The SoapBoxers

This is the worst week for sports this time of year. No college football….does anyone else feel the same way.

So with nothing really FUN to talk about here are a few quick hits this week in the world of sports.

Roy Halladay vs Cliff Lee. The baseball pundits are already spinning their webs on this one. I like Halladay more, much much more. He has been in the brutal American League East for years pitching on bad teams and dominating the competition. He will go to the National League and be totally dominating, even more so than he has been. Cliff Lee …. two seasons does not a career make.

Jake Locker – What are you doing? You have the chance to be the number one overall pick in the NFL draft according to some of the experts. Come back for your senior year for the Huskies? It is not like your team is going to contend for the National Title or even Rose Bowl for that matter. Take the money and run kid. Even if you have a good year in 2010 you are STILL going to get drafted high by a crappy team in the NFL, and the money won’t be near as good one Goodell restructures the rookie contracts this off-season.

Tiger Woods – Just when you thought you had heard it all, now possible ties to doctors that have prescribed steroids and HGH to the likes of Marion Jones and A-Rod. Could it get any worse for Eldrick? Can’t wait to see what transpires with this story in the next couple of days.

Toby Gerhart once again proves the East and Southeast bias in the media is alive and well. We have too many folks voting for the Heisman. How you can have Colt McCoy ahead of Gerhard on ANY ballot is a crime. I am still not convinced Ingram is the best candidate but I do think the person that should have won the award got jobbed.

And now the all obvious NFL comments of the week

Will everyone on ESPN quit talking about the Dallas Cowboys? We get it already, they don’t win in December. We can watch our Plasma big screens and figure that one out by ourselves.

Here is another news flash, Randy Moss appears frustrated and played like a pouting four year old on this past Sunday. Have we heard this story before.

And while we are at it … Will the Colts sit their players? Will the Saints sit their players? Who freaking cares? They are both going to the playoffs. Just as long as I don’t have to listen to another crappy 1972 Dolphins and drinking Champagne reference over the next couple of weeks.

Here is hoping next week has better “and fresher” stories to talk about

Bah Humbug!

A lot of water cooler talk around the offices this week after the games this past weekend.  Today, Johnny Goodman looks to find the truth about many of the issues in College football.

Fact- Alabama and Texas will play in the BCS Championship game

Truth- yep I can’t come up with another argument here.  These are the two most deserving teams and I have no beef with that

Fact:  Alabama beat Florida soundly

Truth:  Florida really isn’t that good.  Who have they beaten or dominated all year.  Heck I think the SEC is terribly overrated this year.  A lot of good teams yes, a lot of GREAT teams?  C’mon…no way…This conference gets more verbal blow than anything and it is totally unfounded this year.  Play a bowl game or better yet a nonconference road game outside of the southeast sometime.  What is your conference record the last 51 times you have left the southeast?  25-26.  Overrated!!!!

Fact:  Mack Brown was named Big XII 2009 AP Coach of the year

Truth:  Did you watch the Texas vs. Nebraska game?  Then tell me which team imposed their will and their style of play and was :01 away from pulling off the upset as a 15 point underdog.  Coach of the year?  This guy can’t coach at all.  If Tom Osborne would have had the talent Texas gets every year in their program the Huskers would have had about five more national titles during his tenure.  Mack Brown is a average coach in arguably the easiest place to land fantastic recruits.  Saturday night was just another example of that.  His total and complete mis-management of the game clock at the end of the game almost prevented his kicker from having a shot at the game winning kick and the Horns from a shot in the BCS title game.  This guy is the luckiest coach ever…but he isn’t even in the top three coaches in his own conference.  Frankly I am surprised that Texas fans are not piling on about this right now.  After they get wood-shedded by Alabama, maybe they will be.

Fact: Cincinnati deserves to be playing in the BCS game against Alabama

Truth – you gave up a forty spot to Pittsburgh?  The argument stops there.  The Panthers are not exactly an offensive juggernaut.  Brian Kelly likely is gone to Notre Dame, and bad coaching by Wannestadt might make it a certainty now.  The Bearcats are good, but top 3 in the county???….nope.

Fact:  The refs put back one second on the clock in the Big XII title game

Truth:  They did get this one right although I hate to admit it being a Husker fan.  If time expired it would have made LSU coaching buffoon moves at the end of the game a few weeks ago look like no big deal.  The Truth also is that the #3 team was lucky to escape and was dominated by a team with a far superior defense who unfortunately for them has an offense that would barely be effective in your kids Pop Warner league.

Fact:  This year is a toss-up for the Heisman Trophy

Truth – Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh should win the award but won’t.  Lets run down the top candidates here.  Tim Tebow – nope –  lost last game and cried on the sideline.  There is no crying in Football Timmy! – and had average statistical year, Colt McCoy, laid an egg in final game and last second (literally) gaffe almost cost team a shot at the title game.  Jimmy Clausen – hardly.  Mark Ingram – you can’t get pulled in the next to last game for being ineffective and win THIS award.  Toby Gerhart – I could see this as I think he has been most consistent – Suh –has been dominating in every big game for the Huskers defense which is very good.  He had 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles – 8 for losses – an numerous hurries in the Big XII title game.  Can you honestly say there is a better or more dominating player in the country this year?

As we had into the college bowl season, (which is coincidentally the best time of the year bar none) I have a few predictions from the cheap seats this week.

The Pac 10 conference technically does not have a championship game, but they do this year. Oregon and Oregon State play in the Civil War. The winner goes to the Rose Bowl. The loser … who the heck knows! Now I am the first to admit that huge rivalry games are tough to predict. Just look at Texas A&M giving Texas all they wanted last week, or Auburn nearly knocking off Alabama. Basically no team is safe in a huge rivalry game.

Oregon is playing too well in my opinion, and are more two dimensional in the run and the pass compared to the Beavers. I give the edge to the Ducks and whatever horrific uniforms Nike decides to sport them in this week. Oregon 41, Oregon State 28

Texas will play host ( who is anyone kidding) to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big XII title game held at Jerry’s place in Dallas. Anyone who thinks this is not a home game for the Longhorns is smoking something. The Cornhuskers have been put on a pedestal all week about how great their defense is, and how they will give the Longhorns all they want. Two things give Texas trouble … a mobile quarterback and a team that is willing to take deep shots in the passing game early and often. Nebraska has neither of these things. Even being the Husker Homer that I am, I see a woodshed job here … Texas 42, Nebraska 7

Now we go to the game that everyone in SEC country is waiting for and everyone else is tired of hearing about. Florida and Alabama. This one is close to call but the difference could be the DUI arrest of Carlos Dunlap, who is arguably one of the better defensive players Florida has. Could this be the difference? I hate to pick a winner in this game because I really don’t like either team. So I will go with the Crimson Tide, who I think has a better defense and can grind it at the Gators on the ground, in a close low scoring battle Bama 17, Florida 14

One last note, if you are sports fans are looking for an interesting read, check out Jason Peter’s book Hero of the Underground. It is graphic it is definitive and it is raw and I am guessing lightly edited straight from his mouth account of football, and his spiral in to drug use while in the NFL. It is an easy but entertaining read.

What a week of bad coaching moves in football, at least some perceived coaching moves. The one getting the most scrutiny on ESPN and all of the local talk shows was New England’s Head Coach Bill Bellicheck’s decision to go for it with a fourth and two from his own 28 yard line. Mind you the Patriots had a 6 point lead at the time. What is lost is that the guy on the other side of the ball you are punting too, Peyton Manning, has just led the Indianapolis Colts on two quick scoring drives. Manning seems to have figured it out, he is in a groove.

I don’t mind the coaches decision here although he has gotten roasted for it. If the Pats pick up the first down he looks like a genius and is heralded as a go for broke gunfighter coach with you know what made of steel. Ah, the fickle business of pleasing the masses.

In THE GAME between Yale and Harvard, there was even a worse decision. Yale decides to run a fake punt on fourth and twenty-two with a 3 point lead in the game. Yale was also the underdog in this match up. Fourth and cab fare???? Even if the fake works you have to pick up roughly a fourth of the field to get the first down. BOOOOOOO! Bad decision here that may have contributed to Yale losing the game.

The most inexcusable and worst thirty seconds of coaching I have ever witnessed took place in the LSU vs Ole Miss game. First of all they call horrible plays on second and third down and lose big yards, which take them out of potential game winning field goal range. Then the inexplicably fail to call time out and let 19 seconds run off the clock. The Tigers try a hail mary and pick up the first down and then have a measly one second left. Spiking the ball to kill the clock won’t work, not enough time. Nice job by Les throwing his QB under the bus telling him he wasn’t motioning him to spike it although television replays CLEARLY show he is motioning for this to happen from the sidelines. Where is your field goal unit read to run onto the field? Where is one of your assistants or players at while 19 seconds run off the clock and you just stand around, slowly letting it slip away, giving your team no opportunity to make a play at the end.

I am guessing LSU fans are almost as unhappy as Notre Dame fans right now, but for different reasons.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It only took 65 official starts but a major breakthrough victory occurred on the LPGA tour this weekend. Michelle Wie, won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico

Wie has been one of the most talked about figures of all time in Women’s Professional golf. Heck she has been one of the most talked about sports figures regardless of any sport over the last 4-5 years.

She brings a lot to the table, young, spunky with her attitude, enormous power which is unusual for the women’s game, one overbearing parent in her dad Charlie, coached by the great David Leadbetter, and on and on and on.

She has played against the guys a few times in various events, and not shown up. She has played poorly in some events and even withdrawn under some scrutiny on one occasion when a high score would have prevented her in playing in some future LPGA events due to a weird scoring rule they have built in on that tour.

On the other hand as a very young player she had close but no cigar calls in all major golf tournaments. Showed flashes of brilliance at times and even was a major part of the United State Solheim Cup Victory this year at Rich Harvest Farms in the Chicago area.

Yes, Wie has secured millions of dollars of endorsement deals, has a army of fans even at this early age, good looks to go with her good game … the only thing missing was a victory. Until Sunday.

Wie beat an impressive filed, likely as strong as any major golf tourney. Kerr, Creamer, Pressel and Ochoa all finished in the top 6. Her normally average at best putting was good enough this week to take her to the place she has not been before. The victory podium

I think this could be the beginning of an impressive run. Wie appears to have been under a LOT of pressure, I believe by her immediate family, as well as herself to produce results. You could tell in her interview following her win that she was more relieved than happy. It seems the proverbial monkey is now off her back.

She has the talent, she has the following, she has game … now she just might have her head right. And if so, the rest of the LPGA better look out, as they might be in for a long ride .

WIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre.

His name seems to be the only topic of conversation in the NFL lately.

Did the Packers end up better off, or the Vikings. The pundits will argue both teams have made off with just what they wanted. The Packers had been grooming young Aaron Rodgers to take over the QB role. He was ready. Favre was getting older and was in a continual bout of wavering about retirement. After all, Rodgers does have one of the highest passer ratings in the league in his first two years as a starter.

The Vikings had assembled a much better defense. Installing key parts such as Jared Allen. They have arguably the best running back in the league and a very good offensive line. Their receivers were nothing to write home about and the quarterback play had been marginal at best.

Enter Brett Favre.

The Vikings are 7-1 this year with their only loss coming against a tough Steelers team at their house. They have shown the ability to play great defense, and move the ball both in the air and on the ground. They are arguably the top team in the entire NFC.

The Packers? They have struggled a lot due mainly to injuries at running back, and at the offensive line. They are still trying to find continuity on offense and defensively they have been good but not great.

Lost in all of this is the Vikings really wanted the Packers all along, and the Vikings were likely prepared to give up quite a bit for him . If the Packers would have pursued a trade with the Vikings at the time, I am sure they would have been able to reap the benefits that could have brought them some additional young drafted talent, an area which in comparison to the Vikings right now, they just are flat lacking … talent overall talent.

But the Green and Gold could never trade their beloved quarterback to the hated division rival. The fans would not stand for it. The uproar would be unimaginable. Brett Favre playing for the Minnesota Vikings?

Guess it is working out pretty well for the Favre guy. The Vikings in the end have gotten what they wanted all along, and the Packer fans are still pissed off that Favre is wearing a Purple #4 now. But that is where he is, and likely where he will be for at least another year.

And in the meantime, the Viking fans love their teams chances to reach a Super Bowl.

We are entering that great time of year when the end all of end all college football arguments just starts to heat up.  That’s right, the BCS talk.

A plethora of one undefeated teams still remain.  A lot of great one loss teams are out there.  The conference match-ups are starting to hit full bore and the host of rivalry weeks are soon to be upon us.

Phooey!

I for one am proposing that we totally re-vamp the BCS program.  What is that you ask?  Johnny you need to get in line with countless of hundreds if not thousands of others that argue the same thing.

Nope, I propose we scrap the whole shooting match and go back to the bowl tie in agreements that each conference used to have pre-BCS. 

Let’s look at the facts.  The BCS is driven by two factors … and no they are not determining who is ultimately the most deserving national champion each year.  Heck most years we can’t even agree who should be playing in the game. 

Factor one is pure and simple greed.  Greed of the NCAA, greed of the sports stations such as ABC/ESPN and CBS who cover the majority of games. ( I am not including FOX in the argument as they only have only covered the BCS games the last few years and frankly their telecasts are painful at best to watch) 

Factor two is the perception that this alignment actually settles something.  That it actually does determine the best and most worthy team at the end of the year.

I miss the by gone days of long ago, before many of you who likely read this blog were even following college football.  In those “olden days” each conference had multiple negotiated terms to send their teams to certain bowl games.  It still works much the same way today for the non-bcs games. 

What this accomplished each and every year was exciting and epic games on New Year’s day.  You didn’t have to “hang around” until January 7^th to see if your team was going to win.

The best part of the “old way” was the scenarios were impossible to predict.  Since I am a Husker at Heart … lets take 1982.  When due to a series of upsets earlier in the day, the Clemson Tigers and the Cornhuskers found themselves playing on New Year’s Day night in the Orange Bowl for all the marbles.  This could not have happened today, and it lead for great drama and excitement.  Heck this same scenario played out countless times in the early years of the television bowl era …

Was it so wrong?

The BEST part of college sports is the water cooler talk, the speculation.  The Horned Frogs could beat Florida because of so and so….the ol’ My Dad is Bigger than your dad argument … that is where the true passion and fun of college football exists.

So let’s jump back up the rabbit hole, throw out the man behind the green curtain, and we just get an instant replay and see that the wrong call was made on the field?

Thanks all for hanging in there with me as I missed last week … Johnny G has more important matters to attend to … like starting a chemo treatments to battle Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

But enough of the bad news, lets concentrate on Football this week.

Last Week:
Straight Up – 15-5 ATS: 14-6
For the Year:
Straight Up – 77-35 ATS: 60-52
Finally a week to get me off and running again.

College:

Minnesota @ Ohio St (-17) Unless they let Pryor run, they won’t cover the 17. OH St 31- MN 24

South Florida @ Pittsburgh (-6.5) I smell an upset here. S FLA – 21- Pitt 17

Iowa State @ Nebraska (-17.5) Cody Green!  The Huskers win big this week and remove the naysayers. Huskers 42- ISU 14

Colorado @ Kansas St (-4.5) – The Buffs are starting to look good.  KSU leads the Big XII North???  Colorado 21- KSU 21

Wake Forest @ Navy – (-2.5) The Match up of wild and crazy misdirection running games. Navy in a close one. Navy 21- Wake 20

Oklahoma (-8) @ Kansas. A biggie for the Jayhawks. They have a good offense but can they stop anyone? OU 35- KU 28

NFL:

San Francisco @ Houston (-3) The Texans have it rolling, and the nniners are seemingly reeling. A big day for Matt Schaub. Hou 35- SF 17

Indianapolis (-14) @ St Louis. The only issue here is will the Colts cover. I am padding my straight up numbers this week. Colts 35- Rams 14

Minnesota @ Pittsburgh (-5.5) A lot of points. I like the Steelers but this is too big of a spread. Steelers 24- Vikings 21

New England (-15) vs Tampa Bay in London! Tally ho … chalk up another one for the hoodie. Pats 42- Bucs 10

Green Bay (-7) @ Cleveland. I have not seen any life from the Browns to make me a believer. Pack 28 – Browns 17

New York Jets (-6) @ Oakland – Commitment to excellence is playing better than the Sanchise. Give me the Raaaaaaaiders…Oak 10 Jets 7

New Orleans (-7) @ Miami – With the Saints have a hangover after last week….No WAY. Saints 35- Miami – 21

Arizona @ New York Giants (-7) Something tells me Kurt Warner will handle the pressure. But can the cards stop the running game of the G Men? Giants 24- Cards 21

Philadelphia (-7)@ Washington – Who is in more disarray? The Skins with coaching woes or the Eagles who got beat at Oakland last week while looking horrible. Eagles 28- Washington 10

Last Week:
Straight Up – 11-9 ATS: 10-10

For the Year:
Straight Up – 62-30 ATS: 46-46

Meh…so so week for me….Some interesting games this week.

Thursday

Nebraska (-2.5) @ Missouri – Pelini has had this on the calendar since the embarrassment in Lincoln last year.  NE 27- Mizz – 10

Saturday

Boston College @ Virginia Tech (-13.5) – VA Tech is hot and cold.  I see the hokey pokey this week.  VA Tech 35- BC 17

Georgia @ Tennessee (-1.5) – Wow….Tennessee is bad in my opinion.  This should be dawgs!  GA- 28- Tenn – 10

Iowa State @ Kansas (-19.5) – Rack Chalk Jayhawk….this one will be ugly.  KU – 42- ISU 14

Alabama (-6.5) @ Ole Miss – Ole Miss still gets too much respect.  Bama is the quietist #3 ranked team ever.  Bama – 31- Ole Miss 21

Wisconsin @ THE Ohio State (-14.5) – Can Ohio State beat anyone by this much….Goodman says NO!.  OH State 22- Wisconsin 19

Oregon (-6.5) @ UCLA – Oregon is back on track!  ORE – 28- UCLA – 20

Baylor @ Oklahoma (-25.5) No Robert Griffith = No chance.  OU – 49- Baylor 20

Stanford (-2.5) @ Oregon State – Stanford is suddenly the emerald jewel of the Pac 10 conference..  Stanford – 21- Ore St 20

Texas Christian (-10.5) @ Air Force – Frogs Rule…I love the Frogs.  TCU – 31- Air Force 20

Florida (-8.5) @ Louisiana State – Wow that is a big number with no Tim Tebow.  LSU – 24- Florida 21

Michigan @ Iowa (-8.5) – I am not drinking the Tate Forcier water just yet but…..Iowa 24- Mich 20

NFL

Cincinatti @ Baltimore (-8.5) – Ravens look to rebound after tough loss last week.  Balt – 29- Cin 20

Washington @ Carolina (-4)  Team with no wins at home a favorite…Jeeesh.  Washington – 20- Carolina – 15

Pittsburgh (-12) @ Detroit – Maybe no Stafford..not like it will matter.  Pitt- 35- Detroit 10

Dallas (-9) @ Kansas City – Wow the Cowboys are not good.  Romo is not good.  Maybe T.O. got out while the gettin’ was good. KC- 21- Dallas 20

Minnesota (-11) @ St Louis.  How do you spell St Louis?  U-G-L-Y.  Minnesota – 35- ST Louis 17

New England (-3.5) @ Denver- Broncos used too much last week to narrowly beat Dallas.  NE is much better.  New England 24- Denver 14

Jacksonville (-4) @ Seattle – Still no Matt Hasselback?  Jacksonville is clicking on all cylinders.  Jax- 21- Seattle 14

New York Jets @ Miami (-1.5) – Is Braylon Edwards the answer for Mark Sanchez?  Are the Jets still stinging after last week.  Nope.  Jets – 24- Miami 20

Last Week:
Straight Up – 12-8 ATS: 11-9

For the Year:
Straight Up – 51-21 ATS: 36-36

Back to level par on the spread picks for the year.  Most of the upsets did not pan out…so I will take a stab at a few more this week.

Thursday

Colorado @ West Virginia (-17.5) – Too many points, Colorado is overmatched but will make it a decent game.  WV- 35- COLO 21

Friday

Pittsburgh (-6.5) @ Louisville – This one scares me for some reason.  Upset special?  Lousiville 24- Pitt 21

Saturday

Michigan @ Michigan State – Mich State feels disrespected.  Go Green!  Misch St 27- Mich 24

Northwestern @ Purdue (-6.5)  – Seems like the boilermakers will go big here.  Purdue 35-  NW – 20

Kansas State @ Iowa State (-3.5)  -eeessh…battle of the bottom of the Big XII North.  IA St 35- K St 17

LSU @ Georgia (-3.5) – How bout dem Dawgs!  GA- 17- LSU 14

Penn State (-6.5) @ Illinois – Penn State still stinging after last week.  JoPa will have em ready to play.  Penn St 30- Illinois 24

Washington @ Notre Dame (-13.5) – Jake Locker only wins big games at home.  ND pads another easy win but closer than you might think.  ND – 28- Wash -24

North Carolina State (-1.5) @ Wake Forest  – Wake has to do it sometime for me.  WF- 21- NC ST – 21

USC (-6.5) @ California – Antoher intriguing matchup.  Is USC overated?  Is Cal underated?  USC – 28 – Cal 21

Oklahoma (-7.5) @ Miami – Too Many points..Miami in a close one.  They are a different team at home.  The U – 28- OU 24

NFL

Detroit @ Chicago (-10)  Big spread for the Bears but they will harras Stafford early and often.  Bears – 28 – Lions 17

Tennessee (-3) @ Jacksonville – Who thought these teams would have just one combined win between the both of them.  Tenneseee 17- J-ville 14

Baltimore (-1.5) @ New England – The Ravens are the REAL DEAL – Balt – 24- NE 21

Dallas (-3) @ Denver- Cowboys still have not played a complete game..until this week.  Cowboys – 35- Denver 14

Cincinatti (-6) @ Cleveland – Derek Anderson is the savior for the Browns.  CLE – 24- CIN 21

New York Jets @ New Orleans (-7) Match up of the week.  Blitzing won’t frustrate Brees.  Saints 35- Jets 17

St Louis @ San Francisco (-10)  Wow big number..will Frank Gore Play?  Rams cover but lose.  SF- 28 – STL 20

San Diego @ Pittsburgh (-6)  This is a fishy number to me…superbowl hangover?  Pitt 21- SD – 17

Green Bay @ Minnesota (-3.5)  The one we have all been waiting for.  This one should go down to the wire.  Green Bay 21- MN 20