Written by Jason Brubaker | 31 July 2009

Team USA wrapped up their summer mini-camps last week, and judging from reports, the future looks brighter than ever. The national program that Jerry Colangelo built with the hopes of building continuity and national pride has worked like a charm, culminating thus far with the gold medal in last summer's Olympics.

With Coach Mike Krzyzewski already signed on for the next Olympics, and plenty of young talent coming through the pipelines, another gold may soon be on the way.

 

Here's a look at some of the potential candidates for not only the 2010 World Games, but also the 2012 Olympics in London.

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Written by Grubby | 30 July 2009

We're almost a month away from the first Saturday of the season.  For all the creeping and crawling June did to us, July has flown by.

Much like this guy.

Only 35 more days until he gets to try out his new teeth on a cob of corn outside Tiger Stadium.

Written by Josh Cohron | 29 July 2009

Musings that didn't warrant full articles...

• Am I the only one who thinks that the Roy Halladay hoopla is a bit premature seeing as he has never pitched in a playoff game before? However, if Boston gets him, mark them down as World Series Champions.
• Adrian Peterson would have been a consensus #1 overall fantasy pick with Brett Favre at QB for the Vikings. With Tarvaris Jackson taking snaps, I wouldn't touch the guy. He's going to be seeing eight in the box for the rest of his career.
• That being said, Plaxico Burress made Eli Manning look like a decent QB, so he could be a big-time difference maker in Minnesota. He should check gun laws before taking the trip to Minneapolis, though.
• Chris Paul agreed to a four-year extension with the Hornets in July of last summer. At that time, they had just taken then defending World Champs, San Antonio, to seven games in the 2nd round of the Playoffs. Since then, the Hornets realized James Posey was a colossal waste of money, lost a playoff game by 58 points and then didn't fire their coach. We need to assure that CP3 gets the hell out of New Orleans as soon as possible. It's not fair that the best PG in the NBA has to play in a city that is hemorrhaging money.
• Speaking of CP3, I spent some time coaching and watching on the AAU circuit this spring/summer. The most impressive player I saw was Reggie Bullock, who plays for CP3 out of North Carolina. He has already committed to play for Roy Williams at UNC. Brubaker and I texted while watching his game the other day on ESPNU and were equally in awe of his length, athleticism and ease to score the basketball (Bullock is #35 for Kinston [in white] below).

• John Calipari must have wanted to kill any kind of productivity for his male Twitter followers, ages 13-75, with this tweet yesterday. That set off more of a stir in Central KY than the Erin Andrews video.
• If I were a Chicago Cub fan (Thank God, I'm not), I would not feel so good with the trade deadline two days away. St. Louis just added Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa. The Cubs ownership is in such a mess they can't make any moves. Add that to the fact that the Cubs are three games back in the win column from the Cardinals and it could be another long summer/fall for the Northsiders.
• Grubby told you I was going to liveblog the WNBA All-Star Game if more people didn't tell me their plans for the game. Well, my attendance at a wedding prohibited the liveblog. I did send about ten tweets about the game which resulted in everyone following me on Twitter to hate me (Shameless plug: follow me twitter.com/JoshCohron).
• Clay Travis asked Tim Tebow if he is still a virgin. Judging by Clay Travis' beard, I don't think anyone needs to ask him that question.

Written by Ian | 27 July 2009

If you've stopped by our site today to read the last info on college sports we'll assume that you do the same at other sites.  As much as we'd love to be your one-stop shop for all things sports we just can't quite crank out content at that rate.  Call us perfectionists.  Yeah, that's it.  Continuing our assumptions, we think you probably see upwards of 100 sports headlines everyday as you browse the WWL and a myriad of sports blogs across the Interwebs.  Today we wanted to mix things up a bit and show you a few headlines you won't be seeing any time soon.

Three CUSA Schools Pull In Top Ten Football Recruiting Classes

If you missed Bru's preview of this year's CUSA football season, you should take a minute to check it out.  While Bru went in depth on the talent the league does have, primarily on offense, noticeably absent are any predictions of BCS bowl contenders.  While CUSA has a few teams that would scare small-time football programs in big-time conferences (cough, Cats, cough), they're not running with the big dogs on the two deep roster anywhere. 

Click below to read more.

 

 

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Written by Grubby | 27 July 2009

In case you haven't yet heard about the shot of the year this weekend at the Canadian Open (not a major), take a look at this Mike Massey-esque shot by a guy you've never heard of.

You can also read about it at Fanhouse.

Written by Jason Brubaker | 26 July 2009

Contrary to popular belief, there were defenses on the field for Conference USA teams last fall. Now, it's just a matter of teaching them how to stop someone.

C-USA was a defensive coordinator's worst nightmare last season, with three teams averaging more than 40 points per game, led by Tulsa at a ridiculous 47.2 clip. The conference featured three different quarterbacks who passed for at least 4,000 yards, six running backs to rush for 1,000 yards, and six receivers who amassed 1,000 yards. Four different schools hit the 70-point mark in a game last year, and 15 times a team scored at least 50.

While no one can argue that the C-USA defenses were top-notch, that shouldn't dull the shine on some of the players putting up these stats. Southern Miss WR DeAndre Brown and RB Damion Fletcher are legitimate NFL players, while Houston QB Case Keenum might be one of the most overlooked QB's in the country, having tossed 44 touchdowns last year.

Plenty of star power departed after last year, including record-setting Rice WR Jarrett Dillard, but there's still more than enough firepower to keep the scoreboard lights flashing.

Here's some things to watch for this fall:

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Written by Grubby | 24 July 2009

Only 40 days until the Eric "Crunch" Berry Farewell Tour begins.

Knowshon still needs some lotion.

Written by Grubby | 24 July 2009

Fearless Weekend Predictions is a weekly column running on Friday afternoons where our resident soothsayer (or whoever we can get) locks down what will transpire in the coming 72 hours. It’s better to get these out before the 7-year is open.  The crystal ball gets cloudy.

If you were a carnie, what kind would you be?  Personally, I'd like to be the guy that sits up at the front with a paper-stock megaphone.  For some reason, that role seems like it would be of a higher echelon in the carnie world to me.  All that to say, "Come one, come all" to our inaugural FWP on Stadium Drives.  This is a weekly series we started a few years back at our previous internet home and now it has been rebirthed.  Like Kate on NCIS.

It's fair to say that the sports world is a bit barren until August, but alas, we shall make due.

On with the prognostications!

Steve Spurrier will not vote on Proposition 8. Yep, now that the Who-Didn't-Vote-For-Tebow-gate mystery has been solved, the Ol' Ball Coach will turn his focus to more important matters.  Namely, whether or not state governments should regulate gay marriage.  And abstain.  Not a topic normally covered by your average college sports blog, admittedly, but this my friends is no average sports blog.  And hey, what else is there to talk about in July?

More after the jump

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Written by Jason Brubaker | 24 July 2009

As the resident Tim Tebow homer for Stadium Drives, I feel inclined to weigh in on the latest "controversy" involving the golden-boy QB.

First, to recap, Tebow was not a unanimous selection to the pre-season, All-SEC 1st team, despite his overwhelming credentials and disarming good looks (oops! sorry- that's the Gator speaking). Many speculated the lame-brain coach who ignored Timmy was none other than  Lane Kiffin, who ESPN's Pat Forde referred to as "Tennessee's one-man blooper reel." Kiffin hasn't made any friends in Gainesville since taking the UT job, and doesn't appear to care much for the Gators, so it seemed likely he was the guilty culprit.

However, after some hard-line questioning at the SEC Media Days, turns out it was The Ol' Ball Coach who snubbed Tebow...although he claims it was unintentional, since he merely glanced over the team put together by his sports information director before signing off on it. Once he realized his mistake, Spurrier tried his best to correct it, calling the league office to change his ballot and thus, we have Mr. Tebow as a unanimous selection.

Now I admit, this probably shouldn't have been a huge headline on ESPN for the better part of the last few days. I certainly feel that Tebow is one of the best college players in the history of the game, but Jevan Snead is certainly a very good QB in his own right. It wasn't as if Tebow was losing votes to Mike Hartline or Vandy's QB, you-know...whats-his-name (note to self: look this up before publishing). So while I love Tebow, this was hardly the egregious error it was made out to be.

No, to me, the funniest part of this whole episode is the people who complain about the press Tebow is receiving. You know, the same people who continue to click on links containing his name, and then comment on the story, usually something along the lines of "I don't understand why this is a story" or "ESPN loves Tebow" or "I'm soooo sick of hearing about this guy."

Well, perhaps it's a story because you idiots cared enough to read it and post a comment about it. If you're sick of hearing about Tebow, then try something new next time you visit a website or pick up a magazine. If his name appears in the headlines, or his picture is on the cover....DON'T READ IT.  Understand? This really isn't a difficult concept. If you don't like hearing about him, then quit reading stories in which his name is in the headlines.

See, I myself am sick of hearing about Brett Favre. Know how I handle this? Nope- I don't read a ton of online articles about him and then comment about how sick I am of him, hoping that the writer might go back and take my comments to heart. (You know what? The 1,347th guy who posted a comment on my article said he's sick of hearing about Favre. Maybe I shouldn't do another article.)

No- all I do is...are you ready for it?....avoid clicking on that link. That's it! It's just that easy! Give it a shot!!

So here is my plea to those who are not a part of Gator Nation. Stop whining about the Tebow coverage. Seriously. If you don't like it, change the channel. Read something else. Buy a Field & Stream instead of ESPN. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some reading to do. The new Sports Illustrated came yesterday. Guess who's on the cover?

 

Written by Ian | 23 July 2009

Over the past few years MAC schools have put some scares into some teams and came away with a few strong victories.  Take Bowling Green's opening week win against a then-ranked #25 Pittsburgh team for example.  The 27-17 victory on the road shows teams from bigger conferences that they better not overlook the little MACers.

League play this year should be pretty wide open as many MAC teams return a lot of veteran players.  Although veterans of MAC play don't mean alot lined up against SEC and Big Ten schools, within conference some grizzled starters will make for some interesting matchups. 

Northern Illinois and Western Michigan don't have a lot going on the scoring side of the ball but both teams get back all 11 defensive starters.  Things could get very interesting this year if some players have put some time in during the offseason for several MAC teams.  On to the predicitions!

Players to watch:
Quarterbacks Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan and Nate Davis of Ball State will look to excite crowds and put points on the board for their respective teams.  Both young men are legitimate pro prospects and could solidify their draft stock with solid years.

On the defensive side of the ball strong safety Barry Church of Toledo and Londen Fryar of Western Michigan will cause opposing quarterbacks to lose some sleep.  While Church had only one pick last year he contributed huge in the tackle column.  Church had 93 tackles (that says something about Toledo's front 7 eh?) with 57 coming solo and 5.5 of them being for a loss.  Fryar is no slouch either with 1 pick, 6 passes broken up, and 42 tackles on the season.  I'll take 40+ tackles from my corners any day.

Newcomers:
Look for freshman QB Kelly Page to captain Ball State to several big wins this year in conference play.  While Page has had some injury issues his leadership skills have been praised at the high school level and that is something an incoming freshman needs to succeed at the next level.

Circling the Drain: 
Look for Miami to have a tough year.  They start off with the football Cats from Kentucky and barring a sneak-up win in the first week that game could set the tone for the year.  Miami has a lot of tough games on the road that are nearly certain L's and home games against Cincinnati, Toledo, and Bowling Green don't look to help the record.

Predicted Finish:
Look for Temple to turn around nearly 125 years of bad football and challenge for the MAC crown.  Next to them at the top of the heap will be Buffalo, Ball State, and a host of directional Michigan teams (c'mon, you've got a 50% chance of one of them winning) challenging out of the West.

In case you missed them check out Bru's Mountain West preview and Grubb's WAC preview.