Preliminary BCS Games

Rose Bowl (Jan 1): Southern Cal vs. Illinois - Let me just say for the record that the Rose Bowl is run by a bunch of moron. Many analysts think Southern Cal and Georgia were playing as well or better than anyone at the end of the year (I would include Oklahoma in that group). The Rose Bowl gets Southern Cal as the PAC 10 winner, but instead of picking top 5 BCS team Georgia to give us one of the better bowl games of the season, they take Illinois who barely made the cut as a BCS eligible team. Why? They wanted to keep that foolish tradition of Big 10/Pac 10 in the Rose Bowl. That's stupid. They can continue calling the Rose Bowl "The Granddaddy of Them All", but the reality is that in my lifetime, the Rose Bowl has hardly been a game that I pay that much attention to. It's rarely been a factor in the title picture, and when it has, it's been a bad matchup to watch. Ironically, the best Rose Bowl I ever saw was the 2006 game when Texas beat Southern Cal for the national title. This was a matchup that never would have happened until the BCS system came into being. As for this game, I'm not saying Illinois can't win. They did beat Ohio State. Both teams have a bad loss - USC to Stanford, Illinois to Iowa. Illinois could actually have a better chance in this game than other Big 10 teams since they are built more for speed than your typical Big 10 squad. However, I think Southern Cal is better on both sides of the ball and should win this one.

Sugar Bowl (Jan 1): Georgia vs. Hawaii - In all honesty, this could be a laugher. The only chance Hawaii has is to turn this game into a shootout because they've got an offense that can score. Which is why a Hawaiian win isn't impossible. Any team that can score 554 points in a season can be dangerous. And Georgia has been known to throw in clunker this year. However, they just aren't on the level of a Georgia that can actually play defense. Some believe that Boise State's win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl last year is why Hawaii could be competitive. However, last year's Boise State team was much better than this year's Hawaii. Hawaii needed overtime to beat Louisiana Tech and San Jose State - two teams that had losing records. So, I think Georgia's got this one.

Fiesta Bowl (Jan 2): West Virginia vs. Oklahoma - I was leaning towards Oklahoma in this one from the beginning. I think with a healthy Pat White, West Virginia can beat anyone. However, I would take Oklahoma over anyone right now. They were rolling at the end of the year with their only late loss coming against Texas Tech when quarterback Sam Bradford was out hurt. But now there's a change in the situation with West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez leaving for Michigan. The easy school of thought is that the team will certainly be hurt with a smaller staff and flux at the head coaching position. On the other hand, you never know how players will react to stuff like this. Michigan basketball fired their head coach at the beginning of the 1989 NCAA tournament for accepting a job at AZ St. for the next year. As a 3 seed, they weren't a favorite to win it all, but they did just that under an interim coach. It's tough to tell how the Mountaineer players will react. The fans are angry (see yesterday's posting), but the players don't seem to be all that bent out of shape (but who knows about the locker room). I don't know if that is good or bad. Are they resigned to fate and going to come out flat? Or are they confident in themselves and wanting to prove they can win without him? I don't know, so I'm sticking with my original gut pick of Oklahoma.

Orange Bowl (Jan 3): Virginia Tech vs. Kansas - I'm not a big ACC fan this year. Or last year for that matter. The question for Virginia Tech is: are they better than when they got beat 48-7 at LSU? I'm sure they are. Their only other loss on the season was to Boston College. Kansas' only loss period was to Missouri by 8. I'm going with Kansas for the simple reason that they were second in points scored this year to Virginia Tech's 51st. Now, the perception is that Virginia Tech has a more powerful defense, but Kansas actually gave up fewer points this year. Even worse for Tech is that the top 25 in scoring offenses is full of Big 12 teams, but only one ACC team. That means Kansas faced higher scoring teams than Virginia Tech, but still held their opponents to fewer points.

Rest Of The Non-BCS Bowl Picks

Well, Mississippi State finally scored again in the Liberty Bowl (it was still the worst bowl game so far) so I'm 10-3 right now. Here are the picks for all the non-BCS bowls that I didn't get the first time around.

Armed Forces Bowl (Dec 31): California vs. Air Force - At one point Cal was 5-0 and ranked second in the country. They only won one game after that. I can't imagine they feel all that great being there. Air Force is playing well and probably up for this. On the other hand, Cal has responded well in previous bowl games. Then again, the Mountain West Conference is undefeated in bowl games, so I'm going with my brother's alma mater.
Humanitarian (Dec 31): Fresno St. vs. Georgia Tech - Tech just fired their coach after another less than great season. Fresno St. loves to take down the BCS teams. Trouble is Fresno isn't as good as past teams. Still, I think they take this one.
Sun (Dec 31): South Florida vs. Oregon - Easy call. With Dennis Dixon, Oregon was good. Without him, they were really bad. They won't have him.
Music City (Dec 31): Florida State vs. Kentucky - As I said before, FSU is missing 36 players. If UK loses this game, they should take up permanent residence in Nashville.
Chick-fil-A (Dec 31): Clemson vs. Auburn - My first thought was that Clemson barely beat a non-bowl SEC team in South Carolina so how can they beat Auburn. Then I remembered how bad Auburn looked in some games this year. This is a tough call because I wasn't impressed with either of them. I'll take Clemson.
Insight (Dec 31): Indiana vs. Oklahoma St. - Indiana had the feel good story of the year as the Hoosiers fulfilled the bowl dream of coach Terry Hoeppner who died in the offseason. Oklahoma State is led by national punchline Mike Gundy. The irony is that Oklahoma State has played better since Gundy benched the player he was giving such a spirited defense of. Still Ok. State gives up too many points.
Outback (Jan 1): Wisconsin vs. Tennessee - I don't think much of the Big 10, but I also don't think much of Tennessee when they play bowl games against teams from the Big 10.

NFL Break: I just watched another defensive back watch as Randy Moss runs right by him on a deep route. It's amazing how well receivers do when they aren't covered.

Cotton (Jan 1): Missouri vs. Arkansas - Arkansas got in this bowl solely by beating LSU to finish their regular season. Missouri was shafted into this bowl. Even though both Missouri's losses came to Big 12 champ Oklahoma, they still fell out of the BCS bowls. Two teams they beat, Kansas and Illinois, are in BCS bowls. Missouri belonged in a much better bowl and they'll take it out on Arkansas whether or not Darren McFadden plays.

Another NFL break: Eli Manning reverted to his national form as he destroyed any chance the Giants had of beating the Patriots with a horribly inaccurate pass that was intercepted 10 yards behind the receiver.

Gator (Jan 1): Virginia vs. Texas Tech - Virginia has a great defense. Texas Tech has a great offense. The question is whether or not Virginia's defense can slow Texas Tech's offense enough. I think they can do better than most, but the big problem is whether or not Virginia can score enough even if they do hold them. I'm thinking not. Tech's defense isn't that good, but Virginia only scored more than 23 points three times. If Duke and North Carolina can stop them, so can Tech.
Capital One (Jan 1): Michigan vs. Florida - Defending champ Florida had a disappointing season as they finished third in the SEC East. Michigan rebounded from their losses to Appalachian State and Oregon to do OK in the Big 10. Until they lost their last two. So, they are slumping, their two worst losses were to teams running the spread option and Florida runs the spread option. Gee, I wonder if I'm going with Michigan. Unlikely.

Last NFL break: This is how inept an Eli Manning offense is. The Giants had the ball at the Patriots 17 at the two minute warning stoppage with a 10 point deficit. They ran a play for 13 yards, and then dicked around enough that there next snap was with 1:20 on the clock. They ran one play in 40 seconds. Pee-wee teams can run a better hurry up offense.

International (Jan 5): Rutgers vs. Ball State - A bowl game in Toronto. Rutgers is so bad they lost to Louisville. Ball State hasn't beaten anybody. Still, I can't see Ball State beating Rutgers. Ball State can't run the ball, and Rutgers is good at stopping the pass. I think Ray Rice runs all over them.
GMAC (Jan 6): Tulsa vs. Bowling Green - Ah, the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Been there twice. Nice city. Should be a good game with plenty of offense. Neither team has much of a defense. I think Tulsa has a better offense. Maybe UL should have taken that Tulsa coach.

Penn State beat Texas A&M which makes me 11-3 in my bowl picks. Stay tuned in a couple of days for my five BCS Bowl picks.

Early Bowl and College Football Thoughts

Before doing my next group of picks, I thought I would take a look back at some previous games and other things of interest in the college game. At this point, I'm 10-2 in my previous bowl picks with the Liberty Bowl on now and the Alamo and Independence still to come.

Best game: I didn't get to watch the Hawaii Bowl which could be it. However, Central Michigan's comeback from being down 21 at the half to only losing by 3 was pretty exciting. Too bad they lost their chance by bloop kicking (short and high but returnable) after tying the score with just over a minute left. Not really too smart to let a team only needing a field goal start near midfield.

Worst game: This Liberty Bowl that I'm watching. It's 3-3 early in the second half. It's brutal. I'm not sure if either team will score again.

It was kind of ironic to hear some UK supporters say that Florida State shouldn't be in a bowl game because of some cheating. UK plays their basketball games in an arena named after a coach who cheated so much that the 1952 season was suspended. However, it should be embarrassing for FSU players because they were getting the answers to a test for an online music class. Even worse, it was an open book exam.

However, the fact that FSU will only have 43 scholarship players pretty much gives the Music City Bowl to UK which is a boon to UK fans. For a few more days, they can forget that they have a basketball team. Actually, John Clay of the local rag had a stupid column a few days ago saying the bowl game was lose-lose for UK. If they lose the game, UK looks like a bunch of schmoes for losing to a team minus 36 players. Even if they win, everyone says it's because FSU was shorthanded. That's BS. This is the Music City Bowl. Two years from now, only UK and FSU fans will remember anything from it. Tennessee barely beat FSU for the 1998 national title in the Fiesta Bowl, but no one remembers that the quarterback who got FSU to the Fiesta Bowl, Chris Weinke, was out for that game.

Rick Neuheisel was hired as the new UCLA football coach (hopefully his specialty is blocking on field goal attempts). I think it's nice that he's back in the college game because him being fired at Washington four years ago was bogus. He broke the NCAA rule against gambling by being in a NCAA basketball tournament pool. You know, the tournament that depends on pools for ratings which means more money for the NCAA.

West Virginia has filed suit against former coach Rich Rodriguez because his buddies have been publicly stating that Rodriguez wasn't going to pay the $4 million buyout that was in his contract if he left the Mountaineers (which he did for Michigan). One of Rod's good friends said that he was basically coerced into signing a new contract that included the buyout. Riiiiight. Yeah, WVU certainly twisted his arm with that 70% raise they gave him in the same contract. A contract is a contract. If it gives Rodriguez the opportunity to break it, he can leave. If it says he has to pay to do so, he has to pay.

Some people wonder why coaches are allowed to leave while under contract. It's because it's in their contract that they can. They just generally have to pay to do it. Some wonder why colleges don't put language in that forces them to stay the length of the contract. Easy. They know they may have to go grab someone else's coach if they get rid of the one they have. As part of their search, WVU has interviewed Central Michigan's head coach.

It's been pretty humorous to see how badly West Virginia fans have been taking Rodriguez leaving. The fact that WVU is going to fight so hard for the buyout (in most cases, it's negotiated down)is only one indication. He was heckled at an airport, his hometown removed a sign saying he was from there (to protect from vandals) and pretty much a total disowning. It's obvious why. When Bobby Petrino left UL, I wasn't that bent out of shape about it. I knew he was a mercenary (who could win which is why I liked him), but he didn't have any real connection to Louisville before taking an assistant position and later the head job. Rodriguez was a native West Virginian who played at WVU. It took me one game as a visitor to Morgantown to see West Virginians fans are to their football team what UK fans are to their basketball team. So, Rodriguez was idolized. Then he left. He didn't just leave. He proclaimed Michigan to be a dream job which pretty much stated that West Virginia sucked. For Mountaineer fans, he didn't just insult the school, he insulted the entire state. Then he threw salt on that wound by trying to steal recruits from WVU (before telling his former players he was leaving) and screwing up their future recruiting. To put it in a way many of my friends can understand, imagine Billy Gillipsie flopping and being replaced by John Pelphrey who eventually takes them to two Final Fours in three years. Then leaves to take the North Carolina job because it's a special situation there. Oh, and he takes a top five prospect with him. How do you think UK fans would view Pelphrey?

A report out there says Darren McFadden may have had a car (OK, a brand new Escalade) bought for him by a potential agent. That means he could be ineligible for the Cotton Bowl. Who cares? Sure, Arkansas can beat Missouri (they did beat LSU), but I didn't think they would with McFadden. And he's not coming back next year.

Week In Review

I guess the biggest story of the week might be the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. What I found shocking was how many people found it shocking. Let's look at the situation. Pakistan is a backwards-ass country with the hinterlands (and a good chunk of the state intelligence apparatus) pretty much out of control of the central government. Radical Islam has moved out of said hinterlands to the point that half the country gives Osama Bin Laden a big thumbs up. Bhutto was more pro-western than President Pervez Musharraf who has been targeted for assassination several times by extremist groups. Add to that the fact that she's a woman and the people who didn't like her followed an extreme misogynistic form of a religion that is pretty misogynistic to begin with. She didn't have a chance the moment she made it back to Pakistan.

So, who killed her? She had been receiving lots of threats from Islamists. Al Qaeda has claimed credit because chaos in Pakistan is in their best interests. While assistance in the murder by Pakistani intelligence isn't out of the question (as I said, they've been heavily infiltrated by Islamists), it seems pretty ludicrous to accuse, as some are doing, Musharraf of being behind it. The uproar that came from it doesn't help him at all. He may not have liked her or wanted her back in the country, but he traded immunity for her (her last time in elected office was very corrupt) in exchange for her (and her party's) support for his re-election bid. Musharraf was better off with her alive. So, obviously her supporters showed the rationality inherent to that region by blaming Musharraf. Which happens to be the same rationality of some presidential candidates here. I've got to love the responses from Barak Obama and Bill Richardson who want to withhold aid to Pakistan until Musharraf quits and "full democracy is restored." Brilliant. Let's get rid of one of our few allies in an Islamist heavy country with nuclear weapons and hope an election leads to something better.

I'm not really surprised that those two said something like that. As much as I hate to agree with John Edwards, his belief that Obama was ridiculous was spot on. I've found a lot of pronouncements from Obama to be rather silly. On the other hand, Richardson just wants some attention. Any attention. That guy is such a panderer that he told a bunch of pig farmers (commonly referred to as Iowans) that having the first caucus in Iowa is the will of God. Now, I don't claim to be a biblical scholar, but I did take Bible history in junior high (it was in the deep south) and in college. I don't remember a specific passage mentioning Iowa, but maybe it was one of the Songs of Solomon.

Unfortunately, the Iowa Caucus brings out a lot of stupidity in people. I've said it before. There is no way that a caucus in a podunk state like Iowa should get this much attention when it comes to nominating a presidential candidate. To begin with, a caucus is stupid. Unlike a primary election, voters have to register and sit through all day meetings before voting. Gee, I wonder if that depresses turnout? Plus, contrary to popular belief, Iowa doesn't tell you crap. Look at the winners since the caucus began in 1972 (1976 for Republicans). It looks like it picks a bunch of eventual nominees, but compare the years when it's competitive. By competitive, I mean there isn't an incumbent (ie Reagan, Clinton), a reigning VP trying to replace a President (ie Bush 1, Gore) or a party ordained nominee (Dole). That leaves three years (80,88,2000) that were competitive for Republicans and six for Democrats (72,76,84,88,92,04). Only once (2000) for Republicans and twice for Democrats (84,04) did the eventual nominee win Iowa. That means in a competitive year (like this year for both parties), there's a 66% chance the eventual nominee won't win Iowa. In fact, out of nine total competitive races for both parties, four eventual nominees (44% of the time) finished third or worse there. Tell me again why this friggin' state is so important?

However, there are still concerns about this election. Some people are so concerned that Obama will be assassinated (presumably because he's black) that they won't support him. Interesting. Wasn't Bill Clinton the first black president? No one took a shot at him. Well, outside of Hillary (and the rumor was she just used a lamp). Actually, if anyone shoots Obama, it will probably be Hillary if it looks like Obama is going to get the nomination.

On a lighter note, I've found out why women don't like the Three Stooges. A new study found that humor is a product of testosterone.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I give really crappy Christmas presents. I've found someone who does worse than me. A customer at a hot dog stand gave the proprietor a lottery ticket as a Christmas gift (or a tip) which showed she won $25,000 when she scratched it off. It was a fake.

Speaking of Christmas presents, a man in Tennessee is claiming that an MP3 player he bought for his daughter at Walmart was preloaded with porn. Now, when I saw he was waiting to talk to a lawyer, I figured it might be a scam. But, then I realized this is probably a common problem. My computer came preloaded with tons of porn on it. So much that I decided against trying to erase all of it.

Some may have read how a tiger escaped from it's enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo to get some payback at some taunters (maybe). It killed one person and seriously injured a couple more. Then the cops shot it because that probably seemed like a good way to stop the tiger from finishing off the other two. So, how does one of the moronic locals react? She protests that the cops should have waited for tranq guns before shooting the tiger. Strangely enough, my guess is her opinion may have been a bit different if she was the one being eaten.

Merry Christmas

Ah, the wonders of Christmas. To be honest, I was less tired at Christmas when I worked the night shift at Toys R Us than I am these days. Probably the travel. Leave on Thursday for Missouri, leave there for Madisonville, KY on Sunday, leave there on Monday for Louisville and back to Lexington on Tuesday night for work Wednesday. And yet I'm the lucky one since my brother left Madisonville for Alabama on Monday with three kids under the age of eight in tow. There's plenty to like about Christmas - tons of food, seeing the family, repetitive showings of A Christmas Story, listening to carols..........



but there are drawbacks. Mainly gift giving. I don't have a problem spending money on gifts, but I hate picking them out for other people. To begin with, I suck at buying presents. If no one tells me exactly what they want, there's going to be massive disappointment. Sure it's the thought that counts, but if it's a gift from me, the thought becomes "why the Hell did he give me this?". Secondly, it involves shopping which is one of my least favorite activities under normal circumstances. Add Christmas crowds to stores that routinely hire semi-retarded cretins and you have my vision of Hell on Earth. Well, that and a Dennis Kucinich administration. I'm perfectly willing to forgo presents to me in exchange for not having to buy them myself. Of course, there's not much altruism there. There is simply not much that I want for Christmas. If it's in a bottle or possibly wearing tacky, fishnet stockings, I might be OK with that kind of present. Otherwise, I'm unconcerned. And it's not that I have some hostility towards the commercialization of Christmas. After all, it is a birthday celebration (the commercialization of Easter is a completely different matter). I would just leave it mainly for the kids. Nothing says Christmas like watching your niece and nephews attacking a stack of presents like ravenous wolverines.

College Bowl Picks Part I

It's the bowl season. I'm not doing my picks based on point spreads, because I think it's nuts to bet on most bowl games. Too many variables screw up how they play out. Some teams have been off a month or more. Some teams are pumped to just be in a bowl, while others thought they would be in a better bowl and just may not be into it.

Instead of doing my bowl game picks all at once, I'm breaking it down into at least two sections. It might seem that I'm just being prudent by waiting until closer to game time to make selections. After all, the Fiesta Bowl has certainly changed with West Virginia's coach leaving for Michigan, and some Florida State players may end up suspended for the Music City Bowl. However, the fact is I don't have a lot of time at the moment, and bowl games start in two days. So, here are my picks for bowls between through December 30 (winners in italics):

Poinsetta Bowl (Dec 20): Utah vs. Navy - Navy lost their head coach to Ga. Tech, but kept their offensive coordinator who also specializes in the option. So offense should still be good. Utah's offense got a lot better as the season went on, but it still isn't in the same league as Navy's. Still, I'm picking Utah because their defense is a lot better than Navy's
New Orleans (Dec 21): Fla. Atlantic vs. Memphis - Memphis is hot after winning five of their last six games. Four of FAU's losses were to BCS conference teams. Their one conference loss was to LA-Monroe who also beat Alabama. Being the sentimental type, I'll go with former UL coach Howard Schnelleberger's FAU team.
Papajohns.com (Dec 22): Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss - I don't believe in karma, but Southern Miss deserves to lose for forcing out coach Jeff Bowers who has made them one of the most successful mid-major football programs in the country while spurning bigger name schools attempts to get him to leave. But I think they lose anyway because Cincinnati is a better team.
New Mexico (Dec 22): New Mexico vs. Nevada - This is a home game for New Mexico which is an edge. Nevada has a very potent offense which is an edge. I think the Mountain West Conference is better than the WAC. Add to that the fact that Nevada has a lousy defense and I'm taking New Mexico.
Las Vegas (Dec 22): BYU vs. UCLA - UCLA beat BYU in week 2, but they swooned after that, while BYU went on a roll. Outcome will be different this time.
Hawaii (Dec 23): East Carolina vs. Boise State - Odd to see the Hawaii Bowl without Hawaii. The bowl committee likes having them because most schools have trouble sending fans. I would like to pick East Carolina in this game because they knew they weren't taking any fans, so they set up a system for their fans to buy a ticket, get a commemorative souvenir ticket and have their seat given to a serviceman stationed in Hawaii. Still, I can't see them beating Boise State.
Motor City (Dec 26): Central Michigan vs. Purdue: Much like the Las Vegas Bowl, this is a rematch from earlier in the season. While Purdue thumped CMU then, there's evidence that the rematch could be different. Purdue's slumping, CMU is surging and it's a neutral site. I'm going with different.
Holiday (Dec 27): Arizona St. vs. Texas: While I think Texas is overrated, I think Arizona State has struggled in big games this year. Take Texas.
Champ Sports (Dec 28): Boston College vs. Michigan State - I'm not big on the ACC this year, but I don't think much of the Big 10 either, so in theory, the second best ACC team should be better than a mid-pack Big 10 team. However, this is the classic Happy To Be Here (Michigan St hasn't been to any bowl in 4 years) vs. Sucks To Be Here (BC was planning for the Orange Bowl). Still, I think BC has the talent to win this and will.
Texas (Dec 28): Houston vs. TCU - Truly is the Texas Bowl. Fortunately, I'll be back in town on the 28th so I can watch it (the folks don't have NFL Network). Houston can score, but not play defense. TCU can play defense, but can't score like Houston. Houston lost their coach. TCU underachieved this year. Still, it's an easy call. It's a de facto TCU home game, and they are tough at home.
Emerald (Dec 28): Maryland vs. Oregon St. - Oregon State finished third in the PAC-10, while Maryland was 6-6 in a weak ACC. Still, with wins over Rutgers and BC, Maryland is Jekyll and Hyde, so I'm not sure I would pick against them. On the other hand, it's a west coast game, so I think Hyde will show up. Take Oregon St.
Meineke Car Care (Dec 29): UCONN vs. Wake Forrest - Another de facto home game for one team - Wake. UCONN only beats weak teams on the road. However, Wake doesn't beat ranked teams this year, and UCONN is ranked 25. UCONN is kind of a fraud. They had no quality road wins. Going with Wake.
Liberty (Dec 29): Miss St vs. Central Florida - Yeah, Sylvester Croom...first black football coach in SEC.....coach of the year.....yadayadayada. Croom got coach of the year for exceeding expectations. Watch this for one guy - Kevin Smith. He can flat out run. Go with Central Florida.
Alamo (Dec 29): Penn State vs. Texas A&M - Penn State is usually tough in bowl games. Texas A&M finished the regular season by beating Texas. And firing their coach. Of course, they beat Texas to finish last season before getting spanked in their bowl. I don't think either team is very good, but I'll take Joe Paterno.
Independence (Dec 30): Colorado vs. Alabama - This would be a good game....if we were still in the early 90s. We're not. We've got two mediocre 6-6 teams. Colorado lost two of their last four. Alabama lost their last four including to Louisiana-Monroe. Bama isn't very good.

This Week's Update

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate sportswriters? Well, I've never liked Stephen A. Smith. Just because you scream a lot doesn't mean you are making a good point. He's now moved to the top of my list of most disliked sportswriter. Why? He launched a diatribe against people who write about sports on the internet. People like me. He says, "someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can." Let me repeat part of it - "should not be allowed". I guess if Smith ever gets elected emperor then I'll have to go underground as I will be forbidden to write about sports. It's always nice when a reporter decides that the First Amendment only applies to him. So, I think I'll just tell Smith to go perform an obscene act on himself.

Besides, what training is Smith talking about? He mentions ethics, but there's been quite a run of unethical journalists in recent years. I remember when Pat Forde was suspended for six months from his Louisville Courier-Journal sports column for an ethical violation, but that didn't stop ESPN.com (Stephen A. Smith's employer) from hiring him. Does Smith think you have to have a Journalism degree to write about sports? Yeah, right. That just means he can compose a better sentence than me. That doesn't mean he knows what he's talking about. It is Stephen A. Smith who was being paid to cover the NBA draft, but was completely unprepared for some of the picks.

I think one of the best things about "untrained" people writing about sports on the internet is that they don't fall prey to the group mindset that reporters often fall into. How many stories seem to make "common knowledge" assumptions? Before the 2006 draft, everybody (and I mean everybody) in the press assumed Reggie Bush was the can't miss player and Houston was a bunch of idiots for passing on him. Well, some are now changing their tune. Actually, I know of one "untrained" person who questioned whether or not Reggie Bush would be anointed one. There also seems to be a lemming effect about who or what reporters mention. For years, they avoided all mention of the possibility of steroids in baseball. Then when it finally came out that there could be a story there, there were a lot of names mentioned in speculation, but some names (like Roger Clemens) never seemed to come up even if an "untrained" person wondered why. Strangely enough, the name Roger Clemens has now come up. Of course, I'm willing to bet that he denies it. I'm also willing to bet a lot of baseball writers will still believe him.

Should I be happy that a teacher from England was sentenced to 15 days in a Sudanese prison (since pardoned) for allowing her elementary schools students to name the class teddy bear "Muhammad" which some thought was an insult to Islam? I guess since she could have been sentenced to the lash and a lot of people (in and out of the Sudanese government) thought she should have been executed for it. Truthfully, I think she was an idiot. Not for letting the class name the bear, but for thinking she was involved with rational people in the Sudan. People like her and the politicians who went down there from England are enablers to the whole radical Islamic mindset. Look at the statements they made after she left the country. She apologized for causing "distress" and she didn't intend to offend anyone. WTF? The member of Parliament was concerned it would hurt relations between the countries (I'm always concerned with the relations between my country and psycopathic, murderous backwater regimes). I half expect Britain to apologize for this. Let me make my position crystal clear. I don't care if she did intentionally try to insult Islam by naming the bear Muhammad. Civilized societies don't threaten death on people for that. Name me the last time a "Christian" country put someone on trial for blasphemy against Christ? Or had thousands of people taking to the streets screaming for that person's death? We constantly condone this behavior from Muslims (well, I don't), but then act surprised when they continue to do crap like this (once again, I don't).

Let's face it. It has become routine for Muslims around the world to whip themselves into a lather over something trivial. It has gotten to the point that it's almost impossible to parody it. Sure, they'll ignore or justify antisocial behavior by their fellow adherents. Murder your daughter for the way she dresses. Hang children. Blow up a schoolbus. No reason to take to the streets over that. Now, a soccer uniform with a red cross on it. That's going to bring a lawsuit. And once again the press takes these people's complaints seriously. And so do their enablers. Instead of trying to come up with some excuse why this guy shouldn't be offended, how about using the truth to tell this guy why he shouldn't be offended? I'm tired of this PC revisionist history crap about the Crusades. Islam was spread throughout the Middle East by the sword. It began on the Arabian peninsula. Jerusalem is not on the Arabian peninsula. Muslims did not show up with Mayflower moving vans and buy houses in the Holy Lands. They invaded. The Crusades were a response to the invasion, and an attempt to keep Muslims from invading farther into Europe. Muslim hands were not clean during the Crusades (or prior to the Crusades). But if they want to claim offense about events from centuries ago, let's let others do the same. I think the Israelis should begin killing all Muslims in their territories as payback for Banu Qurayza. Sounds fair.

"Serial Killer Fed Prostitutes To Pigs". Normally, that title should tell it all. Man was convicted of killing six hookers or junkies (suspected of many more) he picked up and feeding them to his pig. I don't see why the "feeding to pigs" part of the story is such a big deal. He's probably an environmentalist who is just into recycling. Plus, they think he killed over 60 women, so you have to figure he doesn't have a lot of time to go pig feed shopping. I think it just shows the violent nature of Canadians. Actually, I'm not sure I'm as disturbed over his actions (hey, there are crazies everywhere) as by the jurors who should be somewhat normal. They convicted him for killing the six, but it was for "second degree murder, which means they did not believe the killings were planned." WTF? I might buy that if it was one dead hooker. I mean, who among hasn't accidentally killed a prostitute and fed her to livestock to hide the evidence? But once you have to use your off hand to count the victims, I think it's safe to assume some planning was going on.

Ah, another global warming conference. In a resort in Southeast Asia. Probably attended by a lot of people not in Southeast Asia. In fact, my guess is most came from Europe and the United States which is pretty far away. Wonder how much pollution they generated flying over? Oh, don't have to wonder anymore. I'll let you in on a little secret. There's this thing called web-conferencing where people can meet and discuss things without leaving their office. Oh well, at least it gives Al Gore a chance to make another speech blaming the U.S. for everything even if it's something he could have just put on Youtube. But Gore has to do this because the science is settled and all the scientists are in agreement. Even if it isn't, and they aren't. Hey, Al Gore can't worry about that. He's got to make some cash to keep up the lavish lifestyle he's become accustomed to.

Nice to see the Dutch are becoming big on disposable products. Too bad this case was about an adopted daughter. A diplomat and his wife adopted a baby Korean girl, and then decided she didn't fit their "lifestyle" when she became 7 years old, so they dumped her on the Korean community of Hong Kong even though she doesn't speak Korean. I'll let you in on a little secret. Just because you are born of a certain heritage doesn't mean you inherently know the language. At least these clods recognize the trauma involved. Well, their own trauma which I'm is much worse than that of a young girl abandoned by the only family she's ever known. I hope his next duty station is in New Guinea and he gets eaten by cannibals. How's that fit in your lifestyle, jerkass?

Will Smith says he wants to run for president. He's black and a Hollywood star. I wonder which party's nomination he'll go for? I see he's saying that George Bush hasn't created universal health care or ended homelessness. I guess he forgot neither happened in the previous eight years before George Bush became president. Or that since federal law forbids emergency rooms from evicting sick people, there is technically universal health care. Just not universal health insurance. But either way, a line from the article shows that Smith wouldn't be able to get through the primaries to gain the nomination. He says he doesn't believe Bush is evil. The Democratic base will not stand for someone who doesn't believe such a basic tenet of their party.

Rather bizarre story here. A Japanese man was going around spitting coffee on uniformed schoolgirls. He was apparently nicknamed "Coffee Bukake Man". If you don't know what bukake is, I'm not going to tell you. I will warn you not to do an internet search on the word from work. Interestingly enough, the last incident before he was caught took place on Pearl Harbor Day. Frankly, I'm shocked at this guy. Coffee is pretty expensive and shouldn't be wasted in such a way. When I'm with Japanese schoolgirls, I shower them with........well, let's move on to the next report.

Tony Parker and Eva What'shername have come out denying the claims of a French model (probable part time prostitute) that said she's been having an affair with Parker. Now, I don't really care (a pro athlete cheating on his wife isn't exactly news), but I'm angry with the alleged mistress. The who....er, model claims that Parker said "Eva, sexually speaking, does not want to do certain things." What certain things? Let him go backdoor? Invite a homeless woman in for a threesome? Wear Tim Duncan's jersey while they have sex? If you're going to mention that part of it, you have to give us details.

Since it's Christmas, I think a mention of toys would be appropriate. The Atari 2600 was recently inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame. I think it was well deserved. The graphics look like crap now, but at the time, they were stellar, especially since the previous game system, Pong, was two lines and a square ball. Actually, I played games on an even older system one summer when my mom brought home a PET computer from her school. It was before floppy disks which meant your games were stored on a cassette tape. Made it hard to find that Moonlander game.

Probably a good thing that the book showing how to make weaponized Lego toys wasn't around when I was working at Toys R Us. Probably would have been a lot of Lego Mindstorms crap in the RGD bins.

College Football Travesty

Unfortunately, I can't talk about UL getting a lesser bowl game as the travesty. UL didn't get a bowl game period and certainly didn't earn one. Weird feeling for the end of the year. It's the first time in eight years that I haven't been planning a trip somewhere for late December/early January. Whether Mobile, Memphis, Jacksonville or Miami, I was always going somewhere. Amazing what one wrong hire can do to you. From 12-1 with an Orange Bowl win to 6-6 even though the team had returned just about all of their offensive stars and a good chunk of the defense. Sad. I remember when UL had a really good football team. It was January. Oh well, at least I have my memories.



Now, the travesty is the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) that was supposed to decide a national champion. It routinely fails and this year was no exception. A couple of weeks ago Ohio State finished their season, and most thought they had no chance at the BCS Championship Game. Then Kansas, LSU, Missouri, and West Virginia all lost. Suddenly, Ohio State was back in because they only had one loss. Since the only undefeated team is Hawaii who played a really poor schedule (and didn't really look good in a lot of wins), most would assume Ohio State deserves a place in the BCS title game. I don't think they are that good, but I guess that's the system.

The interesting thing was the question of who they would play. Going into the last week, the BCS standings were headed by Missouri, WVU, Ohio St and Georgia. Missouri and WVU lost, and Georgia didn't play. So, did Georgia get the other spot? No way in Hell. Surprisingly voters actually put LSU ahead of Georgia. Makes sense. LSU also has two losses, and as a bonus, they actually won the SEC title game. Over Tennessee. Which means if voters had stuck with their usual inertia, Georgia would have stayed ahead of LSU and been in the BCS title game even though they didn't even win their division, let alone the conference. I was actually hoping Georgia would get in just to help bring down this stupid system.

However, does this mean they got it right? Well, not exactly. Why LSU? Kansas only has one loss. Of course, they didn't win their division or conference either, so no. There are several other two loss teams. Missouri and Arizona State didn't win their conference so toss them out with Georgia and Kansas. Virginia Tech won the ACC and has only two losses, but they lost to LSU earlier this year, so can't jump them. USC, West Virginia and Okahoma all won their conference with two losses. Heck, WVU and Oklahoma both lost their second game when their starting quarterback got hurt early in a close loss (WVU also lost QB Pat White in their first loss). Why should LSU get in ahead of them? LSU may have lost both their games in multiple overtimes, but they have looked shaky in just about all their games since September and were lucky to pull some of them out.

This is the big problem with the BCS versus a playoff. Too much of a snapshot at certain points in the season. Two years ago, the Steelers won the Super Bowl. They entered the playoffs as a 6 seed because they lost some games during the middle of the season. They lost those games when Ben Roethlisberger was hurt. By the end of the season, it was a totally different team. I think WVU can beat anybody with Pat White on the field, and he would be back for a playoff. Plus, I actually think Georgia would have beaten LSU in the SEC title game if they had played them. I think Georgia is a better team right now than LSU and would go farther in a playoff. The regular season has to count for something, but with so many possible teams, it's a joke to pluck just one out.

There's another problem that could result from the BCS system which has been alluded to at times, but doesn't get enough press - officiating. College officials are hired by the conferences. Conferences have a vested interest in getting their team into the BCS title game or as an at large in one of the other big money BCS bowls. As employees of the league, officials may make "judgement calls" in late season games to make sure the conference gets what it wants. Kansas coach Mike Mangino flat accused Big 12 referees of thinking about Texas' BCS chances when a very suspect late game pass interference call went against the Jayhawks. In the West Virginia/Pitt game, there were some very suspect holding calls against Pitt as WVU was trying to mount a comeback. I'm not saying the referees were consciously making those calls (Big East officials are notoriously incompetent), but as long as this system is in place, it's a distinct possibility.