Written by Grubby | 02 March 2010

Yes, friends, it's back.  The slap of the mitt.  The crack of the bat.  Expensive beer and moist hot dogs.  Baseball competition starts today! What better way to kick if off than in the epic words of Ernie Harwell all those many years:

Everyone's team is undefeated for the next month, so enjoy it (I'm looking at you, Pittsburgh).  MLB.tv offers 150 spring training games and I'll be watching them all... if they ever supply us with a schedule.

God, I love this game.

Oh, and here's a pretty funny commercial for 2K10.

Written by Ian | 01 March 2010

The University of Kentucky Bat Cats are off to another hot start in 2010.  UK is currently 6-0 on the season with wins over Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Coastal Carolina to go along with a sweep of Bowling Green.

Keenan Wiley, Chris Bisson, and Chad Wright lead the Cats at the plate.  Each has over a .350 batting average, 5 RBI, and a home run.  Wiley is also slugging over .700 with a mammoth OPS of 1.206 in the early going.  Taylor Rogers and Alex Meyer are both 2-0 on the mound this season.  Rogers has an anemic 0.66 ERA over 13.2 innings.  Meyer has a strong 14/4 strikeout to walk ratio and has given up the lone home run against Kentucky pitching this year.

Kentucky hosts Morehead State Tuesday before taking a West Coast swing.  The Cats will play San Diego State, San Diego, and Monmouth in San Diego this weekend.  They'll have three series at home before starting conference play in mid March.  That's when the real schedule starts and when everyone will see if this team has the talent to make a run in the postseason.

Image courtesy ukathletics.com

Written by Ian | 24 February 2010

March Madness is upon us.  There is a daily buzz about teams that are on the bubble, teams that are a lock for the tournament, and teams that will have to win their conference championship to have a prayer at making the tournament (see North Carolina).  As we roll closer to tourney time, talk will start up about how many teams each conference will send to the Big Dance. 

Every year there are conferences that send over half their league to the tournament.  The Big East will likely send at least that many this year.  On the other side of the coin, there is always a conference that drags up the rear.  These dogs usually put three or four teams in, with those last couple being questionable choices.

You have to look far out to the West Coast to find this year's dog.  The Pac-10 conference has been terrible this year.  Quick, think of how many times you've heard the Pac-10 mentioned on national TV this year.  I'm guessing Game Day was the only time.  That's how awful the Pac-10 has been this year.

You can tell how good (or bad) a conference is by looking at their overall record in games played out of conference.  For example, the Big East leads the major six conferences with an 83.7% win percentage out of conference.  The Big 12 and ACC also have win percentages over 80% at 82.1% and 81.4%, respectively.  How has the Pac-10 fared out of conference?  They have have won a whopping 63.6% of the games they've played out of conference.

At first glance 63.6% doesn't look too poor.  That nearly equates to winning two of every three games, or going 20-10 for the season.  What you have to realize is that a large percentage of non-conference games are played against sub par competition in the way of mid majors.  For example, the conference leader California played such power houses as Murray State, Detroit, Jacksonville, Princeton, Pacific, Utah Valley University, and UC-Santa Barbara during non-conference play.  Not surprisingly, Cal went 7-0 in those games.  They went 1-4 in their other non-conference games.

What this means is that the Pac-10 is not very good overall.  In fact, they stand a good chance of only getting one team into the NCAA tournament.

So while the Pac-10 has been woeful this season, you might want to pay attention over the next two weeks.  With nearly every team heading into the conference tournament needing to win it all to make it to further postseason play, the Pac-10 tournament could actually be half way interesting.  Or you could waste a week watching poor basketball.  That's your choice, but I'll be watching the three weeks of Big East playoffs and seeing if Kentucky and Kansas can win their conference tournaments.

Written by Josh Cohron | 24 February 2010

You wouldn't think it, but we get hundreds (if not thousands) of emails a week from StadiumDrives.com readers. Some of them tell us how great we are, others how bad we are. Often, we'll get tips of stories. Sometimes, sites will even let us know that they stole our work, it was a hit on their site and thank us. Others just write in for advice or have questions about their life. I decided to give the old inbox a cleaning again and pick out some of the best (and worst) emails.* If you can't decipher our e-mail address from the sidebar and would like to send something in, send it to stadiumdrives at yahoo.com.

We broke up years ago. I moved away because of you. Please stop text messaging me. - (Name withheld) (Location withheld)

Why do these emails keep showing up in here?

Be honest with me, what did you think of my press conference last week? - T. Woods, Florida or Mississippi

I thought it was fine. You did what you wanted to do and cleared the air on some issues. What I don't get is the backlash about how you sounded like a robot during it. For years, what has everyone said about you? "Tiger's not human!" "Tiger's a machine out there!" Everyone thought you were a robot when you were playing golf, but when you're speaking you're supposed to be human? That's quite the double-standard. And, last time I checked, being a good public speaker isn't a prerequisite for being a good golfer.

Does anyone know what the hell AJ Ogilvy was yelling about after getting an and-one the other night against Kentucky? - The Buffalo, So Ill

That's a great question. Here are a few possibilities:

• "Why is One Tree Hill not showing a new episode on Monday night?!?"
• "I used too much hydrogen peroxide and my scalp is (expletive) burning, mate!"
• "The shot I'm going to take at the end of this game is going to be super gay!!!"

Click "Read More" or AJ Ogilvy will yell at you.

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Written by Gage | 23 February 2010

If you're one of the five people who've read my posts so far here on Stadium Drives (hi mom!), you might have noticed the occasional soccer reference. The truth is, I'm completely obsessed with the game. But, at the same time I'm relatively new to the whole thing. World Cup 2006 got me on board and I've been scouring message boards and comment threads ever since. I've learned a lot in the past four years, and it seems only appropriate to pass on my knowledge. And if I get called queer by Cohron a few times in the process, so be it.

In case you didn't know, the World Cup is less than four months away. I'm so excited I just peed a little bit writing that last sentence. With this, my first post in a series leading up to the Cup I'm going to answer some questions from the SD crew.

Why does everybody care so much about the national teams? (me) Good question, Gage! Those of you with Olympic fever (get well soon) don't need an explanation here, but it comes down to is national pride and tradition. Soccer was invented in the 19th century in England and some of the very first organized matches were between England and Scotland, so it goes way back. The one other factor that I really love is how none of my favorite players can ever change teams. Money dominates soccer in the leagues and players change teams constantly. But, your favorite countrymen can't and never will never play for a rival country. So, when Landon Donovan takes a leak on the field in Mexico, you know he means it.

Does the USA have a legitimate chance of winning?
No, nope, not a chance. If you can't get over that, you're not going to be able to enjoy the World Cup. I certainly hope I'm wrong, but the US team is improving every year, but still not quite ready to challenge for the title. In future posts the line I'll get into the players, strengths and weaknesses to make it more clear.

Okay, besides USA, who else should I root for? (mlb)

(Click Read More..)

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Written by Jason Brubaker | 19 February 2010

It's no wonder Tiger Woods has mystified his fellow golfers for so long on the course. The guy is harder to read than a 75-foot downhill putt.

To be fair, I don't know what I expected out of Tiger's Friday press conference. But I don't think I expected to feel an contradictory mix of both sympathy and cynicism for a man who literally turned the sports world on its ear three months ago.

Now in the realm of sports apologies, it certainly wasn't the worst. Tiger owned up to his mistakes, never blaming anyone but himself for his infidelity. He used the words "I'm sorry" repeatedly, apologizing to everyone from his family to his sponsors to his fans. He admitted he felt entitled by his fame and fortune, and confided in the gathered audience that he felt like the normal rules of society didn't apply to him, a refreshingly honest admission by an athlete in today's world.

Yet, despite all of this, there was still a voice in the back of my head, wondering "Is this real?" Perhaps its the cynic in me that has grown jaded from years of watching athletes and celebrities abuse the rules and then have their secretary or lawyer issue a press release to explain their behavior. But the entire time I listened to Tiger, I never believed that he was ready to fully embrace the consequences of his actions.

Of course, my doubts started with the press conference itself, which was essentially a handpicked group of media members and supporters, none of whom were permitted questions. This enabled Tiger to say what he wanted, without being sidetracked by inquiries or details that may have conflicted with his story. Thus, he comes off as apologetic, without really releasing any information that wasn't carefully planned and plotted out long before. If he truly wanted to clear the air and put this issue to rest, he failed miserably. When you go to great lengths to control the information released, it implies that there is information you don't want to be released, which only enhances the speculation about what it could be.

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Written by Josh Cohron | 19 February 2010

FWP (Fearless Weekend Predictions) is a (hopefully) weekly post that we used to run at our old site every Friday after college football season. It gives one of your favorite StadiumDrives writers a chance to look into the crystal ball, or the bottom of a beer bottle, to see what the forthcoming weekend holds. It's also another post that will utilize the efficiency of bullet points. As always, please take all picks as novelty and do not gamble your rent check on them, unless you feel really strongly about a certain one.

The UK Wildcats travel to Nashville tomorrow to play Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium (not to be confused with Memorial Coliseum in Lexington where the Wildcats used to practice). Vanderbilt is home to a bunch of nerds who now think they are cool because everyone else at the school was a nerd in high school as well. You should really visit there sometime to see them "tailgate" before a football game. Imagine lots of pastel-colored shorts, lots of crocheted belts and many bar hats. For the most part, the girls aren't attractive (except you baby... you know who you are), but might be worth baby-trapping because they'll probably be rich later in life. Plus, if they're at Vandy, daddy probably has some money. Alas, I digress. I don't mean to rip on nerds, I mean to rip on Vandy's ridiculous gym setup. I used to run a youth basketball league. For kids ages 6-9, we would play cross-court, so we could have two games going on at once. Because of this, we would set up the team benches under the goals for space reasons. If you've ever seen a game played at Vanderbilt, you also know that Vanderbilt also sets up the benches under the goals. Do you see what you've done, Vandy? You have set up your gym to resemble a mediocre youth basketball league run by a hungover 22 year-old college kid. Is this what Cornelius Vanderbilt had in mind when he started your university? Is it? Is it??? Put your benches on the side of the court like everyone else in the world and come back and talk to me. Now, I'll tell you what the weekend holds.

• People will strangely be drawn to watch the Winter Olympics. I don't know what it is, but people love them. I have maybe watched 4 minutes combined and was bored out of my mind. Maybe it has to do with the white glare off the TV from the snow/ice. I just flipped the channel to see Russians and Americans deep in a curling battle. Please tell me how this is entertainment. Nevermind, just found a hot Russian curler. I'm hooked. (Sidenote: There are timeouts in curling? What the hell?)
• Tiger Woods will be the focus of the national media. Was the best game of the NBA season played last night? Yes it was. Are there tons of great college basketball games being played all weekend long? Yes there are. Are pitchers and catchers reporting right now? Absolutely. But, we'll be focused on a guy who hasn't participated in his sport in months, gave us no new information today and sounded like a robot for 13 minutes. Sounds like a plan. I'd be more interested if the Perkin's hostess had a press conference.
• Purdue, Tennessee and North Carolina will all win. Purdue is playing as well as anyone in the country, just ask Gage. Also, Illinois just isn't very good. Tennessee appeared to have South Carolina's number when they played in Knoxville and as well as Devan Downey scores, I don't think he can erase 26 points. North Carolina will be helped by the return of Tyler Zeller, although he would help more if he could play point guard. They'll be helped more by the fact that Boston College isn't very good.
• Josh Howard will become the hero of some. ESPN has a story that Josh Howard sat out a Mavs game last month because of a hangover. Let's face the facts, most of us have called in to work or skipped class because we had a few too many the night before. I've even sat out a rec-league basketball game because things got wild the night before. Lots of people will crucify Howard for his reasoning. I know a few people around these parts that will like him just a little bit more.
• You will remember how hot Jen Lindley from Dawson's Creek is. She appears to be the leading lady in Shutter Island which opens this weekend. Remember her in Dawson's Creek? She was super hot at the beginning of the show, got really unattractive towards the end and then got really hot again after the show ended? This picture was obviously taken in one of her hot stages. But, she's not even the biggest star of the movie, and neither is Leonardo DiCaprio. Jackie Earle Haley is in the movie!!! Kelly Leak from The Bad News Bears!!! Kelly Leak is an all-time movie character. How about when he goes to the fitness class and starts hitting on all the cougars? "I got a Harley Davidson. Does that turn you on? Harley Davidson?"
• Vandy will beat UK. I know. I'm not happy about it either. I already detailed the stupid gym setup in Nashville. Kentucky has a young team that needs to be coached on both ends of the floor. I predict they struggle on offense in the first half and defense in the second half. You know, when Cal will have to pull a Bruce Pearl and walk to the free throw line to try and yell down at his team. Vanderbilt isn't awful and they play really well at home.UK seems ripe to get beaten before they (hopefully) make a run at the end of the season. They'll fare better for the rest of the season, because the NCAA Tournament doesn't have any venues that have their gyms set up like that. What the hell, Vandy 79 UK 75.

Written by Ian | 18 February 2010

Turn on ESPN any night and you will hear "expert" analysis on college basketball.  These analysts repeat many phrases over the year.  They talk about how certain teams rebound well, some teams shoot the three well, and quirky teams seem to do all the little things.  What they always seem to come back to, when doing general analysis, is how hard it is to win on the road.  In particular, this talk reaches a fever pitch during conference season.  The question remains, is it really that hard to win on the road in conference?

Our eyes tell us yes.  We watch our favorite team lose to a less talented team on the road, and everything we've heard on the analyst's shows rings true.  We lose a bet when a sub-par team holds serve at home against a quality team.  We're continually bombarded by talk of road victories being very hard to come by, but we have to be careful when listening to our eyes some times.

The bottom line: is it all true?  Well, fortunately we can look at the numbers and make a reasonable argument one way or another.  To do this, we'll look at the conference home records of the six major (BCS) conferences for the 2009-2010 season (through 02/17).  Here are the home winning percentages, by conference, for the season thus far.

Conf	Home W	Home L	Home Win %
ACC	48	21	69.57%
Big East	67	37	64.42%
Big 10	42	31	57.53%
Big 12	44	22	66.67%
PAC 10	44	19	69.84%
SEC	44	20	68.75%

In this case, the statistics tell all.  Looking at the home win percentages we see that five of the six major conferences are right at, or above, 65% in home winning percentage.  This says in a college season that sees about 8 conference games at home, the average team can expect to go 5-3 or 6-2 in these contests.  That's a pretty solid figure, and it says that it is truly difficult to win on the road.

It is interesting that the Big Ten stands out with the 58% home winning percentage.  What does this say about the Big Ten?  Well, the teams are, on average, pretty evenly matched.  In addition, watching one Big Ten game is like watching every Big Ten game all season.  The pace of play in Big Ten games is typically slow, grind-it-out type play.  Case in point, Wisconsin-Minnesota is on in the background and the score is 14-8 with 12 minutes to go in the first half.  If that held up, there would be a 47-27 finish.  Yes, I know that's a ridiculous leap to make, but most of the Big Ten games you see are played in the low to mid 60's.  This results in games that are close at the end, allowing a road team to make a couple of key shots, or get a couple of key stops, and escape with a victory.

The analysts seem to be right this time.  In the major six NCAA basketball conferences, the home teams have a combined 65.8% win percentage at home in conference.  With over 400 games played, we can assume this is a significant statistical figure.  If you bet the home team to win every conference match up you could expect to win two of every three bets you make.  More importantly, what this really tells us is that when your team goes on the road an secures a win in January and February it should be a cause for celebration, no matter the opponent.

Written by Josh Cohron | 18 February 2010

You wouldn't think it, but we get hundreds (if not thousands) of emails a week from StadiumDrives.com readers. Some of them tell us how great we are, others how bad we are. Often, we'll get tips of stories. Sometimes, sites will even let us know that they stole our work, it was a hit on their site and thank us. Others just write in for advice or have questions about their life. I decided to give the old inbox a cleaning and pick out some of the best (and worst) emails.*

Do you not get the message? I haven't called or texted you back in months. Please, for the love of everything that is good and holy, leave me the (expletive) alone. - (Name withheld) (Location irrelevant)

Oh... um, how did that get in there? Moving on.

Some of my friends keep telling me I'm cheating at Words With Friends because I use websites that tell me big words to play and tell me where to play the move. I'm not cheating. I can't cheat... I'm a man of the cloth! - Richard G., Lexington, KY

Look, Mr. Minister, you are cheating. It must be your incessant need to never lose that's making you cheat, but if you use anything other than your own mind to get a word, you're cheating. Sure, Words With Friends lets some very questionable words in play, but those are the rules. At the very least, we can live by an honor system that we won't use the internet to aid us. Also, while we're on the subject, here's a little Words With Friends etiquette. If you make the last move in a game, you automatically start the new game. If you won the previous game, you let the loser go first, it's just the right thing to do. Don't be the guy who beats the hell out of someone and then takes the Double Word score on your first play. That's just not nice, especially if you're a man of the cloth.

The refs stole the gam from us! I through a Coke at one of em and almost got him! (Expletive) the Wildcats and (same expletive) Demarkus Cusins! - Randy Randall, Starkville, MS

Good job! For your next trick, you should do the world a favor and throw a full bottle of Coke at your penis as hard as you can. Keep doing this until you pass out from the pain. Hopefully at that point, you will have done enough damage so that you can't ever have children and there will be one less mouthbreather in the world.

More emails if you follow along after the jump.

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