BUCKEYE-5 GUARANTEE RETURN, BIG NAMES TO SIT ON SUNDAY & THE OFFICE POOL PICKS
Ohio State coach Jim Tressell told the media this morning all five of his "Tattoo-Gate" juniors will return for their senior season at Columbus. He said he told the five he would not put them on the Sugar Bowl roster if they didn't commit to the Buckeyes next season. If this is in fact how this controversy plays out, I give Tressell a lot of credit for forcing the five offenders into accepting some sort of punishment. The way things stood before this morning were they could play in the Sugar Bowl & then would be suspended for the first 5 games next season. Since all five are juniors, they could have entered the NFL Draft & not suffered any punishment for the rings/uniforms/awards for tats mess. Tressell assured the media all five promised to return next season. Now watch as Ohio State files an appeal to reduce the suspensions from 5 games to something like 3. Plus I don't see a way any court would uphold their "promise" to return. If they want to go to the NFL, there's really nothing to stop them. Yes, they'd receive a lot of negative response, but considering what they did to get into this mess, do you really believe they would lose any sleep over it?
As I watched the Alamo Bowl last night, I wondered just how long Arizona will give Mike Stoops to make his program truly competitive? In 7 years he has never really been in the PAC-10 race. His teams have never won more than 8 games. After going 7-1 in September & October, the Wildcats fell on their collective faces the rest of the way, losing the last four of the regular season & then laying a major egg in the Alamo Bowl. Oklahoma State flattened the Cats 36-10. Last season Arizona was mugged by Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl 33-0 managing less than 100-total yards in the game. The double-overtime loss to in-state rival ASU was emblematic of Stoops tenure in Tucson. They were favored by a touchdown but played down to their 5-6 opponent needing a furious final minute drive to score the tying touchdown. Unfortunately, what would have been the game-winning PAT was blocked. Go to O.T. & in the 2nd extra stanza, Arizona scored a touchdown to get within the PAT of sending it to another overtime period. The kick was blocked by the same guy who blocked the first one at the end of regulation. Attention to detail is often non-existent in this program. Watching Stoops blow his stack on the sideline game after game is really tedious. Last night he blew a gasket three different times on what he perceived as poor calls by the game officials. He was dead wrong every time. This is one of the most overrated programs in the nation & it begs the question, "when is enough enough?"
I'd say the Fighting Illini of Illinois would be in the running for most improved team in the country from week one to their bowl appearance. They put up a good fight against Mizzou for a half & then were shutout in the second half with only 1 first down. The Illini team I watched last night in the Texas Bowl showed dramatic improvement. Freshman QB Nathan Scheelhaase was more poised, he threw the ball with better accuracy, made better decisions & showed he will be one of the real quality QB's in the BIG TEN. The offensive line grew into a consistent & productive group. Illinois won't make a run at the conference title, but winning their first bowl game in 11 seasons showed they are headed in the right direction under embattled coach Ron Zook.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen was unceremoniously forced out of the final year of his contract. Tho being named the ACC Coach of the year didn't help, finishing 8-4 wasn't good enough either. Some powerful donors led by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, wanted big Ralph out, so he's out. In Friedgen's 10-years at Maryland, the Terps were 75-50 with 5 bowl wins in 6 appearances. In the 15-years prior to his arrival, they were 60-103 with no bowl victories in just 2 appearances. Think money doesn't have a major impact into what happens on campus' around the nation? Plank & his cronies want former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, look for him to be introduced as the new coach within a week. By the way, Friedgen's Terrapins sent him out on a positive note as they buried East Carolina 51-20.
For a variety of reasons, there will be a lot of the NFL's bigger names on the inactive list this Sunday. Jacksonville QB David Garrard & RB Maurice Jones-Drew will not play. Same for Michael Vick & possibly WR DeSean Jackson. Jon Kitna, Brett Favre, Chad 85 & Matt Hasselback won't go either. Quarterbacks John Skelton(Az), Charlie Whitehurst(Sea), Stephen McGee(Dal), Kevin Kolb(Phil), Joe Webb(Minn), Tim Tebow(Den), Trent Edwards(Jax) & possibly Mark Brunnell(NYJ) will start on Sunday. If mark Sanchez plays Sunday, it won't be for long. Think picking winners won't be tough this week?
Late news out of New Orleans has the Saints leading receiver, Marques Colston, undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery this morning. He will miss Sunday's game with Tampa Bay & could miss their first round playoff game the following weekend. With 84 receptions for 1,023 yards & 7 touchdowns, this could be a real problem for the defending champs.
Last week was brutal in the Office Pool Picks, 7-9, only my second losing week. This week is even more difficult for reasons I explained above but here goes.
Miami at New England
Tampa Bay at New Orleans
Carolina at Atlanta
Dallas at Philadelphia
Oakland at Kansas City
Tennessee at Indianapolis
Jacksonville at Houston
Cincinnati at Baltimore
Chicago at Green Bay
Minnesota at Detroit
NY Giants at Washington
Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Buffalo at NY Jets
San Diego at Denver
Arizona at San Francisco
St. Louis at Seattle
Sunday Night Football total points tiebreaker 34
There is no Monday night game.
As I watched the Alamo Bowl last night, I wondered just how long Arizona will give Mike Stoops to make his program truly competitive? In 7 years he has never really been in the PAC-10 race. His teams have never won more than 8 games. After going 7-1 in September & October, the Wildcats fell on their collective faces the rest of the way, losing the last four of the regular season & then laying a major egg in the Alamo Bowl. Oklahoma State flattened the Cats 36-10. Last season Arizona was mugged by Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl 33-0 managing less than 100-total yards in the game. The double-overtime loss to in-state rival ASU was emblematic of Stoops tenure in Tucson. They were favored by a touchdown but played down to their 5-6 opponent needing a furious final minute drive to score the tying touchdown. Unfortunately, what would have been the game-winning PAT was blocked. Go to O.T. & in the 2nd extra stanza, Arizona scored a touchdown to get within the PAT of sending it to another overtime period. The kick was blocked by the same guy who blocked the first one at the end of regulation. Attention to detail is often non-existent in this program. Watching Stoops blow his stack on the sideline game after game is really tedious. Last night he blew a gasket three different times on what he perceived as poor calls by the game officials. He was dead wrong every time. This is one of the most overrated programs in the nation & it begs the question, "when is enough enough?"
I'd say the Fighting Illini of Illinois would be in the running for most improved team in the country from week one to their bowl appearance. They put up a good fight against Mizzou for a half & then were shutout in the second half with only 1 first down. The Illini team I watched last night in the Texas Bowl showed dramatic improvement. Freshman QB Nathan Scheelhaase was more poised, he threw the ball with better accuracy, made better decisions & showed he will be one of the real quality QB's in the BIG TEN. The offensive line grew into a consistent & productive group. Illinois won't make a run at the conference title, but winning their first bowl game in 11 seasons showed they are headed in the right direction under embattled coach Ron Zook.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen was unceremoniously forced out of the final year of his contract. Tho being named the ACC Coach of the year didn't help, finishing 8-4 wasn't good enough either. Some powerful donors led by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, wanted big Ralph out, so he's out. In Friedgen's 10-years at Maryland, the Terps were 75-50 with 5 bowl wins in 6 appearances. In the 15-years prior to his arrival, they were 60-103 with no bowl victories in just 2 appearances. Think money doesn't have a major impact into what happens on campus' around the nation? Plank & his cronies want former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, look for him to be introduced as the new coach within a week. By the way, Friedgen's Terrapins sent him out on a positive note as they buried East Carolina 51-20.
For a variety of reasons, there will be a lot of the NFL's bigger names on the inactive list this Sunday. Jacksonville QB David Garrard & RB Maurice Jones-Drew will not play. Same for Michael Vick & possibly WR DeSean Jackson. Jon Kitna, Brett Favre, Chad 85 & Matt Hasselback won't go either. Quarterbacks John Skelton(Az), Charlie Whitehurst(Sea), Stephen McGee(Dal), Kevin Kolb(Phil), Joe Webb(Minn), Tim Tebow(Den), Trent Edwards(Jax) & possibly Mark Brunnell(NYJ) will start on Sunday. If mark Sanchez plays Sunday, it won't be for long. Think picking winners won't be tough this week?
Late news out of New Orleans has the Saints leading receiver, Marques Colston, undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery this morning. He will miss Sunday's game with Tampa Bay & could miss their first round playoff game the following weekend. With 84 receptions for 1,023 yards & 7 touchdowns, this could be a real problem for the defending champs.
Last week was brutal in the Office Pool Picks, 7-9, only my second losing week. This week is even more difficult for reasons I explained above but here goes.
Miami at New England
Tampa Bay at New Orleans
Carolina at Atlanta
Dallas at Philadelphia
Oakland at Kansas City
Tennessee at Indianapolis
Jacksonville at Houston
Cincinnati at Baltimore
Chicago at Green Bay
Minnesota at Detroit
NY Giants at Washington
Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Buffalo at NY Jets
San Diego at Denver
Arizona at San Francisco
St. Louis at Seattle
Sunday Night Football total points tiebreaker 34
There is no Monday night game.
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