The always perceptive and knowledgeable Bill Walton takes on Shaq's ability to play, even though he argues that Shaq had all but given up due to injuries from earlier in the season.
But, who doesn't love Shaq? Shaq-Daddy responds with some sheriff talk, specifically citing "Big Man Pecking Order Code: Ordinance 2257". Or, was it Ordinance 225.27? I couldn't understand Shaq's mumbling.
I give Shaq the upper hand in this verbal scuffle.
By now, we've all seen the list of several arguments on how OSU is going to get drilled by LSU. I have to say though, most of them seemed pretty biased, in either direction. One argument I heard again and again was strength of OSU's schedule. (...which, by the way, I believe wasn't that weak. Schedule included #13 Illinois and #18 Wisconsin who obviously finished top 20, not to mention the other teams that were ranked at the time they lost to OSU: #23 Purdue, #25 Penn State, and #21 Michigan.)
Anyway, I wasn't quite sure where to look outside of the standard ranking systems, so I searched for another source that seemed unbiased and included aspects like strength of schedule, margin of victory, other ranking systems, and on and on.
I went to the website of Jeff Sagarin, who has been providing power and player ratings to USA Today since 1985. As a mathematician trained at MIT and Indiana University, he has done a lot of statistical analysis across lots of sports, including NCAA football.
(Interestingly, since 1984, Sagarin has supplied the NCAA tournament selection committee -- at its request -- with his latest rankings at the beginning of the tournament selection process and with regular updates until the selections have been finalized.)
Here are his 2007 football schedule rankings:
College Football 2007 (through games of December 8)
ESPN will air its "Tip-Off Thursday", showcasing some of the young basketball talent that exists in the best high schools in the country. It's an interesting strategy for ESPN, who might be trying to beat Michael Lewis to the punch by mainstreaming high school talent on it airways. OJ Mayo and all the others will be household names before Lewis can get to it...
Like the NFL, the NBA doesn't have the multi-tiered minor league system of the MLB to groom young players. A lot of it is happening at the high school level. And, tonight we get to watch... (In the contest tonight, I'll take the side of Lakewood-St. Edward.)
With this Thursday night tip off, I am sure Michael Lewis is dreaming up his new best seller. He launched his career with Liar's Poker. But, among sports nuts, he really got most recognition with Money Ball and The Blind Side.
If he can pull it off, I predict he'll reconfigure his writing machine to churn out a book about the mystery surrounding the search for young NBA talent. It will talk about how Kobe and LeBron changed it all, and how the LA Clippers (or some other team) is employing a new strategy to find the unknown superstar who has some social dysfunction, but is definitely shooting baskets in some abandoned gym in the Midwest every night until 11 PM.
I'm not a Republican...in fact, I hope a Democrat wins the 2008 election. But, this is pretty funny. Surprising to see a presidential hopeful do something even moderately funny, even if the Chuck Norris jokes are overdone.
Anyone else watch this? I watched it, and then again after the game on Saturday. It's a bit histrionic, and certainly pulls at my Midwestern heartstrings. The film is equipped with the autumn, rural landscape shots...film of old-school dudes in leather helmets...set to soothing background music...it made this football game look as important to our history as a world war or something...
As a Buckeyes fan, I was pretty happy with how the documentary portrayed the rivalry. The Michigan folks came off as pretty arrogant at times, but apparently they are happy with that label (I never knew Mike Wallace of 60 minutes was a Michigan guy. I've now added him to my arbitrary list of people I can't stand because of their Michigan affiliation. Also on the list Derek Jeter, Tom Brady, and Jim Harbaugh).
Ohio fans look pretty down-home and are played up as blue collar bumpkins. Frankly, I was much happier with that label than the arrogance angle.
Overall, it was pretty good. Watching it with non-Ohio/Michiganers, I was continually asked, "Is it really like that back home? Do people really take this game that seriously?"
Umm...Yeah!
Now I'm in northern California and the college rivalry I follow is Cal/Stanford. Much the same: Stanford is the "smart" school and Cal is the big public school. But, that rivalry has no comparison to the Scarlet/Grey vs. Maize/Blue. Absolutely zero.
I guess the reason Ohio State Michigan matters so much to me is that it makes me want all other rivalries I follow to have the same level of passion...but they don't and never could. There is only one Ohio State Michigan game. Great movie. Nice tributes to Woody and Bo. RIP to both of them...
Eager to watch the best game of the season this year, I looked around to see if there was a chance to watch Patriots v Colts this Sunday on my new LCD with HD.
A friend passed me this site. In all likelihood, the fans in the Yard have this bookmarked. Here it is again.
...My guess is that the NFL will show Oaktown v. Houston in the Bay Area (what a winner!) instead of the match up of the season.
I was looking at the Cleveland Browns schedule for the remainder of the season.
Of their games remaining, they play Cincinnati (2-5), Houston (3-5), Buffalo (3-4), SF (2-5) and the Jets (1-7), just to name a few. The Browns' losses this year have come to Pittsburgh (5-2), New England (8-0), and Oakland (2-5)...
...I wish I could say that this article will jinx the Browns' chance, but how can you jinx the most cursed sports town in the world? It's not because of a guy like me...
So, why not speculate...
The Browns could go 10-6 and could go to the playoffs. Their offense is ranked 7th in the league behind none of the teams mentioned above that they still have to play. Their defense is tied for 9th place with Cincinnati. In defense, Houston ranks better than the Browns.
In 2006, they were ranked 31st in offense and 27th in defense, with a 4-12 record.
If they make it to the playoffs, they should get turn-around franchise of the year.
"It feels great, man. It's been a long time I don't do something special like that. But I haven't been right all year round. But I guess, you know, when you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's when you know you are a bad man."
Trying to figure out why Brady Quinn is holding out. I guess he still thinks he deserved to be drafted #3 or #4...but he went #22. Nobody wanted him when it was time to select their first choice. And, the Browns shifted a lot around to get him. He's a home town kid. Why doesn't he just get into camp under a good contract and prove to everyone that he actually shouldn't have gone 22, but higher? He's going to be holding a clipboard all season anyway. And, as long as Charlie Frye is getting tips from and attending Donovan McNabb's summer camps (see this Yardbarker post: http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/Browns_QB_Frye_picked_up_very_important_t ips_from_McNabb/21644)
then Brady will have to show a lot to get the playing time. Good luck Brady..way to get off to a good start. Take some leadership from another home-town kid who signed and was happy to play for a Cleveland team...LeBron.
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