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| 2008 Around the Interruption Week 20; President and Member of Clergy | |
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| Topic Started: Sunday Oct 19 2008, 05:06 PM (204 Views) | |
| WeatherManNX01 | Sunday Oct 19 2008, 05:06 PM Post #1 |
The Emperor
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Several of the world's scariest sports fans! No, really, you guys terrify me. It's like a nightmare in here. This week on a spooky edition of ATI:
All this and more this week on ATI. That's eight topics and one winner. Don't you feel special? Players may now commence introductions. |
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| PSUSyr5 | Sunday Oct 19 2008, 05:08 PM Post #2 |
The Board Idiot
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Looks like the Red Sox followed the first rule of getting out of a hole: stop digging. |
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| WeatherManNX01 | Sunday Oct 19 2008, 08:03 PM Post #3 |
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The Emperor
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That helps. +1 Kickoff! Our kickoff this week coincides with the kickoff of the BCS rankings! Hear that sound? It's the sound of overjoyed college football fans everywhere as everyone's favorite poll is released? What's that? Oh...it's a lynch mob. With continued victories this weekend, Texas, Alabama, and Penn State remain undefeated and remain ranked first through third, respectively, in the AP and USA Today polls; they have been ranked that way in the BCS, too. Oklahoma and USC round out the top five (USC is actually fourth in the AP and sixth in the USA Today). The entirety of the BCS top ten appears in the top ten of the other two polls, though some differences exist. Pitt makes a surprise entry at 17 after being ranked 23 and defeating Navy. In general, there are no real surprises to the rankings, either BCS or otherwise. Give the BCS time; it's still early, and there are plenty of mistakes to be made. Tell me the following: what you make of the games played by the top three this past weekend; how you would rank the top 10; any positioning in the BCS you disagree with; and whether or not the BCS will actually get it right this year. Finally, for extra pointage, take a look at the rest of the season, and tell me how you see the top five in the BCS at the end of the season. Due time: 8:00 PM EDT on Monday, October 20 Next week: ATI has a bye week Week 21: Topic suggestions, join the group. |
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| PSUSyr5 | Monday Oct 20 2008, 02:32 PM Post #4 |
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The Board Idiot
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Texas beating up on Missouri was very impressive and they definitely deserve the #1 for now. Alabama squeaked by Ole Miss, it wasn't the greatest showing, but they still are undefeated. Penn State took the first quarter off and still managed to score 46 points against Michigan, a team who had beaten them 9 straight times previously. The Nits finally saw some adversity, which is good for them with the game against Ohio State coming up. I don't have any problems with how the top 3 are currently ranked. 4-10 though I have a bit different than the BCS. I'd put Oklahoma and Florida ahead of Southern Cal, followed by Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Ohio State with Georgia rounding out the top 10. Though really, at this stage it doesn't really matter where the top 10 are since this coming week 6 of them will be playing top 25 teams. So after this week they'll be moving around anyway. Besides, if you're not #1 or #2, it doesn't really matter where you are ranked with all the different tie ins and other regulations with the BCS. Pittsburgh beat South Florida, yet USF is ranked ahead of the Panthers. Both have similar records (USF is 6-1 while Pitt is 5-1), so it seems like Pitt should be ranked higher than the Bulls. Other than that, I'm fine with this initial ranking. I don't believe the BCS will get it right. It is possible, but there are too many games between now and the final rankings in December to convince me that it will be a smooth process. We've had years where unbeaten BCS teams didn't get into the title game...we've had years where a team got into the title game, despite not winning its own division, let alone its conference. Last year, we had chaos at every turn, that you really couldn't say the 2 teams that were in the title game were really the 2 best teams. So with all that, it's hard to say the system will put the 2 best teams in the title game, unless there are 2 BCS teams that are undefeated...in which case, we really wouldn't need the system to tell us they are the 2 best teams. It's interesting to note that in the last 5 seasons, the #1 team in the initial BCS standings ended up going to the BCS title game in January. So, even with their brutal schedule, I'm going to put Texas at #1 when the final standings are announced. I'd like to put PSU in the title game, and if they beat Ohio State, they'll have a clear path, assuming Alabama stumbles at some point. I'll put them at 2, followed by Southern Cal, who really doesn't have much competition left, at 3. #4 will be Oklahoma who will win out, and #5 will be Florida who I believe will win the SEC. |
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| The Dark Knight | Monday Oct 20 2008, 03:09 PM Post #5 |
 
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You know, it really doesn't matter how you win, just as long as you did come out victorious. So with the top 3 winning in different ways, at least they won, so they deservedly remain in the top 3. I agree with PSUSyr and the BCS with the top 3. The rest, you really could make a case for being anywhere from really 4-12. So for this week, I'm going to stick with the BCS rankings with the top 10. We'll know more about the teams this coming week and can make more of an educated guess after that time. So for now, I like the rankings as they are. I disagree with Tulsa and Ball State's ranking. I believe they should be a little bit higher since they haven't lost a game yet. You look at a team like Pitt who is above both and they lost to Bowling Green...not exactly a top team. I don't believe the BCS can get it right by its very nature, unless there are only 2 unbeaten (or 2 one loss) BCS teams. I don't see that happening this year with the schedules everyone has remaining. Granted, the same could be made about any playoff system, why one team got in instead of another...but at that point you can say that if a team lost 2 or 3 times, they really can't make an argument to be in there anyway. With the possibility of many 1 loss teams, to pick one or 2 of them doesn't really make much sense. But at least it's better than the old system. My top 5 at the end looks like this: 1. Texas 2. Southern Cal 3. Georgia 4. Oklahoma 5. Penn State |
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| Buster | Monday Oct 20 2008, 06:00 PM Post #6 |
Water Boy
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A win is a win is a win. These three teams won, and they did so in such a way that didn't raise many questions. You think about questioning Penn State's first half, but then you look at the second. At this point, even a close win over a not-so-good team isn't detrimental in the rankings. If Penn State had won 19-17, they'd still be #3. Right now I see the top 10 shaking out the same way it is now. Nothing one team has done (or hasn't done) over another has made question their positioning. And considering that it's still about midseason, there is plenty of time for the rankings to develop. The only positioning I disagree with is with lower teams like Pitt. Pitt beats Navy and jumps from 23 in the AP to 17 in the BCS? Seriously? Something's wrong there. I'm not yet convinced that Pitt should be ranked. The BCS will not get it right this year. It can only possibly get it right when the teams get it right on behalf of the BCS. It's going to need to be any of a handful of teams. If Texas, Bama, or Penn State make it, then it got it right. If, as Wilbon was suggesting on PTI this evening, that OSU or USC makes it, then it got it dead wrong. The BCS is designed to get it wrong. It only gets it right when it has no choice. Top 5: Texas, Penn State, Georgia, Florida, Alabama. |
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| WeatherManNX01 | Monday Oct 20 2008, 07:44 PM Post #7 |
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The Emperor
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Scores
Buy/Sell Last week it was announced that all-star lacrosse player Gary Gait had his rights traded from the Colorado Mammoth to the Rochester Knighthawks and would come out of retirement. In addition to his NLL rights, Gait also had his NLL outdoor rights traded to Rochester. No word on Gait's MLL rights, if any. Gait was traded to the Knighthawks after it was announced that current Knighthawks star John Grant, Jr. would miss the entire 2009 season. Gait is a former Mammoth head coach, a member of both the National Lacrosse League and United States Lacrosse National halls of fame, and is the first NLL player in history to have his number and jersey retired. He won the 1991 Rookie of the Year award in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (predecessor to the NLL). He was also a player/coach for four years with MLL's Baltimore Bayhawks and is currently the head coach for the Syracuse women's lacrosse team. You can read more about Gait on Wikipedia. Buy or sell the following: Gait's return to professional lacrosse; Gait's trade to the Kighthawks; Rochester being a contender for the 2009 Champions Cup. Due time: 8:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, October 21 Next week: ATI has a bye week Week 21: Topic suggestions, join the group. |
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| PSUSyr5 | Tuesday Oct 21 2008, 01:04 AM Post #8 |
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The Board Idiot
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I'm going to buy him returning. If he can still play, he might as well continue to do so. Also, from my understanding, he will remain head coach of the SU women's team. What better recruitment tool than a coach who is still playing the game? Most of the NLL players have full-time jobs anyway, and coaching while playing is nothing new to him. When he was with the Maryland Terrapins for 9 seasons in which he was playing in the NLL, the Terrapins won 7 national titles. Also going to buy the trade to Rochester. For one, it keeps him closer to the Syracuse area, as opposed to staying in Colorado. So that should help with coaching when the 2 seasons are together. If Rochester gave up a player and 2 draft picks for him, they clearly believe he still can play. Buy Rochester as a contender. I don't believe Gait makes them all that better, but Minnesota is now in the West Division and in their place is an expansion team in Boston. Last year, they were one spot away from the playoffs, and Minnesota held one. Moving them to the West would put Rochester in position to get to the playoffs, and from there anything can happen. |
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| The Dark Knight | Tuesday Oct 21 2008, 01:57 PM Post #9 |
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Sell returning. It's not like Favre when he retired and came back months later...Gait has been out for 3 seasons! After that amount of time away from the NLL, I can't imagine how much he really brings to the team. Which is why I'm selling the trade. Rochester gave up a player and 2 draft picks for him...that is way too much to get a guy who has been out of the league for so long. I will buy Rochester as a contender. Right now, everyone is undefeated, and it is a new season coming up. Whatever happened last year does not matter now. The only team that really isn't a contender is the expansion Boston team since historically expansion teams don't start out that well. |
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| Buster | Tuesday Oct 21 2008, 05:53 PM Post #10 |
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Water Boy
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Sell the return. We've seen what happens when people try to pick up again after a few years. They're rusty. They haven't been training. They haven't played. The game has moved on. And they're just older. Gait, while still involved in lacrosse, has not been playing for several years now, and I expect we'll see evidence of that when he plays. He probably can't move as well or quickly as he once could. Stay home and coach. But I'm going to buy the trade. Hey, its not a major league in the U.S. If this gets butts in the seats, then that's a good thing. Whether or not he is of any use on the field is moot. For Rochester, they're bringing in a big-name player, and that is going to generate some excitement. Let's assume a AAA baseball team picked up Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds. It's be a huge draw. The gate receipts are what ultimately determine the fate of a franchise. Buy Rochester as a contender. But it's not because of Gait. The K-hawks missed the playoffs for the first time ever last season, and they were only a game out of it. When you look at the East, all of the teams have potential. But Rochester is the only team to be consistently good over the years. |
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