Part 2: UMass tailgater "...our team sucks." Wednesday, September 30, 2009

As I said in the closing line of my last post on this topic, I will present a theory which was originated by another poster on umasshoops.com. The poster's screen name is ShadesOf96and98 and here's an edited version of what he wrote:

"Even the best FCS teams are '(crappy)' in the eyes of many, many people who like football.

Yes, we are an elite FCS program, but unless a day comes when we are FBS and playing

FBS schools in an FBS-sized stadium, our brand of football will always be '(crappy)' in the

eyes of many people whether we're winning football games or not. I dont agree with it, most of

the people on here dont agree with it, but it is what it is and always will be"

So I read this, and it made a lot of sense to me. Who cares about FCS? There could be readers who come for Joe's NFL analysis and skip my 1-AA posts. Frankly, I'd be surprised if that weren't the case. And while we're being frank, it's not just this one tailgater who feels this way. Although UMass is arguably the most successful college football program Northeast of Delaware (and I'll include Delaware just to piss off Bluehen fans), I'd be willing to bet a vast majority of Massachusetts residents as well as UMass students and alumni would read that quote and accept it as fact.

I was planning to expand this, but we all get it. Instead, I'll skip right onto my third point: where do we go from here?

So we're faced with three possible reactions to the tailgater's comment. We can acknowledge that the FCS sucks and so do the teams, or we could advocate for UMass to move up to FBS, or we could advocate for a change in public opinion about the FCS. As you can probably tell from my last post, acknowledging FCS sucks is not an option. That leaves us with moving up to FBS or changing our opinion.

What about going FBS?

I see one guarenteed benefit: I'd get to play as the Minutemen in NCAA 2012. When consuls got better (i.e., PS2 was replaced with PS3, Game Cube with Wi, and XBox with XBox 360), EA sports took out the 1AA/FCS teams. If you buy PS2 versions of the game still, I'm told the FCS teams are there. That makes sense, right? Better consul=less teams.

What are other possible benefits? Maybe, just maybe, we'd get to play BC every year. That would be admittedly cool. Right now when the two meet the cards are always stacked in BC's favor. They have more scholarships and are always home. With the playing field leveled I think UMass would take 1 of every 3 from the Eagles, and I'm most definately selling the Minutemen short with that prediction. Bigger basketball fans than I would probably want to play UConn every year too and might consider that a benefit. I personally am indifferent towards Huskies (the UConn ones...I despise the Northeastern ones) so this rivalry would do little for me, but we'll call it a benefit.

So, there are your benefits- video games, BC and UConn.

Now let's look at drawbacks. If I asked people to raise their hand if they remember the last time they heard "BC Eagles" and "National Champions" used in the same sentence with respect to college football, do you think I'd get a lot of hands? I'd guess no, cause they've never won any, or even played for any to my knowledge. It's true I might get a few hands as the facts don't stop the school from claiming it won a title in 1940. I've seen the pennant hanging in the concourse of Alumni Stadium with my own eyes. Here's their side of the story. The NCAA and everyone outside of Chestnut hill disagrees.

Now, raise your hand if you remember the last time "UMass Minutemen" and "National Champions" were used in the same sentence with respect to college football. For some strange reason (see 1998), more people will raise their hand. In fact, if you look at this site, UMass, while only winning 1 NCAA Division 1 Championship, has played in 3 Division 1 Championship games. Three more then my graduate alma mater, Boston College. You do have to hand it to BC though. Unlike UMass, they're undefeated in National Title games.

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So, while I'm having fun at the expense of BC, let's get serious for a second. Is anyone stupid enough to think that if UMass made the jump, they'd do better than what BC has done? Anyone? Do we think the Minutemen would be in a BCS conference competing in the conference title game? How would we even get into a BCS conference? What ties to we have, aside from playing with in the same hockey conference as Providence and Boston College? Providence doesn't even play football, and I don't see the Eagles helping out UMass.

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People seem to throw the MAC around as a possible conference to join, and others want the entire CAA to move up together. If we join the MAC, we lose all our rivals, and I enjoy hating Delaware and UNH. If we move up with the CAA, it automatically becomes the worst conference in FBS in the perception of everyone. And remember, BCS championship game participants aren't chosen based on what they do on the field. They're picked based on perception.

Regardless of which way UMass moved up, the best we could hope for is a really good team team that only loses a game or so a year but is ignored because of the conference affiliation, sort of a east version of Boise State. I can't even begin to imagine how frustrating that must be, never getting a shot to prove yourself on the field. I'd stop watching UMass football. Well, probably not, but still, I'd want to. I guess it wouldn't be all bad though. If we ever became the Boise State of the east, we could paint our field maroon. That would be awesome.

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Even if we get into a BCS conference, the best we'd be able to do (again in my opinion) is what the Eagles have been able to. Is BC really in the position UMass wants to be in with respect to football? The Eagles are also runs every year. Sure, they're better than the non-BCS schools, but they're a joke when compared to the Pac10, Big10 and SEC schools. The way I see it, the Eagles have the same shot Harvard does every year at winning a title, and Harvard abstains from the playoffs on moral ground. Thinking about it this way, I can't really fault the Eagles for pretending they won a championship in 1940.

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I don't believe in purgatory, but FBS seems like it's the closest thing to it.

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That means we're left with one choice, and that's to accept who we are and embrace it. That's what I'm doing, and I invite all of Massachusetts to do the same. The next homegame is October 17th. It's homecoming against UNH. The game has HUGE playoff implications (when's the last time a BC fan could say that about homecoming?). If any UMass alum or Massachusetts residents read this, I hope you'll consider joining me at Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Post Game: Atlanta vs New England Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Patriots defeated the Falcons today, 26-10. For the first time this year, I think Brady was off. He overthrew a ton of passes. I guess he also exploded on the sidelines and started screaming at everyone, all the receivers and Belichick. As it was Tom Brady who did it, I like it. It shows he cares and wants to execute every play, and won't settle for less than his best. If Peyton Manning ever did it, of course I'd be ripping him. That's just how I role. And let me point out, I'd be right to rip Manning if he exploded like Brady did today, just like I'm right to like Brady for doing it.

The defense continues to play well in my opinion, and continues to get ripped. Everyone was complaining about them in the stands and on the call in shows on the ride home. They've only allowed and average of 14 points a game! What does this region expect?

I never save ticket stubs to anything, except Patriots games. My uncle is a season ticket holder and he takes me to a game a year. The seasons tickets look like football card, so ever since I was little, I've kept each game. I have Bruce Armstrong (flipping through, I have a LOT of Bruce Armstrong...like 4 games). A Dolphin game I went to once has Willie McGinnest hitting Dan Marino. Drew Bledsoe and Steve Grogan share the photo of the game Bledsoe got hurt at and Brady came in relief. There's all sorts of Patriots greats, current and former. As the seasons tickets are printed before the year starts, sometimes the person on them is comical. I have Matt Bahr for an exhibition game ticket, and he was cut the day before the game for Adam Vinatieri. I also have Lawyer Milloy and Bill Belichick talking together on the sidelines for a game against the Giants in which Milloy was in Buffalo.

My favorite ticket stub is from October 10, 2004 against the Miami Dolphins. It has Eugine Wilson and Tyrone Poole breaking up a pass against some Brown whose number I can't make out. Gillette Stadium's red wall is in the background, and in real life it has nothing on it. On the ticket, cleverly spaced, they put the following in small letters:
SEC 19 (then a ref's head) IN A (then the Brown's player defended by Wilson and Poole) ROW

The significance of course is this is the ticket stub for their 19th win in a row, breaking the Dolphins record. I tried scanning it to put it up on the blog, but the format wasn't right. This was week 5, and the tickets are printed out and sent before the exhibition season starts. I like how they called their shot before the season. They predicted they'd win 19 in a row.

There is a reason I'm going off in a tangent about my ticket stubs. Because I have them all, I know the all time record the Patriots have in games I've been to. They beat the original Browns in the home opener in 1995 in my first game, then the Eagles in preseason of 1996, then the Cardinals in the home opener of 1996 and then the Chargers in the home opener in 1997. I was sitting pretty at 4-0. 3-0 if you don't count preseason.

That brings us to 1998. I had my pick of which game I wanted to go to that year. I could go to the Cheifs or the Falcons. I picked the Falcons cause I thought the Cheifs would be good and I had fun rubbing it in everyone's face that the Patriots were undefeated in games I went to. Not only that, I think I was the only one with a winning record. At the time, I was the youngest going to games. As a result, everyone else had seen some terrible Patriots teams play.

My cousin Danny, who never saw the Patriots win before, went to the Cheifs game that year. New England killed them, 40-10. The Falcons game was almost the exact opposite. Atlanta won on a freezing cold day in November, 41-10. It was so bad, the person sitting next to my uncle told me I must be bad luck and I wasn't allowed to come back.

11 years later, that loss is avenged. Take that Atlanta!

Overall, I've been pretty lucky. The Patriots are 10-6 in the regular season, 1-0 in the post season and 4-1 in preseason games I've been too.

Post Game: Stony Brook vs Massachusetts Saturday, September 26, 2009

UMass came out and dominated the first drive, as expected by yours truly. The first play from scrimmage was a 40 yard bomb from Havens to Jeremy Horne. Fullback Chris Zardas ran for a score three plays later to give the Minutemen an early 7-0 lead. For whatever reason, Stony Brook didn't lay down and die. They put together a nice seven play drive to tie the score at 7. After a Havens interception, Stony Brook kicked a field goal to take a 10-7 lead. After this, it was pretty much all UMass. They scored the next two touchdowns to make it 21-10. Stony Brook scored a touchdown two minutes before half time and their idiot receiver who caught the ball got into the face of the UMass defensive back and started screaming at him. The ref threw a flagged him and it gave UMass great field position, and they were able to get a field goal before the half to make it 24-17. The second half was all UMass, and the final was 44-17, so my prediction was off by 10 points. Not too shabby.

All the while, starting running back Tony Nelson didn't make an appearance. He was dressed and I watched him walking around and talking to people, but he never went in. His replacement, John Hernandez made the most of his opportunity, rushing for 3 touchdowns, including a 36 yarder, and 140 yards. I wasn't sure if he was hurt or suspended. My cousin who went with me suggested that maybe Hernandez had a better week of practice and was named starter. He was walking around ok and didn't seem hurt, and he was dressed so he didn't seem suspended. When I came home, I checked it and it turns out he had a shoulder injury. I wouldn't sleep all that well if I were Nelson tonight. He may have just lost his job.

The Stony Brook coach didn't impress me. First, when down 21-10, Stony Brook faced 4th-8 on the UMass 28. The wind was against them, so rather then attempt a 45 yard field goal, he sent the punt team on. Wait... 4th-8 from the opponents 28, and you're punting?!?!? What are you hoping to gain? 20 yards of field position? Is gaining that worth giving up an opportunity to score? Of course, the punter kicked it right into the endzone and Stony Brook gained a grand total of 8 yards of field position.

Then, when UMass was about to kick the field goal right before half, there were 40 seconds left and the clock was running. Of course UMass let time nearly expire before kicking it. Stony Brook had a time out and for some reason chose not to use it. 40 seconds is plenty of time to return the kick and run a few plays. He was just content to go to the lockerroom down by 7. If I were a Stony Brook fan, the coaching would have infuriated me today. Thankfully I'm not a Stony Brook fan.

Unfortunately, Kyle didn't have a great game this week, going 12-24 with 2 interceptions and no touchdowns. Unfortunately, there were a few bombs brought back as a result of penalties and there was a 60 yard beauty that would have been a touchdown if not for a fabulous defensive play by Stony Brook. As a result, he wasn't one of the three players selected for the postgame press conference. Therefore, I do not have anything for the new segment, Kyle's Confident Quote of the Week. If it's any consilation, the gate to get into my seats is near the UMass Lockerroom and while waiting to get in I saw Kyle standing outside alone, looking quite confident. Havens is quickly moving up my list of favorite UMass Athletes.

Game Day: Stony Brook @ Massachusetts

I started writing my second post about the quote, but I'll postpone it for a while as I'm going to Amherst today for the game, Stony Brook @ 15 UMass and Foxboro tomorrow to see Matty Heisman (HA!) vs the New England Patriots.

I don't know much about Stony Brook, other than the fact there one of the SUNYs. They just moved to the Big South Conference a few years ago from the Northeast Conference. Without even knowing the teams in either conference, I'd guess Stony Brook just added a lot to their travel expenses. So why? At first I guessed it would have to do with playoff eligibility. Though neither conference currently has an autobid, the Big South will next year. However, looking it up on Wikipedia, it appears both conferences will have one next year. That's why you shouldn't speculate kids.

Reading their press release from when the move was announced, it appears both the school and the conference thought it was the right move as both were up and coming and heading for success. Stony Brook also claims playing down south more will help with recruiting, which I suppose is true.

At any rate, NEC, Big South, SUNY Stony Brook or SUNY Albany. It's all the same, and the same is inferior to the Minutemen. UMass wins this one big. I'm going with 44-7, which was the final score of the Albany game.

Around The CAA
Here are other CAA games this weekend and my predictions:
Rhode Island @ UConn- I'm pulling for the Rams, but the Cons will destroy URI. It has nothing to do with how good UConn is. URI is that bad, I'd always pick who they were playing against to win.

Dartmouth @ UNH- UNH will win and make the Ivies realize the superiority of the CAA.
I'm actually rooting for Dartmouth though, as I dislike UNH and I have a friend who went to Dartmouth.

VMI @ Richmond- The Champs will beat Virginia Military Institution (I had to look it up), making the CAA 2-0 against the Big South this weekend.

Northeastern @ Villanova- Villanova wins this conference game. See Rhode Island-UConn commentary...except I'm not rooting for the Huskies.

Hofstra @ Western Michigan- Come on Hofstra! We need this to stay .500 against FBS after URI gets destroyed.

William & Mary @ Delaware*- Another conference match up. This is the game most likely to be an upset (Delaware winning). If it were any other team coming off a year like Delaware just had, I'd pick W&M without thinking twice. Or, if William and Mary were home, I'd go with them, but Tubby Raymond is a tough place to play... screw it. I'm going with William & Mary just to piss off Delaware fans.

*Edit- This game is actually at William and Mary. For some reason, the CAA webpage lists the home team first. How foolish is that? I'm still going with William & Mary, and still keeping the analysis I gave above, again just to piss off Delaware fans.

UMass Tailgater: "The games aren't that fun, because our team sucks." Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Let me start this post by saying like most UMass fans, my number one source for UMass sports news is the webpage http://www.umasshoops.com/. The entire site is a pretty good source for UMass Basketball.

If your not big into basketball, fear not. There's a message board with threads on all the main UMass teams: Men's hoops, women's hoops, football, men's hockey and men's lacrosse. If those aren't your thing, there's also a thread for other UMass sports, where in my experience softball and men's soccer seem to be the dominate topic of conversation, though there's mention of everything from women's crew (who last I checked had won something like 11 or 12 A-10 championships in a row) to baseball. The moderator is sort of on the strict side, so everything posted has to be backed up with sources, which I like. You know for the most part, you won't be reading rumors. Just the facts.

So, like most days, I'm on the umasshoops football board, and I saw someone posted this artical written by a Harvard student. He went to the football game on Saturday with his friends who go to UMass. Or more accurately, he went to a tailgate that occured outside the football game. In it, he talks about how awesome UMass tailgates are, and how they far exceeded his expectations. I thank him for his praise. However, I take issue with the one thing written about the football team itself:

No one was really talking football, since, just like at Harvard, nobody
goes to the games.

“The games aren’t that fun, because our team sucks,” one tailgater succinctly explained.

But we don’t have that excuse. Despite a tough loss to Holy Cross in Worcester last weekend, the Crimson is primed for another strong football season.

So, before I begin with my assault on this, let me make one thing clear. I don't blame the author. If I was invited to a school and someone at the tailgate told me what he was told, I'd believe them. Why wouldn't you? So, now that we're clear that I don't blame the author, I'm going to defend the Minutemen. As I have a lot I want to say on this topic, I'm going to do it over at least 2 posts...maybe three depending on how long post 2 is. The first post will address the accusation, that the Minutemen suck. The second and third posts will address why those associated with UMass might feel the team sucks and will look at possible solutions. Without further ado, I begin.

UMass plays in the premier FCS conference, the CAA (formerly the Atlantic 10). This conference is responsible for such current NFL stars as Tim Hightower (Richmond), Marques Colston (Hofstra) and Joe Flacco (Delaware). Aside from these three name brand players, many NFL teams have CAA players. I can't say I follow all former CAA stars, but off the top of my head, I do know the Patriots have Brandon McGowan, a saftey from Maine. I also know former UMass players are currently in Miami (WR Brandon London), Jacksonville (Long Snapper Jeremy Cain) and New York (S James Ihedigbo, who from my encounters with him is a great guy inspite of being a Jet). I'd be willing to bet your favorite NFL team has at least one CAA player, despite it being an FCS league. I just checked Joe's Steelers, and it turns out they have Willie Colon, a right tackle from Hofstra. Just for kicks, I also checked the Steelers main historical rival, the Cleveland Browns. They have two: WR Ray Ventrone of Villanova and DB Mike Adams from Delaware. Check your team. If they don't have a CAA player, leave a comment below.

So that's great. The CAA has it's fair share of NFL players. However, in my opinion, NFL players aren't the measure of how good a conference is. I think the best measure of an FCS conference would be playoff appearences. FCS has a 16 team playoff. There are 8 automatic bids, of which the CAA champion receives one. That leaves 8 at large bids. According to Wikipedia, there are 125 FCS teams (which is much more than I thought there were). The Ivy League decided as a whole academics was more important than football, and bans its 8 members from participating in the postseason tournament. That leaves 117. SWAC teams have there own championship game and other traditional rivals and sometimes opt out of the playoffs, but they're eligible to compete if they don't have a conflict. Even if we kick out all 10 teams, that's still 107. If we take out the 8 autobids, we're left with 99 teams fighting for 8 spots.

In 2007, the CAA received 3 at large bids and an autobid, for a grand total of 4 playoff teams. This either set the record for most teams from a conference making the playoffs or it tied it. It doesn't really matter, because the next year, the CAA broke it by receiving 4 at large bids and an autobid, for 5 total playoff teams. That's right. Out of those 99 teams fighting for the 8 spots, the CAA got 4 of them. (For the record, there are 12 CAA teams. 1 gets an outbid, so that leaves 11 CAA teams in the 99).

Ok, so the CAA sends a lot of teams to the playoffs. Big deal. How do they do?

I'm glad you asked. Since I started following 1AA/FCS in 2003, A10/CAA teams have played in 5 of the 6 championship games. The only year the conference missed out was 2005, and I blame UNH for choking that year, losing at home in the second round though ranked number 1 in the nation. Of the 5 times I mentioned, the conference has come home with 3 championships. That's pretty good. Appalacian State won the other three, so if it weren't for them...but I digress.

Who cares about FCS. The only thing that matters is FBS!

The CAA also has success playing FBS opponents. I believe I've already mentioned the FBS victories Richmond (beat Duke), William & Mary (beat Virgina), UNH (beat Ball State) and Villanova (beat Temple) have secured this year. UMass took Kansas State to the brink, and lost the game. JMU lost to Maryland in overtime. True, Northeastern got demolished by BC, but every conference has a bad team. That means the CAA is currenty 4-3 (SEE EDIT BELOW) against FBS teams and 2-2 against BCS opponents. All of the were on the road. I know an FBS team would probably never come play in a CAA stadium, but I'd be interested to see what the record would be if half were at home and half were on the road. I think it's safe to assume that the CAA could hang with the non-BCS FBS conferences.

So, we've established that the CAA is a really good conference. What does this have to do with UMass?


Since 2006, UMass has won 2 A10/CAA conference championships. Since I started following in 2003, UMass has won 3 conference championships. In 2003, they were co-conference champs with Delaware. In 2006, they won it outright. In 2007, they were co-champions with Richmond.

Not only that, but consider this fact I stole from the UMass game notes for Saturday's game against Stony Brook. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Minutemen are 21-2 at home. That's amazing. 21 wins to 2 losses. And remember, they're playing in the premier conference in FCS. Before losing to eventual national champion Richmond last year, UMass had a 16 game winning streak at home, which apparently at the time was second in FCS (San Diego, 28) and third in Division 1 (Oklahoma was second with 21). And I'll stress this: UMass plays in the best conference in FCS. It's not like a bunch of creampuffs are coming out to Amherst every week.

There are two more facts I'll steal from the game notes. First, UMass has had 7 winning seasons in a row. I don't know when that tailgater began his association with UMass Football, but if this team goes about .500, that will be five consecutive classes at UMass who have never known a losing season (or a .500 season for that matter).

Lastly, since 1998 when UMass won the national championship, all while playing in the premier FCS conference, UMass has gone 82-43. According to the game notes, that's the best in the conference. That's right. Going back more than a decade, UMass has been the best team in the best conference.

How can you say the team sucks? How can you justify that, being right outside the stadium on game day? How can you call them "our team" and say such terrible unfounded things? It's baffiling. This isn't Northeastern. This program is respectable. No. Calling them respectable is short changing them. It's a boarderline National Powerhouse. It's right there on the cusp of being one of the all time great FCS programs, and believe me, it's done it with minimal support from the Massachusetts Legislature, the UMass Alumni and the UMass Student Body as a whole.

In my next post, I'll give my theory as to why he or she said it. And by my theory, I of course mean a theory I read on umasshoops by another poster (ShadesOf96and98) that made a lot of sense to me and I am adopting.

EDIT: I just realized Towson lost to Northwestern, so the record is 4-4 against FBS teams, 2-3 against BCS teams.

What do we know? Monday, September 21, 2009

The number of close NFL games these first two weeks has been off the charts. Taking a quick glance at the standings, it's impossible to know how good teams are, as most teams' records could easily be the opposite of what they are with the benefit of one or two changed plays.

In the AFC East, the Jets have indeed looked solid. The Patriots, though 1-1, could easily be 0-2, while the Bills (1-1) could easily be 2-0.

In the North, the Ravens have looked good although they could be 1-1 as well. Meanwhile, the 1-1 Bengals probably SHOULD be 2-0. And given a changed play here or there, the 1-1 Steelers could be either 2-0 OR 0-2. The Browns are terrible.

The 1-1 Houston Texans could be 0-2, while the 0-2 Titans could be 2-0, the 2-0 Broncos 1-1 and the 1-1 Raiders 2-0(!).

And that's just the AFC. Needless to say, we need more of the season to shake out. I'm just glad we have an objective system to sort this out, as opposed to the college game.

It Was Awesome While It Lasted Sunday, September 20, 2009

Well, the Jets won, beating the Patriots 16-9. Apparently, it's the first time the Jets have beaten the Patriots in the Giants' home stadium since September 11, 2000.

Surprisingly the defense which we all thought was shakey before losing Seymour and Mayo has been really good. They only let up 17 points today. The offense, which we all thought would be awesome, really let the team down. They had a drive stall at the Jets 44 and punted, kicked a field goal from the Jets 27 (after being backed up by a holding call), kicked another field goal from the Jets 7, a field goal from the 11, and had the ball on the Jets 35 and took back to back delay of game penalties on third down before punting. You're not going to win leaving that many points on the field, especially on the road.

So does this mean the mystic is over? Ever since the game that made the tuck rule infamous, anytime anyone ever dared to call out the Patriots or say something even a teeny-tiny bit negative about them, New England responded by beating the living daylights out of the offender, with one notable exception. Now the New York Jets of all teams, they said they wanted to embarrass the Patriots and they weren't going to kiss Belichick's rings and called out Tom Brady, and they backed it up. Might I add, throughout the game, the Jets fans were adding fuel to the fire, chanting "Brady Sucks Brady Sucks!" throughout the game. (At first I thought they were chanting "Yankees suck." The two sound remarkably similar when crowds chant them).

To answer my own question, it is. I knew they were going to lose today. I had a terrible feeling when they kept settling for field goals. When the Jets took the lead on a touchdown in the third quarter, I knew it was over. Last week I thought the game was over...this week I knew and in the third quarter. If I'm being honest with myself and all of you, I haven't known a game was over that early since the legendary Drew Bledsoe was quarterback. The era of Patriot dominance is officially over.

I'm not saying they suck. I think they'll still be pretty good. And I as wrote in the title of the post, it was an amazing ride, one that comes around to each city maybe once in a lifetime, if not once in a franchise's life. But they can lose now, even to the Jets...even when the Jets give them bulleton board material for months before the contest.

UMass Post Game Saturday, September 19, 2009

I just got back from Amherst. UMass beat URI 30-10. The UMass defense looked really good again, especially in the redzone where URI was 0-2 with 0 points on the day. When Rhody had the ball on the UMass 3 in the first quarter on their first drive of the game, Kurt Filler picked off the Rutgers transfer in the endzone. The other time, Rhode Island went for it down 24-10 in the fourth quarter 4-2 from the UMass 5. The Defense forced the Transfer to fumble. It was recovered back at the 14 by URI, not that it mattered...either way UMass got the ball back.

The Offense was to blame for the only touchdown the Rams scored. Jon Hernandez, who last week got two touchdowns including the long 58 yarder, "fumbled" and Rhode Island returned it for a touchdown. I put "fumbled" in quotes because Hernandez never dropped the ball. Rather, the Rams defensive player just took it right out of his hands, much like a mother would take a knife from a young child. Hernandez got served.

Aside from the Hernandez fumble, Tony Nelson fumbled a couple of times in the first quarter but recovered them and he ended up having a good game. Havens dropped a snap but dove on the ball. WR Victor Cruz fumbled as a punt returner and Rhode Island recovered. The team as a whole needs to work on holding onto the ball.

I didn't hear the post game press conference, but I'm reading the transcript online, and I've decided to start a new weekly segment, the Kyle's Confident Quote of the Week. I was gonna call it "Kyle Havens' Confident Quote of the Week," but I there's sort of an alliteration thing going on without the last name.

Kyle's Confident Quote of the Week: (On being 7-7 on third downs in the first half) "If we just come out and everyone does their assignment. I read the play right, the wide receivers run the right routes, the O-line is blocking like they did tonight, there is no reason we shouldn't be one hundred percent on third down."

Stanford, Oregon State, and... Washington?!

There's a lot of great NCAA FBS games on today, but I found myself just staring at the bottom of the screen, constantly looking for the latest USC-WASH update. Once Iowa finished off Arizona, I got bonus coverage from ABC and I watched Washington do a great job on a long pass to get into field goal range, placing the win firmly in their grasp.

The next play they went conservative but ended up getting three yards anyway. Incredibly, LB #52 Luther Brown got up and... CELEBRATED??? He's either incredibly selfish or stupid. You might even have to be both considering they were about to lose PLUS he had to think a 3-yard gain was a good "stop" in that situation. Wow. Just wow.

Now the only question is, what's worse? Losing lots of games to great teams (with the last couple being very close)? Or beating the rare ranked team that you play while losing once a year to a nobody? Ohio State has been mildly overrated and has gotten a little unlucky. They are 0-4 the last two years against top-5 teams, but three losses came in the last minute and they're undefeated against everyone else. But USC is either lazy, disrespectful to teams in their preparation, or just plain chokers.

Not having Barkley today is no excuse. The Huskies were OH AND TWELVE last year.

Congrats to Washington.

Game Day: Rhode Island vs Massachusetts

So, I have an hour or so to kill before I make the 2 hour drive out the Amherst to see the Massachusetts Minutemen (1-1, 0-0 CAA) open up the conference schedule with the Rhode Island Rams (1-0, 0-0).

URI is terrible. If the CAA was playing Survivor against another conference, it would be a coin toss as to who would be voted off first, URI or Northeastern. My money would personally be on URI, as Northeastern is CAA for all sports so the full CAA members would probably keep them.

Traditionally, URI has run an option offense which can be to their advantage this week. UMass has trouble with the option and more specifically, with quarterbacks who can run the ball. However, as URI has always lacked talent in the past, they're brilliant use of the option against a team weak in defending it has never even come close to working, well...not without the help of a monsoon anyway, but I digress.

It looks like they've picked up a transfer from Rutgers to play qb, Chris Paul-Etienne. He threw for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns in Rhody's win over Fordham to weeks ago. Also, from reading the review of the first game, I've found out they have a new head coach too, Joe Trainer. I don't know if this will switch their offensive strategy at all, but I doubt either of them can turn the program around so quickly. I'm predicting UMass will win this one easily, 35-7.

ESPNboston has recognized BC isn't the only division 1 football program in Massachusetts. Here, they preview both the Eagles game against Clemson and the Minutemen against the Rams. It's pretty balanced, 30 seconds for each team. They predict Kyle Havens will be the difference in the game. Take that Rhode Island! Our junior college guy is better than your FBS guy!

Why Punt? Friday, September 18, 2009

Check out this awesome story about a high school football team in Arkansas that never punts.

The article makes a great case for the practice, at least as far as small-time high school football goes. Punts only go about 30 yards anyway, and knowing you have four downs to get things done gives you a significant tactical edge over the defense.

This school also always kicks onsides. Once again, it makes sense for high schools: They gets the ball back 25% of the time, and the difference between the other team recovering or receiving deep is only 15 yards.

In football factory college programs and the NFL, of course, the situation is different, with 40-45 yard punting averages, and some punters who are experts at getting their kicks downed inside the 10. Onside kick recovery is only about 10%.

But I do think there are situations where more NFL teams should punt, especially if their punter isn't adept at the "coffin corner" kick. From midfield to your opponents' 35-yard line should be the "Go For It" zone. After all, let's say you punt it and it ends up at the 20, either by a touchback or a return. The difference in yardage compared to if you don't make first down? Only 15-30 yards. I'd gladly give that up for a 50% chance of simply keeping the ball.

The ideal place for this strategy would have been Super Bowl XL between the Steelers and Seahawks. In the first half, the Seahawks repeatedly drove down the field on the Steelers and punted into the end zone, giving the Steelers the ball at the 20. This happened three times(!!), which represents some wretched lack of touch by the Seattle punter. Thus, though it seemed as if Seattle was dominating, Pittsburgh went into the half up 7-3. It's the hidden reason many people believe bad officiating cost the Seahawks the game (not that I'm defending the officiating).

If you do have the solid combination of a good punter and a killer defense, it does make sense to punt the ball in most situations. The Steelers have that this year, but did not have it last year while Sepulveda was injured.

The Browns have neither, so I'll try to keep my eye on their game this weekend while I watch the Steelers and count the number of times punting may have helped them. Then I'll report back here.

Jack Lambert + Kennywood + Myron Cope =

That's marketing gold right there.

Mark Whipple/Miami Update Thursday, September 17, 2009

Alright, since I made that last post, Miami scored another 16 points and sealed the game.

Also, the cynic in me wants to conclude that Tomlin didn't keep Whipple around for authoritative reasons. Whipple had been a successful head coach; Tomlin was 34. It's a little backwards. Meanwhile, no one would ever mistake Arians for a head coach.

Why did Tomlin let Mark Whipple slip through his fingers?

Three key factors led to the Steelers turning around their 6-10 2003 season and going 15-1. The first reason is, of course, is Ben Roethlisberger, the 11th overall selection that year. The second reason is the coming of age of Troy Polamalu (drafted in 2003).

The third, hidden reason, was the new quarterbacks coach Bill Cowher hired, Mark Whipple. The guys was the head coach of John's own U.Mass. He had won a 1-AA championship. And he helped make Ben Roethlisberger a ridiculously successful quarterback.

Whipple stuck around for a couple more seasons, earning a Super Bowl ring, until Bill Cowher retired. When Tomlin took over, he kept a couple Cowher assistants, such as Dick LeBeau and LB coach Keith Butler. Perhaps he would have kept offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt as well, if he hadn't already taken the head coaching job in Arizona.

So Tomlin needed an offensive coordinator. There were two good candidates on staff: WR coach Bruce Arians and QB coach Mark Whipple. For some reason, Tomlin went with Arians. Arians did have OC experience, but it was a terrible stint with the Browns. So why did Tomlin choose him? I don't know. Perhaps he asked Ben's opinion and Ben liked him better. Perhaps Whipple asked privately for his own release. I don't know.

All I know is, as I type this I'm watching the Miami (FL) offense rock Georgia Tech's world and lo and behold, their offensive coordinator is none other than Mark Whipple!

Meanwhile, a huge part of the Steeler's offensive problems is the terrible play calling by Bruce Arians, a problem rectified only when Ben calls his own plays. We won the Super Bowl despite him.

Oh how I wish Tomlin would have picked Whipple.

Look Who's Cheating Now...

The New York Jets. I'm sure New York Papers will have the dignity to give their once Holier-than-thou heroes an asterisk in the standings for the year. I'm not sure if the bottom of the standings should say "*=Caught Cheating" or "*=Caught Sucking." Maybe both?

Agents to NFL Players: Avoid Browns

Mike Florio reports that agents are now telling their players not to sign with the Browns as free agents.

One agent went as far as to say that they'd put their players on another team's practice squad before putting them on the Browns roster.

This isn't surprising. A forced 10-hour bus ride for rookies, a jerk of a head coach, lots of losing, living in Cleveland, and a suspicious number of staph infections would cause me to steer players away from the Browns, too.

What's interesting is that this has leaked out. You don't often get these kinds of tidbits. I've always assumed NFL players will always follow the money. In fact it could be that a couple disgruntled agents contacted Florio about this, but most don't care.

All I can say is, it's good to be a Steeler fan, where players (James Harrison, Max Starks, Chris Kemoeatu) take less than market value to remain a Steeler. Mangini really needs the win this week in Denver.

Tiki Knows How to Pull the Heartstrings Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Fluff piece about little girl Steeler fan with cancer... Brave girl, good stuff.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Don't Panic: Even 0-2 Teams Make Playoffs Tuesday, September 15, 2009

How much does Week 1 matter? In the last eight seasons, the eventual Super Bowl winner has been just 4-4 on opening day. (On the other hand, the seven eventual champions before that were 7-0.)

Every year, 0-1 teams go on to make the playoffs, even really bad week 1 teams like the 2003 Patriots. In fact, even 0-2 teams make the playoffs almost every year, such as the 2008 Chargers, 2007 Giants, 2006 Chiefs, the 2003 Eagles, and the 2002 Steelers. All those teams but the Chiefs even went on to win a playoff game.

Houston is a a sleeper bust! The Jets are playoff contenders! Baltimore has a dynamic offense! Cincinnati is helpless on offense! The Broncos are in the playoff hunt! Brett Favre is a game manager! The Bears made a huge mistake acquiring Jay Cutler!

These are all statements that most would have disagreed with a few days ago. One game goes by and we are freaking out.

Week 1, more than any other week, is incredibly misleading. Teams are getting into a rhythm. Teams are making a gameplan without having a solid idea about what their opponent is doing. And, worst of all, with no other games to evaluate, there's a matter of opponent strength and small sample size.

Of the exclamated conclusions above, only one or two will turn out to be true, and even one of the 0-1 teams who lose this coming week will likely be in the playoffs. My money's on the Bears.

Post Game Monday, September 14, 2009

"That ending makes me think football is rigged."

-Text message received from my friend Luke after the Patriots grabbed victory out of the jaws of defeat.

Tom Brady strikes again. I must admit, I had foolishly accepted that the Patriots had choked and lost to a far inferior Buffalo Bills team. I was steaming over the fact that Edwards held the ball until Warren was a split second a way from contact, then threw the ball away and the refs called roughing the passer. Then later, Edwards still had the ball and was sacked by Adalius Thomas and the refs again called roughing the passer. I've never in my life seen that. Roughing the passer called when the quarterback still has the ball and is sacked. And Thomas didn't hit him in the head or anything. It was a clean tackle. What a bunch of crap.

ABC showed a graphic about a game from 2002 against the Dolphins. It was the last time the Patriots came back from behind down by 11 points in the 4th quarter to win. Yet, that was the dumbest coached game I'd ever seen in my life. After a Patriot field goal to cut the lead to 8, the Dolphins took the ball from inside there five with just over two minutes left. Ricky Williams was running all over the Patriots and they couldn't stop them to save there lives. The game was over. All they had to do was run, get the inevitable 17 yards, wait 40 seconds and repeat. But Dave Wannstedt decided to throw on first down, an incomplete pass. They threw on second down... incomplete. And again on third down. Incomplete. It didn't even take the game to the two minute warning. Brady drove down the field, the Patriots scored a touchdown and the two point, won the coin toss and drove down the field to win in overtime.

When the graphic came up, I thought it was a once in a lifetime thing. No way they could do it again. Especially not with all these bogus roughing the passer calls. But Brady was his usual calm but intense stuff. He drove down the field and hooked up with Ben Watson to cut the lead to 5. The two point conversion was no good. Dropped. No worries. This is the New England Patriots. Aside from two notable exceptions, they don't lose these games.

2:06 left in the game, and with all three timeouts, the Patriots kick it deep. The Bills return man brings it out, which in my mind is a good call. If he doesn't, time doesn't move off the clock and the Patriots get an extra time out with the two minute warning. My friends and I wanted him to take a touchback for this very reason. However, Brandon Meriweather forced him to fumble and Place kicker Stephen Gostkowski dives on top of the loose ball. A minute later, Brady finds Watson again to put New England up by 1. The two point conversion is again, dropped. Still, no worries, the Patriots don't lose these games. The defense kept the Bills from scoring and the game ended.

By the way, Jon Gruden is now my new favorite analyst. Whenever I heard him, I thought of these videos J Arthur Ellis showed me. When Gruden mentioned Galloway in the broadcast, I almost died laughing. Whoever did those videos was spot on with the Gruden impression.

Party like its 1776! Or at least 1961!

The New England Patriots open up tonight against the Buffalo Bills in one of the most highly anticipated regular season games in team history.  Tom Brady returns to the starting line up and the Patriots will wear their throwback uniforms at home for the first time since the early 90s.  The Patriots did bring them back for a Thanks Giving game in 2002, but that was in Detroit. 

Contrary to popular belief, it's not the first uniform the team had.  It's also not the most recent throwback or even the second most recent.  The Patriots weren't even all that good when they wore it, nor was the fan base all that big.  The team played one Super Bowl in it, and you'd be hard pressed to find a picture or highlight of it that isn't flat out embarrassing, unless of course you are a Bears fan.  The team was so bad while wearing it and the franchise was so worthless that there were rumors swirling towards the end of the uniform's life that the team would be moving to St. Louis.

But in spite of  all the bad that occurred during its tenure, this uniform, featuring the real Pat the Patriot, is for special to Patriot fans.  If you conducted a poll today and asked every living Patriot fan if they should switch back to it tomorrow, I guarantee to a person everyone would vote yes.  If anyone voted no, I'd be willing to bet a small fortune if pushed, that person would want to at least make it the third alternate like Buffalo and San Diego do with their throwbacks.  The logo fits in nicely with New England.  If you've ever been here, odds are you've seen all the old buildings and touristy things where people still dress like our Revolutionary War forefathers.  It also works so well with the name.  If I were to say "New England Patriots" and you knew nothing about football (i.e., you're a Jets fan), what would you be more likely to think of?  This?  Or this?  Even in a fair fight it's not even close.  Old logo always wins.  

As this is the 50th Anniversary of the AFL, all the original teams in the conference (not the Johnny-Come-Latelys like the Steelers) have agreed to bring back their original* uniforms for select games when they play each other.  The Patriots will wear there throwbacks tonight, at Denver on October 11, against the Oilers/Titans on October 18th, and at Miami week 17.

"Wait a second," you've probably just exclaimed. "The Dolphins aren't an original AFL team!"  This is true, and I find this exciting.  Hopefully this is foreshadowing and the team will use the throwback more frequently in the future.  

*I think the Patriots are the only ones cheating and using their second uniforms.  Imagine that.  The Patriots cheating? Nah!

The Cardinals aren't "too good" for this.

"We're definitely too good to be having these kind of performances," Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said.

The 49ers beat the Cardinals 20-16 to kick off Mike Singletary's first full season as head coach. I'll admit I'm rooting for the 49ers this year. I like Mike Singletary. He'll never be the quality of coach that Mike Tomlin is, but he has the two essential ingredients of a good coach: a no-nonsense outlook and the willingness to work way harder than the other guy. Dare I say "Cowher-like"?

Meanwhile, Fizgerald's quote above makes me shake my head. That perspective isn't going to help the Cardinals win games. Just as the Steelers have resisted the idea that they're "defending" the championship, the Cards should not be looking to evidence of last year to evaluate their own team. A comment of, "We just need to work harder, fix mistakes, get better, try to win next week" would have been more appropriate.

Because I'm not so sure I believe Larry when he tells me how good the team that lost to San Francisco yesterday is. After all, they've got a "zero" in the win column.

More Kool-Aide! Saturday, September 12, 2009

UMass demolished Albany tonight, 44-7. UMass ended up forcing five turnovers, be it by tipped balls or knocking the snot out of the quarterback who dropped the ball or ripping the ball out of receivers hands sort of like Teddy Bruschi did to the Colts in the Divisional Round in January of 2005. The offense was pretty unstoppable. WR Victor Cruz had two touchdowns, a 3 yard reception and a beautiful finger tip catch which turned into 67 yard touchdown catch (a lot of YAC on that one...probably 40 yards or so). UMass benched all the starters after a while and that gave RB Jon Hernandez (I had never heard of him) an opportunity. He got a 1 yard TD and followed that up with a 58 yard run for a Touchdown UMass's next offensive snap.

Quarterback Kyle Havens was good in his home debut. My initial impression is he's not Liam Coen, but he'll do. Then again, my initial impression of Liam Coen was "Who is number 12 and why isn't Tim Day still starting? This is crap!" so I guess he's ahead of Coen in that regard. Every once in a while he'd made a mistake and it was always overthrowing the ball. And not just barely overthrowing either. I wouldn't even be close. In fact, on the Cruz 67 yard touchdown, I think Havens overthrew another receiver because firstly the other receiver jumped up to try to catch it and secondly Cruz came sprinting across the field and made a spectacular catch. Either it was overthrown or perfectly placed... and based on other plays I'm going with overthrown. Havens needs to work on that.

I do really like Havens' attitude though. He's a junior college transfer and last week after the Kansas State game someone asked him if he could talk about the difference between playing against Kansas State and playing against community colleges. He said "There is no difference. Football is football and it doesn't change." After the media member pushed him he said "I guess there were 50,000 people here, so that's different." This week he had a couple of similarly confident/arrogant answers that make me love/hate players depending on if they're on my team or not.

The one bad thing is wide receiver Jeremy Horne left the game with a slight concussion. It happened in the first half and he didn't return, though Coach Morris said after the game it was precautionary and he should be ok for next week's game against CAA opponent Rhode Island.

BC probably won. They were winning 24-0 at half when I left and when I got to the car and turned on the radio, they scored another touchdown to make it 30-0. Then I decided as that game was almost as boring as the Northeastern one I'd be better off listening to music and I shut it off.

Oh yeah, in CAA news, UNH beat FBS team Ball State tonight. I don't think UNH has lost to an FBS team since I've followed Atlantic 10/CAA football. Looking it up, they beat Army last year, Marshall in 2007, Northwestern in 2006, and Rutgers in 2004. 2005 they didn't play an FBS team, but as that New Hampshire team was pretty much the best ever going 11-1 before losing in the second round of the playoffs, I think they would have beaten whoever that year too.

Last time an FBS team beat UNH was Central Michigan in 2003. Why does anyone in FBS still schedule them? Do they enjoy paying for embarrassing defeats? Is it cause all the cool FBS programs are doing it? The next three victims are Pittsburgh in 2010, Minnesota in 2012 and Boston College in 2013.

Albany @ UMass Friday, September 11, 2009

Tomorrow night is the home opener for the Massachusetts Minutemen. For the second consecutive year and the third time since 2005, the opponent is the Albany Great Danes.

My junior year the Great Danes came and UMass rented lights for to make it a night game. The Minutemen proceeded to give the Great Danes a beating they'll never forget, 40-0. The game was significant because UMass set an FCS record by recording 3 safeties. The UMass game notes say "Ironically UMass tied their own mark with three safeties in Rhode Island in 2007." How is that ironic? Back to the point, the funny part is, at least 2 (maybe all three) safeties were recorded because Albany's long snapper kept snapping the ball 20 yards over the punter's head through the end zone. It was pretty hysterical. He kept coming back to the bench and after getting screamed at by the coaches, he'd practice snapping the ball and he'd do awesome. Then he'd go back onto the field and snap the ball 20 yards over the punter's head and the process would repeat.

Last year, I missed the game but I hear it was a lot more competitive. I mean, Albany scored, so it had to be. UMass still won, 30-15. I don't know much about Albany. They're 0-1 after losing to Georgia Southern 29-26. They have a senior quarterback in Vinny Esposito who was 14-28 with an INT and 110 yards last week. I'm assuming they run some kind of crazy Miami Dolphin-esque Wild Cat Option thing, as another quarterback named Andrew Smith had 8 carries for 99 yards and a touch down. Weird thing is he didn't throw a pass. He's not the featured back either. That's David McCarty who had 24 carries for 66 yards. Maybe they wanna switch that? Smith also apparently returns kicks for them. He returned all 6 Albany received last week for 140 yards. That's not a bad day for the back up quarterback. I'll have to keep my eye on him.

Oh yeah... I'm also going to the first half of BC vs Kent State. I just hope it's no where near as terrible as the Northeastern game was last week. I never want to see anything like that again as long as I live.

Predictions: Before the Kansas State game, I would have went with UMass over Albay 24-21. My logic would have been "UMass has been on the decline since 2006. Albany seems like a team on the rise. I just think that the declining UMass is still better than a rising Albany, but not by a lot." Then by all reports Havens looked awesome and the defense was tremendous. Receivers just need to start catching balls and this teams poised to make a run at the playoffs. (Yeah, we got playoffs in FCS, and we talk about the playoffs). Now I'm drinking the Kool-Aide and expecting UMass to win this game easily, 28-14.

I got nothing for BC-Kent State. Let's go with 24-21. I don't know who will win.

Lastly rooting for Ohio State over USC because I still haven't forgiven Pete Carrol for doing his best to ruin the Patriots.

EDIT: Here's a write up on the Albany back up quarterback. Note the championships won by Esposito referred to in the coach's comments must be conference championships. I don't think Albany's made the playoffs ever, and their conference, the North East Conference, doesn't have an auto bid yet...but I think they will in a year or two.

Steelers-Titans Review: Overtime Saves Hines

A few quick thoughts on the Steeler-Titan game:

That was a damn good game, a real regular season classic. It was the quintessential NFL regular season game and representative of the reasons why I love the NFL.

Analysts, even ESPN guys, are starting to properly understand Big Ben and what he brings to the table. Pump-fakes, avoiding sacks, improvising, always looking for the big play... You can't really rank him among the other quarterbacks because he's a whole different breed. Of course he's not as quick a decision-maker or as good at timing as the other top guys, but he's a superman in ways no other quarterbacks are.

Of course, what allowed him to lead TWO game-winning drives last night was AWESOME protection by the O-Line. Kudos to them on those last two drives. What I said in the preview yesterday was right on: If he makes only one big mistake, we'll recover and win. One mistake, no more, and the Steelers win.

The punting and return games were as good as advertised and enormous improvements on last year. Steeler fans all over the world were thanking God for Stefan Logan and Daniel Sepulveda.

Contrasting those improvements, the run protections and short-yardage games looked worse than ever. 40% of the problem is the play of our offensive line. 10% is Willie, who may not be the old Willie. But I think the biggest part of the problem is playcalling. I don't know if it's Tomlin, Arians, or both. But if the run isn't working, plunging up the middle over and over isn't going to solve it. We need more creative plays. It's no mystery why Ben is so good when behind at the ends of games: they go to the no-huddle and he calls the plays himself.

By the way, Collinsworth did an awesome job doing color. I was never a Madden-hater but at this point in their careers Collinsowrth is a big improvement. I actually enjoyed his comments.

Finally, the big question mark is Troy and how long he is out. I'm willing to take an extra loss or two here in the next month or so to make sure he is 100% healed, because the difference between an 80% Polamalu and a 100% Polamalu is significant. Anyway, though, what an incredible first quarter! It was 11-on-1 out there, and the 1 was winning.

I'll give the officiating a B+. The P.I. on Troy was bogus, but everything else was fair, and yes, Harrison is that good that he causes OTs to backup a yard and risk taking a penalty. I'd guess Tomlin made the refs aware of this problem beforehand.

I'm already rolling my eyes preparing in advance to hear complaints about NFL overtime, especially from the college football fans here in Columbus. Perhaps I'll post on this at lunch.

In closing, I'll say I'm not totally sold on the Titans and for now I'll stand by my 3rd-place AFC South prediction. I think they match up well with the Steelers offense and that helped them. They won't stop Indy and Houston as easily, especially without Haynesworth.

The time has come. Thursday, September 10, 2009

The new season begins tonight. Time for Steeler 'backers to start hittin' stuff.

NEW - Steelers LB's - Renegade GOOD QUALITY2
by gcairo55

(Not sure how long it will be before the NFL finds this video on DailyMotion and shuts it down.)

2009 Post-season Predictions

AFC Division Winners: Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Steelers
AFC Wildcards: Bengals, Texans

Notes: More people are jumping on the Bengals bandwagon but I've always believed Marvin Lewis isn't as bad as some say, and a healthy Carson Palmer can't hurt. The Bengals get to play the entire AFC West, too.

The Patriots will have a great offense, of course, but I'm sick of hearing how it will be as good as two years ago. The likelihood of any offense being that good is very low. Also, why do people laud the Patriots for every single personnel move they make? All I hear is what great use they're going to make out of Fred Taylor and Joey Galloway. Whaa??? What other team could add these two players and actually be praised for it? Taylor is 33 and Galloway is, wait for it.... Thirty-seven. We praise the Patriots because of our perception of them, not because we've actually looked at their decisions.

It's the same with Richard Seymour. We're praising them for getting a potential top-10 pick, but haven't they hurt their team for this year? Yet no one's cut a win off their projected totals. Besides that, if Seymour never shows up in Oakland, there's a good chance the Pats will have to give the pick back (since there was no physical performed on Seymour), and then they will just have a mess on their hands.

I really wish I could pick the Chargers to miss the playoffs, but their division is so bad, it's impossible. However, I do not at all understand the constant fawning and graveling people do at the feet of this team every preseason. They have a nice offense, but all they have on defense is a playmaker here or there. I vow that the Norv Factor will come to pass this year and this team will be embarrassed on a regular basis by non-division opponents. It starts next week against Baltimore.

NFC Divison Winners: Eagles, Saints, 49ers, Bears
NFC Wildcards: Panthers, Packers

Notes: The popular perception of the Vikings mystifies me. I think people start to spout an opinion and it sounds nifty, so it spreads everywhere. The Vikings apparently have had the most talented roster in the NFC for two years. But outside of big-name players, do they really have depth and talent? Or is it just name recognition? (Obviously AP is the best RB in the league.) Besides that, coaching will always be their achilles heel.

Meanwhile, while the Vikings haven't had an 11-win season since 2001, the Panthers have done that three times, have won lots of playoff games and have a solid, steady coach, and yet almost no one is picking them to make the playoffs. Some say Delhomme left a bad taste in their mouth due to his season-ending performance but... what, Bret Favre didn't?!

AFC Championship: Steelers over Patriots
NFC Championship: Saints over Bears
Super Bowl Champion: Steelers

Notes: The AFC is easy: The Pats and Steelers have the two best rosters and head coaches in the NFL. I picked the Steelers to make the Super Bowl, of course, because I'm a homer.

To me, the Saints are a proven commodity. They averaged 29 points per game. TWENTY-NINE POINTS! Their putrid defense HAS to regress to the mean and become merely below average. If they do, it should mean 11 wins. If they can get a couple home playoff games, they can go far in the playoffs.

2009 Opener: Titans at Steelers Preview

What Went Down Last Time

Week 16: It was a close game for three quarters but the Titans scored a couple touchdowns at the end, earning a 31-14 victory. Ben did not play well and threw a pick-six. The Titans, tired of playing third-fiddle in the AFC to the Steelers and Ravens all season despite winning the most games, vented their frustration by disrespecting the Terrible Towel, literally treating it like a hankey and a doormat.

One key to last year's game was that it didn't really matter. Yes, if the Steelers beat the Titans, won again the next weekend and the Titans lost the next week, they could have gotten home-field advantage. But there were two factors that made that irrelevant. First, the Steelers have played poorly as the number one seed this decade (2-2, losing two home AFC Championship Games), and so are less motivated by the idea than other teams. Secondly, the third and six seeds were already set as the AFC East winner and the Ravens. Considering how much better the Ravens were than any AFC East team, it was obvious the number one seed would be playing the Ravens in the divisional round. What kind of reward is that?

(As an aside, that reminds me of a great idea Bill Simmons once had: Have the number one seeds choose which of the two remaining seeds they will play in the second round. Makes for great banter and bulletin board material. No doubt the Titans would have selected San Diego last season, not Baltimore.)

What has Changed?

Besides a World Championship, the Steelers have also gained a great kick/punt returner this offseason in Stefan Logan. Although Timmons should be a huge upgrade at ILB, he's injured for this game. Sweed, I think, will fill in admirably for Washington at the third WR spot. (Washington is now with Tennessee.)

Speaking of Nate Washington, he is indeed the Titans' biggest addition this year. Their biggest subtraction (in talent and pure pounds) is Volunteer Albert Haynesworth, who is now a very rich Redskin.

Considering the relative evenness of the teams last year and the various factors so far, that leaves a couple question marks that will sway this game one way or the other:

Question Marks

Will Ben play well? In some ways this is the only question that matters. Both defenses will play well. Collins will be very conservative. The Titans will have modest success at best running the ball on Pittsburgh's stout run defense. Our running game will be completely useless. But what we don't know is how well Big Ben will play. If he is mistake free, the Steelers should win. If not (and if the Titans take advantage) it could be hard to stomach. Our O-Line, of course, will not be good, but the key is not for Big Ben to have room to make plays, but for him not to make big mistakes at key times like he did in this game last year, as well as in the Colts game.

Will Nate Washington make a streak or two down the field for a long gain? The Steelers defense does not give up a lot of long plays, but we saw over and over again how Washington made defenses look silly last year, getting open deep.

It's all up to Ben tonight. The Steelers can take one bad mistake from him, but with each additional mistake, we'll need a big special teams play or defensive score to stay ahead.

This is the sixth straight time the Super Bowl champions have opened up the season at home on Thursday night, and even though the game is always scheduled against a tough opponent, the champs are 5-0 so far with this setup. I expect the same tonight, leading to a 20-10 Steeler win.

2009 AFC North Predictions Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Finally, the last one. The Steelers' home division plays the NFC North and the AFC West this season. Last year this division was home to both AFC Championship Game participants and between them they had three of the best games of the season.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers - The World Champs are well-coached, uber-talented, and reasonably focused.
2. Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals defense was better than it looked last year, Palmer provides a big boost to the offense, and Marvin Lewis is underrated as a coach.
3. Baltimore Ravens - Flacco is no savior. The defense is getting older, plus they lost Bart Scott.
4. Cleveland Browns - The only easier spot to pick was the Lions. Mangini has taken a mess and made it messier.

At some point tomorrow I'll predict wildcards, Super Bowl, etc.

2009 NFC North Predictions

Two to go! The NFC North, whose teams all play the AFC North and NFC West this year:

1. Chicago Bears - I hate to say it, but Jay Cutler looks good. Real good. I don't mind Kyle Orton, but the guy can't throw the football like Cutler.
2. Green Bay Packers - The second best quarterback leads to the second-best record in the divison.
3. Minnesota Vikings - Favre is unlikely to make it through the season. The Williams' may get suspended at some point as well. Childress is not a good coach.
4. Detroit Lions - No explanation necesssary.

Hartwig signs extension

Center Justin Hartwig has signed an extension with the Steelers.

If you thought the 2008 Steelers line was bad, remember back to 2007 when we had Sean Mahan starting at center. Yikes!! I am very happy to see Hartwig sign an extension. The Steelers have had only 5 starting centers since 1974: Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, Jeff Hartings, Sean Mahan and Justin Hartwig. Webster is in the Hall of Fame, Dawson should eventually get there, Hartings was a steady presence for 7 years, and Mahan was the 32nd best center in the league in 2007. Hartwig restored aptitude to the position last season. Hopefully now he can restore stability.

Quite a list of re-signed players this offseason: "So far this offseason, the Steelers have negotiated new contracts with Brett Keisel, James Harrison, Kemoeatu, Starks, Essex, Keyaron Fox, Hines Ward, Heath Miller, Charlie Batch, Andre Frazier and now Hartwig."

I'll assume Hartwig's contract is not huge. So he, along with Harrison, Starks, and Kemoeatu, gave the Steelers major steals in their deals. When the league has a hard salary cap, players being willing to take under-market contracts is a huge advantage that few teams posess.

Essex, Fox, Batch, and Frazier all signed on the cheap, of course, because they are not great players. (Not that I'm not grateful for Fox, who will start in place of Timmons tomorrow.)

That leaves Keisel, Ward, and Miller as the only ones signing questionable contracts. Miller is young and worth the big TE money and would be considered a top 3 tight end if he had a smarter OC. Ward and Keisel are old, but Ward's leadership is irreplaceable, and Keisel, as the theory goes, doesn't have a lot of tread on the tires. We'll see about that one.

Anyway, I'm glad we can finally put these sorts of topics behind us tomorrow and start watching real live NFL football!!

2009 AFC West Predictions Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Moving on, here's my AFC West predictions. All AFC West teams play the AFC North and NFC East this year. This one could be ugly.

1. Chargers - Their roster is overrated and their coach is bad, but they have a great QB and there is nobody else to win this division. Nevertheless, I'm sure they'll slip once and go only 5-1 in the division, 11-5 overall.
2. Raiders - Why not? 6-10 could mean a second place finish. And they do have more talent then most realize. If only coaches weren't punching each other out.
3. Chiefs - They're still at the bottom of the "rebuilding" slope.
4. Broncos - This one's ugly.

2009 NFC West Predictions

I'm running short on time here... 55 hours away from Game 1. Very quickly... the NFC West. This is a traditionally bad division, and they have a tough schedule this year, playing the NFC North and AFC South.

1. San Francisco 49ers - Some have faith in Mike Singletary. Others think he'll be a major flop. I have observed that he is not all emotion and fire but works hard and wants his teams to be prepared. Could be only 8-8 or 9-7 with a division crown.
2. Seattle Seahawks - Hasselback returns, head coach does not mail it in, team improves.
3. Arizona Cardinals - I like Whisenhunt. The problem is Warner. Chances are great that's he'll regress to the mean a great deal, or even worse, get injured and hand the reigns to Leinart.
4. St. Louis Rams - This team is currently a big mess, although there's nowhere to go but up after Scott Linehan's regrettable tenure.

College Football Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Northeastern Boston College was the worst game I was ever at. I don't think Northeastern even got a first down all game. We left early in the 4th quarter, it was 47-0 BC. Terrible. Below is a "live blog" I did while listening to the UMass game. They lost, 21-17, but if you want to read my thoughts it's below.

7:25-I'm listening to the UMass game now on AM890 ESPN radio in Boston. It started well. UMass received the kick off and got two first downs and on third and 2 in Kansas State territory. Havens threw an incompletion and UMass punted. The defense forced a 3 and out but Jeremy Horne ran into the kicker giving Kansas State the ball back.

KS drove down the field but UMass forced a fumble and returned it to midfield. UMass tried a flea flicker and Havens threw an interception. K-State has the ball inside their own 10. Maybe I'll do a semi live blog from here on out.

7:29-INTERCEPTION!!!! UMASS BALL ON THE KANSAS STATE 25 YARD LINE!!!!!! About 7 minutes left in the first quarter, 0-0. Rough'em Up, Rough'em Up, GO UMASS!

7:39- Caleb Violette kicks a 35 yard field goal to make it 3-0 Minutemen. He's (apparently) a freshman punter. Place Kicker Armando Cuko was suspended by the team for the game for "internal reasons." Oh well.

7:46- End of 1st Quarter, 3-0 Good Guys. Kansas State drove down the field and is currently on the Minuteman 3 yard line. We need a turnover.

7:51- Kansas State QB ran it in on the second play of the second quarter. 7-3 Wildcats. The UMass broadcast team just let me know that former Patriot QB Steve Grogan's number is in the Wildcat's ring of honor.

8:06- SON OF A... Victor Cruz caught a Touchdown pass but Kansas State got a gift call...offensive pass interference on Julian Tally the other receiver. The announcers said the two receivers crossed and the defensive back covering Cruz ran into Tally. Isn't that sort of the goal when you cross receivers? I hate FBS games for this reason. Calls always seem to go in their favor. Violette has his kick blocked. 7-3 Wildcats/Big 12 Referees.

8:14- Predictably, Kansas State throws a 40 yard touch down pass. 14-3 Wildcats. I can't see the game so I have absolutely no idea if UMass was screwed on the Cruz TD, but if so, they gotta let it go and focus. This is a winnable game. So far, UMass has proven they belong on the same field as Kansas State. A bit more than 5 minutes left in the half. Shake it off and drive down the field.

8:29- UMass went 3 and out. The D held KS to a field goal attempt, which they missed. UMass ball on their own 30-ish with less than 2 minutes left. On first down, RB Tony Nelson dropped a pass. He was wide open with blockers. According to the radio it is his 4th drop to 0 receptions.

8:34- UMass picks up 1 first down (as I called him out earlier, I should mention the first down was on a Nelson reception) then is forced to punt. The receivers kept dropping balls. The punt is blocked. Violette is having a bad first game. Kansas State takes over at the UMass 40 and scores two plays later. 21-3 assuming the extra point is good, which it is. HALFTIME!

9:27- I'm still listening, just nothing much going on. A lot of traded punts. In CAA News, William & Mary upset FBS Virginia 26-16. Jeremy Horne apparently dropped a pass when he was wide open, and UMass is forced to punt. MUFFED!!!!!... UMASS RECOVERS...UMASS BALL ON THE KSU 18 YARD LINE!!!!!

9:31- UMass runs the ball down their throats. Minutemen ball on the 3...3rd and goal. PLAY ACTION PASS TOUCHDOWN UMASS!!!!! 21-9. HAVENS WITH HIS FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN PASS TO TIGHT END KREVIS!!!!!! EXTRA POINT IS GOOD! 21-10.

9:34- That's the end of the 3rd quarter. This game is far from over. In more CAA news, Richmond is beating FBS Duke, 21-9 in the fourth quarter.

9:39- RIDICULOUS!! UMass forces K-State to punt, and Jeremy Horne blocks it, catches it, and runs it into the endzone. Extra point good. 21-17.

9:44- Freaking Big 12 Refs. UMass stops K-State for a loss on first down, and the quarterback trips over his own two feet for a loss on second down. AFTER the play, the refs throw a flag and call defensive holding. After the play? Seriously? First down Kansas State, who has a new QB as apparently the other dude got pretty hurt falling down.

9:49- UMass holds them. K-State takes the delay of game to give the punter more room. The punter kicks it into the endzone anyway. UMass will take over with 10:17 left in the fourth, down 21-17. In my seven years of following the team, UMass has come close to beating FBS teams, but never actually did. They got screwed against BC two years ago and I'm still upset about it so I won't talk about it. The year before against Navy, they had the ball deep in Navy territory with a minute or two left down by 1 and fumbled to lose.

9:55- UMass goes three and out. LET'S GO D!

9:58- The defense forces a 3 and out. Last year, the UMass defense was the worst I ever saw, and here they are dominating Kansas State this half. I'm surprisingly calm. UMass ball.

9:59- DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE. Thank you BIG 12 Refs. The UMass announcers say Cruz had everyone beat and if he wasn't interfered with he'd be in the endzone, so I guess it was a good penalty to take.

10:03- UMass punts...less than 6 minutes left. Kansas State ball.

10:08- KState picks up a huge first down. About 3 minutes left.

10:10- Holding and a delay of game make it 1st and 25 with 3:09 left. LET'S GO D!

10:13- Kansas State converts on 3rd down...that's pretty much the ball game. UMass has 1 timeout. It's second down. A turnover is necessary. Now it's third down with 59 seconds. UMass burned its last timeout.

10:20 KState took back to back timeouts before third down. 3rd and 2. QB keeper. They're bringing out the chains... announcers don't know if he got it...if so it's by inches...announcers say short...but the chains disagree. First down. Kansas State got a first "by the hair of his chinny chin chin." Kansas State escapes with a victory. If only offensive pass interference wasn't called on Talley on Cruz's TD reception.

One of these days, UMass is gonna beat a FBS team. Maybe next year at Michigan.

Giants vs Patriots Friday, September 4, 2009

The Giants actually played their first team offense and defense for a good portion of the game last night, though Eli only played one series. David Carr came in relief of him and played with the first team for a while. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised. Coughlin played all his starters in a "meaningless" game week 17 in 2007 against the Patriots.

The Giants first team is a lot better than the Patriots 2nd string. When Carr and the first stringers came out at the end of the first, it was 21-0 Giants. The Patriots second stringers are better then the Giants, and the Patriots rallied to win 38-27. As always, the Giants were pretty well represented in New England. I don't know if the New Jersians...I mean Yorkers drive up or if its carry over from before the Patriots existed. I'm told New England was Giant country back then, and just thinking about it makes me want to throw up a little bit. At any rate, the Giants are probably the team that travels best to Foxboro... with the obligatory nod to the Steelers who also travel pretty well.

So, given that there were a lot of Giants fans, I was shocked and surprised at two things. The first was I saw more Patriot fans wearing Jerseys with the Super Bowl XLII patch on it. In fact, surprisingly I saw not a single Super Bowl XLII champion hat or tee shirt or blanket or anything.

Even more surprising, especially considering the 21-0 pounding the Giants were given the Patriots at one point, was I heard no "18-1" chants until one guy said it as he was leaving the stadium with less than a minute left. In his defense, his friend (wearing a Randy Moss Jersey) screamed "Hey, hey, hey, Goodbye" as they were leaving the section, so he was provoked. I figured that would be the new "1918." Dare I say it... are New Yorkers becoming classy? Probably not. I'm thinking the fact that there was no 18-1 chants and the Giant fans in attendance were all classy proves that they are probably from New England and never switched allegiances when the Patriots were founded.

Moving along, in CAA news, Villanova upset FBS Temple. Watch out Kansas State. You're next.

Massachusetts Football Report Thursday, September 3, 2009

- UMass opens it's season Saturday @ Kansas State, and that means one thing: It's a bad week to be a Wildcat. Junior College Transfer Kyle Havens was named the starting quarterback. I feel bad for senior Scott Woodward. Whenever he came in for an injured Liam Coen, I always thought he did well. I think a lot of times during games, the coaching staff never trusted him though. I remember one game in particular against Boston College where Coen got hurt early in the third quarter. UMass stopped passing the ball completely unless it was third and long in their own territory. If memory serves correct he made something good happen more often than not, but I still wonder to this day why they didn't open the play book for him. Must be something they saw with him in practice. Most times a FCS team upsets and FBS team, it's with a scrambling quarterback who runs the option. As a result, some UMass fans speculated that Octavious Hawkins would start the season opener. I like the idea in theory, but I think Head Coach Kevin Morris is doing the right thing. You're probably not gonna win anyway, so you might as well treat this like a practice and try to work out all the kinks with the first team offense your gonna go with the rest of the season. By the way, the best thing about Havens being named the starter is he wears #12. That means my Liam Coen jersey (which doesn't say Coen on the back) can now become a Kyle Havens jersey. Sweet!

- I'm going to my first football game tonight to see the New England Patriots take on the New Jersey... I mean New York Giants. As no one is gonna play besides third and fourth stringers, the most exciting thing this blog will observe is what jersey I'll wear tonight. I have at my disposal good looking home blue Adam Vinatieri and Drew Bledsoe Patriot jerseys, a good looking silver Richard Seymour jersey, a fake looking blue Laurence Marony jersey (no numbers on the sleeves, no stripes on the shoulder, no gray on the collar...it's terrible) and a really nice blue Tom Brady I've never worn. The Tom Brady is the best jersey cause the name and number are actually sewn on whereas the others look machine painted. I decided to go with the Drew Bledsoe jersey, as he is undeniably the most important man in New England Patriot history, and I feel like since Brady wont play anyway it's the perfect time to honor Drew. Julian Edelman is also honoring Drew Bledsoe tonight, and if he makes the team he will probably continue to honor Bledsoe the entire season.

-I'm also going to a football game Saturday- Northeastern vs Boston College. It's a bit of a dilemma as UMass fans are suppose to hate Boston College whereas Northeastern is the poster child for schools that think they're better than you only because they're a private school. My hatred for Northeastern runs deep. On the other hand, I taught a few of the BC football players and some of them work their butts off and are good people, plus I got a degree from there, so I'm rooting for BC.

Hampton to be Cut? Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Rumors fly that Casey Hampton could be cut before the season.

The article's author, Ed Bouchette, laughs at the idea. Hampton is in his last year and is relatively affordable at $3M. The guy is not as good as he used to be but losing him would really thin us out, depth-wise.

Not only that, but as Hampton is close friends with many of his teammates, his teammates would probably be quite shaken by the cut.

The only way I can imagine this happening is if Hampton has been really, really bad in practices and it's obvious to everyone: front office, coaches, and all the players. But I haven't heard anything like that.

Even so, this will be Hampton's last year. Hopefully he can get Super Bowl ring #3 while wearing black and gold.

Keisel signs extension with Steelers Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Steelers BYU defensive end Brett Keisel has signed a four-year extension that will keep him in Pittsburgh until he's 36.

Traditionally, the Steelers have not resigned players at 30+ to extensions, but recently, Hines Ward, James Farrior, Brett Keisel, and James Harrison have all gotten extensions.

I would tend to trust the front office on these decisions and here's why:

Ward and Farrior were extended because of their leadership, not because of their projected playing ability. Both have slowed down (especially ILB Farrior) but our GM discovered a few years ago with Jerome Bettis an old, smart leader can be better than a fast, immature player. Hines Ward and Farrior are unquestionably the top two leaders on the Steelers roster and Tomlin/Colbert are willing to put up with a loss of speed (already in Farrior's case, projected speed in Ward's case) to have men who their players are willing to follow.

Keisel and Harrison have both only started for three or four years. The theory is they have less wear on the tires. We'll see, I guess.

As for the rest of the Steelers 2010 free agents? Jeff Reed will likely be extended or franchised. Ryan Clark, while a hard hitter at FS, is replaceable because he's so bad in coverage. NT Casey Hampton has been less effective as his weight has ballooned, and when Chris Hoke replaces him throughout games, there is no drop-off. Willie Parker has been good for us but when your only trick is your speed, you won't stay good for long.

We have a great first-round pick DE in Ziggy Hood, and Keisel could get old fast, but I have to give the benefit of the doubt to Kevin Colbert and the Steeler FO.