Blackhawks/ NHL Playoff Picture

So I just flipped to VS for a second to check out the Blackhawks Wild game. I did my weekly check of the standings in the NHL, and I've got a hopefully obvious prediction, and a bold prediction.

First off, there is no chance the Blackhawks miss the playoffs. You can trade away 9 of their forwards or however many it was, but they're playing good hockey and are hot right now. If only they had a goalie I might even predict a sneaky repeat. Toews, Kane, and Sharp are playing well, and Kopecky and Hossa aren't too shabby either. The Hawks are 4th in the league in scoring, and 2nd in power play. If one of their goalies catches on fire, they will be a team to be reckoned with in the playoffs.


Next, call me insane, but the Devils will make the playoffs. I can't remember a time in my life that the Devils didn't make a playoff run. 9-1 in their last 10, and 9 points out with 20 games left to play, I can definitely see it happening. Not to mention the Devils just got rid of the biggest dog in the NHL, Jason Arnott, in exchange for David Steckel who actually plays with balls. A good trade and a healthy Brodeur, Devils will close the gap. Could get interesting at the end if they're fighting it out with the Rangers. Would love for another Stephane Matteau moment.

March 1st Is Almost Here

March 1st means one thing: 

March madness is under way and it’s almost time to win your office pool. Instead of filling out your bracket like the hot intern in your office by picking a team based on which mascot reminds her most of her cheerleading days in middle school, you’re going to want to keep your masculinity and pick based on actual sports “knowledge”.  Thankfully for the Eagles, this year there are 68 teams, which means BC has managed to stay on the bubble even while losing to two IVY league teams.  But aside from knowing not to pick BC to get out of the first round, or make the Elite 8 like I pick every year, here are some tips on how to choose a
winning bracket.

1)      Don’t try picking the trendy upset pick:  Teams with a 4+ seed
advantage wins 75% of the time.. Now that does leave room for some
upsets. Only select these Double digit seeds to get out of round 1 :
Princeton projected 13 seed right now (Because an Ivy league team has
made the sweet 16 every year since 2010) Richmond  projected 11 seed
right now (Because Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper are the two best
players you’ve never heard of  and they are the same team that was a 7
seed last year) Michigan St projected 10 seed right now (Michigan
State and final 4 goes together like TruTv covering the NCAA
Tournament first round: it is just bound to happen) While I was ready
to put Old Dominion in this category Joey” Brackets” Lunardi has them as
a 9 seed.

2)      BYU will not make the final 4. Even with all these years of preferential seeding because they refuse to play on a Sunday so they are the only team not ranked on the S curve, they have made the tournament 25 times without making the final 4. Yes that is a record. Teams from the same conference are blocked regionally, so BYU’s refusal to play on a Sunday will essentially affect SDSU’s seeding for the worse; this is basically karma for Steve Fisher cheating in Michigan all those years.  If you refuse to play on a Sunday you won’t make the

final 4 even if you have THE JIMMER.

3)      Teams don’t repeat. Unless you have Joakim Noah. And they only repeated because Tim Tebow was leading prayer sessions for the students before tournament games. But before Florida repeated you have to go way back to find the last repeat team was… who cares, I am too lazy to google it and Kyrie Irvingless Duke’s not repeating

4)      If an opposing team’s cheerleader tries to keep you in the game by
getting a technical in the closing seconds (see

and your star player tweets after losing “No way we should've lost to thembums smh..You will win the title. Take PITT in your office pool to win the tournament.

5)      None of this means anything or makes any sense until the actual bracket comes out.

First post from achemerinsky

Guest Writers

So I've decided to expand my empire to include another author. Add a west coast author in to give a little insight on college basketball and baseball previews. Look for something coming soon

NFL Combine

So I've been wasting time watching the NFL combine looking at these freak athletes test in just about everything you could possibly test in physically. It's impressive. Very impressive.

But with that being said, there is just way too much emphasis put on all of this stuff. Sure these tests are important, but John Buccigross said it best today. If you put Tom Brady or Peyton Manning out there, they would probably finish last in every single one of these tests. How fast you run a 40 matters for rbs and wrs I guess, but does it show how well you run routes? Does a linebacker doing 3 cone drills show how well you recognize and sniff out the ball in a play? No it doesn't. These numbers really help some guys in the draft, but I guarantee there will be players who either didn't work out in the combine or performed poorly that end up being better players. Too much hype is put on physical numbers nowadays instead of just being a football player.

All that being said, after watching the freaks from UNC that didn't play, the Tar Heels would've been unreal this year with these guys. Almost beat LSU without 10 of their starters.

Baseball Bold Prediction

So with spring training in session, and games right around the corner, I figured it would be time to make a bold prediction on MLB division races. The Brewers, yes the Milwaukee Brewers will win the NL Central. The thing that pisses me off more than anything is that I was thinking about writing this last night before this whole Wainwright "significant injury" has to appear and make it look like I jumped on today. Not true but it is what it is. Brew Crew will win The NL Central this year and this is why: starting pitching and a contract year for Prince Fielder.

With the additions of Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum to an already stellar Yovani Gallardo, and classic fourth starter Randy Wolf, there is no better pitching staff in the NL Central (especially with no Wainwright in St. Louis). If the bullpen can stay healthy, and if Parra can become a solid left-handed option out of the bullpen, the Brewers are going to do work. Saito, althought 41, is a good option, and LaTroy Hawkins has been there a few times...

One of the biggest factors for the Brewers has to be the fact that Prince Fielder is in a contract year. We all know how baseball players operate: try twice as hard in a contract year. Not saying there's anything wrong with it, but I'm looking for huge numbers for the fatty. Braun has to bounce back from a down year by his standards. I'm not expecting first half numbers from Corey Hart like last year, but maybe instead of cooling off in the second half, he'll just have a consistent 30 hr .280 type year.

Saying all that, Look for the Brew Crew to be in the hunt for October. More previews/predictions to come.

Jim Calhoun/ College Basketball

So Jim Calhoun finally gets an NCAA sanction. It's about time. I mean you can't tell me that kids all these years really want to go to Storrs, Connecticut to play basketball over going to an actual city. It's a joke. Storrs has to be the worst place on earth. It's not even like an SEC college town in the middle of nowhere, because the weather sucks too. Just the worst of all worlds. This has got me all fired up, but as much of a sleaze bag I think Calhoun is, I always revert back to John Calipari: the most dishonest scum of the Earth.

I don't understand how John Calipari is allowed to coach in the NCAA ever again. First off, you are a wannabe Rick Pitino. Pitino goes to the NBA, so do you. He goes back to college, so do you. The only reason you are on the same PLANET as Pitino is because you are the dirtiest recruiter, and the biggest cheater in the history of college sports. Calipari makes SEC Football look good. But somehow, the NCAA won't shut him down. They shut down Kelvin Sampson but somehow Calipari is just cruising around. The only thing keeping him going is the one year rule. Without the one year rule, Calipari is in big trouble. Do you think his players go to one class in their career? Not a chance. Do you think he does the things that Jim Boeheim, Coach K, or Bob Knight have done turning boys into men, and teaching them life lessons you're supposed to learn as a college athlete? Give me a break. This guy cares about one thing, getting paid. The only reason he ever even had a career was because of what he payed Camby to go to UMass. I just really wish that in that press conference John Cheney from Temple fought Calipari. Calipari looked like he soiled himself when Cheney called him out. Nobody likes the guy.

I'm just sick of the BS in college basketball right now. It's literally impossible as a Freshman athlete to become ineligible in your first year. These kids can step on campus and never attend a class in a year and still play. The rule needs to change and the NCAA needs to step up and recognize the disgusting character of some of its coaches.

The State of American Sports

What is going on with sports in America right now? It's getting to be ridiculous. Maybe it's just me, but professional sports are becoming as selfish and greedy as Wall Street. The NBA has obviously taken center stage with the BS, and the Carmelo deal still has me fired up. I can't get over the fact that the players get to agree on where they want to go. Now, there are players like Deron Williams and Chris Paul already discussing where they'll be willing to go after the season. That's being a great team player. If one of those guys was on my team, I wouldn't want to go to war with him. I can't imagine someone in the real world talking in public around their co-workers about which company they're going to switch to at the end of the quarter. Just doesn't make sense.  

The NBA is not the only league that's got me fired up. Major League Baseball has its faults also. It's completely absurd the length of contracts guys are getting nowadays. The reason these contracts are insane is because a lot of guys only try in their contract years anyway. Not only players, but teams have no chance in the Majors. If you don't have an incredible farm system like the Marlins or the Rays, or the deep pockets of the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs (who still will never win), or Dodgers how are you supposed to compete? Last year was a fluke of all flukes; one out of every six years a team outside of the major players has a chance to win. 

All this being said, I'm not mad at what players get paid, because in my eyes, if somebody is willing to give you that, why would you turn it down. Also, the revenue they create is incredible. I'm not mad about the pay I'm just mad at the way it goes down. We need to fix things, or else it's gonna turn into players running the Drafts and deciding which team they want to play for and how much they'll get paid

All Star stuff

Is there anything worse in the entire world than All Star festivities? What's worse: Celebrity Softball game or this celebrity basketball game? I think both are pretty horrific. The only thing I care to watch is the Home-Run Derby and the MLB All-Star game, because that game actually means something. Watching basketball with no defense is just horrible... Oh wait that's the NBA regular season every night.

Carmelo

Could anybody else care less where Carmelo Anthony ends up? I'm sorry but the LeBron, DWade, Boozer, Stoudemire free agency was fun. This is just getting stupid. Like the Nets, really? I do not want to hear about a trade until it actually happens. I'm sick of the speculation. And I love how Carmelo has to agree to sign an extension. What is the NBA turning into?

One of the greatest coaches in NBA history just randomly throws the towel in last week, probably because of a player. Do NBA coaches really even matter? Here's an idea for the NBA: get rid of the coaches because the players get the final say. Get rid of general managers, because what do they really do? All they need is owners to pay and the players pretty much decide where they want to play anyways. I've never seen a sport in my entire life where the players are bigger than the team and coach, but the NBA has found a way to do it.

Everything to Prove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0Y5e36BAKU


Not sure if anyone's seen this but looks like an unreal documentary. I've been really impressed with all of the documentaries lately showing college players' preparations for the NFL. It's unbelievable how hard these guys work to reach their goals. The only problem with this years players is they may be training for something they will never get to show on the field. Let's hope the CBA get's figured out soon.

toomer's corner

So you know like Jim Rome's what I'm burning on.... this is it.

I've never seen anything in my life more despicable than what was done at Auburn today. Listen. If I am a Bama fan I understand: we've paid Julio Jones enough under the table and no one found out. We did not win the SEC West, and our arch rival Auburn did. They also won the BCS National Championship. But someone found a way to take it to the next level.

One of my favorites moments of my childhood was on October 4th, 2003. My first night game at Auburn with my best friend Trey when Auburn killed what I thought was the last of the Ice Men, but turned out to be the first: Casey Clausen. The sad thing was he was the best out of the 3. We'll get to that another day. The thing that made my day was rolling (or tping as people up north say) Toomer's Corner after the win.

Now, some jackass Alabama fans have shown their true class and poisoned the soil under Toomer's Corner. Not only have you ruined one of the cooler traditions in all of college sports, but you've ruined memories that I could've passed on to my kids. You've also started a war that I don't know you're ready to fight.

The thing that this brings up is there is no greater rivalry in all of sports than the Iron Bowl. Michigan Ohio State, you have a great rivalry but people don't lose lives/ great historical things over it. UNC/Duke: great basketball rivalry but you may play 3 times in a year. Auburn Alabama is the greatest rivalry in all of sports. I am a Red Sox fan so yes Red Sox/Yankees is a close second but I've been to a game at Fenway and at Yankee and nothing compares to the Iron Bowl.

All that said, people crossed the line. There are certain things that are holy ground at any University/pro ball park, and those things need to be kept intact. I just pray that some how Toomer's Corner be held up so that I can relive my childhood memories and so that a great college football tradition can continue to thrive.

last thing: I don't know if Alabama is ready for what is about to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Bryant-Denny was burned down by Sunday

Pujols and possibility of free agency

So are the Cardinals just dumb? I mean at this point what are you trying to do? Now with free agency open, you're going to have to pay more than you wanted. I mean, this guy legitimately is your franchise. Oh wait, maybe you should not sign Pujols and then decide to bench Colby Rasmus for no reason when he's in the top 6 in the league in every offensive category... Cardinals making me give a giant facepalm right now. 


The only positive coming from this is free agency would be pretty awesome next year if Pujols and Sabathia are up for grabs. I'd love to watch Hank Steinbrenner sweat it out and pay way too much for Pujols even though he already has overpaid Teixeira. But hey like Hank says, "So, we're the only team you can be assured, as long as we own them, are going to be in it every single year". Alright Hank. That's funny because you weren't in it last year. The Rangers rocked your world and the one guy responsible for it, Cliff Lee, shut you down again in free agency. Hurt a little? It should. There was more appeal to play in Philly for an actual contender this year than to go play for an overpaid Yankees organization who has an awful pitching rotation. 

So Hank, I can't wait to be reassured at the end of the year.   

Bedtime thinking

Just something to leave you with for the night. thanks barry

Kiper and McShay

Can Mel Kiper and Todd McShay please just shut up. Like ESPN get them off tv. It's an absolute joke. How many times can they continuously be wrong about players and continue to keep their jobs? If they were any good at evaluating prospects, they'd be working in a front office for an NFL team. Do you think McShay felt like the biggest clown watching the Tebow year of the quarterback documentary? Because he should. And Kiper, how do you feel on draft day when your top 10 available players constantly stay on the board because you have no earthly idea how to judge talent.

The reason this has gotten me fired up is the Cam Newton ordeal. So Trent Dilfer sees him work out and says he's unreal so now he jumps up your board 7 spots? Did 2 hours of a media workout really do that much? Maybe it's just your lack of abilities in judging talent, and you realized someone who knows way more about football said something good about him so he sky rockets on your boards. You two should just go work for rivals and give out 5 stars to a bunch of kids who are 18 because if youre wrong it really doesn't matter that much. Either way, stop talking about NFL players because you're making yourself sound stupid.

Just to be clear

So anyone who doesn't understand me. Yes I am a BC fan. Yes I think the SEC is by far the best college football conference. I'm just saying that some of the schools in the SEC need to hold up their end of the deal. Wait.. Let me rephrase: the SEC West is the best football conference in the country.

 Big 10: Ohio State is good but overrated, Wisconsin is good, Iowa is good. We all saw saw how good Michigan State was- total facepalm. Michigan will be good in a few. But even saying this, none of these teams is close to as good as Bama Auburn or LSU.

Pac whatever: USC will always be good, Oregon is good, and...... nothing. Arizona: brutal so don't even attempt to say they're any good. Cal's football program may not even be around next year who knows the way that place operates. Too bad the Rogers brothers couldn't play every position for Oregon State.

Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma will always be great minus one fluke year. Ok State is on the rise. Texas A&M on the rise. Baylor-pretenders. Maybe Tuberville will get Texas Tech turned around but it seems like he'll be on to a new job before that can happen.

Boise will always be a top 10 team but never play for the BCS title. TCU's luck will run dry playing in the one conference I refuse to talk about. I won't even mention the name. That basketball conference that should be in  FCS.

and finally..... The ACC: I think Florida State is farther away from dominance than everyone else thinks, but they will still be very good. NC State- OB will continue the mediocrity. Va Tech will have great defenses and always be top 20. Who even knows what to expect from Maryland and Miami? Clemson will have unreal athletes and underachieve every year. Wake Forest is horrible. Ga tech's option offense won't work as well for Paul Johnson as it did 2 years ago. BC will "overachieve" in the eyes of the media but be right at the top of the Atlantic every year.

That's my rundown. Deal with it West Coast. You're just not that good. That's why nobody watches you not because of the time difference.

New OC and schedule

So I'm pretty excited about Spaz's Offensive Coordinator hire and also pretty pleased with BC's out of conference schedule next year. First with the OC

If I'm a high school quarterback that wants to play in the NFL, why would I not come play at Boston College, a school that at one time had 3 starting quarterbacks in the league this year. With Matt Ryan taking the league by storm, and now Kevin Rogers as the offensive coordinator, the quarterback position should be looking pretty good. Rogers coached Brett Favre. Let me say that again: Rogers coached Brett Favre. I don't care if you hate Brett Favre or love him, he's one of those names that will always bring attention to whatever you do. If I'm a high school kid, why would I not want to play for a guy who coached Brett Favre. Rogers knows what it takes to make it to the next level and I think recruiting should come easy.

Let's think for next year. There's one thing that people forget about Chase Rettig. Everyone puts soo much emphasis on 4/5 star recruits and they literally sweat guys who played in the Under Armour or Army All American game. All I heard this year was about Kiehl Frazier, Jeff Driskell, Brett Hundley, and Braxton Miller. Everyone tends to forget that Rettig was his teams offensive MVP at the Under Armour game. Take into consideration the fact he was a true Freshman last year, I look for an improved season, especially with Larmond back.

Not only will the new OC and a year under our qb's belt help, but look at our schedule. Out of conference games against Northwestern and UCF to start the season will have the team a little better prepared than the Weber State, Kent State start last year. Add the Notre Dame game: that's a decent OOC schedule. Take into account we add USC in 2013/14, recruits have a pretty good schedule their looking at to play. Although I despize Gene Defillipo, I have to say he's done a decent job with the schedule and it should really help us in the future.

http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/021411aaa.html

"The old ball coach" flexed hard yesterday

So just when you think Spurrier will never succeed at South Carolina he gets a kid like Marcus Lattimore and makes a run to the SEC Championship. Then, just when you think it was a fluke, he gets Jadaveon Clowney who is the biggest freak prospect I've ever seen (granted I've only been watching prospects a few years). He looks like Julius Peppers at age 18.

So add Clowney to Lattimore and what do you get? How about 4 SEC East championships in a row. I don't care how many unreal 5 stars UGA has or if Aaron Murray is the real deal. When it comes down to it, half of their players will be in the state pen when the season starts. Even if they stay out of trouble, look what Richt did with Stafford, Knowshon, and AJ Green: NOTHING. And quit the bs about being a good Christian man. If that was the case then you'd recruit different type players instead of the criminals you bring in every year.

 And Florida... Muschamp was not the answer. Yes he was great at Auburn with his defenses, yes he did a good job at Texas minus last year, but he's just not the character type I'd want for my head coach. And add to that the fact that Florida State owns that state recruiting wise right now, it's looking pretty good for South Carolina to make a mid 90's Tennessee type run.

Not like it really matters who wins the East, because just like last year the East will still grab the SEC tag of "superiority" yet be more like an ACC type conference. I can't wait for this year in week 2 to watch Boston College crush UCF so that way all the SEC East fans can remember the UGA bowl loss, and remember the 2000 beating BC delivered to UGA. No big deal UGA. You're just not holding your end of the bargain being in the SEC. Call me any day and we'll take you with our 3 star athletes who have discipline, go to class, stay out of jail, and oh yeah, still play in the NFL.

I don't know about you but I'm pretty sick of people that are UGA, Tennessee, Kentucky fans that still boast about the SEC. Sure, Auburn, Bama, LSU, Arky, usually Florida, are the real deal. And by the real deal probably 5 of the best 10 teams in the country. But all you others living off the SEC tag, get off your high horse and try to beat a Conference USA team in a bowl game.

College Hockey

So i'm watching the Beanpot right now and it's a good college hockey game, especially because of the fact that BC's in the finals and the #1 team in the country.

I've gotta preface this by saying that I'm one of the biggest BC sports fans you'll find. I go to every football, baseball, basketball game; I've even gone to a bunch of women's soccer and field hockey games. But for some reason I have just never been able to dive into BC hockey the way that I have every other sport. And no it's not because i grew up in Georgia. I think the game style is just what drives me nuts. I grew up watching minor league hockey as my dad coached in the ECHL, and there is a visible difference in pro and college hockey. College defensemen can't make 2 d to d passes to get into the neutral zone. Its literally dump and chase hockey constantly. Drives me absolutely insane. Not only that, but the referees' whistles blow just way to much. Like let them play. I've seen about 10 too many penalties tonight. Part of the reason the NHL is awesome (in the playoffs) is because they let them play and it's a physical game. The refs in college soccer let kids play more than this. Its almost like watching a team play against Duke in basketball, except both teams get called in college hockey.

Oh well, as pissed as I am, go BC. Beanpot then back to back NCAA titles to shut up our sports "rivals" from down the street. The "" around rivals are referring to the fact that there is no rivalry because we only play them in one sport, the sport that only 1/100th of people in this country knew even happened

First post

So I've finally given in and decided to write a blog. I kinda lost my passion when college football season was over, but I'm feeling pretty good with march madness coming up and this Beanpot game right now has gotten me fired up. But instead of rambling in my first post, just wanted to let all my twitter followers know that the completely biased sports knowledge you've been hearing on a daily basis is not limited to only 140 characters; now you get to listen to me go off for even longer on how overrated the Pac 10/12 is in every sport, how the SEC will always dominate football, and how much I hate the Yankees and love BC sports. Hopefully I'll get laughs, but more importantly enlighten the world with my expertise and brilliance in any sport.

(gonna be kinda tough to make a decent point without using some of my favorite choice words but hey its time to get creative)