Life, Back to Normal

Or at least close to it.

Tonight, we finally get college football back. Sure, there isn't really anything exciting to watch match up-wise. I mean, South Carolina and NC State being your #1 option?

Great! It's COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

As previously stated and now quite late, the preseason predictions.

ACC: The ACC is pretty much a terrible conference right now. If this was 1999, things would be different. But it's almost ten years later. What is Florida State going to do? I actually really like Miami this year. I really like Miami. I think Miami is going to play Florida a lot tighter in week two than anyone thinks. But they are at least one year away. Clemson is again, a top ten team going into the year. Their quarterback, apparently, is a big time player, along with their two-headed monster in the backfield, on paper, say that Clemson is the favorite. Well, I don't buy it. I'll take Virginia Tech.

Big 10: Who's going to beat Ohio State? Outside of USC? If Ohio State loses a conference game this year, they should fire Jim Tressel. Period. They have no business whatsoever losing a game in that conference. The Big 10 is abysmal. Ohio State should walk over that conference.

Big 12: As far as I'm concerned, the Big 12 is the most intriguing conference in the nation this year. There are a number of teams at the top of that conference that can get it done, and Texas isn't one of them. Oklahoma and Missouri are great teams with great offenses. So is Texas Tech, who has probably the greatest offense in America. I think Texas Tech, this year, is a serious threat Oklahoma and the national picture. On paper, Oklahoma is the most balanced team in the conference and they should win the conference. I like Oklahoma, but Missouri sure is tempting. I've gone back and forth on this for weeks, but I see Missouri in the North and Oklahoma in the South with OU winning the rematch.

Big East: Again, West Virginia has no business losing any game, outside of their mid-season clash with Auburn, this year if Pat White stays healthy. If Pat White stays healthy, he should win the Heisman as he's the most dynamic and valuable player in the country. If he doesn't, well, then there's an issue. I think one way or the other, White will stay healthy enough to get WVU into another BCS game, but they his health could get them into a title game. If they're lucky.

Pac-10: Why shouldn't USC win this conference? I don't know, but for some reason, I just don't really like the Trojans this year. I could be wrong, very wrong. But to me they don't seem as strong as they have in previous years. Part of the problem with how great "those" USC teams were is that it's so hard to replace such great players, and Mark Sanchez, though a highly touted recruit, is not Matt Leinart. Personally, I think Joe McKnight is the most overly hyped recruit I've possibly ever seen. Sure, a lot of that has to do with him being "The Next Reggie Bush" but you can't expect that, and he's not in Bush's class. Oh, and who's going to catch the ball? Patrick Turner hasn't blossomed in LA. Their big TE is gone. USC is going to have a great defense, as usual, but they aren't going to be able to get by on defense alone when their offense, probably isn't the best in the Pac-10. Watch for a very competitive Pac-10 this year. I'm going to go on a limb, but I like Oregon to win the conference. And watch out for Arizona to win a at least one big game. They are going to score points.

SEC: Ah yes, the SEC. This year, I think the SEC is too competitive for it's own good. That being said, I think there are some teams coming back to the pack. Look, Georgia isn't the best team in the country. I don't know who is. But they have a lot of trouble catching the football and that's not going to be helped with their starting left tackle out. Their defense isn't what it was last year. And they were hot last year. How long can a hot streak last? Sure, everyone has their flaws, just like Florida's entire defense has. Florida is going to score their points, and they will make their big plays on defense. Is Tennessee a better team than both the Dawgs and Gators? I don't know, but I think they are all on a much more even playing field than the experts think. In the West, it's obviously LSU and Auburn, and I'm not quite sold on Auburn. Though I see Auburn beating Tennessee at Auburn, I still think I like LSU. They are just as strong everywhere on the field as they were last year, and mind you, Glenn Dorsey was banged up all year, so what's the difference? My prediction is this: Tennessee beats Florida in Knoxville, for Florida's only conference loss, Tennessee loses at Auburn and at Georgia, and Georgia loses to LSU, Florida, and someone else down the road. LSU bounces back and beats Florida (who will lose to Florida State) in the SEC Championship game with Tennessee and LSU representing the SEC in the BCS. How's that sound?

All things considered, I think Oklahoma will beat Ohio State for the National Title. I don't see Pat White staying healthy enough to get WVU there. He hasn't done it in the past, I don't see it starting now. Unfortunately, I don't see Pat White winning the Heisman either. Though he should, it looks like he won't. Tebow will be there with Florida playing the the post season, but his numbers won't be the same. ESPN will find a way to get him there though. Keep in mind, last year Tebow won the award by default...If I had to take someone today, I'd take Beanie Wells. Should he win it? I don't know, probably not. But there isn't going to be anyone in the north to challenge his votes.

It's back, it's back tonight, and most notably on Monday night. But get ready for a wild year in college football. We aren't lucky enough to have a '99 Florida State team that everyone knows is going to run the table, no questions asked. So get ready for the debates at the bars with your buddies, because this year is going to get flat out nasty.

How Soon We Forget

Remember how fired up everyone was about the Olympics last week? And even more so the week before that?

Well, how things have changed.

Honestly, I really could care less these days. Why? Well, because I know all the results. And then NBC tries to pawn off the events from "Last Night" in China as if we didn't all know what happened.

I mean, even America can't force the sun to rise at different times that are more convenient for us, but this is really just killing the Olympics for the countries where households have TV's in North America. Swimming traditionally has been a morning sport, so we lucked out on that. Courtesy of Beach Volleyball also being a morning sport, I have found a reason to get into that. But we all know when that Bolt guy wins thanks to every website. So...am I going to wait around to listen to more Michael Phelps lifetime achievements that aren't being hosted by Dick Enberg or some other story about NBC celebrating Communism by Mary Carillo?

Seriously though. These Mary Carillo things are out of control. I'm sick of this celebration that NBC promotes of Chinese culture. They're Communists. They're the economic enemy of the United States, among other things. Basically, they stand for nothing that America does. Sure, they have a rich heritage that goes back long before George Washington was around but I'd sure like to see NBC, America's station covering the Olympics, the station that brought us Seinfeld, take a little anti-Communist stance.

However, I was at lunch yesterday with a co-worker. And I said, "Ron, check that out." He says, "Oh man, what sport is that?"

"TEAM HANDBALL."

Needless to say, I've hooked another one on the HANDBALL bandwagon. This is a sport that Americans could dominate given the chance. Give me some Arena Football players, a couple of minor league baseball players, and Doc Gooden, and I'll take on anyone.

Because Michael Phelps Made You Forget...

College Football is less than two weeks away. I don't think you understand just how amazing it is that we are going straight from the Olympics into college football. The single most unifying sporting event in America to the single most house-dividing, fight-driven, relationship ending sport there is. How ironic is this?

Going into the year, obviously, the big story is the SEC with their boatload of teams in the top 20. But, as we've analyzed about Florida having history not on their side with their offense along with injuries, as well as Georgia's schedule and now injuries, what are you to make of it?

What that's going to turn into is Big Ten fans talking about how weak the SEC is when there are a bunch of beat up three loss teams. Not to mention you are looking at a strong likelihood of a SEC Championship game re-match from last year if both teams can stay healthy. Again, I don't see an SEC team playing against Ohio State this year. I just think it's too tough.

I'm rambling and I know that I am. After posting pictures yesterday, I have just been dying to come up with a reason to talk to you about why I like Oklahoma, and that's because their quarterback has more French Open Titles than all the other teams in the nation, combined:






Yes, that's right, Justine Henin is looking to lead Oklahoma to an elusive BCS win and possibly a shot at the title. Their defense is stacked and Henin returns as the most efficient passer in the nation.

I like Missouri in the North and I like West Virginia, but if all plays out, I really think you are going to see Oklahoma play Ohio State. Now, are those the two best teams? Of course not. But that doesn't mean that's how it's going to go down. Later next week, look for a more in-depth look at the season and the conference predictions from No Owens. But for now, feel free to understand that Sam Bradford and Justin Henin are the same person.

Sorry Brian, But You Brought This Upon Yourself

Before I get into Alicia Sacramone being the biggest choker in women's gymnastics history (whatever that means) let's quickly analyze that all things considered, she is Brian Urlacher's sister. Or him. Either way, they look exactly the same, and their neck is the same size.

I can rag on Sacramone for the following reasons: first because she's twenty, in college and just like I can rag on any college athlete for choking, I can do the same to her whereas getting all over a sixteen year old isn't very nice, or in the case of the Chinese, a twelve year old. Secondly, because I was actually watching gymnastics.

Look, I am no expert in gymnastics. But I do know that this Sacramone fell, twice, and basically cost her American teammates the gold after the Beijing Middle School team left the door wide open for them. So the question, I suppose, becomes, did the Americans deserve to be in the gold medal fight anyway? I mean, I don't know.

But from what I can tell, gymnastics is rigged. This new scoring system basically gives everyone a head start, which is absurd. The Olympics is about giving your best performance, leaving it all out there, and seeing if you are the best. The new scoring system doesn't do that. It allows someone to be rewarded for choosing something harder to do, before they take to the mat. The difficulty should be rolled into the final score, not given a pre-determined amount. And then you get the crazy Chinese who do these ultra sophisticated moves, don't execute them and still get huge scores just because they were hard. Not to mention, when they don't execute, they still get monster scores. Look, it's rigged.

The Olympics have been pretty strong though. I mean, I actually got to watch TEAM HANDBALL the other day. I didn't know what to do with myself and when it was on the next morning, I really didn't know what was happening. I thought I was dreaming. Team Handball is probably the best sport ever and I'm glad it's getting air time. Even the other day at lunch I overheard someone telling a fellow patron about it's amazingness. Watch it, YouTube it, do something, but check this game out. It rocks.

And then there is this swimmer from America. He's absolutely amazing. But we knew that. He really hasn't had any business losing any of his races that he's been in, except that 4x100 free relay, which was without question, the best sporting event I've watched in years. I would love to know just how many Americans, sitting on their couch watching that and when the Americans out-touched the Frogs, jumped out, fist pumped and yelled, "YES!" I wonder who Johnny Depp was rooting for?

The American team is doing just fine, heading into the track and field events, where the Chinese aren't going to be as strong. The badmintons and ping pongs won't be as much of a factor in the overall medal count then. As long as we can keep Urlacher on the sidelines, we should be alright.

Five Colored Rings

I'm not sure who schedules this stuff, but the PGA Championship, which is Tigerless meaning most people other than me don't care, and the start of the Olympics, are both this weekend. What TV executives looked at the calendar along with the PGA and thought, "This is a great weekend?"

So this year is the last year of softball and baseball is gone. Yet we still care about precision air rifle shooting, apparently. It's a small miracle that basketball still exists. What I'm getting at is the summer games are pretty inferior to those in the winter. Sure we have the swimming story lines of Michael Phelps and Dara Torres, but you can pretty much look at past times in swimming and know who's going to win. It's pretty tough to just shave a half-second off your time with the medal ceremony on the line. Track I find to be another story. Because you're going so much faster on flat ground with wind conditions that actually do assist, and I think you can kick it into another gear if necessary. But in most cases, in most of the "speed" events you know who's going to win going in.

What's sad is the American spirit at these Olympics. America, at the present, is a pretty separated country. There are a lot of unhappy folks with what's going on here. How cool would it be if some team or someone came out of no where and as cheesy as it sounds, "capture the hearts of most Americans?" People talk about how awful things are right now (even though people still flock to the malls and buy stuff they can't afford so in other words Americans just make bad personal choices but find reasons to blame someone else other than themselves) but like in 1980, how great if there was a team, an event that everyone could relate to? What if even, even coming from me, the men's soccer team came out of no where to win the gold? I mean, I'm a soccer hater but an American first, and that would be pretty amazing.

Americans are passionate about their sports. So much that they physically fight with fans of other teams and hold people's teams of preference against their moral character. I do. If you're a Florida fan, I probably don't like you. But for two weeks, if we could channel all of our energy into a team that we all relate to, the United States Olympic Team, I think it would do us all a lot of good.

Catching Up With News

As I had no reasons to watch the Yankees last night, I threw Casino Royale in the DVD player. When it was done, Sportscenter came on when the breaking news was that Brett Favre had been traded to the New York Jets. What's interesting is, I didn't really feel anything. I wasn't upset that Favre was no longer a Packer. I wasn't happy about it either. I guess it was just something that was expected now, and best for both sides that the Packer/Favre saga was over.

Now, the first time I see him in a different green, things might be different.

No Owens previously put out their stance, backing the team and their decisions. But the differences that the Packers and Favre apparently had, even after the Packers went to make sure Favre was ok with retiring shortly after he announced as they wanted him back, were apparently too much for Favre who was allegedly going to get a chance to fight for a starting job. Would he have won it? Probably. But at the end it was Favre that wanted out. And the Packers were able to keep him out of the division.

So today, the Aaron Rodgers era officially begins. And I don't think the Packers are going to drop off too far. They have too good of a defense and too good of players on the offensive side of the ball. The Jets on the other hand, well, good luck, Brett.

Moving on.

The Florida Gators are hurting a little bit. Three of their key offensive players haven't been going full speed, if at all early in camp: receiver Percy Harvin, track star Chris Rainey, and tight end Cornelius Ingram. So many are high on the Gators going into the year but pre-season injuries aren't what the Gators need. They open with Hawaii at home and then host the Miami Hurricanes. You can bet that will be one physical game and then the Gators head to Knoxville for a 3:30 CBS showdown with the Vols. As many are high on the Gators, unlike No Owens as much, note they still aren't sold on a running back. We haven't really seen this super fast Chris Rainey, but we'll see how a track star really fares against football players. And also, they have a lot of faith riding on USC transfer Emmanuel Moody.

Is USC really that much more competitive than Florida? I mean, if he couldn't play at USC, do you think he's going to make it in the SEC? Don't get your hopes up in the backfield, Gator fan.

And in Baseball. ManRam is hitting somewhere around .600 since he's been a Dodger. Watch out. The Cubs will most likely draw the Dodgers in the first round. Interesting match up that we'll get into another time.