With the Ravens-Colts game this sunday I decided to blog about an issue that means a lot to me and even more to my Dad, and that is the Colts name. For those of you that don't know the Colts were in Baltimore where they won many championships, played in 2 super bowls winning one behind legends like Johnny Unitas, Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Raymond Berry, and Lenny Moore among others. Then in 1983 after a period of losing and John Elway refusing to come here the owner Robert Irsay moved the team in the middle of the night to Indianapolis and took the name with it. This left Baltimore without a team until 1996 when the Ravens came here from Cleavland where they were the Browns.
The major difference between the Colts move and the Ravens move (as well as other moves such as the Titans going from Houston to Nashville) is that we allowed Cleavland to keep their name and history when the Colts took the name and the history with them to Indy. Although my dad told me about this I really did not hit me until I went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio when I was 12 or something and they had an exhibit where they listed all the teams and the hall of famers who played with those teams and I saw Unitas, Moore, Berry, and others listed as the INDIANAPOLIS colts, this really upset my dad. Now I am not blaming the current players, in fact I have a lot of respect for Peyton, Jeff Saturday, Freeney and the Colts stars, I just wish there was some way Baltimore could be given the name back and the history up until 1983 that goes with it.
As far as this weeks game goes I like the Ravens chances for many reasons. First of all the Colts have gotten lucky to win the past 3 weeks from a dropped pass that would have set up an easy TD against the Niners, to a fumble on the 1 and missed game-tying FG against Houston, to the now infamous 4th and 2 against New England. Thus their luck has got to run out at some point why not this week. Also they are extremly hampered in the secondary (3 of 4 starters out due to injury) and at WR (Gonzalez is out and Collie has not been the same recently) so if the Ravens are going to beat the Colts now would be the time. Also since the start of this decade the Ravens have played better as an underdog from going into #1 seeded Tennesse in the playoffs and winning twice, to closing out Texas Stadium with a win, to beating and exposing the then unbeaten Broncos. Furthermore in recent years they have been a second half team (going 6-2 last year) and they need to win this game to regain their status as a super bowl contender. Lastly I see this as Ray Rice's coming out party as he takes advantage of a weak Indy run D and leads Baltimore to victory 27-24.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Official blog part 2
I am back with a 2nd blog about the officiating in two more sports: the NFL and College Football, which set an eample for all other sports to follow by suspending an officiating crew in the SEC, other then that their are no major issues. The only minor issue is officials from a conference represented by a team in a non-conference game should not ref those games.
The NFL: The NFL has 3 major issues: overprotection of QBs, rules geared too much towards offense, and the lack of full time officials. Lets start with the overprotection of QBs, mainly Tom Brady and other superstar QBs, this has got to stop because it is ruining the game quarterbacks now can't be touched or its a 15 yard penalty. This is a contradiction because Defensive Linemen get their knees taken out on almost every play. In order to fix this issue the NFL needs to get rid of the Tom Brady rule that bans hits to legs and at least be consistent in calling roughing the passer for all QBs not just superstars. Brady gets touched=penalty David Garard gets piledriven to the ground: no flag. This leads me to my next point the bias toward offense, I know this makes the NFL money, but defenders can't touch a Wide reciever past 5 yards while Offensive players can push off as much as they want with no call. These two rules have made it so we will never see a steel curtain or 2000 Ravens again.
Another issue for the NFL is the lack of full time officials which prevents referees from perfecting their craft and being consistent in their calls so we get games like the 2 ravens and bengals games this year. In the first game Jonathan Joseph launches himself at Todd Heap, who did not have possession of the ball, and makes helment to helmet contact and yet there is no call. On the other hand Ray Lewis lands a similar hit on Chad Ocho Cinco, who had no issue with the hit, and it is a game changing 15 yard penalty. Then last week Chad Ocho Cinco runs into Dawan Landry, catches the pass and fumbles but because he ran into Landry it is a pass interference call negating the fumble but in the 4th quarter in the drive that ended in the missed kick Joseph attempts to pull Derrick Mason's arm off preventing him from catching a TD, no call was made.
These refs need to be made full time so we can get better games and a better sport.
The NFL: The NFL has 3 major issues: overprotection of QBs, rules geared too much towards offense, and the lack of full time officials. Lets start with the overprotection of QBs, mainly Tom Brady and other superstar QBs, this has got to stop because it is ruining the game quarterbacks now can't be touched or its a 15 yard penalty. This is a contradiction because Defensive Linemen get their knees taken out on almost every play. In order to fix this issue the NFL needs to get rid of the Tom Brady rule that bans hits to legs and at least be consistent in calling roughing the passer for all QBs not just superstars. Brady gets touched=penalty David Garard gets piledriven to the ground: no flag. This leads me to my next point the bias toward offense, I know this makes the NFL money, but defenders can't touch a Wide reciever past 5 yards while Offensive players can push off as much as they want with no call. These two rules have made it so we will never see a steel curtain or 2000 Ravens again.
Another issue for the NFL is the lack of full time officials which prevents referees from perfecting their craft and being consistent in their calls so we get games like the 2 ravens and bengals games this year. In the first game Jonathan Joseph launches himself at Todd Heap, who did not have possession of the ball, and makes helment to helmet contact and yet there is no call. On the other hand Ray Lewis lands a similar hit on Chad Ocho Cinco, who had no issue with the hit, and it is a game changing 15 yard penalty. Then last week Chad Ocho Cinco runs into Dawan Landry, catches the pass and fumbles but because he ran into Landry it is a pass interference call negating the fumble but in the 4th quarter in the drive that ended in the missed kick Joseph attempts to pull Derrick Mason's arm off preventing him from catching a TD, no call was made.
These refs need to be made full time so we can get better games and a better sport.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Official Blog part 1
This is my 2nd blog in as many days and this one is about a problem that exists in all sports...Officiating. I will go over the problems with officiating in the 3 major sports and College Football as well as how they can fix it to better the sports, this will be a two part blog with the first part being about the MLB and the NBA and the 2nd part: pro and college football.
MLB: This years playoffs showed us 3 things- how to buy a championship, the greatness of Mariano Rivera (all of the other 7 playoff closers blew at least 1 save), and the need for replay in baseball. From Joe Mauer's double in game 2 of the ALDS to the many blown calls in game 4 of the ALCS including the debacle involving cano and Posada at 3rd base to the two double plays late in Game 2 of the World Series this year's playoffs were filled with blown calls that changed the course of the game, series, and the playoffs. There is one simple solution expanding replay to fair and foul calls and on the bases leave balls and strikes alone. The argument against replay is that it slows the game down and takes the game out of the hands of the umps. This is not valid because your goal is to get the call right no matter what and the time it would take to look at a replay is about the same it takes for a manager to argue a call so baseball adopt replay before you do further damage to your sport.
NBA: The NBA which does have replay needs to expand it slightly to the last 5 seconds of all four quarters. Also the NBA needs to call traveling a lot more and get rid of this new rule which allows 2 steps without a dribble and gives people like Lebron the idea that their "crab dribble" is legal Also they need to follow the NFL and use the rule that if there is no conclusive evidence then a call stands (look at Brad Miller's shot last night)other then that the NBA has good officiating as a whole.
In the upcoming days I will look at NFL and College football officiating.
MLB: This years playoffs showed us 3 things- how to buy a championship, the greatness of Mariano Rivera (all of the other 7 playoff closers blew at least 1 save), and the need for replay in baseball. From Joe Mauer's double in game 2 of the ALDS to the many blown calls in game 4 of the ALCS including the debacle involving cano and Posada at 3rd base to the two double plays late in Game 2 of the World Series this year's playoffs were filled with blown calls that changed the course of the game, series, and the playoffs. There is one simple solution expanding replay to fair and foul calls and on the bases leave balls and strikes alone. The argument against replay is that it slows the game down and takes the game out of the hands of the umps. This is not valid because your goal is to get the call right no matter what and the time it would take to look at a replay is about the same it takes for a manager to argue a call so baseball adopt replay before you do further damage to your sport.
NBA: The NBA which does have replay needs to expand it slightly to the last 5 seconds of all four quarters. Also the NBA needs to call traveling a lot more and get rid of this new rule which allows 2 steps without a dribble and gives people like Lebron the idea that their "crab dribble" is legal Also they need to follow the NFL and use the rule that if there is no conclusive evidence then a call stands (look at Brad Miller's shot last night)other then that the NBA has good officiating as a whole.
In the upcoming days I will look at NFL and College football officiating.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
NFL Halfway report
The NFL season is halfway done as all 32 teams have played at least 8 games and although my preseason predictions are not doing so good I am here to revise my predictions once again for all the playoffs and the awards.
AFC:
1. Indy
2. NE
3. Cin
4. Den
5. Pit
6. Bal
NFC
1. NO
2. Min
3. Dal
4. AZ
5. Atlanta
6. Philly
AWARDS
MVP: Drew Brees QB Saints
OPOY: Brees
DPOY: Darren Sharper, S, Saints
OROY: Percy Harvin, WR, Vikings
DROY: Brian Cushing, LB, Texans
Coach: Marvin Lewis, Bengals
Comeback Player: Tom Brady, QB, Pats
PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS:
Wild Card
Bal over Cincy (yes I know we saw the opposite result but the playoffs are a different animal) 24-17
Dal over Philly 27-20
Pit over Den 20-17
AZ over ATL 34-31
Divisional
Bal over Indy 27-24
NO over AZ 41-34
DAL over Min 31-27
NE over Pit 24-20
Conference Championship
Bal over NE 31-24
NO over Dal 37-34
Super Bowl:
BAL over NO 34-27 MVP: Rice
AFC:
1. Indy
2. NE
3. Cin
4. Den
5. Pit
6. Bal
NFC
1. NO
2. Min
3. Dal
4. AZ
5. Atlanta
6. Philly
AWARDS
MVP: Drew Brees QB Saints
OPOY: Brees
DPOY: Darren Sharper, S, Saints
OROY: Percy Harvin, WR, Vikings
DROY: Brian Cushing, LB, Texans
Coach: Marvin Lewis, Bengals
Comeback Player: Tom Brady, QB, Pats
PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS:
Wild Card
Bal over Cincy (yes I know we saw the opposite result but the playoffs are a different animal) 24-17
Dal over Philly 27-20
Pit over Den 20-17
AZ over ATL 34-31
Divisional
Bal over Indy 27-24
NO over AZ 41-34
DAL over Min 31-27
NE over Pit 24-20
Conference Championship
Bal over NE 31-24
NO over Dal 37-34
Super Bowl:
BAL over NO 34-27 MVP: Rice
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Baseball 2009 post mortum
As you all may know by now the Yankees BOUGHT A World Championship but there are a couple things I need to get off my chest about this season. First I hate Yankee fans especially since they fail to realize they are killing Baseball by making it that fans in cities such as KC, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Washington, Baltimore, Toronto, Cincy, and many others give up on their teams because they realize they can't compete with the Yankees check books. The MLB draft means nothing because most of the teams will lose the players they draft and develop to teams who are willing to spend more. Also this whole #27 thing really annoys me I promise you the 25 men celebrating right now don't care if it is #27, #100, or #1 they just won the world series. I know you guys have the most titles in US sports but there are teams out there such as REAL MADRID who have 31 championships so until you pass them shut up. Furthermore is it just me or are there more Yankee fans coming out of nowhere with no real strong connection to the team and are just fans because they are winning. For the interest of full disclosure I am a Cardinals fan but I have been one since 1998, when I first truly started following and understanding baseball so I am not a fair weather fan like most Yankee fans.
Now there are a couple things baseball needs before it gain even come close to touching football or even basketball in terms of popularity. First as you can probably guess I feel baseball needs some sort of salary cap. If they don't want to go to a complete salary cap like the NFL then go to a system like the NBA where not only is there a larger luxary tax but teams get an advantage in terms of the years and money they can offer to keep their own players this is why legends like Tim Duncan and Karl Malone stayed in small markets such as San Antonio and Salt Lake City and why most people see Lebron and Wade staying put next summer. Furthermore baseball needs to stop awarding homefield in the world series to the all star game winner, it is completly moronic the 3 most important people to the AL's victory this year (Carl Crawford, Adam Jones, and Curtis Granderson) did not even make the playoffs and yet that is why the AL got homefield. Another change baseball must make is to expand replay to the bases and the fair/foul line because the goal is to get the call right. Critics of replay say it slows the game down but not as much as a manager arguing a call or frequent visits by a catcher to a pitcher (posada and Pettite). This brings me to my next point visits by a catcher or another player to the mound need to be limited to 3-4 per inning and only 1 per batter this would speed the game up immensly. One more change is baseball needs to condense its post season schedule it is NOVEMBER 5th and the world series just ended. The Angles and Yankees waited 4 days after the won the ALDS to start the ALCS which is insane and breaks up all momentum a team has. Lastly baseball needs to improve drug testing and make results public especially those 100 names left from the 2003 list to give fans more knowledge and faith in the game and to clear the clean player's name.
In conclusion the Yankees and their fans fit the description given to the Harley Riders in the most recent episode of South Park, The F word, and baseball needs to make changes to save itself. PS 151 days to Opening Day 2010... GO CARDINALS (HOLLIDAY WILL RESIGN).
Now there are a couple things baseball needs before it gain even come close to touching football or even basketball in terms of popularity. First as you can probably guess I feel baseball needs some sort of salary cap. If they don't want to go to a complete salary cap like the NFL then go to a system like the NBA where not only is there a larger luxary tax but teams get an advantage in terms of the years and money they can offer to keep their own players this is why legends like Tim Duncan and Karl Malone stayed in small markets such as San Antonio and Salt Lake City and why most people see Lebron and Wade staying put next summer. Furthermore baseball needs to stop awarding homefield in the world series to the all star game winner, it is completly moronic the 3 most important people to the AL's victory this year (Carl Crawford, Adam Jones, and Curtis Granderson) did not even make the playoffs and yet that is why the AL got homefield. Another change baseball must make is to expand replay to the bases and the fair/foul line because the goal is to get the call right. Critics of replay say it slows the game down but not as much as a manager arguing a call or frequent visits by a catcher to a pitcher (posada and Pettite). This brings me to my next point visits by a catcher or another player to the mound need to be limited to 3-4 per inning and only 1 per batter this would speed the game up immensly. One more change is baseball needs to condense its post season schedule it is NOVEMBER 5th and the world series just ended. The Angles and Yankees waited 4 days after the won the ALDS to start the ALCS which is insane and breaks up all momentum a team has. Lastly baseball needs to improve drug testing and make results public especially those 100 names left from the 2003 list to give fans more knowledge and faith in the game and to clear the clean player's name.
In conclusion the Yankees and their fans fit the description given to the Harley Riders in the most recent episode of South Park, The F word, and baseball needs to make changes to save itself. PS 151 days to Opening Day 2010... GO CARDINALS (HOLLIDAY WILL RESIGN).
Monday, November 2, 2009
College Football Update
Well the calendar has turned to November meaning we are a little over a month away from finding out who will play in the BCS title game, it won't be my preseason choice of Oklahoma thanks to the injuries to Jermaine Gresham and Sam Bradford. So I will make new predictions for each conference, the BCS games, and rant against the system itself.
ACC: Coastal division Champion Georgia Tech will beat Atlantic Division Champion BC to win the ACC
Big 12: Texas will win the south and beat Big 12 north champion Nebraska to win the Big 12
Big East Champion: After Cincy beats WV, WV beats Pittsburgh it will all come down to December 5th in Pittsburgh where I see Tony Pike leading the Bearcats to their second straight conference title
Big 10: I see Penn State beating OSU and Iowa beating OSU making Iowa the Big Ten champions
Pac 10- Oregon will beat Arizona and win the Pac 10 title, shows how you good Boise State is doesn't it.
SEC- We all know it will be Florida vs. Alabama and I see Alabama beating Florida to win the SEC (even if they lose to LSU this week)
NON-BCS conferences: Boise State and TCU run the table to make the BCS (One of them should be playing for the tile)
BCS GAMES:
Title Game: Texas over Alabama: Colt McCoy who will win the Heisman trophy leads Texas to a victory over Alabama who won't have the offense to keep up
Rose Bowl: Oregon over Iowa: Iowa's luck runs out as Oregon keeps rolling to victory
Orange Bowl: Cincy over GT Cincy gets out to an early lead led by Pike taking GT out of its comfort zone
Fiesta Bowl: Boise over TCU, these two teams will be matched up to avoid the embarassment of 2 non-BCS teams beating 2 BCS conference running the record of non-BCS teams in the BCS to 5-1 but I see Boise State's offense and experience in the big games carryign them to victory.
Sugar Bowl: Florida over USC, a matchup of two of the most dominant teams of the decade will end up being a great culmination of the careers of Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes as the defense will confuse Matt Barkley and win the game
BCS complaint: If any year shows the issues with the BCS and the need for a playoff its this year we could have 4 teams (Iowa, Cincy, Boise, and TCU) finish unbeaten and be left out of the championship game despite having wins including @BYU, @Clemson, vs. Oregon, @ Ohio State, @ Penn State, and @ Pitt. So these teams do whatever they physically can to make it into the title game and don't get in because they were ranked too low in the preseason, seem fair I think not. This would be the 8th time in 10 years that a team who had either beaten a team in the title game or gone undefeated being left out of the title game.
ACC: Coastal division Champion Georgia Tech will beat Atlantic Division Champion BC to win the ACC
Big 12: Texas will win the south and beat Big 12 north champion Nebraska to win the Big 12
Big East Champion: After Cincy beats WV, WV beats Pittsburgh it will all come down to December 5th in Pittsburgh where I see Tony Pike leading the Bearcats to their second straight conference title
Big 10: I see Penn State beating OSU and Iowa beating OSU making Iowa the Big Ten champions
Pac 10- Oregon will beat Arizona and win the Pac 10 title, shows how you good Boise State is doesn't it.
SEC- We all know it will be Florida vs. Alabama and I see Alabama beating Florida to win the SEC (even if they lose to LSU this week)
NON-BCS conferences: Boise State and TCU run the table to make the BCS (One of them should be playing for the tile)
BCS GAMES:
Title Game: Texas over Alabama: Colt McCoy who will win the Heisman trophy leads Texas to a victory over Alabama who won't have the offense to keep up
Rose Bowl: Oregon over Iowa: Iowa's luck runs out as Oregon keeps rolling to victory
Orange Bowl: Cincy over GT Cincy gets out to an early lead led by Pike taking GT out of its comfort zone
Fiesta Bowl: Boise over TCU, these two teams will be matched up to avoid the embarassment of 2 non-BCS teams beating 2 BCS conference running the record of non-BCS teams in the BCS to 5-1 but I see Boise State's offense and experience in the big games carryign them to victory.
Sugar Bowl: Florida over USC, a matchup of two of the most dominant teams of the decade will end up being a great culmination of the careers of Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes as the defense will confuse Matt Barkley and win the game
BCS complaint: If any year shows the issues with the BCS and the need for a playoff its this year we could have 4 teams (Iowa, Cincy, Boise, and TCU) finish unbeaten and be left out of the championship game despite having wins including @BYU, @Clemson, vs. Oregon, @ Ohio State, @ Penn State, and @ Pitt. So these teams do whatever they physically can to make it into the title game and don't get in because they were ranked too low in the preseason, seem fair I think not. This would be the 8th time in 10 years that a team who had either beaten a team in the title game or gone undefeated being left out of the title game.
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