80% Healthy?!

Athletes recovering from injury are often self-proclaimed (or proclaimed by trainers or coaches) as X% healthy. What exactly does that mean?

In ESPN’s day two coverage of the NFL draft, Sao Paolantonio reported that a member of the Dolphins organization proclaimed Ted Ginn as 75-80%, but then said he would be unable to participate in next week’s spring practice, and would likely wear an ankle-protecting boot for at least 6 more weeks.

So, what’s 0%?...dead? Or maybe being dead can get as high as a 40%, so long as your bones and muscles are still intact, reserving a 0% for someone who is dead, cremated, sprinkled overboard across the Pacific, and ingested by plankton?

Seriously, you’re not 80% healthy (regarding one’s ability to play professional football), if you can’t play football!

In my opinion, an athlete whose injury prevents him from being able to play should be rated as 0% (or simply “injured”), and a 100% healthy rating should be given to someone who is unaffected by injury.

I’m reminded of Tom Barnsten’s infamous 8 out of 10 rating of The Incredible Hulk movie, which makes me assume that his scale would reserve a 0 out of 10 rating for burning in the fires of Hell for eternity.

I'm Already Losing Interest

Isn't part of playing on the road the requirement to stay in hotels, practice at the opponent's facility, and be away from home? The NBA playoffs are already feeling drug out after there were three days between the first two games of the Bulls-Heat first-round series. After Saturday's afternoon game the Heat hopped a plane to fly back to Miami--because they wanted to practice at their own facility and sleep in their own beds--and returned Tuesday in time for Game 2 in Chicago. Ridiculous. The NBA claims they need at least a couple days between games when they relocate cities so this situation has no excuse (as if extending the first round to best of seven wasn't bad enough). And they wonder why people gradually stop caring about the NBA playoffs...

(This kind of weak-ass schedule just reinforces my growing belief that baseball truly is a superior sport.)

MLB Predictions

(It may be a couple weeks late, but here are my final standing predictions as decided before the season started.)

AL East
1. Yankees--lineup is simply too solid to bet against.
2. Red Sox--pitching will carry them while Dice-K won't be best starter
3. Blue Jays--the dark horse I always pull for in this division has to settle for 3rd
4. Devil Rays--as Lou Brown would say, "there may be a couple future all-stars in there"
5. Orioles--this team needs to make a move or two to even be legit

AL Central
1. White Sox--rockstar rotation returns to form after off year while A.J. and Co. find a way to return to playoffs
2. Indians--after two straight years of barely missing the cut they miss it again and lose WC to Boston
3. Twins--barely edge Detroit because of Santana's 20+ wins...again,
4. Tigers--a bold pick to bet against young Tigers, I just don't see a repeat season
5. Royals--sadly enough, stuck in cellar again because Central is just too damn good

AL West
1. Angels--they win division only because someone has to
2. Athletics--they place second in the division only because someone has to
3. Rangers--Sammy "Corky" Sosa gets to 600 as highlight of season
4. Mariners--I say good riddance to Jeff Weaver as he struggles without the magic touch of Dave Duncan

NL East
1. Mets--hate to say it, but a new powerhouse in National League will emerge with Reyes/Beltran putting up MVP numbers
2. Braves--will come in a very close second as Braves bounce back to claim WC
3. Phillies--Ryan Howard proves to be a fluke (a la Adrien Beltre) as Chase Utley doesn't live up to guady contract
4. Marlins--very young team will show improvement but not make playoffs for another year or two
5. Nationals--see Orioles above

NL Central
1. Cardinals--defending champs' shaky pitching backed by lineup of usual suspects while Pujols does business as always
2. Brewers--pitching rotation rebounds from injury, Brew Crew youngsters mature, and Italian Sausage wins race
3. Cubs--good offseason moves (Lilly+Floyd) only take Cubbies so far if franchise hopes still hang on two lost causes (Wood+Prior)
4. Reds--Griffey has good year but Arroyo and Harang remain question marks
5. Pirates--Bucs avoid cellar again...barely
6. Astros--quite a load placed on Oswalt's shoulders as aging team waits out Biggio's 3000th hit and Clemens' decision (to sign elsewhere)

NL West
1. Dodgers--this rotation will make claim as best in baseball even without Maddux
2. Diamondbacks--return of Randy Johnson results in more wins
3. Padres--anyone think Maddux will retire a Pad?
4. Rockies--the Blue Jays of the National League, a team I always cheer on for some odd reason
5. Giants--lost Schmidt, gave all their money to Zito, and franchise still revolves around Barroid Bonds--could be a long season for bay area fans

And my go-out-on-a-limb awards:

AL MVP: Jim Thome--in my opinion, one of the great hitters in the game today, will take ChiSox back to ALCS
NL MVP: Carlos Beltran--will become more consistant and thrive off having good hitters around him
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana--OK, not really going out on a limb, but until he shows otherwise, he may be the best pitcher in baseball
NL Cy Young: Roy Oswalt--repeats last year's good stats even on last place team and gets nod this year (apologies to my man, Carpenter)
AL Comeback Player of Year: Sammy Sosa--how's this for a ridiculous pick?
NL Comeback Player of Year: Ben Sheets--falls short of Cy Young but puts together solid/complete season

Damn, It Feels Good to be a Cyclone

After the Big Dance ended, Fox Sports released its newest collegiate basketball+football rankings. I’ve listed their rankings below, which is a ranking of a school’s combination of basketball and football programs. The rank in ( ) is last year's rank. The article can be found at http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/6585188 and additionally gives their rationale for the top 25 teams.

Before I get to the list, let me just point out a few quick notes about our Cyclones:

- Of the 65 BCS Conference teams, only 3 rank worse than ISU
Baylor
Northwestern
Colorado
- Of all 119 teams, only 8 dropped from last year farther than ISU
UConn
NC State
Miami OH
Northwestern
UAB
UTEP
Colorado
LA Tech
- Finally, just take a look at some of the schools ranked higher than ISU:
29. Hawaii
49. Akron
55. Air Force
62. Tulsa
70. San Diego State
71. Fresno State
73. Toledo
75. Central Michigan
76. Western Michigan
82. Kent State (maybe I'm just ignorant, but the ONLY thing I know of Kent State is the 70's war protest/massacre)


So, here’s the list:

1. Florida (7)
2. Ohio State (2)
3. Wisconsin (8)
4. Louisville (20)
5. Texas A&M (35)
6. USC (27)
7. Texas (1)
8. BYU (50)
9. Notre Dame (22)
10. UCLA (4)
11. Virginia Tech (41)
12. Tennessee (25)
13. Maryland (44)
14. Boston College (6)
15. Kentucky (54)
16. Georgia Tech (71)
17. Oregon (53)
18. Arkansas (57)
19. Texas Tech (58)
20. Nevada (9)
21. Purdue (85)
22. West Virginia (5)
23. Michigan (16)
24. Clemson (21)
25. Oklahoma State (73)
26. Kansas (17)27. LSU (3)
28. Boise State (80)
29. Hawaii (78)30. Pittsburgh (26)
31. Washington State (93)
32. Oklahoma (10)
33. Wake Forest (75)
34. North Carolina (18)
35. Arizona (46)
36. Auburn (32)
37. Kansas State (66)
38. Alabama (12)
56. Indiana (56)
40. Virginia (33)
41. Georgia (31)
42. Michigan State (29)
43. Cal (14)
44. Florida State (19)
45. Nebraska (42)
46. Missouri (65)
47. Rutgers (43)
48. South Carolina (30)
49. Akron (36)
50. Houston (49)
51. Iowa (11)
52. Memphis (13)
53. UNLV (84)
54. Vanderbilt (60)
55. Air Force (64)
56. Illinois (51)
57. Syracuse (63)
58. Southern Miss (102)
59. Washington (55)
60. Duke (52)
61. Ohio (83)
62. Tulsa (76)
63. Oregon State (92)
64. Penn State (28)
65. TCU (98)
66. Miami (Fla.) (24)
67. South Florida (99)
68. Ole Miss (94)
69. Cincinnati (59)
70. San Diego State (61)
71. Fresno State (62)
72. Mississippi State (82)
73. Toledo (72)
74. UConn (23)
75. Central Michigan (114)
76. Western Michigan (95)
77. Arizona State (70)
78. NC State (15)
79. New Mexico State (91)
80. Minnesota (39)
81. Stanford (67)
82. Kent State (79)
83. Utah (77)
84. Iowa State (40)
85. Navy (108)
86. Utah State (69)
87. Middle Tennessee (89)
88. UCF (87)
89. Troy (110)
90. Rice (105)
91. San Jose State (116)
92. North Texas (104)
93. Wyoming (97)
94. New Mexico (74)
95. Colorado State (81)
96. Florida Atlantic (106)
97. Southern Methodist (109)
98. Miami (Ohio) (48)
99. Baylor (90)
100. Northwestern (37)
101. UL-Monroe (112)
102. UAB (47)
103. Arkansas State (101)
104. Tulane (111)
105. Marshall (103)
106. UTEP (38)
107. Colorado (34)
108. East Carolina (113)
109. Northern Illinois (68)
110. Temple (86)
111. UL-Lafayette (88)
112. Louisiana Tech (45)
113. Ball State (107)
114. Army (118)
115. Bowling Green (100)
116. Buffalo (96)
117. Idaho (119)
118. Eastern Michigan (117)
119. Florida International (115)

Maybe we should re-focus on baseball.

Oh Well, Better Luck Next Year...

Pardon the absence from the blogosphere, but I've been in Paris, France for two months with limited internet connectivity and even less awareness of the American sporting world. (Needless to say, the BBC doesn't show NCAA highlights.) Over that span I've compiled a list of posts to touch on but most are outdated and of little interest.
So I'll begin with the final standings from the "ISU FH Gulk!" NCAA Tourney Challenge and the individual ESPN percentiles. Kudos to Sport for a second consecutive victory. Kudos to Krull for picking the champ. Kudos to Seth for losing to 97.4 percent of the submitted brackets. (Is it not obvious Seth and I have been out-of-country?)

1) Port (Macaulay Gulkin) 80.0
2) Top Seeds 72.1
3) Hertel (Loosen Up Your Buttocks) 69.3
4) Zenisek (It's March Madness Baby!) 67.9
5) Krull (Brokeback Bracket) 63.5
6) Fischer (J. Voss & the SoHos) 58.9
7) Williams (Ka-Diss Mary Claire) 14.4
8) Guiter (No Means Yes) 9.8
9) Alberty (The Foreign Devil) 2.6

Baseball Begins for 2007

Well the season is well underway with many headlines making news already.

Will Bonds catch Aaron?
(I say not this year)

Is Dice-K as good as the hype?
(Only time will tell)

How good is the AL Central?
(Best in the league in a long time)

What the heck is Roger Clemens going to do?
(Come back when he feels like it)

I expect to get some predictions done here this weekend while I'm home and get back on the blogging trail here soon.

In the meantime - Go South Side!