You got Jimmered, Among Other Things

Last night marked the first time since 2005 two top 10 teams from non-BCS conferences faced off, and the game did not disappoint. As myself and head coach KFW stumbled in the doors, battered and bruised of course, after yet another intense practice in preparation for the road to a CYO state title (yes, that exists) we both headed downstairs to the man cave to watch the sensation that has been sweeping the nation: Jimmer Fredette. Before I proceed, I would once again like to thank Xavier for being in the Atlantic 10 as it led to the purchasing of the channel CBS College Sports which made the viewing of last night's game possible. I knew somewhere down the line playing at LaSalle would pay off considering even a double digit win there drops the RPI like a rock. Anyhow, back to this Jimmer character. At 6'2" 195 lbs (and whiter than wonder bread) he is hardly a menacing figure when you look at him. When you watch him though, it really is jaw dropping. The young Mormon has unlimited range, doesn't like to miss from the foul line, and is just a natural scorer. He shoots nearly 50% from the field (42% from distance) and finishes around the cylinder tremendously as well. Last night's 43 points against the 4th ranked San Diego State Aztecs has certainly put him in the national spotlight. Most importantly though, he is helping his fellow Mormons (and random black dude) win some ballgames. BYU is 20-1 and I sure as heck wouldn't want to face 'em come tourney time. There'll have to be a medical staff nearby if Bill Raftery is on the call when Jimmer and the Cougars are NCAA Touramnet bound. Bottom line, scoot over Ben Woodside, there's a new great white hope ballin' it out west.

As for those other things...oh yeah our very own Cincinnati Bengals are crumbling in the national spotlight. What else is new? I could honestly not care less what happens this offseason because with Mike Brown in charge, and the Steelers and the Ravens in your division every year, I'm not seeing these guys get back on track in the foreseeable future. Carson has one of the fattest paydays in the league over the next four years, and he's willing to throw it all away if he has to play for Clown Brown any more. I'd say that's a pretty good indication this franchise is inshambles. Do the Bengals draft another franchise QB, or will they actually be able to make a splash in the free agent market? These will be questions the'll have to be addressed along with whether or not to ink Chad to the final option year of his contract. The drama queen himself just couldn't stand not getting his name in the papers for a couple weeks, so he went ahead and changed it. These guys aren't even professionals, and if you ask me I'd can all their asses. Add to that Jonathon Joseph and Ced Benson could be packing their bags here shortly, and yeah, needless to say the Bengals are in trouble.

On the bright side Cincinnati, the Muskies and Bearcats (yuck) are rolling through their schedules in preparation for some post-season runs, and the Redlegs' pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in 20 days! Aside from swapping the aging Orlando Cabrera with reigning World Series MVP Edgar Renteria, the Reds have maintained the bulk of their roster and look to build on a year that the excitement back to the Nasti. I recently just swiped an oversized stack of straight A tickets from the principal's office, so I'm sure ready to roll. Well that's about all I got today. As a second semester senior, this will be the most effort I'll have to put into anything all week. No rents, chicks beer, senior year...Burnside upouttahere.

Muskies Midseason Report

17 games in and many more to go, the 2010-11 Xavier Musketeers have shown flashes of just about everything possible through the first 2+ months this season. Coming off a traditionally slow start, which featured 4 double digit losses during a 4-5 stretch, (not to mention some OT thrillers with perennial powers Wofford and IPFW) and of course the end of the nation's 2nd longest active home win streak, Xavier has bounced back in a big way with a very strong start to the A-10 schedule. And THANK GOD for the Atlantic 10. I see no reason to panic at all at this point as this Xavier team is in a great position to run the table in the A-10 for the 5th straight year and get a tourney bid. Last year's team was in the exact 12-5 position before it stumbled at Temple, the Muskies next opponent, and the victory over Dayton at home for the God knows how many times in a row should let Xavier Nation exude a collective sigh of relief. While watching the game with our long lost colleague Kevin Frey Wannabe last night, he commented that Chris Mack run teams are unlike anything Xavier basketball has ever seen. These guys enter attack mode and don't look back, and this is something that certainly bodes well as the remainder of the schedule features teams Xavier should be able to beat. So now, let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly as the 2010-11 Xavier Musketeers season marches on.


The Good
Tu Holloway. Tu Holloway. Tu Holloway. Have I mentioned Tu Holloway? While recording the 1st triple-double in Xavier history since David West himself did so in 2002, Holloway is not messing around this year. Along with Nolan Smith, Tu is the only player in college basketball to average 20 points and 5 assists per game. Simply put, he runs the show. As was evidenced in the Crosstown Shootout, this team goes where Holloway goes. He tends to decide when he wants to score, exhibit A: last night's 22 point 2nd half performance. As Byron Larkin once said, "this young man has a phenomenal pair of onions on him." Although I don't recall Byron tossing out a "no homo" before or after the statement, regardless, Tu is a competitor, and I do not believe he is going to let this team achieve anything less than they're capable of as long as he's running the show. The front-court has also surprisingly been a strong point for the Muskies this year. Jason Love's departure left a major question mark as Kenny Frease would now be the big man on campus, and Jamel McLean's early season facial injury didn't help calm any nerves either. But both of these big fellas have had some big time games while establishing themselves as quite a duo amongst the trees. Bottom line, if this duo stays healthy, Xavier should have no problem dominating the post for the remainder of schedule and in to March.

The Bad
Xavier's bench features a single player, Jeff Robinson, who averages more than 1 point a game. Needless to say, depth is an issue for this squad. With only 8 active scholarship players, (no, Griffin McKenzie does not count) Xavier has to lean on their starters for 30+ minutes a game. Most notably, Holloway has logged an average of 38 minutes a game. It would be optimistic to say this won't catch up to these players sooner or later, but the bottom line is that if this team suffers even a minor injury to another contributing player, there will be some big time issues. Xavier fans can only hope the 6-8 Jordan Latham will not be getting stuffed by the rim come tourney time, and that walk-on Kevin Feeney won't have to match up with Nolan Smith one of these days. Also, there has been a disturbing trend as of late where senior guard and the supposed leader of this team Dante Jackson has neglected to record any statistic for prolonged periods of time. When he's not clanking threes off the SIDE of the backboard, he seems to be hypocritically coaching up his teammates to make plays while he continues mysteriously vanish in various spots on the court. I'm all for Tu dropping 25 a game, but it would be nice if Dante could, you know, actually help his team on occasion.

The Ugly? Mark Lyons jumpshot. Yeah, that's about it...although he continues to defy the laws of physics while shooting a respectable 35% from distance.


Looking Forward
It's the beauty of the Atlantic 10. Every year Xavier labors through a brutal non-conference schedule, only to be greeted by their mid-major friends of the A-10. There is nothing that tells me this team can't win a 5th straight regular season title. Xavier still has their fair share of tests remaining though, most immediately with pre-season favorite Temple. Expect the 'Tas to be rocking on Saturday, as a win over the Owls would indicate Xavier is once again the team to beat atop the Atlantic 10. Road tests against Richmond, Charlotte, Dayton, St. Louis, St. Joe's, and the always pesky Duquesne Dukes remain for the Muskies, not to mention a trip to Athens, GA to face the Georgia Bulldogs who have caught everybody by surprise with their 13-4 start, including a win over Calipari's UK Wildcats. To say the schedule is basic would be a lie, but to say Xavier hasn't run the tables with similar tests year after year would be equally as faulty. Overall, Xavier is already slotted in as a 12-seed in the latest bracketology, so as long as this team stays healthy and Tu Holloway continues to compete every night, expect Greg Gumble to announce the Musketeers from Xavier in the field of 68 (sorry, that sounds weird) on Selection Sunday.

NFL Final Four

With apologies (once again) for the delay of posts, I thought that the conference championships deserved a mention on MIB. I'm admittedly not a huge NFL fan, but due to Burnside and KFW going MIA (just like the Bearcat's win streak) I am forced into the role. Granted, it's nothing like March Madness, but anytime I hear the words "Final Four," I am intrigued. After further review looking the the matchups, though, I am actually very excited to see these games.

Starting in the AFC, we have two teams coming off of emotional wins against division rivals. The Jets beat the Steelers earlier in the year, and with a win would become only the 9th team in the Super Bowl era to knock off the Steelers in both the regular season and the playoffs. I honestly just don't see that happening. I know that this is Cincinnati, but you do have to respect Pittsburgh because they flat out win ballgames. They have arguably the best run organization in pro sports, and as a result, they are once again in this position, nothing new. Polamalu is back who along with James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley forms the best defense in the NFL. The run stopping is particularly impressive, allowing only 62 yards per game on the ground. They won't go untested, though, as LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene make up one of the best backfields, combining for over 1,500 rushing yards on the season. Mark Sanchez has elevated his game, but he still needs to cut down on his picks, especially against this defense. However, I will never be able to trust a quarterback who takes sloppy seconds from Turtle, so I'm going with Pittsburgh. Fuerto's Pick: Steelers 28 Jets 10.

I think the NFC will have the better game as the Bears and Packers just hate each other. The story of the game is at the quarterback position, where two of the best in the game will line up. Jay Cutler is not given nearly enough credit, as he has played as well as anyone in the league the past 5 weeks (minus week 17). He has Matt Forte in the backfield, and two very underrated receivers in Johnny Knox and former Vanderbilt teammate Earl Bennett. It won't be easy though, as the Packers line up with a nasty defense headlined by linebackers Clay Matthews and AJ Hawk. Another player to watch is Tramon Williams, who had huge interceptions the last two games. Cutler is a great QB, but he has thrown 16 picks. He has to avoid mistakes if the Bears want to go to the Super Bowl. On the other side of the ball, Aaron Rodgers is one of the best in the league, and you gotta respect a guy who banged Erin Andrews. They do have to get the ground game working, but with Julius Peppers, Brian Urlacher, and Lance Briggs on the other side, that won't be easy. The X-Factor could be the return game, as Green Bay gave up a kick return touchdown to Atlanta last week, and Devin Hester has a good return every once in awhile. I think that this game is much tougher to call, and even though I love Aaron Rodgers, I gotta go with my boy Jeremy Piven (huge Bears fan) and take Chi-Town in a close one. Fuerto's Pick: Bears 17 Packers 13.