Bored

Boston College is up by twelve at North Carolina with less than ten minutes to go. Game is on FSN. Make that 14.

About time to get this up. Still use the other thread for any discussion of the Fiesta Bowl tomorrow night. THURSDAY #2 Florida vs. #1 Oklahoma, 8:00/5:00 PM, FOX "National Championship" Deciding Bowl Games since 1968 (AP Poll 1968-1997, BCS 1998-present) 1968 Rose: #1 Ohio State 27, #2 USC 16 1969 Cotton: #1 Texas 21, #9 Notre Dame 17 1970 Orange: #3 Nebraska 17, #5 LSU 12 (#1 Texas & #2 Ohio State both lost) 1971 Orange: #1 Nebraska 38, #2 Alabama 6 1972 Rose: #1 USC 42, #3 Ohio State 17 1973 Sugar: #3 Notre Dame 24, #1 Alabama 23 (#2 Oklahoma was on probation) 1974 Oklahoma finished #1 in AP poll despite being on probation 1975 Orange: #3 Oklahoma 14, #5 Michigan 6 (#1 Ohio State & #2 Texas A&M both lost) 1976 Sugar: #1 Pittsburgh 27, #5 Georgia 3 1977 Cotton: #5 Notre Dame 38, #1 Texas 10 (#2 Oklahoma & #4 Michigan both lost, #3 Alabama won but finished #2) 1978 Sugar: #2 Alabama 14, #1 Penn State 7 1979 Sugar: #2 Alabama 24, #6 Arkansas 9 (#1 Ohio State lost) 1980 Sugar: #1 Georgia 17, #7 Notre Dame 10 1981 Orange: #1 Clemson 22, #4 Nebraska 15 1982 Sugar: #2 Penn State 27, #1 Georgia 23 1983 Orange: #5 Miami 31, #1 Nebraska 30 (#2 Texas & #4 Illinois lost, #3 Auburn won but did not move up polls) 1984 Holiday: #1 BYU 24, Michigan 17 1985 Orange: #3 Oklahoma 25, #1 Penn State 10 (#2 Miami lost) 1986 Fiesta: #2 Penn State 14, #1 Miami 10 1987 Orange: #2 Miami 20, #1 Oklahoma 14 1988 Fiesta: #1 Notre Dame 34, #3 West Virginia 21 1989 Sugar: #2 Miami 33, #7 Alabama 25 (#1 Colorado lost) 1990 Orange: #1 Colorado 10, #5 Notre Dame 9 1991 Orange: #1 Miami 22, #11 Nebraska 0 1992 Sugar: #2 Alabama 34, #1 Miami 13 1993 Orange: #1 Florida State 18, #2 Nebraska 16 1994 Orange: #1 Nebraska 24, #3 Miami 17 1995 Fiesta: #1 Nebraska 62, #2 Florida 24 1996 Sugar: #3 Florida 52, #1 Florida State 20 (#2 Arizona State lost) 1997 Rose: #1 Michigan 21, #8 Washington State 16 1998 Fiesta: #1 Tennessee 23, #2 Florida State 16 1999 Sugar: #1 Florida State 46, #2 Virginia Tech 29 2000 Orange: #1 Oklahoma 13, #2 Florida State 2 2001 Rose: #1 Miami 37, #2 Nebraska 14 2002 Fiesta: #2 Ohio State 31, #1 Miami 24 2003 Sugar: #2 LSU 21, #1 Oklahoma 14 2004 Orange: #1 USC 55, #2 Oklahoma 19 2005 Rose: #2 Texas 41, #1 USC 38 2006 BCS: #2 Florida 41, #1 Ohio State 14 2007 BCS: #2 LSU 38, #1 Ohio State 24

Nope, just like the real BCS there are no rankings after the bowls. I do factor in the bowl results when I do the preseason rankings for the following season. Yes, but you have over seven months to think about it as I don't take the new bowl names until the sign up thread for the new season is posted, primarily because I'll forget about any new bowl names by then.

Perusing the January schedule for the MLB Network for "classic" games and here's what I've found. Note just posting the first airing of each as there are replays during the week. Saturday 1/3 2008 NLCS Game 5, 10:00/7:00 AM 2008 ALCS Game 7, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM 2008 World Series Game 1, 4:00/1:00 PM Sunday 1/4 2008 World Series Game 2, 9:30/6:30 AM 2008 World Series Game 3, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM 2008 World Series Game 4, 4:00/1:00 PM 2008 World Series Game 5, 8:00/5:00 PM (assuming full game spliced together) Saturday 1/10 2006 NLCS Game 7, 8:00/5:00 pm Sunday 1/11 1989 ALCS Game 2, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, (RICKEY~!) 1989 ALCS Game 4, 4:30/1:30 PM (more RICKEY~!) April 21, 1991 - Cubs at Pirates, 8:00/5:00 PM (boxscore - 11 runs in the 11th inning) Saturday 1/17 2007 NLCS Game 4, Noon/9:00 AM 2007 ALCS Game 7, 3:00 PM/Noon 2007 World Series Game 1, 6:30/3:30 PM Sunday 1/18 2007 World Series Game 2, Noon/9:00 AM 2007 World Series Game 3, 3:30/12:30 PM 2007 World Series Game 4, 8:00/5:00 PM Saturday 1/24 2006 ALCS Game 4, Noon/9:00 AM 2006 World Series Game 1, 6:00/3:00 pm 2006 World Series Game 2, 9:00/6:00 PM Sunday 1/25 2006 World Series Game 3, 1:00 PM/1:00 AM 2006 World Series Game 4, 4:00/1:00 PM 2006 World Series Game 5, 7:30/4:30 PM Saturday 1/31 2005 NLCS Game 5, 11:30/8:30 AM 2005 NLCS Game 6, 3:00 PM/Noon 2005 ALCS Game 5, 6:00/3:00 PM 2005 World Series Game 1, 9:00/6:00 PM

You're actually tied with and differ on the GMAC Bowl as well so it can still go tiebreak. Might as well post an update on the undecided bowls. N.C. State 18, Arizona 17 (AA484 - Ball State, UZI - Tulsa) Ball State 17, Syracuse 15 (Vampiro - Buffalo & Oklahoma, CC - UConn & Florida) Kentucky 18, Nebraska 17 (Danville - Buffalo & Oklahoma, Mecca - UConn & Florida) Tennessee 17, Ohio State 16 (Brandon - Connecticut & Texas, Gert - Buffalo & Ohio State) LSU 16, Notre Dame 16 (teke - Buffalo & Tulsa, PK - UConn & Ball State) iggymcfly, AlwaysPissedOff, Agent Bond34, still fly, and Agent of Oblivion are in the victory formation in their bowls.

The AP poll is not part of the BCS. The coaches are supposed to vote the winner of the BCS Championship Game #1 although some have broken rank before. In 2003 three coaches voted USC over LSU. Regardless of what happens to Texas on Monday and what happens in the MNC game, there's little chance Utah ends up #1 in the AP. And really it wouldn't matter anyways if they did because the AP poll champion is just as mythical, if not more so, as the BCS champion.

Yup that's probably your footbaw game right there. Hey remember everyone, the season is all one big playoff!

The Don Larsen perfect game is on right now, with original ads.

Since the board is acting weird I'm going to create an AIM chat for the game in a test run to see about having a chat for the MNC game. Invite yourself to TSMRoseBowlChat.

OH NO JOE PATERNO BROKE CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATED PREGAME INTERVIEW WITH ESABCPN!

Rickey Henderson, Left Fielder Oakland Athletics 1979-1984, 1989-1993, 1994-1995, 1998 New York Yankees 1985-1989 Toronto Blue Jays 1993 San Diego Padres 1996-1997, 2001 Anaheim Angels 1997 New York Mets 1999-2000 Seattle Mariners 2000 Boston Red Sox 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 2003 Awards 1981 AL Gold Glove - OF 1981 AL Silver Slugger - OF 1985 AL Silver Slugger - OF 1989 ALCS MVP 1990 AL MVP 1990 AL Silver Slugger - OF League Leader 1980: Stolen Bases 1981: Runs, Hits, Stolen Bases 1982: Walks, Stolen Bases 1983: Walks, Stolen Bases 1984: Stolen Bases 1985: Runs, Stolen Bases 1986: Runs, Stolen Bases 1988: Stolen Bases 1989: Runs, Walks, Stolen Bases 1990: OBP, Runs, Stolen Bases, OPS, OPS+, Runs Created 1991: Stolen Bases 1998: Walks, Stolen Bases Career Ranks OBP: 56th Games: 4th AB: 10th PA: 4th Runs: 1st Hits: 21st TB: 35th BB: 2nd SB: 1st RC: 10th Best Performance October 5, 1991 - Oakland at Texas 4 for 4, three runs, three rbi, two doubles, home run, two walks, four stolen bases. Total domination. Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 50 (26) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 143 (105) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 52.6 (62) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 183.5 (52) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 5 (Paul Molitor, Lou Brock, Joe Morgan, Robin Yount, Al Kaline) Other Similar Batters: Craig Biggio, Rusty Staub, Steve Finley, Tim Raines, Vada Pinson Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1979: 10/1.3 1980: 34/10.7 1981: 27/12.1 1982: 28/8.0 1983: 30/10.0 1984: 28/9.0 1985: 38/13.2 1986: 26/10.6 1987: 20/7.0 1988: 28/9.3 1989: 30/11.1 1990: 39/15.3 1991: 25/9.7 1992: 25/9.6 1993: 25/10.0 1994: 11/6.4 1995: 19/5.8 1996: 16/6.0 1997: 15/4.6 1998: 20/7.2 1999: 16/5.9 2000: 8/3.7 2001: 12/1.9 2002: 4/1.3 2003: 1/0.1 Career Win Shares: 535 Career WARP3: 189.8 Bored's Stupid Opinion Bored knows that Lou Brock was overrated and that RICKEY~ is the greatest of all-time.

I'm stuck at work, am I reading the Sun Bowl final score right? 3-0!? Did they play in a monsoon?

"Halftime" Scores #1 N.C. State leads #2 Arizona 12-11 with three differing games remaining #6 Georgia Tech leads #4 Miami of Ohio 13-12 with five differing games remaining #8 Syracuse leads #5 Ball State 11-10 with nine differing games remaining #9 Alabama leads #10 Virginia 11-8 with six differing games remaining Kentucky leads #3 Nebraska 11-10 with six differing games remaining #7 Tennessee is tied with Ohio State 8-8 with eight differing games remaining Notre Dame leads LSU 11-9 with six differing games remaining South Carolina is tied with Fresno State 10-10 with four differing games remaining Arizona State leads Minnesota 9-8 with six differing games remaining Indiana leads Boston College 8-6 with five differing games remaining

Okay on to the the second half of what has been a surprisingly entertaining bowl season to this point although there's still plenty of time for disappointment. While Utah/Ohio State and Texas/Alabama would have been far better match-ups, this year's BCS games are at least much more intriguing than last year. It seemed last season the BCS bowls went out of their way to come up with the least compelling slate of games as they possibly could. Thank God for the Rose Bowl as the January 1st line-up looks atrocious this year outside the GOTA. I'll post a thread for MNC game sometime this weekend. WEDNESDAY Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. Air Force, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN Sun Bowl: Oregon State vs. #20 Pittsburgh, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS Music City Bowl: #24 Boston College vs. Vanderbilt, 3:30/12:30 PM, ESPN Insight Bowl: Kansas vs. Minnesota, 6:00/3:00 PM, NFLN Chick-Fil-A Bowl: LSU vs. #14 Georgia Tech, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN THURSDAY Outback Bowl: South Carolina vs. Iowa, 11:00/8:00 AM, ESPN Gator Bowl: Nebraska vs. Clemson, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, CBS Capital One Bowl: #15 Georgia vs. #18 Michigan State, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ABC Rose Bowl: #8 Penn State vs. #5 USC, 4:30/1:30 PM, ABC Orange Bowl: #12 Cincinnati vs. #19 Virginia Tech, 8:30/5:30 PM, FOX FRIDAY Cotton Bowl: #25 Mississippi vs. #7 Texas Tech, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, FOX Liberty Bowl: Kentucky vs. East Carolina, 5:00/2:00 PM, ESPN Sugar Bowl: #6 Utah vs. #4 Alabama, 8:00/5:00 PM, FOX SATURDAY International Bowl: Buffalo vs. Connecticut, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN MONDAY Fiesta Bowl: #10 Ohio State vs. #3 Texas, 8:00/5:00 PM, FOX TUESDAY GMAC Bowl: #22 Ball State vs. Tulsa, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

That was a mansized run by Jeremiah Masoli to give Oregon the lead. And hey ESPN isn't time for another shot of Chase Daniel's family? I mean I know they played last night but shit we only saw them 200 times, why stop now?

heh, I'm mildly surprised that in the small sample of writers who have made their HOF ballot public so far that he's received almost no support as I figured there would be a handful of writers who would cite that fact as an excuse to vote for him.

Mark Grace, First Baseman Chicago Cubs 1988-2000 Arizona Diamondbacks 2001-2003 Awards 1992 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1993 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1995 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1996 NL Gold Glove - 1B All-Star Selections: 3 (1993, 1995, 1997) League Leader 1995: Doubles Career Ranks Doubles: 39th Walks: 79th Runs Created: 98th Best Performance July 7, 1989 - San Diego at Chicago Goes 4 for 4 with three doubles and a home run. Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 3 (507) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 86 (265) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 38.0 (165) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 60.5 (309) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Enos Slaughter) Other Similar Batters: Keith Hernandez, Mickey Vernon, John Olerud, Hal McRae, Wally Joyner, Bill Buckner, Al Oliver, Joe Judge, Joe Kuhel Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1988: 16/4.3 1989: 25/7.6 1990: 22/6.4 1991: 17/5.4 1992: 25/8.0 1993: 23/7.6 1994: 12/4.3 1995: 23/6.9 1996: 20/5.7 1997: 20/6.8 1998: 27/6.4 1999: 21/5.2 2000: 18/4.8 2001: 16/4.8 2002: 8/2.0 2003: 1/-0.1 Career Win Shares: 294 Career WARP: 86.2 My Stupid Opinion Grace always hit for a good average (Top 10 in N.L. batting average nine times), get on base at a good rate (Top 10 in OBP seven times), and was a superb defensive first baseman. Problem with him though is that he had very little power and the standards for HOF first basemen are higher than any other position and he just doesn't really have much of a case. Among first basemen who had a minimum of 3000 plate appearances between 1988 and 2003 (when Grace was active), he ranks only 17th in OPS+

Alabama's All-American left tackle Andre Smith has been suspended for the Sugar Bowl due to illegal contact with an agent. Guess it's safe to assume he's declaring for the draft.

A lot of conference play tips off this week which features Georgetown playing both UConn and Pitt. ESPN2 will have a college basketball marathon on New Year's Eve although nothing too compelling on the schedule. Full TV Schedule for Week of 12/29 - 1/4 Network/Basic Cable Schedule MONDAY #11 Georgetown at #2 Connecticut, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Cincinnati at Memphis, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 TUESDAY Illinois at #9 Purdue, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Northwestern at Penn State Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 Wisconsin at #23 Michigan, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN2 Loyola (MD) at #5 Duke, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN2 UNLV at #18 Louisville, 6:00/3:00 PM, ESPN2 #7 Notre Dame at DePaul, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 #1 North Carolina at Nevada, 10:00/7:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY #15 Villanova at Marquette, 2:30 PM/11:30 AM, ESPN FRIDAY #13 Syracuse at South Florida, 8:30/5:30 PM, ESPN #12 UCLA at Oregon State, 10:30/7:30 PM, FSN SATURDAY #3 Pittsburgh at #11 Georgetown, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN #14 Tennessee at Kansas, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN N.C. State at Florida, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS SUNDAY #12 UCLA at Oregon, 3:30/12:30 PM, FSN Kentucky at #18 Louisville, 4:30/1:30 PM, CBS Boston College at #1 North Carolina, 5:30/2:30 PM, FSN Virginia Tech at #5 Duke, 7:30/4:30 PM, FSN Arizona at Stanford, 10:00/7:00 PM, FSN

Jay Bell, Shortstop Cleveland Indians 1986-1988 Pittsburgh Pirates 1989-1996 Kansas City Royals 1997 Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2002 New York Mets 2003 Awards 1993 NL Gold Glove - SS 1993 NL Silver Slugger - SS All-Star Selections: 2 (1993, 1999) League Leader None Career Ranks None of note Best Performance July 27, 1991 - Pittsburgh at Houston Goes 4 for 5 with two home runs, four runs scored, and four rbi. Hall of Fame Stats Gray Ink: Batting - 32 (727) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 26.9 (352) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 30.5 (576) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: None Top 10 Similar Batters: Toby Harrah, Ray Durham, Bobby Grich, Benito Santiago, Devon White, Alan Trammell, Frank White, Edgar Renteria, Alvin Dark, Amos Otis Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1986: 1/0.3 1987: 1/0.3 1988: 2/0.0 1989: 8/2.5 1990: 17/8.1 1991: 22/9.0 1992: 24/8.0 1993: 26/10.6 1994: 19/6.8 1995: 13/4.6 1996: 15/4.0 1997: 21/11.1 1998: 20/7.6 1999: 23/6.9 2000: 19/5.5 2001: 12/3.8 2002: 1/-0.1 2003: 1/-0.2 Career Win Shares: 245 Career WARP3: 88.8 My Stupid Opinion Certainly not a HOFer but a much better player than the average fan probably remembers. Good hitting shortstop with good defense, at least early in his career, who was very durable as from 1990-2000 he never missed more than 13 games in a season. Fun Fact: Only player in MLB history to ever have 30+ sacrifice hits in a season (39 in 1990 and 30 in 1991) and also have a 30+ home run season (38 in 1999) in their career.

I'm starting to think a separate thread for the Teixeira signing and the fallout should have been created. In non-Yankees Are Destroying America news, Randy Johnson has agreed to one-year deal with the Giants. Was hoping he'd sign with the A's but he wanted to stay in the N.L.

Matt Williams, Third Baseman San Francisco Giants 1987-1996 Cleveland Indians 1997 Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2003 Awards 1990 NL Silver Slugger - 3B 1991 NL Gold Glove - 3B 1993 NL Gold Golve - 3B 1993 NL Silver Slugger - 3B 1994 NL Gold Glove - 3B 1994 NL Silver Slugger - 3B 1997 AL Gold Glove - 3B 1997 AL Silver Slugger - 3B All-Star Selections: 5 (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999) League Leader 1990: RBI 1994: Home Runs Career Ranks Home Runs: 61st AB/HR: 79th Best Performance April 18, 1993 - Atlanta at San Francisco Goes 4 for 6 with two home runs, including a walk off in the 11th inning. Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 8 (272) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 58 (426) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 29.4 (286) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 70.0 (258) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Johnny Bench) Other Similar Batters: Vinny Castilla, Andruw Jones, George Foster, Rocky Colavito, Ron Cey, Robin Ventura, Frank Howard, Gil Hodges, Jack Clark Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1987: 5/2.1 1988: 2/1.6 1989: 7/3.4 1990: 28/8.3 1991: 22/8.8 1992: 11/4.0 1993: 28/10.0 1994: 18/9.5 1995: 20/6.9 1996: 18/6.1 1997: 18/6.5 1998: 12/5.9 1999: 26/9.1 2000: 7/2.5 2001: 10/3.5 2002: 6/2.0 2003: 3/0.9 Career Win Shares: 241 Career WARP3: 91.2 My Stupid Opinion Most famous for being "on pace" to tie Roger Maris' then single season record of 61 home runs (OMG STILL NON-STEROID RECORD!!!) in 1994 before the strike killed that opportunity. He was the best third baseman in baseball from 1993-1995, though it was in '95 where he started to have injury problems. Had a lot of power and played a very good third base but also a big time hacker who posted only a .317 career OBP. Overall just not impressive enough to warrant serious consideration for the HOF.

Texans - 21 points Atlanta Baltimore New England Kansas City Green Bay Chicago Tennessee N.Y. Giants New Orleans Miami Philadelphia Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Seattle San Diego Washington

Was Abreu projectile shitting all over the clubhouse walls? Now that's just unsanitary. The Yankees need to sign David Eckstein to get the CHEMISTRY~!

I have nothing to add but...BASEBALL IS DEAD! WHY CAN'T IT BE MORE COMPETITIVE LIKE THE NBA! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I thought baseball was dead when the Yankees signed Jason Giambi after the 2001 season and that no one would ever be able to compete with them. Things worked out okay.