Bored

Actually he got injured early in the season last year and that was part of the hype was having a healthy Nate Longshore. I was going to be happy with any sort of Cal loss here but this is turing into a humiliation for the entire nation to see. I couldn't ask for anymore... YESSSSSSSSSSSSS ANOTHER TOUCHDOWN FOR THE VOLS! 28-0. Game over.

It's all over in Boulder: Montana State 19, Colorado 10. Cal looks completely overmatched against the Vols and I'm loving it.

Brad Nessler and Bob Griese is a perfectly acceptable two man announce crew. What in God's name would possess them to put Paul Maguire with them? Colorado is down 13-10 to Montana State in the 3rd.

ESPN on ABC? The hell? I already hate the new rule where the clock starts back up after a change of possession. Starting it back up after first downs is a good idea but this is overkill and will cost someone in a major game at some point. Idaho/Michigan State was fun. Idaho might actually be relevant in the WAC this year.

Yes that's what it means. Sorry guys about all the typos, I typed out the WYNTW late Wednesday night before I went to bed so I wouldn't have to bother with it after work on Thursday but looks like I rushed through it.

Still tied in Tempe going into the 4th. To show how bad of a showing this has been for ASU, NAU was picked 7th in the Big Sky.

Iowa State escapes 45-43 in three "overtimes." Don't make any plans to the Big XII title game there Cyclones.

I started getting Fox College Sports Central for no apparent reason a couple of months ago on Comcast. Has to be the most bizarre line up as what I mostly see on the channel were constant reairings of Big XII spring games and then "classic" Florida games that were usually blowouts. But I am getting the NAU/ASU game on it tonight so guess I will pick up a few extra games this year. Toledo/ISU both score on first overtime drives, 30-30.

Toledo/Iowa State is going to overtime. Rockets converted two 4th and longs on the game tying drive. Arizona State is losing 14-7 to Northern Arizona in the 2nd quarter.

AGB picked Georgia Tech, fixed.

A real barn burner in Buffalo, 0-0 in the 4th. If it's still scoreless at the end of regulation ESPN soooooo needs to break into that game for overtime. Central Michigan won't go away against BC, back within a touchdown.

Agent Bond34 (San Jose State) failed to make picks. Based on last year's rankings I've selected Kingofthe909's picks to be used as replacement picks. Edit: I realized that Edwin hasn't necessarily locked up a win for the week so I'll list he differing games for them. Who You Need to Win #3 Syracuse* (CanadianChris) vs. #4 Texas A&M* PM (Secret Agent) - GAME OF THE WEEK Cuse: UCLA, Notre Dame A&M: Utah, Georgia Tech Tiebreaks: 44/43, 237/244 #2 LSU* (teke184) vs. #9 Penn State* (therealworldschampion) LSU: Buffalo, Cal, UCLA, Pitt, Miami PS: Temple, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, FSU #5 Miami* (Spaceman Spiff) vs. #10 Florida State* (Kingofthe909) UM: San Diego State, Tennessee, Navy, Virginia FSU: UTEP, Cal, ECU, Pitt Tiebreaks: 52/44, 283/320 #7 Ohio State* (Gert T) vs. #8 South Carolina* (Cuban Linx) OSU: ECU, Virginia, FSU SC: Navy, Pitt, Miami #1 Alabama* PM (AlwaysPissedOff) vs. Hawaii* (Will Scarlet) AL: Virginia, Army HI: Pitt, Arkansas State Tiebreaks: 41/57, 286/205 #6 Georgia Tech* PM (iggymcfly) vs. Notre Dame* (Lando Griffin) GT: Miami OH, UNC, Tennessee, Utah, Army, Georgia Tech, Arizona, Miami ND: Northwestern, Rutgers, Cal, UCLA, Arkansas State, Notre Dame, BYU, FSU Tiebreaks: 51/47, 76/413 San Jose State (Agent Bond34/Kingofthe909) vs. Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto) SJS: No points for four Thursday games, Cal, ECU, Syracuse, FSU UVA: Tennessee, Navy, Wake Forest, Miami Virginia wins if there is a tie. USC* (Cartman) vs. Tennessee* (Art Sandusky) USC: Buffalo, San Diego State, UNC, Cal, Syracuse, Pitt, Arizona TN: Temple, UTEP, Rutgers, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Virginia, BYU Stanford* (Bored) vs. Oregon* (nogoodnick) Stan: UNC, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Army, Miami OR: Rutgers, Cal, Syracuse, Arkansas State, FSU Maryland* (MarvinisaLunatic) vs. Arizona State* PM (Spicy McHaggis) MD: Temple, Miami OH, UTEP, Rutgers, Navy, Syracuse, UCLA, Pitt, BYU ASU: Buffalo, Northwestern, San Diego State, UNC, ECU, Wake Forest, Utah, Virginia, Arizona UCLA* PM (phoenixrising) vs. Rutgers* (the pinjockey) UCLA: Pitt, Arkansas State Rut: Virginia, Army Tiebreaks: 45/60, 305/340 Auburn* PM (Agent of Oblivion) vs. Connecticut* (Silver Phoenix) Aub: Northwestern, Miss State, San Diego State, UNC, ECU, Syracuse, UCLA, Army, Arizona UConn: Miami OH, South Carolina, UTEP, Rutgers, Navy, Wake Forest, Utah, Arkansas State, BYU Buffalo* (Carnival) vs. Temple* PM (Ortonsault) Buff: Miami OH, Utah, Arkansas State, BYU, FSU Tem: Northwestern, UCLA, Army, Arizona, Miami Boise State (bravesfan) vs. Florida* PM (Urban Warfare) BS: Buffalo, Miss State, San Diego State, ECU, Wake Forest UF: Temple, South Carolina, UTEP, Navy, Syracuse San Diego State* PM (The Last Samurai) vs. UTEP* (Angel Grace Blue) SDS: San Diego State, Rutgers, Cal, Navy, Arkansas State, Notre Dame, Arizona, FSU UTEP: UTEP, UNC, Tennessee, ECU, Army, Georgia Tech, BYU, Miami Tiebreaks: 47/58, 325/200 Florida International* (Vitamin X) vs. Miami of Ohio* (Hawk 34) FIU: Temple, Northwestern, UTEP, Navy, Arizona, Miami MOH: Buffalo, Miami OH, San Diego State, ECU, BYU, FSU Tiebreaks: 54/26, 475/261 Kent State* (JHawk) vs. Minnesota* (Vern Gagne) KS: Miss State, San Diego State, Rutgers, Tennessee, Syracuse, Pitt, Army, Georgia Tech MN: South Carolina, UTEP, UNC, Cal, Wake Forest, Virginia, Arkansas State, Notre Dame Tiebreaks: 43/53, 220/318 Oklahoma* (Vampiro69) vs. Kansas State* (Loaded Glove) OK: Rutgers, Navy, Wake Forest, BYU KSU: UNC, ECU, Syracuse, Arizona Tiebreaks: 52/35, 276/320 Oregon State* (Princess Leena) vs. Texas* (UTBroward) OS: Buffalo, San Diego State, UNC, Tennessee, Wake Forest, UCLA, Army, Arizona UT: Temple, UTEP, Rutgers, Cal, Syracuse, Utah, Arkansas State, BYU Tiebreaks: 44/47, 250/264 Michigan* (Jimbo) vs. Kentucky* (Danville Wrestling) UM: Tennessee, Syracuse, Virginia, Arkansas State, Arizona UK: Cal, Wake Forest, Pitt, Army, BYU

Boise State - bravesfan THURSDAY Buffalo Northwestern Mississippi State San Diego State SATURDAY Rutgers California East Carolina Wake Forest UCLA Pittsburgh Army Notre Dame Arizona MONDAY Miami TB: 55/230

You'll only see Yankees/A's if its the ALCS. With the Wild Card a near lock to come out of the Central that means the Yakees or A's would meet the Wild Card winner depending on who ends up with the better record (Yankees currently are 2 games ahead of the A's). Annnnd in other news...David Ortiz is fine, might be back next week. http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view...rticleid=155251

PM'd Picks Florida - Urban Warfare THURSDAY Temple Northwestern South Carolina UTEP SATURDAY Rutgers California Navy Syracuse UCLA Pittsburgh Army Notre Dame Arizona MONDAY Miami Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? 48 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech 307 UCLA - phoenixrising THURSDAY Buffalo Northwestern South Carolina UTEP SATURDAY Rutgers California Navy Wake Forest UCLA Pittsburgh Arkansas State Notre Dame Arizona MONDAY Miami Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? - 45 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech - 305 Georgia Tech - iggymcfly THURSDAY Temple at Buffalo Northwestern at Miami of Ohio South Carolina at Mississippi State UTEP at San Diego State SATURDAY Rutgers at North Carolina California at Tennessee East Carolina at Navy Syracuse at Wake Forest Utah at UCLA Virginia at Pittsburgh Army at Arkansas State Notre Dame at Georgia Tech BYU at Arizona MONDAY Florida State at Miami Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? 51 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech? 76 Auburn - Agent of Oblivion THURSDAY at Buffalo Northwestern at Mississippi State at San Diego State SATURDAY at North Carolina at Tennessee East Carolina Syracuse at UCLA at Pittsburgh Army Notre Dame at Arizona MONDAY Florida State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? 67 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech 367 Arizona State - Spicy McHaggis THURSDAY Buffalo Northwestern South Carolina San Diego State SATURDAY North Carolina California East Carolina Wake Forest Utah Virginia Army Notre Dame Arizona MONDAY Florida State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? 45 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech? 230 San Diego State - The Last Samurai THURSDAY Temple at Buffalo Northwestern at Miami of Ohio South Carolina at Mississippi State UTEP at San Diego State SATURDAY Rutgers at North Carolina California at Tennessee East Carolina at Navy Syracuse at Wake Forest Utah at UCLA Virginia at Pittsburgh Army at Arkansas State Notre Dame at Georgia Tech BYU at Arizona MONDAY Florida State at Miami Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? 47 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech? 325 Temple - Ortonsault THURSDAY Buffalo Northwestern South Carolina UTEP SATURDAY North Carolina Tennessee Navy Wake Forest UCLA Pittsburgh Army Notre Dame Arizona MONDAY Miami Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? 60 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech? 238 Texas A&M - Secret Agent THURSDAY[/b] Temple at Buffalo Northwestern at Miami of Ohio South Carolina at Mississippi State UTEP at San Diego State SATURDAY Rutgers at North Carolina California at Tennessee East Carolina at Navy Syracuse at Wake Forest Utah at UCLA Virginia at Pittsburgh Army at Arkansas State Notre Dame at Georgia Tech BYU at Arizona MONDAY Florida State at Miami Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the California/Tennessee game? 43 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Notre Dame's Brady Quinn have against Georgia Tech 244 Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff Buffalo Northwestern South Carolina UTEP Rutgers Tennessee Navy Wake Forest UCLA Virginia Army Notre Dame Arizona Miami TB #1: 41 TB #2: 286

And I giggle at the thought of certain A's fans who were demanding that Bynum make the Opening Day roster because he was out of options. If the Angels lose tonight the A's will close out August with the second largest lead in the Majors. Didn't see that happening a month ago. I just want those last four games in Anaheim to close out the season to be irrelevent.

Season starts in less than 24 hours. I do wish there was a big game tommorrow night to kick off the season like USC/Virginia Tech two years ago. UTEP/San Diego State is the match-up that interets me the most but sadly I still don't get CSTV.

You're all missing the final piece of the puzzle....

Been a little while now since the last MVP Watch as was waiting for Hardball Times to finally update the Win Shares totals. Hey so did you hear that Ryan Howard is now the N.L. MVP winner? If your left handed and fat, this is your year! You know the media goo-goos and ga-gas over homeruns and RBI and then they wonder why players take steroids? Of course is Howard even the MVP of the Phillies is a more interesting question. As for the league he's in Top 10 but with a month left he's got no shot at the top spot on my ballot. Now as for the #1 spot things keep getting more interesting. I really, really wanted to give Beltran the top spot finally but I didn't pull the trigger but that might change a month from now. Also we may have a late 3rd candidate to the race as Miguel Cabrera clocks at a very strong #3. #10 Nick Johnson, Nationals .286/.423/.511, 93 RC, .312 EQA, 42.5 VORP, 22 Win Shares #9 David Wright, Mets .294/.369/.511, 97 RC, .294 EQA, 34.4 VORP, 24 Win Shares #8 Ryan Howard, Phillies .294/.382/.628, 96 RC, .313 EQA, 50.2 VORP, 22 Win Shares #7 Jose Reyes, Mets .298/.351/.488, 103 RC, .285 EQA, 47.9 VORP, 25 Win Shares #6 Chase Utley, Phillies .317/.385/.525, 94 RC, .296 EQA, 53.5 VORP, 23 Win Shares #5 Alfonso Soriano, Nationals .294/.365/.603, 110 RC, .303 EQA, 52.9 VORP, 28 Win Shares #4 Lance Berkman, Astros .308/.414/.614, 112 RC, .323 EQA, 54.7 VORP, 27 Win Shares #3 Miguel Cabrera, Marlins .337/.426/.585, 117 RC, .328 EQA, 64.8 VORP, 30 Win Shares #2 Carlos Beltran, Mets .286/.389/.631, 111 RC, .321 EQA, 63.1 VORP, 34 Win Shares #1 Albert Pujols, Cardinals .323/.424/.665, 114 RC, .337 EQA, 65.4 VORP, 30 Win Shares For the A.L. it's still anyone's guess but by the way things are shaking out now Derek Jeter may win the real award by default and he's still in strongly my Top 5. I nearly had a new #1 here and originally had Manny Ramirez taking the top spot but changed my mind due the uncertain staus of his knee. The media favorite David Ortiz is now clutching his heart (awww I'm mean) and his season could be over. Joe Mauer is still in the Top 5 but he needs a strong September to grab the award. #10 Vernon Wells, Blue Jays .319/.374/.583, 93 RC, .310 EQA, 59.0 VORP, 21 Win Shares #9 Jason Giambi, Yankees .261/.420/.594, 101 RC, .330 EQA, 46.9 VORP, 22 Win Shares #8 Jermaine Dye, White Sox .326/.392/.649, 99 RC, .328 EQA, 59.3 VORP, 22 Win Shares #7 Johan Santana, Twins 153 ERA+, 5.03 K/BB, 1.02 WHIP, 62.7 VORP, 21 Win Shares #6 Jim Thome, White Sox .294/.413/.615, 103 RC, .331 EQA, 53.9 VORP, 22 Win Shares #5 David Ortiz, Red Sox .287/.400/.633, 105 RC, .329 EQA, 61.0 VORP, 22 Win Shares #4 Joe Mauer, Twins .356/.434/.514, 91 RC, .322 EQA, 57.6 VORP, 26 Win Shares #3 Derek Jeter, Yankees .337/.413/.480, 108 RC, .311 EQA, 61.3 VORP, 25 Win Shares #2 Manny Ramirez, Red Sox .326/.442/.628, 108 RC, .345 EQA, 62.8 VORP, 26 Win Shares #1 Travis Hafner, Indians .307/.434/.643, 120 RC, .347 EQA, 74.6 VORP, 23 Win Shares

Without looking too deep into it, with the A.L. Cy Young Santana is obviously my pick at the moment since he's in MVP Top 10 and really it's between him and Roy Halladay at this point. For ROY it will definently be between Verlander and Papelbon. I might give a slight edge to Papelbon right now but if the season ended today I think I'd still vote Francisco Liriano even with all the time he's missed. N.L. Cy Young, Brandon Webb would be my pick and is probably still the frontrunner overall despite his recent struggles. I think either him or Chris Carpenter will end up winning the writer award. Dan Uggla would my ROY pick right now and will probably win it but I think his teammate Hanley Ramirez still deserves consideration. If Josh Johnson ends up winning the ERA title though he could end up being considered for both awards although I don't think he's been quite as good as his ERA indicates. I don't care about Manager of the Years. Leyland will win the A.L. and Randolph or Girardi will win the N.L.

I don't think too much Hardball Times "Clutch" stat either but here's the Top 5 and Bottom 5 in each league. Top 5 A.L. 1. Michael Young 2. Raul Ibanez 3. Jose Lopez 4. Hank Blalock 5. Carl Crawford Bottom 5 A.L. 1. Ichiro Suzuki 2. Nick Swisher 3. Grady Sizemore 4. Miguel Tejada 5. Mike Lowell Top 5 N.L. 1. Lance Berkman 2. Albert Pujols 3. Todd Helton 4. Jeff Francoeur 5. David Wright Bottom 5 N.L. 1. Brad Hawpe 2. Matt Holliday 3. Jason Bay 4. Jamey Carroll 5. Juan Pierre

My Picks Buffalo Northwestern South Carolina UTEP North Carolina Tennessee Navy Wake Forest Utah Pittsburgh Army Notre Dame Arizona Miami Tiebreak #1: 45 Tiebreak #2: 266

Why would you even consider giving Ortiz a day off right now? Stomach flu.

Since my 1991 Mariners entry was flushed and I doubt I’ll try to type it again anytime soon so I might as well do 1991 A.L. MVP redo which does feature a Mariner player being underrated by the voters. But the main reason this particular MVP was interesting is that it’s one of those cases with where player on a losing team won the award. Now in the 1987 N.L. MVP redo Andre Dawson was shown to be one of the worst choices ever, nevermind that he played on a last place team. For the 2003 A.L. MVP redo A-Rod was shown to be perfectly acceptable choice for the award but just not my choice. In 1991 Cal Ripken had the best year offensively of his career and won the MVP by somewhat of a close margin over Cecil Fielder despite playing on a Orioles team that lost 95 games, the next to worst record in the league. What likely helped Ripken win the award was that the two division winners, Minnesota and Toronto, lacked a standout candidate. Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar both received first place votes but neither cracked the top 4 and really neither should have received a first place vote. Kirby Puckett was the only Twins player in the Top 10 and did not receive a first place vote. The rest of the A.L. after that was highly competitive as nine teams won between 81 and 87 games that season. Looking at the basic, writer friendly numbers my guess as to why Ripken won the award over the likes of Fielder and Jose Canseco was due to both Fielder and Canseco having batting averages in the .260’s so they gave the nod to Ripken even though those two both topped Ripken in homeruns and RBI. It’s a good thing that the writers did vote Ripken over Fielder as he would have been a terrible choice and the classic case of writers giving the award to a player simply because he lead the league in RBI, which nine voters used that line of thinking and chose Fielder as their MVP. Despite his prodigious counting stats Fielder only finished 9th in the league in slugging and that was while playing in a hitter’s park. Per Win Shares and VORP, Mickey Tettleton was the best player on the Tigers that year but he didn’t receive a single vote. Sandwiched between Fielder and Canseco was the White Sox young slugger Frank Thomas who was in his first full season. Thomas led the league in OBP and OPS but managed just one first place vote. The most surprising snub in the voting was Ken Griffey Jr. who already had emerged as one of the best and most popular players in baseball while helping the Mariners to their first ever winning record yet he only placed 9th. My only guess is he got penalized for not being a power hitter at that point as he hit only 22 homeruns but did hit 42 doubles. Actual Results 1) Cal Ripken 2) Cecil Fielder 3) Frank Thomas 4) Jose Canseco 5) Joe Carter 6) Roberto Alomar 7) Kirby Puckett 8) Ruben Sierra 9) Ken Griffey Jr. 10) Roger Clemens 11) Pal Molitor 12) Danny Tartabull 13) Jack Morris 14) Chili Davis 15) Julio Franco 16) Devon White 17) Scott Erickson 18) Rick Aguilera 19) Rafael Palmeiro 20) Robin Ventura 21) Dave Henderson #10 .307/.357/.502, 120 RC, 138 OPS+, .316 EQA, 52.4 VORP, 28 Win Shares #9 .322/.389/.532, 130 RC, 155 OPS+, .333 EQA, 69.5 VORP, 26 Win Shares #8 164 ERA+, 3.71 K/BB, 1.05 WHIP, 74.8 VORP, 26 Win Shares #7 .341/.408/.474, 113 RC, 146 OPS+, .332 EQA, 70.1 VORP, 28 Win Shares #6 .316/.397/.593, 114 RC, 171 OPS+, .346 EQA, 62.8 VORP, 28 Win Shares #5 .325/.399/.489, 128 RC, 147 OPS+, .328 EQA, 64.7 VORP, 30 Win Shares #4 .266/.359/.556, 113 RC, 157 OPS+, .333 EQA, 59.0 VORP, 31 Win Shares #3 .327/.399/.527, 117 RC, 155 OPS+, .334 EQA, 68.2 VORP, 30 Win Shares #2 .323/.374/.566, 138 RC, 162 OPS+, .337 EQA, 94.8 VORP, 34 Win Shares #1 .318/.453/.553, 140 RC, 180 OPS+, .365 EQA, 81.9 VORP, 34 Win Shares This was like the 2003 A.L. MVP as neither of the Top 2 is a wrong pick and when you have two evenly matched candidates like this I do give the nod to the player who played on a winning team. I also gave Thomas the 1992 A.L. MVP and he won the ’93 & ’94 awards in real life. I haven’t put the numbers in for those two years but I think I’ll have to look into that and see if the Big Hurt should have had four straight MVP awards. This was a tough ballot to put together as I changed 3 thru 9 a few times and even looking at it now I’m not entirely settled on it.

It's in black and white but here is a real find. Not exactly as exciting as the movie makes it out to be.