MICHIGAN VS IOWA

AS I WATCHED THE BUCKEYES TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS I FLIPPED BACK AND FORTH AND WATCHED SOME OF THE MICHIGAN IOWA GAME. I TOLD STEVE THAT I WOULD PUT THIS ON HERE FOR HIM EACH WEEK. BOTTOM LINE IS, WHEN I AM NOT WATCHING OSU, I AM TRYING TO SEE HOW THE TEAM FROM THE NORTH IS DOING. THAT IS WHAT WOODY ALWAYS REFERRED TO THEM AS SINCE HE DIDNT WANNA SAY THEIR NAME. I REALLY WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR THE RIVALY BETWEEN BO AND HIM. ANYWAY STEVE DID SAY THAT MICHIGAN WOULD BEAT THEM PRETTY HANDILY TODAY, AND I SAID IT WOULD BE A CLOSE WOLVERINE WIN AND OF COURSE I WAS RIGHT AGAIN. STEVE, IT IS TIME TO LISTEN TO ME MY FRIEND. ANYWAY FROM WHAT I GOT TO SEE IT WAS A GREAT GAME. THESE 2 TEAMS ALWAYS SEEM TO PLAY EACH OTHER CLOSE. MICHIGAN TOOK THE GAME IN OT 23-20. THEY NOW HAVE WON 2 IN A ROW AND ARE 5-3 OVERALL AND 3-2 IN THE BIG TEN RACE WHICH IS WIDE OPEN. ANYONE WHO COUNTED MICHIGAN OUT DOESNT KNOW A WHOLE LOT ABOUT COLLEGE FOOTBALL. PEOPLE ARE FORGETTING THAT THEY HAVE LOST 3 VERY CLOSE GAMES THAT COULD HAVE WENT EITHER WAY. THEY LOST BY A TD TO NOTRE DAME AND THEN BY 3 TO WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA. THEY TOOK OUT PENN STATE LAST WEEK WHICH I LOVED TO SEE, SINCE TYPICAL PEOPLE JUMPED ON THE WAGON AND SAID PENN STATE COULD PLAY FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. I DONT THINK SO. ANYWAY, MICHIGAN CONTINUES TO GET BETTER EACH WEEK, THE DEFENSE ESPECIALLY. THEY LOOK LIKE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TEAM THAN THEY DID 3-4 WEEKS AGO. THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH DREW TATE EARLY, BUT IN THE SECOND HALF THEY MADE SOME ADJUSTMENTS AND CONTAINED HIM PRETTY WELL. I GOTTA GIVE PROPS TO JASON AVANT. NO ONE CAN REALLY FILL BRAYLON'S SHOES, BUT HE IS TRYING HIS BEST. THIS GUY CAN COME UP WITH SOME GREAT CATCHES WHEN HE NEEDS TO. ALL THE TALK WAS ABOUT BREASTON BEFORE THE SEASON BEGAN. HE IS NO DOUBT A PLAYMAKER, BUT HE ISNT THAT GOOD OF A RECEIVER. AVANT IS THE GO TO GUY WHEN THEY NEED A BIG PLAY. HE IS ESPECIALLY TOUGH ON THIRD DOWN. MICHAEL HART WHEN DOWN AGAIN AND THAT HURTS THEM. HE IS SUCH A DIFFERENCE MAKER ON THAT TEAM. I MUST SAY I EVEN ENJOY WATCHING HIM RUN THE FOOTBALL. HE TAKES A LOT OF PRESSURE OFF OF CHAD HENNE, WHO TAKES A LOT OF HEAT EVERY WEEK. HE IS THE QUARTERBACK SO YOU CANT EXPECT ANYTHING LESS. HENNE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE GREAT. HE ISNT PLAYING ANY WORSE THAN LAST YEAR. HE JUST DOESNT HAVE AN EDWARDS THAT HE CAN THROW IT UP TO ANYTIME. WHEN THE RUNNING GAME IS CLICKING IT OPENS THINGS UP FOR HIM. HE JUST NEEDS TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS AND NOT BE AFRAID TO THROW THE BALL AWAY WHEN NEED BE. MICHIGAN IS STILL FOR REAL AND THEY MAKE ME NERVOUS. I KNOW WOULDA COULDA SHOULDA, BUT A FEW BREAKS HERE AND THERE AND THEY COULD BE 8-0. THEY HAD THEIR CHANCES THATS FOR SURE. THEY PLAYED A TOUGH GAME TODAY AND PULLED IT OUT IN THE END. YES ONCE AGAIN MR NAVARRE I SAID IT WOULD BE VERY CLOSE. AFTER THE WISCONSIN GAME ESPECIALLY, THEY STARTED CALLING FOR CARR'S HEAD. I DONT THINK THAT IS THE PROBLEM. WHEN YOU WATCH THIS GUY COACH HE HAS A PASSION AND HE WANTS TO WIN. I QUESTION THE WAY THE MAN USES TIMEOUTS ON OCCASION, BUT I LIKE THE WAY HE RUNS HIS OFFENSE. TRESSEL COULD TAKE A LITTLE ADVICE FROM HIM AT TIMES. LIKE HEY IT IS 4TH AND 1, LINE UP THE BIG BOYS AND RUN IT. WE DONT ALWAYS NEED TO PUNT FOR FIELD POSITION SO WE CAN STOP THEM AND GET 3 POINTS. ANYWAY THEY STILL ARE A VERY DANGEROUS FOOTBALL TEAM. NOW THAT THE DEFENSE IS SLOWLY IMPROVING, TEAMS NEED TO WATCH OUT. WITH 2 LOSSES IN THE BIG TEN AND 3 OVERALL I DONT SEE THEM WINNING THE CONFERENCE OR PLAYING IN A BCS GAME, BUT I CAN SEE THEM GETTING THEMSELVES BACK INTO THE TOP 15 BEFORE SEASONS END WHICH WOULD BE QUITE A FEAT AFTER BEING UNRANKED TWO TIMES IN 3 WEEKS AND PEOPLE SAYING THAT MAY NOT MAKE A BOWL GAME THIS YEAR. THERE YA GO STEVIE, BIG WIN FOR THEM TODAY. CONGRATS AND WE WILL SEE YOU ON THE 19TH OF NOVEMBER FOR " THE GAME"

OHIO STATE VS INDIANA

The ohio state buckeyes travelled to bloomington indiana today to take on the hoosiers in a game where some people seemed to think that an upset may be brewing. The hoosiers were 4-2 but in my eyes they really hadn't played anyone yet. In any event the buckeyes won the ballgame 41-10, and for the most part had the game in command. First I will get to the positive things that I saw. Well as always the defense was terrific. We have been used to saying that for the last few years now. People were hyping Indiana's offense all week long. They said that the passing game with give the buckeyes fits all day long. Well guess what, it didn't phase them. Blake Powers had a horrible day that he would like to forget about I am sure. I wouldn't even post his stats on here because it isnt worth the extra typing. There was also mention of their 6'7 wide receiver James Hardy. He is also on the basketball team as well. You can tell he didn't get to play for Bobby Knight because he was a big sissy in my eyes. Our corners were on him like glue and he did nothing. He didn't even make much of an effort on a few jump balls that he might have gotten. Anyway plain and simple, defense came up big and dominated the ball game. My shout out goes to Brandon Mitchell, the 5th year senior who had a 56 yard interception return for a touchdown. He has been with the program a long time and paid his dues, so plays like that are nice to see.
Now to the other side of the ball. Well penalties were a pain in the butt, we all saw that. Early in the game that was the only thing that was backing us up. Troy Smith was named player of the game going 14-23 for 226 yards, a td and an int. He also ran for 2 scores. Well as you could guess he was not my player of the game. I gotta go with Pittman, who last I saw had about 23 carries for 128 yards and no touchdowns. Why do I get frustrated? Combined with Santonio Holmes, who had a great day as well, he led us down the field. He is so quick to the hole and he has great vision. He makes some cutback runs that a lot of guys wouldnt be able to make. What do we do when we get inside the 10? Yep you guessed it, bye bye fullback and lets run some shotgun. They gave it to pittman out of shotgun which you just cant do in the red zone. He leads you down the field, but we can give him some touches out of the I formation inside the 10. I still just don't get what goes on through their heads sometimes. In any event he was my player of the game. He isn't getting a lot of credit thats for sure. Teddy showed some good signs today. When he runs a little north and south, look what happens. He had a kick return get called back because of one of the 600 penalties that we had. Then he did have a nice punt return when the game was already out of hand so that was nice to see. My boy zwick only saw the game with 6 minutes to go. I guess I have to face the fact that smith is tressel's boy. I am still gonna complain though, well because I can. I just am not a fan of the way smith plays the game. Yes he had some nice runs today but if he couldnt have a good game against an indiana defense then he has some problems. Yet another win for the buckeyes today so overall I have to be happy with it. They are now 5-2 and 3-1 in the big ten and very much alive for the title and a possible bcs bowl. I keep thinking as long as they win out, they will be in the orange or fiesta bowl. They draw the crowd and the big bucks. I remember in 2003 when they thought we would rematch miami again, but in the orange bowl. I guess the fiesta bowl figured after the showing of buckeye fans they had the year before, they better invite them back. Well next week we travel to minnesota to face Glen Mason. I am so glad we didnt hire him as coach 4 years ago. Once again Minnesota has a good offensive line and a good running game, but as expected they play no defense whatsoever. They havent seen a defense like ours yet. Well I take that back. Penn State has a good d and they dominated the gophers. As frustrated as I get with these guys I will be back for more next week. I can't get enough of them buckeyes!!!

ON THE ICE!!

Ok so last night, Steve, Erin, Chad,Missi, the wife, and myself headed to the toledo sports arena to watch the toledo storm battle the dayton bombers on opening night. Erin scored us some free tickets through her place of employment so of course we obliged to participate in the activity. Many know that I have never been a fan of hockey at all. I would have much rather watched soap operas on tv then flip it on hockey. Seeing it live is a whole other perspective. These guys are pretty freakin tough. First off the storm did win 6-5 so that electrified the toledo crowd. There is not a bad seat in the house by the way. I am not sure on the attendance numbers but they sure get loud in there. They get pretty comical when the opposing team scores. They were up 3-0 at one point and then went on a drought. Being down 5-4 they scored 2 goals in the final period including the game winner with about 30 seconds to go. The wives then wanted to beat the crowd so they were ready to jet. Chad who knows hockey more than any of us, tried to explain that a lot can happen in 30 seconds. The women went out first, and the men decied to walk very slow just to make sure that the storm put the game away. Now the most enjoyable part of the night was the 4 or 5 fights that took place. I have heard that some coaches designate certain guys to mix it up with the best players just to get them off the ice as much as possible. It is almost as if it is part of the show the way the refs let them have it out and then take them to the penalty box when it finally stops. I told steve, that I can see how all the hostility gets built up. If someone was checking me all game and hitting my legs with the stick, I think I would started to get a tad irritated. The game is vert fast paced and you really need to pay attention to what is going on, especially following the puck around. The way they handle that thing is amazing to me. These guys are pretty good athletes and I guess I never gave them credit because I didn't care for hockey much. I still won't become a huge fan, but I would go see it live again in a heart beat. Steve, Chad, and myself got sidetracked at times talking about college football, and the wives seemed to think we didn't even watch the game. They don't realize that we can focus on 2 things at once when it comes to sports. It isn't like when we are watching football on tv and they try to tell us about what they bought at the store today. Yes then we have trouble focusing. Anyway all in all I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely go again. The Toledomaniacs really support the storm and it is an exciting atmosphere. well take care and i will be back to report on how bad i am beating the others in the college football picks. until next time...........