Oh good, we're ready to say the Big Ten sucks again

Even though Minnesota beat North Carolina, and Ohio State has absolutely destroyed everyone they have played, I think we are already getting to the point in the season where every pundit in the land starts doubting the Big Ten's chops. It happens every year, and then the Big Dance comes along and the Big Ten "surprises" by getting at least 1 team in the Final Four and usually about 3-4 teams to the Sweet 16. But still, they play a methodical game, and each and every bad loss is seized upon as a sign that the Big Ten is an impossibly bad major conference.
Well, in the past week, we have seen Purdue take a bad loss to Richmond (they must be bad since Robbie Hummel is out! You know, just like he was last year when they made it t to the Sweet 16), Minnesota lost to Virginia (the UNC/West Virginia wins must have been the flukes) and Wisconsin lost in the finals of their early season tournament and Illinois and Michigan State only got third place in their tournament games. Yes, let's all start crapping on the Big Ten, and then talk about how weak the conference is when in fact it's simply very competitive.
Last year, the Big Ten won the ACC/Big Ten challenge, which is underway already (with Minnesota's loss to Virginia), and it must have been a down year for the ACC, since the Big Ten still garnered little respect from basketball pundits. How many games does the Big Ten have to win this year to gain a little love? Probably all of them.

Links of the Day 11/30/10

I know I mentioned Leslie Nielsen's passing yesterday, but With Leather compose some of this greatest sports related moments.

Arguing with officials off the field? Awesome.

The Colts are having their worst season in 9 years.

So what's it going to be?

The baseball winter meetings are coming up, starting a week from today. It's usually the time of year for all the big off season moves to either get made or for the seeds for those moves to be planted. All the GMs are in one place, there to talk about baseball and their teams, maybe to change a few rules, but definitely to talk about the next season.
The Twins, historically, are one of the quieter teams during the meetings. Ever since Bill Smith has taken over, his biggest moves are either before or well after the deadline. To wit:; before the meetings, he has traded for Delmon Young and swapped Carlos Gomez for JJ Hardy, after the meetings, he dealt Johan Santana and signed most of his free agents, like Orlando Hudson and Jim Thome last year.
The Twins have already added (probably) one player in the artistic Tsuyoshi Nishioka, but have refrained from any multiplayer trades. Keep in mind that, for the most part, the team has indicated that they seem to be OK with the status quo by signing Ron Gardenhire to an extension. I guess what I'm trying to say is, enjoy the rest of baseball blowing up next week, because the Twins won't do anything. Just wait 'til March, though, when Smith will fill the remaining holes on the cheap.

Links of the Day 11/29/10

Great, the Colts lost again. How long until we start calling Peyton Manning a "Gunslinger"?

TCU is going to the frickin' Big East, if reports are accurate. The hell?

Leslie Neilson passed away at the hospital yesterday. What was it? A big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

I am somewhat depressed

Right now, this is where my teams stand:
Minnesota Wild - Lost last night to Colorado
Purdue basketball - Lost last night to Richmond (ugh)
Purdue football - Lost yesterday AT HOME to Indiana (double ugh)
Indianapolis Colts - Lost last week to New England
Want me to keep going? How deep do you want? Let's go overseas.
Rosenborg BK, my favorite soccer club, from my grandmothers home town - Lost to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League, but hey! They tied with Aalesund in the Norwegian league finale
Blackburn, my EPL team - Lost yesterday to Manchester United, 7-1
Further? OK
Minnesota Twins - Swept by the Yankees in the postseason
Heck, my high school, Benilde St. Margaret's - Lost to Totino Grace in the Sectional quarters.

Sports suck. I need something to improve my mood.

Ah, I'll always have you, sad Brett Favre

Links of the Day 11/28/10

It sounds like Brett Favre may be out with pneumonia today. Very dangerous for a man his age.
 The Gophers actually won against Iowa. Well done, Gophers, you ended up with the same Big Ten record as Purdue.

The day didn't go as well for Purdue. Ugh.

And now you know why I like soccer.

Why Boise State losing is for the best

So, there was a heck of a game last night. Nevada won an overtime thriller with Boise State, which ended Boise's hopes of competing in a BCS game of any sort. It's very possible that, in fact, Boise isn't as good as we had thought. This is a good thing, and let me tell you why.
Money. Not long ago, when the Big Ten was prepared to add another team, Steve and I got into a debate on what the Big Ten divisions would look like. As much as I didn't want it to happen, Steve was right and money ruled the day, and many rivalries were split so those rivalries could eventually be replayed as conference championships.  Michigan and Ohio State are the cash cows, and having them in a championship game is a big deal.
And so it would be with any potential change in structure atop the college football landscape. The teams that make the money have the power. The teams that make the money are the ones in the power conferences in big markets, the Big East, the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12, the Pac 10 and of course, the Big 10. They have the current structure in place because it allows them to make the most money. Every time a Boise State makes it into the BCS, it means a lot of money is lost by a major conference team.
The thought process behind the chairmen of those major universities isn't "how can we make sure the smaller schools are included" it's "How can we cut the smaller schools out and make more money for us?". The more Boise State or TCU win, the more a large state school looks for a solution that makes sure those schools can't take money away from them in the future. Sure, there could be a tournament, but you better believe not all 120 teams would be eligible.
It's convoluted, but by losing their chance, Boise State preserved their chance at BCS contention in years to come.

Links of the Day 11/27/10

My my, I haven't done a links post since Wednesday. Steve did fine though, right?

I don't want to make light of domestic abuse, but Memphis Grizzlies Iranian center Hamed Haddadi is named Goolnaz Karbalaeinematmoeeney. That's 21 letters. Doug Mientkiewicz is impressed.

Derek Jeter thinks he should be making a lot of money.

If you are interested in seeing a sports movie, here are a few suggestions (that aren't real)

More on last nights game later tonight

The Twins may be getting a fellow from Japan

Re-purposed from a post at the 'Stache earlier today

I hope everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable Thanksgiving, and have already made all your Black Friday purchases. My Thanksgiving sucked, and I had to work until 2AM this morning, so there really was no way I was going to top that off by waiting outside of Radio Shack. I do know that my team, the Twins have done a little holiday shopping and won the bidding on Tsuyoshi Nishioka. This is exciting. Sure, you could say it’s stability for the infield somewhere down the line (assuming they can work out a contract, of course), but I’m really excited to see how Ron Gardenhire will do with another ethnicity in the clubhouse.
Think about it. Gardenhire has (even in my opinion) developed some pretty good players under his watch. Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer… Jason Kubel is even coming along pretty well. His successes with other ethnicities are somewhat limited, at least in regards to positional players. The only African American who has really left an impact on the Twins that came up with Gardenhire as manager has been Denard Span, who hit in the .260s as a lead off guy this year. Delmon Young came from Tampa, and really only got a shot at playing regularly when Justin Morneau went down for the season. Latin American players are even more hamstrung in the Twins organization.  Quick name the best Latin position prospect the Twins have had in the last 8 years. Waiting. Waiting. Alexi Casilla, maybe? Jose Morales?
As much as I kid Ron Gardenhire, he is essentially a bad strategic manager, but generally a very welcoming and instructive manager in terms of fundamentals. The problem is with the organization, which doesn’t have much in terms of Hispanic coaching, and Hispanic players just struggle to develop. I can’t imagine things will be different for Nishioka. At least he’s 26, and perhaps he already has all the tools. Right? Right?! Anyways, I hope he doesn’t suck.

So enough of that, let's watch a video of this guy, shall we?

I can see Nishioka and Gardenhire hitting it off right away, can't you? Definitely the tough as nails, gritty player the Twins have been so sorely lacking. Here he is, playing a baseball game that his team is up.... 22-0?! I think he may struggle with American pitching...



This is going to be interesting. I hope they sign him, just for the potential comedy.

Links of the Day 11/26/10

All 3 lopsided Thanksgiving matchups are in the books. Your winners? Patriots (now 9-2), Saints (now 8-3), and Jets (now 9-2). The Losers? Lions (now 2-9), Cowboys (now 3-8), and Bengals (now 2-9).

Hey, using this argument, you can say any team is the best in the NFL this year, even the Panthers.

So....if you are wronged by someone while doing something that is illegal, its probably best not to call the cops....

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 11

Happy Thanksgiving! We have a busy day in football today with 3 games, so let's talk about the latest edition of the power ranks.

Even though they are not the #1 team (yet) it seems odd to have a season go by without the shouting Eagles fan pictured for a power rank post. So here he is. Yes, for the first time this season, the Eagles have taken over 1st in the NFC East and cracked the top 5 in the power ranks after beating the stumbling Giants. The Falcons remained as the top team this week after beating the Rams. The Packers moved up 1 spot for crushing their former QB and the Vikings, while the Jets fell back 1 spot to #3 for narrowly winning yet again, this time over the Texans. The Patriots knocked off the Colts to take their #4 spot, while the Colts fell all the way back to #11 for the loss.

On the bottom side, some how, some way, the Bills are out of the bottom 5! They now own a 2 game winning streak. Filling their void at #30 was their Week 11 victim, the Bengals. The Cowboys also climbed out of the bottom 5 for winning their 2nd game in a row. Filling in for the Bills and Cowboys are the new #28 Broncos, who fell to 3-7 this week, and the #29 Vikings, who are in complete chaos. The Cardinals and Panthers held on to their #31 and #32 spots, respectively.

The biggest gainer this week was the Cowboys, who jumped up 6 spots to #22 and actually look alive now with Jason Garrett as head coach. The Redskins, Ravens, and Buccaneers also jumped 5 spots. The biggest loser was the Colts, who narrowly lost to New England but actually fell out of 1st place in the AFC South with their loss. They dropped 7 spots to #11. The Giants and Titans, who were 2 of the highest rated teams a few weeks ago, continued their slides to mediocrity by dropping 6 spots each.

Today's games feature pretty much the best and worst of the NFL. We have 2 8-2 vs. 2-8 games and a 7-3 vs. 3-7 game. In ranking terms, you have the #4 Patriots vs. #25 Lions, #8 Saints vs. #22 Cowboys, and #3 Jets vs. #30 Bengals.

Playoff Projections:
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #2 Packers
#8 Saints @ #5 Eagles
#7 Buccaneers @ #21 Rams
Top 5 Out: #10 Bears, #16 Giants, #18 Redskins, #22 Cowboys, #23 Seahawks

AFC
First Round Byes: #3 Jets, #6 Steelers
#9 Ravens @ #11 Colts
#4 Patriots @ #12 Chiefs
Top 5 Out: #13 Chargers, #14 Raiders, #15 Titans, #17 Jaguars, #19 Browns

Full Ranks:
1. Falcons - 81.28 - Even
2. Packers - 76.57 - +1
3. Jets - 72.37 - -1
4. Patriots - 71.81 - +1
5. Eagles - 70.53 - +1
6. Steelers - 66.50 - +1
7. Buccaneers - 64.76 - +5
8. Saints - 64.64 - Even
9. Ravens - 63.73 - +5
10. Bears - 63.55 - +3
11. Colts - 59.72 - -7
12. Chiefs - 57.61 - +3
13. Chargers - 55.67 - +4
14. Raiders - 55.27 - -3
15. Titans - 53.76 - -6
16. Giants - 52.17 - -6
17. Jaguars - 49.18 - +4
18. Redskins - 49.11 - +5
19. Browns - 47.98 - +1
20. Dolphins - 46.67 - -4
21. Rams - 39.45 - -3
22. Cowboys - 38.17 - +6
23. Seahawks - 38.14 - -4
24. 49ers - 35.58 - -2
25. Lions - 35.33 - Even
26. Texans - 35.19 - -2
27. Bills - 34.97 - +3
28. Broncos - 32.63 - -2
29. Vikings - 29.48 - -2
30. Bengals - 26.04 - -1
31. Cardinals - 21.26 - Even
32. Panthers - 17.76 - Even

The issue with payed college athletes

For the past couple of years, really since the advent of the blogger era, one of the common themes from bloggers is that college athletes should be paid. The two sports that they point to, basketball and especially football, make a lot of money for colleges across the country, and there is a growing segment of the population that is lobbying for athletes to be paid.
Let's run down the traditional arguments against a paid college athlete: It defeats the purpose of amateurism. College athletes ARE paid, with scholarships other students would love to have, as well as the showcase for their future profession, should they go into professional sports, or even the name recognition that will open doors for them in the short term. The money from these proceeds go back into the school and their athletic funds, not some wealthy business owner.
But still, those arguments aren't enough, and the proponents of additional salary for college athletes continue to plead their case. Colleges make so much money off of football that the athletes deserve a piece of the pie. This would be a more legitimate argument if this was the case across the board.
In an era where people complain about Boise State and TCU not getting a chance, what do you think would happen when the SEC or Big Ten could start paying their students off their profits? It would ruin competitive balance, as Boise and TCU and all other schools fail to match larger conference payrolls. The reason that we need to hold off on paying athletes, aside from the reasons I illustrated two paragraphs ago, is that in order to keep things fair for all 120 teams in FBS, or the 300+ teams in Division 1 college basketball, you can't pay the top athletes, because not every school would be able to do so.

Links of the Day 11/24/10

Wow, it's bad enough that you were losing to the Oilers, but then....

I'm not sure how I feel about linking to a post about a commercial, bt it's a funny commercial!

Two Deadspin links from 2 days ago. Sorry. But I love it when people make fun of old people for hating statistics.

Twins Trade predicto

Bill Smith has shown to have an itchy trigger finger when compared to Terry Ryan. He is more than willing to execute a big trade, has shown willingness to dish prospects if it helps the current team win that season. He has spun a few off season trades, including the Santana trade, Delmon Young and last seasons JJ Hardy acquisition. The Twins have also shown a reluctance to sign free agents until late in the offseason, hunting for deals. Anyways, the easiest thing to do is to look for what might be a trade that could be executed by the Twins this offseason, rather than figure out what other teams might do, and what scraps might be left over for the Twins to sign. Trades aren't a common occurrence, so here a couple possible matches.
1 - Twins hook up with the Orioles, with Jeremy Guthrie coming to Minnesota for JJ Hardy. It wouldn't be 1 for 1, but the principals are there. Guthrie is a solid, mid rotation starter coming off a good season in Baltimore. The Orioles have their eye on the Twins shortstop, according to many rumors. Both players are earning about the same salary, thought Guthrie is probably worth a bit more.
2 - Another deal that wouldn't be one for one, but could be a good match is one that involves superfluous lefty slugger Jason Kubel for malcontent reliever Jonathan Papelbon. The Twins will be losing at least one big name out of the bullpen, if not more. Probably more. The Red Sox are steadily losing David Ortiz to Father Time and have a ball park that favors lefties, unlike Target Field. Papelbon's one year wouldn't be enough for the Twins to sacrifice Kubel, so expect a right handed bat from Boston, especially if the Twins trade JJ Hardy.
That's it. That's what you can expect if the Twins make any deals. No big names being dealt or acquired, because I don't think the Twins have the players to trade to patch the holes that need patching. But moves will be made, don't fear on that. And don't be surprised if an impact free agent is signed way out in February.

Links of the Day 11/23/10

The Islanders are so boring, Islanders employees can't be bothered to care.

Seriously, why did Gadenhire win the Manager of the Year this year?

The Jaguars are leading the AFC South. The Jaguars.

The Brad Childress Sad Gallery

Brad Childress is out as the Vikings head coach. Also, Childress has more playoff wins than Ron Gardenhire since 2004.
Also, I need to stop talking about the Vikings. If only I lived in another market....

Links of the Day 11/22/10

Happy Birthday Dad! I know you check in here now, so saying that actually means something!

Today is also Ron Gardenhire Day. Thank you for sullying my dad's birthday, Tim Pawlenty.

"When the Vikings suck, there is always yard work". Poor Vikings fans.

Awesome work as usual by the Vikings, though this one may fly under the radar given all their other stuff.

It's Sunday, here is a video of a bridge implosion. Almost.

WGN's morning show is almost what the Victoria Times' morning news program would be like, I would expect. With fewer implosions.

Links of the Day 11/21/10

BTW, Minnesota beat North Carolina the other day. Outstanding.

Good news... the shooting of those Southern Miss football players? They caught the guy that did it.

Thankfully, the Boilermakers staved off bowl eligibility by choking away yesterday's game.

As of this moment...

Purdue is looking like they could get bowl eligible. Oh.... Oh no. They lead at the half against Michigan State and square off with Indiana next week, If they hold on this week and they do what they should against woeful Hoosiers, that means they are 6-6 for the year and would be going to a bowl. I think I'm going to throw up.
This is by far the worst Purdue team I have ever seen. There are teams that have missed bowl games that I am confident could destroy this Purdue team. They don't play defense, they don't have an offense.... I am baffled as to how they could get to 6 wins. I'm stunned they have even 4 wins.
Well, maybe it won't be so bad. /looks at Big Ten bowl commitments. Big Ten 7 goes to the Ticket City Bowl vs Big 12 or C-USA. Right now the opponent is projected to be Texas Tech. Ugh. Big Ten 8 faces the MAC. Purdue already lost to Toledo this year. Northern Illinois, the projected opponent is actually very good this year. I want Purdue to do well, but I definitely don't want us to get completely embarrassed. I have a bad feeling about this.

Links of the Day 11/20/10

Before i get to the rest of the links, make sure you follow us on Twitter, @victoriawxtimes . If you're into Twitter. I understand if you aren't. 

Illinois and Northwestern are playing towards the same end zone. Awesome, dudes.

This is sort of completely incredible.

This is a pretty interesting concept put forth by the NFL Network for a Jets/Bengals game next week.

And now we're Tweeting

Yes, everyone, it's true. Victoria Weather made us do it, but @VictoriaWXTimes is the place to go if you want to see some red hot Victoria Weather or Victoria Times related tweets. I'm terrified of what will happen, especially if Joey Browner or Oregon finds our Twitter

Cooking with Ryan: Italian Turkey Club

I have only cooked the one thing since I have been back, and that was a bag o' pasta from Bertolli, but I have PREPARED something from scratch. Sort of. The turkey club isn't much of a revelation, certainly, but this one is ITALIAN. What does that mean? It means salami is what it means. And the spread on top of it was a mayo/Itaian dressing combo with some red pepper, red bell pepper and onions for flavor. It was supposed to have some garlic and sun dried tomatoes as well, but  didn't realize my two stashes of both of those products was, in fact, no longer in existence. Oops. It was still a distinctively Italian flavor with a bit of a kick.
I also forgot to grab a tomato for the sandwich itself, but that was fine, because the hoagies I built the sandwich on were too small for all the innards that I piled in there, and tomatoes only would have made things messier. I don't really care for tomatoes anyways. So there.

Links of the Day 11/19/10

The Kansas City Wizards have changed their name, naming themselves after a team from Portugal. Rejoice, Portuguese Kansas Citians!

Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young.

It's like the Carolina Panthers are aggressively, actively trying to be bad.

So Ron Gardenhire won Manager of the Year

Isn't THAT interesting.

But hey, he really earned it this year. He had a dramatically increased payroll, a weak division, greater rotation stability, and Joe Mauer for the entire season, but he really came over all the obstacles this year, didn't he? I mean, Justin Morneau was injured last year too, just like this year, but it's not just any manager that could have the wherewithal to plug in a guy with over 500 career homeruns into the lineup. And never mind the fact that Danny Valencia never would have made the lineup if Nick Punto hadn't got hurt. Or that the team's best right handed hitter was only in the lineup because Gardenhire was backed into a corner and HAD to play Delmon Young. Not many people that could take all that and do exactly the same thing they did the year before. Special kind of manager.

Also, I'm so glad we gave that no talent ass-clown an extension. Sorry, I mean, I'm glad we gave the manager of the year an extension.

Links of the Day 11/18/10

Jsut regular links today. No freaking marathons.

Justin Morneau's concussion symptoms are abating. This is good, though he is still confused at how poorly they spelled "Washington" on the AL MVP award.

I don't think there is a team sport out there where mistakes are as gutwrenching as in soccer. Brutal.

Purdue nosed past Alcorn State last night.

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 10

Yes, its true. The power ranks are actually being posted before any games start in a week where we have a Thursday night game...

This week saw a lot of movement at the top of the ranks. The former #1 Steelers so-called impervious defense took a beating from New England on Sunday night. As a result, the Steelers fell to #7 in the ranks while the Patriots climbed to #5. Taking the Steelers place at the top of the ranks are the 7-2 Falcons. To celebrate, Matt Ryan is holding up a Falcons jersey showing that they are #1....at least I think that is why he has it... The Jets narrow win over the red-hot Browns moved them up 3 spots to #2, while the idle Packers also moved up 3 spots to #3, taking advantage of the Pittsburgh, NY Giants, and Tennessee losses. Also moving up into the top 5 this week are the Colts, who jumped 6 spots to #4. The former top 5 teams, the Giants and Titans, are now ranked #10 and #9, respectively.

On the low end of things, some of the pathetic teams actually won this week, while other teams looked even more pathetic. The Bills got their first win of the season, and as a result jumped up to #30. The Broncos stomped the Chiefs to move out of the bottom 5. The Cowboys also won, but even though they beat the #3 Giants, they are still sitting in the bottom 5 at #27. As a result of these wins, the Panthers moved down to #32 and the Bengals fell to #28. Replacing Denver in the bottom 5 is Arizona, who fell all the way to #31. It's pretty bad when a 3-6 team is below a 1-8 team in the ranks, but the Cardinals are flat out awful. It's hard to believe they actually won 3 games this year.

This week's biggest gainer was the above-mentioned Colts, followed by the Dolphins and Seahawks, who each jumped 5 spots. The biggest losers were the Giants, who lost to awful Dallas, the Ravens, who sunk in the ranks behind a bunch of other 6-3 and 5-4 teams, and the Redskins, who got murdered by the Eagles on Monday night. They each fell 7 spots

Playoff Projections:
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #3 Packers
#10 Giants @ #6 Eagles
#8 Saints @ #18 Rams
Top 5 Out: #12 Buccaneers, #13 Bears, #19 Seahawks, #22 49ers, #23 Redskins

AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Jets, #4 Colts
#9 Titans @ #7 Steelers
#5 Patriots @ #11 Raiders
Top 5 Out: #14 Ravens, #15 Chiefs, #16 Dolphins, #17 Chargers, #20 Browns

Here are the full ranks:
1. Falcons - 74.47 - +1
2. Jets - 73.13 - +3
3. Packers - 70.48 - +3
4. Colts - 70.42 - +3
5. Patriots - 70.35 - +3
6. Eagles - 68.09 - +3
7. Steelers - 63.61 - -6
8. Saints - 62.73 - +3
9. Titans - 61.17 - -5
10. Giants - 60.85 - -7
11. Raiders - 60.73 - +1
12. Buccaneers - 60.14 - +2
13. Bears - 57.32 - +2
14. Ravens - 57.06 - -7
15. Chiefs - 55.16 - -2
16. Dolphins - 48.78 - +5
17. Chargers - 47.45 - +2
18. Rams - 46.64 - -1
19. Seahawks - 49.95 - +5
20. Browns - 45.84 - -2
21. Jaguars - 44.94 - +2
22. 49ers - 42.31 - +4
23. Redskins - 41.42 - -7
24. Texans - 40.70 - -2
25. Lions - 38.66 - -5
26. Broncos - 36.06 - +3
27. Vikings - 31.79 - -2
28. Cowboys - 29.64 - +3
29. Bengals - 28.02 - -1
30. Bills - 24.41 - +2
31. Cardinals - 23.18 - -4
32. Panthers - 22.38 - -2

SUPER LINKS 10/17/10

So here's the deal... I was gone for a week and fell behind on the news. When Conan came back, he did so with a summary type of joke where he covered all the stories he missed while he was away. I was gone for a week. I think what I shall do all day today is catch up on my Google Reader (I have thus far caught up to November 10th, so I have a weeks worth of reading) and post links as I go, along with any commentary I might have. There will be no other post today, so keep refreshing this all day to keep up with some serious posting action. It's sort of a live blog.

The whole Cam Newton/Auburn situation was in the news. It seems like since the internet exploded, in situations like this, everyone now wants to vilify the media and NCAA who seek to punish people in this type of situation, rather than the athlete or university. They claim that the athlete SHOULD be payed because of how much money they make for the school, and amateurism is total BS. I say that only a few schools make that kind of money, and it's more BS to make exceptions for the schools that DO make the money and the athletes that are really good. I had to go to school to get my job, and athletes should have the same expectations.

Turns out it was a Minnesotan that wanted to see Grady Sizemore's doodle.

I wonder who gets to be the last guy picked here?

This can't be a real thing, can it?

Nice shootin' Tex.

As I mentioned yesterday, Brad Childress is on his way out of town, in no small part because nobody on the team seems to like him. One of my coworkers at Real Job Inc actually blamed this (and the loss in Chicago) on the wide receivers, specifically Sidney Rice (injured) , Berrian (injured) and Harvin (also injured) for not showing up and playing. Well, actually, he said Harvin scored then acted like he was "Touchdown Jesus" then later said he was hurt and couldn't play. Obviously, all of the problems with the team are related to those WRs, not the geriatric quarterback or the incredible overmatched coach. Oh, and Adrian Peterson fumbles too much, Delmon Young doesn't hustle, the entire Timberwolves roster outside of Kevin Love is overpaid and Robbie Earl is the worst thing to happen to the Wild since their inception.
But I'm calling Percy Harvin Touchdown Jesus from now on.

Joe Morgan isn't coming back to Sunday Night Baseball. Perhaps he and Joe Theismann can commiserate about being incomprehensibly poor, out of work color guys while Chris Spielman still has a job.

It's almost noon, and still no screen grabs!

I feel as though I may have mentioned this, but the best hitter on the Twins doesn't like the fences at Target Field. Going to be hard to change all that limestone, I would have to imagine.

This is sort of like the Scrabble version of Dennis Rodman.

I was just at K&G and almost picked out this exact same suit.

BREAKING NEWS TO INTERRUPT THE LINKATHON: Gardenhire won manager of the year. Absolutely ridiculous.

Cameron Maybin is another player that got traded in the past week. I don't know how much this helps the Padres, who were certainly looking more for power in their lineup than another speedster, I have to suspect.

It wouldn't be a problem for Brian Wilson, whose beard is made of delicious licorice.

There was a boxing match over the weekend. People still like boxing, right?

Why can't Oregon just lose? Oh right, they play in the Pac 10.

Even though they lost, I'm really happy to see Colt McCoy doing well. He went to Texas because that's the home town. He definitely has the humble aw shucks attitude that most in the media swoon over, but he isn't overbearing or overmarketed. Even when he was in the public eye, it was mostly because of the team he played for, and not because he was an attention whore. Not saying Tebow is an attention whore, but it's TEBOW who is the center of attention, as he still gets plaudits while not playing in Denver, while McCoy is relatively unnoticed while starting in Cleveland.

Well, this worked pretty well for Tony Kornheiser, so I'm sure this will be good.

New York area high school sports are so exciting, they are heart stopping!

Buster Posey and Neftali Feliz were the rookies of the year. I can't disagree with either of those, especially Posey's. Feliz, as a reliever, could be questioned somewhat, but there is a decent chance that this is the greatest achievement Feliz ever has.

So Donovon McNabb got benched late against the Lions, then just before the Redskins were massacred by the Eagles (I think massacred might be inappropriate wherein discussing "Redskins" (but if we are discussing "Redskins" and "inappropriate" I feel as though we have opened a new can of worms that cannot be closed in a liveblog/linkfest(triple parentheses!))) he was signed to an enormous new contract. I'm beginning to feel as though Washington has less idea as to where the team is going than the Vikings do.

I am a professional meteorologist, and I feel that this is an incredibly lame team name.

Forgive me, but I thought for sure Texas was going to rescind Tre' Newton's scholarship. Good for them, keeping it in place.

The GM's would like to add an extra playoff team. Isn't part of what makes the MLB postseason special the scarcity of positions in it's post season?   And isn't the length of the season part of what detractors hate about the game? And doesn't this "bonus playoff team" scenario open things up all the more for Ron Gardenhire to claim he is a good manager by sneaking in the playoffs despite mismanaging an excellent team?

Ah yes, the other trade from the Marlins. Dan Uggla was traded to division rival Atlanta for another All Star, Omar Infante. I think the Braves almost certainly got the better end of this deal, but what do I know, you know?

Oh awesome news for me here in Eagan.

Whoa, I just reached the SUPERLINKS in the Reader. We're in the homestretch now.

Hey son, you've been traded! 

I did it! I made it through the entire Reader! This was the last post in said Reader. I did not read it.

Which coach will be the bigger name?

So, it's pretty much no doubt that the Vikings will be getting rid of Brad Childress this year. This would mean that, at the end of the football season, there will be no Minnesota football team with a head coach. Who will be the new coaches here in Minnesota? Which coach will make the biggest splash upon his hire?
Ever since Tim Brewster was let go, anyone with an opinion has said that the Gophers need to add a big name to help bolster their recruiting and become competitive once again in the Big Ten. Who could they possible ad? Larry Coker claimed interest during the last hiring process, but now Coker hasn't been working for 5 years and just took a job at Texas-San Antonio, so he wouldn't be the big name coach we would think. The hot name for the Gophers right now is Kevin Sumlin from Houston. He is an up and comer who has worked at Minnesota in the past as a WR/QB coach, but I'm not sure this is really all that big a name for Minnesotans who are already clamoring for Mike Leach.
The Vikings shouldn't have too much of a hard time adding that big name, but they haven't ever shown a tendency to make such waves. Consider their last three coaches were Brad Childress, Mike Tice and Denny Green, with Green the only one with prior head coaching experience. I still expect Zygi Wilf is in this for the money, not the wins. He needs a more marketable team with bigger names. I expect him to go with a defensive coach who will need a fully developed quarterback (because Wilf will want to bring in a big name QB after Favre leaves). I think this means the Vikings will take a good long look at Jon Gruden. If I am mistaken, and the Vikings will continue to avoid the big name coaches, they will more than likely seek to add Jack Del Rio or maybe even promote Leslie Frasier. Either way, I would be willing to guess that Carson Palmer will be coming to Minnesota in the not too distant future. Of course, all this assumes that the Vikings AREN'T headed to California, in which case the novelty of a new team in LA would lead to a pretty impressive gate and high value, low cost marketing, and they might be content to go with an offensive guy and draft a QB like Ryan Mallett.
Oh, who am I kidding. The best option is Ron Gardenhire. He might win Manager of the Year, and he doesn;t know a THING about baseball!

Links of the Day 11/16/10

24 straight hours of basketball? SIGN ME UP!

The Eagles had a pretty good game last night, eh?

I posted about the Boilermakers winning their opener... the Gophers won, and did so against a quality opponent.

The Favre Sad Gallery, Week 10

Welcome to the latest edition of The Victoria Times' Brett Favre Sad Gallery! 

Today's addition is from The AP's Charles Rex Arbogast

Links of the Day 11/15/10

Can anyone help Chip Scroggins and Judd Zulgad?

Purdue opened their season with a win last night.

The Twins first act in free agency was to sign something called a Yorman Bazardo.

Change of plans

Well, I took a quick look at Vermont's basketball schedule. They decided to label a couple games as "exhibitions" which pushed their Game 13 back by two games, and now Game 13 of their regular season is January 4th at Stony Brook. That means it is officially one of this years games, and I won't be waiting all the the way to December. Unfortunately, it also means that I will be unable to go to the game, as it interferes severely with Real Job Inc. I do plan on watching the Stoney Brook video feed from here in the comfort of my mother's basement.
This will be the conference opener for the Catamounts, who will travel to Stony Brook, which is on Long Island. The Catamounts and Seawolves (best matchup I've had so far in terms of nicknames, I think) play in the America East conference. Last season, Vermont won the conference tournament, while Stony Brook won the regular season title, so this is a pretty big matchup. I'm disappointed I won't be able to go, but I'll still enjoy catching the matchup.

Links of the Day 11/14/10

Scary situation at Southern Miss, where three members of the football team were shot.

Fantastic end to the the Texans-Jaguars game. Yes, Gus Johnson called it.

What it's going to take for North Dakota to change their nickname. Keep in mind, this was enforced by the NCAA... They had it mostly signed off on by local tribes.

The rest of the trip out west.

As you all know by now, I drove all the way out to sunny southern California last week to check out the game between San Diego State and Colorado State. I already shared some stories and insight from the game itself, so now I thought I would share some of the stories from the rest of the trip that you might be interested in. Of course, that's probably just the narcissism talking.

- Joel, my friend who went out there with me, didn't want to drive through the Plains, so he flew into Denver and I picked him up at the airport. I got there about an hour before his plane, so I had to spent the time waddling through DIA in the non-secure part of the airport. They don't generally put any of the restaurants in that part of the airport, and I ended up starving by the time Joel got in town. Everyone working there was pretty uncommunicative, but at one point a tall blond wearing knee high boots strolled in. Then the Denver Airport officials started throwing themselves at her. Nobody else got any help, however.

- We tried to book ourselves a hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado, but struggled to find one with availability. Apparently Grand Junction is a hotbed of convention activity. When we arrived, we found out that there was a soil and water convention in town. Let me tell you, those seminars looked like they were incredibly interesting. I have never seen so many full size pick up trucks in a Doubletree parking lot.

- We went out to eat at a pizza place in downtown Grand Junction (I wish I remembered the name) and were surrounded by some serious hippies. One polite young lady was their with her dog and was smoking outside, when a BMW tried to park in a spot much, much too small. We shared a laugh. But the really fun people there were at the seats next to us. I only heard one line from them. "So your zen is good...." Sure is, lady.

- Driving through eastern Utah left me with a profound sadness. It's so empty. It still affects me. The good thing is, when you reach 15, the speed limit is 80!

- I learned in Vegas that roulette is not my game. I kept losing and losing every time we played. At one point, we headed back to our hotel (Treasure Island) and Joel ran up to the room for a second. I won 110 dollars playing blackjack in the time he was up there. I ended up breaking even for the trip. At least we got to eat at MGM.

- The seedy underside of Vegas is all the Mexicans handing out fliers for escorts.

- Went to the Hoover Dam and crossed the Dam Bridge. There was a lot of Dam information to take in. My biggest Dam problem was that people wouldn't get out of the Dam road.

- We stopped at the Boulder City Albertsons to pick up some supplies. A cart attendant started talking to us as we were loading up the cooler. And kept talking, and talking. After she would say something, she would wish us a nice day, then start talking about something else, like how hot it was, or how we drove a long way. It was... uncomfortable. Also at the Albertsons? A limousine. I have no explanation for this.

- Here in Minnesota, most of my friends have labeled me as a fast driver, and make fun of me as a leadfoot. Pretty much everywhere I went, I was the slowest car on the road. Perhaps Minnesotans just drive too slow? I think so.

- In San Diego, we went to the world famous zoo. I for one love zoos, and this was obviously the best I had ever been to. It was HUGE and had packed in a crazy number of animals. The highlights were the rhinos, which I had never seen before, the hippos, which you could see above and below the water line and the mountain lions, another animal I had never seen before. Scary to think they have been seen around here before. Wait, I was thinking of cougars, which have been seen at suburban bars.
I was wearing my Southeast Missouri State shirt. A couple checking out a fox with us turned to me and said "oh, we're from St. Louis" then kept walking. People seem unwilling to chat with me out on the street.

- The next day, we went to the Grand Canyon and headed out to eat. As we were leaving the restaurant, a guy was staggering around his car and asked if the "General Store" was open. Then he noticed Joel's Purdue sweatshirt and obviously pleasant demeanor and started talking about his son, who went to Purdue and was now at Johns Hopkins and just went on and on. He was obviously severely intoxicated, and said he was looking for more beer. I doubt his son went to Purdue or Johns Hopkins.
By the way, the hotel at the Grand Canyon was far and away the busiest we saw.

- On the way into the Grand Canyon, we were slowed by a herd of elk. Almost as bad as traffic in Riverside. there were also signs for large cat crossings. We saw no such thing.

- We DID see tumbleweeds crossing the road, however. I managed to hit a few of them. The first one was sitting in between two lanes of traffic in the direction I was heading. I didn't know which way to swerve and it bounced up and over the car. The second one was the real problem. It rolled right out in front of us and I drove over it, managing to get it wrapped up and under the car. It was hilarious at the time, but damn, those things are prickly. Pulling it out was not a pleasant task. I made Joel do it. By the time the third hit (off the passenger door) there was nothing left to say.

- At the Grand Canyon, we hiked down about 3/4 of a mile. Going down is a lot tougher than coming back up, surprisingly. My knee still hurts. When we came back out, there was a mother and her two children playing with sticks. The bratty little son grabbed one of the sticks and hurled it over the side, down on the trail. Joel and I were mortified, but thankfully, we haven't heard any stories of people getting killed by getting knocked off the trail and falling 2 miles to the Colorado.

- We saw the donkeys at the trailhead. One tried to eat my jacket.

- On the way back out of the Rockies, we put the car in neutral and coasted 10 miles. We got 38+ miles to the gallon on that tank.

Solid trip all around, if you were to ask me. I would say my zen is good.

Links of the Day 11/13/10

The NCAA Basketball season got underway in full force last night.

Apparently this was pretty good.

Now THIS is an outfit. Curiously, I have no problem with crazy suits....

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 9

I really wanted to get the power ranks out this week before the Thursday game, but for I think the 4th or 5th time this season, I had the ranks completely calculated by Tuesday night and then didn't get around to actually writing the post until later in the week. Oh well, I guess I need to start leaving work earlier on Tuesday or something....

In typical 2010 NFL season fashion, once it seems that we have established a top team in the league they get trounced by a bad team. Last week's new #1, New England, got a beating of a lifetime by the Browns, who before their bye, blew out the Saints. What's up with the Browns? Is Peyton Hillis really that unstoppable?!?! Despite this, Cleveland is still only 3-5 but climbed up to #18 this week. The Patriots fell all the way to #8 for their loss. Taking their place was the Steelers, who jumped up 5 spots all the way to #1. The Falcons, who got a huge win on Thursday night (not included in this calculation) moved up 3 spots to #2. Can they capture the #1 spot this week? The Steelers have a tough matchup with former #1 New England. The Giants, who had a rough start, have been crushing teams lately and are the new #3. The Titans hung on to #4 despite losing to San Diego, and the Jets fell 3 spots to #5 for barely winning in Detroit. Last week's #3, the Colts, fell to #10 for losing to the Eagles.

Not much movement on the bottom side of things. The 0-8 Bills are still last. The Cowboys and Panthers switched places after the Cowboys got blown out by the Packers. The idle Broncos stayed at #29, and the Cardinals horrible collapse against the Vikings actually moved them up 1 spot, which allowed the Bengals to take their place in the bottom 5.

The biggest gainer this week was Green Bay, who jumped 6 spots for getting Wade Phillips fired in Dallas, and 4 teams jumped 5 spots: Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland, and San Diego. The biggest losers were the Patriots and Colts, who each fell 7 spots for losing to mediocre teams and losing first place in their divisions.

NFC
First Round Byes: #2 Falcons, #3 Giants
#11 Saints @ #6 Packers
#9 Eagles @ #17 Rams
Top 5 Out: #14 Buccaneers, #15 Bears, #16 Redskins, #20 Lions, #24 Seahawks

AFC
First Round Byes: #1 Steelers, #4 Titans
#8 Patriots @ #5 Jets
#7 Ravens @ #12 Raiders
Top 5 Out: #10 Colts, #13 Chiefs, #18 Browns, #19 Chargers, #21 Dolphins

Here are the full ranks:
1. Steelers - 73.84 - +5
2. Falcons - 71.34 - +3
3. Giants - 70.75 - +4
4. Titans - 70.71 - Even
5. Jets - 69.83 - -3
6. Packers - 69.76 - +6
7. Ravens - 66.89 - +1
8. Patriots - 66.81 - -7
9. Eagles - 65.57 - +4
10. Colts - 65.54 - -7
11. Saints - 62.62 - +3
12. Raiders - 60.80 - -1
13. Chiefs - 60.33 - -4
14. Buccaneers - 54.04 - -4
15. Bears - 53.31 - +5
16. Redskins - 52.32 - -1
17. Rams - 48.45 - Even
18. Browns - 48.05 - +5
19. Chargers - 47.94 - +5
20. Lions - 45.69 - +1
21. Dolphins - 43.75 - -2
22. Texans - 42.76 - -6
23. Jaguars - 42.72 - -1
24. Seahawks - 41.82 - -6
25. Vikings - 41.14 - +2
26. 49ers - 34.44 - -1
27. Cardinals - 32.94 - +1
28. Bengals - 32.65 - -2
29. Broncos - 25.23 - Even
30. Panthers - 23.11 - +1
31. Cowboys - 19.91 - -1
32. Bills - 15.65 - Even

Links of the Day 11/12/10

I come back from vacation, and now we are in a Winter Storm watch. Minnesota sucks.

Justin Morneau doesn't care for Target Field's dimensions. If a left handed power hitter doesn't like the dimensions, perhaps we should try to use more righties? 

I think my disdain for Brett Favre has reached obsession. I'm not proud.


Garfield is so freaking controversial.

Colorado State at San Diego State... the Recap

As I have mentioned several times, one of the games I drew to attend this season ended up being a contest between the Rams of Colorado state and the Aztecs of San Diego State. they played on Saturday, providing the basis of my road trip this past week. I'm not going to lie, the game was tremendously ugly. San Diego State turned the ball over 5 times and had the ball for only 4 minutes in the first half.... and they still won. Colorado State somehow had the ball the entire first half and couldn't move the ball, and in fact the first touchdown they scored was on a fumble recovery, returned about 90 yards. The Aztecs would have destroyed Colorado State had they played the second half the way they did in the first, but it ended up being a fairly close game, where the Rams scored their first offensive touchdown with 2 and a half minutes to go, bringing the game to within 5. A few stories and observations from the game and the events surrounding.

- As soon as we checked into our hotel, which was right down the road from Qualcomm Stadium, football home of the San Diego State Aztecs, and immediately found out the hotel was home to the Colorado State team and traveling party. Before we went to the game, my friend Joel and I stopped at the hotel bar to take advantage of Happy Hour (the wings were excellent). Joel must have a pleasant disposition, because out of nowhere, a gentleman named Norris came up to us and started talking to Joel about the upcoming game. Turns out, he was the father of the Rams' starting free safety. After Norris introduced himself to Joel, he had to ask how to get to the stadium, and then Norris got to know Joel, even introduced us to his family. Naturally, come game time, we kept our eyes peeled for #22 Elijah-Blu Smith. He ended up recovering one of the Aztecs' fumbles in the 4th quarter, but his efforts were not enough.

- Ronnie Hillman can really run. He is only a freshman, otherwise he would get some attention in the NFL draft this year. He ran for 151 yards and didn't seem to break any big runs, he was just incredibly consistent. This must be the way he always is, because he already has over 1000 yards in his freshman campaign. Excellent recruit for SDSU.

- After we got there and got our tickets, Joel decided he wanted some SDSU apparel. We stopped at one of the San Diego State shops inside of Qualcomm and he got himself a sweatshirt. Joel must have a pleasant disposition, because a woman and her college age son asked to bother him him. "Look at him, Jack, isn't this a nice sweatshirt?" The son looks horribly uncomfortable. "Yeah... great." "But isn't it nice? Look at it, Jack!" Son looks uncomfortable. "Yeah, it's nice". Then they thanked us and moved on.

- Colorado State QB Pete Thomas has the weakest arm I've ever seen in person. If his passes were animals, they would be ducks. I don't think he through a single hard, tight spiral on the evening. I have no idea, then, howe he kept connecting on so many long third down passes.

- Every team has a big third down chant or cheer or something. The Aztecs used this from 300, followed by a big cat growly screech. Let me tell you, Colorado State reached third down a lot. And they always played that damn sound effect on third down at Qualcomm. It never worked.

- I complain about uniforms a lot. This is what Colorado State wore.

- All the Chargers stuff around the stadium was pretty funny. Everything had lightning bolts, even the beer cups at the game. And there were an absolute ton of Philip Rivers pictures littering the stadium. Loser.

- There seemed to be a lot of people just wearing red shirts in order to show their support for the Aztecs. We saw Indiana, Wisconsin and Nebraska. At the end of the game, Nebraska must have thought Joel had a pleasant disposition, because he stopped to vent about the Aztecs inadequacies in keeping the ball, Joel just smiled and nodded, and guy in the Nebraska shirt felt like he made a friend. Everyone came out a winner.

- A group of Colorado State female fans got a little rowdy (I've heard things about Fort Collins) and were giving the SDSU fans the finger and hollering. Meanwhile, behind them, Ronnie Hillman was running for  a 30 yard touchdown. Justice.

I really enjoyed my time in San Diego. Mostly, fans of each team were enthusiastic but very friendly. Tomorrow, I'll chat a bit about the rest of the trip

Links of the Day 11/11/10

Thank you Veterans. I don't know if any of you are checking the links, but here are some.

The Vikings don't like Brad Childress, apparently.

While I was away, Brent Burns became the Wilds' leading goal scorer. Huh?

Here is another look at the Walter Football mock draft.

This is the type of person that comments on 2 year old posts

Yep, Oregon fans are STILL commenting on that post about the Ducks' uniforms. This is exactly the type of person I would expect to get that worked up about a uniform.

Links of the Day 11/10/10

Hey I made it back! Here are a few links that already caught my eye. Real posts start tomorrow.

There will be no Greinke/Dejesus to the Twins blockbuster, because DeJesus, like all Royals outfielders, was traded to Oakland.

The preseason Bracketology.

AJ Pierzynski is trying to grow a mustache.

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 8

So I don't know what my problem is this year with the power ranks. I usually do them on Tuesday night but then something comes up and I don't get around to posting them until Saturday or Sunday. I'll try better next week, I guess.

This week, we have a new #1 team, and surprisingly, its a team that not many people have been talking about this year despite having the best record in the NFL. I think a lot of people feel that their "dynasty" is over because it has been 3 years since they made it to and 6 years since they have won the Super Bowl, but they seem to still be one of the best teams in the NFL. That's right, I'm talking about the Patriots. They are back in familiar territory with the top spot. The Jets, who lost an ugly 9-0 game to the Packers last week, fell only 1 spot to #2. The Colts took over the #3 spot for taking control of the AFC South, while the Steelers fell out of the top 5 to #6 after losing to the Saints. Despite losing, the Titans stayed put at #4 and the Falcons are still #5.

On the bottom side, the 49ers won the clash of the titans from last week with Denver to climb out of the bottom 5 for the first time all season, while the Broncos stayed where they were at #29. The 49ers moving up pushed the Panthers down to #31 and the Cowboys down to #30. The Cardinals, who are actually a respectable 3-4, are getting murdered by all of the other factors that roll into these ranks (like offense, defense, turnovers, recent success, etc) and are now in the bottom 5 at #28. That's exactly what these ranks are for.

This week's big gainers had 3 teams jumping 6 spots. The 49ers moved up 6 for beating Denver in London. The Lions moved up 6 for beating the Redskins, and the red-hot Oakland Raiders moved up 6 spots for stomping on Seattle. The Raiders have by far their highest ranking since I started doing these ranks years ago, at #11. The biggest loser was Seattle, who fell 8 spots for getting crushed by the Raiders, followed by Washington, as listed mentioned above.

Playoff Projections:
NFC
First Round Byes: #5 Falcons, #7 Giants
#13 Eagles @ #12 Packers
#10 Buccaneers @ #17 Rams
Top 5 Out: #14 Saints, #15 Redskins, #18 Seahawks, #20 Bears, #21 Lions

AFC
First Round Byes: #1 Patriots, #3 Colts
#4 Titans @ #6 Steelers
#2 Jets @ #9 Chiefs
Top 5 Out: #8 Ravens, #11 Raiders, #16 Texans, #19 Dolphins, #22 Jaguars

Here are the full ranks:
1. Patriots - 78.13 - +1
2. Jets - 71.93 - -1
3. Colts - 70.83 - +3
4. Titans - 69.98 - Even
5. Falcons - 68.59 - Even
6. Steelers - 67.66 - -3
7. Giants - 65.09 - Even
8. Ravens - 63.61 - Even
9. Chiefs - 62.91 - +2
10. Buccaneers - 62.53 - +4
11. Raiders - 59.51 - +6
12. Packers - 58.63 - +3
13. Eagles - 56.60 - -1
14. Saints - 54.05 - +2
15. Redskins - 53.47 - -6
16. Texans - 51.48 - -3
17. Rams - 49.62 - +2
18. Seahawks - 49.53 - -8
19. Dolphins - 49.36 - +3
20. Bears - 46.10 - -2
21. Lions - 43.65 - +6
22. Jaguars - 41.73 - +2
23. Browns - 41.59 - -3
24. Chargers - 40.07 - +2
25. 49ers - 34.12 - +6
26. Bengals - 33.80 - -5
27. Vikings - 32.27 - -4
28. Cardinals - 31.53 - -3
29. Broncos - 25.70 - Even
30. Cowboys - 24.77 - -2
31. Panthers - 24.75 - -1
32. Bills - 17.17 - Even

Links of the Day 11/7/10

I told Ryan I would do some posts while he was off living the random sports trip dream in San Diego. Looks like I failed pretty badly at that. But, I'm going to deliver some links and a post today at the very least. I'll see what I can do in the other days until he gets back...

I'm basically doing the links for this story alone. Ryan and Oregon fans have gotten into it in the past, but now their design craziness has gone beyond the uniforms to the brand new basketball court.

TCU made a huge statement yesterday to be included in the national title game. Now they just need someone, anyone, to knock off Auburn or Oregon.

Former Sportscenter anchor turned political talking head Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely by MSNBC for making political contributions.

The Favre Sad Gallery, Week 8

Welcome to the latest edition of The Victoria Times' Brett Favre Sad Gallery!

Latest image from pretty much everywhere, including Kissing Suzy Kolber.

Links of the Day 11/1/10

Last links from me until probably the 11th. Sorry for anyone that's disappointed. I'll try to throw up some updates if I can while I'm on the road.

Purdue's season isn't going quite as well as planned.

I imagine this was a popular costume in the Dallas area, or at least in areas that regularly play against Dallas.

Iowa got punk'd.