dougdescenzo

I've heard that Sosa spent more time in the gym than any other player. So what? Have you ever known a steroid user? That's much of the point of steroids. You're able to workout hard for long periods of time but recover quicker and make gains that you can't make naturally. As far as his diet and economics, do you guys not realize how many players have come from the Dominican, Venezuela, etc. and grew up dirt poor? Seriously if you want to continue to believe Sosa didn't use, that's your own thing. But those are two of the stupidest excuses I've ever heard. Supposing Sosa never touched a weight before coming over to the U.S. and making it to the majors it's entirely possible that he could have gained over 20 pounds of lean muscle in his first year of lifting alone. Throw in 15 pounds the next year and say 10 the next that's 45 pounds of muscle mass in three years which is entirely possible for a first time lifter with good genetics and access to the best nutrition and legal supplements.

Has this point been touched on yet? It's not saying alot as I can't remember many big free agents the Padres have been in on, but it looks like Fukudome's going to get way more than he should.

Wow, totally didn't see that one coming. Arkansas comes out ahead of everyone this year in the coaching carousel contest.

Skip Bertman doesn't seem to think so. http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2007/12/lsu_athletic_director_even_bo.html

Oh, you're worse. Notre Dame only had one coach turn them down. Also, their wait between Losingham and Weis was 18 days and UM is now on their 19th with really no end in sight.

Did you forget about him getting a title that one year when that one thing happened down the left field line?

It's $135 plus fees. I'm not sure how much the Ticketmaster fees are. The cheapest I've found is StubHub and they have a few tickets at $398. Sideline tickets are going for $700 - $1000 per. Wow, that's a lot of money. What did they go for originally? $135 Yikes....I'm in the wrong business. I wonder what the hottest ticket is this bowl season. Rose is definitely the hottest ticket. It's usually the biggest of the BCS games barring some great matchup elsewhere. Additionally you've got USC who packs the place and Illinois who hasn't been there in 24 years. Flight/Hotel packages alone shot up about 50 bucks from Sunday-Monday. Weird, I've read on some other boards some USC fans don't think the game will even be sold out.

Beamer was the same way. Funny how that works...you have the people who it effects the most decide who goes. I like Tubberville's too. He doesn't rank USF but has Central Florida 25, I suppose beating his team 19th and CFlorida 64-12 isn't quite good enough. Beamer was actually very fair though. The only way for his team to make the natl champ game was to be above LSU in the poll and he put LSU #1 in his poll.

Haha wow, i missed that that's awesome.

All Missouri fans should just use Tommy Bowden's logic http://www.usatoday.com/sports/graphics/coaches_fb_poll_2007/flash.htm he has Oklahoma ranked 10th.......4 spots lower than Mizzou.

They had a decent argument but were ranked 12th in the BCS compared to ND's 10th and there was plenty of separation between them. ND was also 2 spots higher in the human polls. 2 spots isn't a huge margin. West Virginia's 2 losses were by 10 points at 11-1 Louisville and by 5 points at home to 8-4 South Florida. Notre Dame lost by 26 at home to 11-1 Michigan and by 20 points at 10-2 USC. WVU's losses are better than ND's and their wins are probably just as good. West Virginia finished 10th in the Sagarin rankings while Notre Dame was 21st though that was after the bowls so they were probably pretty close in that going into the bowls. Like I said, the two teams were pretty darn close and you could make a good argument for both teams and probably a slightly better argument for WVU. I said WVU had the best argument but the margin between ND and WVU last year wasn't really close. ND was at .6287 and WVU at .5073 in the final BCS standings, which should be significant since we're talking about inclusion into the BCS games after all. ND was only .0010 away from making it three spots difference. The computers had ND ranked 9th and WVU tied for 14th. The BCS standings and computer polls had ND ahead by a wide margin and the human polls had them ahead by 2 spots I don't see how the better argument sides with WVU.

They had a decent argument but were ranked 12th in the BCS compared to ND's 10th and there was plenty of separation between them. ND was also 2 spots higher in the human polls.

Please.....name me one single team that deserved the BCS game over ND either of the last two years, just one.

I understand that OSU didnt play the toughest schedule but they manhandled everyone except Illinois. LSU may have played a better schedule but probably should have lost a couple of more games. Just off the top of my head they very easily could have lost to Tennessee yesterday and Auburn and Florida. That the go along with the 2 losses they do have. If this wasnt going to be a home game for LSU I would pick OSU to win outright. It depends on how it plays out. If they show they are by far the better team then yes I will eat my words, but as was proven this year anything can happen in any football game. As for the manhandling point, how many games do you expect them to struggle in with that schedule? You can make a reasonable argument that they should have only struggled in two playing the slate they played.

Clutch will never be proven because it is impossible to define. It's basically just someones opinion whether something is clutch or not. A 2-out rbi single in the 5th against a pitcher who is dealing in a 0-0 game to me maybe clutch, but to someone else watching it isn't since it happened in June against the Orioles.

Let that be a lesson to any aspiring AD's out there.....Schedule an embarrassingly easy ooc slate and only lose once in the equivalent of the Mountain West Conference and you will be sitting in the national title game.

technically no, but their final game vs Michigan was for the title Right, but in every other conference they would have had to win that game plus another and look how that's working out for Missouri.

Why does OSU even get a free pass? They played a ridiculous schedule, lost at home, and didn't have to play in a conference champ. game.

Exactly......I'm a Notre Dame fan so it kills me to say this but who would USC be underdogs to at this point? Can you imagine if there was none of this BCS stuff and it was like the old days? January 1 would be full with about 5 meaningful bowl games and it would be beyond awesome.

If both WVU and Missouri lose I'd guess Ohio State would be the No. 1 team. They'll be unanimous or close to it in the Coaches Poll and probably in the Harris Poll which are 2/3 of the BCS. As for No. 2, who knows. Do you put Georgia in even though they didn't even make the SEC title game? What about LSU and USC? I don't see how anyone with half a brain could vote Virginia Tech over LSU considering what happened when the two teams played so I would have to assume that Va Tech has no chance of making the title game, and justifiably so. The justification is that Virginia Tech and LSU are completely different teams than the ones who played a long time ago now. Tech was starting a different quarterback then they are now, and LSU's defense was playing so well back in week 2. LSU hasn't looked like that team in a couple of months now, and voters may take that into account. It may not be right, but how you're playing at the end of the year counts for a lot. Besides, history has proven that head to head doesn't mean much in selecting that second team, and 2001 is a great example of that. LSU won that game 48-7. Va Tech played E. Carolina, William and Mary, Ohio University, and a weak ACC. Both of LSU's losses came in triple overtime. I really don't think there is any justification.

First ballot? Really? He was solid for a long time and still put up great numbers into his 40's (steroids, anyone) but imo first ballot is really stretching it. Raines has more career value than McGwire, according to WARP3... and not by a slim margin. Rock is a first ballot HoF, even if nobody noticed it. He never finished higher than fifth in the mvp voting. He led his league once in batting average, twice in runs, but never led the league in hits, ops, hr's, or rbi. He wasn't particularly good in the postseason. The only hall of fame statistic he really has is his stolen bases. You also can't ignore his off-field problems as integrity and character are components of the vote. Combine all of that and he's a hall-of-famer maybe, but definitely not on his first try. MVP votes mean absolutely nothing, first off. Let's face it, the voters never get it right... hell, they've made a mess out of the vote pretty much every year in recent memory. As for the rest of Rock's accomplishments... 7 time all star Led the league in OBP once, placed in the top six an additional six times. Top ten in OPS four times, including a 2nd place finish. Top ten in runs 9 times, including two first place finishes, and two second place finishes. Ranked 46th all-time in his career for runs. Ranked 68th all-time in his career for hits. Ranked 100th all-time for total bases. Top ten finish in triples 9 times. Ranked 33rd all-time in walks. Ranked 5th all-time in steals. Top ten finish 11 times, including four times leading the league. Ranked 51st all-time in runs created. People always compare Rock to Rickey, since they were direct contemporaries. That's really not fair, seeing as how Rickey is a slam-dunk HoF player. Only a handful of players in history are gonna hold up to his standard. But when you compare Rock to all the other players in history, he definately belongs in the Hall. You're criticizing me for using mvp voting and then you use all-star game appearances. I guess I have a higher standard for guys getting in on their first try. You said yourself that Rickey is a slam dunk and Rock doesn't even compare, yet they're going into the same hall. I think the way to separate the "levels" of players is whether or not they got in on their first ballot. Rock scores lower than the average hall of famer using Bill James' HOF Standards and his HOF Monitor, couple that with his propensity to use blow and I just don't see any validation for him getting in this year.

First ballot? Really? He was solid for a long time and still put up great numbers into his 40's (steroids, anyone) but imo first ballot is really stretching it. Raines has more career value than McGwire, according to WARP3... and not by a slim margin. Rock is a first ballot HoF, even if nobody noticed it. He never finished higher than fifth in the mvp voting. He led his league once in batting average, twice in runs, but never led the league in hits, ops, hr's, or rbi. He wasn't particularly good in the postseason. The only hall of fame statistic he really has is his stolen bases. You also can't ignore his off-field problems as integrity and character are components of the vote. Combine all of that and he's a hall-of-famer maybe, but definitely not on his first try.

First ballot? Really? He was solid for a long time and still put up great numbers into his 40's (steroids, anyone) but imo first ballot is really stretching it.

Notre Dame has been killing UM in head to head recruiting this year so it doesn't surprise me they would make up anything to try to sway some of the recruits. Les Miles will take the Michigan job and Bo Pelini will step in at LSU. Yeah and independant blogger would be making up information about his sources as a way to sway recruits. Killing Michigan in recruiting is just as outrageous. UM has a top 10 class according to Rivals and top 5 according to Scout.com. If thats getting killed then i wonder what the other 110 teams in college feel like. Why wouldn't he? He's been wrong a bunch of times yet people still post his stuff. All it takes is one major news organization to pick up on this rumor and it gains life. If he's dead wrong, it's just another time that that's been the case. Also notice I said Notre Dame has been killing them in head to head recruiting. Of the 15 players on scout that showed offers from both Notre Dame and Michigan, Notre Dame got 14 of them. I'd say that's getting killed.

Notre Dame has been killing UM in head to head recruiting this year so it doesn't surprise me they would make up anything to try to sway some of the recruits. Les Miles will take the Michigan job and Bo Pelini will step in at LSU.