The State of Sports Jan. 4th

-College Football

-Bowl games: Last Look
I didnt get my predictions in for the BCS Bowl games, but on the record I will site my predictions as said in the school newspaper, The Comment:
-Fiesta Bowl- Game that will go down to the wire. You have to love the out of state rivalry. Pick- Ohio State
-Orange Bowl- If FSU is that good to beat Miami and Va. Tech they will beat Penn State. I dont think they will. Pick-Penn State
-Sugar Bowl- Both defenses are good, but Georgia has the edge because there's no stopping DJ Shockley.
Pick- Georgia
-Rose Bowl- USC has edge with their passing attack if Texas stops Bush and USC stops Young

As I sit here an analyze things, I come 0ut with a couple of observations:
-Navy had the best rushing offense in the nation. I was blind to see it and was an idiot for not realizing how good they really were. They blew Colorado State away.

-When I first saw the replay of the Nebraska-Michigan game, I went said to myself that would have been one of the best finishes ever in the history of the game. Someone really should investigate as to why a flag was never thown. Michigan should have at least another play and chance to win that game. Will it ever happen? No. But Michigan has got to be disappointed when thier 5 losses come from a combined 21 points.

-Watch out for Utah and TCU. They now have muscle for good minor conference recruiting classes, with big wins over Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl and Iowa State in the Houston Bowl.

-Miami fires four ceoachs due to the Peach Bowl and poor season performance. Apparently they were 60th in NCAA football total offense. Surprising when they have playmakers like Hester and Moss on their team.
-Alabama Kicker Jamie Christensen absolutley shanked that field goal. Hes lucky the Cotton Bowl didnt go into OT.

-One comment that I thought was interresting but should have mentioned in my bowl preview was that Tommy Tubberville said before the Capital One Bowl (Tangerine Bowl) that "Wisconsin just finds ways to win." Should have picked them to win for coaching legend Barry Alverez.

-Pats should trade up to get AJ Hawk. Will it ever happen? No. But its great to fantasize these kind of things.

-Forget the Rose Bowl, I had more fun watching two defenses play physically in the Orange Bowl. Just when you thought that Penn State would blow Florida State away, thier running back gets injured and Penn has to rely on the passing game and defense to get the job done. What a game to last in 3OT.

-I wish Pete Caroll made better decisions. They blitzed Young throughout the first half and then just dropped back into coverage the rest of the game. Thats the reason why USC lost. USC also went for it at midfield fourth and 1, when they should have punted the ball away. Lastly Leinhart just made a bad call throwing the ball down field to get into FG range when there was 8 seconds left and no timeouts. Just all around bad decision making.



-Baseball

-Threat in the AL East: The Blue Jays
The Red Sox have a lot of question marks right now. It is so frustrating watching them rebuild, when it really is a rebuilding year for them. While their rotation is solid, they still have bullpen question marks and need to adress the issue of finding a CF and SS. The Yankees as well, look like the team to beat in the AL. Cashman strenthened his bullpen, and position players by signing Damon. But rotation is littered with question marks, and their payroll stands at 207 million dollars. Even the Orioles look like they will finish the year below .500, while they still have yet to make a major move this season.

The Blue Jays look confident and just might take the wild card this year because of some moves that should generate some offense and run production for a team that doesnt play a lot of small ball, like the Angels and White Sox. The outfiled is strongly supported with Vernon Wells (.269, 28 HR, 97 RBI's) in center, Alex Rios (.262, 10 HR, 59 RBI's) /Frank Catalannoto (.301, 8 HR, 59 RBI) in right, and Reed Johnson (.269, 8 HR, 58 RBI)/Eric Hinske (.262, 15 HR, 68 RBI, 121 SO) in left. All three young fielders have really come of age, and have improved themselves in offense, and are solid fielders. Vernon Wells always knows how to make a web gem.

In trading for Lyle Overbay (.276, 19 HR, 72 RBI) and Troy Glaus (.258, 37 HR, 97 RBI) the Jays have also found room to put young infielders Russ Hill and Adams in the middle infield, by trading away second baseman Orlando Hudson to Arizona. And Shea Hillenbrand is pretty good as their starting DH (.291, 18 HR, 82 RBI's). They really need to work on the batting average though.

The rotation looks solid as well as they have holdovers Roy Halliday (one of the best Starters in the AL and potential Cy Young candidate), Ted Lilly (10-11, 5.56 ERA), and second year starter Gustavo Chacin (13-9, 3.73 ERA). They added free agent AJ Burnett to this rotation, and he should do well with the offense behind him. Josh Towers (13-12, 3.71 ERA) should also benifit from run support as well.

The Blue Jays bullpen will keep the games close in games where they face good pitching. While BJ Ryan is overpaid, he will do well closing out ball games. Guys like Scott Schoenewies (3-4, 80 games, 3.32 ERA), Vinnie Chulk (0-1, 62 games, 3.66 ERA) , Jason Frasor (3-5, 67 games, 3.25 ERA), and Justin Speier (3-2, 65 games, 2.56 ERA) just solidify the previously mediocre Blue Jays bullpen (12th, with 3.32 ERA) . Brandon League will be this years stud out of the bullpen. I have no basis for the previous statement. I just think hes a good prospect.

The Toronto Blue Jays I think will get the Wild Card this year if they can stay out of injuries and just be productive on the mound and at the plate.