Monday, September 28, 2009

NATIONAL IDIOTS by Steve Tannen

All week long we heard these chuckleheads who somehow land these sweet network or national gigs make these predictions and kick around their opinions like they're hard core facts. Todd McShay of ESPN's read on Oregon/Cal was simple. Javid Best ran all over the Ducks last year and will do the same. Really? In the 08 game at Berkeley Best had 93 yards on 16 carries. Not bad, but not the stuff of Heisman lore. Plus one of those runs was for 50 yards so for most of the game it was just over 3 yards a carry. On Saturday morning, both Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit were so dismissive and riding Cal's bandwagon, it's a joke. Don't get me wrong, I did not sit behind my microphone and call 42-3. I simply mentioned how the Bears had played some awful football teams, the U of O represented their most formidable opponent by far and perhaps they, like Mississippi and Washington were really overrated to this point.
Heck, on Friday afternoon I called Stanford -7 against the Dawgs one of the easiest bets of the weekend. I have this habit. I like to examine facts or actually admit I'm not sure if that's the case. These dingbats think they have to make these big dramatic calls based on nothing more than their opinions. Let's get one thing straight, for the most part, Lou Holtz or Mel Kiper don't get better information than we do. You think a coach is going to tell those bozo's anything that might matter? It's the information age, if you spend the time and do the research, our view is just as valid as theirs and the rankings this early in the season are completely meaningless.
Big weekend for yours truly with the Ducks winning huge, Washington losing, and both the Jets and Giants winning to remain unbeaten. And, oh yeah, the Yankees clinched the East title and home field advantage through the post season. As far as the other pennant situations, the Twins and Tigers play the first of 4 from Motown tonight with Detroit holding onto a 2 game lead for the Central lead. The NL wild card has taken an interesting turn with Atlanta getting red hot and pushing Colorado. The Rockies are ahead by 2 1/2 but you've got to give the scheduling edge the rest of the way to the Bravos. The Braves are home the rest of the way with a decent Florida team early this week, then the laughable Nats. The Rocks have 3 with a .500 Brewer team before ending at Los Angeles. They may catch a break if the Dodgers can lock up the best record in the NL by Friday. You might not see their top guns who you would anticipate Joe Torre would rest for the playoffs.
Let's give away some loot. I have Duck gear and free food certificates. E-mail the answer to the following to:
stevetannen@live.com
Javid Best is the active career leader in the Pac 10 for rushing yards. Who is second?

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