Top 25 in College Football: The Bottom Shakes Up Again!!!

All year long, the bottom of my rankings have been changing so quickly.. Teams shuffle in & out every week.. I really just feel like there are maybe about 11 legit teams & the rest are all just “whatever”..

This week, James Madison did INDEED break through into my Top 25 & yes, it is a legit ranking for them.. Why? Yes, they’re an FCS school with 1 loss, that loss was to Duke.. However, look at the rest of their schedule.. They’ve creamed teams.. Yes, they’re FCS opponents.. But, Georgia Tech BARELY beat Gardner-Webb who aren’t even that good for an FCS team.. Am I supposed to rank them ahead of James Madison when Georgia Tech lost to both Virginia Tech & Virginia as well as BARELY BEATING GARDNER-WEBB?!?!?! I don’t think so.. James Madison crushes those kinds of teams..

I’m beginning to think more & more that Boise State is a Top 5 team.. Their win over Oregon doesn’t look as impressive now.. But, they’re still winning & winning like they’re supposed to over their opponents.. Boise State is a VERY consistent team, that’s why I rank them so highly.. Plus, I’m a big fan of theirs.. But really, I let that influence me very little, if at-all.. Boise State distanced themselves from Utah in my eyes this week.. Utah had a close game with New Mexico that shouldn’t have been that close.. Simply put, Boise State is the best non-BCS conference team & far more consistent than most BCS conference teams, that’s why I have them ranked so highly & think so much of them. GO BRONCOS!!!

Now, I must painfully speak of the Georgia Bulldogs.. To lessen the pain, I’m going to first state that I wasn’t wrong about them.. They would be undefeated right now & on their way to a National Championship if not for injuries (yeah, excuses, but, I’ll hang my hat on them to make me feel better)! Anyway, Georgia lost the two biggest games on their schedule, but, they did not just lose them, they got CRUSHED in both of them.. Personally, the Alabama loss was much more painful as a UGA fan just because it was during a Blackout. I seriously doubt the fans at the UGA/Florida game were as pumped as the ones at that UGA/Alabama game, the fans were absolutely electric there & so were the UGA players even when they were losing big. But, the Florida loss does knock UGA out of National Title hopes, however, UGA was knocked out of National Title hopes when they lost many of their starting players.. So yes, I stand by that the Alabama loss was definitely the more gruesome defeat as a fan.

Now that I’ve gotten all of that out of the way, here are my Top 25:

1. Texas Tech
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Penn State
6. Boise State
7. Florida
8. Oklahoma State
9. USC
10. Utah
11. TCU
12. Georgia
13. Missouri
14. Ball State
15. LSU
16. Ohio State
17. BYU
18. Michigan State
19. North Carolina
20. California
21. Cincinnati
22. West Virginia
23. Air Force
24. Pittsburgh   
25. James Madison

Also considered; Tulsa, Georgia Tech, Maryland

College Football Rankings: Top 25…

Ok, we are well into the College Football season, so, I’ve been keeping track of my Top 25 teams & all preseason bias is out of my rankings, so, no pre-conceived notions influence these rankings..

Before I show you these rankings, I want everybody to understand that these are not meant to predict anything.. These are my view of what teams have done thus far given their schedule.. I take many intangibles into account as well, for example: UGA’s injuries.. Also, I give non-BCS teams credit for what they do.. I firmly believe that Utah could bust the BCS this year & win, as well as Boise State.. I will always rank LSU ahead of Ohio State, I will also rank most other top SEC schools ahead of Ohio State, as well.. Why? Because just being Ohio State isn’t good enough, just because you come in 2nd in the Big Ten doesn’t make you all that wonderful in my eyes.. The Big Ten should have their conference name changed to the Small Compared To The SEC 2.. No, I’m not one of those SEC elitist, I’m just a realist.. The realization of the matter is that the Big Ten Champion over the past fews years hasn’t proven that they can beat a top SEC team.. Until they prove that they can, they are viewed just like a WAC team to most others.. Yes, I believe Utah or Boise State could lay the smack down on Ohio State this year.. I believe Boise State could hang in there with Penn State..

Finally.. James Madison is every bit as worthy of a Top 25 ranking as Maryland is!!! No? Ok, MAYBE not..

Ok, so, without any further adieu, here are my Top 25, enjoy:

1. Texas
2. Penn State
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas Tech
6. Georgia
7. Boise State
8. Oklahoma State
9. Utah
10. USC
11. Florida
12. TCU
13. Missouri
14. Ball State
15. Tulsa
16. BYU
17. Florida State
18. Minnesota
19. LSU
20. Ohio State
21. Oregon
22. North Carolina
23. Troy
24. Michigan State
25. Connecticut

Also considered: Air Force, James Madison (yes, I said this may happen & it will next week if teams don’t quit playing so bad), Maryland

MLB Sweep Offs.. I mean, Playoffs?

First of all, I’d like to say that I really can’t get into the MLB Playoffs.. The World Series is by far the best & the leadup to it is just a bore…

This year, it’s even worse than usual… The Angels had a VERY long time to prepare for the playoffs.. What’s  happening? Boston isn’t nearly as good as they were last year.. What’s their problem? I thought the Angels would make the World Series, I was wrong.. How are they ever going to win another World Series if everytime they get into the playoffs they start looking like the worst team in baseball?

How ’bout them Cubs? I feel so sorry for Cubs fans right now.. You waited all year for this, it looked like you had the best team out there at times, you all thought: “Ok, this is it.. This is OUR year” & what do you get? Dreams crushed AGAIN, atleast, it looks like that.. This team owes their fans more than this.. You mean to tell me that they couldn’t get up for the playoffs? I believe that if it bothered them nearly as much as it does their fans, especially THIS Cubs team, they would win the World Series in a sweep.. Obviously, Cubs baseball is more important to Cubs fans than the team itself.. That’s sad, folks.

Looks like I may have been a year too early on those Phillies.. Last year, I liked them to win the World Series.. This year, I tossed them aside like yesterday’s news.. I’m sorry that I did that now.. Oh yeah, wait.. They’re playing the Brewers.. Gosh, how overrated is the top of the NL Central looking now? Too bad my D-Backs couldn’t beat out the Dodgers, I have no doubt that they’d be well on their way to making the World Series already..

Let’s end on a great story though.. The Tampa Bay Rays!!! What a team, what a year, what a story.. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this young, outstanding, excellent TEAM.. I’ve got to say this & I think many people will agree with me even if they aren’t a Rays fan…. If you’re a baseball fan, a TRUE baseball fan & your favorite team is not in the playoffs, then you should root for the Tampa Bay Rays! Why? Because, you know what they do? Do you know why they are in the playoffs & doing great? Well.. It’s not because they’re the most talented team.. No way.. It’s not because they have the best pitching, NAH AH!! It’s not because their lineup is stacked, nooooppee.. You know what it is? They play BASEBALL!!! That’s what they do well & they do it well as a TEAM because they are the definition of TEAM right now in baseball! The Tampa Bay Rays ARE MLB!!!!

*Takes a breathe..*

Thanks for reading,

Your very excitable sports blogger

Season Openers: Best time to schedule a difficult game!

I just wanted to take a look at College Football teams who scheduled tough season openers against teams who did not & explain why the teams that did this are likely to be better teams than those who scheduled cupcakes.

First of all, let me just say that I know that some teams just don’t want to take risks on the first game of the year. Understandable, sure, the smartest thing to do? Not in my view! Here’s why:

When you schedule a cupcake team (or weak team) for your season opener, you’re doing a few things; First of all, you’re not allowing yourself to properly evaluate your team early on.. Just because College Football doesn’t have preseason games like the NFL, doesn’t mean that the first few weeks aren’t very much like preseason games. Something else that you’re doing is setting your team up for a potential early loss. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “Well, if you schedule a tough team, you’re DEFINITELY setting yourself up for an early loss, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??!??!?”

Allow me to explain. If you play a cupcake team & trounce them easily. Easily being the key word there.. That means that you’re probably not concentrating all that hard for the most part of the game. So, then next week comes along against a mediocre team & lets just say that your team is actually one of the Top 10 schools.. Well, if this doesn’t become a trap game at this point now, NOTHING does! You just finished squashing a cupcake, you’re feeling good, you have a false evaluation of your team now & so you’re heading into this game not REALLY KNOWING how good your team is, great.. Blind squirrel has stumbled upon what it thinks to be a nut!

Now, lets say you schedule a ranked opponent for your season opener or atleast a pretty good team. Well, you’re giving yourself the shot to do EVERYTHING that you CAN’T do when you schedule a cupcake. You get a proper evaluation of how good your team is, with this information you can carry it into next week & truly improve, you quicken your season preparation process (again, first week or two is like NFL Preseason for College teams).

But, if you’re worried about an early loss, well, guess what? The other team is also just starting the season!! It’s a fair game.. It’s just like if it were scheduled in the middle of the year, the only difference is, it shortens the length of time you have to wait before you TRULY know how good your team ACTUALLY is.

So, to put these thoughts into action for this season.. I’m going to say this:

Missouri & Illinois deserve props for opening against each other. Missouri will be scary from here on out, Illinois has set itself up for another good year, despite the loss.

Ohio State has set itself up for a loss against USC in Week 3.. Yes, I’m calling it.

Michigan knows what kind of season they’re in for.

Alabama knows what they’re capable of, they have a better chance at having a good year now, rather than if they had scheduled a cupcake, squashed them & then played the Clemson game! Could’ve been a whole different story.

Virginia Tech knows that they have ALOT of work to do…. East Carolina is now poised to be non-BCS party crasher to the teams figuring on being the BCS party crashers! Yes.. I’m saying it.. East Carolina could be the next Boise State!

 

So, I’m going to wrap this up.. The bottom line is: Scheduling a cupcake for your season opener in College Football isn’t a very bright thing to do. You learn ZILCH about your team, you set yourself up for disappointment, you lengthen your preparation for the season ahead when you play REAL games. Oh & you leave yourself open to pulling a Michigan, why? Because it’s the first game of the year!! Appalachian State would have NEVER beaten Michigan in mid-year.. NEVER!

Ready for some NFL!!!

Oh yes, the NFL season is just about 6 days away.. So, naturally, I’m here to give you my thoughts on what you can expect to see this year. I’m going to talk about everything from teams, to players, to division races, to the playoffs to… Yes.. THE SUPER BOWL!!!

I’ll start off by saying this: The Patriots WILL NOT make the Super Bowl this year! The division is now tougher, the Colts are still right there with them in the AFC & the Jagz are still a comin’..

Nextly, Shawne Merriman is going to wish he hadn’t rolled the dice & the Chargers are going to bomb when something happens to him! Why would anyone do anything that could affect his team in such a way! It wouldn’t hurt them NEARLY as bad if they start off without him, rather than starting with him & then losing him! But, nobody ever accused Merriman of being the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Now I’d like to talk about a team to watch out for that NOBODY is talking about: That would be the Carolina Panthers.. It’s like people have forgotten that they exist.. Well, they exist & people will realize that once/if they make the playoffs & I believe that they will! They still have Jake Delhomme who is no slouch at QB & he has a great target to throw to in Steve Smith, they’ve now added Jonathan Stewart to accompany DeAngelo Williams (what a running game)! But, that’s not even the best of their situation… The division is SOOOO patheticly weak! It just might happen that the other teams in the playoffs, if the Panthers are around, may just assume that, in turn, the Panthers are also weak & boy, may they be surprised! If that happens, just maybe…. I won’t jinx it.. But…. maybe! It’s the NFC!

Ok, Super Bowl prediction! It’s obviously going to be the Atlanta Falcons vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.. No brainer! (that was a good one, if I do say so myself) Ok… all jokes aside, it will be the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.. Cowboys will win by a score of 27-17, book it. Really, please don’t!!! I don’t want to be held responsible if you lose all your money!!!

Last, but certainly not lea – Ok, yes, least of the topics that I wanted to discuss…. Brett Favre.. NOT the magical cure the Jets are looking for, sorry.. I know he’s gave alot of Jets’ fans something to be excited about, but please, don’t get too over-the-top excited here.. You MIGHT get to the playoffs, but that’s where it stops. Then you’ll have to deal with him not knowing whether or not he wants to play anymore, because, didn’t you know, the WHOLE NFL revolves around him & what HE wants to do!!!

End of rant.

Wherever I May Roam: The Day That Metallica Came Back!

First of all, let me say this.. This is primarily a sports blog, obviously, but.. I couldn’t help it.. I must express my feelings on the BRAND NEW single from Metallica: “The Day That Never Comes”. Metallica is my absolute favorite band.. So, I MUST do this!

Incase you’ve been trapped under a rock somewhere for a while, allow me to excitedly inform you that Metallica is coming out with a new album called “Death Magnetic” on September 12th. It’s their first album since “St. Anger” in 2003. That’s why I titled this “The Day That Metallica Came Back”.. I understand that they never went anywhere, but, they did take a 5 year hiatus between albums. That’s a while!

So, a couple of days ago their first single off of “Death Magnetic” was released titled “The Day That Never Comes” & oh my.. It starts up on the radio & immediately I realize that the legends are back on track after a disappointing “St. Anger” album, to be kind. The song starts out much like their ballad off “Ride The Lightning” called “Fade To Black”, which happens to be my favorite song in the world, without a doubt. So, needless to say, the song has gripped me from the start. From there, I start hearing shades of “One” off of “…And Justice For All”. It’s such an epic beginning, beautiful guitar & then the MIGHTY (as everything is with Metallica) & THUNDERING (THEIR ALWAYS LOUD) drums pick up & right away, you know they’re going back to their roots, so to speak.

Before too long, you hear Mr. Hettfield’s vocals for the first time & they are very clean, as they should be for this type of song. His voice really touches on the very emotion & pulse of this song & it’s meaning. As he sings with his voice seemingly agonizing over each & every word, yet it’s so beautiful, you really start feeling exactly what he’s trying to convey.

My original interpretation of the meaning of the song is that it’s about abuse inside of a relationship of some sort. Which really makes this song less of a song that you really want to get down & rock out to. You know? But hey, that’s Metallica.. They’re alittle dark, alot of their stuff is like this, this is nothing new to them.

After the first verse you are greeted by a pretty hard & heavy chorus with more of the traditional Metallica growl. Directly following that, you are taken back to the start of the song as they play the intro guitar piece again leading up to the second verse which, as usual, is much like the first, just telling the second part of the “story”. Then back through the chorus.. At this point, you’re prepared.. You’re ready for Kirk Hammett to step it up! But first, you get some heavy riffage leading up to a triumphant sounding bridge that blast you right through into what every Metallica fan waits & holds their collective breathes for: Kirk Hammett’s amazing guitar.

OH YES! You get about 3 minutes of solid MIGHTY METALLICA riffage & Kirk Hammett going to town with Lars pounding it out as always on the drums. It does get alittle too repetitive in places & this song could have been shorter…

A couple of other problems are that the music at times seems a bit too happy for the subject of the song & the fact that this song actually ends is another problem! It’s that great to hear Metallica & not just that, but this song is REALLY GOOD. It’s the best song that I’ve heard in quite a while.. Most other rock/metal bands around these days should be ashamed! This isn’t even Metallica’s best work & it is STILL WAY above & beyond most bands out there todays’ work.

I give it an 8.3 out of 10. It’s not EXCELLENT, so no 9. But it is GREAT, that equals an 8…. point 3. Can’t forget about that point 3. But yeah, most stuff out there today isn’t even worthy of anything close to an 8.. So, this score really is great. This song is a major victory for Metallica coming off the heels of “St. Anger”!

Professional Wrestling: Should Be Taken Seriously As A Sport!

I admit it. Yes, I am a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) or Professional Wrestling lover. I’m 22 years old & I have been a fan since I was just 4 years old. I remember watching my very first match & it absolutely thrilling me & since then I’ve never turned back. I remember the original reason I liked it too, as you can guess, since I was only 4, it was because I was seeing two guys beat each other up! Yeah, alot of little boys get fascinated by that sort of thing.

So, that sets this up for you. Now, as you can imagine, after a while I learned that it was fake. It took nothing away from the enjoyment I got out of it, even as I was still a youngster. I was still as enthralled by it as ever. The passion never wavered, it didn’t stop me for a second from being so happy anytime it were to come on TV & not hardly be able to wait for the next time it would. People would say to me “but, it’s fake, how can you like that?”

That’s what I’m going to explain here & it also happens to be the reason why Professional Wrestling should be taken seriously as a sport, not as something that’s beneath being a sport, not as the redheaded stepchild of a sport, but as a true sport in & of itself. 

Professional Wrestling is indeed fake.. But, not completely. That’s what many people who are constantly talking about that they can’t like something that’s fake like that cannot seem to grasp. The physical interaction between the wrestlers in the ring is fake to a degree (more on that later), but, the athleticism it takes to do those moves, the skill & talent, training & effort it takes to become a Professional Wrestler is NOT fake at-all. Some of the things these athletes do are amazing, all the while making sure that the athlete they are working with does not truly get seriously hurt. Imagine soaring off the top rope while back-flipping in mid-air & trying to land on-top of someone just perfectly so that you do not seriously hurt them.

Which leads me to the next element involved here. While these athletes are doing these moves with care & they are trained professionals as to how to do these moves to where the athlete they are doing them to does not get injured, to a certain degree, it is real.. There is pain involved, their bodies do get worn out, they are human beings putting on a show, yes, but, it does come at a cost, just as it does with an NFL player, MLB player, Boxer or any other physical sport you care to think of. It is taxing on their bodies, they do get burned out sometimes, it does wear on them mentally as well.

There are many of men who think they wish to become a Professional Wrestler, but when they start to truly train for it, they cannot take it. Take that for what it’s worth, but honestly, what does that say to you in your heart of hearts?

I know this has been long & I appologize, so, I’m going to wrap this up very shortly. I just hope that I can get through to some of you who look down on Professional Wrestling or feel that it somehow does not qualify as a sport. I want to share my passion with you, I want to open up a whole new world to you or perhaps just let you see just a small beam of the brightness that Professional Wrestling is to my life.

I understand that it being fake has nothing to do with why some do not like wrestling or maybe even it not being considered a sport in your eyes. Some of you disagree with some of the soap opera type things that goes on during, say, a WWE event. That’s understandable, but don’t let that overshadow what the athletes in the ring do. Don’t let that one thing blind your eyes to what can be a very beautiful thing if you let it.

The soap opera like things that go on is the entertainment aspect of it.. After all, it is labeled “sports entertainment”.. What sport doesn’t entertain you though? Every sport has it’s characters; There’s Manny Ramirez in baseball, there’s Terrell Owens in the NFL, there’s many in the NBA. Every sport has those characters that aren’t playing a role though, that’s real life, that’s their real selves, yet, some of you may not let that effect whether or not you watch those things. So, why not give the WWE or TNA (Total Nonstop Action) a chance? Why does Professional Wrestling always have to have this big bad dark cloud hung over it?

In closing, I just want to let you know that if you’re reading this at this point, I thank you ever so much. I thank you because it proves that you’re thinking about this at least & that’s great. If this only makes one person see Professional Wrestling in a different light, then it was worth the time & effort here. I hope somebody who didn’t before now realizes that Professional Wrestling can be seen as I see it now, an art, a thing of beauty, great athleticism, some entertainment thrown in & most importantly – A sport!

Thanks SOOO much again for reading!

Dawg Pounding To The National Championship (Football)

That’s right… The Georgia Bulldogs will be barking their way up the right tree this year.. What’s the advantage? They start at the top!

Oh & it also doesn’t hurt to be one of the most talented teams in the nation, if not THE most talented. Sure, there are some tough teams with weak schedules (namely; Ohio State & Missouri) that if the Dawgs don’t get walked enough, don’t get their doggie bowl filled all the way up to the top or act more like hound dogs & just loaf around too much, especially with them sporting the toughest schedule in the nation (in my opinion), could move right on up & take a National Championship spot away from them!

Still, I say that these Georgia Bulldogs will either go undefeated or finish up with just 1 loss & that loss would come at the hands of their nightmare that is the Florida Gators. Either of those, I feel, should keep them in National Championship contention, considering that toughest schedule in the nation & the fact that I believe Ohio State will stumble to USC, Oklahoma will stumble to somebody, not sure who & Missouri will make a mistake somewhere, most likely at Texas.

Having said that, who do I think will be in the National Championship game with Georgia? Well, that would be Oklahoma. The only test for Oklahoma will probably be Missouri in the conference championship game. Oklahoma has Missouri’s number, Oklahoma doesn’t fear Missouri, Missouri fears Oklahoma! Oklahoma will beat Missouri again & that will put them at #2 in the BCS & secure a National Title game spot!

Why do I think Georgia will defeat Oklahoma? It’s simple… Oklahoma doesn’t Knowshon! Oklahoma is all bark & no bite!! They can’t win the big game & their coach has a fitting last name… Stoops.. Yeah.. After they finish their business there, they’ll take a big bite out of the Sooners & become the National Champions!!!

RBIs & Wins Have Their Place In Baseball…

Just not as a great measure of how good a batter or pitcher is. Both are far too reliant on what other people on the team does. You put any great RBI hitter or winning pitcher on a bad baseball team & those numbers take a dive. So, under no circumstances should these two stats ever be put into any calculation that is supposed to suggest who is a better batter or pitcher.

RBIs & wins DO have their place in baseball & are useful, though. They aren’t “worthless” as some would like for you to believe & here’s why:

For RBIs, since 1990, well over 500 players in a single season who had atleast 100 RBIs were above average hitters according to OPS+ (on-base percentage + slugging percentage, it’s the percentage above the league average in that stat).. While only approximately 12 were below average. OPS is an accepted stat for measuring how good a hitter is.

As far as pitchers go, 15 wins is the number we’re looking for here.. Since 1990, yet again, approximately 370 starting pitchers who had atleast 15 wins were above average pitchers according to ERC+ (which is component ERA, the percentage above the league average, 100 is average).. Only 64 pitchers (again approximately) were below average.

So, what can we gather from this? Well, we can gather that anomalies happen, but, it is a general rule of thumb that if a hitter has 100 RBIs or more or a pitcher has 15 wins or more, that they must be pretty good.

Weird things are going to happen, but that doesn’t make these two stats “worthless”.. It just makes them flawed. I want someone to find me a stat that isn’t somehow flawed & that measures a player’s talent perfectly.. Once that happens, I will be the first to deem RBIs, wins & every other stat 100% worthless besides that one.

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