Brian Kelly era to begin in South Bend

The University of Notre Dame is introducing Brian Kelly as the next head coach for the fighting Irish. He has won everywhere he has been, Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati. Will he win at Notre Dame, nobody knows. usually a winner keeps winning, but it will be different, South Bend Indiana is not Cincinnati Ohio, and he has never had a pressure cooker job that he will have now. What is difficult in these times is the coaching carousel that will begin. Kelly leaves an undefeated Cincinnati program that is headed to the Sugar Bowl to play the Florida Gators. Most likely whoever gets that job, will be leaving a team that had a good year as well. The Cincy players feel that Kelly lied to them, he told them he wasn't going anywhere before the Pitt game. He told them that so that they would play hard and win the Big East Title outright and get that BCS bowl berth and possible National Title. He has no choice, he has to go to Notre Dame right away and get busy with recruiting and getting a staff. If he stayed and coached the Sugar Bowl, would the players really respond to his demands, just not a good situation. He is the one missing out on winning a BCS bowl, but he plans on better things at Notre Dame ultimately. Players leave early for the NFL draft for the money, so don't blame your coach for more money and a better program. Cincinnati has to practice in their stadium because they have no practice facility, Notre Dame has everything under the sun. Kelly has the tools to recruit better athletes, but he must bring in smarter ones as the entrance to Notre Dame is not like Cincy and Fresno State. Nobody knows if this is the right fit, some will like it, some will not like it, but wins fix everything. The Iowa Hawkeyes hired Kirk Ferentz, and everybody wanted Bob Stoops. I didn't even know who Ferentz was, and today I wouldn't trade him for anybody. I'm glad we have Ferentz, and Sooners have Stoops. I'm not sure that Stoops could have done what Ferentz has done with the Hawks. So the Kelly era begins at Notre Dame, and in 5 years Notre Dame may be in the same situation they were in this season.

Love/Hate Relationship, But Very Intriguing

Yes, I am taking a moment to discuss the University of Notre Dame. The Love/Hate relationship I have with Notre Dame is this. I love the tradition of this college program and the rich history. I love the movie Rudy, and can watch it over and over, their fight song is even addicting. I have never been to South Bend, Indiana, but I hear that its a very beautiful campus. I'm sure it is as its in the midwest. The thing that I hate about Notre Dame is the arrogance. The same arrogance that you would find at Alabama prior to Nick Saban's arrival. Notre Dame has not been relevant since 1993 according to Kirk Herbstreit. I agree with him to a point, but they are still relevant because they are talked about like they are a top 5 program every year. Bama fans just think they are better than everybody, and when they were bad, they still felt like they could beat anybody, cause they are Alabama. I heard some great stories about that when they played Iowa State at the Independance Bowl. Bama fans stated that ISU should be so honored to even be on the same field as a team like Alabama, I think Bama only won 6 games that year, and ISU almost beat them. Notre Dame fans are still living in the past, and their program isn't in good shape right now. But I am here to tell you, that if they get the right coach, this program has potential to explode again, because everybody knows about Notre Dame. If this program can make a run at a National Title and win one, it would be like the Cubs winning the World Series, their would be an explosion of popularity. Could you imagine if the Cubs won the World Series, it would be just like when the Red Sox did. Boston now is seen as a major player for World Series titles and you see Red Sox fans everywhere. It changes things forever. That would be Notre Dame. They would be back on the map as a major player in College Football.
Now, to the answer of who should be the next coach of the University of Notre Dame. Urban Meyer is not leaving Florida to another football job. He is a great coach, and has learned that recruiting is golden in Florida. He hardly has to recruit, nice weather, SEC is big time, and so is Florida. He has it made there. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, maybe, recruiting would be tougher, but he grew up in Ohio, played at Iowa, so he would know the midwest pretty well. Oklahoma is a great program, he has been there for 10 years now, and lets face it, Oklahoma will always be second to Texas in most years. I could actually see this happening. Brian Kelly of Cincinnati, he has won everywhere he has been, has a great track record, but I'm not sure his name is big enough for what Notre Dame wants. He may be their choice though if they don't get the ones they want. Plus, Cincy can recruit any kid and they will get in at Cincy, but Notre Dame has high standards of admission, half the team at Cincy couldn't get in at Notre Dame. Jim Harbough of Stanford, he is doing a great job at Stanford. He already is familiar with tough admission standards, played at Michigan, would do well, but Stanford is not the pressure cooker that Notre Dame is, plus he is waiting for Rich Rodriguez experience to blow up in Ann Arbor and take that job one would think. My pick, won't happen because of that Notre Dame arrogance of being better than everybody. Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern. He is young, he is doing an outstanding job with lesser talent than the rest of the Big Ten, and he is a leader, plus as a Hawk fan, I don't want to play him anymore. He walks out of the tunnel with his team with his arms embraced with theirs as if he is playing in the game. He brings high emotion, and loves his school. That may be the problem, he loves Northwestern because he played there, and I don't believe he cares for Notre Dame much. The storyline would be great, as Ara Parseghian came from Northwestern to lead Notre Dame to 2 National Championships in 1966 and 1973. He was 5-4 in 1963 at Northwestern and had a falling out and Notre Dame took him and now their is a statue standing outside the stadium in South Bend in his honor for what he did while at Notre Dame. He compiled a 95–17–4 record, for a .836 winning percentage, making him the most successful Notre Dame coach of the modern era. You can't tell me it wouldn't a great storyline for Notre Dame to bring in a Northwestern coach and try to bring the Irish back to greatness.

That Bronze Pig Named Floyd of Rosedale

I want to share with you the story of this trophy that is given to the winner of the Iowa - Minnesota football game every year. I have been a Hawk fan for a long time, but never knew the origin of this trophy. So I am passing on the history of this fine trophy.

FLOYD OF ROSEDALE WAS SPAWNED BY RACISM

It’s a little-known fact that Floyd of Rosedale, the long-time traveling trophy that goes to the winner of Iowa’s football game with Minnesota at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, is a product of racism.The target of that racism was Ozzie Simmons, a star running back for the Hawkeyes in the mid-1930s when Hitler was spreading bigotry in Europe and the Ku Klux Klan was active in America. Not many African Americans were competing in college sports.One of the few blacks playing major college football was Simmons, As Iowa's best player, he was often the target of racial slurs and verbal abuse. Almost all opponents were guilty to some degree, but the worst was Minnesota.As the Gophers were preparing to visit Iowa in 1934, the Minneapolis Tribune ran an article that said, “Simmons is a Negro halfback who runs like a deer and has a knack of fading away from tacklers in a ghostlike manner.”That was 75 years ago, and the Gophers were on their way to a national championship, They would no doubt have beaten Iowa without cruel and inhuman treatment to its black star, but wanting to ensure victory they knocked Simmons out of the game not once, not twice, but three times with late hits and cheap shots.He never played in the second half of a 48-12 Minnesota romp. One person who witnessed that game was Ed Benedict, who was in school with Simmons. In an interview several years ago he told me, “It was shameful the way Minnesota beat up on Ozzie. It was brutal and I felt sorry for him.”Another witness was former President Ronald Reagan, then the play-by-play voice for WHO radio. “I remember some really hard and often late hits aimed at Ozzie,” he told Jim Zabel, who later called Iowa games for WHO.Simmons himself recalled Minnesota as a great football team. “But they were blatant with their piling on and kneeing me. It was obvious, but the refs didn’t call it. Some of our fans were so upset they wanted to come out on the field.”The 1935 schedule brought Minnesota back to Iowa City, where Hawkeye fans were still fuming. Simmons was on his way to all-America honors and both teams were unbeaten. This season, Iowa was no pushover.The week before the game Iowa Governor Clyde Herring issued a statement that predicted a Hawkeye victory and contained an inflammatory warning: “If officials stand for any rough tactics like Minnesota used on Ozzie Simmons last year, I’m sure the crowd will not.”In essence, he promised a public mugging if the Gophers didn’t behave. Simmons was both surprised and embarrassed by the governor’s threat. “He was clearly telling the Gophers, ‘We’re coming out of the stands to get you.’ I wasn’t proud of that. I just wanted to play football.”When Minnesota Coach Bernie Bierman asked for a police guard, Governor Herring threatened to end relations between the two universities. Newspapers in both states ran big, bold headlines usually reserved for declaration of war.Fortunately, a cooler head resided in the Minnesota governor’s office. Governor Floyd Olson tried to calm things down with this telegram to Governor Herring in Des Moines:“Minnesota fans are excited over your statement about the Iowa crowd lynching the Minnesota football team. I have assured them that you are a law-abiding gentleman only trying to get our goat. The Minnesota team will tackle hard but clean. Clyde, if you seriously think Iowa has a chance to win, I will bet you a Minnesota prize hog against an Iowa prize hog. You are getting odds because Minnesota produces better hogs than Iowa.”Fortunately, Herring was smart enough to accept the friendly wager and quit making threats. “It was an unusual way to calm things down,” said Simmons. “We had one of the best games I ever played in. Everyone played clean and hard and honest.”After Minnesota won 13-6, the Minneapolis Tribune reported, “Never have we heard so much praise for an opposing player as the Gophers had for Ozzie Simmons.”Paying off his debt, Governor Herring delivered a prize pig named Floyd of Rosedale to Governor Olson, who gave it to the University of Minnesota and commissioned sculptor Charles Brioscho to capture Floyd’s image.The bronze statue of Floyd has resided in the Iowa football complex the last two years, following two Hawkeye victories. Saturday it will be sitting on the Iowa sideline at Kinnick Stadium for the winner to claim. If you are at the game and get a glimpse of the trophy, or see it while watching the game on TV, pause to remember Ozzie Simmons, who died nine years ago at age 87. He is a member of Iowa’s all-time team and a charter member of the UI Varsity Club Hall of Fame.Wearing a black and gold uniform 75 years ago, he played an important role in integrating college football. He is the reason Iowa and Minnesota compete annually for a bonze pig named Floyd of Rosedale.

Big Ten Championship....Its all for the ROSES!!!!

Iowa at Ohio State 2:30pm for the Big Ten Title, and Rose Bowl BCS berth.

Its for a Big Ten Championship, its for the Grand Daddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes of Ohio State have dominated the Big Ten this past decade with conference titles, and appearances at 3 National Title games. The Buckeyes have lost 2 games this year to USC and Purdue. Ohio State has a very good Defense and an offense that is not one of their better ones. Pryor can beat you with his legs, but I'm not convinced he can with his arm. The Hawkeyes have won tough road games already this year, and they will not fear the Horseshoe. The Hawks may be without Stanzi, but all Vandenberg has to do is manage the game. He has the ability and play makers around him to make plays when needed. The Hawkeye defense will keep the game close. Hawkeyes know what is at stake here, they are going to empty the playbook, and have a great plan for this game. One thing I know about the Hawks, is they always play smart, and mentally sound football after a loss in the Ferentz era. This team has been relentless all year, and have played well on the road. Iowa is a huge underdog in this game, OSU is favored by 17. But this is how Iowa likes it, and this can become an example as the whole country thinks Iowa is a weak team, Iowa has the chance to prove them wrong at 2:30pm on ABC Saturday.

USA Hockey stood no chance against the Russians in 1980, and they won.
The Giants had no chance against the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and they won.
Boise State was going to get killed by the high and mighty Boomer Sooners , and they won.
Utah couldn’t compete with an SEC team let alone Alabama, and they had no right to be in a BCS bowl, and they won convincingly.

It’s the opportunity to prove you are the best when given the opportunity, and we have been given that at 2:30pm tomorrow, what are you going to do with it?

IOWA FOOTBALL: PREPARING TO BE THE BEST

3 Big Games On Saturday To Keep Close Eye On

Iowa vs. Northwestern 11am CST

The Hawks put their undefeated season on the line against the Northwestern Wildcats who beat Iowa last year at Kinnick. Hopefully the Hawks will play mistake free, and take care of business on Saturday. This would be a good time for the Hawks to come out and jump the cats early and bury them. Northwestern is always a scrappy team to play, and usually fight hard. If the Hawks can win this game, they will be 10-0 and will turn their focus to Ohio State.

Ohio State at Penn State 2:30pm CST

Both teams have one loss in the Big Ten. If you are a Hawk fan, you want Penn State to beat Ohio State. The reason for that is, we have already beaten Penn State, so if Penn State wins, that gives Ohio State 2 losses in conference play. So if Iowa would stumble at Ohio State next week, that loss would still keep them in the driver seat as they would be tied with Penn State, but win the tie breaker with the head to head. The perfect world would be for Ohio State to beat Penn State, then Hawks beat Ohio State. The reason I say that is, because the National media will then say if we beat Ohio State next week, and they lost to Penn State, that the Hawks should of beaten the Buckeyes, they are not that good this year. I will be rooting for Penn State, its called insurance.

LSU at Alabama 2:30pm CST

Who would think that an SEC game would have anything to do with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Well, it does because we are technically in the National Title hunt. If the Hawks beat Northwestern, and Penn State beats Ohio State, and then LSU beats Bama, the state of Iowa is going to go nuts, maybe even more than the Bayou. Iowa would most likely move to #3 BCS. LSU would be a threat to the BCS because they would be in the driver seat for the SEC title game against Florida, those victories would help them in the BCS. But their is no way LSU would beat Florida in the SEC title game. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Hawks leave Indiana in the dust in 4th.......Hawks 9-0!

It was looking like it was going to be the end of the winning streak Saturday. Hawks couldn't get anything going in the first half while Indiana had everything going their way. For Hawk fans it seemed odd that Ferentz deferred at the coin toss. Ferentz takes the ball 99.9% of the time. But what we know now is, he is a genius. Most of the TD's in the game occurred in the south endzone. Most of the interceptions by Stanzi and Indiana were when the teams were headed north. This game had all the making of the 2008 Northwestern game when Iowa kept turning the ball over and giving Northwestern great field position, it was deja-vu. But not these 2009 Hawkeyes, or cardiac kids which ever you prefer. The momentum changed very quickly when Tyler Sash intercepted the ball after it deflected 4 times to his arms, and he was off to the races. This play was great, it was like slow motion at first, you saw the ball come out of the QB's hand, but then lost it and see nothing but black jerseys around the 10 yard line, and then all of a sudden it looks like the Hawkeye swarm coming at the North Endzone. After that, the Hawks really got it going with 2 passes for long TD's to McNutt and DJK. I never knew that McNutt was that explosive until then. Let the record state, we have some very talented WR's, both those guys have been huge this year. I think the craziest thing about Saturday was how going into the 4th quarter thinking we are going to lose, but then to think we would still cover the spread is just crazy in itself. I really hope that this was the letdown game of the year, and we survived.

To change gears a bit, I want to share my thoughts on the Big Ten and the respect. I understand that Ohio State has damaged the Big Ten image a bit by their last 2 National Title appearances. They did win in 2002 over Miami, but got beaten down by Florida and LSU. Everybody knows that the Big Ten is down a bit, but don't throw this on Iowa. Iowa has beaten Iowa State (2nd in Big 12 North a week ago), Arizona (top 25 team), Penn State (top 25 team), Wisconsin (top 25 team). 3 of those games were on the road, and if anybody thinks Camp Randall and Happy Valley are easy places to play, think again. Zona was suppose to be too fast for Iowa, I'm pretty sure I witnessed Clayborn run their RB down. Iowa is 9-0 and went from #7 to #8 in the AP poll. That is ridiculous, if it was Penn State, Ohio State, or Michigan sitting at 9-0, they would be in the top 5 at least. Iowa's strength of schedule is strong, just ask the computers. I will argue that the Big Ten is stronger than the Big 12, but nobody wants to talk about that do that. I agree that the SEC is the elite conference, but after that its open at this point. The Big 12, PAC-10, ACC, and Big East are not much different from Big Ten.

Quick Hits: College Football

The Hawkeyes may have only beaten Michigan by 2 points, but the Hawkeyes are 6-0 for the first time since 1985. I was only 6 years old for those keeping score, so I will be an excited Hawkeye fan versus the Hawk fans that think we have been lucky and that we are not that good. The news today out of Iowa City is Paul Chaney has torn ACL, that hurts.......Well, Gene Chizik was getting a lot of praise about how he was 5-0 at Auburn, and it took him 2 years at ISU to win 5 games. Reality hit last Saturday as the Tigers got rocked by Arkansas.........Illinois is ready to fire Zook, their fans are ready to kick him to the curb, he can't even recruit anymore, they have 9 kids committed, Iowa has 19.......Florida edged LSU in the Bayou, and ended the LSU winning streak for home night games........Can ESPN please stop turning the Tim Tebow post concussion story into "Days of Our Lives". I watched a ESPN reporter interview Urban Meyer in a hallway at their Hotel the day of the game. Seemed very odd to me that a coach would even give a reporter a time of day in that situation. I think Meyer may leave Florida after Tebow leaves either to coach Notre Dame(its the whole divorce theory, things will remind him of Tebow after he is gone) or be Tebow's agent. Seriously people, we know Tebow is good, but what is with the obsession. Now I am writing about it.......Congratulations to the Army Black Knights for their win over Vanderbilt, its good to see our cadets win..........Rumor is Louisville is trying to get John Gruden to take over the Cardinal program. Louisville is done with Kragthorpe it appears.

Michigan Vs. Iowa

Its Saturday Night in Iowa City, its 70,588 crazy's in Kinnick, its the Wolverines of Michigan with Tate Forcier, and its the Hawkeyes who are ranked #12 in the Nation, and 5-0 looking to go 6-0 for the first time since 1985 when the Hawks were #1 in the Nation and beat #2 Michigan 12-10. Its Michigan Spread offense against The Hawkeye Swarm known as "6 Seconds of Hell".

Are you pumped? Saturday Night Football in Iowa City on ABC National Televised game, this game is setup to be a dandy. For anyone who has not been to a night game at Kinnick, you are missing out. Kinnick is electric, the crowd is into it during warm ups. It has an energy that does not exist on a 11am kickoff. Some big moments have occurred on night games recently. Iowa beat Arizona State in 2003, and defeated Wisconsin in 2004 to become Co-Champions of the Big Ten. Iowa beat #2 Penn State last year which was a late afternoon game, but was mostly under the lights. The only big disappointment at night was against #1 Ohio State. Kinnick was rockin' prior to the Buckeyes having their way with the Hawks.

The Hawks have a great defense and will expose Michigan's offensive line. Michigan will struggle to run the ball, and Tate Forcier will struggle to feel comfortable at Kinnick with the pressure of the defense. Iowa's offensive line should be able to move Michigan's defensive line. The key for Iowa is for the offense to be consistent, and to move the ball both by ground and air without any stupid turnovers. If the Hawks play this game right, they may pound the Wolverines a little bit especially if Michigan makes a lot of mistakes due to defensive pressure, they may fold the tent up in the cold weather, and overwhelming crowd.

It's a Blackout game, its going to be cold, its going to be crazy, its time to fire up ACDC Back in Black, cause Here Come The HAWKEYES!!!!!

The Seat, The Seat, The Seat is on FIRE!!!!

Wow, I was so ready to do a story on this even before the story broke, and now I can't prove that I was thinking the same thing. What I am talking about, is Mr. Bobby Bowden in Tallahassee, Florida. Yes I am aware of his resume, I know they won 2 National Titles, and I understand Florida State was nothing before he got there. BUT, is FSU a premiere football program today, NO! FSU is not consistent, they barely beat Jacksonville State, I don't even know their mascot, and I don't even know what state they play in. Is it Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, who knows. Then FSU goes up to BYU, and knocks them out like they are the FSU of old. Bowden is greedy, he wants to be the winningist coach in college football history, and he has been in a love affair with Joe Paterno for about 10 years now. FSU is Bowden's program, he will be remembered forever that he built it, and he has nothing to prove, its time to let go. I can't imagine that he is the same hands on coach he was 15 years ago. I will argue that Paterno is in the same situation, but different. Paterno is a dictator at Penn State. His assistants are pretty much running the show there, but the program is still ran the same today as it was 30 years ago. Very strict, and structured program, and ran very well, and they are winning. FSU is not top 25 material, and they may be the worst coached team in America. They are always fast and talented, yet can't make plays when needed, and can't tackle on defense. Plus they cheat, and their is a battle over that in the courts if that should be made public or not. Bowden had to forfeit like 10 games for a NCAA violation because a player played that was ineligible. Its time to step down Bowden, and let someone else run the FSU program. Urban Meyer has won 2 National Titles at Florida, and everybody still knows that Steve Spurrier built Florida.

Quick hits: College Football

I'm I the only one who thinks Tim Tebow should have not been in the game when he got sacked and slammed his melon on a guys leg? Florida was winning and had the game in hand, and apparently Tebow was so sick prior he was traveling on a different plane. According to some ESPN people, they think Florida can win a title with their backup QB, then why does everyone think Urban Meyer was OK with keeping Tebow in the game!........ LSU almost got knocked off by Mississippi State the past weekend. LSU's defensive line is quite a bit stronger than MSU's offensive line...... Illinois is terrible, absolutely terrible. They can't tackle, they have a lot of gifted WR's and play makers, but yet they can't move the ball. Ron Zook is officially the best recruiter that can not coach a lick of football. Rumors are he is afraid to bench Juice Williams because he won't receive commitments from the inner city Chicago school kids that are good. Well, you can either A: get fired and not be able to recruit them, B: be a losing team and watch them go to other schools, or C: you can be fair and do what is right, you owe it to the other players that committed to you...... So far my disappointments so far into to the season. Ole Miss, way over hyped coming into the season, yes you beat Florida last year, but its 2009, time to wake up......Michigan State is not very good, a lot of people had them as a sleeper team, in fact they went to sleep........Illinois, not going to talk much further on a worthless team.......Oklahoma and USC, both losing early in the year, but that may work for them as its better to lose early than late....... Its out of control this year, Boise State is not a #5 ranked team, when they played Fresno State it looked like Arena Football. BYU beat Oklahoma and got destroyed by Florida State who barely beat Jacksonville State. Oregon beat Utah, and California, but did lose to Boise State. My point is, I know the WAC and Mountain West Conferences can produce good teams, but they only play a few good teams a year, and that is their chance to shine in front of the nation. Put them in the SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big 10 and see how good they do for the whole season.......One last thing, back to Florida, when did Division 1 football programs become so powerful that they can have sick players fly on separate flights? How much did that cost?

Winner, Winner, Nittany Lion Dinner!!!!!!!!!!

The Iowa Hawkeyes have done it again. They have knocked off #5 Penn State, but this time they did it in not so Happy Valley. This was to be Penn State's revenge for the Hawks ending their National Title hopes when they entered Kinnick a year ago at 9-0 until Daniel Murray kicked the winner through the up rights. Penn State has had this game circled on the calendar, it was a 7pm National game on ABC, ESPN College Gameday show was there, and the game was set for the WHITE OUT. Penn State forgot one thing, The Iowa Hawkeyes are a pretty good football team, and the even put their right shoe on the right foot. The game of football is played on a 100 yard field, both teams have to play by the same set of rules. My point is, you can want revenge, and you can circle your calendar. But once the football is kicked off, its football. As a player you are not going to play harder in this game than the game before, you should be playing hard in every game. The Hawks rolled into Happy valley, and yes it was a hostile environment, and the Hawks even let the Lions get one deep on them to be down 0-7 right away. But the Hawks are very solid on defense, and the offense is slowly but surely coming together and will get better. The defense kept the Hawks in the game, and will do that all year. And when you let a team hang around, they usually get you when it counts, and it did when Adrian Clayborn blocked the punt and took it to the house and turned Happy Valley into a 109,000 seat library. Hawks rolled Penn State 21-10 in their house. Bad news now is the Hawks are not flying under the radar, everyone is fully aware and it sets up for a Nationally Televised contest with Michigan in Kinnick on Oct. 10th.

Quick Hits from past week in College and NFL

This past weekend was crazy in both college and the NFL. Lets start in college first. USC goes down to Washington. Once again, USC struggles on the road early in PAC-10 play, and Pete Carroll's former assistant coaches beat him with their new program. Now I know why Carroll didn't want Sanchez to go to the NFL, instead he is beating the Patriots on Sunday. Miami Hurricanes look to be back as they are beating teams and have themselves back in the top 25, the U is back. Iowa State won a road football game for the first time since a man landed on the moon, ok it hasn't been that long, but it feels like it if you are a clone fan. The Hawks are the only Big Ten team to win a bowl game last year, they are the only team that has beaten a SEC team in a while, and apparently they are the only team that can beat a PAC-10 team too. Hawks played well and the Wildcats of Arizona couldn't handle Kinnick. USC beat Ohio State 2 weeks ago, and CAL beat Minnesota on Saturday. Auburn, AL looked like Niagara Falls Saturday night, some how Chizik is winning, still not sold on him. Before I switch over to the NFL, who is running the AP Top 25 this year, there are plenty of overrated teams in there. BYU, Boise State, Utah, and is Penn State really a top 5 team, really?
NFL recap, hey Packer fans! Ocho Cinco just did the Lambeau leap in your backyard, when is it Favre's turn? Hey Seahawks, Frank Gore just scored another TD on you. Seriously, this is the NFL and they let Gore break a run of 79 yards and one for 80 yards. The Bears should be licking their chops. The Vikes are not looking real sharp, but they are winning, and Favre is keeping it simple, and is protecting the ball. His ego had changed a bit, its about team, and not himself. He used to be a gun slinger and force things and throw interceptions, now he is playing smart football which I like to call winning football. His ego must just flare up in the off season. Cowboys opened up their new stadium only to lose to the New York Giants. Has anybody else noticed that Romo is good against the teams that are not so good, and when he is on the big stage he seems to struggle. Romo needs to stick with noon games against the Rams and Lions, and stay away from Sunday night or Monday night and teams like Giants, and Eagles.

Look back at NFL week 1

It was nice to see the NFL season get underway. It was a very exciting opening week. You never know in the NFL what is going to happen. We saw the Bills almost beat the Patriots, I think the Bills are the only team still running prevent defense to hold a lead late in a game, because it doesn't work as they found out. The Raiders looked good against the Chargers. The Raiders were terrible last year against the run, but they were impressive in week one against the run. Raiders should have won as well, but let the Chargers off the hook. We also saw the Chiefs run with the Ravens which is crazy because the Chiefs coming in with a backup QB against the Ravens defense, thought it would be a blowout. We also had the Broncos unbelievable finish against the Bengals, and Adrian Peterson's run against the Browns were he showed that he is a machine. I do want to pass on one thing that always gets passed up, and that is the good things in sports. This past week Steve McNair's two boys had a breakfast with dad event at there school. The 2 boys had some anxiety about it according to the teachers because this is one of there favorite events of the year. Vince Young took the boys to school and filled in, and the boys had a great time according to the Nashville paper. Vince Young has been a close friend to the McNair's for a long time as he looked up to Steve when he was young. Vince signed autographs for all the kids and took jerseys to give away as well. Its one the good stories that athletes do and its not all over the news like Charles Rogers is who is a ex-NFL player and has a history of problems off the field and he gets an OWI and ESPN is all over it. Who cares, the Young story should been bigger story, its a good one, but it doesn't sell like the bad ones. Plus I don't think Young was doing it for publicity, he was doing it because he is a friend of the family.

NFC NORTH

This is going to be a dog fight (Sorry Vick), but you seriously have 3 good teams in this division. I truly believe the North gets 2 teams in the playoffs this year as long as Favre, Cutler, and Rodgers stay healthy. The Vikes, Bears, and Packers all have good defenses. As long as the Packers have their new 3-4 defensive set perfected, they will be pretty good on defense. The Bears have Urlacher and Briggs. The key for the Bears is the play of their secondary, seems like they are never healthy back there. The Vikes have an awesome Defensive line that stops the run and applies pressure to the QB (good luck Stafford). Vikes key will be Linebacker play and secondary staying healthy as well, Vikes have a decent pass coverage.

Offenses are pretty good. the Packers are very well balanced, they have been for many years. They don't have big name players, but they get the job done, and play very well in cold weather. For the Bears they have a great QB, the issue is who is catching it. The TE Olsen will have a great year, and Hester will do better, but he isn't a true WR, so he is more of the dangerous weapon underneath coverage and occasionally going deep. But they may have WR's step up this year, as they are one great WR away from making another run at the Super Bowl. Issue for them may be running the ball, but as long as Forte is healthy, they should be fine. For the Vikes its all about keeping Favre healthy all year. Favorable schedule, the Vikes only have one potential cold weather game, and that is at Soldier Field in Dec. The Vikes have good WR's and TE's. The Vikes also have one of the best if not the best running backs in the NFL. As long as Favre and Peterson are healthy, the Vikes have a good chance. This division is called the BLACK AND BLUE DIVISION, and that's because its a smash mouth division. Nothing to fancy, they just want to come out and punch you right in the mouth. Its nasty, these 3 teams dislike each other very much, and its going to be fun to watch it all year. You may have noticed the Lions got no love here, but when you go 0-16, I can't say much about your team, and if i try to pump up the Lions, I lose my credibility to my friends and family who read this. I will say this, the Lions have a good Punting team.

Week 1 College Football

Finally, the college football season has began, and it didn't disappoint one bit this past weekend. You had the Boise State/Oregon Game Thursday night that had more excitement after the game than during. Some very sloppy performances in week 1, but that is expected, its not the NFL. BYU took out Oklahoma, that was a shocker, but BYU was rated, but once again the Mountain West Conference appears to have talented programs. At this point I would say that the BCS should kick the Big East out of their tie in and give it to the Mountain West. My Hawkeyes were not too impressive, very many concerns. Iowa is getting one of the better offensive lineman back for the rivalry showdown with ISU. Iowa needs to run the ball better, and the passing game wasn't that bad, so that is good. Iowa's defense saw the same offense this past Saturday as they will this Saturday at Jack Trice. I hope Iowa rolls into Ames and dominates ISU, but that doesn't happen anymore, and my gut is telling me that the issues Iowa has right now are too much to overcome in one week, and I think ISU is going to get the Hawks again. But that is why you play the game.
Alabama looked impressive, and Miami/FSU game was a classic. One game that caught my attention and hooked me in was the Washington/LSU game. Wow, those husky fans know how to get there stadium a rockin'. The TV screen was bouncing on 3rd downs, and Washington didn't win a game last year, but they played well against a SEC power. Steve Sarkisian has the Husky program in the right direction, doesn't hurt that he was the USC offensive coordinator and brought the USC defensive coordinator with him. Its like USC north.
In Week 2 I will be looking at Iowa/Iowa State game, USC/Ohio State game, and any other shockers that may occur.

BIG TEN Football preview

14 days away from the start of college football, its time to break down the Big Ten Conference and see how it shakes out. This can really be a crazy year as the Big Ten has a few teams that can do well, but the majority will be slugging it out on Saturdays. So here is my prediction of how the standings will look at the end of the season.

1. Ohio State 11-1 overall (8-0) in conference.
I have them losing one non-conference game which is the USC Trojans. Some believe USC will lose at the Horseshoe in Columbus, but USC handled OSU with ease a year ago, so i'm not buying it. I truly believe OSU will go undefeated in Big Ten play, if they do lose, it would be when they go to Penn State, or play Illinois as Illinois has an explosive offense.

2. Penn State 10-2 (6-2)
They have a very easy non-conference schedule that will have them go 4-0. I have their only loses in conference play to Ohio State and Michigan State. PSU has lost most of their offensive weapons, but I'm pretty sure they will find some new ones, and they have a very good QB. I see them beating Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Northwestern, and Indiana.

3. Michigan State 9-3 (6-2)
Technically MSU would tie for 2nd with PSU. MSU has a favorable schedule, and they can be a really good team, but Michigan State has the history of disappointing. They like to lose games they should win, and win the ones they have no business winning. I feel the new coaching staff there that took over 2 years ago ended that culture. I have them losing to Notre Dame in non-conference. In the Big Ten I have them beating Wisconsin, Michigan, Northwestern, Minnesota, Purdue, and knocking off Penn State late in the year at home. Loses to Iowa and Illinois.

4. Iowa Hawkeyes 9-3 (5-3)
I think the Hawks can go 4-0 in non-conference, but its possible they could go 2-2, and that would be rough. Iowa struggles to win at Iowa State, but i think this year they will take care of business. The other tough game in non-conference is Arizona traveling to Kinnick in week 3, good thing its in Kinnick and not the desert. I have the Hawks beating Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Northwestern, and Minnesota. the 3 loses will be to Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. All 3 of those are tough environments to play at. Its not impossible for Iowa to win at PSU as they actually do well there, and at Wisconsin. If the Hawks beat Wisconsin, I would bet they lose the next week at Michigan State instead of winning, they could lose both, but I'm going split.

5. Illinois 9-3 (5-3)
Brutal schedule for the Illini. I do have them 4-0 in non-conference, but they could lose to Missouri in week one in St. Louis. This team is loaded with offensive talent, the problem is the defense isn't loaded, but if they play a little above average, this team could be good. Illinois may have the best offense numbers wise in college football. I have them beating Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan, Northwestern. Loses to Penn State, Ohio State, and Minnesota. I think Minnesota will upset them for some reason.

6. Wisconsin 8-4 (4-4)
They go 4-0 on non-conference play, nobody really knows much about the Badgers coming in, they were very disappointing a year ago. I have them beating Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern. Loses to Minnesota, Michigan State, Ohio State, and I think Michigan gets them. Iowa and Northwestern might be able to beat Wisconsin, but the Badgers could also beat Michigan or Michigan State too, so they will be the average team that is most likely to finish 4-4 in conference play no matter how its sliced.

7. Michigan 6-6 (3-5)
Much better than last year, but not enough to become the power of the conference just yet. This may be the last year we can get away with them being down, its very odd. Michigan has the highest winning percentage of any college football program in the Nation, and this isn't what they are use too. They lose to Notre Dame, but win the other non-conference games to be 3-1. In Big Ten play, they win over Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin. They lose to Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State, Illinois, and Ohio State. Appears it will be little Blue this year, and not Big Blue.

8. Minnesota 6-6 (3-5)
They go 3-1 in non-conference play. California comes to the Twin Cities in September, and CAL is going to make Minnesota look like a MAC (Mid-American Conference) team. Minnesota opens up there brand new outdoor stadium, but its not going to matter. They beat Northwestern, Wisconsin in the rivalry for Paul Bunyan's axe, and Purdue. Loses to Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois, and Iowa. They will play PSU,OSU,MSU, and Illinois 4 weeks in a row, then play South Dakota St., then to Iowa. tough stretch, they go 1-5 there and deja vu from last year.

9. Northwestern 6-6 (2-6)
They start off great 4-0 in non-conference play. Northwestern can stay with most teams because of there offense, they will have a new QB, and defense should be pretty good. They may have a better year than what i have predicted, but they lost some good offensive players. They beat Purdue and Indiana. They lose to Minnesota, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin. Hey Fitzgerald, GET OFF THE FIELD. Hawk fans know what I am talking about. Fitzgerald is a young coach who played linebacker for the cats in mid 90's and he likes to be standing on the field yelling at refs when things don't go his way. Most coaches stay near sidelines, he will be 20 yards or more on the playing field.

10. Purdue 3-9 (1-7)
New coach, long year. They have 2 tough games in non-conference, they will lose to Notre Dame and Oregon. There only win in Big Ten play will come against there rival Indiana. they will lose to Northwestern, Minnesota, Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State. They could potentially beat Northwestern, Minnesota, or Wisconsin, but its not likely.

11. Indiana 3-9 (0-8)
Indiana had a really good QB that was a scrambler, but he got booted off the team, and everybody else is going to wish they played elsewhere, because its going to be awhile before basketball season starts in Bloomington. They should be 3-1 in non-conference, only lose at Virginia. I have them losing to Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Purdue.

I really wouldn't be shocked at the end of the year if Northwestern ends up in 6th, 7th, or 8th. Purdue could potentially be a little higher too, but not much higher. Its going to be an exciting season, I really think teams 3-10 will be be beating on each other trying to climb the mountain, the problem is I think Ohio State is just that much better than everybody else that they will be just sitting up there watching the others battle it out for second, third, etc.

Help Wanted

Looking for a pitcher that likes the adrenaline rush of coming into baseball games in the 9th inning or 8th inning when runners on and a 1 run lead. Person must be able to close games out, and be solid for the 3 or more outs. Candidate must have mentality of a Johnathan Popelbon of Redsox.
We prefer that you don't throw hanging curve balls, or fastballs straight down the middle with no movement. We also ask that you don't give up walk off home runs as you may be booed, written about by sports media, and the possibility of our manager having a heart attack as he can't take much more.
We also would like it if you could keep your ERA below 3.50 if possible and have more saves than runs scored. Our current person that is about to be fired has a 4.47 ERA with 30 runs versus 23 saves. He choose to have his worst season since 2005 this year, and it hasn't sat well with the folks here. Our preference is that you would make ESPN Sportcenter by making saves rather than giving up homers.

Please submit Statistics to Wrigley Field Chicago, IL.

Favre is a VIKING

I broke a little story yesterday, and today it has become reality. Brett Favre is a Viking, and in fact it was like a done deal the whole time, the Vikes and Favre just had some kind of agreement and it was done to make the media quiet down. So you will see #4 in purple leading the Viking ship hopefully to the promise land. Some may say he is old, he is selfish, but the current QB's at Minnesota are nothing to fancy either, so why not give it a go.

Don't Stop, Believing!!!!!!

Yes, Journey sang the song "Don't Stop, believing". If you haven't turned on ESPN by now, you will soon hear about it, but I will tell you right now. Apparently Viking players, and ownership people have told a Fox Sports reporter that Brett Favre will be a Viking by Week 3 of the Preseason game. Here we go again right? Actually if this happens, I won't be shocked, a veteran QB wanting to wait as long as possible to come to camp to get ready for the season. That is not a shocker at all. Apparently the whole team is not saying if, they are saying when. So this thing still has wheels, and may pick up a bit. The key to this whole story now, is if the Vikes or Favre's camp kills the story today. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. The other piece is Sage looked good, and T-Jack did not. But it was the first preseason game. I still think my Vikes are a playoff team without Favre, but I feel if Favre is healthy, the Vikes go deeper than without him.

Coming soon, I plan to break down each conference as I see it in the NFL

Stood Up at the Alter

That is exactly what Brett Favre has done to my Minnesota Vikings. Training camp hasn't even started, and the Vikes have already went from being a NFC contender with the Eagles and Cardinals to battling with Bears and Packers for the Central. It seemed like a done deal, it was going to be a magical season for the first time since 1999. Finally the Vikes would have a QB that the defense could not stack against the run and stop Peterson. With Favre, defenses would have had to stay back, and he was familiar with this offense, so it just seemed like a good fit, he could get back at the Packers. He says the emotional and wear tear of a full season is too much, and I understand that when you are going on 40, but you should have known that 3 months ago too. Favre had surgery so he could throw again, and that went well. It just seems odd that he would do so much on his end and then just quit. So now the focus goes to Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. I think T-Jack can be good, he just needs to be more consistent and be confident. The Vikes have tons of weapons, and with the addition of Percy Harvin from Florida, the guy runs a 4.2 40, he is super fast and going to be dangerous. The question now is, do the Vikes go after Vick? Vick would make it interesting with his running ability, and short passing game. Some say he shouldn't be able to play. The NFL and all sports are entertainment based, they are not Nationwide, Principal, and AIG. You can replace employees, attorneys, and doctors. Those people are all trained, but you can not train somebody to be an NFL player. They have talent, they have it, we don't. You can't teach certain things, and in the NFL when having a 7-9 season get you fired, but a 9-7 season gets you into the playoffs, you may just go get a guy that can win you 2 extra games so that you save your job for another year. I honestly don't think the Vikes would sign Vick, but somebody will before Favre changes his mind that he wants to play again.

IT'S TIME

Yes the second half of the baseball season is here today, and its time for one team to rise to the occasion and show their faithful fans that they are the best team, and its time to get the train a rolling. Yes its time, its time the Chicago Cubs to take over the National League Central, its time to put away the Brewers and the Reds for good. Then hunt down the Cardinals and wave as they pass them by. Cubs open a 4 game series with the worst team in baseball, the Nationals to get things rolling. Then they will test themselves against the Phillies for 3, and head home to Wrigley to take on the Reds and Astros. This is the time for the Cubs to start getting on the that roll, Bradley states that he is back, Ramirez is back, and this club has only played 2 games with their projected starting lineup for the 2009 season, that is crazy, and alarming if you are a Cardinals fan or play for the Cardinals. Teams that are scary in MLB are the teams that get hot in the second half, Cub fans know this as just last year the Dodgers got red hot and came in and took out the Cubs. So its time for the Cubs to pay everybody back, its time for a run, its time for Go Cubs Go shouting at Wrigley and all over Chi-town, its time Chicago Cubs to finish this thing right.

Every League has ONE!!!!! Part II

Now for the 4 pro sports leagues. I found that these stats are amazing, and that people just tend to root for the underdog. That is why we don't like teams that win all the time unless its our team. Americans tend to like underdogs, most people were rooting for the Cardinals in the Super Bowl because they usually don't even talk playoffs, and Pittsburgh has enough titles. Same thing in baseball last year, everybody was rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays to win the division and beat the Red Sox and Yankees all year. The only advice I can give is don't watch the movie Underdog, its terrible, but lets get to it.
MLB: This shouldn't be a shocker, they own there own TV network (YES), they own there own concession stand company to run there stadium concessions, they are number one in revenue and MLB titles. Yes I am talking about the New York Yankees. You either like them, or they make you sick because they have a ridiculous payroll and can buy anybody. 26 World Series championships, and 39 pennants.

NHL: This is great timing, because this team just got beat in a Stanley Cup game 7 on home ice. Yes I am referring to the team that throws an octopus on the ice for good luck. The Detroit Red wings. 11 Stanley cup titles, most of any United States team, 18 consecutive playoff seasons. Of late they dominant the NHL, they do what they want when they want, and always have good players who will take less money to play there for a title shot than go elsewhere. I will note that in Canada, they are either Montreal fans or against them. They have 24 Stanley Cups, but a lot of those were along time ago.

NBA: This team has 2,970 wins, 61.7% winning percentage in the NBA, 30 NBA finals appearances, 15 titles, and no its not Boston. The Los Angeles Lakers dominant the NBA in these categories except the NBA titles which belongs to Boston at 17 titles. The Lakers organization has built themselves an empire in the NBA, and they are constantly good, and have good players.

NFL: This is a tough one, at least i thought until i dug some info up. But the NFL is different, mostly by decades. Right now its New England Patriots, in the 90's it was the Dallas Cowboys, in the 80's it was San Francisco 49ers, in the 70's it was the Steelers. But the team that is the one in the NFL is the most valuable team in the United States, 2nd in the world behind Manchester United (who would of thought a soccer team was #1) at $1.612 Billion, they generate $269 million a year. They have 5 Super Bowl Championships, 8 conference championships, 41 victories on Monday Night Football, been in 14 NFC Championship games and due to success and popularity have been named AMERICA"S TEAM, the only team to have a Star on their helmet, the Dallas Cowboys.

Every League has ONE!!!!!

Its very true, every major college conference in America and all 4 major sports leagues have one team that nobody can stand, dislike, root for the team playing them. Its like those shirts that say " I root for 2 teams, the Cubs, or who ever is playing the Cardinals". Yes I am going to tell you who the disliked or hated teams are. With College it changes with the sport, like football and basketball. You will see what I mean as reveal.

ACC: For football I would say the Miami Hurricanes or better known as Thug U. For Basketball, its a no brainer, DUKE. Everybody hates DUKE. You are either a Duke fan, or you hate them.

Big 12: Football- Nebraska. You would of thought they created football. Yes they were good in the 90's, how are you doing now. Doesn't matter,once again, you either are a fan or dislike Nebraska. Jamie Pollard-Athletic Director at Iowa State wants to grow the fans base. Here is a hint, beat BIG RED, and the whole COUNTRY will be ISU fans, at least for that day.
Basketball: ROCK, CHALK, JAYHAWK. Yes Kansas. All big 12 fans want to beat Kansas. See the difference is sports, the whole conference wants to beat Nebraska in football, don't care about Husker basketball, do they even have a team?

Big Ten: Football - THEE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES. I am a Hawkeye, I want to beat them, and I want other teams to beat them. We rolled them at Kinnick in '04, great day.
Basketball: Indiana. The Hoosiers are the cream of the crop, not lately, but will be very soon again.

SEC: Football - no other than the Gators of Florida. I wanted Oklahoma to come out and punch them in the mouth for the title last year, didn't happen. By the way, the SEC has alot of teams they dislike, its whoever there team is playing.
Basketball - Kentucky, they feel they should be National Champs every year. Good Luck Calipari.

PAC-10: Football: GEE, I WONDER, maybe a team in Sunny Southern California, their band plays Battle of Troy 200,00 times during the game, yes the USC Trojans. Its true, their band may annoy me more than there football team.
Basketball - UCLA, they have tons of titles, they are like kentucky, Duke, but on the west coast. They think they should win all the time.

Very Soon I will reveal the MLB, NHL,NFL, & NBA teams that everyone dislikes.

And the Winner is.........Denver Nuggets..errrrr....Lakers/Staples

No i'm not talking about who I think will win the Lakers-Nuggets series. This is way more exciting than that, ok not really. About a week ago if you went onto the Pepsi Center website to see scheduled events for Monday May 25th, you would have seen Game 4 of Western Conference NBA Finals, and WWE Monday night Raw. Interesting, are the Lakers playing the Nuggets in a steel cage match? Is Kobe going to hit Carmelo Anthony with a fade-away steel chair? How does an arena hold 2 events on the same night, both have TV contracts? Sounds to me that Vince McMahon was right when he said that the owner of the Nuggets isn't a very good owner. To have the arena he owns as well, to schedule an event when his team could possibly be playing, he must of thought his team wasn't good enough. So apparently since the Nuggets are good enough as they have shown in this years 2009 NBA playoffs, they will be playing game 4 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, and the WWE will be at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. So really the true winner is the Lakers/Staples Center, they are going to make bank off of an event that Denver screwed up by double booking. Staples Center just went from making $0 to a whole lot of dollars come Monday night. I just hope the WWE fans in Denver are not expected to drive to Los Angeles to watch fake wrestling. Because the only thing that is sadder than that is me actually writing about the WWE.

Bac's all-time favorite sports movie

This is going to be a tough one as their are many great sport movies, but i am going to rank my top 10 sports movies of all time according to me. No you will not see Waterboy or Jerry Maguire in my top 10, I know that you would have liked to read "SHOW ME THE MONEY", but not happening in my top 10.

10. BLUE CHIPS - College basketball coach is under pressure as his team is terrible, he can't get new recruits that are good, and his program has a history of winning. So coach Bell has a annoying booster pay 3 star players with money and gifts to get them to committ to coach Bell's program. Which is way illegal in college sports unless you are USC right? Penny Hardaway and Shaq play as 2 of the stars in this one.

9. Sandlot - Classic, every kid in America should have to watch this to have Citizenship in the US. The reason why I say that, is everytime I watch this movie, it makes me want to be a kid again and to play baseball with my friends. Even memories of little league come to mind, no pressure, just go play and have fun. You will see kids get together and play basketball, football, but you hardly see a group of kids playing baseball that isn't organized, sad. Movie brings those memories along with myths of the BEAST, every small town has myths or stories.

8. Field of Dreams - NO, this movie is not about Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, but it is about an Iowa farmer who hears a voice to build a baseball field in his corn field. "If you build it, they will come". Shoeless Joe Jackson and 7 other players from the White Sox World Series team of 1919 that were banned from throwing the series. What do you expect from White Sox Players?

7. Friday Night Lights - Based off of a book, and the 1988 football season of Permian H.S. of Odessa, TX. Ever been to Odessa, TX? Me neither, but I hear that their is nothing there, and that they are crazy about HS football and that is all they care about. If the coach loses a game, they want him gone, somebody needs to tell these people that its only High school football. By the way, this school's stadium holds 20,000 people and they will fill it, think they are serious about high school football?

6. The Program - "Oh Mr. Heisman", one of my favorite quotes of the movie. This movie has it all of a big time college program that has a Heisman trophy candidate that gets thrown into rehab, a crazy defensive lineman on steriods, and a linebacker that talks the talk and walks the walk. Great movie, and by the way, this big time program gets rocked by IOWA.

5. We Are MARSHALL - In 1970 the Marshall football team is involved in a plane crash, most of the school officials don't want to have a team after this, but they push forward to have a team for 1971, but back then freshman couldn't play back then. Marshall gets it approved by the NCAA, now they just have to try and win a game. Great story, great movie.

4. Hoosiers - Based in a small town in Indiana in 1954. This small town team goes onto state and plays a much larger school for the state title. Back in those days in Indiana, they didn't have classes for schools to compete with similiar schools. This would be like a 1A school playing a 4A school.

3. Miracle - "Do you believe in Miracles", famous quote by Al Michaels in the 1980 Winter Olympics when the USA beat USSR(Russia). What people don't understand is this Russian team destroyed a NHL all-star team 6-0 a year prior, and team USA was built with college players. Herb Brooks only picked players he thought he could win with, and would buy into his philsophy. Great movie. Another fun fact, USA had to beat Finland to win the Gold. Most people think USA beat USSR for Gold.

2. RUDY - I have seen this movie so many times, and when i watch it, I am singing the Notre Dame fight song as if I am an Alum of Notre Dame. The funny thing is this movie messes with me because I don't care for Notre Dame one bit, but i watch the movie and I get sucked into the drama and the tradition of Notre Dame. Rudy didn't have much talent, was way undersized, but he dreamed big, and made it happen. Even though I have seen this movie so many times, I still can't get myself pumped up to walk on at IOWA.

1. Drum roll please, and I know this is going to be odd for most people, but for me, its Major League. Yes, Rick Wild thing Vaughn, Jake Taylor, Pedro Cerrano, Willie Mays Hays, and Roger Dorn. I have watched this move so many times the tape that I recorded it on probably can't turn anymore. Nothing is better than a terrible team turning things around and becoming a champion. Its like the Clippers becoming good, or the Expos/Nationals becoming a power. Classic movie, and is a great comedy with the characters on this team.

The Girl that is hard to get..........DES MOINES

You may be asking what are you talking about Bac. The girl that is hard to get, des moines. What does that mean. This is what that means. Every guy knows at some time there was a girl that they liked, and no matter what you did for her, you could never get her. That is Des Moines when it comes to new things. This city would rather be 1950 that 2009, and that is no joke. We get a minor league hockey team here, a league that is one level away from the National Hockey league. That is impressive, we have the Iowa Cubs, they are one level away from the MLB. Difference, Iowa Cubs have been here for a long time. You know what to expect, its tradition to go to a few games a year. WHAT, we have a hockey team, that plays at Wells Fargo Arena. No interest, never done that, never seen it, want nothing to do with it. Sound familiar? Like the girl that wasn't that into you. This city would rather go home and sit on the couch, than to do anything spontoneous, or fun. This city does everything backwards. We support an Arena Football League 2 team, not AFL, AFL 2. We kill the AFL2 in attendance compared to the other cities. We had AFL once, Warner was the man, we played in 2 title games, then they left us at the alter for NYC, something to do with a major market and we couldn't hack it. Somehow Green Bay works for the NFL, but we weren't good enough. We got AFL2, it was a bust. Folded up the tent, good bye barn. Now we get the AFL2 team back, the city goes bananas like Kurt Warner is the QB. Why, because they say if we do well, we will get an AFL team back. Did anyone tell you that AFL cancelled the 09 season because of money issues with the league. So lets support something that can't go anywhere, and not support a Hockey team that has NHL ties. Plus Polk County has this ridiculous contract with the Iowa Chops. The Chops profit is based off of 78% of ticket sales, they get no money from parking or concessions as that goes to polk county. I-Cubs do well because 1/3 of there profit comes from ticket sales. The Chops are in limbo, the Ducks pulled out, we have no NHL team affiliation, it may get worse, we may get some other minor league team, we might as well be the 09 version of the movie SLAPSHOT. This city doesn't try anything new, we strive to be second rate all the time, and the sad thing is, the people here are ok with that. We are on the verge of losing another team, another thing to do in the winter, and nobody cares. Its sad. This city will not imbrace anything new. Des Moines has reactive attachment disorder. Don't get close to me, because I am going to push you further away from me. There is hope my friends, I got my girl, lets hope the chops can get theres.

Sam Keller takes on EA Sports and the NCAA

Sam Keller, former standout Arizona State/Nebraska QB is suing the NCAA and EA Sports. Why you ask, because he feels that EA sports has been ripping student athletes off for years and the NCAA has looked the other way. He states that EA sports in there NCAA college football game had a virtual QB that had his number, his height, his weight, and his hometown listed as that players hometown. Gee Sam, that is because it is you. EA sports NCAA football has been doing that for a long time. They don't use your name though, but he is upset because their are websites that you can download onto Xbox 360 or PS3 that people like me and you enter the players names and then it downloads them into the game. He states that the NCAA acts like this doesn't happen. Here is the deal Sammy boy. You were a good QB at Arizona State, not sure what happened there when you lost your starting job in spring ball and you flipped out and thought you were the best in the country. So then you make headlines by going to Nebraska, and lets face it, Callahan took you because he was going to lose his job soon at Nebraska if he didn't get this west coast offense thing going, we all know what happened. You sucked it up at Nebraska, got routed by USC on your home field, and your coach was kicked to the curb at the end of the season. I'm sure that you still think you are all that and a bag of chips despite not being in a NFL uniform. So my guess is football didn't work out for you, so plan B. Sue the NCAA and EA sports for making you in a game. Good Luck with that. If you win, I am creating myself in the game, and then I am suing them too. Seriously, don't ruin the game because it ruined you. How much fun would it be if everybody was make believe on the college games? Don't you think its cool that you are in a video game? The Iowa Hawkeye players have commented on how they think its cool that they can play with their guy in the game. Let it go Sam, go back to flippin' burgers at In-n-out.

Welcome

This blog will be about sports pretty much 100% of the time. I will be talking about football, some baseball, football, some basketball, football, and Hockey. There will be a lot of college football talk as that season approaches as it's one the greatest sports when it comes to atmosphere and tradition. I have a love for hockey, never played it, wish I had the chance growing up, but love the Stanley cup playoffs, so intense at times and the sport is on its way back with Crosby and Ovechkin. Speaking of, tonight was game 7 in our nation's capital, and apparently the Capitals forgot they were playing tonight. How do you go to Pittsburgh down 3-2 in the best of 7, deal with the crazy Penguin fans in their all white shirts, beat them in overtime in game 6 setting up the greatest thing in a hockey, a game 7. Then you come out, and look like its a preseason game while the Penguins tee off on your rookie goalie. The "Sea of Red" (Capital fans) were so pumped up, ready to go, send there team to the Eastern Conference Finals, and a whole lot of nothing happened for them. The Cap fans left tonight feeling the same way the Penguin fans felt after Game 6, because in hockey if your team has a chance to seal the deal in a game 6 at home and doesn't, you are usually in trouble going on the road as the opponent has the momentum. So congrats to the Penguins as they will play the winner of Boston-Carolina Game 7 tomorrow night in Bean town.

I would also like to give a shout out to the Windy city for the Blackhawks making it the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1995, the City of Chicago got their hockey team back after many painful seasons. They should be very good in the future as one of there studs Patrick Kane is only 20 years old, that is crazy. Maybe the Blackhawks can give a pep talk to the CUBS!!

I will be talking alot about the Cubs this summer and will only be talking about the Cardinals and Brewers when the Cubs are whipping them. The only comment I have for Cardinal fans right now is this. Pujols, has he done this all clean, seriously. I am a cub fan so you already think I am just a hater. But if you can look yourself in the mirror and say, Pujols is clean, he did it the right way, he never cheated, then your name may be Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds. You probably prefer imaginary stories or make believe over non-fiction. That is all I have for now, Don't worry, the sun will rise tomorrow.