ACC has fallen on tough times

It’s no secret that ACC football has lived off the success of Florida State. From 1991-2000, the Seminoles won two national championships, appeared in three BCS title games and finished in the top five every year. Over that same span, only one other team from the league (UNC in ‘96) finished its season in the top ten.

The epitome of top heavy.

Ironically, the league is now faltering and it has nothing to with FSU being down or a lack of depth. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The ACC has become too good for its own good.

When Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College left the Big East to join the league in 2004 (BC began play last year), a super-conference was born. With the Hurricanes and Hokies as perennial national title contenders and BC good for a top 25 finish every year, cupcake schedules became nonexistent. Now, with teams like Georgia Tech and Wake Forest stepping up, it’s becoming impossible not to slip up.

Unlike in basketball, where a strong conference prepares a team for March, only dominance prevails in college football.

Only perfection really.

That’s how mini-dynasties are born. Today USC has what Oklahoma had a few years ago, and what Nebraska had before that. Undefeated seasons put you on the map. It’s also no mistake that while these teams flourished, they had no more than one team in their respective league to mount a serious challenge.

How is any team in today’s ACC going undefeated? Mini-dynasty? What school is going to be able to control the league for even one year, let alone two or three? It’s just not going to happen.

It’s going on six seasons since an ACC team has even appeared in the BCS title game. It was FSU and they lost.

From the looks of things, the league might never get another chance.

For more on ACC football, check out:
David Glenn's ACC Journal
ACC Nation

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Maybe ARod should try this

While we worry about what American athletes are injecting into their bodies, the English seem to be worried about what or how much is coming out of Premiership players’ bodies.

Peter Kay, the chief executive of the Sporting Chance clinic, reports that an increasing numbers of players are spending an awful lot of money on their internet porn addiction.

Kay says that going to porn sites could lead to riskier material.

I guess that’s true. I mean one minute you could be looking at teen coeds and the next minute you’re heading to Eastern Europe to satisfy yourself by murdering teenagers like in Hostel. Here in the states, you might even end up on Dateline or something.

He also said that unlike using cocaine, it’s okay to try porn once. It just becomes a problem when you miss your penalty kick for thinking about those aforementioned teen coeds.

"It becomes a problem when he is doing it 14, 15, 16 times and then when he stops, he is playing a football game and he is thinking ‘I can't wait to get back to that site’."

You have to assume that if it’s going on overseas, the same thing is probably happening in this country. Obviously no one would ever own up to it, but that’s why we make guesses...

JJ Redick – Yes, more than likely gay porn
Manny Ramirez – Are you kidding? Manny might be in porn and not know.
Stephon Marbury – Nah.
Peyton Manning – Probably not.
Eli Manning – Probably definitely.
Gilbert Arenas – Gotta have something to watch while playing poker.
Evgeni Malkin – Who?
Sal Fasano – Undoubtedly.

Feel free to add your favorite players to the list…

Stop Watching Porn and Play the Game – Choke Artist

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Who wants to fight Mutombo?

In keeping with the tall men from Africa theme, Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo (I actually know someone who can say all of that) is back in the news after a fan called him “Mutombo the Monkey” Thursday night.

Mutombo had the fan ejected but said he was very close to going into the stands himself and handling business. He went on to say that if the NBA fines him, the next person to give him trouble will feel his wrath.

“If they fine me, I will go straight to the stands next time and fuck (I think he said fuck) somebody up.”

I’m not exactly sure what that would solve and it would probably result in a Ron Artest-like suspension, but how would it not be one of the ten greatest moments in the history of time?

While you can’t blame him for being pissed, it’s pretty surprising that he would let one guy bother him so much over something he’s probably heard throughout his career. He must know that plenty of players get it much worse than he does.

Mutombo nearly goes into stands – Houston Chronicle

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UConn's center is taller than yours

His reading ability may be in doubt, but Jim Calhoun says you can’t question the big man’s smile.

7’3 freshman center Hasheem Thabeet was declared eligible for the season Wednesday afternoon, after recent concern over his transcripts had many believing that he wouldn’t qualify academically.

Thabeet will almost definitely start on a team that Calhoun called “just as talented as last year” on media day. That seems right considering he’s going to be one of the tallest players in college basketball and UConn’s other potential center, Jeff Adrien, is about as tall as Khalid El-Amin was skinny.

The best thing about Thabeet is obviously that he’s from Tanzania. Which means it might eventually be okay to call him the Tanzanian Devil, unless some stupid welterweight boxer already has the name. While you can’t have unprotected sex in the country (9% of the country has HIV/AIDS) you can find Wildebeests there. Good stuff on the Tanzanian front.

The one negative here is that almost everyone seems to think Thabeet will be a top ten pick next year so the Huskies are getting a one year guy. I like to think that Calhoun has built a program by progressively developing future NBA players better than almost anyone in the business. I hate to see him go John Calipari on us with the one and done stuff. But I guess that's the game today.

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If you didn’t know, Billy Beane runs the show in Oakland

Former Oakland A’s skipper Ken Macha sounded off over the weekend about being fired, disagreeing with the notion that “disconnect” (as Billy Beane put it) between he and the team caused his removal.

Instead, he blamed Beane for interfering too much with the day to day operations of the team and said he was uncomfortable with some of the moves his famous general manager wanted him to make. Specifically, Beane wanted Bobby Kielty to start against left handed pitchers throughout the playoffs in place of Mark Kotsay. Macha opted for Kotsay.

I have two problems with most managers. They want to be more of a factor in a game than they actually are and they make too many instinct calls. Beane is genius because he tries to eliminate that. In his system, the manager is forced to make as few decisions as possible, thereby canceling out possible mistakes.

When it comes to making actual game decisions, all the manager has to do is look up a chart and figure out what makes sense. That’s what some fail to see. The numbers don’t lie. If Kotsay stinks against lefties, why wouldn’t you start Kielty? That was a gut call from Macha. Gut calls get you fired. See Grady Little in Boston.

Ultimately, Macha didn’t lose his job over one botched platoon assignment or because he didn’t play the percentages correctly. It’s because he didn’t do what was asked of him.

In Oakland, it’s simple. Win your players over and gain their respect. They know who’s really running the show so you have to go to bat for them more. Have their backs against umpires and the media. Explain to guys on the bench why they aren’t playing. That’s being a manager in Oakland.

It’s apparent Macha failed at that.

(Ironically, Beane also made a piss poor gut call to start Rich Harden over Dan Haren in game three of the ALCS but I guess he’s allowed to do that.)

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Big East football roundup: What they’re sayin’

…Other than that it’s still a joke.

Rutgers 20, Pitt 10
Paul Franklin of the Asbury Park Press writes, “Another week has begun, and with that comes another week to prepare. But when you're unbeaten, ranked 16th in the country and locked in on taking care of business, all is well.”

And so Rutgers has a little swag. Weird. If you take a look at the team’s last five seasons, you might have seen this coming. In 2002, they were getting blown out at home by Buffalo and losing heartbreakers to Temple. A year later, they were beating their lowly counterparts. By 2004, they had their first breakthrough victory, a 19-14 stunner over Michigan State. Of course in good ole Rutgers fashion, they managed to lose at home to a I-AA team the following week. Last season they reached a bowl game and now you have people in Jersey finally believing they’re better than Don Bosco Prep.

Even better news the school’s fans: As long as Lamar Thomas is breathing, there’s no way a guy from Rutgers ever gets hired to coach at The U.

West Virginia 37, UConn 11
Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant writes, “You want the one-sentence explanation on this one? West Virginia is better. You want another sentence? West Virginia is way better.”

If this was 2004 and the Huskies still had Dan Orlovsky, this would have been a game. Unfortunately Randy Edsall has done an awful job recruiting skill players and the defense collapsed in the second half. Edsall helped build the Connecticut program from the ground up so he’s got a ton of leeway, but its time he brings in a little more talent on offense.

Louisville 28, Syracuse 13
Brian Bennett of the Courier-Journal writes, “The Cards (7-0, 2-0 Big East Conference) have fallen behind in the first half during four of their past five games. In three of those contests -- against Miami, Cincinnati and Syracuse -- they didn't score in the first quarter and didn't produce their first touchdown until shortly before halftime”

Louisville gave Syracuse every chance they could to stay in the game and prevailed only because they have that much more athletic ability than the Orange. That won’t be the case with West Virginia. The Mountaineers are going to blow them out on Nov. 2.

Cincinnati 23, USF 6
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bill Koch (not the pitcher) writes, “If the University of Cincinnati football team is ever going to be a force in the Big East Conference, the Bearcats are going to have to develop an offense. But on Sunday night all they needed was their stout defense.”

The Bearcats have one of the best rush defenses in the nation and they nearly shutout a team that has a decent chance to go to a bowl game. They’ll never compete with Ohio State for the stud in state recruits but if they can just land a few second tier players on offense, they’ll become a force in the Big East.

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Speaking of cheaters…

Looks like it’ll be lights out for the Chargers Shawne Merriman. The pro bowl linebacker has been suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league’s steroids policy.

I can’t say I’m that surprised. The guy is a complete nut job and you had to assume that all of the wild dancing he does after sacks was drug induced. I figured it was coke, but steroids will do. I’m just wondering if he was on the juice when he knocked out those four kids his sophomore year of high school.

To be fair, Merriman says that people need to hear his side of the story and the reason why he’s appealing. I just hope it’s not a piss poor Rafael Palmeiro excuse. At least come up with a good lie.

It’s been quite a tumultuous year for the Chargers defense. Merriman is the third player that will be forced to miss time for non-injury related circumstances. Linebacker Steve Foley is out for the year after being shot by an off duty cop and safety Terrence Kiel is facing felony charges for slinging cough syrup.

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Oh god. ESPN radio just called it pinegate

It looks like Brett Favre might retain his title as America’s most beloved hick. The Gambler appears to have been caught cheating.

Never mind that a former perennial choke artist helped Detroit even the World Series at one as they head to St. Louis for three games. Forget the 23 consecutive shutout innings that he’s tossed. Instead the focus is on the dark substance that was on Kenny Rogers' hand in the first inning.

It seems that Rogers was caught with pine tar on his pitching hand (which is illegal) and was basically given a pass by the umpire, so long as he went and washed it off after the inning. Of course that’s not what anyone else is claiming, but you can’t possibly believe that all he had on his hand was dirt and rosin, right?

This really isn’t that big of a deal at all, and he did do fine minus the sticky fingers, but you can bet it’s going to become the story of the playoffs. ESPN has already released a report saying the substance was on his hand in each of his last two outings as well. Get ready for Yankee fans to start calling for do overs.

If you really want to give someone shit, how about Tony La Russa? He had to know what was going on. The guy’s seen a lot of baseball. He could have had Rogers checked and maybe ejected, forcing Jim Leyland to make a big decision. Instead he remained quiet, opting not to fuck with that old metal spike wearing, fungo hittin, two pack a day psycho son of a bitch.

A lot of people are already on this and for the most part, Rogers has been thrown under the bus…
Kenny Rogers caught with Pine Tar – Redbirds Fun
What in tar-nation? – The 26th man

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Giles may be all done at Kansas

When CJ Giles came to Kansas in 2004, he may not have expected to still be there now. He probably did expect to still be playing basketball.

He’s not.

Giles is currently serving an indefinite suspension until he can get his personal life in order. That includes but is not limited to going to class and taking responsibility for the child he has failed to help raise.

Well that just perfect. A basketball player at a big time basketball school can’t pass. Maybe Giles can’t read, in which case I guess you can’t blame him. But more than likely it’s because he’s not into the whole college part of being a college basketball player. Then, as Jason Whitlock points out, it’s his own fault.

There’s also this issue of being a deadbeat dad. Giles owes $4,000 in child support payments to the mother of a kid he’s seen only a handful of times. Aside from all the obvious reasons why this is unfortunate, now the little fella has to grow up admitting that his father is the guy that was too stupid to be apart of Kansas’ national championship team.

It’s too bad. This whole situation kind of represents both sides of the argument over skipping college to go straight to the NBA.

We all know why people should get their education. But school clearly hasn’t helped Giles. Had he gone straight to the league, (which he could have, the 1 year rule began in 2005) he wouldn’t have had to deal with the rigors of both academia and basketball. Maybe he would have developed better from sitting at the end of an NBA bench ala Jermaine O’Neal. Maybe a teammate would have handed him a box of condoms.

Maybe.

The problem now is that there’s so much room for speculation. In a world that should be full of assurances for a 6’10 star basketball player, Giles is left to pick up the pieces of his own mess, hoping for a chance to make things right.

That opportunity is anything but guaranteed.

Giles throws it away – Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star

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More on Telfair's Hoodlum Antics

So if yesterday there was absolutely no chance that Sebastian Telfair had anything to do with Fabolous’ shooting, today there’s at least a glimmer of hope.

The New York Post reports that Telfair was overheard making a phone call shortly after his $50,000 chain was stolen saying, “Get over here and take care of it.” It’s pretty clear that he wasn’t talking to the police.

The article leads you to believe that someone in Fabolous’ entourage did steal Telfair’s chain. If that ends up true, whether the police prove it or not, then the former Lincoln High star probably had to be involved in the shooting.

My stance remains the same. I’m all for this story being true. While Ray Allen overcame the prevalent Coney Island temptations in He Got Game, Telfair appears to be the anti-Jesus Shuttlesworth. He’s hood and the league isn’t going to change him. Watch your back Rajon Rondo.

As for Fabolous, well, I guess if gunshots don’t kill ya, they’ll probably help you sell records. Getting shot by an NBA player (or his friends,) living to tell about it and presumably keeping Telfair’s chain is instant street cred in my book.

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Fair Assessments

Ironic isn’t it?

For all the laughs being had at the expense of Oliver Perez, the real joke turned out to be a lineup that was supposed to make history for the New York Mets in 2006. Instead, they are history.

The Mets became the first team ever to force a Game 7 at home in the NLCS and lose in such an unfathomable fashion.

They got the performance no one expected from Perez in the final game. Over the last two games, the Cards didn’t get a single RBI from Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen, Wilson, Encarnacion… none of em’.

Even down two runs in the ninth, the bottom of the lineup was able to get two men on base with no outs and Floyd, Reyes and Lo Duca coming up. No dice. Adam Wainwright pretty much stuck it to them.

A lot went into how bad the team’s starting rotation was, but in reality only Steve Trachsel pitched horribly. How much better could Pedro and El Duque have possibly been than Maine and Perez in the final two games?

The real blame must be attributed to a shaky bullpen and a lack of clutch hitting.

For a team that so desperately wants to be the face of New York, it has to be said. There is absolutely no way the Yankees, no matter who’s in the bullpen, would gives up two runs in the ninth inning three times in a seven game series. As far as I’m concerned, the trio of Heilman, Mota and Wagner are all at fault here.

At the plate, both Jose Reyes and David Wright were impatient and looked jumpy at times. Even Carlos Beltran, who hit a couple homeruns in the series, couldn’t come up with a ninth inning hit in game seven.

Without question, the Mets have a lot to be proud of. They rolled to 97 wins during the regular season. They dethroned the Atlanta Braves. At times, they were the talk of baseball. Unfortunately, this could have been a special team.

Instead, they were just pretty good.

A few good reads…
Cards 2 runs better than Mets, go to World Series – Blooming Ideas
Requiem – Faith and Fear in Flushing
Cruel Irony - Metstradamus

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Isiah’s a Sensitive Man

ESPN analyst and former Knick Greg Anthony was absolutely blasted by current Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas because of the way the network treated his team on draft day.

Thomas apparently singled out Anthony’s criticisms as worse than… oh say… the rest of the world’s.

Thomas probably does deserve some blame here. I mean he did draft Renaldo Balkman. But he’s basically saying that Anthony wasn’t a good enough player himself to call out anyone.

"Greg Anthony should never ever be in a position to question myself on anything about basketball," Thomas said. "I do remember the kind of player he was. I'll leave it at that."

Whether Balkman works out to be the 8 point, 8 rebound star that Zeke wants him to be or completely flops, that doesn’t really matter. The point is that Thomas’ comments gives a slight glimpse into what the great players, current or past, think of all of the guys who weren’t very good and now spend their time ripping into others on television.

Maybe he just set a trend.

I would give anything to hear Terrell Owens tell Sean Salisbury that he wasn’t good enough to even speak his name or see someone tell John Kruk that a 21 homerun season doesn’t make him an expert.

Anyway, we all know that this whole Knicks situation is going to end up bad and Isiah is going to lose his job. Let’s just hope he at least leaves with some pizzazz, calling out as many ex-role player analysts as possible before he goes.

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Ray Kinsella’s Wife Wouldn’t Like This One Bit

To quote my cousin from Canada who occasionally drunk dials me,

“Fuckin’ yanks.”

An elementary school in Massachusetts has decided to ban chase games, like tag or touch football, because they are worried about parents holding the school liable for the injuries their children might sustain while taking part in these devil worshipping activities.

As if children in this country aren’t outrageously obese already, now they’re overweight parents want them to be fat little pussies as well.

Make no mistake about it; this is just as wrong as banning books that contain mildly abusive language or the occasional sex scene. The only reason parents approve things like this is because they are too busy or too lazy and don’t want to deal with anything going on in their child’s lives.

With books, it was the horrifying thought of their children running around calling each other bitches and having wild orgies that got to them. You know, if you eliminate the source of these thoughts, then maybe daddy can enjoy his beer and watch Dog the Bounty Hunter without having to bother telling his kid that that it’s wrong to swear or have sex until they’re grown up.

Now, parents are essentially ridding themselves of unnecessary first aid work. Eliminating play time injuries in school means that any injury a kid does come home with will result in a nice new Lexus for mommy.

It’s simply preposterous.

I’m all for the playground being pro-choice. If the girls want to play jump rope or if a fat little boy wants to be a fat little boy, let them.

But let’s not a whole generation of children spend their lives on the sidelines. Who will we watch on television?

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Telfair’s Chain Gets Snatched

I have to admit I thought it was a little bit strange that Boston Celtics’ guard Sebastian Telfair was having his best game of the preseason the other night against the Knicks before failing to emerge from the locker room for the second half.

But Doc Rivers said he was sick and it was left at that.

It turns out that Telfair spent the second half with the NYPD looking through lineups to try and spot the guy who jacked his $50,000 chain outside of P-Diddy’s nightclub. The same night, rapper Fabolous was shot in the leg outside of the same place later on that night.

ESPN later published unconfirmed reports that some of the men with Fabolous were in the lineups.

Bossip, who at least claims to have sources in the “streets,” says both the “streets” and the NYPD were looking to talk to Telfair and his brother about their possible connection to the shooting.

I’m not sure what to believe but for the good of the story, I hope it turns out that there is a connection between the robbery and the shooting. Imagine the implications on the hip hop world.

Telfair is a close friend of Jay-Z and maybe this little mishap could insight an all out east coast on east coast rap war. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if Fab wears the stolen necklace in his next video.

Too bad Telfair wasn’t carrying his gun this time.

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This Week in Big East Football

Game of the Week - Rutgers @ Pittsburgh
I’m all for the 20 year rebuilding plan at Rutgers finally paying off but consider this: If the Scarlet Knights survive Pitt this week, they’ll kill Connecticut next week and become the first major conference to have an 8-0 team not in top 10 in at least 15 years, possibly ever. I’m guessing their schedule has something to do with it.

Meanwhile, the Panthers are 6-1, but lost at home to Michigan State, which probably explains why they’re unranked. Pitt Blather thinks the team probably shouldn’t go down 27-0 at halftime like last season if they expect to win.

As for the rest of the basketball schools with football teams…

West Virginia @ Connecticut
The 5th best team in the country versus the 105th, maybe. The Huskies might allow 500 yards on the ground.

Louisville @ Syracuse
The Orange have been pretty good at home and have improved to the point where they would probably be a decent I-AA program rather than the Pop Warner team they put on the field last year.

USF @ Cincinnati
Props to Cincy for having balls. While most of the teams in the Big East play MAC schools or Illinois, the Bearcats played road games at Ohio State and Virginia Tech and then went to Louisville and played them tough. They’ll beat USF this week and if they can upset Rutgers on 11/19, they’ll be headed to a bowl game.

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Let the Absurdity Commence

The annual free agent war between the Yankees and Red Sox is ready to begin with both teams set to make offers as high as $20 million for the opportunity just to talk to phenom Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Now I know nothing about Matsuzaka (this guy appears to know everything) but I have to admit to being a little bit skeptical about spending all this money just because Bobby Valentine seems to think he can play.

I wonder if anyone has taken the time to consider that Matsuzaka was throwing 100 mph in 2004, but now sits at 92. You think he has been overworked a little? Don’t give me that, “he just understands how to pitch now” nonsense. If he could still throw that hard, he would.

The guy appears to be celebrated because of his ability to throw a ton of pitches. He once threw something like 27 innings over three days in high school. Don’t doctors trace Kerry Wood’s problems back to overuse in high school?

Right now, I can’t buy into the hype.

Scouting reports call him a bulldog and say he makes great adjustments. I certainly hope those aren’t the same scouts that labeled Carl Pavano tough as nails or Paxton Crawford mound savvy.

It just seems like there’s too much of a chance for disappointment here. Why roll the dice on Matsuzaka when the far more logical move would be to pursue Barry Zito or Jason Schmidt? Even if he delivers as advertised, he’s still not going to be that much more effective than those two.

For the Highest Bidder, a Rising Superstar Awaits – New York Times

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Mike Tyson VS You're Sister: It Could Happen

Realizing just now that unlawfully inserting his penis into women is wrong, Mike Tyson is considering moving on to the next best moral option: Legally beating them up.

At a press conference promoting his upcoming world tour, Tyson said he doesn’t mind the idea of boxing women and named Ann Wolf as one of his potential victims. Lucky her.

I sincerely hope that female boxers aren’t half as stupid as guys - though I doubt that – because if they are, we’re probably going to see some testosterone filled tranny jump at the offer to fight the former champ. If Larry Holmes was a woman, I’m sure he’d do it.

To me, the question isn’t if, it’s how soon? And is there any chance will we ever see Tyson, once the greatest fighter since Ali, fight Muhammad’s daughter Laila?

During the same press conference, “Iron” Mike made time to express his support for Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele, which is weird considering he is the half brother of Tyson’s ex-wife Monica Turner.

No word yet on whether or not Turner will offer advice on how to avoid his right hook.

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UConn Picks Wrong Spot to Start Enforcing Rules

Before painting Randy Edsall as a model disciplinarian in a world that barely penalizes blatant thuggery, the UConn football coach’s true motive needs to come out.

Edsall dismissed five players from his team following its blowout loss to South Florida two Saturday’s ago for purchasing two six packs of beer the night before. The players were originally approached by an assistant coach but lied about having anything in their bag.

On the surface, he appears to be the anti-Larry Coker, or Jim Calhoun for that matter. A hardass who puts the image of the program before all else. Then again, it’s easy to make an example out of kids who aren’t going to help you try and go 6-6 every year.

Say it was Terry Caulley, a stand up guy who has done a lot for the program. Would he have been handed the same harsh punishment? A few years ago, Dan Orlovsky could have gone to Edsall’s room and asked if he had a lime for his Corona with no questions asked.

Edsall didn’t make this decision out of necessity, but rather to send a message. I think I’ll wait until the next time a starter gets in trouble before deciding on what that message was.

UPDATE: I’m a complete jackass. Apparently all of the players dismissed were on very thin ice with Edsall. Still you’d think he’d have already gotten rid of the guy that was arrested for marijuana possession with intent to sell last December, right?

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