Gator Dominance

Dominance: Dominant position especially in a social hierarchy.

Now, I'm not saying the Gator athletes are the Stalin or Mussolini of the NCAA world, but they sure know how to win. When we say 'Florida Gators', the first thing that pops up to mind will probably be "Tim Tebow", "Football" and "Parties". If you follow NCAA sports, you know that the Gators aren't good at just football or 'drinking'. They actually have a very talented baseball and softball team, which both are ranked in the top 10. Their men and women golf are also nationally ranked in the top 10 and their gymnastics, men and women swimming and diving, men and women tennis and men and women indoor track are all ranked in the top 10. Pretty scary if you ask me.

I can keep on going about all the achievements the Gators have accomplished in every sport, but the main sport I want to focus on is swimming. Olympic champ Ryan Lochte had a remarkable season last year(http://supertramp24.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-said-its-great-to-be-florida-gator.html) and this year, the Women Swimming and Diving team are the new NCAA champions and the Men team just came short in 5th place.

For the first time since 1982, which was the inaugural women's championship, the lady Gators are Champions in Swimming and Diving. The Gators racked up 382 points, ahead of 2nd place Stanford who had 379.5. Twelve lady swimmers earned All-American honors, breaking 5 Florida records. Overall the Championship top 5 finished with Florida, Stanford, California, Arizona and Georgia.

The men team finished 5th, but the Gator swimmers had two individual national titles and Junior swimmer, Conor Dwyer is the Division I National Men's Swimmer of the Year. The Gators received 38 All-American status this year and it was a record breaking year for most of the swimmers.

Whatever head coach, Gregg Troy is doing with his swimmers, it is really working because with no doubt, the Gator swimming teams are a national powerhouse. Oh by the way, coach Troy was named Women's National Coach of the Year. Impressive?

Peyton's Legacy

On the Monday morning after the Super Bowl, many journalist and commentators all agreed with the 'idea' that Payton Manning's legacy went down the toilet. Is it really fair to judge one of the best quarterbacks that we've all seen by just one game? I say no.

12-year career and only one super bowl win?

• Dan Marino: Took the Dolphins to numerous playoff appearances(name me the last time the Colts weren't in the playoffs) in his 16 year career and only ONE Super Bowl APPEARANCE, which happened to be a 38-16 lost the Montana's 49ers. Manning has at least gone to two Super Bowls and has one ring in his 12 year career. Last time I checked, Dan Marino is in the Hall of Fame.

• Jim Kelly: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993. Of those 4 years, which one do you think Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly won the Super Bowl in? None. Despite taking the Bills to the Super Bowl four years in a row, they never won it. I'm sure it won't be the last time we see Manning making audibles in the Super Bowl.

• Steve Young: Hall of Fame QB, took him a while to finally win a Super Bowl and take the monkey off his back. After the Super Bowl in, the 49ers never made it back.

As for comparisons with Bradshaw, Aikman and Montana:

• Montana was an era with NO salary cap.
• Bradshaw was a part of an NFL in which a defense can break a WR leg just before the catch.
• Aikman era was in a time of offensive time limit.
  

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.

Heisman Hopefuls After Week 13

Front-runner's performances on week 13:

C.J Spiller:

• 37 offensive yards
• 18 rushing yards
• 19 receiving yards
• 88-yard kickoff return
• Team Loss vs South Carolina
  

Mark Ingram:

• 30 yards rushing
• 21 receiving yards
• Team Won vs Auburn

Toby Gerhart:

• 205 rushing yards
• 3 touchdowns
• 33 receiving yards
• 1 throwing touchdown
• Team won vs Notre Dame

Tim Tebow:

• 17-21 passing
• 221 yards
• 3 passing touchdowns
• 90 yards rushing
• 2 rushing touchdowns
• Team won vs. Florida State

Colt McCoy:

• 24-40 passing
• 304 passing yards
• 4 passing touchdowns
• 175 rushing yards
• 1 rushing touchdown
• Team won vs. Texas A&M

End of a Era

On Saturday afternoon, it won't be another game day in Gainesville. Saturday's game versus Florida State is much more meaningful. It will be the final game of Tim Tebow at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Four years ago, Tim Tebow's choice of college was between Alabama and his child-hood dream school, Florida. It wasn't easy for Tebow; crying and not knowing what to do. One day prior to the anouncement, Tebow spent twelve hours talking to then Tide coach Mike Shula. Urban Meyer thought he had no chance of getting Tebow to become a Gator.

Singing Day came, and coach Meyer refused to watch Tebow's nationally televised pick. Instead, he went outside to play catch with his son. His wife and two daughters went screaming outside to tell Meyer of the surprise pick. The QB from Nease High School officially became a Florida Gator.

In his freshmen year, Tebow became a goal line specialist and help the Gators win a national championship for the first time in a decade.

Ever since, it has been a Heisman trophy, Maxwell's, four NCAA records, 12 SEC records and two dozen school records.

After four years, two Southeastern Conference championships, two national titles, and a chance to lead the program to its first perfect season, the top-ranked Gators may be ready to name him "The Greatest One."

Battle of the Free Agents

The Miami Heat took on the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. Miami came in the game losing three out of four games and the Raptors having a record of 5-7. I personally thought it was going to be a competitive game, but the Heat would come on top at the end of the day. Things didn't turn out to be a W for the Heat, but another L in the lost column.

Toronto, coming into the game, was allowing 107.8 points per game and it showed why they are struggling in defense. Even with the defeat, the Heat managed to score 113 points against the Raptors, but it was Toronto who had the explosive offense that night.

Despite Dwayne Wade and Mario Chalmers scoring 30 points each and the Heat cutting the lead to one with with less than 4 minutes left, the Raptors showed that they were not going to let Wade takeover the game.

Andrea Bargnani, who scored 24 points, hit a deadly three and backup point guard Jarret Jack scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and made two important 3's to help stand Miami's comeback.

Raptors star forward, Chris Bosh, scored 29 points with 12 rebounds. Heat center Jermaine O'Neal finished 17 points and Michael Beasley had a solid 21 points.

Udonis Haslem and Quentin Richardson did not play and this may be a reason why the Heat are struggling after starting strong.

Chris Bosh is another star player who is a free agent after this season and for the past years, there have been rumors that Bosh might have a home in Miami after this season. Would that be enough for D.Wade to stay?

Who Knew

Who would have ever known that the Stanford Cardinals would be 7-3 (6-2 in the Pac -10) and most importantly, win back to back games versus top 10 teams.

Last week, the Cardinals won over a very strong Oregon team and on Saturday, Stanford destroyed #9 USC 55-21. It was the worst lost for a USC team in the Pete Carroll-Era.

QB Andrew Luck threw two touchdowns and ran for another, RB Toby Gerhart ran for 178 yds with 3 touchdowns and USC QB, Matt Barkley, was simply outplayed, throwing for 196 yds, 1 touchdown and 3 picks.

USC streaks of Pac-1o titles, Top 4 AP finishes, BCS Bowling, and 11 win seasons are now down the drain after this loss.

Remember Dave Wannstedt?

Dave Wannstedt succeeded Jimmie Johnson as the Miami Dolphins head coach in 2000. In his first year as the head coach, he took the Dolphins to a 11-5 record and win the AFC East title for the first time since 1994. Result in the playoffs? 27-0 loss to the Oakland Raiders.

2nd time around was similar. In the 2001 season the Dolphins managed another 11-5 record and another embarrassment in the playoffs. This time a 20-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

3rd season: The Fins didn't win 11 games this time but still were able to go 9-7. The Dolphins needed just one more win to clinch a playoff spot, but they blew an 11 point against the New England Patriots and cost them by not going to the postseason for the 3rd straight year.

Now the 4th season was hell from the start. Star player, Ricky Williams, who Wannstedt traded two draft picks for him, retired out of nowhere. Key players were injured and the Dolphins won 1 out of their first 9 games. Wannstedt resigned in the middle of the season.

In December 23, 2004, University of Pittsburgh named Wannstedt as the head coach of the team.

The first three years were tough for the Panthers, finishing .500 only once.

In 2008, the Panthers went on a roll with a 9-4 record, but a lost in a bowl game. Even though they lost, it was a sign of a new beginning in Pittsburgh.

This season, the Panthers started 3-0, but lost a game against NC State in the fourth quarter. Wannstedt's team went on to win the next 5 games and are now 8-1(currently winning, 20-7, vs Notre Dame)

If the Panthers continue the streak, they will have a chance to win the Big East title if they are able to upset the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats in the last game of the season. Does anyone smell Oranges in Miami?

Upset Upset

Last week we saw No.7 Oregon upset USC and basically bashing their BCS title hopes and no Pac-10 title this year. Oregon became the number one team in the Pac-10 but once again, the standings change just after one week.

Stanford did what Oregon had done to USC last week. UPSET. Running back Toby Gerhart ran for a school record 223 rushing yards with 3 TD's against a defense who held all of USC running backs to a total of 140 rushing yards! Freshman QB Andrew Luck didn't need much luck because his true freshmen skills were exposed. Luck went for 251 yards, 2 touchdowns in 12/20 passing. Standford pulled off the 51-42 victory.

With the win, Stanford becomes bowl-eligible for the first time in eight years. The win over Oregon could be a bigger win than the one of two years ago when Stanford SHOCKED No.2 USC in the Coliseum.

Now with the lost that Oregon suffered, it takes them out of title contention and the margin of the Pac-10 title just got smaller.


Note: Iowa's undefeated streak came to an end last night when Northwestern won 17-10. The Hawkeyes 'Captain Comeback' QB Ricky Stanzi, suffered an ankle injury and was out for the rest of the game.

Only unbeaten teams left are Florida, Alabama, Texas, Boise State, TCU and Cincinnati .

Other news: No.22 Notre Dame had no luck of the Irish last night when Navy took them down for the 2nd straight win in Notre Dame Stadium 23-21.

Ten Long Years

As kids, we always dream of being part of high school football. Some as players and others as prideful fans. On Friday, I finally felt that excitement of the "Friday Night Lights"

Walking into the school building, it became a sea of Green and Grey. The North Miami Pioneers were showing their Pioneer Pride for our biggest rival, North Miami Beach. We all know when your team plays their hateful rival, we tend to become more excited and our true spirit comes out. No matter what sport it is, baseball, football, basketball or even tennis.

For ten years, NMB has beaten North Miami. TEN YEARS. That all changed Friday night at FIU Stadium.

NMB had a 22-7 lead with 11 minutes reaming in the 4th quarter and then the rally started. Pioneers came back to score two touchdowns to make the game 22-20 with 6:59 to go. The Chargers got the ball back and ran off 5 minutes of the game clock...

North Miami didn't give up and with the last 30 sec. the team scored the game winning field goal making the sideline and fans go crazy. For the first time in 10 years we beat the chargers! We also won the Inner City Football Trophy.

The next day, I had to go to school for a debate meet and I heard my math teacher say "it was the most amazing thing I ever saw."

Swamp Dogs!

SEC On Top

The first BCS ranking poll came out this week. Not much of a surprise just the Boise State Broncos stand in number 4 while the USC Trojans at 7. We all know some of these teams are bound to lose and these polls will change about every week!




BCS Poll

RK Team W-L
1 Florida 6-0
2 Alabama 6-0
3 Texas 6-0
4 Boise State 6-0
5 Cincinnati 6-0
6 Iowa 7-0
7 USC 5-1
8 TCU 6-0
9 LSU 5-1
10 Miami (FL) 5-1
Say Florida and Bama make it to the SEC Championship like last year, only one of the two will be heading to the National Championship Game in Pasadena. So the best looking team right now is Texas, unless the computers mess up everything like every year.

Angel Motivation

The Angels might have lost the first game of the ALCS vs. the Yankees, but that doesn't mean they will stop fighting. They've been doing it the whole regular season. The motivation, inspiration and strength that their late rookie pitcher, Nick Adenhart, has given them has changed this Angels team.

The Angels have been playing with his jersey hung in the dugout the whole season and it won't stop during the post season. Being one game down in the ALCS, I'm sure they have even more motivation to make Nick proud and come on top and beat the powerful Yankees. The Halos are playing without Nick, but that won't kill them, only make them stronger.

Game 2: Saturday 7:57 PM ET on FOX! Go Angels.

All Star Lineup

Decided to do this for fun!

LF- Chris Coghlan- Fla
CF- Jacoby Ellsbury-Bos
RF- Ichiro Suzuki- Sea
3B- Michael Young-Tex
SS- Troy Tulowitzki- Col, Hanley Ramirez- Fla
2B- Robinson Cano- NYY
1B- Albert Pujols- Stl
C- Joe Mauer- Min
P- Felix Hernandez- Sea

2009 Marlins PT II

The Marlins did not make the playoffs but this group of ball players have been an excitement to watch the whole year. Being through ups and downs, this group of players have turned out to be more like a family. And this is one key role that helps a team build success. From leader Hanley Ramirez to rookie Chris Coghlan. This team is full of talent and I can't wait to see them next season and the ones to come. Of course, it was sort of a failure because we didn't make it to the post-season but we were in it until the end. Thank you for a wonderful and fun season!

NL East: Top 3 Rookies

The 2009 season is about to end and the season awards are near. One close race, other than playoff spots, is the NL Rookie of the Year. A lot of voters have pitchers J.A Happ from the Phillies and Tommy Hanson from the Braves to be the top leading contenders. Others in contention are Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen and Brewers third baseman Casey McGehee. How about Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan? Would he be able to beat out his fellow NL East rivals for the ROY award?

Phils pitcher J.A Happ:

• 11-4 record
• 2.79 ERA
• 3 CG (2 SHO)
• 112 SO
• .236 AVG
• 54 BB

Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson:

• 10-4 record
• 2.85 ERA
• 100 SO
• 43 BB
• .230 AVG
  

Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan:

• .311 BA
• .831 OPS
• .448 SLG
• .383 OBP
• 146 Hits
  
• 51 BB
• 76 SO

All 3 of these rookies have helped keep their teams alive in the playoff race and have put up very impressive numbers for rookies. It will be a pure joy to see these players grow and become part of the future of baseball.