Monday Spread Option 02-03-14

1. Well last night was the Super Bowl and it was far from "Super"...your reaction to the game and its final outcome? 

Spencer-
I shouldn't gloat and say I called it cause I didn't really call it, but I called it. Maybe not the score per say, but I said that this Seahawks defense was just too good to move the ball up and down the field on. Obviously there were the turnovers that helped them but the two interceptions for turnovers were created by the defensive pressure from the front four so those two I credit to great defense. If the defense creates a turnover like that lets not mark it down as a mistake by Manning. Good defenses create those mistakes. Bottom line is the Broncos couldn't find any rhythm and when they did, turnovers hurt their cause. Entering the second half I thought we'd see an attempt at a comeback but I think the Harvin kick return sealed their fate. Again for me, I imagined Denver would struggle with the Seattle defense, just not as bad as they did. Sucks such a highly anticipated match-up turned out to be a laugher but hey, that what makes sports fun...they are truly unpredictable.

Ty-
This is what sucks about waiting 2 weeks for the Super Bowl. Everybody was anticipating a great game from what people thought was the best 2 teams in the NFL. In all reality though it was not the case. The Broncos did move the ball on the Seahawks at points but cost themselves with turnovers. The opening safety set the tone and  Percy Harvin finished it. My brain said to go with the Seahawks but I thought Manning was going to be special. It wasn't Manning's fault they lost, The Seahawks probably just played the best game they played all year. Now it's time to worry about next year. In the mean time I'm going to be moving on to basketball.

2. Everyone is going to be talking about Peyton Manning's "legacy" now that he is 1-2 all time in Super Bowls and nearing the end of his career. What do you think his legacy should and will be when he decides to hang it up? 

Ty-
I'm not one to call people dumb but it's not a very smart thought to place so much burden on Peyton Manning for losing 2 out of 3 Super Bowl. Peyton Manning is one of the all-time great players in NFL history. The Seattle Seahawks were the absolute better team. People look at all the great quarterbacks and give them so much credit for Super Bowls when it is an absolute team sport. Putting it on one guy to win a championship is dumb even in a sport like Basketball. Football is the ultimate teams sport! People forget that Tom Brady won his first Super Bowls really early in his Career. Tom Brady has been a better quarterback in the years since his last Super Bowl win and still has yet to win one again. Tom Brady was close but his team was not good enough. Championships are way to hard to get and take so much luck to validate somebodies legacy.

Spencer-
Look anyone who thinks Manning's legacy is a bust is ignorant or not a true football fan. The guy has 5 MVP awards, will have his name on a handful of NFL records when it's all said and done, has played in three Super Bowls (so far) and won one. Dan Marino played in one Super Bowl in his ROOKIE season, NEVER won one and nobody ever questions how great of a QB he was. Let's not forget how hard it is to win the Super Bowl, and when you do win it takes all aspects of the game to usually do so. In now way did Manning lose that game to Seattle on his own. The Broncos lost that game cause they didn't do anything well! Not one facet of their game looked like a Super Bowl worthy team last night. Manning is one of the greatest to ever play the game PERIOD. He is a first ballot HOFer and that's that. Don't get so caught up in this legacy stuff.

3. Now that the NFL season has come to a close what sport are you most looking forward to devoting your time to? Why? 

Spencer-
February signifies the start of Spring Training for baseball, which gets me excited for the season to start and for Spring to come...buuuuut as fun as it is to get caught up in the predictions and see the rosters take form no one wins the World Series with games played in March so I'll wait on that till April. That being said it's college hoops for me. My Orange are now the number one team in the country and got a tough stretch of games coming up to close out the season and then obviously we got everyone's favorite distraction from work March Madness. It is going to be a great run up until them with some great games so I am excited to watch that a little more and see how it all comes together come tournament time.

Ty-
Basketball hands down. It's time to focus on the NBA and College hoops. I'm not worried about baseball at all. I feel like baseball just ended and I'm really not giddy for spring training in a sport that plays a 162 game regular season. The NBA All-Star weekend is coming up and it will be time for teams to get serious and make a playoff push. This is when teams begin to kick it in to gear. Then in College hoops it's hard not to get excited for the conference tournaments and then the NCAA tournament. The conference games in February have always been great so I'm excited to focus even more on basketball.

4. Saw a lot of upsets this weekend in College Hoops, with the regular season winding down over the next month who are your favorites to be the four number one seeds come NCAA Tournament time?

Ty-
More things can happen so it is very hard to say who will be there for sure. I think it can really be decided in the conference tournaments. Although I think that the Big Ten and the Big Twelve are the two best conferences in the country they have been beating up on each other throughout conference play. So I think the Syracuse should get a number one seed although I don't necessarily believe they are the best team in college. Syracuse would deserve a number one seed for the way they have been playing although the ACC didn't turn out to be as good as it was last year. This can always change because of this, if they drop a few games to a mediocre ACC team and lose to Duke in the rematch than they might drop.

 Arizona would probably drop a little bit because of Brandon Ashley's injuries but they can also slide Aaron Gordon to the PF slot and play a more guard heavy rotation or play Hollis-Jefferson more. Either way, I believe that they can continue to win in the Pac-12 and should be able to get a seed.

Kansas should be able to secure a number one seed. Although they have dropped a couple of games, Kansas has played the toughest schedule in the nation and have continued to get better. I think that they can end up being the best team going into the tournament. Wichita St will probably be hurt by being a mid major honestly. While I think that a team like Wisconsin might go further in the tournament I think that Michigan State will get that last top seed.

My top 4 seeds:

Syracuse
Arizona
Kansas
Michigan St.


Spencer-
Obviously it is still a little too far out to know for sure but I think there are some great candidates that are in a top spot in the rankings that could end up with a number one seed in the tournament. I'd like to think the Syracuse will be one even if they lose a game or two but I think they need to win the ACC and at least make a run in the conference tournament. A lot of times being a number one seed is based off of how a team is playing at that time of year, which is another reason Cuse can't rest on their laurels right now. Outside of that I think the Big Ten winner will be a number one seed no doubt. That conference is hands down the best in all of college hoops right now and every team in it, it seems, can beat any other team in it. I think playing in the toughest conference and coming out on top will speak numbers to how good of a team they are. So for the my second number one seed I'll just fill it in with "Big Ten Winner." Next I think you got to like Kansas and not because of the Wiggins hype and all that, but because before this weekend slip up against a solid Texas team, they were playing their best basketball. I think they will get back to that and close out the season with key wins over ranked teams like Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and push their way into the tournament with a high ranking. Also Kansas has held a number one seed with less talent before so I see them stepping up when they need to. Lastly, I'm going to take Florida as my last number one seed. From what I have seen from them so far, they are a great team and they play as one unit. I think that is a recipe to win their conference, even though they still have to play Kentucky twice, and stay in the top of the rankings long enough to be a number one seed.

To recap my four number one seeds are:
-Syracuse
-The "Big Ten Winner" 
-Kansas
-Florida

Notable absences: Wichita State: I think they are obviously a solid team, but not number one seed worthy, even if they do go undefeated in their awful conference.
Arizona: I worry about Arizona with Brandon Ashley gone for the season. He is important to what that teams been doing and with him out I think we will see Zona notch a few more losses that will drop them in the rankings.

Look forward to re-evaluating these as tournament time gets closer! 

What did we learn in sports this past week?  

Spencer: Defense Still wins Championships.

Okay, so I didn't really learn this it was more just a reassertion of it but as we saw in the Super Bowl and great offense is nice but a great defense well, that's what you need in the NFL. Seattles defense forced Denver to make mistakes, it was the only team all year to pressure Peyton Manning, they made stops and they absolutely shut down the Broncos dump and run type offense that dominated teams all year. We saw, especially in the second half, what made that offense work all year and it was throwing short passes and relying on YAC. Seattle had other plans. They don't miss tackles in fact they were the number one team in the league this year at making the tackle at first contact.

On the other end the Broncos defense, which was awful all year, stayed that way, which made what I learned even more true. I know the turnovers by the offense didn't help their case but even in those cases the Denver defense had the Seahawks in third and five yards or more, four times and didn't come up with the big stops a good defense needs to, to keep their team in the game. Nowadays for me a good defense is just one that gets the big stops when they need to in the biggest moments of the game. Denver couldn't even make those and are therefore nothing more than a mediocre defense. Which I guess makes the Seahawks defense elite then cause they got stops just about every time they were on the field.

It boils down to this, if you have a good defense you have the makings to be a championship team and all you need is a competent enough offense to get you there. So to the Browns and Bills fans out there...the future looks bright!

Ty- There are to many All-Star NBA players in the West.

The NBA released the full rosters of the all-star teams this last week and there were a lot of talk about snubs. You can easily make the case that Kyle Lowry or Lance Stephenson should have made the All-Star team over guys like Joe Johnson and Joakim Noah. In the western conference it is not really that clear.

Anthony Davis, Goran Gragic, Demarcus Cousins and even Serge Ibaka have all had All-Star caliber seasons. But who do you take off of the western team? Dirk Nowitzki maybe but he has played great all year too. The west is obviously better than the east and there is always going to be people who feel like they were snubbed but this is the first year in a long time where there were so many All-Star caliber players in the running.

If it were up to me I would take out Dirk Nowitzki for Anthony Davis but i am fine with the case Dirk has to be in the game. There is still an opportunity for players to get spots because Kobe Bryant doesn't plan on playing and Chris Paul might still be hurt.

Newly appointed commissioner Adam Silver will be the one to decide who replaces those guys.
I think that Silver will pick Goran Dragic and Anthony Davis if those two are out because they will need another guard and because Anthony Davis is the hometown kid with the game being played in New Orleans.

Monday Spread Option 01-20-14

1. Saving for the Superbowl predictions what team do you think should be the Favorite to win the Superbowl after yesterday.

Ty-

The Broncos were probably the more impressive team in how they looked yesterday, which was dominant. Nobody ever really felt as if the Patriots had a chance to win the game. That being said, it was a little more impressive the way that the Seahawks came back on the Niners after being down 10 points. Also the Seahawks played a better team. The Niners are better than the Patriots by far. But either way the Broncos looked like the best team yesterday. I'm excited to see how this Superbowl plays out between these 2 teams.

Spencer-

Have to believe the Broncos are favorites heading into the Super Bowl mostly because of how electric and deep their offense is. Seattle certainly has their hands full covering all the weapons Denver has at receiver and running back and obviously with Peyton at the reigns. Denver is highest scoring offense in the league, and their defense has been above average in the postseason, considering how bad they were in the regular season, so it makes sense to have them as the favorite. However you know Seattle is going to come ready to play and their defense will be ampted up to stop the Broncos. Regardless of who the favorite is, the game will be very close.

2. The Probowl is this Sunday. Will you watch the new draft format? Or should they scrap it?

Ty-

It is actually a good thing that the NFL is trying to spice up the pro-bowl. It is like the NHL did last year with their all-star game. We have also seen the NBA do this with their Rookie-Sophmore game. So I'm willing to give it a chance under this new format. I don't know if this will fix the problems with the pro-bowl though, Football is a sport that is played with passion and fierce because the games matter. It's hard to get players to play hard in a sport that risks there lives and career on every play in an exhibition game.

Spencer-

I actually like the draft format and feel it is a great idea for the NFL to step out of the box and try to make the Pro Bowl more relevant to fans. I usually watch bits and pieces of the Pro Bowl every year but I think this makes it a little more intriguing at least for the beginning of the game to see how different players from different conferences and teams play together. I don't know if it is enough to make it a fan favorite or anything, but I think it is a step in the right direction to making it more watchable.

3. Its still somewhat early but what college basketball player do you think should be the #1 overall.

Ty-

I think people have now started to back down on how good they thought this freshman class was going to be. Andrew Wiggins lost some footing early but he has played well enough to still be considered as a potential number one pick. But I think that if I'm an NBA general manager I would go with Joel Embiid. Mainly because he is a 7 foot center with raw athletic ability, He has a natural feel for the game and great feet for a guy as big as him. Although he is more of a project, it is amazing how far he has come in this last year and how much of an impact he has on the game averaging only 18 minutes a game. Although he has only been playing basketball for a few years it is easy to see how naturally gifted he is already and he is only going to get better. Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins have been the flashy name but the Center position is too weak in the NBA to pass on a guy with this much potential.

Spencer-

Tough to say obviously so early, and a lot of it depends on who has the first pick and what the need. But regardless of how he has played so far, you have to think Andrew Wiggens is still a very likely number one pick. He is a freak athlete and is starting to come on strong here as of late. He is still leading the Jayhawks in scoring with 15.1 ppg, and adds about six assists a game so his numbers are solid and seems like they are only going up. If the team that gets the number one overall pick needs a point guard you can obviously make a great case for Jabari Parker as well or even the dark horse in my opinion Tyler Ennis, who sneakily could be the best point guard in college this year.

4. The NBA mvp race is starting to look like a 2 man race. Who do you think is in the MVP lead? LeBron James or Kevin Durant?

Ty-
I think this is the year that Kevin Durant might finally beat LeBron for the MVP award. Although LeBron is averaging 58 % shooting he has had the benefit of having a better team. Kevin Durant did have a great team as well but Russell Westbrook was still finding his footing before he had a second knee surgery. Durant has been steady all year but with Westbrook out again he has taken his game to another level. He has scored more than 30 points in the last 7 games straight, highlighted by a 54 point game on only 28 shots against the Golden State Warriors. He has also posting career highs in rebounds and assists finding ways to help his team win besides scoring. Now after starting off a little rough right after Westbrook's injury he has helped the Thunder win 3 games in a row and two against western conference contenders.

Spencer-
Obviously Lebron James is great, will be his whole career and makes a tremendous case for the MVP year after year. But I think this year the award belongs to Durant if he keeps doing what he is doing and avoids injury. He is averaging 30.6 ppg and Carmelo is the next closest over four points behind him at 26.1. He also grabs 7.8 rebounds a game and dishes out 5.1 assists a game. For all the criticism Durant took last year in the playoffs for not being able to exist and be dominant without Westbrook he has proved this year he can just take over games. Since Westbrook went down on Christmas day, the Thunder are 8-4 and he has scored below 

Richard Sherman the voice of the NFL

Who is Richard Sherman?

That's the question, no doubt on everybody's mind today after last nights interview following an NFC Championship win for the Seahawks...

For many of us we judge Sherman by that 30 second blip of his life that happened to be at the closing of the biggest game of his young career and the most emotional setting he has ever played in. But is that fair...to judge a guy for speaking his mind after playing one of the most physical sports in the world that endorses aggressiveness and physicality?

I will be the first to admit my first, real impression of Richard Sherman came off an interview on First Take (a flawed show to begin with) with Skip Bayless, where Sherman avoided the questions Bayless was asking to basically use ad hominem attacks on his character. I felt like Sherman came off the same as many see him today. Rude. Arrogant. Ignorant. Embarrassing...fill in your adjective. However I started to read up a little on Sherman and see what his character is actually about. I quickly found out a lot about him. He is a Stanford graduate who got out of the slums of Compton to get a college degree from a prestigious university and reach the NFL. He did that mind you with not the most athletic abilities, but a drive and desire to be great. He was told he would be better suited as a defensive back than a WR while at Standford and turned lemons into lemonade to become dominant at the position. Despite his hard work and love of the game, he still fell to the fifth round of the draft, a disappointment for him but one that pushed him even more to hone his skills and become a lock down corner. Well I think it is safe to say he has.

Check out this video...


After watching that it becomes clear how much time he dedicates the the game. Listen to what he's saying about QB's tendencies and baiting them into doing what they want to do so he can get an interception. He's literally a football genius! It is unreal.

With that in mind  let me explain what I saw last night...I saw a phenomenal play made by Sherman in the corner of the endzone, tipping the ball away to a teammate, who grabbed the game winning interception, punching the Seahawks ticket to the Super Bowl. Next I saw Sherman run over to Crabtree pat him on the butt and stick his had out as if to say "Hey man, great game," only to see Crabtree push Sherman's face away and spark his post play antics of the choking sign, the emotional interview and snubbing of the 49er receiver. To me it was a man who was provoked by an opponent that dissed him and felt the need to defend himself. Isn't it human nature to defend ourselves when someone, whether a friend, or enemy, talks badly about the work that we do? Or tells us we aren't good enough? Imagine doing your job to the best of your ability and someone telling you, you're nothing and pushing you away...we all have this misconception of "Being the bigger man" and walking away and maybe that's easy to do if it were in an office cubicle, or at a bar. But in a physical game where talking is a staple like football, you got your adrenaline running, you're fired up and you feel the need to defend your abilities.

I have no problem with Sherman. I have no problem with the way he plays the game. And I have no problem with him talking, calling out an opponent that snubbed him and claiming to be the best.

Who in the NFL can say they are better than Sherman right now? People purposefully avoid throwing the ball his way. He made the biggest play of his career to send his team to the Super Bowl and that defense is the best in the league. He puts more effort into being great, and learning the game than some QB's do. With the evidence at hand, he is arguably the best corner in the game, and I have nothing but respect for him.

As for the talking, he's pretty damn good at that too, but if you respect him and his game, he is going to respect you and your game and keep his mouth shut. Just ask Larry Fitzgerald.

Monday Spread Option 01-13-14/ What We Learned Last Week

Colin Kaepernick. "Superman dem' Foes"

1. There is only 2 more weeks of real football and 4 teams left. Who you got in the Superbowl?

Ty-

I guess nobody is really surprised that the four teams left have made it to the conference finals. I mean all the teams that made it to this round were favored in Vegas. The Broncos and Patriots definitely have the history ties. It seems only right that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady meet at least one more time with a Superbowl on the line. Specially with reports that Peyton's future is tied to an offseason neck check up. I am inclined to pick the Broncos to pull this one out because the Broncos have a better team. I can't say im 100 percent confident picking against Tom Brady. But keep in mind that the Patriots haven't won a Superbowl in almost a decade and this Patriots team doesn't seem to be very good.

I have to go with the Seahawks over the Niners as well. Although San Fran is the better overall team, the Seahawks have their number in Seattle. The Niners have lost by a combined 55 points in the last 2 games in Seattle. Something tells me that this is more of a trend than a fluke.

Spencer-
Two great games coming up next weekend, two tough ones to pick for us sports bloggers. Wouldn't have it any other way. You got Brady vs. Manning one more time for a shot at the Super Bowl, and arguably the best rivalry in the game right now in the 49ers and Seahawks. Should be two great games. That being said I'll start with the AFC...We saw these teams play earlier in the season and it was a great 34-31 OT win for NE. The irony about this match-up is that the Broncos are a great passing team with a good running game going up against an above average passing defense but terrible rushing defense in the Patriots, while the Patriots have become a dominant running team with an average passing attack and face a defense that focuses on stopping the run but struggles against the pass. With that in mind, I think things are going to be different this time around for the Broncos. I think they will navigate the New England defense and although I believe the Patriots will have success in their passing game against Denver's dismal secondary, I still think the Broncos will get the stops they need.

The NFC match-up intrigues me more with two divisional rivals who hate each other going at it. One thing is for sure, this game is going to be physical. The only place home field advantage matters in the NFL today...is Seattle. We've seen how well the Seahawks play at home, we know that crowd is going to be riled up. I expect Seattle to continue to play the stout defense that left a high powered New Orleans offense out of sync all day. I think that may be enough to beat the 49ers again at home. Seattle knows better than any team how to contain Kaepernick and limit that offense. I think the Seahawks will score enough points to win and the defense will take care of the rest.

Alex Rodriguez

2. It was announced that A-Rod's suspension was reduced to 162 games. Do you feel that the decision was right? Should he have gotten more or less?

Ty- 

I definitely don't enjoy Alex Rodriguez at all. But I would have to say I agree with the suspension although I understand why people want more. At the same time he has to be treated like every other player that has been suspended for suspected steriod use. The fact that he never failed a test doesn't help either. As bad as A-Rod is, this whole thing just shows why the MLB and Bud Selig are at fault for not correcting their steriods problem. The system put in place is what failed and the MLB is trying to pass all the blame on to the players.

Spencer-
I think A-Rod deserves what he is getting based on what he is accused of. That being said I do think the MLB needed to do a better job with their gathering of evidence, explanation of said evidence and letting the judicial process do its job. For as big of a scumbag A-Rod is, Bud Selig looked like one for the way he handled things. Like I said though A-Rod is an idiot for trusting Anthony Bosch, who was basically a mall kiosk nutritionist, in the first place and is desperate for trying to paint himself as the victim. Just glad this things over and baseball can move on hopefully in a positive direction.

3. It is officially time to start paying attention to college basketball. #1 Arizona is 17-0 but who do you think is the best team?

Arizona Forward Aaron Gordon

Ty- 

This college basketball season was hyped up because of all the incoming freshmen talent. The freshmen have lived up to some of the hype but have also failed in some ways. Although Jabari Parker has been slumping and Wiggins has had his ups and downs they have both played well. So has Julius Randle but all of their teams have not lived up to the hype. So the somewhat forgotten freshman Aaron Gordon has been showing out for the unbeaten Arizona Wildcats. He hasn't been transcending the team but a great cog In their team oriented success. They also have been getting strong contributions from Nick Johnson and T.J. McConnell. The Wildcats are the best team in the nation for now. I will say that they could have played a little better competition but if they can keep running the table in a decent Pac-10 conference than they should still be #1.

Spencer-

Syracuse Guard Tyler Ennis

For me I gotta go with my #2 ranked Syracuse Orange. I thought it was going to be tough to beat last years final four run but with the squad Beoheim has put together they may be able to do it again. I think the Orange have made a very easy transition to the ACC and just beat one of the old time powerhouses of the conference UNC 57-45. Ennis is so crisp, I think he is better than Carter-Williams was, Grant has a bigger hand in games, Trevor Cooney who was air balling threes last year is knocking them down from anywhere on the floor this year and obviously CJ is the senior leader who brings it all together. Their biggest test will come in facing Duke coming up on Feb. 1 but if they beat them I see no reason why they won't win the conference and earn a number one seed heading into March Maddness.

Knicks guard Iman Shumpart

4.Since the start of the new year both the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets have been playing a lot better. Who do you think has a better shot to reach the playoffs?

Ty-
Knicks.
Right now if the season ended today then the Brookyln Nets would be in the playoffs with a record 15-22. The Knicks are only one game behind them for the eighth spot. If the Nets still had Brooke Lopez then I would easily pick them because their problems seemed to be more about meshing together new parts and injuries more than just being a bad team. Although the Knicks have also had injuries it hasn't been on the same scale. They were just bad in the early part of the year. Since the New Year though the whole team besides J.R. Smith has played better. Most notably Iman Shumpart, while Tim Hardaway Jr has played well all year and now it's starting to come together. Carmelo Anthony no longer has to carry the load that he had to earlier in the season. So I think the Knicks have a better shot to make the playoffs at seasons end but I wouldn't be surprised if both teams made it in the Lackluster east and a team like Chicago falls out after all their injuries and trades.

Spencer-
Gotta agree with Ty on this one. The Knicks. Although really with the Eastern Conference as bad as it is they could both make a run at it potentially. But still i think the Knicks have the best shot. It took a while for guys to get it going like Shumpart and Hardaway Jr. and it looks like even Stoudemire is playing more minutes and actually contributing in some way. Also once Chandler is healthy they will have a better presence down low too so they can only improve from here. I think they are finally figuring out how to work with Carmelo. If they do happen to make it, I don't think they will make it too far in the playoffs and if they want to be a championship contender they need to make it a priority to keep Carmelo and get the right pieces around him....but that is another discussion for another time!

5. Interesting thing we learned over the past week.

Ty- The overpraising of Andrew Luck or QBs in general.

Indianapolis Quarterback Andrew Luck

This past week before the Indianapolis Colts' game against the New England Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs we learned a lot about the media and the general public's affection for Andrew Luck.

I understand that we all tend to overreact to single players' good and bad games in the NFL. Which is a little crazy because football is the ultimate team game. There are so many factors that decide who wins games in the NFL. I won't pretend like quarterbacks don't affect wins more than other players do in most games. But man have some people overreacted to Andrew Luck these past 2 seasons.

Let me preface my next couple of sentences by saying that I do believe Luck will be great but he has to show me more. But other people are just ready to put him in the same category as the Peytons and the Bradys. Those people tend to ignore the fact that he had an awful lot of turnovers (28) last year and had 7 ints in 2 playoff games this year. A lot of people talk about Lucks 11 game winning drives but fail to mention that he has only done it against 4 good teams and he has only scored a TD in 2 of those games. Or that he played the 3rd easiest schedule last year and that he plays in a weak division in the weakest NFL conference.

Yes Luck is good and has showed a lot of promise. I expect him to have a great career and maybe be a hall of famer. But It's crazy how much people gloss over his faults but pick apart guys like Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III. This also goes for Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick to some extent, both guys have great teams around them but get a lot of praise. Meanwhile Kaepernick struggled to begin the year but has gotten better. While Wilson has been more of a game manager than a prolific QB, he was 9-18 yesterday and has struggled the last couple of weeks.

Bottom line is that those guys are great up and coming quarterbacks, but we shouldn't put them in the Hall of Fame just yet.

Spencer- Big East basketball was better than ACC basketball 

The Syracuse Orange are 3-0 in ACC play.

I touched on it earlier in my Syracuse talk but as basketball season continues we see why the splitting up of the Big East and several teams moving into the ACC was strictly a football move. It's no fluke why Syracuse and Pitt the two new additions to the ACC have so far handled the new schedule no problem and lead a conference they are freshman in. Because when you are used to playing tough, physical big east basketball for years other teams just aren't a threat. Add in the fact that these ACC teams may have seen a two-three zone before, but not the Syracuse two-three zone. 

I will stand by the Big East long after its break up this year as being the best basketball conference there was. People complained Big East teams would go into the NCAA Tourney with more losses and the teams weren't as good but that's because they played better teams all year and beat up on each other so naturally you're gonna lose. Other than UNC, Duke what other match-ups in the Big East intrigued us to watch the ACC.......NONE! Meanwhile you had match-ups like Georgetown, Syracuse. Marquette, Louisville. UConn, Pitt. Syracuse, Nova. Match ups that people wanted to watch. Game that were lower scoring but physical and always had some of the best teams in the league going head to head. 

Now, obviously the Big East is dead and we're not going back to that, and even though I would throw things at the TV watching my Orange lose those tight games, at least we saw good basketball. Now I get to watch them and former Big East teams just steamroll through the ACC until they play each other. Guess I better start getting used to winning more.