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Thread about Sports

You forget what mvp is for: not most glamorous statistics but the most valuable player to a team. Holiday, for all his padded stats, has gotten the Rockies where? Oh that's right.......4th in their own division. Ramirez has carried the Cubs all year given Derrick Lee's numbers are down as are Soriano's.

How badly has USC beaten the overated Cal Bears the last three years? 'Nuff said. Rutgers may score 40 against the Mountaineers but they'll give up 60. No way can they stop Slaton, White and Devine. Texas is going to get smashed iin the Red River rivalry just like they used to. Bad year for them, good one for Oklahoma. Ohio State can't win in Happy Valley. Even their best teams lose their historically. LSU is a lock to win the SEC West while Florida may not even win the East.

There could be no undefeated teams but it is sure shaping up like there will be at least 3 if not more.
 
i do consider the value part...that is why my first vote goes to Fielder..and the phillies guys all split there votes as would reyes and wright..the rockies arent event out of it, being they are hot and have all division games left ..although huge long shot. holliday has had as many or more clutch hits then ramirez, who def has had his share... Helton was out alot too, and name another player on that team? ck his stats on the road, they are every bit as dominant as in colorado, which isnt even the best hitters park anymore (philly, cinici). nobody is a lock to go undefeated..Cal is very good..didnt usc lose to ucla last year? Flynne may not even play against South Carolina..there #1 receiver is out too...Dorsey could blow out a knee....Miles could be distracted with the michigan job...they have plenty tough games left..PSU hasnt played anybody..OSU (realize i like psu more than osu overall) has big win on road already, and i wouldnt bet against tressle these days.. im not making any predictions on rutgers as i have said all along just loving life watching them build there program, but i would take the under on the 60? how many pts u think psu would hold wvu too? even in past years when OU has dominated the rivalry (just not last 2 years) they didnt smash Texas...football can turn by a bad bounce or so many things. you cant read everything into 2-3 weeks of the season. few teams have really proved themselves so far (and rutgers and psu havent done anything yet). If it was that simple they woulndt need to play the games. on paper usc and lsu (appear to be the best) but ou and Florida are there with them talent wise as are other teams including youres (I would think but really dont know).
 
actually the true mvp of the cubs has been that theriot kid as ss..once they put him there and bat him first they started to play good. beckett def wins cy young tonight if he can bail out the sox and get his 20th..lot of pressure on him (but i think he up to it) but if he loses...look out the nooses will be hanging from trees all around new england.
 
In sports there are contests that I like to refer to as “trap” games. Games, that appear on paper to be sure wins for one club over another but, upon closer inspection, reveal favorites ripe for the picking. Here are some of my “trap” games this weekend for both the college and pros:

College:

Penn State @ Michigan: Michigan is not as bad as they looked the first two weeks and gained some momentum last week even if it was the lowly Irish that they beat. Factor into account that the game is at the Big House and that Penn State is in “0 for” mode against the Wolverines and this could be a Michigan upset.

Washington @ UCLA: Don’t buy the Huskie hype. Willingham has them better but not good enough (yet) and the Bruins are smarting from their humiliating loss to the Utes. A pissed off Bruins team beats a Huskie team coming off a loss to my overrated Buckeyes.

Georgia Tech @ Virginia: The Ramblin Wreck may have to play without top running back Tashard Choice and Al Groh has a young, hungry Cavalier team. Coming off a tough loss to BC and playing on the road can Georgia Tech recover?

Kentucky @ Arkansas: Kentucky goes on the road after getting ranked in the top 25 for the first time in years. They have arguably the nation’s best quarterback in Andre Woodson but they still have a porous defense. Plus Arkansas has arguably the best running back in the country in McFadden and a dynamo counter part in Felix Jones. Kentucky will be emotionally flat after beating arch-rival Louisville and Arkansas will be furious having let a big comeback go to waste in Alabama. Given all these factors and the game being played in Fayetteville makes this a trap game for UK.

Texas A&M @ Miami: The Canes aren’t the Canes of Jimmie Johnson’s (or even Dennis Ericson or Butch Davis) but playing on national tv in the Orange Bowl gives them a chance at redeeming themselves for their terrible showing in Norman. If Kyle Wright plays well, look out Aggies!


Pros:

New York Giants @ Washington Redskins: The Redskins, despite being 2-0, have red zone issues and have to settle for field goals too often. The Giants, just by the law of averages, have to win a game sometime. Jason Campbell is gaining confidence and if the line can hold its own, after sustaining injuries to Thomas and Jansen in successive weeks, the Skins should prevail. But when you play a team with a gunslinger and one who has nothing to lose you should always be wary the trap!

Colts @ Texans: Beware the Texans even without Andre Johnson. They have complimentary receivers, a good running back and are sky high on momentum. The Colts traditionally play down to competition. They could be ripe for the picking for Shaub and the Texans in Houston.

Bengals @ Seahawks: The Bengals defense can’t play that bad two weeks in a row can it? Especially against a slow, overrated Seahawk team? If the defense holds up there is no team that can stop Palmer and company. This is a major (Bengal) tiger trap for the sea birds!

Browns @ Raiders: Don’t be fooled Brown’s fans; that was the Bengals defense you did that against last week so don’t drink the kool-aide. The Raiders are playing surprisingly well under Kiffin and came within one bad officiating call of upsetting mighty Denver in the mile high city. The Raiduhs could easily break into the win column. Trap, trap, trap Brownies!

Dallas @ Chicago: Yes it’s at soldier field and yes, the Bears defense is great. And yes, they also have Devin Hester. But they also have Grossman. Dallas has the offense to score against the Bears, they won’t kick it to Hester and Grossman is good for 7-10 Cowboy points. The Cowboys will set this trap and unsexy Rexie will (blindly) walk right in. Beware the trap, Lovie; go with Griese!!
 
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First victim of the trap? The Aggies. They themselves got "gigged" in Florida. Just one of many possible traps being set. I told ya so........
 
good pts on those games...although miami or michigan winning at home against virtually anyone isnt a big upset, and A & M or PSU havnt proven anything to anyone. PSU beating michigan will say alot about them..if they are really back or not.. one trap you didnt mention is SC vs LSU. SC has great defense and spurrier..LSU has key offensive injuries,but at home should prevail. you also mentioned osu historically always loses in happy valley..havent they won like last 8 str8 in that series? granted they been great and psu hasnt..id be very concerned about that one if you get past michigan. its those trap type games which is main reason i never bet football. one thing to remember..teams are rarely as bad as they look at there worst, or as good as they are at their best. id venture to say the only 3 0-2 teams with chance for playoffs are Saints, Jets, and Eagles, but i only really see saints getting in, for they have yet to lose/play at home. huge weekend for youre teams pimp..but i think the skins will squeek by giants ..who will show up and usually they play tough close games, and i think the bears will beat the bois..putting you in 1st place. the mets..well before last night i thought they had it turned around..now i wonder if destiny is on Phillies side?
 
I don't think the Gamecocks stand a Chinaman's chance at LSU. And we'll see how the Sawx and the Mets handle the storm.

And what do ya mean if Penn State is back? a 20-5 record and two bowl wins in major bowls the last two seasons show they've been back. ;)
 
dont know what a chinamans chance is? seriously what does that mean? chinamen are unlucky, dont have a chance to win? cant keep it close? look out for the chinese rebuttles pimp. what i meant was are they back as a serious natl champ contender with the big boys; usc, lsu, florida,etc...remains to be seen whether they are good or great? i know you think they are, which you should they are youre team, but regardless of what bowls they went too, they havent been a real championship player in a long long time. maybe this is the year, they seem to have a dencent qb and some speed. some "experts" have been really high on them, others not so much..Paterno is def an alltime reat coach, his record and bowl record speaks for itself.

I must say though that Bowdens run of 13 years straight of top 4 finishes..and with a field goal kicker against miami he might have 3-4 titles instead of 1, is an unbelievable feat.

and does anybody care about Floyd Landis and drug testing in golf?
 
I can't believe you think so. They have one quality win over a mediocre (right now) Georgia team. Even Spurrier admits they aren't that good. Blake Mitchell is average and their receivers hardly scare anybody. If the can't score against Georgia (only 16 points; 3 fg's) then they'll likely get shut out at LSU. I look for this to be 28-0, 35-0 kind of game.

And how can you say PSU isn't a contender or hasn't been when in 2005 they were ranked 2nd in the country at one point and went 11-1. The only loss being at Michigan by one point when the refs added an extra second to the clock after Michigan had already lost? The Big Ten even publicly apologized to Penn State and Paterno. Take away that incident and they are in the national championship game just two years ago.

And I care a tiny bit about Landis just because Lance got me interested in the Tour De France. They have made a mockery of the race though and ruined it. Leave it to the French to fuck themselves. And I hate golf so no, that interests me not the least.
 
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Ohio State never wins in Happy Valley. They've lost their last 3 games at PSU and 8 of the last 10. The all-time series between Penn State and the Buckeyes is tied at 11-11. I'm more worried about Penn State road games against Michigan, Illinois and Michigan State (and Wisconsin at home) than I am the Buckeyes. Purdue also is capable of upsetting my Lions.

I also didn't mean anything by the China man's chance remark. It's just an expression I've always heard since I was a little kid. I'm not sure what it means exactly but I figure something to the affect of there being so many of them that there chances diminish? Hell, I dunno. Just an expression.

By the way, I wanted to pass this along because I thought football fans would appreciate a good coaching blunder.

My old high school is a traditional football powerhouse in southern Ohio. They've won state championships and made the playoffs like 25 of the last 27 years and won 29 of 34 conference titles all-time, haven't had a losing season since 1964. Football is religion in our town (in fact our legendary coach (who retired in 1991) is the only coach from the southern part of Ohio to be inducted into Ohio High School Hall of fame). My senior team went 10-0 and lost in the playoff to CAPE (Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education-an alternative school that could recruit the state) who had won the state the year before and featured Carlos Snow (Ohio State recruit, All Big 10 and former Denver Bronco) and Vinnie Clark (also a OSU recruit and an all pro with Atlanta, Jacksonville, etc). They beat us in the first round and went on to win their 2nd consecutive state title.

Anyway, long story short, my old high school played our arch rival 2 weeks ago. Both of us were 2-0 and it was at their place. We'd won 4 straight in the rivalry and both teams were ranked. We score a touchdown with 4:44 to go in the game, taking the lead 20-19. The other team then drives from their 25 to our 21 before turning the ball over on downs with 2:30 left. Pick up a first down and the game's over right? Well we indeed picked up a first down but.....on 2nd and 10 from our own 35 with 1:05 to go we, instead of taking a knee (the other team had no timeouts) ran a play. Result? Fumble and they recover. From our 30 with 52 seconds to play they drive to our 5. 10 seconds left, 3rd down. 5 yard touchdown pass later and we lose 25-20!!! I still can't believe our coach didn't take a knee!!!!!!

Reminded me of the old Joe Pischarchek (I can't spell that!) play where he fumbled and Roynell Young returned it for the Eagles to beat the Giants in a miracle finish. I'll tell ya this........if we miss out on the playoffs for the first time in years because we're one win shy.........this guy ought to feel terrible. Coaches make bonehead mistakes too and his is a case in point. Aaaargggghhh!!!!
 
first i didnt think you meant anything bad against chinese people. As far as SC against LSU im just adding it to youre trap game. I'd be shocked if the game isnt close with there dfense, spurrier, and injuries to lsu. but thats why they play the games. i was wrong it is Mich that had 8 in row on psu not osu..to be honest i dont remember 2005, but PSU being up there with USC doesnt come to mind, but i see they were in the orange bowl. lets see how good they are tomorrow.

good story btw also it was Herman Edwards (coach of KC) who scooped up that Giants blunder fumbled by czonka ( i cant spell piscarcek either).

My highschool only produced one famous person that i know of.....some guy named Springsteen.
 
Yeah if it weren't for that bonehead officiating move that gave Michigan an extra play it would have been the Nittany Lions against the Trojans for it all in '05. I would have let you know it was Michigan that Penn State had lost 8 straight to but I didn't wanna bring it up. Don't wanna jinx my boys tomorrow.

I may not even get to see the game. One of the cable towers caught on fire and now I'm without television and Time Warner (they suck ass) says it might take 2-3 days to fix. :(
 
i gave up crying about officiating years ago. I know you hate Miami but they got robbed against OSU, and well the Yankees have certainly benefited (the kid who reached over and caught that homer against the Orioles, etc..and also been screwed as have all teams.) and the mighty Pats certainly benefited from that call/bad rule against the Raiders the year they won their first title. I'm sure PSU has benefited from questionable calls too. Its just part of sports and life..hell they still cant always get it right in nfl with instant replay.

im sure someone who bleeds white and blue will figure out away..unhook your cable game is on abc. or find an internet live stream. Ive never done that myself..but i know its available.

props to usa gals for beating england 3-0..I dont watch alot of soccer..but it is a great, great sport...yea most americans think it is boring...well so can be baseball, basketball, and even football too..depends what you into. but a wolrd cup tournement is worth watching ...and there is alot of skill out there...and soccer is one sport where the woman's game doesnt look far below the men.

enjoy the weekend.
 
Cable is back on! :)

And bad calls are part of the game but when they have a direct impact on the outcome of a game that's unfortunate. And, as unbiased as I can possibly be, I still think Miami interferred/held on that play against the Buckeyes.

Quick question.....if you had to choose between Slaton and McFadden who would you choose? Tough call, huh?
 
If Anthony Morelli hadn’t fumbled, allowing Michigan to have to go only ten yards for their first touchdown. If Austin Scott hadn’t fumbled on first down at the Wolverine nine yard line. If Morelli had hit a wide-open Deon Butler for a touchdown. If the coaches hadn’t stubbornly stuck to a two-back set (which played right into Michigan’s hands) and only spread the Wolverines out at times. If a very questionable pass interference penalty hadn’t gone against the Nittany Lions on a third and goal for Michigan.

If….if….if. But, all ifs aside, the bottom line is just another gut-wrenching loss to the Wolverines (the last four games between the teams have been decided by a scant 17 points; all Penn State losses). Still, the fact of the matter is that Penn State didn’t play well enough to win. After the Notre Dame game I had two major areas of concern: the offensive line and the running backs. The line is young and inexperienced and the backs are unspectacular (and prone to fumbles). The performance today just validated the concerns I had as Penn State could not run block and the backs put the ball on the ground.

The most disappointing thing about it is the fact that the defense once again played their balls off and the offense didn’t pick them up. Anytime Mike Hart carries the ball 44 times and only musters 3.4 yards a carry and the opposing quarterback throws for less than 200 yards you should win the game. Just another excruciatingly frustrating loss for Penn State in this series. At least it clears the way for me to root for the Buckeyes when they come to Happy Valley provided they are undefeated at that point in time. Hopefully Joe Pa can get the team righted and the Lions can have a successful season in spite of this loss. I damn sure hope the Skins win tomorrow otherwise this will be a lost sports weekend for me.

All the trap games I pointed out are making me look like a genius (although I’d rather my teams won and been completely wrong). Ah well, such is sport.
 
Impressive in victory:

1) Syracuse
2) Kentucky
3) Connecticut

Commendable in defeat:

1) Ole Miss
2) Ball State
3) Notre Dame
 
Congratulations to you and your G-men, Pooch. They played a strong second half and deserved to win. Still, I can't believe the new ways the Redskins invent to blow games. In the NFL, going home or going to the playoffs often comes down to one game and you can't get back games you clearly should have won. Unbelievable. Ah well, maybe they'll correct the multitude of mistakes and learn from this. All I can do now is root for Da Bears!
 
Pimp guess you would have been better off without the cable! welll u said it before i did..if if if...well if Morelli didnt stink (face it he not that good) and youre offensive line wasnt mediocre...and you had a running back, ..these were all the things the prognosticators (including Todd Blackledge) pointed out as potential deficeincies before the game, and they proved correct. .Mike Hart had almost a 5 / gain average for the first 25 caries..up until the mid 3rd quarter when Michigan sat on the ball, making sure there freshman QB didnt blow the game..Michigans offensive line dominated most of that game. As far as PSU being linebacker U, really they have been Halfback U too, but havent had a dominating back in long time. all is not lost you still have chance for big ten title.

youre picks were very good, but i told you SC would keep it close. they battled a far more talented team, they were injured too, and have little offense. Lets see LSU play a good team on the road, but they are loaded, very impressive talent. slaton or mcfadden...choose for what? heisman..nfl? i dont know how bout i take both/either. I think i flip coin and take Mcfadden because of his size, but slaton scares me everytime he gets the ball. Im very happy with Ray Rice thank you very much.

All i can say bout Giants skins (i actually got to see the game on TV in houston too) is that J. Campbell is poised and talented, but he is young, and got rattled when the giants finally got pressure on him, but he got them in position to tie game at the end, but youre "all world" coaching staff blew that one big time. Portis looks like he lost a step if you ask me. still good but no superstar anymore (forgetting about his mistakes...and fact he was on the bench when game was on the line). Its impossible for me to not be happy that we possibly salvaged the season, and may yet fight for playoff contention, but we are no title contenders. at least i know we are 3rd youngest team in league and have a bright future, with a great young QB..Eli Manning has been great this year in all 3 games. The Cowboys sure looked impressive, Romo is playing awesome and TO is being the all pro receiver he is, and choir boy too..then again Rex Grossman is prob the worst starting QB in the league, and turned a close, winnable game into a blow out. Why they didnt jump on Leftwich I dont understand..lets see when they hit some adversity. And McNabb took off the knee brace and showed who he is and what type of player he is if healthy...of course the Lions defense or lack there of isnt for real, as there offense is, but still 56 pts in nfl.. Impressive in defeat were the Texans..first early on one of there lineman sufferend the same hit the Bills guy everett did on a kick return..and went down same way..luckily he has no paralasis..texans suffered injury after injury, and although game really never in doubt, fought their asses off against a superior team. future is bright here in Houston too.

looking forward to this week in the AL east, and see if Sox do choke away the division title (which i dont think they will). Also hoping Pujols gets 1 more rbi to keep his streak of 100 rbi seasons to 7 to start his career..guy is incredible hitter/player. and dont count out the rockies yet.
 
It didn’t take Blackledge to point those things out to me—I was well aware of them after the Notre Dame game. And while I don’t think Morelli stinks, he’s not an elite quarterback either. The line is young (4 of 5 starters will return next year as only center A.Q. Shipley is a senior) and it’s hard to replace a Levi Brown. It’s also hard to replace a Tony Hunt (he and Larry Johnson were both dominating backs). And Mike Hart had 19 first half carries for 73 yards (not even 4 a pop). I don’t think Michigan’s offensive line dominated at all. Their defensive line did but not their offensive one. Not when Hart’s longest run of the game was 13 yards and he had many minus carries. Penn State’s defense was lights out again. Hell, Michigan only scored twice and one drive was a grand ten yards! And I see a very plausible scenario where Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State beat Michigan. If not all of them at least one of them will. Then OSU beats Wisconsin, as does Penn State. Penn State beats Ohio State. That leaves OSU & PSU tied for the Big Ten title at 7-1 and a perfect outcome for me. The future looks bright for the Nittany Lions as they return 18 of 22 starters next year (10 on a defense that’s already top ten in the nation). They lose only Anthony Morelli, Austin Scott, A.Q. Shipley and Dan Connor. And with the recruiting classes they’ve had lately it’s altogether likely that they’ll get both a top flight prospect at tailback and quarterback.

I don’t see how you can say South Carolina kept it close either. After a 7-0 lead, LSU steamrolled to 28 unanswered points and tripled SC in rushing yards. They sat on the ball in the rain or otherwise it would have been a blowout. I’m not impressed by South Carolina at all. Kentucky, once a lowly football program, will hand it to Spurrier and his boys. I agree with you that, if ******, I’d take McFadden over Slaton by the slightest of margins, because he’s a bigger back. WVU is loaded with Slaton, White and Noel Devine (and Reinard out wide). I can’t wait to see what Devine will do once he’s the featured guy.

The thing that bothered me most about the Redskins, and being a very young team they’ll hopefully learn from this game, was that they went away from everything that had made them successful in a dominating first half. They did so on both sides of the ball. The defense rarely blitzed in the 2nd half and this allowed Eli to convert 3rd downs because of little pressure. The first half we were all over him and he threw incompletion after incompletion. The offense, while granted they didn’t have the ball much, got stale and conservative. They were predictable: first downs were always a Portis run over the left side for no gain and this created 2nd and long and 3rd and long situations—not the position you want a young quarterback to be in.

In the NFL, if you play to protect a lead instead of increasing it, you will invariably lose it and that’s exactly what happened to the Redskins. But they’ll be alright. They are far too talented not to be. Plus with a bye this week they can tweak things and work on correcting faulty parts of their game. I still say the Redskins will be in the playoffs if not win the division outright. I also don’t think the Bears need Leftwich as they have a more than capable quarterback in Griese if Lovie ever gets his head out of his ass and benches Grossman. And I hope Albert Pujols gets the rbi and I’d say it’s just a formality. Six games left means he’ll surely get one rbi as he’s too good a hitter not to. Looking good for the Tribe to get home field and finish with the best record in ALL of baseball!!! How’s that for the mistake by the lake??
 
pujols has been injured for past 2 weeks..he would be on IR but he is only pinch hitting to get the rbis he needs .if griese had anything left he would be playing. which may be this week. Jeff Fisher is def an elite coach..look at the titans again..does it with mirrors. Vince Young will be a top qb in league in another year or 2, in the meantime he just wins. the AFC south now looks to be the toughest division in NFL. The skins first blew it by spiking the ball on that first play with 52 seconds..they should have taken time and threw a pass..then called 2 plays..they had plenty of time, but blew it. that isnt on campbell, that is not the first time they have had time management issues at end of half/games this year. That is on Gibbs. good luck when OSU comes to town...they again look like a title contender..have no idea what Wisconsin has. I saw the psu game ....michigan is solid again but hurting at QB..psu is good, def not great. losing players is part of footbgall, look how much OSU lost, and look how they are playing. Tressle has that program rolling he is truly an outstanding coach..def the best in that conference now. i forgot bout larry johnson. ..you know in the day they had one top half back after another..they dont have many playmakers on that team, and morelli def isnt one. and poslusky broke his arm and is out for the year ...least Cedrick Killings on texans..broke his neck but can stand up.
 
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