Mark McGwire

When I heard the announcement that Mark McGwire, he of the legendary 1998 home run duel with Sammy Sosa, the king of Big Mac land, had announced that he had indeed taken steroids during his career, I was surprised. Not surprised that he actually did do steroids, because anyone who follows baseball with any regularity knew that already. I was just surprised on how he went about explaining himself.

I guess he thought that since he was out of the public spotlight, he could just run away from his problems and all the questions. With his new job as the St. Louis Cardinal’s hitting coach, though, it must’ve felt like the right time to finally tell everyone what they already knew.-DaneKnows

NFL Randoms Playoff Edition Part 1…

• Well it seems like everyone is officially pronouncing that Sunday was the end of the Patriots dynasty. But did you know the Patriots haven’t won a Super Bowl since 2005? I’d say the dynasty technically ended last year when Tom Brady went down with that knee injury. This years Patriots team was one-dimensional and didn’t seem to have any personality whatsoever. I would also go as far to predict that last years Matt Cassel Patriots would beat this years Patriots team. I know throwing the ball is what wins football games these days, but when you can’t run at all whatsoever, it makes your passing game considerably weaker.
• I know the Ravens just beat down the Patriots at home, something not many teams can do, but the Ravens are just like the wrestler Kane in the WWE– they seem big, bad and scary and talk a lot of trash, but at the end of the day they can never win they big game. The Colts will leave Saturdays game beat up, but ultimately will leave with a win. Pray all you want Ray Lewis, but 34 passing yards from Joe Flacco this week will only lead to a beat down in Indy.
• How bout’ dem Cowboys? This weeks game versus the Vikings is very interesting. Both teams have the capability to play lights out or self destruct. What version of these two teams will show up? Hopefully the lights out versions.
• Sloppy football equals entertaining football aka the Cardinals versus the Packers.

NFL Playoff Predictions

Well the time has finally come–the 2010 NFL Playoffs. Who’s excited? I know I am. Forget the fact that my favorite team, the 49ers, never make the playoffs, it is still one of my favorite times of the year. Every year before the playoffs start, I pick one of the twelve teams and root for them throughout the playoff season. I have no ties to the team I pick. After the playoffs end or if they are eliminated, my rooting interest for that team ends immediately. Two years ago I picked the New York Giants and they won the Super Bowl. Last year I picked the Philadelphia Eagles. Eh… I almost got that one right. Damn Cardinals! Well this year I am picking a team I never thought I would ever pick– The Dallas Cowboys. Now I hate the Cowboys as much if not more than anyone, but I really think this years team is different from the anti-December Cowboy teams of the past. This years Cowboys have the second best offense in the league (according to the stats) and have the ninth ranked defense in the league. They are great at rushing the passer and can run the ball just as well as anyone in the league. Those are two key areas you need to be stellar at to win in the ball games playoffs. Now I could be way over my head with this prediction, but if the Cowboys do make the Super Bowl this postseason, just remember you heard it here first. -FitzyKnows

NFL Randoms Week 17…

• I’ve heard that the league is considering putting a rule in place that teams can’t rest starters at the end of the season. This is obviously because the New York Jets made the playoffs this year only because they got lucky and played the Colts and the Bengals, two teams who had nothing to play for, for their last two games. But why should the NFL punish the teams that got themselves in place to rest their starters in the first place? They earned the right to do whatever they want to do because they played well enough all season to get themselves in that position. Look what happened to Wes Welker this week– he tore his ACL and his MCL in basically a meaningless game. More injuries like that are going to happen at the end of the year if the league makes a rule that doesn’t allow teams to rest their starters. That doesn’t sound fair to me.
• Congrats to the Texans– first winning season! Still no playoffs though
• Four straight wins to end the year for the Browns– could this save Mangini’s job? We will see…
• The 49ers were shut out by the Rams in the first half… then scored 28 points in the second half. How much you bet the GM of the Rams had a little word with Coach Steve Spagnuolo at half time? Number One Pick Coach! NUMBER ONE PICK!!
• If my favorite team was the Broncos I would consider shooting my foot off. Seriously.
• The Panthers should be excited for next season. They found a serviceable QB and they have two running backs that could start for almost every team.
• Lastly, the Cowboys Vs. the Chargers is my official Super Bowl pick. Boom!

Rose Bowl Preview

Well it is almost time for the Rose Bowl. Finally. Friday. New Years. Pasadena. Ohio State. Oregon. Classic Uniforms. Flashy Uniforms. Classic Offense. Flashy Offense. Two teams with nothing in common except the fact that every year all they do is rack up wins. This game should be very interesting when the Ducks are on offense, mainly because Ohio States defense is one of the best in the nation. That is when the game will be won. If the Ducks get their offense rolling, they win (obviously, it’s like saying whatever team scores more point will win). If Ohio State plays Ohio State defense, they win. Your probably thinking, “Well that’s a stupid prediction anyone could have said that.” But it’s really that simple. Forget Terrelle Pryor. Forget Ohio State’s running game. It’s all up to their defense. Ohio State will score points. But if their defense doesn’t come to play they won’t score enough points. The only game this year the Ducks haven’t scored over 30 points was the opener against Boise State. Seven times this season they have scored over 40. Now, Ohio State has three shutouts this year, and six games where they have held their opponent under ten points. 27 is the most points Ohio State has allowed all year. Defense wins championships in the pros. Offense wins bowl games in college football. Oregon wins. 27-24.

-FitzyKnows

P.S. sorry my NFL Randoms was short this week. I’m trying to spend as much time with friends and family as possible before I go back to school. Continue to check the blog out everyday. Great writing and great music will keep coming! Now if you have time please check out the link below. KING CURTIS FULL EPISODE!!!!

http://vimeo.com/7748544

NFL Randoms Week 16…

• I do not agree with what the Colts did. Why are you resting your players so soon? You have a BYE week in the playoffs, let them rest then. When you have a chance to go undefeated, you go for it. Do you want to become another forgotten Super Bowl champion team, or be known as the “greatest team of all time?”
• I can’t believe I am saying this, but I think the Chargers are going to beat the Colts in the playoffs and go onto the Super Bowl. Like I said a few weeks back, the Chargers are the Colt kryptonite.
• Eric Mangini has the Browns finishing the year strong. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets fired or not.
• Are the Patriots as good as their victory on Sunday showed? If so then this team is a very dangerous playoff team.
• Former OSU QB Matt Moore is looking to have a bright future in Carolina. Since he’s been the starting QB, the Panthers have been playing strong.
• Frank Gore got his 4th straight 1,000 yard rushing season. Props to him.
• Great game between the Broncos and the Eagles. Will the Eagles have another playoff collapse this year? It has become an annual thing just like Christmas and Thanksgiving.

The Rushmore Awards

When I was picking the top five rap/hip-hop songs it got me thinking– Who are the top four athletes this decade? Top four Movies? Top Four Albums? So during my long drive back from Disneyland with the family yesterday I brainstormed. They are no specific order, and basically this list is what I think are the best, not what you might think. Feel free to comment on what your Rushmore list looks like. Here are my Rushmore Awards for the decade…..Enjoy!

Top Four Movies:

• The Departed- Epic. Perfect Cast. Perfect Director. The perfect movie.
• The Dark Knight- This decade’s blockbuster. Has one of the greatest villains of all time including some of this decade best action scenes.
• Gladiator- Ridley Scott and Russel Crowe at their best. A breath-taking film with one of the strongest protagonist of all time.
• Lord Of The Rings (Series)- Every time I watch these movies I am in awe.

Top Four Athletes:

• Tiger Woods- “Athlete of the Decade” by the Associated Press. Only four golfers have won more tournaments in their CAREER than Tiger has won in the 2000s alone.
• Kobe Bryant- How many big shots does this guy have to make until people understand that he’s in the discussion with Jordan?
• Tom Brady- An MVP award, 50 touchdown passes in a season, four Pro Bowls, and oh yeah, three Super Bowl rings.
• Michael Phelps- 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008. Sorry Lance, but Phelps edges you out for the final spot.

Top Four Rappers:

• Kanye West- 12 Grammys, including three ‘Rap Album of the Year’ awards.
• Jay-Z- Is worth of $150 Million and has sold more than 30 million albums. The ROC is in the building.
• Lil’ Wayne- Tha Carter II and Tha Carter III took America by storm. One ‘Rap Album of the Year’ award and eight other Grammy nominations.
• Eminem- Other than Kanye, the only other rapper with three ‘Rap Album Of The Year’ awards.

Coming soon…..More Rushmore Awards.

-FitzyKnows

Las Vegas Bowl Preview – What The Beavers Need To Do

Oregon State Beavers (8-4, Pac-10) vs. BYU (10-2, Mountain West)

Guess what, I’m not that excited about this game. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what day this game was on until yesterday. You see, when a team like the Beavers goes from a chance to go to the Rose Bowl to this, the penthouse to the outhouse, it’s kind’ve hard to get up for it. I will watch, and it will be good to see the many seniors on this team hopefully have one more moment of glory, but gosh, just thinking of what could’ve been makes me depressed.

To the game. The Beavers will depend on a powerful offense that can go through the air led by QB Sean Canfield (3103 yrds passing, 21 TD, 6 INT), but like to pound it out with RB Jacquizz Rodgers (1377 yrds rushing, 21 total TDs) and control the ball. Quizz is a unique talent for his ability to find a seam and cut better than almost any other running back in the nation. When the running game is shut down, they can always throw it to Quizz out the backfield (74 receptions) or his brother James (87 receptions, 1004 yrds, 9 TDs). They will hope to exploit a relatively weak BYU secondary.

The secondary is the biggest concern for the OSU defense. They rank 60th in pass defense before the game, and lost starting CB Tim Clark to a injury in the civil war. BYU will most likely try to exploit this with their great QB Max Hall (3368 yrds passing, 30 TDs, 14 INT). This is the key. If OSU gets consistently beat downfield with deep passes, I don’t think they’ll stay in the game long. They need to get a good pass rush, something that hasn’t happened much this season with only 15 sacks total, but hopefully some of the seniors will step up and deliver a lasting message for the season, that even with past losses, a victory always takes the season out on a high note.

Prediction: Oregon State 34, BYU 24

-Dane

College Sports Ultimate All American (Not you, Tim Tebow)

College athletes have only four short years to establish a legacy on campus and hang their jersey in the rafters.  It is the common understanding that college athletes carry different responsibilites both in and out of competition than the professional athletes do.  A true college athlete takes more pride in the name on the front of the Jersey than the back.  Cliche?  Watch any college basketball game in March. Or listen to the countless Heisman winners tear up when expressing the gratitude they have for their schools.  How many guys looked past the dollar signs and came back for a Championship?  These athletes want it for their schools.  While many legends of college sports stand out, it is hard to argue what Shane Battier did for Duke University, and Cameron Crazies everywhere.

The common sports fans may say they know Shane Battier, but let take this oppurtunity to give you a little refresher.  After winning three state championships and Mr. Basketball of Michigan in high school, he found himself at Duke.  You may have heard of it.  At Duke, he racked up more awards than this blogs word count will allow me to put.  After already being named an All American and two time Defensive Player of the Year, he decided to forgo the draft and come back for his senior year.  Good Decision Shane Battier.  Bad Decision Tim Tebow.  His 2000-2001 campaign will go down as one of the greatest individual seasons in college athletics.  Again, he took home All American and Defensive Player of the Year honors. (Yes, he did win three Defensive Player of the Year awards.  Yes again, he did win his first one as a freshmen.  Yes a third time, that does mean he was the county’s best defender at my age.  And yes a final time, that does mean he was the best defensive player in the country for 75% of his career.  If is wasn’t for Kenyon Martin winning his Sophomore year, he would have taken it all four year and they would have renamed the award after him).   It’s safe to say he got greedy his senior year, leading Duke to a 35-4 record and a National Championship, all whiling sweeping the National Player of the Year awards list.  I would imagine graduating that same spring with a 3.96 GPA doesn’t look bad on the draft resume either.   He only had to wait six picks in the next summers NBA Draft before he found his spot in the league.

Chances are you hate Duke, which probably means you hate Shane.  Even if you hate him on the court, you cannot help but respect him off of it.  At Duke, he was known around campus as a carasmatic leader and friend.  Didn’t Barack Obama just win the presidential election because he was a carasmatic leader and friend?  Shane told ESPN’s Stuart Scott “I don’t know what I will end up doing post-basketball. I’ve always been intrigued by politics. I may be a bit too idealistic to run for office. We’ll see.”  If you’ve never seen him in an interview, I suggest you take a YouTube break.  Words roll off the guys tongue like he’s Shakespeare.  I don’t think I’m going out on too much of a limb when I say he could step in and be a better game announcer than Reggie Miller today.  It’s been said that around campus he was never too much of a big deal for anyone.  Read the article below and tell me why you don’t want him to be your best friend.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/10767/shane-battier-king-of-the-quad

Tell me this guy doesn’t walk on water.  If my daughter wanted to go to Prom with him, I’d pay for dinner, the limo, his tuxedo, and push her curfew from midnight back to 1 A.M.  She still won’t be spending the night anywhere with him.  I love him and all, but I thought Tiger Woods was a wholesome guy too…

Note: I decided not to add any of his ACC honors because I don’t want Carpal Tunnel.

Note 2 (and also the most important part of this post): Happy 19th Birthday to Dane Mancke!  Hope it’s a good one brother.  I’ll see you soon. -QuinaldoKnows

NFL Randoms Week 15

• Every year there is a NFL team that goes far into the year without a loss. Once that team does lose every other team in the league uses the  same game plan that was successful against the team to beat them also. Last years team was the Titans. This years team is the Saints. The Cowboys D was in Drew Brees face all game long. Teams with an elite pass rush can beat the Saints. If Brees has time in the pocket, he will pick a defensive secondary apart.
• The reason this years Colts team is still undefeated is simple- The Colts have Peyton Manning. They are like the Cavaliers in the NBA. They have a bunch of average players but at the end of the day they still have the best player in the league. You can’t game plan against him. He’s the ‘Excellence of Execution.’ He simply will not let his team lose.
• The 49ers have one of the best running backs in the NFL. WHY DON’T THEY FREAKING USE HIM???????
• Gary Kubiak should be fired. He has too much talent on his roster to barely beat the lowly St. Louis Rams.
• I don’t know if Eric Mangini deserves to keep his job but I do know Todd Haley should not keep his. All he’s done is make KC’s situation go from bad to worse.
• The Raiders are secretly putting together a successful season. Honestly, did you think the Raiders would win five games this season? I didn’t.
• What a great game between the Chargers and the Bengals. Chad Johnson’s TD celebration was great (We refuse to call him OchoCinco on this website). R.I.P. Chris Henry.
• It was great seeing the Steelers put a major dent in Green Bays quest for the playoffs. 500 passing yards by Big Ben. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
• Did the Seahawks just lose to the Bucs at home? Yep! Are the Seahwaks really that bad? YEP!
• Another dud by the Vikings. Is a playoff dud coming soon?
• Lastly, today is Danes birthday. Happy birthday son! WOOOOOOOOOOOO! We don’t sing the Happy Birthday song on ‘Houses Divided’. We sing ‘Custom Made’. I hope you enjoy this video…….

Oh!!! P.S…….R.I.P. Brittany Murphy My dreams of a ‘Clueless Part 2′ are now over.

-FitzyKnows