UD vs. Buffalo: Ouch

Can you see how PW's not happy? Well that's because UD just lost by 29 at home.

In my last post I touched on how sometimes a team can look really good and despite how excited you might be about how well they played, that will not be case for most of the season. Well, if Wednesday's game against Buffalo (AT HOME) was any indication, then we may have seen the best UD is capable of in the Old Spice Classic Finals against Minnesota. Even if that game wasn't UD's best effort, let's hope this one was the absolute worst.

This game was, in every sense of the word, ugly. Similar to Duke at Ohio State the night before, UD was dismantled and embarrassed in every facet of the game, from start to finish. The only differences between UD and Duke were (a)Duke did close the gap once in the first half, UD didn't, and (b)Dayton got stomped AT HOME.

The Good
Yeah...uh...

The Bad
The defense. UD gave up 85 points to Buffalo. The Flyers gave up 46 points in the second half on 60 percent shooting. They were outrebounded by 21. They gave up 15 offensive boards. They were out-hustled to loose balls. They were lazy all game long, and never got out to defend Zach Filzen, who was on fire, but benefited from having open look after open look.

The offense. Dayton scored 11 points in the first 15 minutes of the game. Kevin Dillard was 4-10 from the field, and he was a bright spot. Matt Kavanaugh went 3-8, Josh Parker 2-8, Josh Benson 1-5, Chris Johnson 4-15 and Paul Williams 0-3 (3 shots! All game! From your starting two-guard!).

Chris Johnson. It probably doesn't seem like there could be any more bad from this game if the offense and defense were bad. That makes up just about the entirety of a basketball game. But CJ is getting special treatment tonight, because I don't know what the hell is wrong with him. He led Dayton in scoring with 12 points tonight, that doesn't sound terrible. Until you realize that he was 4-15 from the field in scoring those twelve points. Which must mean...you guessed it! All of CJ's 12 points came from behind the three-point line. He was 4-10, which is actually an okay percentage (for now let's not worry about the fact that 10 threes is waaayyy too many for him to be shooting in one game, especially if he's not on fire). "But wait," you're probably thinking, "if he was 4-10 from three and 4-15 for the game, that must mean..." Right again! CJ managed to go 0-5 from inside the arc, including a couple missed layups. He's not even getting it done on the glass these days (three rebs against Buffalo), which used to be the go-to part of his game if he was struggling offensively. I can't tell if CJ is just in a funk to start the season, he doesn't like Archie Miller's system and is playing poorly because of it, or has decided that being an English teacher is more interesting to him. Whatever the problem is, CJ's game needs some major work right now. And after watching that performance, so does the entire Dayton team.

A Word of Warning to Thad and the Buckeye Faithful

Last night Ohio State absolutely destroyed Duke in basketball. Duke played so poorly that Coach K gave up on his starters and opted to play Quinn Cook, Josh Hairston and Michael Gbinije for essentially the entire second half. But make no mistake about that; Ohio State looked good. Unfortunately, it's not going to last.

In fact, Ohio State probably just played its best game of the season. Remember last year, when Wisconsin (at that point the second best team in the Big 10) visited OSU and got romped by 30, as Jon Diebler and crew banged home three-ball after three-ball after three-ball? Gus Johnson was absolutely beside himself. Well, that type of performance had not happened for the Buckeyes up to that point in the season, and they never repeated it. Despite hitting 312 threes and scoring 93 points against Wisconsin (I know that doesn't seem like it adds up, but you're just going to have to take my word for it), OSU struggled shooting in its final game of the season, losing 62-60 to Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

What's the point here? That the game against Wisconsin was an anomaly, even amid the incredible season Ohio State had last year. So was last night's game against Duke. Last night, William Buford shot the worst percentage of any Ohio State player to see the floor (not surprising). He went 8-15. Everyone else was better than that. Sorry, that's not happening again. DeShaun Thomas will not go 8-12 more than one more time this season. The performance, while impressive, is simply not sustainable.

And I'm not just hating because it was Duke that Ohio State beat and I'm mad about it (I am). I've seen the same type of scenario play out at Duke before. I know it can't last. In the 2005-06 season, Duke had one of its greatest regular seasons since I've been alive. Led by J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams, Duke went into the NCAA Tournament with 30-3 record and had been unbelievable to watch all year. They had the national player of the year in Redick (averaging 26.8 points per game that year) and the best center in the country in Williams (first team All-American, 18.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 3.8 bpg). Around those guys Duke had a bunch of role players who contributed enough on offense and weren't liabilities on defense, so Duke kept winning. If you think about it, that is essentially Ohio State's makeup this year, with them having maybe three big offensive threats (definitely Sullinger and Buford, maybe Craft) and then good rl players. In 05-06, Duke was tearing people apart to start the year, but none of them was like the 97-66 thrashing Duke administered to Texas (ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time) in its ninth game of the season (this was OSU's seventh). I can still remember watching that game and thinking, "Duke is unreal. How are they ever going to lose?" But you know what? They did lose that season. And they never quite looked the same as they did against Texas. Because that was just one of those games where everything was falling. Redick was pulling up in transition from 30 feet away and hitting any shot he took. Williams was unstoppable inside on both ends of the court. It just wasn't the way anyone could possibly play for 35-or-so games in a row.

Here's where the similarities between that Duke team and this Ohio State one get scary. During last night's telecast, Dan Shulman made mention of the fact that with about seven minutes to play, Craft and Buford had not come out of the game, and Sullinger had sat for just a minute. Head coach Thad Matta had only used seven players up to that point. In 05-06, Redick averaged 37 minutes per game and Williams 33 (this number would have been higher if not for Williams' bad habit of getting into foul trouble). Basically, those guys were out there all the time. And by the end of the year? They were worn out. Plain and simple. Redick worked harder than any player I've ever seen to get open. His motor never stopped. by the end of the season though, he didn't have the legs to drain the threes like before. Williams' body had taken a beating for an entire season inside the paint, and it wasn't in the same shape it was months before. That year, Duke had just seven players average more than six minutes a game (sound familiar?). The result was a phenomenal regular season, a 1-1 record against North Carolina, an ACC Tournament Championship, and then a 62-54 loss in the Sweet 16 to Tyrus Thomas, Glen Davis and an energetic LSU team. Duke had completely run out of gas. Those 54 points were the team's lowest offensive output of the season by 10.

There was nothing left in the tank for Duke in 05-06. With the way Aaron Craft never stops hustling, the way Jared Sullinger takes a beating on the interior, and the way William Buford is running around on offense, getting open or creating his own shot, the same will happen to them. The Buckeyes looked as good as a college team can Tuesday night, but if Thad Matta doesn't start giving them some breathers, it will all come to a screeching halt.

UD vs. Minnesota: Where did this come from?

After a disappointing loss at Miami, it has been good, good, and more good for the Dayton Flyers, who took home the Old Spice Classic championship with a relatively easy 86-70 win over Minnesota. This was a game I was expecting Dayton to lose, so what happened that they were in control? For starters, it was one of those games that UD seems to have every year where they play to their full potential and look phenomenal (think like their 28-point win over Charlotte two years ago or the 30-point victory over Pitt from four years back). But there was more to it than that. Let's look a bit deeper.

The Good
Kevin Dillard. Kevin Dillard. Kevin. Dillard. Dillard delivered the best game from a UD guard since Brian Roberts was running the show at UD, and from a pure point-guard perspective, it was probably better than what Roberts could muster (B-Rob always had to be looking to score more, so this isn't to take anything away from him). Dillard tallied 19 points, 10 assists, seven steals (SEVEN!) and three blocks, and was efficient doing it, going 6-12 from the field. What's more, is Dillard was in complete control of the game while he was on the court. It really was pretty amazing to watching him from the second portion of the first half on. He was just so calm and smooth, doing what he wanted, much in the same way Chris Paul or Steve Nash manage a game. From watching, you got the sense he was going to score or find someone for an open shot every possession. It was amazing.

Devin Oliver. Oliver's line from Sunday: 14 minutes, 0-1 from the field, zero points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal, one turnover, four fouls. So why was he good? Because Oliver appears to understand and accept what his role on the team is currently: come in as a seventh or eighth man and hustle his ass off. Don't be a defensive liability, and grab some rebounds. And if you watched the game Sunday, you would have seen Oliver all over the place. He gave maximum effort at all times (probably why he managed the four fouls in just 14 minutes). He deferred to his teammates on offense, and it resulted in him playing good minutes in the second half. Perhaps there will come a time when UD needs Oliver to step up on offense, but for now, what he's doing is great.

The blue uniforms. I'm hoping I get to see these blue unis more over the rest of the season. I thought it was so cool to see UD playing in the school's color blue. There was nothing special about those unis as far as color scheme or design, but they looked great, and Dayton ran the table in them while in Florida. It is reminiscent of their run through the 2010 NIT wearing the black uniforms. Keep those coming back on the road, Archie.

The Bad
This is somewhat of a nit-picky bad since UD didn't really need him to be great in this game, but Paul Williams only scored eight points against Minnesota, going 2-9 from the field. So far, PW has been UD's best player (with Dillard probably taking that spot over after this tournament), but he has been inconsistent this year. Williams' scoring so far this year: 15, 20, 5, 18, 5, and 8. It should be noted that two of his single-digit performances came in games where UD didn't need him as badly, but still, it is important for the senior to be delivering in double figures just about every game. And if he doesn't score 10 or more, it needs to be because he took less shots, not because PW put up a line like 2-9.

So UD will come back to town an encouraging 5-1 to a very appreciative fan base. Things will not get any easier for Dayton, though. After a home game against Buffalo, UD has its two toughest (and therefore most important) non-conference games: at Murray State and at home against No. 12 Alabama. The nation took notice of UD after this weekend, but a 2-0 stint in those games would really turn some heads. With the fact that the A-10 is looking pretty strong in the early season, UD is going to need to keep on playing strong basketball to keep up. Still, there is plenty of reason to be excited about what Dayton has done so far. The players have bought into Miller's system, are playing hard and winning games. You can't ask for much more.

Smörgåsbord Saturday: Dayton Flyers, NFL and the NBA returns

Given my work schedule this week, there was a lot I wanted to write about today, so this will be the first Smörgåsbord Saturday, a column where I write shorter bits about a bunch of different things. If all goes according to plan, I'll produce a smörgåsbord every Saturday. There will at least be one every couple. Right, let's get to it.

Dayton survives again
First things first. The UD basketball won another game in the Old Spice Classic, advancing to the finals of the early-season tournament with a 56-49 win over Fairfield. Fairfield the winner of the MAAC last season, is a team that many casual fans have never heard of, but make no mistake. This is a good win for UD, even though it won't show up on any late-season resumes of what UD has done so far. I was unable to watch the game, much to my disappointment, but the texts I received about the proceedings indicated that UD did not play especially well. The fact that they scored just 56 points would appear to support that opinion, since it is UD's lowest offensive output so far by 11 points. Chris Johnson played another poor game, scoring just five points and attempting just two two-point shots (again). Paul Williams had his worst game so far. The bright spots for Dayton were Matt Kavanaugh (again!) grabbing double-digit rebounds and (sigh) Josh Parker. Parker (who I'm working on a nickname for) scored 13 in the first half and was the reason Dayton was in the game. This is the type of performance we'll see from Parker three to five times a year, much like Charles Little before him. A few times a year, all the bad shots he puts up will drop, and he will have an excellent game. Hopefully, those games continue to come for Parker when the other players are struggling like they were Friday.
Next up for UD is Minnesota, a game that I think will be extremely difficult for Dayton to win. Minnesota is nothing special this season, but the Gophers boast plenty of size that I believe will bother UD on defense and not be stopped on offense. Kavanaugh and Josh Benson will need to have career days defensively to keep up on the glass and in the low-post.

Turkey Day Football
There were some interesting games happening on Thanksgiving Day in the NFL, and the one that seemed the least interesting going in ended up being the most interesting. So what did we learn? The Lions are not a threat come playoff time, even though they will still probably make the postseason. They were dismantled by the Packers. The Cowboys are almost certain to win the NFC East now, but are also almost certain to lose in the Wildcard round of the playoffs to some inferior team. They just aren't that good. The 49ers are not explosive enough to win unless they win the turnover battle significantly. And the Ravens? They are my new pick to win the Super Bowl. Because despite losses to Tennessee, Jacksonville and Seattle, the Ravens have shown that those were instances of them just shutting it down because they don't care about weak opponents. When they get up for game (which they will in the playoffs) they're incredible. The defense is absolutely ravenous. I think it's good enough to beat Green Bay.

Congrats to members of the 2011 NBA Draft
Can't help but feel happy for guys like Nolan Smith, Norris Cole and Kyle Singler. They were all drafted into decent-to-good situations, and then had to sit by and do nothing while waiting for the NBA to come up with a new CBA. What were guys like Cole, a Cleveland State grad and late-first round pick, doing during all that time? He wasn't collecting any money from his contracts, we know that much. Well, Norris, you can get excited, finally. The NBA appears to have a deal set, and that means you can start collecting some big-boy checks, as well as begin your campaign for the Miami Heat starting point guard position (which you'll probably have on lockdown before season's end). Have fun throwing oops to Lebron and D-Wade. Bring back the flat top with that awesome fade, and try to get the rest of your team to employ it on their domes as well. That's just the type of thing that could get the public back on the Heat's side. How could we not root for a team that is all rocking the 80's flat top?

Happy Saturday. Ohio State is actually playing Michigan close. A nice surprise for all the Ohio people I know on a nice Saturday.

UD vs. Wake Forest

In its first game of the Old Spice Classic, UD matched up with Wake Forest, a team from the ACC that has been stuck in struggsville ever since Chris Paul left. And in a very winnable game that would also look decent on a resume for the Flyers (at a neutral site), UD picked up an 80-76 win and improved to 3-1 on the year. It was an important win for Dayton to get, and even had Paul shaking his head afterwards. Is it just me or is it kinda cool that CP3 was watching that game, and still actually cares about what's going on with his former school?

Reaction
This was a big one for UD. After a poor performance in their only game away from UD Arena on the season, I was a bit nervous about what the Flyers might do. What they did was not great, giving up 76 points, but in the end you've got to be happy with a nice win. If UD can consistently beat team's of Wake's caliber, they're going to have a pretty good record come the end of the year and will be top 5 in the A-10. UD outrebounded Wake 43-31, meaning Dayton has won the rebounding numbers in every game this year. That's a good stat to see. Controlling the glass is extremely important.

The Good
Matt Kavanaugh. Who saw this coming? Kav, after being on of the softest, slowest big men I can remember seeing (maybe he would beat Kenny George in a foot race?), has now had two great games this year for UD. He led the way for Dayton today, scoring 15 points and 13 rebounds. He went 3-3 from the foul line. He had three assists to go with three turnovers (not bad for a center). I didn't think Kavanaugh was ever going to be a guy that was delivering significant numbers, but he just may be proving me wrong this year (I hope so). Kav's line against Wake is more exciting than his numbers against Western Illinois, because Wake boasts a bigger set of big men, who would therefore (theoretically) offer up more resistance. But he still delivered.

Paul Williams. P-dub has been UD's best player through its first four games and continued his high level of play. After a forgettable first half, PW stepped up big in the second and started knocking down shots. He finished the game 5-15, but was 0-7 in the first half. So when the Flyers needed him, he was there to deliver. Paul also had three assists to just one turnover, and had two steals to add to his line as well. Without Williams, UD is certainly 2-2 on the year, and the loss to Miami would have looked much worse. If a couple other players (read below) can get up a bit closer to PW's level right now, UD will really start clicking on offense.

Josh Parker only playing 13 minutes. This is an extremely encouraging sign from Archie Miller in the early stages of the season. Simply put, Parker had been the worst Dayton player on the court through three games, so Miller cut his time back. He still managed to go 0-5 from the field in those 13 minutes, so don't expect him to get much more PT anytime soon. And UD will be better off for it.

Foul Shooting. UD went 15-17 from the charity stripe in this game. Wait a second, that can't possibly be correct. Let me check that again (consulting box score...). Huh. Supposedly UD went 15-17 from the foul line in this game. And 2012 is just around the corner? Uh oh.

The Bad
Chris Johnson. I am getting dangerously close to giving up on CJ as a threat to score inside the three-point line. CJ went 3-10 from the field and 2-8 from beyond the arc. How can that guy only be attempting two two-point shots in an entire game? He wasn't in foul trouble, so he got his normal minutes. He went 4-4 from the foul line in this game to get him to 12 points. Why is he only attempting four foul shots in a game?!?! He is a borderline 90 percent free throw shooter in his career, CJ needs to be doing everything he can to get to the line. He can get so many free points there! And I hate to break it to you CJ, but you're going to have to start slashing, cause there just aren't as many shooting fouls on the perimeter.

Not much else bad is coming from this game. The defense of course needs significant improvement, but we've all heard enough about that already. Next up is the semis of the Old Spice Classic, against Fairfield of the MAAC, a pretty weak-looking conference so far this year. Fairfield beat Arizona State in the first round, which is the type of result we can't glean anything from. ASU looked horrible.

A duo of playoff trios?

We're past all the bye weeks in the NFL; from here on out, every team will play in each of the next six weeks, and their playoff fates will be decided. The final third of this year's season presents a very unique playoff scenario: a real chance to have three teams representing the same division on both sides of the playoff bracket. A funny coincidence that adds to the potential rarity of this situation is that both divisions happen to be the North division in their respective conferences. As the standings sit today, post week-11 results, the Packers, Bears and Lions would all make the playoffs from the NFC North, and the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals would all make the playoffs from the AFC North.

Now, how rare is this, really? Turns out, it's happened once before, in 2007. That year the Cowboys, Giants and Redskins all made the playoffs from the NFC East while the Colts, Jaguars and Titans all made the playoffs from the AFC South. Despite the fact this has happened so recently, it is the only instance I was able to uncover of this happening. Will it happen a second time this year? Unfortunately, probably not.

At 6-4, the Bengals are the least likely of the AFC North teams to make the playoffs, especially having lost their first matchup against both the Steelers and Ravens despite being competitive in both games. Standing in their way for the wildcard spot other than the one the Ravens are assumed to get are the Jets (5-5), Titans (5-5), and Broncos (5-5). The other AFC West teams have an outside shot at a playoffs spot as well. Unfortunately for Cincy, their schedule closing out is pretty tough. They still have games in Pittsburgh, and at home against Houston and Baltimore. If they don't win their other three games and at least one of those, their playoff chances are kaput at 9-7. According to ESPN's playoff machine, the only filter in which the Bengals will make the playoffs is if home teams win the rest of the season (not very reliable). The Jets look like the best bet to make the playoffs, with a weaker schedule than the other teams involved, and a team that really should be the best of the group (but often hasn't been, as evidenced by that Thursday night loss to Denver). Their only remaining game against a team with a winning record will be at home against the Giants. The Jets do have to get through two trap games at Philly and at Miami to close the season, but bet on seeing them still playing come January.

As for the NFC playoffs picture, it is a bit more murky. You can write the Packers and 49ers into the 1 and 2 seeds right now, assuming a key player does not get injured in the next few weeks. The Saints look like a good bet to win the South, and either the Cowboys or Giants ought to claim the East division. That leaves the Cowboys/Giants loser (currently both 6-4), Bears, Lions and Falcons, with a way-way-way outside shot for the Eagles, Buccaneers and Seahawks. The Lions and Bears are the best two teams in that group, and that is why they have the best records of that group at 7-3 each. Unfortunately, both teams are dealing with injuries right now. The Lions haven't had Jahvid Best for three weeks, and the Bears just lost Jay Cutler for the rest of the regular season (or maybe not, the doctors say he might be back sooner. I have no idea what the hell is going on with all of that nonsense. I don't even get why a broken thumb requires surgery. Can't you just set it and take it easy for several weeks? Someone who knows more than me about this, enlighten me please). That leaves a huge question mark, especially for the Bears, who still have to travel to Oakland, Denver, and Green Bay before the year is over. Can they win those with Caleb Hanie? He played decent in the playoffs game last year, but it was mostly the Bears defense that dominated. They are going to have to really step up for a six-game stretch now.

The Best injury doesn't concern me for the Lions quite as much as their schedule does. Detroit still has two games to play against Green Bay as well as games at New Orleans, at Oakland and home against San Diego. I don't think 9-7 will cut it this year for a wildcard in the NFC, so the Lions will have to finish 3-3. With those teams comprising five of their six remaining games, it will not be easy.

Meanwhile, the Falcons have a tough remaining schedule as well traveling to New Orleans and Houston, as well as a game at Carolina that should be tough, given that the Panthers play just about everybody tight. The big advantage Atlanta has is they beat Detroit in week seven. If the Falcons can manage to finish the season at 10-6, they would likely beat out the Lions for a playoff spot (or obviously the Bears could just disintegrate making that tiebreaker meaningless. The point is an NFC North team would be gone.)

As for the Giants and Cowboys, they still have to play each other twice. The Giants' other games are much tougher, with matches against Green Bay and at the Jets still to play. The Cowboys' toughest remaining game aside from the Giants ones figures to be a home game against Philadelphia. Dallas is certainly the favorite to win the division right now, but I don't see the second place team in the division being a factor for the playoffs. It is extremely unlikely both of these teams make it to 10-6, and if they do, the Lions have a tiebreaker on the Cowboys due to their head-to-head win in week 4.

In the NFC, three from the North in the playoffs is still very much in play. It appears to rest on the shoulders of Caleb Hanie and whether he can keep the Bears afloat. He and Matthew Stafford both have a game's advantage on the field. They need to treat the rest of this season like both men should be treating every snap in a game: protect the ball, protect the lead, don't turn it over, play a steady, solid game. Their teammates are good enough to get them the rest of the way there.

A UD In-betweener

A rough weekend work schedule kept me from being able to see Dayton play in their game against UNC-Wilmington. It also kept me from getting much writing in, so I'm not going to focus as much on that game, but more what it could mean going forward for the Flyers.

Reaction
When I got home from work on Saturday after the UD game and spoke to my mom about it (she had attended the game) all she could do was shake her head. Evidently UNCW was about as bad as can be. A look at the box score doesn't make them look much better than she indicated. They scored just 49 points, shot 35 percent from the field, attempted just nine free throws all game, and had 19 turnovers to 11 assists. All this coming against a UD defense that could be generously called a work in progress. So lets get that out of the way first: UD's two wins have been against teams that they absolutely had to beat. And they did. Badly. The encouraging aspect of this game was that Chris Johnson finally showed up, scoring 19 points. Of course, 15 of those 19 points came from beyond the arc, which is not where CJ should be spending most of his time. What was discouraging about this game is that it seems if UD had been able to play as well against Miami as they did against both UNCW and Western Illinois, they would be 3-0 right now. A team has got to be able to bring it's "A" game every time. Especially these Flyers, who are not going to be able to survive in the Atlantic 10 if they turn in lackluster performances on the road.

Looking Ahead
As Dayton moves forward, we ought to get a look at what we'll see the rest of the year. They have a neutral-site game against Wake Forest (very winnable, Wake Forest should be bad again), home against Buffalo (better be a W) and an away game at Murray State (a perennially tough mid-major school that should be a tough test) and then their premiere non-conference game of the year, at home against no. 15 Alabama.

Dayton could easily go 1-3 in that stretch; two games away from UD Arena, and one against a strong opponent they are not expected to beat. The games against Wake Forest and Murray State will be a key primer for the rest of UD's season. Will the Flyers be able to take care of business outside of Dayton? The past couple years the answer has been no, and it has meant mediocre results and disappointment for Dayton. If UD can manage to come away from this four-game stretch with a record of 5-2, then perhaps UD fans will have something to be excited about. If they play poorly like they did against Miami, then things will be set early for Dayton this year: no NCAA, no NIT, no CBI, maybe no A-10 Tournament.

Buckle up, it's going to be a big couple weeks.

Lockout angst: When did baseball become the good example?

It doesn't feel like all that long ago when baseball had an awful strike, missed a ton of time, and alienated many of its fans into jumping ship because they didn't want to deal with these rich guys' "problems" anymore.

For a modern example of what happened to the MLB in 1994-95, look no further than what Netflix has done the past five months, or what the NBA is trying to do as we speak. Both are excellent emulations of that less-than-excellent situation from 16 years ago in baseball.

So after all the messy news about the NFL lockout and among all the messy news about the NBA lockout (which is looking about as bad as Jared Leto's face in Fight Club), it was almost impossible to believe that I could be reading this.

According to the report, Major League Baseball has reached a verbal labor agreement between the players and owners for when their current deal runs out in...DECEMBER. Wait, What? They're allowed to negotiate and be productive before the current deal runs out? That's so weird, cause I would have thought if that was the case the NFL and NBA might have taken advantage of some negotiating sessions before they actually entered the lockout phase.

Since when did the MLB start setting the good example? This post comes on the heels of what I wrote about yesterday, when they made more good moves (adding more teams to the playoffs and moving the Astros to the AL). Sure, basketball and football were facing bigger issues that needed working out when they came out of their most recent labors deals than baseball is. But come on. This is the way this stuff is supposed to go down. Some smart people get together who understand what is going on, talk it out, and come up with a new deal. You don't get petty and take potshots at each other in between negotiations, offer deals that you know aren't going to be accepted because they are unreasonable, and wait forever to actually negotiate in earnest. If you'd have told me five years ago that in 2011 we would have three separate labor negotiations happen, that two of them would go poorly and one would go well, I would have never guessed the good would have come from baseball. If you'd have told me baseball would do a better job than the NBA or especially the NFL, I would have called you an idiot.

But here we are, in 2011, and the MLB appears to have done a good job making sure it can hang onto the momentum it gained from a phenomenal close to the regular season, phenomenal playoffs and PHENOMENAL World Series. NFL, NBA, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Your ne'er-do-well older brother just got called into the game and won the town over because you two were unavailable. Make sure you don't do this again, or Hockey just may slip on by you as well.

Major MLB Moves

Alliteration aside, there are some crazy changes coming to Major League Baseball.

ESPN.com is reporting that the Houston Astros will be moving to the AL, two more wildcard spots will be added to the playoffs, and interleague play will be extended, all within the next two years. This is all coming on the heels of the sale of the Astros being finalized, and is going to make baseball look lot different, but not necessarily better.

The Houston Astros will be moving to the AL. This one actually makes sense. What doesn't make sense is why one more team hadn't been in the American League for all this team. I never understood why the AL had 14 teams to the NL's 16. It really didn't work out well for interleague play, during which two NL teams would still be playing a regular game. It was just weird. Now, theoretically, the MLB can schedule 15 interleague matchups at a time. Presumably, the Astros will join the currently-four member AL West, and that will be a good division for them, potentially creating a rivalry between them and the Rangers (if the Astros can improve a lot, obviously) in the future.

Fast forward really quickly to the third thing I mentioned, the extension of interleague play. This is the only real negative aspect of the Astros moving to the AL: it forces the MLB's hand in having interleague play throughout the season. An odd number of teams in each league (15) won't work for having all the games be AL-AL and NL-NL. Still, this is a small and necessary evil. More interleague play will not effect the outcome of the season for teams. Baseball will still be a sport in which if you are winning more than your division opponents, you will beat them to the postseason.

The second move doesn't make as much sense to me. One more wildcard spot will be added to each side of the playoffs, giving us 10 total teams to make the playoffs. While the idea of adding more teams to the playoffs is exciting to me, thinking about creating a fair playoff system for five teams on one side of the bracket makes my head hurt. Evidently, it made the MLB bigwigs' heads hurt as well, because supposedly the most likely playoff scenario is to have the two teams from each league that do not win their division (the two wildcard teams) play a one-game, winner-take-all playoff, and then the rest of the playoffs looking like they do now. Basically, its the same as the NCAA's former "Opening Round game" between the 64 and 65-seeds of the tournament.

Unfortunately, baseball is the worst game imaginable to have one game decide so much, and the reason for that is simple: in every other sport, everyone a coach expects to play in a playoff series would play in game one. In baseball, that is not the case. In baseball, the most important player on the field on a given day is the pitcher, and only one of them can play at a time. A one-game playoff would not prove anything about which team was better. And this is different than deciding which team will make it to the playoffs when two teams finish with the same record at the end of the season. In the new format, both teams would have been deemed playoff teams; in the old one, neither of them were. In the old format, it was considered a regular season game; in the new one, its a postseason game. And to let so much ride on which team has a better ace, or which pitchers is feeling better that particular day, or which infielder makes an error on that particular day, is ludicrous. To make matters worse, the team that won the series would be at a significant disadvantage heading into their divisional round matchup. Presumably, they would have started their ace in the play-in game, and then would not be able to start him twice in a five-game divisional series. It would effectively be a penalty game for "being good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to win your division."

"We believe after a lot of study and a lot of thought that the addition of two wildcards will really help us in the long run," was what commish Bud Selig had to say of the move. And while the thought of Selig thinking for a long time about anything makes me nervous, I agree with him in this case. Just not if he's going to make a joke out of bringing those extra two teams in by screwing them and the other wildcard teams over.

UD at Miami (Ohio)

After a pretty damn encouraging win over Western Illinois where a whole lot more looked good than bad, UD made sure not to let any of its fans get their hopes up with a 72-67 overtime loss to Miami.

Reaction
Ugh pretty much sums it up. Despite playing without Chris Johnson for the entire first half, UD was holding a five to seven point lead on the Redhawks for most of the frame. They extended it to five (and trust me, five points felt like a significant amount for some reason) but could not put Miami away. In the end, Charlie Coles and crew got away with a W that should have been UD's by 10 in regulation. Dayton's players and coaches did not execute down the stretch, so they are riding the bus home a disappointing 1-1.

The Good
Paul Williams. The player everyone at UD has been waiting to take off didn't necessarily do so tonight, but he had a great game. Williams was 8-13 from the field and 4-6 from three, with some of those shots coming in big moments in a close game. He finished the game with 20 points to lead all scorers. Perhaps most shocking of all, he was aggressive on offense, looking for his own shot. It was like PW knew the Flyers needed him to carry them, so he obliged. You watch a game like this from Williams and wonder why he doesn't score 14 a game. I know he's not going to go 4-6 from three every game, but the way he went to the basket at times and created open looks for himself on the perimeter? He displayed an arsenal tonight. It would be great if that arsenal didn't just show up every now and again throughout this season.

The Bad
Kevin Dillard after the first few minutes. Yeah, there wasn't much good to this one. Dillard was looking like a star in the early going, converting two and-1s early on and managing the game well. He made a couple nice plays late going to the bucket, but a quick glance at his stat sheet shows that it wasn't Dillard's greatest night. He scored 11 points, but went just 4-12 from the field (two bad shooting nights in a row for him). He had six assists, but six turnovers to go with them (unacceptable for a starting point guard. Even if he had 20 assists, six TOs is too many). Not to mention he made the final turnover of the game, icing it for the Redhawks. I still like this guy, and think he's going to be good for UD, but Tuesday night he brought more negatives than positives to the table.

The big men. Against Western Illinois, Josh Benson and Matt Kavanaugh combined for 36 points and 12 rebounds. Against Miami? 12 and nine. It should be said Miami's big men presented a much bigger challenge for those two than Western Illinois' did. But when a team has two starters combine for 12 points, 9 boards, and have absolutely no answer for the opponents' big man on defense down the stretch, it's time to be worried. Julian Mavunga had a bad game, and still finished with 17. He abused Kavanaugh badly enough to cause Archie Miller to sub him out at the end of the game. When Benson stepped up to guard Mavunga, he was abused as well. Last year Chris Wright guarded Mavunga down the stretch and kept him from scoring for the most part. This time, the Flyers had no one with the right combination of strength and quickness to shut him down. And that's before you factor in the seemingly endless parade of moving screens set by Kavanaugh and Luke Fabrizius. I don't know how a college basketball player can play for 13 years and not know how to set a screen, but neither of those two do.

Archie Miller. Dayton's coach, who I believe has brought a better system into Dayton than the previous one used by Brian Gregory, still made some huge mistakes in the game's final five minutes that could have made the difference in a contest like this one. Dayton got the ball after trading baskets with just over a minute left in a tie game at 59-59, and held onto it for the entire shot clock before not scoring. Miami was able to rebound the ball and then had an opportunity for the last shot of regulation. Miller needed to have his players work more quickly on the possession and put up a shot in the 50-45 second range. That way, UD would be in the driver's seat for the final possession of the game. There is something to be said for getting a good shot, but there's more to be said for your chances of scoring one basket on two possessions instead of one. Then, with UD down two and under a minute left in overtime, Miller was content to play defense. The Redhawks worked the ball to Mavunga, who scored easily and Dayton never recovered. Dayton had to foul in that situation. Up to that point, Miami had been just mediocre from the free throw line. UD could have fouled and forced someone other than Mavunga to beat them. The big man had gotten hot at the end of regulation and in OT, so it was not the right move to allow Miami a chance to give him the ball.

There was plenty of other bad in this game from UD. Chris Johnson was in foul trouble throughout, and limited himself. He can't do that. Not only is he one of UD's better offensive threats, but the team is really poor on the glass without him. CJ needs to be in the game whenever he's not scheduled to be on the bench for a rest. I'd rather the player he's defending score than he pick up a foul to prevent a basket early in a game, like he did Tuesday. Josh Parker continues to be a cancer to UD. He "only" committed five turnovers in this game, but most of his passes were deflected or did not reach the intended target. In an offense that is supposed to flow, Parker brings things to a screeching halt more often than not.

This game was a sad reminder of what UD fans hate to think about: Dayton doesn't have a whole lot to work with this season. Things are going to be tougher than normal for them. In years past, these type of mistakes might have flown more under the radar because UD would have rebounded better or had more players on the bench to step up and contribute. But with so few players available, small mistakes are going to be magnified and more costly. After some high spirits following Western Illinois, it's back to the drawing board after Miami. There is still plenty of time for the Flyers to improve on what they need to, but if they don't improve, that sixth-place preseason projection for the A-10 is going to be way too high.

About that last post...

Sorry.

I tried to give some college basketball games that were worth watching, and failed miserably. If you took my advice and tuned in to either Northern Iowa at Saint Mary's or Belmont at Memphis, perhaps you can take solace in the fact that I watched those games, too, and was struggling to maintain any interest. I should have told you to watch Washington State at Gonzaga (which I did watch, thankfully) and Kent State at West Virginia (caught the second half).

Belmont Memphis looked like it had some major potential for an upset. It wasn't even a good game. Belmont was in it for the first couple minutes, when the Bruins led 4-3, but afterward Memphis went on a run and never looked back. There was never a sense that Belmont was getting back into the game, and while it didn't result in a 30-point blowout, Memphis still put up 97 points and wasn't worried. Maybe the Tigers are for real this year.

At least the Belmont-Memphis was exciting as far as offensive production was concerned, even if there was no doubt who was winning. Northern Iowa-Saint Mary's was the game I was most excited about of the pre-7 p.m. slate. It will likely end up as one of the worst men's college basketball games of the season. Seriously, I felt like the guy running the academic decathlon in Billy Madison: "The game you just played is one of the most insanely pitiful showcases of talent I have ever seen. At no point, in your unorganized, turnover-ridden play were you even close to anything that could be considered decent basketball. Everyone in the arena and watching on TV is now worse off for having watched it. Neither of you deserve to win, and may god have mercy on your fans this season." Northern Iowa turned in one of the worst offensive halves I've ever seen: 13 points, 21 percent shooting from the field, one assist, ten turnovers and had just one free throw ATTEMPT (which was a miss). Still, they entered the second half and you felt like they had a shot if they could step their game up from miserable to halfway decent, because Saint Mary's had not exactly been tearing it up, scoring 26 points in the half. Then Saint Mary's hit four threes in a row early in the second half, and that was that. If NIU really is one of the better teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, then it's going to be a long year in the nonconference for the MVC. The Panthers looked bad.

The good news is some better basketball is just on the horizon. We're less than three hours away from the next game I said to get excited about (George Mason at Virginia Tech, although you should probably take that with a grain of salt given my track record today) and less than five hours away from having Duke, Michigan State, Syracuse, Florida, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Xavier and Vanderbilt all playing at the same time. If you can't find something worth watching in all of that, there's no helping you.

Bring on the basketball

ESPN and college basketball's ridiculous, indulgent marathon of hoops is just around the corner. Just a few hours from now, 25 straight hours of college hoops will kick off starting with Washington State at Gonzaga at midnight (eastern time). It's an exciting prospect for any big college basketball fan, because despite the fact that there are timeslots filled with some less-than-exciting games consisting of teams just happy to be on TV (Morehead State at Charleston at 8 a.m. comes to mind), there are plenty of big games as well. And while Duke-Michigan State, Florida-Ohio State and Kentucky-Kansas are going to get the most attention of tomorrow's games, there are several others I'm excited about watching.

Northern Iowa at Saint Mary's, 2 a.m.
The prospect of staying up for this one is a bit daunting for those of us in the eastern time zone, but if you can manage it, this should be a good one. As has been the case for the last five or so years, both of these teams are going to be contenders in two of the best mid-major conferences in the country (Missouri Valley and West Coast). Both teams are likely to be the type of team in February and March for which every result is scrutinized heavily while they teeter one way or the other on the NCAA Tournament bubble. If these teams are indeed on the bubble come early March, a look back at this game (especially a road win for Northern Iowa) could be a huge resume booster. This is a perfect game for college basketball fans that don't catch all the games on CBS or ESPN's "Big Monday".

Belmont at Memphis, 12 p.m.
Memphis is coming into this season after not quite living up to expectations last year. The Tigers were almost always exciting to watch, they just weren't that great. After throwing up a few too many bricks last year, Memphis' core group of players is expected to have grown up some and produce an excellent year, which is why they started the season at No. 10. Meanwhile, Belmont went 30-5 last year in the Atlantic Sun Conference and then lost to Duke by one at Cameron Indoor. The Bruins should be extra-hungry for a resume-boosting win. The Duke and Memphis games are their only real marquee non-conference games this year. Without a win in either of them, even if they play close, Belmont's only shot at the NCAA Tournament will be through an automatic bid. While they are the favorites to win the Atlantic Sun, you can't take anything for granted in the conference tournaments.

George Mason at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m.
Like Belmont in the last game, George Mason will be looking to pick up an impressive non-conference win on the road to boost its tournament resume. Unlike Belmont above, this win wouldn't actually be that impressive. Virginia Tech loves to play down (or up) to its opponents, and I'm not expecting the team to be especially good this year, having lost its only good scorer from last season in Malcolm Delaney. That said, the committee still loves to see road wins against schools from the BCS conferences. And it would be a good one for George Mason, which lost key pieces from last year as well (leading scorer Cam Long and coach since forever Jim Larranaga). Can Ryan Pearson and Andre Cornelius keep the mid-major excellence going that GMU has enjoyed ever since its Final Four run? Can Va Tech make a splash in the ACC this year? This game should be a good primer for both teams.

Dayton at Miami, 7 p.m.
Full disclosure: this one isn't part of ESPN's slate of games, but it has me more interested than any other game of the day. I want to see how UD's offense looks against a good defense, and how their big men look against a team that also has big men. This one is coming at a devastating timeslot, with four games going on either ESPN or ESPN3 (including Duke-Michigan State) as well as the Florida at Ohio State game starting at 8 p.m. So I understand the bulk of the country won't be tuning in to WHIO-TV or radio, and won't be streaming this game online at daytonflyers.com. But anybody who has the opportunity to watch Chris Johnson play should. I wasn't watching the NBA when Dennis Rodman was at the height of his game, but I imagine he's the only guy ever to make rebounding more exciting than CJ. It's such a joy to watch the undersized 6-6 small forward come flying through the lane, jump over everybody else and grab the ball without any regard for what's going to happen to him when he lands. The Flyers are going to need a better game from CJ than he gave them against Western Illinois. So tune in to UD-Miami during commercial breaks or something from the ESPN games, and watch some good mid-major basketball.

UD vs. Western Illinois

College basketball season is here! And while I'm sure most of the country is more interested in hearing about North Carolina or Kentucky or Ohio State, I don't care about what they're doing at the beginning of the season. It will mostly consist of dismantling weak teams. No, I'd much rather write about my University of Dayton Flyers, the band of lovable underachievers that have (mostly) tortured me since I decided on attending UD. And while my hope is for UD's early season to consist of mostly blowouts based on the team's they'll be playing, that's not likely. Even if the games do play out well for UD, it will be very interesting to see, because UD is sporting a new coach, new offensive system, and a very different cast of players from what they've had in the past. That's why I'll be writing some sort of reaction to every UD game this season (unfortunately I don't get to attend many of them, so these reactions will occasionally have to be based off the radio casts and box scores). And it began today with an 87-58 win over Western Illinois.

Reaction
The game started with UD looking like typical UD: Sloppy at the beginning of the season, playing down to its competition, not playing great defense, getting involved in a closer game than they should be in. The Flyers trailed for much of the first half, but finished strong and took a 41-38 lead into halftime. Obviously giving up 38 points to Western Illinois is horrible, but Dayton corrected a lot of errors in the second half and absolutely dominated, outscoring the Fighting Leathernecks (awesome nickname, by the way, West Ill definitely beats UD out in that category) 46-20.

The thing that kept running through my mind in the second half was how different this seemed from the way UD usually starts the season. As far back as the daytonflyers.com archives go back on men's basketball (the 2004-05 season), this was UD's highest margin of victory in its first regular season game. UD only beat Wofford by three and East Tennessee state by four in a couple recent season-openers. So as far as starting strong, a job well-done by Archie Miller and crew. Now, let's not get carried away. Western Illinois was picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the Summit League, a conference that will only produce one NCAA Tournament team this year through an automatic bid. So UD should have stomped the Leathernecks. But they did, and there's something to be said for taking care of business.

The Good
Josh Benson and Matt Kavanaugh. Is this the first year since Sean Finn that UD will get good play from its frontcourt? Maybe. Benson and Kav were Dayton's two leading scorers, netting 21 and 15 points, respectively (tying a career high for Kav). What's more, they actually looked pretty good doing it. Both displayed a couple post moves, and Kav was all over the offensive glass. I'm not willing to get too excited about these performances yet because (a) once again, the opponent was Western Illinois, starting 6-7 Terrell Parks at center and (b) Kav scored 15 at Seton Hall and looked phenomenal, then disappeared enough that you might not have known he was on the team the rest of the season. I'm excited for both guys, but a bit more optimistic about Benson, who showed more flashes last season. Maybe the new number he's sporting this year will help transform him into the big man UD needs.

Kevin Dillard. Dillard was only 2-8 from the field, but the Flyers' starting point guard (and probably the biggest key to their success this season) dished out nine assists and had zero turnovers in his 19 minutes. Whenever Dillard was running the offense, he looked like he was in complete control of the game as well. He pushed the ball well, penetrated, looked to set his teammates up, and never really got himself into trouble with the ball. I was impressed. If he can ratchet up his offense a bit and go something more like 4-8 in an average game, and still put good assist to turnover numbers, he'll be giving UD exactly what it needs. I'm excited to keep watching Dillard play.

The new offense. With Brian Gregory gone most UD fans knew that the substitutions would drop off significantly. That was also going to be forced on Archie Miller due to his lower number of players this year. But it was still refreshing to see players play extended stretches in the game, and not have guys get yanked while they're in the middle of a hot streak because its their time in the rotation. Based on game one, it appears Miller is looking to use a core of seven players (Benson, Kav, Dillard, Josh Parker, Chris Johnson, Paul Williams, Devin Oliver) with two others filling the gaps and (hopefully) giving quality minutes and the Flyers a little bit different look (Luke Fabrizius and Alex Gavrilovic). I think that is the right way to go. Gavrilovic's minutes were a bit higher in the first game than I suspect Miller would have preferred, but that was more due to Benson getting in foul trouble. Overall, the Flyers' game seemed to have a bit more flow to it. And the weave at the top of the key was never run. Not once.

The Bad
Josh Parker. UD's No. 1 gunner did not look good in this year's debut, much like he didn't look good for the entirety of last season. He scored 11 points, but went 4-9 from the field and 2-7 from the three-point line (he played the most minutes on the team with 30). He doesn't bring much to the table as a point guard (don't let his six assists from this game fool you, that won't happen often) or on defense, so if Parker is not doing well on offense he's more a liability than anything else. I can stomach a 4-9 from him, if it weren't for the fact that most of the misses came from him jacking up a contested, perhaps off-balance three when there is still plenty of time on the shot clock. It sometimes seems like Parker is keeping a running tab in his head, keeping track of his attempts. "Let me think here, I haven't shot our last three possessions. I just got the ball, and I really need to shoot, so I'm not going to worry about passing or creating offense. Better to just duck and chuck. Brick? O well, at least I scratched that itch."

Chris Johnson. The guy who needs to be leading UD in scoring this year with about 16 a game did not play well to open the season. In 25 minutes, Johnson went 3-8 from the field (2-6 from three) and scored eight points. He still delivered a fantastic effort on the glass, leading UD with 10 boards. The real problem I had with Johnson's game today was that he did not make his presence felt in a big way throughout. He sat around the perimeter for too long (as evidenced by him only attempting two two-point shots). He didn't even attempt a foul shot all game, which is where CJ can really get points because he is so excellent at the line. He's got to be more aggressive than that. My heart skipped a beat at one point in the game when UD threw the ball to CJ in the post, and he made a good pass to an open Benson for a jump shot. The shot didn't go in, but it was good offense, and absolutely the type of thing UD needs to be doing with CJ all season. He's a great shooter, but a better athlete. Get him the ball closer the basket every now and again, where contact is more likely, and let him try to make a play. I liked seeing it once this game, and hope to see it more in the future.

Overall, it was an encouraging way for Dayton to start its season. The Flyers are one-for-one in having walk-ons play this season, which is a good indication that you played well. Next up is an entirely different animal. UD will travel to Miami, who they always seem to play terribly (but usually squeak out a win) against. Miami is not expected to be good this year (preseason fourth place in the East division of the Mid-American Conference), but their defense and dictation of pace in games has consistently given UD trouble. We should learn much more about the Flyers in their second game.

Penn State

I couldn't get myself to come up with a title for this blog post, because I usually try and do a play on words or something fun. There is nothing fun about what has happened at Penn State.

I've been avoiding writing about this story, but it's become way too big of a deal to keep off this blog if this blog is supposed to be about covering sports.

There is no angle I can take on this story that hasn't been exhausted, and no expertise or explanation that I have to provide to anyone looking for answers about it. There have been some really excellent pieces written on this, especially by Michael Weinreb of Grantland.com, who grew up in State College, Penn.

What has bothered me especially over the last couple days is our country's willingness (maybe even excitedness) about moving on to vilify Joe Paterno so quickly. Make no mistake, I am not defending Paterno or what he did(n't do). All I'm saying is that the grand jury report came out, and there was uproar about Sandusky for a day. Then we focused on the graduate assistant telling Paterno what he had seen and Paterno telling his superiors and doing nothing else. As my Dad said afterward, that meant Paterno knew this guy was a criminal and kept him around, let him stay around young men for years. A reprehensible thing to do, and something Joe Paterno deserved to be fired for. But all we've heard about for what seems like forever is reaction from former Penn State players and college football experts about Paterno.

How is it that the guy who was actually sexually abusing boys has gotten lost in all of this? How is it that Paterno and Mike McQueary are now shouldering the entirety of the blame for this scandal? From what I can tell, neither of them did anything to boys.

I don't want this to be misunderstood. Joe Paterno and Mike McQueary and everyone else at Penn State who was aware of what Sandusky had been should be held accountable for not doing more to stop it. So far, all of them except McQueary have been held accountable. They've lost their jobs. They've lost everything important to them aside from their families (who probably aren't that happy, either). For Paterno, he's lost what he built for over half a lifetime. To ask for more than that is ludicrous. Remember, these men did not break a law. The committed a sin of omission, without a doubt, but in this country what they did(n't do) was not illegal. There is no basis for punishing them beyond what has happened.

It goes back to our country's obsession with celebrities, which is such a fun guilty pleasure most of the time (like when its about Lindsay Lohan or Kim Kardashian) but an absolute cancer in times like right now. It's just that there are so many more important things going on in this situation than Joe Paterno. Like Jerry Sandusky. Like the boys (now men and young men) who suffered sexual abuse, have been living with it for years, and are now reliving it. Read the Grand Jury report(fair warning: I couldn't get through it in one sitting, I was getting pissed off and depressed), and if Paterno is still your biggest concern, then have at him.

But I'm with Rick Reilly. This is about waaayyy more than Joe-Pa.

Brandon Davies, BYU back together

In an ESPN.com piece, BYU's formerly suspended center Brandon Davies spoke about being back with the team for the 2011-12 season.

As many people likely remember Davies was suspended late last season for violating his school's honor code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend. His suspension came at a tough time for BYU, who had reached its highest ranking of the season at no. 3 in the country, and was heading into the postseason with a lot of momentum. The Cougars still made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament (I don't think they had much more in them even with Davies, but last year's tourney was one of the weirdest ever, so who knows?), but it had to be hurting Davies to know that the team was worse off without him in its most important games (Davies was the leading rebounder and averaged 11 points a game).

All of that has passed now, however. Davies, now entering his junior year, is happy to be back on the team, and is ready to play some ball. He evidently holds no ire toward anyone for his suspension, saying that BYU treated him "more than fair." Wow. I wrote about Davies' suspension back when it happened, and despite not really being able to understand a suspension for something as innocent as premarital sex with a girlfriend, I respected it, because it was a part of the university's honor code. BYU was sticking to its guns, unlike so many other schools in today's win-and-make-money-at-all-costs NCAA atmosphere. Still, it would have been understandable if Davies was just a bit upset about the way he had been punished.

That just doesn't appear to be the case. Sure, Davies' quotes in the ESPN.com article are probably a case of him saying what sounds best, at least to an extent. But the fact is he took his punishment like a man, and is moving on from it. He is ready to get back onto the court and play some basketball. Not many 19 or 20-year-olds would react like that. Larry Drew III of North Carolina wasn't even suspended last year, he just lost some playing time because Kendall Marshall was doing so well. Drew decided he was going to quit on his teammates.

Not Davies, though. He's ready to help the Cougars pick up right where they left off.

The AFC North up for grabs

Last night the Ravens beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh in a game that was as boring as Bama-LSU for two and a half quarters, but featured an excellent, redeeming fourth quarter. With the win, the Ravens moved into first place in the AFC North at 6-2. The Steelers, yet to enjoy their bye week, are a half game back at 6-3. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals went and got a win on the road at the Titans (a team that beat Baltimore) to keep pace with the Ravens in the division.

All of this seems to be leading to a hopefully very entertaining second half of the season in the AFC North. The consensus seems to be that the Bengals will fall out of contention as their schedule gets tougher (they still have both games against the Steelers and Ravens to look forward to), but I'm not so sure I agree. Cincy has shown a remarkable ability to have the occasional long, steady drive that slows everything down in a game. They are not a gangbusters offense, but they have put up 23 or more points (enough to win a slower game in the NFL) every week except one so far this season. That is some remarkable consistency. If there is one advantage the Bengals have over their AFC North counterparts, it is that consistency. The Ravens have been on and off this season: some great games, then a 26-13 embarrassment at Tennessee, the Monday night debacle at Jacksonville, and then a barely-squeaked-out comeback win over Arizona at home. The Steelers have looked more consistent the past three weeks, but the week 1 thrashing in Baltimore, a 10-point performance in Houston, as well as escaping with wins in Indy and against Jacksonville doesn't have me convinced that the Steelers are 100 percent themselves yet.

All the stats would seem to indicate that the Steelers and Ravens are superior to the Bengals, and I believe them. I don't think the Bengals are a great team. But they are 6-2 right now, and yes, the schedule will get tougher, but don't they seem good enough to win a home game against Baltimore or Pittsburgh? With the up-and-down seasons those two teams have had, there's almost no way Cincy goes 0-4 in the games against their two rivals. Other than those four, the Bengals close against Cleveland, Houston, St. Louis and Arizona. That should be 3-1 at the worst. We could easily be looking at an 11-5 Bengals team by the end of the year. That seems like it should be good enough to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, don't discount Baltimore or Pittsburgh's schedule. The Ravens at home against San Francisco, at San Diego and at Cincinnati (I don't see that last one as a gimme game anymore). The Steelers still have to play at Cincy and at San Francisco, and they are behind the Bengals right now. Neither of those are as tough as what the Bengals have lying ahead, but they aren't cakewalks, either. Two or three losses could spell doom for any of these teams, and it is never easy in the NFL to play with that level of perfection.

I'm looking forward to weeks 10-17 in the NFL for a lot of reasons: the Packers' shot at 16-0, the Patriots all-of-a-sudden looking weak, and the NFC East shaking out in crazy fashion like it always seems to do the last three or four weeks of the season. But maybe most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the AFC North. Because I have no idea what is going to.

1 vs. 2?

Couldn't just sit idly by and watch NFL games this Sunday, because last night a travesty happened.

The No. 1 LSU Tigers beat the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide 9-6, in overtime. And, as that score would seem to indicate, it was bad.

First, let's get all of this out of the way first. Yes, LSU and Alabama are both excellent college football teams this year, unquestionably two of the country's top five (conservatively). Yes, the SEC is the best league in the country, by far. Yes, both teams in this game have excellent defenses that have been good all year. But all of that stuff didn't matter Saturday night. Because the game sucked.

What's aggravating is that now people are still trying to let us "average" or "casual" fans of the game know that we witnessed greatness last night. We saw a "classic" game, according to Pat Forde, an excellent college football writer, and we just can't appreciate it. But Forde is just wrong.

First, let's go over the stats. Both teams managed just two field goals during regulation (and for each team, one of those field goals was aided by an interception leading to a short field). Neither team managed 300 total yards in the game (Bama 296, LSU 239). Alabama averaged a miserable 6.9 yards per pass attempt, but dominated LSU, who only averaged 5.4. LSU made up their deficit in the passing game, however, with an unimpressive 3.6 yards per rush, besting Bama's 3.1. Both teams threw two interceptions. O yeah, did I mention that Alabama went 2 for 6 kicking field goals? Yep, the player of the game was LSU kicker Drew Alleman, who went 3 for 3. Even Alleman wasn't that impressive though, cause the longest field goal he kicked was 30 yards.

According to Forde, and everyone else, there was a reason for those abysmal offensive numbers: this game was a case of decent offenses playing against great defenses. Okay, fair point. Alabama and LSU are the top two scoring defenses in the country, respectively. Take a quick look at Alabama's and LSU's schedules leading up to Saturday's contest, though. Bama, the nation's top scoring defense, is giving up 7.1 points per game. They have given up six or more points (the amount LSU scored in four quarters) to Kent State, Penn State, Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss and Tennessee. LSU is giving up 10.9 points per game. They have given up six or more points to Oregon, Mississippi State, West Virginia, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn. I understand that neither Bama nor LSU has to have a great offense to be the best team in the country. Bama couldn't outscore Mississippi State or Kentucky, though? LSU couldn't outdo the effort Kent State or Penn State (that slow, inept Big 10, remember) delivered? Please.

Yes, the defenses played well last night. But the offenses were downright awful. And because this game was such a supposed "classic", teams are already clamoring for a rematch in the national championship game. If that were to happen, it would be a disaster. The nation is still disillusioned about Saturday's game, and believes it was a good one. They won't be able to endure 4+ more quarters like that. I would rather LSU stomp on Oklahoma State or Stanford (I don't believe that would happen) and have to endure another year of hearing about SEC supremacy than watch another over-hyped suckfest like last night.

Can we extend the college basketball season?

I've given up on the NBA. There is still plenty of opportunity for an NBA season to happen, and it probably will happen once most of the players have been without paychecks for a month or two or three. But I can't even stand to think about that. Even a 40 game NBA season wouldn't be started for a long time to come.

So is there any way we could get the college basketball season started up earlier? Or maybe move the conference tournaments three weeks and add eight or nine more games to every team's schedule? That way I'd have a little bit more ball to watch.

I'm sick of reading headlines about NBA Labor discussions, the college conference shuffle and my fantasy football players continuing to be injured. Don't Andre Johnson and Darren McFadden understand that we're smack in the middle of the bye portion of football season, and I don't have anybody else to put in the game? I digress, though. This wasn't supposed to be about football.

It was supposed to be an appeal to the NCAA: find a way to give me 3 more Big Mondays, Super Tuesdays, ACC Wednesdays and all the other wacky names ESPN should start giving to days of the week during college basketball season. Find a way to give me an extra three weeks of Duke games on television (because Duke is always on TV. It's probably the biggest perk of being a Duke fan). Most of all, just give me more basketball to watch, because As awesome as the NFL is, it's only two (sometimes three) days a week. And two (sometimes three) out of seven just isn't getting it done anymore.

College Football's Big Game

This weekend (if you haven't been clued in by the endless talking about it on TV and ever-growing number of features on every angle possible) No.1 LSU will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on No.2 Alabama in college football's biggest game of the year.

That first paragraph is not meant to belittle the game. It is a huge game. The winner will be heavily favored to win the national championship. But this game has taken on more attention than I can ever remember a college football game getting. There have been plenty of No.1 vs. No.2 matchups in the regular season before, but this one somehow seems bigger. The last 1 vs. 2 was between Ohio State and Michigan, and received a great deal of attention mainly because of the fact that it was the biggest rivalry of the year for both teams, with a shot at the title game on the line. This game between Bama and LSU feels somehow different. Yes, a shot at the title game is still on the line (though not guaranteed, like it was in the OSU-Michigan game because that was the final game of the year). This game is receiving extra attention because it is coming at the perfect time. It is a matchup of two SEC schools in the height of the "SEC is the only football conference that matters" era of college football.

History tells us that we've got a good shot a good game between the two teams. I hope it will be a good game, but I will have the nagging thought in my head about how this game will spell the end of the season for one of the (supposedly) best two teams in college football.

The BCS is designed to have the best two teams in the nation play. It doesn't want a playoff, because that allows for upsets to happen, and then the system does not get its optimal national championship matchup. Believe it or not, in the BCS' 13 years, it has gotten the two contenders right more often than not. But this year, it is almost impossible for that to happen.

According to every unbiased source, the BCS' current Nos. 1 and 2 (LSU and Bama) are the best two teams in the country. The problem is, they are playing each other this weekend and are both in the same division of the SEC. That means only one of them (the winner of Saturday's game in all likelihood) can play in the SEC championship game. A team with one loss that doesn't even make it to its conference championship game cannot possibly be selected to play in the national championship, right? And despite how annoying it will be when all the SEC fans are pining for the loser of this game to be given another shot, this year, they'll be right.

Which brings us to the even bigger problem. According to the BCS, LSU is the best team, the most deserving of playing in a national championship game right now. But to do so, they have to beat Alabama in Alabama this week. Home-field advantage is approximately 70-times more important in college sports than pro sports. In a game between the nation's two best teams, which seem pretty evenly matched, how is it fair for the site of the game to help decide the winner (and then the likely eventual national champion)?

It's not fair at all to do this in college football, a sport where the great teams switch from year to year (look at Auburn and Oregon this year: not bad by any stretch, but nowhere near national champion caliber. That's just how it works). When LSU has its chance to win a national title (it probably will not be this good next year), the school is given a significant disadvantage to winning that title because of a road game on the schedule. It doesn't make any sense.

Unfortunately, there isn't a good solution to this problem. The only solution is to extend the season and have teams play home-and-aways with all the teams in their conference divisions. But I don't like that at all. Really, the best solution is the one just about everybody has wanted all along: a playoff. The loser of Saturday's game will almost certainly still finish in the top four or eight teams in the country by season's end, and in a world with an FBS playoff, they would be given another shot at the title. A shot they deserve, because the only mistake they made was deciding to be great in a year when a team from the same division decided to be great as well.

Halloween Blackface

Raffi Torres of the Phoenix Coyotes dressed up as Jay-Z for a Halloween party Sunday night, and he brought his girlfriend dressed as a slightly pregnant Beyonce. The catch to this costume is that both of them appeared at the party in blackface makeup. Since then there has been an uproar among the writing and talking elite about how Torres' move was racist, or insensitive, or the type of thing "you just don't do."

Harrison Mooney, a black writer for Yahoo! Sports wrote a more-reasonable-than-most-column about the blackface costumes, saying he would give Torres the benefit of the doubt and assume he is not a racist, or that he was espousing "a return to minstrelsy and the Jim Crow Laws." However, he did believe that Torres had made a poor and racially insensitive decision, because of how blackface started out as a way to make fun of African-Americans for their dark skin.

Most of what Mooney wrote I agree with, and I understand that as a white middle-class-raised American I cannot speak to what Mooney or other African-Americans' experiences are. But I do feel that he is a bit off when he claims that blackface is backwards and offensive.

What is being lost entirely in all this is that Torres and his lady friend were at a Halloween party. As in, a costume party. As in, you dress as someone or something other than yourself. Now, Torres and girlfriend decided they would like to go as Jay-Z and Beyonce. Those two are very popular and topical right now. Beyonce's pregnancy is the most-tweeted moment of all time, for crying out loud. How could the two of them have done that costume without putting on makeup to darken their skin? (Let's set aside for the moment that the makeup those two are wearing does even come close to resembling the blackface makeup that was seen as offensive in the first place. Torres did put burnt cork all over his face.) They couldn't have. Look at the costumes they are wearing in that picture. If the two of them had showed up in their normal-skin color, people would have thought they had forgotten it was a costume party. They would have been berated all night for having such poor costumes. The blackface was necessary.

So if wearing blackface was necessary, maybe they should have come up with a different costume. But why? They went to a party to have some fun, and dressing up like that allowed them to. Wearing blackface probably got them several slaps on the back for putting together a good couples costume.

Mooney made a good comparison between Torres' costume and Prince Harry dressing up as a Nazi a couple years ago. He said the Prince's costume was in bad taste as well, because like Torres', it references a negative past. And technically, he is correct. But I don't see why that's a problem. It is a Halloween costume. You should be having fun. Really, fun is what's behind blackface in this day and age. Mooney makes a reference to Robert Downey Jr.'s Kirk Lazarus character in Trop Thunder donning blackface to play a character in a movie. He says that blackface is okay, because it is making a larger statement (in this case, that Kirk Lazarus has a heightened sense of himself). This is true, Kirk Lazarus has a heightened sense of himself, but that's not why Robert Downey Jr. is in blackface in the movie. Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux put him in blackface because they figured it would be funny (and it was).

Shouldn't we be more concerned around Halloween time that starting at age 14 girls are dressing as sluttily as they can, because that's what they keep hearing and seeing is the best way to do Halloween. Shouldn't we more more concerned that 14 year-old boys are encouraging the girls and then taking advantage of them, than about two adults putting on dark makeup to look like two (pretty-well covered up) celebrities?

Mooney closes with a reference to a Flannery O'Connor story that ends with two white men meeting under a statue of a black boy eating watermelon (a racial stereotype). He closes with these sentences:
"For the grandfather and grandson, it was merely humorous and harmless, because they didn't have to worry about its larger meaning.
Not unlike the people that go out on Halloween in blackface."

Exactly. The people that go out on Halloween in blackface don't have to worry about it's larger meaning, because there is none. It's Halloween.