Deez' College Basketball Power Rankings

I didn't even get a chance to put Tennessee in my #1 ranking this because they went to Vanderbilt and in my opinion were playing Vandy's game throughout and though the score indicates otherwise they just flat out got outplayed. By the way, ask the Pitbull I picked the upset before gametime. I will give you my rankings today since tomorrow is opening day for spring soccer and your boy is getting some OT so who knows when I'll get out of that. The power rankings this week have nothing against the big time games coming up this weekend that have consequences for the losers. My key matchup this week is the Clemson/Maryland game, though I believe that both teams should be invited. Clemson has a weak schedule but is 8-5 in the ACC with only 1 other loss, while Maryland has a tougher schedule, beat tougher teams but has 11 losses. Both teams by some standards are still on the bubble. Both teams matchup very well and I think that this one will be won in the final minute. Must see matchup! On to the rankings!!!

1. UNC - Would not be in this top spot, and I know that I have mentioned this before, without the play of Hansbrough.

2. Memphis - As we found out watching him Sat. night, Derrick Rose will be their for only one year...enjoy him Memphis.

3. UCLA - Winners of 4 straight with finishing it off against Arizona, Stanford, and California.

4. Tennessee - When they get down they are at times very turnover friendly, or a team on the warpath.

5. Texas - 8 straight wins and should finish with 3 more, that gives them a number 1 seed.

6. Duke - If they are going to go into a shooting slump they might as well do it now than later.

7. Kansas - Just 5-3 in their last eight and have Kansas State coming to town on Saturday.

8. Xavier - 5 players average double digits in points with the leader being the sixth man.

9. Stanford - Doesn't get any easier with the final 3 games with Washington St. Sat., and road games at UCLA and USC.

10. Louisville - It really does make a difference when your healthy. The Cardinals look ready for postseason play.

11. Wisconsin - Winners of 5 straight and should finish with 2 losses in the conference.

12. GTown - Rematch with Louisville on the final regular season game could mean the 1 seed in conference play.

13. Indiana - The Dan Dakich era has begun as he is looking to pull a Steve Fisher in the tourney.

14. Vanderbilt - The inside/outside game of A.J. Ogilvy and Shan Foster is really something to watch.

15. UCONN - Must keep momentum against the lesser teams this week going into the Big East tourney.

16. Purdue - People keep sleeping on them again after the Indiana loss, the Big Ten tourney should be fun.

17. Notre Dame - Only Big East losses were to nationally ranked BE teams. Harangody is a freak, 40 points vs. Louisville.

18. Butler - Will still win the Horizon and be a threat in the NCAAs despite the loss to Drake.

19. Marquette - The 5th Big East team to make my list and well deserving with 5 straight conference wins, GTown up next.

20. Michigan St. - It's hard to find the 20th in this slot, so I picked them just because they have Indiana on Sunday.

College Baseball Preview

Since there is not a whole lot of coverage of college baseball until the announcement of the teams that qualified for there Regional Tournament, today I give you a little taste at what is shaping up in NCAA baseball this year. Here's a little of what some of the power conferences are looking like as well as who to look for in Omaha this summer. Enjoy!

PAC-10

The Pac-10 is very top heavy this year with the pre-season polls having 3 teams in the top 10. #1 Arizona is back looking to take control of the conference early on and advance to the CWS for the first time since '04 with All-Americans, pitcher Preston Guilmet and an offensive beast 1st basemen C.J. Ziegler. The UCLA squad with a pre-season #3 rank and 5th in recruiting this year. The Bruins are looking to improve on their Super Regional appearance last season a first for this team not know for baseball. Also, looking to be a threat this season are '07 Pac-10 champs Arizona State, led by last years Pac-10 Player of the Year and Pac-10 Triple Crown winner Brett Wallace. And of course like most of the baseball world, like to forget about are the quiet two-time defending champs from Oregon State. Ranked 12th in the pre-season polls the Beavers are looking to make history again in the CWS. I like Arizona State to take the conference again this season and Arizona to have a shot in the Super Regionals, I must have forgot about Oregon State like everyone else!

SEC

Ole Miss looks to be easily taking this conference this season with their two top pitchers that are both ranked in the top 10 of the nations best in RHP Cody Setterwhite and RHP Lance Lynn. Both are projected to be early 1st round picks in this years draft. With Ole Miss is of course Vanderbilt, who are always in the talks as the best team in the SEC. #3 Vandy has the #1 prospect playing for them in 3B Pedro Alvarez, he hits like Albert Puhols and plays third like Brooks Robinson. South Carolina are the late season favorites to go to the CWS this season who went to the title game in '02. Junior Justin Smok is the offensive threat for the Gamecocks who has just recently hit his 41st home run and is now tied for 7th in school history...yeah, he's a junior! I went an saw Florida play yesterday in Gainesville and wasn't too impressed but I did enjoy the fact that they swing the bats aggressively, which is consistent throughout the conference. Vandy was my favorite to sneak by Ole Miss this year but an injury to Alvarez yesterday could put him out for at least 6 weeks so look for Ole Miss to take an early conference lead and hold it for the season.

ACC

The same teams with the same colors you'll see in early June, with North Carolina being the early conference favorite and ranking 4th in the polls. The Tarheels are back again and get use to keep seeing them in the CWS because they are back with a very good young pitching staff. #9 Miami, you usually always get to see in Omaha, wasn't there last year but quite possibly has the best offensive team they ever had. They have the best 3,4,5 hitters in the nation in 2B Jemile Weeks (Rickie's brother), OF Dennis Raber, and 1B Yonder Alonso. I looking forward to seeing Weeks play this season, with a lot of scouts saying that he is as good if not better than his brother. The middle of the pack teams I like is Virginia and Clemson this season. The Cavaliers are led by All-American pitcher Jacob Thompson, but the loss of 5 players to the MLB Draft could hurt. To make up for the tough losses they brought in 16 quality frosh playing with a nice core of vets. The Tigers will have to endure some tough times early with having the nations toughest schedule on their side and starting plenty of sophomores, but I honestly believe this will be very benificial as the season goes on. UNC should win the conference but I really like Miami to go far in the CWS.

BIG 12

Getting the opportunity to see one of the nations best in Missouri this week put a bad taste in my mouth about this suppose elite conference. The Tigers are led by All-American Aaron Crow that is the ace of a very deep pitching staff. Baylor surprised a lot of readers by sneaking up to 13th in the Pre-season polls. But, little does everyone know that Baylor is returning a full squad of experienced players with 8 of them being lettermen pitchers including top pro prospect, closer Nick Cassavechia. The team with the most CWS appearance is back to an elite as Texas has two 1st team All-American outfielders in Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell. Oklahoma State did some great recruiting this season as well, getting lucky with the transfer of catcher Luis Flores leaving Houston for the Cowboys. Flores was a Freshman All-American is '06 and is already showing signs of stardom behind the plate in this early season. The Big 12 is always deep and with teams Nebraska and Texas A&M being in the middle of the pack this makes for a fun finish for the conference winner. As I said I wasn't too impressed with Missouri and their bats so I am going to go with Texas to win the conference and advance to the CWS again this year.

OTHERS

The Big Ten has nobody but Michigan for the third consecutive year as the Wolverines look to improve on their Super Regional Finals and get to the CWS for the first time since '84. As always the Big West is led by Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton with LBS being the early conference favorite. Having gotten the chance to already see a Conference USA team play in Central Florida it should be a fun conference season with the early favorites being #15 Rice and #18 Tulane, with East Carolina and UCF balancing out the rest. San Diego and their #17 ranking is the highest in school history and should handle the WCC with the #1 prospect pitcher in Brian Matusz. I like Tony Gwynn to lead a surprising San Diego State team to the Mountain West Conference title and a hopeful in the Super Regionals. Wichita State is the heavy favorite in the Missouri Valley again this year and CWS hopeful this year.

It should be another great year in college baseball hopefully I will get to see more games live since television just isn't in the books for college baseball until June. On to my fearless picks for the College World Series...

Losers Bracket Final - UNC vs. Ole Miss

Winners Bracket winner - Miami

Championship - UNC vs. Miami

Champs - Miami

Will vs. Bill

Weekend Review

With so much going on as far as the world in sports and the Oscars this weekend, it was pretty busy and your fingers got a work out changing channels on the remote. First things first, college basketball Saturday was outstanding! We had some upsets and teams that needed victories getting them and some that needed them and were cut down. I'll get right to it with the 1/2 game between Tennessee and Memphis. There are a couple of things that I got out of that game that really never thought about. Both teams are way too physical! When I coached at the high school level you want and drive your kids to be as physical as possible but it seems to me that both teams aren't disciplined enough with their physicality. If they go into the tournament and end up with a very happy whistled referee trio they could be in big trouble. Only thing going on their side if this occurs is that they are very deep. Which brings me to my next point foul shooting! They showed a stat during the game with the past NCAA champs that shot under 65 percent from the line and their were few to say the least. Both teams are terrible foul shooting teams and in the tourney you have to make your foul shots late because teams will try to prolong the game since it could be their last. Finally I realized that Tennessee is the best "team" in the nation. I put team in quotations because that is exactly what they are. They don't need Chris Lofton to have a good night to win because on any given night one of the 9 players that coach Bruce Pearl puts in the game can step up and get it done.

The Oscars were forgettable to say the least. Jon Stewart was funny at times but was going a little overboard trying to be too funny. Like my colleague over at BadChoiceMilk said there were really no surprises this Oscars which made it kind of boring to get into after the announcement of the winners to listen to their acceptance speeches. I admit most of the movies that were in the major categories I haven't seen yet because Netflix is getting on my nerves and I have to wait for them but the Oscars just didn't have that spunk that it usually has. One thing I did notice was that Jack Nicholson is a star among the stars. Jack says that he has been to least 20 Oscars and even with him not having any movies or roles up for an award the Academy still wants him there sitting in the front row with his glasses...amazing!

Finally, on Monday I went with my father to my first Division 1 college baseball game between #5 nationally ranked Missouri Tigers coming to Florida and facing UCF. It was very, very entertaining to say the least! The up and coming UCF Golden Knights had their highs and lows during the game and in the end they made a great comeback in the final inning to pull of the upset. Down four runs in the last inning the Knights came back scoring 5 runs with no outs to pull off the upset. The ball field, which was getting filled during the course of the game by the student body went crazy when the final run crossed the plate. The Knights have started the season off strong with a 4-0 record thus far as they are in the decent not tough C-USA with the only strong teams being Rice and Tulane to deal with. In the crowd for the game and standing about 20 feet behind me was former UCF football standout and Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was decked out with UCF gear looking like he just went through a workout. He wasn't getting much attention until the idiot announcer said over the loud speaker that he was in attendance and was asked to wave. After that their was no way he could enjoy the game as he was mobbed by fans, so he left early. Overall though it was nice to get a chance to see a nationally ranked team play, who in my opinion really wasn't that impressive. Later on in The Nutz, I will give you a little College Baseball Preview for those of you that aren't that interested now but want to know who they might see in Omaha in June.

Deez' College Basketball Power Rankings

How convenient and lucky the NCAA gets as far as nationally televised games with big teams. Duke loses to Wake Forrest on Sunday before the polls come out on Monday to give a jump for Tennessee to the number 2 spot on the polls going into there matchup with in state rival and the #1 ranked team in the nation the Memphis Tigers. Isn't it funny how that works! As most of you die hard college basketball fans know, when big time televised games are coming up the polls tend to favor those games to get the public's eye. Another matchup I encourage all of you to get into is the "Bulldog" game between in my opinion the better mid-major teams in the nation with Drake traveling to Butler. The game is at 5:00 on ESPN2 and if you have any doubts on the mid-majors with why are most of them getting so highly ranked, you have a chance to take a good look at these two teams and I assure you yoou won't be dissappointed. On to my rankings this week...

1. Memphis - Even with loss today will still be in the top 3 and is likely no matter what happens to get a #1 seed.

2. Tennessee - Big nationally televised game finally for this squad. I have had the chance to see them in Reg. coverage and the nation will finally get to see Chris Lofton 2nite.

3. Kansas - No games this week but a nice test with Oklahoma St today. Still has Texas pushing them.

4. UNC - With PG Ty Lawson out this Tarheel team has been unbelievable lately in large part in my player of the year Hansbourgh.

5. UCLA - Still the best team in the Pac-10 with Oregon coming this Sat. Kevin Love is an absolute beast, hopefully he'll stay a couple of years.

6. Texas -7 wins in a row with D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams starting to heat up from the outside spells trouble for Oklahoma.

7. Duke - Is it just me or are teams finally starting to realize that the Blue Devils front court is weak defensively?

8. Xavier - Another big game this weekend is when they face heated rival Dayton away this Sunday. The Muskateers have won 14 of 15.

9. Stanford - If they want a chance to take over the top spot in the Pac-10 they have a nice stretch of 3 straight home games.

10. Butler - Only have three games left in the regular season including the showdown with Drake tonite. A.J. Graves to have a huge game today.

11. UCONN - Winners of 10 in a row and in my opinion, and even though I am a UCONN hater, Price is the Big East Player of the Year.

12. GTown - Like Duke, the Hoyas have been figured out by their opponents. Lucky for them the remaining reg. season schedule favors them.

13. Indiana - Even with all the questions surrounding their coach, D.J. White has took this team on his shoulders to big victories.

14. Louisville - Sitting tied with GTown for the top spot in the Big East, tough road coming for the Cards with games vs. Pitt, ND, and Nova.

15. Purdue - Is the most disciplined team in college basketball and one of the youngest. Coach Matt Painter is the reason!

16. Wisconsin - This offense will have to prove that they can pull it from the outside facing Ohio State's zone away.

17. Washington St - Winners of 4 straight and back up to 3rd in the conference. Big test today vs. Arizona and Cal on Thursday.

18. Notre Dame - The Big East is too deep and I have to put in this team that has quietly won 7 of their last 8 conference games.

19. Saint Mary's - Tied with Gonzaga with the conference lead at 10-1. Showdown this Saturday a must watch game b4 conference play.

20. Vanderbilt - Even though they are behind Miss. St. and Kentucky in the SEC standing Vandy is a better team winners of 5 straight.

Pic of the Week

This week I have a special pic of the week with actually pics of the week of my favorite models in this years Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue. As most of you all know I have been a subscriber to Sports Ill. for more than a decade, so I have been fortunate to get this great issue over the years. Here's a look at my favorites inside the issue, enjoy!

Brooklyn Decker

Jessica White

Marisa Miller

Olunchi Onweagba

Dickie V

Richard J. Vitale is up as a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame this year. This is pretty difficult issue to write about but I think it is a very debatable topic. Should Dick Vitale be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame? As much as Vitale has been such a huge part of the excitement in college basketball since ESPN had him do the first live game for the network in 1979, I don't see how he is a Hall of Famer. His coaching career which includes eight years in college assisting at Rutgers U. for two of them and heading the University of Detroit for the remainder. As well as coaching in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons for a season and a quarter. But, let's face it, the reason for him being picked as a finalist for the Hall of Fame is because of him as a color commentator for college basketball games for more than a quarter of a century. Everywhere Dickie V goes for the big game he is mobbed by the student body of the home team, as been this way for years. His catchphrases will last forever and his enthusiam for this great game is special. That being said the biggest question I see in this debate is, "Would have college basketball been fine without him?". And, the only answer I keep coming up with is, yes! Yes, he was missed by his peers and die-hard fans earlier this year when he was out, but I really don't know if his impact for the game is worthy of a trip to Springfield, Mass. I am not at all a Vitale hater nor am I a huge fan of his. I did miss his voice earlier in the season at the big games on ESPN at night, but his antics have really gone overboard the last 5 to 10 years. I could really care less either way if he gets in or not. I guess that you can kind of in a way look at it as John Madden's impact on the NFL off the sidelines. Madden was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame a few years ago but I would have to side with Madden's situation having won a Super Bowl as a coach before becoming a video game god and commentating genius. Dick Vitale has been with ESPN for 28 years and just recently signed an extension through the 2012-13 season. At least this shows that ESPN really enjoys his company and think that he is too valuable to lose. Either way you look at it for or against Dickie V for the Hall, you can't deny his passion and love for the game. I just don't see Dick Vitale when I think of college basketball, but some I guess do.

Greatest Season of All-Time

I am back again counting down my top 20 favorite greatest seasons of all time before the turn of the century. The closer to number one I get the harder it is. Today, we go to the National Basketball Association for the first time and the player is the greatest player of my era.

The season was the 1987-1988 season, and Michael Jordan was beginning to hit his stride as a NBA player. The commercials were being displayed, and the hype was on. Jordan didn't win his first championship til '90-'91 season but this season was his best individual season in my opinion. Jordan led the league in scoring that season averaging 35.0 points per game, which was an amazing average for that time. He became the only player in the history of the game to win the scoring title and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. The average of 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks was hard to argue. Leading the league in total points scored, field goals made, and minutes played along with everything else I already mentioned gave Jordan the League MVP Award unanimously. On top of the season awards Jordan received Jordan scored 40 points in the All-Star game in Chicago taking the All-Star game MVP award as well as winning the Slam Dunk Contest the day before in a great battle with Dominique Wilkins in front of his homecourt fans. The only thing that was missing out of this season was the elusive title, but he'd get a few before his career was up.

Deez' College Basketball Power Rankings

Ok, so I jinxed myself by posting my college basketball picks on my blog and Georgtown burned me not only on Saturday but on Monday as well verses Villanova. What are you going to do? So I cashed out and still ended up making some money after fighting back after my Super Bowl loss. Things are really starting to mix up with the shuffling of the elite teams and with February 23rd right around the corner bracket busters will be in effect with Tennessee going to Memphis and Drake traveling to Butler.

1. Memphis - We can keep telling ourselves that C-USA has decent teams but we are really just waiting for the Tennessee game.

2. Duke - The only team I see beating them will be themselves.

3. Kansas - Even with the loss at Texas, they still only have two losses in the tough Big 12.

4. Tennessee - They still won despite a poor effort at LSU. Will still be an overlooked team until they get more national games.

5. UNC - As much as I have been hating on Hansbrough's defense, he has singlehandedly kept his team from losing 4 straight.

6. UCLA - I still like the Bruins but that loss at Washington was bad. UCLA had a tough time with Wash. terrible defense.

7. GTown - Are still my best team in the Big East until they prove me otherwise.

8. Texas - Have beaten 3 potential #1 seeds in Kansas, UCLA, and Tennessee. Pretty damn impressive.

9. Stanford - Still a top ten team in my book even after the loss at a very good Arizona State.

10. Xavier - A great balanced team with Rhode Island, Dayton, and Duquesne coming up.

11. Butler - This team is really that good! You'll see when at least 3 teams in their conference make the tourney.

12. UCONN - While the Huskies keep winning, I keep getting reminded not to move back home.

13. Purdue - Nobody saw this coming. But, after watching a couple games they are the truth.

14. Wisconsin - Only team to beat them the past 16 games was Purdue.

15. Louisville - With David Padgett healthy this team looks very, very dangerous.

16. Drake - If they were going to lose to anybody, Southern Illinois had to be that team.

17. Michigan St. - Big game tonight at Indiana. There is something not right with this team even though their 20-4.

18. Texas A&M - Now 20-4, to prove that this team is for real they are going to have to impress me at Texas Monday.

19. Notre Dame - Even with the loss at UCONN, the Irish are still sitting pretty with Luke Harangody's 20 and 10 a game.

20. Washington St. - After today's game at Oregon the conference schedule will not be favorable will have to start to do some impressing.

The Best Slam Dunk Contestants

The NBA All-Star weekend is here and the best part of the weekend when I was 9 years old was always the slam dunk and 3 point contests. Though, both have lost some great energy over the years with in my opinion not enough stars in the contests I still watch just because it brings me back to when I was a kid. We only have 4 contestants this year with the big name being Dwight Howard. The others competing are last year's winner Gerald Green of the Timberwolves, Jamarro Moon of the Raptors, and Rudy Gay of the Grizzlies. I remember when I was 13 years old playing basketball outside with my brother and his friend Luke Williams and Timmy fouling me while I was going to the hoop and banging my head on the pole of the hoop. The only thing I remember the rest of that night was that I saw stars when I hit the pole and Dee Brown pumping up his shoes at the Dunk Contest. Here's my list of favorite slam dunk contestants:

Michael Jordan 1987,1988 winner

The man was so creative the basketball world was not ready for him when he put on a show in the contest for two consecutive years. His "airness" put on such a show for the fans that you would hear a pin drop before he made up a ridiculous dunk. His dunks will be portraits in my mind forever.

Dominique Wilkins 1985,1990 winner

Wilkins brought power to a dunk contest that really brought in a new class of dunkers that brought energy to the crowd by throwing it down with authority. The two-time winner probably could have won three if it wasn't for Jordan winning the title in 1988 on his home court in front of his fans. But, 'Nque put on a show that I appreciated more when I saw the replays when i was older. Wilkins was a freak in the contest.

Harold Miner 1993, 1995 winner

Nicknamed "Baby Jordan" when the original slam dunk king stopped entering Minor brought his creativeness to the contest that was very similar to Air Jordan. At this point of time most of the stars really started to drift away from the contest but Minor and Isaih Rider made the contest still enjoyable.

Vince Carter 2000 winner

Carter only entered the contest once but it was one of the best performances I had ever seen. With cousin and teammate Tracy McGrady helping him out with alley-oops he stole the show that night and to be quite honest with you I was looking for who competed with him and they weren't found. Carter combined his style with finesse and power. If you never seen him in this contest, find it!

Spud Webb 1986 winner

Not many people know this but the real reason why my favorite number is #4 it's because of this man pictured above. If Webb was a little better of a basketball player he would have been my favorite. While his size was always a controversy 5'6'', 5'7'', 5'8'' when you saw him bring the audience to attention with his leaping skills it was unbelievable. I wish I still had the poster but I had one of him and his winning dunk for the '86 contest. The leaping skills from Webb was amazing and to this day his performance in the contest will never be forgotten.

A Happy Valentine's Day Video

Pic of the Week

It's been a while since I posted my pic of the week. So with my mom's b-day coming up this weekend I figure to post a picture of her favorite event every year since I was a kid. Uno - a 15 inch beagle was the winner of Best in Show at the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Uno, who is chowing on some steak in the above pic, is the first beagle in the history of "the show" to become winner of Best in Show. I heard on PTI this week that Uno was quoted saying after the victory, "I would like to take this opprotunity to thank a dog, and a fellow beagle that has been a mentor to me since I was born...Snoopy!"

Idiot of the Week

Today I could be that guy to write about how the Committee members on Capitol Hill bullied Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee but really had no idea what they were talking about. I was in awe on how the committee members were so clueless, just tell us honestly all of you were that to catch a liar and could really care less about everything else. That would have at least made sense in my eyes. But the Committee members came a close second to my idiot of the week and this week it's Kelvin Sampson. Sampson is facing 5 major NCAA violations, and the man was warned before being hired at Indiana to not bring in his recruiting habits from Oklahoma to our university. Now for these violations that Sampson is facing he could be jobless any day now, but for some reason I don't think he will, especially with what happened with Jim O'Brien at Ohio State who was fired before the NCAA ruled on the case and O'Brien adventually sued State U. and Indiana is being very careful with Sampson for this reason. Sampson's allegations are all stemming from a phone call scandal that occured while Sampson was under recruiting restrictions. The Athletic Director at Indiana, Rick Greenspan, who we all know is a follow and cooperate kind of guy promised the NCAA his attentiveness. It seems to me that Sampson is just another one of those coaches that tries to stretch the recruiting rules and get the guys he wants to come to his school. I agree some of the rules that were broken are ridiculous. Too much text messaging, over the phone call limit, but rules are rules coach and every coach must abide by them. It is so bad for Sampson right now that during the afternoon yesterday before they lost at home to Wisconsin, discussion was going on about whether Sampson would even coach the game. One of the options that keeps popping up in Indiana is to suspend the coach form coaching games until they can figure things out without firing him and have it backfire like O'Brien. This storied program has a great chance of facing a postseason ban for the heat that Sampson put on them. The ban will not happen this year, fortunately for the #12 ranked Hoosiers. Now I ask you...Were Bobby Knight's actions as bad as this? Now look where this program is...Knight would never let this happen on his watch, never!

Something to be Happy About

The Seattle Mariners were able to trade for one of the better left handed pitchers in the game this past week in Erik Bedard. Even though they gave up a great outfield prospect in Adam Jones, you gotta be happy about that pick up especially since you had gotten another 28 year old a couple of months ago in pitcher Carlos Silva. The Mariners had a surprising season to say the least last year by finishing 2nd in the AL West. Now with Bedard and Silva in a rotation with 21 year old Felix Hernandez, and vets Miguel Batista and Jarrod Washburn the M's could turn things around next season. In a surprising report earlier today manager John McLaren announced that Bedard will be the opening day starter over Hernandez. Um, coach...its February 13th, you got some time to decide. Fantasy outlook and Pre-Season predictions will be a little later on, I for once am not rushing the start of baseball this season.

The Best Man for the Job?

After the involvement of at least 10 candidates, some of whom were former head coaches, some coordinators, and one an assistant head coach for their team the last two seasons. With all of the experienced candidates that could be the wise choice for the Washington Redskins they went out and got a guy that's highest job title in the NFL was Quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks the past 7 seasons...nice! Was he really the best choice or was a someone that owner Dan Synder had to settle with. Settle!!!! Assistant Head Coach and Defensive coordinator the past 4 seasons wasn't a better option? Are we serious, Synder? Well whatever what's done is done. Jim Zorn who is a very likable guy by many of his peers is the new head coach in Washington and I am hopeful that he brings a great new offensive scheme that will finally start putting some points on the scoreboard. Zorn is the sixth head coach for Synder since Synder bought the Redskins back in 1999. One good thing that they did was at least keep veteran assistants Joe Bugel and Greg Blachel for another season with Blachel getting promoted to head the defense which was nothing short of great at the end of the season. Zorn was quoted on the podium during his intro to the 'skin as saying, "I look at these trophies(3 Lombardi Trophies) and it's quite intimidating." You think that is intimidating Zorn, wait til if things go bad for you in Washington, with the fans, media, and more importantly Synder. Being a Redskin fan a lot of my buddies have been awaiting my postion with the hire I personally I really can't stand it. I was all for Gregg Williams coming back to head this team that went through so much last season and the way that they came together on defense especially leaves me really speechless that he did not get the job. I really could care less how bad he was a head of the Buffalo Bills, Williams deserved at least a chance at heading the Redskins this season. Then I hear rumors about Steve Mariucci, Jim Fassel, and of course Steve Spagnuolo I was really getting pumped. Then I hear that they hire the guy they just hired as an offensive coordinator not less than 2 weeks before. I was fine with Zorn coming in as coordinator because the offense hadn't changed at all when they brought in Al Saunders, but to then give him another huge promotion to the head job is very, very questionable and I am sure that I am not the only Redskin fan to feel this way. To make everything better for me Synder needs to be traded as owner or they need to bring in Chad Johnson then I'll be in a better mood!

Greatest Season of All-Time

Back again making my countdown to my favorite greatest season of all-time before the turn of the century. This is hard enough and before I started doing this I put my 20 before hand and I find myself overthinking the next one each time I post one. Today I am going back to the sport of tennis, yeah I know, just hear me out can't deny his accomplishments this season. Here it is...

So if I told you that a mens tennis player had a record of 99-4 with 14 titles you would probably think that I was talking about Roger Federer, but the year was 1974 and the name was Jimmy Connors. The very energetic Connors put together in my opinion the best season by a mens player. He won 3 Grand Slam titles that year(Australian Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open) and the way he was playing that year could have won a forth but was denied the opprotunity. At that time Connors had signed a contract with the World Team Tennis organization and the French Open board banned all players that were signed with the WTT because they thought that he would be conflicted with the French Open being involved with the WTT for whatever reason which sounds ridiculous to me. Connors took over the world overall #1 ranking in July that year and held the title for a record 160 straight weeks, a record that was broken last February by Federer. Connors also was a part of a mixed doubles team that year with Chris Evert and they finished runner-up in the U.S. Open. Connors was such a very colorful player when he was on the court, I remember him later in his career at the U.S. Open in the early 1990s and watching this older man compete with the young bucks and he always got my respect. I know that this is tennis but in my opinion if I was to put a tennis player in my top 20 it had to be this kind of season with this kind of player.

Deez' College Basketball Power Rankings

I posted the other day on how I lost $100 big ones on the Super Bowl, and I decided on Tuesday afternoon that I had some money left over I'll take a stab at some games on the college hardwood. Well, it worked! Tuesday I hit on a 3 team parlay and 4 point teaser, Wednesday hit on a 4 team parlay and 4 point teaser, and Thursday hit on a 3 team 4 point teaser and 7 point teaser, and was 2 points shy of hitting on that parlay. So as of today, Saturday morning I am the best College Basketball insider that you know, so keep your eyes on my basketball blogs! After not being able to sleep last night I was doing some research on my top 20 for my power rankings this week, while some slipped out and hard(Washington State) some teams made some tremendous jumps. This weekend it a nice weekend full of games so keep up with your teams because the conference tourneys are right around the corner. On to the power rankings...

1. Memphis - Tennessee comes to town on 02/23 no other challenges beside Houston until then.

2. Duke - The scariest team in the nation if they shoot and rebound like they did to UNC. Henderson is a star.

3. Kansas - Have held their opponents to under 50% shooting in 22 of their 23 games.

4. UCLA - Darren Collison might be the most under appreciated point guard in the nation.

5. UNC - The Duke game showed how valuable Ty Lawson is to that team. Defense is still bad.

6. Tennessee - A swarming defense and the use of a deep bench will wear teams out the rest of the year.

7. GTown - Win verses Louisville tonight will make a good separation from the Big East's best.

8. Wisconsin - A great defensive team that is 9-1 in a top heavy Big Ten. Offense has been playing well as of late too.

9. Butler - Don't expect this team to lose again after their poised close victory over Valpo. Showed me a lot.

10. Stanford - Has a five game winning streak and is all alone in second place in the Pac-10. 18-3 so far !

11. Xavier - Tough 3 game stretch coming up with 3 of the top teams in the A-10 in the next eight days.

12. Michigan St. - After having seen them lose to Penn St. last week it really showed how much Neitzel means to them.

13. Drake - After beating a tough Illinois St. team on the road they are now 12-0 in the MVC.

14. UCONN - Should take care of G.T. today. A.J. Price has been too nice during their 6 game win streak.

15. Texas - Closing in on Kansas and Kansas St. by beating Oklahoma away. Has a big one vs. Kansas Monday.

16. Indiana - Thankful that they escaped from Illinois with a win, still no wins verses the nations top 50 which is shocking.

17. Notre Dame - Standing in 2nd place in the tough Big East, but their weak non-conference schedule keeps doubters.

18. Texas A&M - Winners of 4 straight conference games after three straight conference losses vs. the toughest teams.

19. Vanderbilt - Can really make a SEC push the next 3 games against opponents So. Carolina, Kentucky, and Florida.

20. Clemson - I really like how physical this team plays even with a loss last Saturday at Miami. UNC next on Sun.

Games I like today and that I am taking is :

3 Team Parlay, 4 point teaser, 7 point teaser

Vanderbilt +3 @ South Carolina

Gtown +3 @ Louisville

Purdue +10 @ Wisconsin

Greatest Season of All-Time

I'm back after a week layoff with my top 20 favorite greatest seasons of all-time before the turn of the century. It's been a while since i wrote one of these, for my personal enjoyment only, and we are going back to Major League Baseball a few decades ago. Without further ado...

From 1925 to 1933 the Philadelphia Athletics were able to win two World Series titles with the helpful arm of one of the most dominant pitchers between Walter Johnson and Pedro Martinez. His name was good old Lefty Grove and in 1931 Grove pitched the Athletics to 31 wins that season. An unbelievable mark! Also, Grove won the pitchers Triple Crown by having a 31-4 record, a 2.04 ERA, and striking out 175 batters. The 2.06 ERA was the lowest ERA for a season in his Hall of Fame career. On top of the individual statistics Grove won the AL MVP award a mark that would make him on a very short list of pitchers to win a league MVP. After winning the World Series back in 1930, Grove brought the Athletics back to the Series after winning the Pennant but the St. Louis Cardinals beat the A's in six games, but Grove only pitched in two games and was up next to pitch game seven. He was victorious in both the games the A's won. Grove still is always mentioned as one of the better pitchers before the modern day era, and to me the 1931 season was something that really needed to be on my short list. Grove finished with an even 300 victories for his career, currently ranked 21st.

Top 99 Most Desirable Women 2008

Recently Askmen.com listed the 2008 Most Desirable Women on their website. About a week or two ago I gave you a little taste of my favorites that made the list last year. This year's list had most of my girls slip down or even out of the top 99 while some stayed in the top 10 and a new #1 women was announced. I will give my audience some new pics of my girls that still made the list and a couple of new ones...

#52 Salma Hayek

#47 Jessica Simpson

#35 Angelina Jolie

#14 Beyonce

#7 Jessica Biel

#4 Eva Mendes

#1 Katherine Heigl

National Signing Day 2008

Top high school recruits were to pick where they wanted to play football next season on National Signing day for football. However, there was one of the best recruits in the nation not to, stating that he needs more time because he is a basketball player. That's right the guy I want most, Terrelle Pryor, decided that he is not ready to make a tough decision. A tough decision that thousands of other recruits make in time for signing day. Mr. Pryor is already getting to high maintenance for me, "Do you want more attention Terrelle?". You, out of all the recruits have gotten the most and the day that your suppose to choose what school to attend you want more time so that the media can keep talking you up. JUST TELL US YOU WANT TO GO TO MICHIGAN GOD DAMMITT!!! Ok, now that I got that outta my system. Signing day is such a big decision for these future D1 players that I really think that we go too far with it. I mean the coverage of this is absolutely ridiculous! For the past month and a half I have read in local newspapers, and listened to it on the local radio stations. It's fun to listen to but are we giving these top recruits to much attention far too early. I mean, we don't "really" know for sure who is the best recruit, do we? So much attention that a descent kid in a high school in Nevada made up a huge story on Oregon and California recruiting him that he had a whole background story, it was in the papers and ultimately made the local television station with him infront of the two schools hats and him putting on the California hat showing that he chooses to go to that school. Then later word got out that Cal never even recruited him so he fessed up and said that he made it all up. I really do feel that these kids get way too much attention, even though some does to be deserved, ESPN should back up a little. But, who am I, I admit I go on Rivals.com and check out how Michigan's recruiting is going. Anyway most of the top recruit have a destination, let's take a look at the top recruiting classes for now without Pryor...he better come to Ann Arbor! Let me know if you notice a little trend in the top classes, lol.

1. University of Miami - Nabbed the top DT in Marcus Fortson(Miami, FL) and 5 of the nations top 7 OLBs.
2. Clemson - Suprisingly getting the #6 OL, #3 TE, #3 HB, and the #4 QB while already having the overall #1 hitting the books in DaQuan Bowers(Bamberg, SC)
3. Alabama - Getting the overall #2 in receiver Julio Jones(Foley, AL) was huge, but getting 15 others at need postions was better.
4. Florida - Again the Gators are at the top, but they lost a couple of top players on signing day that they thought were sure things.
5. Georgia - What the Bulldogs needed most is what they got, top offensive skilled postion players.
6. USC - Got the #2 cornerback in T.J. Bryant(Tallahassee, FL) on signing day hepled keep them in the top 10, again!
7. Ohio State - Another great recruiting season for Tressel. Led by 3 top offensive linemen from FL, TX, and Ohio.
8. Oklahoma - They got another great RB that will have an immediate impact next season in Jarmie Calhoun(Ver, TX).
9. Notre Dame - I don't know how Weis got them to come but he did including the #2 QB Dayne Christ(Canoga Park, CA) who will challenge Clausen.
10. Texas - They always get whoever they want, whenever they want, especially if the recruits are from Texas. Two more top in state receivers this season.

Others that were tops this recruiting season were...LSU, Florida State, Michigan, UCLA, and Virginia Tech

Best Super Bowl Commercial

"suck one"

What are you going to do?

It was a great game to watch if you didn't have any money riding on it. I have done pretty well the last couple of years with my betting performances in the Super Bowl, so I was bound to take a hit soon. I haven't placed any bets all season since week one and that was a $50 loss but I said after the loss I won't bet til the Super Bowl and I will save a little of money while doing it. Well, that is just what I did. All in all I lost only $100, could of been alot worse thank god. Eli Manning was absolutely great last night as well as the Giants defensive line. You gotta hand it to them, they were just the better team out their and deserved the victory. I put a picture above of rookie wide receiver Steve Smith because in just six years he has won a High School Football State Championship in California, won the BCS National Title at USC, and just won the Super Bowl, talk about always being on a winner huh? I just wish the line had stayed at 14, I would have took the Giants instead of the Patriots, who have won me a ton of $ since their first Super Bowl in 2002. Here's a look at some of the crazy bets I lost and won last night...

Tom Brady will pass for 311-320 yards...lost
Randy Moss will receive for 141-150 yards...lost
The first turnover of the game will be a interception...won
The first penalty of the game will be by the Giants...won
Both teams will kick a 33 yard field goal...lost
First score of the game will be anything but a touchdown...won
Team to win the coin toss...lost
Over for the longest field goal of the game 43.5...lost
Tails will be the coin toss...won

By the way, keep this in mind for next years Super Bowl tails has hit 4 years in a row, which is absolutely amazing but what is more amazing is that the team that calls the toss has called tails and won the toss all four years.

Super Bowl Preview

Will the New England Patriots become the greatest team of all-time or will the New York Giants pull off the biggest upset in Super Bowl history? These are just two of the questions that I have been hearing for the most miserable two weeks. The reason why I posted those questions is because I really believe that these are the most important debatable questions. Let's go to the latter of the two, in my personal opinion this would be the biggest upset since the Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams back in 2002. In Super Bowl history? I dunno, I am only 30, damn that hurts to say! But, from what I have read and heard about Joe Namath's NY Jets upset of the Baltimore Colts was huge, and not just for that team but for the entire league by having an upstart AFL team beat a NFL team in Super Bowl III. This would be a huge upset with all that is on the line for the Pats and the way that they beat teams all year long. As far as the Patriots becoming the best team of all time with a win, that'll be debatable for years and years. Honestly though, you ask any player in the league or former player. They cannot ever fathom a undefeated season, not possible in their eyes. So, since we are now in the free agent years how can they not be, I know all about the Pittsburgh Steelers but that was just a dynasty.

As for the game, I can't remember the last time that their were going to be so many good receivers on the field Super Bowl Sunday. But, the running backs might be the most important players in this game, one in particular. Brandon Jacobs in my mind if the Giants are going to have any chance of winning the game, has to gain 5 yards a carry every first down and keep the chains moving so that they keep the Pats offense off the field. Of course the major factor is will the Giants secondary be able to handle the Pats offense scheme especially if, and I think that they definitely will, keep a no-huddle, spread offense for the entire first half so that the Gmen will have to play catch up which is not their game. My heart wants the Giants to win to represent the NFC East, but my mind is keeping me to go with the Patriots. I will be doing a lot of betting this Sunday since I was a good boy all year and only bet week 1. So here's my picks for Super Bowl Sunday...

Patriots -12
over 54
tails
patriots win the toss
patriots will receive the kick
patriots will score first
first score will be a touchdown
first TD will be Wes Welker 6-1 odds

among others, I will post how I did on Monday with all of my other crazy bets!

Vote for Art Monk

Well, here it is 24 hours away from awaiting the fate of a certain Hall of Famer in my eyes and many others, epecially those that played with or against him. Art Monk who has been passed over the Hall of Fame for several years now, won't be that guy to go on camera and give his peace. But, he has every right too in my book. And I am the guy that hates on players trying to sell the Hall of Fame status to voters on camera. Monk is currently, I'll say it again currently, in these career statistics...6th in receptions, 11th in receiving yards, 30th in touchdowns, 26th in yards from scrimmage, and 2nd in consectutive games with a catch. Seven times he has been a finalist for the Hall and seven times he has missed the cut. Monk is a 3-time Super Bowl Champ, though he missed one of them because of an injury, in his second he caught 7 passes for 113 yards. And, being a Redskin fan, he had one 20 yard catch turnover because it was reversed by instant replay, when they brought it back for the Super bowl. Monk was only a 3-time Pro-Bowler, 2-time All-Pro, and is a part of the NFL's All-Decade team of the '80s. 5 times in his career he went over 1000 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns in a season. What is more incredible to me is along with Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders was part of a great wide receiving trio nicknamed "the posse", and in 1989 they became the first trio to each record 1000 yards receiving for the same team. Monk had and always will be a great guy on and off the field and is currently part of the Good Samaritan Foundation that helps youth out in the community and the workplace. Before Jerry Rice, Monk owned many receiving records, including catching a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive seasons. Please voters, it is time! Do the right thing! Take a look at more and be amazed...

Art Monk - part two

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