4th and 2!

Yesterday was a great day for college football.  Alabama got beat by Texas A&M thanks to great play from their QB Johnny Maziel.  Of coarse this shook the BCS standings.  Now Bama has to hope it can battle back into the title game.   While watching the games yesterday something that I'm not sure if I missunderstand the rules or I stumbled upon a huge coaching mistake happened.
Let me setup the scene for you.  The #4 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame is visiting the lackluster Eagles of Boston College.  Even though there records are nearly opposite this is always a great game.
Boston College gets the ball first and cones up two yards short on third down.  They are now faced with a fourth and two deep in their own territory.  Its obvious they have to punt, and they do, a great punt that Davonte Neal has to back pedal to field.  Like any great punt returner he tries to make a play by running back and trying to out run a would be tackler.  He gets tackled at his ten yard line.  During the play there are two flags.  One at the line of scrimage and one near where the punt was fielded.  Here's where my confussion started.
Both penalties were on the Irish. Offsides before the kick, which Boston College declined.  The second penalty which they accepted was holding during the return, half the distance to the goal line.  So play went on first and ten Notre Dame at their own 5.  The color commomtator's didn't say anything about why they declined the offsides.  All the while, I'm screaming at the TV and rambling on about what a dumb coaching decission Boston College made.
I'll explain, it's fourth and two you except the offsides penalty, the five yards gives you a first down.  Maybe theres a rule I don't know about but if I'm correct Coach Spaziani really screwed up. The Irish took the ball 95 yards and scored on their way to a 21-6 victory.  Now Boston College may not have even gotten another first down on that drive but you have to wonder what would have been if they did march down and score.  Even a field goal. That small lead could have been enough to make the Eagle's believe they could play Cinderella for the day.

College Football: Pac 12 week 11

Every week the Az Sports Guru will pic a different conference and make predictions for the upcoming week in college football.  We start with the Pac 12( Pac 10 if your old school)

The don't watch game.  
Oregon vs. Cal: This is the game to miss this week. Expect Oregon to score early and often. The Ducks have way too much talent for the Golden Bears. Oregon 63, Cal 10.

The Intriging Game.
ASU vs. USC:  ASU has a statement to make to the rest of the Pac 12 south.  They have had a great season, but have been struggling lately.  The Trojans have a great QB and it will be tough for the Sun Devils to keep him in check.  This may be the best game of the day to watch.  USC 38, ASU 35

The big game.
Oregon St. vs. Stanford: This will be an all out battle.  Both teams have good offenes and respectable d's.  This will go down to the last play.  The Beaver's look to keep their BCS hopes alive with a victory.  Stanford will finally get to show how good they are without Andrew Luck. Stanford 10, Oregon St. 6.

4 days

Just four days to vote for the most overrated athlete.  If you haven't voted yet look to the column on the right and give your opinion.  Feel free to leave comments as well.

No more Mike Brown in L.A.

If you haven't heard the Los Angelos Lakers have fired head coach Mike Brown.  They have started the season 1-4 and so because he coaches in L.A. its time to panic.  Some people may think that the front office is overreacting, but they play in a very tough Western Conference.  The move makes sense.  Brown's accomplishments aren't his wins or how often he gets into the playoff's.  His accomplishments are he once coached Kobe in L.A. and Lebron in Cleveland.  He hasn't produced any players or made anyone better.  The Lakers should hire Mike D'Antoni or Jerry Sloan.  They are a very talented team(when healthy) and anyone should be able to coach them to the playoffs.  If you don't get one of the two I previously mentioned then you need a high profile coach that can help you win a NBA title.
As for Mike Brown find a team that will showcase your coaching abillity.  A team that is sub.500 that way if you do take them to the pkayoffs you have over achieved and one day will get that high profile dream job again.  The Suns job should be opening up sometime this season.

The overrated Tony Romo

Perhaps the most overrated athlete in the NFL is Tony Romo.  He plays for the Dallas Cowboys, a team that expects to win every year.  Every season Cowboy fans think Romo is going to take them all the way to the superbowl.  Every year he lets them down.
Romo is an average quarterback at best.  He makes bad reads and tries to make something out of nothing.  He has decent talent around him,especially Jason Witten, and still doesn't win the big games.  The major problem with Romo is he is not a go to player.  When the game is on the line and the Cowboys put the ball in his hands he chokes.  There have been many games where he makes mistake after mistake and ultimately loses the game.
Alot of people are on the Tony Romo bandwagon and its because he plays for the Dallas Cowboys.  They are a high profile team and are expected to win just because they are so popular.  This is also why Tony Romo is so overrated.  The reallity is that if Romo played anywhere besides Dallas he would be an average no name QB.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

In boxing everyone talks about who is pound for pound the best boxer.  Some say Manny Paquiao some say Floyd Maywheather Jr.  One thing for sure is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is pound for pound the most overrated boxer in the business.  He has very huge shoes to fill in following in his dads footsteps.  Sr. was one of the greatest boxers to ever live.  And Jr. not so much.  He has been babysat when it comes to his fight schedule.  His fights have been hand picked to pad his record.  He has fought alot of no name guys and picked up easy wins.  The only tough fight he had he lost.  Chavez Jr. is a fading athlete in a fading sport.  In order for him to not be considered overrated he needs to fight a solid contender and convincingly beat him.  I hope he does this because it will be great for a sport that is being overshadowed by the UFC.

Magic's Great Anniversary

On this day 21 years ago, November 7, 1991.  Ervin "Magic" Johnson shocked the world and announced his sudden retirement from the Los Angelos Lakers.  He had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.  At the time we didn't know much about the disease.  We did know that you a person with AIDS would not live longer than ten years.  The reason for todays post is to celebrate and give props to the Laker great.  He is still alive and looks as healthy today as he did when he played.  Congrat's Magic!

Chris Bosh.....Overrated

One of the most overrated players in the NBA has to Chris Bosh.  He was lucky enough to be part of the big three that signed with the Heat two years ago.  He got a huge chunk of change and in my opinion he is the week link of the three.  Bosh has always put up good numbers, but he is not a go to threat.  He does not take control of a game.  Big time superstars will dominate a game and put the team on their back and lead them to victory.  For most of his career Bosh has been in the right place at the right time.  While in Toranto he had absolutely no help, so of coarse his stats are gonna look good.  Now in Miami he doesn't have to do much because of the talent around him.  He will still get his points because you would rather stop Lebron and D. Wade and let Bosh try and beat you.  Chris Bosh will be exposed for the overrated player he is when the Heat play ateam with quality young big men.

Overrated!

In sports you hear all the time, "he is overrated", " he's not that good", "so and so is better".  Let's take a look at the term overrated.  What makes someone overrated?  Who actually is overrated
Whenever an athlete steps foot and their field of choice there are certain expectations for that athlete.  As the player improves the expectations become higher.  Some people expect alot from an athlete based on prior experience.  The problem is when you expect improved performance from an athlete that hasn't inproved in enough areas to actually make the athlete better.  For example, a wide receiver who catches alot of deep passes but leads the league in dropped balls.(hashtag T.O.)  Good athletes are good at certain aspects of their sport and great athletes are good at all aspects of their sport.
Another reason an athlete is overrated is because they are too flashy.  They bring alot of attention to themselves.  You have players celebrating getting a first down or stealing a base, be a team player and celebrate your teammate making a good play.  These athletes are playing more for there own stats then the team winning. An flashy player would rather look good and lose instead of look bad and win.
My next three post will be of athletes that are overrated, Chris Bosh, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Tony Romo.  Stayed tuned and let me know what you think.

Why The Sun's miss the playoffs

It's NBA time. Time for everyone to think rhere team has a shot at a tittle this year.  The reallity is that not many teams have a shot at an NBA championship this year.  One team that won't even make the playoffs is the Phoenix Suns.  The Suns their best player in the offseason in Steve Nash.  He is such a great player and teammate.  His court vision is what makes him the future hall of famer that he is.  Without Steve Nash the Suns lack leadership.   I'm sure someone will emerge as the team leader and put some w's in the win column for the Suns.  The only problem with that is they play in a very deep Western Conference and trust me the Suns can't afford to give games away due to lack of leadership.  Another reason is the Sun's don't have a superstart.  Michael Beasley may become that guy but right now he is not that guy.  Had the Suns went after James Harden they would have had that guy and with him being a former Sun Devil it would have put fans in the seats.  Another problem the Sun's have is they do not have a dominant center.  Yes when they get Channing Frye back he is a great player, but not a dominant center. And the reallity is he probaly won't see the court this season.  The one thingvthat favors the Sun's is they have a great coaching staff.  If the Sun's do make the playoffs its because of Alvin Gentry and company.  Let me leave you with this, if they don't make the playoffs expect Gentry to be at the unemployment office this summer.