Charles Barkley Having Fun

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Miami Products

The state of Miami. An independent state that is solely based on producing the best athletes of the country. From towns like Liberty City to high schools like Miami Killian to the big time program of UM. This is a city where naturals are born and stars are produced. I won't talk about football players, but baseball players. Two current minor league prospects for the Oakland A's. Adrian Cardenas and Jemile Weeks.

Adrian Cardenas, the 37th overall pick in the 2006 MLB draft (1st round supplemental round) came out of Monsignor Pace High School in Miami Gardens. Being drafted out of high school is an extremely hard goal to achieve and getting drafted out of high school in the first round.. Incredible. Cardenas, who played SS during his years at Pace, took the Spartans to a class 4A State Championship title and was ranked in the top high schools according to USA Today. He was noticed by scouts who were looking at star teammate Chris Marrero (15th overall pick). The scouts were so amazed by him, he even won Baseball America High School Player of the Year. Before getting traded to the A's, he was the 2nd basemen in the Phillies organization. In 2009, he spent time in AA and AAA where he hit .326 in AA and .251 at the AAA level. A little more seasoning and this Miami native will be MLB ready.



The U isn't only known for it's football program. They have one of the best baseball programs in the country and it seems like they never fail to reach Omaha. Jemile Weeks, who is the younger brother of Brewers Rickie Weeks, help elevate UM to an elite team while he was the Canes 2nd baseman. Weeks wasn't born in Miami but we can say UM produced yet another prospect. Weeks was the 12th overall pick of the 2008 draft, belonging to the the Oakland A's. A lot of scouts agreed he was going to play more CF than his natural position of 2nd but he hasn't made a move to the outfield yet. In 2009, Weeks batted .299 in A-Advance and .238 in the AA level. Weeks is just 5'10 175 lbs but he still manages to be an explosive hitter with his line drive swing and above average speed.


Being a minor league player, you never have a place to stay. You never know when you are going to be promoted or demoted or you never know if you're going to be traded. Both being expectational 2nd basemen in the same organization could mean a trade knowing how crazy it is when you're a minor league player. Either way, we should look forward seeing Cardenas and Weeks grow into All Stars and make an impact in the MLB level.

Gator Empire Collapses

One win away from the National Championship game. Just one. One lost away from being eliminated from the National Championship game. Just one. Win, and the Gators are off to Pasedena. Lose, and the Gators are heading back to Gainesville with agony and defeat. Turns out that Saturday night, Alabama got a little pay back from last years SEC championship game. Tide won 32-13 and clinched a berth to head to the Rose Bowl and play for the BCS Championship. It might have been the worst lost that the Meyer/Tebow Empire took since forever. No more time to give another promise or speech, no more undefeated season, no more national championship, no more number one and probably no more Heisman for Tebow. That's how big the lost was.

If the Gators were to lose, I think no expected them to lose the way they did. Bama's offensive just clobbered the Gators D. Their offensive line protected McElroy all day, and opened lanes for Heisman candidate, Mark Ingram. Who knew that the Gators defense, allowing about 9 PPG coming into the Championship game would allow 32 points in their semi-finals.

Despite McElroy getting the win over Tebow. Tebow threw for more yards but there was a few mistakes made by the Gators. Drop balls by Hernandez, Cooper, Nelson, Demps, Nelson and every single receiver the Gators had. It was just horrible. When was the last time that we saw the Gators get handled the way the did? For 22 straight games, everyone forgot how bad it feels to lose.

No one will know if DE Carlos Dunlap could have a made a difference because the Gators didn't look like the number one defense in the nation. Now the final game of 20+ seniors is near. Most likely they will playing in the Sugar Bowl and some say against Cincinnati. Just hope Tebow can go out in style.

In my eyes:

As I was watching Alabama celebrate all over the field, I had a weird comparison in my mind. It is a movie but the events happened in real life: Friday Night Lights. A town, a team, and a dream. 1988 Odessa Permian Panthers. A team that had a bunch of senior leaders, but when they got to the State Semi-Finals, they lost versus a very dominate, fast, and bigger Dallas Carter team. Funny how all four teams wore the same colors on game day, Dallas Carter held an explosive offense to 9 points and in the movie, they show a senior captain of the Panthers crying after the tough loss. The following year, even after the team lost so many leaders; they went on to win the State Championship the following year with a new QB.

I know that many will think "What's Florida without Tebow" Like ice without the cream, but the Gator Nation might not have to worry so much. John Brantley, a redshirt sophomore, was a 4 star recruit coming out of high school and has shows signs that he can be an elite QB with his live arm and has run a 4.58 40 yard dash, so he can move around just like Tebow. He's been around the game a long time, his dad and uncle played for UF, now- it will be Brantley's turn to show the whole nation what he's made of.

Tradition

Matt Leinart, Colt Brennan and now Matt Barkley. Leinart and Brennan had their share of breaking records and leading their teams to undefeated seasons and Barkley might easily be next. All three outstanding quarterbacks share a little bit of history. That history all starting at a private catholic school in Santa Ana, California. Mater Dei High School.

Matt Leinart. He is USC's all-time leader in career touchdown passes and completion percentage, and is second at USC behind Carson Palmer in completions and yards. Leinart was 37–2 as a starter. In Mater Dei, he led his team to a California Interscholastic Federation Division I co-championship, and was named the Sierra League's Offensive Most Valuable Player. He was also named Gatorade California high school football player of the year.



Colt Brennan. Where do I begin? Lets just say 30 NCAA I FBS records in a nutshell. Brennan didn't start a game before his senior because he was backing up a future Heisman trophy winner in Leinart and due to that, he never really pulled "over the top" numbers with Leinart under center for most of his high school career. BUT, he still eventually became one of the best college QB's we've seen in a long time and he came from no other quarterback factory than Mater Dei.


Now a new young gun has arrived in Matt Barkley. Matt Barkley is the first true freshman to start at QB for USC from the beginning of the season. In high school, we was also the first freshman to start since 1984 . He threw fir 10 touchdowns in his first year of high school. In 2007, he threw for 35 touchdowns. Barkley was named Gatorade National Player of the year and the 2007 Gatorade national male athlete of the year, becoming the first non-senior to win both awards. Barkley also won the 2007 Glenn Davis Award given to best high school football player in Southern California, as well as the inaugural Joe Montana Award as the nation's top high school quarterback.

So what has been scientifically proven? Mater Dei is the place to go if you are a young quarterback.