My crazy Rams draft post.

About this time every year I like to go out on a limb and make some wild predictions about who I think the Rams should draft in the upcoming NFL draft. We've gone with everyone from that nameless Kentucky QB with crazy legs from a while ago to John Carlson, who got snagged by rival Seattle. This time around, the choice to improve my God awful NFL love affair may be an easy one, but let's get a little wild, eh?

While a ton of people, including myself, are high on Nebraska stud DT Ndamukong Suh, there are a significant number of mock drafts floating around the internet with multiple interesting picks going to my #1 Rams (that's right, I finally get a chance to call the Rams #1 in something). We'll take a look at what people think, and then make our own choice. Just so you know, I'm going to focus on the Rams pick, where Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate are going (for my ND love), and where Tim Tebow is going (because I think someone is going to make a stupid move and take him...Raiders?).

MyNFLdraft.com: This website has the Rams taking Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen first in draft, with Suh going second to Detroit. Talk about my worst nightmare. I was so happy that Clausen went to the NFL, to free Notre Dame of his seemingly negative curse, and now people are projecting that JC might continue to torment my life as a Ramie? God, I hope not. Look, I rooted for Jimmy when he was playing for the Irish, but let's be real. Homeboy is not ready for the NFL, and while you might argue that Marc Bulger can train him for one year before handing it over, and as much as I don't think Bulger is a Super Bowl caliber QB, we aren't going to start the draft by taking a QB. This website also has Golden Tate going to the Bengals at pick #21 and Tebow going #11 to the Jags.

Walterfootball.com: I know this doesn't sound like a legit site, but it did come up first on the Google search of "mock NFL draft 2010." Guess what? Walter has Clausen going first to the Rams as well, with Suh going second to Detroit. If I can determine that this website is just copying the previous, that'll make me happy. Tebow to the Jags at #10...but they don't even have Tate going in the first round. Alright, I can breathe easy, this website knows jack.

NFLDraftDog.com: Finally a website that has the Rams taking Suh from Nebraska with the first pick. "The Rams will be tempted to try and draft a franchise QB with the first pick, but passing on Suh would be a huge mistake. Suh might be the most dominant prospect to ever enter the NFL draft." That is high praise, and a nice little reason to not pass up this impressive DT. Top 5 in Heisman voting, and he plays defense? Sounds critical to me. Just to let you know, this site has Clausen going 4th to Washington, with neither Tebow or Tate getting out in the first round.

DraftSite.com: Nice name for a website. These dudes have Suh going first to the Rams as well, with Clausen going sixth to Seattle. This'll be fun for Brandon: this site has Tebow going as the 39th pick in the draft to Oakland. Man, that would be classic. Completely classic. They also have Tate going to Carolina at pick 47, which has to be way too low. But, at least they present more evidence against the Clausen scenario.

DraftCountdown.com: Again, Suh to the Rams. Obviously, this website points to Spagnuolo's defensive mindset as a head coach, and the fact that St. Louis has no solid difference makers up from. Suh, who is a solid human being based on interviews I've heard, would be a gigantic upgrade at DT, and could even be considered the best player on the STL defense. Sad, I know. Jimmy McDouche is heading to Washington at 4 according to these guys, with Tebow going 22 to New England (YES! PERFECT!), and Tate to the J-E-T-S Jets at 29.

NFLDraftBlitz.com: Another catchy name for a website. Oh Mr. Suh, Suh, bright and shiny Suh, won't you please shine down on me. The Nebraska stud is ranked #1 again. This site claims, "The Rams will have the makings of a very destructive front four with this selection." Clausen is set to go fourth to the Washington Potato Skins, with Tate going 29th to the Jets again, and Tebow dropping out of the first 32 picks.

FootballsFuture.com: Another website with a mock draft, another group of nerds getting the Rams to take Suh in the draft. As stated, "Finding an answer at QB is needed, but reaching for one at this spot could set the team back another five years." Indeed. Again, Clausen going fourth to the Skins, Tate now going 25 to Baltimore (you're welcome, Andrew), and Tebow is again nowhere to be found.

NewNFLDraft.com: Now we finally get to a website that is reaching out an making a bold prediction. A stupid prediction, but a bold one nonetheless. How about Sam Bradford? "We have the Rams taking the QB because they don't have a QB of the future and they need their guy. Sam Bradford is a good QB. If he comes back healthy and with a strong shoulder, he could be the top pick." Really? The Rams are going to gamble the top pick in the NFL draft on a guy who might not even be healthy enough to make an impact? I can't believe that "NewNFLDraft.com" comes up higher on Google than "NFLDraft.com." They original never should have been replaced (if it was)! Meanwhile, Clausen goes to the Bills at pick 9, and Tebow and Tate are nowhere to be found in the top round. This website sounds like it's just trying to be different...and gay.

SI.com: Well, we finally have a website that someone has heard of (ESPN thinks so highly of Mel Kiper that they now make his mock draft a pay for product, so SI is probably going to be the big shot of this group). Suh to the Rams first overall. And how about this joke? "But a rock solid consensus has formed around the dominating Cornhusker defensive tackle as the surest thing (Suh-est thing?) in this year's draft." Classic. Again we see Clausen going 9th to the Bills, Tate 21 to the Bengals, and Tebow coming 26th to replace Warner in Arizona (haha).

BleacherReport.com: I always used to think that this website was like a SportsPickle, but I think I'm wrong. Suh, again coming first with it to the STL. Interestingly, this site has the Rams getting Colt McCoy in the second round, which (I know Brandon will kill me for this) I kind of like. Clausen goes 14th to Seattle in this scenario, and Tate and Tebow are nowhere to be found.

ConsensusDraftServices.com: Uh oh, here we go again. Clausen first to the Rams with Tebow and Tate nowhere to be found again. Suh would, then, go second to the Lions. It's funny, because this website also ranks their top 10 players, and Clausen doesn't make the list. Why would the Rams pick a sub-10 guy with the first pick in the draft?

CBSSports.com: Ah, maybe we finally found someone as or more legit than SI. They actually have the most information about each player, and have the 5.02 40 running Ndamukong Suh (can we call him "King Ndamu-Kong?") going first to the Ramies. Clausen is headed seventh, Tate seventeenth, and Tebow a realistic 42nd. Does CBS actually have the most realistic mock?

Scorecard time:

Suh: 8

Clausen: 3

Bradford: 1

I know we need hep at the QB spot. I also know that we need help at the WR spot, something that most of the mock drafts failed to recognize. But, in the end, I know that we have to take King Ndamu-Kong Suh to be the new DT of the St. Louis Rams. I can't wait for homeboy to join the ranks of the Mighty St. Louis squad I love, and if we end up getting Colt McCoy as a second round franchise QB to replace the Bulger we're all growing tired of, I won't complain.

Don't blow this, Rams.

A Fin farewell to Vancouver.

This post is a fond farewell to the third largest city in the beautiful country of Canada. After 53 games in the 2009/2010 NHL season, my favorite hockey squad are hopping on a plane to Toronto and not returning to play puck until the beginning of March. The longest road trip in the history of the NHL is about to get underway. 14 games. 20,743 km (or 12,889 miles for you non-metric folks). We've known about it since the schedule came out last summer, and we've been looking toward it as a season defining stretch for just as long. Prior to the trip, we knew that the Orca needed to put together some kind of crazy run to help give us a chance to stay high through the break. With a 3-2 win against St. Louis at the Garage last night, we secured what we hoped for.

Mason freaking Raymond is all I can say. The game between the Blues and the 'Nucks started out with a power play goal from Keith Tkachuk at 4:24. It seemed like too easy of a goal to actually count, but such is life. Ma$e came back about 2 minutes later, scoring on a beautiful pass from Ryan Kesler. After a silent second, and thoughts of having to go to a shootout after a 1-1 draw like Buffalo did earlier in the night, Mason opened up the third period (and a lot of eyes around the NHL) scoring his second of the game and his 20th of the year just 3:37 into the final frame. It was Ryan Kesler hooking the play up against. After some doofus named TJ Oshie scored a game tying goal, it was a "phantom call" on Paul Kariya that would change the entire course of the game. NHL On The Fly provided the highlights from FS-Blues, and the St. Louis announcers really didn't like the call on Kariya. Henrik Sedin was back in the Vancouver zone and Kariya slashed him on the wrist. Look, Hank may have overplayed the slash by shaking his wrist over and over, but a slash is a slash. Kariya hit Henrik on the wrist with his stick a couple of times, and even though it wasn't a serious slash, it was a slash. Get over it. Of course, it was hard for the Blues to get over because Christian Ehrhoff blasted a power play game winning goal into the net (although, I thought it was tipped in by Kyle Wellwood). Ehrhoff's slapper from the blue line was set up by Mason and Kesler (3 points for each...and Backes got the second star over Kes?) and ended the game with about 8 minutes to go. In the end, Bobby Lu came away with 25 saves on 27 shots (2 of his saves were video game-esque, standing on his head kind of stuff), the Vannies finally got a power play goal, and the patchwork defense of Baumer, Luko, and Romey did it again. How are they doing it? The Canucks also finally got more shots on goal than the losing squad (34-27), which is always nice to see. It was also nice to see the second line come with it, while the Sedins and Burrows were finally kept off the score sheet.

This win has the Vannies getting six in a row for the first time since February 2007, and has included wins against some pretty impressive teams (Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Buffalo). It has the Canucks exactly where they wanted to be heading into this monumental road trip. At 33-18-2 (68 points), my Canucks are finally all alone in first place in the Northwest Division, leading Colorado by 2 points (are they finally going to fade?). And that, of course, pumps us up to the #3 spot in the Western Conference. We trail first place San Jose by 10 and second place Chicago by 8, but we've got some squads breathing down our throats as we head into this long trip. The trip starts with Part 3 of the LSF Hockey Week we've been living since last Saturday, as my Blue & Green go head to head with Andrew's Toronto Maple Leafs. The Laughs are 17-27-10 on the year with a -45 goal differential. Remember how much everyone talked about how awful Carolina was when they beat us? Well, the Leafs are just 3 points up on the 'Canes. They are 2-7-1 over their last 10 games, and head into the match against my boys with a 4 game losing streak. I can't really think of a better way to start this 14 games road trip then to face off against a squad this bad. Of course, we have to remember that the Canucks have been having a problem this season beating bad teams. Have they finally overcome this problem on this recent six game kick? We toppled Edmonton, Dallas, and St. Louis, who are all kind of subpar. However, let me remind you that we only beat each of those teams by 1 goal. The Canucks are going to need to focus on this game against the Leafs, because it is a huge game for me and Andrew (don't forget, it's live on NHL Network!).

To get us fired up for the road trip, this Vannie Van should do.

Quickly, in other news:

Predictions for tonight's big basketball battle between Austin and Orlando? This would be a huge win for the Celts. I would pick the over (O/U is 189.5 right now) for sure, and my Green Army are being given 3.5 points as well. I'll be watching on TNT in about 53 minutes, and I'm looking for Pierce to drop 30 and Howard to be held to 10 points and less than 10 boards.

UCSB is going head to head against hated tractor loving Cal Poly SLO at the Thunderdome tonight. Man, I wish I was still living in IV so I could go to this game. Don't look now, but the Gauchos are 10-7 (5-2) this season and just 0.5 back of Big West leading Pacific. Orlando Johnson is strong to the hole.

On the pitch, Celtic dropped their midweek match to the Hibs yesterday 1-2 after a 90th minute strike from the Hibs midfielder sub. At 12-4-5 (41 points), we're still back of hated Rangers by 10. Meanwhile, the Amazin' Mags of Newcastle blew Crystal Palace out of the water with a 2-0 midweek match yesterday thanks to an own goal from Crystal in the 20th and a Nile Ranger sub strike in the 90th. At 16-3-7 (55 points), Newcastle continue to lead their promotion bid by 3 points over Nottingham Forest.

Ah, Sports Pickle, it has been too long.

Brandon & Tommy are still friends.

A handful of 1970's squads. The greatest sports rivalry in the history of the universe. An on ice battle between arguably the two best goalies in the NHL. The revenge attempt of Ricky Davis. January 25, 2010 had it all. LSF writers Beasy Bee and Tommy got together to watch an unprecedented back to back LSF rivalry games, enjoyed a free appetizer and $3 off pitchers of beer, and remained friends after Tommy's squads stood tall against the Friar alum and his boys.

The night opened with a battle between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Austin Celtics, which has been well known as the greatest rivalry in all of sports for some time, and kicked off with huge back to back slam dunks by Paul Pierce that would typify the game. While the Clip Show hung around , including holding onto the lead at half time, it was a 15 point 3rd quarter for LA (vs. a 21 point third for the Green) that sealed the deal. The game would end by the score of 95-89, with the C's prevailing despite the leak in the ceiling causing sketchy conditions on the floor. It turns out that the game was almost canceled. Doc Rivers spoke about his converstaion with Mike "Cry Baby" Dunleavy, "Mike and I came together, if anybody else slipped in the next two minutes, the game was going to be cancelled." You couldn't have picked that up while watching the game, probably because the Clipper announcers are just plain bad at painting a picture for the fans. They could have let us know what was going on just like how Rajon Rondo did after the game, "It was wet." That's an actual quote. Continuing on with the hilarity, Glen Davis said after the game that he wants to drop the nickname "Big Baby." He said he is searching for a new nickname, and fell in love with the suggestion of a reporter, "Uno Uno." No. There's no way that Davis is going to go for that, right? "Uno Uno. I like that, I like that. I'll be 'Uno Uno,' that's my new name." Hm. That quote makes me lose a little respect for my favorite Celt. Back to the game. St. Paulie Girl continued to make good on his comeback, leading all scorers with 22 points. He was joined by Kevin Garnett (17), Ray Allen (15), and Rajon Rondo (16) in the double digit category. I guess the C's just had the ingrediants just right (a teaspoon of Rasheed Wallace is 5 points and 4 rebounds?). The unsung hero of the game for Austin was Kendrick Perkins, thought, getting 9 points, 2 blocks, a +13 ratings, and 15 rebounds. The C's have been giving up a lot of offensive rebounds lately, and Perk pulling down a game leading 15 boards factored in hugely in the outcome of the game. The goat of the game has to be Marcus Camby (also known as "the shirt"), he got himself a thrilling 3 points in 26 minutes on the floor, finishing 1 for 7 from the field. Add 3 turnovers and a -6 rating, and you've got yourself a winner there. The win gets the Celtics to 29-13, increasing their division lead to 7.5 over Toronto and keeping them within 4 of Eastern Conference leading Cleveland, but more importantly it gets us some revenge against the Clippers for their lucky win last time. As the C's head into a tough part of their schedule (Magic on Thursday, Atlanta on Friday, and the other Los Angeles on Sunday), this win against their most bitter rival with definitely get us feeling good. It's just too bad that the motivation had to come at the expense of my son's Godfather.

Shifting from the home viewing location to the NHL Center Ice-having Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Company, we settled in for an exciting clash between expansion cousins. The Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres were well represented by two jersey wearing fools on Monday night, and neither team really disappointed. The Canucks got themselves consecutive win number five as they rolled past the Sabres by the score of 3-2. Brad Lukowich was the hero in the game, being on the receiving end of an amazing between the legs pass from Daniel Sedin, to surprise everyone with his first goal of the year which would prove to be the game winner at 5:21 of the third period. After a hard playing but scoreless first period, the Sabres opened things up with a nifty goal from Adam Mair (1st of the year) at 3:13 of the middle brick. Mair was able to get in between Shane O'Brien (who should be completely blamed for the goal) and the net, and easily redirected a pass from Matt Ellis along the goal line. It was a head's up play by Mair, but it was really poor defense by SOB that allowed this one to get in. The Canucks would get back 5 minutes later with Mikael Samuelson being greedy and getting a nice back hand 5 hole through Miller. Then, on a breakaway, H-Bomb earned a breakaway chance against Miller and pulled off a crazy move on Miller that was so un-Henrik. He stopped and made a perfect little deek to fool the American keeper and grab the 2-1 lead. The final period finished up in a mad dash, with Vanek getting a power play goal after a questionable elbowing called against Ryan Kesler and Brad Lukowich getting the aforementioned goal after a highlight reel pass from Daniel Sedin. With all of this happening, though, I'll have to say that Christian Ehrhoff was the unsung hero for flying into the net and dislodging the goal, leading to a Sabres goal being overturned. It was a bad call, in all honestly, but it kept that Canucks ahead, and helped to secure the 3-2 win. Luongo out dueled his American counterpart, stopping 30/32 compared to 22/25 for the win. Other items of note was Alex Burrows continuing his amazing streak of points in 16 straight games (only Tim Connolly has a longer streak with 18) and the fact that the 'Nucks patchwork defense (Luko, Rome, and Baumer) deserve tons more love than they are getting for somehow keeping the Blackhawks and Sabres at bay. Vancouver is a really good team, and with this recent run, people are finally taking notice. At 32-18-2 (66 points), the Canucks are tied with Colorado for the Northwest lead and are officially number four in the conference (+7 points on #8 Detroit). Tonight is a game against St. Louis (23-21-8), and despite the recent solid play of the Blues against the Orca, it is a huge opportunity to get a really important sixth straight win before heading out on the road tip from hell. Remember, Saturday is Part 3 of the LSF Hockey Week as the Canucks play Andrew's Maple Leafs live on NHL Network at 4 pm. So far, Vancouver (and Tommy) are 2-0-0 with this year's LSF Hockey Week, and hopefully after beating STL tonight we can cap it off with a solid win against Toronto. Keep it up boys.

My apologies for the lack of proof reading.

Jon Davis is crying somewhere.

Goalie punches to the back of the head after a thrilling shootout goal. Hair pulling when the going gets tough. A sweet DDT in a near murder of Mr. Eager. Tragic playoff defeat. These are just a few of the things that highlight the bitter rivalry between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks. It surely makes the friendship between Jon and myself on the rocks for a brief time. This time around, I cheered in victory, as my boys blew Chicago to pieces by the score of 5-1.

The top line of the Canucks combined for 9 points and Roberto Luongo stopped 43 shots. Those two facts pretty much highlight the complete and total domination from the Blue & Green against the Indians from Illinois at GM Place last night. Of course, Chicago fans are especially bitter in defeat, after getting pumped up to hear that Sami Salo, Willie Mitchell, and Kevin Bieksa would all miss the game. That's right, 3 of the Orca's top 6 defenders are on the shelf with injury, thrusting Aaron Rome, Brad Lukowich, and Nolan "Baumer" Baumgartner into the spotlight. Guess what? They over performed the heck out of this one. These unlikely heroes, combining for a +6 rating, including a player who has been a healthy scratch for Vancouver 22 times this year, a player who was in the minors until the Canucks pulled him up earlier this month, and a player who was suiting up for his first NHL game since 2007. And look what they did. Locked it down. As Shane O'Brien put it: "It was a gutsy effort." The only goal for the Blackhawks came as a meaningless one at 3:30 into the final frame. Congrats Toews. Remember how much JR and myself were hating on the Chicago goaltending? Well, Niemi got pulled after giving up 3 goals on 12 shots in the first period, and Huet didn't do that much better. My main man Alex Burrows got himself 3 points, to continue his complete massacre of a streak lately. That's 21 points in his last 15 games. Meanwhile, Mikael Samuelsson (his 17th) and Stevie Bernier (his 11th) helped to silence their critics with first period goals. I could go on and on. It was a thing of beauty. The only downside was NHL Network not televising the game until today at 11:00 am (16 hours later). They're doing the same thing with tomorrow's Sabres/Canucks game (only it'll be on at 1:00 am). Weirdos.

With the beat down of one of the best teams in the NHL, the Canucks are now 31-18-2 (64 points) with 31 games remaining in the year. Tied for the division lead with Colorado, although they have a game in hand, we rank #4 in the West after our recently red hot four game winning streak. Phoenix is sitting #5, within a win of taking over the 4 spot. Now we stare down part 2 of this 3 part LSF NHL week, tomorrow's game versus the Buffalo Sabres. Damn, this'll be fun. Buffalo may be 30-13-7 (67 points), but the Canucks have twice the positive goal differential of Buffalo, and since that is Brandon's favorite way to see how good a team is, I think he'll agree that Vancouver will walk off with this easy win. The Slugs will be coming in on a three game losing streaking, dropping games to bottom feeding Anaheim (4-5), fading Los Angeles (3-4), and the only semi-perfect San Jose (2-5). However, they are 5-2-3 over their last 10 games. Hopefully we're catching these guys at a time when we can take advantage. Now that we've overcome our inability to get four wins in a row, the sky is the limit. Watch out Buffalo, we're dangerous. Just don't try and expose our patchwork blue line.

It is officially time to get ready for what we're calling, "LSF Monday." At 4:30 pm we have the greatest rivalry in all of sports taking place, as the Los Angeles Clippers go head to head with the Austin Celtics. The Green Machine have revenge on our minds after our last loss to LA's second team. Then, at 7:00 pm we have the aforementioned battle on the ice between Vancouver and Buffalo. Finally, around 9:52 pm we have a wresting match between a "buzzed" Brandon and Tommy that can only end with the loser changing a poopy diaper. I can't freaking wait!

Canucks prepare to crush Jon Davis.

I'd like to start by reporting some breaking baseball news: The Angels have officially traded Gary Matthews Jr. to the New York Mets for reliever Brian Stokes. It finally gets GMJ out of the situation he has been loathing since the Torii Hunter signing, and we get a possibly okay reliever from Montclair, CA in return. Stokes had a 3.97 ERA in 70.3 innings, but he had a 1.56 WHIP. We're not getting some crazy awesome guy here, but at least we're getting something. I hope NYM also sends us a little cash, since we're probably eating much of MVJ's contract. Per usual, here is the Gary Matthews Jr. farewell video. Alright, that may be his Dad, but come on, it's funny.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks have been getting some wining going lately, as they prepare for "LSF Week" and the start of a 14 games road trip thanks to the Winter Olympics (I can't wait for March 13 v Ottawa!). After showing up Sid the Kid and the 'Guins, my Vannies went into Edmonton and came out with a 3-2 OT win, and then welcomed Dallas to start their four game home stand last night with a big 4-3 win. It was the third straight for the Orca, Alex Burrows got himself another goal (to get a 10 game point streak going), and Luongo prevailed despite looking beatable on some easy shots. Now, we're ready to get serious:

Saturday 1/23: Vancouver welcome's Jon Davis' 2nd place Chicago Blackhawks.

Monday 1/25: My boys welcome the recently shootout defeated Buffalo Sabres, who represent someone names "Beasy Bee."

Wednesday 1/27: The Canucks hope to finally get a win against St. Louis, but they have nothing to do with this.

Saturday 1/30: The Vannies line up for an easy win to start their monsterous road trip against Andrew Do's Toronto Maple Queefs (really, really original).

Never in the history of the LSF has there been a run like this in the sport of hockey. I'm sure that I'll touch on every game against my fellow bloggers favorite teams, but for now, it's time to focus on my 5 reasons that the Canucks will completely dominate Jon's Chicago Blackhawks.

1. My boss and his wife went to a Blackhawks/Kings game a while back and enjoyed the cheer, "Blackhawks Suck!" However, if you stop paying attention at where the chant starts for a bit, and let the repetition take over, it starts to sound like, "Suck Blackhawks!" My boss' wife asked the obvious question of why the crowd was chanting for someone to start giving it to an African American man orally. I know, I know. That is in poor taste. Please don't click the "Report Objectionable Material" button on the top of the page! However, this clearly is my first reason the Canucks will beat Chicago live from Vancouver, it's Saturday night!!!

2. The Blackhawks goaltending is clearly not Stanley Cup worthy. Right, JR? Roenick hated on the talent of Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi, and it has the Chiefs shaking in their skates. I mean, Huet has a 22-9-3 record and a 2.24 GAA. What a loser. Then you have Niemi, with a lowly 13-3-1 record and a God awful 1.85 GAA. Man, Roenick is right, these Hawk goalies do suck the big one. Seems to me that it'll be easy to exploit these jokers.

3. Alex F-ing Burrows. My favorite Pincourt, Quebec native has been off the charts lately, and has been powering this Vancouver squad like gang busters. In the last 9 games, Burrows has tallied 13 goals. 13 goals in 9 games! When you break it down to points, AB hasn't had a 0 point game since December 29 against Phoenix. He earned assists in the three games prior to that one, meaning that he has earned at least a point in 13 of his last 14 games. He straight stole a puck away from Alex Auld last night and earned a man's goal. It made me proud, and I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to get to those loser goalies from the Second City.

4. We have the top scoring forward in the entire NHL. Henrik "I'm Not Daniel" Sedin has 71 points this season (21 goals and 50 assists), which leads the entire NHL. The number 2 man is Alex Ovechkin, with just 68 points, and the number 2 man in the West is Joe Thorton with 66 points. In terms of the Western Conference, you have to drop all the way down to #4 (really, he's tied for #3) to find a Hawks' player (Patrick Kane and his lowly 57 points). H-Bomb has been running like crazy lately. In his last 11 games he's earned 18 assists and chipped in 3 goals. Look out Art Ross, here comes Henrik.

5. Roberto Luongo is a winner against Chicago. In 19 games, Lu has gone 10-7-1 with a lowly 2.10 GAA and 3 shutouts. The 1997 1st round draft pick of the New York Islanders, and the mighty captain, is a Hawk killer and is ready to show it this weekend. Just to show how crappy the Hawks goaltending is, Huet is 2-2-1 with a 2.55 GAA against Vancouver and Niemi is 1-1 in 2 games vs. my boys. Lu is the champion!

At 30-18-2, the Canucks are primed to pick up some much needed points prior to their 14 games road trip where their #1 goaltender will be Andrew Raycroft and their top line scorer is Rick Rypien.

Let's do the thing.

Angels land JAP, ruin my last post.

Joel Alberto Pinero.

Yesterday, 3:31 pm: I wrote a post exploring the Angels starting 5, including trying to figure out who would be the #5 starter. I picked Matt Palmer.

Yesterday, 6:59 pm: I received a text message from Andrew (my main source of breaking sports news) that the Angels signed Joel Pinero (sorry, no tilde on blogger) to a 2 year contract to start as our #5 man, thus making my post from 3 hours prior totally worthless.

So, now we have signed a 31 year old Puerto Rican native to our staff to fill the hole. The Angels official website is reporting that the Halos somehow landed the "market's top pitcher." By the way, they signed him for 2 years and $16 million, thus making Tony Reagins' statement about Ben Sheets being too expensive at 1 year/$8 million totally BS. You may remember, though, that I promised to be completely behind every single player on the roster now and until the end of time, which means that it is time to figure out why I should love our new #5 starter.

Last season, with the NL Central Champion St. Louis Cardinals, Pinero went 15-12 with a 3.49 ERA in 32 starts. He turned his career around by developing a new one seam sinker with crazy mad control, and that led him back to being a stud in the STL rotation. He led the majors in ground ball/fly ball ratio (which I really enjoy) and walked just 27 batters in 214 innings. That's awesome as well, because I hate giving up the free pass. Of course, we know JAP (a better nickname to follow, once he gets a couple of games under his belt) fairly well due to his career in Seattle. He was 6-2 with a 2.07 ERA at just 22 years of age with the Mariners, baffling the Angels and everyone else he faced. He started to get crappy toward the end of his tenure with the M's and the hated Red Sox, but totally turned things around once with the Cardinals, learning a new pitch that would help him regain his dominance. With a career ERA of 4.39, and hopes and dreams that he can keep it around 4 even in 2010, I'm thinking he's a solid choice to move into the five hole in our once again solid rotation. Unfortunately, Matt Palmer will now be relegated to starting the season in the bullpen, but at least we'll have a solid hopeful in case we face an injury (which we've been known to do lately).

So, all in all, I'm happy with the Joe-El signing, and look forward to his contributions on the mound for the Red Hats of the West Coast. He's not going to be the piece of the puzzle that gets us through the ALCS and onto the World Series, but if he stays healthy, he's going to keep us in the majority of the games he pitches in, and that ain't not bad.

Also, this story came along with the fact that the Angels "stole" Pinero from the Doyers. No matter what the Angels do, I'll be completely happy if it somehow ruined the plans of the Dodgers in any way. In response, LAD resigned Vicente Padilla to a 1 year $5.025 million contract. The problem with the Dodgers is that they signed the overrated (because of his playoff performance) V-Pad as the #4 starter. They still have a fifth spot to fill. According to ESPN, the candidates to complete the rotation already including Billingsley, Kuroda, Kershaw, and Padilla include Eric Stults, Scott Elbert, Charlie Haeger, Carlos Monasterios, and former SF Giant Russ Ortiz. I can smell the problems now. Hopefully that Blue Crew offense can still carry you guys to the top of the perennial subpar NL West.

I leave you with the timeless "Nerd Baseball."

Calling all starters.

As we inch toward Spring Training, I think it's about time to take a look at the Angels starting 5 for 2010. With the departure of John "Benedict Arnold" Lackey to the Blow Sox, the Halo rotation took a major blow. Will the Red Hats be able to realign and compete with the likes of the new rotation in Seattle? Will our new quintet of starters be able to keep us atop the AL West? Let's explore.

1. Jered "So Easy A Caveman Could Do It" Weaver (16-8, 3.75 in 2009): With the Angels extending Big Baby to avoid the arbitration process, I'm pretty sure that he's the official #1 starter on the staff this time around. He was big last season, and has double digit wins in each of his 4 years in Red (11-2, 13-7, 11-10, and 16-8). He has been making a splash since coming up and ripping up all those consecutive wins out the gate, and this may be the year that he really pushes it to the next level and gets himself 18+.

2. Scott "Respected High School Graduate" Kazmir (10-9, 4.89 in 2009, 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA once he came to LAA): Kaz's numbers don't do him justice after my boys picked him up (and I'm only talking regular season, not the 0-1, 7.59 postseason numbers that totally explain his play). He was so solid in his 6 starts once he got picked up by the Angels, and I think he's arguably the #2 guy on this staff in 2010 at this point. He hasn't really ever been a shut down kind of hurler, but he did go 12-8 in 2008, 13-9 in 2007, and 10-8 in 2006 (all with a mostly subpar Tampa Bay team). He holds a career 3.83 ERA, showing that last year's combined ERA of 4.89 is fairly high. Let's not worry about postseason performance since we're just slowly getting ready for the regular season, we need this guy to have a solid 30 starts in Red to help bridge the gap.

3. Joe "Colonel" Saunders (16-7, 4.60 in 2009): I almost feel weird not putting Saunders ahead of Kaz in my starting 5 list, but I really think Kaz should pitch better than Joey. That being said, the Virginia Tech graduate has been one of my favorites since coming to the squad in 2005. Last season he continued to emerge as a severely underrated left hander, following up his 17-7 2008 season with a 16 win campaign. The question is: Can he keep it up? Usually you question what he's going to do after he pulls off a season like he did in 2008 (17-7, 3.41), but then he followed that up with another superb season. Can he make it 3 in a row? I'd be happy with 15 or more wins from Joey this time around, and hopefully he can bring that ERA a little closer to 4 even.

4. Ervin "Hooter Husband" Santana (8-8, 5.03 in 2009): I think Karen would enjoy the fact that Erv is born on 12/12, sharing her birthday and the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Actually, probably not. My wife's least favorite Angels starter had another down year in 2009, continuing his every-other-year kind of success. Don't believe me? He went 16-8 in 2006, 7-14 in 2007, 16-7 in 2008, and then 8-8 in 2009 (by the way, I called the 2008 comeback season despite most of Angels Nation relegating him back to AAA). I can only conclude that the El Rosario will come on strong in 2010, finishing with at least 13 wins (I wanted to say 15, but I thought you wouldn't like that), and really being a solid presence in the rotation.

5. Open: Alright. Here is the meat and potatoes of the post. The Angels lost John Lackey, a number one starter, shifting everyone up the list, and that left a big opening with the #5 spot. The Angels auditioned plenty of starters in that spot in 2009 thanks to injuries, and save a huge move (Ben Sheets anyone?) they are going to have to try and find the best #5 guy in 2010 once again. We had all hooped that the mysterious Adoldis Chapman from Cuba may be the guy to fill the spot, but was officially signed by the Cincinnati Reds (of all people) on 1/10/10, taking his 102 MPH fastball with him to the NL. Meanwhile, (Ben Sheets anyone?) the Halos evidently didn't go to see Ben Sheets throwing on Tuesday, with Tony Reagins saying that Sheets' $8 million price tag is too much. I know he's a wild card, but I like him. However, let's put that dream aside and focus on filling the #5 spot from within. Trevor "Bozo" Bell (1-2, 9.74) is probably the guy that most MiLB lovers are going to pull for. He didn't really get a huge chance in 2009, going just 4 starts, and did show some flashes of brilliance. Look, I'm a huge minor league dude, and I don't think Bell is really ready for the show at this point. I hope they send him back to AAA rather than playing him in the pen in 2010 (unless needed). Sean "SOS" O'Sullivan (4-2, 5.92) would be next on the list. Now we're talking. You can still root for SOS and be that kind minor leaguer guy, right? He went 10 starts in 2009 for the Halos, and impressed most of the time. His .296 BAA wasn't too great, but this young bulldog showed potential. He's high and mighty on the list to fill the #5 spot. Anthony "Burn Survivor" Ortega (0-2, 9.24) didn't really impress in his 3 starts, although you can argue that he would have leveled things out if given more of a chance. As far as getting the #5 spot in 2010, though, AO has no chance. Matt Palmer (11-2, 3.93) was really the heartthrob story of 2009 for the Angels. The 30 year old guy who just couldn't get out of the minor leagues was a super stud as a super sub for the Angels in the rotation last season. He pitched 121.3 innings, nailed down 69 strikeouts, and held a respectable .240 BAA. The Southwest Missouri graduate has my vote as the #5, and if he can show that his first "full" shot in the bigs wasn't a fluke, he'll prove me a baseball genius. So, #5 is Matt Palmer. Write it down.

Reading that list of 5 (Weaver, Kazmir, Saunders, Santana, and Palmer), do you think we stand a chance? It's a fair question, really, This rotation should be able to hold their own for the Angels, if the offensive pop can somehow continue. How about we not be so worried by Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee over in Seattle, huh? I know they have Figgins and Kotchman providing the pop with the wood, but if you delve past King Felix and Cliff Lee, you see Ian Snell, Ryan Rowland-Smith, and Doug "No Nick Name Needed" Fister. Not too impressive outside of those two top guys, which makes me think we can roll with them pretty well.

So, don't fear Halo Nation. Everything is going to be alright.

The state of the 28-18-2 Canucks.

Every once in a while I like to take stock in where my favorite teams are at as they march through their seasons. I think it's about time to get my bloggles focused back on my Mighty Vancouver Canucks. After a thrilling 6-2 victory at home over the media darlings from Pittsburgh (no points for Sid!), the Orca are a solid 28-18-2 (58 points) and are continuing to try and better their situation before the Olympic road trip hits like a bad disease. Worse than cancer, if you will.

To start, I'll point out that Vancouver is 4-2-1 in 2010 (6-2-2 over their last 10 games), including starting the new calendar year 3-1-1 at the Garage. Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows have been flat out running the show for the Canucks offense, with each nailing down 21 goals through 48 games in the season thus far. Hank leads the entire NHL in points at 67, and Alex Burrows has turned up the heat and helped NHL On The Fly "discover" him and his talent after getting 11 goals in his last 7 games. 11 goals in 7 games. If you read my posts, you know that I always call Burrows "my boy," and hopefully now the world is starting to realize why. It's about the hustle, and being in the right place at the right time. It's nice to see him finally get the respect that he deserves from the rest of the media. With the outpouring of goals from AB and his fellow teammates, the Canucks have lifted their goal differential to +36 on the year. That is the #2 goal differential in the entire Western Conference (only, cough cough, Chicago has a higher mark at +55). I'll bet Brandon is impressed with that.

How about that goalie? The last time we looked into the state of this squad, I talked about how we should expect more from our Mighty Captain between the pipes based on his career stats. Well, he's finally coming around. I told ya'll not to worry. Bobby Lu has dropped his GAA to 2.30 after 41 games, which is a better average than he finished with in 08/09 (2.34) or 07/08 (2.38). Bingo. All those nay sayers from the beginning of the season are starting to be silenced, and in part, that is thanks to Roberto Luongo.

So, what do we have to do to make sure that this #6 squad keeps its playoff posture? We're 3 points back of Nashville and Phoenix (#4 and #5), but we're only one point up on #8 LA. It's a tight race. According to an annual column by one of Canada's most respected hockey writers, James Mirtle of the Globe & Mail, the Canucks are going to need to nab 37 more points to secure a post season spot. That would mean that the Vannies would have to finish 18-15-1 to make it into the top 8 this year. With the huge road trip looming on the horizon, the two weeks prior to the Olympics are going to be very, very important. We'll need to play near flawless hockey to get a good start prior to the infinity long roadie (and that's not taking into account that we'll be missing our Olympians as well). If you want to see how your team needs to do to make the top 8, click here. 18-5-1. I'm going to hope and pray that we can keep 3 over .500, and then all bets are off once the playoffs get underway. Hopefully we can avoid a first or second round battle with the Blackhawks. Right? By the way, the Hawks only need to go 11-21-1 to make the second season.

Leading up to the road trip from hell, we have games against Edmonton (hopefully an easy win), Dallas (a much needed win), Chicago (God, I love playing the Blackhawks), Buffalo (wait, two LSF teams in back to back games?), and St. Louis (you'd figure we have to beat STL eventually this year, right?). So, if we can sneak into 1/30/10 (our first road game against Toronto...wait, all three other LSF teams get it on against the 'Nucks within a span of 7 days? Have I died and gone to hockey heaven?) with a 4-1 record (I'll give us a loss against either Chicago or Buffalo...hopefully Buffalo, I really, really think that) we'll be doing great by my standards.

By the way, in case you are wondering, I'm totally backing Burrows for his comments about NHL ref Stephane Auger. Refs like Auger must be exposed, especially when they are so blatant in their revenge desires. I also want to point out that I'm disgusted by the fact that the mainstream media has been killing Burrows for his comments (especially Hockey Night in Canada). You guys are all knobs controlled by the league.

So, anyone down to get together for the various upcoming LSF battles?

Did anyone else see this elbow by Canada's junior captain Patrice Cormier from yesterday? It's kind of tough to watch.

Okay, back to the poopy diapers.

Notre Dame's 2010 Preview Part 3.

The most intense winter storm to hit OC since 1995 is underway in Lake Forest, my baby and wife are snoozing, and it is time to continue the thrilling (and comment inspiring) Fighting Irish season preview. So far we're 7-2, and we have three games to go on the schedule.

11/13/10: This is a very interesting matchup, in my humble opinion. Utah brings their Mormon flavor into South Bend for a religious match up that will be one to enjoy. Utah went 10-3 last season, including an impressive 6-2 in the MWC conference and a #23 final record. I was going to write about impressive wins in their season, but scanning I fail to find very much. We see wins against Utah State, San Jose State (representing), Louisville, Colorado State, UNLV, Air Force, Wyoming, New Mexico, San Diego State, and UC Berkley. The bowl game win against the Golden Bears (37-27) is clearly the most impressive, but any other time the Utes played a quality team, they were an epic failure. Losses to Oregon, TCU, and BYU are pretty huge, despite only being three. Keep in mind, though, that Jordan Wynn was a freshman QB last season for Utah and took over in the Wyoming game to pilot his team to a 4-2 overall record under his lead. I don't know what my fellow Irish fans are going to think about me for this one, but I see Utah escaping Notre Dame stadium with a win over my boys.

11/20/10: Welcome to the much hyped game at Yankee Stadium between the Irish and the Black Knights. We don't want to spend to much time on this one. #1) It's a huge recruiting game for the Irish, even if it is just in New York and #2) Army really isn't in a position to win against the Irish in 2010. Army finished their season 5-7, playing zero ranked teams, and scoring just three points against rival Navy in their final game of the year (which we watched from Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Forest...Blazin' challenge survivors...shh....). Notre Dame wins big.

11/27/10: The Irish are now 8-3 and on their way to rainy Southern California for the matchup of the year. The USC Trojans suffered a down year by their standards in 2009, going 9-4 including their surprise 24-13 bowl win against Boston College (a surprise to me at least). More importantly for USC haters, is to point out how the Trojans went 5-4 in the PAC 10 with losses to Washington, Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona. Now we have their world famously cool head coach leaving to lead the Seahawks to a subpar couple of seasons before returning to some lesser NCAA program by 2013 or earlier, and a hugely overrated and completely undeserving (arguably) new head coach who saved some recruits and made the blind USC Kool Aid drinkers happy for the moment. Last season Notre Dame lost to USC 27-34 (again, a Buffalo Wild Wings affair) in a close last second (actually, two last seconds) loss. It would have been the perfect revenge for the Bush Push game, but it wasn't. So, is this the year? 2001 was the last year that Notre Dame beat USC. That was the year that the Bob Davie coached squad made it to the 2001 Fiesta Bowl (our first BCS bowl event). We finished that with a sad bow out to Oregon State, but we finished #15. Good times. The question is: Can Notre Dame defeat USC with both teams having a new head coach, the Irish starting a brand new QB, and ND losing arguably their top receiver? I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but I will NEVER pick Notre Dame to lose to the Trojans. ND by 4.

So, after finishing the season 6-6 in the finale of the Weis era, I'm predicting a 9-3 start to the Kelly era. I tried to be as down the middle as possible (with the exception being the USC game), and I still ended up with a BCS berth after a solid season. All of this hinges on how Dayne Crist will play in 2010, his first season as a starter. With Armando Allen becoming one of the best college football has to offer, Michael Floyd getting a chance to be the #1 guy on the pitch (because I forgive him for getting busted for underaged drinking), and Duval Kamara ready to step it up in his possible final year with the Golden Domes, I think the pieces are there for Crist to show his stuff. He's a California boy without the stupidity of Clausen (at least seemingly). All of this, and hopefully a much improved defense under the care of Bob Diaco, and hopefully my dreams of a 9-3 start to Brian Kelly's career will come true.

It's raining even harder now than it was when I started.

Notre Dame's 2010 Preview Part 2.

I'll try to continue my ND season preview as much as possible between feedings and poopy diaper changes! That's right, this Daddy is still blogging.

10/9/10: Notre Dame will have Pitt walking into South bend, proving an underrated interesting matchup. Last season the Irish lost to Pitt in a close 5 point game (but, then again, all of our games seemed close last year), with Pitt finishing #12 in the country (all together now: overrated). The Panthers may have gone 10-3 (5-2 in conference), but it's a pretty non impressive record when you consider their only game against a ranked team being a loss (44-45 to #5 Cincinnati). Their wins included The Penguins of Youngstown State, Buffalo, Navy, NC State, Louisville, UConn, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, us (damn!), and UNC in their bowl game (by 2 points). How did this record get the Panthers to #12 in the nation? What a joke. Young running stud Dion Lewis will be back for his sophomore year at Pitt, but after exposing their "amazing" season, I'm taking ND in this one, especially because it's at home.

10/16/10: Western Michigan comes in to town to give the Irish a nice little break after starting the season 4-2. The Broncos went 5-7 (4-4 in the MAC West), not playing a single ranked team. They didn't even have a win that is worth mentioning. At least they scored 7 points against Michigan in their first game of the year. Add to that, QB Tim Hiller is leaving after a "successful Senior year," and you have a lock Notre Dame win at home.

10/23/10: Ah, the game against Navy at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. Maybe Snookie will make an appearance. The 2009 version of this game was a crushing blow to the Irish. They were rolling at 6-2 on the season coming into this one (and I have them at 5-2 coming into the 2010 affair). Navy came away with their 23-21 win after Jimmy Clausen (God rest his soul) was another stellar game winning drive short of being a hero. Sacked in the end zone with 60 seconds to play. Pathetic, pathetic stuff. We were ranked, remember? Well, after losing two straight to the bucking sheep with a blanket across his back, this game #8 of the 2010 season is absolutely huge. Ricky Dobbs will be back for his Senior year (he had 102 rushing yards in the option against ND, and through his "typical" pass to the white tight end wide open in the middle) and FB Vince Murray will be back as a Senior as well. Man, this game is going to be so gigantic! I have no choice but to pick the Irish here, and this will be the season defining game for both Brian Kelly and Dayne Crist.

10/30/10: Tulsa at home! The Golden Hurricane will pass over Notre Dame stadium, but we don't need to worry about battening down the hatches. This Hurricane finished their season 5-7 (3-5 in the down C-USA West; sorry Rice), and really shouldn't make anyone in South Bend nervous. Tulsa went 1-6 in their last 7 games of the year. They lost to three ranked teams (Oklahoma, Boise St, and Houston) by a combined score of 119-66, including a defeat at the hands of Oklahoma by the tally of 0-45. Intimidating, eh? It will be fun to see Notre Dame go against a team from the C-USA (will Rice be next?). Easy, easy Notre Dame win.

We have finally reached the Notre Dame bye week of November 6, 2010. Heading into the final three game stretch of the season, the Irish are powering their along to a 7-2 season and have Utah, Army (at Yankee Stadium, boo), and the brand new USC left to finish the year. Part 3 of our preview will focus on those final games (is a BCS berth in Kelly's first year out of the question? Probably, but it'll be fun to pretend) and hopefully touch on predictions for the performance of some of our hottest players ("Te'o says no go to Mormons").

Back to the baby.

P.S. I just knew that USC fans would be delusional with the Kiffen hiring. A direct quote from one of my best friends in the whole world. "...Kiffin is a good coach." Really? He finished his 20 games stint with the Oakland Raiders with a 5-15 record. Just ask Brandon how great of a coach he was for them (4-12 in 2007 and 1-3 in 2008). Then he went back to college to show how great he could be, and led the Tennessee Volunteers to a stellar 7-6 record (4-4 in conference) before losing the Chick-Fil-A Bowl to V Tech. Hey Trojan fans, he lost to a down UCLA team 15-19 in Week 2. Have fun with your "good coach."

The Next Head Coach?

Who the hell is going to be the next coach at SC? Here's a list of potential candidates:

Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans head coach

Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach

Jim Harbaugh, Stanford Cardinal head coach

Tony Dungy, former Indianapolis Colts head coach

Jon Gruden, former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach

Kyle Whittingham, Utah Utes head coach

Gary Patterson, TCU head coach

Herm Edwards, plays to win the game

Jim Mora, Jr., former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks head coach

Jim Mora, Sr., (What does he think of the BCS? Playoffs?!?)

Let's Keep It Short

I really wanted this to be the shortest post I did, since, again, I'm not at all interested in the College Football Championship Game. Really, why am I even a superfan any more? Well, the NCAA's grip on me is faltering, I'll tell you that much. All that means for the future is that I'm going to be a lot more near Dufresne level picking, with much guessing involved (HAHA! See, it totally absolves me of being wrong if I state that I'm guessing, even if I'm a respected sportswriter for the LA Times!).

Citi BCS National Championship Game: 1/7/10 5pm, Pasadena, CA, USA
Alabama (13-0) vs Texas (13-0), Bama by4

For the (who knows!?*#$%)th year in a row, I have no rooting interest in the NC. The Crimson Tide only represent everything evil that Texas does not. You know something is wrong when I hear this Bowl matchup and think to myself, well, at least it's only half Texas versus Florida. Wasn't it Florida-Ohio State a few years back? It was definitely Oklahoma-USC one year not too long ago. I'll stop myself before I go on a huge rant. I'll point out the two pieces of information that caught my eye the most. The first is that Alabama's defense seems to be, or at least has played, out of their mind. A season opening twenty-four points against a top ten ranked Virginia Tech team that won ten games this year was the most they gave up. Plus, they have a highly rated DT, one who could possibly disrupt the Longhorns as Triggs' boy did. The second bit of info I'd like to share is Texas' out of conference schedule: Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP, and UCF. Really taking it to the next level. I think Servite played a harder out of conference schedule than that.

The pick: Alabama-Do you see what you make me do, BCS? I'm picking a Nick Saban SEC team to win it all.

The line: I'll pick Bama to cover, because Colt McCoy just might quit.

Almost Forgot About This Game

GMAC Bowl: 1/6/10 4pm, Mobile, AL, USA
Central Michigan (11-2) vs Troy (9-3), Central Mich by 3

I even had a phone reminder go off last night to write this post, but it doesn't seem to have worked. I was really excited about this game, too. In fact, as soon as I'm done here I'm going to go watch it. It is, thank you very much, a battle of two conference champions. Central Michigan won the MAC and Troy won the Sun Belt. Kudos for these two conferences to square off like this. The Chippewas return most of their offense, I think, but they definitely return their dual threat quarterback, Dan LeFevour, and a legit wideout, who doesn't get named here so we can keep the emphasis on QB. They took care of the MAC this year and lost but twice, Arizona and Boston College doing the deed. The Trojans always mystifies me. I will swear that they're historically only the second best team in the Sun Belt, but they seem to play tough out of conference opponents and actually put up a fight better than my Blue Raiders do. (Maybe only I like them because of their colors, and the whole Raiders thing.) They lost this year to Florida, Arkansas, and Bowling Green. They have, which is different for them, more of a pocket passer in Levi Brown, but he seems to be, somewhat, truth.

The pick: Central Michigan-I know Troy is going to make me pay here, but I will never forget what they did to me in New Orleans.

The line: I'll take the points as contingency.

Notre Dame's 2010 Preview Part 1.

Brandon's beautiful bowl posts work toward the close of the 2009 college football season, and that makes me want to get my 2010 Notre Dame predictions ready for you to devour. Plus, if I toss them out now, hopefully you'll forget when I end up being completely wrong. Let's take a walk through the schedule and see what we're looking at.

9/4/10: The Irish welcome Purdue to South Bend. We beat Purdue 24-21 this season on September 26, when we improved to 3-1 on the year (ah, the memories). The Boilermakers finished their season with a 5-7 record (4-4 in the "thrilling" Big Ten conference). The Big P walked away with big wins against Ohio State (that's right, they beat the then #7 Buckeyes 26-18 back in October) and Michigan (a tight 38-36 win late in the year). QB Joey Elliot was on point when he wanted to be, going 21/29 for 205 and 4 TDs in the season ending win against an 4-8 Indiana. Too bad for the 'Makers, Elliot is moving on after graduating, and their next QB (Junior Robert Marve) hasn't played since he was the starting QB in his freshman year. He didn't get to go in the bowl game in 2008, and that says a lot about the lack of confidence they have in this guy. This is a ND win. Not an easy one, but we'll get 'em.

9/11/10: Michigan walks in. Oh, that 34-38 loss to Michigan on September 12, 2009. That was the game I point to when I realized that Charlie Weis had no business being on the field helping this team (like I said a long time ago, he belonged up in the booth like he was during our Hawaii Bowl victory). The loss this year to Michigan was a heart breaker, and a game that we definitely should have won. It was just the fifth time in the history of the rivalry that Michigan scored 30+ on Notre Dame...ever. UM finished their big 10 season with a 4-8 record (1-7 in their "Mighty Conference"). After starting this year 4-0, the Wolverines went 1-2 over their next 3 (beating just Delaware St) and then closed out their season with 5 straight losses. QB Tate Forcier finished his season throwing 4 INTs to Ohio State and got replaced before the final whistle. Of course, this was his freshman year, and he'll probably be a little better in 2010 (pronounced "twenty ten"). However, I'm going to base my choice just on the fact that ND really needs this revenge victory. This may be something of a homer call, but I think Notre Dame will win by at least a TD in this game. We really have to.

9/18/10: The Irish travel to their first road game against Michigan State. The past 8 games between Notre Dame and the Spartans have been decided by a TD or less. That means that this game is really a toss up. MSU went 6-7 (4-4 in conference play) this year, and were less than inspired in losses to ND, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnie, Penn State, and Texas Tech just (in the Alamo Bowl) to name a five. Actually, they were in most of those games down to the wire, but still they couldn't get it done. Kirk "Kissing" Cousins will be coming into his Junior year with 2,680 yards passing in 2009 and 19 TDs compared to 9 INTs. He wasn't great in the bowl game, but he does have soon to be sophomore Edwin Baker helping out on the ground (could have a 1,000 yard season next year). Sorry, but being honest, I'm going to say that ND will lose this game on the road to drop to 2-1. I'm trying to be as down the middle as possible.

9/25/10: Coming home after the loss, the Irish will have to welcome Stanford to South Bend. Damn, I don't want to delve into this one. ND dropped their final game of the season to the Tree in dramatic fashion 38-45 in November, and Stanford finished 8-4 (6-3 on the year) not counting their bowl loss to Oklahoma (which screwed up my streak for the cash, despite how close they stayed with a "real" football program). Toby Gerhard will be gone, and that will be a huge plus for any teams trying to beat Stanford in 2010. Andrew Luck will still be around as their now sophomore QB, but I think saying he's overrated would be an understatement. The Cardinal will come crashing back down to reality next year. Most in the media won't agree with this, but I think this will be the Irish's big win in the first 5 games of the year. 3-1.

10/2/10: How about going on the road to play Boston College? Man, Brian Kelly is really going to have to prove his stuff in his first year at ND. Same with Crist getting the starting call at QB next year. He's really, really going to have to step it up (I think he will). The Irish beat Boston College 20-16 this season, really making us fans proud. The "Holy War" has been pretty split down the middle, with ND taking the narrow lead 10-9 with their most recent win. However, BC won the previous 6 prior to this year. The last time that the Irish beat Boston College at BC was November 7, 1998, winning 31-26. That's really just 3 straight losses on the road in the "Holy War," but it's still significant. Have we broken the curse, or was this one win over the last 7 games just a fluke? Survey says: After giving us the win against Stanford, I'll fall back and say this one will be a loss. It'll drop us to 3-2 on the year, and everyone will start talking about how we're 0-2 on the road.

3-2 after 5 games sounds good, but we'll get some more wins coming with part 2 of the season preview, including possible big ones against Western Michigan, Navy, Tulsa, and maybe even Pitt? Tune it to continue the preview as we roll along toward opening day, September 4, 2010.

A Party and an Un-rhymable Fruit

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: 1/4/10 5pm, Tempe, AZ, USA
Boise State (13-0) vs Texas Christian (12-0), TCU by 7.5

In a great political move, the BCS selection committee picked both of these teams from non-BCS conferences to play against one another in the Fiesta Bowl. Both teams are happy to get a BCS game, right? Yeah, probably. Those suckers come with a lot of money and, probably more importantly for these teams, recognition. Recruits all over the place are starting to consider these schools as top picks. Boise already draws from California and all over the West Coast (Whoever decided to make the blue field was a genious, even if inadvertently, because that alone will get you on ESPN, no matter how good you are.) whereas TCU is in Texas, a secondary hotbed of talent. But let's get real for a minute. The BCS, as well as the BCS conferences, surely do not want any more teams with automatic births. Why would they be willing to give up space that teams from their conference regularly fill. The SEC and Big 10 have two teams in BCS games this season. If the WAC and MWC earned auto bids, guess which conferences would only have gotten one team in? And, honestly, the Broncos and Horned Frogs are lucky this year. Our Notre Dame team would have ousted them if they had taken care of those last four games like we all thought they were capable of. Even LSU might have made it in over them had they not stumbled against Ole Miss. Virginia Tech and Miami might have made it in with one more win apiece. And check this out. Cincinnati played Pitt and Texas played Nebraska for conference championships in the final week. If those games go the other way, which is not too far fetched as these games each were decided in the final minute of play, both of these Cinderellas probably would have been left out. You know that the BCS would take a one loss Texas any day. And Cincinnati, also in a BCS conference, would have had but one loss and to a pretty good team. So, consider yourselves lucky. We'll wait until next year or the year after when things don't fall together so nicely. And if you're thinking of starting a revolution, remember that all "old tales date back to blood," or money. (That was from Hogfather, thank you very much!)

The pick: TCU-These teams met last year in the Poinsettia Bowl and TCU eeked out a one point win. But, people have short memories, so I'm sure the BCS committee knew the fact that they snubbed these two teams last year would not hit the wire.

The line: I'll hope for another close game with no blowout, even though I'm not going to watch. I'll be hoping that things change. Then again, things might change for the better, but rarely do for the best.


FedEx Orange Bowl: 1/5/10 5pm, Miami, FL, USA
Georgia Tech (11-2) vs Iowa (10-2), Tech by 5

I feel like I'm not going to watch this game, but being as Tuesday night's looking pretty barren, it might be right for fighting. I don't really care who wins this game because I think that the BCS got it wrong. I know typically the ACC Champ is in the Orange Bowl; that is happenning here. I also know that Florida took the place of the SEC champ, which usually plays in the Sugar Bowl. But I like to see conference champs face off in Bowls. The NC will have one, the Rose Bowl had another. Why not have the Big East and ACC winners square off in the Orange Bowl? This would have had Georgia Tech playing Cincinnati in this game, and two second place teams, Florida and Iowa, play in the Sugar Bowl. Seems ok to me. Plus, then you get an SEC-Big 10 matchup, one with a lot of contention in it, I'm sure. Iowa was a really good team. Then they lost their star QB, Ricky Stanzi, and lost by seven to Northwestern and by three in OT for the Big 10 Championship against Ohio State, starting a freshman at QB. Well, Stanzi is back and looks primed to score against a Yellow Jacket defense that has given up plenty of points. The question is whether the Hawkeyes can stop the rushing attack of Tech. Well, this was one of the most successful defenses in the Big 10, so I think they've probably seen a few backs who can bring it. They held Wisconsin and Penn State to 10 points, that's saying something. But they have been a bit of a cardiac team, with close wins against Arkansas State, Northern Iowa, Michigan, and Michigan State. Georgia Tech is a team that got a convenient boost in the rankings a week after losing to rival Georgia, but a day after they beat Clemson for the ACC crown. They have two backs who will finish the season with more than 1000 yards, one of which is their quarterback. It always scares me when the QB can run well.

The pick: Iowa-I can see how people are worried about Iowa keeping up with Tech, but any time the Hawkeyes manage a stop the pressure mounts on the flexible Tech defense. Let's see who wants to make a statement.

The line: Points.

A Day After

Yesterday was a very bad day to be a football bowl game picker, especially if your name was me. I watched the end of the first half of the Rose Bowl and saw a crappy Ohio State offense get too many calls and luck against a swarming Duck defense. I also saw an Oregon offense get some bad luck against a D that should have been corruptible. So, since I couldn't pull the trigger on the Florida game, I fell to 1-4 on the day. There was an overtime bout and a relatively close game that both didn't go my way, but there is hope as I went 3-2 on line betting. Now comes a January second set of games that really feels like it should have been played in December, or September, even.

International Bowl: 1/2/10 9am, Toronto, ON, CN
South Florida (7-5) vs Northern Illinois (7-5), USF by 7

The Bulls come into this game with some controversy in the form of alleged battery of their coach against a player during halftime of their win against Louisville November 21. Though it's only hearsay at this point, it feels like something inappropriate must have happened for this to have surfaced. Whatever the case, I have kind of become fond of this South Florida team, especially since there are few schools to like in the Big East Football Conference. The Huskies of Northern Illinois always seem like a glamour pick to me. They are rarely expected to win and this makes them favorable to some people. I don't think I'll ever leave that guy alone.

The pick: South Florida: Even though they had a really weak schedule, for some reason I think they'll get it done.

The line: I'll take the points because that off the field stuff has to count for something, right?


AT&T Cotton Bowl: 1/2/10 11am, Arlington, TX, USA
Oklahoma State (9-3) vs Mississippi (8-4), Ole Miss by 3

Most people are talking all about the Runnin' Rebels are going to, well, run away with this game. They point at the Cowboys not being able to play any good teams well, Ole Miss' capability of staying in games, and, as you are so familiar with, the SEC being G-d's gift to football. Honestly, fuck that. Ole Miss had one of the weakest out of conference schedules I can remember: Memphis, Southeastern Louisiana, UAB, and Northern Arizona. Get real! This is so unacceptable for a major conference team to be doing. As much as I cannot stand USC, at least they have one of their three out of conference games against someone legit. But you know what? Most teams nowadays are doing just that, with the exception of the SEC and Big 12 and to a lesser extent the Big 10. So go ahead and call me a West Coast homer, but this is ridiculous. And so maybe I'm putting too much pressure on Oklahoma State, but they have already beat an SEC team this year, and a historically well above average one, in Georgia.

The pick: Oklahoma State-I hope Dez Bryant reads this post, gets fired up, and does work.

The line: I'll take the points, but I don't think I'll need them. Ole Miss has been overrated all year (they made it to number 4 at one point) and are about to get taken down a notch.


Papajohns.com Bowl: 1/2/10 11am, Birmingham, AL, USA
Connecticut (7-5) vs South Carolina (7-5), USC by 3.5

The Gamecocks are another SEC team that gets tons of ink. At least these guys played, and beat, a pretty good Clemson team in their out of conference play. But as everyone on this blog knows, I cannot stand Steve Spurrier. The Huskies got their ink from a player dying, which made a big stir, even though the guy was probably a cocky jerk like most athletes. But that does not stop me from thinking that UConn is a legit team. This is a team that lost five games by a total of 15 points. Granted, they lost their games to the better of the teams they played, but the fact that their worst loss was by four points really says something: that they can probably play with anyone, even if Spurrier suits up.

The Pick: UConn-Sorry, Dan. I remember in the NCAA video games that UConn would regularly come out of nowhere and make a run at an undefeated season. Perhaps next year?

The line: I am glad to be taking points. You know USC can have those games that thoroughly frustrate the viewer.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: 1/2/10 2:30pm, Memphis, TN, USA
East Carolina (9-4) vs Arkansas (7-5), Ark by 7.5

Man, the SEC is really trying to get under my skin, aren't they? Alright, you asked for it. Here, again, is a team that went 4-0 out of conference playing nobodies, unless you consider Missouri State a somebody. I'm sure the SEC apologist would tell me all about the eight teams that went undefeated out of conference and how this shows how great they are. Sure, you guys are better than the Sun Belt, C-USA, the WAC, and the MAC, but I call into question anything else. The best out of conference win by an SEC teams was Alabama over Virginia Tech, 34-24. After that, I really don't know. Auburn over West Virginia, Florida over Florida State, Georgia over Georgia Tech, USC over Clemson, maybe. The sorry fact is that these five teams are the only wins against ranked opponents by the entire SEC conference. We're talking 48 out of conference games here. Five wins. And I think, though it's hard to recall, that only seven or eight games total played by SEC teams out of conference were against teams ranked in the top 25 at some point in the season. 8 out of 48, are you kidding me? I think Notre Dame (and I know they are absolutely horrible) played six ranked teams this year alone. Worse yet, the SEC played 23 of these games out of BCS conferences (the only conference with more was the Big 12) and a whopping 11 out of Division 1A. So, this is a conference that decides to play more games against what we all think of as D2 teams than ranked opponents. Well boo on that. Oh, and I like this East Carolina team, even if they are called the Pirates.

The pick: East Carolina-Simply because they knocked Houston out of this game.

The line: If the Razorbacks win by more than a touchdown I might quit on college football out of sheer frustration.


Valero Alamo Bowl: 1/2/10 6pm, San Antonio, TX, USA
Texas Tech (8-4) vs Michigan State (6-6), Tech by 8

This is a hard game to call as these teams are defined more by their losses than their wins. The only good win among these two teams is the Red Raiders' 31-10 road win against Nebraska. They played Texas, Houston, and Oklahoma State close but lost all those games. They beat Oklahoma, so good for them, but are now going to be playing under a new coach what with Mike Leach being fired a few days ago. Happy New Year. The Spartans really don't seem to be that good a team. They didn't play too tough an out of conference schedule and barely won some of the games they did. They had some relatively close losses to Iowa, Central Michigan, Notre Dame, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, but got trounced by Penn State and missed Ohio State in the Big 11 draw this year. They need to change that ala the Pac-10 and get everyone playing everyone each year.

The pick: Texas Tech-This is the only pick that Dufresne and I share (he loves him some SEC) and, oddly enough, it is my least confident. I can see Michigan State making a statement, especially if they're checking this blog out.

The line: I guess the same thing could be said of a talented Tech team, but I'll play it safe and take the points.

Happy New Decade, Folks.

Can you believe that this is the fourth decade we will have been a part of. I guess that makes one feel old, but I just think it makes us more substantiated.

Outback Bowl: 1/1/10 8am, Tampa, FL, USA
Northwestern (8-4) vs Auburn (7-5), Auburn by 9

OK, I understand that people like the SEC over the Big 10 any day of the week. Then again, we're talking about a weak Tigers team here. These guys were 3-5 in conference and yeah, they played people tough, but their only good win was against West Virginia. Northwestern, a team I loved to hate back in the late 90's, had a really good year. Yeah, they didn't play Ohio State or Michigan, but they are probably coming off their best win, a 33-31 victory over Wisconsin. I hate to say it, but I think I might be becoming a Big 10 apologist this year, too. Well, let's wait until the Rose Bowl, shall we?

The pick: Northwestern-Wildcats always beat Tigers, right? Ugh, get a new mascot, both of you!

The line: Come on now, are we serious? A blowout would mystify me.


Capital One Bowl: 1/1/10 10am, Orlando, FL, USA
Penn State (10-2) vs LSU (9-3), Penn by 1

Well, just what we wanted. Another Big 10-SEC matchup. Though I'm going to pick Penn State, remember this game as one where they say that the SEC is superior to the Big 10 after LSU runs roughshod. I know that I'm not what makes the world go around, but it still feels like I'm cursed either way I pick. The Nittany Lions lost to their best two opponents, Ohio State and Iowa, but really took care of business in their other games. The Tigers (can the SEC not think of any other type of name?) of LSU lost to number one Auburn, number one (at the time) Florida, and Ole Miss. Then again, it felt like they should have lost a bunch more.

The pick: Penn State-I'm no Paterno lover, but I feel like this had to happen.

The line: Yeah, sure, I'll pick them to cover.


Konica Minolta Gator Bowl: 1/1/10 10am, Jacksonville, FL, USA
West Virginia (9-3) vs Florida State (6-6), WVa by 3

So much had been said about this game. All I would like to add is how I don't care about the outcome, the style of play, the history, or the coaching. I know a certain poster on this blog likes the Seminoles, but I cannot sympathize what with all the battles with ND at the beginning of last decade, er, two decades ago. The Mountaineers are not looking back after the departure of coach whatever his name is to Michigan. Plus, besides an early slip up against Auburn, these guys have played well aginst all on their schedule.

The pick: West Virginia-Almost heaven.

The line: Back to back cover picks. I'd love to see a Bowden Blowout in his last game.


Rose Bowl: 1/1/10 2pm, Pasadena, CA, USA
Oregon (10-2) vs Ohio State (10-2), Ohio by 4.5

I remember going to the 86th Rose Bowl game and the first of this millenium. It pitted two quarterbacks by the name of Marcus Tuiasosopo and Drew Brees against one another. Though Brees has gone on to become the better pro (plus I was rooting for him that day), Washington and Tuiasosopo had the best of it all that day. Should that scenario follow through, the Ducks (let's hope they don't come out in some sort of crappy combination of uniforms) should edge these Buckeyes with their Masoli outshining the possibly better pro Pryor.

The pick: Oregon-One of the few games I really, really want the Pac-10 to win.

The line: Ya know, I think I have to take the points here.


Allstate Sugar Bowl: 1/1/10 5:30pm, New Orleans, LA, USA
Florida (12-1) vs Cincinnati (12-0), Florida by 13

It's hard to say, but not much is going in the direction of the Bearcats here. And this is sad for a number of reasons. They scheduled and beat a very good Pac-10 team, a very recently good Big-10 team and, by the way, went undefeated. I'd love for them to show up Tebow and his (?) Gators. They probably have the athletes to do so, but do they have the drive. I just cannot tell. It depends on the types of players that play for the Bearcats. I do know that they have a very good defense and a quick strike offense, two huge assets. Florida? Well, I'm just glad that they aren't in the running for the NC.

The pick: Flor, eh, fuck it, Cincinnati-I just could not bring myself to doing it.

The line: Way, way too many points not to take.