Test live blog 2

Click here to join the Pitt live blog: Click Here

Test Live Blog

Test

Minnesota is overrated

Am I the only one that sees the truth?

I just don’t understand all of the Minnesota Vikings love going around these days. Sure, Brett Favre and the Vikings’ offense is the sexy topic of the league, but if you look at the facts you’ll notice this team hasn’t proven much.

Minnesota’s quality wins are again average teams, at best, and the “vaunted” offense self destructed in its only true test this season.

So please, explain why these Vikings are so good.

NCAA power rankings, Week 3

After Week 3, still so much is up in the air.

You’ve got the inconsistencies of the Big Ten, the steadiness of the SEC and the surprises in the Big East. One thing, for sure, came from this week: the BCS has the right conferences receiving automatic bids.

Nothing left to do but rank ‘em!

Letter to Michael Crabtree

Dear Michael,

Stop, think, repeat.

You are a talent at wide receiver, true, but it’s clear that you didn’t pick up much common sense in getting a Texas Tech education.

You were the 10th selection in the NFL Draft in April and you want more money than the receiver taken ahead of you, Darrius Heyward-Bey. Thus, you have been a hold out — the only first-round draft pick unsigned at this point.

You don’t deserve the money of a first-round pick, which you think you do. You say you’re prepared to re-enter the draft next year if you don’t get what you want.

When will the common sense kick in?

Conference power rankings: Week #2

Leading in to the season there were more questions surrounding which conferences deserved BCS bids than ever before.

The Mountain West, many said, should take the Big East’s place and earn an automatic bid for its conference champion.

Well, after two weeks things have changed. The Big Ten is still the Big Ten — just not good enough in big games. The ACC dropped two games to D-1AA teams as well as losing marquee matchups as well.

With what I’ve seen so far, this is how the conferences match up against each other after two weeks.

Derek Jeter builds upon his Yankee legacy

On Friday September 11, 2009 shortstop Derek Jeter made Yankees’ history.  The captain and leader of major league baseball’s best team broke the great Lou Gehrig’s franchise record for hits all-time by a New York Yankee.

The previous record of 2,721 hits held by the Iron Horse stood for 73 years until number 2 ripped a patented Jeteresque line drive down the first base line for hit number 2,722 as a Yankee.  The New York faithful ignored the rain storm that began to pour in the Bronx Friday night and packed the new Yankee stadium.  With flashbulbs popping and camera phones rolling, Jeter delivered yet again going 2-4 at the dish to make the Yankee hit record 2,723 and counting…

With this prestigious record broken, the question has been posed whether or not Derek Jeter is among the top five New York Yankees of all time.  The list of top Yankees in history is pretty much a universally known fact, and very rarely will anyone argue the players atop this catalog:

#1 Babe Ruth. The player many still consider to be the greatest to have ever played the game of baseball.  The Great Bambino retired with 714 home runs and of course, with the historic curse cast upon the Boston Red Sox.

#2 Lou Gehrig. The game’s greatest first baseman of all time and one of the toughest players to ever take the diamond.  Gehrig, along with Pittsburgh Pirate legend Roberto Clemente, is one of only two players in history to enter professional baseball’s hall of fame without having to wait the required five years after retirement.

#3 Joe DiMaggio. One of the most graceful and beloved players both on and off the field, the Yankee Clipper is considered by many to be one of the top center fielders ever.  Not to mention, Joltin’ Joe holds the most “pure” record in all of baseball, his timeless, and many say unbreakable, 56 game hit streak that dates back to 1941.

#4 Yogi Berra. The famous catcher for the Bronx Bombers, Berra was the Most Valuable Player of the American League three times.  He is one of only four players in baseball history to accomplish this feat.

Jeter acknowledging the crowd after his 2,722 hit as a Yankee to pass Lou Gehrig for most in franchise history.

#5 Mickey Mantle. The blonde haired, blue eyed All-American boy patrolled center field for the Yanks for 18 years, and in his prime was one of the greatest to ever play his position.  Mantle retired with the record for most career home runs in World Series history with 18.

ACC might be even worse

If you think the Big Ten had a bad start, and I do, then you have to label the ACC under the category of “horrendous” as far as starts go.

The two most glaring knocks against the conference come in losses to Division I-AA (FCS) teams.

Knock #1:
Duke, a team that many though could be a darkhorse in the ACC this year, laid more than an egg in Saturday’s opener again Richmond. They looked like District 5 in Mighty Ducks before Emilio Estevez became head coach after drinking and driving.

The Blue Devils managed only a safety in the first quarter and trailed 7-2 going in to the second. The Devils then traded twouchdowns with the Spiders in the second quarter, trailing 14-9 at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Richmond outscored Duke 10-7 in the fourth to win 24-16.

An eight-point loss to a I-AA team is a big deal, regardless of your preseason standing.

Bad day for the Big Ten

The Big Ten didn’t prove much to the critics this weekend.

From top to bottom, the conference pretty much underachieved in the opening weekend of college football for 2009.

Knock #1:
First and foremost, you’ve got to look at Ohio State’s game at home against Navy. The Midshipmen just outplayed the Buckeyes and were a 2-point conversion short of sending the game in to overtime.

Navy chose to pass on the conversion attempt and the ball was picked off by Brian Rolle, who returned it all the way. Ohio State was awarded two points for the return and won 31-27.

Sure, there are some cobwebs to brush off for every team at the beginning of the season. However, title contenders are able to brush them off and still earn a convincing W.

Ohio State was far from convincing, which leads me to believe they are not a championship caliber team this season. And, to be honest, the rest of the conference appears to be following suit.