Thursday, February 18, 2010

Mocking the NCAA Tournament


On February 12th a group of media members assembled to “draft” the ncaa tournament field as things stood at that time.  These media members included Jay Bilas, Andy Katz, Seth Davis and other on-air talent from various media outlets that are involved with college basketball. 

I love everything to do with the college basketball tournament and take every chance I can to fill out a bracket.  With this in mind I am going to fill out my bracket based on the media members’ projections, name some teams that drew a solid line/region, name teams that I like to surprise at this point in time and some teams I like to disappoint.

If you have any comments on my picks feel free to fire away in the comments.  Also, you can get your copy of the bracket here if you want to follow along.

I’m going to list any seed upsets (lower seed beating a higher seed) and starting with the Sweet 16 I’ll list each matchup and my projected winner.

MID WEST REGIONAL

UPSETS

9 Florida State defeats 8 Northern Iowa – This is definitely a homer pick.  UNI reminds me of the Wisconsin team that bounced FSU in the first round last year.  They’ve got 3 shooters to spread the floor and a 7-footer that can negate Solomon Alabi’s height.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this went the other way.

10 Missouri defeats 7 RichmondMissouri shoots really well as a team from three-point range (38.4%) and has 6 players averaging over a steal per game in that hectic press they run.  Richmond’s leading scorer/assist man Kevin Anderson is a good shooter but has only a 1/1 AST/TO ratio with 2.5 TO’s a game.  I like Mizzou to revenge their loss to Richmond from early in the season.

BEST GAME

Sweet 16 – 3 Wisconsin vs. 2 West Virginia – The irresistible force vs. the immovable object: West Virginia’s defense vs. Wisconsin’s shooting and offensive efficiency.  Senior leadership and playmakers on both sides and clutch players with tournament experience as well.  I’m going with defense and WVU to pull out the win.

SURPRISE TEAM

Pittsburgh – It’s been an up-and-down year for the Panthers but they’ve got about 3 guys who can really shoot it and a couple of talented ball handlers.  I’ve got them knocking off Vandy before getting bounced by Kansas in the Sweet 16.

DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM
Richmond21-6 Overall, 10-2 in A-10:  The Atlantic 10 conference has made a lot of noise (A-10 has Temple ranked in the top 20 and at last reporting Joe Lunardi had six A-10 schools in his 64).  Richmond’s done well with wins over Florida, Mississippi St., Old Dominion, Temple, and the aforementioned Mizzou win.  It would be a disappointment for this team to get bounced in the 1st round.

SWEET 16:

1 Kansas vs. 5 Pittsburgh
2 West Virginia vs. 3 Wisconsin

ELITE 8:

1 Kansas vs. 2 West Virginia

FINAL FOUR TEAM:

Kansas



WEST REGIONAL

UPSETS

5 Wake Forest defeats 4 New Mexico – This would be an upset in seed only. I like what Steve Alford has done at New Mexico but they wouldn’t beat Wake.  Wake has one of the best PG’s in the country in Ishmael Smith as well as super-sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu.  I like the Deacs to make it to the Sweet 16 before falling to Nova.

10 Maryland defeats 7 Rhode Island – I like Maryland to roll Rhode Island in this matchup.  Maryland shoots better and rebounds better.  They also have two guards in Grievous Vazquez and Eric Hayes that can really shoot, pass and handle the ball.  Tough break for Rhode Island with this draw

BEST GAME

2nd Round – 10 Maryland vs. 2 Purdue – Purdue is really good, but Maryland’s guards will keep them in any game.  Both squads are well coached, have some shooters, and are littered with upperclassmen leading the way.  I like Purdue’s defense to help them get the win but it would be a classic I’m sure.

SURPRISE TEAM

Butler – Although not surprising in name since they’ve been around for a while now, did you know their two best players are sophomores?  I like the duo of Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack to lead them to the Sweet 16, upsetting K-State along the way.


DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM

Kansas State – Bill Self’s team has been ranked in the top 10 all year it seems and boasts wins over Texas and Xavier.  However the rest of their resume is a tad hollow.  They still have a chance to solidify that however with games against Missouri and Kansas, both of whom they’ve already lost to, still on the schedule.

SWEET 16:

1 Villanova vs. 5 Wake Forest
6 Butler vs. 2 Purdue

ELITE 8:

1 Villanova vs. 2 Purdue

FINAL FOUR TEAM:

Villanova



SOUTH REGIONAL
UPSETS

 13 Sam Houston State defeats 4 Texas – I really like Sam Houston State to make some noise in this tournament as you can tell.  I’ve got SHS making it to the sweet 16 before getting knocked off by SyracuseTexas’s struggles have been well documented and most of it goes back to PG play as J’covan Brown, Valez Ward and Douglas Balbay all have problems shooting the basketball.  Damian James is a special talent but I think he’s bounced in the first round

13 Sam Houston State defeats 5 Gonzaga – This is a candidate for best game as these squads are almost mirror images of each other as both can shoot it and have great guard play.  The problem is Gonzaga only really has Matt Bouldin while SHS can roll out 4 guys that shoot 38% or better from the 3PT line, including 3 that are higher than 40%.  Gonzaga exits early once again.

11 South Florida defeats 6 Tennessee – Plain and simple, Tennessee just can’t shoot.  This is evidenced by the fact that their 2nd best 3PT shooter on their team is also their best post player: Wayne Chism.  I don’t see him being able to do both, especially with the dearth of guard play on UT (I mean, they’re STILL trying to make JP Prince a PG!).  Remember this name, because he’ll be a star in the tournament: Dominique Jones from South Florida.  He’s averaging 20/6/4 and is one of the best shooters in the tournament.  This is a bad draw for UT as Jones should have a field day against UT’s backcourt.

3 Michigan State defeats 2 Duke – Looking at the stats once thing really rises to the top, Michigan State is really well coached.  This will be a slugfest as both teams are well coached and have some great guards (Kalin Lucas for MSU and Jon Scheyer for Duke).  I really think this is only an upset in seed only; these are two closely matched teams.

3 Michigan State defeats 1 Syracuse – I love the Cuse, but Michigan State just grinds you down so well.  They’ve shown they can dissect a solid zone in their win over Michigan, and I expect they’d be able to do the same to the Cuse.  In the end the difference will be Kalin Lucas vs. The Orange’s PG duo of Brandon Triche/Scoop Jardine: this is a matchup that MSU wins hands down.  Couple that with MSU being about the only team in NCAA with enough length to offset Syracuse’s length and I like the Spartans to advance past the ‘Cuse. 

BEST GAME

3 Michigan State defeats 2 Duke – Possibly the one guy playing the PG position the best is Jon Scheyer for Duke, however Kalin Lucas can be every bit his equal.  When looking at the stats the one thing that really jumped out at me is Michigan State’s Point Per Possession of it’s players.  For two teams that really thrive on ball control and grinding out a win I think Michigan State does it just a tad better and with better athletes.  Either way this should be a great matchup since the teams are so similar.

SURPRISE TEAM

13 Sam Houston State – SHS is 11-0 in their conference, one of the last few unbeaten teams in their conference.  They also boast out-of-conference wins over Oral Roberts (Tournament team) and @ Auburn; they also played Kentucky in Lexington and only lost by 10.  They are a terrific shooting team that starts 5 upperclassmen and 3 Guards this team has the guard play to attack teams with weak guards (Texas) and teams with limited depth at the guard spots (Gonzaga).  As we know, guard play is the biggest factor in NCAA Tournament success, I expect the Bearkats to do well. 

DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM

Texas – a season of disappointment continues for the Longhorns.  But their troubles have really risen to the top over the last 9 games (3-6 in that span) and I don’t expect it to subside by then.  Get a PG Rick Barnes, maybe Avery Bradley will morph into that role next year.

SWEET 16:

1 Syracuse vs. 13 Sam Houston State
2 Duke vs. 3 Michigan State

ELITE 8:

1 Syracuse vs. 3 Michigan State

FINAL FOUR TEAM:

Michigan State



EAST REGIONAL
UPSETS

11 Cornell defeats 6 Georgia Tech – Georgia Tech is just one shooter short for this matchup.  Big Red’s 7-footer Jeff Foote will help negate Lawal/Favors inside while there are 4 guys that have taken at least 70+ threes on the season that are making them at a 40%+ clip.  I like the Andrew “The Nard Dog” Bernard’s alma mater to pull off the upset.

10 Xavier defeats 7 Texas A&M – Xavier has tournament and big game experience.  They’ve beaten Cincinnati and Florida and lost to Wake, Temple and Butler by a combined 10 points.  TAMU on the other hand takes terrible shots, commits more TO’s than assists and doesn’t shoot particularly well.  Also their best senior, Brian Davis, is a hoops retard if you judge his basketball IQ; it’s somewhere around 13 – he loves lamp.

3 Ohio State defeats 2 Georgetown – Both teams can really shoot the basketball with both at 38%+ as a team from 3pt land and 49%+ as a team overall.  Georgetown is a little more careless with the ball but they play better defense. This would be such a great game I’ll give more analysis in the Best Game section because it deserves it.

BEST GAME

3 Ohio State defeats 2 Georgetown – I honestly have no idea which way this game would go, both teams can really shoot it, have solid guard play, upperclassmen with experience all over the roster, and special players in Evan Turner and Greg Monroe for OSU and GT Respectively.  I only chose OSU because Evan Turner is the best player in college basketball and there’s going to be one tough game where he throws up a triple double and wins it by himself.  I’ll project that to this game and give it to the buckeyes.

SURPRISE TEAM

BYU - People are going to be surprised by how good BYU is.  I have them losing to Kentucky in the Sweet 16 but they’ve got about 4 white guys that can really fill it up.  If they get going from the outside I could definitely see them derailing the Wildcats Final Four bid.

DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM

Georgia Tech – They landed the #1 overall recruit in Derrick Favors and had Gani Lawal withdraw his name from the NBA Draft (Late first round pick) to come back to school to tutor him.  Iman Shumpert is a great wing but they just don’t have enough guard play to make it in the tournament.  The fact that they’d lose to an Ivy league school wraps up their disappointing status.

SWEET 16:

1 Kentucky vs 5 BYU
2 Georgetown vs. 3 Ohio State

ELITE 8:

1 Kentucky vs. 3 Ohio State

FINAL FOUR TEAM:

Kentucky


CAPTAIN’S PROJECTED FINAL FOUR

Midwest: 1 Kansas

West: 1 Villanova

South: 3 Michigan State

East: 1 Kentucky

Toughest road to the Final Four: South Regionalevidenced by the fact that I have their three-seed making it out.  This region is just loaded and I guarantee when the real bracket is made there will be some shuffling of these teams.  I could see anywhere from the one-seed Syracuse to the five-seed Gonzaga coming out of this bracket.  Throw in Mississippi, Arizona, Sam Houston State and South Florida and there are some lower seeds with a really good chance to make some noise in the tourney as well.

Easiest road to the Final Four: West Regional – Other than their 1-2 (Nova-Purdue) I think every team from 3-9 is a tad overseeded.  New Mexico a 4? Oklahoma State a 9?  There will definitely be some teams moving down from these lofty seeds in the real bracket once all is said and done.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

Here are this weeks Ten Things. I have been given some great ideas for the next few weeks so be on the lookout for what I think will be some awesome stuff. Also, if you have any thoughts on future content please do not hesitate to let me know as we enjoy the feedback.

1. Georgia Thoughts

A 1-1 week for the Men's hoops team. We continue to play well at The Stegasorous but struggle on the road. How do we lose at Auburn by 20 points? I'm starting to be amazed at the difference in how we play at home and on the road. I do not think its not a matter of talent -- Georgia has proven it has the talent to compete, particularly with a team like Auburn. It really seems like it's completely about attitude. How can the Dawgs finish so strong Saturday night after absolutely folding against the same team on the road just a couple weeks ago?

How is this for a NCAA tournament resume? Wins over GaTech, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Illinois, and South Carolina. How many bubble teams wish they could claim those stats?

The GymDogs have seemed to right the ship beating Arkansas 196.725-195.825 on a snowy Friday night in the Classic City. The GymDogs scored a 49 on each rotation and are showing signs of great improvements. The Gym Dogs looked at least somewhat like the squad that captured five straight national championships. While a sixth NCAA crown is highly unlikely, Jay Clark’s Georgia team appears to be performing at or near its usual lofty level once again.

2. Football Wrap Up

Here are a couple questions I have as the NFL begins its offseason
a. What is Brett Favre going to do?
b. WHo is going to replace Kurt Warner is Arizona?
c. Where does Tim Tebow go during the draft?
d. How much money will Jerry Jones spend in a uncapped year?
e. How much will Daniel Snyder spend in an uncapped year?
f. Who will be the QB in Cleveland?
g. What team will pay Julius Peppers?
i. How will Mike Martz and Jay Cutler work together?
j. Is Matt Moore the Panthers QB of the future?
k. Do the Ravens get Joe Flacco a deep threat at WR?
l. Do the Ravens begin to find replacements for Ray Lewis an Ed Reed?
m. Can the Falcons find someone to cover a pass?
n. Will the Donovan rumors ever stop?

3. College Basketball Thoughts

a. Hard to believe that Jim Calhoun's days at UCONN might be getting shorter and shorter. There are questions concerning Calhoun's health and the fact they have lost five of their last six is not good for those in The Constitution State.
b. I know some readers like to gamble ATS on college basketball and here are some stats for those readers.
c. The five worst teams ATS are Youngstown State, North Carolina, Tennessee-Martin, Penn, and LSU.
d. The five best team ATS are Baylor, Princeton, Syracuse, Kansas State, and Cornell.
e. Great job by co-worker Richard Thornton who saw games this past Saturday at Duke, at UNC and at Wake Forest.
f. He told me he sat two rows behind the Maryland bench for free...I can not wait till hear that story on Tuesday.
g. I also asked him how many times did Gary Williams say the F word and his answer was, every time he opened his month. He also commented on how he would never play for Gary Williams. This is not the first time I have ever heard someone say this.
h. On Saturday Purdue held Iowa to 15 points in the first half. How does a Big Ten team only score 15 points in a half of basketball?
i. This weekend might have been one of the craziest in college basketball.
j. On Friday night the craziness began when Pittsburgh and West Virginia battled to three overtimes and the #4 Mountaineers were beaten by the #23 Pitt Panthers. Also on Friday Andy Bernard's 22-ranked Cornell Big Red were 16 point favorites and lost by 15 points to the Penn Quakers. By the way this was only Penn's 4th win of the season. Cornell righted the ship on Saturday beating Princeton by three. The Big Red next weekend play at a really good Harvard team on Friday before taking I-495 to play at Dartmouth on Saturday.
k. For those that do not follow the Ivy League all league games are played on Friday and Saturday and they do not have a conference tournament so who wins the league championship earns the leagues automatic bid  to the NCAA tournament. This weeks Harvard-Cornell game is huge.
l. Did I really just break down the Ivy League when it comes to basketball?

m. The craziness on Saturday included an A-10 school winning at an SEC school albeit Xavier is a really good team but Florida should have won at home if it wants to go dancing. Other craziness on Saturday include UCONN losing by 12 at home, Bradley upsetting Northern Iowa and San Diego St upsetting a ranked UNLV team.
n. Things really got out of control on Sunday as Louisville won at the Carrier Dome in beating Syracuse and Rutgers upset Georgetown. How does Georgetown lose to Rutgers?
o. Pat Forde of ESPN gives us a pretty good read this week on the different college towns that the basketball writers venture into during the winter.
p. Doug Gottleib gives us an even better read on the ten members of the Oklahoma State basketball family that died in a plane crash in 2001. Every college team that I know has a similar group of people that support the team in ways that do not catch the public's attention. Great job by Gottleib.


4. Hoops Power 5

1. Kansas - All they did was win both games by double figures this week.
2. Kentucky - Very intrigued to see how they play next Saturday at Vandy's Memorial Gym
3. Villanova - Every week is a grind in the Big East, this week Nova plays UCONN at home tonight before traveling to Pitt next week.
4. Purdue - Play at Ohio State for first place in the Big Ten Wednesday night.
5. Syracuse - The men of Orange were once up at home 22-11 before losing by 6 on Sunday. Something tells me Boeheim will have them ready for Georgetown this week.

5. Olympics Thoughts

a. I am dumbfounded Canada has not won Olympic medals in Luge, Nordic Combined, or Ski Jumping.
b. This is Canada's third time hosting the Olympics and as of Sunday afternoon they have yet to win a Gold Medal as the home team.
c. How awesome were the Opening Ceremony. I will even give Canada a pass for their technical difficulties in lighting the Olympic flame. Hey, this is Canada, were you expecting perfection?
d. I did think some of the Ceremony was awesome such as the whales swimming across the stage and the bear made me want to reach for a Coke.
e. Disappointed my favorite group of Canadian Rockers Arcade Fire could not get in on the Opening Ceremony.
f. In my opinion this is how O'Canada or any countries National Anthem should be sung. Check out the guy at the 1:00 minute mark getting into the Anthem.
g. On Sunday afternoon the USA won a medal in Nordic Combined and the reason I am mentioning this fact is this is the first time the US has ever won a medal in the Nordic Combined. Johnny Spillane who grew up two blocks from Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs brought home the silver in the sport that combines the skills of cross-country skiing and ski jumping.
h. I am also mentioning Spillane because my brother lives in Steamboat Springs and he told me Friday afternoon how the small skiing community in Northwestern Colorado had caught Olympic fever.
i. What makes the Spillane story even better is that he broke his best pair jumping ski's the day before competition.
j. Update on letter B Sunday Night: Alexandre Bilodeau becomes first Canadian to win gold on home soil. Does it in the men's moguls.
k. Great job by CNNSI.com's Tim Layden in getting an interview with Lindsay Vonn after her first practice session Sunday afternoon. Vonn has been the early story of this years games and it now looks like she will ski on Wednesday. Good for her.
l. I also loved this factoid from the article, In the condo they have been using a home theater as a de facto training room for Vonn's treatment sessions. On Saturday night they combined the two uses. "The guys said 'It's Saturday night, let's watch a movie,'" said Vonn. "So we put on Transformers. I was getting treatment for about the first hour of the movie and then just watching for the second hour."
m. When need someone to hit a figure skater in the knee again because I have no interest.
n. On the flip side short track speed skating has to be the most exciting Olympic sport. It is amazing their are not more crashes.
o. UGA also has an athlete in the Winter Olympics. Former hammer thrower Andras Haklits will compete for Croatia in bobsled in Olympics. He's 2nd UGA Winter Olympian.The first is some guy named Herschel (more on him later).
p.A lot has been mentioned about the death of Georgian Olympic Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. The video is awful and I will not post it but you can find it online without much effort. I am not sure who is to blame but I do not like how the IOC blamed human error. This was not a plane crash, it was luging accident.
q. I love the response by Georgia president Mikheil Saakashvili, "Well, with all due respect -- and I am not a competent person to talk about these issues, and I don't claim to know all of the technical details -- but one thing I know for sure: That no sports mistake is supposed to lead to a death. No sports mistake is supposed to be fatal."
r. Bruce Arthur a scribe for the Vancouver paper writes this outstanding piece on the accident.
s. Despite what has gone wrong at the start of these games we still have two more exciting weeks of athletic contests plus some hockey with NHL stars.

Halftime -

Here is some random radio-edited Third Eye Blind while we take a break and ponder a trivia question.

The first one to respond to me wins a prize out of the Captain & Coach prize closet.

Alabama and Purdue each have three Super Bowl winning Qb's...Name them all.


 6. NBA Weekend Thoughts

a. I will start with the bad and the Slam Dunk Contest. Has any event gone from must see television to highlights only in such a short time?
b. The four contestant for the 85 contest were MJ, Dominique, Clyde Drexler, ad Dr. J.....that's a Dunk Contest
c. I absolutely loved the skills contest and think they could have added more participants since it was the best event.
d. The three point contest is always fun as well especially with bigger names such as Paul Pierce, Stephen Curry, and Chauncy Billups participating.
e. The celebrity game on Friday night was also intriguing. It did not hurt that the roomdawgs former roommate and best friend from Milwaukee officiated the game.
f. Am I the only one who though the NBA All-star player intros are more entertaining than the actual dunk contest?
g. How did David Stern not have a heart attack during the halftime show of the NBA star game?
h. Why did Alicia Keys sing about having an Empire State of Mind when she was in Dallas?
i. Here is a stat for all you SEC homers (me included). There's actually 5 SEC products in the NBA All-star game more than any other conference.
j. The five players are Joe Johnson (Arkansas), David Lee (Florida), Al Horford (Florida), Gerald Wallace (Alabama), and Rajon Rondo (Kentucky).
k. There were also 5 All-Stars that did not play in college and they were Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, and Amar'e Stoudemire.
l. The day-of-game walkup crowd was an insane 10K. That is one way to get to a record crowd of 108,713.
m. Before the game I told the roomdog I should bet $20 bucks on game mvp. $10 on DWade at +600 and $10 on Joe Johnson at +2500. The $10 bet would have paid a nice $70 since DWade won the MVP. Woulda, coulda, shoulda only get you so far in life.
n. I think I found someone worse than Mike Woodson in drawing up out of bounds plays...his name would be George Karl. I felt robbed out of a good ending to a decent All-Star game.
o. I was having a chat with Mr. Easton in NYC after the game and he gave me this great stat: Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell were the last Knicks to make the All-Star game before David Lee this year. Sprewell and Houston were 2001.

7. What I Read Last Week and This Week

The best story that I read last week happened to appear in the AJC (that does not happen much) and was written by the chef de mission of the US Olympic Team. I am not sure how many people read the Malcolm Gladwell book Outliers but here is a great Outlier moment from the article, Nothing promoted a national following for speed skating. I grew up in West Allis, Wis., the only place in the country with a refrigerated 400-meter Olympic speed skating rink. At first I didn't know what it was, only that I would be skating in tights and making big circles, not little ones.

Also during Super Bowl week SI writer Peter King gave daily reports as he was the pool writer and got to observe Colts practice during the week. In one of the updates he gave his favorite Super Bowl memory. Instead of linking to the article here is the great Peter King's favorite Super Bowl memory;
I have quite a few of those, but I would say that my favorite one happened after Steve Young torched the San Diego Chargers 15 years ago. My job for SI was to tail Young for the entire postgame and then go back to the team hotel if possible.The game was played in Miami. It was a hot and humid evening. Young spent two hours doing interviews with every TV affiliate he could find after the game. At one point, he turned to me and said, "Can you get me something to eat or drink? I'm exhausted." I found him cookies and red Gatorade. Eventually we got into his limo with agent Leigh Steinberg for the trip back to his hotel.About five minutes into the trip, Young, cramping up and feeling nauseous, let loose a stream of cherry vomit all over Steinberg's shoes. "Well, Lee," I said, "You'll never wash those shoes again." Later, in his suite, Young laid on his bed and had to get two IVs because he was so dehydrated. And when someone in the Young party yelled out, "Joe Who?" in reference to Joe Montana and the long shadow he cast over Young's career in San Francisco, Young blurted out, "Hey, hey. Stop that. This is no time for that." Just a memorable night.

This past week I was scrolling through the Sports Illustrated archives and came across our second article of the week. This story comes from Tim Layden and he profiles Drew Brees. This issue was published April 30th 2001 and Layden follows Brees from the Rose Bowl loss to Marques Tuiasosopo and the Washington Huskies to NFL draft day in April. It is sort of long so it is worth a printout to take home and read in your easy chair. 

The fourth article of the week looks at USC Athletic Director and Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett. Garrett who has over scene the USC athletic department for almost two decades as come under fire recently as the NCAA has taken a look into his Basketball and Football programs.

8. Baseball Thoughts
a. Howie Kendrick owns a .302 career average. In four seasons though he has never even posted 375 ABs.
b. Most pitches per PA in 09: jayson werth 4.5 , Kevin youkilis 4.42, nick Johnson 4.30, Adam Dunn 4.33, Casey Blake 4.31
c. When Tom Glavine made his official debut with the Braves on August 17, 1987 I was 16 days shy of my 6th Birthday. I think this means I am starting to get old.
d. It is also hard to believe this October will be 19 years since I watched him pitched in Game 5 of the 1991 World Series
e. For those that doubt the Braves this season remember we got to the World Series with Rafael Belliard and Mark Lemke as our middle infield. Think how much better we are with the current duo of Escobar and Prado.
f. I am dumbfounded by this stat; in the last three years Kevin Gregg has 84 saves only 7 less than Brad Lidge and the 13th best mark in MLB.
g. Last 3 years, Phillies Brad Lidge has 19 blown saves, Kevin Gregg has 20. Lidge didn't blow a single chance in 2008.
h. Last season Zack Greinke had a 2.16 ERA The last AL SP to post a sub 2.20 ERA back-to-back other than Pedro Martinez in 99-2000: Hal Newhouser in 1945-46. Something tells me Greinke will not go sub 2.20 this year.
i. Lets compare some players by stats only:
Player A had close to a career year playing 143 games, 625 PA, 228 times on base (.365 OBP – not counting reaching on errors), 107 runs, 24 HR, 84 RBI.
Player B had what everyone considered a down year playing 129 games, 591 PA, 207 times on base (.354 OBP – not counting reaching on errors), 86 runs, 20 HR, 70 RBI.

j. Can you name the Players? See L for the answer

k. We will also compare pitchers:  All pitchers are active players. Let me know who you would take in the comments section of the blog and I will give the answers sometime Tuesday afternoon. For those that know the answers please do not ruin it for the others.


Pitcher A
4.19 Career Ear, 387 Games Pitched, 26CG, 7 Shutouts, 2253 Career K’s, 3 games above .500

Pitcher B
3.80 Career ERA, 326 Game Pitched, 24CG, 8 Shutouts, 1188 Career K’s, 38 games above .500

Pitcher C
3.49 Career Era, 311 Games Pitched, 22CG, 11 Shutouts, 1402 K’s, 70 games above .500

Pitcher D
3.81 Career Era, 234 Games Pitched, 14CG, 8 Shutouts, 1201 K’s, 31 games above .500

Pitcher E
3.79 Career Era, 228 Games pitched, 9CG, 4 shutouts, 1330 K’s, 38 games above .500

l. From I & J. Player A is Johnny Damon, Player B is Nate McClouth
m. I was looking at some Brian McCann stats over the weekend and I had no idea he won silver sluggers in 06, 08 and 09. While his power numbers dipped a little bit last season he still led the team in RBIs, home runs and doubles in 2009
n. While without a doubt he is the best offensive catcher in the National League I did find these stats to be troublesome, the biggest difference offensively for him between 2008 and 2009 seems to be his splits against lefties. His OPS went from .932 against righties and .820 against lefties in 2008 to .932 against RHP and .634 against LHP. In 2007 and 2006 his OPS against lefties was .756 and .809 respectively. I have no idea if his eye issues made it tougher to see southpaws or what other factors might be in play.
o. How much better will his numbers be with Glaus hitting in front of him and an improved Yunnel Escobar hitting behind him.
p. Has their been a more underappreciated player in Baseball the last 20 years than Frank Thomas? He went undrafted out of Columbus High School, was cut from the 1988 Olympic Team, and the following teams passed on Thomas in the 1989 draft, Orioles, Braves, Mariners, Phillies, Rangers and Cardinals in favor of Ben McDonald, Tyler Houston, Roger Salkeld, Jeff Jackson, Donald Harris and Paul Coleman. Imagine the late-'90s Mariners with Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez in the same lineup.
q. How about the potential Hal of Fame class of 2014? Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas, Jeff Kent, and Mike Mussina.
r. Is Mussina a lock for Cooperstown?
s. Also of note I had no idea that Thomas had called for steroid testing as far back as 1995 and was part of the group of players called before congress except he appeared via videoconference because he was rehabbing a foot injury. I had no idea about any of this. Great job by Tom Verducci in this article.

9. Let's clean out the emailbag

I have received multiple emails-texts the last few weeks and I have failed to respond to them so their is no time better than the present.

The first email comes from my brothers best friend and the premiere pharmacist in Statesboro, Ga Ben Ross. Good write up this week, but i must say i'm highly disappointed in what was not even mentioned.  When Herschel Walker, at age 47, stepped into the ring and dominated (with very little effort) his first professional MMA fight i think that might be one of the most impressive athletic accomplishments of all time.  The fight went 3 rounds of intense fighting and yet Herschel was barely breathing hard.  Yea he looked a little green, but he was throwing bombs!!  If you haven't seen the fight its a youtube must!!   Watching Brett Favre perform at the level he has this year has been impressive but has been playing football for a long time, this whole MMA deal is all new to Herschel.  Another thing, don't give me this "he fought a nobody" excuse, Mike Tyson fought a nobody too his name was Buster Douglas.  The fact of the matter is his opponent was a professional fighter.  With all that said how do you not give the guy a little respect.  Not even a one liner congratulating him on his victory?  In the words of Justin Johnson "Your better than that".   Is it safe to say Herschel is one of the greatest all around athletes to ever live (i would have argued that before this).  I don't know about you but when i go play volleyball i'm sore for the next 3 day and i'm only 27 years old.
P.S. I don't believe in the Fountain of Youth but i want what he's drinking!!!

The fact I did not meniton Herschel Walker was a complete oversight on my part. In my opinion he is a modern day Renaissance Man. How many people do you know that have won a Heisman Trophy, published a book, was a contestant on The Apprentice, competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in two-man bobsled - finishing seventh, holds a a fifth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and ran 100 meters in 10.22, the 100 yards in 9.3 seconds? It should also be mentioned that Herschel's combined rushing numbers for the USFL and the NFL (13,787 yards) would place him 5th All-Time on the NFL's career rushing list. I have also read where he sleeps fours a night and only eats one meal a day.

Here are some highlights when ESPN called him the greatest college running back ever. Nobody goes over the top for 6 the way he went over the top.

The second email comes from Coach Mitchell and he wants some more Super Bowl follow up:

Coach,

I would like to add a few thoughts on the Super Bowl.
1.       I thought the interview from Lynch on DP should have gotten some play on Ten Things and I would like your take on the Saints having several different defensive game plans. The interview with John Lynch was brilliant and how he is not on the NFL Network or another network is a travesty. For those wanting to hear the interview visit DanPatrick.com. The interview took place Wednesday January 28th a good ten days before the Super Bowl and Lynch said i he was game planing for Manning he would have a first half game plan, a third quarter game plan and a 4th quarter game plan. What did the Saints do? Exactly what Lynch mentioned. How many 4th quarter points did my Colts score? 0
2.       It will be interesting to see if the Saints were doing something down the field the cameras did not catch.  An example would be how the Pats beat the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl.  They were constantly holding and illegally chucking receivers downfield so that Warner did not have time for Bruce and Holt to get open.  These rules were not changed until a few years later when the Pats were doing the same thing to the Colts and the league stepped in.  I have absolutely no doubt if the game was called as it should have been my Rams and The Greatest Show on Turf would be two time Super Bowl Champs (2 in 3 years no less). 

 I do remember seeing some highlights and how the Patriots just dominated the Rams receivers and Warner still threw 300 yards. I personally felt Mathis and Raheem Brock were getting held almost every play. In fact I remembe a couple times Mathis raised his arms in the air like are you going to call holding? I still do not think this cost them the game.
 
3.       The way the Colts were gashing the Saints on D, I wonder if Peyton had stuck to running the ball a little more what would have happened.  I will never doubt the smartest player to ever step on the field, but what if he had been a little more patient? I have said the same thing all year the Peyton needed to stick more to the running game but they did not stray away from the run until the failed

4.       There is not a lot to second guess on the Colts part from the game (like did Reggie give up on the route for the pick 6?), but how do they run a fullback dive on 3 and 2 with a minute left before half?  Why not give the 4 time league MVP a short drop and see if he can pick a first down and at least get a field goal before 
halftime?The more I think about the 3rd and 2 dive with Mike Hart the more I think the game was lost on this play. If they hit Reggie or Pierre on a simple slant it is a first down and at worse it is 10-3 Colts lead going into the half. Does Sean Payton onside to start the second half down 7 or 10 or 17 not 4? Speaking of the onside kick I would have challenged the play just to stop the game for two to three minutes. (Sort of like a basketball coach taking a 20 second timeout to stop a run). I would like a study done on how many times a team turns the ball over and the opposition scores when there is no television timeout compared to when there is a television timeout. I get mad every time I think about these plays and how different the outcomes could have been. No idea how Manning or Caldwell or any other Colt has slept the last week.


My good friend and greatest kicker in Screven County history sent me a text on Friday asking I see where Sidney Crosby and other NHL stars will be playing in the Olympics...how are they allowed to do this by their teams? This issue has been debated countless times and personally I think it is an awesome idea. There has been some discussion that this will be the last time the NHL allows their players to participate but this issue will be collectively bargained on in the next agreement for future Olympics. This idea started as a way for the NHL to piggyback off of the popularity of the Olympics. If John Q. Public sees Team USA battle for Team Canada for the gold in two weeks the thinking is that Mr. Public will be captivated by the NHL stars such as Crosby and will pay more attention when the teams make their push to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The 2002 tournament in Salt Lake City, where Canada defeated the U.S. to win its first gold medal in hockey for 50 years, drew massive television audiences. But it did not influence me to watch more Hockey. The president of the IOC Jacques Rogge says the NHL should realize that sending its players to the Olympics raises the league's exposure and increases its fan base. So do we really know? I do know a Canada-Russia final matching Crosby against Ovechkin and Kovelchuk will be must see TV.


10. Non football Thoughts
a. I can not help but love the Olympic theme song. Click here to listen to the song. I swear this song should play every time I enter a room.
b. This weeks How I Met Your Mother was just average but the Perfect Week episode two weeks ago was so good I will give HIMYM a hall pass for this week.
c. Speaking of HIMYM I found this read in Prychology Today that discusses the reason we enjoy shows like HIMYM and Friends is that in our subconciensce we want to be these characters. Here is to being like Joey and Barney.
d. Speaking of friends how did Ross ever land Rachel? This still troubles me to this day.
e. How about the pulchritudinous Brooklyn Decker (I just broke out a SAT Word for Ten Things) is on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and she is absolutely stunning.
f. I saw Brooklyn on the Ellen show on Friday afternoon and she might have looked even hotter in a non-swimsuit than she did in the swimsuit.
g. How about the week Andrew "McLovin" Perloff of the DP show? He was able to fly on the SI Swimsuit Airplane from NYC to Las Vegas spent a few days in Sin City with swimsuit models. I guess its good to be McLovin.
h. This reminds me of the time I was living in NYC and I had a good friend that worked at Sports Illustrated and told me the day after the big swimsuit party that she could have gotten me and another buddy access. I have only been a subscriber since my 5th birthday that has to be a party I hope to attend in the future.
i. Speaking of The Big Apple. A potential great weekend trip this year would be to the Concrete Jungle the weekend of April 23-25. The Braves will battle the Metropolitans while the NFL Draft will take place at Radio City Music Hall.
j. I love watching HIMYM on Sunday Nights/Monday mornings on the Lifetime channel. The thing with Lifetime you see a different set of commercials that would never run on ESPN or the MLB Network.
k. Thursday night on NBC continues to make me laugh. The show Community seems to be getting better and better. The character Abed might be one of the better characters on television right now.
l. Speaking of great television characters my favorite five in no particular order are 1. Kevin from The Office 2. Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory 3. Abed from Community 4. Dr. Chang from Community 5. Cameron Tucker from Modern Family.
m. Other great characters include Jack and Kenneth from 30 Rock, Creed from The Office, Barney from HIMYM, Phil from Modern Family, and Raj from Big Bang Theory
n. The Amazing Race returned this week and got off to a great start. If I ever go on that show I would need a teammate who is not scared of heights and could easily walk across a zip line.
o. Also on the show is the former Miss. South Carolina who gave this great response a few years ago.
p. Just as a friendly reminder Eric Church is playing at Wild Bill's this Saturday night, I would like to rally a crew to go...who is interested? We also might need to move on tickets sooner than later so if we could have all the details worked out by Wednesday afternoon, that would be awesome.
q. Here is an awesome Eric Church song called Living Part of Life
r. Here is an song that is even better. It is called Young and Wild. A good friend of mine and me have this song as our UGA gameday song.
s. If you want some comic read the Twitter page of Kevin Smith....good stuff

Text Of The Week

From my best friend Lee Smoak....

Just drove back from augusta to syl in blizzard. Some people are born to rise to such occasions.

Quote Of The Week

We were driving back from getting a meal of food on Saturday night and Nabil commented on how he wished he knew how to drive a manual transmission. My reply was:

Then you could consider yourself pretty clutch. 

The roomdog said it was the best and worst joke he had ever heard. 


Tweet of The Week

From Bill Simmons

Dallas crushed by snow, tons of flights canceled. Last All-Star Weekend with this much snow was 1982, but that was cocaine.

Tweet Of The Week II

From Jimmy Fallon
Maybe Tiger and Toyota should team up for a comeback with the slogan: “Tiger and Toyota, we swear we can stop"

Have an awesome week!

Friday, February 12, 2010

What Did We Learn This Week?

As always some Arcade Fire to lead us off...I think we all learned over the weekend that the NFL loves Arcade Fire just like DP and some fine Americans in Georgia's and Mssissippi's capital city....in honor of the end of football season everyone together now and yes that includes you Dan...ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo




What Did The Coach Learn?
I learned that the New Orleans Saints and not the Indianapolis Colts are Super Bowl Bowl Champions and that fact sucks. I learned my second favorite player in the NFL Drew Brees is an awesome athlete and even beat Andy Roddick a couple of times at Tennis growing up in Austin, Texas. Speaking of Andy Roddick, I learned that his wife the pulchritudinous Brooklyn Decker (I just broke out a SAT Word for what we learned) is on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and that fact helped me get over the loss of the Colts. I learned that this week was the first time in my life I have been jealous of Andrew "McLovin" Perloff as he got to ride in SI Swimsuit Airplane from NYC to Las Vegas and now he will spend a few days in Sin City with swimsuit models. I guess its good to be McLovin. I also remembered the time I was living in NYC and a good friend worked at Sports Illustrated and told me the day after the big swimsuit party that she could have gotten me and another buddy access. I have only been a subscriber since my 5th birthday that has to get me in to a party in the future I hope.  I also learned that when Tom Glavine made his official debut with the Braves on August 17, 1987 I was 16 days shy of my 6th Birthday. I think this means I am starting to get old. I also learned the Olympics start tonight and I am excited. I also learned that UGA alum and former hammer thrower Andras Haklits will compete for Croatia in bobsled in Olympics. He's 2nd UGA Winter Olympian.The first is some guy named Herschel. I learned a lot this week and I am excited to see what everyone else learned.

What Did The Roomdawg Learn?


I learned that Mrs Andy Roddick would be on the cover of the SI Swimsuit Edition.  I also learned that she was named Brooklyn, b/c her mom had a friend whose dogs name was Brooke... and she liked that.... and then her dad suggested Brooklyn jokingly, and her mom liked it.  I learned that it can be tough to break plans with someone b/c you accidentally made plans with two different people for the same night.  I learned that people who say there can't be global warming b/c of all the snow are idiots.... well, I shouldn't say idiots, but from what I've read the reason we are getting so much snow is b/c of what a warmer climate/earth does to the moisture in the air which causes more powerful snow storms when they do happen... and we are years (a lot of years) away from getting to the point where the Earth would be too warm to even have snow in America.  I learned the Braves made an offer to Jonny Damon.  I learned one of my friends in Chicago who likes every single show I like, didn't actually like one of my favorite shows of all time (Boston Legal) and hated it with a passion. I also learned my old roommate Scott will be reffing the celebrity basketball game at all star weekend in Dallas, as well as the D-League All Star game.

What Did Coach Eanes Learn?

I learned the following:
First off I learned a great SAT word courtesy of the Coach:

I also learned that the Saints may indeed been a team of destiny.  After much debate and confusion I have finally learned what Drew Brees says in his pre game chant thanks to the following video:

I also learned that Drew Brees may be the single best definition of what a leader is. I do not think anyone in the Saints locker room questions who the leader of the team is. It is pretty rare to have an undisputed team leader that has the respect and admiration of the offense, defense, special teams, coaching staff, and a city. I am also learning that I am all in the Drew Brees band wagon (in my defense I was a big Brees fan before the Super Bowl).

I will also learn that this weekend’s slam dunk contest is going to be a joke. The “Big Names” in basketball owe it to the game, the fans, and the legends before them to participate in at least 1 dunk contest in their career. Dwight Howard made it fun the past couple years and brought back the excitement and entertainment that is supposed to be in a slam dunk contest. I really hope I am surprised this weekend, but I truly believe it will be an event to miss. No disrespect to the high flying athletic superstar that is Shannon Brown (of course being sarcastic).

Peace fellas have a good weekend…Lunch thoughts?
 



What Did The Admiral Learn?

 
I learned that the Super Bowl commercials overall this year were below average. There were some good ones from Doritos and InBev/Bud Light but overall I thought they were poor. I learned that Dennys must have had over ten million to spend on commercials last Sunday and they were so bad. I learned that the NFL season is over and that saddens me. Spring training is just around the corner and I can’t wait to see this team come together. I learned that I have high hopes for Heyward this year. I learned that the AYCE pancakes at IHOP are amazing and I hope to make it a weekly lunch. So good and so cheap. I learned that I didn’t learn to much this week.



What Did Coach Mitchell Learn?

I learned Atlanta can’t handle the snow.  I learned the NFL Network loves some DP and Arcade Fire.  I learned while the Saints were the better team on Sunday, a couple of breaks going the other way and Peyton is being fitted for his second ring.  I wrote some questions into the Coach and I am anxiously awaiting his responses in Monday’s mailbag.  Let’s hope for an early departure from work today…
 



What Did Evan learn?

Because of the snow in Mississippi he has no internets and learned nothing.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

Here are the Ten Things for the week. I apologize for getting this out a day late but I did not feel like staying up to 4:00 Sunday Night/Monday Morning. Enjoy!

1. Super Bowl Thoughts

You have to give credit to the Saints, to win the Super Bowl they beat Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.  I have no idea what I can add about this game that has not been said for the last 24 hours but I will try to add something insightful. The most impressive thing about the Saints' win was how they held things together after getting their teeth kicked in in the game's opening 15 minutes.In my opinion the game turned when Pierre Garcon dropped the 3rd and 4 pass from Manning around midfield about a third of the way through the 2nd quarter. The Colts were winning 10-3 when that happened. They were outscored 28-7 and a Saints defense that looked like they could not stop the Colts.
In addition you have to give Sean Payton a lot of credit as every time he rolled the dice it came up a winner. I would love to find Coach Payton at the New Orleans Harrah's because their is no doubt he would get on a heater.How gutsy/ballsy was the onside kick? If his moves do not pan out he would be getting crucified but they did and he is a Champion. I tip my hat.

One other thing Drew Brees might be Super Bowl MVP but he could not beat Quincy Carter and the Georgia Bulldogs while at Purdue.

2. Super Bowl Commercials

a. All in all I thought it was a very average year for Super Bowl Commercials.
b. Their are a couple of Ad Meters that are used and here are the ranking: the most popular of all the Ad Meters is the one publicized by the USA Today.
c. The USA Today had the ads ranked as followed; 1. Snickers - Guy plays like Betty White until he has a Snicker 2. Doritos - dog puts shock collar on owner. 3. Bud Light - Man builds house out of bud light. 4. Budweiser - Fences do not come in between friends. 5. Coca-Cola - Sleep walker through African jungle.
d. Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management also ranks Super Bowl ads and they give 6 ads A's and here they are: Google (also their top rated ad....I wonder how many at the Kellogg School are Gmailers?), Snickers (Betty White), Dodge (I do not remember this ad at all), Audi (The Green Police), VW (Punchbug...has anyone seen an ugly chick drive a VW car? I haven't), Denny's (Chicken's are in trouble tommorow)
e. The big story going into the game was the ad by Focus on the Family.  As it turned out, the spot was very tame and not controversial.
f. In my opinion the best brand was Doritos who had multiple commercials that made me laugh or LOL. Anheuser-Busch was solid as always but not as good as years past.
g. How about the NFL using some Arcade Fire for their commercials. For those that visit the website on Friday's for the What Have We Learned segment they know all about Arcade Fire.
h. Here are my top 5 commercials (THE JJ AD-METER)
1. Doritos - Jalen Are You Playing Nice
2. E-Trade - Baby has to explain himself
3. HomeAway.com - How hot is Beverly Deangelo?
4. FLO TV - How bout Lavender? How bout not
5. Snickers - None of us are ourself when we are hungry.

3. Super Bowl Hodgepodge

a. Did I really sit through 20 minutes of President Obama two hours before kickoff
b. Did CBS really follow up the interview with the President with Steve Winwood?
c. Carrie Underwood with the National Anthem was stunning as always. I loved how she sang it, no band, no music with her, just sing the song as is and she was perfect.
d. NFL networks as a whole was about two times better than CBS's pregame show. In my opinion to many QB's on the CBS show.
e. I did love the Bill Cowher interview with Plaxico. Hard to believe that was Cowher's first time ever interviewing someone and a former player to boot.
f. The Who was good not great and this is coming from someone who absolutely loves Teenage Wasteland.
g. What are the odds we can get Beyonce for next years Super Bowl to spice things up at a bit?
h.The reports are in from Vegas and the largest wager reported was a $2 million money-line play on Indianapolis. I might have been upset Sunday night but at least I did not drop two million on the Colts.
i. How big was the two point conversion? Proposition wagering accounts for about 50 percent of the Las Vegas Hilton's handle, a higher percentage than any other book. One prop that hurt the books, paying off about plus-500, was on a successful two-point conversion.
j. For those without gambling issues, plus 500 means bet 100 to win 500 or bet 10 win 50.
k. For those without gambling issues, minus 180 means you must bet $180 to win $100 or $18 to win $10
l. Also speaking of the Las Vegas Hilton. I think it is my favorite spot in the world to watch football on Sunday afternoons.
m. It has to be mentioned Saints were 20-1 to win Super Bowl in August. Nice payout.
n. Some of the special point-spread props -- Saints minus-31/2 at plus-270, Saints minus-71/2 at plus-475 and Saints minus-101/2 at plus-750 -- also paid dividends for astute bettors. A $100 bet at saints -10.5 would be real nice right now. 
o. Here is how some of the more popular prop bets turned out.
How long will it take Carrie Underwood to sing the National Anthem?
Over/Under 1 minute and 42 seconds
WINNER = OVER (1:45)

What color will the Gatorade dumped on the winning head coach be?
WINNER = Orange (5 to 1) * third biggest long shot

How many times will Archie Manning be shown on TV: over/under = 4.5
WINNER = UNDER *contrary to heavy action on “over”

How many times will Kim Kardashian be shown on TV: over/under = 2.5
WINNER = UNDER *contrary to heavy action on “over”

Will The Who smash a guitar on stage during the halftime show? No = -180
WINNER = NO

How many times will Pete Townshend do his “windmill” move? Over/Under = 6
WINNER = OVER

Who will the Super Bowl MVP “thank” first?
WINNER = “does not thank anyone” (2 to 1)


4. Kurt Warner

On January 29 Kurt Warner announced his retirement from football and almost automatically the debate began on Warners career and whether it was Hall of Fame worthy. Let's take a look at the numbers:

  • Warner is the only quarterback to throw for over 14,000 yards with two different teams (St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals)
  •  Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Career) - 1,156
  •  Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Game) - 414 yards vs. Tennessee Titans (only QB to pass for 400+ yards in the Super Bowl; also owns 2nd and 3rd highest yardage total in Super Bowl with 377 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and 365 against the New England Patriots)
  • Highest career completion percentage, Playoffs - 66.5%
  • Tied Dan Marino as the fastest player to pass for 30,000 yards. He accomplished this in 114 games
  • Only Quarterback never to be shutout in a game
  • Of the 14 quarterbacks enshrined since 1985, none can match Warner in completion percentage, yards per attempt or yards per game. Steve Young is the only one with a higher passer rating than Warner. Dan Marino is the only one with more 300-yard games (Warner has 52, twice as many as Jim Kelly, who played in 36 additional games). 
  • Warner's 93.7 passer rating is sixth all-time, ranking ahead of Tom Brady and Joe Montana. Warner averaged 258.8 passing yards per game, second only to Peyton Manning.
  •  Has thrown for 32,344 career yards which does not rank in the top 20 and is behind such "memorable" qb's as Dave Krieg, Jim Hart, Jim Everett, Steve DeBerg, and John Hadl.
  • Highest average passing yards per game on Monday Night Football - 329.4 (min 7 games)
Those against Warner’s induction may point out that he had a “valley,” so to speak, in the middle of his career. But during this time—2002 to 2006—Warner was dealing with injuries the first couple years and then dealt with an extremely raw Cardinals team for the next few. Brett Favre had four years in which his passer rating was under 75, but does that make him any less likely to be in the Hall of Fame? No, it does not, and even the most bitter Packers fan knows it. Furthermore, Hall of Fame careers are built by consistency. Warner hasn’t show consistency over the course of his career. Plus, he’s only started all 16 games in a season four times in his career. His career window is really small.

In closing I am glad I am not a Hall of Fame voter when it comes to the case of Mr. Warner. I know his case will be debated over and over and he is probably better than some of the QB's in the Hall of Fame and their are some QB's that are better than Warner that are not in the Hall of Fame. If I had to vote today I would lean yes however we have a five year waiting period for a reason so I will check back with you in 2015.

5. NFL Power 15

1. New Orleans Saints - Hard to believe Pater King had the Saints ranked 24th out of 32 teams at the start of the year.
2. Indianapolis Colts - Hopefully the year after Super Bowl loss curse doesnt hurt this team in a very good AFC South.
3. Minnesota Vikings - How did this team not play in the Super Bowl?
4. New York Jets - Held opponents to 236 points last season, the lowest in football by a wide margin.
5. San Diego Chargers - How much do they benefit by playing 6 games against the Broncos, Raiders, and Chiefs?
6. Dallas Cowboys - Get rid of TO and go to second round of playoffs....coincidence?
7. Arizona Cardinals - Who is going to play QB without Warner? I can tell you they are not sold on Leinart.
8. Green Bay Packers - I will be shocked if they are not in my preseason top 5 next summer.
9. Baltimore Ravens - Can they get Joe Flacco some deep threats?
10. Philadelphia Eagles - Are Donavan and Andy ever going to lead this team back to the Super Bowl? I say no.
11. New England Patriots - Team was never the same after the 4th and 1. Why did they trade Seymour?
12. Cincinnati Bengals - Went 6-0 in divisional games. Was 1-6 versus every other AFC team including the playoffs.
13. Houston Texans - By far the best team in football that did not make the playoffs. How tough is the AFC South with Indy, Tennessee, and an above average Jacksonville team.
14. Pittsburgh Steelers - How did the Steel Curtain defense allow 324 points this past season? Might be a reason they did not play deep into January. Troy Polamalu has to be healthy for this team to have a chance.
15. Carolina Panthers - Finished the season winning 3 in a row. Went 8-4 versus the NFC and might have found a QB not named Jake Delhomme (Thank God).

6. Georgia Thoughts

Georgia has hired its last coach for the 2010 season and while I did spend all day on Friday speculating about Saints coach Travis Jones then we received news late Friday afternoon that UGA hired Vanderbilt linebacker coach Warren Belin. My first reaction was who? But then I went and visited some websites and I found this quote from a great Vandy blog called Moral Victory, Belin was with Bobby Johnson for the past eight years and helped develop linebackers Hunter Hillenmeyer, Marcus Buggs, Moses Osemwegie, Jonathan Goff, Patrick Benoist and now Chris Marve. If you're a Georgia fan and don't recognize those names, let's just say that all those guys were two-star recruits who developed into All-SEC players under Coach Belin's tutelage. Most of those guys are playing or will play in the NFL, and Hillenmeyer is the son of a stockbroker and the Bears linebacker who stripped the ball from Adrian Peterson in overtime of a late-season Monday night game to stun Farve and the Vikings. Imagine what Belin can do with four- and five-star talent, if those guys are willing to learn and achieve their potential. Some of my UGA buddies tell me that's a big if, but Vandy fans don't feel any better about facing the Dawgs defense with Belin on their sideline.

If you are a UGA fan and do not get excited by that long quote then I do not want to see you in Sanford Stadium or at a tailgate next season.

Couple of other quick UGA Thoughts
a. Basketball team went 1-1 last week and could have easily been 2-0 if they would have not blown a 15 point lead against Arkansas this past Wednesday.
b. Love this Mark Fox quote, “Everyone said when I came we need a new place. Heck, no, we don’t need a new place! We just need great fans like we had tonight and the right effort.”
c. Of Georgia’s six SEC losses, four have been by four points or fewer.
d. I have yet to hear any baseball reports but they are less than two weeks away from starting the season in Waco, Texas against the Duke Blue Devils. I hate Duke. It should be mentioned that one of the assistants for Duke is Matthew Boggs former Baseball leterman winner at Ga Tech and brother of UGA standout Mitchell Boggs
e. The Georgia men’s tennis program continued its 21-year winning streak against Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Bulldogs beat the Yellow Jackets 5-2 at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility in Athens -– Georgia’s 24th consecutive victory over the Yellow Jackets dating back to 1989. Georgia is a mind-boggling 50-1 vs. Tech in men’s tennis since 1969.
f. That's right, Tech Sucks!

7. Non Steroid Team Thoughts

A few weeks ago I gave my list of players that I thought were "clean" during the so-called steroid era. Special credit to Benjamin Ross for the great idea. Also credit needs to go to the roomdawg who helped me with the list.

The first letter comes from the smartest guy in Screven County and Wes writes,
At Catcher, do we not believe in Mike Piazza?
If so, At 2B I gotta go with Biggio, as Jeff Kent played along side of Barry Bonds and never once hit him in the mouth.
At DH, although Molly is a solid choice, have we forgotten about Edgar Martinez, if we base on ’93-’03, I think the fact that he played ’99-’03 and had better numbers in every year but one before that merits consideration.
At SP, I struggled with the idea that Curt Schilling was not on the list until I thought about the tragedy of not having Pedro Martinez on the list.

Oh and by the way, can’t agree with you more on Fred McGriff; If for no other reason, his Tom Emanski hat belongs in Cooperstown.

Personally I do not believe in Piazza. I have alot of questions about someone who was drafted in a round that does not exist anymore and all of a sudden he is Rookie of The Year and perennial All-Star. I think Cut Schilling is the most overrated pitcher of last 20 years and I will go on that rant next week. Plus if their was gun to my head asking if he cheated I would say yes. I need to warn everyone that I personally do not like Schilling, never did even when he was a Philly. I also have questions with Pedro throwing mid 90's when he weighed 170 pounds. Could not agree more on the Tom Emanski hat. I would pay someone $50 bucks for that lid.

Multiple Comments on John Smoltz

Forgot to add him to the list, simple oversight on my part. 
 

Email from greatest kicker in Screven County Football history Donald writes I think Chipper has to replace Cal as 3B on your team.  Just my biased opinion.

I think Chipper needs to replace Larry Walker in leftfield.


I got some comments about having Jeter on the team.

One, are you kidding me? Second, he will be the first Yankee to 3,000 hits....thats how good he is.


8. Baseball Thoughts

a.I found this quote from a NL Coach and I absolutely loved this part, "If he gets 500 at-bats, he’s going to hit the ball out 30 or 40 times. In that ballpark, when it warms up, he’ll be fine."
b. I did not like the second part of the quote, "He does go into slumps, and you have to accommodate that.’’
c. I really like the pitching staff the Brewers have put together with the off-season signings off Randy Wolf and Doug Davis to go with Yovani Golardo, Manny Parra, Mark Moulder and Jeff Suppan.
d. These guys get better with Rick Peterson coaching them as well.
e. Who would have thought Kevin Millar would have signed before Johnny Damon?
f. Who else would have thought the Minnesota Twins would have a higher payroll than the Los Angeles Dodgers?
g. Speaking of the Twins I absolutely love the team they have put together for 2010.
h. Everyone knows about Morneau and Mauer but Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young, and Denard Span are solid players as well. Plus JJ Hardy and Orlando Hudson are solid up the middle.
i. Not to many household names in the pitching staff but do not forget that Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Carl Pavano, and Kevin Slowey were good enough to win the AL Central last season. Plus their are rumors Fransico Liriano is throwing in the 90's again.
j. I have to mention that the Twins tied with the Tigers last season with 86 wins. The Atlanta Braves also won 86 games in 2009.
k. Most triples in the 2000s: 1. Jimmy Rollins, 95; 2. Carl Crawford, 92.
l. Wins leaders for the 2000s: 1. Andy Pettitte, 148; 2. Randy Johnson, 143; 3. Jamie Moyer, 140; 4. Roy Halladay, 139.
m. How did Jamie Moyer win 140 games in the last decade? Wow
n. Brad Lidge’s opponents batting average went from .198 in 2008 to .301 in 2009.
o. It was 39 degrees at the opening faceoff when the Flyers played the Bruins on New Year’s Day at Fenway Park. That’s four degrees warmer than the official game time temperature when the Phillies played the Rockies in Game 3 of the NLDS in Denver in October.
p. Terry Francona and his dad Tito each faced Hall of Fame pitchers Don Sutton (Terry outhit Tito, .333 to .095), Fergie Jenkins (Terry outhit Tito, .333 to .273), Nolan Ryan (Terry outhit Tito, .225 to .200), Phil Niekro (Terry outhit Tito, .250 to .000), and Tom Seaver (Terry outhit, Tito .364 to .231). Overall against Hall of Famers, Tito was 122 for 490, hitting .249, while Terry was 25 for 90, hitting .278
q. Six-foot-11-inch Jon Rauch may be the tallest pitcher in the bigs, but he will be the second-tallest in Twins camp, looking up to 7-1 Loek van Mil from the Netherlands

9. College Basketball

a. Did anyone have a better week than Texas A&M who snapped Missouri's 32-game home winning streak and then backed it with a win over Baylor.
b. Duke plays at UNC this Wednesday night and I have no interest, when is the last time I could have said that?
c. I got to show some love to Georgetown. Despite losing to South Florida early in the week they did beat a very good Villanova team at home Saturday afternoon. Everything in the Big East is a grind. What a great hoops conference.
d. Why does the SEC schedule maker do this to any school? This week Tennessee has to play at Vandy and at Kentucky. Not easy.
e. Big Ten did no favors to Ohio State either we three straight road games. They won this past Sunday at Iowa using only 6 players and now must go to Indiana and Illinois this week.
f. The Richmond Spiders shot 77% against Temple in the 2nd half....I couldn't shoot 77% in a lay up drill.
g. I keep hearing and rading about the NCAA tourney expanding to 96 teams. Does anyone really believe their are 31 teams that deserve to get in every year but do not?
h. If you believe this please explain why....because it just looks like a money grab to me.
i. The idea I do like includes expanding the play in games to 4 from 1 giving the power conferences three more teams to get in the tourney.
j. What world does Rick Pitino live in? He likes the 96 team tourney and here is his quote, “You definitely should try it to see if it would be better. “You can always go back. Make it a two-year thing, experiment and try it to see if it is better.” Once you let the genie out of the box you can not put it back.
k. Speaking of Louisville their is also word that the Cardinals could renew a series with Indiana. How have these two schools so close to each other only played 16 times?
l. JJ's Power 5
1. Kansas - Clearly the class of the Big XII...how did they lose to Tennessee?
2. Kentucky - DeMarcus Cousins has scored 16 more points and grabbed 57 more rebounds than any other Wildcat this season.
3. Syracuse - 10-1 in Big East Play....that's amazing
4. Villanova - Also 10-1 in Big East play....going to be a fun conference tourney in the Big Apple next month.
5. Purdue - Robbie Hummel has reached double-figures in scoring in 19 consecutive games

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. By far the best week of television last week. I even enjoyed the office. None of my shows were duds.
b. The week got started with one of the better How I Met Your Mothers of the season. If you have not seen it please visit this site.
c. The title of the episode is Perfect Week and has a great baseball theme to picking up chicks. Jim Nantz was awesome as well.
d. 24 is starting to get into a great groove as it is about time. Last night was probably the best episode of the season to date.
e. I do not understand the storyline of the rednecks from Kentucky but in true 24 style I am sure they will tie everything together.
f. I went to see the movie Valentine's Day earlier Monday night. Probably the definition of average.
g. Without the Jessica's Biel and Alba it would have been a waste of two hours.
h. I like the roles Ashton Kucher plays as an actor.
i. This movie is not worthy of a review.
j. A weekend that everyone needs to keep an eye out on is the weekend of April 9 and 10 in Athens, Ga. The Kinchafoonee Cowboys play at the Melting Point Friday night. Saturday gives us a Moma's Boy breakfast and the G-Day Game plus some UGA-Ole Miss baseball.
k.For those on spring break they can use Thursday April 8th as a great kickoff to the weekend with Cubs-Braves at Turner Field.
l. For those that can get to Atlanta around lunch time on March 15th we will be having our annual March Madness auction....email me for details. The fabulous Stacey will be the auctioneer and she will make sure it is fun.
m. Is anyone else looking forward to the three day weekend?
n. Sunday night gives us the return of The Amazing Race and in my opinion the second best reality show on television. Sports are the best reality show on the tube. Here is a preview.
o. I would love to do a season with my brother because we are such opposites that we would work well together. He is also the second best person I know at reading a map. I am the first. The only problem is I might want to kill him about halfway through the race.
p. Just as a Ten Things Note we did not have a What I Read feature this week but we will double up next week. I already have the stories picked out. If you ever find a great article shoot it to me.
q. The Winter Olympics start this weekend and the people of the mid-Atlantic might need to send some of their snow to Vancouver because they are hurting.
r. The games begin Friday with the Opening Ceremony. On Saturday we will have Men's Downhill, Freestyle Skiing, Short track, ski jumping, and speedskating.
s. I am intrigued how well these games will do television wise after the debacle in Turin four years ago. Even more intriguing is two days ago we had the most watched television event in history with the Super Bowl.
t. With no football content ideas are always welcome as well as your feedback.

Quote of the Week
Comes from winning Super Bowl coach Sean Payton on his decision to give up some money on his contract in order to hire Gregg Williams as his defensive coordinator.

I had some beers in me.


Quote of the Week II
From Saints kicker Thomas Morstead who started the 2nd half with a well placed on side kick.


"I wasn't worried. I was terrified."

Quote of the Week III

Their are two things you do not do. One - you do not open an email from Phil Simms in front of your kids. And two you do not jinx a man going for a perfect week.  

Text of the Week

From the Good Doctor who better be careful what he wishes for

I wish a hurricane would hit Georgia if that meant we could win a championship.

Text of the Week II

Comes from an unidentified female who was chatting with Raul. Raul was trying to get her to go out this past weekend.

I am not going to casually drink on the weekends, thats just silly.


Tweet of the Week
Comes from Rob King who is Editor-in-chief of ESPN.com
This show reminds me I've moved from Teenage Wasteland to Middle-Aged Waistband ...

Come from David Hale the UGA beat writer for Macon and Columbus papers (his coverage is about 6x better than AJC)
Weather is awful, but breakfast @ mama's boy has greatly improved my morning.

For those that know about a mama's boy breakfast, they know about one of the few hidden gems of the Classic City