Alberta Clipper

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to everyone.

I know it's been awhile but, you have to understand I've been pretty busy and quite frankly haven't been able to find the time to go into the lab and put some thoughts down. I'm looking to hit on a variety of things, some will be quick hitters, others will be more in depth. I'm gonna sip on some beer and see what comes out.

First of all, it's been a month since what I deem to be the most unreal Saturday I've had in a long time. Certainly a historic Saturday. Rewind back to November 20th. UVA was playing at Boston College at noon. I had tickets to the LAST DMB concert until at least 2012 back where it all started, Charlottesville of course. We lost a game we should've won and beat feet back to CVille. I hopped in a police escort and made it back in time to slay a few beers in the parking lot before jamming my face off in John Paul Jones Arena. Let's recap the night that was 3 hours and 1 minute of pure awesomeness. I had money seats of course thanks to my friend Jenny who bought the tickets in advance, rocked the real expensive draft beer hard as well as a stealthly snuck in mini bottle of Crown Royal (great idea to place in shoe kid behind me in line). Here we go:

http://dmbalmanac.com/TourShowSet.aspx?id=453056855&tid=112&where=2010

You Might Die Trying - At first it sounded like Minarets but they went into a rocking version. Dave's mumbling at the end was pretty solid.
Proudest Monkey - One of my top songs right now. Tim ripped it apart.
Satellite - Typical PM segue into Satellite. As beautiful as it gets and one of the original classics.
Say Goodbye - One of the many moments in which I lost my mind. Unreal Carter intro.
Funny The Way It Is - The first single off of BWATGGK and the second I heard it I knew that album would be one of their best.
Rhyme & Reason - A very underrated song. Joe Lawlor guested and ripped a nasty solo.
Eh Hee - Dark, jamming, and awesome.
Crush - I mean at this juncture I was really feeling it. A great song and even better live.
Can't Stop - A little diddy to let you catch your breath
Cornbread - Crowd pleaser. Epic jam. Dave broke out the dance moves. Trombone Shorty was unreal.
Digging a Ditch - I love this song, especially live. Flies below the radar.
Lying In the Hands of God - Not one of my favorites but they really go hard on this bad boy and just go where the music takes them
The Song That Jane Likes - An oldy but such a goody. "I have a sister named Jane...and this is her song."
Write A Song - Not officially released but very cool to see them playing it.
Why I Am - This song is and always will be for LeRoi. You could feel his spirit in the building tonight.
Dancing Nancies - You cannot go wrong with this bad boy. It was my summer anthem and still gets played in the rotation.
Long Black Veil - The stunner of the night. I mean I went numb and had goosbumps. Wow. Perfect version and so so good.
What You Are - The new intro takes this song to the NEXT level. Absolutely unreal and of course segued right into...
Two Step - Do I even need to write anything here? I didn't think so. Many people don't like it, but the Time Bomb intro is a favorite of mine. It certainly isn't as good as the "Daddy please tell me a story intros..."
(Encore Break, we really are just getting started...)
Some Devil - Pretty solid, especially Dave solo
Granny - You knew they weren't ending with this song. But man did it ever rock.
#40 (tease) - Really Dave? Just a tease...like always. I wonder if this song will ever get finished?
The Last Stop - FINALLY. I mean you knew this was going to be it. It was just a matter of when this song would be played. So good and so awesome.
(I thought they were done, but maybe it was the crowd cheering or maybe they knew they weren't ready to shut it down...)
Too Much (fake) >> Anyone Seen The Bridge >> Too Much (fake) >> Ants Marching - The Most raucous seguing I've ever seen/heard. Arguably the best Ants. Everyone on stage was just going ballistic. The crowd blew the roof off. Everyone was singing along and just belting it out. Yes!

This being the last show until at least 2012 left us all wanting more but this is a well deserved break for a band that's been on the road for nearly 20 years now. They've earned it. Numerous times throughout the show Dave talked about how they weren't done and how it was such a privilege to be on stage with each and everyone of those guys, how they missed LeRoi etc. He talked about getting back together and making new music. We definitely have not seen the last of the Dave Matthews Band. They'll be back and jamming out before we know it. Until then, I suggest everyone buy some CDs, DL some shows and just jam out.



Xavier Basketball has been playing pretty well since the slip up at Miami (OH). They grabbed a big home W against Butler right before the exam break and then beat Wake Forest in the second installment of the Skip Prosser Classic. Dave West was in the house to get inducted into the Xavier Hall of Fame as well as Mrs. Prosser. It was a surreal atmosphere as one friend described to me. Tu Holloway had Xavier's first triple double since of course, Dave West. Kenny Frease was huge down low once again. A couple of observations as they have only scratched the surface of a brutal non-conference run leading up to A-10 play. The guard play has been solid and Kenny Frease has really been playing well down low. Jamel has been rebounding the ball nicely too. We aren't shooting the three as well as year's past but were finding that when we play tough defensively we'll be able to stay in games and give ourselves a chance to win. Of course I'm just a "couch coach" but somehow, someway there needs to be some scoring from the bench. There is going to be a night when Tu and Kenny aren't getting it done and we need to count on some bench contributions. We play at Gonzaga Wednesday night on national television. It won't hurt to have another big time performance. A win out there would be HUGE! Overall though the team is doing what they do and that's steadily get better each game, each practice, and each day. That type of progress only results in success. Keep up the good work fellas.



Also, if you're looking to get better at defense, watch this...



Ohio State basketball is about as talented on paper as anyone in the country. It's a matter of them putting that talent together and playing as one. So far they more or less have. They haven't lost yet. Jared Sullinger is by far and away the best freshman in the country* (*Kyrie Irving held that title until he got hurt). The mix of veterans and young explosive talents could make for a big season in Columbus. I'll be in the building Thursday night when they play Oakland. I'm pretty excited to see this team in person and see what they're really made of against a team that's taken down some big boys (Tennessee). The football team is playing against Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. Another Big Ten Title and BCS Bowl for Jim Tressel. He just keep churning out success. Sure, people will complain because there hasn't been a National Title since 02. But they played in 2 since and while they got run you can't argue the success i.e. Big Ten Titles and BCS Bowl Games. I think the matchup against Arkansas will make for a great game. In fact it will be the first time I get to watch an entire Ohio State game all season. Right now the Buckeyes are favored. I like them down in New Orleans.

The Browns haven't completely disappointed me this year like in years past. For the most part they've played hard and competed. I can't ask for much more out of them. Colt McCoy seems to have proven that he can lead the team and possibly be the QB of the future and the defense has looked ok during the season. I think you'll see Mangini get the axe at the end of the season which I personally am happy about. The Browns need to try and get a big time WR or DT in the draft. I like the thought of a DT because WRs are a dime a dozen but if a guy like AJ Green, Dustin Blackmon, or Julio Jones is available, you cannot pass them up.

-'Killa

Spaceman

I'm a little behind on this so I get to hit on three games at once. First of all, the debacle that was the Duke game. Clearly, if your offense puts up 48 points then you should never EVER lose, ESPECIALLY TO DUKE. However, that wasn't the case. I mean come on. I'm obviously pointing the finger at the defense on this one. Seriously, I'm 0-3 against Duke in football. That is what I like to call not sweet. Granted, Verica did throw three picks, two of which gave the Duke offense a short field. Still unacceptable to lose 55-48 to Duke. Did I mention that we put their BEST offensive player out of the game in the 3rd quarter? Yet, we still give up a 4th and 18 and then a 45 yard toss sweep to lose the game. UNACCEPTABLE. It's well over a week after that loss and I'm still trying to figure out what happened. Bill Lazor has proven his worth so far this year, no question. The offense has put up points. I'm asking for the defense to step up and help out a little bit. It doesn't help when key defensive player and team leader Ras-i Dowling has been hampered with injuries all season long and now will officially be laid up for the rest of the season and his UVA career with a shattered ankle in the first quarter of the Maryland game. Again, we were competing in this game and suddenly the 4th quarter arrived and things went south. I really have no explanation for what happened other than we just plain lost in the 4th quarter. Maryland certainly has some player makers on both sides of the ball in wide out Torrey Smith and LB Alex Wujciak. So the record now sits at 4-6 and more than likely little to no chance at a bowl game as it stands, even if we win out since we do have two 1-aa opponents on the schedule (have I mentioned I'm sick and tired of playing 1-AA teams?). Anyways, we go up to Boston College this weekend in what will for sure be a tough one. It's going to be cold and Boston College will be playing for a bowl berth. I gotta think that we can at least compete if not try and play spoiler and come out of Boston with a W. I still think Boston College will be at least 7 point favorites in this game.

Ohio State is still getting it done with a win over Penn State after finally waking up in the second half. Pryor only through the ball 13 times and connected on 8 of those attempts, two of which were for TDs. The defense had two pick-6's as well. As it stands as long as Ohio State wins out they will more than likely receive an at large bowl berth to a BCS bowl and potentially face off against someone like Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. This would be a preview of a match up down the road as Ohio State has a home and home contract with the Chokies starting in a few years.

Xavier won the season and home opener against Wester Michigan, although it was a struggle, only winning 62-59. Until Jamel McClean returns (which should be in time for the Iowa game later this week), Xavier will rely heavily on guard play. At this point in time, Tu Holloway is going to have to be the go to scorer as no one else has really proven themselves. Dante Jackson will for sure be the team leader and a key outside threat. Cheekz is going to be the dribble drive guy and who can get to the bucket with ease but will need to play with control. I really need and expect Kenny Frease to finally step up and use that 7 foot massive framed body. He should easily be dominating inferior competition but he hasn't which is disappointing. Jeff Robinson will be asked to step up as well. Once Jamel returns he will be the force inside both on the glass and scoring but he will need some help down low. I don't see why Xavier shouldn't be able to get past IPFW tomorrow night. The Paradise Jam holds some solid competition but with the return of Jamel down there I don't see why Xavier won't be able to compete at the highest level. I still see Xavier coming up with something along the realms of 22-23 wins this season. I know some people will probably disagree but again I always play role of super optimist when it comes to X.

I'm going to be honest, when it comes to this weekend, my focus will not be on the Boston College game, it won't be on the Iowa game (Ohio State), and it even won't be on what X is doing down in the Paradise Jam. All day Saturday, all I'll be able to think about is getting back to Charlottesville for what is setting up to be one of the most epic jam sessions known to man. I will be in attendance for my 5th DMB concert of the year and what will most likely be my last DMB concert until at least 2012 (they're taking all of 2011 off). It is their last full band concert until at least 2012 and they're closing out where it all started, Charlottesville. I'll be in attendance for night 2 of the 2 night stand. The hype that is building is beginning to overflow as this fall tour so far has seen nothing but greatness and unpredictability by the band. I've been in full jam mode since last Monday when I secured my ticket. The anticipation is like noting I've ever experienced when it comes to a DMB concert. I don't even know what songs I want to hear the most. The following would be a dream set list for this Saturday night:

Big Eyed Fish >>
Bartender
Crush
Dancing Nancies >>
Warehouse
Say Goodbye >>
#41
So Damn Lucky
Seven
You & Me
The Maker
The Stone
Grey Street
Crash (Into Me)
Don't Drink The Water
You Never Know
Stay (Wasting Time)
--------------------
Time Bomb >>
Two Step
--------------------
Dreaming Tree
Last Stop

Ok, maybe a bit unrealistic and probably lacking in Big Whiskey tracks. Jesus, I'm getting goosebumps right now (listening to Two Step, Live From Citi Field) thinking about what Saturday night holds.

-'Killa

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

Hoops

**My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Declan Sullivan in the wake of his tragic death yesterday. Declan was a student manager for the football program at Notre Dame and died in a tragic video tower accident. This hits home as I spent my college career as a student manager and now have 8 student managers of my own. Once a manager always a manager.**

We laid the smack down to Eastern Michigan last weekend. But that was expected. Losing to that program would've resulted in me quitting my job. Our first half was a little bit embarrassing considering we were only up 17-14. But then we got loose in the second half. We scored on a kick off return and a fake punt. The defense still can't set the edge resulting in teams being able to run all over us. People can go up the middle, they can sweep right, and they can sweep left. People better start plugging up the middle and setting the edge because The U comes to town this weekend and I really don't want to see them have their way with us. The game is set to kick at noon on Saturday on ESPN. It's The U. They lead the country in tackles for loss. Jacory Harris is a pretty good QB, especially if no one pressures him and he doesn't turn it over. Keys to the win will be a strong effort by the O-Line (Big Morgan Moses is really starting to play well), flustering Jacory Harris, and stopping the run. EVen more importantly some of my top guys are coming in this weekend: Gallagher, Mazza, and @yodavethewave. Should make for a big time weekend.

The Buckeyes got back on track Saturday with a 49-0 shut out of Purdon't. They play Minnesota in a prime time game this weekend. That should be a cake walk (no offense Brent). Pryor should put up big numbers in the first half and then the back ups will get their reps. The current debate going on these days is, who is the best one loss team in college football right now? Lou Holtz claims it's the Buckeyes and they will not lose a game the rest of the season. I personally think that Alabama is flying extremely below the radar right now. They are the defending champs and were incredibly hot before they lost a tough game at South Carolina. To me, they are my top 1 loss team. They'll prove that when they smash Auburn. The big time matchup of the week is Oregon at USC. This is a big time test for Oregon and a big time opportunity for USC. First of all, no one is talking about USC but they are actually playing really good. Matt Barkley gets no love but he's played unreal this year. I really think USC is going to give Oregon all they got but that potent offense of the Ducks is going to come out on top.

The Browns took down the defending world champs this past weekend. The game was awesome. The defense turned Drew Brees over and had two pick sixes. They also had a big time fake punt that almost scored and a sweet halfback pass to Colt McCoy on third down that resulted in a first down. To be honest, I've been incredibly impressed with the play of McCoy. While he's only simply had to manage the offense, it's not like he's played terrible doing so. The Browns didn't even plan on playing the guy this year and all he's done is give his best effort against the best D in the league and then beat the New Orleans Saints on the road. You can't really ask much more out of the guy. Honestly, the Browns usually embarrass me but this year, despite being 2-5 they have played really well. I wish they did not blow those first three games in which they lead in the 4th quarter but still they have done alright. I still don't like Mangini. But I like the Browns effort this year.

Xavier basketball had about as good as weekend as you can have when it comes to recruiting. They landed a HUGE committment from D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. A big time pg out of the 2012 class. They then added big boy Michael Chandler a top 100 guy out of Indianapolis to the 2011 class. That propels the 2011 class into the top 10 for next year. Absolutely incredible. Unfortunately the big time success oversahdowed the bad breaks the program took. Brad Redford is out for the season with a torn ACL. Certainly a blow to the team as he was expected to be a big part of this year's success. His lethal long range attack with be missed and losing him makes us pretty thin in the back court. The bright side of the situation is that he will be able to redshirt and still have two years of eligibility. Justin Martin has been ruled a partial qualifier by the NCAA and will only be permitted to practice this year. Another big blow. The kid has a ton of potential and probably given the team some solid minutes this year. However, again this gives him a year to practice within a top notch D1 program, get in the weight room, and refine his game. So you put him into the 2011 class along with Travis Taylor, Dezmine Wells, Michael Chandler, Darwin Davis, and Jalen Reynolds and you have just pure danger in the waiting. I will say that as far as Xavier success goes it may be a down year for X. By down year, I mean don't expect to see 25 wins this year. I think they'll struggle at times, especially since Mack only has 10 scholarship players available but they will continue to do what they do and that's lock down D and run and gun offense. They should once again dominate the A-10 and hopefully get #5 in a row and then compete in March.

The World Series got started last night. Unfortunately, my team The Rangers got smashed by the Giants. I'm pulling for the Rangers simply because of The Claw. This world series should prove to be very entertaining and exciting. Especially if local marijuana shops in San Fran will be offering free tree to everyone inside a shop each time a Giant goes yard. Get sticky Giants.

Blake Griffin looked unreal last night in his NBA debut. Greg Oden is the biggest bust of all time. The Heat are garbage. Kevin Durant is nasty. Mamba raises the trophy again this year.

Killer crossover, with the blow of a kiss...



Killer track...



-'Killa

Burnin Down The House

Scott Stadium may burn down if we lose this week to EMU. They are one of the worst teams in all of college football. To quote my guy @1421dana, "If you don't beat them by 3 TDs quit your job. I say this in all seriousness, they may be the worst college team I've ever seen." I second that notion. This is a great opportunity for UVA to get back on the winning track. The past three weeks have been less than awesome and a good old EMU beat down is just what the doctor ordered. We need to try and instill some confidence back in the program so we can try and get Ws to close out the season. We still need to win 5 of 6 to become bowl eligible which becomes tougher and tougher as we only have two more home games after this weekend. Including trips to Boston College and Virginia Tech back to back in November to close the season out. Now is the time to man up and get Ws. I'm tired of seeing missed arm tackles. I'm tired of seeing missed tackles in general. I'm really tired of turnovers in the red zone as well. So all I'm going to say is put that garbage losing football attitude in the dust and start playing like the team I know we can play like.

Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to see a Buckeye game in full this year. You can thank wack UVA start times for that. Anyways, they played about as bad as a #1 team can play last week. Like I said, I'm always scared about going to Madison especially at night and of course the worst happened. Bucky took the opening kick to the house (WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH OUR ST TACKLING?!). The defense got dominated at the line. The offense was putrid to say the least. At least they got exposed in October rather than maybe fooling everyone the entire year and getting smoked at the highest levels of competition. That's not to say I don't think they're good but I guess they are just not National Champion good. They are still a very good team but apparently can't seem to piece it all together this year. Pryor is all but out of the Heisman race at this point in time. It's going to take a very dominant second half of the season to get back in the mix and he very well could as he does have those abilities.

The Rangers are one game away from the World Series and I fully expect them to get that W back down in Arlington. While the Giants are playing very well right now I still think the Phillies come back in that series and we see a Rangers v Phillies World Series. You know I'm riding behind that Claw movement.

Look for a Xavier preview over the next couple of weeks as they started practice last Friday. They are predicted to get second in the A-10 but you know Xavier is just going to do what they do and hopefully snag #5 in a row and then roll in March like we've come to expect them to do. Another HIGH LEVEL non-conference schedule sets them up nicely to dominate A-10 play and be fully prepared for post-season play.

The Browns are the Browns. Colt McCoy did better than I expected in his debut at QB. He certainly has a lot of intangibles to be an NFL QB but doesn't necessarily have the arm. I'm behind him all the way though.

-'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

Game 1

As I'm writing this it's actually already gameday. Pretty crazy. I'm entering my third season with UVA and I'm just as stoked for the game tomorrow as I was for game #1 back in 2008 when USC went 300 on us. No joke. They arrived at the stadium in a raucous fashion. Their busses were shaking like the 1989 San Fran earthquake. Right before they took the field I had to run them towels and was greeted by Brian Cushing, Mark Sanchez, Rey Maualuga, Joe McKnight, and Taylor Mays. I stood there with my towels. Sanchez took one, gave me "whats up buddy?" Then the whole team entered the tunnel and I literally thought for a period of 4 seconds that I may actually go down. I ended up not going down but UVA went down. In a matter of 18 hours it's going to be a different story in Scott Stadium. UVA is under new leadership. Mike London has formed a real solid staff and is starting to groom this team into something legit. We take on London's old regime in the Richmond Spiders in which a number of former UVA staffers now coach including former WR's coach Latrell Scott who is now the HC. There is going to be a lot of emotion in this game. I personally think there is some bad blood out there which should make for some big time hits, some chirping, and hopefully a few animated personal fouls among other things. Regardless, were going to get the W. I can feel it. Like I said, the staff in place here knows what their doing. Not that they don't at Richmond, but, I'm just feeling a real solid win to get coach London's career started off right. As for the rest of the season. I expect us to compete and be in games and hopefully win some along the way. Do I think we will win the ACC? No. But do I think we will win more than 3 games? Yes.

Speaking of USC, we head out there next week to play the Trojans in the Coliseum. I'm pretty jacked. I've never been to LA so that's enough to get me jacked but, to go on business and take on Lane Kiffin in the Coliseum, I'm extra jacked. I was in the lab last night watching them get a W against pesky Hawaii. Their offense looked good, but man, that D headed by the Tampa 2 master Monte Kiffin looked weak. We may have a chance. Time will tell. I'll dive into this later and maybe go live from the scene next week in LA.


Ohio State opened up the season last night by getting nice on Marshall. Child's play. Pryor looked phenomenal. He had some serious command in that Rose Bowl game against Oregon but he had even more last night. Dude is definitely looking like Heisman material. If he keeps that effort up all year, move over 'Bama because we got something for ya. Ohio State's O-line is unreal. The D-Line could be the best in the country, not to mention the 7 guys behind them. Pryor has plenty of weapons to spread the ball around to ranging from a deep potent backfield to legit dudes to air it out to. Not to mention he's a one man wrecking crew. The U comes to Columbus next week in a much anticipated match up. Sure Miami has talent. But seriously, I don't think they can match what the Buckeyes have. I've personally seen Miami the past two years in person and while Jacory Harris is a good QB he can't touch Pryor. Ohio State has finally gotten the memo and recruited speed so I think we'll be ok when it comes to keeping up with fast teams. I just don't see Miami coming into the Shoe and getting a W. I was scared of USC and they won. I'm not scared of The U so I'm predicting a W for the Bucks next week. After that it will be smooth sailing until they go to Iowa and Wisconsin. I absolutely hate going to Wisconsin. I still have nightmares of Chris Gamble biting like a rainbow trout on a pump and go and the Buckyes losing in Madison in 2003. Damn. Like I said, the Bucks go as TP goes. I don't even need to say it, but you know JT will always have the boys ready to play.

For those of you keeping score at home, you'll remember that I fired the visor last year midway through. Well the visor is back for gameday attire. I may even mix it up this year and rock shades if the weather calls for it.

It's been awhile since I have personally handed a beat down to Richmond. Including a 2008 football win, I am a nice 6-0 against the Spiders.

-'Killa

Here We Go

Big big big week has just gone down. I've got a lot of things to cover. After hella persuading I have finally jumped onto that deal they call twitter, so follow me (scoonie712) as I have quickly become immersed into the twitter lifestyle. You may be wondering what the heck is scoonie712? I'll tell you what it is and it's not what but who. James "Scoonie" Penn. My all time favorite basketball player. He lead the Buckeyes to greatness in the late 90s. The banner may not be hanging anymore, but he was so crucial to the 1999 Ohio State Buckeye Final Four run. I still claim that had he not had to wear the #35 jersey they would've beat UCONN and played Duke in the championship game. The number 7 represents my lucky number and also the number Joey Galloway wore at THE Ohio State University. The number 12 represents Scoonie Penn's number and also a favorite number of mine. That should explain everything.

Onto the more important items. The Musketeers are once again peaking at the right time of season like they always do. The Muskies went into St. Louis last Wednesday and gutted out another big time road conference win. Jason Love is just absolutely a man possessed this year. It's no coincidence I'm hearing swirling rumors that the man has a legitimate shot at the League. His work ethic is unmatched and easily has made the greatest improvement of any Xavier basketball player over his four year career. One thing Xavier players are known for is their ability to get better every single day. In came the Spiders from Richmond on Sunday. The Cintas Center was ready and so were the Musketeers. Jordan Crawford did what he does but it was the stellar play of Terrell Holloway that stole the show on Sunday. Xavier won in a double over-time thriller that will give them no less than a share of the A-10 regular season title provided they don't have a disastrous melt down against Fordham and St. Bonaventure. Make that four in a row. All we do is hang banners and put rings upon our fingers, something completely foreign to the Dayton basketball program. When Jordan Crawford appeared worn out from chasing Richmond players all over the court and running through screens it was Tutu who stepped up into the spotlight and showed once again why when his time is done at Xavier he will surely be the program's best point guard. The tradition is seriously continuing to grow at Xavier. Every year, down the stretch Xavier steps up when it means the most. In the month of February Xavier went on the road 4 times to hostile environments and grabbed 3 wins. They also took care of business in conference. You can't say enough about the job Chris Mack has done. If Xavier wins out and wins the A-10 tournament they seriously could be looking at a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. I think a 5 is a lock right now but if they continue to play well that seed will only rise giving Xavier better chances at moving on into the second weekend of the tournament. Even when there was doubt at the beginning of the season, Xavier stayed the course. It's not a sprint and it's not how you start but it's how you finish in the marathon that is college basketball as Xavier has entered the top 25 poll. Keep doing what we do fellas.

Gordon College basketball is also hanging banners and donning bling to the fingers. My brother's team won the regular season title and did work in the TCCC tournament to grab an automatic bid into the NCAA D3 tournament. They will face off against #6 ranked Middlebury on Friday. According to my brother they are young and are capable of committing mistakes. The Fighting Scots are a seasoned team with a lot of veterans including 5 seniors who came in with a goal to go dancing and after four years of hard work they are dancing. But, they are not satisfied. They are looking to make noise and show why Gordon is a legit program. I would like to plug in that my brother was named Co-Conference Defensive player of the year.

Ohio State is doing work and has a chance to win the Big 10 regular season title. Again, the play of Evan Turner is unreal. The guy has got to be the front runner for POY in the college hoops. I've been pimping him all year and all he does is go out there and lead the team in almost every statistical category. They are getting great play from David Lighty and William Buford. If they even had an ounce of legitimate depth they would be a team, on paper, worthy of a Final Four run. I just wish people cared more about that program in Columbus. Seriously, why is it everytime I watch a game Value City Arena looks empty? Can we please get some support for that program?

I hit up my boy Pete's wedding this weekend in Chicago. To say it was quite the event is an understatement. It was HIGH LEVEL. The Management came strong and rocked the house. A biased yet arguable fact would be that the Management table shared MVP honors this past weekend. We rocked Oak Brook, IL with vigor. Everyone did work and was in rare form. Quite the reunion of old friends. Congrats Pete and Natalie! I will say that I of course owned the Electric Slide. Other highlights include: the late night party in room 904 that lasted until the sun came up, hehateme183's studio rapping that will soon be featured on a mixtape, taking charges on the dance floor, and the reminiscing of our time as managers at Xavier.

Tonight Smokin' Trees and Strokin Threes takes to the floor as a #2 seed in the intramural tournament. It will once again be a prime-time, west coast tip at 10:30 at the AFC. The overly confident football team will be in the house to take note of what they could be facing down the road in the tournament. Looking to make a deep run a la Xavier basketball.

I'm still working on The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, but it's a great book and highly recommend it.

Current Song: Dancing Nancies - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds (Live from Las Vegas)

-'Killa

Boom, outta here

I don't have anything to report. The NBA draft sucked. The Cavs took some stiff that will never see the floor in Cleveland. Derrick Brown dropped deep into the second round. Psycho T went to the Pacers. Finally, the Timberwolves drafted 3 point guards in the first 18 picks. In other news Xavier signed a recruit out of the 2009 class. Jeff Robinson originally committed to Purdon't but apparently he isn't down with academics and didn't quite make the cut there. I'm sitting here scratching my head at what strings Sister Rose pulled to get him in at Xavier. But I guess she did once deal with Drew Lavender. He should provide some depth in the front court and after reading up on him he seems to have the talent to go inside and outside. Coach Mack finally is rolling.

Be prepared for a live blog this weekend. I got a gang of homies coming in town to celebrate America's Birthday so I thought it would be a great idea to somehow document what goes down throughout the weekend. I'm going to try my best to keep it live and updated but no guarantees. In the mean time...

Michigan, you still suck...



In case people don't know that's where I'm from, that's what we do, and that's real college football.

Dayton, you definitely still suck...



In case you don't know, that's what Xavier does. W's and Rings. Championships.

-'Killa