In response to Ted's post relaying the news about the Dimebag Darrell Ozzfest tribute (which took place in Dallas this past weekend) , a reader named Stinson1976 has left the following comment:
"I WENT TO THIS SHOW AND IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING THAT WAS THE BEST OZZFEST EVER IT WAS HOT AS HELL OUT THERE BUT IT WAS WELL WROTH IT.I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY.
OTHER THAT THE PIT WAS BRUTAL ALL DAY LONG. IF YOU MISSED YOU SHOULD KICK YOUR SELF IN THE ASS. MY FREINDS AND I DROVE 71/2 HOURS TO MAKE THE SHOW. ROCK ON AMERICA!!!!!"
I think it's safe to say that ever since we learned about the Dimebag tribute, we've been kicking ourselves in the ass for not being in attendance. Everything that I have read indicates that the tribute went off incredibly well. Most of the youtube videos that I have found are of Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed) doing his part of the tribute. There appears to be a pretty sick cover of Mouth For War. But, the quality thus far is not great. I'm sure more will leak out as the week continues. For now, this will suffice:
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Before we get to college football, I just have to mention that I have enjoyed the Olympics far more than I ever expected to. Obviously I knew that I would enjoy watching the basketball team play, but I never expected that I'd get so in to watching the other events. Perhaps I needed to be in my most cynical frame of mind to realize that there perhaps things are better than I thought. It's a good feeling.
The Michael Phelps storyline is obviously a good one, and it took an especially exciting turn last night, as Jason Lezak swam the fastest relay leg in history to keep Phelps' dream of 8 gold medals alive. What makes this story even better is that Lezak caught up to and edged out French swimmer Alain Bernard at the very end for the American victory. Bernard is the world record holder in the 100 meters, and earlier in the week he stated that he and his French teammates came to Beijing to "smash" the Americans. Trash talking always makes things more exciting. Better stick to painting buddy.
In possibly the most unexpected turn of events in my entire life, my favorite Olympic event thus far (aside from basketball) has been beach volleyball. I didn't even know this was an olympic sport. Well, it certainly is and it has sucked me in like no other Olympic event (except for curling in the winter of 2002 in Salt Lake City).
So far, I've only watched two matches. In the first, the number 2 seed United States team of Phil Dalhausser (a very lanky and gawky man whose head is shaved bald and who wears oakley glasses without any lenses in them. He was only wearing the frames) and Todd Rogers were upset by the 23rd ranked team from Latvia. Latvia really controlled this game the whole way through. The commentators indicated throughout that Dalhausser and Rogers were really shitting the bed. Perhaps I should have been upset at such a poor showing by an American team. But, I was very happy for the Latvians. They were clearly the hungrier team, and frankly the Americans didn't deserve to win. And, on top of that, it's beach volleyball. There's really no national pride lost in any way, which is nice.
After watching their male counterparts succumb to the pressures of the olympic stage, the top ranked American women's team of Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh salvaged the pride of American beach volleyball program by defeating their opening round Japanese opponents in dominating fashion. This was the 63rd victory in international play for May-Treanor and Walsh, who are the reigning world champions and appear to be some pretty badass competitors. As you can see from this picture, the action is very intense at the international level:
May-Treanor may have cemented herself as one of my favorite Olympic athletes after I read this article , in which she asked President Bush to slap her ass earlier this week when he paid a visit to the volleyball team (for the record, he declined to do so. Probably a good move I guess).
Alright, I'd better start talking about college football here before I lose all credibility.
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I expect this college football season to be one of the most exiciting that we've ever had. There are a number of exceptionally strong teams. And, at this point, it's difficult to say which two will be playing for the national championship in January.
I talked about Tim Tebow last week . I expect him to win his second Heisman Trophy, lead Florida to its second national championship in three years, and to eventually be remembered as the greatest quarterback in college football history. Clearly, I am excited to watch Tebow this season. However, there are many other players who we will be keeping tabs on, and I want to present you with a list of the ten players other than Tebow that I am most excited to see play. I'll give you five today and five more later this week.
Ian Johnson, Boise State, Running Back
There are some guys who just seem like they've been playing college football forever. Ex-Boise State QB Jared Zabransky was one of those guys. It seemed like he had been calling signals for Boise State ever since I was in elementary school. Brooks Bollinger at Wisconsin was the same way. Drew Weatherford, who will play quarterback for Florida State AGAIN this season, is another. There is perhaps no greater example of this phenomenon than Ian Johnson. Remember his performance in Boise State's historic bowl victory over Oklahoma (which he capped off by proposing to his girlfriend)? Doesn't that seem like a really long time ago? Well, Johnson will be a senior this season, and he should be one of the most exciting players in the WAC. He rushed for over 1,000 yards as a junior and has scored 46 total touchdowns in his college career.
Noel Devine, West Virginia, Running Back
I can't ever remember being more excited to watch a freshman play in a college game than I was to watch Noel Devine last season. The guy had become a legend because of his youtube highlight videos, which are still hands down the best I've ever seen. Although he did not see the bulk of the load last season (playing behind the now departed Steve Slaton), he was an extremely explosive and exciting player that averaged an eye-opening 8.6 yards per carry. A lot of questions about Devine will be answered this season. Nobody can question his talent, but many have questioned his character and his ability to stay healthy playing at such a small size (5-8, about 175 pounds). Devine and quarterback Pat White, who are crucial to the success of this Mountaineer team, will be playing behind what many experts have said is the nation's top offensive line. This should translate to a big year for both players and a Big East championship for West Virgina.
Rich Rodriguez put the West Virgina football program on the map. An appearance in a BCS bowl game would go a long way towards helping Rodriguez' former assistant and replacement Bill Stewart recruit the way he needs to to help this program maintain his current level of excellence. There is potential for an undefeated season if they don't falter in the Big East.
We'll find out just how good West Virginia is on October 23rd, when they host Auburn.
A sample of the fabled high school highlights:
Brian Cushing, USC, Linebacker
Everyone talks about Ray Maualuga, but there are a lot of extremely talented players on defense for USC. Cushing, a fellow senior who missed much of last season with injury, plays on the strong side and could be the key to an undefeated season for the Trojans (remember, they host Ohio State September 13th, a tough test early). Although he racked up impressive numbers in his limited junior season, Cushing was a standout as a sophomore. He was the defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl and came up with many big Special Teams plays that included this onside kick return against Notre Dame:
that game was tough on Brady Quinn:
Joe McKnight, USC, running back
I have been keeping personal tabs on McKnight since his senior season of high school. I was totally won over by the Noel Devine highlight tapes and I simply couldn't understand how any prospect, particularly another running back, could be ranked more highly than Devine. But, McKnight was it. The number one prospect in the land. I created my own personal competition between the two, which I would score in my head as their careers progressed. Certainly, Devine won last season, but McKnight never had a chance. He was playing for a USC team that was more stacked with talent at the running back position than any team we have seen since the Portis/Gore/McGahee teams at Miami. That will be the case again this season, as McKnight will lose a great deal of carries to Stafon Johnson and C.J. Gable. Nevertheless, I expect him to come on strong this year. We have all seen a lot of Stafon Johnson (the slated starter). He's very good. But McKnight is supposed to be a superstar, and I expect we'll all see that in him before this season ends.
Percy Harvin, Florida, WR/offensive weapon
Do I even need to explain this one? If I do, please watch this video below:
My second 5 later in the week.................
9 comments:
May-Treanor and Walsh now laying the smack down on Cuba. Great job by China to really simulate beach conditions in the stadium. It's too bad I'm not built for beach volleyball. With the passion and appreciation I have developed for it, I think I could have been one of the greats.
Love that story about President Bush. A lesser known but interesting player to watch on the Gators will be Emmanuel Moody. Bigtime USC RB recruit a couple years ago, he split time the year after Reggie Bush left and actually did pretty well as a Freshman. He transferred to Gainsville and then sat last season out. He could be huge giving the Gators a running threat, taking pressure off Tebow and allowing Harvin to continue to line up all over the field. Not a bad youtube highlight video, either:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGVFeY1m-ZY&feature=related
I remember him for SC. Smart move to transfer. I wonder why more guys don't transfer out of there who are running backs. For example, I'm pretty sure that LenDale White could have gone to a school with a nasty o-line like a wisconsin or a michigan or a penn state or a texas and just dominated instead of being underappreciated.
As much as Ann Arbor, Madison, and wherever Penn State are great college towns, I bet it's hard to leave LA once guys get a taste of it. Granted those are just three teams you picked at random with good O-line traditions and there are other teams located in great destinations. But there is something to be said for USC's location. And a lot of those guys are incredibly confident. By the time they fully understand how their careers will play out it's probably too late to transfer.
I can vividly remember spending a good three hours watching those Noel Devine highlight tapes last fall...and then losing money on West Virginia at Southern Florida...As far as his character issues go, both of his parents died of AIDS when he was real young and now he has like 5 kids. Im no psychologist, but this might have something to do with his "character issues". Always fun to watch though.
I remember buying the Vulgar Display of Power CD from Pantera and getting crap from my parents because the album cover had a pretty aggresive fist knocking some dude out. Nevertheless, the almbum kicked (and still does kick) major ass.
That song also gives me goosebumbs every time I hear it.
Larocque, not sure if you saw the US men's beach volleyball team (not as fun as watching the women) crush the Argentineans but with your new found passion for the game I'm sure you caught some of it. Now, I am no beach volleyball tactician but the Argentineans kept backing away from the net opting not to block thus enabling the Americans to spike the ball continuously into the sand and even into the facial/neck region of the Argentineans which then ricocheted out of bounds resulting in multiple points for the Americans. Even with your limited beach volleyball exposure is this the worst defensive strategy of all time?
Brian, this is a very very bad strategy. The guys at Freedarko.com discussed how really beach volleyball is comparable to a series of consecutive drives to the hoop in basketball. This strategy would be akin to backing away and letting the driving player throw down a windmill every time.
Daulhasser and Rogers are nasty and this type of strategy gives you zero chance of winning. They should have just taken it to them like the Latvians did.
In the end, Argentina really had no chance. There was no way the Americans were going to let history repeat itself after Saturday's disaster. Nevertheless, you'd expect the Argentina team to take more pride in representing their nation.
I'll look into the history of Argentina's program and see if this is a strategy that they use a lot.
It would be interesting to find out if point shaving was involved somehow. I wonder if these Argentinans had something to gain from ensuring that the Americans covered the spread. First, we need to find out what the spread was. Given the stature of the American team, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that the spread was so huge that many lots of people were betting the other way. But, the select few who took the Americans to cover had a lot to gain.
We've had all types of sterroids. We've had tampering with figure skating judges. We've even had one American arranging to have another American's knee clubbed. Would point shaving in beach volleyball really surprise you?
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