Lately there has been alot of discussion about what is the biggest rivalry in all of sports. There are several options here are just a few that are usually considered to be at the top of the list: New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox(MLB), LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics(NBA), Duke vs UNC (Men's hoops), Michigan vs Ohio State(NCAAFB), Green Bay Packers vs Chicago Bears(NFL), Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs(NHL), Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer(Pro Tennis), Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson(PGA), Tennessee Lady Vols vs UCONN Lady Huskies(Women's hoops), and last but not least Auburn vs. Alabama(NCAAFB).
What sparked this blog entry was a conversation between me and my Uncle last night that he said to never discuss while playing poker. The UNC Duke game was on and of course Dickie V was ranting about how it is the biggest rivalry in all of sports. Without a doubt it is important for the 8 mile stretch of bragging rights, but in no way shape or form is it even close to the biggest rivalry in ALL of sports. In my opinion Auburn vs. Alabama or any NCAAFB in state rivalry is a much bigger rivalry than any sport where you could potentially play up to 4 times a season. How is it possible for a rivalry to be bigger than one that has so much on the line? No matter if you agree or disagree with the BCS system it typically ends up putting the 2 best teams together at the end of the season; meanwhile, college basketball is more about who gets hot for a 6 game stretch at the end of a season. For instance, the Tennessee men's basketball team is currently (15-9) with 7 games to go. What if they were currently (0-24), lost their last 7, finish winless, then go and win the SEC Tournament to get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and end up winning that as well with a record of (10-31). Does this make them the best team in all of the land? Probably not. So how does this tie in to the biggest rivalry in sports you ask? The point I am trying to get across is that no rivalry even compares to the magnitude of Auburn vs Alabama. It's just not logical to think that anything can compare when you play 10 times a year and in the end it has no relevance in your teams final standing; moreover, when Alabama and Auburn play the loser is done, their hopes of winning a SEC crown or national title are finished. Let's say Duke sweeps UNC this season, but UNC goes out and wins the ACC tournament. Does this make UNC the best team in the ACC? Probably not.
Ok I'm done ranting on this one, I want to hear your opinions because I know everyone has a different standing on this issue.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Season saver?
Well it's been a while since my last post and a lot has been going on throughout UT and the NFL. The UT men finally got their first SEC win on Saturday and luckily we decided to attend. As far as the NFL goes my playoff picks have basically all been wrong except picking the Steelers to win it all. I probably should have had a few more posts considering Knoxville has been snowed in for 3 plus days, but like a lot of people, I didn't feel like doing anything either. I have a big interview with the Tennessee PGA on Wednesday and that's where most of my time has been focused. The start of 2011 has been interesting and the sports world started off with a bang by Auburn defeating Oregon to claim the BCS National Championship. The game didn't produce all the scoring that many experts thought it would(the over/under was 74.5), but in my opinion it was the best national championship game since Texas upset USC a few years ago.
2011 has been a rough start for the men's basketball team; however, they did get their first SEC win on Saturday against Vandy and it was a big one. Bruce Pearl quoted in the News Sentinel that the game was a must win and the team delivered after a horrible start by only scoring 8 points in the first 14 minutes or so of the first half. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed at half time and thought the team had thrown in the towel, but luckily they proved me wrong. The game was a great one to see in person and as of now we hold the title as the best NCAA team in the state with a record of (6-0) against in state opponents. With victories over UT-Martin, Belmont, Memphis, Vanderbilt, MTSU, and UT-Chattanooga I think it is pretty clear who has the best program in the state and this should help with our in-state recruiting. Despite the great win I was very disappointed with our fan base throughout the game. We had around 10 football recruits and college gameday in attendance for the game. Even though there were several questionable calls throughout the game, I think it hurts our recruiting efforts when the fan base boos their own team. What recruit honestly wants to go to a school only to be booed if they are having a bad game? I know I wouldn't. Oh well, I think the basketball team kept their hopes of a NCAA tournament birth alive with this win, and hopefully this propels them to a win over UGA tomorrow night in Athens to bring their conference record back to .500.
Before I go I want to address the NFL playoffs. In the NFC the 2 representatives both come from the NFC North with the Chicago Bears hosting the Green Bay Packers. The Packers have found a running game that was virtually non-existent all season and now look unstoppable on offense. The Bears did look good against the Seahawks, but I think the Seahawks upsetting the Saints was a fluke game and they showed their true colors this past weekend. Given that Soldier Field is a very tough place to go on the road and win, I just don't see the Bears defense being able to slow down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense right now. Final score 27-17 Packers. In the AFC we have the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the New York Jets. I am sticking to my guns in this one and saying the Steelers will continue to roll. The Jets did surprise me by playing stellar d and getting some nice quarterback play out of Mark Sanchez on Sunday night in New England. I think this will be an ugly game and that's just how Pittsburgh likes it. Steelers defense holds off Sanchez and the Jets 17-13.
I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say about the basketball team and your predictions for the games coming up this weekend.
2011 has been a rough start for the men's basketball team; however, they did get their first SEC win on Saturday against Vandy and it was a big one. Bruce Pearl quoted in the News Sentinel that the game was a must win and the team delivered after a horrible start by only scoring 8 points in the first 14 minutes or so of the first half. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed at half time and thought the team had thrown in the towel, but luckily they proved me wrong. The game was a great one to see in person and as of now we hold the title as the best NCAA team in the state with a record of (6-0) against in state opponents. With victories over UT-Martin, Belmont, Memphis, Vanderbilt, MTSU, and UT-Chattanooga I think it is pretty clear who has the best program in the state and this should help with our in-state recruiting. Despite the great win I was very disappointed with our fan base throughout the game. We had around 10 football recruits and college gameday in attendance for the game. Even though there were several questionable calls throughout the game, I think it hurts our recruiting efforts when the fan base boos their own team. What recruit honestly wants to go to a school only to be booed if they are having a bad game? I know I wouldn't. Oh well, I think the basketball team kept their hopes of a NCAA tournament birth alive with this win, and hopefully this propels them to a win over UGA tomorrow night in Athens to bring their conference record back to .500.
Before I go I want to address the NFL playoffs. In the NFC the 2 representatives both come from the NFC North with the Chicago Bears hosting the Green Bay Packers. The Packers have found a running game that was virtually non-existent all season and now look unstoppable on offense. The Bears did look good against the Seahawks, but I think the Seahawks upsetting the Saints was a fluke game and they showed their true colors this past weekend. Given that Soldier Field is a very tough place to go on the road and win, I just don't see the Bears defense being able to slow down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense right now. Final score 27-17 Packers. In the AFC we have the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the New York Jets. I am sticking to my guns in this one and saying the Steelers will continue to roll. The Jets did surprise me by playing stellar d and getting some nice quarterback play out of Mark Sanchez on Sunday night in New England. I think this will be an ugly game and that's just how Pittsburgh likes it. Steelers defense holds off Sanchez and the Jets 17-13.
I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say about the basketball team and your predictions for the games coming up this weekend.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
nfl pick 'em
Well it's finally NFL playoff time again and today I'm going to be posting my predictions for the playoff season. Even though my Titans didn't make it at least they still have a coach as of today. Let's start with the AFC.
The first game in the AFC is the 3 seed Colts vs the 6 seeded wild card Jets. This should be a very interesting game and rematch from last years playoff game. The Colts have had a very up and down season, mainly from Peyton's inconsistent play and a team plagued by injuries. I think the Jets win this year in a close one. I realize it is hard to pick against Peyton Manning at home, but I think losing Dallas Clark early in the season really hurt the Colts since he was Peyton's security blanket. Jets will pull this one out in a close one 21-17.
Now to the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. Baltimore loaded up this past season by adding wide receiver studs Anquan Boldin and T.J Houshmandzadeh and it has paid dividends for quarterback Joe Flacco who has completed 62.6% of his passes throwing for 25 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. The Ravens also have an outstanding rushing attack lead by Ray Rice and Willis Mcgahee. Kansas City has been one of the surprises of the 2010 NFL season by reaching the playoffs possibly a year ahead of schedule. Coming off of a very flat performance against Oakland last Sunday I have a feeling the Chiefs will come out flat again. The experience of the Ravens will show in this game with the Ravens winning 31-17.
With that being said the first divisional matchup I am going to discuss is the 2 seed Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the 6 seed Jets. The Steelers seem to have put all of big Ben's offseason problems behind them and clinched the AFC North in the last game of the season. Big Ben has been stellar since returning from his 4 game suspension. The Steeler's defense is clicking on all cylinders right now lead by all pro safety Troy Polamalu and the former NFL defensive player of the year James Harrison. Mark Sanchez's inconsistent play will continue in this game as he faces those exotic zone blitzes the Steelers defense is known for. The Jets will keep it close; however, I see the Steelers pulling this one out in the end 14-10.
Moving on to Foxboro we have the Patriots hosting the Ravens. The Patriots seem to have their swagger back on the offensive side of the ball and their young defense is growing up every week. Brady blistered NFL defenses all season completing 65.9% of his passes while throwing for 36 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. A 9:1 Touchdown to interception ratio is absolutely unheard of in the NFL and looks more like numbers from a Madden game. I don't see the Patriots slowing down anytime soon even though Ray Lewis will be roaming in between the hashes. Baltimore's secondary has been suspect at best all season and they will get picked apart once again by Brady. I think this one will be a hammering as the Patriots win 38-21.
That leaves us to the AFC championship with the Steelers traveling to New England to attempt to derail the Patriots offense. I think this game will be a chess match between Bellicheck and Steelers hall of fame defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau. This is a matchup of the best offense in football against the best defense in football. I think the Steelers derail the Brady aerial assault and win the AFC championship in a close one, 24-21.
Moving on to what most consider the weaker of the divisions the NFC. First we have the Saints vs. the Seahawks. The Saints seem to have their team back on track by slinging it with Drew Brees and their defense forcing costly turnovers. The Seahawks made the playoffs with a 7-9 record and gets to host a playoff game. The Seahawks have one of the best home field advantages in all of football, but I don't see it making a difference in this game. The Saints cruise to a victory 31-3.
The other game in the NFC is a much more intriguing game to me and probably most of you as well. The Green bay Packers traveling to play the Philadelphia Eagles. Since coach Andy Reid decided to start Michael Vick over Kevin Kolb the Eagles have been rolling. Green Bay is very banged up and can not run the ball against anyone. Look for the Philadelphia receivers to make big plays against Green Bay's man to man press. The Eagles will win this one at home 31-24.
The NFC divisional round will be very interesting to watch and has some very intriguing matchups. The Eagles will travel to Chicago to play the Bears. The Giants laid out a blue print on how to stop Vick, and the Bears may just have a defense that can match their effort. The Bears defense has been stellar all year with Brian Urlacher manning the middle of the field. I look for this one to be a close one but I think the Eagles will control the clock and get to Cutler. Eagles win 21-10.
The other side of the bracket presents us with New Orleans vs. the Atlanta Falcons. This is the third matchup of the season between these 2 teams and both games have come down to the wire. The Falcons have been very solid this year and Matt Ryan has proved to be nearly unbeatable at home. Look for Roddy White to make some big plays against a suspect New Orleans secondary. I just can not go against Drew Brees in this situation though. Brees goes into Atlanta and stuns the crowd with the Saints winning 27-21.
The NFC championship game will be the Eagles hosting the Saints. What a matchup, the reigning world champs against the Philadelphia Eagles exciting big play offense. This one has all the makings of a good ole fashioned shootout. Greg Williams will have the Saints defense prepared in this one and will be willing to take penalties in order to hit Michael Vick. Once again though the Eagles speed will prevail, look for Desean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin to have a breakout game. Eagles will win this one 38-31.
So all we have left now is the Superbowl which is hosted in the new Cowboy's stadium this year. I wonder if Jerry Jones will be in attendance to see their division rival Philadelphia. The state of Pennsylvania will have both of their teams representing their respective conferences in the Superbowl and I expect a stellar game. The Steeler's blitzing defense is the only thing I can see slowing down Vick and the Eagles explosive receivers. Expect to see Polamalu spying Vick most of the game and don't be surprised if the Steelers bring several lottery blitzes. Steeler's wideout Mike Wallace has proved he is one of the most dangerous big play receivers in the game and I think he will have at least one big play this game as well. It will be a close one, with the Steeler's kicking one through the uprights to win 17-14.
That's it for my predictions, I look forward to hearing your opinions and your predictions as well.
The first game in the AFC is the 3 seed Colts vs the 6 seeded wild card Jets. This should be a very interesting game and rematch from last years playoff game. The Colts have had a very up and down season, mainly from Peyton's inconsistent play and a team plagued by injuries. I think the Jets win this year in a close one. I realize it is hard to pick against Peyton Manning at home, but I think losing Dallas Clark early in the season really hurt the Colts since he was Peyton's security blanket. Jets will pull this one out in a close one 21-17.
Now to the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. Baltimore loaded up this past season by adding wide receiver studs Anquan Boldin and T.J Houshmandzadeh and it has paid dividends for quarterback Joe Flacco who has completed 62.6% of his passes throwing for 25 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. The Ravens also have an outstanding rushing attack lead by Ray Rice and Willis Mcgahee. Kansas City has been one of the surprises of the 2010 NFL season by reaching the playoffs possibly a year ahead of schedule. Coming off of a very flat performance against Oakland last Sunday I have a feeling the Chiefs will come out flat again. The experience of the Ravens will show in this game with the Ravens winning 31-17.
With that being said the first divisional matchup I am going to discuss is the 2 seed Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the 6 seed Jets. The Steelers seem to have put all of big Ben's offseason problems behind them and clinched the AFC North in the last game of the season. Big Ben has been stellar since returning from his 4 game suspension. The Steeler's defense is clicking on all cylinders right now lead by all pro safety Troy Polamalu and the former NFL defensive player of the year James Harrison. Mark Sanchez's inconsistent play will continue in this game as he faces those exotic zone blitzes the Steelers defense is known for. The Jets will keep it close; however, I see the Steelers pulling this one out in the end 14-10.
Moving on to Foxboro we have the Patriots hosting the Ravens. The Patriots seem to have their swagger back on the offensive side of the ball and their young defense is growing up every week. Brady blistered NFL defenses all season completing 65.9% of his passes while throwing for 36 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. A 9:1 Touchdown to interception ratio is absolutely unheard of in the NFL and looks more like numbers from a Madden game. I don't see the Patriots slowing down anytime soon even though Ray Lewis will be roaming in between the hashes. Baltimore's secondary has been suspect at best all season and they will get picked apart once again by Brady. I think this one will be a hammering as the Patriots win 38-21.
That leaves us to the AFC championship with the Steelers traveling to New England to attempt to derail the Patriots offense. I think this game will be a chess match between Bellicheck and Steelers hall of fame defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau. This is a matchup of the best offense in football against the best defense in football. I think the Steelers derail the Brady aerial assault and win the AFC championship in a close one, 24-21.
Moving on to what most consider the weaker of the divisions the NFC. First we have the Saints vs. the Seahawks. The Saints seem to have their team back on track by slinging it with Drew Brees and their defense forcing costly turnovers. The Seahawks made the playoffs with a 7-9 record and gets to host a playoff game. The Seahawks have one of the best home field advantages in all of football, but I don't see it making a difference in this game. The Saints cruise to a victory 31-3.
The other game in the NFC is a much more intriguing game to me and probably most of you as well. The Green bay Packers traveling to play the Philadelphia Eagles. Since coach Andy Reid decided to start Michael Vick over Kevin Kolb the Eagles have been rolling. Green Bay is very banged up and can not run the ball against anyone. Look for the Philadelphia receivers to make big plays against Green Bay's man to man press. The Eagles will win this one at home 31-24.
The NFC divisional round will be very interesting to watch and has some very intriguing matchups. The Eagles will travel to Chicago to play the Bears. The Giants laid out a blue print on how to stop Vick, and the Bears may just have a defense that can match their effort. The Bears defense has been stellar all year with Brian Urlacher manning the middle of the field. I look for this one to be a close one but I think the Eagles will control the clock and get to Cutler. Eagles win 21-10.
The other side of the bracket presents us with New Orleans vs. the Atlanta Falcons. This is the third matchup of the season between these 2 teams and both games have come down to the wire. The Falcons have been very solid this year and Matt Ryan has proved to be nearly unbeatable at home. Look for Roddy White to make some big plays against a suspect New Orleans secondary. I just can not go against Drew Brees in this situation though. Brees goes into Atlanta and stuns the crowd with the Saints winning 27-21.
The NFC championship game will be the Eagles hosting the Saints. What a matchup, the reigning world champs against the Philadelphia Eagles exciting big play offense. This one has all the makings of a good ole fashioned shootout. Greg Williams will have the Saints defense prepared in this one and will be willing to take penalties in order to hit Michael Vick. Once again though the Eagles speed will prevail, look for Desean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin to have a breakout game. Eagles will win this one 38-31.
So all we have left now is the Superbowl which is hosted in the new Cowboy's stadium this year. I wonder if Jerry Jones will be in attendance to see their division rival Philadelphia. The state of Pennsylvania will have both of their teams representing their respective conferences in the Superbowl and I expect a stellar game. The Steeler's blitzing defense is the only thing I can see slowing down Vick and the Eagles explosive receivers. Expect to see Polamalu spying Vick most of the game and don't be surprised if the Steelers bring several lottery blitzes. Steeler's wideout Mike Wallace has proved he is one of the most dangerous big play receivers in the game and I think he will have at least one big play this game as well. It will be a close one, with the Steeler's kicking one through the uprights to win 17-14.
That's it for my predictions, I look forward to hearing your opinions and your predictions as well.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Breaking the Ice
Let me introduce myself. My name is Jeremy Henry, and I am now officially a University of Tennessee alumni. I graduated with a B.S.E with my major in Sport Management and my minor in Business Administration. I had an extremely hard time coming up with a name for my blog so I decided to make an acronym of my two favorite sports, college football and college basketball. Hence BCS stands for Blogging Court Side.
So, the end of 2010 is finally over and the ending for UT Sports was just as wild as the end of 2009. The football team lost two games even though they were winning with 0:00 on the game clock, and the basketball team seems to be in shambles. On the bright side, things are looking up next year for the football team with a favorable home schedule and a team full of freshman returning. However; for every positive there has to be a negative and the basketball team is crumbling before our eyes with heart breaking losses to Oakland(given they have a first round draft pick center and only lost to Michigan State by 1 at the house Izzo built), USC (Kiffin was in town signing off on his house, luckily he didn't make an appearance at the game or there could have been some trouble), and the all mighty powerhouse Charlotte 49ers(8-6). The team seems to always play to their competition, regardless of the opponent. It seems almost impossible to have 2 victories over top 10 teams on the road, then beat UT Martin at home by 6(the same UT Martin team that lost to Ohio State by 60 points 2 nights before). The biggest dilemma the team seems to be facing right now is who to rotate in and out. I think we need to cut our rotation down instead of playing 11 men every game, it just seems too difficult to find any consistency with our players night in and night out by differentiating our players minutes so significantly every game. Another issue seems to be that the team just isn't bonding at all. I don't know if the NCAA holding back sanctions has to do with anything, but it seems like there is a rain cloud just constantly floating over us. Luckily for us the SEC is down big time this year so hopefully Bruce's suspension won't be too significant. The suspension raises another question though, if the team comes out and wins the first 4 SEC games will Bruce coach the UCONN game? I realize when Fulmer took over for Majors it was because he was hospitalized with sickness and the opportunity presented itself, but I feel like this suspension could wind up with Tony Jones being our head coach for the remainder of the year at least. I would definitely like to hear some of your opinions on the situation. Okay, I've went on for too long about this considering it's my first blog post. Tomorrow I'll be posting my NFL playoff picks and my projected top 10 NFL mock draft.
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