Weekend Picks: Army Navy Game

The annual Army Navy Game is today and you should be watching.  This match-up will feature two of the best squads for either team in at least a decade.  The Midshipmen were actually three baffling losses away from an undefeated season!  Both teams are bowl bound this year which along with Air Force marks one of the few times ever that all three Military Academies are going to a bowl.  

Army features an option attack that has been surprisingly successful this year.  In fact their running game ranked 9th in nation behind QB Trent Steelman and RB Patrick Mealy.  The Black Knights will have a tough test today facing a very experience Naval Squad.  

Navy is led by Senior QB Ricky Dobbs.  Ricky is somewhat of an unknown in terms of running backs when you consider the hype that others such as Cam Newton, Denard Robinson, and Colin Kaepernick have gotten.  However he led the nation's 5th ranked running team in yards this year after coming back from an injury last year.  

The Midshipmen have won 8 straight against Army but that might not be the most impressive stat that this year's Seniors have against their military opponents.  The have held Army without a TD in their last three games and I'm sure they'd love to go their entire college career keeping the Knights out of the end zone.  

Go watch the only College Football game on today at 2:30 PM on CBS and make sure to cheer for a great game!

      

Breaking News: Peyton Manning is Good at Football!

Peyton Manning seen here laughing in your doubting face.

Peyton Manning is who we thought he was.  Which is to say that he is still good at playing football.  Maybe we can start to put a little bit of the blame for the Colts recent struggles on the high school team they've brought in to replace all the injured guys.  I'm kidding of course, but it's hard to argue that the dropoff in talent isn't hurting him.  It is clearly just taking him more time to gel with the new guys because he is seemingly playing with an entirely new offense than they started with.

In last night's game P. E. Y. went 25/35 with 2 TDs and no interceptions.  The Colts managed to anger what seems like every gambler in the US as they allowed the Titans to score a meaningless TD as time was running out.  That meaningless TD narrowed the final score to 30-28 in a game with a 3.5 point spread.  Although this is the worst season of Peyton's career with the Colts at 7-6, maybe it's a blessing in terms of finally getting  a draft pick higher than 24 or so.  It seems like they could use a few extra talented guys on the team.

SKOHRboard's Fantasy Notes 12-9-10

Big Jay Cutler

It's the final week of the Regular Season!  I'm sure there are lots of crucial fantasy football battles being waged all over the country in hopes of making of breaking seasons.  Friends pitted against friends, some hoping to win and get in, other hoping to crush their buddies' playoff dreams.  Well here are a few guys who can help you do that.

Actual Football Playing Jay Cutler (sadface)

QBs
- Jay Cutler, Bears at home against the Patriots
Cutler has been playing well lately and I think he has a chance to really light it up against a young and overconfident Patriots secondary.  As long as he doesn't throw it near former Rutgers star Devin McCourty, he should be able to put up lots of points, especially if they get behind early.
- Drew Stanton, Lions play at home against the Packers
Expect the Pack to make life difficult for the inexperienced signal caller but all you really have to know about this pick is Calvin Johnson.  As long as Stanton is able to get the ball near him expect enough passes thrown that some will work and some will work for TDs.

Brian Westbrook doing what he does best

RBs
-Knowshon Moreno, Broncos play @ Cardinals
Knowshon is currently ranked 20th in my league but a lot of that is due to a hamstring injury that kept him out of a few games early in the season.  The Broncos offense needs him to function so he'll get plenty of touches with a new coach.  He is absolutely a must start this week while playing against the Cardinals.
-Brian Westbrook, 49ers play home against Seahawks
Yup, Westbook is back (until further notice).  He is playing against a very weak Seattle team this weekend.  I thinkhis poor showing in Green Bay last week is fairly forgivable.  He should stand to have another big game.
-LeGarrette Blount, Bucs play @ Redskins
Blount is the feature running back for a bubble playoff team.  They are playing one of the worst defenses in the league without their lazy star run stopper Albert Haynesworth.  Expect Blount to rumble for plenty in this one.

Danny Woodhead slipping between the fingers of normal sized defenders

WRs
-Danny Woodhead, Pats play @ Bears
Woodhead has been amazing for the Pats this year by taking the easy short throws from Brady and turning them into huge plays.  He'll get matched up against great LBs this week but they simply won't be able to match Woodhead's quicks.  Watch for him to break a few long ones this week against an over-matched Chicago D.  Oh and he also gets quite a few handoffs to bolster his stats.
-Malcom Floyd, Chargers play home against Chiefs
Floyd is the only WR left on the Chargers.  Yes he is hurt, but he should play unlike everyone else.  To make this offense work Rivers is going to have to throw the ball to Floyd roughly 1,000 times on Sunday so hopefully he catches a few passes and at least one of them ends up with him in the endzone.
-Sidney Rice, Vikings play at home against the Giants
How about Sidney Rice coming back in a big way!?  Is he actually back to last year's form?  I don't really know.  The good thing is that this whole, "OMGwillBritfarplayandcontinuehisstreak?OMG!" ESPN freakout really won't effect him because he is clearly the top aerial threat on the Vikings and will see plenty of targets.

Carl Crawford to Beantown Red Sox for $142 Million

Crawford seen here flying up to Boston.

For my money, and that isn't quite $142 million, Carl Crawford is the best outfielder in baseball.  He accompanies Pujols, Mauer, and Utley as in my favorite position players in the MLB.  Crawford has all the tools and is going to be a huge asset for the Red Sox.  

The Yankees GM Brian Cashman must be sick about not getting him.  I'm sure their offseason plans were 2 parts; step 1 get Cliff Lee, step 2 was getting Carl Crawford.  Unfortunately for them, the Sawx and GM Theo Epstein were just too quick and after getting Adrian Gonzalez last week, they must have really made Crawford their priority.  If their pitching can hold up and they don't get hit by injuries quite like last season, they have a chance to be a very good club in '11.

Blake Griffin Dunks Very Hard

It seems like every time that highlights are shown of Clippers games this year we get to see Blake Griffin throwing down one of the most powerful dunks ever.  Fortunately the people over at the NBA were good enough to put together that nice highlight video of his best plays from November.  Somehow they picked a "pass" as one of them?  Whatever NBA.  That's like baseball promoting a well played grounder.  Come on guys, we're here to see some dingers.  In the NBA, of course, dingers are slam dunks and nobody has a better array of incredible dunks than Blake Griffin.  So in order to make up for some of those less than thrilling plays in the video above, I've got another for you which contains dunks and only dunks.



Despite the team's 5-17 start, it seems like there is reason for hope in LA. Well, at least in the Clipper's part of LA. The Lakers part of LA is probably doing just fine. If you are a Clipper fan or think you might want to become one in the future just check out some of these pictures and consider the "entertainment" value and not neccesarily the championship contending value of the Clippers.

A happy Blake Griffin displays his family friendly dunk

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Breaking News: Urban Meyer to Denver Broncos

Urban Meyer has stepped down from his Head Coaching position at Florida.  Naturally everyone turned here to SKOHRboard.com to see if my prediction of Meyer heading to Denver to fill the vacant Head Coach position there was correct.  Well, as far as I can tell it's not.  I've checked with all of my sources and tipsters and so far nobody has any inside info to get me.  Please note that I have no tipsters or sources.  However I think it's pretty clear from that picture that Meyer would love to be back with his boy Tim Tebow.

Meyer could revolutionize the professional game by bringing along the spread offense that he ran so successfully in college.  With all the young talent offensive talent hanging around in Denver and the top draft selections they are assured due to the underperformance this season, it might be an attractive landing spot for him.  Don't expect any developments on this story until after the season ends in a month or so.  However, if I were the owner of the Broncos, Pat Bowlen, I would absolutely give Meyer a call this Winter to gauge his interest.

Haynesworth Asks the Redskins to Sue Him

Shortly before being suspended for the remaining 4 games of the regular season Albert did a radio interview to help clear his name.  Some of his own teammates took to the airwaves after he was a healthy scratch for the team's last game against the Giants.  They said things like, "he puts himself first," and, "he doesn't understand that he is part of a team."  Well in order to set the record straight Albert went on a DC radio show and said that he had a bad practice and couldn't think of any reason why the team didn't want him to play last in last week's game.  

Albert said that he had a bad practice.  He then said, "nobody can have a great practice every day.  So I had one bad practice, sue me."  Well I'm pretty sure that is exactly what the Redskins are going to do to Haynesworth, sue him.  By suspending him and proving that he wasn't living up to his end of the $100 million contract that he signed last year, they can probably get back some serious dollars.  If you haven't noticed the little video above, take a second and look at it.  I'm pretty sure that isn't what the Redskins are paying him $100 million to do.  

SKOHRboard's College Football Awards 2010

MVP: Cam Newton

Newton is probably one of the most "special" college football players ever.  He has single-handedly dominated ever single game this season.  Newton became only the second QB ever to rush for 20 TDs and pass for 20 TDs in the same season.  He is by far the front runner to win the Heisman Trophy this year.

Best Freshman: Marcus Lattimore

Lattimore took College Football by storm this year.  He was Spurrier's crown recruit and he certainly lived up to any and all hype.  Lattimore scored 19 TDs this year which is 1 short of an SEC freshman record.

Best QB: Kellen Moore

Moore has been a stud QB since day 1 at Boise St.  He has thrown for 97 TDs and over 10,500 yards in his career.  Despite that, he has been in top form this season as his completion percentage of 71% ranks 3rd, yards passed for (3,506) ranks 8th, yards per attempt (10.2) ranks 2nd, TDs passed for (33) ranks 4th, and QB rating (185) ranks 2nd.

Best RB: LaMichael James

James might just be the fastest man on the planet, or at least whatever football field he is playing on.  James led the nation in rushing yards (1,682) and TDs (21) all while maintaining an average of 6 yards per run.

Best WR: Justin Blackmon

Blackmon absolutely dominated the competition this year.  In the picture above he is going against the nations top cover corner Prince Amukamura and he is very clearly winning that battle.  He had 18 TDs, 1,665 yards, and 102 catches on the year which rank 1st, 2nd, and 3rd nationally.  He also averaged 16.3 yards per catch.

Best Defensive Player: Nick Fairley

Fairley might not have the gaudy stats of the guys on Offense but he flat out controlled the line of scrimmage.  It seemed like he was in the backfield almost as fast as the QB could get out from under center most of the time.  Despite playing DT instead of the favorable DE, he still managed 10.5 sacks and 12 tackles for a loss.

Most Underrated Player: Colin Kaepernick

Much like Mr. Newton up above Kaepernick is a dual-threat QB and has been threatening college football teams under the radar for the better part of the last 4 seasons.  He has accounted for 141 TDs over that period!  This year Kaepernick became the 3rd QB of all time (behind Tebow and Newton) to rush for 20 TDs and pass for another 20 TDs.  He led the Wolfpack to a WAC Championship and a BCS rank of #15.

Biggest Surprise Team: Nevada

Much like their underrated QB, the Wolfpack were heralded by nobody this summer and accordingly surprised everyone by finishing with a record of 12-1 and a National ranking of #15 to go with their WAC title.  The biggest surprise is still their upset of then #3 ranked Boise St. in overtime to steal the WAC.

Most Overrated Team: Texas

The Longhorns began the year being ranked #2 overall after a loss in the National Championship the previous year.  However, things didn't exactly pan out as the pollsters imagined.  Texas finished at 5-7 which is the worst season in Texas under Mack Brown's tenure and marks the first time a team has been to the National Championship one year then ineligible to play in a bowl the following year.

Mike Tyson Wasn't in the Boxing Hall of Fame?

 

Somehow Mike Tyson was not in the Boxing Hall of Fame until yesterday.  I don't know what the protocol is for getting into the Boxing Hall of Fame but it seems crazy to me that Tyson wasn't in there until yesterday.  As far as I'm concerned he should have been in there 20 years ago when he was the most feared boxer who ever stepped in the ring.  Check out the "fights" in the video below to see about 4 minutes of Iron Mike destroying opponents hopes and dreams... and faces.

                       

Yeah he should have been admitted into the Boxing Hall of Fame about 2 minutes into that video.  What a dominant pugilist.  Other guys that I can think of over the last 20 years include Foreman, Holyfield, and Lewis.  However, none of those guys was as devastating as Tyson was in his prime.  Maybe there is some sort of waiting period before a boxer is eligible to be admitted but this seems like an awfully long time to wait for Mike Tyson.

Oh and Rocky was also admitted into the Boxing Hall of Fame this past weekend too.  Actually Sylvester Stallone was admitted as a filmmaker, not as the character.  HOWEVER THE OUTRAGE IN ALL OF THIS IS THE SNUBBING OF IVAN DRAGO!!!  

                      

According to Sometimes Functional Computers, Boise St. is Finally Better than LSU

According to computers that usually work most of the time Boise St. jumped LSU in the "official" BCS rankings yesterday.  Which is great except for the fact that the "final official" BCS ranking came out 4 days ago.  Apparently there was some glitch in one of the computer systems and it wasn't recognizing the score of the Western Illinois vs. Appalachian St. game.  That mistake had an impact on strength of schedule that rippled down to #'s 10 and 11, now Boise St. and LSU respectively after the correction.

This mistake was discovered in the only 1 of the 6 computer rankings used by the BCS that is made public.  Which means there could be dozens of errors in the hidden rankings but nobody knows or cares to check as far as the BCS is concerned.  They are just delighted that they have finally chosen the two teams widely regarded as the top 2 in football to play against one another in the National Championship game.  Maybe next year we can get lucky and a few mistakes will slip a school like, this year's bowl snubbed team, Temple right into the Championship game so all hell can break loose and the entire BCS system disappears for good in favor of a just 16 team playoff.  Who's coming with me?

Andy Irons R.I.P.

One of the best surfers in the world, Andy Irons, passed away last month after experiencing complications from Dengue Fever.  Irons was a three time World Champion winning the title consecutively from 2002 - 2004.  His rivalry with Kelly Slater during that time period was really one of the only challanges to Slater's crown as King of the surfing world.

Irons was honored with a memorial "paddle-out" by 130 surfers, who were in Puerto Rico competing.



Here is a video made by Billabong which features Andy Irons and why he surfs.



Finally this is a tribute to Andy that was put together by Surfer Magazine.

Wanstache is Out at Pitt

In somewhat of a surprising move the Pitt Panthers have gotten rid of Dave Wannstedt.  Surprising because his teams have finished no worse than tied for 2nd in the Big East over the last three years.  While it's true that his 42 - 31 overall record since taking the helm isn't very inspiring when you consider that he has been landing one top recruiting class after another.

Unfortunately his top recruiting classes haven't correlated to top teams on the field.  His best year was 2009 when the finished ranked 15th in the country.  But my question is does Pitt really think they can do better than him?  Who REALLY wants to go to Pitt right now?  I'd be shocked if they landed a bigger name coach than Wannstedt.  Actually they should give Josh McDaniels a call, I heard he was available.