Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Goodbye Hugecock
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Go For It Jews!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
See You Next Tuesday
There is a lot going on in sports right now, so here is another installment, called "Trail of Tears".
Monday, July 21, 2008
See You Next Tuesday
The Reverend's Response
I'm lazy and have been trying to think of something to write about so I'll steal Detroit's previous post and answer those questions myself. A sort of FRD Roundtable or some shit like that. I am not nearly the college football "expert" that he is, but I do really, really enjoy it. I was never a big college football guy until I started at Ohio State however, so most of the things I truely enjoy happened 2002 and later. Whatever. Here goes.
What aspect of college football should you care about, but really don't?
Army-Navy. These teams aren't any good. Yeah, sure, go USA and all that, but as far as actual football is concerned, so what?
Should a two-loss LSU team have won the national title?
Absolutely. Like my colleague said, the system that is in place was in place for everyone. As Joe Morgan would have said if asked "There were no great teams last year." Which is kind of true. There were no undefeated teams or teams that blew everyone away and had only one loss. Ohio State backed in in a sense, but they deserved to be there. LSU came out on top of the two-loss teams and deserved to be there.
How should college football be more like the NFL?
It shouldn't. I hate the NFL. The game is boring to watch. The players are all assholes. (Note: I have never met an NFL player but from what I can tell as a fan, these guys are fucking doucherockets.) I can't stand the NFL so if anything it should try to be more like college football which is unbelieveable.
Your college football guilty pleasure?
I wish I could say recruiting. I tried to get into it but that lasted about two weeks. I attempted to dive into message boards with people who "know their shit" but the vast majority of them are homer assholes who think everything their school does is perfect and if someone doesn't say something that is 100% in favor of their program they are horrible people. So for lack of anything else I'll say co-eds. I don't really feel too guilty about this now, but soon they will be younger than my sister and that will make me feel dirty.
How/why is the BCS better than a playoff?
I'm not so sure that it is, to be honest and I love bowl games and the bowl season. The only problem is that there hasn't been a playoff system brought up that won't have the same pit falls as the BCS. Sure, invite 8 teams to the playoff. What about team 9? What about team 10 who thinks they should be team 8? In many ways, this could be far worse than asking "Who's number 2?" Or you could say that the champs from the major conferences get into the playoff. Then you'll have southern dickhats saying that the number 3 team in the SEC is more deserving than the top team in the Big Ten. Or all these conferences that have championship games will bitch and moan about that. Here's an idea, ass, get rid of the championship game. No one told you to have it. Quit trying to be a fucking martyr.
I'm not buying into.....?
The SEC. I hate the south. I hate southerners. They are backwards, racist and overwhelmingly retarded. It's your fucking bible-thumping faults that our country is going down the shitter. Your conference ain't all that good, either. Sure you've won back to back national titles but so fucking what. SEC speed is non-existant as well. I also get the feeling that most of the fans of SEC schools did not attend said university. Which is also the case here in Columbus and I hate those people with a passion. "Oh you love OSU? You bleed scarlet and gray? Where did you go? Toledo? Shut the fuck up, stupid, and give me my burger." I earned the right to live and die with Ohio State athletics. Just because you grew up in Grove City, Ohio doesn't give you the right. You didn't go to OSU for a reason. (Note: Wow, I went off topic.)
Just how bad is the Big Ten?
Blow me. Sure the bottom half is awful. But I will take the programs of OSU, Michigan, Penn State and even Wisconsin over those southern programs in a second. The Big Ten had an off year and still managed to get a team into the National Title game. And don't pull that "They didn't deserve to be there" whiney bullshit either. Yes they did. And they lost. Talk to me about your wonderful SEC in 5 years. MIDWEST WHAT!
Give the 2010 rankings for: Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, Michigan and Nebraska.
Florida State - Bowden will still be there as corrupt as ever. I'll say they are a decent team in the ACC again but not a national title contender. Outside shot at Top 25.
Miami - The U will always get talent there. I'm fairly certain it isn't even really a school and the only people that go there are athletes. It's like Oak Hill Academy and Tom Zemansky's School of Baseball rolled into one. A force in the ACC, moreso than FSU. Back in the national title picture until they lose a stupid game or two midway through the season. Top 15-25.
Notre Dame - As much as I hate them, it's Notre Dame. Their recruitment rankings will always look a little better than they really are just because of where the "experts" went to school. They're going to get big time talent there though. His coaching abilities aside, Charlie Weis has his own gravitational pull and the talent will come to him. They are a traditional power and they are clearly headed in the right direction even though it is blatantly racist and no one will say shit. Top 10-20.
Michigan - Oh boy. This year they are going to suck. But again, it's fucking Michigan. SEC Dick: What about Alabama? Shutup moron. High school kids are always going to want to play for Michigan, it's a no brainer. By 2010 they are where they once were. A Big Ten contender year in and year out as well as a national title contender. Top 10.
Nebraska - No. Plain and simple. No. This program fucked itself. It's going to be longer than 2010 for them to right the ship, Osborne or not. No chance at Top 25.
How much do you care about non-BCS teams?
Not a whole lot, but I do like to see them play. I don't want Hawaii, TCU and Boise State saying they should be playing for a national title, but to get to see them in big time bowls against traditional powers is pretty entertaining.
When should players be eligible for the draft?
As Mr. Browne said, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
The next really big super power will be?
That depends on how you are going to describe "super power". If we are talking about a team that is a national title contender every single year no matter what and is a school that players from all over the country want to go to then I'll say USC. Plus, they are ahead of any other school in becoming a super power already so chances are they'll get there first. Hell, they might already be there.
Best and worst interview you've ever done.
I was interviewed for my school paper once about our hockey team. Sad thing is, my quote never made it into the article. I was destined for greatness as a sophmore in high school.
5 favorite players, 5 best players you've seen in person and 5 favorite games?
Again, I am a recent college footbal convert so bear with me.
Favorite Players:
- Troy Smith - I fell in love with that black man the 2006 season.
- Brian Brohm - Yes I picked him to win the Heisman not only last year but the year before. I am still convinced with a mediocre defense he could have done this.
- Zoltan Mesko - Top 10 sports name of all time.
- Tony Dorsett - My dad went to Pitt. I can't help it.
- Drew Carter - For the record, no he did not bang my sister.
Best Players: The first major college football game I attended was in 2002.
- Vince Young - Got to see him in Columbus in 2005. Wow.
- Troy Smith - His 2006 season was unreal.
- That dude with one leg from San Jose State - Stay strong, brother.
- AJ Hawk - Just a great player to get to watch week-to-week.
- Dave Lisko - Can you count him as playing? Probably not. But he was great. They even gave him a helmet one year.
Favorite Games: I'm keeping this to games that I had some sort of tie to.
- 2006 Ohio State vs. Michigan - Game of the century. Lived up to its billing.
- 2002 Ohio State vs. Michigan - My first OSU/Michigan experience. Too much fun.
- 2003 Fiesta Bowl OSU vs. Miami - Best BCS Championship game ever. That overtime took years off my life.
- 2006 Rose Bowl Texas vs. USC - Vince Young. Period. Plus I remember betting a lot of money on both Texas and the over. I thought I was screwed and next thing I knew I had won. Hook 'em horns.
- 2006 Ohio State vs. Texas - Great game? No, not really. But I love Austin and the road trip to that game might be the highlight of my life. Yes, the 2005 game was better but 2006 was way more fun.
The one guy you want coaching your team?
Tough one. Bear Bryant had cool hats. Woody Hayes punched a dude. But they're both dead. I'll go Pete Carroll. Probably not the best X's and O's guy, but with the whole package a college football coach needs to bring to the table, I'll take him.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
16 Questions and Answers about College Football.
- Chris Speilman
- Anthony Gonzalez
- AJ Hawk
- Derrick Alexander
- Jay Reimersma
- Charles Woodson- you knew he was getting the ball and teams couldn't stop him
- Vince Young- It seemed so easy for him, that he was barely trying but was still so good.
- Troy Smith- Only his 2006 season prior to that I was skeptical, but he had the most growth of any player I've seen
- Donovan McNabb- Overwhelming talent.
- Derrick Alexander- loved watching this guy play WR, seems to always be making highlight real catches, but then again I was like 6 or 7 years old.Krenzel barely missed making my 5 favorite players. I sometimes forget how good OSU was in 2003
- Michigan-OSU 2006- My senior year of college. The absolute perfect setup for my senior year of college. Ended great for me, but the bowl just didn't turn out so well
- Michigan- Colorado 1993- The hail mary game. When everyone stood up on the final play my view got blocked and didn't actually see Westbrook catch it.
- Michigan- Alabama 2000 Orange Bowl- First overtime game I saw and great game overall, with ending that didn't do it service. My first run in with Alabama fans and their unrealistic expectations.
- OSU-Texas 2005- Although the ending was not very kind to me and I had a much better time the year after in Austin, I'll give the nod that the one in columbus was a better game.
- Michigan-OSU 2003- 100th game in the series with two really good teams that year. OSU was a lot closer to pulling this one out than most people remember.
- OSU-Miami 2003 Fiesta Bowl- Still in my mind the greatest national title game. Something like 85 players from the combined rosters played in the NFL later.
- Michigan-OSU 2006- Making both of my lists.
- USC-ND 2005- Too bad I have both teams.
- Florida State-Virginia 1995- FSU's first ACC lost on a thursday night game. Warrick Dunn comes up just short on a direct snap at the end.
- USC-Texas Rose Bowl 2006. - I'm not really a huge fan of this game because I don't think this USC team was as good as everyone thinks. They were also playing their worst football at the end of the regular season and should have lost to Fresno State. Vince Young's performance though was totally dominating and it had a great 4th quarter.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview:National Outlook
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Ohio State
- USC
- Georgia
- LSU
- Auburn
- Penn State
- Missouri
- Wisconsin
- Clemson
- Texas
- South Florida
- Arizona State
- Tennessee
- Texas Tech
- Virginia Tech
- Notre Dame
- West Virginia
- TCU
- Pitt
- Cincinnati
- BYU
- Alabama
- Michigan State
- Chris Wells, RB-OSU
- DeMarco Murray, RB- Oklahoma
- Tim Tebow, QB- Florida
- Graham Harrell, QB- Texas Tech
- Sam Bradford, QB- Oklahoma
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview: Non-BCS Conferences
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview: Big East
- Jon Baldwin-WR- Pitt
- Isiah Pead-RB-UC
- Shane Hale- LB- Pitt
- DJ Woods- WR- UC
- Cam Saddler- WR-Pitt
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview: ACC
- Dequan Bowers- DL- Clemson
- Nigel Bradham- LB- FSU
- Brandon Harris-DB- Miami
- Kenny Tate- WR- Maryland
- Tommy Streeter- WR- Miami
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview: Big XII
- Darrell Scott-RB-Col
- Cyrun Gray- RB-A&M
- Robert Griffin-QB-Baylor
- Aaron Williams-DB- UT
- Joshua Jarboe-WR-OU
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview: SEC
- Patrick Johnson- DB- LSU
- Julio Jones-WR-Alabama
- AJ Green-WR- Georgia
- Omar Hunter- DL-Florida
- Brendan Beal-LB- Florida
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview: Big 10
- Devier Posey, OSU
- Terrelle Pryor, OSU
- JB Fitzgerald, Michigan
- Cordale Scott, Illinois
- Etienne Sabino, OSU
- JB Shugarts, OSU
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
FRD's Entirely Too Early College Football Preview: PAC 10
Alright, a little explanation here. As I devour as much information as I can about the upcoming college football season I tend to make predictions and such. This typically includes me creating a top 25, heisman list, conference breakdowns, and all-conference teams. Included in this cycle I typically go through every division 1A team and predict their final record. I've been doing this for about 5 years now, but it rarely is viewed by any outside eyes. This year you are in luck.
I'll be posting all of this on FRD and updating it regularly. Usually I start this process around Aug. 1, but with nothing to do these days and law school kicking off in mid-Aug, I'm going to start a little early this year. In order to make the process a little more manageable, I'll be breaking down the conferences one at a time- leading up to a pre-season top 25 and Heisman list. Today will be the Pac 10- Enjoy.
Team Projections- predicted record- short preview
- Kavarrio Middleton
- Andrew Luck
- Audre Dean
- Rahim Moore
- Blake Ayles
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The Impossible Argument.
So recently I've finished the book Saturday Rules by Austin Murphy of SI. It's pretty much pulp and a quick read but it's fairly entertaining. Despite the somewhat overwhelming coverage of USC and Notre Dame it still manages to make some good points and helped me to relive the 2006 college football season- which might have been the best time of my life up until a particular bowl game I prefer to forget.
One of the things that stands out is the author talks about his years covering both college football and the NFL and the difference between the two. This brings up the age old argument of which is better- college or pro football?
I'll admit I'm completely biased in this argument. I simply have zero passion toward the NFL. I'm a mid-west kid who was weaned on the BIg Ten and I will never accept any substitute. It's an argument no one can win, you're either going to like one or the other and there is no point I can make that will change your point of view. Obviously, I accept that the level of football being played in the NFL is a higher quality, but I actually think that is one of its fatal flaws. The game has become so well played and so fast that it's not fun- it's all the same. Murphy makes the point that if two NFL teams played a game and were to switch jerseys at half-time would you be able to tell the difference simply by style of play. I don't think you could.
To me, that's what makes the college game so great. Tradition, passion, rivalry and variety are what helps to make the game an absolute religion to many.
So ultimately this post solves nothing, but just helped to ramp up my college football jones. I've decided to make a list of all the things that makes college football great and you can not find in the pro game, which I will list below:
The game, helmet stickers, Homecoming, the option, howard's rock, army-navy, student sections, painting ND's helmets before the game, bands, senior captains, Spring ball, Script Ohio, Little brown jug, rivalry trophies in general, Rudy, Tusk, Black shirts, walk-ons, the team, the team , the team, Those who stay will be champions, play like a champion today, Between the hedges, Night games in Tiger Stadium, The horseshoe, College Gameday, The world's largest outdoor cocktail party, Mascots, Pep rallies, Red River shootout, the grandaddy of them all, Keith Jackson, Rose Parade, Hook 'em symbol, Fight songs, alma maters, JoePa, The Heisman, touchdown jesus, The Grove, midnight yell practice, Volunteer navy, jump around, senior tackle.
This article pretty much sums up what I've been trying to say.
I'll throw in a couple of youtube clips that also help make my point.
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Monday, July 7, 2008
You Can't Go Home Again
Anyways, my hometown of Grand Blanc, Michigan was in the news recently as it tends to be when it hosts the Buick Open. The Open, as locals call it, is a mid-tier PGA tournament as it has been for the past 50 years. When the tour started up the FedEx Cup the Open was moved from late August to late June, and has pretty much hit the shits. I'm sure the rest of the tour is struggling without Tiger, but the Buick seriously needs him.
The tournament has always had a blue-collar reputation on tour as sort of a party tournament. If you need some background info refer to the wikipedia entry. So while it's never been Augusta, it has still held some class, it's a god-damn golf tournament, it has tumbled downhill the past two years.
As a Grand Blanc-er (I'm not sure this is the right word), this tournament is near and dear to my heart. For us locals the tournament marked the highlight of the summer, especially for the younger crowd. For a city that consists of basically housing subdivisions and golf courses we relish the beer tents and commerce that the tournament has brought with it. If I had time I could tell a million stories, some of my most entertaining, about the years I've been there.
But like I've said the tournament has headed downhill recently. I give you exhibit A....
Yes that is Kid Rock and John Daly playing the pro-am on Wednesday. I'm guessing this picture if from the front side, because at some point on the back 9 Rock decided to ditch the shirt under his overalls. I didn't make it home in time for the pro-am this year so I missed this spectacle in person, but by all reports Rock spent more time slamming beers, shots of jager , and signing autographs than he did playing golf. You may notice that tallboy of Bud heavy he is drinking in that photo, later in the round Big John decided to hit one of his tee shots of the empty and good times were had by all white trash in attendance. If you find yourself asking, "where the hell did he get a tallboy of bud?" let me explain. This year the tournament decided to ditch $5 cups of beer that have been a tradition and sell 24 oz. cans of Bud and Bud Light for $8. I even purchased one myself from a roaming beer salesmen (like the kind they have at baseball games, I'm not kidding) on Sunday near 17 green.
It's not that I hate this stuff at the tournament, I agree it's kind of fun and in the true spirit of the Buick. But c'mon would you want this guy running around your course...
The tournament didn't get all bad pub. Some guy from the golf channel says it's the second best stop on tour. Unfortunately, he also refers to it being in Flint, which Grand Blanc is not- not a very nice comparison there. BTW, I've visited all the places he mentions in the acticle and have to say his experiences are a little different than mine. Who knows, maybe PGA golfers like grinding on 30 something white trash- which is all that happens at maxie's.
With all that out of the way, check out the site below and watch some of the videos. They are some of the funniest things I've seen recently and have nothing to do with sports. I'll give you the warning that the ducktales and Cheers ones might not be safe for work, but are easily my favorites. Alf is definitely NSFW so beware.
http://www.fatalfarm.com/tvthemes.html
Friday, July 4, 2008
Welcome to Earfh!
Rising from the fire
Billy Joel may be one of the most underrated artists of all time. First of all, piano playing is underrated by most crowds even though in olden times piano playing was held in the same regard as being in a boy band- women loved it and it was very popular. It was like being a rock star.
Translate that to today- who is the biggest piano playing rock star? The arguement already narrows down to two people in my mind- Elton John and Billy Joel. Now, Elton John is possibly the best piano player of our era, but his legacy is tainted because he is stuck on the piano. Whenever we see Elton John, he will bo sitting at a bemch playing. Billy joel suffers from no such boundaries. I will refer to the video for the song "You may be right" to prove that Billy Joel is the rock star piano player that the world has been waiting for since beethoven. He can sing, dance and crash into walls without skewing his reputation. He's the Babe Ruth of music.
If I were Aaron Rodgers and Brett farve returned to the Packers, I would demand a trade- immediately.
If you don't agree that "Lost" is the best drama on television right now, possibly ever, then you need to get your head examined, cunt-face. Yeah, I said cunt-face.
The Incredible Hulk movie was just as I expected- totally underrated. It had everything a Hulk movie should have and it was the most enjoyable theater experience I've had other than "Iron Man". The Hulk looked mean. "Iron Man" is the movie that made me want to be a millionaire but "The Incredible Hulk" made me want to be the strongest one there is. I started working out after I saw it. I'm serious.
I can't wait for "The Dark Knight"
If the Blackhawks don't win Lord Stanley's Cup in the next three years, I will kill myself. That's a promise.
Happy 4th to all of Reggiedunlap/ Let's keep the tine.