Dreaming of Salina

Never thought I'd ever say that. But beginning tomorrow night, there's no place I'd rather be. 

Unfortunately, seeing my main man John Legend play live right down the highway at the Steifel Theatre just isn't in the cards... or more importantly, my finances. 

In his honor though, here's a fantastic live version of probably my favorite of his songs. 

I'll be back tomorrow or Tuesday to recap the college football weekend. Until then, enjoy!

One Of My Favorite People Is At It Again

I don't even know where to begin, so let me make this quick. 

ANY Floyd Mayweather fight is better than a UFC card if you have any appreciation at all for the sport of boxing. He's not ducking and running because he doesn't want to be hit, Dana. He's earning defensive points from judges. People should be amazed at Floyd's defense and counter-punching ability because some of the best fighters of all time couldn't make it look so easy. 

As for the comment about UFC having the better card, I'm pretty sure this may be the worst headliner for an event I've seen in a long time. Sure UFC100 blew it out of the park and I anticipate when Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson tangle late this year excitement being just as big. But Rich Franklin? Franklin's resume is about as impressive as the guests Jim Rome has on his TV show. Wins over a bunch of non-title holders and losses to Anderson Silva (x2) and Dan Henderson. Vitor Belfort hasn't even fought since 2005, and is coming off a loss at that to Tito Ortiz. Down the card there's some guy called the Janitor who's fighting and looks about 40 years old, perennial loser Frank Trigg, and a semi-headliner between a 35 year old and a 25 year old. 

With Floyd, you're getting one of the best in the business. He's fighting a guy in Marquez who gave the best pound-for-pound fighter all he could handle on 2 separate occasions. And the undercard? Many analysts believe some of those fights may upstage the final fight in excitement value. 

You're guaranteed to see 2 people enter a ring and throw punches at each other instead of rolling around an octagon trying to "mount" an opponent. 

There's a reason boxing PPV's cost more. Admit it or not, it's better action and UFC is still just UFC. They have no Ali, Frazier, Sugar's, Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield... I could go on. It's an up and coming sport no doubt, but it hasn't and probably never will reach that level. The day that George St. Pierre becomes a household name and can be wheeled into an arena in a wheelchair and have another group of sporting fans give him a standing ovation, Dana White can personally slap duct tape over my lips. Until then, I'm taking Floyd over a UFC fight any day.

Is this the fight that we all wanted? No. But Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is inevitable and we can wait. Pretty sure the original card of Franklin vs. Henderson wasn't what your fans wanted either and that's why you changed it. Even now I doubt many people want to see Franklin vs. ____ as a headline event. 

Allow me to finish on this note- Dana White shouldn't say anything about fights nobody wants to see. He has zero room after he failed once again to put Fedor in the UFC. You want a fight nobody wants to see, how about starting with your entire heavyweight division? Lesnar against anybody but Fedor is a fight NOBODY wants to see. 

WEEK 2 ROUNDUP

Well after a fairly predictable Week 1, we got our first dose of upset specials or near upsets in the 2nd week of the season. In case you missed it...

Week #2

Hope You Were Watching: Purdue @ Oregon - Boy, were there some great games this last weekend but leave it to the final match-up of the night to take the cake. Autzen Stadium was crazy as always, doing everything possible to keep their Ducks from falling 0-2 for the first time since 2004. This game featured at least a touchdown for both squads in every quarter and a combined 807 yards of total offense! The heat really turned up in the 2nd half where fans only witnessed 3 punts in the 3rd and 4th quarters. With Blount out for the season, we knew Oregon would lean heavily on QB Jeremiah Masoli but wow, never did I think he could carry his team to a victory like this- 163 through the air and 84 on the ground, much of which came on the final 3 drives for the Ducks. Great game.

Well, You Didn't Miss Much: Idaho St. @ Oklahoma - Oh c'mon. I bet you can't even name the Idaho St. mascot anyway, so who really cares. And ya, they got blanked. See, while Texas fans partied after Sam Bradford's injury, the boys from tiny Pocatello, ID were sobbing endlessly. They knew it would be rough and it was.

All-Wally Offensive Award: Jeremy Moses, QB/Stephen F. Austin - I could've easily chosen the Lumberjacks in the category above as well, but where's the fun in that? Either way, you want to talk about a performance for the year, how about the play of the junior QB from Baytown, TX. Moses was a perfect 12-12 on a night which saw him throw for 285 yards and 6 TD's to 5 different receivers as Stephen F. Austin rolled Texas College... are you ready... 92-0. I'd say that's one way to rebound from an opening week loss to SMU.


All-Wally Defensive Award: Rahim Moore, S/UCLA - If the Bruins coaches gave grades for their 2008 players, it goes without question that Rahim Moore wouldn't have received a letter at all. Instead it most likely would've read, "IP- In Progress". Turn the tables and give the sophomore a grade through 2 weeks in 2009 and the 6'1 ball hawk still wouldn't have a letter- "RG- Really Good". It's hard to top a week where you intercept 3 balls and deflect another in front of a home Rose Bowl crowd. Somehow Moore decided he was able to do better and in turn took his highlight show on the road to one of the most intimidating stadiums in all the land and picked off 2 more passes while adding 6 total tackles. Need I mention who UCLA plays next? Ya, my Kansas State Wildcats.

Didn't See That Coming: Toledo's 54-38 win over Colorado - Little do Boulder Buffs know, but despite assumptions, their CU squad is actually 2-0 this season. As in, they've been winners of this category for 2 weeks straight! First it was Colorado State and now Toledo. And folks, Dan Hawkins' club isn't just losing, they're getting torched: through 2 weekends the black and gold defense has given up a Rocky Mountain cool 1,000 yards. The real question is how long the former Boise St. mastermind can last. CU's next 4 games don't look promising- Wyoming, @ West Virginia, @ #2 Texas, #22 Kansas.

Even Hellen Keller Predicted That: California 59, Eastern Washington 7 - If you haven't been able to catch the Golden Bears in action yet, you need to. This team is flying up the rankings and is every bit as advertised. Not only are the Bears a legit threat to USC's conference dominance, but Tebow & McCoy should keep a close eye on Jahvid Best in the Heisman race. I said before the season if there was one player that could be a serious threat it would be Best and he hasn't let me down- 281 yards rushing on the season, with 2 rushing TD's and 1 receiving TD.


Wally'z Failed Winners: Tennessee, Fresno St, and Air Force let me down in valiant efforts. And remind me why I picked Notre Dame? I don't even like the Irish. Scratch that the rest of the year.

Wally'z Success Story: Big shout out to the Warriors from Hawaii who put a pounding on Washington St. No surprise here. Thanks for making me look smart for at least one game fellas. Mahalo.

Looking Ahead: Strange enough, I can predict which games should be good to watch. I just can't predict the winners! Here are the Top 5 Must-See's this week...

1. Tennessee @ Florida (Not because it will be a good game, but more because of the coaching war)
2. Utah @ Oregon
   
3. Arizona @ Iowa
   
4. Florida St. @ BYU
   
5. Cincinnati @ Oregon St.
   

Honorable Mention: West Virginia @ Auburn, Texas Tech @ Texas
Upset Special: Middle Tennessee St. over Maryland

Pee Pee Mouth

This is an enormous week for me as a sports fan.

Forget the fact that K-State is playing UCLA at the Rose Bowl, forget that Lane Kiffin and my man Urban Meyer finally go head to head, and forget that my Seattle Seahawks will take on the San Francisco 49ers for an early season division lead in the NFC West.

No, no, no.

IT'S FIGHT WEEK!

That's right- Pretty Boy Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. against Juan Manuel Marquez.

For the past two Mayweather fights, I was privleged enough to have HBO in my home so I could watch the fantastic 24/7 series their sports department films. Honestly, one of the best shows on television and I wish they did them more often. Well, this time around, HBO isn't at the apartment. So last night, I was forced to play catch-up on the past 2 weeks thanks to YouTube.
Which brought me to this...



Now, nothing against Marquez. He's a fantastic fighter and as a huge Mayweather fan, I've not been more nervous about a fight than I am for this Saturday's. But goodness gracious- your own urine? I guess...more power to him....????

Anyway, I anticipate a great fight and I encourage you to purchase it via Pay-Per-View if at all possible. Boxing is one of the world's greatest and most under-appreciated sports and now that Floyd is back, I see a bright future with a crop of talented youngsters to boot.

My pick to win? C'mon. How could anyone really believe a guy who trains like this will lose? Mayweather by decision.

It Has Returned...

and yet we still have teams who didn't receive my "fix your jersey memo".

Call me anal or just flat out annoying, I've heard it all before. I'm pretty sure there are even people out there who refuse to watch games with me because of the pesky problem, but when your jersey's don't match, I let it be known... loudly.
For years there have been a few teams who've been a thorn in my side and it appears that in 2009 they've returned for more irritation.
You can say all you want that you don't care, but after these pictures, at least you won't be able to ignore this major problem any longer.

CULPRIT #1 - New Orleans Saints

Probably one of the worst in all of sports. Are they black and gold, black and bronze, or black and copper? I can't decide because they use all different shades. Take the picture below for instance...


Notice the difference between helmet color, numeric color on the jersey, and pant color. Absolutely hideous.

CULPRIT #2 - Dallas Cowboys
For whatever reason, I never have found a problem with the Cowboys road uniforms (below)


Call it tradition (I'm pretty sure that's the excuse from Dallas fans), but there is a glaring problem with the home dreads in comparison.


Notice a problem? In case you're color blind, allow me to be of assistance. We start with the helmet, displaying a crisp NAVY blue star emblem on a silver hat. When we get down to the jersey however, we notice ROYAL blue come into play on the numbers. Then when moving to the pants, the silver which should match the helmet is gone. Instead we see this strange shade of turquoise appear. And making things more strange, we find a navy blue stripe. Then the socks go back to the royal blue color. So in all we have 4 different color schemes- Navy Blue, Royal Blue, Turquoise Blue, and Silver.
Ya, and you always thought the Cowboys were supposed to be Silver and Navy. Ya... supposed to be.

CULPRIT #3 - Grey Facemask
One of my oldest foes may be multiplying and trust me, I'm not at all happy about it.
First, it was the Indianapolis Colts.


It's not a huge problem, but as much as you see close up camera shots of players, it's highly irritating. Answer me this- Do the Colts feature grey anywhere else on their jerseys? So why have it as the color on your facemask? They didn't use to use grey (circa early 2000's)


And don't even start with the whole, "Well maybe that's as close as they can get to white". Never seen a Texas Longhorn game? (Chiefs and Bills among others also feature pure white facemasks).


But enough about the Colts. They aren't alone. Where else is grey featured in the Arizona Cardinals color scheme? NOWHERE!


I just don't get it. It's not a hard concept. You have 3 options: make them white, make them black, or make them red.
And don't think I forgot about you Cleveland Browns. You also use "The Grey", but you escape without an embarrassing picture because I'm pretty sure my readers have the concept by now.

CULPRIT #4 - Cincinnati Bengals

It's not a huge mishap, but I read about this on a blog awhile back and unfortunately, it's stuck with me ever since.
While many despise the Bengals uniforms in general, I personally have no problem with the futuristic/arena look. However, they seemed to make a minor mistake on the shoulder pads.


While the creators decided to stitch the stripes closest to the arms, it seems they either ran out of funding or just got lazy because notice the difference with the top stripe which appears to be ironed-on. The problem continues on the pants as well. Either make it all iron-on stripes and numbers or not. Do not try and combine Wal-Mart with Nordstrom's.


- Finally, allow me to end this post on a high note and congratulate a former villain on making a positive change for the ages. Since I was a child, one of my biggest fears was watching an entire Minnesota Vikings game. As good as they were on the turf in Minneapolis, they just could not decide whether they were Purple or Blue. And boy did it look goofy on television.


But in heroic fashion, a player named Adrian Peterson came along, which in turn meant a jersey change. And thus, the Vikings have finally hit normalcy... or as close as you can be. Job well done you Nordic footballers.



Call this entire argument pointless, but hey, I bet you start to notice more issues around the sports world. And whether you care or not, at least I know I got your attention.

FUTURE FILMS

With a break in the sports action, I got a little idea to do something today after surfing through imdb.com 

Here's a look at 8 movies I'm excited to see coming out before year's end.

Zombieland 

October 2nd - Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg

More Than A Game

October 2nd - Lebron James, Dru, Romeo, Sian, & Willie

Law Abiding Citizen

October 16 - Gerard Butler & Jamie Foxx

Boondock Saints II : All Saints Day

October 30th - Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly

2012

November 13th - John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Eljiofor

The Blind Side

November 20th - Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw

(* This is the true story of Michael Oher - former Ole Miss All-American and 1st Round Draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens)

Armored

December 4th - Columbus Short, Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne

Sherlock Holmes

December 25th - Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

Week 1 Roundup

As promised, the college sports season is finally underway and that means that Wallyz World is back at full throttle.
Today, it's time to begin a segment that will carry on so long as College Football is in session. It's my recap of the past weeks game as well as a quick glance at some things to watch for in the week to come. Let's get it started!

WEEK #1

Hope You Were Watching: Miami @ Florida State - Should we be upset that by November it'll be a distant memory or excited that it could be a sign of things to come? Either way, it's very likely Monday night's match-up between the Canes and Seminoles will go down as one of, if not the best game of the year. Jacory Harris has all the tools to be one of the premiere signal callers come season's end and the combo of Graig Cooper/Javarris James is lethal for ACC competitors. Let's not forget how far the Seminoles have come. I see both of these squads playing on New Years Day if not later.

Well, You Didn't Miss Much: Nicholls St. @ Air Force - This wasn't just a blowout, this was an absolute destruction of the Colonels from Nicholls St. The Falcons held the visitors to just 151 net yards, forcing 5 fumbles and sacking freshman QB Jacob Witt twice. Doubt there were many fans left after Halftime: 45-0. Even more doubtful anyone stayed to see the final scoreboard: 72-0
.

All-Wally Offensive Award: Robert Griffin, QB/Baylor - After quickly establishing his presence as a freshman last season, Griffin has gone "Evan Longoria" on us, displaying reason at Wake Forest that he will not suffer a sophomore-slump. Before Saturday, Baylor had not won they're opening game against a non-FBS opponent since 2005 when they defeated SMU. In fact it marks just the 4th time in the last 10 years that Baylor has opened a season 1-0. In the 24-21 win over Wake Forest, Griffin went for 136 yards through the air and another 41 on the ground with 2 TD's and 0 INT's. All that to go along with Griffin currently sitting atop the "Punting Average" category with a booming 59 yarder at Winston-Salem! What can't he do? (*Also, thumbs up to the Bear's uniforms Saturday. Sharp.)


All-Wally Defensive Award: Brandon Downs, DT/Eastern Michigan - As tempting as it was to give this award to the entire Notre Dame defense for not allowing a single point to the potent Nevada offense (seriously), I've got to keep this as an individual honor and Downs takes the cake. Before Saturday, Downs' had never had more than 29 tackles in a season. After the Eagles 27-14 loss to Army, he's already just 19 away from tying. Brandon also recorded 2 sacks on the day and added a forced fumble. Not a bad day for a 246 lb. defensive lineman.

Didn't See That Coming: Colorado State's 23-17 win @ Colorado - "10 Wins, No Excuses". Not sure I see that happening for the Buffs after this dismantling. This was all-Rams, all-the-time. I didn't want to believe that CU was as improved as many analysts detailed. I'm patting myself on the back as we speak. (*Also, sounds like things went from bad to worse for Boulder fans. Get used to Cody Hawkins for the rest of the year- like it or not.)

Even Hellen Keller Predicted That: Florida 62, Charleston Southern 3 - They almost held true to that absurd Vegas line. Need I say more?

Wally'z Failed Winner: What didn't go wrong for me this past weekend? Oregon= Wrong. Virginia Tech= Wrong. Florida State= Wrong. Georgia= Wrong.
Wally'z Success Story: Cincinnati was impressive against Rutgers as I predicted. The minor error- calling Jabu Lovelace the QB Rutgers needed to win. ( 0-2, 0 yards. 3 rushes, -2 yards )

Looking Ahead: The only place you can start is Columbus, OH - USC @ Ohio State. I forsee another Trojan taming of the Buckeyes. But how about a few other games to get excited for beginning with Thursday's meeting of Clemson and Georgia Tech. There's also the battle of the "Private Parts" - Stanford @ Wake Forest, which should be solid. Notre Dame @ Michigan has all the story lines you'll ever need, and don't sleep on Fresno State @ Wisconsin and East Carolina @ West Virginia.

Big Man On Campus

Before he found the ESPN airwaves on Saturday afternoon as the newest signal caller for Missouri, he was Punting-Passing-& Kicking his way on to television as a middle schooler from Ballwin, MO. 

Yes, Blaine Gabbert has been front and center on the football field for some time. 

So to say he wasn't prepared to handle the pressure of following Chase Daniel as Missouri's new QB would be... well, wrong. 

His stat line from the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis this past weekend?

25 for 33 / 319 YDs / 3 TD / 0 INT / 9.7 YD-ATT

Think Mike Farrell regrets writing this back in 2007?

"As always, there are some standout signal callers across the country. Pennsylvania's Terrell Pryor is being compared to Vince Young, and he is our current No. 1 player in the country. But after Pryor, things fall off a bit. Blaine Gabbert from Missouri has all the measurables at 6-5, 229 with 4.65-second speed. However, he's from Missouri.

The last few quarterbacks to come out of Missouri with any sort of reputation were Adam Barmann, Scott Carroll, Chase Patton and Darrell Jackson. Who? Exactly. The future looks a little brighter with Josh Freeman starting at Kansas State as a true freshman..."

Jason Whitlock is already on board along with all the Missouri and Illini fans who were able to watch Gabbert at work on Saturday. 

Me? Oh, I've been a Gabbert fan for quite some time actually. 

Call it a football man-crush or a player of intrigue, but I seem to find one every year in the Rivals 150. 

In 2005 it was Auburn's Tray Blackmon. In 2006, it was Florida's Tim Tebow. In 2007, USC's Marc Tyler and Ronald Johnson took the cake. And 2008's player I fell in love with- Nebraska's Blaine Gabbert. 

"Wait, he said Nebraska instead of Missouri."

Yes, had his words held true, it wouldn't have been Illinois Gabbert torched September 5th. Instead, Florida Atlantic would've fallen victim inside the walls of Lincoln's Memorial Stadium. 

That's because on May 15 2007, the 6'5"-220+ lb. quarterback declared his commitment to Nebraska, giving the Huskers arguably the most prized athlete to come out of the state of Missouri since Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

"I felt Nebraska was the right school for me. I just had the feeling when I went up there," Gabbert proclaimed to Rivals just days after pulling the trigger.

But by October's end, the eminent change of scenery in Lincoln made Gabbert re-evaluate his decision. 

Mid-way through the Big 12 season, Bill Callahan's backside was starting to the feel the heat sitting atop the Big Red podium and the senior at Parkway West sensed trouble at his future university. 

"I have de-commited from the University of Nebraska. I felt that the turmoil and uncertainty in the program led me to evaluate my other options. Usually when an AD goes, the boosters aren't very happy with the entire program. Really, when that happened, I knew I had to look out for myself and that's what I did."

And just as the Huskers saw Josh Freeman do in 2006, they watched Blaine Gabbert switch his commitment to a rival Big 12 North school less than 2 weeks later. 

When that happened, I knew that Missouri was destined to be a phenomenal program for at least a few more years; the stars just seemed to align in the Tigers and Gabbert's favor.

His senior season of high school, the future star played only 5 games, hampered by a foot injury. The injury may have ended up doing more good than damage however as it gave the QB time to perfect his throwing motion and perfect his tools as a signal caller. 

Despite the injury, Gabbert still impressed scouts enough to garner and invitation to the Army All-American Game and flourished as the starter for the West squad, helping future Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd become offensive MVP. 

Then in 2008, he arrived in Columbia to begin his career as a Tiger. Instead of being thrown into the fire, likely what would've been the case at Nebraska, the freshman was able to see time in blowouts and learn the system behind "Mr. Everything" Chase Daniel. More importantly, while Daniel was working with his group of playmakers on the field (Chase Coffman, Jeremy Maclin, and Tommy Saunders), Gabbert was building relationships with a group of relatively unknowns (Denario Alexander, Jared Perry, and Wes Kemp) on the practice gridiron. 

By 2009, Blaine had been named the team's most improved offensive player and appeared poised for a breakout season despite analysts claiming Missouri was on the decline because of the loss of "playmakers". 

Remember those "unknowns" that were doing the dirty work on the practice field in '08? I'd say they're "playmaker" worthy and it's all because of Gabbert. (1st Game Statistics)

Alexander: 10 receptions / 132 yards 

Perry: 4 receptions / 93 yards / 1 TD

Kemp: 8 receptions / 154 yards / 2 TDs

I know what you're thinking- "Easy to talk big and back a player after a first game like this. Where were you before Illinois?"

Well, you can believe what you want, but I've been saying it publicly for the last several months- regardless of whether I blogged it or not. There is no other conference player I'm more excited to see come into Manhattan this fall. And with his tools (6'4, 4.6 speed, cannon arm, precision accuracy, knowledge of the game, quality student- 3.8 GPA) I thoroughly believe Blaine Gabbert will put his predecessors in the shadows. Ya, even if they are Brad Smith and Chase Daniel. Gabbert will be that good. He's already the big man on Mizzou's campus and if I were a betting man, he'll probably become the big man on 4 other campuses between now and November 28th- one for each road game his Tiger's take.