Florida vs. Alabama Game:  Crimson Tide Dominates

• One of the best weekends in football just wrapped up and there are a lot of things that caught my eye. First though, I want to get to the most anticipated match-up in, well…a year, since the last time Alabama took on Florida in the SEC Championship game. For the second consecutive year, and only the fourth time ever that a #1 ranked team squared off against a #2 ranked team before a bowl game, Alabama showed that they would not be denied. Greg McElroy, a quarterback who has been overlooked his whole life, started as a back-up to Chase Daniel in high school and only got a scholarship offer from Alabama because Tim Tebow declined his.

  McElroy proved his worth to the Tide by being on-time and accurate all night, including a beautiful touch pass to his tight-end from 17 yards out. He also showed an unknown dimension, “gracefully” tight-rope walking the sideline for a key first down to set-up Bama’s first score.

  Demonstrating his toughness, he threw a block, and also scrambled to the three-yard line to set-up Mark Ingram for the third of his three touchdowns. But in spite of all this (including Ingram’s performance which I will touch on later), I was most surprised and disappointed in the play of the nation’s #1-ranked defense.

  The Gators surrendered the most yards ever under Urban Meyer and looked like they thought they could just throw their jock out on the field and waltz into Pasadena. Obviously not having a future first-round pick in defensive end Carlos Dunlap (suspended) on the field hurt the Gators, but it might not have mattered much had he played as poorly as Brandon Spikes and the rest of the Florida front seven played.The Gators’ defense was battered all night as Ingram had over 80 yards after contact and the Tide ran for 251 yards. And yes, Tim Tebow did play in this game. He was OK, totaling 310 yards and a touchdown pass, but for the first time I can remember, he could not will his team to a win. Nonetheless, Bama looked very impressive.

Is his NFL future at Tight End?

Where is Tim Tebow’s NFL Future?

• In the aftermath of the Florida-Alabama SEC Championship game, the question becomes (after the Sugar Bowl), what happens with Tim Tebow? I don’t believe he is an NFL quarterback, despite his legendary toughness and leadership qualities. He has solid arm strength but has an elongated motion, causing his throws to be late and defenders to hit his arm during its backswing.

  Tebow also has average accuracy. Even with those negatives, counting out one of the best college football players of all time will be tough. I think he has a chance to become a similar player to Dallas Clark of Indianapolis with his similar size, strength, and speed. Tight End is his most likely position in the pros. Nonetheless, he has been a great ambassador to college football.

Mark Ingram:  Will Alabama Get its First Heisman?

• Even though no Alabama player has ever won the Heisman Trophy, that streak should end this week. Running back Mark Ingram had a big day with over 180 total yards and 3 TDs against Florida and has done it all year, totaling over 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns, both Alabama records.His toughness, vision, and ability to break tackles reminds me of another former #22 from an SEC school, Emmitt Smith. His talent and big-game performance, along with his consistent production all year (when healthy) should result in Bama’s first Heisman winner.
  

  Mark Ingram may be Alabama's first Heisman winner ever

C.J. Spiller:  Best NFL Prospect?

• Clemson finished 8-5 overall with a loss in the ACC Championship Game but C.J. Spiller continues to impress and could be the first running back taken in the NFL Draft next spring. His size, speed, and explosiveness make him a prototypical NFL back.He has had an inconsistent season (18 yards against South Carolina and then 230 against Georgia Tech), but his ability is not in question. Big games against Miami, TCU, and Georgia Tech show that he can get it done against the top teams.

Is Wisconsin football on its Way Back Up?

• Wisconsin football has struggled the past few years, but this season might prove to be the turnaround that the program needs. After a 51-10 whipping of Hawaii in which John Clay ran for 172 yards and 3 TDs, the Badgers are 9-3 and face a 9-3 Miami Hurricanes team in a return trip to the Champs Sports Bowl. The ‘Canes quietly had a good season this year. They won an impressive victory over the ACC winner Georgia Tech.Wisconsin does not have a signature win this season and with the majority of their starters returning, a victory over the ‘Canes could jumpstart them to a strong 2010 and maybe propel Clay to some 2010 Heisman consideration.

Ndamukong Suh May Actually Deserve the Heisman

• I believe Mark Ingram will win the Heisman, but Ndamukong Suh is the best defensive player in college football since the last defender to win the Heisman, Charles Woodson. This guy should be the #1 pick in the NFL draft. Suh turned in the most dominant defensive performance I’ve ever seen in a big game, totaling 12 tackles and 4.5 sacks as he shredded double teams with power and showed lateral quickness to bring down Texas runners. This guy seems like the real deal, an absolute beast at arguably the most important position on defense.
  

  Suh put in the most dominating defensive performance since....(still thinking)....

Lineup:
“The Denman” Chris Dennis
Grego “The Cop” Boulanger
Derek “City of” Watson
“Big A” Adam Maritato

Topics:
Packer game impressions (Beginning- 6:05)
Further impressions and season outlook (6:10-12:40)
Bucks-Why the Bucks’ unknowns are underrated (12:45- 24:15)
Badger Football (24:20:31:10)
Wisconsin High School football playoffs (31:10-34:30)
NFL Picks for Week 12 (34:35- end)

1. While the University of Florida gets the assets, the University of Utah gets hosed… in the ass.

Seriously, why not adopt a bloody plus-1 format already? Florida finished the season with a blemish on their record, while Utah did not. The result:  the only undefeated BCS team got the shaft big time.

Okay, I get it, the money issues. The “keep it in the family” mentality of the ‘BCS conferences.’ But, come on. Utah smacked Alabama around, and they didn’t even get a shot. Epic fail by the BCS.

2. Pittsburgh wins the Super Bowl… again.

What a bunch of lucky SOBs. I don’t care if they did have the best team last season. They didn’t play like the best team that day.

If it weren’t for two plays — the INT return for a TD and that great Santonio Holmes catch — it would have been a different game, different outcome, different champion.

3. Poor, poor Michigan State

As much as I like the University of North Carolina (yes, Michael Jordan has something to do with it), I really wanted to see Michigan State win that one for the people of the state that has now replaced Minnesota as the state I would first offer up to Canada to allow Puerto Rico to join the Union. (50 seems like a good number…you gotta give a little to get a little).

But I digress. Seriously, though, what a terrible game. Everyone in Michigan should have sensed that shit was an omen for the rest of the year to come…and gotten the hell out! Well, at least they gave it the ‘ol college try, right chaps?

4. The Master(baters)

This may be the only schpeel you get about golf from me. If Tiger is out of it by Sunday (and by Sundays, I mean the only 4 tournament Sundays that really count), then I flat-out don’t give a rip. Unless John Daly was in the mix. But that’s only because America loves the story of a hopeless alcoholic; the guy has a drink named after him for the love of Zeus.

Attn: PGA.

Once Le Tigre is too old to fist pump any longer, find a replacement fast. Because when he doesn’t play, no one cares!

5. NASCAR…

… I don’t care, and frankly neither should you. They are not athletes — I don’t care what argument you make. Bottom line:  Tony Stewart couldn’t run the 40-yard dash as fast as Gilbert Brown did back in the day, let alone run with anyone who is supposed to be able to in a pro sport.

There is NO ATHLETICISM involved in racing. Just quick reflexes, thorough hydration, knowing your automobile, the ability to hold your bladder, and in the case of 95% of the races in NASCAR, just hold the wheel at 10 o’clock to the left.

If NASCAR is a sport, then so are billiards, bowling, and everything else old fat people can still excel at because they are just games of skill masquerading as sports solely because ESPN (The Ocho) airs them from time to time.

6. More spring baseball, more steroids…

Are you surprised? Maybe you didn’t expect it from A-roid or Manny because you were blinded by your individual fandom towards them. But to be utterly shocked and appalled in this day and age of pro baseball…well, then, you sir or madam are naive and deserve every ounce of agony you had coming to you.

7. Brewers start quick…

…and blew their load by the All-Star break. I admit, I was very skeptical of them in Spring Training. They started fast, blew through June, and led the NL Central by a few games. Then the reality that the Crew no longer had two All-Star pitchers in the rotation set in fast. Go figure. Again, not surprised in the least.

But hey, as a Milwaukeean, win or lose, we’re here to tailgate, get drunk, and eat copious amounts of sausage. PROST!

Tailgating in Milwaukee is a sport in itself

8. Team USA is relevant in the world of soccer, hooray!

For those of you who are still too narrow-minded to like soccer and brush it off as a fairy sport, feel free to skip ahead. If this is the case and you are one of the aforementioned people, then I would gamble a good amount that you haven’t yet gone to a live major soccer event, especially overseas.

To witness how great the sport of soccer is, this is almost a requirement. It is a sad realization when one accepts the fact that world soccer fans are absolutely die-hard crazy, more so than anything I have witnessed in the U.S. (and that says a lot).

Anyways, for those in the know, the U.S. beat Spain in the semifinals of the Confed. Cup in South Africa. Spain, at the time, had just tied the record for most consecutive wins by a National team, and was widely regarded as either the first or second best team in the world.

Then in the final, the U.S. pulled a second half choke job (sorry guys, but it’s true) against the other best team in the world, Brazil.

The U.S. did, however, go on to win the CONCAF region for World Cup Qualifiers. Although they have since lost two key players to injury (one was in a car accident), I am still very excited about the potential for a good showing next summer at the World Cup.

9. KOBE!!!

I am a Lakers and Bucks fan. But after George Karl broke up the big three, I have been much more of a Lakers fan. Kobe is currently, and has been, my favorite player since Jesus Shuttlesworth left MKE for SEA; rather, got ran out of town by George Karl.

In defense of my Lakers fandom, my favorite player growing up was a Laker: Nick Van Exel. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know. I loved Jordan, but I loved NVE more for whatever reason.  In any event, it was good to see him win one without Shaq, who as of late looks like a shmuck.

10. Pittsburgh does it again

But this time it was on the ice. I don’t know much about hockey. But I do know the following: it’s fun to watch and is either the best or second best sport to watch live depending upon who you ask. I haven’t really cared all that much about hockey since the last lockout.

There are teams in cities that don’t support hockey and that really pisses me off (especially considering Milwaukee doesn’t have a pro team). My favorite team has always been the Pens (my best friend since 1st grade is a huge Pens fan), and my least favorite team has always been the Red Wings. So, needless to say, I was quite happy about the Stanley Cup finals.

Damn good year for sports in Pittsburgh

11. You knew I would be getting to this topic: Favre.

My feelings, thoughts, and opinions on this topic alone could be made into a book. So I will save the post about HeWhoShallNotBeNamed for later. Vuck Finnesota!

12. WE HAVE A HOME… and it’s name is TCF Bank *sigh*.

Well, the stadium is beautiful and the atmosphere is great. I wish I lived up there so I could go see my Gophers in action more (but that’s the only reason I still wish I lived in Minneapolis). Too bad we still kind of suck eyh?

Here’s to a season that will most likely end in a loss at the ThisBowlDoesNotEvenMatterSoChangeTheChannel.com Bowl. Here’s to next year and a good off season of recruiting… RAH!

13. The Yankees prevail… evil reigns supreme… Aaron rejoices?

Okay, I wanted the Yankees to win. I cheered for them for many reasons that you can hate me for. One, for sure, isn’t very logically sound.

A) A-rod played his single A ball in my home town, I got to meet him, I have a few of his autographs, the Timber Rattlers (formerly the Appleton Foxes — the team he and Big Papi played for) are now a minor league affiliate of the Brewers by the way.

B) I love hating the Yankees. But, lets face it; it’s not fun to hate on someone constantly if they are always down. Hell, they hadn’t won it in a while, regardless of how much I hate them because they buy all their players and perceived championships for astronomical amounts of loot.

The bottom line is they hadn’t been to the top of the mountain in almost a decade. It’s always best to knock the bully down when he is atop his high horse. And if baseball is going to continue it’s non-salary cap ways, then I might as well be able to hate the Evil Empire.

C) C.C: Dude gave his heart and soul for the Crew and threw out his arm at the tail end of the regular season. Just so we could say we made it back to the playoffs (prior to last year, in all of American pro sports, no team had a longer playoff drought than the Brewers).

He even wanted to stay with the Crew, and if it weren’t for the MLBPA practically forcing his hand to sign the NY deal, he most likely would have (this, btw, is more fact than speculation, if you care for me to explain it to you, I will later).

A collection of topics (and anything related to them) I plan to write about in the coming weeks:

Packers, Bucks, Gopher football/basketball, NBA, NFL, Vikings, HeWhoShallNotBeNamed, MLS Cup Final, etc.

That does it; I hope you liked numero uno. This is Mav, pulling the eject handle… WATCH THE GLASS CEILING!!!

If there is anything specific you want to hear my outlandish opinion on, just ask, and it will be duly noted.

After current Packer and former Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson’s dominant performance against the Cowboys on Sunday, I began to wonder who would win College Football’s Most Recognizable Individual Award, otherwise known as the Heisman Trophy.

With dominant, former run-first programs such as Michigan and Nebraska switching to the spread offense, no defense is safe with quarterbacks slinging it around 50+ times a game. That has proved to be the case this decade as 8 out of the past 9 Heisman winners have been quarterbacks. That was a trend expected to continue this season as two former Heisman Trophy-winning QBs (Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford) returned, as well as the NCAA’s all-time leading winner, Colt McCoy of Texas.

However, the chances of a QB winning the Heisman are questionable as both Tebow and Bradford have battled injuries and McCoy has seen his numbers, while still good, slide a bit.

Mark. Ingram. Spells Underrated

Alabama sophomore RB Mark Ingram and Houston QB Case Keenum have both carried their respective offenses while Stanford RB Toby Gerhart has led a very dangerous Cardinal offense. Clemson’s senior RB C.J. Spiller has had big games against some tough defenses, including over 100 yards against #4 TCU in a 14-10 loss.

It is clear that this season has become more about defense and the running game as the majority of the best teams in the country (Florida, Alabama, TCU, Georgia Tech, Pitt, OSU) have used this as a road to prominence in 2009.

Lets take a closer look at the top 5 candidates (in order 1-5) for this season’s award:

RB MARK INGRAM, ALABAMA – 194 car 1297 yds 6.7 ypc 10 td, 25 rec 225 yds 3 td
• carried offense with little passing game, SEC title game (FLA) looms large, 5th in rushing in NCAA

RB TOBY GERHART, STANFORD – 262 car 1395 yds 5.3 ypc 19 td, 8 rec 87 yds 0 td
• big bruising back, huge games against USC and Oregon, 3rd in nation in rush yds, 2nd in TDs

QB TIM TEBOW, FLORIDA - 128 comp 198 att 64.6 pct 1730 yds 12 td 4 int, 171 rush 604 yds 10 td
• became SEC all-time TD leader, everyone knows what he can do

QB COLT MCCOY, TEXAS – 254 comp 351 att 72.4 pct 2628 yds 19 td 9 int, 81 rush 164 yds 1 td
• most wins by QB in FBS (D-1A) history, run/pass threat, extremely accurate, leads NCAA #2 off

RB C.J. SPILLER, CLEMSON - 153 car 836 yds 5.5 ypc 6 td, 24 rec 382 yds 4 td
• versatile and explosive-big play guy, lacks consistency but has had big games for ACC leader

Spiller runs smoother than a baby's ass

DARKHORSES: Kellen Moore, QB Boise St; Jordan Shipley, WR Texas; Case Keenum, QB Houston

Lineup:
“The Denman” Chris Dennis
“Big A” Adam Maritato
Grego “the Cop” Boulanger
Derek “City of” Watson

Call In: Bucks Locker Room Insider Adam Weigand

Topics:
Intro/Packers-Cowboys game first impressions (0:00-6:34)
Packers-Cowboys game analysis and new season outlook (6:40- 11:12)
Bucks-Brandon Jennings — CALL IN: Bucks Locker Room Insider Adam Weigand (11:20-23:00)
Wisconsin Badgers Football (23:10- 26:50)
NFL Week 10 Picks (25:50- 44:25)
This Week’s Sports Headlines (44:30-End)

The first episode of the WiscoSota Sports Show is up! This episode is brought to you by the Milwaukee crew of Chris Dennis, “Big A” Adam Maritato, Greg Boulanger, Derek Watson, and Adam Weigand.

In the first episode, the Wisco crew talks Packers, Bucks, Brewers, College Football, and they make their NFL picks for Week 9.

(Because of an issue with the file size — forgive us, first podcast ever! — you have to click on the link, then click “regular download” and after you download the file, it should open right up in iTunes).

Enjoy!