Friday News and Notes

First and foremost, I want to mention a few previous topics to generate legitimacy for No Owens. First...I am sure you noticed that Greg Oden is out for the season. Last I looked, Kevin Durant isn't. Oden has been injury prone since high school and the No Owens team cited that taking anyone besides Durant with the first pick was a mistake. Guys who are injury prone, stay injury prone. Need proof? Ask Fred Taylor how many Pro Bowls he's been to. Durant was the pick...I predict that Oden will never play an entire season in the NBA.

Also, remember the post concerning Denver and the upstart Rockies? Those same Rockies are right there in the Wild Card chase in the National League. It was also confirmed by No Owens that Troy Tulowitski would be an NL Rookie of the Year candidate. He's made it a tight race.

Enough gloating...this is all you are going to hear about the next topic. A source close to No Owens has confirmed that No Owens' least favorite sporting institution was spotted out of town away from his family last weekend. That is all that will be said in the confidence of the source and their well being. But for him and his people...I know if you want to talk about it.

Bill Belicheck should be suspended from coaching. This is what happens to players for cheating and it should happen to him. I can live with him not getting suspended as I really like the non-financial repercussions. The draft picks are a nice touch for punishment as it wasn't just one person committing the acts of videotaping signals...it was that of an entire organization. I hope that somehow, Roger Goodell gets the Republican nomination for the Presidency. The man rocks.

Big weekend in college football. First, this USC/Nebraska thing. Everyone wants to talk about how this is USC's first big test...blah blah. I don't believe Nebraska is there yet. They are still transitioning to a new offense after 80 years of an old one. I think they are a year away. I hope I'm wrong and they take it to John David Booty...but I don't think so. People are going to praise USC for putting up a two touchdown victory in Lincoln. They shouldn't be praised for doing what they should do to a team that can't hang with them at a neutral field. USC will lose at least once this season, but it won't be tomorrow.

The biggest game tomorrow is obviously Tennessee at Florida. Though USC is going to get the hype, the implications of this game every year are astounding. There is no argument that the SEC is the strongest conference in football. If you want to argue, you're simply wrong. Ask Ohio State. The early meeting by the two SEC East perennial contenders is the most important game in the East all year, and because it is so early, possibly in the entire SEC. This games gives one team a clear shot at heading to the SEC Championship game and a chance to control its own destiny. These implications aren't happening in Lincoln no matter what Herbstreit says.

All things considered, you can understand why this writer is so involved with this game. (I thought about putting inVOLved. That's bad.) Breaking down this game for about the past 3 days straight I was struggling to figure it out. Then it finally hit me. These teams both only have one PROVEN national spotlight level playmaker on offense: Erik Ainge for UT and Percy Harvin for UF (Tim Tebow is still not proven as he hasn't made a start versus anyone that he couldn't have beaten with his Neese High team...even though he was home schooled.) The defenses are both huge question marks. Florida has more athleticism at the skill positions, where UT is more powerful. The weather is going to be a factor and a wet field doesn't fair well with Florida's spread offense or Ainge's broken finger. Harvin, who makes his name making full speed cuts, has a bad knee so we will see how long that holds up. I think this game is a lot closer than the experts think...and aside from the fact that I'm never going to pick UT to lose...here is my prediction. Florida's offense challenges defenses giving defenders a greater chance to make plays. Everyone wants to make a big deal about UF's big play potential on offense. UT can make big plays in the secondary if they are challenged in coverage, which they haven't been; they've been hurt in space and schemed against. This being said, you have heard of the era of Eric Berry at UT thanks to No Owens. I predict a 38-31 Tennessee victory in The Swamp with the legend of Eric Berry growing on a national level. I think this true freshman will have the big play that's a difference maker. Watch for 14.

Finally. I was being warned last night about going to Gainesville this weekend...hearing the stories that we all know about with the Super Soakers filled with urine being shot at UT fans, and band members getting kicked by Gator fans as they enter the field. We're rolling about 16 deep, I'm not too worried about it. But then there are the stories about the Georgia fans throwing beer on people and the LSU fans throwing batteries at people and the Sooner fan doing what he did to the Texas fan in the bar just recently. How many people who act so ridiculously at college games actually graduated from the school they're rooting for? Or graduated at all? The people who give schools, especially in the southeast, a bad name are not alumni, often times of anywhere. I'll have a report on Monday. Lesson for the kids? Stay in school and you won't throw batteries.