A Great Pair of Jorts...

Back in late December, I posted an entry trying to explain what Jorts are and who you might catch wearing them...

Well, earlier this week, one of my friends from school sent me this photo, and I thought it would be a perfect example of just one of the many people you might catch wearing jean shorts...

I hope this helps some of you kids out there--Mom, this mean means you--get a better idea of the 'Jorts Phenomenon'...

Enjoy!

Wally's World...

Upon checking my email and some of the numerous sports sites a few minutes ago, I noticed the following 'breaking news' on CBS Sportsline: "Boston, Minnesota involved in seven-player deal"

Yes, I guess you could consider this breaking news, as it is the NBA's first multiplayer deal of the season, involving seven players and three draft picks...Yet, the news this evening stood out to me for another reason...

After a quick bite in the park shops mall this afternoon, I actually saw Wally Szczerbiak as I raced to class...In fact, for some reason, I said "What's up Wally World!?!" and patted him on the back as we crossed paths...

I don't necessarily know why I said it, but whatever the reason, it was probably the same reason why I said something similar to Jeff Van Gundy when I saw him in the same area last year, as well as the same reason why I said "What's up Phil!?!" when I saw Phil Garner at a wedding this past weekend...Basically, I'm a huge spaz/dork/tool...Take your pick...

Anyway, Szczerbiak clearly stood out, as most 6-7 dudes with spiky hair do...And in case you're wondering, he didn't really respond to my question--he just gave a quick head nod and kept walking, as he was on the phone...Yet, I now wonder if maybe he was talking to his agent about the potential deal...or maybe he wasn't actually talking to anyone, but was instead trying to look occupied so that he wouldn't be bothered by any geeks like me...

Oh well, hopefully the trade isn't officially completed until late tomorrow night, so that none of the players involved can suit up against the Rockets...

And, good luck in Boston, Wally...

I'm still here...

Hard to believe its been 21 days since my last post, as I’ve had plenty to discuss over the last three weeks...Well, I just wanted to drop a quick note to all you kids out there to let you know that I’m still here (and still breathing)...

I don’t really know why I haven’t been able to take a few minutes to post anything recently, as I should’ve been able to find some time since early January...I guess my biggest problem is that I continue to forget that there is no minimum or maximum word requirement when posting something on this blog...

Oh well, hopefully I can post some more random thoughts soon, as I always have stuff that I want to write about; it's just trying to find a good time to post that's the problem...

One thing I hope to do more of in the near future is to post some of the links that I come across on the 'net from time to time, similar to how other people/sites point out interesting/funny links...Basically, I may not have much time to share my thoughts about something, but at least I can share the link...

I hope all is well kids...

Bush's Lateral...

Yes, you are Reggie Bush...Yes, you are the Heisman Trophy winner...Yes, every time you touch the ball, you could take it to the house for 6...

But No...No Reggie, Mr. Heisman Trophy...If you are going to lateral the ball as you are going down, DO NOT try to lateral it to the white kid...

Maybe Reggie didn't see the end of the Alamo Bowl, but as Michigan learned exactly a week earlier, DO NOT lateral the ball to the white kid...After seven laterals--and with Steve Breaston trailing behind--Michigan's Tyler Ecker was pushed out of bounds at the Nebraska 13-yard line, ending the game...

Yeah, Kevin Moen--who scored the winning touchdown for Cal over Stanford during 'The Play' back in 1982--is white...Yet, that was Cal vs. Stanford, not the national title game...

Anyway, when that play happened live, the first thing that came to my mind wasn't necessarily why is Reggie trying to lateral the ball, but rather who's the awkward looking white kid and how did he get on the field?!?

Brad Walker everyone...


Along these same lines, here's a humorous take by ESPN's Bruce Feldman from earlier today:

"I wonder if when seldom-used USC WR Brad Walker went to bed Tuesday night he thought "in the Game of the Century, the Heisman winner, the most explosive player in the history of the game, is going to break free and then out of the corner of his eye, he'll see me running along side him, ME!, and he'll say, even though I haven't even logged enough snaps to have warranted a bio, 'Take it Brad. Take it baby!' and then he's gonna pitch it to me to take it the final leg for the touchdown that breaks open the game. Course if I could think on my feet a little better I might've tried to ask him that last night in the locker room if I could've IDed him. Hmm, another mis-step by me last night." Guess Bush wasn't the only one who dropped the ball. "

Wow...

First, let me say wow...

And second, let me say wow...

What a game tonight...

I said in my post before the game that I may further explain my reasons for picking Texas and my main reason would be VY...Yet, that would be easy...

Another main reason for my apparent optimism was that I thought the Texas defense would be the best defense USC faced all season by a large margin...I had no faith in the PAC 10, especially their defenses...Yet, USC didn't seem to have a very hard time racking up yards or scoring points tonight...

So outside the obvious (VY) and my gut (the UT defense), the main thing bothering me the last few weeks leading up to tonight's game was the lack of respect the media displayed toward UT...

As an Ohio State fan, I witnessed similar treatment of a team a few years ago when Ohio State faced (the unstoppable) Miami Hurricanes in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl...In addition, I noticed numerous members of the media picking Notre Dame to beat Ohio State in this year's Fiesta Bowl, even though Notre Dame didn't beat anyone during the regular season...

Yet, the media's treatment of Texas leading up to this game seemed to take things a bit further...Well, at least ESPiN...

Over the last couple weeks, ESPiN seemed to have a poll every other day matching up this year's USC team with the national champion teams of the last 10 or 15 years leading up to USC's national title run of the last couple years...AND in every one of these polls, this year's USC team was picked as the better team than all of these other past champions, and this year's title game hadn't even been played yet...

Granted, these polls were open to public to vote in, but ESPiN also offered the opinions of some of their so-called experts--specifically Mark May--and I never noticed any of them say that this USC team wasn't the better team...There could have been an instance or two where one of the experts picked one of the past champions, but I didn't notice many...To be honest, the only one I noticed--and this may be my selective memory at work--was their College Insider Bruce Feldman picking the 2002 Ohio State team over USC 30 to 28...

Yes, all these comparisons between the past champions against this year's USC team were very subjective, but all the while, Texas wasn't getting any respect...

Finally, while ESPiN was busy with these hypothetical match-ups, one of the things that stood out to me most was that a Texas win tonight wouldn't be the biggest upset of the last 5 or 10 years, at least according to the guys setting the line in Vegas...If I remember correctly, Ohio State opened as a two-touchdown underdog--give or take a field goal--against Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, while I also think Oklahoma was a 10 or 11-point underdog when they faced Florida State in the 2001 Orange Bowl...

I got Texas +7 tonight against the unbeatable USC Trojans, and I really thought Texas had a great shot winning outright, which they obviously did...They won outright against the same USC Trojans that would beat all of the past champions of the last 10 or 15 years, at least according to the ESPiN poll results...

Good thing nobody told Vince Young and the rest of the Longhorns that USC would beat all these past champions, and that they shouldn't bother showing up...

After the game, VY said "We got no respect from the media, and..."

I stop there because I couldn't understand what VY said after that...

But, I agree with you VY--at least that first part that I understood--and congrats my man, you deserve all the accolades you'll receive over the next week or two...

Well, I really wasn't planning on writing so much tonight or staying up this late, but the media really bothered me these last few weeks, not only with much of the 'pre-bowl' coverage, but in many other ways, as well...Hopefully, I can share some of these other thoughts soon...


And before I go, congrats Texas fans...

Drinking the Texas Kool-Aid...

After placing a $20 bet on tonight's Rose Bowl for a friend from work, seeing my account balance was not only a sad reminder of how much I lost during the crazy bowl season, but also how unpredictable some of the outcomes were...

Then, before allowing myself to dwell too long on what my balance used to be, as well as what could have been, I took one last look at what was left and decided to 'let it ride' on tonight's game...

Thus--without further adieu--I'm calling my shot(s) on tonight's game...For some reason (or actually numerous reasons that I can further explain later), I really think Texas has a better chance of winning this game than much of the media and so-called experts has given the 'Horns...

That being said, I decided to take UT +7, but also hope that the Longhorns can pull out the outright victory...I was hoping to get more than 7, but also didn't want to wait too long and end up getting only 6.5 points...

I also decided to join my buddy from work on his bet, taking the Under on the 69.5 point total, as my 'always take the over in bowl games' theory seemed to fizzle out soon after I started living by it somewhere around the Motor City Bowl...


Anyway, I never thought I'd type this in my blog, but here goes:

Hook 'Em!!!

Pineapple Karma with a Twist (Part II)...

OK, so I’m back to explain something I mentioned last week, as I pointed out in Part I of this post that I think my buddy Pineapple provided me with a little karma for the second half of the Motor City Bowl...

You see, after winning my college football pick ‘em among some friends from law school last year, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to set up an account with one of the online gambling sites...However, when all was said and done on the regular season, this really wasn't the best idea...

That being said, it's not like I lost a lot on the year...I ended up down $6 and some change, so basically you could say that I finished year about even, outside of the juice you have to pay on your winning bets...

And it's not like I had a lot of cash floating out there on the line every weekend, as my normal bet was $10...In fact, only once did I personally bet more than that on a game, and this was when I bet $20 on my 'lock of the year' when Baylor was favored by only 4 points at SMU during the first week of the season...

Anyway, considering I still had some money in my account at the end of the regular season, I thought I would place a few bets on some of the bowl games, yet I didn't get off to the greatest start...Let's just say that I lost twice as much as I won, and it could have been worse if I wasn't a minute late in trying to bet on the University of Houston (+5) against Kansas on December 23rd...

Maybe the worst part about my performance, though, is the fact that I ignored a trend that I even pointed out in one of my previous posts on the 23rd, when I stated:

"...one of my observations so far in regard to the bowls is that it seems many of the teams have forgotten how to play defense after a few weeks off...That being said, why the f*ck did I take the under in this game [Houston vs. Kansas]?!?"

So, after finally deciding to take the Over (53) in the Motor City Bowl, we were treated to a scoreless first quarter, while Memphis was leading Akron 13 to 3 at the half for a whopping total of 16 points...

At that point, I practically gave up on that bet and decided to head over to Blockbuster where I eventually crossed paths with Pineapple again...

I then checked out the score when I got home and realized I only needed five or six points (I couldn't remember the total at the time) with 5 minutes remaining and Memphis's was driving with their second team running back after DeAngelo Williams left the game with over 200 yards rushing...Anyway, Memphis went on to score a touchdown, which was later answered by an Akron touchdown...

Thus, after a combined 16-point first half, the two teams combined for 53 points in the second half, easily surpassing the 53 Over/Under...

So, with a little help from Pineapple, the 'Over Trend' continued...

However, this good karma ran out soon after and I continued to lose more than I won, and thus, I decided not to bet on any of the BCS games...

Well, until tonight, that is...