College Football Week 3

YES! YES! YES! Thank you college football gods! I loved it all. Give me more…please. Just when we think we know something about college football, we are reminded that we don’t know jack shit. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Let’s recap last week’s games, shall we. The game of hyped game of the week lived up to its billing more or less. USC vs. Ohio St. was fairly uneventful for 3 and a half quarters. And only become intriguing when you started thinking, “wow Ohio St is finally going to do it”. Whoops. For most of the game Ohio St pushed USC around and appeared just as fast and Big 10 football was back damn it! Then Kid Barkley jammed his Trojans down the throat of Ohio St. for the climax. The game will be remembered for the drive and everyone exclaiming Barkley just grew up before our eyes. Whoa…slow down experts. It’s only his 2nd game. And neither team was that impressive. I don’t see USC steam rolling the Pac 10 at all. There are some speed bumps out there. I would predict at least one conference loss for the Trojans and maybe two.

The real game of the week (as predicted) was Notre Dame vs. Michigan. They actually had scoring in this one. Back and forth with lead changes and come backs and then another come back. Once again, let’s wait and see what we’ve got before we pronounce either of these teams back. Two things are for sure. Michigan has some athletes compared to last years team and is much improved. Big 10 defensive coordinators shit themselves when they saw this game. And two…Notre Dame was…say it with me now…O…VER...RA…TED! Relax Notre Dame fans, you have plenty of cream puffs on the schedule to get to a winning season.

The shocker of the week though was Houston whipping up on Oklahoma St. Anyone see the cover to SI last week? Yep, Oklahoma St. on the cover and an article saying it was their time. Why? Because they beat Georgia who was over ranked at 20, 21, or whatever. Have a mentioned how much I hate preseason polls? This is why the first 4 to 5 weeks of the season kick ass. We get to find out what everyone really has. Not what the so called experts say, but get your ass on the field and prove it.

Ok, on to week 3. The Thursday and Friday games are very interesting. Something about these nights always have games that are wild and come right down to the finish. Georgia Tech vs. Miami might be game of the week material. One thing is for sure; the winner of this comes out with some momentum and can be considered a contender for the conference title. Miami is one of those teams everyone wants to proclaim as “back”. A win here goes a long ways to make that claim legitimate.

A Friday night game this week! And it’s Boise St. vs. Fresno St. May not sound like much, but Boise is one of those teams that everyone has already thrown into the BCS hunt based off one win over Oregon. Fresno St. is always tough and serves as a real threat to crash the dream season for Boise. I personally don’t find Boise St. to be the cute Cinderella Team anymore and hope they get punked by a couple smaller schools that they seem do be looking down their noses at. Go Bulldogs!!

Along the same lines of season on the line every week is BYU. Florida St. comes to town for a very interesting game. BYU is still riding high from the Oklahoma win, but if you want to back up that #7 rating, you have to beat down Florida St. at home. I love Bobby Bowden for taking this game and for that reason I’m rooting for him. Basically I’m rooting for the small schools to get the Hell out of the way and let the big boys play all the BSC games this year. But if BYU wins convincingly, it makes for a really interesting season.

Tennessee goes to Florida and you have to assume this is where Lane Kiffin starts paying for shooting his mouth off all season. Florida should win easily and everyone will start talking about going undefeated. But I say even with a win, Florida hasn’t beaten anyone yet. We don’t know how good they are. And someone tell me why we have handed Tim Tebow the best player ever award? More to come on that topic in following weeks.

Then there is Texas Tech vs. Texas. The Longhorns have become the favorite team of The Sports Stew, and this game has pay back written all over it. While it looks like Texas should win easily, that style of offense played by Tech is just tough for some teams. Texas got off to a slow start last week against Wyoming and can’t afford to do it again this week. I think Texas will make this game personal and take care of business.

Just remember, the Big Game in college football is the one nobody seems coming. The Sports Stew will be on Twitter keeping an eye out for the game that sneaks up on everyone. And as always, feel free to join the discussion with us on Twitter.

Editor's Note. We'll be tweeting from the Arizona at Iowa Football game. Game kicks off at 2:35 CST on ABC. Tailgate begins at 5:30am. Follow along at twitter.com/thesportstew for hourly updates.

UFC Fight Night Diaz vs. Guillard

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights kicks off tomorrow but not before another installment of UFC Fight Night Live. The show is live on Spike TV and is tipping the scales in Oklahoma City. Noticed that Dana White is giving away some free tickets on Twitter. I always enjoy the Fight Night shows as they seem to showcase some alums for the Ultimate Fighter series as well as other up-n-comers. Enough small talk, chug a couple beers, enjoy the fights, and here's the winners... RESULTS added Sept. 17th...

Jensen def. Steinbeiss TKO
Larson def. Pierce by Choke PIERCE
Stephens def Buchholz by TKO
Stout def Nover by TKO CANCELLED

Silva def Dollaway by TKO DOLLAWAY
Wilson def Pyle by Split Dec PYLE
Canwell def Stann by TKO STANN

Quarry def Credeur by Arm Bar
Condit def Ellenberger by Choke
Maynard def Huerta by Split Dec
Diaz def Guillard by Triangle

Wow! The televised fights were great. I'm still laughing about Guillard playin hurt and then falling right into the guillotine choke. That was classic. Guillard did too much dancing around. He was killing Diaz and probably would have knocked him out. They needed to do a better job of smack talking too. Again the fights that aired on Spike TV were awesome to watch. Back and forth, bombs, knockdowns, and submission attempts. I guess Nover has a seizure in the locker room and his bout with Sam Stout was cancelled. Hope he's O.K. I can't believe that Brain Stann beat Cantwell. It's even less believable that he won a decision. Stann somehow went the distance. Congrats but I need to see that fight to confirm it. I'm protesting it until them. We went 6-5 on out predictions for the night and improved out record to 17-16 since UFC 101. It's gonna get better but it proves you never know what might happen in MMA; or we don't know shit. The second is more likely. See ya next time.

NFL Week 1

Whammy! It’s the moment all of us have been waiting on, opening week of the NFL. Everybody has a chance to see your team make the playoffs and possibly the Super Bowl. Well for you Lions fans, your team is still mathematically alive anyway. There are many, many questions that need answered during the upcoming season, as always. Will the rookies Sanchez, Stafford, or Knowshon make any impact? Lots of big names changed teams over the summer. Do Favre, Cutler, or T.O. have what it takes make their new teams title contenders? Or what about the injury bug? How did Carson Palmer or Brady heal up during the off season? And that finally brings us to Vick. Will the Eagles play “Who let the Dogs out?” during their games? Tasteless I know.

Week 1 will kick off in a few short hours and the NFL schedulers gave up a dandy to open with. The Titans are visiting Heinz Field, where LenDale White stomped on the Terrible Towel last year and I believe it was Jevon Kearse, who acted like he was blowing his nose on that precious little towel. Expect a fired up crowd and a great game. Rashard Mendenhall should see some quality minutes and he might start pushing Willie Parker for the stating job. It's only a matter of time. I have the Steelers winning a close battle.

Sunday includes some nice divisional battles and matchups of potential playoff teams. A couple of games that I find interesting. Arizona hosts the Niners. Every year San Fran looks like they have a decent team and every year they disappoint. This could be the year. Gore should be a monster if he can stay healthy. Hopefully Crabtree will grow up and sign. Arizona and Kurt Warner have tons of pressure on them to repeat last year's performance. Who doesn’t like to watch Fitzgerald? That dude catches everything thrown his way. Add in Beanie Wells. My opinion is that Warner goes down early, or plays like shit, and Matt Leinart leads the Cards to a comeback victory.

The other can't miss game is the Bears and Packers. Some future superstars get to showcase their talents. Jay Cutler reminds me of Jim McMahon from the old days. Arrogant, pompous, and good. Personally, I think Cutler is a huge cry baby and I love to route against that asshole; but now that he’s a Bear, Cutler probably is just misunderstood. I have to like that schmoe now. Look for a shootout with Rogers, Jennings, and Forte all having big games. The Packers pull away at the end, thanks in part to numerous Cutler interceptions.

The other winners on Sunday will include the Dolphins, Vikings, Colts, Saints, Bucs, Eagles, Ravens, Jets, Giants, and Seahawks. The Bengals are lead to victory by Mr. Media Slore, Chad Ochocinco, who then gets fined for violating the dress code by dying his arm hair orange.

I just noticed we also get the double dip for Monday Night Football. Oh, wait, one game has the Raiders in it. New England and San Diego pick up wins on Monday.

Editor's Note. Wanted to add a couple things. That was the best Vick joke you could come up with, Champ? Weak buddy, pretty weak. What makes the NFL fun is that you never know what a team has at the beginning. Some team always comes out of nowhere to surprise folks. This year its San Francisco. By the way, forget about the punting crisis in the Cowboy's new stadium, they have bigger problems. What is a slore? The Leinenkugel's Lock of the week. Ben did it. Notice he's growing his hair out. Starting to get those little curls in the back. Stubble. He reminds me of Luke Duke. And he was always up to no good. Enjoy the games.

College Football Week 2

Here we go with week 2 of the college football season and there is already plenty of intrigue and BS to go around. So here it is in whatever random order it jumps into my head.

I loved that BYU pulled off the upset and punked Oklahoma. Damn! Why didn’t I have the balls to call for that upset? So they beat them with Bradford on the bench most of the game. But I thought Oklahoma had the biggest bad ass defense in the country. All those future NFL stars couldn’t stop BYU when they needed to? At least Bobby Stoops gets an early start on his bitching and whining routine to get back into the BCS title game. Come on Bobby; tell us how it’s not fair to your team. On the other side, what is the freaking deal with BYU jumping 11 spots? For one win over a team with no QB???

So I was way off on the Notre Dame game. This week they play Michigan and I think Big Blue is a little pissed off. Pissed because they sucked last year. Pissed because there coach cries. And pissed because some freshman punk is apparently a rat that didn’t want to practice. For some crazy reason I like Michigan here. Probably blinded by Notre Dame hatred. ND has to win more than one game to win me over. This is the game I want to see the most this week. Everyone else is on the USC vs. Ohio St as game of the week, but I can’t wait to see the over-reaction from ND vs. Michigan. The winner will be yelling BCS and the loser will want their coach fired. What could be better?

I have absolutely no feel for the USC vs. Ohio St game. I just can’t get a good read. I’m a Big 10 guy at heart but can’t stand Ohio St. These guys dodge bullets from the NCAA like Plaxico Burress dodges them from himself (I know that wasn’t very funny but I’m under a dead line here). And it’s just hard to believe a true freshman can go into the Horse Shoe and win. I guess I have to go with the boys from The Ohio Penal System. They played the better team last week and probably are better for it.

Editor's Note. Wow Dr. Rosenrosen, you hit the nail on the head on the Michigan-ND game. If the Irish win, get ready for the Loe Holtz shit storm all week. Let's hope the Wolverines win big. Even thought the Trojans have to better team talent wise, Tyrelle Pryor will be a Heisman candidate after this week. Bobby Stoopes makes me laugh.

Now for a rant. I’ve been hearing all preseason how great Florida is but you can’t expect them to go undefeated because their schedule is sooo tough. Really??? LSU and Georgia are the only ranked teams on the schedule. And Georgia is hanging on for dear life at 21. Penn State takes all the shit for the easy schedule but look at Florida’s first two games. Charleston Southern and Troy are not exactly much of a work out for the supposed best team in the land. And I’m less and less impressed with the SEC after a closer look. Florida doesn’t play Ole Miss this year and Tennessee can’t be too great in the 3rd week of the season. Hopefully they don’t let Lane Kiffin drive the team bus or they’ll go to the wrong stadium. Ever see a guy make so many mistakes in an off season?

The fun thing is, there will be a game or two or three that will change the season for some school. Somebody with slim BCS hopes will lose and bring the season to a crashing end just like that. So lookout BYU and Boise St. You’re on thin ice.

Clemson and Georgia Tech play Thursday and Thursday games are almost always good. So don’t get so taken by beginning of the NFL season that you forget to check on that game. By the way…Thursday is a great night to get into your underwear, make some popcorn, put the six pack beside the lounger, and blow the fan right on you while you watch all the sports. NFL, College Football, and MLB division races all in one night. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Editor's Note, again.Did you know that Florida was a 70 point favorite in the opening week. They didn't cover, only won by 62. Dr. Rosenbag, you left out a huge matchup with major implications. Iowa St. hosts Iowa in a battle for the Cy Hawk Trophy. This also features unbeaten teams. The Hawks either win big, win close, or loose. It should be an ass kickin' but Hawk fans are always prepared to be disappointed.

College Football Week 1

The College football season is finally here and what an opening night we had Thursday. If you like loud mouth jack asses that don’t play worth a shit, and then take their frustrations on opposing players, teammates, and fans…then the Oregon Ducks are your team. Let’s get back to the ridiculous events after the game later. This was billed as the premiere match up to kick off the season. And it did have the making to be. Not only are both teams ranked, but they clearly don’t like each other. Or at least the Ducks don’t like Boise St. Why would they? The little guys keep beating up the big boys. So Boise St. wins and everyone is talking about the little guys going on an undefeated run and Oregon’s offense isn’t really that bad and that little tiff after the game. Whoa whoa whoa….slow down gang. Boise St. is going to go undefeated? Robert Smith on ESPN said he would be shocked if they did not win the rest of their games. Why? Because they beat an Oregon team that was way overrated at 16. I don’t recall the last time I saw a team play worse than Oregon did in the first half, and Boise only beat them 19-8. That’s hardy an ass kicking.

First prediction of the season… Boise State will not go undefeated and will not play in a BSC bowl game. I thought both teams only helped to promote my thought that preseason polls are a joke! I know, I know….it’s only week 1. And defenses are ahead of the offense. And both teams will look better next week. Well, we’ll see. Boise has games against Fresno St. and Nevada that are not easy wins. And they go to Hawaii which is always tough for that conference. So let’s not put them in a BCS bowl game just yet.

Oregon on the other hand sucks! They have to improve a lot to play and win in the Pac 10. The experts have to stop handing out lofty rankings and high praise based off what teams did the year before. This is college football and the turnover of players is rapid and drastic every year. In other words, this is not last year’s high scoring Oregon team. This is this year’s team with a lack of direction and a bad attitude. I heard Mel Kiper make the argument that Blount was maybe the 3rd best back in the country. Blount had 8 carries for a negative 5 yards. God I hope that’s not the 3rd best back in the country! And then there was the total meltdown after the game by Blount. I’m already tired of hearing about and hearing his weak ass promise to turnover a new leaf. If Oregon wanted to salvage any respect what so ever they have to suspend that idiot for the season.

This just in…Oregon idiot suspended for season.

Editor's Note...For the record Dr. Rosenrosen, it was a good punch and he waited just until the Boise guy wasn't looking. LeGarrette Blount deserved the suspension he received. The sad part is that Mr, and I use that term loosely, Blount is a senior and his college career is over. He was an NFL prospect. The Oregon coach stated that Blount will continue to attend classes and practice with...wait, attend classes? I will bet anything that this fool wont attend classes the rest of the season. Did you hear him talk? Enough said. On a side note, according to college football insiders, this game had MAJOR BCS implications. What do you think Dr. Rosenpenis?

I would love to comment on the South Carolina and NC State game but I fell asleep early in the 2nd qtr. What’s that? SC won 7-3? Wow, that Spurrier really can coach em up. But just remember, top to bottom the SEC is the best conference….whatever.

Ok, on to Saturdays games and what we’re watching for….Everyone will tell you the game of the week is Georgia and Oklahoma St. Big 12 vs. SEC. Oklahoma St is going to win this game and then all the Big 12 fans will go crazy about how they are the better conference…and maybe they’ll be right. Too early to tell.

I have a feeling the Big 12 will be kept in check just a bit when Oklahoma squeaks one out over BYU. I’m telling you it will be close. I just have that feeling. Then we will have to endure the, “what’s wrong with Oklahoma” talk for a week.

Alabama and Va. Tech will be a close runner up for the game that gets most hype this week. I don’t know much about what either team brings back this year, but I can tell you this…I will be rooting for Va. Tech like I was born and raised in the hills of Virginia. Can’t stand Nick Bear Bryant Sabin or arrogant Bama fans that think as soon as they win a game, they should be in top 5. Plus Bama is second only to one team for having any win more over blown and shooting them up the polls. And that team is….Notre Dame. Duh.

Speaking of Notre Dame, I can’t wait to see Nevada stroll into Notre Dames home turf and beat them down. All this talk about how improved Notre Dame is makes me ill. Last I saw of them, they were in a bowl game they didn’t deserve to be in and getting beat! Why does everyone think ND is suddenly so improved? Their record may be better this year, but playing a weaker schedule does not make you a better team.

Prediction #2…Calling for the straight out upset here. Nevada beats Notre Dame and ESPN fires Lou Holtz for predicting ND would play in BSC title game.

Oh by the way…Florida State plays Miami Monday night. Remember when this was the game of the year? Me too….but just barely.

Editor's Note, again...Sorry. Wanted to agree with Dr. Roseypalmer on a couple things. Sabin = crook. Only a matter of time before he gets caught. Lou Holtz. Come on ESPN, how long do we have to suffer by listening to his crazy, slobbery talk. Game of the Week is the Monday nighter. Miami will show they are a team to be reckoned with and demolish the overrated Seminoles. What will make this game great is the Hurricanes will have 11 unsportsmanlike penalties like the Cane juggernauts of old. 2 words. Jacory. Harris.