The 2010 Underdogs of the Year

What's up Underdogs?  So they are telling me that 2010 is over.
It seems like it just started... like five years ago right?

The Underdogs began the year twenty-ten back in Miami, when Dwayne Wade and the Heat blew out the Atlanta Hawks.  (About six months before Lebron "took his talents" down there... youch.)  And we ended it in the house that John Wooden built, as UCLA held off a resilient UC Irvine Anteaters squad last week here in Los Angeles.  Overall 2010 has been a good year for Underdogs.  So let's do a quick review.   

First things first:  It’s not ALL about championships, but they are pretty important in the sports world.  These were the notable ones this past year. 

Alabama beat Texas for the College Football National Championship, 37-21, after beating Florida for the South Eastern Conference title.  The SEC has won Six BCS Championships in the last 11 years, including Four different schools winning during that span.  Auburn has a chance to make it Seven and Five respectively, if they win against Oregon next week.   

The New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts for the NFL’s SuperBowl Championship, 31-17.  SuperBowl XLIV… (or uh, 44)… was the first appearance and win for the historically tortured Saints fans. 

We made it out to Canseco Field House in Indianapolis
for the Big Ten Championship Tourney.  A few weeks later
Duke beat Butler in the same building.  

Duke beat Butler for the NCAA Basketball Championship, 61-59, in a classic David vs Goliath matchup.  Goliath won this time though, as Coach K snagged his fourth NCAA Championship with the Blue Devils.  Butler was a number 8 seed and is the smallest school to reach the Tournament Championship Round in 40 years.  Their amazing run earns them the title.  Butler Bulldogs – Underdogs of the Year!    

The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers for the NHL’s Stanley Cup Championship, 4 games to 2.  Chicago won game six in sudden death over-time, 4-3.  It is their Fourth Stanley Cup Championship but first since 1961.

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics for their 16th NBA Championship, 4 games to 3.  It was the Eleventh time these two teams had squared off in the finals, winning a combined 33 Championships since 1949.

The San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers for the Major League World Series Championship, 4 games to 1.  It is their first WS Title since the team moved from New York in 1957.  My SF buddy Joel had been waiting his whole life for this moment and joined the entire City-by-the-bay in a long awaited celebration.  I bet Joel is still smiling!  

Roger Federer won his record 16^th Grandslam Title at the Australian Open in January.  Rafael Nadal won the next three of the year.  At age 24, he already has 9 Grand Slam titles.    

The University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball team lost to Stanford on December 30^th ending their NCAA record-winning streak at 90 games!  It is doubtful that any such streak will ever exist again.

And Brett Favre ended his NFL record “iron-man” streak on December 13^th at 297 consecutive regular season starts.  321 including playoffs through the past 19 years.  It is an amazing achievement considering how increasingly brutal the NFL game has been over that span.  

   

So, anyway, that’s what the Big Dogs did this year...  (But, who cares about them right? :)

This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for… it's the Top Five Underdogs of 2010.  Some of them won championships, some got close, but all of them defied the odds and shocked the sports world along the way.  So without further adieu... Ladies aaaand Gentlemen... preeeeeesenting, your... 2010...

Underdogs of the Year:

1.  Butler Bulldogs - They obliterated everybody's brackets with an inspiring and improbable run to the NCAA Championship game beating Michigan State (5), Kansas State (2), and Syracuse (1) along the way, and were a only a missed three-pointer at the buzzer away from winning it all!  It will probably make for a good sports movie someday.  

 

2.  Texas Rangers - With the third lowest payroll in the Major Leagues, the Rangers blasted the Yankees to capture their first ever American League Championship.  Ca-TiA! 

3.  San Francisco Giants -  Very few people could have predicted a World Series victory for the lowly Giants at the beginning of the season.  Their winning percentage over the previous 5 years was a dismal .462.

4.  Phoenix Suns - Left for dead because of sold-off draft-picks, bad trades, and annual player free-agent defections, Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudamire still managed to will their thin squad to a sweep of the mighty Spurs in the second round of a deep Western Conference playoffs.  And then they were a bizarre Kobe Air-ball to Ron Artest (guy-in-exactly-the-right-spot-at-the-right-time) buzzer-beater put-back bucket away from possibly beating Los Angeles and making their first NBA Finals since 1993.  Didn’t happen though, and then Amar’e jumped ship for New York.  Triple Ouch for Steve Nash.  Left once again... he's got to be the lonely bridesmaid of the NBA.   

 

5.  Kansas City Chiefs - They are currently playing wonderful and surprising offensive football and are 10-5 with one game left, already clinching the AFC West Division heading into the NFL playoffs.  In the previous three seasons combined, they’ve totaled 10 wins.

Honorable Mention:  Chicago Blackhawks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cincinnati Reds  

Historic Pauley Pavillion at UCLA in December

So here's to a great year of Underdogs!  

and I'm sure there will be many more to shake things up in 2011.
   

Happy New Year you Beauties!!!

and Thanks for Reading.
  

Underdogs OUT

Outdoor Minneapolis Football and Mother Nature's League...

Last year the Underdogs were in Minneapolis at the last regular season baseball game ever at the Metrodome, before the Twins opened their new outdoor stadium this past spring.  Football has remained in the dome however, as the NFL’s Vikings have played every home game there since 1981.  Well, that is until last week… when seventeen inches of winter snow and severe winds caused the roof to cave in.  Oh man, did you see all that snow falling through the roof?  The footage was amazing!

So that leads us to tonight, when the Vikings will play their first home game outdoors in almost 30 years, at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Stadium.  How strange is that?  You’d think that the Great North Vikings, the famed Purple People Eaters, would have thick skins and a tough-as-nails mentality right?  But in reality, these guys have been playing for the last 30 years as if they called Miami home… or San Diego.  They’re used to playing in perfectly comfortable conditions.  Basically they’ve given away their home field advantage.  They play in Minneapolis for crying out loud!  The Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, and the two New York teams rough it outdoors in frozen weather every winter week?  Why have the Vikings gone the way of the Prom queen?  Well, having been in Minneapolis in December before, I would guess that’s it’s because… um, it’s crAZY cOLD OUTSIDE!!!  They link their downtown buildings with skywalks in Minneapolis because it gets so bone chillingly cold there!  Oh and if you need some advice on how to deal with the Minnesota cold check out my cuz, Dr. Robinson in this link.  http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/video/Cold-Weather-Calls-for-Preparation-from-Northlanders-111475519.html?vid=a      

Brett Favre has a great history of playing in Cold Weather Games

One of the great and unique things about football in American sports is that they play the games.  No matter what the weather conditions are the game goes on.  In baseball if it rains even remotely hard they delay or postpone the game.  As tough as Hockey guys are, they never have to deal with any wind chill, and basketball players?... Forget it.  They have 12 prom queens to a side by comparison.  In football, they play the games.  Period.  And this ideology has created some fantastic, almost mythological, contests throughout the years.  

The Chicago Cardinals won the NFL Championship in 1948

1948 the Chicago Cardinals won the NFL Championship against the Eagles in a Blizzard.  In 1981, the Bengals beat the Chargers for the AFC Championship in The Freezer Bowl (there was a negative 59 degree wind-chill that day in Cincinnati!)  In 1982 (The Snow Plow game) the Patriots beat the Dolphins 3-0.  How’s that for a football score?  And of course the 1967 NFL Championship game, also known as The Ice Bowl, the Packers beat the Cowboys on the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field.  And even though these days the league only puts SuperBowls in warm weather cities, in 2007 my Bears had to play for the Championship on a relentlessly rainy Miami night.  Nobody could run an offense in that hurricane right?  Although somehow during the half-time show Prince was able to play his guitar beautifully… and he wasn’t lip-synching either!  I checked.  Gotta be one of the best half-time performances ever, I would think.  Y'know, if anybody keeps track of that sort of thing.

Anyway, I don’t think those Bears had anything to complain about really; they were pretty much over-matched in everyway by Peyton Manning and the Colts that year.  In fact, if the weather had been better they probably would have lost by a much worse score.

At the Frozen Tundra... but INside :)

But today’s Bears find themselves in another position to make history.  They can clinch the NFC North Division title with a win tonight in the frigid Minneapolis air, and it should stand to reason that they have the advantage over their perennial rivals.  The Bears almost always play outside.  And what stadium gets colder than Soldier Field in Chicago?  Tonight pretty much gives them an extra home game.  While the Los Angeles Vikings are used to playing in the tropical Metrodome, the Bears have Grit-and-Beared it for as long as anyone can remember.  It’s the reason they’ve never had a finesse passing game… ever.  It’s the reason they’ve always been defensively oriented.  It’s the reason that opposing teams dread when they are scheduled to play there between November and January.  And it’s the reason that Bears fans are insane! 

So as we go into this pivotal Monday Night game tonight in Minneapolis, we Underdogs are reminded of one more quality that makes American Football so fantastic.

Mother nature has a roster spot.

Oh, and apparently Father Time is going to make an appearance too, since Brett Favre had decided to play tonight.  As recently as yesterday he was listed as inactive because of a shoulder injury.

Of course he decided to play.  The drama  just never stops in the NFL. 

Let’s go BEARS!!!

Thanks for reading,   

This is the underdogs.                           

Ornament Box Score Wrapping and the Return of the Knicks....

Incase you haven’t noticed, it’s that time of year again.  The colored lights are up, giant plastic snowmen and raindeer are cluttering up front yards and rooftops, and with each passing weekend the shopping centers are getting more and more unbearable.  But then, on the fun side, there’s putting up the tree!  That's always a good time right?  I have such fond memories of putting up the tree when I was a kid.

One of the reasons was because before we could unwrap the presents on Christmas day, we had to unwrap the ornaments to put them on the tree.  And in my family each year we would secure our ornaments, (some antique, some downright jankity... sorry Mom :) using that old standby… the newspaper.  (For those of you that don’t know, the newspaper was an artifact that used to be issued daily to individuals or families in order to communicate information complied from various news institutions… but truthfully, most people just read the comics.  Ah, whatever, look it up on Wikipedia.)

The great Walter Payton, always my favorite player.

Anyway, the point is, it seemed that somehow most of our ornaments were wrapped in... the sports section!  Oh, yes, that beautiful almanac of articles, rankings, standings, and box scores from historical sports’ seasons past.  It was indeed a secret pleasure of mine to see how long we could last with the same sports section from year to year.  In some cases many years survived.  Of course I put my own personal effort forth to keep the great 1985 Bears' and 1989 Cubs' seasons alive over the years, and it was always fun to re-live the amazing Michael Jordan Bulls' years from the 1990's too, through those crinkled layers of ornament padding.  (Those late-1980’s Bull’s box scores were quite a thrill.  The starting-five scoring was always something like: Jordan: 58, Pippen: 9, Grant 7, Cartwright 5, and Paxson 5.   No wonder they didn’t win championships until Mike started to share the ball.  Yikes.)

In 1991 Michael Jordan's Bulls finally won the championship,
beating Magic's Lakers in five games.

Just one more happy nostalgic element to the holidays, I guess, but for some reason looking at the standings in December is always a little bit warmer and cozier for me.  And box scores too!  Growing up overseas taught me to be a Box-Score-Guy.  Basically, if you couldn’t see the game, you could simply look at the box score in the newspaper and pretty much understand what happened.  Box scores for baseball and football games work quite a bit better than for basketball games though.  In baseball the stat is king; every situation is basically pitcher vs batter in a relatively consistent vacuum.  Football can be mapped out as a series of drives from a specific yard-line to the endzone.  Basketball, though… well, it’s kind of all over the place.  The basic stats: Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, and Blocks do tell a significant story of a game, but they can also be rather inconsequential or misleading.  For instance, getting 10 rebounds in a game is considered very good.  But you can miss a shot right at the basket, take four different tries to tip it back in, and end up with 2 points and 4 rebounds on one play.  You can knock the ball away from an opposing player, but it’s the guy who actually possesses the loose ball who is credited with the steal, so many of them are just lucked into.  And assists… well, some are kind of a matter of opinion.  There’s no stat for help defense, or the great pass before the assist, and a full court heave at the buzzer counts as a missed three-point shot.      

In other words, it’s a team game, and unless you watch every minute, you won’t really know which players are the most valuable to your team.  There are intangibles that players contribute on the court that cannot be measured statistically.  Still though, much of each game can ring true through a good old fashioned box score, and as luck would have it this holiday season, the Knicks have been on a TEAR!  (And that’s… TEAR as in, The Knicks are on an eight game winning streak for the first time since 2000, not… TEAR as in Knicks fans are Crying in their Beers again... as has pretty much been the story since that season ten years back.)  As previously mentioned on this blog, since moving to New York in that very same year 2000, I'd made the switch to Knickerbocker-backer, and have been thoroughly enjoying some long awaited Good basketball from this club.  And coach D’Antoni’s up-tempo offense can provide us with some dynamite box scores too!  Like take this first one from a recent 129-125 win against Denver at MSG.  (Click on it to make it bigger.)    

First of all you can tell that Coach D’Antoni plays his starters almost constantly, and secondly, each of the six guys that played at least 20 minutes, scored at least 13 points.  That shows incredibly balanced scoring and means that the Knicks are moving the ball well.  Raymond Felton’s 17 assists and the rookie, Landry Fields’ 7-11 shooting clip from the field along with 9 rebounds also jump off the page as quite impressive.  Of course Amar’e Stoudemire and Wilson Chandler putting up 30 and 27 points respectively, is nothing to sneeze at either (as my dad would say.)  This is simply a beautiful box score for a Knicks fan!

This second box score is a little less satisfying, since the mighty Celtics came into the Garden this past friday and ended the Knicks winning streak, beating them 118-116.  (Again, click to enlarge.)

While sill a rather beautiful box score, what it doesn’t tell you is that Amar’e Stoudemire hit a potentially game winning three-point bucket at the buzzer that was eventually waived off by the refs because he didn’t get the shot off in time.  I was able to watch the fourth quarter of this game, sadly only my second Knicks game of the season, and it was reeeeaally close… but they got it right… Amar'e didn’t get it off in time.  As much as Spike Lee tried to convince the refs that he did :)  Either way, it was still the best quarter of Knicks basketball that I've ever seen.

What this box score does tell us is that the Knicks are still playing wonderfully fluid offensive basketball, particularly Felton and Stoudemire.  Wilson Chandler is performing extremely well as a third option, and Landry Fields is still giving the team valuable intangibles (because otherwise D’Antoni wouldn’t have played him for 36 minutes with only 6 points and 6 rebounds,) and in spite of the loss, the Knicks showing that they can hang with a proven championship contender is a brilliantly heart-warming sign for their fans.  Of course, this box score could also prove quite historic during future ornament-unwrapping-tree-putting-up-sessions.  The Celtics have four FIRST BALLOT Hall of Famers on their team at the same time, and that doesn’t include Rajon Rondo, who is arguably their best player.  By the time his career is over he may be HOF material too.  Amazing.

So the plot thickens in the NBA East, Atlantic Division.  Boston is still the run-a-way favorite to win it, but the New York Knickerbockers for the first time in years are putting up a fight as their solid second place rival.  Happy days are here again for Knicks fans!  It’s been a looooooong time.  And even though these box scores from espn.com are of the digital variety and will be of little use to the ornament wrappers of the world, it is comforting to remember their physical counterparts, and the ways in which we used them in simpler times.  Maybe I'll print these up to wrap the ornaments this year, just for old times sake.        

Happy Holidays everyone… And happy ornament unwrapping.  Which year is your sports section from?  :)

Underdogs out.

Auburn and Oregon... Worlds Apart...

In College Football, not all season finale games are created equal.  This week, the top two teams in the country, Auburn and Oregon, faced defacto play-in games to get into the National Championship.  You win and you're in.  Simple right?  But somehow, it doesn't seem like the playing fields are all that level. 

The Oregon Ducks have amassed an 11-0 record going into today’s game, defeating a #9, a #21, and a #24 along the way.  Their final game of the season is against cross-state rival Oregon State; who comes into the game 5-6 and Fifth in the Pac-10. 

The Auburn Tigers come into the game 12-0 having defeated a #6, a #11, two #12s, and a #22.  Seems like they’ve played a much harder schedule than Oregon, right?  So, do they get to play a cupcake team in their final game like Oregon does?  Uh… no.  They get to play a #19 South Carolina team, that might have an even higher ranking than that, had Auburn not already beaten them in September!  Oh and by the way, South Carolina has beaten a #1, and two #22’s this season.  That’s a better quality win resume than Oregon has!!!  

This piqued my curiosity a bit, so I parked myself on the couch today to take a closer look. Since both games were on at the same time I was lucky enough to do the remote control cowboy thing, switching back and forth dynamically during commercial breaks.  And as an outside observer… I have to admit.  It looked a little bit like switching from High School Varsity, to Middle School.  At times it didn’t even look like the same sport!  South Carolina and Auburn were bigger, faster, and far more sophisticated on offense and defense than their west coast brothers.  Oregon played down to Oregon State and only broke open the game late in the third quarter, on a clutch (and very questionable) third-down-and-9 pass interference call that gave them the chance to continue driving to an eventual score.  Oregon State turned the ball over four times, often at crucial times and giving the Ducks great field position.  It kind of felt like they were gift-wrapping the title game for Oregon.   While the final score looked pretty good for the Ducks, I didn’t think they looked that good at all.  Especially for the #2 team in the country. 

Regardless, both Auburn and Oregon won their games today so it appears that we will have the two "most-deserving" Championship finalists play each other on January 10th.  But somehow, I couldn’t help but dream of a scenario where OSU was magically replaced by South Carolina for that Oregon game today… just to see what would have happened.  Could you imagine the looks on those Ducks' faces?  (Where's Hermione when you need her?... hey, at least in Quidditch, they have a playoff :)  Because, based on quality wins, I think South Carolina should be ranked above Oregon.   

Blasphemy?  Maybe.  But, speaking of quality wins, let’s take a quick look at our two Championship contenders. 

Auburn Beat

LSU (6)

Alabama (11)

Arkansas (12)

South Carolina (12)

South Carolina (19)

Mississippi State (22)

Oregon Beat

Stanford (9)

Arizona (21)

USC (24)

Of the six games that Auburn won against ranked opponents, ALL of those teams finished the season still ranked in the top 25.  Of Oregon’s three games against ranked opponents, only ONE of them is still in the top 25.  SIX to ONE.      

And now I just heard on TV that they think that Oregon is going to be the favorite in the Championship game.  What???  Auburn is actually going to be the Underdog???  I love it!  I don’t know what expert predicted that, and I’m sure it will corrected before they actually play, but regardless, it is has to be one of the silliest thing I’ve ever heard uttered on the air.  I understand that college football needs to at least pretend that there is parity amongst their conferences, but let’s not be ridiculous.  Auburn’s strength of schedule more than doubled-up Oregon’s for crying out loud!  Where does Oregon stack up if they played a full season in the SEC?  Fifth?  Sixth?

I don't mean to suggest that Oregon doesn't deserve a trip to the title game, but wouldn't it be easier for everybody if the Pac-10 had a Conference Championship game first?  That way they could prove that they belong against a highly ranked Stanford team.  It would certainly level the playing fields a little bit more and then we wouldn't have to keep guessing, comparing apples and oranges.  Right?  Merlin's Beard!  We need some Magic over here!    

Anyway, I asked my Auburn guy, and honorary Underdog Mike Masters, if we could just send Mississippi State to the Championship game instead.  And then when they beat Oregon they can give the trophy to Auburn.  Or how about Arkansas, Alabama, South Carolina, or LSU? 

Mike said no. 

And he wants January 10^th to get here in a hurry!

So do we.

This is the Underdogs.
        

The NFL and the Los Angeles "fantasy" scene...

What's up Underdogs?  Last time around we tackled College Football (and hopefully those realignment ideas are currently being implemented.  Right, University presidents??? )  But for the time being let's just chill out a little and spend some time talking about the gridiron guys that have a playoff system already... and also, the ones that get paid!

(Well, officially that is.  Incidentally... can Cam Newton's dad be my agent??... ooo, sorry Mike :)

The National Football League is far-and-away the most popular sports league in America, and it’s easy to see why.  So many stories to follow, so many intriguing players, and the ever-compelling standoff between offense and defense, which, as elemential as it seems definitively, can be infinitely complex.  After the Big Guy Upstairs, the NFL owns Sundays in this country and it really is a lot of fun to watch!  (Even though the Lady Underdog, Lakisha, can somehow easily sum up every single play of each game as “aaaaaaand… they all fall down.”)  Brilliant right?    

The Rams played in LA from 1946 to 1994 before moving
to St Louis.

In spite of this physical certainty though, every one of our country’s major cities (especially the ones of the cold weather variety) flock to see their teams; if not actually at the stadium then on a flat-screen somewhere.  (The warmer weather cities do too I guess, they just come a little later and leave a little earlier :)  This season I find myself in a warm-weather city listed as the second biggest market in the US, that formerly supported two NFL franchises at the same time and now has zero.  But regardless of this oddity, people in Los Angeles still seem to care, even though they haven't had a pro football team here since 1994.  (Admittedly however, football aficionado, and honorary Underdog, Jimmy Ludwig, does quite often refute this notion by simply pointing out the USC Trojans.  youCH!  Reggie Bush anyone???)  But the question still remains; why does the NFL still matter in Los Angeles?

The LA Raiders played here at the LA Coliseum

through 1994.  Now it is used predominantly as the 

home for the USC Trojans

A big part of the answer is due to the fact that many residents of LA are transplants and football bloodlines run deep.  If you were a football fan when you were eight and still are… you probably pull for the same team.  It’s actually quite remarkable.  Even considering the complicated dichotomy of sports-team-loyalty which we will tackle at a later date, I’ve yet to see another sport match the NFL as far as life-long fans are concerned.  So consequently, every sports bar and restaurant in this town is packed every Sunday with ex-pats from other cities pulling for their team via "The NFL Ticket."  (Oftentimes this includes ex-northerners who miss their teams but not the accompanying frozen weather.)  That’s the beauty of sports in 2010.  You can still watch every game your team plays.  Actual geography doesn’t matter anymore.     

My boys Brian Marino and Chris Palazolo don't know
Jimmy Ludwig... but...  

Another reason is probably due to the emergence of “fantasy football,” which might actually be more important on a national scale than the conference standings themselves.  It’s kind of ridiculous.  I do understand the draw for football fans though, because it is a fun way to be competitive with your friends or co-workers every week, and hope for bragging rights. The irony of course being… that you haven’t really done anything!  Seriously, whoever came up with this idea, is a genius.  And I suppose it’s telling, after all.  What’s more American these days than celebrating a victory in which you didn’t really do anything?

... they could all get together, drink a few
beers, and talk about the Detroit Lions.  

Oh boy that’s a tough nut to crack, and I'm sorry to get all deep.  Cynicism aside though, the fantasy leagues must be great for the NFL in generating interest, especially for the less important games, but I can’t help but feel negatively toward them.  Somewhere down deep inside me there is a sports purist that hates how popular the fantasy sideshow has become.  It’s like when I first moved to New York and met a guy named Zulf.  So one day we’re hanging out talking football, and I’m going on about standings and my team, and I ask him who his team is and he says, “Ah, I don’t’ have a team I just care about the lines.  Y’know, the Over/Under for each game and what the good bets are.  Whether or not a team can cover the ‘spread’ or not,” etc…  Zulf didn’t care about the winning or losing in the actual games, just the Vegas angle.  It wasn’t something I had really ever thought about before, but I suddenly realized with some discomfort, that there are countless people out there who don’t care about the game at all.  Just the numbers… and the money.  Ugh.  Well that brought the naïve and idealistic sports fan inside me down a few pegs.  But I understand it, and people can obviously do what they want.  It just, for some reason… made me want to take a shower.

Anyway, fantasy football in my opinion isn’t nearly as egregious a sports perversion as betting on games, but it is still harmful to the game from the purist’s perspective.  In fantasy it’s not about the teams but about the players.  The importance is on individual play rather than actual game results, and that is in direct contrast with the age-old sports mantras.  “There is no I in… T-E-A-M”, "Just Win, Baby," or “Winning isn’t everything.  It’s the only thing.”  Hmmm, I wonder what Coach Lombardi would make of this movement?  I’m not saying that fantasy sports should go away or anything.  I’m just saying… somehow they just don’t feel right.      

Speaking of the ole Coach, he must have been smiling last Sunday when his Packers took out Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings in the Metrodome.  Wow.  What a difference a year makes, right?  Of course, Brett pulled the usual guessing game about whether he would return again this season and decided at the last minute to make another run at it.  The problem is, he did the same thing last year, and apparently… you can’t capture lightning in a bottle twice.  Last year he surprised everyone while performing as one of the best quarterbacks in the league… this year he pretty much the worst!   Crazy right!  I mean, think of all of the fantasy implications!!!  All those poor owners who drafted him too high!  Their seasons must have been RUINED.  :)

Underdog Mike Masters with 2 of Green Bays 3 Lombardi
Trophies.  Mike's Atlanta Falcons might be the biggest favorite
right now in the NFL.

So last year (when the Underdogs were in Minneapolis,) Favre inspired the Vikes to an amazing last second win against the Pack and it started a tidal wave of national speculation predicting a Favre-Vikings Championship.  This year’s game ended it.  As well as the Brad Childress’ coaching tenure with the Vikings.  Ouch.  What a way to go.  You think Favre will be back next year?...  Me neither.

But he gave it a shot right? 

And that’s why we love the games.  Not the statistics or individual accolades, but the numbers on the scoreboard when the clock runs out.  That's the beauty of Football; anything is possible.
We are now up to Week 13 in this NFL season with no clear frontrunners for the Superbowl.  Gotta love it right?  It's a year for Underdogs!
Me?  I'm pulling for the team I've pulled for since I can remember... back when it was Walter Payton, Willie Gault, Mike Singletary, and Fridge Perry suiting up.
Let's Go Bears!! :)  

We out Like Brett Favre!

Thanks again for reading.

UnderD’s OUT! 

Fixing College Football

As we’ve mentioned before, on this here blog, one of the best and most appealing things about sports is that they exist in a vacuum of absolutes; unlike so many other areas of life where the difference between right and wrong or winning and losing is muddled with gray areas filled with hundreds of voices screaming their various contrasting opinions.  In the real world it is difficult to know sometimes what is right, or good, because there are usually other overwhelming factors that sway judgement, or as Palpatine said to Annakin, “Good… is a point of view.”  In sports however, one need only look at the standings to find truth.  In sports there are steadfast rules, endzones, and foul lines.  Decisions are handled by impartial referees with no personal agendas (we hope) and finally and most importantly, there is a scoreboard.  At the end of the game one simply has to look at that scoreboard to see who is the victor.  No need for further conjecture (although ESPN would probably fight that notion to the death) no need to stay awake all night pondering “what if.”  That is the truest beauty of sport.  Action can succeed where literal expression falters.  When the day is done there is a winner and a loser by way of absolute truth within its parameters, and all of the talk just fades away into the abyss.  In sports “truth will out," it has to.  Well… except for in College Football.

College Football might be the most popular of all sports in America but, as we all know, it also may be the most flawed. The problems are logistical.  There are so many teams and conferences that it is impossible for most of them to be judged against each other on the field, therefore polls and computer ranking-programs have been instituted to decide where teams fit in the national standings.  And the game is too brutal to implement a tournament, as every other college sport does, in order to crown a true champion.  So major College Football directly violates our cherished sports maxim.  Incredibly, most of the time, it cannot be decided on the field.  In the sports world this is inconceivable.  So we’ve got to do something about it... right?  

As long as I can remember people have been complaining about this great contradiction, and have pleaded for an NCAA playoff system.  People have argued for a best-12 to 16 team playoff where these teams would face each other in a head-to-head tournament to once-and-for-all decide who is king in each respective football year.  On its face this seems logical.  But expecting amateur athletes to face the dangers of an extra month of football just doesn’t seem realistic and NCAA purists fear that with this kind of a system the regular season would be stripped of all importance.  But as with most things, the biggest issue at stake here is money.  The Bowl games on New Years Day generate huge sums for University coffers and some think that the institutions would suffer greatly with a playoff system in place.  And that is why, as always, my dear Underdogs, the road to salvation lies in between. 

A top four team play-in to the National Championship game would keep the current Bowl system in place and, while definitely not a perfect solution, it would at least give Four teams a real shot to win the big prize.  Arguing about 4th place is much less dramatic than arguing about 2nd.  For the most part we can let the teams decide their fate on the field when it matters most, while keeping the purists happy, because with this system the regular season remains important. 

But why stop there?  A Four-team playoff is definitely a good start to managing the mess that is the College Football world, but there still is the problem of inconsistency and disparity between conferences.  And it still doesn’t solve the age-old problem of: (grab your Advil bottle, folks) when a team goes undefeated, but doesn't play very many ranked opponents, what in the world do you do with them???  (Boise State!  What’s up?)

Therefore the Underdogs have taken on the extremely difficult task of fixing College Football.  Now, it may seem absurd at first, but in the hopes of finally alleviating as many of this sport’s problems as possible, please try to keep an open mind.  And remember, this is a rough first draft!  

The first thing we have to do is create conferences consistently giving due credence to geography while respecting historical rivalries as much as possible.  We know this is Hallowed Ground, and people will be shocked and offended, but for the sake of the greater good… we are gonna give it a try!                

The first thing we need to do is combine the ACC with the Big East, and that would bring us to 20 schools.  Split it into North and South and we get this:

Atlantic Coast Conference

North

Boston College

Syracuse

Pittsburgh

Rutgers

Connecticut

Cincinnati

Virginia

West Virginia

Maryland

Virginia Tech

Atlantic Coast Conference

South

North Carolina

North Carolina State

Wake Forest

Clemson

Georgia Tech

Duke

Louisville

Florida State

Miami

South Florida

No problems so far right?   

Next we need to do away with the silly numbers of the Big 10 and Big 12 (sorry guys but the numbers don’t even make sense anymore) and create the MidWestern Conferences.

Also split into North and South.  The North retains the Big 10’s History, the South, the Big 12’s History.  Also filter in a few SEC teams to keep each conference at a nice round 10.    

MidWestern Conference

North

Michigan

Michigan State

Ohio State

Iowa

Iowa State

Illinois

Northwestern

Penn State

Wisconsin

Minnesota

MidWestern Conference

South

Purdue

Indiana
Missouri

Nebraska

Kentucky

Vanderbilt

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Texas

Texas Tech

Next we combine the WAC and the Mountain West into a Mountain Conference.  With a North and South.  Filter in some PAC-10 Schools to keep the numbers consistent.

Mountain Conference

North

Colorado

Colorado State

Utah
Brigham Young

Wyoming

Utah State

Idaho

Boise State

Nevada

UNLV

Mountain Conference
South

New Mexico

TCU

North Texas

Louisiana Tech

Arizona
Arizona State

Kansas

Kansas State

Baylor

Texas A&M

Then finally the PAC-10 becomes the Pacific Coast Conference and the SEC pairs down to 10 teams. 

Pacific Coast Conference

Oregon

Oregon State

USC

California

UCLA

Hawaii

Washington

Washington State

San Diego State

Stanford

Southeastern Conference

Arkansas

Tennessee

South Carolina

Alabama

Mississippi

Mississippi State

Georgia

Florida

LSU

Auburn

So now we’ve created Eight Ten-team conferences:

The Atlantic North (ANC)

The Atlantic South (ASC)

The Southeastern Conference (SEC)

The Midwestern North (MWNC)

The Midwestern South (MWSC)

The Mountain North (MNC)

The Mountain South (MSC)

The Pacific Coast (PCC)

Each team plays 6 games within their division and 6 out of conference games rotating through the other conferences systematically over years.  And yes, these schedules could be more difficult so it would likely be that no team goes undefeated, but that would be more true to the competitive spirit right?     

Each conference would play a Conference Championship game making a possible 13 games.  And eventually each conference could expand to 12 schools each (Like y'know, if The Midwestern North wanted to let in Notre Dame for example :) that would make 96 teams in the country legitimately Bowl eligible.  That’s not so bad huh?   

So one year lets say, hypothetically, the conference champs are as follows:  (Record and National Rank to the right.)

Atlantic North - Virginia Tech (11-2) (9)

Atlantic South - Florida State (10-3) (11)

Southeastern - Auburn (13-0) (1)

Midwestern North - Ohio State (11-2) (8)

Midwestern South - Nebraska (13-0)  (2)

Mountain North - Boise State (13-0)  (4)

Mountain South - TCU (13-0)  (3)

Pacific Coast - Oregon (12-1) (5)

The top 4 teams play the play-in games for the National Championship in Bowl Games rotating between the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, and the Orange Bowl in which case it would be:

Boise State (4) at Auburn (1) in the Rose or Sugar Bowl

TCU (3) at Nebraska (2) in the Orange or Fiesta Bowl

The next week the winners play for the Championship.   

(Or if the playoff is expanded to Eight teams, the four undefeated teams are hosts in the first bowl games in an order determined by rankings.) 

In that case the matchups look like this:

Florida State (11) at Auburn (1) in the Orange Bowl

Virginia Tech (9) at Nebraska (2) in the Sugar Bowl

Ohio State (8) at TCU (3) in the Fiesta Bowl

Oregon (5) at Boise State (4) in the Rose Bowl

The remaining teams then play a Four-team playoff over the next two weeks. 

Realistically, of course, all of this change is a long shot to ever happen, but even if a little of it could eventually happen I think it could only enhance College Football.  (Not hurt it as purists would have you think.)  And with that we leave you… To think it over.  I know it's a lot to digest and change can be scary.  But we love this game right?  We deserve this!

As complicated as this revolutionary change might be, it's got to be light-years ahead of what College Football is now.  Perhaps one day logical heads will prevail and actually get something done to fix it.  Ya think we might have something like this in fifteen years???  It's possible, right?  Quick!  Call your respective University Presidents!!!  :)

All the best,

And Thanks for Reading!

Underdogs OUT!!!   

The Rangers, The Giants, and The Dangers of Winning...

My only trip to the Gorgeous ballpark by the bay in SanFran
was in 2000.  It was PacBell park then.  Today it's AT&T.
Next year... who knows.  Carrier Pigeon Park?  

As we began the Fall Classic last night in San Francisco, a fittingly wonderful atmosphere for an autumn ballgame, it was easy to look around and see all the great things about baseball.  Two great teams, two great fan-bases, with a chance to make history.  So much to get excited about!  Could it be putting me into baseball-recovery mode?  Hmmm, seems like I've said this before.  Yes, as I’ve admitted in numerous past blogs, for one reason or another baseball has lost me in recent years.  The season’s too long, the lack of a salary cap favors larger market teams, and the league has basically done Squadoosh to punish admitted past-Steroid users.  (Need an example?  Mark Maguire is a hitting coach in St Louis after a smug, calculated “confession” that was both egotistical and somehow also “whoa is me.”  Seriously, he made it sound like he was a victim!  After ten years of lying, he knew he had to perform a little lip service to make some money again.  So he hired a P.R. firm to handle his “apology.”  And it worked!  Ugh… my sheer disgust at his lame press-conference this past spring probably cost me six months of baseball.  Y'know, like how after watching Super-Size Me, you couldn't look at a McDonalds sign for a while?  Like that.)  But if I had to be honest about it, I’d guess that the real reason I’ve been so down on baseball the last few years is because the Mets have been, in a word, garbage (please to be pronouncing this ala a French accent with the liquid second G, gAR-baGE.)  And really, when that is the case, no matter who your team is, the baseball season inevitably turns into a long, excruciating, slow-motion-speed-walk to nowhere.

In August the Giants were forming up, the Rockies forming out

I felt it from the fans in Denver as they began to sense their Rockies slipping out of the pennant race in early August.  Two weeks later the Dodgers fans had already entered their acceptance period, and the Mets… forgetaboutit…. seems like it has been accepted since May.  The one certainty in the Major League season every year is that by the last third of the schedule, close to two-thirds of the league’s fanbases have already checked out.  Why?  Because our culture has become obsessed with championships; banners and trophies and as many of them as you can carry.  It’s not about the game anymore, it’s about the standings, and sadly, virtue is not its own reward.  So when your team is looking like a good triple-A team in late July and that sneaking feeling starts sinking in, you realize that the dream of attaining the ultimate prize is not happening.  So why not find something else to do, right?

With Tim Tebow now waiving Towels in Denver
Gator fans have had a rude awakening

I’m not proud of this attitude mind you.  I think it is rather despicable actually, but I also have to think that it is the inevitable result of winning.  That thrilling taste of the promised-land in every sports context always must be followed at some point with disappointment.  I first noticed it in myself in 2007 when the Florida Gators lost a game midway though the college football season, and my immediate thought was, “well this year is out.”  Who cares about an SEC Championship or a Bowl Game?  It’s National Championship or bust.  What a terrible attitude to have!  I’m ashamed of it.  It certainly is an awful example to set for the impressionable youngsters of this country (Cue that Whitney Houston song from the 80's) but time and time again we set this example.  It's not about overall achievement anymore, most sports fans simply ask, “What have you done for me lately?”  (Which oddly, is a Janet Jackson song from the 80's.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Okay, that's why I never made the debate team :)

With Derek Roland at Yankee stadium.  I've only been to the
Death Star twice.  First in 1997 and then pictured here in 2007.
I guess I'm due to visit the new one in 2017 :)

I’ve lived in New York for the last ten years and if the city has taught me anything, it is that every year pretty-much every Yankee fan expects a World Championship.  I’ve never seen anything like it!  Anything short of that is a failed season.  In the last ten years the  Evil Empire has won 973 regular season games.  973!  That’s an incredible average of 97.3 wins a season.  But with the exception of last fall when they finally played a great World Series and brought home the hardware, most Yankee fans consider it a lost decade.  One out of Ten is not enough.  Any other fan base would be doing coordinated cartwheels!  Is it just possible that a great many Yankee fans don't enjoy the post season as much as they fear their eventual disappointment.  And maybe that is a completely natural attitude to have when your team has won Twenty-Seven Championships and been to the playoffs Forty-NINE times.  Their team is so good that the only thing that can possibly be note-worthy is when they fail.  It's not their fault, it's human nature.  After all, philosophically, we only know what we know.  But whatever the reason may be, it appears that only the win-starved fan-bases can truly appreciate their team’s success. So really, Cubs fans should count themselves lucky; they will never become jaded! See, there is some good baseball news on Chicago’s north side.  You just have to know where to find it.  But then again the Cubs know that; they've been selling it for 101 years.  (Uh-oh better cue up Billy Joel's 80's ditty, "Wooah, oh-oh-Oh... For the Longest Tiiiime."  Sorry Pops, couldn't resist!     

Will it be the Rangers or the Giants taking the big prize?

So as our Underdog Heroes, the Texas Rangers, go into game two tonight in San Francisco, keep in mind that before this year, in their fifty-year history, the Rangers had only been to the post season three times.  Their all-time post-season record: 1-9.  Until this year they had never even won a playoff game at home!  Those fans don’t know the meaning of being jaded, right?  And that is a beautiful thing.  It makes me happy that baseball can make people feel this way.  Texas girls Catia, Kristen Beth, and Miss Oristano know what I’m talking about.  So does Mr Golden Gate himself, Joel Blum.    

It should be also noted that the Giants aren’t exactly perennial favorites either.  Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, these guys have only reached the playoffs eight times, and have never won the Championship.  (Really, the only reason the Underdogs list them as Evil is because of Barry Bonds, but don’t worry, that stigma should wear off in about fifteen or twenty years.)  Basically, either way this shakes out, one of these two teams is walking out of this World Series forever changed.  And their fans will celebrate an elation that can only come from decades of hopeful anticipation.    Indeed, one of those two fan bases will finally be a winner!  Whether or not that is a good thing, is anyone’s guess.

Rangers vs Giants.  A brilliant Underdog Match Up!

Enjoy the World Series.

And Happy Halloween!!!  :)

Thanks for reading!

Underdogs OUT