Das Boot!

So i’ll admit it… I like to catch a little rodeo here and there on ESPN from time to time. Who doesn’t? Especially the bull riding, those beasts are so amped up, it takes some serious steal ones to ride those angry things.

So the 50th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is still 6 months away, but the hype is still stirring.

The actual dates are:

December 4-13, 2008 at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas.

I’ll venture a safe guess to say that the Steer Wrestling or the Bull Riding are going to be the two funnest competitions to watch!

Now I might not be a full fledged fan, but I do enjoy watching on occasion and I happened to catch bits and pieces of this event last year, and it was amazing! This is a must see for all, hard core fans and the casual observers!

If you’re interested in going, you can get National Finals Rodeo tickets and head on out to sunny Las Vegas. Heck, while you’re out there, why not throw down some $ on your favorite riders. (I’m not encouraging gambling by any means, but you ARE in Vegas for pete’s sake).

So if any of you readers go, be sure to send me some info and i’ll throw it up on the blog. I’ll be catching the action from home!

Well I just read a startling discovery over on ESPN; Dwayne Wade has been hearing his name thrown around in a possible trade between the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat.

The details of the possible trade, you ask?

Dwayne Wade + #2 pick in NBA draft for the Bulls’ #1 pick.

Basically, the Bulls can have Derek Rose, or Dwayne Wade & Michael Beasley…

HMMMMMM……. I sure hope this doesn’t go through, and the Pistons can continue their domination of getting to the Eastern Conference Finals and losing every year. sigh…

Well.. sigh.. that sad time of the year for me is here.. the Pistons got knocked out of the Eastern Conference Finals AGAIN!

Is it time to shake things up Joe Dumars? Since acquiring Rasheed Wallace and winning it all in 2004, we’ve been that team that almost gets there every year.. and fails close to the finish line.

The Detroit Free Press is already speculating possible trades / moves, with Joe D. possibly calling his pal Michael Jordan and working out some sort of trade for Jason Richardson. Can you say disgusting!? I would love that!

Trust me I like Sheed as a player just as much as the next guy.. but it might be time for all parties to move on.

Or… we hold out for 1 more year on sheed’s 13.7 mil contract, then use that $ to pick up D Wade or Lebron when their contracts expire next year.. hmmmm

So i’m going to go off on an opinion piece re: NASCAR. I’d love for someone to chime in and set me straight, but I honestly don’t see what all the hype is about.

Don’t get me wrong.. The drivers are incredibly talented… but to watch cars go around making left turns for hours upon hours…

Some watch it for the accidents (horrible, horrible people). Others like to go to the events, just to get hammered. Maybe some show up just so they have somewhere to park their double wide.

If you’re going to use the argument that these are the best drivers in the world… you’re wrong.

Ever heard of rally car drivers? Yeah, take nascar, and put it on dirt roads with.. yes.. left AND right turns.. jumps.. water hazards…. rain, thunderstorms, you name it!

now THAT is racing.

QB Carousel at Michigan State leads to new faces, transfers

Any big time Michigan State football fan will know the name of Keith Nichol; the 4 star Elite-11 quarterback who committed to JLS his junior year only to pull his commitment  and ink with Oklahoma… only to get buried under the insanely talented Sam Bradford and transfer back from Oklahoma to Michigan State.

Yes, you heard correctly, the prodigal son has returned.. And I’m happy!

Sure I was upset when Keith Nichol decided to go elsewhere. I was quite happy with Dantonio for picking up two competent replacements in Nick Foles out of Texas and Kirk Cousins out of Holland, MI (my home town!).

Here’s where it hurts:

Connor Dixon, arguably at one point one of the state of Pennsylvania’s most talented QBs, decides to leave the program.

That leaves us with Hoyer, Foles and Cousins on the roster.

Then, Nichol transfers in…

Hoyer (Sr.), Foles (So.), Cousins (So.), Nichol (So.)

Finally.. Foles decides to transfer…

Hoyer (Sr.), Cousins (So.), Nichol (So.) –> That’s next year!

What happens this year? We have Hoyer and Cousins… That’s it.

anyone who knows anything about football knows this is a problem…

Sure Keyshawn Martin or Charles Burrell could step in if needed, but who’s going to play the scout team?

Dantonio’s special # is 4.. 4 QBs on the roster at a given time. Looks like we might be going JUCO

I wish Connor Dixon the best, sorry it didn’t work out at MSU.

And to Nick Foles, I was really looking forward to seeing you in the green and white next year, but I understand your wanting to leave. I wish you nothing but the  best, and you’ll always be a Spartan!

Simply put, it’s not going to happen.

For those of you who don’t know the backstory, Yahoo Sports put out an article within the last few days stating that Rick Carlisle (former Pistons coach) and the Spartans own Tom Izzo are the two front runners for the vacant bulls head coaching position.

The article went on to say that Izzo seems “restless” in east lansing, and had a few quotes (which were obviously taken out of context) about Izzo saying he “would listen to anyone’s offer”.

Well for those of you who don’t know, that’s just Izzo being Izzo. He likes to talk off the top of his head a lot, and this is the same stuff they were saying when Kentucky and Indiana came calling.

Izzo did state that the NBA is something he sees as the next hurdle, but I don’t think he’ll leave now. Here’s why:

a.) Final Four next year in detroit

b.) Delvon Roe, top 10 rated player, steps foot in the Breslin center to play this season

c.) Kalin Lucas - the fastest player Izzo’s had since who knows when.

d.) The addition of Nix out of pershing. He’s a Huge presence on the inside and is a banger, something Izzo’s been missing since Al Anagonye

e.) Izzo is god in East Lansing - literally (that’s for you Luke, obviously not literally). He even has billboards around the middle of the state that say simply “Thank you, Tom” with a picture of a basketball. HIS OWN BILLBOARDS!

f.) He turned down the Atlanta Hawks after winning a national championship

g.) He also turned down the Raptors interest as well

h.) He said no to Kentucky and Indiana. Supposedly he was on board for Kansas, but thats just Izzo-is-leaving rumors.

So there you have it folks, Tom Izzo IS michigan state basketball, and he is NOT going anywhere.

Horrible knee injury sidelines Tennessee starting fullback in spring practice.

Disclaimer: This picture is tough for the squeamish to handle.

How do you come back from an injury like this? That’s just rough folks. This is worse than that boxer who kicks his opponent and his leg snaps.

The fact that it’s high resolution too doesn’t help much. Click on the picture below to see the blown up version. OUCH.

Making yet another connection with Michigan State Basketball, Indiana Basketball has signed Tom Crean (formerly at Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Michigan State) as their new head coach.

Crean has a well known reputation of running an extremely clean basketball program from top to bottom, and has well behaved disciplined players, both items that Indiana has been striving for since the Kelvin Sampson Fiasco.

Do I think this is a good move by IU? Yes.

Am I more worried about them as an opponent now? Yes.

Crean was the one person I wanted to have once Tom Izzo retired. Hopefully, this IU job is just somewhere he can prove himself some more until Tom is ready to hand over the reigns.

In the mean time, expect the gentleman’s agreement between Izzo and Crean of not recruiting the same players to wash away, as the Big Ten is a battle ground.

You saw it first folks, another reason why the Big Ten has such a bad name.

Saturday should have been cause for dual celebration: an MSU win and an early St. Patrick’s Day. Instead, only one occurred.

Michigan State’s old physical style of play came back to bite them yet again, as the refs put on a nutcracker’esque show for national audiences, not allowing the boys to play the style of ball needed to maintain their lead.

Think i’m just being a homer? Yes, you are probably somewhat correct, but here’s a great article by Drew Sharp (who usually hates us) citing the same thing.

Oh, and by the way, look at the free throw disparity. Then come back and comment.

The week is upon us; the 2008 Men’s Big Ten Tourney is about to get under way!

This season, the Spartans out performed their record from last year, but they have definitely fallen out of the public spotlight. Ranked as high as 4 in the pre-season and picked to win the big ten championship outright, the Spartans fell on hard times by losing road games to Iowa and Penn State early in the season, and then dropping games to Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Ohio State.

The latest loss (OSU) will hurt our seeding chances, but a strong performance in the big ten tourney could help us secure a #4 seed.

A rematch against Ohio State is our first game as the #4 and #5 big ten teams battle it out Friday afternoon in Indianapolis. If we can keep Jamar Butler on a leash and pick up the perimeter defense, our big men can handle koufos and we will win handily.

If we leave the three open… well we all know what happened at Penn State.

Let’s hope Raymar and Drew come to play; I’d love a big ten tourney title to brag about!

Good luck to everyone in the BTT, and GO GREEN! GO WHITE!