Super Bowl Prediction

So here is the Super Bowl Prediction

Steelers 28 Cardinals 13

MVP- Troy Polomalu

My Day in Redneck Heaven

As many of you may or may not know, I operate a sports memorabilia business. Normally, I purchase my inventory from "runners" (guys who run around hotels, practices, etc...annoying stars for signatures), but this weekend was a little different. Daytona Speedway was putting on a Fan Fest at the track, and since it's only about a 10 minute drive from the house, I thought I would give "hounding for autographs" a try. Despite the fact I got incredibly sunburn, I actually found that I was pretty good at it. I came away with a nice haul of autographs, and I don't think I stepped on a single kid or old lady.

If you like rednecks, you would have had a blast this weekend. I'm a little pissed that I didn't bring my camera, because I there were some hilarious people out there. I think my favorite had to be a teenage boy who was dressed in camouflage, with a cowboy hat and those Uggs boots (which I'm pretty sure are for women).

Meeting the drivers was a pretty good experience. If I actually like racing, I'm sure I would have loved it, but even with only mild interest in racing it was still neat. In terms of fans, it was a slam dunk as to whom was the most popular. Dale Jr. had more twice as many fans as any other driver that. It's kind of crazy considering he has won only twice in his last 98 race.

Here is a quick rundown on how the drivers rated on the JackAss O-Meter

NICEST GUYS WHO SHOULD NEVER BE CONSIDERED JACKASSES- Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth

GOOD GUYS THIS WEEKEND BUT MAY HAVE A LITTLE JACKASS IN THEM- Michael Waltrip, Dale Jr, Casey Mears, Mark Martin

SEMI JACKASS- Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick

DEFINITE JACKASS- Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon

BIGGEST JACKASS- Tony Stewart

National Championship Thoughts

Great game last night. The Sooners probably should have won that game, but props to Gators for making the big plays when they had to. Here are some quick hits from the game.

**Thank goodness this is the last year for Fox doing these games. Thom Brennaman (Sad to say an Ohio University product) and Charles White absolutely sucked. Brent Musburger should broadcast ever big college football game....I still get chills when I hear him say "You are looking live..."

**Even though I think Tebow will stay in college for a Senior season, I can't wait to see what he will do in the NFL. He is going to want to be a QB, but I don't really see it happening. Personally, I think he should go FB/TE, but still take 10-12 snaps a game as QB, because even though he's not a polished thrower, I guarantee you he can throw a better ball that Tavaris Jackson.

**I have no idea why Oklahoma started to run the ball out of I-formation. Every time they tried to do it in short yardage, they got stopped. The reason Chris Brown had the holes to run through was because of the lanes that were opened by spreading out the defense.

**Props to that Florida DB for picking off Bradford in that 3rd quarter. That was a tough INT, and if Oklahoma goes down and scores a TD, they would have taken the lead.

**Is it me, or did the official Ron Cherry look drunk with the way he signals his first down. I love critiquing officials and even though I thought they did a good job, I was just hoping for him to pull a classic like the video below.



I'm convinced he was inspired by Jerry Markbreit.

It's time that The Hawk gets his ticket to Cooperstown

The announcement of the 2009 class for baseball Hall of Fame should be coming out soon and hopefully Andre Dawson finally gets his ticket to Cooperstown. It is a travesty that Dawson isn't in the Hall already and if he doesn't get in this year, I don't know if he ever will. The only "lock" this year is Rickey Henderson. He should get a vote from every writer but as I learned in this column, there are some pretty stupid people voting for the baseball Hall of Fame.

Apparently this moron of a sports writer from Arizona thought that Matt Williams deserve a spot in the Hall, more than Rickey. Here's a quick comparison of the two.

Rickey Henderson

.279 BA .401 OBP 3055 Hits 2295 Runs 297 HR 1406 SB
10 time All-Star, MVP, The Greatest Leadoff hitter in baseball history

Matt Williams

.269 BA .317 OBP 1878 Hits 997 Runs 378 HR
5 time All-Star, 4 Gold Gloves


Back to Dawson. This guy has been ignored for way too long. He was unquestionably one of the most dominant players of the 80's and a legit 5-tool player. How guys like Kirby Puckett and Phil Rizzuto get in and not the Hawk is beyond me. Take a look at these 3 resumes and explain how Dawson is not in.

Andre Dawson

.279 BA .322 OBP 1373 Runs 2774 Hits 503 2B 438 HR 1591 RBI 314 SB
8 time All Star, Rookie of Year, MVP & 2 2nd place finishes, 8 Gold Gloves

Kirby Puckett

.318 BA .360 OBP 1071 Runs 2304 Hits 414 2B 207 HR 1085 RBI 134 SB
10 time All Star, ALCS MVP, 6 Gold Gloves

Phil Rizzuto

.273 BA .351 OBP 877 Runs 1588 Hits 239 2B 38 HR 563 RBI 149 SB
5 time All Star, MVP & 1 2nd place finish


I think these stats prove my point that Dawson should be in the Hall of Fame. End of Story

Wrestling Moves in the Bedroom

I'm not sure if "Rikishi" can patent a wrestling move, but this woman definitely stole it.

Infomercial Review: Snuggie

I spent a bunch time during our Christmas vacation watching TV and it seemed liked the commercial for the "Snuggie" was on every other commercial break. Truth is I'm a sucker for infomercials and "As Seen on TV" gadgets. I've made a couple of purchases throughout the years, and as you can probably guess they never turned out to be as good as they looked on TV. I'm not going to review the product, because I'm not paying $20 for a blanket with a couple of holes in it. Instead, I'm going to criticize the commercial.

Here are a couple of screen grabs that drive me crazy.

There is little doubt in mind my that "Snuggie" is code for cult gear. These things look exactly like something you would find on people holed up in a compound in the New Mexico.

They show this family wearing these things to a football game in which the mom looks like she is about to hit a 3 team parlay or something. If any family showed up in the stands near me wearing those things, I would immediately head to the other set of bleachers, otherwise I would probably be chanting jibberish and ready to sacrifice a goat by the end of the game. No thanks.

The most troubling thing for me is that they have pay for the advertising it takes to show the high number of ads they are running, so they must be selling the heck out of these things. I certainly don't expect anyone to admit to me that they own one (although....free memorabilia for anyone with enough guts to actually sends me a photo of them in their Snuggie....daniel_back@hotmail.com), but someone has to be buying these things.

What does he really do?

As I sit here watching another Rose Bowl romp by USC over Penn State, I'm trying to figure out what exactly Joe Paterno does anymore. I can't begin to think how insane it is to think that his guy who is 82 years old still "coaching" football.

I put coaching in quotes because it's pretty clear that that this guy doesn't do a damn thing anymore. They just explained how Joe Pa didn't even go to the locker room to address his team at halftime after they were down 31-7.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure speaking to your team is a pretty integral part of coaching. These days he parks his butt in the press box a watches the game like John Q Fan. He may have a headset on, but I'm pretty sure he's listening the broadcasters play by play more than he is the play calling by his assistants.

Bobby Bowden is ancient too, but at least he is a little entertaining. He may not do much coaching either, but at least he gives some hilarious sideline interviews and pretends to give imput on play calls.

There is no question that Paterno has done a ton of good things for Penn State, but he is more a mascot than a coach. No 18 year old player sits and dreams to play for the 82 year grouch. They go to play for the assistant that recruited him, or history and tradition in Happy Valley.