Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .
Louisiana Tech has never stopped the Nevada Wolf Pack's offense. Never. In nine games against the Bulldogs, the Pack has averaged 40 points. That even includes three games with Chris Tormey as Pack coach. Zach Threadgill and Andy Heiser each threw for over 300 yards on these guys. Ernie Wilson nearly had 200 yards rushing in 1995 against the Bulldogs. Don't remember Threadgill, Heiser and Wilson? Exactly. The Pack could put a helmet and shoulder pads on Cary Groth, the Fremont Cannon, Alphie, Wolfie and Wolfie Jr., and they'd all find the end zone Friday night. Wolf Pack 38, La Tech 31.
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Of course, after a game in which you score a million points and rush for a billion yards, everything looks easy. But you can't really take anything seriously after playing the never-say-try UNLV Rebels. You just don't know for sure the things you accomplished are for real. Make no mistake, Louisiana Tech will pose the Pack's toughest test until the Nov. 14 game against Fresno State. But you'll see a more relaxed and confident Pack team Friday. Now that the first victory is out of the way, all of the silly penalties and careless turnovers will vanish in a puff of Mackay magic. That's the plan, anyway.
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Everything that is wrong with college football today can be summed up in Friday night games. It disrespects your fans who must somehow get out of work early to attend the game or get in some quality tailgating time. Fans also must choose between watching their son play high school football or watching the Pack. Playing on Friday night also robs the local high school teams of getting their moment in the sun as far as media coverage is concerned. We understand that coaches and athletic directors will never say anything bad about ESPN (all they have to do is look at their paychecks in order to stop any of those negative feelings) but for the rest of us, well, it's a big pain in the tailgate.
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The big debate in the Bay area is not whether or not Michael Crabtree will help the San Francisco 49ers this season. The big debate is whether Crabtree will have more receptions than Oakland Raiders rookie Darrius Heyward-Bey. DHB has a four-game jump on Crabtree but only leads in receptions, 2-0. It should be a good race. My hunch is that Al Davis won't allow Crabtree to outperform his overrated rookie and the Raiders will throw the ball to DHB on every other play.
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Who is the biggest undefeated fraud in the NFL right now? Well, the only candidates are the Broncos, Colts, Giants, Saints and Vikes. Nobody really believes in the Broncos but they better start. Yes, they won't keep the 1972 Miami Dolphins' champagne on ice the whole year but the Broncos are for real. First of all, they play in the worst division possibly in the history of the NFL. And, second, they rediscovered their defense. That team won't fold. As for the other four unbeaten teams, the Saints and Vikes look like they will meet in the NFC title game, the Giants better hope Eli Manning's foot heals quickly and the Colts will lose to the Patriots in the AFC title game.
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What was all the fuss about Miguel Cabrera getting drunk between games in Chicago last Friday night. Do you think Cabrera was the only Tiger who got a little tipsy after the game? OK, he might have been the only Tiger to get beat up by his wife and then had to be picked up at jail by his general manager but, hey, who hasn't had a bad night or two? Baseball players enjoy themselves after games. A lot. As long as they show up for the first pitch the next day it's all good. The media needs to stop looking for the next YouTube, Jerry Springer moment all the time.
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The Minnesota Twins were in worse shape Wednesday night against the New York Yankees than Cabrera was in Chicago last weekend. Major league baseball should be ashamed for forcing the Twins to play in New York after they went through a grueling extra-inning marathon Tuesday night in Minnesota just to get into the playoffs. MLB should be more concerned with the quality of the games rather than doing all it can to giving a New York team an unfair advantage. It's amazing they didn't let Joe Girardi pick the Twins lineup, too.
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ESPN, in an effort to sell it's boring College Basketball Encyclopedia, ranked all of the NCAA programs (according to their all-time history) in the book. The Wolf Pack is No. 166 which, I guess, is about right. No Final Four appearances, one Sweet 16 appearance, only a handful of 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament victories. What was surprising is that the Pack didn't crack ESPN's Top 40 for the Decade of the 2000s. The Wolf Pack has clearly been a Top 40 team this entire decade. For much of the decade they were Top 25. I'd put them somewhere around 30-35 for the period of 2000-present. But, then again, I have the advantage of knowing that there actually is college basketball west of the Mississippi River.
Joe Santoro is a freelance columnist for the Sierra Nevada Media Group. His entire column, along with his past columns, can be viewed at www.recordcourier.com.
