Coaches on Hot Seat for 2010

Bruce Feldman has posted his Top 10 Hot Seat coaches...guess who made the cut.

1. Zooker
Shocking. He makes one Rose Bowl and has a handful of horrible years. How do you think this year will turn out? I'm guessing with him looking for a Recruiting Coordinator position at a different school.

2. Dan Hawkins - COL
16-33 at COL...not quite what they were hoping for. I really don't see it getting any better, this guy really can't coach - I think it's been proven that Petersen was the man behind the success at BOISE the whole time. I don't think it's likely he survives this year and I can't see him getting another job as a HC for a while.

3. DickRod
Dead. Unless the D drastically improves he might as well start looking right now. Add to the horrible performances with a potential scandal and sanctions...I give him 2% chance of surviving this season with anything less than 8 wins. His offense is working for the most part, but the D is awful...and I can't see that changing. Hate to brag, but I called his death before last season started and told the world to temper their enthusiasm after the nice 4-0 start last year.

4. Todd Dodge - NTEX Mean Green
Can you really have a Hot Seat at N.Texas? Next.

5. Paul Wulff - WASH ST.
How this guy hasn't been fired yet I will never know. 2 seasons, 3-22, can't score and can't stop anyone. This is a case of a little school guy trying to step up and just being totally unprepared. One more season of comedy in Pullman, then he'll be gone and WASU will likely once again be a P10 member that has a chance.

6. Ralph Friedgen - MARY
They already have a coach in waiting, so I don't think I'd refer to this as a hot seat. His squads have struggled lately, but overall I think he can coach. I doubt he gets fired, but maybe the transition will happen after this season.

7. Greg McMackin - HAW
Gay slur guy - probably not the best way to start your HC run. They have struggled since June Jones left, and they struggled before he got there. Hmmm...maybe they should have just anted up and kept their program on the map.

8. Dennis Erickson - ASU
I think he's lost his touch a little bit. This team started hot in his tenure, but it has been rough the lately. I can't imagine him getting fired, barring a major disaster, but you have to think he will get sick of mediocrity sooner than later.

9. BREWSTER
Yeah, this is definitely warranted. He has talked a big game from day one, and now it's time to win some meaningful games. The last 2 seasons have been very Mason-esque, which isn't what we were hoping for. Whether that was expecting too much from a 1st time coach or not, this University has no excuse to not be competing regularly with the neighbors to the South and East...so if it doesn't happen this season I doubt Brew will get a chance to make it happen in 2011.

10. Mike Sherman - A&M
Weird hire when it happened, but this team should be tough this season. They score a lot, which makes it fun to watch, but I don't understand why they can't play any D. I think he'll keep this job if he wants to, but I don't think the Aggies would be excited with anything less than 8 wins.


4.

Sporting News Top 100

Booooooo! Sporting News posted its Top 100 teams for 2010...we made the list, but barely. Your Maroon and Gold check in at #98! 2nd lowest BCS conference team ahead of only the unranked Washington State Cougars that might have had the worst 2 year run in the history of college football.

This is stupid. We might not be a major threat for anything besides a low end bowl game this season, but 98th!?!?! Clearly, Sporting News has very little knowledge about anything regarding College Football and they are now officially dead to me.

Some of these teams ahead of MN are just comical...

MDTN - #43!
No.Illinois - #49!
Temple - #63
Bowling Green - #66
Duke - #70
LTECH - #72
FLA INTL - #84, really? A bad Sun Belt team is better than a mid-pack B10 team.

Gophers can beat all of these teams, not really sure how they came up with these rankings, but logic was clearly not involved.

Golf Confirmation - Island View

We are locked and loaded at Island View for June 19th.

I have 3 tee times starting at 10am, $88/guy for 27 holes with cart.

So far I have 9 confirmed for golf, MC is the only Football Challenge member I have not heard from as of today.

I am going to start throwing out more invites one at a time until we get to 12 guys or we can probably deal with a couple extra if necessary and have a 3 man team or two.


Currently, I'm thinking of gathering some kind of handicap info (nothing official, just a rough, honest estimate on how you are playing) and setting up 2 man teams (with strokes if necessary). Then we'll play 18 holes of best shot, gather in the clubhouse, and realign for the final 9 with the same partners but different groups so we can have the leaders playing together and get some drama going down the stretch. I'm open for any other brilliant ideas if you have them, but this was the best I could come up with right now. We'll throw in cash for the tourney and a skins game to keep it interesting.

Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, interested players, etc.

Thanks Guys - can't wait for the 19th.

Golf Update

I just got a call back from the pro at Island View, which appears to be a great looking course (see the attached link), and here's the details he gave me:

$88/guy for 27 holes and a cart if we have more than 2 groups. If we have 2 groups or less it will be $97/guy. Tee times would be 3 or 4 back to back starting at 11am.

I'm interested in playing a course that is really nice and this is a pretty great rate for 27 holes with a cart.

I've temporarily locked it in, but I would like to get some more confirmation from everyone who is still undecided.

If anyone has concerns with this, please let me know. I'll continue to shop around, but if we can get the total package for under $90/guy at a great course then I might be sold on this plan.

Also, as a reminder, this is the day before Father's Day in case any of you have some conflicting plans that you may have forgotten about.

Sorry for all the emails, just trying to lock this down so we don't get stuck playing Riceville!

Golf/Cards Gathering - 1 month away

So we are exactly one month away from the June 19th gathering at my place for a day of competition. I've started looking into things a bit and want to throw out some questions to try and lock in who will be there and who won't and use that to determine the plans for the day.

1. Please let me know if you will be attending - it's likely going to be an all day Saturday with golf starting around 10ish, followed by cards the rest of the night.

2. Here's who I've heard from:
JG - Y
GR - Y
MR - Y
Bomb - Y?
Chris & Tim Roe - Y?
SS - Not likely

There are still a few of you on the list that I'm waiting on, once I have a somewhat final list I will make some plans. Right now I'm expecting about 8-10, and I can scrounge up a couple more if necessary to make the golf teams work out right.

GOLF
I'm thinking we can get started around 10ish on that morning. I figure we can get in 27 and still have plenty of time to get back and throw lots of cards around. I've looked at a lot of places, but it might be tricky to get 3 consecutive tee times on a great course on a Saturday morning...but I will try. I've also contacted a couple of courses looking for some kind of a deal so we'll be allowed to play 27, if not then we'll roll through 18 only. I'm thinking a best shot format would be the best plan to keep everyone sane. I've played golf with most of you, and I think we're pretty even for the most part...but those of you I haven't played with will have to fill me in so we can get some even teams or at least correct handicaps.

So what do I need - let me know if you plan on coming for golf/cards/both/overnight...my wife pointed out that sleeping arrangements could be tricky and that I need to start planning for it. So while I'm not too worried about it, I want to have a good idea of how many guys plan on spending the night.

Once I have a list, I'll send out more details on the rest of the day. I'm really looking forward to it guys - hope you can all make it.

One last thing - any insight on courses would be helpful...here's what I'm thinking:
Island View (Waconia), Bluff Creek (Chan), Stonebrooke (Shakopee), Braemar (Edina), Chaska Town (Chaska)

Let me know what you think.

NFL Week 1 Lines

Just to get you going a little and see what we all have to look forward to in September...here's what the Hilton has for NFL Week 1 Games:

Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010
8:30 p.m. ET -- NBC
Minnesota Vikings 54 +175
New Orleans Saints -4 -200

Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010
1 p.m. ET
Carolina Panthers 41 +270
New York Giants -7 -330



1 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins -2 1/2 -140
Buffalo Bills 38 1/2 +120



1 p.m. ET
Atlanta Falcons 42 +105
Pittsburgh Steelers -1 1/2 -125



1 p.m. ET
Detroit Lions 43 1/2 +270
Chicago Bears -7 -330

1 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Bengals 44 1/2 +230
New England Patriots -6 -270

1 p.m. ET
Cleveland Browns 37 1/2 +110
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -2 -130



1 p.m. ET
Denver Broncos 42 1/2 +125
Jacksonville Jaguars -2 1/2 -145

1 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts -3 -160
Houston Texans 48 +140



1 p.m. ET
Oakland Raiders 42 +330
Tennessee Titans -8 -400



4:15 p.m. ET
Green Bay Packers 46 1/2 +105
Philadelphia Eagles -1 1/2 -125



4:15 p.m. ET
San Francisco 49ers 39 -110
Seattle Seahawks PICK -110



4:15 p.m. ET
Arizona Cardinals -3 -120 -175
St. Louis Rams 42 +155



8:20 p.m. ET -- NBC
Dallas Cowboys -4 -200
Washington Redskins 44 +175



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2010
7 p.m. ET -- ESPN
Baltimore Ravens 38 1/2 +125
New York Jets -3 +105 -145

10:15 p.m. ET -- ESPN
San Diego Chargers -5 1/2 -260
Kansas City Chiefs 45 1/2 +220

NBA Lottery

Once again, the most dramatic night of the year for our joke of an NBA franchise comes in mid-May and doesn't involve a playoff game. Yep, it's Lotto night, which has been just plain awful for our Woofies over the past...well forever I guess. We've never moved up...ever. That's hard to do considering we have been in this thing nearly every year of our existence besides a small KG window when we we're 1-and-done every year.

So this season we have the 2nd best chance at landing the #1 pick, nearly a 20% chance. Well, I probably don't have to point this out, but it won't happen. Since Kahn and his GM-type people have labeled this a "3 player draft", and we can pick anywhere from 1 to 5...where do you think we'll end up?

I'm almost willing to guarantee a #4 pick for the Wolves this evening. I know it's not rigged, right? But even so, I think I can come pretty close to narrowing down who will come out on top in this thing tonight.

CHANCE AT #1/#2 (John Wall & Evan Turner)
1. NJ Nets
NBA likes the move to Brooklyn coming in a couple of years, and this team actually has a couple of nice players to build with at this point. They have $$$ to spend, so adding a top pick is almost a no-brainer for the NBA. They will be in the TOP 3.

2. WOLVES
Zero chance. Cursed franchise that has been black-balled and will likely never change. We will pick 4th.

3. KINGS
This club is kind of spinning it's wheels as well. They have Evans, but I can't see the NBA wanting to help out this crew - they'll pick 5th.

4. WARRIORS
Steph Curry has changed the outlook for this squad. I think they are moving to the good side of the force within the NBA, so I'll give them a shot at landing a Top 3 pick. Getting 1-2 probably doesn't make a ton of sense for them with all their nice guards they already have, but I could see a swap with someone if they do land in the Top 2 which would allow them to pick up a big (Al Jefferson) and draft another big fella (Cousins or Favors).

5. WIZARDS
I don't think they have a shot. With the Arenas gun thing, and having the Flip/Wolves connection, this doesn't look good. No luck in WASHINGTON.

6. PHILLY
Actually a kind of decent looking club, and I think the NBA misses having them as a competitive threat a la AI's stint in PHILLY. I could very much see this club landing that #1 slot and getting John Wall.

7. DETROIT
I think this club had it's run and is going to assume it place back amongst the bottom feeders. NBA will not provide any help here tonight.

8. LA CLIPPERS
Nailed it last year, and we saw how that worked out. Stern and company will not want to see another #1/#2 pick go down for the season, so he won't send them to LA to be a Clipper.

9. UTAH
No. I think the league is annoyed that they are so good already, and you never see a team that acquires a pick via trade win the lotto. No chance.

10. INDIANA
Nope. Slim chances anyway, and the NBA won't make the miracle happen for a nothing franchise like this...now if it was the Knicks or Orlando...hmmm..

11. HORNETS
Thought to be a major contender, now it seems not as clear. With Paul's seemingly uncertain future this could be a non-factor team very soon. On the other hand, getting a guy like Turner could jump start this once promising progrum...I'll give them a slight chance at #2.

12. MEMPHIS
These guys are drafting about as poorly as the 1990's Woofies, no way does the NBA send one of the future stars to this train wreck.

13. TORONTO
Let's see, they've had 2 stars in their history and both are getting the hell out at their earliest chance...yeah, they won't get another one right now.

14. HOUSTON
Worst odds in the whole thing, so I think it's asking too much to expect to move up. All others are an option, but sitting 14th pretty much eliminates you.

So who has a shot? For me it's 4 teams: NEW JERSEY, GOLDEN STATE, PHILLY, and NEW ORLEANS.

My official prediction:

#1 PHILLY
#2 GOLDEN STATE
#3 NEW JERSEY

Obviously, I'll be holding out hope and believing that the Woofies actually have a chance tonight, but I will be disappointed once again.

I guess there's also a game tonight - how about my BOS take??!? $$$! ORL is beaten. They'll be closer tonight, but I think BOS wins a tight one and this thing is O-V-E-R.

CELTICS vs. LAKERS, just like the classic Sega Genesis game.

NBA Bet

Love the UNDER 194 tonight in the NBA...follow me if you dare! Also
like BOS to win the East at 7:2 odds, ORL is getting way too much love
right now for sweeping a pathetic ATL team. Boston matches up well
with them and has the veterans that could take them to another title.
NBA thoughts anyone?

Poker/Golf outing will be kid/wife free, just got clarification on
that. Don't forget June 19th....be there!

Sent from my iPhone