A Legend

Before Colorado State's final game of the season vs Wyoming Coach Sonny Lubick was asked to stepped down. He said no and that he wan't going to quit on his team. He wanted another year to turn around the football program. Well yesterday it was official, Coach Lubick is no longer the head coach of CSU. This is a sad day for all CSU Rams fans. He is an amazing coach, he was at CSU for 15 years and turned that program into what it is today. I don't think its fair they are basically forcing him out. For everything he has done for that program he should be allowed to stay for as long as he wants. CSU will not be same without him.

Sure the last four years has been rough, but look at Joe Paterno, they were wanting him to step down and he didn't. Penn State is back on the college football map with a couple of seasons in the top 25. Coach Lubick is a person that was well respected by his players, coaches, fans, and city of Fort Collins. Growing up I wasn't a big CSU guy. But when I lived out in Denver a few years ago, I became a big CSU fan and jumped on the band wagon. I make it to at least one game a year to show my support. Coach Lubick, you will be missed by everyone.

My final thought is of the Redskins Sean Taylor. As you probably have heard he has passed away from being shot. This was a cowardly act and I hope they find the person who did this. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all of Redskins fans. As a Broncos fan, we lost two of our own over the off-season. I know how you feel Redskins fans, one of our own was gunned down as well.

Happy Holliday's

Today Major League Baseball will decide who the National League MVP is. The American League winner was announced yesterday with Alex Rodriguez taking the MVP honor with an astounding 28 first place votes and an overwhelming 382 to 258 total votes over runner-up Magglio Ordonez. A-Rod finished with having one of the single greatest offensive seasons in Major League Baseball history and there really was no question that he would receive the MVP honor. It’s A-Rod’s third time that he was won the MVP in his career and his second with the Yankees. Now who does Major League Baseball choose in the National League since nobody really stands out over the each other as far as the three main candidates go? I say Matt Holliday all the way. Even though Jimmy Rollins and Prince Fielder had outstanding years and highly contributed to their teams success, I feel that Matt Holliday had the biggest impact on his team and in the National League. I won’t go over any statistics for these guys because Holliday and Fielder are in the top 5 for homeruns and RBI’s and On-Base Percentage and a few other categories as well. Jimmy Rollins is in the top 5 in hits, stolen bases, extra base hits, and a few other categories too. Holliday and Rollins separate themselves from Fielder though in batting average but I’m not going to use this information so much in my decision since all three have the stats to be named MVP. What this race is going to come down to is their contribution to their team’s success. Prince Fielder helped the Brewers finish second in the National League Central division, one of their best seasons in a at least 20 years, while Jimmy Rollins and Matt Holliday helped their teams reach the playoffs, and for Holliday, the World Series. I think what really separates these players too is who was around them and how it made the players around them better. Prince Fielder had rookie sensation Ryan Braun batting behind him, which really helped Braun’s offensive numbers, but not getting to the playoffs and having a lower batting average than Holliday and Rollins is going to hurt him in getting more votes. As for Rollins, when you think of the Phillies, you don’t only think of Rollins. They have Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, I think that Rollins play definitely helps those around him like Howard and Utley, especially with them getting more RBI’s since Rollins gets a ton of extra base hits and stolen bases; but at the same time, I think that Howard and Utley help Rollins. All three of these players are All-Stars, so to choose one guy from the team as an MVP doesn’t make prefect sense to me. I’m not saying that Rollins isn’t an MVP and nor do I think if he gets he doesn’t deserves it because he really does, but my vote for MVP is Matt Holliday. Holliday helped players around him have stellar offensive years. Troy Tulowitzki came out of no where like Braun and finished second behind him in the Rookie of the Year award. Also, Garrett Atkins had a career year, so Holliday makes a good case for contributing to the success of players around him. The reason I give him the edge over Rollins is because of the players he helped have good offensive years and getting the Rockies to the World Series. Utley and Howard have already proven themselves before this year as great offensive baseball players but Tulowitzki and Atkins haven’t. Also, some people don’t believe that the playoff picture should factor into the MVP race. I think it depends on the players in the running for the MVP personally because sometime there are people that have best offensive year ever but don’t get to the playoffs. If the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs do to what I think would be bad pitching, A-Rod should still be the MVP. In this National League MVP race, two of the players made it to the playoffs. I think that Holliday was the reason the Rockies made it and had one of the greatest regular season finishes in sports history. Rollins did close to the same by helping the Phillies catch the Mets in the National League East but Howard and Utley played a big role in that too compared to the rest of the Rockies. When Holliday was up to bat anytime in the post season it just felt like you were watching the one guy in the game who could do something great. Remember when he almost hit a walk-off homerun at home to take them to the World Series but instead it was a triple to bring it to extra innings? Amazing.

Anyway, I was just saying who I felt should be the MVP in the National League but obviously my say doesn’t mean anything at all because it was just announced on ESPN that Jimmy Rollins is the National League MVP. Good job Jimmy, so for what it’s worth, I voted for Holliday.

Hang on Kansas

This year has been one of the craziest and most unpredictable years in College Football ever. However, there has been one common theme and that’s the number 2 team in the nation being upset. It started when USC lost to Stanford, then LSU lost to Kentucky, South Florida losing to Rutgers, then Cal losing to Oregon State, Boston College losing to Florida State, and our most recent with Oregon losing to Arizona. For some reason nobody can hang on to the number 2 spot in the BCS rankings or polls and it seems like every week a new number 2 is upset. One thing I do want to mention with the most recent one is Oregon is not the same without Dennis Dixon. I really think they would have won that game and probably would end up in the National Championship if Dixon didn’t get injured for the rest of the season. He is basically the Vince Young factor, the one guy who can completely take over a game and can single handedly win a game for his team. There goes the National Championship and there goes the Heisman, oh well, better luck next year. So this weekend there is a big chance that another number 2 team falls when Kansas takes on Missouri. Right now Kansas controls their destiny more than anyone else in the nation. There will be no controversy if they win out because they have to play the number 3 team (Missouri) and if they win that game then they play in the Big 12 Championship. So there is no way Kansas does not get into the National Championship if they win out because they will be undefeated and sitting in the number 2 spot. On the other end though, things could get real crazy here. If Kansas loses and continues the curse of the number 2, that means Missouri would move into the number 2 spot and would have to win the following week in the Big 12 championship to possibly go to the National Championship. If they win the Big 12 championship there is no guarantee for them to get in because they are like everyone else with one loss. Also, if Missouri beats Kansas, then loses in the Big 12 championship, who then is the number 2 team and who deserves to play in the National Championship? I think if that happens and LSU holds up, then they should play Ohio St, not West Virginia. West Virginia has not impressed me one bit and honestly, either has Ohio St. At that point I would not know who the right one to choose to play LSU and it only brings up what is brought up every year how there needs to be some type of playoff system. I didn’t mention Arizona State at all but if they win out, which means beating USC and Arizona, then they would make a great case (one which I will backup) to play for the National Championship because they are in one of the toughest conferences in the nation and their only loss would be against Oregon. I didn’t mention them at first because I think its going to be irrelevant because they are going to lose to USC this Thursday night. Go USC, coming off a strange loss to Stanford, only to be back in a position to win the Pac-10. Anyway, I can’t make any predictions or bold statements anymore about the National Championship because if Kansas loses, then it’s up in the air. If they win out, then hands down, bar none, Kansas belongs in the title game vs LSU. Don’t be surprised too if they pull what Florida did last year against Ohio State and go in there as heavy underdogs only to blowup the favorite and win. ---CJ

Can't be stopped

While we still all are probably sick of hearing about the New England Patriots, I still feel like talking about them. I am totally impressed with everything they do and I am flat out amazed every time I watch them play. This past Sunday the Patriot’s absolutely murdered the Buffalo Bills 56-10 and had a halftime score 35-7. Some people really thought the Bills might do some positive things against the Patriots but that didn’t happen, and once again, the Patriots shut down the Bills only threat in Lee Evans by holding him to just 40 yards. It’s obvious that the Patriots are out to seek and destroy everyone in their path. Tom Brady threw 5 Touchdown passes without playing the 4th quarter, Randy Moss caught 4 touchdown passes in the first half alone, and Bill Bilichick didn’t stop the rain until it was more than obviously over when the 4th quarter started. You could see the upset Bills fans in the third quarter when the Patriots were still passing the ball, or going for it on 4th down. I think the Patriots are doing the right thing, and honestly, I think Bilichick was being nice by not playing some of his stars the whole game. Yeah it makes sense so the players don’t get hurt but at the same time, he is out to prove a point. The point is simple: nobody can stop the Patriots and they are not even going to let you think you can. If its 35-7 at halftime, it’s not enough. In my mind, if I was a coach it’s simple; if one team can put up 35 in a half, who is to say another can’t? Yeah it’s a little ridiculous to think the Bills can do it, but this is a game and the game is not over until the clock hits zero. A 56-10 lead in the 4th quarter is enough to take your stars out but I don’t blame the coach for keeping his team in until it got to that score. I like how the Patriots are going about their business. This is the NFL and coaches are paid to win, players are paid to perform, and fans pay to see their team win. With the early season “cheating” that went on, its makes total sense for the Patriots to run up the score and prove to everyone that no matter if they “cheated” or not, they are going to crush you. The Patriots will go 16-0 and will win the Superbowl to finish 19-0. I think some of the people like Don Shula and some other ex defensive back for the 72’ Dolphins (I seriously don’t know his name) that fueled the fire too for the Patriots. I highly doubt that the players and coaches for the Patriots really take it into consideration when they hear someone from the undefeated 72’ Dolphins talking about how the Patriots don’t deserve it, but I’m sure that it is in the back of their mind and it makes them go out on the field and prove a point. I think that destroying the opponent gets the media and ex Dolphins players and coaches to shut their mouth. Wow, you guys were undefeated, that doesn’t mean someone else can’t do it, and how childish do these guys look when they go on the air and bash the Patriots because they are so proud of their record. You don’t see Hank Aaron doing it to Bonds, when Bonds was in more of an asterisk situation than the Patriots. Back to the point though about how good the Patriots really are. Tom Brady is going to have the single best season for a Quarterback in NFL history, and Randy Moss is going to have the single best season for a Wide Receiver in NFL history. I saw Montana/Rice, which used to be touchdown tandem, then it turned to Manning/Harrison, but now it’s Brady/Moss, and its going to be that way for years to come. I am such a fan of Randy Moss now and listening to him after each game is very impressive on how much of a team payer he really is. He doesn’t take any credit for anything he does, he says its his lineman, quarterback, and coaches. I remember before the season started a friend of mine was trying to tell me that Moss would come in and ruin what the Patriots were trying to do and he is the last guy anyone would want when trying to win a Superbowl. I hope he’s eating those words now because I was on the other end of the argument saying that Moss went to the Patriots to become a champion and that he is going there to listen to what his coaches tell him to do because he is going to buy into their system and ultimately win a championship. I think he and the Patriots are well on their way. One thing the Patriots better do though soon is get a running game. Maroney was hurt so Morris stepped in, then he got hurt when Maroney came back. Both are not putting up big number, and when you watch the Patriots it’s basically and Brady/Moss/Welker show. I don’t think the lack of running game will catch up to them, because the spread offense is working magnificently, but to be complete, they will eventually need a running game, even if its in 2008 when their like 10-0 again. ---CJ

Miami Dolphins

My good buddy and I were at a bar this past Sunday watching the NFL. His favorite team is the Dolphins and we started talking about them and what they needed to do. First of all the fins are 0-9, nothing is going right for them. So where do you start? We both agreed that Beck should be the starting QB. He is 26 years old and is ready to step into that role. What more do you have to lose? When your already losing, changing a QB will hopefully help. Just yesterday Miami announced that Beck will be starting this weekends game. I think that is a good idea, if he is your future might as well let him gain some experience this season.

The other thing we talked about was Ricky Williams. Where do you even start when talking about him? He has put that team threw so much. Well he is back in the league now and Miami has a tough choice to let him play or wait until the end of the season and try and trade him. I say let him play. What more harm could it do, it could only help you. Especially since that position is thin with the injury to the starter. I will say Chatman has stepped in nice for Brown, but I say get Ricky in there and let him play. If he plays well, then at the end of the season it will make him worth more if you try to trade him.


----Bobby bobby@wecoversports.com

Denver Broncos

I know right now its tough being a Broncos fan. I know its a struggle to watch them and support them, but damn it Denver wake up. I am tired of hearing everyone say its time to part ways with Mike Shanahan. Do I have to remind you that if it wasn't for Mike we wouldn't have won back to back Super Bowls?

The reason the broncos are 3-5 is not all Mike's fault. There have been so many injuries this year with key guys. You can point to Cutler but first point to the run defence. I know Cutler isn't performing that well, but remember this is his first full year. Were not going to make the playoffs this year, I am ok with that. You give them the rest of this year and the off season and I promise you they will be back next year. Its hard to look ahead but sometimes you have to. We had really high expectations this year but its time to step into reality. Trust me I had high expectations this year for Denver too, but I realized it just isn't going to happen with a young QB and the injuries.

I have been dissappointed with the Broncos faithful this year. Alot of people have not been supporting the team and calling for everyone to get fired. That won't solve any problems, instead accept what is happening and stand behind your team. Isn't that what your suppose to do as a true Broncos fan? ---Bobby bobby@wecoversports.com

A Champion Arrives in LA

Well my Los Angeles Dodgers finally did something that all fans can agree on, and thats hiring Joe Torre as the teams new manager. Torre, who comes from the New York Yankees after not re-signing their 1 year offer, is a huge pickup by the Dodgers. In 12 seasons in New York, Torre had the Yankees reach the playoffs all 12 seasons, including 6 AL pennants and 4 World Series Championships. On top of all that, Torre was the one thing that has kept the Yankees calm for the past 12 years. He's the best in baseball when it comes to manager/player relationships and the best when it comes to dealing with different personalities each player has. Torre knows how to combine star veterans with young players and be successful. This is seriously the best move the Dodgers have done in a long time. There are really only a few free agents out there that fans would rather have than Torre being signed. This is the first time in a long time where Dodger fans finally feel confident in the Dodgers GM decision. Torre is bringing along with him Hitting coach Don Mattingly and Third Base coach Larry Bowa. These are also going to be great moves by the Dodgers because they have had a lack of offense for years now, along wtih the fact that they haven't won a playoff series since winning the World Series in 1988; so it is good to get as much managerial and player experience in there as possible, espeically guy's that Torre wants in there. Listen to Torre, if he likes a player or coach and wants them to be a part of the team, then the Dodgers need to do whatever they can do accomplish just that. Torre knows what he's doing, as did Grady Little, who's contract was bought out so they can sign Torre. Little did a great job in the first half of last season, but once the team starting going under, and players starting pointing fingers, Little pretty much just sat back and didn't take action. Nomar Garciaparra and Jeff Kent each had terrible seasons, and the only reason nothing happened to them is because of who they are. I think that the young guy's on the team should have been in over them once the season was toast, and quite honestly, the Dodgers should part ways with both of them and open up some finances to sign some other young big names. The Dodgers have everything they need now to be successful next seson except for a power hitter. There are plenty of players out there the Dodgers could use, like Miguel Cabrara, A-Rod, and Torii Hunter. I think if the Dodgers can sign just one of these guy's, then they have the prefect recipe for succes: Strong Pitching, Great Defense, Speed, Strong bullpen, and then...power offense. I am so happy the Dodgers got Torrwe becuase it shows that the Dodgers are trying to win a World Series ASAP. I don't want them to get rid of their young talent in exchange for veterans jsut so they can win now and I also don't want them to spend of ton of money to bring in a bunch of new guy's because it would be buying a championship. The best thing for the Dodgers to do is sign one or two good power hitters and one more starting pitcher like Johan Santana, combine all that with the young talent they have and some of the veterans they have, have Torre oversee everything as manager and boom, a World Series Championship should fall into place. Joe Torre is perfect for the job! ------CJ

Pats Come Back

I would say that all football fans out there besides Patriot fans wanted the Colts to win this past Sunday's game between the obvious two best teams in the NFL. Down 10 points with under 9 minutes to play in the game, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots rallied to beat the Indianapolis Colts 24-20. The game was exactly what everyone expected it to be. Good offense and good defense. Tom Brady was a little off is usual numbers this year by throwing two interceptions, but he still had three touchdowns, two of them coming in the final 9 minutes of play. For the Colts, Peyton Manning was sub par, but still had an pretty good game considering the defense he was up against. Joseph Addai led the way though for the Colts by rushing and receiving over 100 yards each. The Patriots are now definitely going 16-0. If the Colts can't beat them, then nobody can. The Patriots won in Dallas and now won in Indy. The only road test left is at Pittsburgh, who I think will be a tough game but the Patriots will still win. At least for the Colts they can win when it really truly matters, and thats in the playoffs, most likely in the AFC championship. The only problem is the game is going to be in New England. People think the Patriots won't go 16-0 because of a few common reasons. One: only one team ever has gone 16-0, Two: The Patriots will be so far ahead in the division that they can't afford to risk starting their star players, and Three: They aren't good enough to go 16-0. My thoughts beg to differ. I think that if a team can go 16-0, then it can happen again. Also, even if the Patriots are so far ahead in their division there are a couple things they do have to play for near the end of the regular season. One of those things is that they will want home field advantage throughout the playoffs and the other is Bill Belichick's ego. After what happened with "spygate" and now Don Shula's comments about the Patriots needing an asterisk after this season is just pouring gas on the fire for the Patriots. With all that talk going around there is no doubt in my mind that The Patriots as a complete team, top to bottom, want to go 16-0 and shut everyone up. Honestly, I hope they do go undefeated because I would like to see it. I like the way to Patriots handle their business and quite honestly, I like how they run up the score. This is the NFL folks, and anything can happen, so why not make sure of a victory and beat the living tar out of a team if you can. ------CJ