Bored

Soooo Pat Burrell is no Joe DiMaggio. Wow he really does suck then.

PECOTA weighted mean projection: 12-9, 4.01 ERA, 182 IP, 184 H, 51 BB, 162 K, 19 HR, 1.29 WHIP 90 percentile (best case scenerio): 15-7, 3.17 ERA, 205 1/3 IP, 199 H, 52 BB, 191 K, 19 HR, 1.17 WHIP 10 percentile (worst case scenerio): 6-9, 5.93 ERA, 121 1/3 IP, 148 H, 41 BB, 97 K, 16 HR, 1.56 WHIP

Senior Bowl week starts tommorrow, here are the rosters. 2007 Senior Bowl South Team Alphabetical Roster Coaching Staff: San Francisco 49ers 33 Rufus Alexander LB 5-11 230 Oklahoma 85 Dallas Baker WR 6-3 205 Florida 8 Fred Bennett DB 6-1 200 South Carolina 63 Justin Blalock OL 6-4 332 Texas 28 Lorenzo Booker RB 5-10 191 Florida State 80 Dwayne Bowe WR 6-1 201 LSU 99 Kareem Brown DL 6-5 305 Miami 80 Tim Crowder DE 6-4 270 Texas 34 Ken Darby RB 5-11 213 Alabama 3 A.J. Davis DB 5-10 186 N.C. State 7 Buster Davis LB 5-10 244 Florida State 3 Chris Davis WR 6-0 185 Florida State 76 Tim Duckworth OL 6-5 312 Auburn 30 Earl Everett LB 6-2 227 Florida 12 Nick Folk K 6-2 212 Arizona 62 Dustin Fry OL 6-3 324 Clemson 61 Brett Goode DS 6-1 235 Arkansas 27 Michael Griffin DB 6-1 205 Texas 69 Ben Grubbs OL 6-3 302 Auburn 64 Leroy Harris OL 6-3 296 N.C. State 21 Johnnie Lee Higgins WR 6-0 184 UTEP 4 David Irons DB 5-10 188 Auburn 23 Kenny Irons RB 5-11 195 Auburn 90 Antonio Johnson DL 6-3 303 Mississippi State 67 Ryan Kalil OL 6-3 285 USC 4 Kevin Kolb QB 6-3 228 Houston 12 Chris Leak QB 6-0 210 Florida 93 Ryan McBean DL 6-5 285 Oklahoma State 33 Le’Ron McClain RB 6-0 258 Alabama 95 Ray McDonald DE 6-3 276 Florida 19 Brandon Meriweather DB 6-0 190 Miami 87 Martrez Milner TE 6-4 252 Georgia 94 Quentin Moses DE 6-6 250 Georgia 89 Joe Newton TE 6-7 251 Oregon State 5 Jordan Palmer QB 6-5 229 UTEP 17 Kevin Payne DB 6-0 215 Louisiana-Monroe 92 Chase Pittman DE 6-4 263 LSU 31 Aaron Ross DB 6-0 191 Texas 78 Arron Sears OL 6-4 330 Tennessee 37 Daniel Sepulveda P 6-2 223 Baylor 42 Juwan Simpson LB 6-3 228 Alabama 73 Joe Staley OL 6-6 300 Central Michigan 2 Chansi Stuckey WR 5-10 181 Clemson 86 Courtney Taylor WR 6-2 200 Auburn 43 Tony Taylor LB 6-0 234 Georgia 72 Tank Tyler DL 6-2 310 N.C. State 66 Tony Ugoh OL 6-5 305 Arkansas 29 Jonathan Wade DB 6-0 190 Tennessee 49 Patrick Willis LB 6-2 230 Ole Miss 51 Mansfield Wrotto OL 6-3 315 Georgia Tech 2007 Senior Bowl North Team Alphabetical Roster Coaching Staff: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 95 Victor Abiamiri DE 6-4 268 Notre Dame 2 Aundrae Allison WR 6-0 188 East Carolina 75 Josh Beekman OL 6-2 314 Boston College 51 H.B. Blades LB 5-11 241 Pittsburgh 53 Stewart Bradley LB 6-3 245 Nebraska 67 Levi Brown OL 6-5 325 Penn State 6 Prescott Burgess LB 6-3 245 Michigan 92 Adam Carriker DE 6-6 290 Nebraska 87 Scott Chandler TE 6-7 258 Iowa 8 David Clowney WR 6-1 185 Virginia Tech 16 Mason Crosby K 6-1 213 Colorado 50 Doug Datish OL 6-4 291 Ohio State 22 Josh Gattis DB 6-1 213 Wake Forest 29 Leon Hall DB 5-11 195 Michigan 81 Clark Harris TE 6-5 254 Rutgers 45 David Harris LB 6-2 239 Michigan 68 Ryan Harris OL 6-5 295 Notre Dame 80 Jason Hill WR 6-0 210 Washington St. 13 Daymeion Hughes DB 5-11 185 California 26 Tony Hunt RB 6-1 220 Penn State 28 Tanard Jackson DB 6-0 189 Syracuse 61 Nicholas Leeson DS 6-2 250 Virginia Tech 23 Brian Leonard RB 6-1 238 Rutgers 72 James Marten OL 6-5 305 Boston College 17 Marcus McCauley DB 6-1 199 Fresno State 5 Rhema McKnight WR 6-1 212 Notre Dame 43 Boo McLee LB 6-0 251 West Virginia 52 Brandon Mebane DL 6-1 300 California 44 Jay Moore DE 6-4 275 Nebraska 76 Dan Mozes OL 6-3 287 West Virginia 7 Brandon Myles WR 6-1 190 West Virginia 91 Amobi Okoye DL 6-2 312 Louisville 3 Tyler Palko QB 6-2 222 Pittsburgh 97 David Patterson DL 6-3 285 Ohio State 90 Quinn Pitcock DL 6-3 300 Ohio State 36 Adam Podlesh P 5-11 205 Maryland 31 Paul Posluszny LB 6-2 230 Penn State 63 Manuel Ramirez OL 6-4 329 Texas Tech 30 Aaron Rouse DB 6-4 213 Virginia Tech 64 Samson Satele OL 6-2 294 Hawaii 33 Kolby Smith RB 6-0 215 Louisville 10 Troy Smith QB 6-1 215 Ohio State 49 Anthony Spencer DE/OLB 6-3 262 Purdue 5 Drew Stanton QB 6-3 235 Michigan State 32 Eric Weddle DB 5-11 201 Utah 83 Paul Williams WR 6-2 210 Fresno State 4 Josh Wilson DB 5-9 184 Maryland 1 Garrett Wolfe RB 5-7 170 Northern Illinois 56 LaMarr Woodley DE 6-1 269 Michigan 73 Marshal Yanda OL 6-4 295 Iowa

I'm acutally genuinely interested in this match-up but it will probably be gone by the time the game is actually played. The two week wait for the Super Bowl is one of the more annoying things in sports.

Start out by giving kudos to the NFL Network for finally airing the original broadcasts of past Super Bowls, if only a small sample of them but it's a start. I can only hope that is a test run that leads to them airing classic games on a regular basis or at least start putting some of them on DVD like MLB and NBA are now doing. Super Bowl XIII is on tommorrow night and I think I might do a write up on that one. As I've mentioned in the past my memories of sports begin in 1986. I've been told by my family I already had a big interest in sports before then but for whatever reason I can't remember anything before 1986 and my first sports memory is watching Super Bowl XX with my brother on my parent's bedroom television. We were rooting for the Patriots and not that I remember why, maybe because the Bears dominance had completley wiped out the 49ers dominance of the previous year. Obviously we ended up being dissapointed. Now for ranking the Super Bowls that I've seen, or remember seeing at least, there is no formula to this. It is purely subjective and incredibly biased. #1 Super Bowl XXIII - 49ers 20, Bengals 16 See what I mean? Ya the first half was nothing special but unless the 49ers win another Super Bowl in a more exciting fashion it will never be trumped as my favorite Super Bowl ever. Still the only one to ever to be decided with a touchdown in the final minute and I hope it stays that way for a long time. #2 Super Bowl XXXVIII - Patriots 32, Panthers 29 There was nothing to indicate that this would be a classic going into but we all know the NFL is fixed and the Patriots always have to win on a last second field goal or something. Anyways like the halftime show, the 4th quarter of this game was indeed the tits. #3 Super Bowl XXXII - Broncos 31, Packers 24 Start to finish this might truly be the best Super Bowl ever although had a some what anti-climatic deciding touchdown. I always hated John Elway but I was actually rooting for the Broncos here as for some odd reason I started feelling sorry for the guy's playoff failures. That would change the next year. #4 Super Bowl XXV - Giants 20, Bills 19 I'm looking forward to watching the re-broadcast of this game as I couldn't appreciate the game at the time. I wanted the entire Giants team dead, especially Leonard Marshall, for ending the 49ers run at a three-peat so I was just pissed when Norwood missed the winning field goal. #5 Super Bowl XXXIV - Rams 23, Titans 16 Had the most exciting play ending to a Super Bowl ever but for most of the first three quarters this game was a dog but the Rams inability to put the ball in the endzone allowed the Titans to stay in it. #6 Super Bowl XXXVI - Patriots 20, Rams 17 Big upset with a memorable finish but it took a defensive holding call on a 4th and goal that kept this a game instead of turning into a blowout. #7 Super Bowl XXXIX - Patriots 24, Eagles 21 Biiiiiiiiiig drop off in quality after the top 6 and this game is put here by default as a late touchdown by the Eagles kind of made it interesting. #8 Super Bowl XXX - Cowboys 27, Steelers 17 A game that was supposed to be a blowout and may have had a big upset if Neil O'Donnel doesn't groove two interceptions to Larry Brown. Seriously they shouldn't have even given out an MVP award for this one. #9 Super Bowl XL - Steelers 21, Seahawks 10 Only this high for being competitive but this was an ugly game with terrible officiating. #10 Super Bowl XXXI - Packers 35, Patriots 21 Three huge touchdowns by the Packers and the Patriots sort of hanging around made this game semi-entertaining but you never got the sense that an upset would happen. #11 Super Bowl XXVII - Cowboys 30, Bills 13 Now we're getting to the blowouts and this is the top one only because of the Bills shocking halftime lead that was gone by the first minute of the second half. #12 Super Bowl XXIV - 49ers 55, Broncos 10 BIAS~! Come on you'll never see a more perfect display of offense for four quarters again than what the 49ers did this day. History also forgets that the Broncos did have a very good defense. Ya probably is the worst one of all-time but my list. #13 Super Bowl XXXVII - Buccaneers 48, Raiders 21 MORE BIAS~! The next best thing to the 49ers winning a Super Bowl is the Raiders losing a Super Bowl. Still one of the hilarious moments in sports history is the Raiders not thinking to change up their playbook at all against their former coach. #14 Super Bowl XXI - Giants 39, Broncos 20 Well it was competitive for a half. #15 Super Bowl XXII - Redskins 42, Broncos 10 Well it was competitive for a quarter. Watched the replay the other night and that second quarter of the Redskins is fun to watch. #16 Super Bowl XX - Bears 46, Patriots 10 It's amazing I still watched sports after this debacle. Only ranked this high for the historic nature of the beating the Bears defense put on the Patriots. #17 Super Bowl XXIX - 49ers 49, Chargers 26 Ya even my bias can't rate this high as this game was as much a forgone conclusion as you'll ever get and was over by the 3rd play of the game. #18 Super Bowl XXVI - Redskins 37, Bills 24 The Redskins could have turned this into one of the historic blowouts by they called off the dogs after going up 24-0. The In Living Color special at halftime was much more entertaining than the game. #19 Super Bowl XXXIII - Broncos 34, Falcons 19 Eww. John Ewlay suddenly now THE GREATEST QUARTERACK EVER according to the media after the game against the The Dirty Bird. Pass. #20 Super Bowl XXVII - Cowboys 52, Bills 17 Didn't even watch the second half so I missed the Leon Lett play. Only doesn't come in last because I had a genuine rooting interest since there's never been a team in sports I hated more than this 90's Cowboys. #21 Super Bowl XXXV - Ravens 34, Giants 7 Trent Dilfer. Kerry Collins. Super Bowl quarterbacks. Yikes. Never have I cared less about a Super Bowl going into it and it lived up to my expectations.

Why do the Bears hate the people of New Orleans? Haven't they suffered enough?

David Ortiz? He sold poison milk to school children.

Rangers are inviting Sammy Sosa to Spring Training. Carlos Zambrano has asked for $15.5 million in arbitration, Cubs are offering $11.025 million. Link to list of players who have filed for arbitration.

I was trying to figure something out to relate to the NFL Playoffs for a blog entry. I originally thought about looking back at random playoff games from the past that may have been forgotten but doing research on the internet for football is a hell of lot harder than baseball. But as I was watching the divisional playoffs and the Bears were on the ropes against the Seahawks I was wondering when was the last time both #1 seeds lost in the divisional playoffs? The Bears of course won but the AFC #1 seeded Chargers lost but I did find out the last time it happened was the 1979 playoffs when the Cowboys and, you guessed it, the Chargers both lost as #1 seeds in the divisonal round. So for a random, useless fact list I figured I'd take a look at how each #1 seed has faired in the playoffs. Now I only look at the playoffs since 1978 when the Wild Card round was added as the NFL has the same basic playoff structure (except for the '82 strike year) since then with the only major change being when they expanded the field from 10 to 12 teams in 1990. Good news for the Bears this Sunday is that only four times since '78 have both #1's seeds not reached the Super Bowl, the last being 1997 (Chiefs/49ers). On the flip side both #1 seeds haven't advanced to the Super Bowl since 1993 (Bills/Cowboys), which incidently enough was the last season before the salary cap. Not sure if that is a coincidence or not. 1978 AFC: Steelers -Won Super Bowl NFC: Rams -Lost NFC Championship 1979 AFC: Chargers -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: Cowboys -Lost Divisional playoff 1980 AFC: Chargers -Lost AFC Championship NFC: Falcons -Lost Divisional playoff 1981 AFC: Bengals -Lost Super Bowl NFC: 49ers -Won Super Bowl 1982 AFC: Raiders -Lost in Second Round NFC: Redskins -Won Super Bowl 1983 AFC: Raiders -Won Super Bowl NFC: Redskins -Lost Super Bowl 1984 AFC: Dolphins -Lost Super Bowl NFC: 49ers -Won Super Bowl 1985 AFC: Raiders -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: Bears -Won Super Bowl 1986 AFC: Browns -Lost AFC Championship NFC: Giants -Won Super Bowl 1987 AFC: Broncos -Lost Super Bowl NFC: 49ers -Lost Divisional playoffs 1988 AFC: Bengals -Lost Super Bowl NFC: Bears -Lost NFC Championship 1989 AFC: Broncos -Lost Super Bowl NFC: 49ers -Won Super Bowl 1990 AFC: Bills -Lost Super Bowl NFC: 49ers -Lost NFC Championship 1991 AFC: Bills -Lost Super Bowl NFC: Redskins -Won Super Bowl 1992 AFC: Steelers -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: 49ers -Lost NFC Championship 1993 AFC: Bills -Lost Super Bowl NFC: Cowboys -Won Super Bowl 1994 AFC: Steelers -Lost AFC Championship NFC: 49ers -Won Super Bowl 1995 AFC: Chiefs -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: Cowboys -Won Super Bowl 1996 AFC: Broncos -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: Packers -Won Super Bowl 1997 AFC: Chiefs -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: 49ers -Lost NFC Championship 1998 AFC: Broncos -Won Super Bowl NFC: Vikings -Lost NFC Championship 1999 AFC: Jaguars -Lost AFC Championship NFC: Rams -Won Super Bowl 2000 AFC: Titans -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: Giants -Lost Super Bowl 2001 AFC: Steelers -Lost AFC Championship NFC: Rams -Lost Super Bowl 2002 AFC: Raiders -Lost Super Bowl NFC: Eagles -Lost NFC Championship 2003 AFC: Patriots -Won Super Bowl NFC: Eagles -Lost NFC Championship 2004 AFC: Steelers -Lost AFC Championship NFC: Eagles -Lost Super Bowl 2005 AFC: Colts -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: Seahawks -Lost Super Bowl 2006 AFC: Chargers -Lost Divisional playoff NFC: Bears -???

We still have another game tonight but I'm creating this thread now so it's up and ready for the early games tommorrow. MONDAY Outback Bowl: #17 Tennessee vs. Penn State, 11:00/8:00 AM, ESPN Cotton Bowl: #9 Auburn vs. #23 Nebraska, 11:30/8:30 AM, FOX Capital One Bowl: #12 Arkansas vs. #7 Wisconsin, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ABC Gator Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. #13 West Virginia, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, CBS Rose Bowl: #5 USC vs. #3 Michigan, 5:00/2:00 PM, ABC Fiesta Bowl: #8 Boise State vs. #10 Oklahoma, 8:00/5:00 PM, FOX TUESDAY Orange Bowl: #6 Louisville vs. #14 Wake Forest, 8:00/5:00 PM, FOX WEDNESDAY Sugar Bowl: #11 Notre Dame vs. #4 LSU, 8:00/5:00 PM, FOX SATURDAY International Bowl: Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 SUNDAY GMAC Bowl: Ohio vs. Southern Miss, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

Okay here's the remaining schedule for the original Super Bowl broadcasts they'll be showing: January 18 at 8:00 PM ET Super Bowl XXXVI New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams Announcers: Pat Summerall and John Madden (FOX) January 22 at 8:30 PM ET Super Bowl XIII Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys Announcers: Curt Gowdy, John Brodie and Merlin Olsen (NBC) January 25 at 8:00 PM ET Super Bowl XXXIV St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans Announcers: Al Michaels and Boomer Esiason (ABC) February 1 at 8:30 PM ET Super Bowl XXV New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills Announcers: Al Michaels, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf (ABC) February 3 at 11:00 AM ET Super Bowl XXXVIII New England Patriots vs. Carolina Panthers Announcers: Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms (CBS) February 3 at 4:00 PM ET Super Bowl XXIII San Francisco 49ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals Announcers: Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen (NBC) February 3 at 8:00 PM ET Super Bowl III New York Jets vs. Baltimore Colts Announcers: Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis and Kyle Rote (NBC)

The channel has been almost completely useless to me until this moment. Next Monday, they are showing Super Bowl XIII, a true classic. I'm recording that shit. They'll be replaying XXII at 1:00 AM EST/10:00 PM PST. At least the 35 point second quarter is interesting.

Holy crap, the original telecast of Super Bowl XXII (Redskins/Broncos) is on the NFL Network right now. Ya okay it was a blow out but this is the first time ever that I've seen them finally show an old game. Now looking at their schedule Super Bowl XXXII (Packers/Broncos) was on earlier today. On Thursday Super Bowl XXXVI (Rams/Patriots) will be on.

I'm not convinced because he did cocaine and won't someone think of the children that he caused to O.D. for the last 25 years? Anyhoo, I feel bad for Raines as I wouldn't be surprised if he receives Alan Trammell type support from the writers. If he'd played in a major market or hadn't had unfortunate timing of playing at the same exact time as Rickey Henderson he wouldn't been so overlooked.

Complete list of underclassman who declared. Jon Abbate ILB Wake Forest JR Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas JR Antwan Applewhite DE San Diego St. JR Ahmad Bradshaw RB Marshall JR Jon Beason OLB Miami (FL) JR Alan Branch DT Michigan JR Colt Brennan QB Hawaii JR Stanley Doughty DT South Carolina JR C.J. Gaddis CB Clemson JR Ted Ginn, Jr. WR Ohio St. JR Anthony Gonzalez WR Ohio St. JR Chris Henry RB Arizona JR Chris Houston CB Arkansas JR Brandon Jackson RB Nebraska JR Dwayne Jarrett WR USC JR Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech JR Charles Johnson DE Georgia JR Rory Johnson OLB Ole Miss JR Marshawn Lynch RB California JR Robert Meachem WR Tennessee JR Zach Miller TE Arizona St. JR Jarvis Moss DE Florida JR Reggie Nelson S Florida JR Greg Olsen TE Miami (FL) JR Adrian Peterson RB Oklahoma JR Antonio Pittman RB Ohio St. JR Darrelle Revis CB Pittsburgh JR Sidney Rice WR South Carolina SO Gary Russell RB Minnesota JR JaMarcus Russell QB L.S.U. JR Brandon Siler ILB Florida JR Ryan Smith CB Florida JR Ramonce Taylor RB Texas JR Lawrence Timmons OLB Florida St. JR Darius Walker RB Notre Dame JR Danny Ware RB Georgia JR Dwayne Wright RB Fresno St. JR Eric Wright CB UNLV JR

Now that the college football season is over I finally had a Saturday morning to sit down and watch Game 6 of the 1975 World Series in one sitting and now eventually will be able to finish off all three World Series box sets. For the remaining games I'll do an entry for Game 6 & 7 of the '79 Series and then an entry for both Game 7's of the '75 & '86 Series. On a side note while I was doing my post-Christmas shopping with some gift cards I received I found another box set of classic games at Best Buy that was put out by A&E Home Video, who did the World Series sets, but this one was not baseball related. I bought College Football's Greatest Games: University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Collector's Edition. Ya I'm not proud of myself but it was on sale and I haven't seen a set like this before for college football before so I had to pick it up. Not all of the games are true classics as a few are blowouts that were important to Notre Dame but no one else but there a couple of games on the set I think I'll do future write ups for. Anyways moving on to Game 6... 1975 World Series Game 6 - Red Sox 7, Reds 6 12 innings (boxscore and play account) -This game was delayed three days due to rain which allowed the Red Sox to start Luis Tiant who had been dominate in Games 1 & 4. They flash a graphic at the beginning of the game of Tiant's previous five starts at Fenway: 5-0, 45 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 20 H, 8 BB, 33 SO, 0.20 ERA. Red Sox had to feel confident after Fred Lynn spotted Tiant a 3-0 lead with a homerun in the first. -The video quality has been spotty for this and the 1979 set but is very good for this game which is no surprise as I'm sure over the years people have made sure to keep the original footage of this game in good condition. -Red Sox have a couple opportunities to blow this game open with bases loaded in the 3rd inning and 2nd & 3rd with one out in 4th inning but fail to score. -Tiant shows his first signs of vulnerability in the series in the 5th when he walks light hitting Ed Armbrister, who was pinch hitting for the pitcher, which will help lead to the Reds first runs of the game. In this innings is the famous play when Lynn slams into the wall trying to catch a Ken Griffey flyball and appears to have been seriously hurt but stays in the game. Griffey ended up with a two-run triple. -The game starts to reach it's classic level in the bottom of the 8th with the Reds up 6-3 and four outs away from the championship, when with two on Bernie Carbo hits his second pinch hit homerun of the series to tie it up off Reds' relief ace Rawly Eastwick. -Red Sox nearly win it in the 9th as they loaded the bases with no one out but on a shallow flyball to left hit by Lynn, Don Zimmer sends Denny Doyle from 3rd and he is gunned down by George Foster at the plate for the double play. -Some almost controversy in the top of the 11th as Pete Rose fakes his way into a HBP. Carlton Fisk argues but to no avail and replays show the pitch did not hit Rose. This would be erased when Dwight Evans makes a sensational catch to potentially rob Joe Morgan of a homerun (might have hit the wall if he doesn't get it) and doubles Griffey off of first to end the inning. -Of course we know what happens in the 12th. It is still bizarre watching games like this and seeing fans among Fisks' teammates as they mob him at homeplate as we were still several years away from when MLB started to crackdown on fans running on to the field. -This was one quite the hearbreaker for the Reds for blowing the three run lead in the 8th, Evans robbing Morgan in the 11th, and the Fisk walk off this could have been a crippling defeat for a franchise that hadn't won the World Series since 1940 and suffered a tough World Series loss three years earlier against the A's. But as we know it didn't turn out so bad for them.

The game is tommorrow night so probably should get this thread up. Obviously not nearly as much hype and anticipation for this game as last year's Rose Bowl. My Prediciton: Ohio State 28, Florida 20

That was your typical Marty Schottenheimer coaching decision in the playoffs.

Wrapping up the 2007 Hall of Fame Ballot with the two slam dunks on the ballot and barring a major upset the only two who will be elected on Tuesday. Since there is no real suspense in whether or not these two will be elected I figured I'd just group them together. Sure one could argue than one or the other was overrated in their own right and there will of course be those who will leave them off their ballot just to make sure no one ever gets 100% of the vote. But no one can make a legitimate argument that either is not deserving of being a member of the Hall of Fame. Obviously they are easy "yes" votes from me. Tony Gwynn - Rightfielder San Diego Padres 1982-2001 Awards 1984 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1986 NL Gold Glove - OF 1986 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1987 NL Gold Glove - OF 1987 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1989 NL Gold Glove - OF 1989 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1990 NL Gold Glove - OF 1991 NL Gold Glove - OF 1994 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1995 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1997 NL Silver Slugger - OF All-Star Selections: 15 (1984-1987, 1989-1999) League Leader 1984: Batting Average, Hits 1986: Hits, Runs 1987: Batting Average, Hits 1988: Batting Average 1989: Batting Average, Hits 1994: Batting Average, Hits, OBP 1995: Batting Average, Hits 1996: Batting Average 1997: Batting Average, Hits Career Ranks AVG: 20th Games: 61st Hits: 18th Runs: 84th 2B: 22nd TB: 50th RC: 41st Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 57 (18) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 155 (78) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 53.9 (57) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 277.5 (13) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 9 (Zack Wheat, Rod Carew, Paul Waner, Wade Boggs, Sam Rice, Roberto Clemente, Heinie Manush, George Silser, Sam Crawford) Other Similar Batters: Vada Pinson Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1982: 7/1.8 1983: 10/3.0 1984: 35/10.2 1985: 20/7.3 1986: 29/10.8 1987: 29/12.1 1988: 23/6.6 1989: 30/9.3 1990: 17/6.4 1991: 22/6.7 1992: 18/5.3 1993: 18/6.1 1994: 17/10.0 1995: 23/8.1 1996: 17/4.6 1997: 39/7.9 1998: 19/3.8 1999: 18/3.0 2000: 3/0.6 2001: 4/0.8 Career Win Shares: 398 Career WARP3: 124.3 Cal Ripken - Shortstop Baltimore Orioles 1981-2001 Awards 1982 AL Rookie of the Year 1983 AL MVP 1983 AL Silver Slugger - SS 1984 AL Silver Slugger - SS 1985 AL Silver Slugger - SS 1986 AL Silver Slugger - SS 1989 AL Silver Slugger - SS 1991 AL MVP 1991 ML Sporting News Player of the Year 1991 AL Gold Glove - SS 1991 AL Silver Slugger - SS 1992 AL Gold Glove - SS 1993 AL Silver Slugger - SS 1994 AL Silver Slugger - SS All-Star Selections: 19 (1983-2001) League Leader 1983: Hits, Runs, Doubles, Runs Created 1991: Total Bases Career Ranks Games: 8th Hits: 14th Runs: 31st 2B: 13th HR: 37th RBI: 20th BB: 61st TB: 13th RC: 30th Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 19 (112) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 116 (171) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 58.3 (33) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 236.0 (25) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 7 (Dave Winfield, Robin Yount, Al Kaline, Eddie Murray, Carl Yastrzemski, George Brett, Tony Perez) Other Similar Batters: Craig Biggio, Harold Baines, Andre Dawson Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1981: 0/-0.6 1982: 23/8.2 1983: 35/13.9 1984: 37/15.0 1985: 25/10.9 1986: 28/12.5 1987: 20/7.2 1988: 25/9.7 1989: 26/10.1 1990: 20/9.4 1991: 34/17.0 1992: 21/6.8 1993: 17/5.9 1994: 18/7.7 1995: 16/7.5 1996: 22/7.0 1997: 18/5.0 1998: 13/4.6 1999: 12/4.2 2000: 8/3.8 2001: 9/3.4 Career Win Shares: 427 Career WARP3: 169.1

I'm in again.

McGwire and Baines are the only new holdovers. Garvey was in the final year of his eligbility and Hershiser and Belle fell off the ballot. Gossage receives over 70% of the vote so he is pretty much a lock for next year. Cal Ripken Jr. 537 98.5 Tony Gwynn 532 97.6 Rich Gossage 388 71.2 Jim Rice 346 63.5 Andre Dawson 309 56.7 Bert Blyleven 260 47.7 Lee Smith 217 39.8 Jack Morris 202 37.1 Mark McGwire 128 23.5 Tommy John 125 22.9 *Steve Garvey 115 21.1 Dave Concepcion 74 13.6 Alan Trammell 73 13.4 Dave Parker 62 11.4 Don Mattingly 54 9.9 Dale Murphy 50 9.2 Harold Baines 29 5.3 Orel Hershiser 24 4.4 Albert Belle 19 3.5 Paul O'Neill 12 2.2 Bret Saberhagen 7 1.3 Jose Canseco 6 1.1 Tony Fernandez 4 0.7 Dante Bichette 3 0.6 Eric Davis 3 0.6 Bobby Bonilla 2 0.4 Ken Caminiti 2 0.4 Jay Buhner 1 0.2 Scott Brosius 0 0.0 Wally Joyner 0 0.0 Devon White 0 0.0 Bobby Witt 0 0.0

The bowl games are going to work the same way as the conference championships as everyone must send their picks to me by private message. The one obvious exception is Danville Wrestling who's playing me. You can feel free to wait until I post my own picks in the thread which I'll probably do by the middle of next week. There's a record 32 bowl games this year so before you submit your picks double check to make sure you didn't miss any. Bowl Picks Deadline Tuesday, December 19th, 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST Bowl Match-ups Pepsi Blue Bored Bowl - Winner gets $50 #1 Miami* (Spaceman Spiff, 8-5) vs. #2 Georgia Tech* (iggymcfly, 10-3) Out Magazine Bowl #3 Syracuse* (CanadianChris, 9-3) vs. #4 Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto, 10-2) KFC PETA Bowl #6 Hawaii* (Will Scarlet, 6-6) vs. #9 Oregon (nogoodnick, 8-5) TheSWF.com Dust Bowl #5 South Carolia* (Cuban Linx, 10-3) vs. Oklahoma* (Vampiro69, 7-6) Williams Games SinisTar Bowl #7 Stanford* (Bored, 7-5) vs. Kentucky* (Danville Wrestling, 7-6) Traditional Bowl presented by the Yellow Submarine #8 Minnesota* (Vern Gagne, 8-5) vs. USC* (Cartman, 8-5) Ex-Lax Toilet Bowl #10 UCLA* (phoenixrising, 9-3) vs. Florida* (Urban Warfare, 6-6) FireJoeMorgan.com Bowl Arizona State* (Spicy McHaggis, 7-5) vs. LSU* (teke184, 6-6) Meow Mix Pussy Bowl Tennessee* (Sex Machine Gun, 6-6) vs. San Jose State* (kkktookmybabyaway, 7-5) Bowl Games December 19th Poinsettia: TCU vs. Northern Illinois December 21st Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon December 22nd New Orleans: Troy vs. Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida vs. East Carolina New Mexico: New Mexico vs. San Jose State Armed Forces: Tulsa vs. Utah December 24th Hawaii: Arizona State vs. Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan December 27th Emerald: Florida State vs. UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Holiday: California vs. Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers vs. Kansas State December 29th Music City: Clemson vs. Kentucky Sun: Oregon State vs. Missouri Liberty: Houston vs. South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Champs Sports: Purdue vs. Maryland December 30th Meineke Car Care: Navy vs. Boston College Alamo: Texas vs. Iowa Chick-fil-A: Georgia vs. Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Miami vs. Nevada January 1st Outback: Tennessee vs. Penn State Cotton: Auburn vs. Nebraska Gator: West Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Capital One: Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Rose: USC vs. Michigan Fiesta: Boise State vs. Oklahoma January 2nd Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest January 3rd Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan January 7th GMAC: Ohio vs. Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Florida vs. Ohio State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game?

Yes, won't someone think of the children???

No, just like the real BCS as there isn't really a point.

Well really only Raines deserves to go in. Actually it will only be his 9th year on the ballot. Dave Concepcion will be the only player in his 15th and final year.