Spittin' Sports: Episode I

Here's the very first episode of Spittin' Sports for public consumption.  We still have a few technical bugs to work out (and I need to quit tugging at my shirt like I'm trying to rip it off), but we'll get there soon enough.  I hope you enjoy and look forward to any feedback people are willing to give.

With a coaching search coming at Tennessee...

...I decided to chime in with my own personal thoughts on the matter, so click above, read up on the matter, and tell me who you think should be the next Tennessee head man.  I would be tickled to see Dabo Swinney as the man, but I know that sentiment isn't shared by very many.  Also, please spare me John Gruden, Peyton Manning, etc.  Just realistic possibilities.

Fantasy Sports: Who Has the Best Free Service?

I know this isn't technically a rant, but I thought about the plethora of free fantasy sports services being offered and wondered which was the best.  So, I joined three different services, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, and CBS Sports, and I'm going to review their various services and user compatibility throughout the upcoming NBA season.  I choose a head to head format on each service with a snake-style draft.  I'm going to rip through the services and notifications and tell you where to play your fantasy sports in the future.  First, let's check out the formatting on the pages.

College Football Picks for Week 6

These are my picks on some of the best games of Week 6:

• Utah State @ BYU -- Cougars 32-17
• #5 Georgia @ #6 South Carolina --Gamecocks 41-24
• #4 LSU @ #10 Florida -- Gators 38-31
• #8 West Virginia @ #11 Texas -- Mountaineers 34-20
• #21 Nebraska @ #12 Ohio State -- Buckeye's 30-24
• #23 Washington @ #2 Oregon -- Ducks 45-17
• Arizona @ #18 Stanford -- Cardinal 28-20
• Texas A&M @ Ole Miss -- Rebels 31-27
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Middle Tennessee -- Blue Raiders 27-21
• Arkansas @ Auburn -- Razorbacks 34-21

Let's wait and see how these games play out!

John L. Smith: A Legacy of Confusion

I swear that the title of this article is the name of his future biography.  Why is John L. Smith allowed to speak?  He's clearly not well.  Let's have an assistant talk for him.  He keeps making the state of Arkansas groan every time he talks, and while it does give me something to laugh at, it still isn't right!  As Coach Smith proves in this video, he's not sure where he is.  Don't give him a forum in which to prove it!

Top Games of Week Five

• (8) Stanford @ Washington--Stanford 34-20—Washington is placing quite a lot of emphasis on this contest, so they should come out fired up.  Unfortunately for the Huskies, they simply aren’t as talented as the Cardinal.  The Huskies end the blackout seeing red!
• NC State @ Miami--NC State 31-14—This isn’t exactly a marquee matchup, but both teams are playing reasonably well right now.  This game will separate one of the teams as a legitimate contender while the other is an also ran.  The Wolfpack will run wild on the abysmal Hurricane defense.
• (25) Baylor @ (9) West Virginia—Baylor 42-38—The Bears haven’t missed RG3 so far this season…and I don’t think this is the week where they pay for his graduation.  Both teams have porous defenses, but Baylor has the superior offense at this point.  I’m going out on a limb here, but I’ll call for the upset.
• Tennessee @ (5) Georgia—Georgia 35-24—I’m ignoring my gut on this one.  I still feel like Georgia hasn’t been tested, so the idea of Tennessee getting a shot at them leaves me hopeful.  That said, the Volunteer defense was…well, let’s just say they struggled with Florida and Akron.  Georgia’s prolific offense should be able to take advantage.  That said, don’t forget about 2006 when a more highly thought of Georgia team suffered a blowout loss to the Vols.
• (14) Ohio St. @ (20) Michigan St.—Ohio St. 28-21—Michigan St.’s offense simply isn’t explosive enough to win from behind, and Ohio St. can definitely put you in a hole.  Ohio St. is playing like a team on a mission.  Michigan St. is just the next speed bump, and the Buckeyes will run it over soon enough.
• (12) Texas @ Oklahoma St.—Oklahoma St. 34-31—I genuinely like the Texas defense, but this isn’t likely to be a defensive game.  Texas can’t run to a win against the Cowboys.  OSU is superior on offense and comparable on defense.  That should result in Longhorns fans begging for a reprieve from the “Waving Song”.
• Texas Tech @ Iowa St.—Texas Tech 21-10—The Red Raiders are mighty good this season, but that comes as little surprise to me.  That Iowa St. is sitting at 3-1 is shocking!  The Cyclones won’t be after this weekend, but for now, I give them a hearty pat on the back.  ISU simply doesn’t have the offense to win against the Raiders.
• Wisconsin @ (22) Nebraska—Nebraska 35-17—Wisconsin is winning, but it’s been ugly.  Nebraska is the better overall team.  Maybe Wisconsin needs to cultivate a QB of their own next time…
• Ole Miss @ (1) Alabama—Alabama 38-20—So far the Tide haven’t been tested.  That might change this week.  Ole Miss is the best rushing offense in the conference right now, and they will do their best to test the Bama defense.  Can Ole Miss win?  No, but they can at least lose respectably.
• (18) Oregon St. @ Arizona—Arizona 27-24—This is one of the most interesting games, but I have to pick against the Beavers because of their overall lack of scoring ability.  Arizona does a much better job of finding the end zone, and that’s enough to get the edge.

Quieting the Criticism

Wow, sports fans!  Have we really devolved to this point?  Are we all so hateful and disappointed in life that we constantly need to criticize college kids and call for people's jobs?  Is life that bad?  Are we that disconnected from reality?

I personally think it's a direct result of too much information.  We know the records, we see constant replays, we are all connected online...we know too much.  We all believe we have the answers.  Everyone is a head coach or general manager and they can do it better.  What would we do without ballaboy12 to tell everyone how it's done?  Clearly Arkansas needs to hire HogCall79 to right the ship.

Let me be the voice of reason; I can't do it better.  I wouldn't make better decisions than Dan Snyder.  I can't guarantee the right call on 3rd and 7 on the last drive of the game or in the 9th inning down two runs.  I can't run the football better than any Division-1 athlete.  I damn sure can't hit a baseball.  I would be hitting 43% on free throws if I played.  And you know what?  That's true for the majority of the critics.

I love sports, and I think I know a decent amount about athletics in general.  I offer opinions.  I can't out-coach Bill Belicheck.  I know that, and everyone else should too.  I can't say whether or not Tennessee would be better in the long run without Derek Dooley.  I don't know if Arkansas should hire Coach X or Coach Y.  I can look at the records, evaluate the numbers, and offer an opinion, but I'm not a bloody psychic.  I can look back at a call and say it was bad, but I can't conclusively say another play would have worked better because I can't account for all the variables.  I don't know what's going through an athlete's mind at a given moment, and so I try to avoid being too critical.

Here's my request to all the internet posters and sports junkies.  Just calm down.  Quit saying quarterback A is a headcase.  Quit saying running back B is a fumbling machine.  Quit demanding the coach pull a player and put in the fan favorite.  None of that useless commentary helps anything.  Athletes are NOT disconnected from the world.  They can and do read what fans have to say.  One bad comment doesn't hurt anything, but an avalanche of negativity can really affect a player.  So maybe we should all just SHUT UP with the criticism and stick to supporting the team.  I will continue the blog, but I will stick to poking fun at silly moments and analyzing numbers and statistics as opposed to personal attacks and criticisms.