Thursday, November 12, 2009

NEW WEBSITE!!!

WE HAVE A BRAND NEW WEBSITE THAT YOU CAN FIND AT:

http://www.fanfusionblog.com/

BRAND NEW LOOK AND MUCH EASIER TO NAVIGATE.

FACEBOOK PAGE AT : WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FANFUSIONBLOG
TWITTER: WWW.TWITTER.COM/FANFUSIONBLOG

SEE YOU ON THE NEW SITE!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

You gotta see this!

I won't lie, I don't catch too much Women's College Soccer. I should really make more time.

But I did catch this video. Since I don't know really ANYTHING about the sport, I will skip my thoughts on it and just show you the video. Make sure to watch all the way to the end, it's the best part. Enjoy!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 10 PICKS!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS!

Each Saturday, Fan #1 and Fan Rod will go head-to-head on picks to determine who is more knowledgeable about college football.

Last week Fan Rod redeemed himself, correctly guessing 94% (17 of 18) next to Fan #1 and his 83% (15 of 18). Fan Rod is looking to keep his winning streak going in Week 10!

So here are the picks for Week 10, UPSET ALERTS are in red...

FAN ROD PICKS                           FAN #1 PICKS
(1)Florida 42 - Vanderbilt 14                (1)Florida 45 - Vanderbilt 3
(2)Texas 35 - UCF 10                        (2)Texas 48 - UCF 7
(3)Alabama 30 - (9)LSU 27                  (3)Alabama 35 - (9)LSU 34
(4)Iowa 28 - Northwestern 13             (4)Iowa 42- Northwestern 28
(5)Cincinatti 28 - UCONN 21              (5)Cincinatti 35 - UCONN 14
(6)TCU 28 - SDSU 24                       (6)TCU 31- SDSU 7
(8)Oregon 31 - Stanford 21                (8)Oregon 24 - Stanford 27*
(10)GT 17 - Wake Forest 10            (10)GT 38- Wake Forest 21
(11)Penn St. 28 - (16)Ohio St. 17     (11)Penn St. 27- (16)Ohio St. 35*
(12)USC 35 - ASU 7                        (12)USC 41- ASU 14
(13)Pitt 27 - Syracuse 13                   (13)Pitt 24- Syracuse 17
(14)Utah 17 - New Mexico 14            (14)Utah 38- New Mexico 3
(15)Houston 17 - Tulsa 21*               (15)Houston 17- Tulsa 24*
(17)Miami 20 - Virginia 17               (17)Miami 33- Virginia 7
(18)Arizona 35 - Wash St. 14           (18)Arizona 45 - Wash St. 10
(19)Ok. St. 21 - Iowa St. 10            (19)Ok. St. 28- Iowa St. 21
(20)California 28 - Oregon St. 21     (20)California 38 - Oregon St.35
(21)Wisconsin 24 - Indiana 17           (21)Wisconsin 21- Indiana 31*
(22)Notre Dame 20 - Navy 14           (22)Notre Dame 52 - Navy 14
(24)Oklahoma 21 - Nebraska 24*        (24)Oklahoma 34- Nebraska 27

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Dream Duo


Rumors have spread this week of the possibility of LeBron James playing in a Laker uniform with Kobe Bryant this season. The buzz comes from Sam Smith of Bulls.com, who although has been a trade-rumor-spreader for years, may have something here. Now I don't know if LeBron would jet out of Cleveland in this fashion, but the belief is that LeBron wants to be in Los Angeles, so the Cavs can either get nothing for him next summer, or get some young talent for him this season. According to Smith, the Lakers would be giving up young talented center, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Ron Artest. A few first round picks may be added to the equation, and the outcome would be a nucleus of Lebron, Kobe, and Pao Gasol in La La Land. The 2 greatest players in the world (not to mention everyone's favorite puppets), playing on the same court night after night. What a dream for any basketball fan.

The egos are the question for me in this scenario. Kobe wants to win, and I believe he would absolutely give up some shots to bring King James on board - he's done it the past few seasons for much lesser talent in order to get the job done. LeBron is where the uncertainty of this possibility lies. He's been the most exciting player to watch since before he even graduated high school, but he still doesn't have that ring that he desires. Now he does appreciate the art of passing more than Jordan or Kobe ever have, but is he that unselfish to where he would be willing to win his titles along side a fellow superstart like Kobe Bryant? The way things have gone for the Cavs so far this season with the Shaquille O'Neal experiment, I'd say the possiblity is stronger than I would have thought in the offseason. The one downside to this trade is not having the Kobe vs. LeBron matchups. Not seeing Kobe picking LeBron up on defense when he brings the ball down court. There's something to be said for the excitement that comes with seeing these two guys go at it on the court.



LeBron is not a superstar like we've seen in the past. He doesn't bicker over who makes the last shot to win the game, or who scores the most points, who gets the glory, or any petty stuff that has plagued some of the game's best players in the past. It's always been about the team for LeBron, and about his team winning. Everything he's ever done has included his teammates (check out this youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk09AbO3akM), or his friends, as in his documentary More Than a Game. His passes are as brilliant as his dunks, and he gets just as excited about them. Kobe and LeBron could work, and if it has the chance to work, you can get your plane tickets to LAX for the Finals for the next decade or so.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

'Cuse shocked preseason style!



(Front page of Le Moyne's athletics site)

Syracuse, the ESPN/USA Today #25 ranked team, dropped their first exhibition game of the season to the Le Moyne Dolphins. I found myself asking one question after this loss...

Does Syracuse just completely suck, or is Le Moyne a sleeper team that is destined to make some noise this year?

 
Well, I had no knowledge of Le Moyne, so I did a little bit of digging...

Unfortunately, Le Moyne isn't listed on ESPN anywhere other than the upset article, so that made things a little more difficult. I mean teams like Harvard and the stellar squad of Coastal Carolina can be found there, but no Le Moyne. So I dug a little deeper...



The Dolphins played Syracuse last year, but after a well fought battle fell to them 85-51. They also played Georgia Tech and, in a close one, ended up losing 85-54. This comes as no surprise, as since their new coach Steve Evans took over (formerly of Northwestern and Siena); they have been an impressive 122-133 (.478) over the past 9 seasons.

But why focus on last year, lets look ahead to this year!


The Dolphins face a tough schedule ahead, consisting of teams like St. Bonaventure, Adelphi, Goldey-Beacom and Assumption (yes, Assumption is actually the name of a college). Against a schedule like that you can really see why they were so prepared for Syracuse.


OK, enough with the sarcasm. After digging I can answer the question I posed at the beginning of this article clearly and confidently.

Syracuse sucks!

It is obvious that Syracuse had no idea this could even occur. It is a preseason game, and from here on out I expect that they will play A LOT better. But it doesn’t change the fact that it happened, and that 'Cuse will be fighting to make people forget about it for the rest of the season. It also just back my claim made in this ARTICLE I wrote when the preseason rankings came out. This is why the preseason ranking are such crap, there is nothing to go on other than their new recruits and the name of the school. Coaches and "experts" alike put together a list of their favorite teams, ones that exist on their and will add to their teams toughness of schedule, and deny that there are false intentions involved. But back to Syracuse...

Will the Syracuse Orange bounce back this season, who knows? I have a feeling they will. But one thign I can tell you for sure, is when Assumption comes to visit the Dolphins this year, they better not have any, well, assumptions about an easy game! (Hahahaha)


Euro Trip

Although the season is young, it is not too early to evaluate the newcomers of the NBA. Unfortunately, the most hyped rookie, Blake Griffin, has not played a regular season game as of yet, and judging by his phenomenal pre-season, we can expect big things from him in Los Angeles. However, he will need to put up some big numbers to compete for the Rookie of the Year, because through the first week of the season Brandon Jennings is the best rookie in the league. If you haven't heard of Brandon Jennings before, it's because he is not the typical NBA rookie.



Brandon Jennings took the scenic route to get to the 2010 NBA Draft. The kid who should have been Arizona's next stud point guard was the most talented high schooler in the nation in 2008. Academic issues kept Jennings from fulfilling his commitment to the Wildcats, and he decided to become the first high school super-recruit to take their game overseas and play professionally. Jennings was highly criticized for his decision to travel overseas for a year and play professionally in Europe. His journey had him homesick, playing minimal minutes, and training all day long with men. Not 18 year old boys, but 24 year old men who had played in the tough conferences in the NCAA. Although he admits to regretting his decision to play in Europe at times, he did not break. Jennings made the most of his decision, and he got better. Mentally, physically, emotionally. Jennings is showing that he is a step ahead of the rest of the rookie class.



After the success we are seeing in just his first few NBA games, Jennings likely will not be the last to take the trip to Europe for a year before gaining eligibility for the NBA. He has shown his time in Italy was well spent, as he is the most impressive rookie through the first week of the season. Just an assist and a rebound shy of a triple-double in his NBA premier, followed by a pair of 20+ games have NBA owners kicking themselves for allowing him to slip to the 10 spot in the draft. With the current NBA rule that players must be one year out of high school to declare for the draft, Jennings has blazed a trail for future high school phenoms - and it is already happening.






Jeremy Tyler is a 6-11 would be high school senior, if he were attending high school. Tyler, from San Diego High School, decided to skip his senior season of high school basketball, and play professionally in Israel for two years before entering his name in the NBA Draft in 2011. He signed a 1-year, $140,000 contract with an Israeli professional team, and will be training with players 10 years older than him for the next 2 years, instead of playing paper football in 3rd Period Study Hall. As long as Tyler stays healthy, this could be the best decision for his NBA career, and one that plays a role in many future high school underclassmen's lives as well. I think this is great for these players, as they will become better basketball players playing professionally rather than attending college. However they are missing out on the experience that is college basketball, as well as an education (even though it would be a 1 year education in these cases).

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The new, not as good, but just as mouthy version of T.O.?

You gotta be fucking kidding me! Roy Williams, by far the biggest Dallas Cowboys bust in recent memory, is actually complaining about not getting catches???



Ok, let me take a breath here and try to figure this out. Dallas got rid of TO, possibly the greatest receiver to ever play for the Cowboys, because of his putrid attitude. I don't blame them in the least. He complained daily about his QB, about his opportunities, about his freaking tight end as well as 100 other things. He was a virus, but at least he was phenomenal! Sure he dropped a lot of balls, but he caught the majority and did amazing things when he did.

So Jerry decides to go out and pick up Roy Williams and dumps TO. Ballsy move, but he knows what he's doing. Right?

Now the 2009 season starts and Roy Williams has barely, in my opinion, don’t enough to even hold his starting spot. He is RARELY open, he RARELY gets double covered, and he RARELY even catches the ball. He has 14 catches on the season!

Romo is not the greatest QB in the league, but he has led them to a 5-2 record as well as thrown 12 TD's and nearly 2,000 yards on the season. Not numbers to be embarrassed about.

Enter Miles Austin. Easily the greatest surprise weapon for any team so far this year in the NFL. Austin has 6 TD catches this year (double what Williams has since coming to Dallas LAST YEAR!), and is finally the deep threat that makes the Cowboys a contender.


So what does Williams do? He starts complaining like the TO that worked in Dallas last season. He can't complain about the opportunities, so he complains that Romo just isn't making good throws to him. That they aren't on the same page, and reiterates that he is the #1 receiver. Sorry Williams, but you are #2 at best and if not careful, Crayton will be passing you as well.

The moral of the story, TO was let go for his attitude. Possibly the best wide receiver in the NFL was traded to another squad because he complained too much. Roy Williams has a pretty big ego to think that he is good enough to be able to talk to the same game, and NOT face the same fate.

Bite your tongue Roy, or you might find yourself on that free agency list sooner than you think!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

My team is better than your team...AND I CAN PROVE IT!

I have been a University of Arizona footbal fan since birth. With the execption of 1998, a few big time players (basically just Bruschi), and a consistent upset win each year there hasn't been too much to cheer about. The common saying you will find there during football season in response to being heckled is: "Just wait for basketball season."

The problem is I live with a USC alum, which simply takes all the fun out of college football. Every time we win a game, its overshadowed by their blowout. It sucks. Last year I got drunk and bet her $200 that we would beat them. Most expensive hangover ever.

What I am getting at is that no matter who tour team is, you SHOULD back them in all situations and circumstances. You should argue to the death that your beloved 0-7 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers could beat Alabama head-to-head. I don't care the matchup, hypothetically, we all believe our team can beat anyone.

Well now there is something that can help. I stumbled upon a website yesterday that can PROVE your team is better than ANY other team.
So, how are the Hilltoppers better than Alabama? Just look below...





I mean its BULLETPROOF!!!

Now of course, in an unwinnable situation such as the one above, any Hilltopper fan would be ecstatic. I mean it's hard to make an argument that they could beat the JV team at some high schools let alone Alabama.

So how about a more applicable example. Who is better, Penn St or Boise St.? Well take a look...




But the best feature is the flip. Just click a button and it flips it the other way...





Now, for this to really work effectively you will need to be dealing with a very shitcanned individual, as no matter how great the debater you are, it's hard to argue that Duke could take down Florida. But at least now you have some ammo. You no longer need to go back a decade, the last time your squad beat a ranked team, in order to validate your claim.

Just get as many people to witness your argument as possible, keep it plausible as long as you are able, pull up http://www.myteamisbetterthanyourteam.com/, and drop the BOMB!

Thanks to our friends at www.myteamisbetterthanyourteam.com for letting us write this article!

Bo-gus State


Every year around this time we hear the same discussions in NCAA football. There is always a buzz about 86-ing the BCS and going to a playoff format, and over the past few years Boise State is often in the discussions as well. They are undefeated, as usual, going into November, with a cupcake schedule from here on out. They have some quality wins, over Oregon (now ranked #7) and Miami too, oh wait that's Miami (OH). Well then there's.....ummmm.....well I mean they're undefeated! Doesn't that count for something? Nope. You want respect in this system? Earn it. Schedule it. Way to go scheduling Oregon, who was #16 going into the season, but you've got to do better than that. This isn't college basketball, where you can win your conference championship and go to the big dance. This is college football, where each week you are building your reputation.

Aside from the argument that college football needs a playoff because of the great 1-loss teams that are out of the race for a national title, college football also needs a playoff to settle the issue of undefeated teams with weak schedules. The University of Hawaii finished their 2007 regualr season at 12-0, and ended up losing big to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The next season, we all witnessed what happened to Hawaii when they opened against Florida - a 56-10 beat down, but at least they gave it a shot at some tough teams in 2008 like Florida, Oregon State, Cincinnati, and Washington State. The outcome may not have been an undefeated season as Boise State looks to do this season, but at least Hawaii gave it a shot at several major conference teams.

Beating Oregon in their first game of the season was impressive, but nothing since has impressed me about Boise State. Play a few teams from major conferences, like Washington State, Illinois, UCONN, they don't have to be ranked in the top 10, but you can't play these teams like Bowling Green and UC Davis and expect to be in the list of championship contenders. If you think you're that good to play in a BCS game, then prove it in the regular season. Don't make the computers put you there - schedule the tough competition and show that you belong in the top 10. It will be a huge injustice to college football teams everywhere who have played top competition and lost a game or 2 when Boise State sneaks into a title game because they are the only undefeated team left. Actually, that scenario may be just what it takes to get a playoff going in college football.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Manuel Got Spooked


Hats off to the Yankees. A great win for them in Game 3, and they pulled the trigger and went with Sabathia on short rest for game 4, and now are in the drivers' seat with a 3-1 series lead. Where was Cliff Lee last night? Down 2-1 going into Game 4, I don't understand why the Pillies didn't go with their ace. He pitched a phenomenal Game 1 in New Yankee Stadium, so why not go with him in Game 4 to even things up? I'm sorry, but this one is on Charlie Manuel. I doubt that he came to Lee and asked him to pitch Game 4 of the World Series. What would Lee have said? "No coach, my arm needs a little more rest", or maybe he said "Sorry coach, maybe if it were a bigger game". I mean come on! How do you go with Blanton in this situation? The Phils were conservative, the Yanks weren't, and we all saw how it turned out.

So now we go in to Game 5, which is a must win for the Philles, but not really. This thing is over. Last night was the must win - the game the Phillies had to have to stay alive. You have to have your big guns going in a game like that, when the adrenalin makes up for the one day of rest missed. Sabathia showed he was ready, I'm sure Cliff Lee was ready, but clearly Charlie Manuel wasn't.