Boise State for BCS

Lately I have been hearing a lot of talk about how Utah is going to a BCS bowl game, which I feel they deserve, but nobody is talking about Boise State going to a BCS bowl. I feel that everyone is under the impression that only one non-BCS conference team can play in a BCS bowl game. This actually is not the case. The main reason why Boise State is going to have trouble getting into a BCS bowl game is because the bowls get to choose their at-large bids, and people think that Ohio State will be chosen over Boise because they will draw a better crowd and better overall revenue. I think that it would be terrible if Ohio State is indeed chosen over Boise for business type reasons. I feel that the highest ranked team should go to a BCS bowl game and Boise was ranked ahead of Ohio State in the last BCS poll, and the last jasathletics.blogspot.com rankings. Another reason why a lot of people don’t think they should go to a BCS bowl game is because they don’t think they can compete with the “big name schools”. I think Boise showed that they can compete when they won the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. I feel that Hawaii’s poor performance in last year’s Sugar Bowl hurt the overall outlook on the ability of mid-major colleges to compete at the highest level, but this isn’t Hawaii this is Boise State – one of the best college football programs in the nation year in and year out. It is hard to not be considered a top college football program when you have won a jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Championship, and if you are looking for big name players look no further than Ian Johnson, who scored the winning 2 point conversion in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and is a senior on this year’s team. Also, even if someone looks at this from a business point of view Boise State produced a solid crowd, and an extremely entertaining game in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. In the end, I hope I see Boise State playing in a BCS Bowl game this year. I would also like to mention that this year’s jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Champion will be named next month. I would like to remind everyone how jasathletics.blogspot.com picks a national champion. The championship goes to the college football team that has the best record and also won a BCS bowl game. A tie goes to the actual BCS national champion, and all other ties are broken by executive decision.

A Top Notch Breakfast

A few years back, we’ll say about December of 2005, I was introduced to a great value-priced breakfast. This breakfast was the Big Country Breakfast at Hardee’s (Officially listed on the menu as the Big Country Breakfast Platter).On this Friday back in December of 2005 while at one of the first few Lumberjack Club meetings I was introduced to pancakes, tater-tots, sausage, eggs, and a biscuit for only a few dollars. Now tell me, are you going to find that much food for that much money anywhere else? Okay, you might be able to find that kind of a deal at the Family Tradition House, but certainly not at Perkins. Unfortunately the Hardee’s in Cloquet, Minnesota, went out of business after the first year of Lumberjack Club, so I hadn’t had a Big Country Breakfast for about two years. That was until last Friday when we were reunited at the Hardee’s in Superior, Wisconsin.

I entered Hardee’s at about 8:00 AM that morning. As soon as I got in I quickly searched the menu for the Big Country Breakfast Platter, and after awhile I found it and ordered it. After that I took time to take in the Hardee’s atmosphere. I noticed the extremely old cash registers and that only two other people were in the restaurant eating, which prompted me to wonder how this Hardee’s is still in business. Then after a short period of time I got my Big Country Breakfast. It was just as I remembered it, and I enjoyed it to the fullest. I have to say that it was the best breakfast I had in a fair amount of time. Hopefully the Big Country Breakfast and I will cross paths again in the near future; actually I have to say that we probably will since I am going to the Main University of Superior, Wisconsin.

Wrigley Field – A Cathedral of the Game

Wrigley Field has always been hailed as one of the most historic stadiums in baseball, and this past June I was finally able to take in a Cubs game there. Over the years I have watched games at Wrigley field on TV more that once, so I was very excited to see it in person. It was pretty cool to see the stadium from the outside, but a person hasn’t really experienced Wrigley until they have been inside to see a ballgame. As soon as I walked into the stadium and saw the field I could sense the great baseball atmosphere; it just felt like an ideal place to watch a baseball game. It was an atmosphere that a person just doesn’t get at the Metrodome, which is the only pro baseball stadium that I had been to up to this point. It was pretty cool to see the ivy on the outfield wall (I suggest that you don’t touch or try to touch the ivy because security personnel don’t like that very much), the bleachers on the buildings across the street, and the old scoreboard in centerfield. Then as the game started I could tell just how great the Cubs fans are. With every Cubs hit and run scored a person could tell just how passionate these fans are for the Cubs. A person could tell this during the singing of Take me out to the Ballgame and Go Cubs Go, which is sung after the game, as well.

Now for the game itself, I have to say that I am a casual Cubs fan (The Twins are definitely my favorite team though), so it was nice to see them get off to a strong start by scoring some early runs. The Orioles tried to stay in the game with Jay Payton hitting two home runs in the game. In the end though, Kerry Wood came in to get the save with three consecutive strikeouts in the ninth to secure a 7 to 4 victory.

Overall I have to say that I had a great experience at Wrigley Field. It was a nice evening with friends while on a road trip in Chicago, the game went well, and I – as well as many other fans – got an autograph from Kerry Wood after the game.

Your Fantasy Baseball Insider - Big Al

So far this year some big name players have gotten off to slow starts. One of these players is David Ortiz. Although he has had a tough start to the season I still think that he is a player that you want on your team. I see him batting in the .270 range with solid RBI and HR production. Another player that started out slow was Matt Holliday, who happens to be on my team, but he has picked up his play recently and I expect him to put up MVP numbers this season. On the pitching side I would like to talk about a couple of closers including Eric Gagne, Kerry Wood, and Joe Borowski. Out of these three I feel that the worst closer is Eric Gagne. He is just not the same pitcher he used to be. He has already blown a couple of saves, and I don't expect him to be closing for the Brewers much longer. Joe Borowski is another closer to watch out for because he had a high ERA last year, even though he had a lot of saves. He might not be in the closer role by the end of the year either. On the other hand I think that Kerry Wood is going to have a come back season as the closer for the Cubs. I think that he will have a decent ERA and have about 35 saves. Also, if anybody needs help at 1B take a look at Casey Kotchman of the Angels. He is batting .360 with decent power numbers.

The Collapse of China

This past Wednesday I went up to the University of Minnesota-Duluth to listen to Gordon G. Chang speak on China. Before the lecture many people were talking about how this was going to be a very provocative and controversial talk. Right away I could tell that Gordon Chang is a man that isn’t afraid to make bold statements when he said, “China will collapse by 2011.” After starting out with this bold prediction he went into detail. He stated that their banking system is shot because of bad loans, their water supply is running low, and their big cities are terribly polluted thanks to industry. He said that China might be able to deal with these problems one at a time, but the problem is that they are all happening at once. China is also facing an ageing population because of the one child policy, and the ratio of men to women is thrown off because of abortions. Mr. Chang cites all of these problems and the fact that a Communist government cannot coexist with a free market economy as the reasons for China’s coming collapse. The Olympics are not helping the situation either as the government is not doing anything right now to make sure nothing ruins their Olympics. At the end of the evening I had to say that I agreed with most of what Mr. Chang said. I think that his timetable is a little ambitious, but the Communist party in China will fall eventually if their free market economy keeps moving forward.

Are the World Golf Championships Really "World" Golf Championships?

With the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship this past week I started to ask myself this question. I do not think that the World Golf Championships are really "World" Golf Championships because they are always played in the United States. I feel that the idea of having WGC events is good, but they have to be played in a wider array of countries. If they continue to play at least two to three of the four WGC events in the United States they are going to have to change the name. Another bad thing about the WGC events is that the one event that usually is played outside of the United States is the World Cup. Since most of the top players in the world do not even play in this tournament, and because this tournatment is played with a team format, the international crowd does not get to see the top players battle it out in an individual format. I think that moving all of the WGC tournaments around to different countries would really improve the success of and interest in these events. At least I know that I would be more intrigued if these events were played in a variety of countries around the world.

Mickelson wins Northern Trust Open

Phil Mickelson started the final round at historic Riviera Country Club with a one shot lead over Jeff Quinney. After shooting even par on the front side Mickelson found himself down by one shot to Quinney. Mickelson then proceeded to start the back nine strong with birdies on holes eleven and twelve. Then Mickelson took command when Quinney bogeyed a stetch of holes on the back nine. During this stretch of bogeys Quinney also lost his 214-hole streak without a three putt. In the end, Mickelson came up the eighteeth hole with a three shot lead, and when all was said and done Phil had shot a one under par 70 to win by two shots with an overall score of twelve under par. This marks Phil's 33rd career PGA Tour victory and his first of the 2008 season. Phil will be in action again next week at the Accenture Matchplay Championship.

The 2007-2008 jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Champion is Kansas.

After much deliberation jasathletics.blogspot.com is happy to name Kansas as its 2007-2008 College Football National Champion. Just like last year our national champion is the team that had the best record and won a BCS bowl game. Although Louisiana State won the BCS National Championship game they had one too many losses to be named the true national champion. Also receiving consideration at the end of all the bowl games was West Virginia after their great performance against Oklahoma, but losing to Pittsburgh really hurt their chances.

West Virginia Wins Big Over Oklahoma

Before yesterday’s Fiesta Bowl all of the so call experts were predicting a big win for Oklahoma; some even expected them to win by as much as three touchdowns. In the end, it was West Virginia that came out on top by three touchdowns. To start out the game West Virginia was really carried by their defense that held Oklahoma to negative yards in the early goings. Then the high powered spread offense of West Virginia came to life when fullback Owen Schmitt took the ball 57-yards to the house. One of the game’s announcers said it best when he said that Schmitt was like a “runaway beer truck”. Then Pat White and Darius Reynaud hooked up for their twelfth touchdown connection of the year. This gave West Virginia a solid lead going to halftime. To start out the third quarter Oklahoma tried to make a run, but West Virginia was just too much for them. This is when Noel Devine got in to the action with a solid touchdown run. He later added to his stout stats on the day with a longer touchdown run that really showed his speed. Also, in the second half Pat White hit Tito Gonzales for a long touchdown pass. Raynaud added another touchdown to his stats in the second half with a thirty yard run as well. Overall it was a great win for the West Virginia football program especially with interim coach, now officially head coach, Bill Stewart running the show. When it comes to statistics Patrick White led the West Virginia offense with 176 yards passing with two touchdowns and 150 yards rushing. This puts West Virginia solidly back into the race for the jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Championship. In the end, Lee Corso was right; it was a three touchdown difference in the game with the final score being 48-28. He just had the wrong winning team.

Undefeated Hawaii's National Championship Hopes Fade

The college football national championship race is now wide open with undefeated Hawaii losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Hawaii was hoping to become this year’s jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Champion, but those hopes faded quickly when they got down big early. That would have been the second consecutive year that the national champion came from the Western Athletic Conference with Boise State winning the honor last year in spectacular fashion. With Hawaii out of the national championship race Ohio State is now in the driver’s seat, but if they lose later this week any of the top remaining teams could be named the 2007-2008 jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Champion. The teams that are still in the fray if Ohio State loses are Louisiana State, West Virginia, Southern California, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Georgia, and even Missouri could receive a few first place votes after their big win over Arkansas. This year’s national champion will be posted after the completion of all bowl games.