Fact or Fiction

1. Jim Caldwell, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, was perfectly justified in benching his starters against the Jets, Sunday.

Floro: FICTION- When you look at when the Colts have struggled in the playoffs in recent seasons, its because they rested their top players at the end of the season. When you quit being competitive at the end of a long NFL season, it is nearly impossible to turn the competitive juices back on for the playoffs. Benching Peyton also hurt my chances for a Fantasy Football Championship this year.

Thurn: FICTION: Caldwell will never be perfectly justified in any decision he makes. He made the best decision he thought for his team. I would have liked to see the Colts go for the undefeated season but i understand why he pulled Manning and the starters. This will all go away if the Colts win the Super Bowl, but only time will tell if this is a good decision or not.

2. Brett Favre will be back in Minnesota as the Vikings Quarterback in 2010.

Floro: FACT- I think all of these arguments between Favre and Childress are just a bunch of hoopla. Every team has their struggles through the season. In spite of the loss on Monday night against the Bears, Favre proved in the 4th QTR that he can still play at a championship level.

Thurn: FICTION: I think there is something to the Favre and Childress situation. Favre wants all control and Childress want let him have it. Favre can still play but he is getting old and time is running out. He will pull the same retirement stunt as always.

3. We have seen the last of Tiger Woods as relevant contender on the PGA Tour.

Floro: FICTION- There are 2 reason why Tiger will be back. He is a competitor and he is disciplined. I would be hard pressed to believe that he will put up his clubs and move on to other things. I believe that he will overcome his outside distractions and we will see him back on the tour next year, and the top golfer once again in 2 years.

Thurn: FICTION: This one is short and easy. He is Tiger Woods, he is the best golfer to ever play the game. He’ll be back.

4. Between UNC, UConn, Villanova and Michigan State, we will not see any of 2009′s Final Four make the trip to Indianapolis for 2010′s Final Four.

Floro: FACT- While all four teams are playing good basketball right now, I think there are other teams playing better basketball through December. My picks as of right now would be Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Texas.

Thurn: FICTION: UCONN is going to give teams fits in March and they have a legiment shot at the Final Four. Michigan State also has the tools to get to the Final Four but at this point I don’t think they will. My teams would be Kansas, UCONN, Kentucky, and Texas.
Floro, you can’t be serious about Duke. You are going to regret that.

5. John Wall is the Nation’s MVP through December.

Floro: FACT- I think up to this point in the season, no player has been more important to his team. Given, he’s got a lot of help down low with Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins, however, if I could have one player to lead my team into March Madness, I’d take John Wall.  This kid would have been a top pick straight out of high school.  Calipari has made an already great player even better with his system.

Thurn: FACT: John Wall is the National Player of the Year so far, but I wouldnt choose him to lead my team into March. He is good, but he is a freshman he is bound to make a mistake. Give me Sheron Collins of Kansas any day of the week. Damion James of Texas is another good choice of a leader.

The BCS is a FRAUD!

If you have heard me talk on the air or read anything that I have written, you can tell that I am a passionate person who has a love for sports. The one thing though that I am most passionate about now is the BCS system. It is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, fraud in sports. It allows people who in some cases have never played football to decide who should play for the national title. I could sit here and throw out example after example about how bad the BCS is, but everybody is aware of the problems. The thing that bothers me the most is that it takes away a player’s chance at a national title just because someone wants to make a buck. That is so unfair for the players. Unless you have played college football you do not fully understand what a physical and mental strain it is to play the game.

You can’t tell me that it is fair to leave out undefeated teams and not give them a chance to earn the title just because they play in a non-BCS conference. Every team who goes undefeated deserves a shot and so do other teams with successful seasons. I think there should be a 16-team playoff, but that’s for another blog. The BCS bowl games are the only ones that matter. These other bowls are just a joke.

Yes, the bowl games give another game to the seniors, which is good, but in the big picture they mean nothing. The biggest argument for the bowls is that they still give schools a lot of money, which is the whole problem! Everything is about money in the world today and it’s completely ludicrous! You are cheating athletes out of a chance to play for something that they deserve and have given their blood, sweat and tears to earn.

As for these other bowls, they are pointless except for fans getting to see some teams play each other that normally wouldn’t. They mean nothing since now it seems that just about every team goes to one.

Now about Clemson and South Carolina. First off, I have to say that both teams had better seasons than I thought they would, but both are going to meaningless bowl games.

South Carolina fans, I didn’t think you were going to make it to a bowl toward the end of the season.  But you beat Clemson and are now going to the PapaJohns.com bowl. Granted, it is not a very well known bowl, but it is still a bowl.

Clemson fans, I have more issues with you because I get so tired of hearing the crying and whining. The first problem is that you didn’t win the ACC championship, which caused you all of these bowl problems. If you had taken care of business when you were supposed to you wouldn’t have these problems now. So quit crying that you ended up at the Music City Bowl. I don’t want to hear that it is worse than the Gator Bowl or the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Who decides which bowl is better than another? I would really like to know. Those bowls are all at the same level because they mean nothing. If you don’t make it to a BCS bowl game, it is truly meaningless.     It is just another game on the schedule.

by James Thurn

Brian Kelly Proves Loyal to His Wallet in Recent Move to Notre Dame

In the wake of Notre Dame hiring what seems to be the perfect fit for the Fighting Irish in the University of Cincinnati’s, Brian Kelly, the Bearcat players that Kelly left behind seem to understand that Kelly made a “smart business decision.”

“He went for the money,” Cincinnati’s standout reciever, Marty Gilyard told The Associated Press. “I’m fairly disgusted with the situation, that they let it last this long.”

What happened to loyalty? What happened to establishing a tradition?

Brian Kelly, the perfect example, spent three years turning around a mediocre Central Michigan team before jetting to Cincinnati, where he quickly put the Bearcats on the map as a legitimate college football contender.  The question begs to be asked,  how good could Cincinnati have been if Brian Kelly were to stay for a significant amount of time?  If Kelly were to stay for ten years, would we see Cincinnati rise to a national powerhouse?

I’m not going to say that the Cincinnati Bearcats would rise to the level of the nation’s Florida’s, Ohio State’s, or Southern California’s, but what I am saying is that Brian Kelly had an opportunity to be remembered as the architect of a Cincinnati team with unlimited potential. He had the opportunity to be THE GUY for a school, instead, he decided to take a chance of being a guy in a program who has the recent reputation of being a coaches graveyard.

What we’re not hearing in the media is that it took Kelly 11 years before he won his first of two DII National Titles at Grand Valley State.  I would venture to say that the alumni at Notre Dame won’t be as generous as the Laker faithful in Grand Valley, Michigan.

Brian Kelly’s decision to leave the University of Cincinnati is another example of exactly what’s wrong with college football in recent days.  Sure, on one hand, it was a great business decision. Kelly has every right to peace out of Cincy after his hot minute of success.  The other hand shows that college football is continuing to move in a direction where the only loyalty is to one’s own wallet. It makes me sick.

I hope Kelly has success in South Bend as fast as he did in Cincinnati, otherwise, he WILL be out of a job in 2012.

by Jordan Floro

Agree? Disagree? LET US KNOW!

Is your rivalry game that important?

The idea that your rivalry game is a must-win and your season is tarnished without it is a hoax. Anyone who thinks that needs to think again! I’d be willing to bet that person is not a coach.

Your rivalry game is important, but it’s not a must-win by any stretch of the imagination. Take Auburn and Alabama, for instance. If Alabama goes undefeated in the SEC except for Auburn, they will be going to the SEC championship with one loss. That loss will be insignificant in their run for an SEC title and a national championship. 9 times out of 10 the SEC conference champion is in the national title game, so that one loss won’t matter because they play in the SEC.

Now take Clemson and South Carolina, for instance. Each team is in a different conference with USC in the SEC and Clemson in the ACC. Usually this game has no national implication and there is a reason for that. Both Clemson and South Carolina fans are more worried about the rivalry game than they are about winning in their own conference. For the school that wins the rivalry game, their fan base deems that a successful season. So what each team is telling me is that they both base their seasons on beating an average team. That’s why both South Carolina and Clemson continue to be mediocre!

Clemson fans, don’t tell me that because you are going to the ACC Championship Game that means you aren’t mediocre this season, because you still are. The ACC is horrible this year! Both division champs got smacked around by their SEC rivals! And another thing Clemson fans, don’t forget that loss to Maryland because that signifies Clemson’s mediocrity. Good teams don’t lose games that they are supposed to win.

Gamecock fans, don’t get too high and mighty either. Just because you beat Clemson doesn’t mean anybody thinks that you are a good football team. USC still finished 3-5 in the SEC. Don’t give me the excuse of “Well, we play in the SEC and it’s a hard conference!” Why don’t you quit making excuses for yourselves and put your big boy pants on and man up. It’s not going to get any easier, so either the Gamecocks need to grow up and quit making excuses or get used to being below average in the SEC. Nationally nobody cares about Clemson vs. South Carolina because the game never has any meaning. The biggest goal for playing this game is usually bowl eligibility.

Both teams should focus more on their conference and winning that championship instead of focusing on beating their average in-state rival and maybe, just maybe, they can quit playing in meaningless bowl games.

by James Thurn