End of an Era

Well, kinda.  Actually, not really at all.  Just end of my Blogger.com era, I suppose.  I've decided to take my (lack of) blogging talent over to a new site, www.drewandcorey.com.  You can find all the same horrible writing and opinions about stuff over there.  Check it out.

Your 2008 Pac-10 Preview: UCLA Bruins

College football commences on Thursday, August 28th, which makes us very happy.  Pac-10 play also opens up that same night, with Oregon State visiting Stanford.  So from now until then, we'll break down every Pac-10 team, their strengths, weaknesses, and what we generally think of them and their chances for the upcoming season.  Stay tuned to see what we think of your team.

UCLA BRUINS: FINISHED 6-7 IN 2007

The UCLA Bruins may very well be the most interesting team in the entire Pac-10 this season.  First of all, I hate em.  Cannot.  Stand.  Them.  Not sure why, but I just always have.  I think it's partially Troy Aikman's fault and partially the sheer ugliness of those powder blue jerseys that they've been rocking for, like, ever.  But this year, I'm actually interested in what happens to the Bruins.  

First of all, as you can see above, they aren't backing down from cross-town rivals USC Trojans in the least.  Pretty ballsy stuff.  Actually, it's absolutely nuts.  But whatever gets them going and ready for the season.  Whatever works.  I just won't feel as bad for them when USC unloads a beatdown on them on December 6th.  Can anyone say 30 point win?  35?

ANALYSIS

UCLA kind of has a huge, enormous problem.  They don't have a quarterback.  After losing Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson to injuries, they are now stuck (a very good way to put it) with community college transfer Kevin Craft.  Let me say that again.  Community college.  Yeah, the one below junior college.  Although Rick Neuheisel and the rest of the coaches are putting their best confidence face forward, Craft hasn't exactly convinced everyone that he's the guy for the job.  

Say what you want about the quarterback position and it's importance, but the truth remains.  Teams that don't have a solid number one quarterback usually don't finish in the top three spots of a major football conference.  They just don't.  And if they do, it's usually because the rest of the depth chart is packed with above-average talent.  That helps to make up for the weakness at QB (see 2006 Chicago Bears super bowl team as a model of what I'm referring to).  

The Bruins defense is decent.  And by decent, I mean fast and athletic.  But when your defense is obviously better than your offense, you run into a problem.  It's the same no matter where you go.  What happens is that your defense keeps the games close at first, but then they are on the field for such a long time, that eventually they wear down and you lose every time.  I have a feeling this is going to be the script for the Bruins in 2008.

PREDICTION: 4-8 (4-5 in conference)

Wins: Arizona, Washington State, Oregon State, California

Losses: Washington, Stanford, Tennessee, BYU, Oregon, USC, Arizona State, Fresno State

Other previews:

7. Arizona

8. Stanford

9. Washington

10. Washington State

Have You Ever Wanted To Do This?

In case you're at work, you might want to bust out the headphones or play this very softly.

Rudy Watch: USA 118, Spain 107

Final "Rudy Watch" here people.  Yeah, yeah I know it's a little bit late, right?  But just as the Oregon Department of Revenue told me the other day about my 2006 taxes, "better late than never."  ("And if you don't pay, we're coming after you...")

So the USA won gold.  We all know that.  But the Spanish fared much better against them than they did in the previous 37-point beatdown.  Along with the rest of his teammates, Rudy performed much, much better, leading the team with 22 points, hitting 5 of 9 threes and dunking over Dwight Howard in what might have been the dunk/play of the entire Olympics. (Video here.)

Generally speaking, I believe that Rudy is going to be a great addition for the Blazers.  Looking at how he performed in the Olympics, it seems as though he'll be able to adapt to life in the NBA quite well.  Maybe not at first, but I don't think Rudy is going to come over here and fall completely on his face.  A nice, solid 6th man-type role will do the Blazers just fine.

Rudy's stat line: 22 pts, 5-9 3-pt, 2 reb, 2 stl in 17 minutes

Your 2008 Pac-10 Preview: Arizona Wildcats

College football commences on Thursday, August 28th, which makes us very happy.  Pac-10 play also opens up that same night, with Oregon State visiting Stanford.  So from now until then, we'll break down every Pac-10 team, their strengths, weaknesses, and what we generally think of them and their chances for the upcoming season.  Stay tuned to see what we think of your team.

ARIZONA WILDCATS: FINISHED 5-7 IN 2007

It's been a pretty rough go for football in Tucson for a long time now.  Last time the Wildcat faithful saw any sort of success in football was 1998, where they somehow, inexplicably pulled a 12-1 record out of their cactus-loving asses.  

I tried a few Google searches to figure out what players they had on the team in '98, maybe to pin down how they were that good, but after about three minutes, it wasn't worth the effort.  Suffice it to say, there is a reason the top two must-see sports in Tucson are 1) men's basketball and 2) women's softball.  You won't find that scenario at very many other schools.

ANALYSIS

Last season was a semi-breakout season for Arizona.  While there was nothing particularly stellar about their record of 5-7, but the greatest leap seemed to come with their offense.  Senior QB Willie Tuitama finally "arrived" on the scene (more or less) last season and the offense improved considerably from the previous year.  Last year, Zona's offense averaged 28.0 points per game, which was leaps and bounds better than the 16.6 ppg they averaged in the year before.  Wideout Mike Thomas was one of the best receivers in the conference last year, and should make Arizona's passing attack one of the most feared in the Pac-10.  

Word out of Tucson is that the offensive improvement is all the work of new offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes.  Still, head coach Mike Stoops is said to be on the hot seat and must reach a bowl game to firm up his job security outlook.  So if the Wildcats don't manage to sneak into a late December bowl game, both Stoops and Dykes will both be gone.

As with previewing any team in any sport before any season starts, it's nearly impossible to pick who upsets who and when.  So when we look down Arizona's schedule, we just don't see them doing anything too spectacular.  

PREDICTION: 6-6 (3-6 in conference)

Wins: Washington, Stanford, Idaho, Toledo, New Mexico, Washington State

Losses: UCLA, California, USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State

Other previews:

8. Stanford

9. Washington

10. Washington State

Thanks For The Memories, Duck

In case you haven't already heard, Kevin Duckworth passed away last night in Lincoln City, Oregon.

In no way did I know him personally or anything like that.  But Kevin Duckworth and the Portland Trailblazer teams of the early-to-mid 90's provided many of the happiest moments of my youth.  And I had a damned good childhood people.  I absolutely loved those Blazers teams, as did everyone in the state of Oregon.  I can still remember watching the Blazers beating the Phoenix Suns in Phoenix in game 5 to advance to the Western Conference finals.  Me, my mom and my dad were yelling so loud with excitement that we made my little sister break into tears.  It was truly a great moment.

I don't think anything will ever compare to those childhood days of Blazermania.  I can honestly say that I don't think anything like that is going to happen ever again.  Even now, with Oden and the great, young team we have here in Portland right now, it still doesn't compare.  I just don't know if it ever will.  I guess the only thing that can top those "good old" days of "Blazermania" would be an NBA title for Roy, Oden, Outlaw and the boys.

Those teams were something else though.  Interesting thought from Ball Don't Lie blog: "Those Portland teams were brilliant.  I'm having a hard time coming up with a recent team that played as well without actually ending the season with the crown, because modern almost-there's like the Suns and Mavericks weren't even in Portland's league."

Wow.  Amen to that.  More thoughts on Duckworth and those Blazer teams here.

A Different Kind of Fantasy Football

I don't know which kind of fantasy football I would prefer, if given the choice.  It's a close call.  Sure, Braylon Edwards is pretty dreamy, but I think I would rather play fantasy football with any one of these fine ladies instead of Edwards.  

ABC, You Now Have Our Attention

Now I'll admit, in my lifetime, I have watched more than my fair share of crappy and/or sappy movies solely because there was a hot chick in said movie. And for no other reason whatsoever. None at all. Just a hot (or at least decent looking) girl. That's it.

Movies that come to mind where this has happened:

-Elecktra (Jennifer Garner)

-Dukes of Hazzard (Jessica Simpson)

-Don't Mess With the Zohan (Emmanuelle Chriqui)

-Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (April Scott, Trishelle Cannatella, others...)

-Made of Honor (Michelle Monaghan)

-Stuck on You (Eva Mendes)

-The Holiday (Cameron Diaz)

-Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Blake Lively)

-Pretty much every single chick flick I've ever seen.

Obviously, there are more, but they aren't coming to mind right now. And yes, it's true that pretty much all dudes are just like me, in the fact that yes, we all like hot girls. No surprise there.  In fact, you can make anything interesting to guys if you just add hot chicks. No joke. Anything. That topic is surely another post for another day. So I'm not saying anything original by any means. I'm just saying.

Anyway, ABC has finally nabbed my attention. First of all, I hate Dancing With The Stars. I just don't get "it", okay? I don't like dancing and I don't have a lot of interest in watching other people dancing. Don't wanna hear or see it. But apparently, ABC has gone the extra mile in working to get me to pay attention. Saw this article on Yahoo a couple days ago. This could defintely get my attention. I've gotta give them credit. Brooke Burke, Kim Kardashian, Misty May-Treanor, Susan Lucci and Toni Braxton are more than reasons enough to tune in. At least a couple times, right?

I may have to check into getting a DVR again.

Scratch that. I'm definitely going to be checking into getting that DVR back...

Your 2008 Pac-10 Preview: Stanford Cardinal

College football commences on Thursday, August 28th, which makes us very happy.  Pac-10 play also opens up that same night, with Oregon State visiting Stanford.  So from now until then, we'll break down every Pac-10 team, their strengths, weaknesses, and what we generally think of them and their chances for the upcoming season.  Stay tuned to see what we think of your team.

STANFORD CARDINAL: FINISHED 4-8 IN 2007

After looking at a few other previews to gauge what kind of expectations there are for Stanford this coming year...well there are none.  None of the previews I saw gave Stanford much of a chance of winning more than two games.  Geez, I didn't know that picking Stanford to finish third from the bottom in the conference would make me feel like such a homer.

ANALYSIS

Well first of all, if you can tell me anything of merit that Stanford accomplished last season, besides upsetting USC, and I'll give you $20 bucks.  Or however much is in my wallet right now, which ever is more.  Anyway, all the hype last season was about this guy Tavita Pritchard.  One lucky pass and the guy's getting all the credit.  Well, he ain't even that good.  He's in a QB battle with two other quarterbacks, with Harbaugh leaning towards any of them.

Their offensive was pretty crappy last year, ranking in the triple digits nationally.  And it never helps a bottom-feeding offense when you lose your two best receivers, as Stanford after last year.  Evan Moore and Mark Bradford have both gone, so the receiving duties rest solely with Richard Sherman, who is the only WR with any sort of experience.

The Cardinal and coach Jim Harbaugh want this team to be a defense-first type team.  That is where they have the most promise heading into this next season.  Unfortunately, they play in the Pac-10 and not the Mountain West, so winning very many games isn't going to come easy at all.

We've actually marked them down for a couple upset games, and if those don't happen, Stanford will most likely find themselves in the basement of the conference.

PREDICTION: 3-9 (2-7 in conference)

Wins: San Jose State, UCLA, Washington State

Losses: Washington, Oregon State, Arizona State, USC, California, Arizona, Oregon, Notre Dame, TCU 

Other previews:

9. Washington

10. Washington State

Your 2008 Pac-10 Preview: Washington Huskies

College football commences on Thursday, August 28th, which makes us very happy.  Pac-10 play also opens up that same night, with Oregon State visiting Stanford.  So from now until then, we'll break down every Pac-10 team, their strengths, weaknesses, and what we generally think of them and their chances for the upcoming season.  Stay tuned to see what we think of your team.

WASHINGTON HUSKIES: FINISHED 4-9 IN 2007

First, a confession of sorts: We grew up loving the Washington Huskies.  I mean, absolutely loved them.  They were the favorite team by far of our young lives.  We were both born and raised in Oregon, but the success of the Huskies from up north captured our 8 year old hearts.  It didn't help that both Oregon and Oregon State were pretty sucky at the time.  

Growing up, Dad would take us out to a college football game about once a year, either in Eugene or in Corvallis.  One of our earliest memories of actually being at a big time college football game was watching this happen at Autzen Stadium on October 22 of 1994.  After witnessing that play, I'm afraid that I was never the same.  (You freaking idiot Jim Lambright!  What the hell man?  You were on the SEVEN YARD LINE!!  Give the damned ball to Napoleon Kaufman!  Give it to Kaufman, you retard!  Kaufman!  He's your f-ing running back!)  You may be wondering, and the answer is yes.  We got over the bitterness of that day a very long time ago.

Anyway, I have to admit that ever since that day, my Washington Husky fandom changed a bit.  It was more than just your typical jumping from the bandwagon move.  The Huskies continued to be a pretty good team, at least for a few more years.  I think they just broke my heart.  Thanks a lot Damon Huard.  I don't know if you can hear it on the video clip, but if you listen closely, you can hear my 13 year old heart breaking in two.  "Kenny Wheaton" is practically a four letter word in my parents household to this day.

ANALYSIS

(Wow, how off-topic have we started this post off???)  I have a feeling that this Washington Husky team is going to be a lot like last year's team.  Last year's team was something of a mystery, with experts all over the place with their picks.  Some thought the Huskies would surprise everyone, finishing in the top half of the conference.  Others never bought into the hype.  Turns out they weren't really that good, finishing 4-9.  They only won one game that was considered as impressive, beating Boise State in Seattle, 24-10.

I think the Huskies are pretty much the same exact team as last year.  Sure, Jake Locker is still one of the more (maybe the most) dangerous QBs in the conference, but I'm afraid Ty Willingham is going to need more than just Locker's performance to keep his job after this season.  Sadly, we don't see that happening.

PREDICTION: 3-9 (2-7 in conference)

Wins: Stanford, Notre Dame, UCLA

Losses: Oregon, BYU, Oklahoma, Arizona, Oregon State, USC, Arizona State, Washington State, California

Other previews:

10. Washington State

ESPN's Stacey Dales: Jammin' at the 2008 Little League World Series

Just stumbled upon this interesting and very poorly lit video of ESPN reporter, and former WNBA-er, Stacey Dales.  This is what there is to do in the town of Williamsport, PA, when you're not busy sideline-reporting at the Little League World Series.  I have no clue who the dude is that is responsible for the awesome (?) singing.  His name is Cody Coe, whoever the hell that is.  

The funny thing about Mr. Coe's singing, is that is actually sounds a lot like the actual song.  I don't know what exactly that is saying about the original song, come to think of it.  As for Miss Dales' moves, we say they're actually pretty decent.  We wouldn't mind bustin' a move out on the dance floor with Miss Dales ourselves.  Wait, what's that you say?  How tall did you say she was? (Answer from the back: "about 6 feet tall")  6 feet? (!) Dammmmmmnn.  Oh, well then nevermind.  That is way, way, way too tall for us.

(Side: we need more photos of Stacey Dales not playing basketball on the internet, dammit.  I spent literally at least 9 whole minutes trying to find some decent photo, and that one up there is all I could come up with.)

Happy Friday: All Things Fantasy Football

The fantasy football draft is tomorrow, and I'm feverishly pouring over rankings from all corners of the net.  Yahoo, ESPN, SI.com, RotoWorld, Drudge Report, Maxim Online...you know, all the usual websites. I'm half prepared and half panicked at this point.  

The thought of potentially being forced to choose between Brian Westbrook and Joseph Addai at the 4th pick haunted my dreams last night.  Or an even worse thought: getting the 7th or 8th pick, or as I like to call it, the "sh*t pick."  Getting the 8th pick ("sh*t pick") will haunt your dreams for the entire season.

We've got lots of questions playing over and over in our minds today.  I mean, is Marshawn Lynch really the 11th best fantasy pick on the board?  Really?  I know he's gotta be ranked number one in the Fantasy Hit-and-Run rankings, but is he going to be that good on the football field?  Is Frank Gore going to make it through the entire season without an injury?  You see, if I pick him, he'll go down in week one and be out for at least 8 weeks.  If someone else gets him, he'll stay injury-free and dominate.  That's just how the fantasy football cookie crumbles for me in most cases.    

Do you think I am over-thinking this a little bit? (Yeah, just a tad right?)  Anyway, no matter how my fantasy draft may potentially go tomorrow, a little Vanessa Minillo will always make it a little bit better.

A Nation Collectively Weeps...I Collectively Weep Also: Leryn Franco Loses

(And folks, I am totally speechless.  This is why there are no formal writings here on this post.  We're really gonna miss you, Leryn.)

Your 2008 Pac-10 Preview: Washington State Cougars

College football commences on Thursday, August 28th, which makes us very happy.  Pac-10 play also opens up that same night, with Oregon State visiting Stanford.  So from now until then, we'll break down every Pac-10 team, their strengths, weaknesses, and what we generally think of them and their chances for the upcoming season.  Stay tuned to see what we think of your team.

WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS: FINISHED 5-7 IN 2007

We are going to start picking the Pac-10 teams apart, going from the bottom up.  And since the 2003 season, Wazzu has been near or in the Pac-10's basement.  From 2001-2003, they went 30-8 and went to the Sun Bowl, the Rose Bowl (!) and the Holiday Bowl.  Since then, just a meager record of 20-28 with no bowl appearances.  

The Cougars haven't really seen much in the way of consistent success since the days of Ryan Leaf, if you can believe that.  Say what you will about Leaf and his fall from grace, but he was a real good college QB.

"ANALYSIS"*

I guess I have to put something here right?  Well he was still in college, QB Alex Brink was considered their only real strength of the past couple years.  He is now gone and playing for the Houston Texans.  This year, Senior wideout Brandon Gibson returns and ranks as one of the best in the entire Pac-10.  Last year, he was actually the only wide receiver in the conference to average over 100 yards receiving per game.  He was pretty much the only bright spot last season, and seems to be the only projected bright spot for the upcoming season.

Washington State's new coach, Paul Wulff, will have his boys running a new up-tempo, no huddle spread offense, pretty much like every other team in the Pac-10 runs these days.  As we know though, it's pretty hard to take over a team, insert a brand new offensive scheme, and have any sort of success in the first year or two.  It's even harder when your team sucks like the Cougars do.

In 2007, Wazzu had six games where they gave up 34 points or more.  Five of those games they actually gave up 40 or more.  Tell you what, I probably could have suited up and played corner for the defense, and they would have done just as good.  It ain't very good.      

PREDICTION: 3-10 (1-8 in conference)

Wins: Baylor, Portland State, Washington

Losses: Oklahoma State, California, Oregon, UCLA, Oregon State, USC, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, Hawaii

(* You may ask why the word 'analysis' is in quotation marks?  Well, it's because I pretty much have no idea what in the hell I'm talking about when it comes to being an "analyst.")

Countdown to Fantasy Football 08: 2 days, 20 hours and 56 minutes

Today, a video plus a little bit of knowledge for ya.  Because I care so much about you all, I'm going to reveal some of my fantasy football secrets.  These are things that I've learned over the past few years or so, things that I have put to the test and have found success with.  I call them "guidelines", you may call them rules if you like.  But here you go.

I am going to divulge to you, the top 5 players that you want to stay away from and not draft.  Pay attention, because other owners in fantasy football leagues all over this fine nation will be gobbling these players up in the early rounds, and you may feel left out.  But stick with me people.  After these players all turn out to be draft day busts, you can just sit back and laugh at them all the day long, because you didn't get fooled like they did.  And trust me, you will be on top of your league, or at least over .500.  Wait.  On second thought, I can guarantee that you won't be in last place?  How's that for ya?

Here we go.  Here is the list.

#5)  You will not want to draft Dwayne Wright, (pictured) running back for the Buffalo Bills.  He is rated by ESPN as the 99th best RB on the board, so it's gonna be tempting to snag Mr. Wright in your league's draft, I know.  But you have to resist this temptation.  He is projected to accumulate a mass of 107 yards rushing and 1 touchdown for the year, and I know those stats jump out and scream "I'm going to be the steal of the draft as a 5th round pick", but stay strong.

#4) The next player you will not want to draft is Redskin's WR Anthony Mix.  Despite the large amount of publicity this guy has received since going undrafted out of Auburn back in some year, unfortunately for fantasy owners everywhere, this guy isn't going to be in the Mix.  (See what I did there?)  I know, it's pretty disappointing to see Mix tumble down the depth chart after showing so much promise back in the local Rec League when he was 13.  Trust me, there are about 132 other WR's that will be a better pick than this guy.  

#3) Next up is Tyler Palko, QB for the New Orleans Saints.  With him in the same QB group as Drew Brees and Mark Brunell, you're pretty amazed this guy isn't going to be competing for the starting QB job, huh?  Admit it.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but trust me, don't draft Palko.  He's going to seem like such a steal sitting there at the 50th overall pick, but you will thank me later for not taking Palko.  

#2) Readers have been emailing me non-stop about this next guy.  Vinsanthe Shiancoe of the Minnesota Vikings.  My inbox has been overflowing with questions about this dude's upside, sticky finger hands, and potential fantasy value.  In fact, Larry in Terre Haute, IN writes in, "The Vikings signed this guy and are paying him a guaranteed $7 million bucks, so he's gotta be a good fantasy pick, right?"  Wrongo, wrongo there Larry.  It's true he's getting paid that $7 million, but if you draft him, it's going to hurt you in the standings.  You can quote me on that, buddy.

#1) And the number one player that I am telling you not to draft and to stay as far away as possible is...Plaxico Burress.  Two reasons.  1. He is injury prone.  His ankle is apparently attached to his women parts.  And 2. Did you hear me?  He has f-ing women parts.

That is all.  Hope it helped you out.  Here is your video.  (Again, you probably wanna earmuff the kids and old people.)

Chinese Baseball Players Are Real Classy

This is a couple days old, but the USA beat China on Monday, 9-1. And by international baseball standards and especially any type of baseball standards, it was quite the physical game.

As an American, I know that Americans aren't always the most gracious of athletes. I know that we are seen as just a bunch of cocky blowhards to everyone else in the world. Yeah, yeah I get it. And I'm not denying that sometimes we aren't perfect competitors. But when did the Chinese decide to try to out-jerk the Americans? Because they did it quite well on Monday.

China's one run came via home run hit by backup catcher Yang Yang. His home run came in the top of the 9th inning. Earlier in the game, Yang was taken out at home plate by the USA's Nate Schierholtz. Yang was pretty pissed off about getting barreled over, and had to be held back by teammates from going after Schierholtz. While pitching in the 7th inning, China seemed to "get their payback" for Yang getting punked. They straight up took out (he had to actually leave the game) Matt LaPorta with a heater to the side of the head.

Still, after all that went down, Yang Yang must have felt the need to take his one home run in the top of the 9th inning, that had no real effect on the outcome of the game, and rub it in the faces of the US players. (Ooooooo, your one tiny home run really hurts us, Yang.  You sure got us there.) Here is the visual of him running around the bases. Note: he had his hand raised like that the entire way around the bases. Truly an act of complete douchebag-ery, I don't care what country your from.

So, to recap:

1. Knocking a catcher out at the plate? A normal, although very physical part of the game.

2. Headhunting by your pitcher in response to said home plate collision (no matter what Roger Clemens will tell you)?  In baseball circles, usually considered as bush league.

3. Hitting one single non-game-changing home run at the end of the game, when it doesn't matter in the least, and the proceeding to over-the-top celebrate it the entire time you're running around the bases?  Earning a total beat down the very next time you put on your tiny littlt baseball jersey for being such an a$$hole.

I Guess I Don't Hate Everything About The Stupid, Idiot Miami Dolphins

Case in point:  Whoever this is.