The Sports Rumors

Torre, South Florida, Red Sox and More…

Torre Says Thanks, but No Thanks

I was at work yesterday around the three o’clock hour when I got a text message from a buddy of mine in New York. He said that he had just heard Joe Torre was being offered a one year deal for $5 million, with $3 million offered as incentives if the Yankees reach the World Series. First thing that came to mind? Joe, please do not take this deal. Please do not disrespect yourself and your legacy by being a puppet, a scapegoat, and a mere peasant in the empire that is the New York Yankees. Do not let George Steinbrenner belittle you by offering you another one year deal, with incentives no less, so that you have to deal with the constant façade of questions relating to your job all season. The fact that the Yankees threw in “incentives” makes me so angry and outraged because monetary incentives are thrown to motivate people. Joe Torre needs to be motivated to reach the World Series? Dusty Baker agreed with this sentiment when he said in an interview with Michael Kay that this was such blatant disrespect of a man who has won four World Series and made it to the postseason in each of the past 12 years. Now he needs motivation, monetary motivation at that? Absolutely absurd.

Being a Yankees fan, hearing the news on my drive home from work about Torre rejecting the offer was bittersweet. I was happy that he is leaving with his pride, or whats left of it after twelve years of dealing with “The Boss”. However, I was sad because Torre had turned the Yankees into such a respectful, classy organization that was always an elite team. Mike Greenberg said it best this morning on his radio show:

“You can hate them, or you can love them. But you cannot deny that the Yankees were as classy as any under Joe Torre.”

I don’t know who the next guy will be. Mattingly, Girardi, whomever. I don’t know if they will be successful or not. I don’t know which Yankees will be back, which will be gone, which will retire. I do know one thing though. There will never be another manager in Yankees history who won the way Torre did, and who carried himself the way he did. Good luck to you Joe, with whatever you do.

South Florida Cinderella Story is Over

Well it was nice while it lasted, but as I said earlier this week; historically dominant and elite teams win in college football. In college basketball, yes, Cinderella stories happen nearly every year. Not so in football. USF was defeated by Rutgers 30-27 last night. I was impressed by the confidence the team carried into this game, but never in the past six or seven weeks was I impressed by their game play. A reader of this site said it best, “I swear, every game of their’s I watched, it was like high school ball”. He is referring to the sloppy, missed tackles, turnover filled victories that they had up to this point. Again, good for USF for starting to make a name for themselves. But you have to win consistently for a few years before you can be taken seriously.

Red Sox defeat Indians; Beckett and Lofton Jaw

With the 7-1 win last night, the Red Sox have given fans a reason to watch the championship series as they cut the series lead to a game, 3-2. The series shifts back to Boston for games 6 and 7, starting Saturday night at 8pm. (On a related note, what a terrible decision to show the game at 8pm on a Saturday night. Who is going to sit at home on the one weekend night that they can go out and watch a 5 hour baseball game? Terrible.)

The game became rather interesting last night when Beckett and Kenny Lofton began jawing at each other, rather intensely. Both benches cleared, but nothing came of it. The two have a history dating back to a few years ago, where Beckett has said that it is disrespectful to the pitcher the way Lofton tosses his bat on his way to first base after a walk. He said he would like it if Lofton would show a little more respect. Lofton of course, tossed his bat like he normally does, and on his way to first base, Beckett began screaming obscenities in the direction of Lofton, to which he responded.

What a bunch of weak, whiny behavior this is. You’re mad because he tosses his bat a certain way? Seriously? It’s that big of a deal to you? That is extremely lame and I hope every Cleveland batter starts tossing their bats the same way (which is really unnoticeable unless you are looking for it). The whining of Curt Shilling and now Josh Beckett, among other Red Sox never ceases to amaze me. It’s really like the city of Boston and the Red Sox shrill, school girl attitude were a match made in heaven.

The Fan vs The Athlete Update

We had quite an interesting discussion on a variety of subjects regarding the relationship between a fan and a team. It was all started by the Manny Ramirez “Who cares” comments. The link to the page is listed at the top, and here.

College Weekly Picks Week 8

It’s pretty unbelievable that we’re already in week 8 of the college football season. It’s even more unbelievable that the University of South Florida is #2 in the nation. Well, that’s going to change tonight. It was a nice Cinderella story but Cindarellas don’t win national championship games. They win the Meineke Car Care Bowls. Another team that’s going to get bumped in the rankings? University of Virginia. What are they even doing at 19?! Yeah they’ll be gone soon. Actually, I’d rather have them win all their games until Thanksgiving weekend when they play Virginia Tech. I’d take great personal satisfaction in watching them get pummeled, again, as they do annually by the Hokies. Enjoy your college football weekend folks.

Lakers-Mavs Trade Talks

1:47 PM

I have learned from some of a credible source that the Lakers and Kobe Bryant have decided that it is no longer in the best interest of either side for him to continue to practice with the team. It seems as if trade talks are in the works right now and all indications point to Dallas being the destination for Kobe Bryant. It seems that Kobe has played his last game as an L.A. Laker. More to come as I get it.

1:54 PM

I am hearing that Dirk is definitely involved. The negotiations are between sending Josh Howard, Devin Harris, or expiring contracts. LA is trying to get a player plus contracts. Dallas is obviously trying to send over the least that they can.

October 18, 2007

9:35 AM

Kobe Bryant has returned to practice with the team, after initial reports saying he would no longer do so.  All questions regarding any rumors are being answered with “No comment” and we have not heard from Bryant since yesterday afternoon. Bryant is listed as “Questionable” for the teams upcoming preseason game.

It’s Time to Move On

It seems odd to be writing about a basketball story while we’re in the middle of college football, pro football, and the major league baseball championship series. Especially since the basketball season hasn’t even started yet. But here we are, talking about basketball, and who better to talk about than the most polarizing figure in the game since Michael Jordan. It doesn’t matter if you love or hate Kobe Bryant. You pay attention when his name is in the news. That’s how he’s polarizing. You hear about him and either hate him more or love him more. Either way, you have an opinion on the guy.

This time is a little different though. We saw him shoot off at the mouth about wanting to be traded, then not wanting to be traded, then being indifferent about it. Since training camp has started in Los Angeles, Kobe has been mum on the topics of early summer and has focused his interviews and conversations on the future of the Lakers basketball team. Funny thing is, he is the future of the basketball team and his mood, good or bad, dictates the direction of the franchise.

I predicted in an article I did back in the middle of summer, “Eye of the Storm”, that Kobe would have another explosion and the Lakers would be forced to trade him.

…But in order to advance in the playoffs, Kobe is going to need a lot more than what he’s got. What are the Lakers waiting for?

I still can’t see this feud ending quietly. I don’t see it that way. I am giving this until the second week of September, a little over a month, before we hear from Kobe again, louder than ever. And don’t be surprised if this time, a lot of the same media members who bashed him in May have come around and see his viewpoint. He will have a lot more support this time around and remember, what Kobe wants, Kobe gets.

I was about a month off on the time frame, and granted, Kobe wasn’t the one who brought this to the media this time around, but nevertheless, it’s a story again. The Trade-Kobe or Don’t-Trade-Kobe debates have changed direction to Where-To-Trade-Kobe. It’s no longer a matter of “if” anymore. It’s a matter of “when and where”.

So why is Kobe Bryant all over ESPN and national talk radio again if he didn’t say anything? Because his owner, Jerry Buss, decided to unleash the media frenzy by admitting that he will listen to offers for Kobe. Translation: Kobe Bryant is on the trading block. Now what really irks me about this decision is why it took so long to decide to trade him. There were players like Kevin Garnett, Baron Davis and Jason Kidd available much earlier, yet the Lakers were persistent upon not trading #24. Now, all of a sudden, they have decided that it’s best to part ways. I absolutely understand the importance of trading Kobe Bryant due to his contract. For those of you who aren’t aware, Kobe is the only player in the league who has the power to veto any trade. He can dictate where he wants to go. Kobe also has an option in two years to become a free agent. If he becomes a free agent, he most certainly will sign with another team and the Lakers will get nothing in return. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to trade Kobe for the most value that they can get in return. Why it took so long to do so? I don’t know and don’t understand.

There were rumors that came out late yesterday afternoon that Kobe was so infuriated by Jerry Buss’ opening up to the media, he emptied out his locker.

a) Kobe shouldn’t be mad at anyone for opening up to the media, because he did it first.

b) Those rumors proved to be false anyway.

The reason I brought it up though was because the Lakers season and team cameraderie, any that they would have had, is now shot. It is impossible to play with the same focus and effort when you don’t know if your star player is going to be with you in a week or not. That’s how it will be for his teammates. How will it be for Kobe? I don’t question his competitiveness or want to win at all. I even took a lot of heat over the summer for saying he is as competitive as Michael Jordan. However, he is still a human being. Take your job as an example, whatever it may be. If you are not sure that you will be working for your company next week or not, will you be able to maintain the same type of focus and enthusiasm compared to if you knew you’d be there for 5 years? If your boss was talking to other companies about swapping you out, even if it is at your own request, you won’t be able to maintain the same level of focus at work. It’s just not possible. My point in all this is that the Lakers MUST move Kobe as soon as possible.

Another reason is, if they hold on to him the rest of the season and begin next year with him on the roster knowing that the clock to him opting out and walking as a free agent is ticking, every single team in the league will lowball the Lakers. The Lakers have leverage right now in trade talks. They aren’t forced by the hands of time, yet. They will be in a year. I think it’s best to trade him now because your franchise will get fresh new players at the start of the season, rather than in the middle. Your city won’t have to deal with the constant rumors month after month. The Los Angeles fans will be able to come to the Staples Center without having to fret and think, “This may be the last time I see Kobe in a Laker uniform.” The other time you can trade him, and still be able to get a fairly good deal, is right before the draft next April. This way, a team can offer you a nice top pick to go along with the players that they package. Only downside of this is Kobe’s veto clause. Translation: He’s not going to allow you to trade him to the Bobcats, even though they are offering you a top 5 pick in addition to players. The teams that Kobe will go to via trade are Chicago, Dallas, and Phoenix. All three of those teams are championship contenders so they’re not going to have the sexiest draft choices come April.

So to reiterate: Trade Kobe Now.

There are three teams that he will willingly go to, as mentioned above. I’ll start with the least likely of the bunch and work my way to the most likely. Note that in the NBA, the salaries have to match up for a trade to work. You can’t trade Kobe for 5 years worth of first round picks because the money must match. That thought process is used before suggesting or giving my opinion on trades, like the ones below.

Phoenix Suns

Kobe Bryant for Shawn Marion and Raja Bell.

The Suns would make this trade in a heartbeat but the Lakers would be moronic to do so. The dollars match up but the player talent doesn’t. But then again, you can never put something past an owner and GM who traded Shaquille O’neal for Briant Grant, Lamar Odom, and Caron Butler (then traded the best of the three, Butler, to the Wizards where he became an all star and received Kwame Brown in return).

Dallas Mavericks

Kobe Bryant for Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard

This trade makes sense for the Lakers because they get a top 5 player and a solid complimentary player in return. Dirk will give them the low post scoring that they need. Josh Howard won’t score 30+ like Kobe, but 20 a game isn’t unreasonable. The salaries match up. The snag in this trade is that Kobe will be in the same conference and will most likely become the biggest hurdle for the Lakers to overcome in the playoffs. That’s too much irony for Buss to stomach.

Chicago Bulls

Kobe Bryant for Ben Wallace, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich

Kobe Bryant for Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Draft picks

Either one of these trades would work financially. Los Angeles could address a number of needs, most notably a big man and a point guard in the first scenario. In the second, they could get a lot of young talent as well as draft picks. Either way, they would be happy. I think the Lakers would take this deal in a heartbeat. Believe it or not, the snag in this deal is the short pockets of the Bulls owner, Jerry Reinsdorf. He doesn’t like to spend a lot of money and if you bring in Kobe, you’re going to have to resign him to an enormous deal. If you don’t, you’ll have to deal with a lot of competition for the free agent in two years. The other reason Chicago is hesitant is because they spent a lot of time and effort putting together the pieces of their team through the draft.

That being said, I think it’s an absolute no brainer. Those pieces that Chicago put together aren’t going to be good enough to beat a Western Conference team. They weren’t even good enough to be in the finals last year. Ask Lebron James what its like to face Duncan, Ginnobli and crew in the finals. It’s no easy task. Kobe has been there, done that. He’s played with the big boys and he’s played them very well. Adding him to the Bulls would put them in the Finals, without a doubt. They’d also have an extremely good chance to win because western teams usually beat themselves up just trying to reach the Finals.

There comes a time where you just need to part ways, and do so without damaging yourself and the other individuals involved. We all knew this would end badly. Now it’s important for L.A. to swallow its pride, and make a move to save face and cut their losses. If not, the fans will never forgive them for letting Shaquille O’neal and Kobe Bryant leave them and getting absolutely nothing in return for two hall of famers.

NFL Power Rankings Week 7

I think it is safe to say that we learned quite a few things this past NFL weekend, starting with the Patriots.

Rule #1: Do not talk trash, direct or indirect, to Bill Belichick. He will bring you down, bring you down to Chinatown.

Just ask Dallas head coach Wade Phillips. Phillips thought it’d be a good idea and mouth off, saying that he feels the Patriots championships are tainted because of Spygate. Come Sunday, what did Belichick do with less than 30 seconds left in a 14 point game, 4^th and goal from the Dallas one yard line?

a) Kneel and end the game

b) Throw the ball out of the endzone to get a turnover on downs, and end the game

c) Send in a different package of players, call a running play, score another touchdown and make it a 48-27 game instead of 41-27 and teach Wade Phillips not to talk about your superiors.

The correct answer is “C”

Rule #2: Do not try to be funny and put up a sign referring to one of the most talented wide receivers ever as the “Other 81”.

You know that Tom Brady is his quarterback. You know that Tom Brady makes the big plays in big games. You know that Randy Moss has always SCORCHED the Cowboys. Why would you try to light any unnecessary fire under an already dominant team? Don’t tell me Terrell Owens was trying to add hype to the game like a boxer does. No. He wasn’t. Terrell Owens has an inferiority complex and thinks that Moss is better than him, which he is. He was trying to upstage him while the spotlight was on, and guess what. He got shut up. It was funny how Owens took a cue from his agent Drew Rosenhaus in the postgame interview by answering any Moss questions with “No Comment”. Wasn’t this supposed to be the time where he DID answer the “Other 81” questions?

Here’s a question for you Terrell Owens. What’s 6’4”, 210lbs, doesn’t drop balls that hits him in the hands, and has twice as many touchdowns as you? What.. what’s that? That’s right. It’s the best receiver in the game and his name is RANDY MOSS.

Rule #3: If you cannot win more than one out of your first five games with Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmanzadeh, Rudi Johnson, and Carson Palmer, you should be fired immediately and sent to Tajikistan to herd sheep and goats with a broken ruler.

Rule #4: If you lose to a 43 year old quarterback who was sitting on his couch until Tuesday evening, and practiced for the first time on Wednesday, you should be penalized a first round draft pick, one game, and part of your equipment (preferably your cup, because you obviously don’t need one)

Rule #5: Don’t disrespect the defending Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts by dismissing them while prematurely crowning the Patriots as the best team ever. We’re not even half way there yet and last I checked, the Colts haven’t lost a game either.

Never get tired of this pic.

College Football Weekend Recap

The much anticipated BCS rankings were released yesterday evening. Ohio State was ranked first, followed by South Florida, Boston College, LSU and Oklahoma. People still seemed to be surprised that South Florida was ranked second, but I don’t see why. Cal was ahead of them and they lost, USF had some quality wins and an undefeated record; it makes sense. Boston College is right on their tail and with a big game coming up next Thursday night in Blacksburg, VA versus the 11^th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, they could take over the number two spot. Or, they could lose it and drop out of the top five completely, which leads me to my point about these rankings.

Most teams have played seven games by now and the USF’s and the BC’s are happy to be ranked where they are. But it means nothing. Why does it mean nothing? Because the majority of the teams ranked in the top ten aren’t going to win out. USF is going to lose, Boston College will drop a game (most likely at Virginia Tech), South Carolina will lose to Florida, Kentucky will lose at least one, if not two more games, Arizona State will get waxed by Oregon and USC, Oregon will lose to USC, West Virginia lacks any sort of consistency in big games, and Virginia Tech will drop an easy game in mid November and choke after 8 weeks like they do annually. That leaves me with Ohio State, LSU, USC and Florida who will be making a BCS push. Notice a similarity in all these teams? They are the big boys of college football the big boys separate themselves when it matters. The USF’s, the BC’s, yeah they are cute, October stories. The Boise States of the past, those are few and far in between. When all is said and done, the top notch schools play in the top notch games and win the title that matters. Don’t agree? I’ll list the national champions from the past 15 years:

1992 – Alabama

1993 – Florida State

1994 – Nebraska

1995 – Nebraska

1996 – Florida

1997 – Michigan/Nebraska (split)

1998 – Tennessee

1999 – Florida State

2000 – Oklahoma

2001 – Miami

2002 – Ohio State

2003 – USC

2004 – USC

2005 – Texas

2006 – Florida

Now go ahead and show me where the Cinderella team is? There is none. So don’t read into these BCS rankings and get bent out of shape if your team isn’t given the respect you think they deserve, or if you think your rival school is getting too much love. We’re only half way through the season. Instead of whining or getting excited about the rankings, look up your teams schedule and find the game where they play the top tier teams. Circle that game. Mark it with all the highlighters you have. If you are playing an LSU, a Florida, a USC, an Ohio State, or any other school that has relevant national meaning, you need to make sure your school wins that game. If you take care of that game and handle the rest of your lousy schedule, you’ll be fine when the season comes to an end. If you don’t win your big game, don’t bother whining about the BCS or AP rankings. It doesn’t matter if you’re 17^th and you feel you should be 15^th. Who cares?

Look I want Virginia Tech to be in the national championship, just as any alum would. But we squandered our big game against LSU. That was OUR chance to make the statement and handle our business. We let it slip. Therefore, I’m not whining about being ranked 11^th. I’m not going to whine if a team with two losses ends up ranked higher than Tech at some point. I’m lucky though. My school has one more chance to beat a top 5 team in one season, which is rare. So circle your big games, win your easy ones, enjoy the second half of the season, and as Terrell Owens would say,

“Getcha Popcorn Ready.”

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College Weekly Picks Week 7

NFL Power Rankings Week 6

If you disagree with my top ten rankings, tell me who I should replace teams with. This season is filled with the most mediocrity that I’ve seen in years. Enjoy!

Weekend Recap Part 2 of 3

Here is the baseball section of the weekend.

Before You Join the Fire-Torre Bandwagon, Ask Yourself a Few Questions

If you have been residing under a rock with some very high quality ear plugs for the past few days, you would STILL know that the Yankees are out of the postseason, getting beat in 4 games by the Cleveland Indians. Just a few days ago, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner found it necessary to go blabber his senile mouth about how if Torre didn’t manage to move past the first round, he would be fired.

I don’t know what Steinbrenner was thinking, if he even was thinking. Going out and saying such a thing on the heels of an elimination game isn’t “motivation”. It’s stupidity. These aren’t college kids who will go and “play one for the ol’ ball coach.” No, this isn’t a movie. These are professional athletes who are on the highest level of stardom, who make more money than they can spend, and have their own personal agendas to worry about rather than to be motivated by a 77 year old owner threatening their manager’s job. The antic was not only ridiculous, but disrespectful. If my boss threatened my job in front of all the other employees, and went out of his way to do so for several years, I would quit before he got the chance to fire me and I’d make sure I did something to make him hurt. Joe Torre is too nice of a guy to do that or say anything bad about “The Boss”, which makes it even lower and more despicable for Steinbrenner to continuously leave him out to dry like this.

Okay so the series is over and the Yankees are out. Why hasn’t the man fired Torre yet? What’s the hold up? If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you’re going to stab your friend in the back, the same friend who helped you win plenty of championships and get you to the postseason twelve straight years, make sure you stab him so he doesn’t suffer. Torre has no idea what’s going to happen and the Yankees look like they’re going to take their time in deciding what to do, while he just sits there and waits. The levels of disrespect that Steinbrenner is showing makes me want to stop routing for the Yankees all together.

Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN news last night that the Yankees need to make a change. Why? Because they haven’t won a world series in all of seven years? Seven years is not that long of a time people. Get over yourself Steinbrenner. Get over yourself New York. Getting a team ready and maintaining their focus for the entire season is a manager’s job. It’s a job that Torre did to perfection for twelve straight years. When you go into a playoff series and your ace (Wang) absolutely chokes, how is that the manager’s fault? When no one on your team can hit worth a nickel, after being the best hitting team in the league, how is that the manager’s fault? If your MVP cannot drive in a run when he has the bases loaded and one out, how is that the manager’s fault? What would La Russa have done that would make Wang pitch better? What would La Russa have done to make Arod calm down and hit the way he did in the season? La Russa wouldn’t be able to make Posada have a better series in which he had only one hit. What would ANY manager have done that would have made the Yankees better for those four games?

Say the Yankees fire Torre. What do you accomplish? You bring in Tony La Russa, who everyone seems to be fathoming over. Please. He had squabbles in his tenure with the St. Louis press. What do you think will happen in the New York spotlight? If you don’t get La Russa, who are you going after? I haven’t even heard Joe Girardi’s name mentioned which is a pretty good indicator that he’s not in the running at this point. And forget who the replacement will be, what will happen to the team?

Do you really think Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite, and Mariano Rivera would want to stay? Absolutely not. They were all Joe Torre guys. Everyone on that team, with the exception of Arod, was a guy who loved Joe Torre. They would go out and fight for the guy. Ask them. Pretty much anyone interviewed has said that it doesn’t hurt to lose in the playoffs as much as it does to let down and lose for Joe Torre because he’s such a great manager and a great person. If you think you can find someone better, by all means. But I am 100% sure, absolutely, positively sure, that there is no manager in the game who can handle New York and Steinbrenner, along with the egos that came and went, with as much class and style as Joe Torre did. And I can also say with utter certainty that there is no manager who would have won the way Joe Torre did.

If and when the Yankees fire Joe Torre, I will love to see them miss the playoffs next year with a new manager. How can I say this when I’m a Yankees fan? Simple. I don’t respect organizations that treat good people badly. You screw Torre, you can go screw yourself for all I care.

In other baseball news, the playoffs have now lost pretty much all appeal. The Cubs are out, the Angels are out, and the Yankees are out. Go enjoy your Colorado-Arizona series while I enjoy some football.

A “Player’s guy” is what many described Torre as.

Weekend Recap Part 1 of 3

As you know, this weekend was filled with so much. I figured each sport deserves it’s own section of the recap. So I’ll start with College Football in part 1, give you some MLB in part 2, and close it off with NFL in part 3.

College Football

We had another big weekend in college football and it only looks to get better. There is no team this season that is clearly the most dominant and a unanimous pick to win the title like we’ve had in years past with the USC’s of Reggie Bush etc. However, the good thing about that is there is plenty of room for discussion, heated debates, and punches thrown to the face of your friend from another school who said your team is overrated.

This is college football.

Now to the rankings. So let me get this straight; Michigan loses to Appalachian St. by two points when they were favored by 35+ in pretty much every spread that matters, and radio hosts bash the Wolverines, fans talk about how they should be dropped COMPLETELY from the rankings. No if’s and’s or but’s. It didn’t matter that had Michigan made that last field goal, they would still be in the top ten. “Doesn’t matter. They lost. If’s don’t matter. They should be out of the top 25, period.” Fair enough.

Fast forward to week six and #2 USC loses to an unranked Stanford, to whom they were favored to beat by 41 or 43 (depending on the spread you used), and yet, the same radio hosts, Colin Cowherd in particular, talk about how they should remain in the top ten. “Well if they win that game, even by a few, they’re still a top three team.” Really? Really??? Why? Why is it that Michigan should have been kicked out of Division 1 football but USC should be given the benefit of the doubt. “Oh Stanford is an up and coming team. That Jim Harbaugh, he’s.. he’s really something. USC played a good opponent.” Get out of my face with that nonsense. They weren’t ranked! They were 41 point dogs! I said this last week after people like Skip Bayless were praising USC for “showing a lot” by coming up with a tough, close win at Washington. I said it then, and I’ll say it now… top tier teams should blow out unranked or even ranked opponents above 15. I don’t care if you’re at home, if you’re on the road, if it’s raining, snowing, windy, hailing, I don’t give a damn. If you’re ranked as a top team in the nation, you should handle your business. I’m glad USC lost but I’m disappointed to see how the AP still sweats them more than radio sweats Britney Spears god awful single.

One last point before I move on. I also heard people say “Well yeah USC lost but if you put them at 15, that’s not really accurate because you know if they played #2 Cal today, they’d still be favored.” That’s probably true but just because you’re more talented doesn’t mean you should get a free pass when you lose to a team you were favored to annihilate. You have to face some form of repercussions and since the stupid, neanderthal ranking system is all that college football has to offer, this is how you penalize a team for blowing it.

As far as the rest of the country goes…

Well Virginia Tech finally showed that they have some heart. I was glad to see them beat the living hell out of Clemson. The defense looked the way they were SUPPOSED to look all season and the special teams was as good as anyone could imagine. I think the defense and special teams knocked out over 5 Clemson players if I remember correctly. They played angry and angry is good. However, the offense is still sputtering. There is no push on the offensive line and there is absolutely no running game. The best running threat is quarterback Tyrod Taylor and I cannot be sold on a team that cannot control the clock by means of rushing the rock down your throat. They got Duke this week and then a matchup that I’m salivating over;

Thursday Night. Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA.

#4 Boston College @ #12 VT.

Should be a great game. I’m not going to make a prediction yet because I want to see if the offense can improve over the next week or so. I will say this though… the Hokies offense better be able to put up a couple of touchdowns and 150+ yards rushing because Matt Ryan is going to bring it.

The Florida-LSU game showed me two things. First, LSU is not clearly the best team in the country. They have the best record and they have the most impressive resume but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they lost a game, or even two (including the SEC Championship) before it’s all said and done. Second, Florida is a very good, young team… emphasis on “young”. This team has all the talent in the world, they’re getting the top recruits in coming years, and they have a hell of a coach. Look for a USC type of dynasty in the making over the next several years. They outplayed LSU in Tiger Stadium for 95% of the game. They let down for that critical 5%, but again, they are young. When they have the experience under their belts, watch out. One more thing… I don’t want to hear any of this garbage about how USF is the best team in Florida. The best team in Florida wears Orange and blue, period.

Lastly, I was glad to see Wisconsin finally lose. I had been picking them to be upset for the past three or four weeks and was going to continue to pick against them the rest of the season because I’m a stubborn ass. I never believed in them and didn’t care that they had won 14 straight regular season games or whatever the stat was. That means nothing to me, and apparently it means nothing to Vegas either as they were two point underdogs to unranked Illinois. Which reminds me, another coach who’s building a solid program is Ron Zook (ironically, the ex Florida coach). He’s getting solid recruiting and that program is going to be an annual 15’ish ranked team in years coming. Good for Zook.

Now, enjoy the meaningless rankings. Mine are on the left, AP’s are on the right.