Monday, January 15, 2007

NFL Playoff preview

NFL Game Preview

New Orleans Saints 24
Chicago Bears 14

New England 31
Indianapolis 27

College Hoops

It’s been a long while since I’ve been online here. Sports hasn’t stopped without me, and the number one story while I was away? For me, it was the Notre Dame loss in the Sugar Bowl. My hatred for them Irish runs deep. Ohio State and Michigan were able to prove just how overrated the Big 10 really is. Amazing ending to the college football season. Nothing makes the southern heart swell like watching a bunch of overmatched northern Yankees like Ohio State get pounded by some southern Florida speed. Greatness.

Our focus must now shift, however, as football begins to wind down. Upcoming is the meat of the college basketball season. Conference games have begun in earnest, and the only clear thing at this point of the season is that college basketball is down. Way down. It’s clearly lightyears behind their counterparts on the gridiron as far as massive casual fan interest. And why not? The teams rosters flip flop like pancakes on a Sunday at Waffle House. The teams with season, experienced players are Nevada, Air Force, or South-western-Idaho State Tech. The point being, without marquee teams having marquee players playing in marquee games, the sport as a whole will suffer.

But what about Florida, Andy???? They brought back their entire starting lineup from the national championship team. Florida just may be the shot in the arm the sport needs. We need a team to dominate a season. Each sport needs its Yankees – that team which can contend every year and give other teams a model to shoot for. In college hoops, there are no traditional powers with great rivalries. The players don’t stay around long enough to create great matchups year in and year out. Even the greatest game in the sport, Duke vs. North Carolina, has been a yawner over the past few years, as the Heels and Devils can recreate those magic games of the early 90’s.

There is no consistency, no tradition. The sport is in dire straights, with the ratings and attendance dropping year after year. Unless schools and coaches get together to work out a way to rebuild the traditions and excellence that was college hoops of the 80’s and 90’s, the trends will continue. Football keeps players for 3 years. Even baseball, once a recruit commits to a school, keeps players that minimum of 3 years. With the great talent in college bball jumping ship after just one year now, the marquee names and players will continue to head to the pros, and college hoops fans will continue in languish in what is quickly deteriorating showing in college hoops.