phoenixrising

Will there be a final poll? Just wondering, since that was the way the preseason top 10 for this years contest was determined.

Wade Boggs Ryne Sandberg Andre Dawson Hopefully Ron Santo or Gil Hodges by the VC

PS2: Killzone, Call of Duty:Finest Hour and GTA: San Andreas. My parents went to Best Buy and boutht Ace Combat 5 and a memory card for my brother's new PS2, so we gave them $80 in Best Buy gift cards. I highly recommend Killzone. Great game.

I Form - Normal/Shotgun - Normal/Shotgun - Trips: Angle The Angle pass play is in all three sets. The HB flares out, then cuts hard inside (his pattern looks like a right angle). Keep your eye on the middle linebacker. Wait for the HB to clear the MLB, then dump it off. Easy five to ten yard pass. Shotgun - Y-Trips: Clearout Favorite of mine. #1 reciever runs a 10 yard hook. If he's covered, the HB flares out and if you hit him just right you can get a big play. I'd also suggest any play that has the HB running a streak pattern. Motion him out to get him into the pattern quicker. You can leave him in but keep in mind he'll take longer to get downfield. Ace and Shotgun formations usually have good pass plays for the halfback. I don't run a lot of screens, the AI is very good at identifying them. Usually I run the screen out of the Ace - Normal or Ace - Big sets, because the #2 WR runs a post. Safety comes up for the runner, I just wait for the reciever to get inside the CB and hit him for 15 yards.

No one has mentioned Moneyball (Michael Lewis) yet, surprisingly. Lewis does a great job of covering the strategy Billy Beane and his staff use to evaluate players, and how they successfully built a 100-win team from one of baseball's lowest payrolls. He does a good job of explaining sabermetric measures such as DIPS and Runs Created, and how they can be applied to player evaluations. A fine book, and a good recommendation for those that want to know exactly how Moneyball works (after hearing Dodger fans the past few weeks, they need to find a copy of this book now).

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Batman Begins Fantastic Four

Santo should have been in like yesterday. Put him in now. I'd also support Hodges, Minoso, Kaat and Gordon.

I'm on my third dynasty. Dynasty 1: UCLA - Went 12-0, beat #2 USC 62-21 to advance to the national championship game, beat Ohio State in the title game. Then I decide to leave for Texas, decided they weren't the team for me (run-oriented and no good receivers) so I started another one. Dynasty 2: Florida - Went 12-0, beat #2 FSU to advance to the national title game, beat Texas in the title game. But...too many suspensions (thank you Channing Crowder) and the easy way to the top (I was in BCS contention immediately) just caused me to lose interest. Dynasty 3: current - Hawaii. Undefeated against, well, a schedule a 1-AA team could do well against, though I have wins over three ranked teams. I just like it cause I can throw 50-60 times a game. I'm trying to break the passing yardage/passing TD records but I might not break them because A) I'm facing two and possibly three teams from major conferences and B)my brother also has a dynasty, plays on Varsity (I play on All-American) and will probably put up ridiculous numbers. So if I have it ti will be for a very short period of time.

I'd favor an eight team tournament. The tournament won't be very long (three weeks to play all the games) and you'd be able to fit most of the true title contenders in (I'd rather leave out the #9 team with two losses than an undefeated or one loss #3 team). Either way someone is going to be left out, I'd rather it be a team with a somewhat good chance of winning the title than a team that deserves to play in the title game (Miami 2000, Oregon/Colorado 2001, USC 2003, Auburn 2004).

Valtrex is always looking for a new spokesperson...

I remember Irwindale being mentioned in the 80's when they were talking about a new stadium for the Raiders. Kinda like San Bernardino but about 40 minutes closer. I have heard pretty reasonable proposals about the Rose Bowl, mostly giving it a facelift, taking out some seats and putting in luxury boxes. I think it would work, Pasadena is a pretty nice area so people wouldn't be scared out of their minds to go to the game. Only negative would be the golf course getting its grass messed up - at UCLA games the golf course is the overflow parking lot.

Baltimore really seems to have taken to their new team. LA won't be the same way. The Raiders might have a shot. Any other team would have to win and win from the minute they get to LA to even have a hope of drawing the Laker fans away from the games. And an expansion team? Don't even get me started. I just can't see LA fans taking to an expansion team the way Cleveland did with their new Browns. Hell, they can't even decide on a stadium site. I just find it funny that every time a team gets mentioned they mention the Coliseum. NO ONE WANTS TO GO THERE!!!! It's in South Central and people still remember the riots that were LA Raiders games in the early '90s. The one passable option I heard was Leiweke wanting to buy a bunch of land near Staples and putting a stadium there, which would have been fun just to see the endless traffic delays. Basically, everyone but the fans want a team in LA. I think the NFL waited too long...had they followed the game plan they did with Cleveland MAYBE a team would have worked. As the years go on the chances of success diminish. And the team with the best chance of moving is the Chargers, I think San Diego has not approved a new stadium yet, and this year the practice facilities were moved up to Carson (another suggested stadium site. What's so special about Carson? Other than the oil rigs in nearby Wilmington, you tell me) so that could be a preemptive strike. We can't get football, yet we can support two soccer teams? I hate to admit it, but LA is one screwed up town to be a fan in.

Boggs will be in for sure, and I hope Sandberg gets in as well. I think Dawson and Blyleven might be the class of 2006, where there is no shoo-in candidate. 2007 is obviously McGwire, Ripken, Gwynn. I don't think the main reason Eck got in is because he was a former starter, though that helped (190 wins/300 saves). I think he got in based on the fact that he was just so dominant during his time in the A's pen, and was a significant factor in their 1988-90 run. Smith still has the most saves ever, but he never had the dominant season Eck had in 1991. A lot of getting into the Hall depends on your teammates too, and it helped that Eck appeared in three World Series while Smith never pitched for a pennant winner. Question for al: How is the Veteran's Committee made up now? I know it was revamped to supposedly get rid of the bias but now it seems like it's nearly impossible to elect someone. They have Ron Santo, one of the best third basemen ever to play the game on their lst, you would think it was a shoo-in vote.

One thing I like about NCAA 2005 is the matchup stick where you can see how good each player is in comparison to his opponent. This allows me to see who I can take advantage of, and where the strengths of my team are. Sometimes I will look at the opponent beforehand and look for weaknesses, but the matchup stick allows me to do it on the field. I look at my line and decide how I will run the ball. If I have a good center and a guard I'll run HB Iso straight up the middle, if I have a good tackle it's toss/off tackle time. In the passing game I'll look for mismatches and take advantage, especially if I have a good reciever on a bad corner. On defense I usually look at the recievers - I'll give up short gains but I hate giving up long plays so if I have bad corners on a good wideout I will double team more. About the dropped passes - big problem on NCAA 2005. I moved the WR Catching bar almost up to maximum and moved QB Accuracy up, and it seems to have cut down. Still, any throw with a defender within five yards is a 50/50 shot if the reciever holds on to it. Also the batted ball system seems to work against me a lot, as the defense usually has about six guys around the ball, and take out my guy so they can intercept it. Then again I've had several INT's off of batted balls so I really can't complain.

THURSDAY Connecticut at Rutgers West Virginia at Pittsburgh FRIDAY Colorado at Nebraska LSU at Arkansas Texas A&M at Texas Arizona State at Arizona SATURDAY Wake Forest at Maryland Memphis at South Florida Virginia at Virginia Tech Missouri at Iowa State Mississippi State at Mississippi Tulane at TCU UAB at Southern Miss Louisiana Tech at Rice Oklahoma State at Texas Tech Notre Dame at USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the A&M/Texas game? 52 Tiebreak #2: How many yards passing Pittsburgh's Tyler Palko have against West Virginia? 275

A few thoughts... It doesn't surprise me that some cameraman, in the middle of everything going on, managed to find a crying kid. And once that film was shot every news station in the country was begging for it. I'm curious to see how the Indiana fans will act when the rematch comes along. Do they try the same tactic on Ben or Rasheed Wallace and try to get them suspended? Or do they act in a civilized manner? I dont think the Pistons will react though, you know Larry Brown will be talking to his players about restraint any chance he gets before tipoff. Suspension lengths... Ben Wallace: 3 games. Wallace completely lost his nerve and probably would have been fined even if the melee hadn't take place. The seriousness of the matter and my thinking that the NBA is going to come down as hard as possible on all involved means that he's probably going to get a multiple game suspension. But he wasn't involved in the fracas so I think he'll be gone for 3 games. Jermaine O'Neal: 5-10 games. He'll get at least five for assaulting the fan, even if it was on the court. Stephen Jackson: 20 games. NBA already set precedent by suspending Vernon Maxwell for 15 when he went after the fan, so Jackson will get at least 15 and probably more. Ron Artest: Definitely more than Jackson. 25-30 games, at least. If he doesn't get suspended the whole season I'll be shocked. Artest probably deserves some praise for being able to keep his cool until the plastic cup hit him. But his past is going to come back to bite him in the ass. The NBA has been publicly humiliated by this, and I bet they're looking for a scapegoat. Artest is the perfect scapegoat. I can see him being suspended the entire season. I'm also thinking he's going to have to enter an anger management program. Why he hasn't been ordered to before is beyond me, but it certainly will happen now. Sadly, it would give him the month off he needs to promote his band's CD.

I saw the fight happen on ESPN while I was at Dave and Busters' I just happened to stop and saw all hell breaking loose. I wonder how many fans will be arrested tonight. Completely uncalled for at a sporting event. It was uncalled for for Artest to go into the stands and start punching away but the fan's behavior was completely uncalled for as well. Security didn't do their job and the incident escalated from a minor fracas to a major incident. While I can understand but can't defend the Pacers reaction (it is always wrong for players to go into the seats to attack fans), the behavior of Detroit fans was inappropriate and shameful. On the lighter side of things, never screw with Jermaine O'Neal again. Talk about the mother of all punches, it was so hard that O'Neal lost his balance. Damn. So how much security will the rematch have? I'm betting on two National Guard regiments.

THURSDAY Maryland at Virginia Tech SATURDAY South Carolina at Clemson Iowa State at Kansas State Virginia at Georgia Tech Michigan at Ohio State UAB at Army Ball State at Central Michigan Rutgers at Navy Middle Tennessee at Troy Kansas at Missouri Arkansas at Mississippi State San Jose State at Tulsa Colorado State at Air Force Auburn at Alabama Wisconsin at Iowa Oregon at Oregon State Florida at Florida State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Maryland/Virginia Tech Game? 41 Tiebreak #2: How many yards passing will Maryland's Joel Stathan have against Virginia Tech? 205

1. Carlos Beltran - Astros 2. Adrian Beltre - Dodgers 3. Brad Radke - Dodgers 4. Edgar Renteria - Cardinals 5. Pedro Martinez - Red Sox 6. Carlos Delgado - Mariners 7. Magglio Ordonez - Mets 8. Jason Varitek - Red Sox 9. Carl Pavano - Yankees 10. Richie Sexson - Diamondbacks 11. J.D. Drew - Braves 12. Nomar Garciaparra - Cubs 13. Troy Glaus - Mariners 14. Armando Benitez - Giants 15. Odalis Perez - Cardinals 16. Troy Percival - Cubs 17. Matt Clement - Marlins 18. Orlando Cabrera - Red Sox 19. Jeff Kent - Cubs 20. Moises Alou - Tigers And for bonus points, here are five players frequently mentioned in trade talks. Are they traded, and if so, where? 1. Sammy Sosa - White Sox 2. Randy Johnson - Yankees 3. Kevin Brown - Rangers 4. Charles Johnson - Dodgers 5. Jose Guillen - Asylum. Kidding, I'll say Washington. Finally, does Roger Clemens retire? Yeah, right.

THURSDAY Florida State at N.C. State FRIDAY Southern Miss at Memphis Hawaii at Fresno State SATURDAY Iowa at Minnesota Penn State at Indiana North Carolina at Wake Forest Texas Tech at Texas A&M Connecticut at Georgia Tech Kansas State at Colorado Troy at Louisiana-Lafayette Georgia at Auburn Miami at Virginia UCLA at Oregon Oregon State at Stanford Ohio State at Purdue Eastern Michigan at Kent State New Mexico at BYU Nevada at SMU South Carolina at Florida Army at Tulane Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Southern Miss/Memphis game? 52 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Florida State's Wyatt Sexton have against N.C. State? 215

I just found it funny how both Herbstreit and Corso were begging for the defenses to throw in some zone after Louisville went into the half up 35-33. Louisville just pounded Memphis down in the second half, it probably wouldn't have been that dramatic had they remembered to master the quarterback/halfback exchange. Fun game to watch especially if you like offense.

Top five for me right now are Peterson, Leinart, Edwards, Benson, Bush. White has had a good year but Peterson has been having monster games left and right, and his performances against Texas and OSU lead me to rank him over White for the Heisman at this moment. I could care less about only juniors/seniors winning it, Grossman should have won over Crouch in '01, and a good case can be made for Fitzgerald over White last year. I think the Heisman should be awarded to the best player in college football that year, not as an achievement award for a college career. So far Peterson's been ahead of the pack, at least in my mind.

THURSDAY Louisville at Memphis FRIDAY Marshall at Akron North Texas at Louisiana-Lafayette SATURDAY Oklahoma at Texas A&M Ohio State at Michigan State Pittsburgh at Syracuse Arkansas at South Carolina Kansas State at Missouri Georgia Tech at N.C. State Air Force at Army Indiana at Illinois Nebraska at Iowa State Fresno State at Rice Colorado at Kansas Virginia Tech at North Carolina Purdue at Iowa Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan Arizona at Washington Arkansas State at Idaho Wyoming at UNLV Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Marshall/Akron game? 65 Tiebreak #2: How many yards passing will Memphis' Danny Wimprine have against Louisville? 285

I was surprised Chang has only thrown 4 INT's before the Boise State game. Usually he throws 20 or so a season, so it wasn't a surprise he broke the INT record. I've watched Chang a lot the past few years (normally there's a Hawai'i game on late but this year the games are blacked out) and he is a hot and cold quarterback. When he's hot, he's unbelievable. When he's not...well you saw the results.

I still can't believe the freaking RED SOX won a Series. I think hell froze over. Congrats to Red Sox fans, at least you won't have a curse to talk about anymore.