In the last year or 2, we’ve lost a lot of writers and have become directionless. Management knows this and is ready to do something.

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FOX Sports

Mike Joy

Due in part because of the stature and demeanor of his colleagues in the booth on Sundays, Mike Joy is often thought of as the “junior” member of the commentary team (ie least experienced in NASCAR). This is actually misleading, since Mike Joy has been associated with racing projects since the early 1970s. A veteran commentator of Formula 1, CART, and Indy Racing, Mike Joy began covering NASCAR primarily in 1997, when CBS hired him to replace the legendary Ken Squier in the booth. His credentials helped earn him a job at FOX Sports - first covering Formula 1 races with the network, then moving to NASCAR beginning in 2001. Joy has since been apart of the core NASCAR on FOX crew.

Much like his cohorts, Mike Joy can sometimes be a polarizing personality on commentary. A lot of fans respect Joy for his charismatic, yet more grounded approach to calling the race (a necessity, given his role as the lap-by-lap play man). Mike Joy is much more professional sounding and less “country” than Larry McReynolds or Darrell Waltrip. At the same time, Joy is also viewed by some as the least entertaining of the three. All three personalities in the booth (Joy, Waltrip, McReynolds) have their own euphemisms and catchphrases that they use during a broadcast, with D.W. and Larry McReynolds having far more memorable (and marketable) euphemisms than Mike Joy. The general consensus amongst the fan base is Mike Joy is a solid rock to hold down his two excitable colleagues. He probably has a 60-40% like to dislike ratio, which is probably higher today than it was seven years ago. Personally, Mike Joy has grown on me over time, and is definitely in my top three commentators after the passing of Benny Parsons. Let it not be said that Mike Joy cannot be entertaining to watch. While he may not possess as much knowledge on the intricacies of the sport as his colleagues, Mike Joy can only better the viewing experience of a NASCAR broadcast on FOX.

Rating: 8

Larry McReynolds

Larry McReynolds is to FOX Sports what Benny Parsons was to NBC/TNT - the “professor” of the commentary team that would lend the perspective of a crew chief/car owner type. While no one will ever touch the level that BP was at, Larry McReynolds as found his niche as the insightful co-conspirator with Waltrip in the booth. McReynolds is much more excitable in the booth than Mike Joy is, though he falls short of Darrell Waltrip’s charisma, making for an interesting anchor between the two “poles of the booth”. Larry Mac made a name for himself as a crew chief for the late, great Dale Earnhardt, helping him to that elusive Daytona 500 victory in 1998. More often than not, Larry McReynolds functions as the “engineer” in the booth, describing technical terms and jargon while allowing Darrell Waltrip to focus more on the thought processes of the driver. Both men can swap these roles at any time, although Larry is most comfortable when dissecting pit strategies and car modifications.

McReynolds is far more “Southern” than Mike Joy is, and thus draws the ire of new fans who dislike the Southern image held by NASCAR. For most Southern-born fans, McReynolds is pretty popular, though he does have his share of critics (especially using humorous redneck jargon like “Git-R-Done!”). Much like Mike Joy, the general split seems to be roughly 60-40% on McReynolds, with more people liking him than disliking him. Make no mistake, however: Larry McReynolds is far more insightful and talented on commentary than his more harsh critics are willing to admit.

Rating: 7.5

Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Waltrip is probably the most polarizing figure on the entire crew, thanks in part to his legacy in the sport. Will all due respect to Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett, there has never been a commentator in NASCAR with the racing pedigree as Darrell Waltrip. Compound this with the fact that Darrell was active as late as 2000, and you can easily see why the fan base would have varying degrees of love or dislike for him. To his credit, Darrell Waltrip is far more gentle speaker in the booth than he was in his driving days, when he fully represented the nickname bestowed upon him by Cale Yarborough: Jaws. Of all the folks employed by FOX to cover NASCAR, Darrell Waltrip is by far the most authentic holdover from the good ole days of the sport. Born in Kentucky, D.W. has an unmistakable drawl and witty disposition that you either love or hate. Half of the audience watching NASCAR on FOX dislikes the man, partially because of his easily excitable personality, partially because he spent so many years playing the villain of the sport (remember, he was the antithesis to everything that Dale Earnhardt represented in the 1970s and ’80s). I’ve always been a fan of Darrell Waltrip, so I’m already going to be biased towards him, but much of the criticism he receives (as is the case with Larry McReynolds) is unjustly received. Some critics have accused him of playing favorites in the booth, especially with his brother, Michael Waltrip (they refer to the 2001 Daytona 500, in which Michael Waltrip won the race after leading in the last few laps). This is nothing new to the sport, however - in the mid-1990s, Ned Jarrett (the father of current driver Dale Jarrett) was blatantly cheering against guys like Dale Earnhardt while Dale was running off multiple Daytona 500 victories. Waltrip, meanwhile, does a great job keeping his personal feelings out of the booth in my opinion. A good case to look at is the mini-feud that came about in 2004 between Tony Stewart and Darrell. At no point did that “rivalry” come to any type of negative disposition in the booth, and the two have since become friends again as a result.

Darrell Waltrip is everything that TNT’s Wally Dallenbach is not. While Dallenbach attempts to force humor on the audience for entertainment’s sake, Darrell has a natural charisma that blends in well with the Southern roots of the sport. This invariably chafes new fans the wrong way, but screw ‘em - they have no business sticking their dirty Yankee noses in where they don’t belong. D.W. is both knowledgeable and witty, and the accent is a throwback to the days when stock cars ran at state fairs.

Rating: 8

Pit Reporters

Although 85% of the time sees (or hears, I guess) the Joy-McReynolds-Waltrip trio in the booth, an integral part of a racing broadcast on FOX or TNT is the use of pit reporters to give a heads up on the happenings of pit road, where strategies are formulated that determine the outcome of the race itself. When NASCAR shopped itself out to FOX and NBC/TNT in 2001, the networks began picking up various personalities to help cover the action on pit road during the race. Dick Berggren, Matt Yocum, and Steve Byrnes make up the primary core pit crew reporters for the FOX broadcasts. Dick Berggren is probably the second greatest pit reporter in NASCAR history, behind ABC’s Dr. Jerry Punch. Both Matt Yocum and Steve Byrnes are also well equipped with the clarity and knowledge to handle pit reporting duties. Most importantly, all three have been around long enough to develop various relationships with the drivers, helping make interviews with racing personalities go much more seamlessly than they otherwise would. FOX also has two good hosts in the form of Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond. Myers is well educated in the duties bestowed upon the host of a major sports preview show, stemming from his work with MLB on FOX and the like. Jeff Hammond, meanwhile is a less excitable version of Larry McReynolds, but he maintains the knowledge and dry humor that serves as a perfect compliment to D.W.’s excitable antics during the pre-race show. In 2007, Krista Voda will join the crew and replace Jeanne Zelasko, thus eliminating the one glaring weakness of FOX’s pit reporting crew.

Rating: 9

Insight

This is pretty much the nature of the beast with NASCAR’s popularity growth. A lot of new fans, or long-time casual fans are going to need explanations for the various terms and jargon thrown about by drivers and crew chiefs. This results in the need for continual explanations by the commentators and the pit reporters so that the average fan at home can keep up. In this regard, FOX and TNT are both very adept at going through the various terms during a broadcast. TNT’s major feature is the use of computer animated graphics that demonstrate literally what is going on. Benny Parsons was the master at this, helping attribute to his position as the sport’s best color commentator. FOX, meanwhile, uses computer models as well, though there major tool for explaining the nuances of the sport is a replica “cut-away” car, where Jeff Hammond can physically show the audience parts to the car whenever the need should arise to do so. Both methods are extremely well worked by both networks, although some people prefer one method over the other and vice versa. The only knock against the NASCAR on FOX crew is that their commentators are sometimes too well versed in the sport. Occasionally, Darrell or Larry McReynolds will get so involved in describing situations on the track, that they throw out various terms that compound the situation for an audience at home trying to learn about bump drafting or slipstreams. The TNT crew is not as bad about doing this as the FOX crew is, but it’s a minor quibble over a broadcast team that knows there stuff. Rarely will you not come to understand some of the things that the guys in the booth are talking about.

Rating: 9

Entertainment

In this area, FOX trumps just about any other racing broadcast around. The fun begins in the pre-race show from the “Hollywood Hotel”, as Jeff, Larry, D.W. and the others embark upon an often times affable quest to make bland drivers look funny. This is really the strongest suit for the FOX guys, as they all maintain a sense of humor until its time to be more serious. Unlike the TNT coverage, where audiences are bored to death by the deadpanning of Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach, the FOX crew always has that ability to make a boring Sunday afternoon in California to be a little more bearable.

Rating: 10

Happy Hour’s Review of the FOX Sports Broadcast Team
CATEGORY	RATING(OUT OF 10)
MIKE JOY	8
LARRY MAC	7.5
D.W.	8
PIT REPORTERS	9
INSIGHT	9
ENTERTAINMENT	10
OVERALL	8.5(NOT AN AVERAGE)

The Yankees have put up with, as they do every year, with people writing them off as soon as they fall under .500 or whenever they start to have injury troubles. When Matsui and Sheff went down, they called for the end. “Without those 200 runs, the Yankees are finished,” folks said. Whenever Mariano blows a save, “has he lost it?” dominates the headlines. The Yankees then proceeded to turn around and do what they do every year, much to everyone’s continued surprised, which is go down the August/September stretch playing what feels like .800 baseball. The Braves used to do this, too, when half their team wasn’t on the DL.

The Yankees needed help at the trade deadline, and they got it by making two perfect trades. They dumped a bunch of whatever and picked up a reasonable 4-starter in Corey Lidle, a great OBP guy to replace Gary Sheffield next year, and a defensive upgrade for Giambi’s first-base next season (who will DH until Sheffield comes back… if Sheff comes back). Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away, the Red Sox, as they’re wont to do, completely froze at the deadline doing absolutely nothing to improve the team and, thus, sitting in the Yankees’ dust yet again.

Here’s the funny thing. Since Theo Epstein managed to put a team together to break the Curse 2 years ago, the Red Sox management quietly reverted to pre-2004 form, making bonehead move after bonehead move and sinking the organization slowly back into their pre-series doldrums.

Moving aside the brain fart that let the Yankees get A-Rod (which, yes, it was a bonehead move. The Boston Media may be a group that revels in their collective misery, but had A-Rod come to them, he’d be THE guy on the team, not standing in the wrong position in the long shadow of the short stop), the Red Sox have really done nothing to improve their ballclub since 2004, but the collective euphoria of the Red Sox Nation have kept them from noticing. I’m not sure if the team management took the opportunity to shed players and payroll because they knew they’d have carte blanche for a few years, or if they really thought all these moves were good. Let’s take a quick look at their lineup and rotation from 2004.

Lineup:

1. Johnny Damon
2. Orlando Cabrera
3. Manny Ramirez
4. David Ortiz
5. Kevin Millar
6. Trot Nixon
7. Bill Mueller
8. Jason Varitek/Doug Mirabelli
9. Mark Bellhorn

With Dave Roberts, and Gabe Kapler as their main bench guys. Their rotation was:

1. Curt Schilling (w/ Bloody Sock)
2. Pedro Martinez (w/ Midget)
3. Bronson Arroyo (w/ Dreadlocks)
4. Tim Wakefield (w/ Dirty hat)
5. Derek Lowe (w/ D-Lowe nickname)

Again, there are email response rules to this column. Well, one rule. You are not allowed to email anything about the Red Sox salary woes. Boston is not a small market. While the Red Sox might not have Steinbrenner’s checkbook, they have options.

Five Moves of Doom (with apologies to Scott Keith)

1. Pedro Martinez: The bloodletting began when, fresh off a Game 3 win in the World Series, the Red Sox made their first patented “we know you meant a lot to the team, but here is our take it or leave it offer” to Pedro Martinez. They offered him 3 years, Pedro wanted 4. The Mets, in their bid to build a team that could actually make it into September playing meaningful games (which they still failed to do this year, but hey, I’ll take it) happily sold him their vision. “Fragile” Pedro Martinez still made his 30 starts last season and went 15-8. He’s spent two stints on the DL this season, but has still pitched well enough to even make next year a cause for concern. The Sawks steadfastly refused to possibly eat the fourth year for three good years in the interim. Problem is, do you know what I’ve noticed in recent years? Pitchers over 30 seem to be more durable than pitchers under 30. I have no idea why this is and it’s based on nothing but general observation, but it seems like the babied guys under 30 are the ones who are throwing their arms out every season, not the guys who have been at it for a while. Does that mean that I think a diminutive Dominican Fireballer can keep it up after 40? No, but I do think there’s something to be said for Jim Leyland’s theory of “they’re big boys. I don’t want to kill them, but I’m not going to baby them either.” Who did they replace him with? A younger guy who equally loves the DL in Matt Clement. This season? While Pedro’s started 18 games and spent about 30 days on the DL, Clement has started 12 and has been on the DL since 6/15… their other big (pun possibly intended) signing, David Wells, has spent a good portion of this season on the DL. They also lost Pedro’s Dwarf, which could not had boded well for the team’s karma.
2. Dave Roberts: Possibly the most important stolen base in Red Sox franchise history. Baseball-reference.com has a quote attributed to him: Maury Wills once told me that there will come a point in my career when everyone in the ballpark will know that I have to steal a base, and I will steal that base. When I got out there, I knew that was what Maury Wills was talking about. With one stolen base, Roberts endeared himself to the entire city of Boston. Maybe it’s not worth an enormous contract, but it’s certainly worth not being traded off 90 days after your World Series victory for three guys who already aren’t in the Red Sox system any more. I don’t think Roberts would have demanded a nine-figure package, but a one-year deal to see what he could do probably wouldn’t have been a bad idea. Sometimes, you have to make signings to please your fanbase and help your karma. The Yankees call this the “Bernie Williams Rule” who is playing this year for no other reason than he wanted to play another year and Yankee fans would have been furious if management let him play for another team.
3. Edgar Renteria: You know how Red Sox fans are kind of getting on the Yankee fans for booing the pants off A-Rod if he sneezes in the wrong direction? One might want to remind them of their shortstop situation in the last few years. After trading off Nomar Garciaparra after Boston and Sawk’s management turned on him, they replaced him with Pokey Reese in 2004 after the A-Rod deal fell through. After Pokey, the Red Sox brought in Edgar Renteria as a free agent, who promptly responded by having an off-season… if by “off” you mean “exactly the same season he had in 2004.” As Renteria did not come in and immediately become Nomar, the management mind-numbingly traded him to the Atlanta Braves for Andy Marte and tons of cash (Cot’s says that the Sawks are paying 11 of the remaining 29 million left on Renteria’s contract) and replaced him with Alex Cora who is… NOT Edgar Renteria. This move would have been the equivalent to the Mets trading off Carlos Beltran after his off season last year for Shawn Green, while agreeing to pay half of Beltran’s contract, while replacing him with Mike Cameron.
4. Bronson Arroyo: OK, he’s certainly not as good as his first half record indicated, but he certainly wasn’t bad either. On a roster that has longed for pitching all season, and has seen nearly every starter spend some time on the DL, the Red Sox traded off a guy who, while not a hall of famer, pitched very well against division opponents and usually managed to elevate his game when the situation warranted. The Red Sox apparently noticed this in January of 2006 when they signed him to a three-year contract, then promptly forgot it when they sent him to Cincinnati for Wily Mo Pena and cash. Wily Mo has turned in 11 homeruns and 38 RBI in 67 games. One can argue the AL/NL nonsense but trading a pretty good pitcher for a pretty good outfielder is really dumb when your team has spent the year short on pitching.
5. Johnny Damon: Remember what I said a little while ago about signing guys to make your fans happy? Well, this is partly one of those. Damon became the defacto face of the Red Sox during the 2004 run to the World Series. He had basically become their Jeter… the guy people who don’t know anything about the team can identify. Red Sox fans explain this as Damon being a greedy asshole. Everyone with a brain explains this as Red Sox management being morons. You take the guy who your fanbase loves and make him a half-hearted 3/30 offer, meanwhile, you’re actually negotiating with Coco Crisp. The division rivals gives him what he wants… a fourth year. No more money than you were offering really, but a fourth year. The face of your franchise comes to you and gives you the opportunity to match the offer and you say no. By doing this, you give your division rivals a replacement for their retiring centerfielder and a leadoff hitter that they didn’t have. To replace him, you send Andy Marte (who you just got in the Renteria mess), to the Indians for Coco Crisp. Meanwhile, you suck the heart out of your franchise. Management tells you Crisp plans for the future. Everyone else in the universe knows you’re going to get at least three more good years out of Damon with a 50/50 shot of having a good season in the fourth year.

Without too much of a stretch, your 2006 Red Sox lineup could look something like this:

1. Johnny Damon
2. Edgar Renteria
3. David Ortiz
4. Manny Ramirez
5. Kevin Youklis
6. Mike Lowell (trade for him and Beckett still would have happened)
7. Trot Nixon
8. Mark Loretta (trade for Mirabelli still would have happened, and later tradeback)
9. Jason Varitek/Doug Mirabelli

With a rotation of:

1. Curt Schilling
2. Pedro Martinez
3. Josh Beckett
4. Tim Wakefield
5. Bronson Arroyo

With their upgraded closing situation… kind of deadly, don’t you think?

Do you want to know one of the primary reasons the Yankees are always good? They continually bring the same nucleus of players and, once the fanbase falls in love with a player, he has a job forever. Guys stay with the Yankees once they’re comfortable there and the Yankees will pay them through their free agency. Take the Johnny Damon scenario above. Do you think, when Derek Jeter’s contract comes up in 2010, there will be half-hearted offer by whoever is running the team at that particular moment, followed by complete disdain while the Red Sox make him a better offer?

Short answer, no. Jeter will play his entire career for the Yankees, probably retiring in 2013 or 2014 while hordes of people try to convince anyone who will listen that he’ll only get into Cooperstown because he played for the Yankees, 3,000 hits or World Series rings be damned. This is something the Yankees do that no other franchise really does. Yes, some of it is because they are the only ones who can afford it, but that’s not the whole thing. The Red Sox, Angels, Mets, and Dodgers can certainly afford to keep their free agents, but they rarely do. If Mike Piazza had played for the Yankees instead of the Mets, he would not be Padre this year. Do you know what other team does this? The Braves. They’ve had some success, too.

This season the Yankees lost a good portion of their team to injuries, including big injuries to big sluggers, Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield. There were immediately two things that people thought: A) They’re screwed, Bah-stun wins the pennant or B) They had more issues last year and still won the pennant.

The injuries kept piling up, taking out relievers and pitchers who have pitched in less games than I have been to during their contract. Yet the Yankees, with a group of youngsters thrown into the mix and some savvy trade deadline maneuvers, have run away with the division. That’s called gutting it out.

The other end of the Yankee bloodline is the Red Sox. They too, have been beset by injury. However, they have not adapted and overcome. They have become a shell of their former selves. Trading for Javy Lopez who, coincidentally, has caught less games over the past two years than I have been to, to replace Jason Varitek was just a dumb move. You never take a bat over defense, especially with Papi and Manny in the line-up.

Speaking of, Big Papi almost becomes Big Coronary. It seems like everyone in the Sawx locker room comes down with some sort of injury/illness…including cancer! All my best to Jon Lester. Baseball is one thing, but when a player is younger than me and that happens, you feel for him. Back on point: The Sox had the same myriad of injuries as the Yankees. But they should be able to pull through and make a run right? Of course! With Theo “Wunderkind” Epstein running the show and talking about the big prospects and future, they’re a call-up or so from spanking the Yankees…or not.

See, Boston dropped like a dancer in a Justin Timberlake video. Why did this happen? Because Theo is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is. That’s right. THEO EPSTEIN is not God. Let’s review the positives of Theo:

- Nomar Trade

- Getting Shilling

- Getting Foulke (AT THE TIME)

Now the negatives:

- Coco Crisp

- Getting Edgar Renteria instead of keeping Orlando Cabrera

- Getting rid of Edgar Renteria

- Pick your poison in the bullpen

Now that’s off the top of my head because I don’t feel like doing research.

So, with that, I make an open plea to the people in Boston, from Yawkey to Hahvahd Yahd: Do not give him a free pass. If you do, you will ruin your organization.

Time and time again, Theo has held back or made things too complicated in getting trades done to help your team. Abreu and Lidle? Could have been yours. It could’ve been the Yankees turning Jacobi Hospital into their new locker room. But it’s not. Theo is too busy trading players he doesn’t even have yet to sit down and figure out what is good for the team.

Yes, your front office is crazy too, but the buck has to stop here.

You see, Yankee fans DEMAND greatness. Brian Cashman knows this. So at the very least we get the playoffs, year in and year out. But we always have a player to blame for us losing. A-Rod, Unit, Jeff Weaver. NEVER can the blame be thrown at our GM or our owner. They put a product on the field that is capable of winning every day. The front office in Boston talks about the future in a place where it took 86 years to win a World Series. Patience isn’t a virtue in Boston. Patience represents failure. That, my loyal Sox fans, is what you are being sold. That is the inherent difference between our two clubs. We are sold greatness. You are sold failure. And for some strange reason, both of our ballparks are packed equally. How does that make sense?

Do something about it Sox fans! Take the pride you have and demand wins NOW! Prospects are just that until they get to big leagues. You never know what will happen. But you do know what you’re getting with proven people. It doesn’t take “Moneyball” to understand that.

So for now, enjoy the Pats and when you see Bobby Abreu drawing a walk that leads to a run that leads to another pinstriped ring, just remember that the great Theo is working hard to make sure you might win the division in 2012.

1. Andre Agassi v James Blake (US Open 2005)
This match happened last year in the quarterfinals. It was such a great match that it made everyone else forget about Andre’s next match which was another five setter against Robby Ginepri. Blake and Andre had been the stories of the tourney and when they collided they more than delivered. It was an electric night, with tremendous tennis. Even though my man Blake went down, it’s still one of my favorite matches of all time.

2 & 3 Andre Agassi v. Pete Sampras 2001 (Quarterfinals) 2002 (Finals)
Poor Agassi lost both of these but they were instant classics. In 2001 Agassi didn’t lose a service game, but lost the match after losing three of the four tiebreakers. In 2002, it was a perfect ending for Pete Sampras. A perfect ending thanks Andre. Sampras was able to out duel the one person that had most rivaled him throughout his career. It was a great match with great emotion that had the crowd jumping sides like it was El Rio Grande (and before you go nuts ‘ese’, I’m Hispanic so I can make that joke).

4. Andre Agassi v Sebastian Grosjean (French Open)
This match was great for me because it showed me that anyone can crumble with pressure, even Andre. Long story short, Andre was dominating at the French Open wining the first set 6-1. President Bill Clinton showed up, and Agassi proceeded to lose the next three sets 6-1 6-1 6-3.

5. Andre Agassi v. Noam Okun Legg Mason Tennis Classic 2002
This was one match I got to see Andre live. My high school dubs partner scored some tickets and I got to see AA live with some prime seats. He spanked Okun 6-2 6-2, with his usual array of sick shots. He was smacking the ball that night and it was simply awesome.

Tennis is going to miss Andre Agassi but to be completely honest I’m glad that he is finally gone. Now the US fans can focus on more than just Andre. It’s time to move on and hopefully everyone can get a real grasp and appreciation for how good Roger Federer is; how much potential Rafael Nadal, at age 20, has; and the depth in Men’s tennis with a new generation of young players like Marcos Baghdatis, Andy Murray, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet that will be around for years to come.

-Once again injury struck two key players during games that were already out of hand. Clemson LB Anthony Waters and Louisville RB Michael Bush both suffered season ending injuries and all but ended their team’s national title hopes. Clemson and Louisville were long shots but were both very capable of wreaking BCS havoc come bowl season.

-I’d say Texas coach Mack Brown made the right choice in going with Colt McCoy at quarterback. 12 of 19 for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns is a pretty nice way to start your college career.

-Arkansas has already seen enough of Robert Johnson and they are turning the quarterback job over to stud recruit Mitch Mustain. Johnson has since been moved from QB to WR.

-Can Florida follow Arkansas’ lead and turn the quarterback job over to Tim Tebow already? If I have to watch an entire season of Leak well, I probably won’t make it through an entire season of watching Chris Leak.

-Granted it was only one game but Florida coach Urban Meyer must have been happy with what he saw from running back’s DeShawn Wynn and Kestahn Moore; but it was freshman WR Percy Harvin who led the Gators in rushing on the day with 4 carries for 58 yards.

-Speaking of Percy Harvin, it was only one game but I could not help but think how much he reminds me of a young Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn wasn’t too shabby himself this weekend catching for passes for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns.

-I think it’s safe to say all is well at USC again. JD Booty might not be the next Matt Leinart or Carson Palmer but if he can just keep being JD Booty, the Trojans should be okay.

-Of course I bashed the Notre Dame defense and they played absolutely fantastic in the win over Georgia Tech. When I was a freshman at the University of Cincinnati, Rick Minter was our head coach and led the Bearcats to the New Orleans Bowl. Minter is now the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame and looked a hell of a lot better concentrating on the defense than he did when having the entire game to worry about.

-So is Cal that bad or was their thrashing at the hands of Tennessee a fluke? I didn’t get to see this one due to being at the Florida/Southern Miss game which took place at the same time but from what I heard Cal was awful. Peaking up at the scoreboard every few minutes and seeing Tennessee’s lead getting bigger and bigger had to be the biggest shock of the weekend.

-People of Boulder, be patient! For those unaware, Dan Hawkins lost to Montana State at home in his debut as head coach of the University of Colorado. Hawkins did an outstanding job at Boise State and will be just fine with the Buffaloes. Give him time to get acclimated and get his players in the program and they’ll be Big 12 North champs in no time.

-Buffalo defeated Temple 9-3 in double overtime. I have nothing to add, just read that again. Worst game ever perhaps.

-Rutgers went into Chapel Hill and defeated UNC 21-16. As someone who lived in New York their whole life and had the “honor” of watching them in the mid-late 90’s, it’s hard not to pull for Greg Schiano and company. Rutgers might very well have the best running back tandem in America in Ray Rice and Brian Leonard.

-Maybe I am getting ahead of myself but if Louisville is unable to keep the ship afloat following the loss of Michael Bush, Rutgers could very well take 2nd place in the Big East. And there is a sentence I thought I would never type in my life.

I think I may have just left myself speechless in saying that Rutgers might finish 2nd in the Big East. That’s all for now. Enjoy Florida State at Miami, I know I will.

International Friendly: Brazil vs Argentina

Brazil (4-4-2): Gomes, Cicinho (Maicon 66), Lucio, Juan, Gilberto, Elano (Julio Baptista 73), Gilberto Silva, Edmilson (Cearense 69), Daniel Carvalho (Kaka 59), Fred (Vagner Love 80), Robinho (Rafael Sobis 89).
Subs Not Used: Fabio, Luisao, Alex, Marcelo.

Booked: Gilberto, Elano, Robinho.

Goals: Elano 3, 67, Kaka 89.

Argentina (4-3-1-2): Abbondanzieri, Zabaleta, Coloccini, Milito, Rodriguez (Samuel 46), Gonzalez, Mascherano (Somoza 46), Bilos (Insua 72), Riquelme, Tevez (Aguero 66), Messi.
Subs Not Used: Saviola, Franco, Ponzio, Fuentes.

Booked: Riquelme, Milito, Aguero.

Attendance: 59,032.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).

Man of the Match: Robinho

Sunday saw Arsenal’s brand new Emirates’ Stadium stage host to a prestige “friendly” between the two giants of South American football, Brazil and Argentina. Both sides entered the game in a transitional/rebuilding phase after both having disappointing World Cups. Argentina played some lovely football in the Group Stage and contested the match of the tournament against Mexico in the Second Round only to choke against hosts Germany in the Quarterfinals. Brazil had an even worse World Cup, with the pre-tournament hot favourites fail to justify the hype as they seemed content to just play over the top to the most ponderous Brazilian strike-force ever. Even this negative, lethargic football was enough to overcome such footballing giants as Japan, Croatia and Ghana until France did us all a favour and knocked them out in the Quarterfinals with Henry and Zidane giving the Brazilians a lesson in how to play the “beautiful game”. So with both teams nursing wounded prides and boasting brand new managers this game was promising to be a very competitive friendly.

The Brazilians as the score-line suggests were by far the most impressive team, although the margin of victory flatters them slightly. New coach Carlos Dunga has grasped many of the nettles that caused Brazil’s ridiculously talented squad to put in such ridiculously insipid performances in Germany. Gone were the old, over the hill full-backs and back were the speedier, younger, hungrier pair of Cichino and Gilberto who incidentally had been key members of the Brazilian team that destroyed all who got in their way during last year’s Confederations Cup. In the middle of the park the preference for reputation over form was scrapped, as Arsenal’s energetic holding midfielder Gilberto Sliva was preferred to Real Madrid’s Emerson whilst Kaka was shockingly left on the bench. However, the big chances were up front with the uncoordinated stiff that has assumed the identity of Adriano nowhere to be seen whilst Big Ron was kept from the pitch by a dodgy knee. Instead in Fred and Robinho, we got two forwards who can actually do more than simply stand on the 18yard line and shoot. Which was nice. However, the shocking news was that in Dunga there’s finally a Brazilian coach whose willing to look at players who ply their trade for Eastern European clubs with the likes of Elano, Cearense and Rafael Sobis all playing a part even if they play for decidedly unsexy clubs.

The effect of these changes was obvious to see. Brazil played with real power and urgency, with full commitment shown in their desire to get the ball back (something that is relatively rare even in good Brazilian sides) that only added to the potency of their counter-attacking play and the sheer muscular irresistibility of their forward play. The thing about good Brazilian sides isn’t that they technically wonderful or they string together a thousand passes effortlessly, no it’s that they play the game with such power and pace that they are simply irresistible, to use the old cliché they do all the simple things well. That was what Brazil were like against Argentina, with strong running from defence and midfield as the Brazilians always sought to move the ball forward and create another attacking opportunity. There was a dynamism and purpose to their play that was sorely lacking at the World Cup. At the centre of it all was the talismanic Robinho who was behind much of the best of Brazil’s attacking play with him playing a key role in the first two Brazilian goals and having some superb chances of his own, particularly a surging run into the penalty box in the 29th and hellacious 66th minute strike from distance that if it had been going anywhere except straight at the goalkeeper would have been a goal.

Argentina’s Alfio Basile had gone into game saying he would only be satisfied with a 4-0 victory and he certainly never looked close to getting his wish. The reason was partly because of the Brazilian performance, partly due to poor team selection and partly down to sheer bad luck. The problems with his team selection was simple, Messi and Tevez cannot play together and if he has any sense this experiment won’t be repeated. Nothing against either player, but to play two midgets upfront is just gifting the opposition’s defence 9 out of 10 of all aerial battles, which means most crosses or long passes will be wasted. Because of their strikers’ inability to win the aerial battle against Juan and Lucio Argentina were especially reliant on Riquelme to use his position behind the two strikers to put the passes to feet and through balls that could expose the Brazilian defence. Sadly Riquelme was having one of his off days, with the temperamental playmaker seemingly not interested in the game. The result was that Argentina really struggled to make the most of their possession and find the final ball from midfield to create a proper goal scoring chance because nothing was on through the middle due the Riquelmes’s off day and nothing was on from the wings due to their striker’s being wee fellas (to be fair Tevez is a good header of the ball, but someone of his side is rarely going to score with his hide and even less so if he’s playing alongside someone who isn’t an aerial threat).

The bad luck came from some missed chances and key decisions that didn’t go Argentina’s way. After a pretty poor first half performance they came back for the second half playing a far more aggressive, pressing game and showed more attacking penetration in the first 20mins of the second half then they had the entirety of the first half. On the 57th minute Messi played a gorgeous ball to Gonzales who (inside the Brazilian penalty box) did a pitch-perfect backheel to Zabaleta who sadly couldn’t get his far post strike on target or to deflect off Cichino (who did very well to avoid putting the bull into his own net). In the 61st minute they should have had a penalty when Zabaleta snap shot from a poor clearance was blocked by Gliberto’s raised hand. Indeed Tevez could easily have dragged his foot over Gilberto’s leg in the 64th minute to gain a penalty. Instead after 20minutes of it being all Argentina, with Brazil firmly encamped in their own half when some tidy exchanges on the edge of the Argentine penalty box between Kaka, Robinho and Elano saw Elano bag his second with a sharp strike across the goal.

With that the game ended as contest with numerous substitutions sapping the game of its vitality and shape, still 70 minutes of top quality, competitive football is above average for international friendlies these days. Still there was time for the game to get a tad nasty with some handbags-at-dawn tackles towards the end that in a competitive game would’ve been punished with a red card and there was also time for substitute Kaka to give Dunga the sign he had asked for as he topped a fabulous run from inside his own half to score a fabulous goal to put the stamp on what turned out to be a thumping win for Brazil. All in all, a very good game of football with Brazil putting in a better, more energetic performance than at any game during the World Cup.

I’ll be picking both winners and picking against the spread for you, so don’t fret if your office pool doesn’t go by the spread or anything. You should fret if you’re relying on a novice like me to help you, but hey, you could do worse. Anyway, I’m rambling. On with the show.

(Home team in CAPS)

NY Giants vs. PHILADELPHIA (-3.5)

For the record, I’m a die hard Giants fan. I make no excuses for this. I refuse to act neutral. I love the Giants, and I feel like they’re very under the radar. Even in their loss last Sunday against Indy, the Giants looked good. They abused Indy with the run and stayed right with a team that everyone is (once again) picking to win a Super Bowl. The Eagles also looked excellent…against Houston. This game is always a war, and this week will be no different. I’m picking the Giants to win outright, so you better take the points.

Outright winner: NYG
Winner against the spread: NYG

Detroit vs. CHICAGO (-8.5)

The Bears looked absolutely great last week in Green Bay, shutting out the pack in their house. However, the vaunted Seahawks won a 9-6 shootout in Detroit. If I had to pick which team looked better, I’d actually say I was more impressed with the Lions shutting down Seattle than the Bears thumping an inferior team. However, that Chicago D isn’t going to let a whole lot of points up against an offense featuring Jon Kitna under center. I do think this is going to be low scoring, and I’m taking the points, but Chicago should win the game.

Outright winner: CHI
Winner against the spread: DET

GREEN BAY vs. New Orleans (-1.5)

The Packers are abominable. It may be heresy to say it, but Brett Favre is about done. They have no line, they have no defense, they have marginal skill players, and that’s about it. They’re going to get some very friendly lines when they’re home because people still believe in the Lambeau Mystique. I don’t buy it, and I plan on taking advantage of it when it happens. This is a joke of a line, because while the Saints aren’t exactly world class, they’re a much better team, and their explosive offense is going to shred the Pack up. Lay the points, NO walks outright.

Outright Winner: NO
Against the spread: NO

MINNESOTA vs. Carolina (-2.5)

I refuse to even touch this game until I know if Steve Smith is going to suit up. He makes such a huge difference on the field that without him, Carolina could get steamrolled on the road. Of course, if he plays, he’s angry, and when he’s angry, he doesn’t get stopped. Ever. I can’t wait any longer, Smith is Questionable (the NFL’s version of 50/50). I will say that Minnesota is still underrated, they just impressed me with a gritty win on the road in Washington, holding that offense down all night. Steve Hutchinson is a difference maker on the line, and Brad Johnson just wins. I’ll take the Vikes and the points.

Outright: MIN
Against the Spread: MIN

Tampa Bay vs. ATLANTA (-5.5)

Tampa looked awful against Baltimore, but I think they’re better than they showed. Baltimore’s defense is a monolith again and they kept the Bucs off balance all day. They should bounce back. Conversely, the Falcons beat Carolina, but it wasn’t really Carolina. They won convincingly, but Vick didn’t have a great game and Tampa isn’t letting Warrick Dunn run amok. Tampa also, historically, contains Vick better than anyone. I see a 3 point game, I’ll take the points, but the falcons eek it out on the scoreboard.

Outright: ATL
Against the Spread: TB