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Who says that the game of football has passed Bobby Bowden by? Certainly not Florida State! The Seminoles gave the ACC’s elder statesman a cool $2.5 million to return to the sideline in 2009. So now we get to see the race continue between Bowden and Penn State’s Joe Paterno for the most career wins. Bowden currently trails Paterno’s 383 career wins by one. However, it isn’t Paterno that Bowden needs to keep an eye on. Rather its FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and Father Time.
Fisher is the Seminoles head coach designate and his contract states that he has to replace Bowden by 2011 or the university will owe him $5 million. Time is of the essence for Bowden because there really isn’t a lot of it left for him. Where Paterno seems to be able to name his exit time and date it appears on the outside that Bowden doesn’t seem to have that luxury. While he has become a sentimental icon at FSU for his faith, father like approach to coaching and putting Florida State football on the map it just isn’t likely that the University is going to pay a dump truck load of money to an offensive coordinator to keep around a head coach who has lost an average of four games a year over the past five seasons.
Oklahoma City has shown significant improvement under Scott Brooks and this is a game that the fans should expect to see their team win. With the recent success of the Thunder along with the dismal performances put out there by Memphis a home loss would simply be unacceptable.Lineups
Grizzlies: Mike Conley, 6-1, O. J. Mayo, 6-4, Rudy Gay, 6-8, Darrell Arthur, 6-9, Marc Gasol, 7-1.Thunder: Russell Westbrook, 6-3, Desmond Mason, 6-5, Kevin Durant, 6-9, Jeff Green, 6-9, Nick Collison, 6-10.
Who doesn’t remember summer camp? Some of the greatest memories of our adolescents are from those short weeks of freedom when we were off to explore the world apart from the chaperoning of mom and dad. Then we became adults and summer camp just a distant memory. It doesn’t have to be that way though. National Alpine Ski Camp offers an outstanding selection of summer camps in both Oregon and Colorado.
Reconnect with that childhood like freedom as you spend seven to ten days at Mount Hood, Oregon or Copper Mountain, Colorado. In addition to the seven or ten day packages you can also choose to take advantage of the summer camp double sessions at Mount Hood to gain extra time and move at a slower pace. It is the ultimate adventure for the outdoorsman or woman. I can’t think of a better way to get away from the hustle of everyday life to enjoy the adventure found in two of the nation’s most beautiful ski destinations.
Since New Year’s Eve the Oklahoma City Thunder have a 7-6 record and are showing significant improvement every night. They’ve moved from the NBA’s basement to being tied with the L.A. Clippers and Sacramento Kings for last place in the West and are a game ahead of the Washington Wizards who now have the league’s worst record.
Oklahoma City’s latest victim was the New Jersey Net’s who flew in on an icy night and were sent home with a 94-85 loss. At one point Oklahoma City had a 30 point lead and while the winning margin was much narrower the significance of the victory and the means by which they achieved it were unchanged. Oklahoma City fans are used to seeing 30 point deficits this season it is just the Thunder that they are used to seeing be the victims in a rout.
Oklahoma City won by dominating the boards and playing tenacious defense against New Jerseys top scorers. Vince Carter was held to just 8 points on 2-12 shooting and Devin Harris had just 10 points on 4-17 shooting. On the night New Jersey shot 40% from the floor and 14 turnovers later they walked out of the Ford Center on the losing end.
The Thunder shot a less than impressive 41% from the floor but had five players score in double figures led by Kevin Durant’s 18. Russell Westbrook, Nick Collison, Jeff Green and Nedad Kristic also turned in double figure performances on offense but Kristic’s may have been the most critical.
Since joining the Thunder 10 games ago the 7-0, 260 center has given Oklahoma City a much needed physical big body inside. However, because of his range he isn’t limited to just scoring in the low post. He has been the catalyst to Oklahoma City’s recent success. The Thunder are a long way from being a playoff caliber team but now they are even further away from being the team that we thought would set an NBA record for futility.
What N.J. The Fans Are Saying
Here are a few excerpts from what Nets fans are saying at The Star Ledger’s website.
Posted by superjohnfan on 01/26/09 at 11:00PM
I would rather be humiliated by the World Champions twice in one week than be behind thirty points to a nine win team at any time at anyvplace.
The Nets once again showed they play their best ball not by design, but when the substitution patterns, the game plan, and the play book are thrown out the window.
Larry Frank can coach. Whether he can coach this group is ultimately the question.
Individual players look to have put their best play behind them.
The team as a whole appears to have their best playvbehind.
And what passes as a coaching seems more pedestrian and stale than the play of the team.
I think the Nets put better talent on the court than the Knicks.
It looks as though the Knicks will catch and pass the Nets in the standings.
If they do the reason is simple, the Knicks have a better coach.Posted by Jackhoops on 01/26/09 at 11:44PM
I was so disgusted - not for the first time this season - that I switched to the Knick game and there I saw five guys playing at full speed, attacking the rim on offense, and hustling on defense, and winning against a very good team. The Nets, in contrast, were playing slomo offense - Harris takes the ball down and dribbles for a while and the either shoots (unsuccessfully) or passes so late that the other has to rush a shot. Meanwhile, Carter stands on the side waiting for something to happen. On defense, KC always seemed to have a step on them.The big problem is that Harris had a few really good games and now appears to believe he owns the ball and the game: he has lost the team concept. Carter, the best scorer by far, is at his whim, and the rookies just wait for him to do something; meanwhile the whole game slows down and defense against the Nets becomes too easy.Has the coach lost control or are they team and coach a bad match?
Posted by whitebeemer on 01/27/09 at 2:38AM
I'm sorry but the nets need a new coach,frank is too calm,if the coach doesn't have that fire, the team doesn't have that fire! He has no passion!
Posted by cdoggnets on 01/27/09 at 4:35AM
This type of loss would ordinarily do-in the coach of any other team. At least threaten his job a little...light a fire under him. Is he in the teacher's union or something? Is he untouchable? The season is slipping away and it doesn't have to. Save the season and hire Mike Fratello, you know he wants the job, and he'd be perfect. Just have him switch jobs with LF.
Let’s figure this out. Two basketball teams play and one of them loses 100-0 and the coach that won got fired. Obviously somewhere a line was crossed but I’m just not sure by whom or even where. I’m all for sportsmanship and while losing by 100 points is inexplicable so is making villains of the victors.
Micah Grimes was fired as the girl’s basketball coach at Covenant School for refusing to apologize for his 100-0 victory over Dallas Academy. The administrators for Covenant issued the following statement calling the game an embarrassment. “It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition.”
Oklahoma used to have a basketball coach named Billy Tubbs who responded to criticism for blowout victories by saying that the other team should get better. Of course that would be a challenge for Dallas Academy who only has 8 girls on their squad and hasn’t won a game in four years. Getting better doesn’t really seem to be an option here so the next course of action is to make heroes of the lovable losers and villains of the victors.
There were two lines crossed here in my opinion. The first was by a coach who wouldn’t let up when his team had their opponents clearly outmanned and outgunned. Doesn’t that happen on all levels of competition though? Should a coach be taken out behind the woodshed when his team prepares and then executes their game plan to perfection? Why should they be expected to play down to the level of their competition when the competition is so bad? Inst the whole gist of athletic competition to get better at what you do? But still I acknowledge that you don’t have to jump a lesser school by 100 points to prove that point.
The major line that was crossed here (and the real travesty if you ask me) is that Dallas Academy fields a team when they clearly aren’t qualified to play on that level of competition. What is the next team going to do when they are blowing out Dallas Academy? Is the opposing coach going to remember what happened to Coach Grimes and start putting in fourth graders so that the score isn’t too brutal.
Exactly what is a Christlike approach to competition? Jesus, being the servant that he is, would always let the other team win. If that is the mindset that all Christian schools are supposed to take then what is the point of even playing each other.
A dangerous precedent has been set here because the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools is teaching these girls to go ahead and try something that they aren’t good at and when they fail miserably it is their competitors fault. How is that going to play out in life? If they aren’t prepared to take a test and make a zero on it should the instructor be fired for being harsh and making the exams too hard? How about when its time to send out college applications and Harvard or Yale turns them down? Is that the university’s fault for having their standards too high?
These girls aren’t being empowered they are being crippled! They are being taught that if you try at something and don’t succeed keep trying and when you fail again it just isn’t your fault. What about the lesson learned by the girls on the other bench? Find something that you are good at but just don’t excel so much that others realize that they are far inferior? What is that all about?
Life is about learning lessons. When you find something that you are good at pursue it and find success to the best of your abilities. When you fail at something either pick yourself up and try improve at it or move on to something else that matches your talents and abilities. Unfortunately neither of those lessons was learned in this situation.
The economy is eventually going to turn around. It’s just waiting for it to that’s the hard part. What Americans need to do now, more than ever in my lifetime, is stop spending and save. Bad loans and meaningless overspending is what has caused us to arrive at such a low point in the economy.
The best recommendation is to create a saving account separate from your normal banking accounts. Make it difficult to withdrawal money but fairly easy to make deposits. There are many options out there for this including an Online Savings Account.
Break up the Oklahoma City Thunder! Known in 2008 as the NBA’s whipping boy something happened to the league’s most recent relocated franchise since the stroke of Midnight on December 31st. For the first time in its brief history Oklahoma City won back-to-back games on Wednesday night when they beat the Detroit Pistons 89-79 at the Ford Center. While they are virtually no threat to anyone at making the playoffs the Thunder have won 5 of their last 9 games going into Sunday night’s contest against the Miami Heat.
Suddenly the Thunder no longer have the lowest number of wins in the NBA. There are two other teams (LA Clippers, Washington Wizards) who are just as inept. However, unlike Oklahoma City the Wizards are 2-8 in their last 10 games and the Clippers are 0-10 while also riding 12 game winning streak. One could easily make a case that the Thunder are the hottest of the worst teams in the NBA and certainly moving in the right direction under interim Coach Scott Brooks.
After running the last two game simulations it is clear that Oklahoma, USC, Florida and Texas are separated only by a slim margin in the “mind” of the computers. First OU beats USC in an overtime game that I dubbed as the best yet of our pretend playoffs and now Texas and Florida go to two overtimes to settle who would face the Sooners in our pretend championship game.
Florida arrived to the Rose Bowl to take on the Longhorns by beating Texas Tech 42-28 and Texas is in Pasadena after handling Utah 35-24. With Oklahoma waiting on the winner you can just imagine the hype that would be around this game. If Florida wins they will face their 3rd consecutive Big 12 opponent in a row when facing OU for the championship and if the Longhorns advance then the Red River Rivalry gets it biggest stage ever.
This game would live up to the hype as well. After swapping field goals in a ho-hum first half, Florida’s Percy Harvin scored on a 9 yard pass from Tim Tebow and Emmanuel Moody scored on a 42 yard run to take a 17-6 lead at the end of three. Just as the third quarter was good for the Gators, the fourth was every bit as good for the Longhorns. First, Vondrell McGee would score on a 38-yard run and then Colt McCoy would hit Jordan Shipley for a 22 yard strike. The Longhorns would fail on a two-point conversion attempt following their first touchdown but convert on the next one to give them a 20-17 lead. Florida added a late field goal and the game was headed to overtime!
The two teams would swap field goals again in the first overtime but after Hunter Lawrence missed from 41 yards out the stage was set for Percy Harvin once again. Florida’s All World back dashed into the end zone from 11-yards out to end what has truly been the greatest game in our pretend playoffs.
Florida: 30
Texas: 23
Texas Stats
Passing
Colt McCoy – 15/22, 244 yards, 1 touchdown
Rushing
Vondrell McGee – 15 carries, 72 yards, 1 touchdown
Chris Ogbonnaya – 10 carries, 43 yards
Colt McCoy – 15 carrier, 41 yards
Receiving
Jordan Shipley - 5 receptions, 110 yards. 1 touchdown
Florida Stats
Passing
Tim Tebow – 8/11, 152 yards, 1 touchdown
Rushing
Emmanuel Moody – 9 carries, 80 yards, 1 touchdown
Jeffery Demps – 10 carries, 57 yards
Percy Harvin – 10 carries, 41 yards
Tim Tebow – 18 carries, 32 yards
Receiving
Deonte Thompson – 2 receptions, 61 yards
The Other Semifinal
#5 USC 24, #1 Oklahoma 27
Consolation BCS Bowls
Sugar Bowl - #4 Alabama 17, #8 Penn State 14
Fiesta Bowl - #6 Utah 37, #7 Texas Tech 51
* Games simulated by whatifsports.com
With visions of the 2005 Orange Bowl still fresh on our minds the Oklahoma Sooners and the USC Trojans are set to face off in our pretend playoffs. Oklahoma got here by knocking off the 8th seeded Penn State Nittany Lions while the Trojans went through #4 Alabama. The last time we saw these two teams on the field together it was all USC as the Trojans punished OU in a 55-19 blowout to claim the BCS Championship. In our perfect world of pretend things might be a little different had the teams met in a real playoff game in 2008.
Oklahoma would capitalize on a huge first quarter sparked by a 79-yard punt return to take a 10-0 lead at the end of one. DeMarco Murray would cap an 84-yard drive in the second quarter with a two-yard plunge to give the Sooners a 17-0 lead going into the half.
When Juaquin Iglesias hauled in a 13 yard touchdown strike from Sam Bradford at the 4:21 mark of the 3rd quarter it appeared that Oklahoma was heading for a route in Miami with the Sooners well in control 24-0. However, that is when things began to click for the Trojans and then come undone for the Sooners. First, Ronald Johnson would score on a 12-yard pass from Mark Sanchez to get USC on the board. Then Stafon Johnson would break free for a 55-yard run early in the 4th to make it a 24-14 game. David Buehler would add a field goal close to the six minute mark to bring the Trojans within a touchdown. After holding OU to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession USC was in position to complete the comeback.
After fielding the punt on their own 41 Sanchez completed four passes in a row to bring the ball to the Oklahoma 2. On the next play Stafon Johnson carried the ball into the end zone to tie the score at 24-24 and ultimately put the game into overtime with USC now having all the momentum.
The Trojans won the coin toss and put their defense on the field first against an Oklahoma offensive unit that hadn’t produced anything since the early minutes of the third quarter. After coming up with a stop on 3rd and 4 from their own 19 the Trojans saw OU kick a field goal to end their overtime possession and regain the lead 27-24. Next the unthinkable happened. After two running plays set the Trojans up with a 1st and goal at the Oklahoma 6 Mark Sanchez made a crucial mistake by misfiring the ball into the hands of Oklahoma linebacker Travis Lewis and ending what has been the greatest game of our pretend playoffs.
Oklahoma: 27
USC: 24
Oklahoma Offensive Stats
Passing
Sam Bradford – 18/28, 154 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Rushing
Chris Brown – 17 carries, 173 yards
DeMarco Murray – 16 carries, 56 yards, 1 touchdown
Receiving
Manuel Johnson - 3 receptions, 56 yards
Juaquin Iglesias – 5 receptions, 36 yards, 1 touchdown
USC Offensive Stats
Passing
Mark Sanchez – 26/45, 327 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions
Rushing
Stafon Johnson – 16 carries, 129 yards, 2 touchdowns
C.J. Gable – 10 carries, 41 yards
Receiving
Ronald Johnson – 6 receptions, 75 yards, 1 touchdown
David Ausberry – 5 receptions, 78 yards
*Game simulated by What if Sports.com
That’s how we see it going down. What about you?
The Other Semifinal
#3 Texas vs. #2 Florida – At the Rose Bowl
Consolation BCS Bowls
Sugar Bowl - #4 Alabama 17, #8 Penn State 14
Fiesta Bowl - #6 Utah vs. #7 Texas Tech
