Over the middle: 8.19.11

Over the Middle


Here's an entry in what I'm going to call, "Over the Middle". Just some quick news and notes with my initial reactions. 


NFL Football
Pre-Season
The second week of the NFL Preseason got underway last night as the Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. The Steelers won 24-14 as the Eagles committed five turnovers, three of them being interceptions from Michael Vick. Ben Roethlisberger looked efficient throwing for 2 TDs and the most impressive QB on the Eagles was third stringer Mike Kafka who threw for 160 yards and 2TDs of his own.


My reaction: Hmmm...the Philadelphia Dream Team lost a pre-season game to the team that was in the Super Bowl last season, they must suck now. If my sarcasm isn't coming through clear enough, it's a preseason game and Michael Vick eyes his receivers like a hawk. This couldn't matter less.


Supplemental Draft
Terrell Pryor was declared eligible for the Supplemental Draft that will take place on Monday. The big news was that in declaring Pryor eligible, NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell decided to enforce the five game suspension that Pryor would have had to have served had he stayed at Ohio State.


My reaction: This has received far more coverage than it should, it's truly a non-story. Pryor isn't going to be an NFL starter for any extended or perhaps even consecutive amount of time and if he ever does start it won't be anytime soon. Much ado about nothing. What was more interesting for me, being the life-long learner that I am, was I learned how the supplemental draft works. Teams offer up a draft pick for a player and the team that offers the highest pick gets that player. There's only six available players, you don't have to bid and the whole process lasts about 45 minutes max. The catch is, if you offered say, a fourth round pick for Pryor, in next season's draft, you lose your fourth round pick. Frankly, after learning that, I wouldn't be completely shocked if no one drafts Pryor. I heard the Bengals might be interested in him and thought it would be interesting to watch them take a flyer on him, but after learning an actual draft pick is forfeited for this supplemental draft, I immediately said aloud, "No". Others will too.


Association Football
MLS
Columbus Crew face the Philadelphia Union tomorrow in Columbus with the Crew holding a three point advantage at the top of the Eastern table over the Union. 


My reaction: No reason the Crew shouldn't win. Sadly they've been too inconsistent to make an accurate prediction. It appears Emillio Renteria should return for the Crew and they won both meetings agains the Union last season but the Crew have had a history of coming up short in big games.


NASCAR  
Greg Biffle starts on the pole for Sunday's Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Matt Kenseth has the outside pole with Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin rounding out the top 5. Denny Hamlin won the previous race at MIS in June. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who's last win was three years ago at MIS, starts 8th.


My reaction: Hamlin should be the favorite, after a hard wreck last week he really needs a win. It would be great to see Dale Jr win, but it would be great to see him win anywhere. Don't count out Kyle Busch who have been consistent all year but is really driving hard coming up to the Chase. Carl Edwards comes into this weekend out of first place for the first time in months so a strong showing from him should be on tap as well. 

Who's Up, Who's Down?

Thanks to Colin Cowherd, who today unveiled his NFL season predictions, I've spent my day thinking about rankings. Because of that, as I prepare my own NFL season predictions, which will hear on the next episode of the Pritchard Report Podcast, I have decided today to create this article based around a simple but ambitious concept. 

Here's a quick look across the world of sports as to who is trending up and who is trending down. This is gut reaction and it just because a team is trending up doesn't necessarily mean they are "good". Great example that you'll see below, the Cleveland Browns aren't a good team but as an organization they are definitely trending up with a strong young QB and Mike Homegren in charge. 

+ : trending up, a team/organization that has made positive movements or gaining over where they have been.

*: no movement, a team/organization that isn't getting worse but not getting better either. It is possible that this mark could mean some that a team's positive and negative moves are canceling each other out.

- : trending down, a team/organization that making negative or damaging movements. 

Here we go:

NFL Football

Arizona Cardinals +

Atlanta Falcons *

Baltimore Ravens * 

Buffalo Bills +

Carolina Panthers * 

Chicago Bears *

Cincinnati Bengals * 

Cleveland Browns +

Dallas Cowboys *

Denver Broncos -

Detroit Lions +

Green Bay Packers *
Houston Texans +

Indianapolis Colts -
Jacksonville Jaguars * 

Kansas City Chiefs *

Miami Dolphins -

Minnesota Vikings * 

New England Patriots +

New Orleans Saints +

New York Giants * 

New York Jets +

Oakland Raiders -
Philadelphia Eagles + 

Pittsburgh Steelers *

San Diego Chargers -

San Francisco 49ers -

Seattle Seahawks -

St. Louis Rams *

Tampa Bay Buccaneers -
Tennessee Titans -

Washington Redskins -



Baseball
Arizona Diamondbacks +
Atlanta Braves +
Baltimore Orioles +
Boston Red Sox *
Chicago White Sox -
Chicago Cubs -
Cincinnati Reds *
Cleveland Indians +
Colorado Rockies *
Detroit Tigers *
Florida Marlins -
Houston Astros -
Kansas City Royals *
Los Angeles Angels +
Los Angeles Dodgers -
Milwaukee Brewers +
Minnesota Twins -
New York Mets -
New York Yankees *
Oakland Athletics -
Philadelphia Phillies +
Pittsburgh Pirates +
San Diego Padres *
San Francisco Giants +
Seattle Mariners -
St. Louis Cardinals *
Tampa Bay Rays *
Texas Rangers +
Toronto Blue Jays *
Washington Nationals +

NBA Basketball - : it's going to be a long, nasty lockout


NASCAR

AJ Allmendinger +

Marcos Ambrose * 

Trevor Bayne +

Greg Biffle *

Clint Bowyer -

Kurt Busch +

Kyle Busch +

Dale Earnhardt Jr. -

Carl Edwards +
Jeff Gordon *

Denny Hamlin +

Kevin Harvick +

Jimmie Johnson * 

Matt Kenseth *

Brad Keselowski +

Kasey Khane +

Joey Logano -

Mark Martin -

Jamie McMurray -

Paul Menard +

Juan Pablo Montoya *
Ryan Newman +
David Ragan +
David Reutimann - 

Tony Stewart +

Regan Smith +

Martin Truex Jr -

Brian Vickers -

There you go. Quick survey. Do you agree? Disagree? Want an explanation? E-mail me! pritchardreport@gmail.com Twitter: @pritchardreport

Who Needs it More?

NASCAR

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series returns this Sunday with one of the NASCAR's premier events, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This race means seven races to go until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins and today we examine, who need a win the most headed to Indy?

Here's what we can be sure of:

Carl Edwards is a lock for the Chase for the Cup. Mathematically, no one else is. What does that mean? If Jimmie Johnson finishes last in the next seven races he'll plummet to somewhere around 15th, perhaps slightly lower. Yeah, that's going to happen. And even if it did, Jimmie has a win, something only one member of the current 11-20 has. 

So, perhaps not mathematically, but practically, Edwards and Johnson are locks for this year's post season. And since we're speaking practically, it's safe to say that the next three drivers, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch are safe as well. Kurt Busch's point total should keep him safe while Harvick and Kyle Busch's three wins respectively would keep them safe in 11-20 land because the chances of anyone else in that range landing 2-3 wins in 7 races is extremely low. Our next two, Kenseth and Gordon, could slip out of the top 10 but have two wins each that would automatically qualify them as wild card entries at this stage.

Places 8-20 in the points standings are currently no man's land. If excitement was the intended goal of NASCAR'S point system change for this season, it's going to be successful in the next seven weeks as every race could make a monumental difference in how the final field is set. Which brings us back to the question, who needs it more? Let's examine.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Jr. knows he needs
a win

Let us begin where all of NASCAR nation begins when asked who needs a win. Dale Earnhardt Jr's winless streak has now swelled to 112 races, going back three years. Not only does Earnhardt Jr need the win for his confidence his points total needs it as well. He sits at 9th in points and is the only driver in the top 10 without a win to protect his spot in the Chase should he slide into the 11-20 range. Earnhardt's average finish at Indianapolis is 22.2 so this weekend might not be the weekend but Bristol, Richmond and Atlanta are in the next seven and they are statsitcally Dale Jr's three best tracks. Jr is certainly ready for the win, this week on ESPN Radio's Scott Van Pelt Show, Scott offer Earnhardt Jr the choice of a win or automatically qualifying for the Chase and Jr instantly replied, "A win. I want to win."

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart's driver Ryan Newman
is currently in the Chase. Tony would love
nothing more than both Stewart-Haas
cars in the Chase

Earlier I referred to 8-20 as no man's land and currently, Tony Stewart is in the capitol of no man's land (assuming it has a capitol...checking wikipedia for that...). Stewart has no wins this season and an identical point total to current 10th place holder and last automatic qualifier, Denny Hamlin. What does Hamlin have that Stewart doesn't? You guessed it, one win. So why does that qualify Stewart to be the President of no man's land? Because if ANY of the drivers in the nine spots behind him win a race in the next seven and he doesn't or if ANY of the drivers in the top 10 (other than Dale Jr) slip into 11th-20th without Stewart advancing into the top 10, he's out of the chase. 11th place and no win will probably mean no Chase this season, even if the driver is tied for 10th. Stewart essentially has 11 drivers that could oh-so-easily disqualify him from Championship contention that he must find a way to win or rack up a string of top 5 finishes here on out or the 2002 and 2005 Champion won't have a shot at a third title. However, on the positive side for Stewart two of the next three tracks (Indianapolis and Watkins Glen) are his best statistical tracks so wins could be on the horizon. Plus, he is tied Hamlin, if he finishes one spot ahead of Hamlin this weekend he'll be one point better, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be good enough to get into the top 10, but the margin between in and out is that thin. 

Clint Bowyer

For Clint Bowyer it's always
so close but so far

If you thought Tony Stewart was in a precarious situation, take a look at Clint Bowyer. Bowyer's situation is basically the same as Stewart's, out of the top 10, no wins. However, instead of being in a points tie for 10th, Bowyer sits all alone in 12th, 29 points back of Stewart. Those 29 points comprise the largest gap between two competitors in the entire top 20. For those you of paying attention, 29 points is the difference between 1st and 30th in a given race, so that's quite a margin to make up. Bowyer has always seemed like that driver loaded with potential who can't put it all together and right now, it still feels like a Championship run for Bowyer and the 33 team is a stretch. The only way to make that run a reality would be a win, which would both qualify Bowyer as the highest wild card driver but would also help him close the gap on the Hamlin/Stewart tie. As far as what's to come, Indianapolis and Richmond are two of his best tracks but the schedule giveth and taketh away, the Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol run that makes up most of August are his three worst tracks.

Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, AJ Allmendinger, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano, Paul Menard

Mark Martin

Say what you will, but it feels like
Kasey Kahne is driving for the right
reasons in 2011

Remember those drivers that could eliminate winless Tony Stewart? Here they are. For the seven drivers that make up 13-20 in the current standings, it's simple, win and your in (for now). Of the seven, So far as stories go, Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin would be the preferable choices for second wild card of the seven. Kahne making the Chase despite being a lame-duck driver for a team sponsor that's leaving the sport would be quite the headline and quite the example of how true professionals are supposed to work (CC: NFL and NFLPA). And of course, Mark Martin, in his last shot to win a Championship after a legendary career; perfect theater. If the question is which driver could actually contend out of this group, Kahne would be the most dangerous though Montoya could make waves in the Chase (accept winning the Championship will require wins, of which Montoya has one for his career.) Finally, giving the credit where it's due, it would be quite a sight to see AJ Allmendinger in the Chase, as he's putting together his best season to date. 

Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski's Coca-Cola 600
win could make all the difference
in this year's Chase

Then there's that one guy who could mess everything up. Speaking strictly in terms of who needs a win, it's Brad Keselowski. Consistency isn't exactly the word you would choose to describe Keselowski's season and he currently sits 23rd in points, 25 points back of Mark Martin in 20th. But, and there's always a but, Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600. With another win not only could Keselowski close the gap on the Chase qualification range, but if he is scored in 20th place by one point on Sunday with two wins to his credit, he is automatically qualified for the Chase. Keselowski is going to be dancing around this line for the next seven weeks as he is neither decidedly good or bad at any of the upcoming tracks, accept for Atlanta on September 4th, which is Keslowski's worst track, statistically. As important as those stats are, there's another wrinkle in this story. If you have watched Keselowski run in the Nationwide and Cup series then you know that somehow Brad has learned how to run a fuel mileage race. He has pulled off feats on fuel milage this season that surpass amazing and that border on the mystical. Five of the next seven could easily come down to fuel milage and that gives Keselowski an advantage the stats simply can't factor in. When it gets down to it, Keselowski will certainly be the wild card coming down the stretch to the Chase, the question is if his wild card will be the one that enters him in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The Cup, The Cars, The Lies!

Association Football (Soccer)
Have to start on the sad note that the US Women's National team did not win the Women's World Cup this afternoon. That honor went, instead, to Japan. Clearly the United States suffered from the two things that will kill the chances for success in a tournament match: missed opportunities and "preservation mode". Really, I guess there isn't much you can do about the first one except that you have to finish the chances you're given. Football is a fickle game and you only get a few chances. Except...the US got 27 chances! However, 27 chances were enough to produce a 2-1 lead late in extra time when they switched into preservation mode. Let me tell you something, if you play football on Xbox, the back yard or a professional pitch, DO. NOT. DO THAT! It never (well, rarely) works. Sitting back to preserve your lead with one player up front and ten back causes you to make bad decisions, it makes you think back toward your own goal when the better pass may be forward. And it ends with you allowing an inferior team to stay in a match and shock you in penalties. 

The Japanese Women's National team celebrates
winning the 2011 Women's World Cup

That being the case, I can't say I hated that Japan won. I mean, I was disappointed. And as I tweeted, I never call for moral victories, but I felt like while the United States wanted it more than Japan, Japan NEEDED it more. After everything Japan has been through, a World Cup Championship can bring a smile to a stricken nation, and that, is okay with me.

NASCAR

Race winner Ryan Newman (black suit) is
congratulated by car-owner and second place
finisher Tony Stewart

The Lenox Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway today was the 19th race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The race turned into a quite literally a perfect weekend for Stewart-Haas racing. Both of the teams cars driven by Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart (yes, the Stewart of "Stewart-Haas" for those of you who don't know) started the on the front row, 1-2 and that's where they finished. Only seven races left to the Chase. 


Point Standings:
1. Carl Edwards
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Kurt Busch
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Kyle Busch
6. Matt Kenseth
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Ryan Newman
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10. Denny Hamlin
     Tony Stewart


As you can see, Ryan Newman's win was vital today, vaulting him into 8th place in the standings so he is, as of now in the chase. Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart are tied in 10th, 82 points back of Edwards. It also means that if the Chase started tomorrow those 11 drivers would be joined by David Ragan as the second wild car driver on the basis of his win two weeks ago at Daytona (Stewart would be the other wild card). 


Sometimes I hear things...


Yesterday on ESPN Radio's Dari and Mel the show reported that this week more allegations of withholding information from the institution surfaced against former Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel. These allegations were linked back to 2005-2006 where he was docked in performance reviews for not reporting violations in a timely manner. 

Jim Tressel resigned on May 30th

Look, there's not much to say about this. It still feels odd to say former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel. It seemed like he was a really great guy, but it looks like he really wasn't. However, this is what was an interesting concept. On the program yesterday they asked this question, "What if you could hire Jim Tressel tomorrow and in four years your school would win a National Championship but then be on probation for eight years after that, would you do it?"


Naturally, the initial response is no, but as I began to think about it, it's quite the opposite. Oh, now, not for everyone. Naturally any top tier school (Alabama, Auburn, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Nebraska, Oregon) wouldn't take the deal. Not even any second tier school (Virginia Tech, Michigan [for now], Georgia, Missouri, Utah, Michigan State, Miami, Cal) would either. But after that? Talking about first and second tier, we're talking about what? Twenty-schools. Twenty-five? 25 out of 120! 20% for those of you on a MacBook like me and can call up a calculator with the push of a button. If you begin to think about some of the "other" teams, who wouldn't jump at that?

"The Coaches' Trophy"
awarded to college football's
National Champion

Take the lowly MAC conference, do you think colleges like Ohio, Akron or Buffalo wouldn't race to the front of the line at the chance to win a National Championship in four years? That's an easy trade for eight years probation. Trust me. Why? Because of what the trade-off actually is, it's trading off being irrelevant since your school started playing football for a National Championship, only to return to irrelevance: back where you were, just with a pretty trophy to go with it. Not just MAC teams though, this proposal would be just as mouth watering to the Washington States, Idahoes and Vanderbilts of the world. 


What does all this mean? In the "win now" world in which we currently habitate, Jim Tressel will be back on a college sideline, even though he "retired". I just wonder if another Big Ten team, say a Purdue, might try to hire him, just to stick it in Ohio State's ear. Truth is it's a sad commentary on the way our world works when the guy that was the gold standard for morals, values and coaching excellence is now the ringer that you hope can bring home a trophy without getting it too dirty.


-More to come,
XoXo
Joshua.


Links:
Tressel Report
World Cup Wrap-Up
NASCAR Standings

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