Yes, sports fans, it's me again.  I've been hibernating since the college football season came to a close, but something has awoken me from my writing slumber and it wasn't my UT alum idol, Roger Clemens' rapid decent into hell.  It was something much more disturbing, namely censorship.

The main sports article on the MSN.com news site today comes to us from Jason Whitlock, controversial "writer" for Fox Sports, regarding sports blogs and hack writers, and how they are ruining sports.  See the article here.  Without bashing Whitlock too much more than I normally do on his articles, I have to say that this was another pile of racist and self-serving garbage, which is par for the course from Whitlock.  I have no problem with that.  It's his opinion, Fox thinks he's worth paying for such tripe, and it's my option to read or not to read his stuff.  I read it more for a laugh than for any informative reasons.  Today it seems his tripe raised enough ire from commentors and bloggers that Fox decided to remove the "comments" section from his article after it was taking nearly a hundred negative comments within the first 2 hours it was published.  Can't stand the fire Fox or Whitlock?  You basically turned your article into a description of yourself.  You've become the hack writers and the reason sports writing on the internet is bad.  You've just censored out a hundred writers' opinions.  That's one hundred visitors to your website.  One hundred potential customers in Fox's thousands of product lines.

What's also funny about the censorship of the article is that half of the comments were regarding censorship!  This is Fox Sports, not Fox News, but I guess the message to pull the plug from Bill O'Reilly must've trickled into the sports closet of the Fox corporation.

Fox is about as unpatriotic as media outlets come, and it's humorous to see talking heads like Bill O'Reilly at Fox News talk about patriotism and anti-Republicanism until they're blue in the face.

Whitlock, I totally agree with your constitutional right to write whatever you want, and it's nice that someone thinks it's worthy enough to post online and pay you for it.  All the power to you, bro.  However, as a writer, aren't you concerned that your opinions may someday be censored?  How many articles of yours does Fox censor anyway that never see the website?  To you, I'd suggest starting your own website or take your writing to an outlet that will not censor you or it's readers.

I can deal with many of the liberties that our government and it's various media outlets take away from us under the guise of "national security" and "patriotism" in a post-9/11 world.  However, the day when the average Joes of the world can't speak their mind and be respected for it no matter if it's positive or negative opinions is a sad sad day in America.  Fox is leading the goosestepping along with the rest of mainstream american media coordinated by our lovely Republican party.

God bless America.

Back to my summer slumber until CFB practices start in August again.  Peace!

The late comedian Rodney Dangerfield's catchphrase was "I get no respect at all."  I suspect the same can be said for basketball both professional and college (forget about women's bball).  A day after the arguably best match-up in college basketball this early season, between #8 Texas and #1 UCLA, that ended in a 2 point upset dunk for the Longhorns over UCLA, I only see a single write-up by the AP that is spread all over every major reporting sports site in the country.  FOX, CNNSI, CBS, ESPN, USA Today, & NY Times all have gone with the AP write-up, which is more fact-based and less analytical.  All of the writers at these many media outlets can't #### out a single article on one of the best games of the year so far.  The only two outlets I can find that covered this beyond the AP were The Austin-American Stateman and the LA Times, which is no surprise considering those are the hometown papers for each team.  There is one decent blog write-up on the FOX site here by Jeff Goodman, but its not an official FOX article, but rather a blog entry (what does that say about your standing as a writer at FOX, Jeff?).  So, why so little coverage?  I can look and see a multitude of football write-ups both professional and college.

I understand that yesterday was a big day for football at both levels, and this is the time of year where playoff races and bowl standings are first and foremost on people's minds.  People don't get geared up for bball until March Madness rolls around, to be followed by the NBA playoffs a few months later.  However, it makes me wonder why the NBA and CBB even bother to start their seasons before January.  The only CBB stories I heard on TV this weekend were how all of the early season tourneys around the nation are falling flat in attendance and TV ratings, and how anyone can get an invite to a tourney, reducing their impact of connecting the best teams in the nation early each year.  The points of the stories were true, but unfortunately, it was the only story for CBB this weekend.  And, now here we are a day after several decent games between the Big12 and Pac10, and yet they are relegated to AP stories and minimal analysis.

Go look at how many individual write-ups there are for college football today and for yesterday's NFL matchups.  Bowl games don't even start for weeks, with the biggies more than a month away, while there were no compelling match-ups in the NFL this weekend.  Yet, football still reigns supreme in the media.  And this is how Mr. Goodell and the BCS commissioner would have it.

So, where's the NBA's push for space on a busy sports weekend?  Where's the combined NCAA marketing for these early season tourneys?  They seem non-existent.  How does Mr. Stern NOT have his very own payed NBA writers and editors at each major media outlet, assuring the NBA a frontpage article every day?  The NCAA seems all but content to allow the regular season (pre-season?) carry on without much hoopla until the big show comes around for the month of March.

David Stern is the best commissioner the NBA has ever had.  Yes, the NBA has grown because of great players like MJ, Bird, Magic, Shaq, etc.  However, its always been the great marketing of those players from the commissioner's office that's made it all work.  Now I see Stern is slipping.  His major markets are jokes on the court, and he can't even slap down a little up-start, baby point guard/president in the same city where both of their offices reside.  His players are undisciplined hoodlums who are more interested in their self-promotion, rather than the future of the company they work for.  And finally, Stern is trying to create the next MJ in LeBron because the last next-MJ, Kobe, is not media or fan friendly enough to be the NBA poster boy.  You can't force the fans' opinion on who they should and shouldn't like.   I guess promoting players like Tim Duncan and Steve Nash just aren't hip-hoppish enough.  That's a major problem in your marketing now...assuming that 90% of NBA fans are from the ####, and that NBA fans want to see thugs on the court and their promotion of tattoos, gold, fighting, strip-clubs, and street-cred.

In a country where football is always king, all of the other sports have to be able to market themselves to gain a foothold in the media and promotion of their product.  Even though baseball labels itself as the national passtime, I think a better name should be "past-time".  The golden age of baseball is long past, and scandal and high-paid primadonnas have rubbed out all of the Field of Dreams type nostalgia that made baseball so alluring.

The marketing of the NFL and BCS are as high as they have ever been, and even when the playoff systems and bad reffing create bad publicity, it's still better media coverage and fan interest than anything basketball can throw out.  So basketball has some serious work to do to promote itself, and get back on the frontpages with fresh articles and analysis.

Quickly, comment and show me your Halloween avatars before the day is done!  Mine is going away tomorrow after I get my exorcism done.  (Original credit to LisaH with this idea last week).

 Your prize from me will be free comments and hits to your blog for a week LOL. Ain't that just grand?!?!
 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

With it being the day of frights and scary things, I felt it appropriate to deal in some scary facts and fictions concerning the sports world. Are these tricks or treats? You decide...

10) Joe Torre and A-Rod are teaming up again in L.A.

SCARY REALITY! And very frightening to the National League. Not only is L.A. seeking it's best, most commandeering coach since Tommy Lasorda, but they're also going to make a move for the biggest player in the game. L.A. has not had a stud of A-Rod's caliber in decades, and he's just the player to bring the interest and fire back into L.A. and away from Disney Land. A-Rod and Torre get along very well, and it may take an A-Rod type player to pique Joe's interest in going to the other coast.

9) Kansas Jayhawks will play in the BCS National Championship Game

Just a NIGHTMARE. As much as I'd love to see the Jayhawks run the tables, this excellent defensive squad will eventually wake up and lose to either Missouri or Oklahoma. The national picture nightmare will be over, but the dream will be over for the 'Hawks. I would love to see a scary reality situation for the BCS if KU ran the tables, a 1-loss team like LSU was ranked higher than them, and for the first time ever, an undefeated BCS conference school was left out of the dance, while a 1-loss team was in. This just shows the flaws and constant nightmare the BCS system has been since it's inception. BCS, turn our nightmares into heavenly realities by creating a playoff system.

8) Boston will celebrate 3 championships in one year

Just a NIGHTMARE. I have to admit that the scary reality of having to deal with the BoSox as champions again is white-#### horrifying. However, I do not see either Boston College or the Pats winning it all. Great seasons for both, but their gauntlet of opponents and margin for error are just too tough and narrow. They might get all-timer seasons from Matt Ryan and Tom Brady, but the accolades will stop there. Maybe the Bruins and Celtics can help pull this one off...or maybe not... dream on.

7) The Dallas Cowboys will win at least 3 NFC championships in the next 5 years

SCARY REALITY! In case you haven't noticed, but the normally flamboyant 'Boys are flying quietly under the radar, and in the shadows of New England and Indianapolis right now. The media and fans love high-flying offenses, of which the Pats and Colts have aplenty. However, the old cliche is true that defense wins championships. The Pokes have D in ####s, and expect it to stay that way for years to come with the current young nucleus. Let's also not forget the new stadium Dallas will be moving into, and nothing fires a team up more than fresh digs. Jerry Jones built this stadium to put his Boys back in the center of the sports universe and media, but their play on the field is the real shining star right now. Finally, Dallas nailed down it's field general, Tony Romo with a lengthy, extended contract, and this kid is only getting better by the day.

6) Kobe Bryant stays an L.A. Laker

SCARY REALITY! (Scary for L.A., a relief for the rest of the league) Are you kidding me?!?! Kobe isn't going anywhere. L.A. has pulled off some of the biggest steals in NBA history by bringing the best players in basketball to the city of angels (Kareem Abdul Jabber from the Bucks, Wilt Chamberlain from Philadelphia, Kobe from Charlotte, and Shaq from Orlando). They rarely let superstars go, and then only when they are "over the hill". Kobe is just reaching his prime, and after last night's 45 pts he dropped on Houston, he's getting better. Trading Kobe for a multitude of 1st rounders is not going to fix this Laker squad. Phil retiring, and trading for a second scorer and defensive specialist is what Showtime needs to compliment Kobe's game.

5) Cubs will break the curse in 2008

SCARY REALITY! As soon as they drop the dead-Wood, and make up for Prior mistakes in their long-term plans for the starting rotation, then this Cubs team will finally go somewhere. Great offensive moves this past year still need to blossom into more production (especially at Wrigley Field), but how do you not go to the Series with Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez in your line-up? Simple, you pitch your way out of it. The BoSox showed how much more important pitching was in the post season, as they came up with clutch starting jobs through-out. Hitting puts people in the seats, but pitching puts your team in the Big Dance. Look for Chicago to spend some more this off season to patch up the rotation.

4) The USC Trojans' Time is Past

Just a NIGHTMARE. Every program in the nation should have USC's struggles. Their 2nd and 3rd teamers are Top 25 caliber. Having maintained such a lasting level of winning and excellence, Sneaky Pete is allowed an off-season. His only direction was to go down, and with a target constantly on you, you're gonna fall eventually. However, the only thing that really beats USC is themselves (and Vince Young). This year's sub-par performance and increase in mistakes can be chalked up to a young squad, and an over-confidence that's deadly. You watch out, next year this team will easily be consensus #1 coming into the season, and Pete will have his team's attention once again. Oh, and there will be a new freshman class capable of knocking off most major programs. Nope, USC like the other major programs have figured out the recruiting game, and the rich will continue to get richer with talent each year. Unless the Bush scandal manages to drag down the program and scare off recruits, this team is not going to decline in the least.

3) Tiger Woods will semi-retire from golf within the next 5 years

SCARY REALITY! Having already accomplished just about everything there is to do in his sport, Tiger is going to want to spend his prime years in marital bliss and family raising. Playing only in majors and the biggest dollar events will still help him get those last few goals he seeks in his sport, but there are more advantages to Tiger enjoying life off of the course. Why should he drag himself from event to event, week after week with little competition? The golf world keeps trying to convince us that Sergio Garcia or Phil Mickelson are Tiger's built-in foes. However, Tiger is so far above and beyond anyone else in his sport, those two guys are sadly and uninspiringly playing for 2nd every week. Who will 2008's dreamed up Flavor of the Year be to dethrone Tiger? No one. Only Tiger and Elin can hold him back, and his life-style is getting where he makes far more money OFF the course than he does on it. Just like Michael Jordan, he'll make far more money in retirement than he ever did as a player.

2) The Houston Texans will make the playoffs in 2008

My personal continuing NIGHTMARE. Being a life-long Houstonian, I've suffered long and hard with my pro-football teams. This year we are catching glimpses and promises of great things from this young Texans squad, but yet they are still losing again. Results and playoffs are what matter in the NFL, and anything less is a disappointment. As long as Houston still has to play in the same division with Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and Tenn., not to mention the same conference with New England, Pittsburgh, and San Diego, this team isn't going anywhere soon. I love what Gary Kubiak is doing in building a stout defense, but it seems no one will ever come up with a D that can consistently beat Peyton Manning and the Colts.

1) The Nebraska Cornhuskers will make a BCS bowl next season under a new head coach

SCARY REALITY! Despite the current turmoil and constant disdain for Callahan, this Husker team still has some young talented wheels on it. Sam Keller is not necessarily the great QB solution everyone thought he would be, but next year there should be some new QB blood for a new coach to indoctrinate. Purify and Lucky will be a year more mature and dominant, and the D will grow into a squad deserving to wear the Black Shirts again. Callahan may not be in place to see his recruits succeed, but despite the poor results currently, his work in progress will blossom next year into a tough contender.  Key dates in 2008 are at home versus Virginia Tech and on the road to Norman, OK.  A re-emergent Kansas, KSU, and Missouri should bolster their schedule resume.  Another shot at Texas would've been nice for their SOS, but NU rotates off of UT for several years.

There you have it! A few real scares, and a few nightmares for your sporty Halloween. Have a fun and happy Halloween, watch out for kids tonight. Don't pass out brownies, rice-krispies treats, or those nasty taffies. Give the kids some real candy, not that awful 70s stuff!

Some of the things people will post in order to get some blog hits are just downright shameful sometimes. There is a difference though when people are posting legitimately interesting material, and then those that are just attention #### who want some hits. Anyway, here's some of the more shameful ways to get noticed at FOX Sports Blogs...

5) Pretend you're a real athlete like Brian Urlacher - Even if you aren't trying to pretend to be someone else, but using an athlete's name, it's all shameless. Sell yourself and ideas on your own merit, and not someone else's name. Unless of course you're just a drop-dead die-hard, stalker of a fan, then I suppose some leeway can be given.

4) Add a counter with an initial count of several thousand - I like to use my own blog and LisaH's blog for a good idea on how many hits a relatively interesting blog can take in a day. I'm happy to say that mine took about 1500 hits in a 3 day weekend when I was posting a lot of articles. LisaH posts great articles just about every day, so she has a nice gross over 20000 hits now. However, when I see a site that's not remotely interesting, or has anything to say of importance, and maybe has 4 posts at the most, then I am not believing they already have several thousand hits. Be honest with yourself and start at zero. It's not a popularity contest. Write something decent to get some hits if you're interested counting. I just keep count to see what topics and articles people are reading the most. This helps me decide next time whether to write on that particular article and style. keep it real!

3) Make some really outrageously grandiose statement towards a rabid fan base - I call this the MSROGSTARFB . If you really want to get some hits in, and get put in the Top Comments section, then go tell some Oregon, BC, Nebraska, BoSox fans how you really feel about them, and put it in your topic in big capitalized letters with tons of emphasis. I guarantee you'll get a few hits. You can double your pleasure by responding back to their comments with insulting and ridiculously biased slants against their hometown teams.

2) Create a Top 5 List - People love seeing a short list of someone else's opinion. I guess we need it as confirmation of our belief systems. Luckily, very few of us agree on the same 2 things, much less 5, 10, 20, 25, etc things. This is the beauty of the Top List. It always garners a few opinions and comments with someone else's list. Even if no one responds, if you have a counter (see #4) you see roughly how many hits you get to read your new article.

1) Be a California Girl Blogger!!! - Yes, nothing will garner more visits than a chick speaking her mind. Granted some of the ladies can blog the guys right off of the net. However, there are a few of the shameless guys out there who resort to posting a hot blond avatar to try and convince the blogging sports world that they are a hot chick who knows her sports.

So, if you use these tactics in your blog creations, you will be guaranteed to grab automatic hits regardless of ability to write.

Honorable Mention:

- Make NFL your main category for your post - In order for your post to show at the top of the main page, it has to be in the NFL category. No matter if you're talking pro pigskin or not, the main point is to get yourself noticed immediately. I know that "BC Rules" and "BoSox are Champs!" always gets my attention up when I see it in the NFL category.

EDIT: My blog counter started around 2720 when I posted this. So, we'll put the theories to the test! Now go read a real posting in which I put a lot of work into, but quickly got knocked from the recent posts list :-(

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Cygnu
s/2007/10/31/Nightmare_or_Scary_Reality

When was the last time you heard someone call themselves a Boston College fan outside of Boston?  (or any other Boston team for that matter?)  Just like all other times a Boston team stands out, the bandwagoneers and gravy-trainers come out of the woodwork.  It's just triply-sickening now because the Sox, Pats, and Eagles are all doing well at the same time, and suddenly every blogger is a 30+ year Boston fan, eventhough they're 25 year old dorks in their mother's brownstone basements.  Before you know it, they'll pull out the "City of Champions" banners that every city pulls out when their team wins.  YAWN.  And of course we'll see Bennifer II come out to the ball games, and see all of the other B rate celebrities hanging around for a camera shot. Have they rolled out Ted WIlliams' head yet?

 I read some guy's blog the other day that said that God was a Boston fan.  I didn't know whether to puke because it was so cheesy of a line, or because it might require me to lose my religion really fast.  If God's a Boston fan, then I'm looking for Pazuzo, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Baal, and Lucifer for my fantasy basketball draft this year.  I just need to pray a little more for some Boston losses, then the bubble will be burst.

B.C. stands for =

Bandwagon Central

Bowl Championship stand-ins

Boring Coverage

Bloated Computer ratings

Best Chowdah

 

 Anyone else already tired of the Boston hype?

 

The 2007 Texans are like The Road Warrior was to Mad Max. The first year of the franchise was exciting and new to see, but after several years of seeing the same product, it grew old and bland fast. Now we have the next generation sequel, and the Texans are reloaded to kick butt.

I have to admit that I couldn't hardly tell you who any Texans were going into this season. My distaste for an inferior product had really set in hard. So, I didn't bother watching any preseason games or keep up with them in the media. When my brother got all bizarro fan on me prior to the season opener, I just laughed at him. There he goes again getting his hopes up on another losing season in the city of Houston. (You have to understand that being a Houston sports fan is very often a bittersweet experience. We love our teams, but our hearts are broken too often). So against my better judgment, I decided to at least watch a quarter or two of their first game; mainly just to see how QB Matt Schaub would do in his first game as a Texan. The first drive bogged down in a typical 3-and-Out. "Here we go again." But lo, to my amazement, the next time the Texans got the ball against the Chiefs, I saw a different team on the field than I was use to seeing in years past. There was a confident QB standing behind a blocking line with receivers and RBs flying all over the field. TOUCHDOWN!! What a drive!!  Of course the Texans went on to win impressively against a pretty bad team.  However, they repeated the same effort in a satisfying road win at Carolina the next week too.

Who replaced my Texans?!?! 

Yes, sportsfans, the Houston Texans have been body-snatched!! Call an Amber Alert!!! Where's that dark-haired baby that rolled around on the grass a lot in the back field? He's been taken. Where's that left tackle that spends more time on his back than Jenna Jameson? Are the Texans playing with 12 or 13 guys now??? The Texans for the first time in their young existence have a quality team on the field now.

Even though they lost this past week to the Super Bowl champs, Indianapolis Colts. They still showed a lot of poise and determination in not being intimidated and by making a late game run at a win. This looks like a team no longer willing to roll over week after week. They are playing with confidence and grit. They are playing like veterans.

I see remarkable improvement on all 3 fronts with this team:

Offense:
With the exit of David Carr and entrance of Matt Schaub, the Texans right away made a significant improvement. A confident QB who won't take a sack, but understands how and when to get rid of the ball, has already made miles of improvement for this team. An offensive line that was once truly "offensive", is now a year older and more experienced. LT Chester Pitts has now shaped into the QB protector the franchise had always hoped he'd be. Free agent acquisition, RB Ahmad Green is a proven commodity, and has already provided some extra run pop to go with long ball threat of WR Andre Johnson. This offense is scoring more in the first 3 games than they seemingly would score all season in the past. Schaub should maintain a high QB rating through the year with so many nice options to pass to now. Tons of potential here once a quality TE and extra WR is added to the mix. However, their Achilles heal early this year is the injury bug. With RBs Green and Ron Dayne hobbled with early injuries, as well as a twisted knee for Johnson, the offensive punch is tempered.

Defense:

These are the Texans' last three 1st Round draft choices: 2005-DT-Travis Johnson, 2006-DE-Mario Williams, 2007-DT Amobe Okoye. These three guys are studs already, and the rest of the NFL should fear the Texan front line for years to come. Mario "#1 draft choice and not Vince or Reggie" Williams already has 3 sacks this season thanks to the added presence of Okoye to the line. CB Dunta Robinson is one of the best tackling corners in the league who has no fear of the best WRs in the league. Topped off by the mad-skillz of Defensive Rookie of the year, Demeco Ryans, this defense is very formidable.

Special Teams:

Kris Brown is one of the most consistent kickers in the league, and hopefully with more offense this year, will be able to up his PAT totals and FG attempts. Supposed backup punter Matt Turk has been pounding the pigskin so hard down field that they oughta call PETA on it. Finally, kick returners Jerome Mathis and future wide-out star Jacoby Jones are keeping the Texans out of deep starting field position.

The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades:

With the very satisfactory performances by this young team over the first 3 weeks, I definitely find myself looking forward to watching them each sunday. I can see this team competing for a playoff spot this year. Head coach Gary Kubiak has instilled his Denver system in Houston, and Houston fans should be feeling that Rocky Mountain high now. Houston hasn't had a positive pro football experience here in well over 10 years, and I think it's time to get it started and keep it going. There is much to be optimistic about now, and we just have to pray that the injury bug doesn't keep plaguing this confident team.

I can easily see them going 9-7 now, but will that be good enough for a wild card spot? In a division that is looking strong top to bottom, they're gonna need every bounce, flag, and review to swing their way this season. The Texans also need to learn to be road warriors, and pick off a few games away from home they aren't expected to win. Beware you Tina Turners and assless leather pantswearing baddies of the league, our revamped Road Warriors are on their way.