Well, last weekend I was driving around and one of my passengers thought we should actually listen to the radio for a change. I heard this song twice in 2 hours and I was told it featured Lil Wayne. A lot of people out there consider Lil Wayne the Best Rapper Alive, so take that as you may. Thinking about it, one of my favorite songs off of Kanye’s most recent album (sad to hear about Kanye’s mom btw) is Barry Bonds, which features Lil Wayne. One of my favorite songs from Jay-Z’s new album is Hello Brooklyn 2.0 also featuring Weezy (my favorites from American Gangster also include No Hook, Roc Boys, and Say Hello). Anyway, not 100% sure how much I like this track I’m gonna quote from (I like to listen to something several times before passing judgment), but some of my people like it, so I’ll spit it at least for that reason.

Friday Floetry:

Aint Nuthin To A Boss We Ballin When You See Us

We Hear Them Hataz Callin They Too Far Off To See Us

Unless They Got They Glasses On Get Your Bifocal Game

Class Is Now In Session Now Try To Stay Focus Mane

Your Boy Aint Good Enough Style Aint Hood Enough

Would've Could've Should've Wont Do With Us True Enough


Taken From Duffle Bag Boy by Playaz Circle featuring Lil Wayne

Lidge Deal

You have read my take on the deal, but let's see what Philly fans are saying (and Brownie, as a Phillies fan, feel free to comment):


[http://www.hardballtimes.com]

Tuesday Post-Lunch Video

This video comes to us from a game between the Halifax Wolverines and the Summerside Western Capitals on Oct 30th 2007. Enjoy!!

Heisman Trophy Leaderboards

Throughout the course of a college football season, the one thing many pundits enjoy just as much as ranking teams is ranking Heisman trophy candidates. For the most part, every Heisman leaderboard will have the same 5-10 candidates. The Heisman is supposed to be given to the most outstanding college football player in a given year. In years past, it has become one of two things: (i) a lifetime achievement award (see Williams, R. and Dayne, R.) or the best player on the best team (see Smith, T., Leinart, M. and White, J.). This year is no exception. The leaderboards from the beginning have consisted of the following players: Tim Tebow (QB-Florida), Darren McFadden (RB-Arkansas and probably the best player overall), Matt Ryan (QB-Boston College once they started winning), Chase Daniel (QB-Missouri once they continued winning), Mike Hart (RB-Michigan but injuries have derailed his campaign), Andre Woodson (QB-Kentucky until they started losing), Graham Harrell (QB-Texas Tech until they started losing), Ray Rice (RB-Rutgers until they started losing), Brian Brohm (QB-Louisville until they started losing), Dennis Dixon (QB-Oregon once they started winning), John David Booty (QB-USC until he was benched), Colt Brennan (QB-Hawaii until injuries). The one thing you will notice about each name above is that except for Brennan, each of the players are in a BCS conference. In fact, the last two players to win the award that were not from a so-called power conference were Ty Detmer at BYU (then WAC, now MWC) and Andre Ware at Houston (then SWC, now C-USA) all the way back in 1989 and 1990 and you could consider the SWC a power conference as it now wields a lot of power in the Big 12 (and you would have to go back to Roger Staubach at Navy in 1960 to find the last one before that). The last non-BCS conference player to even place second was Marshall Faulk back in 1992 at San Diego State. Last year it was Troy Smith (OSU), Darren McFadden (Arkansas) and Brady Quinn (Notre Dame). The year before, the finalists were Reggie Bush (USC), Vince Young (Texas) and Matt Leinart (USC). I am trying to locate a list of non-BCS New York invitees since the BCS was formed, but am having difficulty. The last non-BCS player I can recall even being invited to New York was Steve McNair out of Div. 1-AA Alcorn State.

Why is all of this important? Other than the fact that no non-BCS conference team has a real shot at the Championship Game, it appears that no athlete that goes to a non-BCS school even has a shot for the most prestigious award. Case in point - This season the top two running backs in the country are Matt Forte and Kevin Smith. Have you heard of them? Probably not. They are almost never on SportsCenter or College Gameday and they only get on tv when they play the rare Thursday night or Sunday night game or play on CSTV (a channel I wish would come in HD because they have some really fun matchups sometimes among smaller schools). Forte is the running back at Tulane and Smith is a University of Central Florida Golden Knight. Forte currently leads the country in rushing with a robust 1,813 yards and Smith is not far behind with 1,768, meanwhile Heisman hopeful McFadden comes in at on 1,431. Their yards per carry are about the same. Now, you may say, what would Forte and Smith do against big time college conference defenses. Well, Smith ran for only 217 yards and 2 TDs against ACC-opponent North Carolina State and 149 yards and 2 TDs in a near-upset of Big 12-opponent and top 15 Texas. Further, Smith is leading the country in points scored with 138 (McFadden meanwhile has a mere 72). Now, just imagine if either of these players had a BCS conference offensive line or quarterback to take pressure off them and keep the defenses honest. It is the same knock that many have against non-BCS quarterbacks like Colt Brennan. Again, what people forget is that they are throwing behind non-BCS offensive lines to non-BCS wide receivers. Daunte Culpepper had an amazing senior season before graduating UCF, including at the time the highest single-season completion percentage. I had the privilege to watch Culpepper play games at the Citrus Bowl and that 72+% completion percentage should've been closer to 80-85% had his receivers hung on to the balls that were thrown to them. Meanwhile, Culpepper did this while running for his life against teams from the SEC on the road for the most part as an independent team making its entry into Div. 1A football. The knock against Culpepper was that he put up his stats against inferior teams, but of the 6 quarterbacks taken in the 1999 draft, only Culpepper and Donovan McNabb still play in the league [In case you have forgotten, the others drafted were Tim Couch (Kentucky), Akili Smith (Oregon), Cade McNown (UCLA) and Shaun King (Tulane), with King being the only one of the remaining 4 to have some semblance of an NFL career]. I have no intention of singling McFadden out as I still contend that he is the best running back in the country and was my preseason Heisman pick (I think so, if not it was Brian Brohm of Louisville - just can't remember) and should be the #1 pick in the NFL Draft next season, but I just want to point out that non-BCS players are having Heisman caliber seasons, but continue to fly well under the radar. Now that I have said my piece, here are the week-by-week stats of Forte, Smith and McFadden:

Forte - 47, 85, 303, 73, 202, 209, 342, 278, 103, 171
Smith - 217, 149, 124, 223, 147, 55 (USF), 170, 175, 188, 320
McFadden - 151, 195, 173, 138, 122, 43 (Auburn), 110, 61 (FIU), 321, 117

Tulane (3-7) and UCF (7-3) would have a few less wins each had these guys not played and UCF would not be in contention for the C-USA East title without Kevin Smith. Luckily for UCF and unluckily for the rest of C-USA, Smith is only a junior and should be back next season.

Musings on a Monday Afternoon

Thoughts from the past week in the world of sports:

1. The Lidge/Bourn trade - I for one am somewhat elated at this trade, although trading Lidge came two years too late. His value was pretty much at an all-time low since his meteoric rise in 2004 and the Astros probably received as much as they were going to get at this time (probably could've received more at the trade deadline either last year or this coming season). Michael Bourn (a UH alum - woohoo!!) could turn into the leadoff hitter that Willy Tavares never could become. Bourn has a higher OBP, better baserunning skills and is better defensively; however, he will not hit for as high of a batting average as Willy T. Geary is a serviceable middle reliever and will basically come in to take Dan Wheeler's place, who Purpura traded to get Wigginton. The 3B prospect is intriguing and may be a solid addition, but we won't know for at least a few more years. Losing Bruntlett doesn't hurt so much because he would be nothing more than a utility infielder for the Astros this coming season.

2. #1 Ohio State loses to Illinois and now the BCS Championship Game comes down to two of the following teams: LSU, Oregon, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and West Virginia. If LSU comes out unscathed (vs. Ole Miss, Arkansas and SEC East Champ) it will be playing in New Orleans. The Big 12 champion will have the next best chance, even though Oregon is currently at #2. WVU could get in if the following happens - win out and have LSU and Oregon lose.

3. UH defeats Morehead State 83-54 in the home opener for the men's basketball team. UH looked good, but, like last year, it will live by the three, die by the three. The first seven shots were three-point attempts, but thankfully 5 went in and the Coogs cruised to a 15-1 lead to start the game en route to the 29-point victory. The rebounding and inside game was virtually non-existent and that will have to change for the Coogs to make noise in C-USA and get into the NCAA Tournament. With all of the crazy early season shenanigans amongst some top 25 teams (Mercer d. USC, Gardner-Webb d. Kentucky, Findlay d. Ohio State, et al), a win is a win, especially a big win that allowed some new players to get some good minutes. Next up, the Coogs travel to Puerto Rico to play in a tournament that features, Arkansas, Miami, VCU, Marist, Providence, Temple and College of Charleston.

4. My original whatifsports.com baseball dynasty (Dover Incorporators) sits at 16-32, but I have taken over a new team in a different league (Las Vegas Dealers) and unlike Dover, my cupboard is not bare with regards to talent. Free agent signing starts tomorrow and I have a lot of money to spend.