Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Brain Dropping...Respect

With the end of baseball season and another full slate of baseball games, there was a lot going on this weekend. Here's what struck me.

1) Exit Sandman - I Facebooked this out on Thursday night. "I hate the Yankees, but I sure as hell respect Mariano Rivera." And that about sums it up. He was a class act even when he was closing out World Series games against my hometown Atlanta Braves. Knowing that the Yankees are recognized as the team of the 90's because they won more championships than the Braves still kills me. The fact that Rodger Clemens is seen as a better pitcher than Greg Maddux chaps my ass. But there is no denying that "Mo" was a dominant closer. If you didn't see how he went out on Thursday night in the Bronx, here it is:


These are the reasons we love sports. Great job Joe Girardi sending out two of his teammates all these years to get him. With all of the talk in baseball centered around PEDs over the past few years, it's nice to see guys like Rivera and Chipper Jones recognized for playing the game the right way.

2) Cain and Abel - Two brother battled it out in Athens, Ga on Saturday and while one came out on top, you had to be impressed with both of them. Brian is going to talk a little about Aaron Murray tomorrow so I'll save that for him but how can you not be impressed with Zach Mettenberger. He played a damn fine game in Sanford Stadium on Saturday and his team fell just short in an instant classic. He converted on 3rd down, he converted after being sacked, and he converted after UGA scores. It was a great game and a great performance. If you missed it, there's a chance you might see it again in Atlanta the first week of December.

3) Not Ready for the R-E-S-P-E-C-T - Ole Miss thought they could score a few points against the Bama defense Saturday night. Nope. Well, they did score 2 points for the Tide. This is the 2nd year in a row a team from Mississippi was out for respect against the National Champs and the 2nd year in a row they left with their tail between their legs. The only word that needed to be spelled after this game was U-G-L-Y

4) Buckeye Bait - I saw that Ohio State beat Wisconsin in a Big 10 tilt on Saturday night. No respect earned.

5) I Can Admit My Problems - Last week I questioned WVU and their step back against a Maryland team that they should compete against. This week I gave the boys from Morgantown no shot against the team I picked to win the Big 12. Now I am eating crow. Respect to the Mountaineers but no respect to the Big 12. This is just reinforcing the fact that the two best conferences are the SEC and PAC-12 and not necessarily in that order this year. Regardless, a one loss team from either place deserves a chance over most other teams that could go undefeated in other power conferences (I'm looking at you Louisville and Ohio State).

6) SEC Power Rankings
     14) Tennessee - This is a team that almost lost to South Alabama, yet I am still worried that UGA could           have a let down against them and play in an ugly game this week.
     13) Kentucky - That was a sweet fake punt though.
     12) Mississippi State - Me thinks LSU may take out some frustrations in order to beat a team that is nicknamed the Bulldogs this year.
     11) Arkansas - They're improving and showed us that A&M really doesn't have a defense but I don't think I can put them any higher than this. Interested to see how they play against Florida this week.
     10) Auburn - I miss Gene Chizik's leather jacket
      9) Vandy - People in Nashville may be on the lookout for USC plane logs after the Kiffin firing this week.
      8) Ole Miss - They weren't ready for the big dogs. The good news is that they have some more chances against them coming up. The bad news is I'm not sure they can beat Missouri, let alone LSU.
     7) Florida - Wake me up when these back-ups get a test against someone other than Tennessee and Kentucky.
     6) Missouri - Sure, this is a little high but I'm sipping the Gary Pinkel kool-aid and it tastes burnt. Until I see otherwise, they move up.
     5) South Carolina - Connor Shaw got hurt. My solution, Jadaveon Clowney at QB. Oh, they won anyways? Ok, nevermind.
    4) Texas A&M - They struggled defensively again. It's games like they played against Arkansas that make me think the SEC has slipped a little bit.
    3) LSU - Clear cut #3 and I'm not convinced that they won't win the West. Tough road to hoe still though.
    2) UGA -  I was tempted to be a homer and put UGA #1 but they have a loss and Bama's defense is better right now. However, they can score on anybody.
    1)Alabama - There will be a day that they won't be on the top of this list but that's where they are right now.

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