Tulsa Football

The 2010 AFL playoffs are starting on Friday! Today, we are ranking the teams left standing from #1 to #8 in the quest for ArenaBowl XXIII!

Spokane Shock (13-3, #1 in National Conference) – The Shock started the season at 2-2 and rolled off 11 straight victories, one of the longest winning streaks in AFL history. Losing the last game of the regular season in Jacksonville was incredibly inconsequential, as the road to the ArenaBowl is going to run through Spokane regardless.

Tampa Bay Storm (11-5, #3 in American Conference) – Few teams in the second half of the season played as well as the Storm did. QB Brett Dietz set a franchise record by throwing for 106 TD passes this season. Tampa Bay finished second in the conference in total defense, and only because it gave up 75 points in a meaningless final game of the regular season.

Jacksonville Sharks (12-4, #1 in American Conference) – Give Jacksonville credit for surviving essentially two games without QB Aaron Garcia. This team played hardnosed ‘D’ all season long and ended up with the best numbers in the game at just 50.4 PPG allowed. The Sharks also went an AFL best 7-1 at home this year, and with the rest of the American Conference coming to play in their home, Jacksonville could be well on its way to the ArenaBowl.

Milwaukee Iron (10-6, #2 in National Conference) – The Iron scored the most points in AFL history this year at 1,043, and a lot of that was thanks to an offensive line that gave up just one sack all season long. Just like Jacksonville, Milwaukee went 7-1 at home this year, but it won’t be able to play in the Bradley Center due to scheduling conflicts. This week’s game against Chicago will be “at home,” but it might not feel that way.

Arizona Rattlers (10-6, #4 in National Conference) - The consummate dark horse to win the ArenaBowl, Arizona is a trendy selection having played Spokane tough twice this year. The Rats have probable Rookie of the Year WR Rod Windsor, who rewrote the record books for receivers on the season. This is a tall task to face the Shock and come away with a win, but ‘Zona is capable.

Tulsa Talons (10-6, #2 in American Conference) – We aren’t high on Tulsa’s chances of winning the ArenaBowl, but what is certainly on its side is the fact that it already knows it can beat Tampa Bay having done it earlier in the year. Still, playing six games in a division which only won a combined 12 games amongst the other three teams isn’t a ringing endorsement.

Chicago Rush (10-6, #3 in National Conference) – If HC Mike Hohensee is winning another ArenaBowl, it’s going to have to come without QB Russ Michna under center. The Rush is in big trouble right now with QB JJ Raterink calling the shots, as they lost their final two games of the season with him under center.

Orlando Predators (8-8, #4 in American Conference) – The Preds are going to have to face Jacksonville this weekend without OL Julius Wilson and WR Bobby Sippio after their role in a fight in the stands last week in Tampa Bay. This team already had enough problems, as QB Nick Hill is probably the worst signal caller in the conference’s playoffs. It should be a short stay in the second season for the black and red.

Mike Rose is coming off a fabulous month betting Arena Football going 13-6-1 ATS 68% in July. That makes him 40-24-1 ATS 63%  with a ROI of $5090 on the year. Join him as he looks to close the 2010 AFL Betting season out in style with a fantastic run through the Playoffs!

Related posts:

1. Week 11 Arena Football League Power Poll – June 8th 2010
2. Week 6 Arena Football League Power Poll – May 4th 2010
3. Week 13 Arena Football League Power Poll – June 23rd 2010

In January, the possibility of Tulsa rehiring former head coach Steve Kragthorpe was discussed.

In February, he was hired as the passing coordinator at Texas A&M.

In July, he resigned from his position at Texas A&M due to "family health issues back home" in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

So, the plot thickens. Many would dismiss the notion of a former head coach of a BCS program working for a C-USA school, much less as some kind of assistant or coordinator. Kragthorpe obviously enjoyed his time in Tulsa. His house and family are in Tulsa and his time there was a monumental success.

Coach Kragthorpe's Legacy at Tulsa

He reformed a program at the smallest Division 1 school immediately. For over a decade, Tulsa had been so bad, it was a bottom feeder in the WAC! Tulsa was 1-10 in 2001 and 1-11 in 2002. Kragthorpe went 8-5 his first year in 2003! The drastic turnaround garnered national attention. His 4 years at Tulsa were memorable and his tenure had a lasting effect (Tulsa won 21 games the next 2 seasons with his recruits and several members of Kragthorpe's staff, notably new head coach Todd Graham).

Coach Kragthorpe's Potential Future with Tulsa

It does not appear that Kragthorpe will be able to work as a full-time coach of any sort any time soon. However, it does seem possible he would be open to a part-time, low-stress, and low-responsibility job. Perhaps the University of Tulsa could hire him as a "defensive consultant." (Tulsa defenses were consistently in the top-50 throughout his tenure, but have been lowly since he left.) He would be an outstanding passing consultant (he was a quarterback coach for the Buffalo Bills) and could help Tulsa's starting quarterback G.J. Kinne take the offense from good to great.

No matter what happens, Coach Kragthorpe will always be remembered as a winner at Tulsa. Lets hope that his family medical issues are resolved. Hopefully, he will soon rejoin the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane football program!

College football is about one month away. Here is why Tulsa can be good again:

New offensive coordinator . This guy learned from the best (Malzahn) and used the same offense to take his mediocre-to-bad Texas high school football team to the state championship for four of his last six years.

Kinne had his moments last year. He should be improved. Hopefully he and Beaver are vastly improved. There is nothing behind them this year. If Kinne is a "7," and Beaver is a "4," the next two guys are a "1" and that's generous.

Charles Davis returns! This guy is a veteran who got an extra year of eligibility after injury in '09.

Deep secondary . The coaches added tons of talent (several promising JUCO prospects and some very fast high school guys). There are 22 defensive backs competing for five spots. In C-USA, defensive back depth is key.

Damaris Johnson. This guy was the highlight of last year's crash-and-burn season. Hopefully someone else will step up.

Wide Receivers . Obviously D. Johnson is one of the best in the conference. Then there is Trae Johnson and Oklahoma transfer Jameel Owens, who can play immediately. AJ Whitmore was dismissed so that is a big hit. Freshman three-star Thomas Roberson of Jenks could contribute immediately. Ricky Johnson should get more playing time.

Fullback Charles Clay is a realistic NFL prospect. He is a hybrid running back-receiver. He knows he needs a "breakout" year to impress NFL scouts. Todd Graham said he wanted Clay to get the ball frequently last year, but that didn't happen. Clay needs a 500-plus rushing, 500-plus receiving campaign. If he is the primary running back, he should be able to get close to 1,000 yards.

The coaches are, as expected, very excited about this year and the new talent. It sounds like they are doing an overhaul. This could either be really good or signal the end of the latest bowl-game era for Tulsa. C-USA is getting much more competitive. Tulsa and Houston were dominating in recruiting and money spent on coaching for several years, but other teams have caught up and Tulsa seems to have been left far behind.

Graham may not be the earth-shaker he was once thought to be. He lost five of nine members of his coaching staff since January...strange.

Hopefully his new offensive coordinator will prove to be Malzahn II.

Also, hope that Tulsa can convince Steve Kragthorpe (who is unemployed and lives in Tulsa) to work for TU, if only as a part-time consultant (esp. on defense: TU's defense was 25th-45th with him as coach).

Based on all of this, anything better than a six-win season should be considered a success.

The Obama administration has explained the dire employment situation thusly:

The economy was way worse than anybody thought
Their predictions were in line with other economists
Things would have been worse without the stimulus
All in all, a nice deflection of blame from themselves (and usually on to the preceding administration). But history isn’t so kind.

You see, back around the time that the Obama team put forth their errant predictions, a fellow named Mark Zandi (Moody’s Economy) made a similar set of predictions using an actual economic model. And here’s how he did:

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you – the unemployment rate is closely tracking Zandi’s predictions for the non-stimulus case. This leads me to the following conclusions (which are somewhat at odds with the administration’s spin):

The economy was exactly as bad as some economists thought
The Obama team’s predictions were much more optimistic than other economists’
The stimulus has had no effect

CBO Confirms Its Methodology

In a recent speech to the National Association of Business Economics, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf confirmed this by stating:

[W]e don't think one can learn much from watching the evolution of particular components of GDP [gross domestic product] over the last few quarters about the effects of the stimulus … so we fall back on repeating the sort of analysis we did before. And we tried to be very explicit about it that it is essentially repeating the same exercise we did rather than an independent check on it.[1]

When asked if this means that any actual underperformance of the stimulus would fail to show up in the CBO's stimulus jobs count, Elmendorf replied "That's right." This means the 1.5 million jobs saved estimate was pre-determined.


Of course, the stimulus was originally promised to create (not just save) more than 3 million jobs.[2] Instead, the economy has since lost more than 3 million additional net jobs. The abject failure of the stimulus policies recommended by Keynesian economic models should induce some fundamental re-analysis of these models' assumptions. Instead, the CBO is re-releasing the same jobs analysis--with the same economic assumptions--that they had used a year ago.

The "Begging the Question" Fallacy

The CBO's conclusion that the stimulus created jobs is based on an economic model that began with the premise that all stimulus bills create jobs. In other words, the conclusion is already assumed as a premise. Logicians call this the fallacy of begging the question. Mathematicians call it assuming what you are trying to prove.

More specifically, the CBO's model started by automatically assuming that government spending increases GDP by pre-set multipliers, such as:

Every $1 of government spending that directly purchases goods and services ultimately raises the
GDP by $1.75;

Every $1 of government spending sent to state and local governments for infrastructure ultimately raises GDP by $1.75;

Every $1 of government spending sent to state and local governments for non-infrastructure spending ultimately raises GDP by $1.25; and

Every $1 of government spending sent to an individual as a transfer payment ultimately raises GDP by $1.45.[3]

(Note that all CBO figures in this paper represent the midpoint between their high and low estimates.)

Then the CBO plugged the stimulus provisions into the multipliers above, came up with a total increase in GDP of 2.6 percent, and then converted that additional GDP into 1.5 million jobs.

The problem here is obvious. Once the CBO decided to assume that every dollar of government spending increased GDP by the multipliers above, its conclusion that the stimulus saved jobs was pre-ordained.

The economy could have lost 30 million jobs, and the model would have said that the economy would otherwise have lost 31.5 million jobs without the stimulus. An asteroid could have hit the United States, wiping out everyone outside of Washington, D.C., and (as long as Washington still spent the stimulus money) the CBO's economic model would have produced the same stimulus jobs data. There is no adjustment made to reflect what actually happened in the economy after the stimulus was enacted.

Test the Multipliers

The debate over the efficacy of Keynesian stimulus is essentially a debate over the correct multipliers. Some believe the multipliers are high[4]; others believe they are as low as zero[5] (or even negative). Testing the stimulus requires testing the multipliers. Yet by simply assuming large multipliers, the CBO effectively pre-ordained its conclusion that the stimulus worked regardless of what actually happened in the economy.


Elmendorf has confirmed that the CBO's stimulus analysis consists of little more than re-releasing its pre-stimulus projections. Policymakers and analysts should not mistake this analysis for an actual examination of the stimulus's impact.

The Burning Platform has posted a new item, 'NAACP - MOST RACIST ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA'

Again, I would like to reiterate that the NAACP, backed up by the hate spewing liberal media pundits on MSNBC and CNN, are just mouthpieces for the Obama agenda. Obama despises white people. Whenever his policies fail and the country is clearly headed downward, he will pull the race card. It is the liberal gameplan. They expect us white people to back down like we have for decades. No more. The Tea Party is about fiscal responsibility. The racists are in the NAACP and the Obama White House. Funny that black men like Thomas Sowell and Deroy Murdock aren’t invited on MSNBC to put Olbermann, Madow, and Matthews in their place. The liberal agenda is hate, racism and division.

Liberals fear the Tea Party. They should. We’re coming to get them.

"Consider the Tea Party’s Contract from America, a pledge to which it holds its endorsed candidates. (TheContract.org.)

Among 10 planks, it advocates a single-rate tax, a two-thirds-vote requirement for tax hikes,
ObamaCare’s repeal, and the defeat of cap-and-trade legislation.

Nothing is even remotely related to race, ethnicity or identity. Wouldn’t bigots devote at least one of 10 reforms to something racial?

The Tea Party movement avoids racial issues and instead advances lower taxes and spending and greater fiscal discipline. These issues are neither black nor white. They are green."

The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks,[1]

Watts said of his refusal to join the caucus, "...they said that I had sold out and Uncle Tom. And I said well, they deserve to have that view. But I have my thoughts. And I think they're race-hustling poverty pimps."

White members of Congress have never been welcomed into the caucus, although CBC by-laws specifically prohibit any discrimination.

Ralph Nader incident

In 2004, independent presidential candidate and consumer activist Ralph Nader attended a meeting with the Caucus which turned into a shouting exchange. The caucus urged Nader to give up his presidential run, fearing that it could hurt John Kerry, the Democratic Party's nominee. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) called the upcoming election "a life or death matter" for the Caucus members' constituents. Nader accused Congressman Mel Watt of twice uttering an "obscene racial epithet" towards Nader; he alleged that Watt said: "You're just another arrogant white man – telling us what we can do – it's all about your ego – another f—king arrogant white
man." Watt never offered an apology.[9]

Nader wrote to the Caucus afterwards:

"Instead, exclamations at the meeting... end[ed] with the obscene racist epithet repeated twice by Yale Law School alumnus Congressman Melvin Watt of North Carolina. One member of your Caucus called to apologize for the crudity of some of the members. I had expected an expression of regret or apology from Congressman Watt in the subsequent days after he had cooled down. After all there was absolutely no vocal or verbal provocation from me or from my associates, including Peter Miguel Camejo, to warrant such an outburst. In all my years of struggling for justice, especially for the deprived and downtrodden, has any legislator—white or black—used such language? I do not like double standards, especially since our premise for interactions must be equality of respect that has no room, as I responded to Mr. Watt, for playing the race card. Therefore, just as African-Americans demanded an apology from Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz and Senator Trent Lott—prior to their resignation and demotion respectively—for their racist remarks, I expect that you and others in the Caucus will exert your moral persuasion and request an apology from Congressman Watt. Please consider this also my request for such an expression—a copy of which is being forwarded directly to Mr. Watt's office."[10]

"What the law did was force the banks to rethink their business lines, their pricing strategies, their methodology for maintaining their balance sheet," banking analyst Dick Bove of Rochdale Securities said in an interview. "When they rethink it all, they will be able to offset all of the costs of this bill."

But crafty financial veterans already are finding loopholes in the law and banks likely will profit both in spite of and because of the reforms.

"If you had anyone who knew anything about the financial industry writing this law, that's one thing," said Bove, who has called the law one of the worst in US history. "But if you have a bunch of hysterics who were looking for political gain, you get something that was an abortion. All it did was increase the cost of banking in the United States relative to the cost of banking in other countries."

The banks' course of action likely will break down into four strategies:

1. Outfox the foxes

A harsh critic of the law, Bove is among the analysts who nevertheless believe banks will thrive. One big reason is because he thinks industry executives will show that they're smarter than the legislators who crafted financial reform, also known as FinReg.

("Time it was and what a time it was...")

Contradicting earlier reports that had Tito Ortiz facing Forrest Griffin in a meaningless rubber match, MMAFighting.com has confirmed that Ortiz will instead face off against Matt Hamill at UFC 121 (October 23rd; Anaheim, CA). The Huntington Beach Blah Blah hasn't competed since his split decision loss to Griffin at UFC 106, and hasn't won a fight since his third TKO victory over Ken Shamrock in October 2006. Hamill is coming off his majority decision over Keith Jardine at the TUF 11 Finale, which got the Dean of Mean bounced out of the UFC. Technically, Hamill has won his last four fights, including the Jon Jones DQ. If you'll recall, Hamill was a member of Team Punishment on TUF 3, so this fight will have extra significance when Hamill beats Tito's ass. In other UFC 121 booking news...

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Spartans head into the 2010 season a better team than they were in 2009.

 

Frankly, we were surprised at the outcome of the 2009 season.  It seems as though the team was just a little short in many games.. Just missing by a smidge.  From the stands, it didn’t look coaching was the issue, positions were manned well, but possibly just losing a little focus during the games, football plays were missed……  Maybe locker room distraction, personality issues  ???

 

They lost 5 games by an average of a field goal and a little bit..  SpartyMSU was set for a possible 11 – 1 record last year, and they ended up 6 – 6..  Losses were close, but they were “Ls” none the less.

 

This year should be different for the Spartans , since they are better in all aspects. The Defense can do nothing but improve.  There is some impressive freshmen this year such as Max Bullough and William Gholston, just to name a couple.

 

SpartyMSU is predicting a 9 – 3 season this year.   We still believe they could have gone 11 – 1 last year.. But again.. Like they say Football is a game of inches…  This year there should be many post game celebration tailgates..   At least we’re planning on it…

 

2010 will be like the Battle of Midway.. it’s the turning point in the Spartans war to gain national prominence… Everyone is behind Coach Dantonio, the program, the team.  2009 was a blip.. Dantonio never said that there would be no steps backwards in the march of forward progress… So Forward we go...

 

Whats got us excited this season:

1)      The pass catchers..  Last year’s top 5 receivers  return… They put on an impressive aerial show in 2009 and we will miss our favorite Blair White. On top of several  guys returning and we have an addition in WR redshirt  Bennie Fowler.   Back on the field this year: TE Brian Linthicum (2009: 2 TDs, 20 recpts for 266 yrds) , Garrett Celek (1 Td),  and our favorite Charlie Gantt (2 TDs, 22 recpts,348yrds) .  SpartyMSU’s  Senior Member Gavin,  said he lifted with Charlie at the “Y” ,  and he is looking forward and ready for the season… 

 

WRs -  B.J. Cunningham (641 all purp. Yrds in 2009) , Mark Dell (449 all purp. Yrds.), and stud Keshawn Martin (who had 1451 all purpose yds) are all back..  Back up QB Keith Nichol is at WR this year, with his athleticism, and play knowledge, I think he will make a heck of an impact.  Keith did look good at spring ball.   But, what happened to Fred Smith ??

 

This is the most talented group, and the reserves are just as good.. Many choices to throw to this year..  I expect the areal attack to be at a minimum as strong as 2009 but, and probably much  better…

 

2)      QB… As a sophomore Kirk Cousins is a rising star in the  Big Ten. Flash forward, one year later, he will be better at field decisions and more accurate.  Can’t take too much away from the young man since he lead last year’s Spartan passing assault to #2 in the Big Ten last year, and number 3 in total offense…  As a  Junior signal caller, nothing but positives coming from him this year. Sure, the occasional pick is inevitable, but, overall, he’s the man.. He is picked as the Big Ten’s 21st overall player by Adam Rittenberg…  He is clearly the Spartan starter.

 

Behind him is Back up Andrew Maxwell (6’3 – 200) and Joe Boisture (6’5” – 205). Both played well in the spring game, I  liked what I saw… QB is a solid position for years to come…

 

3)      RB: Larry Caper and Edwin Baker..  I expect the typical Soph. year growth for these guys.  Caper and Baker are nothing but talented with improving field smarts.  I only hope holes will open up for them so they can show their stuff. Remember Caper’s  23-yard touchdown in overtime against Michigan last year…  Addition thought: Nick Hill could just move in to a starting rotation as well…

 

4)      LB… #53 All American Stud Greg Jones…. Arguably the best Line Baker in the Big Ten and possibly the NCAA…. #1 tackler for the Spartans.. He was fun to watch last year, and really glad he decided to stay in school for his senior year and not enter the NFL draft. Phil Steel has said that this is the 6^th best LB corps in the NCAA..  Greg is joined by experience with:  Eric Gordon, John(the Missile) Misch, Max Bullough,  Steve Gardiner, Chris Norman, Jeremy Grainer… Depth, skill, and leadership… Strong, very strong crew….   Could Jones get a Heisman ??? Possible.. Yes, possible…

 

5)      DE:  True Freshman William Gholston has me excited..  At 6’7” – 237.. he might just make an impact off the get go…  If he makes the starting rotation, and I hope he does.. Tyler Hoover  (6’7” – 270) will be a good complement. Although Tyler didn’t really make any headway last year as I hoped.. Possibly this year is his coming out party, and what better way to do it than with Gholston…   Colin Neely (played in 13 games, 12 starts – 24 tackles, 3 sacks,4 hurries, 1 break up)  is a only returning starter DE. Colin seemed to be a level headed, “A” ranked DE. The group is rounded out with backups Jonathan Strayhorn (13 games last year, 1 sack), Drone, and Cory Freeman.

 

Whats got us a little antsy this season:

Important Note: Of the top 20 tacklers on the team, 13 return, and all of the top 5 tacklers return…

 

1)      D  Line.. I.. gotta put pressure on the QB… returning Front is Jerel Worthy (played in 13 games, 11 starts, 27 tackles, 5 sacks,1 hurry 2 breakups ), Soph. Blake Treadwell (played 9 games 2009), Kevin Pickelman (played in 12 games last year) , joining the group is Dan France , Micajah Reynolds, Cameron Jude.  This spring Dan France was the first DT drafted, does this mean he will give the starters a run for their money…. But, since they were last in conference pass defense there wasn’t a big push up front…

 

But, this year, is a little different… … they will be better… they are better.

 

 

2)      The secondary at times looked great.. and at times look horrid… Frankly,  I thought they would have been good last year.. I was WRONG… The team only had six picks all season…  Plus remember that haunting 2009 stat: Last in the Big Ten in pass defense…

 

This is a new year… can’t be last 2 years in a row… at Corner Johnny Adams is back, along with Chris L. Rucker, and tall Michael White,. Safety is Marcus Hyde, Jarius Jones, Free Safety Trent Robinson. As a fan, I am not sure what to say or expect until I see them on the field starting Sept. 4…

 

 

3)      O Line… The other area of slight concern.. I have to admit, I feel a little less unsure about the Offensive front..  Good News = Everyone has experience, and all have played in front of Cousins last year…  With the high powered offence last year, and with the experience coming back its a good thing.  Bad New =  we did lose C Joel Nitchman, and LT Rocco Cironi.. and it hurts, but, we should be OK..   Have to wait to confirm my assumptions here also.  Note: only allowed 12 sacks all year on Kirk Cousins,…

 

Probably manning the line is: D.J. Young (13 games last year, 11 starts), Jared McGaha (13 games in 2009), John Stipek (7 games in 2009), Joel Foreman (12 games, 12 starts)

 

4)      Kicking…. DNBTU is gone.. Dead Nuts Between the Uprights-  Brett "Money" Swenson has gone to the Pros… as expected… Now he needs to be replaced.. Holding my breath…  I wasn’t too impressed by what I saw in the Spring game..  As Spartans we are used to a history of talented kickers.. 

 

All in all.. a good squad this year.. , in fact, we think they’ll be pretty good this year,  end up 3^rd in the Big Ten..

 

We’re putting 2009 behind us and moving forward..

 

The Season prediction based upon the team and the opponents in 2010..9 – 3.. 

Details on this to follow yet this week…

 

 

Sparty On !!!

The former USC Trojan transferred to BYU this year in time to participate in spring practice.

Typically transfers must sit out a season when transferring schools. They may participate in practices, but may not play in games.

However, the NCAA recently handed down stiff sanctions against the USC program for rules violations. One of the penalties dished out to the Trojans allows juniors and seniors to transfer from USC without having to sit out a season at their new school.

Kaveinga is a junior, but transferred from the USC program before the NCAA handed down its ruling. Following spring practice at BYU, Kaveinga announced that he was planning to serve a LDS Church mission.

However, multiple sources close to Uona have indicated that if the NCAA grants him a waiver on the transfer rule, he may delay his mission and play for BYU this season.

Such a development would be big for Bronco Mendenhall’s defense. Inside linebacker is a question mark for the Cougars with inexperienced players set to fill in for graduated linebackers Matt Bauman and Shawn Doman.

The 6′ 0″, 245-pound Kaveinga would likely start for BYU and would join sophomore Brandon Ogletree, senior Shane Hunter, JC  transfer Aveni Leung-Wai, true freshman Zach Stout, and recently returned missionary Austen Jorgensen as the primary players vying for time at inside linebacker in the Cougars three-four defense.

Kaveinga played in 16 games at middle linebacker for USC over the past two seasons. Last year he backed up starter and 2010 Lombardi Award candidate Chris Gallipo.

In 2008, Uona signed with USC as a highly touted player from Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California. He was tabbed as a Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American and an ESPN 150 recruit. USC and BYU were the two finalist for his services when he committed to the Trojans.

As a new player to the BYU program Kaveinga is unable to speak to the media until after the first game of the season per BYU’s interview policy.

The 2010 college football betting season will kick off in less than two months, and here at BetUS sportsbook, there’s no such thing as a bad time to start talking about the boys on the gridiron.
CLICK HERE TO OPEN A BETTING ACCOUNT AT BETUS

Today, we will look at the 2010 NCAA Football betting futures and pick out a few longshots to win the BCS National Championship.

Pittsburgh Panthers (+5000) – Someone is going to have to win the Big East, and whoever successfully pulls it off is at least remotely going to have their names etched in the BCS title run, just as the Cincinnati Bearcats did last year. The Panthers are coming off a great regular season in which they only lost one game in the conference and two games overall. Though QB Bill Stull has departed, HC Dave Wannstedt has never heavily relied on his quarterback to win games. Instead, the “Stache” is going to be reliant upon the legs of RB Dion Lewis, who crushed every freshman rushing record in the U-Pitt books last year with 1,799 yards and 18 TDs. Beyond a visit to Utah, the rest of this schedule is very manageable. Trips to Connecticut and Cincinnati won’t be fun, but will be very doable for a team that should be fun to watch in ’10.

Florida State Seminoles (+5000) – It’d be a shame to see the ‘Noles do this well in the first year without HC Bobby Bowden, but there is a real possibility for it to happen. They are +125 favorites to win the ACC in the BetUS NCAA football divisions futures. QB Christian Ponder is considered one of the top quarterback prospects for the NFL Draft of 2011, and he is going to be leading an offense that should simply be amazing under new HC Jimbo Fisher. The ‘Noles averaged 30.1 points per game last year with Ponder throwing for just 2,716 yards. It looks as if a 3,000+ passing yards season is a foregone conclusion. Florida State could lose to Oklahoma in Week 2 and still be a title contender, particularly with wins at Miami and at home against Florida. If the FSU defense figures out how to avoid giving up 433.8 yards and 30.0 points per game again, look out for the garnet and gold.

Oregon State Beavers (+5000) – With the USC Trojans out of the picture in terms of the National Championship, any Bowl games or Pac-10 races, the door is going to swing open for a ton of teams. Though we don’t really believe that the Beavers can run the table with the atrocious schedule in front of them, they can clearly go to the BCS title game with one loss this year thanks to what should be very strong computer numbers. One win from games at TCU and Boise State would be great, while the Pac-10 seems reasonable, especially with USC and rival Oregon both coming to Reser Stadium. Throw into the mix the fact that RB Jacquizz Rodgers (1,440 yards, 22 TDs) is back for a Heisman Trophy run and OSU can drastically improve upon its 8-5 record from a season ago.

Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

Related posts:

1. Free Pick: 2010 BCS National Championship Game – Texas vs. Alabama
2. Friday Night NCAA Basketball Picks & Predictions: March 5th 2010
3. College Football Bowl Game Weekend Previews: December 24th-27th 2009

Earlier today I challenged Mark Juddery to back up the claim in his new book that baseball is the most overrated sport.

Tonight, he offers his answer, via email, presented without editorial comment:

Here are a few words written just for the Baseball Bookshelf site. (Well OK, it’s basically a reworked version of the book chapter… but I’m sure you’ll agree that my reasoning is sound and give up baseball to find another hobby.) Please let me know when it’s online, so I know to change my name and go in hiding.

Mark

* * *

It seems that there has been some controversy over me naming baseball as the most overrated sport. How dare I demean America’s national pastime in an American-published book, from my home land of Australia where few people even play baseball.

Actually, it wins that title because the book’s published in America. Here in Australia (and in most nations), nobody rates baseball very highly at all. Over here, the most overrated sport is cricket. We care about who wins the World Series, even though, in most of the world, nobody could care less. A “proper” cricket game is quiet, slow-moving, and lasts for days. I believe that the winner is the spectator who stays awake the longest. “I watched a cricket match for three hours waiting for it to start,” quipped Groucho Marx.

In America, nobody has been willing to stay awake through a game of cricket. Instead, the title of Most Overrated Sport belongs to baseball, a sport that is related to cricket. Not that I dislike baseball. I played it a few times at school, and enjoyed it more than cricket. (Then again, I enjoyed algebra more than cricket.) But like cricket, it isn’t nearly as important as its fans – or their nations – seem to think.

How highly do you guys rate it? Well, back in 1977, a group of US sports editors and writers were polled on the greatest male athletes of the century. The top 15 was comprised entirely of Americans – and five were baseballers (including the top two). Baseball was easily the most represented sport on the list. Perhaps this says less about the greatness of the game than the narrow-mindedness of sports writers back in 1977 (or any other time).

But then, this is a game where the ‘World Series’ is played only by American and (in more recent years) Canadian teams. Even the World Cup events of hockey, rugby and rock-paper-scissors (yes, that’s a real event) invite competitors from more than two nations. Hey, even World Series Cricket has more nations than that! But in baseball, many fans tend to forget the rest of the world. For the past century, the sport has boasted a few ‘all-American heroes’– from Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio to perhaps your best-loved sportsman, Babe Ruth. It is one of the few sports whose ‘national heroes’ were a bunch of guys who only played against their compatriots.

This means that Ty Cobb (1886–1961), as one of America’s most gifted players, also gets to be called a “national hero”. Cobb was more than just a ball-player. He was also an unhinged, violent sociopath who would beat up his wife, fellow players, newsmen and on one occasion, a crippled fan. He pushed a chambermaid down the stairs (possibly because she was black and he was, allegedly, an appalling racist). Only through baseball (or on special occasions, warfare) could such a creep ever win national hero status.

How tough are baseball players anyway? Back in 1982, researchers worked out the physical demands of various sports, putting them on a scale from one (for more relaxing – if no less skilful – sports like billiards, golf and water-skiing) to 10 (Tour de France cycling) and beyond (the super-tough pursuit of decathlon went off the scale). On that scale, baseball made it to a relatively wimpy three – slightly tougher than cricket, on par with roller derby and scuba diving (if that’s actually a sport), but not as tough as most other sports. Whatever their salary, the average baseballer isn’t as tough as the average ice-skater, fencer, surfer or jockey.

What’s more, despite being America’s national sport, baseball isn’t even American. It was probably invented in England, where it is first mentioned (as ‘base ball’) in 1744. This is a sensitive issue – so sensitive that, in 1907, former National League president A. G. Mills devised a myth that it was invented in 1839 by Abner Doubeday, who would go on to be a Civil War general. (The real General Doubleday, one of Mills’ classmates at West Point, had gone on to a magazine writing career. Baseball was not among his topics.)

Happily for those who take it seriously, baseball has widened its horizons since the days of Babe Ruth. It even became an Olympic sport in 1992, when Cuba (whose dictator, Fidel Castro, was a former elite baseballer) won the gold medal. The US didn’t field its strongest players, who were too busy making millions in the (ahem) World Series. Still, like surprisingly many Olympic sports, it’s far from “international”, and is only a major sport in Japan and (some of) the Americas. In fact, it was removed from the Olympics program after 2008. Curling and synchronized swimming can stay; baseball can’t.

So enough of the all-American obsession, not to mention the way baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life. “If I have to enjoy another self-important spew on the lofty significance of this national pastime that is past its prime, I’m going to hurl,” wrote Sports Illustrated journalist Michael Silver in 2001.”The people who try to sell baseball as life need to get one.”

So there you have it. One of the great things about this country is that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. And, truth be told, Mr. Juddery makes some good points, and I thank him for contributing to the debate.

For more of his interesting insight, visit his website and the book’s blog .