Its Bowl Season!

While all the attention will be on the BCS Championship game between undefeated Auburn and Oregon, I will be focusing on two of the more unheralded bowls. No, it does not involve UVA, which will be playing in the “Spring” Bowl. Nor does it involve Ohio State, which despite only one loss will only be playing in the Sugar Bowl. My attention will be on two bowls with a combined 13 years of history between all unranked teams.

First, my only cousin’s Miami of Ohio team faces off against Middle Tennessee State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. The Redhawks completed an incredible worst to first turnaround by winning the MAC championship game last week. Coach of the year hopeful Mike Haywood improved his squad by eight games, going 7-1 in the conference. Miami has reeled off five victories in a row, four of which on the road. Meanwhile the Blue Raiders are only 6-6 in the Sun Belt, but have better statistical rankings than the Red Hawks. Formerly called the GMAC Bowl, the game takes place in Mobile on January 6^th on ESPN. Despite being the 34^th ranked bowl game, it looks like there will be some fun activities planned, and I’m sure there will be plenty of Danica Patrick commercials on TV

Meanwhile eight days earlier in DC, Maryland and East Carolina face off in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman. My girlfriend and her company help manage the event, so maybe I’ll hang out with John Wall doing his dance while punching Dwight Howard for beating the Cavs. Now with a different major sponsor, hopefully there will be some sweet flyovers or cannon shots after each touchdown. RFK will be the site of a possible shootout since the 6-6 Pirates are 112^th in defense and 12^th in offense while the Terps are 42^nd or better in both. Strangely enough Maryland had the second biggest turnaround in the nation to Miami. Terps are bitter they are going to a lower seeded ACC bowl, but if you cannot attend a bowl game a couple metro stops from your campus, you do not deserve to play in warm weather. I’ll be going just to boo the Twerps the whole time.

What about the other bowls? Try naming all 35 of them first.

Week 13 Recap

Browns 13, Dolphins 10

In one of the most boring football games I have ever seen, Cleveland pulled out a late victory over Miami to improve to 5-7. Hillis had an off game, while Delhomme did not throw a pick six, despite hitting the cornerback in his hands. Joe Haden continued his hot streak with his fourth pick in a row and earned defensive rookie of the month. With the Bills and Bengals coming up, the Browns have a chance to get to .500. Sweet.

Redskins 7, Giants 31

Well this season is done. Jacobs and the GMen ran all over the depleted and heartless Skins in a game that was over before halftime. I was only two weeks off from my July prediction of when Haynesworth would be want to be traded/cut. With four tough games coming up, it is time to see who will be worth keeping around next year.

Colts 35, Cowboys 38

It’s getting pretty scary for Indy now. After their third straight loss, the Colts are now on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. Once again, Peyton struggled with four picks against only 17 carries for 40 rushing yards. With no running game and reliable receivers, the defending AFC champs have only one more win than the Skins and Browns, and will be asking the age old question.

RedHawks 26, Huskies 21

In one of the most thrilling college football games I’ve ever seen, my only cousin and the rest of the Miami of Ohio squad defeated ranked Northern Illinois in the last minute. The RedHawks won the MAC title with a 9-4 record, completing their worst to first turnaround. After converting a 4^th and 20, their redshirt freshman qb threw the game winning td on all out blitz. Miami will face Middle Tennessee State in the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile on January 6^th.

Cavaliers 57, Hokies 54

During the middle of a NFL Sunday, the ACC men’s basketball season tipped off with a UVA upset of a VT team hungover from their football title victory the night before. The Wahoos finished their six game road trip with two huge wins against #13 Minnesota and a Hokie team that was projected to finish near the top of the ACC standings. Tony Bennett’s freshmen laden team will surprise a bunch of people this season.

Jayson Werth $126 million, Adam Dunn $56 million

Also lost among football season was the hot stove of the MLB off-season, until the Nationals made a big splash on Sunday. After not offering Adam Dunn enough years or money last week, Washington signed former Phillies Rightfielder Jayson Werth to a 7 year, $126 million deal. A seven year deal for a 31 year old! While his numbers stack up w/ Dunn’s, he’ll be making $18 million a year seven seasons from now at 38. In the past three seasons with a stacked Philly lineup, Werth went .273/24/67, .268/36/99, and .296/27/85 while on the Natinals, Dunn batted .236/40/100, .267/38/105, and .260/38/103. While Werth is a better defender, Washington offered him more per year for more years than fan favorite Dunn. If this is some sort of grand scheme to make the Nats competitive and abandon the youth movement, then why not resign Soriano and Capps? It just looks like a kneejerk reaction to not re-signing Dunn for a team without a winning record in their history, without their biggest draw for all of next season, and without crowds. Eventhough it’s a Dunn deal, I do not think it is Werth it (I had too).

Lebron James: Public Enemy #1?

Ever since “The Decision,” Clevelanders have been waiting for the day the “Chosen One” makes his return to Quicken Loans Arena. Well tonight, the only 11-8 Miami Heat face off against the Cavaliers on TNT. In his Nike commercial, Lebron asks what he would do, but now it is time to ask what will the fans he stabbed in the back do? Will they boo the entire game or just when he is introduced? Will they cheer when he is introduced, but boo during the game, like when McNabb returned to Phily? Will they throw stuff, like at the Browns game? Will Lebron do his chalk warm-up routine he stole form Garnett? Will James cry when 20,000 people who used to cheer his every move now despise his every step? What about Big Z? Will he be cheered even though he left as well? We will see tonight.

Is Lebron even the most hated sports figure in Cleveland though? Tonight he will be, but once the dust settles, where will he rank in the hall of Cleveland villains? Art Modell moved the most beloved team and left the town without football for three seasons. Bill Belichick cut one of the most beloved football players and somehow saved his best coaching for the Pats. Those two actively ripped Cleveland’s hearts out. Meanwhile Tim Couch, Braylon Edwards, and Courtney Brown are hated for being busts for the Browns, not necessarily deliberate actions. Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, CC Sabathia, and Cliff Lee were loved in Cleveland, but left to chase championships, but are not hated like Lebron. Meanwhile players who choked under pressure like Ernest “The Fumble” Byner and Jose “Blown Save” Mesa were reviled, but how much can you fault a guy for one bad play or a couple bad pitches? Cleveland has it's fair share of enemies outside of the city too, like John Elway and Michael Jordan, but is the hatred deeper from your own team or their opponents? Will be fans’ hatred of Lebron last for the failed expectations, the betrayal of leaving your home team, or the ill advised ESPN show? Only time will tell.

All this for the 20th game of an 82 game regular season between two third place teams.