My evil plan is coming true!!!

Braves sign billy wagner.... swisher and holliday are next! :)

thats all for now. maybe i'll update for real later.

Tim Tebow is the best college football player in history

Let that statement sink in for a second. Digest it. Think about it.

Now some of you are now ready to go off and spout out half a dozen players who were better than Tebow. They had better stats, while playing for a shorter period of time. Tebow is a system quarterback who's stats are inflated because he IS Florida's offense. He is such a goodie goodie. The media drools over him. They treat him like he's God. Tebow loves all this attention....

And i simply sit back and laugh.

Look at the statement again... did I say Tebow was the most talented player ever? Did i say he is the greatest athlete to ever play the game? no. he is the best college football player in history.

What exactly makes a college athlete? well let me first point out that the word college comes first. It's easy to forget that the superstars we watch every saturday are students first and foremost. Tebow, despite being in a classroom setting for the first time, earned a degree in family, youth, and communication studies while maintaining a 3.66 gpa. Not bad for a home school kid who everyone dubbed as the dumb athlete the second he walked on campus.

Another part of being a college athlete is adhering to the core values of the NCAA. here are such core values.
# The collegiate model of athletics in which students participate as an avocation, balancing their academic, social and athletics experiences.
# The highest levels of integrity and sportsmanship.
# The pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics.

The summer after Tebow won the heisman he did not turn down a single invitation to any public appearance. Yet he still kept his commitment to the team and to his studies. He took classes straight through the summer every year so that he could stay on campus and work.

Not to mention the constant service work, whether it be at local prisons or thousands of miles away. Tebow epitomizes the concept of "others first".

One of the biggest reasons Tebow is criticized is he is seen as almost overwhelming with sharing his faith. Well, thats what he is supposed to do. As a Christian God calls him to share his faith and to live his life in a way that exemplifies that. AM i saying Tebow is perfect in every way? Absolutely not. We are all sinners who are incapable of living our lives without fault. But has Tebow ever looked into a camera and tried to convert someone with words? Has he ever said he wants Gator fans to repent of their sins and confess to God. No. He has done it the right way. He has not forced his faith on anyone. He has shared what HE believes and has led through his example. All Christians would do well to do more of that.

Ultimately this is why i make the claim that Tebow is the best college football player in history. His love for his team, his university, and his fans. As a lifelong Gator fan i can relate to how Tebow feels. He was born and raised a member of Gator Nation. He started as a fan, which has made his connection with the fans that much sweeter. When he came out on to florida field for the last time today, i have no shame in admitting that i had to fight back tears. It has nothing to do with my love for Tim Tebow. It has everything to do with my love for college football and the passion that it invokes. Tebow personifies that passion. His unyielding determination to lay his body and his heart on the line all for the fans is what college football is all about. Its not a job to him. He's not getting paid to be the quarterback. He's not trying to improve his free agent stock. He's not looking for endorsements.

After each home game Tebow does a lap around the bowl stadium of florida field. I stayed to watch his last lap and looked on as he went from person to person, not leaving a single hand untouched. It took him nearly 15 minutes. All over the field his teammates were celebrating. How easy would it have been to just say to heck with it and go celebrate with his team? No, not this man. This man is here for me. He is here for the other record 90,907 people in attendance this evening.

In light of the superstar status that has come with a player like Tebow, it is very easy for that player to start to feel separated from the team. For him to not be one of the guys... I direct you to that september day in kentucky. when tebow lay motionless on the ground, and his team, despite being told to go back to the sidelines, crowded around their fallen leader. Their love for their quarterback was clear as day. They will attest to that any day.

There will always be naysayers. whether it is from bitter rivals, or unconnected bystanders who simply don't buy into the hype... they are always welcome to share their own opinions. In my opinion, we never have, and maybe never will again see a better college football player.

2010 SEC East champion

Mark it down. I am calling it here. right now. (sorry jon if i jinx ya). South Carolina will win the SEC East in 2010.

Really? South Carolina? The same south carolina that has won 8 games in a season about 8 times? The same south carolina whose coach's .560 winning percentage makes him one of the winningest coaches in south carolina history? The same south carolina that has never sniffed a trip to atlanta and has one conference championship (1969 ACC) in its more than 100 years of football.

Yes. That South Carolina.

Let me rephrase my original sentence. South Carolina will not LOSE the SEC east in 2010. The difference? I don't think any of the other teams are going to do enough to win it. South Carolina may still lose a couple of close games they should win, but the SEC east WILL be won by a team with at least 2 losses.

First lets take a look at the other teams in the east.

Florida: Oh my Gators may have another 2007 ahead of them come next august. They will lose 3 starters on offense to graduation (including one of the best college football players of all time and their top wide receiver) and could lose up to 3 more to the NFL draft. The defense WILL lose all of their starting linebackers and one DE, with the possibility for another 4 players to leave for the draft. thats potential for 14 starters to be gone from next years squad. combine that with a schedule that includes away games at Alabama, Tennessee, Florida State, plus home games against the gamecocks, south florida, and LSU.
Determining Factor: Can a young defense step up and fill the void left by so many departures, and can another new crop of receivers step up to help out John Brantley.
Prediction: 9-3. Losses to Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida State (streak won't last forever, and Ponder is a baller).

Georgia: My how the dogs have fallen off their pedestal. They were flying high after their "incredible" run to end 2007. Lets break down this "historic" run. It began after the Dogs were humiliated by Tennessee to fall to 4-2. Then they beat Vanderbilt, which led to a team celebration on Vanderbilt's logo. Yes. Vandy. Then they had another cute team celebration the next week when they carved up a defense that was giving up almost 30 points a game. In their final 5 games, they would beat 3 teams that lost 5 games or more, and one more that lost 4. This run is what catapulted them to a preseason number one ranking, which they quickly lost due to sub par performances against lesser teams, and ultimately lost three games to become the worst AP preseason #1 in more than 20 years. This year has been a complete meltdown for the Dogs. Their issues have come from inconsistent quarterback play, and just plain bad defense. They need to win against tech just to avoid finishing .500, which isn't going to happen. They only lose two starters on offense (Joe Cox and WR Mike Moore), but they do lose 4 starters on D and potentially their leader, Rennie Curran, to the draft. But who knows, maybe Aaron Murray comes in lights out and the defense is rejuvenated under a new coordinator. I don't see it happening.
Determining Factor: Quarterback play, offensive line, progression on defense.
Prediction: 7-5. losses at USC, Arkansas, Florida, at Auburn, Georgia Tech

Tennessee: the fighting kiffins have definitely improved thanks more to lane's father monte moreso than anything kiffin has done. The offense has been better than the previous year, but that may all change going into next season. The vols lose a whopping 8 starters to graduation, including 4 offensive lineman and both of their scholarship quarterbacks. They have a solid group of lineman and wrs committed to go along with freshman running backs oku and brown, but you just simply don't lose that much and still be competitive. combine that with the loss of 6 defensive starters and it could be back to the drawing board for the volunteers. also, whoever made the schedule needs to be shot. home games against oregon, florida, ole miss and alabama. away games at georgia, south carolina, and LSU. ridiculous.
determining factor: new offensive line, who plays quarterback?, defensive progression
prediction:6-6. losses to georgia, florida, usc, alabama, oregon, and lsu. and that might be generous.

Kentucky and Vandy: nope. sorry boys. i just don't see a possibility for either team to break through. unless UK finds a way to beat one of the big 3 other than UGA (which hasn't happened in over 20 years) then they will not breakthrough.

Meanwhile. here is what South Carolina is looking at...

South Carolina: return everyone on offense with the exception of their center and one wr. The emergence of alshon jefferies definitely diminishes the effect of losing moe brown. they also have a great OL class coming in, so that will add depth and talent to the OL, something Spurrier has not experienced in his time in columbia. On defense they do lose 3 studs, one in each section, in nathan pepper, eric norwood, and darian stewart. But talented davonte hollomon and tony straughter will step in for stewart and norwood. Commit Kelcy Quarles, #2 defensive tackle in the nation, could come in immediately and play next to ladi ajiboye at DT.

So all in all, USC returns 18 starters. They have one of the most talented teams they have ever had, and are FINALLY getting some consistent quarterback play. Stephen Garcia should only get better and better, and these recruiting classes are finally beginning to bear some fruit. What does that lead to? Spurrier's first ever sweep of the BIG 3 in the SEC east.
determining factor: stephen garcia's continued development, consistent OL play, building depth.
prediction: 10-2. losses at auburn, alabama.

US Soccer and thoughts about World Cup Qualifying

There a lot of reasons to be excited about US Soccer. They just won their qualifying group for the first time EVER. They had a good showing this past summer at the Confederations Cup with big wins over Egypt and Spain. And they were competitive, despite blowing a 2 goal lead, in the final against Brazil. However, since then there as not been much to write home about. They suffered a crushing defeat to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, and they continue to allow too many second half goals. 24 out of their 36 goals allowed in qualifying came in the second half.

The reason for this statistic is simple. Lack of depth. The US is still behind the other soccer powers in terms of having a strong supply of reserves. Our starting 11 at full strength can compete with anyone in the world. But its the substitutions in the 60th and 70th minutes that are beating us. Both goals against italy came from a sub. 1 goal against brazil was a sub. 2 goals yesterday against denmark came from subs. Elite soccer teams take advantage of their depth by substituting difference making athletes late into the game.

Part of the reason for this lack of depth how little some of our players actually play. The MLS season is much shorter than the european leagues, and most of the players that the US do have playing overseas aren't starters. Until the US can fill a roster of athletes that play week in and week out against tough competition, we will not compete for a world cup.

I enjoyed getting to watch some qualifying yesterday. I was surprised to see Russia (a top 15 team) fail to qualify. But the match of the day had to be Ireland vs France. Ireland came in to the match down 1-0 after allowing France a goal in dublin last saturday. however they tied the aggregate score in the first half and held on to that lead to force extra time. Had they held on during extra time, they would have won due have a better goal difference. But, in the 103 minute of the match, France had a free kick soar through the box to their star striker, Tiery Henry, who then STOPPED THE BALL WITH HIS HAND, and set up the game winning goal which sent France to the world cup. here is the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9YVNs-UwJY

HOW IS THAT MISSED! THIS IS A MATCH WHO DETERMINES WHO GOES TO THE WORLD CUP! HOW DO YOU MISS THAT! This is an absolute outrage that this goal was allowed. The Irish players erupted with fury the second the ball hit the net, and pleaded their case. Henry even ADMITTED to the ref that he did indeed handball it, to which the ref responded "you're not the referee!!!"...... ARE YOU KIDDING? This ref should never be allowed to take part in a world cup related match ever again. Come on man, swallow your pride, admit you made a mistake, and get the call RIGHT.

Yet again, FIFA comes to the rescue of the european giants. most corrupt sports organization outside of boxing.

Tennessee Players Arrested

I withheld writing about this topic for a while in order to see what new facts would come to light and what Tennessee's response would be to the athlete's actions.

For those who have seen, three Tennessee players were arrested last week on the charge of armed robbery. Two of the men approached a car outside a convenient store with a pellet gun and demanded the occupants of the car to give them "everything they had". The victims told the two men they had no money and showed them their wallets. At this time a third man came up to the two others and said, "we've got to go".

The two men who took part in the robbery were Nukeese Richardson and Mike Edwards. The third individual was Janzen Jackson, also a tennessee player. All three were arrested shortly after the incident after police stopped their car and found dark sweatshirts and a pellet gun.

I was curious to see how Tennessee would handle the situation. The fact of the matter is, these men committed a felony. Whether it was a real gun or not makes no difference. The matter is in the intent. These men deserve to not only NOT play football ever again, but they should be put in jail.

These guys are perfect examples of what is wrong with athletes. You have been given a FREE education. They get ALL of their meals paid for. And they are treated like kings everywhere they go around town. Is it too much to ask that they don't try to rob someone? Some would suggest they are already robbing tax payers by having their education paid simply because they may run fast. The time has come for the NCAA to crack down much harder on their athletes. Playing football is a privilege. Getting an education is a privilege. This men blew that privilege.

I just knew Tennessee was going to drop the ball on this. When they said nothing for about 3 days on the matter,i just knew they were going to let these kids off. Then Tennessee did the right thing and dismissed richardson and edwards from the team. Both of these athletes will probably transfer to a junior college so that they can keep playing. I think that is horse crap. This was a crime of violent intent. They should be BANNED from all collegiate athletics.

Janzen Jackson is a tricky situation. It appears he was not involved in the actual robbery, but even if that is the case i find it hard to believe that he didn't know what was going on. However, he also didn't hold a gun in someones face. Tennessee still has not said what action will be taken against Jackson, but this combined with the fact he has already failed a drug test this year, should result in him being suspended for the rest of the year, and the spring.

The weirdest part about this story is the video that leaked out about the victim talking to reporters and saying that the athletes should NOT miss any games. When asked why they said, "tennessee is my place, thats my football team. i don't want them to miss games..." AFTER THEY HAD A GUN STUCK IN THEIR FACE. That is just plain ludicrous.

Braves Offseason Outlook

here is a great financial outlook on the braves offseason.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/offseason-outlook-atlanta-braves.html

the gist of it is that the Braves have about $81 million tied up not including potential arbitration raises for the five who are eligible. They started the year last year at about $96 million on the payroll. So they can have about $15 million to spend this offseason. The $81 million includes a $9 million contract which Hudson is supposed to be signing any day.

more than half of that $81 million is in starting pitching, which the braves enjoy a surplus of. A rotation of Jurrjens, Vazquez, Hanson, Hudson, and Lowe sounds very appealing, but the braves have other needs and do have Kawakami and Medlen, both of whom could be a number 5 starter. Therefore they seem to be exploring options to move one of their starters. So who do they move? And is this the right call?

The most obvious trade candidate it seems would be derek lowe. Lowe, who was signed in the off season to be the teams "Ace", is the oldest, performed the worst, and makes the most money: a whopping $15 million. But who is going to take on that much salary?

Who else? The Yankees of course. The Yankees are rumored to be looking to try to pry John Lackey away from the Angels. If that doesn't happen, then they would definitely be interested in swallowing Lowe's salary and bolstering their already solid rotation, which would allow them to move Jaba Chamberlain to the bullpen. So what do we get in return? Nick Swisher, who's 6.75 million contract frees up about another 8 million and change.

So now the braves have about 23 million. They need a closer, left fielder, and most likely another reliever to simply bolster the bullpen. That means they can sign the top LF available, which i believe to be Matt Holliday, for around the $15 million he will go for. Now you're lineup is McClouth(L), Prado(R), Jones(S), Holliday(R), McCann(L, Swisher (S), Escobar(R), Heyward(L)/Diaz(R)/Schaffer(L), and pitcher.

So we have 8 million left. But we could use a solid closer, and possibly one more reliever. you can't get both with only 8 million in space left. Or can you? we still have kelly johnson and ryan church (who are both due for arbitration) and those are two expendable pieces. trade them for a reliever, like matt capps. Capps is a 26 year old reliever from douglasville who is currently the closer for the pirates. He had the same number of saves as soriano, but also had a much higher era. the walk to k ratio was still pretty good. So you send those two pieces to the pirates for Capps and you may even be able to get a prospect out of the deal. This will actually free up another 2 million in space.

so now we are at 10 million. the red sox just turned down an option of 8 million from billy wagner. if he does not accept arbitration, he becomes a free agent. if the red sox turned down 8 million, then we could legitimately offer him 8 million and that would be a very competitive offer. 2 million under. Wren probably then calls it a day, maybe signs an utility infielder or takes a chance on a reliever like chad cordero, who was a 40 save guy until he tore his labrum and missed 18 months.

so our bullpen now looks as so.
peter moylan(r)
eric o'flaherty (l)
matt capps (r)
manny acosta (r)
kris medlan(r)
boone logan (l)
james parr (r)
billy wagner (l)
possibly chad cordero???? (r)

can we have our rings now, please?

Playoffs?!?! You wanna talk about Playoffs?!!!

The debate is beginning all over again. Should college football have a playoff? This argument really has become quite boring. And since there is no chance we will have a playoff through the 2015 season, it really is quite ridiculous to even discuss it anymore. But that won't stop the naysayers of the BCS from rearing their ugly heads. I used to be one of those people who were a HUGE advocate of a playoff. I even created my own playoff system at one point, spending hours trying to figure out all the intricacies. However, i have no become less of a fan of the idea. And here is the reason why.

The regular season is just too good...

College Football has without a doubt the BEST regular season in all of sports. The only other one that comes close is MLB, but that is just SO LONG that it loses some of its luster. But seriously, the regular season in college football is truly the most captivating thing in all of sports. Unlike the NFL where a team can start 7-3 and clinch their division and then go on to lose 5 of their next 7 and still make the championship game (a la Arizona Cardinals), that can not happen i college football. They HAVE to keep winning. Florida and Alabama have clinched their divisions and will meet in the SEC title game. Would we all really be ok with it Florida or Alabama just packed it in and lost their last three games, only to win the SEC title and make the playoffs and win the national championship? Do we really want Auburn-Alabama and Florida-Florida State to be throw away games that don't mean anything in the national championship picture? Its a question that most people need to explore before simply screaming for a playoff.

Most people are willing to make that sacrifice because the playoffs would eclipse the excitement of the regular season by a mile. But what happens if the games aren't that exciting? What if Texas and Alabama/Florida just steamrolled everyone they played in the playoffs by 40 points and still met in championship anyways? Then we would have sacrificed all the excitement and passion of the regular season for nothing.

Gouging, Punching, and Smack Talking

That's right sports fans... i have finally caved to the pressure of multiple peers and started a sports blog. I will try to update as much as possible, and will comment on simply anything related to sports that happens to peak my interest. We start today with the hot topic of the past week, which is the famous eye gouge of Washaun Ealey by Brandon Spikes and the resulting fallout.

Here is a link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQX0eomzg8

Lets break this down strictly on the raw facts. Ealey was stopped behind the line of scrimmage and his forward momentum stopped before spikes even touched him. His participation in the play was completely unnecessary. Spikes then appears to go after the eyes of Ealey while he is pinned down in the pile. This by itself is a dispicable act that should have no place in college athletics....

But the problem here is that it is in fact a part of college football. Actions like this take place all the time, at the bottom of nearly every pile, especially in a big time rivalry game like this.

Also, you have to put the situation into context. There are all kinds of rumors that Ealey had spit on Spikes the previous play and Spikes was simply rubbing the spit back on his face(i call bull shit), that Spikes was retaliating from earlier in the game when his helmet was knocked off and he himself was poked in the eye(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnPj3aeAzZU), or that Spikes was retaliating from a late hit on Tebow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC5ZeFSDDaM). The fact is, this game is a very heated rivalry, and while i do not condone the action, lets not make it a bigger deal than it was. Whatever his reason, Spikes participated in a dirty play, that is not uncommon in football, and he got caught on national television.

There was also a lot of backlash from the suspension only being for one half. However, that is exactly the amount of suspension that was warranted. The suspension for fighting during a game is ejection from the game and one half of the next game. Only if the player leaves the bench to engage in a fight does the suspension become a full game suspension.

Ultimately, this whole situation seems to me to be much ado about nothing. The kid made a poor decision to participate in a dirty play, and he was punished. Why wasn't that the end of this story?