Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Sports Blog Net

Sports Blog Net

Week 1 College Football Upsets to Watch Out For

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 12:30 PM PDT

In addition to my picks of the week entries, I will also be publishing my weekly upsets to watch out for again in 2011.  While the first week is traditionally characterized by a bunch of blowouts, I have provided you with some upsets that could definitely happen this weekend. The lines below are ordered from smallest underdog to largest, and the value in each parentheses represents the number of points by which each team is currently an underdog according to the World Sports Exchange. Ole Miss (+3.0) vs. BYU- The Cougars are the much better squad of the two, but you never know how BYU will react to playing a cross country, early season road game against an SEC foe. Northwestern (+3.0) at Boston College- I have the Wildcats ranked much higher than the Eagles in my preseason rankings, and the only reason I didn't include this game in my weekly top ten picks is because the Wildcats have struggled in road openers in each of the past four seasons.  They failed to cover the spread in each of those games, and last year they almost lost to a very bad Vandy team.  Still, the Wildcats are the more experienced and talented team and I think they may very well find a way to win this one. Baylor (+5.5) vs. TCU- The Frogs hammered the Bears last season, but no one's quite sure just how far TCU has fallen since last year's magical Rose Bowl run.  TCU has lost a lot of players from 2010 and taking a young team on the road for the season opener to play against the most athletic quarterback in the country (Robert Griffin) may come back to haunt them.     Colorado (+7.0) at Hawaii- The Buffaloes aren't going to be very good this year, so typically I wouldn't give them a very good chance of crossing the Pacific to play a road game against Hawaii.  However, the Rainbow Warriors may also be slightly down this year and with news just coming in that two of their starters have been suspended following an ugly off the field incident, this game could get very interesting. Double-Digit Longshot Pick of the Week # 1: Fresno State (+10.0) at Cal- See my analysis for this game in my picks of the week entry below. Longshot Pick of the Week # 2: South Florida (+10.0) at Notre Dame- I personally don't think either of these teams are worthy of the preseason hype they are getting.  I don't believe USF is a legitimate Big East title contender and I don't think ND is a legitimate BCS bowl contender.  Nevertheless, if South Florida is as good as people think they may be and B.J. Daniels plays as well he is capable of playing, the Irish's "dream season" could be derailed before it even gets started.

Arian Foster Torn Hamstring Rumor

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 10:46 AM PDT

There has been a vicious rumor going around that Arian Foster has a torn hamstring.  That would seriously put a damper on many a fantasy football manager's season.  It turns out that Foster will be fine.  At least that is what he is saying on Twitter.  He tweeted the results of his MRI and assured everyone that he will be fine.  Besides, the Texans wouldn't allow him to run at practice if he had a torn hammy and that is exactly what he has been doing on the side.  Keep drafting him in the first round as you normally would.  Just remember that Foster no longer has Vonta Leach, AKA the best run blocking fullback in the league, blocking for him.

For “Big Poison,” Only Clean Hits Allowed

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 06:35 AM PDT

Of all the stone cold hitters to ever wear a Pittsburgh Pirates' uniform, none was more deadly than Paul "Big Poison" Waner. Part of my duties as a PNC Park tour guide is to take visitors out onto the warning track where we show them the retired names and numbers of all the great Pirates' The further back in time you go, the less well known the player is. In old timers' cases, that's a shame. With his brother Lloyd "Little Poison," the Waners grew up on an Oklahoma farm and learned to hit by using corncob balls and two by fours or tree branches for bats. In 1923 Waner dropped out East Central University, a teachers' college, and headed to San Francisco to play for the Seals in the Pacific Coast League. As Waner recalled, "They just let me hit and hit and hit and I really belted the ball." During each of his three San Francisco years, Waner batter over .350. By 1926, when Waner was 22, the Pittsburgh Pirates purchased his contract for $40,000 and put him in the outfield. In his rookie year playing outfield ( he had done some pitching in the minors), Waner batted .326 and lead the league in triples. The next year, with "Little Poison" on the team, the Pirates won the pennant. The brothers combined for 460 hits and Paul was named the National League Most Valuable Player. "Big Poison" played for the Pirates until 1940. After his release, Waner had stints with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Braves and the New York Yankees. Perhaps one of the most memorable moments in Paul's career came when he had 2,999 hits. Playing for the Braves on June 19, 1942, Waner hit a shot off his old teammate Rip Sewell that shortstop Alf Anderson couldn't handle. When the official scorer called it a hit, Waner frantically waved to the press box to signal that he didn't want number 3,000 to be tainted. The scorer reversed his decision and in the fifth inning, Waner hit a clean single to center to notch his historic 3,000th.  At the time, Waner was only the sixth player to reach that magic number. Paul (3,152) and Lloyd (2,459) hold the career record for hits by brothers (5,611), outpacing the three Alous (5,094): Felipe (2,101), Matty (1,777) and Jesús (1,216) and the three DiMaggios (4,853): Joe (2,214), Dom (1,680) and Vince (959). Waner, number 11 for the Pirates, retired with a career batting average and on base percentage of .333 and .404. The Hall of Fame induced Waner in 1952 and his brother Lloyd in 1967.
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