Captain & Coach

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-08-31T22:35:00.000-04:00

Here are 15 Thoughts as the Football Season draws closer by the minute. I do need to mention that thoughts 1-6 were written sometime during the first two weeks of June. Everything from 7-15 was written in the last week. Do not forget to follow me on twitter @justinwjohnson. It is now football season and hopefully I can publish a 10 Things besides once every three months. That is very weak sauce by me and I am better than that. As always please leave your comments or email them to me even if you hate something because it is always cool to get feedback on your work. Enjoy the football and baseball and hopefully no work this Labor Day weekend.

1. NCAA Football Thoughts
It was an exciting week for me as Phil Steele's 2011 College Football Preview hit newsstands. For those of you that are not familiar with Steele's annual preview you should flip through it next time you visit your favorite book store. Here are some nuggets that I found intriguing as we are about 90 days away from kickoff. Again all credit goes to Mr. Steele.

a. In the last 12 years the National Champ had a second year coach four times. In that same time span the eventual National Champ was coming off a 5 loss season 5 times.
b. Correct me if I am wrong but I do believe it is Jimbo Fisher's second year as the head coach for the Florida State Seminoles.
c. The Noles do get to play Oklahoma at home this season. While Oklahoma is a top-5 preseason team they are beatable on the road. In fact in the last three seasons all 9 of Oklahoma's losses have come away from Norman, Oklahoma.
d. Some people are picking LSU to win the SEC West this season but Steele and myself are high on the Tide. This season the Tide lose their QB, Heisman winning RB and top WR. However, when BAMA brought home all the bacon in 2009 they had an inexperienced QB, lost a 1,000 yard rusher and had just four starters back on offense.
e. In 2011 7 starters are back on offense and the Tide have Steele's #4 D-line, #1 linebacking corpse and the #1 secondary in college football. They do not rebuild on The Capstone, They Reload.
f. Since 2004, Georgia Tech hasn’t had a single season in which it completed more than 50% of its passing attempts? The high water point was a 49.3% mark in 2007. Why did Calvin Johnson choose Tech over Georgia?
g. Only UGA and USC finished in the Top 10 from 2002-2005.
h. Only five SEC Coaches have won 10+ games in four straight years. The coaches would be Mark Richt, Bear Bryant, Steve Spurrier, Vince Dooley and Phil Fulmer.
i. Under Saban, Bama is 13-3 hosting SEC opponents. The three loses were to a 12-2 UGA team in 2007, the National Champ LSU in 2007 and National Champ Auburn last season.
j. The Kentucky Wildcats have gone to 5 straight bowl games after going to two bowl games in the previous 10 years.
k. Auburns six returning starters are the fewest in the NCAA and they lose 31 letterman from last season's team.
l. The ACC has had one just one team win a BCS bowl game since 1999 and that was VaTech in 2008.
m. Oklahoma is 23-2 in openers in Norman since 1986. Both losses were to TCU, once in 96 and again in 2005.
n. Mike Gundy is 0-10 versus Oklahoma as both a QB and head coach. Oklahoma State has dropped 8 straight to Oklahoma.
o.The home team has lost 5 straight games in the Miami-Florida State series.
p. The loser from the previous year National Title Game has gone 10-2 since 1998. The loses were by Oklahoma in 2005 and 2009. Oregon this season opens with LSU in Arlington, Texas.
q. Heading into this season South Florida is 13-2 against in-state schools outscoring them by an average of 10 points per game.
r. TCU has finished #1 in total Defense 5 of the last 11 years. They are just the 3rd team with three straight #1's.
s. This year's ARMY-NAVY game marks the 10th different venue and since 1963, only 1996 and 2010 saw both teams come in with winning records.Right now Army has lost 9 straight to Navy with the average loss by 26 points.

2. MLB Thoughts From 12 Weeks Ago
a. I was reading some articles late Thursday night and I came across these stats and my mind was blown. How are their only two teams not to make the playoffs in any sport in the 25 years since 1986. Between the four major sports, 98 franchises have been around since at least 1986. Ninety-six of them have been to the postseason in that span. Not the Royals or the conglomerate known as the Expos/Nationals.
b. The Royals have come close to making the playoff just three times in the past 25 years, and they weren't that close on any of them. In 1989, they were the third-best team in baseball with 92 wins, but Kansas City still finished seven games behind the A's. In 1994, they were 64-51 and three games out of the wild-card spot when the strike ended the season. And in 2003, the Royals shocked everyone by winning 16 of their first 19 games. They led the division by seven games at the All-Star break.Only to finish 2003 seven games out of first.
c. Is this changing with all the top prospects the Royals are thought to had. Let's not forget the Royals have had young prospects before not pan out. Some examples include Bob Hamelin who beat out Manny Ramirez for the 1994 Rookie of the Year award. The next season he hit .168, and the Royals cut him a year later. Angel Berroa was Rookie of the Year in 2003, and within three years he was arguably the worst everyday player in the majors.
d. I still think their is something special being built in KC.
e. The Phillies starters ended June w/1.96 ERA - 1st team since July '92 (Cubs, Braves) to go full month under 2.00.They went 17-10 in June despite losing the first 3 games of the month. The Braves did go 17-9 in the month. Some pretty good baseball being played in the NL East.
f. Speaking of good baseball in the NL East the Nationals went 16-12 in June. They were set up to have a great month until they lost the last three games of the month. The Boys in Queens aka the Metropolitans were 16-11. We will not discuss the Marlins.
g. As of July 1st the Padres have 19 wins in 30 day games and 18 wins in 52 night games.
h.On June 29th Cliff Lee had is third shutout win in the Month. As of that date the Marlins only had three wins for the whole month.
i. Jose Bautista has 43 homers in his last 433 at-bats with the BlueJays. He hit 43 HRs in 1,314 career ABs with the Pirates.

3. Best Baseball Books I Have Read
About a ~~month ago~~ three months ago on the Poscast with Joe Posnanski, Michael Schur (creator Parks & Rec) and Posnanski have a draft with their favorite Baseball books. This got me thinking to the best baseball books that I have read. Here are my starting nine with links to Amazon for more book info.

1. Moneyball- The best baseball book I have ever read and the book I judge all baseball books by. I read this book in about 4 days while in college. This book has been made into a movie that looks tremendous with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Here is the Trailer.
2. The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth- With 20 books already written on Babe Ruth (one of my favorite characters in history) Leigh Montville combines this research into a fascinating read. Montville who also wrote Ted Williams in 2004 brings fresh observations to his subject, one being that Ruth probably suffered from attention-deficit disorder, which accounts for his inexhaustible energy for everything from baseball to food to alcohol to sex, and not necessarily in that order.
3. Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston- I read this book for a Race and Sports class at UGA and was absolutely fascinated by Howard Bryant's research and reporting. Bryant relays the seldom-told story of Jackie Robinson's April 1945 tryout with the team, which resulted in someone (possibly owner Tom Yawkee) booming out a racial epithet. Having passed on Robinson, the Red Sox did the same with Willie Mays. The franchise was the last to include an African American player on its roster.In reading the book one can clearly see why the Red Sox went 86 years with out winning a world series. It wasn't because of some Curse of The Bambino.
5. The Game According To Syd -Read this book when I was 12 years old and knew that day I wanted to work in baseball. I still find the story on why the Pirates were the first team to change color of the brim of the hat to grey instead of green because it improves a players vision. Flipped through the book couple weeks ago and it is still intriguing.
6. Are We Winning? Fathers and Sons in the New Golden Age of Baseball-Will Leitch is a modern day hero of mine. Kid from small town that loves his team, moves away to NYC. I moved back but Leitch started a website called Deadspin and now writes for the New Yorker and New York Magazine.
7. The Teammates- Explores Dom Dimaggio, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr as Dimaggio and Pesky drive down to see friend and former teammate Ted Williams who they all know is dying. A lot of stories of growing old and living life outside of the spotlight after being in the spotlight for so long.
8. Last Night of The Yankee Dynasty-Buster Olney uses game 7 of the 2001 World Series as the backdrop and explores how the Yankees went from the grinders of the mid to late 90's to baseball highest payroll and why the World Series titles did not continue when the payroll increased dramatically.

9. The Yankee Years-Joe Torre and Tom Verducci not only give great insight to Yankee history but MLB history as whole in the years from 1996 to 2007. Not all Torre as David Cone gives a lot of insight into those mid 90's Yankee teams.

4. Best Baseball Books I Have Never Read
1. Veeck As In Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck- To be fair I have read about 5 chapters of this book as student at NYU, then I got an email the book was overdue and turned it in without checking the book again. What was I thinking?
2. The Bill James Historical Abstract- The book that started the sabermeterics movement.
3. The Natural- One of my favorite movies, why have I not read the book?
4. The Last Hero:A Life of Hank Aaron-Enjoyed Howard Bryant's book on the racist Red Sox. I know I would enjoy it on the Home Run King
5. The Machine- Written by Joe Posnanski what else do I need to say.
6. 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports- Ted Williams hit .406 and did not win the MVP because of Joe D and the 56 game streak. Man Uggla's streak was a lot of fun to follow this summer and he did not get within 20 games of Joe D.
7. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy- One of the most mysterious players to ever play. Maybe the most talented lefty pitcher ever.
8. Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero- Did you know in games when Williams had three plate appearances he reached base at least once 75% of the time.
9. A Pitcher's Story: Innings with David Cone- Ever since David Wells book who was a drinking buddy of Wells I wanted to know more Cone. Man he broke my heart with the Blue Jays and Yankees.

5. Non Baseball or Football Thoughts from Weeks 12 Ago

a. I watched Franklin and Bash with the roomdawg this past weekend. Very enjoyable and will be part of the summer viewing this summer.
b. For those not familiar with Franklin and Bash it stars two very memorable characters. Breckin Meyer (Road Trip) plays Jared Franklin. The other character is Peter Bash and is played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar. If you do not know Mark-Paul's other major character in television history do not talk to me as we are no longer friends.
c. I watched some of the spelling bee on television and this year's winning word was cymotrichous. For those that did not have Ms. Taylor as their 11th grade teacher cymotrichous means having wavy hair.
d. I can use the word in a sentence and the sentence is: The coach is a big fan of the broads with cymotrichous hair. Is that even an acceptable sentence?
e. All of the draft talk in the poscast got me thinking and what will be the next great draft idea that we could share with you the readers. So far my drafts ideas include; Sports Movies, Lunch Spots in the ATL,Garth Brooks songs or favorite UGA football players of all time.
f. Any other thoughts for a draft?
g. This past week the Captain emailed me an amazing link. It was titled Who Had the Best Civil War Facial Hair? Click the link to check everything out. Personally I like Ambrose Burnside. My buddy Andrew is a big Carter Littlepage Stevenson fan.
h. Speaking of my buddy Andrew, he had a birthday on Saturday. Feliz Cimpleanos!
i. Last week I dicussed some great country breakup songs, no idea why I did. In researching those songs I found some classic 20 year old Doug Stone songs. I totally forgot how awesome these songs were. The first Doug Stone that I listened to for the first time in about 12 years was Why Didn't I Think That. The second Doug Stone song was In A Different Light. Youtube user countrycutie424 who put this video together used the Jim/Pam dynamic in the video, All Office fans will find intriguing. If you love both Doug Stone and The Office you will find the video to be AMAZING. The third Doug Stone in the trifecta is I'd Be Better Off In A Pine Box.
j. Safe to say the greatest kicker in Screven County history Donald Sheppard and my buddy Goat are the only one's who enjoyed reading letter I. That's how it goes sometimes.
k. This was the Boston Globe's feature property Saturday Night/Sunday Morning on Boston.com. That's high living. In all seriousness I would love to have that view from my balcony. However, I would prefer to have a house here with my own private beach.

6. What I Read 12 Weeks Ago

The first read from weeks ago takes a look at Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and his rise from video intern to head coach. Spoelstra had the job of breaking down video after Heat games and would often deliver the video straight to the Fed Ex plane at 2:00 in the morning so the tape would be waiting at the hotel when the Heat coaches would wake up hours later in a different city. Fascinating by his climb up the ranks to head coach in the NBA.

The second comes from Sports Illustrated and takes a look at Braves minor league manager Luis Salazar. Salazar who lost his left eye and almost his life in a freak accident in spring training overcomes long odds just to coach his team this season.

The third story comes from one of my favorite new web sites which is Grantland.com. Grantland is Bill Simmons new website where he has put together some of the best writers in the business and they look at everything from baseball to football to movies to wedding announcements in the NY Times. This story breaks down the process of becoming a movie star and asks the question do we currently have any true movie stars?

7. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself use to rock out to while cruising the mean streets of Sylvania is Bourbons & Lacs by Master P from the Ghetto D which in my very white opinion is one of the best rap cd's but what do I know? The trivia question we had last time was to name the 6 players to have hit at least one homerun in 40 different ballparks. This was an impossible task as no one answered correctly. The right answer will be added when I get into work Thursday afternoon. So check back this afternoon. This week's trivia is SEC football related...name the last SEC Champion to not win a National Title?

8. Georgia Thoughts
Pretty much every day for the past month I have been asked what I have thought about the Dawgs this season and would we be back as a program. I have given the same answer: some days I wake up and I see 6-6 again and other days I wake up and see 11-1 or 10-2. Lately I have woken up and have been thinking more 11-1 or 10-2. The two thing that gives me hope are 1. Year 2 in the 3-4 with Todd Grantham, this hopefully means no more thinking....just playing fast and making plays. In addition, hopefully Grantham has figured out some things scheme wise against the spread and teams that will run the triple option against us. Last season our defense was embarrassing on 3rd down. That can only improve in 2011. 2. Two big donkey's in the middle of the field. Juco transfer John Jenkins and redshirt sophomore Kwame Geathers. Jenkins will wear number 6 and Geathers will wear 99. These guys will play nose in the 3-4 right over the center and should require multiple blockers on every play and thus freeing up Christian Robinson and Alec Ogeltree to make plays. I would not be surprised if Ogeltree does not led the team in tackles his first season playing linebacker after playing in the secondary all through high school and his freshmen season last year.

The motto with the offense is in Aaron Murray we trust. Everyone is making a big deal about UGA losing AJ Green and Kris Durham but I find it funny no one is mentioning the fact Boise St lost their two best receivers from last season. The pundits assume Kellen Moore we keep putting up the numbers he has in the past but why are they not saying the same thing about Murray who had a really good season playing tougher competition as a freshman. I am not going to lie I am a little nervous about the offensive line and the lack of depth upfront as this group can not have many injuries. The last time UGA was this inexperienced along the OL was in 2003 and Mark Richt did his best coaching job leading the Dawgs to an 11-3 record with two of those losses to eventual National Champion LSU. I am very excited to see Isiah Crowell and while I do not expect much from him early in the season he might become more of a weapon as he learns more of the playbook and gets accustomed to the speed of play in the SEC.

On Saturday night in the Georgia Dome I have no idea what will happen. I know what I want to happen....an early break for Georgia whether it is a turnover, blocked punt, big kick return and let the 80% Georgia crowd let loose after 9 months of frustration turns into pure pandemonium. I remember reading a quote from Terrence Edwards after the 2002 SEC Championship when we blocked a punt after holding Arkansas to a three and out he said the dome sounded like a bomb went off with the pro Georgia crowd rocking the dome. Another thing to keep an eye out on both sides of the ball....can the QB's and receivers make adjustments when they can not hear each other. This is especially important with both teams starting new recievers. I remember the 03 SEC Championship game against LSU and Nick Saban blitzing from every angle causing David Greene to throw multiple intersections right to the Bayou Bengals. What does not get told is some of the receivers making wrong reads and passes thrown right to the Tigers that night.

(Side note that has nothing to do with anything: JaMarcus Russell was a backup on that 2003 LSU team and in pregame warmups I remember asking a LSU fan who that guy was because I have never seen anyone throw a football like he does. Not many can throw the pigskin like he can, it's a shame he didnt care about the mental part of the position. The Sunfire also popped a flat in the parking lot before the game and it was no fun riding back to Athens on a spare. Ben Ross and myself did have a really good tailgate however.)

Back to the game on Saturday, I think Georgia's defense led by the two large human beings upfront will provide the difference and the Dawgs win 31-21. Do not forget the role our great specialist will play in the hidden yardage game.

9. NFL Thoughts
Once again Phil Steele provides the nuggets, I give you some of the most interesting items from his magazine. Both his college and NFL previews are must reads.

a. The Patriots have won 8 straight after the bye week, the Colts have won 6 straight after the bye, and the Eagles have won 12 straight after the bye week. No other organization is close to a streak like this, any wonder why these three teams are thought to be some of the best organizations in football.
b. Meanwhile the Jags have won six straight before the bye while they are 2-6 the week after the bye in the last six years. On the other end of the spectrum the Bills have lost six straight games the week before the game.
c.In the Patriots last 42 December games they are 37-5.
d. Baltimore has lost 5 of their last 6 trips to Cincinnati. How does this happen?
e. Reason for hope in Houston: Last season the Texans were #30 in Defense but they bring in Wade Phillips as defense coordinator and should not have 2 lb's lose 25 starts to injury this season.
f. Indy has never lost to Houston in Indy and have outscored the Texans by an average of 33-17.
g. Over the last 5 seasons the Jaguars are 3-12 in their last three games of the season.
h. Denver has dropped the last three to the Raiders at home and 4 out of their last 5 to the Chargers at home. The 59 points scored by Oakland were the most points scored by an opponent in Invesco Field history. (Side note: of the 7 NFL venues I have ever visited Invesco Field at Mile High is my favorite.)
i. On the other hand Denver has beaten the Chiefs 10 of the last 11 games in Denver.
j. The Raiders have lost the last 8 games after the bye week. Safe to say the Raiders are the opposite of New England and Philly.
k. The Cowboys have not won a playoff game since 1996. Maybe on of the more crazier stats in the NFL.
l. Including the playoffs Philly is 8-1 versus the Falcons since 2000. They have outscored the dirty birds 65-24 in their last two meetings.
m. The New York Giants are 11-4 the last 5 years in NFC East road games.
n. The Redskins and Cowboys have played 102 times with the Cowboys holding the edge 60-40-2. The Skins are just 3-16 in their last 19 visits to big D.
o. The Super Bowl champions from the previous season has won 11 straight season openers by an average score of 25-12. The Broncos were the last Super Bowl champ to lose a season opener the following season in 1999.
p. The NFC South Champion has never repeated with the Saints 2nd place finish last year was the best finish ever. The other seven years the champion has finished 3rd 5 times and 4th twice. The Falcons won the NFC South last season as an FYI.
q.Coming into this season the Saints have won 5 straight Monday Night Football games by an average of 33-22.
r. The Falcons have lost 5 straight to the Houston/Tennessee franchise. They have not beaten the Titans/Oilers since 1990.
s. The Bucs have lost six straight non-Sunday regular season games. Last win was on MNF in 2003 against the Giants.

10. MLB Power 9
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Atlanta Braves
3. New York Yankees
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Milwaukee Brewers
6. Detroit Tigers
7. Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Texas Rangers
9. Anaheim Angels

11. Preseason College Power 10
1. Alabama-Two years ago BAMA had a first year QB and won it all with their defense and running game. Saban knows the script and will stick with the script.
2. Oklahoma-Probably the most talented team in the country but will have two very tough road contests at Florida State and at Oklahoma State.
3. Oregon-Despite only returning 11 starters they return QB Darron Thomas and RB LaMichael James. They do have to travel to Dallas to play a very talented LSU team to open the season. The final three weeks could be tricky with a trip to Stanford and home games against USC and Oregon State to finish the season.
4. Florida State- The ACC's most talented team that does not get any favors from the schedule maker. After home game against Oklahoma the Noles must travel to Clemson the following week. At the end of the year they will visit the Swamp to play the Gators and might have to face a 12-0 VaTech team in the ACC Championship.
5. LSU- Very talented team that will face it's share of distractions at the start of the year. The Tigers play away from Tiger Stadium in three of their first four games. This includes games in Arlington against Oregon, at Mississippi State and at West Virginia. The Bayou Bengals have won 17 straight September games.
6. Stanford-The Cardinal return the best QB in the country so normally they would be ranked higher however the loss of coach Jim Harbough is a huge loss for Stanford in my opinion. They do play Notre Dame and Oregon at home.
7. Boise State- Besides the contests against UGA and TCU they Broncos should win every game they play by just getting off the bus. Kellen Moore returns for his senior season but he does lose his two top receivers. I hope UGA beats this team by 30 points.
8. Texas A&M- Aggies get bot Texas and Oklahoma State among 5 Big 12 games at home this season. They do play Arkansas and Oklahoma away from College Station. The Aggies were very luck last season only losing 4 starts to injuries.
9. Wisconsin- The Badgers only leave the state of Wisconsin once before October 22nd and that is a neutral sight game at Soldier Field against Northern Illinois. Transfer QB Russell Wilson from NC State could have a Cam Newton affect on this talented team.
10. Arkansas- Tyler Wilson replaces Ryan Mallet and the Hogs should nice miss a beat on offense. The injury to Knile Davis hurts but this offense should roll up the points. They do have to play at LSU and at Bama plus Arkansas in Arlington, Texas. Every other game should be a win. Upset a couple teams on the road and Arkansas could easily be playing in Atlanta in December.

12. NFL Division Winners/Wild Card Teams
NFC
South-New Orleans Saints
East-Dallas Cowboys
Central -Green Bay Packers
West- St. Louis Rams
Wildcard-Atlanta Falcons
Wildcard-Philadelphia Eagles

AFC
South-Indianapolis Colts
East-New England Patriots
Central-Pittsburgh Steelers
West-San Diego Chargers
Wildcard-New York Jets
Wildcard-Houston Texans

13. What I Read The Past Couple Weeks

The first read of the week is a 1995 memo from Bill Gates about this thing called the internet. Click here for a pretty fascinating read.

The second read is an oral history of the television show Friday Night Lights which is the best show no one watched. Why would anyone put a show about high school football on Friday night? Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose.

The third read is titled The Day Kennedy Died and profiles the surgeon that looked after both JFK and Oswald on that fateful day in Dallas.

14. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts

a. Pretty good summer. Made a trip to LA which was awesome. First time in LA and I have to go back. The weather is something else and I think I would like the laid back California lifestyle. Like every else it cost to much to live but to visit it was solid.
b. Of course I also made a trip to NYC with a day trip mixed in to Atlantic City. Went to White House Subs in AC for the first time. That place is legit. When I was in AC I also went to see Stone Temple Pilots at the Borgota. Solid spot and small venue which is always nice for a concert. First time seeing STP in person and they absolutely rocked it. Very good show.

c. Other concerts this summer include Chesney at Lakewood in May and Montgomery Gentry at Turner Field in June. I also did see Corey Smith in July at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Alpharetta. Pretty cool set up, its a shame the venue is up in the Burbs and not closer to the City.
d. Everyone knows Corey Smith for "21" and "Every Dawg." I have yet to meet anyone who went to UGA or has visited Athens on a weekend who does not love the song "21." The song Every Dawg basically are my exact thoughts every Sunday morning I spent driving back from Jacksonville after having my heart ripped outby the Gators every year. That has to change this year.
e. Other Corey Smith songs that are must listens include Maybe Next Year and If I Could Do It Again.
f. It has been a pretty good summer of movies. The best movie I have seen this summer is Horrible Bosses. The second best is Hangover 2. Other movies that I have enjoyed this summer include Friends With Benefits, Super 8 and 30 Minutes or Less.
g. I was disappointed with Bad Teacher and Captain America. In the case of Captain America, just because a movie is in 3D does not make it a good movie. I left the movie theater a little disappointed that night.
h. A couple of movies that I have yet to see but hope to include Bridesmaides, Cowboys and Aliens and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
i. This movie might look like the best one of the summer. The movie is called The Devil's Double as Latif Yahia is an Iraqi forced to act as a fedai ("body double") for Uday Hussein the son of Saddam Hussein.
j. My quest to see a new ballpark each summer continued as I attended a game in Anaheim between the Angels and Royals. Very cool ballpark and very family friendly atmosphere. Other ballparks I have visited this year besides Anaheim and of course Turner Field include Citi Field in NYC, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati and Nationals Park in our Nation's Capital.
k. It has been a decent summer of television. In my opinion Curb Your Enthusiasm is the best comedy on television right now. We have had some classic episodes this season with Larry David and Rosie fighting over a broad and Larry proclaiming that "the tie goes to the hetero." The Palestinian Chicken episode might be the best Curb episode ever in my opinion.
l. Is Larry David getting more creative the more shows he writes?
m. While I have enjoyed Entourage a lot this season it has moved more from a comedy to a drama and that should happen as characters age and develop. I am disappointed they haven't worked in a joke about Turtle losing a ton of weight.
n. By the way Eric is turning into the worst excuse of a Hollywood manager/agent that one has ever witnessed. It's Hollywood and what do you care about your ex-fiance anyway?
o. Royal Pains on USA and Leverage are must watches for the roomdog and myself.
p. Why am I not watching Breaking Bad?
q. What other great shows am I missing? I need to watch The Wire, Rescue Me, and Mad Men. What other great shows am I missing out on?
r. Go ahead and pick on me for not watching The Wire and Mad Men.
s. What other shows look good this fall?
t. Very excited for college football and shenanigans in Athens and other municipalities around the SEC this season. Feel free to make your way to Athens for a tailgate or two or three.

15. The Fun Stuff

Tweet of The Week From 12 Weeks Ago
This week's tweet comes from @BENGREENMAN who is an editor for The New Yorker.
Spelling Bee: Champion says "it's hard to find the words." That was a good joke. Too bad the unctuous interviewer didn't get it.

Not sure if I got it either.

Photo of The Week From 12 Weeks Ago
Mark Cuban with the Championship trophy. Just awesome.

Tweet of The Week
Comes from @justinwjohnson who is me. In the words of DP on self promotion....if not me, then who? If not now, when? This tweet comes from me two mornings ago after it was announced the Miami players would only be suspended one game while my man AJ Green got four games last season.

If AJ Green would have traded his jersey w/ a hooker instead of sold it would he have only been suspended one game?

Quote of The Week
From Larry David a couple weeks ago. See this clip for the whole dialogue.

I want to make that smaller.

Photo of The Week

A deer running through flood waters in Lincoln, NJ. This was the third time ever a hurricane has made land fall in the Garden State.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-05-31T20:44:00.000-04:00

1. UGA Thoughts
Not many UGA thoughts but that goes with the territory this time of the year. This is what I do have.

a. For the 2010-2011 academic year UGA and Florida were the only SEC teams to play in bowl game, NCAA Men's Tournament and make a NCAA Baseball regional.
b. Does it count if you lose to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl?
c. When you read this Wednesday morning we will be 94 days away from kickoff. Here is to a quick summer.
d. The guys over at the great UGA blog Bubba N Earl are doing a great job with a daily countdown. You should visit everyday. It will only make the summer go quicker.
e. The more I break down our team the more I love our Defensive Line and Linebackers. WIth that being said we are really weak at the back end of the defense especially at Safety.
f. While UGA is traveling across the country to play in the Oregon State regional. It will not be the first time these teams have met on the Diamond.
g. In 2006 when I was living in the Big Apple Oregon State eliminated UGA in the College World Series. The Beavers would go on to emerge from the losers bracket to win the whole that year.
h. In 2007 the Beavers swept a series in Athens while the Dawgs lost two out of three in Portland against Oregon State in 2008.
i. Oregon State has ended the season on a skid, dropping six of their last seven outings, including five straight. The Beavers’ next win will be their first since May 20, and Oregon State’s losing streak has included two three-run decisions, a five-run setback, and, most recently, a six-run loss.
j. The Beavers have lost five of its last nine outings in Corvallis, which could become the fourth different city to have hosted a Georgia-Oregon State baseball game in the last six seasons.

k. A couple of weeks ago it was announced that the UGA hoops team would be hosting the Cincinnati Bearcats in the ESPN made for television event SEC/BIGEAST challenge.
l. As a UGA season ticket holder for hoops I am liking next year's home schedule. Along with the SEC home schedule the Dawgs also get Georgia Tech at the Stegasorous. This is a big time step up from last seasons out of conference schedule.
m. The question now becomes; do we have the players to handle a step up in quality of opponent?

2. MLB Thoughts
a. Has Bobby Abreu ever swung at a pitch outside the strikezone with two strikes? That guy is an OBP machine.
b. BlueJays' Bautista has 80 home runs since Sept. 26, 2009. No other player has more than 50. For those wondering, Cabrera, Pujols and Teixeira are the players with 50 homers behind Bautista's 80 since Sept. 26, 2009.
c. Pirates have now reached double-digit runs three times in their last 137 road games. All three came against the Cubs in Wrigley Field.
d. Something to keep an eye on this summer: The RedSox are a major league-best 64-27 in interleague play since the start of 2006. Keep this in mind as the Boston 9 have interleague series at the Fens against the Padres and the Brewers. The Sox do have to visit the Pirates, Phillies and Astros.

e. When the Nation takes on the Phillies in late June I guess I can join the good doc and everyone else who is not from the Northeast and cheer for the Red Sox.

f. CC Sabathia threw a complete game last Tuesday, and it was the first by a Yankee in 341 starts, an American League record. The major league record was set by the Nationals from 2006-09 with 388 straight games.
g. The 19-inning Phillies-Reds game Thursday wasn’t even the longest game of the week in professional baseball. Jupiter beat Clearwater, 2-1, in a 23-inning Florida State League game. The next night’s game had the same score but was played in 2:11.(great nugget from The Boston Globe's Sunday Baseball Notes)

h. Last week the Cubs for the first time in their history played 10 games in a row at night.

i. I remember watching their first night game as a kid and the game was eventually rained out. The best part of the night was watching Mark Grace, Greg Maddux and others tarp slide. Good stuff.

j. The Cardinals have a 28-12 record when Carpenter does not start. When he starts, they’re 2-9. How does that make any sort of sense?

k. Here is a great nugget from Jayson Stark, other than Jose Bautista, only one active outfielder as won a home run title. I racked my brain for the answer and came up blank (that should not be a surprise), however the other active outfielder to win a home run title is Andruw Jones. How about that stat.

l. It needs to be mentioned that right now outfielders lead in both leagues. Bautista in the AL and Jay Bruce in the NL.

m. For a while on Sunday night it looked as if the Reds were going to win 1-0. This would have been fascinating while irritating. The reason I what have found it fascinating is the fact the Reds have never won a 1-0 game in Atlanta. Last 1-0 road win at Braves-- 1958! (we were the Milwaukee Braves then).
n. I am so glad that did not happen. Also, David Ross Sunday night picked a guy off of first base and threw another Red out at second. He has thrown out 3 of 5 would be baserunners this season.

o. On Saturday night Chipper Jones had his 12th career walk-off hit as the Braves beat Reds in 12 innings...7 of Jones' 12 walk-off hits have come in extras.

p. Why does it seem he has more than 12 career walk off hits?

q. How crazy are the Brewers and the way they win games? On Saturday the Crew won on a pinch-hit walk-off bunt by Jonathan Lucroy.. Last time the MIL won game on any bunt single: April 28, 2004 (Bill Hall).
r. Even more crazier is the fact The last PINCH-HIT "bunt-off" in the majors was also by the Brewers. (Former Met great) Glendon Rusch in 14th inning against the Astros on April 19, 2003.
s. Earlier in the week Brewer closer John Axford accomplished this feat...loaded the bases in the ninth inning Tuesday -- AFTER he'd already struck out the side. How'd that happen? Easy. Axford whiffed the first three hitters in the ninth, but the third (Ian Desmond) reached base on a strike-three wild pitch. Then Axford allowed a single and a walk, and only then got the final out for real, on a fly ball to right.
t. I love when something crazy like that happens!

3. Some fun September Weekends
Everyone knows I enjoy a good multi-city, multi-sport legendary weekend. If I win the lottery between now and then this is what I will be doing every weekend in September.

Labor Day Weekend-My birthday is on Friday
9/2 Friday Night- Dodgers @ Braves
9/3 Saturday- College Football Season starts w. Boise St-UGA at the Georgia Dome

An Empire State/Keystone State/Garden State extravaganza
9/8 Thursday- US Open, Flushing Meadow
9/9 Friday- Cubs @ Mets, Citi Field
9/10 Saturday- Alabama-Penn State, Happy Valley
9/11 Sunday- Cowboys @ Jets, Meadowlands Stadium

A visit to Chicagoland and the Hoosier State
9/16 Friday- Astros @ Cubs, Wrigley Field
9/17 Saturday- Michigan State @ Notre Dame, South Bend
9/18 Sunday- Browns @ Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium

A MLB Legendary Weekend in the Big Apple
9/23 Friday- Red Sox @ Yankees, Yankee Stadium or Phillies @ Mets, Citi Field
9/24 Saturday- Red Sox @ Yankees, Yankee Stadium or Phillies @ Mets, Citi Field
9/25 Sunday- Either of the games above or a quick Amtrak ride to DC for Braves-Nats
Only football option is Giants @ Eagles on the 25th.

4. Some Fun October Weekends

A Sunshine State Trifecta
10/1 Saturday Alabama @ Florida
10/2 Sunday New Orleans @ Jacksonville
10/3 Monday Indy @ Tampa Bay

Rocky Top, Carolina and the ATL
10/8 Saturday UGA @ Tenn
10/9 Sunday Saints @ Panthers 1:00
Drive like a Bat Out of Hell
10/9 Sunday Packers @ Falcons 8:20

Mid-Atlantic to The Big Apple
10/15 Saturday Purdue @ Penn State 12:00
10/15 Saturday Clemson @ Maryland TBA (Could be done if Night game. 199 miles between State College and College Park).
10/16 Sunday Bills @ Giants 1:00
10/16 Playoff Baseball TBA
10/17 Monday Dolphins @ Jets (Monday night in the Meadowlands, enough said)

Another Sun Shine State Trifecta
10/22 Saturday Maryland at FSU
or
10/22 Saturday Georgia Tech @ Miami
10/23 Sunday Broncos @ Miami
10/24 Monday Ravens @ Jaguars

Texas Four Step
10/27 Thursday Rice @ Houston
10/28 Friday BYU @ TCU
10/29 Saturday Missouri @ Texas A&M or Kansas @ Texas
10/30 Sunday Jaguars @ Texans

5. Podcasts
Last weekend I mentioned my love for twitter and how it has changed how we get our news, sports information and communicate with those who 5 years old ago seemed untouchable. This year I will tell you my favorite Podcasts. I believe in 5 years every new car that we purchase will have the availability to download podcast automatically. No more downloading Dan Patrick to the IPOD, plugging in the IPOD to the adapter, etc. Dan Patrick will now be waiting on me when I crank up my car every afternoon for the ride home. As a big fan of Sports Talk radio how awesome would it be to have interviews from the top Sports Radio programs waiting on me when I get in my car every afternoon. One should also imagine the possibilities on the business side. The ability to focus your advertising by knowing who is listening to certain podcasts etc is knowledge that some will pay top dollar.

I was listening to Jonah Keri's Podcast from May 6th when he interviewed the great Sean McDonough. Sean who is the son of the late Will McDonough the go to NFL scribe for the Boston Globe from the 1960's through the early 90's. One of the items I found so fascinating is that one of Sean's brother is the Director of Player Personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars. His other brother Ryan is Director of Player Personnel for the Boston Celtics. One sister is at Harvard Business School and another sister is head of Baptist General Hospital in Boston. What a family.

Here are my must list Podcasts Downloads
1. Rich Eisen- Every time I listen I learn something new about the game of football. Eisen is the master at interviewing his guests and often the subject does leave football. I also enjoy hearing the background info on the workings of the NFL Network and this includes the travel schedules that fascinate me.
2. Bill Simmons- The Sports Guy who is a basketball expert but is well versed in every sport. Sometimes the podcasts get to Boston centric but who am I to judge? I respect the passion the people in that town have for sports.
3. Up and In: The Baseball Podcasts- This should be number 1, they only problem is this podcast gets a little lengthy but still awesome none the less.
4. The Poscast- My current favorite writer interviews some intriguing guests. How is it not awesome?
5. Behind The Bets with ESPN- I love hearing from wise guys and the house on how the numbers gets set up etc. The casino's do not get built by mistake.
6. Jonah Keri- I have only listened to the one podcast which I referenced earlier. Still fascinated by the opportunities that are available.

What am I missing? What are you downloading?

6. Halftime
Instead of linking one awesome song that Smoak and myself used to rockout to while juveniles in the metropolis of Sylvania I will give you two songs that we listened to on the way back from TMAC's wedding to the hotel. I thought it was ironic that we played two songs about cheating after seeing one of our best friends get married but who am I to judge? The first song is I Let Her Lie and comes from Darryl Worley who has a Scotty McCreery sound to his voice. The second song that we listened to was All These Years by Sawyer Band. Random fun fact: I once saw Sawyer Band at Effingham County High School when I was in high school. What does that even mean?

Last Ten Things trivia question was not answered correctly by anyone. The four sets of Father/Son combos with 200 homeruns apiece are Gus and Buddy Bell, Cecil and Prince Fielder, Bobby and Barry Bonds, Felipe and Moises Alou.

This week trivia question is just as difficult. Their have been 6 players to have hit at least one homerun in 40 different ballparks. Name them. Just some hints for everyone. Think players who have played in both leagues and in the not so distant past with the Stadium Boom and Interleague Play.

7. College Baseball Thoughts
This weekend will mark the start of the NCAA Baseball tournament with 16 four team regionals set up throughout the country. My Dawgs will make a west coast trip to Corvalis, Oregon. I hear it is lovely their this time of year. Hear are some thoughts and my predictions which should help you fill out your college baseball bracket. You are filing out a bracket right?

a. The ACC has never had a team win a National Championship. Yes, Miami has won multiple National Championships but none as a member of the ACC.

b. UGA is playing in its 7 NCAA tournament since 2001. Before 2001 the Dawgs had only made 3 NCAA tournaments. Those were 1987 when they went to Omaha, 1990 when the Dawgs won it all and 1992 when UGA lost in the Tallahassee regional.

c. In this years tournament seven SEC teams made the tournament, as did seven teams from the ACC. The Pac-10 joined the Big 12 with six teams selected.
d. One shocker was six time NCAA champion failing to make the field of 64. The Bayou Bengals went 36-20 overall record, an RPI of 26 and 18 wins vs. RPI Top 100 teams. The negatives include a dismal ninth-place finish in the SEC, 13-17 record in conference, and perhaps the most damming statistic, just three true non-conference road games.
e. Meanwhile, the St. John's Red Storm of the Big East finished the season with an RPI of 54 and a 35-20 overall record. They also finished second in the Big East in the regular season and reached the Big East tournament title game. However, they were just 1-3 vs. RPI Top 25, 1-6 vs. RPI Top 50 and 9-16 vs. RPI Top 100.
f. With LSU missing out on the tournament it makes me wonder if the SEC invited all 12 teams instead of the top 8 could they have still made the NCAA tournament? I know if I was on the NCAA Baseball Committee and we were discussing teams I would say how can we invite them to the National tournament when they can not make the SEC tournament.

g. With that being said the Bayou Bengals need to play more than three true non-conference road games.

h. St. John's on the other hand played 26 road games this season. The Johnnies also played an early-season series at Georgia Tech, won a series at Georgia Southern (a postseason club) and played North Carolina in a midweek bout.
i. Safe to say RPI was not a major factor when a team like Arkansas with an RPI of 14 gets shipped to Arizona State as #2 seed. Also, UGA is a 3 seed in the Corvalis regional despite having the best RPI of all the teams involved.

j. For the first time since the NCAA tournament was expanded to 64 teams, the West does not have a team seeded in the top eight. Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, defending champion South Carolina, Florida State, Vanderbilt, Texas and Rice are the top eight teams.
k. My 16 Regional winners are Virginia, UCLA, Florida, Southern Miss, UNC, Cal State Fullerton, South Carolina, UCONN, Florida State, Texas A&M, Vandy, UGA, Texas, Arkansas, Rice, TCU.

l. I do love the SEC and not the ACC with Clemson and GaTech losing home regionals. Besides those upsets I was mostly chalk.

m. My 8 College World Series finalists are Virginia, Florida, Cal State Fullerton, South Carolina, Texas A&M, UGA, Texas and TCU.
n. We will have a Virginia-Florida final with the Gators winning it all. (I can not believe I just typed that).

8. MLB Power 9
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Boston Red Sox

3. Cleveland Indians
4. New York Yankees

5. St. Louis Cardinals

6. Arizona Diamondbacks

7. Tampa Bay Rays

8. Texas Rangers
9. San Fransico Giants

9. What I Read This Week
A couple of long reads about the sporting world. The first one is the New Yorker profile of Fred Wilpon that made news last week. While Wilpon does call out his three marquee players those comments come in one paragraph of an article that is 21 pages when printed. Also last week Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated profiled Wilpon as well for the magazine. Here is that article. I am still fascinated how Wilpon went from a middle class Brooklyn kid to owner of the New York Mets. His American Dream.

The next article can be found in this week's Sports Illustrated and it is the story that forced Ohio State to deal with Jim Tressel since the school would not investigate on their own. Fascinated that Tressel did not think what he was doing was wrong and how he underestimated the severity of the issues in Columbus. Where was the Athletic Director when all of this was going on? How silly does school president Gordon Gee look today?

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. Saw the Hangover 2 twice this past week. Very funny, not as funny as the first but who would have expect that?

b. They used the same formula as the first movie but why change? The first Hangover was the highest grossing "R" rated movie of all time.

c. Mr. Chow is one amazing character. I can not remember another like him. Also, Doug's wife is amazingly gorgeous. She needs a better agent, or on screen credits only include Hangover, Hangover 2, American Pie (where she was a random hot girl), Jezebel's Kiss, Homer and Eddie (when she was four).

d. The actress I am discussing is Sasha Barrese. How does she not have a major role in a movie or television show?

e. Went to Kenny Chesney about ten days ago. As always a very good show even though I was dissapointed in only one encore song. The encore song was "Boys of Fall" while very good, not what I am looking for in an encore song.

f. Kenny did cover the David Allen Coe song, You Never Even Called Me By My Name....has that song ever been played when it has not turned into a great sing along?
g. Billy Currington is a better artist than I give him credit. I totally forgot how many really good songs that he has. Who doesn't love "Good Directions" "People Are Crazy" "Pretty Good at Drinking Beer" and "Let Me Down Easy"?

h. It has to be noted that Luke Bryan actually wrote Good Directions...here is Mr. Bryan singing one of my favorite country songs.

i. Does anyone realize that Billy Currington is from the 912 and Rincon, Ga? He also recorded this song with Shania Twain which might be the worst song ever recorded.
j. I think my wedding season is coming to a close...one more wedding in Athens the last weekend in June. One thing about wedding season is that I get to see and hang out with an A-list crew that I do not see that often.
k.With that being said if I ever find someone who is as awesome as me (let's be serious I am perfect and look like Brad Pitt) the festivities will not be outside in May. With that being said it was still an awesome time.
l. In a couple weeks Peter King (the guy I stole the 10 things from) is looking for guest writers for his column. If I were him I would ask Mike Mayock or Joe Posnanski. King also gets players or coaches to write for him and I would to hear from guys like Kurt Warner, Tony Dungy, Tom Coughlin, either Harbaugh brother, Marshall Faulk or Drew Brees. I will email or tweet him my thoughts. Let's see who he chooses?
m. Three years ago I could not tell you a thing about Mike Mayock. Today I think he is the premiere football analyst whether college or professional. This season he will team with Brad Nessler who is one of the best in the business for the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football. Mayock will also color commentate Notre Dame football on NBC.
n. Because I am a geek I looked up the NFL Networks and Notre Dame's schedule to find potential crazy travel schedules.
o. Their are two weeks that Mayock will have to pull double duty. The first is Thursday November 10th with the Raiders at the Chargers on a Thursday night. Mayock will then take the Red Eye to the East Coast for a Notre Dame home game against Maryland at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. The second crazy travel week for Mayock will be the following weekend when the Jets take on the Broncos in the Mile High City. After the game or the next morning Mayock will fly to Indy or Chicago and drive over to South Bend for Saturday's battle of the Jesuits when Boston College plays Notre Dome. That's a cool schedule.
p. With the Mav's in the NBA finals is everyone else surprised by how quiet Mark Cuban has been?
q. Week away from a trip to Tinsel Town, has anyone ever been? Does anyone have any recommendations?

Text of The Week
From the Good Doctor in the SAV who was doing what Doctors do in the summer.....visit the beach.
Eating breakfast at the Donut Hole in sunny Destin, Florida. If you ever in the area, I highly recommend the pancakes and the red velvet donuts. If Charlie Weis finds this place during the SEC meetings he will be buying a fat boy seat belt extender for the vehicle.

I need to learn more about these red velvet donuts.

Tweet of The Week
Actually last weekend but who is counting? This week's tweet comes from @NJ_StevePoliti who is Steve Politi a columnist for The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)

Well, this whole rapture thing didn't happen -- did Rex Ryan guarantee it or something?

Quote of The Week
From Allen who is played by Zach Galifianakis in Hangover 2

Are we not desert any more? I didn't get the memo.

Photo of The Week
One more item from The Star-Ledger (how does New Jersey's paper get two references in 10 Things)

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-05-17T00:39:00.000-04:00

First time, long time. And we are off...............

1. What I have been up to?
February 21-Last 10 Things
February 28th- Weekend in Statesboro
March 5th- Spring Training
March 12- Event in Chattanooga and family time in Rome, Ga
March 19- NCAA Tournament in Charlotte
March 26- Spring Training
April 2- In DC for Braves/Nats
April 9- Braves Opening Weekend and meeting half of Screven County in Athens
April 16- Braves Weekend versus Mets and Westphal wedding
April 23-High School Baseball and stock the bar party for TMAC in Augusta
April 30- Daley Wedding in Sylvania/Statesboro
May 7th-Derby Party/Shennanigans for TMAC
May 14th- Braves home games
May 17th-New 10 Things
May 21- Kenny Chesney and cousins high school graduation in Rome
May 28- TMAC Nuptials and Braves home weekend
June 4-NOT A THING
June 11- Trip to LA
June 18-Braves home games
June 25- Wedding in Athens
July 2-Braves home games
July 9-No Idea?
July 16-Braves home games
July 23-No Idea? Maybe a road trip to the Nati.
July 30-Braves Home Games

2. Georgia Thoughts

A couple quick thoughts and we will begin first with the UGA Hoops team. I attended my first NCAA tournament this spring and it was one of the highlights of my spring. Despite the losses to Thompkins, Leslie, Price and Barnes I still feel the future is bright for UGA Basketball. The upcoming recruting period is huge for the future success of the program as the state is loaded and it seems more of the top recruits are atleast considering UGA, something they have never done in the past. Now we need to get two or three of these players to enroll in Athens. UGA also steps it up scheduling wise next season as the Dawgs make trips to USC, Xavier and Colorado. Our for sure home games include Mercer, Georgia Tech and a Big East team as part of the SEC/Big East challenge. We are also part of the CBE Preseason Basketball tournament the weekend before Thanksgiving in Kansas City. Future opponents include Missouri, Notre Dame and Cal.

As far as the football team I am loving what I am reading and hearing. Of course that is usually the case when reading about UGA football teams but something about this season seems different. I am not saying we will win the SEC but I like our chances as much as any other team in the SEC East. I also need to discuss the transfer of Washaun Ealey. Judging by the comments of Mr. Ealey one can not wonder that he was part of the problem not the solution. I also hope that entitled attitude displayed by Ealey is not one that still festers in the UGA lockeroom because this attitude has given us a 8-5 record in 2009 and a 6-7 record in 2010. We are better than this.

3. MLB Thoughts
a. On Sunday the Braves beat Philly ace Roy Halladay in what was the 2nd straight CG loss for the Phillies ace. Halladay now has 6 CG losses since start of 2009, no one else has more than 3.
b. At one point during the game on Sunday the Braves had 6 hits, all singles and three of the six were broken bat hits. Reading the box score this morning they looked like line drives.
c. One of the surprises of the 2011 season is the struggles of Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. What makes these numbers even crazier is that After a 9-for-13 series against the New York Yankees in early April, he was hitting .400.
d. Here are some reasons for the struggles, Pedroia is swinging and missing at a much higher rate this season, an issue that’s clearly connected to more strikeouts. In his first four full seasons in the majors, Pedroia had an 8.6 miss percentage on his swings, the seventh lowest in the majors over that span. This season, that has skyrocketed to 20.7 percent, second highest on the Red Sox.

e. Furthermore, his .258 BA with two strikes entering 2010 ranked fifth among active players. However, the spike in strikeouts has led to a .178 average with two strikes this season.
f. In addition, Pedroia is hitting just .239 on fastballs and cutters, down from .320 in 2010 and .310 in 2009. However, the biggest discrepancy can be found on inside pitches. Before his injury last season, Pedroia was hitting .359 on at-bats ending on an inside pitch.
g. In 2011, that has plummeted to a .159 batting average. He already has more strikeouts on inside pitches (10) than he had in all of 2010 (7). So how about inside fastballs? The difference there is massive. In 2010, Pedroia hit .478 (22-for-46) on at-bats ending on an inside fastball. This season, he is just 6-for-31 (.194).
h.So far this season Major League Baseball has had 26 rainouts. All of last season MLB as a whole had 21 rainouts. This season the Braves have already had two rainouts while not having any games postponned in 2010.
i. On average April accounts for 37 percent of all rainouts each year (an average of 12), or more than double the amount of rainouts the league has seen for any other month during the season from 2002 to the present.
j. Over the last ten years the Red Sox and Mets have had the most rain outs. This is a list I hope the Braves never lead.
k. Year of the pitcher? There have been a record 73 shutouts in the majors thru May 10, 7 more than the next-best total, set in 2008.
l. Hitters throughout baseball are hitting .249/.319/.382. Even comparing that only to April performance over the last 17 years, the numbers are way, way down.
m. From 1994 through 2010, hitters in April batted .264 — so that’s down 15 points.Their on-base percentage was .345 — so that’s down 26 points. Their slugging percentage was .421 — so that’s down almost 40 points.
n. On Thursday, when the New York Yankees lost an 11-5 decision to the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium, not a single New York batter struck out. It was the first time the Yankees had gone an entire game without striking out since July 8, 2009, when they defeated the Twins during their final trip to the Metrodome.
o. The last time the Yankees lost a game in which they didn’t strike out was a 7-1 defeat in Detroit nearly a decade ago -- on July 19, 2001. The last time they lost at home without striking out was June 17, 1994, in an 8-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
p.The lowest walk rate among batting qualifiers belongs to Oakland leadoff man Coco Crisp, who has drawn just two walks in 30 games -- an average of one walk per 62.0 plate appearances. As a group, leadoff hitters in the majors are drawing an average of one free pass for every 12.6 PAs, walking nearly five times as often as Crisp.
q. Among the 176 relievers who have appeared in at least 10 games in 2011, only two have yet to allow a first batter they’ve faced to reach base. San Diego’s Mike Adams has retired all 18 of his first batters, and the Angels’ Rich Thompson has set down 13 in 13 games.
r. First batters have gone 0-for-18 against another Padre, Chad Qualls, though he has given up a walk for a still-stingy .053 opponent OBP. Washington closer Drew Storen has the same opponent OBP, limiting first batters to one hit in 19 at-bats.
s. With a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, the Pittsburgh Pirates improved to 18-17, marking the latest point in the season that they’ve been above .500 since they were 23-22 on May 29, 2004.
t. The Pirates, with 18 consecutive losing seasons heading into 2011, have been above .500 in the second half in only two of those 18 seasons -- the last time in 1999. In five of them, the Pirates never were above .500. In fact, they failed to surpass the .500 mark for nearly three full years, from May 2004 until April 2007.
u. I need to thank the great people at www.stats.com for the last 8 nuggets.

4. Joe Posnanski
Currently Mr. Posnanski has taken over the ledger as my favorite current writer. For a while Rick Riley held that post but he went to ESPN and his work has never been the same. Mr. Posnanski (who once wrote for the Augusta Chronicle) currently works for Sports Illustrated and is a twitter must follow. (more on that topic later) Here are some of my favorite Posnanski reads over the last year. A couple of these have nothing to do with sports. Joe looks at the difference between home and Home. A 16 game baseball season?. Joe looks at The Biggest Winner. Zero Intentional Walks. The last two posts are my favorite Posnanski stories that I have ever read. The first is titled Frenchy and Hope. The second read is titled Katie The Perfect and should be a must read for anyone that works in customer service, etc.

5. Twitter
It's no secret that I absolutely love twitter and how it has changed how we get our information, how companies market their products and how people once unreachable now have communicate with regular joes (me and you) regularly. Here are some of the favorite people that I follow by category.

Sports Business/General Sports: si_vault Andy Gray, sportswatch Neil Best, richarddeitsch Richard Deitsch, SITimLayden Tim Layden, darrenrovell darren rovell, richarddeitsch Richard Deitsch, JPosnanski Joe Posnanski, sportsguy33 Bill Simmons

Baseball PeterMoylan Peter Moylan, Philled_In David Hale, jaysonst Jayson Stark, Kevin_Goldstein Kevin Goldstein, Jim_Powell Jim Powell, STATS_MLB STATS LLC, Joelsherman1 Joel Sherman, ajcbraves David O'Brien, Buster_ESPN Buster Olney, SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman

Football adbrandt Andrew Brandt, giantspathanlon pat hanlon, richeisen Rich Eisen, LATimesfarmer Sam Farmer LA Times, SI_PeterKing Peter King

College Sports: JayBilas Jay Bilas, GentryEstes247 Gentry Estes, Mark_Schlabach Mark Schlabach, MrCFB Tony Barnhart, coachmarkfox Mark Fox, SethEmerson Seth Emerson, schadjoe Joe Schad

Humor GaryUnCarter Gary Carter RAW, EricStangel Eric Stangel, Justin_Stangel Justin Stangel, ConanOBrien Conan O'Brien, drewmagary Drew Magary

Etc: longreads Longreads, jamiedupree Jamie Dupree,

Etc, Etc: I know I left alot of friends of the list but I did not have a friend tab or everyone would have been on it. The only two friends I am going to add are kingdj27 and mhejduk who are absolutely hillarious and must follows during Yankees (kingdj27) and Indians (Mhejduk) baseball games.

Next week I break down my favorite Podcasts. Who are some quality people that I should follow on twitter?

6. Halftime
In the past few weeks since their concert at Turner Field I have become a huge Avett Brothers fan. I had vaguely heard of them and now they are one of my favorites. Currently my favorite Avett Brothers tune is I And Love And You. I am also a huge fan of Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise. This group from right outside Charlotte played the Grammy's with Mumford and Sons and also Bob Dylan. Here is that video. Am I the only one who thinks the lead singer of Mumford and Sons is actually Tim Tebow?

This week trivia question comes courtesy of @Buster_ESPN and co-worker Bob Askin. Their are four sets of Father/Son combos that each have hit 200 career homeruns. Who are they?

7. The 5 Best Baseball Stats Today
We all know about Batting Average, ERA, WHIP but what are some different stats that give us a better way of determing a player's value. I wish some of these stats were listed in the newspaper and on scoreboards inside the stadium like we currently see home runs, rbis, average and ERA.

1. BABIP-Batting Average Balls In Play-BABIP measures exactly what it says: a player’s batting average on balls that defenders can actually make a play on. Strikeouts and home runs are stripped out and subtracted from the player’s total number of at-bats, then batting average is calculated as usual. The point of all this is basically to find out how lucky a player is or isn’t. League average BABIPs are around .300, so a BABIP higher than that means the player’s success is generally luckier than average.

2. Win Share-Comes from the 2002 Bill James book that I might not be smart enough to read. It considers statistics for baseball and basketball players, in the context of their team and in a sabermetric way, and assigns a single number to each player for his contributions for the year. A win share represents one-third of a team win, by definition. If a team wins 80 games in a season, then its players will share 240 win shares. The formula for calculating win shares is complicated; it takes up pages 16–100 in the book. The general approach is to take the team's win shares (i.e., 3 times its number of wins), then divide them between offense and defense.

3. Ultimate Zone Ratings (UZR)-UZR is an advanced defensive metric that uses play-by-play data recorded by Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) to estimate each fielder’s defensive contribution in theoretical runs above or below an average fielder at his position in that player’s league and year. Thus, a SS with a UZR of zero is exactly average as compared to a SS in the same year and in the same league. If his UZR is plus, he is above average, and if it is minus, he is below average. If you want more info go to this Fan Graphs website for the breakdown of UZR. On a side note why do I not visit FanGraphs.com more often?

4. Run's Created- This is another baseball statistic invented by Bill James to estimate the number of runs a hitter contributes to his team. The Technical version of Run's Created formula reads like this:

Thanks to the fine people at Baseball Reference here is the career leaderboard for Runs Created.

5. Wins above replacement player- Commonly known as WAR, this is a non-standardized sabermetric baseball statistic that is used to show how many more wins a player would give a team as opposed to a "replacement level", or minor league/bench player at that position. While WAR values are scaled equally for pitchers and hitters, the result is calculated differently for pitchers versus position players: position players are evaluated using statistics for fielding and hitting, while pitchers are evaluated using statistics related to the opposing batters' hits, walks and strikeouts.

Yes I am a stat geek. My apologies.

8. MLB Power 9

The Reason for Nine? Nine Innings. Nine position players.Ted Williams #. Babe Ruth Squared and Chipper Jones minus one. All records as of end of games Sunday night.

1. Cleveland- 24-13- Tied with the Braves for the best run differential +41 in all of baseball.
2. Tampa Bay- 23-17- How are they in first place again? This team has won the AL East 2 out of the last 3 years.
3. Philadelphia-25-14. Despite losing two of three the past two weekends to the Braves best overall body of work in the NL. Their schedule does get tougher the next few weeks.
4. Florida- 23-16. Their bullpen has been in my opinion one of the biggest surprises in baseball. Leo Nunez has not blown a save all season. This has to change.
5. Atlanta-23-19 Starting to play better baseball and if this team can get Uggla going, Lookout!
6. Detroit-22-18. Hottest team in base right now going 9-1 over their last 10.
7. Cincinnati- 23-17. Second hottest team in baseball right now going 8-2 over their last 10. Jay Bruce starting to heat up. Big sweep of the Cardinals at home.
8. San Francisco-22-17. Last week we heard of rumors of a Jose Reyes trade. If that happens, look out.
9. Anaheim Angels 22-19. Big series win over Texas is the only reason they are nine and the Rangers are not.

9. What Have I Read?

A couple decent reads over the past few months. The first is an excerpt from the new tell all book on ESPN titled Those Guys Have All The Fun. This excerpt takes a look at the brilliant Keith Olbermann and his lack of regard for authority and the role he had in building the network and the pay cut it took to be on SportsCenter. The NY Times gives us a breakdown on the 770 page book written by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales. These two also wrote the 2002 book on the crew of Saturday Night Live titled, Live From New York.

The second read comes from Time Magazine and asks the question Is The FBI Up to the Job 10 Years after 9/11? This article was published a few days before we killed Osama Bin Laden and is still very fascinating. An inside look at FBI Director Robert Mueller's efforts to remake the department after 9/11, and the internal battles that almost led him to quit. Mueller—who was sworn in just seven days after the World Trade Center attacks—threatened to resign twice while serving under President Bush.

The third read comes from the May 3rd New York Times two days after it was announced that Osama Bin Laden was dead. Titled, Behind The Hunt For Bin Laden the New York Times investigates the CIA and US Military search for Bin Laden, how we found him and how everything went down on the fateful Sunday.

10. Non Football or Basketball Thoughts
a. I absolutely loved the season finale of How I Met Your Mother. I do not even get excited when I see at Woman that we the viewer are made to believe that it is Ted's future wife because I am tired of falling into that trap.
b. In the first episode of the season we see Ted at a wedding where he supposedly meets his wife. In the season finale we learn that it is Barney's wedding but I think the bride to be is Robin not Nora despite Nora's appearance in the finale.
c. I am glad Zoey is now gone as she lasted about four episodes to long but that is just my opinion.
d. Overall an above average season that was better than season 5 but not as good as seasons 1 and 2. I felt like the show was picking up steam before Marshall's Dad died and then it was hit and miss.
e. Looks like a decent movie summer and I think May gets us off to a strong start. From everything I read and hear Bridesmaids looks hilarious and it is more than just a chick flick. Here is the trailor. Some funny broads in that movie.
f. The movie I want to see more than any other this summer has to be Hangover 2. How does this not look funny?
g. The most entertaining drama on television that I watched this season had to be Hawaii 5-0 and the finale did not disappoint. Holy smokes that was a great episode and now we have about 6-7 story lines to start next season.
h. I do know they need to find Wo Fat and find him fast. Hard to believe I started watching this show weekly thanks to a Bill Simmons tweet and leaving the television turned to CBS after one of the NFL playoffs.
i. Not sure about this movie but I will give it a try because it has Will Ferrell.
j. Speaking of Will Ferrell I have not seen the past 5 or 6 Offices but I have them DVR'd.
k. Three years ago would anyone have known that using DVR the way I did in the previous sentence was a verb?
l. Still a couple Modern Family episodes behind but the funniest show on television in my opinion.
m. I do know the A-list crew of Smoak, Shep and Ben are 22 days away from LA. Good chance the City of Angels will never be the same after we visit.
n. For those that have ever been or currently reside in LA do you have any tips for the trip? Unfortunately no Dodger Stadium as the Bums that originally played in Brooklyn will be out of town. We will attend a game at the Big A in Anaheim. Maybe put our toes in the Pacific? I don't know if we will have enough time.
o. I do know I am ready for some Embassy Suites happy hour and breakfast.

Tweet Of The Week
From the very talented Justin Stangel. It truly is amazing how talented and funny the Stangel brothers are.

@charliesheen's morning paper wasn't delivered. Out of habit @charliesheen sent an angry letter to @TMZ blaming Chuck Lorre.

Quote of The Week
Comes from Florida Gator Ja'Juan Story who tells it like it is when asked about his favorite pregame ritual.

I doodoo and then listen to Katy Perry.

If you do not believe me click here for the interview.

Text of The Week
From the price conscience Good Doctor from Savannah
At the Savannah Sand Gnats game for thirsty thursday. Tickets are more expensive than the bravos. Justin Grimm on the bump for the hickory crawdads.

It should be noted the Savannah Sand Gnats have $.50 Natty Lights and $3 Captain and Cokes the hour before first pitch on Thursday nights.

Picture of The Week
This weeks picture of the week comes from the NY Post. Below you will see Friday's borderline inappropriate cover, followed by Saturday's borderline inappropriate cover. I miss reading this paper on a daily basis. Despite my multiple calls and emails they have no plans to add daily delivery in Atlanta.

Eight Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-02-21T22:03:00.000-05:00

I had a busy weekend making trips to both Knoxville and Nashville so I only think 8 things this week. That is just how it goes sometime.

1. Georgia Thoughts

A kick to the gut game Wednesday night in Athens that we gave away followed by a unreal win in Thompson-Boling arena for the first time since I was a freshmen in college. (That was 10 years ago). Where Georgia was most successful on Saturday was on the boards. Georgia limited Tennessee to just 9 offensive boards, their second-lowest tally of the season. Safe to say coach Fox challenged his team to perform better on the defensive glass after they had yielded 23 offensive-rebounds to Vanderbilt in Athens on Wednesday. The Dawgs responded by keeping the Vols off the boards, and winning the rebounding battle 35-27. If we can get anything consistently from Jeremy Price down low we have an opportunity to make a run. However, that is easier said than done.

I did make the trip to Knoxville and I was impressed with Thompson-Boling arena. It was my first time inside Thompson-Boling since I was a student manager for the baseball team and we would shower inside T.B.A. on getaway day. The building has since been renovated and I think they did a really nice job and the luxury boxes and Loge Suites are really nice, those are the ones that take up one half of the upper level. From what I was told overall capacity was reduced from 25,000 to 20,800 as they also got rid of the last couple of rows of bleachers in the upper level. Furthermore, tons of banners hanging in the rafters from the Women's team. This is similar to Athens where Gymnastics has all the banners in the building. I am still impressed they sell 20,000 a game for both women's and men's basketball. That is unreal.

Another opportunity for the Dawgs as we have two more weeks of regular season SEC play. This week Georgia visits Florida during the week before hosting South Carolina Saturday night in the Stegasorous.The trip to Gainesville will not be easy as we are 11-20 all time in the O'Dome. However, with the way we have played on the road this season and the Gators potentially missing Chandler Parsons...who knows what will happen. I do know if we can hold serve at home these final two home games we will hit twenty wins and should find the Dawgs dancing in March.

2. Baseball Thoughts
a. It is no secret I think Carlos Gonzalez is one of the best players in baseball, but when I saw these numbers I was a little concerned. For starters, CarGo has only had 1 season of greatness. In addition his BABIP is very high (.384), causing some to question if he was more lucky than good.
b. Other people look his road numbers as cause for concern. Last season he had a line of 289-8-41-41 in 71 games. However, I do not worry about that road line as much as others because .289 is still respectable and with Coors Field as his home ballpark you have to expect some drop off when the Rockies leave the friendly confines of Coors Field.
c. Is it me or are we seeing and hearing a lot of weight loss/gain numbers this spring? It seem like more than usual. Here are a couple of the countless of numbers that I have found intriguing: The Panda, Pablo Sandoval, lost 38 lbs, body fat down 11%. He now weighs 240 with 19%. The next intriguing weight loss is AROD who has weighed in at 223 lbs. which is down from 233 at end of last year. Body fat dropped from 12 percent to 9. Lastly, Padres 3B Chase Headley reported heavier/stronger at 222 pounds after offseason program. Played most of 2010 at 201, 202 pounds.
d. The Pirates won 17 games last year on the road (64 loses). This is the worst in baseball since expansion in 1961 to 162 games.
e. Carlos Marmol K/9 mark of 15.99 is best mark in baseball history, min 50 IP. He had more Ks than Blanton, Lowe, Arroyo, Carmona. Those other guys are starting pitchers while Marmol is a closer.

f. Joel Hanrahan in 2010: K/9 of 12.92 included a 13.50 K/9 and a 4.00 K/BB ratio over his last 33 appearances. He should be the Pirates closer this season.

g. Nick Cafardo in the Sunday Globe Baseball Notes gives us his list of the top 30 managers in baseball. What are everyone's thoughts?

h. I had no idea Damon and Manny were so close in all-time hits. The two are only separated by just two hits (2,573-2,571) in Manny’s favor. Most career hits combined by a set of teammates?

i. For the Rays last season, Jason Bartlett hit .254 with four homers. For the Brewers last season, Yovani Gallardo hit .254 with four homers and went 14-7 with a 3.84 ERA.
j. Through the first four years of his career, Tim Lincecum is 56-27 (.675) with a 3.04 ERA, pretty darn close to Giants Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, who was 62-31 (.667) with a 3.05 ERA in his first four seasons.
k. Pretty neat to see Under Armour being names the "Official Performance Footwear" of MLB. Say what you want about MLB but they have done a great job finding different sponsors for each part of the uniform. Majestic is official provider of the uniform while Nike is the official provider of all the apparel that is not the uniform. (Undershirts, etc). Who thought you could sell the uniform three different ways?
l. Some of the top baseball players that have been wearing the UnderArmour brand include Buster Posey, Jonathon Papelbon, Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Wieters, Jose Reyes, and Nick Markakis.
m.Monday was a big day in Baseball history as on that date in 1968 MLB announced a minimum annual salary of $10,000. Boy those times sure have changed.

3. 2011 College Football A Dream Season
This is my early breakdown of the top games of the 2011 season and if I could watch any game, any weekend this is what I would choose. I tried to look at National game of interests but my SEC bias and love is to strong.

September 3rd- Georgia-Boise State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Are the Dawgs back? Last time UGA opened with Boise we won the SEC and was an Auburn 4th and 19th completion away from maybe playing for the National Championship. (My worst memory in Sanford Stadium)

September 10th- Alabama at Penn State Happy Vally, Pa. Two of College Football classic teams (along with classic uniforms) match-up in a great setting in central Pennsylvania.

September 17th- Oklahoma-Florida St in Tallahassee. Potential for #1 versus #2 the third week of the season. Wow. If it is not #1 versus #2 it will be a top 5 matchup.

September 24th-Florida State at Clemson- The game known as the Bowden Bowl for the longest of times currently does not have a Bowden on staff at either school. Tough conference opener for the Noles on the road especially after playing Oklahoma the week before. For what its worth Clemson does host Auburn at home the week before. (more on this subject later).

October 1st-Alabama-Florida in the Swamp. Two of the last three national champions. We have witnessed some classics between these two the past few years. The SEC's two flagship programs. As a UGA guy it hurts writing that last sentence.

October 8th-Ohio State at Nebraska in Lincoln. Holy smokes what a game. These two have the potential to play each other in two months at the first ever Big 10 championship game in Indy.

October 15th-Florida at Auburn-Underrated rivalry by SEC standards. This game has seen Spurrier kick a 40 yard field goal to win the Heisman Trophy. Who can forget Auburn kicker Wes Byrum making the game winning field goal twice in 2007 and then run off the field doing the Gator Chomp. This game seems to always come to a kick.

October 22nd- USC at Notre Dame-Both schools combined have produced the most national titles (21), Heisman trophy winners (14),All-Americans, College Football Hall of Famers and future NFL Hall of Famers (21)than any other collegiate series.

October 29th-Georgia-Florida in Jacksonville. This statement has been written for about 18 years but it is time to change the balance of power in this rivalry to the school from the state of Georgia.

November 5th-LSU at Alabama- The Crimson Tide leads the head-to-head series at 45–24–5, but the series is split evenly at 14-14-1 over the last 29 seasons, including 2-2 during Saban's 4-year tenure at Alabama.

November 12th-Auburn at Georgia- The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry- Auburn holds 54-52-8 lead in the rivalry. However, Georgia leads the cumulative score by thirty-eight points: 1,809-1,771, or a per-game average of 15.86-15.53.

November 19th-Southern Cal at Oregon-One of college football's most prolific offense's against what has been one of it's best defenses. Can Monte Kiffin stop the fast break offense?

November 26th-Alabama at Auburn- The amount of fist-fights for this game will be in the 1000's. (I am talking in the stands, at tailgates, at malls in Mobile) The Alabama National Guard might need to be called in. And no I am not kidding.

December 3rd- SEC Championship in Atlanta. Usually the winner plays in the National Championship Game thus a defacto Semi-final game.

December 10th- Army-Navy in Landover, Md (Fed Ex Field-home of the Washington Redskins). I went to this game this past season in Philly. This game stands for such much more than a football game. Great pageantry. Something every college football fan should witness once.

4. Spring Training Fun Facts

a. The Florida Grapefruit and Arizona Cactus leagues are a 50-50 split, with 15 teams training in each of the two states. With 15 in each place look for more split squad games and off days as an odd number has to be a schedule maker worst nightmare. (This is why we have 16 NL teams and 14 AL teams).
b. The only double-decker spring training baseball stadium in Florida, would be at the home of the Atlanta Braves which is Champion Stadium at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Champion Stadium is also the state’s tallest spring training ballpark at 100 feet high.
c. Only one Grapefruit League teams share a stadium and that would be the Cardinals and Marlins in Jupiter, Florida. Both the Twins and Red Sox train in the city of Ft. Myers but play at different ballparks.
d. In Arizona we have 10 Cactus League teams share five spring training sites. The Reds and Indians train together at Goodyear, Arizona. The Royals and Rangers both train at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Az. The Padres and Mariners call the Peoria Sports Complex home. Camelback Ranch is the home of both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. Arizona and Colorado share a facility at the brand new Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Az.
e. Do not ask me why this is more commonplace in Arizona than Florida. My only guess would be cheaper land and more readily available land for these complexes in Arizona than in Florida. But who knows.
f. This year Washington National pitcher John Lannon got to spring training by taking Amtrak from metro DC to Samford, Fl. Pretty cool story.
g. The Yankees train in Tampa, but the Tampa Bay Rays train 94 miles away in Port Charlotte.

5. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to while cruising the mean streets of metropolitan Sylvania is Black by Pearl Jam. If memory serves me correct I do believe that the greatest kicker in Screven County history Donald Sheppard was also a big fan of Pearl Jam back in the day. Last week's trivia question was to name the top 10 home run hitters in Braves history. Co-worker Bob and Donald came the closest each naming seven a piece. The list includes:
1. Hank Aaron 733
2. Eddie Matthews 493
3. Chipper Jones 436
4. Dale Murphy 371
5. Andruw Jones 368
6. Joe Adcock 239
7. Bob Horner 215
8. Javy Lopez 214
9. Wally Berger 199
10. Del Crandall 170

This week's trivia question is The Atlanta Braves took the longest to have a player achieve 50+ home
runs in a season, at 130 years when Andruw Jones hit 51 in 2005.

Can you name the 11 other teams that have never had a player hit 50+ home runs in a season? (5-AL, 6-NL)

I was able to name 8 of the 11.

6. College Football Notes
a. Does anyone realize that the Irish will play Navy in Dublin, ~~Georgia~~ Ireland to open up the 2012 season. How are both schools pulling this off? How much of my tax dollars will be used to shuttle big time Naval officers to Ireland? What about the security issues of keeping safe future officers in the United States military?
b. Notre Dame that same season also plays a neutral site game in Chicago at Soldier Field against the University of Miami. The boys from better hope winter does not come early to the midwest. Just saying.
c. Why does the ACC wait until February to release its football schedule? UGA knows it conference and non-conference schedule for the next four to five seasons. In addition the ACC needs to do a better job of designing a schedule to benefit its stronger teams.
d. The Captain touched on this issue this past mid week with this very informative post.LINK IT
e. Here are some examples, why does Florida State have to play Oklahoma at home the week before traveling to Clemson?
f. Virgina Tech opens up with four cupcakes before back to back homes games against Clemson and Miami. Why do they not break up those cupcakes and split the Clemson and Miami games?
g. Why does ACC make Virginia finish with Florida State and Virginia Tech? Why is North Carolina partnered with the same Clemson-Miami back to back game issue that Virginia Tech faces.
h. How about this stretch for Clemson? Out of conference versus Auburn at home, Florida State at home, Virginia Tech on the road. Who at Clemson angered someone at the conference office?
i. Is this the case of basketball minded guys putting together a football schedule? Their might be something to this thought. Need to more research on how and who designs the ACC football schedule.
j. Let's look at how the SEC schedules its marquee games. Let's look at UGA where our four biggest games (my opinion) are Boise State, Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech. Boise is first game of the season so we have all summer, this is the third year UGA has had a bye week before Florida in last 20 years (we are 3-1 with the bye week). Just as a reminder we only have three wins against the Gators in the past 20 years. We play New Mexico State before Auburn and Kentucky before Tech.
k. Alabama's four biggest games are at Penn State, Tennessee, at Florida and at Auburn. They play Kent State before traveling to Penn State. They play at Ole Miss before the 3rd Saturday in October. Before the tide roll into Florida they host Arkansas at home. Before the Iron Bowl the Tide play host to Georgia Southern.
l. Auburn's four biggest games are Florida, at LSU, at UGA, and home to Bama. The tigers schedule is tougher by SEC standards but a capcake last season when everything came together and NCAA rules did not apply anymore. Before hosting Florida the Tigers play at Arkansas. After the Florida game they travel to LSU. Not easy or fun. However, the War Turkey's have a bye before UGA and play Samford not Stanford before the Iron Bowl.
m. LSU four biggest games in 2011 include Oregon, Florida, Auburn and Alabama. This is another tough schedule by SEC standards as the Bayou Bengals also visit Morgantown, West Virginia and the Mountaineers in 2011. The Tigers open with Oregon so they have all summer to prepare. Before the Tigers host the Gators, UK will visit the Bayou. LSU must visit Tennessee before Auburn. However, they have a bye week before Alabama.
n. The one team that did get the short end of the scheduling stick is Florida. However, they have not left the state for an out of conference since the early 90's. Plus they are Florida so who cares. The Gators have five really big games this season in Bama, at LSU, at Auburn, Georgia and Florida State. They get a bye before the Dawgs and Furman before the Noles. However, the must play Bama, LSU, Auburn in a row.
o. I know I used this line before but after looking at that schedule no wonder Urban Meyer wanted to "spend more time with his family."
p. Wednesday was a very bad day for Auburn Tigers. For one it was confirmed that the oaks in Toomer's Corner were poisoned and said to be dying. I could go on and on on this topic but I would think no one at Florida would poison UGA or no one at Georgia would poison Smokey the Tennessee mascot. I would also like to think no one at South Carolina would chip or crack Howard's Rock. Furthermore, you would think no Clemson Tiger would poison the South Carolina live mascot Big Spur but who knows. I know the person who did this was not a Bama alumni or season ticket holder but nonetheless where are we as a society.
q. With that being said, any time I see a real Yellow Jacket.....I attack with Raid.
r. Back to Auburn's bad day on Wednesday Thayer Evans, reported that NCAA was investigating coach Trooper Taylor (the jumping jack hat backwards guy) for possible recruiting violations.
s. I like to take everything Evans writes with a grain of salt so no telling the truth but their is a quote in the article that we will see as the quote of the week.
t. Whether true or not this is not a sentence you want written about your program; In December, Lorio told FOXSports.com that several coaches and students saw Robinson show off cash and a new iPhone at school after making an unofficial visit to Auburn earlier in the year.
u. Again this is all circumstantial and has not been proven yet. However, it seems like a lot of smoke for a fire that has yet to be confirmed.

7. College Hoops Power 5
1. Duke- I pray to god the NCAA does not give them the easiest road to a championship like last season.
2. Ohio State- Only two losses were at Wisconsin and at Purdue.
3. Pittsburgh-First road loss was this season was the Garden against the Johnnies. You can't hold that against them.
4. San Diego State- Roomdawg says this could be a 7-2 upset in tourney. I say they could be Final Four team.
5. BYU- They travel to San Diego on Saturday in a rematch of the classic they played earlier this season.

8. Extracurricular Activities
a. Nashville, Tn keeps getting cooler and cooler everytime I visit. Another awesome time on Saturday night. I need to make more trips besides what seems like almost once every two years. I do know I will be going back in October (unless the Braves are playing in NLCS which I hope is the case).
b. Otter's chicken fingers needs to open a location closer to downtown Atlanta than out in the burbs....just saying.
c. If I could only watch one television show a week it would be the Amazing Race. Is it me or does the show seem to get better and better each season. I am worried about the Cowboys as they are one of my favorite competitors and it will be real difficult for them to come back and not get eliminated.
d. However, it is the Amazing Race and crazy happens all the time. For the first stage of the race the racers have gone to Sidney, Australia. How have I never been to Australia before? First thing their summer is our winter so December, January, and February are the times to go.
e. Furthermore, I have yet to talk to anyone who has gone to Australia and not have an amazing time.
f. How I Met Your Mother was decent last night. They have had a good run of about 4-5 episodes in a row so it is tough to bring your A game every week. Seinfeld might be only show that was awesome every episode.
g. Speaking of HIMYM I need to rant on Ted. He spends a majority of the episodes wanting a serious relationship and has soon as he gets in one he flees. He did this last week when he went to Minnesota for no reason. Why does that happen?
h. If I were only allowed to watch two shows a week the second one would be Modern Family. I love every character and Cam's line at the start of last week's episode might have been the best one in show history.
i. If you could watch only two shows what would they be?

Tweet of The Week
This week's tweet comes from @jspriggsdakid who is Jordon Spriggs who is a defensive back for Auburn.
man who is good at writing papers??????????? i pay.........

If I was an Auburn football player I would think I am invincible and that rules do not matter because I will get away with them thus I might see why Jordon does not think they are big deal.

Text of The Week
From the best baseball coach in Screven Coount history...
Am I only person not impressed with Blake Griffin jumping over the car. We've seen guys jump from twice as far back from free throw line. I could jump over hood of the KIA and I'm washed up with sh!tty knees.
I think the most impressive part was Baron Davis fitting inside a KIA. Coach Smoak wished he had my calves....what does that mean?

Quote of The Week
This week's quote of the week comes from Lydia Robinson who is the grandmother of Greg Robinson the athlete whose recruitment to Auburn is being investigated by the NCAA. (See article above) Safe to say she is not big fan of Auburn. The quote is from the article.

She said Auburn's coaches "weren't very intelligent" and was especially critical of Taylor, who she says "got a lot of lies in there when he was talking."

That reminds me of the old joke, how do you know so and so is lying? Their lips are moving.

Picture of The Week
If you look behind the basketball you will find a handsome devil in a red sweatervest. Sitted next to me is one Tyler Graham, Alex Ingle and Andrew Walters. A-list crew.

The Captain Returns - to rant about FSU's 2011 Football Schedule

2011-02-16T15:11:00.002-05:00

Today the ACC's College Football Blogger at ESPN posted a message saying, in essence, that FSU fan's should quit whining about the recently released ACC and 2011 Football Schedule. I had a bit of an issue with something she said:

"In order to be the best, Florida State -- and Clemson and Virginia Tech and anyone else who wants to join the club -- has to beat the best. Line up an SEC schedule and knock 'em down, just like Auburn did last year, Alabama the year before, Florida, LSU and so on..."

Well let's just take a look at those tough SEC Schedules:

2010 Auburn:
-Road Games? 4 road games all year.
-OOC Schedule? 2 Sun Belt teams and an FCS team (2 of those in the middle of the SEC schedule). 1 non-conference BCS opponent.
-Juggernaut Arkansas State the week before their game AT Mississippi State on short rest
-10 days of rest before Clemson their only non-SEC BCS opponent.
-Full two weeks off before Bama, their biggest rival

2009 Alabama:
-Road Games? 4 road games all year (Played a Neutral site in SEC-riffic Atlanta vs. VA Tech - who do you imagine had the home crowd feel there?)
-OOC Schedule? 2 Sun Belt Teams and an FCS team. 1 non-conference BCS opponent.
-Full offseason of rest/preparation before their only non-SEC BCS opponent.
-No short rest games. None. period.
-FCS laugher a week before their HOME game against Auburn, their biggest rival

2008 Florida:
-Road Games? 4 games all year (played a neutral site game against UGA, in the State of Florida, "neutral", right....)
-OOC Schedule? a WAC and an FCS team and really stepped up relative to the rest of the SEC and played two non-conference, BCS opponents
-No short rest games. None. Period.
-2 weeks off before road game at Tennessee (Rival), 2 weeks off after home game against LSU (Rival)
-FCS laugher a week before their game against FSU, their biggest rival

And now 2011 FSU:

-Road Games? 5 Road games
-OOC Schedule? 2 FCS Teams, No. 1 team in the nation, and an SEC team. 2 non-conference BCS Opponents
-No week off after playing the No. 1 team in nation and before playing biggest division rival, a team FSU hasn't beaten in their place in 10 years.
-3 days rest after other significant division rival (NC State) & before longest geographical road trip in the conference (Tally to Boston).
-ZERO Rest before a Rival or a Marquee opponent.
-ZERO benefit of an FCS laugher before ROAD game against biggest rival, Florida

I agree with her point as a whole. The schedule is the schedule. Play it to the best of your ability, beat who you're supposed to beat, make some breaks and beat a team maybe you're not supposed to and maybe you're in the national title discussion. But please don't get caught in the trap of throwing up other schedules without doing full research. It's clear the schedules she referenced were just not as tough as the one FSU faces this year.

However, "toughness" can be relative, so I'll just say this: none of those other three schedules she referenced were laid out as nonsensically as FSU's 2011 schedule. The SEC wouldn't and doesn't do that to their title favorites, why did the ACC?

*note: I didn't compare LSU's 2007 schedule b/c that was a juggernaut. It was the only schedule she referenced that actually helped her point. She was just blindly throwing mud against the wall and hoping it would stick with the other schedules.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-02-13T22:49:00.001-05:00

1. Georgia Thoughts
A 1-1 week for the Dawgs and if I had to choose which game to win it would have been the South Carolina game. On Tuesday night we lost a tough game to Xavier when we did not get any breaks, but at the same time you have to create your on breaks. In the last two contests against the Musketeers, Xavier has shot 60 free throws, we have shot 20. Yes, I believe you can call that fair.

On Saturday it was a tale of two halves for the Dawgs. In what was a strange game to say the least, with Georgia cruising into the half with a 28-9 lead, only to let Carolina out score them 47-32 after the break. But after all the dust settled in the Colonial Life Center, Georgia came out on top with the 60-56 win. I have said it before and I will say it again; a win is a win is a win.

Next week gets bigger as the Dawgs will play both SEC teams from the Volunteer State. Wednesday night the Commodores visit Athens in a huge game with the winner having the inside track at the #2 seed out of the SEC East in the SEC tourament. This is important as the first two seeds in each division get a first round bye. Even more important is the fact Vandy has an RPI of 15 so a win would look good on the NCAA resume.

Then on Saturday the Dawgs make a trip to Knoxville in a game that will be broadcast Nationally on CBS. Tennessee has an RPI of 25 so again the Dawgs have a great opportunity. We should have/could have won the first game if for not a Brian Williams over the back non-call. Time to take care of business.

Here is how the SEC East stacks up for the rest of the season.
EAST ............. W-L ....... RPI
Florida ………. 9-2 ….…..11
Tennessee, at LSU, Georgia, at Kentucky, Alabama, at Vanderbilt
Georgia ……... 6-4 .…..…43
Vanderbilt, at Tennessee, at Florida, South Carolina, LSU, at Alabama
Vanderbilt …. 6-4 …......15
At Georgia, at Auburn, Tennessee, at LSU, at Kentucky, Florida
Kentucky ……. 5-5 …..... 14
Mississippi St., S. Carolina, at Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt, at Tennessee
Tennessee ….. 5-5 .….... 25
S. Carolina, Georgia, at Vanderbilt, Mississippi St., at S. Carolina, Kentucky
S. Carolina .... 4-6 ….....120
At Tennessee, at Kentucky, Ole Miss, at Georgia, Tennessee, at Miss. St.

2. Baseball Thoughts
a. A couple of the greatest words in the English language. Pitchers and Catchers report today.
b. ESPN Radio is doing a great job today by having a baseball guest every hour from 6:00 am to 10:00. Safe to say I will have some podcasts for the trip to Athens Wednesday night.
c. I picked on Mark Reynolds a little last week but among third basemen the last 3 years he first in home runs (104), 4th in RBI (284), 2nd in runs (264), and 3rd w/ 185 extra base hits. He is probably first in K's as well.
d. Over the past five years only one hurler has five seasons of 14 wins, 200 innings pitched, and 120 Ks - Roy Halladay. Only three others have reached those totals four times - Dan Haren, CC Sabathia and Bronson Arroyo.
e. How does Mr. Arroyo get in with that group?
f. Earlier this week Jayson Stark tweeted out his all-Unemployed team. Pretty fascinating group of players that could probably win around 70 games by themselves. Here are the players on Stark's team.
g. Starting infield on Stark's All-Unemployed Team: 1B Russell Branyan 2B David Eckstein, SS Orlando Cabrera, 3B Willy Aybar, C Bengie Molina
h. Rotation for All-Unemployed Team: Jeremy Bonderman, Kevin Millwood, Daniel Cabrera, Pedro Martinez, Jarrod Washburn
i. All Unemployed Outfield: LF Scott Podsednik, CF Jay Payton, RF Ryan Church, DH Nick Johnson
j. Bullpen for Stark's All-Unemployed Team: Chad Durbin, Manny Delcarmen, Mike Lincoln, Alfredo Aceves, Elmer Dessens, Scot Shields.
k. Wasn't Matt Lincoln a big time prospect like three or four years ago?
l. How about this Buster Olney quote: "A lot to be excited about with the Braves. Atlanta should have a strong pitching staff; the Braves just added Dan Uggla; Jason Heyward is a year older; Chipper Jones seems to be progressing well in his injury rehabilitation. The battle for the NL East title figures to be fierce, and a lot of fun." Why is that not the quote of the week?
m. Even though he pitches for the Red Sox one of my favorite players in baseball is Jon Lester. How about the stats Lester has against the AL East. He is 13-0 against the Orioles (2.33 ERA), 9-3 against Tampa Bay (3.80), 7-4 against the Blue Jays (3.43), and 6-1 against the Yankees (3.28). That’s 35-8 with a 3.19 ERA.
n. Last season, Red Sox closer and former Mississippi State Bulldog Johnathan Papelbon had a 2.12 ERA in the 16 games he pitched on no rest, a 5.40 ERA in the 18 games he pitched on one day of rest, and a 7.36 ERA when he pitched on two days’ rest. Those numbers do not make any sense.
o. I have started reading Bill Madden's book on George Steinbrenner and even though I am only one chapter in I am absolutely fascinated so far. Everyone knows that Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CBS for $10 million dollars, do you know how much of his money was put up? Only $186,000.
p. Another thing that fascinates me about this book is the references to the New York restaurant Elaine's. The reason this intrigues me is I would walk by Elaine's on the way to lawyer Dan's. For those not familiar with Elaine's it is a restaurant/bar on the Upper East Side that is the hangout to Woody Allen, George Steinbrenner, etc.
q. Great read from LA Times writer Bill Plaschke and he discusses how he loves to eat lunch at Dodger Stadium. I have the same opportunity to do this at Turner Field every day and never take advantage. That is an awful job by me.
r. Here is one more outstanding baseball read. It is part 1 of a conversation Braves Beat writer David O'Brien had with Freddi Gonzalez. The interviewed happened after the two rode motorcycles together through the North Georgia mountains. Here is part two.
s. Only two center fielders who hit .300 last year - Josh Hamilton (.359) and Carlos Gonzalez (.336). Oddly, only one player who spent the majority of his time at DH last year hit .300, and that was the even .300 mark of Vladimir Guerrero.
t. The AL leading walk leader was the Athletics' Daric Barton with 110. That total of 110 is the same as the combined marks of Brandon Inge (54) and Ian Kinsler (56). It's also the same as the combined marks of Robinson Cano (57) and Curtis Granderson (53) OR Denard Span (60) and Vernon Wells (50).
u. Both Aaron Hill and Kelly Johnson hit 26 homeruns last season as second basemen. Hill had three fewer RBI than Johnson, 68 to 71, but there was a massive .200 point difference in their OPS - Hill was at .665 while Johnson was way up at .865, a mark that was third at the position behind only Robinson Cano (.914) and Dan Uggla (.877).

v. How did Braves get Dan Uggla for only Infante and Dunn?
w. Brett Cecil won 15 games last season despite not getting his first win until April 23rd. Cecil's win total was fifth in the AL. Amazingly, of the 14 pitchers in the Junior Circuit who won at least 15 games, seven of them were left-handed: CC Sabathia, David Price, Jon Lester, Cecil, John Danks, Gio Gonzalez and C.J. Wilson. Two more lefties also won 14 games in Francisco Liriano and Ricky Romero.
x. The league leading WHIP with men in scoring position was .79 which was posted by the NL Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay. His current Phillies teammate Roy Oswalt was third at 0.91, just behind another righty from the NL who pitches in the NL East - Josh Johnson (0.89). The best mark by an AL hurler was by the Twins... Brian Duensing (0.92).
y. Who in the heck is Brian Duensing?
z. The last Braves’ first baseman to serve with the Braves for five years or more is Fred McGriff. He was acquired in 1993 and played with the Braves through 1997. Can Freddie Freeman reverse the trend?

3. Hodgepodge of Thoughts
a. Kind of sad to see that Jerry Sloan retired as the coach of the Jazz on Thursday. What a living legend in the NBA. For those that do not think his feud with Darren Williams did not play a role then they are out of their mind.
b. Sloan's first point guard made $300,000 in 1988. His final point guard made nearly 50X more. ($14.9 million)
c. Here are a few things that existed in Jerry Sloan's 1st year as NBA coach: the scoring leader: George Gervin. The Kansas City Kings were 2nd in Midwest. and the Rookie of the Year was hick from French Lick named Larry Bird.
d. I watched some of the Heat-Celtics game Sunday and if the Heat can not beat the banged up Celtics then the Heat have some serious issues.
e. I saw this stat on Sunday and was shocked. Rajon Rondo has a .491 career shooting percentage, Steve Nash is .490.
f. College Baseball gets going next weekend. My Dawgs start the season with a visit to the alma mater of my parentals Stetson University in Deland, Florida.
g. Not sure what to make of the Dawgs next season but it is a very big and important season for Coach Perno. Everytime he has had a make or break season he has responded with a trip to the College World Series.
h. Said news on Friday when Cal announced that they would not reinstate their baseball program. A university with the resources of Cal should have a baseball team.
i. Also look for more coverage of college baseball this season as ESPN will broadcast a Thursday night game of the week. I think UGA and Vandy will play each other this season in one of the Thursday games. Also the Big 10 Network will televise 30 games on the Big 10 Network.
j. I failed to mention the games that are normally on ESPN U, CSS and Fox Sports South.
k. Another reason to hate the University of Texas. In 2012 any baseball game not televised by a network will be televised by the newly created Longhorn Network. That is ridiculous.
l. In total the The SEC has 68 games and the ACC will probably have around 25-30. Then you have the Big12, with six total televised games.
m. Safe to say that's one of about 50 reasons why you have three Big12 schools that have expressed interest in bolting to the SEC. More exposure. Safe to say that includes more than baseball, basketball and football.

4. Gridiron-NFL and College
a. I looked at a couple of different SEC teams 2011 schedules and I am very intrigued about the opportunities that the Dawgs have in 2011 as we only have four games outside the state of Georgia. This includes trips to Knoxville, Nashville, Oxford and Jacksonville.
b. In addition, dodging Alabama, Arkansas and LSU from the West certainly doesn’t hurt. Biggest negative is that the Dawgs are tied with Alabama for the most conference opponents which have bye weeks before playing, with three. However, we do get a Bye week before Florida.
c. After looking at the Gators schedule I see why Urban Meyer wanted to spend time with his family. The Gators draw Alabama, LSU and Auburn from the West this season. They play those three on consecutive weekends and LSU and Auburn are road games. Furthermore, South Carolina is a road game. Last season showed FSU is close to being back. Good luck Muschamp.
d. The defending national champions Auburn Tigers step up their schedule in 2011 with trips to Clemson, Baton Rouge, Fayeteville and Athens, Ga. Furthermore, they drop Kentucky off the schedule and add Florida. They also lose a boat load of talent.
e. Things look a little more difficult for Bama in 2011. Early season schedule is similar to last year’s, except for the fact the Tide travel to Happy Valley to play Penn State. As for conference games, ‘Bama drops South Carolina for Vanderbilt. Arkansas and LSU have to travel to Tuscaloosa (and Alabama’s bye week comes before the LSU game). Florida is a road game. They’ve scheduled Georgia Southern the week before the Iron Bowl, which can be a pain in the butt trying to prepare for that offense.
f. I also read this week where celebration will be a live ball foul instead of dead ball foul thus touchdowns now have the opportunity to be taken off the board. This is going to cost some team a game next season and it could turn into the most talked about story in college football.
g. We need to get celebration defined...how come when Tim Tebow went crazy it was not a penalty but when AJ Green looked at the student section it was a penalty?
h. What about when coaches like Auburn's Trooper Taylor do jumping jacks on the sideline all game. That looks excessive to me.
i. A lot of ploys in the NFL going on right now. I still think it is tough to ask the players to play more games and cut their piece of the pie from 59% to 40%.
j. Why did the Owners ever agree to sharing the 59% of their revenues with the players in the first place? That is ridiculous.
k. This is the first weekend without football since early in August when I was in Cincinnati watching the Braves and Reds. Man was that a long time ago. Good trip however.

5. My 5 Favorite Places in the SEC
1. Calhoun's-Knoxville, TN- On the banks of the Tennessee river are some of the best ribs and secenery. When I was a student manager for the baseball team at UGA I was always jealous that Tennessee's baseball team had Calhoun's as a post game meal. I may or may not have talked one of their managers into grabbing me a plate on getaway day in 2003. Looking forward to lunch here on Saturday.
2. Dreamland BBQ-Tuscaloosa, Al-Ain't nothing like em nowhere. This is the original where the only options on the menu are full slab of ribs, half slab of ribs or rib sandwich. Some of the best sweet tea one can taste.
3. The Hoffbrau-Fayetville, Ark- One of the best burgers and steak places in the SEC. Fayeteville is underrated as far as SEC towns go the problem is no one can get to it as it is in the middle of nowhere.
4. Mike Anderson's Seafood-Baton Rouge, Louisiana-The CBS or ESPN broadcast crew eats here every Friday night before a football game on the Bayou. Some of the best seafood I have ever eaten.
5. Otters Chicken Fingers-Nashville, Tn- One of the best chicken fingers you will find in the South. They have the best Honey Mustard dipping sauce around. An Otters has opened up in the suburbs of Atlanta but I have yet to make the trip for a Big Boy Box. I will be in Nashville next weekend and an Otter's visit is in my future.

Just missed: Rama Jamma (Tuscaloosa), Joe Bologna's (Lexington), Cheeburger Cheeburger (Auburn) and Ballywho Grill (Gainesville).

6. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to includes Jane Says by Jane's Addiction.Last week no one knew the single season home run leaders for the Royals, Marlins, and New York Mets. Co-worker Bob did get the closest of all the entries. Steve Balboni was the all-time leader for the Royals. Gary Sheffield was the leader of the Marlins. Carlos Beltran and Todd Hundley have each hit 41 home runs which is the most in a season for the Boyze from Quinze. This weeks trivia question is name the top 10 home run hitters in Braves history. Notice I said Braves not Milwaukee or Atlanta or Boston.

7. College Hoops Notes
a. Georgia Tech is ranked 305th in the nation in field goal percentage. That would be just ahead of Sacramento State....way to much talent in this state for the two flagship programs to be as bad as they have been.
b. If this does not prove that statement true what will? On Tuesday the 76ers trio of Norcross' Jodie Meeks, South Gwinnett's Lou Williams & Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young combined for 52 points -13 more than ALL Hawks starters. The Hawks would lose 117-83 on Tuesday night.
c. If I told you one team was 6-6 in conference, 14-10 overall, 3-6 versus AP 25 and had RPI of 48. No what about this team 6-4 in conference, 17-7 overall, 1-3 versus AP 25 and had RPI of 43. What team would you think was the better team?
d. Well the team with the RPI of 48 is Michigan State and the team with the RPI of 43 is Georgia.
e. Other teams with an RPI higher than Michigan State, Harvard, Missouri State, Boston College, UAB, Cleveland State and Colorado State.
f. No idea why I am picking on Michigan State, except to say they are not the top team they are normally year after year. Also they are not a lock to get into tournament but if they do we all know they could make a deep tourney run.
g. What are everyone's thoughts on this team? 15-10 overall, 6-6 in conference RPI of 59. That would be Marquette. Another team not a lock to make the tourney.
h. How cool is The Pavilion where Villanova plays its on campus basketball games? The basketball court only takes up half the space of the building; it is expandable as an indoor track facility and recreation center.
i. How crazy was the Purdue-Wisconsin game Saturday afternoon? This is the eighth time a school has beaten the No. 1 team in both football and basketball in the same season.Who keeps track of stats like that?
j. Ohio State started the 2nd half on fire, making nine of their first 10 shots and outscoring the Badgers by 13 points to go up 47-32. The last 13 minutes were another story as the Buckeyes shot just 30 percent the rest of the way while being outscored by 19 points.
k. Baylor fell to 8-2 in its past 10 games against its three in-state Big 12 opponents.Quietly they have turned things around from the disaster that was the 2002-2003 basketball season.

l. The Morris brothers for the Kansas Jayhawks were pretty impressive on Saturday as each recorded double-doubles as Markieff had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus 16 points, 11 rebounds. It's the fourth time this season the brothers have had double-doubles in the same game, and they've done it in both games against Iowa State.
m. The Jayhawks are on a roll as they heir past five games by double digits. Four of them have been by at least 20 points. Iowa State is not butter and they are not on a roll as the Cyclones have lost seven straight, its longest losing streak since dropping eight straight during the 2001-02 season.
n. I wonder if anyone is missing Larry Eustachy in Ames? Speaking of Eustachy he is now the coach of Southern Miss and has led the Golden Eagles to an 18-5 record this season and an RPI in the low 50's. Not to shabby.
o. San Diego State has won five straight games since suffering its lone loss of the season Jan. 26 at BYU. At 25-1, San Diego State is one win shy of tying its single-season school record of 26 wins, set two seasons ago.

8. College Hoops Power 5
1. Ohio State- I can not knock them off from the top spot for losing at Kohl Center. If the NCAA ranked teams they should have the Buckeyes as overall #1. Thus I have them as my top team.
2. Texas-The Longhorns are 10-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since the inception of the league.
3. Kansas-Kansas has won 24 games for the fifth straight season.
4. Duke- Duke extended its home win streak to 33 games, the longest active home win streak in the nation. The Blue Devils are 62-2 at home since the start of the 2007-08 season, with the only two losses coming to UNC.
5.Pitt- Have never made a Final Four run under Jamie Dixon, is this the year?

9. What I Read This Week
This first read of the week takes an inside look at the US Secret Service. The Secret Service known for not allowing access granted the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder unprecedented access as the Service pulls off keeping two-thirds of the world's leaders safe while they visit New York City every September. I love when I am at an event where there is Secret Service present, mostly because I am fascinated with guys talking into their watch. So awesome. This is probably my favorite article in What I Read This Week since last summer. Very fascinating.

The second article of the week comes from Tom Friend of ESPN.com and profiles William "The Refrigerator" Perry. Very sad read of what has happened to one of the great defensive players in the 80's. What makes this story even more sad is that everything is self-inflicted. Hard to believe what has happened to The Fridge.

10. Extracurricular Activies
a. I saw a screening of Just Go With It earlier last week. It was a typical Sandler movie where he out punts is coverage and somehow, someway gets the girl in the end.
b. Everyone should know what I think of Ms. Andy Roddick (Brooklyn Decker) put her acting skills were better than I had imagined going in to the movie.
c. All in all the movie was better and funnier than I thought going in. Not as fun or funny as No Strings Attached but still worth a viewing. Also, no red blooded American male will be disapointed with couple scenes of Jennifer Anniston and Brooklyn Decker entering and exiting water.
d. By the way Dan Patrick shows up like he does in all Sandler movies and he was absolutely hilarious. How many people thought he was committing career suicide by leaving ESPN years ago? That guy is on top of the world.
e. DP also hosted the Sports Illustrated Selection show on the 101 Network Friday night. It must be good to be DP right now.
f. Also on Saturday I went and watched The Fighter and it is the best movie I have watched in a long time. Wahlberg did an amazing job getting his body in shape for this movie and I am amazed how much bigger the muscle in his left arm was compared to his right arm. (I might have been the only person to pick up on this).
g. Christian Bale was the real star of the movie for his portrayal of Dicky Eklund. If he does not win an award for the job he did in this movie there should be an investigation.
h. Judging by the previews it does not look like we are having any good movies come out anytime soon.
i. I absolutely had a blast on Friday night with my former boss with the Colts was in town. He used to be a student manager for South Carolina football so a lot of good Lou Holtz stories were told.
j. I was definitely more awesome than disaster.
k. You should get what you expect with the Grammy's, at least I did. I do not understand those who excpect it to be such a great show. It never has been why should it be one now?
l. I do not get or see the fascination Lady Gaga? She has a sound similar to Madonna, the only thing is the queen of pop was talented not a nut case.
m. I think I might have sounded like a really old man in the last comment. Now you kids get off my lawn.
n. The power of twitter continues as I was able to learn that Florida QB Coach Scott Loefller had taken the position as offensive coordinator at Temple. The reason that I credit Twitter is that I was able to learn before Loeffler's cousin who is a co-worker. He was not intrigued with me breaking news about the family.
o. Speaking of twitter you all should follow me @justinwjohnson, the Captain @bigbodyss, my buddy Brice @brice2173 and my buddy Todd @toddeaston20
p. What was Cee-Lo wearing last night? Aint that some sh..................
q. Dissapointed my girl Hillary Scott with Lady A straightened and darkened her hair. Bigger fan of the curls and lighter hair but I am always a fan of the curls and lighter hair. With that being said I seriously doubt she cares or seeks my approval.
r. When did John Mayer become a dead ringer for Johnny Depp?
s. Mick Jagger absolutely rocked it on The Grammy's last night. I need to see him perform in person.
t. I got multiple comments about Hawaii 5-0 and everyone seems to enjoy the show. Tonight Nick Lachey comes out of hiding or wherever he has been for these past few years to guest star. No way I can miss that can I?

Tweet of The Week
@notthefakesvp who is the real Scott Van Pelt texted this last night during the Grammy's
I think she is just trying to dress like all portions of the grand slam breffuss. I am going to work tomorrow dressed as red velvet cupcake

Great use of breffus. I am glad I am not the only one.

Quote of The Week
Comes from Penguins owner and NHL Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux....

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

The game he was referencing was The Islanders and Penguins contest on Friday night where both teams combined for 346 penalty minutes according to the NHL's game summary. That is the 2nd most penalty minutes in a single game since the 2000-01 season.

Text of The Week
From my great friend Brice on Saturday letting me know what Hayden (his son) was doing.

The kid is in the yard taking BP off the tee! He was on the physically unable to play list last year so he has started spring training!

Brice is right those injured last season can start spring training early. That's good parenting.

Picture of The Week
Comes from SI_Vault on twitter. He calls it the best photo of an extra point you will ever see...I can not help but agree. By the way if you are on twitter you should follow @si_vault.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-02-07T23:34:00.000-05:00

1. Superbowl Thoughts
Halfway through the second quarter I thought we were about to see a dud of a game but we ended up seeing a pretty decent game. Was the game as good as the past few years? No. However, it was not a dud like many Super Bowls of my childhood. I am happy for the roomdawg who was able to see his team win a Super Bowl. The last two years the boys of Apt 425 have witnessed their teams make Super Bowl runs. Unfortunately my Colts lost last season. Safe to say the roomdawg will not allow any Chicago Bear to move in anytime soon.

I hate to see Charles Woodson get hurt, but it was clear that the Packers were his team and the pain and wincing he showed while trying to celebrate was unreal. Before leaving the game late in the second quarter with a collarbone injury, cornerback Charles Woodson played an important role for the defense of the Packers. Woodson was on the field for 30 snaps and was able to penetrate the offensive backfield on 7 of those plays. Against five rushes, the Packers allowed just 1.7 yards per carry and collected three tackles for loss when Woodson was a part of run-blitz pressure. None bad for a safety.

While Woodson left his mark on the game in two quarters of play Pittsburgh's marque defender did nothing to help the Steelers. Troy Polamalu has made a name for himself all season by causing havoc around the line of scrimmage. In the Super Bowl, the Defensive Player of the Year lined up within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage on only three of the Packers' 55 offensive snaps and didn't record a tackle until the fourth quarter. Polamalu was ineffective in the passing game as well - Aaron Rodgers completed 2-of-3 passes for 20 yards when Polamalu blitzed. Not good for one of the premier players in the NFL. Not good at all.

I was talking with co-worker Dan earlier on Monday and the question was asked, "who would you rather have in their prime? Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers? We both went with Rodgers. For one he can do everything that Favre can do, his escapeability is better than Favre's and he is the more cerebral of the two. A Cal guy should always be smarter than the Southern Miss guy.

Peter King in his Monday Morning QB does an outstanding job recaping the Super Bowl and complaining about the weather despite getting paid to work the Super Bowl. Intriguing read nonetheless.

2. The Business of the Super Bowl
a. It was announced Monday that the Super Bowl averaged 111 million viewers and had 162.9 million viewers in total. Nice night to sell ads for Fox.
b. Roger Goodell says Super Bowl XLV was most watched in television history which drew some good twitter response from Grant Wahl who said it was not close the World Cup final drew more viewers. I liked Richard Deitsch response, "if I had to guess, the most watched TV program of alltime is CCTV's coverage of Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies."
c. I guess that would be my guess as well.
d. Then their is this stat: 15% of televisions that were on last night in Milwaukee, DIDN'T HAVE the Super Bowl on it. Can you tell me what these people were watching? Was their a special on Marquette or the Brewers?
e. While the Super Bowl arguably might have had the most viewers it did not have the best rating. 8 Super Bowls had higher ratings than Sunday night's 46 household rating. Basically that means more people watched the Super Bowl than ever before but with more channels less percentage of people watched the Super Bowl.
f. Great stat from Darren Rovell. StubHub: Avg. Super Bowl 45 ticket sold for $3,559. Here are other averages: 44 ($2,386), 43 ($2,402), 42 ($3,536), 41 ($4,004)
g. If you are on twitter and do not follow Darren Rovell you probably should. He tweeted Friday afternoon that he had Chick-Fil-A for the first time on Friday afternoon. I cried a little bit for him.
h. Every year the length of the National Anthem is one of the bigger bets is Vegas and in the online community. This year it got tricky as Staten Island's pride and joy Christina Aguilera performance was timed by Bodog 1:53.7 (under) Bookmaker.com? 1:54.02 (over). This is a big problem when over under is 1:54. Well the people at Sportsbook.com decided to pay both the under and over bets since they could not determine a time. That will probably never happen again.
i. I think next year they will have a note on over/under bets on National Anthem that says singer must sing correct words for action.
j. Another story that received a lot of play on Sunday was the ticket snafu where 400 people were shut out from seeing the game. What a nightmare situation where a total of 1,250 seats were in affected area. 850 fans could be moved. How does this happen?
k. The NFL has done a decent job of trying to satisfy the 400 who were left without tickets by giving them a refund of three times the face value (its a shame most paid more than that) and free tickets to next year's Super Bowl. Here is a copy of the letter the NFL gave fans Sunday night. Safe to say it was put together quickly. The 400 fans were also given free food and allowed on the field for the postgame celebration. As for those 2,000 fans who had to wait until gametime to get into their seats - they'll be getting $800 back. What a nightmare.
l. All in all the NFL did a good job out of an awful situation. However, if you were bumped from your flight and missed your daughters wedding would 4 first class tickets make everything okay?
m. Seconds shown of Skechers shoes in Kardashian ad? THREE. But really who is counting anyway?
n. Northwestern Mutual in downtown Milwaukee left certain office lights on Sunday night. So awesome this must be clicked.
o. This is even better and has to be watched.
p. Sunday night my Dad emailed me and asked if Jerry Jones gets anything from hosting the Super Bowl? I know he could use the Super Bowl for some help with public financing his stadium, etc but does the NFL cut Mr. Jones a check for the use of his stadium? Does anyone know?

3. Georgia Hoop Thoughts
A 2-0 week this week following an awful 0-2 week that could have easily been an 1-1 week. The Hoop Dawgs came into the week with a 3-4 SEC record and their NCAA tournament hopes on the ropes. They didn’t earn too many style points, but they did win both games and they are now 5-4 in the conference and in 3rd place in the SEC East. The good news surrounding the Hoop Dawgs right now is we have now won back to back games in the SEC for the first time since the 2008 SEC Tournament. For those that do not recall the 2008 SEC Tournament that is when a tornado blew through downtown and the SEC moved the tournament to Georgia Tech. By the way UGA won two games in one day during that tournament.

Another huge week for the Dawgs as they have a visit to Columbia on Saturday which has never been a fun place for UGA. However, Tuesday night will be just as important even though the game is out of conference. The Xavier Mustketeers visit the Classic City and bring a top 50 RPI with them. This is a team that probably will be dancing in March so a win for the Dawgs could go a very long way in the eyes of the Committee. The more we win, the bigger the games get each week.

4. National Signing Day

a. I am absolutely thrilled to death over the recruiting class the Dawgs were able to bring in. In my opinion the addition of John Jenkins might be what we need to build something special in Athens.
b. I love this quote from Richt on Jenkins. "This guy is exactly what we need to really make this 3-4 (defense) go. John is the cherry on top (of the recruiting class). He’s a big, massive guy who can play the center of our 3-4 defense. This is the first year we had to recruit a guy like him. To get a player who I think is the No. 1 nose in America is awesome."
c. In case you were wondering, Boise State’s starting center is 5’11″ and weighs 285 pounds. (He was a first-team All-WAC selection.). (ht to the Senator and his great blog for the last nugget)
d. How tough is it to recruit in the SEC? The SEC had four of the top ten classes, seven of the top twenty classes, and nine of the top twenty-five classes.

e. As impressive as that all is, Scout.com has Vanderbilt with the SEC’s lowest rated class. The Commodores finished forty-fifth nationally. That is unreal.

f. Of the top 25 players in the state of Georgia this season, 12 signed with UGA, 3 signed with Auburn, 2 signed with Bama, 2 signed with Tennessee, 1 signed with Cal, Florida State, Notre Dame, Stanford and Georgia Tech. Also one of the top twenty-five signed with a junior college.

g. I do not care what kindof gimicky high school offense Paul Johnson runs he needs to sign more than one of the state's best twenty five players.

h. How awesome is it that Florida did not sign any of the top 25 players in the state of Georgia this year? When is the last time that has happened?

i. I wish the guys from Georgia that signed with Auburn and Bama would have signed with Florida State. When FSU really had it rolling they were signing tons of players from South Georgia. I would rather FSU get those players than Auburn or Alabama.

j. I love when Nick Saban says one thing but does another.“In the Southeastern Conference when a guy commits, that just makes them a target. It isn’t like that everywhere in the country. It’s really not, but it is that way here, so we expect it. We are not really upset about it when it happens. We just try to manage it.”
k. By the way coach Saban you have had at least one recruit the past two seasons commit to another school before signing with you.

l. If this had happened in Athens, the AJC would have a heart attack and make it seem like the world was coming to an end.“[Cornerback Marcus] Roberson took his official visit to Gainesville on Jan. 21, and he was hosted by Janoris Jenkins. Several hours into the visit, Jenkins was arrested for marijuana possession.” Roberson eventually signed with Florida, by the way.I am confident he will not have a problem fitting in.
m. On a side note it will be interesting to read some comments in the future from University of Florida writers now that Urban Meyer is not around to bully those on the Gators beat.

5. Baseball Notes
a. How great is the fact that when you all are reading this the Braves equipment truck will already be on I-75 headed to the Sunshine State. Baseball will be here before we know it and if we are ready or not.
b. Through 168 major league games Cameron Maybin is hitting .246 with 13 homers, 45 RBI, 93 runs scored and 19 thefts. Why does it seem a majority of that damage has come against the Braves?

c. Only three players have hit at least .300 each of the last five seasons.I bet we all could have named Ichiro and Pujols but Matt Holliday is also on that list.

d. Only three players have hit 20 home runs for the past ten seasons. We all could name Pujols and A-Rod. However, the real question is how many could name Carlos Lee.

e. On a side note Carlos Lee has one of my favorite nicknames in baseball in El Caballo. Do not ask why I think that is awesome, it just is.

f.. How crazy are the stats new Oriole third basemen Mark Reynolds puts up every season? Last season in 499 at-bats he hit 32 homers and drove home 85. Reynolds also hit .199 an struckout 211 times. Just as a reference Prince Fielder had 32 homers and 83 RBIs in 578 at-bats last season.

g. Buck Showalter might go crazy with all those K's next season in Baltimore.

h. Speaking of the O's they have quietly put together what could be one of the more impressive lineups in not only the AL East but in all of baseball. Here is how they matchup Catcher-Matt Wieters, First Base- Derek Lee, Second Base- Brian Roberts, Third Base-Mark Reynolds, Short Stop- JJ Hardy, Left Field- Luke Scott, Center Field-Adam Jones and in Right Field-Nick Markakis. The Designated Hitter will be Vlad Guerrero. You have speed and power and unfortunately a lot of strikeouts.

i. The O's do make a visit to Turner Field this summer. Could be a fun weekend in early July.

j. From 2008-10, Dan Haren is only of 3 to win 12 games w/ ERA under 3.95 and at least 200 Ks each yr. Others are – Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay.
k. Peter Gammons posed this question via twitter...Michael Young has averaged 199 hits per yearr. He's 34, doesn't walk. If he averages 190 hits next 6 years, he gets to 3000. He won a gold glove at both SS & 2B...HOF?........I say he compares to Biggio who I think is a Hall of Famer.

l. I do not have any numbers to back this up but if I had to choose one for the Hall of Fame I would choose Biggio over Bagwell.

m. For those that have an auction style fantasy draft in the near future read this good article and two words...good luck.

n. Here is a really good read on Brooks Conrad. Love this quote from his mom...“Don’t ever come home in a clean uniform,”

6. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to includes Jason's Aldean Dirt Road Anthem. (The video comes from Aldean's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, in my next life I want to be a writer for a late night tv-show). I know I normally give songs from the late 90's or early 2000's but when Smoak and myself were hanging together in October he was all over this song and now it is becoming a big hit. You can not get a thing past this guy. Speaking of Jason Aldean, I read somewhere last week that he has an English Bulldog named "Athens" how awesome is that? Congrats are in order to the greatest kicker in Screven County History who knew that Don Sutton had the most wins in Dodgers history. This week's trivia question, name the single season home run leaders for the Royals, Marlins, and New York Mets. Because I am in the giving mood here is a hint; two people share the record for the New York Mets.

7. NFL Power 12
1. Green Bay Packers-I think if the NY Giants beat the Packers in week 16 we might have the G-Men as our number one team today. But they didn't.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers-Three Super Bowl appearances in five years is unreal. How smart are the Roney's to hire Mike Tomlin over Russ Grimm or Ken Wisenhunt?
3. New York Jets-The better of the Championship Game losers. I still think the Pats beat them 85-90 times out of 100. We can say we saw two of those 10-15 times this season.
4. Chicago Bears- A lot of people want Lovie ran out of town but if he can get a second seed in the NFC with those cast of characters he had this season, the guy can coach.
5. New England Patriots- Until this season which was uncapped the Pats always had one of the lowest payrolls in football...how come they get a hall pass for this? Especially when you consider they have not won a Super Bowl since I was a student at the University of Georgia.
6. Atlanta Falcons-The second best season in franchise history gets remembered for a choke job against New Orleans and a no show job against the Packers.
7. Baltimore Ravens- Pretty strong words from Flacco this week after they fired his position coach. This team needs to figure out how to beat the Steelers so they can get home field.
8. Indianapolis Colts- If they can cover a kickoff we get two less weeks of the Jets. Also, their special teams has been awful since I was an intern and worked with the special teams. Just saying.
9. Philadelphia Eagles- I know Kolb wants a trade but no way Andy Reid moves him this off-season.
10. Kansas City Chiefs-How bad were the West in both the AFC and NFC this season?
11. New Orleans Saints-How did they lose to the Seahawks?
12. Seattle Seahawks-I could care less they won in the first round. Do not blame Seahawks blame the NFC West for being awful.

8. College Hoops Power 5
1. Ohio State- Sullinger is the second best player in the country behind The Jimmer.
2. Texas- Texas won at Kansas thus the higher ranking.
3. Kansas- For this team to go through what they have been through the past few weeks and not skip a beat says something.
4. Duke- I watched some of their game against NC State Saturday evening and they out hustled the Wolfpack all game. Amazing how hard they play.
5. Pitt-The real question I will ask repeatedly between now and March, can Jamie Dixon get his talented Pitt Panthers to the Final Four?

9. What I Read This Week
Couple of great articles that I read this past week. This first article comes from Esquire and takes a look at NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. I am pretty fascinated by Mayor Bloomberg, for one he is a billionaire who takes the Subway to work every day. Second his annual salary is only $1 a day but when you are a billionaire, you can do that. Third Bloomberg depending the issue he is considered liberal, conservative, elitist, idealistic or pragmatic. Fascinating read and his green initiatives are in my opinion genius.

The second article of the week comes from The Wall Street Journal and does not look at finance, banking or stocks and bonds. It profiles my favorite college basketball commentator Bill Raftery. Raftery is well known for closing the hotel bar at night and opening up the gym the next morning. I want to spend one winter with this guy traveling the Big East. ONIONS!!!!!!!!

10. Extracurricular Activities
a. Thoughts on the tittle for this section?
b. Reason #2697 Twitter is so great and that you all should follow me @justinwjohnson is finding articles like this one late on a Friday night. The article in question looks at the final scene of The Sopranos and comes to the conclusion with the evidence presented that Tony died at the very end. Fascinating read that gives ton of background and makes me miss one of my favorite television shows of my adult life.
c. The first thing I learned from the article is that Sopranos creator David Chase is about 6 times smarter than me and I think I am pretty smart.
d. While we are discussing the Sopranos one of my favorite all-time episodes is Pine Barrons when Christopher and Paulie get lost in the South Jersey forest with a former member of the Russian Ministry of the Interior's special forces. Christopher and Paulie clearly shoot the Russian but we never get confirmation that the Russian died. I have always wondered what happened to the Russian? Also, what happened to Paulie's Cadillac that they drove down in to South Jersey?
e. Speaking of great shows How I Met Your Mother was brand new this week and was hilarious. Katy Perry made a guest appearance and showed their might be more to her career than singer. She is a very talented entertainer. By the way as much as I enjoy HIMYM it does not belong in the same breath as The Sopranos.
f. Ms. Perry is so hot as well. That should not have to be said, just understood.
g. I am big Real Sports fan and I absolutely loved the profile on Peter King. You should know I got the idea for the Ten Things from Peter King and his Monday Morning QB.
h. I am fascinated how King does his NBC duties every Sunday night and then heads straight to his hotel room where for the next six hours he will write the MMQB. His leaves his hotel room at 5:30 enough time to make the 6:00 Acela Express to Boston where he will put the final touches of his column before posting around 7:45-8:00 every Monday morning.
i. By the way I think the Las Vegas Hilton is the coolest place on earth to watch an NFL Sunday playout. The second coolest place might be the NBC studios with Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Peter King and Mike Florio.
j. This past weekend it seemed like I spent more time OTP than ITP. I do not think that is a good thing.
k. I need to find a new place between Atlanta and Athens to grab quick bite to eat than Chick-fil-a in Monroe. Nothing wrong with Chick-fil-a in Monroe but sometimes it is good to change things up.
l. Am I the only one who loves Hawaii 5-0 on CBS at Monday night? Someone please tell me that they also enjoy that show, I can not be the only one.
m. I was hoping to see the Chicago Code but I missed it Monday night. Did anyone see it? Is it worth my time?

Quote of The Week
An email from co-worker Dan to BJ after co-worker Dan booked a room the two are sharing on a future road trip.
We are booked. I believe you owe me $46.46 for the room. No rush on the money the juice won’t start running for 1 week.

Tweet of The Week
This week's tweet comes from @PANTSSteve who is Steve Young the writer for Letterman not the former Niner QB.

BUSH AT THE GAME: After three bites of snack, prematurely put up "Nachos Accomplished" banner

Text of The Week
This week's text comes from Todd Easton from the Big Apple...
"If there is anything better than national signing day and national sweater vest day falling on the same day?"

Photo of The Week
Below you will find the smartest guy in Green Bay...I wish we could hold this guy to his poster and he lose his season tickets

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-01-24T07:44:00.000-05:00

1. Georgia Hoop Thoughts
Another 1-1 week for the Dawgs and if I could sign for another 1-1 week next week I would have already. This weeks games include contests at home Tuesday night on ESPN against the Gators followed by a visit to the Bluegrass on Saturday. While I still am not 100% over last Tuesday's loss to the Vols I am even more impressed with how we responded Saturday afternoon against Mississippi State. Georgia has followed up both of its conference losses this season with 22-point blowouts. This is a true credit to the character of this team and the leadership of Coach Fox. When this team has lost SEC games this year, they have not allowed a tough loss beat them in the following game. On the contrary, the Dawgs have responded with dominating performances. By the way how many times the last two seasons has our football team not responded after a tough loss? One more funny stat. UGA beat Ole Miss and Miss State each by 22 points. The Dawgs played Mississippi Valley State to begin the season and only beat the Delta Devils by 2 points. Go figure.

One more nugget, the last time UGA won back to back SEC games was March 2008 at the SEC tournament. (We all remember when the tornado ripped through town). Safe to say the Dawgs need to win a back to back SEC game and sooner than later will be a lot of fun. If you have not watched this team please do so Tuesday night on ESPN.

2. Georgia Football Thoughts

Really good week for the Dawgs and it seems like we are closing really well in recruiting. Don't like now but maybe Mark Richt still has it. With that being said there are three big recruits out there and if UGA can somehow close on them this has the opportunity to be an unbelievable class. Isiah Crowell was in town this weekend and I absolutely loved the fact the student section at the basketball game broke into chants of Isiah, Isiah, Isiah!!

I absolutely love what the Senator says on his blog Get The Picture. (UGA and college football fans need to make this place a daily visit). Georgia is in serious need of real, positive momentum and at this time of year, an engaged coach who can put together a top-flight recruiting class would make for a good place for that to start. No, getting the Rome and Mitchell commitments doesn’t mean that the Dawgs are headed for 13-0 country this season, but it’s not like whiffing on them would have helped right the ship, either.

I know September is a long ways away but I can not wait to hear the Redcoats play this song.

3. NFL Playoffs

Sunday's first game ended up being pretty weird. One it was kind of boring until the Bears decided to put their third string quarterback into the game with less than a minute to be played in the third quarter. It worked out for the Bears but what a dumb move by Lovie Smith. For one if Caleb Hanie would have gotten hurt in the final quarter the Bears could have not gone back to Cutler or Collins and would have probably have to put Hester in the wild card. I will not touch on the Cutler situation except to say that sure looked bad on Sunday afternoon. The Packers have now won three straight road games to reach the Super Bowl. The last three teams to do this were the Giants in 2007, Steelers in 2005 and Patriots in 1985. Just as FYI the Giants and Steelers won the Super Bowl those years. How werd is this stat? The Packers 21-14 win over the Bears was the first NFC Championship game since 1978 (Cowboys 28-0) that did not have a field goal made in the game. How good was the Packers defense on Sunday? The Packers blitzed a member of the secondary 13 times - the Bears' quarterbacks went 5-for-12 with a sack, 12.2 passer rating and two interceptions, including B.J. Raji's pick-six. Furthermore, Sam Shields had just one interception on passes at least 15 yards downfield in the regular season and first two playoff rounds. In the NFC Conference Championship, Shields had two such interceptions.

Sunday night's AFC Championship game was another dud until the Jets made their second half run. Despite the score getting within 7 points in the 4th quarter it never felt like the Steelers had lost control of the game. Ben Roethlisberger had a passer rating of 35.5 on Sunday. Yet, he's won all three postseason games that rank as his worst, in terms of passer rating. Watching the game you had to wonder why the Steelers ever passed except for 3rd and longs the way they were running the ball on the Jets. Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley had one sack, giving him a sack in six straight postseason games, an NFL record. Pittsburgh is 8-7 in AFC championship games, 6-5 at home. Furthermore, Sanchez fell short of becoming the first quarterback with five road playoff wins.

The Packers have opened up as a 2 point favorite and that number has moved to 2.5. The game total has also moved to 46 (46.5 at Leroy's in Vegas) after opening at 45 points.

One more note, neither team that won on Sunday scored a touchdown in second half. (ht to the Roomdawg for texting that note from a chilly Windy City.) This was the third time since the NFL-AFL merger that both conference championship games were decided by seven points or fewer. The other two: 2001- Patriots defeat Steelers, 24-17; Rams defeat Eagles, 29-24 1987- Redskins defeat Vikings, 17-10; Broncos defeat Browns, 38-33

4. This Year's NCAA Tournament
This week CBS and Turner Sports (who will be covering the tournament for the first time) made announcements concerning coverage of this week's NCAA Basketball Tournament. Because I feel like I have to read every Media column that is written I feel like an expert on the upcoming Madness. I will get to the broadcasters in a minute. First things first their is some big news concerning the play in games now that we have 68 teams. When the NCAA announced the addition of 3 more teams from 65-68 I assumed the newly created 4 play-in games would include the last 8 seeds (Your 15 or 16 seeds). However I could not have been more wrong. The four play in games will actually include teams seeded 65-68 (two games) and then the last four at-large teams (two games). This is the first time the last four at-large teams will be revealed publicly. Traditionally, the at-large teams are scattered throughout the seeding process, rarely going past No. 12, making it relatively easy to identify them. Yet the committee now will formally announce the last at-large teams by putting them in the first round. Your last four at-large teams normally come from the power conferences while the last four Automatic's tend to be your lesser known schools from the smaller conferences. For more info here is this article from Andy Katz and within the article Jay Bilas breaks down what all this means via ESPN Radio. If I did an awful job breaking this down email me and I will try to make it make more sense.

While the new format will be a little bit crazy, I actually am intrigued by this years broadcast schedule. For the first time ever every game in the tournament would be telecast on a national basis. Along with the traditional CBS broadcasts TNT (DirectTv Channel 245) TBS ((DirectTv Channel 247) and truTV (DirectTv Channel 246) will be the homes of the NCAA tournament. As far as announcers and studio host go we should have a fun tourney. As for studio programming during the NCAA Tournament, the coverage will originate from both New York and Atlanta, with the main anchor chair shared daily by CBS veteran Greg Gumbel and longtime TNT host Ernie Johnson. TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith will provide analysis throughout the tournament from the CBS Broadcast studios in New York alongside Gumbel or Johnson. CBS analyst Greg Anthony will also be part of the New York-based studio show. Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis and TNT analyst Reggie Miller will join the New York studio rotation for the second week of the tournament. Davis will be in Turner's Atlanta studio the first week with host Matt Winer and Steve Smith. I am disappointed we lose Seth Davis from the New York studios because in my opinion he is one of the best analyst in college hoops.

As far as game announcers the Final Four team will consist of Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr. For the first two weekend Kerr will be matched up with the great Marv Albert. The other announcing teams include my distant relative Gus Johnson with Len Elmore, Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Dan Bonner, Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, Tim Brando and Mike Gminski and Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel. David Aldridge, Sam Ryan, Craig Sager, Marty Snider, Lesley Visser and Tracy Wolfson will serve as reporters throughout the tournament. Wolfson will work with Nantz, Kellogg and Kerr at the Final Four. How great are Johnson and Elmore? How awesome are Lundquist and Raftery (ONIONS)?

One more note...how great will Barkely be in studio for CBS?

5. MLB Notes
When you are reading this on Monday morning January 24th we will be three weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting. That is ridiculously close. Even more ridiculous is the fact in 9 weeks and three days the Braves will be opening the season in our Nation's Capital. Anyone up for a weekend trip to the District of Columbia in nine weeks and change?
a. Dan Uggla is one of four players w/ a 5-year streak of 27HR, 88RBI, 84Runs. The others you might ask...well they are Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard & Mark Teixieria.
b. I know I have mentioned this before but Uggla has hit 12 home runs at the Ted, this is the most for him in any road park. Furthermore, his career batting average/on base%/slugging percentage line is .354/.399/.652. While I know that is only 199 at-bats but .652 slugging percentage is a .652 slugging percentage. Just as a frame of reference a .652 slugging percentage for a full season would be the 94th best of all-time for one season. That is real good.
c. On the other hand the Jays traded Vernon Wells to the Angels on Friday night. Wells career stats in Anaheim? .226/.267/.340 - with 3 HRs in 159 AB. He hit .182 in 6 games there last year.
d. The Yankees signed Andruw Jones this week. If I would have told you 6 years ago that Jones would sign with the Yankees and it not would have caused a stir in Atlanta you would have me put in the Crazy Ward of the hospital. What happened to that guy?
e. Jones is the only player since 1920, whose primary position was outfield or designated hitter, to have four straight seasons hitting .230 or worse. Only two players who played any position have had more consecutive seasons hitting .230 or worse (200+ AB) in the Live Ball Era (since 1920): Shortstops Ed Brinkman and Dal Maxvill (five each).
f. The crazy thing about those stats is that the two years prior to Jones last four seasons he combined to hit 92 homeruns and 257 RBI's. For his career he has 407 home runs which is 46th all time.
g. While we are picking on Mr. Jones here is this stat: Jones has 94 baseball "hat tricks," (three strike outs in a game) fifth-most among active players.
h. I was kind of surprised by the Nationals trade of Tom Gorzelanny this week. One, why would the Cubs trade a guy I think is a decent pitcher and two how bout this rotation for the Nationals? Along with Gorzelanny, Jordan Zimmermann, Livan Hernandez, Jason Marquis, John Lannan, Ross Detwiler, Yunesky Maya, and Chien-Ming Wang are other hurlers looking to nail down jobs in the rotation.
i.I am pretty intrigued with what the Rays are doing in signing former Red Sox outfielders Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. Something tells me the Rays will not be as bad as a lot of people think.
j. Do not forget that David Price won 19 games last season and he should be nothing but better in 2011.
k. I had forgotten that Tim Hudson won 17 games last season. How special could Braves be of we get a Derek Lowe like we saw for the last month of 2010 and a 2011 Hudson similar to the 2010 Hudson.
l. I did not realize this but according to Mets GM Johan Santana will start the season on the DL and Pelfrey will actually be the Mets opening day starter. I would normally rip the Mets for the trade of Santana but look at the prospects they gave up and none have really made the Mets miss them as of now.
m. The last three notes come courtesy of Billy Ball and the Boston Globe Sunday baseball notes. From 2005-08, David Ortiz had a strikeout percentage of 16.4 and a home run percentage of 6.2. However, over the last two seasons, 22.6 percent of all his plate appearances ended in strikeouts and 4.9 percent ended in homers.
n. Here’s why Alex Rodriguez is so valuable. Last season, in 595 plate appearances, A-Rod produced 169 runs (runs plus RBIs minus homers). Also producing 169 runs were Vladimir Guerrero (643 PA) and Michael Young (718 PA).
o. Over the last five seasons, Roy Halladay led the majors with 90 wins, followed by CC Sabathia’s 88. Zach Duke led with 68 losses, followed by Barry Zito’s 67.
p. Prince Fielder was the only player in baseball to hit under .265 while posting an OBP of at least .380 at .261 and .401. Yes you read that right. Prince reached base four out of ten times despite only hitting .265. We will have more discussion on this stat and on base percentage next week. I know you are excited...I am.

6. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to is Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. If memory serves me correctly we played the heck out of the CD back in the day. Furthermore, this is one of the more cooler videos that I have ever watched. It should be mentioned that my video viewed count can not be that high. I can not remember our last trivia question but I think it was the week of Thanksgiving and my dad knew that Philadelphia was the site of the first Thanksgiving Day. Man that was a long time ago. This weeks trivia question is What pitcher has the most wins in Dodgers history? Good luck.

7. A Hodgepodge of Notes (Hoops, Tennis, etc)
a. How sick is Blake Griffin? I absolutely love having the NBA package and watching all the Clippers games when I can not sleep at night. On Saturday against Golden State he went for 30 points, 18 rebounds and 8 assissts. Last Monday against Indiana he scored 47 points on 24 field goals.
b. By the way are the Clippers the most fun to watch 16-26 team in the NBA?
c. I know I will reference the ACC later but it is time to take a good look at that conference and how many potential bids they would get. Right now I say Duke is a lock. UNC and FSU probably make the tourney if the season were over right now but they still have to do.
d. The ACC potentially only receiving three bids could open up a couple bids for hopefully the SEC East and maybe the Mountain West conference.
e. Thanks to Darren Rovell for this stat. The number of different teams in final series/game in last 10 matchups: NBA (10), NFL (13), NHL (13), MLB (14).
f. The MLB needs to do a better job promoting its parity. While the Yankees and Red Sox do have a financial advantage the last few years I proved that anything can happen in the playoffs, you just have to get there.
g. That was a bad loss by Kansas yesterday at home to Texas. Especially after the Jayhawks jumped out to an 18-3 lead to start the game, but Texas outscored Kansas 51-28 in the second half. Even more impressive is the fact that the Texas won its first game at the Phog. The Longhorns had been 0-9 in Lawrence entering today's game and 0-7 at Allen Fieldhouse.
h. The Jayhawks had won 69 straight games at Allen Fieldhouse, losing their last game there on Feb. 7, 2007.To give that some reference, I had moved to Atlanta one month prior. Man that was some time ago.
i. I was able to see some highlights of the Villanova-Syracuse game Saturday night. That looked like a pretty cool atmosphere inside the Carrier Dome which is one of college basketball coolest scenes in my opinion. Villanova has won eight of its past 11 meetings with Syracuse dating back to 2006, with four wins coming at the Carrier Dome.
j. Not many programs can go inside the Carrier Dome like Villanova has the past few years.
k. Is now the time Jamie Dixon and his Pitt Panthers will make a run to the final four? It looks like they have one of their better teams with their only loss coming to Tennessee at Excel Center in Pittsburgh. It should be mentioned that this loss was not on their home floor on campus.
l. With Venus retiring in the 3rd round of Australian Open is her career done. She is 29 which is ancient by Tennis terms. I am not sure if she is done but I doubt we see her win another major.

8. College Hoops Power 5
1. Ohio State-The Buckeyes are 20-0 for the third time in school history. Both previous 20-0 starts resulted in Ohio State advancing to the NCAA title game.
2. Duke- Is the ACC a three bid conference with Duke, UNC and FSU? Do they get three teams?
3. Pittsburgh-How do the Vols beat this team in the Steel City?
4. Texas-The last team to beat UNC, Kansas and Michigan State in same season was Michigan in 1993. (UNC would beat Michigan in the rematch at the National Championship game)
5. San Diego State- Do not sleep on the Aztecs. Very fun team to watch and the Mountain West is a really good basketball conference. College Basketball's game of the week will be Wednesday night at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah as the Aztecs take on Jimmer Fredette's BYU Cougars.

9. What I Read This Week
The best article that I read this week takes a look at Deadspin.com Editor A.J. Daulerio. As a big Deadspin reader it was fascinating to take a look at what goes into some of the stories that they publish and why they publish these stories. I for one had no idea the paid $12,000 cash for the incriminating Brett Favre voice-mails and pictures.

The second read of the week comes from the NY Times and profiles the head of the NFLPA DeMaurice Smith. Smith does not back down in this interview saying that "We are at war" and that “Nobody gets strong without fighting, nobody stays strong without fighting. Nobody negotiates their way to strength. Nobody talks their way to a good deal. Nobody sits down and just has miraculous things happen.” A real fascinating read and we may miss some of the NFL next week.

10. Non Football or Basketball or Baseball Thoughts
a. I saw No Strings Attached for the second time this week. That is right I went to this movie twice before it premiered and no I am not a sucker for romantic comedies.For the most part no bad lines to the end which better than a majority of romantic comedies.
b. Natalie Portman is so gorgeous and enjoyable on the big screen.
c. Did anyone else allow the Tsunami warning on Hawai 5-0 suck them in last night? I ended up enjoying the show when I had no plans to watch it? Good job CBS.
d. Speaking of CBS hopefully by next years NFL season Phil Simms can get better at booth reviews and the rules. Awful job on Sunday.
e. By the way Phil Simms on Dan Patrick last Tuesday was awfully bitter. I had no idea why but he did not come off real well.
f. I watched Modern Family from two weeks ago this week and it was absolutely hilarious. I have not seen the one from 5 days ago but will watch it sooner than later. Emphasis on sooner.
g. Another busy week with work and other responsibilities. Hopefully I can use Sunday afternoon to go catch up on some movies.

Quote of the Week
DeMaurice Smith provides the quote of the week from one of our articles of the week.
“You want drama? Stand up in a courtroom and be a prosecutor with a guy who just killed four people, set his girlfriend on fire and then shot her in the back of the head twice and you know if you lose this, he goes back on the street. How do you sleep at night?

Text of the Week
From an old coach/boss. I changed the name to protect the innocent/guilty.
I'm on my way to the state wrestling tournament. Our 141 pounder told me today....Mr. Mosby I wanna fu**** kill someone tomorrow.

Tweet of the Week
This week's tweet comes from @si_damonhack who had just arrived in the Steel city for the AFC Championship game.
PA at Pitt Airport baggage claim just now: "Would passenger Rex Ryan please stop by the info booth and pick up his medicated foot powder."

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-01-17T23:13:00.000-05:00

1. Georgia Thoughts

A 1-1 week for Fox's hounds with both games on the road. By the way a loss at Vanderbilt with Dores shooting 20 more free throws than the Dawgs is not the worst thing in the world. On Saturday in what was a very important game the Dawgs probably played their best since Jim Harrick was coaching em up. The Dawgs shot 63.5% from the field as a team, had five players score in double-figures and only had one player (Donte Williams) shoot under 50% from the field. Furhermore, Mark Fox’s Bulldogs dished out a season-high 26 assists, while limiting themselves to only 7 turnovers.

This week we have home games against Tennessee tonight and Mississippi State on Saturday. Next week we continue the home stand with a home game next Tuesday against the Gators and on the road the 29th against the Wildcats. Needless to say if we can handle our business at home this team can be in a very good place with when they fly to Lexington in 11 days.When counting conference wins a week ago I had Georgia around 9-10 conference wins. That looks good as of right now. It's interesting that Ken Pomeroy lists Georgia as roughly a 39% chance to win 10-12 SEC games based on current data models. Pomeroy and RealTimeRPI both have our most likely scenario as 9 conference wins. (Thanks to Georgia Sports Blog for the RPI numbers).

This is the most giddy I have been about the Basketball team since Jim Harrick. Hopefully Jeremy Schaap can stay away from campus.

2. College Football Wrap Up
a. Late on Friday I saw a tweet that did not get much mention, the NCAA grants Case Keenum a 6th season of eligibility. The Houston QB who is one of my favorite college QB's becomes the first true Heisman candidate for 2011.
b. I have read a couple of places where people are saying that Tennessee is a sleeper for the SEC East in 2011. What am I missing about the Vols? I know South Carolina won the East this season but I still feel it is Florida's to win every season.
c. I am glad I am not a Maryland fan. For one they get rid of one of their own for a guy I think is a great coach, but not a step up in my opinion. Then Maryland hires Gary Crowton as their offense coordinator.
d. Here is more on Crowton, the 53-year-old coach had come under heavy fire for what could be charitably described as inept offenses during his past two years with the Tigers. LSU was 45th (29.7) and 76th (24.8) in scoring offense, and 86th (341.3) and 112th (304.5) in total offense. Most embarrassing was an utterly limp passing attack: 107th (155.6) last year, 97th (181.8) in 2009.
e. Somehow, Crowton turns into a new three-year contract at Maryland, where he’ll be paid $100,000 a year more than he was getting at LSU. Whoever Crowton’s agent is, that’s somebody who’s earning his keep.
f. I saw these stats related to the SEC football season and was surprised how big of a difference turnovers make on the game.49 conference games in 2010, 12 times both teams had the same amount of turnovers.
Thus 37 times one team won the turnover battle.In those 37 games, the team that won the turnover margin won 32 times.That’s a 32-5 record in SEC games in 2010 for the teams that won the turnover battle.
g. Georgia’s 2010 record in games in which it won the turnover battle was 6-1, which means the Dawgs didn’t win a single game this season when they didn’t finish in the black in turnover margin.
h. It’s a strange world we live in when ESPN fires Ron Franklin, yet keeps Craig James on the payroll.

3. College Football Coaches Year 2

In the past couple of years I have noticed a trend with College Coaches and their teams making a big jump in year two under a new coach. Let's look at some numbers.

Coach	School	Year 1	Year 2	Notes
Nike Saban	Bama	7-6	12-2	Went undefeated regular season
Nick Saban	LSU	8-4	10-3	SEC Champs
Bob Stoops	Oklahoma	7-5	13-0	National Champs
Mark Richt	UGA	8-4	13-1	SEC Champs, #3 Final Rating
Urban Meyer	Utah	10-2	12-0	Beat Pitt in BCS
Urban Meyer	Florida	9-3	13-1	National Champs
Paul Johnson	Navy	2-10	8-5
Paul Johnson	GaTech	9-4	11-3	ACC Champs
Chip Kelly	Oregon	10-3	12-1	National Runner Up
Gene Chizik	Auburn	8-5	14-0	National Champs
Jim Tressell	Ohio State	7-5	14-0	National Champs
Steve Spurrier	Florida	9-2	10-2	SEC Champs
Steve Spurrier	South Carolina	7-5	8-5
Bobby Bowden	FSU	5-6	10-2
Pete Carroll	USC	5-6	11-2	Orange Bowl

I do not know what all this means but Jimbo Fisher is in his second year at FSU.

4. 2010 Power 5
1. Auburn- They might go from 14-0 to 5-7. A year where all the stars aligned for the Tigers. Everything went their way.
2. Oregon-23-3 last two seasons. Beat a very, very, very good Stanford team by 20 points.
3. TCU- Very good season but no way they beat Oregon or Auburn. This team will be heard from for a long time as they move to the Big East in 2012.
4. Stanford- How does this team lose by 20 to Oregon. That might show how good the Ducks and Auburn Tigers were this season.
5. Ohio State-I am still dumbfounded how they had all players eligible for the Sugar Bowl.

5. 2011 Top 5
1. Oklahoma- The Sooners have 14 players coming back who have starting experience on offense and 15 on defense. This is after they finished 12-2 and won the Big 12 for the 7th time in 11 years. How unreal is that? They have to make trips to Oklahoma State and Florida State.
2. Oregon-Under Chip Kelly the Ducks are 23-3 with the loses to Boise St, Stanford and Auburn. Clearly the class of the Pac-10. The Ducks have the toughest first two games next season in the country when they play LSU and Nevada.
3. Florida State-Should return 9 starters on offense and defense. They play Oklahoma at home which is going to be an unreal spectacle. They get a big scheduling break because they don't play Georgia Tech, North Carolina or Virginia Tech during the regular season.
4. Alabama-Waited to the last game of 2010 to put everything together. They lose Julio Jones and Mark Ingram along with QB Greg McElroy. Four starting offensive linemen are returning, and linebacker Dont'a Hightower and safety Mark Barron should be better after battling injuries this past season. The Tide play a nonconference game at Penn State
5. LSU- They seem to go 10-2 every year. One of the most talented and consitent programs in the country. Very intrigued who they hire as offensive coordinator, because if they fix that side of the ball.....look out. They play Oregon to start the season in Arlington, Tx. They also have two very difficult road games at Mississippi State and Alabama.

6. Wildcard Weekend
a. How boring was the first half of the Bears-Seahawks game? If you did not have a rooting interest I do not know how you didnt take a nap in the second half. I sure did.
b. While I still do not trust Cutler in a big spot he was outstanding on Sunday. Jay Cutler became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for two touchdowns and run for two others in a playoff game.Otto Graham is the only other person to accomplish this fact.
c. In fact, Graham did it twice once in the 1954 NFL Championship Game and again the following season in the 1955 NFL Championship Game. The NFL Championship Game is the precursor to the Super Bowl.
d. The last Bears quarterback to rush for two touchdowns in a playoff game was Jim McMahon in Super Bowl XX. Additionally, Cutler was the first quarterback to throw a touchdown on his first career postseason pass since Chad Pennington did so for the New York Jets in 2002.
e. I was shocked in what happened Sunday afternoon in Foxboro. In fact, if you find yourself bored at work visit some Boston websites and the humor is priceless. It is almost like the Patriots have not won 3 Super Bowls in the last 10 years. It is almost like the Red Sox have not won 2 World Series since 2004. It is almost like the Boston Celtics are not the second most successful NBA franchise.
f. This is the worst Shaughnessy column I have ever read. What a joke. Then their is this. I wonder how bad all the bandwagon New England sports fans felt Monday morning?
g. Among quarterbacks with at least 75 attempts, only Matt Ryan and Tom Brady did not throw an interception against a 3-4 defense during the regular season. On plays when the Jets used the 3-4 defense formation Sunday, Brady completed just 3-of-7 passes for a 28.6 passer rating, including his first interception since Week 6 against the Ravens.
h. How good is Rex Ryan as a head coach? The Jets are the first team in NFL history to get at least 2 road wins in consecutive postseasons.
i. I am still in shock in what happened Sunday evening. Mark Sanchez is just the third quarterback to throw for 3 TD against Bill Belichick's Patriots in the postseason (since 2000). The others? Jake Delhomme and Donovan McNabb. Both Delhomme and McNabb did it in the Super Bowl. Maybe Sanchez is that good. I know I did not believe it going into the playoffs.
j. The Saturday game between the Steelers and Ravens was so much fun to watch. How does Baltimore blow that lead with that defense? Can you pick a worst time to have your first fumble of the season Ray Rice? How about all the talk we hear from the Ravens receivers and then all they do is drop passes in big spots.
k. Joe Flacco handled extra pressure well in the 2010 season, but the Steelers' pass rush rattled the Ravens' quarterback Saturday. The Steelers employed the 5-man rush on the last four plays of the game, forcing Flacco to throw three incompletions and take an 8-yard sack.
l. The Steelers home dominance in the playoffs continued Saturday. With the win, they move to 12-1 at home in the divisional round since 1970, averaging 25.5 PPG. They are just 3-6 on the road in the divisional round.
m. With the win Saturday, Ben Roethlisberger improves to 9-2 in the postseason. His .818 winning percentage is the 2nd-best in NFL history among QBs with at least 10 starts. He sits behind Bart Starr who went 9-1 in his postseason career.
n. How scary good are the Packers? They were unreal Saturday night. Everybody in Atlanta wants to point fingers and figure out what went wrong Saturday night. What went wrong Saturday is that Aaron Rodgers got on the team plane Friday night and flew to Atlanta.
o. As quarterback of the Packers, Rodgers has directed two of the three highest-scoring performances by a road team in NFL postseason history. Aaron Rogers had the second-highest completion percentage in a 300-yard passing game in NFL postseason history Saturday.
p. How has Tony Gonzalez never won a playoff game?

7. MLB Thoughts
a. I had no idea they kept this stat but Jose Bautista scored 11 of 16 times from first on a double; Carl Crawford was 11 for 19.
b. New Rays reliever Kyle Farnsworth was third in the majors in appearances from 2001-10 with 640. Mariano Rivera (646) and David Weathers (644) were the leaders.’’
c. Joe Maddon led AL managers last season by pinch-hitting 174 times, a remarkable 44 more times than runner-up Jim Leyland. Tony La Russa led the majors with 292. Is anyone shocked that La Russa led that category.
d. Here is a crazy stat in regards to Kyle Farnsworth. Against the teams that finished with a .500 or better record, Farnsworth finished with a 2.09 ERA, .611 opponents OPS, and a 5.3 strikeout-to-walk rate. Against teams with sub-.500 marks, he had a 5.19 ERA, .670 opponents OPS, and 2.23 strikeout-to-walk rate.
e. Adam LaRoche is one of just three first baseman to hit at least 20 homers and 25 doubles in each season since 2005. The others: Mark Teixeira and Albert Pujols. I still would not mention LaRoche in the same breath as those two.
f. Matt Stairs signed a minor-league deal with the Nationals in December. If he hits a home run for them, he'll tie Todd Zeile's major league record by hitting a HR for his 12th team.
g. Last season Ryan Howard 31 bombs with 108 RBI, but it was the 1st time in 5 yrs he failed to go deep 45 times with 136 RBI. The .505 slugging percentage was also a career low. Those are still some sick numbers.
h. How come this story is not getting mentioned more? It is January 18th and the Nationals do not have a pitching coach.
i. Also Damon, Manny and Andruw Jones do not have jobs yet either.
j. Word came out late last week that Showtime was producing a Hard Knocks type show on the San Fransisco Giants. Am I the only one who can not get enough of the behind the scenes type shows. They are so entertaining.
k. 27 days until Pitchers and Catchers report for the Braves (February 14th) 38 days until the first spring training game. Let's get excited!

8. Hoops Power 5 (before games played 1/17)
1. Ohio State- Is Jared Sullinger the player of the year?
2. Syracuse- The less Scoop Jardine shoots, the better the Orangemen play.
3. Kansas-Can the Bid XII get 8 teams in the tournament?
4. Pittsburgh-Huge win at home against number 2 Syracuse. Expect the Panthers to be higher next week.
5. San Diego St-If you are an insomniac like me, watch the Aztecs. Very fun team.

9. What I Read This Week
Read a bunch of articles this week but here are the two best. The first one takes a look at Billy Donovan, John Pelphrey and Anthony Grant and the bond these three share. I feel I follow college basketball pretty good but I had no idea these men went through these ordeals. The ladies will probably appreciate this article more than the gentlemen.

The second read comes from Outside Magazine and profiles Michael Ferrara. Ferrara is a first responder in Aspen and brings attention to a little-known problem: post-traumatic stress disorder among the people who save our lives.

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. I am down on the show How I Met Your Mother and the fact is decided to kill of Marshall's dad. What was the purpose of that. Did the writers forget this was a comedy show not a drama. I watch to laugh. If I want serious I would watch something else.
b. Last night's episode was not that much better. I wonder where they are going with this sub-plot? When are we going to meet Ted's wife?
c. With the Snow Days the roomdog and myself have caught up a lot on the DVR. Eastbound and Down is ridiculous. So funny. Kenny Powers is out of his mind.
d. I absolutely love Bored to Death. Ted Dansen's character is unbelievable. It also makes me miss the little things about living in the big apple.
e. Hopefully, we can get the show picked up for a third season.
f. I have not had time for a halftime the last couple of weeks. If I did I would have given everyone this sick song by Zac Brown Band. My buddy Smoak told me about it weeks ago. Again why is he not a country music executive.
g. I watched bits and pieces of the Golden Globes. I thought Ricky Gervais was hilarious. Again I am not an uptight Hollywood executive or actor so I would think that.
h. I have not seen all the Movies to comment on the winners and losers. I do know I need to see The Fighter, The Social Network and The King's Speech.
i. I have heard good and bad things about Black Swan...does anyone think I would enjoy?
j. I am not a Gleek so I do understand how Glee won best comedy or musical over 30 Rock, Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. Can someone please explain.
k. Thanks to the snow and other holidays the last Monday in which I have worked a full day was December 13th. Next week when I have to work 5 days I am going to be in trouble.
l. The other night when I could not sleep I watched CMT's Top 40 Songs of the Decade. You can view the list here. Personally I think a majority of the songs in the top 40 are to slow for me personally. I need some more energy in my music. Furthermore, I think "Austin" by Blake Shelton should be higher than #29. Also "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum is not the 10th best song of the decade. It is not even their best song in my opinion. I like American Honey better.
m. Interested to get Smoak's thoughts on the list.

Have an awesome week.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2011-01-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

Here are the 10 Things for this first week of 2011. I will try to be more consistent in writing these in 2011, please notice the word TRY. I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and their 2011 is off to a great start.

1. Georgia Thoughts
I will not go into much detail here on what I think what is wrong with the Dawgs because I would be writing for days and it would take you hours to read. My biggest worry is that we drive 96 yards to not go for it on 4th and 1 from the 3 yard line in the first quarter. In my opinion if we go for it there, we pick it up and win this game without much problem. My real issue in not going for it is....if the coach does not trust his players to get a yard against UCF why would his players in return trust him or make plays for him, etc. The lack of faith is something I see all the time at UGA but I do not see when watching Bama, Auburn, LSU, FSU, GaTech or Florida play. (emphasis added)

Also what happened to the offensive line this season? By far the biggest weak link on the team. I do not care if you have Bill Walsh calling plays but he is not going to move the ball with line play like we saw all season. I have heard rumors have a feud between Bobo and offensive line coach Stacey Searls. I have no idea where the problem comes from or what it is but this issue if true has to be fixed. What makes this problem more troublesome is Searls is probably UGA's best position coach as he worked at LSU under Saban and has turned down multiple offers from Auburn and Alabama. In fact if he were fired today he would probably have multiple job offers before he could pack the first box in office.

Gentry Estes who covers the Dawgs for 247sports.com wrote this article and sums everything up perfect. I appreciate his perspective as Estes has covered the Alabama Crimson Tide for a couple of seasons before getting the Georgia beat.

2. NFL Thoughts
a. Halfway through the NFL season a lot of the pundits claimed the AFC was the dominant conference with more dominant teams.
b. While the AFC has the most dominant team (New England) I feel the strength of teams seeded 1-6 in the NFC is better than the 1-6 of the AFC.
c. In fact I could see any team out of the NFC except the Seahawks making the Super Bowl. However, I only see the Patriots getting out of the AFC.
d. Peyton Manning now has 46 game-winning drives in the 4th quarter or overtime in his NFL career, just one shy of Dan Marino's career record. Third on the list Favre with 43 and fourth is John Elway with 42.
e. Eric Weems became the first Falcons player with a punt return TD and kick return TD in the same season. How did Deion Sanders never do that in the same season?
f. Matt Ryan tied Dan Marino for the most wins (33) by a starting QB in his first three seasons since 1970. Hopefully he has more post-season success than Mr. Marino did with the Phins.
g. The roomdawg is going to love this stat: The Packers have held opponents to single-digits in points six times this season. The last three times they've done that previously (1962, 1966, 1996), they won the NFL Championship (the last two, happened to be Super Bowls)
h. Among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts entering Sunday, Cutler ranked 27th in the NFL in passer rating when throwing to the left side of the field. Cutler finished the game completing just 6 of 14 passes with an 18.8 passer rating and both of his interceptions coming in that direction.
i. The Patriots entered Week 17 allowing a passer rating of 104.2 on play-action passes this season, 24th in the NFL. The Patriots play-action defense has been better against the Dolphins this season than any other team it has faced. The Dolphins finished 3 of 7 for 23 yards, an interception and a sack when using play-action Sunday.

3. Do we really need a playoff?

Late last Tuesday I received a text from my crazy brother saying, "Missouri-Iowa those are two sick teams this year that should be in playoff games fighting for a chance for something more than the bowl game they are in." My first thought was this is the exact reason why I do not want a playoff as what reason should a 7-5 Iowa or a 10-2 Missouri have to play in a playoff. In my opinion those teams should enjoy their middle tier bowl game in Arizona. While I think the system as it is now is broken I feel a playoff per say will no fix things. If you feel different let me know and why.

This is what I would like to see happen. We take the four best teams using an improved BCS that factors some sort of human poll from the coaches, legends, and 15 writers selected by fan vote. I would also keep the computers as they help in determining strength of schedule, etc. We keep the BCS bowls and their tie-ins as is but we rotate two bowls to host a #1 vs #4 playoff game and a #2 vs #3 playoff. This year we would have had #1 Auburn play #4 Stanford in one bowl. In the second bowl we would have had #2 Oregon play #3 TCU. #5 Wisconsin and #6 Ohio State would have just missed earning a spot. Then we would take the winners of Auburn-Stanford and Oregon-TCU to play for the National Championship. The National Championship game would be played the weekend prior to the Super Bowl at the Super Bowl location.

Here is how my 4 team playoff would have looked in years past
2009 #1 Bama vs #4 TCU, #2 Texas vs #3 Cincy...just missed #5 Florida and #6 Boise St
2008 #1 Oklahoma vs #4 Bama, #2 Florida vs #3 Texas...just missed #5 USC, #6 Utah
2007 #1 Ohio St vs #4 Oklahoma, #2 LSU vs #3 Virginia Tech...just missed #5 UGA, #6 Missouri
2006 #1 Ohio St vs #4 LSU, #2 Florida vs #3 Michigan...just missed #5 USC, #6 Louisviile
2005 #1 USC vs #4 Ohio St, #2 Texas vs #3 Penn St...just missed #5 Oregon, #6 Notre Dame, #7 UGA
2004 #1 USC vs #4 Texas, #2 Oklahoma vs #3 Auburn...just missed #5 Cal, #Utah, #7 UGA
2003 #1 Oklahoma vs #4 Michigan, #2 LSU vs #3 USC...just missed #5 Ohio St, #6 Texas
2002 #1 Miami vs #4 USC, #2 Ohio State vs #3 UGA...just missed #5 Florida, #6 Washington St
2001 #1 Miami vs #4 Oregon, #2 Nebraska vs #3 Colorado...just missed #5 Florida, #6 Tennessee
2000 #1 Oklahoma vs #4 Washington, #2 FSU vs #3 Miami...just missed #5 Va Tech, #6 Oregon St
1999 #1 FSU vs #4 Alabama, #2 Virginia Tech vs #3 Nebraska...just missed #5 Tennessee, #6 Kansas St
1998 #1 Tennessee vs #4 Ohio State, #2 FSU vs #3 Kansas St...just missed #5 UCLA, #6 Texas A&M

Notes: How fun would the 2006-2007 bowl season have been? How good has Ohio State and Oklahoma been the past 13 years. The same could be said for Texas and USC.

4. NFL Power 12 (The Playoff Teams)
1. New England Patriots- What team do you see losing to the Pats? I do not see one.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers- With a Troy Polamalu this team becomes more dangerous. They have stayed under the radar a lot this season.
3. Atlanta Falcons- I know they gave away the New Orleans game last week, this team is still very tough out at home.
4. Philadelphia Eagles- I have some questions about their defense but their offense is scary good with weapons at QB, RB, WR and TE.
5. Indianapolis Colts- With Manning they always have a chance. Last time they entered playoffs with this many questions they won the Super Bowl.
6. Baltimore Ravens- This team matches up better with the Pats than any other team in the AFC.
7. Green Bay Packers- Aaron Rodgers is better than Jay Cutler thus the higher rating
8. Chicago Bears- Does any Bear fan trust Cutler in a big spot? I would not.
9. New Orleans Saints- Drew Brees has thrown 22 int's compared to 11 last season.
10. Kansas City Chiefs- How big of a distraction will Charlie Weis be for the playoffs? Also, the BBQ in Gainseville is not as good as the que in KC. Has Weis thought about that?
11. New York Jets- Do not let the Rex Ryan hype fool you, Sanchez is banged up and the defense has some holes in it.
12. Seattle Seahawks- Do not get mad at the Hawks for being 7-9 and making the playoffs, get mad at their division for not having a 10-6 team

5. 2010 A Look Back

Favorite Travel Experiences
1. Cooperstown on a Snowy December afternoon-The tiny up-state NY village looked like a Norman Rockwell painting the afternoon I visited.
2. Frank Pepe's Pizzeria in New Haven, Ct- Quite possibly the best Pizza I have ever eaten.
3. The Yankee Clipper to Yankee Stadium-How about this A-list crew: Smoak, Shep, Ben, Todd and myself.
4. Day triping to P'burgh- My oldman, the roomdog, JoJo, Simms, and the roomdog's old roomdog fly to P'Burgh in the morning, watch the Braves and then fly home.
5. Amtrak NYC-DC...I absolutely loved the train and do not ask me why. I do have to ask, why can I not take a train from Atlanta to Athens or Augusta or Savannah?

Worst Travel Experiences
1. Flight canceled on the first leg of a roadrip in December. Never a good start.
2. A delayed flight to NYC in June coupled with the worst turbulence I have ever experienced and a screaming baby. Also the first leg of a roadtrip.
3. Sitting on a delayed flight to Denver when it is 110 degrees on the plane. Another first leg of roadtrip story.
4. Waking up early after a night at Brother Jimmy's to take the Amtrak. The act of waking up sucked, the Amtrak was awesome.
5. White Castle in the hood of Covington, Kentucky after a Friday Night Braves win. At the time a great idea. 45 minutes after we ate...AWFUL idea.

Best Movies I Saw
1. The Town- The final scene at Fenway was unreal.
2. True Grit- Every line is a classic. Jeff Bridges is the man. Matt Damon is underrated in a comedy role.
3. Inception-I can hit the 3rd level of my dreams...just saying
4. Kick-Ass-Nicholas Cage and his sailor talking 12 year old daughter as SuperHero's
5. Iron Man 2-Who does not enjoy a good superhero movie? I love them.

note: I have yet to see Social Network, 127 Hours or The Fighter so do not yell at me.

Top Concerts of the Year
1. Garth Brooks- The best concert I have ever attended and will probably ever attend. Unreal how AWESOME this was.
2. Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean- I will never forget the place breaking into the Tomahawk Chop when they recognized Bobby Cox
3. Eric Church- Pulled a lot of strings to get into this sold out show in February at Wild Bill's in Duluth. No way Wild Bill's was under Fire Capacity that night.
4. Montgomery Gentry- A post game Braves concert. I have always wanted to see these guys live and I thought they were very good.
5. Zac Brown Band- What a great way to ring in 2011.

My Favorite TV Events of 2010
1. Super Bowl-Watched this game alone on the couch because that's where I had watched all the Colts game previously that season.
2. Winter Olympics-Lindsey Vonn, an unreal Gold Medal game in hockey, a very cool Opening Ceremony with Mike Plant leading the USA athletes into the stadium.
3. 30 for 30-Who would have thought ESPN could have given us such amazing television. All the credit has to go to Bill Simmons who came up with the idea. My favorite was June 17th 1994.
4. Leverage-Think Oceans 11 but a drama series on TNT.
5. Modern Family-The best show on television in my opinion. Every line is golden. I usually laugh more the second time I watch the show.

6. 2010 A Look Back continued.......

Top Sporting Events in Person
1. Army-Navy Football- The pregame pageantry is second to no one. I will try to attend this game more often, especially now that they play on what is a very quiet college football weekend.
2. Braves Opening Day- We saw something awesome that afternoon. Hank Aaron's first pitch to Jason Heyward and then this happened.
3. Playoff Baseball returns to Atlanta-Game 3 was one of the best games I have ever witnessed and the atmosphere when Hinske hit the go-ahead home run was unreal. If we could have gotten one more out. I think about this game almost daily. (Why do I do that to myself) Then after Game 4 the Giants stopping their celebration to salute #6.
4. Practice Round Augusta National- First time on the famed course. I love how everyone talks about this place as a hallowed ground of golf when it is situated between and across from strip malls off of Washington Rd in Augusta. Nevertheless, I did not see one blade of grass, piece of pinestraw or piece of trash out of place.
5. Watching the Bobby Cox Ceremony from the Braves dugout-The more I think about it, the higher this should go on the list.

Top Sporting Events I Wish I Would Have Attended in 2010
1. Winter Olympics-If I had to choose between Summer or Winter Olympics I would attend the winter hands down.
2. Lakers-Celtics NBA finals-The NBA's marque teams battle in the finals.
3. Last College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium- So many great memories.
4. John Isner at Wimbeldon- The longest ever professional tennis match, which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes over the course of three days.The fact that Isner went to UGA also plays a role.
5.Super Bowl- If Kendra's husband (Hank Baskett) catches an onside kick that hits him in the hands the second half and the game are totally different.

Arena's of competition that I Visited in 2010
Baseball-Turner Field, Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards, Nationals Ballpark, PNC Park, Great American Ballpark, Lake Olmstead Stadium, Coolray Field, George Steinbrenner Field, Champions Stadium (Braves Spring Training)
Football-Sanford Stadium, Georgia Dome, Commonwealth Stadium, Jordan-Hare Stadium, Lincoln Financial Stadium, EverBank Field (Jacksonville)
Basketball- Stegman Coliseum, Madison Square Garden, Boston (Banknorth) Garden, Carrier Dome
Hockey-Phillips Arena
Concerts-Philips Arena, Gwinnett Center, Bridgestone Arena
Race Track-Keeneland

Note: I have a goal to attend a new Baseball stadium every year. For 2010 the new baseball stadium was Yankee Stadium. No idea what will be the new stadium in 2011 but I will figure something out. I have attended a new baseball stadium every year since 2003 when I went on my first road trip and saw Yankees-Red Sox in what was an instant classic at the old ballpark in the Bronx. In 2004 I went to Camden Yards. In 2005 I went to Fenway Park, RFK, Citizens Bank Ballpark and Shea Stadium for the first time. In 2006 my new stadium was Wrigley Field and PNC Park in Pittsburgh. (On a side note I saw more baseball this summer when I lived in the Big Apple than any summer of my life. Lots of minor league baseball, lots of Yankees and Mets) In 2007 I waited to the final weekend of the year to go to Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. (Great weekend road trip with Bryson). In 2008 my new ballpark was Tropicana Field for the playoffs and the first ever game at Nationals Ballpark in our Nation's capital. In 2009 my new ballpark was Citi Field. Where will I go in 2011 for the first time?

7. 2011 A Look Forward-Part 1

January will give us the National Championship in College Football as well as the NFL Playoffs. On Wednesday January 5th MLB will announce its Hall of Fame class of 2011. College basketball will crank up the week of January 17th with such contests as Syracuse at Pitt, Mich St at Purdue, Nova at Cuse.Tennis will have its first Grand Slam Final on the 30th while the NHL will hold its All-Star game in the same building NC State plays basketball.

February starts on a Tuesday and will probably be a boring winter day. The next day it will get real. Wednesday the 2nd gives us Groundhog Day. (A great Bill Murray movie by the way). After the redneck groundhog at Stone Mountain called General Lee says 6 more weeks of winter, top high school football players will sign with their respective colleges. On a side note, Rivals will say Notre Dame has a top 5 class and they will not win more than 8 games in their 4 years at the University. The 4th of February gives us the Chinese New Year. It will be the year of the rabbit and suddenly we know the special at every Chinese restaurant weeks in advance. The NFL will play a game called the Super Bowl three days later on the 6th. On the 7th Boston will host the Beanpot tournament. The 9th will give us UNC-Duke and a Coach K love fest from Dick Vitale. Pitchers and Catchers will report on February 14th. I will probably not notice as I will be celebrating Valentine's Day with my dimepiece girlfriend...or not. The 19th I will watch the Dawgs hoops team in Knoxville before traveling to Nashville to watch Predators and Coyote play some ice hockey. On Sunday the 20th Montreal will play Calgary outdoors while the Staples Center will host the All-Star game. The following day will be a day off from work and the 80th birthday of Alka-Seltzer. Spring training baseball will start on February 25th. I will be very excited.

March also starts on a Tuesday which is considered National Sportsmanship Day. That weekend me and my Dad will travel to Florida to watch some Braves spring training in Orlando against the Mets and in Vierra against the Nationals. Fat Tuesday will be celebrated on the 8th of the month, meaning we are 40 days from Easter. Will we spring ahead in the early hours of March 13th. Later in the day on the 13th the NCAA will announce its field of 68 teams. On the 14th we will hold an auction of teams and I will fill out 12 brackets. The 14th of March is also know a Pi Day...3.14.. The 19th of March I will celebrate the 8-0th anniversary of Nevada legalizing gambling by going 10 for 10 on a parlay card. Philly will host the 83rd NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Finals on the 17-19th. On the same 3 days in Austin, TX NCAA will host the Women's College Swimming Championships. On the last day of the month will give us the start of the Baseball season. My fantasy team will be in last place. Do not worry. I forgot to mention my brother has a birthday on Thursday the 10th. Good for him.

The first full week of April will be busy with the Final Four, Masters Week and the Braves home opener on April 8th. We can not forget about the Frozen Four played in St. Paul on April 7 and 9th. The NHL will start its playoffs April 13th while the NBA will do the same on the 16th. Taxes will be due the 15th. My former college roommate Micky Westphal will be married on the 16th. Another college roommate and fellow Heightz Boy Allen Daley will be married on the 23rd. I will not catch the garter at ether event. Good chance I do the cupid shuffle however. April 18th will give us the Boston Marathon and an mid morning baseball game at Fenway Park. I am pretty intrigued by this Patriot's Day holiday. Easter will be celebrated on the 24th.The NFL will host a draft on Thursday the 28th through Saturday the 30th.

May starts on a Sunday with the Cardinals in town playing the Braves. The 3rd of May gives us National Teacher Day. A bunch of horses will run in a circle on the 7th in my birth city (Louisville, Ky). The 8th will be Mother's Day and the 155th birthday of Coca-Cola. Damn Coke you old. May 12th is Nurses Day which is probably not as cool as it sounds. The middle of May gives us the start of inter league play when the Braves travel to Anaheim to play the Angels. May 21st will have the Preakness stakes in Baltimore. The Stanley Cup finals will start on May 28th while the Indy 500 will be ran the next day.

June begins on a Wednesday. On Thursday the NBA finals will begin as well as the Softball College World Series. The French Open will hold its Final on June 5th. The weekend of June 17-19 will be extremely busy. First their is the 111th US Open at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. That weekend also brings another round of interleague play with some interesting matchups. Baltimore and Washington get together in a battle for the beltway. In state rivals such as San Fran-Oak, Tampa-Florida, KC-St.Louis will highlight the docket. Texas will play in Atlanta and the marque series will be the Yankees playing the Cubs in Wrigley Field. I am not sure but is this the Yanks first visit to Wrigley since the Babe called his shot in the 32 World Series? Also that Sunday will be Father's Day. I almost forgot, the College World Series starts in Omaha on Saturday the 18th. So said it will not be played at Rosenblatt Stadium but TD Ameritrade Park looks gorgeous. Wimbledon will begin on the 20th while the Women's World Cup will start on the 26th in Germany. The Brewer's play in Yankee Stadium on the 28th-30th. Something tells me the roomdawg might be in the Big Apple. I will look to take a vacation sometime this month or next. If it is like anything in the past it will be legendary.

8. 2011 A Look Forward- Part 2 July starts on a Friday and that means we will have an awesome 4th of July weekend. Smoak & Goat will celebrate a birthday on the 2nd. Good for them. Wimbeldon will have its W omen's final on the 2nd and the Men on the 3rd. America will celebrate it's Independence Day on the 4th. What a great holiday. On the 6th the IOC will announce the host city of the 2018 winter games. Three finalists include Annecy (France), Munich, and Pyeongchang (South Korea). It should be noted that Munich hosted the Summer Olympics in 1972. Baseball will host its All-Star game on the 12th and I will eat Pizza and Wings. I will start reading college football magazines and buy some prime parking passes in J'ville for World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. The British Open begins on the 14th at the Royal St Georges Golf Club in Sandwhich, Kent. They say that is southeast of London. But who the hell knows. Baseball will hold induction ceremonies in Cooperstown on Sunday the 24th. ESPN will host its X Games from the 28th-31st. I will watch nothing but the MLB Network. Depending on a new CBA the NFL may or may not begin training camps late in the month.

August begins on a Monday. It will also be the 30th birthday of MTV. Thanks to MTV a guy called The Situation is a millionaire. Pro football will hold induction ceremonies on the 6th and hopefully on the 7th we have preseason football. But who the hell knows? The weekend of August 11-14 will be a big one for the city of Atlanta. The 93rd PGA Championship will be held at the Atlanta Athletic Club while the Braves will host the Chicago Cubs in a big weekend series. The Little World Series will begin on 19th and end on the 28th. The Braves are out of town from 22-29 if anyone wants to go to LLWS. The US Open in Tennis begins Flushing Meadow on the 29th. Just as an FYI Braves play Mets August 26-28. Good opportunity to mix in Braves-Mets, LLWS, and US Open. 194 miles from NYC to Willamsport if anyone is wondering.

September begins on a Thursday and the whole world will celebrate my birthday. I turn 30 and I am less than thrilled to be hitting that number. Bryson has the same birthday and the world will join in that celebration as well. The day after my birthday the Dawgs will Boise St in the UGA Dome in what will be a make or break for Mark Richt. The Braves will also host the Dodgers that weekend. Needless to say Atlanta needs to be everyone's destination on Labor Day weekend. Other top college football games on opening weekend include East Carolina against South Carolina in Charlotte and LSU versus Oregon at Jerry's World in Dallas. The NFL will open up on Thursday the 8th. The weekend gives us some decent college football with Bama at Penn St, South Carolina at UGA, BYU at Texas, Utah at Southern Cal and Notre Dame at Michigan. The 17th has the potential to be an unreal Saturday. Georgia plays Coastal Carolina which has the makings of an early afternoon game. Also that day Auburn plays in Clemson in what looks like a 745 made for ESPN game. Also on the 17th Oklahoma plays Florida State and Ohio State plays at Miami. The next weekend gives us the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. Also that weekend the Dawgs play Ole Miss so a trip to Tunica is probably on the docket. The roomdawg will celebrate a New Year on Sundown on the28th, the same day MLB's regular season ends.

October will start on a Saturday with a nice selection of College football and the start of the MLB playoffs. The NHL will begin play again on the 6th while UGA will play in Tenn on the 8th. The last two times UGA has played in Neyland Stadium it has lost by a combined score of 80-33 and I do not remember it being that close. Chicago will hold a Marathon on the 9th. It will run and probably finish in the top 10. On the 10th of October America will celebrate Columbus day while our Canadian friends will have Thanksgiving. UGA will have a bye week on the 22nd and I will sit on the coach and enjoy Auburn-LSU, Bama-UT and Southern Cal-Notre Dame. The World Series will also start earlier in the week on the 19th, so I might not have time to watch College Football on the 22nd and that will be fine. The last weekend of October gives us the Georgia-Florida football game. I have had lots of good times attending that game. I just need to see a win, that is all.

November begins on a Tuesday and Churchill Downs in my birth city will host the Breeders Cup. Also on the 6th NYC will host a Marathon. After my performance in Chicago I will probably sit this one out. Daylight Savings Time will also end that day at 2:00 a.m. Elections will be held on the 8th and Veterans Day will be on 11/11/11. Hell of a way to honor our veterans if you ask me. Auburn will visit UGA on the 12th. Hopefully we can get my buddy Todd down here for the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. On the 21st of the month we will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Rocky. It had a budget of a $1 Million. It grossed $225 Million. Safe to say that is a box office winner. On the 24th we will celebrate Thanksgiving by eating Turkey, taking naps and watching football.

December will begin on a Thursday and the first weekend gives us Championship Saturday. The ACC will be in Charlotte, Big 10 in Indy, SEC in Atlanta, Pac-10 at home field of team with the best conference record. Baseball's winter meetings will begin in Dallas on the 5th. On the 10th of the Month Army will play Navy at Fed Ex Field right outside Washington, DC in Landover, MD. That evening the Downtown Athletic Club will give AJ Green the 2011 Heisman trophy. That would be cool but very doubtful. On a side note baseball's CBA will expire on midnight the night of the 11th. Christmas falls on a Sunday this year so a majority of the NFL games will probably be played on Saturday the 24th. The real question becomes...will the New Years Bowl games be played on the 1st, or will that date be held for the NFL as New Years Day 2012 will be a Sunday? What if we have no NFL? Do we move games from 2nd to 1st if no NFL?

9. What I Read This Week

I have read tons of articles since I have last posted a Ten Things but I will TRY to keep it simple for the start of 2011. The first read come from the NY Times (where else?). The Gulf Coast Oil spill was one of the bigger news story in 2010 and the disaster all began with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. In this story David Bartstow, David Rohde, and Stephanie Saul examine the disaster with two distinct parts — first a blowout, then the destruction of the Horizon. On paper, experts and investigators agree, the Deepwater Horizon should have weathered this blowout. This is the story of how and why it didn’t.

The next set of stories come from the Captain who wanted to share these three Michael Wilbon articles. We all know Wilbon from PTI and his NBA work on ESPN. However, he was a very talented journalist for the Washington Post and here are the three stories he references in his final column. (It should be noted that WIlbon left the Washington Post in early December to work for the mothership (ESPN) full time). Wilbon's first column was in 1988 and he takes on Jimmy the Greek who at the time was just fired from CBS for racially sensitive comments. For those not familiar with Jimmy the Greek there was an ESPN 30 for 30 on him this summer. The second Wilpon read was written at the NBA finals in 2006 on the 20th anniversary on the death of Len Bias. I have always heard this story as a what could have been story and love Wilpon's point of view. The third read will be introduced by Wilbon himself; my favorite enterprise assignment, one I viewed skeptically in the beginning, was going with Dave Sheinin to Los Angeles during the riots in the aftermath of the Rodney King drama in 1992 to try to find out whether there was any correlation between the decrease in funding for community programs related to sports and recreation and the increase in gang-related activity in the city.

My favorite line in all this comes from former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson who would return calls to Wilpon at 2:00 and ask; "Do you want to sleep, or do you want a scoop?"

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. My December was about as AWESOME as one could get. Very productive work days followed by an 8 day roadtrip, some more productive work days, an Awesome Tacky Christmas Party in Sylvania, a trip to Nashville to see Garth Brooks and then out west to see my brother for Christmas. No wonder I have slept about 10-12 hours a night this past week.
b. Nothing big planned so far in 2011. I know I will be Athens this weekend for the UGA-Kentucky basketball game. I know I also have a trip to Nashville President's Day Weekend and a spring training trip in early March with my Dad. Do I make another spring training trip in late March with the boys or what about a spring training/opening round of the tournament trip to Tampa in mid March?
c. Congratulations need to go to reader and P.A.T. clique member TMAC for his engagement. The guy saved me many a bad snap about 12 years ago.
d. It looks like I have a couple of weddings to attend in April, nothing else on the docket as of now but that is always subject to change.
e. Speaking of my roadtrip this past December, I will post a trip recap sometime this week. Check back sometime around Thursday.
f. I got an Droid a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love it. It fits me so much more than a blackberry ever did.
g. I absolutely love the Pandora and RadioTime aps. Nothing like listening to the Colts on a drive to Nashville or while sitting in the Denver airport waiting on your flight home.
h. If you have not watched the 24/7 on the Penguins and Capitals leading up to the Winter Classic you are missing out on some classic television. There are some great behind the scene moments from team hotels, planes, and the locker room.
i. I love the fact that the Penguins have a gameday skate every home game at 1:00 where anyone in the front office can play in a pickup hockey game.
j. Not only do I have a droid but I know have an IPOD. If anyone has some suggestions for good podcasts, Itunes, etc please let me know.
k. I am going to need to borrow some CD's so I do not spend a couple of hundred bucks on Itunes in the first month.
l. Here is to a productive, healthy and most important AWESOME 2011.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2010-11-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

Here are the Ten Things for the week. These will be quick hitting thoughts. I did not have time to get in depth as I was busy this past weekend. Please pay close attention to Number 3 to see what in the sports world makes me Thankful. It seems every year around this time some hack will put together a list of what he/she is thankful for. I could get into a sappy list about how thankful I am for my family, friends and my two year old car Allie but no one would enjoy that sappiness. In that same vein I would appreciate if everyone were to send me an email with things in the Sports World that you are thankful. Do not forget your homework assignment and without further ado here is my list.

1. Georgia Bye

I am extremely excited for the match-up between UGA and Boise State that was announced last Friday. For starters UGA does not have to play a home and home with Louisville which is something they should have never signed up for to begin with. A trip to Louisville in 2012 is now replaced with a home game that UGA should easily win. The schedule will now read Buffalo at home, @ South Carolina, TBA at home, @ Alabama. Having the Tide as the third team in a three game road trip is not the way to begin Aaron Murray's junior season.

Furthermore, how smart is the new AD Greg McGarity? Not only is the Louisville series canceled but then there is this info. Boise State will be given 7,500 tickets and the rest of the allotted tickets, discounting those reserved for suite owners and local sales, will be given to Georgia. The number is yet to be determined, but Georgia could receive upwards of 50,000 tickets. Basically it turns into a UGA home game with the whole country watching. In addition, Louisville declined a request to mutually cancel the series, so the Chick-fil-A Bowl and ESPN agreed to pay a $600,000 series buyout to Louisville and helped arrange an alternative home-and-home series for the Cardinals against North Carolina.

Just a random thought if ESPN can make all of this happen, could they make a playoff happen if they truly wanted one?

Random Thought #2 This game will be played on the weekend of my birthday and you all are invited. Party In The ATL. Braves play at home against the Dodgers that weekend as well.

2. Colts-Pats Recap

Why are these games always so stressful to watch? Also who is James Sanders and why is he picking off Peyton Manning with less than a minute to play? Here is another crazy stat which helps prove the value of having just a decent rushing attack....Manning's 38 completions were his second most in a game, behind only the season-opening loss to Houston when he completed 40 passes. In the two games Manning has completed the most passes he has lost both of them. Not good, not good at all.

Since I interned with the Colts I am supposed to hate everything about the Pats but I am actually a huge Belichick fan and the win on Sunday lifted Bill Belichick into a tie for 11th place in coaching victories with 171, moving ahead of Hall of Famer Paul Brown and equaling Joe Gibbs. Those are unreal numbers.

3.Let's Give Thanks
Last year I gave my list of things that I am Thankful for in the sports world. I have copy and pasted last years list (#1-26) and I have updated a few more for this year.

JJ's Thankful List-It should be noted that this is not in any particular order
1. Sports Illustrated being delivered every Wednesday and their great cast of writers that include Tom Verducci, Jon Heyman, Seth Davis, Stewart Mandel, Joe Posnanski, Andy Staples and probably the best feature writer in the business S.L. Price.
2. I purposefully left off Peter King on the above because I am such a huge fan of his Monday Morning Quarterback and his concept of "Ten Things I Think I Think" are totally stolen by me.
3. Athens, Ga on a Saturday or any day that the football, basketball, baseball or any other team competes.
4. Wild Card Weekend, Divisional Weekend and Conference Championship Sunday in the NFL...does it get better than this?
5. USC Song Girls
6. Growing up in Georgia and listening to voices such as Larry Munson, Skip Caray, Ernie Johnson and Pete Van Wieren 'paint the picture' for my favorite teams.
7. NFL Sunday Ticket
8. The National Anthem before any contest and God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. On a side note I love attending games with teams from Canada and hearing O' Canada. I still think our National Anthem is better.
9. Introductions before NBA Games. Two memorable intros that stand out to me include the Bulls intro from when they had it rolling in the late 90's. The second one that stands out is from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Staples Center. Just as an fyi, the Lakers intro is the coolest one I have scene in person (they drop a circular curtain from the rafters).
10. Friday Night Fireworks at Turner Field.
11. A Saturday watching college football at the MGM Grand followed by a Sunday at the Las Vegas Hilton
12.The College World Series, one of the best sporting events to attend in person in my opinion.
13. The fact I can remember watching baseball games in the following stadiums...Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Turner Field, Tropicana Stadium, RFK Stadium, Nationals Ballpark, Camden Yards, Citizens Bank Ballpark, Old Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Citi Field, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Great American Ballpark, Safeco Field, and PNC Park. Just a side note I saw a football game inside Dolphins Stadium and I do not know if that counts as I am not sure if I will make it a point to get to Miami to watch a baseball game before the Marlins open their new stadium in April 2012 on the site of the former Orange Bowl. On a side note how did I not talk my grandparents into making the 166 mile drive from their house in Melbourne, Fl to what was then known as Joe Robbie Stadium? Update: During 2010 I went on an awesome Baseball Trip and I can now add New Yankee Stadium to that list.
14. Dave O'Brien's Braves Beat Blog on ajc.com, I especially enjoy his spring training stories the best.
15. The positive things ESPN has given sports-SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, HD Programming,
16. March Madness and Bracketology
17. MLB Network
18. Leaving work right at 500 and going to watch batting practice by myself or select friends that really enjoy watching both teams put in some serious work.
19.Gate giveaways
20. All the college football bowl games between Christmas and New Years Day.
21. The Olympics
22. Bob Costas interviewing anyone
23. Sunday Night football on NBC. From ~~Olbermann~~ and DP with highlights to Dungy and Harrison with commentary. Do not forget Peter King with news from around the league and the game broadcast with Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth.
24. College football fight songs. USC still is #1 in this category.
25. Vern Lundquist and Gary Danielson doing SEC football on CBS.
26. Bill Raftery screaming any of the following; Onions! With a kiss! Man to Man! Strong... to the goal! A little pirouette, and they said this was a beer town! There's a little lingerie on the deck! When you're sleepless in Seattle, why not get a little kiss? (Start at the :55 second mark). Update: I would love to write a book where I follow Raftery around on the road for one season. From what I am told, the last to leave the bar and the first at the treadmill the next morning.

27. My cousin Gus Johnson- See the above video and here is a best of Gus Johnson.
28. Twitter and the instant access to sports information from athletes, fans and the press. Nothing better than watching an event and reading the tweets that come in from every writer giving their two cents.
29. Keeneland and the first ever horse race that I attended.
30. I am also thankful for Hoho Tow and Stitches N Needles finishing 1-2 in the 3rd race on the 4th Saturday in the 10th month. That combo paid $53.60 on a $2 bet.
31. The Dan Patrick Show on the 101 Network and now regional Fox Sports channels throughout the country. Nothing better than taking a day off of work and watching a radio show on a couch.
32. NFL Network pregame show with Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk, Marucci, Warren Sapp and Michael Irvin. I am not a fan of Irvin the person but I absolutely love his passion for the game of football.

4. Braves Trade

What is there not to like about the Braves-Marlins trade from early last week?

Uggla's career line at Turner Field: .354/.399/.652 -- yes, that's his SLG, .652!
Uggla's 154 homers in past 5 seasons are second among NL right-handed hitters in that period, behind Albert Pujols.

Uggla has averaged 31 home runs, 100 runs scored and 93 RBIs per season over his five-year career. He has never been placed on the disabled list and has posted an average of 155 games played per season.

Last year Omar had .359 OBP Uggla had .369 OBP

5. Jacksonville Jaguars
Is anyone buying the first place Jags at this moment? There last two wins were miracles but as I like to say a win is a win is a win. They have now won three in a row and five of seven o stand at 6-4. With six games remaining they have to go on the road four times so the schedule maker plays them no favors down the stretch. Maybe it is a little early for Garrard to tweet...."Thanks peyton. U da man???" We can not forget that the Jags were 6-4 at the point last season to only finish 1-5.

I have to mention that former Statesboro High Blue Devil Jeremy Mincey had 2 of the Jags 6 sacks. I have heard some decent stories from Warren, Boots and Brice over the years about him. Did not know he was in the league.

6. Halftime
We will stick with the Live theme for this week's song that Smoak and myself used to rockout to while crusing the mean streets of Sylvania. Last week was Dolphins Cry, this week will be Lightning Crashes. The greatest kicker in Screven County history knew that Chipper Jones was the last Braves to hit a homerun in the World Series. It was against El Duque in 1999. Well done Donald, well done. Since it is Turkey Week we will ask a somewhat Turkey related question. What city hosts the oldest Thanksgiving parade? It is not New York.

7. College Power 5
1. Auburn-Can their secondary stop Julio Jones? Also, first major test on road as LSU, Clemson, UGA, South Carolina and Arkansas were at home this year. They did win at Miss St.
2. Oregon- In 1st 10 seasons of BCS, No. 1 team in this point of season made title game, last 2 have not (Ala in 08 & Fla in 09)
3. Boise St- They have won 10 games but only once did the opponent have a defense ranked in the top third (Top 40) in the nation in scoring D
4. TCU- Horned Frog defense has dominated three strong offenses Baylor (33 ppg), Air Force (32 ppg) and Utah (37 ppg) holding to 10, 7 and 7 points
5. LSU- Did anyone really think they would not win in a crazy game?

8. NFL Power 5
1. New England-Brady still needs a haircut. Hoody might be the best coach of all time.
2. Green Bay-How intriguing is this matchup Sunday? Packers at Falcons. On talk radio in Atlanta one host said the theme at the dome on Sunday would be "Cut the cheese" What does that mean?
3. Philly-Need to do more research but it seems like Mike Vick wins a lot of football games as a starter.
4. Atlanta-Despite best record in NFC they need to keep winning to make playoffs as the Saints and Bucs are right on their heels.
5.Baltimore- Who would have thought the matchup between Tampa and Baltimore would be intriguing at this point of the season.

9. An awesome concert

On Saturday night I had the opportunity to attend one of the better concerts I have ever attended in Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean. It was a star studded event as I went with an A-list crew from work. Furthermore, half of the Braves roster past and present was there as Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Tim Hudson, David Ross, Andruw Jones, Buddy Carlyle, Jeff Francoeur and Kelly Johnson took an awesome show. Furthermore Bobby Cox (who was rocking a sick argyle sweater) and his wife Pam sat in the front row, right next to Fredi Gonzalez. About halfway through the show they gave a Bobby Cox tribute as the place went bonkers as everyone started doing the Tomahawk chop. Very cool scene.

The song of the Night has to be Luke Bryan's new song You Don't Know Jack. The greatest kicker in Screven County history has promised to learn this song for the next time we get together and he plays the guitar. Whenever that happens next it will be a legendary time.

The first time I had ever heard of Luke Bryan I was living in NYC and my buddy Smoak emailed me and told me to look up some guy from Leesburg, Ga who went to Georgia Southern but always played in Milledgeville. So I do some research on him and this was before Youtube is what it is today and the first song I find is We Rode In Trucks. Needless to say I was hooked right away. Is it time for Smoak to become big time music exec?

I should also point out that Smoak has also told me about this awesome Jason Aldean song that has not been put on an album but has only been performed at concerts. I would have loved to hear this song played Saturday night but I did not. The song would be Cowboy Lady.

10.

Quote Of The Week
Comes from last week's Modern Family after Mitchell danced in the flash mob.

"You cheated on me with choreography and that is the worst kind"

If you are not watching Modern Family use the comment section to explain why.

Text Of The Week
Multiple great texts from me to an A-list crew that was not at the concert. We will go with this one.

Kelly Johnson just walked by and I told him I loved his swing as we fist bumped....why am I so awesome?

Fair question.

Tweet of The Week
This weeks tweet comes from @salliebear who is the girlfriend of one fine American, co-worker and Vanderbilt Commodore @wallybuckets. This comes in response to another fine American and co-worker @ChiGuyinAtl tweet after @walleybuckets Commodores beat @salliebears UNC Tar Heels in hoops Sunday......what did I just say?

@ChiGuyinAtl....Must have been interesting today. @wallybuckets 1, @salliebear 0 for 2010-11.

And here is @salliebear response which is the tweet of the week

@salliebear.......@wallybuckets 3, @salliebear 748 in life

Photo Of The Week

How about this group of A-listers. Only problem no TMAC, no Goat and my brother is not there. Thanks to Heather Smoak's facebook for the photo. We got to lock up that lookaway.....just saying. Also notice how everyone is wearing a polo shirt. Yes it was discussed that week in an email.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2010-11-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

1. Georgia Thoughts

Not really sure what to say about this game. I do know I have to stop thinking that UGA is going to win every game I attend. (That last sentence may say all there is to say about where UGA is at as a program). On Tuesday in his weekly presser Mark Richt said they had Cam Newton targeted as a tight end. I know we had Stafford at the time but that sentence may say all there is to say where UGA is at as a program. I do know Aaron Murray might be my favorite UGA football player by the time everything is said in done with his career in Athens. The kid was getting beat senseless, but kept fighting at every turn. Saturday might have been his best game of the year all things considered. If we had a legit running game to really sell the play action fakes, he'd be a lock for SEC and national freshman of the year. Having him makes me worry less about no AJ Green next season. Who am I kidding that is going to be scary. By the way AJ Green is best receiver in school history and probably will be best receiver we have ever had and we have lost 11 games this past two seasons...explain that to me.

We have to beat Tech in two weeks or things may really get ugly. We need to keep the bowl streak alive and the extra 15 days of practice can only help. The schedule in 2011 breaks real well for the Dawgs with 7 home games and no Bama, LSU or Arkansas on the schedule. (why am I keeping the faith?)

2. College Hoops Nuggets

a. I went to the UGA home opener in hoops on Friday night and while it might shave seem liked the Dawgs were playing lathargic through the first 36 minutes, a win is a win is a win.
b. UGA was missing it's best player in Trey Thompkins but the addition of transfer Gerald Robinson, Jr. made missing Thompkins not as big of an issue. Robinson finished with 19 points on 8 of 14 shooting from the field, and he was really Georgia’s most reliable offensive option throughout the game. Robinson looks strong with the ball, and he gives Georgia a viable “dribble-drive” scoring threat from the guard position.
c. I feel safe saying that no other team will come into Stegman Coliseum and make 10 3 point shots. Overall MVSU was 10 of 17 from 3 point range. Just as an FYI the Delta Devils were 9 of 12 at one point Friday night.
d. Is it me or does the Dukies look clearly like the best team in College hoops?
e. There are a couple of intriguing college hoop games tomorrow night. One is in Athens where an improved Colorado comes to town to take on the Dawgs. The second is in Gainesville, Fl where Ohio State will play the Gators. Not often you get matchups like this in game 2.
f. How about my parents alma mater the Stetson Hatters beating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons by 10 in both teams season openers. It could by a long season in Winston-Salem.
g. One story me and ESPN's Andy Katz will keep an eye on this season is Northwestern and their bid to make their first ever NCAA tournament. They got their season off right by scoring 97 points over NIU.
h. Is the Big 10 the best conference for college hoops? You have some really good teams with Michigan St, Ohio St, Illinois, Purdue and Wisconsin. This does not include Northwestern who can make their first NCAA tournament and a young Indiana team.
i.I know the ACC has Duke but the depth is not as good as the Big Ten's. The Big East has Syracuse, G'Town, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Louisville so we can make a better argument for the Big East than the ACC.
j. One more story I will keep an eye on this season is Steve Lavin's return to coaching at St. John's. Very interested to see if he can get the players to compete in the extremly tough Big East.

3. College Football Notes
a. I have to congratulate the South Carolina Gamecocks on winning in the swamp and advancing to the SEC Championship game for the first time in school history. With S. Carolina advancing to their first SEC Championship game the only SEC schools to never make it to Atlanta include Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.
b.I am glad it took Tennessee almost the end of the season to find a quarterback in Tyler Bray. In his second game on Saturday he led his Vols to their first SEC win this season. The true freshman became the first player in Tennessee history to throw five touchdowns in a half last week against Memphis. In throwing for 323 yards against the Rebels, Bray became the first quarterback in Tennessee history to throw for 300 yards in his first two career starts.
c. Tennessee has had a lot of great QB's so for Bray to be the first at anything is pretty special.
d. With the performance of Bray the Vols now have a great shot at a Bowl something I did not think he was possible a couple of weeks ago. All they need to do now is beat Vandy and Kentucky. The series stands at 71-27-5 in Tennessee's favor against Vandy, this is pretty remarkable as the series started 17-2-2 in Vandy's favor.
e. What was I thinking that the Florda offense was back after great performances against UGA and Vandy? Florida was able to manage just 67 yards of total offense through three quarters against South Carolina. Way to many athletes on the field for that to happen. It seems like a lot of bad karma in the Swamp for the Gators as their worst showings this season have been at home.
f. I also must give some love to the Wildcats of Kentucky for coming bowl eligible for the 5th straight season. Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU were the only other teams in the league coming into this season that had gone to four straight bowl games.

g. How bad do my Dawgs need to win at home against Tech to keep that streak alive?
h. Oregon won by 2, their smallest margin of victory this season. Their smallest margin of victory before tonight was 11 (vs Arizona State and Washington State). They have never trailed in any 4th quarter this season. Their smallest 4th quarter lead before tonight was 11. The Ducks have outscored opponents 87-7 in the 4th.
i. The question becomes....did Cal give us a blueprint in stopping the Oregon offense?
j. The Badgers rolled up 83 points, the most Wisconsin has scored in a Big Ten game and tied for the third-most points scored in a Big Ten game. It was the most points scored by any team in a Big Ten game since Ohio State scored 83 against Iowa in 1950.
k. You literally have to score every possession to get to 83 and the Badgers did that on Saturday. Real impressive.
l. How has Northwestern beaten Iowa 5 out of the last 6 games? Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has a losing record against only two Big Ten teams -- Northwestern and Ohio State. The Buckeyes and the sweater vest come to Iowa next Saturday.
m. Before Saturday, Iowa had only 5 4th-down conversion attempts all season. Only two teams in FBS had fewer - Florida State and South Carolina.
n.What has happened to Utah? Utah, which won the first eight games of the season, has lost two straight and been outscored 75-10. It's the first time since September 1990 the Utes have been held under 10 points in consecutive games.
o. You also have to give credit to the men of Troy for their win over Arizona. The Trojans beat the Wildcats for the eighth time in the last nine meetings between the two schools. It was their fifth straight victory in Tucson.
p. The preseason #3 and #4 teams are a combined 10-10 this season. The preseason #3 and #4 teams were Texas and Florida. The Longhorns have to beat both Florida Atlantic and Texas A&M to get bowl eligible.
q. How does this Texas team beat Nebraska?
r. Also does anyone realize Oklahoma State is 9-1? I didn't. So much for replacing their QB and best WR from last year.

4. NFL Football Notes
a. A lot of great early games this week. We will start with the Jets-Browns classic that ended when Santonio Holmes scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez with 16 seconds left. This is the latest Road overtime TD in NFL history, and the 3rd latest ever. Just unreal.
b. The Jets Mark Sanchez is just the fifth QB since 1991 to throw both an interception and TD in overtime and the first since Byron Leftwich in 2005. Prior to that, it hadn't happened since Danny Kanell did it in 1997.
c. Because brothers Rex and Rob Ryan were a story of the week I need to share with you these stats...Rob Ryan fell to 0-3 in NFL matchups and 3-5 overall coaching against his brother
d. I also watched a good bit of the Colts-Bengals game and I know the Colts won the game but they need to get some guys healthy sooner than later. Despite that the Colts have won seven straight games over the Bengals. Even more impressive was the fact Peyton Manning was held without a passing touchdown for the second time this year.
e. Why couldn't I play Manning in fantasy this week?
f. The third early game that got a lot of my attention on Sunday was the Texans-Jags. I watched this game because I had fantasy players on each team and I ended up watching a great game which I should have expected all along since my cousin the great Gus Johnson was announcing for CBS.
g. If you are not familiar with the end of the Texans-Jags game click here to watch it one amazing finish.

h. How improbable was Mike Thomas's day for the Jags on Sunday? His 149 receiving yards topped his previous best in a game by 60 (89 yards against the Broncos in the opening week of the season). Mike Thomas had just two career touchdowns in 22 games coming into Sunday. Thomas' 50-yard TD catch on the final play marked the fourth time in NFL history that a regular season game ended on a game-winning TD pass of 50 or more yards with no time remaining.

i. The Jaguars have two wins on the final play this season. They beat Indianapolis 31-28 last month on Scobee's career-long 59-yard field goal.

j. The Chiefs were down 21-0 to the Broncos at the end of the first quarter. That is just the third time in franchise history they have been shutout in the first quarter while allowing 21 points or more, and the first time since Week 11 of the 1986 season, also against the Broncos.

k. A lot of things happened in the Detroit-Buffalo game and we should mention them here. With their loss the Lions broke their own record and now have lost an NFL-record 25 straight road games.When they lost 24 in a row between 2001 and 2003 they were outscored by an average of 7.1 points per game. In their current 25 game losing streak they have been outscored by an average of 14.8 games.
m. The Bills' Ryan Fitzpatrick now has thrown a touchdown pass in 10 consecutive games -- the longest streak by a Bills QB since Drew Bledsoe's 10-game streak to start the 2002 season.
n. I am only mentioning this because Dave Rayner was a kicker with the Colts when I interned their one summer and he was a nice guy despite having to deal with Vanderjagt and his antics. Rayner's field goal was the first attempted and made by a Lions player other than Jason Hanson in 19 seasons. The Lions had signed Rayner this week after Hanson sprained his knee last week.
o. Due to injuries to their quarterbacks, the Dolphins employed the Wildcat seven times on Sunday, averaging seven yards per play. Miami had run just 20 Wildcat plays in its first eight games. Ronnie Brown has a rushing touchdown in consecutive games for the 1st time in over a year. With his score today, he took over sole possession of 3rd place in Dolphins history.
p. Randy Moss has faced the Dolphins twice this year -- once with the Patriots and on Sunday with the Titans. Each game, he struggled to produce.
q. According to Elias Sports Bureau, since the start of 2000, coaches that take over in midseason are 3-13 in their first game. Gary Moeller (2000 Detroit Lions) and Jim Haslett (2008 St. Louis Rams) were the last to achieve this.
r. Pretty interesting game tonight in our Nation's capital. This is one of the more interesting stats you will see leading up to the game tonight... Michael Vick has not had an interception since Christmas Eve... of 2006. I spent Christmas Eve 2006 flying from Orlando to Denver as my brother was moving out to Colorado. By the way that seems forever ago.
s. Last nights matchup between Brady and Big Ben was the first match-up with multiple Super Bowl winners against each other since Joe Montana versus Jim Plunkett.
t. A few nuggets for those that enjoy football with more than a rooting interest. The Pats were 5th dog to win outright on Sunday as dogs went 7-5 ATS...overs 9-3.
u. Double-digit dogs are 9-4 ATS this year but only 2 won outright (Browns v Saints) and Cowboys at Giants yesterday.

5. MLB Thoughts
a. I absolutely love Jayson Stark's three strikes column for ESPN insider's. For those that do not get the insider here are some intriguing stats.
b. This season nobody in baseball got more hits than Ichiro (214). But amazingly, 84 players in baseball scored more runs than Ichiro (74).
c. Not only did Suzuki score the fewest runs in history by a player who got as many hits as he did, only two other players have even made it to within 10 runs of him:
Kirby Puckett, 1989 -- 75 runs, 215 hits
Beau Bell, 1937 -- 82 runs, 218 hits
d.Who in the heck is Beau Bell? He was an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns (1935–39), Detroit Tigers (1939) and Cleveland Indians (1940–41). He was named to the 1937 American League All-Star Team.
e. Steve Garvey as the all-time king of the Runs Not Scored crowd. He had six 200-hit seasons -- and didn't score 100 runs in any of them. No one else has even had three 200-hit seasons like that. So Suzuki has a long ways to go before he can fairly be compared with King Garv.
f. Does anyone realize Bruce Chen led the Royals in wins this season? I did not. I just assumed it was Greinke.
g. In 2010, we had four different players march to the plate more than 400 times without hitting a ball that left the park. The four players:
Elvis Andrus 674 PA, 0 HR
Nyjer Morgan 577 PA, 0 HR
Jason Kendall 490 PA, 0 HR
Jamey Carroll 414 PA, 0 HR
h. That's as many zero-homer seasons (among the 400-PA crowd) in one season as we had seen in the previous four seasons combined.
i. This was the first time since (ready?) 1992 that there were this many members of the No-HR Association in one year. Back in '92, six players did it (Luis Polonia, Ozzie Smith, Omar Vizquel, Jose Lind, Willie Wilson and Doug Dascenzo).
j. I am also a huge fan of the Baseball Notes column written by Nick Cafardo in the Boston Globe every Sunday. Here is a link to this week's read.
k.Some notes include, after four seasons in a row hitting exactly 40 homers, Adam Dunn has hit 38 each of the last two seasons
l. Camden Yards is undergoing its first renovations overseen by Janet Marie Smith, who not only built that park but renovated Fenway Park.
m.How weird would it be if Edgar Renteria does not resign by the Giants. That means the World Series MVP in back to back years would not be resigned by the reigning World Series champs.
n. Has that ever happened before?

Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself use to rock out to while cruising the mean streets of Sylvania is Dolphins Cry by Live. Last week's trivia was 8 pitchers that have won 3 or more Cy Young Awards and I asked you all to name 5 of them. The greatest kicker in Screven County history Donald Sheppard knew that Roger Clemens (7), Randy Johnson (5), Steve Carlton (4), Greg Maddux (4), Sandy Koufax (3), Pedro Matinez (3), Jim Palmer (3) and Tom Seaver (3) were the correct answers. We are all proud of him. This week's trivia: name the last Brave to hit a home run in the World Series. Bonus points for year and the pitcher he hit it against.

6. Pretty Good Sports Week/Falcons Recap
I had a pretty good sports week this past week. It all started with the Bucks-Hawks game on Wednesday night. Thursday night I went to the Falcons-Ravens game in which was probably the best Falcons game I have ever attended inside the Georgia Dome. This does include the crazy Bears-Falcons game I went to a couple of years ago. On Friday I drove over to Athens for the Dawgs season opener in Men's hoops. The remodeled Stegman Coliseum is real nice and gives the building a modern feel. In fact the restrooms were the cleanest I have ever witnessed for a sporting event. With Tojo responsible for their upkeep I doubt we can say that next month. On Saturday I drove over to the Barn which was a great day with awesome weather and an unreal atmosphere inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Here are a couple of thoughts from the Falcons game. By far it was the loudest I have ever heard the Georgia Dome and this includes SEC Championship games, high school playoffs, and college basketball events. A lot of callers on talk radio here in Atlanta knock Matt Ryan and for the life of me I do not understand it one bit. On Thursday, Matt Ryan set a record for the most completions without an interception against the Ravens' defense.His 32 completions in 50 attempts were the only way they were going to win as they could do nothing on the ground Thursday night.

It was also cool to see Deion Sanders inducted into the teams ring of honor during halftime of the game. I remember as a kid it seemed like Deion would return a kickoff or punt or interception for a touchdown every game. Of course he did not do that every game but it sure seemed like he did. It was also funny that the Falcons starting playing music near the end of Deion's speech. Very similar to the Oscar's where they turn on the music as to say shut up your time is over.

7. College Power 5

1. Auburn-I do not think anyone can stop Cam Newton (except Cecil Newton's mouth). The guy is unreal. I have seen Tebow play and Newton can do everything Tebow can do except better.
2. Oregon-Bye week then home game against Arizona the Friday after Thanksgiving and at Oregon St on 12/4
3. TCU-The Horned Frogs won but bad weekend for them nonetheless. They looked unimpressive and Utah losses 28-3 to Notre Dame
4. Boise St- Very tough to above average games left for Boise against Fresno and Nevada.
5. LSU-They should not be allowed to lay for National Championship since they did not win the conference. That's what they said about UGA in 2007.

8. NFL Power 5
-No really great football team right now or atleast not one to rank #1. I will give you the top 5 teams in no order because you can not give an order. So here are 5 #3's.
3. Atlanta Falcons-As of right now looks like the best team in the NFC. However, that changes weekly.
3. New England Patriots-I loved the fiery Tom Brady we saw last night. We used to see that guy 6-8 years ago.
3. New York Jets-Something to be said about winning back to back road games in overtime
3. Pittsburgh Steelers-Can't knock them for losing to the Pats who never lose two in a row
3. Green Bay Packers- Hopefully they used the bye to start getting healthy.

9. What I Read Last Week

A couple of great articles this week. The first comes from the New Times Magazine and it reads like a screenplay to a great movie. Titled The Great Cyberheist James Verini's article looks at the life and times and crimes of one Albert Gonzalez. Gonzalez looted and laundered millions of dollars from stolen credit card data. Oh, and p.s., he was also a paid Secret Service informant.

The second read comes from Chris Jones and Esquire magazine. Earlier this year I linked a story on how a former weatherman was able to crack The Price is Right. Now we look at The Wheel Of Fortune and how one person was able to guess a puzzle despite only knowing only knowing one letter. Both links are fascinating reads especially if you are a game show fan like myself.

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. Despite the fact I have not seen the show in a couple weeks but I am a huge fan of Undercover Boss. It is fascinating to see CEO's who are out of their comfort zone and how they respond to being out of their comfort zone. It is always great to see when these guys screw up because it shows a human side of the boss.
b. The Office has been surprisingly very good this season. I absolutely loved last week's episode when they went to Gabe's house. While I did not get all the Glee references it was still funny as everyone was involved.
c. How funny was Kevin when he got in bed to eat Pigs in a blanket because he always wanted to eat pigs in a blanket in a blanket.
d. Speaking of The Office the Nard Dawg has to love this news about his Cornell Big Red being ranked #1 in preseason wrestling.
e.Is it bad when I think my mom can do a better job answering this sports question than those on Jeopardy? I am pretty sure my grandma could get it right.
f. I did get to watch some of the CMA's on Wednesday night. I think it is safe to say that my new crush Miranda Lambert was the Belle of the Ball.
g. I also think that in the next 10 years there are going to be some great battles for group of the year between Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum and Sugarland.
h. Sources in the Big Apple tell me one Tony Romo was out with Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford in Union Square on Saturday night. Something tells me that crew had no problem creating conversation with the ladies. As we learned in Big Daddy creating conversation is half the battle.

Quote of The Week
From Brad Paisley during the CMA's Wednesday night...."After the nite Miranda and Blake are having I
bet we can expect a baby in 9 months" What does that even mean?

Text of The Week

Text Convo between my Dad and me
Him to me....
Tough game! should have kicked out #90 for Auburn

Me to him
I left and missed the fisticuffs...on way back to the ATL...losing to Auburn is like losing to the Cowboys, best team money can buy.

Him to me
Spoken very well, I think Auburn's coach is an a$$

Tweet of The Week
From Paul Pierce after his Celtics beat the heat in Miami
It's been a pleasure to bring my talents to south beach now on to Memphis

Photo of The Week
Credit to co-worker Teddy Graham for sending this to me. This company might need to hire a consultant to tell them how bad their name is.

Photo Of the Week II
Wrigley field in anticipation of Saturday's Illinois-Northwestern game...not much room in that end zone if you ask me.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2010-11-08T08:59:00.000-05:00

1. Georgia Thoughts

Nice efficient win for the Dawgs on a chilly Saturday afternoon in the Classic City. I know somewill say it is FCS Idaho State but I say who cares. The Dawgs did what they were supposed to do and for someone who watched his game in Sanford Stadium, I have seen the Dawgs struggle with similar opponents. In 2000 we only beat Georgia Southern 29-7, it was only 29-10 against MTSU in 2003 and UAB played us to a 16-13 score in 2003. In 2004 with David Greene and David Pollock seniors we only beat Marshall 13-3. In 2007 when we finished #2 in the country we beat Troy 44-34. By the way UGA is now 47-11 in the 58 games I have attended between the hedges. Just as an FYI, the Dawgs started out 32-4 in the first 36 games I saw in person. Furthermore, the last time UGA played a team from The Gem State, it won 48-13. (Boise State in 2005).

Georgia has now scored more than 30 points in five straight games for the first time in school history. (Let's all blame Bobo...sarcasm) The 48-point margin of victory matches the biggest for Georgia during Mark Richt's 10 years as head coach. Earlier this season, Georgia also beat Louisiana 55-7. The 35 points scored in the second quarter was the most since 1988 against William & Mary when they also scored 35 in the 2nd quarter. Georgia would beat Mary & Bill that afternoon 59-24. The Bulldogs' 41 points in the first half was the most since 49 against Northeast Louisiana in 1994 in a single half. The Dawgs would go onto route the Indians that year 70-6.

I think I would be amiss if I did not bring up this stat; the Bulldogs have 12 INTs through 10 games in 2010 after recording 10 during the 2009 season. Georgia has forced 18 turnovers and converted them into 66 points while its opponents have scored 21 points off 12 Bulldog miscues on the year. Besides the debacle last weekend in J'ville we have been way ahead in this category this season. It has to start influencing the scoreboard at the end of games before long.

Come back later in the week as I will try to breakdown the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. (I am thinking sometime Thursday or Friday).

2. College Football Thoughts

a. We left the UGA game early to get home for the LSU-Bama game and man I was glad I did. Holy Cow what a football game. We all pick on Les Miles but that guy does things no one else does and you have to respect the results. Then there is this stat, LSU improved to 15-1 after a defeat under Les Miles.
b. Maybe their is some genius with the hat.
c. How good has Alabama been the best few years. Saturday, Alabama lost an SEC West game for the first time since 2007, ending a streak of 12 straight wins.That's unreal.
d. How crazy would this be? Auburn loses to UGA & Bama, Bama beats Miss St & Auburn, LSU beats Ole Miss and loses to Arkansas and Arkansas beats both Miss St and LSU. While that is not to crazy, if that happens we would have a four way tie in the SEC West.
e. No idea how that tie breaker would work or how to explain it.
f. Here is some more craziness from the SEC, the East has still only won twice all season over the West, and one of those wins belongs to Vanderbilt. The Commodores won at Ole Miss.
g. I was also hoping to watch TCU-Utah but that was beat-down I was not expecting to watch. How good is that TCU defense? Utah is shut out in the 1st half for the 1st time since 2007 vs BYU. At halftime, the Horned Frogs had outgained Utah 328-72 en route to a 23-0 lead.
h. I hate playing this game but we can get a better gauge of TCU next week when Utah plays at Notre Dame.
i. There are only two teams with winning records in the bottom 20 in turnover margin: Michigan at 108 and his old school, West Virginia, which is ranked 101st.
j. Congrats to Coach Paterno on his 400th career victory. 28 of his players are currently in NFL & four former players are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
k. Only in the ACC can Clemson win despite fumbling five times, losing two of them, throwing an interception, having a touchdown called back on a holding penalty, and missing two short field goals. Only in the ACC is there a winner in a game with seven turnovers, six interceptions and no touchdown passes (congrats, BC).
l. Only in the ACC can Miami win despite 10 penalties for 100 yards, two interceptions and two missed extra-point attempts. Only in the ACC can Duke win despite allowing Virginia 643 total yards.
m. Speaking of the ACC, good luck to try and break down the Atlantic Division and have your report make sense but I will give it a try.
n. FSU, Maryland and NC State all have two conference losses. The Noles finish up at home against Clemson and at Maryland. Maryland finishes at Virginia then home games against FSU and NC State. NC State is home against Wake then plays at UNC and at Maryland.
o. Do not sleep on the Clemson Tigers, who finish up at FSU and at Wake Forest.
p. What is going on with Texas? That team has recruited to me top 5 classes to struggle the way they have this season. Right now they sit at 4-5 with games against Oklahoma State, Florida Atlantic and Texas A&M. Right now you have to think they could only beat FAU.
q. I can not tell you how bad I wished we played Auburn early in the season and South Carolina near the end. With their loss Saturday night the Gamecocks are 3-8 in November since 2007. They looked disinterested Saturday night.

r. Here are a couple of early spreads for your interest. FSU -8.5 vs Clemson. Bama -14 versus Miss St. Utah -5 versus Notre Dame. Georgia +9 versus Auburn. Florida -6 versus South Carolina.

3. NFL Thoughts
a. With Matt Ryan as their QB the Falcons have won 13 in a row and are 17-1 overall. That is unreal. Maybe I should have gotten some Falcons season tickets this year.

b. The Falcons used their big men well on Sunday, averaging 6.6 yards per play with two-or-more tight ends on the field, 2.3 yards per play more than when they used one or fewer tight ends. They also scored all three of their touchdowns with two or more tight ends in the game.

c. Unreal stat from Sunday Night Football. No QB has been better than 12-4 record in their last 16 games.
d. I watched the highlights of the Jets-Lions game and still have no idea how the Jets won that ballgame. Sunday marked the 3rd time in Jets HISTORY that they tied a game with 0:00 left in regulation and then won it in overtime. The other two times that happened was against the Dolphins.
e. Even though he missed the PAT, I think the fact that Suh was able to even try the PAT was awesome. The last Lions player that played a position other than kicker or punter and attempted an extra point was Jim O'Brien on 11/18/1973 at Chicago.The last non-kicker/punter in the NFL to do this was Doug Flutie for New England in week 17 of the 2005 season.
f. The G-Men are looking more and more like the best team in the NFC. Maybe they need to get Tiki Barber (who is a joke) to say more bad things about them. Here is what the Giants accomplished on Sunday. They won in Green Bay for the first time since October 18, 1981 (I was 6 weeks old).
g. The Giants have now scored 40 or more points in consecutive road games for the first time since 1966.Furthermore, the 35 scored in the first half is the most since they scored 35 in the first half in December in 1985.
h.Charlie Whitehurst made his first NFL start Sunday for the Seahawks. Whitehurst from Clemson, has been in the NFL since getting drafted in 2006, but has yet to throw a pass in a regular-season game. Since 2006, 81 non-QBs have thrown at least one pass in the NFL. The most attempts by a non-QB since 2006 is 11 by Josh Cribbs and Ronnie Brown.
i. Not much went right for the Pats on Sunday but Tom Brady now has 238 career TD passes. This surpassed Jim Kelly for 17th in NFL history
j. On Sunday Brett Favre had career-high 446 pass yards. This is his first 400 yard passing game since 12/5/93. The span of 16 years, 337 days between 400 yard games is longest ever. So much for him being finished. I still do not trust him in a big spot.
k. Michael Vick today joined Randall Cunningham & Steve Young as only QBs ever w/ 4,200 career rushing yards.
l. I do not like the guy but Jeremy Shockey on Sunday became 8th tight end in NFL history to reach 500 receptions. Very interested on the Hall of Fame debate when his career is over. I say no but you could make an argument.
m. I watched a lot of the Oakland-KC game on Sunday on the small tv while the Colts-Eagles game was on the big screen. The story of the Raiders turnaround this season has been fascinating. On Sunday they won despite turning the ball over 3 times and committing 13 turnovers. That does not happen.
n. Oakland's Jacoby Ford had 148 receiving yards, 158 Kickoff return yards Ford is only the 2nd player in NFL history to have at least 140 receiving yards and 150 kickoff return yards in the same game. The other was Gary Ballman, who did it on Nov. 17, 1963.
o. Back to the Colts game in which was one of the more entertaining games of the year. It seemed like every call when against the Eagles and the Colts could still not capitalize. A lackadaisical 3rd quarter for the Colts cost them big time especially when they had all the momentum.
p. Since 2000, the Eagles are 36-9 when scoring a TD on their opening drive.
q. For those that care about that sort of thing in early games yesterday underdogs went 4-3-1 ATS. Surprisingly, the Browns were the only of those four to win outright.
r. For those that like the over/under...overs went 9-3 on Sunday and NYJ-DET and KC-OAK needed OT to make it over.

4. MLB Thoughts
a. We all know the story of the postseason is the San Fran Giants but we have to discuss how good their pitching was this postseason. The Rangers hit .190 against them. The Braves hit .175 against them. The Phillies hit .216 against them.
b. If the Braves could have got one more hit per game that average would have been .204 and maybe I would be giving you stats on Braves pitching not Giants pitching.
c. Back to the Giants, the Giants' combined opponents batting average this postseason: .196. Since the wild-card era began in 1995, only one staff that had to play all three rounds has beaten that, and that was the Randy Johnson/Curt Schilling 2001 Diamondbacks at .193.
d. Seven times in 15 postseason starts, the Giants' starter gave up no more than one earned run and all four starters did that at least once. Only two World Series winners in history ever got that many starts that good by four different pitchers -- the '99 Yankees (7, by Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Orlando Hernandez and David Cone) and '98 Yankees (7, by the same foursome).
e. Last team to win a World Series without starting a single pitcher 28 or older: the 1973 Oakland A's of Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter and Ken Holtzman.
f. Cody Ross hit eighth for the Giants in their first game of the postseason nd hit fourth in their last game of the postseason. He was just the third player in history to start in both the No. 4 hole and the No. 8 hole in the same postseason, according to Elias. The others: Frank White for the 1985 Royals, and Eric Chavez for the 2000 A's.
g. The Giants spent only 36 days all season in first place. According to Elias, if you don't count wild-card teams, that's the fewest days spent in first place by any team that won the World Series in a quarter-century since the 1985 Royals won after a season in which they were in first for only 30 days.
h. According to Elias, Cliff Lee is the first pitcher in history to win at least three postseason games for two different teams that traded for him in midseason. The only other pitcher who ever won three games in any postseason after being acquired in midseason was Jeff Weaver, for the 2006 Cardinals.
i. By the way both Weaver and Lee have something in common: they were traded by the Rangers mid-season.
j. Enough World Series talk. Let's discuss the hot stove.
k. By the way, I watched a lot of the Arizona Fall League All-Star game on Saturday night. Does this make me a loser?
l. For the regular season only here are Roy Halladay's pitch totals the last 3 years: 3568 (10th in MLB), 3394 (17th), and 3559 (6th). We must also add the 317 pitches he threw in the playoffs. Total everything up and one gets close to 275 innings. If he were a Brave I would be worried.
m. From 2005-07, the Nationals won 3 more games than the Giants. Study their drafts and read this article and you might be able to see why the Giants fortunes were able to change.
n. This article does a pretty good job breaking down the differences for Cliff Lee and the tax implications if Lee were to sign in New York compared to Texas.
o. If the Yankees offer Lee a five-year, $120 million contract and he establishes residency in New York State (not the City), the Rangers could offer him $111.5 million if he takes up residency in Texas and it will be the same deal.
p. If Lee were to live in New York City versus somewhere in Texas, the Rangers could offer a five-year, $107.2 million deal against the Yanks' $120 million and it would work out to the same net dollars for Lee
q. Those are unreal differences in cash just by deciding where to lay your head.
r. Here is the MLB Award schedule: Rookie Of The Year, 11/15; NL Cy Young 11/16; Manager Of Year 11/17; AL Cy Young 11/18; NL MVP 11/22; AL MVP 11/23.
s. On Saturday Buster Olney reported that at the World Series Pedro "Big Panda" Sandoval started his day with a breakfast of Cheetos and Mountain Dew. Even I usually begin my day with some Oatmeal. Not good Panda, not good at all.

5. An Awesome Trip
If you know me at all you know I appreciate a good road trip coupled around great food, great cities and great sports. This December co-worker Nabil and myself are using some time off to accomplish such a grand adventure. The trip begins Saturday morning December 4th with a Delta flight from Atlanta to Philly. A car will be rented in Philly and driven to Syracuse, NY for that evenings Syracuse-NC State basketball game. After the game some Dinosaur BBQ will be feasted on. The next day brings us a trip to Cooperstown and Baseball's Hall of Fame. I have been once to the Hall of Fame and spent about an hour and half in the museum instead of the 5 hours that should be spent. As of now no idea where we lay our head on Sunday night. (Don't worry Mom).

Monday involves a trip into the city so nice they named it twice. Monday afternoon brings us tickets to see a taping of Jimmy Fallon. Tuesday will involve a trip to Astoria for some Derek Jeter's (the sandwich) and the Jimmy V Classic that night at the World's Most Famous Arena. We will help raise money for a great cause by attending a legit night of hoops. (Just a side note, if you have about 5 minutes and want to hear one of my favorite speeches ever...click here). The two games we will see at the Garden include Memphis-Kansas and Michigan State-Syracuse.

Wednesday involves a trip to Bean town. More than likely lunch will be one of two places; 1. The Seven Sea's in Milford, Ct which is the post show hangout of Dan Patrick and his Dannettes. 2. Frank Pepe's Pizzeria in New Haven, Ct which is one of the oldest Pizzeria's in this great land of ours. The rest of Wednesday will be a drive into The Hub and a visit to TD Banknorth Garden (or whatever bank is sponsoring it these days) for the Celtics and Nuggets. Thursday will bring some sightseeing and potentially some college hockey as the Huskies of Northeastern visit the Terriers of Boston University.

Not quite sure of Friday's plans but they will involves us leaving Bostonia. We have a couple of different options to look at and this includes a college hockey game at West Point as Army skates with the Bentley Falcons. Other options includes New Jersey Nets basketball at the Rock or Princeton hockey. Saturday will complete the circle as we return to Philly for the annual Army-Navy football game. Saturday evening will involve some cheese-steaks and knowing what I know about Nabil and myself a trip to AC is not out of the possibility. Sunday morning we fly home in time to get on the couch for week 14 in the league where they play for pay.

Let me know if you would like to join for any or all of this great adventure.

Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to while cruising the streets of Sylvania is Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication. By the way this one of my favorite videos ever. We are back with trivia this week. There have been 8 pitchers that have won 3 or more Cy Young Awards. Name 5 of them. Hint the earliest you need to turn you calendar to is 1963.

6. Best Candy Bars

Last week at work we had a pretty good discussion on everyone's favorite candy bar's/chocolate. Below you will see everyone's favorites with some of my thoughts. (Why am I hungry now....goes and eats 8 bags of M&M's). In the comments section please share your top 5. You will be glad you did.

Coaches Top 5
1. Plain M&M's- Better if put in the freezer for a few minutes. Lawyer Dan taught me that trick.
2. Reese's Peanut Cup- If I go more than a week without eating some Reese's Peanut Cups
3. Peanut M&M's- Another solid M&M product.
4. Twix-I like eating the top half before eating the bottom half. Yes, I am fat.
5. Take 5-Very underrated and not enjoyed enough by me.

Brodie's Top 5
1. Peanut Butter M&M's-Not sure if I have had this sort of M&M's but call me intrigued.
2. Reese's Cup- Brodie knows what is up.
3. Peanut M&M's-Again Brodie knows the deal.
4. Baby Ruth-Does any other athlete have a candy bar named after them?
5. Payday-

Nicely's
1. Ring Pop
2. Fun Dip
3. Nerds
4. Pixy Stix
5. Gummy Bears
-You might catch me eating some Nerds, besides that no thanks.

Ingle
1. Snickers-The old classic, tough to knock this solid #1.
2. Twix
3. White Chocolate Reese's- I did not even know this existed. I have to try.
4. Junior Mint - I can not think of Junior Mint's without this clip from Seinfeld.
5. Milky Way

7. College Top 5
1. Oregon-I do not see how you keep this offense out of the 40's. That does not mean it can not happen.
2. Auburn- Big game on the loveliest village on the Plains. This is my first trip to Auburn for a football game.
3. TCU- The Horned Frogs have probably been college football's most dominant team this season.
4. Boise St- Why do I like TCU but not like the Broncos.
5.Stanford- I probably should not mention this but I have a man crush on Jim Harbaugh.

8. NFL Top 5
1. Pittsburgh-Goes from #3 to #1 on the basis that the schedule maker gave them a Monday instead of Sunday game.
2. New York Giants-Unreal for them to fly across the country and play the way they did.
3. New York Jets- I did not like the way they looked but a win is a win is a win, espicially in the NFL.
4. Baltimore Ravens-How good is Ed Reed? Why does it seem like he gets a pick 6 every Sunday.
5. Atlanta Falcons- Short week for a banged up football team. All they do is win. Or at least that's all they do at home with Matty Ice as their QB.

9. What I Read This Week

Read multiple great articles this week. The first article comes from Wired magazine and takes a look at Ticketmaster. It discusses how everyone dislikes Ticketmaster but at the same time how no one can take it down. Very intriguing read for those that have ever sold or bought a ticket.

The second read is written by Wright Thompson for ESPN Los Angeles and he takes a look at Zenyatta the 6 year old mare who on Saturday missed a perfect career by a neck Saturday night. Zenyatta was purchased at the low price of $60,000 because she suffered from a form of ringworm; she has since won purses totaling over $6 million and is noted for overtaking her competition in an intense surge after starting each of her races "lingering languidly" at the rear of the pack. Unreal read by Wright Thompson.

The third read also discusses Zenyatta and it is Sports Illustrated Tim Layden's report from Churchill Downs. Not often you have a piece of journalism live up to the hype of the preceding event but in this piece it does. I try to read everything Tim Layden writes.

10. Non football or baseball thoughts
a. WOW! What a race in the Breeder's Cup Classic early Sunday evening.
b. In case you missed it here is a link to one of the more exciting Horse Races you will ever see. How heartbroken does Zenyatta's jockey look after the race. I read some articles on Sunday that by Zenyatta's reaction at first she thinks she won.
c. Have I ever said that it is on my Bucket List to own a race horse. We might have to call him/her Reese's Cup.
d. Last night when Bob Costas said it was 39 in Green Bay it was 46 in Atlanta. Not enough difference if you ask me.
e. Braves right handed pitcher Peter Moylan has his own blog and it is absolutely a riot. Here is Moylan's blog on the start of week 2 in his off season workouts.
f. Speaking of off season workouts. Today starts week 6 of boot camp. My fitness level is improving. My diet has improved a very smart amount. It needs to change a whole lot for me to start looking like Brad Pitt.
g. I saw The Bank Job this weekend. Very good movie, especially when one considers that the movie was based on a true story. I have to do more research and see if I can find some articles on this great story.
h. How come I did not know Garth Brooks was going to do a series of benefit concerts in Nashville? Apparently he sold over 140,000 tickets for 6 shows over 9 days in mid December. That is an awful job by me for not knowing about this.
i. If you can give me a reason why Modern Family is not the best show on television I want to hear it. Unreal how funny each episode is.
j. Last week the roomdog went to Dallas for a football game and the World Series. We allowed him to blog about his trip. Click here to read about the adventures.
k. I know I mentioned the Jimmy V speech earlier but if you have not heard it, click here.

Quote of The Week
The quote of the week comes from L$U head football coach who was asked Saturday about eating grass on the sidelines during games. The mad hatter is one character.
"I know one thing, the grass in Tiger Stadium tastes best."

His QB Russell Shepard follows up with this beauty
"I see him do it every day. That’s Coach Miles. He eats that grass. I guess he says it has a lot of protein.”

Text of The Week
The text of the week comes from my buddy Todd in the Big Apple when I asked him if I could lay my head in December when me and Nabil come to town. This is his reply.

Your apt is my apt and Nabil is gonna have to prove himself as a true man of weight or he's sleeping under the Queensboro.

Tweet of The Week
This week's trivia comes from Atlanta Braves relief pitcher and Aussie Peter Moylan.

@PeterMoylan: my fiance just saw Ryan Reynolds and turner field and immediately regretted coming home with me!!!

Picture of The Week
This week photo is for Lawyer Dan as we capture two of his favorite former CBS co-workers. Thanks to Bonnie for tweeting this photo. It looks like a great scene on the Bayou on a Saturday afternoon.

The Roomdawg Goes On A Trip

2010-11-04T13:51:00.000-04:00

The Roomdawg spent halloween weekend in the metroplex, here is his take on a nice Sunday and Monday.

Had a quick, but action packed 2 day trip out to Dallas. The main purpose of the trip was to catch 2 of the Rangers World Series games, and an added bonus ended up being getting to the new Cowboys Stadium. My old roommate (and friend from back home) and I were both able to book free flights out to Dallas. I was able to purchase World Series tickets for Game 4 and Game 5 through the Braves. Along with the free flight, I had a friend who lives in Dallas and we were able to stay with him for free. After all of this had been decided/booked, we discovered the Cowboys would be at home to face the Jaguars. Unfortunately, it is really expensive to go see games at this venue.... most of the lower bowl sells for $300 per ticket just to give you an idea. Fortunately though, the perfect storm of circumstances had happened and we were able to find cheap tickets....... The Cowboys are horrible, their quarterback got hurt the week before, they were playing a bad opponent, and most people were probably more interested in the World Series game later that night...... this helped us get 50 yard line seats, at the very top of the stadium, normally priced at about $100 each..... we paid $40 each (including all stubhub service fees). Here is a view of the scoreboard and our seats.

The scoreboard is so incredible, that you end up watching the game there instead of looking at the field itself. The Cowboys got smoked by the Jaguars. It was so bad that with 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the crowd started chanting "Lets go Rangers"!!!

We had a few hours to waste, and we did so by walking about a mile to a Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the late NFL games. Then it was time to walk over to The Ballpark at Arlington..... the 5th new baseball stadium this season for me, and 22nd all time. It was Halloween, so of course I had to dress up. I brought my Kenny Powers hat/mullet and jersey. Several people walking by would yell "Hey Kenny Powers" at me, and a couple guys even stopped to take my picture. Later on, I even came across another guy dressed as KP.

The crowd ended up being pretty quiet over the course of the 2 games I saw, but I can't say I blame them.... they only managed about 6 hits, 1 run, and never was winning during games 4 and 5. It also made me a little sad to look over behind home plate in the upper deck and see the 200 or so Giants employees/friends/families.... could have been the Braves. They did impress me though.... those 200 Giants employees/fans were louder than most of the 50,000 Rangers fans most of the time. After they brought out the giant American flag,

I got to watch George W. Bush (with George H.W. Bush standing nearby) throw out the first pitch to HOF pitcher Nolan Ryan. Interesting piece of information.... this is the third time I've seen George W. Bush throw out a first pitch at a baseball game..... first ever game at Miller Park, first ever game at Nationals Park, and Game 4 of 2010 World Series.

Game 4 was pretty boring since the home crowd never had anything to cheer for, but its cool to think that I saw one of the most dominant performances by a rookie pitcher in a World Series game (Madison Bumgarner).I was very excited heading into Game 5 on Monday night. Cliff Lee vs Tim Lincecum would be the pitching matchup, and I would have the chance to watch a team clinch the World Series. There was a cool sunset just before the game and I said to my friend, "Is this the sun setting on the Rangers season tonight?"

It ended up being a great pitching matchup, as the only runs of the game were scored on a late inning 3 run home run, by former Brave and eventual WS MVP Edgar Renteria. Well, I got my wish. I got to say I was there to watch a team celebrate a World Series Championship.

I'd say it was a great trip.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2010-11-01T23:52:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in the 10 Things this week and the Octoberless 10 things. I had everything for this week written Sunday night except for my Georgia thoughts and Non Football-Baseball Thoughts (We need a cooler name for this portion of the Ten Things). Thus you will see no World Series commentary but come back next week for those thoughts. I know you will. Well here are the Ten Things, now that my life has slowed down some you should get this Monday mornings for the foreseeable future. As always your comments are appreciated and if you know anyone else who would enjoy reading this awesome column let me know. Also, it is really November already?

1. Georgia Thoughts
No clue at all where to begin with this game. I do know that if Aaron Murray hadn't picked this game to look like a freshman, Georgia wins. If Murray had played in the first half as he did in the second, Georgia wins. If Murray had been able to get the ball to Orson Charles, who went largely uncovered all day, before UGA was down 21-7, Georgia probably wins. If the Bulldogs don't lose the turnover battle four to one, Georgia wins. If Georgia scoops up Burton's first half fumble, it's a much different game at the least.

Nonetheless, we never catch these guys when they have key guys out, the way Mississippi State caught them; they invariably catch us at the most inopportune times (i.e., during the one game D.J. Shockley was injured in 2005). For crying out loud, Florida benefited from its own false start penalties, which erased positive Georgia plays on more than one occasion in a game in which the Orange and Blue were penalized nine times to the Bulldogs’ two.

The folks who say we should move the Georgia-Florida game are right, but the change should be a chronological one, not a geographic one. The Bulldogs are 8-14 all-time against the Gators in October and 39-26-2 against them in November. We don’t need the game to be nearer; we need it to be later. We also need to get the Gators out of head as this years version of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party was more mental than physical. Until we can get over the mental issue that is the Florida Gators the Georgia program will never get to the place that it needs to be.

I am still sick to my stomach by the way.

2. College Football Thoughts
a. In last 8 games, TCU's D has given up 57 points. In 8 quarters yesterday, Auburn and Oregon gave up 63 points.
b.Oregon's remaining opponents 18-14 (56 win pct) easier than TCU (58), Boise (63), Auburn (64) and Utah (65) which is most difficult.
c.Boise's top opponents left are Hawaii (7-2) and Nevada (7-1); while Auburn will have to deal with UGA (4-5), Ala (7-1) and SEC title game
d. I do have to think that 4-5 UGA is better than 7-2 Hawaii and 7-1 Nevada. With that being said I do think Nevada is a pretty good football team.
e.The Hawkeyes' win over Michigan St throws the Big Ten/Rose Bowl race into chaos. Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan State all have one conference loss, with the Badgers having beaten the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes but lost to the Spartans. Iowa will play Ohio State on Nov. 20, which will eliminate one contender, but a three-way tie is entirely possible, and the tiebreaker could be infinitely complicated.

f. How do I get the feeling that someway somehow Ohio State will find its way to the Rose Bowl. They always do. Hopefully that will not be the case this season.
g. Speaking of Iowa-Michigan State, I thought Iowa could beat Sparty but I did not see a 37-6 beat down coming. Even more impressive was the rushing yards discrepancy which had Iowa out-gaining Michigan State 162 to 31.
h. Am I the only that is shocked to see Baylor leading the Big XII South on November 1st? What about 4-4 Texas? Who would have thought this week's Baylor-Oklahoma State game this weekend would be so huge? How big potentially is Oklahoma-Oklahoma State later this month? It could be bedlam.
i. Crazy things seem to happen in the Big XII South don't they?
j. Speaking of crazy things who wold have thought we would see the day when a Conference USA team would go into South Bend and beat the Irish. Notre Dame who are 4-5 still has to play Top Ten Utah and travel to the coliseum and play USC. The midle game between those two is a trip to the Bronx to play Army at the new Yankee Stadium. This team is looking more and more like a 5-7 team.
k. Five runners went over 100 yards Saturday in the SEC. Four of the five are freshmen (M. Dyer, M. Lattimore, Jeff Scott & Trey Burton). The 5th is a Junior College transfer (Vick Ballard).
l. I need to watch more games and highlight shows to have more thoughts.

3. NFL Thoughts
a. Was Sunday's early games the worst set of games the league has given us in a while?
b. Brandon Lloyd is 1st player in 20+ years & 6th since '70 w 800 rec yards in 1st 8 games & 20+ yards per catch avg
c. On Sunday Jets RB LaDainian Tomlinson has joined Hall of Famer Walter Payton as only RBs ever with 13,000 rush yards & 4,000 receiving yards.
d. San Fransico & Denver are only clubs to face NFL opponent in 6 different countries outside the US. This does include preseason.
e. Jaguars are 21-4 when David Garrard has 100+ passer rating. He finished with rating of 157.8 versus the Cowboys on Sunday.
f. The Cowboys have their first four-game losing streak since 2002. They are also 0-4 at home this season and 6-6 overall at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium.
g. Things are real bad in Dallas and it is bad when the win less Bills play harder than the Cowboys at home with a backup quarterback. The Cowboys have a Bye Week this week before traveling to Green Bay in two weeks, then at NY Giants, then home to Dallas and New Orleans (Thanksgiving). December brings a trip to Indy, home versus Philly and Washington, then end the year at Arizona and Philly. Does Dallas win two more games?
h. Sam Bradford is only rookie QB selected No. 1 overall to win 4 of 1st 5 home starts since 1967, the first year of the common draft.
i. Raiders have won past 2 games by combined 75 points. Last time they accomplished that was 1967.
j. Chiefs running back Thomas Jones has run for 500 yards for 5 different teams.
k.Not all is bad for winless Buffalo. Steve Johnson tied a Buffalo record with a touchdown in five straight games. Ryan Fitzpatrick's touchdown pass gave him an eight-game streak, the longest by a Bills quarterback since 2002. It was the third time in Bills history they played back-to-back overtime games.
l. Good Question...who is Steve Johnson. He was the Bills 7th round pick in 2008. Johnson started out Chabot College in Hayward, California from 2004–2006. He then transferred to the University of Kentucky playing wide receiver.
m.Why is Chan Gailey coaching the NFL?
n. The Bills are the 4th team in NFL history to lose on the road in overtime in consecutive weeks The others: 2009 Steelers Nov. 22-29 1986 Steelers Nov. 23-30 1983 Bears Sept. 18-25
o. The Chiefs become the 5th team in NFL history to win a game with 0:00 left in overtime. The last time it happened was 1994.
p.I watched a lot of the New England-Minnesota game and while Minnesota dominated the first half you never we worried about the Patriots espically with the scored tied 7-7 at the half. Brady won his 25th consecutive home game as a starter, tying him with Favre for the record. The Patriots improved to 3-5 on Halloween, and 1-0 against the NFC this year. The Vikings are 0-3 against the AFC this season.
q. For those that are Fantasy Football players these stats are for you: Nine different Vikings caught passes. Green-Ellis scored for the fifth straight game. Peterson has six of Minnesota's seven rushing TDs this season.
r. Since starting last season 6-0, the Broncos have lost 13 of their last 17 games. During their 6-0 start in '09, the Denver defense allowed just 11 points and 262.5 yards per game - and had 21 sacks. Since: 26.9 points per game and just 27 sacks in almost 3 times as many games.
s. Why was Rex Grossman in for the Redskins Two-Minute drill? If I owned the Redskins Shannahan would not get off the plane with his job because that was inexcusable. That was a bad message he sent his team about McNabb.
t. Detroit has four wins since the start of last season and two of them are against the Redskins. They also scored 23 4th quarter points to beat the Skins. The Lions have now scored at least 30 points in three games this season after scoring 30 just once in the 2008 and 2009 seasons combined. The Lions are not far from being good.

4. Baseball Thoughts
a. I saw these stats about cycles a couple weeks ago and became really intrigued. There have been 231Cycles completed since 1920. In that same time period there have been some cycle near misses. Here are how the near misses break down - 1B short 424, 2B short 1,604, 3B short 12,140, HR short 4,587.
b.There are only two current major league teams that have not had a player hit for the cycle: the San Diego Padres and Florida Marlins. No player has ever hit for the cycle in a post-season game.
c. The rarity of hitting for the cycle is reflected in the fact that of the ten players who have had 3,000 career hits and 300 career home runs, only four have ever hit for the cycle: Carl Yastrzemski, Dave Winfield, George Brett and Stan Musial.
d. The Pirates have hit for the cycle 23 times which is the most in MLB. The Giants/Yankees are tied for second with 22 cycles a piece.
e. On July 16, 2010, Bengie Molina became the first catcher in MLB history to hit for the cycle and hit a grand slam in the same game. The feat was in itself unexpected as Molina (known for his lack of baserunning ability) had only five triples in his career prior to his cycle.
f. Only once since 1957 has a player had the minimum of 4 plate appearances and hit for the natural cycle: Brad Wilkerson on June 24, 2003 for the Expos versus the Pirates.
g.Five players in MLB history have completed a cycle with a walk-off home run: Ken Boyer (1961), César Tovar (1972) George Brett (1979), Dwight Evans (1984) and Carlos González (2010).
h. Throughout MLB baseball history there have been 291 cycles. For comparison sake there have been 269 no hitters.
i. Ranger pitcher Tommy Hunter gone after 4 innings last night. He's 4th pitcher to go 4 or shorter 3 straight postseason starts. Others: Mercker ('99), Show ('84) Kenny Rogers ('96)
j. Hunter did not have his first swing and a miss until the 79th pitch last night.
k.Madison Bumgarner never walked a lead off hitter in any big-league start this year. So of course he walked leadoff hitter Sunday night on 4 pitches.
l. I think it is safe to say Johnathan Sanchez is tired. On Saturday, he was never clocked at higher than 91 mph, and had his 2nd-worst velocity of the season.
m. I do not think we can knock Sanchez as he has thrown 45 more innings this year compared to last season.
n. The question becomes what happens if this series hits a 7th game, does Sanchez start again.
o. The shattering of maple bats seems to be a continuing problem, but I read this week, the number of instances was down some 30 percent this season from 2009
p. Speaking of Sanchez, his ERA has decreased each of the last three seasons — 5.01, 4.24, and 3.07 — as his walk totals have increased — 75, 88, and a league-leading 96 this season.
q. Tampa Bay Ray Carlos Pena finished with 95 hits, only 49 of which were singles.
r. The San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers combine for 16 foreign-born players, matching the all-time high for a World Series set in 2003 (Florida vs. New York Yankees) and 2007 (Colorado vs. Boston)
s. The 16 players hail from the Dominican Republic (8 – Santiago Casilla; Nelson Cruz; Neftali Feliz; Vladimir Guerrero; Guillermo Mota; Alexi Ogando; Ramon Ramirez; and Juan Uribe); Puerto Rico (4 – Javier Lopez; Bengie Molina; Jonathan Sanchez; and Andres Torres); Venezuela (3 – Elvis Andrus; Andres Blanco; and Pablo Sandoval); and Colombia (1 – Edgar Renteria).
t.To highlight how the landscape has changed over the years, foreign-born players in the World Series did not hit double-digits until 1993 when there were 10 and as late as 1989 and 1990 there were but 3. The last time there were no foreign-born players on a World Series roster was 1953.

5. A Look Back-My MLB Predictions
If you want to take look back at my preseason projections you can by clicking here. However, I will give you the highlights. I had Atlanta, Philly, St. Louis, and Colorado making the playoffs in the NL. In the AL I had the Yankees, Tampa, Minnesota, and Seattle. In my opinion 5 of the 8 playoff teams is average. The Seattlem pick was awful and I bought into Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee without acknowledging a lineup that had Casey Kotchman hitting clean-up. I both the NL and AL East I had the Wild Card and Division winners flip-flopped. I also had a Braves-Rays World Series. It has to be mentioned that the teams that eliminated the Braves and Rays are currently playing in the World Series.

I also questioned why the Giants did not make a bigger run at Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Who would have thought Aubrey Huff would have been so good for them. My projections for MVP, Cy Young, Comeback Player of The Year, etc were AWFUL. On a side note how good did my Troy Glaus Comeback Player of The Year pick look in mid June. Also, how good was I predicting the record of the Washington Nationals?

Halftime
This weeks songs that Smoak and myself rocked out to this weekend while road trippin to Jacksonville includes Miranda Lambert's The House That Built Me. The second song from this weekend is about as far from Miranda Lambert as you could get. The second song is "We Be Steady Mobbin" by Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane. Be careful with the adult language if played at work.

Just as FYI, trivia will return next week.

6. Way To Early SEC Bowl Thoughts
a. As the calendar turns to November it will be interesting to see how some of the bowl projections play out. Normally you have to be 6-6 to be considered eligible but this season there is the chance there will not be enough .500 teams so some 5-7 teams might find themselves playing a bowl game.

b. I told you this year has been crazy in college football.

c. The SEC has ties in with a BCS Bowl, Capital One, Cotton, Outback, Gator, Chick-fil-a, Music City, Liberty and Birmingham Bowls. Do not forget there is an a great chance that ethier Auburn or Alabama might play in the BCS Championship game allowing the loser of the Bama-Auburn game to make an at-large BCS game.

d. If this scenerio happens the SEC will have 10 bowl spots, not the question becomes will they have 10 teams with the required 6 wins. So far there are 6 SEC bowl teams eligible and this includes Auburn, Bama, Arkansas, Mississippi St, LSU and South Carolina. The Gators have 5 wins with upcoming games at Vandy, home versus App St, home versus South Carolina and at FSU. You have to think they get atleast 1 win.

e. Georgia is 4-5 with games at home against Idaho State and Georgia Tech with a trip to the Auburn on the plains in two weeks. The question becomes can they beat Georgia Tech or Auburn. I know Tech lost to Kansas so Georgia should and I mean should beat Tech.

f. Ole Miss is currently 3-5 with games against Louisiana-Lafayette, at Tennessee, at LSU and home to Mississippi State. Does Johnny Rebel go 3-1. I do not see it but 5-7 is a real possibility.

g. Vandy is 2-6 and has to beat Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Wake Forest to become bowl eligible. If they can upset Kentucky 5-7 is a real possibility with potential wins over Tennessee and Wake Forest.

h. Kentucky is currently 4-5 with contests remaining with Charleston Southern, Vandy and Tenn. So I do think the Cats will get to 6 wins.

i. Tennessee is 2-6 and needs to win at Memphis, home versus Ole Miss, at Vandy and home versus Kentucky. Do the Vols get to 6-6? It would take a miracle. I think they lose to Vandy and Kentucky but 5-7 is not out of the picture.
j. This is how I project the bowls:
BCS Championship: Alabama
Sugar: Auburn
Capital One: South Carolina
Cotton: Mississippi State
Outback: Arkansas
Gator: LSU
Chick-fil-A: Florida
Music City: Georgia
Liberty: Kentucky
Birmingham: ??????
k. Chris Lowe who blogs the SEC for ESPN projects the SEC bowls like this. Mark Schlabach and Andrea Adelson also do Bowl Projections for the Mothership.
l. Who is in for a trip to Nashville on December 30th?

7. NFL Power 5

1.New England Patriots-This team is unreal the way the do business. So smart and efficient.
2.Indianapolis Colts- Did you really think #18 would be affected by all the injuries.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers- Despite loss in New Orleans still one of the best teams in football.
4. New York Jets- Getting shut out at home by the Packers following a Bye was bad, real bad.
5. Atlanta Falcons- Hard to believe with a win over Tampa on Sunday they can take control of the NFC South.

8. College Power 5

1. Oregon- The 53 points scored against USC on Saturday were the most ever scored by Oregon against USC.
2. Auburn- Mike Dyer continued to establish himself as the Tigers' go-to back, rushing 21 times for a career-high 180 yards and a touchdown.
3. Boise St-Tough for me to take Boise serious when they play on Tuesday night.
4. TCU- When TCU @ Utah is the game I am looking forward to the most is a sure sign this is one crazy college football season.
5.Alabama- The tide probably have November's toughest schedule with games at LSU, and home games versus Mississippi State, Georgia State and Auburn.

9. What I Read This Week

Two reads for your weekly enjoment. The first one comes from a Sports Illustrated article from 1989 and discusses how teams allocate money from the playoffs. Very intriguing considering the same games are still being played today except there are a few more zero's involved but not that much more.

The second read comes from Vanity Fair and is an excerpt from Bill Carter's new book The War For Late Night. The story looks at a behind-the-scenes story of late night tv's explosive 2010 between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. If I was smart enough I would take this story and write a movie on it. It is that good.

10. Non Football or Baseball Related Thoughts
a. Franceour says his favorite Halloween costume is a cheerleading uniform. What does that even mean?
b. UGA Basketball begins Friday night November 12th. I have season tickets so pick a game and email me and maybe you will find yourself riding with me to Athens for some hoops. Just a note those that sign up for garbage games in November and December get priority come SEC play in January and February. Just saying.
c. I went and watched the movie Due Date on Monday night. Very funnny as both Robert Downey and Zach Galifinakis are hilarious. Not as funny as The Hangover but what it?
d. I have also seen Stone and it was not half as good as Due Date. Nonetheless, Ed Norton was awesome like always. The rest of the movie was not that good.
e.As far as television shows go the Roomdog and myself are so far behind it is not even funny. We have seen the first episode of Boardwalk Empire and have about 6 episodes to catch up on. The first episode was awesome and I have only heard good things in following episodes.
f. We just finished the first season of Eastbound and Down and will start on Season 2 soon. That show is out of control. So funny and inappropriate.
g. A couple of weeks ago I drove up to Kentucky for the Dawgs and Cats which turned out to be an awesome weekend. First I got to see Evan which is always a good thing.
h. The second great thing about my trip to the bluegrass was a visit to Keeneland. No trip to Lexington should go without a visit to the track. You have the beautiful horses, the beautiful track and the beautiful women. No better way to spend a day.
i.Who is interested in going to Athens Friday night for some Kinchafoonee Cowboys? Let me know.
j. Whoever can come up with a cool name for this portion of 10 Things will win a prize of some sort.

Quote of The Week (From Last Week)
Come from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney after 10 of his players got stuck in their elevator on the way to the pregame meal on Saturday morning.

“I told the guys to calm down, if we can get 33 miners out of a shaft in Chile we can get 10 football players out of an elevator in Anderson, SC."

On a side note is there really a Division I head football coach with the name Dabo?

Qoute of The Week
From Giants reliever Javier Lopez after the Giants won the World Series "We can shave!"

Tweet of The Week
Like usual we have Eric Stangel to thank for the Tweet of The Week

Congratulations to Celine Dion, who gave birth to twins. Hopefully the crying will drown out her singing...

Picture of The Week
Charles Woodson, Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning hanging out before the 1997 NFL Draft....Peyton, where's your belt? Photo comes from SI Vault.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2010-09-27T09:22:00.001-04:00

Here are the Ten Things for this week. We really need to focus on stepping up our texts. Weak sauce the past few weeks. I also need to apologize for the lack of NFL notes as I decided to stop writing after Sunday's Braves game. Needless to say I was not in the best of moods.

1. Georgia Thoughts

Not good, not very good at all. Let's just say the last time the UGA Dawgs lost in Starkville was in 1951. The last time we lost to the Bullies was in 1976 in a game played in Jackson. When I was in high school the lineman would break down every drill with "Linemen win games," well linemen also lose games and exhibit A is your 2010 UGA Bulldogs. So much for the best offensive line in the country as Phil Steele proclaimed in the summer. Furthermore, we also forget that UGA lost Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens on the defensive line. So not only does our veteran offensive line suck, our defensive line is not as good as it has been in years past (when knew this when the season start). I know a majority of you all are thinking how could I write seven sentences and not mention Mike Bobo. Well I hate to tell you Mike Bobo is not the problem. When you get nothing from the offensive line and your starting running back (Ealey) does not gain one yard after contact what are you to do? If Ealey does not fumble at the one (for the 2 time in three SEC games) and we do not hold for no reason on Kris Durham's touchdown UGA goes into the half up 17-7.

On a second note, what the has happened to Washaun Ealey? Last year I thought he was on of the better runners in this conference who ran hard and always fought for the extra yardage. This year he almost gotten Murray killed against Arkansas, chronic fumbles in the Red Zone and runs like a Division II tailback. If you are Bobo or Richt I do not know how you trust him to play right now.

Yeah let's blame Bobo for all of this. I am not sure who really gets the blame, I know everyone from Richt to the supposedly 5 star recruits to the student managers deserve some blame. Why did we pay Todd Grantham $750,000 to see Mississippi State receivers run wide open and their QB to run the ball up the middle at will? Also, what has happened to Rambo? Last year he was my favorite player and this he has been awful and that is to put it lightly. On Saturday he lets the ball hit him in the leg on the punt return and then he plays pitty-pat with a Mississippi State ball carrier multiple times causing me to go on a profanity laced tirade near the end of the game. Let's keep blaming coaches when players keep under performing and their is no senior leadership to be seen.

On a side note thank god for Aaron Murray.

Update: I wrote that about 130-200 in the morning Saturday night/Sunday morning. The more I think about it the more I have to question why are we not ready to play or seem excited to play? That is more of a coaching direction of the program type question. Richt has built this monster, let's see if he can correct it.

2. College Football Thoughts
a. Last week I mentioned the SEC having 6 teams in the Top 15 and how crazy I thought that was...look at this stat. SEC has had at least 5 teams ranked in AP Top 25 for at least one week every year since expansion. The league expanded in 1992. That is unreal.
b. Saw this unbelievable stat at halftime during the Bama-Arkansas game. The Crimson Tide are only 2-5 when trailing at half under Saban. (Make that 3-5) On the other hand they haven't had to come back very often. This halftime stat from Fayetville is even crazier; rare when you see a team averaging almost nine yards a carry as Bama is 143 yards on 16 attempts and be down 17-7.
c. The last two halftime come backs for the Tide was the improbable win on Saturday and the memorable comeback against the War Turkey's in the Iron Bowl last season.
d. Does anyone else find it fascinating that Bama QB Greg McElroy has not lost a game as a QB since he was in the 8th grade. In games where the Tide is trailing in the fourth quarter since 2009, McElroy is 17-23 with two TDs and no picks and has a pass efficiency rating of 194.6.Why do I love watching the Tide so much?
e. Interesting dynamic: In the house for Arkansas-Bama... ex-Hog Jerry Jones and his VP/Marketing Greg McElroy Sr... yes, Greg''s Dad.
f. Raise your hand if you thought on September 27th that the NC State Wolfpack would be the only undefeated team in the ACC. My hand is not in the air.The game announcers were proclaiming Russell Wilson the best QB in the ACC. While, I think that is crazy (I would take Christian Ponder) to proclaim Wilson the best QB in the ACC he has thrown for 744 yards this season with 8 td's and 0 int's including a career high 368 yards Saturday on the flats. We will learn more about the Wolfpack when they play the Virginia Tech Hokies next weekend.
g. If he has these same numbers at the end of October we can begin the best in ACC discussion.
h. It seems defense is still the problem for the Yellow Jackets as they have given up 1471 yards on offense. That is an average 367.75 yards per game. In two ACC games they have allowed 879 yards an average of over 439 yards per game. I thought Al Groh was going to solve all the problems of that Tech defense. I guess not.
i. Texas might be in trouble this season. If they can not stop UCLA how are they going to stop the Sooners or Cornhuskers? I know Texas turned the ball over 5 times but their defense still allowed 264 yards on the ground. Not good for the fighting Muschamps.
j. Furthermore, I read all summer how the Longhorns were developing a power running game. Saturday, Texas ran for a pathetic 59 yards. Two weeks ago, Stanford who deserves a top 10 ranking far more than Texas ran for 211 in a 35-0 win against the Bruins.

k. Speaking of Stanford the Cardinal became 4-0 for the first time since 1986. Furthermore, Stanford has beaten Notre Dame two times in a row for the first time in the history of the series.
l. The Fighting Irish have lost 11 straight games vs. opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 and five straight at home. The last time Notre Dame beat a ranked team was Sept. 9, 2006 when it beat No. 19 Penn State 41-17 in South Bend.
m. The game of the week next weekend might be Stanford-Oregon. It is a shame that this contest kicks off at 1130 pm eastern time next weekend.
m. Speaking of Oregon, how do the Ducks only win by 11 when Arizona State QB Steven Threet throws INTs and the Sun Devils turn it over seven times vs. Oregon.
n. Gameday should be in Eugene for Oregon-Stanford but they will probably be Dallas for Texas-Oklahoma.(Update:Since I wrote the previous statement, ESPN has announced they will be at Oregon-Stanford next week. It was also announced that the game was moved from 11:00 eastern to 8:00 eastern and will be televised on ABC)
o. It looks like the Gators are getting better and better each week. After gaining 64 total yards and 0 points in the 1st quarter of the 3 games this seaoson, Florida gained 155 yards and 14 points vs Kentucky. They scored 31 on Kentucky in the 1st quarter last year. Then there is this stat, since Urban Meyer arrived, Gators are 21-4 vs coaches with a national title on their resume.
p. Florida's Trey Burton was the first FBS player with at least five rushing TDs and one TD reception in a single game since WVU's Steve Slaton did so on October 15, 2005.The freshmen also broke Tim Tebow's (remember that guy) school record for touchdown's in a game.
q. What a choke job by the Gamecocks Saturday night in the loveliest village on the plains. The last four Gamecocks possessions ended in turnovers. Not good, not good at all. Even worse was the Gamecocks rush defense, the Tigers entered with the SEC's top-ranked rushing offense while the Gamecocks had the conference's No. 1 rush defense. Auburn won the battle with 334 rushing yards against South Carolina.
r. True freshman Michael Dyer rushed for 100 yards for Auburn. In addition, Cameron Newton rushed for 176 yards and passed for 158 more as the Tigers beat the Gamecocks for the fifth straight time.
s. I got to watch Michigan's Denard Robinson play for the first time and 'shoelace' is a special talent. Despite leaving early with an injury, Robinson followed up his first three spectacular games by completing all four of his passes for 60 yards and running five times for 129 yards and two TDs. Michigan needs to find a dynamic running back but it looks like Rich Rodriguez has found his Ann Arbor version of Pat White.
t. Interesting weekend ahead in college football. SEC games are Tennessee @ LSU and Florida @ BAMA. Big XII marquee games include Oklahoma-Texas and Texas A&M-Oklahoma State on Thursday night. The Pac 10 gives us Oregon-Stanford. The ACC gives us VaTech-NC State, Miami-Clemson and Boston College hosting Notre Dame in a battle for the hearts and souls of Catholics all over this country.
u. The Big 10 gives us Penn State-Iowa and Wisconsin-Michigan State. While the marquee matchups in Big East include . We also can not forget Navy at Air Force next week as well.
v. One more fun fact: This is the first Top 25 without a Big East team in it since Oct. 15, 1995. WAC and MWC have two each, by the way.

3. NFL Thoughts
a. I saw these fun stats about NFL players and I figure you all would enjoy. So here goes. States w/most high school players in NFL-California 211,Texas181, Florida 177, Ohio 85, Georgia 80, Louisiana 68, Pennsylvania 56, New Jersey 55, Michigan 53, Alabama 50, Virginia 50, South Carolina 46, Illinois 43, North Carolina 42
b. Louisiana is state w/most HS players in NFL per capita...1 per 65,720 peeps. Mississippi next w/1 per 76,883..then Hawaii w/1 per 80,769.
c. Hometowns with most HS players in NFL: Houston 24, Miami 22, LA 20, Detroit and NOLA 15 each, Dallas and Jacksonville 12, Cincy and Cleveland 11, Tampa 10.
d. I am surprised that Atlanta is not on the list, if one includes the metro area it has to be on the list.
e. Anquan Boldin now has 606 career receptions. He is the fastest to 600 (98 games) in NFL history. Who would have thought Mr Boldin would hold that record?
f. Randy Moss now has 151 career TD catches, joining Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (197) as only players ever w/ 150 TD catches. Furthermore, Moss now has 14,604 career receiving yards, passing Marvin Harrison (14,580) for 5th-most in NFL history. (more on Moss later)
g. Cowboys won 400th game (inc. playoffs) since 1970 AFL-NFL merger. They join Steelers (406) as only teams since '70 with 400 wins.
h. Watched most of this game and with Houston's left tackle out you knew Demarcus Ware would feast on Matt Schaub and he did with three sacks. I thought the Dallas pick was the easiest this weekend for those that like to handicap the games.
i. There has been OT game in each of 1st 3 weeks for 1st time since '02. In each OT game, both clubs had at least 1 possession.
j. In early NFL games underdogs went 6-3 vs spread w/ 4 winning outright (Titans Falcons Chiefs Cowboys)
k. Overall Dogs went 9-6 with six outright winners.
l. Got this stat from Peter King this morning, Vick has thrown no INTs, and has a 110.2 QB rating. Never has had a QB rating higher than 81 in career.
m. If you want more NFL go read his Monday Morning QB....yes it was him I got the idea for the Ten Things.

4. MLB Thoughts

a. I know I have hammered Dan Uggla in the past but he has become the first second baseman in major league history to hit 30 home runs in four consecutive seasons.Only four other second basemen in big league history have had three seasons of 30 homers or more: Rogers Hornsby (1922, 1925, 1929), Jeff Kent (1998, 2000, 2002), Alfonso Soriano (2002, 2003, 2005) and the Phillies' Chase Utley (2006, 2008, 2009).
b. On Friday night Aroldis Chapman hit 105 MPH on the gun. According to this story this is the hardest recorded pitch in MLB history. Joel Zumaya hit 104.8 in 2006. Mark Wholers also hit 103 with the Braves in 1996. (Yet he still decided to throw Jim Leyritz a slider in the 1996 World Series-yes, still bitter 14 years later.)
c. Here are highlights from Chapman's outing on Friday night.
d. We have to congratulate the Texas Rangers who on Saturday clinched the AL West. The franchise that has been in existence for 50 years as the Senators/Rangers has gone 1-9 all time in the postseason. Will that improve in a couple of weeks?
e. Before the Braves won on Sunday they were 0-10 in their last 10 games when they had 86 wins. That includes an 0-6 to end the 2009 season and an 0-4 this week.
f. Marlins Scott Cousins is the first player to hit a triple in consecutive pinch-hit appearances since Willie McGee in 1982. Willie McGee now there was a ballplayer.
g. I knew Taskashi Saito has been very good for the Braves this season, but I had no idea he had been this good. Saito has made 55 appearances with a 2.52 ERA, holding opponents to a .196 average and averaging 11.57 strikeouts per nine innings. In his last 16 appearances, he has allowed no earned runs with 20 strikeouts and one walk.
h. The only two seasons that Adrian Beltre has ever hit over .300 and ever driven in over 100 runs are in his contract year of 2004 with the Dodgers when he finished at .334 with 121 RBIs and his contract year this season.
i. Who knew that the Royals are the only team that hasn’t lost a game when leading after the eighth this season (49-0). What does that say about Joakim Soria.
j. How about this stat on the Diamondbacks that Coach Smoak will not like. The Diamondbacks broke the major league mark of 1,399 strikeouts Tuesday, fanning six times to get to 1,403. The main whiff artists are Mark Reynolds (206), Adam LaRoche (163), Justin Upton (152), Chris Young (137), and Kelly Johnson (136).
k. The last Pirates pitcher to record back-to-back double-digit-win seasons was Josh Fogg (11-10 in 2004, 10-9 in 2003).
l. In Sunday's Rays-Mariners game 12 of the 18 batters had a batting average of .240 or less. I think that says more about the Mariners than the Rays.
m. Reds first basemen Joey Vatto is making a play at the NL MVP as he has homered in 2 straight games, in 3 of his last 4 games and in 5 of his last 13 games.
n. Can you give Pujols MVP with his team not making the playoffs?
o. Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano has appeared in 88 games this year. If he appears in one more he will break the franchise record which he currently holds.
p. How is Cole Hamels 0-4 against the Mets this season?
q. Before the Phillies lost on Saturday night, not only did they lose their 11 game winning streak, they also had a 30 game streak going when they scored first till loss to Mets. Their last loss before Saturday was 7/19
r. Alex Rodriguez ranks 19th all-time in RBI with 1822 -- but with 39 more RBI, he'll move up to 11th all-time and pass Mel Ott.
s.Troy Tulowitzki might be one of the best 5 players in baseball and he has 40 RBI in September, breaking the team record for one month set by Dante Bichette (39 RBI in June '96). Babe Ruth has the record for RBI in September with 47.
t. In 5 September starts including today's loss to the Mariners, James Shields of the Rays was 0-3, 7.00 with a .333 opp BA. Not want you want going into the playoffs.

5. MLB Power 5
1. Minnesota Twins-Does anyone want to play outside in the Twin Cities in late October? I got no problem making a trip there with the Braves.
2. Tampa Bay Rays-Besides James Shields you have to love this teams starting rotation.
3. New York Yankees-
4. Philadelphia Phillies- If I did not hate these guy so much I would love them for the way that they play
5. Texas Rangers- Have set 3 man rotation of Cliff Lee, CJ Wilson, and Colby Lewis for the playoffs

Halftime

This week's song that Smoak and I use to rock out to while driving the mean streets of Sylvania is Disarm by the Smashing Pumpkins. Last week trivia answer was answered correctly by both the Admiral and Andrew Walters. Since both are a big time Vandy Alumni they knew that the last SEC win for the Dores before last weekend was against UK in 2008. This week's trivia question is: When was the last time the Dawgs started 0-3 in SEC play?

6. NFL Power 5
1. Green Bay Packers- Excited to see the game tonight with the monsters of the midway
2. Pittsburgh Steelers-3-0 without their QB and playing great defense. Look out AFC.
3. New Orleans Saints- Cant knock them for losing to the Falcons in OT after short week.
4. Chicago Bears- Can Jay Cutler get away from the Packers pass rush?
5. Indy Colts- I know they have a loss and Chiefs are undefeated but who actually thinks Chiefs can beat the Colts?

7. NCAA Power 5
1. Alabama- Mark Ingram gained 80 of his 157 rushing yards against Arkansas after a defender made contact with him. Ingram has gained almost 50 percent of his rushing yards this season after contact.(Take notes Mr. Ealey)
2. Ohio State- The 73 points scored on Saturday were the most the Buckeyes have scored since 1950 when they scored 83.
3. Boise State- The Broncos are now 6-1 against BCS conference teams in the last four seasons.
4. Nebraska-If I cared about style points I would probably drop them out of the Power 5. A win is a win is a win even if it is only 17-3 against the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State.
5. TCU- The Horned Frogs have now won 18 straight regular-season games and 30 of 33 games overall.

8. Ten Moments in Sports I Wish I Would Have Attended
1. Braves Win The World Series-The only championship won by a professional team in the city of Atlanta.
2. UGA wins National Championship - A Sugar Bowl win over the Irish in the Sugar Bowl. It is true you can not spell Sugar without U.G.A
3. 1980 Winter Olympics- Team USA led by college players beats the professional Russians in hockey to win Gold. Watch the movie Miracle if you do not know this story.
4. First ever game at Yankee Stadium-Babe Ruth homers and the announced attendance was 74,217 (with another 25,000 turned away). When asked about the new stadium the Babe said it was "Some Ball Yard"
5. Jordan's Final Shot - How memorable is this shot?
6. The Greatest Game Ever Played- Colts-Giants in old Yankee Stadium.
7. UGA goes to the Final Four-The only Final four in school history in 1983-lost to NC State in the semifinals.
8. Buck Belue to Lindsay Scott-Maybe greatest play in UGA football history.
9. Wilt scores 100- Greatest game ever.
10. Colts win the Super Bowl-In the rain and against the Bears no less.

9. What I Read This Week

Once again what I think are multiple good reads this week. The first article is written by S.L. Price and comes from the Sports Illustrated vault. Published in late August 1997 Price takes a look at then Marshall wide receiver Randy Moss. Moss who lost scholarship offers from Notre Dame and Florida State before landing in Huntington, West Virginia is a complicated person today, think how complicated he was as the nation's best football while playing at Marshall. Also interviewed for the story was Red Dawson who get to know better in the movie, We Are Marshall.

The second read is an excerpt that appears in Vanity Fair from an upcoming novel titled Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan. The only person from the this time period that fascinates me more than Sinatra is JFK. The title of the excerpt is The Night Sinatra Happened. Very captivating.

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. TV had a pretty good return to the fall season. I enjoyed How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family. Did not have time yet to see The Office, 30 Rock or Big Bang.
b. I absolutely loved Boardwalk Empire. Steve Buscemi is very good and it is about time he has a show for himself. For those that do not know Boardwalk Empire is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era. The show is adapted from Nelson Johnson's book, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter of The Sopranos.
c.Not only is the very talented Winter involved but so is Martin Scorsese, who directed the Pilot episode. From what I read, Scorsese and Winter would meet once a week to review what went on and Scorsese would have comments and suggestions. Martin Scorsese is expected to continue to be creatively involved in the ongoing production and if the series continues he would like to direct more episodes.
d. Boardwalk Empire's premiere episode gained HBO's highest ratings for any premiere since 2004's Deadwood. How does that happen opposite the Manning Bowl last Sunday night? I know that game was a dud but come on.
e. How many of you gentlemen saw Katy Perry on SNL? Wow.
f. Apparently this video with Katy Perry and Elmo created a stir with the Sesame Street crowd. I do not see many Dad's complaining.
g. The skit with New York David Peterson was probably the funniest thing I will see on tv this week. Hilarious.
h. I randomly found this top ten list this week. This list is titled Top Ten Urinals. Some cool stuff here.
i. Speaking of urinals, I love going into old buildings and finding urinals like these. If I ever get rich I will have some of these in my Man Bathroom which will be of off my Man Room.
j. Where am I going with the last two thoughts?
k. Saw the Amazing Race Sunday night, very good start to the season and this clip from the show is about as good as it gets.
l. I should also point out that the Mother-Daughter team both have Georgia ties with the mother residing in Cumming and the daughter going to the greatest school in the world. The University of Georgia. In all seriousness, this is a great read on the team.
m. I also saw this morning where Southwest has now purchased Airtran. I wonder if my bags will fly free on Airtran. Also, great job by Southwest getting into Atlanta market something they have wanted to do for a while.

Quote of The Week
Comes from Bill Cowher on NFL Today.

Brett Favre has a better rapport with his receivers in the jean commercial than he does with the Vikings.

Text of The Week

From me to my Dad at 7:05 Monday (today) morning after the first day of boot camp.

Did first day of boot camp today....I think I'd rather be fat than do that again.

Tweet of The Week
Comes from @EricStangel

Braylon Edwards arrested for DWI. His blood-alcohol was .16, then they added on another.15 for taunting. Not good.

Picture of The Week I
This is what the skies around the Little Apple (Manhattan, Kansas) looked around noon time on Saturday. A little scary if you ask me.

Picture of The Week II
Below you will see Khagendra Thapa, who is expected to be the world's shortest man next month when he turns 18, checking out the legs of Miss Nepal beauty pageant winners during a news conference in Kathmandu. Who am I to judge?

Have a wonderful week and GO BRAVES!!!!

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

2010-09-20T09:13:00.000-04:00

My apologies for the lack of 10 Things the past few weeks. For about a month we had no internet at the house. Then the last two weeks I have been way to busy to put this together. Hopefully, I can stay on task and write one of these every week now. As always your thoughts, comments, praise ~~and criticism~~ is appreciated.

1. UGA Thoughts
Not really sure where to begin with this game. I did realize that the defense would sometimes have blown coverages in the secondary but the amount of issues and blown coverages has been alarming this season. I am starting to wonder if UGA needs to find its present day Will Muschamp or Kirby Smart to play safety and tell everyone what to do on every play. Another thing that bothers me is for the first three quarters of the game UGA only ran out of two formations. The I and the Wildcat. While we were having problems blocking the Razorbacks why not throw bubble screens out of a 3 or 4 wide set? What ever happened to the sprint draw out of the shotgun formation that was a staple since Richt arrived on campus in 2001?

Here are some quick thoughts/questions from me?
-Phil Steele ranked our offense line #1 in the country, when are we going to see that group?
-Washaun Ealey- You will never collect an NFL game check until you learn how to pick up a blitz. Your effort on our last offensive play may keep you from getting drafted in three years. Yes it was that bad.
-With our recievers struggling to get open in the first three quarters, how come we only had a tight end catch one pass. Tight End is where UGA has a competitive advantage in my opinion.
-Why does it seem Bacarri Rambo has regressed not progressed from last season?
-Aaron Murray might be a redshirt freshmen and make freshmen mistakes but I do know one thing: Mr. Murray will be a special QB.
-For the third straight game Grantham's defense has allowed less points in the second half than the first half. Now if we can correct the problem of allowing the opposing team to score in the last two minutes of each half like they did Saturday we might be in business.
-Drew Butler was awful punting on Saturday. If we get anything from him on his last kick, we probably have overtime in Sanford Stadium.
-I see alot of things I like about this team and the direction of the program. The only thing stopping us from blowing the lid off of this program are a lot of small details. It is the little things that make the biggest differences.
-Did anyone else notice UGA had 392 yards of total offense? By the way this was only 41 yards less that Arkansas's total.
-Why does Richt not use his 4th Quarter pep talk at the start of the game?
-Thinking about driving to Miss State-anyone want to ride with?

2. College Football Thoughts
a. For my money the Nebraska Cornhuskers were the most impressive team in college football Saturday. The famed black shirt defense might be back. They held Jake Locker to 70 yards passing only completing four passes in twenty completions.
b. The Cornhuskers also rushed for 383 yards and netted 533 total yards in a blowout win over Washington.The Cornhuskers put up 56 points, the most they've scored away from the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium since the 2000 Alamo Bowl. Just impressive. I am very intrigued with their October 16th contest against Texas in Memorial Stadium.
c. I know it was against Duke but the Crimson Tide were still impressive Saturday afternoon. Alabama's Mark Ingram is the first running back from a BCS conference to gain over 150 yards on fewer than 10 carries in the last five seasons.In fact, after 9 carries, Mr. Ingram had 151 yards.
d. Very interested to see if Saban can design some blitzes to get to Mallet. Something UGA could not do Saturday. The next three weekends will be big for the Tide. Trips to Arkansas and South Carolina with a visit from the Gators in the middle.
e. Speaking of South Carolina, they have to be thinking the SEC East is theirs to win. The one thing working against the Gamecocks is their schedule. They have to play at Auburn and at Florida, with Alabama and Arkansas both coming to Columbia. Not easy.
f. Got to give some love to the Vandy who snapped a 10-game conference losing streak dating back to 2008. The Commodores have beaten the Rebels four of the past six seasons. Who ya with?
g. The more I try to figure out the Pac-10 the less it makes sense to me. UCLA dominates a Houston team beating them 31-13 just one week after getting woodsheded by the Stanford Cardinal 35-0.
h. We all knew the Oregon Ducks were good, but did we know Stanford and Arizona would be as good as they have showed early this season.
i. I am becoming a bigger Jim Harbough fan each week. His Stanford team was impressive this week putting up 68 points against Wake Forrest. I know it was Wake Forrest but 68 points is 68 points. Tough break for the Demon Deacons as this game started at 11:25 eastern time Saturday night.
j. Quick week for Wake as the probably did not arrive to Winston-Salem at 11:00 Sunday morning and will have to travel this weekend to Florida State. Interested to get the Captain's point of view on the Noles being 19 point favorites this weekend and if all the travel affected the spread.
k. How does 1-2 Notre Dame get a vote in the AP poll?
l. I know I mentioned Will Muschamp earlier this article but he really has an impressive defense in Austin. Saturday night his Longhorns held Texas Tech to 144 yards. This marked the first time Tech has been held under 150 yards since 1990, when Miami held the Raiders to 93 yards.
m.Earlier this week ESPN published a 6 part series of Pat Forde following Mack Brown and the Texas program. Very intriguing read.
n. I would love to have the problems Florida has. I love how everyone is making a big deal out of the Gators going three games without scoring a first quarter touchdown. Did everyone think John Brantley would step right in and keep the offense rolling at the same rate as the last three years?
o. Let's not forget that 41 percent of the Gators team who traveled to Tennessee was either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
p. Watched majority of Auburn-Clemson while I was carousing Athens Saturday night. A good win for Auburn and I think Cam Newton is an unbelievable talent. However, I am not sold on the War Turkey's. We should know more about them this weekend when they play the Gamecocks.
q. How about the Michigan State-Notre Dame finish? We can break this one down from multiple angles but you got to respect Mike Dantonio and his fake field goal call. Here is a replay of the best play in college football this season so far. WOW.

r. This week the SEC has 6 teams ranked in top 15 of USA Today Top 25. That's never happened in either poll before since SEC expanded in 92. I am a big SEC homer but I have a hard time believing that of the 15 best teams in America, 6 play in the SEC.

3. NFL Thoughts
a. Did Tony Sparano really wear sunglasses inside the Metrodome yesterday?
b. Steelers had 7 first downs and 21 passing yards. And won. Titans 7 fumbles, 4 lost, and 3 interceptions. If Steelers' played defense like that last season maybe they would have gone a little better than 9-7.
c.. The Steelers 19-11 win only 3rd score like that in NFL history. and 2 yrs ago Steelers won ONLY 11-10 game in NFL History.

d. How good do the Packers look so far this season? I think best team in the NFL and their defense is also played well led by Clay Matthews. Matthews is first player in Packers history to have three sacks in two straight games.
e. Aaron Rodgers might be best QB in football and that is coming from one of the bigger Peyton Manning fans. On Sunday Rodgers was 19 for 29 for 255 yards and w touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown.

Rodgers now has 10 rushing TD's since 2008.. most of any qb in that time frame
f. Why do the Bills draft CJ Spiller and not allow him to be a factor in the first two games. One offensive touch yesterday was preceded by 14 yards the week before. How does Lee Evans not catch one pass? How does Chan Gailey get hired as an NFL head coach?
g. I followed some of the Bears-Cowboys game and that was not a good loss for Mr. Jones Cowboys. Why do we always hear about how good the Cowboys are and then have to watch them blow assignments, commit multiple penalties and multiple turnovers. For a team that has $166 million in salary commitments 0-2 is not what Jerry Jones is looking for. Furthermore if you combine the salaries of Kansas City and Tampa you end up just shy of $166.
h. I am intrigued by these stats from Mr. Cutler: On throws of less than 10 yards downfield Cutler was 18-21 for 3 touchdowns and a rating of 143.8. On throws of more than 10 yards Cutler's was 3-8 with no touchdowns or picks and a QB rating of only 79.2.
i. Next Monday night becomes very intriguing as the Packers-Bears meetup for lead in the division. I bet Gruden is already going nuts in preparation.
j. I watched a good bit of the Jets-Pats game and when Brady hit Moss right before halftime I thought the game was over and the Pats were going to cruise but the Jets answered with 21 straight points. Who would have thought Mark Sanchez could have lead the Jets to 21 straight points?
k. Speaking of QB's who had redeeming performances you have to love how Matt Ryan rallied the troops with over 250 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 117.3 QB rating. Ryan got killed this past week on Atlanta talk radio. It is weird how this town wants to run people out of town after one bad game on the road against a really good Steelers team.
l. Brandon Jacobs should be fined for throwing his helmet in the stands. What a moron.
m. Did not see the Colts manhandling the Giants on Sunday night. Did the Giants not watch the Texans film where you line up and hit the Colts D in the mouth?
n. Is Jim Caldwell's 15-3 start as head coach the best in NFL history?

p. For those wondering how important the first two weeks of the season are, please consider the following stats:

Teams that have started 2-0 have made the playoffs 64.1 percent of the time (107 of 167).
Teams that have started 1-1 have made the playoffs 40.7 percent of the time (111 of 273).
Teams that have started 0-2 have made the playoffs 13.0 percent of the time (22 of 169).

4. Baseball Thoughts
a. So far this season the Mets opponents have hit 12 grand slams. The Mets themselves have hit zero. I am not sure if this is the biggest discrepancy in history, but it is an intriguing stat nonetheless.
b. I ripped Dan Uggla alot this past season, no idea why I did that considering he is a Braves killer. Second, he is the first second basemen in history to have 4 plus 30 plus homer seasons.
c. How do the Rockies keep making playoff runs each September? It is not that easy to do what they do every October.
d. Carlos Gonzalez who might be one of the five best players in baseball was traded twice as a minor leaguer. How does that happen? The trades he was involved in are pretty interesting. In December of 07 he was traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks with Brett Anderson, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith to the Oakland Athletics for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson.
e. The second major trade for Carlos Gonzalez was in November of 2008 when the Oakland A's traded Carlos Gonzalez with Greg Smith and Huston Street to the Colorado Rockies for Matt Holliday. I wonder if the A's have second thoughts about that trade?
f. Speaking of the A's, rookie Chris Carter of the went 0-for-3 on Sunday to extend his streak to 0-for-32 to begin his career.
g. The Cubs just completed a 9 game road trip in which they went 8-1. The 8-1 record on 9-game road trip was best in team history, which dates back to 1876.
h. On Sunday the Cubs ad one of the more scarier moments I have seen on the baseball field in a long time. Tyler Colvin (played at Clemson) was impaled by a broken bat in upper left chest.Click here for scary video (ht Deadspin).
i. The Pirates swept the Diamondbacks this weekend. It was only the second time that PIT has ever swept ARI (2-game sweep in 1998).How has that not happened before?
j. Before yesterdays game Jason Heyward was hitting .333 with .446 OBP, .962 OPS over last 57 games. In September games Mr. Heyward has a .507 OBP. That last number is unreal.
k.The Braves came from behind to beat the Mets on Sunday, their 44th come-from-behind win this season. They trail only the Yankees (46) in that category.
l. How big is Andy Pettitte's return on Sunday for the Yankees? Words can not explain. The Yankees will probably go three man rotation for the playoffs using CC Sabathia and Pettitte as their #1 and #2. For their number three it will be a mixture for of Aj Burnett, Phil Hughes, and Mr Johnny Wholestaff. Very interesting to see if they can make this work.
m. How meaningless could the Red Sox-Yankees be the last three games of the regular season? Not want everyone had in mind when we first saw the 2010 schedule.
n. Everyone in MLB released their 2011 schedule this week. One thing that intrigues me is the Cubs visit to Fenway Park. This will be their first visit to the Fens since 1918. Hard to believe how close we were to a 2003 World Series of Cubs-Red Sox.
o. The Braves make interleague trips to the left coast visiting Anaheim and Seattle. Baltimore, Toronto, and Texas visit Turner Field next season.
p. Will the Rangers-Braves series be a World Series rematch? One can only hope.
q. We can worry about next year, next year. As of right now there are 4 teams with 3.5 games of the Braves. One of these teams (not the Braves) will win the NL West. Hopefully everyone out West can beat up on each other. However, the Braves just need to win and not worry about anything else.
r. Here are how the schedules breakout: Braves: 3 @ Philly, 3 @ Washington, 3 vs Florida, 3 vs Philly. The Rockies have 3 @ Zona, 3 vs Giants, 3 vs Dodgers, 4 @ St. Louis. The Giants have 3 @ Chicago, 3 @ Rockies, 3 vs Zona, 3 vs Padres. The Padres have 3 @ Dodgers, 3 vs Reds, 4 vs Cubs, 3 @ Giants.
s. I do not know what all this means but Go Diamondbacks!

5. MLB Power 5
1. Minnesota-I know the Rays are half a game better and the Yankees are full game better but in my opinion the Twins are more of a complete team.
2. Yankees- 4 Big home games this week at home against the Rays before Boston comes to the Big Apple for 3 next weekend. The Bronx Bombers finish on the road with series at Toronto and at Boston.
3. Rays- No more off days as the Rays have a 4 game series in the Bronx this week before series at home against Seattle and Baltimore before going to KC for for games to finish up.
4. Phillies- Hopefully we will not see them here next week.
5. Rangers- Hard to believe the Rangers basically have same record as third place Red Sox and they are in first place by 9 games.

Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to while youngsters in the greater Sylvania metropolitan area is The Verve Pipe's The Freshmen. I forgot how great this song is until I heard in Athens this weekend. This week's trivia question involves Vandy football. On Saturday Vandy broke a ten game SEC football losing streak. Who was the last SEC team that the Commodores beat before they beat Ole Miss? Bonus points if you can explain why Ole Miss fired David Cutcliff after the 2005 season.

6. College Power 5
1. Alabama-No team in College Football is rolling like the Tide. They may not lose until 2013.
2. Ohio State - Am I the only person who went to an SEC school that thinks Terrell Pryor is a legit talent?
3. Boise State- Would an undefeated Texas or Nebraska leap frog the Broncos at the end of the season. I say yes.
4. Texas- A road win with dominating defense is nothing to be ashamed of. The offense needs to get going.
5. Nebraska- The Big 12 North is such a joke. It will be worse with no Nebraska next season.

7. NFL Power 5
1. New Orleans Saints- Still #1 until someone can beat the man.
2. Green Bay Packers-Played two complete games. Their point difference of +34 is best in football. Very intrigued about next Monday night when they play the Bears.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers- If they keep getting defense like the past two weeks look out AFC.
4. Miami Dolphins- No other team has won two road games to start the season.
5. Chicago Bears-Are the Monsters of The Midway back?

8. Top Sporting Events I Want To Attend-US Soil
1. Super Bowl-What read blooded American male does not want to attend this event?
2. US Open-Tennis - Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing New York is the mecca for US Tennis. I lived in Queens for 15 months and did not once go to this tournament. Weak sauce by me.
3. Final Four- A great event usually held in a great city over a weekend in the best time of the year. (The Spring)
4. Kentucky Derby- Being born in Derby City, this is only natural.
5. Rose Bowl-The Granddaddy of them all. Very intrigued about tailgating at this stadium surrounded by the San Gabriel Mountains. What a beautiful scene.
6. BCS Championship Game - Bonus Points if the Dawgs are participating.
7. Alabama-Auburn- No two schools dislike each other like these two schools.
8. Michigan-Ohio St- Bo, Woody, The Big House, The Horseshoe. What great tradition.
9. Summer and/or Winter Olympics- In my opinion the Olympics capture everything in why we like Sports.
10. Beanpot Tournament - Random I know.

9. What I Read This Week

Couple good reads this week. The first one comes from the Washington Post and is written by retired Army Captain Blake Hall. Very moving article.

The second article comes from NY Times magazine and takes a look at NY Jets coach Rex Ryan. The NY Times followed Ryan for 5 weeks in writing this article. I am very fascinated by Ryan despite the fact I agree with him and his ways of doing things only about half the time. One thing we can not deny; he is a winner.

10. Non Football or Baseball Thoughts
a. I saw a couple of movie premiers last week and both were very good. The two movies were The Town and Wall Street: Movie Never Sleeps.
b. In my opinion The Town was the better of the two but you can not go wrong with either. Fenway Park was the setting for the final scene of The Town and all I have to say is AWESOME.
c. Jeremy Renner is really good in The Town and I would not be surprised if we see him up for a Supporting Actor award come the award season.
d. This week also marks the start of a new television season. I am looking forward to a new season of How I Met Your Mother tonight. Speaking of HIMYM, I absolutely love all the reruns being shown WGN.
e. Another show that returns this week is The Amazing Race. This probably the second greatest thing on youtube right now.
f. This is probably the greatest thing on youtube right now.
g. What new show should I watch?
h. Hopefully when can get more random thoughts next week when my life is not totally consumed by Football and Baseball.
i. Who are we kidding?

Quote of The Week I
"We just sucked"
Tom Brady on the Pats performance Sunday. This is my thoughts on his haircut.

Text of The Week

I deleted all of my texts like a moron on Thursday. Nothing appropriate from the weekend.So hear are few favorites from the website Texts From Last Night.

Come over and help me clean up your so-called "winter wonderland" that you made with the fire extinguisher in the kitchen last night.

she's on the floor slapping my dogs face with slices of pizza

I booked us a cruise for November. Lose 20 pounds and don't cheat on me before then.

Tweet of The Week

Comes from NFL Network Host @richeisen

Michael Vick with a touchdown pass and now Pac Man with a pick. I think 2006 is making it rain today.

Photo of The Week
How sick is that Team USA hat Santa is wearing? How sick is the hat Smoak is wearing? How about TMAC's antlers? By the way I can not find that hat for the life of me and good luck finding it for sale online.

Countdown to 2010 - #23 Travis Minor

2010-08-11T22:46:00.003-04:00

Minor was a four-year letterman for the Florida State Seminoles where he started 33 of the 43 games in which he played during his career, including 30 starts over his final three years. He finished his career with 3,218 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns on 664 attempts, while also catching 106 passes for 831 yards and three scores and is the school's third all-time leading rusher, trailing only Warrick Dunn (3,959) and Greg Allen (3,769). He led team in rushing all four years and was a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection as a senior when he rushed for a career-high 923 yards and five touchdowns on 181 carries, and tallied a career-best 42 receptions for 333 yards. He played in the Senior Bowl following his senior season. Coincidentally, Travis Minor and Warrick Dunn also attended the same high school. (Catholic High, Baton Rouge)

Captain's Memories: Travis Minor was a highly touted back coming into Florida State and had a very good career with the Seminoles. Regardless, Minor never really gets the credit he deserves and I think it's because of the ties to Warrick Dunn. WD is a god in Tallahassee and had just ended his college career when Minor came in. With Minor coming from the same high school many Noles fans expected another Dunn and instead they are completely different runners. Minor didn't have quite the shiftiness that Dunn did (who did though?) but he was a much tougher runner and could really lay a lick to the defense.

Minor was also hurt for much of his college career but played through it. Although no one ever knew all the injuries he battled Minor just continued to trot out there every Saturday and give his all.

The play I remember Minor for most was a run against UVA in his first start of his career. The hype machine was at its highest ever for Minor, unfortunately he'll never be remembered as fondly as he should be by Seminole Nation.

Countdown to 2010 - #25 Fred Biletnikoff

2010-08-09T22:06:00.002-04:00

Years: 1962-64

Position: Wide receiver

The Buzz: Biletnikoff could put on shows catching passes before offenses relied on the passing game. The Pro Football Hall of Famer played 14 seasons with the Oakland Raiders, catching 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns.

Stats: He caught 57 passes and 11 touchdowns during his senior season. Biletnikoff had 87 receptions for 1,463 yards and 16 touchdowns in his FSU career.

Honors: He became Florida State's first NCAA consensus All-American in 1964. The Biletnikoff Award is given annually to the top receiver in college football.

Great moment: Biletnikoff caught 13 passes for 192 yards and four touchdowns in a 36-19 victory against Oklahoma in the 1964 Gator Bowl.

Quote: "Every time I looked downfield, he was open, and every time I threw him the ball, he caught it. He caught the ball like he had glue on his hands." — quarterback Steve Tensi, quoted in the book Seminoles! The First Forty Years

Captain's Memories: None, duh... Although every receiver in history will be compared to Frederick because of the Fred Biletnikoff Award that honors the great receiver and his abilities.

No FSU video that I could find but this is a great video showing some amazing catches but also some very good football minds speaking his praises. BONUS: Al Davis is still alive and talking in this video!

Countdown to 2010 - #26 Willie Reid

2010-08-09T21:34:00.002-04:00

Reid's 210 all-purpose yards (79 rec., 98 punt ret., 33 kick ret.) and 83-yard punt return for a touchdown earned him Most Valuable Player honors in the first-ever ACC Championship Game, a 27-22 victory over Virginia Tech.

Out of Warner Robins High School in Kathleen, Georgia Willie Reid will be remembered for the play in the picture above against Virginia Tech in the ACC's Inaugural Championship Game. After a 3-3 halftime score FSU would get a stop early in the 3rd quarter and then Reid would take over. The Punt Return TD would spur a 24 point 3rd Qtr that allowed FSU to take control and win the game.

I looked far and wide but unfortunately couldn't find any video of that play but it was amazing, take my word for it.

Countdown to 2010 - #27 Terrell Buckley

2010-08-09T21:09:00.004-04:00

Cornerback Terrell Buckley owned most of FSU's interception records following his terrific three-year career from 1989-91. Buckley earned consensus All-America honors as a junior after setting a Seminole record with 12 interceptions in 1991. He became FSU's second Jim Thorpe winner following his junior campaign. He held the FSU career record for pass interceptions with 21 when he was inducted and was also one of the Seminoles' all-time great punt returners. He scored seven career touchdowns, four on interceptions and three on punts. His interception return for a touchdown on the second play of the 1991 game at Michigan was quintessential FSU football. He was the fifth pick in the 1992 NFL draft after his junior year and played over 15 years in the NFL.

Captain's Memories: T-Buck as he's officially known amongst Florida State fans was my generations Deion Sanders. I remember being completely sure no one would ever throw to Buckley's side because he would take everything in his vicinity back to the house. Hell, he was likely to pick-6 a throw to the other side of the field too. He was also electric on punt returns.

No interception was more important in his career than in the 1991 game against Michigan in the Big House. All the talk was about Desmond Howard (1991 was the season he flashed the Heisman pose) and Buckley was assigned to cover Howard all over the field.

Right out of the gate Michigan wanted to set a tone for the game and get Howard the ball. Well T-Buck knew this too and jumped the curl route and took it to the house. A tone was set alright as the Noles went on to win 51-31 in what some call the Greatest Game In FSU's History.

Two Bonuses in this game:

1 - If you're a football fan of any kind you'll recognize Gene Deckerhoff's voice as the play-by-play man on this video. Gene has been calling FSU games for about 30 years so I obviously grew up with him calling every FSU game I ever watched. However Gene also does basketball, baseball and Tampa Bay Bucs football.

Gene is one of the best play-by-play men ever in sports and just hearing his voice gives me goose bumps and gets me ready for the season. Don't ever retire Gene, FSU Football wouldn't be the same without you.

2 - We get to see a forlorn Elvis Grbac after he throws the pick to Buckley. We would all grow to know that Grbac look well as he stunk in the NFL and threw plenty of picks. That also brings back memories.

Countdown to 2010 - #28 Warrick Dunn

2010-08-05T20:04:00.003-04:00

Isn't that photo great? Go to hell Gaytors!

Captain's Memories: Warrick Dunn is on the short list of best athletes, and people, ever at Florida State University. he was the starting running back for the 1993 Championship team that also featured Heisman winner Charlie Ward, and he would go down in Florida State lore for a play early in his Seminole career.

Early on the game looked to be a blowout as the Seminoles built a 27-7 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Gators would make a comeback behind freshman Danny Wuerffel, who would lead Florida to two quick scores to cut the Florida State lead to 27-21.

Charlie Ward would win the Heisman trophy on what happened next.

With six minutes remaining in the game and the Seminoles facing a third down and 21, the Swamp was shaking so hard it registered as an earthquake.
Ward would not be fazed by the noise or the shaking. He would find the other talented freshman Warrick Dunn, who raced down the sideline for the 79-yard touchdown.

I remember absolutely losing my mind when Dunn broke free down the sidelines and I was convinced he was never gonna make the endzone, it seemed the field was 200 yards long. I'm pretty sure I peed just a little I was so happy.

I searched high and far for video of this play as it's possibly the best play he ever had at Florida State but it was deleted from YouTube for some reason. In the end I think this deletion may be a good thing though as I ended up finding a video that I think works better.

For as good a player Warrick Dunn was on the field he's an even better person off the field.

Dunn is from Louisiana, and according to Wikipedia:

"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Dunn challenged all NFL players, except for those who play for the New Orleans Saints, to donate at least $5,000 to the effort. The effort received over $5 million in contributions."

Warrick's long been known for his Warrick Dunn Foundation, started when he played for the home state Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However it's in small circles that he gets the praise he really should. If you're interested in finding out more about Warrick Dunn and his charities please google "Warrick Dunn Foundation" and donate to the cause; I make sure to do it every year.

In closing I want to say that Warrick Dunn is one of my favorite athletes I have ever had the pleasure of cheering for. I could have posted a list of his statistics at FSU, gone on about his role in bringing championships to Seminole fans, sang his praises for his generosity in giving back to the school or detailed the numerous athletic awards and achievements Dunn has been given for his prowess on the football field. However, I feel proud to root for Warrick Dunn the man, and that makes him one of the truly elite athletes of his era and a True Seminole.

GO NOLES!

Countdown to 2010 - #30 Keith Henderson

2010-08-05T09:08:00.000-04:00

For the next 30 days The Captain and The Coach will be counting down the days to the start of college football season. For each day we will look at a former UGA or FSU player that wore the jersey of the corresponding days left to kickoff on September 4th. Enjoy and come back daily.

#30 Keith Henderson

Henderson against the Clemson Tigers (Ht to DawgBone.net)

Coming to the University of Georgia from Cartersville High School Henderson played between the hedges from 1985-1988. While his primary position was fullback and he blocked for the likes of Tim Worley and Rodney Hampton, Henderson is best known for his performance against the University of Florida in 1985. Florida came into the game ranked number 1 for the first time in school history only to see Henderson rush for 145 yards on nine carries. He had two touchdown runs of 76 and 32 yards. As a team UGA ran for 344 yards on that glorious Saturday afternoon . In fact the writers at Gator Country called this loss the 5th most bitter in Florida history. Let's have Coach Vince Dooley give us the highlights.

Henderson ranks third all time in UGA history in average rush per career at 6.04 yards. His average of 6.77 yards gained per rush in 1985 ranks 5th. After his playing career days at the University of Georgia were finished he was drafted in the third round of the 1989 draft by the San Fransico 49ers. While with the 49ers Henderson played in Super Bowl XXIV which the 49ers pummeled the Broncos 55-10. His NFL career totaled four seasons 755 total yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.

Other greats who wore #30 include co-worker and fullback Scott Williams.

Countdown to 2010 - #29 Lawrence Dawsey

2010-08-03T22:30:00.006-04:00

Captain's Memories:

Dawsey was part of the "Fabulous Four" WR group at FSU in the late 80's and early 90's along with receivers Bruce Lasane, Terry Anthony and Ronald Lewis. All four guys made a visit back to FSU for the 2010 spring game in which they appeared in a flag football game featuring former Nole stars at halftime.

This was a joy because I was only about 9 years old when they all exhausted their eligibility and I didn't have much of a recollection of them. Dawsey looked like he could still suit up and be affective even at 42. He never really relied on his athleticism and was more known as a posession receive although he could turn on the jets when needed as evidenced below:

After being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Dawsey won the Rookie Of The Year award in 1991. Dawsey would stick in the NFL till 1999, last playing for the New Orleans Saints before moving on to WR coach at The University of South Florida.

Dawsey has now entered into this 4th season with the Noles as the WR Coach at his alma mater and is an integral part in a fantastic recruiting class last year, especially at WR. He is officially credited with being the key recruiter for the four 4-star WR's FSU received a commitment from in February 2010 (Kenny Shaw, Christian Green, DeJohsua Johnson, Greg Dent).

If he continues down this successful path with the current FSU coaching staff then I suspect Lawrence Dawsey will be more remembered for his coaching exploits for FSU than his playing career, but he will be remembered.

Finally, a bit more perspective on Mr. Dawsey courtesy of NoleFan.Org: After the 1990 season, Lawrence Dawsey was awarded the Crenshaw award. In 1989 he had been a member of the famous FSU "Fabulous Four" group of wide receivers. After the others had exhausted their eligibility, Dawsey came back for another year. Throughout his senior season, he was not only the team's leading receiver but maintained a major leadership role as well. He was regarded as a "blue-collar receiver" who was not particularly fast but who "got the job done." As a result, at the end of the season, he was an Associated Press and Football Writers Association first team All-American selection and made a number of other all star lists as well in addition to being designated as the Seminole that year "with the biggest heart."

Dawsey went on to play eight years in the NFL, the first five of which were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1997, he was inducted into FSU's Athletics Hall of Fame.