Well, a few weeks ago I promised a weekly blog update for the rest of the summer. However, being a teenager and it being the summer, it seems my work ethic completely disappeared for a few weeks. In an attempt to prepare myself for the upcoming college workload, and to ensure my fingers will be capable of typing some lengthy papers the next four years, I decided to make my long awaited return.
I must admit that it feels great typing this too. Perhaps it's because I'm typing on a laptop for a change. That means I'm only a coffee shop away from being a professional amateur blogger! More than likely though, it's because of the fact that we are now under four weeks from the start of the college football season. These last few weeks have not been too kind to the sporting world, as there's been far too much coverage on when Alex Rodriguez opens a medicine cabinet or when Johnny Manziel visits his neighborhood Applebee's. In addition, a University of Florida linebacker got arrested for barking at a police dog, and Carlos Hyde starred in the most disputed video since the last Bigfoot sighting. If that's not bad enough, lawsuits are tearing apart the fabric of the NCAA, and as a result, EA Sports will not continue making college football video games (Let's have a moment of silence for my favorite video game series of all time... Thank you). A return to the focus on the actual games is going to be much welcomed by all college football fans, but especially the avid fanbase that supports the Ohio State Buckeyes. Why? Because Buckeye Nation is going to have the chance to dethrone the SEC in Pasadena, California.
Last year, THE Ohio State University's football team went undefeated. It was the sixth time the Buckeyes were able to accomplish the feat. They were also the only FBS team to finish the season undefeated, after the dismantling of the luckiest football team of all time (Notre Dame) in the title game. Normally, going undefeated in consecutive seasons is a statistical impossibility in any sport, especially major college football. In fact, there's actually a better chance of being stuck by lighting, winning the lottery, and getting a hole in one at the same time than going undefeated in consecutive seasons in the college football (Look it up...). However, a weak schedule, a more talented team, and a tumultuous offseason have laid the groundwork for the Buckeyes to perform the improbable feat.
At first glance, it's hard to tell whether Ohio State plays more Big Ten or more high school JV teams this year. The nonconference opponents, for the second year in a row, lack a marquee game. Buffalo is the annual, lowly MAC school that will benefit from a generous paycheck. San Diego State, who may be the best of the four opponents, could compete like UCF did last year, but will ultimately be overmatched. Cal could normally provide for an interesting matchup, but with so many questions at the quarterback competition, it is hard to see them putting up much of a fight. Finally, Florida A&M is known more for their marching band than their football team, so I don't think much more needs to be said. With Carlos Hyde and possibly Bradley Roby's suspensions being served during this stretch, Urban Meyer will be able to figure out the depth chart issues that will need resolved. Among these is the running back position, where Ohio State has about a half dozen capable players looking to fill Hyde's shoes. Look out for Dontre Wilson, who has run around the world six times during your reading of this article. As for Big Ten play, the Bucks draw Wisconsin and Penn State at home. These two schools seem to be the only capable schools in the Leaders division, but the Badgers should drop off a little while adjusting to Bret Bielema's departure. Ohio State will unfortunately have to travel to the hellhole that is Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines, but with Grant Reed (The kid who named his cancer Michigan... And then beat it) in attendance, the Bucks will continue their domination of that school up north. The toughest test on Ohio State's schedule? The Northwestern Wildcats. A road night game, against a team on the rise, who also features one of the most dynamic players in the country, spells only trouble for the Bucks, especially when you consider they'll face Wisconsin the week before. (Kain Colter is the aforementioned player. The man plays three positions. He will also be a dark horse Heisman candidate should Northwestern have the season many experts are predicting). Oh, and also, there's the matter of the game at Purdue. You know, the team the Buckeyes need a miraculous comeback led by a backup quarterback to win last year (Long live Kenny Guiton!). The Boilermakers are like Saturday Night Live skits most season. Normally, they are the definition of mediocrity, but every once in a while, they deliver something fantastic. Unfortunately for the Bucks, the past few years they've faced Purdue during some of their best games of the year.
The Bucks may've lost some senior leadership on the defensive side of the ball, but the offense is set to put up ridiculous numbers this year. Braxton Miller is set to have a Jennifer Lawrence type of breakout this year (Yeah people know about him already, but it's going to payoff in some hardware this year is what I was going for in that analogy). The number of playmakers he has at his disposal, being counted by LeBron James, is not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven, not eight... The wide receiver position is at its best depth in years with playmakers like Devin Smith and Philly Brown. Tight ends Nick Vannett and Jeff Heuerman have an Aaron Hernandez type versatility to them, except it's limited to only his on the field attributes rather than the more "creative" and criminal off the field ones. Combine that with the running backs mentioned before and the return of Jordan Hall, or Percy Harvin Part II, and you've got an offense that can be the best in the country. Defensively, the Bucks lost the heart and soul in John Simon. However, with the return of Bradley Roby and Ryan Shazier, the defense should be okay. Shazier was named conference preseason defensive player of the year, and if all goes according to plan, he could become as heralded as James Laurinaitis and AJ Hawk.
Most importantly though, I believe the biggest factor in Ohio State going undefeated again is going to be the offseason troubles. The old adage of taking one step backwards to take two steps forward is going to be illustrated perfectly in Columbus because Urban Meyer is like Frank Underwood (House of Cards reference there. Not sure how many people got it, but if you don't watch that show, next time you turn on Netflix, which will probably be tonight, go ahead and give it a chance. It was nominated for an Emmy for nothing). He encounters a problem, analyzes the issue, and then provides the solution that will make a majority of people happy and earn him some great benefits down the line. Last year, as featured in the excellent ESPN Training Days series, he publicly doubted the skill of the team and used the bowl ban as key motivating factors in his first season. These moves led to the fruition of the excellent leadership skills, as the senior class felt a need to rise to the occasion. This year, look for pride to be one of the mantras of the team. Over the past few weeks, Buckeye football players have only made the news in negative ways. However, once Meyer gets control of his troops, he will make them realize they have an obligation to live up to the expectations set by the fans/media and the tougher obligations set by himself. Off the field incidents damage any legacy the Bucks make on it, and once this message is imprinted in the players heads, look for better play on the field.
It's definitely not going to be easy for the Buckeyes to go 13-0 this year (The thirteenth game will be the Big Ten Championship where they would probably face either Michigan, Northwestern, or Nebraska). Last year, Notre Dame got luckier than an Irishman on St. Patrick's Day to end up finishing with an unscathed regular season. For the Bucks to do it again, they will need the occasional break or call to go their way. However, simply due to the fact that they are clearly the best team in the Big Ten, I see Pasadena being filled with scarlet and gray on January 7th (Who they'll play? That'll come next week). Hell, even if they lose one game the Buckeyes will just end up in Pasadena about a week earlier for the Rose Bowl. Either way, it is going to be a very fun fall in old Columbus town.
J. Nave
As always, if you like the piece go ahead and share it with your friends, family, coworkers, archenemies, pets, etc. Any publicity is good publicity!!!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
A Look Around College Football--- SEC (Part 1)
A couple nights ago, the Stanley Cup Final came to an end. After an exhilarating series (which the Athletic Acumen just happened to predict the result of and prophesied about exactly how exciting it would be... No big deal), the unfortunate "downtime" in sports begins for the next six to eight weeks. There's the MLB regular season, and while I played baseball for 14 years and am a passionate baseball fan, it just drags on for far too long. It's kind of like a game of Risk. The game starts out with a lot of excitement and everyone is jockeying to take an early lead (First two to three weeks of the season). Then, the game begins to drag on as all the weaker players get eliminated (May-Early September). Finally, you get down to the final two players who go into an all out war to see who will be declared winner, and who all will have to regroup and get ready for the next game (Mid September-World Series). There have been proposals to shorten the regular season, but as America's Pastime, I don't see this happening anytime soon. I guess there's also WNBA basketball going on right now, but I'm pretty sure not a single reader of my blog is a WNBA fan. Actually, I'm 100% sure because I'd see you as one of the five fans at each of the games. Oh, and Major League Lacrosse is in full swing, too (If you can name five franchises in the MLL without looking them up, contact me and I'll give you a prize. I don't even know if they have five teams).
With that being said, the next few weeks I'm going to try and come out with a new post every week. This should be attainable because for one thing it's summer and I'm bound to have an hour of free time here or there, and secondly, I'm going to write about my favorite sport: College football! While there may not have been as tumultuous as an off season as last year's, there's still plenty to discuss. One coach has been called Satan a few times making me question if he actually could be. One Heisman trophy winning quarterback has achieved Jesus status in his home state, but has left me wondering whether he is more interested in partying or winning football games. One conference is trying to seek its eighth straight national title. Oh, and all these story lines are courtesy of just one conference: The SEC.
Whether you're willing to admit it or not, the kings of the college football world have built themselves quite a fortress in the southeastern United States. The king of kings happens to be Alabama coach Nick Saban, who has led the Crimson Tide to three of the past four national titles. That stretch would be impressive in professional sports, but in a sport where you lose a majority of your leaders from year to year, it is downright magic. In fact, could it be devilish magic? The past few months Saban has been called the devil by Vanderbilt's head coach James Franklin and Florida's offensive line coach Tim Davis. If we get a trinity here in the final weeks of the off season, I"m going to be convinced. Think about this for a few minutes: Tim Tebow, star quarterback of the Florida Gators and the most religious athlete this side of Jerusalem, was recruited by the University of Alabama (Jesus' temptation in the desert). During his first couple seasons, he experienced great success and defeated Saban en route to a National Championshp (Jesus' ministry, miracles, and removing demons from those possessed). However, he would soon fall and be crushed by Saban in the following year's SEC championship (Jesus' crucifixion and descent into hell). But have no fear, Tebow would bounce back and go on to crush Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl and go on to gain a playoff victory in the NFL (Jesus' resurrection and further teachings). Those last few sentences are downright scary when you think about them. Plus, Saban and Satan are only one letter apart! All jokes aside, Saban is one hell of a football coach, and his team is going to have a great chance to gain a third straight title this fall. They are going to have have to get past an urban legend to do that, though.
The one man who has able to beat Satan- I mean Saban- last year was Johnny Manziel, or as the folks in College Station like to call him, Johnny F------ Football (JFF from here on out). JFF rose from the ashes of a delinquent who had no chance of seeing the field into a Heisman winning quarterback. He put up straight video game numbers and created a football folklore that the state of Texas had never seen before (Considering football is life or death at any level in Texas, that's quite the accomplishment). Unfortunately for JFF, I'm not to sure what he's been doing these past few months to prepare for the target he's going to have on his back. The man has been featured in a country music video (Granger Smith- Silverado Bench Seat), thrown out a couple first pitches, partied with rappers weekly, sat courtside at an NBA game, attended Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and takes only online classes at Texas A&M to avoid autograph requests. Now I know the Heisman trophy brings some fame with it, but a few of those things scream "I'm letting my fame get to me, and I don't need to work hard to have success" (Oh, and maybe "impermissible benefits" there NCAA...). JFF is going to have unrealistic expectations for him this fall. The media is going to be bad enough, but his biggest critics are going to be Texas' passionate football fans. He's already taken some heat for saying he wants out of College Station and that could only get worse if the Aggies struggle out the gate. A game against the Crimson Tide on September 14th is going to go a long way in deciding the SEC title, and if tradition holds, maybe the National Title, so JFF needs to be ready to play. He's going to have another solid season, but I don't see anywhere near the accomplishments of last year, including winning another Heisman. Plus, I have a feeling a certain man adorned in Scarlet and Gray is going to garner that honor anyways (And I'll talk about that next week).
The only question that remains now is who gives the SEC their best chance of capturing title number eight? Alabama's going to be the favorite, and a lot of pressure will be on AJ McCarron to keep the title in Tuscaloosa. Luckily for him many Alabama starters return, including T.J. Yeldon, who is looking to be the latest in the great pedigree of backs the Crimson Tide has established. As long as the Tide can replace losses on the offensive line and a couple key losses on defense (Dee Milliner in particular), they should win the West. Texas A&M and LSU will be the two main challengers, but key losses on the offensive line could cripple Manziel's scrambling magic, and LSU has to go to Tuscaloosa this year, where they have not had much success. A possible dark horse in the West is the Ole Miss Rebels. Hugh Freeze is becoming one of the sexiest names in coaching, and with another stellar recruiting class coming in, the best tailgating school in the nation could soon become a perennial top 25 football team, too. Teams won't be able to sleep on the Rebels this year, and if I had to peg a team to pull a shocking upset, it'd be them in a heartbeat. In the East, a three team race seems inevitable between Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. I see Florida falling off last year as out of all the top 10 teams, the Gators were far by the least inconsistent. Soccer teams provide more excitement on offense, it shouldn't take a punt return touchdown in the final minutes to beat Louisiana-Lafayette, and Jeff Driskel throws the football worse than any other starter in the nation. The title may come down to an early September game between Georgia and South Carolina. While Jadeveon Clowney may be a legitimate Heisman candidate, Georgia just has too many weapons on offense. Aaron Murray could have a huge year, Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall provide one of the most dynamic backfields in the country, and as long as some of the high profile recruits live up to the hype defensively, Georgia should be able to return to the SEC Championsip game. The question is, will they finally be able to break through and win one?
Yet again, the SEC could have as many as SIX teams finish in the top 15-20 at the end of the season. With steady improvements being seen at Vanderbilt, the aforementioned Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and a inevitable bounce back at Auburn, the conference will only get better. What team ultimately ends up surviving the week to week onslaught and (almost) guarantees themselves a shot to represents the SEC in the National Championship could be more chaotic than ever. How appropriate for the final year of the BCS.
J. Nave
Look for a Big Ten preview next week, including topics like
-Can Braxton Miller win the Heisman, and can the Buckeyes go undefeated again?
-Did Brady Hoke gain or lose weight over the off season?
-The state of Wisconsin football after Bret Bielema's departure.
-Will Bill O'Brien's miracle work continue?
-Can Northwestern win a championship in something other than chess?
With that being said, the next few weeks I'm going to try and come out with a new post every week. This should be attainable because for one thing it's summer and I'm bound to have an hour of free time here or there, and secondly, I'm going to write about my favorite sport: College football! While there may not have been as tumultuous as an off season as last year's, there's still plenty to discuss. One coach has been called Satan a few times making me question if he actually could be. One Heisman trophy winning quarterback has achieved Jesus status in his home state, but has left me wondering whether he is more interested in partying or winning football games. One conference is trying to seek its eighth straight national title. Oh, and all these story lines are courtesy of just one conference: The SEC.
Whether you're willing to admit it or not, the kings of the college football world have built themselves quite a fortress in the southeastern United States. The king of kings happens to be Alabama coach Nick Saban, who has led the Crimson Tide to three of the past four national titles. That stretch would be impressive in professional sports, but in a sport where you lose a majority of your leaders from year to year, it is downright magic. In fact, could it be devilish magic? The past few months Saban has been called the devil by Vanderbilt's head coach James Franklin and Florida's offensive line coach Tim Davis. If we get a trinity here in the final weeks of the off season, I"m going to be convinced. Think about this for a few minutes: Tim Tebow, star quarterback of the Florida Gators and the most religious athlete this side of Jerusalem, was recruited by the University of Alabama (Jesus' temptation in the desert). During his first couple seasons, he experienced great success and defeated Saban en route to a National Championshp (Jesus' ministry, miracles, and removing demons from those possessed). However, he would soon fall and be crushed by Saban in the following year's SEC championship (Jesus' crucifixion and descent into hell). But have no fear, Tebow would bounce back and go on to crush Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl and go on to gain a playoff victory in the NFL (Jesus' resurrection and further teachings). Those last few sentences are downright scary when you think about them. Plus, Saban and Satan are only one letter apart! All jokes aside, Saban is one hell of a football coach, and his team is going to have a great chance to gain a third straight title this fall. They are going to have have to get past an urban legend to do that, though.
The one man who has able to beat Satan- I mean Saban- last year was Johnny Manziel, or as the folks in College Station like to call him, Johnny F------ Football (JFF from here on out). JFF rose from the ashes of a delinquent who had no chance of seeing the field into a Heisman winning quarterback. He put up straight video game numbers and created a football folklore that the state of Texas had never seen before (Considering football is life or death at any level in Texas, that's quite the accomplishment). Unfortunately for JFF, I'm not to sure what he's been doing these past few months to prepare for the target he's going to have on his back. The man has been featured in a country music video (Granger Smith- Silverado Bench Seat), thrown out a couple first pitches, partied with rappers weekly, sat courtside at an NBA game, attended Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and takes only online classes at Texas A&M to avoid autograph requests. Now I know the Heisman trophy brings some fame with it, but a few of those things scream "I'm letting my fame get to me, and I don't need to work hard to have success" (Oh, and maybe "impermissible benefits" there NCAA...). JFF is going to have unrealistic expectations for him this fall. The media is going to be bad enough, but his biggest critics are going to be Texas' passionate football fans. He's already taken some heat for saying he wants out of College Station and that could only get worse if the Aggies struggle out the gate. A game against the Crimson Tide on September 14th is going to go a long way in deciding the SEC title, and if tradition holds, maybe the National Title, so JFF needs to be ready to play. He's going to have another solid season, but I don't see anywhere near the accomplishments of last year, including winning another Heisman. Plus, I have a feeling a certain man adorned in Scarlet and Gray is going to garner that honor anyways (And I'll talk about that next week).
The only question that remains now is who gives the SEC their best chance of capturing title number eight? Alabama's going to be the favorite, and a lot of pressure will be on AJ McCarron to keep the title in Tuscaloosa. Luckily for him many Alabama starters return, including T.J. Yeldon, who is looking to be the latest in the great pedigree of backs the Crimson Tide has established. As long as the Tide can replace losses on the offensive line and a couple key losses on defense (Dee Milliner in particular), they should win the West. Texas A&M and LSU will be the two main challengers, but key losses on the offensive line could cripple Manziel's scrambling magic, and LSU has to go to Tuscaloosa this year, where they have not had much success. A possible dark horse in the West is the Ole Miss Rebels. Hugh Freeze is becoming one of the sexiest names in coaching, and with another stellar recruiting class coming in, the best tailgating school in the nation could soon become a perennial top 25 football team, too. Teams won't be able to sleep on the Rebels this year, and if I had to peg a team to pull a shocking upset, it'd be them in a heartbeat. In the East, a three team race seems inevitable between Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. I see Florida falling off last year as out of all the top 10 teams, the Gators were far by the least inconsistent. Soccer teams provide more excitement on offense, it shouldn't take a punt return touchdown in the final minutes to beat Louisiana-Lafayette, and Jeff Driskel throws the football worse than any other starter in the nation. The title may come down to an early September game between Georgia and South Carolina. While Jadeveon Clowney may be a legitimate Heisman candidate, Georgia just has too many weapons on offense. Aaron Murray could have a huge year, Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall provide one of the most dynamic backfields in the country, and as long as some of the high profile recruits live up to the hype defensively, Georgia should be able to return to the SEC Championsip game. The question is, will they finally be able to break through and win one?
Yet again, the SEC could have as many as SIX teams finish in the top 15-20 at the end of the season. With steady improvements being seen at Vanderbilt, the aforementioned Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and a inevitable bounce back at Auburn, the conference will only get better. What team ultimately ends up surviving the week to week onslaught and (almost) guarantees themselves a shot to represents the SEC in the National Championship could be more chaotic than ever. How appropriate for the final year of the BCS.
J. Nave
Look for a Big Ten preview next week, including topics like
-Can Braxton Miller win the Heisman, and can the Buckeyes go undefeated again?
-Did Brady Hoke gain or lose weight over the off season?
-The state of Wisconsin football after Bret Bielema's departure.
-Will Bill O'Brien's miracle work continue?
-Can Northwestern win a championship in something other than chess?
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Making a Case for the NHL
A few weeks ago, I saw the new Star Trek movie. To be completely honest, I'm the farthest thing from a "trekkie" and ended up seeing the movie because the tickets to Fast and Furious 6 were solid out, but I was thoroughly impressed with the film (Not going to waste a lot of time reviewing the movie because you can find much better summaries than the one I would write elsewhere on the Internet, but I need to mention the fact it stars the talented and very underrated Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, who's acting is worth the price of admission). Anyways, towards the end of the film, the famous "Boldly go where no man has gone before" was spoken by Spock, and all of a sudden, my intelligent Vulcan friend encouraged me to do something that would be very, very bold: Write about the NHL playoffs.
For some reason, the NHL receives absolutely no attention. Fewer fans go to hockey games than any other major professional sport. ESPN would never in a million years lead with a hockey story. Worst of all for the NHL, Tim Tebow and LeBron James don't play in the league. While it is an uphill battle for the NHL, things do seem to be pointing up. Initial television ratings have been near record highs thanks to great series, especially the seven game marathon between Chicago and Detroit. Playoff atmospheres are rocking in places other than Hockeytown. Perhaps best of all, Sidney Crosby jokes are becoming more popular on social media (Look up Boston pilot joke if you're not sure what I'm talking about). The NHL, unlike the NBA, has absolutely no parity from top to bottom. The Finals match-up was basically set in stone after the injury to Russell Westbrook, and every year, it's pretty easy to narrow serious contenders down to a handful. Last year, the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup as an #8 seed! Meanwhile in the NBA this year, the Milwaukee Bucks, the #8 seed in the East, got swept by the Heat and raised questions over whether a team of actually bucks could play better basketball.
As a member of the self-proclaimed "ADD/Steroid Multi-tasker/A-thousand-miles-a-minute/#YOLO" generation, the game of hockey would seem to be much more appealing. Unlike sports like baseball, basketball, and even football, hockey can go on rapidly for minutes at a time, and the interruptions and television timeouts are kept at a minimal. The tactical approach of soccer, the technical skills of lacrosse, the physicality of football, the speed of track, and the gracefulness of dancing make hockey one of the more challenging sports to master. It's one of the only sports where you can witness feats that range from this (Rick Nash Goal), to this (Tuukka Rask), and even something completely insane like this (Goalie Loses Tooth).
Unfortunately, there are only four to seven hockey games left in the lockout shortened NHL season (The lockout, and second one in the last 10 years, is probably one of the reasons the NHL has been desperate for attention), so if you want to watch something far more entertaining than the NBA, I caught you just in time. And man, the Stanley Cup Finals should be one hell of a series. Two 'Original 6' teams in the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins could provide just the spark the sport needs. The only question is, will the NBA fans or sports fans in general be willing to tune in? I know I will be. On one side, you have the Bruins, the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions. Gone from that team is star goaltender Tim Thomas, but in his place is Tuukka Rask, whose highlight tape was featured earlier and is something I really hope you watched. Back though are players like David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, and Nathan Horton who played prominent roles against the Canucks two years back. The #4 seed in the East, the Bruins needed a miracle comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Toronto is kind of like the NHL's version of Cleveland with a little bit of the Chicago Cubs' World Series curse thrown in there for the non-hockey readers) just to get by the first round. Then, they SWEPT the Pittsburgh Penguins, which would've been like the Pacers sweeping the Heat with an average margin of victory of 20 points. If the old addage, defense wins championships is true, the Bruins will be hoisting another Stanley Cup, because the combination of Rask's play and the penalty kill numbers will stifle the Blackhawks' forwards.
However, I'm taking the best team in the NHL this year to win the Stanley Cup. The Chicago Blackhawks won 36 games and finished with 77 points in a 48 game season. They ranked in the top two of both goals and goals against per game. They had the third best penalty kill in the NHL. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Bryan Bickell have wowed fans all season with incredible goal scoring displays, and Corey Crawford is becoming one of the league's top goaltenders. The ultimate intangible though will be the fact that Chicago has home ice. Other than maybe the NFL, the crowds at hockey games are the closest thing to a college atmosphere you can find. The fans, while not as mighty in quanity, are some of the most die hard fans this side of European soccer, and they ramp it up come playoff time. This season, the crowds in every building have been LOUD for the entire 60 minutes, and then they take LOUD to a whole new level come overtime.
By and far, especially since Game of Thrones will not be returning for another 9 months, the best television out there the next week and a half is going to be found courtesy of the NHL. It make take a bold step to turn on the Stanley Cup Finals, but if any of you all find yourself watching NBC tonight at 8:00 PM, I think most of you will be entertained, impressed, and pissed off because you missed the first three rounds of one of the more compelling sports on the planet.
My pick: Chicago in 6
J. Nave
For some reason, the NHL receives absolutely no attention. Fewer fans go to hockey games than any other major professional sport. ESPN would never in a million years lead with a hockey story. Worst of all for the NHL, Tim Tebow and LeBron James don't play in the league. While it is an uphill battle for the NHL, things do seem to be pointing up. Initial television ratings have been near record highs thanks to great series, especially the seven game marathon between Chicago and Detroit. Playoff atmospheres are rocking in places other than Hockeytown. Perhaps best of all, Sidney Crosby jokes are becoming more popular on social media (Look up Boston pilot joke if you're not sure what I'm talking about). The NHL, unlike the NBA, has absolutely no parity from top to bottom. The Finals match-up was basically set in stone after the injury to Russell Westbrook, and every year, it's pretty easy to narrow serious contenders down to a handful. Last year, the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup as an #8 seed! Meanwhile in the NBA this year, the Milwaukee Bucks, the #8 seed in the East, got swept by the Heat and raised questions over whether a team of actually bucks could play better basketball.
As a member of the self-proclaimed "ADD/Steroid Multi-tasker/A-thousand-miles-a-minute/#YOLO" generation, the game of hockey would seem to be much more appealing. Unlike sports like baseball, basketball, and even football, hockey can go on rapidly for minutes at a time, and the interruptions and television timeouts are kept at a minimal. The tactical approach of soccer, the technical skills of lacrosse, the physicality of football, the speed of track, and the gracefulness of dancing make hockey one of the more challenging sports to master. It's one of the only sports where you can witness feats that range from this (Rick Nash Goal), to this (Tuukka Rask), and even something completely insane like this (Goalie Loses Tooth).
Unfortunately, there are only four to seven hockey games left in the lockout shortened NHL season (The lockout, and second one in the last 10 years, is probably one of the reasons the NHL has been desperate for attention), so if you want to watch something far more entertaining than the NBA, I caught you just in time. And man, the Stanley Cup Finals should be one hell of a series. Two 'Original 6' teams in the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins could provide just the spark the sport needs. The only question is, will the NBA fans or sports fans in general be willing to tune in? I know I will be. On one side, you have the Bruins, the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions. Gone from that team is star goaltender Tim Thomas, but in his place is Tuukka Rask, whose highlight tape was featured earlier and is something I really hope you watched. Back though are players like David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, and Nathan Horton who played prominent roles against the Canucks two years back. The #4 seed in the East, the Bruins needed a miracle comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Toronto is kind of like the NHL's version of Cleveland with a little bit of the Chicago Cubs' World Series curse thrown in there for the non-hockey readers) just to get by the first round. Then, they SWEPT the Pittsburgh Penguins, which would've been like the Pacers sweeping the Heat with an average margin of victory of 20 points. If the old addage, defense wins championships is true, the Bruins will be hoisting another Stanley Cup, because the combination of Rask's play and the penalty kill numbers will stifle the Blackhawks' forwards.
However, I'm taking the best team in the NHL this year to win the Stanley Cup. The Chicago Blackhawks won 36 games and finished with 77 points in a 48 game season. They ranked in the top two of both goals and goals against per game. They had the third best penalty kill in the NHL. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Bryan Bickell have wowed fans all season with incredible goal scoring displays, and Corey Crawford is becoming one of the league's top goaltenders. The ultimate intangible though will be the fact that Chicago has home ice. Other than maybe the NFL, the crowds at hockey games are the closest thing to a college atmosphere you can find. The fans, while not as mighty in quanity, are some of the most die hard fans this side of European soccer, and they ramp it up come playoff time. This season, the crowds in every building have been LOUD for the entire 60 minutes, and then they take LOUD to a whole new level come overtime.
By and far, especially since Game of Thrones will not be returning for another 9 months, the best television out there the next week and a half is going to be found courtesy of the NHL. It make take a bold step to turn on the Stanley Cup Finals, but if any of you all find yourself watching NBC tonight at 8:00 PM, I think most of you will be entertained, impressed, and pissed off because you missed the first three rounds of one of the more compelling sports on the planet.
My pick: Chicago in 6
J. Nave
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Why Tiger Woods Will Not Win the Memorial Tournament
Out of all the wonderful things Dublin, Ohio offers, the hands down best event of the year is the Memorial Tournament. Businesses and restaurants boom all across town. Media outlets flock to Dublin to catch a glimpse of some of the world's best. Thousands of people who can't break 100 analyze the dozens of swings they see desperately hoping to improve their games. And best of all, a bunch of wealthy Dubliners smashed on $9 beers and $16 glasses of wine get threatened, tackled, and maybe even arrested by cops (A scene I saw at last year's tournament that will be very hard to beat this year). While it's not quite a major, the Memorial always draws one of the best fields of any PGA tournament and offers one of the most difficult challenges on tour. This week many of the world's top golfers are at Muirfield Village competing for not only a win, but also some huge momentum heading into the US Open in two weeks. Tiger Woods is a heavy favorite to win his sixth Memorial and his game seems to be finally nearing peak performance. However, Tiger will not win this week. I repeat, HE WILL NOT WIN. This prediction makes absolutely no sense if you look at the two facts I mentioned a couple of sentences ago (And to be one hundred percent honest, I'm not exactly confident in this prediction), but I just don't see career win number 106 coming Tiger's way this week.
Tiger Woods may have four wins already this year, but a win he hasn't had in nearly five years is why he will not win this week. I'm talking about a major victory, and Tiger's last came in 2008 at the US Open. The man who thinks "winning takes care of everything" (I don't have nearly enough time to prove why this is an absolute ridiculous concept to relate to Tiger...) needs to win a major before he will finally acknowledge he's anywhere close back to his best, and it's obvious all of his attention is being placed on Merion in two weeks. This past week, Woods traveled to Philadelphia to play the course that will host the US Open for the first time, so he could get an experience for the course. With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if Tiger takes a complete different approach at Muirfield Village this week. He will be hitting shots he will have to face at Merion. He will be thinking about how this shot or that shot will work at Merion. He will be thinking about who he wants to call up for some fun at Merion. All of his focus is already at Merion, and while a completely unfocused Woods is still probably good enough for a top 10 finish, it will not be good enough for a win with this field.
The field at the Memorial is full of players ranked at the top in the World Golf Rankings, and their own games will be another reason Woods will not get the job done this week. Two players that stand out to me this week are Jason Day and Rickie Fowler. Day, who recently bought at home in nearby Westerville and has a membership at Muirfield Village, will have a familiarity with the course that will be unmatched by a majority of the players in the field. He has been one of the most consistent placers in majors the last eighteen months, and whenever he shows up to play, it seems like he ends up in contention come Sunday. Fowler, on the other hand, hasn't been nearly as successful as Day, but he was atop the Memorial leaderboard last year. Unfortunately, he fell to the pressure and collapsed during the weekend. The PGA's flashiest dresser claims he learned from the experience, and I think I actually trust him. Fowler is a tour favorite and the Memorial seems to be the perfect time for him to break out of a slump.
Since picking a winner of a golf tournament is nearly impossible unless you pick Woods, I'm going to expand my short list to five. In addition to the two above, I'll take Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, or Luke Donald to win this week. Each of the three have been in contention in countless tournaments, but they don't have nearly as many wins as they should. Johnson has always been pegged as an American who has the potential to win many golf tournaments, but has never delivered. Westwood and Donald were both former world number ones, but they did that with consistent top tens and very little hardware collection. All of them are great golfers, but it seems like it's now or never for these three if they want to leave a legendary legacy.
Come Sunday, it won't surprise me if Tiger Woods is in contention to win another Memorial. In fact, I absolutely expect him to be right there. But no matter where he is on the leaderboard, the game's greatest finisher will not get the job done this week. Unless of course, he pulls off a shot like this one:
Since picking a winner of a golf tournament is nearly impossible unless you pick Woods, I'm going to expand my short list to five. In addition to the two above, I'll take Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, or Luke Donald to win this week. Each of the three have been in contention in countless tournaments, but they don't have nearly as many wins as they should. Johnson has always been pegged as an American who has the potential to win many golf tournaments, but has never delivered. Westwood and Donald were both former world number ones, but they did that with consistent top tens and very little hardware collection. All of them are great golfers, but it seems like it's now or never for these three if they want to leave a legendary legacy.
Come Sunday, it won't surprise me if Tiger Woods is in contention to win another Memorial. In fact, I absolutely expect him to be right there. But no matter where he is on the leaderboard, the game's greatest finisher will not get the job done this week. Unless of course, he pulls off a shot like this one:
Or this one...
Or this one............
You know what, this Tiger guy may win after all.
J. Nave
Fun Fact of the Week: During the last post, The Athletic Acumen surpassed the 1000 page visit mark. And for those of you who may think I just obsessively check my blog to make the number higher, I've disabled my page views from counting. That means, we are averaging just over 110 readers a post. That is way more than I ever expected when I started this on a cold, February night. A huge THANK YOU goes out to all the loyal readers, the one read standers, and the "I accidentally clicked on the link what am I doingers". It truly feels incredible to have a passion of mine being appreciated by so many people, and as long as you all keep reading, I'll keep typing!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
LeBron James and his Tywin Lannister Problem... Plus Some Predictions!
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| Courtesy of Picture Push |
Both LeBron and Tywin are notorious for being the best at what they do. No matter what they accomplish, their achievements will be looked down on because of how much we need to hate them, though.
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| Courtesy of Spoiler TV |
Normally, I try and stay as far away from NBA basketball as I possibly can. However, for some reason or another, I have found myself watching quite a bit of the playoffs. Mainly, I was attracted by the Golden State Warriors and their brand of basketball because it was the closest thing to a college team I've ever seen in the league. Their main nucleus, consisting of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, David Lee, and Andrew "The Caveman" Bogut, had not only names I recognized from the college game, but they also played a style of basketball built on three pointers and solid defense, factors I like (If you want to see a great picture of "The Caveman" in action, go ahead and google 'Andrew Bogut Golden State' and look at the second image. It's priceless). I desperately wanted them to advance to The Finals so they could beat the Heat, but unfortunately the San Antonio "AARP" Spurs left Shady Oaks Retirement Home with enough energy to advance. With that being said, as the conference finals begin it seems like the South Beach Super Squad, or the Miami Heat, are the clear cut favorites to win another championship. This notion probably causes a serious emotional response because the Miami Heat are kind of like Nicki Minaj songs; you either love them, or you want to cause severe bodily harm to yourself every time they are mentioned. This sentence and a recent episode of a TV show, however, made me realize that there is a far more accurate symbolism of the relationship between fans and the Heat. We have to take a quick journey into a fake land to find it, though.
For those of you who don't have the great pleasure of watching HBO's show Game of Thrones or reading George R.R. Martin's phenomenal series of books, House Lannister is a royal family in the fantasy land of Westeros that could easily swap places with the Heat. House Lannister is the richest, cleverest, most attractive, most powerful, and most hated family in the Seven Kingdoms. The Heat are the most talented, most valuable, most talked about, and most hated franchise in the NBA. Both of them also share the treasured ability of being equally respected and feared by their opponents, and they have leaders who do the same with such power you have to be in awe.
For the Heat, it is the NBA's seemingly annual MVP LeBron James. For the Lannisters, it is Tywin, the patriarch whose financial pockets are matched only by his manipulative and creative schemes. The similarities between the two men are countless, and I'm disappointed I haven't noticed the startling similarities until now:
1) LeBron definitely has the most superior skills in the game of basketball right now. Tywin has the resources and intelligence to conquer all of the Seven Kingdoms.
2) LeBron has faced enormous pressure his entire career to match the legacy of Michael Jordan. Even for a phenom, becoming an all time great isn't an easy task. Tywin has his own problem of fixing his children's erratic behaviors so the important Lannister legacy will be passed on for generations to come and not become tarnished.
3) Both men are haunted by their pasts. LeBron's "Decision" became one of the most controversial public relations moves of this century and his inability to win a championship for so long. Tywin meanwhile has had to endure the death of his wife and mother, his son being kidnapped, and the incestuous relationship between two of his children (Advantage Tywin in this category).
4) LeBron is hated by an entire state. Tywin is hated by an entire kingdom.
I'll stop the comparisons there because either one, you watch Game of Thrones and your mind is racing to find the other dozens of similarities between the two men, or two, you don't watch the show and are losing interest quickly. No matter your background, you can probably find your own Tywin Lannister to fit the model I just described. There are certain people in the world that we hate because they are set up to succeed in life very easily. We're very jealous of this trait, we grow to expect nothing but absolute and impressive accomplishments out of them, and we slowly develop an extreme hatred towards them. Then, when they finally fail, we celebrate knowing that someone else will finally be able to have his or her own taste of glory. And maybe, just maybe, it will finally be our turn to get a good fifteen minutes of fame. Of course, there are people that support the Twyin Lannisters in the world, especially if they support a similar cause for you. They grow to become idols, and they are looked up at to provide the proper leadership to achieve a goal. However, for those of you who may support a LeBron James or Tywin Lannister figure in your life, just realize like any other human being, they tend to be self seeking. If they betray you, don't come crying to me. I told you so.
Now that I got my serious and "way too close to literary" analysis out of the way, it's time to make some predictions. And yes, I do realize the Western Conference Finals are basically over at this point and game one of the Eastern Conference Finals is under way.
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SAN ANTONIO IN 5
You know the old expression "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? That's kind of how I feel about the Spurs. Like I referenced above, the Spurs roster should be enjoying retirement on Florida's beaches, but instead they are on the brink of another Finals appearance. Future Rogaine spokesman Manu Ginobili defies every NBA stereotype out there, Tim Duncan has manhandled Zach Randolph inside, Tony Parker still has the quickness to stay with Mike Conley, and Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard are developing into great role players. I think the Grizzlies will be able to steal one game at home, but Gregg Popovich, the only coach in the NBA who I actually think does something, will once again get his team back to the Finals.
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MIAMI IN 6
Right now, the Heat are up two in the third quarter of Game 1. However, from here on out, I don't see them struggling. For one, the Heat have too much talent for the Pacers. While I admire Frank Vogel's efforts, his team doesn't have the ability to match Miami shot for shot, and while defense does win championships, Miami simply has too much offense. Indiana will probably steal a game or two, and since I don't have much respect for the Heat's ability to focus and show up for an extended period of time against a lesser opponent, I'm giving the Pacers the benefit of the doubt. Also, a San Antonio-Miami Finals match-up seems like destiny at this point. An underrated dynasty for the past decade vs. the future dynasty of the NBA? LeBron James/Chris Bosh/Dwayne Wade vs. Tim Duncan/Manu Ginobili/Tony Parker? LeBron trying to get his second ring vs. Dan Gilbert trying to pick another superstar with his second number one overall pick? Erik Spoelstra vs. Gregg Popovich? There's simply too much money on the line for the NBA for them not to rig the two series to end up like this.
J. Nave
Monday, April 29, 2013
Why the Cleveland Browns Should Sign Tim Tebow
After having some much needed free time and realizing I hadn't written anything in over a month, I thought it was time to grace my loyal readers with some new material. And what would happen on the day I decided to write something? First, Tim Tebow, or America's Favorite Backup Quarterback, was released by the New York Jets. Then about an hour later, Jason Collins became the first active, major, professional sports athlete to come out as gay. Both topics will be written about extensively these next few days, but as a huge Tebow fan, I had to go with the second route because I couldn't resist making a plea for my Browns to sign him.
There are a few hundred jokes I could use here to describe the mess of a situation that is Cleveland professional sports. I will refrain from doing so because they are mostly all very overused and I don't want to lose any readers who may support teams from the city. However, it's widely known that Cleveland has slowly managed to become the laughingstock of the sporting world. The city's last championship came before the Super Bowl era (in 1964 to be exact) when the Browns won the NFL title game 48 years ago. All three franchises in Cleveland have suffered from the mystical presence that has haunted the city for nearly 50 years now.
-The Browns have fallen victim to "The Drive" and "The Fumble". They have an owner in Jimmy Haslem who is currently under investigation by the FBI. Tim Couch, Charlie Frye, Kelly Holcomb, Trent Dilfer, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Colt McCoy, Thaddeus Lewis and Brandon Weeden are just a few of the many quarterbacks that have started games for the team over the past several years (That list alone should be enough to sing Tebow. Truly, how many of those guys are still in the league or how many of them could actually start for another one of the league's 31 teams). The Browns have failed with nearly every one of their first round draft picks except for Joe Thomas and Joe Haden. They get mocked by their own fans throughout home games. To amend the words of Charles Schultz's Linus, "Out of all the Cleveland team curses in the world, their the Cleveland team cursiest" (If you didn't get that reference from A Charlie Brown Christmas, I don't want to talk to you for awhile).
-The last Indians World Series came in 1948. The Indians have made a couple World Series in the last 20 years, but couldn't get the job done. They had a 3-1 series lead in the ALCS against Boston in 2007, but managed to get outscored 30-5 in the final three games. They had players in their system in recent years like CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Shin-Soo Choo, and Brandon Phillips, but traded them all away.
-The Cavaliers are the most recent team to suffer from the curse, but they have been battered these last couple years. It all started with "The Decision" where "The King" decided to leave (Just a quick observation for those of you who haven't caught on. If there is a "the" in front of something, it is probably very bad news for the city of Cleveland). Now LeBron James has one ring (and is on his way to a second one it looks like), while Dan Gilbert is putting all of his eggs in the Kyrie Irving basket. Until the Cavs get a few other players around Irving, it looks like it is all on Uncle Drew's shoulders. LeBron and his crew may be up to "not five, not six, not seven" rings by the time the Cavaliers can finally compete for a championship.
What could possibly solve all these problems? Instead of bringing back "The King", Cleveland should bring in someone who models his life around "The King of Kings". That's right, Tim Tebow would not only turn the Browns around, he would turn the entire city around. The Browns have Jason Campbell, Thad Lewis, and Brandon Weeden currently on their roster at the quarterback position. Campbell has managed to choke away the job for three teams already. Even if he was just brought in to mentor Weeden, won't it be just a little awkward mentoring someone who turns 30 this October? Weeden is already nearing the end of his "prime age" for the quarterback position, but he only has one season under his belt in the league. Him having any amount of success seems to become more impossible every day. People claim Tebow was a miracle worker and got lucky in Denver. If you ask me, it would be a far more miraculous feat if a below average veteran or 30 year old rookie had the ability to lead Cleveland to a playoff win. Bottom line: A major change needs to happen at the QB position before the Browns become legitimate contenders.
I'll admit it right now: Tim Tebow throws the football worse than me. No matter how many times he "improves his form", the poor throwing motion is still noticeably evident. If he is brought in, the entire offense will have to be redesigned around his skill set. To me, the Browns are in a perfect position to do this. A brand new coaching staff was brought in this off-season, and an anemic offense finished near the bottom in multiple offensive statistics last season. Rob Chudzinski, the former Panthers' Offensive Coordinator, was hired as the coach this off-season. Chud (which is arguably the worst nickname in sports) worked with Cam Newton, so he has an experience with mobile quarterbacks. Also, Tebow's old coach, Urban Meyer, is only a couple hours away should he need some help on incorporating Tebow's skills. Carolina had a couple decent running backs who carried a lot of the workload. They also had a receiver in Steve Smith who could stretch the field. Hypothetically, Chudzinski could make Trent Richardson and Montario Hardesty the features in a Browns offense centered on the run. Then, Travis Benjamin and the recently acquired Davone Bess would provide targets for Tebow when he dropped back to pass. In a very talented division like the AFC North, such a drastic change to the offense may be the only way to ensure that Cleveland becomes competitive in the near future.
Most importantly, there is the fun quotient Tebow would brings to Cleveland. The 2011 Denver Broncos were one of the most entertaining football teams I've ever watched. For three quarters, they looked like as impressive as Joffrey Baratheon in the Battle of Blackwater. The last fifteen minutes, however, someone flipped a switch and the team sprang to life. Should Tebow be placed in a system where he is the focal point of the offense and there isn't a debate on which way the team should operate, there's good reason to believe the offense could function for an entire game. For some reason, no one has bought in to Tim Tebow, though. The man is a winner. It isn't pretty, but he always seems to get the job done. When a team finally becomes dedicated to him and gives him a fair deal, the potential payoff is huge. For one, Tebow guarantees media attention. Any publicity is good publicity this day and age, and the Browns training facility in Berea would be packed with people should Tebow get signed. Tim Tebow would sell tickets, too. When you play in a stadium that can have games in below zero temperatures late in the season, it's hard to fill seats, but having a team with Tebow at the helm would get this difficult and important task done. The cost for signing him would also be minimal. Tebow hasn't done anything to receive him an expensive contract, plus his biblical attitudes about everything in life make it seem highly unlikely he would ever end up in dispute about money, should he ever become a top tier quarterback. Finally, should the Cleveland curse be a work of the devil, who else would be more prepared to perform the exorcism to save the city than Timothy Richard Tebow?
Even if Tim Tebow does not get signed by another NFL team, there is no doubt he will have future successes with his charity work, his ministry, and any other endeavors he pursues. He understands there are more important things out there than football. But with his athletic ability and intangibles on and off the field, it would be a shame if no franchise gives him another shot. It may take a major leap of faith to sign one of the most interesting players in NFL history, but as Tebow has proven his entire life, a little bit of faith can go a very long way.
J. Nave
-The Cavaliers are the most recent team to suffer from the curse, but they have been battered these last couple years. It all started with "The Decision" where "The King" decided to leave (Just a quick observation for those of you who haven't caught on. If there is a "the" in front of something, it is probably very bad news for the city of Cleveland). Now LeBron James has one ring (and is on his way to a second one it looks like), while Dan Gilbert is putting all of his eggs in the Kyrie Irving basket. Until the Cavs get a few other players around Irving, it looks like it is all on Uncle Drew's shoulders. LeBron and his crew may be up to "not five, not six, not seven" rings by the time the Cavaliers can finally compete for a championship.
What could possibly solve all these problems? Instead of bringing back "The King", Cleveland should bring in someone who models his life around "The King of Kings". That's right, Tim Tebow would not only turn the Browns around, he would turn the entire city around. The Browns have Jason Campbell, Thad Lewis, and Brandon Weeden currently on their roster at the quarterback position. Campbell has managed to choke away the job for three teams already. Even if he was just brought in to mentor Weeden, won't it be just a little awkward mentoring someone who turns 30 this October? Weeden is already nearing the end of his "prime age" for the quarterback position, but he only has one season under his belt in the league. Him having any amount of success seems to become more impossible every day. People claim Tebow was a miracle worker and got lucky in Denver. If you ask me, it would be a far more miraculous feat if a below average veteran or 30 year old rookie had the ability to lead Cleveland to a playoff win. Bottom line: A major change needs to happen at the QB position before the Browns become legitimate contenders.
I'll admit it right now: Tim Tebow throws the football worse than me. No matter how many times he "improves his form", the poor throwing motion is still noticeably evident. If he is brought in, the entire offense will have to be redesigned around his skill set. To me, the Browns are in a perfect position to do this. A brand new coaching staff was brought in this off-season, and an anemic offense finished near the bottom in multiple offensive statistics last season. Rob Chudzinski, the former Panthers' Offensive Coordinator, was hired as the coach this off-season. Chud (which is arguably the worst nickname in sports) worked with Cam Newton, so he has an experience with mobile quarterbacks. Also, Tebow's old coach, Urban Meyer, is only a couple hours away should he need some help on incorporating Tebow's skills. Carolina had a couple decent running backs who carried a lot of the workload. They also had a receiver in Steve Smith who could stretch the field. Hypothetically, Chudzinski could make Trent Richardson and Montario Hardesty the features in a Browns offense centered on the run. Then, Travis Benjamin and the recently acquired Davone Bess would provide targets for Tebow when he dropped back to pass. In a very talented division like the AFC North, such a drastic change to the offense may be the only way to ensure that Cleveland becomes competitive in the near future.
Most importantly, there is the fun quotient Tebow would brings to Cleveland. The 2011 Denver Broncos were one of the most entertaining football teams I've ever watched. For three quarters, they looked like as impressive as Joffrey Baratheon in the Battle of Blackwater. The last fifteen minutes, however, someone flipped a switch and the team sprang to life. Should Tebow be placed in a system where he is the focal point of the offense and there isn't a debate on which way the team should operate, there's good reason to believe the offense could function for an entire game. For some reason, no one has bought in to Tim Tebow, though. The man is a winner. It isn't pretty, but he always seems to get the job done. When a team finally becomes dedicated to him and gives him a fair deal, the potential payoff is huge. For one, Tebow guarantees media attention. Any publicity is good publicity this day and age, and the Browns training facility in Berea would be packed with people should Tebow get signed. Tim Tebow would sell tickets, too. When you play in a stadium that can have games in below zero temperatures late in the season, it's hard to fill seats, but having a team with Tebow at the helm would get this difficult and important task done. The cost for signing him would also be minimal. Tebow hasn't done anything to receive him an expensive contract, plus his biblical attitudes about everything in life make it seem highly unlikely he would ever end up in dispute about money, should he ever become a top tier quarterback. Finally, should the Cleveland curse be a work of the devil, who else would be more prepared to perform the exorcism to save the city than Timothy Richard Tebow?
Even if Tim Tebow does not get signed by another NFL team, there is no doubt he will have future successes with his charity work, his ministry, and any other endeavors he pursues. He understands there are more important things out there than football. But with his athletic ability and intangibles on and off the field, it would be a shame if no franchise gives him another shot. It may take a major leap of faith to sign one of the most interesting players in NFL history, but as Tebow has proven his entire life, a little bit of faith can go a very long way.
J. Nave
Monday, March 25, 2013
A Sweet First Weekend and a Look Ahead at the Sweet Sixteen
Last week at this time, millions of people studied a simple sheet of paper in a maddening fashion. They developed acronyms for teams they've never heard of. They pegged upsets and Cinderella stories They figured out the perfect Final Four. They made bets on their perfect piece of paper and believed that this is finally their year. Then something funny happened. A Friday night rolls around and a fifteen seed from Fort Myers, Florida is beating a perennial Big East power. Granted this team has struggled in the tournament (now having lost to double digit seeds in the last four tournaments), but a university that is only 21 years old should not be in this position. Suddenly, the notion of maintaining a perfect bracket goes out the window. We root for this underdog. We marvel at their "We've got nothing to lose attitude", and jump on the bandwagon in seconds. This team makes incredible plays (FGCU Alley Oop) and shocks the world by pulling off an incredible upset. While we celebrate this team in a moment of jubilee, we realize the Cinderella story will unfortunately end next round and reality hits us hard. However, the Eagles weren't going to let history write their script. They show up two nights later against the San Diego State and reclaim their intensity from the onset. Now, for the first time in NCAA tournament history, a fifteen seed, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, is going to the Sweet 16. What makes this miraculous story sweeter? How about a match-up with the Florida Gators. If you're looking for one of the best David vs. Goliath games of 2013, I would tune into this game. Will America's newest darlings be able to beat one of the most successful basketball programs of the last decade or will Florida's little underdogs be able to defeat the state's mighty Gators? I can't wait to find out. The winner of this game will face either Kansas or Michigan in the South region's final, two teams who have been very impressive thus far. Michigan made VCU's "Havoc" look more like "Peace be with you" and steamrolled the Rams behind a stellar performance from Mitch McGary. They're going to need the frontcourt play to continue against Kansas. The Jayhawks shook off a terrible first half to advance to the Sweet 16. Travis Releford and Jeff Withey have replaced the scoring for a struggling Ben McLemore, but Rock Chalk Nation is going to need every member of the team playing well if they want to beat Michigan.
The Florida Gulf Coast story line would have been enough excitement to suffice for one NCAA tournament, but come on. In the most exciting NCAA basketball season of my lifetime, that little amount of chaos isn't nearly enough. In the West region, the one, three, four, and five seeds will not be advancing to Los Angeles to play in the Sweet 16. The number two seed, the Ohio State Buckeyes, tried to continue the trend, but luckily Aaron Craft stepped up to make his first three pointer since the sixth grade. They'll move on to face a very underrated team in Arizona. What makes this match-up even more interesting is the battle between Thad Matta and Sean Miller, two coaches linked with the Xavier basketball program. Arizona was a top ten team at one point during the season. They derailed in the latter parts of the season, but right now they're playing their best basketball of the season. Ohio State's going to have to shake off a shaky performance if they want to advance to the Elite 8. On the other side of the west region, La Salle will face Wichita State. If you had this picked correctly, raise your hand. No put it down because you are a dirty liar. Unless you are an Explorer and your spouse is a Shocker, nobody could have seen this match-up coming. Neither of these teams are even their conference's best program. Ron Baker stepped up for the Shockers against Gonzaga, while La Salle was able to advance past Marshall Henderson and Ole Miss in the final seconds. Ohio State still appears to be the favorite to win this region, but with what has conspired so far, who really knows what to expect as wildest region in the tournament travels to one of the wildest cities in the country.
With all of the chaos, the East region has served as a perfect antithesis and consists of all chalk in the Sweet 16. Top seeded Indiana will face fourth seeded Syracuse, while second seeded Miami (FL) will face third seeded Marquette. Indiana barely beat Khalif Wyatt University (Sorry, it was actually Temple University), but more importantly won a low scoring defensive battle. The Hoosiers had not been successful in defensive battles prior to this, but a clutch three from Victor Oladipo and limiting Wyatt's offensive abilities in the final few minutes allowed Indiana to hold on. Syracuse embarrassed Montana in their first game, before soundly beating California in their second, and they will roll into Washington D.C. with a lot of momentum. This game will feature a phenomenal coaching battle between Tom Crean and Jim Boeheim, and the Indiana high octane offense vs the famous Syracuse 2-3 Zone. Another great basketball game seems guaranteed. In the other game, Marquette who STOLE two victories against Davidson and Butler and SCREWED my bracket twice. Davidson's awful pass and Andrew Smith's "Worst Shot That Ever Was and Ever Will Be in the History of Basketball" gave the Golden Eagles two wins. Now they face Miami, a team I picked to win the National Championship. The Hurricanes should have the talent to win this game, but since Buzz Williams' squad must be using the blog for bulletin board material, I'm not quite sure what to expect.
Finally, there's the Midwest region. Three of the most historic programs (Louisville, Duke, and Michigan State) and three of the greatest coaches (Rick Pitino, Mike Krzyzewski, and Tom Izzo) will be in the Indianapolis this weekend. Then there are the Oregon Ducks and Dana Altman, currently raging a vendetta against the selection committee for choosing them as a twelve seed and out to prove Oregon is more than a football school with cool jerseys. Let me take a quick moment to celebrate that my national championship pick, the Michigan State Spartans, are still playing basketball, unlike Missouri last year. Unfortunately, they must face one of the most talented teams in the country next, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Two very talented teams are going to duke it out in this game(no pun intended....). However, I have faith that the Spartans will prevail and make me look like a GENIUS when they win it all two weeks from today. Louisville vs. Oregon would've been a great game in college football. Unfortunately for the Ducks, I think there are only three teams left in the field that can beat Louisville, and they are not one of them. Russ Smith and Peyton Siva may be on Ricky Bobby invisible fire, and the Cards' full court press made a solid Colorado State team look like a bad high school freshman team. I still believe the winner of the entire tournament will come from this region, but what team it will ultimately be is going to be fun to watch unfold.
Unfortunately for me, my bracket is in complete shambles. But my ego was recovered when I reread my Six Senses article and have turned out to be right about many of my predictions, including Ole Miss, the Atlantic 10, LaSalle, and Indiana. Let's hope the other two come true, so my basketball predictions aren't diminished to the level of your average know-it-all with a blog.........................
J. Nave
Fun Fact of the Week: The Florida Gulf Coast coach, Andy Enfield, is married to a supermodel. Don't believe me? Read this for way more information than you possible could need to know about Amanda Marcum Enfield (Amanda Marcum---Yahoo)
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