And so it begins: The NFL on PayPerView
Rather, it started last week, but that was Thanksgiving, cut us some slack.
But the Bengals play the Ravens tonight on the NFL Network (and by the time I'm finished with this I'm sure it will be "played". Deal).
Who cares you say? "It's on TV, sure some parts of the country don't get the NFL Network , but they'll work that out."
Oh, but it gets worse. We don't get the NFL Network here at VFLOAB. No, in our plush pad in Hyde Park, we've got our Comcast box... but no NFL Network. It's on our line up, but if we want to watch the channel we've got to drop five bucks a month. This, in a word, sucks.
But then again maybe it doesn't. This Central Michigan/Ohio match up for the Mac Championship isn't that bad of a game. And it's being played in an NFL Stadium! Honestly, we don't care all that much that we aren't watching the Ravens and the Bengals.
But we do care how this is all going down. The cable companies and the NFL Network have been battling each other for months over fees and the such. The cable providers, like Comcast and Cox, want to charge extra for the NFL Network.
In effect, the NFL is already being shown on PayPerView... just like English soccer!
What? But it's true... in order to watch most Premiership games in England, you've got to drop a few bucks just to watch the game.
Now, we're not sure how it all works, but just check out this line up and look at the number of games on PayPerView. Looks to me about half. Plus you need a dish on top of it. Do I hear DirectTV?
So is this the beginning of turning the NFL into a PayPerView league? Probably not... the TV contracts are so big right now as it is, why would anyone want to change it? And the way that the American TV industry is set up, where private TV companies fight for you to watch their TV station, sports is an effective way of promoting their channel while getting a few million males to watch their station.
But what if NewsCorp and DirectTV decide that they want all the NFL games for the dish... then what? Would the NFL be able to walk away from, say $5 billion bucks for DirectTV to broadcast all NFL games? And can you imagine how many dishes that would sell?
It's unlikely, but it's a thought.
30.11.06
29.11.06
Da Bears and da Future
So we're bloggin' hard and fast from Google docs... I HEART WEB 2.0. Let's see how this works out...
Bears... Bears... 9-2... Bears... Bears... Coco... Bears... Bears... Starbucks Peppermint Moca... Bears... can't think...
You know the best part about going back to school at 25? Things that you did at 13 are suddenly funny again. For example, today in Micro I had a small piece of scrap paper, I turned around and threw it at a friend behind me. Five of us found this very funny. Soon another guy was throwing scrap paper at me. I threw it back. Then I involved a sixth person. There we were, ages 24-29 throwing paper at each other and laughing as if John Mulaney was dropping jokes on us (he makes us laugh! Hangovers are funny!). Anyway, so yeah, we were throwing paper and then I pulled out the old BicPen and started to make the ole'Spitball shooter. Good times, though since I'm 25 it is harder to actually pull the trigger on the ole'Spitball shooter. Next quarter.
We're getting to the Bears, I swear...
Simmons hits a home run with this one on the Eastern Conference . It was like reading the old, pre-LA Sports Guy. Seriously. Most enjoyable Simmons article in a long, long time. And I'm not shitting on him, he's a different writer today than he was five or three years ago. He isn't 'worse' (though he may be a bit more lazy) whatever, I'm not going into it because I still like him and read pretty much every word he's written on ESPN.com (I couldn't finished the Schilling interview, maybe the worst piece of writing this year). Anyway, point is, I like Simmons, and I'm not ashamed to say it.
Random thoughts are over flowing... it takes about 10 yards of a Vick run to realize that he's the most gifted player in the NFL. Though you forget this because he's stuck in the pocket over throwing wide outs 90% of the game. Of course this being the NFL every coach decides to keep him in the pocket. Of course this is probably the STUPIDEST IDEA (outside of invading Iraq) of the 21st century. Why doesn't ATL roll out Vick on every play? Why don't they treat him as if he was Steven Young only faster and with a better arm? Why? This pisses me off so much, I hate the NFL sometimes.
Can you imagine Tony La Russa: NFL head coach? How much worse would the NFL be? He'd use four different quarterbacks per game, including 'double switching' the slot receiver for a left handed shuffle pass specialist. Oh the joy.
Okay, the Bears... look they're 9-2. Grossman, for all his inconsistencies, is a better bet than Griese in our opinion. Now watching that Pats game on Sunday? Still better than Griese. I don't think the Bears can sit him, he still gives the Bears the best chance to win the game. But a few notes:
- The Pats get away with murder in the secondary. Seriously, they dare the refs to call a penalty on them on every single play. And since they're doing it the entire game, the refs can either decide to flag 'em on every play or only on every 3rd play. And they've been doing that since 2001 and their bullshit Super Bowl victory.
- The Pats aren't the same team that they were on either side of the ball. Dillon is washed up, the D lacks that something that it used to have, and Brady doesn't look right and to be honest, he hasn't had a good year at all, as any fantasy owner will tell you. Something isn't right about Brady right now. This is easily the most interesting subplot at the moment, but no one is talking about it. Tom Brady just doesn't look right. And outside of that one third down run where he made a move on Urlacher, he did nothing to help the Pats win that game.
- Neither team deserved to win that game. It was a sloppy, poorly played game on both sides of the ball. If these were two of the five or six best teams in the NFL, well it makes me appreciate college football that much more. That's right, college football. Ohio State and Michigan was much more exciting and a better played game than the Bears/Pats game. And it's been a pretty bad year in college football, imo. In fact, this is the first year in about four or five years where I've actually enjoyed the NFL. But it goes to show that a good college football game is usually much more enjoyable than a NFL game against two 'good' teams.
I'm 90% sure Bush closes his eyes and pretends that Iraq never happened. It's getting to the point where it seems like every day he's saying "We're staying in Iraq." All the while his supports drop one by one. I can't think about it really, it just so sad. We were against the War Before the War ever started because we didn't think it'd solve anything. But we never ever thought things would go this badly. Never.
It was weird celebrating Thanksgiving last week and thinking of all the good things in our life... and then realize, hey we can't be too happy... there's so much wrong with this world and country. There's a war that continues to get worse and worse for everyone involved and effected by it, were progress is not being made and if it is, it's happening at such a slow rate that it's hard to actually see the progress. And then the continuing gap between the rich and poor, the fact that our economy is in a extremely delicate situation right, the poor, the homeless, the injustice, New York City Cops opening fire on unarmed citizens...
I'm not sure we'll see the last few years of this decated turn into the late 1960s, but it wouldn't shock me either. Back in 2000 I wrote a throw away paper on classification (if I remember correctly, it was actually sort of funny). The gist of it was that since I was born in 1981 I was classified as a Generation Xer. Of course, I'm not a GenXer since I sort of don't 'get' "Reality Bites" or fully understand the impact of Kurt Cobain. In fact, if I was born in 1982, I would be a GenY-Gen9/11-Millennials-GenInternet-BabyBoomlete or whatever they call the people born during Reagan, BushI, and Clinton's Presidencies. And that's what I am despite whatever classification people want to put on me. But in the process of doing a little research for this paper, I stumbled across this book where it praised GenY/Millennials to high heaven. But at the very end it said something very important: 'we don't know how things are going to end up with this generation'. Their point was, in 1960, no one would have predicted that the BabyBoomers would go though and become what they were in 1970. In other words, in 1963 no one would have predicted anything close to what happened in 1968...
Now, this book and that paper was written prior to 9/11. Yes, that's changed everything in this country. Maybe we've reached the point, five years on, that we don't THINK about 9/11 every day; but admit it. Rarely do two days go by without 9/11 creeping into the mind some how (NOTE: We were DC on 9/11 so psychologically that may have a bit more impact on us than say, someone who was in Bosie, ID). The effects of 9/11 will probably live on with those who lived it until the day they pass away, like Pearl Harbor or JFK's assassination (both events that have had little personal impact on my life).
But going back to what I was saying, I think we're in for a turbulent year in the next few years. Maybe not as crazy as 1968 were we saw revolutions, riots, and violence in Paris, Chicago, Mexico City, Prague, and Vietnam just to name a few place; but there will be a moment, a tipping point, in this whole decade where the emotions of 9/11, Bush, Iraq, and this young generation finding it's voice come to head. 2006 is wrapping up, in may ways it was a very disappointing and sad year. There wasn't much 'good' coming from the year. Pop culture was filled with unfulfilled hype, politics saw the beginnings of the waves of a major change in government and power, and socially it was a very cautious year... people were careful in what they said. But people started taking more chances. John Murtha, who a year ago was seen as a radical for being the first politician to call for the troops to come home, now doesn't sound so radical. In fact, others are boarding that train in some shape or form. That choir will only grow in 2007.
And we have a Presidential election in 2008.
Things could get crazy up in here.
Bears... Bears... 9-2... Bears... Bears... Coco... Bears... Bears... Starbucks Peppermint Moca... Bears... can't think...
You know the best part about going back to school at 25? Things that you did at 13 are suddenly funny again. For example, today in Micro I had a small piece of scrap paper, I turned around and threw it at a friend behind me. Five of us found this very funny. Soon another guy was throwing scrap paper at me. I threw it back. Then I involved a sixth person. There we were, ages 24-29 throwing paper at each other and laughing as if John Mulaney was dropping jokes on us (he makes us laugh! Hangovers are funny!). Anyway, so yeah, we were throwing paper and then I pulled out the old BicPen and started to make the ole'Spitball shooter. Good times, though since I'm 25 it is harder to actually pull the trigger on the ole'Spitball shooter. Next quarter.
We're getting to the Bears, I swear...
Simmons hits a home run with this one on the Eastern Conference . It was like reading the old, pre-LA Sports Guy. Seriously. Most enjoyable Simmons article in a long, long time. And I'm not shitting on him, he's a different writer today than he was five or three years ago. He isn't 'worse' (though he may be a bit more lazy) whatever, I'm not going into it because I still like him and read pretty much every word he's written on ESPN.com (I couldn't finished the Schilling interview, maybe the worst piece of writing this year). Anyway, point is, I like Simmons, and I'm not ashamed to say it.
Random thoughts are over flowing... it takes about 10 yards of a Vick run to realize that he's the most gifted player in the NFL. Though you forget this because he's stuck in the pocket over throwing wide outs 90% of the game. Of course this being the NFL every coach decides to keep him in the pocket. Of course this is probably the STUPIDEST IDEA (outside of invading Iraq) of the 21st century. Why doesn't ATL roll out Vick on every play? Why don't they treat him as if he was Steven Young only faster and with a better arm? Why? This pisses me off so much, I hate the NFL sometimes.
Can you imagine Tony La Russa: NFL head coach? How much worse would the NFL be? He'd use four different quarterbacks per game, including 'double switching' the slot receiver for a left handed shuffle pass specialist. Oh the joy.
Okay, the Bears... look they're 9-2. Grossman, for all his inconsistencies, is a better bet than Griese in our opinion. Now watching that Pats game on Sunday? Still better than Griese. I don't think the Bears can sit him, he still gives the Bears the best chance to win the game. But a few notes:
- The Pats get away with murder in the secondary. Seriously, they dare the refs to call a penalty on them on every single play. And since they're doing it the entire game, the refs can either decide to flag 'em on every play or only on every 3rd play. And they've been doing that since 2001 and their bullshit Super Bowl victory.
- The Pats aren't the same team that they were on either side of the ball. Dillon is washed up, the D lacks that something that it used to have, and Brady doesn't look right and to be honest, he hasn't had a good year at all, as any fantasy owner will tell you. Something isn't right about Brady right now. This is easily the most interesting subplot at the moment, but no one is talking about it. Tom Brady just doesn't look right. And outside of that one third down run where he made a move on Urlacher, he did nothing to help the Pats win that game.
- Neither team deserved to win that game. It was a sloppy, poorly played game on both sides of the ball. If these were two of the five or six best teams in the NFL, well it makes me appreciate college football that much more. That's right, college football. Ohio State and Michigan was much more exciting and a better played game than the Bears/Pats game. And it's been a pretty bad year in college football, imo. In fact, this is the first year in about four or five years where I've actually enjoyed the NFL. But it goes to show that a good college football game is usually much more enjoyable than a NFL game against two 'good' teams.
I'm 90% sure Bush closes his eyes and pretends that Iraq never happened. It's getting to the point where it seems like every day he's saying "We're staying in Iraq." All the while his supports drop one by one. I can't think about it really, it just so sad. We were against the War Before the War ever started because we didn't think it'd solve anything. But we never ever thought things would go this badly. Never.
It was weird celebrating Thanksgiving last week and thinking of all the good things in our life... and then realize, hey we can't be too happy... there's so much wrong with this world and country. There's a war that continues to get worse and worse for everyone involved and effected by it, were progress is not being made and if it is, it's happening at such a slow rate that it's hard to actually see the progress. And then the continuing gap between the rich and poor, the fact that our economy is in a extremely delicate situation right, the poor, the homeless, the injustice, New York City Cops opening fire on unarmed citizens...
I'm not sure we'll see the last few years of this decated turn into the late 1960s, but it wouldn't shock me either. Back in 2000 I wrote a throw away paper on classification (if I remember correctly, it was actually sort of funny). The gist of it was that since I was born in 1981 I was classified as a Generation Xer. Of course, I'm not a GenXer since I sort of don't 'get' "Reality Bites" or fully understand the impact of Kurt Cobain. In fact, if I was born in 1982, I would be a GenY-Gen9/11-Millennials-GenInternet-BabyBoomlete or whatever they call the people born during Reagan, BushI, and Clinton's Presidencies. And that's what I am despite whatever classification people want to put on me. But in the process of doing a little research for this paper, I stumbled across this book where it praised GenY/Millennials to high heaven. But at the very end it said something very important: 'we don't know how things are going to end up with this generation'. Their point was, in 1960, no one would have predicted that the BabyBoomers would go though and become what they were in 1970. In other words, in 1963 no one would have predicted anything close to what happened in 1968...
Now, this book and that paper was written prior to 9/11. Yes, that's changed everything in this country. Maybe we've reached the point, five years on, that we don't THINK about 9/11 every day; but admit it. Rarely do two days go by without 9/11 creeping into the mind some how (NOTE: We were DC on 9/11 so psychologically that may have a bit more impact on us than say, someone who was in Bosie, ID). The effects of 9/11 will probably live on with those who lived it until the day they pass away, like Pearl Harbor or JFK's assassination (both events that have had little personal impact on my life).
But going back to what I was saying, I think we're in for a turbulent year in the next few years. Maybe not as crazy as 1968 were we saw revolutions, riots, and violence in Paris, Chicago, Mexico City, Prague, and Vietnam just to name a few place; but there will be a moment, a tipping point, in this whole decade where the emotions of 9/11, Bush, Iraq, and this young generation finding it's voice come to head. 2006 is wrapping up, in may ways it was a very disappointing and sad year. There wasn't much 'good' coming from the year. Pop culture was filled with unfulfilled hype, politics saw the beginnings of the waves of a major change in government and power, and socially it was a very cautious year... people were careful in what they said. But people started taking more chances. John Murtha, who a year ago was seen as a radical for being the first politician to call for the troops to come home, now doesn't sound so radical. In fact, others are boarding that train in some shape or form. That choir will only grow in 2007.
And we have a Presidential election in 2008.
Things could get crazy up in here.
28.11.06
It isn't God, it's Ronaldinho
Sick.
Oh and some Freddy Adu news... he's training with Manchester United this week. And you know what, I sort of hope he doesn't go to a HUGE European club at first. I'm with Nowak, start at Ajax or something.
Oh and some Freddy Adu news... he's training with Manchester United this week. And you know what, I sort of hope he doesn't go to a HUGE European club at first. I'm with Nowak, start at Ajax or something.
23.11.06
Took You Guys Long Enough
Happy Thanksgiving all...
But some good news... it looks like the Vatican is looking to make some major changes on their views on condoms:
But some good news... it looks like the Vatican is looking to make some major changes on their views on condoms:
The Roman Catholic church has taken the first step towards what could be a historic shift away from its total ban on the use of condoms.
Pope Benedict XVI's "health minister" is understood to be urging him to accept that in restricted circumstances - specifically the prevention of Aids - barrier contraception is the lesser of two evils. The recommendations, which have not been made public, still have to be reviewed by the traditionally conservative Vatican department responsible for safeguarding theological orthodoxy, and then by the Pope himself, before any decision is made.
The rethink, commissioned by Pope Benedict following his election last year, could save millions of lives around the world. It is likely to be raised today when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has his first full discussion with the Pope at an audience in the Vatican.
The Church has been on the wrong side of this issue for far too long. In the 1960s, a special commission recommended that the Church lift the ban on contraceptives. But Pope Paul VI rejected their recommendation in the famous 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae.
We understand the Church's thoughts and view on life; but the Church’s stance/ban on condoms clearly violates that very view on life. Condoms can save lives by slowing down/preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The Church, for too long, has wanted to have it both ways - to claim that they're pro-life yet turn away and do nothing about the fact that millions are dying of AIDS. Hopefully P-Benny16 sees things the same way most of the world does...
(There isn't much in the American papers on this since it's Thanksgiving).
Also found this today in the Globe on an American priest and nun who were in the home of a Palestinian ‘militant’ in an effort to stop Israeli attacks on Palestinians. (BTW, I don’t want to get into it, but if it’s true that something like 40% of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are on private Palestinian land… well, that’s a little more than ‘egg’ on the face of Isreal).
Pope Benedict XVI's "health minister" is understood to be urging him to accept that in restricted circumstances - specifically the prevention of Aids - barrier contraception is the lesser of two evils. The recommendations, which have not been made public, still have to be reviewed by the traditionally conservative Vatican department responsible for safeguarding theological orthodoxy, and then by the Pope himself, before any decision is made. The rethink, commissioned by Pope Benedict following his election last year, could save millions of lives around the world. It is likely to be raised today when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has his first full discussion with the Pope at an audience in the Vatican.
The Church has been on the wrong side of this issue for far too long. In the 1960s, a special commission recommended that the Church lift the ban on contraceptives. But Pope Paul VI rejected their recommendation in the famous 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae.
We understand the Church's thoughts and view on life; but the Church’s stance/ban on condoms clearly violates that very view on life. Condoms can save lives by slowing down/preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The Church, for too long, has wanted to have it both ways - to claim that they're pro-life yet turn away and do nothing about the fact that millions are dying of AIDS. Hopefully P-Benny16 sees things the same way most of the world does...
(There isn't much in the American papers on this since it's Thanksgiving).
Also found this today in the Globe on an American priest and nun who were in the home of a Palestinian ‘militant’ in an effort to stop Israeli attacks on Palestinians. (BTW, I don’t want to get into it, but if it’s true that something like 40% of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are on private Palestinian land… well, that’s a little more than ‘egg’ on the face of Isreal).
20.11.06
Call Paul Revere, it looks like Beckham is coming
It’s starting to look like that everyone’s favorite soccer player, David Beckham, is only a few months from coming to play in the United States. The MLS is even allowing the Beckham rule so teams can go over the cap to sign a high profile player like Becks. This would have happened eventually of course, but if you would have told me in 2003 that Becks would be setting up shop in the US in 2007, I would have called you crazy. But at 31, Beckham’s European career is nearing an end (well he could go play for a middle of the road Premiership team or say, Celtic, but Becks isn’t stupid, he can make a lot more money playing in sunny California).
Plus for what team would Beckham return to in England? Arsenal doesn’t want him, same with the Blues and ManU. Newcastle? Blackburn? They’re not the big time clubs and who knows if they’re going to qualify for Europe. You have to figure a player like Beckham is going to want some sort of European competition. If not, then what’s the point? He’s David Beckham, arguably the biggest soccer ‘star’ in the world, why play 40 odd games for Newcastle (and probably get injured) or Blackburn? And Celtic? I highly doubt it. That’s why a few years in LA makes sense: great weather, he’ll be a start among starts but not the most famous face o the street, and they speak English (and Spanish!)… not that Becks even cares about that but whatever. But in LA he could be the man again, and on the road people would come to see him.
Don’t forget, probably most importantly for Becks and friends is that he can start to conquer America, the one of the few places in the world where his mug isn’t on every street corner or hawking Pepsis. Brand Beckham would get a new life here in the States; the biggest economy in the world remember.
And who wouldn’t love a little more Posh in their life? There’s nothing wrong with that.
For the MLS, it’s a no brainer. As far as soccer pop-culture goes in this country, it begins and probably ends with David Beckham (don’t tell Manchester United, the few footieheads, and that one sort of hip frat boy that owns the Beckham 23 Real Madrid shirt). The chance to put his pretty face on every single promo for the next few years would do the league wonders. Maybe the make a few more bucks in the stands and from TV that allows them to slowly bring over a few more players from Europe and improve the overall quality and product of the game here in the US.
The MLS has entered the next phase of its existence. You could call the first few years as a time of establishing itself. After the league was established came the building boom of stadiums for these teams (we won’t get into a debate about the necessity and success of those stadiums right now). But this phase is now drawing to a close. So what’s next for the league?
Going out and establishing itself as an international league. Yes, the strategy of focusing on US born players was smart. It took far too long for them to start a youth league, but they’re doing that. The MLS has realized that they need to make the league a European league, but put an American face on it… and there’s nothing wrong with that. American players are great, but we’ve also seen Americans attach themselves to foreign-born athletes all the time (and if you don’t believe me, look at baseball and their golden children including Ortiz, Pedro, and Pujols). In order for the league to go to the next level, to pack those stands a little bit more, it’s going to need a better product to promote to the general public.
And that’s where Beckham comes in.
He’d sell shirts. He’d sell tickets. And he’d sell the game. And that’s what MLS needs right now. Even if the quality of play in the MLS wouldn't improve greatly. Remember, he's only 31, the fact that his career is at a crossroads isn't because he's washed up. No he's not the fastest guy in the world, but he can still hit a mean cross and a sick freekick (sick... hey the 90s were cool). People forget, but if someone other than the stiff that is Peter Crouch was at the other end of all those Beckham crosses during the World Cup, England might have done just a bit better.
Then again, guys not too much better than Peter Crouch (if at all) will be at the other end of those crosses in the MLS.
Who cares though, it'd be fun to have Beckham playing here in the US. Shit, the man already attended Tom Cruise's wedding... he's half way to the anti-George Best career that he seems intent on having.
Of course, That’s On Point doesn’t agree with us. Read his take… as always.
As the article points out, the US is actually could one day present a ‘threat’ to European talent. Of course, that’s highly unlikely because of money. If European (and South American) players were paid at the same level that they are in Europe, they’d be here already. Of course, they’re not. But the US does have a few advantages: a more favorable tax structure and better weather (to a degree). I doubt we’ll ever seen an American league that could rival the English or Spanish leagues, let alone the Germans, but if we truly are already at a Scottish level, then maybe the MLS does have something going for it.
Don’t forget, those bars were filled and the TVs were tuned to that World Cup Final here in the States…
And if you want to read about the end of David Beckham’s days in Europe… check this one out.
And just for shits and giggles, (and to show some sources!) the English press are getting the typical: Soccer is here to stay in the USA! Type stuff that we ready ever so often. Hot.
This has nothing to do with Becks besides the fact that, well Radiohead is from England and ummm, Becks might be in the Southwest really soon. This is just weird.
Plus for what team would Beckham return to in England? Arsenal doesn’t want him, same with the Blues and ManU. Newcastle? Blackburn? They’re not the big time clubs and who knows if they’re going to qualify for Europe. You have to figure a player like Beckham is going to want some sort of European competition. If not, then what’s the point? He’s David Beckham, arguably the biggest soccer ‘star’ in the world, why play 40 odd games for Newcastle (and probably get injured) or Blackburn? And Celtic? I highly doubt it. That’s why a few years in LA makes sense: great weather, he’ll be a start among starts but not the most famous face o the street, and they speak English (and Spanish!)… not that Becks even cares about that but whatever. But in LA he could be the man again, and on the road people would come to see him.
Don’t forget, probably most importantly for Becks and friends is that he can start to conquer America, the one of the few places in the world where his mug isn’t on every street corner or hawking Pepsis. Brand Beckham would get a new life here in the States; the biggest economy in the world remember.
And who wouldn’t love a little more Posh in their life? There’s nothing wrong with that.
For the MLS, it’s a no brainer. As far as soccer pop-culture goes in this country, it begins and probably ends with David Beckham (don’t tell Manchester United, the few footieheads, and that one sort of hip frat boy that owns the Beckham 23 Real Madrid shirt). The chance to put his pretty face on every single promo for the next few years would do the league wonders. Maybe the make a few more bucks in the stands and from TV that allows them to slowly bring over a few more players from Europe and improve the overall quality and product of the game here in the US.
The MLS has entered the next phase of its existence. You could call the first few years as a time of establishing itself. After the league was established came the building boom of stadiums for these teams (we won’t get into a debate about the necessity and success of those stadiums right now). But this phase is now drawing to a close. So what’s next for the league?
Going out and establishing itself as an international league. Yes, the strategy of focusing on US born players was smart. It took far too long for them to start a youth league, but they’re doing that. The MLS has realized that they need to make the league a European league, but put an American face on it… and there’s nothing wrong with that. American players are great, but we’ve also seen Americans attach themselves to foreign-born athletes all the time (and if you don’t believe me, look at baseball and their golden children including Ortiz, Pedro, and Pujols). In order for the league to go to the next level, to pack those stands a little bit more, it’s going to need a better product to promote to the general public.
And that’s where Beckham comes in.
He’d sell shirts. He’d sell tickets. And he’d sell the game. And that’s what MLS needs right now. Even if the quality of play in the MLS wouldn't improve greatly. Remember, he's only 31, the fact that his career is at a crossroads isn't because he's washed up. No he's not the fastest guy in the world, but he can still hit a mean cross and a sick freekick (sick... hey the 90s were cool). People forget, but if someone other than the stiff that is Peter Crouch was at the other end of all those Beckham crosses during the World Cup, England might have done just a bit better.
Then again, guys not too much better than Peter Crouch (if at all) will be at the other end of those crosses in the MLS.
Who cares though, it'd be fun to have Beckham playing here in the US. Shit, the man already attended Tom Cruise's wedding... he's half way to the anti-George Best career that he seems intent on having.
Of course, That’s On Point doesn’t agree with us. Read his take… as always.
As the article points out, the US is actually could one day present a ‘threat’ to European talent. Of course, that’s highly unlikely because of money. If European (and South American) players were paid at the same level that they are in Europe, they’d be here already. Of course, they’re not. But the US does have a few advantages: a more favorable tax structure and better weather (to a degree). I doubt we’ll ever seen an American league that could rival the English or Spanish leagues, let alone the Germans, but if we truly are already at a Scottish level, then maybe the MLS does have something going for it.
Don’t forget, those bars were filled and the TVs were tuned to that World Cup Final here in the States…
And if you want to read about the end of David Beckham’s days in Europe… check this one out.
And just for shits and giggles, (and to show some sources!) the English press are getting the typical: Soccer is here to stay in the USA! Type stuff that we ready ever so often. Hot.
This has nothing to do with Becks besides the fact that, well Radiohead is from England and ummm, Becks might be in the Southwest really soon. This is just weird.
18.11.06
Did You Hear?
Apparently there’s a big game in Ohio today. So maybe we should make note of that. But first…
BOSTON COLLEGE (-7.5) over Maryland – Maryland’s played too many close games for me to think they can go on the road, in the cold, and play a well coached BC team.
Iowa (+3) over Minnesota – I can’t think of anything interesting to say about this game, but wasn’t it sort of interesting that Milton Fredman, Bo Schembechler, and Ferenc Puskas all died within about 24 hours of each other? One of the greatest economists, college football coaches, and European soccer players of the 20th century all passed away within hours of each other, weird.
Illinois (-2.5) over NORTHWESTERN - Last weeks OSU/NU game in Evanston was filled with about 80% of red. I’m starting to get sick of Northwestern, Big Ten conference. Anyway, this would be a nice win for the Illini who have a ton of young talent. They’re a team to watch for next year.
ALABAMA (+3) over Auburn – It’s been a really bad year at Alabama. It’s been a suddenly disappointing year at Auburn. The moment Auburn lost to Georgia last week, the Tide got a chance in this game. Auburn’s bummed out, while for ‘Bama this is the biggest game of the year for them… upset maybe?
Virginia Tech (-1) over WAKE FOREST – This line is all over the place, so I’ll just make it a pick’em… Wake can’t keep this up can they? They went into Talahassee and shut out Flordia State and now Tech somes down to North Carolina… and I just can’t see it happening. Tech looks to have things back on track after the disaster that was that Boston College game. Tech wins. But wait, Wake is a team of destiny…right?
USC (-6) over Cal – This is a much bigger game for USC than it is for Cal. Cal now has two losses and while a win here probably means a trip to the Rose Bowl, for USC, they’re sitting there looking at a trip to the National Title game. I like Cal, but I can’t see them getting the job done after last weeks loss.
CINCINNATI (+6.5) over Rutgers – HANG OVER GAME! HANG OVER GAME! There’s a 90% chance that Rutgers have been reading their clippings and are prime for a upset. For Cincinnati, they’re at home facing an undefeated team… I think they’ll be reading to play. Then again, Rutgers is a team of destiny… right? Rutgers may even lose this game.
Michigan (+7) over OHIO STATE – Hey did you hear?
Guys, did you hear? Michigan is playing Ohio State… and they’re both undefeated! 11-0 vs 11-0! The biggest game in years! (Actually that’s true, this is probably the biggest regular season game since 1993 when Notre Dame beat FSU).
I’m not sure I can really add anything that hasn’t been said. So I’ll just make two points:
1) This will be a better game than every NFL game you watch this year.
2) Ohio State is a better team
Ohio State wins… a close one. I’m pumped.
Last Week: 2-6
Season: 41-23-2 (.640)
BOSTON COLLEGE (-7.5) over Maryland – Maryland’s played too many close games for me to think they can go on the road, in the cold, and play a well coached BC team.
Iowa (+3) over Minnesota – I can’t think of anything interesting to say about this game, but wasn’t it sort of interesting that Milton Fredman, Bo Schembechler, and Ferenc Puskas all died within about 24 hours of each other? One of the greatest economists, college football coaches, and European soccer players of the 20th century all passed away within hours of each other, weird.
Illinois (-2.5) over NORTHWESTERN - Last weeks OSU/NU game in Evanston was filled with about 80% of red. I’m starting to get sick of Northwestern, Big Ten conference. Anyway, this would be a nice win for the Illini who have a ton of young talent. They’re a team to watch for next year.
ALABAMA (+3) over Auburn – It’s been a really bad year at Alabama. It’s been a suddenly disappointing year at Auburn. The moment Auburn lost to Georgia last week, the Tide got a chance in this game. Auburn’s bummed out, while for ‘Bama this is the biggest game of the year for them… upset maybe?
Virginia Tech (-1) over WAKE FOREST – This line is all over the place, so I’ll just make it a pick’em… Wake can’t keep this up can they? They went into Talahassee and shut out Flordia State and now Tech somes down to North Carolina… and I just can’t see it happening. Tech looks to have things back on track after the disaster that was that Boston College game. Tech wins. But wait, Wake is a team of destiny…right?
USC (-6) over Cal – This is a much bigger game for USC than it is for Cal. Cal now has two losses and while a win here probably means a trip to the Rose Bowl, for USC, they’re sitting there looking at a trip to the National Title game. I like Cal, but I can’t see them getting the job done after last weeks loss.
CINCINNATI (+6.5) over Rutgers – HANG OVER GAME! HANG OVER GAME! There’s a 90% chance that Rutgers have been reading their clippings and are prime for a upset. For Cincinnati, they’re at home facing an undefeated team… I think they’ll be reading to play. Then again, Rutgers is a team of destiny… right? Rutgers may even lose this game.
Michigan (+7) over OHIO STATE – Hey did you hear?
Guys, did you hear? Michigan is playing Ohio State… and they’re both undefeated! 11-0 vs 11-0! The biggest game in years! (Actually that’s true, this is probably the biggest regular season game since 1993 when Notre Dame beat FSU).
I’m not sure I can really add anything that hasn’t been said. So I’ll just make two points:
1) This will be a better game than every NFL game you watch this year.
2) Ohio State is a better team
Ohio State wins… a close one. I’m pumped.
Last Week: 2-6
Season: 41-23-2 (.640)
16.11.06
Election Thoughts; Back to the 80s
It’s been ten days now… here are some elections thoughts.
- I wanted one of the TV heads to say something like, “When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll be waking up to a different America.” I’m sure someone did, but I didn’t hear it. But what a bullshit statement that would have been. Looking around, is America better off today? No way. We're stuck in a bullshit war, we're hated by everyone, the deficit is huge... the Dems winning was like a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th of a 16-2 game. Big deal . Now it’s a 16-3. Things are far too messed up for me to be happy about much of anything.
I'm not that happy or on cloud 9 or anything like that. As I said, the Dems will probably find a way to mess this up anyway. And even if they don't, things are pretty shitty in this country right now.
- What's changed is that Bush becomes even more of a lame duck. But the bad news is, Bush doesn't have a successor. So all the damage he's done... doesn't really effect anyone two years from now. Good for the GOP, bad for the Dems.
- I can’t figure why the media isn’t playing up the ass whipping the GOP took last Tuesday. They were oh-fer-270 last night. They didn't win one seat in Congress or governors race that the Dems controlled. Sort of amazing that ass kicking. And really goes to show how pissed off America was at the GOP. It will be interesting to see how the GOP responds to this. Do they become more conservative, as Rush argues? Do they go back to their roots as a smaller government, fiscally responsible party? Or do they regroup and continue on as a socially conservative, big spending, aggressive party?
If I were to take a guess, the days of Goldwater (and to an extent Reagan) will come back. The big wigs in Big Biz will want to get some of this spending under control, for the party to go back to their roots, and try to retake areas of the city they’ve lost: much of the Midwest and pretty much all of the Northeast.
This probably goes back to Nixon’s Southern Strategy. When the GOP started looking South, they slowly started to became a socially conservative and big spending party; getting away from their roots as a party of ‘responsible’ government with libertarian ideals. Probably much like Blair and Labour, Bush has probably been the worst thing that could have happened to the GOP (you could argue Clinton also, but to be frank, I think Clinton was more GOP lite than a Democrat). Bush, like Blair, has changed the ideals of their respective parties. Interestingly enough, both parties now have to look in the mirror at the same time. Do they continue on under the path their current leader is setting or do they find another path to take? Should be an interesting thing to follow over the next year or so.
- The six/five years (whenever Jeffords jumped ship) of shit government is now over. We'll see if the Dems strap on a set and stand up to the White House, something this GOP Congress didn't do other than when it came to Bush thinking about shooting down a pay raise. No matter what you think, we need Congress to stand up to the White House (no matter who's in power); something that we're seeing less and less of, high-lightened by the last four years.
- Finally, I suppose we'll get better and more efficient government since American government has a nasty habit of being more effective when one party is on the Hill and the other is in the White House. Hopefully that will be the case once again. And in all likelihood, we won't see another Alito if someone leaves the Bench. But other than that, I'm sure we'll have two years of little and nothing.
* * * * * * * * * *
Changing gears a big, don’t you love US foreign policy sometimes?
For years we’ve been hear democracy this, freedom that, liberty here, let the people of the world elect their own government. Obviously we are pro-democracy.
But check this out from USA Today last week… that’s right, the US government is ready to start training militants from Latin America! Just awesome, really guys, how many Americans, nuns, Jesuits, and Cardinals from the Catholic Chuch are we going to kill this time?
And why have they started the program again? Because we’re worried about the recent trend in Latin America of it turning to the left; and pretty much all of these leftist governments have been… democratically elected! How cool is that?
USA to World: We’re pro democracy, but if you elect the wrong people and we don't want to work with 'em, maybe we'll just KILL 'EM!
Team America put it best (kids put on those earmuffs):
- I wanted one of the TV heads to say something like, “When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll be waking up to a different America.” I’m sure someone did, but I didn’t hear it. But what a bullshit statement that would have been. Looking around, is America better off today? No way. We're stuck in a bullshit war, we're hated by everyone, the deficit is huge... the Dems winning was like a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th of a 16-2 game. Big deal . Now it’s a 16-3. Things are far too messed up for me to be happy about much of anything.
I'm not that happy or on cloud 9 or anything like that. As I said, the Dems will probably find a way to mess this up anyway. And even if they don't, things are pretty shitty in this country right now.
- What's changed is that Bush becomes even more of a lame duck. But the bad news is, Bush doesn't have a successor. So all the damage he's done... doesn't really effect anyone two years from now. Good for the GOP, bad for the Dems.
- I can’t figure why the media isn’t playing up the ass whipping the GOP took last Tuesday. They were oh-fer-270 last night. They didn't win one seat in Congress or governors race that the Dems controlled. Sort of amazing that ass kicking. And really goes to show how pissed off America was at the GOP. It will be interesting to see how the GOP responds to this. Do they become more conservative, as Rush argues? Do they go back to their roots as a smaller government, fiscally responsible party? Or do they regroup and continue on as a socially conservative, big spending, aggressive party?
If I were to take a guess, the days of Goldwater (and to an extent Reagan) will come back. The big wigs in Big Biz will want to get some of this spending under control, for the party to go back to their roots, and try to retake areas of the city they’ve lost: much of the Midwest and pretty much all of the Northeast.
This probably goes back to Nixon’s Southern Strategy. When the GOP started looking South, they slowly started to became a socially conservative and big spending party; getting away from their roots as a party of ‘responsible’ government with libertarian ideals. Probably much like Blair and Labour, Bush has probably been the worst thing that could have happened to the GOP (you could argue Clinton also, but to be frank, I think Clinton was more GOP lite than a Democrat). Bush, like Blair, has changed the ideals of their respective parties. Interestingly enough, both parties now have to look in the mirror at the same time. Do they continue on under the path their current leader is setting or do they find another path to take? Should be an interesting thing to follow over the next year or so.
- The six/five years (whenever Jeffords jumped ship) of shit government is now over. We'll see if the Dems strap on a set and stand up to the White House, something this GOP Congress didn't do other than when it came to Bush thinking about shooting down a pay raise. No matter what you think, we need Congress to stand up to the White House (no matter who's in power); something that we're seeing less and less of, high-lightened by the last four years.
- Finally, I suppose we'll get better and more efficient government since American government has a nasty habit of being more effective when one party is on the Hill and the other is in the White House. Hopefully that will be the case once again. And in all likelihood, we won't see another Alito if someone leaves the Bench. But other than that, I'm sure we'll have two years of little and nothing.
* * * * * * * * * *
Changing gears a big, don’t you love US foreign policy sometimes?
For years we’ve been hear democracy this, freedom that, liberty here, let the people of the world elect their own government. Obviously we are pro-democracy.
But check this out from USA Today last week… that’s right, the US government is ready to start training militants from Latin America! Just awesome, really guys, how many Americans, nuns, Jesuits, and Cardinals from the Catholic Chuch are we going to kill this time?
And why have they started the program again? Because we’re worried about the recent trend in Latin America of it turning to the left; and pretty much all of these leftist governments have been… democratically elected! How cool is that?
USA to World: We’re pro democracy, but if you elect the wrong people and we don't want to work with 'em, maybe we'll just KILL 'EM!
Team America put it best (kids put on those earmuffs):
12.11.06
NuttyBuddy and the BCS failing... again
Let’s just get the NuttyBuddy out of the way first. And the NuttyBuddy is reason 3,897,672 why youtube is one of the greatest inventions since the iPod.
Yeah, it’s a great clip, but the Chris Sabo cameo at the end puts it over the top… and it includes a Jack Clark story! Fantastic! (Apperently this has been around for a while, according to my buddy who sent it to me... I guess you've got to play minor league baseball to know it exists).
VFLOAB made our way over to the Bulls game last night for the first time in a few years. Good game, blah, yadda, blah, yadda. I would have liked to seen a little more of Ty Thomas, but the Bulls won. In the 4th, Ben Wallace took the game over down low grabbing every rebound. And Luol Deng was the best player on the floor last night as he continues to mature and get better and better, he’ll never be a #1 guy, but he’s a hell of a #2.
In the last ten weeks or so, I’ve been to two NFL games (Bears), two-college football game (Big Ten), one NBA game, and a few baseball games (Nats and White Sox). The NBA game was the only game that didn’t feel like a game. It was a friggin’ show. Races, dancers, music, lights, fireworks, more lights, games, flying t-shirts and t-shirts falling from parachutes, inflatable mascots, balloons… it was insane – complete and total sensory over load. The game itself was an after thought.
And I can’t help but thinking… this is what’s so great about David Stern? That he’s turned the NBA into a circus? Can you blame this NBA players for being nuts? If you went into to work every day and you’re job was the main event to a 73-ring circus, wouldn’t you be a little nuts? Feel like a… well, I’m not sure. But William Rhoden does offer up one theory.
I’m not going to make drastic connections, claim that NBA players aren’t athletes or something different than entertainers. But that line is blurred to the point where I’m not even sure what the point of the ‘game’ is. I know, sports aren’t a life and death event… and yes people take sports way too seriously… but there is fine line between sport and entertainment. We know that a game is entertainment, but we also want to look beyond the entertainment and find some civic meaning to sports. We suspended belief for a moment to give the game more meaning that it actually is.
What the NBA has done is blurred that line to the point where it’s difficult to suspended that belief. It isn’t a game any more - it is pure entertainment. That’s fine, but it takes away from the game, which not only pisses off the purists* but also the average sports fan who follows the NBA but if were asked to rank the NBA in terms of the other leagues, it would come in around 3rd or 5th. I have no greatest desire to go to a Bulls game today, the bells, whistles, and lights more annoy me than excite me. The above average fan is being pushed to the side to give the white-coporate-yuppie-50-year-old-company-man even more power. Like he needs it, the dickwad has it as it is anyway.
(Though, we did sneak down to the sweet seats during half time and sat in them for the first three minutes of the third until Mr. Yuppie appeared. The look on the guys face to see us in his seats was priceless, a total ‘hey I paid 100 bucks for those seats, but I really don’t want a confrontation since I got this shirt at Brooks Brothers’ look on his face. Either that or the dude was a mute).
That’s also why the NBA is in the state it’s in. For good or bad. I honestly don’t know. There’s a Bill Veeck analogy to make somewhere here but that’s for another time. But I’m pretty sure David Stren is the last 20th, early 21st century B.T. B
(*who btw, only make up 10% of the people in attendance so they really don’t have much of a voice despite them usually being the loudest voice).
We’ve officially reached the point where there is Michigan and Ohio State… and then everyone else. Sorry SEC lovers, but both of those teams would clean up with anyone in the SEC.
And what else can you say about yesterday?
Notre Dame suddenly looks really, really good – in fact don’t be shocked if they find themselves in the National Title game if they beat USC. Of course they’ll get killed, but whatever.
The ACC continues to get worse. And what the hell is going on at Florida State? If they don’t beat Western Michigan, they’re probably not going to go to a bowl game. Amazing.
Cal, Texas, and Auburn all played themselves out of the National Title race… and Cal (unless they beat USC) and Auburn probably played themselves out of the BCS.
As it stands there are four at large BCS bowl bids. Michigan/Ohio State has one of them. Notre Dame has to be a lock at this point. Boise State won so they’re still in. And that last spot? Right now you’d have to look at one of the teams from the Big East, or a two loss SEC team… but that’s going to piss off the likes of Okalahoma (who could argue that they should only have one loss), a whole bunch of ACC teams, and Cal and USC if Cal beats USC. That would be a mess.
And I’m not even bring up Wisconsin since even though they’ll finish with one loss, they can’t be in the BCS since the Big Ten can only send two teams to the BCS.
But I’m almost willing to guarantee that this Wisconsin ‘issue’ isn’t going to die. The Badgers, assuming they beat Buffalo next week, will finish 11-1. That’s good enough for a top ten finish (especially after all those losses yesterday). In fact, I could see Wisconsin finishing around #6 or 7 in the nation before the regular season is over. Yet they’d be shit out of luck in the BCS because… well… the Big Ten can’t send three teams to the BCS. Talking heads… START YOUR ENGINES!
Yeah, it’s a great clip, but the Chris Sabo cameo at the end puts it over the top… and it includes a Jack Clark story! Fantastic! (Apperently this has been around for a while, according to my buddy who sent it to me... I guess you've got to play minor league baseball to know it exists).
VFLOAB made our way over to the Bulls game last night for the first time in a few years. Good game, blah, yadda, blah, yadda. I would have liked to seen a little more of Ty Thomas, but the Bulls won. In the 4th, Ben Wallace took the game over down low grabbing every rebound. And Luol Deng was the best player on the floor last night as he continues to mature and get better and better, he’ll never be a #1 guy, but he’s a hell of a #2.
In the last ten weeks or so, I’ve been to two NFL games (Bears), two-college football game (Big Ten), one NBA game, and a few baseball games (Nats and White Sox). The NBA game was the only game that didn’t feel like a game. It was a friggin’ show. Races, dancers, music, lights, fireworks, more lights, games, flying t-shirts and t-shirts falling from parachutes, inflatable mascots, balloons… it was insane – complete and total sensory over load. The game itself was an after thought.
And I can’t help but thinking… this is what’s so great about David Stern? That he’s turned the NBA into a circus? Can you blame this NBA players for being nuts? If you went into to work every day and you’re job was the main event to a 73-ring circus, wouldn’t you be a little nuts? Feel like a… well, I’m not sure. But William Rhoden does offer up one theory.
I’m not going to make drastic connections, claim that NBA players aren’t athletes or something different than entertainers. But that line is blurred to the point where I’m not even sure what the point of the ‘game’ is. I know, sports aren’t a life and death event… and yes people take sports way too seriously… but there is fine line between sport and entertainment. We know that a game is entertainment, but we also want to look beyond the entertainment and find some civic meaning to sports. We suspended belief for a moment to give the game more meaning that it actually is.
What the NBA has done is blurred that line to the point where it’s difficult to suspended that belief. It isn’t a game any more - it is pure entertainment. That’s fine, but it takes away from the game, which not only pisses off the purists* but also the average sports fan who follows the NBA but if were asked to rank the NBA in terms of the other leagues, it would come in around 3rd or 5th. I have no greatest desire to go to a Bulls game today, the bells, whistles, and lights more annoy me than excite me. The above average fan is being pushed to the side to give the white-coporate-yuppie-50-year-old-company-man even more power. Like he needs it, the dickwad has it as it is anyway.
(Though, we did sneak down to the sweet seats during half time and sat in them for the first three minutes of the third until Mr. Yuppie appeared. The look on the guys face to see us in his seats was priceless, a total ‘hey I paid 100 bucks for those seats, but I really don’t want a confrontation since I got this shirt at Brooks Brothers’ look on his face. Either that or the dude was a mute).
That’s also why the NBA is in the state it’s in. For good or bad. I honestly don’t know. There’s a Bill Veeck analogy to make somewhere here but that’s for another time. But I’m pretty sure David Stren is the last 20th, early 21st century B.T. B
(*who btw, only make up 10% of the people in attendance so they really don’t have much of a voice despite them usually being the loudest voice).
We’ve officially reached the point where there is Michigan and Ohio State… and then everyone else. Sorry SEC lovers, but both of those teams would clean up with anyone in the SEC.
And what else can you say about yesterday?
Notre Dame suddenly looks really, really good – in fact don’t be shocked if they find themselves in the National Title game if they beat USC. Of course they’ll get killed, but whatever.
The ACC continues to get worse. And what the hell is going on at Florida State? If they don’t beat Western Michigan, they’re probably not going to go to a bowl game. Amazing.
Cal, Texas, and Auburn all played themselves out of the National Title race… and Cal (unless they beat USC) and Auburn probably played themselves out of the BCS.
As it stands there are four at large BCS bowl bids. Michigan/Ohio State has one of them. Notre Dame has to be a lock at this point. Boise State won so they’re still in. And that last spot? Right now you’d have to look at one of the teams from the Big East, or a two loss SEC team… but that’s going to piss off the likes of Okalahoma (who could argue that they should only have one loss), a whole bunch of ACC teams, and Cal and USC if Cal beats USC. That would be a mess.
And I’m not even bring up Wisconsin since even though they’ll finish with one loss, they can’t be in the BCS since the Big Ten can only send two teams to the BCS.
But I’m almost willing to guarantee that this Wisconsin ‘issue’ isn’t going to die. The Badgers, assuming they beat Buffalo next week, will finish 11-1. That’s good enough for a top ten finish (especially after all those losses yesterday). In fact, I could see Wisconsin finishing around #6 or 7 in the nation before the regular season is over. Yet they’d be shit out of luck in the BCS because… well… the Big Ten can’t send three teams to the BCS. Talking heads… START YOUR ENGINES!
10.11.06
College Picks one week before OSU/Michigan
This is one of those few college football weekend that you look around and say, I really really really hope Ohio State and Michigan don’t lose. The better not lose… seriously, it will ruin this whole month for me. Don’t blow this Bucks and Blues.
I haven’t finalized this, but I’m 95% sure that the SEC sums up American sports and culture on it’s own. It’s overrated yet all quality and fun, it’s insane, culturally it walks a fine line between all the social, racial, and economic problems in this country, it’s absolutely fantastic to watch on TV, it’s nearly almost always competitive, you have no clue what’s going to happen week in and week out, if you meet an SEC fan they’ll tell you how great it is and totally ignore any short falls in the conference, and as I said, it’s overrated yet still absolutely fantastic. I love the SEC.
Let’s just knock these out quickly.
IOWA (+2) over Wisconsin – I hate to do this, but the facts are that Iowa’s a home dog and has owned the Badgers the past few seasons. If the Badgers win this game though, the Big Ten might be able to say it’s the best conference in American since it has 3 of the top 10 teams in the nation. I don’t think it’s possible for the Big Ten to get three teams into the BCS, but that would be pretty cool eh? As for Iowa, easily the most disappointing team in the nation. I can’t figure out why they aren’t getting beat up in the media more.
AUBURN (-11.5) over Georgia – Let’s just say it hasn’t been a good year for Bubba and company. WARRRRRRR EAGLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE!
MARYLAND (-3.5) over Miami – The season can’t end soon enough for the ‘Canes. What a tough and shitty year. I’m shocked they’re even playing this game.
INDIANA (+19) over Michigan – The Wolverines haven’t been the same since Manningham went down. The Hoosiers are a win away from going to a bowl game. I don’t think it happens today, but that’s a lot of points for a Michigan team that has one of the biggest regular season games in the last 15 years coming up next week.
TEXAS A&M (even) over Nebraska – Tough loss last week for the Aggies, but they should be able to handle the Cornhuskers.
Alabama (+18) over LSU – The Tide keep this once close, you figure after last week they’re ready to play.
Tennessee (+6) over Arkansas – In SEC fashion, this is the week the Razorback dream dies. What a tough conference.
Notre Dame (-11) over AIR FORCE – I love how the fact that this game isn’t on national TV was a story this week. Who cares? Notre Dame isn’t even that much fun to watch this year.
LAST WEEK: 6-4
SEASON: 39-17-2
And your video... JUICEBOX!
I haven’t finalized this, but I’m 95% sure that the SEC sums up American sports and culture on it’s own. It’s overrated yet all quality and fun, it’s insane, culturally it walks a fine line between all the social, racial, and economic problems in this country, it’s absolutely fantastic to watch on TV, it’s nearly almost always competitive, you have no clue what’s going to happen week in and week out, if you meet an SEC fan they’ll tell you how great it is and totally ignore any short falls in the conference, and as I said, it’s overrated yet still absolutely fantastic. I love the SEC.
Let’s just knock these out quickly.
IOWA (+2) over Wisconsin – I hate to do this, but the facts are that Iowa’s a home dog and has owned the Badgers the past few seasons. If the Badgers win this game though, the Big Ten might be able to say it’s the best conference in American since it has 3 of the top 10 teams in the nation. I don’t think it’s possible for the Big Ten to get three teams into the BCS, but that would be pretty cool eh? As for Iowa, easily the most disappointing team in the nation. I can’t figure out why they aren’t getting beat up in the media more.
AUBURN (-11.5) over Georgia – Let’s just say it hasn’t been a good year for Bubba and company. WARRRRRRR EAGLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE!
MARYLAND (-3.5) over Miami – The season can’t end soon enough for the ‘Canes. What a tough and shitty year. I’m shocked they’re even playing this game.
INDIANA (+19) over Michigan – The Wolverines haven’t been the same since Manningham went down. The Hoosiers are a win away from going to a bowl game. I don’t think it happens today, but that’s a lot of points for a Michigan team that has one of the biggest regular season games in the last 15 years coming up next week.
TEXAS A&M (even) over Nebraska – Tough loss last week for the Aggies, but they should be able to handle the Cornhuskers.
Alabama (+18) over LSU – The Tide keep this once close, you figure after last week they’re ready to play.
Tennessee (+6) over Arkansas – In SEC fashion, this is the week the Razorback dream dies. What a tough conference.
Notre Dame (-11) over AIR FORCE – I love how the fact that this game isn’t on national TV was a story this week. Who cares? Notre Dame isn’t even that much fun to watch this year.
LAST WEEK: 6-4
SEASON: 39-17-2
And your video... JUICEBOX!
7.11.06
Election Day - Introducing Luther Blissett
Note: VFLOAB is pleased to bring aboard a new writer to this fair blog. His name is Luther Blissett and he’s going to be covering politics from time to time here. Enjoy.
I was all excited about offering up my first post here at Views from Life on a Bench about today’s election et all. But there I was with my first draft finished when I heard the news.
Britney Spears was getting divorced.
Of all the days in the year, Mrs. Federline chooses Election Day to announce her break up with Kevin Federline. Typical America… I’m sure Katie Couric, Oprah, and Barbara Walters are in route to Britney’s house as you read this to do the first interview post break up interview with her. Elections be damned, Britney is single again (and not half as interesting as she was four years ago). Not that we should be that surprised, most of network TV is going to be showing crap like “Dance with the Stars” anyway - if we aren’t the modern Roman Republic…
But the task at hand is today’s midterm elections a day that, depending on who you believe, will have varying degrees of impact on your life. Of course, most of it is just politics, but there is some truth to that. If the Senate does go to the Democrats, that will make it tougher for Bush to get court nominations though, specifically the Supreme Court. But it looks unlikely the Democrats will take control of the Senate right now. Maybe I’ll be wrong, but I don’t care all that much. Not because the Democrats and Republicans are the same, because they really aren’t, no because… well…
I’m here to say that I’m not at all excited about this election. I am not a fan of Bush and the White House. And I’ll tell you that the Republican lead Congress has done more harm than good. But you know what… even if the Democrats take the House and Senate… I won’t really care.
See the Democrats are going to, pardon my French, fuck it up anyway.
That’s right. They’ll mess it up just like the Republicans have. They’ll get caught up in their own disgusting corruption bullshit. They’ll get drunk on their power, help out their friends, get caught in some sex scandal, and lack the guts to stand up to Bush and the White House. It will be more of the same.
Meet the new boss…
Same as the old boss.
And that’s what it is in Congress.
No matter who’s in power, they’re all the same. Most of those men and women are sickos, drunk on their own power, the money that’s funneled down to them, telling us whatever it is we want to hear, saying nothing the entire time.
Sure there are a few Senators that actually can put a solid intellectual thought together, that think for themselves, try to do what’s right, and embrace the entire “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” ideal. But they’re few. And the same goes for those in the House.
But the thing is there is so much money on the Hill, so much corruption, so many free drinks and dinners and golf trips, that both parties take full advantage of it. And since there are only two parties, neither party will ever call the other out because, well, there’s someone across the aisle that’s doing the same thing.
And that’s why they’re running, for the money. They aren’t running to change anything, oh maybe they’ll tweak this or that; lower your taxes one day and raise the minimum wage the next. But that’s not the point. Things in this country aren’t going to change as long as there is so much money in DC.
And that’s why, I, Luther Blissett, have little faith in our government. There will be no change until it’s finally brought down by some power hungry, egotistical modern day American Caesar (Following in the footsteps of Douglas MacArthur).
So enjoy the coverage. I know I’ll be hoping for a Democratic victory just so that maybe a few checks will be put in place on the White House. But even if that happens, my feelings of hopelessness will over come any joy.
You’ll hear no corks popping in my place tonight. Just the sound of me sucking down a beer and wondering why my time in Milan went so badly.
Until we’re talking in whispers again…
I was all excited about offering up my first post here at Views from Life on a Bench about today’s election et all. But there I was with my first draft finished when I heard the news.
Britney Spears was getting divorced.
Of all the days in the year, Mrs. Federline chooses Election Day to announce her break up with Kevin Federline. Typical America… I’m sure Katie Couric, Oprah, and Barbara Walters are in route to Britney’s house as you read this to do the first interview post break up interview with her. Elections be damned, Britney is single again (and not half as interesting as she was four years ago). Not that we should be that surprised, most of network TV is going to be showing crap like “Dance with the Stars” anyway - if we aren’t the modern Roman Republic…
But the task at hand is today’s midterm elections a day that, depending on who you believe, will have varying degrees of impact on your life. Of course, most of it is just politics, but there is some truth to that. If the Senate does go to the Democrats, that will make it tougher for Bush to get court nominations though, specifically the Supreme Court. But it looks unlikely the Democrats will take control of the Senate right now. Maybe I’ll be wrong, but I don’t care all that much. Not because the Democrats and Republicans are the same, because they really aren’t, no because… well…
I’m here to say that I’m not at all excited about this election. I am not a fan of Bush and the White House. And I’ll tell you that the Republican lead Congress has done more harm than good. But you know what… even if the Democrats take the House and Senate… I won’t really care.
See the Democrats are going to, pardon my French, fuck it up anyway.
That’s right. They’ll mess it up just like the Republicans have. They’ll get caught up in their own disgusting corruption bullshit. They’ll get drunk on their power, help out their friends, get caught in some sex scandal, and lack the guts to stand up to Bush and the White House. It will be more of the same.
Meet the new boss…
Same as the old boss.
And that’s what it is in Congress.
No matter who’s in power, they’re all the same. Most of those men and women are sickos, drunk on their own power, the money that’s funneled down to them, telling us whatever it is we want to hear, saying nothing the entire time.
Sure there are a few Senators that actually can put a solid intellectual thought together, that think for themselves, try to do what’s right, and embrace the entire “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” ideal. But they’re few. And the same goes for those in the House.
But the thing is there is so much money on the Hill, so much corruption, so many free drinks and dinners and golf trips, that both parties take full advantage of it. And since there are only two parties, neither party will ever call the other out because, well, there’s someone across the aisle that’s doing the same thing.
And that’s why they’re running, for the money. They aren’t running to change anything, oh maybe they’ll tweak this or that; lower your taxes one day and raise the minimum wage the next. But that’s not the point. Things in this country aren’t going to change as long as there is so much money in DC.
And that’s why, I, Luther Blissett, have little faith in our government. There will be no change until it’s finally brought down by some power hungry, egotistical modern day American Caesar (Following in the footsteps of Douglas MacArthur).
So enjoy the coverage. I know I’ll be hoping for a Democratic victory just so that maybe a few checks will be put in place on the White House. But even if that happens, my feelings of hopelessness will over come any joy.
You’ll hear no corks popping in my place tonight. Just the sound of me sucking down a beer and wondering why my time in Milan went so badly.
Until we’re talking in whispers again…
6.11.06
Thoughts From the Weekend
Watford got their first win of the season and get out of the regulation zone. Yayness! 2-nil over Middlesbrough gaining a key three points and gaining some confidence in the process. They've been playing well all year and now appear to be a team that might just give the top teams fits and the middle teams a few shocks. And we won’t talk about the injury to star striker Marlon King that’s going to rule him out for the season.
After watch the Badgers handle Penn State today I’m pretty convinced that new head coach Brett Bielema is the best young football mind in college football. What he’s done with the Wisconsin defense has been nothing short of impressive. The Badger’s have given up more than 17 points only twice so far this year (ten games) and have held their opponents to 10 points or less in five of those games. While everyone is talking up P.J. Hill, who I might add has been excellent, it’s been the defense that has gotten this Badger team to 9-1.
Previous head coach, Barry Alvarez, turned the Wisconsin program around in the early 90s. As a coach, he was good, but he was probably a better recruiter than tactician. Bielema seems like he’s an outstanding tactician and thus far, the kids have responded to him. How he does as recruiter remains to be seen, but it looks like Alvarez’s second greatest gift to Wisconsin was choosing Bielema as his successor. Because he sure seems like a winner.
And man oh man are there a lot of one loss teams in the nation right now… ten by my count plus the five undefeated teams. Crazy.
I know this might be mean, but let’s say we wake up tomorrow to read on Yahoo! that Paris Hilton ODed last night on coke. What would our thought process be the rest of the day? Would we make jokes? Would we just kind of go… oh that’s sad? Would we even care? Seriously, how would respond to Paris Hilton dying? She’s easily the most bizarre and useless ‘celebrity’ of my lifetime. So if she died, would we even really care? Okay, I’ve thought way too much about this. Chuck Klosterman should write an essay on that.
I know we’re all sick of Barry Bonds, but he’s easily the most interesting story of the winter. Does anyone want him? And if a team wants him, will he be willing to go to say, Tampa Bay? Seriously, if what they’re saying is true about the Giants unsure about bringing Bonds back, then this will get really interesting. What does Bonds do? It’s going to be interesting to follow. Of course the media (cough, ESPN, cough) has covered Bonds to the point where we could all careless and hope that everyone involved spontaneously combusts. And now that this story has finally become sort of interesting, we all could careless about it. Nice job ESPN, you blow hard morons.
Anyway, Bonds clearly wants to come back and break Aaron’s record, I’m assuming, out of stubbornness and spite towards the entire country. Everyone hates him, and he hates everyone. If he’s sitting on754 or 755 on the road, and everyone at the park is booing the crap out of him… I mean that would have to be the second most surreal moment of our lives right? People hoping that he doesn’t hit a home run to break the greatest record in all of sports… crazy. You’ve got to wonder if there has ever been a situation like this in this country before. It’s sort of amazing when you think about it… Bush is probably more liked than Bonds in America right now (btw, how funny is it to see some of these Dem political ads where they show the GOP candidate with Bush? Who would have thunk that being seen with the President would be along the same lines as being seen with John Mark Karr?)
We’re pretty sure that if we ever have to decide between “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and “Tears of a Clown” our head would explode. This are the two greatest songs of all time right? I mean, you pretty much can’t do better than Jackie in “Higher and Higher” and they throw horns in just to take it to a Heavenly level. Meanwhile “Tears of a Clown” has a beat, rhythm, and hook that is out of this world.
Simmons’ wrote about Chad Johnson starting the Mohawk trend on Friday but… ummm Bill, not really. First off, the Mohawk has been living quite well in European soccer for a few years, with Beckham’s fauxhawk inspiring half of England to grow one in 2002 (and eventually about five hipsters wearing it here in the States in late 2002 and into 2003 including VFLOAB). And now, you’re almost guaranteed to see some white frat boy sporting the fauxhawk if you go to a bar. Of course the fauxhawk became uncool in early 2005 but whatever. That’s why we have white people in America, just to completely beat a dead horse.
Anyway what was I saying? Oh Mohawks… did Bill forget about Wes from the Real World: Austin? If anyone brought the full, shaved head, Mohawk back, it was Wes and maybe one or two white linebackers in the Big Ten (I could have sworn that A.J. Hawk was droppin’ the ‘hawk last year; and I know some white linebacker on Wisconsin has a green Mohawk). So instead of praising Johnson, give Wes some love Bill.
And yes, Chad Johnson is the greatest thing to happen to the NFL since the 1985 Bears. Why he doesn’t get more love I’ll never know.
I don’t like talking fantasy with people who are in my league just because:
a) It really is dorky when you think about it
b) Does anyone care about anyone else’s fantasy team? Seriously, it’s probably the most selfish ‘thing’ in the world. I could careless about everyone else’s fantasy team, but my fantasy team is probably one of the 5 most important things in my life right now. Sad but true.
Anyway, I needed to pick up a defense this week since the Panthers are on a bye. So I’m going though the Ds that are free agents, and either everyone stinks or they’re playing the Rams/Chiefs/Chargers. So I’m screwed… and then I realize, hey the Bills are at home playing the Packers… and that means Brett Favre on the road in November!! And since Favre has regressed back to ‘second year with the Packers’ Brett Favre, I’m excited. There’s nothing better in sports than rooting for the Favre forced throw pick… and now, for the first time I ever, I’ll be getting more than just personal pleasure out of it. I’ll be getting fantasy points too!
Life
Is
Good
(Note: The game has come and gone, and that was a very enjoyable experience).
And your youTube clip… VFLOAB favorite and former science partner... John Mulaney stand up!!
After watch the Badgers handle Penn State today I’m pretty convinced that new head coach Brett Bielema is the best young football mind in college football. What he’s done with the Wisconsin defense has been nothing short of impressive. The Badger’s have given up more than 17 points only twice so far this year (ten games) and have held their opponents to 10 points or less in five of those games. While everyone is talking up P.J. Hill, who I might add has been excellent, it’s been the defense that has gotten this Badger team to 9-1.
Previous head coach, Barry Alvarez, turned the Wisconsin program around in the early 90s. As a coach, he was good, but he was probably a better recruiter than tactician. Bielema seems like he’s an outstanding tactician and thus far, the kids have responded to him. How he does as recruiter remains to be seen, but it looks like Alvarez’s second greatest gift to Wisconsin was choosing Bielema as his successor. Because he sure seems like a winner.
And man oh man are there a lot of one loss teams in the nation right now… ten by my count plus the five undefeated teams. Crazy.
I know this might be mean, but let’s say we wake up tomorrow to read on Yahoo! that Paris Hilton ODed last night on coke. What would our thought process be the rest of the day? Would we make jokes? Would we just kind of go… oh that’s sad? Would we even care? Seriously, how would respond to Paris Hilton dying? She’s easily the most bizarre and useless ‘celebrity’ of my lifetime. So if she died, would we even really care? Okay, I’ve thought way too much about this. Chuck Klosterman should write an essay on that.I know we’re all sick of Barry Bonds, but he’s easily the most interesting story of the winter. Does anyone want him? And if a team wants him, will he be willing to go to say, Tampa Bay? Seriously, if what they’re saying is true about the Giants unsure about bringing Bonds back, then this will get really interesting. What does Bonds do? It’s going to be interesting to follow. Of course the media (cough, ESPN, cough) has covered Bonds to the point where we could all careless and hope that everyone involved spontaneously combusts. And now that this story has finally become sort of interesting, we all could careless about it. Nice job ESPN, you blow hard morons.
Anyway, Bonds clearly wants to come back and break Aaron’s record, I’m assuming, out of stubbornness and spite towards the entire country. Everyone hates him, and he hates everyone. If he’s sitting on754 or 755 on the road, and everyone at the park is booing the crap out of him… I mean that would have to be the second most surreal moment of our lives right? People hoping that he doesn’t hit a home run to break the greatest record in all of sports… crazy. You’ve got to wonder if there has ever been a situation like this in this country before. It’s sort of amazing when you think about it… Bush is probably more liked than Bonds in America right now (btw, how funny is it to see some of these Dem political ads where they show the GOP candidate with Bush? Who would have thunk that being seen with the President would be along the same lines as being seen with John Mark Karr?)
We’re pretty sure that if we ever have to decide between “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and “Tears of a Clown” our head would explode. This are the two greatest songs of all time right? I mean, you pretty much can’t do better than Jackie in “Higher and Higher” and they throw horns in just to take it to a Heavenly level. Meanwhile “Tears of a Clown” has a beat, rhythm, and hook that is out of this world.
Simmons’ wrote about Chad Johnson starting the Mohawk trend on Friday but… ummm Bill, not really. First off, the Mohawk has been living quite well in European soccer for a few years, with Beckham’s fauxhawk inspiring half of England to grow one in 2002 (and eventually about five hipsters wearing it here in the States in late 2002 and into 2003 including VFLOAB). And now, you’re almost guaranteed to see some white frat boy sporting the fauxhawk if you go to a bar. Of course the fauxhawk became uncool in early 2005 but whatever. That’s why we have white people in America, just to completely beat a dead horse.Anyway what was I saying? Oh Mohawks… did Bill forget about Wes from the Real World: Austin? If anyone brought the full, shaved head, Mohawk back, it was Wes and maybe one or two white linebackers in the Big Ten (I could have sworn that A.J. Hawk was droppin’ the ‘hawk last year; and I know some white linebacker on Wisconsin has a green Mohawk). So instead of praising Johnson, give Wes some love Bill.
And yes, Chad Johnson is the greatest thing to happen to the NFL since the 1985 Bears. Why he doesn’t get more love I’ll never know.
I don’t like talking fantasy with people who are in my league just because:
a) It really is dorky when you think about it
b) Does anyone care about anyone else’s fantasy team? Seriously, it’s probably the most selfish ‘thing’ in the world. I could careless about everyone else’s fantasy team, but my fantasy team is probably one of the 5 most important things in my life right now. Sad but true.
Anyway, I needed to pick up a defense this week since the Panthers are on a bye. So I’m going though the Ds that are free agents, and either everyone stinks or they’re playing the Rams/Chiefs/Chargers. So I’m screwed… and then I realize, hey the Bills are at home playing the Packers… and that means Brett Favre on the road in November!! And since Favre has regressed back to ‘second year with the Packers’ Brett Favre, I’m excited. There’s nothing better in sports than rooting for the Favre forced throw pick… and now, for the first time I ever, I’ll be getting more than just personal pleasure out of it. I’ll be getting fantasy points too!
Life
Is
Good
(Note: The game has come and gone, and that was a very enjoyable experience).
And your youTube clip… VFLOAB favorite and former science partner... John Mulaney stand up!!
5.11.06
To the People that Make Me Listen to "Our Country"
Dear GM/Chevy,
Stop. Go away. I hope you go bankrupt and die. Stop playing that shit song trying to sell me your shit car that’s been a shit car for years. Stop waving the flag and trying to convince me that your car is better just because you show a picture of some guy named Dale that I never really liked in the first place. Go away. Stop ruining my life. I hate you, GM. Hate your crap ads and everything. You're ruining football just like you almost ruined baseball. You are anti-American in every way. Go away.
Sincerely,
VFLOAB
Dear NFL,
IT ISN’T WORTH THE MONEY. I’M THIS CLOSE TO NEVER WATCHING ANOTHER NFL GAME EVERY AGAIN. YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THIS. I AM STARTING TO HATE OUR COUNTRY BECAUSE OF YOU.
Sincerely,
VFLOAB
Stop. Go away. I hope you go bankrupt and die. Stop playing that shit song trying to sell me your shit car that’s been a shit car for years. Stop waving the flag and trying to convince me that your car is better just because you show a picture of some guy named Dale that I never really liked in the first place. Go away. Stop ruining my life. I hate you, GM. Hate your crap ads and everything. You're ruining football just like you almost ruined baseball. You are anti-American in every way. Go away.
Sincerely,
VFLOAB
Dear NFL,
IT ISN’T WORTH THE MONEY. I’M THIS CLOSE TO NEVER WATCHING ANOTHER NFL GAME EVERY AGAIN. YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THIS. I AM STARTING TO HATE OUR COUNTRY BECAUSE OF YOU.
Sincerely,
VFLOAB
4.11.06
College Picks, Hey Hey!
It’s winter here in Chicago, which is sort of a good thing. Even though winters here last forever, there is something nostalgic about it all. So many childhood mornings where I’d wake up and look outside to see the cloudy, gray, unhappy landscape. And often times that meant a day of football in the back ground while I did chores, lots of chores.
CLEMSON (-19) over Maryland – The Tigers need this game… the Terps? I’m only giving them some love because I have a soft spot for the Terps.
Indiana (+6) over MINNESOTA – Don’t look now but the Hoosiers are lining themselves up for a bowl game. I know, amazing… but true. They sit at 5-4 and 3-2 in the Big Ten after destroying Michigan State last week. So all they need is one win and they’re going bowling… and they get it here. Next week they have to go to the Big House and they close out the year at Purdue. This is their best chance to get that W to go bowling. And Minnesota just isn’t that good. Either Vegas in underrating the Hoosiers or someone knows something I don’t know… I’m going with Indiana sneaking up on everyone.
WISCONSIN (-7) over Penn State – This has to be frustrating season for Penn State. They’ve got three losses: laid an egg against Notre Dame, fought Ohio State but just didn’t have the horses, and then gave Michigan a game only to come up short. Now they’ve got to go into Madison to play a Badger team that’s hot and looking to be one of those ‘one loss’ teams. A win here and the Badgers could find themselves in the BCS mix (though highly unlikely considering that Ohio State and Michigan are ahead of them in the Big Ten). I think the Badger win a close one.
NEBRASKA (-6.5) over Missouri – I’ll lay the points in Lincoln.
North Carolina (+25) over NOTRE DAME – A lot of points for a Irish defense that isn’t that good. I know, UNC stinks and Notre Dame is going to kill them. But I still don’t like that Irish D and you figure at least a garbage TD is scored in the 4th. I’m going to regret this pick. (And yes, we still believe that Wisconsin and BC, both one loss teams like ND, are better).
LSU (+5) over Tennessee – Huh? I don’t get SEC lines. There’s like a 90% chance that this will be a three point game as it is. And the Tigers have the best home field advantage in the SEC. Whatever… not saying anything… SEC games are so so easy to bet on.
Ohio State (-24.5) over ILLINOIS – This is a feisty Illini team, but this game will get ‘ugly’ at some point.
Boston College (-4) over WAKE FOREST – Wake’s had a nice year but the Golden Birds control their ACC density and look like a team of BCS density (and yes we’re PRAYING for a BC/ND Orange Bowl). Can you imagine if they hadn’t lost to NC State? We’d be looking at an undefeated BC and Louisville, to go along with the Michigan/Ohio State winner. What would the BCS do?
TEXAS A&M (+2.5) over Oklahoma – This isn’t the Sooners year. I’ll take the points in College Station.
Virginia Tech (-2) over Miami – If it was 2002 this would be the game of the year! Tech’s probably a team to watch for next year… and how weird is it to see the ‘Canes as a home dog?
Arkansas (-3) over SOUTH CAROLINA – How about those Razorbacks? How about the SEC? Is it me or does everyone but Georgia and Vandy have one loss in the SEC this year?
Last Week – 3-4
Season - 33-13-2
CLEMSON (-19) over Maryland – The Tigers need this game… the Terps? I’m only giving them some love because I have a soft spot for the Terps.
Indiana (+6) over MINNESOTA – Don’t look now but the Hoosiers are lining themselves up for a bowl game. I know, amazing… but true. They sit at 5-4 and 3-2 in the Big Ten after destroying Michigan State last week. So all they need is one win and they’re going bowling… and they get it here. Next week they have to go to the Big House and they close out the year at Purdue. This is their best chance to get that W to go bowling. And Minnesota just isn’t that good. Either Vegas in underrating the Hoosiers or someone knows something I don’t know… I’m going with Indiana sneaking up on everyone.
WISCONSIN (-7) over Penn State – This has to be frustrating season for Penn State. They’ve got three losses: laid an egg against Notre Dame, fought Ohio State but just didn’t have the horses, and then gave Michigan a game only to come up short. Now they’ve got to go into Madison to play a Badger team that’s hot and looking to be one of those ‘one loss’ teams. A win here and the Badgers could find themselves in the BCS mix (though highly unlikely considering that Ohio State and Michigan are ahead of them in the Big Ten). I think the Badger win a close one.
NEBRASKA (-6.5) over Missouri – I’ll lay the points in Lincoln.
North Carolina (+25) over NOTRE DAME – A lot of points for a Irish defense that isn’t that good. I know, UNC stinks and Notre Dame is going to kill them. But I still don’t like that Irish D and you figure at least a garbage TD is scored in the 4th. I’m going to regret this pick. (And yes, we still believe that Wisconsin and BC, both one loss teams like ND, are better).
LSU (+5) over Tennessee – Huh? I don’t get SEC lines. There’s like a 90% chance that this will be a three point game as it is. And the Tigers have the best home field advantage in the SEC. Whatever… not saying anything… SEC games are so so easy to bet on.
Ohio State (-24.5) over ILLINOIS – This is a feisty Illini team, but this game will get ‘ugly’ at some point.
Boston College (-4) over WAKE FOREST – Wake’s had a nice year but the Golden Birds control their ACC density and look like a team of BCS density (and yes we’re PRAYING for a BC/ND Orange Bowl). Can you imagine if they hadn’t lost to NC State? We’d be looking at an undefeated BC and Louisville, to go along with the Michigan/Ohio State winner. What would the BCS do?
TEXAS A&M (+2.5) over Oklahoma – This isn’t the Sooners year. I’ll take the points in College Station.
Virginia Tech (-2) over Miami – If it was 2002 this would be the game of the year! Tech’s probably a team to watch for next year… and how weird is it to see the ‘Canes as a home dog?
Arkansas (-3) over SOUTH CAROLINA – How about those Razorbacks? How about the SEC? Is it me or does everyone but Georgia and Vandy have one loss in the SEC this year?
Last Week – 3-4
Season - 33-13-2
1.11.06
Somethings Better Than Nothing
When a player fails miserably and then two weeks later gets busted for ‘roids… what does that actually mean? The nice thing to know is that Guillermo Mota has 50 games to think that over.
I’m at the point in my life where if I see something with “Pittsburgh Pirates” in a newspaper or on the internets my heart skips a beat. Seriously. Like Buster wrote that the Pirates signed a Cuban defector and it made me feel good that not only do the Pirates still exist, but also that the media is still covering them.
Can I say I hate the guy who goes to the TAs office hours five minutes before they begin and then spends 30 minutes in there?
If ESPN is going to hire an ombudsman shouldn’t he at least be critical of ESPN? Seriously, these are puff pieces at this point. And they always, I mean always, stink. We get it, you and everyone in Bristol think ESPN is the greatest network ever and never does anything wrong. Stop wasting your time and our time… if you’re not even going to recognize how poor ESPN is at this point, then don’t write about the network at all. Patting everyone on the back and saying ‘good job’ about nearly everything, and then sort of half ass busting a few reporters butts on reporting rumors (which btw, is totally unfair to the reports) isn’t going to fly in these parts.
It’s like the Monroe Doctrine, only with a soccer ball! The US is going to play in Copa America this summer, which is a good thing. A very good thing. I’m sure Bush and company will find away to try and block this since it’s being hosted in Chavezuela. No matter, this is a good thing. A very good thing. Oh and I fully expect Freddy Adu to suit up for the USA.
I know Deadspin already posted this, but frankly, it’s too good to be true:
I’m at the point in my life where if I see something with “Pittsburgh Pirates” in a newspaper or on the internets my heart skips a beat. Seriously. Like Buster wrote that the Pirates signed a Cuban defector and it made me feel good that not only do the Pirates still exist, but also that the media is still covering them.
Can I say I hate the guy who goes to the TAs office hours five minutes before they begin and then spends 30 minutes in there?
If ESPN is going to hire an ombudsman shouldn’t he at least be critical of ESPN? Seriously, these are puff pieces at this point. And they always, I mean always, stink. We get it, you and everyone in Bristol think ESPN is the greatest network ever and never does anything wrong. Stop wasting your time and our time… if you’re not even going to recognize how poor ESPN is at this point, then don’t write about the network at all. Patting everyone on the back and saying ‘good job’ about nearly everything, and then sort of half ass busting a few reporters butts on reporting rumors (which btw, is totally unfair to the reports) isn’t going to fly in these parts.
It’s like the Monroe Doctrine, only with a soccer ball! The US is going to play in Copa America this summer, which is a good thing. A very good thing. I’m sure Bush and company will find away to try and block this since it’s being hosted in Chavezuela. No matter, this is a good thing. A very good thing. Oh and I fully expect Freddy Adu to suit up for the USA.
I know Deadspin already posted this, but frankly, it’s too good to be true:
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