Fan Stop Central

The 2010 NCAA Football season is upon us and what better to do than take a stab at some predictions sure to go wrong.

Last season the Crimson Tide rolled away (get it? Roll Tide – anyway) with the National Championship in convincing fashion. Detractors will say they didn’t play a fair enough schedule … of course that’s said of any non-tournament-style champion … but year in and out, no one can complain of the strength of the SEC. What’s even more spectacular is that you can almost guarantee an SEC team to vie for the top slot – choosing which SEC team that will be from year to year is the tricky part.

So, let’s start there – the Southeaster Conference
No reason to think the SEC won’t be well-represented again this year. Alabama, LSU, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Auburn, Tennessee … take your pick and run with ‘em, but for Fan Stop Central, we’re going to pull for Arkansas in the West and Georgia in the East with Arkansas taking the SEC title this year. Which also by our pick means no SEC team in the National Championship game. Oh well.

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To the ACC
There’s been a lot of press lately about the “validity” of the ACC football conference, but who can really argue with the likes of Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Clemson … well, that’s really all the consistent strength, but strength it is. This year we see Miami returning to top-dog status and winning the conference over Atlantic division rival Florida State.

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Up next is the Big 12 or 10 or 12 or 10, no it’s 12
This looks to be the last season for the Big 12 to have 12 teams as Colorado and Nebraska have bolted for the Pac-10 and Big 10 respectively … which now gives the Big 10 twelve teams and the Big 12 with ten and the Pac-10 with twelve … but who’s counting anyway? The Big 12 will once again be dominated by the south with no hesitation in saying that. Nebraska will be the beast of the North and Texas will again win-out over Oklahoma for the South representative … and just like a repeat from last year, Texas has no reason to not beat Nebraska for the Big 12 title.

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Big 10
Well, we really don’t care much for the Big 10. Ohio State looks to be the odd-on favorite. Iowa and Wisconsin will play a role and provide some heat, but nobody else seems to be up-to-snuff to take the title from Ohio State … which is unfortunate. Maybe Iowa will jump out and surprise us all.

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So, enough with the east coast already. Let’s talk Pac-10!
The Big 10 of the west. ‘Nuff said. Well, USC has a near death-sentence around its neck. UCLA might peek its head up. Arizona? Arizona State? They haven’t seen glory in years. Oregon and Oregon State are overrated. The only teams worthy to be mentioned for a run at the conference title this year are going to be Washington and Stanford. In the end, let’s just say Washington ends up with the trophy.

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OK, so back to the east … the Big East
Not because we’re fans of the east, just because that’s where our notes came back to. Who cares. It used to be a top tier football conference when Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College were there, but now … whatever. OK, so you’ve got West Virginia and Pitt … {cricket} … {cricket} … OK, well, we’re going to go with Pitt on this one.

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Wait! What about the Mountain West?
Oh? Well, Wyoming is doing much. Neither is Colorado State or Air Force. New Mexico might make some noise, and so might San Diego State. Utah is leaving the conference. BYU? UNLV? Blech. Let’s just pick TCU and get on with it. Heck while we’re at it, let’s just take the Big 12 south plus Arkansas and TCU and bring back the Southwest Conference … just saying.

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No Conference USA or WAC or Sun Belt?
Seriously? OK, let’s try it out.
Conference USA will go to Tulsa. WAC (which is rumored to be dismantling) will see Boise State continue its dominance. Sun Belt? Let’s go for the dark-horse Arkansas State. No real reason, just because.

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National Championship
Miami v. Texas – Miami back on top!

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How can you go wrong with a movie whose cast includes Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Jamain Clements, Jeff Dunham and many other funny guys?

Tim (Rudd) is a rising executive who “succeeds” in finding the perfect guest, IRS employee Barry (Carell), for his boss’ monthly event -- a so-called “dinner for idiots” which offers certain advantages for the exec who shows up with the biggest buffoon.

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O – M – G!!! How did this show slip under my radar?! Since the end of LOST we’ve been trying to find various shows to fill the void, and the ones we’ve found have been great (The Good Guys, Rookie Blue, Memphis Beat … i think the upcoming Detroit 187 will be good, etc) … but, a few promos have caught my attention on The 101 on Direct TV and Friday Night Lights was one of them.

I immediately fell in love with the show. Netflix (for the Wii) is a great resource, and starting from the beginning, I was immediately hooked. It was/is like an addiction. Up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching episode after episode after episode, almost afraid to turn it off or it would go away!

I love sports; played all sorts of sports since I was 3 up until after college (injuries and such) and then went into coaching. Sports is in my family from season tickets to for various teams to coaching high school football and baseball to golf outings to now my kids starting to play baseball, basketball and football, etc.

Friday Night Lights is coming up on its 5th and final (so they say) season. Again, just like LOST, this will be a hard one to see go. Heck I’ve only been watching this show for the past 4 weeks, but the show’s depth and addictiveness makes it feel like you’re such a part of the lives of these characters – so much so, that I’ve turned off the TV and on a few occasions wondered, “what’s coach Taylor or Street or Riggins or Smash or whoever doing now?”

If you haven’t experienced Friday Night Lights, I would encourage you to either buy the DVD sets or start off with the first season on Netflix. You will not be sorry you did. And, in its 5th and final season coming up, they have been nominated for numerous Emmys.

Kyle Chandler (Coach Eric Taylor)

Connie Britton (Tammi Taylor)

Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen)

Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins)

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SOURCE – USSoccer.com

In the most dramatic moment in U.S. Men’s National Team history, forward Landon Donovan scored a 91st minute goal to give the United States a 1-0 victory against Algeria to earn first place in Group C and a berth into the Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

PRETORIA South Africa (June 23, 2010) – In the most dramatic moment in U.S. Men’s National Team history, forward Landon Donovan scored a 91st minute goal to give the United States a 1-0 victory against Algeria to earn first place in Group C and a berth into the Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. will now play Ghana at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on Saturday, June 26 at 2:30 p.m. ET live on ABC HD and Univision.

With the other Group C match seeing England defeat Slovenia 1-0, the Americans needed a winning goal or they would have been eliminated from the World Cup.

It was Donovan, the USA’s all-time leading scorer, who provided the dramatic goal with a clinical finish from seven yards out after a brilliant attack that pierced the Algerian team from goal line to goal line. After Tim Howard snared a looping header on his goal line, he immediately surged forward and hit a streaking Donovan in the midfield with a perfect throw. Donovan then blazed forward at a blistering pace and found Jozy Altidore with a pass into the penalty area.

Altidore, who played a fantastic match despite getting pounded repeatedly by Algerian defenders, had enough left in the tank to dribble into the penalty area at speed and slip a square pass to Clint Dempsey. With Algerian goalkeeper Raïs M’Bohli lunging for the low cross, Dempsey got a touch that ricocheted off the goalkeeper and rolled to the center of the penalty area where Donovan stroked it home, setting off a wild celebration as almost the entire U.S. team dog-piled near the left corner flag and the stadium erupted with patriotic fervor.

“It’s a match where both teams need to win, so it turns into a very wide open game,” said U.S. MNT head coach Bob Bradley. “Algeria is a very good team, skillful and well-organized, but the game now takes on a different tone just because of the need for both teams to win.

“In this last cycle, guys have grown, taken leadership roles, as a team we’ve grown stronger, we’ve had experiences where we’ve been hardened…We believe that in soccer sometimes you can’t always control a call or a bounce, but you can control what you’re all about as a team, what you put into it, how committed you are to giving everything in the game. I think that has become the special quality of this group.”

After the match, former President Bill Clinton, who is the honorary chairman of the U.S. Bid Committee for the 2018/2022 World Cup, came to the locker room to personally congratulate the team on the historic victory.

Donovan’s goal, the 44th of his international career, gave the USA a World Cup group title for the first time in 80 years (since the very first World Cup in 1930). It was also the fourth World Cup goal of his illustrious career, tying him with Bert Patenaude on the USA’s all-time list. The match was also Donovan’s 11th all-time World Cup appearance, tying him for the U.S. record with Cobi Jones and Earnie Stewart. Donovan has started 11 consecutive World Cup games for the United States dating back to 2002. He also becomes the only U.S. player to score multiple goals in two different World Cups.

Throughout the evening at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, the USA were the better team and the aggressor for 90 minutes and into stoppage time. Donovan’s late heroics might not have been needed, however, but for another controversially disallowed goal by the United States.

This time it was Dempsey scoring from close range in the 20th minute on what appeared to be a valid goal that was nullified for offside. On the play, forward Herculez Gomez calmly crossed the ball to him at the top of the six-yard box after collecting his own rebound from a close range shot that was saved by M’Bohli. Gomez’s attempt was the result of a steal by Altidore in the midfield as he managed to nick the ball away from the Algerian defense, then square a pass to midfielder Michael Bradley, who had the ball tackled away at the top penalty area, only to have it roll for Gomez to hit on goal.

The rest of the first half (and the game) was more of the same, with the U.S. compiling near-miss after near-miss in front of a partisan crowd cheering their every move.

In the 35th minute, Altidore, Donovan and Dempsey almost combined for the first goal, this time with Altidore hitting Donovan on a cross-field pass that Donovan then slotted to Dempsey in a clever opening in the center of the penalty area. A sliding Algerian disrupted his shot and Dempsey was unable get a good strike on the ball as it was saved by M’Bohli.

Two minutes later the USA created an even better chance, this time with Bradley finding Donovan open deep into the right side of the penalty area. Donovan lifted the ball over the sliding Algerian ‘keeper, but it deflected into the air and dropped to Altidore. Donovan was also lurking for the rebound, but Altidore got to it first and blasted his effort over the bar from close range.

Throughout the first half, Algeria attempted a number of long range shots, the best of which came off the foot of Rafik Djebbour in the 6th minute that crashed off the crossbar after defender Jay DeMerit could not clear a long pass that landed at the top of the penalty area and skipped through. In the 38th minute, Karim Matmour hit a blast from 25 yards out that Howard pushed out for a corner, taking no chances with the accurate, hard shot.

Overall, the USA defense was stout throughout the game, and recorded their first shutout in World Cup play since the team’s historic 2-0 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16 of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea Republic (a span of seven games). The shutout was also just the second for the United States in 22 World Cup matches dating back to 1950.

Jonathan Bornstein made his World Cup debut in a revamped U.S. backline, slotting in at left back, while Carlos Bocanegra lined up centrally alongside DeMerit. In addition to Bornstein, Edson Buddle made his first-ever World Cup appearance as a late second half sub and DaMarcus Beasley made his seventh all-time World Cup appearance in his third World Cup tournament when he replaced Bornstein in the 80th minute. For Gomez, the start was just the second of his USA career, dating all the way back to a game at the 2007 Copa America.

In the second half, the U.S. had as many as five great scoring chances, before finally breaking through in the 91st minute. Included in those chances was a shot by Dempsey that hit the right post after he was sprung with a long cross from Altidore. Dempsey then had a chance to sweep his rebound into the net as it bounced behind M’Bohli, but he could not turn the attempt on net.

In the 65th minute, second-half substitute Benny Feilhaber snuck into the right side of the penalty area, took the ball tight along the end line and tried to guide a cross in front of the goal behind the diving M’Bohli, but the Algerian goalkeeper knocked the ball out for a corner with his legs.

Buddle had a headed attempt on goal in the 68th minute on a cross from Steve Cherundolo, but was not able get squeeze it past M’Bohli, and just two minutes later a cross from Altidore from the right wing was almost knocked into his own goal by Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra.

The last definitive U.S. threat before the goal came in the 79th minute on a free kick from Michael Bradley that he drove straight on goal for M’Bohli to punch away.

After the U.S. goal, the emotions of the Algerians got the best of them as Anthar Yahia was sent off after receiving two consecutive yellow cards for arguing with referee Frank De Bleeckere of Belgium following a foul call on the North Africans in the waning minutes.

U.S. forward Robbie Findley missed the match for the United States after picking up yellow card cautions in the team’s first two games, but the entire U.S. line-up will be available for selection when the team takes the field in the Round of 16 against Ghana, which will be re-match of the USA’s final group match at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, a game in which the U.S. was eliminated from the tournament after a 2-1 loss.

Special pre-game coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on ABC HD. Fans can also follow along on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer.

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SEATTLE — In his prime, Ken Griffey Jr. was considered the best player in baseball, on pace to rewrite the record books.

Injuries derailed his chance to become the home run king. His spot as one of the game’s all-time greats is without question.

Now relegated to part-time duty and with little pop left in that perfect swing, Griffey unexpectedly decided Wednesday night to retire after 22 mostly brilliant seasons.

The Kid that once saved baseball in the Pacific Northwest with his backward hat, giddy teenage smile and unrivaled talent, had become a shell of the player who dominated the 1990s.

The 40-year-old Griffey wasn’t at Safeco Field on Wednesday. He simply released a statement through the Seattle Mariners — the franchise he helped save in the 1990s and returned to for the conclusion of his career — that he was done playing.

Griffey said goodbye before Seattle played the Minnesota Twins after 13 All-Star appearances, 630 homers — fifth on the career list — and 1,836 RBIs. He’s an almost certain first-ballot Hall of Famer.

“While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners when I met with them prior to the 2009 season and was invited back that I will never allow myself to become a distraction,” Griffey said.

“I feel that without enough occasional starts to be sharper coming off the bench, my continued presence as a player would be an unfair distraction to my teammates and their success as a team is what the ultimate goal should be,” he said.

There will be no farewell tour, just as Griffey wanted. He called Mariners team president Chuck Armstrong and said he was done playing. Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu called his players together before the start of batting practice to inform them of Griffey’s decision.

“To play with him is a treasure I will keep deep in my heart,” Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki said through an interpreter. “I have played 19 years in professional baseball and I can say he was one of my best teammates and my best friend.”

Milton Bradley, Griffey’s teammate for only a few months, turned to Mike Sweeney during batting practice and said, “on a day like this, it should rain in Seattle.”

After Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Minnesota, Bradley was emotional speaking about his former teammate.

“I hit left-handed because of Griffey. I wanted to play baseball, be an outfielder, make diving catches, style on a home run because of Griffey,” Bradley said. “Guys like him don’t come around every day. He’s just as magical off the field as on it.”

The team put his number 24 in the dirt behind second base and showed a 5-minute video tribute to a standing ovation before the game.

“It’s a sad day for the Mariners, our fans, for all the people in the community that have loved Ken, admired him as a tremendous baseball player and a great human being,” Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said. “It’s always tough for great superstars like Ken or anyone else to make a decision to retire. This has been his life for so many years, but he has made his decision and will support it. We will honor him in every way possible.”

A star from the time he was the overall No. 1 pick in the 1987 draft, Griffey also played with his hometown Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. He hit .284 with 1,836 RBIs.

But his greatest seasons, by far, came in Seattle.

Griffey played in 1,685 games with the Mariners and hit .292 with 417 homers, most coming in the homer-friendly Kingdome, and 1,216 RBIs. He won the AL MVP in 1997 and practically saved a franchise that was in danger of relocating when he first came up.

Griffey returned to the Mariners in 2009 and almost single-handedly transformed what had been a fractured, bickering clubhouse with his leadership, energy and constant pranks.

Griffey signed a one-year deal last November for one more season in Seattle after he was carried off the field by his teammates after the final game of 2009. He hit .214 last season with 19 homers as a part-time DH. He was limited by a swollen left knee that required an operation in the offseason.

But the bat never came alive in 2010. Griffey was hitting only .184 with no homers and seven RBIs and recently went a week without playing. There was a report earlier this season — which Griffey denied — that he’d fallen asleep in the clubhouse during a game.

The swing that hit as many as 56 homers in a season had lost its punch and Griffey seemed to understand his time was coming to a close.

“Of course it surprised us. You never know what is in a player’s mind. They debate things here and there and in this particular case Ken made his decision and there wasn’t anything anybody could say,” Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “You support him, you’re behind him and again, he’s a legacy in this community and certainly in the game of baseball.”

His career is littered with highlights, from homering in eight straight games to tie a major league record in 1993, to furiously rounding third and sliding home safe on Edgar Martinez’s double to beat the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series in 1995. His first major league at-bat was a double and Griffey homered the first time he stepped to the plate at home.

A year after making his big league debut, Griffey enjoyed one of his greatest highlights. Playing with his All-Star dad, Ken Griffey, they hit back-to-back home runs in a game for the Mariners.

And during the steroids era, his name was never linked to performance-enhancing drugs, a rarity among his contemporaries such as Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

“Junior was one of the finest young men I’ve ever had the opportunity to manage,” said Cubs manager Lou Piniella. “When we were in Seattle together, I believe he was the best player in baseball and it was truly an honor to be his manager.”

Seattle catcher Rob Johnson watched Griffey in his prime while growing up in Montana. He then got a chance to claim a locker just a few feet away from Griffey’s.

“I think it’s pretty easy for me to personally say he’s the greatest player to ever play this game,” Johnson said. “He did everything. He wasn’t just a home run hitter. The guy played outfield as good or better than anyone ever played. … To me he is the greatest player to ever live and to get a chance to play with him and to get to sit next to his locker is pretty special.”

Griffey also is regarded as the player who helped keep the Mariners in Seattle, a point Armstrong noted during an impromptu gathering just a few steps from the batter’s box at Safeco Field. It was Seattle’s unlikely late season playoff run in 1995, spurred by the return of Griffey from injury, that led to the construction of Safeco Field and the future security of a franchise rumored for years to be on the move.

Once he left Seattle for the Reds, injuries began to take their toll and his production started to decline. Griffey’s final hit, during his lackluster final season, was fittingly a game-winning pinch-hit single against Toronto on May 20.

“He kept the team here. He drew people here because people wanted to see what he could do day to day,” said Seattle first base coach Lee Tinsley, a former teammate of Griffey. “He was such a special player.”

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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