Men's Basketball Hoping for Rebound Season

Ball State senior Peyton Stovall chats

with cheerleaders at the Fan Jam

(Melanie Maxwell/The Star Press).

Members of the Ball State Men’s Basketball Team have plenty of reasons to feel sorry for themselves as the 2007-08 season quickly approaches.

First off, they didn’t exactly find a winning formula last season. The team failed to reach double digits in the win column, finishing a dismal 9-22 (5-11 in MAC play). The last time the Cardinals totaled just nine wins was the 1986-87 season, which concluded a few months before I was born. Perhaps the only thing as small as last year’s win total is this year’s roster. A grand total of nine – that’s right, nine – scholarship players are on board for the upcoming season. The addition of two walk-ons was necessary just to be able to run 5-on-5 drills in practice!

Unfortunately, that’s not the extent of their worries. Their captain and leading scorer from a year ago, four-year veteran Skip Mills, has been lost to graduation. Gone are his 13.7 points per game and his wealth of experience. Also gone are several other key players from last year, including 6-10 center Micah Rollin, who was dismissed by new head coach Billy Taylor after violating unnamed team policies. Taylor arrives to Muncie after five years at Lehigh University, where he received Patriot League Coach of the Year honors twice.

Yet in spite of these troubling figures, the Ball State Men’s Basketball Team and its fans are excited for the start of the 07-08 season. Last night’s Fan Jam saw hundreds show up to take pictures, get autographs, and meet the players. The event also featured free prizes and drawings, which attracted fans of all ages. Worthen Arena was anything but a pity party last night, as the Billy Taylor-led Cardinals have their eyes on success this year.

But who are going to lead the Cardinals to this success? And where will the scoring come from? The answer to both of these questions is Peyton Stovall. Stovall is a fifth-year senior, a preseason All-MAC selection, and the undisputed leader of the team. His 78 career starts give him the on-court experience that this young Ball State team so desperately needs. He is looking to increase last year’s output of 8.8 points per game, which was third on the team. Also returning from last year’s squad are junior Anthony Newell, who averaged nearly 12 points and eight boards a game, junior Brandon Lampley, and redshirt freshman Rashaun McLemore.

Coach Taylor will be looking for immediate contributions from his five newcomers. Laron Frazier and Rob Giles both led their junior colleges on National Junior College Athletic Association tournament runs last year, including a national championship for Giles at Mott Community College. Freshman Melvin Goins, Malik Perry, and Deontay Twyman all bring impressive high school resumes to Muncie. Goins was named a McDonald’s All-American nominee a year ago after averaging 25 points and six assists.

While some questions about the men’s basketball team remain, most will be answered on November 9. That’s when the Cardinals take on the Butler Bulldogs in Worthen Arena, marking the 99th meeting of the in-state rivalry. This leaves us with one final question: will YOU be there?

How Sweep It Is!

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Wow! I never thought four years ago that I would see two World Series Championships by the end of '07 but that's exactly what has happened. The Sox strung together a very impressive series in sweeping the Colorado Rockies by a combined score of 29-10 last night. The most exciting aspect is that it was a complete team effort. Mike Lowell walked away with an MVP trophy, but he'd be the first to tell you that he couldn't have done it without his 'mates. From 1-9, this lineup sparkled. Whether it was two rookies (Ellsbury and Pedroia), a fourth outfielder who had been released earlier in the year (Kielty), two regular season disappointments (Drew and Lugo), or a reliever who eight months earlier was thought to be there only to keep Dice-K happy (Okajima), this team pulled together. And, of course, the big guns of Papelbon, Ortiz, Manny, Schilling, Beckett, and Lowell were there as well.
For non-Sox fans, this lopsided series had to be a disappointment. One got the feeling after Game 1 the series might not get to a Game 5. The Sox showed again why many perceive the A.L. to be far superior to the N.L.. Think about what they did. They swept the team that swept EVERY OTHER team it faced in the National League playoffs and did it with ease. I read that baseball insiders now refer to the N.L. as the junior varsity.....that could be a compliment. One gets the feeling that the Sox, Indians, Yankees, and Angels all would have beaten the Rockies or any other N.L. team.
The postseason similarities between this team and the one in '04 are eerie. Both teams swept the Angels in the Division Series. And both faced enormous deficits in the ALCS (Down 4-0 to New York in '04 and down 3-1 to Cleveland in '07). Three years ago the nemesis Yankees were the team the Red Sox had to beat to legitimize their championship. This year it was the team that tied them for victories in the regular season. And both times after falling behind, the Sox went on to win the rest of the ALCS and sweep their National League opponent in the World Series. Terry Francona is now 8-0 in World Series game. Enough hasn't been said about his contribution to baseball in the city of Boston. It takes a special manager to hold together a team facing large expectations in a city like Boston.
There was only one drawback to the night though, and that was Ken Rosenthal releasing his A-Rod free-agent info during the game. It must have been pretty exciting news because that's nearly all that was talked about during and after the rest of the game. The Red Sox owners were even asked if they would pursue Rodriguez as Sox fans were chanting for the team to re-sign Lowell and not A-Rod. Just a shame that A-Rod's agent chose to market himself and his client over the game. Baseball officials even issued a rebuke on the matter, calling the move "selfish" according to espn.com.
The Sox certainly have some questions to address in the off-season but not near as many as in '04. Schilling and Lowell are the two biggest question marks. I would love to see both back. But I wanted Damon and Pedro back too, and now I'm glad that didn't happen. If the Sox got A-Rod it would make me sick, but I don't think that will happen. They couldn't afford him in '04 with Manny on the roster so they would likely have to jettison both Manny and Lowell for this to happen. Not to mention the enormous hatred that would spew Boston's way from across the country if this were to happen. I guarantee some of that hatred would come from Boston too. Why not sign a World Series MVP instead of someone who has zero success in the postseason?

Around the League

Joe Girardi has been offered the managerial job of the New York Yankees. I'm really surprised it wasn't offered to Don Mattingly to be honest. He had been the groomed heir apparent to Torre. I think Girardi could be an excellent manager with some of their younger players coming up. There are concerns he throws his starters for too many innings based upon his single season in Florida, but the former Yankee might just be the perfect face for the new era New Yorkers. Girardi was rumored to be a candidate for the Dodgers. If he takes the Yankees offer, it will be interesting to see if ex-Boston and current-Dodgers skipper Grady Little would remain in L.A.

Teams I think A-Rod could go to: Los Angeles (both of them), Chicago (both of them), and New York (one of them). Some people are saying he could go to a surprise team, but I think A-Rod cares enough about winning to at least go to a semi-contender and not have a repeat of his Texas Rangers days.
Let's start with the Angels. They have been in the market for a big bat for a long time and their owner, Arte Moreno, could ante up for the big bucks. However, with Guerrero's contract and some up-coming-players, I'm not sure the Angles are the likeliest destination.
The Dodgers could definitely make a move. They missed the postseason this year and could use a big-name veteran around some of their younger pieces. They would be able to easily fit A-Rod at third too.
The Cubbies, after watching the Red Sox and White Sox win recent titles, would love to be a part of the action, but that would require A-Rod likely playing shortstop again. Would he do it? I don't know. Probably if the price was right. Although if they had to, they could move Aramis Ramirez my guess is that he would stay at third. Getting A-Rod to play short would give the Cubs perhaps the best infield in baseball. I think Cubs will at the very least come up with an offer, but their ownership issues may need to be resolved first.
The White Sox are a team I haven't heard about, but make sense. Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen are embarrassed about how their year went and Williams is always looking to make a big splash. Joe Crede coud easily be disposed of at third and A-Rod would still get the limelight of a big city. Don't count out the Southsiders.
And finally, the Yankees themselves. After Hank Steinbrenner's comments about anyone not wanting to be a Yankee can get out of town, it wouldn't surprise me to see A-Rod remain in pinstripes. It's New York, words get exchanged. If Girardi is hired on he might be able to convince management and A-Rod to re-sign. If Boras can't find a good enough deal anywhere else, he could try to return to the team with the deepest pockets. I would be shocked if A-Rod can get over $200 million anywhere but New York.

"There Are No More Moral Victories"

Coach Hoke you said this after the Nebraska game. A game in which you thoroughly outplayed a BCS opponent. It wasn't supposed to happen again.

Well, it did with a 28-17 loss to a Big Ten school.

The mighty Cardinals traveled to Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois Saturday to take on the Illini of Illinois University. This was a winnable game. Illinois had dropped two in a row and was a team on the fritz with a qb controversy. They are led by QB Isiah "Juice" Williams, who is one of the better dual threat quarterbacks in the game, and RB Rashard Mendenhall. Coach Hoke was quoted as saying he was one of the best running backs he has had to prepare for. The short list also includes Auburn alum Kenny Irons and Michigan's Heisman candidate Mike Hart.

As stated, this game was winnable. BSU forced consecutive 3 'n outs for the Illini to start the game and held them to only 35 total yards in the first quarter. But inconsistency, the football team's best friend, just had to show up in the form of Jake Hogue. In the first quarter he shanks a 35 yard FG that would of been the go-ahead score. Later, in the 3rd quarter, he misses a chip shot 26 yarder. On the year, he is now 11 for 19. That is a 57% conversion rate. Yeah, pretty hard to swallow if you're a Ball St. football fan. Why hasn't Ian McGarvey got a shot? What about lining Chris Miller up? This is a guy who put 3 of 5 punts Saturday behind the opponent's 20 yard line. Statistically, he is the nation's best punter. Something needs to be corrected here.

Another thing that needs to be looked over is the team's play entering halftime. With 15 seconds and 3 timeouts left, the team trots off the field. Now this might seem alright, but they were on their own 49! You have a guy in Nate Davis, who Illini head coach Ron Zook said will be playing in the NFL one day, who can air the ball over to his 6'6 tight end with a 10 foot wing span and pick up 25 yards. Take a timeout and attempt a field goal. Points are points, bottom line. This is just poor coaching decisions. if you are offensive coordinator Stan Parrish, you have to show more confidence in your unit.

In the 3rd quarter, BSU held a 10-7 lead after Mike Dorulla picks off a dropped pass from Mendenhall and scrambles 36 yards for the score. But once again, the walls come crumbling down. After the kickoff, BSU allows Juice Williams to carve the defense and score on a 65 yard, 7 play drive. BSU goes three and out on the next drive and allows Juice and the Illini to score in 3 plays.

To finish the game, Mendenhall has 189 rushing yards and 2 scores. He had 100 by half and surpassed the 1,000 yard rushing mark in the game. Overall, the Cards give up 324 rushing yarss to the Illini. Juice has 99 on 17 carries and 2 rushing touchdowns. Nate Davis goes 16 for 33 with 17 yards and one touchdown toss. He also was the team's rushing leader with 64 yards on 12 carries. Ball St. had 170 net yards rushing, a higher total this season. Darius Hill is the leading receiver with 4 catches for 56 yards and one TD. It is a shame to see no receiver have more than five catches when you have such weapons as Dante Love and Hill.

BSU returns to action Saturday to take on the Indiana Hoosiers at the Rock. Kickoff is at noon. The Cards are looking to recover from last year's one point loss and finally defeat a BCS team. They are 0-40 all time against BCS schools.

World Series Champions!!!!!!!

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Week 8 Picks n' Things

Last week I went 8-6 against the spread. A sign that I'm exploding onto the scene, perhaps? Maybe not. What's going on in the NFL this week? Only the WCRD sports blog can give you the full story.

CHICAGO (-5) over Detroit

The Lions have been destroyed every road game this year. But say this for the Chicago Bears - they have done absolutely nothing to prove they're not capable of destroying or being destroyed by Detroit this weekend.

Pittsburgh (-3.5) over CINCINNATI

Fantasy rant: All Ben Roethlisberger had to do was complete a few more passes last week and I'd have defeated WCRD colleague Levin Black in fantasy football! As it was, he did not. However, Ben, and the Steelers, are having the best seasons that no one is talking about.

Indianapolis (-6.5) over CAROLINA

Peyton Manning has defeated 30 NFL teams in his career. The only one besides his own that he has not? My beloved Carolina Panthers. Manning is 0-2 in his career against Carolina, with a loss in his rookie year and a thrilling overtime loss in 2003. I'll give the NFL the credit on this one - by scheduling this game in between a road Monday-nighter and the Patriots game for Indianapolis and in between a bye week and a trip to Tennessee for Carolina, they did everything they could to keep that streak alive.

Unfortunately, it won't matter. The Colts should still cruise, as you'd expect when a David Carr-Vinny Testaverde QB controversy is going on for the opponent.


Oakland (+7.5) over TENNESSEE

I'm making this pick assuming that Vince Young won't be playing, but even if he does, I think this seems like too many points for a team like the Titans, who love to play close games, to be giving.

Cleveland (-3) over ST. LOUIS

Oh, boy. Things have gotten really bad for the Rams. At the beginning of the season, was there any chance you would've thought that someone would've picked Cleveland in this game?

NY Giants (-9.5) over MIAMI

Boy, I really hope those Brits in London enjoy this one. Possibly the worst team in the league (especially with Ronnie Brown gone for 2007) matched up against the G-men. I'd imagine a lot of money on the Giants winning the Super Bowl coming from the general United Kingdom area after this one. At least Miami has a franchise quarterback to build around, having drafted...oh, no, wait, they drafted a return man 9th instead of Brady Quinn. Oops.

MINNESOTA (+1) over Philadelphia

What's going on in Philly? They've got all their horses going, and yet they're still a really bad team. I fear this is the end of the line for Andy Reid and McNabb in the City of Brotherly Hate. On the bright side, Adrian Peterson's emergence as one of the best 5 backs in the league continues.

Buffalo (+3) over NY JETS

No rational explanation for this, as the Bills might actually be decent and the Jets continue to careen towards Earth at speeds not even reached by Sputnik at the height of its re-entry. The Kellen Clemens Era begins sooner rather than later.

SAN DIEGO (PK) over Houston

I get a freebie here as Yahoo fails to publish a spread for this game. That Texans loss to Tennessee was a season-killer. When you outscore your opponent 29-3 to take the lead and then lose anyway because of a defensive meltdown, that does a number on a team.

TAMPA BAY (-4) over Jacksonville

After last week, there's not a spread big enough for me to take Quinn Gray. Poor Jaguars.

New Orleans (-3) over SAN FRANCISCO

If the Niners' offense doesn't show up this week, it never will. Ummm....I'm gonna go with 'never will'.

NEW ENGLAND (-16.5) over Washington

At this point, why bother betting against the Patriots?

Green Bay (+3) over DENVER

Remember when you never picked against Denver at Mile High? Yeah, so much for that. Thanks Jay Cutler.

BSU Women's Basketball Season Preview

The Ball State Women’s Basketball Team has been looking up this year, and so have its fans – up to a billboard. Head Coach Tracy Roller’s daily stint on a scissor lift next to a billboard earlier this month is just one of the team’s attention-grabbing stunts. And if the Cardinals are hoping to attract attention this year, they’re off to a good start. A preseason poll by coaches and institutional voters has Ball State as the 07-08 preseason favorite to win both the MAC West Division and the MAC Tournament Title. Coming off a 24-7 season in which the Lady Cards tied a school record in wins and advanced to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, there’s no reason to expect anything less than greatness from the 07-08 Ball State Women’s Basketball Team.

The Cardinals welcome back seven letterwinners from last year’s squad, including four starters. Two of them, senior Julie DeMuth and junior Porchia Green, have been named to the preseason All-MAC West Division team. Ball State is the only school boasting multiple representatives on the team. DeMuth’s stellar all-around play last season earned her First Team All-MAC honors. She led the Cardinals in scoring (15.5 PPG) and rebounding (8.8 RPG) last year, while Green finished first on the team in steals (68) and second in assists (112). Other returning starters include senior Lisa Rusche, a formidable post player who finished second in the MAC in blocks (49) last year, and sophomore Audrey McDonald, an All-MAC Freshman Team selection a year ago who knocked down 40% of her shots from three point range.

Filling the shoes of standout guard Kelsey Corbin at the point guard position will most likely be junior Guard Kiley Jarrett. A key reserve last year, Jarrett dished out 62 assists to finish third on the team. The Cardinals are also looking for contributions from junior Dana Moorman and redshirt freshman Kyleigh Jones this year. New faces to the program include junior transfer Danielle Gratton, as well as freshmen Shannon Klei and Emily Maggert.

Although the Lady Cards lost Corbin to graduation, they didn’t lose her for good. Just months after leading the Cardinals to a berth in the WNIT, Corbin returns to the organization in a management role. Roller recently named Corbin as Director of Basketball Operations for Women. This is an excellent move by Roller, as the team will still have a strong connection to the player who was its heart and soul. Corbin’s leadership skills that she displayed on the court the last four years will be utilized through her new position, and Cardinal fans should be happy to have her back.

Cardinal fans should also be looking forward to a season that features an impressive schedule. In addition to their 16 conference games, Ball State will welcome competition from 13 non-conference schools. And competition is what they will receive; four of these 13 teams advanced to the postseason last year, including Louisville and Temple, who finished the 06-07 season with 27 and 25 wins, respectively.

Excited yet? I certainly am as the Cardinals open their schedule at home against aforementioned Louisville on November 10. Louisville is the first Big East school in program history to make the trip to Muncie. If you simply can’t wait that long to see the Lady Cards in action, then check out their exhibition game against the Hoosier Lady Stars at Worthen Arena next week. The game is on November 2nd and starts at 7:30 p.m. GO CARDS!

Another week, another Les Miles' shocker

It's official, I don't understand LSU coach Les Miles. One week he goes for it on fourth down 5 times in a win over Florida, then he calls 4 straight run plays against Kentucky and loses. Miles has done it again. This time it's against Auburn. Miles calls a pass play for his #4 Tigers with only a few seconds left. He could have been conservative and set a up a game winning field goal, but where is the fun in that? Matt Flynn finds Demetrius Byrd for the 22-yard touchdown with ONE second left, which if had been tipped would have ended the game. Miles is an interesting guy. His risky play calling is going to catch up with him before the end of the season. This could spell doom for the Bayou Bengals national title hopes, especially with top ranked teams falling every week. LSU is still in the hunt for a national title birth due to the fact that they play in the best conference in the nation, the SEC. If the Tigers win out, I can't see why they could not sneak into the title game. Especially with the Eagles of Boston College playing a tough contest tonight against Virginia Tech.

Let's talk about tonight's game real quick. The game is in Blacksburg, which is one of the top 3 toughest stadiums to play a game. Especially with the crowd support. You can't beat the whole student section (which takes up a good portion of the stadium) dressed in black, jumping up and down to Metallica's "Enter Sandman", and then having the team rush the field after the song has whipped the fans into a frenzy. Tonight is also a night that BC's Matt Ryan can make a strong case for this year's Heisman trophy. He's the QB of one of the best teams in the nation, which voters love to see. Ryan has also made sure his Eagles have not suffered losses to unranked opponents like many other Heisman candidates (DeSean Jackson anyone?). Tonight's game between the Eagles and Hokies is a toss up. The Eagles are undefeated and have Matt Ryan. The game is on Thursday and the Hokies are 13-2 on Thursday night contests. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 in the BCS and have defenses in the top 30 in the country. Should be a great game.

Here is this week's BCS top 10:

1. Ohio State
2. Boston College
3. LSU
4. Arizona State
5. Oregon
6. Oklahoma
7. West Virginia
8. Virginia Tech
9. Kansas
10. South Florida

Even with their loss last week, South Florida is still in the top 10. I don't see them going any higher than #7 in the BCS, the Big East is just too weak. But the better Auburn does, USF could rise back to the top 5.

Here is my top 3 Heisman (and yes DeSean Jackson is not on here. Got a lot flack for that one. We all make mistakes right?)

1. Matt Ryan (Boston College)
2. Dennis Dixon (Oregon)
3. Tim Tebow (Florida)

A side note: Look out for Mike Hart. He still might make a trip to New York if Michigan stays on the roll they are on now.

Remember to tune into Cardinal College Gameday, Saturday at 10 AM on 91.3 WCRD or wcrd.net

Quick Week 7 Picks and New England's Dominance

You're going to have to take my word that these picks were made before the games started...so here they are. Last week I went a fairly solid 6-5-2 against the spread.

HOUSTON (+1.5) over Tennessee
Tampa Bay (+2) over DETROIT
New England (-16.5) over MIAMI
NEW ORLEANS (-9) over Atlanta
NY GIANTS (-9) over San Francisco
Baltimore (-3) over BUFFALO
WASHINGTON (-8.5) over Arizona
Kansas City (+2.5) over OAKLAND
CINCINNATI (-6.5) over NY Jets
Chicago (+5.5) over PHILADELPHIA
SEATTLE (-8.5) over St. Louis
DALLAS (-9.5) over Minnesota
Pittsburgh (-3.5) over DENVER
Indianapolis (-3) over JACKSONVILLE

So, at halftime, the Pats lead the Washington Generals...uhh, I mean the Miami Dolphins, 42-7. Tom Brady has 5 touchdowns and 3 incompletions. Moss has over 100 yards and 2 TDs...already. The question is becoming not whether New England will go 19-0 but whether anyone in the league will manage to make them work for it. The Pats' smallest winning margin is 17 in their 34-17 cruising by Cleveland two weeks ago. Their lowest point total is 34 in that same game. Tom Brady's lowest TD output is 3. They just got finished crushing the best team the NFC has to offer, 48-27 over Dallas. What in the world is going on? Teams aren't supposed to be this good in the salary-cap era of the NFL.

Some locals in the Muncie area would probably crucify me for saying it, but not even the Colts can hope to hang with the Patriots. My early prediction at this point is that New England wins that game by at least 10, although the Colts have plenty of time in the interim to make me think otherwise.

Over in the NFL's junior division, the NFC, division leaders are currently being quarterbacked by (including tied teams) Vinny Testaverde, Jeff Garcia, Tim Rattay, Matt Hasselbeck, Tony Romo, and of course Brett Favre. Now there are at least 4 good QBs in that bunch, but Testaverde? Rattay? Hell, Garcia's almost 40 years old. How on earth are these guys supposed to compete with Tom Brady, Randy Moss, a will-be-healthy-by-then Laurence Maroney and company when they meet in the Super Bowl? The AFC title game, more so this season than ever, is the Super Bowl.

Game 7, What it's all about......

Cleveland at Boston. Game 7. This is playoff baseball at its finest......finally!!!!!

The entire National League playoffs have been a joke with sweeps coming in every round. The closest series in the A.L. had been the Indians win over New York in Game 4. But finally there's a little drama....


Josh Beckett and Kenny Lofton gave things a small spark in Game 5 when they exchanged words. It was probably much ado about nothing, but it's the closest thing to real emotion the playoffs have delivered thus far. Manny Ramirez posing at the plate after his home run in Game .......wait EVERY game........ticked off Cleveland a little and so catcher Victor Martinez proceeded to take even longer to round the bases after his shot last night. And there's also this........the Paul Byrd saga. (I may be the first writer to EVER type that.) Last night it came out that the Cleveland pitcher had received shipments of HGH in the past. Will this affect anything tonight? I highly doubt it. But if the Indians prevail it will certainly be a major topic in the World Series against Colorado and will be interesting to see how he responds in his start.

So who will win tonight's game? I have no idea, but I do know a few things that will go a long way in determining the outcome. For Cleveland, Westbrook needs to continue to get ground ball outs. If he's letting up too many pop ups, he may not be around for long. Also, the Indians need to jump on top early for two reasons. One, it would help silence what may otherwise be a very raucous home-field crowd. Two, it would give them much needed confidence after getting blown out the last two games. Also, in what may be a very tight game they will need to continue to have good outings from Jensen Lewis and Rafael Betancourt and need Joe Borowski to shake off any lingering effects from last night's game in which he gave up two earned runs in one inning. Borowski struggled all year long in non-save situations, so you would figure he would be just fine in a possible save situation. But you never know. If I were Cleveland, I'd make sure to throw Betancourt for two innings. He's given up all of one hit in 6 1/3 innings.

For Boston, the Sox need the entire lineup to step up as it did last night. When Papi and Manny have help the Sox are potent. Boston also needs to be patient and work the count. Laying off the low, ground ball inducing pitches from Westbrook is important. A major question is how Dice-K will pitch. Much was made about his sulking after Game 3 in which he stared silently at his locker long after teammates had left Jacobs Field. Maybe the home crowd will help him out, but make no mistake about it. After this game a lot will be written about rather Boston's investment in the Japanese pitcher was worth it. So far, Matsuzaka hasn't shown the same ability to deliver in the clutch with the Sawx as he did overseas and in the World Baseball Classic. Lastly, the Sox need to continue to play Jacoby Ellsbury over Coco Crisp in center. Ellsbury only had one hit last night, be made solid contact several other times. And at no time should Eric Gagne even get up off the bench if the Sox are interested in winning.


Around the League

Good for Joe Torre. That man has done so much for the Yankees that in no way does he deserve to have a one-year deal in which incentives are placed before him in order to manage year two. Hank Steinbrenner (George's son) came out belittling Torre's decission to decline the meager offer. "Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity -- and the great team he was handed," Steinbrenner reportedly said. I don't really care how Torre got the job. He delivered once he got there, and he deserves better than he got. I wonder if Terry Francona would think about having him on as a bench coach next year in Beantown?


The Colorado Rockies. Remember those National League champions? They will have had eight days off by the time Game 1 of the World Series rolls around. How will that affect them?

New Conference

With the college basketball season looming it seems only fitting to look into what is going to be different this year. Formerly known as the Mid-Continent Conference, the now Summit League changed its names since its changing some teams. Valparaiso, a power in the Mid-Con is leaving to join the tougher Horizon League. When you lose a school that is tightly associated with the conference it is time to change the name. Valparaiso is most recently known for the tournament upset in 1998 against Mississippi.

Don’t go to sleep on Oral Roberts the team that in the last three years has begun to take Valparaiso’s place. That being said Oral Roberts loses its top two returning scorers from last year. What does this mean? It means that anything can happen in the new look Summit League.

Now the question remains if you lose a team and change your name what’s next. The answer, add three new teams. IPFW, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State join the Summit League this year. North Dakota State and South Dakota State made the transition Division 1 at the same time. However, North Dakota State has had a considerable amount more success than South Dakota State. Last year the North Dakota State Bison compiled a 20-8 record while the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State only compiled a record of 6-24. IPFW rounding out the new faces in the conference went 12-17 last year.

North Dakota State is recently on the move in both football and basketball, both programs moving up a level in recent years. The Bison known more for their football than basketball will look to match the success of the football program that beat Central 44-14 and Minnesota 27-21 this year. Additionally, the Bison toppled Ball State 29-24 last year. All of those were road games. The Bison are 7-0 on the year. The Bison are currently ranked No. 1 in 1-AA (FCS). After this year they will be eligible for the postseason tournament, because they were in previously they were in transition years from Division II (a five year transition process).

And the reason to bring up the football program is because the football and basketball programs share similarities, neither is eligible for the post-season tournament at the end of this year, but next year both look to have a huge impact in each. The Bison look like an early favorite to win the Summit League regular season, but when it comes to tournament time, it will be Oral Roberts and Oakland dueling it out like last year in the conference finals.

DOES ANYONE WANT TO BE #1?????

The title says it all. Every time we turn around some college football squad with a single digit ranking is losing. Especially the teams that have been in the top 5 less than a week. This past week was no different.

The last time LSU and Kentucky played each other in Lexington it was 2002 and LSU pulled out the win in a thriller (remember the Kentucky head coach got the Gatorade shower, the students stormed the field, and oh yeah then-LSU receiver Devery Henderson caught a 75-yard TD pass that was tipped multiple times). Oh and don't forget last year when LSU took the Wildcats out behind the wood shed and put a beat down on them to the tune of 49-0. So you expect the same thing last Saturday right??? WRONG!!
Credit to the 'Cats here as they win 43-37 in triple OT (first time a #1 team has lost in the regular season since Dec. 6, 2003, when Kansas State upset top-ranked Oklahoma 35-7 for the Big 12 title). Andre' Woodson is back on my Heisman watch list after his performance which included 3 TD's throwing and 1 TD rushing. BUT here's where what makes me mad. Usually I'm all for LSU's head coach Les Miles and his crazy play calls, especially on 4th down. But come on, 4 STRAIGHT RUNNING PLAYS in the 3rd OT??? That's dumb. I understand running it on 1st down, especially with stud Jacob Hester in the backfield (who got 6 yards on his 1st down run), but all the other times. Dumb!

So #1 loses, #2 Cal can't lose right?? WRONG AGAIN!! They lose to Oregon State 31-28.
Freshman QB Kevin Riley for the Golden Bears (in for Nate Longshore who had a sprained right ankle) tries to scramble from the 12 with 14 seconds remaining instead of throwing the ball away. He gets stopped and the clock runs out before the FG unit can get on the field. Let's chalk that one up to a freshman mistake. First start of the kid's career (which he didn't know he was going to be starting until right before kickoff), trying to be the hero, means you're going to likely make a mistake. But with the freshman QB you would expect "the human highlight reel" DeSean Jackson to step up and be a factor. Jackson had 4 catches for a grand total of 5 yards! Another lackluster performance from Jackson this season. The only time he stepped up his game this season was when the Golden Bears took on Oregon.

AND FINALLY..........THE BCS RANKINGS ARE OUT!!!!
Here ya go the top 10:

1. Ohio State
2. South Florida
3. Boston College
4. LSU
5. Oklahoma
6. South Carolina
7. Kentucky
8. Arizona State
9. West Virginia
10. Oregon

Let's give some love to the Bulls of South Florida. I hope they go undefeated and play for the national title. Now everyone out there who says USF is like Boise State was last year, you're wrong. This year the Bulls have beaten Auburn in Auburn and West Virginia (when they were ranked #5). These are real teams, unlike any of the powder puffs from the WAC. We can only hope the national title is USF and Kentucky, which means it's time for a........PLAYOFF!!!!

Quickly here is my Heisman List:

1. Matt Ryan (QB, Boston College)
2. Darren McFadden (RB, Arkansas)
3. DeSean Jackson (WR/PR Cal)

That's right Jackson stays because I've learned once I call out DeSean Jackson, the next week he has a HUGE game.

Remember to listen to Cardinal College Gameday this Saturday at noon on WCRD 91.3 FM or www.wcrd.net

This one's for you, Talmadge Hill.

Forget about Boston and the "Curse of the Bambino" or the Cubs and their "100 year drought", BSU overcame their own personal slump by beating the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 35-12. This is the first BSU Homecoming win since 2001 when they suprised a then #23 Toledo Rockets team, 24-20. The Cardinal defense held Minnesota Viking RB Chester Taylor to only 25 net rushing yards. If only that defense was apart of the Central game, ha! Corey Parchman (remember him?) returned a kickoff 100 yards with just under a minute to go to seal the victory. Heck, even that caught Mr. Letterman's attention as Biff Henderson did a segment on it.

Watch the video of that here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2g1_Mdyhig

Nate Davis completed 21 of his 31 passes for 288 yards and 3 touchdowns. That gives him 18 passing touchdowns on the year, tieing for the school record set by himself last year and Joey Lynch in 2005. Expect him to shatter that record in the coming games. He also set a school record by recording his seventh game of 250 yards or more. In the game, he looked alot better. His passes were more concise and he had a better poise in the pocket. Davis is tops in the MAC with a 57.6 passing efficiency. According to cbs.sportline.com, our Qb is the 12th best gunslinger in the nation.

Overall, BSU has 363 yards of total offense. The rushing attack was still lifeless. Frank Edmonds, who came off the bench, only had 48 yards rushing. He had two one yard touchdown runs. Coach Hoke said Koreen Burch "earned" the start in practice and he had 23 yards on 8 yards. Yesterday, on my radio show, The Hour of Power (which you can tune into every Sunday night at 6pm on www.wcrd.net), Daily News Football Beat Writer Ryan Wood and I got into a little arguement about this. He tried to tell me that Burch deserved the start. So you're telling me you bench your star recruit from last year for a guy who has played running back for two weeks? You must be nuts. When you watch Koreen run, all he does is run to the outside. Yes he has lighting speed and yes he has the ability to bull people over, but he has no ability to see the field. He doesnt hit the hole, no patience. Even Coach Hoke said in his press conference today that they were not seeing and hitting the right holes. Keep giving to the guy who has set all kinds of Ohio rushing records, for now at least. Burch will mature in time.

Kudos to the Muncie native, Louis Johnson. Johnson had 2 catches for 2 touchdowns. I mean if you're going to catch the ball, might as well be in the endzone.

Thank you to the defense for finally waking up. Trey Buice, Eddie Burk, and B.J. Hill all have interceptions. And Hilltopper QB KJ Black (not JK), only has 184 yards. Defense, please don't go back to sleep, we're going to need you when we travel to Champaign to take on Juice Williams and Rashard Mendenhall. Also, don't take Western Michigan too lightly. Mark Bonds is a great half back and Tim HIller just passed 3000 yards on his career.

Remember in 1996, we were 4-3, and went to the Las Vegas Bowl. So don't count this team out, just yet.

Gordon wins back to back Chase Races.

In what has been synonymous with exciting races and fantastic finishes, Saturday nights Bank of America 500 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway didn’t disappoint. Jeff Gordon followed up his last lap win at Talladega a week ago, held off just about everybody, and picked up the win in Charlotte. He didn’t have the fastest car, all night, he didn’t have the fastest car during the final laps, shoot, he barely had enough fuel to finish, but Jeff Gordon continued to prove why he has been the man to beat all season long. Gordon seemingly had the race won with a sizeable lead with 30 laps to go. A late caution bunched the field up, and Gordon had to restart with teammate Kyle Busch right behind him. Busch who is leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the year, had the faster car, and was in position to move his teammate out of the way for the win. Busch has expressed his displeasure at times this season, as he has been the odd man out when it comes to strategy during races earlier this season. With the restart with 5 laps to go, many including myself thought Busch had a great opportunity to show his soon to be former teammate exactly what he thought of him.

On the restart, it wasn’t Busch who made the move for the lead. Ryan Newman came flying around Clint Boyer, Busch, and Gordon from fourth place on the first turn and rocketed to the lead. That lead would be short lived, as Newman cut a tire with just 3 laps to go, brought out the caution, and sent the race into NASCAR’s overtime format know as a green-white-checkered. Gordon who was already concerned about his fuel level, wasn’t sure if he had enough to finish the regular scheduled distance of laps, let alone the extra laps scheduled by NASCAR. On the restart, Gordon’s number 24 seemed to sputter just a bit, but after that, he set sail and was not caught in the final laps. Clint Bowyer who is trying to keep pace with Gordon in the championship standings finished second, and Busch ended up third. Chasers Jeff Burton, and Carl Edwards rounded out the top 5, and Dave Blaney coming off of a surprising 3rd place finish at Talladega backed that up with a 6th place finish Saturday night.

CHASE STANDINGS AFTER CHARLOTTE

1. Jeff Gordon leader
2. Jimmie Johnson -68
3. Clint Bowyer -78
4. Tony Stewart -198
5. Carl Edwards -240
6. Kyle Busch -280
7. Kurt Busch -315
8. Kevin Harvick -328
9. Denny Hamlin -349
10. Jeff Burton -366
11. Martin Truex Jr. -378
12. Matt Kenseth -442

CHASE BREAKDOWN
With just 5 races left in the Chase, very few drivers are satisfied with where they are in the standings, and how points they are behind the leader. Here’s a look at who’s sitting pretty, who has work to do, and who should start focusing on next season.

SITTING PRETTY:

1st Jeff Gordon : Has won the last two races, and has been strong all year long. This team has no weakness, and there are no tracks known to man the Jeff struggles at. Gordon is the favorite, and deservedly so.
2nd Jimmie Johnson : Had the best car at Charlotte Saturday night, but hurt the car with a late race spin. Even after crash, Johnson and the Lowe’s number 48 team bounced back with a top 15. He’s the still the defending NEXTEL cup champ, and should give Gordon problems down the stretch.
3rd Clint Bowyer : Perhaps the surprise of the Chase so far. Gordon may have picked up the win Saturday night, but he didn’t extend his lead over Bowyer by much. The big question with Clint is whether he can keep the great performances coming. If he does, he has a great chance of being the upset winner of the Chase.

WORK TO DO:
4th Tony Stewart : Smoke may be 198 points behind, but no driver responds to pressure better than Indiana's own, Stewart. He has proven in the past few years, that his team is capable of putting together great stretches of 2 or 3 wins in a row, and if anyone is going to get hot in the final 5 races, it's Stewart. The only thing holding him back is the big deficit, and the fact that Gordon, and Johnson have looked untouchable

5th Carl Edwards : Carl may have picked up a win in the second race of the Chase at Dover, but the 37th place finish at Kansas is the reason he is 240 points back instead of perhaps just 140. Carl has been the best non-Chevrolet driver all year, and should be back flipping over the Busch Series championship this year, just not the NEXTEL cup.

HEY THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR (just like the Cubs)
6th Kyle Busch : New team at Joe Gibbs Racing, new manufacture with Toyota, and recently announced new sponsor for next year in M&M’s. Next year could be much sweeter for Rowdy than 07.

7th Kurt Busch : There may have not been a hotter driver in the last couple of months leading up to the beginning of the Chase, but Kurt Busch and the blue deuce have been too inconsistant in the Chase.

8th Kevin Harvick : Happy Harvick doesn’t have a finish outside of the top 20 so far in the Chase, however, he doesn’t have a top 5 either, and the DEI RCR engine miscues has held him back all year.

9th Denny Hamlin : Hamlin was the most consistent driver all year until the Chase started. The switch to Toyota could be good, or could be bad. Either way, Denny we be hungry next year especially after how dissapointing the Chase has been for him.

10th Jeff Burton : A few years ago, when his career had seemed to stall out, just making the Chase would have been a great accomplishment. Needless to say a 366 point deficit is not what he and his RCR team had hoped for.

11th Martin Truex Jr. : Way too many engine problems for his team, but knowing he will be the main man at DEI next year should is a positive.

12th Matt Kenseth : One of the few drivers who has never missed the Chase, but seems to struggle every year. He is still one of the best, and will be a threat when O8 rolls around.

My Pick: Martinsville
This one is just too easy. The previous race at Martinsville saw the Hendrick teammates of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon battling it out over the win, with Johnson prevailing. Gordon comes in the points leader, and Johnson trails by just 9 points. Just like in April, Johnson takes the win holding off Gordon.

Swimming and Diving Teams Start Strong

The Ball State Swimming and Diving teams kicked off their dual meet season with convincing victories over Eastern Illinois. The BSU women won nearly every event they competed in during the meet, taking the top spot in all but two events. The women also had numerous second and third place finishers. Likewise, the BSU men took first place in the majority of their events. The teams started their season at the Dennis Stark relays, held at Notre Dame University. The women placed third out of the six competing teams, the men second of five.

Both the men’s and women’s teams are very young this year. The men’s roster includes 10 freshmen and just three seniors, while the women have 11 freshmen and four seniors. 14 sophomore competitors dominate the men’s roster. The young athletes have stepped up in a big way already, proving they are capable of competing at the college level. Of all the individual BSU winners in the EIU meet, for both teams combined, only two were seniors, Addison Del Rio in the women’s 200-yard freestyle, and Valerie McGowen in the women’s one-meter and three-meter diving. Del Rio and Ryan Franklin were senior members of top finishing medley teams. Other seniors had strong efforts for the Cardinals as well. Four freshmen finished in top spots for Ball State, with many sophomores and juniors contributing to the winning effort.

The strong performance of the underclassmen bodes well for the Cardinals, not just for the remainder of the 2007-2008 season, but in future seasons as well. The youth of the teams provides the younger members opportunities to step into leadership roles early in their careers, giving them valuable experience for future seasons. Any time the younger members of a team can get leadership opportunities the team has the chance to grow stronger. The more diverse the leaders, the more of a chance that everyone will feel involved in the team.

The strong overall effort will need to continue for the Cardinals to emerge ahead of their MAC competition this season. In addition to their conference schedule, the teams will take part in the House of Champions Relay. The Cardinals’ non-conference schedule is capped by a home meet on December 8th against the Michigan State Spartans of the Big 10 conference. The women’s team will be idle until November 2nd, when they take on conference foe Toledo in a home meet at the Lewellen Aquatic Center. The men’s team will not see action again until November 10th when the Cardinals travel to Buffalo for another conference match-up.

Unbelievable......

Are you kidding me?????? Somebody check his contract, because there is no way Eric Gagne is actually pitching for the Boston Red Sox.

He has to be pitching for the Yankees or Indians or any one of the other 27 teams in baseball. He only dons the cap with the "B" on it to work undercover. Actually, an authoritative investigation of manager Terry Francona or GM Theo Epstein may be in order. Who's decision was it to have this guy on the playoff roster anyhow? For those who don't know, it was Gagne who came on in relief in the 11th inning against Cleveland in Game 2 and who was responsible for 2 runs that opened the flood gates for Boston before an inevitable loss.

I told people before the series even began that there was no way Gagne would get through the series without blowing a game. I was right. But here's the thing. WHO DIDN'T KNOW HE WOULD BLOW A CRUCIAL PLAYOFF GAME? Boston faithful could have told you that back in August when Gagne was first traded for. Yeah, that's right. Boston actually gave up something for this. Ask my roommates. As soon as he came out of the bullpen I yelled, went to my room and slammed the door. It was over and I knew it. Which makes me wonder, if I knew it and thousands of others across the country knew it, how Francona didn't know it.

This was such a bonehead move it may actually be a worse decision than Grady Little leaving Pedro Martinez in too long against the Yankees in Game 7 of the '03 ALCS. At least Little was sticking with his ace. True, his arm was dangling by a thread, but at least it was Pedro. Francona? He decided to go with the guy who blew all 3 of his regular season save opportunities with the club while posting an ERA of 6.75. If this was anyone who didn't have a successful history, he wouldn't have made the postseason roster.

It's not like Francona couldn't have gone another route. Gagne and Lopez had both thrown the night before, but Jon Lester was still left in the bullpen. Gagne and Lopez both struggled in Game One. It took Gagne 25 pitches to get through his one inning in which he loaded the bases and forced closer Jonathan Papelbon to start warming up. So why not bring in Lester, someone who was a starter during the season who could eat up innings? And if he struggled, then bring in Lopez. Under no circumstance should Gagne be in a close game if his team wants to win. Francona could have even brought in Tim Wakefield who has shown in the past his willingness to give up his start and go to the bullpen. With ace Josh Beckett only throwing 80 pitches in Game 1, losing Wake for a Game 4 means nothing if Beckett could take the mound.

But I can't blame this all on Francona, who I believe is one of the best managers in the game. Although he wasn't playing to win the game once he started warming up Gagne. I blame it on Epstein. Because there is no way he should have even contemplated allowing Francona to consider putting Gagne on the postseason roster. Man up and admit a mistake. Everyone wanted Gagne at the trading deadline, but he didn't pan out. If he had, the Sox would have the best bullpen in the majors by a long shot. I didn't think there was any way he would be on the roster, but I was wrong. There's something to be said about sticking with your players, but there's also something to be said about doing something stupid.

Week 6 Picks and Discussion

Week 6 is always a pivotal week in the NFL season and this week will be no different. The contenders begin separating themselves from the pretenders, the No. 1 draft pick teams begin separating themselves from the merely cruddy teams, and the MVP hopefuls separate themselves from the average players.

Unfortunately, among the pretenders are my picks. I went 6-8 against the spread last week, but I feel confident in my picks this week. Here they are.

Tennessee (+3) over TAMPA BAY

I don't see the Buccaneers getting the job done, even in the bad NFC South, with Earnest Graham taking the brunt of their carries.

CHICAGO (-5) over Minnesota

Oh boy. The Bears. What to make of the Monsters of the Midway? I'll give them the edge at home over the Vikes, but what the heck are they going to do the rest of the year? That, my friends, is anyone's guess.

JACKSONVILLE (-6.5) over Houston

Welcome back to Earth, Houston Texans. We missed you.

CLEVELAND (-4.5) over Miami

Do I want to live in a world where the Cleveland Browns are actually semicontenders?

BALTIMORE (-9.5) over St. Louis

The eternal badness of the Rams is not to be messed with.

Washington (+3) over GREEN BAY

Upset pick of the week.

Cincinnati (-3) over KANSAS CITY

In this the weirdest of all NFL seasons, you don't back a road favorite unless you've got a good reason. LJ falling off the face of the earth is a good reason.

NY JETS (+3) over Philadelphia

On the other hand, no good reason not to pick the Jets here.

Carolina (+4) over ARIZONA

Watch Vinny Testaverde turn the Panthers season around now.

Oakland (+9.5) over SAN DIEGO

One week the Chargers play well and all of a sudden they're giving 9.5 points? No, thanks.

New England (-5.5) over DALLAS

Yeah, you can officially say the Cowboys aren't good. They had no right to win last week. You could've asked me to bet my life that, given Buffalo scoring 3 non-offensive TDs and Tony Romo turning the ball over 6 times, that Buffalo would win and I'd be a dead man today.

SEATTLE (-6.5) over New Orleans

No one is talking about the Seahawks, and you know what that means: the contender-from-nowhere scenario.

NY Giants (-3.5) over ATLANTA

ELI!!!! HARRINGTON!!! IT'S MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ON ESPN!!!!

College Football Week 6

Welcome to the blog that will give you everything you need to about the past week in college football. I'm Rick Johnston, and I'm the host of Cardinal College Gameday presented by Bygone's Bar and Grill and the Locker Room. I'm joined by Ryan Camden and Nick Yeoman (fellow bloggers). But enough with the shameless self promotion, let's jump into what we called "Statement Saturday"

Let's start with the upsets of the week, and there was none bigger than Stanford going into the Coliseum and upsetting #2 USC. The Cardinal comes in, led by captain comeback Jim Harbaugh no less, and beats the Trojans 24-23. Cardinal QB Tavita Pritchard throws a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bradford on fourth-and-goal with 49 seconds to put the Cardinal ahead. This was no easy catch, the USC corner played the ball perfectly bu Bradford just out jumped him. This just goes with the theme of the season so far. It seems if a team has a single digit ranking they are on upset alert each week. Gotta love the parity.
My second example are the Wisconsin Badgers. The #5 Badgers went to Illinois and lost 31-26. Now we at CCG (Cardinal College Gameday) were not impressed by Wisconsin at the beginning of the year, and thought very highly of the Fighting Illini' (I mean come on how can you not like a QB with the name Juice Williams". The Illini' are the sleeper of the Big Ten and could be the only team to give Ohio State a run for the Big Ten title. Illinois travels the Horseshoe to take on the Buckeyes on November 10.

My favorite game from this past week had to be down in the Bayou between LSU and Florida. Again the Gators were smelling upset but the Tigers of LSU battled back with some gutsy play calls by coach Les Miles to win 28-24. The one thing I kept noticing was how posed Gator QB Tim Tebow was. Playing in Tiger Stadium at night is one of the toughest, if not the toughest thing to do in college football, but here's this sophomore making it look like he is in a 7 on 7 drill. Three times Tebow gave the Gators a 10 point lead. Tebow accounted for 3 TD's (2 passing, 1 rushing). Trailing 24-14, I thought the Tigers were done! (and I thought great another team with a #1 team that can't handle the pressure) Thankfully the Tigers proved me wrong. The Tigers scored two touchdowns on fourth-down plays and another after off a fake field goal. Then it Jacob Hester, rumbled his way to the end zone for the go ahead score. All of the fourth down conversions show these Tigers aren't afraid of anyone.

And if your a fan of CCG, you know all about the love we have for the Kansas Jayhawks. Nick picked them to be a team to look out for on the first show, and we have followed them the whole year even giving them their own segment. The Jayhawks upset #24 Kansas State 30-24 and improve to 5-0. So expect lots of love for Kansas in the near future.

Quickly a look at the new AP rankings and the Heisman Hunt.
Obviously LSU back at #1 (all 65 first place votes) followed by Cal, Ohio State, Boston College, and this season's darlings South Florida. I see all of these teams staying in these top 5 slots until Cal welcomes USC on November 10th. And a special welcome to the Kansas Jayhawks at #20.

Heisman is up in the air. My boy DeSean "the human highlight reel" Jackson of Cal seems to have gotten over his thumb injury and is looking like he did last year. Kentucky's signal caller Andre' Woodson is in the driver seat right now but his next three games are against LSU and Florida after losing to South Carolina last week. I see his stock falling in the next two weeks because the Tigers and Gators just have too much speed. Speaking of the Gators how about Tim Tebow. Right now he should be heading to New York, but I think the Gators have to the SEC for him to have a legitimate shot. Also Run-DMC, Darren McFadden of Arkansas is another guy to look out for. But like Tebow his team two games, which is never a plus with voters. Here's the thing, I HAVE NO IDEA WHO IS GOING TO WIN!!!!! That's right I have no idea (don't freak out it's OK). So many headliners have fallen (i.e. West Virginia's Pat White and Steve Slaton). Stay tuned...

Remember listen to Cardinal College Gameday presented by Bygone's Bar and Grill and the Locker Room at noon LIVE from Scheumann Stadium for Homecoming only on the WCRD 91.3, the home of the best Ball State football coverage.

Where will the Matrix go?

Marion will be traded sometime his year. Maybe not before the season starts or even before 2007 is over but sometime during the 2007-08 NBA season he will be exiting Phoenix as Charles Barkley, Jason Kidd, and Stephon Marbury did before him. The question isn't will he be traded it is where will he be traded. The list is pretty long right now but there are only a few real players he could be swapped for. The Lakers, and Jazz are the two most rumored to be seeking a trade. The Lakers have Lamar Odom to offer; well whoopity-doo Odom is injury prone and only a slightly above average player. Marion is one of the top 5-10 players in the NBA; he has to be with a nickname like the Matrix. Utah obviously has Kirilenko to offer. Now while Kirilenko is a very good player he is still not Marion level, and more importantly he would not fit the Suns run like the wind offense. There is one team looking to deal a superstar close to Marion's level, and it's very close to home. The Pacers have Jermaine O'Neal and are actively trying to get rid of him. I know not from the rumors but because I interned with the Pacers this summer and one of the guys who works with Larry Bird everyday said he called everyone the day of the draft trying to get a deal worked out that would get the Pacers a decent player, and a first round pick. So here it is O'Neal for Marion. Makes sense when you think about it. Their salaries are close (JO $19 mil, Marion 16 mil) and Marion would be on a team that has average talent but he would be the instant go to guy. O'Neal goes to a contender that would use his athletic ability. Plus what the Suns are missing is a post blocker, and O'Neal was third in the league last year in blocks. Add in that because O'Neal is paid three mil more the Pacers should have the cap room to give Marion the extension he wants that would pay him around 19-20 million a year. O'Neal is by far the best player of the three and his salary matches up. However, judging by no one has talked about this yet I'm guessing one of the sides involved have already turned down the idea. Don't know why both teams would be better. The Suns have plenty of scorers who could pick up the slack and O'Neal would give them the defensive presence they need if they ever want to make a run in the playoffs. Then again I'm a Rockets fan so maybe it's a good thing this probably won't ever come to fruition.

3 and 15? Watch out MAC!

After watching the Ball State women's volleyball team crush Buffalo 3-0 in their last home match, I was definitely optimistic and hopeful for a good weekend for the Cards on the court. Yes, the team was coming in to the weekend with a 3 and 13 record, but they had started off the MAC 2 and 2 and were riding a 2 game winning streak. Not to mention that Coach Boos's squad was starting to come on offensively, the aspect of their game that seemed to be struggling the most.

But similar to the Ball State football team, it was a heartbreaking weekend for the women's volleyball team. On Friday against Western Michigan, the team came out strong dominating game number one against the Broncos 30-20. The offense was there for the Cardinals, and everything seemed to be clicking. Unfortunately the Cardinals, could not keep that momemtum up as they lost the next three games to suffer a 3 to 1 loss. You can't fault the outside attackers for Ball State. Senior Brittany May led the team with 21 kills and sophomore Julie Breivogel was right behind her with 20. The defense again remained consistent for the Cardinals.

Saturday night, however, was the true heartbreaker. The Cardinals jumped out to an early 2 game lead and had all the momemtum against Northern Ilinois going in to the 10 minute break. The momentum was sure reversed coming out of the locker room. The Huskies jumped out to leads in games 3 and 4 and never let go of them forcing a game 5. Could BSU respond and take game 5? No, the defeats of game 3 and 4 seemed to be too much and the Cardinals fell in game five to lose the match 3-2. So what seemed to be a dominating win for the Cardinals going into the locker room ended as a heartbreaking loss. Again the Cardinals were led in kills by Brittany May and Julie Breivogel each tallying 19 kills, but many of the sets from Angie Parrell were going their way. Freshman Alyssa Rio kept her stellar defense and numbers for Cards as she led the team in digs with 27. BSU definitely showed the potential they have in this game and the entire weekend for that matter, but the lapses offensively in both matches seemed to really cost them. This weekend was good for the Cards in that it showed how much they have improved since the beginning of the season, and that they can put up dominating performances. They key for the Cards is to consistently play that way.

It doesn't get any easier for the Cards this weekend as they take their 3 and 15 record, 2 and 4 in the MAC on the road to four time defending league champ Ohio on Friday and to Kent State on Saturday who is 4 and 2 in the conference. However, don't doubt this young Cardinal team because without the few offensive lapses and some untimely errors this weekend, they could easily be 4 and 2 in the MAC. Coach Boos definitely has this squad improving, so watch out MAC teams come tournament time.

Adios MAC Championship!

I guess I shouldn't of waited until after the Central Michigan game to start this blog, I really wanted to highlight the positives of this year. From the grand opening of the Schue, running over Navy, and taking Nebraska to it's Cornhusker limits, this year has had alot of up's and downs. Almost too much for a fan to handle, talk about stress! I guess that all changed this past Saturday, October 6th.

If the Nebraska game was a gut check, well this game was a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris. Talk about a slap in the face! The 95 degree turf wasn't the only thing on fire Saturday-cue Dan Lefevour. The sophomore QB went 30 for 38, racked up 360 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Not to mention he ran for 146 yards and 1 TD. Count 'em, that is 6 TOUCHDOWNS! Thats more fingers then you have on one hand. The Chippewas are now undefeated in MAC play and our Cardinals dropped to 2-2. The final score was 58-38, the combined 96 points along with the 1027 combined yards are new stadium records.

The Cardinals amassed 369 total yards, with 204 coming on the arm of Nate Davis. Davis couldn't find his target, with alot of his passes overthrown. On one particular play, Davis took the pitch-back from Love and overthrew his intended target, TE Darius Hill, by a solid two feet. The experts say it is always better to overthow your receivers compared to underthrowing them, but this is becoming a consistent problem and needs to be corrected immediately.

Congrats to WR Dante Love who set a new school record with a total of 266 return yards and PK Jake Hogue who connected on all 6 of kicks, including a 26 yd field goal.

I guess it is now obvious how much this team misses RB MiQuale Lewis. Sure, Franks Edmonds and Koreen Burch had great games against the Bulls, but that was against a garbage team in Buffalo. One thing I noticed during this week's game was how the two running backs, in particular Burch, just ran. They weren't patient and didn't allow the holes to open up for them. They had no field vision and I guess this can be attributed to the fact that the two are both freshman and unexperienced.

I still believe this BSU squad is a good team and they'll have a chance to iron out the inconsistencies against the Div. 1-AA Western Kentucky Hill Toppers. Hopefully the Cards won't dampen the Homecoming week spirit and win the game. Ball State has lost the last three Homecoming games.

Kickoff is on Saturday at 2 p.m. Make sure you go out and support the Cardinals!

NFL - Week 5 Picks

Hello everybody, I'm Andy Roberts and I run the NFL portion of this here little sports blog enterprise. Anyways I make weekly NFL spread picks using the spreads on Yahoo, and I've been pretty terrible so far this year, but maybe publishing them on this blog will help my luck. Here are this week's picks. Home teams are in caps, and if you didn't know, "+" means I picked the underdog, "-" means I picked the favorite.

Atlanta (+8.5) over TENNESSEE
HOUSTON (-5.5) over Miami
Jacksonville (-2) over KANSAS CITY
Arizona (-3.5) over ST. LOUIS
NEW ENGLAND (-16.5) over Cleveland
NEW ORLEANS (-3) over Carolina
NY GIANTS (-3.5) over NY Jets
PITTSBURGH (-5.5) over Seattle
Detroit (+3.5) over WASHINGTON
INDIANAPOLIS (-10) over Tampa Bay
Baltimore (-3.5) over SAN FRANCISCO
GREEN BAY (-3) over Chicago
Dallas (-10) over BUFFALO

My thoughts on the NFL season so far:

There are 2 good teams in the NFL - everyone else sucks

New England and Indy are pretty much the only two teams that have a legitimate claim on being 'good'. We'll give Dallas a jury's out verdict since they've looked impressive but have yet to play anybody. However, if you can seriously tell me that Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Detroit, Oakland (?) or any of the other 1st-place teams in the league besides those three even has a prayer of sniffing a championship this year, well, I have a new stadium I'd like to sell you.

It's official - David Carr was never going to be good in the NFL

As a Carolina Panthers fan since the team's inception in 1995, I have seen more than my fair share of bad quarterbacks. Kerry Collins (other than 1996), Chris Weinke, Randy Fasani, Rodney Peete, and Weinke again have taken starting jobs for Carolina. But I don't know if it's ever been quite as bad as it was last week, when at one point Carr had 34 pass attempts and 104 yards. That's a smidge above THREE YARDS per pass attempt for you math whizzes. It's not like Tampa Bay is some amazing defense, either. This ain't your older brother's Bucs defense.

Tony Kornheiser is good on Monday Night Football

Seriously, give the guy a break. He makes people laugh, he likes football, and he fills the Cosell role the way he was intended to.

Fantasy football is a pain in the butt

The consensus top guys have been borderline worthless this year. Steven Jackson's hurt, LaDaininan Tomlinson doesn't get the ball enough, Frank Gore is not the 2006 version of himself, etc. etc. Only Peyton Manning of the 'elite' fantasy players is doing what he should.

More coming.

Padres and Diamondbacks and Frank TV, Oh My!

It's here. The second-best sports season, behind the NCAA tournament, is upon us: The MLB Playoffs. I'm a Red Sox fan and as I'm waiting for Game 2 to start I thought I'd give my early thoughts on the postseason.

Los Angeles vs. Boston
Boston got a dominant performance from Josh Beckett but with Dice-K making his first MLB postseason start, coming after a month or so of less than stellar outings, anything is possible. But kudos go out to Garret Anderson for standing in that batter's box with his right eye swollen with a case of pink eye. Yes, that's right. Pink eye. That has to be scary, standing in a batter's box facing 90+ mile-per-hour heat unable to fully see. Even though Boston won the game fairly easily, the offense never really exploded. I expect both offense to be better, especially LA's, for Game 2. For what it's worth, I picked Boston over L.A. back in March. Don't believe me? Check out my facebook notes.

New York vs. Cleveland
The Yankees got whooped on! They had a chance to explode against Sabathia, but a huge out with the bases loaded doomed them. And what's up with Kenny Lofton pounding out three hits for the Tribe. I had to check my calendar to make sure it really is 2007 and not '96 when Lofton was doing the same thing for the Indians. This just might be the best trade this season for any club. Teixieira and Dotel couldn't even get the Braves to the postseason. And Gagne? Don't get me started. He's luck he's even on the postseason roster for the Sox. I'm just waiting for him to be on the mound for a walk-off series clinching homer as I'm throwing my shoes, shirt, furniture, and television set across my room. Could happen in the ALDS, ALCS, or World Series. But it will happen. Mark it down. But back to this series. It has potential to go all five. I think Cleveland fans may think of their closer, Joe Borowski, as I do about Gagne. At some point in the playoffs he will kill them. But I just don't know what the Yankees can expect from their rotation. With Wang losing Game 1, they are in much more trouble down 0-1 than the Angels.

Colorado (is that right?!) vs Philadelphia
How bout them Rockies? They've won 16 of 17!!!!! Talk about on a roll. And I don't want to hear anything about Holliday not touching the plate against San Diego, because the Rockies already had a run taken away from them after a home run was mistakenly ruled a double. If any team in the playoffs is capable of coming back from an 0-2 deficit, it's the Phillies and their offense, but I'm not seeing it. The Rockies are hot. However, I must point out that during their play-in-game against San Diego, with the winner set to play Philly, a fan had a sign saying "Bring on the Cubs." Is it possible to be a Colorado bandwagon fan?

Chicago vs. Arizona
Sorry Cubbies fans. Yes, the team you are down to 0-2 was next-to-last in the majors this season in batting average (.250), but they still led the N.L. in wins. And, once again, I picked them to beat Chicago back in March. It's quite possible that if Piniella had gone with a four-man rotation that this would be a 1-1 series. Instead of giving Zambrano a quick hook after only 85 pitches to give him more rest with a three-man rotation, Sweet Lou pulled his horse and the bear Cubs were left talking about goats. Wow that's a lot of animal references.

More News
I read several months back that St. Louis GM Walt Jocketty might be a good fit in Cincinnati. Well he's available now. I wonder if the Reds will make a push for Tony La Russa too possibly? It would be a shame for interim manager Pete Mackanin who did well for the club after taking over mid-season.

Stat of the week
This one comes from Buster Olney on espn.com
• At the All-Star break, the teams with the most wins in the NL were as follows: San Diego (49), Los Angeles (49), Milwaukee (49), NY Mets (48) and Atlanta (47). And none of them made the playoffs.

WOW!!!!!! I wonder if that's EVER happened before. That's literally mind boggling.

I Hate TBS
Is any one else insanely annoyed at TBS' feeble attempts to actually cover this great game's postseason. I have no problem with the in-game color and play-by-play. Shoot we all know Sox broadcaster Don Orsillo is the best. But everything else is awful!!! Jose Mota, Frank Thomas, and Cal Ripken are painful. Especially Thomas. Did anyone at TBS even have him tryout on camera before they put him on air? I mean, he's looking at his notes more than the camera. In fact, he's not sure where to set his eyes. I give host Ernie Johnson a 50/50 chance at surviving this postseason without hurting himself. And Craig Sager and David Aldridge need to stick with what they know: the NBA. If I was the Indians guy who beats the drum, I'm pretty sure I would have taken that drum stick and attacked the crazy suit guy. Now THAT would give every baseball fan something to cheer about. I thought Tim McCarver was bad. I never thought I'd say this in my wildest dreams, but I miss Ti..................awwwww never mind! I'm also getting sick of seeing all those Frank TV commercials! Holy crap! I should have been used to endless self-promotion after watching the playoffs on Fox all these years but I'm not. But those are awfully good voice impersonations that guy does....................... Go Sox! ~ Chris Lowry

The Bottom 9 look for turnaround at Talladega

CHASE STANDINGS AFTER KANSAS
1. Jimmie Johnson leader
2. Jeff Gordon - 6
3. Clint Bowyer -14
4. Tony Stewart -117
5. Kevin Harvick -126
6. Kyle Busch -136
7. Carl Edwards -142
8. Martin Truex Jr. -158
9. Kurt Busch -177
10. Jeff Burton -186
11. Matt Kenseth -219
12. Denny Hamlin -248


After only three races in this years edition of NASCAR’s playoff system know as the Chase for the Cup, 9 out of the 12 teams are looking for life preservers, because they are quickly seeing their title hopes sink like the New York Met’s division lead. Heading to Talladega, the bottom 9 are looking up at Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Clint Bowyer, who have proven in the first 3 races at New Hampshire, Dover, and Kansas that they are the guys to beat. Now it certainly is not time to hit the panic button for drivers like defending champions like Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and Kurt Busch to panic, but one more poor performance, and you might as well stick a fork in them.


The Good News: There are still 7 races left in the Chase.
If it’s possible for any of the bottom 9 to fall behind as many points as they have in the first 3 races, it’s certainly mathematically possible for those points to be made up in the final 7. With a little good luck for themselves, and some bad luck for Johnson, Gordon, and Bowyer, anything is still possible. Just last season, Johnson proved that a sizeable deficit can be overcome. Johnson and his Lowe’s #48 team trailed then leader Jeff Burton by 165 points after the third race at Kansas. Johnson would eventually hoist the Cup after the final race at Homestead, so the fact of the matter is, it’s not time to panic.


The Bad News: Talladega is not the place to make up points.
Theoretically speaking every race in the Chase is equal. Each race means the same, and each is equally difficult to win. While the goal for all of the teams at New Hampshire, Dover, and Kansas was to win and gain points, the goal for most of the teams at Talladega is simply to survive and not lose very many points.
The reason for this change in game plan for the 12 Chase teams: Restrictor plate racing
Carburetor restrictor plates are placed on every engine of every car at the larger tracks Daytona, and Talladega. The restrictor plates limits RPM, which in turn limits speed, which cause all 43 cars to bunch up in packs. Because all of the cars run so tightly together, most accidents are out of the drivers hands, and when the “Big One” happens, few drivers escape. Mix the fact that the Car Of Tomorrow (COT) is making it’s restrictor plate debut this Sunday, and it’s safe to say all 12 Chasers win be playing it safe until the final 20 laps.


My Pick: Jeff Gordon has been great with the COT all season, and won the previous race this year at Talladega. The win earlier this season is remembered for Gordon mathcing legend Dale Earnhardt's career win mark, and the #24 car getting pelted with various bottles and items. Look for Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick to be in the mix as well, but I'm going with Gordon and the Rainbow Warriors to pick up the first COT restrictor plate race at Talladega. -Nick Yeoman

NBA Top Ten Power Rankings (Preseason)

1. San Antonio Spurs
They are the champs and winners of three in the last last five years no one else can be No. 1 until they prove to be better. Season record projection (61-21 projected record)

2. Phoenix Suns
Suns are loaded with scorers Nash, Amare, Grant Hill, Marion, and Bell just to name a few. Cautions are arising though with marion demanding a trade and Amare have knee surgery (remember he sat out almost a full season with knee injuries) (59-23)

3. Houston Rockets
A 52 win team despite Yao, and McGrady missing 40 some games combined. Add in they had the best offseason on any team not named the Celtics and a new coach that fits them better and you got a legitament title contender. (59-23)

4. Dallas Mavericks
Once again had a heart breaking playoff defeat but they are one of the top teams still. Remember they made a run at the most wins record falling short at 67. (57-25)

5. Detriot Pistons
Getting older and this could be the season the wheels fall off but hey should still have one season left in the tank. This is assuming they resign Chris Webber. (55-27)

6. Boston Celtics
The hardest team to predict because they have a whole new team except for Paul Pierce. Garnett, Allen, and Pierce great combo we'll see how it pans out could take a year to gel but they are all vets. (55-27)

7. Toronto Raptors
One of the youngest team's last year, and still had the two seed in the East. One more year of experience and vital playoff experience and they could very well run away with the East led by Chris Bosh. (53-29)

8. Cleveland Cavaliers
Won the East last year but did absolutely nothing in the offseason to give LeBron some help. If the front office keeps that up LeBron won't stick around too long. (53-29)

9. Chicago Bulls
A young team that continues to get better. Plus Ben Wallace just got clearance to wear his headband again, watch out in the East the Ape Man is back. (51-31)

10. Denver Nuggets
AI/Carmelo round 1 1/2. They were put together midseason (and during Melo's suspension) and still won 45 games. Now they have had a offseason to gel, and work on a game plan that works. They are like the Rockets last year, two superstars with no support. (49-33)

Parting Words:
Utah Jazz would be in the top ten but Kirilenko controversy will be a cancer to the team. Sloan is a drill sargent and someone finally broke ranks, the team will be split between Sloan supporters and non-supporters. Don't get me wrong they will still make playoffs because Boozer is a manchild but won't be worse than last years 51 win performance.

Orlando Magic started strong but fell apart at the end. They got the talent (D-Howard is the biggest manchild of them all) to get a top four seed but they must prove they can do it before they can make a top ten list.

Miami Heat are washed up. They could still make playoffs but Shaq is now officially a better rapper and actor than basketball player.