UofM prediction

This is a big weekend: College football begins!!

I consider myself a U of M fan, but I don't think it looks good for them this year. A lot has been said about Rich Rod and the team he's put together and my prediction is that they'll only win 4 games this season. I don't base this on their win-loss ratio over the past two years, but on how they have responded to the hardships they've gone through. They have not shown any life, any heart, any character when faced with adversity. And those traits come straight from the coach, and he doesn't have it.

Your football predictions?

Tebow's New Do

I'm loving this hair cut. He would be the awesomest guy ever to keep it like this the entire season.

Warriors... come out and pla-yay

I shared on Facebook a couple days ago that Evan (5) and Aaron (3) have been interested in a variety of non- mainstream sporting events lately. It has been a lot of fun to watch the things that they get interested in. Aaron has always been a sporty guy. He has a knack for golf and baseball and pretty much any other game or sport. Evan likes sports too, but he doesn't have the same natural ability. However, they both love to imagine themselves as celebrated, world- class athletes.

It started with the 2010 Winter Olympic games in February. They were mesmerized and inspired by the speed skaters and cross country skiers; they ran around the house in circles as fast as they could. They even went to the point of inventing fictional persona's of T-breaker (Aaron) and Thomas Jansen (Evan).

Then a few weeks ago we watched "the World's Strongest Man". Aaron was especially inspired, but they both walked around picking up everything they could over their heads. Chairs and tubs full of toys were no match for either one.

And yesterday, they found a new favorite: Ninja Warrior.



It's a Japanese competition of the most ridiculous obstacle courses ever invented. While at first glance it may look a bit like summer reality fave "Wipeout", it's actually a serious competition. 100 people qualify to compete each year, and if (or when) you fall, you're done. Finished. They have four separate stages (3 are timed) and after 23 competitions it has been conquered only 3 times. Yeah, it's possible for nobody to win.

Evan and Aaron were inspired by there modern warriors to climb and jump off of everything in the house. Stairs, beds, chairs, and tables all became obstacles to overcome. So today Becky and I put together our own ultimate obstacle course for our boys to try. Here they are in all their heroic glory:

A Tale of Two Dunks

I was listening to Jim Rome today as he debated between the which is the top slam dunk of the year: Amare Stoudemire over Anthony Tolliver or Dwayne Wade over Anderson Varejao. They are both devastating dunks, but Jim went with Dwayne Wade because he's a smaller guy throwing down over a big guy. I respect that argument, but Amare absolutely destroys Tolliver, crushing it with everything he's got. I've got to give it to Amare.

Which do you think is better?

I've got a fever... and the only prescription is more Olympics!

The 2010 Winter Olympics have been playing around the clock here at the Teal household over the last week. Evan and Aaron have even caught the spirit of the games and race around the house competing in speed skating and cross country skiing (as Thomas Jansen and T. Breaker, respectively.) I have really enjoyed the winter games this year, but I enjoy them much more as a Canadian than as an American.

I grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan cheering on our athletes against the US and the rest of the world every four years. I remember jumping up and down with joy when Ben Johnson won the 100m in the '88 summer games [that gold didn't last long]. But watching the Olympics these days I can't help but feel a bit torn because of my close ties to both countries.

I have dual citizenship, but I live as an American. I have a US drivers license, birth certificate, and passport. And I am nearing the point when I will have lived in America longer than I lived in Canada (June 2012!). I have a great life here in the states and I think this is a great country. But watching the Olympics stirs up my Canadian blood.

So as I continue to watch the competitions (sans figure skating or ice dancing *bleh*) I'll be cheering Canada first and the US second.

For what countries do you cheer?

NFL preview: Browns v. Lions

This is a big week in the NFL. You may think that last weeks Pats v. Colts was a big game, but it pales in comparison to the match-up at Ford Field on Sunday. The lowly Detroit Lions take on the deplorable Cleveland Browns to determine which football team is the biggest disaster.

Both teams have continually proved to have confused defenses, ineffective offenses, and no clue how to win football games (don't even talk about the lions special teams. They have redefined just how badly 11 men can play at the same time). Both teams have a 1-8 record so far this season, but Detroit has only won 2 of their last 33 games.

And once again, there is no chance that I'll be able to watch the game on TV. The team has announced that they are still 7,000 tickets short of a sell out. No sell out = no TV broadcast (we've already established the stupidity of that rule here).

My prediction? I think the Browns will win. Detroit has more talent, but they can't ever seem to pull it together.

Words of Wisdom

Yesterday, Nov 12, Tennessee native Corey Zickefoose was held up at gunpoint by 3 young men. Corey and his companion showed the robbers that they didn't have any money and the robbers made a quick getaway. In many cases that may be the end of the story, but not this time.

The 3 'alleged' robbers were found to be 3 University of Tennessee football players. Nu'Keese Richardson, Janzen Jackson and Michael Edwards allegedly held up Zickefoose with an air gun and are are being charged with attempted robbery. The University hasn't yet made any announcement as far as punishments are concerned, but poor 'ol Corey has made his opinion clear:

"I think they should still be able to play football, regardless," he said. "Tennessee is my place. It's my football team."

"Even after they put a gun in your face, you say let them play football?" 6 News asked.

"Yeah, it's Tennessee. That's the way it is sometimes," Zickefoose said. [source]

Hun?? Is this guy serious? I definitely think that our culture is too eager to sue and get revenge, but this guy needs to get his priorities straight. It's horrible to think that he would rather have them not be punished just because he doesn't want to hurt his fav football team. They are the ones who made the choice to put their egos and greed ahead of the team. They need to learn a tough lesson.

And if that's the way it is sometimes in Tennessee... yikes!

Danna- danna- danna-danna BATMAN!

Manu Ginobli is a phenomenal basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs. And his mythos just grew as he swatted a bat out of mid-air during a game yesterday.

Yes, he knocked a bat out of mid-flight during a basketball game on HALLOWEEN NIGHT!

You've got to see it to believe it:

DudePerfect

Real or Fake?

Remember those old McDonalds commercials where 23/45 and Larry Bird would play an outrageous game of 'horse' [nothin' but net]? Dude Perfect is a group of guys who actually make those ridunkulous basketball shots (check out their website). I've enjoyed their videos, but I am even a bigger fan since discovering that they're a group of Christian guys using this as a platform to share God's love.

I think the shot is real.

Lions win. or so I heard

The Detroit "football team" Lions defeated the Washington Redskins today 19 to 14. But it's hard for me to celebrate because the game was blacked-out for every TV within a 75 mile radius. Why can't I watch my home football team try to win their first game in "644 losing days, 21 losing months, 18 losing Sundays, one losing Thursday, four starting quarterbacks, one fired coach", and the disaster known as Matt Millen? [source]

Lions QB, Matt Stafford, counts the number of Lions victories since December 23, 2007

The National Football League has a rule that a game can only be shown live to local markets if the stadium sells out. 100%. Every ticket. I cannot understand this outdated and obsolete rule that has been in effect since the late '70's. It seems totally backwards that any sports team would EXCLUDE people from supporting their local team. Supposedly, the reason for this rule is because TV executives don't want to show empty seats in the stadiums. Which is totally stupid. I'd much rather watch my team, no matter what the attendance was.

Why can't TV execs and advertisers realize that I'm only going to glance at the Vikings games, but I'll watch the whole Lions game?

Why aren't teams furious that they can't connect with fans who are faithful customers and potential customers. I might be enticed to attend a home game if I see what a great experience it is. How can I see what I'm missing if I can't see the game?

I'm happy that the Lions won, but somebody needs to change the blackout rules, cause one win isn't going to fix the Lions attendance issues.

Eye of the Tiger

I like to root for the underdog. It's something I picked up from my dad. Unless it's a team or individual that I closely follow, I'll almost always cheer for the little guy. That's why I want the Lakers to lose. That's why I don't like Lebron. But lately, there's one big dog (actually, a big cat) that I can't help but cheer for ... Tiger Woods.

As I said earlier, I picked up the habit of cheering for the underdog from my dad. He could never want Tiger to win. not once, ever; but I can't help but be amazed and inspired at Tiger's recovery following surgery last year.

For me it started last year when Tiger won the the U.S Open with one leg. One Good Leg. How bad was his other leg? He had season ending surgery on it 9 days after he won. And he was out of the game for nearly a year following the procedure. Now sure, it's not like he didn't pick up a golf club during that time, but for over 8 months he had no competition to compel him, no tournaments to keep him sharp. Despite that fact, he's won 2 of the 6 tournaments he's played in since he came back.

That's just ridiculous. Nobody should be coming back from major surgery at the top of their game. and I can't help but obsess about what is driving him to succeed. He didn't have to come back. What motivates the most dominant athlete in the world?

I don't know, but I'm sure it's not money. Like he could really use an extra $1 million... or $20 million. He could have had his surgery and then sailed the seven seas for the rest of his life, played video games all day, and never trained or dieted again. But he came back.

Maybe it's cementing his legacy, or his ego, or something else, but something drives Tiger Woods enough to bring him back day after day. I found this quote from him online:

“No matter how good you get you can always get better and that's the exciting part.”
(source)

You would think the exciting part for a guy like him is all the stuff he gets as a result of winning: Money, fame, anything. You would think the exciting part is being lauded as one of the best players of all time. But he says that the exciting part is getting better. Improving one detail at a time. Let me put it another way, the excitement is in the journey not the destination.

Now that's something worth thinking about. That's something worth trying. That's something you can cheer for.

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh 2: frozen boogaloo....

...and this time, it's personal!

Tonight is the first night of the Stanley Cup Finals. In a rare occurrence, the two competing teams are the same teams that played in the finals last year. Detroit won last time 4 games to 2, using their experience to beat the younger Penguins (led by "the next one" Sidney Crosby). It's a similar story this time around, but with one difference that I hope gives us the edge... Marian Hossa.

Hossa played for Pittsburgh last year and became one of the most sought after free agents following the '08 season. He turned down multi year, multi-multi million dollar contracts with other teams (including Pittsburgh) to sign a one year, 7 million contract with Detroit. He picked a team that he thought he could fit well with and win a Championship, and the Penguins will want to make him pay for leaving them.

Marian Hossa as a Penguin, putting the hurt on Detroit in 2008.

Marian Hossa with a new look in 2009

But I think that gives him extra motivation to step up and prove that he made the right choice. Watch Hossa tonight, I think he's going to be one of the keys for Detroit to win (along with some more great goal tending by Osgood).

Go Wings!

The Detroit Redwings just scored a thrilling goal in overtime to take them to the Stanley Cup Finals.



Back to back baby!

Bubbles gets a makeover

Detroit is hurtin' these days. In addition to the well documented struggles of the Big Three, the Detroit public school system is shutting down 23 schools and laying off 600 teachers and staff. The D can't catch a break. But one of the city's most troubled citizens is getting a facelift this year.

Bubbles.

You may know him as the logo for the Detroit Lions.

I have no idea how or why he is named Bubbles, he just is. I first heard about this from sports insider Robbie Bolton who told me that the lions website was liquidating all the old gear. The rumor is that the new logo may be publicly revealed sometime around the upcoming NFL draft. But, it appears that a copy of the image was leaked onto the internet, so here's a sneak peak:

(new logo on the left, old one on the right. new font underneath)



I like it. I'm glad they left the colors the same and it's not drastically different from the old one, but it's one step removed from that 0-16 season. Bubbles is looking gooood.

What do you think?

SPARTANS

Way to go STATE!! I didn't get a chance to watch all of the game but was excited that our homestate Spartans will be playing in the big game on Monday night. I must admit I'm primarily a Michigan fan, but I'm not hardcore enough that I want Michigan State to fail (unlike the Lopez's:). The way I see it, their success reflects well on all of the Big Ten. Plus Michigan certainly can use all the good news we can get these days.

Big NFL news

Jay Cutler was finally traded today to the Chicago Bears. (source) Chicago gave the Broncos starting quarterback Kyle Orton and a few draft picks. For those of you who haven't been following this story here's the short version: Cutler is a very talented young quarterback who lead the second t offense in football last year. However, the Broncos defense is horrible and they missed the playoffs. So they fired the head coach and brought in a new guy from New England to coach the team. The new coach tried to trade Cutler for Matt Cassel (who had a great year for the Patriots) and when Jay found out about it he lost it. He asked to be traded and refused to talk to the coach or owner. Now he'll be starting for one of the worst offenses in the league and I think he's totally ruined his reputation (I'm not the only one who thinks so).

Last week I was hoping the the Lions might trade for him since they have plenty of draft picks to negotiate with, but I'm really glad we didn't get him. The way that he has handled this situation has shown his selfishness and immaturity. The Lions certainly need as much help as they can get, but we also need the right guys. Jay ain't one of 'em.

Bye Bye Bye

I'm feeling the effects of Detroit Sports News Withdrawl (commonly known as DSNW). Around 3 years ago I started listening to WDFN (1130 on your AM dial). I've grown to listen nearly every workday to Seany B and Stoney & Wojo talk local and national sports. It's funny, but I feel like they were my friends (from a distance, of course). And last week they all got suddenly yanked from the air. You can read the story here.

Apparently, Clear Channel, the parent company of WDFN, decided that they just couldn't afford to keep them around in these tough economic times. I understand that tough choices need to be made by many corporations, but it sucks that these guys lost their jobs. They were really good at what they did and they certainly weren't replaced by better radio hosts (a couple of nationally sydicated guys... boring!!). I can't stand listening to them.

Good luck to Sean Baligian, Bob Wojnowski, and Mike Stone. Let us know if you get back onto radio somewhere.

Dumars makes a move... finally

The big news in Detroit sports today is that Allen "practice" Iverson is a Piston. We had to give up Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess and a development league player. It's a big price to pay and a big risk, but I'm excited about the potential of this trade. During the 2008 playoffs I complained about the poor performance of Mr. Billups. He's been very inconsistent during the last several playoff series and rarely lives up to reputation as "Mr. Bigshot". When most of the Pistons were struggling during the first and second round we needed to rely upon someone to carry us through. Chauncey didn't get it done.

I think that we're getting Iverson at just the right time in his career. He seems to be past his selfishness but he can still break ankles. Hopefully Kwame Brown can give us a basic post presence (we don't expect much), and we can bring another championship home.

Plus there is a chance that we can get McDyess back if the Nuggets buy out his contract.

[here's a great article by J.A. Adande about the significance of this trade]

This past Saturday I took part in my first LIVE fantasty football draft. I ended up with the first pick overall (which is alot of pressure btw) and chose LT. Here's my current team:

QBs:
Derek Anderson
Eli Manning
Jason Campbell

WRs:
Santonio Holmes
Calvin Johnson
Brandon Marshall
Marvin Harrison
Kevin Curtis
Bernard Berrian

RBs:
LaDanian Tomlinson
Steven Jackson
Ryan Grant

TE:
Donald Lee

K:
Phil Dawson

DEF:
Minnesota
New England

Not unbeatable, but I feel pretty good about my current roster. How's your team look?

olympic highlights

My dad recently shared his "high" and "low" olympic moments (so far) on his blog. It's a pretty good list, but he left out Usain Bolt from the "Highs".

His total domination of the the 100 meter finals was incredible. Not only did he destroy his competition, but he totally humiliated anyone who has run 100 meters and tried hard. Then he follows it up by winning the 200 meter sprint in world record time also (if you weren't impressed, just read Michael Johnson's reaction to Bolt's race). [his live reaction is great too, but i can't find the video].

Yeah, he's a bit of a showboat and appears to be a bit full of himself prancing around the track; but you gotta hand it to him... he backed it up (unlike U.S. sprinter Wallace Spearmon who was dq'd for stepping out of his lane).

Phelps' feat is still amazing, but Usain gets my vote for top olympic moment. What's your fav. moment?

btw: i'm totally going on the "Bolt diet" of chicken nuggets and plenty of naps before a big event, it seems to work.