Change is coming....

As the New Year and new decade has come the tradition of resolutions are upon us. I did make some resolutions this year. Change is good, improvement is better and everyone can improve in some way. One of my resolutions was to transition, there is that word again, this blog from an opinion blog to a personal experience blog. In other words instead of giving my opinion on a certain subject of sports or result I would write about my own personal sports experience as the year or years go by…event attended, etc.

I’m immersed in the sports world and while its hard keeping up with all the happenings everyday its even harder to write a blog about them, attend to my career and life. Lets face it, no one likes anyone’s opinion but their own. Now I’ll still make a prediction or two here and there. I mean I don’t want to pat myself on the back(yes I do), but I did predict Alabama and Texas in the National Championship before the season.

So from here on out, well after March 1st, the blog will be a more personal sports experience type of blog than an opinion sports blog. Same look, same name, same me..just a different style of blog.I’m actually looking forward to it and I hope you are as well. Have a good year people. This is your year.

Suh's best Heisman pose.

The Heisman is supposed to be given to the most outstanding player in college football. Sometimes that is the case..sometimes its not. I guess there is a reason the statue has a ball in his hand and that is why the Heisman usually goes to an offensive skills player, but doesn’t necessarily have to. Suh, a defensive lineman from Nebraska, is a finalist this year and more than likely will be the first pick in the draft. The other four finalists are, Ingram, a running back from Alabama, McCoy, a quarterback from Texas, Tebow, a quarterback from Florida and Gerhart, a running back from Stanford.

Who will win?

1. Colt McCoy has a 70 percent completion rate, 3,512 yards, 27 TDs, 12 INTs; 348 yards rushing with 3 TDs. I think the regional bios will split votes between Tebow and Ingram in the South and SEC and McCoy was a finalist last year. He has guided Texas to an undefeated season, struggling against Nebraska’s defense in the Big 12 championship.

2. Mark Ingram carried Alabama on offense with 249 carries and 1,542 yards, 15 TDs and 30 catches for 322 yards on an undefeated team.

3. Toby Gerhart had 311 carries for 1,736 yards, 26 TDs and 1 TD pass and 10 catches for 149 yards. Hes a senior, but the lack of national exposure will hurt him along with the four losses Stanford suffered.

4. Tim Tebow, Florida’s leader and savior had a 65 percent completion rating with 2,413 yards, 18 TDs, 5 INTs; 203 rushes, for 859 yards, 13 TDs. I think the loss to Alabama hurts him a lot in voting as well as the vote splitting of SEC votes.

5. Ndamukong Suh, the beast, had 82 tackles, 23 for loss, 12 sacks, 1 INT and 10 pass breakups playing defensive tackle. He might not finish this low, but he won’t win because of not only being a defensive player, but a defensive tackle.

Who I think should win?

1. Toby Gerhart. Hes the reason Stanford finished where they did in the Pac-10. No one has gained more yards than he has and he has more touchdowns than any back. I love his running style and look for him to do great things in the NFL.

2. Ndamukong Suh. I had a hard time not giving him the trophy. He is a beast and a dominating presence on the defensive line. He was amazing against Texas and the main reason Nebraska has a chance at beating Texas. He will be the number one draft pick in the draft.

3. Colt McCoy.Hes the reason Texas is undefeated. Sure they have the defense and the coaching, but Colt McCoy is why they are where they are.

4. Mark Ingram. Hes a sophomore and the reason Alabama is undefeated is because of the defense. Ingram had a great game against Florida, but hes not colleges best player.

5. Tim Tebow. The former Heisman winner is a great athlete, but the other four are better, at least this year. Unlike some of the others. I don’t see Tebow being a good NFL player..at least a quarterback.

What most people are taking from the book is his addiction and use of crystal meth during his playing days. What I mostly took from it was his father’s controlling ways and how parents try to live through their children. As a toddler Agassi’s father taped ping pong paddles to his hands. Agassi is forced to play tennis by his father. Agassi’s father is so determined to make his son a tennis star that when Andre wins a trophy for sportsmanship his father smashes it to pieces, because it was short of winning. Agassi grew to hate tennis and claims he still does to this day. Confessing to his now wife, former tennis star, Steffi Graf, on their first date that he hated tennis. It boggles my mind how parents don’t see what they are doing. I’ve seen it in pro sports, including Tiger Wood’s father as well as on the little league fields and cheerleading tryouts. I’m not sure if parents are trying to relive their glory days or trying to make up for their failed glory days.

Should He Be Punished?

As I said before the part that most people took out of his book and the part that CBS decided to concentrate on was his use of crystal meth and subsequent addiction during his later playing days. Agassi was recovering from a wrist injury and was stressing over his upcoming marriage to Brooke Shields when his assistant offered him gack(crystal meth). He says, “You want to get high with me? On what? Gack. What the hell’s gack? Crystal meth. Why do they call it gack? Because that’s the sound you make when you’re high . Make you feel like Superman, dude.”

Agassi ends up failing a drug test and his excuse to the tennis governing body was he accidentally ingested the drug. The governing body bought it and it was never revealed. The problem I’m having is the way some tennis stars and former tennis stars are reacting. Navratilova being the harshest…comparing Agassi to Roger Clemens. See thats where I have a problem. Its not like he was taking steroids to enhance his performance. He was taking a drug that was disabling his performance. Yeah he lied to the governing body, but how many times have we seen a athlete tell the truth after testing positive for drug use? Rarely. A lot of tennis athletes have came to Agassi’s defense including Andy Roddick and Serena Williams.

Should Agassi be stripped of his past accomplishments? I don’t think so. He wasn’t taking a performance enhancing drug..he was a taking a drug that was inhibiting his performance. Lot of people been down that road..one hit during a tough time during their life and they become addicted. If anything this should be a story to the youth out there, not only those in tennis, but those in all walks of life.

Can Ingram keep Bama rollin'?

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Cincinnati
5. TCU
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Pittsburgh
9. LSU
10. Iowa
11. USC
12. Ohio State
13. Oregon
14. Miami(FL)
15. Utah
16. Houston
17. Penn State
18. Oklahoma State
19. Arizona
20. Virginia Tech
21. Wisconsin
22. Brigham Young
23. West Virginia
24. Oregon State
25. Clemson

Can New Orleans stay undefeated?

1. New Orleans Saints
2. Indianapolis Colts
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Cincinnati Bengals
6. New England Patriots
7. Denver Broncos
8. Dallas Cowboys
9. Atlanta Falcons
10. Philadelphia Eagles
11. Arizona Cardinals
12. San Diego Chargers
13. New York Giants
14. Baltimore Ravens
15. Houston Texans
16. Green Bay Packers
17. Miami Dolphins
18. New York Jets
19. San Francisco Niners
20. Carolina Panthers
21. Chicago Bears
22. Jacksonville Jaguars
23. Tennessee Titans
24. Seattle Seahawks
25. Buffalo Bills
26. Washington Redskins
27. Oakland Raiders
28. Detroit Lions
29. Kansas City Chiefs
30. St. Louis Rams
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
32. Cleveland Browns

This college football weekend could very well be an upset weekend in college football as you have some interesting match ups You have number 3 Texas squaring off against number 20 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, with Sam Bradford back for a second week after being out since the first game of the season with a shoulder injury.

Then you have the Trojans of number 6 USC coming into number 25 Notre Dame. Could this be the year that Notre Dame beats them after a long absence of a win?

Can Clausen take Notre Dame past USC?

Then you have the number one team in the land, Florida playing Arkansas in a SEC matchup. The Razorbacks are coming off a win over then undefeated Auburn. Is Florida ripe for an upset? Is Tebow 100 percent healthy? In another matchup you have the number 2 Crimson Tide playing the 22nd ranked South Carolina Gamecocks. Remember Alabama is half of my National Championship game pick and not to leave the Big Ten out we have Penn State playing Minnesota in Happy Valley.

• I think Oklahoma can very well beat Texas. This is a tough game to pick and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Sooners beat the Longhorns, BUT I picked Texas to go to the National Championship, so I have to go with the Longhorns to win in a close game. Texas 31-28
• Arkansas looked good last week in beating Auburn and Tebow looked fuzzy coming off the concussion, but I think Florida will be right on in their march for the eventual show down with Alabama in the SEC Championship at the end of the season. Florida 35-17
• Spurrier brings his Gamecocks in to Birmingham’s for Alabama’s homecoming. Alabama wins this one 28-17
• Penn State has one loss to fellow Big Ten team, Iowa as they play Minnesota at home in this Big ten matchup. Its going to be cold in Happy Valley tomorrow. Not that it will matter to anyone but the fans. Penn State 24-21
• Well can Notre Dame beat the Trojans this year? I think they can and I think they will.  Notre Dame 24-23

At least we’ll have one upset as the luck of the Irish returns.

Enjoy!!

Pike for Heisman?

There have been some surprises. Oklahoma losing two games already. A lot can be blamed on the loss of Bradford and Gresham, but it will be hard to salvage a conference win after starting 2 down already. Miami seems to have some of their swagger back and Cal, after many thinking they could compete for the Pac-10 title, have dropped two straight.

So how do I have the teams ranked after 5 weeks?

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Cincinnati
   
5. LSU
6. Virginia Tech
7. USC
8. Boise State
9. Ohio State
10. Miami(FL)
11. TCU
12. Oregon
13. Iowa
14. Auburn
15. Penn State
16. Kansas
17. BYU
18. South Florida
19. Oklahoma State
20. Mississippi
21. Oklahoma
22. Nebraska
23. Georgia Tech
24. Missouri
25. Pittsburgh

Could there be a Manning vs. Manning Super Bowl?

1. Giants
2. Colts
3. Vikings
4. Saints
5. Steelers
6. 
   

There is a long way to go in the season and anything can happen, but its going to be a fun ride.

New record?

I can’t wait to hear more on how Wayne took this buck as well as the scouting that led up to his tree stand placement, etc.  This makes me even more excited for Pennsylvania season to start in two weeks and West Virginia season in three.