2008. Yeah, it was that good.

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.

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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.
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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