NBA Basketball

With the NBA starting I thought it was only appropriate to post a few opening comments....

My pre-season prediction for the finals: Lakers vs Celtics.

Lakers are head and shoulders above the rest..the question is can Lamar Odom stay focused with his new wife?

Celtics..I am picking them because I am not sure about the other 2 teams in the East. I am not feeling too strong with this pick, but I think that Shaq is toast and will hurt Lebron James and the Caveliers and I don't think Orlando can pull it off two years in a row...plus they lost Hedo Turkoglu. I reserve the right to back away from the Celtics after I see how they are playing in the beginning of the season.

What I really want to hear is what you a think of your Jazz? Are you excited for the season? How do you think they will do? What do you think about the team?

TCU v BYU

Well cougar fans I wonder how you are feeling right about now? Once again your team didn't show up in a big game and you got embarrassed in front of the country. Luckily for you it was on Versus instead of ESPN. What is it with this team? They never seem to show up for big games! I put it all on the coach - sure Bronco has turned the team around and has double digit win seasons every year, but that is because we play a bunch of garbage teams in the Mountain West. The wins start adding up pretty easily towards the middle and end of the year. I believe that he actually has a losing record against good schools. I will say it again... there are a few reasons why I think Bronco stinks as a head coach. 1) He is too mellow and can't fire his team up. 2)He doesn't game plan for the other team. He believes that his scheme is good enough to win every game. 3) He is terrible at making adjustments at half time. 4)He says that he is happy with where they are at as a program (a coach should never be satisfied). 5)Football is way to low on his list of priorities as a head coach.

As you know all of this is coming from a Utah fan though. A Utah fan that is having a wonderful night. So I want to know what is your outlook on the rest of the season? Are you disappointed in the results so far or do you still stand behind your coach? Do you even blame the coach or is it the players that didn't show up? What are your thoughts?

NFL evaluations (10/24/09)

San Diego Chargers:
Unfortanetely this is a hard one for me because I am giving up on my team. They are absolutely terrible and now just an average team. When the team hired Norv Turner everybody was saying that it was a bad hire and there goes the next few years. I chose to stay positive and hope that the team knew what they were doing, but year after year it seems like we have gotten softer and softer. Sure our QB has become incredible and is one of the top in the league, but that is just about it. Our defense is one of the worst in the league and dead last in stopping opponents on 3rd down and our offensive line can't give Rivers long enough to do anything. The record isn't what bothers me, it is the way we are playing and the no emotion style that I hate. I am now calling for Norv to be fired! I want to see intensity and a desire to win and I am jumping ship for this year....

Denver Broncos:
To add salt in my wounds the Broncos are incredible. It pains me to say this, but they are a lot of fun to watch. They are the exact replica on defense that I want to see my team as. They are definetely the surprise team of the season and new head coach Josh McDaniels is a strong candidate for coach of the year. We will see if they keep it up, but the way they play is very impressive.

Minnesota Vikings:
As I said as soon as Favre was hired...."this is the fun team to watch this year." I should have went with this statement and picked them to go farther into the post season. I didn't because I don't know if Brett can hold up all the way through. I knew they would be good, but it is end of the season that scares me. I am enjoying this team and I hope they continue to win. Go get you another ring baby!

Atlanta Falcons:
I don't have much to say about this team other than I can't decide if I want them to do really good or if I should root for the Vikings. Ever since Michael Turner joined this team I have been drawn to them. With Vick no longer being overrated for this team they are enjoyable as well. The reason I didn't pick them to go too far is because their defense is so young. I am worried they will fall apart a little bit in the playoffs.

Washington Redskins:
Don't even get me started on this team...I have to justify my pick for the super bowl with this team. First they were close to the playoffs last year and I hoped with Haynesworth it would put them over the top. As I stated during my picks post the only reason I picked them is because I didn't like anybody else. Clearly I should have gone with the Vikings (but I already told you my concern with Brett Farve down the stretch)

Did Bronco just trash all the fans?

In trying to defend Max Hall, Bronco said that the level of criticism matches the level of education and that pointing out all of the interceptions is something that an uneducated person would do. The next day he tried to explain himself by saying that if you don't know the schemes and exactly what plays are being called then you won't understand what throw should have been made and perhaps Max Hall made the correct throw.

Are you serious!? He just called all of the fans and media stupid and then tried to spin it to something less hurtful! Even if I don't know the exact scheme that was called, shouldn't Max Hall realize that he shouldn't throw the ball to a covered reciever? Every other football team in the country has schemes and their QB's realize that their first or second option is covered so they dump it off or scramble.

This is the exact reason why I could never like BYU or Bronco. He is always happy with where they are. Everything is gravy in his world and he is just happy to be there. Well BYU fans I sure hope that you are happy with the Vegas Bowl every year because that is what your coach cares about. He said the same thing when you lost to Florida State. His thoughts were (paraphrasing of course)that even though they lost he was happy because they are 3-1 and that is what most people predicted them to be at anyways. What a joke! Whittingham would never say that after they got embarrassed like that. No fire, no emotion, and no drive to become better. Sure you may win the MWC 4 or 5 years in a row, but I would be happy to let you have that for another BCS victory and #2 ranking. Enjoy where you are at BYU - Utah will be one step ahead yet again! Oh and maybe if you aren't happy with it then you are just uneducated - what do you know anyways!

I just intercepted Max Hall.

BYU senior quarterback, Max Hall was suppose to have an incredible year and who is to say that he still can't. Incredible is a relative term and Max could benefit from having a good team around him vs him having a great year on his own. As for his own stats right now they are not looking that incredible. He is.....are you ready for this....leading the country in interceptions thrown!He has one more touchdown than interceptions this year and is currently tied for the most with a quarterback from SMU. Now SMU's gameplan is to throw it like 150 times a game and it would be expected to have a lot of interceptions, but there is no reason why Max Hall should have that many. Esspecially with recievers like Dennis Pita and McKay Jacobsen and a powerful run game with Unga.

Lingering effects from the Utah game last year where he threw 6 picks!?

Utah Jazz - Tough Decision

Well here we go already...the NBA is getting underway. The Utah Jazz have already went through training camp and had their first game, a win against Denver. The pre season really doesn't mean anything and nobody pays much attention until closer to the season. What I want to talk about is Boozer vs. Millsap. This is an interesting situation even for somebody who doesn't care how good the team is.

Carlos Boozer:
Boozer has made a joke of himself and embarrassed his name the whole offseason. After he openely admitted that he was going to opt-out of his contract he realized that nobody wanted to pay him what he thinks he is worth and had to opt-in. Then the Jazz told him that they were going to go a different route and he decided to start shopping himself in public. By going on a radio station in Chicago (twice) and Miami he professed his love for each city. Apparently the Jazz couldn't get very good value for him either because he is coming back to the team.

Paul Millsap:
Less drama,but equally entertaining. The work horse of the team and a fan favorite, the Utah Jazz have showed how much of a man crush they have on this young guy. Millsap being a restricted free agent in the offseason allowed Portland to make a "toxic" offer. People think that Portland just tried to screw the Jazz because they have no need for a player in Millsap's position, however by offering him a lot of money the Jazz either had to match it or let him go. Portland tested the Jazz's statement that they will match any offer...and the Jazz matched. He may be overpaid now, but only time will tell. The jury is out...

With all of this drama comes the intrigue of what the Utah Jazz are going to do this season. Who should start?
Boozer- Advantages: The better player, the man the calls for a double team every time down the court, the higher paycheck, the most experience. Disadvantages: Plays little to know defense, alienated himself on the team, a cancer in the locker room, questionable injuries, and doesn't get along with the captain (D Will)
Millsap - Advantages:Constant workhorse, extremely motivated, better defender, hustles for loose balls, player and fan favorite, big paycheck, future of the organization as power forward. Disadvantages: Smaller in size, less experience, not as good offensively, question about durability with playing style.

MY THOUGHTS: I CONSTANTLY hear that Jerry is a tough nose coach and doesn't take crap, however our defense gets pushed around every single game. If Jerry is so hard nosed and has control of the team he should start Millsap. Prove something to Boozer that Utah is about playing hard and playing hurt. As a back-up Boozer can't drag other players down with his attitude and Millsap can become a leader as well. If Boozer is a better offensive player than he will have no problem going against the other back-ups on the oposing team.

MY PREDICTION: Boozer starts and Millsap comes off the bench playing a lot of mintues. Boozer is traded in February at the trade deadline or let walk at the end of the season.

Your thoughts......

Local College Teams

I am going to go ahead and take some credit for how this weekend played out.

Utah Utes: I had very very little hope that they would win against Oregon on the road, and I was actually surprised that we hung in there as long as we did. There are a lot of fans (or media at least) that keep saying how disappointing of a year it will be for the Ute fans if the team can't win some of the big games. Let's think about this for a second...We lost more than half our team, our QB, our 2 best defensive players, most of our recievers and our kicker/punter (who was known as "king louie"). Not only that we lost our Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator and a couple other coaches below them. If anybody expects us to lose less than 3 games then tell them to pull their head....nevermind. I am not disappointed in the effort or the showing. Let's be realistic.

BYU Cougars: As you may have noticed in a couple of my previous posts that I didn't think BYU earned their ranking as number 7 in the country. I could hear the Utah State Aggies chant from last year, "Overrated.....Overrated.....Overated." I said that if they beat Florida State then I would jump on their bandwagon just like everybody else only they showed their true colors and embarassed their fans and their whole team. Just a couple weeks after jumping 11 spots (and making national headlines) they drop 12 spots and barely hang on in the rankings. As much as I want the conference to look good - I have a hard time rooting for a school that I hate so much.

Chargers done already???

I am not giving up complete hope on my team yet, we are only 2 games in, but it has the same feeling as last year already! Sitting out of the game today was: Ladainian Tomlinson, Nick Hardwick, Travis Johnson, 2 O Linemen, and the biggest disappointment - Jamal Williams. It was also announced yesterday that Jamal Williams is out for the entire year with tricep tears. He plays the main position in the type of defense we run and we don't have a replacement!

Once again we had to ask our QB Phillip Rivers to save us and take our team the whole length of the field for a winning touchdown. This time he wasn't able to and we got stopped on a 4th and 2 in the red zone. He threw for a career high 432 yards and we still lost the game. Once again our defense is the weak link and I am getting really tired of it.

Not all hope is lost because our division is terrible, but I am not very excited about our defense or all of our early injuries. This could make for a long season yet again....life of a Charger fan!

NFL Predictions

So opening day was a couple of days ago, but I didn't get around to making my picks -lucky for me there were no major injuries and it didn't effect my predictions. Here they are:

Division Winners:
AFC - Pittsburgh, Tennessee, New England, San Diego
NFC - Minnesota, Atlanta, Arizona, Washington

Wild Card:
AFC - Indianapolis, Baltimore
NFC - Philadelphia, New Orleans

AFC Championship - San Diego at Pittsburgh
NFC Championship - Green Bay at Washington

Superbowl - San Diego vs Washington

Winner: San Diego Super Chargers!

Ok Ok first of all I realize that I am biased and San Diego is my team, but I truly feel that the Chargers have a good chance of reaching the big game this year. If we can stay healthy, I am pretty confident in the team. I believe we would have reached it already if our stars could have stayed healthy the last two years. This year seems to have a different feel and I think it will make the difference. I really struggled with the NFC, I wanted to pick Philadelphia to win the division and go to the superbowl by default (or because I didn't like any other team), but everybody else has picked Philly and I don't think they will be as good as everybody says. So I went with Washington purely in spite of most other sports writers.

I put this here because she probably will be right: My wife picks - San Diego vs. Philadelphia. Winner - San Diego.

BYU and Utah Win Again

I don't have much to say to either of these, because both were playing easy teams and had no excuse to lose. I do think that BYU will move up in the rankings though. Possibly to #7, because a few teams in front of them lost. Utah will probably move into the top 15.

BYU jumps 11 spots!

After beating Oklahoma on Saturday night, the Cougars have jumped 11 spots in the AP poll to number 9 in the country. Top 10 in the country are you serious!? While I probably haven't given the Y enough credit for their great win, I really don't know if they are the 9th best team in the country. Who knows...they may deserve the rating and I am not saying that they don't, I am just saying that it a quick judegement based off of one game whose star Tight End and Heisman Trophy winner QB was out of the game.

They won and they deserve the higher ranking, but ninth? I guess only time will tell and if I get put in my place or not. I will hold my accolades until after I see how they play against Florida State and TCU. You have my word right now though if they beat Florida State then I will also jump on the BYU bandwagon to run the table and of course still lose to Utah, but run the table up until the last game. I am not committed to it yet, but could be in a couple of weeks. Florida State is the game for me....

What do you think do they deserve number 9?

Deleted Tweets

Update: Tila Tequila has deleted her tweets that she posted last night. We will see if she follows through on her promise for "judgement day."

"Blue Balls vs. Blue Neck"

The more and more that I hear about Merriman and Tila Tequila, the more I believe that she is just another skank looking for some publicity. I am following this as close as possible because.....well because I want the Chargers to win a superbowl and we can't have any distractions.

It was first reported by her lawyer that they won't be making any comments or releasing any statements on the situation due to the seriousness of the incident. Well I guess that plans have changed or at least Tequila didn't get the memo. She has been a twittering fool and it is making her look bad. She tweeted that she will be addressing the issue on Tuesday....which she describes as "judgement day." Now maybe it is just me, but I think that making an announcement about when you will talk about it and saying that it is "judgement day" is a little strange. I don't think very many people who got beat (allegedly) can make light of the situation. She says "I know the truth and it will come" and now she is referring to it as the case "blue balls vs blue neck." Again it seems like she is having a good time with the creativeness of the situation and enjoying her time in the spotlight.

I am biased to this situation because I want the whole thing to just go away so we can get on with football, but my opinion is that her tweets are hurting any chance at a strong case that she may pursue. Today is "judgement day" and you can bet that I will be following the situation like a hawk!

"Lights Out" on the Chargers!?

Shawne Freaking Merriman is about to help ruin the Chargers season for the second season in a row! The Chargers defensive force and linebacker was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly choking and assaulting his girlfriend Tila Tequila. The reports are saying that the two were out partying all night before they went back to Merriman's place with some friends. Sometime in the early morning Tila called the cops to report being choked by her boyfriend. She was taken to the hospital and he was booked in the nearby jail to later be released. Reports say that when police arrived at the house Tequila was drunk and there were no major injuries. Both sides don't seem to be saying anything yet, but there was at least one witness to the event and multiple other people at the house.

First let me make sure that I put out there that if these reports are legit and it is proven that Merriman did assault her, I will not be a supporter of his from here on out, my wife will be getting rid of his jersey and I will hope that the Chargers don't resign him at the end of the year. There is no excuses for this kind of behavior and I won't be a fan of such a character.

Now to the part that I personally care about....the Chargers! It sucks to say that so much of your season relies on one person, but I think we know how bad the team played last year and how we couldn't get any pressure on the QB. Merriman can change that whole thing around for us and make all the difference. He is a monumental force on our team and I was looking forward to seeing the Lights Out dance over and over and over again. This is a HUGE disappointment to me and I just don't understand how so many players take for granted what they have and blow it by doing stupid things. Esspecially so close to the season. I may have to hold my prediction on the Chargers for a couple of days so that I can see how this plays out. If he plays I think our year will be incredible, if he doesn't I still think the playoffs are in the picture, but we have an early exit.......AGAIN!

Damn Him!

Utah Football State Wide...

It is finally here!!! The time of year that I can't wait for and what a bitter sweet opening weekend it was. First we started of with the Utes beating Utah State in a fun game to watch. Both teams were a little sloppy at certain parts, but overall it was a good first game. I wasn't suprised that Utah won, but there were a few things that stood out as really exciting. First I am very impressed with our wide recievers, we have a strong group and the reports that we have been hearing seem to be true. Second Terrence Cain had an impressive first showing, I realize that the opponent wasn't anything special, but he proved to me why he won the job. There were a couple of plays that he saw his first target was covered so he just started running instead of checking the rest of his recievers, but that will come with time. Third, I have to admit that I was glad to see Utah State put up a good fight. That first drive was a real eye opener and they kept fighting from the beginning. Give them a few years and Gary Anderson is really going to have them looking good. Maybe they will be able to challenge Boise State for the title.

Yes I do have to mention BYU and yes they did beat Oklahoma on Saturday night in the new Dallas Stadium and on ESPN! One has to wonder if they would have had a chance if Sam Bradford didn't go down at the end of the half though. My thoughts are that they wouldn't have, but I guess that is why we play the game. If Bradford and the starting TE are both out for a couple of weeks you can probably count on Oklahoma losing again soon, but for now we have to give a little credit to the Y. They did hold their own during the first half....er at least the defense did. They were flying all over the field and made some great stops. The offense was terrible. Fumbles, Interceptions, Sacks.....The defense kept them in the game. For now they have a win on the board and we have to look forward to Florida State.

Vick to place Thursday....

The Eagles play this upcoming Thursday against the Jaguars and Donovan McNabb repotedly will play the first half, but it is unclear who will back him up and the obvious guess is Michael Vick. According to Goodell's guidelines he will be eligible to play and the Eagles are seeing how the week goes. Vick has been spending extra time with the QB coaches to learn the offense and doing extra study time. As of right now Fox 13 has plans to show a pre-season NFL game, but it isn't the Eagles. I personally would like to see Vick take a couple of snaps and see what he has left, but I guess that I will have to wait until regular season. Now that he is signed and training with a team, my feelings have de-escalated and I am anxious to watch him play. It will be interesting to see what Philly has planned.

Fox would probably be better off switching the televised game and getting a few viewers on Thursday night....I know that I would tune in.

Phillip Rivers Signs Extension

QB Phillip Rivers has signed a 6 year extention with the San Diego Chargers worth $92 million and $38.5 million guaranteed. As a Charger fan I am extremely excited about this, I am glad that we got this taken care of early so that it doesn't weigh on our team through-out the season. Phillip Rivers came out of the 2004 draft class and is the only QB drafted in the early first round to not win a superbowl yet (Eli - NY Giants, Roethlisber - Steelers) but that doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve it. He has become a team leader on a team that is filled with talent and a lot of potential. Last year he led the league in passer rating and broke a few Charger records. Since he has become the starter we have tied our old total for playoff wins and transformed our offense into a machine. I know I know.....he is a huge trash talker and rubs people the wrong way, but as a Charger fan I fully support his passion and attitude towards the game. He has been a class act in the locker room and in the community and I will take that kind of fiery player any day.



Let's get a couple of our other players with expriring contracts(Sproles, Gates, Merriman, McNeil, Chambers, and Cromartie) signed and we should be able to compete for many years to come. Rivers as our QB will help alot. San Diego seems to do a good job of taking care of their own so I am not really word about it. Let's just go out and show the league why our players deserve it.

What! Are you kidding Me!?

Boy or Girl...that is the latest debate in sports. Caster Semenya came out of no where and is blowing people out of the water or at least the track. She or maybe He has broken a few running records recently and now the debate isn't whether or not steroids are being used, but whether this person is a boy or girl! Let me say that again.....is it a boy or a girl? I am embarassed for this human being just because of how akward it must be. Now we have all seen people and asked our friend if it is a boy or a girl, but that is just between one or two people, not the whole world! They are getting ready to investigate the situation and do a "gender test." Apparantly this is actually a hard process to do and takes a whole bunch of sophisticated people to psycho analyze this person. I have a better idea - why don't we just give her/him a drug test (might as well check for both at the same time) and see if she/he does the test sitting down or standing up! I am pretty sure that would work for me.

For her/his sake I actually am hoping that this is a dude who is trying to rip off all of these other lady's from winning during a track meet, because that is much less of an embarassing story than to know that you are a hell of a runner, but everybody thinks you are a man! My personal opinion - because that is what I am good at giving - this has Dude written all over it! Look at the muscle tone and body type. Even if it is a girl by sexuality, it is a man by the body!

Well you decide for yourself...and share with us.....

Farve to the Vikings

Let me be one of the first to say that I am really excited about this whole thing. The Vikings may have just become the team that I am most excited to watch after the Chargers. That being said let's reset this whole thing....2 years ago Brett Farve announces his retirement - summer ends and we are still talking about him possibly playing for the Packers - season starts and he has been traded to the Jets and gets the starting spot (obviously). He has a great season (I do have to say that San Diego still crushed them on Monday Night Football)but by the end of the season he has an arm injury and throws an alarming amount of interceptions in the last few games and misses the playoffs. Again he announces that he is going to retire, but speculation starts that he is going to sign with the Vikings. Vikings give him a deadline to decide, then extend their offer longer, Farve then decides that he is going to stay retired and everybody is excited to not hear about this situation anymore. Only 3 weeks later and here we are Brett Farve is a Viking!!! Local radio stations refused to talk about it because they are tired of it, but I wonder if I am the only one craving a discussion on the new development so I have talked to a couple local Green Bay fans already and they don't seem bitter at all...they still like Farve and have no hard feelings that he will be playing for their division rival (Remember when Karl Malone switched to the LA Lakers). The NFC North is going to be an exciting division to keep an eye on...2 big time QB's signed this year in Brett Farve and Jay Cutler. Ain't it Great!

Y.E. Yang tames the Tiger!

The biggest story over the weekend has to be that YE Yang beat Tiger Woods head to head in the PGA Championship. Tiger went into the final round with a 2 shot lead and choked it away. In my last post I bostly said that I think Tiger Woods is back and this could hurt my argument a little. You can look at this a couple of ways...1)Tiger Woods isn't what he use to be, still great and better than most, but may have slipped just a little or 2)It was bound to happen sooner or later. He is human and can't win every single time.

I am taking number 2 just so that I can stick to my original thought that Tiger still has the inevitable "it." Give credit to Y.E. because even with Woods having a terrible round (75) he stayed focused and never lost his composure. Time and time again we have seen Tiger's partner crumble under the pressure of keeping the lead or just playing with the master himself.

Biggest sports upset of the decade? My opinion is no...but it has a valid argument.