Frustration

Frustration. That’s the word that sums up watching the UVA basketball team play. The game against Maryland last night was just plain frustrating to watch. Seeing a team slip to dead last in the ACC at 1-5 is painful and frustrating. Forget the real Tourney, at 11-8, we are in serious danger of not even being eligible to make the NIT. Maybe it feels so much worse because we got spoiled last year. Conference co champions, undefeated at home in league play and the second round of March Madness. But sinking to the cellar of the ACC is not the sort of drop off I expected. It’s all so frustrating.

Frustration is Sean Singletary not taking control of the game in the first half. This guy is obviously the best guy on the team, by a large margin. Thus it makes sense that he would need to carry us offensively. Yet he doesn’t start trying to impose his will on the game until 10 minutes left in the 2nd, and by that point it’s too late. Last year we had JR Reynolds to pace the offense in the first half and then let Singletary do his thing in the closing 20 minutes. But the Cavs don’t have that this year. Singletary finished with 23 points on 9-17 shooting, which is a great game. But he only had 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting in the first half. Take more shots!!! With the way the team is currently made up, we cannot win without Singletary playing with a sense of urgency in both halves, not just the second. Late in the second period Sean was awesome, making big shots left and right, including that ridiculous finger roll with the left hand that tear dropped in. He needs to stop being so selfless and realize he needs to be like that in the first half as well. Him developing a Kobe Bryant attitude would give us the best chance to win, as much as I hate saying it.

Frustration is giving up offensive rebound putbacks when you are trying to make a comeback on the road. This was the most infuriating part of the game for yours truly. Three times in the last 3:28 the Terps were able to corral an offensive rebound and put it back for 2. This is absolutely demoralizing for the team and its fans. The point margin between UVA and Maryland before these three putbacks were 7, 7 and 5 points respectively. It is such a dagger to have stopped a team defensively but then give up these bullshit baskets because people didn’t hustle for a rebound. 3 putbacks in the last 3:28 Frustration out the asshole.

Frustration is having to listen to Mike Patrick call your game. This guy is so freakin annoying. Every layup, 3 pointer, bounce pass, substitution, and traveling call is the most spectacular, awe inspiring, jaw dropping piece of college basketball beauty that this dude has ever seen. Get a hold of your self buddy. I don’t know how Len Elmore works with Patrick. UVA doesn’t get many shots on ESPN, and when we do, its freakin Mike Patrick. Our next stop on the four letter is March 5^th when the Dookies come to town, and I will put a 50 spot down that MP will be doing the call. F.r.u.s.t.r.a.t.i.o.n.

And finally, frustration is having poor Ryan Petinella on your basketball team. Honestly, when I started the original Oceanliner feature of tracking his season long totals of fouls versus points I thought it would be close for half the season and then his points would get out of range of his fouls. Not so fast my friends. Last time we checked in on Petinella, or Pett as I like to call him, he was dead even at 36 apiece. Well as it turns out, Pett did not have a good next two games. In the two losses to Georgia Tech and Maryland, he accumulated a staggering 8 fouls to only 3 points. Chalk it up for a –5 spot for the season now. And of those 3 points, 2 came on a goal tending call when the shot was definitely not going to fall. What’s even more incredulous about this is that he played for 39 minutes total in these two losses and only had 2 rebounds to go along with his 3 points. Let’s think about that. In almost an entire game’s worth, Pett had 3 points and 2 stinkin rebounds Which makes you wonder what the hell he’s actually doing on the court. Oh yeah, he’s too busy fouling people to do anything else. Pretty nuts and definitely frustrating.

Moving on from UVA but sticking with college basketball, who the hell are some of these teams ranked in the top 25? (A transition sentence in The Oceanliner? Hmm, what a novel idea…) Butler? 12 in the country. Drake? 16^th. St Mary’s? Oh yeah, 21^st, how could I forget. I have honestly never heard of Drake University/College/Online. Where the hell did they come from and how are they ranked? What conference do they play in? Ten bucks to whoever can tell me where they are located. If you said Des Moines, Iowa then you are correct. Do they bore their opponents to death? I know this is the mid major era but cmon. Drake? Pfffft, more like fake. Zing!

Sticking with the hardwood, but moving up to the professional level, the Miami Heat are one sorry team. Just two years away from winning the NBA title, the Heat are currently 9-35, the second worst record in the entire Association. They recently ran off a stretch in which they lost 15 straight games. They define horrible. The Heat reached a new low in Wednesday night’s loss to the Magic, whith Shaq, D-Wade and Udonis Haslem all sitting out due to injury. No one likes to kick a team when they are down, but check out Miami’s starting lineup for that game.

- Luke Jackson

- Dorell Wright

- Mark Blount

- Ricky Davis

- Jason Williams

Wow. Talk about the sorriest bunch of losers this side of the Mississippi. Fans should be outraged that they paid NBA money to see those Busch league jokers out on the court. Hey, at least they got to see Dwight Howard block 4 of those idiots’ shots in the 18 point Magic win.

Lastly, I would encourage everyone to read this article on Ernie Adams, the Patriots Director of Football Research. Adams has known Belicheck since high school and has followed him almost everywhere. It is a fascinating look at one of the guys behind the scenes of the Patriots machine. The four letter did a great job with this one.

Well, that’s it for this week folks. Sunday is the big game, and the world premier of my annual Super Bowl party. All are welcome, so give me a shout if you plan on coming. Should be good times. To everyone else out there, I hope things are going well, and that we all meet up again sometime soon. Until next time then, as always, stay safe, keep it real and flip the dial.

Unprecedented

So how bout that Texas A&M-Byalor game on Wednesday? No, I’m not talking about the five overtimes, I’m talking about the comically large logo that the Aggies have plastered at the center of their home court. And it’s not just one image, it’s two. There is the outline of the state of Texas superimposed by an enormous red T with a star in the middle.


It seems to me that over the past couple of years, college basketball teams have been putting the biggest images they can find in the middle of their court, and I for one think it is freakin sweet. I think it looks really cool. The bigger the better. It really adds to the spectacle of watching a college basketball game on TV. I can only imagine its effect in person. As it turns out, the A&M court not only has this awesome image, it is made out of old school parquet wood. The basketball gods have indeed smiled on Reed Arena. Unfortunately for the Aggies, the bball deities have not smiled on the actual team, who have lost 3 straight after being ranked as high as number 9 in the country.

I don’t know who started this trend, but I feel like Kansas has been sporting the biggest Jayhawk I’ve ever seen in Allen Field House for quite a while now.


Look at that thing, its enormous. I think stamping your court with a ridiculously sized logo is a trend that should flow throughout the college basketball world. Many teams already have it in place, and I think it should become rampant. Texas also has the state of Texas outlined on their court, but of course with a Longhorn on top of it.


Even perennial SEC cellar dweallar Mississippi has gotten into the act, with a little twist. Their signature M at midcourt is not that preposterous, but they superceded it with the school’s name running from 3 point line to 3 point line.

Awesome. Just awesome. UVA should adopt this trend as soon as possible. Except in the middle of JPJ should be a snarling Cavman, not the V and Sabres. And I’m not talking about the face of the current, racially indistinguishable Cavman. We need to bring back the logo from the 80’s, like the one on the orange mesh hat I have. A dashing, frowning, Italian looking Cavman that looks like he wants to beat your ass. We should have one of those at half court, and as big as humanly possible. Littlepage, it’s in your hands now.

So sticking with college basketball, UVA is in free fall mode. We are now 1-3 in the ACC after the loss to Florida State on Wednesday night in Tallahassee. That’s good for last place in the conference. Not good. Unless we can put together a run and somehow get 9-10 wins in the ACC, there is no chance of making the Tourney. Sean Singletary had to be better against the Noles. We only lost by 2 but Singletary only had 11 points on 4-11 shooting. That’s not going to cut it.

The only positive thing that came out of the FSU game is updating the original Oceanliner feature about Ryan Pettinella’s season quest to have more fouls than points. It’s been three games since the last update, when Ryan stood dead even at 24 each. Against the Hokies, he boosted his stock with a 6 point, 4 foul performance. Then he stalled against Boston College, accumulating 4 and 4. And then he was awful against the Seminoles, picking up 4 fouls with only 2 points in 12 minutes. Hey at least he is consistent with his fouls. And now he’s at 36 apiece for the season! 12 games left for the big man, and I think it’s going to be a quite a heart pounding ending. Stay tuned.

So the UVA men’s tennis team is good, but I had no idea how unbelievably good they were until I checked the most recent rankings. They are the number 1 team in the nation, picking up 27 out of a possible 37 first place votes. Somdev Devaarman, the reigning NCAA singles champion, is ranked number 1 in the country individually. We also have the numbers 3 and 12 ranked players in the country in Singles. Plus Devaarman and Treat Huey are the number 1 ranked doubles team in the country. UVA returns 6 out of 7 starters from a team that reached the national semifinals as a team last year and finished ranked second in the country. In a word…stacked. Let’s hope the Hoos can bring home the title this year.

All of this tennis success can be attributed to the recruiting and coaching of head man Brian Boland. When he came to Charlottesville in 2002, the Cavs weren’t even ranked in the top 75 in the country as a team. Since then, he has turned the program a consistent top 10 power, won 3 ACC championships and produced 8 All-Americans. This includes 1 national semifinal appearance and 2 quarterfinal berths. In his five years at alma mater Indiana State, Boland had a 121-32 career record and led the Sycamores to the NCAA tournament 3 times. Dude straight up knows how to coach and how to recruit, and I’m glad he’s in Charlottesville.

For all of you Blind Side fans out there, Michael Oher has declared for the NFL draft and will forego his senior season at Ole Miss. The best of luck to him. For those of you who have not read The Blind Side, go buy it immediately. A must read. In short, it’s about a poor black kid in Memphis who basically doesn’t go to school until the 8^th grade, but has unbelievable football skills. It is written by Michael Lewis, the same author of Moneyball. Go read it now, it’s well worth it. It’s so good that Tyler, Gutie and Fish all managed to read the book during a 5-day span at Beach Week in between bouts of getting drunk. The Blind Side has the official Oceanliner stamp of approval.

So we all know by now about the lynching comment made by Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman about Tiger Woods. Now the editor of Golfweek Magazine has been fired for putting a picture of a noose on the cover of it’s latest issue, and it reeks of PC bullshit. Here is what the editor had to say right after the issue’s release:

"Was it an arresting image? Yes, it was," Golfweek editor Dave Seanor told USA Today. "We chose it because it was an image we thought would draw attention to an issue we thought deserved some intelligent dialogue."

And then a couple of days later, Seanor gets fired. What an absolute crock. This is a guy who is thinking correctly about the situation. This issue damn sure needs some intelligent dialogue around it. Race is still a huge issue in the United Sates and in golf as well. But these PC freaks just want to shove it under a rug and pretend it never happened. This editor tries to shed some light on the issues and gets fired. The anchor who made the comment only got a 2 week suspension. This is the way the US is heading, and it sucks.

Finishing with more depressing news about UVA sports, quarterback Jameel Sewell has been suspended from the school for the spring semester for failing his classes. Three other players were also suspended, but none matter as much as Sewell. Way to go jackass. We don’t even know if Sewell will be eligible to come back in the fall, but even if he does he loses all of the practice time over the spring and summer which would have been vital to his development. Now we have to prepare for Southern Cal with Napoleon Dynamite as our quarterback. Oh well, it’s just UVA football.

Well, that concludes this week’s double dose of The Oceanliner folks. Hope you liked it, but don’t get used to it. I would like to wish Eschenroeder a very happy birthday; the young man turned 23 on Thursday. I think the plan is to celebrate on Friday evening out at various saloons in the District. Other than that, no big plans this weekend for moi. Hope everyone is doing well. Until next time then, stay safe, keep it real and remember to downshift.

Title Game Musings

NFC

First of all, The Oceanliner would like to congratulate Elisha Manning, who has dealt with as much criticism and scrutiny as any American athlete this decade. To be able to deal with all of the shit he gets, put it behind him and guide his team to three straight road playoff wins and into the Superbowl is simply amazing. Lil’ bro is a starting quarterback on the biggest stage of his sport, and no one can take that away from him. Now I have been known to imbibe the Haterade on many occasions, but credit should be given where it is due. And Manning has been simply superb in this postseason. A 62% completion percentage, 4 touchdowns and absodutely most importantly no turnovers in the Giants run to Glendale. Add this to the fact that Eli has now won 10 straight road starts and you have to conclude that he’s pretty damn good. He’s in the Big Game in just his 4th season, half of what it took Peyton. I know he plays in the JV-like NFC, but that’s not his fault. He is one of the key reasons the G-Men are in the Superbowl, and no one can take that away from him.

That second half of the NFC Championship game was incredibly entertaining football. Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal (with an interception then fumble by the Giant’s RW McQuarters thrown in the middle), missed field goal, punt, punt, punt (with another fumble by McQuarters), missed field goal, interception, winning field goal is how the second half and overtime played out. It was riveting stuff. The atmosphere was incredible and crazy stuff kept on happening left and right. I was stunned when Lawrence Tynes’ last field goal split the uprights after he had chunked his previous two attempts like a bad pitching wedge. From 47 yards!!! Unbereivable.

It makes me so happy that the Packers lost the game because of a Brett Favre heave-ho interception. We were recording the game at Ribrary Courts, and I must have watched that pick from the back angle 10 times. It was a horrendous pass, through and through. It was single man-coverage and Jennings had position on the out route. All Brett “Gunslinger” Favre had to do was put the ball to the outside and it’s either a catch or an incompletion. Instead he floats the lamest duck I’ve ever seen and Corey Webster intercepts easily. That throw was so bad and so weak it would have made Chad Pennington proud. Mr. Wrangler Jeans’ other INT was no prettier, an off balance, spin move prayer that had no shot, but was saved by RW McQuarters’ fumble-itis. Maybe the best present anyone could ever get me would be a compilation of every interception of Brett Favre’s career. I could watch that over and over and over and over. Priceress.

I also love how bad Al “Predator” Harris got burned all game. He kept getting all up into Plaxico Burress’ face, trying to act all hardass and intimidating and provoking random shoving matches at the end of seemingly every play. If you are going to act like a hardass, you better play like one. Al Harris instead played like a chump, allowing Plax to go for 11 catches and 154 yards in a game where the Packers lined up almost exclusively in man coverage, with Harris on Burress. Congratulations Al, you look like a fool.

At some point we have to talk about the weather at Lambeau. That shit was absolutely ridiculous. At the end of the game Fox reported that it was –4 degrees with a wind-chill of –24. You call off Everest expeditions in that kind of weather, much less a football game. The Weather Channel’s website tracks conditions for major sporting events, and has a “spectator index” from 1-10 on how favorable the weather is. They had the NFC title game as a 1, but it deserved it’s own category of hell. ESPN reported that viedographers had to put quilts and blankets over their cameras to keep them functioning. They said fans in the parking lots before the game couldn’t drink their beer because it all froze too fast. I hope Tom Coughlin isn’t put on the Giant’s injury report with facial frostbite. He looked like he got rocked in the face with a two-by-four. Packers coach Mike McCarthy “looked like he was about to climb Mt. McKinley”, said eminent Oceanliner roommate Mr. Schlingbaum. I got cold watching the game. Nuts is what that was.

AFC

It’s all about performance in the red zone folks. That’s where the AFC tile game was won and lost. Both teams played very well. It was obvious that both squads were well prepared and deserved to be in this Championship game. But you make your money in the red zone, and that’s exactly why the Patriots are heading to the desert to take on the Giants instead of San Diego.

Not surprisingly, the Pats led the league in converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns, at a stellar 69.4% rate. They did even better on Sunday, hitting pay dirt on 3 out of their 4 trips inside of San Diego’s 20-yard line. And this is with the Chargers defense playing well. They held Brady and Co. to 15 points below their season average and forced 3 turnovers.

No, it was the New England red zone defense that won this ball game. They stepped up their play when it was needed most, and that was the difference in this game. The Patriots red zone defense was actually the sixth worst in the league in the regular season, allowing opposition touchdowns on 59% of drives into the red zone. On Sunday? A big fat 0%. On three of the San Diego scoring drives they got the ball inside the 10 yard line even, and had to settle for Nate Kaeding field goals. And while not technically in the red zone, the 4th field goal came from the 22-yard line. Four times the Chargers drove deep into enemy territory, and four times the Patriots defense said shit no you ain’t getting into the end zone. The Chargers themselves were 7th in the league in turning red zone opportunities into touchdowns, but they failed against New England. This is where the Chargers missed LT the most and his extreme nose for the end zone. There is a reason Tomlinson is already 7th on the career touchdown list. He possesses the knack and the huger to punch the ball in when his team is close to scoring. As good as Michael Turner and Darren Sproles are, they don’t have that talent. The difference in the AFC title game was red zone performance, and had LT been out there, Superbowl 42 may have been marching to the beat of a different drum.

One other note about this game. Similar to LT’s nose for the end zone is some defensive players ball hawking instinct. The one that certain players have and always seem to be in the right place at the right time for the interception. Antonio Cromartie has this skill, and it cannot be taught, it’s just a feeling these guys have. Darren Sharper of the Vikings has it. So do Asante Samuel and Champ Bailey. Cromartie led the NFL with 10 picks this year, and had another brilliant one against Tom Brady. The Patriots had the ball at 3rd and goal from the 2-yard line and Brady drops back to pass. Cromartie is playing a soft zone and patrolling the middle of the end zone. Behind him, stud tight end Ben Watson throws a great juke and becomes wide open in the back of the end zone. Note that Cromartie cannot see Watson behind him, yet still shades to his left, just by following Brady’s eyes and having a sixth sense about where the play will end up. Brady delivers the ball a little low and Cromartie darts ever farther over, covering Watson and making the spectacular interception. This play probably took 3-4 seconds. There is no time for a DB to think in this situation, only time to react. Some DB’s have this sixth sense about how the play is developing and where the ball is going to be. Cromartie has this ability, and it is impressive to watch.

Well, that’s it for today. The Oceanliner is very grateful for the stats page on the USA Today website, or else this post would have been sunk. I had a very relaxing three day weekend, and saw two things worth noting. First, I saw There Will Be Blood in the theater on Saturday. It is a must see. 2 hours and 40 minutes of Daniel Day Lewis being a ruthless hardass. It was a very powerful movie and freakin sweet. Secondly, I caught the series premiere of Breaking Bad on AMC on Sunday night. It’s a show about a high school chemistry teacher (the dad from Malcolm in the Middle) with a shitty life who starts cooking crystal meth on the side to make some extra money. The pilot was nuts, with crazy stuff going on supplemented by hilariously dry one-liners. Another thing to check out.

In an unprecedented move, I hope to have another post up this week about non-NFL playoff related items. So check back hopefully Friday for some more Oceanliner original programming. If not, sue me. Until next time, stay safe, keep it real and nurse your beers.

Quick Hits and a Rittle Bit o' Ribrary

Everyone needs a little more Ribrary Courts in their life, and since I get some every day, I figured it would be appropriate to lead off today’s post with a small update on the fortune of my fine building. First off, big news in the bottled soft drinks arena. Everyone in the complex has been very depressed lately because of the departure of the vending machine that would give you 4 sodas and your money back. Never fear though, Ceejay is here! Last week brought the triumphant return of the Ribrary Courts vending machine, but now it’s a brand spanking new Pepsi machine. It is filled with the usual Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist, but this contraption also has a Lipton Green Tea selection. How very hippy of them. But of course it hasn’t been stocked yet so we can’t determine the degree of hilarity that will ensue. At least it has a sticker that reads: “This machine takes new $1 presidential coins!”. Finally! I’ve been looking for a place to get rid of all my presidential $1 coins…

In other Ribrary reports, there was a printed notice posted in the elevator alerting tenants to sidewalk construction that was to occur this past weekend. Somehow the dates had been mistaken, but instead of printing a new bulletin, someone had gone in and changed the date with white out and a pen. You stay classy Mr. Courts.

I don’t have anything to say about UVA’s massacre at the hands of Duke on the college hardwood, other than to update an original Oceanliner feature. For those of you following along at home, we are tracking whether or not Ryan “Tree Trunks” Pettinella can go an entire season with more fouls than points. Well, I’m happy to report than after a stellar 9 point, 4 foul effort against the Blue Devils (in only 18 minutes I might add), everyone’s favorite immobile center is dead even for the season with 24 points and 24 fouls! UVA’s season may fizzle down the stretch, but Pettinella’s road to glory will keep me hooked until the very end. To maintain his dignity, Ryan will have to avoid performances like the Hartford game, where he had 2 fouls and 0 of everything else in only 2 minutes of action. Conference play may be a bit tougher on the big man…

Peter King is a horrible football writer. For being a person that is paid to write about the NFL for a living, for freakin Sports Illustrated no less, he is unbelievably bad. Besides busting his load over Brett Favre week after week, he continually bombards readers week after week with horrible gimmicks. Earlier in the season he tried to rank the top 500 overall players in football. What a cop out for a column and an exercise in futility. And now it gets comical. Every week in his Monday Morning QB column on SI.com, King ranks “The Fine Fifteen”, his unabashedly biased ranking of the best 15 teams in the league. And for some unknown reason, he has continued these Fine Fifteen rankings deep into the playoffs, even when there were only 8 and 4 teams left in the bracket! What a loser. Let me waste both mine and my reader’s time by arbitrarily ranking teams that won’t play another football game for 9 months, instead of actually analyzing games that just happened or preview the upcoming Conference Title Games and Super Bowl. So frustrating some times.

If you want good NFL analysis however, may I point you towards Gregg Easterbrook and his Tuesday Morning Quarterback column on the Page 2 section of ESPN.com. In typical Oceanliner punctuality, I now realize I am pointing this out with only 3 games left in the whole stinkin playoffs. But for the rest of the way, and in years to come, Easterbrook is as logical and insightful as they come when breaking down the past week of NFL games. Here is where you can find his archive, and look for a recap column Tuesday early afternoon.

In other Page 2 news, DJ Gallo now writes 1-2 columns per week for this ESPN section, a well as a new Sports Pickle every week. For those of you like me who love his sarcastic and seemingly out of nowhere zingers, this is a welcome addition to any holster of anticipated weekly-read columns.

In a bit of humble NFL analysis myself, the Chargers GM is the reason San Diego beat Indianapolis on Sunday. The fact that LT might get injured, like he did Sunday, is exactly why General Manager AJ Smith has one of the best backups in the league in Michael Turner. This is a guy who has averaged 5.5 yards a carry in 4 years backing up Tomlinson. Smith re-signed Turner before this season to a 1-year deal for $2.35 million. That is starter’s money for a backup to the best back in the league. Everyone thought this was crazy. But shit, Turner’s 71 HUGE second half yards is one of the main reasons San Diego is now in the AFC title game and not sitting at home back in Cali for the off season. Smith also drafted lighting quick Darren Sproles as the team’s 3rd RB and return specialist. Besides having 2 special teams TD’s in the regular season against the Colts, Sproles took a screen pass 56 yards for 6 in the rematch on Sunday in about .2 seconds. Dude is Noel Devine fast. Smith also signed Antonio Gates as an undrafted free agent. Smith also orchestrated the 2004 Draft day trade with the G-Men the sent away Elisha Manning but got them Phil Rivers (competitive as hell), plus the Giants picks that they used on Shawne Merriman and kicker Nate Kaeding. Smith also drafted Luis Castillo, Antonio Cromartie and Eric Weddle (he of the sick interception). Smith also traded for wideout Chris Chambers midseason (67 yards and a touchdown vs. Indy, 121 yards vs. Tennessee). Dude is a talent uber freak and a goddamn genius. He even got a backup like Billy Volek to look good. I bet the Titans missed Billy the Kid when they had to resort to Kerry “Homeless Man-Psychopath-Al Borland” Collins this year. It makes you wonder how some GM’s can mess up so bad and keep their jobs. AJ Smith, The Oceanliner salutes you.

Well, that’s it for today folks. The Oceanliner had a helluva time this weekend, sake bombing on Friday night and wine tasting all day Saturday. Many thanks to the roommate coalition of Meg-Christina-Eileen-Emily for organizing that one, as Austin, Schling, Tori and Beercan all came along for the ride. Funniest part of the afternoon were the two wineries less than a mile apart, one called Lost Creek and the other Hidden Brook. Talk about completely ripping a name off your neighbor. This led to many jokes about a third wine being created called Invisible Stream or Concealed Tributary. Good times.

Just another heads up that apartment 310 at Ribrary Courts will be throwing a Super Bowl party on February 3rd. We can officially announce that deer chili will be served now, along with copious amounts of alcohol. Everyone that can make it should stop on by. Until then, stay safe, keep it real and put your mittens on.

Holiday Musings

Happy 2008 everybody. I hope everyone had a good holiday season and a jolly new year. The Oceanliner celebrated the closing of ’07 with 3000 of his closest friends at an open bar, 2 live band shit show on the Georgetown Waterfront. It was a very fun evening as Austin, Schling, Tori, Beercan, Emily, Kyle, Kye, A-rod and others all graced the party with their presence. There were people rubbing out left and right however, and I haven’t seen people act that primitive in a long time. Right as we were leaving, a girl was sitting on a ledge, leaned over and threw up right on the carpet. The friend sitting next to her didn’t even notice as she was about to pass put herself. No staff noticed. About 15 guests watched this girl empty her stomach and stood their silenced. Yeah, that about sums up the night.

On a more civil note, I did have the chance to catch 2 live sporting events recently, and of course, have random thoughts on a variety of topics. Do it.

With my mother’s side of the family in town for the holidays, we all decided to check out a Caps game at the Verizon Center. I have absolutely no interest in hockey, but I must say, a live game is extremely entertaining. Following the puck is not hard at all (compared to TV impossibility), the skills displayed on the ice were impressive and 15,000 cheering hockey fans is a great atmosphere to be a part of. The Verizon Center has held up very nicely for being 10 years old. It still looks state of the art and there is not a bad seat in the 20,000 person capacity building. I definitely want to make it back to a game or two more this season.

Slightly more impressive than that was the Redskins-Cowboys game I attended in the last week of the regular season. It was a game the Skins had to have to make it to the playoffs and everyone was jacked up as hell. There is a huge difference between the psyche at college football and NFL games. At UVA games at least, people drink to have a good time and enjoy everything that goes into a football Saturday. At Redskins games, people are drinking to get angry and wasted, and to inflict punishment on the opposing team and their fans. Cowboy fans walking around with kids were getting openly cussed at, and I saw many shirt that simply read “FUCK DALLAS”. It is definitely not a family environment. Which was completely fine with me I might add. I am certainly not a Redskins fans, but I sure as hell can root completely against the Cowboys. I wore my personalized 49ers jersey to the game and got many strange looks, but most figured out I was rooting against Dallas and were fine with that.

It turned out to be an awesome game if you were a Redskins lover/Cowboys hater. Dallas never got into the game and got blown out 27-6. And let me tell you, FedEx Field is probably the most impressive stadium I’ve ever been in. It is freakin humongous and right on top of the field. It goes straight up instead of outwards. The day I was there featured the largest crowd in stadium history, over 95,000 lunatics. It was awesome. I have now been to 2 straight Redskins home victories over the Cowboys, so it looks like my friend Weasel will have to invite me every year.

In non-live sporting events, the Orange Bowl between Kansas and Virginia Tech was one of the most entertaining football games I’ve seen in a long time. There was something exciting happening every five minutes for the entire game. There was a pick 6, an 84 yard reverse punt return for a touchdown, a blocked field goal, a fake punt, 4 total interceptions, a fumble at the 1 yard line, a 2nd and goal from the 29 yard line, the crazy 40 yard pass to Royal-2 KU defenders-Boone, 9 total sacks and the outcome came down the last five minutes of the game. You can ask for much more than that. Both teams played their hearts out and were hitting each other so hard. That’s what it’s all about. And Tech losing. That’s what it’s all about.

Noel Devine may be the fastest running back I’ve ever seen.

Beanie Wells is a stud of a running back.

The BCS is awesome. I’m not kidding. I love the match-ups it produces every year. Games we never would have seen under the old, political as hell bowl system.

The NCAA has got to get the length of these games under control. They are painfully slow. The BCS games lasted around four hours each. That should be a triple OT game, not a regulation game. Even the UVA-Texas Tech Gator bowl was 4:10. It’s getting ridiculous and unacceptable. Especially when they start the games at 8:15 pm. All the games last till past midnight. Get your hat on right NCAA.

Tiger Woods made $122 million last year.

Tyler Hansbrough’s dunk on 7’7’’ Kenny George of UNC Ashville was straight cojones.

SportsCenter sinks to a new low by showing the Tony Romo pictures with Jessica Simpson in Cabo, and then talking about it for 10 minutes. They had to run the TMZ logo to show where they got it. ESPN is killing the horse that got them to where they are. It’s turning into a soap opera and it sucks. Throw in all their “legal experts” and “law analysis” and it makes me want to throw up. I want to see highlights, not a cross between Law and Order and Days of Our Lives. It’s so bad that ESPN News is a better show than SportsCenter now. A sad time for the Worldwide Leader.

Well, that’s it for this week folks. Austin and I have already been country hopping in the ’08 as we made it down to Houston for one of Austin’s UVA roommate’s wedding. In a hilariously Texan move, Lee-Wilson wore white cowboy boots down the aisle under her dress and pulled it off spectacularly. Congratulations to her and Patrick. I managed to snag a Lacoste shirt at Mexican flee market for $25 while in H town, and I’m pretty sure its real, so I’m stoked about that. Thinking ahead here, if you are in the DC area then you should plan on coming to Ribrary Courts on Super Bowl Sunday, as Apt 310 will be throwing a kick ass party. All are welcome to come in from wide ranging locations as well. It is February 3rd. Until next time, stay safe, keep it real, and count your chickens.

Gator Bowl Musings

Run the ball!

With 11:26 to go in the 2008 Gator Bowl, Virginia took a 28-14 lead over Texas Tech on an 11 yard touchdown pass from Peter Lalich to Mikell Simpson. Every single offensive play call from this point forward should have been a run. For the game, UVA amassed 249 rushing yards on 47 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt. It’s starting quarterback was out of the game with an injury, and was being backed up by a true freshman.

Run the ball!

The Virginia coaches were actually smart on their next possession, after a stellar defensive stand by a unit that played well all game. They ran three straight times up the gut from their own 1 yard line, and Ryan Weigand let boom a 52 yard punt.

Texas Tech then staged a very impressive 9 play, 51 yard touchdown drive that only took 2:07. There is 3:31 left in the game, what should the Cavs do?

Run the freaking ball!

They didn’t even need play calls for what should have been the next three happenings. Simpson run, Simpson run, Simpson run. Stay in bounds and don’t fumble. Grind the clock out, force the Red Raiders to use their timeouts. Use the clock as your teammate. Hell, you might even get a first down. Instead, the coaches call perhaps the stupidest play I’ve ever seen since starting to follow the program. A screen pass from your own 16 yard line with a freshman quarterback, designed to fake right before spinning and tossing left. Hmmm, yeah, let’s open up our quarterback to be blindsided, when the defensive lineman are supposed to be unblocked!!! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what happens next. Three Tech defenders jailbreak towards Lalich, Napoleon Dynamite gets absolutely Mack trucked and fumbles the ball. No surprise there. There is no reason on God’s green Earth why that play should have been called. There’s no reason in Hell why any type of passing play should have been called. Especially inside your own red zone. Especially after the Hoos had already gotten their miracle drive from Lalich. Inconceivable.

Run the ball!

So of course Texas Tech scores a touchdown on the next play. That’s what happens when you get field position on the other team’s 4 yard line. So UVA gets the ball back with the score tied and 2:45 left on the clock on their own 24 yard line. Big Mo has shifted so dramatically that there is no chance we are going to drive down the field and win the game in regulation. At this point you have to cut your losses and play for overtime, where you can regroup and make things more even. What should UVA do?

Run the ball!

But of course they don’t. Two passes and a run are called. One pass is incomplete and the other on third down is tucked and inexplicably run out of bounds by Sewell. At this point, they need three more runs up the gut, forcing Texas Tech to use their time outs, instead of giving them both time and timeouts to kick a 41 yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the game to clinch the win…..Run the ball!

This horrendous play calling by Al Groh and his staff spoiled a superb all around effort by the Cavs as a whole. The offense relied on the running game, using it to set up short passes to the running backs and tight ends. I do give the coaches credit for rarely even trying to throw to one of our pathetic wide receivers. Sewell was average, which was all it would have taken us to win the game. His ability to avoid sacks is a huge morale booster for the offense and a killer for the defense. Simpson is a stud with a superb knack to run north-south. Before a mind fart at the end of the game, the offense played well for 55 minutes.

I’m surprised Chris Long hasn’t murdered someone is frustration after the end of the Gator Bowl. That guy is so good and such a freak he might be worthy of the number 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. He has no flaws, an endless motor and can both pressure the quarterback and go sideline to sideline to stuff the run extremely well. And he’s got that scary, semi physcho edge too that really dominating defenders all have. That edge that makes you think they are probably crazy. The tick that Lawrence Taylor, Ray Lewis, Dick Butkiss and Nightrane Lane all had. The tick that leaves them with no fear and the utmost motivation to punish people on the field.

The defense did a great job all game giving the Red Raiders those short routes that took a long time to add up, pressuring the quarterback and stuffing the run. If they hadn’t been betrayed by the coaching staff, they would have come away with a win.

Texas Tech impressed me too. They are by no means a joker team. I don’t know why everyone describes their offense as “gimmicky”. All I saw is that they pass it on almost every play. The Patriots have done this all season as well, is their offense gimmicky too? The Red Raiders don’t line up in any crazy formations like the Wild Hog or Wishbone or Triple Option. They just run short slants and timing patterns very successfully. Maybe “gimmicky” means an effective offense.

Of course, having a freak like Michael Crabtree lining up at wideout will help any offense. I don’t know how he ended up in Lubbock, but that kid is one of those Cyborg receivers on the field a la T.O., Anquan Boldin, Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson. Crabtree looks like a superhero out there. He had a subpar game (by his standards) and still caught 9 balls for 101 yards and a touch. I had never seen Crabtree play before, and that guy is going to play on Sunday.

The Texas Tech punter provided one of the most impressive plays I have ever seen on a football field. On the punt with the high snap, Jonathan LaCour raced back, picked up the ball and got absolutely steamrolled as he tried to kick it. Yet he somehow got a foot on the ball and saved his team 20 yards. He got hit so hard that the opposite force of him going backwards may have propelled his feet forward with enough upmh to get a kick off. What was even more ridiculous is that LaCour is right footed and got this one off with his left. Amazing.

All in all, I can’t complain. We played a very entertaining and exciting bowl game, and lost on the last plat of the game. After setting the NCAA record for most wins by 2 points or less in a season, it seems fitting we lose a heartbreaker like that. It was a thrill getting a New Years Day bowl game with CBS’s lead production team and best announcers (I love you Verne Lundquist) instead of dyke ass Pam Ward and the noon timeslot on ESPN2. I can’t complain about a 9-4 season that ends the way it did, given the parameters around UVA football. See you on August 30^th, 2008 when UVA opens next college football season at home against Southern Cal. I can’t wait. Wahoowa.