Week of October 19th, 2009

This is the inaguraul post for this particular blog. You may ask yourself, "why is he writing on Tuesdays?" Well, not a whole lot happens on Tuesday's in the athletic world except probably the NBA and NHL. Since we are at the height of the sports season with the NFL well underway, college football dominating headlines, the MLB playoffs, and the starts of the NBA and NHL seasons, it seemed like the right time to begin writing. Before you continue, be warned that I cannot stand Ohio State because I am a Michigan sports fan, I am a fan of the American League East, and think the NFC East is the most overrated conference in the NFL year in and year out. I am also a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, so I may homer them from time to time if it is worthy. Also, if you are looking for this to be a baseball blog you have come to the wrong place, unless it is opening week or the playoffs.

It has been an interesting week of sports and there is a lot to cover. But first, I would like to start with the unfortunate death of Jasper Howard at the University of Conneticut. What an unfortunate ordeal. A young man, who according to his coaches and teammates, was an exceptional human being and talent. I don't follow UConn sports too closely, but this has drawn me to learn more about their programs and their institution. When you think of Conneticut, you don't really link it with crime, especially violent crime. Unfortunately, for Howard's family, friends, coaches, teammates, and classmates, it will forever be linked to the thought of violent crime. I find it especially heart-breaking that this young man was going to be a father, and that child will never be able to meet him. It is also unfortunate that he was not able to graduate from such an institution and be able to help his loved ones escape the rough neighborhoods of little Haiti in Miami. I saw a quote yesterday that he went to UConn to escape the crime and violence of his neighborhood. I truly do feel sorry for this young man's family and loved ones. (Photo from New York Daily News 10/18/2009)

On Sunday we possibly had the best matchups of the young NFL season thus far. We were able to see the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints battle it out in New Orleans (albeit a lack luster game), the Bengals and Texans in Cincinatti, a division game in Seattle with the Cardinals coming to play the Seahawks, a sloppy but interesting game between the Bears and the Falcons, and a great Monday Night game featuring the Denver Broncos at the San Diego Chargers. The schedule this week was a highlight among highlights, but some of the games were as advertised as well.

The Sunday night game between was the Bears and Falcons was an excellent opportunity to see Jay Cutler square off against Matt Ryan. Ryan and Cutler both started out slow against some tough defenses, but it was Ryan with the edge late in the game. I'm not a huge fan of Cutler or his talent. If you remember, Rivers of the Chargers played much better in any game the two played against each other, and had this uncanny ability to get under Cutler's skin. Cutler was slow to respond and struggled late in games. In this game, Matt Ryan looked like the 1st overall pick that he was in the 2008 draft. He managed the game well, and was able to find the open receiver, especially with a running game that was was struggling with injuries to Norwood and the focus of stopping Turner throughout the Bears practice all week, with Turner only having 46 total yards and a touchdown.

In the Monday night game I saw a couple of things. First of all, I saw that the Broncos are for real. Orton does an excellent job of managing the game and McDaniels has proven that he is a good fit in Denver, even if he tries to imitate Bellichik at any possible moment. Knowshon Moreno also showed that he can be a feature back as a rookie, although he didn't have the big numbers, he never seemed to lose yards on any carries. He did an excellent job of keeping his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage and falling forward, keeping Denver out of a lot of 2nd or 3rd and long situations. On the other side of the ball, the Chargers looked horrible! Their o-line, although banged up, was not able to stop a 3 and 4 man rush, and if there was a blitz up the middle it was over for Rivers. Also, LT looks like a shadow of the man he once was. Looks like 30 truly is the magic number for NFL running backs, and from watching last night, it is also the year in which you stop picking up blitzing linebackers and pout on the sidelines after not being in the game on goalline and short yardage situations. The Chargers are in trouble, but at least, if you're a Charger fan, you play in the AFC West with the Chiefs and Raiders.

The other thing of note for week 6 is the Patriots absolute drubbing of the Titans. That was an atrocious game to watch. How do you give up 5 touchdown passes in a single quarter? That was brutal and Titan fans, if you had any hope coming into the week, should give up for the rest of the season. Being 5 games behind the Colts in the standings, 2 games away from being eliminated from a possible winning season, and the Texans charging into the upper tiers of the NFL will be nearly impossible to make a playoff run. I know I am stating the obvious, but because of the hype coming into the season, I think it is time to give the keys to the franchise back to Vince Young and let him gain some valuable experience without any expectations. The "flash in the pan" that is Kerry Collins' entire career has officially fizzled. Also, who would have thought the loss of Albert Haynesworth would effect a defense so much that they can't stop anyone this season?

In college football this past weekend we saw a lot of good games, and some not so good ones. Subjects of conversational worth are the loss of Bradford for OU, McCoy's struggles against OU, Ohio State's loss to Purdue, Alabama's dominance, and the squeeker between Arkansas and Florida. There were a some games that told us a lot about the potential BCS rankings and some games that were absolute stinkers.

So far, the news of the college football season has been the disappointing season of Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. I hope this kid has a chance to come back next season and play for Oklahoma, but I don't think it is going to happen this season. If I was a member of the Oklahoma staff I would recommend that he doesn't play another down for the rest of the season. Shoulders are tricky injuries and need a lot of time and rest to heal, especially when it is his throwing shoulder. I hope he decides to stick around for his final season of eligibility because if he were to come out this year he would lose millions of dollars in comparison to his Heisman campaign of a year ago. Instead of being a top 5 pick from a year ago, he will be looking at probably a low 2nd to 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft, unless he can prove that he is 100% healthy at the combine and pro days.

(Photo: wizardofoddsblog)

In addition to Bradford's injury, the OU/Texas Red River Rivalry also showed that McCoy has his struggles as well. He was not the same quarterback that he was in last year's contest between the 2 teams. He only had 127 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception, as well as only having 33 yards on the ground. He averaged only 2.9 yards per play, as the quarterback throwing or running the ball. That is not the McCoy from last year who had a ridiculous completion percentage in the high 60s or low 70s. It is truly too bad that the measurements for the BCS doesn't take into consideration the performances of individuals because even though they won, it was not pretty, and against a down Oklahoma team from a year ago. Is Texas really deserving of a #3 BCS ranking? Are they even going to make it out of the Big 12 this season? Probably on the latter question, but that is because the Big 12, as a whole, is down this season.

Now, the SEC on the other hand is an outstanding conference once again this season. I think the 2 teams who play in the SEC championship game should just have a rematch for the BCS national title game. I know Tebow didn't play as well as people had hoped in the game between Florida and Arkansas, but, looking at the rest of the field, they are still probably one of the 2 best teams in the country. They just have too many weapons and speed all around the field. If Arkansas hits that last field goal to go up by 3, the BCS standings would be on its ear with 2 teams, Cincinnati and Boise St, looking for bids 3 and 4.

Alabama had probably the biggest argument for their BCS ranking this past week. They put on a running game clinic against South Carolina on Saturday to come away with the victory in a 20-6 game that featured Mark Ingram, who rushed for 246 yards and a touchdown. Steve Spurrier teams are usually high scoring, air it out, big play teams, but, since his arrival at South Carolina, they have been mediocre at best. Spurrier can't contend anywhere but Florida because of the dominance of the Gators over the last few years and the recruiting hot bed in the state. Spurrier isn't getting those recruits and his system doesn't work with any kind of athlete other than the Florida speedsters. Sorry, Gamecock fans, but I don't think it is going to happen for you.

Lastly, Ohio State losing to Purdue is really not that big of a surprise. Terrell Pryor is experiencing a "sophomore slump," and doesn't have the weapons he had a year ago with Wells, Robiskie, and Hartline. If this keeps up, the Michigan/Ohio State matchup this Thanksgiving could have Capital One Bowl implications. Winner goes and the loser ends up in the Outback Bowl against one the 2nd or 3rd tier SEC teams. The fact that OSU lost to Purdue makes this loss that much more heart-breaking and concerning for OSU fans. Purdue had 1 win coming into the game (against Toledo in the opening game of the season), and put a whooping on the Buckeyes. Pryor had 4 turnovers (5 total for the Buckeyes) and didn't look comfortable at any point in the game. Purdue, although at home, looked very comfortable against an overrated OSU defense and dominated the time of posession and had more total yards than the Buckeyes.

Just a short mention about the MLB playoffs thus far. What happened to the A-Rod that we all knew and loved, who choked in the postseason? He has become a monster this fall hitting 4 homers and driving in 9 runs. Tuesday night's matchup against Kazmir and the Angels should be an interesting one considering A-Rod is only 3 for 24 lifetime against Kazmir. As for the national league, the Phillies just have too many horses on the mound for the Dodgers. Sorry Dodger fans, I wanted a Joe Torre/Yankee World Series as well, but I don't think it is going to happen. Especially, if they have to go back to Philadelphia where it is about 15 degrees right now.

Next week we'll possibly look at the matchups between Tennessee and Alabama, Texas and Missouri, BCS Buster TCU/BYU, and Penn State and Michigan. In the NFL we'll possibly look at the Vikings and Steelers, Bears and Bengals, Cards and Giants, and the Eagles and Redskins. I'll also be wrapping the AL and NL Championship series'. Until next week.