After getting off to their best start in school history, the #5 Oklahoma State Cowboys were feeling pretty good about themselves.  Just like Rutgers, South Florida, and East Carolina (just to name a few in recent years),  the Cowboys found themselves in uncharted territory of football success and got their ship sunk. Oklahoma State was the ugly girl of the Big 12 Conference that got a self esteem boost in the preseason when several people in the media started gauking over them and telling them that they were gorgeous. Unfortunately, the Houston Cougars came into Stillwater and wrecked the ugly girl’s chance at going to the BCS Ball. With exception to Notre Dame, the rest of the top 25 stood pat, but this week proposes several trap games for highly ranked teams. Here are some headlines you might see as you follow this weekend’s action in the college football world:

After handling #13 Georgia Tech, Miami should move up in the 25 rankings.

Georgia Tech Left With No Option

When head coach Paul Johnson took over the reins at Georgia Tech, he brought his triple option offense from Navy with him. There are several skeptics of the triple option offense, myself included. The last truly successful option offense was run masterfully by Heisman quarterback Eric Crouch at Nebraska almost ten years ago. While Georgia Tech did rank #4 in the country last year in rushing yards, they were #116 in passing. The defensive game plan for the Miami Hurricanes this week seems pretty simple, stop the rush and stop the Yellow Jackets. One important element to stopping the rush is speed, which Miami has, and the home field advantage for the Hurricanes certainly will help as well.

Takin’ Care of Business

 #1 Florida, #2 Texas, and #3 USC all have games with important meaning that could slip away if they don’t focus. When Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin was hired, he said he was looking forward to many things. Two things in particular he was excited for was to beat Florida and to then sing “Rocky Top” (the unofficial fight song of Tennessee), all night long. After Florida dismantles the Vols, the only song Kiffin will be singing is “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows but Charlie Weis.” Meanwhile, the #2 Texas Longhorns will have an old Texas shootout and avenge it’s only loss last year to Texas Tech, which kept them out of the National Championship Game. Also, USC will visit it’s former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who is now the head coach of the Washington Huskies. The Northwest has not been kind to the Trojans, where they have lost to Oregon State and Oregon the last two years. A re-energized Washington Huskies team will prove to be a challenge for the Trojans, but the Trojans will take care of business and head home 3-0.

That Was Close

Toledo and Fresno State are heading into match ups this week against Ohio State and Boise State feeling pretty confident. Toledo handed it to Colorado and Fresno State went on the road and took Wisconsin into double overtime. Ohio State is coming off of an extreme mental blow, losing to USC at home in a game they thought they should have won. The Buckeyes can either approach this game with aggression to avenge their loss from last week, or they can come out flat feeling sorry for themselves. I believe they will come out more aggressive with their offense and have a tenacity on defense as well. Ohio State knows that when you are “Ohio State,” you can reach the National Championship Game every year with one loss as long as your other wins look good. Toledo is no pushover though, and will test the Buckeyes much like Navy did opening weekend. Switching gears,  the Boise State Broncos need to be careful in how they approach their game this week. The Bulldogs will be the Broncos’ toughest contest they will have until the end of the season, if the Broncos slip up then the Bulldogs will take full advantage and spoil the Broncos dream season.  A win is a win, which will be uttered by Ohio State and Boise State after they pull out squeakers this weekend.

Penn State has quietly snuck into the top 5 again.

JIB Picks

Last Week: 18-3 / Overall: 35-6

#1 Florida – Tennessee / #2 Texas – Texas Tech / #3 USC – Washington / #4 Alabama – North Texas / #5 Penn State – Temple / #6 Mississippi – Southeast Louisiana / #7 LSU – Louisiana-Lafayette / #8 California – Minnesota / #9 BYU – Florida State / #10 Boise State – Fresno State / #11 Ohio State – Toledo / #12 Oklahoma – Tulsa / #13 Georgia Tech – #22 Miami / #14 Virginia Tech – #18 Nebraska / #15 TCU – Texas State / #16 Utah – Oregon / #17 Oklahoma State – Rice / #19 North Carolina - East Carolina / #20 Georgia - Arkansas / #21 Cincinnati – #24 Oregon State / #23 Kansas - Duke / #25 Missouri- Furman

The opening weekend of college football began and ended with lots of excitement. In what is usually an anticipated, but uneventful weekend, the first week of action this year brought several marquee match ups within the top 25 that resulted in a lot of movement in the polls. BYU pulled off the biggest upset of the weekend with it’s win over #3 Oklahoma that vaulted them up 11 spots in the polls. In other action, Boise State knocked Oregon out of the top 25 and Alabama proved it will once again be a force at the top of the polls. Here’s a couple headlines you might see after week 2 is over, along with JIB Picks:

Jimmy Clausen and the Fighting Irish are hoping to knock off Michigan this weekend.

Next Coach Out?

No two head coaches have been more highly scrutinized than Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis and Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez. Going into this week’s match up in Ann Arbor, fans of both sides are satisfied. It’s definitely a new low for both schools when they are excited after wins over Nevada and Western Michigan, but one of them will be back into pessimistic mode after this game. Weis and his Fighting Irish have an easier road ahead of them. With exception to the USC Trojans making a stop in South Bend to pound the Irish in a couple weeks, the Irish do not play another ranked team and are catching most teams on a “down year.” The Big 10 (with 11 teams in it, and Notre Dame as an unofficial 12th team) is having a down year as a whole. Rodriguez and his Wolverines have the tougher road, having to play Ohio State and Penn Statethis year. A win against Notre Dame could be a nice springboard to prove to themselves they can win against a ranked team, but the Irish will dash those hopes and be the sixth team in eight games to beat Michigan in “The Big House” under Rodriguez.

Buckeyes Get Cracked

 Ohio State was exposed greatly as they nearly escaped Navy last weekend. Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor was pressured and the Buckeye defense seemed to be on their heels most of the game. USC’s greatest weapon they have against the Buckeyes will be their speed, on both offense and defense. Trojans freshman quarterback Matt Barkley was largely untested in his debut at home against an inferior San Jose State squad, his ability to stay poised and mistake-free will be a huge factor in the outcome of this game. Ohio State has struggled recently in big time games.  They lost last year’s match up to USC at the Coliseum and ended their season with a bitter loss in the Fiesta Bowl to Texas. Ohio State needs this win to prove themselves as a legitimate contender for the National Championship and to defend the accusation that the Big 10 Conference is on the outs, it’s too bad USC is standing in the way.

MWC Strikes Again

The Mountain West Conference has plead it’s case more than any other conference that they belong with the big boys. Last year they beat out the PAC-10 in head-to-head match ups, and had three teams finish in the top 25 (those same three also started this year in the top 25). The Utah Utes made a huge statement at the end of last year when they beat #4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and BYU made a huge statement last weekend by defeating #3 Oklahoma. UNLV is by no means a powerhouse in the MWC, but they do play well at home and defeated PAC-10 school Arizona State last year on the road. The Oregon State Beavers are well acquainted with the role of “giant killer,” they have filled that role in being USC’s worst enemy in recent years, this week they will be on the other side as UNLV will leave them not missing Vegas.

USC running back Joe McKnight is looking to carve through the Buckeye defense this weekend.

JIB Picks

Last Week: 17-3 / Overall: 17-3

#1 Florida – Troy / #2 Texas – Wyoming / #3 USC – #7 Ohio State / #4 Alabama – Florida International / #5 Penn State – Syracuse / #6 Oklahoma State – Houston / #8 Ole’ Miss (Bye) / #9 LSU – Vanderbilt / #10 California – Eastern Washington / #11 Boise State – Miami(OH) / #12 BYU – Tulane / #13 Georgia Tech – Clemson / #14 Oklahoma – Idaho State / #15 Virginia Tech - Marshall / #16 TCU – Virginia / #17 Utah – San Jose State / #18 Nebraska – Arkansas State / #19 North Carolina- Connecticut / #20 Notre Dame – Michigan / #21 Georgia – South Carolina / #22 Miami / #23 Cincinnati - Southeast Missouri State / #24 Oregon State - UNLV / #25 Kansas – UTEP

College football is finally here, and with it brings the return of new articles to JIB Sports!!! Following tradition of “Sunday Headlines” from last year, “Headlines” will preview the upcoming weekend’s action in college football by providing you with headlines you might see in your Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday newspaper, or online, or on your favorite sports show. Let’s face it, we are long past the time when games were only played on Saturday and we all read the Sunday newspaper. One final point of business, JIB Sports uses the USA Today Coaches Poll in all our articles, which is one of the components used by the BCS to “calculate” who the best teams are. It’s great to be back, now let’s get down to the real business!

We can say without hesitation that college football is the most anticipated sport in America. Nothing compares to the passion and rivalry in college football. Families are torn, alliances are made, and grown men paint their faces and scream shirtless for hours in the bitter cold to rear their team to victory. We as fans really feel like we are part of the team. If given the opportunity, I’m sure many of us would quit our jobs to be a water boy for our beloved teams. Opening week this year is bound to be a great one. Breaking the tradition of top schools playing cream puffs, there will be three matchups with six schools in the top 25. Thursday features the most intriguing matchup of #14 Oregon and #16 Boise State. Then on Saturday #3 Oklahoma and #24 BYU will play in the Dallas Cowboys Stadium and #5 Alabama will square off against #7 Virginia Tech.

Boise State QB Kellen Moore will lead another high scoring offense in '09.

Broncos Send Ducks Waddling

This year has the writing on the wall of USC giving up their PAC-10 Conference Title for the first time since 2001. Oregon is looking like one of the schools that might claim it, and this first game will show us how good the Ducks really are. On the other side, as sad as this may seem, Oregon is the only road block in Boise State’s quest for an undefeated season. The next speed bump they will have is Nevada, and that isn’t saying much. With the increase of non-BCS schools qualifying for BCS bowls, an undefeated season with a weak schedule might not be enough anymore. The Broncos beat up on the Ducks last year in Eugene, so they have all the confidence coming into the game. The Broncos also have the comfort of playing on their blue home turf (also named the “Smurf Turf.”) Donald Duck used to be Oregon’s actual logo, their mascot is most likely a retired Donald Duck costume from Disneyland, and first year head coach Chip Kelly will be cussing up a storm in true Donald Duck fashion after this game.

Weber State Strikes Again

If you are a college sports fan then Weber State might ring a bell. Weber State, a small subdivision team from northern Utah, made some noise in the ‘99 NCAA basketball tournament by defeating the mighty North Carolina Tarheels, a few years earlier they ousted Michigan State. The Wildcats are giant killers, but the Wyoming Cowboys are not giants. However, the Mountain West Conference, which the Cowboys belong to, is a giant right now (or a pain in the butt depending on who you talk to). With all the ruckus the MWC has caused this off-season with the BCS, and being the first non-BCS conference to have three teams in the pre-season top 25, the MWC has some pride. After Wyoming’s loss to Weber State, it will be just one more knock on the conference. Fact is that Utah, BYU, and TCU are BCS caliber schools, the other six in the conference are not even close. If a tree falls in Laramie, Wyoming and nobody hears it, did it really fall? Yes!

Need Mor Skoring

No, my spell check is not broken, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game will leave us desiring more scoring and less defensive struggles. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Virginia Tech Hokies were both in the top 10 defensively in points allowed last year and neither had stellar offenses. The Hokies ranked 90th in offensive scoring, scraping by less than a touchdown in six of their games last year. Alabama ended last year with their poorest offensive performance in a beatdown at the hands of the Utah Utes. The Crimson Tide only averaged 189 passing yards per game last year and that number won’t get better with first year starter Greg McElroy as quarterback. Much of this game will be between the tackles going up and down the field at the pace of turtles with gimp legs.

#1 Florida – Charleston Southern / #2 Texas- Lousiana-Monroe / #3 Oklahoma – #24 BYU / #4 USC – San Jose State / #5 Alabama – #7 Vriginia Tech / #6 Ohio State – Navy / #8 Penn State – Akron / #9 LSU – Washington / #10 Mississippi – Memphis / #11 Oklahoma State – #13 Georgia / #12 California – Maryland / #14 Oregon – #16 Boise State / #15 Georgia Tech – Jacksonville State / #17 TCU – Virginia / #18 Utah - Utah State / #19 Florida State – Miami / #20 North Carolina – Citadel / #21 Iowa – Northern Iowa / #22 Nebraska – Florida Atlantic / #23 Notre Dame – Nevada / #25 Oregon State – Portland State

After reaching the 2008 Final Four, the North Carolina Tar Heels shocked many (including themselves) when they laid an egg in their semi-final game and never got a shot at a National Championship. With a star-studded team and a weak NBA Draft class, several players for the Tar Heels were put on the spot to decid between leaving and making millions or staying and having another possible shot at a National Championship. One by one, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Marcus Ginyard, and Danny Green all declared they were going to return to North Carolina in hopes of winning it all. And so the story of the 2008-09 UNC Tar Heels began, with the storybook ending of them winning the 2009 National Championship earlier this month. “Storybook ending” doesn’t really fit the ‘09 Tar Heels quest, “expected ending” seems a bit more fitting. An overwhelming amount of experts and fans picked UNC to win it all, even President Obama, which isn’t surprising because he makes most of decisions based on what other people think.

We have all heard of “March Madness,” but the madness could be maddier. The NCAA basketball tournament has received increasing praise the past couple years because they use a playoff to determine their champion. College football; however,  has been the victim of much criticism with it’s BCS system they have had in place for about ten years. For all the proponents against the BCS, North Carolina winning it all in basketball was the worse thing that could have happened. Even though they have a playoff, ultimately the best team won it all, so why have a playoff at all? They could have pitted North Carolina against a randomly selected team from the top 10 in the country and North Carolina still would have won.  And so the BCS money rakers will argue, “why do we need a playoff when we already know who the best team in the country is?” It’s well known that nobody is going to change the BCS, but there is still room to change up the March Madness format.

We have officially copyrighted the following format under the name “JIB Bracketpalooza.”  Our format is simple and in two parts. A selection committee will be required to pick the top 12 teams and then 52 other good teams. The committee will seed the top 12 teams 1-3 and put the groups of three into four regions. Now here is where it gets interesting, the top 12 teams will each get to pick their first round opponents from the other 52 teams selected. After the top 12 have selected their 12 opponents, the remaining 40 teams will each have a “lottery ball” thrown into a rollercage and the rest of the matchups will be a lottery. If the point of a playoff is to find the best team, then seeds should not matter at all. A true champion will beat every opponent put in front of them, whoever thinks otherwise is mad, mad, mad, mad…

There are only a couple months of the year that please so many sports fans at the same time. First there is October, it’s the beginning of the NBA season, the MLB World Series, and both college football and the NFL are in full swing. Second there is of course March! For die-hard baseball fans, they have been waiting since October for Spring Training to start. March also brings us the beginning of NFL free agency, the NBA playoff chases tighten, and there is pure madness in NCAA basketball. Let’s take a look at each sport and what’s going down with each right now:

MLB Spring Training – How it is that baseball fans get so excited about “pre-season” games??? You would think that 160+ regular season games would be enough to satisfy fans, but that is where you would be wrong. This pre-season is a bit different for baseball this year because they have the bi-annual World Baseball Classic. The WBC has been successful in finding it’s little niche, but only because the Olympics axed baseball from the Games. So far the controversey surrounding Alex Rodriguez has been the talk of Spring Training. If you haven’t heard, Alex was NOT taking Tic Tacs when he was with the Texas Rangers back in 2001.

NFL Free Agency – Nothing reinforces your respect and admiration (or lack thereof) for professional athletes more than seeing them make millions and still demand more. So far the headlines are two free agents not available and one that is very available. Kurt Warner resigned with the Arizona Cardinals, Ray Lewis resigned with the Baltimore Ravens, and Terrell Owens was released by the Dallas Cowboys. You know the economy must be bad if even Owens is out of a job. He is the best wide reciever in NFL history, just ask him.

NBA Playoff Chases - There are really two halves to the NBA season for fans. The first half is where they solely cheer for their team to win. The second half is when fans start considering playoff seeding and not only cheer for their team to win, but also actively hope the teams in front of theirs loses. The Eastern Conference is already narrowed down to three teams: the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic, nobody else has a shot. Meanwhile in the West, much like every year, it’s anyone’s game. The Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs are on top, but they have both shown they are succeptible on the road. No teams are going to tank the season this year for a good lottery pick because there are hardly any good players declaring for the NBA Draft this year.    

NCAA March Madness – Conference Championship week is upon us , which is where many of the automatic berths for the NCAA Tournmanet will be determined. As it is rightfully called, “March Madness” is the perfect fourm for David to beat Goliath. With a 64-team field, mostly filled with “underdogs,” everybody will be looking for this year’s “feel good story.” The Tournmanet itself is a feel good story when you compare it to college football’s BCS. Here are a few tips while filling out your bracket:
-All four #1 seeds have never made it to the Final Four
-7-10 and 6-11 matchups are the most likely to have an upset
-The Big East is very overrated and
-If you are torn between two teams, decide which team’s mascot would win in a street fight.

It’s been a couple of weeks since we posted our last rumors, none of which came true, but all of which came from viable sources. While a lot of rumors circling around have made it to national headlines, here are a few you won’t see, at least for a while. Don’t ask where we heard them from, we aren’t going to tell you. All we can tell you is that we may have gotten them from a cousin in the Dominican Republic…

The BCS served McDonalds pie this year with the usual humble pie.

BCS to Extend Invitation to the Mountain West Conference

It seems like every year that an attorney general will sue the BCS. In recent years it has always been Texas, who wouldn’t have to keep suing if their Longhorns would stop choking. This year it’s Utah that is actively protesting the BCS and claiming they have a right to the National Championship. The Utah Utes are part of the Mountain West Conference, which does not get an automatic bid to the BCS. Think of your favorite pie…if you only had one piece would you share it with a peasant kid? Of course not, you’d just give them $1 to go get two McDonalds apple pies. To the big conferences, the Utes and the Mountain West are little snot-nosed kids, why would they share? They won’t, they’ll just give them the dollar (or millions of dollars) and say, “If you are that good and so deserving, then we will see you next year, enjoy your apple pies.” How the tide has turned, the BCS in a moment of financial anorexia have decided to share their pie an extend a automatic berth to the Mountain West next year.

PGA to Hold Global Warming Tournament

So many sports have fund raisers to promote and support various causes. Sometimes in college basketball you will see the coaches in sneakers to support cancer research. This year in particular, every women’s team has pink uniforms and shoes in support of breast cancer research. The PGA has decided to jump on that wagon and hold a tournament to promote awareness of global warming. Thousands of pounds of fake snow will be strewn across the tee boxes and greens on the course. Also, all the players will be requisite to wear eskimo coats and ski masks. Instead of a nice car, a sled with a prize winning team of sled dogs awaits the lucky golfer who gets a hole-in-one. Al Gore has not been invited to the tournament for fear that he will declare he invented golf too.

New Kind of Madness to Invade March

There is only one time of the year that everyone gets excited about basketball, and that is the NCAA’s March Madness. 65 teams battle in a single elimination tournament for the right to be crowned the National Champion. For those teams that don’t make the March Madness Tournament, there is the NIT (National Invitation Tournament). Then there are those teams that weren’t invited to either that sit at home. Following suit of college football, where just about every team with a winning record gets to play in the bowl, college basketball wants to do something similar. Starting next year, it is rumored that college basketball will add one more tournament for the rest of the teams in the country that had a winning record and no invitations to a tournament. They will duke it out in what will be called the “Mediocre Madness Tournament.” Now everyone can get excited to fill out three brackets!!!

College football has a couple of weeks where the top teams have “scrimmage” against less than competitive opponents. In college basketball there are several weeks of such “scrimmages.” If you haven’t paid much attention to college hoops until now, you are probably in good company. With college basketball having a top 25, but lacking a BCS system, it makes it less critical for teams to win every game in front of them on their schedule. Although taking the season as a whole in considerstion when filling out your March Madness brackett, you really only need to pay attention to the conference tournaments at the end of the season and who’s hot to fill out a fairly decent brackett. In the end though, the office idiot always seems to be the one that wins. You know what I’m talking about, the person that fills out their brackett acording to mascots, colors, or schools they have actually heard of??? It happens all the time, but for those of us that truly enjoy the excitement and passion of college basketball, you need to catch the action now. If your devotion to college basketball has been lacking so far this season, here are a few things you might have missed:

North Carolina is the most talented individually, but are they the #1 team?

(1) Oklahoma is Good in Basketball Too – The Sooners just completed another successfull football season, losing in the BCS National Title Game and finishing #5 in the nation. Backed by sophomore phenom Blake Griffin, the Sooner basketball team is also ranked #5 in the nation. Averaging 22 points and 13 rebounds per game, the Sooners better make the best of this year because all things are pointing towards Griffin entering the NBA Draft this summer. I wouldn’t call the Sooners “the new Jayhawks,” but they are having a great season so far.

(2) UNC Off to a Slow Start – The Tar Heels fell short of a National Title last year, but all the players committed to coming back for another year (including Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough…who also just barely became the leading scorer in North Carolina history). The Tar Heels slipped up last week losing to Boston College at home and then lost to Wake Forest this week. They should be fine with their loss to Wake Forest, who are #3 in the nation, but their loss to BC might not sit as nicely with them because BC followed their schlacking of the Tar Heels by losing to Harvard. No, that wasn’t a typo, Harvard has a basketball team and BC lost to them at home.

(3) The Big East is Pretty Good – For being so horrible in football, the Big East Conference more than makes up for it in basketball. Not only is Pittsburgh the current #1 team in the land, but there are seven other teams that are currently ranked in the top 25. Now that we are getting into the nitty gritty of conference play, I wouldn’t suspect this to be the case at the end of the season, but it is impressive. The Big East will become victim of Donner Party Syndrome, a.k.a conference cannibalism.

2008 was hailed by ESPN as “the greatest year in sports.” It all comes down to the eyes of the beholder, I doubt the sports fans of the greater New England area, Los Angeles, or Seattle would share those same sentiments. It seems unlikely that a golfer and swimmer are in the top 3 sports stories, but that’s just what kind of year it was:

Top 3

Tiger Woods sinks a put to force an 18 hole playoff in the '08 U.S. Open

(1) New York Giants Impropapble Super Bowl Win - It was the most viewed Super Bowl ever, and it did not fail in delivering a spectacular show. The New England Patriots were heavy favorites as they attempted to be the first team to win 19 games in a season and finish undefeated (the ‘72 Dolphins still claim to be the only perfect team because they won the Super Bowl in their undefeated year). The only thing standing in their way was a mediocre New York Giants team that had to rally off consecutive wins on the road to get into the Playoffs and then win three straight on the road to get to the Super Bowl. In a season of “unbelievables,” the Giants victory was the top one. 

(2) Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open Victory – You don’t have to be a Tiger Woods fan, let alone a golf fan, to appreciate what Tiger did in the ‘08 U.S. Open. Tiger was having extremely noticeable pain in his knee and it was visibly apparent. He limped his way into an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate after draining a birdie putt on the 72nd hole. After the 18-hole playoff, they were still tied, but Tiger snatched the win on the 91st hole. Tiger had season ending knee surgery after the tournament and news leaked that he was advised by doctors to not even play. Throw out Michael Jordan and his performance with the flu in the ‘97 Finals, what Tiger did was far more amazing. 

(3) Michael Phelps’ Historic Performance – Go back 8 years to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, how many swimming events were televised? I am guessing not many, and the amount of people that watched them was more or less the same. Enter Michael Phelps in 2004 and he changed the face of Olympic swimming, perhaps forever. Phelps started the Beijing Olympics off to an amazing start for the Americans with his 9 gold medals. Who would have thought that the track and field teams would be the ones to disappoint us…and that aside from basketball, swimming events would have been the most watched? I’ve got a feeling that fencing and handball will never get that popular. Take away skimpy bikinis and sand volleyball will plummet…

Honorable Mentions: Boston Celtics Beat Kobe, Lakers / Philadelphia Phillies Win the World Series

Seattle Sonics fans have lots of good memories, one of them will now be when the Sonics were in existence.

Bottom 3

(1) The Supersonics Exile from the NBA - Small markets beware! NBA Commissioner David Stern and just about every owner that is not a citizen in the community that he owns a team in do not care about your team. Forget about history, forget about the fans’ love for “their” team, if it isn’t making the owner or the NBA as much money as they think it should then they will sell it. What happened with the Seattle Supersonics is despicable, their owner sold the team and moved them to Oklahoma City. Most will argue, but I believe it all started with the community of Seattle choosing not to fund the building of a new arena. Why don’t the players pay for it instead of hard working citizens in Seattle anyway? Most of them aren’t millionaires because they are talented, it’s because they are big and tall, right? Someone get back to me with answers to my questions! 

(2) Plaxico and His Guns - From Super Bowl Champion to under arrest, Plaxico Burress had a up and down year to say the least. So Plaxico has a lot of guns, none of which he is licensed to have, what should he do with them? Hide them? Sell them for profit? Nah, Plaxico decided to take one with him to a club and shoot himself in the leg. This should be a lesson to him that he is not above the law, but so many NFL players have gotten off the hook lately (except Michael Vick) that I think Plaxico might get his hand slapped and dismissed. If Plaxico would have played Halo, he would know that shooting yourself with a shotgun is not good. 

(3) Coaching Carousels – Between the three major league sports (NFL, NBA, and MLB) there were over 30 coaches dismissed. The number balloons out even more if you add in collegiate sports. Two of the NFL’s latest dismissals are both surprising and sudden. The Denver Broncos fired Mike Shanahan, their two-time Super Bowl Champion coach that had been there nearing 20 years. The New York Jets fired Eric Mangini, who was a genius only a season ago and who’s players all seem to not be in agreeance with ownership over his dismissal. I have another job (besides a sports writer), if I don’t perform well then my boss doesn’t get fired. I would get a pay decrease or get fired. Shouldn’t players be held to the same standard? It’s their job to win isn’t it? I’ve yet to see a coach hit a baseball, catch a football, or make a 3-point basket. 

Honorable Mentions: UNC Falls Short in Final 4 / AFL Philadelphia Soul Win Arena Bowl but Lose Money

With the bowl season over half way over, the best is yet to come. With the exception of a few diamonds in the rough, this slate of games will prove to be some of the most enterataining and competitive. This college football season has been wonderful, we look forward to pick up where we left off next fall with more Sunday Headlines.

-01/01 – Gator Bowl ~ Clemson – Nebraska – “Storm Finally Arrives at Clemson” All pre-season we heard about Clemson’s running back tandem of “Thunder & Lightning,” which has been spotty all season. Nebraska has had their fair shares of up and downs as well. The Tigers will have a hayday running the ball against the Husker defense.

-01/01 – Rose Bowl ~ USC – Penn State – “Trojans Show Penn State the Door” Talk about a “central” site, USC will have to travel a few minutes up the road while Penn State will go thousands of miles to reach the Rose Bowl. Both these teams had bad losses to unranked teams, they both had “what could have been” seasons. There’s always next year, and Joe Paterno will be as well barring a heart attack or broken hip.

-01/01 – FedEx Orange Bowl ~ Cincinnati – Virginia Tech – “Hokies Get Clawed” If there ever was a bigger joke in the BCS, please reveal it to me. The fact that the Big East and ACC get automatic bids is an outrage, no doubt the officials for each BCS bowl were fighting over who had to take these two teams. The BCS will explain this phenomenon as “cyclical,” they would make good politicians.

Heisman winner Sam Bradford is ready to put some points up on the Gators.

-01/02 – Cotton Bowl ~ Texas Tech – Mississippi – “Red Raiders Roll Rebels” Texas Tech got snubbed by the BCS in a big way. As opposed to a rematch with Texas, which was one of the best games of the year, the Fiesta Bowl opted to take a 2-loss Ohio State. Texas Tech will take their frustrations out on Mississippi, it gets old being the ugly smart kid that gets looked over in favor of cute blonde for Class President.

-01/02 – Autozone Liberty Bowl ~ East Carolina - Kentucky – “Pirates End How They Started” Skip Holtz was looking to be a household name like his father early this year with East Carloina’s great start. Then the Pirates started losing and Holtz became an afterthought. Kentucky played tough this year, but toughness doesn’t always equate to wins.   

-01/02 – Allstate Sugar Bowl ~ Alabama – Utah – “Tide Rolls Utes” Take a fish out of water and they die. The Utes water is not the southeast, this is a home game for Alabama. If this game was played in Tempe it would be much more competitive. The Utes belong in a BCS bowl, but they got shafted with this bowl selection.

-01/03 – International Bowl ~ Connecticut - Buffalo – “O’ Turner Gill” Head coach Turner Gill has done wonders in Buffalo, but UConn has always done wonders since it became a 1-A football program in 2002. Buffalo is on a hot streak after defeating Ball State in the MAC Championship Game and will continue streaking against the Huskies.

-01/05 – Tostitos Fiesta Bowl ~ Texas – Ohio State - ”Buckeyes Get Mack Attacked ” I think Mack Brown is upset about being left out of the National Championship Game, and rightfully so. The Longhorns did in fact beat the Oklahoma Sooners earlier this year. On the flip side, the Buckeyes are grateful to be playing in this game, but they won’t after what happens to them.

-01/06 – GMAC Bowl ~ Ball State – Tulsa – “Golden Hurricane Rips Through Ball State” The questions remains if Ball State has the will power to bounce back from their loss in the MAC Championship and be able to regroup after losing their head coach to San Diego State. In terms of offensive power, Tulsa will be Ball State’s toughest oppenent of the year, we will defeinitely see what they are made of.

-01/08 – Fedex National Championship Game ~ Oklahoma – Florida – “Bommer Sooners Break Streak-Win BCS Title” The Florida Gators are one of the hottest teams in college football, but Oklahoma is one of the most talented. The record of Heisman winners in their bowl games is poor, but the Sooners will ride that ship with a huge win.

"How about a nice foot-ball?"

Once a year we celebrate Christmas, the one time of the year where we can forget ourselves and reach out to others in a spirit of goodwill and peace. We also give our bosses a nice gift and not a flaming brown bag that we thought about giving them so many times during the year. Not to mention, we act like raged maniacs in stores and fight over parking spots with our car blinkers. With the NBA season starting, the NFL playoff push winding down, and the college football Bowl season in full force, there aren’t exactly feelings of goodwill and peace in sports. That’s why we love them though, we love the competition. The NBA has been trying to incorporate basketball into the Christmas tradition, similar to what the NFL has done with football on Thanksgiving. In just a matter of a few years, the NBA has gone from no games on Christmas to five games this year. The initial Christmas rivalry was Kobe vs. Shaq, but that wore off once Shaq turned very old very fast. Before being shipped to Phoenix, Shaq played Santa at the Heat Christmas Parties. This year the best game will probably be last year’s Finals rematch, it helps that the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics are a combined  50-7. Whether you are watching basketball or trying to figure out your kid’s Transformers without breaking them, have a safe holiday and check back on Friday for College Football Bowls Preview: Part III. Merry Christmas!