That Guy Sports

That Guy Of The Week

2011-04-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

A little early on That Guy Of The Week and I'm also going against multiple suggestions of making it Lenny Dykstra. But someone pissed in my Cheerios this morning. Brandon Roy.

'Always thought I would be treated better,'

This is Roy's reaction to his "limited role" with the Blazers after last nights game two loss to the Mavericks. Here's the link to the article by Jason Quick of The Oregonian.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/04/brandon_roy_reaction_always_th.html

Really Brandon? Really? How is that max contract working out for ya? How about the legions of Portland fans who actually care about the Blazers who do not have jobs (a lot of them in Oregon these days) who just want to see the team win? And you pull out the ego card because you don't like your roll? How about playing within yourself and seeing what you can do to make the team better?

One local reporter blogged this morning that this latest development will divide the team and fans. Well, I agree that it might divide the team (although I don't think anyone on the Blazers likes playing with Roy anymore) but I don't know any fans who think that Roy is being misused (actually, the better half of this blog thinks he plays too much). And for those out there who agree with Roy, consider yourself That Fan Of The Week.

The Blazer management worked very hard getting rid of poor characters which has lead to success and a fan base feeling proud about its team again. Now it's time for management to understand that poor character is not limited to hanging out at strip clubs while on bereavement leave.

-Beavers415

That Guy Of The Week

2011-04-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Don't call it a comeback! Here comes our third straight post in three weeks. I know, maybe this blog is back afterr all. I am noticing a pattern.

It seems that Fridays are good days for me to post, for whatever reason, so let's make this the deadline for the That Guy Of The Week award. I think it seems fitting because I saw more Burnt Biscuits handed out by Ed Whalen on Friday nights than any other day of the week. So if you have a suggestion, just email me at hochhawt@gmail.com. Because without cable my exposure to sports is limited these days.

So without further ado....Kobe Bryant. What a douche bag.

Let's just be the first to admit that I have called people the same exact thing as Kobe Bryant did. I'm not proud of myself, and I am not above Black Mamba because of his actions. But as an employee of the Los Angeles Lakers (That Guy Sports #3 most hated team in the NBA) and person who always has a camera on him, especially during a nationally telecast game, you have to watch what you say. Even if it means you said it with the "South Park" definition.

By the way, let's go back to the South Park definition of the word fag.

Fag n.

1. An extremely annoying, inconsiderate person most commonly associated with Harley riders.

2. A loud and obnoxious person who owns or frequently rides a Harley.

Hey Kobe, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. And don't act like you didn't hang out with Karl Malone.

But what has become more of a tiresome act by Bryant is his tantrums that he constantly never gets punished for. Did you see how he acted when he got to the bench after receiving his technical? He punches his chair and continues to go after the official. How did that not get Kobe his second technical? Maybe because the NBA wanted the Lakers to win to avoid becoming the 3rd seed or worse? Or maybe it's because one more technical foul meant a game suspension for Black Mamba? To think, if Kobe was suspended for that last game at Sacramento, the NBA would have never been able to rip the hearts out of Kings fans one more time.

Regardless, we at That Guy Sports are sick and tired of the antics of Kobe Bryant and it has nothing to do with his playing skills or the team he plays for. This guy has destroyed a dynasty because he couldn't play second fiddle to the greatest center of a generation, got caught cheating on his wife while being accused of rape, and gets more foul calls in his favor since Michael Jordan. I will give him all the credit that is due to him, like one of the top 5 "individual" basketball players of all time, a ruthless competitor, and That Guy Of The Week.

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Most Hated NBA Teams

2011-04-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'll admit it. I am a biased blogger and I don't treat teams equally. Full disclosure, I am a die-hard Blazer fan and anyone who shits on my team gets a "Nixonesque" mark on The List. But it would not be fair to my five readers (yes, we gained one more over the past week!) to not come clean with my prejudice so you know where I'm coming from. You never know, you might actually agree with me especially if your first name starts with a K and sounds like Casey.

Now it's not like I arbitrarily just picked teams at random. I put together a point system based on 9 categories and based on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being no love and a 10 meaning you probably don't completely piss me off. Total those up and the team with the least amount of points is the most hated. Please note that these are very dynamic ratings that can change from year to year.

Anyways, here are the categories and how I came up with the judgment.

Fans: Plain and simple. How much do I like your fan base? This could be due to sure arrogance or your loyalty to a branded loser. Fans that show up get more points vs. the fair weather and the douche bags on message boards who clutter together letters that resemble "Kobe is the best player of all time" after he shoots 5-24 but manages 30 points.

Management/Coaches: This includes owners, GM's and coaches. I have no respect for owners who move teams; GM's that make back room deals with David Stern (I'm looking at you Danny Ainge) or coaches who bitch and whine to officials all game long.

Current Players: How much do I hate the team you have today.

Former Players: How much do I hate your past team’s players?

My Teams Success: If the Blazers are beating your asses, I'm probably not going to hate your team that much.

City: I'm not going to lie. The city that your team is in has a lot to do with me rooting for them. Sorry LA.

History: I'm not a front runner. I don't usually like teams that have success. It gets old.

ESPN Factor: I also do not like ESPN and their influence on sports today. It unfairly stacks the cards and it is not right.

Anti-Mold Factor: Does your team have cheesy promos to "help" the NBA experience? For example, does your PA announcer randomly yell "Let's Go Spurs" when the players start dribbling up the court? Do the sound effects seem forced? If your arena needs all these bells and whistles to keep your attention to the action on the court, maybe you should not be going to the games. Usually there are plenty of fans of the NBA that would rather want that ticket.

We will list the highest scorers which are my least hated teams, which I will give the total points and a comment on a portion of the scoring. Top 5 will have an expanded synopsis of the scoring.

#29 -Milwaukee Bucks: 71 Points - Fear The Dear! It is one of my favorite team slogans in a long time.
#28 - Toronto Raptors: 68 Points - I’ll admit it. I have a soft spot for Canada.
#27 -Golden State Warriors: 67 Points - I've been to plenty of Warrior games and I always had fun. Plus no one gave me shit when I heckled Bonzi Wells on several occasions.
#26 - Indiana Pacers: 60 Points - Probably would have rated higher if the Blazers would have made the NBA Finals in 2000. That was an ass whooping in waiting.
#25 - Minnesota Timberwolves: 59 Points - Can't get the stink of KG off this organization.
#24 - New York Knicks: 56 Points - Some of the best fans outside of Portland. Nothing gets past them. Would have scored higher if Donnie Walsh was not their owner, but then we would have never had Zeke destroying any shred of self respect he had while playing with the Pistons. Call it a push.
#23 - Cleveland Cavaliers: 56 Points - Dan Gilbert's comic sans rant about El BJ's decision will go down as one of my favorite sports moments of 2010.
#22 - New Jersey Nets: 55 Points - A move to Brooklyn could help them move up the list but new Russian owner is a wild card.
#21 - Washington "Wizards": 53 Points - The name change from The Bullets really hurts this team.
#20 - Philadelphia 76ers: 51 Points - Portland’s only championship came at the hands of the 76ers so you can't hate that much.
#19 - Charlotte Bobcats: 50 Points - Can Michael Jordan just give the NBA a break and step away?
#18 - Atlanta Hawks: 49 Points - One of the better examples of fair weather fans.
#17 - Sacramento Kings: 47 Points - A history of players I hated starting with Vlade to Bonzi. But I feel to sorry for them to hate them that much. Five years ago...
#16 - Houston Rockets: 46 Points - Another team with Bonzi stink on them. Rick Adelman as the coach and Clyde Drexler's only championship helps them be less hated.
#14 (tie) - New Orleans Hornets: 44 Points - A little surprised they are this hated but this is the team that should have gone to OKC. Moving from Charlotte does not help.
#14 (tie) - LA Clippers: 44 Points - Blake Griffin is a great player but he is a ginger and to much ESPN for my blood. Donald Sterling and being in LA does not help.
#13 - Memphis Grizzlies: 43 Points - Not only does this team have Bonzi stink still on them, but they currently have Z-Bo stink.
#12 - Orlando Magic: 42 Points - One of the worst offenders of NBA cheese but scored better than expected because the Blazers seem to beat them more often than not.
#11 - Phoenix Suns: 38 Points - Fair weather fans and a lot of battles with the Blazers in past.
#9 (tie) - Denver Nuggets: 37 Points - Some of the dumbest fans in the NBA which seem to pollute message boards with "you suck" arguments.
#9 (tie) - San Antonio Spurs: 37 Points - I hate that damn "Go Spurs Go" crap that gets randomly announced while play is ongoing and I will never forget the Memorial Day Massacre. Fuck you Sean Elliot.
#8 - Dallas Mavericks: 36 Points - Is it weird that I'm starting to like Mark Cuban?
#7 - Chicago Bulls: 35 Points - I'm shocked they scored this low but the 92' NBA Finals will have a sting that will last a lifetime.
#6 - Detroit Pistons: 33 Points - Worst PA announcer in the history of sports. J-J-J-J-Just shut the fuck up!

Top Five!

#5 - Utah Jazz (28 Points)

Fans: 1 Point - Let's just get to the point. I hate your asses. Your rude, whine about EVERY FUCKING CALL, and have a whiter fan base than Portland (yes, I paused a game and found two black people thanks to HD). You get a point for showing up and being loud.

Management/Coaches: 3 Points - It's not polite to speak poorly of the dead, but former owner Larry Miller was a car salesman who symbolized the rude fans of Salt Lake City. Love Jerry Sloan though. H is the only person in the NBA who would have whooped Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest asses in the Detroit Brawl of 2004.

Current Players: 3 Points - I don't know why I don't like these players they have today. They pretty much suck. But Al Jefferson is the most underated cancer in the NBA today. Do you think he might have been the problem in Boston and Minnesota after all?

Former Players: 1 Point - I never like the Mailman. He was a cheap shot artist who took out David Robinson, Brian Grant and Zeke (even if that wasn't that bad of a thing to do). Add to the list Greg Ostertag, Mark Eaton, Thurell Bailey, Derron Williams and the dirtiest player of all time, John Stockton (as voted by his piers during his playing days). One point for Carlos Boozer.

Blazer Success: 3 Points - It was a give and take with the Blazers vs. the Jazz in the playoffs but their poor record in SLC is a sore point with me.

City: 2 Points - The only saving grace for SLC is great skiing.

History: 3 Points - Only two losing season in the past 28. No love for that. But I'll give them 3 points for being the team that MJ retired to the second time.

ESPN Factor: 8 Points - Maybe a team that gets less press then the Blazers.

Anti-Mold Factor: 4 Points - Some cheese but for the most point pretty traditional. Still have some annoying sound effects.

#4 OKC* (23 Points)

*Disclaimer, this is not a reflection of the city of Seattle. I had to use the history and former players to judge, but do not take it personally*

Fans: 1 Point - This is personal. You don't deserve this team. You are not worthy of the Sonics. You get one point since it's not all your fault, but you are supporting one of the worst coups in sports history.

Management/Coaches: No points - Do I need to explain myself with this one? Just watch this movie. www.sonicgate.org

Current Players: 3 Points - Yeah, this team is young and exciting. But to me Kendrick Perkins' attitude is KG lite. When is he going to get on all fours and start barking at his opponents?

Former Players: 8 Points - I probably could have scored this higher, but I am at a biased with this one. But the list of former players does include Robert Swift and historical figures like The X Man.

Blazers' Success: 5 Points - It's 50/50 in this rivalry if you go back the full 30 years. The great battles of the past challenge any rivalry in the NBA.

City: 3 Points - I've never been to OKC, but from what I heard it's pretty vanilia.

History: 0 Points - All points were lost in the move from Seattle. Someone has told me they are buried in Key Arena and the current team is banned from entering there forever.

ESPN Factor: 2 Points - I will admit the the Kevin Durant factor has been reduced this season but could you explain that to Bill Simmons?

Anti-Mold Factor: 1 Point - It's almost like David Stern told Clay Bennett that he had to ratchet up the cheesiness if he gave him a team.

#3 - LA Lakers (22 Points)

Fans: 1 Point - And that one point is for my friends who are Laker fans. Not the dipshits who can afford or waste their money on tickets.

Management: 4 Points - Only out of respect for Phil Jackson who is one of the last straight shooters in the league.

Current Players: 2 Points - One point for Pau Gasol who actually helps sick kids in Spain during the offseason. He is probably one of the best people playing in the NBA today. Also one point for Steve Blake. He is about the only former Blazer I do not blame for becoming a Laker. The rest of the Laker players can go fuck themselves.

Former Players: 2 Points - I hated the Laker players growing up as a kid. But I would beg to have players like Magic, Worthy and AC Green playing in the league today. They, as much as I hate it, played great team ball and always played the extremes in how to live off the court (Magic sleeping around, Worthy's love for hookers and AC staying a virgin until he was married in his late 30's).

Blazer Success: 1 Point - I’ve seen the Blazers beat the Lakers on several occasions, which garners them one point. I will not talk about the other side of this coin.

City: 2 Points - The anti-Portland/Seattle/San Francisco. A city covered in freeways and douche bags. Now I will admit that I love driving in LA when there is no traffic and the beaches are awesome. Not much more than that.

History: 0 Points - 17 championships does not make it easy to root for you.

ESPN Factor: 0 Points - I think there is a shrine to the Lakers in Bristol.

Anti-Mold Factor: 10 Points - What the fuck? How can they score so high here? Because the Lakers are what you thought they were. Great PA announcer (calls the game in the same deep tone throughout the game), traditional LA Laker Band who has been playing the same songs since 1970, and the Laker Girls. I know that women are pretty much beautiful everywhere you go, but holy fuck. How did they come up with the Laker Girls? Plus they are the original.

#2 Boston Celtics (20 Points)

Fans: 1 Points: Note to Boston fans. You're passionate. You support your teams well. You are pretty sharp for sports fans. Now keep that in Boston and stop acting like you own another teams stadium when you travel there. It's disrespectful and you're not making friends.

Management/Coaches: 2 Points: You get two points because your coaches actually do a good job of creating a solid team. Other than that, your management made a deal with the devil to get KG and it's obvious when every move since then, Danny Ainge has fucked up.

Current Players: 1 Point: That one point is for Ray Allen. KG is an asshole who I wish someone would fight. He's a pussy that Anthony Peeler called out a long time ago. Not to mention the leg injury to Paul Pierce where he was carried off the floor and never limped when he came back to the floor a quarter later. And Rondo is a punk that would have got his ass kicked by Kirk Heinrich if NBA officials didn't know that Celtic player toughness is protected by a David Stern trademark. Seriously, what would have Greg Anthony and John Starks done to this Celtic "toughness?"

Former Players: 2 Points: Not my favorite players. McHale needed to shave his armpits, Danny Ainge was a little bitch and the overall whiteness of the team always seemed suspicious. But in retrospect, the trash talking by Larry Bird is freaking awesome.

Blazers' Success: 2 Points: The Blazers have never faced them in the playoffs, but other than a 15 year period, the Celtics have been whooping Portland's asses for years.

City: 7 Points: Ok, so I've heard that Boston is a great city. I will not argue.

History: 0 Points: This is the team with the most titles in NBA history. No points for you.

ESPN Factor: 0 Points: ESPN LOVES Boston. Which means I hate them.

Anti-Mold Factor: 5 Points: Would have scored higher if they would have stuck to tradition and not added the Celtic Dancers.

#1 - Miami Heat (19 Points)

Fans: 0 Points: Talk about a fan base born on 3rd base? When El BJ announced that he was taking his future dumps in South Beach, they went to the camera's stationed in Miami and three fans in a random bar started running around like they were Paul Revere warning that the "British were coming" but no one gave a shit.

Management/Coaches: 3 Points - 3 Points because Eric Spolestra went to my high school. The way they tampered with the El BJ/Bosh signings is everything wrong with sports today.

Current Players: 0 Points: Do I have to explain any further then the Three Douche Bags?

Former Players: 5 Points: I sort of like the original Heat teams with Rony Siekley and later with Alonzo Mourning. Not that much, but I'm pretty neutral on this one.

Blazers' Success: 8 Points: It's not rare to see the Blazers whoop the Heat and they seem to find a way to win consistently in Miami. Probably easy when you're playing in an empty arena.

City: 3 Points: I've been to Miami and it's like a flat LA. One point higher because it is the furthest city from Seattle and that's where it belongs.

History: 0 Points: The only championship this team won was robbed from the Dallas Mavericks. It was a sham and this should be said more often than it gets credit for.

ESPN Factor: 0 Points: What's amazing to me is that The Decision is one of the biggest PR disasters in sports history yet ESPN covers them like they are the best group of guys since the American's liberated Paris. Maybe this is because tons of people hate them, but they are getting attention for all the wrong reasons.

Anti-Mold Factor: 0 Points: The announcement of El BJ/Bosh/Wade to the city of Miami was just wrong.

-Beavers415

It's been a while.

2011-04-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

Apologies to my 4 fans out there for not writing on this blog in the past year. I can't really explain why my blogging has not kept up with the more than ample candidates for That Guy of the Week. The whole El BJ/Wade/Bosh sweepstakes this past year should have made me a millionaire in this age of cynical sports commentary.

So I'm here today to give this blog another push in the back to see if we get some momentum going. No better way to start than to jump on the latest El BJ trasngressions with his "garage treetment" in Cleveland this past week.

Did you know that El BJ arrived at the Quickens Loans Arena (yes, that's the name of the building that was originally named after their blind owner who saved basketball in Cleveland in the mid-90's by leading the effort to get the arena built) wearing a shirt that said "Long Live the King?" Seriously, who does that? I mean, I can understand if the player was rejected by the fans and is coming back to tell them I not dead. But El BJ ripped out the heart of these Cleveland fans with his poorly thought out live "Decision" special. He seriously thought to himself that when he goes back to this arena, where these fans 100% supported him all the way until he said "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach" (which sound more like he's going to take a dump), that he should wear this shirt. What an asshole.

So let's honor this sociopath with one of our highest honors. El BJ, you are That Guy of the Week until I can think of someone who can eclipse all the selfishness and immaturity that you have displayed. Don't worry, Z-Bo, Kobe, oregon duck fans, Matt Barnes, Derron Williams, Barry Bonds, Kevin Garnett, BCS Bowl Executives, Milton Bradley, Stephen "Jack" Jackson, Lenny Dykstra, Jose Canseco, the Italian Prime Minister, Comcast Cable, Charles Barkley, Aaron Brooks, or Brett Favre will do something really stupid and you'll be out of the negative spotlight for a few days. That is until your entourage convinces you that your next birthday should be carried live on a MTV special. Seriously, you wouldn't put that past him, would you?

-Beavers415

2010 NBA Playoff Preview

2010-04-14T23:12:00.001-07:00

I thought I would get a jump on the NBA Playoffs before the mainstream media hypes this one to unwatchable proportions. Here we go.

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #8 Chicago Bulls

First thought, the Bulls don't stand a chance against a rested and motivated El BJ. But on second thought, yeah, the Bulls don't stand a chance.

Prediction: 4-0 Cleveland.

Margin of error: 0.0000000001%, but seriously, there is no way in hell Chicago is winning this series. If they got two wins Vinnie Del Negro would save his job till after The Finals.

#2 Orlando Magic vs. #7 Charlotte Bobcats

I don't see why Orlando shouldn't win this series. They are clicking as a team when matters most but you can never underestimate a Larry Brown coached team.

Prediction: 4-2 Orlando

Margin of error: 10%. If Orlando is looking ahead to a match up with Cleveland they could be looking at a game 7.

#3 Atlanta Hawks vs. #6 Milwaukee Bucks

My wife still doesn't think that Milwaukee actually has a NBA basketball team and that matters. And with Andrew Bogut out for the season the positive vibe surrounding this Buck team took a big hit.

Predication: 4-1 Atlanta

Margin of error: 30%. I still think Milwaukee has a lot of heart and will be tough on the Hawks but Joe Johnson and Seattle's own Jamal Crawford will carry Atlanta.

#4 Boston Celtics vs. #5 Miami Heat

No winners here. Boston is really lucky to avoid Milwaukee even with Bogut out but Miami was red hot to finish the season. However, I think the Heat's recent success is a little bit of smoke and mirrors.

Prediction: 4-2 Boston

Margin of error: 45%. Rats are jumping off the Boston ship faster then front running Cowboy fans with the Pierce/Garnett/Allen age coming to an end. And what if Miami is actually playing good basketball right now?

Western Conference

#1 LA Lakers vs. #8 OKC ball club.

Let's just get to the point. If Seattle still had the Sonics this town would be erupting right now. Shoot, you'd probably get a $500 million stadium approved even with the crappy economy (No, seriously, the tax on Safeco and Qwest is expiring and you don't think the voters wouldn't roll that over to a Key Arena renovation?).

This match up just reeks of an upset. Kevin Durant gets so many calls that it would offset the biased officiating to get a Kobe/El BJ match up in the finals. Plus the Lakers are playing their worst ball of the season with Black Mamba back in the line up with his injured finger that he has not allowed to heal for the past two years.

Prediction: 4-2 OKC

Margin of error: 75%. The Lakers are still the world champs and I admit that I am biased against them. But I seriously smell and upset, or am I just rooting for one. It should be noted that I hate OKC too.

#2 Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs

I guess the Spurs are playing better and every expert is saying that San Antonio should be rated higher then a #7 seed. But I think the experts are just hedging their early season predictions that this team would compete for a championship.

Plus I think that Dallas is playing their best ball right now and it has to do with their toughness. I'm glad the Blazers are not playing them even though Utah would be worse.

Prediction: 4-1 Dallas

Margin of error: 25%. Maybe the experts are right but my margin of error represents my trust in the "experts."

#3 Phoenix Suns vs. #6 Portland Trail Blazers

Pretty much everyone thinks that the success of Portland depends on Brandon Roy's injured knee. While I think that a healthy Brandon Roy helps the Blazers chances, I still think this team minus a healthy Roy will surprise some casual observers out there. The addition of Marcus Camby has made Portland one of the toughest defensive teams in the league (something that Roy has not excelled in this year) and the depth of this team has been tested all year long with over 300 player games lost to injuries.

But Phoenix is red hot and has a pretty solid bench. Steve Nash has not lost a step since his MVP seasons and Amare Stoudemire is playing his best basketball of his career (I even think I saw him play defense for an entire possession against Denver but I was half asleep).

Prediction: 4-2 Portland

Margin of error: 60%. I'm a huge Portland homer so I do not see things clearly when predicting Blazer games. But Portland won the series 2-1 with a win in Phoenix and was a horrific shooting performance in the last game from a sweep.

#4 Denver Nuggets vs. #5 Utah Jazz

I'm not sure how much gas is left in the tank for Denver. With the Birdman and K-Mart playing injured the middle is soft and with Coach Karl still fighting throat cancer focusing Carmelo will be a challenge for interm coach Adrian Dantley. But they have great leadership in Chauncy Billips and Nene is the most underrated center in the league.

Utah is playing surprising well for the season and Derron Williams will just abuse a slower Billups throughout the series. But the Jazz are still not a good road team even for a veteran team. You can't trust that kind of stuff.

Prediction: 4-3 Denver

Margin of error: 50%. It all comes down if the Jazz can show up on the road. They are 21-20 away from home this season so I think 50% is a correct assumption.

-Beavers415

Bringing Back the Blog for the Playoffs

2010-04-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted but I thought I would break the slump with some quick thoughts about the NBA and the upcoming playoffs.

-The national media loves to play up the significance of not being in the 8th spot in the west so you can avoid the Lakers. Funny how the three teams "hoping" to stay out of playoff cellar have beaten the Lakers pretty soundly over the past month. Both the Blazers and the Spurs won in LA without their best players and the OKC ball club once lead LA by 41 points while cruising to victory. Maybe the question should be how can the Lakers cause the Suns to bomb to the 8 seed?

-Speaking of the Lakers, they've lost 6 out of the past 9 games. While this is not terrible news since they have clinched the #1 seed out West but getting ready mentally for the playoffs should not be underestimated especially with the insane depth of the Western Conferences playoff pool. Not to say that this team can just "turn it on" at a moments notice but you can't ignore their recent performance.

-Has anyone noticed how the Eastern Conference has not been good as a whole for about 20 years? And the current teams at the top seem to have more dumb luck on their side then front office know-how. Cleveland and Orlando have built off no-doubt #1 picks in El BJ and Dwight Howard and Boston is handed gift trades with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. The only front office that put in any hard work to build a decent team is the Atlanta Hawks and then they still screwed up a whole decade of top 5 lottery picks.

-Conversely, how tough is the Western Conference? 7 games separate the top 8 teams and if Atlanta and Boston played in the West they could miss the playoffs. Don't forget that the Celtics and Hawks get to load up on cupcakes like New Jersey, Washington, Philly, New York, Indiana, Detroit, Toronto and Chicago. Think, one of those cupcake teams will make the playoffs in the East.

-Jerry Sloan should be the winner of the NBA's Coach of the Year award but unfortunately for Jazz fans it will probably go to Larry Brown or Scott Skiles. You know, two coaches that were fired by their last employer. How's that 20+ year career treating you Jerry? I doubt he would complain.

-I don't like that the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award will be given by default to Dwight Howard. Problem is, I can't think of anyone else to give it to. You know, the more I think about it, does anyone play defense in this league anymore? At least defense that produces stats.

-Beavers415

Bring Blount Force Trauma Back To The Football Field

2009-09-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I would love it if everyone would sign this pettition to bring back LeGarrette Blount back to the whoregon football team. Any bit of self respect the ducks had after suspending this fool for the rest of the season would be lost if they let this kid play another game.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freeLGBlount/?e

-Beavers415

The Cheers and Jeers for College Football, Week 1

2009-09-08T09:37:00.001-07:00

I want to get this out of the way. Some of you have asked for my opinion on the LaGarrette Blount breakdown on Thursday night. Let's just put it this way. He is the hands down winner of That Guy of the Year 2009. It's such a landslide that I cannot give away another That Guy of the Week till January because he raised the bar so high.

Let's move on to the Cheers and Jeers for the first week of college football.

Cheers! To all the whoregon fans who are upset with the year long suspension of Blount Force Trauma. For once I agree with you. Why wouldn't you want a guy who was suspended before the the spring game, was kicked out of the first fall practice and hit a Boise State player, one of your own players and tried to take on the entire blue donk crowd to play for your team at some point in the season?

And let's not forget all the people on the message boards who claimed to have met Blount and say he's a decent guy. After Thursday, who could argue with them?

Jeers! To the whoregon athletic department (Nike) who says they will no longer play a game in Boise because of the video board operator who kept replaying the Blount Force Trauma on Byron Hout. Sure, it was a bush league move but admit that you just don't want to have to lose to them again. Maybe they are using this move to finally convince them to play in China (http://thatguysports.blogspot.com/2007/08/ducks-to-migrate-to-china.html).

Cheers! To my wife for watching the entire first half of the Oregon State/Portland State game without me being within 250 miles of her.

Jeers! To 11:30am starts for Oregon State games.

Cheers! To 42K fans who showed up in Corvallis for the OSU/PSU game. It was rainy, an unusually early start, a holiday weekend and a match up that was a body bag game.

Jeers: To ESPN's selection of using Kenny Chesney for the 2009 college football anthem. I understand that the SEC and the Big 12 are your core market but country music does not get anyone outside those areas remotely excited about college football. And I'm almost 100% certain that it has critics in those areas too.

And according to the country music fan that I know, Chesney isn't really "country music." With that said, why not Merle Haggard? No doubt the song he would write would be, "Its college football, and I'm drunk, again."

-Beavers415

2009's Bold College Football Predictions

2009-09-01T23:49:00.001-07:00

I have to apologize to our loyal fan. I did not complete the CFB preview as I have done the past two years. I just didn't feel like doing it. But instead I'm taking the low road and provide you with some bold predictions for the 2009 season. Here we go.

-USC will not win the Pac-10 conference title. Why? A true freshman QB who threw a ton of interceptions when he was a senior last fall. One of their starting cornerbacks was ruled academically ineligible for the season. They are also breaking in a new offensive and defensive coordinator. And road games at oregon, Cal and Arizona State. Sounds like Petey has his biggest challenge ever in So Cal but will probably still pull out a BCS bowl game.

-Cal is overrated. The o-line is green and replacing their coach who was one of the best in the nation. Only one linebacker returns to their 3-4 defense. And Jahvid Best was watching from the sidelines for part of fall camp with a "toe." Granted they have the best defensive backfields in the conference and QB Kevin Riley should be better. But with the expectations bestowed on this team I don't see them overcoming.

-Dez Bryant will be a household name by the end of the year but no one will know what team he plays for.

-Rutgers will run the Big East and will be a contender for the BcS Championship Game. Take that Utah!

-No one will challenge Florida in the SEC. Pac-10 fans will explain that's what USC was like for 7 years.

-Crappy Big-12 defenses will pad the stats of their conferences above average QB's to spit shine their Heisman resumes. Colt McCoy wins in a landslide.

-Lane Kiffin will still have a job by the end of the season. I told you this was a BOLD predictions article.

-Michigan State will challenge Ohio State for the Big 11 crown. And by challenge, I mean it will only take 6 games to determine the champ. Go Green. Go White. Prove me wrong.

-The whoregon ducks will show up 15 minutes late to the opening season kick off with the Boise State blue donks. Chipper Kelly explains, "we couldn't find a thing to wear."

-WSU wins the Apple Cup. Taking a page from Paul Wulff, Steve Sarkisian punishes his players by making them wear purple jerseys for the 2010 spring game.

-The Dawgs lone victory will be over Idaho in the second game of the season but fans walk away with a sour taste in their mouths after the Vandal fans swipe all the the beers at the Husky Stadium tailgates during halftime.

-UCLA fails to make a bowl game. When Slick Rick Neweasal is asked why he couldn't replicate his second season success as he had at Colorado and Washington, he responds, "I'm the one who had to do the recruiting this time."

-Oregon State beats USC in the Coliseum. Quizz breaks Steven Jackson's season season rushing record. OSU shuts out the ducks in the Civil War. The Beavs will be the Pac-10 champs.

And with that said, here is my Pac-10 predicted finish.

1. Oregon State
2. USC
3. Stanford
4. Cal
5. whoregon
6. ASU
7. Arizona
8. UCLA
9. WSU
10. UW

-Beavers415

That Guy Of The Week?

2009-07-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

Over the past week I've been enjoying my honeymoon in Glacier and North Cascades National Park. It's been grueling. No television, phone, or Internet and the only time I saw any information about sports was the one day I bought a local paper (I could check MLB box scores and a few paragraphs about national sporting news), heard from a bartender that Lance Armstrong was third while traveling through the Alps, and my brother mentioned via a rare cell phone call that the Blazers were making an offer to Paul Milsap which would be matched by the Jazz. So I'm a little behind.

But now that I have had time to get situated at home I'm able to read a week and a half of sporting news. Here are some of the highlights.

-Ron Artest. The That Guy Of The Week award winning basketball player recently told the press that the reason he took the Laker jersey #37 was this was the amount of weeks that Michael Jackson's Thriller was at #1. Ok, we all know the guy is crazy for obvious reasons but he is in the music industry. At least in Ron-Ron's mind he is. Let me explain.

Now if Ron-Ron was my friend this would be a terrific joke. I can only imagine Durante as a NBA star doing something like this, but he would follow up on the joke and wear a child molester locator on one of his ankles in an exhibition game. But that's not how Ron-Ron operates.

Back to the music angle. We all forget that this guy is in the music industry but he has produced and released his own albums. He really wants to make it big time and after Ron-Ron's awkward exchange with Ernie Johnson of TNT about knowing Nas, we all knew that this guys back up plan was music. Artest should be very happy that Plan A worked out well but don't tell him that.

(My favorite Artest music story was from a Bill Simmons account, when he saw a fan at a Clippers game yell "Hey Ron, I bought your new album and it sucked!". This was the season after the Detroit riots so people were pretty tense and Artest just turned around and smiled at the fan.

So I'll take Artest at face value as a musician who wanted to dedicate a number to the King of Pop and sarcastically mention, "that's so deep." But it is what we expect from Artest. Just crazy enough to keep you interested. Always entertaining (like it or not).

-So I'm reading today that Brandon Roy is wining about his slow to developer contract negotiations with the Blazers. He's in the newspapers and sports radio saying he is "frustrated" with the contract negotiations. If you're a Blazer fan you are hoping that things go smoothly and that Roy is still the hero that you imagine him to be. But this is the real world and we all know that these players have a family to feed.

That even includes the $49 he charged for an autograph in Portland this last week. Some bloggers (cough, Dwight Jaynes) start ruffling the feathers of the locals and a lot of people who expect their entertainment free throw a fit. But if people are willing to pay for a swipe of the pen then you can't knock the hustle.

The bigger story though is if Brandon Roy refused to sign autographs before and after Blazer games for reasons like "I don't sign things for free." I don't think that Roy is this kind of a person especially considering the crowd in Portland. But if he is then let us know.

-It's nice to get away from the national media and everything that is sports entertainment in our country. When I picked up that paper in Montana over 3/4 of the paper were the local American Legion baseball teams and other local sports stories. It was nice to see that at any level sports can be 100% entertaining if covered properly.

Which brings me to my phone conversation with my brother. I asked him who won the home run contest and he told me that it was Prince Fielder but didn't watch the end because the show was just too long. I guess after every participant hit, ESPN had to interview the player. But what was supposed to be a two hour program went on for three hours.

This really upsets me. I've seen the sport of football get butchered with its new and "improved" clock rules when the games run too long because of added commercials but this is a new low. This isn't a pitcher taking too much time on the mound or a player adjusting his batting gloves 15 times outside the batters box. This is the same company who hold Outside The Lines programs about these certain type of things to get people up in arms.

And what pisses me off the most is that the solution from ESPN will be to cut the outs down or participants so we can get the show within its time slot. But don't worry, you'll get your interviews where the participant never says anything clever or controversial. Just your bland talking head bullshit that makes you wonder if the players all have the same PR firm.

If you don't believe me that this won't happen here's your proof.

The NBA 3 point and slam dunk contest.

So here is a first for us. That Corporation Of The Week goes to ESPN for fanning the flames of poor reporting. When the Montana locals can do more with less it really shows you that the formula that equals greed will destroy everything. Including sports.

-Beavers415

Pre-NBA Draft Thoughts

2009-06-25T16:26:00.001-07:00

Before the draft starts here in a few minutes I just wanted to record some of my thoughts.

-What will the Blazers do with all their picks? They have a late first rounder and three second round picks to improve their team. The crazy thing is they won't be selecting players with them late in the draft unless it is some Euro who wouldn't play for three years anyways. Regardless of what happens, this is the first draft in a long time where the Blazers don't have to do anything to get better. But with all those picks something has to give.

Simply put, I have no clue what the Blazers are doing.

-Shaq to Cleveland is all the buzz in the sports world this morning. I think it all has to do with the NBA propping up their Kobe/Shaq feud because the Big Drama has to have more championships then Kobe.

We all know that this year's championship was the first time that Kobe was the main player but here is the ironic twist. Now Shaq is trying to add more notches to the championship belt but he can only do it with the best player in the league.

So that's Kobe, Dwayne Wade and now possibly El bj to bring Shaq another ring. If Wade gets a MVP trophy, which is highly likely, Shaq would have played with four different NBA MVP's when you include Steve Nash. All of those MVP's coming when Shaq was not on the team.

Think about that when you ask how much Shaq brings to his club?

-Beavers415

Sports Wish List

2009-06-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

(Note, this entry has been edited due to the facts brought up to me by our loyal readers in the comments below)

When you live in an area where you don't get to watch your favorite baseball team your summer sports entertainment can get really limited. I seriously got excited tonight when ESPN announced they would be showing live coverage of the USA/Spain Confederations Cup semi-final game. So I spend a lot of my time wishing these days. Something like this....

-Somehow the San Francisco Giants become more popular and the MLB networks start showing their games more on national TV. It is some what plausible. The Giants are around 6 games over 500 with seventy games played and their is a general buzz and star power surrounding this team. Good or bad.

Like Tim Lincecum. The kid rocks some sweet locks that makes you wonder, "Is that guy rocking a mullet?"

But don't forget Barry Zito. Here is the 84 mph Cy Yound fire baller who is one of the highest paid pitchers in baseball. If this guy falls apart it is always in the print, but how cool would it be if he puts it together and brings back 2002? How can ESPN stay away from this?

-I wish we could get a NCAA decision on the scandals at USC. In the past two years the NCAA has discovered that USC booster's may have bribed OJ Mayo and Reggie Bush's family to play for the Trojans. Also add former basketball coach Tim Floyd just flat out gave some guy cash to ensure Mayo would play in LA. It's a slam dunk for a "lack of institutional control" so why haven't we seen anything on this?

How insane would it be if the NCAA is just digging and digging and finding crazy stories that even the writers of Blue Chips couldn't make up? Is it so bad that if the NCAA did nothing less then what it did to SMU football with the death penalty it would be a blatant definition of the double standard?

Could you even imagine if this happened to a football and basketball program at the same time? It would change west coast sports forever. Sure some other schools would get these freak of an athlete types but just taking USC out of football would automatically put about 10 teams in competition for the west coasts top program.

But don't forget the lost attention the Trojans give the teams that play in the Pac-10. Not only are they a media magnet but the challenge of having USC in your football conference only makes team strive to achieve more (unless you are UW).

I'll get back to you on how this hurts Pac-10 basketball.

-I wish somehow magically the PGA Championship actually became a respectable major in the golf grand slam. Either that or get rid of it. I know that you have to have four tournaments so you can complete the "grand slam" but why do events like the Australian Open and PGA Championship get lumped with their more respectable three?

I guess the Aussie Open is the solid #4 for the tennis circuit and I'm sure all of Australia would come unglued and blame it all on the Yanks. But who is going postal on America if we started calling Torey Pines or Sawgrass the final piece of the golf slam?

Seriously, if Phil Mickelson had won 6 tournaments and all of them were the PGA would any one be calling him "the 6 time major winner?" Even Fox Sports has enough respect to stay away from that one.

-I wish the 0regon ducks would never change. They are like the weird 2nd cousins at the family reunions that you love ripping on.

This past week our 2nd cousins unveiled their new "outfits" which included the addition of two new colors, "carbon" and "white steel." The helmets are even different with a strip down the middle saying random duck stuff and the "carbon" or "white steel" (I can't tell which color is meant to describe which) helmets have circles in its solid color pattern to give it the look of chain mail.

But the best news was they got rid of the steel plating and are going 100% wings (except they are getting rid of the knee section all together). But the wings are fantastic. When I heard about the idea of putting wings on their shoulder pads last October I thought it was a joke. But soon they were wearing all black uniforms with wings and the fans were eating it up. And they had to have because by now if their was a strong sense of opposition we wouldn't be here right now.

(And this is way worse then prancing around in a bro/manzier for a full football season. When our fans saw them in person we were all calling for a recall but I think the stupid ass person who made that decision got locked into a season contract with the new design before he could say "the strap is stuck." This was worse then when Millhouse bought 10,000 of the nerd super hero comic books while Bart was away from their store.)

The best part is our cousin just thinks he's the cock of the walk. Talking up the light weight material and 80 possible uniform combinations. And since everyone is talking about it any press is good press. Plus their players love the uniforms and that their number one concern. Because we know that self respect isn't high on their list.

-I wish the Blazers never have to get rid of Rudy Fernandez. Unfortunately he looks like the odd man out when you have players like Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge staring for the team. With salary cap and ego issues to arise, you know someday we'll have to watch the next Drazen Petrovic electrify other fans.

But if he was the unheard of star who wanted only to play in Portland for his entire career no matter what that would be too cool. The guy is going to have the passing skills that bring down the house like Magic Johnson, his own posterizing effect that brings on a whole new level of international shame, and a charisma that just makes it fun to watch basketball.

And this blogger thinks that if the refs didn't have some cheap calls on Rudy in the gold medal match then we wouldn't have to hear about how Kobe saved the US team when all of us who stayed up to watch that game know that Kobe did more to put the US team in the whole then anyone else there. It was Dwayne Wade who kept the US team in it when it mattered the most.

But I digress. Regardless, it will suck to see Rudy making sweet passes, dunks and "score the ball" for another team. And my fiance will stop rooting for the Blazers and move onto Rudy's team's bandwagon. As will the entire female population of Portland.

-Beavers415

How To Celebrate A Championship?

2009-06-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Leave it to LA to remind America how to celebrate a championship...riot style.

http://laist.com/2009/06/14/photos_people_celebratingrioting_ov.php

Here are some highlights from the link which also has some sweet photos including a pair of Laker supporters chucking a garbage can at light rail train.

"Metro reports that Blue Line is shut down between the 7th/Metro and Grand stations due to revelers reportedly placing trash cans on the tracks"

"No one was injured on Metro Bus Line 33, which was stopped by revelers, who broke every single window, including the front one. It was stopped under the freeway near Venice and Figueroa"

"A shell station at Olympic and Grand was looted."

"Looted sneakers store The HOLY GRAIL on Pico at Flower"

While no one died, I saw reports that eight police officers were injured in the melee. Two things to think about here.

If you are one of the rioters this morning, most likely waking to a horrible hangover, you're seeing this report of injuired police and probably thinking that the night was a success. Seriously, how many of them do you think feel any remorse for those cops.

Then you have the rest of Los Angeles who have ounce of self respect. Your favorite team wins a championship and you think to yourself how great it is to be a Laker fan. Other then Jerry Buss' kids horrible trophy acceptance speech and Phil Jackson's horrible "X" hat the night has been a tremendous success. Then some thugs that feel entitled to destroy the society you live in ruins your night and cities image.

One more thing to think about. Could you imagine if you were one of the cops, who more then likely are Laker fans, having to stop these idiots from trashing your city because your favorite team won?

Yep Laker fans, your town really deserved another championship.

-Beavers415

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

2009-06-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

You know what really grinds my gears? ESPN's crew for the NBA. I know these guys are paid to talk but one of the keys to this job is to know when not to talk. I suggest they cut fawning over the superstars every time one of them makes a jump shot or pass to an open teammate.

Personally I miss the analysis of Steve Jones. He would get you to engage in what the players should be thinking on the court and wasn't obsessed with hearing himself talk. I loved it when he would laugh at random spots in the game and then would explain what he just saw on the court. Usually it was at a savvy veteran move which he had seen as a player and commentator for the past 30 years.

That's why I can't take Jeff Van Gumby or Marc Jackson. All we get is "Kobe is just unstoppable" or "LA may have found Superman's kryptonite." Sometimes they will include their coaching and playing experience with their analysis but most of the time they come off sounding like a PR firm.

By the way, the definition of "ironic" was just updated by Websters after Jeff Van Gumby tried calling out players who complain to officials after they just committed an obvious foul. Riiiggghhhttt....

You know what really grinds my gears? Kobe Lovers. Why is it that some guy calls me a "Kobe Hater" just because I call the Black Mamba out on being phony or a total DB? Last time I checked this guy only has one team's fan base rooting for him and within that fan base he has a lot of objectors too. It's not a matter of people hating on this guy its just a bunch of people who look past all his indiscretions and unconditionally love this guy.

And I'm not against unconditional love but when we do this with our athletes it gets a little scary. You start to miss when he puts on different faces to convince us that "he really wants this" and his fake laugh to make it look like he's just one of the guys.

Now I don't want you to think that I don't know how much of a competitor Kobe is or that he is one of the greatest players in NBA history. I'm not denying of that. He just reminds me of that guy who would scream "DAMM IT" in football practice when he got beat on a play, as if to convince the coaches that he really cares, because the silence would conjure up the opposite. But in reality you should just make up for it on the next play and not worry about your perceived image. We're smart enough to know how you feel without you trying to cover up your own fallacies.

To some of you that last example may seem a little far fetched for Kobe since he doesn't make a lot of mistakes and when he does he always seems to find a way to blame it on his teammates (Like the "Shannon Brown, why did you cut to the basket when you were wide open for a three when I drove to the hoop with 1 second on the shot clock and everyone in the arena knows that I am going to shoot this 9 out of 10 times. Did you think I was going to miss" face). I'm talking about when he makes a shot and he has to make his new "grrr" face or the awkward exchanges he has with his teammates when they make the play instead of him. Nothing is wrong with him just heading back up the court like "no big deal" when he makes an amazing shot or slapping a teammate on the ass after a nice pass.

I think Kobe's greatest personality trait would be if acted like he knew how good he was and not be humble about it. Be cocky to a fault and be proud about that. That is who you are. And have some confidence in your teammates. Expect them to make that big play. It will help you make that pass when you are quadrupole teamed and they are wide open for three with less then two seconds remaining in the game. That's what made Robert Horry the legend he is today.

We're all missing out on today's Big Earn of Basketball and its a shame. When asked "How does Orlando stop you?" His reply should be "If I fall down and hurt myself" as he's giving out his hotel number to Rachel Nichols.

You know what really grinds my gears? Bill Simmons complaining about the officials. Do you expect us to take a Celtic fan seriously when bitching abut the guy who gets whistles in the fourth quarter? And even if he is right, a Celtic fan can't take offense to it. Paul Pierce's legacy has almost tripled just because he gets all the calls in the 4th quarter. Take that away and "The Truth" (one of the lamest nick names of all time) no better then Al Harrington.

You know what really grinds my gears? The city of Seattle and its baseball team. The Mariners could get 10,000 more fans a game if this team had a simplified system for its city fans to get to the game (ie, light rail or subway). What we have instead is a suburban fan base that can only bring 10-15K consistently to a game which also forces night games only during the weekdays.

Maybe I feel this way because I lived in San Francisco which had a tremendous following in a city of transplants. But that fan base increased by over 20K a game just by moving next to the financial district which also brought the BART and Muni lines into play. Some people would say that the bump in attendance was due to a new ball park, which is beautiful, but you have a different type of fan attending the games since the Candlestick days. Some say it is the yuppie crowd and some have even said it is the city hipster crowd. Anyway you think we are seeing the 20-30 something single crowd bumping up the numbers.

I say this is the key to the Mariners paying for their ludicrous payroll. In my observations Seattle is becoming a younger city and today's youth is staying single longer avoiding the chore of starting a family in the suburbs. If you can get this crowd to regularly attend the games they will not only put more butts in the seats but buy more $8 beers. How many dads have you seen pull off the "nine beers in nine innings" feat?

And in order to do this you need to build a mass transportation system that allows people to get to the game without having to worry about a DUI. The city of Seattle has already approved a plan to connect the U District and Capital Hill to the ball park with voter approved Sound Transit expansion but they can't stop there. It needs to go to Queen Anne Hill, Fremont and Ballard. That is where the 20 somethings that have disposable income for those beers being served in the center field beer garden.

(Personal message to Mayor Nichols: I'll never vote for you just because of the Sonic debacle but you could start the healing by putting one of those S.L.U.T like lines down Madison Avenue. Sure I can walk up to Cap Hill and catch the new Sound Transit but a Madison Avenue line would make my stumbling walk home much safer).

-Beavers415

NBA Referees: We can't be that good if we are that bad.

2009-05-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

It happens every NBA game. A horrible call. Whether it be a charge or a block or off his hand or of his leg we've all seen some crappy officiating. Heck I've even seen six men run a play and score before it was even noticed. So when people say that the referees could control the outcome of the game you first have to qualify the quality of the people at the heart of the scheme.

Let's take a look at Game 3 of the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks last Saturday where a questionable no-call affected the outcome game. Sort of. Antonio Wright came out with the objective of intentionally fouling Carmelo Anthony with less then 10 seconds left to force an additional out of bounds play (they had a foul to give) and possibly letting his team force the Nuggets to rush a shot on the next possession with 6 seconds left. With Denver out of timeouts the Nuggets could not set a play if the Mavericks fouled. So what ensued next created a controversy.

Carmelo was chest bumped twice by Wright and bounced off to hit a three pointer with five seconds left to give Denver the lead by a point. It was at this point that the Mavericks and their fans were outraged. The question of "how could they not make that call" was screamed all over ESPN and talk radio and the NBA apologized to the team for the missed call. Still Denver won and Dallas was down 3-0 in the best of seven series.

Add another notch to the belt of botched calls by the NBA Referees as a "muwah-haha" is heard from David Stern's office. But why would the NBA want Dallas to fail?

Was it the ratings theory because Denver brings in higher ratings then Dallas? Maybe Carmelo is a better draw then Dirk? Maybe the NBA hates Mark Cuban that much? Or maybe, just maybe, Dallas has the Lakers number and Stern has to clear the road bumps for LA to make the much anticipated Cavs/Lakers finals.

How about this? These officials just plain suck. We see them get suckered by big stars, fall apart in rowdy crowds like Utah and some coaches know exactly what and when to say the right things.

But it is a tough job. Things come so fast and you have to watch for so many things on offense and defense. Before you know it the play is over and the players are heading up court. Fans are cheering or booing and the adrenaline is probably very similar to what the players are feeling on the court. You can't convince me this is not one of the most high pressure jobs in the world of sports and they could catch every call, let alone 50% of what happens on the court.

And let's think about that pressure again. If there are 10 players on the court and 20,000 people in the stands, these people are ranked #'s 11, 12 and 13 of the most talked about people in the stadium. Heck, I have probably sent my brother more texts about Violet Palmer and Tony Brothers then Barack Obama.

And lets bring in Tim Donaghy for a second. He didn't run a point shaving scheme. He bet on the over/under for points and set up games by calling more fouls to bump up the points on a game. He never fessed up to setting up a game but threw the NBA under the bus for saying the most blatant poorly officiated game in history, Lakers/Kings 2002 Game 6, was rigged. Well yeah, anyone could see that one. But that is one game and it hardly sets up a pattern for conspiracy that would destroy the foundation of the NBA.

So there you go NBA. I admit it. The league is not rigged. Not because you wouldn't do it. But because you're too dumb to pull it off.

But I still know super stars get calls, Boston brings out the worst in the guys/gals wearing grey, and Portland will never get the breaks to beat a large market team.

-Beavers415

NBA Hardware

2009-04-30T00:41:00.000-07:00

Let's just dive right too it. Our panel includes our blogs contributors, some who write and some who write every other six months. Let's re-introduce them.

khoc: This is my brother who is an avid Blazer fan who has the uncanny knack of calling b.s. on a player's hearts faster then anyone I know. Bonzi Wells and Z-Bo never had a chance with this guy.

osucem: One of the more hardcore OSU Beaver fans that I pal around with. He has the uncanny knack of finding stories that call players out on their more "decision making" stupidity. Having the *ucks as his personal rival makes his job easy.

big daddy booth: Our resident Laker fan who's last saving grace is he is a hardcore OSU fan. The best at explaining why the Shaq "drop the hammer" move is as legal as a jump shot. Now I'm hoping the NBA will think the same if Greg Oden picks up his old moves.

Beavers415: The founder of this blog and murderer of the English language. Maybe I should just say "it's my best written language. You don't want to see my French."

So here are our picks for the NBA Hardware.

(Here's our link to our preseason awards if you're curious to see how we thought the season would go back in October.

http://thatguysports.blogspot.com/2008/10/that-guy-nba-preview.html)

Coach of the Year:

khoc sez: Nate McMillan. To finish the season the way the Blazers did, and surpass already lofty expectations makes him more than deserving.

osucem sez: Nate McMillan. 2nd youngest team in the NBA. Projected to be on the verge of the playoffs, yet won 54 games. I think I heard that was 6th best in team history, which is nothing to sneeze at considering the long and storied success of this franchise. Preaching to the choir, I know.

big daddy booth sez: COY George Karl. To bad Billups gets all the cred for this team’s improvement

Beavers415 sez: Rick Adelman. The guy is too good at bringing bad situations together and making the team play to their utmost potential. Even though T-Mac's mid season trade shutdown probably had more to the Rockets success but Rick has to pull it together which no one does better in this league.

Rookie of the Year

khoc sez: Derrick Rose, I guess.

osucem sez: Derrick Rose. Dominated the scoring race amongst rookies and led his Bulls to the playoffs. That’s getting it done right there.

big daddy booth sez: D Rose, his numbers would be better if Del Negro knew how to use him. Close second is Brook Lopez

Beavers415: Derrick Rose. Could you imagine the media attention around the rookie race if Derrick Rose wasn't here? The nation would be starting bar fights arguing for Brook Lopez or Kevin Love.

Most Improved Player

osucem sez: Jameer Nelson. Increased his FG% by .034 to .503, 3PT% by .037 to .453, and his FT% went up by .059 to .887. Steals went from 0.9 to 1.2 per game. Increased his scoring from 10.9 ppg to 16.7 ppg.

big daddy booth sez: Brandon Roy. This guy is a killer. He went from borderline all star to All NBA.

beavers415 sez: Joes Pryzbilla. The Prizzle plays all 82 games for the first time in his career and he is one of the top defenders in the lane. And his quiet, yet effective, leadership helped the Blazers become a more physical team. He may not have the reputation like Ron Artest or Jack Jackson but he is quickly becoming known around the NBA as "tough."

6th Man

khoc sez: Jason Terry, but he might as well be called a starter though.

osucem sez: Might as well just re-name this award the Jason Terry 6th Man of the Year Award. The guy puts up 19.6 ppg, 3.4 apg, and 1.3 spg from the bench.

big daddy booth sez: Funny to think if I were told a shoot first 6' guard is going to win this award I would have guessed Allen Iverson.

beavers415 sez: Jason Terry. I guess you can't argue the stats but it bugs me when a guy getting starter minutes wins this award. Can't we just make this the sixth best player on a team award?

Defensive Player of the Year

khoc sez: Lebron James, and I am saying this because it is such a ridiculous award because defense is so subjective, so it might as well go to the best player in basketball. Battier is pretty good though. He gives Brandon Roy all kinds of problems.

osucem sez: Howard. Led the league in blocks and rebounds. Only the fourth player in League history to do that.

big daddy booth sez: Shane Battier. It's a shame Dwight Howard is going to win this.

beavers415 sez: Shane Battier. Here is a guy who comes into a league where people tell him he cannot make it. So the guy just goes out there and locks players down and inspires his teams to play exceptional team defense. The stat geeks will take in this single digit scoring and his dull rebounding numbers to underrate his game but he has been a winner everywhere he's gone.

Executive of the Year

khoc sez: Whoever is in charge of the decisions in Clipper land. That team is now screwed for years to come, which seems so normal for some reason. The Blazers are in the playoffs again and the Clippers are terrible and unfixable for awhile. Finally everything is returning to normal.

osucem sez: I’m calling this the General Manager award, not “executive”, but I think I know what you were going for. Kevin Pritchard of Portland is my pick for “Pritch Slapping” the draft the last few years and seeing his choices come to fruition this year.

big daddy booth sez: Sam Presti. Building a good foundation in OKC.

beavers415: Sam Presti. So I was going to give this to Prichard but then I realized something. All of these moves the Blazers made to revive this team happened two years ago. Coming off of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge's rookie years, the Blazers pick up Greg Oden, get rid of Z-Bo without giving up anything (I know what I said), and picking up Rudy Fernandez for Paul Allen's pocket change. But Danny Ainge, who had one of the NBA's sketchiest trade fall in his lap, got the honor that year. So I give it to Presti for a solid draft and destroying the New Orleans Hornets for at least another year (especially if they keep Byron Scott).

MVP

khoc sez: Lebron James. I don't think this one is even close.

osucem sez: Yes, James is my MVP. Seriously, I wouldn’t take another player off their team in a trade, but they won the most games in the league. How’d they do that? With one guy.

big daddy booth sez: Lebron James, or as the Mexican hookers call him, El bj

beavers415 sez: El bj.

Biggest Overachieving Team

khoc sez: Oklahoma City. Did not see that team winning 23 games this year and they did not finish last either. Congrats!

osucem sez: Houston Rockets. So many stars injured this year, yet they kept fighting and nearly took 2nd in the West.

big daddy booth sez: Miami Heat. Hitting big on Mario Chalmers in the 2nd round helped a lot.

beavers415 sez: 1/2 for New York Knicks, 1/2 for Chicago Bulls. Reason being the first half Bulls stunk and the second half Knicks stunk so no NBA team overachieved for a complete year. But the beginning of the season gave promise to the Knicks until the discovered they have the most expensive collection of dog shit players in the history of the league. And the Bulls were playing good enough basketball to claim the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference at the end of the season. A big difference considering they were playing like they needed another #1 pick at the beginning.

Biggest Underachieving Team

khoc sez: Sacramento. They should have won at least 18 games this year. Lousy refs in that San Antonio game, and you were so close. They ruined your season again didn't they Kings fans.

osucem sez: New Orleans. How can a team that made the playoffs be the most underachieving? Because they finished 2nd in the West last year and I had them picked to win the West this year, yet they finished 7th and finished 4-6 down the stretch.

big daddy booth sez: Hornets. This team should be in the finals. Even with Chandler’s injury, good teams take the next step.

beavers415 sez: Phoenix Suns. When it was all said and done this team was not ready to make the step to being a quality NBA team. They just wanted to run and gun and see where the chips fell. And this attitude cost a good coach his job. At least for me I don't have to see Terry Porter as the enemy when the Blazers play his team. That was tough.

Best Trade

khoc sez: It was not really a trade, and it did not help the team, but Boston picking up Stephon Marbury was pretty sweet. The way Celtic fans were cool with that trade and how they have completely bought in on that one, truly shows how much their fan base might as well just have signs in their crowd that read, "ESPN, as long as you say it is cool, we will agree, and argue to the death with anyone who says otherwise."

osucem sez: Billups to Denver without a doubt. Any trade that makes their divisional opponent sick to their stomach on the day the trade is announced must be a good one. This one had “winner” written all over it.

big daddy booth sez: Chicago Salmons & Miller to the bulls

beavers415 sez: Bulls picking up Salmons and Miller. I would say the best trade was the Billups to Denver but Detroit got robbed. Who in the world would not take that trade? It's too easy. Now Chicago picking up Salmons and Miller in the Kings yard sale was very sharp and Sacramento got what they wanted. A payroll in line with the Kansas City Royals.

Worst Trade

khoc sez: The trade that sent Yi Jianlian to the Nets for Richard Jefferson. Seriously, Yi blows big time, and to give up an all star caliber player for him is ridiculous.

osucem sez: AI to Detroit. They basically tell him to “get the fuck out” after his temper tantrum when he resists coming off the bench. This trade couldn’t have gone any worse for Detroit.

big daddy booth sez: Sacramento, see above.

beavers415 sez: Nuggets/Pistons. This is from a Blazer fan's point of view but it cost my team the division and Joe Dumars should be shot for being so dumb. Now this guy has Darko, Michael Curry and AI's blood on his hands. Who do you think was really making those moves to get this team a championship because it wasn't this guy.

Best Storyline of the Season

khoc sez: Were the 2008-09 Clippers the laziest team in the history of the NBA? I can't wait to see this team for a full season next year.

osucem sez: David Stern looking like a douche bag in his handling of the Sonics fiasco.

big daddy booth sez: Watching Shaq go down in flames (Flopping, pathetically looking for another team mid season, still thinking he is relevant) is like trying to look away from the Donkey show, or so I've been told.

beavers415 seaz: The resolve of the Houston Rockets. How can a player as talented as Tracy McGrady shutting it down for a season have a positive outcome on a team? I may not know but I could be that the Rockets can focus on an inside game with Yao or they can play with a better wing defender who could also feed the ball to Yao inside. Or it could be the best case of addition by subtraction we've seen this year and we've seen a bunch.

Worst Storyline

khoch sez: Anything involving Tracy McGrady or Allen Iverson. I mean give it up already NBA/ESPN. I know for marketing purposes you need to keep the charade going, but these guys do not help your team win, they have never been winners, and unless they take a smaller role on their teams, they are likely never going to win anything. That's it, end of storyline.

osucem sez: Shaq and Kobe kissing and making up at the All-Star game. This was so much more fun when The Diesel was asking Kobe how his ass tasted.

big daddy booth sez: Anyone else tired of Lebron "Possibly" going to the NY?

beavers415 sez: Terry Porter/Reggie Theus firings. Two guys who deserved more time if you asked me but what upsets me is how some columnists will say these guys were not good coaches. Last year Theus' Kings team was overachieving and he was working with much worse this year. And Terry Porter gets the pink slip right after the All Star break (in Phoenix) and his replacement had a worse record. Always the coaches fault. Never the players.

Worst pregame celebration

khoc sez: I don't pay attention to that crap, and I wish nobody else would either.

osucem sez: The photo op that the Cav’s and Detroit do.

big daddy booth sez: Tie, KG & El bj throwing the chalk powder. Shameless rip off of MJ.

beavers415 sez: Anytime the lights dim for home team introductions when the team they are playing is from Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis, New Jersey, Indiana, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, and Oakland.

Most Overrated Player

khoc sez: Kevin Durant. Brandon Roy won 32 games in his rookie season and 41 in his second. I don't care how many points you average, if your team can't win, then you are just a good scorer. That’s It! Durant is a fantasy owners dream, but he is today’s version of Tom Chambers.

osucem sez: Kevin Garnett. Your taunting actions are getting old.

big daddy booth sez: Paul Pierce. When did we agree that he is an all world player who now gets MAJOR treatment at BOTH ends of the floor

beavers415 sez: OJ Mayo/T-Mac/Vince Carter. OJ Mayo could become the AI of this next generation but he won't sniff the championship or a deep playoff run if he is leading your team. T-Mac and Vince were best when they played together. Ever since then they may have their highlights but their teams are pathetic.

Most Underrated Player

khoc sez: Every player gets too much credit these days. How about the player who drove me nuts by playing huge against my favorite team this season. Brandon Bass

osucem sez: Shane Battier. Read the 6 page New York Times article from around the middle of the year if you question this choice.

big daddy booth sez: Pau Gasol. To bad he's in Bryant’s shadow. You never here that he's played just as many games as Kobe (Olympics included) & had a great year.

beavers415 sez: Joel Pryzbilla. Every Blazer fan will tell you this guy is indispensible and did all the little things to make the team as good as they were. His rebounding was tough and his defense was some of the best at the center position. His scoring numbers are not high but he rarely misses the shots he takes and he's never afraid to get in someone’s face if they are causing problems on the court. Regardless if it his team or not.

Western Conference Champ

khoc sez: Lakers. It's lame, but pretty much inevitable. At least for this season.

osucem sez: Lakers (pains me to say this)

big daddy booth sez: Lakers. I don't buy for a second the Portland "but we beat them 8 times in a row in P town!" Blazers will challenge them.

beavers415 sez: Lakers (by a hair over the Blazers)

Eastern Conference Champ

khoc sez: Cavs. Lebron is just too freakin' good to be stopped right now.

osucem sez: Cavs

big daddy booth: Even with a healthy Garnett, the Cavs would have won the East

beavers415: Cavs. Every round is pretty much like a 1 vs. 8 series.

NBA Champ

khoc sez: Cavs. They were the best team all year, and Lebron will be too much for anyone on the Lakers, or the NBA for that matter, to handle.

osucem sez: Cavs (pains me to say this)
*editors comment/question for osucem, you would rather see the Lakers win?*

big daddy booth sez: Lakers. To many weapons on this squad for El bj & co to handle.

beavers415 sez: Lakers (now that was painful).

-Beavers415

Do These Blazers Have What It Takes?

2009-04-29T23:48:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking long and hard about Portland's chances to win Game 6 against the Houston Rockets. Every Portland newspaper/blogger is claiming that the pressure would be more on the Rockets then the Blazers. I disagree based on one reason. These Blazers have not won against a respectable Western Conference on the road this season.

And if you say this to the Blazers organization (or some of the homer press) they will say they beat the New Orleans Hornets and San Antonio Spurs on the road this year. But we all know those wins come with asterisks.

In Portland's victory over New Orleans, the Hornets were drilling the Blazers by double figures until Chris Paul went down with a victory and in San Antonio this past month the Spurs were rolling without Manu Ginobilli and Tim Duncan's knees are to explode just like Kyle Broflovski.

With that said, coming into this game six in Houston the Blazers have yet to show anyone they can execute and win a big game on the road. Why would they start now? Let's just say the odds carry through and we can get the second round going as soon as possible.

But I can see the Blazers coming out Thursday night with more confidence in their abilities, with better execution on offense and defense and the right energy level to win this ball game. Why now and why on the road?

Because this team is all about taking steps and this is the next logical one with this team. Add in the Blazers faced elimination in the last game and with the "now or never" approach down four points in the 4th quarter when the team ratcheted up their defense and played in control down the stretch. Put this together with the fact that they could have won both games in Houston and I can see Portland sending this series to a seventh game.

And when I say I can see the Blazers step it up and win this game I'm not questioning Houston's effort. The Rockets are going to come out and put it all on the line to finish off these young pups. They have too and they will be ready for the task.

This kind of effort is what championship teams are made of and if the Blazers can't take Houston on the road when it matters then they will never beat the Lakers in the next round. And I will guarantee you this. If the Blazers had won all home games to take the series they would have been smoked by the Lakers. The Blazers have to learn how to win on the road and trying to figure this out in LA would be too much. But if they learn how to win on the road against a very good Rockets team it could catapult the Blazers to a new stratosphere of NBA success.

And if you're the rest of the NBA the Blazers winning game 6 is a very scary thought. I'd mention which NBA referee I don't want to see officiating this game but they are all so equally crappy it doesn't even matter.

-Beavers415

Some Random NBA Playoff Thoughts

2009-04-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some random thoughts I left out of the NBA Playoff preview.

-KG is out for the playoffs but I wonder if his knees would have held up if he didn't get down on all four and bark like a dog at his opponents?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YysS4vCKis

-If you ask the experts about the Lakers chances of running the West they will give you two thumbs up and then go on about how much rest they'll get when no one puts up a fight. Given the Lakers resume I wouldn't argue too much but if they meet the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round I'd think long and hard about how easy that series is going to be.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Blazers need to beat the Rockets and the Lakers have to beat the Jazz. Okay, maybe we're not to worried about the Jazz.

-Speaking of the Jazz, is this the last year for Jerry Sloan? If it's not the last, how many more seasons can he take? And if he is willing to coach for a few more years is he doing it to win a championship, to pay the bills or loyalty to his organization?

All I know is if he is coaching to win a championship this team is not the one you want to go to war with. And barring a KG/Gasol like trade it may take quite a few years.

-I can't stand the guy but Chris "the Birdman" Anderson of the Denver Nuggets should be in the discussion for Most Improved Player of the Year. Not only has he improved his game with the same team and system that he last played in, he's also done it with pretty much same amount of playing time.

But like I said and most people would agree. It's too bad for him that a lot of opposing fans can't stand him. Why? I'd start with the incessant sticking out of your tongue after a good play (especially if you goal tend the ball).

-Bold Playoff Prediction: This year some team will destroy another teams hope so bad they will wither up and die forever. The last time we saw this happen was when Dallas was upset by the Golden State Warriors and probably the most prime example would be the 2000 Portland Trail Blazers.

So which team with high expectations and fragile ego will succumb to the heartbreak of the NBA Playoffs? Here's some candidates.

Atlanta Hawks: The "fan base" is excited after a #4 finish especially after taking the Celtics to seven games last year. But a first round loss to Miami and Dwayne Wades propensity to metaphorically cut the throat of a team late in the game could equal disaster.

Orlando Magic: No one expects them to beat the Cavs but a disappointing loss in the second round to a beat up Celtic team could start the second guessing. A first round loss could even be worse.

Houston Rockets: This team has to get out of the first round this year. A Yao team has never won a playoff series and you think they would have won one by default at this point. And trust me when I say this, Tracy McGrady is not making this easier on everyone with his drama and injuries.

New Orleans Hornets: This season has already been a disappointment finishing #7 in the west. Add in the trade debacle of Tyson Chandler and the team's growing displeasure with Byron Scott's system and a fallout seems inevitable. The only saving grace for the Hornets is the Chris Paul is in his mid-20's.

LA Lakers: If a Kobe lead team doesn't make it to the finals this year they never will.

Denver Nuggets: Have we ever seen a George Karl lead team have a happy ending?

-Beavers415

NBA Playoff Preview

2009-04-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

This is weird. Ever since I started this blog in 2007 I've never had to write about my favorite team, The Portland Trail Blazers, in the playoffs. It's always been about the upcoming draft or which bail bonds company would be the most lenient to Z-Bo missing a trial date.

Now I get to include Portland in the NBA Playoff discussions and trust me when I say this. I don't want to sound like a total homer when making my predictions but this may be the impossible tasks.

So while we wait for our panel of voters to submit their regular season award votes let's take a look at the match ups in this year's NBA Playoffs.

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #8 Detroit Pistons

Before we predict this match up we all have to understand why the trade that shook the league really happened. Of course I am talking about Billups to Denver for A.I. Some will tell you that it was one GM fleecing another and some might say that it was done for cap relief. I have a different theory.

Somewhere in this world a Blazer fan visited some Black Magic den in a run down building in Chinatown Portland. This Blazer fan has been fed up with the success of the Detroit Pistons ever since Rasheed Wallace was traded their from Atlanta in the mid 2003-04 season (please note that this Blazer fan went to this same witch doctor that season to get Rasheed banished to the Atlanta Hawks before the NBA stepped in and created a trade loophole that is reminiscent of the KG trade to Boston or the Gasol trade to LA). Added to the Blazer's fans frustration was Detroit stealing the name "Rip City" from Portland just because Rip Hamilton plays for the Pistons.

Now the Pistons have been the East Finals for the better half of this decade and Rasheed seems to be getting away with murder since his antics with the officials have never changed since being in Portland but never the less produces 1/3 the amount of technicals he would receive wearing the red and black. The witch doctor could see why the fan was so upset that he put together a curse that would destroy the current Piston team but it came at a price. In order for Detroit to collapse the most ghetto team this side of the Mississippi would get the #2 seed in the Western Conference.

Just like most Blazer fans this man was delusional. He thought that the Blazers were so good this year that while he would be sacrificing the #2 seed Portland would still end up #1. And the rest is history.

Prediction: Cleveland in four.

#2 Boston vs. #7 Chicago

Breaking news this morning is that KG is out for the remainder of the season "with a knee." Don't get me wrong, this is a huge blow for the Celtics but not enough to put the Bulls over the top. Ray Allen and Paul "can you carry me off the court" Pierce are pretty solid (especially since you can't breath on Pierce in the 4th quarter and not be called for a foul) and the reserves are very good at their Roles. Especially Rajon Rondo who plays great defense and is turning into a strong leader in only his third year in the league.

Derek Rose leads Chicago and ever since the Bulls ransacked the Sacrament Kings in their mid-season trade for John Salmons and Brad Miller they have been playing...better. But this team wouldn't even be sniffing the playoffs if they were in the West and this team doesn't have the next gear to win in the playoffs.

Prediction: Boston in six.

#3 Orlando vs. #6 Philadelphia

I really just want to say Orlando in four and move on to the next matchup. Man are the Eastern Conference playoff match ups boring.

But hold on for a second. The Sixers play really physical basketball and a lot of people don't realize how much the Magic will miss Jameer Nelson in the playoffs. Sure Dwight Howard is a load in the middle and the supporting cast of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkaglo brings not only talent but playoff experience. However, the Sixers are improving and Andre Miller has a tremendous edge over Rafer "And-One more DUI" Alston.

Still home court and NBA marketing gives the Magic the edge.

Prediction: Orlando in seven.

#4 Atlanta vs. #5 Miami

The NBA has a huge stake in this one. One of their top 3 most marketable players, Dwayne Wade, is playing in this match up. On the other side you one of the most lethargic fan bases known to man and a bunch of above average players with very little national exposure. Believe it or not Atlanta plays very well on their home court and when they step it up they can beat anyone in the NBA. But all Miami has to do is win one on the road and then cruise at home as the NBA officials are handed the same memo they received during the 2006 NBA Finals.

Prediction: Miami in six.

Western Conference Playoffs

#1 LA Lakers vs. #8 Utah Jazz

I watched the Lakers and Jazz face off a couple nights ago in LA and I came away with one over lasting impression. The Jazz play horrible defense. BDB would say its a mix of Carlos Boozer historic poor post defensive presence (hey, at least he's consistent) and AK47 diminishing wing defensive skills. I'd also like to add that Mekmet Okur is as soft as a marshmallow and Kyle Korver isn't playing because he moves his feet so well against penetrating guards. Overall this is a bad defensive team.

As for the Lakers, you have one of the most talented players to ever step on the court (and biggest douche bags) in Kobe Bryant. Pau Gasol is playing with a grace and confidence that we haven't seen in LA since James Worthy was making the best of the Show Time era. Lamar Odom has turned into the ultimate role player and Andrew Bynum is a force when he can stay healthy. Add into all that you have reputable villains in Trevor Ariza and Sascha Vujacic. This team has the best record in the west and if their home record (best in the west too) is any indication they should be playing in the NBA Finals.

But they have a major weakness. They are Kobe's team. Now don't get me wrong. When Kobe is on he is unstoppable. He has also learned how to become a much better team player and look for things like assists and rebounds not because it looks better on the box score but it helps his team win. And Kobe Bryant wants to win as much as Jordan. But what about when things don't go right?

No one is harder on his teammates then Kobe Bryant. Some of you will say that this is good but Bryant has a knack of talking down to his teammates. Sure Kobe will put his team on his back when needed but he knows his championship without Shaq depends on his teammates. This championship is the ultimate missing piece to his legacy as one of the greatest (his fate in his own mind) and while his teammates will be the key to leading him down this path they better also not get into the way.

They'll smoke the Jazz in the first round but watch out once a team figures out how to take the Lakers out of their game and Kobe is put into the position of rounding up the wagons or shooting the stubborn horse.

Prediction: Lakers in five.

#2 Denver vs. #7 New Orleans

I have my doubts in Denver going into this series. The Nuggets have been playing well of late but they haven't won a first round series since the Clinton Administration and last night I saw the same team that plays defense for 1/2 the game that we've seen for the past six years. Given that the Nuggets were not playing for much last night, the look in their eyes was that they wanted that game against the Blazers but couldn't match the intensity even if Prop Joe was coaching on the other sideline and the whole west side of Baltimore was cheering against you. But again, it is just one game and Chauncey Billips has turned this group of 12 individuals into an actual team. They just better hope that Carmelo doesn't come unglued when he is asked to take a seat on the bench.

As for New Orleans we are talking about one of the best teams in the league when they are healthy (I read 19-5 today) and last year this team was one crazed bench warmer thinking he was the next incarnation of Jerry West from facing the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. But I get the feeling this team is starting to turn on Byron Scott and failing to put away a gimping San Antonio team last night shows that lack finishing off other teams late. They could surprise but the safe bet is Denver (side bet, that Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony get into the slap fight of the century sometime during this series).

Prediction: Denver in six.

#3 San Antonio vs. #6 Dallas

"Never under estimate the heart of a champion." -Rudy T.

Unless that champion has bad knees and one of its big three out for the season.

Isn't it funny that two weeks ago when San Antonio announce that Manu Ginobli was out for the season we would have never predicted they would win the Southwest Division and take home the #3 seed? But we all forget about the NBA officials and another over the hill veteran jacking up three pointers at the buzzer (or after). Tony Parker is one of the top 3 point guards in this league and no one has better playoff experience then the Spurs.

On the other side you have a very underrated Dallas team that can take anyone on their home court and they have a little experience in these playoffs too. Jason Terry is playing the best ball of his career and Dirk has very quietly taken care of business. A big question mark is how far their legs can take them in the playoffs and how is Jason Kidd going to hold Parker to under 50 points night in and night out. Still I think the Mavs should have enough to get through the mere shadow of this former championship team wearing silver and black.

Prediction: Dallas in six.

#4 Portland vs. #5 Houston

This is the team that I least wanted the Blazers to face in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets owned the series with Portland this year (could have swept them if it wasn't for a miracle shot early in the season) and Ron Artest and Shane Battier have been giving Brandon Roy the fits every time he steps on the court. Yao Ming is a force and of all things Von Wafer plays with a huge chip on his shoulder against the Blazers. Add to that if Aaron Brooks gets hot this could stretch the Blazer defense which would prevent the Blazers from fronting Yao on the post.

But....

This Portland team is starting to gel at the very right moment. Individual aside, they are getting more layups now then at any time in the past 18 years. Their defense is forcing teams to beat them from the outside (and even then all shots are being contested) and if someone does get a point blank look at the hoop expect the shot to be contested or get hammered. But a huge surprise in this is how well they are starting to defend the pick and roll. Rarely do you see the Blazers switching that caused poor match ups and the rotations are sealing the drive to the hoop. Add to that they Blazers are running it more no one is taking advantage of easy hoops like LaMarcus Aldridge.

And if you take a look at this team individually you have to wonder if any team has more talent from 1-10 like the Blazers. You have two centers who can defend Yao for all 48 minutes. Aldridge is getting better by the game. Rudy is playing every game like the gold medal is on the line. Travis Outlaw figured out how to play physical defense. Steve Blake gets the ball to the right people and will kill you with with the three point shot if you leave him open (with no hesitation these days). Nic Batum plays defense like a veteran and Sergio is leading one of the best second units beyond every homers imagination. And their is this guy named Brandon Roy.

With all that's said the one dark cloud over the Blazer locker room is the lack of playoff experience. How will this team respond in the playoffs when the intensity is taken up a notch? Everyone seems to think that the Blazers will fold because only a handful of players have been in the playoffs and even then it was in a limited role. But one thing people who have not been watching this team do not realize is that this team has stepped up their intensity the past month to a playoff level. I don't think you will see the team skip a beat when the teams jump it up Saturday night. Add to that the tremendous home court advantage and we may be something special brewing in Portland this spring.

Prediction: Blazers in seven.

-Beavers415

Only God Knows How Much I Hate The Lakers

2009-04-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my annual winter break and I've been waiting for the perfect time to post another story. All it took was watching the highlights from last night's Kings/Lakers game.

But let me take you back to a conversation I had with BD Booth (one of this blog's infamous Laker fans). It was around the time last year when the Staple Center crowd would always erupt in the 4th quarter with "M-V-P" chants when ever Kobe went to the line. But this time it was the Arco Arena that started that chant. Both of us just shook our head in amazement that a town that has such a storied "rivalry" with the Lakers would start, or even allow, a chant like this to occur. BD Booth conceded that this would never happen in Portland and that's saying something because he hates the Blazers like I hate the Lakers.

So I'm watching the highlights from last nights game on Sports Center. The crowd is probably 50/50 but probably more of a Laker home game then the other way around. Some people may defend the lack of a Kings crowd because their team is horrible and the Lakers are tied for second closest team to Sacramento. But I'd like to add that LA is over 400 miles away and the Kings' fan base is supposed to renowned for supporting it's team during hard times (they never had the good times until 1999 and that's 15 years after their team was hijacked from Kansas City). How can you let the "hated" Lakers take over your arena?

Now that conversation of the "M-V-P" chant makes more sense on why it happened. When you have that many fans of the other team in your arena that would show up on the decibel radar. Would this ever happen in Portland? I'd hope not but I'm pretty sure if it did their would be a Detroit Style riot in the upper deck.

Some other random thoughts

-Over the past few weeks the race for the playoffs in the Western Conference has heated up. It has been 9 team race but for some reason every TV broadcast showed ten teams even though that tenth team (Golden State) was 18 games out with 15 games to play. The only two reasons I could think of why they would show ten teams is it looks better then nine or they are pouring salt on the wounds of the poor Warrior fans. If it is the latter, don't you think the loss of Baron Davis, the antics of Monte Ellis, and the volatility of Stephen "Jack" Jackson is enough?

Now that the NBA has taken the beers away from Don Nelson's post game press conferences you wonder if they would honor a prescription to the Oaksterdam's finest if he brought that to the podium. You know he needs it.

-How do we stop Stephen A. Smith? I've tried changing the channel. I've even wrote ESPN to let them know that he makes Tom Tolbert look like Jack Ramsey, but still he continues to de-educate the masses of NBA fans. Here are some examples of his brilliance.

Last year the Pistons fired coach Flip Saunders and replaced him with rookie coach Michael Curry. Smith praised this move which would put them over the top. Don't believe me, check it out for yourself.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=smith_stephen&page=pistons-080603

I wish I had the youtube clips for these next ones but on TV he praised the Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups trade and slammed the Blazers 2006 NBA draft. Currently the Pistons are enduring their worst season since in 10 years and the the Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are leading the Blazers to their first playoffs since the Jail Blazer era.

I wish I could find a profession where I could be this wrong all the time. And to think it's my blog that doesn't get the national spotlight.

-And finally a simple question. Am I supposed to care about who wins the women's NCAA basketball championship?

-Beavers415

When In Doubt, Blame the Media...

2009-01-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

Even when you are the media.

Just a quick note as I recover from the holiday season and prepare for the That Guy of the Year award.

I just finished watching a less then impressive Texas victory over a gutty Ohio State team in the Fiesta Bowl and something caught my ear. It was when the sideline reporter for Fox asked Mack Brown, the coach for Texas, if this victory was a statement win for the AP voters who left them out of the championship game.

One problem with that statement/question. The AP has no bearing on the BCS formula for the last two years. In fact it is a collaboration of coaches, whoever votes in the Harris Poll, and computer polls who decides who plays in the "championship" game.

Of course Mack Brown didn't hesitate to claim that his team had a legitimate gripe about not being in the championship game. For some reason after watching USC and Utah whoop Alabama and Penn State his statement has a lot less validity.

But of course this whole thing is the medias fault. Lord knows its not the BCS school presidents, TV networks and the corporate sponsors who put on this whole event.

BTW, have you noticed how lame this bowl season has been? Especially the BCS Bowls? Or are you like most of the nation when you don't even remember the game is on until you stumble upon it flipping through channels?

So why some of you think the bowl set up gives us the best regular season in all of sports, you can't argue that it also gives us the worst finish. That is unless the BCS "Championship" Game is like Boise State/Oklahoma times a billion. That is if anyone remembers to watch.

But don't forget that its all the medias fault.

-Beavers415

That Guy of the Week

2008-12-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

A little late on this one but we definitely have a winner.

Last week in LA the New York Knicks took on the Lakers at the Staples Center. The Knicks took it to the Lakers and had a chance to win in the last few seconds- only to see the home team prevail.

But that's not the reason we are writing about that game. It has to do with who attended the event. And we're not talking about the star studded audience who typically show up for these games. We're talking about a player who is currently on the Knicks' roster.

Stephon Marbury.

Here is a guy who is negotiating a buy out of his contract with the Knicks because he believes his coach, teammates, and management have given up on him. He is the same guy who, during a game last month, was suited up because the Knicks only had 7 active players available for a game and he refused to play at the request of his coach.

So, to see him court side (not on the bench--court side, Jack Nicholson court side) at the game in LA created a little bit of shock and awe by his teammates. For the most part they ignored him and played a great game against one of the best teams in the NBA.

For those who questioned whether Marbury's loyalty was to himself or the team during this buyout, we now have a foregone conclusion: Anyone who would rather pay thousands of dollars to show up his teammates on one of the biggest stages in professional sports than sit on the bench with his comrades for free, completely shows what kind of douche bag he really is.

And That Guy of the Week.

-Beavers415

That Guy of the Week

2008-12-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

Hey Joe, I heard their is a bridge for sale between Sausalito and San Francisco for $5.

Last week their was a rumor on Brooks Hatch's blog on the Corvallis Gazette-Times that a t-shirt commemorating the back-to-back championships won by the Oregon State baseball team was buried in the ground at the new duck baseball field. It sounded reminiscent of the David Ortiz jersey being buried at the new Yankee Stadium that was discovered after crews excavated it from the poured concrete.

So what happened?

This is the story according to Joe Giansante, Oregon Associate Athletic Director, TV voice of the ducks, and a condescending prick of everything not puke and piss colored.

“We had heard the rumors, so we had some equipment come out and take a look to make sure there was nothing there. We’re 100 percent sure there’s not a jersey under home plate.”

He added, “It’s a fun thing for the rivalry, even though we can’t really call it a rivalry yet because we haven’t played it for 28 years. We’re excited that Beaver fans are interested in us and the park, and we hope to have a tremendous rivalry.”

A couple things to note here.

First, the construction firm that did the excavating is run by an OSU engineering grad. How much do you want to bet that Giansante heard the rumors and demanded that they dig up the home plate area because of this very reason? Knowing that they didn't find anything I'm sure that a nice little change order was submitted to the universities athletic department and possibly a schedule extension. I know I would.

Second, why does Giansante think "Beaver fans are interested in us and the park" when nothing was found? Sure, we know that Beaver fans can't stand the ducks and the writers at this blog would root for the Taliban over them. But as far as we are concerned our interest in the ducks baseball program is more about waiting to see their arrogant attempt to building a winning and financially sufficient (only one team did this in all of the NCAA last year) program in the uber competitive Pac-10 fall apart.

So Joe, for paying for your own ignorance and arrogance, you bought yourself one thing know one can ever take away from you. You're That Guy of the Week.

-Beavers415

The Greatest Bowl Preview EVER!

2008-12-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

Now there's a photo of a bowl game I can support, but that's where it ends. I could give you a long list of why I don't like the college football bowl game set up. From the long layoff that leads to stale games, to the cheesy corporate naming rights, it always leads me to the same conclusion. Lame. But don't take it from me.

Let's take a look at all 34 bowl games being played this holiday season.

EagleBank Bowl

Teams: Wake Forest (7-5) vs. Navy (8-4)
Location: RFK Stadium, Washington DC

Believe it or not, this is probably one of the most reasonable bowl games in our lineup. First, both teams don't have to travel too far to get to DC and second they are respectable teams. But then again you are spending your bowl game in a cold weather city.

Prediction: The game is on at 8am on the west coast and besides die hard fans from both teams watching, this game posts lower ratings then roller derby on the ocho.

Las Vegas Bowl

Teams: BYU (10-2) vs. Arizona (7-5)
Location: Las Vegas, wherever UNLV plays their home games.

This is Arizona's first bowl game in 10 years and Bob Stoops' reward for saving his job in Tucson is getting killed by BYU to further humiliate the Pac-10. The biggest loser in this one is the city of Las Vegas as thousands of Cougar fans from Provo spend no time gambling or drinking in Sin City.

Prediction: SEC fans talk smack on the chat boards about how weak the Pac-10 is because they can't beat a Mountain West team. When BYU calls LSU to schedule a game they make an excuse about how they don't schedule weak opponents. The rest of the nation slaps their foreheads in amazement.

St. Petersburg Bowl

Teams: Memphis (6-6) vs. South Florida (7-5)
Location: St. Petersburg, FL, in the dump the Devil Rays play baseball.

When I first saw this bowl game name I thought "a game played in Russia would be pretty cool." Then when I saw it was in Florida and the match up features the local team, I then thought "I guess Hawaii has competition for turning a bowl game into another home game."

Prediction: 20 years from now an Aflac trivia question will ask "what bowl game did Memphis and South Florida play in which only lasted one year?"

New Mexico Bowl

Teams: Colorado State (6-6) vs. Fresno State (7-5)
Location: Albuquerque, NM, wherever UNM plays their home games

This game has been going on for a few years now and why wouldn't a game in Albuquerque not make it when a game in Boise does? This might also be the only match up where the visitors might be happy to leave their hometown for New Mexico.

Prediction: The announcers for ESPN constantly forget which team plays in which conference and by the end of the game the formation of the "Mountain WAC" is declared.

New Orleans Bowl

Teams: Southern Miss (6-6) vs. Troy (8-4)
Location: New Orleans, Super Dome It can't get much southern then this.

A team from Alabama and one from Mississippi playing in Louisiana. I'm sure the place will be packed to show case the dominate football and pageantry that only exists in the south.

Prediction: The game will be delayed for 2 hours when FEMA representatives show up with relief supplies for Hurricane Katrina victims. George Bush will show up in the ESPN booth for a surprise interview and declare "better late then never."

Poinsettia Bowl

Teams: Boise State (12-0) vs. TCU (10-2)
Location: San Diego, Jack Murphy Stadium

Before this game many people were touting Boise State as a BCS Bowl contender. They were undefeated, had their first victory on the road over a Pac-10 team, and were two years removed from beating an overrated Oklahoma team in the 2nd greatest Fiesta Bowl of all time. Instead they are playing in the ghetto version of the Holiday Bowl against a team that has played well in the underdog role this year.

Prediction: The hype machine at ESPN has been advertising this game as "the best non-BCS match-up" which throws Oregon Sports Network announcer Joe Giansante into a tizzy. Every time a reporter mentions the magnitude of this game Joe screams at his television "BOISE STATE ALREADY PLAYED THEIR SUPER BOWL BACK IN SEPTEMBER!"

Hawaii Bowl

Teams: Hawaii (7-6) vs. Notre Dame (6-6)
Location: Honolulu, Hula Bowl

Its amazing to think the Notre Dame's last bowl victory was when Mark May's side kick was coaching the Fighting Catholics. Many Irish fans are probably thinking this is probably one of their best chances because it’s in their nature to talk down to less traditional teams. So what "thug excuse" will Notre Dame fans make when Hawaii pushes them around on their home field?

Prediction: Catholics across the country pray for a Christmas miracle only to find out that Charlie Weis still has a job on Christmas Day. Post-advent masses set record lows for attendance and the Catholic Church starts to allow gay marriage, wearing condoms, and preach evolution to bring them back.

Motor City Bowl

Teams: Florida Atlantic (6-6) vs. Central Michigan (8-4)
Location: Detroit, some dome which is witness to really crappy football on Sundays

If you were a fan of a 6-6 football team who had the option of watching your team in Detroit in December or spend it in Florida, where would you be?

Prediction: Fans of UW and WSU feel sorry for the people at this game who have to watch the worst bowl game of the season.

Meineke Car Care Bowl

Teams: West Virginia (8-4) vs. North Carolina (8-4)
Location: Charlotte, NC, where the Panthers play

It cracks me up that one of the better bowl match-ups is called "Meineke Car Care Bowl." But I guess it could be worse. What if Maxipad or Summer Breeze got involved in the college football post season? Some of you might say that I am being ridiculous but how many of you twenty years ago would have believed me if I told you the names of some of today's bowls?

Prediction: A West Virginia fan takes a crap in the North Carolina band section during the half time show. Oh, wait a second. That's not a prediction. That's history.

Champs Sports Bowl

Teams: Wisconsin (7-5) vs. Florida State (8-4)
Location: Orlando, probably the Citrus Bowl but I wouldn't be surprised if this is really an Arena Football game being played in the "O" rena.

Some people might tune in to watch this game and if you were in a coma for 10 years you might actual think this is a BCS match-up. But in reality it is the ghetto Citrus Bowl and we are watching a team that needed an "Alexis Serna" type performance from the Cal Poly kicker for the Badger to have a winning season.

Prediction: My friends from Wisconsin call me up right after the game and tell me that Oregon State can have Paul Chryst back.

Emerald Bowl

Teams: Miami (7-5) vs. California (8-4)
Location: San Francisco, Pac Bell/SBC/AT&T Park

This game is a tremendous opportunity for the Cal Bears to win a bowl game. It is only a BART ride away from the Berkeley campus and Miami is still in rebuilding mode after facing their latest bout with criminal mischief and cheating. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hurricanes run the Bears off the field like Florida State did to UCLA a couple of years ago in this same game.

Prediction: 5000 Cal fans show up for this game and their athletic department calls it a great showing of support.

Independence Bowl

Teams: Northern Illinois (6-6) vs. Louisiana Tech (7-5)
Location: Shreveport, La. and that's all you need to know.

Can you believe that the bowl system provided us such an epic match-up of a 6-6 team vs. a 7-5 power house? I'm not even halfway through this preview and I can't believe people actually argue that a bowl system is better then the playoffs. Who really cares about a 6-6 Northern Illinois team facing off with a 7-5 La. Tech team?

Prediction: In order to boost ratings for the game the halftime show stars Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. The FCC tries to step in but then realizes that if a tree falls in the forest and no one can hear it does it make a sound?

Papajohns.com Bowl

Teams: North Carolina State (6-6) vs. Rutgers (7-5)
Location: Birmingham, Al. at a pizza joint.

Great, another 6-6 team vs. a 7-5 team. I never knew that 2008 would be the season that marks the pinnacle for putridity for college football.

Prediction: The residents of Birmingham remove all Bon Jovi songs from local juke boxes after students from the State College of New Jersey constantly played "Living on a Prayer" at the bottom of the hour for a week straight.

Alamo Bowl

Teams: Missouri (9-4) vs. Northwestern (9-3)
Location: San Antonio, The House the David Robinson Built

Remember the Alamo but what the hell is the Alamo Bowl? Well, not really. This bowl has been played for over 10 years now and some of us Pac-10 fans would beg to go to San Antonio over El Paso. This year’s match-up poses probably the best and worst 9 win teams in CFB. Oh, the story line this game conjures up is off the hook!

Prediction: A more marquee bowl match up is beat in the ratings by a repeat "Two and a Half Men."

Humanitarian Bowl

Teams: Maryland (7-5) vs. Nevada (7-5)
Location: Boise, Blue Donk Stadium.

I have several places listed on where I want to spend late December and not all of them are in warm weather destinations. But I am 100% sure the Boise is not one of them. Its too far from a palm tree to be relaxing and it is too far away from a ski resort to be considered a winter sports haven. And what is up with calling this game the "Humanitarian" Bowl? In an opposite universe is their a Torture Bowl in the Caribbean? Oh yeah, Gitmo.

Prediction: The LDS buys the rights to this bowl and moves it to Salt Lake City. Its considered a major improvement.

Texas Bowl

Teams: Rice (9-3) vs. Western Michigan (9-3)
Location: Houston, hopefully the Astro Dome

While the Alamo Bowl pits the worst and best 9 win teams, this game gives us the most surprising 9 win teams. That's all I got. Does anyone else out there really care about this game?

Prediction: It will probably be a very entertaining game for those on the east coast casually watching from a bar during their lunch break or background noise for people sleeping in on the west coast.

Holiday Bowl

Teams: Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. whoregon (9-3)
Location: San Diego, The Murph.

This is one of two bowl match ups where I've seen both teams play in person. The ducks are coming off their most impressive win ever in the Civil War and Ok. State is reeling after a hefty beating in Bedlam. I doubt those ducks will be overconfident heading into this game.

Prediction: Not only did the ducks cost each Pac-10 team a $400K for waiting until the last game of the year to put together a complete effort, they will embarrass the entire conference by losing its bowl match up. At least Beaver Nation can enjoy the later.

Armed Forces Bowl

Teams: Houston (7-5) vs. Air Force (8-4)
Location: Fort Worth, Texas, maybe in a mine field.

Is it required for a military based team to be in this bowl game? That would at least add some flair to the traditions of the bowl games because what tradition is left over since the BCS madness? But you know what would have higher rating then this game? A Mean Machine type team from Gitmo vs. an Armed Forces team. Who in this country wouldn't watch that game?

Prediction: Dubya has another surprise visit by landing the Air Force One helicopter at the 50 yard line where the fans proceed to throw their shoes at him and shouting "Yes We Can!"

Sun Bowl

Teams: Oregon State (8-4) vs. Pitt (9-3)
Location: El Paso, the Sun Bowl

To any of you reading this blog you know that I have not been very kind of the job Dave Wannstedt has done at Pitt. How ironic that my beloved Beavs are facing off against the Panthers in what is more then likely going to be a let down game for OSU. But I have faith in this OSU team will come out prepared and bring their A-game against Pitt. If they do this, they win easily. If not...look out.

Prediction: I take off from work early to watch this game before I head up to meet up with my fiancé and friend in Vancouver BC for the New Years holiday. The Beavs go down two scores in the 4th quarter and I take off to get a head start on the trip. OSU comes back and win the game by converting a two point conversion with no time remaining. As I cross the boarder to Canada, a customs agent asks me if I saw the finish to the game and I just drop my head and speed off into Canada. I get pulled over for not complying with the boarder check and spend New Years in the Canadian version of Gitmo in the Northwest Territories. (Did you ever think I could work in 3 references to Guantanamo Bay in this article?)

Music City Bowl

Teams: Boston College (9-4) vs. Vanderbilt (6-6)
Location: Nashville, right next to Vanderbilt's campus

Here's the real storyline of this game. Can Vanderbilt finish the season with a winning record or they continue their assault on OSU's record for consecutive losing seasons? Unfortunately ESPN will focus on SEC dominance and how well their fans travel. Some BS like that.

Prediction: SEC fans come in droves to support Vandy and talk the Commodore supporters ears off about how great the SEC is. After the game Vandy fans are embarrassed not only on the football field but with the lack of intelligence by their other SEC brethren.

Insight Bowl

Teams: Kansas (7-5) vs. Minnesota (7-5)
Location: Tempe, thank God it’s not being played in the BOB.

Kansas is a year removed from a BCS bowl and the Golden Gophers were last year’s version of the Washington Huskies (but much better). Funny to see them meet in the middle at the Insight Bowl. Don't forget to thank your bowl partners for bringing us a match up of a team on the rise versus a team on the decline. I doubt a Texas Tech/Minnesota comeback barn burner is going to happen despite what it is being billed as.

Prediction: Mario Chalmers hits a field goal after the Gopher misses the back end of a 4 &1 to tie the game and send it to overtime. It goes to 7 overtimes in what is considered the greatest bowl game in the history of man kind, but no one sees it because it’s on the NFL Network.

Chick-fil-A Bowl

Teams: LSU (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (9-3)
Location: Atlanta, Georgia "Peach" Dome

Can we go back to calling this game the Peach Bowl? How about making it a law that all bowl games associated with a fruit get to keep their naming rights? If you did this I promise that I will stop making "fruit bowl" jokes when talking about these games. Prediction: More of a hope hear, but Georgia Tech puts a beating on LSU and Les Miles gets fired. Not that he would deserve it, but it seems like fans in the SEC have a short trigger these days.

Outback Bowl

Teams: South Carolina (7-5) vs. Iowa (8-4)
Location: Tampa, the new Sombrero

Can we make it a rule that if you have a New Years Day bowl the teams that play in it have to have 8 or more wins? I sort of like the Citrus Bowl because its the first game of the New Years Day and usually it pits two good SEC/Big 11 teams. This year, it sucks. Remind me again why we don't have a playoff?

Prediction: I get up on New Years Day in the Canadian Gitmo, turn on the game and puke. It has nothing to do with alcohol.

Capital One Bowl

Teams: Georgia (9-3) vs. Michigan State (9-3)
Location: Orlando, the Citrus Bowl, I think

This is probably one of the better bowls we get to watch in the bowl season because it always seems that the Big 11 team "upsets" the local SEC team. I really wish a Pac-10 team could get slated for a game like this. It sure would be beat going to El Paso every other year (see a theme here?).

Prediction: Attendance for this game hits an all time low when fans using their Capital One card don't have enough credit to purchase a ticket due to the sponsor cutting back peoples limits.

Gator Bowl

Teams: Clemson (7-5) vs. Nebraska (8-4)
Location: Jacksonville, former host of the Super Bowl (amazing, huh?)

Another New Years Bowl, another 7 win team on display. What's even more amazing is that a team that fired its coach at mid-season is in this bowl game. Can we count the ways on why the bowl season makes no sense at all?

Prediction: Terry Bowden, looking for revenge against his brother's former employer, gets busted hooking up with the Gator Bowl Court Princess which he explains, "I really thought it was the Gator Bowl Committee President's daughter."

Cotton Bowl

Teams: Mississippi (8-4) vs. Texas Tech (11-1)
Location: Dallas, the Cotton Bowl

Is this the last year this bowl game is played at the actual Cotton Bowl? Think of the history. Joe Montana and Notre Dame 4th quarter comeback and Colorado's thrashing of Oregon ("Scoreboard baby!"). If Ole Miss wins this game it might join the lore of this game. Yeah, it would be that big of a miracle. Should be one hell of a game.

Prediction: The only people who watch this game other then the fan base are workers on the West Coast on their lunch break and a few people who look up to notice a blow out during their happy hour on the East Coast. FOX is praying for a further decline in the economy so more people are forced to watch the game from home. And you wondered why they supported the Bush Administration.

Liberty Bowl

Teams: Kentucky (6-6) vs. East Carolina (9-4)
Location: Memphis, the Liberty Bowl (the house that Terry Baker Owns!)

How crappy is Kentucky? You must be really bad if you are a six win SEC team (considering they schedule 4 OOC cupcakes a year). And you're reward is facing an ECU team that has beat the 2008 Fiesta Bowl champ and this years ACC champ? I hope we get a C-U-S-A chant during this game.

Prediction: The fans of the SEC blame the Pac-10 for Kentucky's performance because Rich Brooks went to Oregon State and coached at Oregon.

International Bowl

Teams: Buffalo (8-5) vs. Connecticut (7-5)
Location: Toronto, Canada eh, The Sky Dome

Finally. A bowl location I can get behind. Imagine you are a student at UConn or Buffalo and you are 19 or 20 years old. I would be buying Molson by the kegs for this game. The only thing that could top it would be the Amsterdam Bowl, but organizers of that game would have to write in a clause that Penn State or Oregon can't attend because they wouldn't pass the drug test. Especially now since Bongtario Smith blew his cover a few years ago with the Whizinator.

Prediction: A small amount of fans in New England watch this game and that's it.

GMAC Bowl

Teams: Tulsa (10-3) vs. Ball State (12-1)
Location: Mobile, AL, in some drained swamp where they painted the dead grass green.

If Ball State and Tulsa wanted to leave the season being the best unknown teams in the nation, then playing in the GMAC Bowl just guaranteed that. Here we have two of the better stories of the season facing off in what should be a highly competitive, high scoring affair which would give the Boise State/Louisville Liberty Bowl a run for its money.

Prediction: The smarter CFB fan tunes in but only if it is convenient. The fans of the "elite" southern and Midwest programs turn the channel to a TV show with Charlie Sheen.

And now the BCS Bowls

Orange Bowl

Teams: Virginia Tech (9-4) vs. Cincinnati (11-2)
Location: Miami, not in the actual Orange Bowl

No offense to my Hokie friends because your team earned a BCS spot by winning the ACC, but do you think your team would stand a chance against Boise State? This is another example of why the BCS is not about matching the best teams of college football against each other but keeping the power with the BCS conference teams. The system works.

Prediction: A half filled Joe Robbie Stadium witnesses a tough, hard fought, defensive battle which comes down to overtime where a blocked field goal seals the game for the Hokies. It should be a good game but who really cares about Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati? Didn't the Hokies pay the Bearcats a few years ago to visit Blacksburg for a warm-up game?

Rose Bowl

Teams: Penn State (11-1) vs. USC (11-1)
Location: Pasadena, the Rose Bowl

Two teams. Two loses. Both on the road to upstart 8-4 teams. One team runs the Spread HD and the other has the best defense in college football history. Sounds more like a championship game then just another BCS Bowl game. Well, I'm sure the BCS formula got the championship game right.

Prediction: Well, more like a hope. One team will win this game and the AP votes the victor #1 in their poll.

Sugar Bowl

Teams: Utah (12-0) vs. Alabama (12-1)
Location: New Orleans, the Super Bowl

I wonder if Tide fans think this is going to be another Georgia/Hawaii match up from last year. If so, they are going to be quickly surprised. Both teams are solid though, and Alabama is the victim of a system that punishes teams that lose later rather then the teams that lose at home to inferior programs.

Prediction: During the half time show, a drunken Utah fan (don't forget that not all Utes are non-drinking Mormans, Joseph Smith forbid) runs over the foot of Utah's All-American kicker destroying his ankle bone. The kicker makes a heroric return to the game to attempt the game winning field goal. With all his might he strikes the ball to only see it start to fall short when all of a sudden his foot, which severed from his leg during the kick, boots the ball in mid-air which sends the ball through the uprights for the winning score.

Fiesta Bowl

Teams: Ohio State (10-2) vs. Texas (11-1)
Location: Glendale, AZ, the Cactus

I'm sorry to keep rambling about this, but how much better would this game be if Boise State was playing? Would it have been that big of a travesty if two non-BCS conference teams were in a BCS bowl? Instead you send a two loss Ohio State team, who's only quality win is over Michigan State to face a team that has a legitimate case to be playing in the "championship" game.

Prediction: Sorry Greg, Texas puts a whooping on the Buckeyes that hasn't been seen in Arizona since the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.

BCS "Championship" Title

Teams: Oklahoma (12-1) vs. Florida (12-1)
Location: Miami, Joe Robbie Stadium

Here is the game the game we all wanted. Two polls voted on by coaches and the CFB elite and several computer rankings and a formula to give us the match-up of the season. Yeah, this is much better then having a playoff determined the match up in this game. At least we can watch the past two winners of the Heisman Trophy slug it out on college football's biggest stage. To bad that award is as set up as this sham of a game.

Prediction: Oklahoma goes back to see if the egg they laid in the 2004 BCS "Championship" Title had hatched. Once they see that it hasn't they lay another one and the rest of the college football world is subjected to fans from South Carolina to Mississippi State chant "S-E-C!"

This is why it is so hard for me to root for Florida but out of respect for several friends I have that went there here it goes...

Go Gators.

-Beavers415

Quarter Season Awards

2008-12-10T00:47:00.000-08:00

As the first quarter of the NBA season comes to a close, it brings us Here at That Guy Sports to the quarter season awards. There are several teams and players that have distinguished themselves in one way or another that deserve recognition for the work they have done thus far, so without further adieu, here are the first four.

Best Team

This is a discussion of three teams. The 20-2 Celtics, 18-3 Cavs, or the 17-3 Lakers. All three are off to fast starts and the mention of 70 wins has been thrown out there. None of these teams are going to win 70, but all three could crack 60, which is pretty darn good. Although the Cavs and Lakers would be a solid choice, the most impressive start belongs to the Celtics, which is somewhat surprising.

It is easy to find motivation to get off to a fast start when you are hungry for your first championship, but when you are the returning champs with a target on your back and a ring in the bank, the tendency is to get complacent in the regular season (see San Antonio).

The Celtics are currently on a twelve game winning streak and have the third best scoring differential in the NBA (9.2 points). If it were not for Cleveland the Celtics would already have the eastern conference all but wrapped up. The next twenty games or so should show whether or not the Cavs are for real or if the Celtics are well on their way to another visit to the NBA finals, God forbid. Yeah I said it.

MVP

This one is no secret, it is undoubtedly Lebron James. The Cavs are off to one of their best starts in franchise history and it has been due to the stellar play from James. He averages nearly 27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and is shooting 49 percent from the floor while leading the Cavs to a rather surprising 18-3 start.

The scary thing is that his numbers could be even higher if it weren't for a string of blowouts that have somewhat limited Lebron's minutes. He averages over five minutes per game less than last season and with the Cavs currently owning the league's second best record along with a league best scoring differential, (13.6 points) James is the clear cut choice.

Biggest Waste of 20 Minutes or More of Playing Time

I am sure every fan has his or her own idea of what makes one player a bigger waste of space over another, so when choosing a leader in this category try to throw an intangible in there that makes one player clearly stand out over the rest. Think Kwame Brown three years ago, before everyone was positive he was a complete waste of talent. With that in mind, tell me there is not a bigger waste of time and space than the Bulls Tyrus Thomas.

In his third season, the power forward Thomas averages 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and shoots 34 percent from the field in almost 22 minutes per game. Those are just the simple facts and now for the intangible.

Thomas, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft was traded to the Bulls from the Blazers for Chicago's second overall pick, who happened to be LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers threw in Viktor Khryapa and the Bulls threw away their chances of competing in the east.

Maybe this is all part of the ebb and flow that is the NBA as the Blazers appear to have given the Bulls a small taste of their own medicine after the Jordan/Bowie fiasco. If Aldridge can manage to find a way to win six NBA championships in Portland, that would probably make both franchises pretty close to even.

Biggest Joke of the Quarter Season

The New York Knicks held this title on lock down since the Isiah Thomas (a former That Guy Sports weekly shoe in) era began, but when he left the title left with him. Although the Stephon Marbury saga is a huge joke in itself, that is just D'Antoni cleaning up the garbage that Thomas left behind, so we can't really put that on the current Knicks situation.

A situation we can blame on a current franchise is what is happening in the middle of nowhere in that place so creatively named Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder are the laughing stock of the NBA and for good reason.

When Clay Bennett bought the Sonics he did so with the intention of moving the team to Oklahoma City and he accomplished his goal by making the team so bad that it would be impossible for any city to support such a team.

Now the Thunder, whose name sounds very WNBA'ish, have started the season playing a lot like you would expect a WNBA team to play. They are off to a league worst 2-20 start, their head coach has been fired and the fans are already booing.

I myself find the booing pretty pathetic. It is great that the fans sell out the arena and that they are excited for their new professional franchise, but what the hell did they expect? Did they think they were getting a winner that was only 18,000 faithfully blind fans away from getting over the top? I think the harsh reality is starting to set in, not only for the fans of OKC, but for David Stern and the NBA as well.

Seattle was the 14th largest market in the country and was a team that had a lot of history along with an NBA championship. The Thunder on the other hand are the worst team in the NBA, have no history and are stuck in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma.

Hmm let's see, the beautiful Pacific Northwest where the grass is green, (please note the double meaning here in honor of the northwest) the beer is flowing and the mountains are majestic, or Oklahoma City? The the place where the okie meets the city and the largest city that is closest to Norman.

I hope the current situation is giving the old Sonic fans out there a little happiness for what is an otherwise bad taste in their mouth and that David Stern is kicking himself for what will soon become his second tragic decision in a row. The other one being the inception of the Charlotte Bobcats. How that city got a second team I will never know.

KHoc

Just Some Thoughts

2008-12-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

The fall sports season winds down I leave you with my thoughts as we head towards the winter.

-I'm almost recovered from the devastating loss OSU suffered in the Civil War. It really sucks having to relinquish college football control of the State of Oregon but my "cup is half full" attitude is that OSU fans can show how to be humble in defeat. I tip my cap to the ducks who are the best football team in the state and in no way should any Beaver fan claim different. The last thing OSU fans would want to do is act like a "duck" in defeat.

-I don't want to sound ungrateful, but what kind of reward is spending New Years Eve in El Paso? While I have heard that the locals are some of the most hospitable on the bowl tour and the game has a lot of history, it is a perfect example of why the post-season bowl set up in college football is a sham. Not only do you have to pay a ton of money to fly out to West Texas (if you can find a flight) but did we mention you get to spend your new years in El Paso.

The only saving grace would be if Juarez is half as cool as Tijuana....Never mind.

-This past week John Hollinger from ESPN.com said that the Cleveland Cavaliers have a good shot at winning 70 games this year. Reason being they are 17-3 and they have won their past 8 games by a total of 174 points. Never mind those opponents are Charlotte, Indiana, the Knicks, Milwaukee, Golden State, the team formerly known as the Sonics, the Knicks again and Atlanta. Now I don't want to diminish the accomplishments of the Cavs as I think they are a real contender in the East this year, but the only team that won 70 games in the NBA was Michael Jordan's best Bulls team. Before we even mention 70 wins with this team, lets see if they can beat Boston first.

-Can we make it a law the "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary "I didn't know he/she was 10" Glitter is only played by the home team when the game has been put away in the final seconds and the opposing team has more wins then loses? And you can only play it once during the entire game.

-Please Portland Trail Blazers, stop referring to Lamarcus Aldrigde as "L.A." and refrain from playing the song "We Love L.A." at all times. Last time I checked the more popular association of the abbreviation "L.A." was the smog ridden cesspool which has more douche bags per capita then a Yale "C student" frat party.

-A few weeks ago I sat 15 rows behind the hoop at the Blazers/Timberwolves game and I was not very impressed with the Rose Garden crowd. Maybe they are above average crowd for a typical NBA team but after attending several Warrior games in Oakland the past few year my expectations for the home fans is set very high. And don't give me the excuse that people with money are more docile then the poorer fans. The people attending the games in the Bay Area are probably only trailing New York and LA for richest fans in the NBA. The richers in Portland need to pull the stick out of their ass and represent for their town in the best possible way. This means making noise when your team is on defense or when the other team is shooting a free-throw, cheering hustle and good teamwork, and stand up and go crazy when your home team makes a good play. That's it. And if you think you are doing enough, watch film of the Golden State crowds and tell yourself that you have to do better.

-Speaking of Golden State, can it get any worse if you are a Warrior fan? Two years removed from breaking a 14 year playoff drought and its highest expectations since Run TMC, your team is 6-15, you allow 111+ points a game and your best player is out due to a moped accident. It's only a matter of time before Stephen Jackson beats Sasha Vujacic like he was an innocent bystander at a Detroit Pistons game. Now that I think about it, sometimes bad things happen for a reason.

-This past weekend I remembered that the NFL not only tracks fantasy football points but their teams actual wins and losses. Do they also have a complicated system where computers, coaches and a panel of "experts" determine who plays in the Super Bowl?

-I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason I have even less interest in the college football bowl season then ever before. Sure I will very casually watch a bowl game if I have nothing better to do during the holiday season but I can't name one game where I am saying to myself "I can't miss that match up." And the "experts" say that a college football playoff would be less successful then the current bowl system.

-Penn State loses on a last second field goal on the road to an 8-4 Iowa team. USC loses a close game on the road to a very good 8-4 Oregon State team. Texas loses a last second heart breaker on the road to an 11-1 Texas Tech team. Utah and Boise State are both undefeated. Florida lost at home to an Ole Miss team whose out of conference victories include Memphis, Samford and UL-Monroe and Oklahoma lost on a neutral field by 10 points to Texas. Which two teams are playing for a national championship?

With all that college education can anyone spell "playoff?"

-The Washington Huskies are 0-12 and no one feels sorry for them. Makes sense.

Beavers415

That Guy of the Week

2008-12-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

You beast, you savage, c'mon bark like a dog for me!

Hang with me on this one.

On Friday, the Portland Trail Blazers just got destroyed by the Boston Celtics in Bean Town in front of a nationally televised crowd. It was humiliating and the message the Blazers took from this game was they have a lot of work to do before they can compete on a championship level.

But as a fan some of the behavior by the Celtic players was embarrassing. Now I am not against trash talking in the NBA. The exchange between Brandon Roy and Paul Pierce was pretty good, especially when Roy schooled Pierce with a drive, dip and pull back jumper move that got the And-One crowd to yell "aw-shit." But Kevin Garnett's antics continue to cross the line of good old fashion shit talking to psychotic taunting. Here's a good example of what "KG" displays on a regular basis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iarveOvcNws

Its sort of tough to see, but Garnett gets on all fours after the Perkins basket and starts barking like a dog at Jerryd Bayless. Nothing is called on Garnett for this egregious taunting violation and I for one and sick of it. His whole act.

It was pretty bad when he was in Minnesota and fans on the west coast remember this but lucky for most us it usually never meant anything because his teams were so bad. But ever since he's moved to Boston his antics have got a lot worse. Add in the massive media attention and "darling" status this team has received and you have the perfect storm for KG to act like a total douche bag with no repercussions from anyone involved. This includes the refs, the league, and a lot of the press. Go ahead and argue this with me. When was the last time you saw a player get on all fours and taunt a player and not have a technical foul called?

So if the refs are not going to call anything and if the rest of the mainstream world is too cautious to criticize the marketing genius known as KG (is it "Anything is Possible" or is it "Impossible is Nothing?") we at That Guy Sports feel you deserve the title of That Guy of the Week. It's been a long time coming.

-Beavers415

That Guy of the Week

2008-12-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

This past week I read an article in ESPN The Magazine (by far the worst sports magazine I subscribe too by the way and in no way do I recommend it to anyone) talking about the state of NFL players a year after Sean Taylor's murder. It was titled "Living Scared" and they interviewed several players about their trials and tribulations of being in the spotlight for crimes. A lot of the focus was on what measures players should take off the field to protect themselves. More then a few talked about carrying a gun and the challenges this creates because they can't travel from home to practice because the NFL prohibits them to bring their weapon onto a practice facility.

I was conflicted reading this article because I could see the players point but then I couldn't help but think how part of the price of being a professional athlete is being in the spotlight of being a millionaire. You have all that money you'll ever need in your life and will never have to work a real job where the free agent market may mean standing in line at the unemployment office. So while I don't agree with people robbing or committing crimes against our wealthy athletes, I find it hard to shed a tear when guys like Sea-Bass Telfair gets his bling ripped off at 3am after leaving a club.

So how funny do you think it was for me to read that Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg at a club this past Friday night? How do you think it all went down? Something like....

Gold Digger: Hey Plaxico, is that a gun in your pocket or are you glad to see me ?

(as she reaches to give it the old Crocodile Dundee hand test)

Pop!!!!

According to a report on ESPN.com it said he fumbled the .40 glock before it hit his thigh. I wonder if he spiked the gun thinking he had been tackled?

Lucky for Plaxico the bullet went straight though his flesh and missed the bones and arteries.

But don't worry folks, this story has happy ending. Remember that Plaxico had a gun in a club and it was concealed. While our boy was keeping it real he forgot that we have gun laws in this country (DAMN LIBERALS!) and Plaxico has now been accused of committing TWO felony gun possession charges.

So not only did this dumb ass shoot himself he's facing criminal charges for it. How could this guy not be That Guy of the Week?

(BTW, serious honorable mention to Stephon Marbury being banished from the Knicks after refusing to play when your team only had 7 other players in uniform. I swear to God New York fans that I don't mean to pick on your local players. But how can you deny this award when you've had people like Plaxico, Zeke, Z-Bo and Starbury playing/coaching for your teams?)

-Beavers415

Those Uniforms are "Tight!" (That Guy of the Week)

2008-11-20T19:31:00.000-08:00

I don't want to sound like a queer or nothing, but I think that duck looks pretty tough.

Actually, the only way this photo looks more "lavender" if they give him a black feather boa and some wings on his shoulders.

But this was five years ago and the marketing department has learned from their mistakes. Right?

Bring out the black uniforms with the feather shoulder pads! And a new era has started at Faber. The "lavender" era.

In case you missed it, the ducks unveiled their new all black costumes last week, and it bears repeating. They had feathers on shoulders.

Not only had the uniforms had wings. Mike Bellotti was sporting a new "O with wings" hat. Even the schmuck fans were sporting the new fly gear in the stands. The next day I read that a press member said the new duds looked "tight" and Bellotti gave the uniforms a very positive review.

This is funny because everyone I know thinks the wings are ridiculous. And I'm not just talking about Beavers and dawgs here. I am talking about duck fans.

Take my brother's story for example.

"My die hard duck friend Derek said it best when the first thing he said to me days after the unveiling, and before I could even get a word out was, "I don't even want to hear a word about the new ducks uniforms. They are an embarrassment and I don't want to talk about it."

But I have run into duck fans on the internet that are really excited about the new threads. Most of it stems from the fact that they were in all black uniforms and the majority of people were trying to take pride that the ducks can wear their rivals color just because it is not listed as an official color. They claim the only OSU color is orange.

But when was the last time Oregon State was not sporting black in their uniforms? I think it is well established the OSU is orange AND BLACK and no sensible fan would argue this. And if you're rival has established this color pattern, you just don't wear this color/shade. Period. Seriously, how stupid and arrogant can you get?

My only explanation is a story I heard from a toothless guy on Mercer Island.

Sometime in the year 2005....

Pat Kilkenny: Hey Phil, did you see that Oregon State got to the College World Series this year?

Phil Knight: Sure did, who do you think supplies their uniforms and owns the local semi-pro team?

Pat: Why don't we have a baseball team?

Phi: When I was in the initial design and testing stage of my shoes, the only team that wouldn't help out was the baseball team. They said the little spikes resembled track shoes and not cleats. So I left them behind when I rose to power in the university. Let's just say they're being punished.

Pat: I don't know if that's such a wise move these days with this obvious cash cow developing for Oregon State. I make you a bet whatever they can do, we can do better.

Phil: If you did bring baseball back, you'd have to take out a men's sporting team. And don't forget about other kinky Title 9 rules.

Pat: You could take out the wrestling team. Back when I was a cheerleader the wrestlers used to make fun of us and I would go home and cry.

Phil: Don't remind me. I was the one helped ban you guys from the track meets.

Pat: So Phil, why does our football team have armor on their knees and shoulder pads.

Phil: Ha, ha, ha. That's not armor. Its diamond plating and it makes you look tough.

Pat: No offense Phil, but acid washed jeans looks better then those rags.

Phil: I know, I know. THEY'RE HORRIBLE! We got into a hot spot with our son Travis and the only way we could get him off the hook was give the design responsibilities to some six year girl from China, and that was through wall Wal-Mart who was in trouble because of child labor. You know, the old switch-a-roo.

Pat: Are you serious? What if someone finds out that some 6 year old Chinese kid who works for Wal Mart is designing your uniforms?

Phil: Don't worry about it. Do you think the fans of this school would ever call out their home team? They believe everything we tell them and I own the media.

Pat: I make you a bet that I could design a uniform that would make them come unglued.

Phil: No way. We've put studies into this. This design is the most obnoxious and offensive ensemble ever. It even beat out the early 90's New Jersey Nets uniform that was blue and red tie-died.

Pat: You don't think I could do it?

Phil: I hate it when you give me that look, but anything short of you being the AD, having the worst uniforms, and wearing your rivals colors, this fan base will never turn on you.

Pat: Is it a bet?

Phil: You're crazy. It's a bet.

Pat: Standard wager?

Phil: Standard wager.

Fast forward to November of 2008

Pat was seen handing Phil a dollar behind the Casanova Center.

Those Guys of the Week.

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Top 25

2008-11-20T18:52:00.000-08:00

Some of us can admit it. We like the song girls and it matters when we vote.

Sorry to our die hard fan when we missed our Top 25 last week. One of us, osucem, is pretty much money on submitting his ballot first. Khoc typically gets a text reminder and I just wait till I get both ballots before I vote. Last week. Lets just say that one of us forgot to vote and with my brutal cold last week I was too tired to take charge. Blah, blah, blah, WHO CARES!

So in two weeks we had some pretty significant changes at the top. Texas Tech has gone from disrespected (mainly by one voter) to the unanimous #1.

The voters all agreed with Alabama and Texas at #2 and #3.

Controversy ensues at #4 as USC takes the spot but drops behind two SEC teams on one ballot.

Oklahoma is a quiet #5 leading into this weeks big game in Norman.

#6 Florida gets some crazy love from one voter and bitch slapped by one of the others

Penn State, our former #1, slips all the way to #7, proving once again that a loss on the road to an above average at worst team is much worse then losing at home to a average at best team.

The rest spell out as you see. The voters selected from 27 teams. LSU dropped out of the Top 25 after a come from behind victory at home to Troy and whoregon received a point from the only voter who has ever put them on a ballot. No word if it was for their "tight" looking uniforms.

Rank-Team-Points-(Previous Ranking)

1. Texas Tech (3) - 75 - (2)
2. Alabama - 72 - (3)
3. Texas - 69 - (5)
4. USC - 65 - (4)
5. Oklahoma - 62 - (7)
6. Florida - 61 - (6)
7. Penn State - 58 - (1)
8. Utah - 50 - (9)
9. Oklahoma State - 49 (8)
10. Boise State - 47 - (10)
11. Ohio State - 46 - (14)
12. Missouri - 42 - (13)
13. TCU - 36 - (11)
tie. Ball State - 36 - (12)
15. Georgia - 33 - (15)
tie. BYU - 33 - (17)
17. Oregon State - 29 - (18)
18. Michigan State - 26 - (19)
19. Cincinnati - 25 - (25)
20. Pittsburgh - 17 - (NR)
21. North Carolina - 16 - (21)
22. Georgia Tech - 10 - (20)
23. Boston College - 7 - (NR)
24. Miami - 5 - (NR)
25. Cal - 3 - (16)
tie. Maryland - 3 - (22)

Also receiving votes: LSU (2), whoregon (1)

Dropped from the rankings,

West Virginia (23), LSU (25)

-Beavers415

The Trail Blazers

2008-11-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

After reading the following article my head nearly exploded....

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122644896560343600

Why the eff are the Blazers retiring Bobby Gross' number? I can understand honoring Terry Porter, but who in the heck is Bobby Gross? I can't even get a hit on a google image search with this guy. Clearly you don't mean shit to the internets if your picture can't even be found! Oh wait he's the 7th member of the Championship Team to get his number retired? Oh goody, when will the last five guys left get theirs done? We've already go too many numbers retired from guys who really aren't that special.

Dave Twardzik? Are you fucking serious? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Twardzik

Lloyd Neal? Really? http://www.nba.com/blazers/history/Learn_More_About_Lloyd_Neal-64032-41.html This dude started for only one fucking season with the Blazers! One!

Larry Steele? Marginal stats at best... Claim to fame is fouling out the most games in team history? http://www.nba.com/blazers/history/Learn_More_About_Larry_Steele-64009-41.html

I understand TP is the main reason the number 30 is getting retired, but what's the point in putting Bobby Gross in the rafters as well? As the article mentions, why not Rasheed Wallace? Don't answer this question, actually….

Next up in line to get their number retired? Most likely good ol' Corky Calhoun! Shit, this dude played two whole seasons for us! This has got to make him eligible for retiring his number!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corky_Calhoun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_NBA_Finals

Wow....

The Biggest Game of the Year

2008-11-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

*editors note: This posting is being featured at www.buildingthedam.com. If you would like to comment on the story, plenty of fans will be sharing their opinions on that sight*

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a real rant on this Beavers site but with the economy in the shape that it is in my priorities have been with work. I hope you can understand. But with Beaver Nation experiencing what could be one of the greatest seasons ever I couldn’t hold in my thoughts any longer.

First of all, I love that everyone is dedicated to the “one game at a time” philosophy. Not just the players, but especially you, the fans. I truly believe that your thoughts and hopes for this team help in every single way. It may seem “hippie and holistic” but I truly believe if you can focus and imagine good things happening for your team, it will happen. You just have to have faith and Beaver Nation has that with this team.

So what about this game against Cal? Every week it seems like each game just becomes bigger and bigger and the stakes become higher and higher. OSU is facing a very tough Bears team that has won its past two games in Corvallis and in convincing fashion. The last game in Reser was over well before OSU got on the board. It was especially annoying for me because I was living in San Francisco at the time and got suckered into bringing a Cal fan up for the game.

(Actually, the Cal fan was pretty gracious in victory but he should have been after dropping one of my Beaver flags on I-5, puking on my brother’s living room floor and hopelessly hitting on OSU coeds in embarrassing fashion. We referred to him as “The Cal Guy” because we just met him through a mutual friend/Beaver fan and he was being That Guy. He was a good enough dude but he was the DB of Destiny that weekend. But he did buy me three other Beaver flags for the one he dropped on the freeway and I still rock those flags to this day)

Regardless of recent history in Corvallis, I think OSU will win this game and do it in convincing fashion (although I will take a squeaker if it means the W). Here are my reasons why.

This team is focused: I know, I know, I just said this, but you can see that this team is taking things one game at a time and not looking ahead to any opponents. They didn’t look past Hawaii, WSU or UW and while we’ve seen many teams say the same things that the Beaver players and coaches are preaching this team is really pulling it together. I don’t think this will change against the Bears, especially since you cannot even get a cat nap in against Cal without the Bears taking advantage.

The home crowd will be fired up: While I wasn’t particularly impressed with the Beaver Crowd’s enthusiasm against ASU (although the die hard fans are always exempt when I make these kinds of statements) I think the crowd knows how important this game means to Oregon State. Not only is a Pac-10 Championship within reach, but this game will be broadcast regionally on ABC. Every Beaver fan should know that voices come back, tired legs will prevail and nothing buys you more respect from your piers from other schools then a great home crowd. And if you are still worried about being sore for cheering too much at this game, don’t forget that God invented beer for these types of occasions. Just be responsible and don’t be a jerk to the Cal fans that drove a long ways to do the same thing for their team.

(And I hope the rumor that the Student Section is planning a black out is true. That would look really cool)

This team is really confident: While some people might be discouraged that the Beavs couldn’t put a slumping ASU team away at home and were sloppy on offense against UCLA in the first half, the way that this team has responded shows that this team knows how to win games. Sure, I would love to see OSU coast to a victory in every game, but I find it more comforting seeing so many different players stepping up to make plays throughout the game. When this happens, your teammates know that they don’t have to carry their team and they just have to go out there and do their jobs.

How else does Sean Canfield recover from three costly turnovers in the past two games? He knows that he doesn’t have to do it all because he has a great offensive line and the best freshman running back in Pac-10 history (let alone the best RB in the Pac-10 this year).

What about Victor Butler rolling out in coverage to intercept the game tying two point conversion against ASU? Would he have been able to do this if Slade Norris and Stephen Paea couldn’t get pressure on the passer with great consistency?

How about Greg Laybourn’s game clinching interception last weekend against the Bruins? How is it that this guy just seems to be in the right place at the right time at the most important times in the game? I’ll tell you why. Coaching.

Greg was saying that his coaches told him before the play “watch for the wheel route.” All he had to do was wait for Kevin Craft to throw the cheese (pun intended). Give the pressure that the Beavers d-line was putting on the Bruin QB, it was just a matter of time till things floated into his hands.

And this last Laybourn example just shows how much the faith these kids have in their coaching staff. Mike Riley knows he would never have to pull his pants down at halftime to get their attention. This team knows that if they execute the game plan the way they practiced it all week they will be successful. It doesn’t matter what “cage” the other team has planned or how many 4 and 5 star players are lining up on the other side of the ball. If this team executes, they win. It’s as simple as that.

I have a lot of respect for Cal but: The Bears will have to be better then the Beavs on all these counts to beat them and I don’t see this happening.

But let me kiss up to the Bears for a second. Cal has a great defense and the 3-4 look with a very talented linebackers could cause the offense some fits. Let’s also not forget that Cal always has playmakers on their offensive side of the ball and their o-line is one of the best in the conference.

OSU fans shouldn’t forget that if it wasn’t for Joe Ayoob completing 2/3rds of his passes to the field turf worms in 2005 (“an embarrassment to the forward pass” was what one of my Cal friends texted to me after the game) and Kevin Riley’s bonehead mistake of thinking he could outrun Pac-10 linebackers with no timeouts and less then 10 seconds remaining, Cal would own a four game winning streak over the Beavs coming into this game. With Nate Longshore being the more effective QB against the Trojans last week and his impressive outing in 2006 against OSU, the Beaver DB’s better have their heads on a swivel.

But that is why they play the games.

OSU might be catching Cal at the perfect time. If there is one thing I know about the Bears, is they don’t recover well from hangovers. All last week the local media was playing up the “program changing” opportunity the Bears had against the Trojans. This was the Bears “Super Bowl” and the key to their run at the Roses. When they lost to USC, the feelings coming out of Berkeley was that their season is now a disappointment. The team's goals have regressed to hopes of a Holiday Bowl appearance and fans in the Bay Area are taking a more cynical approach to the Bears. Anyway you slice it; this is not good for the Cal faithful.

Don’t worry Cal fans. You have a great program and have one of the best coaches in the Pac-10. You will have your opportunity in this conference and a tough defeat to the Trojans is not that bad. You might figure this out someday, but not this weekend against the Beavs.

One final thought: We have some of the greatest fans in the nation and I am not saying that because I am a blatant homer, but we can be better. While 50% of you cheer like this is the last game you will ever see, the rest of Beaver Nation needs to step it up for this game. This is especially true if you are one of those fans that say “we” when talking about OSU sports teams. If you really truly think you deserve to say “we” when referring to the Beavs, then you can earn it by doing your part and lifting up this team with your undying support. This is even more crucial when your team isn’t playing well and they need a lift. At this point in the season, this is the biggest game of the year and as much as I believe that the fans were an integral part in the victory over USC, you will be for sure during this game.

So stand up, yell loud, wear Orange (unless you are in the student section), and give a Cal fans a beer to show them who the best fans in the nation are. They may need it after the whooping they receive this Saturday.

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Top 25, Week 6

2008-11-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are up to week 6 and run our streak of 100% participation to two weeks.

With that said, it is only the second time this year that all three voters agreed on #1.

The fallout of the Texas Tech victory moves the Red Raiders up to #2 and Texas falls to #5. I guess our voters think that USC losing at Oregon State is less damaging then losing to #2 on the road. Who would have thunk?

Utah continues to be dogged by the same voter but finally cracks the top 10 after Georgia gets spanked.

One of the voters can't get passed Florida's home loss to Ole Miss. Overall this blog has done to Alabama what the coaches and AP are doing to Penn State.

But lets just set the record straight. No one at this blog buys the SEC hype. I know that I will start respecting the SEC when they take on a scheduling challenge like how the Pac-10 takes on. A great philosopher said, do or do not. Never try.

So stop saying that you tried to schedule USC. Stop saying that your conference schedule is so tough that you can't take on OOC challenges. And for God's sake schedule some games out of the south! Maybe then I will respect your conference but until then you are all hype with stock more inflated then home prices in San Diego.

Which brings us up to LSU. One voter left them off their ballot completely and I almost did myself. Why? Because no one even notices you have a program when you are playing Tulane. Especially when you don't win with style.

And finally, Tulsa's Cinderella story hits midnight as the Hurricanes lose to a bad Arkansas team in Fayetteville. One voter keeps the faith but no love is found from the other two. I still don't want my beloved Beavs to face off with this team but you have to run your schedule when you play nobodies like Tulsa does.

Rank - Team (first place votes) - Points - (previous ranking)

1. Penn State (3) - 75 - (2)
2. Texas Tech - 71 - (6)
3. Alabama - 70 - (3)
4. USC - 66 - (4)
5. Texas - 61 (1)
6. Florida - 59 (7)
7. Oklahoma - 57 - (5)
8. Oklahoma State - 53 - (8)
9. Utah - 50 (10)
tie. Boise State - 50 (11)
11. TCU - 43 - (13)
12. Ball State - 39 - (16)
13. Missouri - 36 - (14)
14. Ohio State - 35 - (15)
15. Georgia - 33 - (9)
16. California - 32 - (21)
17. BYU - 26 - (17)
18. Oregon State - 23 - (19)
19. Michigan State - 22 - (24)
20. Georgia Tech - 17 - (NR)
21. North Carolina - 22 - (22)
tie. Maryland - 22 - (NR)
23. West Virginia - 12 (NR)
24. LSU - 9 - (24)
25. Cincinnati - 3 (NR)

Others receiving votes: Tulsa (2), Northwestern (2), Kansas (1)

Dropped from rankings: Tulsa (12), Florida State (18), Minnesota (23), Virginia (25)

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Top 25

2008-10-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

These top 25's are a lot tougher then you think....

Why?

College football is very inconsistent these days. Trying to find a list of 25 teams that you even think are remotely a good team has become difficult. You try to look at record but the teams with two or less loses, who are not in your top 10, usually have faced weak schedules. Then when you look at teams that have good teams but have plenty of loses you have to spend your time defending why you would rank Oregon State or Virginia (by the way, only one writer ranked Virginia but the way that Al Grohl has turned that team from horrible to above average competitive justifies the lofty ranking. Better then giving LSU the benefit of the doubt because they play in the SEC).

But when it all comes down to it college football in 2008 is a war of attrition and here is our list of the top survivors.

Rank-Team (first place votes) - Points - (Previous Ranking)

1. Texas (2) - 74 - (1)
2. Penn State (1) - 73 - (2)
3. Alabama - 68 - (3)
4. USC - 67 - (4)
5. Oklahoma - 60 - (5)
6. Texas Tech - 59 - (10)
7. Florida - 57 - (6)
8. Oklahoma State - 52 - (7)
9. Georgia - 50 - (9)
tie. Utah - 50 - (11)
11. Boise State - (11)
12. Tulsa - 40 - (14)
13. TCU - 35 - (15)
14. Missouri - 34 - (17)
15. Ohio State - 31 (8)
tie. Ball State - 31 (16)
17. BYU - 21 - (18)
tie. Florida State - 21 (NR)
19. Oregon State - 18 (21)
20. LSU - 16 - (13)
21. Cal - 15 - (NR)
tie. North Carolina - 15 (NR)
23. Minnesota - 10 (NR)
24. Michigan State - 9 (NR)
25. Virginia - 6 (NR)

Other receiving votes - South Florida (5), Maryland (5), West Virginia (3), Georgia Tech (2)

Dropped from rankings - South Florida (20), Georgia Tech (19), Kansas (22), Boston College (23), Pittsburgh (24), Arizona (25)

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports NBA Preview

2008-10-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

(Editors note: we are attempting to put together a very detailed NBA preview but it has proven to be more challenging then originally anticipated. When it is complete, possibly after the start of the season but hopefully before next years draft, it will prove to be the best NBA preview ever. But until then I will provide my thoughts on this upcoming season with input from our writing team)

Have you ever seen the South Park episode where Cartman's lack of patience for the release of the Nintendo Wi causes him to freeze himself so he doesn't have to feel the anguish of the wait for the new video game system? That is exactly how two of the writers of this blog feel with the NBA season, but more specifically with the anticipation of our favorite team, the Portland Trail Blazers.

Plain and simple: The Trail Blazers are the up and coming team of the NBA. While the Blazers may not win the championship or play in the Finals, the youth and talent of this charismatic team screams potential. And we're not talking about that "2007 Chicago Bulls" type potential. Portland has very good character guys, led by Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge setting the example.

Long gone are the days of the Jail Blazers which drove away more fans then Zeke could imagine. No more are the likes of uber assholes like Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace. Those guys are gone and have been replaced with the likes of Rudy Fernandez and Greg Oden. And this is a team that all NBA fans can appreciate.

But I'm not going to bore you guys with a gushing report on my beloved Blazers. I'm going to make your teams seem so bad that you have to give Portland the credit they truly deserve. Just kidding but here are the predictions from the writing team at That Guy Sports with some post season honors.

Atlantic Champ

Beavers415: Boston Celtics
khoc: Boston Celtics
osucem: Boston Celtics
Big Daddy Booth: Boston Celtics

Central Champ

Beavers415: Cleveland Cavaliers
khoc: Detroit Pistons
osucem: Detroit Pistons
Big Daddy Booth: Cleveland Cavaliers

Southeast Champ

Beavers415: Orlando Magic
khoc: Orlando Magic
osucem: Orlando Magic
Big Daddy Booth: Miami Heat

Northwest Champ

Beavers415: Portland Trail Blazers
khoc: Utah Jazz
osucem: Portland Trail Blazers
Big Daddy Booth: Utah Jazz

Pacific Champ

Beavers415: LA Lakers
khoc: LA Lakers
osucem: LA Lakers
Big Daddy Booth: LA Lakers

Southwest Champ

Beavers415: New Orleans Hornets
khoc: Houston Rockets
osucem: New Orleans Hornets
Big Daddy Booth: New Orleans Hornets

Western Champs

Beavers415: New Orleans Hornets
khoc: San Antonio Spurs
osucem: New Orleans Hornets
Big Daddy Booth: New Orleans Hornets (if they can stay healthy)

Eastern Champ

Beavers415: Boston Celtics
khoc: Boston Celtics
osucem: Boston Celtics
Big Daddy Booth: Clevelend Cavaliers (not even an idiot coach and Danny Ferry can prevent this)

NBA Champs

Beavers415: Boston Celtics

I really think if the Spurs make it to the finals they will beat the Celtics but I see New Orleans surviving in the west. With the Celtics being mildly challenged in the East by Cleveland, Detroit and...Eh hem...Atlanta in last year’s playoffs; one would think that another team could break through from the east. However, if those teams met again in this years playoffs the mental edge to the Celtics should be off the hook.

Some of you may be wondering how I see the season going for the Lakers. Well, I don't know but my best case scenario is they lose all their game while Kobe is awaiting sentencing for sexually assaulting Sasha Vujachick. Ok, realistically I see them facing the Blazers in the second round of the playoffs where they get swept. Eventually those Blazers go on to lose to the Hornets in a grueling seven game series which is decided on a sketchy call for Chris Paul who is being hyped in the Garnett/Pierce/Allen versus Paul/West/Chandler showdown with the return of James Posey to Boston. Too much to overcome there if you are a Blazer fan but weren't we talking about the Lakers?

khoc: San Antonio

If the Spurs are healthy come playoff time, they are still the best team in the NBA. If Ginobili was healthy during the playoffs last year, then we are talking about a completely different outcome from the 2007-08 season. Nobody would want to play a healthy San Antonio in the 2009 playoffs.

osucem: New Orleans

Big Daddy Booth: New Orleans

Too many weapons for Lebron to overcome.

Now onto the post season awards.

Most Improved

Beavers415: Lamarcus Aldridge, Blazers

Now I know the Aldridge received votes for this award last year but his growth as a player for the 2008-09 season looks to be off the chart. Will he even be challenged on the offensive end with Oden commanding double teams in the middle? How many touches he receives with scorers like Roy, Outlaw and Fernandez to share the ball with is a question but I think Aldridge will lead the Blazers in scoring and will collect 10-12 rebounds a game.

khoc: David Lee, Knicks

Now a starter playing under Mike D'Antoni, look out for Lee to be the lone bright spot for an otherwise embarrassing team.

osucem: Jeff Green, the team formerly from Seattle

Big Daddy Booth: AK 47, Utah Jazz

After he gets traded to a crappy team for draft picks his numbers will be inflated.

Rookie of the Year

Beavers415: Rudy Fernandez, Blazers

Hey, it was either him or Oden.

But really this award should go to the whole rookie class for the reason that this is the most volatile class ever. With Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur smoking a doobie and cavorting with women at the orientation telling them exactly not to do that, how can this season go wrong? Add in OJ Mayo’s baggage and Danilo Gallinari facing unrealistic expectations in New York and we may see an Adam Morrison style breakdown on a NBA court near you.

khoc: Greg Oden, Blazers

There is no doubt in my mind this guy will be dominating by the end of the season.

osucem: Greg Oden, Blazers

Big Daddy Booth: Michael Beasely

Keep your pants on Blazer fans. We already seen this race when Mutombo lost to LJ.

Sixth Man

Beavers415: Manu Ginobli, Spurs

It's like when Detlef Schrempf used to win these awards. The guy was one of the best 25 players in the league and he was coming off the bench. Only difference between these two is the Ginobli is much better then Schrempf.

khoc: Julian Wright, Hornets

Wright will get a lot more playing time for a team that will need a spark from the bench. He has the talent, now he will get the playing time.

osucem: Rudy Fernandez, Blazers

Big Daddy Booth: Manu Ginobli

He will have to come off the bench again as he returns from an ankle injury.

Defensive Player of the Year

Beavers415: Shane Battier, Rockets

I'm a huge fan of Battier so I wonder why the Rockets would add a guy like Artest to a team that doesn't need the baggage that a head case like him would bring. Even though Battier will be relegated to the sixth man role, I think his calming presence will highlight his skills which include some of the best defense in the NBA.

khoc: Kevin Garnett, Celtics

Not that I think he is the best defensive player in the NBA, but because every writer who votes on these awards will say the same thing as the other one did. "Screw it. I know he is a pretty good defender that nobody will question, so why the hell not. I don't want to stay up all night crunching numbers for this crap."

osucem: Kevin Garnett, Celtics

Big Daddy Booth: Greg Oden, Portland Blazers

The likely trophy he will earn this season.

Coach of the Year

Beavers415: Rick Adelman, Rockets

If anyone can win with a group that includes Tracy McGrady, Ron Artest, Rafer Alston (BTW, he was acquitted in his DWI case this past week), and Steve Francis (yes, he still on the team!) it is Adelman.

khoc: Gregg Popavich, Spurs

Even with the injury to Ginobili, this team will continue to win and for some reason everybody will be shocked.

osucem: Byron Scott, Hornets

Big Daddy Booth: Nate McMillian, Blazers

Voters will forget the Blazers had a decent season last year and will overreact when they make the playoffs this year.

MVP

Beavers415: Lebron James, Cavaliers

Last year the hype was for Kobe and Paul. This year I think Bron-Bron takes it upon himself to show the world who the best player in the league is. Too bad he might have the worst supporting cast since Jordan's pre-Pippen Bulls teams.

khoc: Chris Paul, Hornets

If he plays like he did down the stretch last season, I don't think there will be any way to deny him the MVP

osucem: Chris Paul, Hornets

Big Daddy Booth: Lebron James, Cavaliers

Only Chris Paul has a remote chance of the upset.

Executive of the Year

Beavers415: Kevin Pritchard, Blazers

This one is really obvious and he would have received this award last year if Chris Wallace and Kevin McHale were not trying to prove that they could be the Matt Millen's of the NBA.

khoc: Kevin Pritchard, Blazers

Have you seen the team this guy has assembled by just acquiring draft picks? Kind of a no brainer really.

osucem: Kevin Pritchard, Blazers

Big Daddy Booth: Geoff Petrie, Kings

Again voters will react when this average team wins close to 40 games.

Most Technical Fouls

Beavers415: Rasheed Wallace, Pistons.

Hey, it’s a contract year for Sheed.

khoc: Rasheed Wallace, Pistons

He will take back the title that Kobe so deservedly stole from him last season.

osucem: Rasheed Wallace, Pistons

Big Daddy Booth: Rasheed Wallace, Pistons

First Player to be Caught with an Eightball and a Dead Hooker

Beavers415: Michael Beasley, Heat

He's a knucklehead kid with a lot of money in Miami. Need I say more?

khoc: Robert Swift, the team formerly from Seattle

He will finally live up to the reputation as the weakest looking badass in the NBA who might actually be somewhat of a badass. Swift is looking for a little street cred to counter his otherwise injury prone self. What better way to earn it?

osucem: Adam Morrison, Bobcats

Big Daddy Booth: Stephen "Jack" Jackson, Warriors

First Person to Shoot or be Shot by Someone Inside or Outside a Strip Club

Beavers415: Adam Morrison, Bobcats

If you were Adam Morrison, stinking up another year in the NBA where else would you be hanging out? And if I were a Bobcat season ticket holder endouring another disappointing season of not meeting any reasonable expectations I would be at the strip joints. Something has got to give.

My conclusion is Morrison being shot inside the strip club by a season ticket holder.

khoc: Kevin Garnett, Celtics

In the strip club, Garnett is the shooter and Kobe will be the victim. Hey, according to Garnett himself, "Anything is possible" or was it "impossible is nothing?" Oh, I can never remember that.
osucem: Vince Carter, Nets

Big Daddy Booth: Stephen "Jack" Jackson, Warriors

The past two awards are descriptions of Jack. We should hold off on this award until said hookers, 8ball, shootings, ect., either end Jack's career or do him for good. Then call it the "S Jack" award. Like the Roberto Clemente award for douche bags.

First DUI of the Season

Beavers415: Josh Howard, Mavericks.

The way things are going for Howard this should happen before Thanksgiving.

khoc: Josh Howard, Mavericks

Correct me if I'm wrong, but he pretty much made himself the target for this one, right?

osucem: Zach Randolph

Big Daddy Booth: Rafer Alston, Rockets

Most DUI's for the Season

Beavers415: Carmello Anthony

The guys lives in Colorado, pound for pound the most drunks in America, is leading a team that constantly underachieves and George Karl is his coach. I almost think I would lead the league if I were in his situation.

khoch: Don Nelson, Warriors

If you had to coach that Golden State team, who are you to say you wouldn't be drinking on the job? I'm not blaming you Don. In fact I am sympathizing with you.

osucem: JJ Redick

Big Daddy Booth: Rafer Alston, Rockets

Do we count the off season too? (editors note, Alston was aquited of his offseason DUI this past week)

First Pot Related Arrest of the Season

Beavers415: Phil Jackson, Lakers

More then likely he will be busted in a scenario that could only be thought up on the Showtime series, Weeds. When he is confronted by the local media about being busted for pot he gleefully admits it is his and says "Did you think I was going to blame something like this on my daughter?"

khoc: Damon Stoudamire, ?

Is Damon Stoudamire still in the league?

(editors note; no)

osucem: Malik Hairston, Spurs

Big Daddy Booth: Mario Chalmers, Heat

Try a bag of Northern Lights, you'll understand.

How Many Weeks Will Baron Davis Spend on the Injuried Reserve?

Beavers415: He'll play until the Clippers are 5 or more games out of the playoffs. After that its anyone's guess.

khoc: As many as it takes for Mike Dunleavy to lose his job.

osucem: Six weeks

Big Daddy Booth: 10 weeks

How Many Times Will Greg Oden Posterize Spencer Hawes?

Beavers415: 5 1/2 times. I think that he will lose credit for half of one of the posters when Oden slams on Hawes and Brad Miller at the same time.

khoch: I think Hawes will stop trying after 20 dunks.

osucem: Four

Big Daddy Booth: Two, only thanks to Mikki Moore and zone defenses.

Who Will Hit Sasha Vujachick First?

Beavers415: Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Shock

khoc: Ruben Patterson (cut by the Nuggets after this question was answered). I mean seriously, he has to be on this list at some point in time, right? Why not something we can all appreciate Patterson for?

osucem: Carlos Boozer, Jazz

Big Daddy Booth: Kobe Bryant, Lakers

Without a doubt.

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Top 25

2008-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

I apologize to my loyal reader for our second consecutive late Top 25. It must be painful having to rely on the BS....I mean BCS Standings for your "who's who" in College Football. So without further ado our Top 25 (with all three voters).

Some things to chew on while you analyize our rankings.

One writer really likes South Florida while the other two don't think to highly of them (the loss to Pitt at home really lingers with this writer).

Utah continues to be hated on by one particular writer and it holds them down tremendously.

Our Ballard office really likes the Pac-10 but is holding back his crush on the dolled up ducks. I wouldn't be surprised to see Faber in his vote if they start wearing black helmets.

Ohio State finally creeps back into the top 10 after a dominating victory over Michigan State. While we have been lobbied by the Ohio State fan reading this blog, with a healthy Bennie Wells and a Big 10 schedule, things are going to start swinging your way.

1. Texas (3) - 75 (1)
2. Penn State -72 (2)
3. Alabama - 68 (4)
4. USC - 67 - (3)
5. Oklahoma - 62 (6)
6. Florida - 55 (5)
7. Oklahoma State - 54 (7)
8. Ohio State - 50 (10)
9. Georgia - 49 (9)
10. Texas Tech 48 (11)
11. Utah - 45 (11)
tie. Boise State 45 (20)
13. LSU - 41 (16)
14. Tulsa 34 (17)
15. TCU - 28 (25)
16. Ball State - 22 (22)
17. Missouri - 20 (11)
18. BYU - 19 (7)
tie. Georgia Tech - 19 (NR)
20. South Florida - 17 (NR)
tie. Oregon State - 17 (24)
22. Kansas - 14 (21)
23. Boston College - 14 (NR)
24. Pittsburgh - 10 (NR)
25. Arizona - 9 (NR)

Others receiving votes: Cal (6), Virginia Tech (5), Maryland (5), Florida State (4), Northwestern (2)

Dropped from rankings: Virginia Tech (11th), Cal (15th), North Carolina (18th), Michigan State (19), Wake Forest (23).

Top 25

2008-10-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for this coming out so late this week. We had production deadline delays that resulted in one of the three voters missing the votes.

Ranking. Team Name (First Place Votes) [Total Points] {Last Week}
1. Texas (2) [50] {7}
2. Penn State [48] {2}
3. USC [46] {5}
4. Alabama [44] {3}
5. Florida [42] {11}
6. Oklahoma [40] {1}
7. Brigham Young [33] {8}
7. Oklahoma State [33] {25}
9. Georgia [30] {13}
10. Ohio State [29] {16}
11. Missouri [27] {4}
11. Texas Tech [27] {10}
11. Virginia Tech [27] {11}
11. Utah [27] {13}
15. California [25] {15}
16. LSU [24] {6}
17. Tulsa [19] {18}
18. North Carolina [18] {18}
19. Michigan State [15] {17}
20. Boise State [13] {21}
21. Kansas [12] {23}
22. Ball State [6] {NR}
23. Wake Forest [5] {NR}
24. Oregon State [4] {NR}
25. TCU [3] {NR}

Also receiving votes: Vanderbilt [2] {9}, Arizona [1] {22}.

Not ranked: Georgia Tech {20}, Kentucky {24}.

HUCK THE FUSKIES!!

Stuck with my Thoughts (with links)

2008-10-09T08:18:00.001-07:00

*editors note, I started writing this on Tuesday night but could not complete it till the next night.*

Another Tuesday, another late vote. So with that you are stuck with whatever is on my mind with football. Here we go.

-As of October 3rd in Seattle, Comcast subscribers (me) now have the new channel, Comcast Sports Net North West, which includes 55 Blazer games and Cheerleaders from Oregon. Two things to note here.

The show Cheerleaders from Oregon stings me with some obvious sarcasm. First is the lack of creativity with the shows title gives it that "dumb blonde" type of feel. Now I haven’t actually seen the show but if I was watching it I would feel like an American man in the cold war staring at Russian babe. Why my fiancé would rather watch America's Next Top Model then this top notch program is beyond me.

My other favorite part of this channel is the replays of Faber/Boise State and USC/Faber from this past Saturday. Right I am watching the Trojan game and there is 10 minutes left in the second quarter and the visiting ducks are up 10-9. I wonder how this one is going to end.

-At the conclusion of the Utah/OSU game I was really upset and the game felt a lot alike the Beavs OT loss in Baton Rouge. But today when I read "The Candy Report" on the Pure Pigskin message board/chat room on http://www.pure-orange.net/ (my favorite message board even if it is a little old school and one sided). After reading it I started thinking about how well the Beavers have played over the last thee games. The mistakes that were made in Palo Alto have been corrected and the poor tackling that littered the field in Happy Valley are few and far between. Utah is a great team and losing on the road in a game where you very well could have won is nothing to hang your head on.

So where do the Beavs go from here? We've seen three straight games where the Beavers put forth a great effort. If this team continues its recent trend then they will win this weekend’s game against WSU. And given the poor record of the Cougars this year and the lop sided defeats we could see this game get ugly very quickly. With the home crowd behind the Beavs the possibility of great performance should be amplified.

But that's why they play the games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LFBplLflI8

-While talk around the water cooler usually consist of how the 2008 Seattle area sport teams will go down as one of the worst in the history of mankind, a score from a high school football game came up. 82-0, Sumner loses to Lakes. Considering that I lived with my cousin in Sumner for 4 months when I moved to the Puget Sound area, I feel a connection to this town. You hear about the legendary Sumner/Puyallup games where the hated Huard kids would take their lumps at the now Sunset Stadium.

I emailed my uncle, my old roomy, and his BFF Kevin to confirm the results. Kevin wrote me back to explain how he heard that the offenses first four plays from scrimmage turned into four defensive TD's. When I read that I remembered how my co-worker explained that Lakes did not run up the score and was downing the ball when they got inside the Sumner 10 yard line. They basically couldn't do enough to stop scoring.

So I checked it out and here's the link for those of you who are thinking this game is just a legend but really actually happened.

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/preps/2008/10/04/video_lakes_83_sumner_0

But we did have one fib. The final score was actually 83-0. Kevin, Sumner alum, said it best when he wrote "how can you even show up to school after that kind of loss?"

-As I mentioned above, as I am writing this I am watching the replay of the USC/Faber game. It's now halftime and the ducks are down 27-10. I know that it gets much worse for Nike U and I'll spare the random duck fan the discouraging review of "d-boyz" pathetic performance. What I'd like to talk about is the disrespect of OSU by the duck players.

All week leading up to this game, the duck players constantly compared how well they would do because OSU made it look so easy against the Trojans two weeks ago. The running backs for the ducks thought they would run over the Trojans because that “little dude” from OSU ran up 186 on the men of Troy. And since Pete Carroll and company openly admitted that the Trojans did not fall asleep and lost to a better team that night the ducks thought they would do the same since they feel the have the superior program to OSU (see 38-31 if you agree with the ducks).

So the holes get smoked and you would think after the game they would be talking up the Trojans and admitting that maybe they bit off more then they could chew. But no, all we hear about it how they feel like they are still the better team and how USC must have overlooked OSU.

Well I have a different assessment. The schmucks overlooked USC. All they hype that has surrounded this program and lack of valuable criticism from its fan base is creating an arrogant “group think” type atmosphere in Eugene. Their has been no discernable improvement of this team since week one and inflated scores over teams that have won a total of four games all year is nothing to hang your hat on.

I just hope that Faber keeps OSU out of their quotes and comparisons until Civil War. I hate it that the rest of the country now thinks that USC overlooked OSU because of what happened and what was said after this game. The only silver lining to the press downplaying the Beaver victory is it keeps OSU under the radar a little more which is good when teams like WSU, UW, and UCLA can play the underdog role if the Beavs turn ducky on us and get a little cocky.

But I have seen ever minute of this OSU season either in person or on TV and this team is playing some of the best football I have ever seen since they played at a place called Parker Stadium. So while the ducks continue to tell themselves that the OSU can’t be that good, this program’s recent trend shows us that the best is yet to come. Especially come November 29th. I just need to be patient.

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Top 25, Take Two

2008-10-08T21:27:00.001-07:00

If you would have asked me 6 years ago how bad the Washington Husky football program would be at the end of the decade and I would have never guessed what would have happened. Some would say that they earned the bad fortune and scandal and it would be celebrated by the other three Northwest schools. Well, that's how it's shaken out and it's fine by me. Let's move on.

This week’s Top 25 took longer for some as it did for others. osucem, in a hasty retreat to regain some self respect after ranking Oregon 15th while keeping Boise State at 23rd, decided it was time to give Tulsa some respect by saying only 22 other teams are better then them. Meanwhile Khoc decided there is only twelve teams better and I decide only twenty other teams were better. The rest of the college football world scratches their heads.

The Big 12 has four teams in the Top 10 while the SEC can only claim 3 (it should be noted that I only voted for two in the top ten, Alabama and LSU). The Pac-10, while being dominated by the Mountain West Conference, has three teams in the top 25 as Arizona moves into the voter’s ballots for the first time. BYU and Utah are the only MWC teams at 13 and 8 but the Utes would be higher if one of the voters would sandbag them in the low twenties.

The rest you're going to have to figure out yourself.

(first place votes) - Points.

1. Oklahoma (2) - 74
2. Penn State (1) - 72
3. Alabama - 67
4. Missouri - 64
5. USC - 63
6. LSU - 61
7. Texas - 60
8. BYU - 51
9. Vanderbilt - 46
10. Texas Tech - 42
11. Florida -40
tie. Virginia Tech - 40
13. Utah - 37
tie. Georgia - 37
15. Cal - 33
16. Ohio State - 32
17. Michigan State - 21
18. North Carolina - 20
tie. Tulsa - 20
20. Georgia Tech - 19
21. Boise State - 18
22. Arizona - 14
23. Kansas - 12
24. Kentucky - 8
25. Oklahoma State - 7

Others receiving votes: TCU (5), Northwestern (4), Ball State (4), South Florida (2), Wake Forest (2).

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Top 25

2008-10-01T21:50:00.001-07:00

We've given you the preseason preview. We gave you the journal. We even gave you a mailbag this year. So it only makes sense that we put together the first top 25 of the season.

This is the first year that all the writers of this blog are participating (Beavers415, khoc and osucem) and we all learned something from the experience. I learned that deadlines are hard for the writers to make if they are not getting paid. osucem learned that these polls are tougher then he thought. Khoc claims that he knows too much to learn anymore.

But one thing we don't understand is how AP and coaches can put together polls the first few weeks of the season, let alone the preseason. How can you know how good a team is? So that's why we waited 5 weeks before we released our polls (and we just thought of it after the USC game over many beers).

So the first poll of the season is complete and we have surprises.

First, our top 25 has 26 teams. Yeah, we're that good.

Oregon makes an appearance at #24 which shocks and amazes me but their is a valid reason. They only showed up on one of the polls, at #15. We'll keep the voter's identity hidden for security sake.

Boise State on the other hand, ranked by all three voters, ends up at #22. I guess their "Superbowl" win didn't impress as much as it should.

All three voters picked a different top team and a total of 35 teams received votes including the likes of Duke, Northwestern and, of course, Oregon State.

So without further ado, the top 25.

(first place votes) - Points
1. Alabama (1) - 71
2. Oklahoma (1) - 70
3. Penn State (1) - 69
4. USC - 64
5. Missouri - 62
6. Texas - 61
7. LSU - 59
8. BYU - 52
9. South Florida - 48
10. Utah - 43
11. Texas Tech - 39
12. Georgia - 36
13. Florida - 34
14. Ohio State - 33
15. Virginia Tech - 32
16. Vanderbilt - 25
17. Wisconsin - 19
18. Cal - 18
19. North Carolina - 17
20. Oklahoma State - 14
tie. Kansas - 14
22. Boise State - 13
tie. Michigan State - 13
24. Oregon - 11
25. Maryland - 9
tie. Georgia Tech – 9

Others receiving votes: TCU (8), Wake Forest (6), Fresno State (6), Auburn (5), Tulsa, (4), Northwestern (4), Connecticut (3), Oregon State (3), Duke (1)
-Beavers415

That Guy Sports Fake Mailbag

2008-09-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

Right now I am waiting for the two other writers of this blog to submit their top 25 for the first That Guy Sports NCAA Football Poll of the 2008 season. I've already filled out my entry which takes a while if you are double checking for a team flying under the radar and not taking the easy way out by putting 8 SEC teams in the top 7 spots. Good luck gentlemen.

So while I wait for the two other sleuths from this blog to finish up I'll start our first ever mailbag edition of That Guy Sports. Remember, these are fake emails from fake people.

Carlos in Salt Lake City writes: Congrats to Beaver Nation for knocking off the #1 team in the country. The Beavs looked impressive and the fans rocked the orange oh so well. But I think they have a tougher challenge this week against my Utes then they did against the Trojans. How good do you think the Beavs really are?

Beavers415: Thanks Carlos and congrats to the Utes for beating Weber State last week. I may have to agree with you about playing Utah in Salt Lake City will be tougher for OSU then playing USC. Utah so far looks like a very good football game and playing on the road in a high altitude stadium is a huge task. But if OSU comes out with the attitude that this game means more to their season then the last then they will compete. Again, it is won on the lines and with good tackling, especially facing the spread. I'm sure Utah will come out with a game plan to stop Jacquizz and the Beavs are going to have to rely on the rest of their playmakers showing up.

This game will truly show how good Oregon State is. Personally, I think they will show any doubters how good they really are.

Kacy in Corvallis writes: I can't wait for the NBA season to start and see how good the Blazers are going to be this year. To think, Portland returns most of the core of last year’s team that won 41 games and also adds Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez and Jarryd Bayless. You got to tell me your blog is all over this and will be covering the NBA even while college football is being played?

Beavers415: Oh, don't worry Kacy, we've got the preview covered. That Guy Sports blogger, Khoc, is putting together a six part series previewing the entire NBA by division. I'm sure he'll have a big section on the Blazers and the new additions (and you forgot Ike Diogu).

Milo in Seattle writes: Craig James really chaps my ass. While calling the OSU/USC game on ESPN he made the argument that the Pac-10 is weak because Beavs beat the Trojans. Does everyone on the rest of the nation think that since OSU lost to Stanford to start the season the Beavs are worst team in the conference?

Beavers415: What drives me crazy that most of the press is saying that Florida's home loss to a 2-2 Ole Miss team really shows how strong the SEC is. While people defend the polls by saying that both Florida and USC dropped equally in the polls for their loss, I would like to qualify that the Trojans loss came on the road in a very hostile environment against the team with the 2nd best overall record in the Pac-10 going back two years. Third best record if you go over the past 10 years. Pete Carroll said it best explaining why his team lost by saying "the Pac-10 is ridiculously tough."

And we'll see how this game really stacks up when we find out how good OSU really is.

Al in Oakland writes: He dared me to do it and I finally pulled the trigger. That young punk has been ruining my only business which brings happiness and joy to the great city of Oakland. I even told him that he was fired for cause and that I'm not paying him anymore. I don't care if we had a contract; I ain't paying that liar another penny!

Beavers415: I don't think that's a question and you're kind of creeping me out.

Chris in San Francisco writes: The Mets are killing me.

Beavers415: Yeah, it’s got to be tough watching your team collapse in back-to-back seasons but New York fans still have the Giants. Still, when Donnie Walsh would not pull the trigger on a potential Z-Bo trade I hope you didn't punch someone. As a Blazer fan I would have accepted a bag of beans for Z-Bo. I can't tell you how happy I am that he is gone.

Eric in Jackson Hole writes: Is anyone going to SLC this Thursday evening? Let me know because I'd like to meet up with someone. I’m going to try and make it (this was an actual email).

Beavers415: Dude, I totally wish I could because it should be a good scene but I've already taken too much time off for other Beaver games. But it would be sweet if you went and rocked the Orange for Beaver Nation. I'm thinking it's only going to be a sliver of orange in that stadium being another Thursday night games. Ever wonder if home teams play even better on Thursday nights?

Mike in Eugene writes: I don't know what to do with my best quarterback. Every time he runs the offense we score and win. He's faced some of the toughest defenses in his first two starts and came away smelling like roses. I just have one problem. I hate his ass. So how do I bench him and make him look like and asshole at the same time?

Beavers415: I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like this but I have faith you will do the right thing.

-Beavers415

College Football Thoughts....

2008-09-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

-"With missed kicks of 51 and 41 yards Saturday, Irish sophomore kicker Brandon Walker is now 1-of-10 from beyond 30 yards in his career — though both kicks against MSU were plenty long, just off target."

Hell of an effort son. 1 for freaking 10 beyond 30 for your career? You do realize this isn't high school any more, right?

-"Notre Dame is 11-0 under Weis when outrushing its opponent. However, the Irish have been outrushed 29 times under Weis."

I just love that line. Well, we'd be undefeated over the last four years, except for the fact that we've been dominated at the line of scimmage for 3/4 of those games. Nice work Chuck.... How's that 10 year extension treating you these days?

By the way, I love the main point of the article, which was Charlie getting busted for having a laptop in the coaching booth, which is illegal. Nothing better than throwing an "intern" under the bus....

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080921/SPORTS13/809210425/1021/XML

- Erin Andrews, welcome home. We've missed seeing you grace the sidelines since we became aquainted in Omaha during 2006 and 2007. Don't forget to wear ORANGE.

- USC, feel free to look past us again. You're only 1-2 in Corvallis since 2000 and the one win was the infamous Fog Bowl. That said, we're really not that good. Pay no attention to us. I'm sure we'll just lay down and let you win. Really, you should be more concerned about hosting whoregon next weekend. Don't even bother to gameplan for us.

- Hey whoregon, what happened to the "Nation's Best Secondary" that we heard so much about this offseason? Wait, you gave up how many yards to a freshman qb from Bosie State? What? 386 passing yards? You gotta be kidding me! 3 touchdowns through the air? No way! While I'll give the Duck Butter just a little room on their qb situation, this shouldn't have effected their pass defense, which was atrocious. I believe it's time to start "The Fade" just a little earlier than normal.

- Anyone else think UW and WSU woke up last Sunday thinking "Hey, you know what, maybe we'll win a couple games this year after all." The Pac-10 has looked terrible over the past couple of weeks. Just goes to show 2nd place is wide open.

- Hey OSU AD, next year, no more Thursday night games please? I know you've got to get paid and everything, but it's really hard to make it down from Seattle and allow for a proper tailgate. I paid good money for those tickets and I am pissed I can't enjoy the full benefit of the pre and post game activities.

- Beat USC. Go Beavs.

Can OSU Beat USC?

2008-09-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Why can't OSU beat USC? Some say its because of the Trojan's superior talent. Others will say its because of better coaching. Even a few will say that they are USC and OSU is just Oregon State. But this is all why they play the games.

And I hope that more then a few Beaver faithful understand that this is a game that Oregon State can win and not with just dumb luck (but I'm sure that OSU will take as much luck as they can get in this one). Will the effort require a perfect game? Well, it wouldn't hurt but here is how I think OSU can beat the mighty Trojans.

1. Do not get caught up in the mystique and hype that is USC.

They are just another team that scores the same amount of points for a touchdown, field goal and safety and point after TD as OSU. Sure, Rey Maualuga and Mark Sanchez are talented (and they have both been arrested for some form of assault) but you have lined up with guys just as good as them before. And once you get past the glitz and the glamour that only a team in LA would possess you will just realize they are another team that starts the game off with the same amount of points as you.

2. Tackle. Good open field tackling.

Against Hawaii the Beavs showed that they can be a good tackling team that many have known the past two years. And while Stanford and Penn State had some good and great athletes that might have been better then what Hawaii presented, a good tackle still beats a broken tackle. More then likely, broken tackles are just usually the results of a bad effort by the defensive player.

3. Oregon State will need to keep the home crowd into it.

Not only will ESPN be there to broadcast the Thursday Night College Football, I can't remember the last time the World Wide Leader in Sports was at Parker Stadium to bring the Beavers to the entire nation. This crowd wants to show the world that it is one of the best in the country and the Beaver football team could really use this to their advantage to rattle USC and keep OSU pumped through the game.

I feel like this one is so important. I remember the OSU/USC game in 2006 and that crowd was great. But this was helped tremendously by the Beavers making plays to keep the crowd into it and in the end I think this was a tremendous advantage.

4. Penetrate, Penetrate, Score, Score (my favorite Stanford student section cheer).

So I'll state the obvious but some things to note about OSU on both its lines.

Last year the OSU offensive line was just tore up by the Trojans. It's amazing the Sean Canfield was injured by the cheap shot artist Will Harris who plays safety instead one of the DL's who were hitting him all night long.

This year the OSU defensive line has taken its time to warm up but you saw some signs of improvement against the Rainbow Warriors. And I don't want to take away any credit from the Beavers for getting some penetration through the Hawaii line but they need to prove that they can do it against one of the bests. USC coming into town is perfect timing for OSU's DL to show up.

5. Let LA buy into their hype.

Now wait a second. Didn't I just say that OSU needed to ignore the hype generated for the Trojans? Yes I did but have you been following the coverage of this Trojan team? They are the cats meow in LA and Bristol, Connecticut. Instead of KEZI and KOIN covering some practice before a big game, this team has ESPN and CNN providing viewers of recaps and a look ahead to the next game. After a while you start to believe you can do no wrong and you are all that and then some. Sometimes this can help you in a big game type scenario (Ohio States and Notre Dames) but when you head into bees nest with national expectations of a blow out it could turn into a long night. Don't forget everyone saw OSU get destroyed in State College. How could that team beat USC? Why are they even playing this game?

6. Could USC be overlooking the Beavers?

All the talk I've heard from USC has been about focusing on OSU. Mark Sanchez said right after the Ohio State game and on Game Day the following weekend that their thoughts are on OSU. I even mentioned it on yesterday's epic That Guy Sports CFB Journal when I wrote that Sanchez said his only worry was falling asleep against the Beavs. I tried to make it sound like if Ernie McCrackin in Kingpin was making one of his condescending comments towards the competition even if Sanchez was not intending to come off like that. But I still wonder how much USC respects OSU.

In practice they are using one of their shorter running backs to mimic Jacquizz Rodgers so they could get used to finding a smaller RB in traffic. If I were USC I would be concerned if their Quizz rip-off can plow over a defender when he meets him in the open field. I wonder if he has moves like Barry Sanders and can block like Tom Rathman. Because if he doesn't USC might not be ready once the real Quizz appears from behind that line.

And I would still like to call out Sanchez for focusing on not falling asleep against OSU. Does he really think that if he just show up he's going to win? That if he just shows up for the game that this OSU team won't be able to hang with USC? I'm sure Pete Carroll and company will do everything to do in their power to get their team ready for one of the best defensive backfields in the conference and practice the silent counts for a loud Parker Stadium. But the USC just expects to do their thing and goes through the motions against the Beavs then its going to be a really tough game.

7. Join the Mountain West Conference.

Just kidding. But as much Pac-10 looks bad this year I think a lot has to do with playing a tough non-conference schedule. And many think the Mountain West (well, all except for That Guy Sports) is just like the WAC or the Sun Belt, but this conference should have its conference champ play in a BCS bowl game every year.

8. Just imagine OSU beating USC.

Last year before OSU played the #2 ranked Cal Bears in Berkeley, no one would give the Beavers a chance. But I did and I wrote about how I could see it happening (http://thatguysports.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-can-see-osu-upset.html). At the time I was living in San Francisco and heard all these Bear fans saying that OSU didn't have a chance against the Cal. Later that day OSU pulled off one of the greatest upsets of the season and Cal, which plummeted them in the polls, had their season spin out of control for a 7-6 season.

And of course their is what happened the last time the Beavers and Trojans met in Corvallis. It was somewhat similar to what is going on today.

In 2006, OSU was 4-3 and no one gave them a chance against the Men of Troy. That victory spring boarded OSU to a 10 win season and a lot of the confidence and swagger that we see with the program today. If OSU can somehow find a way to beat USC can you imagine how the rest of this season could end up? A conference championship? A Rose or BCS Bowl? How about the seasons after this one?

All you have to do is start seeing OSU beating USC on Thursday night.

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports 2008 Daily Journal

2008-09-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the second annual That Guy Sports College Football Journal. I started this epic challenge last year on a whim and this year it was planned. Why?

-Oregon State has a bye week and I am actually home for the first Saturday of this season (attended WSU/OK State, Penn State/OSU and OSU/Hawaii).

-Some big games playing today. ASU/Georgia and Auburn/LSU.

-I didn't plan this but it is raining in Seattle today. What a surprise.
And one more thing...The photo to the left is a long time contributor to this blog but he posted his first article this past week. I've been talking college football with OSUCEM since we were housemates back in college. It's great to have him posting on the blog but it may be revealed where I get some of my dry comments on sports. With out further ado, lets get this rolling.

8am: It all starts with College Game Day. Yes, I know it starts at 7am but I had to walk the dog and get everything set up for today. And if you think I'm getting up at 6am on a Saturday for a blog I do for free????

8:01am: They are talking about the SEC and their dominance and its relation to the Tennessee/Florida game. If the Gators don't beat the Vols, even in Knoxville, then can we remove them from the whole BCS formula?

8:08am: Everyone on Game Day is picking Florida to win this game. It took them 6 minutes to explain this to us? We must have a heavy SEC crowd watching on TV today. Oh yeah, they are broadcasting from Auburn, AL today.

8:12am: I am really upset that we don't get to watch the Blue Donks vs. the Schmucks game here in Seattle. Their goes 75% of my best material.

8:14am: They show an overhead view of the crowd at Game Day and you maybe see 200-300 people there. The place looked 1/3 packed. I think Stanford might actually outdraw that.

8:19am: I never knew how much air time on Game Day victories over San Diego State and a really bad Michigan team could get you. Utah fans are expecting equal air time on their rivalry game with Air Force.

8:24am: I just realized that my morning schedule of football games is Ohio State/Troy, NC State/East Carolina and Pitt/Iowa. I guess I could have slept in till noon.

8:29am: Mark Sanchez is talking about the thumping over Ohio State and the upcoming game against my beloved Beavs. He is saying that the biggest challenge about playing OSU next weekend is falling asleep. You would think that a team that beat you a couple years ago and has the second best record in the Pac-10 would garner a little more respect, but I'd rather have it this way.

8:39am: Game Day gives us their insight to ASU/Georgia. Corso says that Georgia can lose a game in the SEC but not one against a mid-level team in the Pac-10. I have a couple of thoughts. What if that team in the SEC is Arkansas and of if you lose to a team in who lost to a Sun Belt or Conference USA team?

8:45am: I just witnessed Demetrius Byrd of LSU talk about his dance moves and his love of Michael Jackson and how he applies this on the field. One of his celebration dances is when he waves his hand in front of his face and says "now you see me, now you don't." Explain to me why flicking the football behind your head is a penalty and this guy gets a segment on Game Day?

8:49am: You would think the over/under on the Auburn/LSU game should be 5 points the way these guys are talking about each teams defenses.

8:53am: The next time that I go to McDonald's I am going to take a dollar bill and hold it in front of the people behind the register and say "what can I get for this?" I'm sure the response would be better then what I just witnessed in their commercial.

8:56am: Corso's upset alert was Louisiana-Monroe over Tulane and I just about puked in my mouth. Its like saying Idaho over Utah State is a huge upset. Yet he said New Mexico will beat Tulsa and I would say this is a bigger upset.

9:02am: Finally, that SEC orgy I just witnessed was starting to brain wash me. Why do those people have such a hard on for beating the Pac-10? Did you forget the Pac-10 is 10-6 over the SEC in the past ten years? 9:05am: I've decided to watch Pitt/Iowa to start this morning. Of course, Dave Wannstedt is on pace for a 5-7, 6-6 season after his third straight top 25 recruiting class.

9:08am: Pitt fumbles their first punt return but recovers and then on the first possession the running back loses the ball reaching for an extra yard on a five yard run.

9:13am: Iowa takes the lead 3-0 but the Pitt D stepped up after the turnover. I guess practice makes perfect.

9:14am: Checked in on Ohio State/Troy and the Buckeyes are up 7-0 early after a Pryor TD pass. Ohio State homer, Kirk Herbstreet predicted a Troy upset which I think was like using reverse psychology.

9:17am: ECU returns an interception for a touchdown to take the early lead over NC State. It was the old tip drill which the NC State crowd boos. And to think I predicted two years ago a rise in NC State and a drop at BC after O'Brien left. I'm starting to think I was incredibly wrong.

9:23am: Pitts scores on nifty 17 yard run by their more fleet footed QB which may be a result of the moves but more like bad tackling.

9:25am: Found out that Troy considers their no-huddle offense as "NASCAR Tempo." You got to love the south.

9:29am: The Iowa QB just drops the ball when running in the open field. He gets it back but I'm starting to think this game is going to be so crummy it could be entertaining.

9:33am: Pitt partially blocks the Iowa punt which goes about 20 yards. At this point it looks like Iowa is playing like crap. Let's hope Pitt can keep up their end of the bargain.

9:39am: NC State ties the score at 7 at the first part of the second quarter. Could this be a "trap" game for the Pirates?

9:45am: Pitt converts their second 4th and short of the drive to get to the Iowa 8. The Hawkeyes are not looking good.

9:47am: It is 7-3 Ohio State and Troy is playing tough. Beckman looks bad in his short appearance and Pryor replaces him on 3rd and 16. He throws an apparent 20+ yard pass (juking several Troy defenders in the backfield) but it was nullified after an illegal touching on the receiver. I guess it is a Pac-10 crew officiating this game.

9:54am: Checked back in to the Pitt/Iowa game and see that the Panthers are leading 14-3. Iowa goes three and out and just looks horrible. This is a 3-0 team we are watching.

10am: ECU takes the lead 14-7 off a long offensive TD. Pitt just went 3 and out and the Iowa defense just got the self respect speech. The second string QB for Iowa checks in for the first time.

10:08am: Ohio State is leading 14-3 thanks to two TD passes by Pryor. You wonder how this kid would have done against USC but I remind myself this is Troy they are playing.

10:10am: Iowa scores a TD to make it a 14-10 game. You can hear some boos at Heinz Field and you wonder if Wannstedt would make it out alive if they lose.

10:14am: Score Update. Alabama is up 20-0 over a bad Arkansas team and the calls on ESPN are "Bama is back." Fear the SEC. Meanwhile Georgia Tech is up on Miss. State 21-0.

10:20am: Iowa misses a field goal, should have had a TD the play earlier and is still behind 14-10. Pitt defense is starting to miss tackles and get beat on defense.

10:22am: The crowd boos the Pitt offense as they start off their drive with a short pass which gets snuffed. Then they run the ball for a two yard loss to try and run the clock down and then finish off the drive with another short pass which nets them 3 inches. I'm going to start booing pretty soon because this is looking more like Iowa State/Iowa last year. If your going to watch a crappy game at least score some points.

10:24am: Its 14-10 Ohio State at the half and USC's victory looks less impressive.

10:28am: 14-10 Pitt over unbeaten Iowa at the half and the crowd boos.

10:30am: ECU is up NC State 14-7 at the half. Its going to be a tough game for ECU but you wonder you know their experience in tough games should help them out in the second half.

10:33am: I tried watching the 10am game, Army/Akron but after the Zips missed a 30 yard field goal I realized that I'd rather listen to Lou Holz then watch a crappy game that is not in HD. But just barely.

10:37am: Lou Holtz blames the players of Ohio State for their slow start. Mark May puts the blame on the veteran group of coaches which Dr. Holtz disagrees with and explains how players on his teams gave up on him which wasn't his fault. Now I see where Mike Bellotti gets it from.

10:46am: Halftime Highlights. Alabama goes ahead of Arkansas 35-7 after Casey Dick pass misses his receiver running a short out by 7 yards and the Tide defender intercepts the really crappy pass and races for a 73 yard TD. This is not a case of how good is Alabama but how bad is Arkansas?

10:52am: Pitt starts the half off with another 3 and out and the crowd boos. Charlie Weis, you got it easy.

10:56am: The Iowa QB Jake Christensen fails to get the play off on a 4th and 1 and the offensive coordinator has words for his player as he leaves the field. Christensen, the backup Iowa QB, just ignores him and walks to the bench. Tight ship Kirk Ferentz is running these days.

11:02am: The fifth straight Pitt 3 and out and the crowd doesn't boo. Maybe they are just numb at this point. And it’s tied at 14 between ECU and NC State.

11:04am: ECU scores on a long TD run. The Pirates respond pretty easily to the Wolfpack charge.

11:11am: Pitt is making the Iowa tackling looked well this past drive. Iowa takes the lead 17-14 after a long methodical drive.

11:16am: Pitt gets a first down on its first play throwing it deep across the field. The crowd takes credit for the play.

11:18am: After a short run and a short pass, the next throw is deep across the middle which is picked off. The crowd boos. Talk about having your cake and eating it too?

11:26am: NC State hits a field goal to make it a 21-17 game and its 14-10 to start the fourth of Ohio State/Troy. I'm starting to reconsider my choice to watch the Pitt/Iowa game this morning.

11:28am: Ohio State scores to make it 21-10 early in the fourth. Pryor's third TD of the game.

11:31am: Pitt scores on a 30 something yard run to make it 21-17 Panthers. The crowd roars with approval. At this point they are just patting themselves on the back.

11:38am: Iowa's drive stalls at the Pitt 22 and they kick a field goal to make it 21-20. Funny that last year I not only chronicled the crummy game that was ISU/Iowa and also really crappy game between Michigan State and Pitt. How appropriate is it that I cover the toilet bowl for the losers of the 2007 That Guy Sports College Football Journal Crummy Games of the Day.

11:44am: Pitt gets back on track with a three and out. You can hear the boos but it's not as bad as it was a half an hour ago. Wannstedt earns his first victory with the Pitt fans in 2008.

11:53am: After Pitt moves the ball to their own 40 yard line they have to punt the ball which receives more boos from the home crowd. Not a three and out, they had some good plays in their and the Iowa defense made some plays. Do the Panther fans think they should be blowing out the competition because of some good recruiting classes? Pitt hasn't even been a force in College Football since Dan Marino.

11:56am: NC State is driving on ECU down 24-17 late in the 4th and Ohio State is up 28-10 on Troy. I guess the players for Ohio State stepped up at halftime for the Buckeyes. At least that's what Lou Holtz will say, true or not.

12:01pm: NC State is challenging the call of the field which took away a TD catch with 1:12 left in the game.

12:04pm: The ruling on the field is reversed and we are tied at 24 with ECU and NC State.

12:05pm: Back on the Pitt game and the Panthers have pinned Iowa inside their own 1 yard line with 2:19 left in the game. This could be interesting.

12:09pm: I just realized that Iowa has its starting QB in the game and it’s not looking good. After getting a first down with his back to his own end zone, he fumbles the ball on his own 20 yard line and Pitt recovers. The Panthers are downing the ball to run out the clock. An appropriate finish to a poorly played game.

12:14pm: ECU and NC State are going to overtime tied at 24. Its a pretty good game and we are going to stick with this one before changing over to UCLA/AZ, Michigan State/ND and Tenn/Florida.

12:15pm: Snuck a peak at the UCLA/AZ game and noticed that the Wildcats have the worst uniforms in the Pac-1o who does have a toilet lid on their helmet.

12:20pm: ECU QB fumbles the ball eluding a sack and NC State recovers as they start off OT. Now NC State has the ball for their first possession. Horrible way to start if you're a Pirate fan.

12:22pm: NC State scores the winning TD on a play where the running back should have fumbled the ball reaching for the end zone. ESPN announcer screams "BCS buster busted!" He sounds like he practiced saying it all night.

12:26pm: Arizona goes up 3-0 early over UCLA. I wonder what it would be like to sit at a table with Rick Neuheisal and Mike Stoops.

12:34pm: Fox Sports highlight announcer just used the phrase "BCS buster busted." I guess that cheesy line is now a headline.

12:37pm: ABC just showed the replay of Charlie Weis getting wiped out last week in which he somewhat destroyed his knee. He said he took it worse then his former player Tom Brady. I have to agree with Charlie on this one.

12:41pm: Three and out for Notre Dame. Man that Pitt/Notre Dame game November is going to be a barn burner.

12:46pm: 3-0 Spartans.

12:58pm: Checking back in with UCLA and Arizona and it looks like we have a good old fashion Pac-10 shootout, 10-7 early in the second. Its good to know that UCLA's defense hung in their with Tennessee and that Arizona's defense is a mere shadow of the Desert Swarm days.

1:02pm: I think UCLA's defense is much worse then anyone could suspect. 17-7 Wildcats.

1:07pm: Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame Throws an INT which was wrestled away the defender and the ABC announcers immediately talk about how it was a bad of a pass it was. I guess the guys didn't read the memo given to NBC about kissing up to the Fighting Irish as much as possible.

1:14pm: Notre Dame gives up their first sack of the season this year. Wow! Are the D-lines for San Diego State and Michigan that bad?

1:15pm: Checked in on Tenn/Florida and it is 17-0 Gators to start the second quarter. I told you that five minutes they took to dissect this game were a waste of time.

1:18pm: Checking in on UNC/Va Tech and in respect to the SEC they are in a 0-0 tie early in the second but the Tar Heels are driving.

1:21pm: UNC goes up 3-0 on Va Tech. No clue how the Hokies are going to score two.

1:23pm: Just saw the replay of the Tennessee QB loses the football which is recovered by Florida inside their own 5. So I ask the question. Is BYU that good or is Tennessee that bad?

1:26pm: I just witnessed my first sketch call for Notre Dame that Brad Nesler and Bob Greasy (I know how I spelt it) thought was pretty clear for the Irish sideline. I'm sure they got an earful from their producer after ragging on Clausen's int earlier.

1:31pm: Arizona is leading UCLA 17-10 at halftime. A good score to see if you are a Beavs fan. I have no respect for either program and to see both of them on a similar level in the first half means they are equally cruddy so far.

1:39pm: Va Tech kicks a field goal to tie the game at three. This may be one of those low scoring classics

1:45pm: Florida is now up 20-0 on Tennessee and the luster of this rivalry is fading. 1:49pm: Michigan State goes ahead 10-0 on Notre Dame. Dr. Holtz grabs Mark May by his tie and say's "those players are giving up on Charlie!"

1:53pm: Florida intercepts a terribly thrown ball from Crompton but is nullified after Florida had 12 players on the field. Like Florida needs 12 people to intercept on of Crompton's passes but never the less the drive stays alive.

1:59pm: Clausen and company looks bad in their last drive and allow time for Michigan State to score. Only 8 more years left on that contract Irish fans.

2:00pm: Tennessee's Crompton throws an interception for a touchback with two seconds left on a fourth and 1 inside their 10 yard line. Classic halftime interview with Volunteer coach Phillip Fulmer. When asked why he went for it instead of kick the field goal he said "I wanted to get the gal darn touchdown and get the momentum back." The reporter then asked how you get this team to believe that you can win this game. Replied Fulmer, "We believe we can win this game."

2:11pm: I have friends who are big UCLA fans. They are really nice good football fans and very passionate about the Bruins. But from what I can tell on TV from a whole, Bruin Nation is pretty docile in the big scheme of things.

2:22pm. I just noticed that Boise State is up 24-6 on Faber early in the third. How sweet would it be if this score holds up? What excuse would Bellotti use then? BTW, this UCLA/Arizona game blows. It’s like watching to old people have sex. Slow, not attractive and uneventful.

2:30pm: MSU and Notre dame is a 10-0 barn burner with Clausen completing more passes to worms then his own players. We're committing to UNC/Va Tech until further notice. 10-3 UNC right now.

2:38pm: Arizona's Willie Tuatami throws a TD to give the Wildcats the 24-10 lead. Its going to be a long year in Westwood. Thank God for Bruin fans that basketball starts in a couple of months. Things should pay off for Rick Neuheisel come March Madness.

2:43pm: Michigan State goes up 13-0 on Notre Dame. Back in the ESPN studio Lou Holtz starts giving anyone within an earshot a half time motivational speech as if they were his players at Notre Dame and then tells Mark May how his son Skip would be a good fit in South Bend.

2:46pm: I turn my back for a second and now it's 17-3 UNC. Three and half games in and my crack pot idea of UNC going undefeated is still intact. Now can they finish the game?

2:50pm: ABC CFB Update: The Blue Donks just went up 31-13 on the schmucks late in the 3rd. If BSU wins it will be their first victory over a Pac-10 team on the road and I think a BCS team on the road. It would make me happy to see them earn that distinction.

2:52pm: ESPN CFB Update: They just showed the same highlights of the Donks and the Holes again on ESPN and it was just as sweet.

2:55pm: Checking in on the Vols and Gators and it is now 27-0 late in the third but Tennessee is inside the Florida 20. What are the chances this ends up in disaster for the Vols? We'll stick with these guys for a drive.

2:57pm: Tennessee scores a TD even while the guy who scored it nearly fumbled it away before he crossed into the end zone. They are reviewing the spot since it looks like his knee was down before he crossed.

3:00pm: Quickly flip it over to the UNC/Va Tech game and it is now 17-10. I spoke to soon. AND JUST AS I WRITE THIS THE HOKIES RECOVER A FUMBLE AND GET THE BALL ON THE 30 OF THE TAR HEELS!

3:01pm: Tennessee didn't score and the ball is spotted at the 1 inch line. End of the 3rd, 27-0 Gators.

3:02pm: 31-10 Arizona late in the 4th.. Well, is UCLA bad or Arizona good? I'm going with the Bruins are bad and I say that knowing that Tennessee, a team that lost to UCLA, is getting beat pretty bad as stated above.

3:05pm: Tennessee scores on the QB sneak and it is 27-6 and the Vols are going for two. Let's see what happens.

3:06pm: It was almost intercepted by Florida and Crompton missed a wide, wide, wide open tight end. I think that might have been the best case scenario on that play for the Vols.

3:07pm: Va Tech just scored a TD to tie the score at 17. How quickly someone can go from smart to stupid. I'm going to find a tool to help pry this shoe out of my mouth.

3:13pm: I just read that BSU has 351 yards passing on that tough Faber defensive backfield. That's a redshirt freshman QB tearing up Patrick Chung and company. Must be the linebackers fault.

3:17pm: The Hokies just hit a 45 yard field goal to take the lead over the Tar Heels 20-17 and Michigan State just kicked a field goal to make it 16-7. Notre Dame scored five minutes previous on a Jimmy Clausen TD. If you’re counting at home, that's two interceptions to a touchdown.

3:25pm: Va Tech just picked off the UNC pass on their own 2 yard line as the Tar Heels were driving. Big play for the Hokies.

3:30pm: The Va Tech qb Tyrod Taylor just twisted his left knee and went to the sidelines with that look like he wasn't going to return. I wonder how this affects the game.

3:32pm: Va Tech two straight first downs and one in the air. Looks like UNC is doomed and so is my bold undefeated till the ACC Championship Game.

3:33pm: The Irish just missed a 40 yard field goal after a really crappy snap and MSU takes over leading 16-7 late in the 4th.

3:34pm: Va Tech held on 3rd and 1 and is punting from the UNC 39 on 4th and 2. Is it me or do you just decide to win the game right there and get those extra two yards? Your defense is playing well and its not like your giving them too short of a field. But Beemer played it safe which is probably the right thing to do. You know, the infamous "lay-up" shot in golf.

3:37pm: I'm checking on the donks/schmucks score and it is 37-26 with 4 minutes left and Faber is getting the ball back. Cutting it close donks.

3:40pm: Va Tech's defense is just destroying UNC right now. My guess is that the Hokies block the Tar Heel punt and the "lay-up" worked. This is why I am a blogger and not a coach but my idea would have worked.

3:41pm: UNC decides to go for it on fourth and throws an interception. This might have been best case for the Tar Heels at this point. Regardless, game over.

3:45pm: MSU scores to go ahead 23-7 to make the score look more appropriate. Why does it seem like Notre Dame is 1-2 at this point?

3:48pm: Final from Knoxville, 30-6 Gators. I'm glad Game Day spent so much time explaining to me why Florida was going to win. I knew why and it only takes a few words to explain. They were playing Tennessee.

3:51pm: Michigan State is downing the ball to make 23-7 the final with Notre Dame. I guess Dr. Lou's prediction of the Irish being undefeated facing USC in November isn't coming true. Everyone else is not surprised.

3:54pm: Lou Holtz says he won't start talking till Mark May takes the smirk off his face. Seriously, I'm not making this one up this time. Of course Lou gives credit to Notre Dame for playing a tough game.

4:00pm: 37-32, blue donks over the toilet lids. A huge cheer is heard from Corvallis.

4:12pm: I’ll be splitting time between WSU/PSU and FSU/Wake Forest. Its going to be a shootout and a defensive struggle.

4:14pm: Two minutes into the WSU/PSU game and the Cougars are up 7-0 on the Vikes. BTW, if you are a Cougar fan and you are at this game you are hard core. Also note the WSU went up 7-0 on Baylor last week and got thumped 45-17.

4:19pm: Wake goes up 3-0 on FSU on a 48 yard field goal. Inch by inch is how this game will be won.

4:20pm: Portland State fumbles the QB/RB exchange and WSU recovers. Cougs have the ball on the Vikings 24 yard line. Ouch.

4:23pm: PSU intercepts the ball on their own 23 yard line after WSU drove 18 yards in the wrong direction in two plays. This one is going to be a barn burner.

4:24pm: Wake picks up the FSU fumble in Seminole territory. I have a feeling that these two 4pm games are going to be some of the most entertaining of the day.

4:27pm: Wake scores a TD but it is nullified by a hold on the line. I knew a touchdown in this game was too good to be true.

4:32pm: The announcers jinx the Wake kicker by saying he is a perfect 23 of 23 from the distance he is kicking from and within and he promptly misses. Still 3-0 Demon Deacons.

4:37pm: The Vikings get on the board at 7-3 on a penalty filled drive.

4:45pm: The Cougars drive on the Vikings like they were a Division I-AA team. 14-3 WSU.

4:50pm: The Tallahassee crowd boos the Seminoles as the go into the second quarter down 3-0. Tough crowds out there in college football today.

5:04pm: Had to walk the dog again yet no changes in the scores for either games. We are also starting the marquee games of the day in ASU/Georgia and Auburn/LSU. Fear the SEC. FEAR IT!

5:09pm: Bob Davie brings up the smartest thing I’ve ever heard him say. That the only reason that Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden won’t retire is because each one of them wants to end up with the most wins. Juvenile, but probably true.

5:17pm: Georgia goes three and out after a 44 yard kickoff return. How long will this last?

5:24pm: ASU moves the ball a little bit on offense and then punts it deep into Georgia territory. Nothing too exciting so far but the momentum is still on the Sun Devils side.

5:33pm: Wake Forest fumbles on the Seminoles 2 yard line and Florida State recovers with 29 seconds left in the half. A defensive battle as predicted. 3-0 Wake.

5:40pm: Rudy Carpenter just got wiped out by Currian for Georgia. His helmet came off and everything. Still no score.

5:54pm: Auburn is up on LSU 7-3 and has their crowd pretty excited. I have a feeling this one will go till the last series.

5:56pm: Georgia goes up 7-0 on ASU and pretty much stormed down the field. If the offense for the Sun Devils can’t stay up then this game will get out of hand in a hurry.

6:02pm: The Bulldogs blocked ASU’s punt and have the ball inside the Sun Devil 40. You can just see this game getting away from ASU.

6:05pm: Our only advertiser on That Guy Sports, Megan, wanted to say hi to everyone. She also wanted to say how much she is enjoying watching the games while working on work and wedding stuff. It’s sort of her dream day.

610pm: Wake kicks a field goal to extend their lead to 6-0. If this was the SEC it would be noted as a battle for the ages.

6:11pm: Georgia misses a long field goal and the blocked punt does no harm. No the big question is can Carpenter move is offense down the field.

6:12pm: Just when I say that Dmitri Nance for ASU fumbles an 8 yard gain and Georgia recovers. It’s not a good sign when the breaks of the game are not going your way.

6:16pm: Georgia scores to make it 14-0. ASU seems to be overmatched at this point and their only chance to get back is play up the underdog role.

6:29pm: ASU kicks a field goal to make it 14-3 but then gets a first down after a Georgia player “leaps and lands.” Sun Devils still alive.

6:31pm: Georgia stops ASU on the next three downs and no harm no foul. 14-3 Georgia and the chants of “S-E-C” can be heard.

6:32pm: Checking back in with the FSU/Wake game and it looks like we didn’t miss much. 9-3 Wake in the third.

6:38pm: Georgia just marched down the field again and now the score is 21-3 right before the half. ASU’s defense just can’t match up and you can’t be matching bullets with bombs.

6:39pm: The Cougars are up 31-3 on PSU. I guess those Portland area newspapers who said the Vikings had a chance in this game were dead wrong. Well, that how bad everyone thinks the Cougars are after losing to Baylor.

6:42pm: I’m just thinking how weak ASU looks. They have no swagger at all and it’s not like they are making mistakes. They look overmatched. Just some first half thoughts and ASU is losing 21-3 at the half.

6:46pm: I just realized I have the Texas/Rice game and the Longhorns lead this epic battle 38-10 at the end of the third. I can’t believe I took the under on this game.

6:48pm: I’ve even got Kansas/Sam Houston State and the Jayhawks are ahead 31-14 at the start of the 4th. I think a sad performance like this should drop you out of a top 25 until you beat a ranked team. Not that Kansas is a bad team, but you got to show me something to prove you can beat the big teams.

6:51pm: Wake is still holding on over FSU early in the 4th 9-3. This one is one big play from deciding this game. Or it could be like all the players are wearing left footed shoes.

7:01pm: Just saw the turnover lowlight for FSU on ESPN. We knew this game was going to be ugly but this was beyond my imagination.

7:03pm: I’m scared for the Pac-10 as I change it back to the ASU/Georgia game. If this one gets to 28-3, I’m watching the Auburn/LSU game.

7:07pm: PSU is losing to WSU 41-9. Hey, at least they scored 9 but really a disappointing performance for the Vikings. WSU is still total dog shit.

7:09pm: ASU gets their first TD of the game and it is no 21-10. I’m a little more excited but ASU’s defense has more to prove.

7:13pm: Georgia fumbles on the kickoff but luckily recovers the ball. That could have been a huge play for ASU.

7:26pm: Wake goes up 12-3 in a “I want my money back” score of the week.

7:27pm: LSU goes up 17-14 on the half back pass play and the fear of the SEC grows.

7:33pm: Stafford fumbles the exchange and another Georgia player is there to fall on the ball. Sometimes this is the difference between a good team and a average team.

7:39pm: Georgia extends its lead to 24-10 the epic battle between the SEC and the Pac-10.

7:48pm: The Sun Devil Stadium crowd boos as ASU punts the ball away. I wonder how long the fans in Tempe are going to let Dennis Erickson hang around without bringing in a BCS Championship.

7:51pm: Auburn, leading 21-20 is punting to LSU with 4 minutes left in the game. Amazing how close these games have been over the past few years.

7:56pm: LSU scores the go ahead TD with 1:03 left and decide to go for two which fails and now lead 26-21. While this may not be a 3-2 classic like last week but its not to shabby of a game.

8:00pm: Auburn QB gets destroyed on consecutive plays by the same player. The first was a cheap shot roughing the passer penalty and this one he clobbered the QB when he had the ball.

8:03pm: Auburn fails to get a first down and the game is over. LSU should be #2 or 3 in the next polls behind Georgia and possibly Florida. And Alabama might push it to a SEC top 4 out of 5. Call me crazy but this could really happen and it would be a travesty.

8:08pm: Brent and Kirk are talking about the next epic SEC battle between Alabama and Georgia next week. Fear the SEC. Fear it.

8:14pm: Georgia knocks in a short field goal to make the lead 27-10 in the middle of the 4th. Probably a sound representation of the quality of the two teams. ASU was overmatched and are probably a top 5 team in the Pac-10 at best.

8:27pm: We’re still here but Georgia is on the verge of adding more points to the game in the last two minutes. It is first and goal at the 2. The classy thing to do would be to down the ball. I wouldn’t, but it’s the classy thing to do.

8:31pm: After trying to ram it through the middle on two consecutive plays, the clock runs out and the game ends with Georgia winning 27-10.

The Pac-10 laid another egg this week with the schmucks losing to the donks and the Sun Devils to the Bulldogs. With Stanford holding on late against San Jose State and WSU soundly beating the PSU Vikings, the Conference of Champions is struggling to earn any respect. Time to call it a night and hope that they catch Nick Saben passed out with a kilo of coke and a dead stripper in the bathroom. Its not that crazy. Look what happened to Mike Price?

In honor of Post #100....I present

2008-09-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Reason #8,325 why I love college football....

http://www.thewizofodds.com/.a/6a00e553e551d18834010534b8604f970c-pi

Anything that drives people to go to an opposing teams wikipedia site to deface it is alright in my book.

FTD's!

Edited** Alright, call me a loser, but I just couldn't resist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Ducks_football

Just search "duck butter" on urbandictionary.com You'll thank me later.

Random Thoughts by osucem

2008-09-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

That "pop" you just heard was my blogging cherry. Now, lets get it on.....

1. Joe Pa, thanks for going for a fake punt when you were already up big, late in the game....douchebag.

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1778583736&channel=1612770737

2. Pete Carrol's best moment ever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqmmxOsJW1Y

3. Beaver Flags on the shaggin waggin headed to PSU. That's right. 5 plus the USA. That's how we roll. Beaver 415, nice call on ditching the white by the way last weekend. The orange flag was a nice upgrade for the 4-Runner. You have seen the light....

4. FUSC. You will lose next Thursday night in Corvallis for the 3rd time in the 2000's. War Possum, make it happen baby.

5. If you haven't read this article yet, what is wrong with you?

http://www.gump4heisman.com/my_weblog/2008/08/gump4heismans-10-things-to

6. LOOK! It's Oregon State's home away from home! 3 straight road victories at Husky Stadium. Let's make it 4 straight on October 18th.

By the way, I don't care what you say about their program, but that setting is absolutely one of the best in college football. Just need to remove the track and find an actual football team to put on the field and they'll be back in business.

7. FTD.

8. "We can't turn the ball over,'' Bellotti said. "I think we are a great football team. If we don't beat ourselves, there are very few teams out there that can beat us. I really, truly believe that, but today we beat ourselves.''

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2008/08/the_scrimmage_work_to_be_done.html

9. The shoulder “feels great,” Rhoderick says. “I spent all summer rehabbing it. I haven’t been throwing off the mound. Coach Yeskie told me, ‘No reason to load the bullets now. Keep it easy.’ We have a championship to win next spring.”

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122166533057275800

Let's make it 3 of 4 boys.

10. FTD, again. 4 of 5 CW's?

Penn State Road Trip Pros, Cons, and Random Stories

2008-09-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

How many years is it going to take before OSU wins an out-of-conference game on the road? Better yet, how long is it going to take before they play a competitive game OOC game on the road? Other then Hawaii in 2006, which was at the end of the season, it seems like Mike Riley cannot get the troops off on the right foot to start the season.

But I am sick and tired of trying to explain why the Beavs cannot win a big game on the road to start the season. I'd rather focus on what I would say was one of the best college football road trips I've ever experienced (minus the 45-14 ass whooping).

It All Starts in Our Nation's Capital

Five of us took red eyes from the West Coast on Thursday night and met up at Dulles International Airport Friday morning. River and I travelled from Seattle, Seth and Greg from San Diego, and Brett from the LBC. Which brings us to our first pro of the trip.

Pro: This is a shout out to our friends Greg and Ethan (who showed up from NYC on Saturday morning) who are not even Oregon State alums but who rocked the orange and black in support of the Beavers. Even better, Greg is an Ohio State fan and Ethan Southern Cal. See folks, everybody loves a Beaver.

Our friend Jason who was in DC the night before picked us up at the airport in a rented minivan and started our road portion of the trip in style rocking five Beaver flags and an old glory. As far as we are concerned we set a record for most OSU flags on a single vehicle in the states of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

After a long drive winding through the Appalachian Mountains of SE Pennsylvania, which included stops at the Battle of Antietam and an unexpected side trip to the set of the film Deliverance, we arrive in Happy Valley. Which brings us to our first con of this trip.

Con: Purchasing Alcohol in the State of Pennsylvania.

I know that some states don't allow you to purchase liquor from regular supermarkets and such, but what state restricts you from purchasing beer at a "wine and spirits" store. Things like this make me miss BevMo in California.

After Bret and Greg spent an hour searching for beer for our Friday night prefunc, I symbolically started off the drinking in Happy Valley by shotgunning a 16 oz of Keystone. It hurt so good.

(it should be noted that the real reason I shotgunned this beer is because I lost a bet with the smartest guy in the car).

So after consuming a good amount of alcohol that might has well been bootlegged from West Virginia, we headed to our first stop of the night in State College at a bar called Rathskeller. Here we were greeted by our first group, of what will become many, very friendly Penn State fans.

Pro: Penn State Fans

It didn't matter where we went. We always ran into a ton of very friendly Penn State fans. The most frequent question of the weekend was "are you having a good time in State College?" After a while it got annoying having to tell everybody, "yes, we are having the time of our life (I'll tough on more of this later in the blog).

After a visit to down the road to the Sports Cafe, where we met more friendly Penn State fans which included the owner of the bar, we called it a night in preparation of what we were confidently predicting a very competitive football game. Other then the jackass who wasn't even going to the game the next day, most PSU fans agreed with us that it would be a "knock them out-drag them out" type game. Ohhh, were we all fooled.

The next day we would all eat crow with our inaccurate prediction. Who would have thought we could be so wrong after consuming 5-20 beers?

Game Day

I set the alarm for 7:30am. We wake up at 9am.

It all starts off with a beer and some quick stories about how we haven't seen a good looking woman in State College.

Con: The lack of good looking women in State College, Pa. More on this later.

So we pack up the minivan and backpacks and head out to meet up with Seth's friends who have a tailgate spot at the south end zone of Beaver Stadium. We promptly arrive two hours before the actual owners of the spot even get into town, set our cooler of beer down in their parking spot and start slamming beers. Which brings us to our next pro.

Pro: Oregon State travelled really well to this game.

As soon as we started consuming mass amounts of alcohol, with the beer of choice being Yuengling (about a step above MGD), we noticed a lot of fans walking by wearing orange. We even had three old timers come over and hang out with us for a good half an hour and just BS about past OSU accomplishments as we fed them beers. My favorite comment from one of them was how the secret to him being married for 42 years is taking trips with his buddies to games like this one at PSU. Wise, very wise.

While we continued to wait for our friends to show (and bring the grills and food) the surrounding Penn State fans fed us with snacks that included buffalo wings, home made bologna (which we would call summer sausage on the West Coast), horseradish cheddar cheese (my favorite) and shots of Crown Royale. Let me just reiterate how nice all the Penn State fans were. It can't be said enough.

We even had a local camera crew, which I think was KEZI in Eugene (but the guy said channel 9 in Corvallis which I thought was ABC out of Eugene), there to capture the scene outside Beaver Stadium. The Penn State fans showed off their cowbell led "P-S-U" chant which River tried to usurp with a impromptu O-S-U overlay. This was my first indication that we were getting enough alcohol. But what really bothered me was this.

Con: If you have a tailgate and you make up a sign that says "Penn State: Tailgate Heaven" you better hang it up or not act like a total douche bag because the visiting fan are walking all over it. WE WERE DRUNK! ITS GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

Game Time

Eventually our friends from Penn State showed up and soon after we all trickled into the stadium. We had polished off a considerable amount of beers (some more then others) and River and I had our backpacks on filled with everything but contraband. My backpack was smaller then Rivers and when I got to the gate they told me that they were not allowed but I could conceal it under my rain jacket. That wasn't the case with River.

Con: Security and bag checks.

Just a suggestion to the guys checking bags at all sporting events in America. If you search someones bag and their is absolutely nothing in it, you don't have to throw the guys bag in the trash. Shoot, we know you are taking it home with you anyways. Sure the guy could have followed the rules and not brought the bag but when you use an excuse like "9-11" and they guy is packing a rain jacket, Beaver flag and press guide, he's not a threat.

As my friend Milo said to the security guard at Bank One Ball Park, "how does it feel topping out at $9 bucks an hour?"

And yes Milo, it was totally BS the kicked us out of that game.

So the game starts and hopes are high for the Beavs. For all of you who watch, you don't need to be reminded of the horrible tackling, terrible third and long defense, and a punting game that makes me beg for Alexis Serna.

Not much to cheer about if you were an OSU fan which hurt because you wanted to come back home with a cracking voice from screaming throughout the entire game. But I would like to bring up some examples of unacceptable behavior for travelling fans. In my opinion, travelling fans are not only supporting their team but representing their university and state. And I am not judging because I had to learn the hard way with my own mistakes and embarrassment.

Here are some quick things to remember when you are visting an opposing team's stadium.

1. When you are the visitor remember to be polite and don't swear at the home team.

2. Don't make noise before the snap when your team has the ball. Shoot, this isn't even a travelling fan rule. This is common sense (Ok, I judged but I've never been this dumb)

3. When your down by two scores, its best you don't say anything to the opposing fans claiming your team is better.

4. If the home teams player goes down with an injury and you know he's faking it, don't call the player out, especially if you are not sitting with your fans (ok, no one did that this game. I did at Cal last year when Deshawn Jackson went down with his second fake injury to stall the clock. Hey, I was correct when I called the guy out but it was not the right thing to do. I am so glad we beat them last year).

5. It is ok to root as loud as you want for your team when they make a good play or if you are sitting in your specially set up team section, but other then a big play on offense or defense in which you cannot restrain yourself from cheering, you better just shut the hell up.

6. Don't puke. Security will kick you out even if you had a hot dog they would only sell at the Kwik-E Mart.

Post Game

One thing OSU fans who were around before the Mike Riley era know what to do and that is drink off a loss. Sure, its not the "healthy" thing to do but it's what you do. My favorite comment to make to PSU fans was "I've just got my ass kicked real bad and I wondered if you could give me a cold one to help heal the bruises." I was offered more beer then I knew what to do with but I found a spot.

We ended up closing down the parking lot and were torn between drinking with a bunch of fans for the other team or heading to the Endzone. A fully nude strip club with a $20 cover charge but you had to drink beer in a separate area from the women. After reminiscing on the strip clubs in Portland we decided to take our chances with the PSU fans.

So we head back towards campus to grab a bite to eat and make the best out of a crappy ball game. As we were are walking down Beaver Street our group notices our first real good looking pair of girls since DC. Bret, who is single, runs up to the two ladies and says something like, "Hey, you should hang out with me and my friends back there" and the two turn around and see no one hanging out with Bret. They give him the cold shoulder and Bret soon figures out that our group had walked into a deli to grab a sandwich. You might of had to be there but it was classic.

The Final Night

After another meal of fine Pennsylvania nourishment (which usually included letter grade meat, hot sauce and a greasy piece of starch) we head back to where we started our drinking on Friday night, the Rathskeller. As soon as we walk into the bar the Penn State fans erupt in cheer and yell in jubilation "Beavers!" We humbly take a seat at the bar and all most of the fans proceed to give us a very friendly ribbing. Even a few non-Beaver fans who dislike Penn State consoled us and we all moved on.

Of course the TV in the bar was stuck on ESPN with Sports Center rolling and when the OSU/PSU highlights rolled up I pulled off my best Dark Helmet impersonation and said "no, no, go past this. In fact never show this again." At least our group had some highlights from the night.

While we were sitting down to start the night an OSU fan cam up to our table and made a face like he was going to say something, then he dropped his shoulders and walked away. We all laughed. Then he came back to our table and asked us how we were doing with picking up the ladies. Considering that 3 out of the 7 are either married or engaged to the most wonderful women in the world, we weren't making the best head way. Soon he started walked up to every piece of ass in the bar worth looking at and made a play like an asteroid was coming to destroy the earth. My favorite introduction he made to one of Penn State's finest when he asked "What's your name fine Stallion?" If he didn't do it in such a sarcastic manner he probably would have been slapped.

Later on we met this kid from the Bay Area who was dying to graduate from Penn State and get out of State College forever. Shoot, this kid was begging to go back to Corvallis after a trip for a seminar he took last year.

So this kid talks our ear off about the less then lovely women at State College and how their only redeemable quality was how well they kissed below the belt. But my favorite quote from this guy was when we were talking about women in California. Specifically he talked about San Louis Obispo and how Cal Poly-SLO was the only university in California which rejected his application, which included schools in the UC system. He talked about how many hot women their were at SLO and how every one of them were 10's. He followed that comment up with "even the men are even 10's there. Shoot, I'd even have sex with one of them."

We have a new saying about State College and I mean this in the least homosexual way possible.

State College, PA. Where the women are not pretty and the men are really friendly.

Later that night Bret started chatting it up with one of the cuter girls in the establishment. After each one of them chatting each other's ear off for a good half an hour, they went to the back room of the bar to listen to the local band play and grab another beer. This is when Bret finds that the lead singer of the band is her boyfriend and she has a kid.

But their is a happy ending to this story. She paid for Bret's pitcher of beer which he then shared with us.

So now all of us are in the back of the bar listening to this cover band play Guitar Hero's top 10 songs when this wasted Penn State fan kept coming up to us and asking "HOW WAS YOUR TRIP." Most of us would say "great." Then the guy asked us "WAS IT THE GREATEST ROAD TRIP OF YOUR LIFE?" You'd say "yeah" and he continue to ask you the same questions over and over again. He was wasted (and when I write his quotes in ALL CAPS its because he was screaming his ass off the entire time). Problem was we were really nice guys and couldn't bear to tell the guy to ef' off. We didn't lose this guy till the crowd lights turned on.

So we closed down the bar and called it a night. And it was a lot of fun. The next day wasn't that eventful except for a few hangovers and a hotel room that smelled like ass. And while some fans would say that the trip was a complete waste because OSU lost, I would like to disagree with all of them. The fans at Penn State were great and the crew I rolled with was legendary.

And I would like to suggest that we play next year in Miami against Florida International. At least the Beavs could beat them, I'd hope.

-Beavers415

That Guy Sports 2008 College Football Preview

2008-08-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Nine months later and Patrick Chung is still trying to catch up to James Rodgers (left). Nine of the longest months of my life but all this changes in less then two days when college football kicks off the 2008 season. But before all the festivities begin we at That Guy Sports are here to bring you our second annual College Football Preview (including predicted records for all 119 D-I teams).

Please note that I am only as good as the preseason "hype" provided in selected magazines and I produce my picks on a week-by-week basis. All 119 teams, about a billion games. To say it modestly, it took a while.

Lets start out with the Non-BCS Conferences.

Independents

I stress "non-BCS" when I talk about the Independents (yes, I am looking at you Notre Dame). Why there are four teams without a conference in the NCAA blows my mind. Is it really too much to ask for the MAC or Sun Belt to break "tradition" and let Western Kentucky into their league? But lets cut to the chase since I really should not waste this much time discussing four teams that haven't had a significant impact on College Football since the first Bush Administration.

Notre Dame. A year ago they hit a new low when their newly anointed golden boy Charlie Weis led his first group of seasoned recruits to a 3-9 record and it really wasn't that good. I suspect more of the same this year with the same team returning and an entire nation still shooting for that bulls eye en grained due to many ill-deserved BCS Bowl games.

Navy: 5-7
Western Kentucky: 5-7
Army: 4-8
Notre Dame: 2-10

Sun Belt

Also known as the "SEC's non-conference opponent of choice." But this year I suspect that three teams are going to give the BCS big boys all they can handle. Florida Atlantic, led by Howard "the godfather of cheating at Miami" Schnellenberger, should give Texas all it can handle in the first game of the season. Arkansas State should be the best football program in the state (you heard it hear first folks) and Troy quietly churns out another bowl team. Conversely, this is still one of the worst conferences in football lead by the worst team in the nation Florida International (probably soon to be appearing on a Notre Dame schedule).

(Conference Record in Parenthesis)

Florida Atlantic: 10-2 (6-1)
Arkansas State: 9-3 (6-1)
Troy: 8-4 (6-1)
Middle Tennessee State: 3-9 (3-4)
Louisiana-Monroe: 4-8 (3-4)
Louisiana-Lafayette: 3-9 (2-5)
North Texas: 2-10 (2-5)
Florida International: 0-12 (0-7)

Mid American Conference

No, seriously, they are Division I-A.

Actually I have some respect for the MAC this year. While the experts may be picking The University of Miami (called Da U by their zombie followers) to make a push towards a BCS Bowl this year, the writers at this blog know that Miami University has a more realistic shot. Other teams that might makes some noise this year are the Chippewas of Central Michigan, Ball State and Bowling Green. Don't be surprised if Central Michigan plays Georgia tight or Bowling Green ends Boise States home winning streak. But anytime that Temple qualifies for a bowl game you know that you don't have the toughest conference top to bottom.

MAC West

Central Michigan: 9-3 (7-0)
Ball State: 9-3 (4-3)
Western Michigan: 5-7 (4-3)
Toledo: 4-8 (3-4)
Eastern Michigan: 3-9 (2-5)
Northern Illinois: 1-11 (0-7)

MAC East

Miami: 11-1 (7-1)
Bowling Green: 9-3 (6-1)
Temple: 7-5 (4-3)
Buffalo: 4-8 (3-4)
Ohio: 5-7 (3-4)
Akron: 2-10 (1-6)
Kent State: 3-9 (1-6)

MAC Champion: Miami

Conference USA

If you asked a SEC fan if UAB was a Sun Belt or Conference USA team they would probably say "trick question, they are WAC." But the reality of this conference is their are some really tough teams playing here these days. Central Florida almost beat Texas last year and Tulsa beat a very good BYU team in a classic shootout that no one except the author of this blog witnessed (and documented http://thatguysports.blogspot.com/2007/09/college-football-journal-9-15-07.html). East Carolina is looking to upset Virginia Tech in the first week of the season, UTEP, coached by Mike "they are only hookers if you pay for them" Price, looks to make some noise and Memphis, benefited by the easiest schedule for a non-SEC team look to go bowling. Looks like things will be tough for June Jones in his first season at SMU but lets just call it bad timing.

But the bold prediction for Conference USA. Tulsa will become the fourth team from a Non-BCS Conference to make an appearance in a BCS bowl game. And don't expect them to pull a Hawaii and lay an egg against an overpowering opponent. This team is for real.

Conference USA East

Central Florida: 10-2 (7-1)
East Carolina: 9-3 (7-1)
Southern Miss: 7-5 (5-3)
Memphis: 9-3 (5-3)
Marshall: 5-7 (4-4)
UAB: 2-9 (1-7)

Conference USA West

Tulsa: 12-0 (8-0)
Houston: 8-4 (5-3)
UTEP: 6-6 (3-5)
Tulane: 5-7 (3-5)
Rice: 3-9 (2-6)
SMU: 2-10 (1-7)

Conference USA Champ: Tulsa

WAC

Aww, the darlings of NCAA Football. For the past two years this conference has sent teams to a BCS Bowl and with mixed results. And while everyone is thinking that Fresno State is poised to make a run at a third consecutive BCS appearance for the WAC, the road will be much tougher then what Boise State or Hawaii experienced. And I'm not talking about a tougher non-conference schedule for the Bulldogs. This conference is better from top to bottom (almost the bottom) then it has ever have been. Nevada, San Jose State, Boise State, Louisiana Tech and Hawaii all should go bowling this year and Idaho is improved (and not the "can't get any worse" syndrome). Add that all up and you get better teams, but not a better record.

Fresno State: 10-2 (7-1)
Nevada: 8-4 (6-2)
San Jose State: 8-4 (6-2)
Boise State: 7-5 (5-3)
Louisiana Tech: 7-5 (5-3)
Hawaii: 7-6 (4-4)
Idaho: 5-7 (2-6)
Utah State: 1-11 (1-7)
New Mexico State: 1-11 (0-8)

Mountain West

Why this conference is not in the BCS is beyond me. You have a traditional power like BYU leading the way, Fiesta Bowl participant Utah always making noise, TCU beating up on Big 12 teams at will, and New Mexico, Wyoming, Air Force, Colorado State have all knocked off a BCS conference team in the past five years (good ones too). And while San Diego State and UNLV may be at the bottom, they can't be any worse then Syracuse. But this argument is mute to the hierarchy of the NCAA and just goes to prove how elitist the system really is.

How will these teams do in 2008. BYU should have a shot at BCS Bowl and don't be surprised if Utah beats Michigan in the Big House to start the season. TCU will be tough again and New Mexico could knock off Arizona for second year in a row and this year they have the Wildcats at home.

BYU: 11-1 (7-1)
TCU: 10-2 (7-1)
Utah: 10-2 (7-1)
New Mexico: 8-4 (5-3)
Wyoming: 7-5 (4-4)
Air Force: 4-8 (2-6)
Colorado State: 3-9 (2-6)
San Diego State: 2-10 (2-6)
UNLV: 3-9 (1-7)

And now the big boys....

The ACC

Over the past few years the ACC has been historically the worst conference of the BCS Conferences based on bowl performance. Big time programs like Miami and Florida State have underachieved despite a fountain of talent and Clemson seems to never have enough to get over the hump of the NCAA elite. The only respectable team in the ACC the past five years has been Virginia Tech and even they can't seem to shake poor big out-of-conference game and BCS bowl performances. But that could all change this year.

Realistically two teams really have a shot at making it to the BCS Championship game at the end of the year. Clemson and North Carolina. The Tigers based on talent and North Carolina on coaching, talent and a favorable schedule. Top to bottom, this could be the toughest the ACC has been in years but don't count on Miami to be leading the way. Wake Forest, lead by a stingy defense that has to be considered one of the best in the nation, and improved teams in NC State and Maryland should snatch up the last conference bowl bids. Virginia Tech will have a down year while replacing defensive players and critical offensive players (notably a bad line and RB booted for the season) but this team is reloading and not rebuilding. One of the wild cards is Georgia Tech who inherit at new option offense and should improve as the season goes on due to an ultracompetitive coach. Duke will be really bad yet again but don't be surprised if they eek out three or four wins.

ACC Atlantic

Clemson: 10-2 (6-2)
Wake Forest: 9-3 (5-3)
NC State: 7-5 (5-3)
Florida State: 7-5 (4-4)
Maryland: 7-5 (4-4)
Boston College: 5-7 (2-6)

ACC Coastal

North Carolina: 12-0 (8-0)
Virginia Tech: 8-4 (6-2)
Georgia Tech: 7-5 (4-4)
Miami: 3-9 (2-6)
Virginia: 3-9 (2-6)
Duke: 3-9 (0-8)

ACC Champion: Clemson

Big 12

The 'chic' choice for best conference this year is the Big 12. And why not. Oklahoma is looking primed for a national title, Missouri has to be the best team last year who did not go to a BCS bowl game and Kansas does not lose that much from a team that went to the Orange Bowl. Add in traditional powerhouses like Texas, Nebraska (and I stress 'traditional'), and Texas A&M and you've got a media hype poo-poo platter.

But the best team in this conference may be Texas Tech. A team may score 40 points against them but holding this team to below 50 points is a challenge. And believe it or not the defense for the Red Raiders is better this year. Colorado looks to build on a bowl appearance and might be finally crawling out of the grave that Rick Neuheisal and Gary Barnett dug for them (Husky fans take note how long it takes) and Oklahoma State will at least be exciting on offense. Texas will be tough but may be encountering their toughest schedule since playing in the SWAC and it will show in their record. Nebraska is a few years away and Mike Sherman is in year one of a major rebuilding process at College Station. Baylor and Iowa State would have a hard time winning 2 games in the Mountain West let alone the Big 12. And what ever happened to Kansas State? Not quite the best conference in the nation top to bottom, but still pretty good.

But the real player is Missouri. Led by Chase Daniel and more offensive weapons then the San Francisco 49ers, this team should roll and finally get over the hump of Oklahoma in a championship game for the ages. Expect to see the Tigers in Miami come January.

Big 12 North

Missouri: 12-0 (8-0)
Kansas: 9-3 (6-2)
Colorado: 8-4 (5-3)
Nebraska: 6-6 (3-5)
Kansas State: 5-7 (2-6)
Iowa State: 4-8 (2-6)

Big 12 South

Oklahoma: 12-0 (8-0)
Texas Tech: 10-2 (6-2)
Texas: 7-5 (3-5)
Oklahoma State: 7-5 (3-5)
Texas A&M : 4-8 (2-6)
Baylor: 1-11 (0-8)

Big 12 Champions: Missouri

Big East

In my opinion, the most underrated conference in the NCAA for three years running. West Virginia has seemed impossible to stop at times and teams like South Florida, Louisville, Connecticut and Rutgers seem to peak their head out at some point in the season in BCS Championship talk. Do not expect any different this year but with Cincinnati making an unexpected run at some point in the season.

Still, the players this year are still the usual suspects. West Virginia shouldn't skip a beat and still is the top dog of the Big East. South Florida should be better then they were last year but instead of hosting the Mountaineers they have to play in Morgantown, where they won two years ago. Don't expect the same in 2008. Connecticut will be tough while Rutgers and Louisville continue to rebuild their identity as the cream of the crop as they were a couple years back.

We're not buying the hype that Dave Wannstedt will learn how translate top 25 recruiting classes into a top 25 team and Syracuse is an apathetic fan base away from turning into the new Temple of the Big East.

West Virginia: 10-2 (6-1)
South Florida: 11-1 (6-1)
Connecticut: 9-3 (5-2)
Cincinnati: 8-5 (4-3)
Louisville: 7-5 (3-4)
Rutgers: 7-5 (3-4)
Pittsburgh: 4-8 (1-6)
Syracuse: 2-10 (0-7)

Big Ten

Here we go again. Another year in the Big 10, another three teams with 10 wins in an otherwise really bad conference. Lets not forget that last year Minnesota lost to Florida Atlantic and North Dakota State and Northwestern broke Duke's historical losing streak in Chicago of all places. Did we also seem to forget that Appalachian State beat Michigan in the Big House and Ohio State and Illinois were destroyed in their BCS bowl games?

But while the Big 10 will blow overall as a conference yet again I have to pay my respects to Ohio State. This years squad is shaping up to be their best team since 2002. Illinois should be about the same as last year and will upset Ohio State again but this time with the backing of a home crowd. And for those who doubt that Rich Rodriguez will struggle in his first year in Michigan need to realize that while the cupboard has been raided, it is not barren. Here is a guy who has done a lot with less every where he has coached. Why would it change now? Wisconsin will finish strong late and Purdue will be the best team that should see a shrink rather then watch game film when it faces teams like Michigan and Ohio State. If Penn State could keep its players out of jail and the hospital they could make some noise but don't expect much. Michigan State is improving and they could be underestimated but the top half of the Big 10 will be tough to crack. The rest of the teams are mediocre who can take a 3-5 conference record to a bowl game thanks to creative scheduling.

Ohio State: 11-1 (7-1)
Illinois: 10-2 (7-1)
Wisconsin: 9-3 (6-2)
Michigan: 9-3 (6-2)
Purdue: 9-3 (5-3)
Michigan State: 7-5 (5-3)
Iowa: 7-5 (3-5)
Penn State: 5-7 (2-6)
Indiana: 4-8 (2-6)
Northwestern: 3-9 (1-7)
Minnesota: 2-10 (0-8)

The SEC

The good old boy conference. So tough, that you have to play a weak out-of-conference schedule to survive. So good that if you lose two games you go to the BCS Championship Game. Top to bottom, the best conference in the nation. And if you buy all that, then you would vote for George W. Bush for a third term in the White House. But I have to give the SEC respect. They have by far the most passionate fans in college football. No one can match it and I suspect that no one else has the free time to do it.

Unfortunately for the SEC this year, if they play Ohio State they may actually face one of the top two teams in the nation. Everyone is thinking that Georgia will be slated for the final game after an impressive end of the 2007 season with a resounding victory over Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. The same Hawaii team that needed all four quarters to beat one of the worst Pac-10 teams in Washington at the Aloha Bowl at the end of last season. Injuries and suspensions will take their toll on Georgia.

The real deal in the SEC this year is Auburn and Florida. Auburn is looking to unveil the spread offense this year and a favorable SEC schedule could pave the way. Florida is lead by their Heisman sensation and should be playing with a chip on its shoulder after losing to a bad Michigan team at the end of the year. LSU, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee should be above average and could beat any team, any day. Kentucky is average. Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas will struggle but will still receive plenty of help from the press to say "they just play in the toughest conference." Not buying it.

SEC East

Florida: 11-1 (7-1)
Georgia: 8-4 (5-3)
Tennessee: 8-4 (4-4)
South Carolina: 7-5 (4-4)
Kentucky: 6-6 (3-5)
Vanderbilt: 4-8 (2-6)

SEC West

Auburn: 10-2 (7-1)
LSU: 9-3 (5-3)
Alabama: 8-4 (5-3)
Mississippi State: 5-7 (3-5)
Mississippi: 4-8 (2-6)
Arkansas: 2-10 (1-7)

SEC Champion: Florida

The Pac-10

For some reason, whenever the debate of the best conference comes up, the Pac-10 is singled out as the most "overrated." Typically this is brought on because USC is always in the mix for the BCS Championship and once they steamroll their out-of-conference competition, the rest of the nation cannot comprehend how seven Pac-10 teams have beat the Trojans yet only one team outside the Conference of Champions has pulled off this feat. Even then it took a miricle and some choice calls for a Vince Young lead Texas team to accomplish this. So Pac-10 fans like to think, if USC is this good and only teams from the Pac-10 can beat them, the conference must be one of the best in the nations. But the other teams in the conference have never been as good overall for an entire season since 2002. Could that change this year?

As they have been for the past 6 years, USC is loaded. No other team has the talent. The coaching is top notch and everytime the step on the field the aura and mystique of the Trojans can overwhelm a weak minded team. Who will step up to the challenge this year?

Some will say that Oregon, with its talented defensive backfield and nearly unstoppable spread offense are waiting in the wings. Others say that Arizona State is primed to make its return to the top lead by a veteran signal caller in Rudy Carpenter and the competitive fire that only Dennis Erickson can bring out in his players. Cal Berkeley returns the best linebacker crew in the conference and has the offense to keep the defense honest. All Oregon State does is win its games in October and November but is plagued by notorious slow starts. Mike Stoops Arizona team might have the best offense in the conference but has an unproven defense and always seems to underacheive. Stanford is improving but the lack of talent on offense could hold them back. UCLA owns a great defense and a MASH unit on offense. Washington is lead by a legitamate Heisman Trophy contender named Jake Locker but this program has a history of losing QB's to injury (notably while playing Oregon State). WSU is enduring a coaching change and may field a better team against the prison guards then on the field.

USC: 11-1 (9-0)
Cal: 10-2 (7-2)
Oregon State: 8-4 (6-3)
Oregon: 7-5 (5-4)
Arizona State: 8-4 (5-4)
UCLA: 5-7 (5-4)
Arizona: 6-6 (4-5)
Stanford: 5-7 (2-7)
Washington: 2-10 (1-8)
Washington State: 3-9 (1-8)

-Beavers415

Farewell Kevin Duckworth

2008-08-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Before we get to the much anticipated That Guy Sports 2008 College Football Preview the authors of this blog need to pay one final tribute to a Blazer who was part of the greatest Blazer team they have ever seen, Kevin Duckworth.

Duckworth passed away on Monday of an apparent heart attack (not confirmed but he was tipping the scales around 500 lbs these days) while in Lincoln City, OR. He was there representing the Blazers for the "Make it Better" statewide tour which involved hosting a free basketball camp for youth. He was 44.

Every story you ever hear about Duck was about his kind heart and gentle demeanor. When I was 11 years old Duck took the time to provide an autograph for me an my brother before a Blazer game. Even though I thought Terry Porter and Richard Anderson were much kinder then Duck when we approached them, he did not hesitate from stopping his conversation with the lady he was talking with to write down "Big Duck 00."

During his career as a Blazer, Duck transformed from a project center battling a weight problem of epic proportions to win the Most Improved Player in 1987-88 and make two trips to the NBA All-Star Game. He also anchored the best team I ever saw to never win a NBA Championship in 1991.

And most importantly with this man is the amount of lives he touched. Everywhere I read today people could not stop talking about how nice of a guy Duck was and how often he took the time to talk with fans in public. While it is sad that we lose a person like this so early in his life, we should feel blessed that we had the opportunity to watch him play and sometimes get his autograph or shake his hand.

Rest in Peace Kevin Duckworth. You will be missed.

-Beavers415

Olympic Basketball Final Thoughts

2008-08-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

Finally the US basketball team takes its place on the gold medal platform for the first time since 2000.

Its been a long time since Vince Carter jumped over the 7 foot frog in Sydney. Americans have endured some very embarrassing moments in between. So congrats, Redeem Team, for bringing back the gold to the United States.

But we wouldn't be the blog that we are if we just kissed up to the players for the US and anointed them the best team since the original Dream Team.

Some thoughts....

-Kobe Bryant may have made some huge shots down the stretch. But the US would have been up by 20 points in the 2nd half if he wouldn't have forced about a half dozen shots and played better team defense. Here's a guy who constantly gets ranked by the NBA as first team defender and he makes the foolish play of gambling on a steal which unleashes the best poster dunk of the games on Dwight Howard.

http://i36.tinypic.com/mkynva.jpg

-That brings us to the second thought of the Olympics. Rudy Fernandez. The author of the poster dunk on Dwight Howard. The authors at this blog were really enthusiastic about Rudy playing for the Blazers but after watching this guy in the Olympics we are beyond excited.

It seemed like every time I checked out the box scores Rudy was always one of the top scorers for the Spanish Team even though guys like Gasol or Rubio took the headlines. One of the most pleasant surprises of Rudy's game was his passing. If you were watching the championship game he had a no-look and an alley-oop to Gasol that would have made Magic Johnson blush.

All I know is that while most Blazer fans were rooting for the US to win you could here the entire Northwest yell in jubilation when Rudy threw down that vicious dunk on Dwight Howard.

-Even though the Olympics doesn't hand out a MVP award for team sports (and it shouldn't) I have to say that Dwayne Wade and Lebron James played the best basketball for the US during the games. Wade was nearly impossible for teams to defend and you could just tell that Lebron was going to do whatever it took to make sure the United States won.

-Was it me, or did Kobe seem a little fake in his giddiness of winning a gold medal? Not to say the guy wasn't happy to win a gold for the Americans but he just seemed to pour it on a little to thick if you know what I mean. Not like I'm surprised to see this considering the guy is aways putting on an act whether it is being chummy with Shaq or trying to "be like Mike."

But I'll admit it. As a Blazer fan I cannot stand Kobe and never have, but even when Magic won the gold in 92' you could see that he never sold his emotions to play the crowd.

-A lot of people complained about the officials in the gold medal game, but I thought they did a lot better then officials in the NBA. Maybe there was a missed call here, or a bad call there, but you never saw star treatment and it was consistent on both sides.

This didn't stop the announcers for NBC, Mike Breen and Doug Collins, from providing the most complaints I have ever heard from a studio crew, besides Mike Rice, in a long time. It really makes you think how much the ESPN/ABC/TNT crews are told not to make a peep about the inept officiating in the NBA.

Programing Note:

I have completed my research for the 2008 College Football Season and this week, before the start of the season on Thursday, I will be posting my results with some commentary. Look out for some surprises and some unlikely undefeated teams (and I'm not talking about Fresno State or BYU).

-Beavers415

Random Olympic Thoughts

2008-08-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Female athletes can be hot. Very hot. But a lot of the times I can nit pick too much because of some forgivable yet obvious flaws. Let me give you some examples of crucial flaws that ruin the full experience of men watching female athletes.

Swimming/Diving: If I were to choose a group of women that usually produce some of the hottest athletes it would the swim team. Very fit, nice tans and very nice derrieres. But watching them in competition may not be as good as "watching fit women in swimwear" would lead you to believe. First the swimsuits are designed to reduce the curves of the upper body and unfortunately the hair is always balled up in a cap.

Gymnasts: When I was in college and working at Big River Restaurant, nothing was better then a gymnastics meet was being held at Gill Coliseum. Not only did you chances of seeing the OSU team improve, but the visitor team usually stopped by too. I don't know about you, but 90% of those girls were smoking and you shared the thoughts of Jerry Seinfeld when he was dating a Romanian Gymnast.

But in the Olympics, we are not watching 19-21 year old girls in skimpy suits. Most of the time they are 16 and the "women" from China looked more like 12. It is really creepy.

Volleyball: 50% of the women that play this sport are hot. Tall, long legged, and fit but not in like a weightlifter type of way. Some of these women have actual curves. But most of the volleyball they show is beach volleyball and despite their bikini uniforms, I haven't seen too many hot ones. I suggest sticking to the indoor courts. At least you have a 50/50 chance of seeing a really hot one.

Tennis: Trust me. Its the skirts. But for every Sharipova, their are the Predator Twins. Some Chris Everett's here and there, but more offten they will resemble Martina Navratilova.

Basketball: No pros here. If their was ever a sport where guys were surprised to see a hot chick, it is in basketball. Prove me wrong. PROVE ME WRONG! And before you answer that, if their were more hot chicks in the WNBA, you would see at least 3/4 sold out arenas.

Softball: Some would say that this sport is about similar to Volleyball but their is a competitive fire in softball that trumps any other female sport. Sometimes its not that attractive. Sort of like good naked and bad naked. Competitive women playing softball. Bad naked.

And sure you have your Jenny Finches but some of those corn fed girls who can hit the ball 300 feet are no one to mess with.

Field Hockey: Maybe I spoke to soon with saying that women in softball are the most competitive in female sports because the women playing this sport are not vegetarians. And I don't think any of these women are interested in dating a guy like me. More like guys in general.

Crew/Rowing: Their is a lot of good looking women here and VERY STRONG physically. And if you find a swimmer who rows, you're talking about a woman so hot she is an 11 on a scale from 1-10. But this is hard to find in Olympic competitions.

Track and Field: You want curves? You can find it here. Maybe you like girls who have the body of Kate Moss? Bingo. But you rarely find anything in between.

But we found the exception in the picture above. Her name is Lerlyn Franco and she throws a stick for Paraguay. Although I never saw her throw on television I found this picture on Yahoo and I thought it was a hoax. So I did some research and found out that she's not only a model (no way!) but she throws the javelin farther then my brother ever did! No medal in these Olympics though.

And now another segment of You Know What Really Grinds My Gears:

You know what really grinds my gears? Live Olympic Coverage. A couple of Sundays ago I woke up at 7am to watch the Redeem Team open the games against host country China. But when I turned on the TV to see no Olympics. I soon found out that the West Coast would be three hours behind for this event and later discovered that most coverage would be shown live in Prime Time on the East Coast and Central Times but not Pacific Standard.

Seriously, I blame LA. And not because I like to beat up on this Hell hole city. No, it goes deeper this time. First off, we all know they are the largest audience in America so they have to be the focus of NBC. So the network will mimic their watching patterns and capabilities. This means they can't get up before 10am on a Sunday, even to watch their precious Kobe Bryant play and they are all stuck in traffic to see Michael Phelps swim for record golds at 5pm during the weekdays.

Would we ever do this for any other sporting events in America? That ended 15 years ago when KATU stopped showing Monday Night Football at 7pm for the 6:30 news. Even Blazer games cut into weekday cartoons if a game is being played on the East Coast. But since the Olympic viewership is a casual observance by many in LA, we all have to suffer the consequences.

You know what also grinds my gears? China pulling a Milli Vanilli on the opening ceremonies because one little girl is cuter then the actual singer and fake/digitally enhanced fireworks.

So step up to the medal podium NBC and China. You earned gold with That Guy of the Week.

-Beavers415

That Guy of the Week

2008-08-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

"...I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture."

-Ron Artest

I really shouldn't even touch this but I just can't resist.

When Yao Ming reacted to the arrival of his newest teammate, Ron Artest, he responded with a rather candid quote- "Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands."

He does bring up a good point. Artest was the fuel that ignited the worst brawl in recent memory (English hooligans and Greek basketball fans exempt).

So when Artest got wind of his new teammate's comment he felt he would clear the air.

"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto," Artest said, according to the report. "That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture....Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about."

He added, "If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there....Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed."

And, Ron-Ron ,that's why we love you at That Guy Sports. You just 'keep it real' and never think before you attack. This is why you and Stephen Jackson were such the perfect pair. You were the best at flying off the handle and Jack would always have your back NO MATTER WHAT. Thanks for reminding us why you will always be an all-star at That Guy Sports.

And not to mention, That Guy of the Week.

-Beavers415

The End of That Guy Sport's Summer Vacation

2008-07-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

That Guy Sport's summer vacation has finally ended (Well, not so much of a vacation but a move from San Francisco to Seattle, which is like the complete opposite of a vacation, but I digress). While we were out we missed out on some interesting news. Let's recap.

We had Manny Rameriez shoving the Boston Red Sox travelling secretary (the equivalent of George Costanza's boss) because he could not procure his request of 14 tickets the day of the game. The best quotes were Manny telling the travelling secretary "just do your job" and Boston fans referring to the situation as "just Manny being Manny."

Next we have the death of NBA basketball in Seattle. I don't know what's worse. The way that Clay Bennett b.s'd his way to moving the team to Oklahoma City or the City of Seattle trying to sell the citizens on Seattle University and WNBA Storm basketball. It should be noted that the night the team and city announced that they were leaving the Pacific Northwest we had some of the worst thunderstorms that the city has ever seen and what's ironic is the new name for this team in Oklahoma City is the Thunder. God save us.

Other little tid-bits:

-The Mariners fired their GM and released Richie Sexton. The rest of the world doesn't even notice or care.

-Jered Bayless is named the MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League which is nice but doesn't mean squat. It would have been nice to see him grab about 10 assists a game instead of 29.6 points but it could be worse. He could be Quintel Woods.

-The 2008 NBA "Dream Team" heads to Beijing to capture gold. Lead by model citizens like Carmelo "DUI" Anthony, Jason "wife beater" Kidd, Deron "my name is Torrey Ellis" Williams (just google it and see what comes up), and Kobe "no means no" Bryant, this team has a chance to win gold for the USA for the first time since 2002.

And finally the fight in the WNBA between the Detroit Sparks and the Los Angeles Shock. Oh, I'm sorry, did I get the team names wrong? Does anyone really care? Here's my thoughts on the incident.

-Isn't it funny that this league finally gets some coverage after a cat fight breaks out? No one notices who won the game.

-Are we surprised that it was a team coached by Bill Laimbeer was involved in the "brawl"?

-Or how about Rick Mahorn, the original "Bad Boy" (note how lame that nickname for the Detroit Pistons late 80's team is today. It sounds like a bar in the Castro or Capital Hill), shoved Lisa Leslie to the ground and then got hit in the back of the head by DeLisha Milton-Jones.

-What about the irony that the leagues biggest black eye (or biggest event ever in this sport) occurred at the Palace in Detroit like the Artest brawl?

-Not all the news coming from the brawl was that funny. Cheryl Ford blew out her knee trying to restrain one of her players.

With all that said, how many of you can tell me which players listed above play for what team?

-Beavers415

Those Guys of the Week

2008-06-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, happier times.

We have so many players in the Shaq/Kobe Freestyle Feud that we at That Guy feel that we need to bring back "That Guy of the Week."

But I'd like to first apologize for not running That Guy of the Week for quite a long time. It took a moment like this to really remind me why it's important that we continue this tradition of the blog.

As many have you have heard Shaq put his freestyle "skillz" on full blast this last week when he threw down some sick disses on his former teammate Kobe Bryant. What we find amazing is how this fued has turned into a national phenomenon and why a guy who couldn't lead his more talented team out of the first round still geeses on his former teammate.

But this isn't just a one person show for That Guy of the Week. If it was just Shaq dropping the lyrics and then apologizing then it would be just him. However, multiple people decided to keep this "incident" ongoing.

So obviously the first That Guy of the Week goes to Shaq. Sure, he was trying to be funny and show off his rapping talent. But these are some pretty big words from a guy who at one time was anchoring the middle for the worst team in the NBA and won his only title without Kobe when Dwayne Wade was getting fouls called for him when the Maverick team would look at him.

(side note: I'm not a fan of freestyle rap. While some may call it "Poetry of the Streets," I see it as people rhyming without thinking about what they say. Most of the stuff I hear involves some guy ripping on another person and the background beats are less then desired.)

The next That Guy of the Week is Stephen A. Smith. While this guy may not win a That Guy of the Year award, he definitely is in the running for a lifetime achievement award. So what did he do?

It was Smith who broke the news of Shap's apology and while reporting about the incident he quickly defended the big guy by telling the story about how Shaq asked him to pass his congratulations to Kobe on the MVP award. Then one of the NBA panelists for ESPN noted that its not really to chummy to issue a congrats through a reporter. Smith then backtracked and stated that Shaq told Kobe personally over the phone or via a phone message and that he wanted Smith to write in his "Kobe is MVP" article that he was happy for his "friend."

Are you serious Stephen A? Why do you feel like you have to defuse this issue? Are you working the propaganda angles so you can stay on ESPN because you can get the big interview with either Shaq or Kobe? If you were a beat reporter, I could buy your objective opinion but you're a columnist and this just reeks like sucking up.

The next recipients of this most prestigious honor are Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown. Not only were they stupid enough to issue Shaq a badge, they were dumb enough to take it away after this latest freestyle. However, it wasn't the slam on Kobe that made them decide to take away his steel. It was the fowl language he used in his Street Poetry.

So cops never swear?

-Beavers415

That Guy's NBA Lottery Teams Mock Wish List

2008-06-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

The draft is in less then two days with every newspaper's NBA columnist and expert predicting who each team will pick. Everyone is throwing the OJ Mayo angle or convincing everyone that Brooks Lopez was one of the top three players in NCAA Basketball last year.

Now I would love to b.s. you on why Eric Gordon will be better then Kevin Love, but I just don't watch that much college hoops except for Oregon State. Enough said.

So I'll try my best to explain what every lottery team needs as we roll through the first part of the NBA Draft (I'd do the entire first round but I have another job that I have to go to tomorrow morning).

1. Chicago Bulls: A Superstar. Ok, I know it seems stupid for more then one reason, but this team needs a superstar. Well of course everyone wants a superstar and Chicago once had the best player on the planet lead them to 6 championships, but I am saying this because this team is one real player from being a contender. If they can draft a player who can lead this team of underachievers and premadonnas to a top flight level....in the Eastern Conference that is.

2. Miami Heat: A kick in the nuts. Have you ever seen a team in the matter of two years go from the best to the worst? Look at it this way, it takes 16 wins in the playoffs to take home the championship. This team won 15 games in 08'. Ouch! As much as this team wants Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose, it really needs a swift kick in the nuts. Other then Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion , the other guys on this team should be happy playing in the Euro Leagues. These guys need to realize they are not that good and have to work their butt off to compete even in the Eastern Conference.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves: Fire Kevin McHale. Plain and simple. Is their any Wolves fan who has any confidence in McHale making the choices in the draft? I rest my case.

4. Seattle SuperSonics: A time machine and for multiple reasons. One is they could have gone back to 1993 and decided that an $8o million renovation of the Seattle Coliseum was not going to cut it. The other is so they can go back and change almost everyone they've drafted since Gary Payton. Here's some classic picks since The Glove. Rich King, Carlos Rodgers, Sherrell Ford, Vladimir Stepania, Robert Swift and Johan Petro. Their best draft picks, Bobby Jackson, Corey Maggette, Doug Christie and Desmon Mason had their best years for other teams and the other players, Nick Collison, Luke Ridnour, and Ervin Johnson were just above average role players at best.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: An enforcer. If you look up and down this lineup you would think that none of them would be able to step up for one of his teammates were hammered by some punk player. Now I'm not calling them soft. But this is more of a leadership position to help this team disassemble the perception that you can push this team around.

6. New York Knicks: Cap space. Here's another one that every team needs but this should be the motto in New York these days. I honestly think the best thing the Knicks can do is just get rid of every player except David Lee (and kind of Nate Robinson). Then this team can rebuild faster but you can't do that when Z-Bo, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Stephon Marbury, Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, and Malik Rose are chewing up huge contracts.

(Here's a fun 2007-08 Knick stat for you. Eddy Curry let the team in blocks by averaging 0.5 per game. That means you best shot blocker gets a block every other game. How is this possible?)

7. LA Clippers: Hire movers to bring this team back to San Diego. Has this team ever been close to even sniffing the NBA Finals? They have a playoff team every ten years which oddly seams to line up with then the Lakers are bad. What is the chance that David Stern rigs the season to have the Clippers in playoffs when the Lakers are bad to keep the stars of Hollywood and the nations largest media market watching the game? Does anyone have any confidence that Elgin Baylor can make a competent move and that Donald Sterling is willing to open his checkbook to bring a championship to LA? See why this team needs to get the hell out of the City of Angels? Even Anaheim would be a great improvement.

8. Milwaukee Bucks: Anything to get someones attention. When was the last time you even realized that Milwaukee had a team? Terry Cummings? Ricky Pierce? And don't give me this Gary Payton or Ray Allen crap. Even David Stern looked shocked when the team name was brought up during the Draft Lottery.

9. Charlotte Bobcats: Just go away. This team needs to be dissolved and turned into some sort of a "reverse" expansion draft (we can call it a collapse draft). If you wanted to put your finger on the downfall of the NBA starting in the early 90's and especially around the turn of the century, it would be directly the result of expansion. And look what expansion has brought us. The Bobcats, Grizzlies, Raptors, Hornets, Magic, Timberwolves and Heat. And the only town that actually gives a crap about their team is the Raptors.

10. New Jersey Nets: Move to Brooklyn. I'm just sick of seeing the Meadowlands so empty and so dull for a town that is so passionate about basketball. Moving to an actual community would only increase the excitement of this team which always seems to be a bore no matter the quality of the team.

11. Indiana Pacers: Jesus Christ. If any team put a challenge to the thuggery of the Jail Blazers, it was the Pacers. And you can tell that this team is starting to understand that character counts and they are taking the approach that the Blazers are taking. Now if Larry Bird could find some talent to go with that character and you might be looking at a solid team. This project is a long ways from being competitive.

12. Sacramento Kings: A solid "go-to" guy. A lot of people didn't realize that the Kings made some significant strides last year. Kevin Martin is playing like an all star and the youth of this team is playing with more confidence. If this team made another "Chris Webber" type trade then you would be looking at another solid 8th seed team this year with the potential to make a run a collapsing in the Western Conference finals.

13. Portland Trail Blazers: Patience. This team doesn't have to do anything. They are young, talented and they already have two rookies next year who would probably go #1 and top 5 if they were available in this years draft. A lot of people are speculating if the Blazers will trade up in the draft or go after a veteran player, but even if the Blazers didn't do a thing this year, we are looking at a playoff team next year with an extended run at the NBA Championship.

14. Golden State Warriors: Jack Bauer. The time is ticking on this time bomb and pretty soon the Warriors are going to blow up. We've said it many times in this blog that this team is so volatile that we never know what team will show up that night. And as the season went on last year the team that would take the night off was showing up with more frequency. So which fuse needs to be disconnected? Stephen "Jack" Jackson? Baron Davis? Don Nelson? The only thing we know is that a major change needs to take place for this team to survive.

-Beavers415

It's Time for the West to Step Up

2008-06-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

With the Lakers embarrassing themselves in one of the worst NBA Final performances ever, it is now time to start looking at the next season. Let's highlight our contenders.

LA Lakers

Lets get this one over with early since LA just completely let down the Western Conference and also gave us at least another full year until the fans from Boston even start thinking about about shutting their mouths.

The talent on this team should improve next year and Kobe is in his prime. However, you could see that Kobe still has that killer instinct. Teammate killer. They should be a very good team for years to come, but it may take them a long time before they know what it takes to play at a championship level.

Detroit Pistons

Ask Stephen A. Smith who he thinks will capture the next championship and he will most emphatically say, "the Detroit Pistons." He will remind us how this team was held back by Flip Saunders and how the new first time coach, Michael Curry, is already bringing this team back together.

And it might be all true, but this team isn't getting much younger and they are past their peak when Boston is finally cresting.

Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Bullets and Orlando Magic

Why did we list all three of these teams at the same time? Because these teams will never be better then an above average team in the Eastern Conference without some fishy KG or Gasol type trade.

San Antonio Spurs

Regardless of what happened this season, the Spurs are still the team of the new millennium. Tony Parker is going to be a force in the league for years and Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli still have a few more years before they are not competitive. But their team average age is 31 years and unless they steel someone in the next couple drafts, this team may be looking at the lottery for their next big surge.

Utah Jazz

I know what your thinking. This teams core, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, are just starting their primes and they've made steady improvements over the past three years. It is very similar to what John Stockton and Karl Malone did in the early part of their careers and they went to the NBA Finals two years in a row.

BUT, Jerry Sloan will not be there forever and that is the core of this team and organization. And its not like they don't have someone waiting in the wings, its just that this team is all about Jerry Sloan basketball. It will interesting to see how this team performs after Sloan retires forever on his Illinois ranch.

New Orleans Hornets

David West, Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul are the next big three of the Western Conference. They have a Coach of the Year in Bryon Scott and a year of experience will help them out in next years playoffs. But everyone forgot this year that this team is injury prone so all bets are off at this point.

LA Clippers

Just kidding.

Houston Rockets

A lot of people felt this year that the Rockets were better without Yao Ming (the infamous Bill Simmons "Ewing Theory" which claims teams can get better without the team's star player) but the writer of this blog thinks different. Once you add this 7'-6" monster to the team, the sky is the limit. However, injuries to NBA giants are inevitable and the improvement of this team does not lie in Luis Scola and senior rookie Carl Landry.

Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Sun

Oops. I forgot we were talking about the future and not has beens. Isn't it amazing that both these teams pulled the trigger on long shot trades for Jason Kidd and Shaquille O'Neal and all it netted them was a first round exit.

Never mind, I forgot it was the coaches fault.

Golden State Warriors

If the Warriors were a television show, they would be 24. But this season of "Warriors 24" has been going on for two years and I don't think Don Nelson will be able to disarm this bomb before the season finale. But the last episode of this great NBA drama, whenever it happens next year, should be explosive.

Denver Nuggetts

The Nuggetts are similar to the Warriors but they play defense every fourth play rather then one minute on the hour. This team is on the verge of being the next "Jail Blazer" squad, taking the title away from the New York Knicks. And any team that has a worse image problem the the NFL is not winning a title any time soon.

Boston Celtics

Your NBA Champs for 2007-08. They bring back their big three, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen and their younger players, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe and Glen Davis ensure a solid group of role players. Doc Rivers just out coached the Zen Master and this team is supremely confident after thoroughly beating the Lakers. If you are a NBA expert you have to pick the Celtics to win the championship next year.

But were not experts here at That Guy Sports.

Portland Trail Blazers

Take a team who's average age is 23 years old and just finished the season with a record of 41-41 in the uber competitive Western Conference. Then add Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez and whatever the 13th pick in this years draft yields. And this isn't like a group of thugs playing for max contracts. These guys really want to win a championship for the city of Portland. This is a team that only needs more time on the court with each other before a parade down Broadway in inevitable.

-Beavers415

Blazermania Has Hit the NBA Finals!

2008-06-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

At first it was just a quick glimpse of two Blazer jerseys in the background as seen to the left. One of the buddies I was watching the game with, Chris made a sound to alert me that the Blazer fans are out in numbers in LA and representing on national TV. Then it was a text from Milo saying "If you didn't see those Blazer fans then I lose faith in That Guy Sports."

So I'm farting around the Internet this evening, wondering what I'm going to ramble on for my next article and I run across this picture on the Blazer blog on oregonlive.com. How amazing is it that so many people noticed these to people sporting the Blazer jersey? And it should be noted that Chris is a die hard Knicks fan (not Z-Bo like any normal human being) and Milo was dropped several times on his head as a child and is a Laker fan.

But I don't want to ramble on about how two Blazer fans in the background of Phil Jackson bitching at an official is major news in the NBA finals. However, I'm tired after a busy weekend in San Francisco and I'm just going to throw some random thoughts out there today.

-Speaking of this weekend I attended the Giants/A's game on Saturday at Pac Bell/SBC/AT&T (whatever they want to call it) Park. I sat in the outfield with my friend Kent and we were witness to some very obnoxious fans. Some Giants, a lot A's. And even though the A's fans were acting like borderline Red Sox fans, the lady who sat behind us and who was a Giant fan had the comment of the night.

In an argument with two A's fans who were sitting directly to my right, the lady Giant fan confronted the them by stating "I'm not here for the baseball. I'm here to get my drink on." Then she repeatedly called them "beeotch" even sometime using the phrase "b-o-t-c-h."

So who was the winner? The one selling the beer for $8.75 per 16oz.

-Sometimes I don't know what to think about the NBA Finals after game 5. The Lakers do not look like the team that steamrolled the Western Conference and it feels like they are down 5-0. But if you think about it, the Lakers are a poorly officiated game two and a monumental collapse from being NBA Champions right now. And given that the ratings for a game 7 would be off the hook compared to past NBA Finals, I would be very surprised if the Celtics win game 6. You heard it hear first. We are guaranteeing that the Lakers force a game 7 by winning the next game and that's without knowing if Dick Bavetta and Bob Delaney are officiating the game.

This series is hardly over.

-I really hope that someone from the Lakers or the Celtics throws a punch or at least a flagrant foul against the other team. Not that I want to see violence or even because I want to see a bomb hit the stadium but these teams seem way too chummy towards each other.

And I know that I've said this before but its been five games. You just would have thought that someone would have flattened Vujacic by now.

-We haven't heard much about Paul Pierces knee lately. That trip to the wheelchair looks more suspicious by the minute.

-Speaking of punks, have you noticed the Boston bench when the opponents shoots in front of them? They will act like they are going to charge the player then clap and yell in their ears during their shooting motion. I have never seen this before at a NBA game let alone at most amateur basketball events. And it wasn't just during the live action. It goes on during free throws and inbounds plays.

This is what happens when you hand out fines and suspensions for players leaving a bench during and all out brawl yet don't punish players for lacking that one thing they taught you growing up. Sportsmanship. But you can't put a punishment on this type of behavior because you can't quantify it as easy as a player leaving the bench are during a brawl. However, if this is the case, then why can't the NBA suspend Eddie Jones for taking four steps onto the court to applaud his team during a routine jump shot?

-Many of you may not know this, but right now the City of Seattle is fighting to keep the Sonics in town and honor the remaining two years of their lease at Key Arena. We make no secret here at That Guy Sports that we think Clay Bennett and David Stern are two of the most dishonest and evil people in professional sports. Their main argument for letting them get out of the lease is that the interest by the fans is apathetic at best and they will lose up to $65 million dollars if they play in Seattle. the next two years They have offered the city $10 million to break the lease so they can play in Oklahoma City next year even though $35 million is still owed on the principal of the Key Arena revision.

I'm thinking that the negotiations would start around $35 million and up to $65 million to get this job done and anything less then that is insulting. Lets just hope the federal courts make them play out the remainder of their lease and make them pay for their arrogance. I still hope that Seattle finds a way to keep this team in town but I also glad that they are sticking up for themselves. We can only hope this is the start of some payback at Stern for his many years of blackmailing other NBA fan bases who would back down at the threat of leaving town.

But I would like to see Seattle save the Sonics.

http://www.saveoursonics.org/

-Beavers415

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

2008-06-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

You know what really grinds my gears? This Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay Lohan with all those little outfits, jumping around there on the field, half naked with your little outfits. You know? You’re a… you’re out there jumping around and I’m just sitting here with my beer. So, what am I supposed to do? What do you want? You know, are we gonna go out? Is that what you’re trying to ask? Why, why are you leaping around there, throwing those things all up in my, over there in my face? What do you want, Lindsay? Tell me what you want? Well, I’ll tell you what you want, you want nothing. You want nothing. All right? Because we all know that no woman anywhere wants to have sex with anyone, and to titillate us with any thoughts otherwise is - is just bogus.

-Peter Griffin

And with that, Peter Griffin's famous "you know what really grinds my gears" segment has inspire this latest post.

-You know what really grinds my gears? David Stern. You run the most corrupt professional sport and your product resembles a crooked 50's game show. You treat your fans like fools and everyone questions the integrity of your moves. You've single handily destroyed basketball in one of your most loyal cities in Seattle and then throw your support to cities that never gave a crap that they had a team in New Orleans, Charlotte and Atlanta. Everyone thinks everything is rigged and 90% of your fans think the referees are purposely making calls for big market teams and superstars.

You are one pathetic loser.

-You know what really grinds my gears? Why is it that ESPN has to broadcast the Atlanta/Cubs game when we get to watch everyone of their games on either WGN or TBS? Seriously, I would like to see other teams. And I don't care if the Cubs are having a great season and Chipper is hitting .424, I would love to see someone else besides them. Even the Red Sox, Dodgers or Mariners.

-You know what really grinds my gears? All I want to do when I watch Sports Center is get the scores and highlights of today's games. Instead we get a ton of "insider" information telling me how the game really went or how the next one is going to be.

And once the show is almost over and you think the "plays of the week" segment will at least make up for the hour of listening to experts like Stephen A. Smith and Sean Salisbury (but I think he got canned), but instead you get "The Ultimate Highlight." The reel of the weeks most amazing plays which is paired with overplayed music and tons of close ups and flash frames that you can't even tell what is going on in the replay.

I can't wait till I can watch expanded cable again so I can watch ESPN News and skip all the BS.

-You know what really grinds my gears? That we haven't even seen on foul in the NBA Finals that even partially looks like a flagrant. Not that I want to see people get hurt (well, maybe a little. It is Boston and LA), but it just seems like the current Celtics and the Lakers players are way too chummy to rekindle the true passion of their rivalry.

And the Laker home crowd for Game 3 was just pathetic, even for LA fans. One of the many reasons why the entire West Coast cannot stand LA is because their sports fans are not there to root for their team. They are just there to be seen and it is so freaking fake.

(on a side note, is it me or do the Lakers just seem like they've turned the clock back a year with the team chemistry? It seems like they are lost in their offense and they are not getting the charges and other hustle plays that carried them through the first three series they rolled through. Even after Game 3 it seemed like the Lakers were down 0-3. Not to mention that Kobe is yelling at his teammates and Pau Gasol crumbles to the ground when PJ Brown and Kendrick Perkins trap him after a defensive rebound. The way things are going for LA, they are not going to last past 5 games)

-You know what really grinds my gears? The singing of the Star Spangled Banner at sporting events. Now don't rush to conclusions and call me a terrorist, commie or some crazy liberal. I'm just sick and tired of people showing off with their musical talent during America's national anthem.

That's why I love the Olympic medal ceremonies. Its the same version of for each respective country for each medal. Basic, pure and to the point.

(Honorable mention for good national anthems: college bands, the Alpenrose Dairy's tape recording before little league games, Huey and Carl Lewis, and the guy who would play the guitar for Portland State games during the Pokey Allen era)

-And finally, you know what really grinds my gears? Its 78 days till the start of Oregon State football and over four months till the Blazers start their run at the NBA championship. But while this makes for a very bored sports blogger, it equals a very happy fiance.

-Beavers415

Drama Queens in the SEC

2008-06-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

I am a fan.

Yes, I know it may stun some of you to know that I am a fan. I am an avid fan who is very passionate about sports and its teams. More simply put, my teams.

I would practically do anything within my grasp (and the law) to help my team win. Mainly standing up and cheering to the point of losing my voice. As I've got older I have tamed my trash talk (damn maturity) but it still partake in yelling for my team. And sometimes I'll buy new gear (but not the bra jersey OS!) and I plan on donating to my college when I can afford it.

But how much is too much? Now I'm not going to say I've figured this out because it varies so much from fan to fan. And thank a god that everyone in the Pacific Northwest doesn't think like me because then we'd be like the SEC.

Between the 92K people who attend spring practice and the entire families who travel exclusively in team gear, the people who follow these teams live and die in school colors. I would even say that their passion far exceeds even the writers of this blog (and don't confuse passion with intelligence).

So why am I bringing this up in the middle of June (I swear we've been March for the past 4 months)? I guess the former baseball coach at Mississippi State is a "little" upset about his replacement coach after he resigned this past year.

http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=815403

I understand that MSU has a strong baseball tradition and that they have a lot of pride, but how bad can it be when your former coach demands this...

"In addition to taking his name off the stadium, Polk said he will personally take down the banners that display his name and number. He also will use his influence to scuttle a number of support programs, such as the foster parent program and the Dugout Club."

But he would restore his influence if the current AD were to be fired.

And that's how things are done in the SEC.

-Beavers415

Does Paul Pierce have a Mangina?

2008-06-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Pop. That is the sound that every athlete fears when they injure a knee. Even a couple of weeks ago one of our loyal blog readers heard the same sound when he destroyed his ACL playing soccer (I heard he was playing on Bermuda grass).

And that is exactly what Paul Pierce says he heard when he went down in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. And it was not a good scene.

From the replay, you could somewhat see Kendrick Perkins and Pierces knees awkwardly collide and with Pierce collapsing in obvious pain.

It was even so bad that Pierce had to be carried off the court by his teammates, in a move that we haven't seen since Topper Harley carried off Dexter Hayman who's shoelaces were tied in a knot in Hot Shots Part Duex. Next thing you know he is being carted off in a wheelchair and the sideline reporter is informing America that the Celtic GM, Danny Ainge, is in the locker room with Pierce.

A minute and a half of game time go by. Next thing you know Pierce is jogging enthusiastically back to the court to check into the game. The crowd erupts and for a second there I thought that Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were calling the game. A few moments later he is hitting two killer three pointers and the Lakers could never recover. The place was buzzing and Pierce hopped around the court like he never went down in the first place.

I was beside myself trying to figure out how a guy that looked in such obvious pain could make such a massive recovery. I thought about how I've sprained my ankle in games before and I've been able to bounce back immediately a few times. It depended if the game was just a pick up game or a battle with the Hutchersons. But in none of those instances have I ever been carried off the court or used a wheelchair to get home. And if I did, I was really injured.

Maybe he was scared when the injury occurred. He said he heard a pop and it looked like their was an awkward collision. Sometimes you just don't know what to do and panic. But no athlete wants to be carried out and even helped off the court by his teammates. Look at that picture again. We are not talking about a guy limping off the court while draped around his teammates shoulders. This guy is being carried off the court!

And we've seen players get roughed up on the court, to only return shortly from a visit to the locker room. I've seen Brandon Roy a few times this last year get blown up by defenders to pick himself up and limp his team to victory. And more often then not, he has to take a couple games off after that to recover from his injury. With that said, Pierce says he is sore and cannot practice before game 2, but he will play.

So is this guy another legendary tough guy, joining the ranks of Willis Reed, Isaiah "That Guy of the Year" Thomas, and Michael Jordan or is this all just some drama queen act? Earlier in the Cav series, the media was comparing Pierce and LeBron James 2nd half shootout with Bird and Nique. Now we get the next tale in the Pierce 2008 saga. It already includes him playing in Boston for his entire career and how he was a die hard Laker fan growing up hating the Celtics.

While researching this series I noticed that Pierce was involved in another controversial sports story during the playoffs. In game three of the Hawks series, Pierce flashed LA's Piru Blood gang sign at Al Horford during a trash talking exchange. It was actually used in an act of intimidation by Pierce after Horford had handed him his lunch on the previous basket.

Check it out on this youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGAPpfrf4fk

He was fined $25K by the NBA for the gesture which Ainge addressed by saying the following:

“Every game what does he do?” Ainge said. “He does like, ‘Blood, sweat, and tears.’ That’s kind of his sign. Blood, sweat, and tears. That’s what he does every game. That’s what he does every single game during introductions.”

Don't beleive me? Here is the Celtics pregame where they clarify this gesture wth their best explanation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeOdhQDyndQ&feature=related

So you mean while he's dragging his knuckles on the floor he is making that same sign? Blood, Sweat and Tears? You're telling me that this guy does a hand sign which could double as a tribute to the band? Maybe its more plausible that Paul Pierce does have a Mangina.

We will continue to see the national press and Boston fans tell everyone how great of a guy Paul Pierce is and how he's been a warrior during the playoffs. The writer at this blog would like to beg to differ. If anything, we are the victims of sports hype and the NBA trying to conceal the fact that they have a bad image. But you have to be very gutsy to put your hope in a guy that has once been stabbed and is been rumored to be involved with a very infamous LA street gang.

I ask that our readers continue to follow the story and saga that is the Paul Pierces life is being packaged for our historic NBA Finals presentation. Maybe the true colors of Pierce will be represented by the press but that will happen right after the now legendary wheelchair has its own exhibit at the NBA Hall of Fame.

-Beavers415

Would You Rather?

2008-06-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

The match up everyone (meaning anyone who casually watches NBA basketball) wanted to see is finally here. It's America's professional basketball darlings who just happen to be the most storied rivals. Boston and LA. And even thought I think the two team's fan bases cover the entire spectrum of douchedom, it is a spectacle that is very uniquely professional basketball in America.

But while entire planet revels in this monumental match up, it really blows balls from this guy's perspective. Honestly, it took the Wheel of Fortune having "salad tossers" for one of its puzzles to make me laugh again. See, I cannot stand either of these teams.

But I have to get past this for my loyal readers or this would just be another one of my articles bashing Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. That's why we have a picture of Brian Scalabrine on the cover today. He's the only player on both teams who is not hated on either team, yet not liked by this blog's author. The highest ranked player for likability from either team.

So is their anything really redeeming about these finals for this writer? Man this is a tough question. The only way I can find a way to pull something together for my loyal readers is to imagine how things would be for each team in they lose.

Boston Celtics

-The biggest question for Danny Ainge would be "how soon do you blow up this team?" Not that I think the Celtics are going to immediately blow up this team if they lose and I'm not saying that this team would be around forever if they won, but if the Celtics lose they have to know that they don't have the ponies to beat the younger Lakers.

-Does Kevin Garnett learn from his finals disappointment and come back hungrier or does he sulk about his continued impetus in the post season? Or more importantly, is Garnett the kind of guy that can learn from his mistakes and become a playoff winner? I'm thinking he recovers to possibly make it to the finals another year but he'll never be able to beat the Lakers.

-Now we forward to Paul Pierce walking through his hometown of Inglewood. He has admitted in the past how he was a huge Laker fan as a kid and hated the Celtics. I'm sure the hood still feels this way but they probably root for Pierce to certain capacity. But you know their are some jealous neighbors who are going to full on geese on him which will lead to the inevitable neck knifing.

-And I can't wait for Doc Rivers to start blaming his players.

Best case scenario: Celtics lose in seven where they blow a 18 point fourth quarter lead.

LA Lakers

-Coming into this finals the question with the Lakers is not will they win, but how many? If the Lakers lose this series, it will cast some doubt of their legitimacy as a future dynasty. Not that I think that the Lakers future may be as bright as the Blazers (what sane fan would think the Lakers stand a chance?) but it is hard to fight the NBA "flagship franchise" propaganda machine.

-When Phil Jackson lost in the finals to Larry Brown it nearly finished him and Brown is one of the brightest coaches in the history of the game (so I'm told). Could you imagine what Jackson would do if he were to lose to Rivers?

-I'm not sure what would be worse? The riots in LA if the Lakers won or if they lost. I think the town would be a lot more intact if the LA lost but some may say that some parts of the town need a complete face lift that a riot would provide. But the best thing is for a safe LA. And if you're worried about Boston, think of all the Bostonians who will be maced and clubbed once the first car is lit on fire.

-I am 100% positive that Kobe wants this championship and if he doesn't win it he's going to be depressed. Lets just hope he doesn't embarrass the USA in China with another Colorado type hook up.

Best case scenario: A sweep of the Lakers with Ray Allen being name "Finals MVP."

So which team do I want to see lose? Probably LA, but I'm leaning towards Boston. I don't know if its the fact that their fans just magically appeared after 15 years or if its the team that ESPN built. All I know is that any team that bugs me more then the Lakers has really pushed this love/hate thing to the limit.

What's next? I start rooting for the ducks?

-Beavers415

The NBA's Credibility

2008-05-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

If you have ever had a conversation about NBA referees with the two writers of this blog you would quickly find out that we do not have that much faith in the system. And this is a very popular opinion with many fans in the league, even the fan's of the teams who seem to get all the calls.

People have their theories on why the officiating in the NBA seems so corrupt. Some feel it has to do with gambling, especially after former "That Guy of the Week" winner Tim Donaghy was busted for making calls to effect the total points scored in a game. Others feel that the NBA plays favorites to certain teams and players who increase the marketability of the league. I am one of the others.

I'm actually pretty positive this is the case in the NBA. One thing we can all agree on is that star players get "star calls" and big market teams like the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics find themselves shooting more free throws then the opposition. Now the big market team is not difficult to understand because these teams bring in more viewers and higher ratings but the star player doesn't translate exactly the same way.

Granted more people want to watch Lebron James then DeShawn Stevenson which increases your ratings, but its more then this. It has more to do with selling commercials which show your favorite player. For example, lets say you are T Mobile. You spent millions of dollars on a marketing campaign which shows Dwayne Wade yucking it up with his new "fave-5" buddy Charles Barkley. How much more valuable is your commercial going to be with Heat fans watching the advertisement then a bunch of Spurs fans. And if you are ESPN/ABC or TNT you can sell your commercial space for a lot more money if the player in the commercials is still playing on TV. Working this thread further down the line, the NBA can sell its TV rights for more money if they can guarantee that their superstars will play far into the playoffs. And how else can you ensure that this happens without creating a point-shaving caliber scandal?

You can't convince me that this is not what has been happening in the NBA since David Stern has been the commissioner.

With that all said, how does this effect the NBA Conference Finals? Let's look at the team breakdown of who should benefit more from the NBA referees in three categories.

1. Team/City Marketability: This simply being what team brings in higher ratings. Please note that market size is not limited to city population but what team actually brings in more viewers. While a team from New Jersey may have a large population base, Boston will bring in more viewers across the nation.

2. Star Power Marketability: How many people are watching just because they are fans of a certain player (for the record, I think these fans are douche bags. I've never been a fan of individual play but this is a big market in the NBA. Apparently they also like to buy trendy items and blow their money on bad beer).

3. Selling Commercials: As I explained above, when certain players are still in the playoffs, certain companies will buy commercial space at a higher rate (and I'm not talking "Theoretical Internet Money). Call it the "Dwayne Wade Model."

Let's review all three points with the four remaining teams and see how each one of them ranks on a scale of one to ten.

Boston Celtics:

1. Team/City: The Celtic score huge on this list. Not only is New England one of the largest market areas in the United States but the Celtics are one of the marque franchises in the NBA. Just mention their history to the average NBA fan and names like Cousy, Russell, Bird, McHale and Havelcheck roll of the tongue. They were the first NBA dynasty and the game wouldn't be where it is today with Red Auroback.

Score: 10 points.

2. Star Power: When Danny Ainge pulled off the trade for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, you added two players who are arguably two of the top 10 players in the NBA over the past ten years. News sources like ESPN can't stop talking about "KG" (LAME FREAKING NICKNAME!!! BRING BACK THE "BIG TICKET") and for all the crappy teams he has anchored, Paul Pierce is seen as a hero in Boston since the early part of this decade.

Score: 9 points

3. Selling Commercials: Is it in you? That's what KG's Gatorade commercial asks as we see images of a passionate Garnett looking like he's been winning championships since Jordan left the league. You don't think the Gatorade has a lot invested in this campaign? Also add the ESPN spot with Garnett, Pierce and Allen asking a Sports Center anchor what their season slogan should be now that they are all teammates.

Score: 9 points

Detroit Pistons

1. Team/City: The Detriot area is huge and out of its three major sport teams (I'm not sold on hockey these days even if it is making a comeback) the Pistons have had the most success in the last 20 years. This means a very large local market but this team is not fun to watch. A lot of half court offense and hard fouls.

Score: 6 points

2. Star Power: One thing the Pistons have going for them is that their players are well known by most NBA fans, and to a lesser extent the casual sports fan. Mr. T, Rasheed Wallace, has a love/hate relationship with most of the NBA and Rip Hamilton and Chauncy Billips are all-stars. But they have no superstar, which helps them with their team oriented style of play, but hurts them in this category.

Score: 6 points

3. Selling Commercials: I don't even think you could find one of these guys in a "NBA Cares" profile or a Sports Center promo. At least Ben Wallace has the "when (and it shows his big fro) happens" but he moved on two years ago. Considering this is still the "other team" in the leagues biggest black eye, their is not a lot of marketability going on here.

Score: 0 points

LA Lakers

1. Team/City: LA is the largest sports market in America and possibly the world. The Lakers have almost as much history as the Celtics but one could say that they are ahead of Boston because of their recent success. Anyway you slice it, this city/team is the lifeblood of the max profits in the NBA.

Score: 10 points

2. Star Power: All you have to say when you talk about star power and LA is Kobe. A name once known for the style of beef raised in Kobe, Japan is now the poster child for the MVP in the NBA (and poster for rapist in Colorado). All this and the glamour of the court side patrons, you can't eclipse what LA has in star power. Almost as amazing is how weak the Clippers can be in the same gym.

Score: 10 points

3. Selling Commercials: Five years ago this would have been a ten but that took a turn when Kobe cheated on his wife with a 19 year old tramp in the Rocky Mountains. But even today we see Kobe jumping over cars and a Nike commercial here and there. If the Lakers still had Shaq we'd be looking at a top score but truth be told the Lakers only have one player selling commercials these days.

Score: 8 points

San Antonio Spurs

1. Team/City: San Antonio is one of the smallest markets in the NBA but it is one of those cities where everyone is glued to their TV when the Spurs play. Don't forget that a lot of people hate this team for its success and want to see them lose. We also seem to forget that Tim Duncan is the greatest player of the last 10 years, everyone hates the French (and loves Eva), Bruce Bowen is this generation's Bill Lambeer and Manu Ginobli has a whole nation watching him. But the style of play is BORING and a Pistons/Spurs final would kill the momentum of the NBA this season.

Score: 5 points

2. Star Power: I'm not sure if its star power if its just quality players and great villains. You have Tim Duncan who is the greatest player of the last 10 years and the best power forward of all time. Tony "Frenchy" Parker may be the best point guard at getting to the basket. Add in that his wife is Eva Longorian and he's French and every white guy in America hates this guy. Bruce Bowen is this generations Bill Lambeer and Manu Ginobli is being followed by an entire country. But no guy has the star power that LeBron, Dwayne or Kobe draws.

Score: 7 points

3. Selling Commercials: The only thing I can think about is a show that has nothing to do with anyone on the court. Desperate Housewives which is coincidentally on ABC which broadcasts the NBA Finals. But other then that, the Spurs don't sell many commercials.

Score: 5 points

So lets recap our points.

Boston Celtics: 28 points

Detroit Pistons: 12 points

LA Lakers: 28 points

San Antonio Spurs: 17 points

So what does this all mean? It is in the best interests of the NBA that the Lakers and Celtics face off in the finals because they will make more money (along with ABC/ESPN, but not TNT since they don't show the finals). But what we should enjoy with a LA/Boston series is that the NBA doesn't care who wins that series so neither team will get the calls. But since both teams and fan are used to getting the calls you'll see them flip out at a series so evenly officiated. Then David Stern will have his alibi for an impartial league because Boston and LA fans will have a case that even their teams don't get the calls.

Hey, you don't get away with this kind of stuff for 25+ years without being savvy.

-Beavers415

Spygate and That Guy NBA Playoff Star Ratings

2008-05-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

I guess we now know that Arlen Specter is a Steelers fan.

I don't know if you heard this, but the senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania wants to open a congressional investigation into "Spygate" after he was not satisfied with the NFL's inquiry.

Just to set the record straight, we at That Guy Sports really don't see the big deal with "Spygate." Sure the Patriots sort of cheated and acted unethical to a point. To say that it gave New England a clear and definitive advantage over the other teams, now that is up for debate.

But think about this when you debate the morality of this subject. The claims that the Patriots acted unethically come from the fact that they stole their opponents play calling signals (via spies on the other teams sidelines) and taping pregame walk through. Every sport uses mixed signals to disguise their plays and every team studies game tape of their opponent. Couldn't it be said that the Patriots just stepped it up a notch? The argument that they acted unethically is just as stupid as people being upset with a runner at second stealing signs from the catcher and relaying it to the batter. I hate to say it, but cheating is part of the fun of the game. And don't tell me that beating a cheater isn't that much more satisfying (Just ask any New York Giant fan).

So Arlen Specter, don't hate the player. Hate the game. And get back to investigating a war that was based on lies.

Moving on to the NBA Playoffs. Our list for NBA Champion is dwindling after the Magic bowed out to the Pistons. Hey, at least they lasted 5 games this time.

We'll provide a five star rating on how much we are enjoying their championship run and how excited we are to see them make their claim to the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Cleveland Cavs

Did anyone see Lebron's mom freak out when Paul Pierce put a "playoff foul" on him in game 4? If you didn't here's a link on youtube. I love it when he yells at her to sit down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxPAKipFHx4

That's been the most exciting moment of the Cleveland series so far. Sure we liked it when Lebron sort of posterized KG (is it just me but if anyone else throws down that dunk is it really that big of a deal?) but good defense just puts us asleep.

2 That Guy Stars

Boston Celtics

One thing I have been enjoying about the "C's" run is that they've lost all five games on the road. That's about it. KG's a punk who needs to get his ass kicked. Bad. Real bad.

On another note, it doesn't surprise me that someone once stabbed Paul Pierce in the neck.

And the what really bugs me is that their fans act like they've been selling out games since Bob Cousy was playing. What a bunch of douche bags.

1/2 That Guy Stars

-side note: I have been banned by ESPN.com for commenting on their website stories. They didn't like it when I said , and I quote, "Boise State fans are a #unt hair above Fresno State fans." Not only is it the truth, but I censored the word cunt. Hey, I don't like the word too, but nothing describes a minute space better then this term, or the red version of this hair. So I had to plead my case on why I should be reinstated and I rambled about the First Amendment rights, the Patriot Act, corporate politics and how my comment wasn't even that bad anyways. Regardless, a bunch of bull shit if you ask me.

Detroit Pistons

This team has to be the most arrogant in the NBA. So far they have beat the Mo Cheeks lead Philadelphia 76ers and an Orlando Magic team that has won one playoff series in something like 14 years. Yet if you were to ask the Pistons players they would say they are one of the greatest teams of the past 20 years. Which brings us too....

Reason #345,098,734 on why we hate the LA Lakers: The Detroit Pistons would not have won an NBA Championship in 2004 if it wasn't for a completely dysfunctional team which included perennial championship loser Karl Malone, and the height of the Kobe/Shaq feud. I swear to God that team only made it to the finals just despite the rest of the teams in the West. Like the kid that would spit on a piece of candy that they didn't like just so you couldn't have any of it.

0 That Guy Stars

Utah Jazz

I love it that Larry Miller won't watch or even listen to the Jazz games on Sundays. So for all of you who have bought a car from him, at least you know that he follows one of the rules within the LDS faith.

Other then the their fans, owner, management, players, and team colors, I like this Jazz team. They play good basketball. Besides the fact that they whine and take cheap shots at the opposition's players, you can really get behind this team.

1/2 That Guy Stars

LA Lakers

It was nice to see this team lose two in a row in Utah. For a second their I thought they were going to have one of those 12-0 runs through the West that drives me to the point of blowing up the nearest Staples. But I can't put my finger on it. Something about this team doesn't spell championship. And its not a swagger thing. I just think that a team that is playing good consistent basketball who are not afraid of the LA mystique will take them out. Someone like the San Antonio Spurs or Phoenix Suns. But not some head case team like the Jazz or Hornets who don't believe they can beat the mighty LA Lakers. I'm really starting to hate how the playoffs are panning out.

-1 That Guy Stars (they get negative points because I don't like the way this is playing out)

San Antonio Spurs

I think I said this three years ago. The Spurs are on the downward slope of their dynasty. But now when I say it I actually think its true. And it may take them 5 years to hit the lottery lines, but I think we all know that this year is probably their last run at a championship for a long time. That is if they don't tank it next year and get the first pick in the draft. They've only done it three times in the past twenty years (see David Robinson, Sean Elliot and Tim Duncan).

1 1/2 That Guy Stars but add a full star if they beat the Lakers and the Celtics.

New Orleans Hornets

Did you all see the pick that Tyson Chandler put on Tony "Frenchy" Parker in game 5? Not only did he lean into Frenchy who was running full speed after Chris Paul, and then spike him with his elbows, but when Frenchy was on the ground writhing is pain he kicked him in the shins to free himself loose. What a piece of shit!

You know what would be sweet is if Chandler and Garnett faced each other in the Finals. Why you ask? Because after every play they would posture themselves like they were going to face off and kick each others asses until Ray Allen and CP3 broke them up. I'd make you a bet by game 2, Allen and CP3 would just give up on breaking up the face off and then start antagonizing the two players to put up or shut up. I know I would.

1 That Guy Star but add another star if they face the Celtics in the finals.

-Beavers415