I have a very specific memory of loathing the 49ers when I was just a kid. I remember it as if it were yesterday.....trudging around in the snow during recess at Bennion Elementary School yammering to my BF Cory Jaynes about how much I hated Joe Montana and his stupid team from San Francisco wherever that was. At the time all they ever showed on TV was the Broncos and while I called myself a fan I only did it because I thought I needed a team of some kind.
Then....almost overnight....a miracle happened. Something made me love that team in red and gold and that something was Steve Young. Legendary coach Bill Walsh knew he had something in his backup QB from Brigham Young and didn't think twice about letting Montana go to Kansas City so that this run happy signal caller from the AFL could command his dynamic offense. All that hate and animosity vanished over the course of Young's first season as a starter simply because this guy was from my favorite college football team and even though I don't have any memory of him playing for the Cougars he had me wrapped around his little finger. Ever since I have always had a place in my heart for the niners even though I am a Colts fan through and through.
Now is a different day and a different era. The dominant teams have shifted somewhat and I wouldn't be shocked if there was a little boy trudging around in the snow last year complaining about how sick he is of hearing about the Indianapolis Colts. That Peyton guy is too good and when that receiver #88 catches touchdowns he never seems happy about it...just hands it to the official and acts like nothing happened. I mean crack a smile for God's sake!
Well guess what little boy? Consider yourself in the middle of a miracle cuz that receiver is gone and perhaps it's because the rookie coach Jim Caldwell knew that despite #88's gaudy numbers he was getting old and they had someone special in the midst to take his place. Son I present you with Austin Collie. You remember him right? The greatest wideout to ever play at your favorite school, BYU! You know, the one that won you over not only with his All Conference play, but with his refusal to shut up and say the right thing every time. I tell you the hate is ebbing. That Manning fellow is alright after all so long as he passes it to my boy #17. I can hear him already, "Dad will you get me that jersey for Christmas? I already cheer for one team in blue and white...what's one more? And if you draw a stem on that horseshoe and blur your vision a bit it looks much like the 'Y' I'm used to. Hell I can't remember why I disliked them in the first place."
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
NBA Round Table: 1st Week Edition
Alright NBA fans it is finally here, the NBA round table where we predict what is going to happen over the next 8 months. By we I mean my short notice assembled team of panelists, Chris, Nic, Keith, Peggy, Patrick and Myself. Now some of you might be saying, "Why do we care what these chumps have to say about the NBA season?" Well, lets just say that Chris and Nic have as much or more basketball playing experience than the so-called experts on ESPN (Marc Stein, John Hollinger, Chad Ford, etc.), and Patrick, Peggy, Keith and I have far more. So hopefully you like that reason, if not, too bad. So here we go:
Question: What will the Jazz record be for the year?
Chris: 56 wins. Both Portland and Denver won 54 last year and I figure a healthy jazz squad would've put up 2 more W's than them.
Nic: If the big 3 stay healthy (Deron, Memo, and Boozer) They will go 62-20. If
Carlos or Memo goes down for more than 10 games combined, they will be
around low fifties in wins. If Deron goes down, they will be lucky to win
41.
Peggy: Jazz will be over .500 because they have someone that is great like Deron. I say 57 wins.
Keith: 51 games....Jazz have been injury plagued 2 straight years...basketball gods won't be so cruel this year. when healthy jazz have a deep bench and the bench will finish the year in the top three in the NBA for scoring caring the jazz to 51 victories
Patrick: 55, but that is only with a healthy Jazz team. And hoping that the big men in the league (ie Oden, Nene) don't destroy us.
Kyle: I went with 58 wins in my "Maiden post" and I can't go back on that, despite what happened last night. Deron is too good and too many players need to play well for contract reasons.
Question: Which team will be the surprise (in a good way) of the NBA
year? Disappointment? Why?
Chris: Clippers, if Blake Griffin and Baron Davis play at least 60 games together. Cavs pretty much have to at least go to the finals or it will be a disappointment.
Nic: Surprise: LA Clippers. They have some good young players in place and the
run away ROY, Blake Griffin (If he can get healthy). By surprise, I mean
they will have a winning record and will be in contention for a playoff
spot, but for the Clippers, that's as good as a championship!
Disappointment: Houston Rockets. They lost Artest, Yao is out for the year
and Tracy McGrady is Part Time at best. They will be trying to grab that 8th
spot with the Clippers
Peggy: Don't know about the surprise, but suspect the Jazz will be the disappointment cause they have Boozer on the team.
Keith: Tie for surprise- Washington wizards and Charlotte Bobcats biggest disappointment- the dallas mavericks. Dallas is overrated lacks strong coaching and will struggle to score off the bench.
Patrick: Surprise - Toronto Rapters, Andrea Bargnani looks really good early. Disappointment - Portland, they don't have what it takes to win in the west consistently.
Kyle: This years surprise team is going to be the Washington Wizards. Agent Zero looked fantastic opening night. Disappointment, the Dallas Mavericks, everyone raved about their bench pick ups but I see Mark Cuban being arrested for assaulting Drew Gooden by the end of the year because he has been stealing paychecks.
Question: Which team will win the Atlantic Division?
All Panelists agree that Boston will run away with this one.
Question: Which team will win the Central Division?
Everyone said Cleveland, except Peggy who said this: they all suck, but probably Chicago. Judging from the 1st two games for the Cavs she might be onto something.
Question: Which team will win the Southeast Division?
Again this one was close to unanimous for Orlando, Peggy did go out on a limb and go with the Miami Heat, Dwayne Wade is really good.
Question: Which team will win the Southwest Division?
Unanimous for San Antonio, as much as it pains most Jazz fans, they are scary good.
Question: Which team will win the Pacific Division?
No Brainer, LA Lakers. We wont expound so that perhaps we wont make any of a few readers throw up in their mouths a little bit.
Question: Which team will win the Northwest Division?
Nic: Utah Jazz
Chris: Utah Jazz
Peggy: Denver Nuggets
Keith: Utah Jazz
Patrick: Denver Nuggets (even though the fan in me wanted to pick the Jazz)
Kyle: Denver Nuggets, Carmelo is really close to being unstoppable, and Nene is too much for our beloved Jazz.
Question: Who will win 6th man of the year? Why?
Nic: Rudy Fernandez. I hate to say it, but the man has a lot of talent and will
get a lot of playing time in the young Blazers organization.
Chris: Manu Ginobli because he's an All Star who should be a starter, coming off the bench.
Peggy: Ginobili came off the bench last night then maybe him? I hate San Antonio and most of their players, but that damn guy can outright play!
Keith: Lamar Odom....he will come off bench when Gasol is healthy
Patrick: Lamar Odom, he is a starter coming off the bench.
Kyle: I am going with Rasheed Wallace, mainly because the media is so east coast bias, bunch of jerks.
Question: Who will win Defensive player of the year? Why?
Nic: Kevin Garnett. He has taken a more defensive role and has left most the
scoring up to Pierce, Rondo, and Allen although he will still average 15 pts
per game. He has Sheed to help him out down low along with Kendrick Perkins.
He will average 12 rebounds and 3 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.
Chris: Lebron James. He knows he needs to be a lockdown defender in order to be considered the best ever.
Peggy: ? (I believe Peggy put this because she cares very little for defense)
Keith: LeBron James will be defensive player of the year.
Patrick: Dwight Howard, just makes the most sense.
Kyle: I am going with Dwight Howard, have you seen his arms??!?
Question: Who will win coach of the year? Why?
Nic: Jerry Sloan will finally get the credit he deserves. He will lead a team
that is picked to finish in the middle of the pack to 2nd seed in the West.
Chris: Vinny Del Negro, that team looks like they could have a solid year and maybe surprise some people.
Peggy: ?? (apparently she doesn't think you need coaches either)
Keith: Larry Brown will when coach of the year.
Patrick: Jay Triano of the Raptors.
Kyle: I am going to go with Popovich in San Antonio. They are going to exceed the already high expectations.
Question: Who will win MVP? Why?
Nic: Kobe Bryant. He will lead the league in scoring and the Lakers will be the
best team in the NBA.
Chris: Lebron James. He will be even better this year than last year.
Peggy: Probably Duncan (Gag reflex)
Keith: LeBron James will win MVP
Patrick: Lebron James, all hail the King.
Kyle: I don't think the voters are tired of Lebron, so he will get another one.
Question: Who will win the Western Conference?
Nic: LA Lakers
Chris: LA Lakers
Peggy: LA LAkers
Keith: Lakers win the western conference.
Patrick: San Antonio Spurs, I don't like the Lakers as much as everyone else.
Kyle: San Antonio Spurs, I am tempted to put Denver here, but I will go with the experienced Spurs and a healthy roster.
Question: Who will win the Eastern Conference?
Nic: Boston Celtics
Chris: Boston Celtics
Peggy: Boston Celtics
Keith: Cleveland Cavaliers
Patrick: Orlando Magic
Kyle: I want to say Cleveland, but I am going Orlando as well, too many options.
Question: Who will be NBA champions?
Nic: LA Lakers
Chris: Boston
Peggy: Stupid Lakers
Keith: Lakers (Please let me be wrong)
Patrick: Orlando will take the step this year
Kyle: San Antonio, if Pops gets there it is over.
Question: Is Deron Williams an All-Star this year?
The answer was emphatically "Yes" and Nic added "If he is not I am filing a grievance with the league." Patrick added "That is a dumb question" (He's probably right)
Question: Does Paul Millsap live up to his contract?
Nic: It was a pretty hefty contract, but I don't think it was undue. Paul has
pretty much reached the peak of his ability, so look for him to have a year
somewhere in between the last 2.
Chris: Um....no. I hate to say it, but I'm not sure is a starting PF in this league. Especially not on the Jazz where so much is demanded from that position
Peggy: Yes.
Keith: Millsap will prove worthy of his contract
Patrick: I think he will make a difference for the Jazz so yes he will live up to it.
Kyle: I don't think Paul is skilled enough to make people happy around here. At least offensively right now. (Or when it comes to outlet passes that get stolen and then stopping the guy who stole it from yamming on his head)
Question: Is Carlos Boozer traded during the season? If so where?
Nic: He will be traded to whoever is doing worse. Chicago or Miami
Chris: No. I think he is going to play out of his mind this season and the Jazz are willing to ride that wave into the playoffs
Peggy: Hope so, don't care where Siberia, maybe.
Keith: If the Jazz struggle but Boozer is healthy Jazz will trade him, Charlotte, toronto or Miami
Patrick: He wont get traded.
Kyle: I tend to think that he wont be traded, but not for lack of trying, no one wants him.
Question: Predict what game Carlos Boozer will get hurt? And what will
the injury be?
Nic: 2nd game. Knee injury.
Chris: Game 82 of the regular season.
Peggy: Game 17, ankle.
Ketih: Carlos will not get injured this year
Patrick: He wont because he can't afford it.
Kyle: Does game 1 with an ego injury count? No. Well I say game 54 right after the trade deadline has passed, with a broken nail.
That is it for our NBA Roundtable! Thanks to everyone for participating. We would love to hear what the readers think, give us a comment and feel free to debate with us all you want. Just try to keep it friendly for everyone (except Laker fans).
Question: What will the Jazz record be for the year?
Chris: 56 wins. Both Portland and Denver won 54 last year and I figure a healthy jazz squad would've put up 2 more W's than them.
Nic: If the big 3 stay healthy (Deron, Memo, and Boozer) They will go 62-20. If
Carlos or Memo goes down for more than 10 games combined, they will be
around low fifties in wins. If Deron goes down, they will be lucky to win
41.
Peggy: Jazz will be over .500 because they have someone that is great like Deron. I say 57 wins.
Keith: 51 games....Jazz have been injury plagued 2 straight years...basketball gods won't be so cruel this year. when healthy jazz have a deep bench and the bench will finish the year in the top three in the NBA for scoring caring the jazz to 51 victories
Patrick: 55, but that is only with a healthy Jazz team. And hoping that the big men in the league (ie Oden, Nene) don't destroy us.
Kyle: I went with 58 wins in my "Maiden post" and I can't go back on that, despite what happened last night. Deron is too good and too many players need to play well for contract reasons.
Question: Which team will be the surprise (in a good way) of the NBA
year? Disappointment? Why?
Chris: Clippers, if Blake Griffin and Baron Davis play at least 60 games together. Cavs pretty much have to at least go to the finals or it will be a disappointment.
Nic: Surprise: LA Clippers. They have some good young players in place and the
run away ROY, Blake Griffin (If he can get healthy). By surprise, I mean
they will have a winning record and will be in contention for a playoff
spot, but for the Clippers, that's as good as a championship!
Disappointment: Houston Rockets. They lost Artest, Yao is out for the year
and Tracy McGrady is Part Time at best. They will be trying to grab that 8th
spot with the Clippers
Peggy: Don't know about the surprise, but suspect the Jazz will be the disappointment cause they have Boozer on the team.
Keith: Tie for surprise- Washington wizards and Charlotte Bobcats biggest disappointment- the dallas mavericks. Dallas is overrated lacks strong coaching and will struggle to score off the bench.
Patrick: Surprise - Toronto Rapters, Andrea Bargnani looks really good early. Disappointment - Portland, they don't have what it takes to win in the west consistently.
Kyle: This years surprise team is going to be the Washington Wizards. Agent Zero looked fantastic opening night. Disappointment, the Dallas Mavericks, everyone raved about their bench pick ups but I see Mark Cuban being arrested for assaulting Drew Gooden by the end of the year because he has been stealing paychecks.
Question: Which team will win the Atlantic Division?
All Panelists agree that Boston will run away with this one.
Question: Which team will win the Central Division?
Everyone said Cleveland, except Peggy who said this: they all suck, but probably Chicago. Judging from the 1st two games for the Cavs she might be onto something.
Question: Which team will win the Southeast Division?
Again this one was close to unanimous for Orlando, Peggy did go out on a limb and go with the Miami Heat, Dwayne Wade is really good.
Question: Which team will win the Southwest Division?
Unanimous for San Antonio, as much as it pains most Jazz fans, they are scary good.
Question: Which team will win the Pacific Division?
No Brainer, LA Lakers. We wont expound so that perhaps we wont make any of a few readers throw up in their mouths a little bit.
Question: Which team will win the Northwest Division?
Nic: Utah Jazz
Chris: Utah Jazz
Peggy: Denver Nuggets
Keith: Utah Jazz
Patrick: Denver Nuggets (even though the fan in me wanted to pick the Jazz)
Kyle: Denver Nuggets, Carmelo is really close to being unstoppable, and Nene is too much for our beloved Jazz.
Question: Who will win 6th man of the year? Why?
Nic: Rudy Fernandez. I hate to say it, but the man has a lot of talent and will
get a lot of playing time in the young Blazers organization.
Chris: Manu Ginobli because he's an All Star who should be a starter, coming off the bench.
Peggy: Ginobili came off the bench last night then maybe him? I hate San Antonio and most of their players, but that damn guy can outright play!
Keith: Lamar Odom....he will come off bench when Gasol is healthy
Patrick: Lamar Odom, he is a starter coming off the bench.
Kyle: I am going with Rasheed Wallace, mainly because the media is so east coast bias, bunch of jerks.
Question: Who will win Defensive player of the year? Why?
Nic: Kevin Garnett. He has taken a more defensive role and has left most the
scoring up to Pierce, Rondo, and Allen although he will still average 15 pts
per game. He has Sheed to help him out down low along with Kendrick Perkins.
He will average 12 rebounds and 3 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.
Chris: Lebron James. He knows he needs to be a lockdown defender in order to be considered the best ever.
Peggy: ? (I believe Peggy put this because she cares very little for defense)
Keith: LeBron James will be defensive player of the year.
Patrick: Dwight Howard, just makes the most sense.
Kyle: I am going with Dwight Howard, have you seen his arms??!?
Question: Who will win coach of the year? Why?
Nic: Jerry Sloan will finally get the credit he deserves. He will lead a team
that is picked to finish in the middle of the pack to 2nd seed in the West.
Chris: Vinny Del Negro, that team looks like they could have a solid year and maybe surprise some people.
Peggy: ?? (apparently she doesn't think you need coaches either)
Keith: Larry Brown will when coach of the year.
Patrick: Jay Triano of the Raptors.
Kyle: I am going to go with Popovich in San Antonio. They are going to exceed the already high expectations.
Question: Who will win MVP? Why?
Nic: Kobe Bryant. He will lead the league in scoring and the Lakers will be the
best team in the NBA.
Chris: Lebron James. He will be even better this year than last year.
Peggy: Probably Duncan (Gag reflex)
Keith: LeBron James will win MVP
Patrick: Lebron James, all hail the King.
Kyle: I don't think the voters are tired of Lebron, so he will get another one.
Question: Who will win the Western Conference?
Nic: LA Lakers
Chris: LA Lakers
Peggy: LA LAkers
Keith: Lakers win the western conference.
Patrick: San Antonio Spurs, I don't like the Lakers as much as everyone else.
Kyle: San Antonio Spurs, I am tempted to put Denver here, but I will go with the experienced Spurs and a healthy roster.
Question: Who will win the Eastern Conference?
Nic: Boston Celtics
Chris: Boston Celtics
Peggy: Boston Celtics
Keith: Cleveland Cavaliers
Patrick: Orlando Magic
Kyle: I want to say Cleveland, but I am going Orlando as well, too many options.
Question: Who will be NBA champions?
Nic: LA Lakers
Chris: Boston
Peggy: Stupid Lakers
Keith: Lakers (Please let me be wrong)
Patrick: Orlando will take the step this year
Kyle: San Antonio, if Pops gets there it is over.
Question: Is Deron Williams an All-Star this year?
The answer was emphatically "Yes" and Nic added "If he is not I am filing a grievance with the league." Patrick added "That is a dumb question" (He's probably right)
Question: Does Paul Millsap live up to his contract?
Nic: It was a pretty hefty contract, but I don't think it was undue. Paul has
pretty much reached the peak of his ability, so look for him to have a year
somewhere in between the last 2.
Chris: Um....no. I hate to say it, but I'm not sure is a starting PF in this league. Especially not on the Jazz where so much is demanded from that position
Peggy: Yes.
Keith: Millsap will prove worthy of his contract
Patrick: I think he will make a difference for the Jazz so yes he will live up to it.
Kyle: I don't think Paul is skilled enough to make people happy around here. At least offensively right now. (Or when it comes to outlet passes that get stolen and then stopping the guy who stole it from yamming on his head)
Question: Is Carlos Boozer traded during the season? If so where?
Nic: He will be traded to whoever is doing worse. Chicago or Miami
Chris: No. I think he is going to play out of his mind this season and the Jazz are willing to ride that wave into the playoffs
Peggy: Hope so, don't care where Siberia, maybe.
Keith: If the Jazz struggle but Boozer is healthy Jazz will trade him, Charlotte, toronto or Miami
Patrick: He wont get traded.
Kyle: I tend to think that he wont be traded, but not for lack of trying, no one wants him.
Question: Predict what game Carlos Boozer will get hurt? And what will
the injury be?
Nic: 2nd game. Knee injury.
Chris: Game 82 of the regular season.
Peggy: Game 17, ankle.
Ketih: Carlos will not get injured this year
Patrick: He wont because he can't afford it.
Kyle: Does game 1 with an ego injury count? No. Well I say game 54 right after the trade deadline has passed, with a broken nail.
That is it for our NBA Roundtable! Thanks to everyone for participating. We would love to hear what the readers think, give us a comment and feel free to debate with us all you want. Just try to keep it friendly for everyone (except Laker fans).
Kibbles N' Shits
Last night's game between our beloved Utah Jazz and that adolescent Nigget team awakened within myself virtually every possible emotion. There was excitement and anticipation for the first game of the season; Anguish and sympathy 24 seconds into the game when Memo tried in vain to take a charge from Nene and instead got stepped on and slightly injured; Fear and anxiety when Okur hobbled into the locker room and was replaced by Fez; Elation and surprise when Fez played not only decent but effectively; Pride and I daresay love for Deron Williams aka Black Jesus in Nikes for his ridiculous play in the game in general, but mostly in the third quarter when he made Chauncy his bitch (like someone named Chauncy could be anything else); Apathy and resentment towards Carlos Boozer who would've had the same affect on the game if he did play in Miami; Agony and woe watching the train wreck that was Paul Milsap's errant pass to Deron that Carmelo stole and then returned in the form of a ESPN highlight dunk in Paul's face; Terror from the disaster that is AK's new do (I hold Masha accountable for this); and lastly confused and vulnerable throughout the whole 4th quarter and for a few hours after the game.
Now that the dust has settled and those emotions have crawled back into the cracks of my soul I come away with just a few thoughts...
Talk is Cheap
The Jazz have said repeatedly that they are committed to the defensive side of the ball and it's easy to say that when it's training camp and the opposition is weak or weeks away. After last night's debacle I think the Jazz got a taste of reality and if they want any chance of going deep into the playoffs it's going to take a lot more than just saying defence is important over and over again. The Jazz are awesome offensively, but if they want to be one of the elite teams in the league then they need to be able to rely on their D when their shots aren't falling. In the fourth quarter we couldn't buy a bucket and instead of buckling down defensively we turned into powder blue cream puffs. After the game Sloan had a great comment that I'll paraphrase, "We would be great on defense if we could score every time." That says a lot about getting back in transition, but I also think that as a unit they get down on themselves when their shots aren't falling and that leads to sluggishness on defense.
Paul Milsap Pop Quiz
Question:What do you do when presented with this situation?
After already hitting a couple of consecutive buckets to swing the momentum their way the other team's star player steals your outlet pass to Deron Williams and now the only thing between them and the basket is you. Now you are no slouch in fact you've created quite a reputation as being a tough hardnosed player. Do you?
a. just let the player go by and dunk the ball?
b. give a hard foul and put the douche bag on his back?
c. pathetically stand there and get viciously dunked on so that not only does he get a free throw, but now has the crowd into the game and you on the ass end of a highlight reel for years to come?
Answer: not 'c'. Answer 'z' for all I care, but 'c' is just not an option. I personally like 'b' because I prefer Melo on his back over pounding his chest and yelling "I'm back!" Back from what is another story alltogether.
Now that the dust has settled and those emotions have crawled back into the cracks of my soul I come away with just a few thoughts...
Talk is Cheap
The Jazz have said repeatedly that they are committed to the defensive side of the ball and it's easy to say that when it's training camp and the opposition is weak or weeks away. After last night's debacle I think the Jazz got a taste of reality and if they want any chance of going deep into the playoffs it's going to take a lot more than just saying defence is important over and over again. The Jazz are awesome offensively, but if they want to be one of the elite teams in the league then they need to be able to rely on their D when their shots aren't falling. In the fourth quarter we couldn't buy a bucket and instead of buckling down defensively we turned into powder blue cream puffs. After the game Sloan had a great comment that I'll paraphrase, "We would be great on defense if we could score every time." That says a lot about getting back in transition, but I also think that as a unit they get down on themselves when their shots aren't falling and that leads to sluggishness on defense.
Paul Milsap Pop Quiz
Question:What do you do when presented with this situation?
After already hitting a couple of consecutive buckets to swing the momentum their way the other team's star player steals your outlet pass to Deron Williams and now the only thing between them and the basket is you. Now you are no slouch in fact you've created quite a reputation as being a tough hardnosed player. Do you?
a. just let the player go by and dunk the ball?
b. give a hard foul and put the douche bag on his back?
c. pathetically stand there and get viciously dunked on so that not only does he get a free throw, but now has the crowd into the game and you on the ass end of a highlight reel for years to come?
Answer: not 'c'. Answer 'z' for all I care, but 'c' is just not an option. I personally like 'b' because I prefer Melo on his back over pounding his chest and yelling "I'm back!" Back from what is another story alltogether.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The "Maiden" Post
This is a busy time of the year for sports, probably the best time of the year too. Football is in full swing, the NBA opens this week, and baseball is at least somewhat entertaining with the World Series opening tomorrow. It's great!! As a result I have a miriad of topics to get to and this first blog will be a cluster of those topics.
The NFL
The NFL is seven weeks in and we have some surprises here and there, but as an average fan I only care about 2 things: My Team and Fantasy Football. As for my team, the Indianapolis Colts, they are playing great! My boy Austin Collie (by "My boy" I mean "Guy whom I have never met and might freak out a little bit if I did") has 4 TD's and is tearing it up for a Rookie WR out of BYU. And in a quick text message poll I conducted earlier today the Colts were the runaway favorite as the best team in the league right now. The Saints got 1 vote and the Cowboys got 1 vote as well (from a man who knows literally nothing about the NFL). I was a little surprised by the results of my "very formal" text poll, true I have the Colts as the best team, but I figured more people would lean on the Saints with their ridiculous offense. **As an aside, during this text poll my father got very upset with me when I said, "The old man should have held onto the ball" referring to Brett Favre's fumble that led to a TD for the Steelers and a loss for the Vikes.** Oh and just so everyone is aware, the Seahawks are awful. As for fantasy football, both my teams won over the weekend, moving me to 7-0 in the LOM and 4-3 in my work league. This weeks NFL provided a good pick me up.
College Football
Oh the collapse that was this past weekend in college football. Here is how it went for me. Because there was literally what looked like 2 decent football games in college football last weekend, both in the Mountain West, there wasn't much to look forward to on the national scale. But those 2 games were big around here. I couldn't wait for Air Force to come into SLC and punk the Utes, and I was just giddy about my Cougars taking down the 8th ranked TCU Horned Frogs in front of ESPN's College Gameday. My wife and I had tickets to the BYU vs TCU game, the first game I will have been to in 2 years. We got to the stadium an hour early. Everything looked so great, we even got free brats from someone Kim knows. Now it was just time for the game... and we all know how that went. The Utes escaped an embarassing lose to Air Force in OT, and BYU... well they never showed up for this one and were dismantled at home.
As a BYU fan who witnessed this destruction first hand, I was demoralized. I have since come to realize one thing, that this is what BYU is. I know that a lot of BYU fans don't want to admit this but BYU is what we think they are. They are a a 9-11 win team every year that is very consistent. They beat who they are supposed to beat and they lose to teams that they are supposed to lose to. They are not now and most likely never will be a BCS bound team (this is the most painful realization). Their head coach has football at 5th on his priority list and doesn't believe he needs to gameplan for specific teams. You know what that gets you??? Wins over San Diego St and UNLV and losses to TCU and sometimes Utah. The only comfort that came from this weekend is that Utah looked pathetic against Air Force, so I am fairly confident that BYU will still win that game. Now I have to wait for Nov. 28th until I can feel good about my cougars again.
The NBA
YES!!!!! It is finally here!! We have waited through 4 months of boring offseason news, and what sees like an eternity of preseason NBA garbage. And finally the season kicks off. The Jazz open up tomorrow in Denver, dangerous game should be a good one though. As a Jazz fan here are some of my questions as we open this year: Can we stay healthy? Is Eric Maynor as good as I thought he would be? Are we going to trade Carlos Boozer? Deron Williams will finally make the All-Star team, right? As I have looked at all the pre-season predictions for the NBA, everyone has the Jazz finishing 5th-7th in the west with an early playoff exit like last year. It's hard to blame to predictions since the Jazz didn't make any offseason moves. But I think that the Jazz are going to go out and surprise some people. The aforementioned text poll also asked people how many games the Jazz would win this year, the answered varied but came in at about 55. I don't think that is too far-fetched. This is my thought, if the Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer are healthy then the Jazz win 58 games this year and finish 2nd in the west. Deron Williams is unreal and people will see a healthy Deron Williams dominate the league's pg's this year.
So there it is, the first post on this blog. Respond, comment, suggest or debate as you wish.
The NFL
The NFL is seven weeks in and we have some surprises here and there, but as an average fan I only care about 2 things: My Team and Fantasy Football. As for my team, the Indianapolis Colts, they are playing great! My boy Austin Collie (by "My boy" I mean "Guy whom I have never met and might freak out a little bit if I did") has 4 TD's and is tearing it up for a Rookie WR out of BYU. And in a quick text message poll I conducted earlier today the Colts were the runaway favorite as the best team in the league right now. The Saints got 1 vote and the Cowboys got 1 vote as well (from a man who knows literally nothing about the NFL). I was a little surprised by the results of my "very formal" text poll, true I have the Colts as the best team, but I figured more people would lean on the Saints with their ridiculous offense. **As an aside, during this text poll my father got very upset with me when I said, "The old man should have held onto the ball" referring to Brett Favre's fumble that led to a TD for the Steelers and a loss for the Vikes.** Oh and just so everyone is aware, the Seahawks are awful. As for fantasy football, both my teams won over the weekend, moving me to 7-0 in the LOM and 4-3 in my work league. This weeks NFL provided a good pick me up.
College Football
Oh the collapse that was this past weekend in college football. Here is how it went for me. Because there was literally what looked like 2 decent football games in college football last weekend, both in the Mountain West, there wasn't much to look forward to on the national scale. But those 2 games were big around here. I couldn't wait for Air Force to come into SLC and punk the Utes, and I was just giddy about my Cougars taking down the 8th ranked TCU Horned Frogs in front of ESPN's College Gameday. My wife and I had tickets to the BYU vs TCU game, the first game I will have been to in 2 years. We got to the stadium an hour early. Everything looked so great, we even got free brats from someone Kim knows. Now it was just time for the game... and we all know how that went. The Utes escaped an embarassing lose to Air Force in OT, and BYU... well they never showed up for this one and were dismantled at home.
As a BYU fan who witnessed this destruction first hand, I was demoralized. I have since come to realize one thing, that this is what BYU is. I know that a lot of BYU fans don't want to admit this but BYU is what we think they are. They are a a 9-11 win team every year that is very consistent. They beat who they are supposed to beat and they lose to teams that they are supposed to lose to. They are not now and most likely never will be a BCS bound team (this is the most painful realization). Their head coach has football at 5th on his priority list and doesn't believe he needs to gameplan for specific teams. You know what that gets you??? Wins over San Diego St and UNLV and losses to TCU and sometimes Utah. The only comfort that came from this weekend is that Utah looked pathetic against Air Force, so I am fairly confident that BYU will still win that game. Now I have to wait for Nov. 28th until I can feel good about my cougars again.
The NBA
YES!!!!! It is finally here!! We have waited through 4 months of boring offseason news, and what sees like an eternity of preseason NBA garbage. And finally the season kicks off. The Jazz open up tomorrow in Denver, dangerous game should be a good one though. As a Jazz fan here are some of my questions as we open this year: Can we stay healthy? Is Eric Maynor as good as I thought he would be? Are we going to trade Carlos Boozer? Deron Williams will finally make the All-Star team, right? As I have looked at all the pre-season predictions for the NBA, everyone has the Jazz finishing 5th-7th in the west with an early playoff exit like last year. It's hard to blame to predictions since the Jazz didn't make any offseason moves. But I think that the Jazz are going to go out and surprise some people. The aforementioned text poll also asked people how many games the Jazz would win this year, the answered varied but came in at about 55. I don't think that is too far-fetched. This is my thought, if the Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer are healthy then the Jazz win 58 games this year and finish 2nd in the west. Deron Williams is unreal and people will see a healthy Deron Williams dominate the league's pg's this year.
So there it is, the first post on this blog. Respond, comment, suggest or debate as you wish.
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