Heisman Race: Week 13

What a freaking day in college football.

Here's what my Heisman ballot wouldve looked like (in Alpha Order because I'm not going to listen to opinions on my rankings) before today:

• Manziel
• Mariota
• McCarron
• Petty
• Winston

Putting Johnny on there kills me and not just because I'm not a huge fan of the kid's off the field behavior. I'll explain later.

If I had to cast my ballot today it would only have two names on it.

McCarron and Winston.

Why?

Because the other three had AWFUL days today.

We'll start with Manziel because I watched his game in it's entirety. It was awful. For starters, I would like to give credit where credit is due. The LSU defense played tremendously. And frankly, they had to. (Did y'all see how many penalties the LSU Offensive Line had? IT WAS A LOT. LSU had 111 yds in penalties vs. A&M's 50. 30 of which were on one play. Insanity. Which also baffles me to the amount of Aggie fans complaining about the refs but I digress.)

Manziel was awful. He completed 16 passes on 41 attempts. That's a meager 39%. He threw two interceptions, including one in the endzone. There were some passes that were on his receivers but a majority were just bad. And the thing I noticed in the first quarter was that his offensive line was handling LSU's defensive line much better than I anticipated. He did have spots of good play but overall it wasn't impressive.

Which brings me to why I haven't been impressed with him this season. Every Aggie I know has put this graphic up highlighting his numbers but left off the stat that makes him low on my imaginary Heisman ballot. Interceptions. Here they are by my top 5:

Manziel- 12 McCarron-5 Mariota-2 Petty-1  Winston- 7

Johnny Football? More like Johnny Turnover. (I so wish I could take credit for that but my friends are funny too. Thanks Chris.)

That's a lot of interceptions for somebody who is known for making phenomenal plays with his feet. 

"But Katelyn...he throws a lot of touchdowns." That's true. 
Johnny has thrown 32 touchdowns this season.

You know who else has thrown 32 touchdowns this season? Jameis Winston...and he's got 5 less interceptions. Yeahhh....


The other thing that stands out for me is the Ole Miss. Yes, a win is a win, and Manziel got out by the skin of his teeth. The thing that I remember about that game is how many times he put himself into bad situations. (Yes his defense is no help.) My friend Zach (HEY Z!) said something tonight at dinner about Manziel that I think was spot on. He plays high risk, high reward football. Yes, it has worked for him. But there are times it's dangerous and Ole Miss, a team A&M should have readily beat, showed weakness in that philosophy.

So Manziel played himself right off my ballot today.

Now Bryce Petty. Poor guy played my beloved Pokes today in my second hometown and it was ROUGH. I am SO proud of the defense we have fielded there in Stillwater. They've been told for a while they're the weak link in our team and they seem to have taken that to heart because they are playing out of their minds. Seriously, the are not only winning the turnover battle, but they are forcing most of the turnovers and it's beautiful. 

I was confident going into this game in spite of Bryce Petty's ability to take his team down the field in under a minute and score on average 61 points a game. So 1st and 10 on the 1 yd line had me yelling at our defense to show America what we were about. A forced and recovered fumble on 2nd down had me jumping. In the fourth quarter we actually recovered a Bryce Petty fumble from the 2 yd line. Baylor had a rough night.

And Petty had a very rough night. Our defense had Baylor's number all night. Petty looked flat and unimpressive. He was on an uphill battle anyways because so many people feel like Baylor has played a relatively unimpressive schedule and tonight might have just added more doubt.

I'm still impressed by the amount of times Petty has put the ball in the air and only has 1 interception. Holy cow. So had Baylor played this game closer, and our defense not been so lights out, I would still have Petty in consideration.

Finally, Mariota. I did not get to watch his game (no coverage in Houston.) So based off of what others are saying, he was quite unimpressive. He also lost to a fairly unimpressive Arizona team. 

And by lost, I mean got stomped.

Fact of the matter is, He didn't look great in the game against Stanford, and losing to Arizona today...He's out of my race. 

Now I still don't know what's going on with Winston and these rape allegations. Nobody really wants to give the Heisman to a guy who is going to possibly have it stripped later so...that's a sticky situation. 

Fact of the matter is, the kid's a freaking athlete. He's doing the dang thing down there in Tallahassee and his season is VERY impressive. And he's a freshman. (As much as Johnny was last year.) We shouldn't let what Johnny did as a freshman desensitize us to what Winston is doing as a freshman. It's impressive.

And Finally, McCarron. I think AJ is so underrated. He's the winningest quarterback in SEC history and the guy is on the verge of winning an unprecedented 3rd national championship. 

I think a lot of people take McCarron for granted. He has a talented supporting cast no doubt. But McCarron definitely stands out in the bunch for me. He's a supreme game manager. He's calm, and when he loses it, it's for good reason. Remember him getting into it with an Offensive lineman last year?

Guess who got their act together and started doing their job...

I almost feel like people are so used to McCarron and him winning that we forget how impressive it is. We expect it, so it no longer seems impressive. But HE IS impressive. I also think that people assume that any quarterback that Saban recruits could step into his shoes and replace him. I don't feel like that's the case by any means.

If I had to pick between the two today, well... I couldn't.

I might go McCarron because of the trouble Winston is facing and because he's been so good year in and year out. I might go Winston because I think he's a game changer and he consistently impresses me.

I might wish that the Heisman ceremony took place after the National Championship because I will probably get to see the two go head to head.

I also spent some time talking to a friend tonight about the surprise that not a single running back has come up in Heisman talks as of late. Just none of them have been consistently good enough. It's been a bizarre year, y'all.

December 14th is coming up quick and I'm interested to see who the voters make the finalists. Too bad Clowney hasn't been quite the terror he was expected to be this season.

xo

Sometimes updating is difficult...

It turns out writing a blog is really hard. Mainly because I watch SO many games all the time and I don't know how much y'all want to hear me ramble about a whole bunch of stuff. So I'll go over a few things and then we'll get into how I feel about certain classifications of "fans."

• The Texans are bad. Like...BAD. Except it doesn't make any sense. The defense is still very good. I don't like Case Keenum and I was probably 1 of 10 people not calling for Kubiak's head for the Schaub switch. I think in desperate situations where the inexperienced player isn't getting it done, YOU HAVEEEE to go to experience. Also our offensive line kills me. I notice them every play. I shouldn't. Stop it.
• Peyton Manning is a freak of nature. I mean that. Like...who seriously thought he would come back from that neck surgery? And now look at him.
• I laughed at the Patriots fans upset about the call (well, no call) at the end of the game last week. Do you not remember the blatant holding that wasn't called to win over New Orleans? I do. Karma.
• I'm listening to "Monster" (Eminem ft Rihanna...incredible song.) He just mentioned Russel Wilson. You've made it. 
• Oklahoma State plays Baylor this week. I could not be more hyped about it if I tried. If it's not orange, I haven't worn it this week.
• Also, I'm going to be cheering very loud for the LSU Tigers this weekend. GEAUXXXX. Bet on Mett? I am.
• Speaking of, how does AJ McCarron not get more Heisman hype. Dude's about to win his 3rd Natty. 
• And the prospect of Florida State and Alabama playing for the title has me 9 kinds of excited. That could be a great game.
• On the Winston rape charges: I'm one that believes that allegations made by a woman should always be taken serious. I air on the side of caution in this and I'm well aware his DNA has been linked. But I read in part of the police report she originally estimated him to be between 5'9-5'11. Maybe it's because I'm on the taller end of the spectrum in that range that I don't get it, but how are you so far off. Dude is 6'4. 
• Hockey is beautiful. And a mess. (If you have twitter I highly recommend following Roberto Luongo. Guy is hysterical.) The Avs look good (didn't see that one coming.) The Oilers don't look good. (How do you have that many number 1 picks and still struggle?)
• If I had to vote today Josh Harding would get the Masterton (Trophy for perservation, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey) and the Vezina (Top Goalie). He has looked truly phenomenal this season. You probably wouldn't even believe me if I told you last November he announced the world that he was diagnosed with MS. Tough as Hards is my new motto.
• The Sabres are awful. It's so disheartening sometimes. You have Ryan Miller making 42 saves behind you and you still lose 4-1. They did a major shake up at the top, but I'm still waiting them to truly just gut their payroll and rebuild. It's time for it. Stop just saying it.
• The Rockets look good! This season seems exciting. I'm not even going to pretend like I've been paying that close of attention to basketball season. For starters the CSN deal is a freaking KILLER. Can't watch any games! Also, f**k you, Les Alexander. I don't know that there's a pro team owner that I dislike more. Which is saying something because Bud Adams, may he rest in peace, MOVED a football team from my hometown to TENNESSEE. 
• I really, really, dislike Les Alexander.

Like ALOT.

I've commented on fans before and I need to take the time and patience to sit down and type out my thoughts. It's just hard cause it's personal for me.

I have some really amazingly talented friends.

Most of them make me twice as proud off of the field/ice/court as the do on it.

And it doesn't bother me when people say they suck. I just laugh. They sucked their way to this level and tricked every scout and higher up amongst organizations along the way. There's a reason you're not in the position and you watch from a chair and I guarantee that 99% of the people making these comments couldn't perform at this level or they would be. 

What kills me is when people chop their character or their work ethic.

Unless a player has PERSONALLY done something to offend you, stop. STOP. 

I can tell you I have NEVER had a player be rude to me when I approached them as a fan. But I also don't do it if they're eating, or if they're with their kids. 

Also, STOPPP insulting their work ethic. I have personally heard someone in the stands call somebody I knew a "lazy bum."

This person works hard than anyone I know. He is constantly trying to improve himself. 

I've also heard fans talk about a player be a "crybaby" and not coming back out to join the team after being pulled.

Those fans had no idea that said player was playing with an unannounced/undisclosed injury and didn't come back out immediately because they were receiving treatment from a trainer in an effort to get them ready for the next game.

I have watched friends go to practices sick, get IV fluids before, practice their ass off, get fluids after, and lay in bed the rest of the day. 

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT GOES ON HALF THE TIME. Be upset about their play on the field, yes. But please, for the love of all sanity, stop insulting their character. 

Continue with the "you suck" chants all ya want. Sometimes this girl needs a laugh. (Saying a player is not playing well at the moment makes you sound much more informed that declaring they overall suck. As a personal disclaimer: there is one player I would yell a "you suck" at. I have yet to figure out how he has a job...)

xo

Flawed Rules

I'm kicking myself for writing this because I'm a supremely superstitious person, and I want more than anything for Boston to win this world series. 

While I have a soft spot for one of the Cardinals starters, having grown up with his family, I still can't overlook the general hate I have towards the birds. Bad memories as an Astros fan growing up, and then being in St. Louis for part of the 2011 series against Texas did not help form my opinion.

I should also mention I am a HUGE Will Middlebrooks fan. So I'm trying my best to put my logical cap on and leave my emotional bias out of it, but hey, that's why I'm a personal blogger and not a writer for a newspaper.

So I did what I always do when I'm trying to make sure I'm forming rational opinions, (no woman jokes here please...), and bounced it off one of my closest male friends. Through him I have decided I am in fact not crazy.

See the problem with rules, is that you generally don't realize that they're flawed until the flaw shines through in a very large (and usually ugly) way.

See: 2008 Big XII results. Nobody realized how flawed the tiebreakers were, until someone felt like they weren't fair. (Insert famous Mack Brown, "how do I tell my boys that a team they beat is going to the national championship and they're not?" ...Yeah.. well you go and what does Leach tell his boys? Exactly.)

See: 2011 National Championship. My pokes are praying the BCS comes through, and that everyone remembers had the SEC threw a fit when 2 Big 10 schools were poised to meet in the Natty. What happened? After enough public bitching (sorry. that's what it was) Florida gets in. And they win. That's all we wanted. How does a team that didn't even win it's conference get to play in a National Championship? I still would've liked to see Weeden2Blackmon up against the LSU secondary... excuse me, while I pout.

I could literally list 1000 other examples, but for the sake of not making this a novel, we'll draw the line at those 2.

Which brings me to tonight. World Series, Game 3.

If you did not see the debacle that ended the game...OH MAN. You missed it. Let's just say that as a Red Sox fan, I was certainly cussing. A lot. 

An abridged version of what happened: (St Louis Players names are highlighted in red, and Boston's are in blue for the non baseball roster saavy readers ;] )
Jon Jay hits the ball to Pedroia at 2nd
Pedroia throws home to Salty
Salty tags Molina out (2nd out of the inning), sees Craig approaching 3rd, throws the ball down to 3rd.
It's a bad throw, Middlebrooks lays out for it, Craig is sliding into 3rd.
Middlebrooks is trying to stand up, Craig is stumbling off of 3rd, Falls on Middlebooks 
(ON NOT OVER.) Meanwhile the closest ump misses initial contact due to looking for ball.
Craig makes it over Middlebrooks, Nava fields the overthrown ball, makes the throw back to Salty.
Salty tags Craig out...Craig never actually touches home plate. 

Inning is over right? Wrong. Obstruction is called on Middlebrooks, Craig is awarded home, it's a walk off, Cards win. 

Here's the video because the word version doesn't really do it justice.

And Also pictures that help establish exactly where Will (Middlebrooks) was in the diamond, and showing Craig does not trip over, but on him. Also that at the point of contact, the ump is not looking.

1. Will (Middlebrooks) is clearly in a position of trying to get up. 

2. The BASE LINE HOME is clearly wide open and unobstructed.

3. From both the video and these pictures, my friend and I have concluded that Craig probably would have fallen on his way to home even without a Sox player to trip over because he was very unbalanced coming off the bag. 

Seems absurd right? I can never, ever think of a time in my softball career that I came off of third base and came INSIDE the bag to go home. Did I almost mow my mother over in the coach's box a few times from rounding so wide? Sure. These legs were entirely too long to do otherwise.

Have I slid into 3rd only to realize my coach is screaming at me to run home? Yesssss. Did I run down the base line to get there? YUP. 

The worst part of this? After reviewing the rule...the umpires made a call that was correct.

You see, a base runner can establish any base path they want as long as a tag is not in play. 

So, if Craig wanted to go High five Uehara on the mound before running home...he could. And if Will was in his way at any point during that and he ran into him, it doesn't matter that Salty is waiting to tag him. He's already been awarded home since 3rd is the last base he legally touched. 

The only way this doesn't get called, is if Will is trying to make a play on the ball. Does it matter that 2 seconds before he was trying to make a play on the ball, and was in the process of moving before the runner took an unnatural path to home plate? Nope. Not according to the rule.

And therein lies my problem. Craig has a clear path home plate, and because he takes an unnatural one, he's awarded the bag. It doesn't matter that Will could do NOTHING to get out of the way faster. It does not matter that upon review, it's clear that Craig did not have stable footing any way and probably would've fallen and that Middlebrooks did not in fact cause his intial stumble. It does not even matter that the closest actual umpire is not looking at the moment of contact. He still made the call, and the MLB is standing behind it. 

And that infuriates me. It may not exactly encourage what I would call "cheap contact" on a base runners part, but it certainly does not discourage it. Maybe if the rule is different then, Craig takes the clear path home and we find out if he truly beats the ball home. (Not tripping..he very well could've. However I've already made it clear that I think he stumbles either way.)

Two last quick notes: 

1. Craig slides into 3rd feet first. No reason he steps back inside the bag to go home, even looking over his shoulder. If anything, his feet should have clearly been to the outside of the bag. 

2. My wonderful aunt pointed out a safety concern. (S/O Aunt Liz all the way in ALASKA!) I would normally agree with this. I have many dear friends who have made sports their career and their safety is my number one concern. However, in this situation, Craig is not in harms way if he takes the natural path home. Since he steps inside, and Middlebrooks is on the ground, it is now WILL's safety who is in danger. A cleat to the back, arm, or hand and he's not doing so hot. It was a perspective I hadn't looked at and deserves some pondering. Thoughts?

I believe that this rule will be reviewed, especially in light of this game, and changed. I still don't believe it should've been called in the game tonight because I feel like it's rewarding Craig for doing something that, intentional or not, isn't right. 

I know my opinion will be a popular one among Sox fans, and unpopular among Cardinals fans and that's okay. It's an opinion and I'm allowed to have one...That's the beauty of being an American right? However I do have a bone to pick with Cardinals fans. In light of the Boston Marathon tragedy the city of Boston adopted the #BostonStrong motto. The people of Boston bound together and because the city is extremely serious about their sports, the Red Sox brought a lot of joy to the city. To MOCK this motto by tweeting #BostonWeak after the game tonight was infuriating. Have some class and some respect for those who lost loved ones or had their lives dramatically altered by the events on that Sunday. It was for all intents and purposes a domestic terrorist attack and is to be respected as a national tragedy. Thanks.

Now, I fully expect this series to be decided in Boston and I think we will see a very motivated Red Sox team take the field tomorrow...And I don't expect them to lose the World Series on their home field...so GO SOX GO.

And in the famous words of Big Papi (accent accounted for), "This is our focking ceety." #BostonStrong

The next "Flawed Rule" I'll take a look at: targeting in college football. 

xoxo

Why "Family Rivalry Weekend" has finally begun to scare me again...and I'm glad.

Let me start this off by being very clear. I BLEED ORANGE AND BLACK. My mood lives and dies with Oklahoma State football and I am very, very proud of my school, my coach, and my football program.

Which is why it will probably surprise you to find out that I grew up in a house that breathes Texas Tech football.

Right. I am absolutely the black sheep. (I mean Dad went to UH but never really had that much school pride. He's an NFL guy for sure.)

You see, I have an Uncle that played football for Texas Tech and he is definitely one of my favorite people on the planet. For as long as I can remember, Uncle Mike's visits have meant staying up late in the living room and crying laughing at his stories. It doesn't matter that you know exactly how the story is going to end...You still cry from the way he tells it. 

I'm sure if you find the Parking Ticket guy from Tech in the late 70's, he would tell you a very different, less humorous side of the story. It's seriously a wonder that there are any trees on that campus at all, but that's a story for a different time.

My mom has been telling us since we were little the story of my uncle's commitment to Tech. He was a highly touted high school recruit with offers to every school in Texas, and he had verbally committed to Texas A&M. After a trip to a knee specialist in Houston, Dr. Lin Jones convinced my uncle to take his last official visit to Texas Tech.

My uncle was on the campus for 10 minutes before calling home and telling his mom and dad that he was changing his commitment.

How upset was Texas A&M? Let's just say that my uncle's recruiting coach was in his high school that Monday trying to track him down. It didn't work. (Thank gosh. Can you imagine how different this story would be?!)

So for as long as I can remember Texas Tech has been the one college program I have consistently watched.

Come my senior year, I take my "official visit" to Tech, (Meaning I got to take a Friday off from school mainly. Although I am tall and look like I should play basketball, I am not a coordinated runner and very much a fish out of water on a court), and I loved everything about it.

Except the size of the campus. 

You see, I love big time athletic programs, but directions are not my strong point and the tour guide lost me somewhere around the phrase "second largest contiguous campus in the United States behind the Air Force Academy."

That's right. The only larger campus in the U.S. REQUIRES AIRPLANE LANDING STRIPS.

Had I not stumbled upon the quaint, compact campus I fell in love with in Stillwater, I dare to say I would be bleeding red and black right now.

My visit was in 2008 and let me tell you, school spirit was insane. Tech was winning, the fans were rowdy, and the Jones was ELECTRIC. 

You couldn't walk 2 feet without seeing a pirate reference and I'm pretty sure the "Raider Power" chant seriously never stopped that Saturday. Later that season, Tech went on to beat Texas in a game that had me standing on my chair in a Buffalo Wild Wings and screaming at the top of my lungs even though I was surrounded by longhorns. (Worth it.)

Then Leach was fired and Tech hired "he who must not be named."
Okay, a Voldemort reference may be a little extreme...so we'll compare him to a dementor.

Why?

Because I've never seen somebody suck the life out of a fan base so incredibly fast. 

So in 2011 when I sent my beautiful little sister off to Lubbock (S/O Midge!) I was kind of bummed for her.

I wanted her to feel the kind of excitement that a game day in Stillwater brought. When you were literally sitting in the stadium with 60,000 of your closest friend and EVERY ONE was absolutely pumped about what was going on on the field.

Not the atmosphere that I saw when I went to Lubbock for her first family day.

It was even worse going back for the Oklahoma State game that year. Tech was routed 66-6 at home (those 6 points were on a pick 6 btw. The offense literally never scored) and after halftime, there was no red left in the stands. We just happened to be lucky enough to have made some new friends who owned a suite in the Jones and had we not been watching the game from there, I'm not sure we would've stuck around either. (Our fight song was even starting to irritate me)

Then, our friend Lynn who owns the suite, and is wise beyond his years, said something to my sister that crushed me.

"I wish you could've experienced Tech during the Leach days. Games were really fun back then."

I don't know about y'all but I want my little sister to have the best of everything and that felt like getting punched in the gut. She was at her dream school, known for the great college football atmosphere, and a single man was ruining it.

Then Tuberville announced his departure and I hoped that Athletic Director Hocutt would do right by Tech fans.

And then rumors about the return of a certain quarterback to take on the head coaching job started to surface.

I liked these rumors. My coach just happens to be a former star quarterback. While Les Miles certainly did not suck the life out our program, Gundy brought a different feel to it. After all, he is a MAN, and I don't know if you've ever seen him dance but the man can get down! He's fun, he's fair, and he makes me proud to be a Cowboy.

So when Hocutt summoned a patronous in the form of Kliff Kingsbury (keeping with the Harry Potter references here), I was ecstatic... and terrified.

I like winning in the family rivalry game (OK State V. Texas Tech), and I was perfectly aware the Kingsbury was going to make that a lot more difficult.

I knew all about what he did with Keenum in Houston, and the national attention he was getting for his role with Manziel's Heisman winning season. (Plus he refused to wear maroon at A&M...a man after my own heart.) I knew he was exciting and brilliant...and dangerous.

But I could not have imagined what happened next.

My sister called me to tell that it was like a complete 180...and the man hadn't even stepped on campus yet.

Then he asked that "Kirby put Cincinnati on the schedule for next year." and every heart in Lubbock healed. Tech football was back, in a big way, and with Kingsbury being only 33, it looks like it's here to stay.

I made my obligatory sister trip to Lubbock less than a month and I could not believe the difference in school spirit. Everyone I talked to couldn't stop rambling about Kliff's return, the upcoming season, or how excited they were.

... & Football season was still 7 months away.

I have the pleasure of saying that I returned for family weekend in August and I have never been so squished, uncomfortable, or had my ear drums assaulted from loud cheers so loudly.

The Jones is finally electric again, school pride is soaring, and I am finally worried about the family rivalry match up. 

I'm even looking forward to the trash talking from my sister leading up to it. I'm glad that she's FINALLY getting the experience she so longed for.

So THANK YOU, Kliff Kingsbury.

Thanks for making the Jones an incredibly fun place to see a game again, even for an opposing fan.

Thanks for making my Uncle proud to be a Texas Tech football alumni.

Thank you for being so modest in all of your interviews and constantly giving the credit back to the players

But most of all, Thanks for providing my sister with the college football experience she deserves, and bringing back the trash talk in our Sunday football review conversations.

You are the Harry Potter Tech was looking for. (Okay, last HP reference. My nerdy heart is now happy.)

20 Years of the Mighty Ducks

I have spent the last hour typing, and erasing, and retyping, and desperately trying to arrange my thoughts on fans and the media in today's sports society. It's something that strikes a personal cord with me and I'm finding it exceptionally hard to organize my thoughts the way I would like to, so that post will have to wait until I've had some decent sleep, and let some of my emotion escape. Fighting fire with fire is simply dense, is it not?

Instead, lets throw it back to a movie that introduced most of us southern American kiddos to the beautiful sport that is hockey.

Seriously, who didn't doesnt love the Mighty Ducks movie? (and the sequels!) 

I mean, Disney doesn't really make mistakes when it comes to movie ideas, but still. The Mighty Ducks is one of my favorites.

And I'm confident to say before watching it, I had no idea what the sport of hockey was. I do live in south Texas...

I like to look back on the movie now being a huge hockey fan, and laugh at lines in different ways.

My favorite:
Connie Moreau: [referring to a duck] But they're wimpy!
Guy Germaine: They don't even have teeth!

Gordon Bombay: Neither do hockey players.

This is particularly funny to me because after meeting a friend of a friend who was a hockey player, and discovering we had mutual friends, we took a picture to send to them. It wasn't until I was about to send the picture to one of our friends that I noticed that he had FLIPPED OUT his fake teeth for the picture, and put them right back in by the time I had turned to face him. I assure you that the NHL has among the best dental plans for its players.

So imagine being a huge Mighty Ducks fan and hearing that Disney was going to make the team a reality. 

That's right. The Mighty Ducks were going to be a REAL TEAM in the NHL. Talk about cornering a market. (Disney is downright almost evil genius. "BUT MOMMMMM, I HAVE TO GO SEE THE REAL MIGHTY DUCKS PLAY.")

So in 1993, the Mighty Ducks become a reality. Over the next few years the ducks experience growing pains, (We Texans fans know the pains of growing an expansion team, eh?), but acquire a beauty by the name of Teemu Selanne. (his significance is to come.)

(Side note: Beauty in hockey has a different meaning. Just think of someone who is spectacular. Either as a team mate, as a player, or both. Thanks to hockey, I very rarely use the word beauty out of this particular context. It confuses people.)

Fast forward to a few playoff appearances, a Stanley Cup finals appearance (non-victorious), the exit of Teemu Selanne and a few other key players, and an impending lockout and Disney is ready to sell. A businessman by the name of Henry Samueli and his wife by the team and continue on with their business.  

2005 brings about the return of Selanne, along with the uprising of two rookies by the name of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry and the Mighty Ducks make an appearance in the Western Conference finals.

At the beginning of the 06-07 season, the ducks drop the "mighty" and just become the Anaheim Ducks, and WIN LORD STANLEY. (I would like to mention that they had to beat 2 of my favorite teams in the process to get there. And that a team created from a Disney movie has more Stanley Cup wins that either of those two teams...although that's not hard when the number to beat is 0.)

So that's a lot of history to get to tonight. (Sorry. Told you I really love hockey.) Tonight, the little kid in me absolutely died and went to heaven. Why you ask?

The Mighty Ducks took the ice on throwback night in Anaheim. 

How sick do those babies look? The Anaheim Ducks are celebrating their 20th season in the NHL and pulled out these retro jerseys for the occasion. They even went as far as having 1993 style graphics on the screen during the game. Had the Red Sox not been trying to give me a heart attack on the other coast, I would've been the happiest little bumblebee in the world.

The goalie, Jonas Hiller, rocked this helmet tonight. 

The other ducks goalie, Viktor Fasth, also has a throwback mask for this season. His was painted by my FAVORITE mask artist, a swede by the name of David Gunnarsson who does amazing work.

In what I refuse to believe was anything other that brilliant planning by the Ducks front office, throwback night happened against the Ottawa Senators, the very team the they beat to claim their only Stanley Cup with goals made by Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and an assist by Teemu Selanne (Who announced at the beginning of this season, in a hilarious video, that he would be coming back for his final pro season in Anaheim).

After losing their season opener to the Avalanche, the Ducks have won 4 straight and look to be doing something special in what I consider to be a very strong division. I'm hoping for more throwback nights throughout the course of the year, preferably not during playoff baseball. We need to see Fasth's helmet make an appearance with the throwback jersey's for the full effect.

I'll try to make the before-mentioned post sometime this afternoon or later this week if I can't seem to straighten my thoughts out. We'll talk some playoff baseball, college football (Mizzou beating Georgia..what?!), NFL, and maybe take a look at the Rockets trip overseas. 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving y'all. I will be continuing to celebrate this evening with a hockey game, my family, and Crown Royal. So very much to be thankful for. 

xoxo

In Schaub I trust.... kind of.

I really need more hours in a day.

This morning I actually had a really interesting conversation with my father about the whole Matt Schaub situation. For those of you that are not from around Houston, you're probably unaware that a group of Texans fans went into the Texans fan store at Reliant Stadium, Purchased a Schaub jersey, marched it into the parking lot, and set it on fire. 

SET. IT. ON. FIRE.

So, let's review.

Week 1 San Diego- Terrible First half by the team as a whole, At halftime JJ Watt threatens to turn the entire team into Wattkabobs (pure speculation), defense plays shut down ball, Matt Schaub pieces together a pretty decent second half, Brian Cushing has a pick 6 that saves the day and Randy Bullock wins it on a field goal. Not pretty, but a win. (Also, we play awful on national TV)

Week 2 Tennessee- This game is always special to me because, hello, we're playing the team that decided Houston wasn't good enough for them. Now, I would like to tell you that the only Titans fan I tolerate spent the entire week before complaining about how awful this team was, AND THEY FORCED US INTO OVERTIME. We almost did not have an Overtime because of a pick 6 thrown by Schaub, who did later lead us onto the game winning drive thanks to some brilliance by DeAndre Hopkins. Also, I was asking for Randy Bullocks head after this game.

Week 3 Baltimore- We looked good! Came out strong. Motivated. Pick 6..and complete momentum shift. I can't comment on the second half of this game because I was in a car headed back from Lubbock, but the score about says it all. Just awful.

Week 4 Seattle- Yesterday. Oh, yesterday. Our offense clicked in the first half. We scored 20 points on a defense that had only allowed 27 points in 3 weeks. I had a friend tell me I should be loving Matt Schaub, I know better though. Our defense looked spectacular. Then after halftime...Cush gets a concussion. JJ has his face busted open. And Matt Schaub, who cannot get any offense going, throws yet another Pick 6. We lose in overtime. 

I understand the old saying, "One play doesn't lose a game." Yeah? Well it can damn sure win one. And that pick 6 was a dagger, and one of two interceptions in the game.

So, if you're keeping count, Matt has thrown 3 pick 6's in the past 9 quarters. (We're starting this melt down from the 4th quarter against the Titans.) Do you know how many touchdowns our defense has allowed in that same time span?

THREE.

So back to the jersey burning. My dad thinks this is entirely the wrong idea. If Kubiak believes in him, so should we. The last thing we need is for our quarterback to have ZERO confidence. That's not going to get us anywhere. Besides we don't want to be like those awful fans in that city about 4 hours North of us, do we? 

I can't honestly sit here and say I believe in him. I can't say he doesn't frustrate me, and I can't say that I believe he's the guy that's going to take us to the Super Bowl. (And trust me. I want that more than anything.) I was the loudest proponent of the "Suck for Luck" campaign and I'd give me left kidney to have him here now, but I love my team. And I trust my coach. He's made a lot of moves that made me scratch my head and have me smiling now. And after the last few drafts, I may ask Rick Smith to be the Godfather to my children. (Not anytime soon, mom. Don't you worry!)

So I'm pleading Texans fans, let's try a new approach. YES, let's be upset. Let's express that yesterday's loss was inexcusable and that our offense has to get better, but let's cheer them along that way. Burning jersey's in the stadium parking lots makes me feel like we're on par with Dallas Cowboys fans... and I know we're so much better than that. 

Our coaches know we have to get better. Our players know we have to get better. We've all got the same goal...but lets show the rest of the NFL why we're the best fans in the league.

So for now, In Schaub I trust... kind of.

xoxo

P.S. HAPPY NHL OPENING NIGHT EVE ALL OF YOU HOCKEY FANS. I'M SO PUMPED.

It's been a bad weekend for my football teams.

If there is one thing I love about weekends, it's sleeping in.

If there's one thing I hate about college football, It's 11 AM kickoffs.

Seriously though, at what point in time did someone think that it would be a good idea to set college football games before noon. My brain barely functions before noon. So imagine my displeasure at having to wake up for that 3 hours Oklahoma State tried to pass off as a game...

It's like our Offensive Coordinator had COMPLETELY forgotten how to run our offense. I would like to think we run what I, and probably only I, call a balanced spread offense. I know at the heart of our identity, we do in fact run a spread offense (throw, throw, and throw some more.) We run things at a very quick pace and rely on that fast tempo to disrupt defenses sometimes. 

I should at this point mention that the very man who brought this very dangerous offense to OSU was none other than Dana Holgorsen. Former OSU OC, current WVU Head Coach. I got quite a few chuckles at how upset he was getting when the offense he brought to our school was catching his new defense so far off guard. Shouldn't you, of all people, know this plan?

Anywho, the thing that I think has made us so successful is that we've also had a very good ground game. Just when you're starting to figure out what we're doing through the air, BOOM, explosive running back right up the middle. Now you don't know what to cover. It's been effective. VERY effective. Until Saturday. What did we do? Run, run, run some more, run again, oh wait we're on the 1/2 yard line, THROW. SERIOUSLY. I wish I was kidding. Also, as an OSU fan, I'm realizing just how spoiled I was by Dan Bailey and Quinn Sharp...please come back. Our kicker missed a less than 25 yd field goal, while just two hours later I watched Georgia's kicker nail a 55 yarder right down the middle. 

I'm bitter. SO bitter.

Then today, after staying up much too late laughing with some of my favorites, the Texans happened.

There's something that one of my friends dad said that always stuck with me. Partially because his son was an offensive lineman, and partially because it's so true. 

"If I'm noticing the offensive line, they're doing something wrong."

Is it fair? Not entirely. Is it accurate? Absolutely. How many times when you see Arian Foster make an explosive play up the middle do you say, "Geeze, that was GREAT blocking by the left tackle." Chances are...less than 1%. That's why you always hear about Quarterbacks feeding their entire offensive lines every week. Because if they do their job, the qb is able to do his without issue.

I was spoiled in 2011. The OSU offensive line was monstrous. Brandon Weeden had all day to throw in the pocket. A thing of beauty. So imagine my discontent when I see how many licks Schaub takes.

Now, I personally believe that Schaub is hyper aware of incoming pressure, ( a drastic 180 from David Carr, who apparently is completely blind in his peripheral vision), and after a chat with a friend I also believe his foot is not, and may never be, 100%. All I'm saying that if I were an opposing defensive coordinator you could bet that I would be blitzing every single down.

I'm not throwing in the towel yet. Our defense still looks spectacular, and our offensive line went above and beyond in the first half today... but something has got to get better.That second half was enough to make any Texans fan cry.

I don't really like Schaub, but I disagree with the fans asking to cut him and start Keenum. (You guys are aware that there is a guy in between them on the Depth Chart who...I dont know...HAS WON AN NFL PLAYOFF GAME FOR US.) But something has got to change.

I'll analyze more on the Texans tomorrow. Including how I would not want to be 49ers offense next week because what I saw in the post game interviews was a VERY ANGRY JJ Watt. (The stitches definitely add to the stud factor btw.) 

xoxo

Exit Sandman

My family has been encouraging me to take my endless sports related jabber and put it into a blog (I assume so that I will have an outlet for the millions of things that run through my mind other than their ears) and tonight, I’ve decided to bite the bullet. I feel inspired at the moment and I would like to share my thoughts with y’all. And if you know me at all, the title of this blog absolutely makes sense.

There are two very important things you must understand off the bat. 1. I cry once in a blue moon. I mean that. I’m not a big crier. I never have been. My father claims that I lack empathy and I’ve had more than one person question if I was a robot. 2. As I write this, there are tears in my eyes.

There certainly have been things happening in the sports world today. Although not overly eventful, they are happening. None of them compare to what took place tonight though. Let’s rewind to earlier this week. On a very eventful Sunday, One on which I spent 8 hours in the car and relied on the wonderful world of twitter to provide me with updates, the most monumental sports related news was not a play on the field. Sure there was an ever entertaining goalie fight, (Did Bernier spend all of his time in LA in south Compton or what?! Seriously…), to my Texans looking like they had never been taught that First downs on our side of the 50 yard line were actually a good thing, and two actually fantastic NFL games, however on Sunday the most important thing that happened was the hanging of a second #42 on the wall of retired numbers in Yankee Stadium. The greatest closer of all time was given an hour long ceremony to celebrate a prolific career with one of the most storied programs in baseball. 

To understand how important Sunday was to me let me back track a little. While I really do love all sports (I tolerate soccer.) Baseball is my first love. It’s the high school boyfriend of sports for me. While I expressed my interest in playing baseball at a young age, my parents tried to steer me towards the less dangerous, and more boring, road of softball. (Sorry softball girls! Just wasn't my cup of tea.) “A girl doesn't aim extra hard to brush you off the plate like a boy would if you were the only girl playing in a boys league,” my parents reasoned. However, I wanted to be the first female pitcher in the MLB and I wanted to wear Navy pinstripes. I fell in love with Derek Jeter and in turn, the entire Yankees roster. This included an ever growing affection for Mariano Rivera. I’ve never known a Yankees roster that didn’t include Mo and I can’t think of a classier person to be the last active player to wear Jackie’s number. I can be ANYWHERE and hear the intro to “Enter Sandman” and immediately think of Mo. He’s had so many great career moments but I find that most of my personal favorites come from other teams honoring him as he played in their ballparks for the last time this season. That’s right. A man who played his entire career on a team that other teams LOVE to hate, is so highly respected that other teams would have ceremonies honoring him in their own home ballparks. Truly speaks volumes. My by-far favorite moment in his career comes from this season at Fenway Park. As soon as Girardi made the call to the bullpen and Enter Sandman came over the speakers, the entire stadium stood and gave him a standing ovation. This is outstanding for two reasons. These two teams have the greatest rivalry in baseball (and Boston fans are not known for warm hospitality of opposing teams) and Mo entering the game means that you’re losing, and there’s not a real good chance of you leaving with a win. It’s kind of his thing...

So tonight, when for the last time ever, the greatest closer of all time took the mound at Yankee Stadium, a little piece of my heart broke. It was a wonderful thing to see the crowd truly honor him, and see Pettite and Jeter, two of my all-time favorite Yankees, come out to pull him off the mound. It was amazing to see the emotion he expressed and all the embraces from his teammates and the standing ovation from the Rays dugout. The Yankees finish their season with a three game series in my hometown of Houston, but I honestly hope Rivera is not pitched here. I want to see him go out on his home field... but I do hope to see a bunch of “thank you, Mo” signs in the stands. Mainly because given the opportunity, it’s what I would say to him. Thank you for showing us exactly what a DOMINANT cutter looks like, for the ease in my stomach every time you took the mound to save a game that we  were going to come out with a win, and for never shying away from thanking Jesus for everything you’ve been blessed with. Even though my allegiances have switched over the years, the one thing I have always enjoyed is watching you pitch. I’ve been lucky enough to never know baseball without you, and it will certainly be strange watching someone else step into the closing role for the Yankees. While I’m sure that batters are breathing a sigh of relief, you will be so missed.

Thank you for the memories.

Exit Sandman.