Home Court... Hurts?

Is it possible that playing at home can negatively impact the home team? I'd like to say no, but I can't help but think yes. In college basketball, most any team can give another a scare and this season, most any team can pull off an upset. All AP top 10 teams have been upset at least once, most of which have come on the road; however, playing in front of the home crowd does not give a team that is picked to win the extra push necessary. Any basketball coach will tell you that it is difficult to win on the road and that they put in more preparation for road games. What a coach won't tell you is that the team will not focus as much for a game that has "already been decided". Oftentimes you will see a team not play as hard as they should and then receive a scare from lower competition. Other times, you may observe a team that is trying to impress the home crowd by playing a more stylish brand of basketball with no-look passes or alley oops. Sometimes, it doesn't work out and the away team will capitalize. Judging from the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team today and other home games at the McKale Center, they haven't played the brand of basketball that they would like. Instead, there was a crowd watching their every move, just waiting to explode. That will oftentimes get you mixed results if the other team came to play. Either you will have a closely contested game that goes back and forth seeing the home team as the eventual winner, or you will see the away team come bursting out of the gates to quickly silence the home crowd and grind out a road win. Today, as the Wildcats played the Cal Golden Bears, there was no sense of urgency, especially at the start of the 2nd half, by the home team. Before fans could return from concessions to their seats, Cal had come bursting out of the gates to grab a 10-point lead. The crowd was stunned and the team never recovered as the Golden Bears pranced away with a 77-69 win over the 7th ranked Arizona Wildcats. With tickets had to come by in Tucson for these basketball games, each fan is waiting for a Mark Lyons trey, a Solo fade away, or a Nick Johnson alley oop that they see so often on TV. The players know what the fans want to see and every now and then, you catch them not prepared or trying to impress. In a season like this one, you cannot afford to do that.

I'm Back!!!

I'd like to apologize for my lack of posts over the past several months. Since the summer of last year, I have moved from Tucson, Arizona to Pullman, Washington. There hasn't been much to cover here in the Palouse other than WSU's disappointing 2012 football campaign as well as an extremely mediocre season from the basketball squad. Things down south in Tucson have looked quite good as the Arizona Wildcats football team finished 8-5 with a ridiculous victory against Nevada to conclude their season with the New Mexico Bowl trophy. The men's basketball team has also been performing well with a consistent ranking in the AP top 10. The Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks have both been very active in the offseason, with the Blue Jays drastically improving their roster with many acquisitions. However, the D-backs have made changes that don't seem to make the team a bona-fide contender in the NL West. The Arizona Cardinals started off their 2012 campaign with a surprising and encouraging 4-0 starts, only to finish the season 5-11, which led to the dismissal of Coach Ken Whisenhunt. The Phoenix Suns have become a doormat of the Western conference and the NHL lockout began and ended. Plenty of sports news is still to come and I will attempt to post more frequently. You can also follow me on twitter @thefanaddict

Arizona beats Toledo in OT for the first win of the RichRod era

The RichRod era has begun in Arizona and it started off with a great offensive performance; however, something was missing: scores. The Wildcats amassed 624 total yards, but managed to only score four times in their 24-17 OT victory against the Toledo Rockets. The offense was superb and fast paced, oftentimes running a play once the referee set the ball, but there were too many mistakes. Toledo isn't a bad team and should be a favorite to win the Mid-American Conference, but they should've been pummeled. The Cats offense had so many opportunities to score TDs, but two were called back by penalties and the Cats fumbled three times in the redzone. Arizona should have won in regulation, but John Bonano shanked a 26 yard field goal at the end of regulation that would have given the Cats the victory. Instead the game went to OT, where the Cats recieved the ball first and scored on a beautiful Matt Scott scramble-and-throw to Terrence Miller for the 10 yard go-ahead score. The Cats defense would hold on and give Arizona its first victory of the RichRod era. The offense looks to be one of the most productive offenses in the Pac 12 as well as Arizona history with Matt Scott throwing, running, and handing the ball off to Ka'deem Carey, who looks to be an explosive RB that the Arizona program has lacked for quite a while.

NCAAF Preseason: A look at the 2012 Heisman Candidates and Hopefuls

The Favorites:

 

#1. Matt Barkley, USC: Barkley is entering his Senior year as quarterback at USC and he has all of the tools to win another Heisman for the Trojans. With two dangerous wide recievers, a talented backfield and a stout offensive line, Barkley looks like a favorite to win the trophy and he can only blame himslef if he doesn't. Even if he doesn't win the trophy, he'll still be the top QB of the 2013 NFL Draft

 

#2. Montee Ball, Wisconsin: Now that the nation knows who Montee ball is, Heisman Voters will be on the look out. This guy is special and will be a top tier NFL running back, but the college system of ranking the best player always leans towards the QB. Without a star QB on Wisconsin, Ball should get many touches and that means more TDs. I don't think he'll get 39 TDs again, but he'll put up Heisman-worthy yards.

#3. Geno Smith, West Virginia: No one will benefit more from West Virginia's move to the Big 12 than Geno Smith. Putting up monster numbers in the Big East is cool, but it's hard to attract Heisman talk unless you are a title contender. The Mountaineers move to the Big 12 does make them a title contender, which will put Smith in the spotlight. If he can perform against top-tier football teams every week like he did against Clemson in the Orange Bowl, Smith will be a dangerous Heisman contender.

#4. De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon: The one thing I can't stand about the Heisman is that it tries to give NFL prospects a ton of publicity before the NFL draft. The voters always seem to forget that this award is for the best college football player, not the best NFL prospect. De'Anthony Thomas is a player who has potential to break all college football rushing records, but it is very possible that the Heisman voters will not crown him the title of "best college football player" just because he won't succeed in the NFL.

 #5. Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State: Michigan State looks to be a very good and physical team in the Big 10. This means that they will shut down opposing defenses and hand the ball off to Le'veon Bell 30-40 times a game. He is huge for an all-down running back at 6'2", 244 lbs and figures to be one of the top running backs selected in either the 2013 or 2014 NFL draft. If Michigan State can muster some respect around the nation as a football power and maybe even recieve a Rose Bowl berth, Bell will be the greatest benefactor.

The Darkhorse:                                           Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville: Every year, there is a darkhorse contender in the Heisman race. Last year, it was RG3, who actually took home the hardware. For this year, I bet the darkhorse will be another dual-threat QB, this time from Louisville. If Louisville absolutely dominates the Big East and goes to a BCS bowl game, it's all because of their QB, Teddy Bridgewater. He is accurate and fast, but would benefit by bulking up a bit.

A Brief History of Washington Sports: Washington State Cougars Football

This is the first post of many that will briefly cover the history of a Washington sports team. In this post, I will cover the Washington State Cougars Football team. I recently attended a fall football scrimmage for the 2012 team and my impression of this team is quite different than those of the fans here in Pullman. From what I gathered after listening in on a few Cougs fans' conversations, it seems as though Wazzu expects great things from this season, mostly due to the arrival of head coach Mike Leach. A hire like Leach is a huge deal for this school considering all of his accolades and what he brings to the table; however, fans everywhere will be blinded by hype. These fans expect a bowl bid and a 6-6 or 7-5 record in Leach's first season; however, we must look at history to see what the future holds for Cougars football.
Martin Stadium: 2012 will be the 40th year in which the Washington State Cougars have played in Martin Stadium. Named after former governor of Washington, Clarence D. Martin, Martin Stadium held its first game on September 30, 1972. The stadium originally had a capacity of 26,500 and is currently the smallest stadium in the Pac-12 with a capacity of 35,117. I've been to some of the world's nicest and largest sporting venues and I must say, I was unimpressed. Washington State is currently working on adding a press box which makes the stadium look nicer and more 21st century; however, it is just way too small. It now looks as though they added a press box to a Texas high school football stadium. The lack of size gives this stadium almost no intimidation factor, but Martin Stadium does make for a tough playing field during the winter time due to snow.

Three Straight Ten Win Seasons: In 1997, the Cougs made it to the Rose Bowl under QB Ryan Leaf and Head Coach Mike Price; however, they lost to the Michigan Wolverines and finished 10-2 with an AP Ranking of #9. Leaf left for the NFL, leaving Price with a promising group of players. In 2001, the Cougars would reach the ten-win mark once again, finishing with a 10-2 record and #10 in the AP poll after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers in the Sun Bowl. The following year, the Cougars would become co-champions of the Pac-10 with a 10-3 record and a trip to the Rose Bowl. The Cougars would lose the Rose Bowl to the Oklahoma Sooners and finish at #10 once again in the AP Poll. The following season, Price would leave for a coaching job at Alabama, which lead to the promotion of Bill Doba to Head Coach. Doba would take the Cougs to the Holiday Bowl, where they beat the Texas Longhorns and finished the season with a 10-3 record and an AP Poll ranking of #9. However, the following season was a great dissapointment as the Cougars finished with a 5-6 record, ending their streak of ten-win seasons.


Bill Doba



Paul Wulff

Recent History: Following their ten-win 2003 season, the Cougars haven't had a single winning season. Doba proved that he could not make a new winning team with a new batch of young players; however, in 2006, he led the team to a 6-6 mark but they were not invited to a bowl game. After a 5-7, 2007 campaign, Doba was fired. He was replaced by Paul Wulff. He was awful. The team had a 9-40 record with him at the helm and finished at the bottom of the Pac-10/12 twice. Wulff was fired after a 4-8, 2011 campaign. Washington State hired Mike Leach as head coach during the offseason. Leach brings an 84-43 record to Pullman and a reputation as the best head coach for the spread offense passing attack. This system should fit nicely with the current group of players. I doubt the team will make it to a bowl in 2012, but they are headed in the right direction after a 7-year stretch of mediocrity and poor football. 

Mike Leach

NCAAF Preseason Preview: Pac-12

The Pac-12 will look to prove that it belongs as one of the stronger conferences in college football as teams like Oregon look to retain their dominance of previous years while USC looks to recapture their dominant form of years past in this conference after a bowl ban due to NCAA sanctions. These two schools will attract a lot of attention to the west coast for football; however, there are other teams on the rise in the Pac-12. With four new big-name coaches joining the conference, fans are likely to see a change in this conference for the better. It will look as though the Pac-12 will continue to produce the best offenses in all of college football; however, the cream of the crop must reach a BCS bowl in order to compete with the SEC and Big 10 to prove that west coast offenses are the way to go in the year of 2012 in college football. Here is a preseason ranking of all twelve teams in the North and South divisions of the Pac-12:
North Division
1. Oregon Ducks: The Ducks left off the 2011 season with a Rose Bowl victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. They return with a talented but young roster and a great offensive-minded coach in Chip Kelly. The Ducks have had great success with Chip Kelly as head coach with three consecutive conference titles; however, this is the first season Coach Kelly does not have LaMichael James. James left for the NFL, which should be an enormous loss for this team considering he was a Heisman candidate; however, the Ducks have found success last season without him. James suffered an injury midway through last season; however, the Ducks managed to put up big offensive numbers with De'Anthony Thomas at RB. Thomas (aka The Black Mamba), a sophomore, will put up huge numbers in the Ducks' offense with his blazing speed and his shifty moves. The Black Mamba ran for 155 yards and 2 TDs in the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin... on only 2 attempts. He will be the key to success for Oregon even if sophomore QB Bryan Bennett underperforms. The Ducks already have an opportunistic defense that is much better than other Pac-12 defenses; however, the offense puts them head and shoulders above the rest. Projected record: 11-1

2. Washington Huskies: Head Coach Steve Sarkisian has taken these Huskies from the bottom of the conference into serious contention. Last year, the team looked as though the loss of Jake Locker to the NFL would be too much of a letdown; however, QB Keith Price outperformed Locker. Now a Junior, Price looks primed to become one of the best quarterbacks in the Pac-12. There are a few areas of concern for the Dawgs though. The lost RB Chris Polk to the NFL (even though he wasn't drafted) and there defense was awful last year. The Huskies managed to score 56 points in last year's Valero Alamo Bowl and they still managed to lose because their paper-thin defense surrendered 67 points to Baylor. Their running game and defense look to be the only areas of concern. Other than that, the Huskies show a lot of promise for the 2012 season. Projected record: 8-4

3. Cal Golden Bears: Never underestimate Cal in the Pac-12. They have an under-rated tradition in football, and this year, they have quite a bit of potential. Coming off a 7-5 regular season and a Holiday Bowl loss to Texas, QB Zach Maynard and RB Isi Sofele both look primed for a big season. The lefty QB had flashes of brilliance last season; however, he always looked a bit unpolished. This offseason, he has worked on his throwing technique. RB Isi Sofele enters his Senior year looking like a solid NFL prospect who has both speed and power. Cal has a rich RB history, so Sofele figures to be key to any success in the 2012 season; however, Cal can also count on Zach Maynard to have a quality season with WR Keenan Allen leading the recieving corp. Projected record: 8-4

4. Stanford Cardinal: Head Coach David Shaw needs to have a successful season with Stanford, or else it will prove that the loss of Andrew Luck is too great as the Cardinal slip back to mediocrity. I don't think Stanford will have a poor 2012 campaign; however, I do believe that they will slip quite a bit. If you take away Andrew Luck from the Stanford offense, you basically take away the passing game. This is the best-case scenario for the Cardinal since their offense is  run-first system. The O-line does have a few holes that need to be filled, but they should still control the ground with RB Stepfan Taylor. Taylor is probably the most NFL-ready RB coming out of the Pac-12. Stanford will continue to play solid defense, which will lead to a decent record and maybe even a bowl, but the loss of Luck will be greatly evident since they don't even have a starting QB. Projected record: 7-5

5. Washington State Cougars: I just moved to Pullman this Summer and you can easily tell what the talk around town is: Mike Leach. Coach Leach won't lead the Cougars to a BCS bowl, but his high-flying passing offense should keep the Cougs competitive. The QB competition between Sr. Jeff Tuel and So. Connor Halliday is probably one of the better ones in the Pac-12 since both look as if they would be able to put up big numbers in Leach's spread offense. The biggest are of concern for Wazzu is the defense. It sucked last year and it still looks like their Achilles heel for this season. If the defense can stop the bleeding and allow the offense to play shootout every week, they won't win a lot of games, but they'll stay competitve in most of them. Projected record: 5-7

                                                                                                           6. Oregon State Beavers: The Beavers had an awful 3-9 record last year, but they still show some promise. So. QB Sean Mannion played well last year, but he threw too many INTs. With some more experience, Mannion could have a good year with WR Markus Wheaton. I'm not saying the Beavers will have a good season since their defense was terrible last season, but they do have some talent on offense (like the rest of the Pac-12). Projected record: 2-10

South Division

1. USC Trojans: 2012 will be the first year Matt Barkley will be able to play in a bowl game. I'm betting that it's gonna be the National title game. USC is loaded on offense and defense. They have the best corp of WRs in the conference, the best QB, and a talented backfield thanks to the arrival of Silas Redd. The defense will continue to be one of the best in the Pac-12 due to speed and size. The reason as to why the Trojans will be successful is because their team is built like SEC and Big 10 teams. If USC beats Oregon on Nov. 3, it will prove that the other power conferences are too strong for other the spread offenses in the Pac-12.  Projected record: 12-0

2. Utah Utes: As a newcomer to the Pac-12 last year, Utah still managed to finish 8-5 and a Sun Bowl victory. That was mostly without their starting QB Jordan Wynn. With Wynn back, Utah is primed to win quite a few games. They possess one of the better defenses in all of the Pac-12 and can shut down spread offenses that do a lot of running. On offense, they can do a lot more than just handing the ball to RB John White who had a monster 2011 campaign. The offense looks to have a nice balance of running and passing, which works in their favor since the defense won't let any game turn into a shootout. Projected record: 9-3

3. Arizona Wildcats: The arrival of Rich Rod at the U of A will put an emphasis on offensive football. Too bad the Cats' problems last year came in defense. Just like the other upper to mid-tier Pac-12 teams, the Cats will have a good spread offense. They just need to hope that their own defense can stop the bleeding if any game turns into a shootout. Sr. QB Matt Scott and So. RB Ka'deem Carey look as though they'd be a good fit for Rich Rod's spread offense. The defense doesn't look as though there is an increase in talent, but more players have more experience and the starting role for every defensive position is a competition. The defense won't be good, but they'll be good enough to stop the bleeding. The offense should be a bit more run-oriented and able to put up points. Projected record: 7-5

4. UCLA Bruins: The Bruins have the strength to out-muscle other teams; however, they don't have the speed on offense and their defense isn't nearly as good as it should be. New Head Coach Jim Mora Jr. should focus on the defense, since they let up a bunch of yards and points last season. Sr. QB Kevin Prince should bring some experience to the UCLA offence; however, he doesn't throw to well, is fragile, and likes to run way to much. RB Johnathan Franklin is the bright spot for the UCLA offense, but he is more of a bruiser than a speedster, which is bad for any shootouts that the defense may get the offense into. The defense could easily get better since they are bigger and stronger than most Pac-12 defenses, they just need proper coaching. Projected record: 5-7

5. Arizona State Sun Devils: I must admit, I am extremely biased against the Sun Devils, but 2012 doesn't look too good for ASU. Last year's roster was very talented and they still managed to shrivel to a 6-7 record. This year, they have a new coach in Todd Graham, but no proven starting QB and an offense that will likely revolve around Sr. RB Cameron Marshall. Their defense also looks worse than it did last year, which is never a good sign in football, especially in the Pac-12. Projected record: 4-8

6. Colorado Buffaloes: It's never nice to pick on the team that doesn't do well and criticize them when they already know they're bad, but the Buffaloes are going to have to wait for quite a while until people will start to talk about them seriously. Last year, they went 3-10 and this year figures to get worse. The Buffaloes lose their two best players from last year in QB Tyler Hansen and RB Rodney Stewart. Their defense is pretty bad and there are to many vacant leadership roles for a batch of inexperienced players. Projected record: 2-10

According to my predictions, the Pac-12 will send seven teams to a bowl game, which is pretty good. However, Pac-12 teams are known for their poor play in bowl games. Last year, only two teams from this conference won their bowl game. Due to a relatively dull choice of non-conference games on their schedules, we'll have to wait until Bowl season to see how these spread, pass-first, fast-paced offenses fare against larger defenses from other power conferences. If the Pac-12 can prove that these offenses can thrive in the game of football, there is potential that the offensive mind-set may be changed in all levels of football.

China shouldn't block my blog

I have never once said anything bad in my blog about China... in fact I have never even mentioned China in my blog, yet they have chosen to block blogspot just cause they can. Well you know what? I am currently blogging in China and I'd like to talk a little bit about their sports in this post. The Summer Olympics are approaching, meaning that there is an international fervor about the upcoming event. This doesn't exclude China. The Chinese have been looking forward to the Olympics a bit more than most countries, considering their successful results from Beijing 2008, where they won the most gold medals. An extremely popular sport here in China is basketball. Their national team is not that good at basketball and neither are most Chinese citizens; however, Yao Ming has left a permanent footprint on the Chinese sports culture since many Chinese people still follow the NBA and are even willing to wake up early in the morning and watch the NBA Finals. Ping-pong, badminton, tennis, soccer, and golf are also relatively popular sports in China, since the Chinese  appreciate skill-sports as opposed to physical-sports, such as baseball, hockey, and football. Especially football. I brought a football to China and they won't allow me to throw the ball since they think it's dangerous. The Chinese have such little interest and exposure to this sport that they think the violent aspect of football is the simple action of throwing. It also seems that they have little loyalty for the sports that they actually appreciate, such as soccer. The Chinese National Soccer team is seen as a joke to most Chinese people. When I walk into the Adidas store, I'll spot a Rajon Rondo jersey, a D. Rose jersey, and the world-famous Kobe Bryant jersey. I'll even see all of the countries whose soccer teams sport Adidas (including Japan, whom the Chinese are not too fond of); however, a Chinese soccer jersey is nowhere to be seen. The Chinese would rather support other winning soccer teams, such as Spain, rather than their own country. A few hours after the Spanish won the Euro Cup, all of the Spanish Adidas Soccer jerseys were sold out. The culture is simply different here. Children are focused on school rather than sports, which makes some sense, but I still think that there needs to be a healthy balance of sports and education in China. Strengthen your mind AND your muscle.