CUSE

Syracuse dominated #8 Villanova last night, beating them by 18. It was amazing. There were 34,616 people rocking the Loud House, and the Orangemen took all that energy to the Wildcats. With Kansas and Kentucky losing, and Robbie Hummel tearing his ACL and being out for the year for Purdue, Syracuse could be the #1 team in the country heading into the last week of the regular season. Simply Beautiful!

USA! USA!

We beat Canada in hockey today. It was beautiful. Goalie Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres kept those silly canucks in line, and Brian Rafalski (among others) let Sid and his gang know that we are the dominant country on the ice in North America. On the the quarterfinals with a bye and some much needed rest. Huge win on enemy soil. GO USA!

TAKE THAT JAGR!

A BEAUTIFUL hit by my man Ovie on my most hated hockey player of all time, one Jaromir Jagr. Muahaha! Go Russia! Go Ovie!

The Case for Campbell

Interesting article from the SI Fanhouse making a case for the Redskins passing on taking a QB with the #4 pick in this year's draft. Here is a snippet:

Jason Campbell knows this. The Redskins' current, beleaguered signal-caller was sacked 43 times in 2009. Only Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger took more sacks. Washington's offensive line ranked among the very worst in the league, and protecting its quarterback was one of the things at which it was least effective.

Yet, Campbell managed a better-than-average statistical season. He passed for more yards than Joe Flacco, Donovan McNabb and Matt Cassel. He had a better completion percentage than Tony Romo, Eli Manning and Kyle Orton. His quarterback rating was higher than those of Carson Palmer, Matt Ryan and Cutler. Campbell was no Pro Bowler, but he was no dud either. And considering what was going on in front of him on every play, his numbers look fine.

Campbell also showed, in 2009, a previously undiscovered toughness. In a lost season, behind a cheesecloth line and playing for a lame-duck coaching staff, Campbell kept getting knocked down and kept getting back up. In Washington's embarrassing Dec. 21 Monday night loss to the Giants -- a game in which nearly the entire team clearly and shamefully quit on national TV and in front of newly minted GM Bruce Allen -- Campbell was knocked out with an injury but talked his way back into the game. When no one else was trying, he remained determined to finish the game, even at risk of his own personal safety.

Something to think about, Mr. Allen...

Snow

There is too much snow. That's all I got right now.

WHO DAT?

The New Orleans Saints are the Super Bowl Champions. Honestly never thought I would say that. All the credit is the world goes to Sean Payton, Gregg Williams (why didn't the Skins make him head coach again?) and, of course, Drew Brees. Simply perfect in the biggest situation, coming back from 10 down early and keeping Peyton and his boys to only 17 points. Extremely impressive. Madri Gras isn't going to end until the first preseason game. 31-17, the Saints win. Who Dat? The Champs, thats who.

RUSS GRIMM!

HE MADE IT! Russ Grimm is a member of the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class. He will go in along side Jerry Rice, Emmit Smith, former Syracuse running back Floyd Little, Dick LeBeau, John Randall and Rickey Jackson. I am thrilled that two all-time greats like Rice and Smith can go in along with a Hog and a former #44. A great class indeed. Here are some links talking about the class:

ESPN 1
ESPN 2
Hall of Fame website
Redskins.com1
Redskins.com 2
DenverBroncos.com


And, of course, in honor of Russ and his commitment to facial hair, he also win our FHF award (had to wait a day to make sure he got in). Congrats!

Snowed In Musings

It is snowing outside, and it will apparently be the most snow DC has seen since, well, before Washington DC existed. So here are some of my thoughts of the day in the sports world. Or, as some might call it, my way of dealing with cabin fever.

- Orlando Hudson will not be a National, and I am upset. True, Adam Kennedy for 1.25 million isn't that bad considering how he bounced back last year, but he doesn't have the glove that O-Dog has. I really would have liked Hudson batting late in the lineup. I think that this lineup-

1. Nyjer Morgan CF
2. Cristian Guzman SS
3. Ryan Zimmerman 3B
4. Adam Dunn 1B
5. Josh Willingham LF
6. Elijah Dukes RF
7. Orlando Hudson 2B
8. Ivan Rodriguez C

is better than putting Kennedy at 7. But, oh well. It really all depends on our pitching anyway. Which reminds me...

- The Nationals should sign Chien-Ming Wang. He is a two time 19-game winner, which is like 5 more than any Nats pitcher has ever had. Also, he isn't a power guy, but relies on his sinker and location, so he can come back from an arm injury easier than a fireballer. He is certainly worth the flier. Having Wang and Marquis in our rotation makes it infinitely better.

- There is a rumor going around that the Orlando Magic might trade for Gilbert Arenas. More power to them if they think they can use him. Really, they are built well for a guy like that. The Magic have an established point guard in Jameer Nelson, 2 really good forwards in Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter (I assume Carter would move to the 3 with Gil at the 2) and of course Superman at the 5. Gil is meant to be a shooting guard, and could work really well in Orlando. So, please, give us expiring contracts so that we can rebuild, and you can have all the Agent 0 you can ask for in the Magic Kingdom.

- Caps have won 12 straight, but the Devils trade for Ilya Kovalchuk will make them a truly difficult team to deal with. The East is looking a lot tougher with the Devils, the red hot Senators and the always dangerous (and extremely hated) Penguins.

More in a bit.

The SI All-Name Team

Here is the list of 2010 NCAA football recruits with some fantastic names, brought to us by SI.com's Signing Day blog. Enjoy, and let me know what is your favorite-

Now that New Orleans quarterback Munchie Legaux has signed with Cincinnati, we know where all the members of the 2010 All-Name Team are headed.

Honolulu safety Wave Ryder will attend Navy.

Gulfport, Miss., athlete Furious Bradley will attend Southern Miss.

Temple, Texas, tailback Lache Seastrunk will attend Oregon.

Calhoun, Ga., quarterback Nash Nance will attend Tennessee. Nance's teammate, Da'Rick Rogers, also will attend Tennessee.

Loganville, Ga., tailback Storm Johnson will be a Miami Hurricane. Tulsa would have been the only other acceptable school for a player named Storm to attend. OK, maybe Iowa State.

Charlotte, N.C. linebacker Prince Shembo will attend Notre Dame.

Toquavius Gilchrist, a linebacker from Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan., will attend South Carolina.

Cary, N.C., defensive end Fre'shad Hunter will attend NC State.

Littleton, Colo., back Mister Jones will attend Texas A&M.

Miami offensive lineman Jose Jose -- the player so big they named him twice -- will attend Central Florida.

Of course, this year's names were only a warm-up for the greatest recruiting name of all time. In 364 days, Miami defensive end God's Power Offor will sign with some lucky program.

Russ Grimm

Some articles I have found on Russ Grimm on the eve of (hopefully) his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

From The Washington Post-

Article 1

Article 2

Redskins.com

Article 1

ESPN.com handicapping the field here.

And and article on the two obvious picks, Jerry Rice and Emmit Smith from NFL.com here.

At 5 pm tomorrow, I hope I will be able to blog about how the head Hog has finally reached the Hall.

MLB Re-Alignment?

An extremely interesting argument for annual re-alignment of the MLB divisions on ESPN. It makes a lot of sense in a backward way, and it would mean that there is a chance teams like the Orioles wouldn't have to deal with the Yankees and Red Soxs every year. It could work. See it here!

Some Thoughts

Just some random musings on this, the first day of February:

- I did not watch the Pro Bowl, and I regret it.

- Orlando Hudson should sign with the Nationals.

- The Nationals should also sign Adam Dunn to an extension ASAP.

- The fact that Kentucky is still ahead of Syracuse in the polls after they lost to unranked South Carolina is absurd. Syracuse was 2-0 this week. Kentucky was 1-1. Syracuse beat a top 10 team but double digits. Kentucky beat a mid-20s team by double digits. The resume for Syracuse is so much better across the board that it is laughable.

- I am fairly uninterested in the NBA right now.

- The Caps have won 10 straight. Booyah!

- Herschel Walker won his MMA debut in convincing fashion. I watched it live. I was very impressed.

- Tim Tebow did nothing at the Senior Bowl, Tony Pike and Dan LeFevour looked great.

Thats all for right now...