June 9, 2026

Archives for January 2010

WTF? WOW! and makes sense

January 12, 2010 by

Say it aint so? Another coach ala Mike White from the west coast has worn out his welcome in the SEC.

Lane Kiffin has accepted the USC head coaching job and I think the Trojans really did get their man and he was more than happy to get out of Knoxville and Tennessee is more than accommodating to allow it to happen.

He doesn’t come alone as family and friends are on the plane.  Kiffin will bring his father and defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, and assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron (ex-Mississippi head coach) to Southern Cal with him. Wide receivers coach Kippy Brown will be named interim head coach at Tennessee, but that won’t last for long.

With Kiffin, USC will get a proven offensive mind who knows the system. Kiffin already has Matt Barkley and he will be able to work with the best QB prospects in the country in the coming years. What the Trojans just did was reload, not rebuild.  I don’t know how they did it, but they got better in coaching plus they have a young team primed for success and they will drive even more recruits to the school. Sorry to my beloved UCLA, but this is a great move by Mike Garrett who I hate with a passion orchestrated this along with Pete Carroll masterfully.

Now, who is the Vols next coach? Does Gruden now have a chance to take over a program where he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in ’86? I think if he wants to coach college over pro then he wont get better than this, but he could be waiting for or an opening in the NFL in 2011.

Kiffin has left the cupboard full with a young solid team and 22 recruits leading to the #6 overall 2010 ranking from Rival Sports. 14 of the recruits are 4 stars and Kiffin recruited defensive studs, top wide receivers and straight up athletes from all over the country. See a pattern? Sound familiar? This is a win/win for both school. Also, do you really think Kiffin leaves Tennessee for USC if there was a death penalty coming? USC is the #8 ranked recruiting class with only 14 recruits, but of course three were 5-stars and eight were 4-stars.

Filed Under: College Football, Football, General Sports Tagged With: , ,

Runnin’ Rebs National Championship Ring Sold

January 12, 2010 by

An eBay auction ended this past Friday that sold a 1990 NCAA Basketball National Championship ring. The ring was sold for meager $3,700 so the auction winner made out like a bandit if you ask me. The 1990 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels slaughtered the Duke Blue Devils 103-73 in what had to be the most boring title game in the last couple of decades. The only interesting thing that happened was when freshman point guard Bobby Hurley had to run off the court right before the game started due to a serious case of the “squirts.” UNLV led by Jerry Tarkanian was a dominant team the following year when they won 34 in a row before they ultimately fell to the Dookies in the Final Four. Unfortunately we don’t know who the seller of the ring is, but I’m going with either George Ackles or Moses Scurry.

Filed Under: Basketball, College Basketball Tagged With: , ,

The Texas Rangers Have Pop

January 11, 2010 by

The Texas Rangers have signed Vladimir Guerrero for $5 million in a wise one-year deal. Vlad will fill the role of designated hitter and will more than likely bat fourth in between Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler. When you also factor in Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis you quickly realize the Rangers could have five guys hit 30 or more homers in 2010. There is a little concern on whether or not Vlad’s back will hold up, but if it does he is well worth a measly $5 million. The Rangers have also picked up pitcher Rich Harden and utility infielder Khalil Greene this offseason and are set to contend with Anaheim and Seattle in the AL West this year.

Filed Under: Baseball, MLB Tagged With: ,

College Basketball Bet of the Day – January 11th, 2010

January 11, 2010 by

Tonight we have an impressive Big East matchup at 7 PM on ESPN. #4 Villanova rolls into Louisville has a 10-2 record at home this season. Louisville lost a lot of talent from last year’s team and I just feel they are going to have a hard time handling the backcourt of Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds this evening. The Cardinals will without a doubt pressure Nova all night so look for Louisville to hang, but lose out in the end.

Nova +3.5

Overall Record:

NFL 33-18 (2009-10) 136-90-5 (overall)
College Basketball 13-7 (2009-10) 210-156-6 (overall)
NBA 44-36
NHL 1-2
MLB 90-69-5
College Football 37-24 (2009-10) 142-115-1 (overall)

Filed Under: Basketball, College Basketball Tagged With: ,

Why will Baltimore win today?

January 10, 2010 by

New England has not lost at home in a long time.. November 2006 to be exact. They still have Brady and Moss and Belichick is still at the helm. So why is New England going to lose today?

Baltimore comes in with a 9-7 record and really with the old Defense that has made them the most feared team in the NFL. But what they have is the #3 Total defense in the NFL, #5 against the rush and #8 against the pass. They will load the box against the likes of Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor and Lawrence Maroney.  Maroney is just what Baltimore loves.. a guy who cant hold on to the ball, Taylor hasn’t played but in 5 games and Morris has been banged up. A nice Combo when healthy, but they will not be as effective because of a missing WR.

Losing Wes Welker, as much as NE wants to spin it as just a minor setback, will clamp down on Moss and while NE used to have the effective weopons at the 3-4 WR spot those days are over. Jabar Gaffney is gone.. he’s brutal, but he fit the system, Terry Glenn was let go mid season, and rookie, an ex-QB 7th round pick out of Kent St. , will be the slot man in a Playoff game. Dont forget that Sam Aikin is a 4th round pick in 2003 who couldn’t make it in Buffalo and Mathew Slater.. yes HOF Jackie Slater’s son, who was an 8th rounder in 2008 as a DB is also there.

Let’s not forget Tom Brady is still rehabbing the knee cus everyone knows that it is a year to get healthy to play and 2 years to get back to normal. Not to mention his broken ribs, and digits, and lately if you have had any old HS injuries and you live in the south where its been cold as hell.. you are hurting because of the cold. It will be in the high teens with a 15-20 mph wind..

I like the Offensive line and Ray Rice as well as the demeanor of Flacco. Harbaugh is a good coach and the last 2 times Baltimore played NE they had them by the cajones and as Denny Greene once said, “…we let ’em off the hook”.  The Ravens will run the ball with their NFL ranked #5 rush O and the overall #13 Offense.. Think of it this way.. Arizona is ranked behind them in Rushing and Overall O.

I am betting Baltimore to cover +4

Filed Under: Football, General Sports, NFL Tagged With: ,

Aaron Corp Leaving LA

January 9, 2010 by

All the news right now at USC focuses on Pete Carroll who is leaving the university to become the next head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Carroll leaving in conjunction with Joe McKnight and Damian Williams declaring for the NFL draft has pretty much buried the news that backup USC quarterback Aaron Corp is transferring to the Richmond Spiders. Corp won the starting position during spring practice, but ultimately lost the starting job to Matt Barkley due to suffering an injury during the preseason. Corp didn’t want to be the backup to Barkley and since he is dropping to I-AA he can play immediately and will have two seasons of eligibility left. Corp is going to do his best to follow the path Joe Flacco laid a few years back. Flacco was at Pittsburgh, but he was stuck behind Tyler Palko so he decided to drop down to I-AA Delaware and he became a huge star.

Filed Under: College Football, Football Tagged With: , , ,

College Basketball Bets of the Day – January 9th, 2010

January 9, 2010 by

College football is over and done so now it’s time to get on the college basketball money train. As you can see from the records we do pretty well in college hoops. Good luck today!

Wisconsin +1
UConn +6
Ole Miss -3
Duke -7.5
E. Illinois -10.5
St. John’s +13
Kansas State +5
Baylor -6.5
Boston College +9

Overall Record:

NFL 33-18 (2009-10) 136-90-5 (overall)
College Basketball 8-3 (2009-10) 205-152-6 (overall)
NBA 44-36
NHL 1-2
MLB 90-69-5
College Football 37-24 (2009-10) 142-115-1 (overall)

Filed Under: Basketball, College Basketball Tagged With: ,

Congrats, 2010 Top 5 and a Long Spring and Summer Ahead

January 8, 2010 by

Congratulations to Alabama for becoming the 2009-10 BCS Champions.

Now that college football and the regular season of the NFL is over we have to get over the fact there will not be a Monday night game nor will there be a Toledo vs. Bowling Green Tuesday or Wednesday night ‘football jonesing’ game.

We have come to that time a year where we get 4 NFL games this week and next then 2 games on one day in 2 weeks and then 2 weeks later a single game and that will be it until August. I can’t say it has been the greatest of college football years because ethe excitement of previous years did not resonate. I’m not sure why, but maybe its because only Oklahoma #2, USC #4 and #7 Oklahoma St really didn’t live up to their preseason rankings.  Preseason ranked Florida #1, Alabama #5 and Texas #3 were always in the top 3 or 4 and really nobody came close to knocking them out.

The real surprises to watch this year were TCU preseason ranked #18 and Boise State #20 who both finished the regular season undefeated. The Broncos and Horny Frogs rose the ranks and in a small way give us hope for a potential playoff scenario in the future.

The biggest tanks of 2009 were Mississippi, USC, Oklahoma, Kansas and of course Lou Holt’s National Champion, Notre Dame.

I know its way way too early to even think about next year, but here are my 2010 NCAA Football preseason Top 5 picks:

#1 USC – have you seen the 2010 cupcake schedule? Hawaii, Virgina, Minny and Wazu to open. Barkley and the defense are another year older and will roll.

#2 Virginia Tech – except for Boise State they can breeze through the ACC with no Fla St, Clemson or Maryland on the schedule.  Miami and North Carolina are on the road.

#3 Alabamaa – They return 13 from a National Championship team with most of the offense either sophomores or juniors. They play Penn St in their second game and Florida in Tuscaloosa.

#4 Boise St. – They have a ‘real’ game against VTech in October at FedEx field and a home game vs Oregon St.  They bring back a lot of skill players and 20 starters.

#5 Ohio St. –  Terrelle Pryor has the confidence now and so does Tressel to take this project to the next level.  Marshall, EMU and Indiana on the schedule.

Filed Under: College Football, Football, General Sports Tagged With: ,

Jim Leavitt Shown the Door

January 8, 2010 by

The University of South Florida has fired head football coach Jim Leavitt due to his interactions with a football player in late November. Leavitt allegedly grabbed sophomore defensive back Joel Miller by the throat and later hit him in the face a couple of times during halftime of a game against Louisville. Not only did Leavitt get fired today after the internal investigation, but so did his entire coaching staff which I guess comes as no surprise. Leavitt was the only head coach for South Florida over the last 13 years and just completed the second year of a $12.6 million contract. Leavitt becomes the third head coach along with Mark Mangino and Mike Leach over the last month to be fired due to questionable acts involving their players. The microscope is all over head coaches these days and whether they like it or not you can’t treat players the same way they were treated 15-20 years ago. We are litigious society that has evolved into a PC or bust mindset and I think after these three firings you will see adjustments made by a lot of head coaches moving forward.

Filed Under: College Football, Football Tagged With: ,

Hook ’em Horns

January 7, 2010 by

Tonight #1 Alabama plays #2 Texas in the Rose Bowl for the BCS Championship. My heart isn’t with either team, but we have to pull for the Longhorns this evening because if they can pull out a win then I rake in some cabbage from a Bowl Pool challenge. I hope the curse of the Heisman trophy winner hangs over Mark Ingram and the Tide because McCoy and the boys will need some help to overcome them. Here is the University of Texas fight song to get anyone else in the mood who is pulling for Texas. Hook ’em Horns!

Filed Under: College Football, Football Tagged With: , ,
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