Tremendous Upside Potential

An Action-Packed Friday Roundup: Hester's Ankle, Bulls Stymie Cavs, Beckham to Second

2009-11-06T18:48:08Z

The Bears should be the focus of today, but I'm again struggling to come up with anything interesting to say about them. I have no gut feeling either way on this Cardinals game. No outcome would surprise me, save for a Bears blowout win.

The Cards actually reeled off three straight wins prior to last week's disaster against the Panthers. Warner threw five picks, Anquan Boldin reaggravated an ankle injury, and the Cards defense allowed Delhomme to max out his potential (7-of-14, 90 yards, a touchdown, no picks).

Could Arizona really play that poorly again? It's unlikely. Remember how tough the Cards are on the road this year, too (3-0). Of course, this is the NFL though, so anything can happen. This seems to have the makings of a tight contest with both teams in the low 20's. I say that only because every Bears game seems to play out that way, which kind of makes me not even want to watch it. Remember when I thought we'd see style points this year? What silly wishful thinking. Same old Bears, always for forever.

My biggest concern for said Bears is Devin Hester's ankle. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, but the Bears are expecting him to play. Still, a bum ankle could neutralize Hester tremendously.

Somewhat quietly, Hester has put together a very nice season. He's on pace for over 1,000 yards, and he's done it running real routes, not just catching bombs from Cutler. The last three games he's caught six or more passes for 80-plus yards. He's getting close to a punt return, too. It's going to happen soon.

Ugly? You bet. But if the Bulls are going to beat the Cavs this year, doesn't it have to be ugly? This is particularly the case with a flu-ridden Tyrus and Rose still playing at 80 percent.

The Bulls aren't going to win a shootout against a good team. It's just not going to happen, they aren't talented enough. So to win, they need to play tough defense, hit some three's, and catch a few lucky breaks.

All three happened last night.

The Bulls held LeBron in check as much as humanly possible (25-7-6), Noah did enough to contain Shaq, and LeBron didn't get the bail out call as time expired that would have given the Cavs the win.

The Bulls now sit at 3-2, and this is far from a soft 3-2. Of their first five games, they were probably only favored on paper against Milwaukee. They played three of the five teams that have legitimate title aspirations, and beat two of them.

I really couldn't be happier with the Bulls so far, all things considered. They're historically prone to starting slow, so even playing .500 ball for the first couple months should be seen as a win.

Let's not forget the monster we'll be facing in a week and a half, though: the vaunted Circus Trip. The Bulls need all the victories they can get before that bad boy starts, which is why last night's win was so great.

The Sox's 'below average player for below average player' swap yesterday was actually more significant than it appeared. We now know what position Gordon Beckham will be playing for the next 10 years, and that position is second base. I couldn't be happier.

By all accounts, Beckham wasn't that great at short in college or in the minors. If they gave him shortstop, it would mostly be because he's a really good hitter. Does that make any sense? Of course not, and I'm glad the Sox were smart enough to avoid it. Alexei is fine there right now anyways.

I can't leave without mentioning this incredibly stupid Rick Morrissey column, calling for Beckham to play short because "you don't put your best player at second base". Seriously. He wrote that. Click the link if you don't believe me.

Rick Morrissey is so, so lucky the Bears play on Sunday and that the Bulls pulled out a big win last night. This column was begging to be FJM'd. He won't be so fortunate next time.

Things to Read: 11/5

2009-11-05T21:45:36Z

Send tips to rickhouse@blogsbyfans.com. And don't forget about today's columns from Dubs and Stompy.

Via SportsPros(e).

The Basketball Jones: How did Tyler Hansbrough turn in this Grade-A acting performance? With a little help from Skeets, of course.

SB Nation: NFL mid-season awards.

Videogum: "I Love You, Mr. Star Wars" And Other Famous Movie Quotes.

Pitchfork: This blatant Postal Service ripoff is apparently the No. 1 song in the country. Lame.

And a music video. After the jump...

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What else could I possibly have selected? Three posts, three Limp Bizkit references. We are so clearly in our early 20's.

For the record, I think N 2 Gether Now is a legitimately good track. Probably the best LB song, if only because "Faith" gets a little too scream-y, and "Re-arraged" doesn't rock hard enough.

I usually go with live performances here, but this video is just too good to pass up. Easily one of the two best music videos of the esteemed Rock/Rap Era, alongside the Korn epic "Freak On a Leash".

The Hybrid: Yanks, Iowa!, Spikes, Boise, Morrissey

2009-11-05T17:08:59Z

First thing's first: Rickhouse encouraged people to wear their backwards Yankees hats with pride today, but since I didn't have any pictures wearing mine backwards, I did the best I could with this one:

Limp Bizkit is, as always, in the house.

What I don't get is, all across the blogs today, I keep reading "oh man, the smugness of the Yankees fanbase is totally back!" Meanwhile, I'm thinking, how do you want them to act? They just won the title, no? Does that mean no cheering/smack talk to rival fans/street celebrations/victory posts/happiness is permitted? It's one thing if one year, month, or even week from now, you point back to the victory and say "man, that's when they really started to get smug again," but they just won the god damned title. So whatever. Congrats on 27, New York. You are a model franchise. And you deserved it. Great World Series, too. It made me really not hate baseball so much.

Anyway... So I really thought I jinxed Iowa last week. I'm usually not like that, believing in jinxes and stuff, but after my "Bad Boys" rant about how I was sticking with Iowa until the end? It was just difficult to think I didn't ruin everything. I left for work with Iowa down 21-7 after the Hawkeyes played like absolute mud for the first half, only to find out through many, many texts with capital letters about the improbable comeback and eventual double digit victory from my buddy Ryan. There's really nothing left to say. I don't know how they did it. My best guess would be they a) came out too conservative, b) caught a few breaks, and c) most obviously, really, really got their shit together in the fourth quarter -- through a mixture of a little more luck and some well executed passing plays. So that's that.

It'll hurt them in the polls though, and despite the computers wanting to molest them, it's really, really hard to envision them getting a shot to play for the national title. Seriously, this game probably sunk the title hopes (barring Texas or SEC team losses). Such a bummer. Am I looking too far ahead? Yeah, possibly, but you've got to plan for these things. I expect it to be crushing... and I'd hate to be blindsided by that feeling.

THE HYBRID

Quick, Selective Hits On The BCS Standings
(unbeaten teams noted...also, every undefeated team is finally above the 1-loss ones)

1) Florida (8-0) - That Brandon Spikes scandal was so weird. To review, from my perspective.

First... Spikes gouges the dude's eyes, no penalty is called.
Then... They review the tape, say it's bad, Florida takes matters into their own hands, and Meyer suspends him for one half against Vanderbilt... and the SEC says that's fine.
Next... Everybody freaks out, saying how it was just a slap on the wrist, how Meyer sacrificed his values for an over-emphasis on winning.
Twist!... The dude who got his eyes gouged says he doesn't think Spikes should be suspended with some inexplicable quotes:

"He really didn't gouge my eyes," Ealey said. "He really didn't get a chance to get close to my eyes." ... "I'm pretty sure it goes on back and forth," he said. "We probably do it and other teams do too. It's all football. We're just out there trying to have fun."

Didn't get near your eyes? His hands were deep into your helmet! "Trying to have fun"? What?!

Finally... Meyer decides to suspend him for the whole game -- on Spikes' request for him to do so!

That couldn't have played out any more unorthodox. And oddly enough, it almost makes Spikes more likable. I just don't get where Meyer got off thinking one half would be enough, especially factoring in who Florida would be playing. I'm sure most people -- I'm including Florida fans -- think they'd be fine without him until the SEC title game. But let's not devalue Spikes that much. I'd end this with "I guess everything worked out," but I don't know if I feel that way. What makes Spikes' actions any better than LeGarrette Blounte's punch? Because it was in a pile instead of upright? Daytime as opposed to prime time? These things don't matter. And the fact that the dude was defenseless in the pile makes it way worse, if you ask me. Spikes, to me, was saved in a big way by Washaun Ealey's reaction to everything.

2) Texas (8-0) - Is this the country's true No. 1 team? That was a dismantling of Okie State.

3) Alabama (8-0) - Them having the week off makes college football a lot less fun.

4) Iowa (9-0) - A week or two ago, head coach Kirk Ferentz -- in a refreshing moment of coach-to-media honesty -- said he had trouble seeing Iowa as a Top 10 team. I can't imagine what he's thinking after that Indiana game.

5) Cincinnati (8-0) - Super weird schedule left. Home for UConn, West Virginia, and Illinois!? Then on the road to finish the season against No. 13 Pitt. I don't know, man. I'm not writing them off, but I wouldn't pen them in as undefeated just yet. How serious is Tony Pike's injury?

6) TCU (8-0)

7) Boise State (8-0) - Very torn on the "Boise beat Oregon but Oregon hasn't lost since and throttled USC so who should be ranked higher?" debate. I lean toward Boise, but that schedule sucks, but I just don't know what they can do about it. Clay Travis made some good points toward favoring Boise:

And if we do ignore the first week of the season, what's the point of having a broken system to determine who the champion is? Because pretty soon, if they keep winning, Oregon is going to pass undefeated Boise in the BCS rankings. Already Iowa, Cincinnati, one-loss USC, and TCU have all passed Boise since the first BCS standings were released three weeks ago. What's Boise done since that first week's release when they stood at No. 4 in the country?

Beaten two teams by a combined score of 99-16.

I'm not arguing that individual results should always govern the rankings between two teams. But I am arguing this, if the regular season means anything at all, you have to rank an undefeated team above any team that they've beaten.

Absolutely, positively, have to do that.

Lawyers, man.

8) Oregon (7-1) - Well, well, well, what do we have here? Oregon nipping right on Boise's heals. I know they were at home and USC's ranking was inflated, but what a victory last Saturday night. Not just for Oregon, but for the spread offense. That game was a clinic. Running, passing, zone-read. Oregon amassed yards in about every way possible. It almost felt gluttonous at points. Jeremiah Masoli looked like a stubby Mike Vick out there.

9) LSU (7-1) - What a loss this week is going to be.

10) Georgia Tech (8-1) - Speaking of offensive gluttony, Tech's line against Vandy: 56 points, 28 first downs, 597 total yards (404 on the ground), just one penalty for nine yards, 12-17 on third down conversions. A nice little showcase of that triple option, no?

11) Penn State - I will give this team a solid B in respect if they beat OSU this week.

12) USC - Like they'd leave the Top 15. Highest ranked two-loss team in the country.

13) Pittsburgh - I still know nothing about them, but they could actually be good.

14) Utah

15) Houston - Even more offense. After last week's column, Arin wrote "Don't sleep on Houston though, Case Keenum's arm is awesome" in the comments. Possible understatement of the week? Keenum went for 559 yards, 44/54, 5 touchdowns, 1 pick, and no sacks. Oof. What kind of offense does Houston run? Is it Hawaii-y? West coast-y?

16) Ohio State - That Penn State game is at Penn State. A victory there would easily be Ohio State's biggest win of the year. Their best win so far is probably a double-digit home victory against Wisconsin. So that's pretty meh.

17) Miami (FL.) - I can't believe Wake attempted a 60 yard field goal instead of going for the hail mary against the 'Canes. You can't beat The U like that, son!

18) Arizona - Iowa beat them. No one will remember this.

19) Oklahoma State - Final score won't show it, but they stuck with Texas for a while in that game. Sure, they got a few bad breaks, but their offense had to be firing at basically an A+ level just to compete on the same level as Texas. Meanwhile, Texas looked effortless at times. And though that sounds like an indictment of Oklahoma State's talent level, it's more just evidence of how superb Texas actually is. McCoy is an outstanding college QB.

20) California
21) Wisconsin

22) Notre Dame - I was gonna make fun of -- what I thought -- was a weak schedule to end the year, but they play at Pitt next week. So I've got no beef.

23) Virgina Tech/24) Oklahoma - Six combined losses, but just one win away from bowl eligibility!

25) South Florida

Any Sweet Games This Weekend?

No cool Thursday stuff this week. Oh well. To Saturday!

LSU (9) at Alabama (3) - Easily the game of the week. Hopefully when Alabama beats LSU, they'll get the same props Florida got.

Ohio State (16) at Penn State (11) - Terrelle Pryor respect vs. Penn State respect.

That's about it. It's a very top heavy week. I've got some Big Ten games I'm interested in, but they'll be shitty, so if you don't care, stay away. Speaking of the little eleven...

Big Ten Rant

This "October spawned a monster" post at MGoBlog about summed up everything I feel about Michigan, the Illinois game, and the state of my life.

Also: Ohio State is planning to wear throwbacks against Michigan. I usually don't get indignant about uniforms or anything (do what you do, Oregon), but this is the one game out of any sport where I would just really enjoy the current unis vs. the current unis. When Ohio State and Michigan play -- smugness alert! smugness alert! -- you can just look at those jerseys and helmets matched up against each other on the field and feel the magnitude of the game*. I don't get that feeling from anything other sporting event. That game is just loaded with what I think is unarguably pageantry. And in a sport loaded with pageantry, it's still able to stand out as the best. That's really saying something. /end of smugness alert

* - this feeling happens to me every year, but for people who know what I'm talking about, it probably happens to them when Michigan is, uh, actually good

College Football Bandwagon

Every year, once my actual favorite teams have been eliminated from the national title picture (by, you know, losing just one game), my buddy Ryan and I create what we call the "College Football Bandwagon" which mostly consists of a list of all the undefeated BCS conference teams minus Notre Dame (and this year, Florida). The goal of the CFB is to fake feel good about yourself when your "team" makes the national championship. Plus it gives you invested rooting interests.

College Football Bandwagon 2009 -- Still no. Iowa home for Northwestern this week.

Ryan makes his TUP pictorial debut

Dan Shanoff

Now can we finally just stop talking about Iowa as a BCS title-game contender? #learnednothingfromlastweek

Like I said, I had my doubts, too, but the implication in this tweet was that people shouldn't have been talking about Iowa going in to the Indiana game. That opinion is totally bogus. Going into last week, Iowa had five times more of a case to go to the BCS title game than Florida did.

In his defense, he recanted:

I take back that earlier comment about Iowa. /shakes head sadly

Haha, pwn'd.

Got even worse in today's column:

CFB Scandal Watch: Brandon Spikes instantly quashes any controversy around his "half-game" suspension for his Georgia eye-gouge by voluntarily sitting out the entire game on Saturday against Vandy. Spikes earns a ton of credit from the media -- his slate is wiped clean, frankly -- and it's not like Florida's defense will need him to dominate the 'Dores.

"Slate is wiped clean"? Do you know what that even means? It means everything is erased and forgotten. He tried to gouge the dude's eyes! I take back everything I said about Spikes being more likable. That paragraph really pissed me off. It had everything: Florida bias, Florida smugness, and, my favorite, making a point that not everyone agrees with but just assuming everyone does ("Instantly quashes any controversy"... yeah OK).

Bonus from that same column: he described Yankees fans as having "insufferable triumphalism" following the World Series. Really, Florida? Really???

What They Said -- A Take On Others' CFB Takes

Picture of the week -- over at the Wiz of Odds:

And for Iowa fans, the day only got weirder from there.

- This was a front page headline on ESPN... just seemed odd.

- I'm telling you, please read the MGoBlog post. It's mixes college football and Morrissey. Peas in a freakin' pod.

Random Picture I Came Across While Googling Stuff For This Post

* * *

I can't believe it's only been six days since the Bulls tipped off. It seems like the season has been going on for three or four weeks. This season might be pretty taxing. Hopefully Rose gets it together. Speaking of taxing: worst Bears victory ever. I've never been so disgusted by a double digit win. Bleck.

Aright, I'm out.

Dubs Dread: Blackhawks Wow!!!

2009-11-05T07:34:49Z

{Ed. note: Ricky-free Thursday's continue. Here's Dubs' latest column on anything and everything. Expect Stompy's college football stuff later this afternoon. Catch you cats later. Wear your backwards red Yankees cap with pride today, y'all. -- Rick}

BY DUBS

Other way, Bill.

I really really really want to like the Bulls more than I do. I just find it really really really hard to do. The NBA is just so damn boring. I don't blame the guys on the court, more the lack of energy that the broadcasters and fans bring during games. The NBA is so dull, (how dull is it, Dubs?) It is so dull, stadiums find the need to play rap music during games to maintain interest. Each possession has become one miniature rap video after another, complete with booty dancers.

Is it the 14th yet?

I used to go into a sports black hole during the winters because of this, patiently biding my time for the beginning of spring training by watching the Tar Heels or Irish play basketball. College basketball is fun, energetic and at times downright fucking awesome (swearing!!!). However, there are so many goddamn games (alliteration swearing!!!) these days. Outside the two North Carolina-Duke games or other such rivalries, the college basketball regular season is turning into the NBA in "is it over yet" length. This is terrible because March Madness is hands down the best post-season tournament in the calendar year. Unfortunately, the season just drags on and I find myself becoming completely lost in January six days a week. It was getting depressing.

So, when Bill Wirtz died, little did I know it was a sign that I had a new winter sport--hockey!!! With the elder Wirtz out of the picture, the Blackhawks returned to TV, their payroll increased and the buzz was back. I got fully swept up in the hype as the Wrigley Field game rolled around and the Hawks continued to play well together. My hockey love was back and so were the Blackhawks.

Still not the 14th?

After last season's success, the Hawks have continued to play well even with arguable their two best offensive players--Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa--and fan favorite, Adam Burish, injured. On top of those injuries, Cristobal Huet struggled early on, but has played well as of late, holding Blackhawks' opponents to 5 goals in the last 4 games (the coaching staff worked on him staying on his skates when he shifts from side-to-side instead of going to his knees as teams were beating him top shelf. It has seemed to work).

"That John Denver is full of shit, man."

The Hawks are easily a better offensive team than they have shown as well, but with the recent injury to Toews, they have relied heavily on game management, as they have not been able to put the puck away like they should. They seem a bit out of sync, settling for shots and not making that extra pass that Toews, for whatever reason, seems to orchestrate so well on the ice. Maybe it is just a coincidence. Or maybe one player really does have that affect on a hockey team.

But, despite it, they keep winning, which shows just how deep this team is and why you NEED to get into the Hawks. When they get those three back, the Blackhawks are gonna be the hockey equivalent of Ivan Drago. This team will push the puck and keep the pressure on the other end of the ice. Shots against will dramatically decrease and wins will become a bit easier. However, like Drago's success in Rocky IV, the Hawks' will be short lived as well. After this year, the cap will come back to fuck them right in the ass. So, in the meantime, lets get behind this crew as it will probably be our only hope for a championship in Chicago within the next five years.

God dammit, Jim Hendry.

***
Other things:

The RedHawks won. Wooo!!! That is right, they are now 1-8. Suck on that, Toledo. Also, this guy was arrested in Oxford, OH over the weekend for a DUI. He was dressed as a breathalyzer. IRONY!!! That would be his student ID attached to those keys. Awesome:

Stay classy, Oxford, Ohio.

*
Brandon Spikes eye-gauged the living shit out of some random Bulldog this past weekend. Urban Meyer showed an iron fist and suspended Spikes for one half of one game. The half is still TBA. You sly dog, Urban Meyer. There are two sides to this suspension: 1) This kind of shit happens all the time, so what's the big deal? I had a friend in college admit that he would try to break guys fingers at the bottom of piles in high school. Yeah. 2) Urban Meyer is a fucking asshat. It was SOOOO obvious what Spikes was doing--caught on a closeup shot no less--that anything less than a full game suspension is beyond ridiculous. Either way, Vanderbilt is fucked.

*
I am getting pretty sick of movie remakes. Did we really need another The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3? I have seen the original, it wasn't that good. It wasn't terrible either. But remaking mediocre movies is like hooking up with an ex. Sure, it sounds like a good idea at the time and you get to jizz in something, but the next day you regret the living shit out of it and before too long you are reliving the original bad plot of your previous relationship. Stop doing that to me, Hollywood.

The only things worse than remaking a mediocre movie is remaking a mediocre TV movie and turning it into a TV series. Hey there, "V". How you doing? On the bright side, they replaced this guy with this girl. So that's a plus.

*
Chase Utley is probably the biggest brah ever. And it is awesome.

Things to Read: 11/4

2009-11-04T21:16:09Z

Send tips to rickhouse@blogsbyfans.com. And don't forget about my Bulls-Bucks recap below.

Yep, that's Deron Williams dressed up as Cal Ripkin Jr. for Halloween. Via Deadspin.

Blog-a-Bull: Chris Paul hates Rajon Rondo, too.

The Blowtorch: Learn defense and rebounding from Joakim Noah.

Docksquad Sports: NBA Power Rankings.

MLB Trade Rumors: How much are the Sox going to have to pay John Danks?

Midwest Sports Fans: Jerod on last night's ESPN Len Bias documentary.

SportsPros(e): I can say with absolute certainty that Kyle is indeed talking about himself in the first paragraph.

And a music video. After the jump...

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Hey, At Least They Won: Bulls Top Abominable Bucks

2009-11-04T07:33:38Z

It's hard to take much satisfaction in a too-close-for-comfort victory over a Michael Redd-less Bucks team, but you still have to win and on Tuesday night, the Bulls were able to do just that. As Vin Diesel once put it: "It doesn't matter if you win by a second or a mile, winning is winning."

Note: winning may not actually be winning when it comes against Derek Anderson.

True that, Vin Diesel. True that.

I could bitch about how the Bulls played like crap against a team they should have blown out, but there are other places to go for that. Besides, I've recently decided that I want to avoid being overly negative about the Bulls this year. We know that the Bears won't be making me anything but miserable, and I still won't really care about the Blackhawks until the playoffs (I know, I'm sorry). If there's one team I'm willing to find silver linings in this winter, it's got to be the Bulls. Is this by default? Obviously, but I'm sticking with it nonetheless.

You see, much like the White Sox, I actually like the Bulls, at least the 2009-2010 edition. Are they great? Of course not. These guys have zero chance to win a title this season. There aren't any Cinderella's in the NBA, and that's part of the reason the league rules. But that doesn't mean the Bulls can't be cool, likable, and fun to watch. So let's run with an old theme here and stay positive on an early season victory over a terrible team.

I never stopped loving you, Luol Deng

And don't let the pesky TUP archives tell you any differently!

On Monday, following a loss in Miami to D-Wade's Heat, I wrote:

Three games is a dangerously small sample size, but I'm damn close to saying "Luol Deng is back".

I still can't go 100 percent yet - it's you, not me, Milwaukee - but without looking it up, I'm going to baselessly say that Deng had his best game in two years last night. He finished with 24 points and 20 rebounds, and also added the quote of the night. From KC Johnson's Twitter page:

Deng with line of night. Told the last Bull to post a 20-20 game was Marcus Fizer, he said, "Wow. Proud to join that group."

Fantastic.

Deng has now been very solid in three of the four games this year, and I'm willing to give him a pass on the Celtics game because the entire team was awful. This is exactly what the Bulls need from Luol Deng. Is he performing like a $71 million player? No, but (get your tomatoes ready) we can't hold him to that.

/ducks.

Listen: a) everyone in the NBA is overpaid, and b) Deng signed that extension before the recession. I'm not concerned that Deng won't ever play like a $71 million player. I just want him to play like a $50 million player. That's what he's doing right now, and I'm perfectly content with it.

I totally should have been Brad Miller for Halloween

You know it's a good game when Miller gets to unleash his signature taunt.

Cue "Chop Suey".

I can watch him do this 500 times, and it will still be awesome 500 times.

*
Your silver lining is this: the Bulls didn't have Tyrus (stop laughing) and Rose is still hobbled. They need all the victories they can get - for both playoff position and 2k10 free agent position - so I'll take them however they come. Even in games as ugly as this one.

Also: how do we feel about Brandon Jennings? Legitimately good or just flashy and fun? I'm kind of hoping for option No. 2, but I fear option No. 1 may be inescapable in the not-too-distant future.

Things to Read: 11/3

2009-11-03T21:09:19Z

Send submissions to rickhouse@blogsbyfans.com. And don't forget about Stompy's Madison Square Garden post below.

Yep, that's Adam Burish on the left dressed as Dennis Rodman for Halloween. Don't have much to add, outside of "Ugh." Via Sarah Spain.

Kissing Suzy Kolber: Drew FJM's Simmons.

Shutdown Corner: Counting down the worst teams in the NFL. Bears not included. Win.

Tower Ticker: A fond farewell to Sun-Times sports editor and Full Court Press proprietor Stu Courtney.

Trib: Tyrus Thomas sent home with flu-like symptoms, won't play against the Bucks tonight.

About Last Night..: Simmons says '86 C's > '96 Bulls. Ha! Idiot. At what point do we rename this site after a Drew reference?

And a music video. After the jump...

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A Bulls Fan In Madison Square Garden

2009-11-03T06:24:37Z

So I went to New York City for the first time ever yesterday. This included a trip to Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks/~~Charlotte~~ New Orleans Hornets game. I observed some things, so without further introduction...

20 Thoughts On My Madison Square Garden Visit

1) My uncle and I picked up our tickets at the StubHub store a handful of blocks from the arena, and playing on one of their TVs was a DVD called "NBA Dynasty Series -- New York Knicks."

The game being played?

1993 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 2 - Knicks fans will always remember where they were for "The Dunk" by scrappy shooting guard John Starks, as he soared above the Bulls to throw it down.

How is this game part of the dynasty series? You lost that series! There was no dynasty! It was one stupid dunk! That's nothing! I must cheer myself up with a picture which sums up how great the Bulls were!

Much, much better...

2) I walk into the entrance of Madison Square Garden. On the right side, there's this long photo montage of all of these notable events that have happened in the arena. Basically a wide array of concerts and sporting events. Included was this picture:

...and this picture:

The level of denial New York seems to have about the success of the 1990s Knicks borders on psychotic.

Now... ideally, you're on my side and think Knicks fans are delusional, but I'm sure there are some people who are thinking "But Bobby, they're just emphasizing some of their highlights from the 90s! Maybe they never won a title, but they had some good teams and players! It's not a big deal!"

Not a big deal?!?!

This would be like if you walked into Soldier Field ten years from now and saw this:

That's wrong. And awful. This is what you should see:

When you close your eyes. When you go to sleep. Until forever.

And that ain't going up in no stadium any time soon.

Despite my 90s Knicks-related beefs, it just can't be denied...

3) Madison Square Garden is sweet. When an arena or stadium is described as "vintage" and "historic" and "has character," it obviously enters the Wrigley Field zone where you become skeptical it's just a crappy stadium covered with glowing buzzwords and praise. Not the case with the Garden. It was really cool. Historic, yes. But decrepit? Nah. It's got the old-school feel, but also very nice jumbotron. The best places tend to have a mixture of both.

4) When I first walked into walkway of the arena, "Hypnotize" by The Notorious B.I.G. was playing (such a killer beat and bassline). Probably the coolest moment of the night.

It was followed by "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z. The Knicks also came out to that song during pre-game introductions, and I heard it a third time on my way out of the Garden. Between that, radio overplay, and the World Series, I'm probably the only person in America who isn't sick of that song yet. It's just too good.

5) As for the seats? We sat in very back of the 300 level...

...and though that looks super far away, it really wasn't that bad. I loved the seats. I mean, they weren't Spike Lee seats by any means (note: I did not see Spike Lee at the game), it was wayyy closer than the top deck of the United Center. On that subject, I really don't mind the upper deck of the UC, though I know some people aren't big fans. The point I make is this: if you don't mind top level of the UC, you'd love the 300 level of the MSG. If you dislike the top level of the UC, there's still a chance you'd dig the 300 level of MSG.

My uncle seemed to think the seats were pretty far away, but I attributed that to his being spoiled with usually better seats on previous MSG visits. I'm telling you, the UC has desensitized me to all "far away" seats in other venues. Alleged nosebleed seats at other venues feel so relatively close by comparison. Can we also blame the upper deck of the Cell for this? I say yes.

6) The pre-game playlist of songs was sponsored by Fuse and selected by Al Harrington. It consisted of three song picks. One was some Drake song (I forget what) and the other was this new Jay-Z song "On To The Next One."

7) The Knicks' pre-game "Inactive List" showing prominently on the jumbotron featured Eddy Curry and Cutino Mobley, exclusively. Now, Eddy Curry is out with calf and/or weight issues, but Cutino Mobley?! He retired in 2008 due to a heart condition without ever playing in a game for New York. How could the Knicks possibly have the audacity to list him as a pre-game inactive when he's never playing in the NBA ever again? Is it because they're still paying out the remainder of his contract and they're bitter about that? Is it solely out of spite? So, so weird.

8) But it gets weirder. The Knicks have Billy Joel and Elton John numbers retired in the rafters.

Yeah. Wikipedia sez Joel got his for selling out MSG 12 times while Sir Elton's number is the amount of total times he's played MSG.

Oh, and Billy Joel's domination doesn't end there:

This honor has also been given to Joel at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia where a banner in the colors of the Philadelphia Flyers is hung honoring Joel's 46 Philadelphia sold-out shows.

Billy Joel has been retired in two NBA/NHL arenas.

9) The Knicks started Chris Duhon, David Lee, Larry Hughes (WHAT?!?!?!?), Wilson Chandler (DePaul University, my boy), and Danilo Gallinari. When they came out on the court for the first time, the Knicks players all wielded multiple t-shirts which they proceeded to throw into the crowd. It felt very... minor league baseball-y, to give it an attempted description. I loved it, but it just seemed like NBA players wouldn't ever have to do that. It almost felt like a pre-apology for the season which is about to unfold.

I didn't want to rip the Knicks for having overly dramatic pre-game introductions -- as the Bulls are the cream of the crop in over-the-top... rhyme! -- but theirs was pretty elaborate. It even featured a highlight video of Knicks players passing and dunking in some dark gym. Despite the simulated competitiveness and hyper-intensity, they were playing against no one in these highlights. My uncle attributed it to lack of actual game highlights.

When the starting five got announced, Gallinari got the biggest cheers, with Lee a close second. I was initially baffled, thinking the Knicks fans were just latching onto him because he's Italian and, unlike a large portion of the roster, hasn't proven that he sucks yet. But, man, I don't think that's it. What I'm saying is, brace yourself: Danilo Gallinari could be good.

While he might have some holes in his game, it looks like he can shoot the ball, pass decently, and get to the rim. Coming into the game, he was averaging 22+ points a game this season, which is the most of any second-year player in the NBA so far. I think I sort of wrote him off last year because he had back problems and I just blindly assumed it'd become a chronic issue. But rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. Am I off-base with my opinion on him as good? It's possible, but regardless, I can, after seeing him, absolutely promise he'll be an entertaining player even if his ceiling is lower than I'm estimating.

10) So yeah, the Knicks have Duhon, Hughes, and Curry. Chicago Bulls Triple-A, anyone?

11) Early on in the first quarter during a break, a Yankees-Phillies highlight came up flashing the score of the game (1-0, Yankees) and a highlight of A-Rod's RBI hit which occurred only minutes earlier. The crowd cheered in sheer delight and anticipation. Soon after, the Phillies grabbed the lead, and, needless to say, no highlights or updates were shown for the duration of the Knicks game.

Do New Yorkers just ignore losing?

12) There was Kidz Bop contest at halftime featuring a 13-year old white girl singer, a 11ish?-year old white boy keyboard player, and a 10-year old Asian girl singer. Basically, all three performed briefly, and a winner was decided with cheers.

The loudest the stadium got at any point while I was there -- pre-game, game, half-time, anything -- was when the crowed erupted in support of the 10-year old Asian girl. She tore the roof off that place.

13) Keep in mind, the crowd for the game was at about 80-90% capacity. But the enthusiasm for basketball just wasn't there. The only crowd I've ever seen that the Knicks crowd would be on par with were the Blue Jays fans I experienced during my trip to the Rogers Centre for White Sox-Jays... and those people just a lifeless bunch of nothing. The Knicks fans weren't that bad, but they weren't too far behind, either.

I've heard all the tired cliches about how New York needs to have a good basketball team. The people need it. The city needs it. The NBA needs it. David Stern has to make it happen, if only somehow. I'm not going to say I'm now a believer in that or anything, but I definitely could see how stories and opinions like that manifested. It's a bummer to see such a great basketball city with no buzz. Still, the sense of entitlement isn't really fair. I mean, every city deserves a great team, right? Well, maybe not Memphis.

14) We've touched on some of the all-stars on the Knicks roster. But you know who still hasn't been mentioned? Hint: he played 13 minutes last night. Ohhhh yes: Darko Milicic!

He doesn't totally look like this anymore...

Darko looked so stumbly and unpolished. Unevenly set screens, potentially not in great shape, and a plethora of awkward footwork. I've held out hope for a long time that he could maybe, somehow develop into a solid NBA player, but I think I'm finally ready to declare his career what it is always has been: pretty much dead on arrival.

15) Duhon's line? 18 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, plus-minus of + 10

That said, he's still pretty much the same guy he was when he left the Bulls. I don't want to rip him because I never hated him as much as some people do -- plus, he always seemed like a nice guy -- but we're really not missing much with him gone. A line like that looks sort of glamorous, no? But remember, it's Mike D'Antoni's system. He's got the Knicks running.

16) Chris Paul was phenomenal to see in person. He finished with 32 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds, and one steal. Best passer I will ever see in person ever ever? Very likely.

17) Speaking of small guards: Nate Robinson didn't play (ankle). I was very bummed about that.

18) Oh... the Knicks actually got their first win of the season. David Lee was the high man, finishing with 28 points and 7 rebounds. Solid game all-around for him. He's basically like an P.H.D. version of Tyler Hansbrough with a slight jumper. What I mean to say is, he's doing the things that he has a reputation for (hustling hard, rebounding, not making mistakes, maximizing his skillset) and now mixing it with a little bit of seemingly new-found finesse which presumably came from NBA seasoning. His court awareness was fantastic.

19) On the train back to New Jersey afterwards, a guy who also went to the game -- presumably a Knicks fan -- sitting one seat over from me called his dad to tell him he attended. The extremely blunt conversation basically went like this:

"Dad, we went to the Knicks game. Yeah, it was a good time, but the better team definitely didn't win...[pause]...The Hornets didn't win."

Knicks fans: broken spirited, probably delusional, selectively prideful, and now... bitterly pseudo-sarcastic!

20) Headline on nyknicks.com following the game?

Knicks Sting Hornets For First Win

Yay, journalism.

Things to Read: 11/2

2009-11-02T20:36:39Z

Send submissions to rickhouse@blogsbyfans.com. And don't forget about my Sunday roundup below.

Via KSK.

Top Ten Chicago Sports: Top Ten Things About the Bears that Scare the Hell Out of Matt

SI Truth and Rumors: White Sox fans, how do you feel about Johnny Damon?

Bulls.com: Fun with Sam Smith trade speculation: LeBron to the Lakers!

Second City Hockey: What do we know about the Blackhawks through a month?

Blog Down Bears: Rob Ryan does not care for Jay Cutler.

And a music video. After the jump...

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Chicago Finishes Sunday 1-1, But There Were No Winners

2009-11-02T17:47:01Z

The Bears won by 24 points, right? Because I've never seen such a negative reaction after a win this decisive. No one is happy after this Browns beat-down: not the blogs, the newspapers, or the fans. Check out all the negative headlines on the front page of Tribune's sports section.

Perhaps the best quote after the game came from Tommie Harris who said, "It felt like a preseason game". It felt that way on TV, too.

Yeah, this win had more to do with how bad Cleveland is than anything else. The Browns qualify as a legitimately Bad Team. Everyone knows this. If they're not the worst team in football, they are right there with the Rams, Lions, and Bucs. So, I ask you: how come Eric Mangini still seems to carry himself with all that Patriots smugness? He's someone I'd really like to see get punched in the face.

This was just an unsatisfying win all around. The Bears couldn't run the ball against the league's second worst unit at defending the run. Cutler missed a bunch of passes and got drilled throughout the game. The o-line cemented its status as a flat-out F. The offense squandered more red zone opportunities, something that's becoming a bit of a running theme this season. Sure, the defense forced four turnovers and held Browns quarterback Derek Anderson to a Grossman-like quarterback rating of 10.5, but, again, it came against the Browns and Derek Anderson. These performances come with an asterisk for going against a hopeless team.

Oh well. At least they won. And this picture did make me a feel a little better.

Next four games: Cardinals, at the 49ers, Eagles, at the Vikings. Not an easy game in there. If the Bears played the way they did Sunday, I'm not sure if they can beat any of those teams. Hopefully all the negative press after such a lopsided win will only fuel them to get better.

This was the first game where not having Ben Gordon really hurt. Of course, letting go of Gordon was going to come back to haunt the Bulls at some point this season. It's not like letting him go for free was a short-term move. But yeah: the Bulls could have used Ben Gordon in this one. They hung with the Heat for three quarters, but couldn't keep up in the fourth. Bulls lose 95-87.

There were some positives, though.

- Three games is a dangerous small sample size, but I'm damn close to saying "Luol Deng is back". He was great on Sunday. Going against a clearly inferior player in Quentin Richardson, Deng scored 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting. He even got to the foul line five times (remember, free throws = the basketball equivalent of taking a walk).

One thing that is very underrated about Deng is his rebounding. He pulled down eight boards against the Heat. With his return and the departure of BG, the Bulls actually have a normal sized team now. Deng-Tyrus-Noah-Miller is actually a better-than-average rebounding front line, which is a nice change of pace. It's great that "going small" is an option this year, not a necessity.

Still, this was a tough loss. Next up is Scott Skiles and Bucks who come to town on Tuesday.

Things to Read 10/30 + Now Accepting Your Questions For B.J. Armstrong

2009-10-30T21:21:20Z

As you may have heard, I'll be interviewing former Bulls guard B.J. Armstrong on Saturday afternoon. He'll be appearing at the Best Buy on North Ave. from 1-3 to take pictures and sign autographs. Feel free to stop by.

Armstrong is promoting.....Windows 7. Of course he is.

I bet Craig Hodges is a "Mac guy".

Let this be a lesson to everyone: whether it's for a book or a chance to ask questions to everyone's favorite boy-faced point guard from the 90's, I will sell-out for pretty much anything. Seriously. Give me free stuff and I will gladly give you space atop this blog.

Have anything you want me to ask B.J.? Leave it in the comments.

*
Fanhouse: A take on why Jimmy Clauson should go pro.

Page 2: Redone NBA team logos.

JC Superstar: Cutler thinks the Browns are "going to town". Let's hope not.

Blog Down Bears: Man, Darren Sharper sure would be nice right now.

MOUTHPIECE: Video from 1994 of WWF people playing the Chicago media in softball.

Pitchfork: New Spoon in January! w00t.

And a music video. After the jump...

]]> Phoenix - Girlfriend

Have a ridiculous and safe Halloween, everyone.

Thursday Night Non-Running Diary: Bulls, 'Hawks, ect.

2009-10-30T17:30:28Z

I realize that it has become a TUP staple to write about the Bears every Friday during the NFL season. I'm not doing that today. The reasons for this are twofold.

a) That game in Cincinnati was downright depressing. Demoralizing. But I think at this point, we've established that it was only one game and the Bears' season certainly isn't ovah quite yet. Good. No reason to waste a bunch more time and words to rehash that. The Bears really don't deserve a full-on preview this week, so this is all they're getting. But more importantly...

b) I work nights and thus miss a lot of premium sports action. Thankfully I was off last night though, and the proverbial sports Gods hooked me up: we had the World Series on Fox, the Bulls on TNT, the Blackhawks on Comcast, all on at the same time. There was a Foo Fighters concert on Palladia, too. SO MANY THOUGHTS ON EVERYTHING.

I was thinking about doing a running diary, but it became apparent that the Bulls captured 80-90 percent of my attention. So instead, consider this a roundup from a wonder night of sports on television action.

- So good to have the Bulls back in our lives, right? For as stupid and pessimistic as I was being on the big stage a few weeks back, I actually really like this team and think they should be pretty decent. I love Rose. I love Tyrus. I love Brad Miller. I'm pulling for Deng. Noah (and Tyrus, for that matter) had a semi-breakout last year, he should at least do that again this season. I don't even hate VDN. Really, I don't.

All of these things are much easier to say after last night, of course.

I haven't seen this in the various other blog recaps yet, but I have to say that I really thought the Spurs played like shit. Their defense was atrocious, they were bricking open shots left and right (way to suck, Richard Jefferson), and no one outside of Duncan could do anything.

The Bulls certainly deserve credit for some for that, though.

The defense was really astounding. It runs deeper than losing Gordon, too: this was full-on team D. The Bulls were challenging virtually every shot, making crisp rotations, and going all-out on the glass. Tyrus, Noah, and Deng were hitting the boards with attitude last night. Our guys didn't allow any easy shots. Yeah, Duncan kind of dominated, but sometimes you just have to tip your cap and call Tim Duncan your daddy.

Text of the Night: From my boss, responding to my bitching about Taj Gibson.

Second round pick from a shitty draft. If all he does is rebound and keep Tyrus from getting complacent, it's a win.

True that.

Tyrus was brutal in the first half. Then he got pulled for Taj, and Taj played a lot of minutes. He didn't play them particularly well, but he was on the floor nonetheless. Tyrus returned in the second half and had a great third quarter. Taj-influenced?

You have to think that any Taj Love has to light a fire under Tyrus. He's not the young guy anymore. Though, of course, he's younger than Taj Gibson: 13 months younger! Crazy, right? Throw in that this is a contract year for Tyrus - I love him, but he does kind of seem like one of those guys - and I think he's in for his best season to date. Not a terribly radical prediction by me, of course - this is exactly what should happen to a 23-year old entering his fourth season. It's still nice to see him grow and mature, though.

LOL Moment of the Night: Noah's "I Can't Feel My Face" taunt after knocking down a 16-foot jumper. What an awesome taunt. It's cool when DeShawn Stevenson does it after knocking down four straight trey's, it's cool when Noah does it after hitting one mid-range jump shot.

Not only a great taunt, but also a great dance move. We need more of this.

- Also Hilarious: The alley-oop attempt to Hinrich. On what planet is Kirk capable of finishing that? Certainly not one with gravity.

In conclusion: great win.

Tough loss against a bad team. Boo. I saw Huet make some nice saves, though. I admire his resilience after a rocky start.

Still, the 'Hawks have kind of been running in place lately. So says Second City Hockey:

Aside from the 3rd against the Wild, and maybe a period against the Preds at home, when was the last time this team looked really good? It's hard to complain about 7-4-1, especially when you're two best all-around forwards have missed time. But there have definitely been some points gone to waste, and you never know when that might come back to haunt you.

Can it just be the playoffs yet? The NHL and NBA regular seasons are just far too long. I'll give baseball a break because of the meaningful statistics, but hockey and basketball really need to condense this thing.

World Series

Two things:

- My friend (and occasional TUP contributor) Bradwell loves the Phillies more than everything else in the world combined. This is not hyperbole. Before the World Series started, I asked him how it felt compared to last year.

Want it so much more this time around. Love this lineup so very much. Last year was sort of luck, this year is the Kennedy Assassination.

We both agreed that Jayson Werth's goatee is the grassy knoll in this analogy.

- When I was flipping channels on my Comcast box and saw "World Series", I automatically assumed it was the World Series of Poker. This says terrible things about the American zeitgeist of the aughts.

Foo Fighters

Leading up to all of this, we had a Foo Fighters concert on Palladia from Wembley Stadium.

- How the hell does this band fill, like, the biggest stadium in the world? I go back and forth on how cool I think the Foo Fighters are. It generally fluctuates between 10 percent cool and 60 percent cool. So, of course, they're not actually cool. I don't actually like them. But I guess I sort of respect them. A little bit.

Things working in their favor: "Everlong" in an undeniably great track. Perhaps one of the 10 best alternative rock songs of the 90's. Dave Groehl was in Nirvana (and was awesome in Nirvana), so that gives them the low end of my allotted cool spectrum. And they like the Arcade Fire.

But that's about it. Everything else about them is pretty lame. Not terrible, not cool, not good. But, again, how do they sell out Wembley Stadium? This blows my mind. It's like people overseas will like anything just because it's American. I don't get it.

Dubs' Dread: We Are Overzealous Parents No More

2009-10-29T22:21:54Z

{Ed. Note: A) Don't forget about Stompy's college futbol column below. It's raining comments! Plus, I smell a TTCS classic Phil-Danny feud brewin', so that baby could touch 30. B) Everyone loves ol' Z-Dubs, right? Anyway, here's his column. I'm in a good mood today, so I guess I won't even hide it beneath the jump this time. THIS TIME. Oh, and go Bulls.-- Rick}

BY DUBS

As a Chicago sports fan in the post-Jordan era (and minus the accident in 2005), it has become oddly routine to root for mediocrity. We have become the overzealous dad with the borderline retarded child--aggressive in our support and unrealistic in our expectations. We demand our kid be dominant and blame the coach when he doesn't play well, even though our kid does not posses the tools. This year's Bears team is a perfect example of that.

Sure they have shown signs of being good, but when it comes down to it, they lack the depth and true all-star talent to be great. They are not the Bears we once knew. They have changed. Ricky has touched on it. Their O-line sucks, their D-line is made up of backups, as is most of the linebacking crew, and I do not want to get into the secondary. But I think we, as fans, are changing too. From that overzealous dad to a more mature, "it is what it is" parent. Even the TUP comments are changing:

RFK:

I can not fucking believe how embarrassing a loss that was. It has completely ruined the season for me. Now I know they have no chance at even making the playoffs. Way to stink it up Lovie! I was defending this guy, but now I'm starting to agree with the nay-sayers. he's living off 1 super bowl appearance where he lost! They may have one of the worst offensive lines in football. They just got tore a new one by Cedric Benson and Chad Ocho Twitter and I have a Cleveland win to look forward to ? Fuck that! IF they win, which I don't think for a second will be a cake walk, all it will do is give false hope. I'm just basketball season is starting soon.

Walldo:

Is it time for spring training yet?

But is that necessarily a good thing? This is the Bears. The one thing this city irrationally fights for, lives for and sometimes pays $10,000 licensing fees for. But, because of a loss to the Bengals in week 7, we are giving up hope for the year? Maybe these are reactionary comments, comments that do not mean anything, but they sound too familiar. They sound like the cries of angry and depressed and confused Cubs fans after 2008. Their expectations were high, just like Bears fans after the Jay Cutler trade, and they were crushed, just like the Bears were by Ced Ben.

Maybe everything will change after next week if the Bears dominate the Browns. Or maybe they won't and neither will our will. I guess we'll see. But until then, lets remember, there are still 10 more weeks of football and we are only one awesome hit away from Tarvaris Jackson!!!

***

Other things:

My alma mater, Miami (OH), is currently 0-8 (0-8!!!) and seriously threatening to lose the rest of their games this season. But the real funny thing here is their non-con schedule next year:

Away games: Cincinnati, Florida, Missouri

Home games: Boise State, Colorado State They may be in jeopardy of going 0-24. My freshman year, Miami (OH) went 13-1 and finished in the top 10.

For real, late night TV is about to get double douced on. That's right, the unfunny Queen of "Look I'm Black", Wanda Sykes, has her own show on FOX every Saturday at 10pm CT. Now that is a MUST SEE, you guys. It gets worse... George Lopez, yes that George Lopez, has a show weeknights as well. FIVE DAYS A WEEK. Yes, FIVE DAYS A WEEK. No, I'm not kidding, FIVE DAYS A WEEK. You will now have the opportunity to watch FIVE DAYS of this EVERY WEEK:

OMG, HE DOESN'T SPEAK ENGLISH WELL!!! DID SHE JUST CALL HIM A CLOWN FACE AND TRY TO HAVE SEX WITH THAT DRIVE THRU GUY!!! OMG, "THERE ARE SOME JOBS EVEN MEXICANS WON'T DO!!!" THAT'S NOT STEREOTYPICAL AT ALL. HOW ORIGINAL YOU ARE, MR. GEORGE LOPEZ.

Die.

Last thing. I saw this on my right hand panel of my facebook home page:

Now tell me how this will not lead to sexual harassment? It is just screaming, "Hey Dubs, get drunk and then facebook stalk this girl until she gets so scared she calls the cops." Thanks, facebook. I've been looking forward to my first (shocking right) sex crime for some time now. Should be fun.

]]>

The Hybrid: Alright, Iowa -- I'm in. I'm Totally In. We Die Together.

2009-10-29T11:23:08Z

I've been writing about college football for a decently long time here at TUP, and if there's one thing I'd never be accused of, it's having a pro-Iowa bias. If anything, it'd be an anti-Iowa bias. I just can't ever seem to take them very seriously.

But after last Saturday's last second super-victory over MSU, I am in.

Iowa = Will Smith. I, unfortunately = Martin Lawrence.

Long story condensed, I had to go through a lot to watch the Iowa-MSU game. I got held up at work for an hour, the original bar that claimed to have the Big Ten Network didn't, I drove through seven different flood zones aimlessly, and, at one point, I drove down this stretch of road in the pouring rain where teenagers were randomly jumping out in front of moving cars... it was as if they were trying to get people to crash. It was so surreal. I was pissed then, but looking back, it's more funny and ridiculous. Because I lived.

But anyway. I made it to a TV for the second half (major props to the Firkin Tavern in Ewing, New Jersey). And when Ricky Stanzi connected with Marvin McNutt on that 4th down with two seconds left. Jesus. I was close to life support. I mean, those bastards at MSU ran a hook-and-ladder to try to put us away. That's Boise State shit right there. Honestly, it seemed appropriate. Iowa has ridiculously won its fair share of games this year. They might has well have lost ridiculously, too. But it didn't happen. Iowa, who had no offense to speak of all day, marched down the field and scored.

The game-winning drive had so much purpose, so much focus... so much execution. It almost reminded me of Squints cheating a kiss with Wendy in "The Sandlot." Was it legitimate in any way? Eh, not so much. But you had to be impressed with their cute determination.

Iowa kissed a victory. They kissed it long and good.

Iowa's push to No. 4 in the BCS about burned down the state of Iowa on Sunday night. People were stoked as hell. I didn't fully understand. Weren't they No. 6 last week? So just up two spots, right? I suppose it was the premise of vaulting Boise and Cinci. I'm not totally sure.

Doc Saturday actually has Iowa at No. 1 in this week's version of his BlogPoll ballot.

The Hawkeyes are good because:

Iowa has beaten six BCS-conference teams with .500 or better records, twice as many as any other undefeated team except Alabama... and handled the best of those with roughly the same aplomb as the SEC killers, whose big overall margins of victory came via blowouts against cupcakes.

The Hawkeyes are in trouble because:

The best arguments against the Hawkeyes right now are their close calls against their only pushovers, Northern Iowa and Arkansas State, but I'm willing to call it a a, 1b and 1c situation and give Iowa the benefit of the doubt for putting more, better skins on the wall. But that's just this week -- the call is close and certainly won't survive Florida beating Georgia or Alabama beating LSU over the next two weeks, when the Hawkeyes' schedule lightens considerably against Northwestern and Indiana.

He ends it with probably the truest thing one can say about college football:

As always, everything will be completely different next week.

Even the quotes coming out of Iowa camp are a bit weird.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg has a great post from today called "For Hawkeyes, style points not their style." You can say that again.

"Realistically, I still have a hard time picturing us in the top 10," head coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday.

Perhaps too candid?

Then there's this:

This attitude is nothing new for Ferentz, who told me way back in the spring, "Nobody's going to mistake us for Southern Cal."

Probably the most accurate assessment of Iowa football, ever.

Then it ventures into borderline depressing territory. QB1 Ricky Stanzi:

"We're not trying to be the prettiest car or whatever metaphor you can use..."

"You have to be honest with yourself and know what kind of team you have and what hard work needs to go in to be successful."

You just have to be honest! We are who we are! We're sorry we're not better yet! Haha.

And I'll let Kirk take us on home with his brand of humility mixed with nonsense.

When I asked Ferentz if he'd like a 21-point win right about now, he started laughing.

"That'd be really nice," he said. "That sounds like fantasy football. That's a big sport now, right? Fantasy football? That's what that sounds like to me."

Uh, yeah. Sure.

This season has been too insane to simply be on the fence anymore. I'm committed, Iowa. I'm in. We may go down in a big fiery crash of exploding death. But it will be together. Break my heart. Ride or die.

But let's move on. This week's slate of games is even better than last week's terrific slate. Slate, slate-slate, slate slate.

THE HYBRID
(I kind of liked this big-ass font last week, so maybe keeping it around? maybe?)

Quick, Selective Hits On The ~~AP Top 25~~ BCS Standings
(unbeaten teams noted)

1) Florida (7-0) -- Only No. 1 because of the flawed human polls. I'd make fun of them skating by Mississippi State last week, but, you know, Iowa.

2) Alabama (8-0) -- 'Bama beats Tennessee on two blocked field goals, and they're heroes. Iowa beats Northern Iowa on two blocked field goals, and they're frauds. Actually, that's fair.

3) Texas (7-0) -- I'm in weird territory with Texas. I like them and all, but I desperately want them to lose so Iowa can leapfrog them in the polls. BUT, if I could look into the future and find out Iowa will end up losing anyway, I'd probably regret rooting against Texas because they're probably the biggest threat -- outside of 'Bama -- to beat Florida.

College football, man.

4) Iowa (8-0) -- This just feels so weird.

5) USC -- This is still going on, huh?

6) TCU (7-0) -- Shanoff ranks these guys as the No. 1 team in the nation. I can't say I disagree with that assessment.

7) Boise State (7-0) -- The descent continues...

8) Cincinnati (7-0) -- Also in the Texas zone.

9) LSU -- Top 10 still? Really? Have they beaten anyone? Ugh, I'll check. Oh. Yeah, they sort of have. Well, they've got 'Bama next week.

10) Oregon -- A chance to erase all the demons of the Boise loss this week. How far up in the polls can the Ducks get with a victory over USC?

11) Georgia Tech -- Beat Virginia last week on the strength of only eight pass attempts. I have this theory that sportswriters probably love covering this team because all the running plays make the game go by fast.

12) Penn State -- Nice victory at the Big House. Penn State isn't bad like I thought. They might be just be mediocre yet!

13) Virginia Tech

14) Oklahoma State -- Super RIP to Dez Bryant this week, who is officially suspended for the season. Couldn't have come at a worse possible time.

15) Pittsburgh -- I haven't seen enough of them to know if they're actually good. But the mere prospect of them being good delights me.

16) Utah -- They play TCU two weeks from now.

17) Ohio State -- I almost regret defending them last week. Their stupid victory against Minnesota got the Pryor Is Back! stories in full swing. College football (and the NFL) are way too "the current game and current week means everything" sometimes. Seriously. Imagine if the Cubs were in this huge slump, but then they beat the Pirates one time. No one would care because they'd have to play them two or three more times, then, without a week off in between, they'd probably play another 5-10 games in a row. Did I just really give a reason why baseball is better than football?! It's best that we move on.

But remember: OSU beat Minnesota, sportswriters. Minnesota.

18) Houston -- They're supposed to be high octane passing, but I just picture them to be boring. As covered in the first edition of this column, it's probably Antowain Smith's fault.

19) Miami (FL.) -- Last week's loss was a stomach punch.

20) Arizona -- Their ranked-ness just gives Iowa one more impressive victory.

21) West Virginia -- I can't ever see Noel Devine in a highlight reel and root against him gaining yards. But against UConn? After that player passed away? That was tough.

22) South Carolina

23) Notre Dame -- They are the Michael Myers of the Top 25.

Just DIE!

24) California
25) Mississippi

Any Sweet Games This Weekend?

As always, we'll start Thursday night...

North Carolina at Virginia Tech (13): My UNC obsession continues. But not really, because this is going against the World Series. And in a New Jersey newsroom, the channel's not getting changed.

Indiana at Iowa (4): I'd make my usual "I'm the only one who is interested in this one!" joke, but come. on. Iowa has played nothing but close games this year. They're down to their third string running back. A starting OL is out for the year. This could either be close and exciting, or they could roll Indiana, and the blowout would be newsworthy in and of itself because Iowa winning big just hasn't happened much this year.

Cincinnati (8) at Syracuse: Unbeatens on the road will probably be making this list from here on out. Plus the inclusion of Greg Paulus.

Georgia vs. Florida (1): ESPN had some stupid story about how Florida is still upset about the massive team celebration Georgia did in the end zone two years ago while playing the Gators. Florida used it as motivation for last year's victory, but apparently, it's fueling them as well this year. A player said something about how they couldn't just let it go after one year. Some analyst was like, "they'll be paying for that for a long time, because Florida isn't going to forget about it anytime soon!"

I, on the other hand, am willing to bet Florida will forget in another two years or so. You know, when the team experiences one hundred percent roster turnover. Just a theory.

Michigan at Illinois: Now this, this is your example of "I'm the only one who is interested in this one!"

UNLV at TCU: Not even on TV, but it'll be interesting keeping tabs on TCU for a while.

Washington State vs. Notre Dame (23): Cougars! Irish! Alamodome! NBC!

South Carolina (22) at Tennessee: I really hope Tennessee's bad ass defense mixed with South Carolina's crap ass offense is enough to put the Gamecocks out of the rankings for next week. They are Florida State boring.

Texas (3) at Oklahoma State (14): OH BABY! Please, please, please, please be good.

USC (5) at Oregon (10): If you can only watch one game this week, please make this your choice. I promise this game will be good no matter what. Any result is compelling.

Big Ten Rant

Get a championship game, jerks.

College Football Bandwagon

Dan Shanoff

I'm a long time reader of Shanoff, he's probably in my Top 5 online sportswriters, and he's usually the first thing I read every morning, but as a national columnist, his Florida bias has gotten out of control in recent years (most notably acknowledging no case for Michigan to play for the national title in '06 and creating TimTeblog.com in '09). We'll use this space to make fun of him when he says insane UF stuff which usually happens weekly.

So Mr. Perfect Tim Tebow shirked his media obligations after last week's victory. There are two schools of thought, first negative, second positive. Theory 1) He was so upset with his performance, that he ducked the press because he didn't want to face the music, or Theory 2) He wanted to spend time with his former offensive coordinator (the current coach at Mississippi State) and wouldn't have time to do that and the media.

In this week's Tebow article, Shanoff tries to actually take the Side #1. That's right, Shanoff tried to criticize Tebow. In that attempt, he casually sneaks this one in there.

...most folks are willing to stipulate that he is college football's all-time personification of leadership.

Uh, what? No? No!

Ugh, you suck.

What They Said -- A Take On Others' CFB Takes

Headline of the week: Lil Wayne certifies Lane Kiffin, official balla

Great one at Doc Saturday.

- Lost in Bob Griese's "offensive" taco comment, Lee Corso also made a pretty great comment last week. It's the video at the top of the post. Also included: the Bob Griese taco comment! It's funny, we decide we're offended by something, then we play it over and over and over again. This happened the most with the Don Imus "nappy headed hoes" thing.

- THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN! ... Whenever I feel bad for stereotyping the South as a bunch of racist idiots, stories like this come out, and I no longer feel bad. Deadspin probably had the best take on this story:

Ole Miss is trying to crack down on students chanting "The South Will Rise Again" at the end of one of their fight songs. With an anemic four touchdowns in SEC play, it makes you wonder when they heard the fight song enough to criticize.

Haha.

- My favorite line of the week, from Black Heart Gold Pants: "If the Hawkeyes filled out an eHarmony profile this week, the computer would probably keep it for itself."

- I love Mel Kiper, Jr. I think he's excellent at a very difficult and scrutinized job. But Jimmy Clausen as the No. 9 pro prospect in this year's NFL draft?! When it comes to drafting and coaching, I try not to get too authoritative -- in general -- because, I mean, who the hell knows anything about anything? But Jimmy Clausen is not ready to go pro or be pro. Not in any way. (ESPN Insider)

- Best College Football Villains of the Aughts ... surprise -- but totally justified -- cameo made by the Big Ten commish (Doc Saturday)

~~Random~~ Picture I Came Across While Googling Stuff For This Post

* * *

Chicago Bulls tip-off tonight. Whooooooo.

Things to Read: 10/28

2009-10-28T22:07:11Z

Send tips to rickhouse@blogsbyfans.com. And don't forget about my NBA preview below.

Via KSK.

Deadspin: The ridiculous Dez Bryant-Deion Sanders scandal.

SouthSideSox: Bill James has some fairly optimistic projections for White Sox hitters in 2010.

Blog-a-Bull: Vinny Del Negro freaks out on the Waddle and Silvy Show.

Bears Gab: Seven ways to help you cope with the awful Bears.

Zoner Sports: Tom from Myspace joins Facebook.

And a music video. After the jump...

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