Sports Updates
Quick updates to inform you of the sports world.
January 10th, 2007, 11:09 pm.
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*2007 Michigan Football Preview*
On New Years the Wolverine’s season ended on a bad note with a 18-32 loss to USC, but Michigan fans have a lot of things to look forward to. What I’m looking forward to and probably other Michigan fans too is Ryan Mallett. Who’s Ryan Mallett? Currently he’s a high school senior in Texas, and he will be attending Michigan for next season. The 6 foot 7 quarterback has the strongest arm anyone has ever seen. When I saw him at the Michigan camp this summer he was throwing the ball over 80 yards. In the NFL throwing the ball over 65 yards is considered a strong arm. Ryan probably won’t start over Chad Henne, but I do think he will get a good amount of playing time because he’s the kind of player that you don’t see very often.
One of the biggest questions for 2007 is the Wolverine defense, they started off strong then had a major breakdown in there last 2 games. The even bigger thing that people are wondering about is the secondary. The defense is very deep at both safety positions, but the corners are Michigan’s Achilles tendon. Returning Starter Morgan Trent has been bashed in newspapers when after the Rose Bowl the big topic was USC receivers targeted Morgan Trent. I believe he will be the hardest worker this off season and will surprise people with how much he has improved. The other corner is up in the air right now. Michigan is still in the running for one of the top corners in the nation, Ronald Johnson, they also have some younger players who could step up into a starting role.
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December 19th, 2006, 10:59 pm.
*Allen Iverson Heads Denver*
Today the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76’ers made a deal that would send Allen Iverson and Ivan McFarlin to Denver, and send Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two 2007 first round draft picks to Philadelphia. The 76’ers have been trying to deal Iverson ever since they put him on the inactive list on December 8th. Iverson gives the Nuggets a scorer for when Carmello Anthony serves his 15 game suspension for Saturday night’s brawl. When Anthony comes back, he and Iverson will be one of the best scoring duos in the league. While the 76’ers gave up one of the best scorers in the NBA, they got Miller, who’s a legit slasher and runs the point effectively. They also got 2 first round draft picks which gives them 3 overall in the first round. You might not think that’s good, but scouts have said that this years draft class is one of the deepest they have ever seen. While the Nuggets will benefit from this trade right now, the 76’ers could benefit in a huge way in the future.
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December 14th, 2006, 10:37 pm.
*Detroit Lions Football*
The Lions are 2-11 and while this season seems like a disaster, there’s always something Lions fans are looking forward to: The NFL Draft. In the past years the Lions have drafted superstar-caliber players isuch as Kevin Jones, Roy Williams, and Ernie Sims. Other years haven’t been as good, drafting players like Joey Harrington, Charles Rogers, and Mike Williams. This year’s draft should be a good one for the Lions. The pool of draftees has a couple elite prospects. If the Lions keep losing they should get one of these amazing players.
*Prospects who Detroit should be looking at:*
Brady Quinn | QB | Norte Dame
Strengths
Good size (6-4 227), excellent arm strength, durable, clutch, great leader
Weaknesses
Could be a product of Charlie Weis’s offense.
Calvin Johnson | WR | Georgia Tech
Strengths
Unmatched athletically, tremendous size, break away speed,
Weaknesses
The only thing that will hold him back is himself.
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December 11th, 2006, 10:50 pm.
*LT—Greatest of All Time?*
On Sunday night Ladanian Tomlinson broke the single season TD record set last year by Shaun Alexander. LT now has 29 TD’s with 3 games left to play in the regular season. Some questions have been raised about LT, who is now in his 6th season in the NFL. Is he the greatest of all time? If he doesn’t get injured he could statistically be the greatest running back to ever play the game.
Back in the 2000 NFL draft, the San Diego Chargers had the first pick. Michael Vick was the very easy choice. The Chargers decided to trade the pick to Atlanta who picked Vick. In the 6th selection in the draft, they chose Ladanian Tomlinson out of TCU. Every football journalist said that the Chargers would regret not taking Vick. Who’s got the laugh last now? LT’s worst year was his rookie season where he only rushed for 1236 yd’s. In 6 seasons he has amassed 8,788 rushing yards. At this pace he will break Emmit Smith’s rushing record in about 6 or 7 years. Many will be watching LT for the rest of his career.
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December 9th, 2006, 5:58 pm.
*Walter Camp All-Americans*
Three members of the Michigan Wolverines football team were named to the All-American First Team today. Jake Long was the lone member representing the offense on the first team. LaMarr Woodley and Leon Hall represented the Wolverines on defense. These three players will have a plaque placed on the wall inside of Shembecler Hall. They will join people like Braylon Edwards, Chris Perry, Charles Woodson and many others. Mike Hart was placed on the second team, but will hope to make the first team next year. Here is the entire first team:
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
WR Dwayne Jarrett USC
WR Calvin Johnson Georgia Tech
TE Zach Miller Arizona State
OL Joe Thomas Wisconsin
OL Justin Blalock Texas
OL Arron Sears Tennessee
OL Jake Long Michigan
C Dan Mozes West Virginia
QB Troy Smith Ohio State
RB Steve Slaton West Virginia
RB Darren McFadden Arkansas
PK Mason Crosby Colorado
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL LaMarr Woodley Michigan
DL Gaines Adams Clemson
DL Quinn Pitcock Ohio State
DL Justin Hickman UCLA
LB Patrick Willis Ole Miss
LB Paul Posluszny Penn State
LB James Laurinaitis Ohio State
DB Leon Hall Michigan
DB Aaron Ross Texas
DB Daymeion Hughes California
DB Reggie Nelson Florida
P Daniel Sepulveda Baylor
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December 6th, 2006, 9:11 pm.
*Heisman Time*
Today the Heisman Trophy Finalists were named. They will be in New York for the ceremony which takes place on ESPN at 8 PM. The Finalists are: Troy Smith | QB | Ohio State, Brady Quinn | QB | Notre Dame, Darren McFadden | RB | Arkansas.
You probably noticed that the only positions represented are the QB’s and the RB’s. Other positions that have been represented in the past years are WR’s, DB’s.
Wide Receivers aren’t represented unless they have a quarterback who can get the ball to him. An example is Calvin Johnson (who is regarded as the best WR prospect ever). He has a QB who is completing 45% of his passes. Completing 45% of your passes is terrible, but what’s even worse is that the back up QB must be worse then him. Think about it like this: If Michigan’s QB is completing 45% of his passes, he would be benched after the first game. The last Wide Receiver to win the Heisman was Desmond Howard, from Michigan in 1991.
Defensive Backs will make a lot of money in the NFL, but won’t make it to the Heisman Ceremony. This happens is because DB’s on the college level can shutdown 95% of the WR’s. College offensive coordinators’ game plan is to not throw the ball to where the DB is. While this impacts the game greatly, it won’t show up on the stats therefore DB’s rarely make it to the ceremony. The last Defensive Back to win the Heisman was Charles Woodson from Michigan in 1997.
*Ranking The Heisman Finalists*
1. Troy Smith’s senior campaign has been tremendous, leading the Buckeyes to a 12-0 record and a chance to win the National Title. This season he has passed for 2,507 yd’s, 30 TD’s, 5 INT’s, and a 67% completion rate. On the ground he has 230 yd’s and 1 TD. Smith is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this year.
2. Brady Quinn’s season has been much better then Smith’s on the stat sheet. Although Notre Dame went 10-2, they lost to Michigan and USC, who will play each other in the Rose Bowl. This season he has passed for 3,278 yd’s, 35 TD’s, 5 INT’s, and a 63% completion rate. On the ground he ran for 65 yd’s and 1 TD. If you eliminate the Michigan game from his passing stats, he would have 3,044 yd’s, 32 TD’s and 2 INT’s. Quinn had a better year then Smith, but OSU went undefeated and is the favorite to win the National Championship.
3. Darren McFadden is the only Running Back and under classmen out of this year’s finalists. On the ground he has ran for 1,558 yd’s, 14 TD’s, and averaged 5.9 yd’s a carry. Receiving he has 11 catches, 149 yd’s, and 1 TD. Out of the finalists he is by far the best playmaker. Anytime he touches the ball he is a threat to take it the distance. Because he is only a sophomore, look for him next year to be a finalist and possibly win the Heisman Trophy.
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December 5th, 2006, 10:40 pm.
*Trailblazers 88, Pistons 85*
The Pistons just couldn’t find their offense tonight, settling for shots outside the arc instead of driving to the basket, even looking to feed Rasheed Wallace in the post. Tonight the Pistons took 75 shots and 24 of them came from beyond the arc. The Trailblazers took 78 shots and only 10 of them were from beyond the arc. Why is this? Trailblazer Zach Randolph is an animal in the post, scoring 31 points and shooting nearly 50%. Wallace had better start taking notes while defending Randolph, or else it is a very likely possibility he will get traded for a better post scorer.
Rip Hamilton led the Pistons in scoring with 25 points as he continues to elevate his game to the next level this season. Although he failed to hit a game winning 3-pointer in the final seconds, Rip is not blame. Rip has carried the Pistons through the season; without him the season would look a lot worse.
The Piston’s next game is on Thursday. They’ll face a very tough Dallas Maverick team.