Bow(e)ls (College/Pro), Bulls & Look into NFL Week 17

There are 35 bowl games in college football - meaning 70 teams get a postseason game. I don't need to tell you this is excessive, but I will anyways. Out of these 70 teams, 13 of them don't even have a winning record (12 are 6-6, UCLA is the first 6-7 team to make a bowl based on their appeal to the NCAA). Why should a team be rewarded for being average? If you count the 7-5 teams invited to bowls, that's an additional 15 teams. That means 28 of the 70 teams playing in bowls (40%) are break-even or barely above it.

If you remove these teams and have 8 wins minimum be a requirement, that'd leave us with 42 teams (21 games), which would probably be a more reasonable format.

NCAA can say all they want that these players and teams should be rewarded for a great season. It's clear it's not really about the teams and players being rewarded, but strictly about money. As long as there's 35 willing sponsors to back these bowls, they will keep this system in place.

Enjoy the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl tomorrow, featuring 6-6 Illinois vs 6-7 UCLA! I'm going to fight not stabbing myself watching teams with a combined 12-13 record - and neither featuring the coach that started the year.

Happy Bow(e)l Movement everyone!

The Pro Bowl teams were announced, and like always, there's deserving people that didn't get voted in. I laugh at everyone that gets worked up for a game they don't watch. Should Eli be in over Romo, Stafford or Newton? Probably not. Everyone knows though that all the top players end up bailing from the game anyways - some of them because of their teams making the Super Bowl. At the end of the day, I don't care who makes the Pro Bowl. Sure, I like knowing that the Niners have a lot of guys recognized as the best at their positions in the NFC, but it's not going to make me want to watch it.

As much as I want to root hardcore for the Bulls, going out to bars and hearing all of the idiots that watch them, blaming every loss/foul on the refs, it gets annoying to the point where I can't watch them in public anymore. It's not to that point yet this year, but I'm reminded of it last year during the playoff run. Every loss - referee's fault. Every foul - ref's fault. I know that this is how it goes for fans of every team. But since I'm in the Chicago market, I feel the need to mention them. There's probably people who this doesn't apply to and can watch basketball objectively - so to those people, feel free to ignore this rant (a little late to say, I know).

Perhaps some of it has to do with the announcers as well. Every Bulls fan loves Stacey King, but you'll hardly ever hear him not complain about a call against the Bulls. And when a questionable call goes in their favor, he'll say it was a good call and that the Bulls deserve it.

I understand that most analysts are homers, but his homerism is too excessive for my taste. He has good phrases that sell t-shirts, but like most announcers out there (local and national), I couldn't care less about him. This goes doubly for Hawk Harrelson.

Hmmmm, Reinsdorf connection - coincidence?

Week 17 means the end of the regular season for the NFL...but in reality, the season is juuuuuust beginning. There's still 3 spots to be decided - with Denver (AFC West), Cincy (AFC Wild Card) & the winner of Dallas/NYG (NFC East) who control their fates. Other teams need a combination of a win and other team(s) to lose in order to make it.

I have Denver losing this week and Oakland winning - giving the AFC West to Oakland. Cincy plays Baltimore at home - I say Cincy gets up for that game and pulls out the W. The other spot - I see NYG winning this one by a couple scores - I think Romo's injury will play a factor. Even if it isn't a factor and they lose, Tony Romo will be blamed for it.

An aside - Romo and Lebron could cure cancer and people would critique the technique in which they found the cure. The only reason I'd ever like to see Romo win a Super Bowl is to hear the excuses all his haters would come up with - "it was a team effort, it had nothing to do with him". If they lose a game by 3 and the dude throws for 400 yards and 3 TDs, no interceptions, somehow it'll have to do with Romo choking.

God, I hate ignorant sports fans. Look at what ESPN has created. Heap praise and God-like status on a mediocre QB who can't complete half his passes and is asked to manage a game (Tebow) and detest a guy who is often asked to throw 40-50 times a game (with a 60+% completion rate), 3/1 TD/Interception ratio.

Week 17 Picks - I'll update my record in the next blog - it's not as good as last year.

KC +3.5 (Denver never wins big - only 1 Tebow win was by more than 3), NYG -3 (see above), Chi +1 (Bears will give good effort - Minn is hurting all over), Car +7.5 (If Niners are winning in StL as expected, I see Payton to pull all the starters by the second half - watch Cam shine!)


In case I don't write tomorrow, Happy New Year to all! Hope 2012 treats all of you well.

It Ain't Over Till It's Over...

What would sports be without clichés and its announcers who speak to the average viewer as if they are in eighth grade? To their defense, I think they might be speaking above the heads of most people. Take John BOOM Madden:

"In order to score touchdowns, you need to move the ball." - John Earl Madden

Say what you want about how simple he makes football seem, but he got paid the big bucks for a reason. The average viewer could relate to him more than most announcers, and I have yet to hear an announcer that kept it so simple and yet so entertaining. I'll never forget the Turducken he sliced with his humongous hand during an Eagles drubbing of the Niners on a Monday night game in 2002. And someone who had just about every Madden game from 1998-2009, his contribution to the pop culture world cannot be ignored. Who can forget his literary masterpieces, One Knee Equals Two Feet and Hey, Wait a Minute, I Wrote a Book (I can't make this up). I bought the former for $5, and it was worth every dollar.

I'd say Madden is the exception to the rule as far as getting away with clichés and dumbass sayings. I hate most announcers because of it- take Hawk Harrelson. He makes watching Sox games hard with his catchphrases and annoying pro-Sox stance on everything. It's ok to love the team you're announcing for, but quit playing the Us against the World card every time the umpire makes a close call against the Sox. I'll give ya that he's come up with some decent catchphrases and nicknames (Big Hurt is a HOF nickname in an era lacking nicknames), but as a fan of the team, I guess I'm just overexposed to it, thus making it more annoying than if he was not my team's announcer.

DJ and Hawk: Sounds more like a bad WWF tag-team than a bad announcing duo