COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERYWritten by: Mike in DADate posted: 11/19/2010YATES HS UPCOMING SCHEDULE:Football:Saturday - 11/20 - 2 PM - Yates vs. La Marque at Delmar Stadium (game will be broadcast on KCOH 1430 AM)Basketball:Saturday - 11/20 - Noon - Yates vs. Sam Houston at Delmar Fieldhouse (preceded by JV at 9 AM and Frosh at 10:30 AM)Tuesday - 11/23 - 7 PM - Yates vs. Chavez at Delmar FieldhouseFriday - 11/26 - 6 PM - Yates vs. Kashmere at Barnett FieldhouseTHE CRIER SCOLDS JOHN MCCLAIN FOR TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT!A couple of months ago, in the weekly newsletter to HMW readers, the Crier posted historical data on the number and percentage of games that fall a certain distance from the pointspread in NFL games, using regular season data going back to 1993, covering more than 4,000 games.
Referring back to that info, 17.8% of all NFL games have landed less than a field goal from the spread over the last 17-plus seasons, but as many (17.9%) have landed 18 points or more away from the spread. Also, 29.1% of NFL games have landed from 10 to 17.5 points away from the spread, all relatively cozy two-score cushions.
Therefore, 47% of games over a total population of over 4,000 have landed 10 or more points from the spread since 1993.
With that in mind, every week John McClain of the Chronicle gives his predicted scores of that week’s NFL games and in all the years that I have been following this, I have never seen John predict a final score that was more than seven points from the pointspread. That's a total of over 250 games per year.
With all the insight that John has of the NFL, you would expect that he would predict a number of games with a cozy cushion from the spread. I think that John is just being lazy by predicting scores close to the spread. I wonder if he would predict (guess) the same scores if he didn't know the spreads.
It’s a good thing that John doesn’t actually bet on these games. And hopefully, John's readers only use his scores for reading purposes only.
"THE PLAY"California hosts Stanford this week and it was 28 years ago that we first saw "The Play". It was exciting, but you have to agree that if Trinity and Millsaps weren't Division 3 schools, this would be "The Peanut Gallery Play" (http://best.complex.com/lists/the-50-greatest-trick-plays-in-football-history/trinity-football-miracle).You can compare the above to "The Play" (http://best.complex.com/lists/the-50-greatest-trick-plays-in-football-history/the-play).
TIGER IS ON THE LOOSE!On Thursday (11/18), Tiger Woods was on "Mike and Mike In The Morning" on ESPN 97.5 FM for about half an hour. You may have read or heard a lot of the commentary and reactions to that interview. Here is a summary:
1. This “appearance” coincides with a first person article in Newsweek and the establishment of a Twitter account.
2. The answers sounded as if they had been rehearsed many times3. The motivation here has less to do with “reconnecting with his loyal fans” than it has to do with “reconnecting with his big sponsorship deals”. You can take that to the bank. Or at least, Tiger will.ODEN OUT AGAIN!Greg "THE PACKAGE" Oden will require microfracture surgery on his knee and will be out for the season. He has had microfracture surgery before. This would have been the fourth season since Oden was drafted #1 overall out of Ohio State by the Blazers; he has appeared in a total of 82 games (one NBA season) in that time due to injury. Even at age 22, it may be time to ask if his career is over.
CAL FAKES INJURIES! THAT’S ONE WAY TO STOP OREGON!
Oh, by the way, the loss by Cal brings their record in games against #1 ranked teams in the country to 0-11. Oh, by the way, that is exactly what one should expect if there is even a shred of validity to such rankings.
PRE-SEASON POLLS WRONG ON FLORIDA AND TEXAS!
I have said here many times before that pre-season polls in college football and college basketball are meaningless and stupid. Please consider the polling of experts in August 2010. The consensus was that Florida was the #4 team in the country and Texas was the #5 team. Now we are in November 2010 and here is what we have:Florida is 6-4 and has lost three games in a row at home.Texas is 4-6 and needs to win out to be bowl-eligible. Imagine Texas - the "alleged" #5 team in the country - barely qualifying for an invitation to the Humanitarian Bowl. "Longhorn" Scott is probably getting an erection thinking about that.
Last Saturday, Oklahoma State went to Texas and beat the Longhorns, 36-16. Let me give you a few milestones regarding just how miserable this year has been for Texas:
1. Texas' overall record is 4-6.2. Texas has lost four home games this year; the last time that happened was in 1956.3. Texas has now lost four games in a row; the last time that happened was in 1997.
OKLAHOMA STATE - BIG 12 "SLEEPER" OF THE YEAR?Oklahoma State has only one loss this year and many projected it as a bottom feeder in the Big 12. The Cowboys have never won an outright conference title in their 51 year association with the Big 12, née Big 8; their win in Austin last week over Texas was their first win at that venue since 1944. Their only loss was to Nebraska a month ago; those two teams could play again for the Big 12 championship in Cowboys Stadium in December.
WILL ILLINOIS FAN STEVE BARTMAN SHOW UP AT WRIGLEY FIELD FOOTBALL GAME?
As mentioned here yesterday, there will be a college football game in Wrigley Field on Saturday between Illinois and Northwestern. I sure hope that everyone associated with this game has their premiums for their liability insurance paid up.
The brick right field wall at Wrigley is about one foot from the end line of one end zone. The goal post is mounted directly into the brick wall. Yes, there is padding on the wall, but a diving attempt to catch a ball there could easily break a neck or bring on a concussion. If a team tries a 50-yard field goal to that end and it barely makes it over the crossbar, it would be possible for a “Latter Day Steve Bartman” to reach out and knock the ball down before it went through the uprights.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL ODDS AND ENDS:
1. Two Saturday's ago, Penn State spotted Northwestern a 21-0 lead and then scored 35 in a row to win the game. Last week, Penn State led Ohio State, 14-3, at halftime and gave up 35 straight points in the second half to lose the game. What goes around comes around.
2. Last Saturday, Notre Dame beat Utah, 28-3. Just two weeks ago, Utah was ranked #5 in the BCS standings. Now they have a two-game losing streak working and neither loss was “in doubt” late in the game. The cumulative score in Utah’s two losses stands at 75-10.
3. Last week, Colorado beat Iowa State 34-14. Cody Hawkins, son of the recently fired Colorado coach, Dan Hawkins, threw for three TDs in the game raising the Buffaloes overall record to 4-6. Remember when the Governor of Iowa pronounced that Iowa State was a football program to be reckoned with after they beat Texas on the road? They are 5-6 and must beat Missouri this week to be bowl-eligible.
4. Tulane and Rice played a game last week where the coaches must have agreed to use only nine men on defense for the day. Tulane won, 54-49.
5. Nebraska beat Kansas, 20-3, last weekend in the longest continuous rivalry in college football. These teams have played every year for the last 105 years. For perspective, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series after this series began. However, that game brings to an end the continuous streak because next year Nebraska moves from the Big-12 to the Big Ten. Overall, in the Kansas/Nebraska series, the Cornhuskers had a commanding 91-23-3 advantage. Maybe ending this rivalry is not such a bad idea.
6. South Carolina went into “The Swamp” and swamped Florida, 36-14, last weekend putting the Gamecocks into the SEC Championship Game. They held Florida to 35 yards rushing for the game; meanwhile, freshman Marcus Lattimore ran for 212 yards against the Gators. South Carolina had never won at Florida until last weekend and had not beaten Florida at any venue since 1939. This was the third consecutive loss for Florida at home; the last time that happened was in 1989.
7. Army, Navy, and Air Force are all bowl-eligible this year and all will probably get bowl bids. If they all go to bowl games, it will be the first time that has ever happened in the same year. 8. Speaking of Army, there will be a college football game in Yankee Stadium this weekend between Army and Notre Dame. Do not be fooled into thinking this is some kind of new thinking on the part of NYC or Yankee Stadium overseers. These two teams played each other 22 times between 1925 and 1946 in the original Yankee Stadium before the original one was gutted and renovated. 9. The Big East Champion is one of the BCS “automatic qualifiers”. Don’t look now, but Pitt is 5-4 this year; Pitt is deservedly so unranked in the Top 25 in BCS rankings; and Pitt holds a one-game lead for the Big East Conference Championship. If the season ended today, Pitt would be playing in the Fiesta Bowl. The good people of Arizona should boycott that game and any entity that sponsors it. Or maybe it is time to reconsider the “automatic” part of “automatic qualifier”.MIKE IN DA
HMW
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The brick right field wall at Wrigley is about one foot from the end line of one end zone. The goal post is mounted directly into the brick wall. Yes, there is padding on the wall, but a diving attempt to catch a ball there could easily break a neck or bring on a concussion. 
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