Tuesday, November 20, 2012

11/19: Everything!

Greetings everyone... My apologies for yesterday (re: migraines) and let's get it going!
  • College Football Notes - K-State and Oregon both fell over the weekend. I wasn't shocked by either one, as Baylor's offense is prolific and Stanford is a legitimate opponent. That said, the focus now shifts to Notre Dame as they take on USC this weekend in the coliseum. Matt Barkley is out for USC, however, so any visions of Irish-haters that saw ND taking a loss take a big hit. The new "opponent" for Notre Dame? The winner of Georgia-Alabama in the SEC Title Game as long as both teams take care of their in-state rivals. 
  • NFL Notes - New England's offense is incredible. 59 points is 59 points. One note is that Rob Gronkowski broke his arm and will miss a month. Does that hurt this juggernaut? The Falcons won... despite a 5-INT disaster of a performance from Matt Ryan. The lesson as always is that Arizona's offense is laughable. Robert Griffin III went 14-15 for 4 TDs, and tied Steve Young's NFL record for completion percentage. He's good. And finally, Baltimore squeaked out a win over the Leftwich-led Steelers. It was a typical bloodbath in this series. Moving on.
  • Maryland and Rutgers are reportedly joining the Big 10. I personally hate this as a Big 10 guy, simply because the "markets" they are acquiring are more fictional in nature than anything, and both Maryland programs (basketball and football) are in the tank compared to normal levels. I actually think Rutgers may be the better get here, but any "conference" affiliations that everyone grew up with are virtually gone at this point.
  • Monday Night Football was basically the Colin Kaepernick show last night. The rookie QB led San Fran to a 32-7 drubbing of the previously dominant Bears defense, and posted a QBR of 97.5, which was the best by a rookie in his debut ever. I don't think it's too much of an indictment of Chicago, but they do look like a lost team with Jason Campbell at the helm. The biggest question coming out of this one? Who is the San Francisco's QB?
  • The Hawks beat the Magic 81-72 last night. I have a few sorted thoughts, but I'm trying not to go into crazy depth. First, I've never seen Josh Smith play a worse 6 minutes of basketball than he did to open the game. 0-3 FG, 0-2 FT (including a ghastly airball) and 2 turnovers in the frame, and it looked even worse. Orlando's offense is historically bad, and they don't have a single guy who can create his own shot effectively. And finally, Al Horford is the best player on the Atlanta Hawks. Done and done. 
  • NBA Round-up - David West put up 30 points and 8 rebounds to lead the offensively-challenged Pacers to a win over hapless (0-9) Washington. Indy is still 5-7, but wins over Washington aren't too exciting. I may have to eat some crow over Charlotte at some point... I bashed them continuously in the preseason, but after a 5-4 start and another win over Milwaukee, I'm starting to think they aren't as dreadful as it seems. The key? They are playing hard. And finally, the Clippers went on the road and toppled San Antonio 92-87. It may be a match-up thing for LAC, but this is their 2nd win over SA and they've looked good doing it. Chris Paul led the way with 19 and 8. 
What to watch for on Tuesday...
  • 8:00 - Boise State @ #21 Michigan State - BTN - Bad college hoops!
  • 10:30 - Nets @ Lakers - NBA-TV - Brooklyn is 6-2 despite being underwhelming at times. I'm interested to see how Brook Lopez holds his own against that massive LA front-court. 
Enjoy, even on a slow night!

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