Smoke a Bowl game

Two for two ladies and gentleman. Florida Atlantic's first venture into the topsy turvey world of bowl games was stellar. The Owls flew past Memphis 44-27 in the New Orleans Bowl. So, let's get to Saturday's Bowl game extravaganza. Oh, who's the severely airbrushed chick to the right you ask? No idea, but I'm sure she'd fall madly in love with me and my bank account.

Papajohns.com Bowl - 1:00 PM ET, at Legion Field in Birmingham , AL pits Southern Miss vs. Cincinnati, with the Bearcats giving 10, and the over/under at 55. The So. Miss Eagles have a solid defense that kept them in games all year, but they go up against an explosive Bearcat offense that they won't be able to contain. Unfortunately for Southern Miss, their offense is established through the run game, and Cincinnati has been one of the best against the run this year, only allowing a 100 yard rusher 3 times.

Lee's pick - Cincinnati giving 10 with the under. The Cinncy offense is too big for So. Miss, and the Eagles won't put up enough points to get close to the O/U.

New Mexico Bowl - 4:30 PM ET at University Stadium , Albuquerque , NM on ESPN has Nevada going up against New Mexico giving 4 (O/U 54) in what is basically a home game for the Lobo's. On paper, these teams are fairly equal and this should be a good game. However, New Mexico is 5-1 at Albuquerque and the Nevada Wolfpack does start a freshman QB, which leads you to believe that this has the makings of a Lobo win.

Lee's pick - Like the true maverick that I am, I'm going to go with Nevada, taking the 4 points, although I think they'll win outright. We'll also go with the over.

Las Vegas Bowl - finds UCLA vs BYU tonight at 8 PM in Las Vegas, obviously. BYU is giving 3.5 (O/U 47) to the Bruins, in this match-up that will feature defense due to both teams woeful offense. The Bruins, who are coming in without their recently fired head coach Karl Dorrell, have lost their top RB and both their 1st and 2nd string QB's. The Cougars meanwhile feature a bruising freshman RB that won't do much against a strong UCLA run D, especially with the Cougars inconsistent play at QB.

Lee's pick - I'm definitely going with the way under, and UCLA taking the points.

Bowl 2 of 32

Current status - 1-0 (the O/U will be tallied separately at the end of Bowl season), with last nights Utah win. The Utes couldn't cover in a closely contested game, and the Midshipmen made it a 3 point game.

Tonight's game, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic to be seen on ESPN2 at 8 EST. The Memphis Tigers giving 3.5 with o/u at 67.

Lee's Prediction: neither team can play D, and both have sick offenses. So the over is a no brainer. I'm going to go with my heart, and take the Florida Atlantic Owls outright. This is the programs 7th season and the progress they have made is pretty unbelievable. Plus, the Owls Defense is slightly better than the Memphis Defense.

December Madness

The holiday season marks yet another shift regarding our focus regarding the world of sports. By this time, usually all of the blockbuster deals during the baseball off-season have taken place, or at the very least everybody except Buster Olney and Peter Gammons are bored to tears with the Hot Stove. The NBA and NHL are in the middle of their extremely long and boring regular season, and as the NFL regular season winds down only a handful of games are significant. Which leave us with the NFL playoffs, Bowl games, and college basketball.

Bowl games for the most part suck, and the 4-5 weeks in between the regular and post seasons leaves everybody uninterested. The NFL playoffs are nothing short of awesome, but only take place on the weekends. This leaves a void in sporting life, and in comes the aforementioned college basketball.

Yesterday's Pitt vs. Duke game did not disappoint. With 4.7 seconds left in OT and -- after Duke missed two final shots -- Pittsburgh (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) guard Lavance Fields hit a 3 pointer leading the Panthers to a 65-64 victory over the Blue Devils (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) on Thursday night in a match up of two unbeatens in the Aeropostale Classic, at MSG.

After the game, Fields was contrite and said it was a team effort, and that Duke is always a tough opponent. He then asked where the white women were at. Isiah Thomas quickly ran over and corrected him to say "bitches", not women. Always a teacher.

Bowl 1 of 32

Tonight at 9 pm on ESPN is the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Yeah that's right, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. (God bless cut and paste).

It'll be Navy's prolific option offense vs. what has quietly become one of the more successful college programs, the Utah Utes, who are going for their seventh consecutive bowl win. Pretty impressive to say the least. The Utes are giving 8, with the over/under at 110.

Lee's pick: Navy taking the points, and the under. Why? There's a naval base in San Diego and you cannot underestimate the power of the 12th man. I think Utah will pull it out, but it'll be close. Utah has the countries top scoring D which kind of makes my under pick a bit shaky, but Navy rarely puts the ball in the air (which means no INT's) and is proficient on the ground and they rarely fumble.

Man, how can you not be into the Midshipmen vs. the Utes? If your not, then consider yourself a unpatriotic monogamist!

Read this

Here are some articles and blogs you should check out, some good stuff. Hearty and deeeeelish.

Page 2's Jemele Hill is spot on regarding the "Oh so contrite" Andy Pettitte, and his apology.

This guy is a freak and is already talking about Fantasy Baseball. I'm a freak because I'm reading it.

Curt Schilling likes to talk about other baseball players, including Roger Clemens.

A personal favorite of mine, Jason Whitlock, gives his thoughts on the Atlanta Falcons hierarchy, (present and former).

Burn!!

Yesterday at this time we where all wondering what the hell Bill Parcells was thinking. Why would anybody who can pick and choose between jobs, want to go to Atlanta? Then we find that Parcells and Miami owner Wayne Huizenga agreed Wednesday on a four-year contract to be the Dolphins' vice president of football operations, according to ESPN, which employs the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach as an analyst. Parcells, is widely known as one of the best talent evaluators and team architects around.

The Miami Dolphins are currently 1-13, and rudely dashed all of our hopes for a perfectly horrific season of 0-16 by beating the very embarrassed Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday.

Man, it just keeps getting worse for the Falcons and it's owner Arthur Blank. Let's step back a few years, starting with when the team made it's first big game appearance at Super Bowl XXXIII, only to have their starting Safety Eugene Robinson to get busted with a hooker the night before, and then get romped by Denver 34-19.

Jamaal Anderson was the franchise RB featured on that Super Bowl team, only to have his career cut short by injury. No worries though, the Atlanta Falcons were able to trade up a secure franchise QB Michael Vick. All is well in Atlanta until they realized that Vick was 5 years into his career and outside of a handful of games, has been terrifically average. So the Falcons bring in Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino to turn things around, and help Michael Vick find himself as a player.

Petrino and Vick never got the chance due to those damn those laws that prevent humans from organizing, and betting on, dog fights. Michael Vick is doing 23 months in federal prison due to being convicted on charges steaming from organizing and financing a dog fighting ring. Which lead the Falcons with journeyman QB Joey Harrington after they traded their valued back-up Matt Schaub to Houston essentially minutes before the Michael Vick situation went down. Which leaves us with a 3 win team, with no direction and no place to go but up. WRONG! Bobby Petrino wanted no part of the NFL, specifically the Falcons so he high-tailed it out of there to take the University of Arkansas head coaching job.

It's a good thing the Atlanta sports fans are terrible, otherwise they could be upset, but I think they're just to busy either getting Krunk or wrapping themselves in diapers made from confederate flags. I love the south!

Knick fans are content.

New York Knicks fans angry over the team's losing streak rallied outside Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, holding aloft a giant pink slip and calling on management to fire coach Isiah Thomas.

Chanting "Fire Isiah! He's got to go! Good-bye!" two dozen irate fans signed the 8-by-4-foot pink placard urging Garden chief executive James Dolan to dump the coach, whose team is 7-17 going into Wednesday night's game with Cleveland.

Two dozen?!?!? That's it!!!?!?! I thought there would be at least 5 million people. As a Knicks fan I find that to be almost as disappointing as this sorry ass franchise. I guess the apathy has fully crossed over into the fan base now. Think of it, fans actually do not want to pay for the most expensive ticket in sports, to watch the worst team in sports. Human nature I tell ya, it's a wild and wacky thing.

Free shoes!! Free shoes!!

An academic cheating scandal could leave Florida State without as many as 25 players for its Music City Bowl game against Kentucky on New Year's Eve, coach Bobby Bowden said Tuesday. Many of the players who won't be going to Nashville could also be ruled ineligible for some games next season for their connection to a cheating scandal earlier this year.

The university reported its findings in a letter to the NCAA in September after a six-month investigation by the school revealed at least 23 athletes in various sports were interviewed in regard to cheating on an online music history exam.

At least two football players already have been penalized for their involvement. Defensive end Kevin McNeil missed the season and wide receiver Joslin Shaw missed the first four games.

Federal privacy laws prohibit the school from releasing names.

Wow, this is a shocker. I can't believe that FSU players have little to no academic integrity. This ranks up there with the outrage when we discovered that drunken college students hire strippers. Revolting I say. However, great excuse to use a pic of a female FSU "student", or as they say in academic circles - soft-core porn trainees.

"Jessica Simpson, THE Ohio State University!!"

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 10-6, yesterday afternoon at a chilly Texas Stadium.

The story of the game, Romo threw three picks. Brian Westbrook had another grinding, gutty performance. Jason Witten was the lone offensive force for Dallas with 8 catches for 113 yards. Donovan McNabb again looked like he was playing out the string in Philly, playing not to lose, and waiting to go to another team to hopefully revive his career. Of course, then there was TO. A frustrating 2 catch, 38 yard performance brought out the best in Terrell. The Cowboys got their glimpse of the sulking baby that is the real Owens for the first time this season. The big story though, was that Jessica Simpson was in the stadium.

I know!! I know! I couldn't believe it either, and thank god for FOX. I for one loved having her on the screen at all times. The stupid looks on her face were inspiring, and made me want to spend the day in a Heisman Trophy pose while wearing a leather helmet circa 1920.

Jessica Simpson may have a thought process that resembles a vacant lot, but god damn, she knows how to fill out a dress. I for one will raise my glass to her father Joe Simpson. Sir, thank you for whoring out your daughter. She is truly a national treasure.

Booooooo

Those big bad Baltimore Ravens ruined the perfect season.

Baltimore's Matt Stover's missed 44-yard field goal in overtime, was followed by Miami's Greg Camarillo's 64-yard touchdown reception, as the Dolphins beat the Ravens 22-16 Sunday.

Baltimore has the awesome distinction of possibly being Miami's only win this season. Way to ruin it for the rest of us. Aside from no longer being able to watch dubious history being made, we now have to listen the Dolphins crow for the rest of the week. God forbid they win another game. We'll then have to hear about the 'Phins somewhat salvaging a horrific season, and ending on a positive note. What might be a downside for the Dolphins is that a winless season would have most likely cost Cam Cameron his job, and he's just horrible.

At least the Pats won this week. They beat the Jets, so we'll have something to watch for the remainder of the seaon, especially with the playoff picture just about set in both conference's. I was going to put up a pic of a happy Dolphin player, but I prefer misery and scantily clad chicks, like professional British skank Keeley Hazell. Hooray for my preferences.

Forgive me Selig for I have sinned.

Andy Pettitte used human growth hormone to recover from an elbow injury in 2002, the New York Yankees pitcher admitted two days after he was cited in the Mitchell Report.
Pettitte said he tried HGH on two occasions, stressing he did it to heal faster and not enhance his performance. He emphasized he never used steroids. Pettitte returned to the Yankees last season and went 15-9. This month, he put off retirement and agreed to a $16 million, one-year contract to play for the Yankees next season.

"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize," Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. "I accept responsibility for those two days."

At least Andy didn't waste our time with lies and whining about how these accusations are completely false. I give some props to Pettitte, and any other player (Mota, Giambi) accused or found guilty of using performance enhancing substances, for admitting that they cheated. Like Barry Bonds for the past few years, Mark Mcgwire (who's to busy not talking about the past), and now Roger Clemens.

This is somewhat damning for Roger Clemens who introduced Pettitte to the trainer that gave him the HGH, and are best buddies. Indirectly, Andy Pettitte has thrown Clemens under the bus, and train, and that annoying neighbor's oversized-completely-obnoxious-excuse-for-a-small-penis-Hummer.

Pettitte claims that he only used the HGH to help him heal while he was on the DL in 2002, and wanted to get back to his team. This just in; my sources tell me that Roger Clemens is going to be holding a press conference where he will admit to using performance enhancing substances. His reasoning is that he has the ego the size of Barry Bonds' head, and that he wanted to see how much money he can extort from the Astro's and Yankees by claiming that he was the key to a World Series win. Only to perform well during the regular season, and forget to show up during the playoffs.

Oh, my source is my dog. She's been right before so please, let's not discount her. I promise, I didn't give her a treat until after she spilled the beans.