The New Year

It being December 31st, I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year. I will be spending a good chunk of New Years Day figuring out my best of 2009, and maybe even a best of the decade list. I hope you all go out and have a great time tonight.

Grease is the Word

Just some light humor on this day after Christmas, seeing as I will be away all day. Nothing like Mr. and Mrs. Tony Parker starring in a Grease spoof. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas again.

One More Tribute

Here is an excellent tribute to George Michael by the one and only Michael Wilbon. Enjoy

The Nats a .500 Team?

That's right. Someone on ESPN actually said that with the recent additions of Pudge Rodriguez, Jason Marquis, Eddie Guardado, Brian Bruney and now Matt Capps, the Nats might actually be able to compete with everyone else. The last time the Nationals were at .500 was their first year of existence all the way back in 2005. they finished 81-81, which of course meant last in the NL East. This year, with the Mets not doing anything and the Marlins trying to trade their best players not named Hanley, there is a chance that my team could finish as high as 3rd. Will it happen? Probably not. Will it be better to watch than last year? I think so.

RIP George Michael

One of the truly great sports reporters, George Michael, died today after a two-year battle with cancer. I always enjoyed watching him on NBC 4 and even stayed up until 11:30 on Sunday nights in order to watch The Sports Machine. While he has been off the air for a few years, his presence was still felt all over the DC sports scene, including on the Redskins report with Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser and John Riggins. Here are some links to NBC and ESPN's tributes to him:

NBC #1
NBC #2
NBC #3
ESPN

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. There will either be a lot of posts over the next week or none. It depends on where I am and what goes on in the world of sports. I will hopefully have a year in review done by the 31st. But again, Merry Christmas to all of you and your families.

Nats Add a... Marquis Player

My Washington Nationals have agreed to a contract with Jason Marquis. This is an excellent signing. He has wanted to play for us, and we aren't breaking the bank for him. Fantastic move. GO NATS!

An Honest Column about Tiger

Here is an excellent column by Bill Plaschke of the LA Times about the newest bad boy in town, Tiger Woods. Enjoy here.

Ingram's Heisman and Other NCAA and NFL Thoughts

Mark Ingram won the Heisman. He deserved it. Then again, so did Suh, Gerhart and McCoy. The fact that he did everything in the SEC was the reason why he won. If Gerhart had played more defenses like those in the SEC, or if he had played a game the same day as the SEC Championship, he might have overcome his minuscule 28-point deficit.

Other Thoughts-

- Navy won again. I love that rivalry. Just wish Army losing didn't mean an undeserving 6-6 team like UCLA didn't get to go to a bowl game just because they are the #7 team in the Pac-10.

- Jake Locker is staying in school. Good move football-wise. Terrible move financially. He will probably lose $10-20 million just from staying. If he gets injured it could be a lot more. However, Colt McCoy and Tony Pike are very happy he is gone, cause their stock just went up.

- Suh should go #1, regardless of if its Tampa Bay or St. Louis. It will just be hard to sell a 3rd D-lineman in 4 years to the St. Louis fans.

- Matchup of the week: Kellen Clemens vs. Chris Redman. Not as stunning as Matty Ice vs. the Sanchize. Oh well. Atlanta vs NYJ isn't what we thought it would be either.

- I'm in the Fantasy football playoffs. If I win it all, I'll treat all my loyal readers to a drink. A cheap drink, but a drink.

- Turner Gill to Kansas is a great move. Let's just hope he isn't forgotten being in Kansas. Then again, he wasn't forgotten in Buffalo.

- Still don't like the Brain Kelly move. But it turns out that Dayne Crist will be ready for the season, so at least he has that.

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. More later.

You Can't Stop the Cuse!

It is awesome having one team that is actually good. That team, for me, is the Syracuse Orange basketball team. We are currently 9-0, averaging 90 points a game and winning all 9 of our games by over 10 points. We also have beaten 3 top-25 teams: UNC and Cal in Madison Square Garden, and (last night) Florida in Jacksonville. We are currently ranked #6, and I would have to think that with these wins we could move up even if no team ahead of us loses. It looks like the men in Orange will be a contender for the Big East title, and maybe even a #1 or #2 seed in the tournament. GO CUSE!

The Brian Kelly Blunder

How do you lose the respect of 90 people you have come to know and love, an entire school that has relied on you to bring their athletics to prominence and an entire city that latched on to you for being their only success? Take the Notre Dame head football coach job. Brian Kelly is gone, and I still don't understand why he left.

For reasons I listed earlier this week, I said that the Notre Dame job was not a good job to take at this point. His former team is outraged, calling him out on how he walked out on a National Championship contender for his "dream job". The seniors especially are angry. They have all said that it was the players, not the coach, that won those games, and that they will put their program on their back and beat Florida.

Even though I grew up as a Notre Dame fan, and I still am, I cannot be happy about this. The team will not be good next year, and they shouldn't expect to be. Their first winnable game will be their 7th game against Western Michigan. They will not beat their first 6 opponents- Purdue, Michigan, at Michigan State, Stanford, at BC and Pitt. They lose one more after that, they miss the bowl season, and their would still have to play Tulsa, Navy, Utah and at a rejuvenated USC. Get ready for a rough year Irish fans.

FHF

In honor of this man leading his team to an undefeated season, winning the Davey O'Brien, Maxwell and Walter Camp Award, and his nomination for the Heisman Trophy (presented tomorrow night on ESPN) this week's winner of Facial Hair Friday is Colt McCoy of the Texas Longhorns. True, he doesn't have this facial hair anymore, but the fact that he had it for a little bit earns him an eternal spot in my heart. So congratulations Colt, good luck in New York tomorrow, and best of luck in the National Championship game.

Pudge to DC

The Nats signed future Hall of Famer catcher Ivan Rodriguez today, pending a physical. He will be brought in to back up and mentor Jesus Flores. Some people (disgraced ex-GM Jim Bowden included) think this was a bad move. I disagree completely. What kind of leadership did this team have? Pudge has won a World Series with a really young team before (2003 Marlins) so he knows how to lead. He will be able to give advice to our young pitchers and help them develop. Finally, his stats last year, his worse year, were still pretty much better than Josh Bard and Wil Nieves combined.

Pudge- .249 AVG, 10 HR, 47 RBI
Nieves- .259 AVG, 1 HR, 26 RBI
Bard- . 230 AVG, 6 HR, 31 RBI

He is a better backup and a better leader. So, once again Jim Bowden, you are wrong.

What Should Become of Charlie Weis?

Now that he has been fired from Notre Dame, what should this former NFL coordinating dynamo do? Simple- go back to being an NFL coordinating dynamo. He says he wants to stay in the Midwest. Well, there is one place where I know they need help on offense. The St. Louis Rams will probably have the #1 pick, and will be looking for a quarterback. Jimmy Clausen just announced he is going pro. I bet he would love to play for his old coach. After that, there is a chance Golden Tate could last till the first pick in the 2nd round. The Rams need WRs also. The Golden Dome could be coming to St. Louis.

Why Brian Kelly and Jim Harbaugh Should Avoid Notre Dame

Here are the reasons why the top 2 coaches rumored to be heading to Notre Dame should stay at their schools-

Kelly-

1. Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate just left. The two best players on the team are heading to the NFL. They will not be easy to replace. Couple that with OT Sam Young graduating and the team still having an bad defense, and I don't think you would want to come to the team.

2. Dayne Crist is injured and may not play at all next year. That leave the Irish without a QB.

3. You have Zach Collaros coming back. He played great in Tony Pike's absence. He could be an early Heisman favorite for next season.

4. You are the darling of the Big East, a strong conference (stronger than the ACC, and this year stronger than the Big Ten) with an automatic bid to a BCS game. Notre Dame doesn't have that.

5. At Cincinnati you were a missed Texas field goal away from the National Championship game. You don't have to worry as much about the academic standards and bloodthirsty alumni at Notre Dame, and you can still go to the title game.

6. Call it crazy, but the students, faculty and alumni might actually protest your hiring because you are a Catholic that is openly pro-choice. Cincy doesn't care about your religious views.

Jim Harbaugh

1. See #s 1 and 2 for Kelly. They apply to you too.

2. South Bend is not a nice town. Stanford is California. Why move?

3. You went to Michigan and Rich Rodriguez could be another bad season away from getting fired. Why not wait for that job to open up.

4. You have gotten into Pete Carrol's head. You own him right now. That is invaluable.

5. You have a great recruiting class coming in.

6. At Stanford, a school with amazingly high academic standards, you can graduate all your kids and win 8 games a year and be a hero. At Notre Dame, if you graduate all your players and win 8 games a year, you get fired. They are delusional. You don't want to be a part of that.

7. Toby Gerhart is graduating, but Andrew Luck is only a freshman. Stay at Stanford.


The correct person for the job is probably someone like Jon Gruden. It is someone with nothing to prove. Bob Stoops or Urban Meyer could be huge gets. But Kelly and Harbaugh are young and talented, and it is too soon for them to throw it all away on rebuilding Notre Dame.

Heisman Finalists

The Heisman finalists were just announced. Gerhart, McCoy, Ingram, Suh and Tebow. 4-5 are correct. Tebow just should be there. McCoy is barely there. Texas is undefeated, which is probably the only reason he was still invited. Look for one of the other three to win the award. Here is how I would vote heading into Bowl Season.

1. Ndamukong Suh- He is unstoppable. Period. He will be a top 3 pick.
2. Toby Gerhart- The best running back. He faced the most top 20 run defenses.
3. Mark Ingram- If he had shown up in the Iron Bowl, he might have won it. And yes, he was amazing in the SEC Title game. But I think Julio Jones and Greg McElroy need more credit. Gerhart is all Stanford has.
4. Colt McCoy- He is undefeated.
5. Tim Tebow- He isn't undefeated.

NCAA Football Thoughts

Lots to talk about, so no 3 Up or Down, just thoughts:

- Charlie Weis will be unemployed for maybe a month, then he will be back in the NFL as a coordinator.

- Brian Kelly leaving Cincinnati would be a mistake. As it is now, he can go to a BCS game just by winning the Big East. Also, his young QB has looked great, and Notre Dame doesn't have anyone healthy after Clausen.

- Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate should go pro. New coach, another year of scrutiny and all the drama that will surround ND is not needed. Clausen is a top 10 pick. Tate's stock will never be higher.

- I wish that Bosie State and TCU would raise their academic standards so that they could fit into the Pac-10 and Big XII, so that we could see them compete against the elite every week.

- My Heisman vote as of now- 1. Colt McCoy, 2. Toby Gerhart, 3. Golden Tate

- Both TCU and Boise State should make BCS games. However, a second Big Ten team shouldn't.

- The same goes for the ACC.

- Chris Peterson shouldn't leave Boise State unless it is for a Pac-10 school. Sorry UVA.

- Jake Locker, Jimmy Clausen and Sam Bradford all should/are coming out. Jevon Snead should stay in.

- Has anyone heard anything from Eric Berry this season?

- Tim Tebow is an amazing player. Top 10 all time college for sure. But I can't give him #1 yet. He wins a second Heisman and a 3rd championship, though, I might have to.

- Notre Dame should not go to a bowl game.

More later.