Even with the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season, I'm going to do my best to keep up with the column. Plenty going on over the past week, so let's get you up to date with another edition of the Shot Selection.
Swish: Turner Gill
When I was watching Ball State fumble away their chances at an unbeaten season in the MAC Championship game, I came away extremely impressed by Buffalo. Under third-year head coach and former Nebraska star Turner Gill, the Bulls have turned in an 8-5 season, a conference championship, and a chance at a bowl victory (vs. UConn in the International Bowl on Jan. 3rd). After soaking in the Bulls’ upset, I got to thinking – is this the single greatest coaching job in college football history? This is the same Buffalo team that was arguably the worst Division-I program in college football for the better part of this decade. Before Gill’s arrival, Buffalo had won a total of eight games in the seven seasons since joining Division-I. In Gill’s three seasons, the Bulls have won two, five (all five wins came in MAC play), and eight games. When looking for a proper comparison off the top of my head, only one head coaching performance came to mind: Gary Barnett at Northwestern. The Wildcats went from perennial Big Ten doormat to 10 wins and a Rose Bowl in 1995, and have enjoyed continued success since. I’m sure another opportunity will be on the way for Gill shortly, but hopefully he’s instilled something that the Buffalo football program can build on for years to come.
Has this man done the greatest coaching job ever?
Brick: Jacksonville Jaguars
Move over Bengals and Lions - if you’re looking for the biggest disappointment in the NFL, look no further than the Jacksonville Jaguars. When a potential Super Bowl season turns into perhaps a 4-12 campaign, there is plenty of blame to go around. I’ll get to Jack Del Rio in a minute, but first let’s start with David Garrard. The Jaguars really jumped the gun in giving their quarterback a seven-year contract extension (worth $60 million) after just one full season of success. Last year, Garrard relied on managing the game and not making mistakes (just 3 INT in 325 attempts). He has regressed in every statistical category, with 10 interceptions and a QB rating that has dropped form 102.2 to 80.9. Injuries on the offensive line (Vince Manuwai, Chris Naeole) have hurt Garrard’s protection, but it’s no excuse for his pedestrian numbers this season. Most of the blame should fall on head coach Jack Del Rio. I was never sold on Del Rio as a good head coach, and you can see after this four-game losing skid that the team has quit on him. Del Rio is another guy that the Jags extended after last year, and they could end up paying for it. He’ll be on a short leash going into the 2009 season.
At least Del Rio has plenty of suits for his next job interview
Air Ball: The BCS bashers
Remember all of the bashers that talked about the injustice of having Oklahoma get a shot at a (mythical) BCS Championship despite a head-to-head loss to Texas? Where are all of the bashers now? I woke up on Sunday morning and all I heard about was how floored everyone was over Oklahoma’s 60+ point performance against a mediocre-at-best Missouri squad. The truth is, this happens every single year. The “critics” (if you can even call them that) yap all season long, but once bowl season rolls around (and the sponsorships and network contracts roll in), they fall in line like sheep. Man, after running up the score against the fifth-best team in the Big 12, Oklahoma sure deserves a shot! Baaaaaaa. Florida lost to Ole Miss at home? What about Tim Tebaaaaa? They proved that they belong. At the end of the day, the ESPN flock and most of the writers have to pump-up these bowl games because they need people to watch - what better way to do that then to applaud the BCS for “getting it right”, even when they know that it’s wrong? If everyone wants change so much, then why’d the writers overwhelmingly put Oklahoma #2? Why’d the coaches give Oklahoma more first-place votes (31) than Florida (26) and Texas (4) COMBINED? Their BCS criticisms are nothing more than a farce. They huff and puff until they’re red in the face in October and November, but that doesn’t mean anything if their ballots and analysis crumble in crunch-time. Instead of rolling over and accepting the fact that the BCS will never change, why not take a stand? Paging President-elect Obama…I WANT CHANGE!
Swish: Greg Maddux
I’m officially starting to feel old. With Roger Clemens gone, and Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas barely hanging on, the dominant baseball players that I grew up with are slowly fading away. One of the greatest of all of them walked away this week. It’s hard to even fathom the accomplishments of Greg Maddux’s career: 355 wins, 3,371 strikeouts, 8 All-Star games, 4 Cy Youngs, and 18 Gold Gloves (eighteen!). Maddux won more games during the 1990s than any other pitcher and his career 3.16 ERA is 2nd only to Pedro Martinez during the era. I still believe that his 1995 campaign – and only World Series title – was one of the greatest seasons than any pitcher has ever had. That year, Maddux was 19-2, went the distance in 10 of his 28 starts, had an ERA of 1.63 (proving his 1.56 ERA during the strike-shortened 1994 season was no fluke), 0.81 WHIP, and had a K-BB ratio of almost 8-1 (181-23). Maddux’s retirement is especially bittersweet for Cubs fans, who must wonder just what could’ve been. Following his first Cy Young during the 1992 season in Chicago, the Cubs and Maddux were unable to get a deal worked out. Maddux signed with the Braves, and as they say, the rest is history. There will be some bitter old voters that refuse to put Maddux on their first ballot (because after all, Babe Ruth himself wasn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer), but that doesn’t change the fact that Maddux is a first-ballot HOF in every sense of the word. He wasn't blessed with Clemens' fastball, Randy Johnson's slider, or Pedro's change - but they guy just knew how to pitch. With the new era of five (even six) man rotations and middle relievers, we may never see another pitcher do what Maddux did. Congratulations to an outstanding pitcher, and an even better person.
Oh what could've been, Cubs fans...
Swish: LeBron James
Maybe LeBron should tell the media to put the 2010 talk on hold, because you’d hate for speculation to ruin his first legitimate shot at a Championship (and no, 2007 didn't count). Following Tuesday night’s win over Toronto, the Cavs are off to an 18-3 start (the 2nd best record in the NBA) and are looking like a title contender. LeBron is 2nd in scoring (26.7 ppg), 11th in assists, and 6th in steals through the first seven weeks of the season. The Cavaliers are the #2 scoring offense in the NBA (105.7), and defensively are allowing the least points per game (90.4). When talking about the best acquisitions of the offseason, you have to look at the Mo Williams trade. Williams (15.1 ppg) has emerged as the compliment to LeBron that Larry Hughes never was. The supporting cast isn’t spectacular, but is very solid with strong role players like Szczerbiak, Varejo, and “Boobie” Gibson. Let’s face it: LeBron is as good as gone in 2010 (not just saying that as a Knicks’ fan, it’s inevitable). At least for now, Cleveland fans can hope he brings them their first pro title since 1964.
Brick: Oscar De la Hoya I’m not a boxing aficionado but I know enough to know a butt-kicking when I see one. De la Hoya’s days as a boxer are likely over after a one-sided bout against the relentless Manny Pacquiao. De la Hoya’s career is reminiscent of the current state of boxing. I remember just a decade ago ordering all the pay-per-view fights involving Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis. Now the “prize fights” never live up to the hype – they’re either tremendously boring (Floyd Mayweather/De la Hoya) or no contest (Pacquiao/De la Hoya). De la Hoya, like Roy Jones, Jr., is viewed as nothing but a paper champion and a boxer that packed more promotional punch than he actually did in the ring. It’s only a matter of time before they cram the next “fight that will save boxing” down our throats (Mayweather un-retires to face Pacquiao?). This time, you might want to hold on to your 70 bucks
Air Ball: NHL’s handling of the Sean Avery situation
Let me preface this by saying that Sean Avery is a rude, arrogant, and immature jerk. He will probably always be a rude, arrogant, immature jerk. But, after his harmless (yet stupid) comments last week regarding an ex-girlfriend and her relationship with Calgary’s Dion Phaneuf, I was floored by the NHL’s reaction. The league handed down a six-game suspension to Avery, merely for an off-color comment. Was what Avery said stupid and off-color? Yes. But, his comments (which you can view here) were not racist, they weren’t sexist, and they were not threatening (or funny). The hypocrisy of this suspension is that it comes from a league that lets their players do things to each other on the ice that they would be arrested for in the real world. For punching someone in the face in the NHL, you are penalized minutes, but for sophomoric humor you have to sit six games? Give me a break. Comparing Avery’s incident with others from across sports make the punishment even more ridiculous. How about Ben Wallace a couple years ago? He helped incite the most infamous riot in sports history in that fateful night at the Palace. His suspension was six games. Take Jaguars WR Matt Jones – he was caught cutting cocaine with a credit card in his car. His suspension? Three games. The reason why the NHL sucks and nobody watches it is because the league is run by a bunch of buffoons. You may not like Sean Avery (who does?) but there’s no way that this outlandish punishment fits the crime.
NHL executives (pictured above) laid the hammer down on Avery
The Shots FANTASY Update: Touchdown Jebus def. Plax On, Plax Off (the team), TOO ANGRY TO CARE Let the whining begin! Thanks to a ridiculous eight-team playoff, the top two seeds (including me) in our Fantasy Football league are out of the race for the League title. Now, two 6-7 teams are still alive while DissedLastYear (11-2) and Plax On Plax Off (9-4) could realistically finish in 8th place. It’s the 2nd straight year that I’ve put together a great regular season, only to be beaten on a fluke week by the #7 seed. I understand that the Fantasy playoffs are a crapshoot, but that doesn’t mean that the regular season should be absolutely worthless. A four-team playoff or a six-team (with byes for the top two seeds) makes much more sense. By the way, if you’re in a twelve-team league and eight teams make the playoffs, please e-mail me at derek@XL950.com. I have yet to meet anyone that plays under that stupid format. I've heard the arguments on the other side, but there's absolutely no way that a team that went 6-7 during the regular season should have a shot at the championship. End rant.
Yes Sir! def. Robin Hood Style, 6-3 – 5th place Donaghy’s Bookie def. D’AntoniMR(explicit), 5-4 – 5th place I pulled the trigger on the blockbuster Raymond Felton deal and he rewarded me with a 39-assist week. The rest of this team is really vanilla, but they have been getting the job done. I’m still in 5th place, but am only 3 ½ back of first through the first six weeks. In the other league, I’m mired in mediocrity with a roster that on paper, is better than the team I have in my Knicks’ blog league. Go figure.
The Shots What to Watch this week: Phoenix at LA Lakers, Wednesday Sure the Lakers are king out West, but who is their most legitimate threat? Is it perennial choke-artist Houston? Young Portland? Are the Hornets ready to take the next step? Maybe Wednesday’s game will show us something, but many think that Phoenix is that team. After a good start, the Suns have cooled of late, dropping four of five – hopefully they’ll be game for this matchup with Kobe & Co.
Butler at Ohio State, Saturday Remember when Butler was supposed to be down this year? Yeah, someone forgot to tell Brad Stevens and his young Bulldogs. Speaking of young, Thad Matta has his team full of blue-chips (without a single senior!) coming off an impressive week which included a road win over Miami, and a takedown of 7th ranked Notre Dame. Look for the Buckeyes to exploit the Dogs with their tremendous size advantage in the middle.
Pittsburgh at Baltimore, Sunday Much like the Colts, the Ravens have been white-hot since a slow start to the season. They still have a shot at the AFC North, but will have to protect homefield against the Steelers in order to do so. Even with a victory, the Ravens will need Pittsburgh to drop at least one of their final two. The Steelers have an 8-1 record against the AFC, which is two games better than Baltimore for the conference record tiebreaker.
The Shots YouTube clips this week:
Isn’t it pathetic that a dog will help another dog but in the same situation, a person will do nothing? Tis the season indeed…
The Shots Chick Pick this week: Jessica Kinni
I wish I wasn't so addicted to horrible reality TV (i.e. Charm School on VH1).
See you next week.
Listen to Derek as he hosts the Xtra Large Lunch, every weekday from noon to 1 PM on XL 950!
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