2 Words...

IOWA ST!

The two team wild card

In 2013 MLB has decided to add a two team wild card system. This has been the single best thing MLB has done since the addition of the first wild card team. To break it down for you is pretty simple. The top two wild card teams from each league will be playing each other in a one game show down similar to the 163rd game. Winner advances as the wild card and faces the number one team in there respective division. My first thought on this was “oh great, now we get to have three AL east teams in the playoffs each year”. But this format opens up the playoffs in such a manner that is only positive. Look what the cardinals did with their chance this past year; they made history out of it. The rays brought us excitement we never thought was possible in baseball. As a fan you have to be itching for this format to take place. Not only is it going to open up the playoff race ten fold but it makes ever single game that much more important. On top of the two team one game playoff we still hold the chance of the 163rd game to get that last spot. To show you how this format would have looked, here are the past four years and there two wild card games:

2010: AL: Yankees vs Boston NL: Atlanta vs San Diego

2009: AL: Boston vs Texas     NL: Colorado vs San Francisco

2008: AL: Boston vs Yankees NL: Milwaukee vs NY Mets

2007: AL: Yankees vs Detroit NL: Colorado vs San Diego.

This format clearly adds more excitement and intensifies the world series and playoffs and gives the MLB playoff system a much needed jolt of enthusiasm. It doesn’t lengthen it to the extent we see in the NBA were the playoffs seam to drag on for months at a time. It just adds that NFL one and done feeling that brings the super bowl to such a monumental level.

The last thing I want to touch on is the evening of the leagues. In 2013 the Astros will be moving to the AL West, This not only gives each league 15 teams but it gives the Rangers a solid in state rivalry which can hopefully help kick start the Astros organization and fan base. And for all you interleague lovers out there, you get that little treat year round as there will be one interleague match up every series around the league.

The MLB has finally made some moves in the right direction. The Addition of the two team wild card spices up every years race and gives life to the team that, in the past, just didn’t quite have that push. The year round interleague play has a chance to spike attendances in some low budget parks that could help payrolls in the future. Which ever is your favorite baseball has made some smart moves and should help baseball rise in ratings from years to come.

Long time reader first time blogger.

Anthony D.

Haters in the Building... Get Out!

OK, I swore to myself that I would not post about the Broncos until the end of the season... but after what I saw last night, I cant help myself.

This is a team that started 1-4 under Kyle Orton, and just completed another late game comeback W.  Under the leadership of Tim Tebow They have pulled back to 5-5 potentially being tied for the lead in the AFC West if Oakland loses this Sunday!

Before we get into Tebow, I want to talk about the main reason the Denver Broncos have won 4 out of their last 5 games.  That guy is... (insert drum-roll)

VON MILLER

This is a guy that now has 9.5 sacks, 48 Tackles, 2 Forced fumbles, and Leads all Rookies in all of these categories except for forced fumbles.  I you have not seen this guy play, you are missing out.  There was one play last night late in the game, that sold me on Von.  In the 4th quater, The Jets were driving with under 30 seconds on the clock, Von Miller lined up over the Right Offensive Tackle, and as soon(if not before) the ball was snapped Von was flat backing the Offensive Tackle and sacked Mark Sanchez to seals the W for the Denver Broncos.  Overall last night he had 4 hits on Mark Sanchez, his pressure forced an INT to Andre Goodman in the 2nd half and becasue of his pressure Sanchez had happy feet all night.  What you  must understand is he has done this EVERY snap of EVERY game this year! He is a monster, his speed, acceleration, strength, and ability to rush the passer is remarkable.  I seriously havent seen anything like this since the 90's with Derrick Thomas, who coinsidentally is Von Miller's Idol! If you dont believe me look at their numbers...

Derrick Thomas(1989-Rookie Year) 16 Starts, 75 Tackles, 11 Sacks, 3 FF, 1 FR

Derrick Thomas(Career Avgs) 14 Starts, 58 Tackles, 11.5 Sacks, 3.7 FF, 1.5 FR

Von Miller (Rookie Year through 10 Games) 10 Starts, 48 Tackles, 9.5 Sacks, 3 FF

Von Miller(Projected Rookie Year-on pace) 16 Starts, 79 Tackles, 15.2 Sacks, 4.8 FF

Ladies and Gentlemen if that is not enough proof that this guy is going to be something special then you just need to watch him yourself.  His presence alone has made this Denver Defense remarkably better.  His pass rush allows Dummerville to get less attention, allowing him to get a better rush, it allows the DBs to have some freedom and not get hung out to dry due to the QB having to much time, This guy has turned the Broncos from a Laughing stock to an Intimidating Force... and Its only Year 1!

Now lets breifly jump to the other side of the ball and talk about a guy that most of you have probably never heard of, Tim Tebow.  For those who do not know, I HATED Tim Tebow when he was at Florida, really for no reason at all other than the fact that there has never been anyone like him and there is nothing that can stop him!

What I witnessed last night in the comeback upset of the New York Jets is something that is completely indescribable.  Tim Tebow has a gift and that gift is Winning.  Sure, he's ungly in the pocket, he doesnt throw accurate balls, he doesnt fit the NFL prototype, but what if none of that matters!? What if all the NFL needed was alittle variety?

As a Football fan and coach, there is one thing that I think is more important than anything else.  That thing, is Identity.  Not many teams have it becasue all tey look for is the PROTOTYPE!  What Tim Tebow has brought to Denver is a Identity and a Winning Mentality.  This team is going to run the ball, they do it very well, but more importantly, there identity lies in nothing but Will and Effort.  Every play of the Jets game, the Broncos played with passion and agression.  Sure the Broncos' running game got stopped, and Tebow only threw for 100 yards on 9 completions, but what happened in the last 2 drives of the ball game explain Tim Tebow and this Broncos team better than any stat could ever do. 

The Broncos got the ball with around 2 mins left starting on their own 5 yardline.  Ok, John Fox at this point says, "Screw the playbook, lets play ball!"  It litterally looked like Fox gave up on the game plan and said, "Tim, take it home!"  The Broncos ended up driving down the field, scoring on a 20 yard run by Tim Tebow with about 30 seconds to play.  After Tim scored, the whole offense ran to the endzone and dogpiled Tebow.  Over on the sideline, every vetern player congradulated Tebow, especially Brian Dawkins.

This team's identity lies within their will to Win and their Commitment to one another.  Football cannot be won or lose by 1 player, it is a team sport, and when a whole team buys in and finds a way to Win no matter how pretty or how ugly the Win is... Thats what makes Champions! 

"I said before, I trust him. I trust him with everything," teammate Von Miller said. "No matter how many interceptions he throws, no matter how many touchdowns he scores, that's Tim Tebow and I'm going to ride with him to the end. I hope he shut up a whole bunch of critics today."

"Something I learned early in college is dont worry about something I cant control... What I can control is my attitude, my effort, and my focus every single day and that is what I'm trying to worry about." 

This is the Motto of this Broncos team and becasue of this attitude, they will succeed!

Deon Sanders said it best to Tebow last night, "In the Hall of Fame, I said in my speech, people cannot condone what they've never seen.  We have never seen this mess you are doing, we've never seen the option, or triple option, like you're doing at the NFL level."

Whatever is going on in Denver, it is working, and Mark my word...the Critics will be silenced...

Yours Truely,

Dahm

MY Throwbacks I

Throwbacks always seem to be a hit.  Even if they come from the worst possible moment in a person's life, it seems like the throwback only brings back positive thoughts from that period.  In Tampa Bay people go crazy for those awful throwback creamsicle uniforms, the Blue Jays brought back the classic full powder blue uniforms for their Friday night home games, snap-back hats are making a comeback in fashion.  These things are all great, and bring adults something to reminisce about. 

You often see bloggers and writers talk about their favorite throwback from their childhoods, but nobody ever talks about the throwback from MY childhood.  So what if the prime of my child fandom came in the early 2000s; we had weird, fun, and awful throwbacks as well.  I decided to go all the way back to around the year 2000 for these puppies, so sit back, put on some Smash Mouth, and enjoy some of my generation's throwbacks:

Teal

For some reason teal was at the height of its popularity during my youth.  The Mariners, Jaguars, and others experimented with it, but none stood out quite like this Marlins all teal top and hat combo.  Thank God they have changed their colors to something more.....oh wait.

Ugly New York football helmets

New York used to have the most bland and ugly helmet logos when I was young.  Fortunately both have made great strides and each have respectable helmets today.

Jersey Vests

For some reason half of the MLB tried to rock these jersey vests when I was young.  This also reminds me of when the Royals had the brilliant idea to trade in ROYAL blue for BLACK.

Steroids

Back in my day everybody did steroids

Angels, Astros, Diamondbacks

Back in my prime you could tell the difference between the Angels, Diamondbacks, and Astros.

 

Rays, Thunder, Jets

We used to have the Devil Rays, SuperSonics, and Thrashers

Dan Patrick

Dan Patrick once entertained us on ESPN before being hidden on the Fox Sports Channel

Seahawks

The Seahawks uniforms didn't used to look like they were designed by Bruno.  And hey, do you remember Ricky Watters?  Why did his name have two T's?

That does it for the first round of MY era's throwbacks.  If you have any other classics from way back in the late 90's or early 2000's feel free to share and maybe they will end up in upcoming throwback posts.

-Brett

Why Wait? Give The Kid a Shot!

This week the Monday Night Football Game will feature the New England Patriots vs the Patriots West er I mean Kansas City Chiefs. For Patriot fans this game is viewed as an easy W in the left column. For KC fans this game is going to be painful to watch in my opinion. Tom Brady and his array of weapons are going to toy with us for four quarters and they will love it. And us? We will throw out our pedestrian offense guided by Tyler Palko. Now I’m not saying Palko is going to go out there and put up Brodie Croyle numbers but I predict it wont much better than that. With Palko at the helm we can almost guarantee a loss. So what am I looking forward to Monday night? The season debut of #13 Ricky Stanzi! I expect to see the former Iowa gunslinger playing by the fourth quarter. Tyler Palko has more NFL experience but we already know what we have in him, a career third string QB and practice squad body. Now Stanzi on the other hand is untested and should see more time than the make up duty he saw in the Preseason. I personally would like see the rookie start at least the last quarter of the season for evaluation purposes if nothing else.

This is not the same NFL it used to be. Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, and Christian Ponder have showed us that this is a different NFL where college greats can come in and play. Now Blaine Gabbert on the other hand has showed us that not everyone can play. I believe that Ricky Stanzi will be less of the latter. Draft experts even said that Stanzi was going to be one of the more NFL ready Quarterbacks in his class. He was coached by Kirk Ferentz who runs a Pro-Style Offense and has knack for sending his players to the NFL. If anything Stanzi’s college play has shown me enough to validate some NFL play time. He played in The Big Ten Conference which has top players year in and year out. Not only did he play in The Big Ten but he won. Week in and week out he played against some of best players in the country and carried himself well. You need another reason to give Ricky Stanzi a shot? How about the fans?

Ask anyone that’s played in the NFL (especially Phillip Rivers) about playing at Arrowhead. It gets pretty crazy to say the least. It is my second favorite reason for driving out there on Sundays (my first is getting wins of coarse). Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was out at Arrowhead Stadium when #13 made his Chiefs debut. The crowd roared for the fifth round pick like her was taken number one overall. I can only imagine his feelings. Now when wins are hard to come by our fans can also be pretty brutal. Kansas City like is a town where fans need something exciting to cheer about week in and week out and that can be Ricky Stanzi getting some play time. Last year we cheered for our first place team every week and that was a big reason why we won the division. We cheer that hard for Stanzi and who knows what happens. I have never played Quarterback in the NFL but hearing Arrowhead’s crowd would make anyone play great. But what if he doesn’t win you say? Well fans wont mind as much because we are at least letting the rook get his feet wet. I’m telling you we start our rookie signal caller and I know fans will come out just to see how the young man develops.

Again we know what we have in Tyler Palko, but Ricky Stanzi is unproven. If Stanzi goes out and loses any/all of his starts this year and I’d be fine with that because at least we know what we have in him. I myself think he can go out there and win a couple but he has to see the field to do it.

Louie Thompson aka The Rookie Blogster 

Rethinking the Heisman Race

With the lone exception of Tim Tebow in 2007, the Heisman race in the past decade has not been about the "most outstanding player" in college football. Rather, its been the best player on the best team or, as is the case this season, the player with the brightest NFL future. Heisman votes everywhere need to reconsider what the award is meant to represent. The Heisman is for the BEST player in the nation, regardless of his future NFL prospects or his team's chances of winning the National Championship.

From the outset of the 2011 season, Andrew Luck has been considered the frontrunner for the top college football honor, and with good reason. In 2010, Luck finished the season with outstanding numbers in leading Stanford to an Orange Bowl victory. But, thus far in 2011, Luck has struggled in big games. Everyone raves about Luck's comeback drive against USC to force OT, but why was that drive needed? Because Luck threw a costly (and terrible) pick six that handed USC the go ahead score. The following game, against a lowly Oregon State Beaver team, Luck threw a second pick six that would have given the Beavers the lead in the second quarter, but it was called back for a (bogus) "targeting" penalty on a Beaver defensive back. Finally, in the biggest game of Stanford's season, Luck fell apart against a lackluster Oregon defense. He tossed two INTs (including ANOTHER pick six) and Stanford was embarrassed on national television.

Still think Luck is the "most outstanding" college player this season? Consider the fact that he is not even the center of his own offense. Stanford is first and foremost a power running team. That's best displayed in the fact that he only threw for 169 yards in a 65-21 romping over Washington. The running backs and offensive line won that game. Luck also only threw for 171 yards against San Jose State and 206 yards against Oregon State. Luck has surpassed 300 yards just four times in 10 games. He has thrown six interceptions (should be seven if that OSU one counted) in his last six games. And he lost (convincingly) the biggest game on Stanford's schedule. Luck may have the brightest future of any player in college in 2011, but he is not the "most outstanding" individual player this season.

Who do I offer as the "most outstanding?" The individual I truly believe to be the best in the business this season: Case Keenum of Houston. Keenum is 100% the center of the offense at Houston. Every team he plays knows EXACTLY what he is going to do. There is no running threat. His offensive line is mediocre at best. His receivers are generally equally matched up with the Conference USA defensive backs they are facing. And still, Keenum has thrown for 300+ yards in each of his 10 games, 400+ yards in four games, and threw for 534 yards in a dissection of the Rice secondary in a 73-34 win. Keenum currently ranks first in the NCAA in passing yards and touchdowns and ranks second in quarterback rating. Yes, the opposition he is facing is lackluster compared to the defenses faced by quarterbacks in BCS conferences. BUT, the point people fail to consider: the players surrounding him on offense are equal to the talent-level of the defenses he is facing! He, Case Keenum, is the one making the difference. Without Keenum, what would happen to Houston? Luckily, we can just look to last season. Houston went 3-7 in games without their quarterback last season, proving, as a team, they are as mediocre as the competition they are facing. Keenum is the the difference maker. Without him, the team falls apart.

Consider this: Which of the following teams falls apart without their potential Heisman contender - Alabama (Trent Richardson), Oklahoma State (Justin Blackmon), Oregon (LaMichael James), Boise State (Kellen Moore). The only argument to be made of those contenders is Kellen Moore of Boise State, but I think they would win out their remaining games without him. In Houston, though, it's all about Mr. Keenum. It's time for Heisman voters to reconsider how they vote for this award. If they really want to give it to the "most outstanding" player in the nation, they should look beyond the BCS and National Championship contenders and give it to the most deserving player in the nation: Case Keenum.

TK

The Collapse of the Kansas City Chiefs....Who is to blame?

What happened to us? We were coming off a Division Title. We were one of the hottest teams in the league. And now? We are about to go on what i believe will be seven game losing streak. 

Well I will tell you what happened: besides the obvious injury bug excuse, this horrible season is to be blamed on one person, GM Scott Pioli. During this years draft I was speaking with fellow blogger Brett about “In Pioli We Trust!” Now I question that slogan every day. People want to blame Todd Haley about his coaching, but where did the players he coaches come from? They are brought in by Pioli. The international rule of thumb in professional sports is when the starter goes down its first man up. Well when key players went down who were the first men up? We traded Jamal Charles for Jackie Battle, Eric Berry for Sabby Piscitelli , Tony Moeaki for Lenard Pope, and now Matt Cassle for Tyler freaking Palko.

I was not the biggest Todd Haley fan when we hired him but I cannot call for his job if he has this team to work with. Now I was all for bringing in Pioli and having him bring all the New England Patriot swagger he could carry with him. I was blinded by the fact that to be the Patriots you need two things: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Clearly the Chiefs do not have either. Another thing I discovered from the Patriots dynasty years was the presence of Thomas Dimitroff who was the head of college scouting. Pioli was the third man on the decision making depth chart, and it is starting to show.

I just want to wrap this post up by saying everything that glitters is not gold. It is going to take some magic for me to trust Pioli after the product he sold me was this faulty.

Louie Thompson aka The Rookie Blogster

What's Going on in Miami!?

As the 2012 MLB season slowly approaches, there is a much anticipated change.  The "Historic" club formerly known as the Florida Marlins are packing up and taking their tallents to South Beach.  Yea we're talking about the Miami Marlins.

Just last week the Marlins released their new logo and uniforms... If you haven't seen them, and you need a laugh, Check it out!

Ok so all jokes aside, this team is trying to make a new start.  They have their Superstar in Hanley Ramirez, they have their Ace pitcher in Josh Johnson, and they have probably the youngest, most talented supporting cast in the majors...

Despite all this the Miami Marlins are about to make the biggest mistake of their franchise history!  2 words...

JOSE REYES...

It was reported yesterday that the Marlins have offered Reyes, this years premiere middle infield free agent, a deal worth 90 million over 6 years.  I have 3 arguments as to why this will destroy this "New" franchise before  they even play one game in the 2012 season.

1) Hanley Ramirez is one of the most immature, selfish players in the majors.  It has been long investigated as to when the Marlins were going to move Hanley from Short Stop to the Outfield because of his inconsistent defense.  With the addition of Jose Reyes, who would now be the Big Dog on campus, the Marlins will be forced to move Hanley away from SS.  

-Implication 1. Hanley will be pissed and be a continual disturbance

-Implication 2. Hanley will have more ground to cover in the outfield, unless you put him in RF his defense could still negatively affect the teams effectiveness 

-Implication 3. You put an older, more fragile player at SS in Jose Reyes

2) I understand when a team gets a new stadium, they chase after a big free agent and pay them lots of money.  Although this is a common practice in the league, it is absolutely detrimental.  The Marlins payroll for 2012 is between 70-80 million... They're about to pay Jose 90 million over 6 years... that's 21% of the Marlins payroll right now... Here is why this is a problem.

-Jose had his "contract year" and at least started very very well, until...

-His Injury problems strike every year!  He plays hurt a lot, but when he has especially since 2008, his numbers have decreased greatly, since 2008 he hasn't had over 40 SB, This year has the first year since 07 that he hit over .300.  Don't get me wrong a great player, but a breaking down player who is just now supposed to be hitting his prime.

-When you unload 21% of your teams payroll on one guy... if he busts, you will struggle for years because no other team will take on the contract, and you cant afford to just take the loss.  For a team rebuilding itself, if a 90 million man busts, it will bring down the ability to bring players in for many many years to come.

3) If you are a young club, with volatile players like Hanley, instead of going after a questionable, breaking down player, save the money and go after a guy like Pujols who will not only be a offensive and defensive force, but he will take the team into the community and he will be a strong influence and leader in that young clubhouse.  

3.5) You need a veteran leader in the young club house, when you have Ozzie Guillen as Manager.  Ozzie is outrageous, calls out his players, gets in their faces, and is extremely aggressive.  A young selfish player like Hanley, will be offended, pissed, and ready to retaliation.  Without that veteran leader in the clubhouse, this team will crumble from the inside-out!  

So recapping, its simple...

DO NOT SIGN JOSE REYES

SIGN ALBERT PUJOLS...God knows you need a scary offensive force, since your logo and uniforms make you look like the Rainbow Brigade...

and... DONT BE SURPRISED IF THEY EMPTY THE BANK AND SIGN THEM BOTH! 

Yours Truely, 

DAHM

We's Goin to the SHIP Waa... Wait a Minute!

We are now 2 weeks away from Conference Championships and the BCS Rankings have come out yet again.  We are awaiting to see what big BCS shake ups will occur in the final few weeks of the season.  The question around the nation is clear... What 1 Loss team will make it to the National Championship to face LSU?


Why are we asking this question?  I truly believe there will be 1 of 2 scenarios...
1) There will be 2 undefeateds in the National Championship or... 
2) There will be no undefeated team in the National Championship.

Scenario 1 is obvious, LSU and OKST win out and play in New Orleans for the Ship.

Scenario 2 is a little more juicy:

What if Oklahoma beats OKST and LSU loses to ARK all on the last day of the regular season?
Don't sleep on Arkansas, This team is DYNAMIC!  They easily have the best group of offensive weapons in the nation, Tyler Wilson is one of the most underrated QBs in the nation, why? The guy has an 87% completion percentage with almost 3000 yards playing in the SEC.  How about Joe Adams, Cobi Hamilton, Jarius Wright, and Greg Childs? Again DYNAMIC! and if anyone can out play, out run, and outlast that LSU defense it is the University of Arkansas.  Even if LSU gets by Arkansas, then they will be seeing Georgia in the SEC Championship who has a stellar defense... and we wont waste time on LSU's QB problems!
Point being... LSU has a LOOOONG way to go!

Oklahoma is extremely capable of beating the Cowboys of OKST, lets examine it:
OU wants to redeem themselves after losing to the dreadful Tommy Tuberville.  This game will be a shootout as the #2 scoring offense of OKST opposes the #6 scoring offense of OK.  The difference is going to hang on 2 factors...
1) Defense! Oklahoma's defense is very good and very underrated, but can it contain the spread led by Weeden? Ahhh!  OKST's defense is not impressive at all, allowing 25+ points to 6 opponents this season, including, Louisiana Lafayette, Tulsa, and KU... Yikes!  
2)Who Really Knows Factor! Its College Football! When it comes to the last week of the season, a conference rivalry, and 2 highly ranked teams... YOU NEVER KNOW! That's why we all love it!

Ok, so lets talk, what 1 loss TEAMS have the best shot at making the National Championship if there is no undefeated team.  Remember we are looking at this as if LSU loses to Arkansas and OKST loses to OU...
LSU, OKST, ALABAMA, OREGON, ARKANSAS... As for the rest Im not even going to consider!

LSU-
*Wins against Ranked opponents- Oregon(3), Miss St(25), WV(16), Florida(17), Auburn(20), Alabama(2)
*Loss- Arkansas(6)

*Off-Yds/G: #79  Off-Points/G: #18
*Def-Yds/G: #2    Def-Points/G: #2

OKST-

*Wins against Ranked opponents- Texas A&M(8), Texas(22), KSU(14)
*Loss- Oklahoma(6)
*Off-Yds/G: #3  Off-Points/G: #2
*Def-Yds/G: #101  Def-Points/G: #62

ALABAMA-

*Wins against Ranked opponents- Penn St(23), Arkansas(14), Florida(12), Auburn(20)

*Loss- LSU(1)

*Off-Yds/G: #35  Off-Points/G: #25
*Def-Yds/G: #1    Def-Points/G: #1

OREGON-

*Wins against Ranked opponents- ASU(18), Stanford(4)
*Loss- LSU(4)

*Off-Yds/G: #8  Off-Points/G: #3
*Def-Yds/G: #63    Def-Points/G: #33

ARKANSAS-
*Wins against Ranked opponents- Texas A&M(14), Auburn(15), SC(9), LSU(1)
*Loss- Alabama(3)

*Off-Yds/G: #26  Off-Points/G: #13
*Def-Yds/G: #56    Def-Points/G: #30

OKLAHOMA-
*Wins against Ranked opponents- FSU(5), Texas(11), Baylor(25), KSU(8), OKST(2)
*Loss- TTU(NR)

*Off-Yds/G: #4  Off-Points/G: #6

*Def-Yds/G: #46    Def-Points/G: #21

First I want to rate my Top 6 (BEST) Teams Overall if there were to be a playoff and NO BCS!


6)OU
5)Arkansas
4)Alabama
3)Oregon
2)LSU
1)OKST


So based off the total field of work, offensive and defensive rankings, and the BCS (Bull Crap System), my Top 6 at the close of the season before bowl games will look like this...(insert drum roll)

6)Oregon- Oregon is Top 3 team, lacked challenge (3 ranked opponents) & the LSU shellacking kills them
5)OKST- B/C OKST lost to OU at home they will fall just behind OU(although OKST is better team)
4)OU- Beating #2 pushes OU up but the loss to an unranked is an anchor on their boat toward the Ship!
3) LSU- Losing to Ark kills LSU but they hang on due to the 6 wins against ranked opponents, Sugar Bowl
2)Arkansas- Beating LSU and beating #14 Georgia for the SEC Title gives Ark  momentum to move to #2
1)Alabama- Beating Auburn in last week and only losing to LSU by 3 allows them to outlast and move to #1

There you have it! An ALL SEC CHAMPIONSHIP but not like you would have thought with a month left in the season! Let me remind you, The BCS doesnt determine the best team... it only determines which teams get less screwed than the others!

Yours Truely, 

Dahm

BloggingBall

Sports are not perfect.
The entire existence of sporting events have been littered with devastating, unfortunate, and unappealing occurances.  The list could go on for what seems like forever.  Gambling scandals (1918 Black Sox), violence and murder (O.J. Simpson), horrific tradgedies (1970 Marshall University football plane crash), cheating (Patriots Spy-Gate), disgusting sex scandals (Penn St), awful name changes (Ochocinco), heartbreaking losses (86' Red Sox).  Like I said, the list could go on for what seems like forever. 

Why do we devote ourselves to following them nearly every single day?  And why do we get so consumed by them?  I have seen fans break out into near brawls over opinions on who should start at quarterback in the current week.  I have seen friendships nearly crumbled to the ground over driveway basketball games (that totally was a foul).  Fans in cities like Kansas City and Cleveland continually subject themselves to putting their entire hearts and souls into seasons only to have their whole world crumbled every single year. 

Sports are perfect.
Playing sports develops life lessons and skills that people can hang onto their entire lives.  They learn to pull together and fight for one common goal, something that we all want in life, to win.  Players obtain a brotherhood with their teammates, fans obtain a brotherhood with other fans, and thanks to the invention of twitter, players can more easily now than ever obtain a brotherhood with their fans.  The drama is unscripted and real.  The emotions are not acted out, they are real.  The powerful roar of excitement from a sold out stadium is not created from an "applause" sign turning on, it is 80,000 people all passionately invested in the same moment.  Sports are about a son making his father proud when he succeeds, or a father seeing his son succeed and knowing he would be proud either way.  Sports are about making moments and sharing them with each other. 

Welcome to BloggingBall, where we are simply fans ourselves who want to share moments with you.  It is a blog completely devoted to sports (I know, original right?) and those who love discussing them.  We are not sure where this will take us, but we will absolutely have a blast along the ride.  Through the perfect times, the not-so-perfect times, and even those in between times when you are just at work and want to find one more person's opinion on your team's performance this week, we will be here.  Join us.

-Brett, Ryan, Anthony, Louie, Taylor