Week 3 Picks

What started poorly in week one (see previous post) got worse in week two. It is time to turn this thing around and hopefully it starts this Saturday.

The talk around Kentucky is unbelievable right now. That line opened at 10 is at 14 in some places right now. I really like the spot for Kentucky.

Another sluggish week 2. I had some live dogs (LA-Lafayette, Houston, UNLV, purdue, ohio st.) but did so poorly in the early morning games that by the time the night games kicked off I didn't really play many of the games I liked. Oh well. Need to get on track this week. Here is what I like:

@Kentucky -13 -- You get a little concerned when so many people are on a game this large. A guy over on cappingthegame.com (collegekingrex) calls this the game of his life and he has a pretty lengthy and strong track record. Not sure if he helped move the line or not but it bumped up huge in the last 48 hours. To me this is like TCU - Viginia which i passed on last week. Seems almost too obvious but plays out just how the cappers thought.

@Kansas -22 -- I'm with Ball. Mangino has patsies for breakfast and Army outplayed Duke last week. I like Kansas to continue their roll.

@Arkansas -1 -- Really like this spot for the Razorbacks. Coming off a bye week and no one is talking about Petrino's bunch. Georgia has already been put through the ringer versus Okie St. and South Carolina. Expect Georgia to punch Arkansas in the face early but Arkansas responds with a big SEC win to jumpstart the Razorbacks at home.

Arizona +6 -- Stoops quietly building up the talent in Tucson. While going into Iowa and getting a win is tough, i agree with Ball that emotionally Iowa may be a little down for this one. Expect a "ball-grinder" of a game with AZ at least keeping it within a one score game if not pulling off the upset.

Utah +4 -- Utah has something like a 14 game regular season win streak going. While they struggled some in the 2nd half against SJ St., i think they are just a better team than Oregon overall.

I also like:
@A&M -18
@Baylor -10
@BYU -7
All a little higher than I would like but still seem
tempting.

Buffalo +4
La-La +26.5
Nebraska +5

Week 1 Picks

College Football Week One

Well, the college football season is finally upon us. With college football season, also comes handicapping college games. I will try to post my picks weekly and keep a running total of my posted picks as the season moves along. Here is what I like week 1:
Top 2 plays:
@utep -7 (bought the hook) over Buffalo

I like Turner Gill and Buffalo seemingly had everything go their way including the MAC championship miracle. Well, Drew Willy is gone and lost James Starks to injury before the season. I expect Buffalo to play hard but UTEP gets them at home where they are vastly different team. I'll lay the touchdown in the hopes that UTEP can pull away late.

@Rutgers -5.5 over Cincy

Big early Big East conference game so early in the season is so Big East. I love Schiano anytime he needs to get his team motivated and I think he finds a way to get his team more emotionally ready for this game. Cincy has plenty of talent I'm sure but losing Connor Barwin and 10 starters on defense is a a lot for any team. Revenge spot as well for rutgers. Picked Fresno week 1 last year in this exact same spot so I could get burned on this one.

Others:

@Texas A&M -14 over New Mexico

Liked the 12 number a lot better but I think the Aggies come out punching in 2009. New Mexico is down and losing their tailback meant most of their offense left the building. A lot of players gone on defense and a 1st year coach means Aggy may be able to win by 2 TDs. I'll be holding my nose this whole game.

@ohio st. -21 (bought the hook) over Navy
Terrell Pryor is bigger than pretty much every navy player. Unless Ohio st. sleepwalks through this game, they should manhandle navy. Navy should be up emotionally but that won't matter if ohio st. executes. Paul Johnson is no longer in Annapolis. Lay it.

Maybes:
Georgia +6 over Okie St.

Georgia plays well in these roles and Okie ST. is bound to fall flat on their face. i'll enjoy seeing old Boone crying in his beer if the bulldogs come out of stoolwater with a win. That said, stil not sure if I can pull the trigger quite yet on this one

Baylor +3 (buy the hook)

Waiting to see where this number goes. I was hoping to get 6 when I handicapped this game earlier in the summer. It opened at Baylor +1.5 so it is starting to get to a realistic number. Really like Baylor emotionally in this one and losing Sam Swank is going to hurt more than the Deacons realize. And oh yea, a whole lot of good players on defense leaving doesn't help either.

Rex Burkhead and Plano Memories

I went to high school in Plano, Texas. For those that are unfamiliar with Texas, the landscape of the town would be about what you would think for an area in this part of the country. Very plain, very flat and really not much of anything other than few lakes nearby and a lot of cement.

Well, Plano back in the Mid 80s was experiencing a boom like many other suburban communities during the post World War II era in America. Plano not unlike Southlake today was a suburb on steroids during that time period. From 1980, it went from a town of 72,331 to 222,000 in 2000. Basically, a 3 fold increase during a 20 year timeframe. The growth has slowed down but as of 2008, Plano had close to 270,000 people. Well, with that population growth came a lot of good football. Plano 7 seven state title is behind only Celina for most in state history along with Brownwood and Southlake Carroll.

As a kid who moved to the Dallas Fort-Worth area in 1990 right at the end of Plano's football reign over the area (back to back state titles in 1986 and 87), I quickly began to appreciate Texas High School Football. For those that have never experienced Texas high school football in person, there is nothing like it. From the prairies in West Texas to the hotbeds of talent in Houston and everywhere else in between, the state takes on a new life during this time of year.

I don't even have kids yet, but I still feel attached to the great game of high school football. To get a feel for how big is in this state, a playoff game a few years back between Euless Trinity and Southlake Carroll drew at least 45k people to Texas Stadium.

The funny thing about High School Football in relation to other sports would be that it has no boundries. Pro players can only run so fast and get so big. College Football is creeping in closer and closer to pro football. But high school football never ceases to amaze.




Nebraska True Freshman Rex Burkhead may be 2nd string for the Huskers, at least as of now.

Top High School Games in the DFW Area this year(for me anyways)

Allen vs. Longview (August 28th)

Why not start the season off with the best non-district games in the state all year. Defending 5A champion Allen will play Longview is No. 1 4A team preseason.

Plano West vs. Southlake Carroll (August 29)

Plano West has Jim Jeffcoat's kid (Jackson) who just happens to be one of the best high school Defensive Linemen in a long time. Southlake Carroll is a perennial juggernaut and this year should be no different.

Cedar Hill vs. Euless Trinity (September 12th)

Allen vs. Euless Trinity (September 18th)

Plano vs. Temple (September 18th)

Lache Seastrunk is the top high school talent in the state hands down and he plays at my old high school stadium.

Skyline vs. Lake Highlands (September 25th)

Skyline is loaded with Division 1 recruits

Plano at Wylie (October 2nd)

Neftali Feliz Pitching Line So Far this Season

Games 5
Innings Pitched 8.2
Hits 2
Earned Runs 1
ERA 1.04
K/9 16
WHIP 0.69

His Only Earned Run was a solo shot to Adam Kennedy. Just Filthy.

Who is Y.E. Yang? and Tiger Did Not Choke

Y.E. Yang pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of Major Championship golf yesterday at Hazeltine. Tiger's amazing streak of never losing a 54 hole lead at Major had to end sometime. No one thought it would be to a player like Y.E. Yang.

While Tiger is chasing the ghost of Jack Nicklaus and his 18 major title record, Y.E. Yang didn't even know what golf was growing up in a farming village in his home country of South Korea.

Yang who is 37 started playing golf at the age of 19 when started a job picking up golf balls at a driving range. Not a unique story in of itself (hell i worked at a golf course growing up), but Yang's victory was the first major ever won by an Asian golfer. Beating Tiger Woods who is also of part Asian descent is a historic win in so many ways. While Yang's victory truly was one of the greatest upsets in sports, he wasn't exactly a complete slouch. while 110th ranked player in the world doesn't seem like much, these guys are so good right now that the difference between a top 10 player and a top 100 player (with the exception of Tiger Woods) isn't THAT great.

Truly a memorable Major season with Tom Watson at the British and Y.E. Yang at the PGA. At the end of the day, that is all golf fans really ask for out of this great sport.

Yang's official PGA Tour profile



Yang describes through his interpreter how he pulled off the miracle..

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Blackie Sherrod?

Neftali Feliz makes his debut for the Rangers last night in what otherwise was a tragic loss to the A's 3-2.

And this just in, he is really good..




Minor League Baseball guru John Sickels (aka my idol) breaks down the Major League Baseball trade deadline deals from a prospect perspective.

According to a Seattle Mariners blog, King Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners almost ended up in Boston.

Injured standouts from last year who should make and impact in college football this season.

Really Old College Football Plays And Longhorns Preview

1929 Notre Dame vs. Army

100 Yard Interception Return by the Irish



Notre Dame ends OU's 47 game winning streak



Preview of 2009 Longhorns by ESPN

Seriously AROD

It is no secret that I really dislike Alex Rodriguez. I understand that his baseball resume with or without Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) is hall of fame worthy. Let's at least admit that many other players were using PEDs during the last decade or so since A-ROD's career started in the Major Leagues.

I did not think Alex was a good teammate during his time in Texas and the fact remains that the team lost a lot of games because Tom Hicks had an albatross of a contract when he bid against himself to bring Alex Rodriguez to Arlington.

The fact remains that Alex has not won a championship and until he does he will remain the target of much ridicule from a lot of fans. He does make for great Tabloid headlines and the New York media is going to have a field day with the Hudson and Alex Rodriguez relationship.

Strange enough, Bill Simmons did a column on Almost Famous today which was absolutely Kate Hudson's breakout role and allowed her to make many millions off various romantic comedies. Simmons also believes it ranks as one of the best movies of this decade. You know what? I strangely agree with him because I fondly remember seeing that movie in the theater and remembering absolutely loving Kate Hudson and the movie itself.

I'm not optimistic about how this relationship is going to end..


Commentary from yahoo:

Not to get all US Weekly on you here — OK, to totally get all US Weekly on you here — Alex Rodriguez(notes) and Kate Hudson finally took their relationship public on Saturday, managing a smooch in front of the Big Apple paparazzo at the Yankees' annual family picnic.

What this means for you, the baseball fan, I have absolutely no idea. But it's the latest development in a saga that began with a restaurant makeout session in mid-May and continued with Hudson disguising herself as Jason Mraz to see a game at Yankee Stadium (left). Eventually she was proud to be seen sitting in the 'spensive seats (middle) and now she's not caring who sees her kissing one of the few guys weirder than her rocker ex-husband (right).

For whatever it's worth, A-Rod is hitting .257/.391/.520 with 15 homers and 47 RBIs since the NY Post broke that story on May 19. I'm actually surprised that A-Rod isn't drawing more criticism for the relationship, though I suppose dumping Madonna for a younger model and the Yankees leading the AL East by 2.5 games buys a lot of leeway for anyone.

Thank you Tom Watson and Erin Andrews Naked

Just when you think Golf is completely devoid of any meaningful storyline if Tiger is not involved, a weekend like this past one broke out at Turnberry. Tom Sturges (It's his middle name look it up) Watson shows up at the British Open a month or so shy of his 60th birthday and damn near wins the entire tournament.

You don't have to be a huge golf fan to understand the unlikelihood of a near 60 year old man competing with golfers who were no joke a third of his age. The last Major tom watson won was in 1983 at the British Open.

And he nearly pulled off the feat this past Sunday in what some people are calling one of the biggest sporting stories of all time. Unfortunately, it was not to meant to be as he bogeyed 18 and ended up losing to Stewart Cink in a playoff. To put it in perspective, Julius Boros is the oldest golfer to ever win a major in the 150+ years of major championship golf and he was 48 years 4 months old when he won the 1968 PGA. Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he won the 1986 Masters. Tom Watson was a full decade older than Boros. Truly remarkable.

I want to salute Tom and the British Open for what had been a lackluster majors season in golf up to this point. Let's hope the PGA at Hazeltine has something promising for the last major of 2009. it will be tough to top this past weekend.

And oh yea, unless you have been living under a rock, some creep (my wife can verify my whereabouts this past week) filmed Erin Andrews in her hotel room for the ESPYs in Las Vegas. Oh shockingly, this video has circulated around the internet faster than wildfire, literally. Safe to say, ESPN and Erin Andrews Legal Representation are not happy with whoever violated Ms. Andrews. For shame to the perpetrator, but I personally have to admit that I have been trying to get ahold of those particular pictures.

Be careful searching because apparently viruses are very likely if you go around trying to find the video. ESPN fortunately has gotten YouTube and other video locations to take the video. Meanwhile...


Happy Hunting

UPDATE:

Some additional information about the now famous Erin Andrews tape

Top College Football hits

There is nothing like a bone-jarring hit in a football game. Some are more memorable than others but you can only truly realize what a physical game football is until you witness one of these hits in person.

I am going to try and recap my top 5 College Football hits of the last 20+ years of college football dating back to at least 1990.

The list Looks as Follows:


1) Michael Barrow (Miami (FL) vs. Fla St.)




2) Quentin Coryatt (Texas A&M vs. TCU)




3) Bryant Westbrook on Leland McElroy (Texas vs. Texas A&M) and Randy Kinder (Texas vs. Notre Dame) -- Too Hard to Decide






4) Tony Brackens on sorry Texas Tech kicker -- Special Hat Tip to the holder Field Scovell




5) Fresno State Marcus Riley Defender Blows up Hawaii's Colt Brennan

Erin Andrews and Bill Simmons.. You bet

You know Bill Simmons had Erin Andrews on the BS Report last week. I enjoy Simmons podcast normally, but this 45 minutes or so had to be one his finer moments. Among the many things discussed, Erin apparently wants to give Dancing with the Stars a shot and solicits Simmons to help her cause. We should only be so lucky.


Below is an exceprt about her dating life.



Simmons: “Does your schedule make it difficult to date?”
Andrews: “You obviously can’t do the weekend dates. It is difficult, but it is kind of a dream job, so you have to figure out how to have both.”
Simmons: “So you’re like Holly Hunter in Broadcast News? You’re devoted to your work.”
Andrews: “I’m devoted to my work, but I’m devoting to having a life outside of work as well.”
Simmons: “So you have a boyfriend and you love him?”
Andrews: “I love…having a social life or a personal life, yeah.”
Simmons: “Is there somebody you like?” (Note: It’s gotten very fourth grade here.)
Andrews: “Um…I just don’t give up that information, because it’s the only thing I can control.”





More summary of the interview on the link

I love these Red Uniforms and First Place

This Rangers team sure is fun to watch. Despite having a predicted win total by most pundits in the low 70s, this team has come roaring out of the gates. As a long suffering Rangers fan, I am cautiously optimistic and going to enjoy every minute I can get of this season. Since the last playoff appearance in 1999, this team has spent very little time in contention. This year is different and that feels nice.

Kinsler, Young, Davis, Andrus, Frankie, Millwood. This Whole pitching staff. Salty. The list goes on and on of contributors. The Tigers are up next which has been a team that has beaten our drum the last few seasons. Payback's a bitch...

Greg Paulus of Duke basketball Fame is going to try his luck at football transferring to Syracuse. Something tells me this won't end well. If for no other reason than Syracuse football has actually sunk this low. Oh and the new Syracuse head football coach hasn't seen Paulus throw yet.

I heard the internet rumor last week that Texas was going to try their luck in the ACC... While cool in concept, let's stay in the Big XII. Come on, this isn't Russia.

The Mavs are out of the playoffs and I could really care less. Besides the childish acts of Mark Cuban and the moronic officiating (Yes, I'm a middle school referee so therefore I can judge NBA officials), I really think the NBA is just not that interesting. I appreciate the Lebrons and Kobes of the world for their athleticism, but the overall product leaves a lot to be desired. It should be an interesting Finals at least. Really, these officials are very old.

With that being said, I thought the NCAA tournament was a huge dud this year. Texas should be loaded next year with Avery Bradley and company showing up on campus. Barnes may not have to do much Xs and Os with this bunch.

Justin Leonard and Zach Johnson dueled down in San Antonio last weekend and nobody cared. Oh Johnson won for the Lake Highlands grads that were still following Leonard. Seriously, for as clutch as Leonard has been on two winning Ryder Cup teams he has come bitterly close in two british open and a couple PGA since winning his only major.

Byron Nelson has little hope this week with 13 out of top 50 players showing up to play TPC at Las Colinas. For those that don't follow golf beyond Tiger Woods, that's not good.

It's going to be a long summer, so let's get it on.

John Tyler and Plano East 1994

Hard to Believe this happened almost 15 years ago...

Classic Lou Holtz Speech

It has been WAY too long since I updated this blog. Hopefully I can start posting regular baseball updates or at least when I have the time.

In the meantime, Lou Holtz at his finest...

Erin Andrews Photos???, Check... and Interview

You know updating a blog on a regular basis is harder than it looks. And since the majority of traffic that comes to this site mostly comes from Erin Andrews searches, I feel obligated to give the public what they demand.

Thanks to Mr. SEC.com, we now have a site that has a complete Erin Andrews photo collection. Good work by those guys. I'm not sure the site is fully working yet, but this might be worth the wait.

Some guy from The Fayetteville (That's North Carolina and not Arkansas) Observer gets an interview to Erin Andrews...
Um am i next??

Great bowl review by Rivals

Ray Maualuga meet Erin Andrews

Obviously, Rey Maualuga just entered the pantheon of greatness at the Rose Bowl against Penn State. It takes a certain swagger to approach Erin Andrews in any situation, even after your team has just obliterated the Big Ten champion in the Rose Bowl.

The man does not have any easy first (it R-E-Y) or last name to spell, but he will soon become a regular in the NFL



Kudos Rey.

Rey decapitates a UCLA Quarterback...



Rey's Greatest Hits