Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Impressive

Now that the Bucs are starting to garnish some attention, the hard part cometh. The Tampa team that even the local media had dubbed a bust is now 7-3 and just put a shellacking on the San Fransisco 49ers this past Sunday, beating the team 21-0 in their own home park. No one said the 49ers were the greatest team ever, but t beat a team in their home turf and not allow them to score anything is a wonderful statement. Now Tampa goes to Baltimore to play the Ravens.

Baltimore has been known for years to be a team with a fast, angry, and aggressive defense, but this year that D looks old. The once vaunted Ravens defense, led by Ray Lewis is allowing teams to run and pass all over them. They do have a 7-3 record as well and this will be yet another game that Tampa will have to prove that their record is not a fluke.

Win or lose however, the Bucs are playing like a veteran team, but they are still one of the youngest teams in the league.

Ronde Barber is one of the older Bucs on the roster. Just this week Canton (the Hall of Fame Canton) called Barber and asked for his shoes and gloves because after intercepting one of Troy Smith's passes, Barber became the only player in NFL history to record 40 interceptions and 25 career sacks. Barber has played his entire career for the Bucs, and plans to retire a Buccaneer.

~

So...I'm still perfect on the season. 5-5 now. I predicted that Baltimore would beat the Bucs, but who cares. I hope they win to spite me picking against them. If they win, I won't be 100% anymore, but do you really think I will care all that much? The road to ten wins is almost within reach guys. Keep it up!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Into the Future

Well you can pretty much wrap up the Dolphins season. It's about as over as it can get, even if there are six games left.

The Miami Dolphins (5-5) were just embarrassed at home this past Thursday night. The visiting Chicago Bears (7-3) came into the Dolphins home field and shut out the anemic Phins offense. The final score was 16-0 and Miami barely even reached mid field. Miami's offense was nowhere to be found, and the Defense played well, but was playing for most of the game. Near the end of the game Chicago scored the only touchdown in the game and pretty much made the 16 points an insurmountable lead. Tyler Thigpen is not the answer to Miami's woes on offense and neither are the aging Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. The two running backs barely scrathed the stat lines and had poor showings at home once again.

The Dolphins are now 1-4 at home this season.

I feel it is time to start looking into the 2011 draft to see what Miami can grab out of this new class. First and foremost we need a new Quarterback. I don't beleieve that Chad Henne is our answer. Thigpen proved that he deserves to be in the deepest reserves possible. We need to draft a new QB. Someone who is GOOD! after that, draft a new running back please! Brown and Williams just aren't doing it this year. We need someone who can produce more then 20 yards in a game. Demarco Murray or the kid from South Carolina seem to fit that hole.

I don't care. This was supposed to be such a great season for Miami. who would have thought that Tampa would be having a better year. Who'da thunk it?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Injured, but Not Out

Miami found a way to (finally) win at home this season. though this win is one that hurts the most. In their 29-17 victory over the visiting Tennessee Titans, the Miami Dolphins lost, not one, but two of their three quarterbacks for the year. Chad Pennington who was starting for his first time in almost two years shredded his surgically repaired shoulder yet again. That's like the fifteenth time that has happened to the guy. It's over for him. He can't stay healthy and teams, especially teams I follow need to stop depending on him. hire him as a QB coach if you enjoy his teaching abilities, just stop paying him to get hurt.

The starter for the first eight games, Chad Henne, came into the game in relief of the injured Pennington, but he too fell victim to the injury bug. Henne appeared to injure his ankle after getting tackled after throwing a pass late in the third quarter. His status is up in the air, but his seems like his season is over as well.

That left Tyler Thigpen as the only quarterback suited up for the Dolphins. Thigpen was a QB I enjoyed watching in Kansas city and when Miami acquired him, I was ecstatic. He never had an opportunity to start however and has been sitting behind the Chads ever since arriving in Miami. He posted up some nice numbers while he was also subbing for injured QBs in KC. The Chiefs offense was heavily favored in the run game, and Thigpen played poorly under that offense. The coaches decided that Thigpen would play better under the run and gun west coast offense he used while he was playing in college and it worked, as far as stats go.

The Chiefs only won two games the entire season, but when the Chiefs made the change at offense, Thigpen  posted up nice numbers. Tyler had a 84 passer rating when the Chiefs switched their offense around to fit his style. He had 16 Tds and only 8 Ints in that span as well. His worst loss came against the Dolphins where he threw three picks.

Tyler is now the man who will make or break the Dolphins season. He has seven games left and the Dolphins are two games behind the Jets and Patriots, both of which the Dolphins still have to play away from home.

i wanted him to have a chance, and now he does. Please don't mess it up!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The BCS and Florida Teams

Another week down and another shake up for those pesky Florida teams who just do not want to get dropped out of the top 25 completely. Let's see where all the major schools in this wonderful state sit.

Miami Hurricanes: Started the week unranked, but after an impressive win against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, he Canes are back in the rankings and poised to trump Virginia Tech this Saturday. The Hokies have won eight in a row and sit safely atop the ACC Coastal. Va Tech is 8-2, but both of their losses have been to non-conference opponents. If Miami wants a shot to make their first ever ACC title bid, they would need to beat Va tech this Saturday and then hope that Virginia could somehow pull an upset against Virginia Tech the following week. It seems unlikely, but all Miami can do right now is win to keep their slim chances a reality.  Quarterback Stephen Morris is going to get the start against a tough Hokies defense after two solid performances. Good luck kid! The Hurricanes are ranked at #24 in the BCS.

Florida State Seminoles: The Noles also started this week unranked, but after beating Clemson and knocking them out of the ACC Atlantic hunt, Florida State jumped back into the BCS just barely at the #25 spot. The Noles have just one more ACC opponent this season. If they beat Maryland this week, they should secure one spot in the ACC title game in Tampa. The Noles have had a rough season, losing two games they should have won, but a chance to win their conference lies within reach.

Florida Gators: The only Florida team ranked last week was dropped out of the BCS and into obscurity when they lost to visiting South Carolina last week. The Gators were shot out of the gates in this game, scoring on the opening kickoff, but afterwards the gators could generate no offense and the Gamecocks pressured John Brantley all the way till the end. Florida was eliminated from SEC title hopes with this loss, and many Gators fans wish they could erase this season from their memories. If there is any consolation, the Gators still face Florida State at the end of the year in their annual rivalry game with the Noles.

South Florida Bulls: Still unranked, but boy are they ever in the mix of things in the Big East. The USF Bulls will not quit under first year coach Skip Holtz. After pulling out a victory against Louisville this past Saturday, the Bulls remain in third place in the Big East, but they are gaining ground. The Pittsburgh Panthers, who lead the Big East race, just lost this past week. The Bulls now get to host a Pitt team who is holding onto a one game lead to the rest of the Big East teams in the running. The Bulls are one of four teams left who have a shot at making it to the Big east championship game. Good for them.

Central Florida Knights: Sadly, still unranked. Cancel the parade, the Knights have come back down to earth. UCF is no longer undefeated in their own conference. They stumbled this past week against an average Southern Miss team at best. The Knights still control their own destiny. They are left with two teams who combined records are less then Southern Miss total wins. Though they won't be jumping into the BCS anytime soon, it's still good to see this team come around and play competitively. UCF is also talking about joining the Big East which would make them and USF inner state rivals and also conference rivals.

Perfection

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might not be undefeated, but I sure as hell am! Ever since my early prediction that the Bucs would finish the season 10-6, the Bucs have stayed true to my estimations and won the games I thought they would win, and lost the games I thought they would lose.

They beat a broken and beaten down Panthers team this past Sunday (a game I went to for the 1st time this season). The road to 10 as coach Morris calls it is well within the teams' grasp now. So it seems I am not the only crazy person in town. Sure, they haven't beaten any good teams yet, and sure, if they make it to the playoffs an early exit seems like the most logical outcome, but who cares? This was a team that EVERYONE said and thought would win less games than last year. They had three wins in sixteen games last year. They have six in nine games this season.

I don't care how they got those six wins. Wins are wins, and to get into the playoffs and get a chance to upset or surprise people, you need wins first and foremost. They have wins. The upcoming schedule for them looks promising too. This week the Bucs take their talent to San Fransisco to face a 49ers team who is rebounding fast after a super slow start out of the gates. The 49ers were 0-5 to start the season, but have won three of their last four games. Tampa has had a hard time winning in San Fran, but if the Bucs can keep up this tempo, a 7-3 start is right around the corner!

Oh, yeah. 5-5 so far, and I predicted a win before the 49ers were winning. I foresee another W in the Bucs relative future.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Bucs Bogus

Bogus instead of Bonus....of I'm so witty.

~

Well I'm still spot on in my assumptions with the Tampa Bay Buccaeneers. They lost, but just barely in Atlanta last week and now they have one of those give me games. (4for 4 so far.) I predict an easy W against Carolina this week.


That is all.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The Blackout Epidemic

            Sundays are among Football fans favorite day. After a long and strenuous week of work or school, fans of the game can’t wait for their favorite team to play. However, there is a growing epidemic that is starting to deny fans the enjoyment of watching their home team; The Blackout Epidemic.  Locals and fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can attest to that. Every home game in the 2010 season has been blacked out locally. The sad part of it all is that the Bucs are 5-3 and are a team that people want to watch this year. The blackout rule is one that is one of the oldest and longest standing rules that all sports have to deal with.

 A blackout is when a sports program cannot be televised in a certain market. This usually pertains to the local team not selling out their home stadium in a certain amount of time. The rule was created in the hopes that it would then force fans to pay to watch their supposed favorite team play at their home stadiums. According to the NFL, if the game does not sell out within 72 hours of the kickoff, the game will then be blacked out. The area of which the blackout covers is roughly a 75 mile radius of the stadium. Teams have the opportunity to extend that deadline if they are close to selling out their game.

In the economy we live in, this is becoming a growing trend that many teams, not just the Bucs, are dealing with. It is fun to go to a game and to be among the whole atmosphere that football stadiums provide, but with ticket prices marked so high it is becoming increasingly harder to justify a ticket sale when you could enjoy the game in the comfort of your home. With the blackout rule in full effect, many fans cannot even do this. It is starting to affect more and more teams. 

The Buccaneers are not the only team that is dealing with this blackout situation. In the 2010 season 13 games have been blacked out in the first eight weeks. In contrast, there were only 22 games blacked out all of last year. The numbers are showing a 63% increase in blackouts this season. Teams like the Raiders, Lions, Bills, Browns, and Chargers (along with the Bucs) have all had at least one of their home games blacked out this year.

It is a growing concern that even with the economy the way it is, ticket prices continue to rise, and fans are getting punished for not wanting to pay the extra cost. Fans should not be forced into a position where the only way to watch their team play is by purchasing a ticket and driving to the stadium. Where is the appeal in that? Blackouts are a dated rule and the league needs to adjust this before it grows even more aggravating. Hopefully if the NFL truly loves its fans and wants to see them happy they will look into this epidemic that is affecting more teams each week.

 

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The BCS and Florida Teams

Well I might as well continue this topic, even though I'm upset over Miami losing this past week.

The top teams have been in a constant state of flux, and even this past week we saw the number one team get supplanted by someone else. Only this time, the number one team did not lose! Oregon jumped in front of Auburn in the BCS rankings for the Ducks first number one spot this season. The Oregon Ducks have been number in in some of the other polls this year, but this was the first time the computers have recognized them as the best team in the nation.

Auburn begs to differ. As long as the Tigers continue to win however, a showdown against Oregon seems the likley for the national championship.

In the end, the BCS rankings are the only one that matter as far as title hopes go. TCU, Boise State, and Utah are the other teams that fill up the top 5 in the BCS. Those three teams are all from non-automatic qualifying conferences. That means they will have to stay undefeated to earn a spot in one of the five BCS bowl games.

~

In local news, Florida State remains ranked, but barely. The Seminoles suffered an embarrassing loss last week against a NC State team they should have beat. Fumble woes spelled the doom for the Noles, who gave the Wolfpack the win in the end. Fla. State is ranked at the # 24 spot.

The Seminoles face off against the North Carolina Tarheels, a team that the Miami hurricanes beat. The Seminoles have already beaten the Hurricanes so this looks like a game they should win.

The Noles are the only Florida team ranked as of right now. Miami plummeted out of the top 25 after its stunning loss to the Virginia Cavaliers and the Florida Gators remained unranked even though they won against the Georgia Bulldogs. The USF Bulls, who are a long way from being ranked, won against the Cincinnati Bearcats as well.

The UCF Knights are on a positive winning streak as well. They beat East Carolina last week and face off against a Houston team that is missing its star QB. UCF might get ranked if they keep their losses down to the two they have right now.

Miami plays a Maryland team that is known for under performing, but then again, so is Miami. The Hurricanes are also going to play this game without their star QB and leading rusher. Both Jacory Harris and Damian Berry will miss the game against the Terrapins which then leaves this game in the hands of 4th string QB Steven Morris and the other talented RBs in Miami's stable.

USF has a night game tonight. They host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights a team that has beaten them the past four match ups against the Bulls. New head coach Skip Holtz better have his squad prepared tonight.

The Gators seem to have the best chance of climbing back into the rankings. They travel to Vanderbilt to play a soft Commodores team and then host the South Carolina Gamecocks, who are ranked.

Surprisingly enough Miami, Florida, Florida State, and UCF all have chances to win their division. Obviously in Miami and Florida State's case the two teams would play each other in the ACC title game (here at Raymond James) if those two teams manage to get there. The Hurricanes will need some help, but the Seminoles control their own destiny. Florida, even with three losses in the SEc can still manage a spot in the SEC title game as long as they win out. UCF is the only team in Florida that is perfect within its own conference.

Until next time.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Triami

"Triami"

"The Bigger Three"

"Miami Thrice"

"The 3 Amigos"

"Fahrenheit 3 6 1"

"LCD"

"Los Tres Reyes"

"Flash, Dash, and Smash"

"The Superfriends"

~

Whatever you wish to call the combination of Lebron James, and Chris Bosh joining forces down in Miami with Dwayne Wade to make the heat the most talked about team in sports, well at least that is true in recent years. Either you are a fan, or you are a hater.

Most people in the state of Florida don't seem to mind that those three stars decided to take less money overall and play together for a championship. I find that very inspiring. These amazing basketball players could have opted to go elsewhere and collect a lucrative deal that would make them even richer, but instead they opt for less pay and a higher chance to win the ring that Bosh and James covet so much. Wade has a ring from the Miami Heat's title run in 2006.

It's the people outside of Florida (and probably the fans that live in Orlando) who are upset that these three players joined forces. Some find it unfair, some say it was greedy, other will just try to find an excuse to bash this team and its players.

Whichever side you are, if you are a fan of sports, or just basketball in general, you have an opinion of this team.

Everyone does.

Bring it. The Heat will. Every game, you will see a trio that are the best in the game give it their all. We shall see if it will be enough to get those rings.

Thrill of Victory

You know what makes the taste of a heart breaking loss magically go away?

A win.

Yes, Saturdays are long if you follow college football and your team lets (what should have been), an easy win slip through their grasps.

Thankfully people like me have the next day to hopefully mend those painful memories.

And what a day it was for the NFL teams out of Florida! I like to call it the Hat Trick or the Floridian Trifecta. Either way, the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay buccaneers, and even the much maligned Jacksonville Jaguars all won this past Sunday.

Miami and Jacksonville were the early games. Miami beat the Cincinnati Bengals 22-14.

Jacksonville pretty much crushed any and all remaining hopes of the Dallas Cowboys year with a 35-17 blowout.

Tampa Bay, the self proclaimed best team in the NFC won a close game at the Arizona Cardinals home turf by the score of 38-35.

Like Raheem Morris said, "Stats are for losers, so you keep looking at stats and we'll keep looking at wins." Hey, however you get those Ws does not matter to me. just keep them coming!

~

Mia is 4-3, or rather they should be 5-2...but let's not get into that. They are an impressive 4-0 when playing in an away game. sadly, they have yet to win at home this year. the good news is that they play another game away from home, the bad news is that it is against the Baltimore ravens who are fresh off a bye. If these road warriors can manage to beat the Ravens, tickle me impressed.

Tampa is currently 5-2 and has a tough road test this week when they face the (5-2 as well) Atlanta Falcons. The winner of that game takes sole possession of the NFC South division. It will be a hard game for Tampa to win. Atlanta is the next team in line that most analysis think will blow the Bucs out of the water. The two other losses that Tampa has accumulated came from the Steelers and the Saints. Most consider the Falcons in the same tier of power as those two teams.

Jacksonville gets a bye this week. It host division rival Houston after its bye.

~~

Oh and for the record I am hitting one thousand so far! 3-3. A perfect score. the last three weeks I have been spot on on how the Bucs will fare in each of their weeks match ups. I think I predicted a loss this week, but I said we could split the series so it is a toss up.

Keep up the good work guys!