Please God No

The ultra reliable mock draft experts over at SI have Connor going 28 to, somehow, the Patriots.

There are about three teams in the NFL that I couldn't root for under any circumstances. Belidush coaches one of those teams.

The writer has some type of compliated trade projected, one where the Pats make some kind of trade with the Cowboys for two late first round picks. Keep in mind they also forfit their 'normal' selection at 31 because they are a bunch of cheating mother fuckers.

On a lighter note, Connor was asked "What celebrity would play you in the movie version of your life?" His answer? This guy:

Penn State To Play In 24th Best Game

Out of conference game, that is. Scouts is doing some type of vodo math countdown of the "20 Big Questions", with question #1 being what are the 40 best out of conference games. But there are actually 41 games on this list. I'm not going to try and figure out why.

24. Oregon State at Penn State, Sept. 6
It's the first ever meeting between the two as the Beavers visit Beaver Stadium (sorry about that). It's a weird start for OSU going on the road to face Stanford, Penn State and Utah, to go along with home dates with Hawaii and USC in the first five games, but an upset win would likely mean a 3-0 start before dealing with the Trojans. Penn State will coast to 4-0 with a win.

Just ahead of Michigan State v Cal, just behind Louie v Kentucky. The whole concept of ranking these things is retarded but I think it's a fun list to look at. Not sure how Illinois v Missouri snuck all the way up to #2, but I don't think anyone can argue that Ohio State v Southern Cal is going to be an important game.

It's also interesting to point out that there are three Notre Dame games on this list. I suppose they are out of conference but so are the other 9 games ND plays. I also don't know how they are even considered relevant at this point, or how you can rank their game against Top 5 USC as less important than probably unranked Michigan.

But that's the beauty of these lists, they don't have to make any sense.

More Stupid Pryor Speculation

The Detroit Free Press has attempted an objective look at the four remaining finalists for the Pryor sweepstakes. Interesting considering Michigan probably is not really in the running anymore, but whatever.

Regarding Penn State, the Pros:

• Penn State seems to be Pryor’s father Craig’s top choice.

• Penn State is the closest school to Jeannette, Pa. If Pryor became a Nittany Lion, many of his family, friends and coaches could watch him play.

• Pryor and his advisors seem very impressed with Joe Paterno. The legendary coach personally visited Pryor at school when other schools were oftentimes sending assistants to talk to the five-star recruit.

• With Anthony Morelli graduating, the Nittany Lions have a Michigan-like gap in their depth chart, opening the door for a recruit like Pryor to get an immediate starting job.

Well, I wont totally hate because you nailed the obvious ones like "it is close to home" (although not that close) and "Joe is a great guy", but the last one shows a total lack of knowing what the hell is going on. The depth chart at QB is actually very strong, with two candidates who could end up being very good at what they do. Both have at least two years of eligibility. Now if Pryor is the real deal, at this point, it's not that far fetched for me to believe that he could start his sophomore season, but this year? Probably not.

Back to the story, the cons:

• Penn State runs a rather traditional offense that may not suit an athlete like Pryor as much as other schools’ systems would.

• Penn State’s last No. 1 overall recruit to commit, WR Derrick Williams, has essentially been a bust. There’s been very little development from when he entered college to where he’s at now entering his senior year.

• Pryor has never taken an official visit there, despite living so close to the school.

Spread HD baby! Spread HD! This guy obviously doesn't read blogs. Or look at them: (Glorious Photoshop HT to Nittany Line)



Williams might not have won any Heismans yet, but that doesn't mean he's a total "bust". The guy is a wide receiver, first of all, and played that position during the Morelli era. I also don't see what the development of Williams has to do with the development of a dual threat QB.

Finally, I thought the point of this story was to look at the four schools from Pryor's perspective. How does pointing out his lack of an official visit qualify? If he want to go on another visit (yes, he's been there), he will. He isn't going to cross off Penn State because he didn't take an official, that's backwards logic...

I'm going to once again end a Pryor post with a "what the hell's the point" comment. I guess I just wanted to point out how shitty this story is. The guy did zero research and obviously had a deadline the morning after a long night of drinking. I'm ok with that, of course. I've been there.

Lesser Of Two Evils

Thanks to BHGP for informing me that there was a Penn State basketball game last night. I don't know if that's a sad commentary on my fandom or the state of the basketball team...either way it's kind of pathetic.

Anyway, Penn State won a close one...but no one cared. ESPN didn't bother to proof read the game re-cap:

Penn State led 31-30 at the half but trailed for much of the second period after the Hawkeyes went on an early 17-0 run to grab a 42-31 lead with 17:18 left. Dan Bohall made four straight free throws to give Iowa a 64-57 lead with 2:40 remaining.

I actually stopped listening after the 9-0 run to start the half, but I really regret turning off the feed because listening to how Iowa could go on a 17-0 run but only score 12 points would have been awesome.

I Thought The Strike Was Over?

When the writers strike was began, I was warned that two undesirable things were about to happen: (1) The Office would shut down production, and (2) reality shows would spread like wildfire on a gasoline covered planet. Both thing happened. I mean holy shit did they happen. (And people wonder why no one respects the Academy Awards)

Anyway, the strike ended yet the crap keeps rolling in. Nothing says we need programming like bringing back an idea that everyone already decided was shitty. (Although I have to admit this video is kind of cool, at least the first two minutes of it are, that's when I got board and found something else to do).



(HT: With Leather)

ESPN Pre-Spring Top 25, Bring On The Nonsense!

Giving bullshit predictions since 1792

The interesting thing about Pre-Spring Top 25s is that they are actually a fairly good indicator of what the pre-season rankings will look like. Spring games are a great excuse to get drunk but they really don't tell us much when it comes to comparing different teams.

It's also interesting to note which programs will get the ultra-hype this summer and therefore have the chance to really screw an equally deserving team later in the year because of media bias.

The Big Ten on Schlabach's list follow. I already did a three sentence what's good/what’s bad last week, so instead of doing the exact same thing I’ll take a different approach. Are they better than the team directly above them?:

(1. UGA 2. Oklahoma)

3. Ohio State: Are they better than Oklahoma? - I think so. Oklahoma looked like garbage in their BCS game against a coachless team and also somehow lost to Colorado and TTU. To end up in the top 3 you need to beat crappy teams; OSU has done this for several years now, OU has not.

The Buckeyes are getting punished here for losing in the MNC (again), but when you take an objective look, it's hard to deny how good they are. They return an average yet efficient quarterback, have a Heisman candidate in the backfield, and their defense is solid. Main concern: Can they stop the spread offense? Illinois beat them with it last year, but Michigan and Penn State are both going to be attacking with it in 2008 and probably will show up with more talent than Zook did.

(4. USC 5. Missu 6. Texas 7. Florida 8. LSU 9. Clemson 10. Az St (?!) 11. VT 12. Texas Tech)

13. Wisconsin: Are they better than Texas Tech? - Probably not, although it's hard to say, but I'll go with no. TT brings back 18 starters (although this is the most overused argument in sports...and ask UCLA about how much correlation it has). The thing TT does bring to the table is a very good passing game, one that means they are in striking distance even when several scores behind.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, is looking to have another "mea" yet efficient season. They aren't much of a threat to every win it all, but they manage to be solid enough at every position to compete with just about everyone on the schedule. The Badgers are bringing in a rookie qb, however, and Hill always seem to be hurt.

(14. Tenn 15. Kansas 16. Auburn)

17. Penn State: Are they better than Auburn? - There aren't very many reference points here, but because I'm a pretty big homer I'm going to say yes.

Why? Auburn doesn't know who their QB will be (neither does PSU). Auburn had several key losses on defense (so does PSU). Auburn has a hard time competing with the top teams in their conference (um, ya). PSU wins, hands down.

(18. Oregon 19. BYU 20. WVU 21. UVA 22. Pitt)

23. Illinois: Are they better than Pitt? - Yes, Yes, one thousand times Yes. Pitt lost to Navy last year, everyone realized that, right? At home? How one ESPN talking head has justified Pitt at 22 in the nation, while another has them as the 6th best team in their conference (out of 8, mind you) is beyond me.

(24. South Carolina 25. Fresno)


All in all, that's four Big Ten schools, compared to the leaders, the SEC, with six. The Big XII has three of the top six spots. The highest ACC member is at #9, the highest Big East program at #20. Two non-BCS programs.

Fish And Sunshine Are Not The Same Thing

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are now the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays officials announced Monday that the team will be shortening its name to the "Tampa Bay Rays," that their updated uniforms will feature a blue-and-white color scheme accented by orange rays of sunshine, and that they are now a minor-league hockey team in the Florida Panthers system.

Wait, that's the Onion, but seriously:

After months of speculation about coming changes, the Rays spilled the beans about the subtraction of "Devil" from the name, their new team colors -- navy blue and light blue -- and a new icon, a bright yellow sunburst invoking the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State.

"It feels like a fresh start," left fielder Carl Crawford said. "It's like that feeling of going to school on the first day. You get to wear the new uniforms. It feels good. You know what they say, 'You play like you feel.' We feel good, we look good, so hopefully, we'll play good."

Who says "You play like you feel"? I've never heard that before. If that's true, than anyone who has played on this franchise for more than a couple of years would have died of depression by now. Also, if you are going to get away from the fish reference of "Devil Rays" you should probably take that tail thing out of the "R". Finally, if you are now essentially a knockoff of the Suns, why are your colors blue and blue? Oh, and you play in a dome. Sun, Blue, Fish, Dome....I'm confused.