Happy Halloween

The only good thing about switching clocks back an hour is that college hoops is on the horizon. If there was no college basketball, I don't know how I would get through winter, seriously. In Michigan, since we're further north obviously, the days are shorter. The sun is up about 7:10 and it is down about 5:30, a little more than 10 hours' worth. And it's only October 31st. It feels like it should be late November/early December, but it's only the last day of October. I don't like it when I know the day of sunlight begins and ends while I'm at work. Maybe it's just me, but I think that's wrong.

One more week until Election Day, and it can't come sooner. Earlier today, 12 consecutive political ads were broadcast on TV. 12?!?!?!?! It's so bad, I yearn for the days of Alligator Arms girl from Victory Toyota and Dayna Alexander selling Weather Guard windows. When I was in Ohio this past weekend, I swear I wasn't bombarded by political ads like I am every day here.

Well since I have time to blog, I have time to talk MAC Basketball. It should be another competitive year, with everyone beating up on one another resulting in just one NCAA team. In the MAC, you really do have to defend your home court and steal games on the road because winning on the road, even in Ypsilanti and Mt. Pleasant, is a challenge:

MAC East
1. Akron. My NCAA pick and the consensus NCAA pick from previews that I've seen. Dru Joyce and Nick Dials are one of the best backcourts you'll find. Both can shoot and defend. Dials is a little small for a 2 guard, but he can make up for it with his shooting and intensity. Cedrick Middleton is the swingman, who can shoot and take it strong to the goal. Again, small for a swingman, but tough and athletic. Romeo Travis will probably win Player of the Year. He's almost impossible to defend 12 feet in. Jeremiah Wood adds some bulk inside. Nate Linhart has some size, but he's more of a step-out shooter. Akron is small, but they're deep, confident, and motivated to finally win the league and go dancing.

2. Miami. Who will take the clutch shots and handle the ball now that William Hatcher is gone? There's talent at point guard, but it is young and inexperienced. Sophomore transfer Carl Richburg gives Miami quickness they severly lacked last year and will push the pace. Freshman Alex Moosman will see the floor as he possesses deceptive quickness, shooting ability, and toughness. Doug Penno will be at shooting guard. Mr. Deadeye needs to be a little more consistent. Nathan Peavy will push Romeo Travis for Player of the Year. He needs to have a big year, and he's more than capable of it with his athleticism and inside/outside capabilities. Tim Pollitz is one of the savviest basketball players out there. An undersized power forward, he knows how to score and rebound despite not being blessed with great physical attributes. Monty St. Clair is healthy finally and should have a strong year at center. Mike Bramos could start also. The 6'5 swingman can shoot it, put it on the floor and hang in the air. Eric Pollitz is ready to contribute off the bench. Adam Fletcher and Tyler Dierkers give Miami some inside depth.

3. Ohio. Not a good regular season team because they turn the intensity on/off too much, but definitely not the team you want to play in the MAC Tournament (just ask Miami). The distraction that was Jeremy Fears is gone, so Antonio Chatman is the full-time point guard, who played well down the stretch. Whitney Davis can light it up, but he needs to become a more consistent shooter and put the ball on the floor, he has the ability to do so. Same goes for Sonny Troutman, who at 6'6 can post most big guards/small forwards up and shoot over them. Leon Williams needs to stay out of foul trouble. When he is on the floor, OU is tough to beat. Jerome Tillman is a good inside player now with experience. Bubba Walther is available after transferring from Akron and should give the Bobcats a solid night in-night out player who won't do anything eye-popping except give you 10 points, 4 rebounds, and a couple of assists a night.

4. Kent. The Golden Flashes lost a lot, but don't discount Jim Christian's ability to coach the young players up. Besides Armon Gates and Omni Smith, Kent doesn't have much experience. Jacksonville transfer Haminn Quainatance will help, Mike Scott played well in limited playing time, and Julian Sullinger needs to contribute. You want to get Kent early while they're still getting their feet wet because by tournament time, they'll be tournament tough. They'll be quick, good shooters, well-coached by the end of the year.

5. Bowling Green. BG returns 3 starters led by gunner Martin Samarco. If you let him touch the ball, he will shoot it and make it from wherever he is on the floor. Erik Marschall was a solid contributor at the forward spot until he wore down late in the year. Center Matt Lefeld has some ability inside, but needs to be more athletic and stronger with the ball. As has been the case recently, BG will need some of its young players to step up. Ryan Sims looks to be the strongest candidate. He has the makings of a solid combo guard, good ballhandler/shooter.

6. Buffalo. Da Bulls lost a lot. The starting backcourt of Calvin Cage and Roderick Middleton are gone. Sean Smiley played some last year, but was inconsistent. Darwin Young will step into the other guard role. Greg Gamble and Parnell Smith will be asked to carry the load inside along with Yassin Idbihi. Idbihi has 3 point range, but he needs to stay on the block and rely on his baby hook, which is unguardable. When Idbihi doesn't get involved early in the game, he starts to wander offensively and gets into foul trouble. Smith can bang with the best of them inside. We've learned Reggie Witherspoon is a good block, and Buffalo has become a tough place to play.

MAC West.
1. Northern Illinois. I'm taking the Huskies over Toledo because NIU has proven size returning for them. NIU returns 5 players who started for them at one time or another. Ryan Paradise and Zach Pancratz give NIU a solid backcourt. Paradise is a 46% 3 point shooter. Pancratz is a guy who can do a little bit of everything. Mike McKinney is the best player on the team. He needs to average at least 15 points a game. Ben Rand played well last year before getting hurt. He and McKinney both are better than 50% shooters from the floor. Center James Hughes needs to provide double figure scoring, as well as the tall inside presence who rebounds and blocks shots. There's no reason NIU shouldn't go undefeated at home since DeKalb is the longest road trip for most of the MAC. NIU also has 3 junior college transfers coming in that should contribute immediately.

2. Toledo. In the middle of last year, there was talk coach Stan Joplin was on his way out. After winning 10 of their last 11 and finishing 20-11, losing to Kent in the MAC finals. Joplin got an extension and Toledo will battle for the MAC Championship. Justin Ingram leads the way with his clutch offensive play. Kashif Payne is lightning quick and keys the attack. Keonta Howell takes it to the goal strong for only being 6'4. Tyrone Kent is the lockdown defender, and Florentino Valencia is the post man who battles inside. The problem: Valencia is 6'5, and he's the best inside player Toledo has unless a couple of guys step up. Allen Pinson was hurt last year, he would give UT a 6'10 presence. If he's still hurt, it's up to 6'7 freshman Shane Ross. Small lineups have worked, but they work up to a point.

3. Ball St. If Peyton Stovall is anything close to what he was before injuring his knee last year, Ball St. will have a good year under first year coach Ronny Thompson (yes, related to that Thompson). Add in Skip Mills and Ball St. has a very good backcourt. D'Andre Peyton is a poor man's Carl Landry. He can score in the post, hit the 15 footer and get to the foul line. If Charles Bass can give them anything inside, this will be a tough team to beat. The rest of the team is young and/or inexperienced, making for a short rotation most likely.

4. Western Michigan. Dan Hess and Joe Reitz give Western two dependable post players. Unspectacular, but they'll do the grunt work. The guy to watch is freshman David Kool, the first Mr. Basketball from Michigan to go to a MAC school. He wound up at Western due to some concerns over a bum knee, but if he turns out to be healthy, what a steal he could be.

5. Central Michigan. Just a few years removed from a MAC title and NCAA berth, Central went 4-24 last year. Ouch. But a new coach brings new optimism. 14 point scorers Giordian Watson and Sefton Barrett are back, as is Chris Kellerman who gives the Chips something inside. Central has 6'9 Marko Spika from Serbia, who ended up at Central after not qualifying academically at UCLA. He could be the wild card in how fast Central's improvement progresses.

6. Eastern Michigan. All everything John Bowler, gone. Gino Smith, transferred. Danny McElhinny, gone. Carlos Medlock and BJ Ford are back, two sophomore guards who give Eastern something to fall back on. But Coach Charles Ramsey likes his new players and if they turn out to be solid contributors this year, Eastern has a bright future.

Well, the end of the month means time to pay the bills. Happy Halloween!!!!

Let's Talk Some Hoops

I'm not going to waste anytime, here's my field of 65, mark it down:

• ACC: UNC, Duke, BC, Tech. Looking at the ACC, looks very similar to last year, down. UNC is loaded. How Roy Williams is going to allocate playing time, I don't know. David Noel is the only big loss. Frasor, Miller, Ginyard, Terry, and Hansbrough are back. Add Lawson, Ellington, Stepheson, and Wright, not to mention Danny Green who didn't play much and you have a bonafide national championship contender. Duke will start off slow, especially with Greg Paulus out injured, but McRoberts, Nelson, and the 2 touted freshmen Gerald Henderson and Koubek will carry the load. BC had Jared Dudley back along with Sean Marshall. Gunner Tyrece Rice is back on the outside to shoot the 3. Tech has all of their key contributors back from a disappointing 2005-06, but the potential is there to finish 2nd in the league. Morrow and Dickey can be a formidable inside-outside duo.
• A-10: Xavier, St. Louis. Xavier could be really, really good. Oklahoma transfer Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell in the backcourt, Justin Cage, Justin Doellman, Josh Duncan up front, Brandon Cole, BJ Raymond and Johnny Wolf off the bench. That 8 man rotation on paper is as good as you'll find anywhere.
• Big East: Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova, UConn, Louisville, DePaul. Pitt is a Final 4 contender with big man Aaron Gray back. Ramon and Fields are a solid backcourt, Sam Young is a mismatch at the 4, Levon Kendall is the glue guy, and Gray is the big fella. There will be more shots available with no Carl Krauser, but where will the leadership come from? The Hoyas have their own big man in Roy Hibbert plus one of the most valuable players to his team in Jeff Green. Marquette's 3 guard lineup is as good as you'll find led by Dominic James. Syracuse's now seniors came to play in the Big East tourney, can they do it for a year? Villanova lost 3 of their 4 guards to the NBA, but Curtis Sumpter is back along with all those forwards/centers who gained experience in his absence, plus star freshman guard Scottie Reynolds. DePaul has all 5 starters back from a team that played well at the end of last year (beat Syracuse by 39). Louisville might be a little bit of a sleeper with freshman Derrick Caracter helping Juan Palacios and David Padgett at the forward spot.
• Big 10: Wisconsin, Ohio St., Indiana, Penn St., Purdue, Michigan. Yup, no Illinois or Michigan St., those are not typos. Wisconsin will win the Big 10 regular season title. Taylor is the do-it-all guard, Tucker is the do-it-all player who can take you off the dribble and post you up. The Bo Ryan offense is still hard to figure it out. Ohio St. and the Thad Five will improve as the year goes on, just like Michigan's Fab Five. Greg Oden gets all the hype, but Daequan Cook might be the best player in the freshman class. Indiana will have DJ White for a whole year and will be tough to guard with all their shooters. Penn St. returns 80% of its production from an NIT team that beat Illinois in Champaign, which ended their home court win streak. Purdue, if healthy, will be there also. Carl Landry is back from a knee injury, David Teague's knee is in good shape, and Nate Minnoy is healthy. Michigan will be fighting again to make the NCAA, but I think they'll do it.
• Big 12: Kansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma St., Kansas St., Texas Tech, Texas. Kansas might have the most talent of anyone in the country. Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers in the backcourt, Brandon Rush, Julian Wright, and Sasha Kaun up front, CJ Giles off the bench, and Sherron Collins the incoming star freshman makes them a national contender. Texas A&M has maybe the best inside-outside duo in Acie Law and Joseph Jones. Billy Gillespie is one of the best coaches in the nation. OSU responded to Sean Sutton and they return their late season starting lineup. Bob Huggins is the beneficiary of a full cupboard at Kansas St. Cartier Martin is no longer suspended by the school (big surprise). I think Texas will struggle more than people think, they are really young. Their youth is talented, led by Kevin Durant, but with no real experience to rely on, they'll be a middle of the pack team.
• Missouri Valley: Creighton, Wichita St., So. Illinois. Creighton gets Nate Funk back along with their top 8 players from last year. Funk has more game than Kyle Korver, Creighton could be scary good for a "mid-major". So. Illinois has their 5 starters back which means tougher defense and better offense. Wichita St. returns 6 of their top 7 players, led by swingman Kyle Wilson.
• Pac 10: UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Washington. UCLA could return to the Final 4 if they stay healthy and find a backup point guard to relieve Darren Collison every now and then. I love saying Luc Mbah A Moute. The only thing that could prevent Arizona from going all the way is inside toughness. Mustafa Shakur, Jawann McClellan, and Marcus Williams give them shooting and quickness outside. Chase Budinger, Ivan Radenovic, and Kirk Walters are good face up inside players, but play too soft. We've been waiting a couple of years for Oregon and their talent. If they don't show up this year, Ernie Kent may be gone. Washington, though with some key losses, is an established program and they'll be in NCAA discussion. Spencer Hawes will be one of the top freshmen.
• SEC: Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas. Toughest conference top to bottom, 8 teams have legit NCAA hopes. Florida, well you know. Kentucky will be tough defensively. They'll have to be to make up for their lack of offense. Magnum Rolle will be a good inside complement for Glen Davis. Not a game changer like Tyrus Thomas, but he'll be solid. Chris Lofton will make some All-America teams for UT. Ronald Steele is just what his name implies.
• And the others: Long Beach St., Memphis, Houston, Akron, San Diego St., BYU, Nevada, Fresno St., Gonzaga, Vermont, Belmont, Northern Arizona, Winthrop, Hofstra, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Penn, Delaware St., Marist, Missouri-Kansas City, Robert Morris, Samford, Bucknell, College of Charleston, Sam Houston St., Western Kentucky, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
• Just missing: Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, UMass, Providence, USC, Mississippi St., Georgia, Air Force

I was going to go conference by conference, team by team, but I don't think I'll have time to do all of that.

Sweet 16: North Carolina, Duke, Xavier, Pitt, Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Ohio St., Kansas, Texas A&M, Memphis, Creighton, UCLA, Florida, LSU, Alabama

Final 4: North Carolina, Kansas, Florida, Xavier

Champ: North Carolina over Florida. Florida is awfully good, but UNC has the depth, quickness, and strength to beat them.

Of course, I'll be wrong, but oh well, it's fun talking hoops. We'll talk football later in the week.

Tiger Town

In the last 16 months, Detroit will have hosted an NBA Finals, Baseball All-Star Game, Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, and now a World Series. And everyone tells me, if you think this town has gone nuts over the Tigers, wait until the Lions make the playoffs, then they'll REALLY go nuts. I think it'll be at least a couple more years before the Lions make a playoff run, but the World Series will be here Saturday night and the Tigers are on a roll. This season is the definition of a storybook. Honestly, the one game where I thought it could be a special season was back in May on a Friday night with the Reds in town. In the 7th inning, Ken Griffey Jr. hit a grand slam off of Joel Zumaya, the big blow that looked to be the decisive one. But the Tigers fought back and tied the game on a 2-strike, 2 out homer by Curtis Granderson to the opposite field. The Tigers won the game in the 10th and they continued on. I've never witnessed a celebratory, ticker-tape parade. The Tigers are 4 wins away from exactly that.

It's been a couple of weeks, what's going on:

• We're a month away from possibly the greatest game in college football history. I think I've said this already, but could you imagine #1, unbeaten Ohio St. hosting #2, unbeaten Michigan in Columbus with the Big 10 and Fiesta Bowl on the line??? It would be the equivalent of North Carolina playing Duke for the NCAA championship in hoops, the Bears playing the Packers in the Super Bowl, the Red Sox and Yankees playing in the World Series, and Tiger Woods playing Jack Nicklaus in an 18 hole playoff for the US Open championship. With the hype already building, it's probably not going to happen. Ohio St. appears to have an easy road. This week's home game vs. upstart Indiana, coming off their upset win over Iowa is the toughest game left on paper. The only way the Bucks lose is by looking ahead, maybe the week before at Northwestern but Ohio St. hasn't been caught looking ahead under Jim Tressel. Michigan hosts Iowa this week, their toughest remaining test on paper. Their trap game is a road trip to Bloomington the week before. These are the two best teams I've seen play this year. I'm hoping they get to The Game unscathed so we can witness history.
• USC only beating Arizona St. 28-21 is not a good sign for the rest of the year. With games against Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame, and UCLA left, USC will have to step up their game. The one advantage they'll have in the first three of those is they'll be at home. I mean, Arizona St., who plays no defense, scored a defensive touchdown!
• The SEC may be the toughest conference top to bottom, but I would still take Ohio St. or Michigan on a neutral field. I was surprised Tim Tebow wasn't used in 2 goalline situations like he had been. He came in on the 2nd down play before the Chris Leak fumble, but why not 3rd down like he had been? I thought the fumble was an incomplete pass; Leak's intent was to pumpfake and tuck the ball, but what actually happened was a pass. Tough break for Florida, but Auburn deserved to win the game. Auburn's offense still isn't very good, settling for too many field goals after their defense put them in position to score TDs. If the SEC wants to prove itself, here's a novel idea: play tougher non-conference schedules!!! Tennessee played Cal, at home and recently played a home and home with Notre Dame. Florida does battle with Florida St. Get off your horse and go play somebody.
• Miami is off the snide with a 38-31 win at Buffalo. It wasn't pretty, but a win's a win, right? I saw Miami play Northern Illinois the week before last and the frustrating thing was Miami didn't look like a bad team all night like bad teams usually do. Miami has good, young players, but with youth comes inexperience and mental mistakes, and Miami makes many of those. The future is bright, but that's just what it is, the future.
• The Bengals' two losses have come without Chris Henry. Coincidence? I think not. Henry is a first receiver playing the role of a third receiver. He has great speed, height, and the skill of a first receiver. But as a third receiver, he often draws a safety or nickel back, creating an advantage in his favor. If only he could keep himself out of trouble.
• Don't give up on the Steelers. Once Ben Roethlisberger gets his confidence back, he becomes tough to stop. He has his confidence back after Sunday, look out. I haven't seen Ben play that poorly since the Iowa game in 2003. He was able to bounce back and have a good year I recall.

And lost in the fray, Midnight Madness was Saturday morning so college hoops practice is underway!!!! Once I do my research, the conference previews will start appearing. The youth and inexperience of last year is now a year older and despite the return of Florida's Fab Five, there are many teams that have a legitimate chance of winning it all.

Back to see if the Bears can come back from a 20-0 hole. The offensive line got dominated in the 1st half, they have to play better in the 2nd half, right? And as much as I don't like Matt Leinart, he played a good half of football.

So, Who Do I Vote For?

One of the most intriguing things about moving to Michigan this year is being stuck in a heated race for governor. On one side is Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), incumbent, and on the other is Dick DeVos (R), businessman. The Governor's four years have been plagued by the auto industry's troubles, which she isn't directly responsible for. Meanwhile, DeVos has been CEO of Amway, a company that sells all kinds of household products through salespeople. Amway has made a lot of money, making the DeVos family very rich. DeVos has also invested heavily in Grand Rapids as I've mentioned before, helping it become a major destination for various conferences. Grand Rapids might as well be called DeVos Rapids or DeVos City, his name is everywhere.

Now when I vote, I do not just simply vote for all Republicans, I get to know the candidates, put them up against my beliefs and see who I want. Tonight was the 1st of 3 debates between the two candidates and of course, I'm now more confused than ever as to who I'll vote for. Here's an idea of what was going through my head during the debate:

Ok, I look at the economic numbers every day at work, they are simply not good. And even though it's not all Granholm's fault, there are some things she could've done better. Siding with the unions isn't good, not going after Honda aggressively enough wasn't good, and raising the minimum wage I think was a bad idea. It sounds good on paper, but it raises firms' labor costs and ultimately excludes the non-union worker out of the labor market since the difference between union and non-union wages becomes small and puts a premium on skilled tradesman, putting the unskilled low wage laborer at a disadvantage.

How about DeVos then? He's done a lot of good. Yes he invested in China but because of the laws there he had to fully invest there, nothing he could do there. He's created jobs, but his company revolves around employees selling products, which through the Amway business model made DeVos a lot of money. But all DeVos talks about is creating jobs, which is good, but Michigan needs long-term solutions, namely education.

Granholm thinks education is important, more funding for secondary schools and universities is a must. Tougher curricula is also a must. But the performance of schools compared to Ohio is not very good. The state is going to be in financial trouble to cover all of the state employees' health and pension plans. More could've been done here. Back to DeVos. We have to invest more in schools, duhh. Then it's back to the old, "we need leadership, yada yada yada."

Ok, well what about social issues. Granholm made a mistake in releasing a prisoner who went onto commit more murders (don't know the whole story with that). DeVos is pro-life, but his stance on births resulting from incest and/or sexual assault isn't clear. DeVos seems to have no idea on what he's talking about when it comes to social issues. He brings everything back to fighting for Michigan jobs and being a true leader. Granholm is asked about cutting back on police officers. She goes back to the budget deficit being the biggest among all the states, Gov. Engler (previous governor) leaving me in a tough spot. I don't like hearing excuses. I'm like Janet Jackson, what have you done for me lately?

So the reigning Governor is putting a good deal of blame on her predecessor, and the challenger has no real answers except he's going to create jobs. The good (or bad) news, there are 2 more debates.

I was gonna talk some sports too but it's getting late, that'll have to wait.