In week 2 all talk was dominated by the big #1 and #2 matchup and rematch of last year's classic, ohio state vs. defending champs texas. i was hyped for this game and thought it would be a good one, but i thought people were giving texas way too much credit, with a redshirt frosh at QB they would just not put up the same miracle results that vince young conjured up, and they lacked his confidence and leadership with colt mcoy in the game as well, even though his name if destined for texas. well the game ended up being a major disappointment for UT and a fearsome statement from ohio state and to any poor soul that has to play them (iowa!!). their defense is underrated and their all new and young linebacker core is excellent and showing signs of being just as good as last year's fantastic unit. texas didn't play bad but colt did pretty poorly, he made too many mistakes, wasn't a good leader, and ohio state made a lot of big plays and had too many offensive weapons for texas to handle. troy smith was excellent and a main reason the buckeyes won, the speedster and number 1 wideout ted ginn didn't have a huge game but he caught an important td, while anthony gonzalez was amazing, making tons of big plays while the stars drew most of the pressure and finishing with almost 150 yards recieving. so the young QB, vacancies left at cornerback thanks to off the field incidents, and not enough on either side of the ball to stop all ohio state's firepower all contributed to the 24-7 loss, 1st time in a while texas has been held under 10 points at home. so the big hyped game of the day ended up getting decided pretty early, the other game that was getting sum love was notre dame and penn state, both teams have storied histories as separate teams and as rivals, but penn state is a different team this year than from last year. they replaced their moblie offensive weapon micheal robinson at QB with a big and strong armed, traditional drop back passer, and the two lines are mostly rebuilt. the nittany lions do return those explosive and versatile freshmen (now sophs) wideouts and their all-world linebacker paul posluzny, even though he is battling injuries. notre dame is coming off a scare against georiga tech last week (very underrated) and have had to endure the countless rants about how they are overrated, and while brady quinn and the offense did underacheive against the yellow jackets they are still so loaded on offense that they could still be national champions at season's end. this anticipated matchup was a blowout too, brady quinn was perfecto this time and started off early, he had almost 300 passing yards and 3 tds and looked mostly like the brady of last year, not the inconsistent and un-confident brady of last week. everything clicked on offense for the irish, and rhema mcknight and jeff samardzija are probably the best recieving duo in college and they flexed their muscle here today, both of them grabbing a touchdown. along with the offense notre dame forced the lions into turnovers and took advantage of their mistakes and made big plays out of them, winning 42-17 in a somewhat surprising blowout and returning joe-pa back to his status of 2 years ago. so the two most hyped games of the week ending up being disappointments to watch, but some "minor" games were surprisingly exciting.

as i have stated in a separate entry, iowa ended up fighting for their life against a horrible, overacheiving syracuse team but finished the game off in double overtime with a legendary goal line stand to end this painful outing. tenessee barely beat air force, and they should have lost. I don't know what the hell air force and fisher deberry were thinking going for 2 after scoring that late touchdown, that threw away all the effort and all the good stuff they had down with that one play. their offense had been efficient and smooth all day, even though their defense let the volunteers pile up plenty of yards on them, and im still disgusted at them throwing that game away with a stupidly courageous move. florida state almost lost to troy thanks to turnovers and their frightening lack of any running game at all, the offensive line was poor but drew weatherford had a good game and some defenders, like buster davis and his pick, made some key plays to spread relief for florida state fans everywhere. so i guess the key word for this week of college football was almost, lots of small teams playing way above their level almost had their chance to win a season-defining game, but noone managed to pull it off in the end.

washington hung with oklahoma for a while but adrian peterson kicked it into high gear and carried his team with his running once again, while the new QB had a pretty good game and the sooners won easily. LSU destroyed arizona, while georgia had no problems with south carolina even with a banged up QB, their defense was tough and south carolina just doesn't have the overall offensive talent and an inconsistent quarterback in blake mitchell. on thursday the still high-powered boise state offense blew out oregon state, jared zabransky was very good but it was their rushing game and the 240 yards they got from their back that was the key facet to their win. i bet they're not feeling too bad about the departure of dan hawkins either, as he is off to a nightmare start in colorado with an 0-2 record and losses to montana state (d1-AA) and colorado state, two teams they should have beaten with ease. piitsburgh kept their nice offense rolling with an easy win over big east doormat cincinnati, michigan rolled with mike hart over easy in-state "rival" central michigan, and virginia tech worked running back brandon ore and kept up their balanced attack for an easy win over north carolina, i'm now convinced that duke and north carolina just need to stick to basketball. in a pretty classic game for akron fans and mild surprise, the akron zips took down acc power north carolina state with 1 second left, running it in after their QB scrambled down to the goal line. so i guess "almost" doesn't describe every team. duke blew a chance to end their big losing streak, as they lost to wake forest after holding a lead for most of the game. louisville didn't need micheal bush to destroy the worst team in division 1 football, temple, as they destroyed them 62-0 with their still high powered offense. illinois continued their embarassing tenure under ron zook with a 33-0 loss to rutgers, they let them score in the 1st minute or two then threw a horrible pick that the scarlet nights returned so this game was over fast. missouri and their new strong armed QB may lack the mobility and explosive athleticism they had with brad smith last year, but their offense and defense are more balanced and they had an easy time whupping ole miss, who was expected to be better with a new coach and new attitude, 34-7. auburn looked sharp and national-title worthy in an easy 34-0 win over miss. state, kenny irons didn't have a huge game but their attack was balanced and their defense dominate, and you see how much they won by even without irons playing great think of how good they'll be when irons plays better, their heisman candidate.

texas tech squeaked by UTEP thanks to their explosive passing game, but their defense was torn apart themselves by jordan palmer and the miner's offense. oregon beat fresno state by a touchdown thanks to dennis dixon, their athletic and talented quarterback. rice hung with ucla, continuing their strong play after almost beating houston last week, but lost in the end because the talent difference was too much. arizona state's high powered offense is still thriving under rudy carpenter and they thwacked nevada, tcu destroyed uc davis in an expected win, miami's offense was balanced and defense dominate in a win over florida a&m, good and easy comeback win to regain confidence after tough loss to florida state. the texas a&m aggies have the easiest openeing schedule of anyone and they took advantage of it again with a 51-7 win over louisiana lafayette. minnesota made some big plays, especially on special teams, to hang with cal early and make it look like cal would be a big disappointment following their loss to the volunteers last week, but the bears kicked it into high gear with the running of marshawn lynch and passing of strong armed nate longshore to eventually blow the gophers out. iowa state squeaked another one out against unlv, they are winning their games so far but the weak teams they are playing should not be getting so close. to finish off the game's that count, florida embarassed central florida, who looked like a team on the rise last season, 42-0, and leak's mastery of the passing game made them look like title contenders, if they can just find a running back.

Holy Shit. I don't even think the world's most eloquent and poetic writer could come up with any other words to describe the heart-stopping, sickening, even ugly game today, which my hawks managed to win, if you can call it that, 20-13 in double overtime over a overacheiving syracuse team that the announcers could not stop reminding us of how horrible they were. every time they dropped a big play on us i kept hearing about their 10 game losing streak, their reciever making play after play after only having one career reception before the game, how wake forest (!!!) dismanted them last week after the orange used 17 different offensive line rotations. all of this only added to my distress in seeing iowa struggle, and the win didn't feel like a win, but like a relief. things started sounding ominous when, mintues before tipoff, news broke that drew tate would miss the game thanks to an abdominal strain thats been bugging him for a little while. well thats good to know 5 minutes before the game started, and it went downhill from there and everything seemed set up for an upset, like the fact that we were playing them in the fearsome carrier dome. luckily the upset failed. well without tate i knew we would have a really talented and athletic kid in fellow senior jason mansen, but we would miss (big-time) tate's leadership, confidence, big arm, and all sorts of intangibles you cannot measure on paper. well since we won the game, the thing to hope for and think about now is if tate will be 100 percent and healthy next week and in the weeks to come, tate's health is pretty vital to our season. with tate out we would have to rely on our versatile running back albert young and his speedy backup damien simms, but i was afraid the orange would oad up against the run and make mansen beat them with his arm, and i wasn't sure he could do it. i still have bad memories of mansen coming in for tate against the cyclones last year and playing horribly, throwing a couple of picks and losing confidence pretty quickly. the main thing would be to keep his confidence up, because when he loses it he plays really bad. i knew the orange had a nice defense and a good group of playmakers at linebacker going into the game and with tate out i thought they'd give us a decent challenge, but i could not forsee the effort they put up against a much more stacked hawkeye team and drive us to the brink of losing in the process. their QB played out of his mind, especially in the 1st half when they were still running off adrenaline and the energy of the fans, as he completed plenty of nice passes, including some long ones. the running game was basically shut down for them and we did a really good job in that department on defense, and their qb was slow as hell so he shouldn't have been much of a threat even though he got some decent gains. i thought after syracuse got off their opening high and confidence they got with the absence of tate that they would fail and show their true colors, but they really impressed me by playing hard the whole time cause this is really a horrible team and should not have been in the same league as us. they scored the 1st touchdown on a fearsome opening drive, off a nice fade-route thrown in the endzone that was kind of controversial at 1st but after the challenge the play stood, and i agreed. it took a while for iowa to fight back, as our defense played well and stopped them (the pass rush was very nice with the return of kenny iwebema, even though he didn't make a huge impact), but we had major trouble moving the ball, especially on the ground, and bad plays from the wideouts caused for a couple of picks to be thrown that overall were not mansen's fault. but jason found his target in big and sure-handed tight end scott chandler, makcey award candidate who also caught a td last game, as he grabbed about 6 straight receptions that lead the drive and he finished it off with an impressive touchdown catch. oddly enough he didn't do anything the rest of the game, but our running game finally kicked into high gear as simms showed off an impressive burst and ability to hit the hole and go, and albert got hotter and more productive with the passing game as well. we moved down the field a few times but couldn't produce results because of bad decisions from mansen that led to excruciating turnovers that almost forced me to leave the room for the duration. luckily i stayed, and a big play made by herb grigsby, also returning from a 1-game suspension, got us a field goal by schlicher. we had another shot with a 40+ yarder but missed it horribly, and then with 6 seconds left they managed to nail a 40 yarder even with one of the worse snaps i have ever seen, i mean it must have bounced 4 times before getting into the holder's hands (props to holder), but they nailed it. in overtime they had the ball 1st and settled for a field goal, and even though we looked like we had some chances to score a poor drop by one of our wideouts led to a field goal. next drive we moved the ball nice with good balance between passing and running, and a pass interference call helped us punch it in with albert young for the td. the next syracuse possesion would go down in history as one of the greatest goal-line stands of all time, as they made their way down to the 1-yard line thanks to a bevy of pass-interference calls but couldn't punch it in with the halfback or the qb sneak on 8 attempts, and amazingly we held on for the win. the orange must be devasted, all that effort and they cannot get a score on 8 (!!) tries from the 1 yard line. but o well, i feel no sympathy and was just happy to get that game over with and get ready for iowa state, i will be attending that one in person so look out for me.

standouts included mike klinkenborg, new linbacker replacing greenway already showing signs of his predecessor, getting named player of the game for the havoc he wrecked on the line of scriimage with his large number of tackles and tackles for loss on the running back, he was very valuable in stopping the running game. mansen made me cringe multiple times and curse at my tv screen too many times as well with his 4 interceptions, but he did have 1 td pass and looked good at times, not someone i put my trust in to win every week but lots of the mistakes weren't all his fault. simms and young have a big spark in the rushing game in the 2nd half that was vital to the win, and chandler's big output in the 1st half put our 1st points on the board and grigsby's big reception in the 3rd quarter led to a field goal. grigsby was kind of poor in his 1st game of the season though, he dropped too many and just looked little and skinny out there. the reciever were actually very disappointing and it's kind of disturbing that we haven't seen a true star or gamebreaker out of the unit yet and we may have to rely on chandler as the only consistent passing threat for the year. i know our corners play the bend but don't break style but they gave up too much yardage and too many plays, and all the pass interference calls really showed a lakc of focus and experience,both things that will improve over time in the secondary. marcus paschal was excellent and changed the game and the momentum with his huge hits, may be biggest hitter here since bobby sanders, and miguel merrick had some big plays with hitting and coverage as well. iwebema had 1 and a half sacks in his 1st game back and looked pretty solid if not gamechaning, while mitch king also had a very nice day stopping the run and putting occasional pressure on the QB. sidenote: after watching osu today im really not looking forward to that game.

For a week that's supposed to just give rabid fans a taste of the season by pitting the elite against the 1-AA, the opening week of the college football had plenty of exciting games, upsets, season-ending injuries that could shape the title race, and of course, surprises. still, no real high-profile matchups going on this week, mostly the big time schools taking on small time competition to satisfy their fan base's taste for another football season. nothing wrong with that, as my anticipation was already through the roof. the big-time games were between notre dame and georgia tech, as well as tenessee versus the california bears. everyone else was basically playing against a JV team, like defending champ texas with a new QB but with plenty of talent remaining taking on sun belt scrub north texas, and title runner-up usc, also with a new QB and a new running back taking over for 2 Heisman winners, playing the mildly tough arkansas razorbacks, not as bad as north texas but not tough competition either. i thought georgia tech had a legitimate chance to upset the irish, they have maybe the best wideout in the nation in future nfl star calvin johnson, a physical and athletic phenom with a height of 6 ft. 5, a 43 inch vertical, and great strength, big hands, and a knack for getting acrobatic catches. there are really no bad things to say about him, except for the fact that QB reggie ball has been inconsistent in getting the football to him. ball is very talented and athletic as well as being a dangerous runner but he has never had a consistent stretch of games and has had troubles with picks in the past. the irish have the big-time, explosive offense, tons of hype around brady quinn along with running back darius walker and wideout jeff samardzija, all these weapons make their offense more than potent. but their defense is a major question and thats why i thought that tech would give the fighting irish problems. this did end up being a scary game for them, brady looked scared and not like the confident stud i saw last year, and their offense really struggled against the fast and athletic gerogia tech defense, like ive stated they are a very good athletic team. calvin had a quick TD catch that demonstrated how unstoppable he is, just a fade right up in the air that he brought down with ease. trust me, you'll be getting him confused with another c. johnson here pretty soon. well notre dame looked sloppy and not like an elite title team but they still managed the close win thanks to clutch plays by brady, who started heating up in the 2nd half with samardzija and rema mcknight, and their defense kicked it into high gear and stifled the yellow jackets for the rest of the game, i guess a sign of great teams is winning the close and tough ones, and tech is defintely an underrated sqaud. only problem for the irish is their extremly tough schedule that remains, containing games against michigan and penn state over the next 2 weeks. the tenessee volunteers landed a surprise by pretty much whupping cal, who knows if its a fluke or not but their offense was rolling, erik ainge played much better without a qb controversy and the whole offense was balanced, efficient, and pretty much unstoppable. tough injuries to key cal defenders are a main reason, but with offensive stars like speedy heisman dark horse marshawn lynch and strong armed QB nate longshore they should have put up more points, i don't think the volunteers are as good as they showed, i mean they were 5-6 last year, and when their defenders return cal's defense will be dominate and should get them back where they need to be. tenessee's offensive performance, to me, was a fluke brought about by lucky matchups, and even with a tough defense they can't keep that performance up and beat teams 35-17 with a roster like the bears.

i didnt even now that there were games on thursday so that was a pleasant surprise, the games were crappy but it was a great feeling just to watch some football again. south carolina looked crappy and their QB forced some pointless turnovers but they had a lot more talent than woeful mississippi state and the gamecocks got the win there, while rudy carpenter kept up arizona state's tradition of high-powered offenses and showing that sam keller wasn't too important to the team, leading ASU past a slow start to an easy win over northern arizona. surprisingly boston college barely squeaked past central michigan (??), but Matt Ryan showed poise in the clutch and made the eagles look like a winning team at the end, overcoming their earlier sloppy play. the iowa state-toldeo game wasn't even on tv but ended up being the best game of the night, the cyclones have high-expectations for themselves this season, especially on offense with dual-threat QB brett meyer and long/athletic phenom todd blythe, meyer's favorite target and ames hero. the game ended up going into triple overtime, with todd saving the day multiple times with acrobatic catches in the endzone and basically just being a clutch star. on friday fresno state beat conference rival nevada, if anybody even cares it's probably an important win for them seeing as they lost to nevada in one of their final games last season, which kept up their horrible second-half fading and losing streak and lost them the conference title. definitly a big morale and confidence booster letting the bulldogs know they can beat their rival, both team have high-powered offenses. starting with the really-minor games on saturday, a resurgent rutgers program reliant on a new attitude and a high-powered running game, barely beat acc doormat north carolina, but a wins a win, michigan state and drew stanton beat idaho but not by too much. the spartans looked fantastic to start last season and even beat notre dame in an epic instant classic overtime battle, but they faded horribly down the stretch, as bad as any team i've ever seen, and their defense couldn't make any stops. drew stanton is one of the top QB's in college with all-around nfl skills and he has a talented group of recievers and a super-speedy sophmore sensation at running back in javon ringer, so their offense won't be a problem but their menacing schedule and poor defense will be. alabama lost too much on offense to be an SEC contender but their dominate defense got them a win over hawaii, while wisconsin, an underrated big ten team, whupped up on bowling green, they are really missing their athletic and versatile qb omar jacobs, who went to the nfl early.

ohio state got their national title hopes off to a good start with a throttling of northern illinois, but the huskies running back garrett wolfe is a real beast and one of the most underrated stars in college, and he put up a huge game today and tried his best to keep his team in it. unfortunately the team was no match for the speed and offensive gamebreaking ability of the entire buckeyes offense, and their defense is looking better than anticipated, especially the new guys at linebacker, who are making plays sideline-to-sideline like their predecessors. kenny irons stood out as auburn took out washington state with ease, they look like a title contender with their great running game, QB, and a tough and fast defense. colt mccoy impressed longhorns fans in their win, he looked good (against crappy competition though) and is showing that maybe he can still keep the texas offense rolling, showed nice mobility, poise, and decision making. west virginia's unstoppable rushing attack led by super-fast back steve slaton and qb pat white rolled over a weak marshall team (how are they so bad when they've had chad pennington, byron leftwich, and randy moss play at the school?), while USC overcame a slow start by new starting qb john david booty (name of a bad pirate) to dominate arkansas. booty looked great and leinart-like in the 2nd half, they really are similar qb's in their poise and leadership, leinart was just better physically and taller. running back chauncey washington is a beast as well and still young, he doesn't have the gamebreaking ability or versatility of reggie bush but he's a lot bigger, tougher, and he has a nose for the endzone and for grinding out extra yards, and they still have long and athletic stud wideout dwayne jarrett. the rest of the games saturday were blowouts and whippins by the college powerhouses, nothing really worth mentioning.

on sunday we got to see louisville's supercharged offense destroy kentucky, who shouldn't even have a football team, but the win was completely overshadowed by the season-ending broken leg suffered by star running back micheal bush, who provided a large number of the cardinals' touchdowns last season. their offense is still one of the best with brian brohm and the good cast of recievers, but if they want to beat west virginia and get the BCS bid out of the Big East then they need a complete offensive attack and to establish a running game, i think their offense is good enough to do just that and they will be more ready than the mountaineers are for the WV game because they are better prepared from their tougher schedule, which includes miami. west virginia has a painfully easy schedule and i know their running game is unstoppable, but theres no way to tell if they're overrated or not until they play louisville. the tcu horned frogs squeaked by baylor to keep their nation-long winning streak alive, they may be an underrated team like utah 2 years ago, as in going undefeated but not getting a BCS bid because they play a mid-major schedule. we'll just have to see. the biggest game this weekend may have been the hyped monday matchup between the big inter-state rivals florida state and miami. these two teams always play so scrappy and ugly against each other, especially last year when both young QBs and offensive lines looked embarassingly bad and made the game very painful to watch. this is a defining year for the miami program, these past few years have been disappointments for the high-standards of the U, especially that dismantling in the bowl game against lsu last year, and larry coker is on the hot seat most definitly. miami usually gets amazing athletic talent and some of the best in the state, but they've always had discipline issues and problem guys come out of the program and it became a main problem this off-season, as coker had to suspend two key players, including the running back, for this game. FSU is trying to return to prominence again, and while last year was just average they had a young team and no running game so the fans are hoping those problems will be solved with age. well fsu won in a game almost as ugly as last year's, and thats 2 straight losses to the big rival for larry coker, his ass may be fired. both offenses sputtered, but the big story was florida state getting only like 20 rushing yards and still winning. turnovers and and a still bad offensive line for both sides made both talented young QBs look like scrubs, and it came down to the fast and athletic defenses and the emotion of the seminole players. florida state may have won this game thanks to emotion and tough play over an overrated miami team, but if they can't get rushing production they will have trouble beating anybody.

the rockets main issues heading into the offseason was a lack of depth at key positions and the fact that their backcourt was thinner than paper. they needed some more talent and scoring from the guards immediately, and they needed better shooting and guys who could consistently hit the open jumpers when tmac and yao got pressured, which they did not have last season even without all the injuries. as i have stated multiple times in other blog entries the rockets are a good playoff team with tracy and yao healthy, granted a pretty big "if" with tmacs back problems and yao's foot, but these 2 cats are talented enough to win any game they play and the supporting cast will just fall into their roles alongside them. houston got plenty of shooters in the offseason ranging from rookie steve novak, a 6 ft. 10 three point sharpshooter at marquette and one of college's all time best shooters, as well as memphis forward shane battier, who they got in a controversial draft-day trade for their pick of rudy gay and underacheiving power forward stromile swift, a high-flying athlete with loads of potential but who never put in the effort for the rockets last season. we got some backcourt players through free agency and trade, and we got plenty of good shooters, but we still lack an elite point guard (though rafer could be one if he shoots better) and depth, especially at center behind yao ming. but as long as the two stars are healthy the role players will be fine contributing in small bits instead of stepping into starring roles like last year, and we should be a competitive playoff team and battle with the spurs and mavs in our division, even though h-town is still a little ways away from being on those 2 teams' level in terms of talent and playoff experience.

PGs (rafer "skip to my lou" alston, luther head, john lucas)-weak position for houston with lots of question marks, keep in mind that luther has point guard size but plays shooting guard and lots of the guard spots here are interchangeable. rafer has a lot of talent and could easily be houston's long term point guard and lead them to a title, but he has to improve his shooting big time if he even wants to stay on the team and out of van gundy's doghouse. it's kind of weird, but rafer's shooting percentages have declined considerably over the past few years and last year was his worst, especially from downtown. he's not a bad three point shooter when he is open but he needs to be more consistent in knocking down those open jumpers when tmac and yao get the pressure put on them. rafer gained fame through and1 streetball and all the legendary moves he pulled off, but under van gundy he has become somewhat of a conservative, pass-1st point whose job is to drive-and-kick, get the ball to the team's playmakers and impress the fans occasionally with some sweet handles and dimes, but if his shooting doesn't improve look for him to be out soon. the rockets really wanted mike james back this offseason, they traded him in the 1st place because he is not a traditional point guard but they needed him back desperately now for his scoring and outside shooting, it came as a big blow to them when he signed with the t-wolves. luther head is a very promising young player with versatile skills and a great all-around game, in my opinion one of the most promising young dudes in the league and a rare bright spot from last season. he is real high-energy athlete and playmaker, you cannot classify him for one attribute because he just plays the game, he plays it hard and he can contribute in many ways. he can shoot the three and was often cold-blooded last year, draining some in the clutch, and he was a good passer and hustle player who did the little things that van gundy demands, which is why the usually rookie-hostile coach gave head so much playing time, that and the injuries. luther did hit the rookie wall and shot poorly midseason last year, but that was expected and he recovered and finished strong, and besides that the only thing holding him back is his height disadvantage and the fact that he can't play point for being on 6 ft.3. john lucas hovered around with various 10 day contracts last year but finally got signed for good, he earned it and the rockets need him. he impressed in summer league play with his prolific scoring and high energy play, and i think he can become an earl boykins type of player if he gets enough minutes. he's super short and small, the reason teams were so reluctant to pick him up, but he can shoot from the outside when hot and help in that department, he is quick and a good ball-handler, but most of all he is a playmaker and unselfish passer with scoring skills that could make him instant-offense coming off the bench. they need him for backcourt depth and hopefully he will not disappoint.

SGs (tracy mcgrady, vassilis spanoulis, casey jacobsen, bob sura, kelenna azubuike)-some problems at who will start here, as tmac would be better suited playing small forward, but wherever you put tracy he will find ways to be a dominate scorer. got much more depth but not much quality depth, and lots of these guys should be playing point too, but with tmac playing everyone else just falls into place. mcgrady might move here to accomadate shane battier, but tmac is the team's superstar and he will play where he wants and dominate wherever he is, as i have stated. lots of casual hoops fans and experts forgot about tracy after last season's disaster and the back injuries that tore our season apart and caused many to wonder about the short and long-term future of our boy, but he looks back at 100 percent and ready to kick ass and reclaim his crown in the top 5 of the league and as one of the game's most popular and most prolific scorers. he has always been in the upper echelon with scorers, he has jaw-dropping athleticism, hops, and strength which make him dominate in driving and finishing with all sorts of highlight worthy moves, but his ability to shoot over defenses and drain threes in your eye is rivaled only by kobe. it's true that tmac doesn't bang as much anymore because of his sore back, but he is probably the league's best shooting superstar so that helps. he is also willing to put in the hustle and defensive effort to please coach and help the team win, as he played the role of defensive stopper his 1st year in toronto with vince carter. though tmac has never won a playoff series he is not like starbury, he is one of the most competitive and focused guys to ever play the game and the losing will stop now that this team is the best that tracy has ever been on, and he will be hungry to prove that he hasn't lost his popularity or superstar ability. spanoulis has gained some international fame and american notice with his more-than-impressive play in the world championships, as his greece team beat the u.s. and ended up with silver even though they lack much of any nba talent. spanoulis is known for being a high-energy, exciting, and very aggressive guard with a fun-to-watch style of play involving plenty of driving straight into the defense and flashy passes to cutting finishers. he is pretty athletic and a good slasher and great pass-1st playmaker who plays really tough and really good defense, not a good shooter or much of an offensive guy but the other stuff van gundy loves. jacobsen has been hovering around nba teams with his sharpshooting for a couple years, and the rockets need all the backcourt depth and shooting ability they can get, so this bargain is a great deal. casey was great with shooting and leadership of the young players in the summer league, and while he is not a well-rounded player or a great athlete or the quickest guy out there he should contribute with his shooting and his nice hustle and energy. bob sura is a huge question mark, his recovery from injuries that have sideling him for 1 and a half seasons will be important for guard depth and for houston's success in the backcourt. 2 years ago sura was starting point guard and having a career year, but he is definitly on the downside now and the injuries he has suffered may end his career. he is a great floor leader and a great leader period, he really unites the team when he's on the floor and has great chemistry with everyone, not a great shooter but can make the open ones, his playmaking and passing will be good but probably replaceable by rafer and spanoulis, unfortunate for the hard-working, blue-collar sura. azubuike was a good scorer at kentucky, he's a nice athlete with good slashing skills and an ability to score the ball, plus his wildcat roots give him great chemistry with power forward chuck hayes. been in the d-league and summer league a while trying to land on a team and the rockets, with a penchant for kentucky players and a serious need for depth and more offense, decided that they could get azukuike at a bargain and get some nice bench scoring ability. i like the move, they have him there in case of emergency situations and his scoring will be nice whenever they need him, but he probably won't be used much simply because there are better shooters and better players on the roster that he will have to overcome for playing time.

SFs (shane battier, kirk snyder, ryan bowen)-at 1st, i really hated the battier trade because i thought rudy gay had superstar potential, while battier is a very solid player and i like everything about him, plus he is the van gundy prototype player and rudy would have a had a tough time getting to play, but gay's potential is off the charts if he ever finds the intensity and work ethic and he could eventually replace the ailing tmac. but enough about what could have been, this is about now. battier changed my mind after i watched him in the world championships playing for america, he started and was a key role player, his defense, hustle, charge-taking (especially the painful looking one off yao ming) and reliable three point shooting were all vital to team u.s.a. success and he will bring all sorts of great intangibles and tangibles to houston. he is perhaps the best role player in the nba with all his versatility and hustle play, and he is the best perimeter defender. his defense, smart play, hardworking play, and all the little things he does are essential on a van gundy team, he will make an already stingy defense even tougher and will probably be coaches favorite. he will also help big time, and be most valuable, with his three point shooting, as he can hit the open shot from downtown when the ball is worked around to him, a main problem for the rockets last year. so overall a very solid pickup for a very solid player who i can find few if any faults with, but lets see how gay performs in memphis down the road before we make any judgements. i think snyder will develop into a quality starter here, new orleans obviously got tired of him and though he didn't fit in with their new style team, and his poor play in summer league didn't help his chances of staying. this is a nice and underrated pickup for h-town, he is a great athlete and slasher who will provide very valuable depth and some nice scoring, i think he will look good with a fresh start, which is all some players need. he brings much needed shot of athleticism and hops that the aging rockets need, and while he won't help with their shooting woes they got enough guys in the offseason to help with that, the snyder pickup is not getting the praise it deserves. that leaves ryan bowen, the coach's pet and the best hustle player in the league. i actually thought he would be gone after last year, when van gundy hardly played him and put him in a much smaller role than the year before, when bowen started against the mavs in the playoffs and became known for his dominate defense on dirk. bowen is basically an unathletic white guy from iowa with limited offensive skill and no shooting confidence, but he makes such a big impact in the short stretches he plays, he gives such great effort, and makes such a big energy boost with a positive attitude that van gundy is forced to keep him, and in doing so bowen has gained the respect of foes around the league. he has a nose for the ball and is always going for steals and playing tough defense, chasing after loose balls and taking charges are also his specialty, definitly a van gundy player.

PFs (juwan howard, chuck hayes, steve novak, matt haryasz)-not much here, but hayes is a good young guy with nice potential, howard is still good and underrated as well at this point in his career. novak and haryasz are both great shooters and will help big time in that department, but neither are really true power forwards. howard is still a good offensive player and he never misses the open midrange shot, still tough and still built well too, but he shouldn't be starting or put in a starring role like he was forced to be thanks to injuries last season. not a great rebounder or defender, but his experience, leadership, and consistent offensive production make him a good role player, here he is asked to do too much. hayes is undersized and lacks an offensive game, also the most awkward free throw shot i have ever seen, but he's a real banger and blue-collar stud, on the boards and with hustle buckets there are few better, his effort, toughness, and promsising all-around inside play really impress van gundy but he has to get his free throws and some more offense together to be a starter. novak was their 2nd round pick in the draft this year, 2nd best shooter in college last year to jj redick, he is 6 foot 10 but doesnt play inside at all, too skinny for nba and not quick or tough enough on defense or in creating his own shot, but his pure shooting ability is enough to make him an impact player and improve the rockets in that area big time, as it was a huge weakness last season. matt is a tough and hardworking guy who does stuff van gundy loves, he can also shoot and probably replace richie fraham's role here, nice intangibles and good shooting will help with depth and bench offense but he probably won't play much unless an emergency comes up, as last year showed that can easily happen.

Cs (yao ming, dikembe mutombo)-big problems for depth here, yao asserted himself as the best center in the west and one of the most dominant offensive big men in the game last year when tmac went down, but dikembe is too old to do much of anything for longer than short stretches anymore, still fearsome with shot blocking and long arms make him a danger on the offensive glass and with put backs, but he is slow getting up and down the court and the offense sputters when he's on the floor seeing as they can't use his limited offensive skill to run their "yao ming sets". yao has always had problems with aggressiveness and using his height to dominate and be assertive, and before his end-of-season foot injury last season he had proved the haters wrong and finally lived up to the hype, looking unstoppable in all areas of the game. he has always had the height and shocking offensive skills and post moves for a a guy that tall, as well a soft touch extending to the midrange, but he has been pretty weak inside in attacking or banging with the tough centers and not assertive enough on defense. he showed that he could carry the load with tracy gone and his scoring will still be the focal point of the offense.

i woke up early on the saturday the hawks were set to open their season, excitement gripping my emotions like an iron glove. i couldn't wait for the season to begin and my iowa boys running out of the huddle hand in hand, always a powerful moment for me. i knew that they were just playing montana, i dont even think they are a division 1 football school, but this is a season filled with promise and one i hope will lead to big ten titles and bcs bowls, so it was imperative we started off on the right note. i was already coming into the game with disappointment because 2 major players, pass-rushing defensive end phenom kenny iwebema, preseason all-big ten, and number two reciever herb grigsby were both suspended for this game for violating team rules. against montana these losses didn't matter but im hoping this stuff won't continue later in the season because we will need them both. we also ended up without number 1 wideout calvin davis for unknown reasons and our kicker kyle schilcher, who was hurt and didn't practice this week. we ended up using redshirt freshman and former walk-on austin signor to kick, and even thouhg he had a strong leg the coach had questions about his accuracy and confidence. mr. signor quickly put these fears to rest by draining all his extra points and a couple long field goals, showing off his 6 ft. 4 frame and strong leg. we ended up blowing out montana 41-7, as we quickly rebounded from their lone touchdown when it was 17-7 and went on a dominating run using the balanced attack of our star running back albert young and the strong, reliable arm of drew tate. im afraid if young keeps up this production and shows off his versatile skill set (speed, power, recieving) throuhgout the season that he may jump early to the pros, as the iowa program has really seen a player so talented and so dynamic in what he can do. young scored multiple touchdowns and all of them in different ways, the most important one being the opening score on a short pass and run from drew tate. tate had a very solid day throwing for 230 yards and 3 scores, his arm strength and red-zone decision making were very impressive and he made some great throws and just made it look easy out there. he did have one or two throws that should have, and would have, been picked off against a tougher opponent but i doubt he would have made those throws against a team like ohio state or michigan. the defense also looked really good and the improvement in the pass rush and on the defensive line was very evident, as norm parker no longer played conservative the whole time, he blitzed and put plenty of pressure on the QB and got some sacks. coverage was also nice and even though the linebackers are mostly new,they all look promising. the offensive line is always good and nothing to worry about, and even though there is no go-to reciever this could be an advantage seeing as they have some depth and one reciver could step up and surprise opponents at any given time. we do need calvin and grigsby back though because there is just not enough there without them. scott chandler started early campaigning for the john mackey by grabbing a few receptions and a touchdown, as he is tate's bailout option and the most consistent player on this team, probably best hands too. very promising start and it should get even better with the return of suspended and hurt players.