Bored

No point in waiting now. Final Bowl Results Pepsi Blue Bored Bowl: #2 Georgia Tech (iggymcfly) 23, #1 Miami (Spaceman Spiff) 20 Out Magazine Bowl: #3 Syracuse (CanadianChris) 21, #4 Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto) 20 KFC PETA Bowl: #9 Oregon (nogoodnick) 22, #6 Hawaii (Will Scarlet) 19 TheSWF.com Dust Bowl: #5 South Carolina (Cuban Linx) 22, Oklahoma (Vampiro69) 17 Williams Games SinisTar Bowl: #7 Stanford (Bored) 20, Kentucky (Danville Wreslting) 20; I win by tiebreak Traditional Bowl presented by the Yellow Submarine: #8 Minnesota (Vern Gagne) 21, USC (Cartman) 19 Ex-Lax Toilet Bowl: Florida (Urban Warfare) 22, #10 UCLA (phoenixrising) 21 FireJoeMorgan.com Bowl: LSU (teke184) 21, Arizona State (Spicy McHaggis) 20 Meow Mix Pussy Bowl: Tennessee (Sex Machine Gun) 25, San Jose State (kkktookmybabyaway) 15 Again congratulations to iggy on winning the title. I have not decided yet if this will be the final year of the contest or not as I'm 50/50 on it right now. If the contest does return everyone who did particpate the whole year will have a spot reserved. Thanks to everyone who participated.

With this dominate performance I doubt we'll see too much talk tommorrow about Boise State being the real national champs although I anticipate they'll get a few first place votes in the AP poll.

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

Given the current state of the Cotton Bowl I doubt it. If they were ever going to promote a game into the BCS it would have been the Capital One Bowl. I would have preferred that over the current format. I'm not looking forward to the first year with two games at the Rose Bowl.

Its because of the new BCS format this year where they added a 5th BCS game by playing two games at the same site in one week.

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

Mark McGwire - First Baseman Oakland Athletics 1986-1997 St. Louis Cardinals 1997-2001 Awards 1987 AL Rookie of the Year 1990 AL Gold Glove - 1B 1992 AL Silver Slugger - 1B 1996 AL Silver Slugger - 1B 1998 NL Silver Slugger - 1B All-Star Selections: 12 (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) League Leader 1987: Homeruns, Slugging %, HR/AB 1989: HR/AB 1990: Walks 1992: Slugging %, HR/AB, OPS+ 1995: HR/AB 1996: Homeruns, OBP, Slugging %, HR/AB, OPS, OPS+ 1998: Homeruns, Walks, OBP, Slugging %, HR/AB, Runs Created, OPS, OPS+ 1999: Homeruns, RBI, HR/AB, OPS+ Career Ranks HR: 7th RBI: 60th BB: 34th OBP: 78th SLG: 10th HR/AB: 1st RC: 82nd OPS: 13th OPS+: 11th Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 36 (41) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 110 (189) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 42.0 (126) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 169.5 (60) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 2 (Harmon Killewbrew, Willie McCovey) Other Similar Batters: Jim Thome, Jose Canseco, Carlos Delgado, Manny Ramirez, Juan Gonzalez, Norm Cash, Jason Giambi, Dave Kingman Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1986: 1/-0.1 1987: 30/8.9 1988: 28/7.6 1989: 21/7.0 1990: 27/10.0 1991: 18/6.1 1992: 29/10.1 1993: 6/2.5 1994: 6/2.5 1995: 23/7.8 1996: 29/9.8 1997: 25/9.4 1998: 41/11.6 1999: 30/8.6 2000: 20/6.0 2001: 8/1.5 Career Win Shares: 342 Career WARP3: 109.5 Would he get my vote? Yes. I thought about doing a very long rant about the entire issue regarding if McGwire should go into the HOF or not but we all know that when the results are announced Tuesday he will not have been elected so this issue is going to last for at least one more year so I'm not going to waste my time for now. What I will say when it comes to considering a player for the HOF who has either been proven to have used steroids or have likely used steroids I feel that if a player is a true borderline candidate that use of steroids can tip the scales against a player as being a deserving HOF. Mark McGwire is not a borderline candidate. 7th all-time in homeruns, 10th all-time in Slugging, 11th all-time OPS+, a .394 career OBP, and he averaged 50 homeruns for every 162 games played. Whether or not he will ever get in, it is too early to tell. The projection seems to be he'll get only 25-30% of the vote on this first ballot and this percentage should increase substantially next year as several voters are using an arbitrary one-year boycott for likely steroid users. What is revealed or not revealed in the following years about his use of steroids and the use of others during his playing days will determine if he ever gets in. No one should feel sorry for McGwire if he never gets in but I think it'd be a real shame if he didn't.

Oregon beats UCLA 68-66 for the Bruins first loss of the year.

Speaking of which: If Sean Salisbury Asks You To Look At His Phone, Don't Do It.

Andre Dawson - Outfielder Montreal Expos 1976-1986 Chicago Cubs 1987-1992 Boston Red Sox 1993-1994 Florida Marlins 1995-1996 6th year on the ballot Past HOF Voting Results 2002: 45.34% 2003: 50.00% 2004: 50.00% 2005: 52.32% 2006: 60.96% Awards 1977 NL Rookie of the Year 1980 NL Gold Glove - OF 1980 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1981 NL Gold Glove - OF 1981 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1982 NL Gold Glove - OF 1983 NL Gold Glove - OF 1983 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1984 NL Gold Glove - OF 1985 NL Gold Glove - OF 1987 NL MVP 1987 NL Gold Glove - OF 1987 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1988 NL Gold Glove - OF All-Star Selections: 8 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991) League Leader 1983: Hits, Total Bases 1987: Homeruns, RBI, Total Bases Career Ranks Games: 32nd Hits: 45th Runs: 85th HR: 35th RBI: 29th 2B: 42nd TB: 24th RC: 64th Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 11 (204) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 164 (68) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 43.7 (115) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 118.0 (118) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 5 (Billy Williams, Tony Perez, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks, Dave Winfield) Other Similar Batters: Dave Parker, Harold Baines, Dwight Evans, Vada Pinson, Fred McGriff Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1976: 1/0.4 1977: 18/5.8 1978: 21/6.0 1979: 24/5.6 1980: 29/9.1 1981: 25/10.7 1982: 26/9.1 1983: 28/8.0 1984: 12/4.9 1985: 16/4.0 1986: 16/4.8 1987: 20/7.2 1988: 19/7.9 1989: 13/4.8 1990: 22/6.4 1991: 20/5.4 1992: 16/6.4 1993: 7/2.1 1994: 1/0.7 1995: 4/0.2 1996: 2/0.0 Career Win Shares: 340 Career WARP3: 109.5 Would he get my vote? No. Maybe I'm just too tough on outfielders as I've gone through about five of them on this ballot that I was just underwhelmed enough by them that I can't give them a vote. Dawson is the one I did the most waffling on due to defensive brilliance early in his career although his last three or four Gold Gloves were purely reputation awards. Part of the argument for him seems to be that if he hadn't his knees destroyed by the awful Olympic Stadium turf he would have reached several major career milestones which I wouldn't necessarily disagree with. But injuries and the enviroment you play in are part of the game so I can't really justify giving Dawson a bonus for what he might have done had he played on grass his whole career. I'm just not completely blown away by his peak and unimpressed by his career after age 28. Has received solid support though and if he ever does get in hopefully the HOF does the right thing and has him wear an Expos cap.

Bert Blyleven - Starting Pitcher Minnesota Twins 1970-1976, 1985-1988 Texas Rangers 1976-1977 Pittsburgh Pirates 1978-1980 Cleveland Indians 1981-1985 California Angels 1989-1992 10th year on the ballot Past HOF Voting Results 1998: 17.55% 1999: 14.08% 2000: 17.43% 2001: 23.50% 2002: 26.27% 2003: 29.23% 2004: 35.38% 2005: 40.89% 2006: 53.30% Awards None All-Star Selections: 2 (1973, 1985) League Leader 1971: K/BB 1973: Shutouts, K/BB, ERA+ 1977: WHIP 1985: Innings, Strikeouts, Complete Games, Shutouts 1986: Innings, K/BB 1989: Shutouts Career Ranks Wins: 26th IP: 13th K: 5th CG: 91st SHO: 9th K/BB: 44th K/9: 99th Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Pitching - 16 (129) (Average HOFer ≈ 40) Gray Ink: Pitching - 239 (24) (Average HOFer ≈ 185) HOF Standards: Pitching - 50.0 (36) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Pitching - 120.5 (68) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Pitchers in HOF: 8 (Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Fergie Jenkins, Robin Roberts, Tom Seaver, Early Wynn, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton) Other Similar Pitchers: Tommy John, Jim Kaat Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1970: 10/3.7 1971: 20/8.4 1972: 19/7.4 1973: 29/12.3 1974: 23/10.0 1975: 21/8.7 1976: 20/9.3 1977: 21/8.2 1978: 16/6.2 1979: 13/3.8 1980: 9/2.9 1981: 14/8.2 1982: 1/0.2 1983: 10/4.3 1984: 20/9.2 1985: 23/9.9 1986: 18/7.9 1987: 18/7.5 1988: 4/2.2 1989: 22/7.9 1990: 3/1.3 1992: 5/2.5 Career Win Shares: 339 Career WARP3: 142.0 Would he get my vote? Yes. Blyleven's plight to get into the HOF has been well documented by now. Many voters in the past have immediately written him off because he never won a Cy Young and because he had only two All-Star selections. Of course a player's total number of All-Star selections can be taken with a grain of salt since they are based mostly on what a player did the first three months of the season and with pitcher selections they are heavily influenced by their win/loss record. Blyleven for his career was 150-140 with a 3.47 ERA in the first half of the season but 137-110 with a 3.12 ERA in the second half, so he did his best pitching after the ASB. Another reason why Blyleven has been ignored in the past as well is as you see didn't lead his league in many categories. But for his career he was in the Top 10 ERA ten times, Wins six times, WHIP 11 times, Strikeouts 15 times, Complete Games 12 times, and Shutouts ten times. Nevermind of course he's in the Top 10 all-time in both strikeouts and shutouts. In addition of the eight HOF comps he has only Tom Seaver had a better career ERA+. Many writers are slowly coming around and long time holdouts are now voting for him. He certainly won't get in this year as no backloggers have a chance but within the next five years it appears he will get in.

Dave Parker - Rightfielder Pittsburgh Pirates 1973-1983 Cincinnati Reds 1984-1987 Oakland Athletics 1988-1989 Milwaukee Brewers 1990 California Angels 1991 Toronto Blue Jays 1991 11th year on the ballot Past HOF Voting Results 1997: 17.55% 1998: 24.52% 1999: 16.10% 2000: 20.84% 2001: 16.31% 2002: 13.98% 2003: 10.28% 2004: 10.47% 2005: 12.60% 2006: 14.42% Awards 1977 NL Gold Glove - OF 1978 NL MVP 1978 NL Gold Glove - OF 1979 NL Gold Glove - OF 1985 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1986 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1990 AL Silver Slugger - DH All-Star Selections: 7 (1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990) League Leader 1975: Slugging % 1977: Batting Average, Hits, Doubles 1978: Batting Average, Total Bases, Runs Created, Slugging %, OPS, OPS+ 1985: Doubles, RBI, Total Bases 1986: Total Bases Career Ranks Games: 55th Hits: 55th 2B: 31st HR: 80th RBI: 47th TB: 42nd RC: 68th Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 26 (68) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 145 (97) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 41.1 (138) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 125.5 (107) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 2 (Tony Perez, Billy Williams) Other Similar Batters: Luis Gonzalez, Harold Baines, Andre Dawson, Al Oliver, Jim Rice, Rusty Staub, Chili Davis, Dwight Evans Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1973: 4/1.4 1974: 6/1.5 1975: 26/8.6 1976: 23/5.8 1977: 33/10.3 1978: 37/8.8 1979: 31/8.5 1980: 17/3.7 1981: 6/1.1 1982: 7/1.8 1983: 12/4.1 1984: 17/3.4 1985: 29/7.9 1986: 20/4.4 1987: 13/3.2 1988: 10/2.2 1989: 15/3.6 1990: 15/4.9 1991: 6/0.9 Career Win Shares: 327 Career WARP3: 86.3 Would he get my vote? No. I'll always have a soft spot for the Cobra for the 1989 postseason where he pissed off all around douche bag Kelly Gruber for his flaps down homerun trot in the ALCS and also hit the first of many homeruns for the A's in the World Series. Also I'll say that for anyone who argues Jim Rice for the HOF they better also argue for Parker as well as I don't see how Rice is so close to being elected yet Parker has no chance at all. That being said I couldn't give him the imaginary vote mainly because when you get past his great peak of the late 70's he had a really ordinary career once the 80's started. Outside of 1985 in that decade he was an average and sometimes below average corner outfielder. Had a rifle for an arm and it appears he did deserve his 1977 Gold Glove (26 assists) but overall he was not a good defensive outfielder.

Well we know for sure Javon Walker was in the limo. Yikes.

It's really easy to already forget the three two point coversion attempts and Zabransky's terrible throw for the pick six that led to the finish. I'd say overall last year's Rose Bowl was the better game but that sequence in the final minute and a half of the fourth quarter and the overtime ranks up there as one of greatest finishes to a game in not just college football history but sports history.

Thank god Bob Knight finally broke the record. ESPN's month long cross promotion of a forgone conclusion was just a bit much.

Pffft, Louisville wins tommorrow night 93-92 on a record 53 point come from behind victory and after the game Brian Brohm rescues a kitty from a tree.

Okay wait was this a real game or a Disney movie?

iggymcfly's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are the Pepsi Blue Bored Bowl Champions and is the winner of the $50 cash.

And just when you think they can't come up with something else crazy, they do it. Unbelievable.

On 4th and 18 no less. This is a classic.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a hint. (Smues beat me to it) Since they are going on about USC's recruiting class might as well post Rivals Top 25 recruiting classes for 2007. USC does have the most five star recruits at four but not as many four and three star recruits of some other schools. Illinois and Mississippi are the biggest surprises. 1. Texas 2. Florida 3. Tennessee 4. USC 5. LSU 6. Notre Dame 7. Georgia 8. Nebraska 9. South Carolina 10. Illinois 11. Michigan 12. Auburn 13. Virginia 14. Mississippi 15. Georgia Tech 16. Ohio State 17. Clemson 18. Oregon 19. Virginia Tech 20. Oklahoma 21. Colorado 22. Alabama 23. Washington 24. Penn State 25. Iowa

Cuban Linx, Urban Warfare, and Kotz have all wrapped up bowl wins. Should create some drama in the Bored Bowl. iggymcfly came into today needing just one of three teams to win for him but Arkansas and Michigan have both fallen. If Boise State wins tonight he wins the Bored Bowl, if Oklahoma wins Spaceman Spiff will tie it up with the championship and $50 coming down to the biggest bowl game of the year not in the United States...the International Bowl.

Yikes another missed extra point leaves still a slim opening for Michigan. Ya that should have been taunting on Jarrett, at least under the strict rules of college football although in the bowls I've noticed the refs are letting more things go.

And its a ball game again. That missed extra point could end up being huge.