Beating A Dead Horse...or Leprechaun

After watching the Monday Night Football mini-show with Bill Parcells and Keyshawn Johnson I couldn't help but feel the urge to express my feelings on the Notre Dame subject matter through a blog.

Parcells and Johnson were on the subject of Notre Dame's 0-4 start. Parcells and Johnson both agreed that the Fighting Irish are lacking speed and strong recruiting. Parcells added that most of the independent teams such as Cincinnati and Boston College have joined conferences and dramatically improved their recruiting.

Well, Notre Dame will NEVER join a conference, simply because they are known for being independent, have their own TV contract and have free roaming capabilities of scheduling with no worries of conference restrictions. Notre Dame will and always have top prospects consider going to the land of Green and Gold simply because of the name and what the school stands for.

But, as for the struggle of Notre Dame, it can be blamed on easy things...no offense...no defense. The End. Either ND doesn't have the talent pool they usually have or the coaching is struggling. It could be one thing, it could be a mix of things, but whatever it is, Notre Dame is 0-4, has one of the worst offenses (if not the worst) in the nation, and is seeing no light at the end of the tunnel.

Either way, Notre Dame is bad right now, it is up to THEM to fix it, not us, so let's stop worrying about it and watch some football.

Now, I understand it is their jobs to analyze and tell us, the viewers, what it is that Notre Dame has to fix, but every analyst has stated the same jibberish, Notre Dame is NOT producing in any area of the game... I think thats all we need to hear. Let's move on to other subjects, here I'll provide a list.

1: Will the Championship game be USC vs LSU
2: Michigan State is 4-0
3: Saban's Tide
4: Florida's Tebow, first sophomore Heisman?
5: The U, on their way back?
6: Oklahoma over/underrated?

Plenty of Questions for Bowden and the 'Noles Before Saturday

Florida State University has unpleasant and unhappy fans on campus...again. Heading into an important and exciting matchup against none other than the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, Florida State fans are asking the famous Bobby Bowden to lead them to a strong victory, not one that keeps them on their toes until the final whistle like the game against UAB.

Florida State fans want to see either a change at quarterback or a great improvement by Bobby Bowden's choice Drew Weatherford. Bowden is quoted saying that Weatherford is the quarterback that performs the best in practice, but fans also know that Xavier Lee, the backup quarterback, has feet similar to Michael Vick and an arm like Carson Palmer. The problem with Lee is that he suffers from the same problem as Weatherford, the infamous bad choices and bad accuracy.

Every ten passes or so, Weatherford makes a great decision to throw the wide open man... but somehow successfully throws the ball ten feet above his head.

Students and fans of the 90's dominating Florida State team are hoping for a resurgence of the guys in garnet and gold, this game against Alabama can make or break these hopes once again. But to make matters worse, earlier this week, key linebacker Geno Hayes and injured fullback Joe Surratt were suspended for unruly conduct and resisting arrest at a local nightclub.

Needless to say, the game against Alabama means a lot to both teams as they meet in Jacksonville on Saturday the 29th. Alabama is coming off of a tough overtime loss against Georgia, while Florida State comes off of a bye week after traveling to Colorado for their second victory. This SEC vs ACC battle will be entertaining and a nice game to watch on CBS at 5PM (if your region applies).

One Man's Loss Is Another Man's Gain

Needless to say the AFC favorites leading into the 2007-2008 season, the Indianapolis Colts and the San Diego Chargers are having a tough start due to a competitive league and tough schedule. But, as for the the majority of armchair quarterbacks and fantasy football enthusiasts, this struggle is something to be happy about.

Unless you are a Lightning bolt or a Blue Horseshoe fan, the not-so-nice numbers of LaDainian Tomlinson and Peyton Manning create a big sigh of relief. Fantasy leagues are not being single handedly run over by last years leaders.

If one remembers what happened last year, the odds of beating a fantasy team with the magic words consisting of L.T. were slim-pickings. I read a stat on FoxSports.com that read, "94% of fantasy teams with LaDainian Tomlinson won their respective league."

Now, this year it is pretty much luck, odds, chance, and praying that will get a team to win. Who would've thought one of the leading defenses would be the Minnesota Vikings raking in a solid score week in and week out so far. Who would have thought last years spark in Frank Gore is no longer shining?

But, in all, I shall say, "Good Luck," to my fellow fantasy players and finally can say with close-to-full meaning, "May the best TEAM win."

By the way...I just finished my letter to the Philadelphia Eagles that addressed the fact that they should NEVER EVER EVER wear those god awful excuses for uniforms again.

A-Rod is NOT Going to the Cubs...For Now

Earlier reports of Alex Rodriguez moving to play for the Chicago Cubs were posted here on YardBarker. Details of a contract being bigger than Beckham's and big enough to practically own the team were detailed.

But, now, Alex Rodriguez's agent Scott Boras has denied any such rumors. Boras has stated that A-Rod has not spoken with anyone, and is focusing solely on his current team that he could opt out of the last 3 years with at the end of the season...a season that is not yet over.

Just thought I'd clear this up!

Key Florida State Linebacker Tasered and Suspended

Early Friday (September 21st) morning two Florida State Seminole football players were arrested. and later suspended from the team.

At a local nightclub named PotBelly's, FSU linebacker Geno Hayes was reported yelling profanities and being unpleasant. When the police that were just outside checking for underage drinking tried to restrain Hayes, the junior linebacker resisted and was then shocked with a taser by one of the police officers. Senior fullback Joe Surratt, who is out for the season with a broken leg, was then reported for interfering with the arrest and assaulted a police officer.

Geno Hayes is charged with three misdemeanors while Joe Surratt is charged with a felony. Both players are suspended from the FSU Football team until further evidence is provided.