The ACC blows, again

Early leader for ACC player of the year? Duke's Sean Renfree

Once again the ACC football programs started the season highly regarded, five teams ranked in the top 25. There is exactly one left, Miami at #17. The Clarion Content has beat this drum for ages, but expansion not only hurt the existing ACC football programs, it dragged perennial national football powerhouses Florida State and Miami down to the ACC's level: craptastic.

This week saw a plethora of losses for the ACC. Miami, formerly known as the "U", lost on the road to #2, Ohio State. Back in the day, this would have been a speed match-up, and Miami would have blown by Ohio State. Recruiting in Miami is not the same since they joined the ACC.

Florida State got spanked at #10 Oklahoma. We guess classlessly running Bobby Bowden out of town did not do them any good.

Georgia Tech helped Kansas break an eight game losing streak. The week previous Kansas and Clarion Content fave, Turner Gill, could not beat North Dakota State, managing only three points. Georgia Tech was the cure they needed.

Virginia Tech coming off a thrilling game, but last minute loss, to BCS pretender Boise State, got beat by Division I-AA James Madison. AT HOME!

League doormat Virginia actually had a good showing, losing a close game to a down USC program. North Carolina State won at Central Florida.

Not very impressive as a league. Why do people keep buying into ACC Football? It is far and away the worst BCS conference.

NFL Preview, 2010, the AFC

The AFC is far superior to the NFC this year...

South
Indy over 11
Tennessee over 8.5 (Wild Card)
Houston under 8
Jacksonville under 7

North
Baltimore over 10
Cincinnati over 7.5 (Wild Card)
Pittsburgh under 9
Cleveland over 5.5

West
San Diego over 11
Denver over 7.5
Oakland over 6
Kansas City under 6.5

East
New England over 9.5
Miami over 8.5
NY Jets under 9.5
Buffalo over 5.5

New England over Tennessee in the AFC Title Game

NFL Preview, 2010, the NFC

See you in the NFC Championship Game...


NFC South
Home of the defending champs.

New Orleans Saints over 10.5 wins

They have only the faintest suggestion of a running game. But Drew Brees is damn good, and he has a whole lot of receivers. His number three guy, Robert Meachum caught nine touchdowns!!! The Saints defense pairs well with Brees because they are at their best when they can pin their ears back and rush the passer.

Atlanta Falcons over 9 wins (Wild Card)

We like Michael Turner coming back off injury. We think that the Falcons will get four relatively easy wins out of the Panthers and Bucs. The Clarion Content is not as high on Matt Ryan as a lot of other folks, but we think he can be a steady, if not spectacular contributor.

Carolina Panthers under 7.5

The Panthers season starts and ends with the quarterback. Matt Moore does not inspire any confidence here in Durham simply because he beat up a few teams after the Panthers seasons was over last year. Losing Julius Peppers was addition by subtraction and the Panthers D-line is better than people realize. They still don't have a number two receiver. We like the one, two punch at running back. They have a good coach in John Fox, but he is a lame duck. Ultimately, it comes back to the QB, and there is no way Matt Moore leads them to a .500 record.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers under 5.5

This team is going nowhere. Head Coach Raheem Morris is in waaaaaay over his head. Starting Quarterback Josh Freeman looks lost and overwhelmed as well. Cadillac Williams coming off of about six knee surgeries does not inspire confidence. This could be a 2 and 14 season. Enjoy the Rays post-season, Tampa, you fair-weather fans, you!


NFC North
Four high profile quarterbacks.

The Green Bay Packers over 9.5

They are prohibitive favorites in this division. Aaron Rodgers is getting very close to entering the top tier of quarterbacks. There defense has shown flashes, it reminds us of the Saints, opportunistic sacks and turnovers when their offense gets them ahead.

The Minnesota Vikings under 9.5

The Sidney Rice injury hurts them badly. Percy Harvin is a knucklehead who is not prepared to be Favre's number one wide receiver. Luckily they have Adrian Peterson, as well as stout offensive and defensive lines. Unfortunately, they also have the horrifyingly bad Brad Childress. Will Favre be back next year?

The Detroit Lions over 5

They have got a tough defensive line, led by Kyle Vanden Bosch and Ndamukong Suh. Matt Stafford should improve at least slightly. They have some weapons for him, Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson. Javod Best will be decent. They will thrill their fans early and fade toward the end.

The Chicago Bears under 8

Jay Cutler blows and is getting worse. He is approaching the Jeff George depths for least effective big arm quarterback ever. Million dollar arm, ten cent brain, if the cliche fits... Mike Martz, who is a riverboat gambler, is the worst possible offensive coordinator for him, takes lots and lots risks, requires lots and lots of good reads. The Bears cannot count on Matt Forte to dominate. Their defense has aged and gotten very brittle. This is Lovie Smith's last year in Chicago. Could be a 3 and 13 season.


NFC West
Not a good division.

San Francisco 49ers over 8.5

Mike Singletary has worked wonders by the Bay. If they had any kind of quarterback at all, they might be a Super Bowl threat. Unfortunately, Alex Smith could not throw a ball through a plate glass window. Frank Gore is a very solid running back. Patrick Willis is in the conversation for the best defensive player in the league.

Arizona Cardinals over 7.5

They are going to miss Kurt Warner and Carlos Dansby, not mention the toughest wide receiver in the league, Anaquan Boldin. Larry Fitzgerald is much less of a weapon without Warner throwing to him and Boldin helping to draw defenders to the other side of the field. We think Beanie Wells will be much improved, though he starts the year banged up. The bottom of the division is awful, but the Cards won't sneak into the playoffs.

Seattle Seahawks under 7.5

How can the Matt Hasselback era not be over yet? Really? Why trade for Charlie Whitehurst then? No matter, Pete Carrol will likely have growing pains adjusting to the NFL from USC. The offensive line is in disarray. They are bringing back Lions' bust Mike Williams who has been out of football for the last two years. Why? Their defense... we like linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Aaron Curry, but there are nowhere near enough playmakers and ball hawks on this team.

St. Louis Rams under 5

They are definitely in the running for the worst team in the league. Sam Bradford is overrated and has no targets. Seriously, name a Rams wideout. Steven Jackson has got to be getting tired of people beating the heck out of him. The offensive line is a sieve. Defensive end Chris Long is heading towards first round bust status, meaning there is only one above average player on this defense, safety, Oshiomogho Atogwe.


NFC East
Not as a good a division as you might think...Parity doesn't equality quality.

Dallas Cowboys over 9.5

The Cowboys biggest question mark, before the playoffs start, is their offensive line. They have no dominant offensive lineman. This was one of their cornerstones in their Super Bowl era. They do have two solid running backs and an excellent regular season quarterback in Tony Romo. Can they get enough pass rush to cover for their mediocre corners? As a squad, they are just barely better than a declining NFC East. Their coach and QB have a history of early playoff exits.

New York Giants over 8.5 (Wild Card)

They will suffer from the aging of their offensive line and the injury decline of Brandon Jacobs. Ahmad Bradshaw is not strong enough to carry the load. Eli Manning is good and has a passel of talented young receivers. He is much better when he is paired with dominant running game. (Who isn't?) Their defensive line looks great, but their linebackers and corners have some question marks. Everyone is acting like safety Kenny Phillips is 100% back. Will he be? We are waiting to see it on the field. Not a team you want to face in a first round playoff game.

Washington Redskins under 7.5

Hey Philly fans, we still love Donovan McNabb! He is injury prone, but will appreciate playing with Santana Moss. Unfortunately, he has no other wideouts. (Still that's one more than they used to give him in Philly.) How old is Joey Galloway? 40? 50? The Redskins also have a running backs with tons of mileage Clinton Portis and Larry Johnson. The defense is the same story, aging, big name guys. Can they be productive? Does future Hall of Famer London Fletcher have anything left? Can they get anything out of Albert Hanesworth? 7, 8, 9 wins would be a success for start for Shannahan.

Philadelphia Eagles under 8.5

It is all about the quarterback in Philadelphia. Did they make the right call selecting Kevin Kolb over Donovan? We are not sold. The Eagles have had a habit of getting rid of their vets a year or two too early. That said, it was probably time to let Brian Westbrook go after a great career. However, they did not find a replacement that we are impressed with, LeSean McCoy averaged only 4.1 yards a carry while rushing for 650 yards total last season. Blech! Yes, DeSean Jackson has breakaway speed, but the rest of their wideouts are very average. Andy Reid is an awful game manager. The Eagles look vulnerable to a big fall to the Clarion Content. Say about 6 and 10...

We will take the Saints over the Packers in a shootout of an NFC Championship Game.

KD Crushes in the World's Semis

Kevin Durant had a monstrous semifinal game as Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Team USA cruised past Lithuania, 89-74. Durant had 38, while shooting over 50% from the field. They played him one-on-one and zone, didn't matter. Fox Sports Charley Rosen reported, "[His] iso-game was irresistible—combining to score 18 points in 15 one-on-one forays. Even against zones, KD was able to fake, dance, spin and pull to create highly makeable shots. Against man-to-man defenses, Durant was even more of a dreadnaught point-maker."

Sounds pretty good. Real Rosen's whole story here.

Even the NFL

The National Football League has been considered impregnable in recent years. The one goose that would continue laying golden eggs no matter what happened to the world around it. The Clarion Content has been warning of sports comeuppance for sometime now, and in our view, even the NFL will not be immune.

We saw this note in the New York Times today, that lends further credence to this belief.

"The N.F.L.’s season ticket sales have declined for the third year in a row. Depending on final numbers, season ticket sales will be down between 1 percent and 2 percent, said Eric Grubman, the league’s executive vice president for business ventures.

He said overall attendance declined to 16.6 million last year from 17 million in 2008."

Oregon State player tasered; naked

These beavers may not be as innocent as they appear...

That's right sports fans, Oregon State Beaver alumni could not be prouder today. They are trying to move their football team to the same level as the Oregon Ducks, a program that has recently burst on the national scene, both for their on-field ability and for the off-field likelihood of their athletes ending up in the slammer.

The incident: A drunk, naked Oregon State offensive lineman, Tyler Patrick Thomas, broke into the home of a thirty-two year-old woman in Corvallis, Oregon. Illegal and unimpressive, however what happened next is about the wackiest college football arrest since Lawrence Phillips of Nebraska fame broke into his ex-girlfriend's house and "made a tail."

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the nineteen year-old Thomas, who hails from Kalispell, Montana was ordered by the police to get down on the floor. The bare ass Thomas assumed a three-point football stance and charged in his birthday suit at the cops. They tasered him into submission and took him into custody. He was charged with first-degree criminal trespass, second-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest, as well as possession of alcohol by a minor.

Ooops.

He has been kicked off of the Oregon State football team.

Incidentally, Lawrence Phillips, who played parts of two seasons with the Rams and was the reason why the team gave away future Hall of Famer, Jerome, "The Bus" Bettis to the Steelers, is now serving thirty-one years in California State Prison for various violent crimes.

Ahhhh, college football season.

Baseball notes

Three quickies:

Straussburg and Kerry Wood
The irony was not lost on the Clarion Content this week when Steven Straussburg was removed from a Washington Nationals game suffering from pains in his forearm on the same day that the last great fireballing phenom Kerry Wood broke Pedro's record for the fastest pitcher to 1,500 strikeouts. Wood, of course, was a huge splash for the Chicago Cubs. He was overused and overthrew very early in his career. Fourteen trips to the disabled list later, he is the test case G.M.'s refer to when they place innings limits on young pitchers. Here is hoping that Straussburg does not travel the same road.

Joe Votto going for the Triple Crown
The Clarion Content has heard much noise about Detroit's Miguel Cabrerra shooting for the first A.L. Triple Crown since 1967. Where is the love for the Cincinnati Reds Joey Votto going for the first N.L. Triple Crown since Joe "Ducky" Medwick in 1937? He is leading the N.L. in hitting by .005 over Placido Polanco and Martin Prado. In homers, he is three behind Albert Pujols and two behind the slumping Adam Dunn. He is also three RBI's behind Pujols. Can he do it? It is a long shot, especially with Scott Rolen and Johnny Gomes hitting behind him.

Finances outed
Finally someone who was sick and tired of the lying and posturing by Major League Baseball has outed several franchises, by leaking to Deadspin their audited financial statements. These financial statements show that, among other teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates have deliberate pursued a strategy of losing. They make more money by spending less on player salaries and accepting revenue sharing from competitive clubs than they would by attempting to win and increase ticket sales. The Pirates have put their fans through eighteen straight losing seasons. They play in PNC Park built with more than $180 million in public funds and a $40 million team contribution. Are they giving any of that money back? Are they providing the city of Pittsburgh with a quality product? No and no. But ownership has made a tidy $29.4 million in the last two audited years available. Their primary concern? Tracking down who leaked the financials that showed their skulduggery. Read more here in the NY Times.

Baseball, the year of the pitcher

When is it just a bit outside, Mr. Uecker?

The year of the pitcher is full swing. Although it must be noted, aside from the number of no-hitters, most of the early season hype was overclaim. The Rockies Ubaldo Jimenez is not going to win 30 or even 25. Nobody is coming anywhere near Bob Gibson's legendary 1.12 ERA. It is nevertheless a pitching centric year. Team ERAs are down across the board, run scoring is at a nearly two decade low. Home runs titles are back to the forty dinger neighborhood.

The question that has reverberated around the game is why. We know steroids and PEDs have been on the run for the last couple of years. So why the quantum leap for pitching this year? The whispered wisdom in the clubhouse is that is the lack of "Greenies," or amphetamines that were so popular in baseball for many years. Baseball's rulers have finally eliminated the use of Greenies. Players, whose schedules include tons of travel and games twenty-nine out of thirty days at times, have long used amphetamines to aid in rapid recovery, especially for a day game after a night game. No more. They miss them.

The other equally significant factor is the extension of the outside corner. Umpires are calling the outside strike this year like they haven't in ages. Students of the game will recall that this was the initial response to PEDs. When the umpires realized that Bud Selig and the powers that be were going to look the other way on performance enhancers, they took matters into their own hands in the early 90's. Gradually, things got so far out of wack that when the Atlanta Braves of the Glavine era took on the Kevin Brown led Florida Marlins in the 1997 NLCS that strikes were being called literally a foot off of the plate. Things are nowhere that ridiculous this year, but there is a determined and consistent effort to expand the outside corner. Even an inch or two off the corners of the plate, if given repeatedly, makes a tremendous difference to the pitcher's benefit. The Clarion Content has watched a ton of baseball this year and most assuredly the umps are giving the pitchers that extra inch or two. Consequently, ERAs are down, run scoring is down, homers are down, slugging is down. In our view, games are more fun, they have more tension and filled with subtleties and nuance.

While it is not 1968 (again baseball mimics and parallels real life; things are topsy-turvy, but it is not 1968) the year of the pitcher is in full effect.

Jim Gray is a heel

Ryder Cup Captain, Corey Pavin

This is not news to those of you who have been following his career for the long haul. Jim Gray has been a tactless, pompous ass for many years, long before he ambushed Pete Rose. His attitude and self-aggrandizing style is part of why he is working for the Golf Channel rather than holding down the NBC network gig that he used to have. Gray, known as butt smoocher, has been legendarily tight with various narcissistic sports jerks, including Barry Bonds.

Gray demonstrated his lack of personal tact and character again yesterday when Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin called him out for misquoting him. Gray ran with a story saying Pavin was going to add Tiger to the Ryder Cup team regardless of whether or not he was the automatic qualifier. Pavin vehemently denied it at a press conference. Gray, in his usually snaky style, waited until the rest of the media had cleared the room, and confronted Pavin. He called Pavin a liar, waived a finger in his face, and tried to slap Pavin's wife's i-Phone out of her hand when he realized she was videotaping the incident.

He finished with an impotent threat, warning Pavin, "You are going down." Really Jim Gray?

Aren't you the idiot who convinced LeBron that the hour long free agent made for TV special was going to be good for his career? (Or at least your Q rating...) Gray makes Jerry Springer look like a class act.

Two interesting notes from the Nats

Two interesting notes from last night's Washington Nationals game, a rather mundane 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on the road. The first one sports related, Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez became only the fifth catcher ever to reach 300 homers with his second dinger of the season. He joined a very short list featuring Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk and probable juicer Mike Piazza. All of them, save for Piazza, are in the Hall of Fame.

The other note from the game was political. A small group of fans in left field caused a delay the first inning by draping a sign addressed to Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick over the outfield wall to protest the new immigration law in Arizona. A law, it should be noted, that the libertarians at the Clarion Content strongly oppose. Government should not have the power of racial profiling. Plate umpire Angel Hernandez halted the game when he saw the large sign that read: "Mr. Kendrick ... Stop the hate. Say no to SB1070." It is unclear why he felt compelled to do so. The Diamondbacks and their owner sent a security guard to pull the sign off of the wall. Ironically, Hernandez, widely considered one of the very worst umpires in baseball, is Cuban.