November 27, 2007

FIRST PITCH:

Well folks I am sorry for not posting a rant for quite some time, but now that it is the holiday season again I am in a lot more chipper of a mood and ready to resume my postings on a regular basis. Sticking with the holiday season theme, with Thanksgiving having been celebrated last Thursday there was much for me to be thankful for, especially in terms of my sports allegiances. The Patriots are undefeated, despite a nail biter against the Eagles this past Sunday, the Red Sox are World Series Champions, Boston College is having an amazing fall season with the Football team competing for the ACC title this coming Saturday and the Men's Soccer team off an ACC title is the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Also, over at the TD Banknorth Garden the Celtics are off to an NBA best 11-1 record and the Bruins, yes the usual woeful Bruins, even are competitive and have a winning record. So as one is able to see there are many reasons for a Boston sports fan to be thankful for all that has happened to them this past year. Well now having given my thanks, I will move on to some college football talk.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

I think if anyone was to pick one word to describe this college football season it would be "WOW." From week one when Appalachian State beat Michigan to this past week when Arkansas upset LSU, there have been upsets galore, and as of today Hawaii is the only team in Division 1 to currently be undefeated. Much has been talked about parity being the main reason why there have been so many upsets this year, with schools now only allowed to give 85 scholarships, but in my opinion the reasons are more teams are implementing the spread offense. If one is able to look at many of the top teams in the rankings, the majority of them run the spread. From a coaches perspective it is extremely difficult to prepare a defense for a game when the opposing team's quarterback is very talented at both running and passing the ball. All one has to do is ask soon to be former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr about his team's first two games of the season when they had to face Appalachian State and Oregon who both run a very effective spread offense.

With one week left in the regular season there is a very good chance that the BCS National Title Game will feature two teams that run the spread offense as good as anyone in the country, in the University of Missouri and West Virginia. Although Missouri uses the pass more than the run, and West Virginia uses the run more than the pass, both team's quarterbacks have such a dual threat in their ability to pass and run, that it is almost impossible for the the opposing team to guess what they are going to do. If anyone wants to see how effective the spread offense has become all they have to do is look at the leading contenders for the Heisman. Right now with the exception of Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the current front runners for the Heisman are all quarterbacks of spread offenses, with Missouri's Chase Daniel, West Virginia's Pat White, Oregon's Dennis Dixon and Florida's Tim Tebow.

I am sad to see this season come to an end, but it was certainly a year to remember with all the great games, upsets and being able to watch some really exciting offenses and players.

As you all know by now however, I cannot conclude talking about college football without mentioning my Alma mater Boston College. The last time I posted a rant BC was still currently undefeated and in the top 5, and although they have now lost two games, there is still in my mind nothing to be ashamed of. If someone were to ask me prior to the season that BC would end the regular season 10-2 and be competing in the ACC title game, I would have taken that in a heart beat. In the past two years in the ACC, BC was the epitome in building up one's hope and then have those hopes shattered. The team always seemed to have been one win away from the title but were never able to come up with that big win at the end of the season. Although the two teams BC lost to this year were average at best in Florida State and Maryland, it was nice to see BC bounce back and win a HUGE game down in Death Valley against Clemson with the ACC Atlantic title on the line and then come back the following week and beat Miami for the first time since Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass in 1984. I am a realistic enough fan to know that BC's few weeks in the national title spotlight were fun, but chances were not that the dream was not going to last. But as I mentioned I am very proud of this team and what they have accomplished and I believe Coach Jags has the team on the right track. With one more win this upcoming week against Virginia Tech I hope to be spending New Years down on South Beach in Miami basking in the sun with a cold beverage in my right hand and reliving my Facebook profile picture.


NFL:

Well moving onto the NFL now. The season is coming down the homestretch, and until this weekend it looked like the Patriots were unstoppable. The Patriots are on track to break almost every offensive statistic, but this past Sunday against the Eagles they met a defense that was able to break through their stonewall of an offensive line and a defense that was able to shut down their most potent offensive weapon in Randy Moss. What the Patriots did display against the Eagles however was that Wes Welker could very easily be one of the best pickups of the off season. Randy Moss has received much of the press for his amazing play this year, and deservidly so, however week in and week out Welker continues to rack up the catches and yards after catch, and has also proved to be a valuable asset on special teams as well. With only five games remaining it looks like the Patriots could very easily finish the regular season undefeated, while it looks like their divisional rival Miami Dolphins could finish the season 0-16.

Up until a few weeks ago when the Patriots met the Colts it appeared that both those teams were the two best teams in the NFL. However, injuries have really hurt the Colts in the past few weeks. They have lost their freakish and speedy defensive end for the season in Dwight Freeney and Peyton Manning's go to receiver Marvin Harrison has been out for the past month as well with an injury. With these injuries the Colts have looked like an average team the past few weeks. Even kicker Adam Vinatieri has missed some easy field goals over the past few games, one of which cost his team a win at San Diego. With the Colts slipping in terms of their power ranking in the league the Cowboys and Packers have continued to move on up. Both teams showed in their Thanksgiving games that both have extremely potent offenses with the ability to put a lot of points on the board. Much has been talked about the Brady-Moss and Romo-Owens combinations, but in my opinion the Favre-Jennings connection has been nearly as effective as the two aforementioned. Favre is playing out of his mind this season. All one had to do was watch the second half of the Packers game against the Lions on Thursday when he completed twenty straight passes to see that the old man still has a great deal of talent. If it wasn't for Brady having such an amazing season in terms of statistics, Favre could easily be right in the mix of the MVP talk. The Packers since last Thanksgiving are 14-1, and a lot of that has to do with the resurgence of Favre, and it is amazing he has done it all with almost no running game to compliment his passing. The other team that has stuck out to me are the Cleveland Browns. The Browns may not go far in the Playoffs, but I think it will be a miracle that they actually have a very good shot at making the Playoffs. Quarterback Derek Anderson, wide receiver Braylon Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow have resurrected the Browns offense, and the rate Anderson is playing this year I wonder if the Browns are tempted to trade Brady Quinn in the off season to try to get a high draft pick, because for the first time in years the Browns won't have a top 10 pick. Well that is about it for my NFL talk. I would tell you all to all clear your schedules on Thursday night to watch the Packers vs Cowboys, but since it is on the NFL Network, I am sure none of you will be able to.

CLOSING THOUGHT:

For my closing thought today I am going to talk about a Celtics player. Now obviously all the talk in the Celtics off season and now into the regular season has been about the Big Three in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and they deserve much of the praise. Thus far this season, all three players have lived up to expectations. Garnett is getting his double-double every night, Allen has made two game winning three pointers, including on against the Bobcats this past Saturday, and Paul Pierce seems to finally be happy to play again now that he finally has a supporting cast. Despite all the attention that the Big Three has received, there has been one player that has stuck out to me thus far and that is guard Eddie House. Coming into the season, many said that the Celtics Achilles heel would be their lack of depth. Eddie House however has provided a spark off the bench. He brings experience to compliment fellow guard Rajon Rando's youth, as well as speed and intensity. As of right now he is only playing about twenty minutes a game, but every time he is in there he has given it his all and has been one of the more exciting Celtics players to watch. He has been shooting the ball well thus far, but it is not the points that has caught my eye but rather the passion he has played with. He is a guy that earns more "Tommy Points" than actual points a game, and he is a type of player that the Celtics have not seen since the likes of Dennis Johnson in the 80's. All one had to do was watch his steal and pass to Ray Allen as time expired in the game against the Bobcats on Saturday to see House's desire to win. The Celtics are finally relevant again, and much of that is because of the Big Three but Eddie House is a player that should not be lost in the shuffle.

Well that is about it for my Rant this week, but it was nice to write again, and as usual feel free to post any comments and continue to spread the word about the blog. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Boyce

October 12, 2007

FIRST PITCH:

"For Boston, For Boston..." If you are a fight song aficionado you would know that those are the first words in the Boston College fight song and if you are a contestant on The Singing Bee starring N'Sync's finest Joey Fatone you could have won money for knowing the next line is "We sing our proud refrain." However, the point of me referencing the first line of BC's fight song is that this coming weekend in sports it is all about the city of Boston. It starts today with the Red Sox taking on the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the ALCS, continues tomorrow when the 4th ranked Boston College Eagles travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame, and it concludes Sunday with the "Duel in Dallas," between the 5-0 Patriots and Cowboys. Also, in case you were wondering BC has their first hockey game of the season tonight against Michigan and BC basketball also begins practices this weekend. Needless to say the sports epicenter for this weekend is Boston.

MLB:

My rant this week will be in chronological order of when the events occur and because of that I will begin with the Red Sox and Indians. Last week I gave my MLB playoff predictions and although I was totally off in the NL, as I had both the Phillies and Cubs winning their series', I did predict that the Indians and Red Sox would take on each other in the ALCS. My only blemish in my AL prediction was that I had the Indians winning it in five games instead of four.

Although Fox is probably mad that the ALCS is not the Red Sox vs Yankees, I still think that the Red Sox vs Indians has the potential to be a very exciting series. The reason for this is that both teams have tremendous starting pitching. As fun as it is to watch balls fly out of the park, come playoff time I believe there is nothing better than watching a great pitching duel. Last week for instance, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Indians' Fausto Carmona battle the Yankees' Andy Pettite in a 2-1 eleven inning thriller. This year's ALCS is filled with great pitching match ups and it begins tonight when the two leading American League Cy Young Award candidates in Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia clash in what should be an epic Game 1, and it continues in Game 2 tomorrow when Curt Schilling takes on Fausto Carmona.

Although I would like to commend Indians manager Eric Wedge and General Manager Mark Shapiro on rebuilding the organization and bringing them back to prominence, I still think the Red Sox have the upper hand in the series. The reason for this is the Red Sox have a lot more playoff experienced veterans than the Indians. The Indians are indeed very talented and have a bright future ahead of them but, the Sox roster is filled with players that know what it takes to win it all, whereas many of the Indians are in the League Championship Series for the first time.

Another reason why I think the Red Sox should win this series is that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are finally clicking on all cylinders. For Manny and Ortiz standards they each had a sub par regular season, but in their ALDS series against the Angles they turned on the switch and showed why they are one of baseball's best 1-2 punch. This was best seen in Game 2 of the ALDS when Angles reliever Francisco Rodriguez intentionally walked Ortiz in the ninth to take his chances with Manny. Manny responded to this by hitting a walk off bomb to win the game. In Game 3 they continued their hot streaks when they hit back to back homers. If these two can continue their hot streak throughout the rest of the playoffs I don't know if any of the remaining teams have a chance of knocking the Red Sox off.

A final reason why I think the Sox have the upper hand is because of their closer situation. If you look at both of these teams pitching staffs they are almost as equal as you can get in terms of both starting and relief pitching with the exception being their respective closers. Yes, Cleveland closer Joe Borowski had 8 more saves on the season with 45 than Jonathan Papelbon of the Red Sox, but Borowski also had an ERA of 5.07 compared to the minuscule 1.85 of Papelbon. Teams have been able to get hits off Borowski and this was best seen in the 9th inning of Game 4 of the ALDS against the Yankees when he gave up a homer to Bobby Abreu and was inches away from also giving up one to Jorge Posada in the same inning. Papelbon on the other hand with the exception of a few off nights has been completely lights out all season. This ability to sustain a lead in the late innings will prove to be a very vital asset for the Sox, in what should be a very close series where the smallest of mistakes could affect the outcome of the whole series.

In all I like the Red Sox in six.

Before moving onto talk about BC and Notre Dame, I will give my brief thoughts on the NLCS. First off, if FOX is mad about their ALCS match up, imagine being TBS having to show two un-sexy West Coast teams from Colorado and Arizona, who aren't even that popular in their respective cities (there were 4,000 unsold tickets for last night's Game 1 in Arizona). I would like to note that I did not think either the Rockies or the Diamondbacks would advance from the NLDS, but after watching both teams play in the playoffs thus far I would give the edge to the Rockies. As I write this the rant the Rockies are currently up 1-0 in the series and have won 18 out of their last 19 games, which is truly unbelievable to think about. The reason why I like the Rockies is that they already beat the D'Backs ace Brandon Webb, and their momentum is so high right now that I do not know if they will ever lose again. It would not shock me if the Rockies end up sweeping the D'Backs in this series, but I still firmly believe that they will quickly be brought down to earth by either the Red Sox or Indians in the World Series.

My final prediction for the NLCS is Rockies in five.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

Moving on to college football, this is a BIG week for the now fourth ranked Boston College Eagles. Some people maybe asking why? since they are talking on a 1-5 Notre Dame team. The reason is this is the first weekend where the Eagles can truly validate their ranking and propel Matt Ryan into the Heisman race, by playing a big game on national television. The last few weeks BC went pretty much unnoticed having played the cupcake portion of their schedule, but from now on the Eagles will be under the microscope every week as they enter a difficult final stretch.

Besides gaining credibility, another reason why this is a BIG game for BC is because it is a rivalry game known as the "Holy War." For ND it may not be that much of a rivalry game since they have already had long standing rivalries with other programs such as USC and Michigan, but for BC this is the game they circle when the schedule first comes out. The reason for this is that besides Notre Dame being one, if not the most storied program in college football history, the schools are so similar. BC and ND are the only two Division 1 Catholic schools and there are many families across America who have parents who attended or sent kids to both schools, and because of that annual bragging rights are always on the line.

The part of the rivalry that is unique to this year is usually Notre Dame is the team that enters the game undefeated and in the National Title hunt, but this year the roles are reversed as BC seeks to become 7-0. I remember like it was yesterday being at CYO basketball tryouts and listening to the radio as David Gordon hit a 41 yard field goal to give BC the victory over then #1 Notre Dame in 1993. I also remember sneaking a radio onto the sidelines when I was a manager of my high school football team in 2002 as BC linebacker Josh Ott ran back an interception for 71 yards to give BC a 14-7 win over then 8-0 Notre Dame. Some analysts, most notably delusional Lou Holtz and Beano Cook, now think this is the time when Notre Dame will finally have their chance of redemption and be able to spoil BC's dream season. In the words of "College Gameday's" Lee Corso I tell all those people who think ND will pull off the upset "Not so fast my friends."

I will admit Notre Dame has improved from the beginning of the season, but despite their victory over UCLA last week there is still much to be concerned about if you are an Irish fan. The ND defense played great last week, BUT UCLA was playing the majority of the game with a walk-on quarterback. This week however will be a lot different as the ND defense will be facing one of the best, if not the best signal caller in all of college football right now in Heisman candidate Matt Ryan. Also, the ND offense only had a total of 140 yards last week, which is not going to get them far against BC's swarming defense. BC has the third ranked run defense in the nation in only allowing 49.7 yards a game, which means ND will be forced to have to pass it a lot more, but the Irish have yet to show any semblance of a passing game. It is for these reasons why I like BC to win this game 38-17, and to move their winning streak against the Irish to five games.

As for the rest of college football, last week continued in the trend of upsets among highly ranked teams. Last week USC, who many including myself, predicted to play in the BCS National Title game lost to 40 point underdog Stanford in what could be the upset of the season. Number five ranked Wisconsin also lost to quickly improving Illinois who all of a sudden has made themselves contenders in the Big 10. Staying in the Big 10, Ohio State continued to improve as their defense held the potent Purdue offense to just seven points. The Buckeye defense is now only giving up 7.2 points per game, and they should at least keep that average for another week as they take on the Golden Flashes of Kent State this weekend. LSU on the other hand validated their number one ranking this past weekend when they came back to beat the defending National Champion Florida Gators to give them their second straight loss. Although there aren't too many marquee match ups this upcoming weekend here are my top 5 games nonetheless:

1) LSU vs Kentucky
2) Missouri vs Oklahoma
3) Boston College vs Notre Dame

4) Wisconsin vs Penn State
5) Auburn vs Arkansas

NFL:

Now finally moving onto the "Duel in Dallas," between the undefeated Patriots and Cowboys. Without question this is the game of the week in the NFL, and with the possible exception with the game between the Colts and Patriots later on in the season, this could potentially be the best game of the entire regular season. On paper these two teams are basically equal. If you look at the various team offensive statistics across the entire league the Cowboys and Patriots are basically either number one or number two in every category. The reason for this is both teams have great quarterbacks in Tony Romo and Tom Brady and both have been able to successfully establish a running game to set up their very potent passing games. Both of these teams also each have one of the top receivers in the game with Terrel Owens being on the Cowboys and Randy Moss being on the Patriots. However it is for the very same reasons why I like the Red Sox over the Indians that I like the Patriots over the Cowboys in this game.

I think the Cowboys are a great team, and I believe they will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl this year, but this game against the Patriots is their first real BIG game against a top notch opponent that they have faced since they have ascended into of the NFL elite teams. The Patriots on the other hand through their numerous battles with the Colts and trips to the Super Bowl over the past six years are very used to preparing for such highly anticipated showdowns. Another reason why I like the Patriots in this game is because of head coach Bill Belichick. Although Tony Romo has the makings to be great quarterback, as long as you disregard his five interception performance last week against the Buffalo Bills in one of the great Monday Night Football games of all time, Belichick has a storied history of shutting down great quarterbacks the first time that they go against one of his defenses. Belichick has the amazing ability to hide his blitzes which in turn flusters the quarterback. Look at Peyton Manning for instance. He is one of the best quarterbacks of all time and it took him years to finally defeat a Belichick coached Patriots team.

A final reason why I like the Patriots is because of Terrell Owens. In a recent rant I mentioned that one of the reasons for the Cowboys success thus far this season is that TO is making more noise on the field than off. This however changed this past week when not only did he have countless drops against the Bills, but he left a note on his locker in which he referred to Randy Moss as "The Other 81." Now I know this note was left in good fun, and the point of the whole note was that Owens would not talk to the media so he could focus on the big game this week, but to call Moss "The Other 81," I am sure gave Moss some extra bulletin material and motivation to go out and put on one his best performances, in a stadium where he has already had some of his best games in his career.

My Prediction is Patriots win 34-24.

As for the rest of the NFL, the jury is still out on many teams. There are a lot of teams who look great one week then bad the next so it is still tough to tell who are the contenders and pretenders. Now here are my top 5 games of the week:

1) Patriots vs Cowboys
2) Redskins vs Packers
3) Titans vs Buccaneers
4) Texans vs Jaguars
5) Panthers vs Cardinals

CLOSING THOUHGT:

My closing thought this week is focusing on Penn State coach Joe Paterno and Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden. Both of these coaches are two of the most winning coaches in college football history and have won multiple National Titles. However after reading about JoPa's traffic incident this past week along with reading about yet another one of his players getting in trouble in an off the field incident I am starting to truly feel that he should retire at the end of the season. I also think Bobby Bowden should do the same. The reason for this is that they have simply become figureheads and I think that because of their age they can no longer have relationships with their players the way they used to. I do not doubt that they know their x's and o's as good as any other coach in football, but it appears now they have become a lot more distanced from their teams and as a result it has hurt them not only on the field, as both Penn State and Florida State are no longer the National Title contenders that they once were, but it has also hurt them off the field with their players getting in trouble. If you look at the top teams in the country now they are for the most part coached by guys who are young and energetic like a Pete Carroll from USC, Les Miles from LSU and Urban Meyer from Florida and I think one of the main reasons for this besides their coaching intellect is because they are young and can relate to the players a lot better than a JoPa or a Bobby Bowden. I respect both JoPa and Bowden enough that I think it would be best for them to walk away now while they are still competitive programs than to wait until their programs have completely fallen off the map as one of the elite programs in all of college football.

That's about it for this week, but thanks once again for reading this edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and remember if you have any comments to please post them, and if you have friends or family members who might be interested in reading my rant to pass on the link to them. Thanks.

Brendan Boyce

October 4, 2007

First Pitch:

Well it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Now I am sure many of you maybe scratching your heads over my first sentence since it's October in New England and the trees are still green and the temperature is approaching 80 degrees, but the reason I am so giddy on this day is that the NHL season kicked off last night. Alright, I am just kidding, I don't give a flying hoot that the NHL regular season started, in fact I am still channel surfing trying to find Versus on my television. All joking aside though, this past week was an amazing week in sports. Baseball concluded a very exciting September and are now into the playoffs and College Football this past weekend was full of more upsets than I can ever remember happening in one weekend. I usually start my rants with my thoughts on College Football but with baseball now being in the playoffs, I will start off with a trip around the Majors.


MLB:

As a lifelong Red Sox fan, this past week was one of great joy. For the first time since 1995 the Red Sox won the American League East. Now I know the Red Sox have been to the playoffs numerous times since 1995 as a Wild Card, but there is something very satisfying about getting the "Wild Card Monkey" off our backs, after holding the title for so long. It was also nice to know that the Sox will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Sox may have stumbled in August and September and almost had a Mets like collapse, although I don't know if any team could ever have a collapse like the Mets did in the final two weeks of the season, by blowing their huge lead to the Yankees, but they finished strong and built up some much needed momentum as they head into the playoffs.

Now I know the MLB playoffs started yesterday, so it is a little late to be giving my predictions on what I think may happen, but I promise all the predictions that I am about to give are what I thought since the match-ups were first put out.

I would also like to start off by saying that if you did not see the play-in game between the Padres and Rockies on Monday night you missed out on what I think was the best baseball game of the whole season. Moving on however here are my predictions for the playoffs.

NL:

Rockies vs Phillies: I think it's fair to say that no two teams are hotter going into the playoffs than the Phillies and Rockies. The Rockies finished their season winning an astonishing 14 out 15 games to basically come out of nowhere to win the Wild Card. For a team that usually gets criticized for their lack of pitching, largely due to the thin air in Denver, their pitching staff has had an amazing second half of the season. Besides their pitching though, the Rockies wouldn't be where they are without the stellar play of MVP candidate Matt Holliday, potential rookie of the year in Troy Tulowitzki and the veteran leadership from Todd Helton. With that being said however I still think the Phillies have the edge. The Phillies like the Rockies played an amazing final month of baseball and overcame a once perceived insurmountable deficit to the Mets to win the NL East. The reasons I like the Phillies in this series is that I think the Rockies could be fatigued by having to play a play-in game on Monday and then having to travel cross country and play the early game on Wednesday. Also, in a short series it is my thought that the team with home field has a distinct advantage. A final reason why I like the Phillies is that the heart of their line-up, led by another MVP candidate in Jimmy Rollins, along with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley have been as hot as any line-up coming into the playoffs. Final prediction is Phillies in five.


Cubs vs Diamondbacks: On paper I think the Cubs are a far superior team, but I think the Diamondbacks are proof that games are not won on paper. The Diamondbacks to me are one of the great mysteries in baseball. Yes, they do have one of the great pitchers in baseball in Brandon Webb, but besides that no one on their roster sticks out to me. When Tony Clark, the same Tony Clark who I may add was a total bust with Boston in 2002, is the D'backs' cleanup hitter with only 17 home runs on the season, that usually is not a good thing. Despite a lack of power, the D'backs have been able to scratch and claw for runs all season, and combined with their ability to win close games, they could be a very dangerous team in the playoffs. Despite all of that however I do like the Cubs in this series. The Cubs, although they limped into the playoffs, have the makings of a very dangerous team. They have a good 1-2 punch in Zambrano and Lilly at pitching, they have have fairly powerful team led by Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee, and they have a veteran manager in Lou Piniella who has great playoff and championship experience. It is for these reasons that I think the Cubs will win this series in four despite the fact that the D'backs have home field advantage.

AL:

Yankees vs Indians: To me this is the most intriguing match-up of all the divisional series'. The reason for this, is that every time I think about who is going to win this series I always come up with a different answer. The logical winner would be the Yankees. They have the most potent offense in all of baseball, they have Derek Jeter who always seems to elevate his game to new heights in October and they are the Yankees, they are supposed to win. Despite all this however I am still not sold on the Yankees. Yes, I think the Yankees could win it all, but at the same time I can easily see them losing this series. The Yankees have had a roller coaster of a season. They go on winning streaks where they look like no one in all of baseball can compete with them, and then they go into slumps where you start asking yourself "Is this the same team that just won 9 out of 10 games two weeks ago?" If the Yankees team that wins 9 out of 10 shows up then to me they are the clear favorite in my mind to win it all, but if not then I can see the Indians winning this series. The reason why the Indians could very easily win this series is because of their starting pitching. In playoffs the old adage is pitching wins titles, and the Indians have two of the top pitchers in the majors in C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. If both these pitchers can play like they have all season I can see the Indians winning this series. Finally, the one wild card in this series is Alex Rodriguez. Without question A-Rod is the AL MVP this year. He put up remarkable numbers, but the big question is will the A-Rod of the regular season show up or will the A-Rod of playoffs past show up. For those of you who don't know, the A-Rod of playoffs past is not a good thing. Well enough debating here, I am going out on the limb here and saying the Indians will win in 5.

Red Sox vs Angles: As a die hard Red Sox fan I am going to try to be unbiased as possible. With my allegiances put aside and looking at this series in an objective manner I still like the Red Sox to win this series and it would not shock me if they end up sweeping the Angles. The reason for this is Pitching. Josh Beckett, whom I think will end up being the AL Cy Young award winner this year, has not only had a tremendous regular season, but he also has had great success in the playoffs, as was best seen in his performances in the 2003 Playoffs when he led the Marlins to a World Series victory. Also, although Curt Schilling has transformed himself this season from a power pitcher to a finesse pitcher, he is still one of the great pitchers in playoff history. I love how Francona is starting him in game three instead of two, because he knows Schilling has had great success in Anaheim in the past and he knows no opposing crowd can rattle him. The one wild card of the Red Sox lineup is Daisuke Matsuzaka. Daisuke, like the Yankees, has had a roller coaster of a season. If the dominant Daisuke shows up, to me there is no better 1-2-3 punch in the playoffs than the Red Sox, and this will prove to be a lot more important once the series go from five to seven games. Another reason why I like the Red Sox is they are finally healthy again with Manny and Kevin Youkilis back in the line-up and they also have one of the most clutch players in October in David Ortiz. Finally, the Red Sox have had great success against the Angles number one pitcher in John Lackey. With the Red Sox superior pitching and hitting I like them in three.

ALCS:

Sox over Indians

NLCS:

Cubs over Phillies

World Series:

Red Sox over Cubs


COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

Due to the fact that I spent so much time on the baseball playoffs I am going to be brief this week on my college football and NFL thoughts.

If you were to tell me there would be a day when Kentucky, South Florida and my beloved Boston College Eagles were all in the top 10, I would have asked you how many beers have you had that night? But the reality is all three of those teams are in fact in the top 10, and the main reason for that is this past week saw so many upsets of top 10 teams. Oklahoma lost to Colorado, Florida lost to Auburn, West Virginia lost to South Florida, Texas lost to Kansas State and Rutgers lost to Maryland. I am still a believer that by the end of the season the teams that lost with the exception of Texas and Rutgers will rebound and find themselves in the top 10 again, but it was still a thrill to see the huge shakeup in the polls.

The reason why I love college football so much is one loss can totally change a team's season. Last week I wrote about how Florida, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Clemson all had shots at making National Title runs, but with their one loss now those hopes for the most part are completely diminished. USC, LSU, Ohio State and I will now put Cal in this category, based on their victories over Tennessee and their win this past weekend at Oregon, have separated themselves from the rest of the pack as the favorites to go to the BCS National Title game. LSU has a huge game this week against Florida but if they can get over that hurdle, which I predict they will since they are at home, they should control their destiny for the rest of the season. I also predict that the winner of the Cal vs USC game later in the season will also go to National Title game.

Even though some games this coming week have lost a lot of their luster with so many teams losing last week, there is still a great slate of games this coming weekend and here are my top 5 games to watch:

1) Kentucky vs South Carolina
2) Florida vs LSU
3) Ohio State vs Purdue
4) Oklahoma vs Texas
5) Georgia vs Tennessee

NFL:

Now shifting gears to the pro game. I would like to start off this week by congratulating the Bengals defense for holding the Patriots to a season low 34 points. Four weeks have passed and each week I still am in awe of the Brady to Moss connection. I also don't want to sound like a broken record but each week the same teams thus far have continued to impress me with those teams being the Patriots, Colts and Cowboys. I would like to say though that the Titans, Packers and Buccaneers are swiftly moving up the charts as the best teams in the second tier of the NFL.

One final NFL note that I would like to mention is about Chargers coach Norv Turner. Way back in the beginning of the calendar year I made a comment on my weekly radio show "Tuesday's with Boyceee," about the stupidity of the Chargers front office for firing Marty Schotenheimer and replacing him with Norv Turner. The Chargers fired Marty Schotenheimer after a 14-2 regular season and a loss to the Patriots in the playoffs, which is nothing to be ashamed of. In most instances coaches would be getting a raise after such a season, but instead Marty got fired and replaced by Norv Turner, who has been known as the consament loser as a head coach. Turner thus far has lived up to his reputation and has the Chargers off to a 1-3 start and has fantasy hero LT well below his career averages. I knew the Chargers made a huge mistake with the hiring of Turner and I hope the Chargers front office are men enough to stand up and admit that they indeed made a mistake. I am sure wherever Schotenheimer is now he is having a real good laugh over the horrid start by the Chargers and I am sure he found their loss to the lowly Chiefs this past week to be particularly amusing. Now here are my 5 top games of the week:

1) Jets vs Giants
2) Seahawks vs Steelers
3) Buccaneers vs Colts
4) Bears vs Packers
5) Lions vs Redskins

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

I am going to keep my closing thoughts brief this week, and basically bash TBS for their broadcasting thus far of the MLB playoffs. I find comedian Frank Caliendo to be very funny, especially with his impersonation of John Madden, but the amount of advertising that went on yesterday promoting his new show "Frank TV," was way over the top. Playoff baseball is baseball at it's finest , and too me it is getting greatly diminished by the constant bombardment of "Frank TV" advertisements. I thought Id never see the day that I would say this but where is FOX with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver when you need them?

September 28, 2007

Well we are now four weeks into the college football season and three into the NFL, and as a result, one is able to now get a good gauge on what type of team each team is. Granted there is still a lot of pigskin to be played, but by now one should be able to know who the contenders and pretenders are.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

In college football it appears the traditional powers of USC, LSU, Florida and Oklahoma seem to be ahead of the pack, as all have both looked very strong thus far. USC and LSU were many pundits favorites going into the season, and so far they have lived up to their billings. Florida and Oklahoma on the other hand people figured would be strong, but many were skeptical about them because they would be starting young quarterbacks. After four weeks however Florida's Tim Tebow, who basically single handily beat Ole Miss this past weekend, and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, who it seems has yet to throw an incompletion, not only have their teams off to tremendous starts, but now they are at the top of many people's Heisman ballots.

Despite USC, LSU, Florida and Oklahoma being the class of college football after the first quarter of the season, there are still many reasons why these teams will have trouble making it to the BCS National Title game. For one, either Florida or LSU should drop out of contention since they both play each other in the regular season, meaning one team will have at least one loss by season's end, and if both end up winning their respective SEC divisions, they will meet again in the SEC Championship game. USC on the other hand still has to go to both Cal and Oregon, who appear to be the two teams in the Pac 10 who could dethrone the Trojans from their recent conference dominance. Finally, of the four contenders Oklahoma appears to have the easiest road to New Orleans for the BCS National Title game. The only real tough game Oklahoma has left on their regular season slate is against Texas in the annual Red River Shootout, but Texas appears to be struggling so far this season despite their 4-0 record.

If either of these teams stumble, there does however appear to be a handful of teams that are able and willing to "Seize the moment" as Coach Probst of Hoover High says, and propel themselves forward into National Title contention. In the Pac 10 Oregon and Cal appear to be very strong. Cal, with play makers such as DeSean Jackson, is able to play with the best the country has to offer, as was seen in their game against Tennessee. Quarterback Dennis Dixon on the other hand has exceeded everyone's expectations for Oregon and has them rolling right now. With Michigan's last two victories over Notre Dame and the upset of Penn State, it appears that the Ducks thumping of the Wolverines in week two is a lot more impressive than many originally thought. The fun part about these two teams is that they will face each other this weekend in Eugene, in what should be one of the great shootouts of the college football season, with the winner being in the driver's seat to have the opportunity to knock off USC for a chance to win the Pac 10.

Cal and Oregon are not the only two teams who have a chance to make National Title runs as the season goes on, but there are a few other teams that are worthy of discussion. These teams are West Virginia, Ohio State, and Boston College/Clemson. West Virginia in my mind is the fastest team in college football. Steve Slaton, Pat White and Noel Devine are as as fast, if not faster, than any other backfield in the country, and so far they have been very successful in running over their opponents. My one knock on them has always been that they have been one dimensional, but coach Rich Rodriguez has opened up his play book this year a bit more and has given White more opportunities to pass the ball, and so far he has shown that he not only has strong legs, but also a very underrated arm as well. The Mountaineers will face their toughest opponent this weekend when they head down to Tampa and try to avenge last years loss to the South Florida Bulls. Early on many thought West Virginia and Louisville would be the class of the Big East, but with the Cardinals losing two straight games and showing no signs of a defense, it appears it could be a two team race between WVU and USF. I am also still not entirely sold on Rutgers as they have played absolutely no one thus far.

Ohio State, who many considered would also have a somewhat down year for their standards, since they lost their Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Troy Smith and speedster Ted Ginn Jr., have slowly but surly started to creep up on the National Title screen. The main reason for this is their defense, led by linebacker James Laurinaitis. Through the first four games the defense has only allowed 29 points, and it appears that quarterback Todd Boeckman has started to develop a great relationship with his receiving corps. The Buckeyes will face their first true Big 10 test next week when they travel to Purdue, but the fate of the Buckeyes won't be known until the final month of the season when they have to travel Penn State, host Wisconsin and then travel to the Big House to play arch-rival Michigan.

My final two picks to make a National Title run are Boston College and Clemson. Both these teams are off to 4-0 starts, and the main reason for this is their stellar quarterback play. Matt Ryan was expected to have a big season this year, especially in the pass happy system that new offense coordinator Steve Logan has implemented, but Cullen Harper of Clemson has been just as impressive. Harper has not thrown for the yards that Ryan has, but Harper through four games has completed nearly 70% of his passes and thrown for 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Harper also has a great running game behind him led by C.J. Spiller and James Davis. The Eagles next big challenge comes on October 25th when they take on Virginia Tech, and Clemson has to take go to Atlanta this weekend to take on Georgia Tech, but if these teams can get through those hurdles, there is a very good chance that both teams could be undefeated going into their November 17th showdown. The one thing holding these two teams back from making a real run for the National Title is that the ACC has received a very bad reputation thus far, and there is a very good chance a one loss Pac 10 or SEC team would get the BCS National Title bid over them, even if BC or Clemson goes undefeated. Well that's about it for my college football talk, but here are my top 5 games to keep an eye on this week:

1) West Virginia vs South Florida
2) Auburn vs Florida
3) Cal vs Oregon
4) Michigan State vs Wisconsin
5) Alabama vs Florida State

NFL:

Now Moving onto the Pro Ranks. The Patriots continue to show that their magic number this year is "38" as they scored 38 points for the third straight week. And for a third straight week Tom Brady and Randy Moss have proven that the draft day trade for Moss was the best off season acquisition in all of the NFL. Both players are putting up MVP type numbers. Through three games Brady has thrown for 887 yards, 10 touchdowns and a microscopic 18 incompletions.

The Patriots and Colts from week 1 have shown that they are the clear cut favorites in the NFL to be one of the teams in the Super Bowl, but the Cowboys have also been making a case for themselves thus far to be the favorite to come out of the NFC. Coming into the season people were saying the NFC title race would be between the Bears, Saints and Cowboys. So far the Bears are 1-2, they have a heap of injuries on defense and now Lovie Smith no longer believes that "Crazy" Rex Grossman is the right quarterback to lead the team has he announced Wednesday that Brian Griese will takeover the reins. The Saints on the other hand are off to an 0-3 start, and their once potent offense is no where to be found, and to make matters worse they have now lost their powerful running back Deuce McAllister for the season. The Cowboys however are off to a 3-0 start after their thumping of the Bears this past weekend. Tony Romo is looking like an MVP candidate, TO is making more noise on the field than off it, and the defense, despite a lapse in week 1 against the Giants, has really stepped up their game. With the NFC looking to be down again this year, the Cowboys should have a pretty easy road to Glendale, AZ.

Moving on, last week I mentioned how the Texans have been my surprise team so far this year, and even though they lost to the Colts this past week, they still appear to be my #1 surprise. They were down most the game, but they did not give up, and they did it all without their start wide receiver Andre Johnson. The Green Bay Packers however have also been a very big surprise. At the end of last year there was much speculation on whether Brett Favre would retire or come back for one more year, and so far his decision to come back has been a very good one. Favre has looked like the Favre from the mid 90's where he was leading to Packers to Super Bowls. His stats are tremendous, and he has the Packers off to their first 3-0 start since 2001. Also, with just one more touchdown pass, Favre will surpass Dan Marino with the most touchdown passes in NFL history with 421. One final note from the NFL this week is that the Eagles finally looked like the Eagles that many expected. McNabb looked like his old self, due in large part to his Wide out Kevin Curtis who hauled in 11 receptions for 221 yards and three touchdowns. Andy Reid's teams have been notorious for getting off to slow starts but finishing strong, and it is for this reason why no one should sleep on them, as they should be one of the teams to give a Cowboys a run for their money. Here now are my top 5 NFL games this weekend:

1) Patriots vs Bengals
2) Seahawks vs 49ers
3) Panthers vs Buccaneers
4) Eagles vs Giants
5) Bears vs Lions

MLB:

Although I have been in full football mode for about the past month, it is hard to ignore the playoff races that have been going on in the National League. We are entering the final weekend of the regular season and there are still no teams that have clinched a playoff spot. The Mets are one team that should have been able to lock one up, but they have literally collapsed. They have blown a once 7 game lead in a mere 15 days. If I am Manager Willie Randolph you better hope your team responds this weekend, or else he may very well be unemployed come Monday. The Phighting Phillies have played a magnificent final few weeks to put themselves in contention for not only the Wild Card, but also a chance to win the once believed unreachable goal of winning the NL East. One team that has really come out of nowhere these final few weeks is the Colorado Rockies. This team is simply on cruise control right now as they are riding an 11 game winning streak, and if they can somehow sweep the NL West leading Diamondbacks this weekend, they could make things very interesting in the NL West. The NL West has been very fun to watch as the Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies all have a shot at winning it. In the NL Central it appears neither the Brewers nor the Cubs seem to want to pull away with the division. Although it now appears the Cubs are going to win it, they have definitely struggled down the stretch. The one good thing going for the Cubs is that many said the same thing last year about the Cardinals when they entered the playoffs, and we all know what they did. The ironic part about the whole NL Playoff race is there is a very good chance that there could be some play-in games, yet the team that will come out of the Central will have the worst record, yet will be sitting the prettiest since they won't have to participate in any of the potential games. Between football and now playoff baseball it should definitely be one exciting week in sports, and I am praying that the Red Sox can clinch their first divisional title since 1995.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

I will close this week's rant by giving my two cents on a more prominent rant that happened this week. I'm sure by now you all know that I am referring to the rant that Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy displayed this week after his team's victory over Texas Tech. If by chance you were living under a rock this week and do not know what his rant was all about, it was over a column written by Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman which portrayed OSU quarterback Bobby Reid as being a momma's boy. Mike Gundy to say the least spent 3 1/2 minutes chewing out Carlson and standing up for his player. While I respect Gundy for standing up for Reid, I do not think he did it in a proper fashion. The room was full of tons of other reporters wanting to hear his thoughts about the Cowboys big win that day, but instead they had to hear Gundy go off on Carlson, and then abruptly end the conference without taking any questions about the game. Gundy should have talked to Carlson privately, and not made the whole situation public. On the other hand maybe Gundy figured his rant would show his players that he is there for them in the hopes that they would rally around him, and be able to turn around a thus far disappointing season. Well that's about all I have for this week, and next week I look forward to talking more football and playoff baseball and as usual please keep spreading the word of my blog to friends and family members who are interested in sports as I try to continue to build my readership numbers. Thanks and until then Godspeed.

Brendan Boyce

September 20, 2007

This past weekend was a big weekend for sports, as there were many big pro and college football games as well as the final regular season series between the Red Sox and Yankees. I will begin this week's post as I have been doing for the past couple weeks with my thoughts on college football.

A lot of top teams this week made some statements with strong performances on Saturday. USC went into Lincoln, in what was supposed to be a game where Bill Callahan was going to prove to the nation that Nebraska was again back on the map as one of college football's elite programs. This however proved to be far from the case as USC steamrolled over the Huskers 49-31, on Pete Carrol's 56th birthday, thanks in large part to a strong running attack which ran for 313 yards and 5 touchdowns. Another top tier team that proved that they are worthy of playing in this year's BCS National Title game in New Orleans is defending National Champion Florida. Many thought that Florida was going to be "down" this year after losing the majority of their defense, but Urban Meyer has his spread offense working to perfection again. This past Saturday the Gators faced fellow SEC East Foe Tennessee, and they showed through a 59-20 drubbing of the Vols, that they are not going to give up their title easily. Sophomore Quarterback Tim Tebow showed with his arm as well as with his legs that he is ready to lead this team on another national title hunt.

Another team that made a strong statement was my Boston College Eagles. As mentioned in my college football preview blog, I said the first three games of BC's season would be a strong indicator of what type of team they would have. The reason for this is that BC is the only team in the nation who has to had to open the season with three straight conference games. Now three games into the season BC is 3-0, thanks in large part to the Heisman worthy season thus far by Senior quarterback Matt Ryan who threw for a career high 435 yards Saturday vs Georgia Tech. Besides Ryan there have been many other bright spots on this team. The run defense for one has been very impressive, and showed their ability this past weekend when they held Tashard Choice and the much feared Yellow Jacket rushing attack to only 63 yards. Coach Jags clearly has this team going in the right direction and with three cupcakes, followed by a trip to the now lowly Irish, who this past week ranked #1 on ESPN's bottom 10, the team should be a 7-0 and top 5 team when they head down to Blacksburg to face the Hokies of Virginia Tech in what should be one of the more entertaining Thursday night games of the year.

Other teams that put on strong showings this past weekend were West Virginia, Ohio State and Kentucky. West Virginia beat Maryland 31-14 thanks in large part to their strong ground game. Heisman candidate Steve Slaton rushed for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Freshman phenom Noel Devine rushed for 136 yards on just 5 carries. Ohio State on the other hand traveled all the way to the Pacific Northwest to take on the 2-0 Washington Huskies, and many thought that Tyrone Willingham and his quarterback Jake Locker were going to pull off the upset. The Huskies played well for the first half, but after a block field goal in the third quarter the momentum completely swung in favor of the Buckeyes as they completely dominated the second half and went on to win 33-14. Finally, Kentucky won the Governors Cup in their annual rivalry game against Louisville. Many expected the game to be a shootout, since the game featured two of the nation's top quarterbacks in Louisville's Brian Brohm, and Kentucky's Andre Woodson, and that is exactly what we got. The game was back and forth throughout the whole game, and Kentucky was able to throw the last punch when Woodson hit receiver Steve Johnson for a 57 yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 40-34 lead with 28 seconds left. This was Kentucky's first win over their in state rival in four years and now it is the first time they have been ranked in two decades.

A weekend of college football reviewing however cannot be complete without the weekly discussion of the demise of Notre Dame football. Their game this past week against Michigan, where they lost 38-0, was the first game where I actually got to witness the game live, and I will say as a BC fan where I am supposed to root against the Irish, that it was painful to watch. I, as well as many, thought that Notre Dame was going to be down this year. Anytime a team loses so many of their top players, especially with a quarterback of Brady Quinn's caliber, one can expect a team to not do as well, but I don't think anyone thought it was going to be this bad. Their offense looked horrible, and to go three games now without scoring an offensive touchdown, and still having negative rushing yards is inexcusable. Charlie Weis I am sure is probably wishing that Darius Walker did not make the bonehead decision that he did to forgo his senior year to enter the NFL draft, of which he went un-drafted. Things have gotten so bad in South Bend that backup quarterback Demetrius Jones became the second Irish quarterback this year to transfer.

Now here are my top 5 College games of the week:

South Carolina vs LSU
Georgia vs Alabama
Texas A&M vs Miami
Penn State vs Michigan
Iowa vs Wisconsin


Moving onto the pro ranks, many people have asked me this week on my thoughts about the Patriots and the whole "Spy Gate" scandal. My overall opinion is that it was stupid by Bill Belichick to do such a thing, because he is such a great coach and has one of the best teams. To me, he did not need to risk losing draft picks and facing a very hefty fine, for trying to get a slight edge. I am convinced that the Patriots are not the only team doing this, but unfortunately Belichick and the Patriots got caught. I will say though that I do not think that this diminishes what the Patriots have done in the past. My theory in sports is that you can have the greatest coach in the world, but the players still have to make the plays. Tom Brady still had to put his passes on the mark, and Adam Vinatieri still had to make the clutch field goals. This past Sunday the Patriots made a statement that they don't need cameras to win, and this was best seen on their picture perfect opening drive against the Chargers. Tom Brady and Randy Moss once again showed that they are now to be one of the most feared quarterback receiver tandems in the league, as the Patriots went on to win for the second week in a row 38-14.

My surprise team after two weeks are the Houston Texans. Two years ago I remember watching a Patriots vs Falcons game where Matt Schaub filled in for Michael Vick, and coming away from the game thinking "this guy (Schaub) can play and should be a starter." Now two years later Schaub finally got his chance to lead a team and he has made the once laughable Texans a team to be reckoned with. Schaub is not the only reason for this. Andre Johnson, whom I believe is the most underrated player in the NFL, has gotten off to a tremendous start, the defense has also stepped up this season, and the offensive line for the first time in franchise history is giving the quarterback time to stand in the pocket. The Texans this week can prove to the league that they are for real when they take on the defending Super Bowl champion Colts. Unfortunately however they will be without Andre Johnson.

Other teams that have impressed me after two weeks are the Redskins, Packers and Cowboys. While the teams that I figured would be in the hunt to go to the Super Bowl representing the NFC, the Eagles and Saints, have disappointed. The Saints, who had one of the most potent and exciting offenses last year, have not been able to find their rhythm yet thus far.

Here are my top 5 NFL games of the week:

Green Bay vs San Diego
Pittsburgh vs San Francisco
Seattle vs Cincinnati
Indianapolis vs Houston
Dallas vs Chicago

Now to my final topic being the Red Sox and Major League Baseball. Last night I got a text message from an old college friend Mr. Alex Whelan, who happens to be a Yankee fan saying, "You nervous yet?" This message is referencing the fact that the Sox lead in the AL East is now down to only a 1.5 games. As a Sox fan, I will admit I am somewhat nervous. I am not nervous that they won't make the playoffs, because at this point it looks like the American League playoff situation is set with the Angles, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians all basically having secured spots. The one thing I am nervous about for the Red Sox is that they are stumbling into the playoffs, while the three other teams are all heating up at the right time. Early in the season it was the Yankees who had injury problems. Now they are healed, and it is the Sox who have a bad case of the injury bug, with slugger Manny Ramirez being the most notable victim with a strained oblique muscle. Another concern is that the bullpen has been collapsing. The usual lights out Jonathan Papelbon has been shaky in his last couple of outings. Last night he gave up a grand slam to Russ Adams of the Blue Jays for instance. Hideki Okajima has also been crumbling, and much of this is due to the fatigue of playing in the majors and having a longer season than that in Japan. Finally, Eric Gagne continues to struggle tremendously as he blew another lead the other night against the Blue Jays. The Sox now travel to Tampa Bay, in the hopes of winning some games and regaining their confidence. I still have faith that they will win the division, but ever since they blew the game last Friday after leading 7-2 to the Yankees in the 8th inning, the team just does not have the same demeanor and swagger that we have seen throughout the whole season. The final two weeks of the season will prove to be very eventful, not only in the fight for the top spot in the AL East, but the National League also has many tight races, as the Cubs and Brewers fight it out in the Central, the Diamondbacks and Padres in the West, and the Phillies and Padres in the Wild Card.

I will end this week's Rant, by saying that this morning I purchased Celtics tickets for this upcoming season, and I will say that I have been waiting nearly my whole life for the Celtics to have a season that I am truly excited for. Having grown up in Boston, all I hear about the Celtics is how great they were in the past, but with the exception of a year or two of my life, the Celtics have pretty much been the bottom feeder/middle of the pack team in the NBA, and finally for once there is hope that the slogan "Green 17" will come true. I hope you have again enjoyed this edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and I remind you to keep reading and send the link to your friends. Thanks.

Brendan Boyce

September 11, 2007

Well a lot has happened in the two weeks since I last posted. We are now officially two weeks into the college football season and one week into the NFL season, which means there is a whole lot Monday morning quarterbacking to do.

Although we are far from the first BCS standings to come out there are quite a few teams that have stuck out so far. On the other hand there are a few teams that really have gotten off to horrendous starts. I think it is fair to say that many pre-season predictions of a USC and LSU National Title game could very well become a reality. LSU this weekend dismantled Virginia Tech, and so far after two games their highly praised defense has only given up one touchdown. USC on the other hand has only played one game against lowly Idaho, but we should learn a lot more about them as they enter the Sea of Red this weekend to take on the Cornhuskers of Nebraska. One team that has surprised me and could very well be in the National Title mix come season's end is the Oklahoma Sooners. The major reason for this is their quarterback Sam Bradford is 40-48 for 568 yards with 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions after two games. The Sooners took apart the Miami defense this weekend and barring their match up in Dallas at the State Fair against Texas, they very well could run the table.

Now to talk about the teams on the flip side. I think it is fair to say that Michigan and Notre Dame have been MAJOR disappointments this season. Michigan obviously embarrassed themselves by losing to Appalachian State in the first week, but when given the chance to redeem themselves, they embarrassed themselves even more after getting taken behind the woodshed by the well dressed Oregon Ducks 39-7. Notre Dame on the other hand has been outscored 64-13 in their first two games, and have yet to score an offensive touchdown. The most telling stat for them this season is they have 67 carries for a whopping -8 yards rushing. The funny part is these two teams will meet this weekend, which means one team will finally get a victory, and if Michigan ends up on the losing side it could also mean Lloyd Carr will officially be out of a job.

One other note about Notre Dame is Charlie Weis is now on a 4 game losing streak, and now has a very similar record to Tyrone Willingham after about the same amount of time. Tyrone Willingham thanks to the quarterback play of Jake Locker has Washington on a two game winning streak. This past weekend the Huskies ended Boise State's nation's leading 14 game winning streak and this weekend they will have the opportunity to upset No. 10 Ohio State. Just imagine the uproar in South Bend next weekend if Charlie Weis and the Irish lose for the fifth straight time, and Ty Willingham and Washington upset the Buckeyes to improve to 3-0 on the season.

As for my Boston College Eagles, they are now 2-0 on the young season and will head down to Atlanta Saturday night to take on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech in what could a preview of the ACC title game. After watching the first two games, I have been pleased with the offense. In the first game against Wake Forest BC was not able to run, but Matt Ryan had stellar day throwing for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns. In the second game however Ryan's timing with the receivers was off but both backs Callender and Whitworth stepped up their running games, as they beat former BC coach Tom O'Brien and NC State pretty handily 37-17. The Defense has given up a lot of yards passing, but they have been able to come up with timely interceptions, including three in week one by Dejuan Tribble, and this past week Jolonn Dunbar returned one for a touchdown. If by chance the Eagles can get back Ga. Tech this coming weekend, they could very well be 6-0, since their next three games are against UMass, Bowling Green and Army, going into the Notre Dame week. Notre Dame on the other hand could very well be 0-6.

Here now are my 5 games of the week to watch:

Boston College vs Georgia Tech
USC vs Nebraska
Florida vs Tennessee
Maryland vs West Virginia
Ohio State vs Washington


Now time to turn to the Pros. Due to my caddying obligations I did not get to see many games, but I will still make a few comments nonetheless on Week 1. My first observation is the Pats and Colts still appear to be the class of the NFL. Both offenses were in sync the whole game. Manning to Wayne was on fire for the Colts, similar to how Brady and Moss was for the Patriots. This week the Patriots however will face a tougher test when they have a rematch from last year's playoffs with the San Diego Chargers. As for the NFC, I was impressed by the Giants offense who many thought would struggle tremendously this year. Unfortunately however it appears Eli Manning will be out for a month with a separated shoulder. Also unfortunately for the Giants, football is a game both of offense and defense and their defense got torn to shreds by the Cowboys offense which did appear to be very impressive in their first game in the Wade Phillips coaching era. Staying in the NFC, my two favorites to make it to the Super Bowl,the Bears and Saints, did not look so good. The Bears defense was good, holding LT to only 25 yards rushing, but Crazy Rex and the Bears offense could not get anything going and could not hold on to the ball. The Bears defense also sustained some injuries on defense, including a season ending injury to Saftey Mike Brown. Similarly the Saints offense, which was one of the most potent offenses in the NFL last year was completely shut down by the Colts. In all it was an exciting week 1, but many teams still have a lot to improve on, but as they old saying goes "The biggest improvements are made between week 1 and week 2."

Here are my 5 games in the NFL to watch this week:

Patriots vs Chargers
Colts vs Titans
Vikings vs Lions
Texans vs Panthers
Raiders vs Broncos.

I will close my post with a few thoughts on the Red Sox. Due to my intense weekend of football watching I could not pay close attention to the Sox. They did however take 3 out of 4 from the Orioles in Baltimore but had a tough 1-0 loss to their nemesis Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays last night. This weekend will be a big weekend as they welcome the Yankees to town, which could either put the AL East away with a couple of wins, or make the final 2 weeks of the regular season a lot more interesting with a couple losses. Regardless of the outcome, it appears both teams will now be facing each other in the playoffs as the Yankees are starting to pull away with the Wild Card.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading this week's edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and I will talking to you again shortly.


Sir Boyce

August 30th

Well Hi everybody once again, sorry about the delay between blog posts, but now with football season and the baseball playoffs upon us, one can be assured that I will make my posts more frequently.

Since the last time I wrote to you, not too much has changed in the sports world. The biggest thing probably has been Michael Vick pleading guilty, but I do not think that was a shock to anyone. The irony to this whole situation is in an ESPN interview a few years back, he mentioned that one of the three things people do not know about him is that he loves animals. As a person trying to make ends meet, it is really sad to see someone with so much money, talent and fame blow it all over a horrific thing such as dog fighting. As mentioned in my previous blog, it will be interesting to see what his future is. Since his sentencing isn't until December 10th, which happens to be the same day the Falcons play the Saints on Monday Night Football, it is most likely that he will have to miss 2 full seasons in the NFL. With that being said, I do not know if any team would have the guts to go through the PR fiasco of trying to sign Vick when he gets out of prison.

Moving on to a lighter topic and a personal favorite of mine. Today marks the first day of the college football season. The potential BCS National Title team LSU Tigers are planned to square off tonight against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, MS, in an early SEC showdown. Now I do not think this will be a great game by any means since LSU is far superior in talent than MSU, but none of the less it marks the beginning of college football, which is one of my favorite sports. This weekend however does indeed have a fair share of good games, despite the fact that many teams play far lesser opponents, such as the defending national champion Florida Gators taking on the Hilltoppers of the power house Western Kentucky. Despite the many lopsided match ups, there will still be some very good games.

My top 5 games of the weekend, if you want to watch are:

Tennessee at Cal
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame
Oklahoma State at Georgia
Florida State at Clemson
Wake Forest at Boston College

Obviously people are going to think I am biased with the Boston College pick, but I think it should be one of the more interesting games of the weekend. BC and Wake over the past four years have had many close games. Wake comes into this weekend as the reigning ACC champs, while BC plays its first game with new head coach Jeff Jagodzinski. And remember folks that you can't spell Jagodzinski, with out "God."

As a BC alum, I always want my Eagles to do well, but as I look at the schedule it does appear to be very tough. Having to go to Ga Tech, ND, Va Tech, Clemson, and Maryland is going to be very tough. I will say though that one should know very early on what type of team BC has, since they have to play 3 ACC games to begin the season. As I look at the schedule, many of the games could go either way. The only real guarantee victories are Army, Umass and Bowling Green, and the only game I think they are for sure going to lose is at Virginia Tech, who I think will be much better this year. Coach Jags has brought some much needed enthusiasm to the program, and it looks like it has rubbed off on many of the players. Also, Offensive Coordinator Steve Logan, the former East Carolina coach when they had Jeff Blake and David Gerrard, runs a very exciting offense. I am very excited for this season not just for BC, but for college football in general.

Below you will now see my predictions for each conference and who I think will win the Heisman trophy:

ACC: Virginia Tech
Big East: West Virginia
SEC: LSU
Big 12: Texas
Pac 10: USC
Big 10: Wisconsin

BCS National Title Game: USC over LSU

Heisman Trophy winner: Darren McFadden of Arkansas.


Now for my final topic, being my beloved Red Sox. The Sox bats were about as hot as they have ever been in team history this past weekend, when they went 4 straight games of scoring 10 runs or more, as they swept the now quickly declining Chicago White Sox. However, as I write this they are on the brink of being swept by the Yankees, which if all holds up, will bring the Yankees to within 5 games. Despite this minor setback in the Bronx, I still do not think the Sox will blow the lead to the Yanks, and I think they should hold up to win the AL East. They have a very favorable schedule down the stretch, and do not have any significant road trips left. The only real disappointments as of late for the Sox have been Eric Gagne who cannot hold a lead for the life of him, and the batting of JD Drew.

As for other races going on in the majors, the Phighting Phillies are slowly but surly creeping up on the Mets, and the NL Central looks to have a very exciting month as the Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals continue to battle for first place. As usual the month of September should be exciting as these divisional and wild card races continue to heat up.

Well that's about it, I hope you enjoyed this edition of Boyce's Weekly Rant, and I will talk to you early next week with my thoughts on this past weekend's college football and I will preview the NFL. Until then Godspeed.


Sir Boyce

July 17-24

Before I begin to comment on the week in sports, I would first like to say that this past week was one of my favorite weeks of the year. The reason for this is that NCAA 2008 was released. Since coming home from college I have enjoyed playing endless hours of FIFA 2007, but NCAA Football has always been my favorite game to play on PS2. Not only do I enjoy playing it, but more importantly its release means that the college football season is just around the corner. As a college football fanatic, I always enjoy the month leading up to the first week of September where people being to talk about the upcoming season. I would also like to note that I give props to ESPN for finally starting "College Football Live," which will be a weekly college football show. "College Gameday," has always been one of my favorite shows, but as a college football fan it has always been tough to go through the 6 other days of the week with very little college football coverage. It is my hope that "College Football Live," will be able to close this void.

Well enough of College Football talk for now, as it was a very busy week in sports both on and off the fields, courts and now with David Beckham's coming to America even pitches. Since I just mentioned David Beckham, I will give my two cents on his coming to the MLS.

Many people in the MLS say Beckham will be the saviour of the league, but I personally do not agree with this. Yes, David Beckham is a world wide star, and in some parts of the world he is even the most popular athlete. I remember when I spent a summer in Thailand a few years back, and how Beckham was by far the most talked about athlete. People even had shrines of him in their homes, with Beckham posters and action figures. Yes, Beckham brings a face to the league that people all over the world will recognize, but David Beckham is 32 years old, which in terms of an athlete, especially in a sport such as soccer where one needs to be in tremendous shape, means he is past his prime. Another problem with Beckham is that he isn't the glorified goal scorer and human highlight reel that the MLS is trying to bring the league. Beckham is a player who sets up goals, not scores them. If the MLS really wants to make their product more exciting then they will need to bring in a player like Ronaldinho. I personally think Victoria Beckham's show "Victoria Beckham Coming to America" will receive higher ratings on television than any MLS game David Beckham plays in.

The two top stories of the week in sports however have to be Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick being indicted and NBA referee Tim Donaghy being accused of betting on games, including ones that he worked in.

As for Vick, the stories involving him being involved in dog fighting are utterly disgusting. As a dog owner, I can't even imagine doing the stuff to dogs that he is being accused of. I will not go into the details of the allegations, but they are very disturbing. If convicted I believe NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should ban him from the league. I do think Goodell telling Vick not to show up to camp is a good first step, but in order to maintain his authority and credibility Goodell has to be firm with his handling of Vick. Goodell has shown to be very strict so far with his dealings of players like Adam "Pacman" Jones and Chris Henry, but those two players are second level players compared to Vick, who some regard as on of the top faces of the league. I am sure Falcons fans are now wishing that they did not trade former backup quarterback Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans this off season.

I will not comment to much on the Tim Donaghy situation since it is still a very new story and not all the details have come out. I will say though that the NBA better hope that Donaghy was an isolated situation and not the beginning of a larger problem. If it comes out that other referees and players were involved in similar situations than it could be a huge black eye on the league. NBA commissioner David Stern will begin to think that the Ron Artest incident of going into the stands in Detroit a few years back was a breeze compared to what he would have to deal with in trying to restore the credibility and integrity of the game.

Closing Thoughts: As a die hard Red Sox fan this week has been a week of ups and downs. The Sox lost 2 out 3 to the lowly Royals, but took 3 out of 4 from the White Sox. Since the All Star break the Red Sox have seen great increases in production from players like Julio Lugo and Manny Ramirez (who did not deserve to be an all star this year), who struggled throughout the first half of the season. The problem with the Sox for the past month and a half where they have been playing .500 baseball after such a hot start is that they have not been able to get clutch hits with runners in scoring position. I will say though that their pitching continues to impress. Kason Gabbard had two tremendous starts this week, and it was really great to see John Lester take the mound last night. Lester's great start last night could be the highlight of the year for some Sox fans as he was able to quiet the Indians, one of the league's most potent batting lineups, just 6 months after being diagnosed with cancer. As the Sox approach the final 2 months of the season it will be interesting to see if their bats can get some clutch hitting, because the Yankees bats are really starting to get hot as was seen this past weekend against the AAA Tampa Bay Rays and the once 14 game lead is now cut in half. It should be another exciting end to the season as division and wild card races heat up.

I hope you all enjoyed the first edition of "Boyce's Weekly Rant," and I hope you will all come back next week.


Sincerely,

Yessir Boyce