Bowl Predictions

All of this college football talk with the new BCS rankings and what not has gotten me a bit excited for bowl season. Nothing brings out the holiday memories quite like bowl season, with a new game or two every night, usually while you are on Christmas vacation, watching the games with friends and family. Good times. So I'm thrown' out a Bowl Prediction article that I will update once a week or so, just to keep my excitement up and to think about the Lakers and my beloved Kobe a little less often. Winners in Bold.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
(Mountain West vs. Navy/At-large):

New Mexico over Navy

Pioneer Las Vegas
(Pac-10 No. 4/5 vs. Mountain West No. 1):

BYU over Oregon State

R&L Carriers New Orleans
(Sun Belt No. 1 vs. Conference USA):

Central Florida over Troy

Papa Johns.com
(Conference USA vs. Big East No. 5):

Rutgers over Southern Miss

New Mexico
(WAC vs. Mountain West):

Fresno State over Wyoming

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
(Mountain West vs Pac-10 No. 6)

Air Force over Purdue

Sheraton Hawaii
(WAC vs. Conference USA):

Boise St. over Houston

Motor City
(Big Ten No. 7 vs. MAC No. 1/2):

Northwestern over Central Michigan

Emerald Bowl
(Pac-10 No. 4 vs. ACC No. 5/6/7):

Florida St. over UCLA

PetroSun Independence
(SEC No. 8 vs. Big 12 No. 7):

Texas A&M over Mississippi St.

Pacific Life Holiday
(Pac-10 No. 2 vs. Big 12 No. 3):

Cal over Texas Tech

Texas
(Big 12 No. 8 vs. Conference USA):

Colorado over UTEP

Gaylord Hotels Music City
(ACC No. 5/6/7 vs. SEC No. 6):

Clemson over Alabama

Brut Sun
(Pac-10 No. 3 vs. Big 12/Notre Dame/Big East):

USC over Louisville

AutoZone Liberty
(Conference USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 7):

Georgia over Tulsa

Insight
(Big 12 No. 6 vs. Big Ten No. 6):

Michigan St. over Oklahoma St.

Champs Sports
(ACC No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 4/5):

Maryland over Wisconsin

Meineke Car Care
(Big East No. 3 vs. ACC No. 5/6/7):

Cincinnati over Virginia

Valero Alamo
(Big Ten No. 4/5 vs. Big 12 No. 4/5):

Penn St. over Kansas St.

Chick-fil-A
(ACC No. 2 vs. SEC No. 5):

Virginia Tech over Tennessee

Roady's Humanitarian
(WAC vs. ACC No. 8):

Hawaii over Georgia Tech

AT&T Cotton
(Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC No. 3/4):

Auburn over Texas

Outback
(Big 10 No. 3 vs. SEC No. 3/4):

South Carolina over Illinois

Gator
(ACC No. 3 vs. Big 12 No. 4/Notre Dame/Big East No. 2):

West Virginia over Wake Forest

Capitol One
(Big Ten No. 2 vs. SEC No. 2):

Florida over Michigan

International
(MAC No. 3 vs. Big East No. 4):

UConn over Ball St.

GMAC
(Conference USA No. 2 vs. MAC):

East Carolina over Miami (OH)

Rose Bowl presented by Citi
(BCS vs. BCS):

Oregon over Oklahoma

Tostitos Fiesta
(BCS vs. BCS):

Arizona St. over Boston College

FedEx Orange
(BCS vs. BCS):

South Florida over Kansas
Allstate Sugar
(BCS vs. BCS):

Kentucky over Missouri

Allstate BCS Championship Game
(BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2):

LSU over Ohio St.

Hart 4 Heisman

What's up peeps. Words cannot describe how awesome Mike Hart is. But I'm sure this video will transform all of the none-believers:


But in all honesty, Mike Hart should at least be getting more credit this season for how he has carried the Michigan Wolverines on his powerful legs. He also sat out the second half in TWO games this year, and leads the nation in raw yards. What would his numbers look like if he had played? Who knows, but what we do know, is that he is much more Heisman worthy than people are giving him credit for. The only one who seems to know what he's talking about is my man Lee Corso.



It just seems like every year, the Heisman Trophy goes to a trendy pick, or a QB who will go #1 in the draft. Plus it's decided before the bowl games, which is lame. There is no way that Vince Young shouldn't have won it 2 years ago, just because he was clearly the college football MVP. If Mike Hart ends the year with the most yards, and Michigan wins the Big Ten, then there is absolutely no question that he should win, and it would be a travesty if he didn't. Here are a couple more vids to convince you. The last one is from his high school days. Amazing.

Rockin' All Over the World

Dude, the Rockies are crazy. With 21 wins in 22 games, and sweeping their way into the World Series, the Rockies have entered the ridiculous zone, and seem like this years' "destiny team". The Rockies joined the 1976 Big Red Machine as the only teams to start a postseason with seven straight wins, are the first team since the 1935 Chicago Cubs to win at least 21 of 22 after Sept. 1, according to Elias Sports Bureau. They're also only the fifth team ever to go from last place to the World Series in one year. What's even more unbelievable, is that they haven't even been all that dominating, as Eric Byrnes eluded to earlier in the series. But you don't have to be dominating to win, you just have to win. And that's what the Rockies have done, just win baby. It doesn't matter if the Diamondbacks had a few errors that led to big innings, or if Matt Holliday didn't touch the plate against the Padres in their play-in game, the Rockies just find a way to win the game, every time.

What has been dominating though is the pitching staff. Colorado's starters posted a 1.66 ERA in the series, the relievers shut down the late innings, and Manny Corpas leads all closers in the playoffs with 5 saves. Definitely not the Colorado we're used to, an average hitting team with a great pitching staff. But hey, they've finally figured out what works in Colorado with that big ballpark and then thin air. And do you think that either of those American League teams is excited about going to Colorado for the World Series? No way in hell. With pitchers who have rarely/never pitched in that kind of environment, fielders used to smaller outfields and guys like Manny and Big Papi having to run the bases in the cold, thin air, there is no way that the Indians and the Red Sox would be looking forward to playing 3 games in Colorado.

Now, I'll probably be rooting for the Rockies because they're an NL/West Coast team and we need some more national lovin', but their ascent this year has reminded me why the Dodgers piss me off, while other teams in the division do so well. The Rockies and Marlins both entered the league in 1993, and since then, the Marlins have won 2 World Series and the Rockies are now in the World Series. The Arizona Diamondbacks were an expansion team in 1998, and have already won a World Series ring. The other teams in the NL, the Giants and the Padres, have each made it to the World Series, in 2002 and 1998 respectively. Since their 1988 World Series victory, the Dodgers have won ONE playoff game, have won ZERO playoff series, and have made it to the playoffs only FOUR times in the 19 years since 1988, getting swept THREE(!) times. Unbelievable. Yet they are consistently second in attendance to the Yankees and around the top 8 or so in payroll. So yeah, it pisses me off when expansion teams have so much success in such a little time, and a historic and supposedly big ticket franchise has done diddly squat. It's so depressing it give their "Think Blue" slogan some poetic justice.

Loyola 17 - Chaminade 7

Loyola High School trekked out to L.A. Valley College for a "home game" Friday night, and came back with a much deserved 17-7 victory over Chaminade. Now, traditionally, we would expect Loyola to beat a team like Chaminade by 34 points or more, but we'll take what we can get this season, as the Cubs will have to fight for every victory this season. The good news is that the Loyola's "wolfpack" defense finally showed up for a game, and the Cubs did what they've always done well, play stout defense and grind out a win.

The Chaminade offense, led by Loyola transfer Ryan Griffin at QB, starting the game in their traditional spread formation. After gaining some advantage in field position, the Loyola offense took over after a Chaminade punt. Coach Kearin decided to depart from the pass and tried to establish the run early, with a consistent diet of senior Brian Rios. After trading a few punts, the Chaminade offense was winning the field position battle, and started a series inside Loyola territory. A few passes later, Chaminade found themselves attempting a long field goal on 4th down with 2 yards to gain. A Loyola penalty for 12 men on the field gave the Eagles new life, but the lapse in discipline didn't end up hurting the Cubs as they held the line on a 4th and short three plays later. The rest of the first quarter, Loyola kept trying to run the ball with Rios but were only able to make a few first downs on short yardage passes and roll outs.

In the second quarter, Loyola made the first break through when quarterback Stephen Rokus finally threw a pass over 5 yards, hitting senior wide receiver Dustin Rosenberg on a streak. Rosenberg blew by the DB on single coverage and caught the ball 30 yards on the fly and scampered for another 30 to the end zone. Despite not being able to move the ball much in the first half, the Cubs went into the locker room up 7-0 at half time.

The second half started with a significant change on offense, with Kearin turning to sophomore stud running back Anthony Barr, who has been recovering from a separated shoulder. He had the sidelines buzzing on the very first play as he took the hand off, made a quick move, and turned the corner gaining 8 yards while breaking about 6 tackles. The Loyola offense started to click as Barr took over the workload and began moving the chains. The Cubs running game made the 3rd quarter fly by, and produced a Mauricio Alfonso field goal to make the league 10-0.

The Loyola defense seemed to be in Griffin's face on nearly every pass play, and blitzed often. The strategy worked as when Griffin wasn't sacked, he was somewhat erratic when pressured, tending to overthrow his wide receivers. Even blind squirrels find a nut though, as Griffin hit a few long passes, Loyola committed a few costly penalties, and, after dominating most of the game, the Cubs found themselves only up by 3 after a Chaminade touchdown.

The Loyola sidelines felt a bit tense, especially when the Eagles had the ball and were driving in the 4th quarter. But a Loyola interception followed by key stops by nose guard Joe Goodwin and linebacker Sema'j Myles all but cemented a Loyola victory. The Cubs then looked to add to their lead and run out the clock as the took the over the ball with about 6 minutes to play. Loyola rode the legs of Barr, as he moved the chains and successfully wound down the clock with consistent 4 and 5 yard runs. The Cubs capped the drive, game, and night with a play-action touchdown pass to sophomore tight end John Young on a 4th and goal play from the 2 yard line with 30 seconds to go, bringing the final score to 17-7.

In all honesty, the Cubs outplayed Chaminade on this night. With a stifling and pursuing defense, commitment to the running game, and timely pass completions, Loyola deserved the win and the margin of victory could have been a bit more. It just goes to show, that these Cubs are not the Cubs of the early 2000s. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, those teams would have beaten this Chaminade team with more than enough points to spare. What did impress me was the last drive of the game, when the Cubs needed to secure the ball and move get first downs in order to run out the clock, they did just that. Just like the teams of old, the Cubs won the game in the fourth quarter. The Serra League will be very difficult for this team, and they may not win a game. But what we do know, is that although the sheer talent may not be present, the traditional Cub grit and determination will always be there, and that will give them a shot to win every game.

Loyola will travel to La Canada next week to play St. Francis High School. After growing up about a mile and a half away from St. Francis and having a few friends go there, AND never getting a chance to play them while at Loyola, I'll be there in full regalia to root on the Cubbies!

Week 6 NFL Quick Picks

Just the picks.....home teams in caps:

Bengals (-3) over CHIEFS

Texans (+6.5) over JAGUARS

BROWNS (-4.5) over Dolphins

Vikings (+5) over BEARS

Eagles (-3.5) over JETS

Rams (+9.5) over RAVENS

Redskins (+3) over PACKERS

Titans (+3) over BUCS

CARDINALS (-4.5) over Panthers

Raiders (+9.5) over CHARGERS

Saints (+6.5) over SEAHAWKS

Giants (-3.5) over FALCONS

Patriots (-5.5) over COWBOYS

Last week: 6-8

What's going on in College Football?

After recovering from "Black Saturday" here in L.A., I have some thoughts and realizations about college football in this country. First, let's start with our L.A. teams. So who had the worst weekend? UCLA gift wrapped Notre Dame's first win for them, while losing another quarterback in the process, leaving them with a Grizzly Adam's look-a-like walk-on QB who was honorable mention in his high school league. (In the LEAGUE!) Across town, USC's loss was one of the biggest of all time, losing to 41-point underdog, Stanford. It was the first Trojan loss at home since 2001, and they will be without John David Booty this upcoming Saturday.

UCLA season hinges on how fast Pat Cowan can recover from his injury. All reports are that he may be able to go by the Cal game next week, but you never know how fast someone will recover from such a severe injury. Cowan is clearly a better option than Ben Olson at this point, with or without Olson being injured. But that leaves UCLA with 3rd string walk-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson and 4th stringer, freshman Chris Forcier to hold down the quarterback position. This doesn't bode well for the Bruins, and the longer they are without Cowan, the closer to rock bottom they'll get. The bigger question for the Bruins, is how a top 25 coach put himself in this position? Some people have let Karl Dorrell off the hook because of the injuries to Olson and Cowan, but shouldn't they have more than a walk on for a third string quarterback? Shouldn't they be prepared for a worst case scenario? And shouldn't Bethel-Thompson be somewhat ready to go when he was the backup for the Notre Dame game? As soon as Olson went down, the Bruins were unable to call a pass play without having it ensue in a turnover. It's not like they needed an All-American to beat the Irish, they just needed someone who could hand it off, take a quick 3 step drop without getting sacked, and actually be able to take the snap from the center. Look at Stanford. They put in their back-up, and beat USC! The Bruins need Cowan back and they need him now.

USC on the other hand has a few different problems. But first, take a look at this video, with the quote at the end basically sounding like any USC fan I've ever met.



No USC fan would ever even conceive of losing to a team like Stanford, and they will surely let you know about it. Maybe you think that's a good thing, fans should be somewhat confident. But SC fans tend to take it the next step up, acting cockier, and more arrogant than any college fan base in America. Just like the school bully, the team needed a bit of humbling, and who knows, maybe it will change the attitude of the school and its fans. )And who doesn't like to so the "Pete Carroll face" after a loss I mean, trying going to http://www.petecarroll.com/ and not thinking that he's a smug asshole).....But back to the game.....Booty threw 4 picks and became the scapegoat for the fans, who seemed to overlook the Washington game which showed that the USC passing game isn't quite what it used to be, and the team is not as dominating as it had been in the past. Add a few extra mistakes against Stanford and TavitaPritchard playing lights out, and you have yourself an upset. Who knows what backup QB Mark Sanchez will give them, and if he will even be an improvement over an injured Booty. Besides the on-field troubles, the Reggie Bush situation has reared it's head again this week. I think USC just though, "If no one talks about it, maybe it will just go away". Well, this isn't going away, and is now going to be a full blown NCAA investigation. We don't have any clue what the outcome will be, but things look pretty fishy, and I wouldn't be very excited about how this will play out. It will probably drag on for a while, USC will get a few sanctions, have to "give up" a title or two, and then move on. But you never know, it could be as drastic as a Pete Carroll firing, and a complete program overhaul. Only time will tell with that situation, but look for the Trojans to have a tougher time this season in the Pac-10 than maybe people assumed.

In terms of college football in general, ESPN is calling this season, "the season of the upset". Why so many upsets this year? Is it an aberration? Are college football teams more even than ever before? What's the deal? My opinion is somewhat simple, and somewhat controversial. I think that the reason that the traditional powerhouses of college football have had a down year this year (or a down couple of years if you're Notre Dame or Stanford), is that a lot of mid-major or lower schools are getting more and more of the phenomenal athletes that are unable to academically qualify for the traditional schools. With our society placing more and more importance on athletic performance in high school, it's now O.K. to fail out of high school, go to a junior college for two years, transfer to a mid-major school, and try to make it in the NFL. The growing trend of JC transfers at lower tiered schools has created this paradox. Can't get into Notre Dame? That's O.K., you can go to a school who has lower standards of entrance and be just as successful.

As always, there are exceptions to the rule. Schools like BC and Cal are having great years and sill hold onto their academic integrity. That's true, but those teams are led by a couple of stars, not an entire team of them. Even the new age football powerhouses like LSU and Florida, have way less academic standards for their players that schools like Notre Dame, Stanford, BC, Cal, Michigan, UCLA, Northwestern, and others. This trend will continue, and we may have a different idea of who the traditional powerhouses are in the future. We'll also have entire classrooms filled with football players learning "ballroom dancing" like Matt Leinart a couple of years back.

Loyola High School

Here's the deal. So I remember being in college, thinking "I wonder how Loyola is doing this season?" Then I would search the internet for what felt like 12 years until I was left searching the 35 page archives of latimes.com trying to find the Loyola football score from two days earlier. The main website at Loyola is all good and well for the school, but doesn't do much to help quench the sports thirst of former players and people like me who want more than a scoreline. Yes they had Cubs Sports Online for a year or so but that only got updated for like a year and then dropped, so I thought, what the hell, I'm going to include Loyola in my radio station and make them a big part of it so that people like me will have a place to go for all Cubs sports. Hell, maybe in the future I will be able to broadcast live games over the internet, once this station is up and running. In the meantime, let's recap some Loyola High football.

Loyola High School has also had a tradition of sports excellence, and I'll let the stats speak for themselves:

Football: CIF AAAA/Div I Champs - 1962, 1963, 1975, 1990, 2003, 2005
Basketball: CIF AAAA/Div I-A Champs - 1954, 2002, 2003
Volleyball: CIF Div I Champs - 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005
Cross Country: CIF Champs - 1984, 1985, 2002, 2004; CIF State Champs - 2002, 2004
Track: CIF Champs - 1984, 2000, 2003, 2004
Soccer: CIF Division I/Division II Champs - 1998, 2005, 2007
Golf: CIF Northern Div. Champs - 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005
Swimming/Diving: CIF Champs - 1984, 1994, 1996, 1997
Baseball: CIF Champs - 1954, 2007
Lacrosse: CIF Champs - 2006; Mission League Champs - 2007

Now, that's just championships. Most of them are in the top division in Southern California, which I would argue is one of the toughest if not the toughest in the country. I could list all of the runners up, but I already feel like Billy Bob Thornton with some sort of Friday Night Lights crazy football school. It's a little different than that, but the traditions remain the same. Half the team's Dad always seems to have played for the team or at least gone to the school. As you can tell, they are usually in contention every year, in most sports. Football dominates the scene though, as it does in the rest of the country.

Three years ago, Loyola went in a new direction after legendary coach Steve Grady stepped down. Grady had been the head football coach since 1976, and had won 2 CIF championships and done well in every season. Stepping into the role as head coach was alum Jeff Kearin, who started coaching at Loyola High School in 1980. After coaching there for 10 years, he left for the University of Southern California in 1991 under Head Coach Larry Smith and later with John Robinson. Jeff became offensive coordinator at Cal State Northridge in 1995. In 1999 he went with John Robinson to UNLV only to return as head coach at Northridge for 3 years until the program was eliminated in 2001. After that Kearin coached at Brophy Prep in Arizona, until leaving for Loyola in 2005. Kearin had tremendous success in his first season at Loyola, winning the CIF title in his very first year.

Coming off such a spectacular season, last year's season shocked many in the Loyola community. The Cubs failed to make the playoffs last year for the first time in 26 years, leaving fans to wonder what had gone wrong, and most people began to turn to the coach for some answers. Usually, there is a bit of a grace period for a coach following a championship season, something like 3-5 years, where the team can basically underacheive, and no one will blame the coach because he brought the school a championship a few years back. But to fall to such a depth, missing the playoffs for the first time in school history, Kearin basically completely bypassed his grace period.

So how have the Cubbies fared this year? With a lot of questions to answer at the beginning of the season, Kearin has left a few of them unanswered. The team is 2-3, including a devastating loss up north to the powerhouse known as Concord De La Salle (55-14). After regrouping to beat Dana Hills 22-0, the Cubs havn't been anything other than lackluster in losses to Dominguez High School (34-24) and Hart (21-13) in somewhat of a rivalry game. Loyola will try to refocus and save their season against an undefeated (but somewhat untested) Chaminade team this Friday at one of Loyola's many make-shift home fields, LA Valley College. With Chaminade being just up the 101 freeway and technically closer to Valley College than Loyola, expect a pretty good "away" support.

Look forward to more Loyola High School rants and raves to come, including pics and a recap from this week's game against Chaminade.

Interested in covering Loyola High School for Go Blue Radio? Email us at goblueradio@gmail.com . Go Cubs!

Lakers Season Preview

Finally, what you've all be waiting for....a Lakers preview! Brought to you by our new Lakers and NBA correspondent, Dan Noyes. He'll be bringing you game previews, reviews, power rankings, commentaries and more likely than not, a few tirades about the Buss family. Leave him a comment and let him know what you think about Kobe and Co.

"At the beginning of every fall, right around the time I start to forget about another late season Dodger debacle, and when the football season is just starting to take shape, the roundball begins to bounce and I begin to get giddy for another season of Lakers basketball, the one team I support that actually gave me something to cheer about when I was growing up. But how quickly things change. It seems like just yesterday I was basking in the glory of back to back to back championships. Now the Lake Show is just trying to sneak in the back door of the playoffs and avoid being swept by the Phoenix Suns.

Now you may think there are several factors that go into why the Lakers have had such a drastic fall from grace. Coaching, injuries, Shaq, Mitch, etc. etc. But the real reason behind the Lakers' struggles for the past 4 seasons is what me and Derek Fisher like to refer to as the "Curse of Chick." The Lakers legendary broadcaster passed away the summer after their third title... and since then, all we in Lakerland have had to endure is... a sexual assault case, an embarrassing loss to the Pistons in the finals, the trading of one of the top 5 players of all time, a losing season, two first round playoff exits, and the best player on the planet demanding to be traded. I just want it to be known that it’s not just franchises who haven't won in 100 years that have curses. Winners have them too. And now that D-Fish is back in the purple and gold., he and I will try to end the 5 year “Curse of Chick” in 2008. Curse or no curse, let's take a look at where the Lakers 07-08 season is headed.

Who’s Gone / Who’s New

Gone: And thank God, Smush Parker.

New: And thank God, Derek Fisher.

Javaris Crittenton

And maybe Coby Karl, Marc Gasol, or Sun Yue.

Position Overview:

Center: Andrew Bynum, Kwame Brown & Chris Mihm

I have always felt we don’t need one “great” center (we had the best ever and traded him), but just two that could put up “good” center numbers. If Bynum has developed like I’ve heard, and if Kwame Brown can stay healthy and catch the ball, and if Chris Mihm can get up to speed; all BIG IF’s, we have the pieces. If the three can combine for 20 points and 15 rebounds a night…I’ll be satisfied. Nothing great, but productive. Personally I say play them all until one proves the job is his.

Forwards: Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Brian Cook, Maurice Evans, Vladimir Radmonivic & Ronny Turiaf.

While it may not be the deepest or most talented group in the league, the unit can be effective, again IF healthy. Odom is coming off a second shoulder surgery and will miss all of camp. But when healthy he is easily our second best player and is the lone other Laker who can create his own shot….

Walton must prove he is durable enough to last an entire season playing big minutes. He started off well last year but fizzled after coming back from an ankle injury. Walton is an excellent passer who understands the offense and the game in general.

As for the reserves….Cook is always a threat from the outside but needs to be more consistent and take a pay cut….Evans is athletic and a good defender. Mo was one of the pleasant surprises from last year….Vlad Rad’s hand was hurt even before his snow accident and he couldn’t shoot. I’m hearing that he’s healthy now and I’m praying that he might actually make a shot or two this season (and the following 3 he is signed for).…Turiaf is easily my second or third favorite Laker. He provides instant energy on and off the bench. It is clear his 4 years in college served him well, even to the point last year where he was better than Bynum and Brown.

Guards: Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Javaris Crittenton, Sasha Vujajic, & ??????

Kobe Bryant remains as the best overall basketball player in the city, state, league, country, world, you name it. The best there is, period. However he is a bit of a prick so he’s had trouble finding teammates who are both talented and willing enough to play along side him. And as recently as this summer, Kobe felt that his current team didn’t fit one or both of those criteria. He has since apologized and only time will tell how sincere he was. All I know is that he wants to win. And he certainly has the ability to take the team a long way if he can find that ever elusive balance of scoring and involving his teammates.

When I found out Derek Fisher was getting out of his contract in Utah I almost started doing back flips. I instantly knew he would be signed by the Lakers. He always was and will be a Laker (and will forever reside in my living room posing in mid air after releasing that 0.4 second shot against the Spurs—autographed no less). Fish will provide a steadying force on and off the court. He is professional, respectable and above all knows how to deal with Kobe. The Lakers are counting on him to distribute, play defense, and hit his jumper with relative consistency. Whatever happens, he is clearly an upgrade over Smush Parker.

The crew of back-up point guards returns with one more added to the bunch. An apparently much improved Farmar is back. Jordan was kind of thrown to the wolves last year but held his own.…You can always appreciate Sasha’s effort, but no matter what happens I always seem to end up yelling “What the $@#!? SASHA!”....The rookie Crittenton comes in fairly highly touted. He is athletic, tall and is a natural PG. However we all know how Phil feels about rookies.

There is one roster spot available and it will be settled during camp. Early reports on George Karl’s son is that he has nice stroke. All are long shots fighting for a spot on injured reserved (until Kwame gets hurt).

Pre-Season Goals

The Lakers’ training camp started last week in Hawaii, but the team can ill-afford to take a vacation when they are in the islands. A lot of questions remain about the team, and this preseason will be an indicator if whether or not Laker fans should even bother tuning into a telecast this season.

The number one burning issue is health. The Lakers did well last year when healthy, well enough that they made no moves this off season because management actually likes their "healthy roster" and thinks they can actually win. Big questions still remain. Lamar Odom is still recovering from shoulder surgery and K-Lame Brown is still working his way back from ankle surgery. Although neither should miss time in the season, not having the time to get in shape and develop with their teammates will hurt. In addition the Lakers can ill afford any more injuries during camp.

The other question surrounding the Lakers as they approach the season involves their star, best player, and often times their worst headache. Kobe Bryant demanded a trade and blasted the organization this off season (and can you really blame him?). I know he's since retracted, but some things are just not forgotten. I know when #24 walks on the court he is a cold blooded killer and just wants to win, but when Andrew Bynum drops passes and Luke Walton gets beat for a lay-up how will he react? Will he be the team leader we need him to be, or will he run to the papers and demand that moves be made? Only time will tell, and it will also tell how long Kobe will be wearing a Laker’s uniform.

What to Expect

After an off season that garnered more attention for the tirades and rants than it did for free agent signings and blockbuster trades, the Lakers most likely did not put themselves back into championship contention.

However, as bad as this may sound, I actually understand what Mitch and the boys are doing. Winning takes time. You must learn to lose before you can win. The Lakers teams of old got swept from the playoffs for years before they finally won. This Laker team is no different. The core of the team has made it to the playoffs twice and lost. If we were to rebuild, it would take at least three or four more years for the new team to grow, mesh, build, fail and then finally succeed. For now we are hoping that the current team stays healthy and takes the next step, not the finals step, but at least win a playoff series step.

The window of opportunity to ride the best player ever is actually quickly closing. Kobe can no longer afford another rebuilding project. The Lakers did that. Maybe it could have been done a little better, but it’s done. We now have to ride it out and see if Kobe can embrace his teammates, see if Phil can teach and will them, and finally see if anyone wants to go along for the ride (Lamar?).

I see the Lakers finishing 6th in the West at 46-36 and advancing to the second round of the playoffs after pulling a first round upset. It's not the Finals that we have come to know and expect, but it’s a step in the right direction and enough to keep number #24 around for at least one more year.

Watch out for my Pre-Season NBA Power Rankings coming up next week."

-- Dan Noyes

Who's The Boss?

With the Yankees loss last night, the baseball world may not know how to cope with the lack of Yankees exposure in the national media. At least Boston is still around, so expect to be on Red Sox overload over the next few weeks. The Yankees loss will bring a lot of change for that club, starting with the manager, Joe Torre. George Steinbrenner made the ridiculous ultimatum, with the Yankees down 0-2 in a 5 game series, that either the Yankees somehow win 3 straight games, or Joe Torre is gone. After 12 years with the Yankees and 4 World Series, that's how this guy gets treated? I know the Yankees are expected to win every year, but come on. This guy could easily win the AL Manager of the Year award for bringing the Yankees back into the playoffs from out of nowhere, and then he gets the ax at the end of the year. I understand that if I paid as much for a baseball team as Steinbrenner goes, I would expect a bit more than a first round exit, but I still think you don't do somebody like that, especially when he has been the face of the organization for 12 years.


The Yankees will also have a few big name free agents, not to mention Alex Rodriguez' contract allowing him to opt out this year. The Yankees are getting younger and younger, and have a good group of young pitchers that have just come out of their farm system, and a core group of young fielders who have produced this year. I don't feel like taking the time to name them, but look for the Yankees to go a little younger with their roster and possibly let some of their veterans go.


So what's gonna happen with A-Rod? Obviously, no one can offer him what the Yankees can offer him in an extension, which is what the Yankees will need to do if they want to keep him. If he opts out, I highly doubt that the Yankees would then try to sign him. If he opts out, it's probably because a deal is already in place somewhere else. I think it's about a 50/50 chance whether he stays or leaves. I don't think the money is as big an issue as it used to be, because there are other teams out there that will pay him similar money, I think the big issue comes down to whether or not he wants to stay on a changing Yankees team, or if he's had enough of the New York scene.

In the meantime, Frank McCourt (Dodgers Owner), please get on the phone with Scott Boras and whoever Joe Torre's agent is. The Dodgers need a third baseman, and Torre would be about 10 million times better than Grady Little. Little is utterly terrible as he showed the world again last season, and needs to be swept under the carpet. The Dodgers have a high payroll, but it's nowhere close to what the Yankees pay. The Dodgers are second in attendance, but not second in payroll. I know we don't want to become the Yankees, but as Boston has shown, you need a big payroll to win in this game. Signing A-Rod would dramatically help the Dodgers, and I would almost guarantee a play-off series victory with him and Torre. Let's go McCourt, make it happen. Alright, no more Yankees talk for a while.


MLB Predictions


Rockies over Diamondbacks in 6

Red Sox over Indians in 7

Rockies over Red Sox in 7

First Music Post!

I know, I know. This is supposed to be a radio station and all we've had so far on the blog has been sports. Well, here ya go, our first ever music posting, brought to you by our new music correspondent, Andy Cuadrio. He'll be bringing you reviews on new music, updates from the music world, as well as some full fledged rants about music. Enjoy!

"Hello all. It's a pleasure to able to a part of this magnificent blog. It was truly an honor to be asked to give my piece of mind every week about the gorgeous world of music. But before we get started, I must get something off my chest: I know absolutely nothing about sports. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Ziltch.

I know what you're thinking. It's embarrassing. But it's cool. I understand that I'm a 21 year old University of Michigan student who honestly cannot explain a game of football if his life depended on it. I'm that guy who will sit through a football match with a group of guys and pretend like I know what's going on. Or when someone comes up to me and they assume that I'm a Wolverines fan they'll go on for hours about how great UM is, and I'll politely nod my head and agree with everything they say. The hard part comes when they ask me a question. Let's observe the following conversation:

Football Fan: "Hey buddy! Did you see Mike Hart's 14-yard gallop in the first quarter, which led to a 31-yard TD pass from Chad Henne to Adrian Arrington? It made Hart Michigan's all-time leading rusher!"

Me: "Oh yeah…that was awesome!? (awkward voice crack). But it kinda sucks that Mike Hart killed all those puppies. How can someone kill innocent animals?"

Football Fan: What are you? Fucking retarded?

Me: ….(slight head nod).

See what I mean? Well you see, back in my glory days, I was the short, chubby kid with glasses and braces who was picked last for everything. You know you're in bad shape when the rejects pick you last for their teams. Very traumatic but whatever. I got over it. So if you were expecting me to talk about how the Tigers will probably win the Super Bowl this year, don't even fucking talk to me. Now, if you want to buy me a cold beer and talk about the latest volume of Jock Jams, then you might have the best conversation of your life. Now with that said and out of the way, hopefully we'll all be open to what I have to say about our musical culture. (Yes, even if we have to talk about the beautiful Britney Spears, or even the Spice Girls reunion tour. Just kidding…?)


Do you ever get that feeling about a certain song or musician, that whenever you hear his/her song, you just wish they would go away and never come back? You know, just ship them off to an island so we'll never have to see them again. With God on our side, luckily they'll be eaten by a shark or starve to death. Just a thought. On my own personal island, Avril Lavigne reigns as queen. She sucks at life. I want her to suffer like Tom Hanks did in Cast Away. When she tries to make her escape on her homemade raft, hopefully she'll go under and we'll never see her again. Watch this video to truly see how bad she sucks.



Who likes Dashboard Confessional!?!? I did…until they released their horribly awful album, Dusk and Summer, last year. I must say, I was extremely upset. They failed me. They were there for me during my teen years. They helped me through my heart aches and what not. They were my best friends. They let me down. Fortunately for them, they released their latest LP The Shade of Poison Trees. If you are, or were, a Dashboard fan like myself, I think you're in for a pleasant surprise. With this album, DC returned to their roots: A more broken down, acoustic form. Although we will never get that true Dashboard (or shall I say Chris Carrabba) sound that we grew to love in our teenage years, this is the next best thing. So here it is: we're friends again. They'll be there for me when my heart is broken. They'll have a good cry with me. Thanks guys. You're real pals. I heart you.


Any one in particular on your island? Thoughts on the Dashboard album or any new album as of late? Let's discuss. Take it easy."

-- Andy Cuadrio