THOSE CRAZY NFLERS AND THEIR MEDIOCRITY.....

NFL ESPN.COM SCORES

Every time I think I've got a handle on the have's and the have not's in THE LEAGUE those jacked up little juicers play some sort of Pop Warner exhibition masked as NFL football and I have to change the channel so I don't throw the remote through the TV.

Alex "just manage the game" Smith puts up 56 on the Raiders, San Diego beats the Broncos and MR. Football by 7 and the depleted Patriots play down to their competition in a place that always gives them a tough game against the Dolphins and the suddenly tough Jeff Fisher coached Rams manage a way to beat Sean Peyton, Drew Brees and the rest of the Saints while giving up nearly 400 yards passing and only putting together 158 themselves. Fisher once again is putting his stamp on his team and bringing winning to a recently hapless franchise quietly controlling nothing but the score and turnover battle. 

After dominating the scoreboard to the tune of 26-3 against the practice squad Packers the Cowboys we know and love have come back(and by come back I mean back down to the pitiful, unpredictable, unreliable and longtime losers that they are) and let the Packers get back into the game by giving up enough points to take a all to close 36-30 lead at the 2 minute warning. Predictably enough the Boys in Blue let Green Bay run off a 7 play drive ending in a 1 yard rookie Eddie Lacy TD run for a 1 point lead Packers.

In the division no one wants to win, the NFC Least, after a surprising upset victory over the Lions who were a popular pick to make a playoff run, they snapped back into reality and hopelessness taking a 48-30 schlacking by the hapless Minnesota Vikings and lifetime backup Matt Cassell. Cassell lit up the Eagles so called defense for 370 yards and cruised to the victory even though possible NFL dark horse MVP Nick Foles stacked up 396 with 3 td's and almost 200 of them to superstar DeSean Jackson.  

Sans-Gronk and Sans-Win, the Patriots put up a subpar performance across the board

ESPN.COM NFL

From the proverbial penthouse to the essence of the prototypical Rolling Stones Sani-can the New England Patriots put up a paltry 20 points while moving the ball with regularity throughout.  In the biggest moment of the biggest game(so far at least in regards to securing the #1 seed) the Pats defense didn't look as bad as a Kardashian pregnancy but they sure didn't resemble Giselle or any of the Angels either. Giving up 24 points to the Dolphins espn.com link  who've had an up and down season isn't really out of character or an ab oration but it sure wasn't part of a winning formula either....

For this post we'll call this The Longhorn Network

espn.com college football article link

Oh how the mighty have fallen.....and fallen into quite the pile of money

After the pounding that BYU put on Texas when they not so graciously had them up for a double blindfolded DP and finished up with a Blumpkin goodbye to the score of 41-20 including 550 rushing yards with an additional 234 through the air for a grand total of 679 MASSIVE YARDS FROM SCRIMMAGE! Once the regents, board of directors, donors and other boosters made their displeasure know, defensive coordinator Manny Fernandez was put before the firing squad and played the good patsy I mean soldier.

It was lock-down time in the lone star state..... Next up was Mississippi and they were stacked up almost immediately after they got 10 or 15 yards up field. The fact is Texas nearly cut their net yards given up in half surrounding a measly hair under 300....yes, 300 yards of rushing offence AND that was nearly half what they got stomped on for the weekend before.

Mack Brown has been a winning coach at Texas. Texas considers itself one of the premier, upper echelon, top notch programs in the nation. Texas fans expect nothing but absolute 100% commitment to not just the program, team, coaches and school but to the community.  If the good citizens hoping to have to honor to be buried in burnt orange are surrounded by 40 high school ESPN top 300 recruits, 3 times more then the next closest state, they at least deserve to beat hated rivals, Texas Tech, Texas A+M, Oklahoma, Baylor and the rest of their below average strength of schedule.

Longhorns 2013 final schedule and scores

Throughout the past week, and that's on the low end, I've heard various versions of why Mack Brown is obviously staying, why he's obviously not leaving and why were all just stirring things up by reporting on this whole Nick Saban thing. Mr. Master Million Dollar Manipulator just netted himself a cool extra 2 MIL outta the already pitiful president, AD, and everyone else in the state of ALABAMA. 

SURPRISE. MACK BROWN IS "RETIRING" OF HIS OWN VOLITION AND NICK SABAN IS STAYING AT NATIONAL POWERHOUSE AND RECRUITING GIANT ALABAMA.

Orpik gets punked like a typical Penguin and in typical penguin fashion their "franchise" player cries more in a game then the whole floor at the infancy clinic in a year.

ESPN.com Boston Article Link

How about a topic that has completely been overblown, exaggerated, dissected and redirected by people in and around professional hockey....some from x-players and coaches and then a bunch from random "official NHL commentators" who have chosen to either ignore the subject completely or essentially absolve Thornton of his thuggish actions.  When I say thuggish actions, I actually mean it as a complement. I'll explain.

So, Mr Orpik opens up and sets the tone by intentionally "green lighting" one of the Bruins "perceived" young future budding stars, Loui Eriksson and kneeing him in the head as he knee-led on the ice. Erikkson's tough guy terminator and own hometown hero Shawn Thornton immediately challenged Orpik to a straight up fair fight which the 6'2" 219 lb defense men shamelessly refused. It's bad enough this breaks "old school" protocol but with the bad blood already boiling from Stephen Neal's cheap-shot on Brad Marcharnd for which he got a 5 game suspension. 

Shawn Thornton is listed at a solid 6'2" and weighs all of the 217 in the media guide. SO YOUR TELLING ME HE ACTUALLY WEIGHS LESS THEN THE GUY WHO TURNED THEIR -CHICKEN-SHIT, CHEAP-SHOT, COWARD BACK ON HIM. I listed to talk radio like Felger and Mazz lambaste, flambe, burn, and trash what Thornton did in every possible fashion but how about we bring up the ensuing action. 

EVERY ACTION HAS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTION.... Should Thornton have just taken no for an answer and waited for the BitchBerg Penguins to send out someone a few inches taller and a significant amount heaver to handle their lack of following that hockey code and "protocol" that they so feverishly pound their drums for now? WHY? The back-trip was a dirty move by an absolutely straightforward, tough, man's man who made a mistake. It was a dirty move. THAT PART WAS DIRTY. Orpik should've fought though...what a fucking coward. YOU DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES AN OPPOSING PLAYER WANT TO BEAT YOUR ASS, TAKE YOUR MEDICINE ASSHOLE. 

I'm sorry for the end result. No one save for pedophiles and sexual sadists deserve immediate and swift action.

Heat Stroke Kills.

As we start to hear the rumblings of pre-season football yet another anniversary passes. While it seems we hear a new story of a young athlete falling ill on the field at a rate far greater then we should, teams are making an effort to keep players safe both on and off the field.

Outside the Lines Video Link

Heat Stroke kills athletes suddenly, tragically, and indiscriminately. Over the past decade as the public has become more and more aware of the dangers to athletes during the hot summer months we have gained knowledge through the unfortunate deaths that have occurred. One that was both highly publicized and extremely heartbreaking was that of Minnesota Vikings lineman Kore Stringer. With his wife and kids lounging around in the air conditioned home that all his hard work on long hot days on the football field provided, Kore Stringer succumbed to a number of factors while at a practice with the Minnesota Vikings.

One of the facts that were stated on the Outside the Lines piece was through the Kore Stringer foundation they have found that 1/3 of all high school football teams do not have a trainer on staff at this point. Since the Stringer death unfortunately happened his widow has been at the forefront of the movement to enlighten the public about the dangers of heat stroke. Heat Stroke is something that can be prevented.

Everyone from children participating in youth sports like football, basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, to high school kids and even professional athletes can fall prey to being a victim of the heat. As athletes we have everything from our own personal ego to a sense of competition involved. Sometimes we can't be the ones to make the right choices when it comes to things like water breaks. When the temperature rises outdoors and it's combined with pushing our bodies to the absolute limit there can never be enough "water breaks". Drinking water during practice shouldn't be something scheduled, players need to be encouraged to replenish their system continuously if they want to keep their bodies in top shape and condition.

Timmy always was a stubborn boy....but he was OUR stubborn boy.

espn.com article link

Put together a great season between the posts, dominate games, move forward towards the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup series by series, finish the year on top of the hockey world and then take your opinionated, controversial, outspoken ass back to your recliner and tell your team that your gonna take it easy for a while and they are going to deal with it. After the fact that your serious, yes your actually going to just refuse to suit up and forfeit the phat paycheck you turn on your daily news to find out you've been traded....to Edmonton. Boston and Edmonton do have 1 big thing in common though....Tim Thomas isn't going to be playing goalie for either team. After a year and a half of "family time" word is your thinking about returning to the ice, and after the meltdown that Pittsburgh had in their pitiful series with the Bruins, they'd be LUCKY LUCKY TO HAVE YOU. There will be competition though, and it won't be coming from too far away, the crosstown rivals are looking for help as well, give the Flyers a look and go with your heart Timmy....

ESPN.COM NHL STORY

ESPN.com article link

Shhhhh, it's a secret. Well, maybe not anymore, THANKS PAP. Baseball players play a ton of baseball during the 162 game season. As far as I know, and i'll admit, that's not anywhere near everything, the general parameters used to schedule the regular season for MLB aren't EVER going to be radically changed. Yes, maybe some tweaking is done to shave the total number down to build in a few more off days that would be greatly appreciated by the majority of players fighting through the dog days of summer. Why is it the general public's place to regulate the variety of treatment players put their body through to stay in the lineup. If team doctors are aware of the usage and it's not banned then as far as i'm concerned its case closed...

WOW, DIDN'T TAKE THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS LONG TO RESPOND HUH

THIS JUST IN.....49ERS TRADE 6TH ROUND PICK FOR ANQUAN BOLDIN.....WOW. GREAT PICK UP.

Indiana coach turns a great moment for Hoosier basketball into an embarassing and childish glimpse into the boy that is Tom Creen

espn.com blog article link


Indiana basketball has been in a strange place in the college basketball world for a long long long time....they have been in basketball purgatory  scandals, sanctions, blowout losses to teams that shouldn't even dream of winning a game against the great Hoosiers, early tournament losses mixed with seasons over before the tournament even begins. Following the debacle that Kelvin Sampson was as both a coach and con-artist the Indiana basketball program looked as sad and the future as bleak as anyone could have imagined such an illustrious and storied program could be.

In my lifetime it somewhat reminded me of what the Kentucky program looked like after Tubby Smith left and prior to John Calipari arrived. Chaos mixed with extreme disappointment would be great words to describe what fans felt.The high standards and expectations that go with such big-time and storied programs were failing to be maintained and fans could only look on in disbelief. When Tom Creen was hired at Indiana some questioned the hire, some took a wait and see approach and some spoke up and said this is a great man for this great job and he's going to bring honesty and integrity back to the program at a time that it was needed more then ever. 

Creen has done a remarkable job both recruiting and coaching. The Indiana basketball program is back to where it should be in the college basketball world, somewhere near the top. While I don't particularly like the Hoosiers, I do respect their illustrious history, it's good for college basketball when Indiana is good. It just doesn't feel right when teams like Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina etc are finding themselves out the the NCAA tourney. Indiana fans should be proud of what the Hoosiers have accomplished this season, they won the regular season league title for the first time in over 20 years. Think about that for a second. 20 YEARS since the powerful Indiana Hoosiers basketball program won the Big Ten title. That's a long time. Too long for a program with as much rich history as they have. 

The thing is, I've heard much more talk about this pre-school pissing contest then I have about the actual game. That's sad. It's sad for Indiana university, Indiana basketball, sad for Coach Tom Creen himself but most of all it's sad for these players. These kids took a chance on Indiana, took a chance on coach Creen himself and have played their asses off to earn themselves a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney and now the supposed "Leader" of young men lets his emotions get the better of him at a time when he should have SO SO SO MANY other much more important things on his mind. Do we reallllllly know the whole story about what his comments towards assistant coach Meyer were about? No. Does it really matter though? No. We expect him to hold his players accountable for their actions on and off the court. We applaud when coaches discipline players who get into a fight. It doesn't matter if the other person said something first or not, they are expected to be the bigger man, expected to think about their teammates, their brothers in that situation.....we'll I say let's expect the same from Coach Creen. He's taken the spotlight off a fantastic game, played by two teams with national title hopes and put the focus on his little outburst. 



ESPN.com article link

NFC West gets stronger with the addition of Percy

ESPN.COM article link

Look out San Fran your competition for best looking in your division just got a little tougher as the defensive minded Seattle Seahawks are on the brink of acquiring speedy receiver Percy Harvin from the Minnesota Vikings. The teams have agreed in principal and the Seahawks are expected to give up their 1st round pick at the least but the deal won't be finalized until Harvin passes the physical today and then works out a contract extension to stay in Seattle. The Seahawks don't plan on dealing away their valuable first round pick even in this years somewhat down draft for a rental player, Harvin has 1 final year remaining on his rookie contract he signed with the Vikings after coming to the NFL from Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators.

While I still believe that the Seahawks strength lies in their extremely talented, tough, smash-mouth defense, I think giving quarterback Russell Wilson, who will be entering his second year in the league, a fast and explosive play-maker in multiple facets of the game is a great addition. Quarterbacks in the past have struggled in season two often when opponents have had an entire off-season to dissect game tape and study tendencies. A perfect example of another dynamic quarterback who had a breakout rookie campaign followed by that "sophomore slump" is Cam Newton. Hopefully, giving Wilson another above average option in the backfield as well as down-field can take some of the pressure off and allow him to continue to improve. 

I think the 49ers still have the better team at this point and with so many picks in the upcoming draft have the option to do a variety of things to improve. The back of their defense is the spot where they may have a weakness and with a player like Revis coming back from a bad season ending injury with the Jets the Niners can quickly improve by packaging some of those picks to the Jets. The money is where the 49ers may be more hesitant. DO they really want to give up several picks to acquire a player that may not ever get back to playing like his old dominant self? If they do decide to just go all in and make the trade then exactly how much money is Revis going to want in a new deal? He's already said he wants to be the highest paid player in football! Not DB's. Not defense. Football! Revis is an INCREDIBLE PLAYER, I'd love to have him on my team and would absolutely say pay the man like he deserves to be paid. He deserves to be the top paid DB in the NFL....not the top paid player. 

It's your move San Fran....whatcha gonna do now?

North Carolina getting another pair of 5 star recruits

Bleacher Report Justin Jackson article


I probably, most likely, think that I am pretty straightforward in my alliances to North Carolina Tar Heel basketball. My feelings and love for UNC will never change, players, coaches, wins, loses and championships can only make my love grow stronger(If that's possible). It is a nice feeling whenever I read about another top recruit making an early commitment to the Tar Heels though. Those early commitments make a coach's job so so so much easier when it comes time to make decisions on scholarship offers, which other players to scout and where to spend that ever so important face time with possible recruits. With so little time available for a head coach to physically go and watch a possible recruit relative to the number of players that they would typically want to see in person, it's a HUGE bonus when North Carolina now has two players rated in the top 15 for the class of 2014 committed. 

Coaches have the responsibility to balance the number of players on a current roster, number of scholarships available currently, along with balancing the different scenarios of losing players through taking their talents to the NBA/overseas professional basketball, academic ineligibility, transfers or any other situation. While the commitments are not "binding" per se, it's a rarity for a school such as North Carolina to have players have a change of heart after making that early commitment. With the signing of two 5 star recruits such as Berry(PG) and Jackson(SF) North Carolina is now looking extremely strong with nice depth at the PG position for years to come. They already had a 4 star PG Nate Britt signed who is coming in for next years class along with Isiah Hicks who himself is a 5-star PF and Kennedy Meeks who is a 4-star C. 

It looks like good ol coach Roy is probably going to lose James Michael McAdoo to the NBA which in my opinion isn't going to be much of a loss. He's played weak in big games, showed poor leadership, and really has been a huge disappointment in my opinion. For a guy that came into Chapel Hill with SO MUCH HYPE it's been beyond disappointing to see such a lack of emotion from someone who is supposed to be the leader on this team. Conversely  I think PJ Hairston has really started to show why he was a highly rated recruit coming out of high school, stepping up and hitting some big shots since being inserted into the starting lineup. When Roy went with this smaller starting group is really when UNC started playing their best basketball and I just hope it carries over to the big dance.


ESPN.COM Joel Berry article

How important is a player rated #1 in the 2013 class when your a team like UNC that already has several top recruits committed in the next 2 years???

Bleacher Report.com-UNC selling points for Wiggins article

Bleacher Report.com- Big time recruit, Big time visit article



Some would say that no one player can truly dominate the game in the way that it really doesn't take a so called "team" to win. At schools like UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and the other top caliber collegiate basketball powerhouses most years recruiting classes include more then 1 Mcdonalds all-american. You'd think that with so many highly touted players flooding in, mixed with the other so called "veteran" players that no one player could be greater then the sum of its parts as they say.

The NCAA and their "expert" commentators like to talk about this so called parity that exists in the 2013 world of college basketball. They point to the number of #1 ranked teams that have been knocked off week after week throughout the regular season. Here's the thing....there has not been a team that won the national title and finished with less then 30 wins since 1997. That's 16 years. When we really look at what teams are going the distance and cutting down the nets yes of course there are always a few feel good Cinderella moments, many upsets and unknowns making a name for themselves now that they are in the national spotlight, but in reality, Goliath usually does beat David.

As for that question about the value of landing that #1 player coming into college who often spends less time worrying about homework then my 3 year old nephew during their 1 year detour on the expressway to "The League"....ask Kentucky coach John Calipari about what that #1 recruit means. The wildcats had the best recruiting class in the country coming off a national championship and STILL have been on the ESPN first 4 teams out list until their win over Florida last night put them into the projected field and into the last 4 in category. They struggled throughout the season but managed to lose in a embarrassing fashion in the first game without superstar Nerlens Noel(#1 rated recruit). They have played more like a team without an identity then any other team I can think of since losing Noel to that season ending injury.

Kentucky highly touted freshmen may be the most talented team EVER TO MISS THE BIG DANCE

ESPN.com link

John Calipari is something of a recruiting genius. Since arriving at Kentucky he has managed to bring in the #1 class in the country 4 out of 5 years. The problem that Kentucky has continually had to overcome is the fact that many of those high profile top recruits, only are coming to college because of the NBA rule against entering the draft directly out of high school. This leaves the Wildcats in the position of having to re-tool their entire starting lineup and replace almost every player in the rotation, YEARLY. It's a situation that is both incredibly fortunate and incredibly frustrating for Coach Calipari at various times throughout the year.

While he continues to cherry pick EXTREMELY heralded and talented recruits that would most likely be starting no matter what team they played on, they are still freshmen. Depending on such young players at every position is risky no matter how talented they are and they are still developing in terms of strength and mental ability in terms of decision making. Many of them have never experienced adversity on the basketball court, these are the players that could roll out of bed and drop 50 back in high school but playing together as a team and winning isn't quite that easy. Just because you have the most talented roster does not guarantee the ultimate success of an NCAA Championship. Just as the Yankees found out they could not buy a championship, throwing hundreds of millions at the top free agents year after year got them many wins, just not when it counted most. Calipari is a savant when it comes to recruiting. He's done it everywhere he's been and while rivals cry foul, coach Cal gets many of the so called "one and done" phenoms just passing through college.

When Nerlens Noel went down with his season ending injury the Wildcats fell apart even though they still had 3 other freshmen rated a 95, 97 and 97 out of 100 by ESPN recruiting. The backup center when Noel was playing was Willie Cauley, himself a 4 star recruit. I don't understand why Kentucky, Calipari or these players for that matter are getting a pass just because they lost Noel. 95% of college teams could only dream of having two four/five star recruits, let alone 4 just in last years incoming class. While Nerlens Noel was no doubt a huge piece of what Kentucky was doing and had the ability to change the game with his incredible shot blocking ability(2nd in the country at the time of his injury I believe) and rebounding. With a team full of Mcdonalds All-Americans and even guys that don't need to bother to wear a jersey beneath that Wildcat warm up that could not only play at numerous D-1 schools but start they should be able to fight their way into this watered down/expanded field that is the NCAA tournament.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/78513/thursday-observations

Coach gets a little froggy during timeout...

ESPN.COM LINK


Coach Mike Montgomery isn't Bob Knight 2.0, not even close really, but in the media age that we live in today he should certainly know better then to push one of his players....in front of 10's of thousands of fans, on a nationally televised game....even if it is with the best of intentions.

Yes, I do think this whole situation got blown out of proportion.  The player in question, Allen Crabbe, did his best to defuse all of the hoopla by defending his coach after the game. Crabbe is the leading scorer on the  Cal Golden Bears while also leading the entire league in scoring. Prior to that forgettable moment Montgomery found his team losing by as many as 15 points in the second half while Crabbe seemed to be coasting. Whether it was the push both literally and figuratively from his coach or simply a big time scorer stepping up when he was needed, California rallied for the win with Crabbe putting up 10 points, nearly half of his entire total output of 23 for the game.

The biggest problem with situations such as this is the inequality of the public's reaction. While I've heard the so called experts talk about a good man losing his head "in the heat of the battle" and ask that we move on, I simply ask this, If the situation were reversed and after missing a few shots Crabbe had let his frustration get the better of him and shoved his coach would he be given the same benefit of the doubt? I HIGHLY HIGHLY DOUBT IT!

From everything that's been reported Mike Montgomery has a close relationship with Allen Crabbe and there is no reason to believe that he isn't being 100% honest when he says he was only trying to get his head in the game and the overreaction on his part by going beyond words and getting physical was a once in a lifetime mistake that will never happen again. Obviously situations like this need to be judged on a case by case basis by both the NCAA and individual teams, I just hope that in the future those "experts" are willing to give a young man/women who happens to get caught up in the heat of the moment the same benefit of the doubt if he's earned the reputation of character traits such as having a good character.

So, what do you think the NCAA or California University needs to do in this situation???

Please post answers on the poll at top of the page so we can see what the verdict of the readers is!

Out with the old and in with the new

espn.com article link



The L.A. Lakers and Kobe Bryant have been an NBA powerhouse throughout the history of the league....back in the day it was Jerry West, Bill Walton, Kareem and then came the trade for the most dominant big man of his generation....Shaq. When the time came to choose between their aging big-man and their rising superstar in Kobe Bryant the Lakers chose to put their faith in Kobe. At that point the Lakers had won rings with Kobe, but Kobe had never won rings without Shaq, he got that proverbial monkey off his back while cementing his legacy as one of the greatest in the game, one of the greatest in history by the time he hangs em up....After last seasons embarrassing end the Lakers went into the off season with needs and came into the year with a revamped lineup that could be it's scariest in years with the addition of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash while retaining Pao Gasol. Scary on paper doesn't get you wins though, and the one thing that the Lakers are doing a lot of this year is LOSING. 

In a game that seemingly featured half of the league's all stars, the consistent championship contender and 5 time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and the Lakers vs last years NBA champion Heat. With the win the Heat moved further ahead in the race for the #1 seed in the East while the Lakers dropped to 4 games under .500 and 10th place in the West. Kobe is scoring 2 points per game more then his career average this season but he's now in his 17th year and combine that with the fact that he's played in the post season(and played deep into it) throughout his career, his body has got to be getting worn down, and the losing isn't helping.

Maybe the changing of the guard came later then some expected but it's happening one way or another....if it's not the Heat then it's the Thunder