#1 - Grab Your BALLS! Picks

Numero Uno!  That can only mean one thing.  The wait is over!  The 2008-2009 college football season starts tonight!  And I’ll be in class!

Scott

ACC: Wake Forest
SEC: Florida
Big Ten: Ohio State
Big 12: Missouri
Big East: West Virginia
Pac-10: USC
C-USA: Central Florida
Mountain West: New Mexico
MAC: Bowling Green
WAC: Boise State
Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic
BCS Champion: Florida

Robbie

ACC: Virginia Tech
SEC: Georgia
Big Ten: Ohio State
Big 12: Oklahoma
Big East: South Florida
Pac-10: USC
C-USA: Memphis
Mountain West: BYU
MAC: Central Michigan
WAC: Fresno State
Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic
BCS Champion: USC

Brad

ACC: Clemson
SEC: Georgia
Big Ten: Ohio State
Big 12: Missouri
Big East: South Florida
Pac-10: USC
C-USA: Central Florida
Mountain West: BYU
MAC: Central Michigan
WAC: Boise State
Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic
BCS Champion: USC

Wow!  I didn’t see this coming.  Reports out of San Diego are suggesting that Shawn Merriman will play in 2008 regardless of the health risks.  It is possible that the Pro-Bowl linebacker could hurt himself even more and ultimately cost him his career.

Shawn Merriman he has 2 years left in San Diego and he believes the Chargers can win 2 Super Bowls in those two seasons. I would imagine missing out on the opportunity to compete on the biggest stage could be devestating.  Apparently it is so bad that he is willing to risk his spot in the NFL. Let’s hope the lights do not go out this year.

Apparently some people in Arizona are a little ticked off at ESPN and Chris Mortensen.  Mort reported Sunday, according to an unidentified source, that Matt Leinart had lost his job after going 4-12 with 3 INT’s in the Cardinals game against Oakland Saturday night.  Reports out of Arizona are now claiming that Wisenhunt has not made a decision on who will start at quarterback.  During an appearance on KTAR radio Wisenhunt said “Do we have a quarterback? It seems like Chris Mortensen is making the decision on our quarterback for our football team. But nothing has changed,” Wisenhunt said.

Let’s see if we can be of help to the Arizona coaching Staff…

Matt Leinart —————————- Kurt Warner

1. Pre-NFL bio: Leinart - born in Cali, stayed home to play football in L.A., rockstar status since he was at USC, won Heisman, won 2 national championships, born cross-eyed, backed up Carson Palmer. Warner - Iowa boy, played college ball at home (Northern Iowa), 3rd on the depth chart until his senior season, went undrafted, played in Arena League and Europe. Advantage: Leinart
   
2. Kurt Warner has thrown for more than 24,000 yards since 1999. Matt Leinart has thrown for just a little over 3,000 since joining the Cardinals. Advantage: Warner
3. Kurt is 37 and has been in the NFL for 9 years. Matt has only been in the NFL for 2 years and his legs are not as worn out as Kurt’s.  At the age of 25, Matt would appear to have the edge, but age is just a number, right Brett Favre? Advantage: Warner
4. Warner threw for 21 TD’s in the final 8 games of last season. Leinart has thrown just 13 TD’s in his career. Advantage: Warner
5. During Matt’s first year with the Cardinals he played 12 games and was sacked 21 times. Warner played 7 games and was sacked 14 times. Warner is not quick on his feet.  Advantage: Leinart
6. Warner can put up the stats in Arizona, but the Cardinals are 8-18 when he starts. When Leinart starts the Cardinals are 7-9. Advantage: Leinart
7. Kurt Warner has won a Superbowl as well as MVP honors. Matt Leinart has won two NCAA National Titles and a Heisman Trophy. Both championships and awards came from playing on other teams than the Cardinals. Advantage: Even
8. Lienart hangs out with coeds. Warner hangs out with his wife. Advantage: Leinart
9. For the last 2 seasons, when Kurt Warner starts for the Cardinals, Edgerrin James averages 72 yards a game with 7 total TD’s.  When Matt Leinart starts, Edge averages 88 yards a game with 6 total TD’s. The numbers are close, but Leinart has played in fewer games. Advantage: Leinart
10. Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis all appear to be down this year. Arizona has an opportunity to steal the division. Kurt Warner is 48-37 since joining the NFL. Leinart has a losing record. Advantage: Warner

Leinart barely gets past Warner beating him 5-4, but I still think Warner should start the season. We picked Arizona to steal the division away from Seattle this year and Warner can probably lead them to that. The more I watch Leinart the less confident I am in him.  He is a proven winner, but the NFL has not been like USC so far.  Wisenhunt should easily start Warner and ride him to a division title this season and hand the team over to Leinart next season.

#2 - Can’t Miss Games

Print this out and put it right next to your remote.

My Game of the Week
Upset Alert

Week 1

North Carolina St. @ South Carolina (8/28)
Clemson vs Alabama
USC @ Virginia
Hawaii @ Florida
Utah @ Michigan
Memphis @ Ole Miss
Colorado St. vs Colorado
Washington @ Oregon
Missouri vs Illinois
Kentucky @ Louisville (8/31)
Tennessee @ UCLA (9/1)

Week 2

Miami @ Florida
Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
Georgia Tech @ Boston College
Southern Miss @ Auburn
South Florida @ Central Florida

Week 3

Ohio State @ USC
Kansas @ South Florida
Arkansas @ Texas
Michigan @ Notre Dame
Georgia @ South Carolina
MTSU @ Kentucky
Oregon @ Purdue
Wisconsin @ Fresno State
Rutgers @ North Carolina (9/11)

Week 4

Florida @ Tennessee
Georgia @ Arizona State
LSU @ Auburn
Boise State @ Oregon
Miami @ Texas A&M
Notre Dame @ Michigan State
West Virginia @ Colorado (9/18)

Week 5

Virginia Tech @ Nebraska
Wisconsin @ Michigan
Alabama @ Georgia
Florida State @ Colorado
North Carolina @ Miami
TCU @ Oklahoma
Illinois @ Penn State
USC @ Oregon State (9/25)

Week 6

Florida State @ Miami
Ohio State @ Wisconsin
Rutgers @ West Virginia
Oregon @ USC
Texas @ Colorado
Michigan @ Illinois
Fresno State @ Hawaii
Penn State @ Purdue
Memphis @ UAB

Week 7

Louisville @ Memphis (10/10)
Texas vs Oklahoma
LSU @ Florida
Tennessee @ Georgia
Central Florida @ Miami
Purdue @ Ohio State
Clemson @ Wake Forest
Middle Tennessee St @ Florida International
Oklahoma State @ Missouri
Rutgers @ Cincinnati
Arizona State @ USC
Penn State @ Wisconsin

Week 8

BYU @ TCU (10/16)
Hawaii @ Boise State (10/17)
Kansas @ Oklahoma
Missouri @ Texas
LSU @ South Carolina
Texas Tech @ Texas A&M
Michigan @ Penn State
Virginia Tech @ Boston College
Middle Tennessee State @ Louisville

Week 9

Auburn @ West Virginia (10/23)
Georgia @ LSU
Michigan State @ Michigan
Texas Tech @ Kansas
Penn State @ Ohio State
Alabama @ Tennessee
Virginia Tech @ Florida State
Oklahoma State @ Texas
South Florida @ Louisville
Illinois @ Wisconsin
Southern Miss @ Memphis
Notre Dame @ Washington
Oregon @ Arizona State

Week 10

Cincinnati @ South Florida (10/30)
Georgia vs Florida
Tennessee @ South Carolina
Texas @ Texas Tech
Michigan @ Purdue
Clemson @ Boston College

Week 11

TCU @ Utah (11/6)
Alabama @ LSU
Clemson @ Florida State
Notre Dame @ Boston College
Cincinnati @ West Virginia
Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech

Week 12

Virginia Tech @ Miami (11/13)
Cincinnati @ Louisville (11/14)
Hawaii @ Boise State (11/17)
Georgia @ Auburn
South Carolina @ Florida
Texas @ Kansas
Rutgers @ South Florida
Ohio State @ Illinois
Notre Dame vs Navy

Week 13

Michigan @ Ohio State
Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
BYU @ Utah
UCF @ Memphis
Indiana @ Purdue
West Virginia @ Louisville
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma
Ole Miss @ LSU

Week 14

Texas A&M @ Texas (11/27)
Colorado @ Nebraska (11/28)
Arkansas vs LSU (11/28)
Mississippi State @ Ole Miss (11/28)
Fresno State @ Boise State (11/28)
Florida @ Florida State
South Carolina @ Clemson
Auburn @ Alabama
Missouri vs Kansas
Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State
Notre Dame @ USC

Week 15

Army vs Navy
USC @ UCLA
SEC Championship
ACC Championship
Big 12 Championship
C-USA Championship

I’m not much of a Cage fan, but this one might be ok.

KNOW1NG

Yes, you read that correctly. C.J. Henry, a minor league prospect in the New York Yankees farm system, has enrolled in classes at the University of Memphis. He will join the Tigers for the 2008-2009 season. C.J. was a former elite college basketball prospect who committed to Kansas out of high school before deciding to play baseball. He hasn’t played competitive basketball in three years so he will have to work to get into playing shape. He averaged 26 points per game at Putnam City High School.

There are two key factors hidden inside this announcement.

Number one, C.J.’s brother is Xavier Henry. Who is Xavier Henry you ask? He is one of the top prospects in the nation this season. He is a 6′6″ small forward and considered the key to the Tigers 2009 recruiting class. Xavier has narrowed his choice down to two schools, Memphis and Kansas. Those are the same two schools that C.J. considered.

Number two, the Yankees are required to pay for C.J.’s education per terms of his contract with the organization. That means C.J. will be considered a walk-on and the Tigers won’t have to use their last available scholarship on the 6′3″ point guard.

The Tigers think C.J. Henry can make an impact this season at point guard. He would either be backing up or playing alongside Tyreke Evans.

Jay Glazer on Foxsports.com is reporting that Michael Starhan has turned down the Giants offer to return to New York for the 2008 season.

Either the Giants pockets were not deep enough for Strahan or he is really happy with his new life. I honestly thought Strahan would come back now that training camp was over, but I was wrong (which does not happen much).  So much for another coming out of retirement party.

Another year, another rant about how the preseason is too long. Let’s see…so far Chad Johnson, Jason Taylor, Lofa Tatupa, Derek Anderson, Shawn Merriman, Tavaris Jackson, Carson Palmer, Maurice Jones-Drew, Harry Williams and Osi Umenyiora have been hurt in some capacity during the 2008 NFL preseason.  Something like this seems to happen all the time.

The Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants participated in a preseason game in 2007 that led to 6 starters being injured.

No one can forget the year Michael Vick broke his leg during the Falcons second preseason game in 2003.

Clinton Portis was injured during a preseason game in 2006 that cost him some of his season.

Rex Grossman missed the entire 2005 season after breaking his ankle in a preseason game.

The NFL needs to admit that the preseason is too long and do something about it. They could follow in the footsteps of the CFL and reduce the four game preseason to two.  If the NFL does not make a change soon coaches and owners will have to start sitting key players. Take LaDainian Tomlinson for example, he has yet to play a preseason game since coming into the league and he is not so bad right?

It is time for a change.  Teams can use training camp and scrimmages to get ready for the first game of the season. That’s what college football does and it works for them.  If the NFL insists on having preseason games then just knock it down to two like I mentioned earlier and be done with it.

They could even add a 17th regular season game so they only have to adjust the start of the season by one week.  They could even set the schedule so that the AFC plays the NFC in week one.  That way no one has a leg up on anyone else in their conference after the first game.

Something has to be done and soon.  It’s just a matter of deciding what they are going to do.

Jericho Scott, a nine-year-old baseball player, is so good that he’s been banned from pitching in the Youth Baseball League of New Haven.  Scott has a fastball that tops out at 40 mph.  He’s so good that other teams pack up their gear and leave when they see him take the mound.  League officials said they will disband his team and redistribute his teammates to the other teams in the league.

This is absolute crap!  It’s an outrage!  The league officials and parents of other players should be embarrassed.  How can you tell a kid that he can’t pitch in little league?  What kind of message does this send?  If you can’t beat him, join him kick him out of the league!  I think this comes back on the parents first and then the league officials.  Parents these days have issues.  They try too hard to be their kid’s best friend.  They baby their kids way too much.  If your kid sucks at baseball then find something else for him to do.  Don’t take him out for pizza or ice cream after every game and tell him that he did great.  Don’t buy him a trophy at the end of the season when he didn’t get a hit all year.  Parents are turning their kids into sissies.

Isn’t everyone in search of something they are good at?  If you find it at age nine and are able to stick with it, then good for you.  No one should be able to take it away from you, especially if it’s a sport.  What if they wouldn’t have let Tiger Woods play golf?  What about that big kid that plays pee-wee football?  The kid that no one can tackle?  Do you kick him out of the league?

The logical thing is to bump him up an age group or two.  However, if you do that then you take away his opportunity to play baseball with his friends.  Scratch that, the logical thing to do is TAKE YOUR KID TO THE BATTING CAGE!!  If you let Jericho Scott stay in the league, he’s ultimately going to make everyone a better hitter.  Opposing players will strikeout over and over again until they learn how to hit him.  The ones that finally do will be ahead of the game from then on.

Robbie has a 7 year old son that plays little league baseball.  He would let his son play against Jericho Scott.

I would let my son play against him as long as the other child had control of the ball.  I don’t see any reason to make a child stop competing if he is good at something.  No one would tell a kid he could not bat if he hit a home run every time he stepped up to the plate.

#3 - NCAA Football 09 Simulation

I was running out of ideas for this piece and Robbie suggested that I simulate a season of NCAA Football on the 360 and see what happens.

Conference Champions

ACC: Clemson over Miami 41-21
SEC: Florida over Auburn 49-17
BIG 12: Missouri over Oklahoma 35-17
C-USA: UAB over Houston 38-35
MAC: Western Michigan over Kent State 24-7
Big Ten: Ohio State
Big East: West Virginia
Mountain West: TCU
PAC-10: USC
WAC: Boise State
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee State

BCS Bowl Games

Championship: Florida over Ohio State 42-24
Orange: West Virginia over Clemson 31-28
Fiesta: Missouri over Wisconsin 35-13
Sugar: Texas over Boise State 38-26
Rose: USC over Georgia 52-29

Bowl Teams by Conference

ACC: Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Boston College

Big 12: Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Nebraska

Big East: West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers

Big Ten: Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Penn State, Illinois

C-USA: UAB, Houston, UCF, SMU, Rice, Southern Miss, Memphis

Independents: Navy

MAC: Western Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Miami (OH), Bowling Green, Central Michigan

Mountain West: TCU, Utah, San Diego State, BYU

Pac-10: USC, Oregon, Arizona State, Oregon State, UCLA

SEC: Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, South Carolina, LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Kentucky

Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee State, UL-Lafayette, Florida International

WAC: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai’i

Heisman Results

Tim Tebow, UF
Chase Daniel, Miz
Michael Crabtree, TTU
Stafon Johnson, USC
Matthew Stafford, UGA

Notables

Florida, Missouri, Ohio State, Clemson and Boise State all finished the regular season undefeated.

Georgia and USC finished 11-1 (losses to Florida and Ohio State respectively)

Notre Dame finished the season 5-7

Florida and Missouri both finish the season undefeated