Monday, December 28, 2009

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

Here are the Ten Things for the week. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and if you traveled this Christmas, I hope the traveling was painfree. I am off of work this week so if anyone is looking for something to do in the metro Atlanta area I will be available. I have a to do list for myself but it only has thirteen things on it and does not look to difficult at this moment. Also, does anyone have any plans for tonight's Georgia game? As of now it looks like Hudson Grill. The more the merrier.


1. Georgia-Texas A&M Preview
This afternoon Georgia will play its final game of what has been a less than stellar 2009 season. Both teams feature defensive that have been mediocre at best this season. Texas A&M allowed more points (32.7) and total yards (431.3) per game than any other Big 12 team, Georgia's defensive woes prompted coach Mark Richt to fire three of his assistants, including defensive coordinator Willie Martinez. The Bulldogs allowed more than 40 points in each of their losses during a 10-3 season last year, and they have been even worse in 2009, permitting an average of 26.4 points to rank 10th in the SEC.

On offense the Aggies are led by QB Jerrod Jeffries who has been compared to Tim Tebow by some of Georgias players. The only difference is that they said he was a better runner and thrower than Tebow. That is good news, not. Johnson leads the nation's fifth-ranked offense, which racks up 465.3 yards per game. Johnson himself has thrown for 3,217 yards and 28 touchdowns with six interceptions while also rushing for 455 yards and eight scores. Georgia has only one full time football coach on the defensive side of the ball. Does anyone actually think the Dawgs can hold the Aggies to thirty points or below. 

When Georgia has the ball they may be facing a defense that is worse than the one they face every day in practice. Texas A&M ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring defense (32.7 points per game allowed), pass defense (262.8 yards per game allowed), total defense (431.3 yards per game allowed), and opponents’ first downs (269 allowed). Furthermore, the Aggies gave up more than 60 points in Big 12 losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma, and rank 107th nationally in total defense despite junior defensive end Von Miller leading the nation with 17 sacks. Hopefully the Dawgs two headed monster rushing game of Caleb King and Washaun Ealey can keep the ground game rolling. In UGA's last four games they have averaged 252.0 yards on the ground. Hopefully the Dawgs can improve on this number and by controlling the game with their offense they can shorten the game and take away a couple of Texas A&M possessions.

Today's meeting in Shreveport is not the first time these two fine institutions have met on the football field.   The Dawgs lost to Texas A&M three times during Wally Butts’s final decade on the Georgia sideline in the 1950s, one of these loses was to Bear Bryant's first team at A&M and his now famous Junction Boys. The Dawgs were able to get a measure of redemption only by beating the Aggies in 1980 in Herschel Walker’s first game between the hedges. The win over the Aggies by the national championship-bound Bulldogs also saw the return of the silver britches after a sixteen-year absence. Hopefully, the fact that the Red and Black used their last game against Texas A&M to restore an historic uniform tradition will prevent the Athenians from fiddling with their game day attire in the Independence Bowl.

Furthermore, the Bulldogs have won 12 of their last 15 bowl appearances. Texas A&M hasn't been as successful in the postseason, losing 10 of its last 12 bowl games. These numbers coupled with Georgia's dominant ground game will prevail the Dawgs to a 38-37 win.

2. Dawgs of the Decade- For the past few weeks David Hale has been putting togther the All-UGA Decade team. You can find his story by clicking here. Keep reading to get the Coach's All-UGA Decade team. Please note I will name two players at each position

QB David Greene and D.J. Shockley
RB Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown
FB J.T. Wall and Verron Haynes
WR AJ Green and Terrence Edwards
Offensive Line Kevin Breedlove, Max Jean-Gilles, Ben Jones, Daniel Inman, and Jon Stinchcomb
Tight End Randy McMichael and Ben Watson
Defensive Line Richard Seymour and Marcus Stroud (I know these two were only on the 2000 team but has their been a better pair of Defensive Tackles on one collegiate team?)
Defensive End David Pollack and Marcus Howard
Linebacker Boss Bailey, Tony Gilbert, and Rennie Curran (By far the most dificult category and I left names off my team that include Will Witherspoon, Chris Clemons, Odell Thurmon, Tony Taylor, and Danelle Ellerby)
Corner Demario Minter and Asher Allen
Safety Thomas Davis and Sean Jones
Place Kicker Billy Bennett (How many big kicks did he make in his career)
Punter Jonathan Kilgo
Kick Returner Damien Gary

Let the second guessing begin.

3. Colts Thoughts
So we are no longer perfect and that stinks. For months the Colts have been talking about how going perfect did not matter to them and on Sunday they proved what they said.About halfway through the third quarter the Colts decided that they did not want to be perfect and Manning, Wayne, Clark and the rest of the top skill players did not play again. While I think the timing of the decisions were weird, I think in the grand scheme of everything these moves will not mean much. I do know one thing if Curtis Painter has to play in the playoffs he can not be worse than he was on Sunday and that is good news for any Colts fan. The crowd booed both the move and the man, which was ridiculous and comical. How many times do you think at 14-0 football team has been booed at home? I can't say for sure, but I would bet the answer is zero.

Before the move came their were a couple of things that have me concerned as a Colts fan. Dallas Clark again had a couple of big drops and one drop probably cost him and the Colts a touchdown. Furthermore, there was a block extra point and a kickoff returned for a touchdown. If either of these things happen in January or February the Colts will be in trouble. In addition, the Colts had fewer than 100 rushing yards for the fourth straight game and they have failed to reach the mark in 12 of 15 games this season.


If the Colts lose in the playoffs next month, some will look back on today's decision as the catalyst for said loss. And if Indy runs the table and wins the Super Bowl, some will claim that it was Caldwell's Week 16 decision that spurred the championship. Those will be equally dubious claims. It's doubtful that whatever happened today will have an effect on a game played 28 days from now.

4. Urban Meyer Thoughts
I still am not sure what to think about Corch Meyers and his decisions over the weekend. All I know is that I had a couple paragraphs written on what all this meant and listed some potential candidates and now none of that is relevant. For those of you who did not pay attention the last month here is a breakdown of what happened. December 6th after the SEC Championship game loss Meyer goes to the hospital with what he calls dehydration. However we now know that had been suffering of chest pains all season and that on that morning Meyer fainted getting out of bed and was rushed to the hospital for several hours of tests. With knowledge of all of these health issues and the fact that coaching college football in the SEC is one of the more stressful jobs in the world Meyer on the 26th announced he was resigning as football coach. He listed how he wanted to spend more time with his family and improve his health as reasons for his resignation. However, he goes to bed Saturday night and wakes up Sunday and suddenly his health as improved and he wants to coach again. He even said that being with his players at a "spirited practice" Sunday morning persuaded him not to resign. Thus if the Gators have a crappy practice today or tomorrow will he want to resign. Where does this leave the Gators as they head into recruiting season? How does a player fully commit to Meyer for four years when he does not know if the coach will be at Florida for those four seasons or if Meyer will quit on them next time he gets a headache. Then their is this quote from Meyer, "It was chest pains that became rather significant two years ago. Whether it's stress related ... I started to become very alarmed with that. And then I'm a person of faith, and I just wanted to make sure I had my priorities straight. A lot of times coaches do not have their priorities straight. You put business before God and family, you have a problem." Sounds like Meyer priorities changed in a night of sleep. The most obvious comparison is to that of Duke's legendary basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who took a leave for most of the 1994-95 season following offseason back surgery. Though he returned the next year and eventually brought the Blue Devils back to three more Final Fours, winning his third national title in 2001, the program first had to suffer through a 13-18 debacle and a first-round tourney exit the year after that. Furthermore, Krzyzewski had a specific health issue he needed to address. By his own admission, Meyer's own extreme single-mindedness and self-punishing ways have contributed to his stress-related symptoms. Fixing a back is one thing; fixing one's internal makeup is a far more vexing chore.


5. Bowl Games not to miss this week

Monday-
Independence: UGA-Texas A&M - Do I really need to explain why.

Tuesday-
Champs Sports: Miami-Wisconsin - Miami quarterback Jacory Harris was plagued by turnovers in the second half of the season, but the Badgers are known for their run-stuffing defense, not their secondary.

Wednesday-
Holiday: Nebraska-Arizona - Arizona will be riding high after beating USC for the first time in seven tries, while Nebraska might be asking what might have been after losing in the final seconds to Texas in the Big 12 championship game.

Thursday-
Sun: Oklahoma-Stanford - Interesting coaching contrast between Stanford's Jim Harbaugh, who will be making his first bowl trip, against Bob Stoops, who has lost five of his past six bowl games.

Chick-Fil-A: Tennessee-VaTech - Virginia Tech will return to Atlanta for the third time this season, but the Hokies are still looking for their first win in the city after losses to Alabama and Georgia Tech.

Friday-
Gator: Florida State-West Virginia - A legend retires

Rose: Oregon-Ohio State - Classic matchup of the Ducks' sixth-rated rushing offense versus the Buckeyes' fifth-rated rushing defense.

Saturday-
Cotton: Ole Miss-Oklahoma State- Two former Oklahoma State QB's (Mike Gundy and Houston Nutt) try to end their season on high note after loftier preseason expectations.


6. MLB Thoughts
a. How about this list of  free-agent first basemen available:  Jim Thome, Hank Blalock, Aubrey Huff, Carlos Delgado, Adam LaRoche, Jack Cust and Russell Branyon. How does Mr. LaRoche think he can get $30 million for 3 years?
b. Here is the weekly link to Nick Cafardo's Notes column in the Boston Globe.
c. Here are his Apropos of nothing:
1. Seems like David Wright is no longer a great fit for the Mets (because of Citi Field), but he would be for the Red Sox (because of Fenway)
2. The Yankees stole Javier Vazquez
3. Brian Cashman is up to something
4. Whoever gets Xavier Nady gets the best value of the offseason
5. Are the Pirates still in the league?
d. I love the Braves signing of Troy Glaus. This is probably the definition of low risk, high reward. By the way Glaus has tremendous power (five 30-homer seasons - two of 40 - and four 100-RBI seasons).
e.Would Randy Johnson make the perfect lefty specialist out of the pen? Can his arm handle this load? Is this a role he woulf be willing to accept?
f. Who is the Yankees 5th starter? Joba or Phil Hughes?
g. Am I the only one tired of hearing about the Adrian Gonzalez rumors to Boston?
h. How bad does Jayson Bay not want to play for the Mets? He has yet to accept an offer for $65 million despite no other known offers.
i. Couple of random stats; Derek Jeter, Ivan Rodriguez, and Chase Utley all hit 161 homers between 2000 and 2009.
j. In this decade, Johnny Estrada had the most at-bats (2,079) without hitting a triple.
k. Javier Vazquez led all pitchers this decade with 193 quality starts, one more than Barry Zito. Mark Buehrle led the American League with 190, while Roy Oswalt led the NL with 185. Along the same lines is Roy Oswalt one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball?
l. How come Dale Murphy does not get more love for the Hall of Fame?  Murphy compiled more total bases than anybody during the '80s. During the decade, Mike Schmidt was the only player with more homers and Eddie Murray was the only player with more RBIs.

7. What I Read This Week

AP writer Paul Newberry provides the first article of the week on Georgia freshmen baseball player Chance Veazy and how his dream was ruined just a few days after fall practiced ended. Pretty emotional story for any one that has ever played sports or had a son/daughter that played sports. Credit to the Los Angeles Times for running this story.

The second article of the week comes from my lawyer friend Dan and involves Jesus Leonardo who hangs around OTB's (Off-Track Betting Parlors) in and around NYC. What Leonardo does is go through discarded tickets looking for winners. You will have to read the article to see how much Leonardo makes annually on discarded betting tickets

The third article also comes from the NY Times and takes a look at newly departed Florida coach Urban Meyer. Amazing read that showcases how relentlessly obsessed Meyer is/was. He went as far as using the term "self-destructive." Interestingly, his family didn't know until Christmas night.

8. Football Thoughts for the Week
a. Last week I ripped Mike McCarthy for running the ball only 12 times. He must have listened to me as yesterday against the Seahawks he rushed 32 times for 153 yards.
b. What has happened to Matt Hasselbeck? He threw four interceptions for the second straight week. He entered last week with only one four-plus INT game and became the first Seattle QB with a pair of 4 INT games in a season.
c. Bad loss for the Dolphins on Sunday. Falling behind 27-0 with so much to play for is inexcusable in my opinion. On a positive note it should be mentioned that Chad Henne had 36 completions (55 attempts), the most in a game by a Dolphins QB since Dan Marino in 1997.
d. I watched a majority of the Panthers first half on Sunday and where has this Panther team we have seen the past two weeks been this season?  Matt Moore is 3-1 as a starter this season. He threw for 171 yards with 3 TDs and no interceptions on Sunday. Is it safe to say the Jake Delhomme era is over?
e. Brutal loss for the G-Men. The Giants lost their final regular season game at Giants Stadium by allowing 40-plus points for the fourth time this season and second time at home. It's the first time since 1971 in which the Giants allowed two 40-plus point games at home. Hard to believe this team was 5-0 at one time.
f. I have to mention my cousin Andre Johnson and how good he has been the past few seasons. Andre Johnson joined Marvin Harrison as the only receivers to have 1,500 yards in consecutive seasons. Johnson's nine TD catches are a career high.
g. While on the surface the Falcons-Bucs games next Sunday may seem unimportant but with a win the Falcons can have back to back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history.
h. A healthy Matt Ryan and Michael Turner will go a long way for the Falcons having a successful 2010.It has to be mentioned the Falcons were 3-1 against the AFC this season.
i. Congrats to the Bengals for winning the AFC North. Even more impressive is the fact they were 6-0 inside the division which includes the Ravens and Steelers. By the way Palmer has thrown for 21 touchdowns this season and that gives him 4 seasons of 20 plus touchdowns.
j. For the second season in a row the Cardinals seem to be clicking on all cylinders as we now reach playoff season. Kurt Warner was 24-38 for 313 yards and 2 TDs and has 15 TDs and just 3 INTs over his last seven games.
k. What is wrong with the New Orleans Saints? All I know is this stat is not good at all, the bucs had the fewest wins entering a game (two) of any team to defeat another with at least 13 wins in NFL history.
I hope UGA never has to play Utah in a bowl. Utah has won nine consecutive bowl game, extending the longest active streak in the nation and tying USC from 1923-1945 for the second-longest such streak in FBS history.Furthermore, the Utes improved to 12-3 in bowl games and their .800 winning percentage is the best in the nation of the 74 schools with at least 10 bowl appearances.
l. How good has USC been the past few seasons, playing in a non-BCS bowl for the first time since 2001, the Trojans finished 9-4. That's their fewest victories since going 6-6 in 2001. It should also be noted that USC now has 32 bowl wins, which breaks a tie with Alabama for the most all-time.
m. Are the Pitt Panthers back? Their Meineke Car Care Bowl victory gave Pitt its first 10-win season since 1981 (11-1) and snapped a three-game bowl losing streak.
n. If the Jets, Ravens and Broncos all finish 9-7 after next week's games, New York would be the AFC's No. 5 seed based on a better record against common opponents, and Baltimore would be the No. 6 based on having beaten Denver head-to-head earlier this season in Baltimore. The Broncos? They'd be the third team in league history to start 6-0 and miss the playoffs, joining the 1978 Redskins and the 2003 Vikings.
o. Not much to worry about with Tom Brady's after I ripped him last week. Brady threw for more touchdowns (four) than incompletions (three) against Jacksonville, with his 23 of 26, 267-yard showing looking scary good. These aren't the Patriots of old, but they are AFC East champions again after a one-year absence, and I really don't believe anyone in the AFC playoffs will relish drawing them next month.
p. June Jones is a pretty decent football coach. SMU finished the season at 8-5 after going 1-11 in 2008; the 7-win increase is the largest in FBS this season.
q. How crazy is this stat; he Steelers have two 1,000-yard receivers, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 4,000-yard passer for the first time in history. Why are they 8-7?
r. How good have the Eagles been the past month and a half? They won their fifth straight game as Donovan McNabb threw for 322 yards and three TDs. It was his 12th career game with at least 300 yards and 3 TDs.
s. It looks like the Cowboys have righted the ship and have now won back to back games in December for the first time since 2003.
t.My fantasy team is up 117.06 to 89.58. I am out of players, my opponent has Brett Favre and the Vikings D, it will be a close finish. Bear down Chicago Bears.


9. NFL Power 5
1. Indianapolis Colts-The Jets outscored the Colts 19-0 once Peyton left the game. I seriously doubt Peyton will see the field in Buffalo.
2. San Diego Chargers-San Diego went 7-1 on the road this season
3. Philadelphia Eagles-Is there a better offense in football right now?
4. New England Patriots- I hope the Colts do not get them in the divisional round of the playoffs.
5. New Orleans Saints- They need to turn things around before heading into the playoff bye week.

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. I need to begin the non-football thoughts by congratulating reader and the best caddy at Shinecock Hills Teddy and his bride to be Lauren who got engaged on Christmas Eve in New York City (well done my man).
b. Credit needs to be given to my law school buddy Dan who helped introduced the couple on January 1st 2008 at 1:30 in the morning at Trinity Pub on the Upper East Side...and they say nothing good happens after midnite.
c. I saw the movie Up In The Air this week and thought it was very good. I even saw some similarities between Mr. Clooney and myself.  Look for a movie review sometime in the next week.
d. One last Christmas Vacation clip till next year.
e. The AJC gives us 50 things that have changed our lives in the last decade.
f.  I got a lot of presents this year. I must have been a better boy than I thought.
g. Great job by my brother in cooking some bison steaks for the family on Christmas night. They were truly amazing.
h. Right now The Admiral, Mr. Yang and myself have a big time lunch planned this Tuesday afternoon around 1:00 at Chow Baby  if anyone is interested in joining.
i. Great job by the family in deciding to upgrade to business class for the flight home from Denver to Atlanta Saturday night. I can definitely get used to sitting up front for all of my future flights.
j. Listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Airtran airways makes a three hour flight literally fly by. I should mention I was at 33,000 feet when I heard the news of the Javier Vazquez trade and it was great hearing the different responses from Dan Patrick to ESPN Radio to the Homeplate Channel on XM175.
k. While I did enjoy the XM Radio, I still prefer the 25 or so channels of DirectTv that JetBlue and Frontier Airlines provide on every flight and that Delta provides on some flights.
l. This Friday afternoon outdoor Hockey will return and this time it will be at Fenway Park. Here are some pictures of the open skate at Fenway Park.
m. A couple of movies I hope to see this week since I have it off include Brothers, Sherlock Holmes, Pirate Radio, The Hurt Locker and A Single Man. Am I missing anything?
n. Furthermore I have two episodes of 60 minutes and three episodes of Friday Night Lights I need to watch.
o. For those that have yet to read or watch the movie, The Blind Side, do so now. On the way back from Denver I read about 150 pages and then when I got home I read another 75 pages. The book may be better than the movie.
p. I would feel amiss if I did not wish everyone a Happy Festivus. For all non Seinfeld followers, click the link.
q. As of right now I have no New Years Eve plans. While I think New Years Eve is the most overrated holiday I still do not want to sit at home by myself. Let me know if you have something fun going on.


Quote of the week
"Look at all that snow on that mountain."

My grandma after looking out the window of our condo. The problem was we had already been at the condo for about 72 hours. She said a lot more ridiculous things but this is all I can remember.


Text of the week
From Donald Sheppard to me on Christmas afternoon. We were discussing Christmas gifts and he mentioned how his sister received a car from Santa.

Its not a lexus but it could qualify as a December to remember event.

Text of the week II
This text comes from the Good Doctor who was flying to South Africa for his brother's wedding. I sent this text to him:
Have fun in South Africa...mix it up with some bridesmaids.
This is his reply:
Just gonna celebrate Kwanza in the motherland.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas To All & To All A Great Night

From Snowy Steamboat Springs to Sharon, Ct to Sylvania, Ga to Tallahasee, Florida and all points in between...Merry Christmas!!!!

Now my favorite Christmas carol

Monday, December 21, 2009

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

Before we get started with the Ten Things I wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays and for those that are traveling this week, safe travels. I will be flying out this Tuesday to Denver before renting a car and driving with the family from Denver to Steamboat. We should fly back from Denver to Atlanta on Saturday. Notice the should as last year it took me an extra 24 hours to get home and it took the Parentals an extra 48 hours to get home.


1. Georgia Thoughts
Couple quick Georgia thoughts One will concern the UGA defensive coaching search and the other UGA's big win over Illinois on the hardwood Saturday night at the Gwinnett Arena.

First of all UGA fans do not get your panties in a wad over Vic Koenning becoming the Defensive Coordinator at Illinois and not Georgia. Despite what 680 The Fan blowhard John Kincaid says, Koenning did not choose Illinois over Georgia. Illinois hired him before Georgia probably gave him an offer. Mark Richt is running this search and he is doing it his way. Through nine seasons at Georgia he has won more games than any previous coach and he has gotten every big decision right so far, why would he go wrong now? With that being said this search is locked down tighter than anything I've ever seen out of the UGA Athletic Department, and that seems to be the consensus opinion. Damon has to be threatening to fire people who open their mouths, but the bigger issue is that Mark Richt is doing this the way Mark Richt wants.

Now onto the Basketball team, what a win by the Hoop Dawgs Saturday night at the Gwinnett arena in a crowd that was more Illini fans that UGA fans from everything I have been told and read. Before I call out UGA fans for not attending this game on a perfect Saturday night I need to look at myself as I forgot about UGA playing 30 minutes from my house and decided to attend a NHL sporting event instead. If we are going to succede as a basketball program the fans are going to have to buy in before we get good again. Coach Fox is going to have overcome a ton of skepticism toward Georgia basketball in his own new state and this includes the sight of playing a game in Duluth, Ga., and having your fans outnumbered. When was the last time we went head to head with Georgia Tech over a basketball recruit and won? I think Mark Fox is the right man for the job as he’s playing with Felton’s guys and has them playing better than they did last season under Felton. While we are still a few years away from getting to the Tennessee and Kentucky level of college basketball,  we will need some fan buy in to help us get to that level.

It should be noted we need a better effort from he UGA marketing department. Last week I received multiple e-mails from the UGA athletic department reminding me to buy my UGA memorabilia for Christmas but nothing inviting me out to Gwinnett.



2. Colts Thoughts
How does Peyton Manning keep coming up clutch game after game. Personally I did not think the starters were going to play more than a quarter much less the whole game but when Manning does not get hit you might as well keep playing him. I am a little worried about the defense giving up 31 points to the Jaguars but when the offense could not end the game by running out the clock it was the defense that won the game for the Colts. Great job by ESPN giving us this stat, Peyton Manning had been struggling against five or more defensive backs in his past seven games, with an 82.4 rating while throwing nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He was back to his old self against the Jags, throwing four TDs against this type of personnel.

I think the Colts play the starters next week at home against the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS but the week after on the road at Buffalo to finish up the season I doubt a starter will see the playing field even if 16-0 is a possibility. The only way Manning sees the field in Buffalo is if their is no snow, the sun it out and it is 30 plus degrees outside. When are these conditions ever present in Buffalo in early January?


One more Manning stat, Manning's four-TD game was the 21st of his career, tying him with Dan Marino for second in NFL history. Manning now has 10 4,000-yard seasons, most ever.

3. Ten Most Powerful People in Sports - Last week in New York I mentioned how I was a few rows behind SEC commissioner Mike Slive at MSG and that he was in my top ten of most powerful people in sports. I know give you my list.

1. Roger Goodell-Commissioner of the NFL, the most powerful man in America's most influential sports league
2. George Bodenheimer - President of ESPN, ABC Sports. Read the Captains column from last Monday on ESPN's influence in sports and whether it is always positive?
3. Tiger Woods - This guy has been on the cover of the NY Post for more consecutive day than September 11th.
4. Bud Selig - A lot of people may call this a stretch but look at the growth of baseball the last 15 years and you will see a lot of Selig's influence on Baseball. He also does not get a hall pass from the media the way other commissioners have in the past (see Pacman Jones and Goodell and Tim Donaghey and David Stern). Last year MLB had 73.4 million people attend its games, NBA had 23.2 million, NHL had 21.6 million, and the NFL had 17.2 million.
5. Phil Knight- CEO Nike- I to this day say the fact he had UGA baseball using his companies awful bats cost the Dawgs the National Championship in Baseball in 2008. If you need a book to read this Holiday Season go to your Independent Bookstore and read Sole Influence. You will begin to understand the power of Nike.
6. Dick Ebersol -Chairman NBC Sports - Has kept Notre Dame relevant by televising them every Saturday.
7. Sean McManus -Chairman CBS News and Sports
8. David Stern - Commissioner of the NBA, somehow has not been called to Congress for the gambling scandal that never developed.
9. Mike Slive - Commissioner of the SEC, the day he signed wth ESPN probably help win Mark Ingram the Heisman as it guaranteed every Alabama game on one of ESPN's networks.
10. Jacques Rogge - President of the IOC

4. Best of the 2000's
 This Week Sports Illustrated has done a look back at the 2000's and given their decade in review spectacular. I will attempt the same.

Best MLB Moment- The Yankees at home during the 2001 World Series. They win three games at home in which they had no business winning. Who can not forget the walk off home runs of Scott Brosius and Mr. November Derek Jeter. What a memorable World Series.

Best MLB Moment (In Person) Randy Johnson perfect game. May of 2004, I was able to sit two rows behind homeplate as I watched Mr. Johnson pitch the 17 perfect game in Major League history. By the way this is the only time I have cheered against the Braves.

Best NFL Moment As much as I want to say the Colts Super Bowl win, the best NFL moment is the Patrots first Super Bowl win on an Adam Vinateri kick to beat the two touchdown favorite St. Louis Rams.

Best NFL Moment (In Person) October 1st 2006 was the date as the Indianapolis Colts visited the New York Jets. Since I interned with the Colts the previous summer they invited me to help work this game. What a wild finish we had in the Meadowlands. The Colts score on a Manning touchdown pass to backup tight end London Fletcher with 2:36 left in the 4th quarter giving the Colts a 24-21 lead. However, the Jets returned the kickoff for a touchown giving Manning another opportunity to break the Jets hearts and Manning did with a one yard touchdown run with 50 seconds remaining. What a game what an atmosphere and I do not care if I ever hear the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS cheer again in my life. Here is a picture of me standing on the sidelines behind current Colts head coach Jim Caldwell. Photo credit to Dan Hauptman and his buddy Koplik who took this pic from 4 rows from the top of the upper deck. I also need to credit my Dad for researching his email to find this picture because I could not find it anywhere.



Best NBA Moment Kobe scores 81 points.Only one person has scored more and that was Wilt with 100 points. This quote from Phil Jackson says it all, "I've seen some remarkable games but I've never seen anything like that before."

Best NBA Moment (In Person) Game 6 of the 2008 NBA first round playoffs. The Hawks win before a very loud a boisterous sellout crowd at Philips Arena to force a game 7. As crazy an sporting event I have ever attended. What made it better was the free seats in a suite right at mid court that the Captain was able to get for the Coach.

Best NCAA Football Moment The Buckeyes upset the Miami Hurricanes

Best NCAA Football Moment (In Person) Georgia ending 20 years of futility by beating Arkansas 30-3 to win the 2002 SEC Championship.

Favorite Baseball Player - Without a doubt Derek Jeter, why do I love this guy so much?

Favorite Football Player - Peyton Manning, in reading Peter King this week he said that in his book he had Peyton Manning as the 25 best player (the rankings were done at the beginning of the season) in NFL history. I have a heard time believing he was not in the top ten at the beginning of the season. Where will he rank at the end of his career?

Favorite Basketball Player - Kobe Bryant, I have seen him and Lebron in person and right now I would take Kobe if I had first pick.

Favorite College Athlete - David Greene, brought UGA its first SEC title in 20 years and when he left school he was the NCAA all time leader in wins. A record he lost last month to Colt McCoy.

Favorite Sports Movie - I have to do a list
1. Miracle
2. Remember the Titans
3. The Wrestler
4. We Are Marshall
5. The Blind Side




5. Everyone's Garden Moments
My buddy Dan gives his favorite MSG Moments
I had Knicks season tickets in the mid-2000s, during the lean years for the franchise. Only one moment from those years made this list (Patrick Ewing night). From growing up in NY and living there for most of my 20s, here are my top 5 moments at MSG:
1) Larry Johnson 4-point play.
As this video shows, the roof nearly blew off the garden that night: 
I did a doubleheader that Saturday, going to Yankees-Mets at Yankee stadium in the afternoon (skipped the Belmont late afternoon) and went to the LJ game that night.  EPIC...
2) Later in that 1999 Eastern Conference series against the Pacers, the Knicks won game 6 to clinch a finals appearance.  The whole crowd could not stop chanting, "JEFF-VAN-GUNDY, JEFF-VAN-GUNDY..."
3) Patrick Ewing night on February 28, 2003.  May be the last retired Knicks jersey for awhile, until LBJ begins his Knicks career in 2010...
4) Another baseball-MSG doubleheader by me in 1997.  I went to a Mets game during the afternoon and then went to a Rangers-Panthers playoff game that I had won tickets for by calling WFAN.  Wayne Gretzky scored three goals in 6 1/2 minutes -- his NHL record ninth and final playoff hat trick -- to lead the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers to go up three games to one in the first round of the 1997 playoffs.
5) Among the concerts that I went to at MSG, my two most memorable: Metallica with the orchestra (as recorded for the Metallica double album) and Bruce Springsteen circa 2000. 


The Good Doctor who lived in NYC all of 9 months gives his list;
January 23, 2009

My visit ever visit to the World's Most Famous Arena.  Scalped a ticket outside for $20 and snuck down to the lower level and sat next to two beautiful coeds who happened to know  Coach.  Appearently they had met during his time at NYU.  Ok that part was a lie.

4.  February 15, 2009

NY Titans vs Rochester Knighthawks

Coach came to the city and scored us two tickets in a luxury suite.  I still don't have a clue how lacrosse is played.

3. February 12, 2009

Rascal Flatts Concert

Three days earlier I saw Rascal Flatts put on a great show.  The beautiful Jessica Simpson opened up and proceed to tell everyone how much she loved Tony Romo.  Even better were the multiple females with boots and cowgirl hats.

2. February 4, 2009

Cavs v. Knicks

King James visited the Garden and the place was electric.  James dropped 52 points and was a rebound shy of a triple-double.  Jay Z and Chris Rock were sitting courtside while I was in the last row.

1. March 12, 2009

 Big East Quarterfinals

Syracuse vs. UCONN

This goes down as the greatest sporting event that I have ever witnessed.  The game was six overtimes and I didn't get home until 3 am.  What makes it even better is that I bought and sold tickets outside and ended up making $140.  Final Score: 127-117 Syracuse.


6. MLB Thoughts for the week
a. The last three teams to win 100 games and the world series in the same year-1. the 2009 Yankees; 2. the 1998 Yankees; and 3. the 1986 Mets. So you have to go back 25 years to find a team outside of New York that won 100 and a World Series -- that would be the 1984 Tigers.
7. What I Read This Week
Couple of articles to focus on this Christmas week includes the Sportsmen of the Year article by Tom Verducci on this years Sportsmen Derek Jeter. Pretty intriguing read on one of my favorite players.

I am usually not a big fan of his writing but I find Jeff Schultz's adventure from Atlanta to New York City for the Falcons game very enjoyable. Their is nothing fun about winter weather when it screws up your plans but sometimes all you can do is smile and make good of what is a bad situation and you usually end up with some great stories.

One more read comes from the New York Times and Dan Shanoff writes about his experience in taking his son to a local college basketball game and a NBA game. Pretty fun article.



8.Football Thoughts for the Week
a. The following site might need to be bookmarked for the next couple of weeks. It is the NFL's tie breaking proocedures. Lot of good stuff.
b. What was Mike McCarthy doing before halftime in Pittsburgh yesterday? You have three timeouts do not be scared to use them so your team can have more than 24 seconds to drive for a field goal or touchdown...n wonder Brett Favre wanted out.
c. Every year around this time we get some pretty good reads on the swag different bowl team recieve for participatng in the different games. The Sports Business Journal does a good job of putting this list together. Their is one common theme in that 90% of the bowls think these student-athletes need help keeping time as they are offering watches as presents. The so-called $500 limit is laughable. Players in the Sugar Bowl, for example, receive a gift pack featuring products from Apple, Sony, Trek, Garmin and Weber, in addition to a watch, cap, laptop pack, and a recliner. A frigging recliner!
d. Good win for the Admiral's Titans and at the same time a bad loss for Coach Dan's Miami Dolphins. It is amazing how good the Titans have been since their bye week. It is also amazing how good Vince Young has been this season, on Sunday he threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns.
e. Really Tom Brady? You could only get me 6.3 fantasy points on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills? Also, Tiger Woods is a better Dad than you.
f. By the way their is nothing wrong with Randy Moss as he had his third straight season with 10 receiving TDs. That ties Jerry Rice for the most seasons with 10 scores in NFL history at nine.One more Brady note, he has thrown for less than 200 yards in two straight games for the first time since Weeks 14-15 of the 2006 season.  
g. Before Saturday night I am not so sure you could have blamed this years Cowboys woes in December on Tony Romo. With his win Saturday night in New Orleans Tony Romo is 6-10 as a starter in December. He was 22 for 34 for 312 yards and a TD. He has six scoring passes and no interceptions in three games this December, with a passer rating of 109.7.
h. Not so sure the loss was not the worst thing in the world for the Saints. The Saints are the third 13-0 team to lose, joining the 1998 Broncos and 2005 Colts. Each of those teams also lost their next game.The Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl while the Colts choked in the playoffs. The loss also snapped the Saints' five-game win streak vs. the Cowboys.

i. How good  has the Saints offense been the last year and a half. New Orleans scored fewer than 20 points for the first time in their last 23 games.
j. Why do the Texans always win games when it seems it matters the least. They have won two in a row to get to .500. By the way Matt Schaub threw for 367 yards and a TD. It's his fifth game with at least 350 passing yards this season, which leads the NFL.
k. How does Schaub throw for that many yards and only won touchdown? Even more crazier is this stat, Andre Johnson had nine catches for 196 yards. He became the second player this decade to have at least 195 receiving yards without a touchdown reception.
l. The Falcons might have back to back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history, they are currently 7-7 and have a home game this week against the Bills and then visit the Bucs to finish the season. 9-7 is a possibility.
m. Heartbreak city again for the Bengals, this team has had a lot adversity this season and have now lost two games in a row for the first time this year. Can Marvin Lewis rally the troops for a home game next week against the Chiefs and then a road game at the Jets. Clinching the AFC North needs to be done sooner than later.
n. What an awful job by the NFL not allowing Chad Ochocinco the opportunity to wear Chris Henry's jersey.
o. I had a lot of fun watching the Steelers-Packers with the roomdawg who is a diehard Packer fan and James Cooper who is a big fan of the Steelers. Who would have thought this is the first NFL game to ever end at 37-36.
p. It is about time Phillip Rivers gets the credit he deserves, the Chargers have now won 17 straight games in December and nine straight games overall. I know I do not want the Colts to play them in January.
q.I know it was not working Sunday but you will not win in January with only 12 rushing attempts Mike McCarthy.
r. How bad are the Bears? They do not even have draft picks to use to get better this off-season as they do not pick to the 3rd round.
s. When did the Ravens get an offense? Another tough out in December the Ravens have scored 79 points in its last two games and has scored more than 30 in six of its eight wins.
t. Where has this Steve Smith been the past year and a half? All I know is that I have missed him.
u. Brett Favre is 2-5 the last two December's. Thanks to the roomdawg for the statistic.

9.  NFL Power 5
1. Indianapolis Colts - Can they make history by going 16-0 and then 3-0 in January and February?
2. New Orleans Saints- One loss will not hurt them in the power 5, still one of the more consistent teams in football and will be a tough out in January.
3. San Diego Chargers - Can they please not face the Colts in the playoffs?
4. Philadelphia Eagles - Maybe the hottest team in the NFC, can they win in a dome this postseason?
5. Minnesota Vikings- They still might get the bye but have been awful the past two road games. 



10. Non Football Thoughts of the Week
a. What a wild winter weather weekend and it had some negative effects on multiple readers. My good buddy Brice had to spend a Friday night in Hickory, NC by himself as closed roads kept him from getting to his family in Banner Elk. Meanwhile, my best friend Lee and his lovely wife Heather had their Saturday flight from Savannah to Ithica, NY canceled and Sundays flight delayed about 6 hours. Lastly, my parents were stranded at their mountain cottage yesterday when a downed power line closed the only road they can take into town.
b. Here are some good photo galleries of the winter weather. The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Hartford Courant, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Press of Atlantic City, and last but certainly not least The Cape Cod News.
c. I fly to Denver Tuesday mid-morning and should not have to deal with any of the headaches my good friends had to deal with this past weekend. The forecast for Denver this Tuesday looks like a high around 45 and a low of 30, the weather the same day in Atlanta will be 55 and 35. Now the weather in Steamboat will be different with highs in the teens and lows around zero every day.
d. I was a little down on How I Met Your Mother this week, we can do better than a smoking episode 10 days before Christmas.
e. I got to two Thrashers game this past week, they still do not play any defense but this is the best Thrashers team since their division championship team in 06-07.
f. On Saturday night they scored 3 goals on 6 shots against Martin Bordeur in the first period. I did not think I would see Mr. Bordeur get pulled after one period.
g. I saw Brooklyn Decker's visit on Dan Patrick this past Wednesday on the 101. She is AWESOME.
h. For those that have Directv Friday Night Lights is must see programming. How this show is not on a major network is beyond me?
i. Watched a couple of episodes of Jersey Shore this past week, maybe the funniest thing on television right now.
j. Snooky!
k. For those that know me, they know I love a good New York Post more than just about anything. For those of you that respect the Post like me visit this site to vote on your favorite covers from this decade.
l. I got to hang out with my man Walters two nights this weekend and we were awesome like always.
m. I am a week behind on 60 minutes but everyone should go back and look at the profile of Ricky Gervais. Very intriguing story that is as close to rags to riches as one can come from.
n. Good review by the Captain of the movie Pirate Radio. I can not wait to see it over the Winter break.
o. The FX show The League is getting better each week. I see alot of my life in the way these guys go about fantasy football in their daily lives.
p. My reading list this holiday season includes The Blind Side and probably Kingfish: The Reign of Huey Long. Anyone else have any holiday break recommendations? As always your comments are welcomed.
q. The Lexus holiday commercials are starting to be to much for me.
r. This weeks Christmas Vacation clip is the Pool Dream Scene. Chevy Chase is always dreaming about hooking up with some other women in these movies, but you know who's underrated? Beverly D'Angelo.
s. On a random note I have had some random dream the past few nights, they have all been fun and have had some great humor in them.
t. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday week this week and depending on your language or location of Christmas this week, Mele Kalikimaka, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas and for the good doctor going to South Africa this Christmas, Geseënde Kersfees.

Text of the week
From me to my roomdawg on Saturday night


Just left party to many dudes for me plus I had to drop a deuce and didnt feel like blowing up cm's shitter...proud of you


Quote of the week
I can not think of one from this past week. I know you are not proud of me and I am better than this. I will be with my grandma all week this week and she will more than make up for the lack of quotes this week.


Have a wonderful holiday week and I hope Santa is good to everyone.




 

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Movie Review: Pirate Radio

This evening my grandmother and I decided to take in a movie at the local Indie movie theater.  First off, I love Indie movies and really don't have much use for the mainstream stuff that comes out. If you see it at AMC, chances are I won't ever see it.  I can't urge you enough to support your local indie theater and enjoy all it has to offer.  The popcorn and sodas taste just the same and the movies are always better.

This evening the movie of choice was Pirate Radio.  It's the true story of a 60's radio station broadcasting Rock & Roll at a time when it was just starting to gain popularity with the masses.  However "The Man" had absolutely no tolerance for Rock & Roll or the stations that were playing it.  In England at the time there was a rule that no station located on or within 3 miles of English soil could broadcast Rock & Roll; thus the station "Radio Rock" was located on a boat that was anchored more than 3 miles off-shore.

The story begins when "Young Carl" is sent to live with the station manager by his mom because of troubles he had at home.  It progresses to show just how quirky and morally inept the people on the boat were.  It's a strange cast indeed that follows some strange rules.  One of those is that no woman are allowed on the boat; except for one and she is a lesbian that does all the cooking and cleaning.  This causes all dozen or so men living on the boat to constantly think about sex and subsequently so does the lesbian.  Every other Saturday ever man on the boat is allowed to invite a female, or females, to the boat for the day to enjoy themselves for a few hours.  Needless to say, some hilarious situations arise.

The movie absolutely flies by.  It is 116 minutes long and I didn't feel as though I was even in there for an hour.  The story is told at a fast pace with plenty of hi-jinx as well as some heart-warming moments.  However all of these moments pale in comparison to the soundtrack.  If you are any kind of a classic Rock & Roll fan I implore you to see the movie as you'll have just as much fun picking out the different songs as watching the movie.

The soundtrack is 2 discs with tons of classics on it running the gamut from Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Smokey Robinson, The Beach Boys all the way to my all-time favorite, Otis Redding.  I'll include a couple of the songs here, but if you want a great playlist I'd suggest just following that link above and compiling that on your ipod.  It'd be a great background for an hour workout or a damn fine night of hanging with some friends.

Enjoy, and Rock On!

The Kinks: All Day And All Of The Night



Procol Harum: A Whiter Shade Of Pale



The Who: My Generation



Moody Blues: Nights In White Satin



Jimi Hendrix: The Wind Cries Mary



And We'll finish it up with the legend, Otis Redding: These Arms Of Mine:

Monday, December 14, 2009

FSU vs. ESPN

Usually on Monday's I try not to post anything.  JJ's 10 Things are so good I don't like to muck up the site with anything else for a couple days. 

However this Monday is different.  After I watched the entire ESPN "Outside The Lines" segment on Sunday concerning FSU and it's academic scandal from a few months ago I feel compelled to post a few links on behalf of Seminole Nation so that both sides of the story get told.  Please bear with me as this post will contain tons of information.

I remember sometime within the first week I met Coach Johnson he told me about his disdain for everything ESPN and the arrogance with which he felt they reported most of their news with; after Sunday I can see now where Coach was coming from. 

ESPN's entire report was extremely one-sided and never once attempted to illustrate the positives of FSU's Athletic Department.   I am going to paste a letter from the Florida State Athletics Director Randy Spetman that was released in anticipation of the OTL segment.  I am also going to post some thoughts that I have found from other FSU supporters that sum up pretty well just how I feel about the entire situation.  Please take the time to read all that I post as I feel fairly confident that a different view of FSU's athletics and academics will emerge, as well as a different view of the folks featured in the ESPN's "Outside The Lines" segment.

1 - AD Spetman's letter to Seminole Nation as well as an email correspondence he had with ESPN about the piece.

Dear Seminole fan,
 
I want to let you know about an upcoming ESPN "Outside the Lines" television program that we know will portray the academic profile of student-athletes and the admissions and retention process at The Florida State University in a negative way. The promotions for this program already have shown that it contains false information.

Therefore, I and other top administrators have called and e-mailed Vince Doria, vice president of News at ESPN who has oversight of "Outside the Lines," to report our concerns and urge the network not to air this program. That e-mail follows, and we encourage you to read it.

We also have chosen not to grant the producer of this program interviews that were requested of Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell and football Head Coach Bobby Bowden, and we wanted you to know why.

We want you to understand we are very limited in how we can respond to this type of editorial reporting. Federal law prohibits the university from divulging academic information about individual students, even if it would be positive to us. The university also is being sued by one of the sources for this "Outside the Lines" story.

An accurate view of student-athletes' admission and retention at Florida State would reflect that the university admits hundreds of student-athletes who are talented in the classroom as well as in their sport. For example, student-athletes have been three of the last four Rhodes Scholars finalists, and two of them were recipients. Along with other public universities in the state, Florida State does admit some student-athletes with documented learning disabilities. Under federal and state law, and Florida Board of Governors policy, all students with learning disabilities as documented by licensed professionals are provided with appropriate academic accommodations.

According to our Admissions Office, Florida State ordinarily enrolls more than 6,000 "first time in college" students each year, including about 125 who will compete in sports. Typically, such as in 2009, just over 93% of incoming students are admitted through our standard processes.  Another 5.9%  are admitted because they are just below our cutoff scores for standard admission and have special talents or an academic record indicating a high probability of success. The categories for such students admitted in 2009 were: 234 strong academic record, 62 special talent in the arts, 43 in athletics and 14 on appeal.

There is another admission option that requires the support of the university admission committee (consisting of a faculty majority) and involves an appeal to the committee and, if the committee admits the student, an academic plan must be approved by both the student and the admissions committee.

We think it is important to note that of the 41 students admitted through the committee admissions process in 2009, only 17 were student-athletes, who competed in various sports.

We take great pride in the academic performance of our student-athletes, as evidenced by these achievements in 2008-09:

  • 3 ACC SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS
  • 5 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS
  • 1 NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
  • 3 ACC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
  • 6 ARTHUR ASHE, JR. SCHOLAR AWARDS
  • 15 COSIDA/ESPN ACADEMIC ALL DISTRICT
  • 61 STUDENT-ATHLETES ON ALL ACC ACADEMIC TEAMS
  • 175 STUDENT-ATHLETES ON ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
  • 17 STUDENT-ATHLETES MADE THE PRESIDENT'S LIST
  • 139 STUDENT-ATHLETES MADE THE DEAN'S LIST
  • 41% OF ALL STUDENT-ATHLETES EARNED A 3.0 GPA OR HIGHER
  • 10 TEAMS EARNED A 3.0 GPA OR HIGHER

For more information about student-athletes at Florida State, email: everythingFSU@fsu.com.

Sincerely,
Athletic Director Randy Spetman



CONFERENCE CALL REGARDING UPCOMING OTL PROGRAM

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:34:22 -0500
To: vince.doria@espn.com
From: Franklin Murphy
Subject: Conference Call Regarding Upcoming OTL Program

TO:  Vince Doria, Vice President of News, ESPN

RE:  Upcoming Outside the Lines Program on Florida State University

As we urged you in our conference call this morning, we hope you will reconsider airing the "Outside the Lines" program ESPN is promoting as "The Story Behind the Florida State Academics Scandal" that is scheduled to debut Sunday, Dec. 13. 2009 because your promotions for this program have already shown that it contains false statements.

As Betty Steffens, Florida State University's general counsel, and I discussed with you, the promotional video clip for this program and the written promotion posted at the ESPN "Outside the Lines" Web site both contain inaccurate information that is harmful to Florida State University, and the program you are about to air is not a full, fair and balanced account of academic admission or retention of student-athletes at Florida State University.

Here is a recap of the points we made in our conversation with you:

The promotional clip for this "Outside the Lines" piece features Brenda Monk, a former employee of the university who resigned and is suing the university and who is appealing a finding by the NCAA that she was guilty of academic fraud and unethical conduct.

What that promotion piece says about Florida State University admitting "at least one student that had a documented IQ of 60" is absolutely false. And any cited corroboration for this statement is also false.  In admissions, we focus on the student's history of academic performance in classes, the rigor of those classes and test scores.

Tom Farrey, the reporter for this promotional piece, also takes that false statement that the university admitted "at least one student that had a documented IQ of 60" and extrapolates it to more Florida State student-athletes by asking Brenda Monk:  "What did you think when you saw athletes with a 60 IQ being admitted to a school where most of the kids were honor students in high school?"   Brenda Monk answers:  "We have set the student up to failŠ" (Context is vitally important in journalism. The reporter is broadcasting comments from a disgruntled, former employee who is now suing the university. She makes accusations involving a student, but the reporter is broadening this to taint the entire athletics program - which is patently unfair to our more than 500 student-athletes who perform very well in the classroom).

The written promotional piece for the upcoming "Outside the Lines" program also says:  "A central figure in the academic fraud scandal at Florida State University attributes the university's problems to the caliber of students that longtime coach Bobby Bowden brought to Tallahassee in an effort to revive his program, the measures used to keep some of those students eligible, and the quality of the educations they received." This statement is also false. Head Football Coach Bobby Bowden has nothing to do with academic admission of any students. We also pointed out that the NCAA's own investigation of the Florida State case found that no coaches were involved in any way with academic impropriety. 

When your promotional piece refers to "the measures used to keep some of those students eligible," it is, again, way off base. Under state and federal law, Florida State, just like other state universities in Florida, offers proper accommodations for the few student-athletes who are accepted with documented learning disabilities. The university does not offer a disproportionate number of waivers for its student-athletes, as your reporter seems to want to report.

Our administrators worked with the "Outside the Lines" reporter, Tom Farrey, and helped him as much as we could with his story without violating federal laws protecting students' privacy rights.  We reminded Mr. Farrey of those constraints and how they strictly prohibit us from releasing information about students in such small groups that the identity of the individual student would be obvious. He asked us to do that and apparently would not accept that answer and tried to get numerous other administrators, who also had expertise in student admissions, to give him this information.  They could not and did not do so.

Finally, Mr. Farrey had asked us for interviews with Coach Bowden and Florida State President T.K. Wetherell, but we turned down those interviews.  I told Mr. Farrey that neither Coach Bowden nor President Wetherell is an expert in admissions policies and procedures.  By design to comply with federal law, the admissions and retention administrators are the experts and have access to student records and are fully knowledgeable about all the nuances of those programs -- and not President Wetherell or Coach Bowden. 

Also, in our conversation this morning you and, by follow-up email, the "Outside the Lines" staff again offered to interview Coach Bowden or President Wetherell.  Even if this would give us an opportunity to address false accusations, why would anyone trust the context of your offer -- verbatim as follows?:


Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:11:31 -0500
From: "Phillips, Jamila D."

Subject: ESPN Interview Request For TK Wetherall (Sunday 12/13)

Hi,

Hope all is well.  I wanted to place an interview request for TK Wetherall on ESPN's Outside The Lines show on Sunday 12/13 at 9am ET. We are going to have a feature documenting the way by which FSU admits substandard students into the school to play sports. We will discuss how much the FSU situation is widespread and doesn't the win at all costs mentality compromise academics. I know Reporter Tom Farrey reached out regarding Mr. Wetherall but I just wanted to extend the offer again.

Ideally we would like to do this interview on camera. Bob Ley is hosting.

Thanks in advance for your assistance and looking forward to hearing from you.

Jamila Phillips
ESPN Talent Producer
860-766-9084
Jamila.D.Phillips@espn.com

(NOTE: Same request was emailed to Coach Bowden via FSU Athletics Department staff)

  
2 - is a blog post on Nolesports.Com by Corey Clark.  He rambles a bit here but his points are still valid.  

3 - I would also like to post a few points and a small anecdote about Fred Rouse, the player that ESPN hung their hat on as having some great insight.  


- Rouse only went to FSU for one semester and was kicked out after failing multiple drug tests and convicted of theft from his own roommate.  This has caused Rouse to transfer to a total of 4 schools because of attitude, drug, and criminal problems.  I'm not sure a prosecutor would put Rouse on the stand for fear of ruining his case because of the questionable character of the young man.

- I know personally a young lady that had a "relationship" with Rouse during his time at FSU and after he left the team.  He proceeded to go to UTEP after being released from FSU and was kicked off of the team for too many violations, both reported and unreported, to name.


- While I was a referee with the Big Bend Football Officials Association (The officiating association that handles many High School's in the Tallahasee area) I was assigned to work a game at Lincoln High School, Fred Rouse's alma mater, during Rouse's senior year.  Since this was early in my officiating career I was simply working the chains, however working the chains also afforded me the opportunity to talk with the Side Judge quite a bit even if I wasn't always in on all the Referee's huddles and meetings.

Shortly after the coin toss was completed the Side Judge walked back over to the chain gang just shaking his head with a bit of a shocked look on his face.  When I asked him what was the matter he said "That Rouse kid is an asshole".  I asked him to explain what happened.  He said that Rouse was the captain for Lincoln High School and thus went to midfield to call the toss for Lincoln.  When the Referee asked him whether his call was heads or tails, Rouse's response was "It is whatever the fuck I say it is, bitch".

Clearly ESPN went to a very reputable and upstanding young man to help them make their case against FSU.

4 - This exact issue was the focus of an investigation by Atlanta's own AJC just about a year ago.  This is a very interesting read and wasn't one I caught when it was originally done, included in that article is an interesting quote:   
 
"The biggest gap [in SAT scores] between football players and students as a whole occurred at the University of Florida, where players scored 346 points lower than the school’s overall student body. That’s larger than the difference in scores between typical students at the University of Georgia and Harvard University."
 
I don't want this to seem like I'm dragging others into the mud with me.  I'm simply doing what I wish ESPN would have done for more than 15 seconds on Sunday: admitting that it's much more of a widespread problem than simply FSU (they literally only gave it 15 seconds at the end of the segment while talking with a professor from Ohio University who said that it was a national problem).

5 - some points I've pulled from various sources (mainly comment sections of other blogs talking about the ESPN Segment) that I find very interesting.

- "ESPN is the one who should be embarrassed of the fact that they put their name behind a report that was clearly biased and is based on unreliable sources. Yes, the academic scandal happened and it is not something the school should be proud of, but I guarantee the whole deal about "working with the student" happens everywhere. Proof? Tim Tebow scored an 890 on the SAT and is regarded as an Academic All American.  Upset about the "social sciences" degree at FSU? try tebow's "family, youth and community sciences".  It's the exact same degree, just with a different name! HYPOCRISY. "

- "Let's see. It's shocking, shocking I tell you that a one-sided documentary against FSU would be authored by a graduate of rival University of Florida Gator Journalism school. What's this world coming to?"

That's right, the reporter of the story is a UF grad.  If you don't think that makes a difference then you obviously didn't go to school in the south.  You don't think an Auburn grad would jump at the chance to bury Alabama? Georgia Tech grad wouldn't want to embarrass UGA?  I know this played a factor in the timing of this piece as well as the lack of research and failing to find credible sources by ESPN with which to make their point).


- Interesting point about the timing of this story: 

"You need to understand the internet news economy to understand why ESPN is pushing this story now. Its all about 'google hits' and 'key word searches' and 'click throughs'... there has been a lot of news about Bowden's retirement lately, and thus FSU gets a lot of searches. As a result, lets issue more stories about FSU to get in peoples search results and ultimately get people reading 'our story'... "

- If you don't think ESPN is bias take a look at this great piece of work scheduled for next weekend for SEC Network, oops, I mean ESPN:


fsu_student (12/14/2009 at 2:55 PM)
Next time on outside the lines, a hard hitting investigative report entitled "Inside the SEC: How the conference is as close as it gets to the pros". seriously, look it up if you don't believe me 
 
yetimcclin (12/14/2009 at 3:14 PM)
Holy crap. FSU_student wasn't kidding. ESPN is officially a joke. 
 
- Interesting point here that I agree with:

"What chance does the kid with the 60 IQ have in life if he doesnt get to play football?  Why should the kid who scores 1300 on his SATs be the only one to have a chance? Can that player help bring in millions and millions to his school, can he catch a ball high across the middle with a 260 lb linebacker barrin down? How are these kids gonna make anything of themselfs when the school system has already failed them if they cant go to college on their athletic merit?"


Finally I'd just like to say that I believe what happened within the athletic department was wrong.  Clearly the athletic department felt the same way or they wouldn't have self-reported in order to clean house, which they summarily did shortly following the self-reporting.

Unfortunately if ESPN would have discussed all the items I've posted here (Randy Spetman's letter, the background of Brenda Monk and Fred Rouse, the AJC Investigation, the house-cleaning conducted by FSU's athletic department) it clearly would have hurt the effectiveness of ESPN's report.

It stinks that the truth lost out to clicks and neilsen ratings, but I'm not surprised, it seems pretty commonplace now-a-days.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

 Below you will find the Ten Things for another week. For many of you this is your last full week at work for 2009 mine including and for that I am happy for you and me. Big week for me last week as I went to New York City and saw this Christmas tree. Let's get this thing started.




1. Georgia Thoughts


This week I flew up to the Big Apple to see my Georgia Bulldogs play basketball for the first time this season. It was also my first opportunity to see the Dawgs under first year head coach Mark Fox. Despite the loss to a pretty good St. John's team, I did see some things I liked from Fox's Dawgs. We obviously have improved on offense and it is nice to see that we have a plan now. In the passed we lacked player movement, ball movement and purposeful passing. Players were not put into a position to be successful offensively. That's not what I saw Wednesday night. I'm not saying our ills are cured. They aren't. The team still has too many shooters and not enough makers. The opposition will zone us to death, and I'm not sure we have the shooters to punish them for it. We are playing smarter ball, and we were in a position to win the game. They just have to make more plays. It's not the eye gouging display of offensive ineptitude that we showed under Felton. It's a more watchable product. It's just going to be a work in progress for a while, and we'll have to roll with it for a while.


This is a team that you have to watch while remembering this is a process. It's a team you grade on issues bigger than wins and losses. Do they look like they are improving over the course of the season?


2. Colts Thoughts
A record setting afternoon in Indianapolis that saw Peyton Manning throw four touchdowns as the Colts won their 22nd consecutive regular season win. The 22nd consecutive win is the longest in NFL history as the Colts broke a tie with New England, which set the mark last year, and became the seventh team in league history to start 13-0, including this year's New Orleans Saints. Indy also was 13-0 in 2005 before losing three of the last four, including a divis1onal-round playoff game to Pittsburgh. Indy's 114th victory of the decade broke a tie with the 1990s San Francisco 49ers and set a franchise record with its 13th consecutive home win. I think the 114 wins this decade may be more impressive than the 22 consecutive wins. To extend their dominance over the whole decade is so impressive considering that many of the pundits considered this a parity driven league.


I know I normally talk about how great the Indy offense is, but I think it is time to give some love to the Indy defense.Consider what it accomplished in the first half alone Sunday. The Colts D stopped the Broncos on third-and-4 and 4-and-1 on back-to-back plays. Later, it held on third-and-6, forcing a punt. Then, after Denver scored a late first-half touchdown, cutting the Indianapolis lead to 21-7, the Colts stopped the Broncos on fourth-and-5 at the Indianapolis 45. The one thing about the Colts defense is that their are always different players stepping up and making plays. Among the players who came up with big defensive plays were cornerback Jacob Lacey, linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Antoine Bethea, and cornerback Jerraud Powers. Also, former UGA standout Tim Jennings intercepted a pass near the goal line on a big third down play that kept the Broncos from getting a touchdown.




3. Heisman Thoughts
I can not disagree to much with Mark Ingram winning the Heisman Trophy Saturday night in New York City. I could probably make a better argument for Toby Gerhart, you can not take the trophy from Ingram and what he and Alabama have done this season. Almost quietly, Ingram put together one of the best seasons by a running back in SEC history, setting an Alabama single-season record with 1,542 yards and 15 touchdowns. He ran for 113 yards with three touchdowns in last week's 32-13 victory over No. 1 Florida. While I had discounted him last week it was before I heard this stat; Ingram has 1000 yards after contact this season. That is an amazing number. Another amazing number with this years Heisman Trophy is 1. That is the number of Alabama players to win the trophy now that Ingram has won. This number is unbelievable win you consider the 12 National Championships and the hundreds of All-Americans to play on the Capstone.


A lot has been mentioned about Mark Ingram Sr. who watched the Heisman Trophy ceremony from across the East River at the Queens Private Correctional Facility as he is being held on charges of failure to surrender, which will be added to the 92-month prison sentence he already faced for money laundering and bank fraud. Two weeks ago Selena Roberts wrote a Sports Illustrated cover story on the Ingram family and it is worth taking the time to read.


If you missed his speech Saturday night, this is a must watch.


4. The Coach Went On A Trip
This week I had the privilege of flying up to NYC to watch the Big East/SEC challenge. The main draw for me was the early match-up of Georgia-St. John's as I have always wanted to watch the Dawgs play at The Garden. In addition, I knew the second game would be something to stick around for with Kentucky and UCONN matching up.


I will give a trip update later in the week as any trip to the big apple is a great time. However, there are a few things that have to be discussed. Madison Square Garden is indeed the Mecca of College Basketball just as it claims. The UCONN-Kentucky game that I attended might have been the best college basketball game that I have ever attended. The crowd pretty much sold the Garden out and the crowd was split pretty close to 50-50. The 50-50 split of the crowd created an atmosphere I have yet to see in college basketball and in fact the split reminded me a lot of the Georgia-Florida game. The atmosphere was even that intense.  In addition my buddy Todd was blown away at how many people Kentucky brought to town. Furthermore, he was shocked to hear how southern some of the Kentucky and Georgia fans were. 


I learned that John Wall is the best player I have seen play in college. I think the honor before Wall went to another UK great in Tayshaun Prince. Two minutes into the game Wall had three steals, I do not think I had ever seen this before. Plus when Wall might be the fastest player I have watched play basketball. I have never seen anyone go up and down the court like he does. He turns the ball over a little to much for my liking (what freshmen doesn't?) but with his talent the turnover numbers should decrease throughout the season. Cue the accolades. “How can a guy so young keep being so clutch?” John Clay writes in the Lexington Herald-Leader. “He did it in his debut, making the final shot to beat Miami of Ohio. He did it Saturday against North Carolina, putting together a phenomenal first half that had the visitors back on their Heels. He did it again Wednesday night. Bright lights. Big city. Big deal.” ESPN’s Dana O’Neil writes, “it is almost impossible not to get swept up into the euphoria, after two years of mediocrity, Kentucky is good again. No scratch that. Kentucky is really good again.”


Nobody does events like MSG and at halftime of the Georgia game they countdown the Top 10 College Basketball moments in Madison Square Garden history. A good share of the top ten came from the Big East tournament and legendary coaches John Thompson and Lou Carnesecca. However, the highlight of the tribute was when they recognized Oscar Robertson. "The Big O" is one of my favorite historical figures in sports and to get an opportunity to see him in person was outstanding.


Other big name sittings besides The Coach from www.captainandcoach.blogspot.com was Chris Mullin who sat about 6 rows and one section over from me. Hall of Fame coach and former UGA coach Jim Donnan literally sat right in front of me. Also spotted walking through the Garden was Howie Schwab from "Stump The Schwab" fame. Howie ended up working stats and spotting for Dick Vitale in the Kentucky-UCONN game. For the television guys who read this blog, is this the right term? SEC commissioner Mike Slive and slew of members from the SEC office sat about 5 rows directly in front of me. I could not think of a good start to conversation or I would have at least spoken to him as he is probably one of the ten most powerful people in sports. (Sounds like a list for me to work on for next week) What did Adam Sandler teach us in Big Daddy? Initiating the conversation is half the battle.Also spotted at the Garden was WFAN radio host Mike Francesca. It has to be mentioned that the Chris "Mad Dog" Russo was NOT spotted. It could have been a great reunion.



5. JJ's Top 5 MSG Moments
As I sat in Chicago's O'Hare airport during my two hour layover Thursday afternoon I could not help but notice some great looking American Airlines flight attendants and I could not help but think of all the awesome times I have spent at Madison Square Garden. While I have not attended any playoff games or big time concerts in The World's Famous Arena, I still have seen some pretty awesome sports. These are my top 5 MSG moments.


1. Kentucky-UCONN (SEC/Big East Challenge) Wednesday December 9th 2009 was the date for this classic matchup. John Wall scored a season-high 25 points, including 12 of his team's last 15. It was the second meeting between the two programs, and Kentucky evened the series at 1-1 and moved to three wins shy of 2,000 all-time.


2. A dramatic comeback by the Knickerbockers - Wednesday January 11, 2006 was the night the Knickerbockers blew a 18 point to the Mavericks and then rallied to beat Dallas in overtime. I was a guest of my good buddy Dan who had Knicks season tickets at the time. What made this win even crazier is that the Knicks only had a .280 winning percentage while the Mavericks lost in the NBA finals to the Heat. From the game notes, The Knicks and Mavs have the league's two highest payrolls, and there was plenty of money on the sidelines, too: Dallas owner Mark Cuban and Donald Trump were both at the game.  


3. Gerry McNamara - Friday March 2006 was the date as Syracuse faced old nemesis Georgetown in the semi-finals. The Hoyas led by fifteen at the half, McNamara sat for ten minutes because of his nagging groin injury, and Terrence Roberts was benched because of poor play. In the second half, that turned around as McNamara hit five three point shots to erase the deficit. With 45 seconds to play the Orange were down by four, when McNamara drained his fifth three point shot to make it a one point game. On the next possession, Nichols knocked away an inlet pass, that McNamara picked up and raced down the court. He passed to an open teammate who laid it in for the game winning shot with 1.5 seconds to play, beating Georgetown 58-57 and sending Syracuse to the Big East finals and the Garden into pandemonium.


4. My first ever Hockey game - Sunday November 20th 2005 was the date as the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 3-2. Jaromir Jagr had two assistants and a goal for the Rangers. From the game notes, The Knicks beat the Trail Blazers 103-92 in the afternoon portion of the NBA-NHL doubleheader at Madison Square Garden. That is right, two games in one day at the Garden. I went with a friend that I had met at the UGA bar in NYC a day earlier. We were friends at UGA and I had no idea that she had moved up to the Big Apple. Nothing like Georgia football to bring people together even if it was in New York City.


5. My Brother and I spend an evening at the Garden - Thursday November 17th was the date and my brother was in town and we decided to take in two games of the Coaches versus Cancer classic at Madison Square Garden. The first game of the evening saw Florida who would go on to win a National Championship the next spring beat the Demon Deacans of Wake Forest as Taurean Green scored 23 points to lead the Gators. In the second game it was a matchup of coaching legends as Bobby Knight's Texas Tech Raiders took on Syracuse and Jim Boeheim. The Orangemen would go on to blowout the Red Raiders by 35 points 81-46. Another thing I remember about this evening is my brother striking up a conversation with some random guy while I was in line to purchase the tickets and the guy ended up giving us two pretty good seats, but not as good as the seats I had this past Wednesday night.


For all my New York City friends who read this blog and for any one else that has ever been to MSG, can you share with us some of your top moments at the Garden for next week?


6. MLB Thoughts for the week
a. I realized this week that not everyone knows about the website mlbtraderumors.com. It is must visit multiple times thughout the day. I know it has changed the lives of my good friends The Admiral and Bobagaloosh.
b. Just as I said last week we would get a lot of rumors but not a lot of action in Indianapolis.
c. It should be noted that I think the # way trade between the Yankees, Tigers, and D'backs was an old fashion baseball trade. I love a deal where it looks like all 3 teams win.
d. The MLB Network continues to be AWESOME. Great work setting up the Hot Stove show right inside the Hotel lobby. Also, this past week Costas interviewed Bob Feller. I learned more about the history of baseball in that one hour than I have in a long, long, time.
e. Nick Cafardo's note section in the Boston Globe continues to be a must read.
f. Is Jayson Bay a lineup changing player? I do know he will get paid like one.
g. Andy and Grandy and the Yankees are looking tough for another season. What else is new? I do like how they are trying to stay young with Granderson.
h. I know Scott Boras is an awesome agent but can he get Johnny Damon four years?
i. Baseball thought to ponder...Mike Cameron had 25 homers and 70 RBIs in 2008 and 24 homers and 70 RBIs in 2009. The only trouble is that it took Cammy exactly 100 more at-bats to produce similar results.


7. What I read this week
I got to read a couple of good articles this week and the first article comes from my Dad who found this outstanding read in last week's Miami Herald.The article takes a look at Jeff Greene who made an $800 million bet against sub-prime mortgages. Fascinating read on Greene who comes off as a normal guy with a lot of money. Good for him.

The second read comes from the CNNSI vault and takes a look at former Cubs second basemen and probably future manager Ryne Sandburg. Very intriguing look at someone who was once one of my favorite players. I think he will make a great manager in the big leagues one day.


8. Football Thoughts for the week
a. It amazes me the timing of some of Jay Cutler's interceptions. It is going to be an interesting off-season for the Monsters of the Midway. Do they turn to Mike Shanahan?
b. I have to wonder about some of the decisions by Sean Peyton yesterday afternoon. The first one was on a third and one late in the 3rd quarter when they went max protect and only had one eligible receiver who ran a a fly. This was after the Saints had picked up back to back third and shorts by running for it. The second head scratching move was the decision to go for the fake field goal instead of taking the three points and forcing the falcons to score a touchdown.
c. The Falcons fans who sit around section 313 are idiots when it comes to the game of football and life in general.
d. Dallas is 1-6 last three seasons in December, this is almost unexplainable.
e. Can anyone explain the Broncos to me? Are they a playoff-caliber team like the one that began the season with six-consecutive victories? Or are they more like the club that last four straight and five of its last seven? Denver still has a shot at a wild-card spot, and with its remaining schedule (vs. Oakland, at Philadelphia and vs. Kansas City), that goal looks attainable.The Broncos have looked sensational at times and awful at other times. If they do reach the postseason, other offensive players besides Marshall are going to have to make a contribution if they intend to make a deep run. Does anyone know Knowshon?
f. Speaking of the Broncos, Brandon Marshall has been awesome. Marshall was the best player on the field Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Yes he was better than Manning on Sunday. He caught 10 passes for 109 yards in the opening half, becoming the first NFL player since 1960 to have eight 10-plus catch games in his first four seasons. But he was just getting started. Marshall, who scored both of Denver’s touchdowns, is a tough hombre to defend, or bring down once he makes a reception. Marshall finished with 21 catches -- breaking the NFL record set by Terrell Owens -- for 200 yards. Of his 109 first-half yards, 72 came after the catch.
g. Last night Rodney Harrison just said the Chargers were the most dangerous team in the NFL. I know this Colts fan wants nothing to do with the Chargers. Tony Dungy agreed with me which is always nice.

h. What the hell is going on with the Steelers? The Steelers are in the midst of the longest losing streak by a defending Super Bowl champion in NFL history. Their current five-game slide ties the 1987 Giants' previous mark. How do they lose to Browns on a Thursday night? How do the Browns sack Big Ben eight times?
i. Great bounce back win by the Titans who might not be all the way out of the playoff chase yet...They will need a lot of help but on Sunday the Titans won for the sixth time in their last seven games. It was the most points scored by the Titans' offense this season and the fewest points allowed by the Titans' defense this season.
j. Welcome to the NFL Keith Null. His line on Sunday was 27 for 43 with 157 yards, a touchdown and five interceptions.Who the hell is Keith Null?
k. What a big day for the diva receiver set in the NFL. Chad Ochocinco scored for Cincinnati. Terrell Owens scored for Buffalo. Steve Smith scored for Carolina. Do not forget how awesome Brandon Marshall was on Sunday.
l. Why do the Bengals not want to remain in my NFL top 5? Bad showing for the Bengals on Sunday as this is the fewest points scored by the Bengals since the first week of the season. It was also the most points given up by the Bengals this season.
t. Great insight from the Captain on Florida State in the blog earlier last week. I will agree with this statement, most fans won't really think for themselves and I am reminded by the current situation with Georgia's offensive coordinator. A lot of Georgia fans want a change at the offensive coordinator position and I always ask this question; did you know Georgia tied with Arkansas for most points scored in SEC games? Well we did, so I think Mike Bobo did a great job considering we had to replace two top 15 picks in the NFL draft. Do I always agree with his play calling? No, but I do not always agree with the Colts and Manning's play calling either, so what do I know?

9. NFL Top 5
This week's list is done in honor of Anthony McClendon who has yet to agree with any of my NFL Top 5 lists this year...Anthony, the Bears are that is why they have not made the top 5.
1. Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning had his 20th career game with four or more passing TDs which is two shy of Brett Favre's NFL record.
2. New Orleans Saints - "Who dey! Who dey! Who dey think gonna beat dem Saints?" I say the Colts
3. San Diego Chargers - The opposite of the Cowboys, does any team play better in December
4. Minnesota Vikings - Can Brett Favre win in the Superdome in January?
5. Philadelphia Eagles - The question in Philly will always be; can Donavan and Andy bring home the Lombardi trophy?


10. Non Football Thoughts
a. I watched the 60 Minutes from last week with the Tim Donaghy interview. I basically now have more questions than answers. I also want to know why the Media has given the NBA and David Stern a hall pass for a gambling scandal that effects the integrity of almost every NBA game? I also want everyone to compare the hall pass given by the media to the NBA to the media reaction to baseball's steroid problem. For some reason they will not let the steroid issue die when Joe Q. Public has already turned the page.
b. Is their a better city around Christmas than New York City? By the way it was about the same temperature in NYC and Atlanta all week.
c. I really enjoy a good NYC walk in the fall, spring or a not so cold winter day. Nothing like 15-20 blocks in the middle of good conversation.
d. I saw Invictus earlier this week. Pretty good movie. Click here for my movie review
e. My outstanding week of sports continued Saturday in Athens, Georgia when I attended the Rock-N-Raquets event at Stegman Coliseum. I had awesome second row seats and was able to get an up close seat for Serena Williams, Melanie Oudin, Sam Querrey and UGA's own John Isner (who beat Roddick at the US Open).
f. Serena showed a sense of humor when she agreed with a lines judge call and she commented, "see I can be nice!"
g. It is unbelievable how hard the men hit the ball, Isner is known for his 140 mph serve did not serve anything that hard but did serve some in the 120 range that were tough for me to track.
h. This past week was Jimmy V week on ESPN. I rip on the "Mothership" (Dan Patrick's word for ESPN) alot for their self serving coverage of sports but this is something they get right every year. I am not sure who has seen or has not seen this Jimmy V speech from February of 1993 but everyone should take the time to watch. What makes the speech even more remarkable is that he died 8 weeks later and the strength that he showed when his body was in such a weak state is remarkable.



i. Religion, Family, and the Green Bay Packers...my roomdawg lives this everyday and somewhere Lombardi is proud of him
j. You can not get a sandwhich in Atlanta that is half as good as anything you would find in the Big Apple. The Derek Jeter sandwhich from Othello's Deli in Astoria is a must for anyone in the tri-state area. In fact, Thursday morning I picked up 5 Derek Jeter's before getting on the plane. I ate one in Chicago during my layover Thursday afternoon and one Thursday night for dinner. The final three were eaten by Coach Mitchell, The Admiral and myself Friday afternoon for lunch. I mean who does not enjoy chicken cutlet, ham, bacon, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing? 
k.  Is their anything better than Dan Patrick on the 101 and Derek Jeter for lunch? I do not think their is? For those that are DirectTV subscribers Brooklyn Decker will join Dan and the Danettes in studio this Wednesday. A must record segment. 
l. For those that did not come to the rooftop Saturday night you missed a great party and a visit from Santa and his elf. Both Santa and the Elf were able to mix in a jog as well Saturday Night.



m. Great job by those who showed up, proud of you. 

n. Really good holiday episodes by The Office, Community and 30 Rock.  
o. Does anyone have a better grasp on the character than Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy?
p. Here is a list of  my top 5 shows on television right now...notice the now as the reason for no Entourage.
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. 30 Rock
4. Community
5. The Office
q. I probably laugh out loud more at The Big Bang Theory than the other four shows combined.
r. Lunch Saturday in Athens was at Add Drug and dinner was Inoko Express...you can not do much better than that unless you somehow can mix in a Weaver D's or The Last Resort.
s. I continue my tradition of linking a scene from Christmas Vacation...this time the attic scene. What an awful way to spend a day.
t. How funny was Kevin during the office on Thursday?

Quote of the Week

"I think I am going to drunk dial my dad tonight"

A random Kentucky fan who was standing behind me in the concession line between games Wednesday night at MSG. The only problem was this lady was around 40, when do you get to old to stop drunk dialing?

Quote of the week 2

"Someone tell me how we won this game"

Another random drunk Kentucky fan this time after the game. He was standing at the urinal hollering this question over and over again. His tone tended to get angrier every time he would ask this question and got no response. I wonder if me laughing at him contributed to the angrier tone.

Text of the week

"It is my personal goal to get into 10 things every week."

From my buddy Donald to me, I think being in the 10 Things is an admirable goal because that means you were awesome.




I hope everyone has a wonderful last week at work for 2009. Let's all put forth an honest effort and get things done.