To me, this is the most intriguing matchup the county championship game could ask for. Anything less would not be representing the best two teams in the county. These two clearly are. Saint Joe's is coming into the game with a 2007 Patriots (gulp) record of 18-0 in conference play and 21-4 overall. They ahve only 2 in-state losses to the 3rd and 5th best teams in St. Anthony and Plainfield and those are the only 2 games they've lost in 2 months. Monroe comes into the game with a 13-1 record (their only loss being to New Brunswick by 2 in the beginning of January.) Their other 2 losses came to Ridge and Brick Memorial. One of the interesting stories to go along with this game is that the head coaches of both teams, Bob and Dave Turco are brothers. They have never faced each other as head coaches so it will be interesting to see who can go 1-0 against the other. These two teams have been two of the more dominant teams over the past few years so it is surprising to see that this is only the first time they're meeting, but it should be a great game.
Although Born Power Index has us as a 3.5 underdog, I really don't see us as one. We have a couple things heavily leaning in our direction. The first is that we've been here back to back years and this is our third time in a row. Normally if you have 3 chances in a row, unless you're the 1990's Buffalo Bills, you'll win one of the three times. We were just outmatched last year but as I make mention in one of my earlier blogs, the Cardinal McCarrick game 2 years ago was bullshit. It was the worst officiated game I've ever seen. There was so many out of bounds against McCarrick they didn't call and these absurdly ticky-tack fouls called against us that McCarrick never got. It was a HORRIBLY officiated game so I'm really hoping that this year's the year we get our first county title since back with Jay Williams at the end of the 1990's. Another thing in our favor is that this is Monroe's first county championship game so obviously that should be a advantage to Joe's because they're more used to the big games. St. Joe's also has a more veteran team than Monroe. Obviously, both teams have a few seniors like Steve Rennard, Ken Pace, Andrew Morgan, Tim Brix, Blake Bascom, etc., but Monroe uses a lot more younger players than we do such as Ahmid Williams and Danny Brix, so it will be interesting how they fare against our juniors who play. I think defensively we could have a good day as well because in the couple games I've seen Monroe play, they don't look great offensively. They were much better than New Brunswick in the game they played and almost coughed up a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter vs. Sayreville the other night. Their offense does look stagnant at times which is why I like our chances to win this game. Another reason why I like our chances is plain and simpe, we have played like shit our last 2 games. We limped out of the starting game vs. Cardinal McCarrick before outscoring them 52-29 the rest of the game after falling behind early 20-7. Then we played close with Spotswood. After they had a 6-0 run to take the lead back at 38-37, we went on a 11-0 run of our own over the final 6:22 to win 48-38. One of these games, we are going to play great, because we are due to have one. Both of the last 2 games are as sloppy a basketball game as you're ever going to see. Monroe, on the other hand, as besides the scare of Wednesday night has destroyed their competition in the prior 3 rounds of this tournament. It should be a great game and I expect the game to go down to the wire with Quenton DeCosey and Rob Ashamole to make the difference for Joe's and guys like Danny Brix and Ahmid Williams to make the difference for Monroe. In the end, I expect Steve to pull this one out and finally establish himself as one of St. Joe's elite. As I said in another one of my blogs, you can't be considered one of a program's best players without walkin away with a county, sectional or state tournament victory. Today I think he gets it done and hopefully fine tunes us for an even tougher matchup Friday night against CBA.
#1 St. Joe's+3.5 over #2 Monroe by 5, 63-58
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
GMC Semis Preview
After going 2-2 in my predictions Sunday (Spotswood pulled off a shocker and my upset pick of North Brunswick didn't come through), it's to pick the semifinal games tonight in the GMC Tournament.
The first game of the two tonight should be a better game than the second one. It features the Monroe Falcons against the Sayreville Bombers. Both teams had very impressive wins on Sunday winning by about 20 points. Monroe has beaten Sayreville twice this season. The first time was a 68-62 overtime win at Monroe very early in the year, but Monroe had several players abnged up and starting point guard Ahmid Williams didn't play. I said it last year and the other day, but I've been impressed with how Sayreville has played in the games I've seen. I think they match up well defenisvely with Monroe and are capable of limiting them offensively. Sayreville is also one of the most balanced teams in the GMC. For example, in the game vs. North Brunswick the other day, Tarif Jackson was effective as the point, Mark Keir scored 21, and their two 6'4 players Dave Milewski and Daryl Stephenson combined for 23 points and 32 rebounds. Both teams have good bench play as well and that could be a telling storyline in tonight's game. Now looking at Monroe, they're a similar team to Sayreville because both teams are made up of a bunch of role-players who are all used to serve a particular purpose. Kenny Pace would be Monroe's go-to-guy but don't be surprised if Danny Brix, Tim Brix, Ahmid Williams,etc wind up making the big plays. Historically there's an upset in the GMC Semifinals, but I really don't see St. Joe's losing to Spotswood tonight. I think Sayreville is much more prime for an upset and as the Born Power Index spread shows, I'm probably right with thinking that. I think Sayreville's height will make a big difference in this game and I think Sayreville's got a little more experience than Monroe does. Sayreville has 5 seniors and 7 juniors. If they can limit Ken Pace, I really like their chances to pull of the upset and advance to the Championship game.
#6 Sayreville+4.5 over #2 Monroe by 3
The other game of the evening starts at 7:00 and that is the St. Joe's Falcons against the Spotswood Chargers. Spotswood sent waves through the GMC with their shocking win over East Brunswick on Sunday, who they were a 10 point underdog to according to BPI. It certainly didn't look it as they jumped out to a 44-28 lead with 6 minutes to go. However, East Brunswick had a furious comeback and cut it down to two before Spotswood finally was able to get a steal and lay it up and in for the win. St. Joe's has got to like the position they're in. They have more experience, talent, depth, and a better defense than Spotswood. They've played in (albeit lost) the last two GMC Championship games and players such as Steve Rennard, Rob Ashamole, Andrew Morgan, Eric Peterson and Nick Contino have all been a part of those two teams while Spotswood is 9-19 in the GMC Tournament all time and has never reached the final four. St. Joe's the other day got a scare early when Cardinal McCarrick jumped out to a 20-7 lead in a scene that was pretty close to the J.P. Stevens game last year, but they soon regained their composure and outscored Cardinal McCarrick 52-29 the rest of the way for a 59-49 win. I think an important thing to see in that game was St. Joe's ability to come back without Steve in the game. This could prove to be very important from here on out and especially in the CBA game. Personally to me, I feel Steve has to either win a county championship or beat CBA to establish himself as one of St. Joe's greats. Jay Williams walked out of Joe's winning two sectional and county titles and while Steve does have a respectable 3-3 in states, 2 of those 3 have come against CBA and the other loss was a bad one at the hands of Gloucester Catholic. I think Steve realizes this too and knows how important a win vs. CBA would be for St. Joe's. In general, I don't think you can be perceived as one of a program's greats if you don't win a championship of some sort, so at the very least a county title would add to Steve's legacy once he graduates this year to go on to play ball at University of Pennsylvania. Quenton DeCosey has come on strong with performances such as his 20 point, 17 rebound day on Sunday. Andrew Morgan has also proved to be capable of coming up with big time shots and can hit from anywhere on the floor. The rest of their players such as Eric Peterson, Nick Contino, Bobby O'Grady and Rob Ashamole are all guys that can step up at a moment's notice and really give the team a boost. I think the key to how far we go in counties and states is how well Quenton and Rob play. If they can have decent games and give Steve a couple extra options, I like our chances to make some noise. Spotswood has a lot of senior players such as Cody Pace, Mike Liming, Tyler Osofsky, Allen Kuiper, James and Tom Peretti which could bode well for them tonight and enable them to hang with St. Joe's. They also play hard and with a lot of heart which was shown on Sunday and at this point feel that they have nothing to lose which could help them play at ease and more relaxed which could improve their chances tonight. In the end, I'm still sticking with Joe's.
#1 St. Joe's-11 over #5 Spotswood by 18
Hope you enjoyed my preview and I'll be back on Friday to preview the championship and hopefully Joe's will be there and finally get me a county championship after how long I've helped them out. Even if we lose, I'll gladly take a win vs. CBA in an elimination game instead lol. Good luck to the 4 teams remaining.
The first game of the two tonight should be a better game than the second one. It features the Monroe Falcons against the Sayreville Bombers. Both teams had very impressive wins on Sunday winning by about 20 points. Monroe has beaten Sayreville twice this season. The first time was a 68-62 overtime win at Monroe very early in the year, but Monroe had several players abnged up and starting point guard Ahmid Williams didn't play. I said it last year and the other day, but I've been impressed with how Sayreville has played in the games I've seen. I think they match up well defenisvely with Monroe and are capable of limiting them offensively. Sayreville is also one of the most balanced teams in the GMC. For example, in the game vs. North Brunswick the other day, Tarif Jackson was effective as the point, Mark Keir scored 21, and their two 6'4 players Dave Milewski and Daryl Stephenson combined for 23 points and 32 rebounds. Both teams have good bench play as well and that could be a telling storyline in tonight's game. Now looking at Monroe, they're a similar team to Sayreville because both teams are made up of a bunch of role-players who are all used to serve a particular purpose. Kenny Pace would be Monroe's go-to-guy but don't be surprised if Danny Brix, Tim Brix, Ahmid Williams,etc wind up making the big plays. Historically there's an upset in the GMC Semifinals, but I really don't see St. Joe's losing to Spotswood tonight. I think Sayreville is much more prime for an upset and as the Born Power Index spread shows, I'm probably right with thinking that. I think Sayreville's height will make a big difference in this game and I think Sayreville's got a little more experience than Monroe does. Sayreville has 5 seniors and 7 juniors. If they can limit Ken Pace, I really like their chances to pull of the upset and advance to the Championship game.
#6 Sayreville+4.5 over #2 Monroe by 3
The other game of the evening starts at 7:00 and that is the St. Joe's Falcons against the Spotswood Chargers. Spotswood sent waves through the GMC with their shocking win over East Brunswick on Sunday, who they were a 10 point underdog to according to BPI. It certainly didn't look it as they jumped out to a 44-28 lead with 6 minutes to go. However, East Brunswick had a furious comeback and cut it down to two before Spotswood finally was able to get a steal and lay it up and in for the win. St. Joe's has got to like the position they're in. They have more experience, talent, depth, and a better defense than Spotswood. They've played in (albeit lost) the last two GMC Championship games and players such as Steve Rennard, Rob Ashamole, Andrew Morgan, Eric Peterson and Nick Contino have all been a part of those two teams while Spotswood is 9-19 in the GMC Tournament all time and has never reached the final four. St. Joe's the other day got a scare early when Cardinal McCarrick jumped out to a 20-7 lead in a scene that was pretty close to the J.P. Stevens game last year, but they soon regained their composure and outscored Cardinal McCarrick 52-29 the rest of the way for a 59-49 win. I think an important thing to see in that game was St. Joe's ability to come back without Steve in the game. This could prove to be very important from here on out and especially in the CBA game. Personally to me, I feel Steve has to either win a county championship or beat CBA to establish himself as one of St. Joe's greats. Jay Williams walked out of Joe's winning two sectional and county titles and while Steve does have a respectable 3-3 in states, 2 of those 3 have come against CBA and the other loss was a bad one at the hands of Gloucester Catholic. I think Steve realizes this too and knows how important a win vs. CBA would be for St. Joe's. In general, I don't think you can be perceived as one of a program's greats if you don't win a championship of some sort, so at the very least a county title would add to Steve's legacy once he graduates this year to go on to play ball at University of Pennsylvania. Quenton DeCosey has come on strong with performances such as his 20 point, 17 rebound day on Sunday. Andrew Morgan has also proved to be capable of coming up with big time shots and can hit from anywhere on the floor. The rest of their players such as Eric Peterson, Nick Contino, Bobby O'Grady and Rob Ashamole are all guys that can step up at a moment's notice and really give the team a boost. I think the key to how far we go in counties and states is how well Quenton and Rob play. If they can have decent games and give Steve a couple extra options, I like our chances to make some noise. Spotswood has a lot of senior players such as Cody Pace, Mike Liming, Tyler Osofsky, Allen Kuiper, James and Tom Peretti which could bode well for them tonight and enable them to hang with St. Joe's. They also play hard and with a lot of heart which was shown on Sunday and at this point feel that they have nothing to lose which could help them play at ease and more relaxed which could improve their chances tonight. In the end, I'm still sticking with Joe's.
#1 St. Joe's-11 over #5 Spotswood by 18
Hope you enjoyed my preview and I'll be back on Friday to preview the championship and hopefully Joe's will be there and finally get me a county championship after how long I've helped them out. Even if we lose, I'll gladly take a win vs. CBA in an elimination game instead lol. Good luck to the 4 teams remaining.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
GMC's Super Sunday
Today is undoubtedly the best day for Middlesex County basketball each year. The remaining 8 teams in the tournament all take the court at Middlesex County College to dwindle the field down to the final 4. If it was up to me, I think this round should still be on the higher seeds court. It is a great advantage to lower seeds to have them playing at neutral sites rather than the higher seeds court. I think they should start doing the neutral court with four teams left, not eight. My high school has been involved in some great games in the past at Middlesex County College such as the Bishop Ahr Overtime game a couple years ago, or the ferocious comeback last year against J.P. Stevens who looked like they were going to beat us for a long time last year. Each of the four games looks to be pretty good and anything can happen on a neutral site. Here are my predictions(the +/-'s indicate the spreads according to Born Power index).
#1 St. Joe's-12 over #9 Cardinal McCarrick by 15
I think Cardinal McCarrick will be able to hang with Joe's in the first half, but I think Joe's will be too much for them to hang with for the entire game. McCarrick does not have a good enough defense to shut us down for 32 minutes. They like to score points and so do we. That's what's traditionally been good with St. Joe's. They've usually been a defense first team but have shown to hold their own on offense too in games like the Red Bank Catholic game last year. They also don't have the team they had two years ago or even last year. Mike Burwell and Julio Rosario are gone which should make things go much smoother for Joe's. By most acccounts, we should've won the county title two years ago if the reffing weren't so blatantly biased. That was easily the worst game I've ever seen reffed. We got screwed of a county title, plain and simple. That was with both Burwell and Rosario. Last year we made amends for that loss and took care of McCarrick with Rosario fairly easily. Now with both of them gone, it should be even easier, but McCarrick has played well against good teams this year but have still struggled and are now 13-9 or so which is deceiving because they're a better team than that and if Joe's isn't careful they could get beat.
#4 East Brunswick-11 over #5 Spotswood by 10
This is another game for the GMC Red to make a statement. With Bishop Ahr's loss, Spotswood is the lone team remaining from the GMC Blue. Spotswood is very new to this. This is the first time they have ever made it to the final eight, which is why I expect that East Brunswick will be too much for them. East Brunswick is loaded with seniors and is extremely deep playing about 11-12 guys a game. They are fundamentally sound and will be a tough team to beat today and in states. Spotswood also has a lot of seniors, but I think the Red is much stronger than the Blue and think that East Brunswick's big game experience will help them pull this one out.
#2 Monroe-14 over #7 New Brunswick by 15
The other side of the bracket is a GMC White division affair with all 4 teams belonging to it. Regardless of what happens today, the White will walk out of this round with at least 2 teams in the Semis, 3 if McCarrick beats St. Joe's which is very impressive. While New Brunswick has proven to be solid, Monroe has shown that they're in the arguement with St. Joe's for best team in the GMC. I expect this game will be a walk in the park for Monroe. They are very deep and have played a pretty challenging schedule this year that I don't think they will be very tested by New Brunswick. Monroe's also won 14 straight in the GMC and 16 of their last 17 since January 2nd. New Burnswick has went 4-36 in the last 2 years and 12-48 in the last three while Monroe has proven to be one of the models of consistency in the GMC over the last few years. They returned 4 starters from last year's GMC Final Four Team and have a good group of underclassmen to help carry the load. After the loss to Ridge, Monroe has won their last 3 games by 23 points. It will take something special for New Brunswick to win today.
#14 North Brunswick+5.5 over #6 Sayreville by 3
I'm really taking this just cause I'd like to see an upset and I really don't see any of the other 3 being upsets. I feel North Brunswick is definitely capable of beating Sayreville, but I was very impressed by Sayreville in this game last year. North Brunwick's got a good blend of young and veteran talent. Sayreville though certainly has a height advantage and an advantge when it comes to perimeter scoring. They split during the season. I think this one could be the game of the day and unfortunately, it's the first game of the day.
So those are my picks and in terms of the spread given, I'll take St. Joe's, Spotswood, Monroe and North Brunswick.
I'm looking forward to the games and if you're not doing anything today, come on by. All the games have the potential to be good ones and you never know when a classic could come about. Good luck to the eight teams today and I'll preview the final four on Wednesday.
#1 St. Joe's-12 over #9 Cardinal McCarrick by 15
I think Cardinal McCarrick will be able to hang with Joe's in the first half, but I think Joe's will be too much for them to hang with for the entire game. McCarrick does not have a good enough defense to shut us down for 32 minutes. They like to score points and so do we. That's what's traditionally been good with St. Joe's. They've usually been a defense first team but have shown to hold their own on offense too in games like the Red Bank Catholic game last year. They also don't have the team they had two years ago or even last year. Mike Burwell and Julio Rosario are gone which should make things go much smoother for Joe's. By most acccounts, we should've won the county title two years ago if the reffing weren't so blatantly biased. That was easily the worst game I've ever seen reffed. We got screwed of a county title, plain and simple. That was with both Burwell and Rosario. Last year we made amends for that loss and took care of McCarrick with Rosario fairly easily. Now with both of them gone, it should be even easier, but McCarrick has played well against good teams this year but have still struggled and are now 13-9 or so which is deceiving because they're a better team than that and if Joe's isn't careful they could get beat.
#4 East Brunswick-11 over #5 Spotswood by 10
This is another game for the GMC Red to make a statement. With Bishop Ahr's loss, Spotswood is the lone team remaining from the GMC Blue. Spotswood is very new to this. This is the first time they have ever made it to the final eight, which is why I expect that East Brunswick will be too much for them. East Brunswick is loaded with seniors and is extremely deep playing about 11-12 guys a game. They are fundamentally sound and will be a tough team to beat today and in states. Spotswood also has a lot of seniors, but I think the Red is much stronger than the Blue and think that East Brunswick's big game experience will help them pull this one out.
#2 Monroe-14 over #7 New Brunswick by 15
The other side of the bracket is a GMC White division affair with all 4 teams belonging to it. Regardless of what happens today, the White will walk out of this round with at least 2 teams in the Semis, 3 if McCarrick beats St. Joe's which is very impressive. While New Brunswick has proven to be solid, Monroe has shown that they're in the arguement with St. Joe's for best team in the GMC. I expect this game will be a walk in the park for Monroe. They are very deep and have played a pretty challenging schedule this year that I don't think they will be very tested by New Brunswick. Monroe's also won 14 straight in the GMC and 16 of their last 17 since January 2nd. New Burnswick has went 4-36 in the last 2 years and 12-48 in the last three while Monroe has proven to be one of the models of consistency in the GMC over the last few years. They returned 4 starters from last year's GMC Final Four Team and have a good group of underclassmen to help carry the load. After the loss to Ridge, Monroe has won their last 3 games by 23 points. It will take something special for New Brunswick to win today.
#14 North Brunswick+5.5 over #6 Sayreville by 3
I'm really taking this just cause I'd like to see an upset and I really don't see any of the other 3 being upsets. I feel North Brunswick is definitely capable of beating Sayreville, but I was very impressed by Sayreville in this game last year. North Brunwick's got a good blend of young and veteran talent. Sayreville though certainly has a height advantage and an advantge when it comes to perimeter scoring. They split during the season. I think this one could be the game of the day and unfortunately, it's the first game of the day.
So those are my picks and in terms of the spread given, I'll take St. Joe's, Spotswood, Monroe and North Brunswick.
I'm looking forward to the games and if you're not doing anything today, come on by. All the games have the potential to be good ones and you never know when a classic could come about. Good luck to the eight teams today and I'll preview the final four on Wednesday.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Highlights/Lowlights of the Olympic Games So Far
After tomorrow, the Winter Olympics are halfway done. It's time to take a look at the highlights and lowlights so far of this year's competition so far.
To me, from an American perspective, there's been a lot more good than bad. We currently sit at 18 medals, 6 of which are gold, and currently lead every other country in terms of most medals and gold. I think we're in great shape to collect the most medals and still like our chances for most golds, but that will be a closer race. Onto the highlights.
Highlights
Hannah Kearney's Gold in the Women's Moguls
Any first gold medal for a country is special and important, but the fact that she beat one of her biggest rivals and one of the best Mogul skiiers in the world in Canadian Jenn Heil, on Heil's home turf, is incredible. I think many people doubted that she would be able to beat Jenn, but she pulled off the upset for the first American gold.
J.R. Celski's Bronze Medal in the 1,500 Meter
A few months after cutting himself very badly, the fact that J.R. Celski got as far as he did, let alone a bronze medal is quite an accomplishment. He showed in this race that he may be the future American face for the men in short track after Apolo Ohno retires.
Nordic Combined
This is something two-fold to be proud of. The Nordic Combined Race beat the Daytona 500 in terms of viewership. Think about that. Supposedly, the country's most watched sport(it's not a sport, in my opinion) gets beaten by an event that not many Americans are exposed to, nor have we ever been that good in it. That, however, would also change thanks to the United States big three competitors for the sport in Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick and Bill Demong. They finished second, fourth, and sixth, respectively. More importantly, they have shown that the United States will be a threat in future Nordic Combined events.
United States Hockey Teams
I was just reading a blog on cbssports.com saying how a performance like yesterday by the United States men will never be good enough to beat Canada. The score was 6-1. The idiot blogger said that we let them hang around for way too long. THE SCORE WAS 3-1 BEFORE YOU COULD BLINK AN EYE! That's not letting them hang around. It was a comfortable win by the United States and they should be very content with how they're playing so far and will obviously have to play a great game to beat Canada Sunday night and win their pool. Their other win was Switzerland, who they took care of fairly easily and beat them 3-1. And another thing, the blogger obviously wrote his blog prematurely as Canada needed to win in a shootout to beat the Swiss. In that method of thinking, if Canada plays like that, they'll never be able to beat the United States. On the other side, the women have just been completely dominant again, outscoring their competition 31-1. As usual, it looks like it will be them and Canada to decide who will win the gold medal.
Lindsey Vonn's Gold in Downhil Skiing
After all the hype and doubt that went on regarding her bruised shin, much of America wanted to see Lindsey win this and prove that she could overcome her injury and she did. She went through this course very well and was able to beat her countrywoman Julia Mancuso for gold. It was a great scene when they showed her in joyous tears and you could really see then how badly she wanted it and how hard she worked for it and didn't want her injury to prevent her from doing her best.
Julia Mancuso
After Lindsey got all the hype after her gold, a lot of the talk was how impressive Mancuso's run was. Many people doubted her ability to get silver. Yesterday, after Vonn's fall, Mancuso took another silver in the Super Combined, another event where she wasn't expected to get the silver. If she keeps this up, she could potentially overshadow Lindsey and become the "it-girl" of this year's Olympics. I expect Lindsey to finish out stronger than Julia, however, but we'll see. Nonetheless, both have had great performances so far.
Wednesday Night
This Wednesday was the greatest night for the Americans in Winter Olympics history. In the span of about 5 hours, the United States picked up 3 gold medals and 6 overall. Shani Davis repeated as the men's 1000 meter champion and Chad Hedrick also picked up a bronze. Lindsey had also won her medal which was shown on primetime. But it was...
Shaun White
Shaun White deserves his own space for me to praise him. How impressive were his two runs on Wednesday, particularly his second run...and that was already when he won the competition. For him to do the Double McTwist 1260 with the gold already being won prior to him even doing that, shows how much of a professional he is and that he wanted to challenge himself because he knows how good he is and wanted to push himself to do even better. That was as dominant a performance for an individual that you're ever going to see in the Olympics. He blew away his competition and made it look easy. He also has such a down to earth personality that you can't help but like him. He is also cross-generational, while he is a role model to a lot of kids, I think he's also someone that a lot of parents can relate to as well. And lastly, the way he has revolutionized snowboarding is incredible. I think an underrated aspect in people's legacies is what have they done to evolve a sport or add something different to it, and Shaun White unequivocally has and I hope to see him at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Evan Lysacek's Gold
This was another feel-good story for the Americans. Evan was second place after the short program and in order to beat Evgeni Plushenko, who is one hell of an athlete, he needed to skate the program of a lifetime to win. Plushenko is also the first person to medal three times in a row in figure skating since 1932, which really shows you how great he is. Earlier in the day, Plushenko had criticized Lysacek for not having a quad in his repertoire, which was due to an injury that Evan suffered a few months ago, but thanks to his technique being better as well as him having more jumps than Evgeni in the final two minutes where everything is doubled, Lysacek was able to cut down a legend and bring America another improbable gold.
Lowlights
Nodar Kumaritashvili's Death
Unfortunately, I think the lasting image ofthe 2010 Winter Olympics will be the graphic video of Nodar flying off the luge and into a unprotected steel beam and later died, which is unfortunate. The first couple days of the games were overtaken with the emotion of his death and how they changed the luge so that it wouldn't happen again. For someone at 21 to die is terrible and the fact that he died on a training run getting ready for his Olympic Debut makes it even more tragic. Shame on the Canadian team by the way for saying it was his fault, only about 12 hours after his death. How heartless can you be? It's stupidity like that which is why Canada gets a bad rap sometimes.
Obviously everything will pale in comparison to Nodar's death, but here are several more things I think have been some of the lowpoints so far.
Opening Ceremony
This is usually an overrated event as it is. My only favorite part generally is the parade of nations and the lighting of the torch. I could totalyl deal without all the artistry stuff which makes the event take forever. And the opening ceremony has become such an integral part to the Olympic that to me, the media kind of shoves it down your throat and almost forces you to like it. But let's get this straight, this wasn't Beijing. I'm not a fan of the artistry, but in Beijing, they put on one hell of a show for its worldwide audience. Nothing in this year's ceremony was spectacular and the end with the torch just solidified it with the scene with Wayne Gretzky waiting there for several minutes waiting for the fourth arm to come up, which never did. It was a bad time for something like that to go wrong. I thought the end, however was pretty cool, where it was all the Canadian people running to catch up with Gretzky on his way to lighting the torch. A scene like that told you how important Gretzky was and continues to be in Canada.
The Weather
This is a good and bad thing. The weather postponed Lindsey's early runs which helped her heal her shin a little bit. I also like how there's more events than originally expected still to come in the second half of the Olympics, but at the same time, a few of the events have been postponed, which obviously is never a good thing. Tons and tons of snowboarding ticket money has been refunded too, because it has been so warm that much of the area for viewers has turned into slush. But the weather over the next week looks to be good and Canada should have a good finish.
United States Curling Teams
As good as our hockey teams have been, the same could be said for how bad our curling teams have done so far. The United States Men haven't gotten blown out yet, but haven't won yet either. They've lost 7-5 to Germany, 6-5 to Norway, 7-6 to Switzerland and 7-6 to Denmark. The women have lost 6-5 to Germany, 9-7 to Japan and 7-6 to Denmark. This has undoubtedly been our worst sport and I don't think we make the playoffs on either side. Hopefully we'll be able to finish strong at least.
Lindsey Jacobellis
This is a perfect exampleof why you should never showboat. You may never get another chance at gold. Lindsey in Torino, got a silver medal, but she had blew away the field until she showboated at the end and fell which cost her the gold medal. She had a chance to redeem herself this year, but did not and clipped the board of one of her competitors and lost in the semifinals. She did wind up winning the 5th place heat, but unfortunately, we only remember the Gold winner most of the time. She is still pretty young and I think we could expect to see her at another Olympics 4 years from now where hopefully she'll win gold.
Women's Halfpipe
This is kind of a glass half-empty, half-full thing. We won both silver and bronze but at the same time, gave up our dominance as a world power in snowboarding, to an Australian, no less. However, it is understandable because Torah Bright lives in Utah, so I'm sure most of her training is done on American courses. The two medals are nice, but I definitely would've traded both those in for one of the American girls to have gold. Gretchen Bleiler and Elena Hight fell in both their second turns, which is a shame because at the very least I think Gretchen had a good shot to medal. I'm sure we'll see a very strong field for the United States again four years from now.
So those are the highlights and lowlights in my opinion of the Olympic Games so far, and I'll recap the second half of those at the close of the Olympic Games next Sunday.
To me, from an American perspective, there's been a lot more good than bad. We currently sit at 18 medals, 6 of which are gold, and currently lead every other country in terms of most medals and gold. I think we're in great shape to collect the most medals and still like our chances for most golds, but that will be a closer race. Onto the highlights.
Highlights
Hannah Kearney's Gold in the Women's Moguls
Any first gold medal for a country is special and important, but the fact that she beat one of her biggest rivals and one of the best Mogul skiiers in the world in Canadian Jenn Heil, on Heil's home turf, is incredible. I think many people doubted that she would be able to beat Jenn, but she pulled off the upset for the first American gold.
J.R. Celski's Bronze Medal in the 1,500 Meter
A few months after cutting himself very badly, the fact that J.R. Celski got as far as he did, let alone a bronze medal is quite an accomplishment. He showed in this race that he may be the future American face for the men in short track after Apolo Ohno retires.
Nordic Combined
This is something two-fold to be proud of. The Nordic Combined Race beat the Daytona 500 in terms of viewership. Think about that. Supposedly, the country's most watched sport(it's not a sport, in my opinion) gets beaten by an event that not many Americans are exposed to, nor have we ever been that good in it. That, however, would also change thanks to the United States big three competitors for the sport in Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick and Bill Demong. They finished second, fourth, and sixth, respectively. More importantly, they have shown that the United States will be a threat in future Nordic Combined events.
United States Hockey Teams
I was just reading a blog on cbssports.com saying how a performance like yesterday by the United States men will never be good enough to beat Canada. The score was 6-1. The idiot blogger said that we let them hang around for way too long. THE SCORE WAS 3-1 BEFORE YOU COULD BLINK AN EYE! That's not letting them hang around. It was a comfortable win by the United States and they should be very content with how they're playing so far and will obviously have to play a great game to beat Canada Sunday night and win their pool. Their other win was Switzerland, who they took care of fairly easily and beat them 3-1. And another thing, the blogger obviously wrote his blog prematurely as Canada needed to win in a shootout to beat the Swiss. In that method of thinking, if Canada plays like that, they'll never be able to beat the United States. On the other side, the women have just been completely dominant again, outscoring their competition 31-1. As usual, it looks like it will be them and Canada to decide who will win the gold medal.
Lindsey Vonn's Gold in Downhil Skiing
After all the hype and doubt that went on regarding her bruised shin, much of America wanted to see Lindsey win this and prove that she could overcome her injury and she did. She went through this course very well and was able to beat her countrywoman Julia Mancuso for gold. It was a great scene when they showed her in joyous tears and you could really see then how badly she wanted it and how hard she worked for it and didn't want her injury to prevent her from doing her best.
Julia Mancuso
After Lindsey got all the hype after her gold, a lot of the talk was how impressive Mancuso's run was. Many people doubted her ability to get silver. Yesterday, after Vonn's fall, Mancuso took another silver in the Super Combined, another event where she wasn't expected to get the silver. If she keeps this up, she could potentially overshadow Lindsey and become the "it-girl" of this year's Olympics. I expect Lindsey to finish out stronger than Julia, however, but we'll see. Nonetheless, both have had great performances so far.
Wednesday Night
This Wednesday was the greatest night for the Americans in Winter Olympics history. In the span of about 5 hours, the United States picked up 3 gold medals and 6 overall. Shani Davis repeated as the men's 1000 meter champion and Chad Hedrick also picked up a bronze. Lindsey had also won her medal which was shown on primetime. But it was...
Shaun White
Shaun White deserves his own space for me to praise him. How impressive were his two runs on Wednesday, particularly his second run...and that was already when he won the competition. For him to do the Double McTwist 1260 with the gold already being won prior to him even doing that, shows how much of a professional he is and that he wanted to challenge himself because he knows how good he is and wanted to push himself to do even better. That was as dominant a performance for an individual that you're ever going to see in the Olympics. He blew away his competition and made it look easy. He also has such a down to earth personality that you can't help but like him. He is also cross-generational, while he is a role model to a lot of kids, I think he's also someone that a lot of parents can relate to as well. And lastly, the way he has revolutionized snowboarding is incredible. I think an underrated aspect in people's legacies is what have they done to evolve a sport or add something different to it, and Shaun White unequivocally has and I hope to see him at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Evan Lysacek's Gold
This was another feel-good story for the Americans. Evan was second place after the short program and in order to beat Evgeni Plushenko, who is one hell of an athlete, he needed to skate the program of a lifetime to win. Plushenko is also the first person to medal three times in a row in figure skating since 1932, which really shows you how great he is. Earlier in the day, Plushenko had criticized Lysacek for not having a quad in his repertoire, which was due to an injury that Evan suffered a few months ago, but thanks to his technique being better as well as him having more jumps than Evgeni in the final two minutes where everything is doubled, Lysacek was able to cut down a legend and bring America another improbable gold.
Lowlights
Nodar Kumaritashvili's Death
Unfortunately, I think the lasting image ofthe 2010 Winter Olympics will be the graphic video of Nodar flying off the luge and into a unprotected steel beam and later died, which is unfortunate. The first couple days of the games were overtaken with the emotion of his death and how they changed the luge so that it wouldn't happen again. For someone at 21 to die is terrible and the fact that he died on a training run getting ready for his Olympic Debut makes it even more tragic. Shame on the Canadian team by the way for saying it was his fault, only about 12 hours after his death. How heartless can you be? It's stupidity like that which is why Canada gets a bad rap sometimes.
Obviously everything will pale in comparison to Nodar's death, but here are several more things I think have been some of the lowpoints so far.
Opening Ceremony
This is usually an overrated event as it is. My only favorite part generally is the parade of nations and the lighting of the torch. I could totalyl deal without all the artistry stuff which makes the event take forever. And the opening ceremony has become such an integral part to the Olympic that to me, the media kind of shoves it down your throat and almost forces you to like it. But let's get this straight, this wasn't Beijing. I'm not a fan of the artistry, but in Beijing, they put on one hell of a show for its worldwide audience. Nothing in this year's ceremony was spectacular and the end with the torch just solidified it with the scene with Wayne Gretzky waiting there for several minutes waiting for the fourth arm to come up, which never did. It was a bad time for something like that to go wrong. I thought the end, however was pretty cool, where it was all the Canadian people running to catch up with Gretzky on his way to lighting the torch. A scene like that told you how important Gretzky was and continues to be in Canada.
The Weather
This is a good and bad thing. The weather postponed Lindsey's early runs which helped her heal her shin a little bit. I also like how there's more events than originally expected still to come in the second half of the Olympics, but at the same time, a few of the events have been postponed, which obviously is never a good thing. Tons and tons of snowboarding ticket money has been refunded too, because it has been so warm that much of the area for viewers has turned into slush. But the weather over the next week looks to be good and Canada should have a good finish.
United States Curling Teams
As good as our hockey teams have been, the same could be said for how bad our curling teams have done so far. The United States Men haven't gotten blown out yet, but haven't won yet either. They've lost 7-5 to Germany, 6-5 to Norway, 7-6 to Switzerland and 7-6 to Denmark. The women have lost 6-5 to Germany, 9-7 to Japan and 7-6 to Denmark. This has undoubtedly been our worst sport and I don't think we make the playoffs on either side. Hopefully we'll be able to finish strong at least.
Lindsey Jacobellis
This is a perfect exampleof why you should never showboat. You may never get another chance at gold. Lindsey in Torino, got a silver medal, but she had blew away the field until she showboated at the end and fell which cost her the gold medal. She had a chance to redeem herself this year, but did not and clipped the board of one of her competitors and lost in the semifinals. She did wind up winning the 5th place heat, but unfortunately, we only remember the Gold winner most of the time. She is still pretty young and I think we could expect to see her at another Olympics 4 years from now where hopefully she'll win gold.
Women's Halfpipe
This is kind of a glass half-empty, half-full thing. We won both silver and bronze but at the same time, gave up our dominance as a world power in snowboarding, to an Australian, no less. However, it is understandable because Torah Bright lives in Utah, so I'm sure most of her training is done on American courses. The two medals are nice, but I definitely would've traded both those in for one of the American girls to have gold. Gretchen Bleiler and Elena Hight fell in both their second turns, which is a shame because at the very least I think Gretchen had a good shot to medal. I'm sure we'll see a very strong field for the United States again four years from now.
So those are the highlights and lowlights in my opinion of the Olympic Games so far, and I'll recap the second half of those at the close of the Olympic Games next Sunday.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
GMC Round of 16 Picks
Tonight is the round of 16 in the GMC Tournament,an exciting night because the top teams get into action. Some of the 1st round games also can have the tendency to have upsets. In the 2nd Preliminary round on Tuesday night, I went 6-0. The only game I've gotten wrong so far is Highland Park-South River where the 23 seed South River beat 22 seed Highland Park by 3. So onto my picks for tonight...
#1 St. Joe's over #16 Old Bridge by 15
#2 Monroe over #15 Carteret by 22
#3 Bishop Ahr over #14 North Brunswick by 6
#4 East Brunswick over #13 Colonia by 11
#12 Piscataway over #5 Spotswood by 4
#6 Sayreville over #11 Metuchen by 9
#7 New Brunswick over #10 Middlesex by 14
#9 Cardinal McCarrick over #8 Dunellen by 12
Should be a great night for GMC Basketball and we'll see how well my picks fare. On Sunday is one of the best days in the GMC season when all 8 remaining teams head over to Middleex County College for their quarterfinal matchups. I'll be back with more picks.
#1 St. Joe's over #16 Old Bridge by 15
#2 Monroe over #15 Carteret by 22
#3 Bishop Ahr over #14 North Brunswick by 6
#4 East Brunswick over #13 Colonia by 11
#12 Piscataway over #5 Spotswood by 4
#6 Sayreville over #11 Metuchen by 9
#7 New Brunswick over #10 Middlesex by 14
#9 Cardinal McCarrick over #8 Dunellen by 12
Should be a great night for GMC Basketball and we'll see how well my picks fare. On Sunday is one of the best days in the GMC season when all 8 remaining teams head over to Middleex County College for their quarterfinal matchups. I'll be back with more picks.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
GMC Play-in Round Picks
Good morning guys, great day of basketball yesterday even though I went 1-3 in picking games. I nearly had the exact score for the St. Benedict's game and the Oak Hill game clearly could've gone either way and was the best high school game I've seen in a while. Ridge took Monroe by surprise a little bit and the Falcons didn't look like their normal selves and played probably their worst game all season. St. Joe's also lost to Plainfield. They hung tough but Plainfield's 3's as well as speed and athleticism were just too much. Joe's cut it to a 1 point lead several times but couldn't get over the hump. Plainfield then went on a 7-0 run to take a 42-34 lead and there was no looking back from there. St. Joe's didn't play well and Plainfield really shot the lights out. I think St. Joe's is definitely capable of hanging with them, they just didn't tonight.
As it turns out, my original part 3 of my 4 day high school preview has been put on hiatus in all likelihood because of the St. Pat's ban from the state tournament which has been appealed by St. Pat's. I don't see why they need to hold every bracket up though. They should just wait to seed the Non-Public North B and post every other bracket. Anyway here are the opening round play-in games to the GMC Tournament. St Joe's is the #1 and Monroe is the #2 in the bracket. At the outset, I like these two teams to meet in the championship with St. Joe's winning the title. But I'm going to give my picks on a round by round basis. Today are the Play-in games.
#17 South Brunswick over #28 Perth Amboy Tech by 35
#18 Perth Amboy over #27 East Brunswick Tech by 18
#19 J.F. Kennedy over #26 J.P. Stevens by 8
#20 Edison over #25 South Plainfield by 5
#21 Woodbridge over #24 South Amboy by 12
#22 Highland Park over #23 South River by 7
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Primetime Shootout Preview at Kean University
This is one of my favorite basketball events of the year and it is cby far and away the premier high school basketball event in the country. It has grown more and more each year and currently has games in several college cities such as Villanova, Morgantown, Kean(it was New Brunswick at the RAC last year) and Trenton. There's a number of great players I have seen in this showcase such as Ty Lawson, Eric Devendorf, Andrew Bynum, Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, etc. Some of these matchups prove to be very exciting games and a lot of the time are out of state matchups that you're not going to get a chance to see much in the course of a season. The more intriguing games generally are the Oak Hill-St. Pat's matchups as well as basically any public or parochial school in NYC. They almost always give you exciting games. The coaches are pretty animated too such as Lincoln's Dwayne "Tiny" Morton as well as some of the lesser known schools coaches such as a school in Maryland who I can't think of right now where he was absolutely insane and sceaming the entire game. Then you also have the legendary coaches in Bob Hurley and Oak Hill's Steve Smith. So this event always turns out a good product. There's many established teams and well known national programs in this event combined with names most basketball fans know as well as getting a chance to see the future of college and professional basketball. At last year's event in Trenton, I saw Bob Huggins and Jay Wright which was pretty cool and it's a commonality to see collegiate coaches at this event which makes the event even better cause you will be able to see these guys play with them in college. This year's games aren't the best, but are far from bad. I haven't decided yet if I go Saturday. If I d, it'll be for the last 3 games which are: St.Anthony's-Montrose Christian, Rice-St. Pat's, St. Peter's Prep-Oak Hill. The first two should be good games but the last on paper looks like a considerable mismatch, but it would be a big win for the state of NJ if Peter's can beat Oak Hill.I don't think it will be a blowout but Peter's will probably lose by 15 or so. But anyway, here are the matchups for tomorrow night at Kean University, the first of the three day Shootout in New Jersey.
5:30PM Monroe vs. Ridge
This to me is an intriguing game right off the bat. Monroe has put together a very good season once again with a 17-2 and look like they're going be seeded #1 in the Central Jersey, Group IV bracket. They are a very experienced team led by Kenny Pace who is averaging 16 points a game this season, as well as Timmy Brix and Blake Bascom. Danny Brix, Timmy's younger brother has averaged nearly 12 points a game, which is an invaluable contribution for any plaer,let alone one who is a sophomore. Ahmid Williams is averaging 6 points a game and is also making invaluable contributions as a sophomore with his defense as well as things not as well noted on the scoreboard such as rebounding and assists. Monroe has also played in a lot of close games this season so they're not going to feel much pressure if the game is close. Bob Turco has really done another nice coaching job with the Falcons, leading them to their first outright division title in history as well as going a solid 38-9 since the start of last season. Now looking at Ridge, obviously the coach of the Red Devils is former St. Joe's head coach Mark Taylor, who coached Jay Williams as well as Andrew Bynum. I've got a couple problems with him althought I like the team he's put together. First off, I don't know of any coach who has as big an ego as him for a high school coach. On Ridge's website, he has his own page. It also mentions some players he coached who he really didn't. You know right off the bat if the coach has his own page on a HIGH SCHOOL team, he has a hell of an ego. Bottom line. I also don't think he's that good of a coach. He couldn't win a county championship with Sean Baptiste and Andrew Bynum and didn't win a state game either with them in Bynum's last 2 years which is an absolute disgrace. With Jay, Jay had more heart than Bynum in high school and to me much better than Bynum on the high school level. I could've coached Jay Williams for four years and he would've gotten me at least a couple county and state titles. But looking at Ridge, they are going to be a top 3 seed in North II, Group IV and they could prove to be very dangerous. Their 3 losses are to Irvington, Hillsborough, and Passaic and all 3 of those teams are decent. Their leading scorer is Christian Frisoli who averages 13.5 per game as well as Andrew Madlinger, a lethal 3 point shooter who averages about 13 a game. Nick Cefalo averages 12 and Connor Skea averages 8.5. Both teams are pretty similar to me. They both rely heavily on guard play and play tough defense. I think a big theme for tomorrow will be the coaching. It will play heavily in who wins these games tomorrow. I expect Monroe's experience, competition(GMC ball i better than Somerset county ball) as well as coaching to make a difference in this one.
Predicted Score: Monroe 58, Ridge 51
7:00PM Lakewood vs. St. Benedict's
The next game I'm not going to even bother previewing because it is a total mismatch and probably the worst game in the entire tournament. It features nationally ranked powerhouse St. Benedicts taking on Lakewood who is #3 in Ocean County which isn't really a hotbed for high school basketball. Benedict's BIG.
Predicted Score: St. Benedict's 83, Lakewood 40
9:00PM St. Patrick's vs. Oak Hill ESPNU
Easily the game of the night. It pitts two top 15 national powerhouses against each other in what has budded into a big rivalry. It could be an incredibly emotional day tomorrow for St. Pat's because they will find out in the morning their fate in the state tournament and whether they are allowed in. Either way, I expect Pat's to play a great game but believe me, they will play with a chip on their shoulder if they are banned and if they are, expect them to play the game of the season. I would go so far to say as if they are banned, tomorrow night could very well be their swan song because even Coach Boyle's son has said that his father is probably going to leave sometime after next year. Given all the latest controversy surrounding St. Pat's and how the NJSIAA may recommend Boyle to take a leave of absence, it would not surprise me much at all if he left after this year. St. Pat's with or without Boyle coaching tomorrow night is one hell of a basketball team. Obviously, the most we hear about is Kyrie Irving, the senior guard who is going to Duke next year. Junior Michael Gilchrist has for the last couple year's been ranked near the highest in his class. He has averaged 22 points per game and is definitely living up to the hype. Derrick Gordon is a Western Kentucky commit who is averaging 13 points a game. Kevin Boyle Jr. also provides sparks by hitting some big 3's. Oak Hill Academy is currently 23-3 and has struggled more than usual this season. They have a lot of close games but nonetheless have won most of them. Their losses are to some of the best teams in the nation and none have relaly been any big upsets. Their big three is Roscoe Smith, Doron Lamb and Bryon Allen. Lamb and Allen are both among the best guards in the country and are extremely talented. They are good at shooting three's but do a superb job of driving to the hoop as well. I think these two teams fate will come down to whoever's guards do better, but I think the game will be decided by Michael Gilchrist. Oak Hill doesn't have anyone outside of Smith that matches up well with Gilchrist and I expect him to have a big night tomorrow. Pat's, but it will be a close one. Perfect for national television.
Predicted Score: St. Patrick's 74, Oak Hill Academy 72
10:30PM Plainfield vs. St. Joe's (Metuchen)
This to me is the game I think most St. Joe's fans have penciled into their schedule. Plainfield is the crown jewel of public schools in the state of New Jersey and this is a measuring stick game to see how good Joe's really is and if they are deserving of the #11 ranking in the state. I tend to believe both teams are legit and defuinitely capable of making runs in the state tournament. St. Joe's only loss in the month of January and February was their 11 point setback to St. Anthony's. Even then, they were down just 5 heading to the 4th quarter which is a better performance than anyone could have expected. Their other big tests this year were Union and East Brunswick. They're both good teams but not on the level of Plainfield. Plainfield's only losses are to the best and third best team in the state with St. Patrick's and St. Anthony's. They are currently ranked 5th and are likely going to be the #1 seed in what is usually one of the toughest public brackets over in North II, Group IV. This is easily the best of the 3 games featuring two NJ schools. It's the 11th vs. the 5th ranked team in the state. This will be the 4th time in 6 years St. Joe's has participated in the Primetime Shootout. They are 2-1 in 3 games. They beat a 1 loss East Rochester school with Andrew Bynum 78-68 back in 2005. They lost to Notre Dame by 5 in a ridiculously early game 2 years ago and got the win of last year's season in this event with their 10 point triumph over eventual non-public A winner Immaculata. Both teams were ranked last year. So Joe's has showed the tendency to play well in games like this. I would say an improtant difference in a game like this is experience and St. Joe's definitely has more. They are led by Steve Rennard, a UPenn commit as well as Andrew Morgan. Both players are very good three point shooters and are pretty good at getting to the hoop. They also have 2 more very experienced players in senior Eric Peterson and junior Robbie Ashamole who is in his last year of eligibility because of his age. And lastly, they have a very solid sophomore in Quenton Decosey, who is a multi-faceted player. He is also a pretty good three point shooter and does a great job of getting to the rim. He also plays solid defense and has deceptive speed. He could be a big difference maker in this game. Plainfield's led by junior guard Tyrone Johnson who is undoubtedly one of the best guards in the state. They also have a senior in Nathan Grant-Dewitt who has some height which could cause some trouble for a St. Joe's team that is lacking in it. He is also a very capable three point shooter. Overall, they are a pretty young team who has come a long way in a hurry and clearly look like they are the team to beat in North II, Group IV and perhaps of all the public schools in the state tournament. I think this game comes down to how much we get from Quenton and Robbie. I also think that goes the same way for the county and state tournament. We will only go as far as those 2 take us. We know we'll get decent games from Andrew and Steve but we need a couple other guys to finally win a county tournament or state sectional crown. I also think coaching will make a big difference here. While I think Jeff Lubreski is a pretty good coach, I would prefer to have Coach Turco. Some of the teams we have had recently do not look like they'd be capable of winning a county or state sectional but yet we always somehow manage to get there. Another big difference is experience and as I said, we have more of it and I expect that to make a big difference. I'm also not sure if Plainfield outside of Ant's and Pat's as faced a defense as tough as ours. Granted the teams we have played recently aren't that great, but in 3 weeks, the msot we've allowed is 42 and that was Piscataway. I just don't know if their sophomores are ready for a game like this. Lastly, the start time is a little screwy which could also make a difference. The Pats game is not likely to get over until at least 10:30 and it wouldn't surprise me if it ended even later than that, so it could make a difference taking court at 10:45 or so tomorrow night. That's later than some teams on the West Coast will take court. Nonetheless, I expect us to be ready to play in our biggest game up to the season this far and like our chances to win.
Predicted Score: St. Joe's 52, Plainfield 47
If anyone is interested in basketball in New Jersey, definitely come check this event out. It's a great opportunity to see the future talent on the collegiate and professional level. 3 of these games should be exciting and are definitely interesting matchups which could be close games.
5:30PM Monroe vs. Ridge
This to me is an intriguing game right off the bat. Monroe has put together a very good season once again with a 17-2 and look like they're going be seeded #1 in the Central Jersey, Group IV bracket. They are a very experienced team led by Kenny Pace who is averaging 16 points a game this season, as well as Timmy Brix and Blake Bascom. Danny Brix, Timmy's younger brother has averaged nearly 12 points a game, which is an invaluable contribution for any plaer,let alone one who is a sophomore. Ahmid Williams is averaging 6 points a game and is also making invaluable contributions as a sophomore with his defense as well as things not as well noted on the scoreboard such as rebounding and assists. Monroe has also played in a lot of close games this season so they're not going to feel much pressure if the game is close. Bob Turco has really done another nice coaching job with the Falcons, leading them to their first outright division title in history as well as going a solid 38-9 since the start of last season. Now looking at Ridge, obviously the coach of the Red Devils is former St. Joe's head coach Mark Taylor, who coached Jay Williams as well as Andrew Bynum. I've got a couple problems with him althought I like the team he's put together. First off, I don't know of any coach who has as big an ego as him for a high school coach. On Ridge's website, he has his own page. It also mentions some players he coached who he really didn't. You know right off the bat if the coach has his own page on a HIGH SCHOOL team, he has a hell of an ego. Bottom line. I also don't think he's that good of a coach. He couldn't win a county championship with Sean Baptiste and Andrew Bynum and didn't win a state game either with them in Bynum's last 2 years which is an absolute disgrace. With Jay, Jay had more heart than Bynum in high school and to me much better than Bynum on the high school level. I could've coached Jay Williams for four years and he would've gotten me at least a couple county and state titles. But looking at Ridge, they are going to be a top 3 seed in North II, Group IV and they could prove to be very dangerous. Their 3 losses are to Irvington, Hillsborough, and Passaic and all 3 of those teams are decent. Their leading scorer is Christian Frisoli who averages 13.5 per game as well as Andrew Madlinger, a lethal 3 point shooter who averages about 13 a game. Nick Cefalo averages 12 and Connor Skea averages 8.5. Both teams are pretty similar to me. They both rely heavily on guard play and play tough defense. I think a big theme for tomorrow will be the coaching. It will play heavily in who wins these games tomorrow. I expect Monroe's experience, competition(GMC ball i better than Somerset county ball) as well as coaching to make a difference in this one.
Predicted Score: Monroe 58, Ridge 51
7:00PM Lakewood vs. St. Benedict's
The next game I'm not going to even bother previewing because it is a total mismatch and probably the worst game in the entire tournament. It features nationally ranked powerhouse St. Benedicts taking on Lakewood who is #3 in Ocean County which isn't really a hotbed for high school basketball. Benedict's BIG.
Predicted Score: St. Benedict's 83, Lakewood 40
9:00PM St. Patrick's vs. Oak Hill ESPNU
Easily the game of the night. It pitts two top 15 national powerhouses against each other in what has budded into a big rivalry. It could be an incredibly emotional day tomorrow for St. Pat's because they will find out in the morning their fate in the state tournament and whether they are allowed in. Either way, I expect Pat's to play a great game but believe me, they will play with a chip on their shoulder if they are banned and if they are, expect them to play the game of the season. I would go so far to say as if they are banned, tomorrow night could very well be their swan song because even Coach Boyle's son has said that his father is probably going to leave sometime after next year. Given all the latest controversy surrounding St. Pat's and how the NJSIAA may recommend Boyle to take a leave of absence, it would not surprise me much at all if he left after this year. St. Pat's with or without Boyle coaching tomorrow night is one hell of a basketball team. Obviously, the most we hear about is Kyrie Irving, the senior guard who is going to Duke next year. Junior Michael Gilchrist has for the last couple year's been ranked near the highest in his class. He has averaged 22 points per game and is definitely living up to the hype. Derrick Gordon is a Western Kentucky commit who is averaging 13 points a game. Kevin Boyle Jr. also provides sparks by hitting some big 3's. Oak Hill Academy is currently 23-3 and has struggled more than usual this season. They have a lot of close games but nonetheless have won most of them. Their losses are to some of the best teams in the nation and none have relaly been any big upsets. Their big three is Roscoe Smith, Doron Lamb and Bryon Allen. Lamb and Allen are both among the best guards in the country and are extremely talented. They are good at shooting three's but do a superb job of driving to the hoop as well. I think these two teams fate will come down to whoever's guards do better, but I think the game will be decided by Michael Gilchrist. Oak Hill doesn't have anyone outside of Smith that matches up well with Gilchrist and I expect him to have a big night tomorrow. Pat's, but it will be a close one. Perfect for national television.
Predicted Score: St. Patrick's 74, Oak Hill Academy 72
10:30PM Plainfield vs. St. Joe's (Metuchen)
This to me is the game I think most St. Joe's fans have penciled into their schedule. Plainfield is the crown jewel of public schools in the state of New Jersey and this is a measuring stick game to see how good Joe's really is and if they are deserving of the #11 ranking in the state. I tend to believe both teams are legit and defuinitely capable of making runs in the state tournament. St. Joe's only loss in the month of January and February was their 11 point setback to St. Anthony's. Even then, they were down just 5 heading to the 4th quarter which is a better performance than anyone could have expected. Their other big tests this year were Union and East Brunswick. They're both good teams but not on the level of Plainfield. Plainfield's only losses are to the best and third best team in the state with St. Patrick's and St. Anthony's. They are currently ranked 5th and are likely going to be the #1 seed in what is usually one of the toughest public brackets over in North II, Group IV. This is easily the best of the 3 games featuring two NJ schools. It's the 11th vs. the 5th ranked team in the state. This will be the 4th time in 6 years St. Joe's has participated in the Primetime Shootout. They are 2-1 in 3 games. They beat a 1 loss East Rochester school with Andrew Bynum 78-68 back in 2005. They lost to Notre Dame by 5 in a ridiculously early game 2 years ago and got the win of last year's season in this event with their 10 point triumph over eventual non-public A winner Immaculata. Both teams were ranked last year. So Joe's has showed the tendency to play well in games like this. I would say an improtant difference in a game like this is experience and St. Joe's definitely has more. They are led by Steve Rennard, a UPenn commit as well as Andrew Morgan. Both players are very good three point shooters and are pretty good at getting to the hoop. They also have 2 more very experienced players in senior Eric Peterson and junior Robbie Ashamole who is in his last year of eligibility because of his age. And lastly, they have a very solid sophomore in Quenton Decosey, who is a multi-faceted player. He is also a pretty good three point shooter and does a great job of getting to the rim. He also plays solid defense and has deceptive speed. He could be a big difference maker in this game. Plainfield's led by junior guard Tyrone Johnson who is undoubtedly one of the best guards in the state. They also have a senior in Nathan Grant-Dewitt who has some height which could cause some trouble for a St. Joe's team that is lacking in it. He is also a very capable three point shooter. Overall, they are a pretty young team who has come a long way in a hurry and clearly look like they are the team to beat in North II, Group IV and perhaps of all the public schools in the state tournament. I think this game comes down to how much we get from Quenton and Robbie. I also think that goes the same way for the county and state tournament. We will only go as far as those 2 take us. We know we'll get decent games from Andrew and Steve but we need a couple other guys to finally win a county tournament or state sectional crown. I also think coaching will make a big difference here. While I think Jeff Lubreski is a pretty good coach, I would prefer to have Coach Turco. Some of the teams we have had recently do not look like they'd be capable of winning a county or state sectional but yet we always somehow manage to get there. Another big difference is experience and as I said, we have more of it and I expect that to make a big difference. I'm also not sure if Plainfield outside of Ant's and Pat's as faced a defense as tough as ours. Granted the teams we have played recently aren't that great, but in 3 weeks, the msot we've allowed is 42 and that was Piscataway. I just don't know if their sophomores are ready for a game like this. Lastly, the start time is a little screwy which could also make a difference. The Pats game is not likely to get over until at least 10:30 and it wouldn't surprise me if it ended even later than that, so it could make a difference taking court at 10:45 or so tomorrow night. That's later than some teams on the West Coast will take court. Nonetheless, I expect us to be ready to play in our biggest game up to the season this far and like our chances to win.
Predicted Score: St. Joe's 52, Plainfield 47
If anyone is interested in basketball in New Jersey, definitely come check this event out. It's a great opportunity to see the future talent on the collegiate and professional level. 3 of these games should be exciting and are definitely interesting matchups which could be close games.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
GMC Tournament Preview
This is going to be the first of a four part preview from now till Saturday. Today will cover my predictions on where each of the GMC teams will be seeded. Tomorrow, I will preview the Primetime Shootout games for Friday which St. Joe's is playing in that I will be going to. Friday we'll take a look at the State Tournament, since the brackets have been pushed off till then with all the snow. I'll take a look at each group and section and give my predictions for who I like to come out of each group and who I like to win the TOC. Because there is so many teams this year with the new sub .500 rule, there is going to be a lot of teams who normally don't make it in there in the Tournament which is refreshing. And then on Saturday, I will give my predictions for the GMC Tournament. I'm going to do that on a round by round basis thought to keep things interesting and not to give it all away at the beginning. So here goes my predicted seeding for this year's GMC. We'll see how accurate I was on Saturday.
1) St. Joe's 18-3, 15-0 in conference, 1 loss in the state to St. Anthony's. We don't have a lot of impressive conference wins because frankly, our division is down this year and when you have to play 16 games against them, you're not going to get many chances at all to play cross-divisional games. In fact, we haven't played one, which could hurt us. Our best win by far was our 26 point win over East Brunswick. We also beat Piscataway by 44 earlier this year which is a solid win as well. Monroe's schedule was definitely harder in the GMC, but we are undefeated in the conference playing decent schools, plus as I said our only loss in state is to perennial powerhouse St. Anthony's so you're almost always going to be a one seed with that resume.
2) Monroe 17-2, 14-1 in conference, to me, St. Joe's and Monroe are easily the top two teams in the conference. Monroe has a lot of close games though which is something Joe's hasn't had. Besides the game at home against Old Bridge, after coming back from Atlanta, where Joe's won by 5, their closest game has been 11 points in conference play. To me St. Joe's is less likely to have an upset early than Monroe. To me Monroe could lose to basically anyone in their division in the county tournament, while Joe's probably wouldn't get a tough matchup till the Semifinals at least where they would probably play their rival East Brunswick. Monroe in a 7-10 matchup could certainly have their hands full.
3) Bishop Ahr 14-2, 12-1 in conference. They are now in the driver's seat to win the GMC Blue with just 2 days left in the regular season. They have some quality wins in beating East Brunswick and Cardinal McCarrick and have shown that they're well deserving of being a top 3 seed.
4) East Brunswick 17-3, 15-3 in conference. The major black eye for them is the loss to Old Bridge. Besides that, they have put together a great year and will probably be a tough out in the State Tournament. They have beaten New Brunswick, North Brunswick and Piscataway. They have played a tougher schedule than the team I'm placing 5th who doesn't have as tough a resume so I expect this is where they'll be seeded.
5) Spotswood 15-2, 12-2 in conference. Another team that has played very well this year and maybe better than people expected them to. They beat Bishop Ahr which is their best win this season and have shown that they're deserving of a 5 seed.
6) Sayreville 12-6, 11-5 in conference. I liked what I saw from this team last year and think they could definitely be a threat in this. They're coming in hot. They won 6 of their last 8 games and are currently sitting in 2nd in what I consider to be the toughest division this year in the GMC White.
7) Cardinal McCarrick 13-9, 8-8 in conference. They're like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get from this team. They've lost 4 of their last 5 in GMC play but also have some impressive wins. They're close to New Brunswick but I feel they have a better resume with wins over Sayreville, Carteret, Piscataway, North Brunswick, etc. They also have some big game experience playing close with Plainfield as well as beating Westfield.
8) Dunellen 9-8, 8-6 in conference. Pretty sure the Gold winner is always here.
9) New Brunswick 13-8, 11-7 in conference. They're 7-6 in the White division and gave Monroe their only conference loss. They also beat Piscataway and North Brunswick.
10) North Brunswick 10-10, 9-9 in conference. They beat Sayreville, Cardinal McCarrick and New Brunswick.
Here's the rest of the seedings in my opinion.
11) Metuchen 11-6, 7-5 in conference.
12) Carteret 9-10, 8-9 in conference.
13) Middlesex 14-5, 9-4 in conference.
14) Piscataway 9-10, 8-9 in conference.
15) Old Bridge 10-11, 7-10 in conference.
16) South Brunswick 8-10, 8-10 in conference.
17) Colonia 7-12, 7-8 in conference.
18) J.F. Kennedy 11-10, 7-10 in conference.
19) Edison 7-12, 7-12 in conference.
20) Perth Amboy 8-11, 8-9 in conference.
21) Woodbridge 5-14, 5-13 in conference.
22) South Plainfield 4-14, 3-14 in conference.
23) Highland Park 6-12, 5-10 in conference.
24) South River 9-13, 5-11 in conference.
25) South Amboy 10-10, 6-7 in conference.
26) East Brunswick Tech 10-7, 3-6 in conference.
27) Perth Amboy Tech 9-10, 2-7 in conference.
28) J.P. Stevens 1-19, 1-18 in conference.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading my projected seedings for the GMC Tournament coming up. We'll see how accurate I was in a couple days when I talk about the bracket and give my picks for the first round games on Saturday. Should be a great month and a half coming up with the county and State tournament, the start of the Olympics on Friday, conference tournaments starting at the beginning of March going into March Madness and of course the start of Spring Training. It is one of my favorite times of the year as a sports and more specifically basketball fan. Hope everyone enjoys all these sporting events coming up as well as the snow today into tomorrow. Let's hope we get another day off. I'll be back tomorrow to preview the 4 games at Kean University on Friday night.
1) St. Joe's 18-3, 15-0 in conference, 1 loss in the state to St. Anthony's. We don't have a lot of impressive conference wins because frankly, our division is down this year and when you have to play 16 games against them, you're not going to get many chances at all to play cross-divisional games. In fact, we haven't played one, which could hurt us. Our best win by far was our 26 point win over East Brunswick. We also beat Piscataway by 44 earlier this year which is a solid win as well. Monroe's schedule was definitely harder in the GMC, but we are undefeated in the conference playing decent schools, plus as I said our only loss in state is to perennial powerhouse St. Anthony's so you're almost always going to be a one seed with that resume.
2) Monroe 17-2, 14-1 in conference, to me, St. Joe's and Monroe are easily the top two teams in the conference. Monroe has a lot of close games though which is something Joe's hasn't had. Besides the game at home against Old Bridge, after coming back from Atlanta, where Joe's won by 5, their closest game has been 11 points in conference play. To me St. Joe's is less likely to have an upset early than Monroe. To me Monroe could lose to basically anyone in their division in the county tournament, while Joe's probably wouldn't get a tough matchup till the Semifinals at least where they would probably play their rival East Brunswick. Monroe in a 7-10 matchup could certainly have their hands full.
3) Bishop Ahr 14-2, 12-1 in conference. They are now in the driver's seat to win the GMC Blue with just 2 days left in the regular season. They have some quality wins in beating East Brunswick and Cardinal McCarrick and have shown that they're well deserving of being a top 3 seed.
4) East Brunswick 17-3, 15-3 in conference. The major black eye for them is the loss to Old Bridge. Besides that, they have put together a great year and will probably be a tough out in the State Tournament. They have beaten New Brunswick, North Brunswick and Piscataway. They have played a tougher schedule than the team I'm placing 5th who doesn't have as tough a resume so I expect this is where they'll be seeded.
5) Spotswood 15-2, 12-2 in conference. Another team that has played very well this year and maybe better than people expected them to. They beat Bishop Ahr which is their best win this season and have shown that they're deserving of a 5 seed.
6) Sayreville 12-6, 11-5 in conference. I liked what I saw from this team last year and think they could definitely be a threat in this. They're coming in hot. They won 6 of their last 8 games and are currently sitting in 2nd in what I consider to be the toughest division this year in the GMC White.
7) Cardinal McCarrick 13-9, 8-8 in conference. They're like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get from this team. They've lost 4 of their last 5 in GMC play but also have some impressive wins. They're close to New Brunswick but I feel they have a better resume with wins over Sayreville, Carteret, Piscataway, North Brunswick, etc. They also have some big game experience playing close with Plainfield as well as beating Westfield.
8) Dunellen 9-8, 8-6 in conference. Pretty sure the Gold winner is always here.
9) New Brunswick 13-8, 11-7 in conference. They're 7-6 in the White division and gave Monroe their only conference loss. They also beat Piscataway and North Brunswick.
10) North Brunswick 10-10, 9-9 in conference. They beat Sayreville, Cardinal McCarrick and New Brunswick.
Here's the rest of the seedings in my opinion.
11) Metuchen 11-6, 7-5 in conference.
12) Carteret 9-10, 8-9 in conference.
13) Middlesex 14-5, 9-4 in conference.
14) Piscataway 9-10, 8-9 in conference.
15) Old Bridge 10-11, 7-10 in conference.
16) South Brunswick 8-10, 8-10 in conference.
17) Colonia 7-12, 7-8 in conference.
18) J.F. Kennedy 11-10, 7-10 in conference.
19) Edison 7-12, 7-12 in conference.
20) Perth Amboy 8-11, 8-9 in conference.
21) Woodbridge 5-14, 5-13 in conference.
22) South Plainfield 4-14, 3-14 in conference.
23) Highland Park 6-12, 5-10 in conference.
24) South River 9-13, 5-11 in conference.
25) South Amboy 10-10, 6-7 in conference.
26) East Brunswick Tech 10-7, 3-6 in conference.
27) Perth Amboy Tech 9-10, 2-7 in conference.
28) J.P. Stevens 1-19, 1-18 in conference.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading my projected seedings for the GMC Tournament coming up. We'll see how accurate I was in a couple days when I talk about the bracket and give my picks for the first round games on Saturday. Should be a great month and a half coming up with the county and State tournament, the start of the Olympics on Friday, conference tournaments starting at the beginning of March going into March Madness and of course the start of Spring Training. It is one of my favorite times of the year as a sports and more specifically basketball fan. Hope everyone enjoys all these sporting events coming up as well as the snow today into tomorrow. Let's hope we get another day off. I'll be back tomorrow to preview the 4 games at Kean University on Friday night.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
No Country for Old Men
As surely everyone has heard by now, either through NBC promos or countless articles in newspapers, the Winter Olympics begin on Friday and go all the way through to Sunday, February 28th. To me, the Summer Olympics are far more enjoyable than the Winter ones. There's a lot more sporting events going on, some of which in America, we never get a chance to see on television such as table tennis, equestrian or fencing. NBC and their affiliates do a heck of a job covering it, especially ever since Athens. They have kicked up their level of coverage to a staggering level, and I love watching every moment of it. I also like them a lot more than the Winter ones because some of the sports you know were being played by the Ancient Greeks in the original Olympiad. You could see them doing track and field or archery. I really doubt they were alpine skiing or speed skating(although speed skating is one of my favorite events in the winter ones). Of course both comes with criticism, what constitutes what as a sport, the doping scandals and more as well as summer always dealing with why should there be sports where the ultimate prize isnt the gold such as Tennis where its a grand slam title or Baseball where its a world series. If you ask Kobe what he wants more, a NBA title or the gold, you can bet he's gonna say an NBA title. There's a lot of pride in that, there's hardly any beating Angola by 50 points in group play. But I enjoy the summer olympics because it has a little bit of everything for a sports fan. There's 31 sports so there's something to watch for everyone and a lot of them are different ones which America doesn't get to see often so that's a plus as well.
Some of you may be wondering the significance of the title of this blog. I mentioned pride in the last paragraph and this is the general theme of this post, but what happened to American pride in the winter Olympics. I feel it very much in the Summer ones. You know Michael Phelps was thrilled to win all those for America and to show the world that they're the crown jewel in swimming. I especially felt it in the Jason Lezak come back in the 4x100 freestyle relay race and then again in Phelps epic race against Miroslav Cavic where Phelps won by.001 of a second. I could also feel American pride with Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in beach volleyball. You could tell how hard they trained and really wanted to bring the title back to America and then lastly of course, with the basketball team having disgraced the country by missing gold in the 2004 Olympics, wanted to show that they were back on top in the basketball world. I don't feel the pride in the Winter Olympics. Times have changed over the last 2 decades or so. Now I feel that most of our modern athletes in the Winter Olympics are self-serving brats who couldn't give a rats ass about their country. I am absolutely ashamed as to what took place in Torino 4 years ago between Bode Miller receiving all the hype and doing absolutely nothing. I don't want idiots like him to as he put it "party and socialize at an Olympic level." There's a time and place for that, but to not give a damn about your country and then continuously give half-assed efforts over there is an embarrassment. Where is all the hype this year over him? It's gone and thank god. Then you have perhaps the most self-serving athlete of the Winter Olympics and that's Shani Davis. I'm not going to go as hard on him. I don't have a problem with him doing his training by himself or even him not doing the team pursuit to do a couple extra things on his own. But the way he acted in Torino to the media was a disgrace as well. He really snubbed Melissa Stark after what could've been a great moment in Olympic history after he became the first African American to win gold in an individual event, offering her curt answers because she supposedly praised his teammate more than him. Throughout the entire Olympics, it seemed like he unnecessarily brought race into everything and while his achievement should've been a great thing, it simply turned into a sour and bitter occasion. I am expecting great things this year from Shani and this will be the year where I'll decide if I can forget his attitude at Torino and remember him for what he does (and says) this year. And lastly, perhaps the defining visual of the 2006 Torino Olympics for Americans was Lindsay Jacobellis's showoat trick which cost her the gold. Somehow she seemed perfectly content with silver which is a disgrace and she didn't mseem too unhappy with herself which is a joke. If she never wins a gold that should haunt her for the rest of her life, but as I said, it doesn't seem like many individuals give a damn about their country or even how well they perform individually in the Olympics. Shani, clearly does which is why I still have tons of respect for hm for what he's been able to accompish so far. Our best hopes this year I think are Shani Davis, Lindsay Vonn and our hockey teams I'm sure guys like Shaun White and Chad Hedrick will perform well, but I expect the 3 I mentioned to be the things we remember when the Winter Olympics close 2 and a half weeks from now. We have to have more national and personal pride in the Winter Olympic games and even if we lose, we have to give it our all. If you're not, you have no business competing on your country's team. I hope this mentality changes and I think it will. I think there's been a lot of growing up especially by Bode Miller, but think Shani and Lindsay have done some growing up as well. This year's theme to me is repeat or redemption. Will they repeat their performances and more importantly actions at this year's games or will they redeem themselves with better performances and have the mount of pride that past Olympians have had. The choice is their's alone and they have their fate in their hands. But it starts with having more pride in themselves and their country. No matter how many beatings our country takes physically and verbally, we are still the United States of America and it's time to show the world once again what we are capable of doing. Hope everyone enjoys the games and I'm sure I'll be talking about them again over the next couple weeks.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Final Thoughts on Super Bowl XLIV/State Bball Tourney Thoughts
I said yesterday that I had a feeling that Peyton Manning was going to make a mistake which would cost his team the game, and while there was a bunch of stuff leading up to it, the straw that broke the camel's back was his interception to Tracy Porter who brought it back 74 yards to the endzone to give the Saints the 31-17 lead which ultimately was the final score. The bottom line is this: The Colts were just outplayed today and as I've said all along I thought the Saints were the better team. Drew Brees hardly needed to do anything today as he basically won the game on short passes to wide open guys and the defense stepped up big time, which was something a lot of analysts and fans didn't think they were going to. But a lot of the time, when it's two teams with defenses that aren't considered great, the worse of the two comes to play. I also said in my prior blog that they were lucky to get past Minnesota and I think the players knew that they were extremely fortunate and I knew they were going to play much better today. There was a couple huge calls that turned the course of the game. The first was obviously the onside kick, a great call, coming out of the halftime which was nearly 30 minutes long and definitely took the Colts by surprise. The second call was Sean Payton's decision to challenge Lance Moore's 2 pt conversion as a catch which I thought was definitely incomplete. Turned out that he saw something a lot of viewers probably didn't and Lance Moore caught it and was in the endzone before losing the ball. The beginning of the end for the Colts was the drop by Pierre Garcon in the second quarter on the third down. That totally changed the course of the game and I'm sure he's wishing he could have that one back right now. Today was an example of truly great coaching by Sean Payton and a great defensive gameplan set up by Gregg Williams. Williams did his job with focusing in on Manning and trying to come up with different schemes to frustrate Manning and Payton played gutsy. The 4th down call on the goal line. The onside kick. He played fearless and a lot of his players I'm sure respected the way he was playcalling in a game for all the marbles. Congratulations also to Drew Brees on winning the MVP. He really is a class act and New Orleans should be thankful they have a player like him and all he does for the city. Thanks to him, he has brought New Orleans on a long road after Hurrican Katrina a few years ago and I think has really inspired the city thanks to his personality and toughness. Another area which I'm not sure the Saints expected to get as much as they did was in the kicking game. Garrett Hartley went a perfect 3 for 3 on fg's, all of which were longer than 40. I thought he'd be the chink in their armor but he came up big today and as it turned out, they didn't need him in a big spot, which wound up being a great situation for everyone involved because I'd hate to see another Scott Norwood, especially with a kicker as young as Hartley whose career could've forever been notorious for missing a last second kick. Overall, I thought it was a great game and I'm proud of what New Orleans accomplished this season. They're my second favorite team behind Miami and I've never had any of my favorite teams win a title, so getting to experience a win for them was great and made me proud to be a football fan because you could tell how much this team meant to the city of New Orleans and how much the fans embraced this team. While the Giants-Pats and Cardinals-Steelers games were better, I didn't feel quite as good as what I saw i the closing minutes tonight of the telecast and the admiration between a professional football team and their fans is a rarity nowadays. It's been a long road to get to this point, but these players were able to get a Super Bowl win for themselves, for the city and as Brees pointed out, maybe the country. And I think he was right to say that. A lot of America was rooting for New Orleans today because they were the underdog and they were a perfect example of how even though places in America can face tough times, they can overcome those wounds through time and come out stronger than they were before. Well done, New Orleans.
State Tournament Thoughts
I currently scorekeep at my old high school, St. Joe's in Metuchen whenever I can and try to keep up to date on local talent throughout the state and the county. While I have been busier this year than in past year's, I'm still reasonably involved and am always intrigued by trying to figure out tournament bracket's and the like as I made mention in one of my earlier blogs. We are in Non-Public South A, which is historically one of the stronger state brackets. There's been a lot of good players to have played in ths bracket over the years. Some of the more recent names from St. Joe's alone are Andrew Bynum, Sean Baptiste now at Fairleigh Dickinson, and Jay Williams. St. Augustine has had Pops-Mensah Bonsu play recently, a standout at George Washington. CBA has had a number of great players go through the program, most notably recently Dan Werner at Florida. Holy Spirit of Absecon has had a number of players as well go off to play college ball at division I schools. Currently their biggest name playing in colelge is Dennis Horner at NC State. To put in perspective how good of a bracket this is, my junior year we were the 6th seed with a 16-4 record as of cutoff and Holy Spirit was the 3 seed with an 18-2 record or so. They had about 5 division I players and half their players went onto play in college. Their third string forward is now playing at Wagner. That's how stacked their team was. So there's been plenty of players to come through this bracket which perennially make this one of the toughest in the state. I'm going to put my projected seedings below.
#9 Holy Spirit (10-5) at #8 Paul VI (11-5), winner at #1 Camden Catholic (16-1)
#12 Red Bank Catholic (5-13) at #5 Christian Brothers (17-3), winner at #4 St. Joe's (Metuchen) (17-3)
#10 St. John Vianney (11-9) at #7 St. Augustine (11-5), winner at #2 Monsignor Donovan (13-2)
#11 Notre Dame (8-10) at # 6 Bishop Eustace (14-3), winner at # 3 Bishop Ahr (13-2)
If this holds up, the left side of the bracket is absolutely brutal with a big rivalry in Joe's-CBA in the quartefinals and the winner playing a very talented Camden Catholic team, currently ranked #1 in South Jersey. As a Joe's alum, I cringe at the thought of yet another state game with CBA (after playing and losing to them 3 out of the last 4 years, losing one of them in heartbreaking fashion), but hopefully we'll be able to get over the hump this year. At some point, you have to overcome your rival, but frankly CBA has just been better than us each of those years. I think this may be one of the poorer CBA teams over the last decade so hopefully we can win it this year. Maybe this will be like the year where Will Campbell singlehandedly dominated CBA and led Paul Vi to a win. That was an off-year for them and maybe we'll get a second shot to take them down at our place. Sooner or later, it's going to happen. Manning had to overcome Brady. Federer had to overcome Nadal. I think in a way we're scared to play them cause of all the tough losses we've had recently. Once we hang with them and are able to beat them, I think that mental block will be elimianted and we'll consistently be able to say we have a chance to beat them. They elimianted us this past year in baseball in the qtrs, when you could say we were the top 2 teams in our bracket. Once again, we are in the top 3 of our bracket. I would say CC is the best of us 3, but hopefully we'll be able to knock them out this year. I'll get to my problems about the state seeding in a bit, but first here are my predictions.
My predictions
Paul VI over Holy Spirit by double digits
CBA massacres Red Bank Catholic
St. Augustine prevails but St. John Vianney shows some fight. Augustine by upper single digits.
Eustace by about 20
Camden Catholic by 14 over Paul VI
St Joe's over CBA in a great game. We win by 3.
Augustine over Monsignor Donovan in a great game. Augustine wins by 5.
Bishop Eustace over Bishop Ahr by 12.
St. Joe's over Camden Catholic by 2. I think with the 3 days we have off in between the qtrs and semis we'll be able to regroup off the win vs. CBA and get prepared for the semifinal game against CC knowing the winner has a great shot against the other side's winner. CC underachieved last year and it wouldn't surprise me if they struggled against us again, especially if the game against Paul Vi is close. I think we match up okay against them and have enough ability to come away with the win.
Eustace over Augustine by 3. Great game by these two teams. Both teams strongest suits are their guard play and this game's winner probably has mid 50's.
St. Joe's over Eustace by 8. I just have a feeling if we get past CBA this year, we are very dangerous. I think our team's hungrier than the past couple years. Steve has lost to CBA two of the last three years and frankly, I just don't see him leaving Joe's without a win against them. As long as we come motivated after what will probably be a decent county run, I think the sky's the limit. This may be our last chance for a while to make some noise so hopefully we will.
State Seeding
Okay, I've got two problems when it comes to the state seeding for basketball. First off is that it should go by power points or something rather than strength of schedule. It does not take a brain surgeon to know that a team like CBA is better than one of the teams theyre higher seeded than like Bishop Ahr or Monsignor Donovan. It really screws over some of the good teams in the bracket. Paul VI and Camden Catholic are rivals, should they have to play each other in a first round matchup? I don't think so. Same goes with us and CBA, we're 11th and 12th in the state currently, how can you justify us playing each other in the first round when we're 2 of the best 3 teams in the bracket. With that being said I think it would look like this then.
#1 Camden Catholic
#2 CBA
#3 St. Joe's
#4 Monsignor Donovan
#5 Bishop Eustace
#6 Paul VI
#7 Bishop Ahr
#8 St. John Vianney
#9 St. Augustine
#10 Holy Spirit
#11 Notre Dame
#12 Red Bank Catholic
Obviously the Shore and the Olympic Conferences are two of the tougher ones in the state which is why CBA,MD,BE, and PVI are all in the top 6. In a field such as this one. You definitely protect the higher seeds a bit and theres no ridiculous #11-#12 matchups in the first round. theres a great chance that the 1,2, and 3 at least would survive in this format till the final, and that's how it should be because they are the strongest in the conference. If they lose its their own fault, but at least protect the higher seeds because they have consistently proven to be the best over the course of this season.
My other big gripe about the State tournament this year is that earlier I was looking at GMCHoops.com, definitely worth checking our if you get a chance. Greg really does a nice job of covering Middlesex County ball. I was reading how each section shapes up in the state tournament. This year, the NJSIAA has expanded each section's tournament bracket to include 16 teams. They no longer have to finish over .500. As long as you make the top 16 you're in. Let me read some of these records off. Edison 7-11, Perth Amboy 7-11 are definitely in. Teams on the bubble are Highland Park 5-12, Piscataway Tech 4-13, Woodbridge 5-14, South Plainfield 4-14. Do these teams really deserve state tournament berths. Seriously, why waste the time? I'm sure on some of these occasions there will be a nice underdog story but most of these teams I've seen are horrible. I could be totally off-base here but can't help but think what the hell is kids in being in the state tournament with a 5-14 record is proving? That mediocrity should be rewarded? It's the same thing in bowl games. We always gripe about how many teams are participating in that and how there's two 6-6 teams in the Independence Bowl that no one give s a damn about anyway. I kind of think it's partially do to some of these ridiculous parents who feel the same that everyone should play regardless of if someone is way more talented than someone else. That's not the way life works. These aren't kids. They're young adults...at least the 17 and 18 year olds are and I think they understand that more than the damn parents do most of the time. I like the fact there's more games to go see and try to look at future college talent, but I have to be realistic here too. Give the undefeated team that's usually a 1 or a 2 seed a bye. Reward them. Don't give them a 6-12 team that's a walk in the park. It's not fair to the good teams who have had an undefeated season. More troubling for me is what does this do to a group such as North A or B for the parochial schools where there is a tremendous disparity. One of the schools in North B is Veritas Christian Academy, a school with 36 sophomores-seniors. As some of you may know, that's the same bracket where the perennial powerhouses in St. Anthony's and St. Pat's as well as Paterson Catholic plays. Say they were to get a 16 seed. That's a better game left unplayed seriously. What good will come out of them playing a St. Pat's where the score will be like 200-8. I thought the team Yates in Houston was a bunch of assholes and they are cause they do stupid shit like press up 100 in a game, but this could be even worse and the problem is the state could've avoided it by not putting into action this ridiculous rule where the #1 seeds are playing these lowly sub .500 16 seeds. Some of these games are going to be really ugly. We'll see if they continue doing it after this year. I don't have a problem even with teams a couple .500 playing in it like an Edison at 7-11 or 8-10, but these tech schools who suck anyway should not be playing in the state tournament when they have a record 10 games under .500. Piscataway Tech plays mostly tech schools and theyre still 10 under so imagine what happens when they run into someone that's decent. It's going to get ugly in a hurry and I hope the state changes this in the future after their test run this year. Good luck to all the teams in states and I'll take a look at some of the brackets later on this week.
State Tournament Thoughts
I currently scorekeep at my old high school, St. Joe's in Metuchen whenever I can and try to keep up to date on local talent throughout the state and the county. While I have been busier this year than in past year's, I'm still reasonably involved and am always intrigued by trying to figure out tournament bracket's and the like as I made mention in one of my earlier blogs. We are in Non-Public South A, which is historically one of the stronger state brackets. There's been a lot of good players to have played in ths bracket over the years. Some of the more recent names from St. Joe's alone are Andrew Bynum, Sean Baptiste now at Fairleigh Dickinson, and Jay Williams. St. Augustine has had Pops-Mensah Bonsu play recently, a standout at George Washington. CBA has had a number of great players go through the program, most notably recently Dan Werner at Florida. Holy Spirit of Absecon has had a number of players as well go off to play college ball at division I schools. Currently their biggest name playing in colelge is Dennis Horner at NC State. To put in perspective how good of a bracket this is, my junior year we were the 6th seed with a 16-4 record as of cutoff and Holy Spirit was the 3 seed with an 18-2 record or so. They had about 5 division I players and half their players went onto play in college. Their third string forward is now playing at Wagner. That's how stacked their team was. So there's been plenty of players to come through this bracket which perennially make this one of the toughest in the state. I'm going to put my projected seedings below.
#9 Holy Spirit (10-5) at #8 Paul VI (11-5), winner at #1 Camden Catholic (16-1)
#12 Red Bank Catholic (5-13) at #5 Christian Brothers (17-3), winner at #4 St. Joe's (Metuchen) (17-3)
#10 St. John Vianney (11-9) at #7 St. Augustine (11-5), winner at #2 Monsignor Donovan (13-2)
#11 Notre Dame (8-10) at # 6 Bishop Eustace (14-3), winner at # 3 Bishop Ahr (13-2)
If this holds up, the left side of the bracket is absolutely brutal with a big rivalry in Joe's-CBA in the quartefinals and the winner playing a very talented Camden Catholic team, currently ranked #1 in South Jersey. As a Joe's alum, I cringe at the thought of yet another state game with CBA (after playing and losing to them 3 out of the last 4 years, losing one of them in heartbreaking fashion), but hopefully we'll be able to get over the hump this year. At some point, you have to overcome your rival, but frankly CBA has just been better than us each of those years. I think this may be one of the poorer CBA teams over the last decade so hopefully we can win it this year. Maybe this will be like the year where Will Campbell singlehandedly dominated CBA and led Paul Vi to a win. That was an off-year for them and maybe we'll get a second shot to take them down at our place. Sooner or later, it's going to happen. Manning had to overcome Brady. Federer had to overcome Nadal. I think in a way we're scared to play them cause of all the tough losses we've had recently. Once we hang with them and are able to beat them, I think that mental block will be elimianted and we'll consistently be able to say we have a chance to beat them. They elimianted us this past year in baseball in the qtrs, when you could say we were the top 2 teams in our bracket. Once again, we are in the top 3 of our bracket. I would say CC is the best of us 3, but hopefully we'll be able to knock them out this year. I'll get to my problems about the state seeding in a bit, but first here are my predictions.
My predictions
Paul VI over Holy Spirit by double digits
CBA massacres Red Bank Catholic
St. Augustine prevails but St. John Vianney shows some fight. Augustine by upper single digits.
Eustace by about 20
Camden Catholic by 14 over Paul VI
St Joe's over CBA in a great game. We win by 3.
Augustine over Monsignor Donovan in a great game. Augustine wins by 5.
Bishop Eustace over Bishop Ahr by 12.
St. Joe's over Camden Catholic by 2. I think with the 3 days we have off in between the qtrs and semis we'll be able to regroup off the win vs. CBA and get prepared for the semifinal game against CC knowing the winner has a great shot against the other side's winner. CC underachieved last year and it wouldn't surprise me if they struggled against us again, especially if the game against Paul Vi is close. I think we match up okay against them and have enough ability to come away with the win.
Eustace over Augustine by 3. Great game by these two teams. Both teams strongest suits are their guard play and this game's winner probably has mid 50's.
St. Joe's over Eustace by 8. I just have a feeling if we get past CBA this year, we are very dangerous. I think our team's hungrier than the past couple years. Steve has lost to CBA two of the last three years and frankly, I just don't see him leaving Joe's without a win against them. As long as we come motivated after what will probably be a decent county run, I think the sky's the limit. This may be our last chance for a while to make some noise so hopefully we will.
State Seeding
Okay, I've got two problems when it comes to the state seeding for basketball. First off is that it should go by power points or something rather than strength of schedule. It does not take a brain surgeon to know that a team like CBA is better than one of the teams theyre higher seeded than like Bishop Ahr or Monsignor Donovan. It really screws over some of the good teams in the bracket. Paul VI and Camden Catholic are rivals, should they have to play each other in a first round matchup? I don't think so. Same goes with us and CBA, we're 11th and 12th in the state currently, how can you justify us playing each other in the first round when we're 2 of the best 3 teams in the bracket. With that being said I think it would look like this then.
#1 Camden Catholic
#2 CBA
#3 St. Joe's
#4 Monsignor Donovan
#5 Bishop Eustace
#6 Paul VI
#7 Bishop Ahr
#8 St. John Vianney
#9 St. Augustine
#10 Holy Spirit
#11 Notre Dame
#12 Red Bank Catholic
Obviously the Shore and the Olympic Conferences are two of the tougher ones in the state which is why CBA,MD,BE, and PVI are all in the top 6. In a field such as this one. You definitely protect the higher seeds a bit and theres no ridiculous #11-#12 matchups in the first round. theres a great chance that the 1,2, and 3 at least would survive in this format till the final, and that's how it should be because they are the strongest in the conference. If they lose its their own fault, but at least protect the higher seeds because they have consistently proven to be the best over the course of this season.
My other big gripe about the State tournament this year is that earlier I was looking at GMCHoops.com, definitely worth checking our if you get a chance. Greg really does a nice job of covering Middlesex County ball. I was reading how each section shapes up in the state tournament. This year, the NJSIAA has expanded each section's tournament bracket to include 16 teams. They no longer have to finish over .500. As long as you make the top 16 you're in. Let me read some of these records off. Edison 7-11, Perth Amboy 7-11 are definitely in. Teams on the bubble are Highland Park 5-12, Piscataway Tech 4-13, Woodbridge 5-14, South Plainfield 4-14. Do these teams really deserve state tournament berths. Seriously, why waste the time? I'm sure on some of these occasions there will be a nice underdog story but most of these teams I've seen are horrible. I could be totally off-base here but can't help but think what the hell is kids in being in the state tournament with a 5-14 record is proving? That mediocrity should be rewarded? It's the same thing in bowl games. We always gripe about how many teams are participating in that and how there's two 6-6 teams in the Independence Bowl that no one give s a damn about anyway. I kind of think it's partially do to some of these ridiculous parents who feel the same that everyone should play regardless of if someone is way more talented than someone else. That's not the way life works. These aren't kids. They're young adults...at least the 17 and 18 year olds are and I think they understand that more than the damn parents do most of the time. I like the fact there's more games to go see and try to look at future college talent, but I have to be realistic here too. Give the undefeated team that's usually a 1 or a 2 seed a bye. Reward them. Don't give them a 6-12 team that's a walk in the park. It's not fair to the good teams who have had an undefeated season. More troubling for me is what does this do to a group such as North A or B for the parochial schools where there is a tremendous disparity. One of the schools in North B is Veritas Christian Academy, a school with 36 sophomores-seniors. As some of you may know, that's the same bracket where the perennial powerhouses in St. Anthony's and St. Pat's as well as Paterson Catholic plays. Say they were to get a 16 seed. That's a better game left unplayed seriously. What good will come out of them playing a St. Pat's where the score will be like 200-8. I thought the team Yates in Houston was a bunch of assholes and they are cause they do stupid shit like press up 100 in a game, but this could be even worse and the problem is the state could've avoided it by not putting into action this ridiculous rule where the #1 seeds are playing these lowly sub .500 16 seeds. Some of these games are going to be really ugly. We'll see if they continue doing it after this year. I don't have a problem even with teams a couple .500 playing in it like an Edison at 7-11 or 8-10, but these tech schools who suck anyway should not be playing in the state tournament when they have a record 10 games under .500. Piscataway Tech plays mostly tech schools and theyre still 10 under so imagine what happens when they run into someone that's decent. It's going to get ugly in a hurry and I hope the state changes this in the future after their test run this year. Good luck to all the teams in states and I'll take a look at some of the brackets later on this week.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Super Sunday Preview/Thoughts on the Sports World
Seeing as I'll be tied up all weekend due to shoveling snow (in all likelihood) as well as watching a lot of college basketball tomorrow as well as UFC 109 and being busy watching some pre-game shows on Sunday, I figured now is the perfect time to preview the game two days from now. To me, this game is one of the best matchups the NFL could have hoped for. I have seen this coming for months and to any of these moron analysts who think there is no story here, they are blind. First off, these two offenses are scary and both teams are loaded with receivers and anyone of these guys can come out of nowhere and have a great day. The offenses alone make this game a story because everyone likes a shootout and I definitely could see this game turning into one. Second of all, this Super Bowl could be the one that boosts Peyton into immortality. There's a lot of mediocre quarterbacks that have won one Super Bowl. Usually the guys who have two or more are/were phenomonal players and are considered the best players to ever play quarterback in the NFL. If Peyton were to win this, I think he would potentially pass Brady in the eyes of many fans because you look at what Peyton had to work with and then look at Brady's past teams along with the coaching staff and the other players in general and I think more people would take Peyton. Even now I would take Peyton over Brady but to the fans that would take Brady over Manning right now, a win this year could shift their perspective. And lastly, will the Saints cap off their historic season and bring the city of New Orleans a Super Bowl. That in itself is a great story and I think something that many people want to see. I'm going to say who has the edge in each facet of the game.
Quarterback
Colts, Overall I would say Peyton is much better than Brees in terms of history. But in this particular season, I find it very close. Brees had yet another great season. I don't think their schedule was as tough as the Colts and Peyton basically does everything for them. He gives the team its identity and is by far the best player that is going to be on the field Sunday.
Running Backs
Saints, again, it's very close, but I'd take the combination of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush to Joseph Addai and Donald Brown.
Wide Receivers
Saints, also very close. Reggie Wayne is the best receiver in the group, but I'd say that the Saints have the second and third, maybe even fourth in that set with Robert Meachem. Colston is #2, Henderson is #3 and then Garcon and Collie are somewhere in the bottom half but I think the Saints have 2 of the top 3 receivers playing in the game.
Tight End
Colts, not even close. Jeremy Shockey is in the twilight of his career while Dallas Clark has proven time and time again to be Peyton's go-to-guy. He could be one of the difference makers in this one.
Kicker
Colts, might be the biggest mismatch in all areas. Matt Stover and Adam Vinatieri are way better than Garrett Hartley. By the way, I totally think his kick to send them to the Super Bowl was a fluke. Don't be surprised if the script's reversed and he misses a big kick. It wouldn't surprise me at all.
Rush Defense
Colts
Pass Defense
Saints
Coaching
Saints, I also think this category is pretty close, but I think in this spot, Sean Payton is the more experienced coach. He has also developed pretty good game plans in the past and is a great motivator. He also does a great job varying his offense and switching up the playcalling a lot.
As if you couldn't tell, I think both these teams are pretty evenly matched. Peyton is the best player on the field by far on Sunday but the Saints have more than enough to keep it close. I like the Saints to win this game 31-28. The Saints have done a good job forcing turnovers all season long and think they will be able to pressure Peyton here. Another reason I like the Saints is because of how lucky they were to get past the Vikings who totally outplayed them. I think they will get their heads on straight and give the Colts a great game and win. I always say that no matter how good of a individual player you may have, if you're not a true team, which I believe the Saints are over the Colts, you are going to have a harder time winning. Peyton can only do so much which is why I like the Saints here. As much success as Peyton has had as of late, it's foolish to think of all the bad games he had too, the 41-0 loss to the Jets or the Pittsburgh game a few years ago, just off the top of my head. Don't forget too, that a lot of these Saints players were in the NFC Championship loss to the Bears a couple years ago and I think will have some experience from that and play a lot better than they did there. So I like the Saints +5 and OVER 56.5. Hope everyone enjoys the game and if it follows the recent trend, it should be a great one.
EXTRA THOUGHTS
http://www.nj.com/hssports/blog/boysbasketball/index.ssf/2010/02/st_patrick_boys_basketball_team_could_be_banned_from_state_tournament_for_holding_illegal_practices.html
In the article above, it is mentioned that the St. Patrick's Boys Basketball Team may be expelled from the state tournament because of holding illegal practices prior to the season. To me, I can't say I'm surprised. I think most of these "powerhouse" schools are shady. Most of them get away with a lot because it makes their respective athletic associations tons of money. A school to me that has done everything right is St. Anthony's. Unlike St. Pat's, which it seems like they get recruits on a monthly basis, St. Anthony's has a system where kids spend all four years in the program, spending their earlier years on the JV level before heading up to play for Coach Bob Hurley. Another thing with St. Pat's is that they just got these two transfers from Duncanville High School in Texas. I guarantee that those two kids will play if St. Pat's is allowed in the state tournament when it clearly says that transfers who are not enrolled by January 20th in their current schools are not eligible to play for the state tournament. They were not and I'm sure because Pat's is the cash cow no one would've said anything. The same thing happened last year when I was looking at St. Pat's schedule. In order to make the New Jersey State Tournament you have to play 70% of your games in state. They did not. They played somewhere in the mid-60's. A rule's a rule. I guarantee if it was some middle of the road public school, they would've been caught and not allowed in the tournament. So I'm glad that Pat's could potentially get screwed over because they shouldn't have been allowed in last year. Karma's a bitch. Also seriously a school like that belongs in a prep league. I can't stand schools like that and don't even get me started about Don Bosco. Don Bosco is nationally ranked in basically everything and have dorms on their campus now. Don't tell me that you're a regular school with dorms on the campus. That's not a regular school. It's more like a prep school or a college, not to mention they have guys coming from four states to play football. My rule would be you can only go to parochial schools to play ball if you're from that state. I don't want any Corey Fisher's from the Bronx or any of these guys from out of the country to be playing ball at NJSIAA schools. If they want to play at a Blair, Peddie, Lawrencville, Benedict's that's fine, but you're ruining the state association with blatant mismatches as this one. I don't know if St. Pat's will get banned from this tournament and I'm not even sure if it's a worthy enough cause of being banned, I'm just glad they were finally called on something.
As much good as there's been in the sports world and to me, this is one of my favorite months of the year. There's the finish of the Australian Open, the Super Bowl, this year the winter Olympics, as well as the finish to the college basketball regular season, but when I read that a 13 year old committed to USC to play football, I don't know whether to laugh or to shake my head in disbelief that a kid in 7th grade already knows where he wants to go to college. One of the first questions I always ask upon hearing that is does he know where he wants to go to high school yet? People change. From interests to personalities. A person at 13 is much different than a person at 19 or 20. Sometimes, a person is so highly touted at such a young age that they grow tired of it at a really young age and quit, like John Elway's son did last year. Ron Jaworksi on Pardon the Interruption said before at 13, he wanted to be a baseball star and several years later was when he had a professional football career in his near future. Another thing that surprises me about this signing is that he is a quarterback, which is the hardest position to play in football. What if this kid doesn't pan out in even high school. There's always a chance. Chances are he'll be good enough to play on the college level but there's always times when a person isn't as good as advertised. The sad thing is this is just a publicity stunt and a way to make waves days before the Super Bowl. I can't tell you how much of a slimeball Lane Kiffin is. He leaves after one season in Knoxville and of all people, even Al Davis called him a liar as the Oakland Raiders head coach. He is one selfish son of a bitch and totally disingenuous. He talks out of his ass and for whatever reason, these dumbass 18 and 19 year olds still believe in him. Then you have that asshole mediocre former head coach in Ed Orgeron apparently texting kids in the locker room while both of them are saying their goodbyes to the Tennessee players to come to USC. How bullshit is that? And then what, because they are still technically Tennesee coaches, the UT program is gonna get screwed with sanctions years from now when these two assclowns are gone! It makes me sick and makes me really glad that I like college basketball over college football where there is some loyalty and guys don't leave at the drop of a hat. Kiffin is an embarrassment to college football, plain and simple. I respect guys like the current coach at Tennessee now in Derrek Dooley, because he paid his dues and built up his resume at a place such as Louisiana Tech that Tennessee finally is giving him a chance to succeed and I don't think they're that far away. That's how college football and life in general should be. You start low and shoot for the stars and eventually, with good work, you'll get to where you want to go. With Kiffin though, Tennessee bailed him out after the Oakland Raiders debacle by giving him a head coaching job and that's how he repays them. 8 months or so. See ya. A disgrace. I'm sorry as of right now how the hell can USC be considered a "dream job"? They are going to get hammered big time by the eventual sanctions. I would take Tennessee any day of the week in its current state over USC. I think the days of USC dominating the PAC 10 are over and hopefully Kiffin's days will be numbered too when this supposed #1 recruiting class doesn't pan out. How can it when you are recruiting kids still in middle school?
Quarterback
Colts, Overall I would say Peyton is much better than Brees in terms of history. But in this particular season, I find it very close. Brees had yet another great season. I don't think their schedule was as tough as the Colts and Peyton basically does everything for them. He gives the team its identity and is by far the best player that is going to be on the field Sunday.
Running Backs
Saints, again, it's very close, but I'd take the combination of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush to Joseph Addai and Donald Brown.
Wide Receivers
Saints, also very close. Reggie Wayne is the best receiver in the group, but I'd say that the Saints have the second and third, maybe even fourth in that set with Robert Meachem. Colston is #2, Henderson is #3 and then Garcon and Collie are somewhere in the bottom half but I think the Saints have 2 of the top 3 receivers playing in the game.
Tight End
Colts, not even close. Jeremy Shockey is in the twilight of his career while Dallas Clark has proven time and time again to be Peyton's go-to-guy. He could be one of the difference makers in this one.
Kicker
Colts, might be the biggest mismatch in all areas. Matt Stover and Adam Vinatieri are way better than Garrett Hartley. By the way, I totally think his kick to send them to the Super Bowl was a fluke. Don't be surprised if the script's reversed and he misses a big kick. It wouldn't surprise me at all.
Rush Defense
Colts
Pass Defense
Saints
Coaching
Saints, I also think this category is pretty close, but I think in this spot, Sean Payton is the more experienced coach. He has also developed pretty good game plans in the past and is a great motivator. He also does a great job varying his offense and switching up the playcalling a lot.
As if you couldn't tell, I think both these teams are pretty evenly matched. Peyton is the best player on the field by far on Sunday but the Saints have more than enough to keep it close. I like the Saints to win this game 31-28. The Saints have done a good job forcing turnovers all season long and think they will be able to pressure Peyton here. Another reason I like the Saints is because of how lucky they were to get past the Vikings who totally outplayed them. I think they will get their heads on straight and give the Colts a great game and win. I always say that no matter how good of a individual player you may have, if you're not a true team, which I believe the Saints are over the Colts, you are going to have a harder time winning. Peyton can only do so much which is why I like the Saints here. As much success as Peyton has had as of late, it's foolish to think of all the bad games he had too, the 41-0 loss to the Jets or the Pittsburgh game a few years ago, just off the top of my head. Don't forget too, that a lot of these Saints players were in the NFC Championship loss to the Bears a couple years ago and I think will have some experience from that and play a lot better than they did there. So I like the Saints +5 and OVER 56.5. Hope everyone enjoys the game and if it follows the recent trend, it should be a great one.
EXTRA THOUGHTS
http://www.nj.com/hssports/blog/boysbasketball/index.ssf/2010/02/st_patrick_boys_basketball_team_could_be_banned_from_state_tournament_for_holding_illegal_practices.html
In the article above, it is mentioned that the St. Patrick's Boys Basketball Team may be expelled from the state tournament because of holding illegal practices prior to the season. To me, I can't say I'm surprised. I think most of these "powerhouse" schools are shady. Most of them get away with a lot because it makes their respective athletic associations tons of money. A school to me that has done everything right is St. Anthony's. Unlike St. Pat's, which it seems like they get recruits on a monthly basis, St. Anthony's has a system where kids spend all four years in the program, spending their earlier years on the JV level before heading up to play for Coach Bob Hurley. Another thing with St. Pat's is that they just got these two transfers from Duncanville High School in Texas. I guarantee that those two kids will play if St. Pat's is allowed in the state tournament when it clearly says that transfers who are not enrolled by January 20th in their current schools are not eligible to play for the state tournament. They were not and I'm sure because Pat's is the cash cow no one would've said anything. The same thing happened last year when I was looking at St. Pat's schedule. In order to make the New Jersey State Tournament you have to play 70% of your games in state. They did not. They played somewhere in the mid-60's. A rule's a rule. I guarantee if it was some middle of the road public school, they would've been caught and not allowed in the tournament. So I'm glad that Pat's could potentially get screwed over because they shouldn't have been allowed in last year. Karma's a bitch. Also seriously a school like that belongs in a prep league. I can't stand schools like that and don't even get me started about Don Bosco. Don Bosco is nationally ranked in basically everything and have dorms on their campus now. Don't tell me that you're a regular school with dorms on the campus. That's not a regular school. It's more like a prep school or a college, not to mention they have guys coming from four states to play football. My rule would be you can only go to parochial schools to play ball if you're from that state. I don't want any Corey Fisher's from the Bronx or any of these guys from out of the country to be playing ball at NJSIAA schools. If they want to play at a Blair, Peddie, Lawrencville, Benedict's that's fine, but you're ruining the state association with blatant mismatches as this one. I don't know if St. Pat's will get banned from this tournament and I'm not even sure if it's a worthy enough cause of being banned, I'm just glad they were finally called on something.
As much good as there's been in the sports world and to me, this is one of my favorite months of the year. There's the finish of the Australian Open, the Super Bowl, this year the winter Olympics, as well as the finish to the college basketball regular season, but when I read that a 13 year old committed to USC to play football, I don't know whether to laugh or to shake my head in disbelief that a kid in 7th grade already knows where he wants to go to college. One of the first questions I always ask upon hearing that is does he know where he wants to go to high school yet? People change. From interests to personalities. A person at 13 is much different than a person at 19 or 20. Sometimes, a person is so highly touted at such a young age that they grow tired of it at a really young age and quit, like John Elway's son did last year. Ron Jaworksi on Pardon the Interruption said before at 13, he wanted to be a baseball star and several years later was when he had a professional football career in his near future. Another thing that surprises me about this signing is that he is a quarterback, which is the hardest position to play in football. What if this kid doesn't pan out in even high school. There's always a chance. Chances are he'll be good enough to play on the college level but there's always times when a person isn't as good as advertised. The sad thing is this is just a publicity stunt and a way to make waves days before the Super Bowl. I can't tell you how much of a slimeball Lane Kiffin is. He leaves after one season in Knoxville and of all people, even Al Davis called him a liar as the Oakland Raiders head coach. He is one selfish son of a bitch and totally disingenuous. He talks out of his ass and for whatever reason, these dumbass 18 and 19 year olds still believe in him. Then you have that asshole mediocre former head coach in Ed Orgeron apparently texting kids in the locker room while both of them are saying their goodbyes to the Tennessee players to come to USC. How bullshit is that? And then what, because they are still technically Tennesee coaches, the UT program is gonna get screwed with sanctions years from now when these two assclowns are gone! It makes me sick and makes me really glad that I like college basketball over college football where there is some loyalty and guys don't leave at the drop of a hat. Kiffin is an embarrassment to college football, plain and simple. I respect guys like the current coach at Tennessee now in Derrek Dooley, because he paid his dues and built up his resume at a place such as Louisiana Tech that Tennessee finally is giving him a chance to succeed and I don't think they're that far away. That's how college football and life in general should be. You start low and shoot for the stars and eventually, with good work, you'll get to where you want to go. With Kiffin though, Tennessee bailed him out after the Oakland Raiders debacle by giving him a head coaching job and that's how he repays them. 8 months or so. See ya. A disgrace. I'm sorry as of right now how the hell can USC be considered a "dream job"? They are going to get hammered big time by the eventual sanctions. I would take Tennessee any day of the week in its current state over USC. I think the days of USC dominating the PAC 10 are over and hopefully Kiffin's days will be numbered too when this supposed #1 recruiting class doesn't pan out. How can it when you are recruiting kids still in middle school?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Best Voice in Radio You've Probably Never Heard Of
Over the last few months, ever since I got my new Elantra, which came equipped with XM Radio, Mad Dog Radio has become one of my favorite stations. While I love listening to Mad Dog, the voice I can't wait to hear every night is a man by the name of Dino Costa. He has finally started to get some recognition recently by being named the Dude of the Week in a recent New York Post. He has spent his time mostly in Denver working with Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain before heading over to MDR where he does a phenomonal job of hosting his 8PM-1AM show. It is radio different from what you have ever heard. You are not going to hear it on ESPN because a) it would prbably get him fired and b) much of what he says is so brutally honest that a person on ESPN would probbaly receive some backlash or snubs from professsional athletes if they ever said the stuff that Dino says on air. One of his pet peeves is predictability and that's something that ESPN has that you're never going to get from him. Another thing I admire about Dino is how he cares enormously about his performance and the craft of sports broadcasting. He doesn't half-ass stuff like some of his peers do. He reads a lot before each show to try to give his audience different stories across the country in the sporting landscape. He also posts a lot of these articles, most of which are pretty interesting to his facebook page, so he really opens things up to his audience and a lot of the topics are hot-button issues that ESPN may tip-toe around. One of the more entertaining pieces of radio I've heard happened two months ago after Charlie Weis was fired. A Chicago-Sun Tribune writer, Rick Telander, wrote an article saying that ever hiring Weis was a mistake in the first place and insinuated that firing former coach Tyrone Willingham was a racist action. Telander in the following hour came on and got into a verbal spat with Costa which was definitely out of the ordinary and radio that was unprecedented to me. He also has criticized ESPN and some of the people on the station recently, by as I said claling it predictable and saying that they talk about the same thing all the time, particularly now with the Super Bowl and overanalyze it to death. In the last month, he has said Tony Kornheiser "has shit for brains", Suzy Kolber's getting old and Linda Cohn has to lose weight. As I told my friend the other day, he more or less walking a fine line between being an asshole and brutally honest, a role which I think he is totally content in. To me, he sounds like a sports version of Rush Limbaugh. He does a great job of thinking like a fan and I like how he openly shows his favorite teams and talks about how he's like teams ever since he was young and makes references to them. He can go on these legendary rants like the Rooney Rule one which makes him even better. If you ever get a chance, he is certainly worth a listen, because you never know what's going to come out of his mouth next. A lot of the things he talks about are sports and its impact on society which is a different approach that you're not going to hear about generally. The brutal honesty will make you question did he just say that but you'll soon learn of course he did. It's Dino Costa, one of my favorite voices in radio. He may be relatively unknown right now, but he may not be for long.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
And the Academy Award Goes to...
I hate to start my next blog the way I finished my last one, but it is that time of year with yet another Awards show. I'm a big fan of prognosticating things-sports, entertainment, etc. It's never to early to predict how you think things are going to go and unlike the Grammy's, there isn't a billion awards given out here, rather, about twenty, most of which are significant and ones people care about. Also unlike the Grammys, movies are nowhere as subjective as music. A good movie is usually considered good by many people while a bad movie is considered bad by many people. In music, many people remain either impartial or have much more varying opinions. So let's take a look at the nominees...
BEST PICTURE
The category this year is going back to its roots and giving 10 nominations rather than 5, which could make this a closer race than years past. This has been a decent year for movies as I enjoyed all the movies that I have seen in this category(4 of them). You also have to be somewhat surprised by a nomination for "The Blind Side" and "Up in the Air". I enjoyed "Up in the Air" but think that there are definitely some movies that could've argud for that spot as well as "The Blind Side". All of the other movies have been critically acclaimed and most reviewers have nearly all of them in their top 10. I would say the early favorite to win is probably Avatar, mainly for its accomplishments in what it's brought to the cinema as well as the story itself, not to mention the tons of money it has brought to the cinema and shattering what was thought to be an unachievable record in "Titanic." I think the other favorite right behind that is "The Hurt Locker", which is a movie that chronicles the main character's job as a bomb diffuser in the war in Iraq. It is a phenomonal movie full of suspense and really does a great job hammering home the fact that war is a drug. If I had a vote, this would be where it is going to. The following 5 movies I think will get some votes but are hardly what "Slumdog Millionaire" was last year. I think the problem when it comes to having 10 movies is that the lesser known ones and more independent ones will knock each other off a bit which is why I can see "An Education", "Precious" and "A Serious Man" keeping each other's votes down a bit. I think "Inglorious Basterds" will probably get the third best turnout but not be enough to handle the top two.
Predicted Winner:
The Hurt Locker
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
From what I've heard, this is Jeff Bridge's to lose. In "Crazy Heart", he portrays an aging country singer. I've heard this movie isn't great, but his performance is phenomonal. I will trust the public here and predict him to win. I think Jeremy Renner will be the runner up for his performance in "The Hurt Locker".
Predicted Winner:
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
To me, this one's an absolute no-brainer. Christophe Waltz in his first English movie plays Colonel Hans Landa, an evil Nazi officer who seeks out people in hiding in "Inglorious Basterds". He does a great job playing his character because he can be absolutely ruthless at times, but also has moments that are pretty funny as well. I'd be shocked if he didn't win this. Quentin Tarantino has said that if it had not been for Christophe coming along, he probably would have never made this movie. That's how invaluable he was to the making of this movie and is a big reason why it was so successful. Matt Damon will probably be the runner up in "Invictus", but I really don't even suspect it will be that close.
Predicted Winner:
Christophe Waltz in Inglorious Basterds
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
This to me is a very interesting category this year. You have two great actresses in Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep in two of their less memorable performances. You have Sandra Bullock in one of her best performances of her career as well as two unknowns in Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe in the movies "A Single Man" and "Precious". I have a feeling that Gabourey prevails in this category because of her memorable portrayal of a pregnant teenageer who has been abused by her parents for years. I just don't think this is Helen or Meryl's year for this category and think that Gabourey's preformance will attract more votes than Sandra's or Carey's.
Predicted Winner:
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
I would say this is probably a three horse race going in with Penelope Cruz and Maggie Gylenhaal being out already because I think their roles have been in less memorable movies than "Up in the Air" and "Precious". The characters in the latter two movies are also people that you can either a) relate to or b) feel some emotion to or against them and I think that really helps Vera, Anna and Monique in this category. Vera plays Alex Goran, a business traveller who has a no-strings attached relationship with George Clooney. Anna Kendrick is also up for actress in a supporting role in "Up in the Air". She plays Natalie Keener, an ambitious but inexperienced young woman who is sent with George Clooney to properly learn how to do his job. Personally, I liked her character more and you care about her more than Vera's. You feel bad for her when she and her boyfriend break up or when she realizes that firing people takes a much more emotional and realistic toll when you're doing it in person rather than on the computer. But I think the winner of this is probably going to be Mo'Nique who I've heard did a great job playing an abusive mother who has played a devastating impact on her daughter.
Predicted Winner:
Mo'Nique in Precious
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Not even gonna waste, my time. "Up" in a landslide.
Predicted Winner:
Up
I'm going to briefly give my picks for the less popular categories
ART DIRECTION
Predicted Winner:
Avatar
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Predicted Winner:
Avatar
COSTUME DESIGN
Predicted Winner:
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Predicted Winner:
Food, Inc.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Predicted Winner:
Music By Prudence
FILM EDITING
Predicted Winner:
District 9
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Predicted Winner:
Un Prophete
MAKEUP
Predicted Winner:
Star Trek
MUSIC ORIGINAL SCORE
Predicted Winner:
Sherlock Holmes
MUSIC ORIGINAL SONG
Predicted Winner:
The Weary Kind(Theme from Crazy Heart)
SHORT FILM ANIMATED
Predicted Winner:
The Lady and the Reaper
SHORT FILM LIVE
Predicted Winner:
Kavi
SOUND EDITING
Predicted Winner:
The Hurt Locker
SOUND MIXING
Predicted Winner:
The Hurt Locker
VISUAL EFFECTS
Predicted Winner:
Avatar
BEST DIRECTING
All five candidates are well deservinf of this award. James Cameron has the highest and second highest grossing movies ever. Quentin Tarantino is also one of the best directors of the last twenty years and Kathryn Bigelow, Lee Daniels and Jason Reitman all did a phenomonal job in directing each of their respective films. I think Kathryn Bigelow's going to win this award. "The Hurt Locker" to me is considerably better than"Inglorious Basterds". In that movie, there's way too much dialogue which seems to be a Tarantino trademark. I also think some people may go against Cameron because of how much money it made and the Academy sometimes avoids going more mainstream for soemthing a little off the path. But to me, I think if you put both movies side to side, "The Hurt Locker" would be considered a better movie. You've seen Cameron invested a hell of a lot of movies like this. You know what he can do. But Kathryn Bigelow made a superb film for early on in her career and she deserves this award.
Predicted Winner:
Kathryn Bigelow for the Hurt Locker
WRITING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Predicted Winner:
Up in the Air
WRITING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Predicted Winner:
Inglorious Basterds
Hope you enjoyed reading my early Oscar preview. We'll see how I do in a month.
BEST PICTURE
The category this year is going back to its roots and giving 10 nominations rather than 5, which could make this a closer race than years past. This has been a decent year for movies as I enjoyed all the movies that I have seen in this category(4 of them). You also have to be somewhat surprised by a nomination for "The Blind Side" and "Up in the Air". I enjoyed "Up in the Air" but think that there are definitely some movies that could've argud for that spot as well as "The Blind Side". All of the other movies have been critically acclaimed and most reviewers have nearly all of them in their top 10. I would say the early favorite to win is probably Avatar, mainly for its accomplishments in what it's brought to the cinema as well as the story itself, not to mention the tons of money it has brought to the cinema and shattering what was thought to be an unachievable record in "Titanic." I think the other favorite right behind that is "The Hurt Locker", which is a movie that chronicles the main character's job as a bomb diffuser in the war in Iraq. It is a phenomonal movie full of suspense and really does a great job hammering home the fact that war is a drug. If I had a vote, this would be where it is going to. The following 5 movies I think will get some votes but are hardly what "Slumdog Millionaire" was last year. I think the problem when it comes to having 10 movies is that the lesser known ones and more independent ones will knock each other off a bit which is why I can see "An Education", "Precious" and "A Serious Man" keeping each other's votes down a bit. I think "Inglorious Basterds" will probably get the third best turnout but not be enough to handle the top two.
Predicted Winner:
The Hurt Locker
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
From what I've heard, this is Jeff Bridge's to lose. In "Crazy Heart", he portrays an aging country singer. I've heard this movie isn't great, but his performance is phenomonal. I will trust the public here and predict him to win. I think Jeremy Renner will be the runner up for his performance in "The Hurt Locker".
Predicted Winner:
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
To me, this one's an absolute no-brainer. Christophe Waltz in his first English movie plays Colonel Hans Landa, an evil Nazi officer who seeks out people in hiding in "Inglorious Basterds". He does a great job playing his character because he can be absolutely ruthless at times, but also has moments that are pretty funny as well. I'd be shocked if he didn't win this. Quentin Tarantino has said that if it had not been for Christophe coming along, he probably would have never made this movie. That's how invaluable he was to the making of this movie and is a big reason why it was so successful. Matt Damon will probably be the runner up in "Invictus", but I really don't even suspect it will be that close.
Predicted Winner:
Christophe Waltz in Inglorious Basterds
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
This to me is a very interesting category this year. You have two great actresses in Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep in two of their less memorable performances. You have Sandra Bullock in one of her best performances of her career as well as two unknowns in Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe in the movies "A Single Man" and "Precious". I have a feeling that Gabourey prevails in this category because of her memorable portrayal of a pregnant teenageer who has been abused by her parents for years. I just don't think this is Helen or Meryl's year for this category and think that Gabourey's preformance will attract more votes than Sandra's or Carey's.
Predicted Winner:
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
I would say this is probably a three horse race going in with Penelope Cruz and Maggie Gylenhaal being out already because I think their roles have been in less memorable movies than "Up in the Air" and "Precious". The characters in the latter two movies are also people that you can either a) relate to or b) feel some emotion to or against them and I think that really helps Vera, Anna and Monique in this category. Vera plays Alex Goran, a business traveller who has a no-strings attached relationship with George Clooney. Anna Kendrick is also up for actress in a supporting role in "Up in the Air". She plays Natalie Keener, an ambitious but inexperienced young woman who is sent with George Clooney to properly learn how to do his job. Personally, I liked her character more and you care about her more than Vera's. You feel bad for her when she and her boyfriend break up or when she realizes that firing people takes a much more emotional and realistic toll when you're doing it in person rather than on the computer. But I think the winner of this is probably going to be Mo'Nique who I've heard did a great job playing an abusive mother who has played a devastating impact on her daughter.
Predicted Winner:
Mo'Nique in Precious
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Not even gonna waste, my time. "Up" in a landslide.
Predicted Winner:
Up
I'm going to briefly give my picks for the less popular categories
ART DIRECTION
Predicted Winner:
Avatar
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Predicted Winner:
Avatar
COSTUME DESIGN
Predicted Winner:
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Predicted Winner:
Food, Inc.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Predicted Winner:
Music By Prudence
FILM EDITING
Predicted Winner:
District 9
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Predicted Winner:
Un Prophete
MAKEUP
Predicted Winner:
Star Trek
MUSIC ORIGINAL SCORE
Predicted Winner:
Sherlock Holmes
MUSIC ORIGINAL SONG
Predicted Winner:
The Weary Kind(Theme from Crazy Heart)
SHORT FILM ANIMATED
Predicted Winner:
The Lady and the Reaper
SHORT FILM LIVE
Predicted Winner:
Kavi
SOUND EDITING
Predicted Winner:
The Hurt Locker
SOUND MIXING
Predicted Winner:
The Hurt Locker
VISUAL EFFECTS
Predicted Winner:
Avatar
BEST DIRECTING
All five candidates are well deservinf of this award. James Cameron has the highest and second highest grossing movies ever. Quentin Tarantino is also one of the best directors of the last twenty years and Kathryn Bigelow, Lee Daniels and Jason Reitman all did a phenomonal job in directing each of their respective films. I think Kathryn Bigelow's going to win this award. "The Hurt Locker" to me is considerably better than"Inglorious Basterds". In that movie, there's way too much dialogue which seems to be a Tarantino trademark. I also think some people may go against Cameron because of how much money it made and the Academy sometimes avoids going more mainstream for soemthing a little off the path. But to me, I think if you put both movies side to side, "The Hurt Locker" would be considered a better movie. You've seen Cameron invested a hell of a lot of movies like this. You know what he can do. But Kathryn Bigelow made a superb film for early on in her career and she deserves this award.
Predicted Winner:
Kathryn Bigelow for the Hurt Locker
WRITING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Predicted Winner:
Up in the Air
WRITING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Predicted Winner:
Inglorious Basterds
Hope you enjoyed reading my early Oscar preview. We'll see how I do in a month.
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