It's that time again. We have only 65 days until 09/05/09, When USC will face off against San Jose State. As a dedicated reader of this site you know that while I am a passionate Vikings fan I cover all of the NFL. I have decided to take that same approach with college football. Now that I have gotten my obligatory narcissism out of the way let's get to the stuff you care about Ranking the Pac-10. A lot of the lists that you see this early are going to be rankings of schedules. Screw all that, I care how they are going to finish. So here we go.

#1 in your hearts and on this list USC – There are questions at quarterback. Once the who questions are cemented, we will still be left with the how questions. Because of USC’s prolific success in the Pete Carroll era the team has seen more and more of the national spotlight. As we all now sex sells and offense is sexy; you’ll never see the “Chicks dig the well timed stunt by the defensive line” shirt hanging next to the one that references the “long ball”. The point here is the QB isn’t as important as everyone wants us to believe. The defense—Pete Carroll’s specialty—spends a lot of time holding people to scores so low that the offense doesn’t have to do a whole lot to look good. Don’t believe me; look at the performance of SC’s offensive stars once they hit the NFL.

#2 OREGON — This is close. The main reason that USC got the nod at #1 is because it’s my list. The Ducks draw USC at home this year. This game has often been a tough one for the Trojans. That game may be the one that breaks the tie between the two teams. It could also be the game that leaves one of the two teams undefeated and the other one-defeated

One of the reasons that I do stuff like this so early is because it gives me time to rethink it and change my mind on stuff. Like we say at my day job, we do it nice, because we do it twice. Oh quit worrying, I'm not building planes or anything. I quit that job :)

Tomorrow I’ll give you spot #3 and #4. Until then, do good?

A Brush With Free Agency

Free agency begins tonight at 12 ET. Let me save you some time. This wont be an in-depth analysis of all the available free agents. I won’t be discussing the needs of teams and drawing the connect-the-dots lines tying the free agents to said teams. If you want something like that— then try google. (Or you could try bing which I already hate, seriously if they decide to advertise one more place it'll have to be the inside of my eyelids. Sleep is pretty much the only place I don't see their annoying ads)

No this brush with free agency is only here to discuss crap that matters to me.

Crap 1)I like to make predictions. I think if you are going to say you know and love sports, predictions are a part of that. Then again, I said JP Losman was going to be the best QB in his class(See Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger) OOPS. With the humble pie having been consumed, here is my prediction; Marcin Gortat will be a player in this league.
I'd love to tell you I've seen a lot his game time in the league. Then I'd love to follow up by recounting the numerous times I saw him play for the Anaheim Arsenal which play 15 min from my palatial condo.

None of that is true though. The only games I have seen Gortat play were in this years playoffs. But as a religious reader of my blog you know about my A-rod rule. "It's what you do when it counts, not what you do with no outs". Gortat played solid through out. Not only is he a solid player, he is a big man in a league suffering for them. He also brings the fundamentals you'd expect from a European player without the glaring softness you normally associate with those players.

Crap2) This only comes second because it is going to be a bit sweeter and a lot shorter. LAMAR ODOM I love your game. I love the way you played for the Lakers this year. But don't lie to yourself; You like being a #2. You defer, and you do it well. Nothing wrong with that. Johnny needed Ed Mcmahon. Batman needed Robin. And my man, Kobe needs you. Ariza is good, but all this hogwash that he can replace you is ridiculous. Stick around, by the time you all quit this run your hand will look like chandeliers

Even if it's broke it doesn't ALWAYS need fixing

You never find a foam 2-finger hand emblazoned with "We're #2". Nobody wears those silly hats and t-shirts that they give out for conference championships. My 5 year old doesn't even like his participation trophies. I don't expect pro franchises to be any happier. There just isn't any celebrating when you don't win it all.

This kind of dissatisfaction is why you can't blame the Magic. They didn't win the Championship; that joy went to the Lakers. So the knee jerk reaction, which they went with, was change. So they trade away Courtney Lee and they aren't really making offers towards Hedo Turkoglu that he is willing to play for. So what is their new solution: Vince Carter. I know it feels right to go with a big name wing-man to help overcome Kobe. But just because they lost didn't mean they we're broken; it doesn't mean they needed fixing. In fact by trying to improve they likely took a step backward.



A big part of their success, in fact the key to it, was the fact you MUST prepare for Dwight Howard in the middle. His size and athleticism make him a force. The second and more important prong of the Magic's attack is that all that time you spent preparing for superman took away the time you could have spent planning for their perimeter shooting. Because Dwight isn't yet developed enough to be a sole force, or even a primary one.

Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu have acknowledged that they tend to shoot in spurts. One of them will be hitting while the other can't seem to find his touch. While they both make a lot of money to combine for a consistent outside shooting threat, the fact is any single shooter goes through streaks. Without one to fill in for the other the Magic wont have the consistent scoring threat they need to support Howard.

Vince Carter is a scorer, and he will get his. He has gotten his everywhere he has played. But he has also never won it all anywhere he has played. He has also shown that when he is unhappy he will NOT play hard. Vince Carter's surly demeanor aside, he just doesn't fit with the Magic's style of play. As he drives and slashes he will find himself with only half a court to play with. He wont be able to drive on the side that Howard is posted and even if he drives on the off side he will still face Howard's man coming with help.

It's not mine but I have learned to like Colin Cowherd's "don't try to get happier than happy". The Magic should be Happy but they are trying to get happier. They have sacrificed a team with no ME players that got to the mountain top as a cohesive unit. In my first prediction for the 2009-2010 NBA season: The Magic wont make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

San Francisco 49'ers Offseason

The San Francisco 49'ers Offseason got off to a real interesting start with the back and forth between head coach Mike Nolan and starting quarterback Alex Smith. Then they both got a little help in the form of Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz.

While Martz could be just the piece that solves all their problems. He just might be the piece that spells the end for one or both of them. Alex Smith definitely needs a mentor that can help him tap into his potential. Either that or a lobotomy so he isn't such an emotional eggshell. Nolan on the other hand definitely needs someone like Martz who can help him turn up the offense on a team that grossly under achieved in 2007. However, if Martz manages to turn the offensive production up and Nolan still can't deliver on some wins. Martz might end up helping himself to Nolans job.

It just isn't time to give up on Alex Smith yet so while that is a question mark. The last thing his fragile ego needs is for the Niners to take a quarterback. So with the team set well in the backfield with Frank Gore. The Niners need a strong Wide Receiver to compliment Darell Jackson, Arnaz Battle and Tight End Vernon Davis. While any of those three could take the next step to beocme a premier player none of them managed to do it last year.

Early Doucet(WR-LSU) is a big time speed guy that could really free things up underneath. He has also shown that he can step and deliver in big games and big situations.While the head of a team certainly isn't going to be a Wide Receiver any kind of leadership the Niners could bring would be helpful. Especially, considering they are one of the youngest teams in the NFL.

The Niners could also look to shore up thier offensive line though they do a have an early pick in the second round to address that. It would go a long way to improving Alex Smiths play if he wasn't getting dropped one out of every ten plays like he did in 2007.

Shaq is Pledging a Championship... Riiiight

ESPN is reporting that Shaq is pledging to bring a championship to the Suns. This gem came amongst several hilarious quotes from the human soundbyte machine.

"I'm very upset," he said Thursday at his introduction news conference. "You just don't really want to get me upset. When I'm upset, I'm known to do certain things -- like win championships." Yeah big fella thats true but you also used to be somewhat mobile and extremely dominate. But as Miami can attest to, Things Change.

"...I think with my experience and my on the court-off the court leadership, I can help them get over the hump." Yeah they have experience(Grant Hill), they have leadership(Steve Nash), they do also now have a hump(that'd be you Shaq)

"The last couple of years I was in a system that we really didn't run, so you automatically think I can't run," he said. "But I love to run, especially if I'm playing with a great guy like Steve Nash. I look forward to making people eat their words, I really do." I just want to be clear, it was the system in Miami that made you slow and immobile. I can't wait to follow up on this quote when the suns play again. Oh wait Shaq is weeks from playing again.