In my lifetime as a Louisville basketball fan, I'd be hard-pressed to say that there has been a player that I have loved quite as much as Terrence Williams.
The guy has it all: he can ball, he's a likable guy with an eccentric personality, and alas, he actually stayed all four years in college (GASP!).
He really reached the national stage, albeit three years too late, last year with a fantastic year that got him Third-Team All-America honors while helping lead Louisville to the Big East regular season title, the Big East Tournament title, and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
All of this effort culminated with the man fondly known as T-Will being selected with the No. 11 overall pick in the NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets.
Somehow, though, some people seemed to get the wrong impression about Williams; I would hear pundits talk about his supposed "character issues" and would hear people blast him, calling him a "loud-mouth", "a punk", and really anything in between.
It honestly doesn't surprise me that some people would misinterpret Williams' tattoos and affable personality as being some sort of inherent moral flaw, especially in a country where we worship the No Fun League.
Granted, it's a story about his sick house with a killer view of Manhattan, but there really isn't much detail about the house itself in the piece.
Rather, it focuses on Williams' journey and how he got to where he is today: how his father was killed when he was 6, how he grew up in poverty in Seattle, with everything giving you true insights to what made T-Will into who he is today (a guy who recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds in his first career NBA game).
An excellent read, whether you're a Louisville fan or not, or whether you love him or have that impression that he's some loud-mouthed, cockey S.O.B. Maybe your mind may just be changed.
Media Day for America East Men's Basketball took place today, and from it came an overwhelming consensus: the BU Terriers are the team to beat this year. Granted, this is the same thing that had been said the past two seasons, but it should be interesting to see if this year's edition of BU basketball can buck that trend, win the conference and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The projected conference standings are as follows:
1. Boston University 2. Vermont 3. Albany 4. Stony Brook 5. New Hampshire 6. (Tie) Hartford (Tie) UMBC 8. Maine 9. Binghamton
The first and last teams in the conference probably come as no surprise to anyone who even casually follows the league. Honey and Vinegar will have it's own BU & America East season previews here in the coming weeks, preferably after mid-terms have run their dreaded course.
BU was also well-represented on the preseason All-Conference Team, with stars Corey Lowe and John Holland making it.
The full All-Conference Team is:
Corey Lowe, Boston University John Holland, Boston University Marqus Blakely, Vermont Tim Ambrose, Albany Muhammad El-Amin, Stony Brook
So the field has been set, as have the preseason expectations and the proverbial bar for success. The season honestly cannot start soon enough!
In a cluttered corner of the Daily Free Press office, there is a tattered piece of paper scotch-taped onto a wall. The sheet is a photo-copied column from the FreeP earlier this decade, written in an era that was evidently a dark time for Terrier hockey and sports journalism alike.
The piece didn’t begin with any sort of carefully-crafted wording or a preface of any kind, but rather got things started with about as blunt of an introduction as you can find: “The hockey team sucks”.
I’m not using this example to poke fun or to ridicule because for the sake of shock value and utter hilarity, I still love peering over my right shoulder to read that line any time I get the chance- in all seriousness, it never gets old.
The real reason that I bring up the old column is because the sentiment that it expresses is one that has seemed to make its way back to Commonwealth Avenue.
At this point in the very, very early season, I think most BU hockey fans can reasonably acknowledge that the team hasn’t gotten off to what would be considered to be an ideal start; in fact, anybody who believes otherwise after these first few games may just be the kind of person or fan who thought that the XFL was a great idea- someone not entirely with the program.
After all, there is obviously reason for concern surrounding the state of Terrier hockey, right?
The two-game exhibition season featured uninspiring showings against St. Francis Xavier and the U.S. Under-18 National Team, but freaking out over these glorified scrimmages really does you much more harm than good.
What these exhibition games did do, though, was that they began to raise concerns about this team and what they were capable of doing this season.
As fans, you can tend to have a cautious optimism about you, hoping for the best while having an unsettling feeling deep inside of you. Many of us hoped (or even went as far to assume) that a majority of these problems would go by the wayside with the start of the regular season, but at the same time wondered whether these shortcomings that were displayed were actually inherent flaws.
The first two games of the season didn’t do much at all to curb any of these doubts; if anything, the season-opening loss on the road at UMass and the home-opening defeat against Notre Dame caused these aforementioned doubts to mushroom into something entirely different.
You could hear discontent. People with shell-shocked looks on their faces were littered throughout the student sections. And you could ever hear a collection of whispers, voices that put together magnified into a resounding opinion: “Wow, we suck.”
While “suck” wouldn’t be what I would call the best choice of words, these weren’t exactly unsubstantiated claims.
Replacing last year’s back line of Matt Gilroy and Brian Strait has proven to be harder than most people anticipated, seeing as the BU defense has proven to be a glaring weakness thus far.
Kieran Millan hasn’t been bad per se, but continued inconsistent play from him will make it very hard to replicate his revelation of a season from last year, especially with a defense that has proven to be nothing more than mediocre.
The Terriers’ ability to score and generate offense on the power play had been absolutely dreadful, highlighted in the embarrassing 3-0 loss to the Fighting Irish.
Undoubtedly, some of these defects may seem insurmountable, but there’s no reason why people should completely give up on this team.
Just as many of us sports fans have a sense of cautious optimism about us, we also have a tendency to fall victim to spur-of-the-moment decisions and snap judgments. Saying that the BU hockey team sucks and abandoning hope altogether for the season are examples of these things and as history in any sport (college hockey included) has shown us, there is always time to turn things around, particularly in a season that doesn’t even end until the spring.
This was evidenced last Saturday with the Terriers’ 3-2 win over a top-five Michigan team at Agganis. Millan played a great game in goal, the offense regained some momentum, and while the defense was still suspect and the team wasn’t that spectacular as a whole, a win is a win, and at this juncture in the season, I think we’d all be hard-pressed to be overly-critical of a victory over a top-flight opponent.
What this first set of games has provided is an opportunity for Terrier fans to take a step back and re-assess their expectations for the season. Does this BU hockey team suck? Absolutely not, there’s too much talent on that roster to allow them to dwell in the cellar of Hockey East for the entire year, and we have to remember to be patient.
But this squad has also revealed a lot of its pitfalls and has done nothing to prove that they deserved to be a preseason top-ten, let alone top-five team. Maybe I’m falling under the premature judgment category here, but it’s also not a team we should expect to see win the conference title or make the Frozen Four, at least based on what has been demonstrated thus far.
The state of BU hockey at the moment is one of reconsideration, one that demands a middle ground from fans and followers who may be experiencing something of an emotional roller-coaster this year from a team that has proven to be mercurial, but should never be judged or counted out too quickly.
Wow, what a night tonight was for Boston University basketball, particularly the men, not for the traditional sexist reasons, just since they're entering a new era and the women are going to be experiencing something of a rebuilding year.
For starters, the turnout was solid, certainly much better than it was last year. Both sides of bleachers were used in Case Gym this year, as opposed to the '08 edition of the TTO when there was only one side of bleachers and the other side was concealed by a curtain. All in all probably about 75% full, translating to probably about 800-900 people in all.
People were there early and in droves and the audience stayed for about the first half of the event, although a good amount of people left before the dunk contest and the 3-point shootout. Go figure...and there wasn't even free Qdoba awaiting them like there was last year.
The interesting thing to observe will be if this kind of attendance can be maintained throughout the year or even the next couple of months. We're expecting a big turnout for the opening GW game at Agganis, but from there on out, it's anyone's guess.
We're hoping the promise of a new coach and a talent-laden roster will be enough to keep the crowds coming.
Moving on here, the 3-point shootout played out pretty predictably, with dead-eye Tyler Morris capturing the title, hitting a hot streak in which he made about 6 or 7 consecutive treys to post a final number of 11 in the final.
Corey Lowe's paltry score of 5 in the first round shouldn't be any cause for concern, but honestly, only five 3's in a span of one minute for a guy like Lowe? A little cringe-worthy if you ask me.
The TTO also provided a forum for unveling new jerseys for the year, without any of the basic elements changing (scarlet and white, reading "Boston" across the chest), but with improvements being made for sure.
Honey and Vinegar personally have a few suggestions for the unis that we feel would make them quite a bit better:
1. A jersey that simply says "Boston" across the chest is pretty cool and it works for the hockey team, but not really so much for basketball. Maybe try "Boston" on the chest followed by the number below it and then "University" below the number a la North Carolina's basic jersey design.
Not trying to equate BU basketball with the North Carolina program or the over-hyped media darling pictured above, but you get the point.
2. Pony up and have a black out game at Agganis, or in case the BU Athletic Department doesn't feel they could sell out The Greek, try The Roof. Have people come dressed in black shirts (free ones given out if possible) and have the BU basketball team come out wearing black jerseys with red lettering.
You get an imposing environment (as imposing as a BU hoops game can be) and if the jerseys are a hit, you have a reliable alternate kit. Everybody wins.
Moving on from the aesthetics of the game, the highly-anticipated (at least on this blog) dunk contest was very entertaining and a definitive upgrade from the contest last year. Better dunks, better execution, more creativity, just general improvement all around.
The participants were John Holland, Carlos Strong, Patrick Hazel (guess it's not an NCAA violation), Jake O'Brien, B.J. Bailey, and Jeff "Pelaguwon" Pelage.
Bailey wasn't too impressive, but he's a point guard, a freshman point guard at that, and he did have a few pretty good slams that merited some high grades. After all not everyone can be Peyton Siva.
Or John Wall, so as not to come off as too much of a Louisville homer: we here at Honey and Vinegar are all about balance.
Hazel had some pretty good throwdowns as well, but at 6'8" with the athleticism that got him a scholarship at Marquette, I guess I was expecting a little more. Still though, not bad from Mr. Hazel.
Pelage had an awesome sequence where Corey Lowe tossed the ball up to a charging Pelage, ducked down, and had Jeff leap over him for a slam. The Junkyard Dog got it on the third try and got absolutely hosed by the judges, who I'm assuming held it against him that it took him three tries to get it right.
O'Brien wasn't bad, even throwing in an MJ-style "rock the cradle" dunk that was the highlight of all of his slams.
As expected on this blog and in the collective wisdom of BU Hoops fans, it came down to Los and Holland in the final. Holland went for a bold move, starting at half court and trying to jump over Rider transfer Matt Griffin for a slam, but couldn't pull off the feat in his three tries. For those of you concerned with Griffin's safety, it wasn't because Holland couldn't clear him, just couldn't put the ball in the hoop.
Los, to his credit, didn't go with the cheap, just get one in and screw the crowd of any enjoyment tactic. He did end up finishing the job, putting in an impressive 360 jam to end the contest, capturing his second consecutive slam dunk crown, and making Teddy the winner on the predictions.
Last but not least was the most highly-anticipated element of the TTO: the arrival of the Pat Chambers era here at BU.
And by no means did he disappoint.
Most of us who follow BU basketball regularly know the kind of person that Chambers is, but tonight, he surprised people who are familiar with him and in a sense introduced himself to anyone else in attendance who don't necessarily check his Twitter updates every day.
Coach came out with a commanding presence, grabbing the mic and erupting in chants of "Go BU, Go BU" and getting the crowd involved, urging people to get on their feet and cheer and clap. He even threw off his sport coact, jumped on top of the scorer's table and threw out free T-shirts while continuing to clap and lead the cheers.
He paced and talked about how a new era of Terrier basketball was upon us all, but that we all need to do our part and show up to the games and help support this building program. By the end of it, Chambers' voice was starting to crack and honestly, that's one of the best signs that this program has seen in quite some time: a coach who is willing to trumpet this program with all of his heart, energy and enthusiasm to the point where he can barely even speak anymore.
I really hate to kick a dead horse, because I had no problems with Dennis Wolff, but Chambers talked repeatedly about the exciting style of play that BU would play; not only did Chambers' enthusiasm and spirit differ from Wolff's more stoic, abrasive demeanor, but Chambers' style of play will differ significantly from Wolff's teams, whose offenses could have been described as patient or conservative, but I'll equate watching a DW offense to watching Amish porn.
Should be an exciting season for BU basketball, hopefully the first year in a long and successful tenure under Coach Chambers.
Thank you for, at last, giving BU basketball fans something to hope for. We feel some very successful years ahead.
While men's hockey and men's soccer have been channeling their inner 2008 Detroit Lions of recent, there is some good news to be had: the unofficial start of the BU men's basketball season.
It's a new era for Terrier hoops with coach Pat Chambers leading the way for a very, very, very talented team that we will probably be discussing ad nauseum for the next six months.
For now, though, is the Terrier Tip-Off, BU's equivalent of Midnight Madness that you see at bigger schools, ignoring the obvious facts that official practices started this time last week and that the event goes from 9-10:30. Enough complaining for now.
Essentially, the Tip-Off is a pep rally that is somewhat of a formal introduction of the men's and women's basketball teams. It comes complete with dance numbers, some loud tunes, and even a few surprises are thrown in.
What the two of us here on Honey and Vinegar are going to do is focus on what we see as the most important event of the night: the slam dunk contest.
Below we have handicapped the odds on who we think has the best chance to win and we give our final picks on the matter.
The Odds:
John Holland: 3-1
Carlos Strong: 4-1
Scott Brittain: 9-1
Jake O'Brien: 8-1
B.J. Bailey: 19-1
Valdas Sirutis: 21-1
Jeff Pelage: 17-1
The list of guys who end up participating probably won't be this long, but since the two of us have no clue who will actually be a part of it, we had to give our best guesses.
Now on to the picks:
Full of Vinegar Lock aka Teddy's Pick: Carlos Strong
It came down to Strong and John Holland, but it's got to be Strong, a man who has won this contest in the past. Usually over-looked in this category because he's a shooting guard, Los can throw down with the best of them, so it has to be him.
Baby and the House Guarantee aka Craig's Pick: John Holland
Call me a wuss for picking the guy who made it to #1 on Sportscenter's Top Plays and who is by far the best dunker on this team, but I have a good feeling that Holland will rebound from a disappointing performance in last year's edition of the dunk contest. Expect a runner-up finish from Los, surprisingly strong showings from Brittain and O'Brien, and hopefully a shattered backboard courtesy of "the Junkyard Dog" Jeff Pelage.
I'm not too keen on eligibility rules and what not, but if he is able to participate, look out for Marquette transfer Patrick Hazel. Even if he's not able to do it this year, Hazel's my dark horse for next year's contest.
Should be an exciting time tonight at The Roof, hope to see you there.
It's been pretty well-documented that expectations for BU Athletic teams in virtually every sport were pretty high coming into the season, mostly based on the widespread success that the athletic program experienced last year.
Men's hockey won it all, men's soccer won the conference title, as did the women's soccer team. These are just to name a few and they just so happen to be three of the only teams playing right now, so this is what our discussion is going to revolve around.
Obviously no expectations were higher than those for the BU men's ice hockey team. Coming off of a season in which they won pretty much every tournament that exists, including the NCAA Tournament, the Ice Dogs came into the season as a top-five team in the major polls.
Enough experienced players were coming back that the losses of key players like Matt Gilroy and Colin Wilson were supposed to be compensated in some sort of way.
Things have not exactly been going according to plan, though. None of us wanted to get to worked up over a lackluster exhibition season that featured a 2-2 tie with St. Francis Xavier and a narrow 3-2 victory over the U.S. Under-18 National Team, but this mediocre and downright awful play has continued into the team's first two regular season games.
Regular season (as well as Hockey East) play got started off with a 3-2 loss at UMass, a loss that certainly hurts, but is somewhat understandable. Regardless of what team you are, the Mullins Center is a hard place to get a W and freshman Alex Chiasson's two goals were very encouraging signs for the future of the BU Hockey program.
The embarassment came in the form of a 3-0 loss on Tuesday at Agganis Arena. Notre Dame is a top-ten team, but it is also a team that is equally- if not more -flawed as BU is. The Golden Domers had season-opening losses at home to the likes of Alabama-Huntsville and Hockey East cellar-dweller Providence.
In addition to all of that, it was the first time that BU had been shut-out since February 2, 2007. And at home no less. Absolutely pitiful.
It's gotten a lot of us asking questions that would have seemed irrational a few weeks ago, but are now completely legitimate.
Was Kieran Millan's spectacular freshman season a product of a top-notch defensive line?
Can the likes of Kevin Shattenkirk and Nick Bonino emerge as the team's stars as opposed to the supporting players that they were last year?
Can our defense actually play some, err, defense?
Here's to hoping Eric Gryba can start thinking of opposing players as if they were six-point bucks. Then we'd be in for some real entertainment.
Can any playmakers emerge with Colin Wilson gone, someone who can jumpstart what has proven to be an anemic offense at best thus far? Anybody?
Congrats on the first NHL goal the other day, Colin. We miss you already. Any chance you want to fulfill the last two years of your eligibility?
We don't know how this season will finish or how any of these questions will be answered, but so far this season, it does not look good. Not one bit.
Switching sports now, BU men's soccer has epitomized the idea of a 180 in the sense that a season that started off with so much promise has now become something of a disaster.
I can remember the euphoria of that win over then-#1 St. John's and how at the time, many of us rightfully assumed that the Terrier men would roll through America East Conference play like it was nobody's business. To channel Lee Corso, not so fast my friend.
Little known fact: Lee Corso, former Louisville football coach
The horrific play got going with a home loss to UNH which was then was followed by a 3-1 loss to Hartford on the road. Which was then followed by a 2-1 loss to a Binghamton team whose majority of its roster is not in prison, thus representing that school well (never gets old).
And the cherry on top was a 2-1 loss on Wednesday to lowly UMBC at Nickerson, on Senior Night. To reiterate, on Senior Night, the night that athletic departments plan a cupcake opponent so that the seniors can enjoy one final beatdown as a curtain call.
So in summation, the BU men have gone from promising, top-ten national team, to on the outside looking in for even getting into the America East Conference tournament. Can you say bust?
Think this, except with soccer
Or this for that matter
On a more positive note, though, the BU women's soccer team has been continuing on a nice pace, having clinched the America East regular season title today.
At least there's one team that can win here in the fall. Congrats, ladies.
While Honey and Vinegar Sports likes to focus a lot of its attention on the athletics here at Boston University, one of the major components of this blog is our focus on Big East basketball, making this post a first in a series of many that you can expect to find from this point on until early April or so.
That being said, the Big East coaches and media members just met in New York City for the annual preseason media day and both groups made their own respective rankings and all-conference teams for the upcoming 2009-2010 college hoops season.
Coaches Preseason Rankings
1. Villanova 2. West Virginia 3. Connecticut 4. Louisville 5. Georgetown 6. Syracuse 7. Cincinnati 8. Notre Dame 9. Pittsburgh 10. Seton Hall 11. St. John's 12. Marquette 13. Providence 14. South Florida 15. Rutgers 16. DePaul
Media Preseason Rankings
1. Villanova 2. West Virginia 3. Connecticut 4. Georgetown 5. Louisville 6. Syracuse 7. Notre Dame 8. Cincinnati 9. Pittsburgh 10. Seton Hall 11. St. John's 12. Marquette 13. Rutgers 14. South Florida 15. Providence 16. DePaul
As for the preseason all-conference teams, they were as follows:
Coaches First Team All-Conference
Scottie Reynolds, G Villanova Deonta Vaughn, G Cincinnati Da'Sean Butler, F West Virginia Lazar Hayward, F Marquette Greg Monroe, C Georgetown
Coaches Player of the Year
Luke Harangody, F Notre Dame (who somehow didn't make the first team, go figure)
Coaches Rookie of the Year
Lance Stephenson, G Cincinnati
Media First Team All-Conference
Scottie Reynolds, G Villanova Devin Ebanks, G West Virginia Da'Sean Butler, F West Virginia Luke Harangody, F Notre Dame Greg Monroe, C Georgetown
Media Player of the Year
Luke Harangody, F Notre Dame
Media Rookie of the Year
Dante Taylor, F Pittsburgh
It'll be a few more weeks before H & V's extensive Big East season preview, but these are some of the early returns for what should be a very compelling season in the Big East Conference.
I can remember the scene just as clearly today as I did the moment that it happened last March –– I was standing in a crowded bar caddy-corner from Madison Square Garden, the place where I had watched my Louisville Cardinals handily beat Providence in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament earlier that day.
My eyes were fixed on a TV showing the Marquette-Villanova game when I caught something scroll across ESPN’s BottomLine:
Boston University fires men’s basketball coach Dennis Wolff after 15 seasons.
Despite the fact that I was probably the only person in the bar that gave a damn about Boston University basketball, I became crazed as question upon question began running through my head.
How did it get to the point of him getting fired? Was he asked to resign? Are any of the key players going to transfer? Who’s going to be brought in to replace him?
Among this convoluted train of questions and conjectures, there was one definitive answer that I kept coming back to: BU basketball was going to be heading in an entirely new direction and a new era was about to begin.
Weeks and weeks of deliberation and speculation came to a climax with the hire of a coach who would be trusted as the person to usher in this bright new future, a name that has now become familiar to many of us: Patrick Chambers.
Largely due to the fact that he had been a career assistant, many of us –– myself included –– had no idea who Chambers was and what we could expect from him. It almost seemed like I had more questions about the state of BU basketball after the hire than I did that fateful night on 8th Avenue.
However, the moment that Chambers stepped to the podium during his introductory press conference, these questions and concerns began to dwindle to the point of nonexistence. I walked into Agganis Arena that day still lamenting the fact that Richard Pitino or Tony Jones weren’t going to be the ones standing before me, and yet I walked out as a firm believer.
Call it a gut feeling or a reflex opinion, but when I left The Greek that day, I knew that BU had lucked out –– they found the right man to lead the men’s basketball program to new heights.Of course, a coaching hire can always generate some giddiness or a renewed sense of optimism, whether justified or not, but flashing forward six and a half months to where we are now, my thoughts and opinions haven’t wavered one bit.
It’s one thing to talk about overhaul and recreating the image of an oft over-looked program, but to put the right people in charge to execute this end is something entirely different, and it’s something that the BU Athletic Department and Chambers have more than succeeded on thus far.
This all began with a vision by Mike Lynch that is now starting to come to fruition. He saw the school’s respectable athletic teams –– a championship hockey team, superb men’s (except of late) and women’s soccer and many other great programs that routinely win conference titles and earn postseason berths. But what he saw was it was lacking something he felt could truly push this athletic department that much closer to being among the elite –– and that is a top-flight men’s basketball program.
In Chambers, Lynch saw someone who not only shared that same vision of building a premier mid-major basketball power, but also a man who possesses many tools that make that dream that much closer to being a reality.
Even just a half a year into his tenure, Chambers has already done things that Wolff readily neglected during his 15-year stay.
He has made a concerted effort to reach out to the fans and engage the student body by setting up a Twitter account and by starting a blog complete with player interviews, the latest updates and an in-depth look at Terrier hoops.
While nobody really ever questioned Wolff’s ability to recruit, just this past week, Chambers hauled in three Philly-area prospects from the class of 2010 –– two of which, Dominic Morris and Travis Robinson, are very highly-touted.
What does remain to be seen, though, is if Chambers can do what his job above all entails: coach. Although “Wolff-bashing” has been popular since his departure, Dennis Wolff was not fired because he was a bad coach, but rather largely due to the fact that he could not consistently win conference titles and because of his overall failure to generate widespread interest and enthusiasm around his program.
With the energy and anticipation finally here and in place, what Chambers now has to do is to take a talent-laden roster and win with it.
An affable personality and a great attitude can go a long way for a college basketball coach, but only with conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths can Chambers truly create the, “Gonzaga or Xavier of the East,” that he repeatedly alluded to when he boldly set his template for what he saw as a brand-new era of Terrier basketball –– something that may end up being far easier said than done.
As upsetting as it was for me to see Louisville lose yet again in football to a team that they used to beat with regularity (UConn), my sorrow from the loss became very moot very quickly.
That Saturday night, the night after the game, Connecticut cornerback Jasper Howard was stabbed to death on campus. Information is still coming out surrounding the murder, but police still have yet to identify a culprit; really one of the few things that has been brought to light was that two of Howard's teammates were there with him when it happened and tried to save him afterwards.
It's an incredibly tragic event and it should really serve as a teaching moment for us to keep our priorities in order and to realize that there is so much more to life than sports.
R.I.P Jasper Howard- our thoughts and prayers are with your friends, family, teammates, the UConn community, and anyone else affected by this tragedy.
Evidently this video's been on the Internet for awhile, but I finally got to see it a few days ago. During some one-on-one hockey skills competition at TD Garden, a 9-year-old kid pulled off one of the sickest hockey moves I've seen; again, keep in mind that he's only nine:
All I really have to say is, well, wow, amazing. The best part of that may have just been the blank "Oh my God, what the hell just happened?" stare by the goalie afterwards.
Some people commented on this video bashing it as being over-hyped and saying it wasn't that great of a goal, to which I say this: nonsense, that was sick.
Based on that way that BU played against UMass on Friday, maybe it's time for Jack Parker to start stockpiling for future years. I'm no Barry Melrose or Don Cherry, but I'd have to think that kid would help.
We're both pretty upset about BU's season-opening 3-2 loss tonight against UMass-Amherst on the road.
We could go on with an extensive blame game or rip our players in detail, but as opposed to getting mad about it, let's try to feel a little better about ourselves by looking at the average test scores of UMass students:
Tomorrow afternoon, Louisville football is going to be playing UConn in a game that figures to possibly lift one of the two teams out of the Big East cellar.
It is also the first time that the Cardinals have traveled to America's Richest State to take on the Huskies since a 2007 contest in which a memorable officiating blunder helped cost Louisville the game and ultimately a bowl berth seeing as that U of L team finished 6-6 and would have been 7-5 with the win.
Here was the situation: It was the third quarter with a little over thirteen minutes left and Louisville held a 7-0 lead. The Cards had a quick three-and-out and punted. UConn punt returner Larry Taylor clearly signaled a fair catch on the kick, but instead chose to return the ball on the unsuspecting defense for a touchdown.
Here's a clip:
In their infinite wisdom, the officials chose not to overturn the call.
Taylor claimed that he did the fake fair catch as a "mind trick", which doesn't make much sense considering you actually have to have a working mind of your own to do such a thing (which for Taylor is suspect), and of course faking a fair catch is against the rules and generally frowned upon.
UConn ended up winning the game 21-17, so you do the math on what would have happened if the zebras would have made the right call. This was a rare case in these past couple years of where Louisville football was not Kragthorpe'd, but was rather cheated out of a win.
All ranting aside, this moment in history got the two of us to thinking: what are some other god-awful, unforgivable instances of bad officiating in sports? Honey and Vinegar Sports takes a look back:
Yankees-Twins 2009 ALDS, Foul Ball Call
With the Yankees already leading the series 1-0, the Twins desperately needed a win in Game Two. With the teams tied at 3-3 in the top of the eleventh inning, Joe Mauer hit an opposite field shot deep to left field that bounced past New York LF Melky Cabrera and went out of play, called as a foul ball. The problem is is that upon further review, the ball clearly landed inside the chalk making it a fair ball.
The botched call took a leadoff ground-rule double away from Mauer and could have very well cost the Twins the game and some much-needed momentum in a series in which they were over-matched.
The 2003 National Championship game went to overtime and with Miami leading by a touchdown, Ohio State needed to score on a fourth and goal to continue the game. A pass to WR Chris Gamble fell incomplete and it appeared as though Miami had won its second consecutive championship. However, the end zone referee called defensive pass interference on this play.
The call gave the Buckeyes a fresh set of downs and they went on to win the game 31-24 over the heavily-favored and star-studded Hurricanes. As bad as that call was, the clip makes me miss Keith Jackson doing college football games, the game hasn't been the same since.
Kings-Lakers 2002 Western Conference Finals Game 6, Fixed Game?
The Tim Donaghy scandal made a lot of people wonder about the overall integrity of the NBA and its officials and games like this make this argument seem justified (funny enough, Donaghy was an official on this game).
The Sacramento Kings seemed prime to make the NBA Finals in 2002, leading the Shaq-Kobe-Zen Master Lakers three games to two in the Western Conference Finals and leading going into the fourth quarter of Game 6.
In the fourth quarter, though, the referees got a little assertive with their calls and gave the Lakers 27 of their 40 free throws in the game in the fourth quarter alone, many of which were suspect calls to begin with.
The Lakers, with this immense help, went on to win Game 6 and topped the Kings in Game 7 in Sac-Town. The Lakers went on to sweep the Nets in the Finals, their third straight, and the Kings have never really been the same since.
Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl XL, Offensive Pass Interference?
This was a game full of questionable calls that continue to make Seahawks fans wonder whether their team was robbed of a Super Bowl, but this one play stands out. With the game tied at 0-0 early on, the Seattle offense was in the Steelers' red-zone and appeared to have scored on a strike from Matt Hasselbeck to Darrell Jackson, but the play was called back due to what the refs saw as offensive pass interference. Play in question starts around 1:55 mark of video.
Although the guy with obviously way too much free time who made this video disagrees, I'm still trying to figure out how a little extension of the arm, not even a push, warrants a touchdown in a Super Bowl being taken away.
People in the Emerald City are still wondering the same thing, as the Seahawks went on to lose 21-10.
Down 66-63 with eleven seconds left in their game against No.1 seeded North Carolina, Villanova inbounded the ball to Allen Ray, who drove to the hoop and made the basket. Plus, there was a foul on the play, so Ray would have been going to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game. Unfortunately for him, his teammates, Jay Wright, Vanilla-nova, and then-Nova assistant and current BU head coach Pat Chambers, there was a phantom traveling call on the play that took away the basket and gave the ball back to the Tar Heels, effectively handing them the game. Go to about 1:05 on this video for the play.
North Carolina went on to win the game 67-66 and ended up winning it all about two weeks later.
2002 AFC Divisional Playoff, Raiders-Patriots, The "Tuck Rule Game"
While JaMarcus Russell, Tom Cable and Company have made this hard to believe, the Raiders were actually a very good team in the early part of this decade. In 2002, they squared off against the Patriots in Foxborough in the AFC Divisional Round and were leading a snow-plagued game 13-10 with under two minutes left.
New England reached Oakland territory and was just outside of field goal range when Tom Brady dropped back for a pass, was sacked and had the ball stripped from him by Charles Woodson. The Raiders recovered the ball and thought they had just sealed the game, but the play was reviewed and under a new NFL rule (the Tuck Rule), the play was ruled as an incomplete pass.
New England went on to get a field goal to force overtime, and Adam Vinatieri booted another one through the uprights to win the game in extra time. The Patriots went on to win their first of their three Super Bowls a few weeks later.
Although people up hear like to earmuff it when you bring this issue up, you could probably say that this controversial ruling set the Patriots dynasty of this decade into motion.
Below are some other famous questionable calls that we weren't able to find video for:
1997 NLCS, Braves-Marlins: Umpire Eric Gregg's unusually large strike zone allowed Livan Hernandez to dominate the favored Braves in the Marlins' 2-1 win in Game 5 of the series. Hernandez tossed a complete game three-hitter with an astounding 15 strikeouts and was named MVP of the NLCS that year.
Steelers-Lions Thanksgiving Game, Botched Coin Toss: During the Lions' traditional Thanksgiving Day game in 1998, the referees managed to find a way to screw up one of the most basic things in life: a coin toss. The Lions game against the Steelers was about to head into overtime and the team captains lined up for the toss to determine who was going to be given the ball. Referee Phil Luckett tossed the coin and in mid-air, Jerome Bettis called tails. However, Luckett was somehow under the impression that Bettis called heads and when the coin landed tails, he rewarded possession to the Lions who ended up using that possession to notch a field goal that ended the game. The following year, the NFL instituted a rule saying that a player has to call a side before the coin is tossed, appropriately dubbed "the Bettis Rule".
That's honestly how bad the call was, making it a gaffe that truly stands out, even on a list like this one.
With October almost already halfway over, it's now time to get in-depth with BU's under-appreciated, over-looked basketball team.
When Pat Chambers was brought in to replace Dennis Wolff back in April, everyone knew that it was the beginning of a new era and a new attitude (Chambers has really harped on that last one). There seems to be a different sort of feel and buzz around the program, which for the two of us that are among the 15 or so Terrier basketball die-hards, this is truly excellent.
Nobody ever really questioned Wolff's ability to recruit, seeing as he brought in the likes of Corey Lowe, John Holland, and even Raja Bell back in the day, but that wasn't the reason why he was ultimately fired.
It looks as though Chambers has continued this recruiting prowess and even taken it up a notch, something that was exhibited on Tuesday when it was announced that three players, all from Teddy's alma mater Friends Central High School outside of Philly, have committed to play at BU and will be lacing up next fall.
Pictures were hard to come by, so really the only shots we could find of these guys were shots of them getting blown out in Friends' Central's loss to basketball giant/borderline diploma mill Montrose Christian of Rockville, MD in last year's ESPN RISE Tournament. Don't let the photos fool you though, these guys are more than legit.
They are as follows:
Dominic Morris, PF, ESPN Scouts Grade: 86
(Morris is #55, the guy in the background watching this epic slam)
Morris is widely considered to be the gem of the three players, and for very good reason. At 6'8", 230 pounds, the guy seems like an absolute force down low, especially in a league like America East where talented big men are at a premium.
ESPN's most recent evaluation of Morris said that he has "The combination of attributes that would make him an outstanding mid-major power forward, including great hands and feet." The scouting report continued and said that "His game is a bit of a throwback to the time when the big bodies banged around in the paint, but he will find his niche and flourish in a system that values toughness and back to the basket scoring."
All of that sounds pretty good to me, especially seeing where he would be an outstanding mid-major power forward. Last time we checked, BU's a low-major so let's just try to imagine the possibilities with that.
He was also considering schools like Penn State and Siena, one of which is a "BCS school" coming off a season in which they won the NIT and the other is a premier mid-major that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and gave No. 1 overall seed and Craig Meyer's team-crush, Louisville, a run for it's money in a 79-72 loss.
Morris is coming off of a season in which he averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds per game. A great pick-up overall.
Travis Robinson, SF, ESPN Scouts Grade: 89
(Robinson is #31, with this photo being a little harder to justify...he's just getting d***** on)
If Morris is the gem of this group of hoopsters, Robinson isn't much further behind, if at all. Some people have said that his 89 grade is a bit inflated and should be more around the low 80's range, but regardless this is another solid signing.
As per ESPN again: "Travis is an excellent athlete for the wing position. He's an above the rim finisher who can finish through traffic on drives and slashes to the basket."
I would say that this report makes him sound John Holland-esque, but this is pretty much the basic paradigm for any SF: versatile, quick, and very athletic with an ability to finish above the rim.
One evaluation from back in November of 2007 even called him a Top 150 player in his class.
Alongside with Morris, Robinson looks like the kind of guy who could become a star here on Comm. Ave.
H.J. Gaskins, PG, ESPN Scouts Grade: 72
No picture for this one, seeing as Gaskins is the guy in the background of Robinson's picture with the #5 jersey on.
Gaskins has a solid grade on this ESPN recruiting site, and all indications are that he won't be a star by any means, but he will certainly be a servicable backup PG, a role that he would have probably had to have accepted anyway if B.J. Bailey is as good as advertised.
For what the evaluation is worth: "Henry is a pure point guard with a good basketball I.Q. and good court vision. He can make open shots out to the three point line. He's a good on ball defender who loves to apply ball pressure for the full court. He needs to learn to make the right decision when he gets in the lane as he tends to overpenetrate which can lead to turnovers. On the perimeter though he does a good job of taking care of the ball. Henry is versatile enough and has the athletic ability to play at both a fast and slow pace."
Pretty much fits the bill of a solid, fringe starter PG, sort of like a rich man's Marques Johnson.
Gaskins is probably the weak link of the group and the fact that he is good buddies with Morris and Robinson and that they all play of the same AAU team coached by Gaskins' father make this seem like a package deal if I've ever seen one, but no rules being broken and it doesn't look like there's a future Tiki Mayben or Malik Alvin-type in the bunch.
UPDATE:
Got a video from YouTube featuring the Friends' Central team from last year, with photos and video of the guys not getting clowned on.
Enjoy:
The two of us figured that Chambers, having been a player at Phila U, a coach at Episcopal HS, and an assistant at Villanova, would be recruiting the City of Brotherly Love (except towards Donovan McNabb) hard, but we had no idea that it would be to this extent.
In addition to these three players there are also previous Philly pick-ups in the '10 class:
Mike Terry, SG, ESPN Scouts Grade: 85
Anthony Mayo, C, ESPN Scouts Grade: 82
For those of you keeping score at home, that's a full starting five of guys for the next four years, all of whom are ranked 72 or higher.
Put them together with guys like Holland, Bailey, Jake O'Brien, Jeff Pelage (of course), transfers Daryl Partin and Pat Hazel, and any other talented recruits that Chambers may bring in in later years, and you have an absolute force.
Overall, things are pretty good right now for BU Basketball, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
With the 2009 MLB season having come to a close and with the playoffs now under way, we are at that point in the year where it is time to dish out the MVP, Cy Young, and many other awards for the 2009 MLB regular season.
Baseball writers and sports journalists near and far will be submitting their votes for these awards, and although our votes unfortunately don't count for anything, Teddy and I are going to select who we think should win the various awards.
Without further ado:
AL Rookie of Year
Craig's Pick: Andrew Bailey, P Oakland Athletics Billy Beane and his Moneyball philosophy have always had a good eye for pitching, having stockpiled arms like Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, and Dan Haren in the past. It looks as though Beane has found another gem in Bailey whose 2009 campaign included a 6-3 record, 89 strikouts to only 24 walks, and a 1.88 ERA.
Teddy's Pick: Jeff Niemann, P Tampa Bay Rays Playing in the toughest division in baseball, Niemann sports a very solid 3.94 ERA to go along with 13 wins, numbers that he held despite having to play against teams like the Red Sox and Yankees. He has given up only 59 walks this season; compare that to his 125 strikeouts and you have what looks to be a reliable starter on a dynamic young team.
NL Rookie of the Year
Teddy's Pick: J.A. Happ, P Philadelphia Phillies Happ, with a record of 12-4 with a fantastic ERA of 2.93, has provided the Phillies with stability in their starting rotation in wake of Cole Hamels' disappointing season. Before the additions of Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, Happ was by far the most consistent pitcher for the Phils, winning his first seven decisions.
Craig's Pick: Andrew McCutchen, CF Pittsburgh Pirates For whatever reason, Teddy thinks that McCutchen is on steroids, to which I say he's a racist. But in all seriousness, McCutchen has been one of the Pirates' lone bright spots since being called up in early June. He has batted extremely well as Pittsburgh's leadoff hitter, showing off his incredible speed to the tune of 26 doubles, nine triples, and 22 stolen bases in only 108 games. Assuming he doesn't get traded away in the next couple of years, it looks like the Pirates have finally found the young star they've been looking to build around.
AL Manager of the Year
Craig's Pick: Don Wakamatsu, Seattle Mariners Mike Scioscia and Ron Gardenhire will undoubtedly get a lot of votes in this race, but Wakamatsu is who has impressed me the most. He inherited a team that lost 101 games in 2008, and with virtually the same group of players, Wakamatsu led the M's to an 85-77 record this year.
Teddy's Pick: Joe Girardi, New York Yankees You could have assumed that after a $423 million spending spree last winter that the Yankees would have automatically done much better this year, but there is always the need for a manager who can lead his team in the right direction through thick and thin. With a team like the Yankees complete with large personalities and egos, Girardi did a great job helping each player achieve their true potential, but most importantly, he helped them work together as a team.
NL Manager of the Year
Teddy's Pick: Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies Anytime that a manager takes over a subpar team midseason and manages to lead them into the playoffs, he deserves to be honored. The Rockies are the hottest team heading into October and Jim Tracy's leadership has been a big reason for this transformation.
Craig's Pick: Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies You'll have your people out there who'll lobby hard for Tony LaRussa, but it's really beyond debate when someone inherits a team that was 18-28, goes 74-42 after taking over, and leads his team into the playoffs on top of all that. Giving it to anyone other than Tracy wouldn't be a crime per se, but it'd certainly make me wonder about the people voting on it.
AL 'Jose Lima' (Worst Pitcher)
Craig's Pick: Chien-Ming Wang, P New York Yankees It didn't seem like it was all that long ago when Wang was the anchor of the Yanks' rotation and was contending for the Cy Young. My, how times have changed. Wang somehow managed to follow up an abyssmal 2008 season with an even worse season this year, posting such embarassing numbers as a 1-6 record and a 9.64 ERA.
Teddy's Pick: Fausto Carmona, P Cleveland Indians Carmona has experienced a pretty similar fall from grace. Carmona was one of the clubhouse favorites to win the 2007 Cy Young after a terrific season that prompted Indians brass to award a lucrative contract extension to him rather than CC Sabathia. At the time it didn't seem like a horrible choice, but after Carmona's dreadful 2009 season (5-12 record, 6.32 ERA), it just looks downright dumb.
NL 'Jose Lima'
Teddy's Pick: Brad Lidge, P Philadelphia Phillies If I had to choose one word or phrase to describe Lidge's performance this year, it'd be this: god-awful. After being such a key member of the Phillies first championship since 1980, Lidge has reverted back to his post-2005 to pre-2008 form, posting a 7.21 ERA with 11 blown saves. No single athlete has provided me with more stress this year than Lidge.
Craig's Pick: Brad Lidge, P Philadelphia Phillies We're probably starting to sound like a broken record, but even for the sake of disagreement, I couldn't bring myself to vote for anyone other than Lidge. Aside from his miracle 2008 campaign, the man hasn't been the same since Albert Pujols took him deep in the 2005 NLCS on a home run that I still don't think has landed yet. Had the Phillies even had a mediocre closer this year, they probably would have ended up with at least four or five more wins.
AL Cy Young
Craig's Pick: Zack Greinke, P Kansas City Royals Again, I really felt tempted to differ from the crowd, but Greinke had such an amazing season that it would have felt wrong to give it to anyone else, especially when looking at his stats: 237 strikeouts to only 37 walks and a Bob Gibson-esque ERA of 2.06. His 16-8 record may not be as dazzling as other pitchers' win-loss totals, but if Greinke had been on a team like the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, or even Tigers, he would have reached 25 wins with ease.
Teddy's Pick: Zack Greinke, P Kansas City Royals Greinke has the complete package of what we've come to expect from a Cy Young Award winner- low ERA, high number of strikeouts, and just flat-out dominance overall. He has distanced himself from one of the more deserving fields in recent memory and regardless of what team he plays for, he deserves this one.
NL Cy Young
Teddy's Pick: Tim Lincecum, P San Francisco Giants Lincecum hauls in his second consecutive Cy Young in a season every bit as impressive as his last one. Anchoring an impressive rotation, Lincecum almost found a way to help lead the offensively-inept Giants reach the playoffs.
Craig's Pick: Chris Carpenter, P St. Louis Cardinals I'm going with a former Cy Young Award winner as well here, only mine is Carpenter, a man who has battled injuries and the like the past couple of years only to re-emerge this season with a 17-4 record and a 2.24 ERA, at 34 years old no less. He's a lock to win NL Comeback Player of Year, and should be in a similar position for the Cy.
AL Least Valuable Player (LVP)
Craig's Pick: Pat Burrell, LF Tampa Bay Rays Coming out of baseball's Hot Stove offseason, many people thought that the addition of Burrell would make the defending AL Champions that much better. About half a year later and in the aftermath of a season in which Burrell hit .221 for a disappointing Rays team, the chatter and buzz surrouding Burrell seems that much more worthless and unmerited.
Teddy's Pick: B.J. Upton, CF Tampa Bay Rays Staying in the same outfield, Upton has gone from rising superstar after his performance in the 2008 postseason to puzzling work-in-progress in the span of a mere year. Upton's numbers dropped considerably from last season as he became a frequent victim of mental mistakes and an overall lack of hustle.
NL LVP
Teddy's Pick: Alfonso Soriano, LF Chicago Cubs The catastrophe known as Milton Bradley has been more well-documented when talking about disappointing Cubs players, but Soriano has fallen much shorter of the mark. As the team's star, Soriano was expected to lead the Cubs back to the playoffs and possibly even to the World Series, but the Cubs (shocker) self-imploded, partially due to Soriano's .241 batting average, 20 home runs, and 55 RBIs.
Craig's Pick: Brad Lidge, P Philadelphia Phillies It doesn't happen too often that you see a pitcher win an MVP (or I guess an LVP in this case), but Lidge is an exceptional case because, well, he actually has been that bad.
AL MVP
Craig's Pick: Joe Mauer, C Minnesota Twins I felt very tempted to go with Derek Jeter here as a pat-on-the-back for not only a superb season, but also as a sort of lifetime achievement award for a Hall of Fame career that somehow doesn't feature a single MVP. However, that would be beyond unfair to Mauer, a player who for much of the season was a serious threat to bat .400 and who led his team to an extraordinary division title despite the absence of Justin Morneau.
Teddy's Pick: Mark Teixeira, 1B New York Yankees Arguably the prize of the Yankees' offseason additions, Teixeira has been worth every penny of his eight-year, $180 million contract (if there is such a thing). He overcame his traditional slow start to finish near the top of the league in home runs and RBIs, all while helping take the Yankees from a non-playoff team all the way to the majors' best record of 103-59.
NL MVP
Teddy's Pick: Albert Pujols, 1B St. Louis Cardinals Sure, Pujols cooled off a bit in the second half of the season, but I'd seriously wonder about anyone who wouldn't vote for Pujols for this award. A 2009 season that featured a .331 average, 135 RBIs, and 47 home runs has firmly cemented Pujols as the NL's premier player and as the most dominant force in the game of baseball today.
Craig's Pick: Albert Pujols, 1B St. Louis Cardinals The questions that remain after Pujols' fantastic season have moved well beyond "Should he win NL MVP?" or "Is he one of the best players of his era?", but should rather be "Is he actually a machine?" and "If so, then why did he choose not to eliminate Steve Levy and John Anderson?".
For practically my whole life, or at least as long as I can remember, I've been a Louisville football fan. I experienced some lean years early on, but then the program started to improve drastically with it all culminating in an Orange Bowl victory in 2007, which had it not been for a second half collapse and a Jeremy F***** Ito field goal against Rutgers, would have been a National Championship season (after all they would have played Ohio State in the BCS Championship, that Buckeye program that plays so well in big games and against opponents from south of the Mason Dixon Line).
When Bobby Petrino skipped town after that season, Louisville brought in little-known Steve Kragthorpe from Tulsa to inherit a preseason top-10 team that was returning practically every key player from the year before.
From that point on, my Cardinals have been a train wreck, going 6-6 in Kragthorpe's first season (with a team that went 12-1 the year before) and 5-7 in his second season. This year's installment of U of L football is currently at 1-3 and "Coach K" looks like a lame duck if I've ever seen one.
It just so happens that today I stumbled upon a post on Urban Dictionary, and evidently now a lot of people who live outside of the 502 area code know of Kragthorpe's ineptitude as a coach, and it has now been offically defined.
I don't know whether to be depressed or cracking up at this find, but I think I'm leaning towards the latter of the two:
Kragthorpe'd Used as a verb: To take something previously in great condition and completely screw it up upon arrival. Most commonly used in terms of the sport of college football in regards to taking over a good team, and be a very poor coach, and after losing to vastly inferior opponents. Also used as a verb in terms of sports to denote incompetence.
Alternate spellings: Krag'ed, Kragcooper'd.
"Damn, I thought we had an awesome team this year but I guess we just got Kragthorpe'd"
"Man, our football team really got Krag'ed up the butt this year."
"We had a BCS team but we got Kragthorpe'd out of winning anything this year."
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Louisville football program!
One of the most beloved Terrier hockey players in recent memory, Matt Gilroy, last year's team captain and the recipient of the 2009 Hobey Baker Award, has gotten his NHL career off to a fantastic start, scoring what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the New York Rangers' 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.
Below is a link to the game highlights, with Gilroy's goal coming around the 2:15 mark:
With the Twins' extra-inning win over the Tigers tonight, the field for the MLB playoffs has been filled. The traditional right of October is now upon us, so here are our picks for the Division Series, League Championship Series, and World Series:
Teddy's Picks
NLDS
Phillies over Rockies in 3 games- The Phillies are too deep of a team offensively, and now with the addition of Cliff Lee at the top of the rotation and a resurgent Joe Blanton back-ending the Phillies' staff, I don't even think Brad Lidge can blow this series.
Cardinals over Dodgers in 5 games- St. Louis' one-two punch of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright will not only expose the Dodgers' weak starting rotation, but it will also be enough to lead the Cards past the team with the best regular season record in the NL.
ALDS
Yankees over Twins in 3 games- The Twins should probably just feel fortunate enough to even be in the playoffs, so don't expect too much from them against such a talented Yankees team. Think of this series as boys versus men.
Red Sox over Angels in 5 games- Same old story, the Red Sox have the Angels number in the postseason, and I don't see anything changing this time around.
NLCS
Phillies over Cardinals in 7 games- Good pitching will usually overcome an explosive offense...except this time.
ALCS
Yankees over Red Sox in 5 games- The Red Sox's struggles of the past few months against the Yankees carry over into the postseason.
World Series
Yankees over Phillies in 6 games- Money finally pays off for Yankees as the Bronx Bombers claim their first title in nine years.
Craig's Picks
NLDS
Phillies over Rockies in 4 games- I can't see the Rockies getting swept based on the way that they've been playing since Jim Tracy took over as manager. That being said, though, the Phillies not only have a better offense this year than the World Series team last year did, but they also have a much better rotation. Can't see the Rockies overcoming all of that.
Dodgers over Cardinals in 5 games- Aside from the potent 3-4 hitter combo of Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, the Cardinals' lineup isn't too awe-inspiring. The Dodgers stumbled to the finish line, but they still have a well-balanced lineup and a rotation that has been overlooked all season long.
ALDS
Yankees over Twins in 3 games- The euphoria of sneaking into the playoffs will quickly wear off for Minnesota as the absence of Justin Morneau and any real difference makers not named Joe Mauer exposes itself in a big, big way against a dominating Yankees team.
Red Sox over Angels in 4 games- I was beginning to think that the Angels were due to beat the Sox, but realized that this Angels team is considerably worse than years past, years when they still lost to the Sox, especially last year when they had a guy like Teixiera. Lester and Beckett both look to be fine coming off of scratched starts, so don't expect a nail-biter here.
NLCS
Dodgers over Phillies in 6 games- There is no way that a team whose closer sports a 7.21 ERA can make it much further than this in October. The Phillies offense can only out-score teams by so much, meaning they're going to have to grind out some close games. And at a time when the only thing worse than Brad Lidge's save percentage is JaMarcus Russell's quarterback rating, that's never a good sign. No repeat here.
ALCS
Yankees over Red Sox in 5 games- The Sox's lineup doesn't feature the same kind of power that it has in past World Series runs, especially with David Ortiz's dismal drop in production. Boston's pitching has been a little uneasy lately, so expect a star-studded Yankees offense to take full advantage of this. New York's second half dominance of the MLB continues.
World Series
Dodgers over Yankees in 7 games- A dream matchup goes down-to-the-wire. Nobody can question the potency of the Yanks' offense, but the thing that concerns me is what pitcher steps up for New York after CC Sabathia. All bets are off when capturing the World Series is predicated upon someone as mercurial as AJ Burnett. Joe Torre gets his revenge on the organization that unceremoniously ran him out of town two years ago.
These past few months have been an exciting time for BU Hockey and for Terrier fans in general. The program captured a National Championship in thrilling fashion over the geographically-confused Miami Redhawks back in April, and very shortly after that came the news that a book by USCHO writer Scott Weighart chronicling the Terrier's 2008-2009 season, appropriately titled "Burn the Boats", was in the works.
Well, after some waiting and deliberating, news has just come out courtesy of the BU Athletic website that "Burn the Boats" is about to be released for all to enjoy:
Needless to say, Teddy and I, along with the rest of the BU hockey faithful, are waiting with baited breath to get our hands on this piece of Terrier hockey lore.
Hello to anyone who may be reading this or to those who have somehow stumbled upon this. This is the introductory post of The Honey and Vinegar Sports Blog. Our names are Craig Meyer and Teddy Mazurek- we are both students at Boston University who share a passion for sports. Despite this common interest, we each have very different personalities and views on sports.
One of us (Craig) is a fairly mild-mannered product of the South who tends to be very patient and understanding when it comes to sports and his favorite teams.
The other one of us (Teddy) is a fiery son of Philadelphia who is never afraid to unleash his anger and criticism on his favorite teams, players, or unsuspecting bystanders.
Going off of a recent episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", we have decided that the idea of a good realtor/bad realtor dynamic can also apply to sports, so thus Honey (Craig) and Vinegar (Teddy) have now come into being.
This blog will do its best to keep readers up to date with the sports world that we immerse oursevles in. We will focus quite a bit on Boston University sports (primarily men's hockey and basketball, as well as Terrier soccer), but will also turn our attention towards things like professional sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL), college basketball (particularly America East & Big East hoops), college football, and really anything else that's newsworthy.
We both hope that this first read can maybe translate into some more visits to the blog, and maybe even to the point of having some followers. We're hoping that this post will lead to a long and successful venture for ourselves and sports fans in general.
Our names are Craig Meyer and Teddy Mazurek. We are roommates at Boston University and are sports fans in every sense of the phrase. Despite this passion, we have very different personalities and views on sports, be it professional or BU sports. Going off of an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", we have decided to make ourselves into Honey (Craig, a more mild-mannered, patient, understanding fan) and Vinegar (Teddy, the fiery Philly native who is never afraid to conceal his anger or criticism).
