Webber to Warriors, bring back old jerseys

Tons of big news today. However, my favorite might be Webber going back to Golden State.

The reason is simple; those old uniforms. Not to go all "uni-watch"...

But they were so simplistic yet so classic. They have to start wearing them as throwbacks now. Everyone had a Webber jersey on Golden State.

Weekend Wrap-Up (1/28)

College Hoops Picks
Went 3/5 on my locks. I still would go with Dayton in that game, what a bizarre conference the Atlantic-10 is proving to be. Seems like no team can win the games they "should" win.

The USC game was interesting. That team has played really well against some good teams. They went into "the pit" and played a mediocre Oregon team and were winning the whole game only to let it slip away and be taken into overtime. Overtime was a good thing once they had fucked up the game. The overtime session ended up saving anyone who bet as they covered the spread in OT (how often do you see that?).

Super Bowl
I know I haven't been talking about the big game too much (oddly enough). I suppose it's a combination of nervousness and complacency. Lets just hope the Patriots are not feeling either of those emotions come Sunday.

NHL All-Star Weekend
Yes, it was this past weekend. And, yes I watched some of it. The skills competition was moderately entertaining on Saturday. The highlight had to be Zdeno Chara smashing a slapshot at over 103 mph. Other highlights included listening to Doc Emrick (you know him as the great play-by-play guy that is the best part of watching NHL on TV) try and hold the train wreck of a broadcast together. I really started to feel for the guy. Microphones wouldn't work, the color guy was forgettable and it's tough enough to understand many of the players. When you can understand them; you realize they really have nothing to offer you that you want to hear.

UFC Fight Night
UFC held a live Fight Night on Spike on Thursday that I have yet to mention. As a whole the card ended up not disappointing. The three main fights for me were Swick defeating Burkman, Cote defeating McFedries, and Nate Diaz defeating Robinson. Somewhat predictable outcomes, although Burkman is a great fighter. The entire card did, for the UFC, just what they wanted, get people pumped for UFC 81 on this coming Saturday. More on that this week.

Super Bowl Line
The line continues to shrink. Some online sites have it down to Giants +11. The over/under is solid at 53.5. I could easilly see a shootout.

Picks -- College Basketball (1/26/08)

UCONN +8 at Indiana
Indiana has not played the toughest schedule as of yet. UCONN can keep this one close.

Wisconsin -1.5 at Purdue
I like the Badgers to continue winning. Both teams have beaten a bunch of the same lower level teams in their conference; I just think Wisconsin needs this game to make a small statement. This would be their best win on the road in a while (the only other good one was their 1-point victory over Texas).

Dayton -4 at Richmond
I feel as though this line is way too small.

Georgetown +3 at West Virginia
Georgetown getting points? I'm down. But seriously, this is a huge statement game for the Hoyas. Yes, WVU has won several in a row but against less then stellar competition.

USC +3.5 at Oregon
This one makes me nervous but Oregon is on the way down while USC with a win tonight can get themselves back in the national spotlight.

Wilfork fined (again)

Yeah, that's number 4. The original headline I saw did not include the reason for the fine. I had no idea what it could be for. That face-mask penalty? Really? Since when is that a fineable offense? I think this is a case of the league reacting based on prior infractions. Now Wilfork has a reputation as a dirty player and he will have to be careful because officials and league officials alike will be gunning for him and this is a perfect example.

Patriots' Wilfork fined $5,000 for face-mask infraction against Chargers(ESPN.com)

Gheorghe Muresan was a media darling

In my research I came across a link to the Giant Basketball Academy. No offense Gheorge (what's the deal with the 'h'?) but I never thought of Muresan as fundamentally sound. If the camp can teach kids how to become 7'7 freaks of nature then he would have a distinct advantage over other former players camps in that regard. Until then I would not send my kid.

Matt Ryan vomits

The Eagles do need a QB, but I just don't see Ryan falling till pick #19. Beyond that, this is now my favorite video to poke fun at BC sports fans (all 85 of them).

Stay classy, Seymour

This is the video of Richard Seymour's "headbutt" delivered to a Chargers coach. I say, bull. First of all I don't believe Seymour touched him. And if Seymour did then McCree is a douche for not doing anything about it. Way more importantly what kind of "coach" comes on the field to jaw with a player. This is exactly why an organization like the Chargers will achieve no longterm success; they have no direction and leadership in upper management and clowns in middle management.

I think even LT has realized these facts (maybe in different words). That is why you did not heard a peep from him prior to the game. Good luck in the Wild Card game next year San Diego.

PS, the best thing (ok, well maybe not best) about this video is the fact the fan that put it on YouTube did not even mention this incident in the summary.
NE Patriots 300 Entrance Video AFC Championship Game (YouTube)

College Basketball RPI Factoids

If you look at the top-50 teams based on RPI there is only 1 that doe not have double digit wins. That team is the 8-8 Temple Owls who come in at #47.

The next team that does not have double digit wins is #53 Miami (OH), who are 7-9.

After that you have to go all the way down to #65 Texas Tech, they are 9-7.

I did not expect to see Temple that high. What if they have beat Duke at home the other night? They played them close the first half. They could be 9-7 and be in the 30’s. I would have loved to have seen that.

Tennessee jumped to #1 this week. The Vols have 7 wins against top-50 teams. This is by far the most. Memphis has 5, while 5 other teams have 4 wins against the top-50 opponents.

Indiana is 16-1 and is ranked 7^th in the current AP Poll. However, they are merely 1-1 against top-5o opponents.

Massachusetts sticks out as the only top-30 RPI team with 2 loses versus opponents ranked 101-200.

Baylor is now ranked 25^th in the AP Poll despite having no wins against top-50 opponents (they are 0-2).

Arena Football Hottie and Pamela's Punch

Don't ask why, but I found myself on the Arena Football website this morning. Couple of things, first of all afl.com goes to some women named Pamela's personal blog. Second, the best thing on the offical AFL website (arenafootball.com) is this picture below. Smokin'.


AFL.com or PamelasPunch.com
ArenaFootball.com

UCONN and Joe Lunardi

ESPN's Bracketology (courtesy of Joe Lunardi) currently has UCONN as a 10 seed. I want to say right now that there is no way UCONN finishes any better then in the middle of the Big East. Therefore, they should not and will not be a 10 seed.

Don't get me wrong they will be around 5th to 8th, or at least should but if they get a single digit seed then that's awful.

Also I do enjoy Joe Lunardi. This is probably more for his ties to the Atlantic 10 via his St. Joe's degree and current position as the Hawks color guy.

Hey, he has a proven track record of picking all the teams correctly, so he is doing something right.

Dayton's Baby Blue Alternates

Dayton wore these alternates on Wednesday at home against UMass. I think I really like them. I'm not 100% sure of it though.

$100,000 Buy-in at Aussie Millions

From CardPlayer:

Howard Lederer is the winner of the Aussie Millions AUD $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that took place Saturday. He was one of 25 players who made the big purchase and played in this event. He won AUD $1.25 million.

This one-day event attracted 18 players last year. This year’s field included Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, Eli Elezra, Mark Teltscher, last year’s AUD $100,000 champ Erick Lindgren, and others.

Lindgren entered the final table as the chip leader, making a repeat likely, but he wouldn’t even finish in the top five to cash. Teltscher finished second for AUD $650,000; Michael Sampoerna, third for AUD $350,000; Jeffrey Lisandro, fourth for AUD $150,000; and Nikolaus Jedlicka, fifth for AUD $100,000.

$100,000 buy-in? Holy shit. I know that FOX has covered the Aussie Millions event in the past and I know that the phase of poker being huge is on it's way down but I hope that there is a show made out of this. It's rare to see that much money on the line and there were 25 great players in one room, what's more entertaining than that?

An interesting thing though, Lederer was the only American to finish in the top 5.

Lesnar vs. Mir

UFC 81: BREAKING POINT will be live Saturday, February 2 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

College Basketball RPI Factoids

Conference Power Rankings based on RPI.
(1)
The Big East has 2 teams in the top-25, 5 in the top-30, and 8 in the top 40.
(2)
The Atlantic-10 has 4 teams in the top-20 and 5 in the top-50.
(3)
The Big-12 has 3 teams in the top-25 and 4 in the top 40.
(4)
The SEC has 3 teams in the top-25.
(5)
The Big-10 has 3 teams in the top-25.
(6)
The Pac-10 has 2 teams in the top-20 and 4 in the top-40.
(7)
The ACC has 2 teams in the top-25 and 3 in the top-30.
(8)
And as for Conference-USA, Memphis is #1 and Tulane is #75.

What should be taken away from these rankings? Well, first of all the Pac-10 is going to sky rocket up as will the ACC. The Big-12 and Big-10 will fall. And as for the Atlantic-10 at least they are in the conversation again. Lastly, the biggest thing you should take away from these rankings is that the Big East is once again solid up and down, although this year they likely do not have a team to go real deep in the tourney.

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Who has the #1 Non-Conference SOS?

No, not Arizona, they are #2. North Carolina A&T.

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Who's still undefeated?

Team (RPI) - Record
_______________________
Memphis (1) - 13-0
UNC (2) - 15-0
Vanderbilt (6) - 15-0
Kansas (11) - 13-0
Mississippi (20) - 13-0
Washington St. (31) - 13-0

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Other Non-Conference SOS oddities?

Coppin St. has the third best Non-Conference SOS but has gone 1-11 and is therefore 172 in RPI.
Mississippi Valley St. has had a similar run with a Non-Conference SOSof 5 and a 0-10 start they are 245 in RPI.

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NJ Inst. Of Technology

The New Jersey Inst. of Technology is already 0-17. Something that I did not know; they are independent and have no conference affiliation.

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Bottom of the Top

Taking a look at the lowest ranked teams from the top conferences, this will not include the A10 or CUSA. The first team you find from the BE, ACC, B10, B12, SEC and Pac-10 is the Pac-10's Oregon State at 252.

RPI - CON - TEAM
_________________________
252 - P10 - Oregon State
212 - SEC - Kentucky
210 - B10 - Iowa
187 - BE - Rutgers
185 - SEC - Georgia
182 - B10 - Northwestern
177 - SEC - LSU
175 - B12 - Colorado

Don't we all know how this story ends...

Rumor has it that Pete Carroll may head BACK to the NFL. Pete Carroll is a great guy, a great recruiter and a good (college) coach.

They only thing dumber than Arthur Blank offer Pete Carroll a heading coaching job would be if Carroll accepts.

Carroll would be leaving a USC team that could be even better than they were this year, as long as they stay healthy and receive some good QB play from Mustang or whoever they have down there.

Don't you think Blank would be a bit reserved about offering this job to a college coach after what Petrino just did to him?

Carroll has already been in and out of the NFL and when things get tough in Atlanta (and oh boy are they ever going to get tough) couldn't you see Carroll bouncing for the first sunny, weather college job he sees?

This will only prove how intelligent Carroll is when he does not take the job and show just how incompitent the Falcons orginization has become.

The Bottom Line (1/03/08)

Orange Bowl
Kansas (+4) vs Virginia Tech
I'll admit it. I thought that the Hokies would absolutely, positively cover that spread. As I type this they are down 10 with under 7 minutes to go. Luckily, I somehow avoided wagering on this for the past few days. I honestly thought that this was one of the worst spreads I'd seen in a while. And there is no bias here; if anything I actually like Kansas and absolutely hate VT. I'm shocked.

Bowl games BLOW
Sticking with bowls; they suck. Ohio State/LSU better be one hell of a game to save this bowl season.

"Today, Everyone's a Patriot"
Apparently the season finale Patriots/Giants game was the highest rated regular season game since a Cowboys/Chiefs game in '95.

Who was the Chiefs QB?
You got it. Well I hope not. Steve Bono. If you thought to yourself I wonder what QB played in the most watched regular season game ever Aikman might come to mind, Young, Montana, Farve, Elway, Bono... yeah, right.

Who is: Jeff Ireland?
First, in case you aren't aware he is the new Dolphins GM. But why? Who is he? Well he's Parcells buddy, of course. But he is much more than that; a former PLACE KICKER at Baylor and special teams coach at North Texas.

So when Cam Cameron was fired today, no one should have been surprised. No way will Parcels hire an established Head Coach, at least not after this move.

UCLA vs. Stanford
First PAC-10 game. I got UCLA by 2 and I like it. Yeah, even on the road. This team should be real good. I'm not saying they CAN'T lose this game. And I'm not saying it won't be close, it will. But I thought Stanford (+1)? Really? In Love and Collison's first conference game together. They can't let Stanford take one from them.

Houston vs. UMass
A very entertaining game, just as it was billed to be by everyone including UMass' Head Coach Travis Ford. Houston should be the only even close to interesting game for Memphis. They play each other twice. The first time is in Houston, a few days after Memphis has to deal with Gonzaga at home.

More importantly, the Atlantic 10 looks to be on it's way back up. With 4-5 teams fighting for post season play, if all goes right they could have as many as 3 back in the dance. Much more on this and all things college b-ball for the rest of the season.

NFL Wildcard Weekend Picks

Saturday 4:30 PM
Washington (+3.5) @ Seattle
I really like Washington is this one especially with the 3.5. Even though they have to go into such a "tough" environment they are still the hotter team.

Saturday 8:00 PM
Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh (+2.5)
The Steelers are not playing well. They have no Willie Parker. Although Polamalu missed practice again today, I believe he is playing which is big even if not 100%. But back to the run game, we have seen the Jags run in Heinz and I think that will happen again. Garrard will do his best Big Ben impression (from a couple years back) and not make mistakes and that will be enough.

Sunday 1:00 PM
New York Giants (+3) @ Tampa Bay
Jeff Garcia beat them last year, and I think he will do it again. I am not even an Eli hater but I can not bank on him in a big game, no way. On top of that, the Bucs defense is solid. The 3 point spread really does not worry me.

Sunday 4:30
Tennessee (+10) @ San Diego
Ten is a lot in a playoff game. HOWEVER, what is Vince Young's status? How will he react to not being 100% and to a big playoff game on the road? This (with the spread) is the toughest game for me to pick. It's all Tennessee's D. If they can keep it within reach then Young has proven that he is a big game player but I wouldn't want to rely on him to make it happen. I'll take the Chargers to cover. Damn, I hope they lose though.

Parcells going in a new direction

"I don't want thugs and hoodlums on the team," Parcells said of the types of players he'll try to acquire. "I really don't. I don't want bad-character guys. I don't want problem children."

So, no Joey Porter $20 million guaranteed deal. No Marcus Vick gamble. No Ricky Williams gamble (twice). No David Boston return. No Michael Vick in 23 months. Good call. Now that we have that clear...

I need Parcells to address moving Wes Welker (in the division), as well as the Ginn, Jr. draft pick. Come to think of it you know who Ginn reminds me of? A poor mans Welker. So, brilliant move not gambling on Quinn... good luck with John Beck though.

NHL Winter Classic

Ever since I remembered that the NHL was doing this really cool thing, holding a game outdoors on New Years Day -- I thought, "Wow, this is gonna be awesome. 70,000 fans in Ralph Wilson Stadium!" But then you remember what you're talking about... hockey.

So I justed turned it on and, just as it is here, it's snowing there. I'm talking some serious snow. That's really awesome but again it's hockey.

So this begs the question how much of this awesome (in theory) game can I watch?

Observations:
--Bob Costas is there and that makes me smile as always.
--The Penguins are wearing some atrocious throwbacks. This is the one game that more than a handful of people outside of Pittsburgh will see -- this is not putter your best foot forward.
--I wonder how much AMP payed to be the title sponsor.
--Holy crap those Penguins uni's are as awful as I pictured them. And those Sabres ones are freakin sweet.
--What a mess this would be in Crosby got badly injured due to these conditions.
--This game might hit double digits -- goal 19 seconds in...

Enjoy.