The Morning After : CBSSports.com Blogs

Looking at the NBA MVP candidates

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:35:11 EDT

LeBron James--James has led the Cavaliers into the top 4 teams location and beaten some good teams in the Pistons and Celtics. His stats are amazing: 46 games. 37.5 minutes/game. 27.8 points/game. 7.5 rebounds/game. 7.0 assists/game. 49.1% FG. Remaining undefeated at home, he has helped fellow teammates Mo Williams, Ben Wallace, and Delonte West to improve.

Dwight Howard--The Magic? Howard is out of this world. From his world famous slams to his ability to put up points and work the glass, he has made the Magic serious contenders for the NBA title. He's been averaging 20.3 points/game aalong with 13.9 rebounds a game, while his field goal percentage is a sizzling 57%.

Kobe Bryant--The reigning MVP, he has put up goodnumbers too. His points per game is down slightly to 26.6. But he's averaging 5 assists and 5 boards a game. Combined with his great leadership, he has brought his team back from defeat several times. And despite injury to his finger, has dished out more assists than is usual with the typically shoot-happy Bryant. Although he has engineered wins over the Spurs, Celtics, and Cavs, his one knock is the great supporting cast in Pau Gasol, a terrific Andrew Bynum, and a bench of Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom, players who could start for other teams.

Thoughts from the Superbowl

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:26:35 EST

Ben Roethlisberger is one heck of a dude: He can throw on the run. He can engineer 4th quarter comebacks. He can bounce back from a poor Superbowl, from a concussion against the Bengals, and work with Santonio Holmes to craft some beautiful passes. I always felt he was overrated. Now, I'd want him during any two-minute drill.

Leave Ben in the pocket--His QB ratings inside the pocket:55. Outside :over 100. Once he's on the run, he's virtually impossible to bring down, but he threw the pick inside the pocket and looked almost better rolling out.

Kurt Warner is Hall worthy--Another 300+ yard game passing in the Superbowl. 3 TD's and that tough pick to James Harrison. Besides that, he engineered a perfect drive, if the Cardinals had just held it.

How wrong are they...

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:55:24 EST

Hah!

http://www.sportsline.com/partner/cbs/poll/collegefootball/blog" height="280" width="800" frameborder="0" scrolling="no">

USC #2! (in the coaches poll)

Ahh, am I a homer?!

Summing up the Bowl Season

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:17:13 EST

Here's the article that sums up the bowl season.

http://www.rakesofmallow.com/event/l.ncaa.org.mfoot-2008-e.24004

Bowl Predictions: Merry Christmas!

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:48:05 EST

Yes, that's right--I went 2-3 last week. You could flip a coin and do better. In fact, at the end of bowl season, that's exactly what I'll do--I'll flip a coin for every game and see what the coin's record is.....it better not be better than mine.

This last week, I didn't do so well. Click here, and you'll see in my last blog entry a recap of my picks (not the games, just go to CBS to see that). I'm getting back on track this week with some great matchups.

Tuesday:

POINSETTIA BOWL

I Confess--My Bowl Predictions Revisited

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:36:04 EST

Well, I said I hoped to go 67% right this week--then Troy and Navy coughed up leads, and I had a bad pick. I chose Fresno State just because of the "brand name", although Colorado State was a very good team.

Let's go over my picks:

NEW ORLEANS BOWL

Southern Mississippi 30--Troy 27 (OT)-- Prediction: Troy 31 vs. Southern Miss 21. Well, who would've known that Troy would cough up another late lead? Well, USM got off to a slow start, lost a timeout for wearing their colored uniforms and still won without DeAndre Brown. I still think my pick was good--just not the right score or outcome.

My 5-point stance on the NBA

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:03:30 EST

Looking at the NBA--I've got a 5-point stance--I'll start doing this every other week

THE FIVE POINT STANCE ON THE NBA

1)There's only three really good teams in the NBA

Lakers, Celtics, and Cavaliers

Christmas Pic to warm Trojan hearts

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 8:26:08 EST

Unfortunately, I couldn't post the pic--can only do pics from CBSSports or the ShowBuzz.com. Dang!

So, here's the link!

http://www.fansedge.com/Images/Product/51-18/51-18500-F.jpg

Merry Christmas, Trojan fans!

Bowl Predictions: You can quote me on these!

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:42:02 EST

Without further ado, here are my bowl predictions--hopefully at least 67% of them are right. Nat'l Champ: Florida 52 Oklahoma 35 Fiesta Bowl: Texas 38 Ohio State 21 Sugar Bowl: Alabama 31 Utah 17 Rose Bowl: USC 31 Penn State21 Orange Bowl: VaTech 27 Cincinnati 21 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following are non-BCS bowls listed in chronological order--the lowest one starts Dec. 20 and the last one (Tulsa vs. Ball State) is the latest one on January 6th. If you have any questions--just reply to the blog--I'll try to get back to you, and will always edit my picks if you have a convincing argument against my pick.

Tulsa 35 vs. Ball State 31

Connecticut 17 vs. Buffalo 31

East Carolina 28 vs. Kentucky 27

No T-bow; the real McCoy

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:06:55 EST

1.Colt McCoy--If not for the BCS, he would be playing for a nat'l title.

2.Tim Tebow--Superman has looked great after Ole Miss. Rallying his team for another title shot.

3.Sam Bradford--Impressive numbers week in and week out. The loss to Texas has sidelined him slightly.

4.Shonne Green--more 100 yards rushing games than anyone in the country.

Top 10 Teams

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:11:54 EST

Top 10 teams:

1.Florida--REMEMBER OLE MISS? (What? I forgot...) They're new and improved. Tim Tebow is one leader.

2.Oklahoma--They're still great, and the Big-12 is a lot better this year (even over the SEC). Will they avoid another BCS stumble?

3. Texas--They're amazing, but got squeezed out of the title.

The BCS System: Full of BS

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:07:39 EDT

The BCS. Ugh, I hate that system like I could not tell you. The system which lets Ohio State and Ohio State AGAIN play for the national title, while good teams are sidelined. In 2005, LSU and USC watched as Ohio State was humbled against the Gators. Meanwhile, USC obliterated Michigan at the Rose Bowl, and LSU handed the hapless Irish their ticket back home. (btw, can we remove Notre Dame from the bowl system? They've dropped their last 8 bowl games. Uggghh...).

Then, Ohio State had an opportunity for redemption. They backed into the title game and LSU slid into the BCS even after losing to the Razorbacks at home. Nonetheless, Louisiana actually proved they belonged. But, Ohio State got the nod over Virginia Tech, Georgia, Missouri, USC, and other very worth teams.

Let's get these rankings under control...

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:44:14 EDT

OK, there's a lot of complaints about the AP poll--it starts too early, it doesn't rank them fairly, Alabama should be 1st, Alabama should be 7th, et cetera.

But, let's get this together--when the rankings come out, what are the coaches, sportswriters, etc. voting about? Are they voting for the best team this week, the best team overall, the best team that will probably be at the end of the season--e.g., don't vote for Georgia #1, because they have a tough schedule, and by Week 14 they won't be #1 (if that happens).

A lot of analysts are disgusted with the preseason and early rankings--teams are hyped up too much. Upsets aren't really upsets-- the team was just ranked too high. It gets the players too cocky, too bummed out, too whatever.

College Football Grades, Week 1

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:53:36 EDT

Allright, here's my grades for the college football scene. Week 1, with only top ranked teams.

Since most of these games are tune-up games, I'll just give grades for the ranked teams (do you really want to know about Youngstown State in their shutout against OSU? I didn't think so.)

1. Georgia-- Offense A Defense A. Not much to say... sure Georgia Southern scored 21, but those were in the junk days of he 3rd and 4th quarters. Too bad they played a Div. II team, hurt them in the polls.

2. Ohio State-- Offense A Defense A+. Looked good and the shutout points the finger over to Southern Cal. But, then again, it was Youngstown State.

OK, here's the NFL playoff predictions (Revised)

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:07:08 EDT

Here's the revised version

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals

San Fransisco 49ers

Sure, all the best ever all occur in our time...

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:58:54 EDT

Right, Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time with more Gold Medals than anyone else. What more are the Olympics about than gold medals, anyway? Oh, and in case you were wondering, Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer ever, Kobe is the new MJ, and Bret Favre is the new Joe Montana.

Sound familiar?

OK, so I stretched it a little. But, are we really judging him the best Olympian just because of golds. Let me tell you this, I think Phelps is amazing. I mean, he makes it look like kindergardener's play. Besting his own times, and swimming so far of the competition, you've got to go over the instant replays to make sure he didn't jump off too early.

Or, you gotta check his swimsuit for rocket propulsion. Just kidding...

Another fumble for Bret...

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:08:40 EDT

I already blogged about Bret's four fumblings. Well, how about another one, say the post is called "Bret's Five Fumblings" or "Bret's Four Fumblings (Take Two)". Much ado aside, sometimes I wonder about sports. Red Sox trade Manny, and Bret goes to the Buccanneers...no? Oh, he must be going to the Vikings...nope? Huh, well did he choose oh, I don't know, let's see...

He wouldn't choose an awful franchise like the Dolphins. Other obvious no-no's, the Rams, the Bengals, the Jets---- what? He went to who...THE JETS? OMG!

Why would he make such a stupid move? Everybody knows he gives them 3 more wins at best, probably more like two more. But he went with a team that went 4-12 last year. So, he can give them 4 wins, and they'll be 8-8, WHEEE! I mean, that's not good enough for the wild card, let alone division champion.

Looking for that BS game, oh, oops...the BCS game

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:26:15 EDT

So, here we go again. The BCS system wants to lead us to believe that they make the best choices every year, and the Bowl Games are the way to go. All that, and we still get horrible matchups like Hawaii-Georgia, USC-Illinois, and LSU-Ohio State.

And the BCS is here to stay, at least until 2010, and until the Big Ten guys retire. Heck, if I was in the Big Ten, I'd oppose a playoff system. The bowls give me the look like I'm great (overrated Ohio State) and get to go to the BCS, leaving out other more worthy teams, say Georgia or possibly USC.

Somethings gonna have to change. Let me say this loud and clear. Ohio State is OVERRATED. Has no one learned their lesson? Ohio State has gotten blown out in the last two years, by much better SEC teams like Florida and LSU.

For Favre, Four Fumblings...

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:48:16 EDT

Bret Favre has undoubtably become the opposite of the demi-God he was when he left the NFL. Since claiming at his retirement that he just "didn't have the fire" anymore to keep practicing --- I mean, come on, that's a bunch of BS, everybody goes through weeks where you don't feel like playing (but he had just come off almost going to the SuperBowl) --- he has been waffling to the disgust of real sports fans, and the glee of bored talk-show hosts. So here's the 4 mistakes Favre made...

Bret Favre's Four Fumblings--

1. Retiring impulsively--- It's legitimate for Favre to retire---kid me not--- but his decision was so soon after the Super Bowl and the NFC championship, where he almost went to the Super Bowl no less, it was obvious it was just a quick "all right, I'll retire now" kind of move. The minute he said he just lost the spark for playing (after being on the verge of a Super Bowl?!), I knew he had made a impulsive, hair-brained move.

Home-court advantage? Not for this gang....

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:22:36 EDT

Tampa Bay has got to be glad they aren't facing the Angels right now.

LA has ravaged the AL East, taking 2 of 3 from Baltimore, sweeping the Red Sox, and taking the first game from New York. Tampa Bay can just sit back and play their sup-par teams, as the Angels hammer away all the AL East runner-ups.

LA looks like a World Series ball club right now. Not only have they moved for a big power hitter--Mark Teixera-- they've combined great starting pitching with red-hot bats that are just melting the opposition. Nobody's looked good against them. Yankees with Xavier Nady and Pudge couldn't touch the Halos. The now-Mannyless Red Sox were helpless---- AT HOME! Fenway's no good, Camden Yards has nothing for it, and Yankee Stadium is just another field for the hard charging Angels. Sporting the best MLB road record, they don't need home field advantage to do their dirty work.

World Series Predictions? Seems a little early..

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:53:41 EDT

Well, here go looking into that Crystal Ball for those World Series predictions. I know, I know-- it's just starting August, TIm.... Who do you think you are to start predicting the October Classic?

Well, cause that's what we do as the mavericks looking into this Crystal Ball.

Let's start with a little wrapup of the big boy in each division. Crossouts mean virtually no chance.

AMERICAN LEAGUE