Being someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas (I’m Jewish) and has long accepted the fact that the holiday takes play in December, I’ve never understood “Christmas in July” or whatever it is. I may finally understand, though, Christmas in June, as one of my favorite times of year is upon us.

College football annuals are released.

From the second the national championship is over, I start anxiously looking forward to the day when the preview magazines are published. That time has recently come and gone, and with magazines in hand I now sit down to plow through page after page of information about the sport.

So, for now I sit and read hundreds and hundreds of pages, and I shall return in a month or two to espouse my own thoughts on the upcoming college football season.

Now, back to my reading…

Just another quick post.

Tiger Woods made the following comments today:

Don’t count Tiger Woods among those glued to their TVs during the Stanley Cup finals.

The world’s top golfer appeared via teleconference on Monday, promoting August’s PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in suburban Detroit.

Woods was asked if he was rooting for Detroit or Pittsburgh.

Woods started to laugh, then landed a zinger.

“I don’t really care. Let’s talk about the Dodgers,” the California native said. “I don’t think anybody really watches hockey any more.”

Ouch.

But the improved television ratings for this year’s finals doesn’t seem to match Woods’ assessment.

The Penguins’ victory over the Red Wings on NBC drew the best overnight rating for a Game 3 of the Cup finals in six years. Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win on Wednesday night earned a 2.8 national rating and an 18.2 rating in Detroit, beating out the 15.9 rating for the Pistons’ matchup with the Boston Celtics in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals. The combination of Games 1, 2 and 3 have made this the highest-rated and most-watched opening games of the Cup finals since Detroit faced Carolina in 2002.

“The National Hockey League has enormous respect for Tiger Woods, for all his accomplishments and for his work with the community,” NHL spokesman Frank Brown said. “We think he’s a great golfer.”

It’s impossible to discount what Tiger Woods has achieved, but give me a break. The irony here is that he plays a sport that some would argue isn’t even a “sport” and that if he didn’t play, “nobody” would care about it. Even less nobodies than the NHL.

I just wanted to bring attention to the newest addition to my blogroll:

Holy Scribbles, Batman!

This is my sister’s blog that is just now getting underway. Check it out. Maybe she will inspire me to update my own postings at a rate better than once every few months.

Just wanted to drop a few quick thoughts on the NHL playoffs that have been bouncing around my head.

• Biggest Disappointment - San Jose Sharks. Again. They can’t get it done in the playoffs, and that probably means a major overhaul in the offseason.
• Most Disappointing Series - Detroit vs. Colorado. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one excited to see the best rivalry of the last 10-plus years renewed in the playoffs. Granted, Colorado isn’t the same team that they were a handful of years ago, but I had still hoped to see the fire of the rivalry back. I’ve only gotten to watch bits and pieces of the series, but that hasn’t seemed to happen. Detroit has mostly controlled from the get-go, and the tension isn’t there.

It looks like the end of the line for the New York Rangers, in what may become the best four-game series that I can remember. I said in the middle of Game One that the Rangers had to leave Pittsburgh with at least one victory. Sure, the Penguins hadn’t won once in MSG all season, but with the momentum they’d have with a 2-0 lead, I could see them at least splitting the games in New York. Low and behold, the Rangers didn’t get that win, and now are looking up at a 3-0 series that is all but over.

Game One was crazy and back and forth, but the Blueshirts seemed to lose focus after they got the 3-0 lead. They’re passing in the second half of the game was bad and even though they didn’t seem to back off energy-wise, mentally they didn’t seem like they were on their game.

During Game Two my dread grew even greater. Regardless of your religious beliefs, if you watched that game you would have to think there was some greater power that just wanted the Ranger to win. Henrik Lundqvist stood on his head, and when he didn’t get to the puck, the Penguins botched the opportunity. To waste a goalie performance like that is to give away a game, and thats what the Rangers did. You can’t give away games like that in the playoffs. Just like that they went back to New York down 2-0.

Then Game Three proved me right. The Penguins jumped on top early, silencing the crowd for at least portions of the game and using their momentum to take away the home ice momentum. Then, lo and behold, after failing to take advantage of an uncanny performance by Lundqvist the game before, Henrik struggled and an outstanding performance by Jaromir Jagr went for naught. The Rangers were the better team…5-on-5. The man advantage proved to be the key, as the Rangers couldn’t figure out the Pittsburgh penalty kill, and they couldn’t stop the Penguin power play. Just like that New York’s season is on the verge of ending.

Now Sean Avery is gone for the rest of the playoffs, whether than means one game or more. Say what you want about Avery, when he plays for your team you at least accept him, if not like him, for his ability to alter games. He’s the kind of guy that can turn a game one way or the other, and with every game a must-win from here on out, he will be sorely missed.

So it looks like it’s all but over. Last night I fell asleep watching Game Six of the 2004 Eastern Conference Championship - the Mark Messier hat trick in a “guaranteed” win - to try to convince myself that, hey, the impossible can happen.

I am a die hard Marlins fan. I have been since there inception. However, during my time living in Cincinnati and the surrounding area, I somewhat adopted the Reds. This is why I was so shocked when I saw that the team had fired general manager Wayne Krivsky earlier this week.

I understand the realities in modern day sports, where everyone’s job is always on the line, but this is ridiculous and completely puzzles me. This is the man that came on the job two years ago and seemed to have a knack for getting complete steals on the trade market.

He brought in Brandon Phillips for Jeff Stevens. Who? Exactly. For virtually nothing Krivsky found a diamond in the rough who has developed into one of the best hitting second basemen in the major leagues.

Last season he found Josh Hamilton on the Rule 5 draft, a player that suddenly started showing the potential scouts saw in him when he was taken as a first-round draft pick.

In this past offseason Krivsky traded Hamilton…And in return filled a huge need for the Reds. His wheelings and dealings brought in pitchers Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto, two young guys who are off to incredible starts this season. Two guys that could form the core of the rotation for years to come. Just imagine the one-two-three punch if Homer Bailey ever decides to get his act together.

And somehow this all got him fired. Mainly because the ballclub is off to a poor start, which can hardly be attributed to anything Krivsky did. Considering the tight pockets of Reds ownership, there is little Krivsky could do besides look for hidden gems, and he seemed to do that well. He couldn’t make wholesale changes and overhaul the team. This season the Reds look like a team who could contend for a playoff spot in a weak Central division, but they are off to a poor start…just like many teams that have rebounded to make the playoffs.

This move just does not make sense to me, and seems to hint that maybe there was something going on behind the scenes. Or maybe owner Bob Castellini is just insane.

I have been thinking these thoughts since the firing was announced, and then I found the following this evening, by Jayson Stark of ESPN. It inspired me to write this blog entry.

Reds owner Bob Castellini has no idea how many people in baseball he alienated by firing his GM, Wayne Krivsky — as well-liked and highly respected a man as you’ll find in the business.

“They just went from a team you root for to a team you root against,” is the way one veteran baseball man put it Wednesday. Sure, Krivsky made his share of mistakes. Goes with the turf. But have there been three bigger steals in the past two years than Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena, Brandon Phillips for Jeff Stevens, or Josh Hamilton for 50,000 bucks? And Jeff Keppinger for Russ Haltiwanger is right up there, too.

So why was this guy fired again? Because this team came out of spring training with a little promise and then started 9-12? Ridiculous. The Yankees, Phillies, Cubs and Rockies were all 9-12 or worse last year this time — and made the playoffs.

“There’s nothing worse than these owners who treat the national pastime like it’s the frigging stock market,” said an official of one team. “They think it’s got to keep going up, up, up, every day. But that’s just not the way of works. This is a game of human beings.”

My thoughts exactly, Jayson.

• All No. 1 seeds in the Final Four. Sure makes it look like the tournament committee got things right. Does that make things more or less interesting? On paper it looks like some great matchups. On the other hand, there’s no surprise story there.
• I got half of the Final Four right in my early season picks. That wasn’t how I picked my bracket going into the tourney, though.
• The “real” start of the baseball season was tonight. It couldn’t have been scripted much better. Brand new ballpark, and the guy for the Nationals hits a walk-off homer to win the game with two outs in the ninth. It’s hard not to enjoy that.

• More thoughts to come? Possibly.

I had meant to post all my college bowl picks here, but completely forget. We’re a few days into the bowl season now, and with a few games gone by I figured I’d still post my picks. I’ll go forward from here (at this point I’m 4-1, which my only miss coming in the New Mexico Bowl).

2007 College Football Bowl Picks

Hawaii Bowl- Boise State over East Carolina

Motor City Bowl- Purde over Central Michigan

Holiday Bowl- Arizona State over Texas (Texas improved throughout the season, but I just went with my gut on this.)

Champs Sports- Boston College over Michigan State (This one caused me much pause, but in the end Matty Ryan will have too much for the Spartans.)

Texas Bowl- Houston over TCU (TCU is the popular pick here, but I think Houston is overlooked in Conference USA, TCU never lived up to its pre-season billing and, finally, two words- Anthony Aldridge.)

Emerald Bowl- Oregon State over Maryland

Meineke Car Care Bowl - UConn over Wake Forest (We’re starting to get to the bowls that don’t just have sponsors in front of its name, the name is a sponsor. UConn reminds me a lot of Wake Forest last year. This is a very interesting matchup.)

Liberty Bowl- UCF over Mississippi State (A battle between two schools whose stories have been mostly overlooked. UCF had a very good season, almost beating Texas, on the back of the nation’s leading rusher, and Mississippi State saved Sylvester Croom’s job with a very good season in the SEC after struggling so much for years.)

Alamo Bowl- Penn State over Texas A&M (The Aggies have a few players that always make them a threat, but they just have not displayed that threat this season. The Penn State defense will be too much.)

Independence Bowl- Alabama over Colorado (This is a tough matchup. My gut tells me the SEC team wins out here, but either way wouldn’t surprise me. Hawkins [both Coach Dan and QB Cody] has the Buffaloes back on the right track.)

Armed Forces Bowl- California over Air Force (This pick may haunt me. I wanted to pick Air Force, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. California’s skill level is far superior…but that hasn’t meant anything all season. This season for the Golden Bears really has made me question Jeff Tedford’s ability to motivate his kids.)

Humanitarian Bowl- Fresno State over Georgia Tech (Another pick ‘em. I went with the Bulldogs simply because Tech is in a state of flux as far as the coach goes, and I’m sure heading into the season they saw themselves playing in a better bowl than this.)

Sun Bowl- South Florida over Oregon (If Dennis Dixon doesn’t get hurt, Oregon is playing for the national championship and Dixon in your Heisman winner. But he did get hurt. So now a nearly helpless Duck team will fall to a very talented South Florida.)

Music City Bowl- Kentucky over Florida State (Kentucky was going to win this game before half of the kids on the FSU squad [36, to be exact] decided studying music history was a waste of their time. Kind of ironic that they are now suspended from the Music City Bowl. This could get ugly.)

Insight Bowl- Oklahoma State over Indiana (I am very happy to see Indiana get to this bowl game in memory of Terry Hoeppner. This really was Terry’s team, even if he wasn’t there to watch them get to this point. I want to see the Hoosiers win, but I just think the Cowboys’ offense will be too much for them to handle.)

Chick-Fil-A Bowl- Auburn over Clemson (Originally I picked Clemson to win this. Then starting linebackers Nick Watkins and Tramain Billie got suspended [two of their top three tacklers] along with the starting right tackle. Now I pick Auburn.)

Outback Bowl- Tennessee over Wisconsin (What’s with all the suspensions? Funny how teams are quicker to pull the trigger and suspend players for bowl games that really don’t matter. I originally picked Tennessee, and therefore I’m sticking with them. However, suspensions have since been announced, and now I’m not so sure I’m on the right side anymore.)

Cotton Bowl- Missouri over Arkansas (For me, this was one of the hardest, if not the hardest, game to pick. Missouri doesn’t really want to be here- they deserved a BCS bowl bid. Arkansas has Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Unfortunately, they don’t have a whole lot else other than inconsistency. In the end I decided the Missouri spread offense with Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin and a defense that has been better than expected will be too much for Arkansas, no matter how hard those guys run. However, if Missouri isn’t focused after losing out on the BCS, they’ll lose this game too.)

Gator Bowl- Texas Tech over Virginia (Virginia has had a very good season and showed they can win a lot of close games, but I’m not sure this one will be close. The Cavaliers have faced nothing like this Texas Tech offense, and even with a lot of time to prepare I’m not sure they’ll be able to handle it. Prediction #2: Michael Crabtree will pull in at least three touchdowns.)

Capitol One Bowl- Florida over Michigan (Maybe its a mistake to write off a talented Wolverine team so easily, but I won’t lose sleep over it. Michigan has showed how much they struggle to defend the spread. They might be able to keep this one close, but I don’t think they can win this one. Time to start look forward to part one of the Rodriguez experiment next season.)

Rose Bowl- USC over Illinois (I’m not one of the people who thinks it’s ridiculous that Illinois is playing in the Rose Bowl. Were there more deserving BCS teams? Yes, but this just doesn’t upset me that much. It appears Ron Zook has figured out how to coach his talent on the field, but USC is just a far superior team. Illinois might be able to take out Ohio State, but I don’t see it at this point. The Illinis are just too young at this point.)

Sugar Bowl- Georgia over Hawaii (Colt Brennan in a dome? Oh my. Mark Richt is too good of a coach, though, and Georgia is too balanced of a team to lose this game. The Warriors will put up some points, but they haven’t faced a defense anything like that of the Bulldogs, and they haven’t faced an offense with weapons like Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno [not to mention Thomas Brown].)

Fiesta Bowl- Oklahoma over West Virginia (The Sooners have too many offensive weapons for the Mountaineers to dream of stopping them. White and Slaton are dangerous, but Oklahoma’s defense is good enough to keep them in check. Plus, they have no coach.)

Orange Bowl- Virginia Tech over Kansas (I struggled with this pick, too. In the end I just lean towards the defense of Tech and their ability to get after Todd Reesing and disrupt the passing game. The key will be if the Hokie offense can get anything going. They’ll need to be able to run the ball and keep the Jayhawks offense off the field. If they can’t, Kansas’ offense is potent enough to overcome the tough defense just enough to win the game.)

International Bowl- Rutgers over Ball State (A lot of people, including myself, don’t understand these mediocre bowl games taking place after the new year. Then again, if it’s college football I’ll watch and enjoy it, so I don’t complain about the extra games. Rutgers slid back a little this season, but they already beat up on MAC team this year, and they should win this game without too much trouble. My apologies to Nate Davis and the rest of a talented Cardinals team.)

GMAC Bowl- Tulsa over Bowling Green (Tulsa is another team that few people know anything about due to their location in Conference USA. Paul Smith and the passing attack will take them to victory.)

BCS Championship Game- LSU over Ohio State (And now the big one. After a crazy season that can hardly be explained, you’ve got a two-loss team playing a one-loss team, and I think the two-loss team wins. This could be a very good game, but I think the SEC experience, not to mention athletes, comes out on top. This will be the best defense the Buckeyes have faced [although this might be true in the other direction as well], and a two-headed quarterback monster paired with some dangerous receivers and a pounding run-game brings the crystal trophy home to the bayou.)

Before I leave, I just want to make note of something that just came on my TV screen.
Jamarcus Russell: 6/21 with 3 INT.
Ouch.

There is so much to talk about, but this will just be a quick post for now.

The bowls are set. Ohio State and LSU will play for the national championship. With such a crazy season, there is a ton of controversy, yet at the same time it’s hard to say any team in particular got robbed. You could make a case for a lot of teams, just as you could make a case for OSU or LSU, had they been left out of the big game. Regardless of what you think, this matchup is definitely intriguing and could make for a great game.
I will have plenty more reflection and thoughts as we bridge the gap between now and when bowl season starts.

The exciting college basket season continues. ESPN named a ‘team of the week’ in their weekly column, and this week it was the Texas Longhorns. Andy Katz wrote this:

I was a believer when I saw Texas beat Tennessee in New Jersey on Nov. 25. Sunday, I wasn’t totally shocked that the Longhorns did it again by taking out UCLA, a team deemed more of a favorite for the Final Four than the Longhorns. Texas’ win at top-ranked UCLA on Sunday, coupled with the Longhorns’ win over Tennessee a week ago, may be the two best wins by any team so far. The Longhorns went on a 17-0 run over 8 minutes, 59 seconds against the Bruins. D.J. Augustin’s floating pass/shot that Damion James slammed home to win the game in the final seconds was yet another example how Texas is winning this season. Augustin gets into the lane when he wants and can make something happen. Now, just think about this: Texas looks like it has a better shot to get to the Final Four (in nearby San Antonio no less) than it did a season ago. I know, it’s a long, long season, but there’s no way you can’t say Texas doesn’t have the pieces — and now the proof — that it will be in the discussion all season long.

Andy and I are on the same page, as you can see by my comments on Texas earlier this week. Their upset of UCLA made me look smarter than I really am.

Some interesting thoughts posted by Jay Bilas for ESPN.com, on why this group of freshman (and the trend in general) is so talented and deep:

While everyone is giving reasons for the emergence of so many freshmen this season, there is one I have not yet heard that I think is worth considering. Clearly, this is a great freshman class with unusual depth of players who are ready to be stars. There are several reasons for this: (1) These kids play a lot of basketball all over the country and are more skilled and prepared than ever before; (2) the NBA age limit sends more stars to college that otherwise would have gone pro out of high school; and (3) these freshmen have less resistance from lottery-quality juniors and seniors, because those players are gone to the NBA already. Well, I think you can add another reason for the emergence of so many freshmen: These kids are not really kids in many cases. Because of prep schools and being held back in starting school, freshmen today are older now than ever. USC’s O.J. Mayo is 20 years old. The Trojans’ Davon Jefferson is 21 years old. Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless, Duke’s Kyle Singler, Gonzaga’s Austin Daye, Texas A&M’s DeAndre Jordan, Syracuse’s Donte Greene, Memphis’ Derrick Rose and UCLA’s Kevin Love are all 19 years old. Of the best, the only one who is still 18 years old is Kansas State’s Michael Beasley, which is scary because he looks and plays the oldest.

That’s it for the moment…

I have been spurred on to write again. My motivation? I think I’ve been inspired by the ridiculous amount of dominating freshmen this college basketball season.

As I sat in my living room and watched Duke’s Taylor King knock down threes against Wisconsin like he was in some sort of crazy video game, I knew I had to sit down in front of my computer again and write.

Everything I’ve seen so far indicates that this could be a special college basketball season. There are a lot of teams that are just plain fun to watch (Duke, Syracuse, Memphis and Marquette, among others) and many of them are led by what, in my mind, has to be the best freshmen class in a long time.

Last year there was Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. One had an unbelievable season and the other helped lead his team to the national championship game.

But this year there are players all over the country who are just blowing my mind with their talent and the way they’ve so seamlessly moved into the college game. Here’s my early season shortlist of who has impressed me among the newbies:

Derrick Rose (Memphis)- Has lived up to everything they said he would be on a team that will go far this season. I haven’t been able to watch him play much, but his numbers speak for themselves.

Eric Gordon(Indiana)- After sparking a nasty war of words and emotions between Indiana and Illinois during the recruiting process, Gordon made his college entrance…by scoring 31-points in his first game. I’d say averaging almost 30 points a game and over three assists a game isn’t too shabby. I’m watching him play as we speak (or type/read, as it may be), and he still seems to have a lot to learn though.

OJ Mayo (Southern California)- Hype-wise, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. Do I buy it? I don’t doubt his talent. I question how quickly he’ll mentally grab things and if he’ll ever be a leader. The bigger question is whether he’ll grow into those traits by the end of the one season he’ll be playing college ball. Some people might be swept away by his raw ability, but I’m still not convinced that he can make USC a winner.

JJ Hickson (North Carolina State)- He’s gone under the radar a little bit playing at NC State, but I watched him play against Villanova and was immediately convinced that he’s the real deal. Unbelievably athletic and versatile, they can keep him in the paint or move him out to the wing.

Michael Beasely (Kansas State)- Man-child. In his first game he put up 32 points and 24 rebounds. That’s not a typo. 2. 4. He hasn’t slowed down since then.

Kyle Singler and Taylor King (Duke)- They’re numbers are good, but not mind-blowing, but nobody is putting up mind-blowing numbers for a very balanced Duke team. If you watch these guys, however, you get it. All the Duke-haters who rejoiced last season should now be very, very scared again. The ACC is still North Carolina’s….for now. With only one senior on the roster (Demarcus Nelson) for a team who doesn’t traditionally lose talent early to the NBA (the loss of Josh McRoberts probably makes this team better), this team is going to be a national title contender in a season or two. Mark my words. All they’re missing is a top-notch big guy, and they can still win without one.

Jonny Flynn and Donte Green (Syracuse)- Few teams are more fun to watch than the Orange (the decision to lose the ‘men’ is very regrettable). Both these guys got a lot of attention coming in, but I’m still surprised at just how good they are, and how quickly they have made Syracuse a better team. Flynn is an awesome playmaker who can knock down shots enough to keep defenses honest. Green, in my mind, is the ultimate small forward. He can drive to the basket or he can step back and effortlessly knock down a three. The team needs to play better defense, but these two have seamlessly moved into the lineup and are only going to get better.

I am by no means trying to say these are the only impact freshman this year. This is simply a list of guys who I’ve had an opportunity to watch (unfortunately I haven’t been able to see Kevin Love yet) and who have blown me away and reminded me why college basketball is great. The fact that there are so many guys with the ability to do that right now is pretty special.
Not to mention there have already been upsets and close calls only a couple of weeks into the season, and it looks like this year’s college basketball season might end up resembling this year’s college football season.

With that in mind, here are my shot-in-the-dark Final Four picks:

Memphis- They’ve been so close, but this is their year. Derrick Rose will be the missing piece that pushes them over the hump.

Kansas- You’re probably thinking that I’m getting suckered again. A program that has looked so tantalizing for a couple of years always seems to self-destruct in the tournament. Well, I think that changes this year. An early season win against a good Arizona team, despite not playing even close to their best, makes me think they might be able to get it done…finally. A brutal non-conference schedule will have them ready.

Georgetown- One key component lost (though Jeff Green was a great one), and he’s replaced by a very good freshman class. Roy Hibbert might be college basketball’s premier big man. Their experience will take them far.

Texas- No, I didn’t forget that Kevin Durant is now in the NBA. Let’s face it, every year someone we didn’t expect to be in the Final Four crashes the party, so this is my pick for this year. D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams were overshadowed last year, but that doesn’t change their game-breaking ability. They may even be better this year now that they will have the ball in their hands at key moments. They easily handled Tennessee already this season. Next week’s matchup against UCLA will reveal a lot.

And that’s my brief re-entry into the blogging world. Maybe some college football thoughts to come heading into the final weekend of the regular season as we find out who will play for the national championship.

It has been a very long time since I’ve posted.

For those of you who have still checked back to see whats going on, and continue reading, I appreciate your support.

I have now been moved in and working for a little while, and things are going well.
I should return to blogging very soon.

Until then, feel free to check out The Progress. If you search for my name (or try Josh + sports if you don’t know my last name) you can see everything I’ve written so far. The topics won’t interest anyone outside of the area, but if you want to see what I’m actually doing with my life, there it is.

Thanks for the continued support and I’ll be back soon.