When the college football polls were released on Sunday, it was no secret the #1 team in the first BCS standings of the 2010 season should have been either the Oregon Ducks or the Boise State Broncos. But when the poll was released, we were in for quite the surprise from the BCS computer. Their #1 team?: the Oklahoma Sooners. That's right--the Sooners (ranked third in the AP, Harris, and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll) got the nod to be on top of the first BCS rankings of the season. What hurts both Oregon and Boise State is their respective strength of schedules. The Broncos especially, because they're in their final season in the WAC and their strength of schedule is the weakest of the bunch. Sure, their non-conference wins over Virginia Tech and Oregon State are nice, but because they're in the WAC, those wins still aren't good enough. If Virginia Tech had been able to beat James Madison (a reasonably good FCS school) in Blacksburg, Boise State's ranking in the initial poll would have been a little higher, but no higher than second once the BCS came out. Even though they blew out lowly conference foe San Jose State 48-0, it actually hurt them in the rankings because of how bad the Spartans' record is.
On the subject of the Ducks, Oregon is in the Pac-10 (will be the Pac-12 once Utah and Colorado officially join the conference in 2011 and 2012, respectively) and the champion in that league always gets an automatic bid to the Rose Bowl (that is if the Ducks don't finish 1st or 2nd in the final BCS rankings). I'm sure their fans are crying foul over the rankings much like Boise State fans are, given the fact that Oregon is #1 in the AP, Harris, and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' polls. And quite frankly, I think Oregon should be #1 in the BCS and Boise State #2. But that damned BCS computer did not put the Ducks topping all the polls into consideration when the fresh batch of rankings was released.
Which now brings me to the Sooners. They're playing at Missouri, another unbeaten Big 12 team that's in the BCS rankings (ranked 11th to be exact; Oklahoma State is the other Big 12 team in the standings, ranked 14th and unbeaten like Oklahoma and Missouri). On top of that Oklahoma also has wins over Florida State, Air Force, and perennial rival Texas. And should the Sooners beat the Tigers on Saturday, it would give them a big cushion when the next set of rankings are released next week, regardless of what Oregon does against UCLA on Thursday night or what Boise State does against Louisiana Tech next Tuesday. I guess it's safe to say that a lot of Oregon and Boise State fans are going to cheering hard for the Missouri Tigers to upset the Sooners this weekend in Columbia, because if the Tigers can make that happen, it could blow the BCS wide open, and permit the two best teams in college football to occupy the top two spots when the new rankings are released, right where they should be.
As the first games of the League Championship Series prepare to get underway, six big league teams have managerial openings, and one has already been filled. Not long after the Atlanta Braves season ended (along with the Bobby Cox era), the team wasted no time in locking up Fredi Gonzalez. Teams also looking for managers are the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, and New York Mets. But before I discuss the Mariners' role in the carousel (which will likely end early next week) I just want to say that I enjoyed Bobby Cox during his time as the Braves skipper. Even though the guy always found a way to get kicked out of a game (he has a major league record 161 ejections, three of which were in the postseason), he also found ways to lead the Braves to 14 straight division titles (1991-1993, 1995-2005), including a World Series victory in 1995 and four more during the 1990s.
Now it looks like the Seattle Mariners are on the brink of becoming the second team this offseason to hire a new manager, and according to sources, almost all signs point to the team hiring former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge. The team also looked at Bobby Valentine (former manager of the Rangers, Mets, and Japanese league Chiba Lotte Marines), John Gibbons (former Blue Jays manager and a native of Great Falls), Cecil Cooper (managed the Houston Astros for parts of two seasons), and Lloyd McClendon (managed the Pirates for four mediocre years). When Wedge was managing the Indians, the team came within one victory of winning the American League pennant in 2007 only to cough up a 3-1 series lead to eventual World Series champion Boston. Cleveland almost made the postseason in 2005 but they finished two games behind--you guessed it--the Red Sox (who also finished tied for first in the AL East with the Yankees, but the Yankees won the division title via a tiebreaker based on head-to-head record).
As a whole, I thought Wedge did a great job during his time managing the Indians, and had they won the AL pennant in 2007, the Indians might have had the potential to win their first World Series since winning it all in 1948. He's everything that previous Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu was not: fiery, intense, and very passionate about his job and profession. His attitude will wear off on his players, especially the younger players because many of the players he managed in Cleveland were up-and-coming stars, which included guys like CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, and Victor Martinez. The Mariners are making a very wise move by bringing in a no-nonsense guy like Wedge. Given the fact the Mariners just came off a 101-loss season, getting the team back to a level where they can win 85-95 games in future seasons is going to take some time just like it did when Wedge was in Cleveland. But I know that Wedge will do a great job in Seattle and will guide the Mariners to the postseason at some point down the road.
For the past two years, the Vancouver Canucks have been knocking on the door as a major power in the NHL's Western Conference. Now it appears they're ready to blow the door off in 2010-11 because of an array of moves that not only bolstered their defensive corps, but also a change in team captain.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo surrendered the captaincy of the team for the 2010-11 season after serving as the team's captain the last two seasons. I'm glad Luongo decided to do this because he no longer has this burden to carry on his shoulders and will simply allow him to focus on guarding the goal crease. He's one of the best goaltenders in the NHL and I think now's the time for him to backstop the Canucks to a championship.
In regards to the blueline, the team added Dan Hamhuis (a native of British Columbia that signed with the team as a free agent and was interested in playing in his home province) and Keith Ballard (who was traded to Vancouver from the Florida Panthers). This was an Achilles' heel for the Canucks when they advanced to the second round of the playoffs last season. Their lack of depth on defense during their six-game playoff series loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks showed, and the Blackhawks wasted no time on pouncing on them anytime and anywhere. The two big additions as well as the other returning defensmen (Andrew Alberts, Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler, Christian Ehrhoff, and Aaron Rome) will have to step their game for the first few months of the season because veteran defenseman Sami Salo won't be ready until the calendar turns to 2011 at the earliest, as he ruptured an Achilles tendon during the offseason while he was playing a game of floorball. Even without Salo and his explosive slapshot, I see the defensive corps performing better this season.
And finally, to the forwards. The Sedin twins are back, of course with Henrik Sedin coming off an MVP season in 2009-10 and Daniel Sedin who I hope will stay healthy this season. Also back is two-way center Ryan Kesler and top 6 forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Mason Raymond. But one player that I'm concerned about is Alex Burrows, who underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason and his return is uncertain. Even though he draws the ire of almost anyone on the ice, he knows how put the puck in the back of the net. The free agent signings of Manny Malhotra and Raffi Torres should make up for the loss of Burrows, but the "pain in the butt" mentality possessed by Burrows will be missed on the ice. I expect the Sedin twins and whoever lines up with them to have a great season.
But now it's on to why I believe it's the Canucks' time. This is probably the best team they've had to start the season since after the NHL lockout (which wiped out the 2004-05 season). Even ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose thinks the Canucks will win the Stanley Cup this year, and I tend to agree with him on that front. Vancouver has the talent, the goal-scoring, goaltending, defense, and all the intangibles to win the team's first Stanley Cup in franchise history. And should the Canucks accomplish that, they would also become the first Canadian team to raise Lord Stanley's mug since Montreal raised it for the 24th time in their famed history in 1993.
And speaking of those 1993 Montreal Canadiens, here's a couple of clips from their Stanley Cup run:
Let's face it: Griz fans are not familiar with what the football team is going through at this point, and that's a losing streak. And it's come early in the season after back-to-back losses on the road to Cal Poly and Eastern Washington (the latter of the two losses came on that hideous red turf in Cheney).
Now it's Homecoming weekend, and I see this game as a must-win for the Grizzlies. They're hosting the Sacramento State Hornets, a program they've never lost to in their history (they're 15-0 lifetime). The Hornets have come close on three different occasions, but the third occasion was hilariously controversial. During their 2002 meeting, four Sacramento State defensive linemen greased their jerseys with PAM cooking spray, in an effort to make it difficult for Montana offensive linemen to block them. The sneaky strategy nearly worked for the Hornets, but Montana still prevailed 31-24. I was at that game, and I had no idea until a few days later that the Hornets tried to pull a fast one on the Grizzlies with the PAM. A UM athletics photographer snapped photos of the whodunnits and turned them in to the Big Sky Conference office, but the four slick Hornets--Bilal Watkins, Ben Fox, Brad Osterhout, and Eric Broden--were not suspended for their use of the cooking spray.
Even Tonight Show host Jay Leno made "PAM-gate" worth a mention in his opening monologue on the November 18, 2002 episode of his show, in saying:
"The Sacramento State football players were accused of spraying Pam on their uniforms to make them harder to tackle. The Cincinnati Bengals were accused of the same thing, but they did it so that the eggs won't stick when they're thrown by the fans."
And on the subject of the Cincinnati Bengals, they finished an NFL-worst 2-14 in 2002.
To this day, some Griz fans still don't let Sacramento State forget about their bold yet futile decision to use a popular cooking spray on a cloudy November day in 2002. And one can only hope that they won't slip away from the Grizzlies on Saturday.
Until the Seattle Seahawks moved to the NFC in 2002, the team had a long-standing rivalry with the Denver Broncos. On Sunday, the rivalry will be renewed at Invesco Field in Denver.
Beginning with the 1977 NFL season, the Seahawks and Broncos were heated divisional rivals (the Seahawks spent their inaugural NFL season as an NFC team while their expansion cousin, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, played in the AFC), and every game was played with a great deal of intensity.
There's a lot of games and moments in this rivalry that stick out the most. Josh Brown beating the Broncos in Denver in 2006 (on my 22nd birthday of all days!) with a game-winning field goal is one memorable moment. Or a 1999 regular season game at the Kingdome where the Broncos tried to hurry to snap the ball near the end of the game only for time to expire on them with the crowd counting down the final seconds. But the most intense season of the rivalry came in 1988. Denver had just come off their second straight AFC Championship (only to be humiliated in the Super Bowl for the second straight year, where they gave up 35 Washington Redskins points in the second quarter), and the Seahawks had come off a Wild Card-round playoff loss to the Houston Oilers.
During the 1988 opener at Mile High Stadium, Broncos safety Mike Harden delivered what turned out to be an illegal hit on Seahawks all-pro receiver Steve Largent. The hit was so hard it knocked two of Largent's teeth out, and after the hit was made Harden gave out some sort of taunt. As a result Harden was fined by the NFL for the hit. Now turn the clock ahead to December 11, 1988 at the Kingdome in Seattle. The two teams met again in front of a national cable TV audience on ESPN. It was a game where the Seahawks dominated, blowing out the Broncos 42-14. But it was fairly evident that Largent had this day circled on his calendar, as evidenced by this video clip.
The events of that night show that the intensity of the rivalry will always be there, despite the two teams playing in separate conferences and divisions. The teams only meet once every four years (the next meeting between the two is expected to take place in 2014). To those fans that think Seahawks/Broncos isn't a rivalry, I've got news for you: go watch the clip from above and tell me if it's a rivalry or not...it was one of the best in the NFL and it's a shame that it's not renewed as much as it once was.
In regards to the postseason, the teams met only once. The 1983 AFC Wild Card game in Seattle was their lone postseason meeting. It was the first playoff game in franchise history for the Seahawks, and the first playoff game since 1979 for the Broncos. The teams were tied at 7-7 after one quarter of play, but the Seahawks pulled away in the final three quarters to a 31-7 victory. Even though the Broncos had the edge in total offense, it was mistakes that led to their booking of early tee times. And in 2005, there was the possibility the two teams would meet in Detroit for Super Bowl XL. Seattle made it to Super Sunday in beating the Carolina Panthers handily at Qwest Field, but the Broncos never stood a chance against the very determined (and destined) Pittsburgh Steelers (who would eventually win Super Bowl XL). But the possibility of a Seahawks/Broncos Super Bowl in the future is always a possibility.
Starting next week, this will no longer be a motorsports-only blog--this will now expand entirely to the world of sports. This will include my random ramblings in about my teams (Montana Grizzlies, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners, Vancouver Canucks, and Washington Huskies) and the leagues they are in (NFL, MLB, NHL, and NCAA football and men's basketball).
The name of the blog itself will change as well but I haven't really decided on it as of now.
It's been almost three months since I've updated this blog. Back in late March, my last update included my take on the Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski rivalry that boiled over during the race at Atlanta, where Edwards sent Keselowski airborne and upside down.
Back to the present. A lot has happened in the past three months. NASCAR had it's most competitive race in history at Talladega in April, which featured a NASCAR-record 88 lead changes and 29 different leaders, and it was capped off by this photo finish:
Moving on to the month of May. I always look forward to this month as much as I do for February. It's all about one race. The race--The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indianapolis 500. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is always the center of attention in the racing world because of the great race, held during the last Sunday of May. This year, the odds-on favorite was defending champion and three-time winner Helio Castroneves, who had won the pole and shared the front row with Penske Racing teammate Will Power and 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti.
Last year, Castroneves came into the month with a huge cloud of uncertainty after legal issues to begin the year. Then he went on to dominate the race and score an emotional victory. But Helio will have to wait until at least next year to capture his 4th Indy win. This year's race went to Franchitti (pictured on the right). But it wasn't without a spectacular crash on the next to last lap, when Mike Conway's car was launched into the air and into the catch fence after touching wheels with Ryan Hunter-Reay, who had run out of fuel. Here is the finish of the 94th Indianapolis 500:
