Sean Croft- LIVE From The NHL Winter Classic

Hey all.

Happy New Year to all!

It's quite a scene here in Chicago. The old ballpark is looking great, and the buzz around here is unprecedented. Tomorrow's game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Redwings will be historical for Wrigley Field.

I arrived early this morning. Luckily, we were able to get out of New York before the snow hit. We checked into the hotel, dropped our bags off, and headed to Wrigley. After circling the building a few times and buying some Winter Classic merch, we headed to Gino's East for REAL Chicago Deepdish. It was incredible! I recommend it.

We weren't able to get into the NHL Spectator Plaza, due to the fact that we got there so early, but I fully intend on checking it out before the game tomorrow.

I did get a peak at the ice today, and it looks to be in good shape. We shouldn't have to deal with the ice breaking apart like we did last year. I think that this years Classic is leaps and bounds ahead of last years. The sale of merchandise is up, the excitement is up, and the NHL seems to be going all out on this one. Today they announced a New Years Celebration at the House of Blues with Blues Traveler! As much as we want to go to the show, we have tickets to the Second City Comedy Troupe. After that, it's off to the Cubby Bear in the heart of Wrigleyville, to ring in the New Year.

I'll keep you guys posted as the day goes on!

Until then, Cheers.

-Sean Croft

The Top 10 for 2008

Ok, so its December 31, and we are about to wave good bye to 2008 and hello to 2009. So before people get bent and put on those funny hats and 2009 glasses (you, where the two 0's are the eye pieces), let's go over the top 10 Sports Moments of 2008- Award Show style.

"HOW THE **** ARE THEY WINNING?!?!" award
10. Tampa Bay Rays- perennial losers shock the baseball world by winning 97 games and making it to Game 5 of the World Series? Thats a great story in my book. Manager Joe Maddon took a group of talented, but young, players who were hungry to disrupt the order of the American League East- and they succeeded. They were the first team not named Boston or New York to win the AL East since the 1997 Orioles. And in 2009 I would not count the Rays out- even with the Yanks spending almost half a billion dollars.

"180 degrees" award
9. Miami Dolphins- 1-15 in 2007 under Cam Cameron, 11-5 and AFC East champs in 2008 under Tony Sporano (who has got it on lock to be the new Mike Ditka. Say it with me "Fins..Fins...Spor-ahno"). Anyway, Ditka Jr and Bill Parcells showed you that sometimes all it takes is a new voice- a plan- o and the Jets handing you Chad Pennington on a silver platter. Which brings me to #8....

"REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD" award
8. Chad Pennington, Michael Turner and Matt Cassell- alright heres how this one went: Pennington got back at the Jets for cutting him, Turner ran for 1,700 yds while LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 1,110. Matt Cassel was supposed to submarine New England's season after Tom Brady went out for the year- yet Cassell threw for over 3,000 yds, 20TDs and led the Pats to an 11-5 record. If only some tie breakers went their way they'd be in over Baltimore. Still, all 3 proved people wrong, thus they tie the award.

"IS THAT DOMINIQUE AGAINST BIRD?" award
7. NBA Eastern Conference Semis, Game 7- Boston and Cleveland. LeBron James and Paul Pierce bring out a classic game in the final game of their 2nd round series. LeBron, mostly on his own, scores 45 points but Paul Pierce (and his better cast) scores 41 to lead the Celtics to a 97-92 win. It would seem only fair that it came 20 yrs after the famous Dominique Wilkins- Larry Bird shootout in the 1988 Eastern semis where despite Dominique's 47, Bird's 34 won out.

"WAIT THE RACE IS OVER?" award
6. Usain Bolt racing himself in the Olympics- the 100m and 200m Gold Medals in the Beijing Games. 2 world records. More importantly- he's fast. Bolt's records came as he either showboated or cruised down the stretch of the races, if he tried he might have set times that will never be approached ever. Even now, his times will take a super-human race to break. 9.39 seconds in the 100m, and 19.30 in the 200m. Oh and if that isnt enough, he was on the Jamaican 4X100 relay team that set a world record at 37.10 seconds- the first man to win all three in record fashion at a single Games in Olympic history.

"HEY LOOK- ITS HOCKEY...AND ITS EXCITING!" award
5. Game 5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, Penguins and Red Wings- Triple OT, amazing saves left and right by both Mac-Andre Fleury of PIttsburgh and Chris Osgood of the Red Wings. Finally Petr Sykora won it for the Penguins in the 3rd OT with a slap shot past Osgood that gave Pitt its 2nd win of the series. Although Detroit won Game 6, even that came down to the final seconds and a Marian Hossa shot crossing through the goal mouth was all that stood from more OT- even after that historic Game 5.

"BASKETBALL ROYALTY TAKES ITS THRONE AGAIN" award
4. The Celtics win the 2008 NBA title- Boston in 2007 was one of the worst teams in the league, and in the offseason GM Danny Ainge made some moves to save his job- and bring a championship back to Boston for the first time since 1986. Even better was that they defeated their hated rivals the LA Lakers. I know Laker fan and WCWP staffer Matt Soldano wont enjoy reading this, but the Celtics not only came back from a 24 point deficit to win game 4, but the Celtics also beat Los Angeles by 39 points in Game 6 to clinch. All in all, 66 wins and a title later, kudos to Danny Ainge.

"BRING BACK WHATS RIGHTFULLY OURS" award
3. The Redeem team wins Gold in men's basketball- After winning the Bronze in 2004 in Athens and not winning the world championships in 2006, the USA basketball program was in severe disarray. Other countries like Argentina and Spain had taken over the US in terms of winning international basketball. So the States turned to Jerry Colangelo to run the organization, and he hired Mike Krzyzewski to run the team. Colangelo and Coach K put together a team led by LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade- but also got major efforts from Chris Bosh, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. The team dominated pool play and, in a great Gold medal game, defeated Spain to win the first Gold Medal for USA Basketball since the 2000 Sidney games.

"AQUAMAN" award
2. Michael Phelps and his 8 Gold Medals- Phelps came into the Games with the intense media circus and pressure to break Mark Spitz' Olympic record of 7 Gold Medals at a single Games. Well, Phelps got 7 and one better as he recorded his 8 medals, including winning the 100m butterfly but 1/100 of a second. Phelps' 5 individual medals tied an Olympic Record, and his 14 career Gold Medals is an Olympic Record. Phelps also set 7 world records and 1 olympic record in the 2008 games- not a bad month of August for Mr. Phelps.

AND THE #1 AWARD FOR 2008...ENVELOP PLEASE....*DRUMROLL*

"18-1" award
1. NY Giants beat New England Patriots 17-14 to win Super Bowl 42- The Giants came into the game 10-6 in the regular season, but beat the top 2 seeds in the NFC playoffs on the road to get to Glendale, Arizona. The Patriots came into the game 16-0 in the regular season, the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to go undefeated in a regular season. Add in their 2 playoff games and the Pats were a Super Bowl win away from 19-0- the most wins ever by a team. However, thanks to Eli Manning, David Tyree and Plaxico Burress, the Giants upset the Pats 17-14 and left New England at 18-1...and leaves the '72 Dolphins as the only team to go thru the WHOLE SEASON undefeated (super bowl title included).

So there you go, the top 10 moments of 2008- as only yours truly can do. Here's to hoping 2009 gives us just as many memorable moments. Have a safe and happy new year everyone.

-Mike Tramontozzi

Bowl Mania Day 10

Lotta games today, so we'll go shotgun style. Analysis will return for the big ones tomorrow and later in the week......

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: Houston V. Air Force- Air Force beat Houston earlier in the season, but this is a very different Cougar team. Houston is one of the best offenses in the nation. They score over 40 points a game and will rebound from a season ending loss to Rice. Air Force can also put points on the board, but not with the ferocity that Houston can. The Pick: Houston

Sun Bowl: Oregon State v #20 Pittsburgh- I saw a lot of Pittsburgh this year because of a good friend of mine, loyal reader/ Pittsburgh backer Sam V is a high flying member of the Panther army. Pitt is a hard team to figure out. The first big win came when they beat number 10 South Florida on October 2nd. In early November, Pitt beat a Notre Dame team that was clicking on all cylinders for the majority of the game and, as I've written about, effectively ended their season. They came from behind in impressive fashion to knock a good West Virginia team out of BCS contention on the day after Thanksgiving. But then their are games where you scratch your head and wonder why Dave Wanstadt is so safe. The aforementioned Sam V could barley speak when I spoke to her after the Panthers loss at home to Rutgers. By the way, Pitt let up 54 points at home in that game to a Rutgers team that no one thought was any good. They also laid up an absolute dud against Cincinnati in a game that they needed to win to keep any hopes of playing in a BCS game alive. Also, does anyone remember that Bowling Green beat them in week one?Oregon State's big win came when they beat number one USC on September 25th. I am still perplexed at the reason why USC didn't bounce back in the polls after this one. Nevertheless, Oregon State is the reason why USC will not win a national championship this year because I still think they can beat anyone in the country. The Beavers lost to the other three ranked opponents they played. The key to this game will be the running game. Lesean McCoy had over 1400 yards and 21 touchdowns this season for Pitt. Oregon States' Jacquizz Rodgers only had 1253 yards and 11 tds, but was banged up for a portion of the year. I have a real hard time picking this one, but I think Rodgers will have more success running against the Pitt defense then McCoy will running against the Oregon State defense. Despite only allowing ten points in their final win over UCONN on December 6th, Pitt let the Huskies Donald Brown run for 189 yards. If that happens against Oregon State, it might be a long day for Dave Wanstadt, Sam V, and the rest of the Pitt army. The Pick: Oregon State

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl- Number 24 Boston College V. Vanderbilt- Vanderbilt isn't very good. Plain and simple. They lost six of their last seven after starting out strong. In their first year with Matt Ryan, this was supposed to be a tough year for BC. It wasn't. They won nine games and finished in the top 25. While they were never in the national championship conversation like they were in 2007, they did play good enough defense to win games. It wasn't great for BC this year, but no one expected it to be. I like them fairly easily. The Pick: Boston College.

Insight Bowl: Kansas V Minnesota- Kansas did not take off the way I thought they would this year. But they still have an outstanding offense. Minnesota was a bit of a surprise in a weak Big Ten. But will Minnesota's defense be strong enough to contain the Kansas offense that can explode at any time? I don't think so. The one thing going for Minnesota is that they are good at forcing turnovers. If Todd Reesing can control the pace for Kansas and not turn the ball over, the Jayhawks should come away with it. The Pick: Kansas

Chick-Fill-A Bowl- LSU V #14 Georgia Tech- The Pick: Georgia Tech

Bowl Mania Record: 9-8

Jordan Lauterbach

Matt Soldano's NFL Playoff Picks

First off, to keep up with the regular season picks I went 9-7 last week which put me at 152-103 for the season.  Now its time for all of the playoff picks from the Wild Card Rounds to the Super Bowl...

Wild Card Round: 

Atlanta Falcons @ Arizona Cardinals - Atlanta

Indianapolis Colts @ San Diego Chargers - Indianapolis

Baltimore Ravens @ Miami Dolphins - Baltimore

Philadelphia Eagles @ Minnesota Vikings - Philadelphia

Divisional Round:

Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans - Baltimore

Indianapolis Colts @ Pittsburgh Steelers - Indianapolis

Atlanta Falcons @ Carolina Panthers - Carolina

Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants - New York

Conference Championship Round:

Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis

Carolina Panthers @ New York Giants - New York

Super Bowl:

Indianapolis Colts "@" New York Giants - NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS

-Matt Soldano

Bowl Mania Day 9

We're gaining speed here at Bowl Mania headquarters. 7-7 and entering the thick of the bowl season. Here's three more....

Roady's Humanitarian Bowl- Maryland V. Nevada- Nevada finished the year 7-5 and 5-3 in the WAC. Winners of three of their final four, the Wolfpack are led by quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He was the WAC player of the year. Kaepernick is a duel threat player. He threw for over 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also ran for 16 touchdowns. In Nevada's season finale, Kaepernick threw for four touchdowns. He ran for three in two separate games, but hasn't found the end zone with his feet since the November 15th win against San Jose State. Together with running back Vai Taua, Nevada is averaging 291 yards on the ground this year. The Wolfpack lost both their games against ranked opponents. They fell 41-34 to Number nine Bosie State on November 22nd. Maryland finished the season 7-5 and 4-4 in the ACC. They were one of the hardest teams in the nation to figure out. They beat Number 23 California in week three, edged number 20 Clemson two weeks later, shut out number 21 Wake Forrest, and squeezed by number 16 North Carolina. Of the five ranked opponents Maryland played, they lost only once. Pretty good right? Of course, but its hard to then explain their losses. They lost at Middle Tennessee State, at Virginia, and home against Florida State. You would figure that Maryland would have little trouble with these teams, based on how they played their ranked opponents. One of the more exciting players in this game, besides Nevada's Kaepernick, is Maryland wide receiver Darius Heywood-Bey. Haywood-Bey had only 5 touchdowns and 38 catches this year, but still is an explosive threat down field. The question will be what Maryland team will we see. They are reeling after dropping three of their last four games and their are questions as to whether they want to be in the bowl. Its hard to tell when the good Maryland will show up. I don't think its in this spot. Nevada is a more consistent team and could not be happier with the bid they got. I think this will be the difference. The Pick: Nevada

Fun Fact (or FIF)- The next game Nevada will play will be against Notre Dame to start the '09 season. Lets start scouting!

Texas Bowl- Rice v Western Michigan- Western Michigan finished the year second in the WAC western division. At 9-3, the Broncos finished strong, winners of three out of their last four. They knew how to stop the bleeding. Their losses came sporadically, in weeks one, eight, and twelve. They had their lunch handed to them in the final week of the year when number 15 Ball State beat them 45-22. If you believe in trends, this may be a good thing because Western Michigan did not loose two in a row all season. Quarterback Tim Hiller tossed for over 3,000 yards and 34 touchdown passes. He only threw eight picks and completed of 65 % of his passes. The issue with Hiller is his accuracy. The problem with Western Michigan is their running game. They rank 92nd in the country in rushing offense. Sure Brandon West had almost 1000 yards and 8 touchdowns, but that was greatly aided by three games in which West went over 130 yards. West had two many games where he finished in the 50's or below. Rice finished 9-3 and 7-1 in the conference USA west. They also can throw the ball, probably better than Western Michigan can. Chase Clement threw for over 3,800 yards and 41 touchdown passes. They are extremely balanced with receivers James Casey and Jarrett Dillard. Both receivers had more then 11 touchdown receptions this season and averaged more then 100 yards per game. They were the only receivers in the country to do so. They have a better rushing attack than Western Michigan does. Clement alone ran for 11 scores this season. Rice is hot as a firecracker, too. They have one six straight and haven't scored less then 35 points since an October 4th loss to Tulsa. Rice has a better passing game and Western Michigan's lack of a running game will hurt them. This one is destined to be a shoot out. Hope you have the NFL Network. The Pick: Rice

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl- #13 Oklahoma State v #17 Oregon- This will be another offensive showcase. Both squads are ranked in the top ten in the nation is scoring. Both teams knock up at least 41 points per game. Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson threw 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Most of those TD's went to explosive receiver Dez Bryant. Bryant caught 18 touchdown balls this year. The State running game is also good. Back Kendall Hunter ran for 14 scores and caught one more. He racked up over 1000 yards. The Cowboys were inconsistent down the stretch. After starting the season 7-0, they won only two of their final four, including a 61-41 drubbing to national champion contender Oklahoma. The thing that you don't like about Oak State is this: of the four games they played against ranked opponents, they only won one of them. That win came on October 11th against number 3 Missouri. Oregon finished the season hot. Winners of three in a row, the Ducks put up 65 at number 17 Oregon State in the season finale. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli threw for over 1000 yards and 12 tds. Overall, these numbers are less impressive when you consider that Masoli threw for 572 of those yards and five touchdowns in the Ducks final two games. This could be looked at two different ways. Either, Masoli is hitting his stride at the exact right moment or those stats are greatly inflated by two out of the ordinary games. I'd like to think the later, but that win at a ranked opponent to end the year is darn impressive. Oregon also has a duel rushing attack. They rank fourth in the nation running the ball. Jeremiah Johnson ran for over 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns. LeGarrete Blount had 928 yards and 16 touchdowns. This is one of the more evenly matched games we've seen all bowl season. The key will be pass defense. Oregon is not very good. Oklahoma State is awful. Masoli will be able to throw the ball and that will set up the run. Pass defense is what will loose the Cowboys this game The Pick: Oregon

Bowl Mania Record: 7-7

Jordan Lauterbach

Jets Fire Mangini - Support Favre

"This is not a decision that we reached yesterday, 10 minutes ago. This is a decision that was basically running through the season."

The words of New York Jets Owner Woody Johnson, regarding the firing of Eric Mangini.

Learning about the head coaching change was not the way I wanted to wake up, this morning. Mangini, over his 3 seasons with the Jets, has done a very good job running this team. He retained confidence in his players and staff, despite the team's failure, late in the season, and now Mangini has to take the fall.

Defensively, the New York was nearly impenetrable, in the first part of the season. As time wore on, certain key players stopped playing at tremendous levels and came back to the pack.

Dwight Lowery (my choice for Defensive Rookie of the Year) began the season as a starter. The Fourth-Round Pick from the 2008 NFL Draft was playing like an above average NFL cornerback from the preseason up until the second half of the season. At that point, the Jets signed Ty Law, the future Hall of Fame defensive back, who, at that point, was out of football for over 10 months. Law went on to do a subpar job opposite Darrelle Revis; showing his lack of speed in pass coverage.

Kris Jenkins, one of New York's best acquisitions, was playing at a league MVP level for the majority of the season. Down the stretch, it appeared that either Jenkins had tired out, or opposing teams discovered a scheme to negate Jenkins. He was also ineffective during two winnable bad-weather games: against Denver and at Seattle. Without Jenkins' dominant presence, the Jets reverted to (in the words of Walt Frazier) the 'Matador Defense'; giving up a great amount of rushing yards, which, in turn, exposes the Jets' pass defense with Law and the absence of healthy Eric Smith.

Even though the defense suffered late, Mangini could not do much about it. You cannot pull a top 3 nose tackle. The entire secondary was playing poorly, outside of Revis and, to a lesser extent, Kerry Rhodes.

Offensively, the Jets were a mess because of two people: Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and Quarterback Brett Favre.

Schottenheimer continually made questionable play calling decisions, throughout the season. Many times, he passed when he should have ran & vice versa, and neglected players. Hindsight is always 20/20, but when mistakes occur with such frequency, something has to be wrong.

Take this last game for example. After weeks of giving Leon Washington minimal carries, Washington's number was called more than Thomas Jones'. While Washington is a big play waiting to happen, Thomas Jones, the leading rusher in the AFC and 5th in the NFL, was left to get tight on the sidelines; rendering him ineffective.

Brett Favre was easily the worst acquisition of the season. Without getting too into it, he is inefficient, makes poor decisions, on the field, and has an uncertain drive to continue playing football. That is a combination for failure.

That's why it is sickening to hear Woody Johnson and GM Mike Tannenbaum say that they will implore Brett Favre to return tot he Jets.

Mangini was handed a difficult mixture to handle, and he did all that he could.

Others will say that Mangini was given a plethora of talented veterans and had no excuse to do poorly. But he had one year to see what this team could do. That is not enough of a sample size to judge Mangini. A guy like Wade Phillips, who had a playoff level team for 3 seasons, should have a better chance to get fired, as opposed to Mangini, because of his inability to move deep into the playoffs.

I believe Mangini was not only fired to be the scapegoat, but was fired to get out of the way for coaches like Marty Schottenheimer or Bill Cowher, which will not be a good move. But that's another blog...

Eric Mangini should not have been fired. I feel bad for him. I feel bad for the Jets organization.

-Max Caster

Bowl Mania Day 8

The great ones are almost here. One full week of Bowl Mania is in the books and I am an unimpressive 6-6. The worst part about that record is that it took a four game winning streak to get their. I can move above .500 for the first time since day one with a sweep of today's games.

Papajohns.com Bowl: North Carolina State V. Rutgers- I love the name in this one. It isn't the Papa Johns bowl. Its the Papa Johns dot com bowl. Those who criticize the bowl season as being too diluted definitely have a case with this bowl. At least we have some local flair in the game. Rutgers finished the season 7-5. That's a decent record, but it just seams to me that this program has taken a step back in the last two season. I thought the pandemonium in Piscattaway game and all that came with it would lead to bigger and better things. It hasn't. But it's not like their not doing anything about it. They fired their AD in a quite unpopular move about a month ago. I sense that the program is going in the wrong direction. But I will give them credit for turning a potential disastrous year into a respectable one. Rutgers was 2-5 entering an October 18th match up with Connecticut. They squeaked out a two point win and consequently rattled off five straight to end the year. This included a 54-34 thrashing of Pittsburgh in the Panthers homecoming game. Rutgers can put up a ton of points. The UCONN win was the last time the Scarlet Knights scored less then 30. They torched Louisville 63-14. In the game, quarterback Mike Teel tossed for a Big East record seven touchdowns. Now that's a way to end a season. They also play good defense. The Pittsburgh win was the last time an opponent scored more than 17 on the Scarlet Knights. N.C State finished the year 6-6. They also come into the game hot, winners of their last four. But this is also a team that lost four in a row in the middle of the season. The Wolfpack don't mind being the underdog either. They won three of four against ranked opponents this season, including wins in succession against Number 24 Wake Forrest and at Number 22 North Carolina. They can score as well. N.C State averaged over 31 points a contest. One edge I will give to NC State is their ability to win close games. Three of their final four games were won by ten points or less. Rutgers won its last five games by an average of 29 points. This certainly is not a bad thing for Rutgers, but we just haven't seen how Teel and company have been tested in the clutch. One of the more interesting questions is -Is Rutgers leaps and bounds better offensively? or is the quality of opponent not as good? Pitt was the only ranked team they played all year. They played great in the game, but is the sample size big enough? If Rutgers was scoring 50 and giving up 30, I might pick N.C State here. But I think the Knights are hot on both sides of the ball. I like Teal to win a game that's close in the third quarter, but not the fourth....The Pick: Rutgers

Valero Alamo Bowl: #21 Missouri V #23 North Western- This is a classic "I don't wanna be here game". Missouri was in the BCS picture last season and the Big 12 championship game this year. In one of my first bowl mania columns, I talked about how this could be a disadvantage for a team. This is especially true when your playing a team like North Western. They are just getting used to not being laughing stocks and could not be happier to be in the game. They finished the season on a two game winning streak and beat number 17 Minnesota on November 1st. After a 5-0 start, North Western finished 9-3. Not a lot of defense will be played in this game. Missouri has an awful secondary that is horrendous against the pass. Only two teams in the country allow more pass yards than Missouri does. Look for North Western quarterback C.J Bacher to have a good game. Bacher had 14 touchdowns and over 2,000 yards passing. We know about the leathal air game that Missouri has. Point blank: secondary coaches have nightmares about Chase Daniel. Daniel had an arguably better season then his Heisman candidacy year of 2007. His yards were down and his interceptions were up, but he threw more touchdowns. This one will be fun to watch if you like offense. Upset about the AFL being canceled this season? Watch this game. I think Northwestern wants the game more and this will be one of those rare instances where that matters (Sort of like Arizona v BYU on day 1?). Missouri is coming off two losses and think they should be playing later in the week. They fall a penny short in a blast off- shoot out in San Antonio. The Pick: North Western

Bowl Mania Record: 6-6

Jordan Lauterbach

Announcement!!

Fire Favre.

That is all.

More to come.

Make sure you tune in to the NFL Wrap-Up Show tonight at 11pm EST on http://mywcwp.com with me and Matt Soldano.

Max Caster

Bowl Mania Day 7

Thanks to Miami absolutely giving away the Emerald Bowl, I went from a disastrous 2-6 on Friday to a somewhat decent 5-6 on Saturday. It was my first undefeated day of the bowl season. It was, however, a day sandwiched with uncertainty. It took Pat White have an incredible day for the West Virginia Mountaineers to edge the North Carolina Tar Heals 31-30 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. White threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns as he ended his West Virginia career with a bang. Hakeem Nicks almost beat the Mountaineers single handily with eight catches, three of which went for touchdowns, two of which were unbelievable. That between the leg grab by Nicks will be the best catch of the bowl season. I don't see how anyone could ever try to top it. That has to rank in the top five catches (pro or college) that I have ever seen...... Wisconsin was just about as bad as I thought they'd be in the middle game. You know you have problems when your star running back has 140 yards, you have over 200 yards as a team and you only get 13 points. The real story of that game was turnovers. Wisconsin fumbled three times. The game was over in the second quarter when Derreck Nicholson returned a Badger fumble to get the FSU ball rolling. Wisconsin was never truly in the game after this...... And how good was Jahvid Best last night. In Cal's win over Miami, Best had 186 yards and two touchdowns. Despite Best's best, Cal did not deserve to win the game tonight. Miami utterly dominated in the second half and would have won if not for a key fumble deep in their own territory late in the game and horrible game management in the final minute. Its a good thing ESPN beat to death the fact that Miami quarterback Jacory Harris was a true freshman because he looked like it at the end of the game. It took Harris about 10 years to get a play off with the clock running and less then two minutes to go at midfield. He made awful decisions and looked every bit the freshman in the final five minutes of the game. I wonder if anyone regrets suspending Robert Marve after the way the final 120 seconds of the game unfolded......

One game tonight....

Independence Bowl- Northern Illinois v. Louisiana Tech- I may sound like a broken record on this one, but you have to really love college ball if you're watching this one over a winner take all match up in the AFC West on NBC. I mean, really really love college ball.... After being worse then Notre Dame a year ago, Northern Illinois snuck into the post season by beating Kent State on the road in the second to last game of the season. They celebrated that achievement by being shut out by Navy in the season finale. Maybe they were resting starters....you never can tell. In a shocking development, no one on this team wows you. Quarterback Chandler Harnish threw for over 1,300 yards and seven touchdowns. They got a combined six TD's on the ground from Harnish and running back Me'co Brown. Don't expect Me'co's name to be called a lot however. He hasn't gotten more than six carries since October 25th win against Bowling Green. NIU went 5-3 in the MAC west, but only managed a 1-3 mark out of conference. That should tell you enough about NIU. Louisiana Tech finished 5-3 in the WAC and 7-5 overall. They are coming into the game hot, winners of four of their last five and five of their last seven. Louisiana Tech is led by tailback Daniel Porter. Porter had over 1000 yards on the ground and 8 touchdowns this year. Patrick Jackson also had 8 touchdowns out of the backfield for Tech. If Porter and Jackson can control the pace on the ground, the Bulldogs will have no problem with Northern Illinois....I don't think this is even a game. Louisiana Tech is hot and the game is being played in Shreveport, Louisiana. I don't like predicting blow outs, but for this one I will. This one'll be ugly. I'd watch Chargers/Broncos and get back into the bowl spirit on Monday if I were you....The Pick: Louisiana Tech

Bowl Mania Record: 5-6

Jordan Lauterbach

Bowl Mania Day 6

2-6 is not what I expected. Not one week ago, I started this little experiment we here at WCWP call Bowl Mania. I thought it would be simple. I thought I could flex some college football knowledge. But no. I have failed miserably so far. But in a way, my failures as a bowl prognosticator has only reinforced what we already knew about the world of post season college football. It's absolutely unpredictable. Who would have thunk that a BYU team ranked in the top twenty in the country would loose to a team that hasn't been to a bowl since the 90's? Who would have thought that Boise State would suffer their first loss on the grandest of stages? Who could have predicted that Notre Dame would forget that they were downright terrible for the final month of the season and blow out Hawaii on their home field? This is why the bowl season is great. Unfortunately, this is also why the bowl season is so frustrating for prognosticators like myself. Now, on to day six...

Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia v. North Carolina- While these two teams may have had the same regular season record this season, their bowl histories in recent seasons are quite different. This is only North Carolina second bowl since 2001 and first since 2004. This is a bit of a coo for the Tar Heals. For West Virginia, not so much. The mountaineers have played in five straight New Years Day Bowls and have won BCS games in two of the last four seasons. Last year, West Virginia had that improbable BCS bowl win in Bill Stewart's first game as head coach. Playing in a bowl two days after Christmas is not familiar territory for the Mountaineers, but it's not like it wasn't expected. After loosing both Steve Slaton and head coach Rich Rodriguez, you had to figure that WVU would take a step back. They did. The Mountaineers split their final four games after winning five in a row from September 27th- November 1st. But while WVU took a definite step back, they still have one of the more exciting players in the sport. Quarterback Pat White threw for over 1,500 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Steve Slaton's replacement, Noel Devine, ran for 1228 yards and three touchdowns this year. West Virginia "plays 'em tough". Three of WVU's four losses came four points or less. Two of those three losses came in overtime. This is a team that is not that far away from the BCS bowls they learned to call home for so many years. At 7-2, North Carolina started out strong, but faltered in the seasons final month. The Tar Heals lost two out there last three, including a 41-10 drubbing at the hand of NC State. They beat Duke by only eight to finish the year. Being in a close one with the Blue Devils is nothing to be proud of. I think West Virginia is a team that is much better then their record. North Carolina is exactly where they should be. THE PICK: West Virginia.

Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin v Florida State- Wisconsin was a major disappointment this year. They finished the season 7-5, but were 3-5 in the Big Ten. 3-5 is bad enough, but when you consider it was a down year in the Big Ten, it looks even worse. Both these squads rely heavily on the running game. The Badgers split their carries between John Clay and P. J Hill. Clay had nine touchdowns this year, Hill had 11. The two led the Big 10 in rushing and was 14th in the nation. Florida States Antone Smith scored fourteen touchdowns on the ground. Jermaine Thomas averaged 7.2 yards for carry. Passing will be kept at a minimum because both quarterbacks are terrible. Dustin Sheer came in for injured starter Allen Evridge and did not impress. He threw five touchdowns and five interceptions, but was more efficient then Everidge was in the early going. Florida State's Christian Ponder threw 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. This game will come down to the running games. I like FSU's Smith and Thomas more then Wisconsin's Clay and Hill. The Pick: Florida State

Emerald Bowl: Miami (FL) V. California- Cal finished the season 8-4 and 6-3 in conference play. They split their final four games and lost in consecutive weeks to the only two ranked teams of their schedule. Miami also split their final four after winning five straight from October 11th to November 13th. The Hurricanes finished 7-5 and 4-4 in the ACC. The ACC had a bit of a down year. Only two ACC teams finished in the top 25 in the country. Three Pac-10 teams finished in the top 25 and the fourth place team in the Pac 10 was better then any team in the ACC. What this means is, I put a little more stock in Cal's 8-4 season then I do in Miami's 7-5 mark. This game comes down to quarterback play. Miami's Robert Marve threw for over 1,200 yards and 9 touchdowns. Cal's Kevin Reily threw for over 1,300 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 6 picks. Kevin Reily gets the nod in that matchup. The Pick: California

Bowl Mania Record: 2-6


Jordan Lauterbach

Bowl Mania Day 5

I hope you all had a happy and healthy one yesterday. As Max Caster detailed in yet another fantastic blog post, the WCWP Sports staff all had great things happen to them in the last two days. Before I go into tonight's continuation of Bowl Week, I just have to say something regarding Notre Dame. Humor me for a second, if you would.



WOW. That was outstanding.



The Irish's 49-14 win over Hawaii on Christmas Eve was bar none the best I've seen this team play since 2006. They played with heart. They played with energy. They played with a purpose...and it showed. I had criticized Charlie Weis in the last few weeks for not having his team ready to play. Despite the relaxed atmosphere that Weis preached while the team was in Hawaii, they looked more prepared to play then this group ever has. Jimmy Clausen played his best game since high school. He was 22/26 for 401 yards and 5 touchdowns. He single handily broke three ND bowl records. Golden Tate had his best game is ages. He caught seven balls for 177 yards and three touchdowns. A big reason for this was the return of Michael Floyd. Floyd didn't do much in the game, but the Freshman still has the ability to draw coverage away from Tate. The win was a fantastic way to move forward towards 2009. It's no secret that the team has to do well next year for Weis to keep his job. Six or seven wins is no longer good enough. I performance like this makes it a whole lot easier for Notre Dame fans to get excited about 2009. I know I am...



Now on to tonight:



Motor City Bowl: Florida Atlantic V. Central Michigan



Simply put, Dan Lefevour is the best player in college football you've never heard of. The Central Michigan quarterback is a poor man's Tim Tebow. He can throw the ball effectively (19 tds, 5 ints) and he is dangerous with his feet. Lefevour led his team in rushing this season with 536 yards and 6 touchdowns. For comparison, Tim Tebow threw 28 tds and 2 interceptions this year. Tebow ran for 564 yard and 12 touchdowns. Tebow's team is playing for a national championship in two weeks and Lefevour plays for Central Michigan. Those facts considered, I think the two are comparable. Central Michigans running back, Ontario Sneed ran for only 519 yars and 8 touchdowns this season. Not surprisingly, Central Michigan doesn't run the ball a lot. Sneed's season high for carries was 18 on October 25th. Since that game, he has not been fed the ball more than 11 times. Sneed also had three receiving touchdowns this season. Central Michigan's leading receiver is Antonio Brown. Brown caught 82 passes for 906 yards and six touchdowns this year. But don't key in on just Antonio Brown. Bryan Anderson is just as dangerous. Anderson caught 59 balls for 835 yard and six touchdowns. This is an offense that is hard to defend. They are ranked in the top 25 in total yards and 35th in total points.

Florida Atlantic can throw the ball, but can't do much else. Quarterback Rusty Smith threw for over 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns. FAU is coming in hot. They finished the year 6-6, but won five out of their last six to sneak into the post season. They put up more then forty points in four games this season and were 3-1 in them. Much like last year's Motor city bowl, I this one will be high scoring. But unlike last years edition, Central Michigans offense will prove more powerful.



The Pick: Central Michigan



Bowl Mania Record: 2-5



Jordan Lauterbach

Wes Welker Receives Unfair Treatment... TWICE!!

I’m positive that the whole WCWP Sports Staff had great holidays. Matt Soldano had a very merry Christmas after the Lakers triumphed over the Celtics. I know Jordan Lauterbach had to be crying tears of joy after Notre Dame finally won a game, when they won the Hawaii Bowl, on Wednesday. Nick Malone called me, atingle, to tell me about the Yankees signing Mark Teixera. And Mike Tramontozzi must be happy about something.... Maybe that Eddy Curry is returning to action.

Make sure you tune into mywcwp.com or youcastr.com later today (12/26) at 2pm for the inaugural edition of ‘The Replacements’, with Matt Soldano and I.

Now, down to business.

New England Patriots Wide Receiver Wes Welker was fined $10,000 for his snow angel touchdown celebration. The first question this incident raises is whether or not this ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ penalty warrants a fine of ten grand.



The conclusion has to be a resounding ‘NO’. How can a snow angel be worth $10,000? Welker did not use any props or conduct a group celebration. He did not make a huge disturbance, either. The celebration took about 3 seconds.

The most shocking thing about this is the fact that Jets Defensive End Shaun Ellis was fined the same amount for hurling an ice boulder at a group of fans, in Seattle.



Let me think. What is more disadvantageous? A snow angel that did not harm anybody or an ice boulder flying towards bleachers full of fans? Tough choice…

That’s ridiculous.

The second question is how the commentators would react if a black player did the same thing. Let’s use Randy Moss as an example. He has had his character issues, in the past, and he committed one of the most infamous and, for some reason, hated endzone celebrations in history, where he pretended to expose his posterior and moon the Green Bay crowd.

I feel that if Randy, or any black player, for that matter, were to make a snow angel, they would either get no reaction from the announcers, or get buried by them. It’s another one of those instinctive, subconscious reactions some people have towards certain people.

-Max Caster

Week 17 NFL Picks

First off, I want to wish everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season.  A lot of games this week with tremendous playoff implications.  Let's get to the picks.

St. Louis Rams @ Atlanta Falcons - Atlanta

New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills - Buffalo

Kansas City Chiefs @ Cincinnati Bengals - Kansas City

Chicago Bears @ Houston Texans - Houston

New York Giants @ Minnesota Vikings - New York

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints - New Orleans

Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers - Pittsburgh

Oakland Raiders @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Tampa Bay

Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis

Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers - Green Bay

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Baltimore Ravens - Baltimore

Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals - Seattle

Washington Redskins @ San Francisco 49ers - Washington

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets - Miami

Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles - Philadelphia

Denver Broncos @ San Diego Chargers - San Diego

Last Week: 9-7

Overall: 143-96

-Matt Soldano

Happy Holidays!!

On behalf of the WCWP Sports Department, I'd like to wish everyone out there a happy and healthy holiday season.

Remember the true meaning of this time of year. Being with family, being charitable & helping the less fortunate and just having fun.

Please be safe. Choose a designated driver if you're going out.

Have fun,
Max Caster

Bowl Mania Day 4

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Notre Dame V. Hawaii

This is a special one tonight for me. On top of it being Christmas (my favorite time of year), Notre Dame (my favorite college team) is on the television. What could be better! It's no secreat that the season ended poorly for the Irish. They squeeked out a win over Navy on November 15th, only to loose a shocker at home to an awful Syracuse team with a lame duck coach. The next week, Notre Dame treated fans like me to their anual flame broiled blowout against USC. I felt this was enough to get Charlie Weis fired. I stand by that. Charlie Weis is no longer the answer for the Irish. That being said, if Weis wins tonight, the sins of November will be forgivin (somewhat, at least). Notre Dame hasn't won a bowl game since the Cotton Bowl in January of 1994. To give you a sense of how long ago that was, in 1994 Americans fell in love with Forrest Gump and The Lion King. To think that the last time Notre Dame won a bowl game, Simba was patrolling the forrests of Africa is almost sickening. Since their last bowl win, 89 of the 119 other D1 schools have notched a bowl win. Thats why tonight is important. After last season, it almost didn't matter what bowl was made. The goal this season was not to compete for a BCS or even a New Years Day Bowl. It was to get back in the postseason. Despite the horrific way the season ended, the goal is still in reach.
What is undeniable is that Notre Dame has tons of talent. I may have backed off my Clausen for Heisman in 2009 claim, but the kids got talent. He can make every throw, but he lacks smarts. Clausen lost the Irish games this season by throwing crucial picks. The Michigan State loss in late September would have been a lot different if not for two huge interceptions. Clausen threw 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Not a great final line by any streach, but still progress from his sack-riddled disaster of a freshman season. When you look at those numbers, you also have to consider that his last four games were horrible. Clausen threw two touchdowns in his final four games. Both of those TD's came against Syracuse on November 22nd.
A large reason for Clausens struggles in the final month was the absence of freshman wide reciever Michael Floyd. Floyd did not play in any of the Irish's final three games. Floyd caught 46 balls and seven touchdown passes this season and one of the brightest of Notre Dame's young stars. Floyd's injury made it tougher for Golden Tate to get open with the frequency and ferocity that he did early in the season. Tate had 52 grabs this season, also finding the endzone seven times. The running game also struggled immensly at times. Armando Allen had only 576 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns this season. He was invisible for large chuncks of games.
Hawaii is the fotgotten team in tonights game. Thats fitting because Hawaii has been the foregotten ones all season. Not one year ago, Hawaii was playing Georgia in a BCS game. They were killed in the game, but were still considered one of the nations top feel good stories. But this is not last years Hawaii team. Quarterback Colt Brennen is gone. Head coach June Jones is gone.Quarterback Greg Alexander threw for 12 touchdowns this year. Hardly Colt Brennon like numbers, but it should also be stated that Alexander missed five games. The thing that strikes you about Alexander is his interception number. Only four. Despite this, Hawaii still has one of the worst turnover differential numbers in the nation. They are a horrid -5. Hawaii did have their bright spots this year. They won three out of their last four and beat Number 22 Fresno State on October 4th.
I think the advantage here goes to Hawaii. This is a real close matchup. The two teams are ranked two sports away from each other in points scored (ND-76th, Hawaii- 74th). This is also a home game for Hawaii. This, compiled with the fact that Notre Dame needs the game, will provide for Hawaii to play looser. I think this is a plus. And yes, Notre Dame does need the game. They have had loads of bad press in the last month. A win tonight would eliminate most of that and be a fantastic jumping off point for 2009. Thats important because 2009 will be a make or break year for Weis and his staff. I don't know if tonight being a big game is a good thing for Notre Dame. They don't seem to be a group that handles big moments well. I still think the defense is lacking and I wonder how effective the run game will be. I've been touting ND for almost a month in the game, but now that I look closer at the stats, this strikes me as a game that might cause problems because of the percieved magnatude of it all. I Expect Notre Dame to be tight and flat tonght in the first half. They'll make a really inspired run in the second half, but it won't be enough. The Pick: Hawaii

Bowl Mania Record: 2-4

Jordan Lauterbach

No Bowl tommorow so as they say on bright Hawaian Christmas Days-

MELE KALIKIMAKA

Is that the sound of a cash register?

Well you have to hand it to them, in one of the worst economic times in recent memory, when the stock market is shrinking and people are losing jobs and banks are closing- not to mention people like Bernie Madoff running around scamming people out of millions, the Yankees can spend $422 million on three players. CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and now, first basemen Mark Teixiera. Only the 3 biggest names on the market.

Thats right- no typo- almost half a billion dollars have been dolled out to just 3 players by the Yankees. Just in case you needed an example to figure that: The Gross National Income of the country of Grenada in 2007 was $326,578,000.00. I know its Grenada but still, they spent more than a country makes in a year!

Now the Yankees will tell you that there is nothing wrong with what they are doing, and that they are giving Yankees fans what they want: a winner. And they would be right, there is no penalty for spending what they want for players. The luxury tax does hinder most teams- but not those Yankees. That 26 million dollar bill from Bud Selig is chunk change now compared to what they spent. CC Sabathia could give away a year's salary and pay off 95% of it.

But the problem lies in the fact that this team doesn't care what it spends, because they are "giving it back to the fans". Whatever, as a Yankees fan I am tired of that.

How can a Yankee fan actually root for this conglomerate of stars? Where is the connection with the players? There is none, unless you love the star power the team now has. Welcome back to the age of an all star at every position, because it worked so well from 2002-2006. Then from 2006-2008 you actually believed the team was going to groom young guys such as Phil Hughes and Brett Gardner, and wait for the debut of players like Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero and Andrew Brackman. Now? Im waiting for the Yankees to trade for Jake Peavy so he can be the 6th starter- in case someone gets hurt you can never have enough depth.

I am usually in the minority, although my co-host Mike DeJoy agrees with me (to a point- he loves Teixiera)but I dont care if the team makes the playoffs- if theyre playing the young kids and rebuilding the foundation of the team, then im fine with that. Just look at my stance with the Knicks as an example- Id rather root for kids that are trying and losing, then 25 guys making a combined 200 million and winning. It's just a knack I have- I love watching young kids play- because it's the future of your team.

Now the Yankees will once again be the favorite to not only make the Playoffs, but win the world series. However, I pose this question: What team would you rather root for? The Rays, built with a ton of young exciting players just reaching their potential? Or the Yankees, with their conglomerate of stars and endless checkbook? I know my answer.

And one more- If this team wins the world series, and anything less now will be an epic disappointment, can you really be happy? The mish-mash of 25 guys brought in to win a title for a team that misses the playoffs once and freaks out, thinking their fan base is going to revolt against them. How dare they miss the playoffs.

That sound you just heard was a cash register, and I think Hank Steinbrenner just bought himself a World Title.

And it would seem so fake and shallow. Not how a World Title is supposed to feel for a fan.

-Mike Tramontozzi

Bowl Mania Day 3

Solid one tonight

Poinsettia Bowl: #9 Boise State v #11 TCU- This is by far the best bowl we have seen so far in this still young 2008 bowl season. Boise State is a team that many feel should be playing in a BCS game. And who could put together a legitimate argument against that claim? Boisie did not loose a game all season and have not scored less than 40 points since late October. The Broncos were the only undefeated team left out of the BCS picture. Its unfortunate too. Remember how great that Boise State/Oaklahama game a few years ago. But hey, the BCS is a relative crapshoot when you don't play in a power confrence. I also dont think that that is neccisarily a bad thing. Bosie State tossed around Fresno State 61-10 in their season finale. Despite this, some say the Broncos offense has lost a step this season. Quarterback Kellen Moore has over 3,000 yards passing and 25 touchdowns. The best win on the Broncos schedule came on September 20th when they beat number 17 Oregon 37-32. Don't sleep on the defense either. That Oregon win was only one of three games where the opponent put up more then 14 points. However, this bowl is interesting because TCU is the best oppoent that Boise State has seen all year. TCU was 10-2 this season. Both those losses came to ranked teams.They lost to Oklahomma 35-10 and number 8 Utah 13-10. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially the Utah loss. Think Bosie State defense is good, Oklahoma was the only team in the country to put up more than 14 points on the horned frogs. TCU's defense will be without linebacker Robert Henson. This is a big blow. Henson had 73 tackles and 2 picks this year. The best matchup of the night is the Bosie State offense against the TCU defense. Normally, defense wins out, but will it be different with an offense as potent as the Broncos. I like both teams in the low twentys, but in the end the loss of Henson hurts TCU too much. With an offense like Bosie State, its an all hands on deck situation. TCU won't have that. The Pick: Bosie State

Bowl Mania record- 2-3

Jordan Lauterbach

This gives me chills every time I watch it.

As I was watching the Jets vs. Seahawks, I realized that despite Brett Favre's poor play or Seneca Wallace's inexplicably good play, Gus Johnson on play-by-play makes anything better to watch. That's when I dug up this beauty:



I wonder how Gus would sound calling a darts.

Max Caster

Giants beat Panthers!!

I just wanted to have the first blog regarding this game, before Mike Tramontozzi posted his Master's Thesis.

Brandon Jacobs may have just proven himself to be the most valuable player on this Giants team.

That is all.

Max Caster

Listen to The Sportswire every Thursday at 9pm EST on http://mywcwp.com

Bowl Mania Day 2

So apparently BYU did fall into the "We're way too good to be playing this early" trap. You cannot tell me that a motivated BYU team doesn't beat Arizona last night. Willy Tuitama had 325 yards passing, two touchdowns, and no picks. He also ran for a score Max Hall was unspectacular. He threw for more yardage then Tuitama, but had one TD and one pick. Yet another reason why yardage for a quarterback is an overrated stat. Tuitama was efficient, Hall was less so and it showed. Also give props (as my buddy Max Caster would say) to Nic Grigsby. Grigsby had 87 yards on 20 carries and 1 touchdown. This is why even the smallest bowl can be big in some instances. The win is huge for Arizona after not playing in late December in a decade and makes this season a banner one, maybe one to build on- at least from a program standpoint. The loss for BYU puts a major damper on their season. Yes, you were ranked 16th at the end of the year and finished 10 and 3, but you lost an easy bowl game...to Arizona. Not a good notch on Coach Bronco Mendenhalls resume.

I was 2-2 on Day one after the BYU shocker and Fresno State loosing a high scoring close one to Colorado State 40-35. The Navy game was a lot closer then I thought it would be. The Midshipmen had a 13-7 lead at half time. But just like the Notre Dame game, Navy could not put together a drive at the end to tie it. A key fumble late and a 35 yard TD run for Wake with under a minute to go put it away.

Day Two:

One game on the schedule and it goes up against the Giants/Panther game on NBC. Needless to say, anyone watching this one either really loves college football, really hates the NFL, or has no "what to watch" sense at all.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl- Southern Miss v Troy- Southern Miss finished the year strong, winning their final four games. Biggest win of the year came on November 15th when they beat East Carolina 21-3. East Carolina finished in first in the C-USA East with a 6-2 mark and a 9-4 overall record. S. Miss played two ranked teams and lost by 14 and and 17 respectively. Troy was 8-4 and finished in first place in the Sun Belt. They lost by 9 to LSU on November 15th. This team scores a lot of points and has a solid defense. They allowed ten points or less five times and scored 30 or more 8 times. Southern Miss can put up points too, shoving a 70 spot down UAB's throats on November 1st. There defense started poor but came into its own in their final four games. In each of those wins they allowed 14 or less. By the numbers this should be a really close game. I like both teams in the high 20's.
But your still nuts if you watch this over Giants/Panthers.....The Pick: Troy

Bowl Mania Standings: 2-2

Jordan Lauterbach

Bowl Mania Day 1

A few weeks ago, my good buddy and co-host Matt Suldano said to me, "Jordan, you should pick all the bowl games and see how accurate you are....have you ever done this?" My answer was no. To be compleatly honest, I had never really considered doing such a thing and brushed it off like I do almost everything else. "Who cares about any non bcs bowl if your team is not in it", I thought. But then, I began to think more closly about it. I do watch a lot of college football. I do care about and defend it more then anyone else I know. I do love it. On top of that, the fact of the matter is that while the Meineke Car Care bowl may not meen anything to me, it does meen a heck of a lot to the players in the game. For all of them, this will be the last taste of the game they love until next season. For a few of them, this is their last game as dominant players before they become little fish in the big pond that is the NFL. For a lot of them, this is the last taste of competition they will ever have.
The reality is, a great deal of college players don't just beam their way up to the NFL ala a Matt Ryan or a Steve Slaton. Many of them dont know if the NFL is in the cards for them. Many of them know thats it's not and have already been told as such. So these games do mean something. Maybe they won't be mentioned on The Edge or The Sportwire. Maybe they won't be watched by a gazillion people like the New Years Day bowls are, but to say they don't mean anything is pure ignorance. In many ways, they mean more then any other game these kids have played all year. Because at the end of the day, a victory still goes in that all important "bowl victory" column in the schools trophy case. How many times when a coach is either fired or hired does the term "bowl victorys" come into play? A lot
Unlike last year, I don't love a lot of these non-bcs matchups. But thats not to say that the games won't still be good. Some of the best games come from unlikly places. Unlike other years, I am going to attempt to watch everyone I can. And I will pick every single one on this blog and keep a running tally/diery of my progress.

Lets begin Bowl Mania 2008-

Eagle Bank Bowl- Wake Forest v Navy- Navy is not your fathers service acadamy. They finished the year 8-4 with wins over Rutgers and Wake Forrest in consecutive weeks. They run one of the strangest offenses you'll ever see. Its almost like a wing-t/ wildcat. Notre Dame had a lot of trouble with it towards the end of their mid-november matchup. The thing that impresses you about Navy is their never quit mentality. They were dead in that Notre Dame game and came within a few extra seconds of tying it up. They beat Wake Forrest 24-17 on September 27th. Wake was ranked number 16 in the country at the time. The midshipmen racked up 292 yards on the ground that day and only surrendered 43. However, as sneeky as they can be, I can not see Navy beating a team twice in a season. Offenses that rely on trickery often have trouble in rematches. My Pick: Wake Forrest.

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State v Colorado State: Watch the tight ends in this one. Colorado State's Kory Sperry and Fresno State's Bear Pascoe are considered to be NFL prospects. Fresno State had an up and down year. They started strong, beating Rutgers in Pisscataway 24-7 and took five of their first seven games. But they dropped three of there last five, including a 61-10 thrashing at Boisie State to end the year. Colorado State has no great wins on their scedule, but did finish the year with two consecutive wins. The came within three points of tying then number 20 BYU on November 1st. This game is incredably balenced. I think it'll be a good one. Despite 61 points in their, I like Fresno States defense more then Colorado State. Look for a high scoring close one. My Pick: Fresno State.

Magicjack St. Petersburg Bowl- South Florida v. Memphis: Best part about this bowl is the name. Memphis finished 6-6 with no wins of any merit to speak of. Does 45-6 over 2-10 Tulane do anything for you? I didn't think so. Despite a down year in the Big East, USF is still fun to watch. They did have a big win against then number 13 Kansas in September and begin the year 6-1. Look for Matt Grothe to have a huge game. My Pick: South Florida

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl- Brigham Young v. Arizona My Fourth Down cohort Anthony DeFranco went to Arizona. So I have a bit of a connection there. My favorite player of all time, Steve Young, is a BYU alum and (I might add), a Brigham Young great great great grandchild. None of that really matters, however, because BYU is the best team playing today. They are the only team ranked in the top 25 and finished the year with only two losses. Arizona, meanwhile, has not been to a bowl game since 1998. Thats a long time ago. While now I am on Fourth Down, in 1998 I was in fourth grade. I know its only the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, but these games do have a different feel to them then regular season matchups. Bowl experience wouldn't help Arizona much, but it wouldn't have hurt either. BYU is also mad that their even in this bowl. Sometimes that works against a team. But not a team playing Arizona. My Pick: BYU

Jordan Lauterbach

Eddy Curry Being Sued by Casual Male

A Chicago area Casual Male store filed a lawsuit, Wednesday, against Former Chicago Bulls Center Eddy Curry, for a 2-year old bill that the player failed to pay. The amount owed is said to exceed $41,000; including over $20,000 in suits, several thousands in sweaters and almost $4,000 in ties. The store is also charing Curry with $5,424 in interest.


Now I like to look fly. I'm a fan of accessorizing, when it comes to ties. The tie is what makes the formal wear stand out (unless you're Walt Frazier). But does one really need 4,000 dollars worth of ties? I doubt it. Even if he bought 15 expensive ties, that number is ridiculous. I could buy a whole wardrobe with half that amount. Custom made, tailored suits are one thing. Sweaters to fit a 7 foot, 300 pound mammoth is understandable. But ties...? You're better than that Eddy.

The messed up thing about this lawsuit is that it is most likely coming out now due to the amount of money this business - and all businesses, for that matter - is losing due to the floundering economy. Think about it. Why else would they have waited over two years to file this lawsuit?

I'm not saying that the store is wrong for trying to get their money. It's always great to be opportunistic. It just seems a bit disingenuous to come out of the blue with this lawsuit.

On the bright side, at least it gives Eddy something to do.

Max Caster

Inferiority Complex

As the Yankees are expected to introduce their two newest signings, top free agent pitchers CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, at a Thursday press conference, and are now the favorites to land the best hitter in Major League Baseball, Manny Ramirez, you can anticipate a tidal wave of hate from smaller markets.

The most popular argument posed against the Steinbrenners and the Yankee organization is the fact that the team has not won a World Series since 2000; citing the Yankees tendency to "spend like drunk sailors" as the main culprit for their failure to win a championship. These smaller markets question the Yankees' impatience with developing players from their own minor league affiliates. They would use the 1996 Yankees World Series Champion team as an example. But that is a very common misconception about the 1996 team. In fact, most of the players on that squad were not brought up from the farm, but rather, were acquired from other teams.

Joe Girardi, the starting catcher in 1996, was traded by the Cubs, to New York, in exchange for Pitcher Mike DeJean. Girardi was 31 years old in his first year with the Yanks.

First Baseman Tino Martinez was brought over from Seattle, following the 1995 season, after an impressive postseason for the Mariners. He had already been in the league for six years, at that point.

The Yankees signed Free Agent 2nd Baseman Mariano Duncan, in 1996. Duncan was 33 years old and had already been with 4 major league clubs, at that point.

Wade Boggs was the starting 3rd baseman for the 1996 team. He had been in the league since 1982; spending the majority of his years with the Boston Red Sox.

Right Fielder Paul O'Neill was an 11-year veteran in 1996; beginning his career with the Cincinatti Reds.

Pitchers David Cone, Jimmy Key, Dwight Gooden, Kenny Rogers, John Wetteland, and Jeff Nelson all did not begin their careers with the Yankees.

The most notable 1996 Yankees who were directly brought up through the Yankees' minor league system are Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Gerald Williams and Mariano Rivera.


The 1996 Yankees are quite similar to the present day Yankees, in the respect that they were/are both prominently filled with veterans with some players who were in the Yankees farm system; most evident being Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Chein Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner and Edwar Ramirez, with Austin Jackson expected to be called up this year.

The amount of Yankees farm players on the 1996 big league roster is similar to today's team. So one cannot say that the Yankees are neglecting their minor league players.

Haters: Ditch the inferiority complex and find a new position against the Yankees.

Max Caster

Listen to The Sportswire every Thursday night at 9 on http://mywcwp.com

NFL Picks Week 16

Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars - Indianapolis

Baltimore Ravens @ Dallas Cowboys - Baltimore

Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns - Cincinnati

New Orleans Saints @ Detroit Lions - New Orleans

Arizona Cardinals @ New England Patriots - New England

San Francisco 49ers @ St. Louis Rams - San Francisco

San Diego Chargers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers - San Diego

Miami Dolphins @ Kansas City Chiefs - Miami

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tennessee Titans - Pittsburgh

Buffalo Bills @ Denver Broncos - Denver

New York Jets @ Seattle Seahawks - New York

Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders - Houston

Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings - Minnesota

Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins - Philadelphia

Carolina Panthers @ New York Giants - New York

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears - Green Bay

It is a week for road teams....12 out of 16 road teams win!

Last Week: 11-5
Overall Record: 134-89

-Matt Soldano

6th NBA Head Coach Recieves Pink Slip in Sacramento

While the expectations for the Sacramento Kings might not have been grand, as in making the playoffs this season, this issue is much much larger than just one job in Sacramento, it's a League-Wide cause for concern. At this rate, there could be a total of 18 head coaches fired this season throughout the whole 82 game regular season which practically makes any Head Coaching position minus Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles (Lakers), Utah and Orlando and everything west of the Rocky Mountains at this point are all in jeaporday. The coaching carousel this season in particular has been unheard of and the previous record amount of NBA Head Coaching dismissals before Christmas was only 3. Mostly everybody who knew the game of Basketball and thus the NBA, knew that when the Kings dealt Ron Artest in the offseason to Houston that the Kings had no shot of even making the playoffs this year and were in the process of rebuilding. Yet, the Maloof's were intent on instant change to try and strike some motivation into such players like John Salmons, Beno Udrih and Spencer Hawes. The Kings best player, Kevin Martin had been out a good portion of the season up to this point battling ankle issues. Lets analyse this a little further shall we?

Oklahoma City Thunder: After Pj Carlisemo was axed after a pittiful 1-12 start with the cast of young players on his squad like Kevin Durant and Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox, new coach, Scott Brooks has managed to steer the Thunder in a much better direction.....only slightly less offensive with a 1-11 record since with a total record of 2-23. Not saying the firing og Carlisemo was justified but this was what you would expect from a team that was going through there first full year of relocation to Oklahoma City from Seattle and things honestly were not going to get much better except possibly the days of good weather. I mean, I'd imagine it's pretty hot in the middle of the country in Oklahoma City where as opposed to a city where it rains a goood majority of the time so I guess out of the rather terrible season of expectations, that's one positive you could look forward to.

Washington: Next was Eddie Jordan. In Eddie's position, this firing was unjust because of the circumstance of having your best player already out for the next few months ("Agent 0" Gilbert Arenas) and basically playing with a cast of dependable players like Caron Butler and Antwan Jamison that could play well for a little bit till Arenas came back in January and get the Wizards to the Playoffs. Yes, when Eddie Jordan was fired, the Wizards were at a miserable 1-10 record and since then had gone to this point 4-18 under new Headcoach, Ed Tapscott. Is it me or does Tapscott look similar to one New York Governor, David Patterson? Anyways, This firing came only a few days before Thanksgiving and really just under a month into the season. This team wouldn't of been this bad and were bound to rebound sooner rather than later. Eddie did help get the Wizards to playoff appearances the last 4 years in a row and was even named the Eastern Conference Coach at the 2007 Allstar game. So much for longevity and playoff appearances, even if they made their exits rather early only reaching the first round.

Toronto: Really? Sam Mitchell? Now this might have been one of the more rediculous coaching firings out of all of them at this point right now. Just two years ago, he was the Coach of the year in the NBA. With talents like Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh, this team this team should have been better than their 8-9 record when Mitchell was fired and now their 10-14 since that point but the whole issue with this deal had to do with the factors regarding that Mitchell preached to turn the defense around and last year, helped Toronto to 47 wins and a Atlantic Division Title. Now I guess Canada can fully be recognized as a position in the NBA where fellow Canadian fans can choose for a team that is represented by a Canadian Head Coach in Jay Triano. Mother Canuckers.....Eh?

(That's Canadian slang....Mike T.; the WCWP Student Director of the Station would know what that means.)

Minnesota: Next to get the Axe was Randy Whitman. His replacement? Kevin McHale. Yes, the same Kevin McHale that was apart of the Celtics dynasty in the mid 80's and traded away their only marketable talent that played for the 'Wolves in the "Big Ticket" Kevin Garnett back over to Boston for really Ryan Gomes and Al Jefferson. Well for Minnesota....They traded away O.J. Mayo for Kevin Love...Ask Max Caster how Love is doing up there for more information and basically have Mike "Hey, I used to play for Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators and made the National Championship game while I was in College but other than that, my career has been useless" Miller to play with "Big Al" Jefferson. Since that point, the 2nd part of the McHale Head Coaching regime hasn't started out to well, losers of their last 5 games making them now 4-20. Wittman was 38-105 since taking over for Dwane Casey in January 2007. He went 22-60 last year, his only full season in charge. This was probably the only Head Coaching removal I would of agreed with but the person in charge at the helm now? not so much.

Philadelphia: Now, I will take some blame for thinking the 76'ers would make the NBA finals especially after their slow start to the season with only a 9-14 record until their win against the Nets making them 10-14. What is Philly thinking? they extended his contract twice within this year of 2008 and he still got the boot.....Just all sorts of anger as I typed that right there but I'll move on. They resigned Andre "Iggy" Iguodala and basically signed Elton Brand away from the Clippers in the offseason and Baron Davis is still kicking himself for it. Yes the expectations were high and maybe I was drinking the coolaide a little to much but for Mo Cheeks, who is a 76'ers legend who played along with Moses "I parted the NBA Seas" Malone
during their championship run in the 82-83 season was unfair to be fired because of the ways that this team would turn it around with the talent they had on the bench.

I already explained the Kings situation up above but the big problem is the factors of thinking that these interim Head Coaches will be the solution for these teams for the rest of the season. Combined Record wise for these interim head coaches stands at a total of 7-30. Not too good but then again, with these expectations comes the matters of disappoint where they don't have the patience to let a team develop and rebuild in the offseason, so in large part, they get fired. Maybe it's a matter of the economy keeping these interim useless head coaches
in charge but will there ever be a call to sanity for this epidemic?


Byron Scott should be safe with the Hornets at this point of 13-7 and D'antoni should be safe with the Knicks even though till 2010, this franchise will be practically mean nothing to the true fans of the franchise. Only hope can prevail at this point and maybe I'll keep participating at these things called blogs improve. Till next time folks, stay safe and for all C.W. Post Student's good luck on your finals.

- Nick Malone

P.S: Tune into Off The Glass tonight at 9pm EST where we'll have Peter Vessey on the show to discuss all things going on right now in the NBA featuring Cleveland's Epic home dominance of 13-0, Boston and LA's resurgance to prominance this early in the season and the progress so far made by my New Orleans Hornets.

Charles Barkley Lobbying for Black Coaches in NCAA

There should be black coaches in the NCAA and all sports organizations. I do not have a problem with that, nor should anyone else. What I have a problem with is Charles Barkley's comments on the hiring of Auburn's new head football coach.

"I think race was the No. 1 factor. You can say it's not about race, but you can't compare the two resumes and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst resume."

It is true that Gene Chizik had a bad resumé from Iowa State. But Barkley cannot prove that his hiring was based on racist feelings towards the other candidates. It could have easily been nepotism as Chizik was Auburn's Defensive Coordinator in 2004.

Barkley went on to add:

"I'm just very disappointed. I just thought Turner Gill would be the perfect choice for two reasons: He's a terrific coach and we needed to make a splash. I thought we had to do something spectacular to bring attention to the program. Clearly, if we'd hired a black coach, it would have created a buzz."

Hiring a black coach would definately create a buzz, but in the end, will it be the buzz that will keep Turner Gill around for more than 3 years? A coach doesn't automatically gain tenure with a team because he's black. He becomes a notable coach by winning games, and Chizik was a part of one of Auburn's best years.

Even more from Barkley:

"We talked about the whole race thing in Alabama. I told him it's there and it's going to be anywhere you go. I told him you can't not take the job because of racism. He was worried about being nothing more than a token interview. He was concerned about having a white wife. It's just very disappointing to me."

Now things become clearer. Barkley has a personal relationship with Gill and is expressing his favoritism towards him. Glorifying your friends is a natural habit. That glorification is slanted and based on a subconsciously instilled personal opinion.

That's fine. But using race and racism as an excuse to hide personal preference and rapport is a completely different situation. Charles has taken one of the nation's touchiest subjects and wrongfully used it as a platform to praise his friend.

He should have let it go. That way, people would not be thinking about racism whenever they see Gene Chizik, they do not think of 'racism'. Barkley needs to realize that he is a public figure and influences a great number of people with his comments. And when his listeners and followers hear his statements and do not do research or act critically towards them, they become uninformed; a massive disservice to the public.

I do not disagree with everything Barkley says, but at times it seems like he is trying to be the Al Sharpton of the sports world. Al Sharpton, while he does fight for worthy, racially driven causes (Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, etc.) he can come off as pompous and phony when he does not support injustices cast upon whites - or if he does, is not as much of a figurehead for that situation.

Barkley has lessened himself with his statements towards Auburn.

Max Caster

Listen to The Sportswire every Thursday night at 9pm on http://mywcwp.com