Dope-ness

Right off the bat. PROGRAM CHANGING WIN. That win last Saturday over The U was huge in so many ways. First of all, it was Coach London's first ACC win and the team's first ACC win in over a year. Secondly, it was on national television. Third there were some MAJOR recruits in the house to watch the game. Those recruits got to see a big time effort lead to a big time game. They got to see the celebration on and off the field. Most importantly they got to see what this program can be behind Coach London and his staff. Miami never seemed "into the game." We got to Jacory early and often and the BIG LUMBER hit laid by John Kevin Dolce knocked Jacory all the way back to South Beach. After that, it was all but over. We turned the Canes over 5 times. Marc Verica was never touched by a defense that leads the country in tackles for loss and second in sacks. Our run game was very successful and Verica completed big time passes in key third down situations at the end of the game to put the win on ice. We travel to Duke this weekend for a noon kick on ESPN3. I anticipate that we keep riding this momentum all the way to a win down in Durham. I mean we've lost to Puke for the past two years in a row. Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of losing to them. I will accept nothing less than a two touchdown win. That would put us at 5-4 with Maryland coming to town next weekend. At this point in time we need 3 more wins to become bowl eligible. Left on the schedule are @Puke, Turtles, @BC, @Chokies.



Ohio State made quick work of Goldy Gopher in MInnesota last week. I can't really hate on Minnesota because they've struggled for so long and my roommate is a loyal Minnesota Gopher and all Minnesota sports fan. But, when the Bucks play Minnesota it usually results in a highlight reel beat down. Buckeyes caught a great break as well with Michigan State losing at Iowa this weekend. This opens up a huge oppporunity for the Buckeyes to potentially share a piece of the Big Ten title. While the loss to Wisconsin still hurts it won't keep Ohio State from grabbing a piece of the Big Ten title. Even if Ohio State beats Iowa, which isn't a guarantee it will most likely come down to who ranks higher between OSU, Wisconsin, and MSU. A win over the Hawkeyes should settle that tiebreaker. Keep in mind the Buckeyes still need to beat Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan. Lose one and the chance to win the Big Ten is over, lose a couple and a chance to go to a BCS bowl is over.

The Browns had a bye week so I really have nothing to report on them other than Colt McCoy will get the nod this week against the Patriots if Seneca Wallace isn't good to go. Let me just say this, if McCoy goes this week and performs well or at least manages the game like he's been asked to then you can argue that he's done more than enough to prove he's the guy for the future. He only went to Pittsburgh and played well, went to New Orleans and won, and competed against the best team in the NFL in the Patriots. That's three top notch defenses and hostile environments. Just saying.

Xavier hoops had their first exhibition game Tuesday night against Northern Kentucky. They won 73-62. However, keeping with the injury bug the Musketeers have faced this year, senior forward Jamel McClean went down with an orbital bone fracture and will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks. Which would hopefully have him back in time for Butler. A lot of guys got an opportunity to play. Reports from Cintas say they looked a little sloppy. NKU did shoot and hit a lot of threes which kept them in the mix. Kenny Frease lead the way with a double double and Cheekz seemed to get to the rim and attack and finish effectively. It does suck to keep having guys go down to injury and not have Justin Martin this year but you know Chris Mack will rally the troops. I still think it will be somewhat of a "down" year for Xavier as it stands right now but you know like always Xavier will compete and do what we do. I expect Tu to make his presence known heavily early in the season while we are without McClean. This would be a PERFECT opportunity for Dante Jackson to finally emerge as a go to scorer as well. Xavier will most likely rely heavily on very solid defense and rebounding early as well. That will be their best chance to stay competitive as it will be hard early to try and immediately replace scoring stud Jordan Crawford.

I gotta hit on my guy Randy Moss. Let me just say this, he's been one of the most dominating and most feared receiver ever since he's been in the league. You can't argue that. Sure he's had his faults, but the just makes big time grabs whenever you need him to. I will agree with Jim Rome in the fact that this is probably his last chance to keep it right with the Titans this year. He's going to need to finish strong this year in order to try and garner one last contract as he's a free agent at the end of the year. I truly believe Moss is one of the most compelling and intriguing athletes of his time and I can't wait for someone to write a book about him. I bet there will be some great stories in there. Moss is always one for some great sound bites so enjoy the following. It may be one of the best videos out there.



Dave Matthews Band opened up their fall tour on Tuesday. It will be their last full band tour until 2011. Every ticket to these few shows is a HOT HOT HOT commodity. I'm praying to God that when we go to Boston College the game will be a noon game so I can get back in time for the show at JPJ arena. That two night stand may be the most anticipated two night stand in the history of two night stands. Word on the street is that there have been hella cameras at the first two shows prompting rumors for a Fall Tour DVD. That would be absolutely incredible, and makes this tour all the more much anticipated. I'm patiently awaiting for my arrival of these which should keep me very DMB occupied for the time being. Also something very cool to follow is antsmarching.org's Top 50 Project . So far 50-31 have been released and raising a lot of good discussion. Here is 50-41 and then 40-31.



How bad ass is Carter Beauford?

In perhaps the biggest news in the music world today, Lil' Wayne got released from an 8-month jail term on Rikers Island. Weezy fans couldn't be any happier as The Carter IV will now start getting worked on. Weezy plans to visit with family and then party hard until he can't party anymore.

Tweet of the Year: @mgberningjr: Matthew Berning on his college tour of UD had to tell the group one interesting fact about himself: "I hate Dayton basketball" @scoonie712

I need to send a major shoutout to my guy @cpgeschke. Dude has been a loyal follower of the blog. He's former management and high level member of the Looney Bunch. Thanks for the shout outs big homey. Keep Living Strong! Attack and finish. Do what we do. Win forever.

'Killa

It's Been Awhile

Ok so honestly, I really haven't had the energy, motivation, and let alone time to drop a new post. I was actually considering hanging it up. But I have had a few questions and inqueries about where a blog post has been lately, so I figured after eating some Chick-Fil-A for lunch I'd drop a little knowledge on you people.

Here's what I got.

UVA Football

We caught bad breaks in a very well played and great effort game at USC. Should've won that one. We dominated like we should've but lacked energy in a smash job on VMI. We played like crap and didn't make ANY plays in a loss to Christian Ponder and FSU. Dude is pretty good. He can sling and motor. We go to The North Avenue Trade School this week aka Georgia Tech. They run that dumb but usually successful triple option offense. Coach Groh is their D-Cor. So there is a lot on the line. First of all their offense isn't as bad ass as it was a year ago but it' still lethal. Their D isn't special, at least it hasn't proven to be sweet just yet. I think we limit their big plays on offense and force them to punt a lot. I like our offense to come out and play pretty well. Like the last time we were down there I see this game coming down to the 4th quarter. I think what helps us get a W is the extra added motivation for guys wanting to get a win against Coach Groh. Chalk up a W this weekend and move the record to 3-2. By the way, a win this week gives me over the top optimism of going to a bowl game.






The Ohio State University

They laid the smack on The U all while still struggling at special teams. They really laid the wood on Eastern Michigan. They struggled against Illinois on the road. The defense has lost a starting safety and a starting LB over the past few weeks. Pryor looked like crap last week and Vest went Vest by running the ball and not very successfully at that. They have Indiana at home, I like the Buckeyes getting back on track and smashing at home. Boom. Still undefeated, Pryor regains that swag and again shows why he's an elite QB.






Browns

In their first three games they lead in the 4th quarter but found ways to lose. They beat the Bengals which is always nice. They have the Falcons at home this week. ATL is looking nice and the Browns are well, the Browns. Falcons probably win in a game with which if the Browns limit mistakes could grab a W. Mangini still sucks and needs to be fired.

Heisman Race (In no particular order)


Denard Robinson - Mad running abilities, doesn't tie his shoes, limit slinging ability but still solid. If he gets shut down Michigan goes down.
Cam Newton - Very legit guy. Seems to be the sexy pick right now. Interesting to see how he looks in the SEC though.
Pryor - Very impressive numbers so far. Bad game at Illinois. Needs to get back on track and look more like the guy who torched Oregon. Still, playing very very well.
Mark Ingram - Guy missed 2 games and still is dominating. Best team in the country. Most dangerous player on best team in the country.
LeMichael James - Burst into the mix after the effort against Stanford. Dangerous.

Baseball Playoffs

Phillies in 6
Rangers - The Claw, enough said.
Yankees - They own Minnesota.
Braves - Heyward. Bobby Cox going away tour.

Randy Moss

Back in MInnesota. The Ole Gunslinger is going to be slinging to him. Moss is the man but really hasn't shown a lot this year. Maybe he gets his swagger back in Minnesota. Certainly interesting, hopefully he gives Revis 60 more minutes of his slouch effort on Monday night.

-'Killa

For: @1421dana, Bakes, @getemcc, @emilieswilliams, @briggs04

What's your Name? What you do? How you do?

You know I work all day, and play all night. This is the life of a Gaskilla, Gaskilla, Gaskilla. I got some more thoughts to drop on everyone. So let me cut to the chase.

Well, college basketball will come to a close on Monday night. Michigan State and UNC will tip at 9:21 in the D for all the marbles. Michigan State shocked the world by laying the wood right to UCONN and UNC just dominated ‘Nova. When I look at this game I immediately say UNC. Before the season even started I said UNC would win it all, so why I had Pitt winning in my bracket I don’t know. Michigan State on the other hand is playing really good team basketball right now. Not to mention they are playing 80 miles form East Lansing so they got the home crowd cheering for them. I want so hard to pull for State and I probably will while I watch the game. Plus, I've been pimping Tom Izzo and State ever since they won it all in 2000.  I just think UNC is too much for Michigan State to handle. Oh by the way, did I mention that UNC completely laid the wood to Michigan State on December 3rd, at Ford Field, and won by 35. Granted, State didn’t have Suton and Delvon Roe was playing limited minutes. But, those two do not make up 35 points. Izzo said even if both of them had been productive in that game they still lose by 20. UNC wins the title in 2009.

Penn State won the NIT. The NIttany Lions beat Baylor after pulling away with about nine minutes to go. I have little to say about this win because I can’t stand Penn State except for the fact Jamelle Cornley is from da’Haven aka Brookhaven in Columbus, Ohio. He was a freshman in high school when Lil' Drew aka Drew Lavender was a senior. So I got to give Jamelle props. Everything else about Penn State is dumb. If anyone missed it, not only is Joe Paterno old but he’s racist. He called basketball a “jewish mans game” back in the day referring to when he played and today’s game he called a “black man’s game.” I still have respect for the NIT but it’s where I draw the line. The CBI and the College Insiders Tournament are both stupid and if you as a head coach accept bids to either of those tournaments you’re stupid.

The coaching carousel has been in full effect. Obviously the big news is Calipari leaving the M-Town and heading to the “Commonwealth.” First of all, why does everyone feel the need to call Kentucky the “Commonwealth?” I don’t understand. But I guess there are just some things better left unanswered. Either way, Cal is now the highest paid coach in both college basketball and football. This is where Calipari can either further his legacy or have it burn into the ground. I think he does the former. Kentucky is just like Big D in football, the Domers in football, and the Yankees in baseball. Expectations will always be through the roof. Cal is going to get this team back to where they belong. The NCAA tournament. However, I don’t see him reviving the Comeback Cat days. It will just be so tough for him to win a title there but I think he makes a run at it. Kentucky just doesn't have that luster anymore.  The dudes Cal recruited to come to Memphis this year will not follow him to UK.  It's more a less a lock that Xavier Henry and his brother go to Kansas (Early 2010 NCAA Champ Prediction...Kansas).  Mike Anderson was offered the job at Georgia but gave them a no thanks and signed a 7-year extension at Mizzou. I love that the “40 Minutes of Hell” remains at Mizzou. Speaking of “40 Minutes of Hell,” I watched the 1994 National Title game the other day (Arkansas vs. Duke). What a great matchup between Nolan Richardson and Coach K. Corliss Williamson was such a hoss back then. A great name from the past, Cherokee Parks got a big deny as the Razorbacks raised the trophy that year.  Reports were sure that Tim Floyd would accept the job, however, he denied them. I think he got more straight at USC.  Sean Miller already denied Arizona saying “he wasn’t interested” or is he?

Update: It was brought to my attention late Friday night that Sean Miller is now “listening” to Arizona. As of Sunday afternoon Sean was reported to be meeting with the AD. I’ve talked to a number of people who are close to the situation and they have told me they know as much as we do. They have heard he’ll leave and they have heard he’ll stay. The reality of the situation as long as Sean is at Xavier and as long as he continues to be successful his name is always going to come up with big time jobs. Eventually, Sean is going to leave. I just don’t want it to be now. Either way, I will always be a “Sean guy.” Wherever he ends up you can believe that I instantly become a fan. As far as Sean going to ‘Zona, it doesn’t make sense to me. In my opinion he loses exposure because of the time difference and he has to change his recruiting style. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, he played in the Big East, and he has made his mold in the A-10. The ACC or Big East makes much more sense to me. If Jim Calhoun steps down, you will certainly here Sean’s name in the mix there too. It’s a waiting game now.

Update Pt. 2: Some more information has come out regarding my main man Sean Miller. He met with Arizona’s AD out in Albuquerque, NM today. It was said that a donor flew Miller out in a private jet where he met with Jim Livengood. It is said that somewhere along the lines of $15 million over 7 years has been offered to Miller. Miller will return to Cincinnati tonight and mull the offer. Xavier’s AD Miker Bobinski has told the Cincinnati Enquirer that Xavier plans to counter offer. The question is how much can Xavier fork up for a counter offer. Again, the bottom line is Xavier was never going to have Miller for life but the potential move to Arizona just does not make sense on all levels. Miller is not the only candidate for the job. Steve Alford interviewed yesterday. Miller is Arizona’s number one candidate though and a possible trip to Tuscon may be in the works later this week for Miller to see the campus and facilities. While Miller isn’t a “money” guy, a friend of mine brought up a good point. When you sit down with a financial advisor and talk about what $15 million looks like and what it can compound annually with interest it becomes a very enticing offer.

Update Pt. 3: It's still Miller time at Xavier folks.  He gave 'Zona a big no thanks.

Update Pt. 4: Check that, Sean Miller is now the Arizona head coach.  7-years, $18 million, $1 million signing bonus  

BJ “Or You Could Do It Like The Post Office” Raymond participated in the Final Four All-Star Game. Post Office’s team won 105-100. Benjamin dropped 12 points, had 3 assists, and hauled in one board. This All-Star game is just one of many accolades he has received this year. He will next be participating in the Portsmouth Invitational. PIT is a tournament where college seniors showcase their talents in front of NBA and European Scouts. I cannot say enough about BJ.  He just does it like the post office.  Findlay, Ohio baller and Columbus, Ohio native Josh Bostic had 4 points, 7 boards, and 4 assists. On a sidenote, my main man Nolan Richardson was the coach for Bostic and Benjamin’s squad. Boom baby.

With the sudden strike of youth to the Men’s National Soccer Team the US is looking more and more like a legit squad on the pitch. They smoked Trinidad & Tabago 3-0 on Wednesday night. Landon Donovan had three assists and 19 year-old phenom Jozy Altidore had a hat trick. Jozy became the youngest US team member to record a hat trick. Nice dude. Sticking with soccer. I know a lot of people like to bash the MLS. But, I’ve been down with it since its inception. Specifically, I’ve been a Columbus Crew fan since they were playing in the Horseshoe. They won the MLS Cup in 2008 and are looking to do it again this year. They have hometown hero and fellow Kilbourne Wolf, Danny O’Rourke locking it down on D. They also got my guy Frankie Hejduk doing the baddest things. If you haven’t hopped on a team’s bandwagon yet I suggest you rep the Crew.

In case you have not noticed UVA Men’s Lacrosse is ranked #1 in the country and undefeated. Last week they won a 7-overtime thriller over Maryland and came back from a halftime deficit against UNC this past weekend.

It has been brought to my attention that another team in the ACC is trying to rival The U in producing rap groups. Of course we all know about the 7th Floor Crew. If you don’t know about the 7th Floor Crew basically it was a group of individuals most were from the football team and they all lived on the 7th floor of a dorm at The U. They all rapped over a beat about various things they’ve done to girls, where they’ve done them, and how they’ve done them. Each verse the rapper would state his name, what he does, and how he does. If you have sensitive ears it's not for you. Since this rap has come out many people have tried to imitate and duplicate. The latest being at the University of Virginia. UVA’s answer to the 7th Floor Crew is Get Smacked Productions. I have yet to hear any track to judge the talent but I’m willing to bet it’s weak. Their number one hit I’ve been told is “Volleyball Body.”

Twitter is stupid. North Korea, I have two words for you, SUCK IT. Early Saturday morning fire alarms at your apartment are beats.

War Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King.

-Killa