Mountaineers in the Final 4!!!

Even though no one probably reads this blog anymore, I just had to say something about West Virginia's HUGE win tonight against the favored Kentucky Wildcats. Most picked Kentucky to win the entire thing ever since Kansas and Syracuse made their early exits, but they sure ran into a buzz saw tonight! No one picked WVU to win the Big East Tournament . . . they won that. No one picked them to beat Kentuky to go to the Final Four . . . they did that. Maybe people are starting to think twice before betting against the Mountaineers!!

We had a blast watching the game at our place with 2 other couples - one of which are natives of West Virginia. What a big win for this state. I'm not from the state, but I've spent 2 years here, and let me tell you, the people of this state LOVE the Mountaineers. There is no professional team here, so everyone rallies around the school. People drive their RV's from all over the state and camp out 2 or 3 days before home football games, and then fill the stadium to capacity (80,000) every time. They are passionate about the basketball team as well. It is fun to see an entire state rally behind one school. What a special win for this state! This will really boost recruiting for next year, and Bob Huggins is an excellent coach, even though he is rough around the edges. It's a fun time to be living in Morgantown right now! If I can get my hands on some cheap tickets, we're going to Indy to cheer on the Mountaineers! After all, it's my Spring Break :)

Mr. Heisman - Mark Ingram

The Heisman race this year was actually exciting, involving a real element of suspense. Colt McCoy seemed like a lock until the Nebraska game, where it was Ndamakung (sp?) Suh who really made a strong case for the award, truly dominating that game. A lot of people were talking Tebow until he put up a stinker against the Crimson Tide, where Mark Ingram instead came out with the Heisman-worthy performance. Then no one could write off Stanford's Toby Gerhart - a manchild who had multiple 200+ rushing yard games and brought his A game against Oregon, USC, and Notre Dame. But in the end, Ingram barely edged out Gerhart for 1st place. I was very impressed with his acceptance speech. You could tell that it really meant a lot for him and that he had put in countless hours to deserve it. He got emotional thanking God first and foremost - not something you hear many athletes do nowadays, so that was good to hear. He thanked his coaches, administrators, and family by name and didn't just reference them by title. He was also very humbled to be the school's first Heisman winner. Even though Colt didn't win (I'm biased, I know), I didn't feel so bad after Ingram so graciously accepted the award. What a classy young man, something the sporting world needs right now after the Tiger Woods train wreck. But something towards the end of the presentation left me with an uneasy feeling inside . . .

Did anyone else notice that when Ingram finished the speech, he only gave hugs to the black former Heisman winners and only gave the white dudes a handshake? Was that just a random coincidence? However, none of the white guys opened up their arms as if to give him a hug either. But would things have been different if the white guys were younger? These guys grew up in the era of segregation and the Civil Rights movement. What if Gerhart, McCoy, or Tebow would have won? Would they have got hugs from the white guys and handshakes from the black guys? Were the white guys sad deep down that the white finalists didn't win? Why couldn't the white guys give Ingram a hug, and be genuinely excited for him? But on the other hand, why couldn't Ingram perhaps make it easier by opening up his arms too?

I don't want to take away from Ingram or the ceremony, I just thought that very last scene was telling. It was sad to see on such a happy night. What do you guys and gals think?

Tiger on the Prowl

So Tiger Woods got busted this week for having an affair(s?) with at least a cocktail waitress from LA and possibly others. I'm just curious what everyone else think about the situation. Here's my 2 cents:

I've got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, everyone is human and no one is perfect. I hesitate to throw stones at someone when I have mistakes of my own. On the other, adultery, in my mind at least, is one of the worst things a person could do, especially someone who is a role model to so many people across the globe. On the one hand, I credit him for coming out clean and apologizing for his "transgressions" and for trying to work things out with his wife and 2 kids, but on the other I wonder if he was just "sorry" for getting caught.

Some ask how this will affect his endorsements and public image etc. My guess is that it won't make a big difference. Maybe if this happened 40 or 50 years ago, but unfortunately, I think today's society is so desensitized to adultery, infidelity and immorality that a lot more people are going to give Tiger a free pass and make excuses for him like "well, he's just so competitive that he wanted to show to himself that he could compete for other women." (I heard that one the other day at school). My response to that would be that if you're not ready to settle down with one person, then don't!

Anyway, what does everyone else think?

What Does "Indisputable" Mean?

Tonight, WVU got screwed by a terrible replay reversal. They were ahead 14-7 and 5th ranked Cincinnati had the ball at the two shortly before halftime. They handed it off to their RB who tried to leap over the pile and extend the ball to break the plane of the end zone. Only problem was he lost control of the ball before getting it there, he ended up fumbling, and WVU recovered for a huge stop. The call on the field was fumble with a WVU recovery.

Now, according to NCAA rules, the only way to get a call on the field reversed by replay is if the video shows "indisputable evidence" that the refs got it wrong the first time. So what does "indisputable" mean? According to the dictionary, it means "not disputable or deniable, uncontestable, unquestionably real." Based on this definition, if the replay still leaves some doubt as to whether the Cincy RB got the ball across, then it can't be "unquestionably real" then, can it? To me (a biased WVU fan), and to both the ESPN guys calling the game (presumably unbiased), it sure looked like he didn't have control of the ball even if the ball DID cross the plane,which in itself was very questionable too.

To everyone's amazement, after a quick review, the ref overturned the call on the field, saying the RB crossed the plane - touchdown Cincy, tying the game at 14 going into halftime. The second half was exciting, Jarrett Brown (WVU's QB) rallied the team and drove the length of the field for the go-ahead score with 37 seconds to play. However, they were still down 3. The onside kick failed and Cincy took a knee to end the game. A 3 point victory. That last touchdown should have put WVU ahead by 4 were it not for the very disputable replay, Cincy should have taken their first loss tonight.

I'd love to hear the ref try and explain how he arrived at an "indisputable" conclusion to overturn the original call. Indisputable means that there is no QUESTION about what happened on the field. Only then can the call be overturned. There were many questions after watching the replay - which should have prevented the refs from overturning the call. What bugs me is that this is certainly not the first VERY questionable call that went towards helping an undefeated team STAY undefeated. Conspiracy? I don't know, but if calls like these continue, a lot of people will have a lot of questions.

Why I Hate the BCS

8 weeks into the season and their are 7 undefeated teams. 1. Florida 2. Texas 3. Alabama 4. Iowa 5. Cincinatti 6. TCU 7. BSU. I don't know how much you guys have been following this season, but I have a lot. Iowa is definitely not a contender. So far they have found a way to win, but I watched their game against a mediocre Indiana team and they struggled big time until a huge surge in the 4th quarter. But I wasn't very impressed. Florida dominated Georgia, who was a dang good team. Texas dominated OK St (although we should mention their #1 receiver has been suspended for the season, but a team is not defined by one player.) Alabama still definitely looks good, but must get through Florida in the SEC championship once again to make it to the national championship. TCU, Cincinatti, and BSU are all very good. And after watching Oregon, they are absolutely the best 1 loss team in college football. So who deserves to play for the national championship? I know we still got a few more weeks. Iowa will probably lose to Ohio State. Cincinatti still has to win out. But BSU will more than likely run the table, TCU has to get by Utah (they can, Utah isn't great this year.) But what if this happens; Oregon wins out, winning the Pac-10; BSU wins out, going undefeated plus beating Oregon; TCU wins out having beaten Utah, BYU, Virginia, Clemson, and everyone else on their schedule; and Florida and Texas wins out. This is why I hate the BCS. It's not fair, and this is one time I'm siding with Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in his proposal that the BCS is not lawful breaking anti-competition laws (don't really know what that means but you're in law school Devin you could tell me if it is or not.) Last year I saw an interesting statistic that said 94% of everyone that voted wanted to see an 8 team playoff system. It would only take 3 weeks, you'd have all the excitement of upsets, close games, and true football in the chase for the national championship. Last year you could make the argument UT got screwed, USC got screwed, and Utah got screwed at a shot for the national title. If the US government decides to get involved and declare an 8 game playoff system for the national title, that would be the best thing they've done in the last decade.

Why penalties should be able to get reviewed

There is four minutes left in the game Utah State goes down the field in a Minute and scores and they makes the two point conversion. The crowd is going wild, they set up for the onside kick and make a beautiful one as number six jumps up and gets the ball. Utah State has the ball and are ready to march down the field. Oh wait what is that its a flag, offsides on Utah State! The crowd boos the coach is arguing, they put the replay on the megatron and they have every right to boo, and argue. There is no offsides! once again the ref makes a call that ends the comeback, that ends the hype. Now it is true the Aggies should not have been in that situation, they have not learned how to win yet. This i understand. My thing is look how much power the refs have. Example even though I cant stand the chargers, last year the umpire makes the wrong call on a fumble and the Broncos win the game, which is sweet but once again it came down to the ref. I just think that they should make it possible even if from the booth to look at a penilty and overturn it. Maybe one day it will happen.
So now the question is who is going to win the world Series?

It's not luck...

Six weeks into the NFL season and we're starting to see the men separate from the boys. Only 4 teams remain undefeated and every one of those is a force to be reckoned with. Most surprising of all those by far, are the now 6-0 Denver Broncos. Why? Trading a franchise QB (Jay Cutler, never liked him) for relatively unknown Orton from the Bears. On top of that, they let go of (probably) hall of fame coach Mike Shanahan and hired a 32 year old kid. Well like everyone else I thought this was all luck up to this point. But for a team to be undefeated in week 6, it's definitely not luck. The other three are now the Vikings, Saints, and Colts. This is a great year in the NFL, probably my favorite so far with Brett Favre having his best start ever, the Titans going 0-6 and losing 59-0 (I don't like Kerry Collins) to the Patriots, I could go on and on. This is going to be a great year as each week goes by and we really see what teams will emerge, and what teams will step up in the postseason. Tyson, I don't know about your cowboys man, I've seen Romo choke too many times to consider them a contender for the postseason. They need to make a few improvements before they become a great team.