Two and a Hater

Douchiest College Rankings - Philadelphia Edition

2012-01-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

A cursory glance at Philadelphia area colleges might cause you to think that Villanova is the douchiest college in the area. In the upset of this still very young century, this is not the case. LaSalle University upset the heavily favored Villanova Wildcats to take the top spot.

While both colleges consist mainly of spoiled white kids spending daddy's money, La Salle brings something extra to the table. LaSalle is located in the ghetto of north Philth, although the campus is pretty well walled off from the actual ghetto. Regardless, this inspires the whiter than white LaSalle kids to act all ghetto and tough. The Villanova kids at least realize that they're on the Main Line and not the 'hood.

The rest of the top 5:

1.) LaSalle
2.) Villanova
3.) University of the Arts
4.) Penn
5.) LaSalle (again)

WSJ - The New Art of Alimony

2012-01-10T08:00:00.004-05:00

Recently I had the privilege of reading this absolutely fascinating article on alimony.

Once again, I'll say that I am a romantic at heart and I am all in favor of committed, monogamous, loving relationships. But there is no way in hell that I am ever signing a contract that financially cripples me for the rest of my life if we break up.

The article is kind of long so I have to assume that a lot of people won't read it.

A very quick word of warning to any ladies reading this. The article talks about how women who marry divorced men also suffer from his alimony payments. I never even thought about that until this article.

Just as an additional note, this Cracked.com article is how I found out about the WSJ article.

Philadelphia 76ers: New Mascot

2012-01-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

I heard that the Philadelphia 76ers need a new mascot.

You're welcome, Phuckers.

The Future of Oklahoma State Football

2012-01-06T08:00:00.004-05:00

Mike "I'm a man. I'm 40." Gundy wants to continue OK State's recent success.

I think the biggest problem for the Cowboys is just becoming a national presence (to attract recruits). It's not a traditional power with a lot of history (Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, USC). More on this below.

A lot of people like to compare T. Boone Pickens to Phil Knight (Oregon) in terms of funding their programs, but Nike carries a little more weight with recruits than BP Capital Management.

The problem is that OK State does have some history/big names, but people rarely associate them with OK State.

Miami has Michael Irvin.
Florida State has Deion Sanders.
Notre Dame has Joe Montana.
Pitt has Dan Marino (and Ryan).
Florida has Tim Tebow.

Oklahoma State does have some former and current NFL names in Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Jason Gildon, Kevin Williams, Jamal Williams, Dez Bryant, Russell Okung, Kendall Hunter, Brandon Pettigrew.

But how many people knew that? Or think of the Cowboys when they hear those names?

Maybe Justin Blackmon will change that. Maybe people blogging about it will draw more attention to Oklahoma State.

Double Burn

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Check out this article, and scroll down to "You Were So Sure He'd Propose".

Thirty-year-old Laura, of Belvidere, New Jersey, was looking forward to the holidays—and a proposal. “We’d been together over a year and were talking about getting engaged,” says Laura. “He even took me ring shopping!” On Christmas Eve, he handed her a jewelry box from her favorite shop. “Any girl looking at that box would have thought, This is it,” she recalls. “But there was an MP3 player inside.” Laura was crushed by the proposal fail and mortified that it all happened in front of her family. “I felt tricked,” she says. He wasn’t done with his shenanigans: After he pulled a similar Valentine’s Day fake-out, she dumped him. Smart girl.

When I first read this story, I thought it was a story about a Fever-ish girl overreacting to not getting a ring. But then I read it a little more closely.

The guy took the girl ring shopping before Christmas. Apparently, this was just to get her hopes up because he still hadn't proposed by Valentine's Day (2 months later).

Then he put an MP3 player in a jewelry box for Christmas. Knowing that she was obviously expecting a ring, that's pretty cold. Kind of funny, but cold.

This is where it gets a little weird.

She's obviously upset. Yet he does the same thing again.

Did she not make it clear to him that she was upset/disappointed at Christmas? I really doubt that.

I'm betting that she made it clear that she didn't think it was funny, but then the guy just did it again because he thought it was funny.

How do you do something like that (a second time) and NOT expect to get dumped?

You could argue that maybe he wanted to break up with her anyway and he was forcing her to do it.

But why buy her a Valentine's Day present (that he hid in the jewelry box)? Don't get her anything and you would still get dumped, but you would have saved however much you spent.

Rules to Protect Stupid People

2012-01-04T08:00:00.002-05:00

I recently read an article online about how school districts have to create rules to prevent teachers from being inappropriate with students via social media.

In other news, school districts are (probably) babyproofing the teachers' lounges so no one swallows coins or sticks anything in an electrical socket.

I get that kids communicate well (often better) via social media. And if you want to use it, that's cool. But teachers have to know enough on their own to keep it public. If the district needs a rule to get this point across, you need smarter teachers.

If you want to have a website or a public Twitter account where you post homework, that works. Don't send Facebook messages or text messages to minors.

Overrated/Underrated

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

In a bit that I am stealing directly from the Cavalcade of Whimsy from CollegeFootballNews.com...

*Ryan's additions in Italics

Football
Overrated: NFL
Underrated: NCAAF

Women
Overrated: Scarlett Johannson/Paris Hilton/ Any skanky Hollywood chick
Underrated: Rachel Bilson/Girl next door type

Chinese Food
Overrated: General Tso's Chicken
Underrated: Pork Fried Rice & Bourbon Chicken

Science
Overrated: Schrodinger's Cat & Uncertainty Principle
Underrated: Bernoulli grip & Fundamental Attribution Error

Beaches
Overrated: the Jerz shore
Underrated: Ocean City, MD

Pennsylvania Cities
Overrated: Philadelphia
Underrated: Harrisburg (what the hell does Harrisburg have to offer?)

Food
Overrated: Cosi
Underrated: Long John Silvers

Style
Overrated: Hair
Underrated: Shaved Heads

Ladies of The Big Bang Theory
Overrated: Kaley Cuoco
Underrated: Melissa Rauch

Chocolate Cereal
Overrated: Cocoa Puffs
Underrated: Cocoa Krispies

Accessories
Overrated: Watches
Underrated: Pocketknives

Athletic Apparel
Overrated: Nike & Jordan's (Ryan's "broke" after a few weeks of use)
Underrated: Addidas & Champion

College Conferences
Overrated: Big Ten Football & Basketball
Underrated: Pac-12 Football

Cheesesteak Toppings
Overrated: Provolone
Underrated: Whiz

Cities
Overrated: Chicago (city)
Underrated: San Francisco (city)

Cold Weather Clothing
Overrated: Hoody Sweatshirts
Underrated: Tshirts over longsleeve tshirts/under armour

Music
Overrated: The Beatles
(NOT SURE THIS BAND CAN BE OVERRATED)- they changed music for everyone. If you want to go like- Bob Dylan or ACDC I would agree.
Underrated: Fleetwood Mac

Overrated: What you know
Underrated: Who you know- especially if you know us.

90s TV
Overrated: Seinfeld
Underrated: F*R*I*E*N*D*S (borderline violation)

Chocolate
Overrated: Godiva chocolate
Underrated: Gertrude Hawk chocolate

Tablets
Overrated: iPad (or any tablet)
Underrated: saving $400

Cities
Overrated: New York (city)
Underrated: Los Angeles (city)

Football Shows
Overrated: Monday Night Football
Underrated: Sunday Night Football & College Football Thursdays

Sports
Overrated: Soccer
Underrated: College Lacrosse- anyone who doubts me, promise to watch a game next memorial day weekend

Frosting
Overrated: Chocolate frosting
Underrated: Coconut pecan frosting

Canadian Bands
Overrated: Nicklecrap & Neil Young
Underrated: The Guess Who & Rush

Sports TV
Overrated: Sports "Movies"
Underrated: ESPN's 30 for 30 documentaries and the ones that didn't make it but are airing now

Basketball
Overrated: NBA
Underrated: NCAAB

Overrated Sized Pass Catcher in NFL: Randy Moss & TO
Underrated Sized Pass Catcher in NFL: Brian Westbrook & Wes Welker

Overrated Dual Sport Athlete: Neon Deon
Underrated Dual Sport Athlete: Bo Jackson

Overrated: Cake
Underrated: Ice Cream Cake

Overrated: Liking: ND football, Duke Basketball, Cowboys, Red Sox
Underrated: Hating on ^ ^ ^ ^

Overrated: Olives
Underrated: Maraschino cherries

Football Friday Week 17 - San Diego Chargers (thursday edition)

2011-12-29T07:06:00.000-05:00

I was watching the Chargers and the Ravens on SNF last week when I noticed that the Chargers are apparently not fans of Automatic Qualifier (AQ) schools.

WR - Vincent Jackson (Northern Colorado)
WR - Malcolm Floyd (Wyoming)
TE - Antonio Gates (Kent State)
RB - Ryan Mathews (Fresno State)

DE - Vaughn Martin (Western Ontario)
OLB - Travis LaBoy (Hawaii)

I knew it was the lawers' fault

2011-12-28T05:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.judicialhellholes.org/2011/12/15/latest-report-names-philadelphia-as-the-worst-of-the-judicial-hellholes-while-courts-in-california-west-virginia-florida-illinois-new-york-and-nevada-also-make-the-list/#more-1197

I have been telling hater forever that it isn't philly that truly sucks- it is the lawyers he hangs out with. It turns out we were both right!

It is the liars fault, but more specifically it is the lawyers in philly.

"Plaintiff-friendly law, expedited procedures, a reputation for a high plaintiff-win rate and generous awards contribute to Philadelphia’s status as a venue of choice. Success in addressing the flow of medical liability cases to Philadelphia and the legislature’s recent limiting of a defendant’s liability to its share of fault provide some hope for the future."

For the nursing mom who likes to drink

2011-12-27T08:00:00.005-05:00

Apparently there is a product that allows you to test breastmilk for alcohol content so you can see if it is safe to give to your newborn.

I guess this is a good idea; it seems like it will help babies. But it just seems weird. I would like to be able to judge new mothers for drinking while breastfeeding, but I am reluctant to.

I would definitely judge them for drinking while preggo, but I can sort of understand drinking after the kid is born. There isn't the same blood link as in the womb.

I know having a new screaming, crying kid would drive me to drink, but at the same time, I don't really like the idea of the people who are responsible for those newborns being intoxicated.

Essentially, I'm torn on this issue. Feel free to comment.

Philly on Philly Hate

2011-12-26T08:00:00.003-05:00

It looks like I'm not the only one hating on Philadelphia.

Obese? Check.

Badly Dressed? Absolutely.

Vain? Hell yes.

The promising thing about this story is that maybe Philly people are starting to realize that they suck.

Unfortunately, these are probably some of the same people who claim that New Jersey is worse than Philadelphia. I then have to explain that south Jerz and Philly are the exact same thing.

They don't like that.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all of our loyal TwoandaHater readers!

Savannah Guthrie

2011-12-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

My gift to America today is to inform you about The Today Show's Savannah Guthrie (my girl).

You may not know too much about her; she's not the lead host (Matt Lauer and Ann Curry), nor is she the weather person (Al Roker), nor is she the news anchor (Natalie Morales).

She IS, however, adorable.

She fills in as news anchor a lot, but her official role is Legal Analyst.

According to her NBC bio, she received the highest score on the Arizona Bar Exam. That's impressive, but you have to remember that Arizona only has like 6 laws, and 4 of them are about how to question people if they're illegal immigrants.

Hater's Christmas Present to Philadelphia

2011-12-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of Christmas, I'd like to offer a present to the greater Philadelphia area.

Tackling Football: A Woman's Guide to Understanding the College Game

Merry Christmas, Phuckers.

Minnesota: The New Philadelphia???

2011-12-21T06:00:00.004-05:00

Oh my God. What the hell is wrong with people?

I am literally beyond words (and yet I still write).

Apparently, in Minnesota, it's considered humor for parents to make out with their blind-folded, high school senior children.

What the hell is wrong with ALL of these people??? How did noone step in and do something?

To summarize, at a high school pep rally, the senior captains were blind-folded and told that someone special was going to kiss them. Then some sick fucks arranged for their own parents of the opposite sex to kiss the blind-folded child abuse victims.

How the hell did ANYONE think this was even remotely close to being acceptable?????

I could see something like this flying in Philadelphia, but Minnesota??? I am very disappointed in you.

Cel-Ray Soda

2011-12-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

For those of you fortunate enough to never have lived in Philly, you may not know that Philly has a pretty large Jewish community.

I was in a deli in a Jewish neighborhood when I discovered Cel-Ray soda.

It's not very good, but it's noteworthy just for sheer weirdness.

To summarize, it's soda that is designed to taste like something (celery) that no one likes the taste of anyway.

People eat celery for 2 reasons and only 2 reasons:

1.) Little kids eating "Bumps on a Log" then realizing that the taste of celery isn't worth eating something with a fun name.

2.) People who are trying to diet and heard that celery has "negative calories".

How many celebrities can we cram in a movie?

2011-12-19T08:00:00.003-05:00

I've been seeing commercials for New Year's Eve, and I thought it looked sort of familiar.

Then I realized they made the exact same movie last year called Valentine's Day.

Am I missing something?

Is cramming celebrities in a movie an acceptable replacement for a script?

Football Friday week 16 - NFL Team Captains

2011-12-16T07:01:00.001-05:00

I don't know how they're selected, but based on this list, there is clearly favoritism towards QBs.

In a team vote without political consideration for position or player marketability, there is no way that the following players would be elected as "leaders" of the team.

Carolina Panthers: Steve Smith (WR)

Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler (QB)

Dallas Cowboys: Tony Romo (QB)

Minnesota Vikings: Donovan McNabb (QB)

New York Giants: Eli Manning (QB)

Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger (QB)

Seattle Seahawks: Tavaris Jackson (QB)

Tennessee Titans: Cortland Finnegan (CB)

"Your boy"

2011-12-15T08:00:00.004-05:00

Ryan and I like to use the "your boy" bit from ESPN's Pardon The Interruption (PTI) with Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon.

I especially like to use it sarcastically when I suggest that people who are clearly not Ryan's "boy" are actually his "boy". (i.e. Tony Romo, Eli Manning)

In order to clarify things, here is a list of Ryan's "boys" and a list of my "boys". We'll limit it to pro football; we'll get the other sports in later posts.

NFL:

Buffalo Bills: Brad Smith (Hater), Fitzpatrick (Ryan)

Miami Dolphins: Davonne Bess (Hater), Igor Olshansky (Hater), Jason Taylor (Hater),

NY Jets: Revis (Ryan), Dustin Keller (Ryan)

New England Patriots: Julian Edelman (Hater), Wes Welker (Ryan), Dan Woodhead (Ryan)

Denver Broncos: Champ Bailey (Hater), Brian Dawkins (Ryan)

Oakland Raiders: John Henderson (Hater),

San Diego Chargers: Marcus McNeil (Hater), Louis Vasquez (Hater), Jared Gaither (Hater)

Kansas City Chiefs:

Baltimore Ravens: Bryant McKinnie (Hater), Andre Gurode (Hater), Jah Reid (Hater), Haloti Ngata (Hater & Ryan), Ray Lewis (Hater), Ed Reed (Hater & Ryan)

Pittsburgh Steelers: Dennis Dixon (Hater), Cameron Heyward (Hater), Heath Miller (Ryan)

Cincinnati Bengals: Taylor Mays (Hater)

Cleveland Browns: Seneca Wallace (Hater)

Houston Texans:

Indianapolis Colts: Dallas Clark (Ryan)

Tennessee Titans: Ahmard Hall (Hater), B. Ruud (Ryan)

Jacksonville Jaguars: Greg Jones (Hater),

Dallas Cowboys: DeMarco Murray (Hater)

Philadelphia Eagles: Steve Smith (Hater), Dion Lewis (Ryan), Shady (Ryan),

Washington Redskins: Santana Moss (Hater), London Fletcher (Ryan)

NY Giants: Travis Beckum (Hater), Jimmy Kennedy (Hater), Herzlitch (Ryan)

Arizona Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald (Hater & Ryan)

San Francisco 49ers: Patrick Willis (Ryan)

Seattle Seahawks: Michael Robinson (Hater), Mike Williams (Hater),

St. Louis Rams:

Chicago Bears: Henry Melton (Hater)

Detroit Lions: Leonard Davis (Hater)

Minnesota Vikings:

Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers (anti-Hater),

Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan (Ryan)

Carolina Panthers:Greg Olsen (Ryan)

New Orleans Saints: Darren Sproles (Hater & Ryan)

Tampa Bay Bucs:

2011-2012 College Football Bowl Preview

2011-12-14T08:00:00.009-05:00

First of all, it is a slap in the face to America that there are no New Years Day football games. It falls on a Sunday and (for some reason) the NFL gets priority. That's disgraceful. It's like pre-empting the NFL Conference Championship games for women's semi-pro soccer preseason games.

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Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (Dec 24)
Nevada v. Southern Miss
I'm actually happy for this matchup. For once, I don't care about the Hawaii Bowl so I won't get pissed when I have to miss it on Christmas Eve. Usually I want to watch the game because my Warriors are in it.

Gator Bowl (Jan 2)
Ohio State v. Florida
This is a slap in the face to college football and America. Both teams finished the year 6-6. Neither deserves to be playing in a January 2nd bowl game.

Rose Bowl (Jan 2)
Wisconsin v. Oregon
The Granddaddy of them all is once again a sweet matchup. It should be a good offensive shootout.

Sugar Bowl (Jan 3)
Michigan v. Virginia Tech
The Michael Vick of college football (Denard "Shoelace" Robinson - first mentioned on TwoandaHater) takes on Michael Vick's alma mater.

BBVA Compass Bowl (Jan 7)
SMU v. Pitt
A great offensive system matchup. SMU's Run n Shoot against Pitt's Spread. Neither school is running the offense as well as at the coaches' previous stops (Hawai'i for June Jones and Tulsa for Todd Graham), but it should still be a shoot out. This is Pitt's second consecutive appearance in the BBVA Compass Bowl, and just like last year, it probably still sucks to go to Birmingham in January.

National Championship (Jan 9)
LSU v. Alabama
Ignoring the fact that they already played each other, these are the 2 most deserving teams in the country and should be playing for the national championship. Enough whining.

*** Special Request
Fiesta Bowl (Jan 2)
Oklahoma State v. Stanford
Mike "I'm a Man. I'm 40." Gundy has created an offensive powerhouse in Stillwater.

You have a 2-time Biletnikoff Award winner in Justin Blackmon. I've been hyping USC's Robert Woods all year, and even I have to admit that Blackmon deserves the Biletnikoff.

QB Brandon "Chris Weinke" Weeden played minor league baseball, dominated the highest levels of college football at the toughest position in sports, and joined a D-I golf team in his spare time.

Then you have the only 1,200 yd, 23 TD runningback that no one knows (Joseph Randle).

On the other side, you have Andrew Luck and Andrew Luck's teammates.

Back to the Cowboys, let's take a closer look at Joseph Randle (who also has NFL size at 6'1", 191 lbs). In OK State's 2 toughest games (Baylor and Oklahoma), Randle produced his best games (152yds/4TDs and 151yds/2TDs, respectively). Randle scored at least one TD in all but 2 games, and ended up with 23 --- which is 3 more than Doak Walker winner Trent Richardson (see more below on the Doak).

=================================

Awards Review:

Surprisingly, a lot of the yearly awards in college football went to arguably the right people. You can debate the QB awards that went to Andrew Luck. Maybe they should have gone to RGIII, but at least it's debatable.

However, there were 2 awards that were CLEARLY given to the wrong people.

Doak Walker Award(Best Running Back)
Actual Winner: Trent Richardson (Alabama)
Should have been: Montee Ball (Wisconsin)
Let's compare the numbers:
Player A - 1759 yds - 6.4 yds per carry - 32 TDs
Player B - 1583 yds - 6.0 yds per carry - 20 TDs

Jim Thorpe Award (Best Defensive Back)
Actual Winner: Morris Claiborne (LSU)
Should have been: Tyrann Mathieu (LSU)
Matheiu won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the best overall defensive player in the country. But he apparently wasn't the best DB? That's like being the All American at your position, but not being the All-Conference player. It makes no sense.

PAC-12 Coaches

2011-12-13T08:00:00.007-05:00

Last week it looked like June "Hater's Boy" Jones was going to be the new head coach at Arizona State.

If Jones had been the new ASU coach, the PAC-12 would have led the nation in sweet coaches.

USC - Lane Kiffin - "Kid Smirk" is at the very least interesting because he always says controversial stuff. Plus, he can recuit so USC is going to be "USC" again soon.

Washington State - Mike Leach - Like Texas Tech, no good high schooler is going to want to go there, so WSU needs a system offense to succeed. Leach is just that guy. Plus anyone who doesn't like Craig James is ok with me.

UCLA - currently looking

Arizona - Rich "Ryan's Boy" Rod - Like Leach, an explosive offense will make things interesting in the desert.

Washington - Steve Sarkisian - really turned Washington around the last few years.

Oregon - Chip Kelly - Again, crazy offense in Oregon's "Blur Ball"

Stanford - David Shaw - Don't really know anything about him other than he is carrying Andrew Luck's jockstrap.

Oregon State - Mike Riley - always plays better teams tough.

Utah - Kyle Whittingham - formerly of Boise State, he knows how to win with no-name talent.

Colorado - Jon Embree - I had to look him up. I don't know anything about him.

Cal - Jeff Tedford - Always gets some great offensive weapons so his teams can always compete in shootouts.

The City of Brotherly Love

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

People who know me even a little will tell you two things:

1.) I have a natural gift for giving nicknames

2.) I like to help people

Having said that, I've taken it upon myself to give Philadelphia a new nickname. The current nickname "The City of Brotherly Love" causes some problems for its residents.

Most people in Philly don't realize where the nickname comes from. They don't speak Greek (who does?) and no one explained it to them.

The other problem is that Philly is hugely homophobic so the average Philly douche gets upset at the nickname because he thinks that someone is calling him gay.

While I have little tolerance for ignorance and no tolerance for homophobia, I'm still going to help Philadelphia by giving it a new nickname that is much easier for Philadelphians to understand.

"Philadelphia: The pilondial cyst of America"

You're welcome, Philadelphia.

Football Friday week 15 - Seattle Seahawks Defensive Line

2011-12-09T07:01:00.001-05:00

If you're a Philth Eagles fan like Ryan, you probably saw the Seahawks spank the Eagles last week. I had already been working on a post on the Seahawks D-line, but I'd never gotten around to actually watching them play until they played the Eagles.

Pete Carroll (my boy) is using a pretty creative (for the NFL) defensive scheme this year.

Carroll is using Red Bryant (a big DT at 325 lbs) as a DE in his 4-3 scheme. It has clearly helped the Seahawks against the run, but the reduced pass rush is seriously hurting the pass defense. Essentially, the Seahawks are playing with 3 DTs and 1 DE.

Red Bryant (DE, 325lbs)
Alan Branch (DT, 335 lbs)
Brandon Mebane (NT, 315 lbs)
Chris Clemons (DE, 255 lbs)

As innovative and ineffective as Pete Carroll's defense is, it is still lightyears behind Juan "Ryan's Boy" Castillo's revolutionary 4-0-4 scheme in Philly. It takes a special kind of defensive mind to put a defense on the field without any LBs.

Must See College Football - Week 15

2011-12-08T07:04:00.000-05:00

There is only one college football game this week: Army v. Navy (at FedEx Field) so I assume that you don't need me to give you a reason to watch.

The college football bowl schedule is out. TwoandaHater will provide THE quintessential review on 12/14. I'm the one writing it and I can hardly wait to read what I am going to say!

=================================

Ryan's Heisman thoughts:
This year there is no standout, unlike previous years there really isn't even 2 or 3 stand outs.
We can first, remove all positions not QB or RB. For instance all these qbs are about the same:
Robert Griffin 3rd
Case Keenum
Russell Wilson
Kellen Moore
Brandon Weeden

then we can throw in the 2 rb's:
Trent Richardson and Montee Ball

Hater's in depth & insightful thoughts:
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Presentation is also this Saturday. It's a good thing that no one from Army or Navy was in the running because they still had one more game to play.

The person who DESERVES the trophy is Baylor QB Robert Griffin III (whom you first heard about here on 9/30/2010). RGIII has been the most outstanding player this year. I don't want to hear about Trent Richardson facing SEC defenses; he hasn't jumped out at me as spectacular. Andrew Luck has been steady, but he didn't have any "wow" moments.

My personal ballot of the finalists:

1.) Robert Griffin III (QB, Baylor)
2.) Tyrann Mathieu (DB, LSU)
3.) Montee Ball (RB, Wisc)
4.) Andrew Luck (QB, Stanford)
5.) Trent Richardson (RB, Alabama)

My list of finalists that I chose would be:
1.) RGIII
2.) Honey Badger
3.) Matt Barkley (QB, USC)
4.) Montee Ball
5.) Russell Wilson (QB, Wisc)

==================================

Temple Bowl Snub:

Last year Temple did not receive a bowl invite despite going 8-4. Meanwhile a few 6-6 teams did receive invites.

While I did feel bad for the individual players, the non-invite was a nice slap in the face to the city of Philadelphia. Obviously the Owls were bowl-eligible; the reason why they didn't get an invite was because Temple football doesn't travel well (aka sell tickets) because people in Philly don't get/understand/appreciate college football.

In 2011, Temple again finished 8-4, and again is not in the MAC Championship Game. Just in the MAC, Ohio, Northern Illinois, and Toledo all had better records than Temple this year. There was another chance that Temple would not get a bowl invite, but the stupid New Mexico Bowl ruined things by choosing Temple and Wyoming (which barely counts as a bowl).

Again, while I feel bad for the individual players, the city of Philadelphia and all of its Temple alums can suck it.

==================================

College football Quick Notes Revisited

I also wanted to revist my "College Football Quick Notes" posts (1 and 2) from the beginning of the season. I wanted to seet how I did.

Case Keenum - As predicted Keenum destroyed Timmy Chang's career passing yardage record. As a Hawai'i fan, I'm sad, but I'm also happy for Keenum. He seems like a decent guy

Ryan Broyles - Broyles is a sad story. He did get the career receptions record, but he also missed half the season with an ACL injury. It's a shame; it would have been cool to see how far he could have gone.

Miss St HC Dan Mullen - As I predicted, Mullen could soon be moving on to green pastures. He has been one of the names tossed around for the Penn State job

VA Tech guys -David Wilson is a top 5 rusher nationally. Logan Thomas didn't quite turn out to be Cam Newton. Marcus Davis had another disappointing season.

Fabby Desir - Not surprisingly for his first year in the system, but Desir had a fairly quiet year for the Tar Heels.

Mohammed Sanu - Even I didn't predict Sanu to have this good of a year. Catching 100+ passes in a Greg Schiano run-friendly offense is huge.

Bradley Haynes (SMU WR) - I didn't come right out and say it, but this is pretty much what I expected. June Jones usually doesn't have monster WRs; he likes the small, quick guys.

Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey - Demps spent most of the year hurt, so we don't really have an accurate picture of what he could have done. Rainey did have over 1000 yds of total offense, which isn't bad, but it should have been better.

Derek Carr and Case McCoy - In a crappy year for Fresno State, Derek Carr had a decent year. Case McCoy had a weird season; he was sort of splitting time with David Ash. This didn't really work out for either because whenever McCoy was in the defense was expecting a pass.

Miah Ostrowski (WR, Hawaii) - Ostrowski had pretty limited numbers which makes sense for someone playing in a highly technical offense, but isn't solely focused on football.

USS Arizona Memorial - Leaking Oil

2011-12-07T08:00:00.004-05:00

You have probably heard about the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor.

You have probably also heard that the sunken ship is still (70 years later) leaking oil.

According to this website, it leaks about 0.95 liters a day.

Fed Ex Field

2011-12-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

Whoever schedules the events for Fed Ex Field (home of the Washington Redskins) did a hell of a job this year.

On November 12, Notre Dame played the University of Maryland in a "neutral site" game. It's not "at Maryland".

If that weren't a big enough coup, Fed Ex Field then hosts the Army-Navy Game on December 10.

I've been lucky enough to attend the Army-Navy Game the last 2 years in the Philth. It's a RIDICULOUS event. It's definitely something that should be on your sports bucket list.

NFLers and their Alma Maters (Continued)

2011-12-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

Due to the massive success and popularity of my earlier NFLers/Alma Maters posts (AFC and NFC versions), here is another one but with a twist.

Can you name the college of each NFLer?

San Francisco 49ers - Isaac Sopoaga (DT)

Arizona Cardinals - Reagen Mauia (FB)

Jacksonville Jaguars - John Estes (C)

Oakland Raiders - Samson Satele (C)

San Diego Chargers - Travis Laboy (LB)

Miami Dolphins - Ikaika Alama-Francis (LB)

Tennessee Titans - Ryan Mouton (CB)

Dallas Cowboys - Mat McBriar (P)

St. Louis Rams - Greg Salas (WR)

NY Jets - Wayne Hunter (T)

Baltimore Ravens - Mana Silva (S)

Green Bay Packers - Alex Green (RB)

Carolina Panthers - Kealoha Pilares (WR)

Football Friday week 13 - BIRG and CORF

2011-12-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

After the Penn State scandal broke, I read a pretty good article about why the Penn State students rioted.

Essentially the students were Basking in the Reflected Glory (BIRGing) of Joe Paterno, and when he got fired, they lost "their" glory. There is no more obvious example of BIRGing than "We are...Penn State!"

The opposite of BIRGing is Cutting Off Reflected Failure (CORFing) when the former BIRGers try to remove themselves from the recent failure of the entity from which they had been BIRGing. The best example of this is Philly abandoning the Eagles because they suck.

High School Team Names

2011-12-01T08:00:00.006-05:00

I was reading the Philth newspapers recently and saw that the team from Haverford High School is: "The Haverford Fords".

While this is a typical Philth disgrace, it got me thinking. There are a hell of a lot more high schools than colleges and pro teams, so the high schools probably need to get a little more desperate with team names.

I did a little digging and this is what I came up with.

I found this site that lists all of the states, but I focused mostly on PA.

Canon-McMillin "Big Macs"

Boiling Springs "Bubblers"
I kind of like this

Conestoga Valley "Buckskins"
Maybe just shorten it to "Bucks"?

William Allen "Canaries"

North East "Grapepickers"
I don't know why, but I feel like this is racist.

Smethport "Hubbers"
I guess when you're from already Smethport, you might as well be a Hubber too.

Northhampton Area "Konkrete Kids"
I bet someone originally suggested it as a joke, but then no one else realized he was kidding.

Carmichael Area "Mighty Mikes"

West "Speedboys"

Hampton "Talbots"
I'm pretty sure Talbots is a women's clothing store.

Must See College Football - Week 14

2011-11-30T08:00:00.006-05:00

Saturday, 12/3
Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State
This game was going to be a lot bigger a few weeks ago before Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State, and then Oklahoma lost to Baylor. Even still, this is a huge rivalry. It should be an exciting offensive game. And don't forget that Mike Gundy is still a man (see 1:30)

BYU @ Hawaii
Just because it's a 7:30pm game so people will actually be awake to watch it.

UCLA @ Oregon
The Pac-12 "Conference Championship" Game
The really Pac-12 Champion is probably USC. It beat Oregon pretty easily and absolutely spanked UCLA this past weekend.

Georgia @ LSU
The SEC Conference Championship Game
I really don't expect Georgia to put up much of a challenge to LSU. The SEC this year is like the Big XII used to be; if you can win the tough division (Big XII South or SEC West) the Conference Championship game is just a formality.

How To Get Laid - Philly Style

2011-11-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

One of our most loyal readers (Nancy) suggested that I needed to get laid. She even offered to hook it up with some loose ladies she knows.

While I appreciate the offer, I don't need any help in that area.

I have perfected the following technique that will work for absolutely anyone, regardless of physical attractiveness, social charm and status, or personal finance.

1.) Go to any bar in Philly or southern NJ.
2.) Stand up on a chair or bar stool.
3.) In a loud voice, make the following statement:

"Attention!

Attention, ladies!

I am a rich asshole.

You may now each plead your case as to why I should sleep with you.

Please form a single file line in order of physical attractiveness, but don't block the aisles."

Fertility Math

2011-11-28T08:00:00.006-05:00

I read an article that women rarely have an accurate picture of their chances of getting knocked up.

To quote the article:

"Most women simply don’t realize that at 30, a healthy woman has about a 20 percent chance of conceiving per month and by the time she reaches 40, her odds drop to about 5 percent...Instead, many of those surveyed thought that a 30-year-old woman would have a 70 percent chance of conceiving and that a 40-year-old’s chances could approach 60 percent."

I know that I've done my part in spreading this knowledge. I've been sending the article to all of my female friends (usually late 20s) who don't have kids.

Although, frankly, I should be keeping my mouth shut. With the world population over 7 billion, and people generally stupider these days, the fewer people getting pregnant, the better.

Football Friday week 12 - Arena Football

2011-11-25T08:56:00.003-05:00

You probably heard a few weeks ago that the Chicago Rush (arena football) offered T.O. (Ryan's boy) a contract when no NFL team wanted him.

The TO article mentioned the names of the other WRs on the Rush, but I only knew one of the names (Vic Hall, former CB from University of Virginia).

That got me thinking about what other former big names are in the Arena League.

Arizona Rattlers:
Anttaj Hawthorne (DT - Wisconsin)

San Jose Sabercats:

Spokane Shock:

Utah Blaze:

Georgia Force:

Jacksonville Sharks:
Omar Jacobs (QB - Bowling Green)
Chris Leak (QB - Florida)

New Orleans VooDoo:

Orlando Predators:

Tampa Bay Storm:
Matt Grothe (QB - South Florida)

Chicago Rush:
Vince Vance (OT - Georgia)

Dallas Vigilantes:
Larry Dibbles (DT - Texas)

Iowa Barnstormers:
Brad Banks (QB - Iowa)

Kansas City Command:

San Antonio Talons:

Cleveland Gladiators:

Milwaukee Mustangs:

Philadelphia Soul:

Pittsburgh Power:

High School Football Factories and Shame

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine recently moved into a school district that is a perenial state power in high school football. While she doesn't have any kids yet, I figure she might eventually have a son. I hope that if he wants to play football, he's really good. Otherwise, he will simply never get a chance to play. That public school district recruits kids into the district by offering jobs to their parents in a local manufacturing plant.

But I guess it has its benefits too. Even if the kid never sets foot on the field, if he makes the team, he will still be a part of all the team's success. He can still put "State Champion" on his college applications. It's still a lot of fun to enjoy all the perks.

==================================

Unrelated to the above story, but I saw this story this week.

Apparently in Maryland, it is a violation for a JV player to play in both a JV game and a varsity game in the same 7 day period.

That rule is a slap in the face to all that America stands for.

For the uneducated, I'll explain how high school football works.

The varsity team plays on Friday nights; if the home team hates America, they play on Saturday afternoon.

The JV teams for both schools play on the following Monday afternoon; the varsity players have a lighter workout and film study.

If the Friday varsity game is a blowout, the JV players play the last few series, often against the losing team's starters. This gives the JV players some game experience at a higher level (plus under the lights which is just cool).

The fact that Maryland has such a rule on its books is a disgrace.

Must See College Football - Week 13

2011-11-23T08:00:00.005-05:00

This is a HUGE rivalry weekend.

Tuesday 11/22
Miami (OH) @ Ohio

Thursday 11/24
Texas @ Texas A&M

Friday 11/25
Pitt @ West Virginia

Saturday 11/26
Ohio State @ Michigan

Georgia @ Georgia Tech

Duke @ North Carolina

UCLA @ USC
One of the few annual rivalries where both teams wear their home colors.

Alabama @ Auburn

Oregon State @ Oregon

Florida State @ Florida

Ole Miss @ Mississippi State

Washington State @ Washington

Clemson @ South Carolina

Missouri @ Kansas

Virginia Tech @ Virginia

NFL Draft by Coach part 2 Belicheat

2011-11-22T06:26:00.042-05:00

Continuing on our theme of drafts by coaches we take a look at who is considered to be the best coach in NFL.

it seems Belichick has never been a good drafter, and gets about 2 players per draft.

2000 0/3 late round hit in Brady (6)
2001 2/4 Richard Seymour (1), Matt Light (2)
2002 2.5/4 late round hit, Dan Graham (2)- ok TE, Deion Branch (2), Givens (7) was an ok 4th wideout
2003 2/5 Klecko (4), and Asante Samual (4)
2004 2/6 Wilfork(1), Ben Watson another (2) ok TE
2005 1.5/4 Logan Mankins (1), Ellis Hobbs (3) was a good returner ok 3rd CB, late round hit in Matt Cassel (7)
2006 1/5 Gostkowski (4) good kicker
2007 .5/2 Meriweather was a good safety
2008 1/5 Mayo (1)
2009 1/7 Pat Chung (1)
2010 4/6 MCCourty (1) Gronkowski (2), Spikes (2) Hernandez (4)

NFL Draft by Coach part 1 Andy Reid

2011-11-21T06:58:00.007-05:00

Andy Reid is the longest tenured coach in the NFL, you would think with that enabling him to stay is the fact he can draft but that does not seem to be the case.

To be fair let us remove all "missed" draft picks after the 4th round, because if 5th+ rounders don't make it- its not a big deal but still include any "hits" from those rounds. In his first 4 years he goes 12/19 with one late round hit. His next four years 4/19 with one late round hit. In the last 4 years 4/19 with a late round hit- his current year, his 13th, seems to have 1 late round hit.

In his first year Reid goes 4/6
Hits: McNabb (1), Doug Brzezinski (3), John Welbourn (4), Damon Moore (4) all were starters in the NFL for at least 2 seasons.
Misses: Barry Gardner (2) & Na Brown (4)

2nd year: 2/4
Hits: Corey Simon (1) great DT, Pinkston (2) servicable WR [who i personally hated]

3rd year 2/4, and a late round hit.
Hits: Derrick Burgess (3) good DE with all his most productive years not in philly, Correll Buckhalter (4) who was a good RB when healthy. The late round hit is solid backup QB AJ Feely (5).
Misses: Freddie Mitchell (1), Quinton Caver (2)

4th year [his best draft] 4/5
Hits: Lito Sheppard (1), Michael Lewis (2), Sheldon Brown (2), Brian Westbrook (3)- all but lewis made pro-bowls.Misses:Scott Peters (4)

5th year, the turning point in his drafting, .5/4
L.J. Smith (2) never turned out but he was OK.Misses:Jerome McDougle (1), Billy McMullen (3), Jamaal Green (4)

6th year- 0/4
Misses:Shawn Andrews(1)-had one good year and went mental, Matt Ware (3)..., J.R. Reed (4) had talent but blew out his knee running from a dog and never recovered, Trey Darilek (4)

7th year 2/6 and a late round hit.
Hits: Mike Patterson (1) is an above average DT, certainly worth the 31st pick. Todd Herremans (4) a very good player, and Trent Cole was the late round hit.Misses: Reggie Brown, Matt McCoy, Ryan Moats, Sean Considine

8th year 1.5/5 Hits: Jason Avant (4) is a good 3rd/4th wideout. I give .5 to Winston Justice who had the worst ever start to a career and has become an average front side tackle.Misses: Brodrick Bunkley (1), Chris Gocong (3), Max Jean-Gilles (4), completely Reid's fault he wasn't used correctly.

9th year 0/4, 1 late round hit
Hits: Brent Celek in the 5th round was a good pick.Misses:Victor Abiamiri (2), Stewart Bradley (3), Tony Hunt (3)- again Reid's fault for trying to make him a FB. I would say that Kevin Kolb is a miss for the eagles.

10th year 1/6
Hits: DeSean Jackson (2)- clearly a great pick, but lucky he fell to #49Misses:Trevor Laws (2), Bryan Smith (3), Mike McGlynn (4), Quintin Demps (4), Jack Ikegwuonu (4)

11th year (the outlier) 2/2
Hits: Jeremy Maclin (1), LeSean McCoy (2)

12th year .5 & .5 /7
Hits: Clay Harbor (4) looks like he could be a good 2nd TE, and with more coaching Kafka (4) could be a good backup qb.Misses: Brandon Graham (1), Nate Allen (2)- a starter but below average, Daniel te'o-Nesheim (3), Trevard Lindley (4) , Keenan Clayton (4)

13th year- 1/4 and late round hit.Hits: Alex henery (4) and Dion Lewis looks to be a good find in the 5th round,Misses: Watkins (1), Jarrett (2), Curtis marsh (3), Casey Matthews- looks overwhelmed right now, and the first three picks have yet to dress.

Football Friday week 11 - Timothy Tebow

2011-11-18T07:59:00.006-05:00

Tim Tebow is a polarizing topic (duh). People either love him or hate him. I (correctly) neither love or hate him. Tebow is an unfortunate situation. He's a college running QB being asked to learn to be an NFL QB. It's an entirely different position and obviously he's going to have some growing pains. Does Tebow have the athletic ability to make the transition? Obviously. Does he have the intelligence and desire? I don't really know him so I can't say. Does he have the teachers/environment to get him there? I really doubt it.

The third question is what is going to determine his NFL success. There are very few people who are both able and inclined to learn something on their own. Most people need some sort of guidance to get there. This is why we have schools.

One of the dumbest arguments that people make in favor of Tebow is:

"He has been a winner at every level so he will be a winner in the NFL."

The argument is that Tebow won a high school national championship, 2 college national championships, and the Heisman.

A LOT of people in the NFL were winners in high school and college. Almost by definition, you have to be good/have success to make it to the NFL. How many of the below college winners translated to NFL success?

Heisman Trophy Winning QB
2010 - Cam Newton / Auburn
2008 - Sam Bradford / Auburn
2007 - Tim Tebow / Florida
2006 - Troy Smith / Ohio State
2004 - Matt Leinart / USC
2003 - Jason White / Oklahoma
2002 - Carson Palmer / USC
2001 - Eric Crouch / Nebraska
2000 - Chris Weinke / Florida State
1996 - Danny Wuefferal / Florida
1993 - Charlie Ward / Florida State
1992 - Gino Torretta / Miami
1990 - Ty Detmer / BYU

College National Champion QBs
2010 - Cam Newton / Auburn
2009 - Greg McElroy / Alabama
2008 - Tim Tebow / Florida
2007 - Matt Flynn / LSU
2006 - Chris Leak / Florida
2005 - Vince Young / Texas
2004 - Matt Leinart / USC
2003 - Matt Mauck / LSU
2003 - Matt Leinart / USC
2002 - Craig Krenzel / Ohio State
2001 - Ken Dorsey / Miami
2000 - Josh Heupel / Oklahoma
1999 - Chris Weinke / Florida State
1998 - Tee Martin / Tennessee
1997 - Brian Griese / Michigan
1996 - Danny Wuefferal / Florida
1995 - Tommie Frazier / Nebraska
1994 - Tommie Frazier / Nebraska
1993 - Charlie Ward / Florida State
1992 - Jay Barker / Alabama
1991 - Gino Torretta / Miami
1991 - Billy Joe Hobert / Washington
1990 - Darian Hagan / Colorado
1990 - Shawn Jones / Georgia Tech

New York Giants

2011-11-17T08:00:00.005-05:00

You may have noticed an increasing number of anti-Philth posts.

I don't think the Philth has gotten that much worse; I think my patience is just running out. I can no longer accept things that I used to let slide.

It's gotten so bad that I am actually rooting for the New York football Giants this weekend just so the city of Philth gets taken down a few notches.

Please keep in mind how much I hate Eli Manning; I still haven't forgiven him for refusing to play for the San Diego Chargers when they drafted him.

This is what the Philth has pushed me to; I am rooting for Eli freaking Manning.

Damn you, Philadelphia. Damn you.

Must See College Football - Week 12

2011-11-16T08:00:00.002-05:00

Saturday 11/19

Penn State @ Ohio State
This is a huge game for Penn State. Ohio State is weak this year, but they've been getting stronger all year. Let's hope that PSU's defense can shut down freshman Braxton Miller.

Boston College @ Notre Dame
The Holy War (between 2 Catholic schools). I don't know which makes more sense as The Holy War - this or the BYU/Utah match up.

Gamers beat Scienteists

2011-11-15T07:12:00.000-05:00

Its pretty amusing to see that video game players beat scientists in figuring out the structure of the enzyme.

Philadelphia Incest

2011-11-14T08:00:00.027-05:00

I've written before about Philadelphia embracing incest.

It's gotten really bad. Let me describe some of the people that I am dealing with in the Philth. I think you'll understand why I've been hating on the Philth so much recently.

Let's call them "Brother", "Sister", and "Friend".

Brother and Sister are only about a year apart in age. They spend most of their days flirting with each other online. That's not a joke. I would not be surprised if something happened between them in the past. I could see either one of them initiating it. I know Sister (chronically single) wishes she could date Brother. That's why she got so jealous and mad at her friend ("Friend") when she started dating Brother.

As if the story needed a twist...

I am about 85% sure that Friend is a closet lesbian. Before she started dating Brother, other people asked me if she was too.

But she and her family are crazy religious so I think she represses/denies it because it's "evil" or a "sin" or whatever the hell she thinks it is.

I didn't tell anyone about Friend; I respected her choice/privacy. I only mentioned it to Sister when she started talking about Brother creeping on Friend. Sister then told Brother (pillow talk). I was also very supportive; I wasn't mocking Friend. I just thought Brother was barking up the wrong tree.

The funny thing is that Brother actually told Friend that I think she is a repressed lesbian. It was actually a really smart move by him. When he first started creeping on Friend, he told her that I (Hater) knew. Her thought process was then:

"That asshole! How dare he (Hater) think I'm a lesbian! That's evil or a sin or whatever the hell I think it is! I'll show him! I'm gonna date the next guy I see!"

Which was Brother.

So it was kind of a dick move (aka Philly move) by him, but it was still impressive. And it got him the girl that he wanted.

A tip of the proverbial hat to Brother.

The story continues...

Sister is actually one of the girls that I mentioned in my "Philadelphia Gentleman" post. She's an intelligent-ish girl (except for the incest), but she's not socially sophisticated at all. I knew for months that she liked me; she doesn't do "subtle" or "smooth". I never mentioned it to her because there is no way to do that without sounding like a Philly douche.

Hey, I know you like me. I know you never mentioned it, but this is a preemptive strike. I don't like you so...yeah....

Instead of Sister approaching me (like an adult) to see if I liked her too, she had Friend (and a third girl) try to convince me to ask Sister out.

I obviously said no, but I didn't elaborate my reasons to Friend. I wasn't going to list all the reasons to Friend. They inevitably would have gotten back to Sister, and that is just unnecessarily hurtful.

I don't know if Friend didn't tell Sister that I was not interested, or if Friend waited several months before telling her, or if Sister just chose to ignore Friend, but however it happened, finally several months after I told Friend no, Sister started to act very pissy towards me.

I know Sister had a birthday in those months, so I assume her clock was ticking more than before. I also know that Sister had to go to some weddings (single) so that probably contributed to it.

Anyway, in addition to the general pissiness, Sister also started making passive-aggressive comments to me about how I was shallow and only liked dumb girls with big boobs.

Apparently, Sister decided that the reason that I turned her down was because I'm a shallow pig. It couldn't be any other reason. Why else would I reject the dream that she is???

To sum up:

So now I have Sister mad at me because I am a shallow pig.

I have Friend mad at me for rejecting her friend (Sister) and for thinking she was a lesbian.

And I have Brother mad at me for rejecting one of his lovers (his sister) and outing his other one. He's not actually mad about the second one, but his woman is mad so he has to be mad too.

These are the kinds of people I've been dealing with in the Philth.

Football Friday Week 10 Great #11s on 11-11-11

2011-11-11T08:57:00.038-05:00

Its pretty obvious to look at great #11s in Football.

Norm van Brocklin
Phil Simms*
Ken Strong
Will "Link" Lyman
Ernie Nevers
Fritz Pollard
Joe Guyon

Current Players, you will be amazed at the number of #11s there are in the NFL, it looks like the new up and coming number for young WRs:

by far the best sporting this jersey is - Larry Fitzgerald

Mohamed Massaquoi
Jordan Shipley
Roy Williams
Roscoe Parish
Julio Jones
Brandon laFell
Stefan Logan (rb/kr)
Rusty Smith
Brandon Gibson
Josh Johnson (and he does play in Fla just not the stud pitcher on marlins)
Deon Butler
Alex Smith (qb...)
Steve Smith
Sebastian Janikowski (k)
Keremy Kerley
Julian Edelman
Blaine Gabbert (qb)
Anthony Gonzalez
Matt Leinart (qb...)

*Ok Simms might not be great but other than van Brocklin I didn't know the others.

========================================

Hater Edit:

Francis “Whitey,” Wistert
Albert “Ox” Wistert
Alvin “Moose” Wistert

These guys are brothers. Even though they wore #11 all 3 played Tackle at Michigan.
They were all All-Americans and are all in the College Football Hall of Fame. Whitey and Moose won national championships. Ox was the best professional player though; Ryan's Philadelphia Eagles retired his jersey (#70).

Motivating workers? gift is better than cash.

2011-11-10T06:15:00.001-05:00

Getting a gift motivates your work ethic more than getting an equivalent cash bonus.

Must See College Football - Week 11

2011-11-09T08:00:00.003-05:00

Thursday, 11/10
Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech
How often do we get two top-25 teams on a Thursday night?

Saturday, 11/12
Oregon @ Stanford
A great Pac-12 match up.

Nebraska @ Penn State
Penn State has been surviving all season long without an offense. Unfortunately for PSU, the tough part of their schedule is starting. Penn State's defense/the inconsistency of Nebraska's offense might just be enough to pull out a win for the good guys*.

*"The good guys" refers to everyone who didn't harbor pedophiles.

Washington @ USC
Except for me, absolutely no one is talking about USC this year. They only have two losses (a closer than the score shows loss to Arizona State on the road, and a 3OT loss to Stanford). It's really a shame that USC is being ignored because of the NCAA sanctions/postseason ban. The rest of the college football universe is missing a great season from QB Matt Barkley and WR Robert Woods.

Matt Barkley (QB)
67.0% (229/342)
2608 yds
28 TDs
6 INTs
5 sacks

Robert Woods (WR)
90 receptions
1121 yds
11 TDs

US wasteful spending- not a surprise

2011-11-08T06:43:00.004-05:00

This past summer it came out that US Justice department was buying $16 muffins... in this financial crisis (since 08) you have got to be kidding me.

Linebacker U

2011-11-07T08:00:00.003-05:00

I was watching the Notre Dame/South Florida game on the first week of college football. As usual, the announcers were talking about how Notre Dame needs to recapture the glory of the past and bring back the tradition.

The surprising thing was that the announcers were talking about how recruits today don't remember when Notre Dame was great, and barely know the history. Apparently they were interviewing Manti Teo who said that he didn't know anything about Notre Dame tradition when he first came to school.

Ignoring the fact that that is one of the dumbest things that any football player has ever said (which is no small accomplishment), it is probably sort of true that punks today don't know their college football history.

I am ashamed to admit that even my knowledge was not up to par. I've always known Penn State as "Linebacker U", a moniker that brings more and more good LB recruits (LaVar Arrington, Brandon Short, Paul Posluzny, Dan Connor, Sean Lee, Navarro Bowman, etc.). But I wasn't totally sure of the original stars who earned the reputation.

Here is a list.

I've only heard of a few:

Jack Ham (1968-70)
I only know him from his Steelers accomplishments

Shane Conlan (1983-86)
I've heard the name, but I couldn't have told you when he played.

Brandon Short (1996-99)
I remember him because I was watching football at this time.

LaVar Arrington (1997-99)
Same for Arrington; I actually saw him play.

Paul Posluzny (2003-06)

Dan Connor (2004-07)
I actually saw Connor play in a high school playoff game. I think he was a sophomore and he started (and dominated) at fullback and linebacker.

Football Friday Week 9 - UFL

2011-11-04T08:00:00.003-04:00

While it garners a little less attention than the NFL, the UFL is also playing this fall.

Here are some players you should know (not from their UFL play, but from either college or NFL):

Las Vegas Locos:
Brian Brohm (QB - Louisville)
Eddie Drummond (WR - Penn St)
Marcel Shipp (RB - UMass, Arizona Cardinals)
Tony Ugoh (OT - Arkansas)
Teddy Lehman (LB - Oklahoma)

Omaha Nighthawks:
Maurice Clarett (RB - Ohio State)
Eric Crouch (QB - Nebraska)
Noel Devine (RB - West Virginia)
Dusty Dvoracek (DT - Oklahoma)
Chad Jackson (WR - Florida)
Jeremiah Masoli (QB - Oregon, Ole Miss)
DJ Shockley (QB - Georgia)
Troy Smith (QB - Ohio State, San Francisco 49ers)
Garrett Wolfe (RB - Northern Illinois)

Sacramento Mountain Lions:
Tom Malone (P - USC)

Virginia Destroyers:
Darnell Bing (LB - USC)
Mike McMahon (QB - Rutgers, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles)

Sandwich Failures

2011-11-03T08:00:00.005-04:00

Arby's Philly Sandwich:

You will literally never be able to find a bigger Philth-hater than I am, and even I was offended by this monstrosity.

According to the Arby's website, the "Philly" is:
juicy, lean premium Angus beef and topped it off with fire-roasted onions and peppers, melted Swiss and tasty aioli spread, all served on a toasted Philly roll.

If Arby wants to sell a Philly-style cheesesteak, that's fine. But they sound like jackasses when they refer to this sandwich as a "Philly".

First of all, there are no peppers on a Philly-style cheesesteak. Onions are allowed, but no peppers.

Secondly, Swiss???? Philly-style sandwiches are either whiz or provolone. Swiss never even enters into the equation.

Finally, there is no aioli spread on a Philly sandwich.

The irony is that Arby's regular Melt sandwich is closer to being a Philly cheesesteak than the Philly is.

Thinly sliced beef and whiz --- no peppers, no Swiss, and no aioli.

==================================

McDonald's McRib:

The McRib is back, and I don't care. The McRib sucks.

I do not understand the attraction.

1.) It's not good BBQ sauce.
2.) The meat is substandard even for McDonalds.
3.) It has pickles on it.

The McRib's success is clearly and solely the result of excellent marketing. People think they "like" it because it's rare (by McDonalds' design). If it's rare and unique, it must be good.

Must See College Football - Week 10

2011-11-02T08:00:00.003-04:00

Saturday 11/5
LSU @ Alabama
If you need a reason to watch this game, you also need a punch in the face. Go get that, then I'll give you the reason.

Army @ Air Force
Round 2 of the Commander-in-Chief's Cup.

Cal or USC: Better Football Factory?

2011-11-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

Cal football has always been the little brother to USC football.
The Texas A&M to Texas.
The UCF/USF/FIU/FAU to the big three in the state of Florida (Miami, FSU, UF).
The Philadelphia to every other city in Pennsylvania.

That's mainly because of hype and college success, but if you look at the current NFL players, Cal wins a clear battle on offense, but USC takes defense, but it's close.

Quarterback:
Aaron Rodgers/Kyle Boller (Cal) v. Matt Cassel/Mark Sanchez/Matt Leinart (USC)
Rodgers beats out Cassel's individual success and Sanchez's team success. Boller and Leinart cancel each other out because they are both terrible.

Runningback:
Jahvid Best/Justin Forsett/Marshawn Lynch (Cal) v. Reggie Bush/LenDale White (USC)
This one is pretty tight, but I give USC the edge.

Wide Receiver:
DeSean Jackson (Cal) v. Mike Williams/Steve Smith (USC)
DeSean is the clear choice.

Tight End:
Tony Gonzalez (Cal) v. pretty much nobody significant

Offensive Line:
Alex Mack (Cal) v. Ryan Kalil (USC)
I'll call this one a push. Both are pretty solid choices.
On overall depth, USC wins with more linemen in the league (Sam Baker).

Defensive Line:
Andre Carter/Tyson Alualu (Cal) v. Sedrick Ellis/Mike Patterson (USC)
I give the edge to Cal and Andre Carter because he's had some good years.

Linebackers:
Scott Fujita (Cal) v. Clay Matthews/Brian Cushing/Rey Maualuga/Keith Rivers (USC)
Fujita didn't stand a chance.

Safeties:
Pretty much nobody (Cal) v. Troy Polamalu (USC)

Cornerbacks:
Nnamdi Asomugah (Cal) v. Terrell Thomas (USC)
Unless Darelle Revis went to USC (he didn't), Nnamdi was going to win.

Always Relevant Jerseys (College Football)

2011-10-31T08:00:00.003-04:00

The difference from always relevant NFL jerseys is that college jerseys often don't have the player name on the back.

This has both benefits and drawbacks.

The positive is that if you pick the right number, your jerseys is always relevant. I know people who own Notre Dame #9 jerseys. They bought them back with Tom Zbikowski (SS) was playing, but they worked for Kyle Rudolph (TE) and now they work for Louis Nix (DT).

The drawback is that you can sometimes get screwed if a disgrace has the same number. If you bought a #7 Notre Dame jersey when Carlyle Holiday was playing, you were stuck with it when "it" was playing QB for Charlie Weis before the Carolina Panthers drafted it.

The key to picking the right college jersey is picking a number that is so closely associated with one player that people forget that anyone else still wears it,

OR

picking a retired/reserved jersey.

=======================================

Notre Dame - #25 Rocket Ismail or #3 Joe Montana

Penn State - Penn State doesn't retire numbers so they are all still available. I think the safest bet is #11 (Lavar Arrington). It is currently worn by Matt McGloin (QB) and there is no shame in that.

USC - #55 is always solid

Florida State - #2 (Deion Sanders) or #10 (Derrick Brooks)

Texas - #20 "The Texas Rose"

Ohio State - It is never acceptable to wear an Ohio State jersey.

Alabama - It is never acceptable to wear an Alabama jersey.

Football Friday week 8 Backfields in the NFL

2011-10-28T08:20:00.013-04:00

College backfields that are in the NFL-

Auburn 2005: Jason Campbell (average qb), Ronnie Brown (avearge rb), Carnell Williams (bust).

Arkansas 2007: Peyton Hillis (good RB), Felix Jones (average rb), Darren McFadden (good RB). This was the first anyone had seen of the wildcat with McFadden playing QB.

USC 2005: Matt Leinart ("QB"), Reggie Bush, LenDale White

Texas 2004: Vince Young, Cedric Benson, Ahmard Hall (FB), Selvin Young (a few years with Denver)

Texas 2005: Vince Young, Henry Melton (now a Bears DT), Colt McCoy, Ahmard Hall, Jamaal Charles, Selvin Young

Philadelphia v. Pittsburgh

2011-10-27T08:00:00.025-04:00

Before Philadelphia was banished to New Jersey, it used to compete with Pittsburgh for the title of Pennsylvania's second city.

As someone who has lived in both, but is from neither, Hater has the perfect combination of experience and neutrality to break it down.

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS:
Football:
Eagles (Phi) v. Steelers (Pitt)

Hater: I have to give the edge to Pitt. The Steelers are a better run franchise. Both teams have their share of annoying players so that's kind of a wash.
Ryan: Clearly Pitt.

Basketball:
76ers (Phi) v. Nothing (Pitt)

Hater: Philly barely edges out Pitt, and only because the 76ers cause other (good) teams to visit Philly. And because Iverson and Wilt used to play for the 76ers.
Philly: Wilt and Sir Charles give the easy edge to Philly.

Hockey:
Penguins (Pitt) v. Flyers (Phi)

Hater: It's hard to argue with success. Pitt wins easily.
Ryan: I think its 3 to 2 in terms of Cups, but the Flyers have way more conference & division championships. I think Draw.

Baseball:
Phillies (Phi) v. Pirates (Pitt)

Hater: Not even worth discussing. Phillies in a landslide.
Ryan: Hater is right on.

Other:
Union/etc. (Phi) v. Riverhounds/etc. (Pitt)

Hater: The edge goes to Pitt. I never heard about the Riverhounds in Pitt; I hear a lot about the Union. Pitt at least has the decency to hide its shame.
Ryan: Who??? I thought we were talking sports.

COLLEGE SPORTS:
Football:
Pitt (Pitt) v. Temple (Phi)

Hater: This is big on potential; both schools are breaking in new coaches. Pitt has the much stronger history with Marino and Larry Fitz.
Ryan: Agreed- LFtiz, Shady, not to mention May, Doresett, & Ditka

Basketball:
Pitt (Pitt) v. Villanova (Phi)

Hater: Both teams are pretty evenly matched competitively. I would give the edge to Pitt because Nova can be pretty douchey. But Ryan convinced me that the 1985 national championship puts Nova ahead.
Ryan: Pitt also loses points for pussying out to the ACC.- Clearly Philly.

SIGNATURE FOOD:
Cheesesteak (Phi) v. Primanti Brothers Sammich (Pitt)

Hater: The winner does not include cole slaw on a sandwich.
Ryan: Cheesesteaks are legitimately good, Primanti is not.

QUICK FOOD:
Wawa (Phi) v. Get-Go (Pitt)

Hater: I initially resisted Wawa because Philly people slurp all over it so much, but it has grown on me. Plus, Get-Go sucks.
Ryan: I grew up on wawa and get-go does suck.

BEER:
IC Light (Pitt) v. Victory Hopdevil (Phi)

Hater: Victory has a lot of good beers, but I had to pick one to compete with IC Light. Hopdevil sucks, but it sucks less than IC Light.
Ryan: Interesting selections, but in this one Hopdevil takes the prize.

TRAFFIC:
376 (Pitt) v. The Sure-Kill Expressway (Phi)

Hater: Pitt gets the edge here because 376 can be terrible, but the Schuylkill is ALWAYS terrible.
Ryan: No doubt, Pitt.

MAYOR:
Luke Ravenstahl (Pitt) v. Michael Nutter (Phi)

Hater: This one is easy. Ravenstahl changed his name (sort of) when the Steelers were playing the Ravens in the playoffs. Plus, Nutter is a punk.
Ryan: Agreed.

RIVERS:
3 (Pitt) v. 1 (Phi)

Hater: This is just simple math. Pitt wins.
Ryan: Does the word confluence mean anything to philly people.. nope- Pitt Edge.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Freedom (Phi) vs Steel (Pitt)

Hater: Another no-brainer. Philly wins.
Ryan: Def.

PROXIMITY TO THE REST OF THE WORLD:

Hater: Pitt is 5+ hours from NYC and DC. Philly is like 2.
Ryan: Agreed.

PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THE WORLD:
Ben Franklin (Phi) vs Jonas Salk (Pitt)

Hater: Just by sheer volume, Ben Franklin and Philly win.
Ryan: And he loved whores- Philly.

AUTHORS:
Fiction:
Lisa Scottoline (Philly) vs (Pitt) I dont know one off top of my head?
Ryan: Philly.

Non-Fiction:
Rachel Carson (Pitt) vs Noam Chomsky (Philly)
This is Philly easy.

Social Sciences:
Herbert Simon (Pitt) vs Leda Cosmides & Margert Mead (Philly)
Ryand Again Philly easy.

VACATION SPOTS:
AC/Jersey Shore/Poconos (Philly) vs 7Springs & 1 casino

Hater: The funny thing is that Philly's proximity to the Dirty Shore pushed Pitt into the lead. Pitt wins.
Ryan: I like AC better than 1 casino & pocanos are as close as 7springs are- Philly.

CULTURAL RELEVANCE:
Music
Carnegie Hall (Pitt) vs Academy of Arts or Kimmel Center (Philly)

Ryan: National Impact-Philly easy.

Art:
Warhol vs MofA

Science:
MofNS, FI, Please Touch vs Carnegie MofS, Carnegie Science Center
Ryan: Philly easy.

MOVIES:
Rocky, Philadelphia (Phi) vs 3Days, the one with bruce willis as water cop... (Pitt)

Hater: No-brainer. Philly.
Ryan: Philly.

OVERRATED "SMART" UNIVERSITY:
Carnegie Mellon (Pitt) vs Penn (Phi)

Hater: Both are overrated, but at least Penn's reputation lives up to the hype.
Ryan: Agreed- Philly.

PEOPLE:
Arrogant douchebags (Phi) v. Rednecks (Pitt)

Hater: I'll take rednecks over pricks.
Ryan: I lived in Pitt too Long so I hate rednecks, Philly.

TOTAL WINNER-

Ryan: Tie. Pro-Sports is Pittsburgh. College Sports is Tied. Every thing else is Philly.

Hater: Pittsburgh in a landslide. This was up in the air until the last category ("People"). They ruin everything else. You can't enjoy a cheesesteak because of the douchebags. You can't go to a Phillies game because people are puking on little girls. You can't walk into a Wawa without being annoyed.

Must See College Football - Week 9

2011-10-26T08:00:00.003-04:00

Sat 10/29
Illinois @ Penn St
Two vastly overrated teams who have been feasting on a weak Big Ten. Watch the QB controversy at Penn State. This same exact thing back in 1999-2000. JoePa had 2 QBs and could not settle on either. But in reality (like now), JoePa has one QB(Kevin Thompson/Matt McGloin) and one athlete who plays QB (Rashard Casey/Rob Bolden). The athlete's potential is so tantalizing that JoePa can't bear to bench him, even though it doesn't match the production of the real QB.

*It looks like JoePa finally made the right choice. McGloin played all the offensive snaps last week against Northwestern.

Navy @ Notre Dame
Navy has made Notre Dame its bitch the last few years. Notre Dame is probably going to change that this year; plus Navy is down a little this year. The worst part about this game is trying to remember which team is wearing gold helmets, navy jerseys, and gold pants - - - as opposed to the team wearing gold helmets, white jerseys, and gold pants.

Stanford @ USC
Even though Stanford is clearly the favorite (USC isn't even ranked), I still think USC has a puncher's chance with Matt Barkley and Robert Woods on offense.

Mellowcreme

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Mellowcreme is incredible.

I'm not the biggest fan of candy corn, but the pumpkins kick ass. Unfortunately, Brach's doesn't understand this, so they seem to put out a hell of a lot more "Autumn Mix" than just "Mellowcreme Pumpkins".

If you're looking for something a little different, try the Brach's Assorted Halloween Mix. The different colors actually do taste different.

===================================

It's a little early in the season for some of these candy's but they showed up when I was researching the Halloween mellowcremes.

Brach's Christmas Nougats: I'm not even a big fan of peppermint things, but I have a soft spot for these.

French Burnt Peanuts: these are good all year round.

Milk Maid Caramels: I could eat about a million.

Strawberry-filled hard candies: the hotter cousin of rootbeer barrels

Jelly Nougats: I've talked about these before. At Pitt, they used to put a huge pile of these out as dessert at receptions.

"Philadelphia Gentleman"

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

For those of you from Philadelphia, an oxymoron is (according to the Free Dictionary):

A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.

Another example of this is "Philadelphia gentleman".

This has been brought to my attention very clearly in the last few months.

Unlike my online persona ("Hater"), I am actually a very nice person (sometimes to a fault). Unlike the average Philth guy, I'm nice to everyone until they do something to wrong me.

This has come back to bite me because 2 separate Philth girls were under the mistaken impression that I was interested in them.

I think that a guy (in the Philth)acting like a decent human being was a big enough shock to their systems, but it was further magnified by the fact that neither of the girls is probably used to any positive attention from guys. (I'm trying to say this as nicely as possible. Read between the lines)

I've heard that if you have learned something from a broken up relationship, it wasn't a waste. Well, I never even came close to dating either of these girls, but I did learn something.

If you live in Philly, you can't be nice to people. Everyone in Philly is so used to everyone else acting like dickheads that if you behave like a decent human being, they will think you are into them.

Football Friday week 7 - Texas Defensive Linemen

2011-10-21T08:20:00.003-04:00

In 2001, Texas linemen dominated the NFL Draft.

Casey Hampton - Pittsburgh Steelers
Shaun Rogers - Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints

After that, everyone was always looking for the next great Texas DT. Unfortunately, he hasn't really shown up.

Henry Melton - Chicago Bears
Roy Miller - Tampa Bay Bucs
Frank Okam - Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Bucs
Cory Redding - Baltimore Ravens
Rodrique Wright - Miami Dolphins, NY Jets
Derek Lokey - Kansas City Chiefs
Lamarr Houston - Oakland Raiders

Cory Redding sees significant time with the Ravens, and Henry Melton is having a pretty good year for the Bears, but that's about it.

Defensive Tackle #44

2011-10-20T08:00:00.011-04:00

There is a common saying in the SEC football:

"If you ain't cheatin, you ain't trying."

Along this same thought, you should do everything you can to win, including playing mind games with your opponent.

This can take any number of approaches, including painting your visitor's locker room pink, or forcing the other team to wear jerseys it hates.

This can be a subtle as what jersey number a player is wearing.

If you see a RB/DB with number 45, you pretty much assume that he is not very good. Same thing with a lineman wearing 68.

Conversely, the right number can (slightly) intimidate. If you see a single digit on a LB or TE, you assume he's a pretty good athlete.

This matters because a lot of factors go into a player's number.

If a defensive lineman, linebacker, tight end has a single digit, it stands out as an anomaly. The overwhelming majority of the time the single digits go to the QBs, RBs, WRs, and DBs.

It shows a lot about the leadership and attitude of that player because they are competing not only against tradition and divas, but also coach prejudice (sometimes). There are a lot of old-school, traditionalist coaches that like sticking defensive linemen with 60s, 70s, and 90s.

Women won lottery 4 times don't believe the reported math

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

This summer I read about a woman who has won the lottery 4 times.

The article gives an astounding number to show you how absurd this "luck" is, and it is completely wrong.

The odds of this has been calculated at one in eighteen septillion and luck like this could only come once every quadrillion years.

Its total bullshit to look at it this way, that is the odds of her specifically winning the lottery 4 times. But that really isn't important- what the number should be is what are the odds anyone could win the lottery 4 times. Which would divide that massive number by
(the number of people who have played the lottery at least 4 times) multiplied by( their frequency of play [number of times people have played the lottery|given they have played more than 4 times).

This may not sound like that many but Based on texas' lottery study we can guesstimate. Texas has roughly 6 games that can go that high (depending upon how much the prize builds up). Texas has a population of about 25 million, and 28% of that is under 18. Giving a potential population of 18 million.

Just looking at 1 of the 6 games-
Cash 5 is played by 17% of population on average 2.5 times a week (130 times a year) with 60% playing for more than 5 years. Which means that 1.8 million people have played this lottery at least 650 times or 1.2*10^9th. To show what a difference this makes the 18 septillion is reduced to 1.2*10^16th. [(1.8*10^24)/(1.2*10^9)=1.2*10^16th].

So just from looking at 1 of the 6 games, and only for people who have played for 5 years we dramatically reduced that number. Let's look at 2 of the games (Cash 5 & Lotto Texas).

Lotto texas is played by 67% of population (12mill) on average 1.5 times a week. With 84% of the population playing this game for at least 5 years. So 10 million people have played this game 78 times a year for more than 5 years, or 7.8*10^8th chances. In other words we add the 7.8*10^8 to the 1.2*10^9th which is 1.98*10^9th. Which reduces the number to 9*10^15th.

So you can see how adding the 4 other games, and then adding the people who played for past 4yrs, 3yrs, 2yrs, and current year could really reduce that number. In fact I would give a wild ass guess, say adding the others games & people would reduce the number to more like 1 in 1 trillion (1*10^12).

Thats still an absurdly high number but it is nowhere near 18 septillion. Essentially I am saying that number the article gives is off by a factor of 1 trillion, or the odds that she won the lottery 4 times.

Market Manger Jackass.

2011-10-18T06:31:00.006-04:00

Hey everyone look this guy in the benz' is "THE MARKET MAKER" what a tool.

Hierarchy of Sports

2011-10-17T08:00:00.011-04:00

The fall is a dangerous time for most sports fans; it is chock full of potential man violations. With so many sports seasons overlapping, there is a huge danger (for some people) of watching the wrong sport.

For example, on October 1, Ryan committed a massive violation when he watched a baseball game (A BASEBALL GAME!) instead of a college football matchup between 2 top-15 teams (Clemson and VA Tech).

His error was understandable though. His home-town Phillies were playing the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of the NLDS, and he has no connection to/interest in either Clemson or VA Tech.

In order to clarify what sport you SHOULD be watching, we've set up a little scoring system. Each criteria is worth a point value. You add up all the points for each of your viewing options and then you can make the clear choice.

Sport: Obviously, what sport it is.
Significance: Is it a preseason game or the conference finals?
Your Team: Is your team playing?
Rivalry: Is it a rivalry game?
Rankings: Are both teams ranked?

Sport:
NCAA Mens Basketball (+20)
NCAA Womens Basketball (-49)
NBA (+5)
WNBA (-50)
MLB (+3)
College Baseball (0)
NCAA Football (+40)
NFL (+15)
NHL (+5)
Golf (-10)
Tennis (-20)
Soccer (-100 and you get a punch in the face)

Significance:
Championship/Final Four (+25)
Playoff (+15)
Regular Season (0)
Preseason (-10)

Your Team:
Yes (+20)
No (0)

Rivalry:
Yes (+10)
No (0)

Ranked:
Subtract the ranking of each team from 25 and add that point total.

=================================

For example, Ryan's choice between a great college football matchup and a baseball game.

NCAAF (40)
Regular Season (0)
Not His Team (0)
Not a Rivalry (0)
Clemson ranked #15 (10)
VA Tech ranked #11 (14)
___________________
Total Score of 64

MLB (3)
Playoff (15)
His Team (20)
Not a Rivalry (0)
Rankings (N/A)
____________________
Total Score of 38

Football Friday week 6 - Baltimore Ravens

2011-10-14T08:19:00.029-04:00

I watched the Baltimore Ravens demolish the NY Jets on Sunday Night Football a few weeks ago, and I saw a lot to like about the Ravens. They are my recommended team for Ryan's Philly Dispensation post earlier this week.

Offensive Line:
In the offseason, the Ravens picked up Bryant McKinnie (my boy) and Andre Gurode, who were released from the Vikings and Cowboys respectively. They both ended up as starters on a great Baltimore offensive line. I remember Gurode back when Colorado was bitchslapping Nebraska in the Big XII Championship before Nebraska got the pity vote and screwed Oregon out of the National Championship (where Nebraska got bitchslapped by Miami). And on top of that, the Ravens have Jah Reid (also my boy), a massive rookie from UCF as a back up RT.

Defensive Line:
When most people see 340+lb Haloti Ngata, they would assume he's a nose guard. But Baltimore smartly uses him as a 3-4 defensive end. Why is it smart? If Ngata were a NG, he would get double teamed on every play. At DE, he can sometimes get a one-on-one matchup with an overmatched OT.

Someone apparently lit a fire under Terrence Cody. After weighing in at 370lbs at the Combine, he looks svelte at 349. Still massive, but less bad fat.

Offensive Weapons:
I like that a lot of the Ravens offensive weapons are from local-ish college teams. That helps build fan loyalty because the fans already knew them as college stars.

QB Joe Flacco (Delaware) - Newark, DE is 57 miles from Baltimore
RB Ray Rice (Rutgers) - New Brunswick, NJ is 157 miles from Baltimore
WR Torrey Smith (Maryland) - College Park, MD is 32 miles from Baltimore

New Words Added to the Dictionary

2011-10-13T08:00:00.002-04:00

As technological lingo continues to expand, more and more words are added to the English dictionary.

I'd like to add another.

Philadelphian - (adj.) embodying the qualities of a douchebag while embarrassing the rest of Pennsylvania as well as the United States.

Example: That is a very Philadelphian Ed Hardy shirt you are wearing.

N.B. This word can also be modified for use as an adverb.

Example: After we taunted him for his Ed Hardy shirt until he cried, he changed into a polo shirt. It was ok until he Philadelphianly popped the collar.

Must See College Football - Week 7

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Thursday, 10/13
USC @ Cal
How the hell is this a Thursday night game? As much of an insult as it is for Cal and USC, it's great news for the rest of us.

Friday, 10/14
Hawai'i @ San Jose State
This is really weird in that it's a Friday night game, but again, we luck out because we get a chance to see Bryant Moniz and Hawai'i.

Saturday, 10/15
Clemson @ Maryland
I attended this game 2 years ago where I heard the classic ACC line "I wouldn't root for Duke if they were playing al quaeda". Clemson has been a pretty exciting team to watch this year. Plus, it'll be interesting to see what uniform combination Maryland rolls out.

Michigan @ Michigan State
Any chance to see Shoelace is worth it, plus it's a great rivalry again.

Baylor @ Texas A&M
What used to be a HUGE game in the Texas recruiting battle doesn't have the same strength now that A&M is moving to the SEC (terrible idea by both sides). Still, much like Shoelace, it's worth watching for Robert Griffin III.

Philly dispensation

2011-10-11T06:37:00.017-04:00

After watching the eagles this past sunday- we are granting any fan in the philly region a special dispensation, for the rest of this season you can pick a new squad to root for given 1) they are not a natural rival, and 2) they aren't in first place.

The reason this dispensation is being given this year is because of the stupidity displayed by the eagles: front office- lets spend a ton of cash for CBs and not have any LBs or Safties, coach reid- running a play with 8 seconds left in the first half with no TOs, in leu of kicking the fg, or making an OL coach the D coordinator, players- vick not throwing the ball away on said play sooner, parker biting on the non-play.

There is one thing in sports that drives me nuts- and its stupidity, I will never hold a fan accountable for jumping ship when his/her natural team displays stupidity. No one should be subjugated to that.

*Rumor has it- the philly sports teams started trending down when Hater started mistakenly targeting the city and not the people he has chosen or is forced to associate with aka lawyers...

Best Pennsylvania Football Player

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Who is PA's best non-QB football player ever (meaning of those who grew up in PA)?
Mike Munchak
Tony Dorsett
Curtis Martin
Marvin Harrison
Eddie George
Ty Law

Best QB from PA?
Joe Montana
Dan Marino
Johnny Unitas
Joe Namath
Jim Kelly

What about best old school player?
Fred Biletnikoff
Chuck Bednarik
Mike Ditka
George Blanda

Most underrated?
Ed McCaffery
Andre Reed
Matt Schaub
Hater
Jason Taylor
Ricky Watters
Frank Wycheck
Rich Gannon

Football Friday week 5 Predicting Division Winners

2011-10-07T08:17:00.015-04:00

It turns out if you rule out one team in any given division (lower the probability to 1/3), you do as well as the experts and probability... (numbers here). So experts don't know anymore than you or me- who the hell can't rule out 1 team per division? Do the bengals, vikings, panthers, miami, indy or KC have a chance at winning the divisions this year?

Also an interesting fact- the NFL averages 6 new playoff teams a year (1/2 the number that makes it).

Must See College Football - Week 6

2011-10-06T08:00:00.005-04:00

Thursday 10/6
Cal @ Oregon
A sweet Pac-12 matchup (a night game in Eugene, no less) should preempt any other TV on a Thursday night. As weird as it is, USC is flying under the radar this season. Absolutely no one (except me) is talking about Robert Woods (WR) who through 5 games has 55 catches, 747 yds, and 6 TDs.

Saturday 10/8
Pitt @ Rutgers
I actually thought about going to this game, but decided against it. Other than that, there isn't a lot to get excited about. There are a couple of exciting players involved (WR Mohammed Sanu from Rutgers and RB Ray Graham from Pitt). If you saw last Thursday's game, Pitt finally looks like it is starting to understand Todd Graham's offense, which is a shock to Pitt fans/alums everywhere who got used to Wanny's "offense". (It's in quotes because it barely counted as offense)

Florida @ LSU
Let's see how Charlie Weis's offense does against probably the second best defense in the nation (after getting beat down by Alabama at home). This game was going to be more exciting until John Brantley went down against Bama. I'm excited to see Tyrann "The Honey Badger" Mathieu (#7, CB - LSU). He plays more like a Troy Polamalu; he blitzes, forces fumbles, sacks the QB.

I am "featured" on freakonomics blog

2011-10-05T07:58:00.002-04:00

I submitted a question to one of my intellectual Hero's Steven Pinker, and he happened to pick mine to respond too. Its the very last question (EEA is environment of evolutionary adaptiveness, aka the time-period and environment that humans evolved to live in).

http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/10/04/author-steven-pinker-answers-your-questions

He never really answers my question but its cool to think he thought my question was good enough to comment on.

Also does this mean I have written or been featured on freakonomics blog?

Why the Cleveland Browns Will Never Win a Super Bowl

2011-10-04T08:00:00.009-04:00

Since the Cleveland Browns returned to the league in 1999, they have mainly served as a bottom feeder of the NFL with only one winning season.

Most of their top draft picks have been major busts:

1999: Tim Couch (QB - Kentucky)
2000: Courtney Brown (DE - Penn State)
2001: Gerard Warren (DT - Florida)
2002: William Green (RB - Boston College)
2003: Jeff Faine (C - Notre Dame)
2004: Kellen Winslow II (TE - Miami)
2005: Braylon Edwards (WR - Michigan)
2006: Kamerion Wimbley (DE - Florida State)
2007: Joe Thomas (T - Wisconsin); Brady Quinn (QB - Notre Dame)
2008: No Pick
2009: Alex Mack (C - California)
2010: Joe Haden (CB - Florida)
2011: Phil Taylor (DT - Baylor)

Furthermore, the Browns actually hired Eric Mangini as Head Coach.

====================================

In spite of all this, there was still hope that the Browns could eventually become a decent team.

Colt McCoy is showing promise at QB. Peyton Hillis solidifies the running game. Joe Thomas is a perenial Pro Bowler at Left Tackle.

Then this happened.

Much like certain characteristics (intelligence, cognition, morality, etc.) separate men from animals, football distinguishes itself from the lesser developed sports by wearing color uniforms at home.

With a few rare exceptions (Dallas Cowboys, LSU Tigers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets) and concessions to heat during August and September, football teams only wear white jerseys on the road.

If the Browns are going to behave like this, they might as well just start playing baseball.

Separated at Birth Sports figures Part 9

2011-10-03T09:12:00.000-04:00

Part 9 of the Separated at Birth Sports Figures, or athletes who look like celebrities (aka athlete celebrity look alikes).

Click here to see the previous versions.

Greg Schiano and Les Miles

Cal Ripken and Seth Greenberg (VaTech bball coach)

Brady Hoke and Tony Siragusa

Gary Bettman and Vladimir Putin

Randy Foye and Eric Gordan

Rick Barnes and John Grisham

Test of Manhood

2011-10-01T14:28:00.003-04:00

Today is a big test of the general population's manhood.

Game 1 of the NLDS (Cardinals @ Phillies) is scheduled at 5:07pm.

#13 Clemson @ #11 Virginia Tech is scheduled for 6pm.

There aren't any great games at 3:30pm (the best is Michigan St @ Ohio St) so I'll allow Phillies fans to watch the first 53 minutes of the game.

The big test is when 6pm rolls around.

Regardless of the status of the Phillies game, all real sports fans should turn it off in favor of college football.

I will make certain exceptions who are allowed to watch the Phillies:
1.) If you are closely related to someone in either of the organizations.
2.) If you are actually employed by one of the organizations.
3.) That's it.

Football Friday week 4 - Number 6

2011-09-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Why the hell are there so many NFL QBs wearing #6? The number sucks.

Jay Cutler - Chicago

Mark Sanchez - NJ Jets

Charlie Whitehurst - Seattle

Terrelle Pryor - Oakland

Seneca Wallace - Cleveland

Pirates & Hype

2011-09-29T06:13:00.001-04:00

Remember all the hype 3-4 months ago about how good the pirates were and how this could be a playoff team?

Besides being a distant memory (the team solidified a losing season awhile ago, what is this 19 in a row?), why did anyone in the world think this team was going to stop that trend?

Look at the monthly results,
April 12-15 (-3)
May 13-13 (0)
June 16-11 (+5)
July 13-13 (0)
Aug 8-22 (-14)
Sept 10- 15* (-5)

Even at the teams best, they were +2... and June was clearly an "outlier" since every other month was 0 or below.

*This was written with 1 game still to play.

Must See College Football - Week 5

2011-09-28T08:00:00.003-04:00

Thursday 9/29
South Florida @ Pitt
A sweet Thursday night Big East (for now) matchup.

Saturday 10/1
Alabama @ Florida
Florida might just have the speed to beat Alabama's sick defense. In a shock to the football world, Charlie Weis seems to realize that Chris Rainey is fast.

Clemson @ Virginia Tech
Clemson has surprised some people this year; they beat Auburn and Florida State. Virginia Tech is always interesting though; sometimes they drop games they shouldn't.

Air Force @ Navy
While the game will probably be slow and drag a little, it's still the opening game in the Commander-in-Chief's Cup.

Hawai'i @ Louisiana Tech
The 7pm EST game is finally a chance for more people to see Hawai'i, but the game isn't on any of the major networks.

Nebraska @ Wisconsin
My game of the week. Night games in Camp Randall are some of the best.

Ole Miss @ Fresno State
I just like watching late night Fresno State games.

Two Way Players

2011-09-27T08:00:00.007-04:00

With few exceptions*, major college football and the NFL has mainly become a two-platoon game.

The few two-way players in major college football are mainly CBs that see some time at WR:

Deion Sanders (Florida State)
Charles Woodson (Michigan)
Champ Bailey (Georgia)
Chris Gamble (Ohio State)

After the 2002 National Championship Game (where the referees screwed Miami in overtime), then Ohio State I-back Maurice Clarett (after hearing all the love Gamble was getting) claimed that he also wanted to play linebacker because he stripped the ball from a Miami defender who had intercepted it.

We never found out if this could happen because Clarett got in all sorts of trouble and didn't play for Ohio State again.

I didn't think that a RB/LB two-way player was possible in today's game, but then Stanford's Owen Marecic proved me wrong.

==================================

Obviously, this doesn't apply in high school where most schools have multiple two-way players.

A buddy of mine is now a high school coach so I went to a game earlier this year and was surprised at the positions that players were doubling up on.

When I played in high school, my team went like this:

Offensive Tackle - Defensive Tackle
Offensive Guard - Defensive Tackle/Defensive End
Center - Defensive Tackle
Tight End - Defensive End
Wide Receiver - Cornerback/Safety
Runningback - Linebacker
Quarterback - Safety

This may have been a product of the players that we had, but I think it was more the mentality of the coach.

There were exceptions. It obviously depended on the type of offensive player (power fullback or speedy scatback).

But there were/are exceptions that always surprise me.

I saw a TE/Safety recently. You figure that someone big/strong enough to play TE would be playing a more physical position on defense.

I know a WR/DE that was just weird, but the kid was strong enough to hold his own on defense. He was probably close to 200 lbs so he wasn't a freakishly small DE.

I saw a couple of QB/OLB combos which seems like a pretty high-contact defensive position for your QB.

You see a lot of FB/DT which sounds cool, but is kind of a waste...assuming that the FB is primarily a blocking back (not carrying the ball). If a player is tough enough to be a DT, you should use him more effectively than as a FB. You don't have to be ridiculously tough to be a blocking back; you can really just screen people and let the RB go around you. If a kid is that tough/strong, either let him carry the ball or put him at TE where he can drive people off the ball.

Suck It Lebron, beat by Philly

2011-09-26T11:44:00.000-04:00

Suck it Lebron- your "allstar" team (with... surprise 3 superstars) got beat by the Philly guys.

And afterwards he left without talking to the media...

Philth - In a Nutshell

2011-09-26T08:00:00.003-04:00

[Ryan edit- RANT ON:

People who have never lived in the greater Philth metro area often ask me why it sucks so much. It's difficult to describe the Philth to someone who has never experienced it first-hand. But I think I found a way.

99% of the Philth can be summed up in a single event: when the guy intentionally vomited on the little girl last year at the Phillies game.

I want to be very clear. This doesn't describe Philth sports fans. Fans are fans.

This single act (which just happened to be at a game) is representative of the overwhelming majority of people in the greater Philth metro area. Whether they like sports or not.

I used this act as an example because:
a.) people know it
b.) it is appropriately terrible

I have the authority to classify Philly "people" as the worst people on the planet because I have thousands of examples from living there for several years.

I'm not basing this on a few isolated instances of fan behavior at games (like GQ did when they named Philth fans the worst in America)

***************************************

A disgusting individual does something atrocious, and the rest of Philth pretty much lets him get away with it (even though the objective law eventually caught up with him).

The guy did get criminally charged, but if this had happened in a REAL city, he would look a HELL of a lot worse than he does in his mug shot.

Philth people will say that because he has a black eye, the guy got beat up before security got there, but if you call that "beat up", you don't know a whole lot.

To be fair, the mug shot is a very limited view. I'm sure Philth people got their share of slaps and pinches in before security carted him off. I bet if the mug shot showed his nurple, it would be slightly purple.

I'm not advocating vigilantism, but come on. He vomited on a little girl.

I have no proof, but I would not be surprised if some Philth people were actually cheering for the guy when he was vomiting on the girl.

Until the crowd (probably people from Allentown, Reading, or Harrisburg) turned against him, and then they joined in.

Wooooooo! That's right! Teach that little girl who's in charge!...wait...what?...oh...yeah, he's...terrible?...look at him doing that...I do not think that is good...anymore.

***************************************

This post was inspired by a Philth person telling me about all the crappy things that her friends do. The part that really set me off was that the Philth person who told me about it wasn't upset or judgmental. She was just kind of like "menh...it happens".

No. It doesn't just happen. This is not normal behavior.

I know there are lots of bad people in the world (I met most of them in Philth/law school), but that doesn't mean that you should just accept it when your friends do it. You either kick their asses (as a friend), or you stop being friends with such terrible human beings.

Stop accepting it and enabling/encouraging them.

This is why your city is such a hellhole. If you're not going to do anything to fix it, it's only going to keep getting worse.

RANT OFF.

Moneyball the movie

2011-09-24T08:07:00.000-04:00

Read this-

http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/09/21/moneyball-the-movie/?sct=hp_t12_a3&eref=sihp

This article was exactly my impression of the book, Moneyball- that they blew up the tiny little things that might have contributed but didn't highlight the major things (Tejada & Zito). Also moneyball was so wrong on many accounts- the main "villian" in the book is a guy who is defined as the ultimate in old school by the name of Pat Gillik who won 3 World Series (billy beane has 0), and has built 2 mini-dynatsties: the current phils & the early 90s Blue Jays.

Football Friday week 3 Positions & Schools

2011-09-23T08:16:00.019-04:00

NCAA Schools & NFL Positions, There seems to be some trends in certain schools being almost "feeder" types for the NFL in certain positions:*

USC -> QB Cassel, Sanchez, Booty (still around), Leinart (sorta-bust), Palmer (recently retired),

Pitt -> RB McCoy, Stephens-Howling, Lewis, Graham (will be), FBs Hynoski (NYG) & K. Wilson (BAL).

Miami -> WR Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Devin Hester, Hankerson (Wash), Moss, Sinorice Moss (FA), Parrish
Miami -> TE Kellen Winslow Jr., Greg Olsen, Shockey, Gordon (Oak), Graham (NO)

*Limiting ourselves to current & very recent players

In the comments- add your schools.

Big East Coaches

2011-09-22T08:00:00.003-04:00

For the past decade, the Big East has had a terrible reputation nationally.

It has had several bright spots (see 2006 WVU, Louisville, Rutgers and South Florida), but usually blew it. The Big East Champ usually got spanked in the BCS Bowl.

This lack of success is probably both the reason for, and because of the constant coaching turnover.

Cincinnati Bearcats - Butch Jones (1 year)

UConn Huskies - Paul Pasqualoni (0 years)

Louisville Cardinals - Charlie Strong (1 year)

Pittsburgh Panthers - Todd Graham (0 years)

Rutgers Scarlet Knights - Greg Schiano (10 years)*

South Florida Bulls - Skip Holtz (1 year)

Syracuse Orange - Doug Marrone (2 years)

West Virginia Mountaineers - Dana Holgorsen (0 years)

* While Rutgers has consistency, its lack of success can be explained by the fact that it is still Rutgers.

Must See College Football - Week 4

2011-09-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

Saturday 9/24
There are a lot of Top 25 match ups, which are worth watching just for significance sake.

But there aren't any games that really excite me.

Philadelphia Weddings

2011-09-20T08:00:00.005-04:00

It's not surprising that Philly people also screw up weddings (in addition to daily life).

I was talking to a female friend in Philly who was concerned about finding a date to a wedding.

This girl said that "everyone" always brings dates to weddings. She said that her brother even brought some other guy's girlfriend to a wedding just so he would have a "date".

First of all, the boyfriend became the girlfriend when he let his girlfriend go to a wedding with another dude. The "boyfriend" needs to man up. (and yeah, he was a Philly guy. shocking.)

Secondly, that's just sad. Apparently the brother REALLY wanted to bring a girl, but he couldn't find ANY single girls to bring???

I'm not originally from Philly, so I'm just guessing here, but I think this is the Philly hierarchy of wedding dates:

1.) Your actual girlfriend/fiance/wife
2.) A single girl that you want to date
3.) A single girl that you're friends with
4.) A female family member (this might be higher, I'm not sure. I'll address this more in the new few weeks)
5.) Going alone

The rest of America has a little different (better) hierarchy.

If you're not seriously dating someone, and therefore OBLIGATED to bring her as a date, why would you bring anyone?

1.) If you bring a random date who doesn't know anyone else, you have to babysit them.

2.) You will probably have to dance with them.

3.) You can't meet anyone else if you have a random date tagging along.

Insolent

2011-09-19T08:00:00.008-04:00

Free Dictionary defines "insolent" as:
1. Presumptuous and insulting in manner or speech; arrogant.
2. Audaciously rude or disrespectful; impertinent.

If you are still unclear as to what the word means (Philadelphia, I'm looking in your direction), here are a few examples.

I was watching college football on Saturday (like any good man/American) when I noticed a few things that upset me.

Both the Phillies* and Union scheduled games for a Saturday in the fall.

I get that both organizations need to attract fans and more people are free on weekends, but show some respect.

You can schedule all the weekend games you want from March until the end of August. After football starts, you can have Tuesdays-Fridays (minus select Thursday nights).

When you schedule weekend games in the fall, all you do is take up valuable TV space, thereby depriving decent, hard-working people of football games. Luckily, the games weren't being shown on major networks (Phillies on PHL-17, Union on TCN).

Regardless, it's time that baseball and soccer learned their place in American sports.

To quote The Rock,

"Know your role, and shut your mouth."

*I don't care that the Phillies clinched their 5th consecutive division title on Saturday. That means nothing. I don't know why people celebrate meaningless "victories". Yeah, you made the playoffs. That's nice. But you haven't won anything yet.

Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC

2011-09-18T20:02:00.002-04:00

As you have probably heard, Pitt and Syracuse are moving to the ACC from the Big East.

It may be football season right now, but this also impacts basketball.

I'll address football first because football is more important than basketball.

Football: This looks bad for both football programs. They were (at best) mediocre teams in the Big East, and now they have a MUCH tougher ACC schedule. There is a chance that the football teams will have more success recruiting; high school athletes would rather play in the ACC than the Big East. Plus both schools will have more of a presence in the southeastern states. But I predict that they will still be mediocre at best. Maybe this is Pitt officially becoming a basketball school.

Basketball: This is GREAT for both basketball programs. Both are dominant bball programs, and now they no longer have to battle through the brutal Big East regular season and conference tourney. While the ACC isn't quite as prestigious as the Big East in terms of recruiting, it's still pretty damn close.

Football Friday week 2 RB tandoms

2011-09-16T08:15:00.017-04:00

I naively texted Hater the other night "best complimentary RBs in NFL- woodhead & Green-Ellis". By naive I mean that I did not give it any real thought. He rightly texted back quickly- Jacobs & Bradshaw.

In the spirit of things let us examine which backs are the best compliments, by compliments we are saying different styles such that the other RB entering the game changes what the D has to think about. For instance- the cowboys have 2 of the "quicker" style RBs (Choice & Jones) so that would not qualify.

Here are the tandems

Bradshaw & Jacobs, the problem here is jacobs gets in the dog house and winds up sitting a lot.
Charles & Jones, TJ is getting old and he might struggle to get 1K this year.
Woodhead & Green-Ellis, I really like woodhead but ellis is just mediocre.
Bush & Williams, I like neither.
Williams & Stewart, Williams is very up and down and stewart hasn't gotten any better from rookie year.
Wells & Stephens-Howling, I like LaRod as a KR/PR but not as a RB that is gonna carry a load.

Secretaries' Cup

2011-09-15T08:15:00.000-04:00

All real college football fans know what the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is.

For the ignorant among us (you know who you are), it is the trophy awarded for the winner among West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy's football teams. (If there is a tie, the trophy is shared.)

A much lesser known trophy is the Secretaries' Trophy which goes to the winner between the US Coast Guard Academy and the US Merchant Marine Academy.

The 2011 game was this past Saturday. The Merchant Marine Academy beat the Coast Guard Academy 35-28.

Must See College Football - Week 3

2011-09-14T08:00:00.005-04:00

Saturday 9/17
Penn State @ Temple
Temple has a massive offensive line that Ryan and I saw in person. That alone should allow them to stay competitive with Penn State at the Linc. Penn State should be pretty pumped up for a big win after getting handled by Alabama at home last week.

Michigan State @ Notre Dame
The Irish need to get their shit together after 9 turnovers in an 0-2 start. It won't be easy against a solid Michigan State team. The only comfort in all this is that at least we can blame Charlie Weis because he recruited these players.

Washington @ Nebraska
On paper this looks like it could be a blow out, but the Huskies upset the Huskers in their bowl game in 2010 so anything could happen.

Ohio State @ Miami (FL)
The Scandal Bowl of Shame

Pitt @ Iowa
Before the season started, I would have called this as the Hawkeyes blowing out Ryan's Panthers. That will probably still happen, but it's a little more interesting since Iowa lost to Iowa State last week, and Pitt's Ray Graham is leading the nation in rushing.

Always Relevant Jerseys (NFL)

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

With free agency, players move around a lot during their careers. The problem for fans is when they buy a player jersey, and then the player is gone. The fan bought into the hype (often like an idiot) and now they are stuck with an Eagles T.O. jersey.

In order to prevent this dilemma, I'm compiled a list of mt recommended throwback jerseys for each team. Most teams will have more than one acceptable option, but this is a safe choice. Plus, this jersey is probably easily available for purchase, either through Mitchell & Ness, or the team's own website store.

NFC

Dallas Cowboys - Roger Staubach (#12)

New York Giants - Lawrence Taylor (#56)

Washington Redskins - Darrell Green (#28)

Philadelphia Eagles - Jerome Brown (#99)

Arizona Cardinals - Dan Dierdorf (#72)

San Francisco 49ers - Jerry Rice (#80)

Seattle Seahawks - Steve Largent (#80)

St. Louis Rams - Marshall Faulk (#28)

Chicago Bears - Dick Butkus (#51)

Detroit Lions - Barry Sanders (#20)

Green Bay Packers - Ray Nitschke (#66)

Minnesota Vikings - Jim Taylor (#70)

Atlanta Falcons - Deion Sanders (#21) but I'm not happy about it

Carolina Panthers - ????????????

New Orleans Saints - I refuse to say Archie Manning or a kicker (Gary Anderson)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Derrick Brooks (#55)

AFC

Buffalo Bills - Bruce Smith (#78)

Miami Dolphins - Dan Marino (#13)

New England Patriots - Tom Brady (#12)

New York Jets - Curtis Martin (#28)

Denver Broncos - John Elway (#7)

Kansas City Chiefs - Derrick Thomas (#58)

Oakland Raiders - Bo Jackson (#34)

San Diego Chargers - Kellen Winslow (#80)

Baltimore Ravens - Ray Lewis (#52)

Cincinnati Bengals - Anthony Munoz (#78)

Cleveland Browns - Jim Brown (#32)

Pittsburgh Steelers - Jack Lambert (#58)

Houston Texans - ????????????

Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning (#18)

Jacksonville Jaguars - ????????????

Tennessee Titans - Steve McNair (#9)

NFL Week 1 Brain Teaser

2011-09-12T21:06:00.002-04:00

What 5 colleges each had 2 alums starting at QB in Week 1?

It's trickier than you might think.

Friday Night Lights

2011-09-12T08:00:00.004-04:00

A few of my teacher friends were recently whining about how they have to go to the football games for their high schools (where they teach).

They were whining about how it takes up their entire Saturday.

Ignoring the whining, it made me think how high school football needs to be played on Friday nights.

Saturdays are for college football. Saturday afternoon high school games are terrible. They just don't have the excitement of night games. There is nothing better than playing under the lights.

Plus, high schoolers are then free to watch college football on Saturdays.

I thought about it and there are only 2 excuses for playing on Saturdays:

1.) Your school district can't afford lights so you need to play during the day.

2.) Your school has to share the field with multiple teams. In this case, the schools should alternate who gets Fridays and who has to play on Saturday afternoons.

Fact: College Football > NFL

2011-09-11T08:00:00.007-04:00

Despite both Penn State and Notre Dame losing, today's games are indisputable proof that college football is lightyears better than the NFL.

This will confuse a lot of Philth people, but so be it.

"I don't get it. There is football outside the NFL??? I hope all of the offenses and defenses are boringly the same. It's a lot of work having to understand both a 4-3 AND a 3-4 defense. Do my Iggles ever play Notre Dame or Penn State? I'm so confused! I think I sat on my cheesesteak

================================

Just a few of the awesome games today:

Michigan over Notre Dame

South Carolina over Georgia

Auburn over Mississippi State

USC over Utah

Rice over Purdue

Ohio State over Toledo

Texas over BYU

Iowa State over Iowa

California over Colorado

Pinker pwns Gladwell

2011-09-09T09:00:00.002-04:00

One of my intellectual Heros Stephen Pinker absolutely owned (pwned) one of the most overrated popular science writers Malcolm Gladwell in his review of Gladwell's latest book. I am aware that this is from a few years ago but it was pretty sweet to follow. This link, has Pinker's review of Gladwell's book- Gladwell's counter and Pinker's retort.

Suffice it to say that Pinker is dead on.

Gladwell claims, based on an analysis by others, that qb draft position is not related to how well they play. This is bull for a number of reasons. First- the analysis Gladwell cites controls (statistically removing the effect of) for time played, which is absurdly stupid. The better someone is the more they will play, so why are you controlling for this? And just as importantly that analysis just excluded lower draft picks who never played- which would is another absurdly stupid thing. Drafting a qb very late who never makes it provides huge support for the fact that higher picks are better.

Suck it Gladwell.

========================================

Hater Edit:

Ryan (of TwoandaHater) is guilty of a massive Man Violation for using the terms "pwns" and "pwned" in this post.

Please feel free to mock and berate him until permanent emotional scarring occurs.

Oxymoron of terror threats

2011-09-08T22:35:00.000-04:00

I open up my browser to check my comcast email account, and they have that stupid page that gives news, and this is what I read:

Counterterrorism officials say they are investigating a specific terror threat involving New York or Washington.

A specific threat to one of 2 cities...

here is the full article. We here at 2andahater hope that no attacks occur and everyone remains safe.

NFLers and their Alma Maters (NFC)

2011-09-08T08:00:00.002-04:00

How big of a football fan are you?

Can you identify the alma maters of these big name NFLers?

Dallas Cowboys - Jason Witten (TE)

New York Giants - Osi Umenyiora (DE)

Washington Redskins - Chris Cooley (TE/H-Back)

Philadelphia Eagles - DeSean Jackson (WR)

Arizona Cardinals - Darnell Dockett (DT)

San Francisco 49ers - Vernon Davis (TE)

Seattle Seahawks - Lofa Tatupu (LB)

St. Louis Rams - Stephen Jackson (RB)

Chicago Bears - Brian Urlacher (LB)

Detroit Lions - Calvin Johnson (WR)

Green Bay Packers - Charles Woodson (CB)

Minnesota Vikings - Kevin Williams (DT)

Atlanta Falcons - Michael Turner (RB)

Carolina Panthers - DeAngelo Williams (RB)

New Orleans Saints - Marques Colston (WR)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Ronde Barber (CB)

Must See College Football - Week 2

2011-09-07T08:00:00.003-04:00

Thursday, 9/8
Arizona @ Oklahoma State
Sweet offensive shootout in a cross-conference (Pac-12 v. Big 12) battle that you don't often see.

Saturday, 9/10
Maine @ Pitt
If Wanny were still the coach, I would call this as Maine "upsetting" Pitt.
But let's see how Todd Graham does.

Hawai'i @ Washington
Intriguing match up of the Hawai'i offense against Nick Holt's defense.
Let's see how much attention this game gets in the east.

Oregon State @ Wisconsin
You have to respect Oregon State.
Every year they play one of the tougher non-conference schedules in the nation.
Last year, it was TCU and Boise State.
This year, they are travelling to Wisconsin in Week 2.

Alabama @ Penn State
I bet Beaver Stadium sells out.

Tulsa @ Tulane
I don't really care about the game, but it pits two teams whose names do not end in "S". (Tulsa Golden Hurricane v. Tulane Green Wave)

Notre Dame @ Michigan
Denard Robinson. You heard about him here first.

NFLers and their Alma Maters (AFC)

2011-09-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

How big of a football fan are you?

Can you identify the alma maters of these big name NFLers?

Buffalo Bills - Ed Wang (OT)

Miami Dolphins - Davonne Bess (WR)

New England Patriots - Wes Welker (WR)

New York Jets - Darelle Revis (CB)

Denver Broncos - Elvis Dumervill (LB/DE)

Kansas City Chiefs - Jamaal Charles (RB)

Oakland Raiders - Darren McFadden (RB)

San Diego Chargers - Phillip Rivers (QB)

Baltimore Ravens - Ray Rice (RB)

Cincinnati Bengals - Chad Ochocinco (WR)

Cleveland Browns - Josh Cribbs (KR/WR)

Pittsburgh Steelers - Heath "Big Money" Miller (TE)

Houston Texans - Andre Johnson (WR)

Indianapolis Colts - Dallas Clark (TE)

Jacksonville Jaguars - Maurice Jones-Drew (RB)

Tennessee Titans - Kerry Collins (QB)

Public Stupidity on your car.

2011-09-05T06:39:00.000-04:00

You have got to be kidding me with this license plate.

UMass Football

2011-09-02T08:00:00.002-04:00

You may have heard that the UMass Minutemen are moving to the MAC in 2012.

Unfortunately for the UMass student body, The Minutemen will play their home games at Gillette Stadium, 93 miles away from campus.

Ivan Maisel thinks it's a "smart choice".

It’s a smart choice. Patriots owner Robert Kraft won’t charge the school rent, and there are 120,000 alumni in the Boston area. Of greater interest: what does it mean for Boston College, UConn and Syracuse, the northeastern most schools in the FBS? There’s only so much talent up here.

Gilette Stadium is 93 miles from the campus. 93 miles.

That sucks. I get that you want to attract alums, but you're screwing the students.

This makes Pitt (4 miles) and Temple (6 miles) seem like nothing. Those two schools at least have REALLY easy access public transportation to the stadiums.

UCLA is another monster commute (26 miles from the Rose Bowl).