Ball State Football is Quite Entertaining

So maybe Jason Whitlock has a point. He's definitely a polarizing character, but personally I enjoy most of his articles and interviews he does. If you're not familiar with Whitlock, he's originally from Indianapolis; was a standout offensive lineman at Warren Central in the 80's blocking for Jeff George; played football at Ball State; and is currently a sportswriter for the Kansas City Star. Check out his Wikipedia entry if you care for more info about the guy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Whitlock. Anyway, he regularly calls into The Drive with JMV on local Indy station AM 1260 in the afternoons. JMV challenged him last week before the Ball State season opener to put something on the line if the Cardinals don't win at least 10 games this season. This of course is after Whitlock's hyping of his alma mater as a potential BCS buster. After all this talk, I took time the other night to watch the Ball State vs Navy game on Friday. Those Cardinals sure are fun to watch! They remind me of Boise State from a few years ago, but not quite as innovative or risky as those teams were. Apparently Ball State has scheduled several non-Saturday games this season, which is a great way to get on national TV and build up some BCS hype like teams in the past such as Boise State, Louisville, Utah, etc in recent years. Best of luck to the Cardinals and maybe I'll make the hour drive to Muncie for one of their games before it gets too cold out!

In comparison, my beloved Buckeyes sucked up the field today against Ohio U and were lucky to get the victory. Hopefully the Buckeyes let loose next Saturday night against USC and put up a good fight against the Trojans. I have a feeling it could get ugly early though, especially if Beanie Wells is not 100%. We'll see...

Buckeyes primed for title run in '08

After that somewhat disappointing performance by the young Buckeyes in last night's BCS Championship game against LSU, as a Buckeyes fan one could be depressed about the ass beating that lasted the final 3 quarters of the game. Any knowledgeable OSU fan can admit that these Buckeyes overachieved this year considering we all thought this would be a great rebuilding year with all the underclassmen playing. It was nice to see some of the young guys getting some quality playing time last night so they will be better prepared to handle the excitement and adrenaline if they make it to the championship game again next season.

There have been rumors that LB James Laurinaitis, DE Vernon Gholston, and CB Malcolm Jenkins may leave school early and declare eligible for the NFL Draft this year.

Personally, I was not that impressed with Laurinaitis this season when OSU actually played decent competition, especially in last nights game vs LSU. He had a ton of tackles, but he also was made the bitch of LSU linemen on several occasions in the second half and failed to cover (or assign anyone to be accountable for) the TE on at least 2 huge plays. He needs to stick around for one more year and fine tune his decision making, leadership skills, and overall size. If he is able to do that, he should be a top 5 pick in the '09 draft and will be able to be an instant impact player in the NFL just like AJ Hawk was last year for the Packers.

Gholston is a beast and should just go to the pro's as he would be an instant starter for whoever drafts him in the first round this year. OSU seems to replace big DL every year with quality players, so I am not too worried about his departure.

Jenkins could also benefit from another season in college, but cover corners in the NFL are tough to find, so I am sure advisors will convince him to go pro. He would no doubt be one of the top 3 CB's drafted, along with Aqib Talib from Kansas and Mike Jenkins from South Florida.

Everyone else should be back and better due to the great experiences they have had this season, especially in the championship game.

Another 3-0 weekend for my teams

The OSU-Michigan game was pretty ugly and boring, but we managed to get a big W out of it to wrap up sole possession of the Big 10 championship. It's a shame to see Lloyd Carr go--it has been nice these last few years to be able to count on a victory to close out the regular season. Michigan can be scary again if they bring in a solid guy who can recruit as good as or better than Tressel. It will now be interesting to see how many higher ranked teams than Ohio State lose now. If Missouri beats Kansas and UConn beats WVU this weekend, then LSU loses in the SEC championship game and Missouri gets beat in the Big 12 championship game, where does that leave the Buckeyes? I honestly hope that things do not play out in a way that OSU ends up in the top 2 of the BCS because I think it will be nice to get these players to the Rose Bowl and hopefully the majority of the underclassmen stick around for another year and take a shot at the national championship next year. If they can hold onto most of their key guys, they should be in good shape to make a run for it.

The Colts-Chiefs game was horrible to watch. I honestly nearly fell asleep on my couch several times during the game. I wasn't even hung over from the Buckeyes game the day before! AV needs to get himself healthy in time for the stretch run against our divisional opponents and the playoffs. He is such a likable guy and it's bullshit that the fans were booing him after those misses. My thought on the matter is if AV really is not 100% healthy, then Dungy should have just went for it on those 4th downs. It really was nice to see Dungy take a step in building up AV's confidence (and the other players confidence in him) by letting him kick the game winner. Although the only thing I can't figure out--why the hell does Dungy always call a timeout with too many seconds left on the clock? I mean, it's fourth down anyway, so it's not like you can fumble a snap, fall on it, and get another chance. Why take the chance of having someone run back a kickoff, especially when your coverage teams are so spotty? Anyway, we got the W and should be able to build up some more confidence this Thursday against the Falcons. Byron Leftwich thought he could get away from the Colts. At least Freeney isn't around to hurt him again. I'm just pissed that I may need to go to a bar to watch the game on Thurs night. The in-laws cable provider does not have NFL Network and it does not appear that they are getting a simulcast on their local NBC affiliate, like they are doing here in Indy. What a concept.

And the Cleveland freaking Browns. All I have to say is Fuck You Baltimore! It really was an entertaining game to watch though. There have been a lot of exciting Browns games this season, but this field goal deal is the topper so far. Josh Cribbs is sick--nuff said.

Not a good weekend for my teams in the W/L column

Well, this was an all-around shitty weekend for my favorite teams. The Buckeyes lost to an up-and-coming Illinois team on Saturday afternoon, the Browns blew a nice lead and lost to the Steelers on Sunday afternoon, and then the Colts sucked up the field on Sunday night against the Chargers.

I'm OK with the Buckeyes loss. As long as they beat up Michigan this weekend and end up playing in the Rose Bowl, I am OK with it all. Illinois really had a strong game plan by Ron Zook and their guys executed it, especially Juice Williams. I had watched U of I play a few other games earlier this season and they showed flashes of a top 25 team, but they really put it together on Saturday for a complete game. No small feat in the Horseshoe.

I am about 75% OK with the Browns loss. Granted, the expectations were pretty low going into the Steelers game, but it just sucks to have the division leader on the ropes and be unable to knock them out in the 4th quarter. Plus, a Steelers loss would have helped give the Colts a bit more breathing room as they struggle to hold onto the #2 seed in the AFC. It's almost as if the Browns are playing well in spite of their coach at this point. Romeo Crennel is simply NOT a good head coach. Poor game management, use of timeouts, challenges, clock management, etc. In a way I am hoping for a late season collapse by the Browns just to increase the odds of Crennel losing his job at the end of the season. The first round draft pick is going to the Cowboys anyway, so who cares.

Ah, the Colts. All I can say is, the Chargers really suck. Actually, the players are really good--it's the head coach that sucks balls. I've never been impressed with Philip Rivers either, but they should still be able to win games with players like Tomlinson and Gates. Just get the ball in their hands. It would be great to get a few starters back on the field here in Indy though. If I have to see Aaron Moorehead's bulgy eyes on TV again I am going to puke. I can't believe the Colts keep him on their roster year after year. I was OK with Craphonso Thorpe's performance. Someone needs to tell Bryan Fletcher and Ben Utecht's asses to just run their routes, catch the ball, and either fall down or run out of bounds immediately. They both always look like they are going to fumble the ball as soon as a defender gets close. I am all for the mentality of "fighting for every yard", etc., but when you never get anywhere and all you get is a mob of defensive players trying to hold you up and rip the ball out, it starts to seem counterproductive. I swear to god if I see Fletcher try to stiff arm some dude again I may throw my frosty mug through the wall.

All in all, it was a shitty weekend of football watching in my house. The only thing I really enjoyed was finally watching the Knocked Up movie DVD. Great fuckin movie. I haven't gotten to the bonus features yet, but I have heard they are hilarious as well.

Does this make me a bad Buckeyes fan?

As a loyal fan, I rarely want one of my teams to lose a particular game. I am a bit torn regarding my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes playing against Illinois this weekend. I think it is in the best interest of the team and us fans. I love that Ohio State is ranked #1, tied for tops in the Big 10, etc., but I REALLY want to beat the team from up north the following weekend, but not have to face LSU in the title game in January. If we just barely lose to U of I this Saturday, and then destroy the team we play the following weekend, we would still win the Big 10 and should go to the Rose Bowl, thus avoiding another embarassment against an SEC team in the title game 2 years in a row. I guess LSU has looked vulnerable lately, so OSU may have a chance against them. If the Buckeyes win out, they will stay #1, and it will be interesting to see what happens if Oregon wins out and then LSU, Oklahoma, and Kansas all lose. Of course, everyone will complain about the Big 10 and Pac 10 not having a championship game like the other conferences do. I like the Buckeyes chances against Oregon more than LSU or Oklahoma. We could take Kansas, I think. Although I thoroughly enjoy watching Kansas football games for nothing more than the action shots of Coach Mangino on the sideline.

Buckeyes vs Penn State weather forecast

I was just looking up the weather forecast for my Buckeyes game this Saturday night against Penn State in State College and found this great clip.

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

Get this guy on TV!