Friday, October 30, 2009

Link Dump - 10/30/2009

  • Let's hope the Dawgs don't go down in flames like this O-lineman's joyride did. EDSBS 
  • It's not all balling, blinging and diamonds for former NBA draftees. Yahoo Sports 
  • JJ Reddick wants to be a rapper.  Let's take a look at a few more Athlete-turned-rapper types. Bleacher Report
  • Top 10 "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" fails. Epic Carnival 
  • Offseason Outlook for YOUR Atlanta Braves. MLB Trade Rumors 
  • SEC Basketball 2009-2010 Preview. Bleacher Report 
  • Mark McGwire's 5 tips for guaranteed hitting success. Club Seat Sports 
  • This just might be what our friend Mr. Dalin ends up doing this Sunday.  Bleacher Report 
  • Hopefully Warchant creator Gene "Dot Com" Williams doesn't find this Blog.  I'll post in it's entirety his well written article concerning Jimbo Fisher and FSU's future.

Whether it happens in a couple months or a little over a year from now, Jimbo Fisher will become Florida State's next head football coach in the not too distant future.

When the announcement is made, it will mark the end of an era at Florida State. That's because soon to be 80-year old head coach Bobby Bowden has been running the show in Tallahassee since 1976. During the past 24 years, the coaching legend has racked up well over 300 wins, created a football dynasty during the late 80's and 90's and led the 'Noles to two national championships.

Regardless of when the change occurs, Fisher will have the monumental task of taking over for one of the greatest coaches in college football history.




Gene Williams - Warchant.com

Fisher will likely take over as FSU's head football coach in 2010 or 2011.
Unlike most new head coaches, Fisher has had the unique opportunity to see his future program from the inside. In December of 2007, the 'Noles' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach was named "head coach in waiting" with a $5 million buyout to kick in if he isn't named the head coach by January of 2011.

Ever since the head coach in waiting plan was announced, fans and media have debated as to when the torch should officially be passed. But the question remains, when it is passed what kind of head coach will Fisher make?

While Fisher's resume coaching quarterbacks and coordinating offenses is impressive, he has never served as a head coach at the college level. As a result, many will be dubious of a rookie head coach's ability to run a major football program. While that may be a difficult transition for most first time coaches, Fisher has had the unique opportunity to work under two of college football's most successful coaches.

Fisher's first stint as an offensive coordinator at a major college took place at LSU from 2000-2004 under Nick Saban. During those five years, LSU's program reached new heights including a national championship in 2003. In 2007, he arrived at Florida State and has since had the opportunity to soak in vast knowledge and experience from Bobby Bowden.

So what head coaching traits has he been able to learn from two outstanding coaches with very different styles?

"First thing it shows you is that both styles are successful. That's the first thing you learn," Fisher told Warchant.com. "The biggest thing I learned from both of them is I have to be me. When that time comes I can't say 'well, coach Saban would have done that' or 'coach Bowden would have done that.' You reference it in your mind but you have to make that decision, you have to act upon yourself and trust on your own instincts. As much as anything from being around both of them, coach Bowden is coach Bowden and Nick is Nick, and they don't let people influence them one way or another. I think that's the greatest thing I can take from both of them."

In FSU's last game, the 44-year old coach gave a hint on how his style might differ from the 'Noles' current head coach.

After drawing a staggering 16 flags for 126 yards in the North Carolina game, Fisher didn't hesitate to call out the officiating and even referred to a couple questionable calls as "asinine". If they haven't already, those comments will likely result in some kind of sanction (most likely a warning) from the ACC office but his players see it in a totally different light.

"We know he is going to take shots for something like that, but it lets us know that he's got our back." wide receiver Bert Reed said. "You go out and give 100 percent and don't worry about the referees and he took care of it... I'm glad he handled that. It brings a smile to my face."

The perception that Fisher will put the team's best interest first should serve him well when he takes over the top spot. And his ability to effectively communicate with the players should also enhance his ability to lead.

"Just showing that he's really with you, 100 percent behind you and in it with you," Reed added. "When we lose he hurts and when we wins he feels good. I really feel like that's a big plus for Jimbo because he really communicates with the players well and that's going to be a big plus when it comes to him being a head coach."

In addition to a strong resume when it comes to developing quarterbacks, Fisher is a renowned recruiter. Just last year, he was primarily responsible for recruiting six of FSU's highest rated commitments including five-star cornerback Greg Reid, who he won in a vicious battle with Georgia and Alabama.

Jimbo Fisher Resume
Years
Title
Location
2010 or 11-
Head Coach
FSU
2007-Present
OC & QB Coach
FSU
2000-2006
OC & QB Coach
LSU
1999
OC & QB Coach
Cincinnati
1993-1998
QB Coach
Auburn
1988-1992
OC & QB Coach
Samford
Not surprisingly, most recruits are committing to Florida State with the knowledge that Fisher will be running the show some point during their college careers. One current player that kept that in mind before he signed with the Seminoles was quarterback E.J. Manuel.

The former Rivals100 member says he evaluated Fisher both as his future position coach and as a head coach. After developing a close relationship during the recruiting process, the former blue chip quarterback got a good vibe about Fisher's ability to run a major football program.

"When I was coming out I pretty much knew he was already one of the best quarterback coaches in the country," Manuel said. "Just by the relationship we had and the communication we had, I could tell that he had some great leadership qualities in him and that he would be an awesome head coach once that time came. I took that into account."

Being around Fisher on a nearly every day basis over the past year and a half, Manuel's opinion of his ability to take over the reigns has only been enhanced.

"He can just take charge. You look at coach Fisher and you can believe in him," Manuel noted. "Every time something bad happens in the game or things break down in a game, he'll call up the offense and you look at him as a leader. You know he's not going to put you in a bad position or tell you anything wrong to hurt you. You feel very confident playing for a coach like that."

When he does take his place in the big chair, Fisher won't have much time to get comfortable. Since he has already had a heavy hand in recruiting and in directing of the offense over the past few years, the fans and media will expect a quick turnaround. If not, the Bobby Bowden's shadow over the program could become pretty daunting for the young coach.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

A Cocktail Party Preview

"I'm going to go out there and play my heart out." -A.J. Green


Since I will begin the trip to J'ville in the next few hours (stopping in World Famous Statesboro, Ga tonight) I figured I would give a game preview for those that are going or those that are watching on the television.

Before we begin we must look at the history of this great rivalry that is known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”. Despite the wishes of The University of Georgia, the University of Florida, or the SEC, the name is a perfect description of what takes place during the final week of October each fall on the banks of the Saint Johns River. But where did the name get its start?


Bill Kastelz began working for the Florida Times-Union as a sports writer in 1947. While covering the annual Georgia-Florida match up in Jacksonville during the 50's, he witnessed an intoxicated fan offer a cocktail to another person just outside of the Gator Bowl. It was not shocking that the drunk fan would offer another person a drink, the interesting circumstance that Kastelz observed was the fact that the person being offered a cocktail was a uniformed police officer. Kastelz would go onto describe the scene as The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party and the name has withstood the test of time.

As we begin looking at this game one has to wonder if UGA has ever played Florida while Florida was the #1 ranked team in the country and the answer is yes. In 1985 UGA entered the game 6-1-1 losing to Alabama in the first week of the season and tying the Vanderbilt Commodores three weeks later. Florida entered the game ranked #1 and the Gators’ quarterback, Kerwin Bell, was considered a Heisman candidate.

The best thing about the game, besides the final score, was that Georgia dominated it from beginning to end. Despite Bell throwing for more than 400 yards, the Gators could only muster a field goal. The Dogs sacked Bell five times and Steve Boswell had a fumble recovery that ended a 91-yard Gators drive in the fourth quarter. When old-time Dawgs wistfully discuss the heyday of Georgia defenses, that’s what they’re talking about.

When looking at this years game the key question becomes can Georgia, with its 90th ranked passing defense, stop the Gators and their 80th ranked passing offense. The 80th passing offense is one spot behind Ohio University and three spots behind South Florida. Before any Dawg fan gets excited by that statistic they still must remember that this same UGA defense allowed Stephen Garcia of South Carolina, Ryan Mallett of Arkansas and Johnathan Crompton of Tennessee to throw for at least 300 yards already this season.While Mallett may make the better professional prospect, I think it is safe to say none of these quarterbacks are in the same class as Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow.

However, let’s compare UGA Quarterback Joe Cox's performance against the Razorbacks to Mr. Tebow's performance. Mr. Cox threw for a whopping 375 yards and five TDs against the 111th nationally ranked Arkansas pass defense. However, these results were a little bit different when that same Arkansas defense played the Florida Gators, the Gators threw for just 255 yards and one TD pass. Now you are asking yourself, what does all of this mean? I think it means one of these two things.  I think that Tebow is better than the Crompton, Mallett, Garcia trio and the Dawgs couldn't stop them so using that logic, Georgia won't stop Tebow.

But if you looked at this game with some rosecolored glasses you could say Georgia's D is better than Arkansas' D, and Arkansas did stop Tebow. So using that logic, Mr. Tebow is in for a long day against the Dawgs. I think I have said all of this to say “who the hell knows” what will happen on Saturday on the banks of the St. John's River and that fact alone is cause for encouragement for the Dawgs. 

While worrying about the defense has caused me to wake up with nightmares this week, thinking about the UGA offense has caused me not to fall back asleep. Georgia has never lost to the Gators when scoring 26 or more points. Thus the question easily becomes “how can the Dawgs get to 26 points?”. Remember this is the same offense that could not get into the red zone against Tennessee and while that defense is well coached, they have no where near the overall talent that the Florida defense posseses.

Paul Westerdawg of the GeorgiaSportsBlog reminded me earlier this week of the game that I think is one of UGA Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo's better called games.  The game was in 2007 and the opponent was the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. Here is what Paul said about that game 2 plus years ago when we half of the offensive line was starting for the first time:
Offensive Line Inexperience: The game plan by Bobo was brilliant. Use screens, flares, slants and quick outs to keep the defensive line off our young pups up front. After re-watching the game on DVR, I noticed a few plays where the entire OSU defensive front four stood straight up, took a step back and looked around for a screen. Only to see Stafford throw it behind them on a down field route. There were some moments of confusion and what appeared to be missed assignments up front, but overall...great effort and communication.

We need to run bubble screens, middle screens, swing passes to RBs, FB screens, rocket screen, tunnel screens, you name it, we need to run it. Hopefully, then that will open up the down field passes to Mr. Green and even more importantly the running game.

There are three things coaches can not game plan before any football game; 1. Turnovers 2. Penalties 3. Injuries and these three things usually are the biggest factor if a team wins or loses. Thus can UGA win the turnover battle? Somehow, someway we will have to because we have yet to win it this season. Furthermore, can the stupid penalties not happened? They have been taking place for three years so maybe a miracle happens on Saturday.

We will close with a note for all the degenerates. The spread for this game is 16 points and Georgia is 4-12 against the spread in their last 16 games, while Florida is 20-7 against the spread in their last 27 games. Despite that fact I think the Dawgs cover the 16 and if Mr. Tebow turns it over a couple of times it could be a memorable Saturday on the banks of the St. Johns.

Link Dump - 10/29/2009

1 – Chris Cooley goes in for his ankle surgery and comes out to conduct a radio interview with Elliott in the Morning after literally just coming off anesthesia. CooleyZone

2 – The hits just keep coming for the Chiefs Larry Johnson. The Big Lead

3 – The 28 Most Horrifying Moments On Film. Total Film

4 – Forbes lists the NBA’s most overpaid players. Forbes.Com
I’m not sure how T-Mac didn’t make the list since he hasn’t played in over a year and is currently the highest paid player in the NBA. HoopsHype

5 – The best Google Logo ever. The Rap Up

6 – The 10 worst WAGs in Professional Sports History. Bleacher Report

7 – Tim Donaghy’s book “blowing the whistle” will hit the stands soon. Here are some excerpts for your pleasure. Dead Spin

8 – The hottest cheerleader for every NBA team. As anyone that’s gone to a Hawks game with me knows their pick for the Hawks doesn’t claim my personal top spot. Bleacher Report

9 – The best college basketball players by position of all-time. They just so happen to include a certain floppy haired genius with a flair for the dramatic. Club Seat Sports

10 – The top 10 fastest knockouts in fighting history. AskMen

11 – 40 Hottest Fan Bases in College Football. I don’t think my buddy Coach is gonna be happy with where his Dawgs come in. I also think we need to put together our own list sometime real soon. Bleacher Report

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Atlanta Hawks Opening Night - Welcome Back To The Highlight Factory!

Since this is the Hawks opening night I wanted to do a running diary to chronicle the success, or failure, of the first game of the year.  Enjoy!


1st Quarter

Good to see Atlanta hasn’t changed one bit.  Just tipped off and the Arena is 25% full.  I doubt Coach Johnson has even blessed The Highlight Factory with his presence.  I could probably smell the Gorin’s $5 tall boys from here if he had.

Also nice to see Mike Woodson hasn’t changed.  He went right to his usual offensive set off the tip: Clear out for Joe Johnson who dribbles into a turnover.  I don’t like the Danny Granger matchup for Joe on either end.

Nice running hook from Al Horford over the 7’2” Roy Hibbert.  Al will never be the most talented player on this team, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a better leader and glue/hustle guy in the league.

And just to reiterate my point SportsSouth gets a great shot of Al’s new porn ‘stache.  Now that’s leadership at its finest folks.

My goodness Troy Murphy may be the most Caucasian person I’ve ever seen.

Wow, great start for Josh Smith.  3/3 shooting, all layups, and a beautiful alley oop to Mike Bibby for an assist; yes you read that right.

And then it’s Same Old Josh showing right back up.  He bricks a deep jumper with his heels on the line; that’s the worst shot in basketball.  Either take a step back and shoot the 3 or take 2 steps in and make it a 15 footer.  And of course the next time down the floor he picks Murphy’s pocket and slams a breakaway dunk from near the free throw line.

2nd Quarter

The refs just had a 4 minute discussion over a goaltending.  I think Tim McClellan had to take a trip to the mound to break ‘em up.

Good move by the Hawks to resign Zaza.  Looks like he wrapped up his latest caper with the Goonies just in time:




Jeff Teague makes his debut.  This kid isn’t a great shooter, he’s not extremely fast or quick, he’s not a true pass-first PG, but he’s simply a shot maker.  Hawks replaced Flip Murray’s production off the bench nicely with Jamal Crawford and Jeff Teague in my opinion.

HALF COURT BUZZER BEATER JAMAL CRAWFORD!!  Thanks for making my point Jamal…

How about this backup unit for the Hawks:

PG Jeff Teague
SG Jamal Crawford
SF Maurice Evans
PF Joe Smith
C Zaza Pachulia

There’s size and toughness, quickness and the ability to create shots, shooters to space the floor and defensive stoppers.  That’s one of the better second units in the league. Hell I’d prefer the Hawks bench to the Minnesota Timberwolves STARTERS. The Joe Smith signing completely solidified this unit, another great move by the Hawks front office.  I bet the Devil is freezing right now…

I don’t know what to make of this stat: Indiana has 14 turnovers in the first half, but also 65 points.  So was it good defense or bad defense for the Hawks?

Josh Smith at the half: 16 Points, 6 assists, 3 steals.  He’s played a complete game so far, and other than that deep jumper he took I haven’t seen him take a bad shot yet.

3rd Quarter

Al’s mid-range jumper is looking nice; he’s made 4 so far this game.  He’ll be a tough cover if he can sink that 10 footer and his running hook on a consistent basis.

I got sidetracked watching the start of the Hornets/Spurs game.  Man, that got ugly in a hurry.


4th Quarter


Even with the improved bench and strides of the other players on the team Mike Woodson is determined to run Joe Johnson into the ground again this year.  He’s played the entire 2nd half (10 minutes left in the 4th) so far and played most of the 1st half.  All those minutes came back to haunt the Hawks last year when D-Wade just had his way with Joe in the playoffs.

Josh Smith, the Hawks power forward, just grabbed his second rebound of the night with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter. That’s right, a 6’10” freak of an athlete that can jump out of the gym has worked his way into two rebounds in almost 3.5 quarters of play.  He also just took a horrible fade away jumper and committed a stupid reach in.  Josh might need to sit a couple minutes to get his head right.

Bibby, the Hawks best clutch shooter just buried a 3 to put the Hawks up 2 with seven minutes left in the 4th.  I feel as comfortable with him having the ball in his hands as Joe Johnson.

This game was never close after about 6 minutes left in the game.  The Hawks had a couple messy plays but rebounded well at the end to sustain the lead for the 120-109 win. 

Game MVP: Al Horford – 24 Points, 16 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 blocks and numerous momentum sustaining plays in the 4th quarter.

Hawks: 1-0 we’ll see you on Friday for the Wizards.  If you’re free go find some tickets, Arenas promises to put on a show.