FORGING AHEAD

I hope to keep a strong readership on this blog. I don't have a specific goal or anything, but I'm also hoping that I'm not writing into space here.

Moving forward, I'm going to be using this blog to rant about basketball (NBA and college), racing, baseball, and local sports of all varieties.

You can keep up on what I'm doing with FanHouse on the right side of the page, and if you have any other suggestions or requests for the links section, please do drop me a line.

GOOD NEWS?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.

Good news is that my post volume is likely to rise in the near future.

Bad news? Well, I don't want to get into it right now.

BLOGPOLL: SEPTEMBER 17

Apologies for blowing off last week. I lost my mind somewhere in the long work days and didn't remember until I saw Brian's poll post in my Bloglines reader.

I'm such a retard.

As a result, my "change" numbers are all FUBAR, just like the bottom of the poll.

Please offer some assistance in the comments.

Rank	Team	Change
1	Southern Cal	25
2	Oklahoma	24
3	Florida	23
4	Georgia	22
5	Missouri	21
6	LSU	20
7	South Florida	19
8	Alabama	18
9	Texas Tech	17
10	Brigham Young	16
11	Auburn	15
12	Penn State	14
13	Texas	13
14	East Carolina	12
15	Oregon	11
16	Wake Forest	10
17	Utah	9
18	Wisconsin	8
19	Ohio State	7
20	West Virginia	6
21	Kansas	5
22	Vanderbilt	4
23	Fresno State	3
24	Connecticut	2
25	Northwestern	1

Dropped Out:

FOOTBALL PICKS: THIS WEEKEND

Work didn't settle down.

Listen. I know you all hate picks blogs. I am not going to be like that. Please stand by while I try to straighten everything else out.

You'll notice if you look to the right of this page that my FanHouse work has also suffered. So this place isn't the only one.

Anyway, as always, home team in CAPS. College first.

Last week: 15-2
Season: 34-6

SOUTH FLORIDA over Kansas (Friday)
NORTHWESTERN over Southern Illinois
MINNESOTA over Montana State
IOWA over Iowa State
ILLINOIS over Louisiana-Lafayette
MICHIGAN STATE over Florida Atlantic
California over MARYLAND
BYU over Ucla
Penn State over SYRACUSE
Georgia over SOUTH CAROLINA
Oregon over PURDUE
Michigan over NOTRE DAME
USC over Ohio State
FRESNO STATE over Wisconsin

Now, on to the NFL. I hate Week One.

Last week: 9-7
Season: 9-7

CHIEFS over Raiders
Packers over LIONS
VIKINGS over Colts
BENGALS over Titans
PANTHERS over Bears
JAGUARS over Bills
Saints over REDSKINS
Giants over RAMS
SEAHAWKS over 49ers
BUCCANEERS over Falcons
CARDINALS over Dolphins
JETS over Patriots
TEXANS over Ravens
Chargers over BRONCOS
Steelers over BROWNS
COWBOYS over Eagles

PONDERING LIFE...

Not sports related, but it's about life instead. Sorry if you don't like that.

I'm curious about something.

Am I the only human being on the planet that can remember who hit the ground ball that got by Buckner in Game Six of the 1986 World Series, but can't remember to check everything that goes in my freaking kid's hockey bag?

As a result, his breezers are missing, he had to miss practice tonight, and I'm stuck sitting here, pissed off at myself. And I'm out $95. There's that, too. Freaking hell.

I can't be the only person around that has this problem. Right?

Help? Anyone?

RANDOMIZATION: 04/03/08

So, yeah. I'm here. I'm alive. Every month, I think I'm going to update this thing more. Then I slack. I suck. Right now, I'm on my couch, enjoying the Lightning-Capitals game in sparkling high definition. Not even Joe Beninati could screw this night up.

Random thoughts on things that have already happened or are about to happen. Feel free to follow along...

• Michigan is the best college hockey team I've seen as we head into the Frozen Four. North Dakota didn't play terribly well in the Midwest Regional, and I'm not confident in their chances. Boston College is fast, and their goalie doesn't appear easily rattled. Frankly, I'm not a huge Notre Dame fan, meaning they'll probably wax Michigan in the semifinals.
• Despite all the controversy, the NCAA Selection Committee did a good job. The actual selections were made for them, as they are obligated to follow the stringent criteria. The committee didn't pick Wisconsin. The system did. The only decision the committee made that could be fairly criticized was their call to protect the top two national seeds by not making them play in regionals featuring host schools. The Colorado Springs and Madison regionals had to take their host teams (CC and Wisconsin), and the committee was right to send Michigan and Miami out east to neutral regionals. Here's hoping future selection committees follow that precedent.
  
• Please, Washington, make the NHL playoffs. And knock out someone not named "Carolina". If Boston or Philadelphia end up golfing next week, we're all winners. For that matter, Ottawa is practically useless with how they've been playing.
• I was hoping that fun, young, exuberant Edmonton team would make it out West. It's a longshot, but it would be cool as hell to see Chicago make it. I'm not anti-Nashville, but they've yet to show me much in the postseason, despite having home-ice advantage a couple times.
• The NCAA Basketball Tournament can't afford to be boring. Basketball is just not a terribly exciting sport, and the tournament - no matter the tradition - needs some compelling storylines in order to keep the viewers around. This tournament now lacks that. No one is going to care about an all-favorite Final Four, especially when it includes traditional powers like UCLA, North Carolina, and Kansas. Memphis is the only one of the bunch that can claim to be an underdog, and it's only by default because they're from a smaller conference.
• Wisconsin's shooting woes might have blown the best chance they'll have at the Final Four under Bo Ryan. Great coach, but the style he coaches leaves the team really prone to long shooting slumps that can cost them big games. Strangely enough, when those shooting slumps happen, it seems to have a real impact on the team's normally strong free-throw shooting.
• I couldn't agree more with Michael David Smith's take on the NFL's attempt to stop the trend of players letting their hair hang out of their helmets. This is petty, stupid, and could be seen by the oversensitive crowd as being racist. I have no problem with the NFL going so far as to regulate the length of a player's socks, or the color of their shoes. That's part of a uniform. Hair is not part of a uniform. This isn't a restaurant, where problems can be had by someone letting their hair hang out and fly around everywhere. People who care about the length of players' hair have entirely too much time on their hands.
• Chris Henry is in trouble again. Shocking. This time, it cost him his job in Cincinnati, and it's worth noting it's likely to cost him his NFL career. Words cannot describe how sad it is to see someone waste their gifts because they're too stupid to stay out of trouble.
  
• The Phoenix Suns were widely criticized for making the trade for Shaquille O'Neal. Well, now that Shawn Marion has shut it down for the year in Miami, and O'Neal is more and more of a fit in Phoenix's wide-open attack, the trade doesn't look so stupid. The race for eighth in the West is intriguing, with Dallas suddenly fighting for a spot against Denver and Golden State. Denver is probably the least likely of the three to make it when you consider how often they get blown out (something like 15 losses by double-digits). However, they have great talent, and Dallas is reeling with Dirk Nowitzki out. Golden State is simply the most exciting team in the sport, and one has to hope they make it. In the East, nobody cares. Just like pretty much every year.
• Baseball is underway. No major stories yet, though it's nice to see teams like Tampa Bay and Washington off to good starts. However, it's just too early to tell if those teams can sustain anything positive. I think it'll be interesting to see how the National League races develop. The Mets are hardly a slam-dunk to win the East, with Philadelphia and Atlanta both potential contenders. The Nationals would like to think they can win, but I don't see them hitting enough. In the Central, everyone is picking the Cubs, but it's as if they forgot how long Milwaukee held the lead in the division last year. It's not like the Brewers are going to disappear, even if their manager is a bit of an idiot.

NON-SPORTS WARNING...Is this really a surprise? Seriously. How could anyone think this is a big deal? At this point, the Clintons are going to have to steal the nomination from Obama. I wouldn't put it past them, but that's what it will take. At this stage, he's winning the delegate battle, the fundraising battle, and he has all the momentum. Hillary should play it smart, take a potential spot as the vice president on the ticket (because that would be a sure victory, no matter who McCain chooses as a running mate), and stop acting as if she has a good chance to win the nomination (unless Camp Clinton already has a plan in place to steal it).

IS THIS ON?

Look to the right. I'm providing content for SOMEONE, just not here.

I'm around, and I apologize for ignoring this place since the Frozen Four. I'm watching baseball and relaxing right now. I'll probably check in tomorrow.

Yes, that's a threat.

I O U

Working on what will be a large week of stuff here.

It's the least I can do.

Stay tuned. I'm taking my son to play in the snow first.