The best choice for governor in '06!

Big series in baseball this weekend

2006-08-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

If you read the headline, it's pretty obvious what I'm referring to, right? I mean, two division rivals, in a tense series that could determine the fate of the playoff race in the American League. The series began yesterday, with one team getting a late rally in a win. I'm obviously referring to the Yankees-Red Sox doubleheader, more specifically, game 2, correct? WRONG! I'm actually referring to a series that arguably has just as much importance as the Red Sox-Yankee series, the defending World Champion Chicago White Sox meeting the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, which the Twins started off right with a 7-3 win last night. Now, should any Red Sox or Yankee fan wander here, realize, I'm not angry at the team, the fans, or anybody like that. I point in 2 directions: ESPN and Major League Baseball.

First off, ESPN. 5 game series, and you're showing THREE of those 5 games, and I'm amazed you didn't find a way to get game 2 of that doubleheader last night. Meanwhile, my beloved Twins are on your network maybe once a month (and sometimes, even when they are on, I don't get to see them, living in the South and all). Plus, until last night, there was as little buildup to a series that featured 2 of the best teams in baseball I've ever seen. It's one thing to build up the Yanks and the Red Sox, but last night there were some good rivalry games going on, with possible playoff implications: White Sox-Twins, Cardinals-Cubs (remember, the Cubs had pwned the Cards), Dodgers-Giants, Padres-D-backs, Tigers-Rangers; yet all of those were shunned in favor of Boston-New York, chapter 231,107.

Now, onto you, Major League Baseball; you have 30 teams in the league. Can you PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy, give a litte love to the other teams in the league. I go to your website yesterday to catch Gameday, and all I could see was Red Sox-Yankees. Well, that and a little sidebar article mentioning the Chicago-Minnesota series may have some importance. Meanwhile, almost all of your articles featured on the main page mentioned Yanks-Sox.

As it is, there will be FOUR of the five Yanks-Red Sox games on national television. The White Sox and Twins will get one game tonight on WGN. That's it. One argument I've heard about the incessant Red Sox-Yankee love is that "nobody cares about the other teams." Well, here's the thing, from 1903-1978, the Red Sox and Yanks didn't meet in any playoff series. In 1978, the infamous "Bucky Dent" game took place, and handed the Yanks the American League East title. From 1979-1999, the two didn't meet in the playoffs. They finally met in the '99 ALCS, with the Yanks taking the series 4 games to 1, although many remember Pedro Martinez's dominance over Roger Clemens at Fenway Park in Game 3. Then, from 2000-02, the teams didn't see each other. Now, I'll give credit where it's due here...the two teams put on EPIC ALCS's in '03 and '04, with each side winning once. However, the White Sox won the World Series last year. IMO, the best idea is to promote them as your World Champs, promote the Twins and Tigers as challengers to the throne, and let Boston and New York speak for itself. Instead, the Tigers, Twins, and White Sox are somewhat ignored (the White Sox do get a lot of love, to MLB's credit), while everyone talks about Sox-Yanks. Eventually, if they keep this up, there will be backlash. Right now, there are many casual fans who can't tell the difference between the Red Sox and Yanks (the two teams with the highest payrolls in baseball), even though the Yanks have $74 million more at their disposal. Some of this may have to do with the fact you can't mention one of the teams without the other. It also may have something to do with the insane amount of bandwagon fans the Red Sox got in '04 (my brother is included in that group), which not only angered the long-time residents of "Red Sox Nation," but also angered a lot of fans of other teams, as the bandwagon fans are by and large much more obnoxious than their older contemporaries. In fact, some of these Red Sox fans make Yankee fans, the dregs of the universe (or New Jersey...just kidding, bosux and all the other Yanks fans I know that aren't complete cockbags), look like Kansas City Royals fans. In any event, at some point, the Yanks and Red Sox are going to fade and not be so good. And when that happens, what will Major League Baseball and ESPN do? If they're smart, they'll start promoting other teams. Of course, since we're talking about MLB, this will probably lead to contraction of the other 28 teams in the league.

10 Sports Moments often overlooked

2006-08-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

Today on SonsoftheSportsGuy.com, our pal "BostonSucksMyBalls" mocked the overexposure of the Buckner play in the '86 World Series. His reasoning is, the game was tied, even if Buckner makes the play, they go to the 11th (and that's making the assumption Buckner beats Mets' speedster Mookie Wilson to the bag, which is unlikely). However, the debate turned to moments that have, for some reason or another, been overlooked by the mass media.

10. Chris Chambliss wins 1976 Pennant for the Yankees-I don't like the Yankees. Never have, never will. However, this play is one of TWO walk-off LCS homers (the other one was one that was beaten into our collective heads during the '04 ALCS, the Aaron Boone homer to win the '03 ALCS). This was the culmination of a great series between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. Game 5 was a classic, that saw a brawl between Graig Nettles and George Brett break out at home plate, a dramatic game-tying 3-run shot from Brett in the top of the 8th, but the most dramatic came in the bottom of the ninth, as Chambliss led off with a solo shot to win the game for the Yanks. In the celebration following, Chambliss was nearly torn apart circling the bases.

9. Jim O'Brien wins Super Bowl V for the Baltimore Colts-Contrary to popular belief, Adam Vinatieri WASN'T the first player to win a Super Bowl with a late field goal. In 1971, the Baltimore Colts faced the perennial bridesmaid Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. The game was not exactly super, as the teams combined for 11 turnovers, none more important than Craig Morton's pass being intercepted by Mike Curtis (off the outstetched fingertips of Dan Reeves) late in the game to set the stage for O'Brien's game-winning field goal with 4 seconds left.

8. Cleveland Indians defeat Boston Red Sox 8-3 to win 1948 American League Title-This, until 1978, was the ONLY one-game playoff in American League history. Both teams came into the game 96-58, with the Red Sox sweeping a pair from the Yankees to get here, while the Indians lost two straight to the Tigers. However, in a move that baffled everyone, Boston skipper Joe McCarthy started journeyman Denny Galehouse, who was roughed up by the Cleveland offense. Cleveland went on to win the World Series in 6 over the Boston Braves, their last World Series title.

7. Loyola-Chicago stuns Cincinnati to win 1963 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship-One of the forgotten classics of the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati came into the game the 2-time defending national champion, looking for their third straight. Loyola was a heavy underdog coming into the game, but George Ireland's squad held tough, and a Vic Rouse basket with time running down handed the Ramblers the first (and only) title to a Chicago or Illinois basketball team. Lost in this is the fact that Loyola was one of the few teams that actually started more than 2 black players in a single game. Still, social ramifications aside, this is a game that has fallen through the cracks of history.

6. San Francisco Giants win 1962 National League Pennant over the L.A. Dodgers in 3-game playoff-Although the 1951 playoff between these two franchises gets most of the love, these two did move the rivalry to the West Coast, and in 1962, put on a classic pennant race for the California fans. It all came down to the third game of a 3-game playoff at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Like the 1951 series, the Dodgers went into the 9th inning holding the lead. And like the 1951 series, the Dodgers gave up 4 runs to the Giants in the 9th, scoring on 4 walks, 2 hits, and one error to clinch the pennant 6-4 in Chavez Ravine.

5. Broncos defeat Raiders 20-17 in 1977 AFC Championship Game with help from controversial call-The 1977 Denver Broncos were a solid, if not spectacular team with a great defense known as the "Orange Crush." They won the AFC West that year over the defending World Champion Oakland Raiders, who then defeated the Baltimore Colts in the AFC Divisional Playoffs to meet the Broncos (who defeated Pittsburgh 34-21 in the other divisional playoff) in the AFC Title game. With the Broncos nursing a 7-3 lead in the 3rd quarter, the Broncos recovered a fumble at the Oakland 17 and drove down to the 2. On the next play, Jack Tatum hit Rob Lytle, knocking the ball loose and giving Oakland the ball. However, the refs ruled the play dead before the fumble, and Denver scored to take a 14-3 lead. The Raiders never recovered, and Denver held on for a 20-17 win and its first AFC Title.

4. Avery Johnson hits late jumper to give Spurs first world title over the Knicks-In many ways, the 1999 NBA season is forgettable. It saw a lockout that nearly forced the cancellation of the season 5 years before the NHL did the same thing. It also saw scoring go down and the end of the Bulls dynasty. The playoffs were a little better, but the Knicks, the 8-seed from the East, won the Eastern Conference Finals over Indiana in 6 games, 2 of which had controversial refereeing from Dick Bavetta (ok, that was cheap, but I still hate the Knicks for that season. I loved those late '90s Pacers). They met the Spurs, who steamrolled the T-Wolves, Lakers, and Trail Blazers in a combined 12 games. The Spurs took the first two in San Antonio, then split the next two in Madison Square Garden. Game 5, much like its predecessors, was ugly. Late in the game, the Knicks clung to a 77-76 lead. With 2.1 seconds left, Avery Johnson launched a 20-footer from the right wing and nailed it, giving the Spurs their first title. This series also saw the explosion of Tim Duncan on the basketball scene, as he averaged 27.4 points and 14 rebounds a game.

3. Lew Burdette shuts out Yanks on 2 days rest to clinch 1957 World Title for Braves-The 1957 season was the coming out party for the Milwaukee Braves, who had fallen just short of the Brooklyn Dodgers in '56. The Braves featured a solid pitching corps of Bob Buhl, Warren Spahn, and Lew Burdette. Buhl struggled in the Series, going 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA in only 3.2 innings of work. However, Spahn was solid, and Burdette was amazing, going 3-0 with an ERA of 0.67 in the Series. His best performance was his last, Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. After shutting the Yanks out 1-0 in Game 5 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Burdette was even more masterful, holding the Yanks to 7 hits in a 5-0 win, giving the Braves their first World Title since 1914, when they were located in Boston.

2. Mike Scott no-hits Giants to clinch 1986 NL West Crown for the Houston Astros-In 1986, Mike Scott, and his newfangled pitch, the split-fingered fastball, were taking over baseball. Along with 39-year-old Nolan Ryan, the Astros stunned baseball analysts by storming to a lead in the NL West, and on September 25, Mike Scott took the mound against the Giants with a chance to clinch the title for the Astros and set up an NLCS against the New York Mets. Scott was literally unhittable that night, as, for the first time in baseball history, a division or pennant was won thanks to a no-hitter. Scott pitched all nine-innings, walking 2, hitting 1, and striking out 13 in giving the Astros their first division crown since 1980.

1. Bill Mazeroski hits walk-off homer in Game 7 to win 1960 World Series for the Pirates-The 1960 World Series looked, on paper, like a mismatch. The out-of-nowhere Pirates, led by Don Hoak and Dick Groat, would take on the mighty New York Yankees, who had won 15 straight going into the playoffs. The first game, however, showed this series would be a little different, as the Pirates stunned the Yanks 6-4. The next two games, however, showed the world that the Yanks would not be easily deterred, as the Bombers destroyed the Pirates 16-3 and 10-0. However, the Pirates won the next two, 3-2 and 5-2, setting up a possible clincher in Game 6. However, Whitey Ford and the Yankee offense would have none of that, as they both dominated the Pirates en route to a 12-0 win, setting up the decisive game 7. The game started off well for the Bucs, as a 2-run Rocky Nelson homer and a 2-RBI single by Bill Virdon gave the Pirates a 4-0 lead. However, Moose Skowron and Yogi Berra hit homers in the 5th and sixth, staking the Yanks to a 5-4 lead. It got worse for the Pirates in the 8th, as a 2-out, 2-run double by Clete Boyer gave the Yanks a 7-4 lead. The bottom of the 8th, however, would prove to be disastrous for the Yanks. Gino Cimoli got a single to lead off the inning, then Virdon hit a sure double play ball to shortstop Tony Kubek. However, the ball hit a pebble, hitting Kubek in the throat and giving the Pirates men on first and second. Kubek was replaced by Joe DeMaestri. Dick Groat followed that up with an RBI single to cut the lead to 7-5. Bob Skinner followed with a sacrifice bunt to put men on second and third, then Rocky Nelson hit a short fly to right, giving the Pirates 2 outs and a man on 3rd. The next batter, Roberto Clemente, would prove to be the most important play of the game. He hit a slow roller to Skowron, but pitcher Jim Coates did not cover the bag, and Clemente beat Skowron to the bag, allowing Virdon to score and Groat to advance to 2nd. The next batter, former Yankee Hal Smith hit a 3-run shot to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead. The Yanks, however, refused to die, getting singles from Bobby Richardson, ex-Pirate Dale Long, and Mickey Mantle (all sandwiched around a Roger Maris foul-out) to cut the lead to 9-8 and put runners on the corners. Yogi Berra then hit a rocket down the first base line that Rocky Nelson grabbed and tagged first for the out. However, in the confusion, Mickey Mantle was able to get back to 1st, allowing pinch-runner Gil McDougald to score the game-tying run. That tie would last all of 2 pitches, as Bill Mazeroski hit the first, and to date, only walk-off World Series Game 7 homer in history. For the Series, the Yanks outscored the Pirates 55-27, outhit them 91-60, and still lost the Series. Sadly, this moment seems to be overlooked for moments like Kirk Gibson's homer, Carlton Fisk's homer, Reggie Jackson's 3-homer game, and even Joe Carter's walk-off homer (although his is overlooked), and ESPECIALLY the Bobby Thomson homer. '

This list is not out to antagonize anybody, it's to show that from time to time, moments that are great are overlooked, while other great moments are beaten into the ground.

My subhead may be coming true, after all

2006-07-27T13:47:00.000-05:00

Barkley considering run for governor

Charles Barkley, perhaps running for governor in '10. As a Democrat? Oh, my. Personally, I think he may be in for a fight off the bat, especially if Lucy Baxley wins the election. If not, it'd still be hard for him to get the Democrat nod, and even if he won that, I think he'd be hard-pressed to beat Bob Riley. Oh, well, good topic for conversation, and he was able to throw in the obligatory "If not for Mississippi and Arkansas, we'd be last in everything" joke that has been around for about 100 years but apparently certain national outlets have just picked up on.

Ole Miss baseball fever: Catch it.

2006-05-31T00:16:00.000-05:00

The Ole Miss Rebels, to my astonishment, won the SEC Baseball Tournament. With that, they were able to get to host a regional in Oxford on Saturday. While I am stunned (especially after our slow start), I find this season maybe more satisfying than last year's great run, simply because it was expected. This wasn't. More proof that Mike Bianco is a dang good coach. He simply refused to let the team make excuses for their poor play early on, and they rallied to end the season 27-9. Now, the fun begins. In this space, I will give what I've seen of the Rebels lately.

Hitting: Has been our strong point all year long. Our top 5 hitters, Justin Henry, Chris Coghlan, Zack Cozart, Alex Presley, and C.J. Ketchum are all hitting around .350, and all have OBPs well over .400. Logan Power is a typical 2nd hitter at the 6 hole, and our 7 and 8 hitters, Justin Brashear and Mark Wright are our two leading home run hitters with 11 and 12 respectively. We do have a bit of a hole with our DH spot, which we platoon with Evan Button against lefties and Cody Overbeck and Jon-Jon Hancock against righties. Still, a solid lineup that just destroyed the SEC's two best pitching staffs (Alabama and Vandy) for 18 runs in 2 games.

Pitching: Our Achilles heel at times (the Kentucky series) and our strength at times (SEC Tournament), we feature 3 freshmen starters and a redshirt freshman ace. Our stopper is Will Kline, who struggled early this season, but a shutout against Mississippi State in the Mayor's Trophy game in Jackson really turned him around. He has been our best pitcher lately. Our two starter is Brett Bukvich, who has at times has been our best pitcher (against Kentucky and LSU) and at times our worst (State and Tennessee). Our number three starter is Lance Lynn, who was a sixth round draft pick with the Seattle Mariners. He has been solid for the most part this year, but you can generally only count on him for six innings. Our other starter is Craig Rodriguez, a big lefty out of Texas. He started out fairly decently as our Friday night starter, but he was pounded by Kentucky, Arkansas, and State before shutting a pretty potent Vandy offense down in the Championship Game yesterday. Our bullpen, with Garret White, Cody Satterwhite, and Stoney Stone, has been shaky at times this year, but they have also pitched out of some major jams (yesterday is a great example).

Fielding: Solid...our defensive infield is among the best in the SEC. Coghlan and Cozart form the left side of the infield at 3rd and short respectively, while 2nd baseman Justin Henry is solid at turning double plays to our first baseman CJ Ketchum. The outfield is fairly decent, especially Alex Presley in center. Mark Wright doesn't have the greatest range in right, but he makes the plays he's supposed to. Logan Power is fairly rangy in left.

Outlook: While I am not too pleased with Tulane being in the regional, I think we can win this if we play up to our capabilities. The only question mark is will our pitching hold up enough to keep a 2004-esque disaster from occurring again, when we lost two straight while hosting.

Having said all of that, if we win the regional, I simply don't think we have enough pitching to survive a trip to Lincoln, where the homefolks will be thirsty for another trip to nearby Omaha. Still, hosting a regional and making a Super Regional would be one helluvan accomplishment for our team considering what they went through early on.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2006-05-05T09:32:00.000-05:00

This may be my last post for a while, so I figured I'd get one last thing out of the way...

Tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of the death of one Roy Lee "Chucky" Mullins. Readers of my blog have at least heard of who this guy is, but his story is one worth retelling. Chucky, who was born on July 24, 1969, grew up dirt poor on the "wrong side" of the railroad tracks in Russellville. His father left him when he was 2, and he was raised by his mother and grandmother. At least until 1983, when within 4 months, both his mother and grandmother passed away. An orphan at 12, he called Carver Phillips, who ran the Russellville Park and Recreation Center, and asked Carver to take him and his brother in. Carver, who wasn't living the high-life either, asked his wife Karen what they should do. Eventually, they relented, and Chucky went to live with them. Chucky was still poor, but he did have one thing that would keep him off the streets of Russellville---football. Chucky had shown signs of greatness as a youngster, and by his senior year, he led Russellville to a 10-0 regular season and a #3 national ranking. However, true to form for many great Golden Tiger teams of the future, Greenville upset Russellville 21-20 in the state title game. After the season, Chucky was recruited by many D-IAA and D-II schools, but most D-I schools thought he was too small and too slow to play at that level. One of these non-believers was Billy Brewer, the head coach at the University of Mississippi. Brewer had been the head of the Rebels since 1983, and had finally gotten Ole Miss to respectability. Brewer saw Chucky on tape, and decided to allow the youngster a chance to visit the campus, knowing the kid probably had no chance of wearing the red and blue. However, as Brewer noted in "Undefeated," the more he saw of Chucky in the coach's office, the more he saw himself, and he decided (with the help of a couple of his assistants) to give Chucky a scholarship. He redshirted in 1988, and became the nickelback for the Rebs in 1989. His most memorable play of the season was a game-saving knockdown of a Georgia pass in a 20-16 upset in Oxford. At least until October 28, when the doormat of the SEC, the Vanderbilt Commodores, came into town for Homecoming. While the 'Dores had struggled that season, one of their bright spots was runningback Brad Gaines. Gaines, who was raised in a family of football players, led the SEC in receptions as a tailback in 1989, and he led the 'Dores on a drive to the 12-yard-line, where they faced 3rd and goal. Chucky came in as the nickelback. Vandy QB John Gromos dropped back, and found Gaines cutting across the middle. What he didn't see was a red-and-blue #38 behind him. Mullins made a great hit, knocking the ball loose. In the scrum of a play that was eventually ruled dead, Chucky still lay on the ground. When Ole Miss trainers came on to the field, they discovered that Chucky had lost all feeling. Then and there, their worst nightmare was confirmed...Chucky had broken his neck. After emergency surgery at Baptist Hospital in Memphis, Chucky lay in the bed, paralyzed from the neck down for life. After this, most would just hang it up and quit. Not Chucky...his appearance at the 1989 Liberty Bowl inspired his teammates to a 42-29 victory of Air Force in the proverbial "not as close as the final score indicates" game. During rehabilitation, Chucky would beg for a phone line to be put from the practice field in Oxford to his room at the Spain Rehab Center in Birmingham. That year, the Rebels outdid even themselves, going 9-2 and getting a Gator Bowl bid against Michigan. Despite a 35-3 loss, the Rebs had finished their most successful season since the John Vaught era. Meanwhile, the media attention given to Chucky before the game led to him receiving many visits from famous folks, including Walter Payton, Janet Jackson, and even President George HW Bush. The money raised by Ole Miss (and the SEC) during this time also allowed Carver and Karen to move to Oxford to take care of Chucky as he finished his degree. However, on May 1, 1991, Chucky collapsed and never regained consciousness. He was finally disconnected from life support on May 6, 1991. He is now buried in the Luketown Cemetery in Russellville, Alabama. His memory still lives on with the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, which awards the senior defensive back who most exemplifies Chucky's determination with his #38. His memory is also felt in Russellville, as the Chucky Mullins Center is now open to allow underprivileged kids in town to be tutored and given extra help to get them on the right track.

Jason Allen highlight video.

2006-05-01T13:11:00.000-05:00

As you can see, former Muscle Shoals Trojan Jason Allen realizes how lucky he is that he won't have to see Ronnie Brown on the other side this coming fall. Nick Saban must have decided that since he had Brown on his own team, he could get away with drafting him.

States I've Visited

2006-04-28T03:53:00.000-05:00

States I've visited map...where, and how I got there

AL: Have lived in Alabama from 3 days old to 18 years, 1 month old. I'm originally from Hamilton, moved to Curry (suburb of Jasper, which itself could be considered a suburb of Birmingham) at age 4, then moved to Russellville at age 7. Moved to Winfield at age 19.

AR: Went across the bridge to West Memphis on a field trip to the Inca exhibit at the Pyramid in '98. On same trip, our bus driver got arrested for extortion.

D.C.: Went here in the summer of '03 for a family vacation. Easily the coolest place I've ever been to

FL: Went to Perdido beach as an 8 year old, and then drove through the state, from Pensacola down to Ft. Lauderdale in '99 on a trip to the Bahamas. Why we didn't fly? My father (and me. And my brother) are terrified of heights.

GA: Went to my first Braves game (and Six Flags) at age 6. Have been to numerous quiz bowl tournaments here, mostly in the Atlanta area. Also drive to Braves games nearly every year, and to the ACE Quiz Bowl Camp.

IL: Went to Chicago for the 2002 American Scholastic Competition Network Tournament of Champions (we had won a couple of tournaments in 2002, and had come in 2nd God knows how many times with large fields).

IN: Drove through the state for said 2002 Tournament of Champions. Sadly did not pass through Milan, home of the 1954 state basketball champs that were the inspiration for Hoosiers.

KY: Drove the first time at age 14 on a family trip, since none of us had ever been. Most fun aspect of trip: The tour of the Louisville Slugger plant. Also drove through here for the 2001 Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence National Tournament and the 2002 Tournament of Champions

LA: Drove through the state for the National Academic Quiz Tournament High School National Tournament. Was only impressed with the city of Baton Rouge (ironic, considering my hatred for LSU, but that's another point for another time). Hated the hell out of the rest of the state, including New Orleans, which was vastly smelly and overrated when I went there. It was a Monday afternoon, though.

MS: Born in Amory. Went to Tupelo God only knows how many times as a young child. Drove through the southern part of the state on I-59 on the way to the 2004 NAQT National Tournament. Attend the University of Mississippi now.

NC: Visited Cherokee on trip through the Smokies in '98. Went the second time for the 1999 Duke Talent Identification Program National Recognition ceremony in Durham. That was the year both the men's and women's team choked in the Tournament...oh wait, that's every year. Never mind. Also drove through en route to D.C. in '03.

OH: Went to Bowling Green for the 2001 PACE National Tournament. It sucked balls. Of course, we also passed through Cincinnati (which actually impressed me, believe it or not), Dayton, Lima, Miami, Oxford, and God knows what other places in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm. Hated it, but blame it on Michigan's vicinity to area we were in.

SC: Went the first time for 2002 ACE Quiz Bowl Camp at Furman in Greenville. Came the second time for the 2003 NAQT National Tournament at Myrtle Beach, although we came a few days early and hit the town of Charleston, which remains my favorite Southern city. Seriously, it's worth it. Came back to the ACE Camp in '03, and bought a Furman University hat that I still have.

TN: Let's see...went to Opryland as a one-year-old, then went to Loretto to look at furniture with my parents as a 7-year-old (seriously, why couldn't they find a babysitter or drop me off with my grandparents?). Went back to Opryland as a 9-year-old, then went to the Smokies in '98, '99, and '05 Also went to Nashville a couple of times for tournaments at Ezell-Harding and Vanderbilt. Hit Chattanooga for the 2001 Dennis Haskins Open (which we won), 2001 Trevor's Trivia Tournament (which we came in 3rd), 2002 Muck and Moc Masters (where me, Chris Pace, Adam Pace, Josh Clanton, Jeremy Brownand Brandon Sykes got stroked by 50-year-old college kids). Hit up Memphis in '98, '02 (trip to St. Jude's for HOSA), and '05 (Jeopardy Tryout).

TX: Came through here for the 2004 NAQT National Tournament in Houston. Houston wasn't terrible, but it was vastly spread out. Found out just how big the state was when we saw the "El Paso-837 miles" sign on the Louisiana-Texas border.

VA: Came through en route to D.C. in '03. Also hit up Jamestown and Yorktown, which weren't very great, and Williamsburg, which was. Also bought a William and Mary T-shirt that I still wear from time-to-time here.

Coolest. Video. Ever.

2006-04-26T13:25:00.000-05:00

This is the video ESPN put out on Dec. 31, 1999. I'd been looking for it...enjoy.

One of the lost classics of rock and roll

2006-04-14T12:17:00.000-05:00

Most of my faithful readers have probably never heard the name Eddie Cochran. However, if you like rock and roll (and even if you don't), you really should. He is probably most famous for a 1958 song that he and Jerry Capeheart wrote about the trials and tribulations of teenagers in 1950s America. The song, Summertime Blues, has been covered by just about every artist that can, although the most famous cover version is the Who's 1970 version. Monday will mark the 46th anniversary of his death in an automobile accident in Great Britain.

From the good folks at YouTube, here is Cochran singing Summertime Blues from Town Hall Party in 1959

One Shining Moment

2006-04-12T12:20:00.000-05:00

One of mine, and most everybody's favorite part of March Madness is the playing of "One Shining Moment" at the end of the game. Thanks to the good folks at YouTube.com, we can see a few of them, most notably the 2003 and 2005 videos. They also have the videos from 1998, 2002 (one of my personal favorite March Madnesses), and 2006. Apparently, Marcus Williams stole the tape from Connecticut's 2004 NCAA Tournament Win.
1998 One Shining Moment

2002 One Shining Moment

2003 One Shining Moment

2005 One Shining Moment

2006 One Shining Moment

Looks like Davis is in at UAB

2006-04-06T00:40:00.000-05:00

According to various message boards throughout the state, former Indiana coach, and Fayette, Alabama native Mike Davis will be returning to Alabama to coach the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers for the upcoming season. I look forward to this. Davis, at my favorite non-Ole Miss basketball school, with a chance to prove himself. The similarities between him and former UAB coach Gene Bartow are kinda astounding:

Both got to the Final Four their first full season
Both replaced legends
Both were not liked by their fanbases because they didn't as much as their predecessors

Either way, this should be a fun move. Hope it works out for him

JJ Redick=Clutch

2006-03-24T13:13:00.000-06:00

These are Redick's all-time NCAA Tournament numbers. Best shooter of all-time, indeed.

Thanks go to the good folks at InsideCarolina.com for this.

Sweet 16 picks

2006-03-22T21:29:00.000-06:00

All right, with the Sweet 16 coming up, it's time to do some predictions...

ATLANTA Region

1. Mike Krzyzewski's Merry Band of Overachievers vs. 4. LSU

OK, I think I've made it clear I am not a big fan of either program in this matchup. Having said that, I've always found John Brady to be an able heir to Dale Brown's zany craftsmanship for rebuilding the LSU program as well as his flame-outs with talented teams in the NCAA Tournament (see: 2000 Sweet 16 game against Wisconsin, 2003 first round game against Purdue, and last season's first round game against UAB). However, this year, he has a young team gelling, as Glen "Big Baby" Davis, a 6'8 310 pound sophomore forward and Tyrus Thomas, a 6'9 center, have made the Bayou Bengals front-court as good as anybody's. However, they struggled mightily against Texas A&M in the second round, requiring a miracle Darrell Mitchell 3 to win. The Duke Blue Devils, on the other hand, have looked slightly better, looking very sluggish against a punchy Southern Jaguars squad, but demolishing a very talented (albeit undisciplined and not at 100%) George Washington squad. Right now, Duke would probably be a favorite in Vegas, and I can't disagree with that. JJ Redick has seemingly put the whole 37.6% shooting percentage in the Tournament behind him, Shelden Williams has been as good as ever, and Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts have finally shown the brilliance they were supposed to to begin with. However, I like LSU's chances in this game. Good inside guys give Duke problems (Marco Killingsworth, Cedric Simmons, Craig Smith, Jared Dudley, Eric Williams, Alexander Johnson, and Tyler Hansbrough come to mind), and I think the crowd will be solidly behind LSU if this stays close late.

Pick: 74-72 LSU.

2. Texas vs. 6. West Virginia

A rematch of a November game that the Longhorns won 76-75, this is a very intriguing matchup...the big, bulky frontcourt of the Longhorns against the three point attack of the Mountaineers. The Longhorns will probably have a field-day inside, but I like the Mountaineers to hit their shots and get out of Atlanta with a one-point victory to avenge the earlier loss to Texas.

Pick: 79-78 West Virginia

OAKLAND Region

1. Memphis vs. 13 Bradley's Politically Incorrect Five

The Bradley Braves are the surprise team in the Sweet 16, as they stunned Kansas and Pittsburgh (two very trendy Final 4 picks) to get here. With Marcus Sommerville and Patrick O'Bryant having a very solid inside-outside duo, the Braves are looking to advance to their first Final 8 appearance since Bill Haley and the Comets were in vogue. However, they will run into a Memphis buzzsaw featuring Rodney Carney, Darius Washington Jr, Andre Allen, Joey Dorsey, and others that will be looking to prove a point. I like the Tigers chances in that endeavor.

Pick: Memphis 88-62

2. UCLA vs. 3. Gonzaga

Well, Gonzaga proved a lot of doubters wrong (especially me) by defeating Indiana to make their first Sweet 16 since 2001. Even more shockingly, they beat the Hoosiers with a subpar performance from Adam Morrison. JP Batista and Lee Mellon really stepped up last Saturday. Meanwhile, the Bruins will feature arguably the best back-court in the tourney in Jordan Farmar and Aaron Afflalo, and the inside presence of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. I think this will be a good game, but eventually, UCLA's defense will do a good enough job of shutting down Gonzaga for them to pull it out

Pick: UCLA 66-62

Washington, D.C. Region

1. Connecticut vs. 5. Washington

Well, this is a game that has upset written all over it. Brandon Roy gives the West Coast Huskies a dynamic player. Bobby Jones has proven himself a very good defender. Plus, they have two very impressive wins over Utah State and Illinois. Meanwhile, the East Coast Huskies have looked very shaky in their first two games, trailing by 12 to 16th seeded Albany in round 1, then barely escaping a furious Kentucky rally in round 2. However, this is my prediction for a UConn breakthrough. I smell a butt-whipping...

Pick: Connecticut 91-70

7. Wichita State vs. 11. George Mason

The "Mid-Major Super Bowl," as this game has been billed, is actually a rematch of a February game, where the GMU Patriots hit a late 3 to beat the Shockers of Wichita State in Wichita. This game has the same feel...Tony Skinn and Jai Lewis will be the keys for the Patriots, while Paul Miller, Sean Ogirri, and Kyle Wilson will be the key players for the Shockers. However, that game was in Kansas. This game is in D.C., which is about 30 miles from George Mason's campus in Fairfax, and the Patriots will feed off the home crowd. However, since I think both teams are so equal, I think the Shockers avenge the earlier loss in another classic.

Pick: Wichita State 73-70 (OT)

MINNEAPOLIS Region

1. Villanova vs. 4. Boston College

This is another intriguing matchup...the 4-guard attack of Villanova vs the big inside game of Craig Smith, Jared Dudley, and Sean Williams. If this game is a fast and furious game, the Wildcats will win it. However, I see a slow-tempo game, with the Eagles of BC finally putting it away late...

Pick: Boston College 64-58

3. Florida vs. 7. Georgetown

This has the potential to be the best game of the bunch. Ashanti Cook, Jeff Green, and Roy Hibbert have been great for the Hoyas, while Joakim Noah, Taurean Green, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer have combined to lead the Gators to romps over South Alabama and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. However, I don't think this game will be quite as good as anticipated. The Gators choke again...

Pick: Georgetown 61-53

One other thing...when I did the SotSG roster, I left out one guy...pteaxwa, who actually came up with the design for the logo of the site. So, sorry, pteax. I've got you.

And, when I gave the SotSG blogs, I neglected friskysman's Rantings and Ravings. You can get those at painfullyhonest.blogspot.com

Davis out as IU basketball coach

2006-02-16T22:15:00.000-06:00

Mike Davis, native of Fayette, AL, announced he will step down at the end of the season. I'm sad to see it end this way for the guy, but I think it's best for him, Indiana, and everyone involved for him to do this. Maybe Davis can get back on his feet at a smaller school with a lot less pressure. Ole Miss, anybody?

A-Rod+Duke=Ultra-Evil

2006-02-06T11:31:00.000-06:00

A-Rod, pictured the Duke-Florida State basketball game.

Alex Rodriguez decided to take in a Duke University basketball game on Saturday, not terribly surprising as he had a pal that plays for Dook's baseball team and he does have $25 million at his disposal, after all. He even got to catch a good game, as the Blue Devils survived a scare from the unranked Florida State Seminoles 97-96 in overtime. I'm sure the 43-11 free throw discrepancy, the technical foul called on Alexander Johnson (after he was shoved by Shelden Williams and did the ultra-heinous act of walking away), and the fact that Dook only had one foul called on them in the last 14 minutes of the game (while pressing, mind you) had NOTHING to do with it. This is all coming from the heels of a game in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts where Duke shot 37 free throws to 13 for Boston College. In two games, Dook has shot 80 free throws to 24 for the opposition, and, in fact, Shelden Williams has shot more free throws in both games than the BC and Florida State teams did. And it wasn't like BC plays a weak style, in fact, they have a great forward tandem in Craig Smith and Jared Dudley. And Florida State owned the paint against Duke, outrebounding the Blue Devils 46-35, and 19-13 on the offensive glass. And people wonder why I hate Duke.

The official SotSG roster

2006-01-12T11:40:00.000-06:00

Last post, I explained what SotSG is. Now, for those of you that read it and don't know who these folks are, I'll let you know...

firstborn- Owner of SOTSG, omnipotent presence. Tends to oscillate between Old and New Testament versions of God.

Big Scary Monster- "BSM" lives in Arizona, does not really follow Boston sports, enjoys drunk posting, rooting for a get together in Vegas.

Theny- The cassanova on the board. Macks on all the women and has a scruffy manliness that cannot be ignored, especially by Southern Yokel.

TheDooze- Underage Michigan resident who once broke up a fight at his school, shares experiences in drawn out narratives, real name is Gordon, has a penchant for knocking down cups with a toy light saber.

jack_daniels- Known as __ or Underscore, an Indian-Canadian living in Toronto, most often quoted, name and picture have never been identified, but intellect is highly suspect.

Frank the Tank- FTT for short, Frank was voted MVP as well as pretty much every other top accolade in the first annual SOTSG awards. Known for his superior intellect, has appeared on Jeopardy and there are rumors that he can move things with his mind.

Pretty Kimmy- "PK" One of the females who frequents the board. A die hard colts fan, she took a brief hiatus after the Colts lost to the Patriots last year, but she has been coming back more frequently in recent months. Is notorious for a wedding picture of her chugging tequila on the top of a donkey and for getting hit on several guys on the board.

TheWolf-A die-hard Boston sports fan, Wolfie is in a serious relationship, while secretly fantasizing about Magnum (more on her in a sec). Wolfie is a-political, but he is an American asshole. Even he'll admit it. Is a graduate of BC, which leads to many FTT-Wolfie fights over BC's departure from the Big East.

mister bacon-The original black man on SotSG, bacon is a native Indianan who graduated from a private school in Mobile, Alabama (UMS-Wright, 2005 4A state champions ) and Occidental. He is known for his love of the Angels, Stillers, Auburn University and Pacers, and his hatred of the Yankees, Alabama, Patriots, and most Republicans. Is now at Southern University law school, which has led to his post count going down.

Tecmo Bo-A very liberal architecture major that loves all things Boston sports-related. Very opinionated, and thinks he's right most of the time. Has been in a fairly heated e-feud with Magnum, a feud that sadly looks dead since Bo is in architecture school at Cincinnati.

Magnum-The only member of SotSG to have a sex-change operation, Mags was thought by everybody (except Wolf and perhaps Mr. Met and FTT) to be a male until she revealed she was, in fact, a woman. Loves the Red Sox, UConn, and TheWolf, and despises the Yankees, Dook and Tecmo Bo.

MoreCowbell-the first female on board, MC (or Tiff, her real name) has a penchant for drinking, cursing, and talk in the shoutbox that has since been banned. She loves the Red Sox and Pats, and UMaine hockey. Has her boyfriends balls in a tupperware jar after she found out he had an Adult Friend Finder account.

Briandean79-Iowan lawyer who loves the Cubs, Cowboys, and Iowa Hawkeye athletics. One of the more articulate members of the board, he was recently given a moderator gig by Firstborn. Lucky bastard.

Sugarthief15-Real name: Emily. Loves the Sox and Pats (this is getting a bit repetitive). Goes to Bucknell University, and lived across the hall from Kansas killer Chris McNaughton last year. Was embroiled in a feud with Theny that she lost. Badly. However, she is a good sport and still posts from time to time.

JohnnyDamon (this was me, until a certain event went down): Alabamian (Alabaman) who goes to Ole Miss (so there's some crossed up loyalties there), Falcons fan even after Ron Mexico gave him herpes. Loves fried...anything. Expert on college football (and also Alabama HS football). And, how can i put this delicately...he'd like to plowwwwww Ali Landry.

Nasty Nova: Dirty, disgusting, foul waste of DNA. Kidding. Funny guy who takes jokes too far and usually hangs on too long. Especially gay jokes. 1st [reported] suspension from the shoutbox ever recorded belongs to him. So big ups!!

SouthernYokel: Attention whore who made a huge mistake posting pictures of his girlfriend and now endures potshots about her boobs all day. Secretly enjoys it. University of SC fan, also follows the Braves.

fatty:very funny irish poster, hates Dook and notre Dame with a passion. loves the fishy fishy.

fresca (actually, howboutafrescahmm):another sarcastic guy...too bad he disappeared. controls the DD sluts in bangor, maine.

Gaylord-the original hater on this site, he came on and bashed the Patriots before their AFC Divisional playoff game against the Colts. However, after they lost, he left in a huff, leading many to suspect he was the actual Sports Guy. Made a brief return in July before coming back for good in August. Has a weekly gambling thread in the NFL section that is easily the greatest thread in the history of time. At least according to Mr. Lord. Once fingered Mags in an infamous picture that I had the misfortune of hosting (j/k, Gay). Hates Tom Brady, Brady Quinn, and most everything Boston-related.

Colonel Angus-One of the newer, and funnier posters on this site, he gets his name from one of the three SNL skits to be funny since Will Ferrel left. Diehard Tennessee fan, although he did graduate from Florida State. Despises Florida, Georgia, the Pats, and Dan Shanoff (but don't we all?).

NFL Outsider-Angels fan, who rooted for the old Los Angeles Rams before they left and went to St. Louis. Knows a ton about the NFL, probably more than most NFL Insiders know. Hates the Raiders, Yankees, and had Tommy Maddox as his avatar for a long, long time.

sportsdorkhater-Easily the best hater of the bunch, he came to the board in March with one of the most scathing (albeit unreadable) posts in SotSG's short history. He first met a lot of hostility from Simmons lovers, but as Simmons' quality of work and his lack of columns became more and more irksome, his beliefs became more easily accepted. Is a Boston sports fan, and hates Dook.

Rodney Farva-Yale grad, who works in Istanbul (not Constantinople). One of the elder statesmen of the board, he takes his name from Super Troopers, one of the great comedies of all-time. Was a Sports Guy lover, but started to turn on him, finally turning after SG's ridiculous Baltimore Sun column.

Freddy Fernandez-Teacher in Sacramento, loves the Oakland Athletics and (apparently) Karate Kid. Highlight of his life was getting to tackle a high risk student one day. Or so he claims.

Ogie Oglethorpe-Diehard hockey fan who spends a ton of time in the 'Box. Got hit by a car when he was younger, but has recovered nicely. Recently received a huge raise from his company, and is doing this all without a college degree. He also has the "Bomb Deck."

joshuajwill-One of the original members here, he and TAbbott were the two original moderators. He knows a ton about the Bible (hence his "reverend lovejoy" handle), and loves the Ohio State Buckeyes.

thedudeabides-Another original poster, was known for a time for having a 100th birthday every two weeks and posting "BOOOOOOO BOOOOO." Is going to grad school to be a history teacher. Used to live in the South, but now lives in New England (NH, I believe?)

Scoring Machine-One of Mister Bacon's old college pals, the Scoring Machine is from the great Northwest. Loves the Oregon Ducks, Jail Blazers, and Seattle Mariners. Doesn't much care for the Washington Huskies. His avatar is also David Kahiliki-ali'i, the great Arlen High running back on King of the Hill.

mandingo-For a long time the "other black guy" on here, 'dingo is a Clemson grad. He lives in South Carolina, and was involved in a short, and pretty friendly, e-feud with SY over his love of the Tigers and Yokel's love of the 'Cocks. Haven't seen much of him lately, which kinda bothers me.

bostonredsox1002-Originally from Boston, lives in the DC area now. Likes the Redskins, Red Sox, Wizards, and goes to the #1 HS in America, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Was roundly mocked when he first came here for saying Ken Griffey, Jr. only had one 40 homerun season before he turned 27, and was given the nickname "Wormser," in honor of the young nerdy kid in Revenge of the Nerds, by SDH. Since then, has revealed himself to be of Indian (Gandhi, not Sitting Bull) descent.

royalsfanactic and royalsfanatic and loneroyalsfan:3 members from the webbed feet state of Kansas. terrorized the board during the summer with their anti-Boston ramblings, and pro-KC prophecies. they cant spell.

wampaone:an obsessive Star Wars fan from Brazil, he uses a reference from star wars in nearly all of his posts. has a huge toy doll collection. hates the married life. only real soccer fan on here.

friskysman-Staunch Republican, die-hard Indians fan, and Lost lover, he was embroiled in an SotSG controversy when he sent e-mails to Bill Simmons advertising the site, something our fearless leader (Firstborn) isn't exactly a fan of. Led to a mini-feud with half the members of the board, but has since gone back to discussing the AL Central with kaskomm09 in the MLB section.

kaskomm09-Graduate of the University of Illinois, is the only White Sox fan on board, something I don't hold against him. At least not anymore. Hates Sammy Sosa, and loves Frank Thomas. Is discussing baseball with Friskys in the MLB section.

ONTB-Lives in Columbia, South Carolina, but is a New England sports fan. Originally from the area, he and I were involved in a wager over the December 4 Falcons-Panthers game. The Falcons lost, hence the top portion of my sig (which said, at the time, "I rode the Michael Vick experience and got herpes"). Will probably hate me forever if I don't add that he, along with newbie The Last Jet Fan, are the two coolest South Carolina grads I know of. Even if they do root for teams in the AFC East.

Kevin Romine:mysterious poster who lurks yet never posts. said something in the shoutbox once about dead raccoons or the like. he is rickey's supposed cousin.

bosux191820042090:hilarious poster with the most creative name on the site. the number one yankee fan, can go tete-a-tete with any yankee-basher on this site, namely frank, wolf, and tecmo bo.

theken:a chinadian from the great weed-growing prvince of British Columbia. Travels a lot, looks up to jack_daniels(as do all), hope to have a fu-manchu someday.

test:one of the most opinionated members of the board. he's no joke. (this is sarcasm, folks.)

mmutoni:A Canuck just like our favourite poster jack_daniels and theken, the foremost Simmons fan on this site. Wont bow down to cat-calls from the haters that he is "riding his dick" or is Simmons himself. Lives in Ottawa. The Senators suck.

Tabbot:One of the first members here. He is a season ticket-holder of the Celtics, and a moderator. Not around as much, but not forgotten.

Steve O: fellow new member who is a grad student at Michigan State. Has picked up on the fact that _ and TheDooze are morons very quickly.

BrianAtBSM: Commonly referred to as @, due to Big Scary Monster (BSM) and BostonSucksMyBalls (BSMB) having very similar nicknames. Like Steve O, @ has taken to dissing _ at every moment, resulting in a mini-feud that he has won convincingly.

TheBuckNut: Rampant Ohio State fan with a thread dedicated to his own original fiction pieces. Also a suspected racist who stopped being friends with black people around high school age.

BostonSucksMyBalls (BSMB)-Philly fan who hates Donovan McNabb and the Phillies. Has a teal Marlins visor, because he likes the way they play the game. Was in a feud with PhillyJim76 over McNabb earlier in the year. Got Simmons' autograph at the Philly book signing thing. Hates Boston sports (as if you couldn't tell by his name).

PhillyJim76-Another Philly fan, he likes McNabb, and doesn't like Andy Reid. Also hates Mike Lieberthal, and has been in a feud with BSMB over the Eagles suckitude this year. Also hates Boston sports.

Snake-Bay area resident. Works for the San Jose Sabercats of the Arena Football League. Wants to be an NFL GM someday. Went to Tulane his freshman year of college, but is now at Santa Clara. Drinks the Barry Bonds Kool-Aid. Him and Tecmo Bo had the first real e-feud on here.

Dunkin Donut-Boston sports fan. Had a job in PA when he came on here, but has recently moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Had the most controversial avatar on here when he posted a bukkake pic of a Japanese girl.

fatboy-Dunkin Donut's dad. Don't know a ton about him, he hasn't been on in a while. However, he seems pretty freaking cool.

Emily's Husband-Guy who had a tribute site (sportsguysworld.com), but may have been the most whipped man on the planet. His name led to the creation of other members Emily and Emily's Man on the Side. Gotta love it. Now lives in Houston.

T. Church-EH's pal from the SGW site. Tried to be a heel on the site, unfortunately, he didn't have the meanness, nor the funniness to pull it off, and was roundly ignored by most of the members here.

Randy Savage-Apparently one of Wolf and Magnum's homosexual friends, RS came on here during March Madness. He was known for his hatred of Dook, love of BC, and saying "SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM....OOOOOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHHH!!!!!" Hasn't been seen since UConn's stunning loss to NC State in the 2nd round of the tournament.

Bleacher Creature-16-year-old kid from Long Island who loves the Yankees, but hasn't been murdered on here for that. Mainly because he's one of the 2 non-asshole Yankee fans in the world. Also loves the Islanders, Jets, Nets, and UConn basketball. Also a frequent member of late night Shoutbox posting, although much less X-rated than certain members (coughNovacough).

Mr. Met-The lovable mascot of the New York Mets, Mr. Met has shown a tendency to get violent when discussing the woes of his New York Metropolitans.

Parker45-Ohio State alum, big fan of Dook and Andy Katzenmoyer. Also loves Notre Dame, which should make him my mortal enemy. However, he's cool enough that I look past that. Which is good, because pandas and Ohio natives don't mix well.

fatboy-Dunk's dad. cigar conoisseur, one of the coolest dads iver come across. he is a movie-quoting machine. almost as noteworthy as poster jack_daniels.

BrandonWalsh-Guy who came on here this morning (December 14, 2005), and pretty much bashed every one of us on here. Of course, he's hidden, so we don't know when he comes on here, and he doesn't like people PMing him their support. Will probably respond to another post bashing all of us again.

nerf66-Guy who lives in L.A. (that's Los Angeles, not Lower Alabama), he was once hit on by Ashley Judd with Dustin Hoffman being the only witness. Is embroiled in a mini-feud with nasty nova at the moment

Beer Goggles-Hispanic, kitty-killing psychology major. Became an icon around here for his Montreal Story where he met firstborn, the guy who maintains this site. Good guy with funny observations. His posts all full of energy, colour, and variety. He knows how to use the forum tools.

Rickey Sez (a.k.a. Rickety Sex)-One of, if not THE funniest member of SotSG, this man originally did 3rd person posts, which were downright hilarious. As he started going away from that, he re-energized his act by bashing the hell out of Dook at any, and all opportunities. Is also known for singing songs in the Creed voice, such as the Grammy nominated "David Terrell Got the Bomb Dick" (how it didn't win, I'll never know). In his spare time, he goes to college in New York City, which hurts him as a Red Sox fan and Yankee hater, but does make him more comfortable around his Giants. Oh, and he really, really, really, really, really loves UConn basketball.

JichaelDick (I changed my name to "JumboDixie" at first, but the mods didn't like me getting another user account. So, they gave me four choices: JichaelDick-a shot at my love of the Falcons and Ron Mexico, Parker44, Small Scary Monster, and Vasty Vulva, and let the people decide. JichaelDick won)---The artist formerly known as JohnnyDamon.

OK, this is for sheer number of hits

2006-01-10T18:22:00.000-06:00

Since January of last year, I have been a member of an online community known as "SonsoftheSportsGuy". Since that time, I have come in contact with a lot of people, mostly New Englanders (the Sports Guy a.k.a. Bill Simmons, is a writer for ESPN.com, and was known as the "Boston Sports Guy" before his move to ESPN). I get along with most of the users fine, although I did have a scrape with "Gaylord," a rabid Pats hater who I thought made horrific arguments at the time. I later turned into one of his biggest fans, and enjoy the hell out of his columns. However, for sheer awesomeness, the best member is "Frank the Tank" (whose real name I will not reveal, for fear the real one will kick my ass) . He is a Hartford native who loves the Red Sox, Steelers (his mom's from Pittsburgh), and the now-defunct Hartford Whalers (screw you, Peter Karmanos...that was for you, Frank). Another cool one is "TheWolf," who is a pal of Frank's in real life. Two of the other teenagers are Gordon "TheDooze" something, a Michigander who claims to know Lindsay Lohan and is a diehard Red Sox fan despite rooting for every other Detroit sports team or another, and Vishesh "jack_daniels" something or another, whose wacky logic, one-word posts, and general Indian-Canadian (he lives in Toronto, and he is Hindu) goofiness has given rise to "_ speak". Another newer member is "theken," a Chinadian from Vancouver. Why am I bringing this up? Because they all have blogs....

Dooze's Blog

Wolf's Blog

Frank's Blog

TheKen's blog

_'s blog

One other blog that I must mention is that of Ottawan Marcel Mutoni, who is a die-hard Kobe and Simmons fan. However, his blog is the only one of the SotSGers that has ever been mentioned on a sports website (deadspin.com). So, here's his

I can't believe I'm saying this

2006-01-03T17:08:00.000-06:00

but HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!

Now, I still think USC will handle Texas in tomorrow's national title game. I really do. However, the media infatuation with USC has to stop. Well, I say the media, but I really mean ESPN. Let's take a look at two things real quick...

First, the recent "2005 USC Trojans vs. best 11 teams of all-time as voted by the fans." OK, first, we don't even know if this 2005 USC team is the best of 2005 right now. It'd be like ESPN doing something for Miami on December 31, 1992, the night before they were to play the Sugar Bowl against Alabama. Still, at least some of these folks will realize that most of those teams, comparing eras, were probably better than this Trojan team, that gave up 42 points to FRESNO STATE!!! (a team who scored 24 points on that defensive powerhouse known as Tulsa in the Liberty Bowl). Hell, last year's USC team was probably better than this one. They had the offensive weapons, plus an absolutely killer defense. So, on Wednesday night, while in the Smokies with the family, I see that the ESPN viewers agree that the 2001 Miami team would have torn this USC team a new asshole. Since it's pretty consensus that the '01 Miami team was one of the best of the last 10 years, only behind the '95 Nebraska team that played 7 top 20 teams and still won their games by an average of 39 points and beat Florida 62-24 in the National Title Game, you would think the fellatio would stop. Oh, but it didn't. Kirk Herbstreit declared that USC's defense would be able to slow down the Nebraska attack. Never mind that they couldn't stop the great Fresno State attack, they would stop a team that averaged nearly 500 yards rushing a game. But still, at least the people would be smart enough to know better. NO!!! The love affair, in my opinion, helped skew the numbers towards the USC Trojans of 2005, who have barely beaten Fresno State and Notre Dame (well, ND was good, just overrated, see OSU over ND).

Second, Erica Lucero. Who is Erica, you may ask? She's a freelance writer for ESPN.com. In her recent column, she made this statement about her team's opponent in the Rose Bowl...

Now, let's talk about the opponents Texas was up against this year. I think it's pretty safe to say that they did not have to face many teams like Notre Dame or Fresno State. There were some seriously tough battles played out in the Coliseum and elsewhere this year -- games that really shook people up and had us wringing our hands from wherever we were watching. Texas has had a relatively easy year, and it could just be that the Horns are in for a very rude awakening when they come against a team that will actually test their might.

Uhh, Erica, on September 10, Texas beat Ohio State 25-22 in Columbus in primetime. Ohio State just beat Notre Dame 34-20 in the Fiesta Bowl. So that argument is gone. Now, Fresno State…Fresno State followed that loss to USC with losses to Nevada (who was actually a fairly decent WAC team, although frankly, I think it was flukish) and Louisiana Tech (who, frankly, sucked this year), and a Liberty Bowl loss to Tulsa (yep, the powerhouse of Tulsa). If she would have used, say, UCLA or Oregon in her argument, it might have been better (although Oklahoma 17, Oregon 14 in the Holiday Bowl screws that argument up, I must say).

So, with that in mind, hook ‘em. Besides, a Texas win would deflect the attention away from the 3 straight national championships, which would then cause LSU fans to gripe about the 2003 national title they split with USC. So, for all that’s good in the world, go Horns!!!

Bowl games, Super 6...it's football time

2005-12-06T23:02:00.000-06:00

First of all, sorry for the absence. Classes, lack of internet access at my house, and a bad case of writer's block caused it. Now, onto important things...namely football.

First of all, who doesn't want to see a Homewood-Hoover game? It was fairly obvious that those two teams were the best the state had to offer during the Super 6. I mean, was Daphne REALLY the best the South could offer in 6A? Just a bad performance. And, as much as I want to bash Buckhorn's performance, I can't in good conscience do it, since they DID beat my alma mater in the semifinals to get there. I'm sorta glad that Russellville DIDN'T run into that Homewood machine last Friday.

Second, what in the world is going on in the Shoals? Russellville, Deshler, Courtland, Hazlewood, and Colbert County all have about 25 combined state titles (although RHS's last one DID occur during the LBJ Presidency), but none of the 6 have won a title since Hazlewood won the 1A title in 2000. Deshler's 42-16 loss is their third straight, sending them into Russellville territory. Never a good place to be when it comes to state championship game appearances. Add to that Russellville and Colbert County's playoff collapses, and Shoals area football is looking weaker.

Third, a finger of shame goes to Pike County. Running it up on hapless teams in South Alabama is bad enough. But leading Cherokee County (who defeated my dad's Winfield Pirates 28-0 in the semis) 10-6 late in the game, why try to score another touchdown with 10 seconds left? The only chance Cherokee County had was to get a turnover, and running the ball is much riskier than taking a knee. Their coach should also be ashamed for his actions during the Abbeville game, kicking onsides kicks in a 91-0 beatdown. He should really try that against somebody like Russellville, Hoover, Daphne, Homewood, heck, even UMS-Wright. Don't think it would work that way against those folks.

Fourth, how about the bowl picture. In the SEC, Georgia faces West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl, which will be played in Atlanta in wake of the Katrina tragedy. This game will probably be like the Sugar Bowls LSU made when they won SEC titles in 2001 and 2003. Alabama will face Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl, a game the Tide should win, seeing as how the only decent defense that Tech saw shut them down. Auburn, who was probably the hottest team in the SEC, will face Wisconsin in the Capital One/Citrus/Tangerine Bowl. Look for a Tiger win there. Florida will meet Iowa in the Outback Bowl...both teams fell short of expectations, but look for the Hawkeyes to win this one close. South Carolina meets Missouri in the Independence Bowl...Spurrier > Gary Pinkel. Enough said. And finally, LSU meets Miami in the Peach Bowl in the "teams that blew BCS bowl bids" matchup. While I'm rooting for the 'Canes (may I never type those words again), I figure the Bayou Bengals will pull this one out.

Last, but not least, I must say that while I thought Ole Miss came forward in their first 9 games on the defensive side of the ball, the last two games erased any positive feeling I had through the first 9 games. Losing 40-7 to LSU is bad enough, but LSU is actually very good, and we can't compete at that level right now. However, 35-14 to State? That's not even right. Maybe we can finally get an offense, because right now, I would take Hoover's or Homewood's over ours any day of the week.

I'm back

2005-12-06T02:19:00.000-06:00

I should have some stuff up by the end of today...sorry for the long layoff.

No more weekly picks, and baseball thoughts...

2005-10-13T21:47:00.001-05:00

First off, I have decided to scrap the weekly picks. It was not worth having just 3 guys doing it. Sorry to Collin and Bob, but I just didn't think it was worth it. Still, the comment section is open to any and all football discussion, including the beatdown in Oxford that is going to happen this Saturday.

Now, onto baseball. I am actually ecstatic over the two matchups in the respective LCS's. Anaheim and Chicago are facing off in the ALCS, and both play a brand of baseball that can best be described as "National League." These two teams remind me a lot of the Twins of the last few years. In the NLCS, you have the best overall team, the St. Louis Cardinals, against a team with quite possibly the greatest 1-2-3 punch in playoff history, the Houston Astros, who can throw out Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt, and Roger Clemens in 6 of the 7 games of the series. However, when all is said and done, I think the Cards will be too good offensively for the Astros. In the AL, I like the Angels, even after last night's controversial ending. I think Mike Scioscia is the best manager in the American League (and only behind Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa overall), and he will have his team ready for tomorrow. In other, and more exciting news, I was recently mentioned in this blog after showing how wrong Skip Bayless was on a certain point in his anti-A-Rod and Big Unit article in ESPN.

Week 5 of the Slade for Governor Pick 'Em

2005-09-29T11:39:00.000-05:00

We have reached week 5 of the season, and the standings are as follows...

Slade: 33-15
Collin: 32-16
Bob: 26-10

Bob was AWOL, but I plan on throwing everybody's low-score out anyway...here we go with the pics.

Tennessee over Ole Miss
Alabama over Florida
Auburn over South Carolina
Kansas State over Oklahoma
Vanderbilt over MTSU
LSU over Mississippi State
Indianapolis over Tennessee
Cincinnati over Houston
Carolina over Green Bay
New England over San Diego
Dallas over Oakland
Philadelphia over Kansas City

Ramblings from the ex-gubernatorial candidate...

2005-09-25T23:11:00.000-05:00

First off, sad news to report from the Governor's office. Hal Kirby, Franklin County Probate Judge from 1983-89 and 1995-01 and PA Announcer for the Russellville Golden Tigers since 1950, died Thursday afternoon of a massive stroke. Kirby was a great guy, and was synonymous with Russellville home football games for many, many years. He was also a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Russellville, and was Youth Director of the Church for many years. He is survived by his wife, Myra, daughter Denise Allen, son-in-law Bill Allen, and grandchildren Kirby Allen, Emory Allen, and Anne Kathryn Allen. This marks the third giant personality of Russellville to pass away in the last year, as Kirby follows former Russellville mayor John Blackwell and former Superintendent R.M. Courington have both passed away since November, 2004. Now for the ramblings...

Ole Miss sucks-No nice way to put the drubbing the Rebels took from the Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday. A complete and utter domination that was in no way as close as the 24-14 final would have one believe. If not for some dumb Cowboy penalties, Wyoming would have won by at least 24. Look for utter destruction in Knoxville next week.

Alabama needs to quit playing bad against crappy teams-Honestly, I don't think Arkansas is within 11 points of Alabama. I think the Hogs may be the second worst team in the West (behind the Rebels). But Alabama has this habit of not playing up to their capabilities against craptastic teams. They're gonna have to play better than they did against the Hogs to take out Florida Saturday.

Va. Tech owns the ACC-Any doubts before this game were ended with a 51-7 beating of Georgia Tech. Now, to be fair, Reggie Ball was suffering from viral meningitis, and the Hokies did get 3 non-offensive touchdowns. But holy Lord, this was a Tech team that made Auburn look silly opening weekend. I still think Georgia Tech is a fairly good football team, but Va. Tech is probably the third best team in America right now, just slightly behind Texas and USC.

USC better be careful in Tempe-Offensively, they looked fine. Reggie Bush was as good as ever, and Leinart was almost perfect, the one interception he threw wasn't his fault. That said, the USC defense showed signs of weakness, and Sam Keller may light up the USC secondary. The only question is will the Sun Devil defense be able to slow down the Trojan offensive juggernaut?

Florida's offense isn't THAT good-49 points in a first half is awesome. But it's much less awesome when you realize it came against a Kentucky team that just might be the 4th best team in their own state (behind Louisville, Western Kentucky, and Eastern Kentucky). The Florida offense has been shaky against solid defenses this year(they didn't light up Wyoming, to be honest), and they will see their first test against a great Alabama defense.

Hoover lost! And the Alabama high school football fans rejoiced-Hoover High School is nationally ranked. They are one of the best teams in Alabama high school football history. They were supposed to be in the running for a national title this year. They have won the last 3 6A state championships. They were on ESPN, for God's sake! But on Friday night, the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats, led by Robert Higganbotham and Deon Williams, carved the Hoover Buccaneers with a shocking 39-28 win. The loss is Hoover's first since October 10, 2003, a 36-34 loss to Vestavia. However, before all Alabama schools get excited, this same thing happened in '02, except County High won at Hoover (in Hoover's homecoming, no less). And in the playoffs, Hoover took frustrations out on County High, 36-0. And in '03, Hoover avenged the loss to Vestavia with a 31-24 overtime win. So don't be surprised if Hoover holds the blue map in December.

Slade for Governor Pick 'Em-Week 5

2005-09-21T13:23:00.000-05:00

After last week, the standings have closed up considerably...I went 8-4 on the week, to bring my total to 24-12, while both Collin and Bob went 6-6. Bob is still in first, at 26-10, while Collin is still within striking distance, at 22-14.

Now, for this week's games...

Alabama vs. Arkansas
Auburn vs. Western Kentucky
Ole Miss vs. Wyoming
Texas Tech vs. Indiana State
Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech
USC vs. Oregon
Pittsburgh vs. New England
Atlanta vs. Buffalo
Philadelphia vs. Oakland
Cincinnati vs. Chicago
Kansas City vs. Denver
Tampa Bay vs. Green Bay

Tiebreaker: Final score of Alabama-Arkansas game...

First week points...(remember, lowest score is best)
Collin...13 points
Bob....16
Slade....18

What in the world is going on????

2005-09-18T23:23:00.000-05:00

Vandy is 3-0, Oklahoma is 1-2, Arkansas just gave up 70 to USC...in 13 possessions, Alabama looked dominant, Auburn beat the crap out of WPFSU (West Polytechnic F***nut State University), Notre Dame got exposed by a very good Michigan State offense, Miami survived a scare in Clemson, and Tennessee and Florida played the ugliest football game I've ever seen.

Vanderbilt is for real this year---This team is gonna be 5-0 before LSU comes to Nashville. After watching yesterday's game, I am convinced they'll go 7-4 AT WORST. I seriously think the Georgia game in Nashville could go either way, especially if Vandy's D played like it did for the most part against Ole Miss yesterday. For Ole Miss, it was a disheartening loss, especially since Michael Spurlock's injury looked terrible. As much as I loved him last year, Robert Lane is gonna have to step up something fierce for the Rebels to click.

Oklahoma flat-out sucks---If this bunch goes 6-5, I'll be shocked. After yesterday's embarrassing 41-24 loss to UCLA, they fell to 1-2, and with games against Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Kansas (who is much better than in years past), and Nebraska looming, Bob Stoops may have a hard time getting the Sooners to a bowl game this year.

USC's offense is the best in college football history---Arkansas ran their game plan to perfection last night offensively. They ran the ball for nearly 200 yards, had 21 first downs, controlled the clock, holding the ball for over 34 minutes, and didn't embarrass themselves with young players. Defensively, well...they gave up 70 points, 736 yards, and were just flat terrible. In the first quarter, USC held the ball for 8 plays and 92 seconds. In the 92 seconds they held the ball, they gained 256 yards and scored 28 points. That is Russellville-Muscle Shoals-esque right there. Folks, this offense is as good as I've seen in a long, long, long, long, time

Alabama has a shot at winning the SEC West---Holding a Steve Spurrier offense to 256 yards is great. Gaining 489 yards on the road in an SEC game is even better. Gaining 338 yards on the ground in a nationally televised game in a very hot Williams-Brice Stadium and making the home crowd beat the traffic is best. Alabama looked as good as I've seen them look since the end of the Franchione era. This team has the potential to be very scary come conference season.

Auburn is good, and people should stop whining about their schedule, even though it is horrible---Seriously. Ball State? I think a good high school team could beat them. As much whining as I heard from the Birmingham press, I would like to say that Auburn is doing the right thing after a disastrous opener with Georgia Tech. Letting your young quarterback develop confidence can't hurt, and maybe, just maybe, they can pull out a win in Baton Rouge October 22 before the Rebels come marching in October 29.

Michigan State may be the best team in the Big 11---Their offense is as good as I've seen a Big 11 team have in a long time, and they would have beaten Big 11 champ Michigan had Drew Stanton not gotten hurt in the 4th quarter last year. After watching the other teams in the conference play and their offensive dominance over Notre Dame, I would watch out for them. The only problem for them will be stopping people, but I expect at least an upset of Michigan for the Spartans.

The ACC is the second best league in college football---That Miami-Clemson game was a classic. My old pal Anna Stanford's Tigers gave the 'Canes all they wanted, but Tyrone Moss was too much for the Clemson D to handle in a 36-30 win. Add to that Georgia Tech's excellent defense and talented offense (Calvin Johnson is the best receiver in America, in my opinion), Virginia Tech's talent, Florida State's defense and running game, Clemson's grit (it would have been their 3rd 4th quarter come-from-behind win had they pulled it out), NC State's defense, and UVA's offensive line, and you have a deep and powerful conference. They aren't as good as the SEC yet, but give them time.

Tennessee and Florida are both overrated---My buddy Collin will agree with this. The Tennessee offense has been terrible their first two games. For some reason, the Vols seem intent on establishing a passing game instead of letting Gerald Riggs run behind an enormous offensive line led by Rob Smith and Russellville High-alum Arron Sears. Defensively, they are still solid, but they let Florida get way too many 3rd and longs last night. And Florida? Defensively, they are ok, but a balanced offense will give them fits. I'm looking at you, Alabama. And the spread option offense doesn't seem to be clicking right now. They have averaged nearly 30 points a game with it, but it didn't look too good against Tennessee's defense last night, and if they run into a defense that has decent speed and corners, they could be in trouble. Once again, I'm looking at you, Alabama. The first bold prediction of the year...Alabama will beat Florida October 1 in Tuscaloosa. Mark it down, and if I'm wrong, make fun of me later.

The official Slade for Governor Football Pick 'Em-Week 3

2005-09-13T02:56:00.000-05:00

After a disastrous week in NFL picks, me and Collin are both 4 games back of Bob Lynch, whose gutsy picks of Dallas and the Giants gave him a 5-1 record in the NFL games, while me and Collin combined to go 5-7 on the NFL picks. So, without further ado, the games for this week, my picks in bold.

Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
Alabama vs. South Carolina
Auburn vs. Ball State
USC vs. Arkansas
Georgia Tech vs. Connecticut
Florida vs. Tennessee
Dallas vs. Washington
New England vs. Carolina
Kansas City vs. Oakland
NY Jets vs. Miami
New Orleans vs. NY Giants
Indianapolis vs. Jacksonville
To combat the problem of a tie, for the rest of the pick' ems, we will use a tiebreaker. What I'll do is ask for the final score of one game. For each point a person is off on a team's score, they will get one point. For instance, if I were to pick Ole Miss to beat Vanderbilt 24-21, and the final were to be Ole Miss 38, Vandy 28, I would get 21 points (14 points for the Ole Miss score, 7 for the Vandy score).
Obviously, I've made it clear that the Ole Miss-Vandy game will be the tiebreaker. My pick is Ole Miss over Vanderbilt by a final score of 28-17...
Standings right now are...

1. Bob Lynch 20-4
2. Slade Gilmer 16-8
2. Collin Rich 16-8

Week 2-Pick 'em

2005-09-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

After week one, Bob Lynch has a slight lead at 11-1 over Collin Rich and myself, who are tied at 10-2.

On to the games, my picks in bold:

Alabama vs. Southern Miss.
Auburn vs. Mississippi State
Georgia Tech vs. North Carolina
Michigan vs. Notre Dame
Iowa vs. Iowa State
Ohio State vs. Texas
Indianapolis vs. Baltimore
San Diego vs. Dallas
Carolina vs. New Orleans
Cincinnati vs. Cleveland
Arizona vs. NY Giants
Atlanta vs. Philadelphia

Well, I did get one pick right

2005-09-04T15:48:00.000-05:00

"Georgia Tech is the last team you want a young quarterback to face in the season opener."
"Auburn will crush Georgia Tech."
---Online conversation with anonymous die-hard Auburn fan

The pic above is of Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson scoring a first quarter touchdown en route to a 23-14 win over Auburn. The Ramblin' Wreck defense was excellent, picking off four passes and forcing a fumble, costing the Tigers a chance at winning late. Give the Yellow Jackets credit, they took the game to Auburn, and took the capacity crowd at Jordan-Hare completely out of the game. And all the Auburn fans reading this, don't get too down. You have five straight opponents that combined couldn't beat USC, or Texas for that matter in Mississippi State, Ball State, Western Kentucky, South Carolina, and Arkansas, so quarterback Brandon Cox should gain confidence before the baptism by fire in Baton Rouge, Louisiana October 22, and the butt-whippin' you're gonna receive October 29 at home against Crazy Ed's defense. And besides, you weren't the worst looking BCS team from last year. How do you only score 10 points against a team that was DEAD LAST against the pass last year? How? Oklahoma will be lucky to win 8 games if that offense keeps up.

"A Desparate S.O.S." for the Big Easy

2005-09-01T18:46:00.000-05:00

"A Desparate S.O.S." has been issued by New Orleans mayor Tom Nagin.

This is in the wake of a devastating week for New Orleans, as the town is now practically uninhabitable, and the streets have been overtaken by looters and thugs. This is an extremely sad situation in the Gulf Coast, and it is sad to watch the news as looters steal weapons from Wal-Marts and places like this. Here's hoping the people of the Big Easy get out of this ok...

The official Slade for Governor pick 'em-Week 1....

2005-08-31T01:52:00.000-05:00

All are due by midnight Saturday...my picks are in bold...

Georgia Tech vs. Auburn
Alabama vs. Middle Tennessee State
Georgia vs. Boise State
Tennessee vs. UAB
Michigan vs. Northern Illinois
Ohio State vs. Miami (OH)
Ole Miss vs. Memphis
Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame
Florida State vs. Miami
Winfield vs. Winston County
Hamilton vs. Haleyville
Russellville vs. Brewer

Who does this guy think he is?

2005-08-30T17:15:00.000-05:00

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, you would think all tasteless jokes about the area and the people would be off-limits. You would be wrong...in his "Daily Quickie" on ESPN.com, Dan Shanoff made light of the Hurricane tearing off the roof of the Superdome...

http://sports.espn.go.com/page2/quickie

It's in the DQ'd section. Naturally, a bunch of angry pals of mine at http://sonsofthesportsguy.com started a petition to get the guy fired. While I normally oppose this sort of action, what Shanoff did was inexcusable. Sign the petition here at...http://www.petitiononline.com/shanoff/petition.html if you're offended.

Katrina makes way to New Orleans.

2005-08-29T02:35:00.000-05:00

From NOAA's New Orleans website:

POWER OUTAGES MAY LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MANY POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

This has the potential to destroy the city of New Orleans, and basically the entire Gulf Coast of Mississippi. To all my brethren from down that way, including all the Mobile/Baldwin countians I know (I think the count is 9, but I may be wrong), be careful and Godspeed....

School starts today

2005-08-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

And I have joined a new blog...blogagainstroy.blogspot.com. There, you will find me and 2024 Presidential Candidate Collin Rich giving our reasons why we don't want Roy Moore running our state. If you want hard hitting hateration on the snake of Etowah County, you'll find it on blogagainstroy.blogspot.com

I also think now would be a good time to announce that I am dropping out of the race for governor. I'm too far away from Alabama, and I think I will throw all of my support to Bob Riley, in hopes we can stop the Moore machine before he becomes too powerful.

The official Slade for Governor football previews...

2005-08-03T11:23:00.000-05:00

With SEC Media Days being last week, I thought now would be a good time to present my picks for the SEC standings this season. I'm considering running a Pick 'Em Contest on here during the football season, so if anyone wants to do that, comment, and I'll see what I can do. Without further adieu, the SEC standings, starting in the East....

1. Tennessee-The Volunteers are simply loaded. With almost the entire team returning from a surprise SEC East Title from a year ago, this team will be a force to be reckoned with in college football. Look for Erik Ainge to provide stability at quarterback, and look for Muscle Shoals native Jason Allen to wreak havoc in the secondary.

2. Florida-Year one of the Urban Meyer Era begins in Gainesville, as Meyer hopes to lead Florida to a BCS bowl like he did with Utah last year. With supertalented quarterback Chris Leak running the show, look for the Gators to be an offensive machine. The big question mark will be defense, with almost all of the secondary gone. However, look for Florida to do some damage.

3. Georgia-This is the first year post-David Greene, and we'll have to see if DJ Shockley can live up to the gargantuan hype that came after his freshman season. Look for this team to struggle early with the losses of Greene, Odell Thurman, and David Pollack, but for Mark Richt to whip up a formidable foe toward the end of the season.

4. South Carolina-New coach Steve Spurrier walked into a complete mess. He has already had to get rid of 11 players, and his Gamecock squad is facing serious trouble from the NCAA. If Spurrier can pull a 6-5 record out of this bunch, it may be his best coaching job ever.

5. Vanderbilt-The whipping boy of the SEC for many years will find themselves above the cellar for the first time in years, as Jay Cutler ends his career. The 'Dores may be ripeto pull an upset somewhere along the way, but don't look for too much out of them.

6. Kentucky-When does basketball season begin, anyway?

SEC West

1. LSU-This pains me, but the Bayou Bengals were a missed extra point away from representing the SEC West in the 2004 SEC Championship (thank you, Courtney Taylor), and they return 19 starters from last year's squad. The talent level on the Bayou has never been higher, as new coach Les Miles walked into a gold mine. The only question mark is at quarterback, but if 2002 Alabama Mr. Football Jemarcus Russell can come anywhere near matching his hype out of high school, the Cajuns will be in Atlanta in early December, if not Pasadena January 3.

2. Alabama-This team is stacked with good young players. If quarterback Brodie Croyle stays healthy, and the defense continues to dominate the way it did last year, the Tide could be Rolling toward their first West title since 2002 (you know, the year they were on probation, so Arkansas went and embarrassed the West? That was a sad year, no doubt).

3. Auburn-The losses of Carlos Rogers, Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown, and Carnell "Cadillac" Williams will be felt early, as Auburn opens the season at home against a tough Georgia Tech team. After that, however, don't look for them to be tested until October 22, when they travel to Baton Rouge to take on LSU. That game is the game where Brandon Cox will have to step his game up a lot for the Plainsmen to pull the upset.

4. Ole Miss-The Rebels, coming off their worst season since the end of the Billy Brewer era, have a new coach in Ed Orgeron, a crazy Cajun man. The Rebs will have their hands full with mid-major teams Memphis and Wyoming, and a trip to Knoxville doesn't look good. On the other hand, with Alabama and LSU coming to Oxford, and Vandy and Kentucky being the other two East teams besides Tennessee to face the Rebels, a 6-5 or 7-4 record and a trip to Shreveport isn't completely implausible.

5. Mississippi State-Year 2 of the Sylvester Croom era begins, as he is faced with a complete mess left by Jackie Sherrill. Croom has done an admirable job cleaning that mess up, but it will still be a year or two before the Bulldogs can do some serious damage. That said, look out SEC in a few years, because Croom is getting recruits left and right in Mississippi.

6. Arkansas-They have no Matt Jones. Therefore, they have no hope. A decent defense should keep them competitive in many games, but the Hogs will not have the offense to keep alive in the SEC.

Feliz Cumpleanos a Mi

2005-07-19T22:27:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow (or today, according to when you read this), I will turn 19.

As such, I will now be legally able to buy tobacco products such as

cigarettes or cigars. Will I? Don't know yet, but I'll post a pic if I

do.

Jeopardy Tryout...

2005-07-11T12:02:00.000-05:00

As those of you who know me know, I went to Memphis yesterday to try out for the Jeopardy College Tournament, to be held at some college in North Carolina later this year. As a group of 63 got ready to take the test, I looked around, thinking that maybe this wasn't my day. After all, I had gotten pants that were too tight already, and it took Elvis' personal tailor getting up early to get me some pants that fit. However, my fears were unfounded, as I was one of only 9 in my room that passed the test. We did the mock game, and I felt like I did well. It is now a waiting game to see if I make it to the actual tournament, but so far so good.

P.S. For all of my cracks about Memphis, their downtown area is one of the nicest I have ever seen. And at some point, I am going to a Memphis Redbirds game at AutoZone Park. It is one of the nicest baseball stadiums I have ever seen. And if you have the money, try to get reservations at the Peabody. It was by far the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at.

The governor has a new home

2005-06-13T11:20:00.000-05:00

As of Tuesday, June 14, your best choice for governor in 2006 (besides Charles Barkley), is no longer a Russellville resident. No, in fact, in what may be the biggest upset this side of Kevin McBride over Mike Tyson, I am now moving to my father's hometown of Winfield, Alabama. Why is this an upset? For many reasons. First, my father had always been adamant about not wanting to go back home, but something in an interview on Wednesday changed his mind. What, you ask? It seems like the opportunity to be working in the Central Office at Winfield, and be out of coaching in the next year or so warmed him up to the idea. My mom is possibly going to be a middle school English teacher, teaching either 7th or 8th grade.And my little brother is now a Winfield Pirate. I know that my buddy Collin Rich, a former Hamilton Aggie, will not be too happy about me rooting for the Pirates, but this is the happiest I have ever seen my family. To all my R'ville pals that read this, I'll miss you, and to everyone else, remember, Slade in '06!

2006 Alabama Gubernatorial Election

2005-06-09T21:19:00.000-05:00

Having watched way too much South Park, and having recently talked to a certain 2024 Presidential candidate, I have come to the conclusion that the 2006 Alabama gubernatorial race is like the South Park episode where PETA forces South Park Elementary to change their nickname away from Cows. In this episode, the two choices to vote for are a giant douche or a turd sandwich. Now, I don't necessarily think that Moore (although I do think that he is more interested in political grandstanding and power than God, although I could be wrong), Riley, Baxley, or Siegelman are douches or turds, but the fact is I don't see any of them bringing anything to the table as far as our state goes. I don't know what the answer is, but something has to be done before our state loses even more credibility, where even West Virginians can make fun of us. I shudder to think what will happen when that day comes.

You're mine now, Trebek...

2005-06-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

I just received an e-mail from the fine folks at Jeopardy, requesting my presence for the College Tournament tryouts in Memphis on June 10. If I were to win, I would get $50,000 and a car...in the immortal words of Eric Cartman, SWEEEEEEEEEEET.

Vote for Me!

2005-05-29T14:45:00.000-05:00

2024 Presidential candidate, and current Robert Aderholt intern Collin Rich has just officially endorsed Bob Riley for governor in 2006. This is a sad day, not because Collin did it, but, if you read his blog, you'll realize he didn't have much of a choice. There is literally nobody in the state running that I feel comfortable voting for. His rundown of candidates is solid, and it's on collinforpresident.blogspot.com, but reading it, you realize Alabama is not too far from completely collapsing. Alabama desparately needs a leader, but we don't have it now. With Riley or Roy "10 Commandments Judge Guy (as referred to by an Ole Miss history student)" Moore probably a lock to get the Republican vote, and Lucy Baxley, who let the Senate get out of control as Lieutenant Governor, and Don Siegelman, who has been in more corruption scandals than any governor this side of Guy Hunt, likely to be the Democratic candidates, the state of Alabama is doomed. There is only one hope, and I don't see his views garnering much support among Alabamians. Of course, referring to it as a "third-world country (to many counties in the state, this is true)" and saying the governorship only paid him "four hands of blackjack" will ruin the former Auburn star any chance. Of course, I am talking about the one, the only, round mound of rebound, Charles Barkley. If not him, I am seriously planning on writing my own name down next November.

2005-05-07T15:28:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I didn't remember this, but yesterday was the 14th anniversary of the death of former Russellville and Ole Miss defensive star Roy Lee "Chucky" Mullins. Chucky was born in Russellville on July 24, 1969, and almost immediately, he faced adversity. His father left him when he was 2, and Chucky lived with his grandmother while his mother worked 2 jobs a day to make ends meet for him and his older brother. However, when Chucky was 12, tragedy hit twice, as his grandmother and mother died within months of each other. Chucky called Carver Phillips, who coached in the Russellville Park and Recreation basketball league, and asked Carver to take him and his brother in. Carver, who was facing financial difficulty and had 4 children of his own, nonetheless accepted. Chucky's one way out of the hardships was athletics, and in 1987, he led Russellville to the #3 national ranking in USA Today before the Golden Tigers were shocked in the state championship game by Greenville 21-20 (the first in a long list of games Russellville came lost with a state title on the line). He was determined to attend the University of Alabama on a football scholarship, but head coach Bill Curry didn't think Chucky was big enough to receive a scholarship. Curry offered Chucky the opportunity to walk-on, but Chucky needed a scholarship. An acquaintance of Carver told him to try Ole Miss, and a visit was arranged. Coach Billy Brewer was impressed with Chucky's attitude and athleticism, and although Brewer thought Mullins was too undersized to play in the SEC, he gave Chucky a scholarship. Chucky was redshirted in 1988, but by the 1989 season, he had made an impact as a nickel back in 3rd down situations. He had already saved an Ole Miss victory over Georgia with by knocking down a seemingly impossible pass on 4th down. When Vanderbilt came to town for homecoming, nobody realized it would be the last game Mullins would ever play. Early in the game, Vandy drove deep into Rebel territory, and faced a 3rd and goal at the Rebel 12. Quarterback John Gromos looked for an open man, and found him in running back Brad Gaines, who was the SEC leader in receptions. As the ball reached Gaines, so did Chucky, who leveled Gaines with a hard hit. Both hit the ground, but Gaines got up. Chucky didn't. When the trainer came onto the field to ask Chucky what was wrong, Chucky's response was, "I don't feel anything." The 4 most horrible words a trainer can hear. In other words, Chucky was paralyzed, and things didn't look good. He was transported to Baptist Hospital in Memphis, and many feared he wouldn't make it through the night. X-rays revealed he had shattered the 3rd, 4th, and 5th vertebrae in his neck. Chucky Mullins would never walk again, and it would be a long time before he could even move. However, while Chucky would never be the same, neither would Gaines. Gaines blamed himself for Chucky's injury, and he would give up football at the end of the year. It was a sad day for him, because his family had already sent an uncle, two brothers, and the patriarch to the NFL. Brad was considered the best of the bunch. Gaines' guilt kept him from visiting the hospital, but he finally went in December, 1989. He entered the hospital, and was given a less-than-warm reception from the visitors there. Carver let him enter, and Chucky and Brad Gaines talked. Chucky told Gaines that the injury wasn't his fault, and he should stop worrying. Gaines was still grief-stricken, but the conversation helped him immensely. Meanwhile, Mullins inspired his Rebel teammates before the Liberty Bowl against Air Force, and Ole Miss crushed the Falcons 42-29. Chucky would later be named "Colonel Reb," the highest honor for a male student at Ole Miss. He began taking classes again at Ole Miss in January, 1991, but on May 1, he collapsed while shaving. He never regained consciousness, and on May 6, 1991, he was disconnected from all the tubes keeping him alive. He was 21 years old. The memorial service in Oxford drew a large crowd, and the funeral in Russellville had the largest crowd in the history of the city. The funeral was moved to the high school gymnasium, but even the gym couldn't hold everybody. Chucky is now buried in Luketown Cemetery on Clay Avenue. A building in his honor was built to help underprivileged youth in Russellville. His number 2 is the only jersey number retired in Russellville High School history. At Ole Miss, the defensive back who best exhibits the traits of loyalty, courage, and honesty Chucky had wins the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, and is allowed to wear Chucky's #38 for the season. Gaines was affected to. His home number's last 4 digits are 3838, as are the last digits on his cell phone. He visits Russellville every October 28 (anniversary of the hit), May 6 (anniversary of the death), and Christmas to be with Chucky and clean his grave.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2005-05-05T23:52:00.000-05:00

Well, Cinco de Mayo ends in 8 minutes, so I figure now would be a good time to give my hometown of Russellville a "Happy Cinco de Mayo."

Here's hoping the parties that occurred in downtown Russellville resulted in no injuries.

35 Years Ago Today

2005-05-04T03:06:00.000-05:00

Today marks the 35th Anniversary of the infamous Kent State shootings of 1970. In the early stages of 1970, Richard Nixon decided to attack Cambodia to force North Vietnam to surrender. Many students, including those at Kent State, protested this decision. In the days prior to a scheduled protest on May 4, 1970, many buildings in the city of Kent, Ohio, as well as those on campus, were destroyed. Desparated to curb the violence, Ohio Governor James Rhodes sent the National Guard to Kent State to restore order. However, before the National Guard arrived, the students burned the ROTC building to the ground. When the protest day arrived, many students were either involved or were watching to see the confrontation between students and the Guardsmen. Suddenly, tear gas was thrown into the line of Guardsmen. In the confusion, many Guardsmen saw an officer wave his pistol. The Guardsmen took this as a sign to fire, and shot machine guns into the crowd. In the aftermath, four students were dead, and nine were wounded. The Guardsmen were later put on trial, and exonerated, mainly because there didn't seem to be an actual order to fire into the crowd, just a confused reaction to a pistol waving. Neal Young, a die-hard liberal, wrote a song called "Ohio" in response to the killings, which included the line "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming/We're finally on our own/This summer I hear the drumming/Four dead in Ohio." In thinking of this crisis, I'm more inclined to think of another song from Neil Young, this one when he was a member of Buffalo Springfield, called "For What It's Worth." A line in that song goes, "There's battle lines being drawn nobody's right if everybody's wrong." While the Guardsmen are (rightly) villified for their reaction to a protest gone wrong, it was also the actions of the protesters that helped cause the death of the four. Had the protesters acted peaceably, the National Guard would have probably never been asked to come to Kent, and nobody would have batted an eyelash over the protest. This probably marked the end of the sixties' culture as America knew it, and the shock has still not worn off. When Kent State's basketball team made an incredible run to the Elite 8 in 2002, Tony Kornheiser was quoted, "The last time I heard of Kent State was when the National Guard killed 4 kids there. Here's hoping that everyone, left or right, will remember not to take their agenda too far, or else we could have another "Kent State" moment.

Twins pitcher suspended.

2005-05-03T03:52:00.000-05:00

Minnesota Twins setup man Juan Rincon was suspended for 10 days today for breaking the league's substance abuse policy. In laymen's terms, he was caught doing steroids. As a Twins fan, I'm devastated because we lose one of our more important bullpen pitchers for 10 games, giving the White Sox time to go on a tear. As a baseball fan, I'm worried, because I figured after Jose Canseco's book, the Congressional hearings, and the leaked testimony of Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds, no active major leaguer would be stupid enough to be caught doing them. Rincon has steadfastly denied using steroids, instead saying that some of the supplements he got in Venezuela had substances that are illegal by Major League Baseball rules. While I hope this is the case, I do believe he was stupid to be taking any chances to begin with.

Pope Benedict XVi

2005-04-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

Your newly crowned Pope (and Chancellor Khayat look-a-like), Joseph Ratzinger. He will now take the name Benedict XVI. For more, and better, information, go to collinforpresident.blogspot.com.

First blog in a while

2005-04-12T19:07:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog in nearly 3 weeks, so my thoughts on the world at large:

North Carolina won the 2004-05 national title with a 75-70 win over Illinois. It was the first national title for Roy Williams, who was a hard-luck loser in his previous 4 trips to the final 4, all of which occurred at Kansas (1991-lost to Duke in finals, 1993-lost to UNC in national semis, 2002-lost to Maryland in national semis, 2003-lost to Syracuse in the finals). It was also a big STFU game to espn.com writer Dan Shanoff, who stated "Nothing says 'April Fools' like the gridlock of bandwagoneers sure this is the year Roy Williams defies his history and wins that elusive title." Shanoff was last seen jumping on the UNC bandwagon
Pope John Paul II is dead. Now while this was a sad day in the world, was I the only one disturbed by the amount of coverage he got while on his deathbed? I was wanting him to come out and wave to the crowd, while yelling "APRIL FOOL'S!!!!" to the cameras.
Roy Moore continues to be a moron. My buddy Collin over at collinforpresident.blogspot.com, who will be elected President of the United States in 2024 if I'm alive, found a Huntsville Times article where Roy Moore stated a clause in (the ridiculously outdated and amended Alabama Constitution): " ... Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed as creating or recognizing any right to education or training at public expense," should be left in. This guy wants nobody to have an education. If Moore wins Governorship of Alabama in 2006, I may move to Georgia.
Baseball season started last Sunday with the Yankees taking a 9-2 win over the Red Sox. My predictions for the baseball season are:

AL East: Yankees

AL Central: Twins

AL West: Angels

Wild Card: Red Sox

NL East: Braves

NL Central: Cardinals

NL West: Giants

Wild Card: Cubs

ALDS:

Yankees over Angels

Twins over Red Sox

NLDS:

Cubs over Braves

Cardinals over Giants

ALCS:

Twins over Yankees

NLCS:

Cardinals over Cubs

World Series

Twins over Cardinals...

That's all for today, see you later.

Your Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year

2005-03-28T03:04:00.000-06:00

Michigan State guard Maurice Ager dunks over surprised Duke star J.J. Redick. This was a momentum shifter in the Spartans' 78-68 win, and their subsequent Final Four Appearance.

Where are they now???/

2005-03-28T03:01:00.000-06:00

(L to R) 2003 Alabama Scholastic Runners-Up, the Russellville Golden Tigers

Ashley Jones-Senior at Robertsdale High School, which is located in a town in south Alabama. I have no idea what she is doing, and I would kinda like to hear from her...I expect she will be attending Auburn in the fall and go into veterinary school.

Anna Stanford-Senior at Russellville High School, 2nd highest scorer for the 2003-04 Golden Tigers, will likely attend either Alabama or Clemson to go to engineering school, although scholars bowl at Northwest-Shoals Community College is not out of the question.

Yours Truly-Freshman at Ole Miss majoring in business and being a fat guy with a scar around his neck.

Brandon Sykes-Sophomore at NWSCC, will likely attend Athens State University next year along with '01 grad Chris Pace and '02 grad Josh Clanton to tear up the southeast quiz bowl circuit.

Will McAlister-Sophomore at NWSCC, was lead in recent NWSCC play "The Music Man," which broke all NWSCC records for attendance. May attend for one more year, although I am not positive.

Andy Porter-Junior at Russellville High School. Will likely attend Auburn or Ole Miss after graduation, although he would like to get into Stanford.

Well, that's over

2005-03-21T15:38:00.000-06:00

My NCAA Tournament bracket looked great going into Friday night. All but 1 of my Sweet 16 teams was left, and all my final 4 teams were good to go. Fast forward 24 hours. I went down to 9 of 16 in the Sweet 16, 5 of my elite 8, and 2 of my four final 4. What happened? Well, to start with, my winners of the Austin bracket, the Syracuse Orange, decide to not show up against a pretty tough Vermont team, and lost. That hurt, then later that night, my bracket was really screwed when the team I expected to give North Carolina a run in Syracuse, the Kansas Jayhawks lost Bucknell. BUCKNELL!!!!! Then, the next day, the winner of my Albuquerque bracket, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, lost in double overtime to West Virginia, and blew a 13 point halftime lead to do it. Luckily, I did call Texas Tech over Gonzaga and Utah over Oklahoma, which does help my bracket some. Last I checked, I think I was somewhere around #670,000 on the espn.com Men's Tournament Bracket Challenge. How pathetic.

On another note, did anyone watch the Duke-Mississippi State game yesterday? Billy Packer was awful in that game, practically saying that Duke does no wrong. The low point came with about 5 minutes left with Duke leading by 2. Rick Stansbury was on the court to call a timeout, so the ref raised his hand and blew his whistle to signal the timeout. At this time, Duke guard Daniel Ewing stripped the ball from Winsome Frazier who was walking to the sideline. Billy Packer went, "OH, A STEAL BY EWING!" His partner, Jim Nantz, said, "No, Billy, Coach Stansbury got the timeout in." Packer's response, "NO SIR!! THAT WAS A STEAL!!" Why Nantz didn't kill him right there, I'll never know.

Bracket busted

2005-03-17T15:49:00.000-06:00

Wisconsin Milwaukee 83 Alabama 73

This game was painful to watch as a devout SEC fan (except during the LSU-UAB game, I'll be rooting hard for the Blazers). However, Bruce Pearl's team is a great team, and look out for them against a reeling Boston College team (assuming Penn doesn't upset them).

Kentucky 72 Eastern Kentucky 64

UK was dominating while I watched, but the Colonels must have made a run. Don't know the backstory, but I'm guessing that Travis Ford's team put up a fight.

Pacific 79 Pitt 71

I called this one, and I'm not sure anybody else did. UPacific is my dark horse Sweet 16 pick.

Oklahoma 84 Niagara 67

The Sooners started flat, but pulled away late, giving Kelvin Sampson a big win. Niagara still is the feel-good story of the basketball season, and they gave a lot of people a thrill in the first half.

Austin Bracket

2005-03-16T12:54:00.000-06:00

First off, I am extremely disappointed that Alabama A&M lost last night, and therefore will not be on national television with everybody watching. With that said, I am happy that Notre Dame, who had been whining that they deserved in the NCAA Tournament over teams like UAB and Northern Iowa was beaten at home last night by Holy Cross. That ought to shut the Irish fans up. On to predictions:

#1 Duke over #16 Delaware State

I really, really, really hate Duke, and I really would love to see the DSU Hornets beat them, but I can't see it. Devils by 19

#9 Mississippi State over #8 Stanford

The Bulldogs have struggled a lot this year, but with the Cardinal losing lead scorer Dan Grunfeld for the season, I think Lawrence Roberts and Gary Ervin will be able to hurt the undermanned Cardinal. Bulldogs by 8

#4 Syracuse over #13 Vermont

Had Vermont been given a higher seed, I would have picked them. But not against the Big East Tournament champs, who will be out to prove a point in the first round. Orange by 13

#5 Michigan State over #12 Old Dominion

A very, very tough pick, because the Spartans fell off toward the end of the season, while the Monarchs seem to be peaking at the right time. Still, I think the Spartans are a bit too talented this time. Spartans by 3

#2 Kentucky over #15 Eastern Kentucky

The Colonels of EKU would love nothing more than to upset the state university in the first round of the tournament, and former UK star Travis Ford will be motivating them all week. With that said, I don't think they can stop the Wildcats, and they will fall short in a valiant effort. Wildcats by 10

#10 Iowa over #7 Cincinnati

The Hawkeyes have seemingly hit their stride since losing leading scorer Pierre Pierce earlier in the season. The Bearcats have looked great at times, but they have struggled recently, losing by 12 to USF in the Conference USA Tournament. Hawkeyes by 9

#3 Oklahoma over #14 Niagara

Niagara is making its first tournament appearance since 1970, and would love to win a game for their head coach's dying mother. Still, I don't think Kevin Bookout, Drew Lavender, Tahj Gray, and company will lose this game. Sooners by 5

#6 Utah over #11 Texas-El Paso

The Utes have super big man Andrew Bogut on the inside, and will probably dominate the Miners in the paint. The Miners are a tough team, and are making their second consecutive trip to the tourney, but look for it to be a short one. Utes by 18

Syracuse Region

2005-03-15T08:32:00.000-06:00

Two things before I start my predictions today:

1. What is the deal with the play-in game? There should not be one, and I really wish it would die a slow, painful death. The only reason there is one is so the power conferences could keep one at-large bid after the Western Athletic Conference split in 2001, giving the NCAA 31 conferences. The smart thing to do in that situation is to take one at-large away, and make teams work harder to get into the tournament. Instead, the little conference champions who deserve to be on national television, even if their team gets squashed, are left playing a one-game playoff to decide who gets squashed by North Carolina in the first round of the tournament. In a perfect world, why not make two teams fight it out for the last at-large spot, at say a 12-seed?

2. With that said, I'm gonna pick Alabama A&M over Oakland in the tournament, and I hope former Colbert County star Brandon Neloms gets to play in the game.

On with the predictions:

#1 North Carolina over #16 Alabama A&M

After the Bulldogs defeat Oakland, they will get on a charter flight and head to Charlotte, where they will be maimed, mutilated, scarred, and destroyed at different times in the game. Roy Williams does everything he can to keep the score down, but his subs are still way better than A&M's starters. Tar Heels by 48

#8 Minnesota over #9 Iowa State

Don't know much about these teams, although both have some impressive wins, including Minnesota's 30 point win over Texas Tech and Iowa State's win at Kansas. Still, I like the Gophers in this matchup. Gophers by 11

#4 Florida over #13 Ohio

Many are calling this a trap game for the Gators, and it very well could be. Still, it took a last-second tip-in for Ohio to get this far, and I don't think they can stop the SEC Tournament champs. Gators by 13

#12 New Mexico over #5 Villanova

Waaay too many people are buying the Florida-Villanova 2nd round matchup as a given. At the same time, many of these same people are calling Utah a sleeper in the tournament. Answer me this, then. How does a team go 2-1 versus another, and be disrespected like the Lobos. I think Danny Granger will be tough for the Wildcats to handle, and UNM pulls the 12-5 upset. Lobos by 6

#2 UConn over #15 UCF

Poor Knights. They win the Atlantic Sun, only to be seeded against the hottest team in America. The Huskies are peaking at the right time, and I don't see them losing this one. Huskies by 27

#10 NC State over #7 Charlotte

The 49ers have been begging for years to get ACC schools to play them, and these requests usually fall on deaf ears. This year, the selection committee let this happen, and I don't think the 49ers will be pleased with the result. The Wolfpack have been the 2nd hottest team in the ACC lately (with Georgia Tech being the hottest), and I think they have an excellent chance of winning this game. Pack by 5

#3 Kansas over #14 Bucknell

Bucknell does have a road win over Pittsburgh, but they have no one who can match up inside with Wayne Simien. The Jayhawks will put this one away early and let the younger kids play. Jayhawks by 30

#6 Wisconsin over #11 Northern Iowa

The Badgers against a pretty tough MVC opponent...this game could get interesting, but I just don't think that Northern Iowa has the bodies to compete with a very underrated Wisconsin squad. Badgers by 11.

The Albuquerque Region

2005-03-14T13:06:00.000-06:00

My predictions for the Albuquerque region:

#1 Washington over #16 Montana

The Huskies are good, but absolutely did not deserve a 1 seed. The Grizzlies will give Washington a fight, but the Huskies talent will take over in the end. Huskies by 7

#8 Pacific over #9 Pitt

The Tigers fell to Utah State in the finals of the Big West Tournament to keep them from getting a higher seed. Pitt has a home loss to Bucknell earlier, and I don't think they can stop freshman forward Guillaume Yango. Tigers by 6

#4 Louisville over #13 Louisiana-Lafayette

Rick Pitino's bunch won the Conference USA regular season and tournament championships, and they were rewarded with a 4 seed. They will take out their anger on the Ragin' Cajuns. Cardinals by 17

#5 Georgia Tech over #12 George Washington

The Jackets struggled this year, but seem to have turned it on at the right time. The Colonials have some impressive wins, but I don't see them stopping the Yellow Jackets. Jackets by 12

#2 Wake Forest over #15 Chattanooga

The bad news for Chattanooga head coach John Shulman: His team will probably be beaten to death by Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The good news: he has a smokin' hot wife to come home to. He will not be a loser no matter what happens. Deacons by 30

#7 West Virginia over #10 Creighton

The Bluejays are a very tough team, and won the very competitive Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The Mountaineers, however, advanced to the finals of the Big East Tournament, and that is a bit more impressive. Mountaineers by 11

#3 Gonzaga over #14 Winthrop

The Zags will dominate the smaller Eagles, with Ronny Turiaf and Adam Morrison each pouring in 20. Zags by 18

#6 Texas Tech over #11 UCLA

Bobby Knight's team put together a fantastic performance at the Big XII Tournament, beating Iowa State and Oklahoma before falling just short to Oklahoma State in the finals. UCLA is here for the first time since 2002, ages in Bruin years. Look for their return to be a short one. Red Raiders by 9

The NCAA Tournament-Predictions

2005-03-13T19:29:00.000-06:00

Over the next four days, I will give my predictions on the winners of games in each bracket, along with a summary of why I think this will happen. Today, I will focus on the Chicago bracket, headed by #1 Illinois.

#1 Illinois over #16 Fairleigh Dickinson

No other way for me to put this, this one will get out of hand, and quickly. Illini by 40+.

#9 Nevada over #8 Texas

Nick Fazekas will dominate the young Longhorn frontcourt, and last year's Sweet 16 team will dominate. Pack by 10

#4 Boston College over #13 Pennsylvania

The Eagles were the next-to-last team in America to lose a game, but they have faltered recently, losing by 22 at home to Pittsburgh and 8 in the Big East Tournament to West Virginia. The Penn Quakers are very hot right now, winning 15 of their last 16, but they will not be able to overcome the Eagles' inside play. Eagles by 6

#5 Alabama over #12 UW-Milwaukee

The Panthers are a very dangerous team, and a 12 seed beats a 5 seed in one game nearly every year. I think UWM gives the Tide all they can handle, but the clutch shooting of Earnest Shelton and Kennedy Winston save the Tide in a close win. Tide by 4

#2 Oklahoma State over # 15 SE Louisiana

The SELA Lions won what might be the ugliest game ever today, 49-42 over the Northwestern State Demons. Their style of play might work in the Southland Conference, but it won't cut it against the Big XII Tournament champs. Cowboys by 25

#7 Southern Illinois over #10 St. Mary's

Very tough game to call, as the Gaels have some impressive wins, and SIU did just blow a 21 point lead to Southwest Missouri State in the MVC tournament. However, I do believe the citizens of Carbondale (and a certain presidential candidate in 2024) will be happy with the result of this one. Salukis by 7

#3 Arizona over #14 Utah State

Stew Morrill is a great coach, and he showed it by leading the USU Aggies over the heavily favored Pacific Tigers yesterday in the finals of the Big West Tournament. However, I don't think the Aggies have an answer for sweet-shooting Salim Stoudamire of the Arizona Wildcats, the leading 3-point shooter in America at around 56%. Wildcats by 17

#6 LSU over #11 UAB

I would love to see Mike Anderson's boys pull another upset, and I think they will give the Bayou Bengals all they can handle. However, I think the inside combination of Glenn "Baby Shaq" Davis and Brandon Bass will be too much, as the Tigers will pull away in the end. Tigers by 12

Tomorrow, we will look at the Albuquerque bracket.

I really, really hope you get your wish

2005-03-10T16:46:00.000-06:00

Why the Shoals area (I mean, north of Russellville) gets no money, while Bedford brings the pork home.

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005503100336

In the article, Billy Underwood, chairman of the Colbert County Democratic Party is quoted as saying, "We live in such an electronic world nowadays, if you don't contest things like Social Security (privatization) and it doesn't make the 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock news, people will not become aware. It's all about getting the message out nowadays." Well, sir, I really hope you get your wish. While I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with these people doing this (although I do question the sanity of the 19-year old who is missing class to do this), just doing it to get a five second mention on the news is ridiculous. So, Mr. Underwood, I hope we do get to see you on television...just being drug out of Bush's speech while yelling "No war for oil!!!!!" with the 19-year-old looking on.

A defense of Roger Bedford

2005-03-10T13:55:00.000-06:00

Russellville, Alabama. Home. Tomorrow begins spring break, and I will be home for the next week. When I go back, I figure I'll see some old friends, reminisce about the old days (you know, last year and such), and have a good ol' time. With that said, we do have one slight problem...most Russellvillains are Democrats. Now, Franklin County did have a 58% Bush vote in the popular election, but that was because most of them didn't trust John Kerry as far as they could throw him. Still, most are Democrats in the state, and a main example of this is Alabama State Senator Roger Bedford. Bedford is a die-hard Democrat and has won the state senate seat from the Russellville district for the past 20 years, and narrowly lost the 1996 U.S. Senate election to Jeff Sessions. However, many people in the big cities (i.e. Birmingham, Huntsville) despise Roger for his handing out of pork (state provided) moneys to the fair city of Russellville. Since 1999, Russellville has had a brand new elementary school, softball field, track, pool, and tennis facility built. However, the breadwinner in all of this is the $2.5 million fieldhouse that was built in the spring of 2004. The fieldhouse is 25,000 square feet big, or about 10 times the size of my house, and the weight room is around 2,800 square feet. Many in Birmingham railed against Bedford when the project was announced, basically saying that since all schools were under proration (which is basically the state of being short of money), and a lot didn't even have enough classrooms for their students, the money would be best be spent somewhere. While I do agree with the principle, the fact is, Bedford could only use that money for something like the fieldhouse. The money is part of the General Recreation fund, and not a penny of it could go to buying textbooks (which Russellville High School desperately needs).

Now, I will admit to being a friend of Roger's, but I do understand why my buddy Collin at collinforpresident.blogspot.com doesn't like him. It does seem that most of the money he gets goes to Russellville, and I understand why that doesn't seem right. However, Roger practices law in Russellville, has a son going to Russellville High School, and attends the Russellville First Baptist Church. In other words, he's going to take care of his hometown, and the other areas in his district are going to get shortchanged. Being from Russellville, I can't really have a problem with this, because his presence takes Russellville from a below crappy little Alabama town to a slightly above mediocre Alabama town.

If you agree, disagree, or just want to post your thoughts on Roger Bedford, do so.

A new choice for governor, starting now....

2005-03-09T23:57:00.000-06:00

As of today, March 9, 2004, I am a Republican candidate for the gubernatorial race in Alabama. Why, you may ask? Because the motley crue of Tim James (whose dad, Fob, is the biggest failure in the history of Alabama politics), Roy Moore (who is legitimately one of my least favorite humans on the planet), Bob Riley (who has nearly destroyed the education system in Alabama with his dumbass ways), and Charles Barkley (who I admire as an athlete and a person, but he's a bit too radical for this state to handle right now) is just too pathetic for anyone to vote for. As an 18 year old Russellville native, I could do two things: 1. Get the young vote that so many gubernatorial candidates try for, and 2. Get the Democratic voters of Franklin County and northwest Alabama, who generally vote for Democratic state senator Roger Bedford (who, unlike my friend Collin at collinforpresident.blogspot.com would have you believe, is NOT the anti-Christ) to vote Republican. The state is already seen as very Republican on the national level, but the Democratic party is very strong in the state, as evidenced by our extremely close 2002 gubernatorial election that was won by Riley nearly two weeks after election day.

Now that I have that out of the way, I will introduce myself. My name is Slade Gilmer, and I am a fairly conservative 18-year-old business major at the University of Mississippi. "But wait," you ask yourself. "Ain't he running for governor of Alabama. How can he do that when he's gonna be in Mississippi?" Well, I don't have a great answer for that, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there. I am the son of a football coach and an English teacher, so I have a firsthand view of what Riley has done to our education system, and I can't take it anymore. So, with that in mind, tell your friends to vote for Slade Gilmer, your best choice for governor of Alabama