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So I must admit, this time of year is somewhat bitter sweet for me. There are so many great sports going on, and yet college football, one of my favorites, is almost over. Not that I get to watch very much, unless I am at work and it is slow, but I just love knowing that they are all going on.

Today alone I watched all or parts of 8 college football games, tried(unsuccessfully) to watch the MLS Western conference final (sorry RSL), and read about 4 different basketball games, college and pro. On top of that, the NFL is in full swing, and NHL is going as well. There are almost too many sports to cover right now.

Thank heavens for the internet. It is amazing how quickly you can find out results, stats, injuries, and a million other little facts. It also makes it possible to watch even more games, though most of the time the quality sucks. I just love sports so much.

The end of the college football season is nearing, and it is exciting as ever. I can hardly wait to see how it all pans out, especially which non-BCS team (or two?) will be crashing the party and prove once again how stupid the current system is. This truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Congrats to the Tamp Bay Rays for making it to the World Series for the first time in their history. What an amazing season. They went from dead last last season to the World Series, and the thing I like most is they did it the way the game should be played: solid pitching, consistent offense, and good defense.

I am all about the small market teams winning. I know everyone says it hurts the league as a whole, but I think that is stupid, and just shows how it has all become about money. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it was about winning, not about ratings. Also, being a fan of a small market team, I like to see them succeed.

It should be a good series too. Tampa Bay definitely has the momentum going in, but nobody expected either of these teams to get this far so I guess we will see what happens. Go Rays!

Being an alumnus of Highland High School in Salt Lake City, UT I would not consider myself worthy if I did not make at least a small plug for this great movie. I went and saw it and enjoyed every minute of it. It does not have the big budget glamour of Remember the Titans but it was every bit as good. The story was well done, and the rugby was excellent. I highly recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys a good sports movie, and even to anyone that just enjoys a good movie. If you would like to watch the trailer, or read more about it go to their website.

So I hate to sound repetitve in my dislike of the ranking system, but this week was just another kicker for me. I didn’t think Texas had to get the number one ranking, but it is acceptable. I also thinking Oklahoma only dropping a little is understandable because they got beat by the now number one team in the country. LSU deserved to drop as far as they did because they got totally beat down. And while Missouri dropped a little farther than I may have expected, it was not totally crazy. There are however two aspects of the polls that didn’t sit well with me.

First of all, the obvious one: how on earth can ANYONE still vote for Notre Dame as a top 25 team. While they did not make it in they did receive votes. Is someone paying those voters or something. I have the utmost respect for the history and tradition of the school, but let’s be honest, right now they suck. They barely beat a pathetic Michigan team that handed them the game. They squeaked past a San Diego State team that is not exactly exceptional, and Purdue and Stanford are not exactly at the top of their conferences. I love the movie Rudy as much or more than the next guy, but some people need to get a grip on reality.

The other unsettling ranking was how far Oklahome State jumped. They are having a great year, and won a huge game against a highly ranked opponent, but most people will agree Missouri is not playing as good as they did last year. A nine spot jump is just a little insane after one game. Lets just hope that when the visit Austin and other Big 12 towns they get beat and drop back down to a more realistic ranking.

What an enjoyable game to watch. Living in Austin people have been talking about it for more than a week now. It was on the news, in the newspapers, and the topic of everyone’s discussion, and the game didn’t dissapoint. I also enjoyed the camera shot which showed the red and orange line right down the middle of the stadium, quite a sight to see.

I was thoroughly impressed with Oklahoma’s efficiency on offense, but then I think they got a little lazy. Their defense was also phenomenal. They were so quick it was like watching a group of little leaguers going after the post game snack. Colt McCoy was honestly lucky to get off as many passes as he did.

Being a passive UT fan I have to admire their persistance. They really did not play that great of a game, but they played well enough to hang around, and then when the opprtuntity came they struck. Oklahoma was the better team, but UT definately played the better game.

People can argue all day about who should have won, or how different it would have been if this or that happened, but the reality is that Texas beat their rival, the number one team in the country, and should be rewarded accordingly. I don’t neccessarily think that means a number one ranking, though all of the results for this weekend are not in yet, but they have to get at least a few votes, and a little consideration.

Well the first round of the MLB postseason came to a close last night and what n interesting first round it was. To start we have the Cubs who come into the playoffs a serious favorite to win the world series and they get completely stomped on by the Dodgers who really just crushed all that great pitching the Cubs were supposed to have and silenced that great offense that the Cubs also had, i mean what happend its like the Cubs didn’t even show up for the series. Next let’s stay in the N.L. with the Brewers and Phillies, this series went more or less as expected. the Brewers had to really expend every bit of energy they had to get to the postseason and while they did take a game from the Phillies it just looked as if they didn’t have enough left in the tank to create some more magic. Sabathia was exhuasted to his full extent and while they did come in on a hot streak and an emotional high it just wasn’t enough to get them past a rather underrrated Phillies team, in my opinion at least.
Let’s move over to the A.L. now and take a look at the White Sox and Rays. now this is also kind of the same problem that the Brewers had where they had to give everything to get in to the post season and then it just appeared they didnt have enough in the tank to beat a very young and talented Rays team that is having by far the greatest year in Franchise history. Personally i believe that the White Sox had enough talent to beat the Rays and they might have even had a better team but there poor play at the end of September put them in the position they were in to have to win three games in three days agianst three different teams just to make it to the postseason. And now we go to what was the most compelling match up of the first round which was then Red Sox and the Anegls. The Angels coming in had lost 9 in a row to the Red Sox in the postseason but really did have their best chance to knock off the defending champs they have ever had. When this series started i thought the Angels were the more tlaented team but for those of you who watched you saw that it wasn’t about talent in this series it was about discipline and making the most of the oppurtunities given to you, the angels struggled with fielding,hitting with runners in scoring postion and base-running while the Red Sox for the most part played mistake free and that was the difference. i mean the play that finally decided the series last night was the failed atempt at a squeeze play in the top of the ninth where the batter Eric Aybar failed to make contact on the bunt. This play summed up the entire series, the angels had a golden oppurtunity to take the lead and completely blew it. A lot of people want to point the finger at the manager Mike Scoisca but the reality is if your in that batters box and get the bunt sign you need to make some kind of contact with the ball no matter what!! You can not leave the runner out to dry like he did. And the Red Sox being the Red Sox capitalized on the bad play of the Angels and won the game in the bottom of the ninth along with the series.

well that all for me im Travis Proctor and here is my clip of the playoffs so far it shows what happens when you dont capitalize on your oppurtunities.

In writing this post I must admit that I am a devout Yankee-hater and always will be. That being said I have the utmost respect for the history and tradition of the team and the stadium. I had the pleasure of attending a game there last year, and I can’t describe how it felt to sit in those seats and be where greatness had been. There was nothing special about the structure itself, in fact it was the most uncomfortable ballpark I have ever been to, but there was no denying the near holiness of those grounds. Yankee Stadium transcended sports. It was an icon to almost everyone for one reason or another, and with the continuing demise of most of the historic stadiums, Fenway and Wrigley are just about the only ones left, I am truly sad to see it go.

I watched the entire game last night, and while it wasn’t one for the ages, and in the long run meant nothing since neither team is going to the playoffs, it was still something I will never forget. The pregame ceremonies were very special with all of the former players present, and the interviews during the game were a rare pleasure. Normally I hate it when sportscasters talk through the whole game, but hearing the likes of Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra tell stories about their playing days made it one of the more enjoyable games I have ever watched. It was an opportunity that I am glad I didn’t miss.

One of the most surprising events for me was the newfound respect I gained for Derek Jeter after the speech he gave following the game:

If Derek Jeter played for any other team I probably wouldn’t hate him nearly as much, but having watched this speech and the ensuing walk around the field, I felt as if he was truly sad, and maybe even heartbroken, over the closing of the stadium. It is refreshing in this day and age of egos to see someone that may very well genuinely care about the fans and the game.

In contrast, his idiot teammates (read: A-Rod and company) were walking around pushing each other and cracking jokes like they were high school players on a victory lap. It showed their immaturity and their blatant disregard for the fans, and even winning. Maybe if the Yankees bought players that cared about winning more than about their paycheck they might actually win.

So once again goodbye to Yankee Stadium. The House that Ruth Built is being torn down, but the memories of those that tread there will be treasured in our minds and our hearts forever.

I know that the Olympics is kind of old, but today I came across a couple videos of Shawn Johnson on my 2 favorite talk shows: Ellen and David Letterman. Sometimes when I see Shawn doing her routines that she’s still a little teenage girl inside.

Video of Shawn Johnson on Ellen

Video of Shawn Johnson on David Letterman

This year more than any before has led me to wonder what good rankings are? I think most would agree that preseason rankings are pretty much crap because you never know how teams will do with the players they lost, injuries in fall camp, etc. Even the first week or two are a little sketchy because most schools are playing weak teams to try and get off on the right foot.

But really how useful are rankings the rest of the season. A prime example is Kirk Herbstreit’s rankings. He said on national TV that Fresno State was a better team and had the best chance of “busting” into a BCS bowl game than any other non-BCS school. Yet he ranked BYU higher in his AP poll ballot. Call me crazy but if a team is “better” shouldn’t they be ranked higher?

You also have the mess at the end of the season last year with teams losing and moving up in the rankings. Shouldn’t an increase in rank be the result of a good performance on the field. For the most part I think the coaches poll is a little more accurate because they are the ones on the field seeing these teams play, and no one understands their team, and their opponents, better than a good coach. But even their ballots are biased.

I don’t know if there really is a better solution because no human can be completely objective, and no computer can factor in all of the different facets of how good a team really is. But history has shown that the system is flawed. The NCAA has done a good job with the basketball tournament, for the most part. So why is it that they refuse to do something about football? Aren’t they the ones that are supposed to be running college football, not the heads of six of the eleven conferences?

I realize a 64 team tournament is out of the question, but until there is a playoff system of some sort there will never be a legitimate national champion in college football. Unfortunately, people at the NCAA are in bed with too many “college sports lobbyists” to make an objective decision and do what is right for the sport, not just their wallets.

Due to the huge volume of posts and articles on the internet regarding the legitimacy of the celebration call at the end of the game I will add my two cents by simply saying it was a good call on a really stupid rule.

Now for my opinion of the game as a whole. It was exactly as anyone would expect with a PAC-10 officiating crew, which can be well shown by a couple of pictures:

I’ve seen less holding in a college dorm room. I am well aware of the fact that calls get missed on every single play of any given game, but when it is as deliberate as some of those holds on Saturday someone needs to address the situation.

It would be a logistical nightmare initially, but why isn’t the NCAA the group that oversees officiating. Doesn’t it seem like a conflict of interest to anyone else that each conference is responsible for their own officials. At the very least an endeavor like the MWC and Big 12, in cooperation with other conferences, are trying to workout would be beneficial.

Regional officiating crews that don’t have direct conference ties would be more successful and would in large part alleviate any idea that crews are biased to their own conference. If there wasn’t some advantage to having your own officiating crews, why would the PAC-10 insist on using only their crews for non-conference games?