AI

Charlie was 2-0 starting for us last season. We'll be fine for a few games. Our schedule is brutal, but that's what you get for being the champs. We'll be right there in the thick of it and I think we'll win the division. Tomorrow night is going to be interesting. Heinz field is going to be ROCKING.

Just in case anyone forgot... http://www.photofile.com/Photos/Albums/SuperBowl40_06/06SteelersSBowlXL_Champs.jpg

In his first season at USC, he beat Tennessee and Florida and was a missed extra point away from a tie game against Georgia. This with inferior talent left over from the Holtz era. Competing against those teams year in and year out will is difficult to be sure, but we're already competing with them and we're only in year 1+ of the Spurrier era.

Stop antagonizing them, it will just make it worse around here :wink: Ok now what is up with Lee Corso saying SC wont win a SEC title under Spurrier? This is absurd to be so sure that it wont happen. Florida wasnt the powerhouse they were until he got there and installed that offense. He can coach, recruit and stay out of trouble. Hell even Lou Holtz had a really good season and Spurrier is twice the coach he is. Speaking of Lou Holtz he is a complete ass on television. He constantly belittles Mark May and dribbles all over himself when he talks. Mark May needs to pile drive that POS into the newsdesk. Trev Alberts was in self love with himself but he at least made me laugh. I think its fair to say that our history is not the envy of college football. But how anyone can definitively say that Spurrier can't win the conference at USC is ridiculous. He's already recruiting well and has assembled a top notch coaching staff. He just donated $250,000 to our athletic department and he is pushing for the donations to improve our facilities. As for Corso in general, he's a pot-stirrer. That's it. If the guy really knew what he was talking about he might still be coaching. Lou Holtz is thoroughly unwatchable, just like our team under his direction in his last two seasons.

I'm with you on the "ND hype machine." I'm getting sick of it. The crazy part about it, to me, is that I think Charley Weis is going to make them a power. His recruiting is off the charts, he's an excellent game-planner, and a good game coach. Its just absurd that they are putting the cart way before the horse. How about we wait until he makes them great, THEN the national media can fawn all over them.

Cal was embarrassing providing further evidence that the SEC is the best conference in football and that the Pac-10 is USC and some other teams. Tennessee looked scarily good after laying a total egg last season. I am sure Phat Phil be looking forward to his trip to Columbia this season and another showdown with Darth Visor. As for the total lovefest with ND, Ga Tech is a one-man offense, Calvin Johnson. Ball was his usual underwhelming self. I don't know how ND fans take a lot out of that game. I do know this, ND is not the second best team in the nation. I hope Penn State waxes them next week so that we can stop this absurd ND hype machine. They are a good team, but its getting ridiculous.

SEC games are the best to watch, though I love most all the college football games. If the SEC and Big Ten didnt play at the same time id watch more SEC games. I cant stand to watch the pac 10 on saturday night. The SEC saturday night games are usually pretty damn good so ill catch a couple of those games. Its about time the Big Ten adopted some saturday night football this year. I am looking forward to seeing what the Big House looks like after the renovation. Its about time they updated it. There's nothing like a primetime SEC matchup on a Saturday night, Florida/Tennessee, LSU/Auburn, etc. Nothing better. :D Lets not forget SC/GA next Saturday. Back to back national TV appearances to open the season sounds good to me. Can't disagree with that. Almost any game in the SEC is better than watching the Pac 10, Big East, or even the Big 12, for that matter. Big 10 then SEC. I would put those 2 above any other conference, in that order. Are you drunk? ;) Its the SEC and then everyone else, though this year the Big Ten is a solid second.

SEC games are the best to watch, though I love most all the college football games. If the SEC and Big Ten didnt play at the same time id watch more SEC games. I cant stand to watch the pac 10 on saturday night. The SEC saturday night games are usually pretty damn good so ill catch a couple of those games. Its about time the Big Ten adopted some saturday night football this year. I am looking forward to seeing what the Big House looks like after the renovation. Its about time they updated it. There's nothing like a primetime SEC matchup on a Saturday night, Florida/Tennessee, LSU/Auburn, etc. Nothing better. :D Lets not forget SC/GA next Saturday. Back to back national TV appearances to open the season sounds good to me.

I absolutely cannot wait for tomorrow night. Season 2 of the Spurrier Era begins. Spurrier has many offensive weapons to with which to scheme. The problem for the Gamecocks will undoubtedly be the defense which features 10 new starters. They are a talented, aggressive young group, but horribly inexperienced and sure to experience a few bumps in the road. That being said, I predict a Carolina victory, 31-21. Go [expletive]. http://images.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/_photos/2005-09-01-inside-spurrier.jpg

The Iowa Cubs did what no team has been able to do in quite some time, rack an Oklahoma starter. Those guys have been pitching lights out since the beginning of the month.

How did Matt Kemp and Delwyn Young look for Las Vegas? You can tell Kemp is a stud. Great balance, protects well with two strikes, good recognition of the strike zone. That being said, RedHawk pitching absolutely ate his lunch in the series. (Tip of the cap to the Redhawk pitching coach, my wife's dad). I think he had one or two hits in the four game set, and maybe drew a walk or two. He came up a bunch of times with ducks on the pond, but couldn't do a thing. If you can the ball at the knees and inside, he was guaranteed to pound it into the ground. On defense, Kemp was not particularly graceful in center field. He has decent speed, but he's a bulky guy and I was surprised to see him out there. He did not seem to be having an easy time, even on the routine plays. Delwyn Young probably had better numbers on the weekend, but did not as solid a prospect as Kemp. I did focus a lot more on Kemp's at bats than Young's.

I just spent four days out in Oklahoma City watching the RedHawks (Rangers AAA team) play Las Vegas (Dodgers AAA team). The Hawks were fresh off a roadie that taxed the bullpen so they were forced to use position players at the end of the game. Their position player "pitchers" threw 3 scoreless innings keeping in the game. Second baseman Adam Morrissey got the win. The best part about it was those three innings were the start of a 30 inning scoreless streak for the Hawks.

It is a damn shame to waste such an amazing facility. Its a great place to watch a game, though I might be a bit biased.

Shawn Hillegas

Fair enough. Honestly I was surprised when I took a deeper look at his numbers. I strongly advocated the argument in the Emmit Smith thread that longevity did not make Smith the best, so it would be a bit disingenuous for me to then say that its Bettis' reason for greatness. That being said, he's still a HOF in my book. I've never seen a 250+ (emphasis on the + in recent years) move like that. What balance he had. Clearly he was able to hang on longer because the Steelers had a perfect role for him (and he was willing to take less money). As for Urlacher, I've watched him play a ton and IN MY OPINION, he still gets single blocked too easily. Bettis being a media friendly guy certainly helped his perception as a player, but I think the same can be said for Urlacher. He's got plenty of time to prove the doubters wrong so we'll see.

watch the highlight. faneca never pushes bettis. he barely makes any contact as he's falling down. urlacher tried to go high and got plowed. plain and simple. certainly that one play does not make bettis a better football player. i never said that. i was having some fun with the bears fans until you took umbrage.

and Ozzie Smith was voted in, I think unanimously, to the baseball hall-of-fame. I'm sure you'll find plenty of people waxing poetic during Urlachers swan song with claims of first ballot hall-of-famer. but Brian didn't bowl and love his momma as much, so maybe he won't make it. Have you ever made a post that wasn't filled with bitterness?

Its okay, we all know Urlacher is a far superior athlete to Bettis :) Athlete yes. Football player no. Urlacher will be the better player when all is said in done. Let's be honest, Bettis averaged 3.9 YPC for the course of his carreer. That's awful. Bettis has been over since 1997. He had 3 "great" years surrounded by 10 mediocre ones. Ridiculous. Urlacher is good, to be sure, but better than the fifth all time leading rusher? Bettis didn't look very mediocre plowing Urlacher's overrated ass into the end zone. I don't see Urlacher getting a ton better than he is now, which is good, but not great and in my opinion, overrated. 3.9 ypc for his career. There is only one word for that: bad. The guy never ran for over 1500 yards in his career and only had 3 good seasons. The rest of his seasons were littered with very marginal play. 5th all time leading rusher doesn't mean that he was a great player it means he played for a long time. He averaged 1050 yards a season for god sakes. Bettis doesn't disserve to sniff the Hall of Fame. He is probably one of the most overrated player of the last 20 years. He'll make it in because of his overhyped persona as "the bus" and because of the plethora of yards he gained a tiny little bit at a time. Urlacher has been the best player on his side of the ball in the NFL (2005 Defensive MVP) Bettis hasn't. Oh yeah, but that one play, pretty sweet! I feel that Urlacher is as overrated as you feel Bettis is. Peter King, who I'd venture to say knows a little more about football than both of us, called Bettis a first ballot hall of famer. We'll see if Urlacher gets there. Oh, and Bettis rushed for 1665 in 1997.

Its okay, we all know Urlacher is a far superior athlete to Bettis :) Athlete yes. Football player no. Urlacher will be the better player when all is said in done. Let's be honest, Bettis averaged 3.9 YPC for the course of his carreer. That's awful. Bettis has been over since 1997. He had 3 "great" years surrounded by 10 mediocre ones. Ridiculous. Urlacher is good, to be sure, but better than the fifth all time leading rusher? Bettis didn't look very mediocre plowing Urlacher's overrated ass into the end zone. I don't see Urlacher getting a ton better than he is now, which is good, but not great and in my opinion, overrated.

have you ever supported a team that won anything? ohio state. but they're a distant 3rd in teams i care about. My point by asking that was its good clean fun to rub it in a little and I'd venture a guess you had a little fun with OSU winning. I am South Carolina fan, so I know all about getting dumped on (not to mention the Cub thing).

have you ever supported a team that won anything?

Its okay, we all know Urlacher is a far superior athlete to Bettis :) Athlete yes. Football player no.

Whether Lovie or the rest of the fans cared, you guys got a good ol' fashion ass kicking in that game, complete with your superstar getting plowed into the end zone. I like to see the Bears do well, but that was an embarrassing effort. I thought my Dad was going to break something (he's a die hard Bears fan).

For all you Bears fans, courtesy of the champs... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m92llJyCsN4 and, an artist rendering... http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/6351/2005pitvchibettis21024water6ex.jpg

France was certainly playing better a good portion of the second half and the Italians looked tired, but I can't see how you can say the French deserved to win the match. For all that effort, they weren't able to put the ball in the net again. soccer's point is well taken that France was only able to score on a poorly awarded PK. Maybe in Zidane stays in the game, they score, but I don't think anyone can definitively state that. The Italians were deserving champions. They didn't allow an opposing player to score until Zidane's penalty strike.