Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Week 8 TSS CFB Poll

This article was posted on theSportStew.com on Oct 24th...



TSS College Football Rankings.

1. Alabama (2) 972
2. Texas 966
3. Florida 943
4. Miami 827
5. USC 813
6. Cincinnati 789
7. Iowa 768
8. TCU 740
9. Georgia Tech 681
10. Boise St. 664

Others receiving votes LSU, Oregon, Texas St University

Oh baby, it’s getting fun now!! From here on in every week is like a playoff week for these Top Ten teams. Which is a great argument for the BSC to continue as is. Ok, that’s a discussion that’s coming soon. We can’t resist our turn to fix college football. I will say this…I wouldn’t change too much.

The top 3 has not changed since we started our poll 3 weeks ago. In the words of Denny Green, “They are who we thought they were!!” Florida just continues to fail to impress us as a top team. I honestly believe several top teams can beat Florida. And they look like the team to lose before the Alabama show down. Not backing off that prediction at all!

The rest of top ten is moving up thru survival of fittest. Miami has only one loss to a very good Virginia Tech team, in hurricane type weather (ironic huh?) USC isn’t over impressive, but who else are you going to move up to the 5 spot. You really think any of those other teams would beat USC? Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise are fighting their schedules and the knock that they haven’t beat anyone. Iowa just keeps winning, while everyone continues to pick against them. If history is any indication, Iowa comes back down to earth this week. Watch out for Georgia Tech and even Iowa to totally fuck up the BCS title game. Their schedules and conferences are just good enough to climb up to 2 or 3 if any of those teams slip.

The weather is great for college football here at SportStew HQ, time to open some beers, fire up the grill and let the fighting begin. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and get involved damn it!!!

Editor's Note. No respect for Boise St. You guys have dropped them every week and all they do is win. Keep up the good work though, cause it's the drama and conversations that make sports great.

Friday, October 23, 2009

UFC 104

The Octagon is rolling into the Staples Center in LA this weekend. The glamor, the glitz, a couple of smashed faces and there you have it, UFC 104. Too bad the Zuffa boys can't come up with some cool names for their events. Remember Declaration or Redemption? Maybe they need a creative department or at least a better one. I would call it; UFC 104 Bonifácia. I don't know what that means but it has something to do with Brazil in the early 1800's and its outside the box of the normal Machida vs Rua or Franklin vs Belfort. There's some intriguing fights on the card. Spike TV is going to air a couple of the prelim fights again for this PPV. Thanks again Spike and UFC for doing this. The fight card has a little bit of Iowa flavor with five fighters; Neer, Fisher, Rothwell, Al-Hassan, and Kimmons, having some ties to the Hawkeye state. Some with Miletich out of Bettendorf and others with Midwest Cage Championship. The main event features Lyota Machida and Shogun Rua. It seems like a contrast of styles. Machida is a precise counterpuncher and very patient while Rua is the aggressive Muay Thai ace. Did you see the recent articles where Machida says he drinks his urine? Ha ha. Just great. Please don't spit on me. The co-main showcases two relative newcomers. Ben Rothwell is making his UFC debut but has over 30 career fights and his favorite move is the Vertical Hammer. Cain Velasquez is a former All-American wrestler with Arizona St and is unbeaten in his young career. Velasquez has dominated his UFC competition so far. The winner of this bout will be the next in line for a shot at the heavyweight crown. Did I mention that Machida drinks his pee? Well anyway, here's the picks for UFC 104...

Struve def Gormley
Al-Hassan def Kingsbury by choke
Kimmons TKO over Rivera
Sonnen def Okami by choke
Barry KO over Hardonk
Bader TKO over Schaefer

Johnson KO over Yoshida
Fisher def Stevenson by split dec
Neer def Tibau by unanimous dec
Rothwell KO over Velasquez
Machida TKO over Rua

Saturday, October 17, 2009

NFL Week 6 Pix, Who's Worst Team

I love weekends. Today I’m sitting at the House of Brews n Sports, the nickname for my apartment, watching the Iowa-Wisconsin, Texas-Oklahoma, and Michigan St-Northwestern games on the TV wall. Probably would have another game on ESPN360 if I wasn’t doing last minute research for the NFL picks. The couch is comfy and the beer is cold. Good start to the day. Thanks to Joe for stepping up last week. I dropped the ball and forgot to award the Game Ball or the LVP. Well not this week.

Game Ball: Cedric Benson. Benson somehow rambled for 120 yards and a touchdown against the ferocious defense of the Baltimore Ravens. After being ousted from Chicago he surfaced in Cincinnati for the end of last season, and has added a much needed element to the Bengal offense.

LVP: Larry Johnson. LJ had another terrible week. He only managed 37 rushing yards last week and he carried the ball 21 times. In case you’re not a math wiz, that’s a minuscule 1.8 yard average. Come on LJ, you should be a leader, not a cancer. It’s obvious that his career is dwindling and probably has played his way out of Kansas City, which isn’t a bad thing for the Chiefs.

So, who is the worst team in the NFL? There are quite a few that are playing terrible. Four teams are yet to win a game, the Titans, Bucs, Rams, and Chiefs. Washington, Oakland, and Cleveland have been awful but pulled out at least one victory, somehow. You also can’t overlook Carolina or Buffalo. These teams have produced very few highlights except for the teams playing them. And the winner, or loser, however you look at it is… The St. Louis Rams. Why you ask? The Rams have scored only 34 points all year. That’s less than a touchdown a game. The defense has allowed 146 points leading to a differential of -112. That’s a lot in five games. St Louis is led by the QB tandem of Kyle Boller and Marc Bulger, which has produced only four scoring drives. The lone bright spot on offense is Stephen Jackson. The Rams rank towards the bottom of the league in many key categories, especially 3rd down conversion and giveaways. It doesn’t get much better on defense, as they rank in the bottom half of the NFL in every statistical category I saw. This proves it takes a total team effort to suck this bad. Congratulations to the St Louis Rams.

Here are the picks for the week but first check out Matt Schaub’s profile picture on NFL.com, ESPN.com, or look right. The picture says, “I just smoked a huge bowl. Where are the Cheetos?” Classic…

Bengals, Packers, Ravens, Saints, Steelers, Panthers, Chiefs, Jaguars, Cardinals, Eagles, Patriots, and Jets. The Falcons win the Sunday night tilt and San Diego in the Monday Night Football upset.

Friday, October 16, 2009

CFB Week 7 & TSS Poll

Not as many upsets this week as we have been seeing, but that does not mean our top ten doesn’t get a little shake up. A big reason for that is the injured QBs making a come back. USC is a hard team to figure out. There signature win is over Ohio St, who continues to fail to impress. Oklahoma jumps back in with Bradford back at the helm. The beauty part of our guess work this week is that some teams are going to have to prove themselves right now! USC had better do more than win. They better kick the shit out of Notre Dame to keep their lofty rating. For Oklahoma they are in a pickle. They have to beat Texas to keep BSC hopes alive. Even if you excuse them for losing to decent teams without Bradford, you can not excuse them for losing 3 times. If you’re a top 5 team, then you have to be able to survive losing your QB to BYU.



Just a side prediction here. Everyone handed Florida and Alabama trips to the SEC title game this week. But we are on the record now as saying one of those teams will not make it. Why? Because that’s how college football almost always works out. Not to take anything away from Alabama or Florida. We just believe in the system.


1. Alabama (2) 980

2. Texas 975

3. Florida 898

4. Virginia Tech 869

5. Miami 772

6. USC 713

7. Oklahoma 685

8. Ohio St. 654

9. Boise St. 626

10. Cincinnati 611


Others receiving votes TCU, Iowa, Eastern St.


So there you have it. Fire up Twitter and get involved. Agree, disagree….we don’t care. Just have the balls to say something.


Editor's Note. It's another good weekend of ball games that could shake things up. Boise St. looked average last night. Cincy looks to be in a tight battle tonight. Florida is in an interesting matchup while Va Tech and Alabama entertain AP ranked teams. Saturday will be a good day to hold the couch in place and enjoy some brews. Have fun!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

College Football Week 6

This article was posted on theSportStew.com on Oct 9th...


So here it is! The SportStew’s first college poll of the season. First of all, we only rank the top 10. Because at the end of the season, who really gives a shit who is ranked 22nd? And secondly, we actually waited a few weeks to see the teams before we jumped to conclusions. Our poll doesn’t rank based on who we think will end up somewhere or how good they can be. It’s where the teams stand now base on what they have done to this point. So injuries to star players will drop a team. And winning over sub-par teams does not climb you into our poll very fast. (You listening Penn St.)

1. Alabama (2) 988
2. Texas 973
3. Florida 923
4. LSU 811
5. Virginia Tech 754
6. USC 700
7. Ohio St. 667
8. Boise St. 613
9. Cincinnati 587
10. Miami 549

Others receiving votes TCU, Minnesota St, Iowa

So there it was. We love to scream overrated at the SEC but to this point they have the most teams that are stacked. Not the best from top to bottom necessarily, but right now the best at the top for sure. Keep an eye on Oklahoma and USC. These teams are trying to survive injuries to QBs and could jump up fast if they prove themselves.

Fire up Twitter and get involved.

Editor's Note. I like your rankings boys. No respect for Boise or TCU though. Some big matchups this week that could mix up the polls. LSU vs Florida and Alabama vs Ole Miss in the SEC. Iowa and Michigan the late night fun. Lots of game games on the tube this weekend, enjoy.

NFL Week 5

This was originally posted on theSportStew.com on October 8th...

Sorry folks, but Champ is on assignment in Iowa City for the Iowa-Michigan matchup on Saturday Night. He did send an email with his NFL picks for the week though and next week he’ll look at the cellar dwellers in the NFL and let you know who the worst team is. Champ went 9-5 on his week 4 picks and moved to 41-21 for the season. He didn’t mention anything about last week’s Game Ball or LVP so I’ll pick them.

Game Ball: Rashard Mendenhall. After being in Coach Tomlin’s doghouse and not playing a single snap last week, Mendenhall ran all over the Chargers. He gained 165 yards and scored twice.

LVP: JaMarcus Russell. Russell completed only 12 of his 33 pass attempts last week and led the Raiders to six points. This former #1 pick has completed a dismal 39.8% of his passes, has thrown for 506 yards, and one touchdown for the season. That’s pathetic.

Here are Champ’s Week 5 picks… Bills, Steelers, Cowboys, Rams, Giants, Eagles, Panthers, Ravens, Falcons, Jaguars, Texans, Patriots, Colts, and Dolphins win on Monday Night Football.

Monday, October 5, 2009

NFL Football Week 4 Picks

Didn't get this posted on the blog Saturday when we put it on the website so it's a day late

Finally, the matchup that everyone has been waiting to see is here. Minnesota vs. Green Bay. Favre vs. Rodgers. The hype is crazy. But first, let’s rewind to last week. Again Brett Favre is the story with another comeback win. I don’t think Lewis is getting enough credit for the catch. That was one hell of a grab. Farve used his twinkle toes to scramble out of the pocket and buy enough time to toss a prayer. I didn’t know he could still throw it that far. You know, he’s old now. Who won last week’s Game Ball and LVP, you ask. The Game Ball goes to the Detroit Lions, who won for the first time since December 23, 2007. It snapped their 19 game losing streak. Yeah, Lions. Next the LVP. We’re going to stick with the team theme and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the recipients. Tampa totaled 86 yards of offense, had only 5 first downs, and went 0-9 in third down situations against the Giants. Speaking of bad teams, will the Chiefs win a game this year?

Back to this week. Green Bay at Minnesota on Monday night. The key for the Packers will be stopping the run. If they can bottle up Peterson and force the Vikes to throw, it’s only a matter of time before Favre makes his patented crap throw for an interception. On the other side, expect Green Bay to struggle running the ball. The Vikings have an awesome front four. Rodgers out duels Favre in the stats game but the Vikings ride Adrian Peterson to victory and improve to 4-0.

The Sunday late afternoon schedule features a game of unbeatens, the Jets and Saints. Thunderstorms are in the forecast for New Orleans, could that be the deciding factor. The explosive Saints offense is average 40 points a game and is firing on all cylinders. The Jets feature one of the best defenses in the NFL. What gives? New York will need Mark Sanchez to manage the game very well. If the Jets can mix things up offensively and avoid turnovers they could surprise some folks. I think the Saint’s circus show of Brees and Pierre Thomas is too much and New Orleans defense will play big. Saints cover the spread and stay unbeaten.

The Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots battle in the early time slot. The Pats will rely on Tom Brady early and often. New England struggles to run the ball and Baltimore’s defense has some bad ass mofos. Wes Welker is listed as questionable and could be valuable if he’s back. The Ravens will spread the ball around. With McGahee and Ray Rice splitting carries, they always have a fresh runner in the game. Joe Flacco has shown great decision making and poise under pressure so far this season. Look for the Ravens to surprise the Foxboro crowd and sneak home with the ‘W’.

The other winners from Week 4… Redskins, Titans, Raiders, Bears, Bengals, Colts, Giants, Bills, Cowboys, Niners, and Steelers.

Editor’s Note. The NFL is sporting some pink gear for Breast Cancer Awareness. Pink cleats. Pink helmet decals. Pink goal post padding. Can’t wait to see that. Tennessee is really in a must win situation or they can kiss the playoffs good bye. Good job on your picks last week Champ. You went 11-5 and improved to 32-16 for the season. Whammy! Had to do that since you didn’t. Enjoy the games everyone.

Friday, October 2, 2009

NCAA Football Week 4 Twitter Blog


Get ready college football fans! We didn't post an article this week but will be tracking all the games as the day goes. Fire up your grill! 9:25 AM Sep 26th from web

Oh by the way...a few baseball races yet to be decided. We have an eye on that too. Go Twins!! 9:27 AM Sep 26th from web

Come on Herby! Herbstreit just locked in Alabama vs. Florida for SEC title game. Haven't we learned anything this season? 9:29 AM Sep 26th from web

Uh oh. #ESPN College Gameday just went down for 15 minutes. Those pesky drunken Penn St fans. Those dudes know how to party!! 9:42 AM Sep 26th from web

I love it! Jim Cramer from Mad Money doing a guest spot on Game Day. Which teams to sell and which teams to buy. We will add our 2 cents. 9:46 AM Sep 26th from web

@thesportstew What did Cramer pick?
10:54 AM Sep 26th from txt

Nobody. It was a shit segment. Selfless promo
for Cramer. 11:19 AM Sep 26th from web

Game Day has spent most of morning giving Joe Pa a pretty nice prostate massage. Every minute of this makes me root for Iowa that much more! 10:38 AM Sep 26th from web

Here's teams that need to be careful today or they are the upset specials. North Carolina, Boise St., and Penn St. 11:15 AM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Georgia Tech marches down the field on a 9 play scoring drive. They attempted no passes. Could be long day for the Tar Heels. 11:26 AM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

A rarity. GTech has tossed only 1 pass thru the entire 1st quarter and racked up almost 12 minutes time of possession. But only lead 7-0. 11:55 AM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Mich starts out 14-0 now tied at 14-14. Who is going to get beat today that nobody seems coming? You know it will happen. 11:58 AM Sep 26th from web

Think we'll coin this Sneaky Saturday. Ranked teams NC, Michigan, and Flor St down at half. Kansas, LSU, and Cincy in close battles also. 12:54 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

FCS #3 UNI Panthers begin their championship journey in a few minutes. 1:06 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Michigan and Florida St both in real danger of being upset! 1:44 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

LSU only leads by 3 going into 4th qtr. Another over rested SECOND team? Let's see. 1:57 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Note to football coaches...quit making it so difficult and out thinking yourself. LSU about to win due to stupid play calling. 2:49 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Miss St had 2nd and goal from the 2 and ran a passing play on 3rd down. JUST FUCKING RUN IT!!!! 2:51 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

UNI's Pat Grace should be a finalist for the Walter Payton award. That guy is all guts. 3:19 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Wow what is happening to Cal and the Canes. Both are getting spanked. He he spanked. 4:09 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Ok so a few upsets so far and a couple teams escape upset by a taint hair. Mich and LSU have smoother taints after today. 6:03 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

The upsets that everybody predicts rarely happen. Alabama proving that by taking care of Arizona. Penn St the other trendy upset pick. 6:05 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Both Twins and Tigers getting under way right now. Twins only trail by 2 games and play the Tigers 6 times in final week. 6:06 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Not to bash our beloved Hawks but these are not the games they usually win. Everyone calling for the upset here. Which spells Penn St win. 6:09 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

@thesportstew Agree. Too many folks picking
Hawks. Upset alert is BoiseSt. Simmed that game
13728 times at work today. Bowling Green won
48% 6:18 PM Sep 26th from txt

Nice call on that Boise upset. You're way off
dumbass. 8:14 PM Sep 26th from
TwitterBerry

White Sox announcers not sure why Chicago fans boo Maggs Ordonez. Ummm...cause he's a pussy! Who does roids...so I heard. 6:13 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Ouch. That's a rough start for Herky. 7:19 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Where do you go to draft receivers who can't catch? Cause Iowa was a strangle hold on that area. 7:25 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

For the love of god. Catch the FUCKING ball. 7:48 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Not going good for Iowa when Herby has to say "what a weapon" about the punter. 7:52 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Go for it Kirk. Surprise the hell out of them. 8:29 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Never mind Kirk good call on the punt. Nice flop. 8:30 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

When they run the Iowa commercial on the game, Tom Brokaw sounds drunk off his Ass. 8:30 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Now punting for Iowa....Vlade Divac. 8:32 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Iowa takes a haymaker from Penn St early but still standing and fighting. 8:41 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Tebow new Heisman favorite due to sympathy vote after getting smashed. DAMN. 8:50 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Too bad Illinois didn't play the game with the same enthusiasm they had before the game. Enough with the pregame fake fights! 8:52 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Why couldn't we get Erin Andrews in the rain? Could've been magical. 9:16 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Why does the Penn St crowd sound like a soccer crowd whenever they have a good play? They keep singing some chant. Must be the booze. 9:23 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Iowa looking to upset another top 5 team. Doing it with special teams and D. So ugly to watch it’s almost beautiful. 10:00 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Twins and Tigers both win tonight. Tigers still lead division by 2. Going to be a fun last week in the AL Central. 10:04 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

To Arthur! 10:08 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

WOHOOOOO. I think we called this Thur. Check the tweets baby. The stadium empties pretty fast. Sorry Joe. 10:20 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Editor's Note. You did call that. Here is the
tweet...College #Gameday + Happy Valley +
Beaver Stadium + white out + night game =
Upset special, Hawkeyes beat overranked
Lions AGAIN! 12:33 AM Sep 24th from
TwitterBerry

Total dismantling of Penn St. Who's next? 10:23 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

Kirk Ferentz post game quote of the day. "Crap." 10:28 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

So what's the upset nobody saw coming. I have to go with the thugs from Oregon kicking the shit out of Cal. 10:47 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

@thesportstew Ducks win is huge. Close
second is the Hawkeyes pounding JoePa.
10:54 PM Sep 26th from txt

So how overrated is the SEC? Well, how about 2 words. A lot. Is that 2 words? 10:56 PM Sep 26th from TwitterBerry

New Heisman frontrunner is Houston's Case Keenum. What a freakin game! 12:03 AM Sep 27th from TwitterBerry

Hey it's called football. Let's not line up to give Tebow blowjobs. Hope he's OK though. 12:24 AM Sep 27th from TwitterBerry

I would be excited that Mark and Lou just out Iowa in their top 5. But they also put Boise St and Houston in. Do these dip shits really vote? 12:36 AM Sep 27th from TwitterBerry

Editor's Note. Looks like you guys had fun and maybe a couple of beers. Your spelling sucks boys. Somehow you failed to mention a couple of tidbits all day. Oregon went with a retro uniform. It was from their 1995 Rose Bowl season, I hear. The Georgia Bulldogs come from behind to win. How could you not bring up Gene Chizik's unbeaten Auburn Tigers? Good material to rub in Cyclown fans' noses. Tell me again why he would stay in Ames? He's not stupid.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Cyclone Crunch










Reommendation to Fans: Eat Cyclown Crunch out of the box, as it's nearly impossible to get it into a Bowl. The FDA warns that there is a serious risk of choking, especially towards the end of the box.