iggymcfly

I've gotten so that I like to do my own top 25, so that I can evaluate teams independently of what the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls say. I waited until now to do the first rankings, because I think it's bullshit to rank teams that haven't even played yet. I'm trying to weight this toward how teams have played this year, so teams that might have "fluke" wins or losses will get rewarded or punished for what they have done this year, rather than getting a free pass due to their reputations. If you're interested, feel free to read/ discuss: .........................Record.......Final 2003 Rank 1. USC..................2-0...................2 2. Miami................1-0...................4 3. Oklahoma..........2-0...................3 4. Purdue.............. 2-0..................18 5. Texas................2-0..................14 6. Boise State........2-0..................13 7. LSU...................2-0...................1 8. Tennnessee.......1-0..................17 9. Florida State......0-1..................12 10. Fresno State....2-0....................- 11. California........2-0....................- 12. Utah...............2-0...................24 13. Georgia...........2-0....................7 14. Virginia...........2-0.....................- 15. Auburn............2-0....................- 16. Ohio State.......2-0....................6 17. Stanford..........2-0....................- 18. Virginia Tech....1-1....................- 19. Iowa...............2-0....................9 20. West Virginia...2-0....................- 21. Georgia Tech...2-0....................- 22. Troy................2-0....................- 23. Wisconsin........2-0.....................- 24. Florida.............1-0...................25 25. Michigan..........1-1....................5

I didn't say that I'd expect Stanford to beat Michigan if they played next Saturday. I just said that they have performed better than Michigan so far this year, and were more deserving of a high ranking right now. They might not be ranked #17 at the end of the year, but they certainly won't be 4-7. Stanford's greatly improved, and with the way the Pac-10 looks this year, the Cardinal will probably go 8-3 and end up in the Sun Bowl.

There's one thing that people who follow mainly rugby or AFL miss about American football. Yes, they have big helmets to protect their heads. But the reason they need all those other pads is because of the helmets. Hitting someone with a helmet on is basically like throwing a twenty pound rock at their body. It really makes for a lot more violent contact than would be there otherwise.

The reason Oklahoma's not higher is that their defense looks extremely vulnerable right now. Bowling Green had little trouble moving the ball on them, and while they're still a top three team, they haven't been a legitimate opponent like Va. Tech or Florida State. As for Boise State and Purdue, they were both top-20 teams last year that have looked utterly dominant this year. Ball State and Syracuse are both decent teams that got annihilated, (51-0 for Cuse, 45-0 at the half for Ball State.) Meanwhile, Boise destroyed the same Oregon St. team that would have beaten LSU with 9 out of 10 high school kickers. Stanford beat BYU by 27, who beat ND, who beat Michigan. They also looked very strong against San Jose State. I know it might not hold up over the course of the year, but for now I think they deserve their ranking.

I can not fucking believe that Troy game. I watched the first quarter, and it was an absolute domination. Troy could not gain any yards, and Missouri was getting at least ten a play. I was wondering what the Troy fans were thinking staying in the stadium when they knew they were just gonna get killed. I remember wondering how Missouri could only be up by 14 and thinking they'd win by 50 or so. Anyway, after that, I watched the NFL game for a while, then I got drunk, and finally I came back here, and saw the final. What the fuck! I watched a little bit of the replay, but I still would have liked to see the second quarter to see how the fuck Troy turned it around. I did see the replay of that lineman running for the TD, but stilll! How do you even start to get momentum after a start like that? Oh, and that comeback would have never happened in Columbia. It makes you wonder how even the non-BCS schools would be with the BCS schools if they could get fucking home games.

Yeah, honestly I usually half watch Raw now, while I do stuff on the computer or do homework or something. During the show, the Orton segments are about the only ones where I stop what I'm doing, and actually pay attention to the show. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even watch the show right now. Here's my sliding scale of entertainment. Orton= mildly interesting HHH= OK the rest of Raw= really boring the Diva search= one of the worst things on television today

Yes, the Cougars are on ABC this week! Last year, the Colorado game wasn't televised, and it really pissed me off. They don't have a good team per se, but they have a opening schedule that's just easy enough to get to 6-0. There's nothing like playing a team like Colorado that still has enough name value that it helps your credibility to beat them even though they're not very good anymore. Oh, and as for games that people outside Washington might care about, Florida St. should finally beat Miami to take the #1 spot in the first edition of the year of my personal college football rankings. (I don't believe in preseason rankings, so I like to wait until every team's played a game to put my rankings out. Also, USC, Oklahoma, LSU, and Georgia all looked like shit last week, so unless it's a really ugly game, the winner should have the top spot pretty much sewn up.) UPSET SPECIAL OF THE WEEK: Georgia Tech over Clemson. Reggie Ball's just starting to mature into a very good young QB, and Clemson looked extremely vulnerable last week. Look for the Jackets to take this one by a decent margin.

Yeah, I did watch that US/Russia game today. That was fucking tight. Since when does Keith Tkachuk score 4 goals in an NHL game, let alone in the quarters for the World Cup of Hockey. The US started playing really good hockey in the second period, and the way they're going, and they were just a joy to watch the rest of the way. Again, since the opening games don't matter, I'd say that the US has a good of a chance to win it as anyone.

OMG! Stop taking everything so seriously. She broke her arm in an arm-wrestling contest. That's fucking hilarious. I mean how could you not laugh at someone like that. Especially when they're being shoved down our throats on a wrestling program. I mean, a quarter of a million people die everyday. If you want to feel bad for somebody, feel bad for them. But when something like this happens to shatter the unintentional comedy charts, lighten up a little.

I don't see what's so impressive about Ichiro. He's hitting five points higher than Barry Bonds (who some ludicrous people are actually suggesting should not win the NL MVP award). The only thing that's really special about him is that he gets a ridiculous amount of at-bats, due at least in part to lack of plate discipline, which allows him to threaten the hits record. And as for runs created, the man's on pace to break the at-bats record, he's batting leadoff, and he's still scored less runs than any of the other candidates. Give me a break. And I still haven't mentioned the fact that he's on a last-place squad, and didn't really start compiling his numbers until his team was well out of contention. If he actually does hit .400, that would be a worthwhile, historic accomplishment that would be worthy of winning the MVP award, but otherwise, no way. I'd take Vlad, Manny, and Sheffield in that order before I even considered Ichiro. In fact, if I actually had a ballot, I'd put Melvin Mora ahead of Ichiro too. I mean, as a leadoff hitter, you're whole goal is to get on base. If someone's doing that better than you, and at the same time bringing power to the table, and driving in runs, why shouldn't they be higher?

I have to say ESPN is perfectly justified in carrying whatever they want over the pool games, because they're all exhibitions. I hate, hate, hate that format where they play a bunch of meaningless pool games and then only get one loss that actually matters. It's keeping me from watching the early games, and it really trivializes any tournament it's used for.

The thing that people don't realize on here sometimes is that "playing politics" doesn't always equal "bad." The fact is that the typical wrestling fan is really sick of seeing people like JBL or even Eddie in the main event spot. What the show really needs is two credible stars battling, in order to give the WWE Title back the credibility that it's currently lacking. Really, the only two people on Smackdown that have the main event credibility to actually give prestige to the title are Kurt Angle and the Undertaker. I can't imagine anyone else currently on the show who should main event Wrestlemania right now. Regardless of what Kurt's motives may or may not be in demanding a showdown between him and Taker, what he's doing is what's ultimately best for the show.

I thought they gave up on that whole thing. The last time they did it, they didn't even put the winners on television. Oh, and trying to incorporate a reality show into a couple segments in the middle of a wrestling show is always a recipe for disaster. If the Diva Search had been its own weekly hour-long show on Spike, it might have actually worked.

The only real problem with Edge right now is that he's getting pushed to the moon with no character. The fans are just saying that a monster heel such as Batista, is still more interesting than boring generic babyface #87152. All Edge needs to do now is join up with Christian, and make a somewhat badass Canadian faction, along with Trish and Tomko. (I don't know if Tomko's really Canadian, but the WWE doesn't seem to mind changing people's hometowns, and it would fit the story.) Edge and Christian's trademark cocky humor could still be the centerpiece of the faction, but they'd have a stronger side, in that anyone who got in their way would get con-chair-to'd or put through a table by Tomko. Edge could keep the IC Title with the help of the group, (Canadian Mafia works if you're looking for a name), and even challenge for the World Title at the odd PPV. E&C could also reunite for tag gold, and with Trish holding the Women's Title as well, they'd be a legitimate heel presence aongside Evolution.

Saving the match for Survivor Series doesn't really work because there's two PPVs between now and then. I for one, think they should just give us the best main event they can while the iron is hot, and not make us wait until no one gives a shit. Right now, if they run Orton/HHH at Unforgiven, people will probably be into it, and it should get a very good buyrate. If they wait until SS or Mania, it's very likely that the feud will get stale and will never recapture the heat it has right now. Remember in 2001 when they decided to "save" Rock/Austin III for WM X-8? Well, we all know how well that turned out. And when did Orton/HHH get anointed the absolute main event of Wrestlemania anyway? I mean sure it's a good match that was rumored to maybe go down at Wrestlemania, but it's not exactly Rock/Austin in stature. I'm sure they could easily find another main event that would draw just as well.

Edge certainly seems like the obvious choice, as he's young, established, has a beef with Orton, and ripe for a heel turn. However, I don't like the idea. Edge is one of the few people on Raw that's in a good position to be a solid heel without Evolution. If he joins up with Christian again, he'll still have plenty of heat, and Edge, Christian, Tomko, and Trish will be a fairly formidable stable. Also, Edge is like Orton on that he doesn't really have anywhere to go if he's not challenging for the World Title. He just wouldn't work all that well playing second fiddle. I'd go with the route that would probably be least popular by the board, but would also make the most sense. I'd just bring in X-Pac again. He's got automatic heel heat, and he's still young enough to be the "future" as he's only in his mid-20s. He'd fit in perfectly in the sidekick role, without being green enough to bring down the credibility of the group. If you look at it from HHH's standpoint, he just got rid of Orton for being too rebellious, and too much of a threat to his position. Well, in that case Edge is a step backwards, as he was trying to "take down Evolution" just a month ago, and he's stated on numerous occasions that it's only true dream to win the World Title. He'd be much better off bringing in his down and out old friend, who would be guaranteed to stay underneath him. Edge joining Evolution would be a good one-night shocker, but in the long term, I think Raw would be much better off with E&C teaming up for some sort of Canadian Mafia faction, while X-Pac fills in the hole for Evolution.

Well anyway, I just watched the show a little bit ago, and I have to say that it was excellent. I really didn't see Evolution turning on Randy for at least two or three months yet, especially after Orton turned the crowd against him at the beginning of the show. When HHH gave Orton the thumbs down, that was just a golden moment; much better than anything the WWE has put out recently. The only thing I didn't like was a little too much emphasis on the Kane stuff, as I did get pretty bored by the end of the IC Title match. However, the WWE finally has the one thing they've been missing with their flashes of good shows for the last couple years: a really hot main event storyline. If Unforgiven's main evented by Orton/HHH, it will probably do a higher buyrate than Summerslam, and while it will be more the stortyline than the performers, on some level Orton will be a top-level draw.

You know, they never really gave him a good heel run, which is what he does best. I'd take Scott Steiner, heel WWE champion over JBL heel WWE champion anyday.

He does have the only true ***** matchup in the last three years, pretty much undeniably. If you're a bitter smark, than it was WM XX. If you're just a fun guy like me who enjoys good wrestling, then it was Summerslam 2002.

I really don't get how the RR match with Rock was supposed to have done Jericho any favors. He had to cheat about every way possible to finally beat him, and it seemed to me to be the nail in the coffin of his title reign. If with his "not a transitional champ" spiel, he'd also done something about how he was actually better than Rock too, and made him tap out, the reign still could have been salvaged. Even if he'd had an even feud with RVD, it could have been salvaged, but I thought the way they did it just made Jericho look like shit.

Jericho should play up Edge getting booed last night, call him out, and get the better of him in a fight, only for Christian to come out and make the save for Edge with a chair shot. Edge can look like he's pissed at his brother, only to get another chair and... CON-CHAIR-TO! E&C are back together.

I think what's being lost in all the talk about how Eugene's character has run its course, and is an utter failure is that HHH is still the only major star held over from the Attitude Era. He gets face pops a lot of different places, and it's not always the face's fault. Also, he was really fucking cool on Raw this last week. Waiting for Eugene to come to the arena, and then going back to the hotel and absolutely beating the fuck out of Regal? That's vintage HHH. It's not HHH trying to be Flair, it's not watered down Triple H from 2002-2003. That's the genuine article that was one of the most over characters in the history of wrestling from 1999 to 2001. I think that almost any babyface would have got booed against HHH in Toronto tonight. Short of being a local cult hero like Jericho, they'd pretty mch have to be as cool as Austin or Rock in their prime to get the better reaction.

Well, I didn't actually see the show tonight, but a lot of the things that happened with the fan reactions make sense to me. Edge and Jericho are basically feuding with each other; Batista was in the background. Since Toronto loves Jericho, he's obviously going to get the pops while Edge gets the boos. As for Eddie and Angle. Eddie's been riding a stale character for a while, and it's kind of losing its mileage. Meanwhile Angle's wrestling his first major match in several months. Of course Angle's going to get pops. He was probably the #1 draw on the card. I know if I was at Summerslam, Angle winning would have made the whole show for me. Then for JBL/Taker, you get the fans saying that they din't buy JBL as a champion, and Undertaker or someone should squash him and end his shitty reign immediately. The wave means that 15 or 20 minutes is too long and boring of a match for the Undertaker to dispatch of a lower midcarder. I personally like the Eugene character, but if other people prefer the old badass HHH that just beat the living fuck out of Regal, that's their prerogative. I mean who didn't mark out a little bit for HHH when he showed Regal half-dead on the floor, or when he walked into the arena with blood on his hands last week? Then throw in "cool heel that's about to win the title" pops for Orton, (see Brock Lesnar two years ago), and you've basically got a pretty rational crowd response to the show.

I again didn't bother to get work off to go watch Summerslam at the bar. After watching the HHH/Eugene stuff last Monday, I regret missing it just a little for that match, but I certainly don't feel like not seeing Summerslam is a real big deal.

I actually didn't like the old school Sportscenters too well at all. It seemed like they spent too much time focusing on the anchors and ignoring the highlights. When Dan Patrick tried asking Craig the five questions, it just came off really forced. The other one I saw was the George Grande one, and there, they were trying to make it a big sentimental event, ignoring the highlights, and doing a bad job with them when they did come up. I also agree that if they wanted to make this work, they had to bring back Olbermann. As far as I'm concerned, Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann are Sportscenter. They worked together forever, and they had perfect chemistry that seems totally unmatched on the thrown together pairings of today.