Month: October 2006 (Page 4 of 32)

      Weekend Wrap: College Football

      October 29, 2006 /

      Top 10 Rewind:

      1. Ohio State (9-0)
      Well it’s about time the Buckeyes give a little love to RB Antonio Pittman. Pittman rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns in OSU’s 44-0 pummeling of Minnesota. While QB Troy Smith and WR Ted Ginn Jr. have been the flash and dash for the Buckeyes, Pittman, in my opinion, has been the backbone of the offense. Speaking of Smith, he ran for a touchdown against the Gophers – his first of the year – and threw for one more. The story of the game was the total yardage by both teams. OSU racked up 476 to Minnesota’s paltry 179.
      Next Game: at. Illinois, Nov. 4.

      2. Michigan (9-0)
      No hiccup for the Wolverines in Ann Arbor as Michigan topped Northwestern 17-3 on a sloppy, rain-soaked field. There hasn’t been any real secret in how the Wolverines have been winning without stud WR Mario Manning, who has missed significant time with an injury. Michigan has been victorious with a powered running attack with RB Mike Hart (95 yards and a score), don’t let turnovers kill you and play suffocating defensive. Teams were able to run on U of M last year, but that certainly isn’t the case for ’06. Check this stat out: the Wildcats mustered minus-13 total yards on the ground on Saturday.
      Next Game: vs. Ball State, Nov. 4.

      3. USC (6-1)
      This has been brewing for weeks hasn’t it? The Trojans were drop kicked by unranked Oregon State 33-31 after a John David Booty two-point conversion fell incomplete with just seven seconds reaming. This loss is huge for teams like Auburn and Florida, who have beaten tough competition and needed another one-loss team like USC to justify a big rising in the rankings. Here’s what makes matters worse for USC: the Trojans only “decent” win was over Nebraska at home in September. But with the Cornhuskers dropping another game on Saturday (41-29 to OK State), that “big” victory looks more like the rest of the cupcakes USC has squeaked by this season. Have a nice day Trojans.
      Next Game: at. Stanford, Nov. 4.

      4. West Virginia (7-0)
      BYE week – sleep tight little Mountaineers. Your big game is coming.
      Next Game: at. Louisville, Nov. 2.

      5. Texas (8-1)
      Why do the Long Horns seem to always give up two or three scores before coming to play each week? Texas Tech led 21-0 in the first quarter before Texas rallied to beat the Red Raiders 35-31 on yet another solid performance by freshman Colt McCoy. McCoy went 21 of 31 for 256 yards and four touchdowns to keep the Long Horns at one loss. Check out this stat: Texas Tech passed for 519 yards while only rushing for minus-1 yard. Talk about your imbalance attack on offense. Any sort of running game and the Red Raiders easily dispose of the Long Horns on Saturday.
      Next Game: vs. Oklahoma State, Nov. 4.

      6. Louisville (7-0)
      BYE week – sleep tight Cardinals. Your big game is coming as well.
      Next Game: vs. West Virginia, Nov. 2.

      7. Auburn (8-1)
      The Tigers had visions of the loss to Arkansas dancing in their heads after a closer-than-expected run in with Mississippi. Auburn needed two John Vaughn field goals in the forth quarter to break a 17-17 tie and give the Tigers a 23-17 win. Kenny Irons kept Auburn afloat with 106 yards on 23 carries while QB Brandon Cox completed 21 passes on 34 attempts for 253 yards and a touchdown. Ole Miss didn’t do anything exceptional in this contest. In fact, they were out gained by Auburn 428-256, but the Tigers could just never break away and kept the Rebels in the game with two turnovers.
      Next Game: Arkansas State, Nov. 4.

      8. Tennessee (7-1)
      The Game Cocks came strong at the Vols didn’t they? Erik Ainge put in a solid performance, however, and led Tennessee to a nice 31-24 win over a tough South Carolina opponent. Ainge went 21 of 29 for 254 yards and two touchdowns in the win, while completing five passes for 106 yards to his go-to-guy Robert Meachem. Despite getting out-rushed 165-71 by the Game Cocks, Tennessee was able to notch a last second interception to seal the game.
      Next Game: vs. LSU, Nov. 4.

      9. Florida (7-1)
      You can always throw out the records in rivalry games right? The Gators looked liked world-beaters when they went up 21-0 on unranked Georgia in “The World’s Largest Cocktail Party”. Although the Bull Dogs eventually fell to Florida 21-14, give UGA credit for hanging tough. The Dawgs forced a late turnover on RB Tim Tebow and almost had a shot to tie the game late if it weren’t for a late Florida first down to ice the game. The Gators won this game on defense by forcing two fumbles and nabbing two Matthew Stafford passes for interceptions. Nice day by WR Andre Caldwell of Florida. Caldwell scored once on a reverse and then once on a touchdown pass from Chris Leak. He also finished with eight receptions for 86 yards and rushed five times for 29 yards.
      Next Game: at. Vanderbilt, Nov. 4.

      10. Clemson (7-2)
      What a trap game for the Tigers. Clemson headed into Blacksburg and faced an undefeated, supposedly un-motivated Virginia Tech team and it got crushed 24-7. What an incredible game by RB Brandon Ore, who rushed for 203 yards on 37 carries and scored two touchdowns. The Tigers didn’t have an answer for Ore or the rest of the Hokies – hope they enjoyed their quick stop in the top 10.
      Next Game: vs. Maryland, Nov. 4.

      Most impressed with: Oregon State for finally exposing USC for what the Trojans really are: a solid squad, but not one that deserves to be #2 or #3 in the country.

      Least impressed with: Clemson. I’ve backed the Tigers for weeks now, but they laid an egg in Blacksburg and you just can’t allow a back to churn out 203 yards on you when you’re ranked 10th in the nation.

      Congratulations: Mad congrats go out to Temple for knocking off Bowling Green University 28-14. The Owls officially ended their 20-game losing streak with the win.

      Shame on you: The shame on you honors go out to Bowling Green University for its loss to Temple. How could you lose to freakin’ Temple? The Owls are one step above high school football.

      Looking forward: I hope the contest between #4 West Virginia and #6 Louisville is even half of what people are making the game out to be. Something tells me that the Mountaineers are a far superior team and that will come out on November 2nd. LSU at Tennessee should be a decent game too and OK State-Texas is always good too.

      College Football, General Sports

      Is 5-yrs/$52.5 M too much for Kaman?

      October 28, 2006 /

      The short answer…no.

      The Clippers signed center Chris Kaman to a contract extension, solidifying a promising young core in the process. Many critics will say that the team overpaid for “The Caveman,” but $10 M is a fair deal for Kaman’s current skills and upside.

      Take a quick look at Kaman’s stats:

      2003-04: 6.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.9 bpg, 69.7% FT, 46.0% FG
      2004-05: 9.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 66.1% FT, 49.7% FG
      2005-06: 11.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 77.0% FT, 52.3% FG

      Aside from a hiccup in his free throw percentage two seasons ago, Kaman progressed in each of the five important categories for a center. The league is trending smaller, but that’s because most teams don’t have another option. They are electing to speed up the tempo rather than have sluggish big men on the roster for no other reason than just to have them. But Kaman doesn’t present that problem. He’s developed a great left hand and several solid moves in the post. Moreover, he’s a hard worker and will continue to improve his game.

      Good signing by the Clippers. Maybe Donald Sterling isn’t such a tightwad after all.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Fantasy Football: Saturday Update (10/28)

      October 28, 2006 /

      Troy Williamson underwent a MRI on his concussed head and is listed as questionable for Monday night’s game. Avoid starting him if at all possible…Laveranues Coles dressed for practice but didn’t go on Friday, which is a little worrisome. Keep your eye on the Jets’ inactives Sunday morning…LaMont Jordan returned to practice and “looked good” according to Art Shell. The Raiders play the Steelers, so if you have a good option besides Jordan, use it…Ben Roetlisberger is likely to start this week, but keep an eye on the Steelers’ inactives and be prepared to start Charlie Batch in his place…Carnell Williams will continue to come out of the games on third down, with Michael Pittman and Mike Alstott on the field in obvious passing situations…Byron Leftwich and Jack Del Rio are apparently not speaking to each other. Even though Leftwich has already been declared out for this game, keep an eye on this situation…Greg Jennings is listed as doubtful so don’t count on him this week…Kellen Winslow practiced all week and should play against the Jets…Steve McNair was upgraded to probable and should play against the Saints tomorrow…After much speculation, the Bengals did activate Chris Henry and he should resume his role as the team’s third WR…Ahman Green is listed as probable and is a solid play against the Cardinals…Larry Fitzgerald is listed as doubtful and will probably not play against Green Bay…Brian Westbrook, Donte Stallworth and L.J. Smith practiced and should play Sunday…Rudi Johnson practiced on Friday and is expected to play against the Falcons, who have been susceptible to the run the last couple weeks with injuries to their defense.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      World Series: St. Louis 4, Detroit 2 (St. Louis wins 4-1)

      October 27, 2006 /

      Well, at least I got the “______ in 5” part right. The guy holding the sign in the new Busch Stadium wasn’t kidding when he said, “Hit it to the pitcher.” Ye gods. Kenny Rogers was surely hitting cameramen off-camera after what he saw on the field tonight.

      The game had two goats in place, depending on how it turned out. If the Cardinals lose, then your goat is Chris Duncan, who booted a routine fly out to right field when Jim Edmonds invaded his space and freaked him out, causing Duncan to take his eye off the ball. One pitch later, Sean Casey deposits a ball into the right field seats and gives Detroit a 2-1 lead. Later, Duncan misplays a ball at the wall – also hit by Casey, his second double of the night – but that does not come back to haunt the Cardinals in any way.

      The goat for the Tigers, on the other hand, is undoubtedly Brandon Inge, despite his lofty batting average during the Series. He made the throwing error to first that allowed the first run to score. Then, after hitting a double, he was caught in a rundown between second and third after running on contact to a ball up the middle, which Jeff Weaver picked off and hurled to third to begin the rundown.

      And then there was the worst play of the game, which will make sci-fi geeks the world over wonder if the Matrix really does exist (well, the sci-fi geeks that watch sports, anyway). With runners on first and second, Justin Verlander, who was toooooooooootally overexcited for this game, fielded a come-backer from Jeff Weaver, the freaking pitcher, and threw to Inge to get the force at third. Only problem was, he threw about three feet to the left of the bag, just like Joel Zumaya did in Game 3. If you combine the two official errors, and the unofficial baserunning error, Inge was involved in all three plays.

      I did say at the beginning of the playoffs that the Tigers were a year early, that they weren’t ready to compete yet. Still, I have to think that the Yankees would have put up a better fight than this in the World Series. Maybe there is something to be said for the LDS being seven games instead of five. Until that day, congrats to the Cardinals, and World Series MVP David Eckstein (!), for proving us experts horribly, horribly wrong. Only five more months before the Cubs begin breaking my heart once again.

      MLB

      World Series Game 4 Recap: St. Louis 5, Detroit 4 (St. Louis leads series 3-1)

      October 27, 2006 /

      This magical Tigers run is about to soar to new heights or crash and burn real soon.

      After watching David Eckstein last night, does anybody else think that Anaheim is kicking itself for not even throwing a contract at this guy when he was a free agent? Eckstein goes 4 for 5 with two RBI and hits essentially the game winning double in the eighth. I think everybody should stop saying this guy is a great “role player” or an “overachiever”. Eckstein just gets it done and deserves credit for being a pretty good ballplayer.

      I’ll tell you who’s not getting it done, however, and that’s the Tigers bullpen. No wonder Jeremy Bonderman was a little riffed when manager Jim Leyland took him out in the sixth for reliever Fernando Rodney. I wouldn’t want to turn a game over to the Detroit bullpen right now either after watching that mess Rodney and Joel Zumaya orchestrated last night. He looked great after replacing Bonderman in the sixth, but then in the seventh, one Curtis Granderson slip in centerfield (he literally slipped in the outfield on the wet grass, which allowed a would-be out to get on base) and Rodney turned the game upside down. Still nursing a 3-2 lead in the seventh, Rodney picked up a wet ball after a sac bunt and launched it six feet over Sean Casey’s outstretched glove to allow St. Louis to tie the game up at 3-3. A Preston Wilson single off Rodney then gave St. Louis a 4-3 lead and then Zumaya comes in and allows the Cards to take their final lead 5-4 after the Tigers tied the game back up in the top of the eighth.

      Leyland already said that he’s not going with Kenny Rogers against St. Louis Friday night. With the way the bullpen and Justin Verlander has pitched recently, this move is going to be criticized if the Tigers don’t win Game 5. You have a guy who hasn’t allowed a run yet in the postseason and as far as you know right now – there is no tomorrow. We shall see if the move pays off…

      Game 5 match up: Verlander (1-1) vs. Jeff Weaver (2-2).

      MLB

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