Bored

This week the Phillies traded Bobby Abreu for some magic beans and Chase Utley was the talk of baseball with his assault on Joe DiMaggio’s consecutive hitting streak record, so the Phillies are having the best week ever! Oh Utley’s streak ended last night…but hey at least they got rid of Lazy Abreu. You know what rhymes with Abreu? Poo. That’s the kind of hard hitting analysis that you can also get from the TWiB thread. So with the Phillies in the news the past week I figured might as well make them the next WTG? feature and the subject will be the Fightins’ from 1995. The Phillies that year stormed out of the gate after the delayed start to the season, winning 23 of their first 31 games. After beating the Cardinals 5-3 on June 25th they were 37-18, the best record in the National League with a 4 ½ game lead over the Braves in the East. Two weeks later at the All-Star Break they would be 4 ½ games behind the Braves. The Phillies lost 17 out of 20 games after June 25th and by August 10th they were under .500 after capping an eight game losing streak. After hitting rock bottom less than a week later the Phillies showed signs of life going through a stretch where they won 10 of 12 games and grabbed the Wild Card lead. But it turned out to be one big tease to a young Al Keiper as the Phillies would lose 21 of their last 31 games, finishing six games under .500. Several injuries to key players and a punchless line-up that had a MLB worst 94 homeruns were too much for the Phillies to overcome. C: Darren Daulton (.249/.359/.401, 12.8 VORP, 12 Win Shares) – Daulton tore knee ligaments in a game against the Dodgers on August 25th which was just about when the Phillies started their collapse after taking the Wild Card lead. That would be the last game he would ever play at catcher. He only played five games the following season and was traded to the Marlins midseason in 1997 where he would pick up a World Series before retiring. It was also in 1997 when Daulton began to fucking nuts. 1B: Gregg Jefferies (.306/.349/.448, 14.7 VORP, 10 Win Shares) – Jefferies spent the first half of the year in left field and then the second at first after Dave Hollins was traded to Boston. After two very good years in St. Louis it had appeared that he might start living up to the hype he received as a prospect for the Mets but it never happened with the Phillies. They traded him a waiver deal to the Angels in 1998 and then spent two seasons as a part time player with the Tigers. 2B: Mickey Morandini (.283/.350/.417, 21.2 VORP, 17 Win Shares) – Morandini was one of six Phillies to make the All-Star team based on their hot start that was fading by the break. After a down year in 1997 he was traded to the Cubs for Doug Glanville and would have a career year in 1998. Too bad for him it wasn’t a contract year so wasn’t in a position to cash in on it and fell off a cliff after that. He signed with the Expos before 2000 but never played a game with them as he was reacquired by the Phillies before the season started. He would be traded in a waiver deal to the Blue Jays. He’d be re-signed by the Jays after the season but did not make the club for 2001. 3B: Charlie Hayes (.276/.340/.406, 10.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares) – This was second go around with the Phillies for Hayes, which would be the first of three times he’d return to a team he used to play for. He signed with the Pirates after the season who would trade him at the waiver deadline to the Yankees where he lucked out and got to catch the final out of the World Series without doing anything else of note. Yankees traded him after 1997 to the Giants where he’d spend two seasons. Spent 2000 with the Brewers and then signed with the Astros who released him midseason in 2001. SS: Kevin Stocker (.218/.304/.274, -7.4 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Stocker pretty much pissed away all good feelings about him when he was an important midseason season call up for the Phillies during their 1993 championship season. Was traded after 1997 to the expansion Devil Rays for Mr. Poo which set the tone for the future the of the D-Rays franchise. They released him during the 2000 season and was picked up by the Angels to finish his career. LF/RF: Jim Eisenreich (.316/.375/.464, 22.3 VORP, 13 Win Shares) – As a kid I was never an autograph seeker but one of the few autographs I ever got was Jim Eisenreich in 1992 when he was with the Royals and I’m not really sure why. The Phillies had nine different players make 20 or more starts in the outfield in ’95 with Eisenreich leading the way with 90 total starts, the majority in right. Signed with Marlins after 1996 where he picked up a World Series ring. Traded to the Dodgers midseason in 1998 in the monster Mike Piazza/Gary Sheffield deal but Eisenreich was washed up and it would be his last stop. CF: Andy Van Slyke (.243/.333/.350, 2.4 VORP, 3 Win Shares) – Phillies stats only, acquired in June due to Lenny Dykstra’s injury problems. Van Slyke had hit the career wall the year before and it wasn’t getting any better this year which would be his last. CF: Lenny Dykstra (.264/.353/.354, 2.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Dykstra was pretty much crippled at this point by knee and back problems, he played in only 62 games. Many thought his career was finished at this point and they were almost right as he tried to gut it out the following year but only lasted 40 games although with decent numbers (.261/.387/.418). Missed all of 1997 and tried to make a comeback in ’98 but was injured again in Spring Training, then officially retiring. RF: Mark Whiten (.269/.365/.481, 10.8 VORP, 9 Win Shares) – Phillies stats only, acquired for Dave Hollins from the Red Sox in July. Whiten only played in 60 games for the Phillies yet he tied for the team lead in homeruns with 11. The well traveled Whiten would be released during the following season then picked up by Atlanta who would trade him a couple of months later to Seattle. Spent 1997 with the Yankees and then had a second stint with the Indians for one full season and a couple of cameo appearances the following two years. Rotation Paul Quantrill (92 ERA+, 13.5 VORP, 7 Win Shares) – This was Quantrill’s only full year as a starting pitcher and it’s not hard to see why. Traded after the season to Toronto and was in their rotation at the start of the year but was removed from it by midseason. It’d be the following year he’d begin a nice run as one of the better middle relievers in the game. With the Jays thru 2001 before being traded to the Dodgers with Cesar Izturis. Signed with the Yankees after 2003 but unfortunately for them he started to suck at that point and gave up the game winning homerun to THE GREATEST CLUTCHIEST HITTER WHOEVER CLUTCHED WHO ISN’T DEREK JETER in Game 4 of the ALCS that year that sparked the Red Sox comeback. Yankees traded him midseason in 2005 to the Padres who would release him in August and was picked up by the Marlins to finish the season. Announced his retirement last March. Tyler Green (81 ERA+, 5.2 VORP, 5 Win Shares) – The former much hyped first round pick, Green’s MLB future was already bleak at this point with major arm problems although he was, believe it or not, selected to the All-Star team. He went into the break with a 2.75 ERA but those arm problems popped up again soon after. Just a hunch Jim Fregosi having him throw three complete games in a span of five starts might not have helped his situation. Spent two more injury plagued years and then was out of the Majors. Mike Mimbs (104 ERA+, 18.3 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Mimbs was a 26 year old rookie who posted a decent ERA despite walking 75 batters in 136 2/3 innings pitched. Not surprisingly a man with that kind of command didn’t last long in the Majors, last appearing in 1997. Curt Schilling (121 ERA+, 22.8 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Schilling’s sock wasn’t bloody and wasn’t red yet but I’m sure he was just as annoying as he is today. Wait, wait Curt just IM’d me and he’s insisting typing his own profile as he wants to mention how great his 9/11 speech was, talk about steroids, and I’m sure throw in his opinion on the war in Lebanon because god damnit the world is waiting for Curt’s opinion on any every subject because he said so. Well not on my watch Schilling! Go verbally masturbate yourself some more on the SOSH boards. Closer: Heathcliff Slocumb (149 ERA+, 15.2 VORP, 11 Win Shares) – This was Slocumb’s first year as a closer and hey he managed a good ERA despite a 1.51 WHIP. Traded to the Red Sox after the season and again got by on giving up tons of baserunners but not a lot of runs. In 1997 though all those baserunners finally started touching homeplate more often but he at this point he was a PVC~ so the bullpen starved Mariners traded prospects Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe for him in a deadline deal. Remember kids trading prospects for mediocre relievers never ends well. Signed with the Orioles in 1998 who released him a month into the season and was picked up by the Cardinals. Traded the Padres in another deadline deal in 2000 and they released him during the offseason.

From Deadspin who got from a Longhorns' fan site.

Clean hit for Utley in his last at bat so forget any controversy.

Except that it was Iowa who was #3 but I guess typed Penn State as a reflex.

In the ongoing debate in college football of playoffs vs. bowls I certainly come on the side of playoffs. I personally think the bowls have out lived their usefulness and that any tradition left in the system was pissed away when the Big Ten and Pac-10 agreed to join the BCS a few years back thus no longer guaranteeing that those two conference’s champions would meet in the Rose Bowl. Since the creation of the BCS in 1998 it has only avoided controversy twice, in 2002 and 2005 simply because they lucked out by having two major conference, unbeaten teams left at the end of the year. Not surprisingly those are the only two years that the BCS title game hasn’t been terrible. It is only in years like 2002 and 2005 where the BCS “works” but if you look at college football’s history there are several years with scenarios where such a system would have been incapable of solving any controversy. One of those years was 1993. After many near misses at a national title Bobby Bowden and Florida State came into 1993 the run away favorites to win the title. Led by the eventual Heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward, the Seminoles destroyed every team in their path. I had forgotten how dominate they were, just look at their jaw dropping results from that year. 8/28 vs. Kansas 42-0 9/4 at Duke 45-7 9/11 vs. Clemson 57-0 9/18 at North Carolina 33-7 10/2 vs. Georgia Tech 51-0 10/9 vs. Miami 28-10 10/16 vs. Virginia 40-14 10/30 vs. Wake Forest 54-0 11/6 at Maryland 49-20 Not even their tormenters from Miami could give them a real challenge. Then came a trip to South Bend. The Irish were also undefeated and came in at #2 in both polls. The Noles fell behind 24-7 but made a furious comeback to pull the game to 31-24. They had the ball on the Irish 14 for one final play but Ward could not connect in the endzone and it looked like FSU’s national title hopes had been dashed but a late season loss yet again. Now going into that weekend Nebraska was undefeated and #3 in the Coaches’ Poll and #4 in the AP Poll (Miami was #3). The Cornhuskers had not been nearly as dominate as the Seminoles and Irish, with one point wins over UCLA and Kansas. The coaches would move Nebraska to #2 ahead of FSU but the media would leave the Seminoles ahead of the Huskers. Things then of course got really interesting the following week as after their triumph over Florida State and now with strangle hold on the #1 ranking in both polls, the Irish were stunned at home by Boston College in another classic on a last second field goal 41-39. FSU that weekend slaughtered another ACC foe, N.C. State 62-3, and in the media poll reclaimed the #1 spot while Nebraska grabbed the #1 spot in the coaches poll. The Irish dropped all the way to #4 in both polls behind two different interesting stories. In the coaches poll at #3 was a surprising West Virginia team had upset Miami that week to improve to 10-0 which finally earned them some serious respect, but they were #5 in the media poll. #3 in that poll was Auburn. Auburn was on probation and ineligible for postseason, they concluded their regular season undefeated but nothing to show for it. The final weekend of the regular season would play out with FSU and Nebraska disposing of their rivals, Florida and Oklahoma, while West Virginia edged Boston College 17-14 and thus ending the season with a serious poll controversy. Here’s how the regular season concluded in the polls. AP 1. Florida State 11-1 2. Nebraska 11-0 3. West Virginia 11-0 4. Auburn 11-0 5. Notre Dame 10-1 Coaches 1. Nebraska 11-0 2. West Virginia 11-0 3. Florida State 11-1 4. Notre Dame 10-1 5. Auburn 11-0 This is was a complete nightmare. The coaches felt the right thing to do was put Nebraska and West Virginia at the top two spots but many didn’t think either was on the level of Florida State and Notre Dame. Of course the media poll was ripped to shreds as how could you have FSU at #1 and the Irish at #5, let alone have West Virginia below FSU when they beat Boston College, who beat Notre Dame, who beat Florida State. This was the type of scenario that only a playoff could have solved. Interestingly enough there was one poll left after the SEC title game, which with Auburn ineligible didn’t have much meaning on the national scene, the media bumped the Irish past Auburn even though neither played. In the bowl selection process the Orange Bowl held all the cards as who they picked would likely decide that national title. Nebraska had the automatic invite with winning the Big 8 so after that they had the choice of Florida State, West Virginia, and Notre Dame. The would choose the Seminoles, Notre Dame would head to the Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M, and West Virginia to the Sugar Bowl against Florida. In the afternoon of January 1st the Irish edged A&M 24-21. West Virginia would prove their doubters right as they would get murdered by the Gators 41-7 and potentially helping the pollsters quite a bit. If Nebraska could beat Florida State they would get an undefeated and relatively undisputed national champion. They took a 16-15 lead with a little over a minute to go but Charlie Ward would march the Seminoles down the field in a drive that included a fourth down conversion and very controversial personal foul penalty for a field goal and an 18-16 lead with 21 seconds left. A celebration penalty though gave Nebraska life and get in field goal range but kicker Byron Bennett badly hooked the 45 yard attempt. Everyone waited for the polls the next day to see if Notre Dame jumped Florida State due to the way everything shook out but the Irish’s unconvincing win over the Aggies left them at #2 and Bobby Bowden with his long awaited first national title, despite losing to the team who was at #2. Preseason AP Top 25 1. Florida State 2. Alabama 3. Michigan 4. Texas A&M 5. Miami 6. Syracuse 7. Notre Dame 8. Nebraska 9. Florida 10. Tennessee 11. Colorado 12. Washington 13. Gerogia 14. Arizona 15. Stanford 16. Penn State 17. Ohio State 18. USC 19. BYU 20. North Carolina 21. Boston College 22. Oklahoma 23. Clemson 24. Mississippi State 25. N.C. State Top 25 Regular Season Match-ups Week 1 #20 North Carolina 31, #18 USC 9 Week 2 #3 Miami 23, #20 Boston College 7 Week 3 #1 Florida State 57, #21 Clemson 0 #11 Notre Dame 27, #3 Michigan 23 #17 Oklahoma 44, #5 Texas A&M 14 #8 Tennessee 38, #22 Georgia 6 #10 Colorado 45, #24 Baylor 21 #16 Ohio State 21, #12 Washington 12 Week 4 #1 Florida State 33, #13 North Carolina 7 #9 Florida 41, #5 Tennessee 34 #20 Stanford 41, #7 Colorado 37 Week 5 #3 Miami 35, #13 Colorado 29 #18 North Carolina 35, #19 N.C. State 14 Week 6 None Week 7 #1 Florida State 28, #3 Miami 10 #13 Washington 24, #16 California 23 #25 UCLA 68, #19 BYU 14 Week 8 #1 Florida State 40, #15 Virginia 14 #2 Alabama 17, #10 Tennessee 17 tie #19 Auburn 38, #4 Florida 35 #5 Ohio State 28, #25 Michigan State 21 #18 Michigan 21, #7 Penn State 13 #20 Colorado 27, #9 Oklahoma 10 #22 UCLA 39, #12 Washington 25 Week 9 #6 Miami 49, #23 Syracuse 0 #7 Arizona 9, #25 Washington State 6 #21 Virginia 17, #12 North Carolina 10 Week 10 #3 Ohio State 24, #12 Penn State 6 #6 Nebraska 21, #20 Colorado 17 #15 UCLA 37, #7 Arizona 17 #25 Kansas State 21, #14 Oklahoma 14 #24 Michigan 13, #21 Wisconsin 21 Week 11 #3 Ohio State 14, #15 Wisconsin 14 tie #7 Tennessee 45, #13 Louisville 10 #19 Penn State 38, #17 Indiana 31 Week 12 #2 Notre Dame 31, #1 Florida State 24 #5 Ohio State 23, #19 Indiana 17 #11 Texas A&M 42, #20 Louisville 7 Week 13 #17 Boston College 41, #1 Notre Dame 39 #9 West Virginia 17, #4 Miami 14 #6 Auburn 22, #11 Alabama 14 #16 UCLA 27, #22 USC 21 #25 Virginia Tech 20, #23 Virginia 17 Week 14 #1 Florida State 33, #7 Florida 21 #2 Nebraska 21, #16 Oklahoma 7 #5 West Virginia 17, #11 Boston College 14 #14 Penn State 38, #25 Michigan State 37 Week 15 #9 Florida 28, #16 Alabama 13 (SEC Title) #10 Wisconsin 41, #25 Michigan State 20 Bowl Results (MVP) Las Vegas: Utah State 42, Ball State 33 (Anthony Calvillo) Sun: #19 Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 10 (Jerald Moore) Aloha: #17 Colorado 41, #25 Fresno State 30 (Rashaan Salaam) Liberty: Louisville 18, Michigan State 7 (Jeff Brohm) Copper: #20 Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17 (Andre Coleman) Holiday: #11 Ohio State 28, BYU 21 (Raymont Harris) Freedom: USC 28, Utah 21 (Johnnie Morton) Gator: #18 Alabama 24, #12 North Carolina 10 (Brian Burgdorf) Alamo: California 37, Iowa 3 (Dave Barr) Peach: #24 Clemson 14, Kentucky 13 (Brentson Buckner) Independence: #22 Virginia Tech 45, #21 Indiana 20 (Maurice DeShazo) Fiesta: #16 Arizona 29, #10 Miami 0 (Chuck Levy) Carquest: #15 Boston College 31, Virginia 13 (Glenn Foley) Hall of Fame: #23 Michigan 42, N.C. State 7 (Tyrone Wheatley) Cotton: #4 Notre Dame 24, #7 Texas A&M 21 (Lee Becton) Citrus: #13 Penn State 31, #6 Tennessee 13 (Bobby Engram) Rose: #9 Wisconsin 21, #14 UCLA 16 (Brent Moss) Sugar: #8 Florida 41, #3 West Virginia 7 (Errict Rhett) Orange: #1 Florida State 18, #2 Nebraska 16 (Charlie Ward) Final AP Top 25 1. Florida State 2. Notre Dame 3. Nebraska 4. Auburn 5. Florida 6. Wisconsin 7. West Virginia 8. Penn State 9. Texas A&M 10. Arizona 11. Ohio State 12. Tennessee 13. Boston College 14. Alabama 15. Miami 16. Colorado 17. Oklahoma 18. UCLA 19. North Carolina 20. Kansas State 21. Michigan 22. Virginia Tech 23. Clemson 24. Louisville 25. California All-Americans QB Charlie Ward, Florida State RB Marshall Faulk, San Diego State LeShon Johnson, Northern Illinois Errict Rhett, Florida WR J.J. Stokes, UCLA Johnnie Morton, USC Ryan Yarborough, Wyoming TE Carlester Crumpler, East Carolina Pete Mitchell, Boston College OL Mark Dixon, Virginia Stacy Seegars, Clemson Aaron Taylor, Notre Dame Wayne Gandy, Auburn Jim Pyne, Virginia Tech Korey Stringer, Ohio State Marcus Spears, Northwestern State Rich Braham, West Virginia Todd Steussie, California Bernard Williams, Georgia DL Rob Waldrop, Arizona Dan Wilkinson, Ohio State Sam Adams, Texas A&M Lou Benfatti, Penn State Derrick Alexander, Florida State Shante Carver, Arizona Kevin Patrick, Miami Bryant Young, Notre Dame LB Trev Alberts, Nebraska Derrick Brooks, Florida State Jamir Miller, UCLA Barron Wortham, UTEP Dana Howard, Illinois DB Antonio Langham, Alabama Aaron Glenn, Texas A&M Jeff Burris, Notre Dame Corey Sawyer, Florida State Bobby Taylor, Notre Dame Bracey Walker, North Carolina Jaime Mendez, Kansas State K Bjorn Merten, UCLA John Becksvoort, Tennessee John Stewart, SMU P Terry Daniel, Auburn KR David Palmer, Alabama

Rest of the conference media polls. SEC East 1. Florida (49) 2. Georgia (42) 3. Tennessee (9) 4. South Carolina (4) 5. Kentucky 6. Vanderbilt West 1. Auburn (87) 2. LSU (12) 3. Alabama (5) 4. Arkansas 5. Mississippi 6. Mississippi State Big Ten 1. Ohio State 2. Michigan 3. Penn State The Big Ten only announces the top three. Lame. MAC West 1. Northern Illinois (39) 2. Toledo (10) 3. Western Michigan (1) 4. Central Michigan 5. Ball State 6. Eastern Michigan East 1. Akron (35) 2. Miami Univ. (11) 3. Bowling Green (2) 4. Ohio (2) 5. Kent State 6. Buffalo Don't think Conference USA does one.

Deadspin posted the story of Mike Tirico's sexual harrassment case that got him suspeneded in 1992. http://www.deadspin.com/sports/top/here-ar...week-191242.php

Fixed. If anyone sees any other typos let me know.

Double post

Here's the rest of the regular season schedule. Remember the conference championship games will be played over two weekends after Week 12. Because of that I had to move some late season real life match-ups into the middle of the season. Week 2 Miami vs. Alabama FIU vs. Auburn Minnesota vs. Florida Virginia vs. Kentucky Maryland vs. LSU UTEP vs. South Carolina Buffalo vs. Tennessee Oregon State vs. Boise State USC vs. Florida State Connecticut vs. Georgia Tech Oklahoma vs. Hawaii Stanford vs. San Jose State Oregon vs. Kent State Arizona State vs. Miami of Ohio Temple vs. Michigan Texas vs. Ohio State Notre Dame vs. Penn State Syracuse vs. San Diego State Texas A&M vs. UCLA Rutgers vs. Kansas State Week 3 Texas A&M vs. Boise State Hawaii vs. Florida State San Jose State vs. Georgia Tech Kansas State vs. Maryland Penn State vs. Miami Stanford vs. Virginia Oregon State vs. Buffalo Miami of Ohio vs. Kent State Notre Dame vs. Michigan Temple vs. Minnesota Rutgers vs. Ohio State Alabama vs. Arizona State Oklahoma vs. Oregon USC vs. San Diego State FIU vs. UCLA UTEP vs. Connecticut South Carolina vs. Syracuse LSU vs. Auburn Tennessee vs. Florida Texas vs. Kentucky Week 4 Auburn vs. Buffalo Michigan vs. Kent State Syracuse vs. Miami of Ohio Stanford vs. Minnesota Penn State vs. Ohio State Texas A&M vs. Temple Arizona State vs. Kent State Oregon State vs. Notre Dame Tennessee vs. Oregon LSU vs. San Diego State Florida State vs. UCLA Oklahoma vs. USC Miami vs. Connecticut San Jose State vs. Rutgers UTEP vs. Texas South Carolina vs. Alabama Kentucky vs. Florida Maryland vs. FIU Hawaii vs. Boise State Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Week 5 Oregon vs. Arizona State Connecticut vs. Notre Dame Temple vs. Oregon State San Jose State vs. San Diego State UCLA vs. Stanford Kentucky vs. USC Kent State vs. Kansas State Buffalo vs. Oklahoma Penn State vs. Rutgers Florida State vs. Syracuse LSU vs. Texas FIU vs. Texas A&M Hawaii vs. UTEP Florida vs. Alabama South Carolina vs. Auburn Miami vs. Tennessee Maryland vs. Boise State Ohio State vs. Virginia Minnesota vs. Michigan Georgia Tech vs. Miami of Ohio Week 6 Michigan vs. Connecticut Syracuse vs. Kansas State Texas vs. Oklahoma Auburn vs. Rutgers Virginia vs. Texas A&M Alabama vs. UTEP LSU vs. Florida FIU vs. Tennessee South Carolina vs. Kentucky Florida State vs. Boise State Maryland vs. Georgia Tech Miami of Ohio vs. Hawaii San Jose State vs. Miami Ohio State vs. Buffalo Temple vs. Kansas State Penn State vs. Minnesota San Diego State vs. Arizona State Stanford vs. Notre Dame Oregon State vs. Oregon USC vs. UCLA Week 7 Alabama vs. Kent State Auburn vs. Florida Miami vs. FIU LSU vs. Kentucky South Carolina vs. Temple Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech Boise State vs. Notre Dame Florida State vs. San Jose State Oregon State vs. Hawaii Virginia vs. Maryland Buffalo vs. Miami of Ohio Michigan vs. Penn State Minnesota vs. Kansas State Ohio State vs. San Diego State Arizona State vs. USC Oregon vs. UCLA Stanford vs. Syracuse Connecticut vs. Texas A&M Oklahoma vs. UTEP Rutgers vs. Texas Week 8 Boise State vs. Virginia Florida State vs. Georgia Tech Miami vs. Hawaii Maryland vs. San Jose State Buffalo vs. Penn State Kent State vs. Ohio State Miami of Ohio vs. Temple Michigan vs. USC Minnesota vs. Oklahoma Arizona State vs. Stanford Notre Dame vs. UCLA Oregon vs. Kansas State Oregon State vs. San Diego State Connecticut vs. Texas Rutgers vs. Texas A&M Syracuse vs. UTEP Alabama vs. Tennessee Kentucky vs. Auburn Florida vs. FIU LSU vs. South Carolina Week 9 Buffalo vs. UCLA Penn State vs. Kent State Michigan vs. Miami of Ohio Minnesota vs. Ohio State LSU vs. Temple Arizona State vs. Kentucky Notre Dame vs. San Diego State Boise State vs. Oregon USC vs. Oregon State Stanford vs. Auburn Connecticut vs. Rutgers Kansas Sate vs. Texas A&M Oklahoma vs. Syracuse Texas vs. San Jose State UTEP vs. Florida Alabama vs. FIU South Carolina vs. Tennessee Florida State vs. Maryland Georgia Tech vs. Miami Virginia vs. Hawaii Week 10 Arizona State vs. Oregon State Oregon vs. Notre Dame UCLA vs. San Diego State Stanford vs. USC Kansas State vs. Connecticut Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma UTEP vs. Rutgers Texas vs. Syracuse Alabama vs. Kentucky Auburn vs. Penn State Florida vs. San Jose State FIU vs. South Carolina LSU vs. Tennessee Boise State vs. Miami Florida State vs. Virginia Michigan vs. Georgia Tech Maryland vs. Hawaii Buffalo vs. Kent State Minnesota vs. Miami of Ohio Ohio State vs. Temple Week 11 Connecticut vs. Oklahoma Texas vs. Kansas State Rutgers vs. Syracuse UTEP vs. Texas A&M Alabama vs. LSU Auburn vs. Tennessee Florida vs. South Carolina FIU vs. Kentucky Boise State vs. San Jose State Florida State vs. Minnesota Georgia Tech vs. Hawaii Maryland vs. Miami Virginia vs. Kent State Buffalo vs. Michigan Penn State vs. Temple Ohio State vs. Miami of Ohio Arizona State vs. Notre Dame Oregon vs. USC Oregon State vs. UCLA San Diego State vs. Stanford Week 12 Alabama vs. Auburn LSU vs. FIU Syracuse vs. Connecticut Texas A&M vs. Texas Miami vs. Virginia Georgia Tech vs. Boise State Ohio State vs. Michigan South Carolina vs. Kent State Penn State vs. Miami of Ohio Florida State vs. Florida San Jose State vs. Hawaii USC vs. Notre Dame Stanford vs. Oregon State Maryland vs. Temple Tennessee vs. Kentucky UCLA vs. Arizona State Rutgers vs. Oklahoma Buffalo vs. Minnesota San Diego State vs. Oregon UTEP vs. Kansas State

Now we'll know what it's like to smell like God

Kind of an odd find, someone posted the entire game to the '85 Bears season opener against the Bucs, a surprisingly competitive game. Part 8 and 9 have the CBS halftime show as well so you'll see some old highlights in there. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

ESPN/Fox Games MONDAY Cleveland (Paul Byrd) at Boston (David Wells), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN WEDNESDAY Philadelphia (Brett Myers) at St. Louis (Jeff Weaver), 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN THURSDAY Toronto (Shaun Marcum) at N.Y. Yankees (Randy Johnson), 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ESPN Cleveland (Jake Westbrook) at Boston (Josh Beckett), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY Philadelphia at N.Y. Mets, 1:00 PM EST Atlanta at Cincinnati, 1:00 PM EST Oakland at Seattle, 1:00 PM PST Texas at L.A. Angels, 1:00 PM PST SUNDAY Philadelphi at N.Y. Mets, 8:00/5:00 PM

I grew up a in town with an oddly high percentage of Mormons so ya I got sick of them, so none in my contest! Mormon girls were awfully cute though. Edit: Hey kkk, you want kotz's spot? Week 1 Schedule #3 Syracuse vs. #4 Texas A&M #2 LSU vs. #9 Penn State #7 Ohio State vs. #8 South Carolina #5 Miami vs. #10 Florida State #1 Alabama vs. Hawaii #6 Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame San Jose State vs. Virginia USC vs. Tennessee Stanford vs. Oregon Maryland vs. Arizona State UCLA vs. Rutgers Auburn vs. Connecticut Buffalo vs. Temple Boise State vs. Florida San Diego State vs. UTEP FIU vs. Miami of Ohio Kent State vs. Minnesota Oklahoma vs. Kansas State Oregon State vs. Texas Michigan vs. Kentucky

I decided it'd be best to start a new thread for posting the conference alignments and schedules, plus any other contest discussion before the season starts (the sign up thread will be unpinned and closed). First thing I'll wait off for now before settling on the bowls as I'm still waiting on a few people for their bowl names. Really that's something I don't need to have set until right before the season starts. I plan on having the Week 1 thread posted on Thursday, August 24th one week before the college football season kicks off to give everyone plenty of time to get their picks in. Now here are the new conference alingments. Southeast Seven Conference Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff) Auburn (Agent of Oblivion) Florida (Urban Warfare) Florida International (Vitamin X) Kentucky (Danville Wrestling) LSU (teke184) South Carolina (Cuban Linx) Tennessee (Art Sandusky) First the name is a take off of the Big Ten as there are 11 teams in that conference of course. With seven SEC teams I thought it was natural to call it the Southeast Seven even though there are eight teams in the conference. Ain't I clever? I originally wanted FIU with the ACC teams because they play Maryland and Miami in real life but couldn't make it work so they get slotted here. Western Atlantic Conference Boise State (bravesfan) Florida State (Kingofthe909) Georgia Tech (iggymcfly) Hawaii (Will Scarlet) Maryland (MarvnisaLunatic) Miami (Spaceman Spiff) San Jose State (Agent Bond34) Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto) Obviously this a combined conference of the ACC and WAC. Now there are three Big East teams in the contest but I split them from the ACC this year mainly to balance the conference a little better. Big MAC Conference Buffalo (Carnival) Kent State (JHawk) Miami of Ohio (Hawk 34) Michigan (Jimbo) Minnestoa (Vern Gagne) Ohio State (Gert T) Penn State (therealworldschampion) Temple (Ortonsault) One of two conferences that's name didn't change, this conference came together perfectly. We have four Big Ten teams and three MAC teams, with a future MAC team in Temple that has Miami, Kent State, Minnesota, and Penn State on it's schedule in real life. Pac-8 Conference Arizona State (Spicy McHaggis) Notre Dame (Lando Griffin) Oregon (nogoodnick) Oregon State (Princess Leena) San Diego State (The Last Samurai) Stanford (Bored) UCLA (phoenixrising) USC (Cartman) As I mentioned in the sign up thread Notre Dame has UCLA, Stanford, and USC on it's schedule in real life this year so they get slotted with the Pac-10 teams. San Diego State is the only Mountain West team and they were in this conference last year so decided not to move them. Big 8 Conference Connecticut (Silver Phoenix) Kansas State (Loaded Glove) Oklahoma (Vampiro69) Rutgers (the pinjockey) Syracuse (CanadianChris) Texas (UTBroward) Texas A&M (Secret Agent) UTEP (Angel Grace Blue) Since we have Big XII teams in this conference I went with the conference's old name. UTEP I could have slotted anywhere. Schedules I imagine will be posted tommorrow as I'm already done with about 75% of it.

Phillies three-phase business plan: 1. Trade Bobby Abreu 2. ??? 3. Profit!

"Wrong Hole" Buster is reporting a tentative deal with the Yankees is in place which would include Cory Lidle.

A few days old but I love the headline Also like the quote from Bobby Bowden about his players who have guns for "hunting purposes" register them with the coaching staff.

Gammons would come up with plenty of rumors that went no where either. I'm fairly certain ESPN encourages/forces their "insiders" to report their rumors as near done deals. Throw enough shit against the wall and eventually one will stick, then they can act like they had a big scoop.

1975 World Series Game 4 - Red Sox 5, Reds 4 (boxcore and play account) -The Cincinnati crowd audibly groans when starter Fred Norman gets behind 2-0 to the first batter of the game. Man, tough crowd. -The announcers throughout the series have been talking about the possibility of Rico Petrocelli retiring after the Series. He’d retire after the following season. -Announcers do a promo for the reunion of Simon & Garfunkle on Saturday Night Live that week. -The video quality is very good for the first six innings and then in the 7th goes to shit. It’s such a dramatic change that for a second it almost seems like it’s a completely different game. -They show Luis Tiant’s wife a few times and she’s waving some giant noise maker and the announcers say she does it for every game during the entire game. Now why didn’t the crowd around her rise up and slay her, I have no idea. -In the 9th inning Tony Kubek thinks Tiant is at almost 200 pitches. Errr not quite. He did throw 163 pitches which is a lot of fucking pitches. Given his shutout in Game 1 and another complete game victory here he was definitely the MVP of the series so far. He even has a couple hits and runs scored in the series although he was just a .164 career hitter. 1979 World Series Game 4 - Orioles 9, Pirates 6 (boxscore and play account) -Once again no network graphics for this game which is getting annoying. This game was played on a Saturday so they run a bunch of college football scores during the game which would have been kind of neat to see, if only to me. Cosell seems more excited about reciting the scores to the college games than this game itself. -They hype the Red River Shootout game which was to follow the telecast of Game 4. Texas beat Oklahoma 16-7, the Sooners only loss of that season. -It’s mentioned that the Pirates and Tim Foli have agreed on a new five-year contract. He’d spend just two years of the contract there as he was traded to the Angels after 1981. In Game 3 and this game the Pirates fans do a “Foli, Foli, Foli” chant. I’m not aware if Tim ever lost part of his ear during a game or landed on some thumbtacks while diving for a groundball. -In this series and the ’75 Series there are several check swings that in today’s game would always be called strikes that are almost always called balls here. There must have been some rule change or evolutionary change in how umps call check swings in the last 30 years. In the Orioles huge 8th inning Doug DeCinces checks his swing on a two strike pitch that 99.9% of the time would been called a strike in today’s game but is called a ball here without question. He would draw a walk and be followed by pinch hit doubles by John Lowenstein and Terry Crowley. 1986 World Series Game 4 - Mets 6, Red Sox 2 (boxscore and play account) -A potential great storyline never happened in this series as Tom Seaver would have been the Game 4 starter here for the Red Sox but an ankle injury caused him to miss playoffs. Jerry McNamara decides to go with Al Nipper and his 5.38 ERA here instead of having Bruce Hurst on three days rest. Nipper was solid in this game though and the Red Sox missed several opportunities against Ron Darling who didn’t give up an earned run in his first two starts. -The crack researchers at NBC note that Danny Heep, who was at DH for the Mets, is the first DH in World Series history with the initials DH. God I hope that doesn’t end up on his tombstone. -Lenny Dykstra’s homerun in the 7th goes off Dwight Evans glove. They compare it to Dave Henderson’s play in Game 5 of the ACLS where a Bobby Grich flyball went out of his glove and over the wall for a homerun but this wasn’t nearly as bad. Evans had it on his webbing and it would have been a snow cone job if he caught it. If he timed his jump better he would have had it. -Classic series or not, the last three games haven’t been very competitive.

So ya I'm cutting off sign ups after today. Unless there is a surprise new sign up today I've now set up the conferences which I will post tommorrow.

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...p;#entry1166431

Braves traded Wilson Betemit to the Dodgers for Danys Baez and Willy Aybar.

More conference media polls. Pac-10 1. USC (18) 2. California (7) 3. Oregon (3) 4. Arizona State (1) 5. UCLA 6. Arizona 7. Oregon State 8. Washington State 9. Stanford 10. Washington Big XII North 1. Nebraska (21) 2. Iowa State (5) 3. Colorado (2) 4. Kansas 5. Missouri 6. Kansas State South 1. Oklahoma (23) 2. Texas (5) 3. Texas Tech 4. Texas A&M 5. Oklahoma State 6. Baylor Mountain West 1. TCU (16) 2. BYU (5) 3. Utah (3) 4. Colorado State (1) 5. New Mexico 6. San Diego State 7. Air Force 8. UNLV 9. Wyoming WAC 1. Boise State (36) 2. Fresno State (9) 3. Nevada (4) 4. Hawaii (1) 5. Louisiana Tech 6. San Jose State 7. Utah State 8. Idaho 9. New Mexico State Sun Belt 1. UL Lafayette (3) 2. Arkansas State (2) 3. Troy (2) 4. North Texas 5. UL Monroe (1) 6. Middle Tennessee 7. Florida Atlantic 8. Florida International

Is Derek Jeter the best player of all-time and is Alex Rodriguez the worst player of all-time? And if you your answer is "no" to both then how do you feel about spending the afterlife in the the firery pits of hell?