My Sports Moments of the Decade

So as I listen to the local and national shows this week, a lot of them are pulling out the moments of the decade. Everyone points to the moments after 9-11 and the games after that, and Jack Bucks poem.



I was lucky enough to be at Wrigley Field for the Cubs first home game after 9-11. It was an amazing experience. Something I won't forget. So as I said, nothing will ever top those moments, so I will leave those off my list. Below are my lists of my moments of the decade.



My #1 moment of the decade is something I really dont like to remember. 2003 NLCS. Game 6. 5 outs from the Cubs first World Series since 1945. Mark Prior, probably the best pitcher in 2003 in the NL is rolling. Cubs were up 3-0. 2 were on. Do I have to go on? Bartman happened. (this didn't lose the game for the Cubs). Then Alex Gonzalez, statistically the best SS in the NL in 2003, booted a sure double play ball. 8 runs later the Marlins won. Cubs lose game 7. And still we are all saying wait till next year. So close as for us Cubs fans we could smell it....and it was snatched away from us.



#2 for me is one I'd like to have a lot wrapped up in to. The 2002 Iowa Hawkeye football season was one for the books. Brad Banks led the Hawks to a 11-1 regular season, Big Ten Championship and Orange Bowl berth. The season was amazing. Great offense with our awesome line and Dallas Clark. The D was under rated among Iowa D's and then there's Nate Kaeding. Captain Kirk had lead the Hawks back to the top. And the best moment for me was the trip to Ann Arbor Michigan for the Iowa-Michigan game. Iowa hadn't won at Michigan since 1990. Hadn't beaten them since then. Well Iowa went into the Big House and gave the Wolverines their worse home loss in 35 years! Hawks 34-9. If it weren't for a long 40 yard run by QB John Navarre, the Wolverines would have been held with negative rushing yards. Along with the game, the trip there with Mike, Westy & Harmon was classic.

#3 for me is also one I could wrap up a season into one, but the best moments for me from the Chicago Bears 2006 NFC Championship run were the Monday Night Game in Arizona. And then the NFC Championship game vs the Saints.

The Monday Night game gave the NFL world "Crown their ass!". The Bears and Rex Grossman looked horrible. The offense had been rolling, the defense dominating and Devin Hester blowing up in his rookie year. But the Cards and Matt Leinart were killing the Bears. Then Brian Urlacher stripped a ball and it was ran in for a score. Mark Anderson caused a sack fumble that was returned, and Devin Hester topped it with a punt return for 6. A miss by Neil Rackers and the Bears had a comeback win for the ages!


Then the NFC Championship game. The Saints were the "IT" story. Had Heisman winner and rookie Reggie Bush, and had just beat the Eagles. The Bears went to OT with the Seahawks and everyone was picking the Saints to go into Soldier and win. But just like in the 1985 NFC Title Game. The snow started to fall, and the Bears started to roll!


What are yours?

Big Ten + 2?

So there is the talk and debate heating up now (thanks Barry Alvarez) of the Big Ten adding a 12th team and adding a championship game. Alvarez feels like a lot of the media, that the Big Ten is irrelevant the weekend before Thanksgiving. He is right. The publicity for the conference is about 0 when the SEC, Big XII and ACC are hosting title games and the Pac 10 is playing into the first weekend in December.

So the talk is….who should it be?


The obvious choice is Notre Dame. Notre Dame is actually taking a pay cut being on NBC compared to the Big Ten Network. How exclusive is that deal now? The Irish could have national broadcasts on the BTN, ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. Better known outlets for college football. And if the Irish join the conference, how many more cable providers will want the BTN? Then there is the bowl situation, a 6-6 Big Ten team gets the Alamo/Champs or Insight Bowl in Arizona or Florida or Texas. A 6-6 Irish team has to wait it out and get options of the Pizza Pizza Bowl in Detroit? And next year the Big Ten takes away another option from the Irish taking the Gator Bowl away from the Big East. That’s 5+ new years day options for the Big Ten to play on Jan 1 or later. Easy choice, they are in the Big Ten footprint, they are irrelevant until they fire a coach. Join the Big Ten!
Notre Dame NBC Money



After the Irish sit on their high horse and decline the conference invite, the next choice should be Nebraska. The Huskers are getting crapped on by the Big XII. The Big XII has terrible tv deals, terrible bowl options and only care about 2 teams. The LongHorns and Sooners are like the Yankees and Redsox. It all flows through them. The Huskers joining would revitalize their football program and start new rivalries with Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan & Ohio State.



The next would be Missouri. They bring in 2 big television markets. St Louis and Kansas City. They are in the region, would have natural rivalries with Iowa & Illinois. They like Nebraska are good academic institutions (yes there is more than just sports involved in these decisions)



Finally I would look at Rutgers. They would be able to for a natural grouping with Penn State. A really good academic institution. And well if you look at money, there is the New York/New Jersey television market. Hello more cable providers and tv sets for the Big Ten Network.

So who should it be? It should be the Irish, but we know that won’t happen, so it should be Nebraska!

Your thoughts? React America!

Big Ten Expansion Talk

Big Ten + 2?

So there is the talk and debate heating up now (thanks Barry Alvarez) of the Big Ten adding a 12th team and adding a championship game. Alvarez feels like a lot of the media, that the Big Ten is irrelevant the weekend before Thanksgiving. He is right. The publicity for the conference is about 0 when the SEC, Big XII and ACC are hosting title games and the Pac 10 is playing into the first weekend in December.

So the talk is….who should it be?


The obvious choice is Notre Dame. Notre Dame is actually taking a pay cut being on NBC compared to the Big Ten Network. How exclusive is that deal now? The Irish could have national broadcasts on the BTN, ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. Better known outlets for college football. And if the Irish join the conference, how many more cable providers will want the BTN? Then there is the bowl situation, a 6-6 Big Ten team gets the Alamo/Champs or Insight Bowl in Arizona or Florida or Texas. A 6-6 Irish team has to wait it out and get options of the Pizza Pizza Bowl in Detroit? And next year the Big Ten takes away another option from the Irish taking the Gator Bowl away from the Big East. That’s 5+ new years day options for the Big Ten to play on Jan 1 or later. Easy choice, they are in the Big Ten footprint, they are irrelevant until they fire a coach. Join the Big Ten!
Notre Dame NBC Money



After the Irish sit on their high horse and decline the conference invite, the next choice should be Nebraska. The Huskers are getting crapped on by the Big XII. The Big XII has terrible tv deals, terrible bowl options and only care about 2 teams. The LongHorns and Sooners are like the Yankees and Redsox. It all flows through them. The Huskers joining would revitalize their football program and start new rivalries with Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan & Ohio State.



The next would be Missouri. They bring in 2 big television markets. St Louis and Kansas City. They are in the region, would have natural rivalries with Iowa & Illinois. They like Nebraska are good academic institutions (yes there is more than just sports involved in these decisions)



Finally I would look at Rutgers. They would be able to for a natural grouping with Penn State. A really good academic institution. And well if you look at money, there is the New York/New Jersey television market. Hello more cable providers and tv sets for the Big Ten Network.

So who should it be? It should be the Irish, but we know that won’t happen, so it should be Nebraska!

Your thoughts? React America!

Big Ten Expansion Talk

Best Video Game Athletes....EVER

Since the game Pong with the right and left paddle, the gaming sport on home entertainment systems debate of who is better started. You had Ten Yard Fight and Boxing on NES. Then came an explosion of games. Tecmo Bowl, SNK Baseball Stars, RBI Baseball, Tyson’s Punch out on to Madden, NBA2K and Tiger Woods Golf and the Blitz Series. But who’s been the best? Bias comes in to the games you played and the sports you like. Here are my 3 all time greats. And they come from one of the first generations of gaming systems.

#1--Bo Jackson on Tecmo Bowl.


#34 in silver and black was the man to beat, and the man to be on one of the best football games EVER. If you didn’t select his run every play, you had the chance of getting ran over and seeing him in the end zone soon. It also made the other 3 plays increasingly effective too. If you were the Raiders, if you didn’t select that play at least ½ the time, you need a new offensive coordinator! Even though you know the D will pick that play, Bo was so good he could still break through and bust a long run. Bo is the gold standard in video game athletes.


#2--Mike Tyson – Tyson’s Punch Out.


How many times have you entered the cheat code (007 373 5963) to fight Tyson only to have Little Mac’s dreams dashed in a mere 3 jabs from the Champ and a resulting TKO? He was destructive, ferocious, he’d eat your ear if he could. But if you had the game you all tried, many times! Sometimes you’d miss getting an upper cut and be able to get 2 or 3 shots in. But to score a victory you’d have to do this every time for all 3 rounds. Like I said, if you had this game you had the cheat code written down. Tyson was a challenge to get to through Tyson Honda, Soda Popinski and King Hippo, but 90% of the time Little Mac wouldn’t be able to beat the Champ.

#3--Babe – SNK Baseball Stars


A not as well known game compared to its counterpart and MLB licensed RBI Baseball, SNK was a take on sports games that would blow up in the next gens. Creating a team/players and increasing attributes by winning and earning cash. The first dynasty style game? Well the Babe played for the power team American Dreams who had other players like Pete, Willie, Hank and Cy. But Babe was the best. He had the stick to hit shots yard, This game was one of the first where you could rob homers and climb the wall to do so.

The newer systems have had some good players too. Devin Hester on Madden with 100 speed on PS3/360. The shooting guard for UNC on NCAA Basketball on SNES. Little Mac on Tyson’s Punch Out. Star Man on Pro Wrestling.



What are your thoughts?

Best Movie of the Decade

In the next 3 weeks the decade 2000-2009 will come to an end, so lots of media outlets, web sites, TV and radio shows are coming out with their best of the decade in all categories. Thought I’d throw it out on here too.

So the decade saw a lot of great movies. Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, American Psycho, No Country for Old Men, Wedding Crashers, Old School, and the Departed. My best movie of the decade is none of those. My best movie is something that would have won an Oscar had it not had been based on a comic. The story was great, the acting great, scenes and everything.

The best movie of the decade is DARK KNIGHT.


Heath Ledger caps of his career magnificently as the Joker. One would think it’s hard to top Jack Nicholson’s Joker from 1989, but Ledger did. If you’ve seen this, how could you not take your eyes of him. He was engrossed in the role. He was a psychopath, maniac, and dark….exactly what the Joker is. The rest of the cast is great. Bale is the best Batman since Michael Keaton, maybe better. The casting of Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox and Michael Caine as Alfred are excellent. Harvey Dent didn’t need to die in the movie, maybe expand on his character a bit, but tying him in and the turn was good. Maggie Gheylenhal taking over for Katie Holmes might have been the only drop off but doesn’t affect the movie.

If you haven’t seen it and are just reading this, you may have been spoiled a bit, but if you haven’t seen it…GO SEE IT!

Honorable Mention:
The Departed
A Beautiful Mind
Gladiator

GFR Computer Ranking - Dec 13th

1. Texas
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. Florida
6. Cincinnati
7. Oregon
8. Ohio State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Pittsburgh
11. Penn State
12. Iowa
13. Georgia Tech
14. Wisconsin
15. BYU
16. Miami
17. LSU
18. West Virginia
19. Oregon State
20. Utah

GFR Computer Ranking - Dec 13th

1. Texas
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. Florida
6. Cincinnati
7. Oregon
8. Ohio State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Pittsburgh
11. Penn State
12. Iowa
13. Georgia Tech
14. Wisconsin
15. BYU
16. Miami
17. LSU
18. West Virginia
19. Oregon State
20. Utah

2009 Cutler Award - National Coach of the Year

In the 2009 college football season, Patterson led the Horned Frogs to a perfect 12-0 season record, a Mountain West Conference Championship, a #4 BCS season-ending ranking, and an invitation to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.




2009 - Gary Patterson - TCU
2008 - Mike Leach - Texas Tech
2007 - Mark Mangino - Kansas
2006 - Greg Shiano - Rutgers
2005 - Joe Paterno - Penn State
2004 - Urban Myer - Utah
2003 - David Cutcliffe - Mississippi
2002 - Kirk Ferentz - Iowa
2001 - Mike Bellotti - Oregon

GFR Computer Ranking - Dec 6th

1. Texas
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. Florida
6. Cincinnati
7. Oregon
8. Ohio State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Pittsburgh
11. Penn State
12. Iowa
13. Georgia Tech
14. Wisconsin
15. BYU
16. Miami
17. LSU
18. West Virginia
19. Oregon State
20. Utah

Complete Post to be linked Monday

GFR Computer Ranking - Dec 6th

1. Texas
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. Florida
6. Cincinnati
7. Oregon
8. Ohio State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Pittsburgh
11. Penn State
12. Iowa
13. Georgia Tech
14. Wisconsin
15. BYU
16. Miami
17. LSU
18. West Virginia
19. Oregon State
20. Utah

Complete Post to be linked Monday

Frost Nixon

Interesting movie. I wasn't alive for the whole Nixon/Watergate thing. Only got to learn about it in school books that can "teach" it how they want to teach it. Of course the movies are Hollywooded up. But it shows Nixon in a light of trying to dig out of the hole he created and get back to prominancy. David Frost in the last set puts pressure on him. Interesting to hear Nixon's view and thoughts. We learn from Star Wars that's ones views are greatly dependent on their point of view. Interesting to see his point of view.

And how Frank Langella didn't get an Oscar for this is absurd!

2009 Staker Award National Defensive Player of the Year

The Preseason was filled with hype of Tebow, Bradford and McCoy. Thrown in there was Jimmy Claussen and Terrelle Pryor and the Matt Barkley hype at USC. The top defensive stars returning were Brandon Spikes from Florida's defense. Eric Berry, the best DBack in the nation at Tennessee. Also returning from an injury plagued 2008 was DL George Selvie from South Florida. And then there was Ndamukong Suh, returning the black shirts to the Nebraska D.



The 2009 Staker Defensive Player of the Year Award goes to the Huskers amazing defensive lineman. Along with the Staker Award Suh took home the Bo Carter Award for Big XII Player of the Year Award. He was in backfields as much as most offensive backs. A highlight reel of plays all year long. 70 tackles, 16 for loss of a total of 70 yards, 7.5 sacks, a fumble caused and interception. Certain to be a top 3 pick next year, this Husker still has 2 more games left, the Big XII Title game vs Texas and the Huskers Bowl Game.

Past Winners
2009-Ndamukong Suh-DL-Nebraska
2008-Rey Maualuga-LB-USC
2007-George Selvie-DL-South Florida
2006-James Laurinitus-LB-Ohio State
2005-AJ Hawk-LB-Ohio State
2004-David Pollack-LB-Georgia
2003-Teddy Lehman-LB-Oklahoma
2002-Terrell Suggs-DL-Arizona State
2001-Roy Williams-S-Oklahoma

2009 Bo Carter Award Big XII Player of the Year

When the 2009 Season started, the focus was in the league was on quarterbacks Colt McCoy from Texas and Sam Bradford (the reigning Heisman winner) from Oklahoma, and Zac Robinson of Oklahoma State and Robert Griffin of Baylor.

Bradford went down in the first game vs BYU, Griffin blew out his knee and Zac Robinson wasn't as good as 2008 after he lost Dez Bryant. Colt McCoy started out slow and picked it up late. But all year long though the South had an offensive explosion, the Defense was a star up North with the 2009 Bo Carter Award winner.



Ndamukong Suh, the D-lineman from Nebraska was a terror all year long. He was in backfields as much as most offensive backs. A highlight reel of plays all year long. 70 tackles, 16 for loss of a total of 70 yards, 7.5 sacks, a fumble caused and interception. Certain to be a top 3 pick next year, this Husker still has 2 more games left, the Big XII Title game vs Texas and the Huskers Bowl Game.

Past Winners
2009-Ndamukong Suh-DL-Nebraska
2008-Colt McCoy-QB-Texas
2007-Chase Daniel-QB-Missouri
2006-Rufus Alexander-LB-Oklahoma
2005-Vince Young-QB-Texas
2004-Adrian Peterson-RB-Oklahoma
2003-Jason White-QB-Oklahoma
2002-Brad Smith-QB-Missouri
2001-Eric Crouch-QB-Nebraska

Night at the Museum 2

You don't mess with Abe Lincoln! It was a decent entertaining movie, not as good on a whole as the first movie. Didn't care for the Bird Men mystic part. Liked the Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader sequence. Ben Stiller was ok. Owen Wilson was ok too. Amy Adams thought was the best in the movie. The riding the squirrel was funny too by Octavius. And so was the Thinking Man. Overall the 1st was better, this had a lot more historic characters in it, maybe a few too many. I'm sure there will be a 3rd that will introduce more.

Terminator Salvation

Nice ties back to the first 3 movies. Lot of guns and explosions. And more cyborgs. Thought Christian Bale used some of his "Batman voice" as John Connor, but he was ok as the resistance leader. Liked the Marcus Wright character too and his interactions with Kyle Reese. It was entertaining and think that the ties to the past 3 movies and the story line here set up another movie and maybe 2. SPOILER-so don't read on if you don't want to. Part of me thinks John Connor's human body is dead and his brain was transplanted to the cyborg Marcus to keep the resistance going instead of the cyborgs heart going to John's body.

BCS or Playoff?

So you want a playoff? Have you watched the past few weeks of college football? Now I’m a BCS hugger, I think it gets to political, and there is too much bias with the human polls. There needs to be a football RPI poll that is used similarly to what the NCAA tournament selection committee uses to determine the at-large teams.

But in college football the past few weeks, all major conferences have been a playoff or will come to a playoff this weekend. First, in the Big Ten Iowa and Ohio State played off for the Big Ten BCS bid and the Rose Bowl. The Pac-10 has had Arizona, Stanford, USC and the 2 Oregon schools going at it the past 3-4 weeks knocking each other around, and it will come to an end Thursday night in the Civil War when Oregon State goes to Oregon. Winner to the Rose Bowl. The Big East, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh battle for the Big East this Saturday. Then there are the 3 Championship games. Yes #1 vs #2 in the SEC. Texas is unbeaten but still has to win the conference championship game vs Nebraska to secure a Championship Game Bid. And then ACC has Georiga Tech and Clemson facing off this week after both teams lost rivalry games the week before.

If you really look at it, there has been a playoff. It may not be a bracket you can fill out and have an office pool on. The games have played out. Should there be an actual playoff? I wouldn’t mind seeing it, but I love the bowls (well most of them), but put them all back on January 1st. Get rid of about 10-14 of them.

So for those who want a playoff, enjoy the Civil War battle on Thursday and then the championship games on Saturday. Then after that let the frustration and politicking begin.

BCS or Playoff?

So you want a playoff? Have you watched the past few weeks of college football? Now I’m a BCS hugger, I think it gets to political, and there is too much bias with the human polls. There needs to be a football RPI poll that is used similarly to what the NCAA tournament selection committee uses to determine the at-large teams.

But in college football the past few weeks, all major conferences have been a playoff or will come to a playoff this weekend. First, in the Big Ten Iowa and Ohio State played off for the Big Ten BCS bid and the Rose Bowl. The Pac-10 has had Arizona, Stanford, USC and the 2 Oregon schools going at it the past 3-4 weeks knocking each other around, and it will come to an end Thursday night in the Civil War when Oregon State goes to Oregon. Winner to the Rose Bowl. The Big East, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh battle for the Big East this Saturday. Then there are the 3 Championship games. Yes #1 vs #2 in the SEC. Texas is unbeaten but still has to win the conference championship game vs Nebraska to secure a Championship Game Bid. And then ACC has Georiga Tech and Clemson facing off this week after both teams lost rivalry games the week before.

If you really look at it, there has been a playoff. It may not be a bracket you can fill out and have an office pool on. The games have played out. Should there be an actual playoff? I wouldn’t mind seeing it, but I love the bowls (well most of them), but put them all back on January 1st. Get rid of about 10-14 of them.

So for those who want a playoff, enjoy the Civil War battle on Thursday and then the championship games on Saturday. Then after that let the frustration and politicking begin.

2009 RoughRider National Offensive Player of the Year

Tim Tebow had a "down" year compared to what people thought he would have. Colt McCoy got to play against a terrible Big XII and warmed up only late in the year. Jacory Harris had Miami going great in the beginning of the year, and stumbled lately. Notre Dame struggled even when Jimmy Clausen put up some good numbers.



But the 2009 RoughRider will go to the best player in the nation in 2009. Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. Gerhart rushed for 1736 in the 12 games for the 8-4 Cardinal. His biggest numbers came against the best teams. 200+ vs Washington, Oregon & Notre Dame. 178 put up vs Pete Carroll's vaunted USC Trojans. His biggest stage, 203 yards and 3 touchdowns in the season finale vs Notre Dame. Oh and he also thew a touchdown in the 45-38 shoot out with the Irish. Gerhart also set the Pac-10 rushing touchdown record with 26 scores.

It was once said that Heisman's are won or lost on your performance vs Notre Dame. Well Toby might not get the Heisman, but he is the 2009 RoughRider Offensive player of the Year.

Past Winners
2009-Toby Gerhart-RB-Stanford
2008-Colt McCoy-QB-Texas
2007-Kevin Smith-RB-Central Florida
2006-Darren McFadden-RB-Arkansas
2005-Reggie Bush-RB-USC
2004-Reggie Bush-RB-USC
2003-Larry Fitzgerald-WR-Pittsburgh
2002-Brad Banks-QB-Iowa
2001-Joey Harrington-QB-Oregon

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 29th

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. TCU
4. Boise State
5. Alabama
6. Cincinnati
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Virginia Tech
10. Penn State
11. Pittsburgh
12. Iowa
13. Miami
14. BYU
15. Georgia Tech
16. Nebraska
17. USC
18. Oregon State
19. Houston
20. LSU


GFR Rankings Complete Poll

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 29th

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. TCU
4. Boise State
5. Alabama
6. Cincinnati
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Virginia Tech
10. Penn State
11. Pittsburgh
12. Iowa
13. Miami
14. BYU
15. Georgia Tech
16. Nebraska
17. USC
18. Oregon State
19. Houston
20. LSU


GFR Rankings Complete Poll

Angels & Demons

Don't read if you haven't seen the movie.....

I don't think that Angels & Demons was as good as the Da Vinci code. You knew in the end that the good guys were going to find the bomb and save the Vatican. Great swing with Ewan McGregor, thought that was the best part of the story. I thought the Christian History was interesting history though. Tom Hanks still was great. Could have done with out a few scenes, and also thought it could have been wrapped up 20 minutes quicker. I think the Da Vinci code was also better with its twists and how it wrapped up were more a mystery than in Angels & Demons.

Still a good watch though.....3.5 Stars

My BCS Fix

8 teams – 8 Conf Champions. NO At-Larges allowed. If a school is not the conference champion. You will not be in the playoff. Notre Dame must join a conference. That way you know how to get in. No politicking…win the games and you get in.

Qualifying Conferences:
ACC
Big East
Big XII
Big Ten
Pac-10
SEC

The next 2 teams would be the Non BCS conferences. How the 5 conferences /army/navy would determine would need to be figured out yet, but give TCU’s & Boise’s a shot.

Have the Regular season ending on Thanksgiving weekend. Teams don’t need 2 bye weeks. Championship games on the 1st Saturday of December. Teams all have the same layoff.

The 8 teams play 4 games on New Year’s Day:
ROSE BOWL – Big Ten vs Pac-10
ORANGE BOWL – ACC vs Selection
SUGAR BOWL – SEC vs Selection
COTTON BOWL – BIG XII vs Selection

The selections would be taken in order of who’s already slotted team is ranked lowest in a new RPI similar poll. IE – If the Sugar has the #1 team, they get the last selection.

The winners would then play in Tempe/Fiesta Bowl on the weekend after Jan 1st. Those winners playing Monday Night in Tempe on Martin Luther King Day.

Schools don’t go back to school till after MLK day usually. They don’t have to worry about scheduling and travel then.

My BCS Fix

8 teams – 8 Conf Champions. NO At-Larges allowed. If a school is not the conference champion. You will not be in the playoff. Notre Dame must join a conference. That way you know how to get in. No politicking…win the games and you get in.

Qualifying Conferences:
ACC
Big East
Big XII
Big Ten
Pac-10
SEC

The next 2 teams would be the Non BCS conferences. How the 5 conferences /army/navy would determine would need to be figured out yet, but give TCU’s & Boise’s a shot.

Have the Regular season ending on Thanksgiving weekend. Teams don’t need 2 bye weeks. Championship games on the 1st Saturday of December. Teams all have the same layoff.

The 8 teams play 4 games on New Year’s Day:
ROSE BOWL – Big Ten vs Pac-10
ORANGE BOWL – ACC vs Selection
SUGAR BOWL – SEC vs Selection
COTTON BOWL – BIG XII vs Selection

The selections would be taken in order of who’s already slotted team is ranked lowest in a new RPI similar poll. IE – If the Sugar has the #1 team, they get the last selection.

The winners would then play in Tempe/Fiesta Bowl on the weekend after Jan 1st. Those winners playing Monday Night in Tempe on Martin Luther King Day.

Schools don’t go back to school till after MLK day usually. They don’t have to worry about scheduling and travel then.

2009 Survivor Series Picks

Survivor Series is here...and there are 3 traditional matches, 3 regular matches. I think we see some twists here to start to set up towards WrestleMania.

WWE Championship:I think John Cena keeps his title over DX, but I think we either see a DX split and either HHH turns heel, or both of them turn heel on Cena and after the match, bust him up pretty good.

World HeavyWeight Championship:I think that Jericho pulls out the win here and starts a feud against Y2J. I think this may be a split for the tag team champs too where they drop the titles soon too. I think that it would be stupid for the WWE to do that, Big Show and Y2J are doing good things together.

Batista vs Rey Mysterio: Batista continues to DESTROY his old friend.

Team Orton vs Team Kingston: The Viper destroys Team Kingston, and Kofi vs Orton is teased for the next PPV.

Team Miz vs Team Morrison: Probably one of the more exciting matches...Team Morrison gets the last laugh vs Team Miz. New feuds brew between the participants.

Team Mickie vs Team Michelle: McCool's team gets the last laugh.

New Moon

So Friday I helped (and my wife helped for the 2nd time) to boost the huge numbers of the Twilight saga's sequel "New Moon". Ok, so basically its a teeny bopper movie. It's Montegue's and Capulet's but in werewolf and vampire form. Was it entertaining? Yea, it was ok. I still don't understand the pale face love fest for Edward. Dude looks like a goober. The one thing I was excited about when I saw the preview was the transforming into a werewolf. THAT WAS COOL. I will admit. It wasn't the Wolverine Claws or anything. But it was pretty cool. Overall, it's going to make a lot of money and how they aren't making the 4th movie yet, I'm still unsure of. Do they not know the amount of money it will bring in? So it was entertaining, good time out with the wife. The 3rd movie comes out June 2010. My wife is already ready for the midnight showing again.

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 12

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. TCU
4. Alabama
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech

2009 WoodyBoFry Big Ten Player of the Year

Last year was the year of running backs....this year, 2009, the year of Defense. There wasn't really a player in the Big Ten that stood out on the offensive side. Terrelle Pyror had his moments, Daryl Clark & Evan Royster had good games vs teams not named Iowa or Ohio State, Ricky Stanzi showed why he might be the most valuable, and others like John Clay and Mike Kafka had good years too. Nothing Great though.

On the other side, you had O'Brien Schofield at UW terrorizing backfields, Greg Jones a a tackling machine at East Lansing. The Dynamic Duo at Penn State of Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman, the entire Ohio State defensive line, and then the Iowa Trio of Angerer, Sash & Clayborn.

With the Big Ten Season complete, the 2009 WoodyBoFry winner goes to....


IOWA's Pat Angerer. The Iowa LB led the Big Ten in tackles at 102, averaged nearly 13 tackles a game and had a sack. The senior has been the heart and soul of the Hawks, who are 10-2 and possibly BCS bound.

Angerer becomes the 4th Hawkeye to win the Award (QB-Brad Banks-2002;QB-Drew Tate-2004; RB-Shonn Greene-2008.) and the first defensive player to win the award.

PAST WINNERS
2009-Pat Angerer-LB-Iowa
2008-Shonn Greene-RB-Iowa
2007-James Hardy-WR-Indiana
2006-Anthony Gonzalez-WR-Ohio State
2005-Tyrell Sutton-RB-Northwestern
2004-Braylon Edwards-WR-Michigan/Drew Tate-QB-Iowa
2003-Chris Perry-RB-Michigan
2002-Brad Banks-QB-Iowa
2001-Antwan Randel El-QB-Indiana

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 22nd

1. TCU
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Ohio State
8. Virgina Tech
9. Oregon
10. Pittsburgh
11. Penn State
12. Georgia Tech
13. Oklahoma State
14. Iowa
15. Clemson
16. Miami
17. Utah
18. Texas Tech
19. BYU
20. Oregon State

http://home.mchsi.com/~nielsen.matt/gfr.pdf

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 22nd

1. TCU
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Ohio State
8. Virgina Tech
9. Oregon
10. Pittsburgh
11. Penn State
12. Georgia Tech
13. Oklahoma State
14. Iowa
15. Clemson
16. Miami
17. Utah
18. Texas Tech
19. BYU
20. Oregon State

http://home.mchsi.com/~nielsen.matt/gfr.pdf

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 11

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. TCU
4. Alabama
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 15th

1. TCU
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. Boise State
6. Cincinnati
7. Ohio State
8. Virginia Tech
9. Oregon
10. Pittsburgh
11. Georgia Tech
12. Oklahoma State
13. Penn State
14. Iowa
15. Clemson
16. Wisconsin
17. Rutgers
18. Oregon State
19. Houston
20. LSU

Complete poll to be linked Monday

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 15th

1. TCU
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. Boise State
6. Cincinnati
7. Ohio State
8. Virginia Tech
9. Oregon
10. Pittsburgh
11. Georgia Tech
12. Oklahoma State
13. Penn State
14. Iowa
15. Clemson
16. Wisconsin
17. Rutgers
18. Oregon State
19. Houston
20. LSU

Complete poll to be linked Monday

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 8th

1. Texas
2. TCU
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Ohio State
8. Virgina Tech
9. Oregon
10. Pittsburgh
11. Iowa
12. Penn State
13. Houston
14. USC
15. Oklahoma State
16. Georgia Tech
17. Clemson
18. Wisconsin
19. LSU
20. Miami

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 8th

1. Texas
2. TCU
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Ohio State
8. Virgina Tech
9. Oregon
10. Pittsburgh
11. Iowa
12. Penn State
13. Houston
14. USC
15. Oklahoma State
16. Georgia Tech
17. Clemson
18. Wisconsin
19. LSU
20. Miami

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 10

1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Cincinnati
5. TCU
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech

Thoughts....

So eye gouging and attempting to injure someone only gets a half game suspension? Florida Coach Urban Myer only seems to be worrying about Florida’s status in the BCS and National Championship. Not sending the right message. LB Brandon Spikes should be suspended more than the half vs. Vanderbilt. Send a message. Let the SEC officials get your wins for you. Urban, that was a bad move. Own up to it and be a coach…leader of men.

The college football world could see at least 4 unbeatens at the end of the season, is that a way to crown a national champion? Last year it was Utah going 13-0 and being shut out. This year you could get 3 BCS conf teams unbeaten after the bowl games, and then add in 2 BCS Busters. I’m not sure if a playoff is the right way, because you’re going to have the same thing, pollsters showing a bias and putting teams down they want to and boosting the top 4 or 8 they want to see. The national media is doing that to Iowa because they 1)don’t win pretty, 2) are from the Big Ten, and 3)aren’t named Michigan, Ohio State or Penn State. Of the unbeatens, Iowa has the best resume`, best schedule/hardest schedules, and best road wins. Look at it for yourself. Do some research. Yes they have some bad wins, but they are wins. Last year losing 4 games by 12 points they were told they are a good team, just can’t win the close games….this year they are winning them. What do you want them to do? Play the school for the blind and roll them up 77-0 like some SEC teams do with their scheduling?

The SEC isn’t great like the media thinks its its….The Big XII is even or below the Big Ten….The Pac-10 is better than the people think…

Watched V last night, and I don’t 100% remember the original but I remember it was frightening somewhat (I was 5.) when I’d be able to see a little of it watching with my sister. This version last night I thought was entertaining, the hour went by pretty quick.

Had Thai food last night for the 2nd time ever. 1st time I thought it was really good. Last night, it was very flavorless. Crab Rangoon was very good though…the meal was something I would have ordered different though.

Leaves suck! 15 bags done this weekend and a recycle bin. And yet there is still more to do! But at least my kids like to jump in them.

Thoughts....

So eye gouging and attempting to injure someone only gets a half game suspension? Florida Coach Urban Myer only seems to be worrying about Florida’s status in the BCS and National Championship. Not sending the right message. LB Brandon Spikes should be suspended more than the half vs. Vanderbilt. Send a message. Let the SEC officials get your wins for you. Urban, that was a bad move. Own up to it and be a coach…leader of men.

The college football world could see at least 4 unbeatens at the end of the season, is that a way to crown a national champion? Last year it was Utah going 13-0 and being shut out. This year you could get 3 BCS conf teams unbeaten after the bowl games, and then add in 2 BCS Busters. I’m not sure if a playoff is the right way, because you’re going to have the same thing, pollsters showing a bias and putting teams down they want to and boosting the top 4 or 8 they want to see. The national media is doing that to Iowa because they 1)don’t win pretty, 2) are from the Big Ten, and 3)aren’t named Michigan, Ohio State or Penn State. Of the unbeatens, Iowa has the best resume`, best schedule/hardest schedules, and best road wins. Look at it for yourself. Do some research. Yes they have some bad wins, but they are wins. Last year losing 4 games by 12 points they were told they are a good team, just can’t win the close games….this year they are winning them. What do you want them to do? Play the school for the blind and roll them up 77-0 like some SEC teams do with their scheduling?

The SEC isn’t great like the media thinks its its….The Big XII is even or below the Big Ten….The Pac-10 is better than the people think…

Watched V last night, and I don’t 100% remember the original but I remember it was frightening somewhat (I was 5.) when I’d be able to see a little of it watching with my sister. This version last night I thought was entertaining, the hour went by pretty quick.

Had Thai food last night for the 2nd time ever. 1st time I thought it was really good. Last night, it was very flavorless. Crab Rangoon was very good though…the meal was something I would have ordered different though.

Leaves suck! 15 bags done this weekend and a recycle bin. And yet there is still more to do! But at least my kids like to jump in them.

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 1st

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Cincinnati
4. TCU
5. Alabama
6. Iowa
7. Boise State
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Virginia Tech

Complete Poll to be linked soon....

GFR Computer Ranking - Nov 1st

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Cincinnati
4. TCU
5. Alabama
6. Iowa
7. Boise State
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Virginia Tech

Complete Poll to be linked soon....

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 9

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Oregon
4. Iowa
5. Cincinnati
6. TCU
7. Boise State

SEC Love Fest needs to leave College Football!

The love fest for the SEC has to stop. Seriously. I know ESPN now has thrown a bunch of money at them, and so has CBS but really, are they that great? Florida has won with the help of a 12th man (SEC officials) and Tim Tebow should be no where near the top 3 on ANY Heisman ballot but his own that he votes for. Alabama needed 2 blocked fgs to beat Tennessee, who was beat by UCLA who is 0-4 in the Pac-10.

Iowa has the best schedule strength in the nation. Beaten Wisconsin, Penn State, & Michigan State all on the road. Only other team to do that...1997 Michigan, a National Championship team. Iowa's opponents opponents have a .633 winning percentage (38-22). Florida's opponents are 26-24 (.520), same as Texas'. Alabama's opponents are 28-29 (.491).

How is Iowa needing 2 fgs blocked to beat in state rival UNI different from Alabama needed 2 fgs bloked to beat Tennessee?

How is Iowa winning ugly different from Florida winning ugly?

Iowa's beaten more BCS-conference opponents with winning records (7-1 Penn State, 5-2 Wisconsin, 5-2 Arizona, 5-3 Iowa State and 5-3 Michigan).

Did you know??? Ricky Stanzi has more TDs and passing yards then SEC God Tim Tebow

The human stupidity of voters needs taken out of the bcs poll. Get an RPI for the BCS, you need to play somebody and win.

SEC Love Fest needs to leave College Football!

The love fest for the SEC has to stop. Seriously. I know ESPN now has thrown a bunch of money at them, and so has CBS but really, are they that great? Florida has won with the help of a 12th man (SEC officials) and Tim Tebow should be no where near the top 3 on ANY Heisman ballot but his own that he votes for. Alabama needed 2 blocked fgs to beat Tennessee, who was beat by UCLA who is 0-4 in the Pac-10.

Iowa has the best schedule strength in the nation. Beaten Wisconsin, Penn State, & Michigan State all on the road. Only other team to do that...1997 Michigan, a National Championship team. Iowa's opponents opponents have a .633 winning percentage (38-22). Florida's opponents are 26-24 (.520), same as Texas'. Alabama's opponents are 28-29 (.491).

How is Iowa needing 2 fgs blocked to beat in state rival UNI different from Alabama needed 2 fgs bloked to beat Tennessee?

How is Iowa winning ugly different from Florida winning ugly?

Iowa's beaten more BCS-conference opponents with winning records (7-1 Penn State, 5-2 Wisconsin, 5-2 Arizona, 5-3 Iowa State and 5-3 Michigan).

Did you know??? Ricky Stanzi has more TDs and passing yards then SEC God Tim Tebow

The human stupidity of voters needs taken out of the bcs poll. Get an RPI for the BCS, you need to play somebody and win.

GFR Computer Ranking - Oct 25th.

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Iowa
4. TCU
5. Alabama
6. Cincinnati
7. Boise State
8. Virgina Tech
9. Oregon
10. Pittsburgh

http://home.mchsi.com/~nielsen.matt/gfr.pdf

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 8

Close calls this weekend for the top teams, means some movement in the Hawk Talk Top 7.

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. USC
5. Iowa
6. Georgia Tech
7. Boise State

GFR Computer Ranking - Oct 18th.

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Iowa
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. TCU
8. Virginia Tech
9. Oregon
10. USC

http://home.mchsi.com/~nielsen.matt/GFR.pdf

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 7

After seeing Mark Ingram run for 200+ vs South Carolina, he's got to be the front runner for play of the year.


1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Miami
6. Iowa
7. Georgia Tech

GFR Computer Ranking - Oct 11th.

GFR Computer Rankings top 10

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. Virginia Tech
5. Iowa
6. Cincinnati
7. Kansas
8. TCU
9. Boise State
10. Ohio State

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 6

A few big boys are starting to separate and are wanting to stake their claim at the top spot.

1. Alabama
2. Virginia Tech
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. Boise State
6. USC
7. Iowa

Major League Baseball Predictions

ALDS—
Yankees over Twins:3-2
Angels over Red Sox:3-1

ALCS—
Yankees over Angels:4-3

NLDS—
Dodgers over Cardinals:3-2
Phillies over Rockies:3-0

NLCS—
Dodgers over Phillies:4-3

World Series—
Yankees over Dodgers:4-3
MVP-Alex Rodriguez

GFR Computer Ranking - Oct 4th.

The first official release of the GFR Computer Poll.

GFR Computer Rankings TOP 10
1.Texas
2.Florida
3.Iowa
4.Alabama
5.Kansas
6.Cincinnati
7.LSU
8.TCU
9.Virginia Tech
10.Auburn

http://home.mchsi.com/~nielsen.matt/GFR.pdf

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 5

Ok, usually with the Hawk Talk it's to be the man, you have to beat the man....we'll I'm going to take a tip from the AP Voter from the Cleveland Plains Dealer....what have you done for me lately.

So without further ado.....

1.Alabama
2.LSU
3.Texas
4.Florida
5.Virginia Tech
6.Miami
7.Boise State

College Football Polls are a JOKE

Both college football polls are a joke. The coaches poll being a part of the BCS is a joke. The SID’s vote and boost their fellow conference teams to get higher BCS rankings, total BIAS not based on facts. The AP voters cover a game, can’t see them all, go based off highlights on local news and SportsCenter and schools name appeal. College football needs something like the RPI. It’s a joke that teams can’t compete for the title because 1 team was ranked higher in preseason polls, it’s a joke

This week’s poll just add to the fuel. In the coaches poll, Cal is 19th and Oregon is 25th? Didn’t Cal just get smoked 42-3 by the Ducks? Oklahoma State is 12 and Houston is 15? Didn’t Houston walk into Stillwater and beat the Cowboys and another Big XII team this week? And Iowa at 17 and Penn State at 13? Wasn’t that game on ABC to a NATIONAL audience, and Iowa dominated 21-10?

In the AP poll 4 voters have Penn State at least 8 spots ahead of Iowa (Jay G. Tate, Paul Arnett ,Desmond Conner, & Sal Interdonato) 6 voters have Cal in the top 25 and left Oregon unranked. Paul Arnett left Cal at 10 and didn’t rank Oregon. Should he even have a vote? Does he not watch the games? I would like to see his rational. And with Houston and Oklahoma State, Pete DiPrimio has Houston unranked and Oklahoma State 14, and 9 others have Oklahoma State higher than Houston.

The coaches won’t release who voted for what so it’s secretive like an Iranian election and smells and looks just as bad as one too.

The voters who need to have their vote taken away for stupidity.

Paul Arnett– Ranked Penn State #12 and Iowa #22 : Ranked Cal #10 and didn’t rank Oregon
parnett@starbulletin.com

Jay G Tate – Ranked Penn State #10 and Iowa #20
jgtate@gannett.com

Desmond Conner – Ranked Penn State #10 and Iowa #20
dconner@courant.com

Sal Interdonato – Ranked Penn State #12 and Iowa #20
sinterdonato@th-record.com

I’ve emailed all of them and I bet you and I know how many replies I’ll get. ZERO. Have some accountability people.


AP Voter Reference:
http://pollspeak.com/pollstalker/pollstalker.php?r=T&s=9&p=18&w=5&t1=39&t2=79&v=0


Recommended Reading:
http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/895836.html

http://www.cleveland.com/collegesports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/125412679088870.xml&coll=2

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=dw-bcs092909&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Other articles/blogs:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2009/09/28/the-usa-todaycoaches-top-25-it-is-officially-a-joke/

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/9/28/1057942/why-the-college-footballs-coaches

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/story/878541.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705322124/Coaches-poll-is-a-big-joke.html

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 4

Upset Saturday....Va Tech Destroys Miami, LSU needs a goal line stand to stop Mississippi State, and then the upsets, Ole Miss beat, Penn State manhandled by Iowa and Oregon blows up Cal.

And Superman QB Tim Tebow got hit with kryptonite and left the game vs Kentucky in the 3rd quarter.

Top 7.

1.Florida

2.Texas

3.Alabama

4.Boise State

5.LSU

6.Iowa

7.Cincinnati

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 3

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. LSU
4. California
5. LSU
6. Penn State
7. Miami(Fl)

Breaking Point Predictions

Jericho & Big Show beat MVP & Henry and keep the titles and prolong the fued.

John Cena finally beats Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship

CM Punk loses World Heavyweight Championship to Undertaker.

DX keeps on beating Legacy because the WWE won't push anyone against HHH/HBK, they want to sell tshirts.

Kane beats the Great Kahli

William Regal wins the ECW title over Christian.....the Instant Classic goes to SmackDown

The Miz ends Kofi's US title run

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 3

Rivalry week 1 is done. It's still a Hawkeye State. The Showdown in Columbus was a great game, Big Ten coming up short. Same in the Big House but the Big Ten bests the Irish. Florida continued to play no one, and the Big XII blew against another non-BCS team.

1.USC

2.Florida

3.Texas

4.California

5.LSU

6.Penn State

7.BYU

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Week 2

Heisman winner Sam Bradford goes down, BYU upsets the Sooners in the Jerry-Dome. Navy scares the Buckeyes in The Shoe, and Iowa blocks 2 field goals back-to-back in the final 7 seconds to avoid an upset from Northern Iowa. Welcome back College Football!!!

1.USC

2.Florida

3.Texas

4.California

5.LSU

6.Oklahoma State

7.Boise State

2009 NFL Predictions

AFC East-New England
AFC North-Pittsburgh
AFC South-Indianapolis
AFC West-San Diego
AFC WC-Baltimore
AFC WC-Houston

NFC East-Philadelphia
NFC North-Chicago
NFC South-Atlanta
NFC West-San Francisco
NFC WC-Dallas
NFC WC-Green Bay


AFC Championship – San Diego over Pittsburgh
NFC Championship – Philadelphia over Chicago
Super Bowl – San Diego over Philadelphia

Summer Slam 2009 Predictions

2009 SummerSlam Predictions

World HeavyWeight Championship - CM Punk ends Hardy's regin and Hardy takes a break.

WWE Championship - Age or Orton in 2009 continues in win over Cena

Tag Team Championship - Cryme Tyme takes titles from Jericho and Big Show to split them up

Intercontinetal Championship - Rey drops to Dolph to go after a different title

ECW Championship - Christian vs William Regal - Christian retains ECW title for now.

Jack Swagger vs M.V.P. - Swagger gets win in continued push he is getting on Raw

Great Kahli vs Kane - Great Kahli gets W over misued Big Man in Kane

DX vs Legacy - DX will get the win but the old guys should put the young guys over

2009 Summer Movie Awards

With the smell of football in the air, the summer in my mind not calendar, is coming to an end, and with that the summer blockbusters. And usually I try to get to the biggies in the theater, with kids and life I don’t. I’ve seen 5 movies this summer and have rankings below. The movies I’ve seen in chronological order; Wolverine…Star Trek…Transformers 2…Ice Age 3…GI Joe: Rise of Cobra.

Best Movie – Star Trek

Best Dude – Chris Pine : Captain Kirk : Star Trek

Best Dudette – Sienna Miller : Baroness : GI Joe

Best Scene – new Kirk meets old Spock : Star Trek

Best Fight – Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow : GI Joe

Biggest Dud – Transformers 2

Anticipated Sequel – GI Joe

Summer movie not seen that I want too – Terminator 4

Hawk Talk Top 7 - Preseason Rankings

Well last year we ended with the USC Trojans on top of the Hawk Talk Top 7. And if you know the rankings the motto is "Woooooo.....To be the man......Woooooo....you have to beat the Man." So with that being said, sorry Urban and Super Tim, your behind the Men of Troy still. The Trojans will be starting the season at Hawk Talk's top spot.

1.USC

2.Florida

3.Texas

4.Oklahoma

5.LSU

6.California

7.Ohio State

College Football Predictions

Media days have started for the Iowa Schools and football is just around the corner (Thank God!) so here are my predictions for the upcoming season.

ACC-Miami (Coastal) over Clemson (Atlantic)

Big East-South Florida

Big Ten-Ohio State

Big XII-Texas (South) over Nebraska (North)

Pac 10-Oregon

SEC-Florida (East) over LSU (West)

Big Bowls/Important Bowls

Rose Bowl - Ohio State vs Oregon

Orange Bowl - South Florida vs Miami

Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs Penn State

Sugar Bowl -LSU vs USC

BCS Championship - Florida vs Texas

Cap1 Bowl - Iowa vs Georgia

Outback Bowl - Michigan State vs Mississippi

Alamo Bowl - Northwestern vs Kansas

Heisman - Tim Teabow, QB, Florida

Big Ten Predictions

1.Ohio State

2.Penn State

3.Iowa

4.Michigan State

5.Northwestern

6.Illinois

7.Minnesota

8.Michigan

9.Wisconsin

10.Purdue

11.Indiana

New York Trip

This is a little late, but better late than never!!

So the trip has come and gone to New York and Yankee Stadium and it was a lot of fun. New York is nice to visit, but glad I'm back here in Iowa. Dad loved Yankee Stadium, Empire State Building and Mimi's (he has his own table there now). 52nd and 2nd if you’re ever in NYC. Glad the Yankees won for him; if they would have lost I think the trip would have had a different tone for dad. But instead we had a great night and time together the 3 of us.


Day 1-Wednesday—The Arrival

After waking up early in Marshalltown, we got to Cedar Rapids at 4ish at the airport. After Dad getting wanded because of the aluminum foil on his gum, we got up to our terminal and sat there for about 90 minutes. Going to get on our American Airlines flight, I was lucky and got chosen for a random check. So I got wanded, and bag unpacked and that was fun.....not. The flight to Chicago was good and quick. After a 2 hour lay over in Chicago we flew about 2 hours to NYC La Guardia. We were a lil longer because we circled waiting for the clearance to land. So we land, and head to our hotel, the Waldorf=Astoria. Very impressive from the outside and the lobby and main level floors. We get to our room and I've stayed in a lot better rooms. The Drake Hotel in Chicago is a lot better. Our room was just an old hotel with some noticeable things that could have been done up a little better. We head out of the hotel and grab a NYC hot dog from a vendor. Very good dog, spicy mustard, and head toward the Chrysler Building. Didn't go up top, just through. We head out to go to the Empire State Building. On the way we hit Grand Central Terminal. Pretty cool place, could see how one could get lost there if you don't know your way around. Was looking for Cyclops, Toad and Sabertooth! They weren't there. Darn. Next we hit the Heartland Brewery on the basement of the ESB. Great beer. Chatted with a guy from Seattle in town for the Yanks-Sox and then I was lucky to get my ear chatted off by some crazy lady who was a professor of psychiatry at Columbia. Her dead husband was famous, she was world famous, and her kids were world famous. And repeated all of her stories like 3 times. Meet a guy there who was asst manager from Chicago, and I had my Bears shirt and Cubs hat on, and he said "HEY, Cubs and Bears fan? I don't know if I should buy ya one or two beers." At the time he didn't buy us any, but we'll come back to that. We head up to the 86th floor of the ESB with some Aussie's who flew 36 hours to get to NYC, cool people. I agree with Dad, it's amazing what people did in the 1930's to make that building. Great views from there, you could see Shea Stadium, the Statue of Liberty, Central park, Ground Zero, Yankee Stadium and anything else pretty much. Stayed up there for a good hour probably then headed back down to the Heartland Brewery for supper. Walk into our booth and the ass't manager says "Hey I didn't get you the beers” I said "No, not yet...." He responded he'll get them. We order our drinks, they come and the waitress says, "They are on the house” We got about 20 bucks of drinks free because I'm a Bears/Cubs fan. Sweet! Good food, had some Ravioli. We head back to the hotel and drop dad off there about 8pm. Mike and I head towards time square. We see St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Radio City Music Hall, Saks 5th Ave, Tiffany & Co, and Trump Tower. Stop at Mickey Mantle's Sports Bar just south of Central Park. Drink there for about 2 hours. The bar tender Tammy wasn't too impressed with Iowa folk it seemed. Meet a guy from KC who was arrested at the US Open for scalping an extra ticket for under face value. Poor dude has a court date in October. The rest of the night, Mike and I wandered down to Times Square at night and it looks like it does on TV. I did think it would be bigger, but still cool. Stopped ant M&M world, saw a few bright lights from the ESPN Zone and the Broadway shows, and bought Shawnna a purse from a NYC street vendor for 30 bucks. Great deal! And did find a Ray's Pizza! Mystery meat pizza is gooooood! Hit the Waldorf after midnight and crashed to get ready for the game on Thursday.

Day 2-Thursday—Yankees vs. Red Sox
Woke up and then got ready to go and hit a little place called Cafe Ruffles. Breakfast for 3 cost us 60 bucks. Told ya you could go broke eating in this town. After wards we went to get on a train to head up to the Bronx. On the way down the subway we heard a "Go Hawks” Dad was wearing his Hawkeye hat. We get down waiting for a train and find out that the guy who said it was behind us, and from Fort Dodge. We go to NYC and meet a guy who is an hour from Des Moines there for the same reason we are. We ride the trains which weren't bad, just hot as a sauna down in the subway. Empty out at the Bronx and walk out to see the New Yankee Stadium first. It looks amazing. Gonna be a really nice building. So we go into to the house that Babe built. When dad walks out of the tunnel to see the green grass, it was almost like he saw a shrine. Walked right out to right field, and saw the famous white facade with the All-Star game logo. Got pictures of the whole thing. We walked around to left field to get to Monument Park but they closed it 45 mins before the first pitch, so we missed out on that. So that sucked. We made our way up to our seats. Prob about 8 rows from the top under the awning, in the shade and right on top of home plate. Great seats for 129 bucks a pop. The game went on. Dad started chit chatting with some guys from Uruguay who live in Jersey and buy and mostly sell alcohol. Got a free pop from them. The game went on; the Yanks were down 2-0 in the 7th and looked like the Yanks would get swept. In came Jason Giamibi to pinch hit. ARod had just popped out and having a terrible series. Giambi saw the 1st pitch and launched it some 420 feet over the center field wall. The place went nuts. 2-2. No action till the 9th. Yanks loaded the bases. Up came ARod. He K'd. The crowd boo's again for the 4th time. In comes Jonathan Papplebon to face the Giambino. First pitch, strike 1. 2nd pitch a ball. Next pitch Giambi shoots a liner into center field and THE YANKEES WIN! Could see tears in Dad's eyes. Glad he got to see the Yanks win especially over the hated Red Sox. After time in the subway back to midtown we hit a little place called Mimi's. Get the corner table in the outside of the restaurant and there and windows all around so we can see into the city. Great seats. Dad get's CC on the rocks and Mike and I drink beers. Had some great veal pizzaiola. Great dish. Also had my first cannoli. Great food. We drank there for a lil longer. I think there was about 100 bucks of alcohol on the bill. Afterwards we head up to a little Irish pub called Naills. The bartender was a witch. Wouldn't play any of my country music on the juke box. Sucked. But did meet some Chinese volleyball players. One was born in South America, works on German cars, and drinks Irish beer. How's that for a combo? Drank there for a while, then walked by a place called Fukumatsu. That's just funny. We were all pretty lit by the time we crashed. Dad even drunk dialed mom. Probably one of the best nights of my life.

Day 3-Friday—Wall Street/Statue of Liberty

So Friday was a trip to downtown Manhattan. The day started with lunch from a vendor on the street. A few bucks got us a drink, 3 donuts and 3 bananas. Wish we could get that deal here in Des Moines. We then hit the subway down to the financial district. When we arrived we wanted to go to ground zero. We saw where the twin towers once stood. We think there was a place to look into the fenced in area but we couldn’t find it and didn’t want to stray too much to try to find it. Was kind of surreal though. Then we walked down to Wall Street. I noticed the church “At the Wall” (from National Treasure!) It was there. No Nicolas Cage though. So that was cool. Dad & I got pictures underneath the Wall Street street sign. On the block was the Stock Exchange. Where few ruin the financial futures of all. All around were Army men with automatic weapons. A far cry from what Times Square was like. Really serious and quiet. Across from the Stock Exchange was the building were George Washington was sworn in as the 1^st President of the United States. Kind of cool. So we couldn’t get into the Stock Exchange, and we headed south. Saw the Gold Bull. Dad & I got a picture in front of the Bull, and then even got a shot of the back to make sure it was a Bull! It was. We ate lunch at Subway and then headed for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. It was like herding cattle there. It seemed like all the people getting on were just there for the Statue and then back again to NYC. We got a great shot of the Lady. Also Ellis Island. It was really cool. I wonder what it would have been like back 70-100 years ago. Coming home from a war or an immigrant seeing it, Americans now are lucky we don’t have to be in those shoes and take it for granted. After the ferry dad was getting tired and we subwayed it back up to the Waldorf. Mike and I headed back to Times Square area to find the Ed Sullivan Theater and Hello Deli. After a few turns we found it. Got a picture with Rupert G and my first souvenir for myself, a Hello Deli t-shirt. Mike and I then went to the NBC studios, saw where the Today Show is filmed and then bought a few more souvenirs for Shawnna & the kids. Back to the Waldorf dad and I relaxed a bit before supper and Mike went down to the Bull & Bear bar to see a MSNBC show talk about the markets. Dad and I met him outside and we headed back to Mimi’s. We walked by a grocery store that had all the fruit outside, just like you see on TV, really cool. The smell of the fruit could stop you in your tracks. Back at Mimi’s we walked in and the bartender remembered us. CC on the rocks for dad and beers for Mike & I. Mike got supper that night. Got the piano man to play another round of “New York, New York” before we left. And Dad got his free t-shirt. After supper dad wanted to head back to the Waldorf instead of going out. Mike and I headed back to Naills for a few drinks. College football was on! Mike and I drank there and talked to a few lawyers who wandered in from their office. One of them played football at SMU. He was no bigger than Kyle. Tells you why SMU is TERRIBLE! We drank till about 11 or so, one of the lawyers bought us a shot of the smoothest tequila I’ve ever had. We started to wander up to the Waldorf again, but I had to get one more slice of NYC pizza before the night was over. Dad was calling us to make sure we knew we had a flight at 5 am the next day. Got back and crashed.

Saturday—Back to Iowa

As soon as the wake up call happened we were up. 15 minutes later our stay at the Waldorf-Astoria was over. We walked out the main entrance, the door man had a cab for us waiting and we climbed in, and headed back to LaGuardia in the rain. We got there early enough to grab a juice and breakfast and Mike napped a bit, then we boarded the plain to Chicago. Seeming to be quicker than the flight to NYC we were in O’Hare for our layover there. We sat waiting for our jumper to Cedar Rapids for about an hour. I spent it walking around O’Hare and texting and looking for anything on the Iowa football game. Once boarded, Mike had to check his bag, and in less than an hour we were at Cedar Rapids. We got Mike’s bag, walked to his truck and had Gary & Ed on to listen to on our way back to Marshalltown. I got home to the kids and Shawnna to great big hugs. I got out their souvenirs and started to unpack and tell stories. Addy got a pink “Big Apple” shirt, Brady a Derek Jeter #2 t-shirt jersey, and Shawnna a pink “New York” shirt and her purse. I got my Hello Deli shirt and a lot of memories.

Fast Forward to Father’s Day 2009, there’s no way to top the gift for dad that we got him in 2008, but the 2009 gift had a hint of 2008 in it. I got dad a framed picture of him, Mike & me at Yankee Stadium and Shawnna made him a Yankee blanket. He liked both a lot.

The trip was a lot of fun, and I hope it’s not the last like that, had a great time with Mike & Dad in that setting. New York was a fun place to visit, but glad I live in Iowa. I still want to take Shawnna there sometime! But no shopping for her!!! :P

Mike, I and Dad at Yankee Stadium after the Yankees beat Boston.

WWE Extreme Rules Predictions

Chris Jericho wins the Intercontinental Title for the 9th time over Rey Mysterio.

Randy Orton keeps his championship, beats Batista in the Steel Cage.

John Cena takes out the Big Show.

Match of the Night:Edge defeats Hardy to keep title.

Umaga takes out CM Punk

Santina hogwashes Vickie.

Christian loses the ECW title to Swagger....moves to Smackdown to take on Edge/Jericho

*note Predictions posted to late to do the 1st match*

Thoughts.....5/12/09

• Is this not the worst time of the year for sports?  Thank God there are summer block busters at the theater.
  
• Have yet to see Star Trek but I was told it was good, and looking forward to Terminator Salvation.
• I'm so TIRED of 2 things in the sports world.  First being Brett Favre.  He was/is a great talent.  A Hall of Famer.  But seriously, does he have to drag this will he or won't out over the whole summer?  Just say yes to Minnesota, come out and get your lumps from the Bears Defense or stay at home in Mississippi.
• Second is steroids.  I think local host Ken Miller said it best when he said we as fans are almost numb to this news.  So Manny got busted.  He's going to be losing some straight cash homey.  A-Rod, baseball's supposed Luke Skywalker to Barry Bonds Darth Vader isn't clean.  Who's name would shock you?  Albert Pujols?  Ryan Howard?  Maybe for a second but then no.  It's the culture of baseball.  There is only 1 name that would shock me, Ken Griffey Jr.  The Kid.  He has the sweetest swing in baseball.  He was on track to break the 755 All-Time homerun record.  He honestly is the only name that will blow my mind.  And can Roger Clemons just go away too?  The only guy who is telling the truth seems to be Jose Canseco.
• Thank you for Steve Deace & Jon Miller on KXNO.  They can find a reason to talk college football EVERY DAY!
• Had a blast in Omaha with Shawnna, the kids and Kim & Jason.  The Zoo there blows Des Moines out of the water.  And the Old Market area is AMAZING!  It's no wonder that the NCAA choose Omaha over Des Moines for the NCAA Wrestling Championships and the 1st rounds of the men's tournament and all Des Moines gets is the 1st round of the women's tourney.
• I think the only reason I'm into the fantasy baseball on ESPN is to fill in time till Fantasy Football.  I really don't care about it, and it probably shows since I'm already talking and discussing football league information in March, April & May.
• Excited to see that Friday Night Lights is back for 2 more seasons!  Also that there will be a Celebrity Apprentice 3!  
• Addyson turns 4 next Monday.  Where has the time gone?  Love being a dad.  Every day with her has been great!  Can't wait to see her eyes when she gets her birthday gift on Monday.  Have really enjoyed coaching her Bam Bam team.  Can't wait to see what happens this next year!
• 116 days till IOWA FOOTBALL!

Rising Gas Prices....Again

Anyone else notice that gas prices are creeping toward 2 bucks again and going up? Does anyone in Washington or Wall Street not realize that the economy and housing market all started to go downhill when the gas prices started going up insanely? People had to pay for it so they could go to work. Couldn’t pay anything else, including mortgages and credit card payments. Other sectors costs increased and pushed that on the consumer (ie groceries) so people were spending more there. More defaults and more foreclosures. Banks lose money again, government bail outs increase.
That also made people cut back on other spending and thus other companies had to cut jobs. Basically it’s this formula.

Rising Gas Prices = more foreclosures + not paying payments on other creditors + higher costs on groceries + missing other payments + banks going broke again + more government bail outs.

If a country radio dj in Des Moines, Iowa can also see this, why can’t our elected officials? HELLO! Dumbasses! If you want see America get back to where it was, there needs to be something done on fuel prices.

I can’t believe we are going to go through this crap again this summer, 1 year later. Did no one learn a damn thing?