As most sports geeks do, I love this time of year. I usually don’t start watching college basketball until the Christmas tournaments, sometimes during Thanksgiving, and then more and more throughout the year. I’m hardly as versed on college hoops as I am on the NBA, college football, MLB, NFL….etc, but I do plenty of reading and research and try to form my own opinions.
After reading through the bracket, I have some initial thoughts:
FINAL FOUR SLEEPER: BAYLOR
Yes, Baylor. While I do think they are over seeded, and a lot of things have to go right, this is not that far out there. If Louisville beats Duke, that knocks out the #1 in the south. I expect Siena to advance to the sweet 16 past an injury plagued Purdue team, putting Louisville in the elite 8. Baylor has to beat Sam Houston State, then Notre Dame before being matched up against a Villanova team that a lot of people expect to be in the final four. Should Baylor beat Nova, then Louisville, the Bears will be in the final four. I don’t see many other final four sleepers, possibly 8th seeded Texas in the east. Don’t forget, the Horns were #1 at one point this season.
HOTTEST FIRST ROUND UPSETS:
1 - #13 Siena over #4 Purdue
2 - #11 San Diego State over #6 Tennessee
3 - #12 Cornell over #5 Temple
4 - #11 Minnesota over #6 Vanderbilt
5- #10 St. Mary’s over $7 Richmond
MOST LIKELY TEAM TO WIN TOURNAMENT: KANSAS
I know, I went out on a limb on this one, but the Jayhawks are clearly the best team in the country. They have the best leadership, and the most experience as well. They will likely have on tough challenge to get to the final four, Ohio State or Georgetown, then will have to get by Syracuse, who is struggling.
Late last night, reports that Marcus Camby will be a Trail Blazer in exchange for Travis Outlaw, Steve Blake and Cash. Here are details about each player
CAMBY - Will be 36 in March… 7.7 ppg - 12.1 rpg - 1.9 bpg… $9.65 mil this year, expiring contract.
BLAKE - 7.6 ppg - 4.0 apg - $4 mil this year, expiring
OUTLAW - 9.9 ppg - 3.5 rpg (11 games) - $3.5 mil this year, expiring
Initially, I really like this deal, should it happen. In fact, I love it. We know Kevin Pritchard isn’t going to make a deal just to make one. The roster as it is right now (before the trade) is NOT going to be able to compete in the post season. They can get there, but that’s about it. Adding Camby changes that.
WHY I LIKE THIS DEAL -
-You have a legit center. After losing both Oden and Przybilla they don’t have anyone in the middle. Camby brings rebounding, and toughness that the team lacks right now. Not to mention his defensive presence in the paint. Yes he is aging, but yes, he can absolutely improve that defense and front court. He won’t score a ton, and won’t need to.
-LaMarcus Aldridge can be himself. This give LA a chance to stop worrying about the possibility of being a combo F/C, and the pressure of him needing to be the man defensively and on the boards will allow him to be the 4 that he needs to be.
-Experience. The one thing the Blazers lacked last season was experience. They added Miller, that helps…. they added Howard…. ok, more age but not a huge piece… Camby has been on playoff teams and has played in the finals (99 with NYK)
- Clearing up PG log jam. Andre Miller is clearly the best PG on the team, and is becoming a go to option, especially in Roy’s absence. You get rid of Blake, opening up more playing time for Jerryd Bayless who is starting to prove himself as a scorer, but needs to be more consistent.
-Depth. You NEED depth in the front court. Juwan Howard is old, and you need another body in there to take more of the minutes, and make Howard what he is and should be, a role player.
WHY I DON’T LIKE THIS TRADE
-You essentially lose the best passer on the team in Blake.
-When healthy, Outlaw in my mind, is the #2 option to take a big shot at the end of a game behind Roy.
Should this deal happen, I love it. After this season, you have 3 contracts coming off the books Camby (9.65 mil), Darius Miles (9 mil), Howard (1.3 mil). More to come later….
Again, here is the sports geek coming out in me. I love the Super Bowl, everything about it. As I said before, I’m like a goldfish, and I get excited by bright colors and shiny things.
The Colts will be wearing their standard home uniforms this year:
While the Saints will be wearing their traditional road unis…
Both uniforms are clean, and classic. I was hoping the Saints would wear their black pants, I like those better, but these still look good. No team has ever worn black pants in the Super Bowl. It should make for a very aesthetically pleasing game. I also love top 5 lists. Here are my top 5 uniform matchups in the Super Bowl.
5 - Super Bowl 42 Giants vs Patriots.
It was a classic game, with an outstanding red/white/blue theme, which you will see as a pattern here in the top 5.
4 - Super Bowl 30 (and 10 and 13) Cowboys vs Steelers
Two classic uniforms, look great on the same field.
3 - Super Bowl 27 Cowboys vs Bills.
This game sucked, and I hate the Cowboys, but it was at least colorful.
2 - Super Bowl 3 - Colts vs Jets
This game changed the landscape of the NFL, and it was great to look at. Clean classic unis (my favorite style) makes for great TV.
1 - Super Bowl 25 Giants vs Bills
Best game ever, best logo ever, best color combos ever. red/white/blue them always works for me.
Since the NFL started adopting logos with Super Bowl 17, every year, the Super Bowl logo is bright, colorful, and has part of the city the game is in woven into the logo. Well, that will change starting with Super Bowl 45 next year in Dallas. The league unveiled the logo this morning beginning a new standard that will remain the same every year. They want the logo to be an emblem of the league, to show how important this game is. I don’t like it. I liked the unique logos year after year. It was fun to see the different color patches on the jerseys. This more generic look doesn’t work for me. Here it is:
It has Cowboys Stadium embedded into it, which it will every year, but its just plain silver. It looks classy, but no bright colors, nothing fun about it. In memory, below are my top 5 favorite Super Bowl logos.
5 - Super Bowl 31 - Packers vs Patriots, New Orleans
I’m not a huge fan of the colors, but it’s very New Orleans with the purple and turquoise. It looks like a party favor, which is very fitting. It was a little better than a mediocre game, the Pack won it 35-21.
4 - Super Bowl 32 - Broncos vs Packers, San Diego
The nautical look works for San Diego. Lots of bright colors, worked well on both uniforms as a patch. The game was as good as the logo, Denver winning 31-24.
3 - Super Bowl 27 - Cowboys vs Bills, Pasadena
Any time you can incorporate the roses of Pasadena, it makes for a great logo. Too bad the game couldn’t match, with Dallas winning 52-17.
2 - Super Bowl 36 - Patriots vs. Rams, New Orleans
The logo was actually changed from a New Orleans theme to the America theme after 9/11. It’s a classic red white and blue look, and with the timing of it, they pulled it off perfectly.
1 - Super Bowl 25 - Giants vs. Bills, Tampa
The best game is also the best logo. Silver anniversary, classic look. Not much more to say. The Giants of course, winning 20-19 on Scott Norwood’s missed FG.
We all know about Boise State’s blue turf. Apparantly New Haven (D-II, NE-10 Conference) has a blue field also. Well, now Eastern Washington will install a red field next season.
Email me your submissions for the best nickname to call this hideous mess. It looks like a blood field. I’ll try to keep this one clean, for the children’s sake of course.
If you read below, I was looking for the reporter who asked Greg Oden a dumb question last night.
Beth Slovic of the Willamette week. Nice work Beth. From what I read, this isn’t the first questionable comment or question she has made.
Again, I’m not one for throwing people under the bus, and I have had plenty of opportunities to do it… But really?
It’s people like her that give the media a bad name. She shouldn’t be allowed by the Blazers to be around the team, and the Willamette week should discipline her.
If this had been the other way around, and a male reporter made a similar comment to a female athlete, just imagine the fall out we would be hearing today. It’s no different.
So if you haven’t heard by now, Greg Oden made a dumb move and photographed himself naked. Regardless of what you think of it (I think it is harmless, and he clearly has a lot to learn), there are some things you just don’t do in a professional setting.
Anyone who knows me and my sense of humor, knows that it takes a LOT to offend me, and I’m really not shy about some things. One reporter, who can’t be identified, asked Oden at the press conference yesterday…
“A lot of people are impressed, why are you embarassed?”. I was uncomfortable when she asked it, so was everyone else there, including Greg. Now the question is, who is she, and who does she work for? I don’t usually throw people under the bus, but it’s jackasses like her that ruin it for everyone else, and make people like Greg not want to talk to people like me, and everyone else that I work with. Its stupid comments that make athletes shut down and hate the media. This is a very liberal town, and the media is super soft, which is fine, but this just wasn’t the venue for that.
I’m not going to say I’m outraged, because I’m not, it’s silly. Just annoyed that people can be this dumb. Anyway, here is a screen grab of her. If you know who this idiot reporter is, email me at tdemers at entercom.com
Pete Carroll showing he has a sense of humor. You may recognize Rob Riggle from “The Hangover” and “The Goods”. No idea who the meth looking chick is though.
The Ducks and Beavers just wrapped up their 2009 seasons, both with bowl losses, and it’s never too early to look ahead to the 2010 season. Here is a breakdown of the Pac-10 Schedules.
OREGON DUCKS:
Home: New Mexico, Portland State, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Arizona
Road: Tennessee, Arizona State, Washington State, USC, Cal, Oregon State
The good news is, the two worst teams in the pac 10 are on the road… but so are OSU, Cal and USC. Facing the Trojans in LA is a much different scenario than at Autzen… or Reser for that matter. Tennessee is getting better, and will be better under Lane Kiffin in year two, so that isn’t a gimme, but the Ducks should win. The rest of the non-conference schedule is awful. They should, in theory, sweep the home schedule, and could lose 4 games on the road… probably another 2 loss regular season.
OREGON STATE BEAVERS
Home: Lousiville, Arizona State, Cal, Washington State, USC, Oregon
Road: TCU (in Dallas), Boise State, Arizona, Washington, UCLA, Stanford
This really is a brutal schedule for the Beavs. Starting in enemy territory in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium. Once they get through that they have a week off before getting their revenge against a bad Lousiville team. Then off to the smurf turf to face Boise State. So 2 BCS teams on the road in their first 3 games. If they split, it will be a success. They do get USC at home where they have beaten the Trojans twice in a row, but it will be a challenge to do it again. With the quarterback situation yet to be determined, it’s hard to imagine a strong start. I would predict at this point 8-5.
Road: Hawai’i, Minnesota, Washington State, Stanford, Oregon State, Arizona, UCLA
Non conference schedule is a joke. Getting the Ducks at home helps. Stanford, OSU, and Zona on the road should be a challenge. They will likely go back to being USC and win the Pac-10. Im guessing 12-1. 11-2 at worst.
UCLA BRUINS:
Home: Stanford, Houston, Washington State, Arizona, Oregon State, USC
Road: BYU, USC, Arizona, Oregon, Cal, Washington State
No cupcakes here…. maybe Cuse. With Jake Locker returning, they should have a solid year. 5-1 at home, but 2-4 on the road. 7-5 and a bowl birth.
WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS:
Home: Montana State, USC, Oregon, Arizona, Cal, Washington
Road: Oklahoma State, SMU, UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State, Oregon State
Thanks to Montana State, the Cougs will have one win. 1-11.
STANFORD CARDINAL:
Home: Sacramento State, Wake Forest, USC, Washington State, Arizona, Oregon State
Road: UCLA, Notre Dame, Oregon, Washington, Arizona State, Cal
They should go 3-0 non conference, but going through ND on the road won’t be easy. No Toby Gerhart… that will hurt, but they should still be solid. 8-4.
Road: Nevada, Arizona, USC, Oregon State, Washington State
7 home, 5 road, thats a mild advantage. Tough roadies aside from Wazzu. Typical cal will go 6-6.
ARIZONA WILDCATS:
Home: Citadel, Iowa, Cal, Oregon State, Washington, USC, Arizona State
Road: Toledo, Washington State, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon
Way to schedule tough non conference games with Citadel and Toledo. Iowa will be tough, even though it’s at home. I have a hard time buying Zona under Stoops. They come back to earth a little bit and go 6-6.
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS:
Home: Northern Arizona, Oregon, Washington State, Stanford, UCLA
