by ShagOnSports

The Holidays can be stressful if you let them… For me I really enjoy the holiday season…

Thanksgiving is my favorite… I get to have some fun with some of my friends on Thanksgiving morning with a little golfing fun and then get to spend time with my families on both Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after which is always an enjoyable time…

I am a very fortunate person to be 42 years old and have three of my grandparents still living (knock on wood)… My Grandmother and Grandfather Denton just celebrated 73 years of marriage this year and they are both in good spirits and health into their nineties (I will be 107 and my wife will be 101 when that occurs)… My Grandmother Cravens will be 90 next year and she is very healthy and in good sprits also… I say my prayers daily for this gift…

Christmas is a fun time but it seems to always be a bit stressful with the entire exercise of shopping and gift giving… My wife and I have decided that since we do not want for anything and we have everything we need that this year we are requesting that no one buys us any presents and to spend the money on themselves… To us it is nice for our families to get together, eat and enjoy being together…

We are still going to buy gifts for our two nephews and nieces… They are fun to shop for and we always try to buy them what they want or need… We are going to take the other money that we normally spend on gifts each year and adopt two kids off of an Angel Tree… We do Angel Trees each year but this year we are going to spend a little bit more on each child… Angel Trees are for kids who otherwise would not have a Christmas…

We are not big players on the party circuit… We have attended a get together this weekend hosted by two of our friends at their home and we are going to see a play called “A Tuna Christmas” which is a comedy and really funny next week… We attend a few other small get togethers here and there and we plan on having a New Years Eve Party unless we are still at the site of UK Footballs bowl game…

My wife and I are looking forward to spending allot of time at home over the next few months and that is a good thing…

Happy Holidays!!!

College Football

Does College Football need a playoff??? If USC wins against UCLA and Florida beats Arkansas then the answer has to be YES!!! It is YES anyway!!!

Florida’s only loss would be to Auburn who lost to Arkansas who lost to USC who lost to Oregon State… To me that moves Michigan into the title game whether you want a rematch or not… The OSU win over USC trumps them out and Florida is just not very impressive in winning… Florida did lose to Auburn at Auburn so that to me is not a bad loss (this was before Auburn lost to Arkansas)...

Do you think this thing is a farce yet???

My top ten

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Wisconsin
6. Rutgers
7. Louisville
8. Boise State
9. LSU
10. Notre Dame

With my rankings you have the following matchups:

Bryant Bracket

(8) Boise State @ Ohio State (1)
(6) Rutgers @ (3) Florida

8 Vs 1 Winner Vs 6 Vs 3 Winner (Orange Bowl)
8 VS 1 Loser Vs 6 Vs 3 Loser (Fiesta Bowl)

Robinson Bracket

(7) Louisville @ Michigan (2)
(5) Wisconsin @ (4) USC

7 Vs 2 Winner Vs 5 Vs 4 Winner (Rose Bowl)
7 Vs 2 Loser VS 5 Vs 4 Loser (Sugar Bowl)

Championship Game, Second Saturday in January (Rotated each year between New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, Ford Field, Pasadena, Phoenix, Dallas and NYC if NYC gets a domed stadium)… Orange Bowl Winner Vs Rose Bowl Winner in my set up above…


Kentucky Football

I told Mark Sheets if Kentucky beats Tennessee then I will drive the Rich Brooks bus!!! Did not happen but should have!!!

Kentucky played a really good game on both sides of the ball…

The defense may have had its best performance of the year… I still do not understand why are linebackers play three yards off of the line, I still do not understand our blitz packages even though we blitz more then people think, I still do not understand why are corners never turn around and play the ball and quarterback and I still to not understand why we do not know good technique on tackling (this is a huge problem for UK) but they gave UK a chance to win…

The play calling was down right awful!!! Come on Joker!!! You have called some good games this year but on fourth and two you run full back counter play!!! First and goal from the three in the first half and you fail to score??? Third and ½ yard on the same series you hand the ball off??? Ever hear of a quarterback sneak??? The defense gives you a chance to win and you blow it!!! You out coached yourself!!! Horrible call on fourth down on the final offensive play and Woodson rushed the throw…

Kentucky who was 76% on the year in the Red Zone blew three chances deep in UT territory… What about the kicking game (Brooksy is the kicking coach)??? UK misses an extra point and a little toe tap field goal in the first half… If they were both good then UK just needs to line up and kick a little toe tap to win at the end…

Joker wants to be the head coach after Brooksy and a win this year at Tennessee would have gone a long way in that process… However, when Brooksy goes my money is on former Tennessee assistant Randy Sanders because of his ties to Mitch Barnhart… Joker could have trumped that on Saturday but could not get over the hump…

UK needs to win and it is not good enough to come close!!! I do not care how long it has been since you beat Tennessee!!! There are no moral victories!!! Close does not count in the final standings but I did like the effort…

UK is still going bowling and going is just not good enough folks!!! UK needs to win the bowl game to get this program moving in the right direction…

Contract Extension for Brooks

It is probably the right thing to do but……….. Kentucky will have a tough time winning six home games next year or six games period… At home they will have LSU, Florida, Tennessee and Louisville and will have road games at Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina and Vandy… They will have to win two of the above listed games to have a chance at six and six… I predict right now due to the schedule next year this team goes five and seven next year…

I hope that the Brooks extension is not more then two years… I think UK should go two years and then have an option for a third year… I still hope Brooks is gone in two years whether he decides to leave or the decision is made for him… The base is in place so now let’s have some leadership that will take us to the next level…

Kentucky Basketball

Kentucky looked liked a tired team against Memphis in game three at Maui… Kentucky should have won the game against UCLA but made some a bad turnover with a chance to take the lead late in the game… For a guy that cannot recruit Tubby sure has four really nice freshmen…

The mix of freshmen with Juniors Bradley, Morris and Crawford along with Seniors Thomas, Perry and Orbzut make a formidable combination that with the experience of the season will be a tough opponent come March…

The negative Tubby crowd will get allot of mileage over the next month but I look for this team to have a good run in March…

Kentucky is nine years removed from the final four, which is the longest stretch in the UK history… Twice UK has gone to the tournament as the team to beat and come up short… One of those was due to an injury (Bogans high ankle sprain) that I believe knocked them out more then how they played in the regional final… They were also close two years ago also when no one really expected them to be there… Close is not good enough but………….

With Rondo, Sparks and Sims gone this team will mature and I look for Bobby Perry to step up and be a leader which is what the team needs… Rondo and Sparks were both cancers and not team players and Sims was involved in some kind of personal issue based on the number of rumors about said issue…

Tubby is no doubt on the hot seat and needs to get his team to the Final Four in the next two years… I still like Coach Smith and I am not sure who I want to take his place… I would take John Pelphry over Travis Ford if UK decided to keep it in the family and if they go outside I have no idea… Rick Barnes and Thad Matta come to mind… I would have a hard time with Billy Donavan due to his relationship with Pitino (Rick wore me out)…

My first regular season game is IU who is coming to coRUPPt arena on December 9th…


Royal and Ancient Thanksgiving Day Classic

First of all let me say that fun was had by all once again…

The tournament got off to a roaring start Thursday morning when the Pro at the course would not let our group play the back nine… We like to designate our own nine holes to play and this year we were going to end on a part three… The Pro f*&^$ed us so we just played the front nine…

The ceremonial first balls were hit by Mark Cooper, who flew in from Florida to play in place of one of the players who could not play this year and Animal who was selected due to his distinguished devotion to the tournament… The two gold balls that are struck each year in the ceremony were once again found so that is a good start…

By starting on number one the tournament figured to be won on either holes six seven or eight… Hole number one is a par four, two is a par four and hole number three is a par five… The prediction was that these three skins would be gone after the final group played hole number three…

Hole number four is a short par three, hole number five is a long par four and hole number six is a good par five that takes a precise second shot… The thought was someone would birdie number four and possibly number six so that would mean six skins would be gone and question at that point would be how were they split between the teams… One team could easily have the tournament in the bag after the sixth hole…

Hole number seven is a short but precise par four, eight is a long par three and nine is long but straight par four… The tournament could either be won or lost on holes seven or eight was the prevailing thought amongst the groups…

As it turned out Hole number one was birdied by the team of Scott and Steve (first hole birdie is usually the kiss of death) and then number two was birdied by Pete and Kevin… Hole number three was pushed with pars (no birdies on this par five) and holes four and five were pushed with pars… Hole number four is a short par three that fooled everyone (no one hit the green from the tee) but yielded a push with pars… The long par four number five also yielded pars (the tournament was won one year on this hole) to push everything to number six… My team had a solid shot at a birdie on this hole after I put my approach shot to the top tier pin leaving us with a twenty foot putt for birdie that we both missed right (no break all day)… The team that we played with Scott and Steve took themselves out of play on the hole with a ball in the water…

On the next hole I hit my drive in the water and we had to use Ready’s drive and could not reach the green in two… We laid up and choosing to go at the pin on our third shot and try to make par… We got there but two putted so we ended up with five… Scott and Steve hit a solid drive, both hit solid approach shots and then they two putted for par… Holes eight and nine were pushed with pars so it appeared all of the groups would move to the fairway on number eighteen to have a shoot off (closet to the hole on the approach shot wins)…

When we matched all the score cards it was discovered that the team of Scott and Steve had the only par on hole number seven which gave them a total of five skins on the day and the title of Champions of the Golf…

Two holes were still out and the team of Mark Cooper and Craig Glick won the last two holes hitting a nine iron approach to about three feet…

The weather for the day set a new record high (60 plus degrees)… The record low for the day is 19 degrees…


ShagOnSports Random Thoughts

- With one week to go I am in the top ten % on my college picks against the spread… My best showing is in my Fans of Navy pick set where I am in eleven place… Since week four I am .500 on my picks which puts me with 56% correct for the year… I can move up a few places this week but I will not be able to get first (I am ten points back and with a limited pick set this week there is little opportunity to move)…

- It is about time to switch to College basketball mode… Should be a good year for round ball… I think the teams are more balanced then they have ever been so there will be upsets, etc… as the year goes on… Florida is not unbeatable (They lost to KU this past weekend) but they look tough!!!

- I rocked my Navy Midshipmen to hard fought victory over Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl in my first full season of PS2 Football… I switched over to Dynasty Mode so the Middies will move on to next season (Dynasty Mode graduates your seniors and recruits new players for you based on your team needs) and they are preseason number four… My Quaterback won the Heismen Trophy for last year… For my next season however I am playing with a team that I created called the Barrett State Flash (the colors are blue and gold)… Barrett was a high school in my hometown (my mom was a cheerleader for Barrett in the 50’s) that closed in the late fifties and they were called the Purple Flash and played in Barrett Stadium (Barrett Stadium was an impressive football field for a town the size of Henderson)… My nephew Matt created the Henderson City College Pioneers and they are red and blue… DON’T BUY THIS GAME AS IT IS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!!! My wife and I are going to learn how to play NCAA Basketball 2003…

- Bobby Knight… I just do not know… I do not think he did anything that was malicious in his latest run in with a player… The player had no issue so I have no issue…

- During the UK vs UT game they flashed to Fat Phil right before a timeout and both Sam Nation and I both noticed standing about ten feet behind Fat Phil was Bob Dylan… Not old Bob Dylan but young Bob Dylan… There was a guy dressed in black that looked just like him… We laughed our ass off and were the only ones who saw this with the group I was watching the game with that day…

- Albert Puljos has come out and said that the MVP should come from a team that makes the playoffs Vs a team that did not… I disagree sort of… I think there should be two awards… MVP defined as the guy who was most valuable to his team which would be a playoff team (this year Puljos) and then a Player of the Year that to me would be Ron Howard of Philly… Simple solution…

ShagOnMusic

- I have been recording allot of programs from VH1… Last night I watched a program with Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees along with her husband Budgie… This is significant for me because I remember as a youngster listening to my brothers eight tracks and the one I liked the best was one from Budgie because it was different then all of the rest of the music… Early roots of Alternative… If you have never listened to Siouxsie you should give her a try… Very dreamy voice… My favorite song she sings is when she covers the Beatles tune Dear Prudence…