USC vs.USC
Dear Southern Cal (excuse me, SC),
You must be proud. All those national titles, Heisman trophies, NFL-ready recruits, and Pac-10 Titles (which are easier to get than a lolly-pop at a bank by the way) and you still have time to take the University of South Carolina to court over an interlocking "SC" logo used on various baseball apparel. My how you can flex those tan, cosmetically sculpted muscles.
It's great to see you protect your trademarked product so all of your progressive fans don't mistakenly pick up a South Carolina "SC" hat at the store instead of yours. I can see how fans could mistake garnet and black for cardinal and gold. Even though the schools are 2293 miles apart and play in different conferences, you can never be too careful.
With things going so swimmingly in Southern Cal, this was definately a legal situation that needed to be tended to. It's not like you have running backs living in mansions or point guards taking cash from agents. No, the "SC" logo battle was the fight needing to be fought.
If I may, I will suggest your next legal battle to take on.....The United States Post Office. Anyone putting an "SC" on any letter sent could jeorpardize your trademark. You'll confuse the mail carriers everywhere on what "SC" stands for and we just can't have that.
So keep on fighting the good fight Southern Cal, because not everyone knows how important you are.
Sincerely,
Confused South Carolina Resident
Gibbs Racing
Gibbs has been a topic of conversation this week in a context that few would have even seen coming.....cheating. However, this type of cheating is what I'll refer to as "Robin Hood" cheating. Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, everyone knows the story whether its the Disney version, Kevin Costner, or Albert Brooks. It was stealing with good intentions, but in the end, it was still stealing. Same with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). They were penalized for doing a better job finding more engine horsepower within the rules than everyone else in NASCAR. (http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/FREE/553818544/1563/nascar)
It's the equivelant of telling the Patriots they can't use Tom Brady for the rest of the season after week 10 because he's just too good.
The team took the new rules in stride and found another way to gain back the lost horsepower. This time, they didn't want anyone else to know, so they put magnets behind the gas peddle to hide the added ponies under the hood. Can you blame JGR? You work hard within the rules, only to have the rules changes when you do to well?
Granted it was still cheating, but keep it in perspective. They were protecting their hard work, not looking for an unfair advantage. So don't go around talking about Joe Gibbs like this guy (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-whitley1908aug19,0,7436621.column). He's still one of the best men in all of sports. Gibbs understands it was still cheating and has taken care of the matter internally. Whether you rob a bank to feed your family or your drug habit, you still go to jail. Same with Gibbs, but at the end of the day you can't call him a cheater.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Best Case for a USC Upset
As promised, I will make a case for which SEC team South Carolina has the best chance of upsetting this season. Currently, the Online Poll has Florida ahead at 36%, followed by Tennessee at 33%, UGA at 21%, and LSU at 10%.
I disagree with The Open Mike Army on this one. The main reason is that they have chosen the one SEC matchup that is on the road. South Carolina has played particularly well on the road at times over the past few years, however last season we saw that come apart at the end with a bad loss at Arkansas. I think Carolina's has their best chance at home this season.
The answer is the defending National Champions, LSU. History is the reason behind this prediction. Take a look at LSU last season; big wins against Florida and Auburn sandwiching a loss to Kentucky on the road. Move forward this season and you have Florida and Georgia games as bookends to the game against South Carolina in October.
If Carolina can hold the LSU offense under 20 points, they give themselves a shot. Georgia will have too much firepower at the beginning of the season, as will Florida at the end on the road. With the return of Jasper Brinkley and Nathan Peppers, the Gamecock defense should have all of its defensive weapons to hold the LSU offense. On offense, it's up to the O-Line and Tommy Beacher (presumably) to take care of business.
I disagree with The Open Mike Army on this one. The main reason is that they have chosen the one SEC matchup that is on the road. South Carolina has played particularly well on the road at times over the past few years, however last season we saw that come apart at the end with a bad loss at Arkansas. I think Carolina's has their best chance at home this season.
The answer is the defending National Champions, LSU. History is the reason behind this prediction. Take a look at LSU last season; big wins against Florida and Auburn sandwiching a loss to Kentucky on the road. Move forward this season and you have Florida and Georgia games as bookends to the game against South Carolina in October.
If Carolina can hold the LSU offense under 20 points, they give themselves a shot. Georgia will have too much firepower at the beginning of the season, as will Florida at the end on the road. With the return of Jasper Brinkley and Nathan Peppers, the Gamecock defense should have all of its defensive weapons to hold the LSU offense. On offense, it's up to the O-Line and Tommy Beacher (presumably) to take care of business.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
NFL Blog
Okay, so Favre is head to the Jets. We were all sitting on pins and needles. I'm just glad that it is over.
I promised an NFL blog a few nights ago linking Peyton Manning and his decision to stay at Tennessee for his senior season back in 1997 with Eli winning the Super Bowl. Let me connect it all for you. Hang on, it's about to get crazy.
First......
Had Peyton gone into the NFL Draft after his junior year, he would not be there for the Colts to take him in '98. Colts GM Bill Polian has always said he had not decided to take Manning over Ryan Leaf until the night prior to the draft. If Manning wasn't there, it's safe to say that Leaf would've been a Colt, and therefore the Chargers would have stayed at the 3rd pick overall (they traded up with Arizona to the 2nd spot overall, actually giving up a 1st round pick in the '99 draft). Since the next QB taken in that draft was in the 3rd round (Charlie Batch to the Lions) another safe assumption is that the Chargers would have taken care of another position other than QB in the 1st round.
Are you still with me?
Moving forward into the '99 the Chargers still need a QB. The first round pick they traded to Arizona ended up being number 8 overall. Hopefully you haven't thrown your monitor through a wall yet, so for simplicity sake we'll keep it at number 8 overall, where a QB out of Central Florida named Duante Culpepper is available. The Chargers nab him because Stan Humphries and Jim Everett at quarterback is like having Val Kilmer and George Clooney playing Batman. No good comes from it.
So now you're asking where Eli comes into play.
Fast Forward into 2001 when Michael Vick was picked 1st overall. The Chargers originally had that pick, but traded it to Atlanta for an extra 2nd round pick. That won't happen because a) The Chargers are better than 1-15 due to picking up Culpepper and b) they have no need for a quarterback. The Chargers pick LaDanian Tomlinson and move on.
For those of you still here and not in the fetal position in the corner screaming "MAKE HIM STOP" I'll finish up.
In 2003, The Chargers are in a better position to challenge for the AFC West and thus do not have the first overall pick in 2004, which was used to pick (wait for it........wait for it..............) ELI MANNING. Eli was traded to the Giants due to his disdain for San Diego and its mismanagement over the last 6 years; mismanagement that might not have occurred had Peyton entered the draft. Someone else would have had the first pick (Arizona or Oakland) and thus the Giants would have stayed with Phillip Rivers who they originally drafted, and he would have been the one under center (hypothetically) for the Giants in 2007.
There are a lot of hypothetical situations in this article, especially the given success that San Diego would have had if they had not drafted Ryan Leaf. I am willing to grant that assumption due to the amount of draft picks given up for the ability to draft Leaf and how much of a boost those picks could have provided the Chargers. Not to mention Leaf was a bigger letdown than the last episode of Seinfeld. Had the Chargers not been so damaged from that pick it is safe to assume that Eli would have gone to one of the other two teams in front of the Giants.
So there you have it. After reading this, you'll never get the last five minutes of your life back. Congratulations, you have been sucked in by my own perverse obsession with this sport.
I promised an NFL blog a few nights ago linking Peyton Manning and his decision to stay at Tennessee for his senior season back in 1997 with Eli winning the Super Bowl. Let me connect it all for you. Hang on, it's about to get crazy.
First......
Had Peyton gone into the NFL Draft after his junior year, he would not be there for the Colts to take him in '98. Colts GM Bill Polian has always said he had not decided to take Manning over Ryan Leaf until the night prior to the draft. If Manning wasn't there, it's safe to say that Leaf would've been a Colt, and therefore the Chargers would have stayed at the 3rd pick overall (they traded up with Arizona to the 2nd spot overall, actually giving up a 1st round pick in the '99 draft). Since the next QB taken in that draft was in the 3rd round (Charlie Batch to the Lions) another safe assumption is that the Chargers would have taken care of another position other than QB in the 1st round.
Are you still with me?
Moving forward into the '99 the Chargers still need a QB. The first round pick they traded to Arizona ended up being number 8 overall. Hopefully you haven't thrown your monitor through a wall yet, so for simplicity sake we'll keep it at number 8 overall, where a QB out of Central Florida named Duante Culpepper is available. The Chargers nab him because Stan Humphries and Jim Everett at quarterback is like having Val Kilmer and George Clooney playing Batman. No good comes from it.
So now you're asking where Eli comes into play.
Fast Forward into 2001 when Michael Vick was picked 1st overall. The Chargers originally had that pick, but traded it to Atlanta for an extra 2nd round pick. That won't happen because a) The Chargers are better than 1-15 due to picking up Culpepper and b) they have no need for a quarterback. The Chargers pick LaDanian Tomlinson and move on.
For those of you still here and not in the fetal position in the corner screaming "MAKE HIM STOP" I'll finish up.
In 2003, The Chargers are in a better position to challenge for the AFC West and thus do not have the first overall pick in 2004, which was used to pick (wait for it........wait for it..............) ELI MANNING. Eli was traded to the Giants due to his disdain for San Diego and its mismanagement over the last 6 years; mismanagement that might not have occurred had Peyton entered the draft. Someone else would have had the first pick (Arizona or Oakland) and thus the Giants would have stayed with Phillip Rivers who they originally drafted, and he would have been the one under center (hypothetically) for the Giants in 2007.
There are a lot of hypothetical situations in this article, especially the given success that San Diego would have had if they had not drafted Ryan Leaf. I am willing to grant that assumption due to the amount of draft picks given up for the ability to draft Leaf and how much of a boost those picks could have provided the Chargers. Not to mention Leaf was a bigger letdown than the last episode of Seinfeld. Had the Chargers not been so damaged from that pick it is safe to assume that Eli would have gone to one of the other two teams in front of the Giants.
So there you have it. After reading this, you'll never get the last five minutes of your life back. Congratulations, you have been sucked in by my own perverse obsession with this sport.
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