Arizona Trip (Look Honey, CACTUS!)

Call it my blogging off-season. I realize I've been out of order as long as that rugged bathroom stahl at your local bar. But I will blame my neglect for sports. writing to the holiday season. That's what normal businesses and large corporations do anyways. Simple things just don't seem to get processed the. way we want them to between November and February. In any event, I'm back and ready to talk about the wild and wacky sports world and somewhere along the line I will attempt to cover the lost grounds of what I haven't written about the past few months.

Around mid-November of 2008, my fiancee and I traveled to Phoenix to visit her brother. Although he and I had only hung out one weekend when he came to visit us a few months before here in Louisville, I can easily say without a doubt that I'm proud to have him as my future brother-in-law. He really knows the meaning of a good time and it showed as he was nice enough to let me and Mallorey crash at his place in Gilbert, Arizona, which is just right outside Phoenix. This happened to be my first time to that region and Mallorey's third to Arizona.

As soon as I entered the parking lot of the Phoenix airport the hot dry desert air hit my cheeks and forehead faster than Hasim Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis in South Africa. Damn, it was hot! Don't misunderstand me. I'm not attempting to bad-mouth the climate by any means. This change in weather was like a dream come true. In fact, Mallorey and I had been used to the normal temps of about 40 degrees back in the Ohio Valley just several hours ago. For anyone who has been to Las Vegas before, such as myself, Phoenix is comparable. Sure over the course of the next 4 days my chapstick was my lifeline due to the lack of humidity in the southwestern air, but who can say they went swimming during the middle of November?!?!

Anyhow, the atmosphere that the greater Phoenix/Tempe area held was that which resembled a college town. Its easy for me to spot this characteristic given the fact that I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and graduated from the University of Louisville. While we really never spent much time in Scottsdale, it was explained to me that they hold more of a pro spirit and lean toward the professional teams like the Suns, Cardinals, Diamondbacks and Coyotes. What really shows that Tempe is a true college town, was when Saturday night a man was killed from getting run over by a Hummer at a bar called the Salty Seniorita. The ironic part was that we had left that exact same bar just hours before. Needless to say, we didnt attend there twice while on our 4-day mini vacation.

After a night of partying on Saturday, we attempted to watch NFL football on the Sunday Ticket via Directv. Mallorey and her brother along with his roomate and friends were decked out in their Bears gear (being from the Chicago area). Meanwhile, I was the only poor sole who was sporting my beloved purple and yellow personalized Vikings jersey. After they got the heckling out of the way, her brother and his roommate were kind enough to put Minnesota on whenever the Bears were at commercial. Such nice guys. Mallorey and I barely made it through the third quarter of the first games before having to return to our upstairs air mattress for a much needed nap to help in our recovery. We didn't miss much. There was hardly anything to root for. The Bears got slaughtered by the Packers and the Vikings lost to the Buccaneers of all teams. It was a rough weekend so far I tell you!

So now on to the campus of Arizona State University. Coming from a guy who is used to grass as his playground, ASU's campus definitely pulls off beautiful scenery without it. The campus area is very large (larger than UofL, I'd say) and pays great homage to its southwestern heritage with native statues and fountain fixtures throughout. Two of the neatest features that intrigued me the most were the campus' underground library and the 100 or so snakes native to the state of Arizona housed in one of the college buildings. It was like being at the zoo! Of course the students walked by like it was nothing probably because they see the exhibit everyday. So here I am, this Kentucky boy in Arizona, tapping on this rattlesnake's glass teasing it with a smile on my face. It's a wonder why no one stopped to ask "dude, what the hell are you doing?"

Did I mention there was a sale right outside of the bookstore? How can you beat that?! I'm talking everything from t-shirts for $5 to hooded sweatshirts that were $10. You certainly don't see that everyday. If that won't stimulate our economy I don't know what will.

But nothing beats a nice football stadium within walking distance on campus that really tops off an outstanding college environment. That's the case with ASU. Sun Devil stadium can be seen as soon as you leave the airport and it sits right next to a small river and what the student body calls "A" Mountain. I felt stupid when I asked her brother why they refer to it as such. When we drove to the opposite side he clearly pointed out the enormous A on the side of the mountain that could probably be seen by the MIR space station. Come to find out her brother had actually climbed this mountain before he graduated. Not me. Let's just say I need to keep my feet on the ground so my hand can still write these blogs.

All in all, Arizona State was a great university with an even greater college atmosphere. Anyone who hasn't seen it should check it out. I'd venture to say its probably one of the finer colleges in the country regardless of how old or young you are. You can even see a few cacti along the way if you're lucky. Oh, and the winter season is quite mild for the average American.

PS - I learned a new phrase while hanging out with my future brother-in-law: "That's what she said....". I will leave that to your imagination. Or Google it if you'd like.

Neutral Sites Are Not For Baseball

As I was on my way to drop off lunch to my beautiful and wonderful fiance last week, I heard an interesting topic of discussion on the local ESPN Radio station. The airwaves in my car were locked to Colin Cowherd's "The Herd" radio show in which he was commenting on colleague Peter Gammons' idea for holding baseball's future World Series games at neutral sites in America.

Apparently Gammons flew off the handle and checked himself into a mental institute the night the Phillies and Rays had to cancel a portion of one game of the World Series due to inclement weather only to be played the next night. Get a grip Peter! Major League Baseball has much bigger fish to fry such as solving the problem with the designated hitter position, reducing the 162 game regular season format and, last but not least, trying to rebuild a fan base that was lost due to two strikes over the past twenty years!

Of course Colin Cowherd had this issue nailed to the wall and we both agreed that there is no way baseball can afford to have the World Series played at comfortable weather sites. Gammons argued that venues in Florida, Arizona and Houston were perfect strongholds for a championship playoff series. Are you kidding me?! If baseball is truly all about tradition then this ludacris idea is coming from left field (no pun intended, golf clap desired).

Stay with me here. In fact, do me a favor. Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine you are attending your first ever World Series matchup between your beloved New York Mets as they take on the Seattle Mariners in a best of seven matchup that will crown the winner as world champions of baseball. The national anthem has just finished and the umpires have signaled "play ball" as the television cameras zoom in on the Johan Santana. A pitcher you never thought you'd see in person let alone a World Series ticket with your name on it. The moment doesn't get anymore priceless than this. Until Ichiro steps into the batters box and you open your eyes to a half filled stadium of a mixed crowd at Minute Maid Park in HOUSTON, TEXAS?!?!?!?! All of a sudden your ticket drops in value, you scratch your head and have a feeling of wanting to go home and watch the game on tv so as not to be seen by your friends and family sitting in the stands of one of the lowest attended World Series games of all time.

Neutral site-based championship events are meant for a one game showdown between two teams. Hence the Super Bowl: a game that lasts three hours and then everyone goes home after the glitz and glamor has evaporated from the stadium. Playoff series, no matter whether they are the five game or seven game variety deserve a home and away format. Believe it or not, home field advantage actually MATTERS in the World Series just as much as it does in the NBA Finals or the Stanley Cup Playoffs in hockey. Someone needs to look Gammons straight in the eye and ask "How is baseball going to make money in the post season from your grand idea?" The answer is simple. It's not going to make money. If anything, this idea would help Major League Baseball lose millions and millions of dollars and actually send it into another recession, if you will, and cause one if not more strikes amongst the players and owners. Folks, I've heard some crazy things in my life from the world of sports, but Peter Gammons was totally out of line with this comment and Colin Cowherd had every right to call him out on it. With baseball tickets being amongst the lowest priced sporting event we as Americans can attend these days, its that much more important to our country's economy to not allow a neutral site World Series anytime in the near future.

NCAA Football: Week 11 Roundup

With this being my first post of the season for college football, let me first say to my Dad and my cousin Tommy and the entire Burns clan in Knoxville, Tennessee that I'm sorry to hear about having to let go of Phil Fulmer. Unfortunately, the dreaded word of "rebuild" will know become a household name in the years ahead in Big Orange Country. It's no secret that the University of Tennessee football program has been on a steady decline since winning the BCS Championship in 1998 only to hit what seems to be an all time low with a record of 3-7 overall, 1-5 in the SEC and losing to Wyoming this week at home by a score of 13-7. Fulmer has had one of the best runs a coach could have with any given team nowadays. His current record as a coach is 150-52. Pretty impressive in my estimation. He will be held in the same regard in Knoxville as Bear Bryant at Alabama, Bobby Bowden at Florida State and Joe Paterno at Penn State. Despite his not-up-to par final seasons at Tennessee, Fulmer is a charasmatic figure in college football and will exit with class and dignity The university, however, must move quicker now than ever to find his replacement, as Volunteer fans do not take losing seasons very lightly.

And now on to the games that were Week 11 in college football...

First off, the word shocked does not even begin to describe the feeling I had when I saw Penn State upset by the Iowa Hawkeyes on a last second feild goal. I thought this was going to be the year in which the soon-to-be 82-year old Joe Paterno would go out on top as either champs or co-champs, even with the corrupted BCS system. In fact, I was just reading an article before Saturday's game about how the Nittany Lions "Spread HD" (Spread formation in high definition) offense was one of the best in the country and nearly unstoppable. True they got their yards and their touchdowns, same as any other spread offense, but apparently they needed an "HD" defense against Iowa. There is no way you can be a championship caliber football team these days by giving up 10 points in the last nine minutes of a conference game that you technically should win. Keep in mind the Hawkeyes were 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten coming into this game. The only chance Penn State has now of even being mentioned as potential candidates for playing in this year;s BCS championship game is to hope for losses by either or both Alabama and Texas Tech.

Speaking of which, the Tide rolled, albeit slowly rolled, on Saturday when they took down LSU in overtime. It was an anxious time for Alabama fans as well as Nick Saban who snuck by his former Tigers in Baton Rouge. Saban's smashmouth running attack coupled with a hard nosed defense that flies to the ball in the secondary has brought prominence back to the land of Bear Bryant. The only reason LSU was able to hang around in this game is because the Crimson Tide defense allowed two touchdowns in the first quarter and trailed 14-7. It was the only time all season that 'Bama had trailed at the end of the first quarter. It's clear that this is a team that likes to play football when they have the lead and struggle when they must play from behind. If you take a look at the team's offensive starters you really don't see very many gamebreakers. They have a stable of running backs who run hard, up the field and do not turn the ball over. John Parker Wilson won't be airing it out 50 times a game and will rarely throw any hail mary passes to keep opposing defenses on their toes in the secondary. Their wide receiver core is talented but young. And they are limited due to Wilson's passing ability. Again, not alot of showtime on offense, but enough game management at the skilled positions to let their defense keep them within reach of every game.

Let's shift gears to Texas Tech who was coming off their monumental victory of the then ranked #1 Texas Longhorns. Some teams, no matter the sport, will come out flat in the game that follows a taking-down-the-goal-post type of win. Not the case for the Red Raiders on Saturday. They played with poise on both sides of the ball and handled Oklahoma State quite easily. Graham Harrell was magnificent at quarterback as usual for Texas Tech and is my front runner at the moment to win the Heisman Trophy this year. The fact that he threw for yet another 456 yards and 6 touchdowns in this game is just sick. Oh, and I forgot to mention the fact that he did not throw one interception. Come to think of it, I could walk on at Texas Tech and line up at the slot receiver position and catch touchdown passes from Harrell. "Hey Coach Mike Leach...save the scholarship next year man! I'm coming to Lubbock!" And it isn't just me shouting out how I truly feel when it comes to the Red Raiders' offense. Every high school wide receiver in America sees highlights of this high potent offense on Sportscenter every Saturday night and simply druel at thought of playing for this squad on the collegiate level.

It will be interesting, to say the least, to see what happens with Alabama and Texas Tech's few reamining games. We could either see a superstar offense lining up against a rough-and-tough defense come January, or we could have another "BCS Mess" with a plethera of one loss teams. Personally, I'd pay money to see either one.

What Kind of World Series Do We Live In?!

Okay, first things first. While its been a while since I've blogged about baseball, and sports in general, I simply want to address the fact that I completely mis-predicted the ALCS/NLCS winners in 2008.

The Phillies hammered the Dodgers in their series and the Rays took care of business against the Red Sox even though it was a very close and entertaining series. I have to give credit where credit is due and congratulate the city of Philadelphia for claiming their first title in more than 20 years. The lowly tv rated World Series this year was dominated by the bats of the Phillies. But take nothing away from Tampa Bay. Although they got smoked, or should I say chilled due to the inclement whether that this years Series encountered in the City of Brotherly Love, the Rays will be every bit as good next year if their front office keeps everyone on payroll and injuries stay at bay.

As for the Dodgers, Los Angeles will need to recover from a disappointing post season and decide on how to handle Manny Ramirez in the off season. Frankly, I would do everything in my power to keep Manny in Dodger blue next season. he is worth the money and too valuable to let another team in the National League steal him away. Manny and L.A. Just seem like a good fit.

Meanwhile, Boston fans are probably the most heart broken of the losing teams in the playoffs this year. Red Sox nation has always embraced a championship-winning culture that never settles for second best performances. Well Beantown, I'm here to tell you that your glory days have come to an end. There is a new sheriff in the American League by way of Tampa Bay and a deputy by the name of the Los Angeles Angels. And don't think for one minute that the Yankees won't be back to contend for the division crown next season. The Big Apple has the same win win win mentality.

In closing, let me say that I was made my 2008 League Championship Series predictions with a slight hint of bias ism. There was no way I would have watched the Phillies and Rays play for the title in the World Series. Turned out I didn't even watch one pitch. In all honesty, I was rooting for the fact that I wanted to be entertained by two heralded baseball franchises in the Dodgers and the Red Sox. Not to mention that keeping up with all of the drama between Manny and his former teammates would have been as easy as putting on my IMAX 3-5 glasses and kicking back with a bag of movie theater glazed popcorn and a 32oz. soda for four to seven games.

Oh well. Now that baseball is done for another season and its only November, I have plenty of time to watch all of the off season antics unfold and sculpt my predictions for 2009!

Week 9 Roundup

Iverson Trade Beneficial to Pistons, Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons couldn't make it through the first week of the NBA season without making a blockbuster trade. It was a trade that dealt now-journeyman Allen Iverson to Motown in exchange for ex-Colorado Buffaloes guard Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess.

Why would a trade of such high magnitude happen this early in the season you ask? The simple answer is that both teams clearly wanted to improve their chances at making runs towards their respectiveconference playoffs come April. The more complicated answer is that either or both of these teams could be stocking a player on their roster only to be used as trade bait later in the season for more exotic offers before the NBA trading deadline on February 19th.

But make no mistake about it. Whatever their strategies, both clubs definitely made the statement they wanted (more so Detroit because #3's well-known talent and sometimes infamous behavior) in strengthening their team's offensive and defensive firepower. A.I.'s thuggish, bad boy reputation will be welcomed in the so called "Hockeytown" and give them back a taste of what used to be when they had the likes of Bill Lambeer and company. The Pistons will gain some added scoring ability through Iverson as well and will be an excellent compliment to Rip Hamilton in their backcourt. Collectively, Detroit is a well rounded defensive team because they execute together when not on offense. They use weakside help to their advantage and rotate beautifully when a defender is caught out of position so they are technically never playing one-on-one style defense. With that said, the Pistons will hardly miss Billups and McDyess on the defensive side of the ball.

In Denver, the Nuggets will get a lift at point guard by aquiring Chauncey Billups. In fact, the team should see similar success at that position before they let go of now 76er point man Andre Miller. Billups will obiously start right away and provide the team with a larger framed guard who can post up his shorter and smaller sized counterparts on offense. He will also add the lacking assist to turnover ratio that was missing when the team brought in Allen Iverson for more scoring. The rest of the teams starters should see increased productivity in the points column with Billups running the show. He makes good decisions with the rock in his hand and can also fill it up at the free throw line.

Antonio McDyess, while getting thrown to the backburner when talk of this trade arises, will give the Nuggets a nice boost at power forward. He will give head coach George Karl the option of playing him as a starter or have the former Alabama Crimson Tide big man come off the bench to give Kenyon Martin a breather. McDyess has always thrived on both ends of the court and brings a balanced basketball player attitude to the team. He won't light up the scoreboard in Denver like Iverson, but then again, no one will expect him too. Expect a decent amount of playing time to come his way but not too many as to overwork him.
I like this trade alot. It couldn't have happened at a better point in the season. I like the fact that both front offices went after big names to show they want to contend when the playoffs come around. Both teams will drastically benefit from the trade and expect them both to make the postseason. Maybe not as #1 seeds heading in, or even to the NBA Finals, but neither team will be packing their bags when the last regular season games are complete on April 15th.

Can't Win 'Em All

Well, needless to say, it's been almost a month since I've updated my blog. And quite frankly, I've decided it's time to get off my rear end and do some writing.

A few weeks ago, NFL Week 6 to be exact, I took up yet another bet with my good friend who I mentioned in one of my very first posts on this blog site. Let's just say that I've nicknamed him "Kentucky Casey". It just so happened that he and I were to play each other in a little office pool fantasy football that week in which he coerced me into another wager. The contest: his team versus my team, straight up. No points. The stakes: $20, of course.

While my team was one of the top teams in our fantasy league and clearly looked like a favorite on paper, Kentucky Casey had a little something extra up his sleeve for me that week. Sure, everyone toots their own team's horn. But that's what fantasy football is all about isn't it? Each fantasy owner wants to let our weekly opponents know that regardless of wins and losses "my team is going to take your team to the cleaners this week!" (Insert expletive deleted's where necessary)

All I heard that week was a raspy, movie theater coming-soon-to-a-theater-near-you like narration voice telling me how his Minnesota Vikings defense was going up against the Detroit Lions and would reward him 30 points easily. And how Tony Romo and his Dallas Cowboys were going to shred the Arizona Cardinals' secondary. I brushed it off my shoulder as if this competition was going to be a piece of cake and yet another $20 taken from one my closest work buddies. But I had another thing coming.

It turned out that his kicker, Mason Crosby of the Green Bay Packers outscored my kicker, Ryan Longwell of the Vikings, by 7 points!!! That may not sound like a lot, but in the fantasy world 7 points is worth more than a touchdown alone. We've all had losses in which we've been mesmerized by a quarterback, running back or wide receiver. But who wants to lose their fantasy football games at the hands, or should I say foot, of a kicker?!?!?!

That week, I lost by a grand total of 13 points. And as I just pointed out, more than half of that deficit came by way of his kicker. Since that time my fantasy team has won two games in a row to put me at 6-2 on the season. But I fear that I'm going down this week at the hands of my other co-worker and longtime friend "Miami Dolphins Drew". That is, unless of course, Santana Moss plays tonight in the Washington Redskins/Pittsburgh Steelers Monday Night Football game and grabs me 27 points. Not to mention Drew's fantasy quarterback, Jason Campbell, would need to somehow be 187'd before the game as so not to gain any points for his team. The chances of that are about as likely as our country's election not happening tomorrow.

In any event, great win "Kentucky Casey". You have bragging rights over me for the remainder of the season. I can only hope that we square off at some point in the playoffs. Until then, try not to spend my hard earned $20 all in one place. Make me proud and indulge in about ten McDonald's double cheeseburgers!