Florida Looms as Practice Games End

I posted this for no particular reason at all.

I was at the Akron game on Saturday and I am still feeling the effects of having a great time. Let me hit some highlights before I talk about the game and Florida:

• We saw Orlando Antigua cruising in a golf cart with some recruits


• We also saw Enes Kanter, Eloy Vargas, Stacey Poole and Terrence Jones cruising as well


• Coury, Monster Mash and I defended the honor of a lady against some undergrad douche bag


• Coury and I got our pictures taken with Scratch


• Coury got his picture with Enes Kanter


• Kanter was wearing an Undertaker shirt


• We all met DeQuinn Evans, Moncell Allen and Derrick Locke at Two keys Tavern


• Monster Mash asked a girl at Tolly Ho the ingredients of her milkshake and was mocked unmercifully


• If I had to do it over again I would have attended UK. The atmosphere is electric.

Back to the football analysis. The Cats started out sluggish but after a fiery speech on the sidelines by Joker Phillips, they turned it on and never looked back. The back ups were in by halftime. Derrick Locke ran for over 160 yards and eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark for his career, Randall Cobb caught a TD pass but dropped a number of balls, Chris Matthews scored again and DeQuinn Evans recorded his first sack.

Mike Hartline is looking phenomenal. He has the 8th ranked quarterback efficiency rating in the country, he hasn't turned it over and he is getting the entire offense involved by completing passes to multiple receivers every game. There are no questions about his status as the starter. For now.

UK's schedule has not been, how do I put this, difficult thus far. Yes, I know that Louisville gave Oregon State a run for their money but the fact is that they are still 1-2. WKU is 0-3 with a near miss at IU this past weekend 38-21 and Akron is 0-3 with an embarrassing loss to Gardener Webb. That is a combined 1-8 for our opponenets. UK looked dominant in all three games but they should have looked that way. If they hadn't then I would be writing abut how Florida is going to blow them out.

But I'm not. I have hope. The offense can play with any team in the country. The defensive run game is lacking in some areas but they have improved steadily over the past few weeks. I did just read some troubling news that Moncell Allen has a hamstring injury and starting right guard Stuart Hines has an ankle injury. Both are doubtful for the game Saturday. Without those two key starters our chances would decline.

Coach Joker Phillips had this to say: "It's a great opportunity for us to put a huge stamp on this program and on this football team, to show the character, to show the maturity of our football team. It's a great opportunity for us."

He's right in everything he said. I'm not ready for my prediction just yet. I'll give that on Friday.

Rare Props to the Cards: I can't take any shots at the Cards this week. They played their hearts out in a close loss at Oregon State. They were down big early and fought all the way back to make the Beavers sweat a little in the end. (Eeeewwww) Props to Coach Strong and his players. You're still 1-2. Damn it! I can't help myself.

Monster Mash: Post those pictures ASAP!

Cards drop a close one in Corvalis

If anyone were to ask me (and several people did) how I thought the Louisville Cardinals would fare this weekend out in Corvalis to take on the Beavers (haha) of Oregon State, they would have gotten a grin from me, followed by me saying we were going to get taken to the woodshed--or something similar but maybe less corny and more profane.

I tuned in today to our local WBKI in STANDARD DEF (gag) to watch the Cards battle the Beavers (haha again), but what I saw left me in shock and awe. Louisville got the kickoff and promptly drove down the field without issue to the Oregon State 1, where they were shut out and stopped from scoring (I'd have kicked a field goal to take the lead, but whatever). After they stopped Oregon State on a 3 and out series, they drove right back down the field and just as it looked like Adam "Abe" Froman was scampering in for a touchdown, the ball was punched out at the goal line and went out of bounds through the endzone for a touchback, Beavers ball (sorry, I have to laugh every time I say, read, or hear the word "Beaver"). I was literally about to jump through my TV with fury that we should have two scores on the board.

It was right about this time that it hit me--I hadn't been this jacked up to watch my Cards play in over 2 years. I remembered suddenly all the drunken and sober times at Papa Johns in what seemed like ages ago, being pumped up to watch Louisville lay a beatdown on anyone who came to town, including this very Oregon State team that the Cards thrashed 61-10 just a few short seasons ago. I then remembered being on my couch in KragCooper's 2nd term, watching Rutgers pound the life out of the Cards, and no one on the field, or even in my living room noticing. I watched the game with total apathy, Kragthorpe had sucked the passion for sports from my soul.

As I watched all game, it was a great feeling to be screaming, jumping up and down, and having anyone in my house a little freaked out to be there due to my enthusiasm. Even when down 21 and my friend said, "dude, we probably should change the channel so you can remember how good the first half was," I laughed and told him I wanted to watch every second--beatdown or not. Louisville showed heart that I hadn't seen from the team in over 3 years. They fought back until the last second of the game when an untimely interception by the Sausage King himself sounded the end of the game.

It was heartbreaking, but it almost felt good to be that heartbroken. Say what you want about how bad this team is, or how you don't think Charlie Strong is going to get it done (just like BoogieWoogie proclaims), but like it or not, this team has HEART and plays with passion. If strong can get that kind of play out of the talent level that this team has, I am absolutely excited about the years to come. This isn't some kind of "moral victory" today, this loss hurt, and it hurt bad...but for me, it was nice to have any kind of feeling again.

Randall Cobb: Haters Gon Hate

Here is an awesome article in the C-J that profiles The Legend in detail. The main focus is on how Cobb has been overlooked his entire career, dating all the way back to his Pop Warner football days. Joker Phillips even states that Cobb is the best football player he has ever been around and Urban Meyer admits that he should have recruited Cobb. He used the doubters and the haters to fuel his desire.

He was listed as a 2 star recruit, said to be undersized, said to have no chance at D-I football and has proven everybody wrong. Dead wrong. Cobb is easily the best player on the field for both teams no matter who they are facing. And yes I am looking at you Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia, etc... If I'm wrong then stop him.

There is a sudden push for Cobb to be recognized as a Heisman candidate but the problem is that he does not have a true position. Yes, he is listed as a wide receiver but he doesn't have overwhelming stats for that position. It's the total package when it comes to him.

Regardless of his position he is the best player in a Wildcat football uniform that I have seen in my lifetime and that is including Tim Couch. Go get 'em Randall.

Two Blow Outs Likely to Occur

Akron is about to get handled but their mascot is awesome.

The University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville are in similar but vastly different situations this Saturday. How so? They will both be a part of a blow out but Louisville will be the one getting blown out and Kentucky will be doing the blowing. Wait, that doesn't sound right.

Akron @ Kentucky- Kentucky will continue it's tour of cupcake domination at 7 p.m. at Commonwealth Stadium. Louisville and WKU were already defeated handily by the Cats. Cupcake #3 is up next. The Zips are 0-2 with losses to Syracuse 29-3 and Gardner Webb 38-37. I had no idea that Billiy Gillispie was now the football coach at Akron. Syracuse nor GWebb either have the talents that UK has on offense or defense. Especially offense. Cobb alone might score from three different positions. Chris Matthews does wonderful political analysis and is emerging as a huge threat.

Since I know that the Cats will put up big points I would like to take this opportunity to speak to the defensive side of things. Defense: You have been less than stellar. You let Louisville, which has one of the worst offenses in all of the Big East which means one of the worst offenses in all of football, put up 16 points. You then let WKU put up 28. I don't want Akron to see the end zone on Saturday. I'll take a field goal or two but not TD's. Let's go out and dominate.

Prediction- Akron 3- Cats 54. Cobb and Locke should be in the locker room resting up by halftime. But let's not look past these guys...ok, we can. Let's get ready for Florida.

Louisville @ Oregon State- The last time the Beavers met the Cards they met them with a 61-10 thumping at the hands of Brian Brohm at the Oven (smirk). Those days are long gone and now the Cards are left with Charlie Strong and his current team of awful players. Strong has still not impressed for reasons I outlined on Sunday and I don't think he will get his shot here.

The Beav's are going to have revenge on their mind and it is tough to win in Corvallis. They are 0-1 with a 30-21 loss to #5 TCU in Dallas, so it's not like they lost to a slouch. After Louisville they face Boise State, so something tells me that they are going to want to make a statement against a lesser opponent to gain confidence: enter Louisville. The Beavers are favored by 19. Yes, you read that correctly. Head coach Mike Riley made a tongue in cheek comment earlier this week when he stated, "This is our Super Bowl." Obviously coach doesn't think that this is a Super Bowl caliber opponent. He is trying to pump his kids up and trying to make sure they don't overlook the completely over matched Cards. This should be an ugly, ugly game.

Prediction- OSU has speed, depth and incentive to win big. Cards 10-OSU 38

Sportsthat will be at the UK game Saturday. We will be spending all day and night in Lex Vegas, taking in the local fun. One or more of these things will happen:

A). Boogiewoogie gets arrested for running onto the field to give Randall Cobb a high five

B). Monster Mash falls in love with an Akron cheerleader, gets her number, has one awkward conversation on the phone with her and never talks to her again

C). Coury Flurry goes into a frat house party uninvited, starts a fight, and then we south end boys end up whipping some fraternity butt

D). Monster Mash makes an inappropriate comment to one of the beautiful SEC dress girls and her 350 pound, solid rock boyfriend puts him in the hospital.

E). Boogiewoogie continues his amazing streak of meeting random people, meets John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins in downtown Lexington, goes VIP all over everybody in downtown Lexington

It should be good times. Follow us on twitter for awesome updates.

A Tailgating Thursday News of the Night

Hot girls flippin sausage... an Akron @ UK tailgating special

So when you're tailgating, you drink. When you are waiting on news from Enes Kanter or Eric Bledsoe to break at any moment, it is definitely worth drinking. When you sit at the airport and wait for 4 hours before your flight, you drink. Thus, I drink at the airport bar for you Enes, Eric, Business men and women of America, and all of those sports fans seeing games the way it is meant to be seen...at the stadium. Here are the evening notes from the San Jose, California airport:

- After Cincinnati's loss to North Carolina State today, Butch Jones, the new head coach of Cincinnati is now being compared to Steve Kragthorpe. Sportsthat is already starting a "He pulled a Munson, I mean Kragthorpe" campaign, while all the sports writers in America are forming a lynch mob to destroy Jones' career.

- The WNBA finished today with the Seattle Storm winning the ti... zzzzz. Someone watched, it wasn't me. I blame Boogiewoogie for the creation of women's sports, title 9 and everything else that is PC and wrong with America.

-  The Rockets have decided to limit Yao Ming to 24 minutes a game for the upcoming season. That is 50% of regular game time. This is in response to his career threatening injury to his feet. He's a big man and brings in huge Chinese Yuan, thus the Rockets are going to take a Steven Strasburg approach and basically limit his innings. This is big news (and good news) for Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson who will be sharing time with Yao in the paint.

- The Chargers will be blacked out for their home opener after not selling the game out. All I can say is that the Jacksonville Jaguars might get a break after all the crap they took last season. The economy is still down and the tickets are STILL $50 or MORE. It is reported that up to 11 other teams could be at risk for blackout games this year and until ticket prices come down or the economy turns upwards, I expect more next season.

- Clinton Portis is in hot water after some comments made on a radio show about women reporters in NFL locker rooms. The NFL came out later and said Portis' comments were offensive. Thus, today Portis simply held up a spiral bound notebook with "No Comment" "Thanks for Coming" and "God Bless You" written on the paper. My response to Portis' comment... No Comment, God Bless You and Thanks for coming.

AlrightI just heard someone say "I'll catch you back in the San Ho" and then say "I'd rather barf in her than fill her with... Later Kardash, ." So with that, I am taking the rest of the night off and going to look for Kim Kardashian. Boogiewoogie will be back on Eastern time zone in the morning as I make my way 3,000 miles back to Da Ville.. Remember to tune in Saturday for the first SportsThat at Commonwealth trip.

Louisville Football Player Fatally Shot

I do a lot of joking around on here about the Cardinals and I like to give Louisville fans a hard time. But a story like this puts all of that BS to rest. I read on the Courier-Journal's website that a former Louisville football player was shot and killed.

Daniel Covington was shot last night in downtown Louisville. He was a former defensive back for the Cards. He was 23 years old. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and teammates.

It is September... that means it's FINALLY Baseball Season!

College Football season kicked off two weeks ago, NFL was last week, and we are one month away from Midnight Madness, but last night I realized baseball is getting to that point of the year that I finally start paying attention. 145/162 games have been completed for most teams. That leaves 17 games and about 20 days worth of action to follow. I've always been a "wake me up, when September begins" guy when it comes to Baseball. This is simply because unless your team is just horrible (see Cincinnati from 1990-2009) you ALWAYS have a shot come August/September.

Last night, I awoke to September baseball. I took a seat in San Francisco for my first game at AT&T park and watched the playoff contending Giants in a rivalry game against the Mannyless (and playoff less) Dodgers. It was brisk (65 degrees at first pitch) and had a different feel than those June/July games. The crowd was into the game and watched the home team Giants pulled within a half game of the Padres for the division and 1/2 game of the Wild Card after a 2-1 win.

But for those of you that aren't Red Sox or Indians fans (which leaves about 1% of our audience), here's a rundown of the MLB Standings for you to wake up:

AL EAST
Tampa Bay W: 88 L: 57
NY Yankees W: 88 L: 58 (.5 games behind)

The Yankees seem to be struggling as of late with their starting rotation. A-Rod's numbers are down significantly this season and injuries could be biting. However, the Yankees and Rays have had the Division/Wild Card locked down for weeks and with the Red Sox flailing like Boogiewoogie on ice, they could just be rolling along and waiting to turn it back on in the Playoffs.

AL CENTRAL
Minnesota 87 58 (8 games up)

After the White Sox made an impressive mid-season run at the pennant, they have failed miserably at keeping that momentum. Even with a late season addition of Manny Ramirez, the Sox have still fell 8 games back to a Twins team that has shown impressive hitting and pitching. It looks like the Twinkies will be making another post season appearance.

AL WEST
Texas 82 63 .566 (10 games up)

The Rangers added Cliff Lee midstream which added a #1 starter and lifted playoff hopes. With a 10 game lead and  17 to go, the Rangers are solid to make it into September. With the playoffs being about pitching, and Lee proving he can perform against the big boys when needed, the Rangers could even do some damage.

NL EAST
Philadelphia 86 61
Atlanta 83 64 (3 games back)

The Phillies have been up and down this year, but have hit their stride this month. Winners of 8 out of their last 10, they have pulled ahead in the division and with proven pitching are poised to make another run at the World Series. The Braves currently lead the Wild Card by .5 games but are young and banged up worse than a woman at Porcini's. While I don't expect to see the Chipper Jones come September (after season ending injury) I do expect to see the tomahawks being thrown.

NL CENTRAL
Cincinnati 83 63
St. Louis 74 70 (8 games back)

While their fans kept waiting for the collapse, the team just seemed to continue to pull away from the Cardinals and hold 8 games with 16 to go. The Reds haven't made the playoffs since 1995, which for you math majors is a LONG time ago. I think I was in the 8th grade... and well, I just had my 10 year HIGH SCHOOL reunion. But after a MVP style season from Joey Votto, Ace pitching from Johnny Cueto, and bullpen bolstering Aroldis Chapman's call up in early September, they are making things happen. It should be a slump buster to end all slump busters.

NL WEST
San Diego 82 63
San Francisco 82 64 (.5 games back)

The surprise Padres held an 8 game lead as of three weeks ago, but have slowly fallen back into reach and have turned heads as to their latest flaws. I turned a few heads last night and it wasn't for my manly good looks. I realized after an inning or two that my UK attire fit seamlessly with the LA Dodger blue opponents. Watching the teams play, I realized that the Giants are built on pitching. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and company have pulled this team to playoff hopes. With only having one player on the team batting over .300, the Giants will have their work cut out for them in September if they get there.


But that's your MLB Rundown as of September 16th, 2010. Wake up, enjoy the playoff runs for your team and tune in in 3 weeks to find out how long the season will last.