Right Or Wrong? The Weekend In Review
To go over this past weekend I wanted to divide the events by the things I was right about and, more often, the things I was wrong about. Here goes.
THINGS I WAS WRONG ABOUT
1. Oscar De La Hoya
Wow. I'm not often wrong when it comes to big time boxing fights, but I could not have been more wrong on this one. I figured that De La Hoya had learned his lesson from the Money May fight and would just ride his jab and left hook to an easy victory over a smaller opponent. I was wrong on both accounts. First, he didn't jab or use his left hook. Second, he wasn't even the bigger man. Pacquiao came in a pound heavier than De La Hoya. Who knew that De La Hoya was a shot fighter? He looked scared and as Freddie Roach said, he just didn't have anything in his legs. It was as if he had been caught with a knee-buckling uppercut before the fight even started. Pacquiao's shorter reach never came into play because De La Hoya refused to jab and we all knew that Pacquiao's speed on the inside would win the day if De La Hoya refused to fight as the taller fighter. Well, he didn't just refuse to fight as the taller fighter but refused to fight. Just a sorry sight. De La Hoya is now added to the list of fighters that I will never again pay to see fight. Just a shoddy performance all around. Manny Pacquiao deserves every bit of the credit he's receiving for sending De La Hoya into retirement. I'm looking forward to cashing in when he fights Ricky Hatton and thankful that it won't be De La Hoya boring us if he had been the one in the ring in Wembley.
2. Green Bay Packers
Somehow I still haven't totally talked myself out of a 3-0 finish for them and an 0-3 finish for the Vikings. I know, I'm in la la land. The Packers are very good, but the problem is, they're only very good on one side of the ball. I must be changing the channel every time they go on defense. How do you give up a 20-yard pass to a fullback when you have the opposition pinned to their goal line with less than 2 minutes left in a tie game? I know how. You have no defense. Feel free to smack me in the head when I pick them to win their next three games, including this weekend in Jacksonville.
3. The Heisman
Going into the weekend I was positive that Sam Bradford was more a product of the spread than the deserving Heisman winner. This is not to say that I don't think of Tim Tebow as the "MVP" of the college football year, but when you think of excellence in college football this season, how can you ignore Sam Bradford's production and his dealing with all of this BCS controversy by leading his team to 5-straight 60-point outputs. I still like Florida to win the BCS Championship because dealing with the spread won't be too much of a big deal for Urban Meyer whereas dealing with an SEC swarming defense will be a huge adjustment for Oklahoma. That being said, Bradford should be, and in my opinion is, this year's Heisman.
4. Michelle Wie
I thought she was just a stuck up kid with a boat load of talent. Watching her persevere through the LPGA's Q-School and how she handled it was beyond impressive. Q-School is no joke and she treated it as the serious event that it is. She didn't act as though she had her sponsorship exemptions to fall back on, which she does. Instead, she thought of Q-School as everybody else does, as a necessary but grueling hurdle that she had to overcome. She overcame and did so with class. I was wrong about her and congratulate her. Plus, she can outdrive me. That's pretty impressive.
THINGS I WAS RIGHT ABOUT
1. Eli Manning
I know this comes as a shock to just about everybody within 150 miles of NYC, but Eli Manning is a mediocre QB. He is not a Top 5 QB. He is not a Top 10 QB. He is average. I've consistently said that if you pressure Eli, he'll make mistakes. Lots of them. For one thing, he's about as immobile as they come. Therefore, as strictly a pocket passer, he's got to be accurate even with the heat on or have the league's best run game and offensive line to make up for his deficiencies. Well, he's had the latter for the better part of the season but I think we finally found out what happens if his running game or protection don't come through. He crumbles. Simple as that. My friend D.J. who, when it comes to the Giants, makes me look like a casual UCLA homer, said that he'd still rather have Eli than Aaron Rodgers and that Aaron Rodgers was terrible yesterday whereas Eli's performance is easily explained as the Giants just having an off game because of distractions. He also maintains that Eli's a better QB than Jay Cutler but we'll stick with Aaron Rodgers for now. Here are their Week 14 lines:
Eli Manning: 13 for 27; 123 yards; 1 TD (garbage time); 0 picks
Aaron Rodgers: 19 for 30; 295 yards; 2 TD's; 1 pick
Yep. Clearly Rodgers was the one deserving of the "terrible" label. You have to love Giants fans. I'll accept, for now, that the Giants are the best team in the NFC, but it's going to take actual evidence for me to believe that Eli is anything but mediocre. And no, I'm not going to accept one scrambling pass with a chucked up ball to a helmet as concrete evidence. For now, I remain convinced that you can replace Eli with at least half of the QB's in the league, when healthy of course, and not lose a thing. Put Matt Schaub in for Eli and the Giants still ride their defense to the title last year and an 11-2 start this year with the addition of an even better running game and a slightly worse off defense. In case it wasn't clear before, I like being right. A lot. I like it almost as much as those black and white cookies. Not quite, but definitely in the same ballpark.
2. St. Louis Rams
They tried to cover but decided to throw a 101-yard pick-six instead even though that spread was probably about 4 points too high. Hopefully I'm not the only one to have Operation Bet Against The Rams as a mild saving grace with this crazy 2008 NFL season.
3. The BCS
Everyone complains about it. We'll hear another round of people whining about why they should be in the final game and whether Boise State should be in a marquee bowl. Blah blah blah. Stop giving it attention or come up with a reasonable alternative that doesn't cost the people in charge billions and then start talking. The BCS is like the oil industry. Not going anywhere. Does it really matter when Boise State plays their 9th place game? I get the beef with losing out on the BCS money, but if that's the case, you're going to have to schedule away games with the SEC or Big XII elite. As for USC's "beef" with not going to the title game, don't lose to Oregon State. Then we'll talk. Until then you're just another team with a solid defense and a mediocre offense that deserves to play for 5th place or whatever place the Rose Bowl's for. I lose track. Here's what's going to happen. Oklahoma will play Florida and people will watch. With the complaints about the BCS, it's kind of like when thousands of people get murdered in an African nation. People complain and care for a few days, sometimes weeks, until something else comes along and grabs their attention. Real change requires real action, not just lip service. Sorry.
4. Florida Gators
In advance, I'm confident enough to say I'm right about them. They will win the BCS Championship. Remember a month or so ago when they played Georgia and I told you to take who you thought the winner would be to win the title? Florida was at 10-1 and Georgia at 25-1. Well, I'm not backing off. Don't bet against these Gators. Please.
Addendum: A couple people emailed me asking how I could compare the travesty of the BCS to the atrocities that went on and continue to go on in Africa. I was not comparing those two, I was commenting on the fact that people's reactions to both are every bit as emotional and the outcomes are the same and how sad that is. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
THINGS I WAS WRONG ABOUT
1. Oscar De La Hoya
Wow. I'm not often wrong when it comes to big time boxing fights, but I could not have been more wrong on this one. I figured that De La Hoya had learned his lesson from the Money May fight and would just ride his jab and left hook to an easy victory over a smaller opponent. I was wrong on both accounts. First, he didn't jab or use his left hook. Second, he wasn't even the bigger man. Pacquiao came in a pound heavier than De La Hoya. Who knew that De La Hoya was a shot fighter? He looked scared and as Freddie Roach said, he just didn't have anything in his legs. It was as if he had been caught with a knee-buckling uppercut before the fight even started. Pacquiao's shorter reach never came into play because De La Hoya refused to jab and we all knew that Pacquiao's speed on the inside would win the day if De La Hoya refused to fight as the taller fighter. Well, he didn't just refuse to fight as the taller fighter but refused to fight. Just a sorry sight. De La Hoya is now added to the list of fighters that I will never again pay to see fight. Just a shoddy performance all around. Manny Pacquiao deserves every bit of the credit he's receiving for sending De La Hoya into retirement. I'm looking forward to cashing in when he fights Ricky Hatton and thankful that it won't be De La Hoya boring us if he had been the one in the ring in Wembley.
2. Green Bay Packers
Somehow I still haven't totally talked myself out of a 3-0 finish for them and an 0-3 finish for the Vikings. I know, I'm in la la land. The Packers are very good, but the problem is, they're only very good on one side of the ball. I must be changing the channel every time they go on defense. How do you give up a 20-yard pass to a fullback when you have the opposition pinned to their goal line with less than 2 minutes left in a tie game? I know how. You have no defense. Feel free to smack me in the head when I pick them to win their next three games, including this weekend in Jacksonville.
3. The Heisman
Going into the weekend I was positive that Sam Bradford was more a product of the spread than the deserving Heisman winner. This is not to say that I don't think of Tim Tebow as the "MVP" of the college football year, but when you think of excellence in college football this season, how can you ignore Sam Bradford's production and his dealing with all of this BCS controversy by leading his team to 5-straight 60-point outputs. I still like Florida to win the BCS Championship because dealing with the spread won't be too much of a big deal for Urban Meyer whereas dealing with an SEC swarming defense will be a huge adjustment for Oklahoma. That being said, Bradford should be, and in my opinion is, this year's Heisman.
4. Michelle Wie
I thought she was just a stuck up kid with a boat load of talent. Watching her persevere through the LPGA's Q-School and how she handled it was beyond impressive. Q-School is no joke and she treated it as the serious event that it is. She didn't act as though she had her sponsorship exemptions to fall back on, which she does. Instead, she thought of Q-School as everybody else does, as a necessary but grueling hurdle that she had to overcome. She overcame and did so with class. I was wrong about her and congratulate her. Plus, she can outdrive me. That's pretty impressive.
THINGS I WAS RIGHT ABOUT
1. Eli Manning
I know this comes as a shock to just about everybody within 150 miles of NYC, but Eli Manning is a mediocre QB. He is not a Top 5 QB. He is not a Top 10 QB. He is average. I've consistently said that if you pressure Eli, he'll make mistakes. Lots of them. For one thing, he's about as immobile as they come. Therefore, as strictly a pocket passer, he's got to be accurate even with the heat on or have the league's best run game and offensive line to make up for his deficiencies. Well, he's had the latter for the better part of the season but I think we finally found out what happens if his running game or protection don't come through. He crumbles. Simple as that. My friend D.J. who, when it comes to the Giants, makes me look like a casual UCLA homer, said that he'd still rather have Eli than Aaron Rodgers and that Aaron Rodgers was terrible yesterday whereas Eli's performance is easily explained as the Giants just having an off game because of distractions. He also maintains that Eli's a better QB than Jay Cutler but we'll stick with Aaron Rodgers for now. Here are their Week 14 lines:
Eli Manning: 13 for 27; 123 yards; 1 TD (garbage time); 0 picks
Aaron Rodgers: 19 for 30; 295 yards; 2 TD's; 1 pick
Yep. Clearly Rodgers was the one deserving of the "terrible" label. You have to love Giants fans. I'll accept, for now, that the Giants are the best team in the NFC, but it's going to take actual evidence for me to believe that Eli is anything but mediocre. And no, I'm not going to accept one scrambling pass with a chucked up ball to a helmet as concrete evidence. For now, I remain convinced that you can replace Eli with at least half of the QB's in the league, when healthy of course, and not lose a thing. Put Matt Schaub in for Eli and the Giants still ride their defense to the title last year and an 11-2 start this year with the addition of an even better running game and a slightly worse off defense. In case it wasn't clear before, I like being right. A lot. I like it almost as much as those black and white cookies. Not quite, but definitely in the same ballpark.
2. St. Louis Rams
They tried to cover but decided to throw a 101-yard pick-six instead even though that spread was probably about 4 points too high. Hopefully I'm not the only one to have Operation Bet Against The Rams as a mild saving grace with this crazy 2008 NFL season.
3. The BCS
Everyone complains about it. We'll hear another round of people whining about why they should be in the final game and whether Boise State should be in a marquee bowl. Blah blah blah. Stop giving it attention or come up with a reasonable alternative that doesn't cost the people in charge billions and then start talking. The BCS is like the oil industry. Not going anywhere. Does it really matter when Boise State plays their 9th place game? I get the beef with losing out on the BCS money, but if that's the case, you're going to have to schedule away games with the SEC or Big XII elite. As for USC's "beef" with not going to the title game, don't lose to Oregon State. Then we'll talk. Until then you're just another team with a solid defense and a mediocre offense that deserves to play for 5th place or whatever place the Rose Bowl's for. I lose track. Here's what's going to happen. Oklahoma will play Florida and people will watch. With the complaints about the BCS, it's kind of like when thousands of people get murdered in an African nation. People complain and care for a few days, sometimes weeks, until something else comes along and grabs their attention. Real change requires real action, not just lip service. Sorry.
4. Florida Gators
In advance, I'm confident enough to say I'm right about them. They will win the BCS Championship. Remember a month or so ago when they played Georgia and I told you to take who you thought the winner would be to win the title? Florida was at 10-1 and Georgia at 25-1. Well, I'm not backing off. Don't bet against these Gators. Please.
Addendum: A couple people emailed me asking how I could compare the travesty of the BCS to the atrocities that went on and continue to go on in Africa. I was not comparing those two, I was commenting on the fact that people's reactions to both are every bit as emotional and the outcomes are the same and how sad that is. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
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