Missouri State Basketball Season Preview 2009-1010 - Part 2 - Meet The Players

Alright, on to part two of my season preview. This time, I'm focusing on the individual players. Some of these guys I've watched for a year plus, but most of em I've just watched for the three games I've attended so far, so these are purely initial impressions. But first impressions are often accurate, as they were last year, in my brief analysis of Hobbs, Weems, Rhine, Mayhew and Brumfeld after a few games. Which of this year's batch will go the way of Weems and McFarland and thrive and improve throughout the season? Which players will go the way of Hobbs, Brumfeld and Mayhew and play very little, show no improvement and fade and not even be on the team next year?

Onto the players...

#34 Kyle Weems (sophmore)

This guy is our star, plain and simple. And we've got three full more years of watching him get better. Sweet. He basically became our star player during the second half of last year, his freshman year. Weems can score from all over the floor, though he seems to fall in love with the three point shot a bit too much sometimes (most 3's attempted on the team last year, only 28% made). He's made some big shots from outside though. He seems like he's money from inside the three point line - I wish he'd take more mid-range jumpers (47 % from inside three point range last year). He's athletic, can get past guys on the outside, can finish at the basket or can pull up for the 10-15 footer off the dribble. Also is money at the line (82% FT shooter). He can, and hopefully will, take over games when we're struggling on offense and need him to score. Well on his way to being a MSU stud.

#44 Will Creekmore (junior)

He changed his number this year, but unfortunately, despite his off season work and weight gain, he seems to be the same player he was last year. And that player wasn't that good. He was a starter a lot of last year, he started the first game vs. Auburn, and appears to be our starter at the 5 spot this year. Last year, I remember him missing a lot of shots inside, and us forcing a lot of plays into Creekmore. Hopefully, with our increased offensive options this year, there will be less need for that. He just doesn't seem to have an inside game, and when he does get good position in the post, he can't finish with any consistency. That's what I saw from him last year, and that's what I've seen from him so far this year. He really didn't have the opportunity to show his game vs. Auburn, as we ran very few plays for him (or anyone) in the post, but I really hope he can get better, as that will help the team in the long run, and help free up some outside shooters if we can establish something inside. I just don't have high hopes.

#23 Cardell McFarland (sophmore)

Another holdover from last year, and a big part of our future. He was slowed a bit at the start of this season with a hand injury, but played a lot of minutes versus Auburn. He didn't start the first game, but I imagine that as he gets healthy, he'll be in the starting lineup soon enough. He's got a nice outside shot and can take people off the dribble, if need be. Handled the ball a lot last year, but seems more like a 2 guard. Luckily, we have more true point guards this year, so maybe he'll be able to play off the ball a bit more.

#00 Justin Fuehrmeyer (senior)

Our only senior. I had high hopes for Fury after his first two years, but he never seemed to get his groove and improve last year under Cuonzo. He's currently out with a hand injury, and I don't know what to expect from him this year. Even if he comes back, he's probably just a role player and a backup point guard. Maybe he can regain his outside touch and defensive tenacity when he comes back, but we'll see.

#10 Adam Leonard (junior)

One of our 3 juco transfers (from Eastern Kentucky). Good outside shooter, and our starting point guard. Based on what I've seen so far, he's already better than the Lauries ever were. Was 4-7 from three point range in the first game vs. Auburn, and he had a nice outside touch in the Exhibition games too. Can shoot the outside shot off the dribble and on the move with good accuracy. A good ball handler and made some nice passes in his first few games. I'm excited about this guy.

#15 Jermaine Mallett (junior)

Another juco transfer, and a starter this season. He's listed at 6'3", but seems to play bigger than that. He did everything in the first game vs. Auburn. Played the most minutes, had 12 points (on only 6 shots), 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Very athletic. Plays the 2/3 spot on the floor, and has a good inside/outside game. Like many of our newcomers, has good ball handling skills and can get by his guy on the perimeter. Cuonzo has talked him up, and he could become a star by the end of this year.

#2 Nafis Ricks (junior)

Our last juco transfer. I had high expectations. He was the national juco player of the year last year. I figured he'd be the starting point guard this year. Unfortunately, he's struggled, at least from what I've seen so far. Had several had turnovers handling the ball in the exhibition games and the game vs. Auburn. Ricks just hasn't ever seemed in tune with the team this year. With his credentials, I hoped he would provide a nice athletic spark, but I just haven't seen it so far. Doesn't have an outside shot from what I've seen, and when he does get past guys, I don't remember him finishing. Didn't play many minutes in the first game (partly due to fouls), and needs to pick it up quickly to become an integral part of the team.

#1 Keith Pickens (freshman)

One of our 3 freshman this year. A starting guard in the first game, but could lose his spot once McFarland gets healthy or Ricks turns up his game. Has played an unspectacular (but not bad) guard so far this year. He's only a frosh, but he doesn't look bad. One of our athletic newcomers, but probably just a role player this year.

#20 Michael Porter (freshman)

Another freshman. A 6'6" big man (at least for the Valley). Kinda reminds me of Randal Falker from SIU with the size and inside presence, but it might just be the dreads. He played the first Exhibition games, but had an appendicitis shortly before the Auburn game, and will be out til early December. In the exhibition games, he showed good tenacity on the inside, fighting for loose balls and rebounds, and bodying up other teams' post players. Haven't seen much offensive game out of him, mostly garbage points cleaning up on the inside, but I like the athleticism and tenacity I've seen on both ends so far. When he comes back, he may not be a starter, but I see him being one of the first bigs off the bench.

#33 Jerome Jones (freshman)

Our last freshman, a 6'5" forward. Good size, but doesn't seem to play inside very much. Had a nice driving the lane thunder dunk in the first exhibition game, but not much play vs. Auburn. Kind of a chucker. Has got a funny looking outside shot that doesn't inspire much confidence, but he made a few of them in the exhibitions. Could be a bit too raw to really contribute this year, but we'll see as the year progresses.

#21 Caleb Patterson (sophomore)

A 7-foot big man now eligible to play after sitting out from last year following his transfer from Colorado. My impressions so far of Patterson are - eh. He's tall. He seems athletic enough, but I haven't seen any impressive play in the post from him, and he doesn't exactly seem to dominate on the boards inside. Weird for a 7 footer. When he does get the ball inside, all I've seen him do is take fade away jumpers, and miss them most of the time. Fade away jumpers from a 7 footer in the Valley? Really? Unless you've got the touch of Hakeem (or Danny Moore, for that matter), I don't want to see you shooting fadeaways. We've got plenty of other (and better) offensive options I'd rather see shoot jumpers - I don't want to see our 7 footer do it. It would be huge if he can become an inside presence in the Valley, but I don't see it happening. There was probably a reason he played very little as a 7 footer on a last place Big XII team.

#30 Ryan Jehle (junior)

He's a solid player. Got decent size, can play inside or outside. Always seems to play hard and get after it on every play. Classic scrappy player and garbage cleanup man, that gets the most out of his athletic ability, that can provide solid minutes and occasionally hit the open outside jumper if needed. What can I say? I like seeing Jehle out there, even though he doesn't play much. Had decent minutes vs. Auburn, but unsure if the minutes will keep up when Porter gets back. We'll see. Also, still looks like Clint Baer.

#50 Isaiah Rhine (sophmore)

Lastly, our 6'10" big man off the bench. Still looks very raw and somewhat nonathletic. But hey, he's big, so he'll get minutes. Plays hard, but is not fast nor quick. Gets rebounds, I guess. Cleans up some messes inside, but has no real post game to speak of. Still, right now, I have more faith in him than I do Patterson. Still has 3 years to complete his development, so hopefully we see some signs of his improvement this year, and have something to look forward to as he heads into his junior and senior seasons.


So there you have it - initial impressions of all the 2009-2010 Bears. Lots of newcomers, lots of room for development. Get used to these names. We've only got one senior, so we're gonna have a few years to see these guys develop and hopefully thrive under Coach Cuonzo.

Alright, Ima post this again, because I love it more each time I see it. Mallett is just nasty.

Chris Johnson - NFL Record Breaker?

Great article from Chase Stuart (New York Times NFL Blog) on CJ's pursuit of 3 different NFL records this year: Rushing yards, yards from scrimmage, and yards per carry.

Some interesting excerpts:

"With 1,091 rushing yards in nine games, Johnson is on pace for 1,940 rushing yards. That would be the sixth most, behind the five men who rushed for over 2,000 yards in a season: Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and O.J. Simpson"

"Johnson’s YPC average through nine games is the third highest by any player (with 100 carries) since 1960: only Jim Brown (’63) and Mercury Morris (’73) were better"

"LBJ is on pace for 2,405 yards from scrimmage, which are calculated by adding a player’s rushing and receiving (but not return) yards. Only one player, Marshall Faulk in 1999, has ever topped 2,400 yards from scrimmage."


OK, I love the powder blue colors of the Titans (and former Oilers jerseys), but there's gotta be a better nickname out there than "LBJ" for one of the best players in the NFL. Light Blue Jesus? Seriously? Anything is better than that. C-J. C-ya. 4-2-4. Twitch. Anything but LBJ.

Missouri State Basketball - 2009-2010 Season Preview - Part 1

It's a new season of Bears basketball, and it's really a fresh start. Tons of new players, and from what I've seen so far, a lot more athleticism. Last year was a fresh start too, and we struggled, to no one's surprise, after Barry left the cupboard almost bare.

Now that Barry's had a year to get back on his feet, serving as "administrative assistant" to Bill Self at KU (if that's what you call a person who solicits donations from alumni over the phone and is not officially listed on the coaching staff), surely he's found a coaching job, right? We were such fools to let Barry go (according to Sporting News, and many others), and surely another quality program has snatched him up by this point. No? Not even a D-II or D-III school? NIAA? High School? YMCA? Nothing? Wow, that's weird. Maybe he wasn't such a great coach after all...

Anyway, now that the Barry-taint is mostly off the program (good riddance, Knapp and Lauries), Cuonzo is starting his 2nd season in charge with a team that is starting to resemble something that maybe can win in the coming years (how's that for extremely tempered optimism?). I still think that we can't evaluate his job performance until the end of his 3rd year (time to get his recruits there, coach them up and assimilate them into his system), but I like what I've seen so far from some of these new players.

There are 7 new players this year - 3 freshman (Jones, Porter and Pickens), 3 juco juniors (Leonard, Mallett and Ricks), and 1 sophmore transfer who is now eligible (Patterson). For the returning players, we've basically got 1 great player (Weems - sophomore), 1 pretty good player (McFarland - sophomore), and a bunch of average to below-average players (Fury, Creekmore, Jehle and Rhine). Even though Creekmore is a starter and Fury is our only Senior, I'd put them both in the below-average category, but more on that later.

The Bears won both exhibition games by 20-30 points, as expected. There was a lot of rotation of players in and out, so it was tough to gauge our lineup or the flow of our offense, since players wouldn't stay in for more than 3-4 minutes at a time. Nothing too memorable overall from the Exhibition games - the teams we played chucked a lot of threes, made a lot of turnovers, and didn't have much size, so you can't really evaluate the Bears play vs. those teams. Henderson State did play zone for about 75% of the game, so that was some nice practice for what we may see going forward. Any Bears fan knows that the Bears do NOT handle the zone very well, and I'm shocked more teams don't play that exclusively against us. The first half of the Henderson St. game was a bit of a struggle, with us settling for outside shots and threes against the zone (sound familiar?), and we had a small halftime lead. In the 2nd half though, the Bears seemed to penetrate the zone a lot better (McFarland did a good job of this) and get more mid range jumpers or drives/passes to the basket, so we ended up pulling away. I'm still worried about going up against the zone defense, but at least this year, it seems that we at least have guys on the team that can (and hopefully WILL) try to dribble to the middle of the zone to create something besides outside jump shots. With Fury and the Lauries as our primary ball handlers the last few years, this was often not possible.

The game vs. Auburn was a nice start to the season. Auburn was the exact opposite of a zone team - they were a man to man team that constantly pressured the ball handlers, often before they even crossed half court. For the most part, the Bears handled the pressure well, but there was a spurt of a few minutes in the second half when the Bears were up double digits that Auburn was especially aggressive with the ball pressure (i.e. reaching and slapping for the ball) where we had several turnovers in a row from our primary ball handlers (namely, Leonard, Ricks and McFarland). But that eventually got straightened out through some foul calls and better and safer ball handling and passing, and we somewhat cruised in the 2nd half to a double-digit win.

The first half started sloppy, and brought back memories of last year's team, which had a lot of trouble scoring points most nights. I can't recall exactly, but I think we probably had 9 points through the first 10 minutes or so. Aside from this too-sick-for-words dunk from Jermaine Mallett, there was little going good early on. Luckily Auburn was struggling as well, with plenty of turnovers and missed threes (they were chuckers), so it was still a close game. Eventually, we broke out of the funk with some nice fastbreaks off of turnovers, some Adam Leonard threes and a few drives to the basket, and ended up scoring 36 first half points for a halftime lead.

In the second half the offense got going a bit better, with Adam Leonard sinking some big threes (4-7 for the night, including a 25 footer as the shot clock expired) and Weems and Mallett providing a decent midrange-to-inside driving game. Rhine and Jehle actually had some nice inside play, cleaning up after some nice passes or missed shots, and aside from that turnover spell described above, we pretty much cruised in the 2nd half, holding a 10-15 point lead most of the way.

Overall, the performance vs. Auburn was encouraging, but far from great. We ended up scoring 73 points, which is a huge step from the 60 or so we averaged last year, so that was nice. On the other hand, Auburn really did play pretty sloppy overall (partially due to our defense, but mostly due to their carelessness), and their turnovers really helped us build our lead. Auburn also relied a bit too much on their outside shooting (24 attempts, only 20% from 3-point range), and their misses really helped us. I say "their" misses, because most of Auburn's three point shots were pretty open, with very little pressure from the Bears. Lots of drives and kick-outs by Auburn, or poor- or over-rotation on defense by the Bears, leading to wide open three pointers. On Monday night, Auburn missed a lot. If they made a just a few more of their open threes, it could have been a different story. But hey, we could have made more too, and that's just the way it goes.

As for the Bears offense, it was scattered. Leonard made several threes while he was covered, which is encouraging. At the same time Weems missed a lot of threes (1 for 6), and I'd like to see him take less 3's and drive a bit for more mid-range shots. Those are his bread and butter.

There was very little inside game to speak of, and frankly, there seemed to be very few plays run for the post players. Very little "set up on the block with your back to the basket and try to score" like we've seen in previous years from Richards and Knapp (unsuccessfully). But that's probably a good thing, since our post players suck, and Creekmore could do very little from the block last year. But I was pretty shocked at how little we even attempted to go inside to the post. Creekmore only took 3 shots, and very few plays were run for him. I'm down on Creekmore, but I'd still like to see if he can develop as a post presence. Luckily, we didn't force it down in the post to Creekmore (as we so often did last year, with poor results), and instead relied on our athletic perimeter players (Mallet, Pickens, Weems, McFarland) to handle the ball and make something happen. That seems to be the Bears M.O. this year, at least through one game. Hopefully we can gradually mix in a better balance of inside play and start shooting better from the outside, but that's entirely up to the development and improvement of Creekmore and Patterson. If they don't get better as the year goes on, we can't force it, and will just have to find other ways to win, like we did vs. Auburn.


So there's a brief overview and my take on the Bears through the two exhibition games and the first regular season game of the season. I will follow up in Part 2 of my Season Preview with my observations and my impressions of each individual player on the Bears from what I've seen so far. Til next time....

Sandwiches!!!

Much like Joey, my favorite food is sandwiches. Is there anything they can't do? The stately gentleman pictured is John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, and often cited as the inventor of the sandwich. The man is my hero (ha!). Though I can't believe it took until the mid 1700's to come up with this wonderful invention.

My love of the sandwich must have been born of my elementary/junior high/high school upbringing, where everyday, a sandwich would be waiting for me in my lunch bag (sometimes 2 - I was a chubby kid), courtesy of my mother. No exceptions. These sandwiches were so good, I remember even selling one of them (on days I had two, or course) at the lunchtable, to classmates eager to share in the sandwich bliss. Also, some of my sandwich snobbery came from these sandwiches. For example, my mother never used "regular" bread to make my sandwiches. I'd always get some sort of nicer bread, like some slices of french bread or rye, and she'd always put just ham, cheese and butter on the sandwich. I didn't realize that butter on a sandwich was weird til much later, but I've grown to love it. I thought mayo on a sandwich was weird and gross at first, but have grown to appreciate the compliment that just the right amount of mayo can give to a sandwich. But ever since then, I've tried to avoid using regular sliced bread to make a sandwich (exception: grilled cheese), because I think the low-quality bread robs from the overall sandwich experience.

Sandwiches are the #1 staple of my diet. I eat between 5-10 sandwiches a week, and I never get tired of them. The most common sandwich I eat is just a normal Ham and Cheese on sliced sourdough Panera bread, which I keep fresh my buying a couple loaves at a time, and keeping them in the freezer until I plan to have a sandwich. Sourdough is my favorite kind of bread for a sandwich, but I can appreciate a nice French loaf or Rye. I use Frick's lean ham and fat-free Kraft American cheese, and put butter on the bread. That's it. No frills, just the basics. And it's wonderful.

The basic sandwich described above makes up about 90% of my annual sandwich consumption, but I get outside sandwiches as well. I'm a connoisseur of all types of sandwiches, and like everyone, I've got my favorite places. But not just any sandwich will do. There's the basic places, like Subway, Blimpie, Quizno's, etc., and sure, they'll make a passable sandwich, but really they are all varying degrees of suck. I've had Jimmy John's and Lenny's later in my sandwich career, and they were both overrated.

But anyway, here are my favorite sandwich places, from best to worst.

W.G. Grinders
I discovered this place in Columbia while I was in law school, and it was a weekly staple. A grinder has come to mean just an open-faced sandwich, often toasted. WG Grinders serves their sandwiches toasted, and they use wonderful, fresh sourdough bread. I've always believed the freshness and taste of the bread makes the sandwich. No matter how good the meat or toppings are, crappy bread will ruin a sandwich. But it's a delicate balance. The bread has to be fresh and taste good, but it can't overwhelm the sandwich. It's got to compliment the overall experience, and not dominate it. A lot of places (Subway, for example), puts too much focus on the variety and flavor of their bread, but that ends up ruining the sandwich. Their bread is so big and flavor-dominant, that it ends up taking over the sandwich. That's not a true sandwich experience.

Anyway, the WG Grinders sandwich is awesome. I usually get the standard Club, which has ham, turkey and bacon, then add provolone (with pepper jack, my favorite type of sandwich cheese), and usually top with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and just the right amount of mayo. After its toasted, throw some pepper on that bitch, and enjoy the taste explosion.

Unfortunately, I recently heard that WG Grinders in Columbia may have shut down. Damn recession. It's a small place that originated in Columbus, OH, and has a bunch of stores in Ohio, but I believe the ones in Indiana and Missouri have been closed down. I have mourned ever since hearing the news of the closing. I look forward to my next trip to Ohio (which will be the 2nd of my life). RIP WG Grinders (if its true)

Planet Sub
This is a place I discovered last year upon the recommendation of a buddy. There is a location by SMS campus on Kimbrough, so I decided to stop by before a basketball game. I was not disappointed. They've got a shop on Battlefield and National now too.

Apparently, it's a place that has its roots in Lawrence, KS, but I don't hold that against it (sandwiches > MU alumni loyalty). They have cold and hot sandwiches, though I've only tried the toasted ones, and they're awesome. It's pretty basic, but basic is good, if it's done right. Fresh, good bread, quality toppings, and a bit of a local sandwich shop feel make this my favorite sandwich shop in town. Get the first sandwich on the menu, appropriately called The Planet Sub - Ham, Roast Beef, Turkey, Bacon, Swiss (I sub Provolone), Lettuce, Tomatoes, Brown Mustard (I go no mustard) & Mayo. I freaking love it. You will thank me later.

They also have a good selection of bottled beers that cost between $1-$2, so that's a plus. A great overall sandwich experience.

Mr. Goodcents
When I was first introduced to this place in high school, I was blown away. Back then, I always thought Subway and Blimpie's were the best (and only) places to get good subs. Then I located a Campus Coupon for a $5 Goodcents sub, and gave it a shot.

Great sub. Far, far better than the aforementioned Subway or Blimpie subs. First of all, their "full" subs are actually 16" instead of 12". More sub = more good. Again, their bread is always fresh, soft, basic, and compliments, rather than overwhelms, the flavor of the sandwich. I always get the Penny Club, and am never disappointed. You won't be either.

Sub Shop (Columbia)
First, some clarification - there's a Sub Shop in Springfield (on Seminole and Glenstone), but this isn't it. The one is Springfield is pretty darn good in it's own right, but the one in Columbia is better.

I was introduced to this hole in the wall sandwich shop during the summer after my first year in law school. I worked in construction that summer, and we'd often get Sub Shop to deliver sandwiches to the site for lunch. This place reminds me a lot of Planet Sub with their bread, ingredients, and toasted sub selections - all excellent. Maybe I thought these sandwiches were better than they actually were because I always had them during a lunch break on the site, when it was 100+ degrees, and I just needed a break, so anything would taste good. But there were many occasions after that first summer when I'd be studying for a test in my study group or whatever, and a Sub Shop delivery gave me that extra fuel to burn through those study sessions. Highly recommended.

I always got the basic toasted Ham and Cheese, and sometimes I'd get a side of tomato soup, which had a gigantic glob of melted cheese thrown on top (Mmmm, cheese), perfect as a compliment to the sandwich, or as a dipping agent, were one so inclined. I'm not a big sandwich-dipping guy, as I feel a sandwich should be good enough to stand on its own, but this is the exception.


So that's the list. There are some other places out there that I think are pretty good (Sub Shop in Springfield, for example), but none crack this elite list. I'm planning on trying Which Wich this week sometime, as I've heard good things, so I'll give an update if there's some groundbreaking sandwich-happenings going on there.

I love sandwiches.

Terminator Salvation: It Doesn't Suck (and other Movie News...)

I thought that the new Terminator movie would suck. Seeing the previews with Christian Bale as John Connor, in a futuristic world filled with machines and a war - not my cup of tea. I'm not a huge fan of post-apocalyptic movies set in an "industrial" setting. I was thinking Terminator: Salvation would be like the third Matrix movie or something (i.e. it would suck).

I loved T2, and T3 wasn't half bad either, but I thought I'd hate this movie. It was good though. Worth a rental and recommended. Also, Christian Bale is awesome.



In other Movie news;

Movies I've seen recently that deserve the OMSA*

The Hurt Locker
The King of Kong
Zombieland
Star Trek
District 9
Watchmen


Other movies I've seen recently that don't suck:

Away We Go
Orphan
Public Enemies
Taking of Pelham 123
The Boat That Rocked (the US version, is called "Pirate Radio")
UP (not as good as Wall-E or Ratatouille)
Wolverine
Drag Me to Hell
Four Christmases


Movies I've seen recently that kinda or really suck (from least sucky to most sucky):

The Soloist
G.I. Joe
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The Land of the Lost
Angels and Demons


*Official Martin Seal of Approval

Martin's Takes: A Season Preview

It's blog-posting season. For me anyway. After my spring-summer hiatus, I'm ready to start posting again. The weather has cooled from the hot summer days of 80-90 degrees, to a nice brisk fall November 75 degrees. Um, what?

Seriously, what is up with this damn weather? It's fall, dammit!! Lawn mowing/allergy season was supposed to end in early October!! Enough warm weather!!! I love the nice, cool 50 degree November days. But I'm afraid with this weather, we're gonna go straight from 75 degree days to 30 degree winter days, and completely skip the nice fall days that are supposed to happen in between. Damn global warming....

Anyway, I've got some ideas in the hopper for blog season. Next up, a post about my favorite food in the world: sandwiches!!!

And still to come, after the Exhibition games are over on Tuesday, the always popular Annual (I did it last year, at least) Missouri State Basketball Season preview!!!

Also, some possible future topics include:

"Where am I on your God-damn Ladder: The Snubbing of Martin and Max"

"My Book Reading list, or Why I suddenly feel stupid and worthless after reading Matt's Reading List"

"Married Life: Pretty Much the Same as Living-Together Life, Except with Less Sin"

"Locker Room Towel Fights: The Blinding of Larry Driscoll"

It's a New Season (or halfway through) - Part 2

To recap, I couldn't get part two of my post in before the opening game vs. the Steelers because I had to work late. Then we lost the game in OT. Then we lost another, and another, and another, then lost 59-0, and all my ambition to finish my Titans post was gone. I was so beat down that I couldn't even muster the will to post a negative rant about how crappy the team was. So basically, I felt what it was like to be a Rams/Chiefs fan over the last couple of years. But at least the throwbacks were sweet.



But it's a good thing I didn't finish, because I would've been dead wrong. I would've said something about how what I saw from Chris Johnson in the preseason worried me, because I didn't see that burst he had last year. Well, halfway through the season, he's currently leading the NFL in rushing (by 120 yards over 2nd place), and is averaging 6.7 yards per carry - I WAS DEAD WRONG.

Then I would've posted something about how we needed to keep Vince Young on the bench at all costs, because even as boring or old as Kerry Collins looks at times, he still gives us the best chance to win games and that Vince turns it over far too much and will single-handedly cost us games. Well, with Collins at QB we were 0-6. With Vince the last two weeks, we're 2-0, and Vince has zero turnovers - I WAS DEAD WRONG.

I also said something in my first post about how we'd be good this year and that our defense was awesome. Well, we're 2-6, and have the worst pass defense, and one of the worst overall defenses in the NFL (but it's not b/c of Haynesworth, dammit!) - I WAS DEAD WRONG.

I still think the Titans are better than 2-6, but none of that matters now. Even if we improbably run the table and finish 10-6, I doubt we'd make the playoffs since we started out 0-6 vs. the AFC. What matters now is figuring out if Vince will stay around in the coming years, which I highly doubt. Even if he does keep his steady, turnover-free play going, there's no way he comes back next year at something like $14 mil per year (if they pickup his option). You don't pay that kind of money to a QB who gets you 13-19, 170 yards and a TD line, even if he is wining games right now. You can find a QB to play "smart" on a run-first team, for far less money. If they can somehow let him go and pick him up for less money, then it might be an option. With all the crap he's gone through with this team though, I think that's a longshot, and he's off to a fresh start somewhere else in 2010.

What also matters is being able to watch Chris Johnson dominate. He's on pace for just under 2,000 yards this year, and if the Titans give it to him 20+ times per game from here on out (like they have the last two games), he's gonna get it. What a STUD. His speed keeps on shocking me, and apparently, it keeps on shocking the linebackers and DB's on opposing teams, because he keeps blowing right by them, even when they think they have the angle. Enjoy yet another compilation, and be awed by the speed (and go to 0:58 for one of the best runs of this season):



Anyway, that's my take on the Titans. I still think it's realistic that, given the remaining schedule and how they've played recently, they could still go 7-9 or 8-8 this year, but that's hardly cause for celebration. But given the horrendous 0-6 start, it would be an encouraging way to go into the next offseason, finishing strong.

So that's that.

It's a New Season (part 1)

Hey, look at that. The countdown I made about 5 months ago on my last post is still running. Sweet.


Ahhhhhh, its almost fall. My favorite time of year. The weather gets a bit nipply-er, leaves begin to change, the grass no longer needs to be mowed, and most people's favorite sports season is just around the corner. 24 hours and counting to the start of the NFL season, which means its time to start a new season of blogging.

Although Matt stole some of my thunder (and my list dump idea) by breaking the nearly summer-long MRSLP silence, that's ok. My post will be better, and will have less "I have an iphone 3GS so I'm better than you" bragging. Though I do have an iphone 3G, so I'm better than you (but not better than Matt, who's better than all of us).

After my Nostradamus-like Titans predictions last year, I have a lot to live up to. Seriously, read that post from Week 1 last year. Jesus, I was spot on. Like I had Gray's Sports Almanac or something.

Well this year, the Titans are still getting little respect. Everyone still has the Steelers, Pats, Colts, Chargers, Ravens, and even the Texans and Dolphins over the Titans in the AFC. I guess that's the respect a 13-3 season gets ya. They were knocked out of the playoffs early after playing a mistake-filled, ugly game where Chris Johnson (our MVP last year - more on that later) dominated the 1st half but was injured for the 2nd half, the refs gifted the Ravens 20 yards and a first down on the last drive with a terrible no-call, and we still only lost by 3 points. Just thinking of that game gets me shaking with frustration. God I hate the Ravens (I called that frustration too - lucky me).

Enough pining over what could have been. It's a New Season, and while I'm optimistic at what the Titans can do this year, I'm less confident in this team than I was at the end of last year. And it has nothing to do with the loss of Albert Haynesworth.

The Titans return 10 of 11 starters from a defense that was just awesome last year. But all anyone talks about is how we'll take a big dip this year because of the loss of Haynesworth. I was torn on re-signing him. Sure, Albert was absolutely dominant the past 2 years. But where was he before that?


We drafted him in 2002, and he was mostly injured or anonymous til 2007-2008. Could it be because 2007 was a contract year, and 2008 was the last year he had the franchise tag on him, and he knew he was playing for a huge contract so he stepped his game up? Part of me says yes. Heck, a lot of me says yes. If we had re-signed him to the tune of $100 million, I think our team would be hurt more than helped, because the strength of this team's defense has always been its depth at Defensive Line, and the ability to rotate quality players in and out at all times. That depth would have seriously suffered if we had that much money tied into one player, even one as good as Albert. And did you realize that, as good as he was, he only played about 55-60% of the defensive plays for the Titans over the past 2 years? So yeah, this defense was and is more than Albert Haynesworth, and will continue to be really good without him.

So yeah, I'm not really worried about the Titans Defense this season. Great Secondary, Good Linebackers, and a really good, deep Defensive line with a nice mix of vets and up and comers that have a chance of making a big name for themselves in the next year or two (kinda like Albert did in 2007).

The thing that concerns me is the offense. I'm not expecting them to have a Saints/Pats/Eagles/Cardinals type, explosive offense. They haven't been that, and will not be that this year. They don't need that to win, and they don't have the personnel to support it. Heck, if the offense is as good as last year (maybe a bit better), then I'd be ecstatic, and I'd be sure we were in for another great season.

We definitely upgraded the pass catchers. Justin Gage came on at the end of last year and looked really, really good. I don't expect him to go over 1,000 yards or anything this year, but he's a solid WR, and should continue to be. Bo Scaife is a good TE, and can make the nice catch and long run when we need him to. Alge Crumpler is now older, and fatter, but is a great blocker and can make catches when we need him to.

The new blood comes in the form of 2 players. The first is our "big" (not really) free agent signing - Nate Washington, formerly of the Steelers. This guy was never a top receiver for them, but seemed to be there to haul in the long bomb for Big Ben whenever he threw one up. It'd be nice if he could provide somewhat of a deep threat for Kerry, who still has a big arm, but my expectations are tempered. He's missed most of the preseason with injuries, so I have no idea what to expect from this guy in our offense.

The other player is someone most have probably never heard of. We drafted a TE in the 3rd round (ahead of Chase Coffman - surely you jest!) by the name of Jared Cook.


Ok, this guy is a freak. We already have Scaife and Crumpler, so I wasn't sure why we "wasted" a pick on a rookie TE, but after seeing him play, I get it. The dude is like 6'6", 250, and runs like a gazelle. He's got great hands from what I've seen too. Big as a TE, fast as a WR. Oh my. He will be fun to watch for the next 10 years, especially in this offense, where the tight end is king. I could see him lining up as the 3rd or 4th WR in pass situations too - he's just that gifted. I just hope he can stay healthy, as he already has some injury issues that may keep him out of our first game. He has the potential to be great. I just hope he's more Antonio Gates, and less Ben Troupe (all the talent in the world, but injuries and poor hands cost him his career).

And the O-Line. I love em. Great. Maybe the best part of our team. The personnel has been pretty uniform over the past few years, and that's usually the most important thing for an Offensive Line. They played unbelievable last year. Chris Johnson and Lendale White ran for over 2,000 yards and 25 TD's combined last year. I've previously said that if Lendale White does good, then you must have a great O-Line, because Lendale White (Ohio State sucks!!) is an awful running back. Just terrible. So if he gets almost 800 yards rushing (including an 80!!! yard TD vs. the Chiefs) and 15 TD's in a time-share situation, your O-Line is great. And they are.

Also, Kerry Collins was sacked a grand total of 8 times in 16 games last year. In case you hadn't noticed, Kerry Collins is 36 years old, and isn't exactly the most mobile QB in the world. So that few sacks allowed means you're doing something great. And that's the O-line.

So, I love the Defense, am ok with the receivers, love the Tight Ends and love the O-line. So why am I heading into this season with a bit of apprehension? Since I've rambled for the better part of forever now, and most people stopped reading at "Sweet", I'll go ahead and save that for part 2 of my post, which I'll type up right before the season opener tomorrow.

But here's a sneak peek at why I'm not as confident as I was last year: 2 players. One of them will not surprise you. His name is Vince Young. He's still pretty much a piece of shit. The other one will surprise you. His name is Chris Johnson. Why does CJ worry me? Didn't I say earlier that he was the MVP of this team last year? (yes I did) Check back tomorrow to find out.....

In the meantime, enjoy some highlights from the NFL's fastest and most exciting player.

Countdown to Dominiation, 2009

First victim: Pittsburgh Steelers. You bastards were lucky to miss us last year, because we would've handed your asses to you, just like we did in Week 16.

Clint - What happened?

121-63?

Good god man. At least the Hornets didn't give up at the end, as evidenced by the whopping 24 points they scored in the 2nd half. Where's the heart? Sounds like you need some more Scolas, Hayes, Wafers and Landrys on your team (those are NBA players, not brands of crackers). I never thought a CP3-led team would go out like this. Please tell me you went to this game...

Update

Haven't posted in awhile. Since January in fact. Meanwhile, Matt and Justin keep right on posting, trying to make me and Clint look bad. Big mistake. Now I'm bringin' the thunda'. I don't need a bunch of fancy weekly posts to get my thoughts across. I just need like a quarterly newsletter update. Simple, concise, and more importantly, less work for me. So here's it is:

• Titans choked.
• Astros suck
• Rockets look good.
• MSU Bears basketball sucks, but they have hope.
• MU basketball was fun to watch and had an exciting run.
• I guess MSU baseball is ok, but started out slow and got better as the season went into conference play or something. I can't even really pretend to be interested in college baseball.
  
• I was sick for a week, then I got better. Daytime TV sucks. It's like they put the crappiest shows on first, and they get slightly better as the day wears on, culminating in Seinfeld and Family Guy/The Office on during primetime. But during the day it starts with crap like Yes Dear and old cheesiness like Home Improvement.
• Nicholas Cage gets a lot of crap, (and rightly so, based on movies like Bangcock Dangerous, 8MM, and The Wicker Man), but the man gets a nearly lifetime-long free pass based on Raising Arizona (good call, Clint), and a bevy of other solid to really good movies like The Rock, Matchstick Men, Adaptation and Nat'l Treasure. Check out his resume. I think overall, there's more hits than misses.
  
• Bedtime Stories and Paul Blart: Mall Cop had some of the worst acting/writing I've seen in recent memory. I believe both of these movies were very successful at the box office. That's sad. I still love the Sand-man and think Kevin James himself is hilarious.
  
• That new Judd Apatow movie called Funny People looks awesome. Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Schartzman. Could be another classic, though the tone of the trailer looks a bit more serious than all out funny.
• I haven't been to Funacre this year. I need to go. There's a new indoor mini golf place over by Food4Less. I want to check that place out. I've always wanted to play at a mini-golf place that had a bunch of quirky, playable obstacles like the course in Happy Gilmore. I never have though. When I make my millions, I'm opening up that kind of mini-golf course. There will also be drinking allowed. And I will donate 50% of my profits to Funacre, just to make sure the golf nazi stays in business.
  
• The newest Metallica album rocks my face off. Listening to "All Nightmare Long" while riding my bike or lifting weights makes me feel like running through a brick wall and then punching Chuck Norris in the face repeatedly.
  
• I think Clint changing his blog's color theme to match his "in-season" team's colors is not at all gay.
  
• This blog post is beginning to remind me of that Larry King parody Norm MacDonald used to do on SNL. I'll bet I can find a link by using the magic of google. Yep. But there's no video. NBC gets all huffy with their stuff ending up on Youtube. A-holes. Norm MacDonald is awesome.
  
• It doesn't bother me that Chad doesn't like and has no interest in sports. But it does bother the shit out of me that Chris doesn't like sports. I can't accept it. Quit lying, Max. You know you like sports. You goddamn scientologist.
  
• I know Chris Baer has a notebook (more likely a boxful of notebooks) filled with drawings of dicks somewhere in his place. I picture a complete comic series starring Mr. Dick N. Nuts and crew spread out across those notebooks. The fact that he masterbates to these comics does not make him gay. You see, they're his comics....
• It is now acceptable to own a Snuggie.
• I wish the Titans had drafted Chase Coffman (he was drafted like 9 spots later). Instead, they took another TE in the 3rd round. Hope that wasn't a mistake.
• The PS3 is better than the 360.
• People that move away from Springfield suck.
• Matt still owes me $3 from poker.
• I think Clint broke my finger when we played basketball back in March, b/c it still hurts. Explain again why I was guarding you?
• I'm starting to work out again with an eye on winning the race across the pond this summer.
  
• Blogging is a lot easier when its done only 4 times per year, is in list format, and consists of random thoughts with no central theme.
  
• My blog is better than your blog.

Fin.

The MVC Shuffle

Not sure if anyone has seen this. Um. Not sure what there is to say about it, frankly....




So there you go.