Happy New Year!! It has been a couple of weeks since our last post. The holidays were fun and busy and we here at the Upper Bowl were too busy filling our pie holes to blog. So here we have the first blog of the new year and it is filled with a bunch of stuff. So lets get to it.
The NFL:
We have had a couple of exciting weeks in the NFL, ok not really, but kind of. The Colts and Saints had wrapped up their respective #1 seeds and home field throughout the playoffs before the 15th game and as a result they have both gone half speed and lost their last two games. The Chargers are the only other team that I have any faith in right now. As far as I am concerned I think the super bowl is a 3 horse race between the Colts, Chargers and Saints. The Colts and Chargers are light years ahead of everyone else too. And unfortunately they will have a AFC championship show down in Indianapolis before the Super Bowl. As for this weekends match ups, The Jets/Bengals game is the most intriguing. I hope that the Bengals can bounce back and win that one. The NFC games are boring but I have the Packers over the Cardinals and the Eagles over the Cowboys (because I hate Dallas). As for the last game, I think the Ravens should pound the Patriots. Mostly because of Wes Welkers injury, Tom Brady wont know what to do with himself without his pacifier of a wide receiver.
The NBA:
Suffice it to say, my interest in the professional version of the worlds greatest game is waning right now. This can be blamed partially on the fact that I have been out of town, but mostly on the fact that the Jazz are imploding in front of our eyes. Ever since the Jazz were deemed team of the week 3 weeks ago by ESPN and NBA.com they have been no better than an unorganized group of street ball players getting beat by nearly everyone. Case and point, on Saturday last week the Jazz were beat badly by the Nuggets. The Nuggets are a good team and there is no shame in that except that Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups didn't play. So the Jazz lost at home to a team of back ups!! Ridiculous. I have been saying this for some time but I think it makes more sense than ever now, trade everyone. Ok not everyone, but at least a few people, we need to trade some of the following: Boozer, Okur, Brewer, Miles, Korver, Koufus. Any combination will do. I have been particularly disappointed in Okur and Brewer, two of my personal favorites. Now is the time to rebuild, clearly these players either aren't very good are aren't very motivated. We need to fix this. In the meantime, at least the Cavs are playing well, hopefully Lebron can repeat as MVP and this time as world champ.
College Football:
Bowl season is all but wrapped up, with just the Orange Bowl (yawn) and the National Championship to come. As for the teams we care about, things have gone pretty well until last night. Wyoming (from the MWC) was a 10 point underdog to Fresno St, and they won by 7. BYU was a 3.5 point underdog to Oregon St, BYU won by 24. Utah was a 2.5 underdog to California, Utah won by 10. Air Force was a 4.5 point underdog to Houston (once ranked 13 in the country) and Air Force won by 27. A resounding 4-0. Looking very impressive. Now the only think left was the big one, TCU vs BSU in the Fiesta Bowl, and with the world watching, TCU laid an egg. Andy Dalton looked like he did as a sophomore. Their wide receivers dropped about 1/2 the balls that hit their hands including a big would-be TD. The defense was stellar, and unfortunately for them they lose 3 seniors on their defense, all of which are studs. As a result BSU tricked their way into another big win, with the fake punt (beautiful pass) that led to the game winning TD. Give BSU credit, they played stellar defense, but that also had something to do with TCU's ineptness. As for the big picture, TCU let the Mountain West down last night. It was a bad showing for the conference that is barking the loudest about getting into the BCS automatic qualifying group. The 4-0 record from everyone should still help, but the conference needs another team to get into the BCS Bowls next year and that isn't easy. As for BSU, they should be ranked top 10 to start the year, possibly top 5, if they do and they run the table they could be in the National Title game for sure.
I think that is enough ranting for now.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
Post Weekend/Pre-Christmas Thoughts
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanuka! Happy Kwanzaa! We know we have a diverse readership here at the View from the Upper Bowl so use whichever holiday title floats your boat. Lets jump into the action.
The NFL: Well this weekend was a pretty crazy one. We had a Thursday night game that saw the Colts win a crazy back and forth game. My boy Austin Collie caught another TD, he leads all rookies in TD's (7) and receptions (53) and is having quite the year. We also had a Saturday night game featuring the leagues other undefeated team, the Saints. The Saints failed to show up early enough in that one and got beat by the erratic Cowboys. The Saints had been flirting with a loss for weeks, to bad teams as well. Well it finally caught up with them and they are no longer in the pursuit of perfection. It might actually help a team like the Saints be able to focus and play with less pressure. Amongst the other top teams, the Vikings got shellacked by the Panthers who were starting a back up QB Matt Moore (who?? Exactly). The Bengals lost a tough game to the streaking Chargers and played tough despite teammate Chris Henry dying in an accident earlier in the week. If I had to put money on 2 teams in the NFL right now it would be the Colts and the Chargers.
The NBA: The Jazz follower up their awful loss to Minnesota last Monday with a ok win at New Jersey (the worst team in the league), a blow out loss in Atlanta and another ok win in Charlotte. The Jazz just looked ok last week. To me the Jazz look like a team that is struggling to find enough minutes for everyone who deserves some time (Korver, Miles, Matthews, Brewer) and as a result everyone appears a little lackluster. Interesting stat I saw today, Deron Williams leads the league in games with 20+ pts and 10+ assists. He should definitely be an all-star, but the coaches will have to select him as one because the genius fans that vote for the All-Star team currently have Tracy McGrady as a starter, yes, the same Tracy McGrady who hasn't played 1 minute this year due to injury. Ridiculous!! I am a huge proponent of getting rid of fan voting for the All-Star game because the majority of people are morons!
College Football: Bowl season is officially underway. BYU faces off with Oregon St tomorrow in the Las Vegas bowl. Utah faces off with California in the Poinsettia bowl on Wednesday. Cal has announced that stud running back Jahvid Best will not play in that game because of a brutal concussion received about 6 games ago. With that said the Utes should roll in that one. BYU on the other hand never plays well in bowl games. And I expect much of the same tomorrow. Max should play well against a sloppy Oregon St secondary. But BYU will have no answer for Jacquizz Rodgers, the RB at OSU. Expect a high scoring affair with our beloved Cougars taking the L in this one. As a side note Wyoming beat Fresno St on Saturday. So to recap, the 5th best team in the Mountain West beat the 2nd best team in the WAC. Is there any question that the MWC is far far far better than the WAC? No.
That is all for now, have a happy holiday season everyone!!
The NFL: Well this weekend was a pretty crazy one. We had a Thursday night game that saw the Colts win a crazy back and forth game. My boy Austin Collie caught another TD, he leads all rookies in TD's (7) and receptions (53) and is having quite the year. We also had a Saturday night game featuring the leagues other undefeated team, the Saints. The Saints failed to show up early enough in that one and got beat by the erratic Cowboys. The Saints had been flirting with a loss for weeks, to bad teams as well. Well it finally caught up with them and they are no longer in the pursuit of perfection. It might actually help a team like the Saints be able to focus and play with less pressure. Amongst the other top teams, the Vikings got shellacked by the Panthers who were starting a back up QB Matt Moore (who?? Exactly). The Bengals lost a tough game to the streaking Chargers and played tough despite teammate Chris Henry dying in an accident earlier in the week. If I had to put money on 2 teams in the NFL right now it would be the Colts and the Chargers.
The NBA: The Jazz follower up their awful loss to Minnesota last Monday with a ok win at New Jersey (the worst team in the league), a blow out loss in Atlanta and another ok win in Charlotte. The Jazz just looked ok last week. To me the Jazz look like a team that is struggling to find enough minutes for everyone who deserves some time (Korver, Miles, Matthews, Brewer) and as a result everyone appears a little lackluster. Interesting stat I saw today, Deron Williams leads the league in games with 20+ pts and 10+ assists. He should definitely be an all-star, but the coaches will have to select him as one because the genius fans that vote for the All-Star team currently have Tracy McGrady as a starter, yes, the same Tracy McGrady who hasn't played 1 minute this year due to injury. Ridiculous!! I am a huge proponent of getting rid of fan voting for the All-Star game because the majority of people are morons!
College Football: Bowl season is officially underway. BYU faces off with Oregon St tomorrow in the Las Vegas bowl. Utah faces off with California in the Poinsettia bowl on Wednesday. Cal has announced that stud running back Jahvid Best will not play in that game because of a brutal concussion received about 6 games ago. With that said the Utes should roll in that one. BYU on the other hand never plays well in bowl games. And I expect much of the same tomorrow. Max should play well against a sloppy Oregon St secondary. But BYU will have no answer for Jacquizz Rodgers, the RB at OSU. Expect a high scoring affair with our beloved Cougars taking the L in this one. As a side note Wyoming beat Fresno St on Saturday. So to recap, the 5th best team in the Mountain West beat the 2nd best team in the WAC. Is there any question that the MWC is far far far better than the WAC? No.
That is all for now, have a happy holiday season everyone!!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Thoughts on the Sports World: Wednesday Edition
This post is super late this week. Sorry about that for all you faithful followers. We can blame it on finals week and a surge in business at work. So with that lets jump right into the action.
College Football:
Not much going on in the world of college pigskin this week except for the college awards were handed out. Congrats to Dennis Pitta, he was named the 1st team All-American tight end. No other local guys took home awards. Mark Ingram running back for Alabama won the Heisman, he probably deserved it. He was the best player on the best team, and all the usual suspects put up poor numbers. It would have been cool to see Toby Gerhardt win it because he is a white kid from Stanford but I am ok with Ingram winning. Next week starts the bowl season, BYU and Utah both have games, should be a lot of fun.
The NBA:
In local NBA action, the Jazz had a fantastic week last week. They posted wins over the Spurs, Magic and Lakers and really just had one awful quarter in LA that kept them from having a chance against the Lakers in LA. But in typical Jazz fashion, they kicked off this week by losing to the sad, terrible Timberwolves... for the second freaking time this year!! It was a little ridiculous. It is so maddening as a fan to see your team beat the best teams in the league and lose to the worst within 72 hours, but such is life as a Jazz fan. I maintain that this team needs to make some trades and do it now. Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer should all be shopped (don't trade all of them). This team can not contend as presently constituted and needs a shake up. And as a side note, if Deron Williams isn't an All-Star this year then the whole thing is a sham.
The NFL:
The NFL had another good weekend of action. The Colts cruised past the Broncos, with my boy Austin Collie getting yet another TD (6 on the year now). The Saints escaped again in Atlanta, Atlanta didn't have their QB or top RB. This looks more and more like the Colts are the best team in the league, they just aren't struggling like the Saints against lower level opponents. The best match up of the week was the Vikings/Bengals and the Vikings rolled in that one. Adrian Peterson finally was involved some in the offense as the Vikings decided to take off some pressure off of Brett Favre. I feel like the Vikings would beat the Saints with a balanced attack like that. The MVP race seems to be tipping towards Drew Brees of the Saints, Peyton seems to be losing steam nationally, I am not sure why. Probably because the national people seem to know that Peyton is going to play less and less now that the Colts have home field advantage wrapped up. Oh and quick fantasy update, I am in the semifinals of both of my league playoffs. So go me.
College Basketball:
Quick NCAA update. The MWC college basketball scene is looking pretty good as of right now. New Mexico (17th) and UNLV (21st) are both ranked and BYU is close to being ranked (29th). There are some great looking prospects around the country that are really playing well. John Wall at Kentucky is unreal and Xavier Henry at Kansas has been shooting lights out. Henry in particular is interesting and may be a guy targeted by the Jazz with the pick that they receive from the New York Knicks. I personally love College Basketball and watch it whenever I get a chance so there should be some more updates coming.
For now that is the View From the Upper Bowl
College Football:
Not much going on in the world of college pigskin this week except for the college awards were handed out. Congrats to Dennis Pitta, he was named the 1st team All-American tight end. No other local guys took home awards. Mark Ingram running back for Alabama won the Heisman, he probably deserved it. He was the best player on the best team, and all the usual suspects put up poor numbers. It would have been cool to see Toby Gerhardt win it because he is a white kid from Stanford but I am ok with Ingram winning. Next week starts the bowl season, BYU and Utah both have games, should be a lot of fun.
The NBA:
In local NBA action, the Jazz had a fantastic week last week. They posted wins over the Spurs, Magic and Lakers and really just had one awful quarter in LA that kept them from having a chance against the Lakers in LA. But in typical Jazz fashion, they kicked off this week by losing to the sad, terrible Timberwolves... for the second freaking time this year!! It was a little ridiculous. It is so maddening as a fan to see your team beat the best teams in the league and lose to the worst within 72 hours, but such is life as a Jazz fan. I maintain that this team needs to make some trades and do it now. Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer should all be shopped (don't trade all of them). This team can not contend as presently constituted and needs a shake up. And as a side note, if Deron Williams isn't an All-Star this year then the whole thing is a sham.
The NFL:
The NFL had another good weekend of action. The Colts cruised past the Broncos, with my boy Austin Collie getting yet another TD (6 on the year now). The Saints escaped again in Atlanta, Atlanta didn't have their QB or top RB. This looks more and more like the Colts are the best team in the league, they just aren't struggling like the Saints against lower level opponents. The best match up of the week was the Vikings/Bengals and the Vikings rolled in that one. Adrian Peterson finally was involved some in the offense as the Vikings decided to take off some pressure off of Brett Favre. I feel like the Vikings would beat the Saints with a balanced attack like that. The MVP race seems to be tipping towards Drew Brees of the Saints, Peyton seems to be losing steam nationally, I am not sure why. Probably because the national people seem to know that Peyton is going to play less and less now that the Colts have home field advantage wrapped up. Oh and quick fantasy update, I am in the semifinals of both of my league playoffs. So go me.
College Basketball:
Quick NCAA update. The MWC college basketball scene is looking pretty good as of right now. New Mexico (17th) and UNLV (21st) are both ranked and BYU is close to being ranked (29th). There are some great looking prospects around the country that are really playing well. John Wall at Kentucky is unreal and Xavier Henry at Kansas has been shooting lights out. Henry in particular is interesting and may be a guy targeted by the Jazz with the pick that they receive from the New York Knicks. I personally love College Basketball and watch it whenever I get a chance so there should be some more updates coming.
For now that is the View From the Upper Bowl
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
NFL MVP Race is insane!
Guys the NFL regular season is winding down and as it draws closer to the playoffs the MVP convo is going to heat up. I can't remember a time when the race was so close. Everywhere you look there are guys putting up HUGE numbers while leading their teams to gaudy records. Obviously the big three are Brett Favre, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. If the Titans didn't get off to such a slow start I think Chris Johnson would be talked about more and is definitely deserving of recognition (I think the league should come out with awards like the golden glove in baseball. I guess being named on the All Pro Team is the same thing, but it doesn't sound as cool). I also think it's crappy that defensive players have a hard time getting into this debate, but it's a quarterback league and it's hard to argue that any one defensive player matters more to his team than those three gentleman. Regardless, I want to give my props to Jared Allen, Elvis Dumerville, Darren Sharper and my man Dwight Freeney for making QB's shit their pants all season. Anyway, I wanted to look at each of the big three and see what their chances are of putting that trophy on their mantle.
Brett Favre
If perhaps the most beloved and celebrated signal caller of all time has his best season shouldn't it be a no brainer that he should get the MVP award? With a QB rating of 108.5, 69% completion percentage, 26 TD's and a mind blowing 5 int's it would be hard to argue with giving him some more hardware for his gigantic trophy case. Maybe his biggest stat is that he's doing this all at the ripe age of 40!
Drew Brees
How to you get into the MVP conversation with the likes of Peyton Manning and Brett Favre? I dunno. How about lead a historically bad franchise to a currently undefeated season, while blowing out teams all along the way. Maybe lead the league in passer rating and touchdowns while showing the world that you command the leagues most explosive offense. It doesn't hurt to beat the Patriots so badly that Bill Belichick looked like Jim Zorn and Tom Brady looked like Rex Grossman. Does Mr Brees deserve the regular season's most coveted trophy? Absolutely. Will he get it? Only time will tell.
Peyton Manning
If you are the reigning MVP how do you top what you did last season? How about doing something, the likes of which have never been seen by reeling off 21 straight regular season victories (yes they are tied with the Pats, but not for much longer). Maybe take a slew of rookies that have been thrown into playing time before they are ready and make them look like fantasy favorites. You could also throw for more yards that anyone at a 70% clip even though the opposing defense knows your running game is shaky. Truth is no one does more with less and no player matters more to his teams success than Peyton does to the Colts. Peyton could win this award every year and no one would bat an eye.
Obviously I'm a Colts fan and, therefore, a bit biased towards Peyton. But, truth be told I wouldn't argue with Favre or Brees getting the accolades in 2009. Just don't do a three way tie...that would be lame.
Brett Favre
If perhaps the most beloved and celebrated signal caller of all time has his best season shouldn't it be a no brainer that he should get the MVP award? With a QB rating of 108.5, 69% completion percentage, 26 TD's and a mind blowing 5 int's it would be hard to argue with giving him some more hardware for his gigantic trophy case. Maybe his biggest stat is that he's doing this all at the ripe age of 40!
Drew Brees
How to you get into the MVP conversation with the likes of Peyton Manning and Brett Favre? I dunno. How about lead a historically bad franchise to a currently undefeated season, while blowing out teams all along the way. Maybe lead the league in passer rating and touchdowns while showing the world that you command the leagues most explosive offense. It doesn't hurt to beat the Patriots so badly that Bill Belichick looked like Jim Zorn and Tom Brady looked like Rex Grossman. Does Mr Brees deserve the regular season's most coveted trophy? Absolutely. Will he get it? Only time will tell.
Peyton Manning
If you are the reigning MVP how do you top what you did last season? How about doing something, the likes of which have never been seen by reeling off 21 straight regular season victories (yes they are tied with the Pats, but not for much longer). Maybe take a slew of rookies that have been thrown into playing time before they are ready and make them look like fantasy favorites. You could also throw for more yards that anyone at a 70% clip even though the opposing defense knows your running game is shaky. Truth is no one does more with less and no player matters more to his teams success than Peyton does to the Colts. Peyton could win this award every year and no one would bat an eye.
Obviously I'm a Colts fan and, therefore, a bit biased towards Peyton. But, truth be told I wouldn't argue with Favre or Brees getting the accolades in 2009. Just don't do a three way tie...that would be lame.
Post Weekend Thoughts: Tuesday Edition
This past weekend had some good and some bad. The good was covered mostly by Nic with his excellent NFL post so I wont cover the NFL much in this recap. The bad was a little spread out, with that in mind lets get to it.
The NBA: So as we have made pretty clear here at the Upper Bowl we basically care a lot about the Jazz and a little about the rest of the NBA. As a result it would make sense that we here at the Upper Bowl were disgusted by what happened to the Jazz on Saturday. Just in case you missed it, the Jazz lost to the 2-17 Minnesota Timberwolves! Now one of the other wins that the Timberwolves have on this year is at Denver, so the loss while embarrassing is not the disgusting part. The disgusting part of this loss is that it is so typical of what the Jazz do. Case in point, the Jazz just won their 3rd straight game against the San Antonio Spurs last night, a quality opponent. The Jazz also have won 7 out of 9 games. They are a very talented team that apparently just decides not to show up on certain losses (example: Losses to OKC, Sacramento, Minnesota, Houston). Without those embarrassing losses the Jazz would be a mere 1/2 game behind the Lakers. So as a Jazz fan it is so frustrating to love a team that is so wildly inconsistent. The good from last weekend was the Jerseys that the Jazz wore on Friday night, the retro green jerseys are phenomenal, and I read this morning that they will be worn 9 more times this year. That is something to be excited about.
College Football: There were some pretty good games last week. The Thursday night game between Oregon and Oregon St was fantastic. The Cincinnati and Pittsburgh game Saturday was full of great offense and high drama. And the Texas and Nebraska game was a nail biter that went the wrong way at the end. With all the action wrapping up the end of the regular season the BCS Bowl bids were decided and the other bowl bids handed out. Here is a quick look at the matchups we care about here:
BCS National Championship: Alabama vs Texas
Rose Bowl: Ohio St vs Oregon
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs Iowa
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs Cincinnati
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs BSU
Las Vegas Bowl: BYU vs Oregon St
Poinsettia Bowl: Utah vs Cal
I think BYU and Utah both received good opponents in their respective bowls. I should say now that I think Utah definitely has the easier game, Cal is without their superstar running back Jahvid Best, and their passing game isn't very effective. Utah should continue their bowl game dominance. BYU however has a very good Oregon State team that has one heck of play maker in the backfield. I am not sure who I think will win this one yet. More to come on that another day. The matchup's that I really want to focus on right now are in the BCS National Championship, Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl. First of all, after the performance Alabama had on Saturday look for them to win the championship in terribly lopsided fashion, Texas is no more deserving of the National Championship bid than TCU, BSU or Cincinnati. The real injustice of the BCS comes in the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl pairings. The 4 teams participating in those games are all deserving of BCS spots, however TCU getting paired with BSU in the Fiesta Bowl is a slap in the face to all Non-BCS schools. Here is a similitude to help you understand why. TCU and BSU are like 2 young teenagers at a big family gathering at Thanksgiving. You know how big family Thanksgivings go, the adults are at the big table and the kids are at a fold up card table in a spill safe area in another room of the house. The big table gets all the really good food while the card table gets a lot of the food but a lot of stuff just never makes it over to the card table. The oldest kids are always stuck in a precarious position. As they reach 16 or so they have shown that they are definitely too big to sit at the card table and they have behaved well enough to deserve a spot at the big table and finally get access to all the food and grown up conversation that is at the big table. But the adults kind of like the way things are and they like the somewhat exclusive nature of the big table. They do understand however that the oldest kids need to get a little something to keep them happy. Now the adults have tried having one of the oldest kids at a time at the big table. This has worked OK except now the oldest kids are really showing that they deserve to be there and they seem to really really enjoy it. Well the adults don't exactly like this so this year they have decided to sit the two oldest kids at the big table, kind of. This year the adults come up with a brilliant idea, lets have the two oldest kids sit at a different card table that is in the same room as the the big table. This way the oldest kids get access to all of the same things the adults do but none of the adults have to be embarrassed by having one of the oldest kids out eat them or show that they deserve to be there perhaps even more than the adults. And as a little twist the adults decide to make the two oldest kids compete in an eating contest, the one who wins will get some respect, but not that much because they just out ate another kid, not an adult.
Now this may or may not have been what your families Thanksgivings are like (my bet is it's not) but this is very much like what the BCS has done to BSU and TCU this year. The two teams had stellar years and TCU in particular could play with anyone in the country. But despite all of the past success by Non-BCS teams, Utah and Boise St in particular, TCU and BSU are getting the ultimate slap in the face and being told that they are invited to the "big table" but they have to play each other! They don't get an opportunity to prove themselves against bigger name teams like Florida or Cincinnati. That way they would have had the opportunity to both go home winners and carry the Non-BCS banner into the next year. But now they will compete and one will lose and the team that wins will get very little respect for their win. In a year that we all thought that the BCS was really feeling the pressure to change soon the BCS has found a way to win yet again. Showing us even more definitively that we will never achieve a playoff in college football and the little guy will always be the little guy. BCS: 1 Million Non-BCS: 3 (the number of wins they have in BCS games)
And that is our View from the Upper Bowl for now.
The NBA: So as we have made pretty clear here at the Upper Bowl we basically care a lot about the Jazz and a little about the rest of the NBA. As a result it would make sense that we here at the Upper Bowl were disgusted by what happened to the Jazz on Saturday. Just in case you missed it, the Jazz lost to the 2-17 Minnesota Timberwolves! Now one of the other wins that the Timberwolves have on this year is at Denver, so the loss while embarrassing is not the disgusting part. The disgusting part of this loss is that it is so typical of what the Jazz do. Case in point, the Jazz just won their 3rd straight game against the San Antonio Spurs last night, a quality opponent. The Jazz also have won 7 out of 9 games. They are a very talented team that apparently just decides not to show up on certain losses (example: Losses to OKC, Sacramento, Minnesota, Houston). Without those embarrassing losses the Jazz would be a mere 1/2 game behind the Lakers. So as a Jazz fan it is so frustrating to love a team that is so wildly inconsistent. The good from last weekend was the Jerseys that the Jazz wore on Friday night, the retro green jerseys are phenomenal, and I read this morning that they will be worn 9 more times this year. That is something to be excited about.
College Football: There were some pretty good games last week. The Thursday night game between Oregon and Oregon St was fantastic. The Cincinnati and Pittsburgh game Saturday was full of great offense and high drama. And the Texas and Nebraska game was a nail biter that went the wrong way at the end. With all the action wrapping up the end of the regular season the BCS Bowl bids were decided and the other bowl bids handed out. Here is a quick look at the matchups we care about here:
BCS National Championship: Alabama vs Texas
Rose Bowl: Ohio St vs Oregon
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs Iowa
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs Cincinnati
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs BSU
Las Vegas Bowl: BYU vs Oregon St
Poinsettia Bowl: Utah vs Cal
I think BYU and Utah both received good opponents in their respective bowls. I should say now that I think Utah definitely has the easier game, Cal is without their superstar running back Jahvid Best, and their passing game isn't very effective. Utah should continue their bowl game dominance. BYU however has a very good Oregon State team that has one heck of play maker in the backfield. I am not sure who I think will win this one yet. More to come on that another day. The matchup's that I really want to focus on right now are in the BCS National Championship, Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl. First of all, after the performance Alabama had on Saturday look for them to win the championship in terribly lopsided fashion, Texas is no more deserving of the National Championship bid than TCU, BSU or Cincinnati. The real injustice of the BCS comes in the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl pairings. The 4 teams participating in those games are all deserving of BCS spots, however TCU getting paired with BSU in the Fiesta Bowl is a slap in the face to all Non-BCS schools. Here is a similitude to help you understand why. TCU and BSU are like 2 young teenagers at a big family gathering at Thanksgiving. You know how big family Thanksgivings go, the adults are at the big table and the kids are at a fold up card table in a spill safe area in another room of the house. The big table gets all the really good food while the card table gets a lot of the food but a lot of stuff just never makes it over to the card table. The oldest kids are always stuck in a precarious position. As they reach 16 or so they have shown that they are definitely too big to sit at the card table and they have behaved well enough to deserve a spot at the big table and finally get access to all the food and grown up conversation that is at the big table. But the adults kind of like the way things are and they like the somewhat exclusive nature of the big table. They do understand however that the oldest kids need to get a little something to keep them happy. Now the adults have tried having one of the oldest kids at a time at the big table. This has worked OK except now the oldest kids are really showing that they deserve to be there and they seem to really really enjoy it. Well the adults don't exactly like this so this year they have decided to sit the two oldest kids at the big table, kind of. This year the adults come up with a brilliant idea, lets have the two oldest kids sit at a different card table that is in the same room as the the big table. This way the oldest kids get access to all of the same things the adults do but none of the adults have to be embarrassed by having one of the oldest kids out eat them or show that they deserve to be there perhaps even more than the adults. And as a little twist the adults decide to make the two oldest kids compete in an eating contest, the one who wins will get some respect, but not that much because they just out ate another kid, not an adult.
Now this may or may not have been what your families Thanksgivings are like (my bet is it's not) but this is very much like what the BCS has done to BSU and TCU this year. The two teams had stellar years and TCU in particular could play with anyone in the country. But despite all of the past success by Non-BCS teams, Utah and Boise St in particular, TCU and BSU are getting the ultimate slap in the face and being told that they are invited to the "big table" but they have to play each other! They don't get an opportunity to prove themselves against bigger name teams like Florida or Cincinnati. That way they would have had the opportunity to both go home winners and carry the Non-BCS banner into the next year. But now they will compete and one will lose and the team that wins will get very little respect for their win. In a year that we all thought that the BCS was really feeling the pressure to change soon the BCS has found a way to win yet again. Showing us even more definitively that we will never achieve a playoff in college football and the little guy will always be the little guy. BCS: 1 Million Non-BCS: 3 (the number of wins they have in BCS games)
And that is our View from the Upper Bowl for now.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Great NFL Sunday!
Since I am the resident NFL lover, I took it upon myself to comment on yesterday's games. All of the teams I want to lose, lost (besides the Broncos). And all of the teams I wanted to win, won (other than Washington)
Examples:
The Colts beat the Titans
The Patriots lost to the Dolphins
The Steelers lost, but not to just any team. The Raiders! (yes, you read that correctly)
The Cowgirls lost to the Giants.
My beloved Seahawks won over division rival San Fran.
Sure Denver looked like they just might be righting the ship. But remember it was over the lowly Chiefs. Don't put too much stock in that game. They will still lose at least 2 of their next 4.
I don't like Washington, but I was hoping by them beating the Saints, everyone would stop giving credit to the Saints. The Saints are good, but they are not in the same league as the Colts. If they both go undefeated and end up in the Superbowl together, watch for a very lopsided Colts victory.
All in all, it was a good day. The only thing that would have made it perfect (besides the two games mentioned above) would be if Tom Brady would have got cleated in the eye; ruining not only his NFL career, but his modeling career as well!
Examples:
The Colts beat the Titans
The Patriots lost to the Dolphins
The Steelers lost, but not to just any team. The Raiders! (yes, you read that correctly)
The Cowgirls lost to the Giants.
My beloved Seahawks won over division rival San Fran.
Sure Denver looked like they just might be righting the ship. But remember it was over the lowly Chiefs. Don't put too much stock in that game. They will still lose at least 2 of their next 4.
I don't like Washington, but I was hoping by them beating the Saints, everyone would stop giving credit to the Saints. The Saints are good, but they are not in the same league as the Colts. If they both go undefeated and end up in the Superbowl together, watch for a very lopsided Colts victory.
All in all, it was a good day. The only thing that would have made it perfect (besides the two games mentioned above) would be if Tom Brady would have got cleated in the eye; ruining not only his NFL career, but his modeling career as well!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Sloan signed for another year
Coming across the wires this morning is the news that Jerry Sloan has signed on as the head coach of the Utah Jazz for his 23rd year next season and is under contract through the 2010-2011 season. With the recent firing of Lawrence Frank, head coach of the Nets, Jerry Sloan has now out lasted 235 other NBA coaches. That is there have been exactly 235 coaching changes in the NBA since the last time there was one in Utah. My question is, Is it the right move? Is Jerry still the right guy for the job? Is there something to be said for loyalty from an organization? Is this too much like the Bobby Bowden or Joe Paterno situations? The Jazz aren't going to win a championship any time soon, so are we OK with not making a coaching change? Personally I think that Jerry deserves to go on his own terms, furthermore I don't feel that any one else would do a better job than Jerry is. I have always been proud to be a Jazz fan, and part of that pride comes from the loyalty that they are willing to show. They are very much unlike most pro sports organizations in that regard. In short I am happy to see Jerry at the helm for as long as he will be do it. After all the Jazz need someone who is a mean son of a gun on the team.
Agree or disagree?
Agree or disagree?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Post Turkey Weekend Thoughts
What a GREAT weekend (well at least for me)!! Had a fantastic Thanksgiving day(s) feast and a great time up in Logan at the in-laws. Sports were great! All of my teams posted victories with exception of my fantasy teams that got skunked. With that in mind lets get into this mostly cheery recap of the weekends action.
The NBA:
This weekend in the was a good one for the Jazz. After their dismal performance on Tuesday night against the OKC Thunder, the Jazz bounced back with a couple of resounding victories over Chicago and Portland respectively. Surprisingly it appears as though the Jazz are playing better because Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are at least pretending to like each other and as a they are playing beautiful. You gotta see this fantastic pass (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RtAzQQUYAE) at the 1:37 point of this highlight. Overall in the NBA it seems like a surprising year so far, the Suns and Hawks are among the leagues best while the Spurs are really struggling.
The NFL:
Once again the Colts come from behind to win a big game on the road. My boy Austin Collie had a nice game 4 catches for 70 yards, but more importantly the Colts came through again. The Vikings look awfully awfully good. I have been hesitant on this but I think I might finally admit that Brett Favre deserves to be in with Peyton and Drew Brees for MVP. Also I can't wait to see what happens with the Saints vs Patriots tonight. My guess is that the Pats win this one and if they do then the NFL pecking order should be Colts, Vikings, Saints, Pats. Quite the top 4.
College Football:
The Unholy War has been decided. Our predictions here at the Upper Bowl look pretty good in hindsight. BYU won 26-23 (our prediction was 27-21) and Max Hall was not eaten up by the Utah defense, as was predicted by us. (Nothing wrong with a little bit of honking our own horn when we get something right) On top of the exciting game that we were blessed to be witnesses to we got some more fuel for the rivalry from Max Hall. In case you have missed what Max Hall said here is a link you can go to and listen to his comments (http://www.kjzz.com/fansports/audio/dj-and-pk/77951307.html?video=pop&t=a','video','scrollbars=yes,width=800,height=630,screenx=15,screeny=15). Here is my take on Max's comments, I am glad he spoke his mind. This is a rivalry, and a bitter one at that. There is no need to be politically correct. However, I do not agree with his comments. I think he stepped over the line when he blanketed the whole university and it's organization. Anyways with the Unholy War being over we can look forward to bowl season. It looks like BYU will go to the Vegas Bowl, Utah to the Poinsettia Bowl and TCU hopefully gets into the National Championship.
So that is our View from the Upper Bowl this week
The NBA:
This weekend in the was a good one for the Jazz. After their dismal performance on Tuesday night against the OKC Thunder, the Jazz bounced back with a couple of resounding victories over Chicago and Portland respectively. Surprisingly it appears as though the Jazz are playing better because Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are at least pretending to like each other and as a they are playing beautiful. You gotta see this fantastic pass (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RtAzQQUYAE) at the 1:37 point of this highlight. Overall in the NBA it seems like a surprising year so far, the Suns and Hawks are among the leagues best while the Spurs are really struggling.
The NFL:
Once again the Colts come from behind to win a big game on the road. My boy Austin Collie had a nice game 4 catches for 70 yards, but more importantly the Colts came through again. The Vikings look awfully awfully good. I have been hesitant on this but I think I might finally admit that Brett Favre deserves to be in with Peyton and Drew Brees for MVP. Also I can't wait to see what happens with the Saints vs Patriots tonight. My guess is that the Pats win this one and if they do then the NFL pecking order should be Colts, Vikings, Saints, Pats. Quite the top 4.
College Football:
The Unholy War has been decided. Our predictions here at the Upper Bowl look pretty good in hindsight. BYU won 26-23 (our prediction was 27-21) and Max Hall was not eaten up by the Utah defense, as was predicted by us. (Nothing wrong with a little bit of honking our own horn when we get something right) On top of the exciting game that we were blessed to be witnesses to we got some more fuel for the rivalry from Max Hall. In case you have missed what Max Hall said here is a link you can go to and listen to his comments (http://www.kjzz.com/fansports/audio/dj-and-pk/77951307.html?video=pop&t=a','video','scrollbars=yes,width=800,height=630,screenx=15,screeny=15). Here is my take on Max's comments, I am glad he spoke his mind. This is a rivalry, and a bitter one at that. There is no need to be politically correct. However, I do not agree with his comments. I think he stepped over the line when he blanketed the whole university and it's organization. Anyways with the Unholy War being over we can look forward to bowl season. It looks like BYU will go to the Vegas Bowl, Utah to the Poinsettia Bowl and TCU hopefully gets into the National Championship.
So that is our View from the Upper Bowl this week
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Unholy War
Yes people, I know that everyone around here calls this weekends rivalry game the Holy War, but that is not accurate. The Holy War has long been the game played between BYU and Notre Dame (before Notre Dame backed out of playing BYU because they were scared). So the BYU/Utah game is the Unholy War, and there is nothing holy about it. Fans are brutal, players are dirty and the history of this game is marred with despicable acts. So here on this blog we call it The Unholy War.
Folks we need to understand first and foremost how lucky we are as either BYU of Utah fans. We are experiencing the best that this rivalry has ever offered. Both teams have been good to great for the past few years and the games have all either been fantastic or monumental on the BCS level. Both coaches at both schools are doing a marvellous job with the resources they are given. All of that being said makes these games even more important. If BYU wins this weekend they will have won 3 out of 4 meetings and maintain their "Big Brother" status in the state. However if Utah wins this weekend then Utah does the unthinkable in a down year. Coming into the year no one really expected the Utes to win on Saturday and if they do they show that in a down year they can beat BYU in an up year. The ramifications of either outcome are sure to be crushing to the losing teams fans resulting in a humiliation that can only be cured by a win the following year.
As for this years game this is how I see it... When breaking down these two teams you find some interesting differences. BYU scores 35.5 pts/game passing for 300+ yds/game and is first in the country in 3rd down conversion rate. Utah on the other hand scores 29.8 pts/game and rushes for 176 yds/game. What is strange about this is that BYU's offensive strength is going against the weaker aspect of the Ute defense their pass defense. Conversely, the Utah offensive strength of running the ball goes against BYU's better defensive aspect. Looking at the QB's, Max Hall is setting all sorts of records down at BYU but with that said he has struggled against teams with speed turning the ball over like crazy. This year however has been somewhat different. Against TCU Max wasn't responsible for the turnovers his receivers and offensive line were (bobbled ball and blow protection) against FSU the defense let BYU down and forced him into some terrible situations, when you are down by 30 all you can do is throw the ball and the defense then sits on it. The lackluster corners at Utah will have difficulty stopping Max the way that Sean Smith and Bryce McCain did last year. Conversely, Jordan Wynn has looked pretty good in his limited experience with exception of the TCU game. his inexperience could prove to be an issue in the big atmosphere of the rivalry game but he should be able to take advantage of the speed advantages of the WR's versus BYU's corners. Utah's defense is clearly more aggressive and has looked better throughout the year, but that defense has tripped up plenty of times. BYU's defense is better than they were last year and should show better than they did a year ago. Lastly, lets look at the last time this game was played in Provo. Max was a first year starter and that team did not have the seasoned weapons they have now, Utah had Brian Johnson, Sean Smith, Paul Kruger and Bryce McCain. The game went down to the final drive and was won on a drive that included the infamous "4th and 18" play by Austin Collie. BYU won by 7. I think this year will mimic that year in a lot of ways. It will be a close game and it will not disappoint. But my official prediction for the game this weekend is.....
BYU 27 - Utah 21
Feel free to argue with me all you want (if you can) and post your own prediction. Enjoy Turkey Day. And Go Cougs.
Folks we need to understand first and foremost how lucky we are as either BYU of Utah fans. We are experiencing the best that this rivalry has ever offered. Both teams have been good to great for the past few years and the games have all either been fantastic or monumental on the BCS level. Both coaches at both schools are doing a marvellous job with the resources they are given. All of that being said makes these games even more important. If BYU wins this weekend they will have won 3 out of 4 meetings and maintain their "Big Brother" status in the state. However if Utah wins this weekend then Utah does the unthinkable in a down year. Coming into the year no one really expected the Utes to win on Saturday and if they do they show that in a down year they can beat BYU in an up year. The ramifications of either outcome are sure to be crushing to the losing teams fans resulting in a humiliation that can only be cured by a win the following year.
As for this years game this is how I see it... When breaking down these two teams you find some interesting differences. BYU scores 35.5 pts/game passing for 300+ yds/game and is first in the country in 3rd down conversion rate. Utah on the other hand scores 29.8 pts/game and rushes for 176 yds/game. What is strange about this is that BYU's offensive strength is going against the weaker aspect of the Ute defense their pass defense. Conversely, the Utah offensive strength of running the ball goes against BYU's better defensive aspect. Looking at the QB's, Max Hall is setting all sorts of records down at BYU but with that said he has struggled against teams with speed turning the ball over like crazy. This year however has been somewhat different. Against TCU Max wasn't responsible for the turnovers his receivers and offensive line were (bobbled ball and blow protection) against FSU the defense let BYU down and forced him into some terrible situations, when you are down by 30 all you can do is throw the ball and the defense then sits on it. The lackluster corners at Utah will have difficulty stopping Max the way that Sean Smith and Bryce McCain did last year. Conversely, Jordan Wynn has looked pretty good in his limited experience with exception of the TCU game. his inexperience could prove to be an issue in the big atmosphere of the rivalry game but he should be able to take advantage of the speed advantages of the WR's versus BYU's corners. Utah's defense is clearly more aggressive and has looked better throughout the year, but that defense has tripped up plenty of times. BYU's defense is better than they were last year and should show better than they did a year ago. Lastly, lets look at the last time this game was played in Provo. Max was a first year starter and that team did not have the seasoned weapons they have now, Utah had Brian Johnson, Sean Smith, Paul Kruger and Bryce McCain. The game went down to the final drive and was won on a drive that included the infamous "4th and 18" play by Austin Collie. BYU won by 7. I think this year will mimic that year in a lot of ways. It will be a close game and it will not disappoint. But my official prediction for the game this weekend is.....
BYU 27 - Utah 21
Feel free to argue with me all you want (if you can) and post your own prediction. Enjoy Turkey Day. And Go Cougs.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday Morning Thoughts
Here we are on a Monday, but not just any Monday, the greatest Monday of the entire year (this claim is void if my wife's birthday or our anniversary is on a Monday)!! The best holiday of the year is this week, and the greatest rivalry in college football that the national chumps don't really care about is going to be played this Saturday in Provo. That makes today the beginning of rivalry week! On sports radio all you hear is former players telling great stories and ripping the other school, fans being belligerent and bold predictions that are sure to go wrong once they actually step on the field and knock heads. With that in mind lets get into what happened this weekend.
The NBA:
This weekend was a pretty good weekend to be a Jazz fan, the Jazz had a nice run of 3 straight wins, which included a win in San Antonio on Thursday for the first time in over a decade!! (Never mind the fact that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli didn't play for the Spurs) The Jazz are looking a little bit more like a team that might be able to hold their own in the west. Don't get me wrong I am not saying they can compete with the Lakers or Nuggets, there are still a bunch of problems with this team. Paul Millsap is virtually worthless in about 4/5 games he has only played well maybe 3 times this year and sometimes the Jazz look like they were out partying until 5 in the morning and woke up just 1 hour before game time and dragged themselves down to the arena. With that said I really like what AK is doing out there and I still love the rookies, Wes Matthews and Eric Maynor are playing well and contributing on a team that desperately needs them.
The NFL:
Some good football in the NFL this weekend. The Colts barely hung on in Baltimore, which is a good win, despite them not going to my boy Austin Collie very often (1 time in fact). The Saints blew the doors off the Bucs, which is no surprise. Both the Colts and Saints are 10-0. I can't believe that either team goes undefeated but just if they could, imagine the hype going into the super bowl if 2 teams faced off, both unbeaten! That would be great. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Vikings look awfully good, with the exception of not giving the ball to Adrian Peterson enough because Brett Favre is hogging all the glory. The Steelers and Bengals both suffered humiliating losses to the Chiefs and Raiders respectably. My fantasy team however continues to dominate moving to a 10-1 record with a close win this weekend.
MLS:
I know I know, everyone I have no intention of getting into soccer very often if ever, but Real Salt Lake won the MLS cup on penalty kicks last night. They were huge underdogs and beat a team that has Landon Donovan and David Beckham on it, so that is pretty cool. Good for them. (That is probably the last time we will ever mention soccer on this blog).
College Football:
There were some exciting games this past weekend, but as for the ones we care about, there were 4. TCU blew the doors off Wyoming despite playing awful. Good for the Mountain West, TCU now just needs 1 win to be guaranteed a BCS bowl berth and if by chance Texas slips up a shot at the national championship. Boise St blew out Utah St, this game was tied at 14 with 5 minutes left in the first half, and at half time it was 35-14 Boise St. Ridiculous outburst there, BSU looks good, but how about they play someone at least kind of good maybe. Utah slaughter-housed San Diego St, defense looked good, offense looked good, they are playing well. BYU meanwhile dominated Air Force. Max Hall looked good, Pitta looked better, bottom line here is that BYU's running backs are bigger than Air Force's defensive lineman, there is no way that a scenario like that ends well. Both teams are ranked in every poll, BYU is about 3 or 4 spots better in every poll. But throw it all our this weekend, this game will be a good one, I am not sure of the last time these two teams were more evenly matched. Should prove to provide some great fireworks this weekend. More will be coming over the coming days about the "Unholy War".
That's the View from the Upper Bowl for now.
The NBA:
This weekend was a pretty good weekend to be a Jazz fan, the Jazz had a nice run of 3 straight wins, which included a win in San Antonio on Thursday for the first time in over a decade!! (Never mind the fact that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli didn't play for the Spurs) The Jazz are looking a little bit more like a team that might be able to hold their own in the west. Don't get me wrong I am not saying they can compete with the Lakers or Nuggets, there are still a bunch of problems with this team. Paul Millsap is virtually worthless in about 4/5 games he has only played well maybe 3 times this year and sometimes the Jazz look like they were out partying until 5 in the morning and woke up just 1 hour before game time and dragged themselves down to the arena. With that said I really like what AK is doing out there and I still love the rookies, Wes Matthews and Eric Maynor are playing well and contributing on a team that desperately needs them.
The NFL:
Some good football in the NFL this weekend. The Colts barely hung on in Baltimore, which is a good win, despite them not going to my boy Austin Collie very often (1 time in fact). The Saints blew the doors off the Bucs, which is no surprise. Both the Colts and Saints are 10-0. I can't believe that either team goes undefeated but just if they could, imagine the hype going into the super bowl if 2 teams faced off, both unbeaten! That would be great. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Vikings look awfully good, with the exception of not giving the ball to Adrian Peterson enough because Brett Favre is hogging all the glory. The Steelers and Bengals both suffered humiliating losses to the Chiefs and Raiders respectably. My fantasy team however continues to dominate moving to a 10-1 record with a close win this weekend.
MLS:
I know I know, everyone I have no intention of getting into soccer very often if ever, but Real Salt Lake won the MLS cup on penalty kicks last night. They were huge underdogs and beat a team that has Landon Donovan and David Beckham on it, so that is pretty cool. Good for them. (That is probably the last time we will ever mention soccer on this blog).
College Football:
There were some exciting games this past weekend, but as for the ones we care about, there were 4. TCU blew the doors off Wyoming despite playing awful. Good for the Mountain West, TCU now just needs 1 win to be guaranteed a BCS bowl berth and if by chance Texas slips up a shot at the national championship. Boise St blew out Utah St, this game was tied at 14 with 5 minutes left in the first half, and at half time it was 35-14 Boise St. Ridiculous outburst there, BSU looks good, but how about they play someone at least kind of good maybe. Utah slaughter-housed San Diego St, defense looked good, offense looked good, they are playing well. BYU meanwhile dominated Air Force. Max Hall looked good, Pitta looked better, bottom line here is that BYU's running backs are bigger than Air Force's defensive lineman, there is no way that a scenario like that ends well. Both teams are ranked in every poll, BYU is about 3 or 4 spots better in every poll. But throw it all our this weekend, this game will be a good one, I am not sure of the last time these two teams were more evenly matched. Should prove to provide some great fireworks this weekend. More will be coming over the coming days about the "Unholy War".
That's the View from the Upper Bowl for now.
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