found a way back and won it in overtime.

I'm not that upset the Jayhawks lost, just more upset that Syracuse won. They didn't deserve it.

Today to break down the game, lets focus on the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The Good:

The Play of the freshmen, (Especially Tyshawn and the Twins)

We saw some good decision making and scoring by TT (he was single handedly beating 'Cuse after about 10 minutes 11-10)
A variety of pluses from the two-headed Morris Monster (3 pointers, rebounds, passing - Marcus lead the team in assists with 6).
The team will continue to rely on these players, and in order for the team to succeed, they will have to perform

Cole's first half, Sherron's first 35 minutes

Cole was an animal, all over the place in the first half. The team kind of went away from him in the second half, but he still managed to get a double double.
Sherron played really good for most of the game carrying the team when they needed him the most. He hit a ton of clutch shots to give us the lead or stop a run. He will be a great pro soon.

Bobby Knight

After listening to Dickie V plug just about every east coast school as well as the 'Cuse guards all game long - that Harris kid is good, but I'm not that impressed with anyone else, KU was sloppy- I am more aware of the fact that I like the O'Reily Auto Parts-sweater-wearing former coach. He's just enjoyable

The Bad:

Turnovers (not the tasty apple kind either)

After only having 10 as a team against Washington, KU had 17. Not terrible, I will probably kill for 17 turnovers later in the year from this team, but all the turnovers came at inopportune times. Syracuse made quite a run after Sherron turned it over a couple times in a row.
On that note, the guards turned the ball over 13 times compared to 3 in the last game.
Syracuse only turned it over 14 times for the game.

Sherron's last 5 minutes

He tried to do too much. I understand that he doesn't trust the young guys yet, but he needs to. The team last year relied on each other to hit the open shot and won with it. Sherron tried to hit every shot himself and it didn't go as well as planned
I have decided to call Sherron Mighty Mouse. Imagine sticking a cape and big ears on that guy. Does he not look exactly like Mighty Mouse?!?!? Plus we need another super hero with Cole-nan the Barbarian.

Uncanny!

You can't convince me I'm wrong. Impossible.

The Ugly:

Syracuse Uni's

The Nike uniforms that are form fitting look like they should be made for some guy trying to impress girls at the gym. Hold on a thought is formulating. Wait for it... Wait for it..... Wait for it..........
So good marketing ploy; I want one of those uniforms. Just not an Orange one. Impressing girls is cool. Still ugly, they would just impress girls
Devendorf is the ugliest. His tattoos, his haircut, and I could be a lot meaner. He was trying to talk trash to Tyshawn, who totally out played him all game. As a freshman. Now that's ugly.

Free Throw Shooting

Yeah, it started good and ended terribly. After starting 5 for 5, Kansas went 6 for 15 to finish regulation. Awful. You can't blame it on one player either, it was a team effort.

That's what I got for the game. Kind of disappointing, but not too far from expected. This is a young team that has to learn how to handle pressure and how to be clutch. They have to learn how to close the door on teams (a trademark of every Bill Self team, save the one that won it all).

See you all on the flip side,
DDSF

The first KU Game

2008-11-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

Love, Love, Love Kansas Basketball. Can't get enough of it. This post will be about KU's most recent game, their first real test of the year, against Washington.

Washington is not a great team, but they do have a potential all-american in John Brockman. It was an interesting matchup, especially with the youth and inexperience of KU.

The final was 73-54. Jayhawks win without a lot of trouble, except for on the boards. It's always easier to talk about your team after a win.

It's like facing a girl that you just asked out who said yes. It makes things way less awkward. On top of that, it means this girl does not think you are too bad of a looker, which is so not true....

Back to the game.

List #3

First Impressions from the Jayhawks basketball team after their first real test. A six pack on Tuesday Morning.

1. Sherron Collins is a stud.

He is going to lead this team and has already decided that. He has a sweet stroke, knows where to be on offense and defense, and is having fun doing it. The smirk on his face after he made his third shot (out of three attempts) of the game says that loud and clear. Plus, Billy Self trusts him to lead the team. He will be first team all-conference no doubt.

2. Cole Aldrich is ready for the NBA.

The way he controlled the paint all game long was just amazing. Not just the blocks that he had, but the way he altered shots and got Morris Twin #1 and Twin #2 going was great.

KU allowed 17 first half offensive rebounds and was up by 10. I dont think that will ever happen again in my life time. The reason they were able to do this is because they had Cole altering every shot.

He is a true center, not a power forward playing center (i.e. Nick Collison, who should be making more money for doing so in the NBA. There is no way he should be playing center, he barely played it in college. I wonder what he could do on a team that played him as that energy guy off the bench who relieves the star power forward. Put him behind a Rasheed, Timmy Duncan or Carlos Boozer and he would be the X factor in the playoffs. Or, put him in Mike D'Antoni's offense and be amazed at the speed.) and has already learned how to do whatever he can to help the team.

He rebounds, blocks shots, scores from all over the floor (he won me money in Vegas last year with that 16 foot goofy looking jumper; SWISH!) and even makes incredible passes to whoever is open. Would be atleast a first rounder after this year and will be a lottery pick if he stays another year.

3. The guard play (other than Sherron) is better than expected.

I was really excited to see Tyrel Reed play and start this year, only to be disappointed to see Brady Morningstar. After watching the game last night, I am totally for Brady. He does the little things and makes it happen. He runs the floor, plays defense (I might be worried later in the year when he plays quicker, better guards) boxes out well (best block out of the game as called by Bobby Knight) and is experienced (He's a red-shirt sophmore who went to prep school first. He's been around for a while).

Tyshawn Taylor is a great athlete and if he learns to control himself on offense, he could be a great compliment to the machine that is Sherron.

Throw in Tyrel Reed's defense and intelligence off the bench as well as Mario Little when he gets healthy (in the mold of Brandon Rush and a JUCO player who was preaseason newcomer of the year in the Big XII) the guard play could be pretty good.

4. The post play is questionable other than Cole-nan the Barbarian.

The Morris twins are going to be pretty good, but I think may have some attitude problems. Both of them got into the faces of the Washington players and could have showed more hustle and made better decisions with the ball.

There is no doubt these guys have talent as evidenced by the rebounds (15 by Twin #1 in the opener) and the ability to score (fade away jumpers and post moves that I didnt think was possible), but I would bet money they will get frustrated by not getting calls in league play, respond by making a dumb foul and seriously hurt this team by taking themselves out of the game.

If we are able to later in the season, look for the team to throw in a smaller line up with a Mario Little playing the 4. That will be danger for other teams with the offensive fire power it posseses, but will not work against BIG teams.

Stay tuned.

5. If Bobby Knight continues to announce KU games instead of Fran Fraschilla-Vanilla-Manilla, ratings will skyrocket.

Did you listen to Bobby Knight? He was great. Insightful, smart (not just former coach knowledgable, but former great coach knowledgable) and personable. When he's not pissed about his team losing, BK whopper is a pretty personable guy.

I will say he did get a little lovey dovey with Cole Aldrich, but I think everyone this year will. Atleast he wasn't comparing him to Psycho T in UNC or some center who's not as good.

Bobby Knight is my favorite color analyst right now. Gus Johnson is still my favorite announcer period, but he's lead. I think I have a man crush on GJ's voice. MMMMMmmmm.... Gus Johnson.

6. KU will compete. Let the excitement begin (atleast until tomorrow - hope we beat the Orange)

They can play defense, even when they can't rebound. They have a two headed monster in Sherron and Cole-nan. They will only get better this year, adding players and gaining experience as the year goes on.

Bill Self is a great coach. It's early, but he got his point of defense across already and gave the team a leader -Sherron- that is more than capable.

There's my take on the game, but just as a treat here are some stats that I liked from last night.

Team Turnovers: 10
Turnovers by Guards: 3
Meaning: The guys who should take care of the ball are taking care of the ball

Connor Teahan's stat line: 1 minute, 1 steal, 1-1 FG, 3 points and no turnovers.
Meaning: High School Musical is a fan favorite and helps the team morale when he is on.

Morris Twin's Stats
Good: 40 minutes, 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 offensive, 3 blocks, and 1 assist
Bad: 8 personal fouls, 5 Turnovers
Meaning: Good and Bad all at the same time. They're freshman, but will be heavily relied upon this year, and need to grow up.

Peace out, see you tomorrow
DDSF

Weekend Review

2008-11-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

I know that I just hit on College Basketball last week, and I will give you the much anticipated explanation about List #2 (see College Basketball: Nostradamus Style), but first I must comment on the sports over the weekend.

College Football.
Lets just say its interesting. No conference really belongs in the BCS championship game other than the BigXII and the SEC. But here's the kicker, which teams belong in the game. Texas Tech could have made it's case by beating Oklahoma, but didn't. We still have a big game left (Bedlam! OU vs. OSU) so that will be determined later. There is no use getting all excited right now because there is still football to play. Plus, what happens if Mizzou wins the Big XII title game? Then who gets in? Too many questions, with no answers right now.
One question with a solid answer is that whoever wins the SEC title game should play for the National Championship. This is kind of sad if Florida wins because they have only one loss, but so would Alabama. Alabama's loss is to a top 5 team and Florida lost to an Eli Manning-less Ole Miss team.

Graham Harrell lost his heisman chances. Sam Bradford may have won it. If he plays like that again against OSU and in the conference championship game, he wins. Period.

NFL:
Just my thoughts from each of the games over the weekend.
Chiefs 31 - Bills 54 : Bills are pretty good, but the chiefs should not give up 50+ to Trent Edwards. No team should. The Chiefs have been decimated on Defense, but still Trent Edwards. Seriously. Atleast Tony G is happy with 100+ recieving yards and a TD. First Ballot Hall of Famer. I don't have a say, but it will still happen. He's a stud.
Phi 7 - Bal 36 : If Baltimore's defense can keep playing this way in the playoffs, can Joe Flacco lead them to the playoffs? I don't think so, not without a sure fire #1 running back. Too much pressure on a rookie quarterback. Willis has been hurt off and on all year and Ray Rice and Leron McClain just can't do it. On another note, Philly has found a new starting quarterback and Donovan McNabb is headed to Minnesota this offseason. Let's just hope he's not another Daunte Culpepper.
Hou 16 - Cle 6: Brady Quinn = bad against average defense. If they were anywhere close to playoff contention fans would be screaming for Derek Anderson (he made the Pro Bowl last year for crying out loud). With Houston, while Kevin Walter may not get the pub of Andre Johnson, he may be Sage Rosenfelds (and the team's) best reciever right now. 7 TD's on the year compared to Johnson's 3. Over the last 3 games, he's averaging more yards per game and has 2 TD's compared to Johnson's zero.
TB 38 - Det 20: Detroit is bad, but how good is Tampa Bay. They have an aging team at the skill positions, (Jeff Garcia 38, Ike Hilliard 32, Warrick Dunn 33) but keep winning. Will that continue in the playoffs or will injuries play a role down the strech.
Chi 27 -StL 3: Matt Forte is an excellent pickup for the bears who needed a back to be consistent when mixed with the ever inconsistent quarterback play. Trent Green is still playing, but has not been the same since his concussion with KC. Too bad, because he is a great guy and someone that could be a great role model for kids.
NYJ 34 -Ten 13: Titans lose and LenDale White is not happy. The Jets look good and it starts with defense. Brett Favre was a great pickup, especially for the price, but so was Kris Jenkins in the middle of that defensive line. The J-E-T-S young corners are playing great as well. Let's see what happens the rest of the year. Favre still has time to screw it up or get hurt. Then it's up to Kellen Clemens. Yikes
NE 48 -Mia 28: Matt Cassel is good and Randy Moss is too, even if he is lazy. Miami has done a great job of turning the ship around, but doent have the horses to compete in the AFC East.
Min 30 - Jac 12: What happened to Jacksonville? They were supposed to compete in the South. Minnesota has a defense and if they get McNabb next year, look out, they could be great!
SF 22 - Dal 35: I still dont think that Dallas is that good, and will miss the playoffs (sorry Boy's Fans). However, they did get another win AND made TO happy. Roy Williams: 3 catches, 36 yards. Was he worth it? SF will find out more when they get a real QB and a permanent (atleast to start next year) head coach.
Oak 31 - Den 10: Oakland is starting to get better, but Denver played awful and Cutler was too busy arguing penalty calls to be in the game mentally. The Broncos still leads the division by 2 games over struggling San Diego, so I still give them the edge to win it. Can JaMarcus Russel be considered a good draft pick if it takes him 3 years to develop in to a starting QB on the professional level?
Atl 45 - Car 28: Matty Ice is a stud, so is Michael Turner who had 4 rushing TD's. Carolina's D needs to be better if they want to make the playoffs, or advance in them.
NYG 37 - Ari 29: Arizona played tough, but the G-Men are too good this year. They didn't even have Brandon Jacobs in and they still controlled the game in the Desert. Kurt Warner is no longer and MVP candidate in my book. 1 int and 1 fumble lost in what may have been the biggest game of the year. He's still better than anyone expected this year.
Was 20 - Sea 17: The Seahawks made it a game, but the 'Skins are destined to make the playoffs this year. Clinton Portis may not practice at all during the week, but will still produce come game time. If you're a Washington fan, a road win is a road win and you can't ask for anything more.
Ind 23 - SD 20: I think that if San Diego had Shawne Merriman, they would be a different team. They just don't have the intensity that they need to be a consistent winner. I also think that LT doesn't have the intensity either, but I'm sure its hard to when you have to carry a team. They can't get Gates the ball like they should and Vincent Jackson, Chris Chambers and Malcolm Floyd don't exactly strike fear into oppposing secondaries hearts.

So now onto the explanation of List #2. This is too much fun for me so I ramble and run out of time. I'm sure you're all pretty bored by now, but college basketball starts tonight (Thanksgiving week rocks for college hoops) and I need to get a jump on the year.
1. Kansas will not repeat as National Champion, but will make it interesting for the Big 12 title.
Kansas loses too much skill experience and heart to repeat. You can't replace the likes of a defense tandem of Chalmers and Robinson along with the heart and quality depth that you had down low with Kaun, Jackson and Arthur. On the flip side of things, Bill Self is still a great coach and will get this team to compete in the Big XII. The team has leaders in Collins and Aldrich (who dominated POY Hansborough last year in the Final Four) and a lot of talent. If they win all their games against the North - doable in a weak division - and win their home games against the South, they would finish 13-3 in conference. I can't imagine the South teams doing that.
2. Tyler Hansborough will not win POY again. And its not because he is hurt right now.
Hansborough is good, but he is good because he tries harder than anyone else. As deep as NC is this year, he won't play as much and his ceiling in college has practically been reached. Plus, he's a target now meaning that he won't get as many touches and will get fouled a lot harder. As far as my pick for player of the year, I'll take Blake Griffin right now. He's averaged a double double last year and has a better supporting cast this year, meaning he can do even more.
3. The Big East will get a record number of teams in the tourney and disappoint.
I just dont see UConn or Louisville getting it done. In the past, teams that won it all were a superior team (team in every way - Kansas or Florida), or had multiple super stars (Gordon and Okafor). No one in the Big East impresses me that way. I think Pitt could pontentially win it all because they frustrate the hell out of everyone they play; if you get teams on a bad night when they are frustrated, you have a good chance of winning. And they play defense
4. More bubbles will burst from major conference teams than from mid major teams, more so if you look at years past.
I just think the amount of parity in college basketball is at an all time high. With one and done recruits sometimes leaving a team in shambles, the experienced mid majors (Drake, Davidson, and Belmont for starters) find a way to get in the tourney. Plus, the Missouri Valley is getting close to being considered a major conference in basketball. That will just help other mid majors find their groove and get in the tourney. I also think the major conferences just aren't as deep as they once were.
5. The NCAA tournament and Final Four will be a huge hit. Excitement. Upsets. And my personal favorite, no Billy Packer. Ha!
As I just said, parity. That and defense are the words of the day. The tourney will be one of the greatest we've seen in a while. I think that we may have another George Mason, or just a lot of mid majors making the sweet 16. Is this the year Gonzaga and Mark Few make the Final Four? Maybe. Plus, no one will be subjected to Billy Packer this year. I can not wait for the tourney just for that reason alone. He was inflammatory, a poor analyst, wrong and played favorites. I know it is hard to not play favorites, but if you are the color analyst for the Final Four, you should be able to maintain some perspective on both teams. Here's hoping to Clark Kellog can pull it off
While we're on announcers let me rant for a second. Dickie V plays favorites all the time. I know it gets him good pub, but its just annoying. I love the small amount of time that he is a fan of my team, but it is few and far between the times he is absolutely in love with UNC, Duke, Syracuse and the rest of the East Coast. He has so much excitement, which no one has yet to duplicate (I'm rooting for Gus Johnson, the only announcer I actually look forward to) but it doesn't matter because of how biased he is toward the East Coast.

6. I will place a bet in Vegas on a "sure thing" with regards to the tourney and will lose. I just suck like that.
Mrs. DDSF and I have plans to go to Vegas for the opening weekend of the tourney. We went for spring break one year and by accident got so lucky we showed up for St. Patty's day and the tourney. Probably some of the most fun I have had in a long time. Now, we are not poor students too, so I dont feel so bad laying down a couple bets on games.
We went before and she wanted to put money down on George Mason to beat UNC. I told her she was crazy. I was wrong. This time i will bet on something like that and eat my words for real. With all the upsets, I think Vegas will make out like bandits stealing from everyone!

7. Free throws will impact a game in March.
It did last year. It will this year and every year hereafter. Free throws should be easy, but pressure and lack of ability to perfect an artform (sounds really good doen't it, "artform") will cause someone to choke and miss at an inopportune time.

8. This year's non-conference slate will be the best in recent memory. UNC - Mich St., Memphis - Tenn, Oklahoma - Davidson, Preseason Tourneys, ACC - Big 11 Showdown, Big 12 - Pac-10 whatever its called with no publicity.
We will have more early season games that go down to the buzzer, or upsets (already Michigan over UCLA - who will not make a fourth straight final four) because of _______.

Did you fill in the blank yet?

How about now?

What if I gave you a hint? (see words of the day)

Still nothing?

Seriously?

PARITY! There is so much parity in college basketball now that upsets will happen all over the place. More and more underclassmen are going pro and leaving their major conference teams with younger, inexperienced players.

Just a reminder, the words of the day are defense and parity. Don't forget

9. CBS will try to pump the Big 11 (not the Big 10, if there are 11 teams you can not call yourself the Big 10; Ridiculous, just ridiculous - dont get me started) and fail miserably.
Michigan with their new coach, Indiana with Tom Crean, Michigan State is not that good and Purdue (status post comb-over extrordinaire Gene Keady) may win the conference. They play boring basketball (even if you are a purist and love defense, its boring; argument over, I win) and even though they have made the championship game 4 times since 2000 (only Mich St. 2000 team won) I think they are falling behind the other major conferences. Just wait, you'll see.

10. One Shining Moment will play when our next national champion wins it all.
Just after we have a commercial for the Masters! And no Billy Packer! The right prescription for a perfect March.

Tomorrow may hold a breakdown of the KU - Washington game. Stay Tuned.

DDSF

College Basketball: Nostradamus-Style

2008-11-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

So I promised some insightful, entertaining or otherwise inflammatory sports information and I am so excited about college basketball I had to start there. I have to start with college basketball because of everything that the sport brings to the table.

List #1
Reasons I Love College Basketball
1. The pure excitement, intricacies and intensity of the game.

Basketball mixes adrenaline, heart, non-stop action, offense, defense, protagonists (the mid-majors come tourney time), antagonists (Duke - enough said), coaches who wear fancy suits, coaches who wear body paint (Bruce Pearl... ewww), coaches who wear mock turtle necks (Huggy Bear), coaches who wear shirts with auto store logos on them (Bobby Knight), crowds with funny signs, crowds with creative chants, and teams who are eligible for post season play whose mascots are completely out of place (in this years tourney, a 15th seed in the East Regional: the Wofford Terriers!). Even though the NBA stole it, "I Love this game".

2. The fact that coaches can actually use the pregame speech "On any given day", and teams will listen and respond. Do you think the 1985 Villanova Wildcats should have won the NCAA tournament over an extremely talented team from Georgetown which featured one of the all time college greats in Patrick Ewing?
Still thinking?
Still?
NO!!!
There is no way that team should have won. They shot 70% and still almost lost. But, they shot 70% and won. If you dont think your team can win at college basketball you have to be kidding yourself. George Mason made it to the Final Four as an 11 seed with a center listed at 6'7" who went on to try out for the New York Football Giants. If you dont think your team can win at college basketball, you are crazy.

Unless you go to the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

3. The greatest postseason format that exists. Ok, so other than the "opening round" game that only pads the win column for schools who really stand no chance in the Tourney, the NCAA basketball championship is the greatest way to determine a champion. Its a combination of skill, luck, heart and free throw shooting that determine who wins.

A freshman can lead a team to success (Melo in '03, which hurts) or a team can be so laden with a large group of upper classmen that they know what each other are dreaming about just by identifying the hertz of their snoring patterns (I'll go with Maryland in '02, cause it sounds good ; If you dont like that perhaps one of those Duke teams in the 90's).

4. Allen Fieldhouse, the Dean Dome, Cameron Indoor, that place at Michigan State, the Carrier Dome, The Pit. The arenas are old-school keeping the tradition of great and not so great programs alive. They give teams an advantage that is unlike any pro sport (perhaps save Lambeau Field in snow) and add another dimension to the sport that is unlike anything else.

5. History. So, I will be the first to admit that I am a terrible historian, but college basketball started so long ago and has moments that cause more goose bumps than jumping into a 40-degree lake in just a speedo.
Jimmy V running on to the court after winning the national championship is one of those moments I will never forget even though I wasnt alive. And the speech that he gave at the 1993 ESPY awards is something that sends chills through me just thinking about it.
And that is just one coach! Not even a player of the sport.
Christian Lattener, Texas Western, UCLA times 11, Championship Overtimes, Oklahoma A&M 1945-1946 (yes its true), James Naismith (the inventor of the game) being the only coach at Kansas with a losing record, Indiana State vs. Michigan State (Bird vs. Magic), Phi Slamma Jamma, C-Webb's ill-advised time out.
Awesome. Totally Awesome.

6. Alma Maters. I dont care who you are you have to root for your alma mater. Especially if they are good and especially especially if they win it all. You can rub the fact that your alma mater is better than your coworkers', your uncles' and your friends' all the time. Everyone is a fan. You just have to know what buttons to push (insert devilish smile).

7. Walk-ons. I dont think that in any other sport are walk-ons more needed. Football has a ton of scholarships to offer and can field about 3 teams for each side of the ball. Plenty of bodies for practice. In basketball, if you lose 3 players to injury or grades, you are down to 10 players. 5 on 5 gets really hard then. Walk ons prepare the team each week for up coming opponents and can even make an impact in the long run. Christian Moody was a walk on for Kansas and ended up starting for a two time big 12 championship team. Plus, they get the biggest ovation of anyone at every game. They are just one of the students in the stands.

8. Rivalries. Kansas-Mizzou, UNC-Duke, and an innumerable amount more. Again, everyone is a fan and you just have to know the right buttons to push. Push the wrong ones on the wrong day and you might get punched in the face, but if you're waiting in line at the DMV, that's not such a bad thing cause at least the wait doesnt seem so long.

9. 35 second clock. Teams have to play defense and have time to run complex offenses or just run out the clock. Its boring sometimes, but it adds another dimension to the intellectual component of the game. Let's say that each team took the entire 35 seconds and nothing more each possession during an entire game. That equals about 35 possesions each half, or 70 a game. So if each team shoots 50% from the field and takes only 2 point shots, the score would be 35-35. Ridiculous. It could happen.

On the other hand, Texas Tech just scored 167 points in a game, so the shot clock can be completely disregarded.

10. Kansas Jayhawks. I had to. It's my team, and maybe if this blog takes off the 'Hawks will be the inspiration for a long, well-paid second career when I am done with pharmacy.

So now that I have totally over exerted myself and let my dogs Pongo and Perdita (yes, from 101 Dalmations even though they are beagles) sleep to their hearts content I should get to my predictions for the college basketball season. I will elaborate later. Just a teaser for now.

List #2
2008-2009 College Basketball Predictions

1. Kansas will not repeat as National Champion, but will make it interesting for the Big 12 title. Remember, they play 10 of 16 games against the North.

2. Tyler Hansborough will not win POY again. And its not because he is hurt right now.

3. The Big East will get a record number of teams in the tourney and disappoint. Unless its Pitt, in which case no one really cares anyway.

4. More bubbles will burst from major conference teams than from mid major teams, more so if you look at years past.

5. The NCAA tournament and Final Four will be a huge hit. Excitement. Upsets. And my personal favorite, no Billy Packer. Ha!

6. I will place a bet in Vegas on a "sure thing" with regards to the tourney and will lose. I just suck like that.

7. Free throws will impact a game in March.

8. This year's non-conference slate will be the best in recent memory. UNC - Mich St., Memphis - Tenn, Oklahoma - Davidson, Preseason Tourneys, ACC - Big 11 Showdown, Big 12 - Pac-10 whatever its called with no publicity.

9. CBS will try to pump the Big 11 (not the Big 10, if there are 11 teams you can not call yourself the Big 10; Ridiculous, just ridiculous - dont get me started) and fail miserably.

10. One Shining Moment will play when our next national champion wins it all. (I had to get atleast one right, ok)

Thanks for reading and keep up with the comments, emails, etc. We will have Laura, Mrs. DDSF, be a guest post soon for all the ladies out there.

PS. Football is coming soon. Fantasy, NFL, BCS. Get Extreme!

Inaugural Post

2008-11-21T12:35:00.001-08:00

Ladies, Gentlemen and everyone else,
Welcome to the Drug Dealing Sports Fan's opinionated, satirical and hopefully a little bit informative sports blog. This being the initial post, I should tell you a little bit about myself to let you know where I am coming from.

I grew up in the Kansas City area, rooting for the Chiefs, the Royals and the recently crowned National Champion Kansas Jayhawks. I just recently graduated from the University of Kansas (2007) and came away with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (aaahhhh... now you get the drug dealer part). I lived, breathed and died Kansas basketball and football (yes football for all you doubters out there) for all my 6 years of college.

I have seen the Chiefs go from good to bad to worse (see: Carl Peterson).

And I have seen the Royals have one good year(2003: 83-79), waste an innumerable amount of first round draft picks on projects with no hope, and dream of a time when I was only 2 when Los Royals behind the infamous George Brett won the I-70 Series. Kansas City is great sports town with a plethora of good major and minor college sports teams and a couple of pro teams with continued hopes for the future.

Back to who I am... I just completed a residency in Pharmacy Practice at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City (where I met Ricky, who put up with my random sports ramblings despite a lack of productive or coherent sentences due to too much work, coffee and an inability to find enough sleep). When I completed my residency and got married -oh yeah, I mentioned that right - to my beautiful, understanding, and Jayhawk-loving wife Laura, we moved to the Denver, Colorado for new careers and excitement.

With the move came cool new jobs, but also sports fans who root for the Broncos - Chiefs fans don't like Broncos except for the ones on their fantasy football teams and never John Elway - and Buff fans who are too busy getting high (by going into the mountains of course) and consider their football program one of the elite in college football *shrug*.

Needless to say, I am not getting the same sports fix with the teams I love, so I decided to blog about them. While I'm at it, I thought I'd blog about other sports that come up and excite me (mostly college basketball and the NFL). This is the intro, so no wonderful, prophetic or candy-flavored predictions with this post, but those are up soon! Hope everyone enjoys and please feel free to add comments, suggestions, tips, point out my errors, ask for pharmaceutical advice, suggest good recipies, give financial advice or just ramble on your own whenever you find it fit!

Thanks, DDSF (Drug Dealing Sports Fan)