Barry Bonds broke the record and like every sports blogger, I want to address it. I know a lot of people speculate Barry Bonds and whether or not he used performance enhancing drugs, but I think for a second we need to all put that down and congratulate him on breaking one of the greatest records in sports.  I for one am excited because now, we can go about our daily lives without wondering 'when', 'how far', and 'who did he hit it off of'.

Whether he was on steriods or not, it is a milestone and it is an accomplishment.

This is an argument that was tossed out between my friend and I last night. Let me first explain the Plus-1 game for those who are unfamiliar. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the Plus-1 game, this is all speculation.

The Plus-1 game is the FINAL game that is added on after all bowl games have been played, inlcuding the BCS Championship. After the final polls are in, IF the championship team does not clearly have a grasp on the national title, a final game will be played between the #1 and #2 teams to determine the ultimate champion. IF it goes into place, it will not occur until the 2009 season OR when needed.

If the Plus-1 game was in place last year, who would have been in the final game? The argument we see here is you have Flordia, USC, and Boise State. You can only choose two. Who do you pick? I would have to say Florida and Boise State. Simply because Boise proved they can contend with the major conferences (perhaps) and Florida beat Ohio State, the only undefeated team.

Maybe you wouldn't even have the same final three teams as I did, that's what I want to know. What teams would you put in the Plus-1 game?

Hey everyone, this is just a quick question and answer blog. I'm working on some topics for an online sports radio show and one question I came across really stuck out. I've heard several different answers for this and I just want to get more opinions.

What Is The Most Exciting Play In Sports?

I've asked probably ten people and the three most popular answers are:
1.) The Onside Kick (Football)
2.) Last Second Shot (Basktbal)
3.) Last Lap (NASCAR)

Please leave some feedback and let me know what you think the most exciting play in sports is. I'll let you guys know if I read your post and I will also credit you, which will hopefully bring some publicitiy to your blogging. I appreciate it.

(As I was writing this my StatTracker came up and said A-Rod hit number 500, so congrats to him!)

I was watching every sports channel's all-day talk about Barry Bonds and the home run record and I got to thinking about some of the other great sports records. I decided to rank in what my opinion is a list of the best sports records of all time.

10.) Rocky Marciano's 49-0 - Rocky began his professional career in 1947 and over the next eight years never lost a match. He became the first and only boxer to go undefeated over his entire career. That record was almost beaten in 1985 by Larry Holmes who made it to 48-0. I have this as my number ten because I think it can and probably will be broken sometime in the near future.

9.) Seven No-Hitters - Nolan Ryan played from 1966-1993. During that time, he recorded seven no hitters, two of those coming when he was 41 and 43 years old. Sandy Koufax is in second place with four no hitters.

8.) .366 Batting Average - In 24 seasons, the Georgia Peach, Ty Cobb, never hit below a .316. He even hit over .400 in three different seasons. In second place, Rogers Hornsby holds a .358 average. The closest active player right now is Todd Helton with a .333 average.

7.) 88 Straight Coaching Wins - Between 1971 and 1974, the only team to beat John Wooden's UCLA Bruins was Notre Dame. Lead by Bill Walton and the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden was able to get 88 straight wins. To understand how much of an accomplishment this is, look at the stat that no team has even gone undefeated in a single NCAA basketball season in 21 years.

6.) 215 Point Season - With some great young hockey players rising in the NHL today, I believe there is a small chance that Wayne Gretzky's 215 single-season point record can be broken...but probably never will. Scoring outbursts just don't happen.

5.) Consecutive Games Played - Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games played is one of the most notable records in sports today. Lou Gehrig's "Iron Man" record of 2,130 games was widely regarded as "unbreakable," but Ripken not only passed it on September 6, 1995, he also added an extra 500 straight games before he finally decided to take the pressure off and end the streak.

4.) NFL Receiving Yards - This record, in my opinion, could be broken - but not anytime soon. Jerry Rice had 22, 985 receiving yards throughout his career. I'll give an example of what it would take for Randy Moss to break the record. Randy Moss would have to average 1,400 yards for the next eight years - even with Tom Brady throwing to him now, that is very unlikely to happen.

3.) Home Run Record - I think we all can agree (for the most part) that this is the most exciting, debatable, and accomplishable record in sports. Sure, as of recent, we are all tired of hearing about it, and everyone, including those who believe he cheated, want Bonds to break it so we don't have to hear about it. In my opinion, breaking the record is an accomplishment whether or not you use steriods or not. But Hank Aaron will always be the best player to play the game

2.) NBA Single Game Scoring Record - This one is debatable, but being a basketball fan I think it has to be up here. For those who don't know what the record is, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single game on March 2, 1962. Kobe Bryant has given the record a run for it's money, but still came up over ten points shy. Another reason I have this up here is because this record has been held longer than the home run record.

1.) All-Time Career Pitching Wins - In my opinion, if there is ever a record that won't be broken it is this one. Cy Young ended his career with 511 career wins. For a pitcher, that is unheard of! He is 96 wins of the second place win holder, Walter Johnson.

I want to hear your feedback on if you agree, disagree, and what records you would rank. I did a little research on this and listed my sources below, so if some of this looks copy and pasted, it's because I did copy and paste a few interesting facts I didn't strike me right away. I figured this would be an appropriate time to talk about sport's records, seeing as we are patiently waiting on Barry Bonds to take care of business so we don't have to hear about it much more.

Sources: ESPN, CBS Sportsline, Andrew Segal

Before everyone jumps down my threat about this, do realize that I recognize the SEC as the better all-around conference. There are many arguments to that (i.e. Big Ten has more championships) but I think it's very clear that it's much easier to predict in-conference Big Ten games than it is in-conference SEC games. So pretend you are neither a Big Ten or SEC fan, but rather a Conference USA fan when you read this. Leave feedback in the same manner.

I get a lot of controversy for the following topic and a lot of people love to debate me about it. It is my personal belief that when it is all said and done, the Big Ten was a better football conference than the SEC last year. Granit, I know the SEC has many more power houses and known players, but look at the past few years at Big Ten-SEC play. The Big Ten has a much better record against the SEC than vice versa. Everyone says that just because Florida beat Ohio State in the championship means the Big Ten is completely overrated. Yes, SEC has an overall better record against the Big Ten, but I'm focusing on last year. The Big Ten won more bowl games and beat the S.E.C in overall games vs. one-an-other: 2-1 (I won't count Michigan vs. Vanderbilt because that would be the same as Northwestern vs. LSU. I will also recognize that three games is not nealry enough to judge by. That's why this is for argumental sake). 

Big Ten #3 (Wisconsin) over S.E.C. #2 (Arkansas)
Big Ten #4 (Penn State) over S.E.C. #5 (Tennessee)
S.E.C. #1 (Florida) over Big Ten #1 (Ohio State)

There is no doubt that the S.E.C is the overall better conference, but I want to see what feedback I get for this. Give me your opinions on why the S.E.C is better or why the Big Ten is better, and who you think will be better in the long run? Could a college football playoff system help decide overall who is the better conference?

Everyone knows I am a Big Ten follower. I grew up an Indiana basketball fan and then moved just a few miles outside of Ohio State University (naturally making me a Buckeye fan). When it comes to college football, there is no doubt the Big Ten has the potential to become the top conference. Every year we have Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and ocassionaly Illinois to serve as a threat to anyone in and out of conference play. Recently there has been talk about the Big Ten expanding into 12 teams to add a conference championship game. A lot of people disagree with this, but I think it is needed in order to become a truly respected conference. The teams I've heard (through radio and writing) that are potentials to join are:

University of Rutgers
University of Missouri
University of Pittsburgh
University of Nebraska

I think we all know who the most likely candidate would be Rutgers, seeing as they could bring in a lot of the New York market and they meet Big Ten standards on education. I want feedback on who you would bring into the Big Ten and why?