Damn Delfino

Freakin Carlos Delfino had to ruin it for the Pistons last night. I was at the edge of my seat in the final seconds at the game is Chauncey Billups hit a big shot to make the game close. The Pistons ended up tying in the game and the contest was poised to go into overtime when Delfino fouled Darrell Armstong with less than three seconds left in the game. Armstrong missed the first free throw but made the second as the Pacers got the win.

That was probably the first time I've been to the Palace when the Pistons have lost. It was still a great game though and the Pistons should have won - they were up by 15 in the first half but let things slip away. Besides the Pistons losing the other bad thing about the game was that Billups was hurt and looks like he could miss some time

Before the game my sister danced on the court with her dance troupe so i got to see that. I also had a good time at the game with Sarah, Nat, my sister's boyfriend and her brother. It was kinda hard b/c my sister's man is a Pacers fan but it was all good.

At the game I did get a Nazr Mohammed bobblehead which was the giveaway that night. I also got a Pistons fleece blanket.

A trip to the zoo

Pics from a trip to Toledo to see the lights before Christmas

new game

Other than today being a typical Tuesday meaning that i want to Frickers for 25 cent wings with sarah and sean, i also hooped at Siena for a couple of hours and purchased a new video game that should keep me occupied throughout the winter months

i got the new College Hoops 2k7 and so far it seems pretty cool. It is the first game that I've ever purchased that actually has Eastern Michigan's real fight song in it. The game seems to have pinned their talent level well as i can't make a basket for the life of me. Tonight i started to update some of the rosters with the actual name of players and then began a dynasty which i will play with Michigan and EMU.

For anyone looking for a college hoops game I definitely recommend it.

gobble, gobble

last night i bowled my first turkey in eons and was one pin away from getting a fourth straight strike. regardless it was a pretty decent way to end the night bowling and helped me beat lance and JJ. I bowled a strike in the ninth and w/ my first two roles in the 10th and then finished the game by hitting nine pins. the night started out shitty as i rolled 100 my first two games before getting a 120 in the third game.

After bowling with the fellas I played a few games of euchre w/ sarah, tina and nat before calling it a night.

yesterday afternoon i also went to the siena hoops game to see lieto aka baby iverson play.

not too much happened the rest of the weekend. I did pages on Saturday and friday morning and covered a hoops game on Friday night.

my day

Today ive just been enjoying a day off. I played a little bit of basketball at Siena with a few people from work and a couple of Sarah's teammates. After that I took csre of some bills and did a little grocery shopping. Nothing too thrilling.

Other than that I surfed the net and saw that a former EMU baseball player (Ryan Goleski) was the top pick in the MLB Rule 5 draft. And the other thing I saw EMU related was that ESPN.com had their football team rated as the sixth-worst in the nation in their bottom 10. Way to go Eagles! but i guess thats what a 1-11 season does to you.

my fantasy football week begins this week because of the Cleveland-Pittsburgh game starts Week 14 of NFL action. The week beginning means the playoffs start in my two ESPN leagues. In the telegram league i finished 7-5-1 and had the No. 4 seed for the playoffs and play Sean who is the top seed. In my other league I went 12-1 and have the top seed.


In other things:
- I got two Christmas cards in the mail yesterday. makes me realize Christmas is closer than I think it is.
- The Adrian-Siena game went down to the wire with Siena winning the cross-town battle by three in last night's game.

My bowl picks

Tuesday, Dec. 19
Poinsetta Bowl
TCU (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5) - NIU

Thursday, Dec. 21
Las Vegas Bowl
BYU (10-2) vs. Oregon (7-5) - Oregon

Friday, Dec. 22
New Orleans Bowl
Troy (7-5) vs. Rice (7-5) - Rice

Saturday, Dec. 23
PapaJohn's Bowl
South Florida (8-4) vs. East Carolina (7-5) - South Florida

New Mexico Bowl
New Mexico (6-6) vs. San Jose State (8-4) - San Jose State

Armed Forces Bowl
Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5), 8 p.m. - Utah

Sunday, Dec. 24
Hawaii Bowl
Arizona State (7-5) vs. Hawaii (10-3) - Hawaii

Tuesday, Dec. 26
Motor City Bowl
Central Michigan (9-4) vs. Middle Tennessee (7-5) - Central Michigan


Wednesday, Dec. 27
Emerald Bowl
Florida State (6-6) vs. UCLA (7-5) - UCLA

Thursday, Dec. 28
Independence Bowl
Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6) - Alabama

Holiday Bowl
California (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (9-3) - California


Texas Bowl
Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5) - Rutgers


Friday, Dec. 29
Music City Bowl
Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5) - Clemson


Sun Bowl
Missouri (8-4) vs. Oregon State (9-4) - Oregon State

Liberty Bowl
South Carolina (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3) - South Carolina

Insight Bowl
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5) - Minnesota

Champs Sports Bowl
Maryland (8-4) vs. Purdue (8-5) - Purdue

Saturday, Dec. 30
Meineke Bowl
Navy (9-3) vs. Boston College (9-3) - Navy

Alamo Bowl
Iowa (6-6) vs. Texas (9-3) - Texas

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Virginia Tech (10-2) vs. Georgia (8-4) - Virginia Tech


Sunday, Dec. 31
MPC Computers Bowl
Nevada (8-4) vs. Miami (6-6) - Nevada

Monday, Jan. 1
Outback Bowl
Penn State (8-4) vs. Tennessee (9-3) - Penn State

Cotton Bowl
Auburn (10-2) vs. Nebraska (9-4) - Auburn

Capital One Bowl
Wisconsin (11-1) vs. Arkansas (10-3) - Wisconsin

Gator Bowl
Georgia Tech (9-4) vs. West Virginia - West Virginia

Rose Bowl
Southern Cal (10-2) vs. Michigan (11-1) - Michigan

Fiesta Bowl
Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (11-2) - Oklahoma


Tuesday, Jan. 2
Orange Bowl
Wake Forest (11-2) vs. Louisville (11-1)- Louisville

Wednesday, Jan. 3
Sugar Bowl
LSU (10-2) vs. Notre Dame (10-2) - Notre Dame

Saturday, Jan. 6
International Bowl
Cincinnati (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (8-4) - Cincinnati

Sunday, Jan. 7
GMAC Bowl
Southern Miss (8-5) vs. Ohio (9-4) - Ohio

Monday, Jan. 8
BCS National Championship
Ohio State (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1) - Ohio State

an update

Yesterday was the opening night of the high school boys basketball season for most teams and two of the games we ended up covering were drastic blow outs decided by 40 points or more including the game I covered. looks like it could be a long season for some teams in the county.

other than that not much is going on. tonight is the big Adrian College-Siena Heights men's hoops game in the battle for the milk jug. Three of the last four meetings have been decided by three points or less so that should be interesting.



Went bowling on Sunday and had a decent night rolling a 154, 122 and 146. Didn't lose a game at all to anyone I bowled against. Been balling a lot the last week and actually getting in some kind of shape which has been good for me. Hopefully I'll return to the court tomorrow and rediscover my jump shot so i don't have to constantly drive to the basket. although i couldn't have shot worst than what the University of Michigan men's hoop team did when they lost to NC State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge last week. It seemed like they couldn't hit any kind of jump shot whatsoever.

Anyways thats all I've got for now

Snubbed

I was hoping Michigan would get a rematch with Ohio State after USC's loss but after Florida defeated Arkansas in the SEC championship game I figured they were screwed and I was correct. But it was unfortunate because I would have liked to see how that game would have been played on a neutral setting.

ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski had a good column in support of Michigan. His column was trying to figure out how the Wolverines got snubbed.

Here are some points from the column:
• It didn't win its conference.

No, it didn't. But did you see who did? Team by the name of Ohio State. Maybe you've heard of the Buckeyes? Undefeated. Ranked first in the country. Beat Michigan in Columbus by the grand total of three whole points.

And feel free to show me in the BCS handbook where it says you've got to win your conference to play in the championship game.

• Nobody wants to see a rematch.

Just asking, but how did Ali-Frazier II and III work out? Or that Georgetown-Villanova Final Four?

I know Florida's Urban Meyer doesn't want to see a rematch, but he's not exactly an impartial observer, is he? And if Meyer were in Carr's Nikes, I guarantee you his objections to a second Ohio State-Michigan game would have disappeared.

A rematch, this time on a neutral field, would have been a game for the ages. And if you threatened to take away his precious sweater-vest if he didn't tell the truth, I bet you Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel would rather play Florida than have to face the Wolverines again (Tressel declined to vote in the final coaches' poll).

• Florida played a tougher schedule.

Agreed. But strength of schedule is part of the equation, nothing more. Tuberville's 2004 team had the strongest strength of schedule, but didn't make it.

You want to give the Gators the edge based on scheduling? Fair enough, though you could argue that Florida didn't exactly beat vintage Alabama, Georgia and Florida State teams this year, and Central Florida and Division I-AA Western Carolina were dreadful.

And look at the one loss each suffered by Florida and Michigan on their schedules. You tell me which defeat was more impressive: the Gators' 10-point road loss to an Auburn team that finished the season No. 9 in the BCS standings? Or the Wolverines' three-point road loss to an Ohio State team now favored to win the national championship?


• The BCS system rewarded Florida for finishing its season with wins at FSU and against Arkansas at the SEC championship in Atlanta.

And the BCS penalized Michigan twice for being on the wrong end of the calendar: once when USC moved to No. 2 after beating Notre Dame (even though Michigan beat the Irish worse), and now, when Florida overtook the Wolverines (even though U of M's season ended two weeks ago).

How can you call this a "system" when Florida belongs to a league that plays a conference championship, and Michigan doesn't? How can you call it a quasi-playoff when Michigan drops twice in the standings without losing a game?

• Florida has earned the right to play Ohio State.

Absolutely true. But so has Michigan.

Ask the coaches at Vanderbilt (the Commodores played both Michigan and Florida this season) who is the better team, and the consensus pick -- privately, of course -- is the Wolverines. Florida has more speed and a handful of players to die for, they say, but Michigan is more physical, would control both sides of the line of scrimmage, has wonderful wide receivers, and is led by a quarterback who doesn't make many mistakes.

Ask them who would give Ohio State the better game, and you'll get the same answer.

Tuberville voted Ohio State, Florida and then Michigan on his final ballot.

"But I watched Michigan this year," he said. "Heck, I think they could beat anybody. But that's the way the system is. It's a screwed-up system."

But none of that matters now. Instead, Carr is taking his Wolverines to the Rose Bowl presented by Citi to face a USC team that had one loss on Saturday -- and controlled its own BCS destiny -- but two losses by Saturday night.

Michigan never had that chance. It was 11-1 on Nov. 18. It was 11-1 on Dec. 3. But between then and now, the Wolverines apparently became the cellulite queens and somehow lost the swimsuit portion of this ridiculous BCS beauty pageant.