College Football Thoughts (Week 7)

I am hoping not, but it is looking like it has begun. That's right, the annual collapse of my beloved South Florida Bulls. After climbing to #21 in the polls, USF dropped last Thursday's game to #8 Cincinnati 34-17. BJ Daniels put up a hell of an effort. The kid is pretty much unsackable, as he was running for his life all night (thanks O-Line). I never saw a single player evade so many tackles. Unfortunately one of his scrambles led to an interception returned for 90 yards and set up a Cincinnati touchdown. The Bulls also did a good job of not letting Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike throw all over them. Unfortunately, Pike went down with an injury and the coaches did a terrible job of adjusting to Cincinnati's new game plan. The back up was a runner, and the Bulls have had a tough time defending running QBs all year. The Bulls have a tough match up Saturday in Pittsburgh, and will face the best defensive line they have seen all year. After watching what the Cincy d-line did to us, I feel very nervous about this. Give credit to the Bearcats for going into hostile territory and taking care of business. This team looks for real. Brian Kelly is an outstanding coach.

As expected, the Miami Hurricanes went out and took care of business against Central Florida with a 27-7 victory. The Canes face Clemson this week in a match up many believe could be a trap game. I do not see that happening as I feel Miami will win out and head to the Orange Bowl.

This was quite an entertaining week outside of my favorite teams. In addition, the first BCS standings were released with the top 5 being Florida, Alabama, Texas, Boise State, and Cinicinnati.

#5 Boise State escaped an upset loss to Tulsa, winning 28-21. I said earlier that Tulsa was the only team I saw remaining on Boise State's schedule with a chance to beat the Broncos. Unfortunately they will probably go undefeated and get in to BCS due to their cowardly scheduling. Maybe Idaho can pull it off November 14.

#3 Texas remained undefeated taking down #20 Oklahoma 16-13 in the Red River Shooutout. The Sooners took a big blow after Sam Bradford reinjured his shoulder in the first quarter. This was a great defensive battle which Oklahoma seemed to dominate most of. However, they were unable to hold on to the win, and their shot at a BCS game is all but gone.

In the biggest upset of the week, #7 Ohio State lost to unranked Purdue 26-18. Many do not feel Jim Tressel is properly utilizing quarterback Terrelle Pryor. My response to that is it serves Pryor right for not going to a school that runs the offense he is best suited for. Michigan looks pretty tempting now, huh Terrelle?

Biggest scandal of the year goes to #1 Florida's robbing of Arkansas 23-20. Now if the terrible officiating did not happen, I'm not saying Arkansas would have won for sure. But you do have to feel something is not morally right with Urban Meyer. Gainesville would have not been happy losing on homecoming to a 24 point underdog. I call scandal FAIL. The Gators will get there's in due time.

#25 Notre Dame gave #6 USC all the could, losing 34-27. I have not been on the Jimmy Clausen bandwagon, but I now believe he is legit. He kept his team in the game down to the last play, even after they appeared to be out of it.

#15 Nebraska failed in handling two decent opponents back-to-back. They were killed, at home, by unranked Texas Tech 31-10. The score was 24-3 heading into the 4th quarter. Nebraska can still win the Big 12 North, but I am certain that if they make it that far, they will lose to the winner of the South division.

#19 Georgia Tech took down #4 Virginia Tech 28-23 in the battle of the engineers. The Coastal Division of the ACC is now wide open, with Virginia currently in first. That ends this week, as I feel they will lose to Georgia Tech. Which in turn will put Miami atop of the division.

#2 (but my #1) Alabama took care of business against #22 South Carolina. It was not the prettiest offensive performance by the Tide, but the defense looked dominant only giving up six points. I really want Alabama to stick i to Florida in the SEC championship. I hope both are undefeated until then. Never mind, I will be happy with any Florida loss.

Games of note this week:
#12 Georgia Tech at Virginia
South Florida at #20 Pittsburgh
Clemson at #10 Miami
#13 Penn State at Michigan
Oklahoma at #25 Kansas
#8 TCU at #16 BYU

Here is my Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Cincinnati
6. Miami (FL)
7. Boise State
8. LSU
9. Iowa
10. TCU
11. Georgia Tech
12. Oregon
13. Penn State
14. Virginia Tech
15. Oklahoma State
16. Pittsburgh
17. Houston
18. Utah
19. West Virginia
20. BYU
21. Ohio State
22. Kansas
23. Texas Tech
24. Boston College
25. South Florida

College Football Thoughts (Week 6)

As promised, I have returned. Hopefully this will not be temporary. I do enjoy writing, but have found my laziness tends to get the best of me. Maybe we will just call it writer's block.

Anyways, to the football. I will first start (as I normally do) discussing the teams important to me. My Alma mater, the University of South Florida, is heading in to a huge game this Thursday against Big East foe Cincinnati. Both teams are 5-0, and have been quite impressive this year. Cincinnati is ranked #9 and boast an impressive offense led by quarterback Tony Pike. A kid whom many have on their Heisman Trophy watch list. However, Cincinnati has not been truly tested this season, with their toughest game thus far being at Oregon State (no disrespect to the Beavers, but they are not the same as last year). #21 USF has not been tested too much either. In week 4 we went up to Tallahassee, and beat then #18 Florida State 17-7. As the weeks go by this win looks less and less impressive since FSU is now 2-4 with what seems as the worst having yet to come. More on them later. Hopefully the people of Tampa will unite and come together for this big game. A full Raymond James Stadium is tough for the opposition, and I will be there full force screaming my head off for my beloved Bulls. I expect this to be a close game, and too tough for me to call. My heart says the Bulls, but I have not had a great feeling about this one since the end of the first half against Syracuse two Saturdays ago. The defensive line will need to repeat the performance they had against FSU, and BJ Daniels will have to put the offense in a position to score. Our running game has been less than stellar, so it is going to lie on the freshman signal caller's arm and legs.

My other team, the Miami Hurricanes, are off to a more than impressive start. If anyone would have told me at the beginning of the season, they would be 4-1 after playing Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, and Florida A&M, I might have considered them clinically insane. FAMU was the only sure lock in my book, with them most likely losing the rest. Jacory Harris has looked very poised, and the offense has been great under Mark Whipple thus far (with the exception of the VaTech game). The defense has been great as well. Allen Bailey is the best player you never heard of. No doubt in my mind he should be a first round pick in the 2011 draft. The Canes handled FAMU quite easily, winning 48-16. Miami travels to Orlando to take on Central Florida this Saturday, and I fully expect the Canes to be 5-1 after that game and continue to their ascent up the polls.

In other recaps, #21 Nebraska won 27-12 over #24 Missouri last Thursday. I have been skeptical of Nebraska all season, but with this win and losing only 16-15 to Virignia Tech, I am becoming a bit more of a believer in them as a Big 12 favorite. Their game against Texas Tech will be a good measuring tool. Let's see how they handle two decent opponents back-to-back.

The big contest Saturday saw #1 Florida head into Death Valley to take on #4 LSU. The big story of the game was if Florida's Tim Tebow would be able to play after suffering a pretty severe concussion two weeks earlier. Sure enough, Tebow was out on the field and led his team to a 13-3 victory, ending LSU's 30+ (I believe 32) game winning streak at home during night games. Florida's defense was dominant, but their offense was less than stellar. In my opinion this was due to Tebow coming off the injury, and because LSU's defense is underrated. No one gave the Tigers a chance, but they killed themselves with several stupid offside penalties. Florida is definitely beatable, and at the moment they are not looking like the the number 1 team in the nation.

That title should go to Alabama. The Tide rolled into Oxford and beat #20 Mississippi 22-3. Jevan Snead is very overrated as his offense was only able to muster a field goal. And love him or hate him (I'm on the hate side), you have to respect Alabama coach Nick Saban. The man has returned that program to glory in only a couple seasons.

The only unbeaten team that went down was #17 Auburn, losing 44-23 to unranked Arkansas. I feel Arkansas is a lot better than advertised, and their quarterback Ryan Mallett is a first rounder in my opinion. Florida may have a tough time with Arkansas this week.

Sam Bradford made his return from his shoulder injury and #19 Oklahoma handled Baylor easily, 33-7. This was a good warm up for Bradford as they will take on #2 Texas this week in the Red River Shootout. Texas defeated Colorado 38-14, surviving a rough first half in which Texas was down 14-10.

#12 Iowa is still undefeated after a thrilling 30-28 win over Michigan. The Hawkeyes are looking pretty good, but I do not see them winning out. They have to play at Ohio State in November.

#22 Georgia Tech defeated Florida State 49-44, in what was the worst display of defense I have ever seen. You have to feel bad for FSU quarterback Christian Ponder whom has done everything he can for this team. If his defense was not so bad, he could be the front runner for the Heisman. Unfortunately that award has become more about team rather than individual performance. The end of Bobby Bowden is near, but since that has been all over the news, I will not discuss that situation anymore. Just know that he should be gone after this year, and all Bobby apologists (seasoned FSU fans in particular) do not care about that program getting better.

Games of note for the coming weekend:
#8 Cincinnati at #21 South Florida
#20 Oklahoma vs. #2 Texas
Arkansas at #1 Florida
#6 USC at #25 Notre Dame
#4 Virginia Tech at #19 Georgia Tech
#22 South Carolina at #2 Alabama

Here is my Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech
5. USC
6. Boise State
7. Miami (FL)
8. Cincinnati
9. LSU
10. Ohio State
11. Iowa
12. Oregon
13. Penn State
14. TCU
15. Georgia Tech
16. Nebraska
17. Kansas
18. Oklahoma State
19. South Florida
20. Oklahoma
21. South Carolina
22. Houston
23. BYU
24. Notre Dame
25. Utah

The Return of the Blog

This is just a quick notice that I will finally be back to blogging on a weekly basis. It will begin this week with my thoughts on the College Football season thus far. The focus will be on South Florida's big match up this week against Cincinnati. Stay tuned, and I apologize for the six month hiatus.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

Over a month since I have done a beer review, but have I got a dandy for you. Sierra Nevada comes out with a seasonal Barleywine Style Ale and it is fabulous. It is a very hoppy, bitter ale (similar to an IPA) with a citrus flavor. The color was a dark amber, but opaque enough to see through it a little. There was heavy lacing on the glass, which is what I love to see. The taste was quite strong and is not for the faint at palate. And with a 9.6% ABV ratio, one or two is enough to do you in, so sip it slow.

With a $10.99 per six pack price tag it is a bit pricey, but well worth it. When I grabbed it from the shelf it was in the wrong spot an I thought it would only be $8.99, so I was a little upset at the checkout line. However, after the first bottle I knew it was worth every penny. Highly recommended and well deserving of an A.

Happy Drinking!

MLB Preseason Predictions

So it has been almost a month since I have posted, and I apologize for my laziness. For this post I am going to list my predictions for the MLB season. Yes, I realize it has already started, but what has happened so far will probably be a lot different than the rest of the year. A baseball season has never been foreshadowed by the first week of the season. Here are the picks.

DIVISION CHAMPIONS

NL East: New York Mets

Next to the AL East, this is going to be the most competitive race in baseball. The Mets have a great lineup and even better depth after acquiring Gary Sheffield. Look for the Braves and Marlins to both contend. The Phillies surely have the bats and defense to defend their title, but I am not sure the starting pitching can stay consistent or healthy enough. The Atlanta Braves made what will turn out to be the best off season pick up in Derek Lowe, and the young Marlins rotation is one of the best in baseball (when healthy). The Florida Marlins also have this guy named Hanley Ramirez whom I consider the best player in baseball. Sorry Washington, but you have a ways to go.

NL Central: Chicago Cubs

I honestly feel this is the year that the curse of the goat can be broken. The Cubs lose only Kerry Wood from last year's team and they add Milton Bradley to their lineup which takes care of a rotational outfield position they have had the last few years. Their starters are older, but the experience will prove helpful. The only team I see having a chance to contend is St. Louis, but with health issues in their rotation (particularly Carpenter) I am not sure they have enough stamina. Their bullpen is also a concern. The Cincinnati Reds will be much improved, and I can see them making a push for this division next year.

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

I really like everything about the Dodgers. Great lineup, great rotation, and solid bullpen. They have a good mix if young and old, and a guy named Manny Ramirez who knows how to get it done. Arizona has a great rotation, but I don't believe much in their lineup. Everyone else in the division is an after thought.

AL East: Tampa Bay Rays

It will be the best fight for a division title this season. I am going with my heart a bit and picking the Rays to repeat as Champs in the division. However, they got rid of some dead weight in Johnny Gomes, picked up Pat Burrell, and did not dump any significant contributors from last year. It will be a shame that either the Rays, New York Yankees, or Boston Red Sox will be left out of the playoffs. They appear to be the best three teams on paper and any of them can win it. I think C.C. Sabathia is the key to the Yanks successes this year and will contribute greatly. I am really starting to hate Red Sox nation and hope they eat crow this year. Both Toronto and Baltimore will make great strides, and I would not doubt either of them being the Rays of this year.

AL Central: Minnesota Twins

There are a couple teams that could take this division, but I am going to go with the Twins. They have experience at most of their positions and a solid rotation. I think all teams can contend, and yes, that means the Kansas City Royals. I still think they are too young, but they will not be the bottom feeders of the major leagues. Mark my words.

AL West: Texas Rangers

Another decision that was tough. I think it is between Los Angeles, Oakland, and the Rangers. Texas has massive power and run scoring potential which may help make up for their terrible pitching. I like Oakland, but they will need pitcher Justin Duchscherer to come back from the disabled list fast. Do not count Los Angeles out either. Mike Scoscia is a great manager and will keep them in the hunt all year.

WILD CARD TEAMS

NL: Philadelphia Phillies

The defending world champions are too good of a team to stay out of the playoffs. I see it coming down between them and St. Louis, with Florida in the mix (prediction of the heart). 

AL: New York Yankees

As stated earlier, this could easily be Boston too. I used to hate the Yankees more than anything, but Boston is slowly taking over as my most despised team and I just really do not want them making the playoffs. 

PLAYOFF RESULTS

National League Championship: Los Angeles over Chicago

A battle of two historic teams. An intriguing match up that undoubtedly go into a 7 game series. I think the Dodgers have just a little more up their sleeves and make it into the World Series on the back of Manny and their pitching. Bartman is hanging around there somewhere.

American League Championship: Tampa Bay over New York

The Rays return to the World Series for the second straight year. After a year wiser in playoff situations, they will coast through the first round and then beat the Yanks in six. Watch for rookie David Price to be huge in the postseason for Tampa.

World Series: Tampa Bay over Los Angeles

I know most will think I am picking the Rayas because I am fond of them. Part of that is true, but the other part of me has witnessed how this team can pull out wins. They play great defense, pitch well, and I believe they will be much stronger at the plate. Evan Longoria will soon be the All-Star third baseman of the AL, Price is going to be a beast of a pitcher, and if they can find an option at closer a little more reliable than Troy Percival, they will be tough to stop. Look for a 7 game series, and which ever team has the home field advantage will take the title. Since the AL has been so dominant in the All-Star game, I do not foresee that changing.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

NL Most Valuable Player: Hanley Ramirez

This has a lot to do with what the Marlins' record looks like come end of the season, but no where else will you find a player that can get on base, display power, and run as fast as Hanley can. He is reliable night in and night out.

NL Cy Young: Johan Santana

People forget how good of a season he had last year because the win total was not there. I feel things will change in his run support luck, and they will realize he is the best pitcher in the NL.

NL Rookie of the Year: Jordan Schafer

I could easily have gone Cameron Maybin, but I did not want to seem too much like a homer. Schafer is going to be a stud, and will help the Braves to a much improved record.

AL Most Valuable Player: Miguel Cabrera

Some many candidates to choose from. I could have gone Mark Teixeira, Evan Longoria, or someone like Grady Sizemore. Cabrera is just consistent, and without him the Tigers would have no power. I could see him hitting 35 homers and 120 RBI with a .320 batting average. 

AL Cy Young: C.C. Sabathia

He is just a great pitcher and will help the Yankee rotation out immensely. Usually slow to start the season, but he will pick it up. Keep an eye on Zack Greinke of Kansas City though. He will have a huge year.

AL Rookie of the Year: David Price

Most people are going with Matt Weiters, and for good reason. He is supposed to be a Mike Piazza at the catching position but with defense. I am going to stray from that and say Price because I have seen what he can do in pressure situations. Take a look at his ALCS performance against the Red Sox last year, and that was a shadow of things to come for this young man's career.

Stay tuned for a great year. Baseball is a wonderful game and I love every moment of the season. I will update my predictions after the All-Star break.