SportsDabbler

¿Cómo están bitches? The SportsDabbler is back in full effect after a considerable recess. I had to take care of a lot of different items of personal interest, but the SportsDabbler wants you to know that all of your sports concerns will be addressed. I know everyone has been on the edge of their seat waiting for sports insights, so here we go:

There are a ton of things to talk about with the NCAA football season underway; the list of pretenders and contenders is starting to fill up. The NFL season is off to a surprising start. Fantasy Football is always exciting and I’m your man if you need the 4-1-1. The MLB playoffs are about to start as the regular season winds down and NBA training camp is already underway. Wow, that’s a full plate, but I’ll do my best to stay on top of the game.

First off, let’s talk a little bit about College Football. I know it is a cliche to talk about this but preseason rankings are absolutely worthless. The sheer bias exhibited in these rankings are laughable. The Coaches’ Poll is a joke because they do not watch any other team other than their own and the one they are preparing to play. The AP poll is full of bias; they favor the conference that their state team plays in or their alma maters, whichever serves their respective agendas best. How many top ten teams have already fallen? Let’s see, USC, Cal, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, BYU etc. The rankings should not come out until after week six when there is enough data to really give a unbiased view of the top performers.

The SEC benefits the most from the biases. Don’t get me wrong, it is the best conference in college football top to bottom; however, their advantage is not as large as everyone seems to think it is. For example, let us take a look at Ole Miss who was ranked 8th in the preseason. Why they were ranked that high is beyond me. I know they trampled an overrated Texas Tech team in the Cotton Bowl last year but still, eighth? I know they returned Jevan Snead and Dexter McCluster but let’s be honest here; while those are good players, they are not spectacular on any level. They’re not players that make you say ‘wow, I’m terrified of Ole Miss.’ They continued to move up in the rankings because teams ahead of them lost and that is just how the system works. They peaked at number four and then met a South Carolina team that struggled to beat a middle-tier ACC team in NC State. Do you honestly believe that the fourth ranked team in the country should be dismantled by a slightly better than average team like South Carolina? Here is where the SEC benefits: Even though Ole Miss was extremely overrated, a middle to lower tier SEC team like South Carolina gets applauded for beating such a ‘tough’ team. The media pundits start the talk “look how tough the SEC is, where a team like South Carolina can beat the fourth ranked team in the country, blah, blah, blah.” Now South Carolina is on the cusp of being ranked and will probably be so after they beat an FCS team like South Carolina State this weekend. The next average SEC team will benefit greatly in the rankings after they beat South Carolina and so the perpetual cycle continues.

Other conferences such as the Big East do not benefit from having the same type of parity. The Big East is generally perceived as being a weak conference, usually as the fifth or sixth best BCS conference depending on who you talk to. To me, they can make the case as being the fourth best conference right now, ahead of the Big Ten and ACC. I would take the top four in the Big East against the top four in the Big Ten any day of the week on a neutral field. Just look at the out of conference records for each conference. The reason the average person scoffs at this is because Cincinnati, South Florida, West Virginia and Pittsburgh do not have the same appeal as Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Iowa. These teams are tradition rich and supposedly loaded with talent, but nobody seems to remember that Michigan struggled with Indiana last week, Ohio State almost lost to Navy at home, Iowa looked like a high school football team against FCS’s Northern Iowa and Penn State got manhandled by that very same Iowa team. On the other hand, Cincinnati has one of the most explosive offenses in the country and has beaten a tough Oregon State team as well as an equally tough Fresno State team. South Florida, last week, with a redshirt freshman quarterback making his first start walked into Doak Campbell Stadium and physically annihilated an FSU team that was coming off of a 54-28 massacre of number then-#7  BYU. West Virginia lost a tough road game against a solid Auburn team and Pittsburgh had a defensive breakdown against NC State after leading big. Obviously this is a moot point and until we have a college playoff system these matters will never be accurately settled but it always makes for interesting conversation.

With all that said, my top 5 teams in the country based on what has transpired during the season thus far would be as such:

# 1 Alabama — Unlike most SEC teams,*cough* Gators *cough* Alabama has not been afraid to schedule tough games out of conference over the past few seasons. This season was no different; they had a great performance against a very tough Virginia Tech team as well as a solid win against Arkansas. Their defense is gritty and will have to overcome some tough injuries but with the way they have been recruiting the last three years, that should not be too much of a problem.

# 2 Virginia Tech — This team has had the toughest schedule in the nation thus far, they had an opportunity to beat a very talented Alabama team but in the end, Alabama was a little too strong. They nudged out a victory over a defensively tough Nebraska squad and completely dismantled a young but very talented Miami squad with some good ole fashion Beamer Ball. If quarterback Tyrod Taylor can continue to improve his passing, this Virginia Tech team could have a very high ceiling.

# 3 Texas — They have one of the best quarterbacks in the country and have done well thus far in the season, though they have struggled against some lesser teams. I could easily put them 4th but for now I’ll keep them at #3. If they can get past Oklahoma with a healthy Sam Bradford, that will go a far way in showing that this team is legit. A road match-up against Oklahoma State as well a tough home game against Kansas are things to keep an eye on.

# 4 Florida — The defending National Champions could easily be #3, #2, or even #1  for that matter but I put them at #4 because of Tebow’s injury status. No one knows how he will respond to his mild concussion. I laugh as I typed that because it is a mild concussion; but still, any head injury should be taken seriously by the medical staff. They returned their entire two deep on defense from last year and are still a very aggressive and nasty unit, though the passing game has struggled a bit. Tennessee had no business keeping their game against Florida that close because of how terrible they are. If Tebow and the Gators rebound later this month with a big win against an overrated LSU team, then they will move up in my rankings.

# 5 Cincinnati — The Bearcats shot up in the rankings, however, it was well deserved. They have an explosive offense and one of the best coaches in the entire country in Brian Kelly. If this team can make it past a tough road game against South Florida on October 15th, it has the chance to run the table and make it to the National Championship game. No team has gone undefeated in the Big East since realignment, so that in itself is a tough task. Some people believe that the Big East can not possibly have a team in the big game but they forget that had Louisville not lost to Rutgers in 2006 they would have played in the BCS title game, the same with West Virginia losing late in the season to Pittsburgh in 2007. I know some of you will laugh but this team is for real. If they do happen to lose to South Florida, don’t take it as a knock to Cincy, just realize that South Florida is also a very good team.

Well, I was planning on covering a variety of topics in this one post but I love me some College Football and may have rambled on a little too much. My next post will probably survey the NFL season thus far. Don’t forget, if you have any Fantasy Football questions please email them to RS@sportsdabbler.com and I will do my best to answer all of them. Make sure to include the general scoring rules and format in your league as every league differs in these matters. For example, Yahoo leagues don’t reward points for receptions while AOL leagues usually do. So a guy a like Wes Walker holds considerable value in one league and not in the other. Till next time, I’m out!

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I decided to have a little change of pace before I resume my recaps of the NBA Offseason. I need to address a few issues. If you have been paying attention to sports news you might have come across the ‘SEC Football Ballot Scandal.” If you have not, I will break it down for you. Apparently, one SEC coach, later discovered to be Steve Spurrier, decided not to put Tim Tebow on his first-team ballot. ESPN, with their Tebow-goggles on, made this foolishness headline news. So I guess we are not in a free country, you can not vote for who you want. Only now can we really feel the Iranians’ pain, just kidding. Its not like Ole Miss’s quarterback Jevan Snead is a scrub. In fact, he probably has a better pro football future than Tim Tebow because his playing style is more conducive to the pro game, but that is an argument for another day. I know Spurrier admitted that it was a mistake but I doubt his intention was to place Tebow on his first ballot. Honestly speaking though, I would have voted for Tebow on the first ballot but the media has no business bullying Spurrier into changing his vote, which is exactly what happened. I thought Spurrier would have shown more balls and actually stood with his ballot but he took the coward’s way out to avoid the unnecessary press. Either way, this was a complete non-story that got blown way out of proportion.

WTF, Did I get myself into?

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I wanted to discuss another issue that will probably get way more media coverage than it deserves. The decision whether or not to reinstate notable dog-fighter Michael Vick into the NFL is being mulled over by the commissioner and wannabe tough guy, Roger Goodell. Personally speaking, I think Michael Vick has served his time and should be reinstated into the NFL. If you’re going to allow Pacman Jones, who was implicated in far worse situations, back into the NFL, then surely you will have to do the same for Michael Vick without him having to serve another four to six game suspension. If you do that, you might as well suspend him for another year because no team is going to be able to sign him and expect any reasonable contribution because it takes a lot of time and dedication to fully understand the average team’s playbook and terminology.

Let me set this straight, I’m not a Michael Vick fan (for his playing style, I have nothing personal against him). I even laughed when I first heard that he was being convicted for dog-fighting. The first words out of my mouth were: “What a stupid motherfu**er!” Now however, my sentiments are different. The man has served two years in Federal Prison for a crime that is committed virtually everywhere in the United States and is publicized nowhere.
I’m not making any excuses for Vick, but I understand that he grew up in a thuggish environment, he maintained relationships with thuggish people and he never realized that you have to start maturing as you get older. Not to mention, when you make millions of dollars, its wise to cut ties with people who can jeopardize that. I’m sure he’s more than learned all of that by now.

Lawrence "8-ball" Taylor

In America, we have a very forgiving society as long as you’re remorseful. Look at some of the players that are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You have notable coke-heads like Lawrence Taylor and Michael Irvin who are two of the most revered players in NFL history. Should players who are repeated drug users be allowed to be in the NFL let alone be enshrined in the Hall of Fame? That’s a question that you have to ask yourself.

Michael "That pipe wasn't mine" Irvin

Now I’m not saying that Michael Vick’s reinstatement into the NFL should be unconditional. He really did piss off a lot of people as well let down a lot of his fans. I’m not saying its right but for some reason parents let their children idolize these athletes who are nothing more than people who play games for a living. Athletes should not be role models for children, and if you’re a parent that doesn’t understand that distinction, then you are a FAILURE as a parent. Back to my original point though, Vick’s reinstatement should not be unconditional, I believe that a portion of his salary should be donated to PETA as well some other charities involving animals. This would go a long way in repairing his public image and probably would spearhead momentum in gaining back some of the endorsements he has lost.

Now that Michael Vick has been out of the NFL for two years a lot of people are wondering what he would bring to an NFL team. At 29 years old he is still in peak athletic condition and because he was off the field the last two years there isn’t much wear and tear on his body unless he dropped the soap in the prison shower…Ouch! Seriously though, before he got arrested Vick was one of the most electrifying playmakers to ever grace a football field. He was never a quarterback but rather an athlete lining up at quarterback. His understanding of reading defenses was always minimal and apparently he never spent the required time breaking down game film. Unfortunately, he is a moron and that’s not something that is going to be rectified now. I’ve always said that if he had Peyton Manning’s brain he would be the best football player ever.

Fortunately for Vick though, several NFL clubs are starting to experiment with this Wildcat formation, where you have a great athlete lineup under center and take snaps. Notable teams that have put it to use are Miami and Cleveland. As these teams gain success it will probably start catching on. Look for Minnesota to use it this year with Percy “I scored a 5 on my Wonderlic” Harvin. Vick would be perfect for that offense because he actually has experience under center and he has one of the best arms the NFL has ever seen. He could really be successful in situational downs. I think if his hands are good, he could also be an exceptional slot receiver, especially off of bubble screens. His fantastic agility would allow him to thrive in such a role.

Eventually, we will have to wait and see how this plays out. Roger Goodell has a ‘Napoleon Complex’ and he wants to be that tough guy. He’ll keep scheduling periodic meetings with Vick to see if he is remorseful and then eventually decide to let him play. Hopefully Vick won’t face any further suspensions and actually be allowed to have a legitimate chance of signing with a team for training camp. I’m sure the Raiders or Lions will give him a chance as they are two of the most poorly run franchises in the league and are inclined to take stupid risks. Whether you love him or hate him, Vick deserves a second chance and even though I’m not a fan of his, I do look forward to seeing him play this year. Good luck Vick! I’m interested in hearing what everyone else thinks about this, don’t forget to comment!

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