This is an open letter to all Notre Dame fans:

YOU DON”T MATTER

Stop acting like you are this elite program who is better than anyone just becuase you have the clover, touchdown Jesus and the Golden Domes on your side. Brian Kelly? With all due respect, you fans have been high on every coach that’s sat at a press conference stating “7-5 just isn’t good enough here at Notre Dame” and where has that landed you?

Here are the cold hard facts…you just lost to a horrid Rutgers Basketball team and you haven’t won a big football game since George Bush was in office (I ain’t talking dubbya). It stuns me that you have the audacity to taunt any opponent.

Do you think that Cincinnatti really cares about the fact that they lost a college basketball game to Notre Dame last night or that they lost Brian Kelly? The answer is no with the reason being, they realize who they are…a middle of the pack college sports program. The irony lies in the fact that you don’t seem to realize who you are Notre Dame…a middle of the pack college sports program.

Will you ever realize that with your elitist standards, 7-5 is good enough. That’s as far as you are going to go in this day and age. Accept who you are which, at best, is a 7-9 win football team and a 15-18 win basketball team year in and year out.

I apologize to Lou, Digger, Montana, Tim Brown, “The Rocket”, Ryan Grant, the kid from the Goonies etc…but, Notre Dame is not a top tier program anymore and, will never be again. You are not the Yankees, Lakers, Patriots, Steelers, Red Wings. You aren’t even the Twins, Suns, Chargers or Philadelphia Eagles. At best you are that 8-8 NFL team that backdoors your way into a wild card spot in a down year.

That being said…beautiful campus folks.

Sincerely,

Tim Rescigno (Realist)

I haven’t contributed anything to the site for a few weeks and wanted to weigh in on some of my recent thoughts relating to the current sports landscape.

U.S. Men’s National Team forward Charlie Davies was seriously injured in a car accident the night before the World Cup qualifying game against Costa Rica. Davies will be unavailable for the 2010 World Cup as a result of the severity of the injuries suffered during the crash which left 22 year old Ashley Roberta of Phoenix, MD dead. Davies was the one American forward who had legitimate pace and could have given elite defenders around the world a real run for their money. Davies was also developing a special chemistry with striking partner Jozy Altidore. The combination of Altidore’s size and Davies speed would have given the U.S. a real chance of making it out of the group stage at next summer’s World Cup. Without Davies (who was getting solid minutes and delivering goals for Sochaux in France’s Ligue 1) it is still possible to have success in South Africa next summer, but all U.S. futbol fans would have loved to have seen Davies put in some work for the Red, White, and Blue.

Rivals’ magazine has the Terps ranked #45 in the preseason College Basketball poll. Every other website and ratings service that I have investigated is shortchanging the Terps as well.

Fortunately, my strongest impression from Midnight Madness was that incoming freshmen James Padgett (6’9″, 225 lbs.) and Jordan Williams (6’10″, 260 lbs) definitely have the physiques to step right into ACC play for the Maryland Terrapins basketball team. They may not provide much (if any) offense this year, but they will give us some big, athletic bodies to help defend elite post players like Carolina’s Ed Davis. The Terrapins frontcourt was a real achilles heel last season and finished last in the ACC in rebounding differential. I know Padgett and Williams will help rectify the rebounding deficiencies and add much needed athleticism and depth. My only real concern for this season is the need for a steady 3 point shooter, but I am hoping Hayes can build on the end of last season and step into this role. Whatever your expectations are for the 2009 Terps you need to raise them. I am guaranteeing that the Terps finish top 4 in the ACC and make it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. They will be a top 25 team all year. Don’t forget about the 2010 recruiting class featuring Terrence Ross, Mychal Parker, Terrell Stoglin, and a stud to be named later. The present and future is bright for Terp hoops. What do you think Duke and Carolina fans?

Winning ugly in the NFL is beautiful. It doesn’t matter what happens during the 60 minutes other than who comes away with a W. The NFL is a bottom line league and nobody cares about the woulda-coulda-shoulda come January when playoff spots are being determined. The fact that you beat a winless team by one point is frustrating in October, but nobody remembers how you won in January, only that you are 11-5.

NFL fans look at their favorite team’s schedule and truly think they can predict what is going to happen. Please stop wasting your time. Nobody has a clue, and what you feel today and think is true and absolute, will certainly change after this weekend’s games are played.

In the NFL, being dynamic on offense is overrated. The primary result of being potent on offense is that most defenses and special teams will lack urgency because they feel like they have a margin for error. Look at the teams that have won the Super Bowl in the last ten years. The majority are boring, physical, efficient teams that stop the run, win the turnover and penalty battle, and grind out close games with their defense. This message goes out to all Raven and Steeler’s fans: you have to be careful what you ask for when you want your team to stop “winning ugly”. Because the dynamic offense that you were so desperate to see will only lead to your team “losing pretty”. The NFL is the ultimate team game and you need urgency from your defense and special teams. When you know your offense is anemic (or brutally efficient), the other parts of the team play full throttle EVERY play. This urgency evaporates when players get used to the offense throwing up 30+ most games. The NFC East formula for winning is an oldy but goody…tried and true. Don’t believe me, go ask Josh McDaniels.

Alabama has one of the best defenses I have ever seen in college football. It reminds me of the 1992 Alabama team that throttled Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl on the way to their first National Championship with a coach not named Bear Bryant. Nobody is going to move the ball consistently on this team. Alabama literally plays 11 guys in the box and they have the speed to take away anything over the top. Even though their offense is pedestrian, Heisman trophy candidate RB Mark Ingram and big play WR Julio Jones provide more than enough offense for the Crimson Tide. Fast forward to the National Championship game of Alabama vs. Texas. Guess who is a lock?

Think about this Thanksgiving day crew sitting around watching the Dallas/Oakland game. Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Kate Hudson, and A-Rod. I wonder if they will be impressed with A-Rod’s World Series ring and MVP trophy? What movie do you think they will watch after the game? Wildcats? Overboard? Used Cars? Big Trouble in Little China? Captain Ron?

Valentino Rossi has all but put away the 2009 MotoGP championship. Rossi has a 38 point lead with two races to go virtually guaranteeing “The Doctor” his 9th title. On the Nascar front, Jimmy Johnson has a 90 point lead over sentimental favorite Mark Martin with five races left in the chase for the Nextel Cup. Hendrick Motor Sports and Jimmy J are going for an unprecedented 4th consecutive points title. Fan favorite (and son of deceased Nascar legend Dale Earnhardt Sr.), Little E is the only Hendrick driver not involved in the chase for the Cup. C’mon man!

Who is going to win the scoring title in the NHL this year? Ovechkin or Malkin?

Can we please get rid of the muscle-bound wrestler guy and get more martial arts back in MMA?And does anyone think that it is inevitable that Hollywood will remake the cult classic ‘Bloodsport’ with Georges St. Pierre playing the role formerly played by Claude Van Damme?

Stay tuned for my World Series preview which should be out following a Yankee win tomorrow.

- Woodman – I will never stop sawing the wood

Pt. 1 The NFL Power Rankings

In full disclosure, I want to say that I respect Jack of All Sports correspondent Tim Rescigno very much. In fact, he is the only one I trust when reading power rankings. He may not have that certain cement laying swagger (though he may have ‘pipe hitting,’ I’m not totally sure) about him like I do but he still knows how to rank a team…I think. Actually, I am not just talking about Tim, I am talking about the idea of Power Rankings in general.

It certainly is confusing week to week to see the “power rankings” come out. I can understand lumping the undefeated teams together and the winless teams together, but how in the world does the middle pack shake out? I know that this is something for the fans to talk about more than anything else, but to use the MNF hip phrase..’come on man! How were the Chargers in the top 12 (ESPN’s Power Ranking & Mr. Rescigno’s)? They beat the Dolphins and the Raiders..barely. What does it all mean? Are these arbitrary rankings used for Vegas lines at all? When the Bangles eek out an overtime victory over the hapless Browns, do Power Rankers scurry around in a panic mode thinking of how that could shake up their list? If not, how come they didn’t see it coming? Is it because week to week the difference between teams isn’t as large as we want to believe? Again in the spirit of disclosure, I am a Redskins fan, so reading these rankings lists haven’t been fun. I have to believe though that even the Skins will beat a “top 10 team” at some point and then I want to know why that team was in the top 10 or why the Skins were at the bottom…but I will wait for that hopeful day to ask such an outlandish question.

Chapter 2 NCAA Top-25 Rankings

Like I said, I believe in my heart of hearts that the NFL power ranking is just for fun and for points to debate; meaningless essentially. What really smacks my goat is the NCAA system. A one Mr. Cary noted that it’s necessary because there is no playoff system. Right you are, and I am not calling for a system to be put in place, rather a re-vamping of the current ranking system.

One of the worst things that happens is the pre-season ranking. This completely messes up the season. Look at this year. Teams that got a lot of preseason hype (for no good reason in my opinion) snuck into the top 25 essentially blocking deserving teams. Examples you ask? UNC and Ole Miss. Those two teams had no business starting where they did, but since they kept winning against mediocre to terrible teams, they got to stay in, thus blocking more deserving programs. Now it is week 5 and the better teams are starting to shake out and are just now being included…like South Carolina (again, I have my biases here too). If you look at the extremely arbitrary Pre-season Top 25 you find teams like Florida State, UNC and Utah while current 5-0 teams like Auburn, Cincinnati and South Florida were nowhere to be seen. Where was Miami? It took undefeated Auburn (with 2 conference wins) until week 5 to get in.

Worse is that teams that are late getting in to the top 25 will find it harder to move up. If UNC (who had to come back to beat UConn) would have snuck a win at the last minute by UVA would they have dropped out of the top 25? Probably not, but did they deserve to be there in the first place? No. It’s all about the preseason poll screwing it up for everyone.

My point is this…and it’s been said before, but I believe it to be a good idea…wait to rank college teams until the 4^th week. This will give you a better opportunity to evaluate who deserves to be in the BCS hunt and who doesn’t. Is that crazy?

~ Gordon Southard, JAS Hodgepodge Correspondent

I know that I shouldn’t cling to the child hood memories that helped shape the sports fan that I have become today. I shouldn’t let something that happened decades ago influence how I perceive the sports landscape of today. But I do. And, it makes me feel old and stuck in my ways (normally I try to feel young and rock-n-roll at heart). So enough is enough already and it is time for the following teams to start winning again so that the world will seem normal again.

Nebraska Cornhuskers – played in a classic Orange Bowl against Clemson when I was 9 years old. Tom Osbourne, Roger Craig, Mike Rozier, and Turner Gill came up short that day against the #1 ranked Tigers, but I was sold on being a casual Cornhusker football fan. Back in the day Nebraska would play Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners for the Big 8 title every year. That was a HUGE game. In today’s sports landscape the Red River Shootout between Texas & Oklahoma is the big game every year in what is now the Big XII (the Southwest Conference and Big 8 merged in 1996 forming the current Big XII). New head coach Bo Pellini needs to bring back the spirits of Cornhusker past and win the Big XII North every year for the next twenty years. This would set up an annual Big XII title game featuring either Nebraska vs. Texas or Nebraska vs. Oklahoma. Please, no more Kansas St., Kansas, Missouri etc.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish – The Irish are the most polarizing team in college football (just like Duke is the most polarizing team in college basketball). You either love or hate the Irish. But lately, nobody cares enough to love or hate them. Aside from the media cramming Notre Dame football down the consumers throat, the Irish are totally irrelevant. Also, it is annoying that all of their games are on NBC when we could be watching a rack of other games that are twice as important in the scope of the BCS. But led by Jimmy Claussen and a prolific Irish offense, maybe the down cycle is coming to an end. I just want to see ND get better so that when they play a USC or Michigan, the Irish can give them a game worth watching. Because like it or not, all of their games will be on tv. I think it may be time for Lou Holtz to come out of retirement for one last swan song if Charlie Weiss is unable to get the Irish over the hump in 2009. How I long for the days of Allen Pinkett, Tim Brown, Tony Rice, and Rocket Ismail. The days when the Irish always found a way to pull it out at the end.

Michigan Wolverines – more than I want to see Michigan one again rise to prominence and win, I would like to see Ohio St. lose. Buckeye fans are like Red Sox fans, very annoying to say the least. Frankly, I don’t trust any other Big X team to consistently compete with the Buckeyes, so we need Michigan to step it up. It seems like yesterday that Jim Tressel was speaking at a Buckeye hoops pep rally and promised to end Michigan’s domination.  Can Rich Rodriguez please show up at a Wolverine hoops game this winter and make the same prophecy? Desmond Howard, Anthony Carter, Charles Woodson, Ty Wheatley, Jim Harbaugh and a number of other Michigan greats have provided a number of great college football memories. We can only hope that the Buckeyes stranglehold on the Big X will soon come to an end.

Miami Hurricanes – life just doesn’t seem right when the ‘Canes are not an elite program. They are the U for Pete’s sake. They wrote the book on athletes that run 4.3 40′s and play with swagger. In fact, they invented swagger in south Florida. I have never been a “fan” of Miami, but I love watching their athletes perform. Michael Irvin, Ray Lewis, Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp etc. etc. You get the picture. NFL U. We all know they can recruit great players to Miami, but they need to start winning again. Some of my best sports memories are watching underdog teams upset the Hurricanes. You can’t have David without Goliath.

Quick thoughts:

Alabama is the best team in the SEC and will play Texas for the BCS national championship.

Oklahoma will lose this week at Miami. The Hurricanes have elite athletes on the perimeter and they can shut down the spread offense. Even as a seven point underdog, I look for Miami to bounce back following the debacle in Blacksburg.

Texas will run the table and play Alabama for the BCS title.

Boise State is going to run the table and play in a BCS game.

TCU and Houston are the other two BCS darkhorses. TCU held on for a good win at Clemson last week and Houston pulled it out late against Texas Tech. Both will trip up at some point and lose at least one game ending their BCS dreams.

The Pac 10 is a good conference. Arizona St. gave Georgia all they could handle and there are a number of above average teams that could factor in the BCS picture. Oregon destroyed Cal last weekend (how impressive does the Boise St. win over Oregon look now?) and soon Cal will welcome the Trojans into Berkley. Arizona, UCLA, Washington, Stanford and Oregon St. are all competitive. Pete Carroll and USC will lose at least one more game this season leaving the Pac 10 wide open in 2009.

Florida has the easiest SEC schedule ever. The Gators may lose one game but will more likely go into the SEC title game against Alabama undefeated. With a spot in the BCS championship game at stake, Nick Saban will lead the Tide over Urban Meyer and the Gators. Auburn is under the radar this year but may end up doing some damage. Georgia doesn’t appear to miss Stafford & Moreno quite as much as people have expected.

Maryland Terrapins – it may be a lost season in College Park, but don’t give up on the Friedge. This is a very young Terp squad and they will get better as the season progresses. When your weaknesses are offensive and defensive line it is tough to be successful. Friedge will coach em up and the Terps will be back in 2010.

Penn St. – Darryl Clark is horrible. Iowa grinded Joe Pa’s group right into the dirt. Another reason why I need the Wolverines to start winning consistently. I don’t have any faith that the bunch in Happy Valley can end Jim Tressel’s annual Big X dominance.

Can’t wait for another weekend of College Football.

woodman

Is it too early to be talking about Bowl season? Probably if you are a Maryland fan.  Well, that’s not completely true…its seems like these days, if you have a football pulse you will end up at worst in something called the New Mexico Bowl.

When you think of college post-season, what do you think of? Maybe I should phrase it: “what should you think of?” In my opinion the post-season is reserved for the best of the best, top teams with stand-out seasons. Alright, so how many schools should you limit it to then? The top 20? No, that is too few probably, and doesn’t even incorporate our coveted Top-25. Ok, so let’s make it the top 26. That would be 12 games of the nations best of the best. Those match-ups would really draw the crowds and feature some excellent games against teams that have worked their asses off and earned it.

Alas, it’s not the top 26, nor the top 40…or the top 50, or the top 60. This year 68 teams will participate in a “Bowl Game.” I put that in quotations because to put bowls like the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in the same category as the Rose Bowl (presented by Citi) is sick. Do you remember back in 2001 when you stopped everything to watch the New Orleans Bowl? No? It was December 18^th, so I’m sure you had time to watch.  It was a clash between the Rams of Colorado State and the Mean Green of North Texas. CSU was 6-5 and North Texas was 5-6. How in the hell did these two teams end up in the post-season? There are too many games.

The other thing is the posterity of it all. It bothers me that teams hang their hat on winning bowls that have changed names so many times that the original name is long forgotten. Take for example Maryland’s win over Tennessee in 1983. That Bowl had been around since 1947…but do you remember the name? It was the Florida Citrus Bowl, which became the Tangerine Bowl and now the Capital One Bowl.  Throughout the years there have been many name changes such as the original Sunshine Bowl.  That went from the Sunshine Bowl to the Blockbuster Bowl on to the Carquest Bowl, Micron PC Bowl then the subtle change to Micron PC.com Bowl then over to the Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl to what it is now, the Champs Sports Bowl.

This all started when Sunkist (the first to ever sponsor a Bowl game) put their name on the Fiesta Bowl. It’s all been downhill from there.  I understand the economics of it. Schools want in because there is money to be made (anywhere from $400,000 to $1,000,000 for a single game) but doesn’t it takes away from the prestige when a team at .500 or barely over is almost guaranteed a spot. That makes scheduling 4 cupcakes in the regular season a foregone conclusion. If the qualifications to get in a bowl were a little more difficult, maybe we would see better games early on?

It doesn’t look like anything is going to change anytime soon. There are new games popping up like last year’s EagleBank Bowl game in D.C. which spent over 1 million dollars to sponsor (oh and this is while receiving 38 million in TARP money from the Gov’t) and there are name changes happening where sponsors can’t justify the costs anymore. The Motor City Bowl is now the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl after the big car companies were almost forced to back out. MagicJack did not renew its contract after only one year, so there is still a name yet to be determined for that bowl.

When you get down to it, I just want a post season in college athletics that teams, schools and alumni can be proud of, and that does not include winning the St. Petersburg Bowl. I feel we have gotten a little out of hand with these 34 Bowl games.

~ Gordon “Please let the Gamecocks qualify for a respectable bowl” Southard

The Mountain West is going to shake up the BCS in 2009

U.S. Open – I felt that Serena Williams outburst in women’s semifinal was completely justified. How can an official make that call at 15-30 when Clijsters was two points from advancing to the final? Serena didn’t even commit a foot fault! If it were me, I would have put on a far worse display of sportsmanship. After penalizing Serena a point for misconduct, the match was over. It is truly unbelievable when an insignificant lineswoman can play a part in deciding a match of this magnitude. Clijsters, who was the better player and deserved victor, must have felt shortchanged by the meltdown and circumstances surrounding the conclusion of the match.

On the men’s side, 6’6″ Argentinian Juan Del Potro upset Roger Federer to collect his first major. Del Potro dispatched Nadal in straight sets in the semi’s and unleashed a violent forehand barrage in stunning Federer in the final. The days of Federer and Nadal winning every major may be coming to an end. Del Potro’s height allows him to handle Nadal’s high kicking topspin and his power is too much for a finesse driven Federer. It should be an interesting 2010 for tennis fans.

Maryland Terrapin Football – Terp fans are disgruntled following a 52-13 pasting at Cal and 38-35 OT win over Division I AA James Madison. A loss last weekend would certainly have ruined the season. Instead, a young group can try to build on a win and continue to improve in the coming weeks playing winnable games at home against Middle Tennessee St. and Rutgers. With such a young roster and obvious holes on the offensive and defensive lines, there are low expectations in College Park for this team. But don’t underestimate the Friedge. I guarantee he gets this team to improve significantly in the coming months. I am tentative to forecast the number of wins for this team, but don’t be surprised if the Terps collect six or more wins. Also, the defense has started the season very poorly under the watch of new defensive coordinator Don Brown. In the last two weeks the Terps have been victimized by the spread offense allowing 87 points. Look for the Terp D to figure things out and play much better in the coming weeks. Coach Brown has a tremendous track record and should get this D on track despite the recent loss of key CB Nolan Carroll. This season will hinge on the play of a young and underachieving offensive line that has yet to allow our deep group of skill players to shine.

Ravens – The Chiefs game was an interesting game for diehard Ravens fans who are used to winning grind it out affairs trademarked by a physical running game and rock solid defense. Normally the Ravens are blocking punts and intercepting passes for touchdowns (not having those plays go against them). The Ravens are the team who typically win the penalty and turnover battles, but not this week. Instead, they relied on an explosive offense that racked up 501 yards and 40 minutes of possession. This should bode well for the Ravens defense which should be rested and hungry for turnovers this week in San Diego. For a non diehard, it was refreshing to see the Ravens win in uncharacteristic style. The NFL is a difficult league and you have to be able to adapt to negative circumstances that inevitably occur within a game. I thought the Ravens overcame bad luck and adversity well and showed that the offense is a force to be reckoned with in 2009. The Ravens will be deadly if they can get consistent production from Flacco and the running game (198 yards and all three backs contributed). We will learn a lot this week in San Diego and Week 4 in New England.

College Football – Notre Dame and Michigan played a classic last weekend in Ann Arbor. I felt that ND was the better team and should have won the game. However, you can’t take anything away from Michigan, Rich Rodriguez, and emerging freshman QB Tate Forcier. There is no doubt that Michigan will once again be a powerhouse once Rodriguez rounds out the Wolverine roster with a few more stud recruiting classes. The storied history of the Michigan program plus the allure of Rodriguez’s offense should bring plenty of blue chips to Ann Arbor in the coming years. Forcier was sensational and showed that the future is bright for both he and the Wolverines. On the flip side, this loss was a brutal disappointment for Fighting Irish fans. But, the Irish offense is for real and with a favorable schedule (USC aside), ND could still enjoy a 10 win season. Junior QB Jimmy Claussen has turned the corner and is an elite QB. The offensive line features five seniors. Michael Floyd and Golden Tate are the best WR combo in the country. Ironically, if it were not for Tate dropping a sure TD, Notre Dame fans would not have needed to sweat out the final Michigan drive. The game should have already have been salted away. Claussen and the Irish offense handled the 100,000+ crowd well and I look for Tate to redeem himself in the coming weeks. However, the Irish D needs to step it up if they are to reach the 10 win plateau this season. Needless to say, USC/Ohio St was an absolute classic as well. I don’t think either of these teams will play for a national championship, but it was a great show of character for a young Matt Barkley. The true freshman handled the pressure in orchestrating a game winning drive in front of 106,000 fans at the Horseshoe. I think the future is bright in southern California, but Pete Carroll will fall short of the title this year. Looking ahead to the games this weekend, Florida St. at BYU and Utah at Oregon will have an impact on the BCS. That’s right, the Mountain West will be in focus as they try to collect wins against teams from traditional power conferences in an effort to raise their profile as a possible BCS participant. If BYU, TCU, or Utah can run the table, it will leave little margin of error for Florida, Texas, USC and others who dream of playing in the BCS championship game. This will finally be the year the BCS blows up as all of the top teams will lose and Boise vs. BYU will be your national championship game. Can you say playoff in 2010?

Soccer – The U.S. Men’s National team put forth two ragged performances in defeating El Salvador 2-1 and Trinidad & Tobago 1-0. Both games were disjointed and incomplete. The team doesn’t appear to have taken their play to the next level on the heels of a fabulous Confederations Cup showing (the U.S. defeated former World #1 Spain and gave current World #1 Brazil all they could handle in the Final). However, the U.S. collected six vital points and currently sit atop the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying Group with 16 points. These results virtually assure that the U.S. men will compete for the World Cup in South Africa next summer. In the modern era of sports the bottom line is everything and the U.S. got the wins they needed regardless of their display. U.S. forwards Jozy Altidore (Hull City) and Charlie Davies (Sochaux) are building a legitimate chemistry and should benefit from playing club futbol in Europe this year. Along with Landon Donovan these young guns should provide the team with the firepower they need to compliment the workmanlike, blue collar style of play expected from the U.S. Let’s hope our guys stay healthy playing for their club teams so we have a full roster for next summers WC.

International Club futbol – Prediction – an Italian team will win the Champions League this year. My futbol intuition tells me it will be Inter who play a more dynamic style with the recent additions of Wesley Sneijder, Thiago Motta, Diego Milito, and Samuel Eto’o. Under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, this may be the year for Inter to silence their critics.

Manchester United are not dead in the water without Cristiano Ronaldo. It will take a few months for United to find the right combinations, but they are a deep squad that will again challenge for the treble. Wayne Rooney will pick up the goal scoring slack and new winger Antonio Valencia will continue to develop and help ease the pain of the departed CR7. United have a veteran defense that doesn’t leak goals. Furthermore, Edwin Van der Sar and Owen Hargreaves will be back from injury to further strengthen the team. Even though the Red Devils may fail to win any hardware this season, they will be a top class side all year despite losing CR7.

And please, Arsenal fans relax. Wenger is the best manager in the world and your team will be firing on all cylinders once Arshavin recovers from his groin injury. Rosicky is back and soon enough the memories of the losses to United and City will be a thing of the past.

It has been too long. I am trying to get past my recent writer’s block. Much love to my fellow soccer brethren.

The Woodman

Hey Big Ten, it’s not 1939 and we’re not running the Wing-T, so there’s little need for your hourglass-40-time skill players in the NFL. Speed kills and in today’s NFL and it’s a prerequisite for virtually every position which touches or is around the football. The lack of speed in the Big Ten is evident now more than ever, but historically speaking the lack of talented pro skill-players coming from the Big Ten is glaring. I’m sure this argument has been made before; hell I know the Woodman has been beating this drum like Rick Allen, but I feel the obvious lack of athletes coming from this conference has to be revisited. Now I know all of you Big Ten alumni are up in arms and screaming about Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Plexico Burress, Bob Sanders, and even Santonio Holmes, but what you have to realize is that they are the exceptions to the rule. For every Brady and Burress you give me I’ll raise you a Dayne, Rogers, Biakabutuka, and Duckett (all 1st rounders). For every Larry Johnson and Braylon Edwards you throw my way I’ll send back a David Terrell, Chris Perry, Michael Bennett, Curtis Enis, and David Boston. I’ll give it to the Big Ten, they know how to turnout corn-fed linemen, but their receiver, running back, and defensive back game is weak.

With the pro game constantly growing faster, the lack of athleticism in the Big Ten has even started to show in non-skilled positions, such as linebacker. Some Big Ten linebacker bust that come to mind include, Bobby Carpenter, AJ Hawk (don’t even try to defend this long-hair softy), LaVar Arrington (over-rated), Andy Katzenmoyer, and basically anyone else who wore an OSU or Penn State helmet in college. You think I’m off base? Of the 40 top tacklers (linebackers only) in the 2008 NFL regular season only 3 of them were from the Big Ten Conference; Dhani Jones (you may know him better from his show on the Travel Channel); Chad Greenway; and Paul Posluszny…not exactly household names. There were more statistical leaders coming out of the Mountain West and Non-D1 schools (4 each), than there were coming out of Big Ten ‘linebacker factories’. That figures is compared to the 8 and 10 players coming from ACC and SEC schools respectively. When it comes to deep threats, backfield workhorses, lockdown corners, and monsters of the mid-way give me burners from the speed conferences every time.

~Pat Cary